#and I didn't think I'd get another gray cat

[ryuichifoxe]

Say hello to Kipper! ;u; We just brought her home today.

[scarletcomalies]

bundle of luck

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

A/N: Oh how I wish I could take with me every single cat I see :(

Word count: 2,626

Warnings: None, just fluff for a change!

After another lovely date with Natasha, you find a stray cat resting peacefully on the porch of your house.

The scent of Natasha's perfume wafted into your nostrils as soon as she placed her signature black jacket over your shoulders, giving you a light squeeze as a small display of affection.

You always swore there was no way the burning sun would eventually fade away and be replaced by gray clouds in a matter of a few hours, but by now you should have learned that such a thing was possible, for this was another occasion where you didn't bring your own jacket, and consequently, Natasha was lending you hers.

While such an action caused you to melt right there and then, completely touched by her charm and attentiveness, it was also true that it made you feel a pang of guilt. The last thing you wanted was to be a bother when these past five months she had been anything but a total dream of a woman for you.

The first time, you completely refused and she, between giggles stated that a 11°C weather was like hot summerfor a tough Russian woman such as herself. So the next three times you just thanked her and rewarded her in one way or another, like giving her a cold beer after dropping you off at your place, a drink you started buying just to have an excuse to invite her inside.

This day was no exception, of course. After she lent you her jacket and gave you a pleasant ride on her motorcycle to drop you off safe and sound, you said to her, "Would you like a beer? As a gesture of thanks for the jacket and the ride... and another wonderful date, of course," although at this point, both of you knew perfectly well that this was more than a thank you gesture.

"You know I'd never turn down a beer, moya lyubov," she replied, but what the redhead meant was 'you know I'd never turn down spending at least a few more minutes with you’. She never said it directly, however, something inside you always knew how to read between the lines. Maybe that's why your relationship with her lasted so many years later, but that’s another story to tell, now we're talking about the beginning.

"Come inside, then," you smiled at her.

"Oh, my goodness!" She exclaimed, her face lighting up even more and her smile expanding from ear to ear. She had her attention set to a fixed point behind you, and when you turned to see what was the cause of it, it didn't take you a second to mirror the action of the older woman.

A cat that looked perhaps a year old, whose color was an elegant beautiful black, was sleeping peacefully on the top tier of the porch of your house. The way it was curled up in a ball did not allow you to observe if there was a collar around its neck or not.

"I think it's best if we leave, let's not disturb them," Natasha whispered, and you couldn't help but let out a laugh at her suggestion.

She remained serious.

"Oh, you're telling me not to enter my own house so I don't disturb this unknown cat?" You teased, a playful grin forming on your lips as you glanced at Natasha.

“Uhm, yes,” she snorted, as if what you asked was the most obvious thing in the world.

You couldn't complain, you always felt a sort of twist in your stomach every time your outings with Natasha came to an end and it was time to say goodbye, so you happily agreed to put your helmet back on and go wherever she wanted.

You were both getting on the motorcycle, when in the corner of your eye you noticed a small shadow moving. The cat was stretching after waking up from that peaceful nap.

"Change of plans," the redhead laughed, and removed her helmet, then got off her motorcycle.

With the most cautious steps possible, she walked in the direction of the little cat, which had its green eyes already open as it preened its right paw.

After sensing the presence of a stranger, any other cat would have gotten up and run away in a matter of seconds. However, this cat simply looked up and walked towards Natasha, sniffing her outstretched hand and then rubbing against her as if she were its lifelong owner.

"Awww, hey there, little one," she murmured in a gentle tone, as she kneeled. The cat, displaying a never-seen-before trust, allowed Natasha to scratch it behind its ears.

You couldn’t stop smiling as you watched this ‘tough Russian woman’ interact so tenderly with the cat.

As Natasha continued to pet the black cat, she commented, "You're quite the charmer, aren't you?"

You approached her and kneeled down beside her, extending your hand towards the cat. It smelled you briefly and subsequently rubbed its head against your hand, just like it did with the redhead.

It purred softly, as if to express its gratitude for the warmth and kindness you and Natasha were showing towards it.

“Oh my, what a precious little thing!” You exclaimed, as you pouted, feeling your heart melt with tenderness.

You had cats most of your life, but that changed when you moved to this new city nine months ago. The last cat you had in your previous home stayed temporarily with your best friend Kate, and her golden retriever Lucky had become your cat's best friend in no time.

As soon as you stabilized, you brought him back to your side, and you noticed that he stopped eating, and constantly meowed in desperation whenever he heard Kate's voice or Lucky’s barks on the phone. So you decided to do the most generous act of love for your dearest companion, and respected his wishes to stay with Kate and Lucky the dog.

You were a firm believer that cats chose their owners, and the fact that this unknown black cat came into your home, and above all, was so affectionate towards you and Natasha, was a sign that there was a reason why it had come into your life.

"Do you think they have an owner?" you asked, feeling your heart melt as you caressed each one of its cheeks with your thumbs. It had its eyes closed, and you could swear it was almost smiling, a sign that your affection was deeply appreciated.

Natasha carefully examined the cat's neck, and her fingers confirmed what you suspected, there was no collar. "Doesn't look like it," she replied, her gaze still fixed on the cat. “We should adopt them,” she added, as if she has this power of reading your thoughts.

You often wondered if she was really able to read your thoughts, for she had an amazing pulse to tell you what you were thinking. She, likewise, also believed that you possessed that ability, and you loved that smile she would display every time she let you know that you said just what she was thinking.

Many factors made it indisputable that you had found your person, and you felt it when you observed how lovingly she was treating this little cat. She loved animals, what more could you ask for?

"Nat, there is nothing I want more than to do this with you," you declared. As your relationship with her progressed, you lost count of how many times you answered her with that same sentence.

"So what are we going to do, share custody like we're a divorced couple?" Natasha laughed, and it automatically rubbed off on you, making you laugh along with her.

"Yes, we can have a custody agreement," you teased, pretending to mull it over. "You get weekends and Christmas, and I'll have weekdays and New Year."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, feigning seriousness. "Hmm, I don't know if I can handle only seeing our little furball on weekends! We’ll discuss that in court!"

You chuckled, shaking your head, “No, but seriously, you get one week and every Friday we drop the child off at each other’s house. How about that?” You proposed.

Natasha grinned, leaning in to give you a quick kiss on the lips, "Sounds like a plan,” she paused. “Oh, I’m not supposed to kiss you! We’re divorcing!” She joked.

"Right, right,” you nodded in agreement. Even though you were trying so hard to play serious, you couldn’t stop smiling. “Divorce proceedings concluded. Now, how about we go to the vet for a quick check-up?

Natasha grinned and nodded. "Absolutely, it's time for some serious co-parenting."

Very gently, the redhead took the cat in her arms, to which the two of you gave multiple caresses during your 'custody discussion'. You, on the other hand, entered your house to quickly grab your car keys and opened your garage, making way for your girlfriend to enter with your new companion.

As you approached your car, you unlocked the doors, opening the passenger one for Natasha to get into the vehicle with the cat securely in her arms.

The car ride was better than expected, the cat appeared anxious but Natasha made sure to reach in to comfort and stroke it, so there wasn’t any sort of inconvenience beyond its occasional meowing.

Once there, you and Natasha were told to wait around fifteen minutes for the vet to be available. When your turn came, a kind and gentle soul, greeted you all with a warm smile, taking the little one carefully and then instructing you to wait outside.

After half an hour or so, the veterinarian returned with the cat, who appeared to have shinier hair and had a red bandana around its neck, indicating that it had received a bath.

"Wow, poor thing, didn't cause a lot of trouble?" Natasha asked, as she took the cat back into her arms and briefly sniffed its fur, making you giggle.

"She's very well-behaved," the veterinarian replied.

"She?" The redhead and you said in unison.

"That's right, she's a female," she confirmed.

"Detka, do you have any idea how rare female black cats are? There's always a higher chance it's male!" Natasha turned to you, her green eyes taking on an immediate gleam as she looked back down at the cat in her arms.

��It seems like we have a very special lady with us now,” you commented, caressing the cat’s chin. “Our lucky charm.”

Natasha nodded in agreement, and turned her attention back to the vet, “And how is her health?”

"She appears to be in good health overall," she began. "I gave her a bath treatment to get rid of fleas, and applied an anti-flea pipette, which should be applied every month," she continued, to which both of you were paying cautious attention. “She had also had internal parasites, and she's quite malnourished. But the good news is that these issues can be treated. We'll start with a deworming medication to address the parasites. Additionally, I'll provide you with dietary recommendations to help her regain her strength. She's also due for some vaccinations to keep her protected."

After expressing your gratitude to the veterinarian and making an appointment for the next checkup in two weeks, you and Natasha split the bill evenly, each covering your share of the expenses.

The next step was to head to the nearest pet store, in order to provide everything your new cat would need in both of her new homes. You picked out two litter boxes, one for each home, making sure they were spacious and easy to clean. For food and water, you selected two sets of bowls, and made sure to stock up on the special recovery food the vet had prescribed… of course you couldn’t resist grabbing several treats and toys to keep her entertained and spoiled.

As you pushed the shopping cart filled with items, you smiled widely when you spotted the heartwarming scene through the car window. There, in the passenger seat, Natasha sat patiently with the cat nestled comfortably on her lap, peacefully asleep.

The bond between Natasha and the cat was something that you knew would grow stronger with every passing day, and it was evident that this adorable addition to your lives had found a special place in Natasha's heart.

Once you returned home, you wasted no time in setting up the new living space. The litter box was strategically placed, and the bowls were filled with cat tuna and fresh water respectively. The scent of the food immediately drew the attention of your new little friend, for she eagerly approached the bowl, and devoured her meal in a matter of seconds.

Fortunately, the prescribed deworming pill, carefully hidden in the food, went unnoticed as she happily ate. Natasha and you exchanged smiles, relieved to see her enjoying her first proper meal in her new home.

“While I was in the car waiting for you, I was thinking about some names,” Natasha said, sitting cross legged on the floor as she simply observed in awe how the black cat enjoyed the food she was provided.

You turned to her, "What names did you come up with?" You asked, as you imitated her action of sitting cross legged on the floor.

"I remembered a creature in Slavic mythology named Liho, and I think it suits her, what do you think?” Natasha proposed.

You repeated the name softly, trying it out. It had a unique and gentle ring to it, just like the cat herself. "Liho," you said with a smile. "I like it. It's perfect. Does it have a meaning?"

“Liho is the embodiment of evil fate and misfortune,” she explained.

Your laughter rang through the room at Natasha's explanation.

"Liho, the embodiment of evil fate and misfortune? Come on, Nat, look at her!" You pointed at the cat, who was now drinking some water. "How can she be evil? She's an absolute sweetheart!”

Natasha chuckled at your response, understanding that her choice was unconventional, "I wanted to name her something not too obvious, something contrary to her. Liho just felt right, like she's going to defy all the superstitions."

You smiled, noticing the thought and care Natasha had put into the name. She indeed had a unique reasoning behind it, "I get it. Liho it is, our little bundle of luck."

Every Friday, as promised, you remained true to your playful ‘custody agreement’. You and Natasha would take turns dropping off the cat at each other's houses.

On those days, you would pack a bag for Liho, making sure it contained her food and a selection of toys to keep her entertained. The cat, ever adaptable, quickly grew accustomed to the weekly transitions, and her sweet demeanor made the process a piece of cake.

It had become a cherished habit to feel Liho's weight on your feet during cozy movie nights, or to find her perched on the windowsill, her inquisitive eyes watching the world outside as you and Natasha cooked dinner together whenever she visited you, or viceversa.

Over time, Liho's transformation was notorious and drastic. With consistent care, her health steadily improved. Gone were the days of malnourishment, for she had gained weight, and her black hair shimmered with vitality. All thanks to the love and dedication you both poured into her recovery, an unavoidable response to the way she had effortlessly wrapped you both around her little paw from the moment she had first appeared on your house's porch.

And it was a matter of time for Liho to have just one home, for you and Natasha decided to take the next step after a year, and decided to move together.

And it was also a matter of time for a new member to join your family as well…

[bonefall]

BB!Acorn Fur -> Acorn Swoop

[ID: The Better Bones version of Acorn Fur, now called Acorn Swoop. She is a sleek, chestnut-brown cat with smooth, round accents, scotty-dog whiskers, and amber eyes. She's running and giving the camera a salute.]

One of Thunder Storm's greatest allies, a loyal childhood friend with a penchant for always showing up in the nick of time!

When Clear Sky rejected his son Thunder Storm, infuriated by his missing hind leg and the gall of the ancestors to try and challenge him, Tall Shadow broke off her supporters in protest to this continued cruelty. Hawk Swoop and Jackdaw Cry were with them, giving birth to their children in Shadow's Clan.

Acorn Swoop, Lightning Cry, and Thunder Storm grew up together. A little trio of terrors, always getting underfoot. Even though Thunder Storm's path eventually drove him to investigate SkyClan to learn from Clear Sky, he always knew they would welcome him back when he came home.

Acorn Swoop was there, watching in horror, when Turtle Heart died in the attempt to retrieve her kittens from Tom. It only became worse, when she returned home with the children, to find that Tall Shadow had decided Bumble was no longer welcome without her mate to hunt for her.

But even Bright Storm, closest friend of the deceased Gray Wing the Wise, was accepting the ruling. She felt her rage drain away, replaced by self doubt. Was this right? It was true that Bumble couldn't hunt or care for herself...

Thunder Storm returned shortly after, having seen the truth about Clear Sky, shocked into fury. When Bright Storm tried to explain everything to him, she was cut off. "I didn't think I'd come home to find another Clear Sky!"

Acorn Swoop couldn't believe she'd ever believed such a thing! That moment was the birth of ThunderClan, breaking away from ShadowClan to charge into the woods, their mission; find Bumble. Some say it was a stroke of great luck that they found her just as Clear Sky did, intercepting his thrashing. Acorn would gleefully counter with, "A swoop always arrives in the nick of time!"

After her death, she is hailed as a Patron of Prra, an untranslatable Clanmew concept roughly meaning "promptness" or "good timing." She's invoked for hunting, humor, and for things to begin and end when they should.

Alignment: Proto-ThunderClan

Family: Swoop & Cry

Time Period: Dawn Era

Relations: Hawk Swoop & Jackdaw Cry (parents), Lightning Cry (brother), Red Claw (mate), Shell Claw & Sleek Swoop (children) Lightning Storm & Feather Cry (nespring)

More changes below the cut!

BB!DOTC has a brand new naming system! Ancient Tribe cats have a last name system, arbitrarily inherited from the mother or father.

So Swoop and Cry both have their parent's last names! Hopefully this will help everyone not forget they're siblings. I did consider calling her Acorn Cry, but I think the Swoop Family is a really cute one.

Unlike canon, Bright Storm is one cat, and she is a major part of the story. Thunder Storm considers Shaded Flower his adopted father.

Gray Wing the Wise was the first cat to die during the Sun Trail.

Acorn and Lightning are not Thunder's adopted siblings in any way.

Thunder and Lightning become mates by the end of DOTC, making Acorn his sis-in-law.

In-canon she's described as being short and stocky and kinda cutesy. That doesn't quite fit what I mean to do with her, so Acorn Swoop is gangly and leggy.

In a more anthro universe I feel like she would be a great mailman, somehow

Because Moth Flight's Vision is now Moth Flight's Vow, and a completely different story with a new reasoning behind the Cleric's Vow, Acorn Swoop does not have the canon conflict with StarClan trying to shame her choosing medicine or marriage.

And, because I refuse to magically conjure up characters to be convenient mates for the main characters, Thunder's canon litter has been split in 2.

Shell Claw and Sleek Swoop (prev. Sleek Fur) belong to Acorn Swoop and Red Claw. Lightning Storm and Feather Cry are born to Lightning Cry and Thunderstar.

But, I'm not sure yet if this is before or after Thunderstar's Justice. I do know, however, that Lightning Cry doesn't live to see his children.

Acorn Swoop is very close to them all as a result, plus her children being the same age as her nespring. She's always been there for Thunderstar in the past, and that's not about to stop any time soon.

You may eventually notice some similarities between her and Sharpclaw when we get there. That's intentional! She is one of his distant ancestors!

By extension, she is the ancestor of Hawkwing, Violetshine, Twigbranch, Rootspring, and Needleclaw.

She also has some descendants in most Clans just by virtue of exponential ancestry, but it's uncanny for the Sharpkin.

In terms of personality, she's cheerful and daring. Acorn takes pride in herself and her family, but can still doubt herself at times. She's a fantastic hunter, and catches well above her share of food to provide for the Clan. Thunderstar is beyond grateful to have her on his side.

In the Modern Era, many of the cats of BB!DOTC have long since been venerated. By now, Acorn Swoop has become an ancient and powerful Patron of Promptness. We might consider her a sort of god of 'chance,' but to Clan cats, "Prra" is a virtue that's hard to translate.

It's perfect timing. It's prey who only looks up when it's already too late. It's a friend of another Clan whose patrol happens to sync up to yours. It's primroses that poke through the melting frost just as you believe winter will never end.

She's invoked when you're stuck anticipating, or when you have to time something just right. It's perfect moments and comedic timing, things that can't just be replicated on a whim.

[bomberqueen17]

survived

I made it out alive from another stay at the farm. Probably because it came so hot on the heels of my trip overseas, I had the weirdest sense of dislocation yesterday, could not make myself understand that I was leaving, really had trouble packing my stuff intelligently, and though I really tried to take my time leaving and do a lot of things as I went to try and let my brain catch up, I still left having forgotten to do several important things.

I arrived home and was totally disoriented. Like, I knew where I was, but I just. It didn't really feel real. I've now had a small gray cat touching me almost nonstop for about 24 hours and I'm starting to think maybe I know where I am but. Damn. I am really not all caught up, mentally.

However. I have been pleasantly diverted, and have spent a day in glorious idleness, mostly snuggling the cat. On the drive home I was listening--relistening-- to Patrick O'Brian's Fortunes of War which has a lot of real historical events from the War of 1812 in it, and the first time through I hadn't looked up the events so I didn't know what would happen. The second time I had more of a notion, and a bit more context to reflect that it was hilarious that the narrative kind of made me root for the British. Being an American myself, and having studied this time period before, no I do not believe the British were justified, and I am not rooting for them, and I do not feel bad that they lost a number of frigate battles to the Americans, in fact it serves them right, though in text one does feel very bad for poor depressed Jack Aubrey. And so I was reading about James Lawrence and getting very sad about what happens to him at this point in history. (The narrative does set him up to be sympathetic and likeable-- he has few lines, but we do hear that he befriended Lt. Mowett when that young man was injured, and he goes out of his way to bring a message from Mowett to Jack when he hears that Jack is in Boston, which is very thoughtful of him.)

So anyway. That's as connected to reality as I am currently-- being sad about the War of 1812. Well you know, I'd hate to be bored. And I mean, go to that page and look at him face and tell me you don't feel bad about James Lawrence!

dont give up the ship

alas.

[amber-tortoiseshell]

I'm sorry because this might be a pain to do since it's kinda a big family but what would Snowbirds family look like? I'm really interested to see how Yarrowleaf would turn out since she seems so out of place compared to literally all of her siblings.

Oh and I'd like to say I love your take on Moth Flight's family!

First of all re: Moth Flight: Thank you! I'm really quite proud of them, I'm glad someone enjoyed it with me! 🤍

And now onto Snowbird.

Eh, of course it's not a pain, i'm doing this whole ask game for the sake of playing with the characters like this lol.

We don't have parents for Snowbird (canon, i beg you please never make her into Blackstar's kit please please please). I made her dominant white for now, but i'm a bit troubled, because i think the W allele isn't present in my pre-TPB ShadowClan, the white or almost white cats are all points there. (It's so annoying, there is a generation or two during the early arcs when we know almost nothing about the familiar relationships in ShadowClan (and RiverClan and WindClan, really).) But let's say her mother or father was a rouge or something. Or Whitestorm had a little affair in Shadowclan. (Honestly i'm very much down for this explanation, because i'm a little sad that the Snowfur-Whitestorm white allele line is discontinued as all of Whitestorm's known kits are colored.)

All of this to say: Snowbird is dominant white for now, but that can change if i learn something about her ancestors. (Genotype: __ __ __ W_)

Her mate is Scorchfur, solid blue (aa dd o- ww) according to his description.

We have eight canon kits. (I ignore Bluebellkit since she's never mentioned in the books by name or color.)

Buster/Rippletail, Beenose and Gullswoop are all full whites. Great, no problem here. (Let's ignore Beenose's black ears. It's just that kittencap thing. I can't do vans now.)

Cloverfoot and Frondwhisker are gray tabbies, which means Snowbird carries the agouti, black and no-white alleles. (Updated genotype: A_ _d _o Ww)

But next up we have Berryheart and Conefoot; both white spotted! Which means either Snowbird or Scorchfur has the ws allele. If Snowbird has it, that means all of the not white kits got white spotting. Viable solution, but i choose the other one, and give the ws allele to Scorchfur.

Also Berryheart is solid black, which means Snowbird carries solid and dense too. (Snowbird: Aa Dd _o Ww, Scorchfur: aa dd o- wsw).

And Yarrowleaf at last. Who is orange. Well she can't be orange; the best I can do is tortie. I think a tortie tabby without white is a fair compromise, also i love Yarrowleaf's name and i love torties, so i'm pleased.

In the end we got this genotype for Snowbird: Aa Dd Oo Ww (white masking black tortie tabby). We needed only two modifications: adding some white spotting to Scorchfur and making Yellowleaf tortie instead of simply ginger.

Snowbird and Scorchfur

First litter: Berryheart, Buster, Cloverfoot

Berryheart is also the mother of Needletail whose description is silver. However i decided to not make her inhibitor-silver, just blue or even black tabby; I didn't want to introduce the allele into the family (and the Clan!) for the sake of one cat.

Second litter: Beenose, Yarrowleaf; and Yarrowleaf's kits Flaxfoot and Hopwhisker

Yarrowleaf's son is a black tabby (another argument why she needs the o allele), but her daughter is a calico; ergo, white spotted. So again: either Yarrowleaf or the father of her kittens, Nettle has white spotting. I'm already attached to my mental image of torbie Yarrowleaf, so Nettle gets it, who cares about that guy anyway.

Third litter: Frondwhisker, Conefoot, Gullswoop

Please note that all of this can shatter in the moment I learn something about Snowbird's parents

(warrior cats genetics ask game)

[cryptidsurveys]

Saturday, November 16th, 2024.

What were you doing at 10:30 this morning? I was at the animal shelter. Possibly either finishing up cleaning Humphrey's kennel or starting on dishes.

Is there anyone else in the room with you? Two of my three kitties are with me.

If you married the last male you spoke to, what would your initials be? I don't know Sean's last name (he's a community service worker at the shelter).

What did you have for lunch today? A chicken salad.

In your phone, who is the first contact listed under ‘L’? There is no such person. My contacts are extremely limited - it's just my mom, my dad, and Iris (manager).

How old is he/she? My mom is 69, my dad is 71, and I think Iris is 63.

What colour are your father’s eyes? They're blue.

Was your last Facebook friend requests from a male or female? I have absolutely no idea.

What’s the 9th song on your iTunes “Recently Played” list?

What colour are the eyes of the last male you text messaged? Blue.

Who is the first contact in your phone? What colour is his/her hair? My dad. His hair is white/gray.

How many tracks were on the last album you listened to? Thirteen.

Which one of your relatives is most likely to embarrass you? I'm not in touch with any of my relatives beyond my parents. I don't think either one of them would intentionally try to embarrass me.

Is there a song you can listen to over and over and never get fed up? I used to be able to listen to almost exclusively Kent songs without getting fed up, but I'm not nearly as into them as I once was. I think any song would start to wear on me if I listened to it too much, no matter how much I liked it.

Do you have a friend whose name begins with ’H’? Describe him/her. I don't.

Are there any songs in your iTunes library that you’ve never listened to?

So, how are you? Is there anything wrong? I'm doing pretty well. There's nothing seriously wrong - just low-level nagging anxieties and concerns.

How do you handle awkward situations? It depends on the situation. Sometimes I try to pretend like the awkwardness isn't happening. Smile and nod. Wait until things blow over. Sometimes I shut down or try to distance myself. And sometimes there's nothing to do but face the awkwardness head-on.

Who is the most intelligent person you know? I'm not sure. I know a few very intelligent people, but it's hard to gauge who is the most intelligent of the bunch.

Who was the last female you were introduced to? A woman and her daughter who came in to do a cat tour yesterday afternoon.

What was your first impression of her? The mother seemed very sweet and empathetic. She had just finished up a dog tour and was in tears. If I didn't spend all my time at the shelter, I would probably react the same way, especially with the kitties. :'( I didn't form much of an impression of her daughter except that she looked like a taller version of Kristen. It was uncanny how similar they looked. Anyway, they weren't seriously looking for a new cat; they just kind of came in to check it out.

Who was the last male you were introduced to? Another cat tour - a husband and wife who were looking for a companion kitty for their 9-month-old kitten. They ended up putting in an application and are now pending.

What was your first impression of him? They both seemed nice. I'm really glad their application is most likely going through.

Name one of your favourite foods that starts with the letter 'F’. French fries.

Do you have a close friend of the opposite sex? No.

Would you ever consider being more than friends with them?

Who is the 8th contact in your phone? Is he/she in a relationship?

If you could travel back in time, which year would you go to? I'd bounce around to the building of various ancient megalithic structures. Solve the mysteries of when and how once and for all.

When was the last time you made a sandwich? What did you put on it? I made one for my packed lunch yesterday. Very simple, just cheese and greens.

What were you like as a 12 year old? Very shy, pretty good student, imaginative/creative, prone to daydreaming, somewhat of a loner although I did have a few good friends. This was about a year or so before my mental health started to decline, so there were probably hints of what was to come.

What colour are the eyes of the last female you text messaged? Brown. I texted briefly with Iris on the Thursday before last because she needed someone to come in and help out in the afternoon/evening.

When you woke up this morning, what kind of mood were you in? A bit sad and anxious. I often feel like that when I first wake up, though. It's become such a familiar feeling that I just try to ignore it. I know I'll feel better as the day goes on.

Are you hungry? Craving any food in particular? Not really. I just finished eating a yogurt bowl. I could still eat more, but I'm not hungry.

In the past week, how many times have you cried? None.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being amazing), how good is life atm? Something like a seven. It's generally pleasant, but there's definitely room for improvement.

[oddogoblino]

So I just had a dream where, essentially, trying to find an artist's art tag for what I bought a sticker of sent me into a strange world where the people there thought they were dogs.

Dream rambling under cut

Like, I was looking for some sticker the artist drew because, in the dream, a friend asked what I'd bought from them so i looked for it because i didnt remember, and suddenly I was in a field and had no clue where I was.

And this short girl with curly hair and her taller best friend with straight hair ended up talking to me and leading me around, asking what kind of dog I was because i didnt look familiar nor like everyone else. The curly haired girl was a chihuahua and the straight haired girl was I think a German shepherd. "Everyone's a dog here!" The chihuahua girl was named Chelsie and the German shepherd girl was named Alana.

They were still very excited, confused, and welcoming to me as they showed me around. They dressed and looked like people but just weren't 100% human looking for some reason. They didn't have like- dog ears or anything, they looked human but like- not- entirely??? I think it was their hands, their hands looked like paws somewhat with fur and claws for nails and darker skin on their palms.

And I'm just wandering around trying to get used to this small town of sorts that they set up in an abandoned amusement park, mainly just walking around, and I meet two other dogs. A tall (compared to me..), muscular man with blonde, messy hair and his unwilling roommate(?) who was an older man with black , graying, cleanly styled hair. I think they were implied to be a golden retriever and a i'll assume a chocolate Labrador given how I remember his hair looking. I think their names were Alex and Ricko.

The blonde man just asks inappropriate questions upon being met, so I ran off to avoid him, and he later sulked and asked his friend why he "can't get bitches like you can" (which is really funny to me-) and the older guy reminisces about when he was younger and was the heartthrob of the town. He was a musician & singer too. He was implied to still have incredible pull but he didn't feel he was as handsome or anything as he once was.

The dream moved on to me with the girls and we're chatting and Chelsie accidentally spilt her friend's snacks on the bed so we were just awkwardly there as Alana began to vacuum them up, the other having left bc she didn't like the noise and me trying to nervously pick out some of the chips(?) that were missed. I remember Alana ended up talking to me about "knowing I don't really seemed to care for them" and how she'd kinda felt I was looking down on them for being dogs after we'd spent the day hanging out & them hunting animals with me tagging along. It was such an awkward moment in the dream, because how do you explain you just haven't figured out how/processed you ended up here to begin with? But we'd talked it out and got on better terms. I went to my new home or sorts after saying goodbye since it was late out.

My home was like- an abandoned apartment that I was given the uh...honor ...ig of fixing up so I could comfortably live there. A gang of dog people ended up hearing about me though and kept trying to break in the next morning while I was away to "see what kind of person I was". They used a literal actual cat to try and sneak them in because they hoped it'd unlock the doors for them or show them another way of how to get in. Cat refused and instead messed with them. Tho I remember I had subtle cat imagery in my room along with things from fandoms i like, which might've indicated I was/was becoming a literal cat person paired with the girl thinking I was looking down on them when I wasn't.

I think the dream ended with me walking back home, not knowing there was a gang of dogs trying to get into my apartment.

So yeah I had a weird dream, just wanted to type it down before I forgot.

Oh also, everything about the world I'd seen looked kinda abandoned. The dogs lived in abandoned houses that clearly had been human houses before, there were broken cars that were rusty and not used for years, grass was overgrowing in places it didn't before, the night was pitch black if not for all the stars and moon lighting the place, the amusement/Waterpark stuff the people I found lived in were all unused and moldy/rusty. They figured out how to make foods I knew of because well- recipes n such they found around. They had farms and such for all of this. Never once saw chocolate or grapes around any food I'd see in the dreams though.

[believingispowerfulmagic]

A Fairytale for Christmas

Summary:  When Robin Locksley plans a masquerade for businesswoman and heiress Regina Mills, he just hopes to expand his client list. He gets much more when he takes his cousin’s place as a guest at the party and makes a connection with one of the guests. The next day, he learns that person was in fact the hostess, Regina Mills, and that her mother has announced that Regina will marry whoever that man was. His cousin Keith figures out it was Robin and teams up with Cora Mills to marry Regina, pulling in his cousin to their deception. But as Robin gets closer to Regina, will he tell her the truth or watch the love of his life walk down the aisle to his cousin?

Chapter 1: FFN | AO3 | Wattpad

Chapter 10

FFN | AO3 | Wattpad

Excerpt:

Regina pulled up to the Nott household, putting her car into park and studying it for a moment. She knew that Richard Nott was a successful business owner and it was clear that he had been able to afford the finer things in life. While his house wasn't as grand as Mist Haven, it was still a mansion. It had a light gray stone façade with white accents around the house. Several windows lined each floor and she spotted two chimneys placed on opposite sides of the house from each other. The lawn looked immaculate and she figured he paid a landscaper to maintain it. Regina wondered what the backyard looked like, figuring they had a pool – she imagined that was something young Keith and maybe young Robin would've wanted.

She got out of the car and took a deep breath before approaching the front door. Regina rang the doorbell and took a step back, waiting to see if anyone opened the door. There were at least two cars in the driveway but knew that didn't necessarily mean anything. Robin likely only owned one car but she knew that he also drove their company's van. Keith definitely owned more than one car, she believed. And she wouldn't be surprised if his father did the same.

Which all meant that it could be that no one home and the door would never open.

But she also knew it was a big house, so she pressed the bell again and decided to wait for a few more minutes before leaving.

After what felt like an eternity, Regina decided that no one was home and she would need to come back later. She started to turn away from the door when it opened. Taking a deep breath, she looked back and found Keith standing there in just a towel. His eyes lit up and he smirked. "Regina! What a surprise!"

"I apologize for dropping in unannounced," she said, feeling awkward. She knew seeing her fiancé in nothing but a towel should create some desire in her but she didn't feel much toward him. And so she kept her focus on his face. "But I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see your house."

"Of course," he replied, stepping aside. "Come on in."

She passed him, feeling the damp heat radiating off his body. As he closed the door, she turned to him and motioned to his state of undress. "I can wait for you to put on some clothes," she said.

He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Do you want to help me dress?"

"I think I'd rather wait for the wedding night," she said, realizing she had no desire to see what lay under that towel. But she certainly would love to see what lay under Robin's sweaters and jeans.

That was something she would need to unpack later.

Luckily, Keith nodded as he winked at her. "I understand. I'll be right down," he said.

"I'll be right here," she replied, watching as he walked up the stairs. It was only a few moments later did she realize that he had assumed she was a virgin. She didn't really care to correct him. As long as he didn't try to make another pass at her, she didn't care what he believed about her.

Regina heard the jingle of a bell and turned toward the hall to her right. A gray cat walked down it, the sound coming from the bell on his collar. Her heart sped up as she recalled the cat toy in the stocking and she wondered if maybe it had pointed to Keith after all. Crouching, she held out her hand and waited to see if the cat would approach her.

The cat came closer to her and sniffed her hand. It then bumped its head against her hand and she scratched behind its ear. "Good kitty," she cooed.

"Ugh," Keith said, coming back down the stairs in a nice shirt and pair of pants. "Robin's stupid cat got out again."

"This is Robin's cat?" she asked, surprised that he did own a cat but pleased that the cat toy again pointed toward him being Shakespeare.

Keith nodded, looking disgusted. "He's supposed to keep this mangy thing in his apartment but Tuck keeps getting out. Dad doesn't seem to mind but if it were up to me, I would've chucked him out years ago."

He started to reach for the cat but Regina scooped him up first, cradling the cat. "Why would you throw out such a sweet animal?" she asked.

"Tuck isn't sweet," Keith said, glaring at the cat. "He's a monster. He always scratches me."

"Animals are very intuitive. He senses that you don't like him so he doesn't like you in return. I'm sure if you were nicer, he wouldn't scratch you," she said, feeling Tuck purr as she gently rocked him like a baby.

Keith just made a strange sound before saying: "We should probably put him back in Robin's apartment."

"Probably," she replied, finding herself eager to see Robin's living space. "Why don't you take me there? I can carry Tuck so he doesn't scratch you."

"Fine by me," he said. "It's this way."

[talonslockau]

Fire and Ice - Chapter 37

Chapter 36 || Index || Chapter 38

 The camp was buzzing as the four apprentices returned, laden with prey. Even with all the senior warriors in Bluestar's den, it was evident that word had gotten around about what was going on, and nearly every cat in Thunderclan was gossiping. Only the queens were absent, presumably taking care of the kits in the nursery.

"The Treecut place will be starting up soon." He heard Halftail comment as he passed by the elders' den. "Do you think Bluestar will move the Shadowclan elders into our den? It's going to get awful crowded."

"Not if she can force Brokenstar to accept the warrior code at the Gathering tonight." Patchpelt replied. "I heard her say something to Quickflash about war with Shadowclan before summoning the council. Things might get interesting in the next moon."

"Better hope that we can beat them before leafbare. We can't afford another Great Hunger like last time." That was all Firepaw heard before making his way to the freshkill pile, dumping his squirrels on top of it. Behind him, each apprentice added their own contributions. He took the cardinal he had caught over to the apprentices' tree stump, certain no one would lecture him for a quick bite of prey.

"So you're certain she's gonna declare war?" Cinderpaw was the first to speak, as Firepaw expected. She pranced in place, obviously too excited or nervous to eat.

"She said as much while I was sitting there." He pawed the cardinal to Ravenpaw and Graypaw, allowing them to have the first bites. At Ravenpaw’s doubtful look, he quickly added, "You didn't see her. When Mosspaw said they'd been apprentices for two moons, she looked like she would have murdered Brokenstar right then and there. I thought Frostfury was bad, but the look on her face was worse."

Graypaw nodded as he swallowed a bite, moving over slightly to let Firepaw have some. "Bluestar's always been a real stickler about the six moon rule. One-eye said it's…" He hesitated, glancing around to make sure no one heard. "Well, she says it's because Bluestar lost her kits."

Firepaw perked his ears forward in surprise. "She had kitsh?" He asked ungracefully through his cardinal.

The gray tom shrugged. "That's what One-eye said, anyways. Bluestar doesn't want to see any more kits die after hers did, so she makes sure every apprentice is at least six full moons old."

The ginger apprentice glanced across camp to the leader's den, covered by lichen. It was impossible to see what might be going on inside. "She doesn't strike me as much of a mother." He mumbled, before pausing to reconsider. "Although, neither does Frostfury."

"She doesn't talk about it." Graypaw shrugged as Ravenpaw stole another bite. "But can you blame her? I doubt I'd want to talk about it either."

Firepaw had to agree with that. He couldn't imagine the grief he'd feel if he lost his sister, his only family, in a Clan where family was so paramount to one’s identity. "No wonder she was so mad at Brokenstar."

"Do you think we'll go to the Gathering tonight?" Cinderpaw wondered from atop the tree stump as she gazed out at camp. "Imagine if it breaks out into fighting!"

"I doubt it. That's against the code." Ravenpaw pointed out quietly. "Besides, she might want us here at camp in case Brokenstar tries anything funny. Maybe he'll come after his missing apprentice."

The gray molly deflated slightly. "Yea, but…"

"Technically, we'd probably have a greater chance of fighting being stuck here." Firepaw pointed out. "Didn't One-eye say that Shadowclan likes to attack the border during the full moon?"

She paused to consider what he was saying. "That's true." She thought it over a little bit more, a smile slowly coming to her face. "So if we want the greatest chance of getting to show our skills, we should get ourselves assigned to one of the border patrols!"

Firepaw grimaced at the thought of having to face Shadowclan after what they had done to Volepaw and Mosspaw. He knew they wouldn't hold anything back, but after that bone-chilling scene, neither would he. "I suppose so." He finally answered, quickly taking another bite so he wouldn't have to say anything else.

"Look, there she is now!" All three apprentices raised their heads to see Bluestar striding out of the moss curtain, Quickflash close behind her. 

She leaped up the side of the rock, letting out a loud yowl to alert the rest of camp. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" She called, those waiting around camp quickly assembling as more warriors poured out of her den. 

There were several tense moments as everyone found their place beneath her. "I have always been proud to be a warrior." Bluestar began, her voice solemn as it rang out across camp. "It is our devotion to our noble code that makes us great. The Clan thrives through hardship because of how we care for one another. And every time I look down on you, my courageous warriors, I know that each and every one of you feels the same." 

There were murmurs of approval in the crowd at her words. Firepaw watched, knowing all too well what was coming next. As stirring of a speech as it was, he couldn't feel moved when the memory of the two Shadowclan kits was burned into his mind.

"That is how every Clan should be." Bluestar yowled above the hushed whispers, causing the Clan to quiet once more. "But today I have learned that is not the case. For Brokenstar has flaunted the code so thoroughly, so egregiously, that Thunderclan can no longer stand idly by if we are to call ourselves warriors." Spines bristled and tails lashed at the mention of the enemy leader. "Today, one of our apprentices found two Shadowclan apprentices on our border. One was injured so badly he was unable to walk on his own."

"So that's why Dewpaw was running around like a clueless sparrow." Firepaw heard Longtail hiss to Mousefur sitting nearby. "As if we didn't have enough Shadowclan rejects."

"Brokenstar had thrown out this apprentice as a waste of herbs for a broken leg!" The ginger tom could hear the fury in her words causing her voice to tremble. "He would have died of blood loss were it not for Firepaw's quick thinking and Yellowfang's expertise." She dipped her head towards him in acknowledgement, and several cats turned to look at him. "But we have come to expect that manner of depravity from Shadowclan after they exiled their elders. We know that under Brokenstar's rule, they have no use for anyone less than perfectly fit, no matter how dedicated they are to the Clan." 

Firepaw could see snarls and grimaces at her words, but she continued on. "These apprentices told me that they had been training under Brokenstar for two moons now." She paused, letting her words sink in for a moment. "But they had yet to reach their sixth moon!"

There was a shocked silence at her words. "Bluestar, what do you mean?" He heard one of the elders call. "Surely even Brokenstar wouldn't be foolish enough to train kits!" Near the nursery, he could see Speckleflight protectively wrap her tail around Snowkit. He was about five moons old now; nearly the same age as Mosspaw and Volepaw were, he realized.

"Foolish, or bloodthirsty?" Bluestar challenged. "Yes, it's true; Brokenstar has been training kits as young as three moons old as apprentices. The ones on our border today were barely five!" She looked down on her horrified Clan. "Brokenstar has broken one of the most sacred rules of our code by turning away a five moon old kit to die. The ones we found today were lucky that we were there to help them; the next ones may not."

There were growls and hisses from the Clan at her words. "What would you have us do, Bluestar?" It was Willowbranch, staring determinedly up at her leader as her tail lashed in tandem with Mistspring's.

"Tonight is the full moon, and so another Gathering." The silver molly swept her icy blue gaze over her Clan. "Brokenstar must atone for his crimes in front of all the Clans. If he does not…" She trailed off for a moment as her gaze landed on Snowkit. "If he does not, then we must consider him - and all of Shadowclan with him - like we would any kit-murdering rogue group on our borders." She dug her claws into the rock below her, shining in the low light of the setting sun. "Thunderclan will go to war!"

There were yowls of agreement at her words, and even Longtail was nodding in response to her words. It seemed that now that Brokenstar had horribly broken the warrior code, none in the Clan could argue with her. "Of course, tonight's Gathering will be dangerous. Given he does not respect the warrior code, I would not put it past him to break the truce when confronted with his crimes. It is also possible Brokenstar will send an assault on our borders for taking in his apprentices.  But Thunderclan must stand for what is right, or stand responsible for the atrocities he will continue to commit." The Clan nodded in understanding as she spoke. 

"For this reason, I am taking only our most seasoned warriors to the Gathering tonight. All elders, queens, and apprentices must remain behind to help guard the camp and our territory." There was no argument against her; as disappointed as he might be not to go, Firepaw was hardly eager to throw himself into the adder's nest that the Gathering would become. "Alongside Quickflash and Spottedleaf, I will be bringing Whitestorm, Tigerclaw, Lionheart, Tinyfrost, and Dappleshine." It was a small patrol, especially with no apprentices, but it consisted of the most elite warriors in the Clan; If they got into trouble at the Gathering, even Shadowclan would have trouble besting them. "The first night patrol will be Darkstripe, Mousefur, Peppermask, and Ravenpaw. The second night patrol will be Longtail, Sandstorm, Mistspring, and Cinderpaw."

Cinderpaw gave a tiny, excited squeal from beside Graypaw, and her brother gave her a hearty nudge in response. Firepaw threw her a small smile, but internally he was worried. What if Shadowclan attacked tonight? Would the Clan be ready?

He didn't voice his thoughts, however, as Bluestar gave a final nod to the Clan. "May Starclan watch over us. Meeting dismissed." With that, she hopped down, the warriors selected to go to the Gathering beginning to form around her.

"It's too bad you two are gonna be stuck in camp all night!" Cinderpaw crowed as she got to her feet, prancing around the other apprentices. "I hope I finally get the chance to show Shadowclan my stuff!" She jabbed out a couple of times at nothing, her paws a blur even as Firepaw focused on them. He had to admit; she'd become a fierce fighter in her own right, a far cry from the excitable but relatively innocuous apprentice she'd been when they first met.

"Good luck with that." Firepaw perked up as he heard a familiar voice speaking, and turned to see Peppermask had approached from the crowd. "Be safe out there, okay? Shadowclan's gotten a lot more dangerous now that they don't follow the code." She shuddered as she spoke. "Those poor kittens. Do you think they'll be okay?"

"Yellowfang and Dewpaw did a great job." Firepaw assured her with a small smile. "Do you want to come share a meal with us? For old times' sake?" He offered, gesturing to the tree stump the apprentices shared meals at.

She shook her head with a small smile. "Can't. I'm on the first night patrol, remember?" She looked to Ravenpaw, who was worriedly staring off into the distance. "I'm actually here for him. Darkstripe wants to go now, before the moon rises."

The black tom continued staring for a moment, as though he didn't hear her, before snapping back to attention as she prodded him with a silver paw. "Right! Coming!" He jumped to his feet and trotted over to where Darkstripe and Mousefur were already waiting.

The others stared off after him. "I don't suppose he was…?" Peppermask trailed off as she perked an ear towards Firepaw.

"I don't think so. I didn't see anything, anyways, and we know I can." He glanced to where Yellowfang was sitting by the healer's den, washing her ears. He didn't want to say too much, for fear of invoking her ire, but Peppermask seemed to get the point and nodded.

"Well, I best be off then. Be safe, all of you." With that, the spotted molly trotted off, leaving only the three apprentices in the middle of the clearing.

"What was that about?" Cinderpaw asked curiously, looking between the other two. No one had told her about Redtail, out of fear that she would accidentally say something to Tigerclaw or one of his cronies in her chattering. The two toms glanced at each other, wordlessly deciding who would get to lie to her this time.

"Ravenpaw's been worried that some wasps might be making a hive in camp. Apparently he found one in his nest." Firepaw fibbed, standing up and stretching. "I haven't seen any lately though."

She glared at him suspiciously for a moment. "You should've told me! Everyone knows I'm the best at spotting bugs! Ever since I was a little kit! I’ve got eyes like a hawk!" She crouched down with a grin, eyeing some invisible insect before pouncing. 

"My bad. I guess I didn't know." Firepaw rolled his eyes while the molly's back was turned to Graypaw, who stifled a giggle. "Hey, you should take the elders and queens their share for the evening. Graypaw and I already took care of it yesterday, so it's your turn."

"Aw, come on. It's not fair I have to do it alone!" The molly whined as she sat back on her haunches. "One of you should come with me!"

"Get Ravenpaw to help you." Her brother suggested cheekily as he began padding off.

"That's a great idea!" Cinderpaw replied, sprinting off for a moment while Firepaw and Graypaw giggled behind her. She stopped a few paces away from them as realization dawned on her. "Hold on…"

The two trotted happily out of close hearing range from her, settling down in the cool grass beside the tree stump. "So now what?" Firepaw asked the other tom. "Just stay up until something happens?"

The dark gray apprentice shrugged. "We should probably get some sleep too. If there's a war coming, we'll want to be well rested." He glanced at the fern entrance to the den, stifling a yawn. "I could use a few winks right now."

"Why don't we split watch? I'll take first watch, you take second." He tapped the other tom lightly with his tail. "Besides, I'm not that tired right now anyways." 

"Works for me!" Graypaw replied, standing up and stretching out for a moment. "See you in the morning." With that, he pushed past the fronds into the den, leaving Firepaw alone.

The ginger apprentice rested his head lightly on his paws, watching as Cinderpaw lugged squirrels around camp. The rest of camp was quiet, a few warriors and elders sharing tongues in the twilight air while Willowbranch and Dustleap kept a watchful eye on camp. 

It was almost peaceful, but he couldn't find it in him to relax. Every shadow felt like a potential threat, waiting to strike. Until Shadowclan was dealt with, he feared, nothing would feel safe.

[nonbinaryaubrey]

You're totally welcome!! But okay, so with my designs I initially went with pretty typical choices for the main group but decided to switch it up so they could be a bit more unique! I'm also just incredibly autistic about animals anyway so it allowed me to nerd out a bit more for the choices.

So let's get started!

Sunny- A black jewelled gecko. So I'm totally in agreement with Sunny being very cat-like, however, if there was another animal I'd immediately compare him too it would absolutely be a lizard of some kind. Cause lizards are pretty quiet usually, they're kind of alien in a way and thus hard to parse what they're thinking and of course they also have those big ole eyes. So choosing a gecko was pretty easy from there, and when I saw these guys I knew it would be the perfect fit.

Mari- A Yucatan banded gecko. Of course since Sunny is a gecko, Mari had to be one too, but I wanted to take some liberties with these designs so that I didn't just have two of essentially the same character. So I gave myself a rule, for characters that were related they had to be the same animal, but they could be different species. So for Mari, she's also a gecko, which I still feel is pretty relevant to what we knew of her personality. She was a bit strange, fascinated by insects and a bit of a prankster in her youth, and yet I feel this gecko also highlights that she has this beauty and grace to her as well.

Kel- A red fox. So the classic choice for Kel is typically a dog of some kind and I can definitely see why. Dogs are energetic, happy, and extremely loyal and Kel is definitely all those things. The main reason I didn't make him a dog is actually because I think a dog fits another of the characters even better, and I didn't want repeats of the same animals. So for Kel I decided to go with a fox! Foxes are typically portrayed to be clever and sly beasts, but in reality, they're actual total goofballs. They are exceedingly energetic too, and are even a bit mischievous at times. And while I think current Kel grew out of a lot of that, when he was a kid he totally fit the bill of being a troublemaker and so I thought a fox was a pretty fitting alternative.

Hero- A gray fox. So Hero had to be a fox as well, but I decided to make him a gray fox to match his color pattern more. They also are one of the few species of canid that can climb, and I feel like even though Hero has low stamina, he strikes me as the type to climb up in a tree as a way to escape, especially soon after Mari died. And, while Kel is more of the realistic depiction of foxes I feel like Hero would fall more in line with what fiction depicts them as. Maybe not sly, but definitely clever, judging by all the awards and accolades he's received over the years. That sharp wit of his was certainly fitting for a fox so I think it ended up lining up pretty well.

Aubrey- An asian red wolf. Now Aubrey was one of the trickiest ones to decide upon, but she's probably the choice I ended up the most happy with. Typically she's portrayed to be a bunny, since she's so fond of them, and at first I'd made her one too, a hare specifically. But once I started making changes to the others I wanted her to change too, but I was stumped as to what other animal she would be. It evaded me for a while, but in the meantime I watched omori playthroughs, and then it just hit me. Aubrey would be a perfect wolf. Because I was kind of analyzing Aubrey and I came to the conclusion that the friend group she had with the main six was her family in a way. Her mother and father never gave her the love and care she truly needed and her house was never truly a home. But with the main six, she truly felt loved and cared and provided for, they were her family. That's why I feel like it hits her so hard in particular with losing Mari, sure, they were never related, but in a way it felt like she had lost a sister just like Sunny had. And once the friend group broke apart, so did her safe space, so did her family. So what does she do? She finds another home, once again with a group of friends. She can't ever be safe in her house, but she can feel a sense of belonging when she's with a group of friends who love and care for her. And what does that sound like? It sounds like a pack, like she's forming packs because she can't stand being alone, just like a wolf. Additionally i think a wolf fits in making her look both pretty and intimidating and works as a fun contrast to other furry Aubreys, considering wolves eat rabbits. But yeah, I picked the asian red wolf specifically due to its gorgeous fur and the fact that making it pink wouldn't look too far off from it but yeah. As always I have so so many thoughts about Aubrey my beloved.

Basil- A blue merle border collie. So I said earlier that I had a character that fit the role of dog even more so than Kel, and that character would be Basil. The moment I decided to do a furrymori of my own I knew he was going to be a dog and that there was no other option. Here is my reasoning for this. What do people know about dogs? Well, they're undyingly loyal, generally very happy animals, they can't live without people, and most importantly, they love unconditionally. And this describes Basil to a t. Basil is extremely loyal to Sunny, more loyal than most best friends would ever be (see omori ending). And while he isn't always happy, he does always try to portray himself to be, nervously laughing constantly and putting up a forced smile. And Basil absolutely loves unconditionally. He loves Aubrey even when she rejects him and bullies him and nearly kills him. He loves Sunny even when he's responsible for Mari's death, and he still loves him even after he neglects him for four years. He still loves Kel and Hero, even as Kel ignores him and Hero moves away. Despite all of this, he loves them so deeply, without expecting anything in return. And that is truly the embodiment of a dog. (Oh and also the fact that he's extremely codependent, to the point where he "wouldn't be able to survive on his own" even). As for the specific breed, I personally just really like collies, but felt a collie itself would be too big for how little he is, so I decided to go with a border collie. Border collies with their ears and head fluff also kind of form the shape of his hair as well, which makes things easier for me. And the blue merle coat was also more personal preference but also because dogs colored up like this commonly have blue eyes so yeah.

And that's the main six! Still workshopping the hooligans and other primary main characters of the RW cast but there they are! They were a lot of fun to figure out and I'm really happy with all of them. Also so sorry for how late this is, it took me forever to remember the name of the species I based Mari on.

OOOOHH THESE CHOICES R SOO COOL !! love how u decided to go for some non-typical choices for them ..<33 (ESP with sunny and mari with making them non-mammals..!! love geckos and those 2 ones look so cool oogh..) ur reasoning for all of them is so fascinating too... the reason for Aubrey being a wolf.. cries loudly.... AWAUUGH.. and OOGGHGH i never. even considered that for basil. but waow.. that fits. SUPER well omg .. i love that so much oogh,,

👍👍👍i love all these choices sm.. so swag.. if u come up for things for any other characters id love to hear :D!!!

[jaybug-jabbers]

I want to chatter about bugs todayyyyy

So, last night I was on my usual evening walk, staring at the ground as you do (keeping an eye out for any bugs I didn't recognize, or any Very Good Toads or Froggos). And it's terribly dim and I see a fast-moving critter I think is an earwig, but then I see it pop up into the air for a bit before quickly landing again, and I think ho, this probably isn't an earwig. I snap a quick photo with my phone using the flash and when I get home I see it's this little dude. And I look him up and learn it's a webspinner.

I was very excited since I'd never seen it before. Looked up info about them and they are a fascinating species. Very elusive little things that normally live in damp hidy-holes inside networks of webs they spin. They live in loose colonies and they actually spin silk from their front legs! Here's a cute mini-documentary about them. This one here is a male since it has wings. He won't live long, he's just looking to mate and die.

Anyway that was super cool to find. Another story I have from yesterday, well apparently about a month ago my mom brought some potted plants into her bedroom. And yesterday her bathroom counter was covered in dozens of itty bitty baby mantises. She'd accidentally brought a mantis egg case into her room!

Less than a quarter-inch long little babbies. I carefully released them outside in the garden. God they're cute. Was tempted to raise some but I don't know how to raise the little guys, I would need to do proper research first, so I just let them go.

Speaking of the garden, my brother saw a grasshopper on the squash plant the other day:

Most likely a gray bird grasshopper. They're quite pretty to look at.

The cat also found a grub in the house (guessing it hitch-hiked on mom's potted plants as well)

An image search says this is a cutworm of some sort, probably a black cutworm. Guess I shouldn't have released it near the garden lol but oh well, it was in the tambark only slightly near the vegetables, it's probably done feeding anyway and just wants to nap and metamorphize. Probably.

Also here's another shot of the very pale mantises I find during my nightwalks on the sidewalks, looking for bugs drawn to the streetlights.

Okay that's enough bugs for one post

[voidsentprinces]

When Zenos finally shows up at the end of this 10 year arc:

Warrior of Light: SO! You're FINALLY BACK after like…seven more apocalypti. How was your WALK!?

Zenos: Got a little too excited and got a little lost. Turns out by consuming the last bit of the Mothercrystal, some…side effects happened.

-The Aetherstream-

Zenos: …I was made to believe there would be an entire life stream of souls just sitting around. WHERE IS EVERYONE!

Shade: Hello. Names Davyd, I was a book man.

Zenos: Didn't ask. But alright.

Shade: And I am saaaaaaad.

Zenos: Oh…JESUS!

Shade: Who?

Present Day Z: Turns out, I was stuck in the aetherstream playing judge, jury, and executioner with all the souls me and the Ascian's chaos destroyed.

Zenos: Soooo…you didn't have a TONNE of friends.

Davyd: I think it was because I was ugly.

Zenos: Mmm…probably?

Davyd: Oh.

Zenos: But who gives a fuck. That just means the people you did business with, were clients for YOU! Not for some other bullshit reason.

Davyd: Oh. OH SHIT YOU RIGHT! THANKS MAN! fades

Zenos: Well…that was weird.

Shade: HEeeeeEeeeEeyyy…

Zenos: Hello?

Shade: I'm Jaquas, a Serpent of Gridania

Zenos: OOooooooooh….

Jaquas: and I don't want to be racist BUUUUUT!

Zenos: SHEEEEEEEEETTTTT!!!

Present Day Z: And my only way out was bringing peace to these dead souls.

2 Expansions Later

Shade: And I'd just…get SO angry every time I saw a cat girl kiss another cat girl.

Zenos: You ever think that was because YOU wanted to BE the CAT GIRL! Because if you Fantasia somehow your Warrior buddies from Ishgard would think less of you?

Shade: Ah…AH SHIT!

Zenos: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Shade: …you wanna make out?

Zenos: I don't date patients.

Shade: That's fair fades

Zenos: NEXT!

4 expansions later

Present Day Z: Started actually getting half good at it.

Shade: So he resented me because I never made time for him, unless I asked?

Zenos: BINGO! Cause if it REALLY MATTERED! You'd of made time for him…between the crippling Triple Triad addiction of course.

Shade: DAMN! fades

Zenos: NEXT!

Shade: Don't know why she was angry. I told her, I'd be happy no matter what she chose!

Zenos: Look lady, she wasn't looking for a yes person. She was looking for a PARTNER! You are together to make hard choices together! Not just be a CRUTCH!

Shade: AH SHIT!

Zenos: NEXT!

Shade: I don't get it my schoolmates are all interested in other gender but I--

Zenos: Have you ever heard of the gray spectrum of the Pride Cavalry? Asexuality is welcome there. Here this pamphlet might help out!

Shade: OH SHIT! Thanks man.

Zenos: Do not THANK the man who got you MURDERED! NEXT!

Zenos: People wouldn't of disrespected you for glamouring into a moogle head and a bright pink dress. THEY WOULD OF WORSHIPPED THE GROUND YOU WALK ON!

Present Day Z: Turns out like…a third of them just hadn't realized they could just glamour into dresses or pants suits and the world would actually love them for it.

Zenos: And again, that's why your relationships kept failing…BILLBOARD.

Zenos: Dude, you are ALLOWED to love S.C.I.O.N.S. that much, it was a GOOD show!

Zenos: YOU'RE GAY! Halone ISN'T STRAIGHT…I think?

Zenos: Getting mad at Allagan Projecting Media made for teenage lasses was dumb then AND ITS DUMB NOW!

Zenos: Do not mistake youthful selfishness for GENUINE malice. No one wasn't a little shit when they were 16 winters in and at least one calamity deep.

Zenos: YOU LITTLE SHIT!

Zenos: Yoooooooouuuu…

Shade of Z: …….

Zenos: …

Shade of Z: …are WE a BAD person?

Zenos: Weeeeeellll…lets start with that time we killed a bunch of Domans for SPORT!

Shade of Z: We WERE pretty MAD at DAD that day…

Present Day Z: And then I spent the next 4 years on THAT…

Warrior of Light: Couldn't you of just killed them all?

Zenos: AH! I TRIED!…ESPECIALLY ON ME.

[fics-n-stuff-n-stuff]

Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox

all fairy tail characters basically -

Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic

Fluff and Angst / Romance / Friendship / developing feelings/ Lucy has new spirits I checked constellations and gave her ones I thought were cool

Summary

Lucy is thrown into a world she didn’t know existed. Join her as she unravels this new world full of magic that brings adventure, romance and destruction along with it.

———

Just a modern re-telling of Fairy tail following its arcs with a few twists and turns along the way💞

You can also read it here -

—————————————————

Chapter 15

In the days following the New Year's party, when everyone in Fairy Tail was settled, mostly sober and back in their own homes, Lucy was surprised to get a call from Wendy so early in the morning, asking her to meet at the guild.

It was an early January morning, the snow had finally stopped falling after almost two days, and Lucy was cursing the gods for having to trek through it.

If only she hadn't left the comfort of her apartment.

Where everything was warm.

But Wendy had sounded a bit forlorn over the phone, and Lucy was worried about the young healer. She liked to think that they had a good friendship, but it seemed as though the bluenette was avoiding her.

Maybe it was all in her head, and Lucy was sure that meeting with her and talking it out would definitely help.

That's why she was treading through the damn snow instead of being in her warm apartment, with a mug of tea and a good book, surrounded by the freeloaders that have settled in her home.

Natsu and Happy had opted to spend the night with her after the guild's festivities, as they have done most nights since she got the apartment, so she left them sleeping in the living room.

But not before making sure she had enough food for them when they woke up.

Honestly, those two should start paying rent, or at least buy some groceries! They spend more time in her apartment than in their own house.

'I'm always at your place because you're there, ya weirdo! If you hung out here, that's where I'd be.' Natsu's words from when they had a sleepover at his cabin weeks ago echoed through Lucy's head, making a blush appear on her cheeks from more than just the cold.

That idiot will be the death of her.

Going around spouting nonsense, not thinking before he speaks, his complete lack of respect for personal space. It's like he doesn't even understand the implications of his actions or words.

Oh, who was she kidding, of course, he doesn't! Natsu views her as his friend and partner.

Though taking into consideration her and Levy's conversation from the other day and the state of his apartment before she cleaned it, she really didn't know what to think.

Lucy doesn't see what Levy does, but his house did look like no one has spent time there in a while.

She just can't picture Natsu not being around all the time, going from job to job, and keeping everyone at arm's length.

Does he pester her to go on jobs every other day? Yes. But at the same time, they spend so much time together.

Lucy had never been this close to another person that she wasn't related to, and while she could confidently say that she was friends with a lot of the members, even best friends with some, it was a little scary how easily they managed to entwine their lives together.

She can't even imagine a day without seeing or talking to the fire drakon, or his silly cat. Did his settling really have something do to with her coming to the guild?

Or was it something else?

Seeing the guild from a distance Lucy shook herself from her thoughts, they'd only send her spiraling if she continued down that road.

Picking up her pace Lucy made her way into the warmth of Fairy Tails guild hall.

As she walked in she noted that it was mostly empty, which was not surprising.

It was barely 8 am.

Mira was tending to the bar as usual and waved at Lucy when she noticed her walking in. "Good morning! You're here early today." She greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning Mira, I'm actually here to meet Wendy. She said she wanted to talk to me." Lucy greeted back, turning to look around.

She spotted Nab searching through the job board as usual and could see Wakaba and Macao drinking their coffee, surrounded by a cloud of smoke.

There were a few more people scattered around the tables, everyone was enjoying the peace, and a quiet that you can only experience early in the morning at Fairy Tail.

Wendy was sitting alone at one of the tables in the back, she had a drink in front of her and was staring at it as if transfixed by the liquid.

Lucy looked back at Mira. "Can you get me some tea please?" The white-haired mage nodded at her and the blonde made her way to Wendy.

"Hey." She said as she sat across from the girl, startling her out of her thoughts.

Wendy looked up at Lucy and smiled at her. It was a small smile, but genuine. "Good morning." The bluenette greeted her with a slight quiver in her voice.

"Wendy, is everything okay?" Lucy started after a few moments of silence.

"I just have a feeling that you've been avoiding me these past few weeks. If I've done anything at all to upset you, please tell me." She continued, hoping she hadn't done anything that caused the young healer distress.

Wendy sat up straight at her words, her eyes bulged out comically and the girl started waving her hands in front of her.

"No, no. You didn't do anything. I promise!" She cried out suddenly. "It's, it's me. I'm the one who did something." Wendy's gaze dropped to the table, avoiding Lucy's eyes.

Thoroughly confused at the young girl's words, Lucy went to speak, wanting to ask her what she meant, but a thud on the table made her shift her gaze and when she looked down Lucy saw Wendy's hand placed palm down on the wood.

As the bluenette lifted her hand, she revealed a golden gate key.

"What? How?" Lucy's brain had stopped working the moment she saw the key.

"This is Capricorn." She marveled as she went to pick it up.

There was a spark of magic when she touched the key and it made her smile. "Hello, old friend." She whispered to the key.

Lucy looked back up at Wendy, wanting to thank the girl and ask her where she managed to find the key when she saw the younger girl's head was dropped into her arms, and her shoulders were shaking.

As if she were crying.

"Hey, hey, Wendy." Lucy dropped the key on the table and went over to sit beside the sky drakon.

She put her hands on the girl's shoulders, rubbing them in comfort. "What's wrong?" Lucy asked, slightly panicked at the turn of events.

What could've made her cry so suddenly?

"I'm, I'm so sorry Lucy." Wendy managed to say through sobs as she continued to cry. "Hey, don't apologize, there is nothing to be sorry about. Just let it all out." Lucy continued rubbing her shoulders and brought her into her arms.

Mira approached the table at that moment,  a steaming mug in hand, and the older mage looked at Lucy with concern in her eyes at the sight of the crying sky drakon.

Lucy waved her off, mouthing that they'll talk later and Mira nodded, eyeing the key as she placed the mug on the table before turning to leave the two girls.

Wendy's crying slowed down, and the girl withdrew from Lucy's arms, sniffling as she did, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

She looked at the key on the table, and then back to Lucy. "I found it in my hoard a week ago. I'm so sorry for not giving it to you sooner." Her eyes welled up with tears again as she spoke. "It was a part of Grandeeney's hoard."

That came out whispered, and Lucy barely managed to hear the girl. "I always found it weird that she had a golden key in her hoard. She and I prefer diamonds." The healer explained, and Lucy felt her stomach drop at her words.

So two dragons were in possession of her mother's keys?

"A few weeks before she disappeared, we were in her cave and she insisted on me taking a few things and finally starting my own collection." Wendy continued, her voice less shaky, her tears finally ceasing.

"I never understood why she made me take the key." She looked directly into Lucy's eyes with determination. "I do now. That's why I'm apologizing, I should have given it to you sooner. You obviously know the spirit, and it belonged to your mother."

The girl proclaimed in one breath and then looked back down at the table in shame. Lucy was taken aback, she looked at Wendy and then back at Capricorn's key.

"So my mother knew two dragons?" Was the first thing that came out of her mouth, it was the only thing circling through her head.

Wendy's eyes snapped back to her. "I was still wrapping my head around the fact that Natsu had one. It didn't even cross my mind that you might as well." She said, looking at the younger girl and smiling at her.

Lucy moved to squeeze one of Wendy's hands. "You have nothing to apologize for." She told the girl in a gentle tone. "I understand. I mean I don't collect any sparkly treasure, but I understand that it was hard for you to part with it because of your mother."

Wendy took a sharp intake of breath at Lucy's words, her eyes welling up with tears once more.

"I can relate to that, losing my mom was hard, and I want to keep as many things that remind me of her as possible." Lucy smiled at the young girl, wanting her to know that it was okay.

"Though, at least there's hope for you and Natsu to reunite with them." She added.

She didn't want to give the girl any false hope, but she knew that her partner believed his father was alive. And Lucy couldn't help but have faith in him, and his instincts.

They've saved her countless times so far.

Wendy threw herself into Lucy's arms, surprising the blonde and making them sway slightly on the bench. "Thank you." The young girl mumbled into her neck, and Lucy only smiled and moved her hand to stroke the girl's hair.

"I should be thanking you. I know how hard it was for you, and Natsu to give me a piece of them. I will forever be grateful for your kindness." Lucy told her, wanting Wendy to know that she appreciated their gesture and the magnitude behind it.

Wendy moved out of her hold and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry for crying so much." She chuckled and Lucy giggled as she waved her off. "Please, I cry more than anyone."

Wendy laughed harder at her response and Lucy smiled at the sight. It was nice to hear her laugh.

"You know, I see now why Natsu likes you so much." The young girl stated suddenly and Lucy furrowed her brows and looked at her in question.

"I mean, I always thought you were nice." The younger girl suddenly backtracked, realizing how that sounded.

"But Natsu has always been so reserved with everyone but Happy, and me sometimes. He's been chasing after Igneel since I met him, never relenting or giving up on finding him. It was inspiring when I first met him." Wendy elaborated.

"Knowing I wasn't alone, that there was someone out there who knew how I felt, knowing that if he managed to find Igneel, maybe there was a chance for me to find Grandeeney. It made me feel better." The blunette sighed, racking her hands through her bangs.

"After a few years, we were all so worried about him. He would come here to eat and drink sometimes or pick a fight when he was in a mood.

But it was always about the next job, and going out there to find his father.

The longest I remember him staying consistently was when Happy and Charla hatched." There was a faraway look in the girl's eyes, and Lucy could tell she was reminiscing.

"Even then it was only for maybe a month or two."

Lucy started at the bluenette, not knowing how to feel, she had a similar conversation with Levy about this just the other day, and she was thinking about it before coming here.

And now here was Wendy, telling her a similar story.

The young bluenette continued talking before Lucy had the chance to say anything, not that she knew what to say.

"When he brought you in that night I didn't think anything of it. He's never brought anyone back to the guild, sure, but you were in bad shape so I could understand." Wendy shrugged, pausing to take a breath.

"But then the next morning he brought you over to meet Levy and me, he got you breakfast, and took you back to Hargeon so you could summon Aquarius and get your things." She trailed off as she turned to look at Lucy with a small smile.

"I've never seen him act like that. The next thing I know, you guys are a team, and he's spending all this time in the guild." Wendy finished with a smile, and Lucy was still taken aback.

There was a beat of silence as Lucy tried to wrap her head around the fact that she, might in fact, be the reason for Natsu's change of pace.

'Does everyone in Fairy Tail feel this way?' Lucy thought as she searched for what she could possibly say to that when her ringtone startled her from her thoughts.

"Shit, sorry, just a sec." Lucy told Wendy as she went to fish the device out of her pocket.

"You're up early." She said into the speaker as she answered, knowing without having to look who was on the other line. "I woke up and you were gone." Was his only response and Lucy giggled at his almost whiny tone.

"I decided to head to the guild early this morning, not my fault you like to sleep in." Lucy chided him, before continuing with a sweeter tone. "There's food for you in the fridge and some fish in the freezer for Happy." She told him, hoping that would save her apartment from being burned down by their cooking attempts.

"Nah, I wanted us to have breakfast. I'll just come to the guild and we can eat together. Happy already ate the fish though." Lucy's brows raised at his denial of food and she heard a muffled 'Aye!' in the background from Happy, and rolled her eyes playfully at the cats' antics.

"Okay, I'll wait for you then. Make sure to bundle up Happy! It's freezing outside. And wear the boots I bought you!" She told him as she went to end the call.

"But Lushii, they're constricting, I like my sandals." He definitely whined this time, and Lucy laughed at his pathetic tone.

"Don't be a baby and just do it, it's the middle of winter and you will not be going around in sandals, I do not care that you're a creature of fire!" Lucy told him sternly, going to take a sip of her tea to calm herself.

"Aye, I'll wear the boots, just don't get all scary." He relented with a sigh, and Lucy smiled in triumph. "Good, and hurry up I'm hungry." She told him before ending the call.

Lucy looked down at her phone and smiled at her new lock screen photo.

The home screen stayed the same painting from Reedus, but her lock screen was now a picture of her, Natsu, and Happy at the New Year's party.

Mirajane managed to snap a photo of the three of them dancing, and Lucy loved it so much.

They just looked so happy and carefree.

"I don't think he's ever refused a meal just so he could eat with someone." Wendy marveled and Lucy jumped at the sound of her voice, she'd forgotten the girl was there.

A blush heated her cheeks as she turned to look at the younger girl. "Yeah, that threw me off too. But you know Natsu, you can never anticipate his next move." She said making the bluenette giggle in response.

"You got him there." She chuckled. "I'm glad he met you, though." Wendy stated, changing the topic suddenly.

"It's nice seeing him spend so much time here. We've actually gotten closer in these three months more than we have in the past years, so thank you for that." The girl told her, turning serious all of a sudden, making Lucy blanch at her words.

"I really don't think I had much to do with that, though I am also glad that I met him."Lucy said with an almost bashful smile.

"I mean he brought me here. I got to meet all of you and join Fairy Tail. My life will never be the same and it's all because of him." Lucy continued talking despite her best efforts.

She hadn't been aware of how much she needed to get this off her chest, and it seemed that Wendy was the unwilling participant to Lucy's inner monologue coming out.

"He challenges me and pushes me in ways that I never thought I needed. But most importantly, he believes in me, and I've never really had that." Lucy trailed off, forgetting what her point was for a moment.

"So no need to thank me. I'm the one who is eternally thankful to him, I'd be dead 10 times over if it weren't for Natsu."

There was a moment of silence, a moment in which Lucy realized what she'd said out loud.

Looking around she made sure the guild was still mostly scarce, she really hoped no one overheard that.

Mira especially.

Lucy turned to smile at Wendy, it was a slightly awkward smile, and she knew her cheeks were cherry red by this point.

Wendy, bless her heart, seeing how uncomfortable she was, saved Lucy from herself and changed the subject smoothly.

"So, what kind of spirit is Capricorn?" The girl asked her with genuine enthusiasm and Lucy smiled gratefully at her before re-telling the memories she had of the Goat Spirit to the bluenette.

* ********* ********** ********** ********* *

"I'm boreed." Natsu exclaimed as he sat down next to Lucy. "Happy ditched us to go on a job with Charla and Wendy!" He almost whined. "Luce, why don't you go and pick a job for us, please? It's your turn." He put his head on her shoulder as he pouted up at her.

Lucy turned from her book to look at him and chuckled at his expression. "Erza went out with them too, and Gray actually agreed to go on a job with Juvia." She told him as she looked around the guild.

Most of the teams were gone on jobs.

She could see Cana drinking with Laxus at the bar, the rest of the Thunder Legion spread out through the guild, mingling with the rest of the mages.

"So what? We can still go, the two of us. You were my partner first." He grumbled the last part under his breath, making Lucy chuckle at him. "Please, I'm so bored and we haven't taken a job since before Christmas!" He pleaded with her.

"You could try out your new spirits in battle?" He told her and Lucy caved at the puppy eyes.

"Fine, I'll go see if there's anything interesting on the board." She told him as she went to stand.

There was a 'Whoop' from the fire mage that made her roll her eyes as she made her way towards the raised platform where Nab was perpetually looking for a job.

"Anything interesting?" She asked the man as she joined him.  Nab looked at her for a second before turning back to the board with a sigh.

"Nothing for me really, but you might like that one." He pointed to a flyer pinned to the wood. "Though if you're planning on going with Natsu, good luck making him take it."

Lucy looked over the flyer and instantly took it off the board. "Oh, ye of little faith. Watch me." She smiled at the man before making her way to her and Natsu's table.

"I found the perfect one!" She beamed at the pinkette as she put the paper between them. Natsu perked up at that and moved to look over the job.

His excitement was short-lived, as he groaned the moment he read through it. "This sounds even more boring than sitting around here." Natsu complained.

"Hey, we did what you wanted last time! I'm still trying to get my boots clean after that Vulcan incident." She argued back, shivering at the thought of the monster's guts covering her boots and pants.

She threw the pants away.

Natsu had the forethought to look sheepish as she reminded him of their last escapade, moving to scratch the back of his head. "I said I was sorry. I didn't think he'd explode like that." He shrugged as he tried to save himself. "I'll buy you new ones!"

"Well, it doesn't matter now. You said to pick a job and I did. Now I'm going to go and get it approved by Mira and we're leaving tomorrow morning. Got it?" Lucy told him as she took the paper from his hands.

"Aye, sir!" Natsu mumbled in defeat and buried his chin in his scarf.

Lucy smiled at him and made her way to the bar. "Hey, Mira." She greeted the girl.

"Hi, Lucy, can I get you some more tea?" The bartender asked her as she made her way to where she was standing.

The blond waved her off and put the paper in between them on the counter. "No, I need you to catalog this, Natsu and I are going to take it." She told the white-haired mage, who smiled in return and took the flyer to look over.

"Hmm, I don't remember this one coming in, they've never asked for help before. But everything looks good, so I'll catalog it for you. Make sure to keep him in line, yeah?" Mira asked Lucy, who chuckled and smiled at the girl.

"I'll try my best, but no promises!" Lucy bantered back, knowing that if Natsu set his mind to something, there wasn't really much that could stop him.

* ********* ********** ********** ********* *

Sakuramori Village was more like a city than a village. Not as large as Magnolia or Crocus. But big in its own right.

Lucy looked around as they walked down the main street. She loved visiting new places.

Her limited traveling opportunities as a child and young adult left her with a thirst for adventure and discovering new things.

Thankfully, her partner was an expert on both. It was never a dull day with Natsu Dragneel.

They were on their way to the local museum, the job description said there was a magical item accidentally on display that got stolen. There weren't many details, but the pay was good, and it sounded like a low-risk job.

One day, Lucy will learn that there were no 'Low Risk' jobs or situations when Fairy Tail was involved.

"You know they have some really good smoked meats here." Natsu said suddenly as he sniffed the air.

Her partner was also an expert when it came to food.

"We can check out all of that later. Let's go find our client and see what was stolen."

Lucy told him and pulled his hand so he wouldn't wander into a restaurant.

"I think they might have a magic shop here. We could check to see if they have any keys?" Natsu asked her, and Lucy turned to look at him with a curious expression.

"You said you wanted me to take you to every magic shop I know of." He told her with a small shrug, and Lucy was taken aback by the fact he paid attention.

"I didn't think you'd remember that." Lucy admitted to him shyly, turning her head to hide her blush. She should be used to his behavior by now, but he somehow manages to catch her off guard every time.

"'Course I remembered, it's you! Now let's go and beat up some thieves and then we can eat!" He told her, before suddenly taking her hand in his and sprinting towards the Museum.

* ********* ********** ********** ********* *

"You are an idiot." Lucy panted out as they stopped in front of the large wooden doors.

"Let's go see what all the fuss is about." Natsu replied, ignoring her insult, and pushed the doors open.

Lucy walked behind him, admiring her surroundings.

She had always loved museums. Her mother took her to a couple before her death, and being here has brought back wonderful memories of happier times.

"Wow, this place is fancy. I hope I don't accidentally break something." Natsu mumbled to her as they walked through the building, hands in his pockets as he looked around the various artifacts surrounding them.

"Just keep close to me and don't make any sudden movements. You'll be fine." Lucy reassured him as she looked for any of the staff.

Spotting a smartly dressed woman with a name tag, Lucy beelined for her, Natsu on her heel.

"Good afternoon, we are here from Fairy Tail. May I please speak to whoever is in charge?"Lucy smiled at the woman, who in turn looked at them with a smile of her own.

"That would be me. Helena Carter, head curator."

"Nice to meet you, Helena, My name is Lucy, this is Natsu, we're here on behalf of the posting you put out. Something regarding a stolen artifact?"

The woman looked utterly confused at Lucy's words. "I am sorry. You must be mistaken, we haven't had anything stolen from our museum." Helena replied, looking slightly bewildered and Lucy furrowed her brows at her confusion.

She was sure they were in the right place.

"Oh, we must have mixed up the towns, I apologize for the disturbance!"

She tried to sound casual and hoped the woman wouldn't get suspicious.

"It's not a problem, enjoy your visit here." The brunette dismissed them with a polite smile before leaving.

Lucy turned to Natsu with a frown. "That was weird." She told him.

Natsu shrugged and put his hands behind his head with a sigh. "I can't believe I rode a train here for hours for nothing." He pouted slightly and turned to look at her.

"Can we go eat now?" He pleaded with her and Lucy sighed.

"I need to call Mira and see if maybe I did get the town mixed up, and I kind of want to check out the Museum a little too." Lucy replied with a pout of her own, making the fire drakon sigh in defeat.

"Okay, but hurry and call the she-demon."

Lucy beamed at him before pulling out her phone to call Mira, hoping she really did get the town mixed up.

The white-haired mage picked up after two rings. "How's the job going? Did you make it to Sakuramori Village?" She greeted Lucy.

"So I didn't get anything mixed up, hey Mira, I was actually calling to confirm that we were supposed to come here. The head of the Museum didn't seem to know anything about you know the big M. And there hasn't been anything stolen either."

Lucy rambled to the girl, minding to keep her voice quiet, they were in a Museum.

"Oh, well that's strange. I'll go check with the Master and call you back." Mira told her before hanging up.

Lucy put her phone back in her pocket and turned to Natsu. "Okay, let's go explore."

She smiled at him and gleefully made her way through the different exhibits, the pinkette following behind her with a small smile of his own as he watched her.

"Ooh, this is from one of the Dongxia dynasties. They were supposedly mighty warriors of the sea."

Lucy went around the Museum, explaining the exhibits she knew to Natsu, and reading out loud the ones she didn't.

He didn't ask for a history lesson, but then again she didn't really care. And he wasn't complaining.

"So they were like pirates?" Natsu asked, sounding excited about the idea.

"Well, there are stories of pirates from everywhere, not just Dongxia. But they were known for being unbeatable on the sea. They had advanced boats for that time" Lucy told him, and his face paled at the thought of a boat.

"On second thought, I don't think I could be a pirate." He said suddenly and Lucy laughed at his ridiculousness. "Come on, this one looks cool." She said as she dragged him to the next room.

They walked around for a few minutes before Lucy saw something that stopped her in her tracks. "You good Luce?" Natsu asked her as he noticed her stillness. 

"Natsu, am I going crazy, or does that look like?" Lucy trailed off as she carefully approached the glass in which a shining golden object was encased.

"That kinda looks like one of your keys or part of it." Natsu said from over her shoulder.

There in a glass display, in the middle of a Museum in Sakuramori Village was half of a gate key.

"Leo." Lucy said as she looked at the constellation embellished onto the gold.

[trashyandtiredsol]

Okay @kredena-dark you have unlocked an unskippable rant!!! :D

Some of this is just me explaining stuff, so don't mind that- actually idk I'm just info dumping rn, it explaining everything in full detail, but still explaining :P

Idk how long it'll be so- CUT TIME

💚Okay- posca pens!! Fuckin love those!! It's a liquid marker of sorts and there are thinner nib ones and thicker nib ones. There's also a very limited amount of color options. Which include pastel like colors, black, white, gray, silver, gold, basic color saturated colors, forgot if the green is more of a forest green or a more vibrant green tho :P

They can be so smooth and solid looking!! Which is what I like about them!! It's like markers but better!! :D

Really wanna get every single color for myself instead of only using them at school :/

💚 Woodworking has been going really great so far!! For woodworking 1 I took last year, it was introducing all the machines, taking safety tests on those machines plus ones for how to be safe in the workshop. It's where I made a box and a shelf were the drawer is now stuck in, which sucks, plus a phone holder with 2 holes for pencils.

Woodworking 2- very nice~ I'm working on another shelf, this time with 3 drawers!! And hopefully they won't get stuck :P. We also make a bowl, which I'll fully fully work on once my shelves done!! We actually learned a new machine for this!! It's able to make the wood rounded, so we can make a bowl and practice making the wood rounded.

💚Ink is a very nice tool for traditional art in my opinion!! You can put a blob of sorts and shape it however you want, then once it's dry you can use a sharpie or a pen or a fineliner sharpie pen to make something out of it :D

You can also just use the line pens and sharpies by themselves and create different values with thicker or thinner lines and I have shaky hands!! Which can really make your lines feel more organic in a way!! Also really helps me feel loose drawing!! But then sometimes it's rather annoying, like with digital art and when I want to make smooth straight and curved lines!!

💚 Speaking of digital art~

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HOW THAT'S BEEN GOING FOR ME SINCE I'VE STARTED DIGITAL ART!! :D

I think it was..... Less than a year ago? Around that long ago :P

Anyway- I've made myself my own Sona and it's great!! My hair color and just having a pixie cut hair works quite well with the cat ears!! And all the markings and just- everything that's gone into making them has been so great~

And the art apps I use!! It took a few tries with multiple other art apps and looking up which would work for a phone and what was free to use. But I found Infinite Painter and HiPaint and they are so great!!

I found Infinite Painter first off, and it's worked splendidly and hasn't crashed or glitched on me at all!! And the brush options are so nice!! It's a great beginner digital art app, it doesn't overload you with so many brush customizations!! Even though there still are plenty of customizations, you don't have to adjust them if you don't want to!! You can just change the opacity and size of it if you want!!

And then there's HiPaint!! I REALLY like the brushes this app has, it's actually so much better than Infinite Painter!! And you can customize the stabilizer!! I currently have it a 20%. I actually thought I'd have it at some higher percentage since my hands shake, but it's quite comfortable at 20%!! I could maybe slide it to 21 -25% , just for a bit more smoothness. And- this app has glitched out once before and it wouldn't let me do anything at all!! So I tried restarting my phone a couple times and that didn't work so I uninstalled it AND I FRICKIN LOST MY PROJECTS ON IT AJSJDJFJFFKDJF that fuckin sucked, but luckily I already posted the doodles I did on there and I screenshotted the sona sketch I did, but I did loose my linework and the start of me coloring it :/. But I did redo the linework and finished it all and it looks very nice!! So didn't really lose anything permanently!! It hasn't glitch again so that's good~

💚hmmmm I'm running out of what to add!! Might just leave this as is~

Idk I wanna show this as soon as possible so I can talk more about this with you Kredena!!

(this is mainly for Kredena, but to anyone else reading, I hope you like this all!!)

Ye you know what idk what else to add, probably all my head cannons and such for every fandom I've ever been in, but I don't even remember all of that rn so- this is it I guess, maybe at least for now!! :D

💚Update: BANNER IDEAS FOR MY BLOG HERE :D

I have some very nice ideas!! There's one with my sona wearing my in progress green scarf!! There's another with a winter setting with a certain way the trees would look that I really wanna try doing!! There's a flower pattern idea for spring!! I also wanna do one with a pattern with better pumpkins and fall leaves and candy corn!! For summer I'd probably do a Sona drawing with a sunny background with my sona wearing shades and, OH OH MAYBE STANDING IN AN OCEAN!! OH I LOVE THOSE CONCEPTS SO FRICKIN MUC AJSJDDJFJajsjsjdjsffjdjAHSHDajsjdhASJDHDjajsdj!!

[sunny6677]

The Investigation.

(Based off of The Missing Children by Chillia's Art)

Summary: John and Jack are both called to investigate the case of three missing children.

Chapter 1: The First Investigation.

TWS: MURDER, IMPLIED MURDER, GORE, HORROR, DEAD ANIMAL, DEAD CATS, BLOOD, PROFANITY.

————

OCTOBER 27TH, 2011.

TWO TEENAGERS AND ONE CHILD HAVE GONE MISSING IN THE TOWN OF [REDACTED] WHO ALL GO BY THE NAMES ROY [REDACTED], SUSIE WONDER, AND WILLIAM WONDER. SUSIE WONDER AND WILLIAM WONDER WERE REPORTEDLY LAST SEEN WALKING NEAR THE LOCAL FOREST. ROY [REDACTED] WAS ALSO REPORTEDLY LAST SEEN WALKING INTO THE LOCAL FOREST. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, HE SEEMED TO BE FOLLOWING A MAN WHO THEY KNEW TO BE RELATED TO HIM.

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW HAPPENS TO KNOW ABOUT THEIR LOCATION, PLEASE DIAL—

————

"John?"

John blinked, his dark eyes having a scrim of moisture that made his pupils glisten. Nearby vehicles passed, and drenched sheets of rain were scattering for the nearest place to the land among the nearby grass. Dark clouds were shielding the moon from giving off its light that was caused by the sun. The rain was scattered so much among the road that a gray fog was caused beneath it all as it poured onto the path.

The car lights from a nearby vehicle passed by yet again, briefly brushing John's face if only for a moment. He looked to the side, glancing at the source of whomever had spoken his name. A man who sat beside him had an arched brow, looking down at John softly in a way most people wouldn't look at John. John let out a sigh, the cigarette from within his mouth barely moving.

"..what is it, Jack?"

Jack kept his eyes on him, his hands still clenched onto the wheel tightly. Another vehicle passed by, roaring waves of rain forming from out of the wheels that roughly grazed against the road. "You weren't really talking to me for a moment. Are you sure you aren't getting sick?" Jack inquired, his head slightly cocking to the side.

John let out another sigh, looking down at his own lap. He could hear the nearby zooming of the vehicles that passed, and he could certainly hear the beads of rain pounding against the car windows. "Dont worry, Jack.. I'm fine. Besides.. this investigation seems pretty important. I don't think I'd be allowed to stay hoke this time.."

Jack blinked. He then looked back at the road ahead of him. Red and blue lights began to flash from the corner of John's eye. His eyes darted over to the window he was sitting beside. A vehicle zoomed past, the black and white coloring of the model still visible even within the sheets of rain that kept pouring down. Red and blue lights shimmered from the top of the vehicle, and even as it began to drive off into the distance, it was still almost blinding to look at.

The pounding of the rain began to become more louder, aching within John's ears like a powerful sound of crashing thunder. John could barely hear the sounds of the radio over the damn noise. If only the weather wasn't so damn rainy, then maybe this investigation would have been easier. He could only imagine what it'd be like if any hostile confrontations were to occur. Hell, he couldn't even see up ahead of him due to the fog. 'Hope to god this damn rain'll pass..' John thought.

The walki-talki attached to Jack's chest then began to emit a static sound, and in turn, that only caused John to scrunch his nose. There were way too many loud noises right now, and it certainly didn't help that he felt like shit. His house was burnt down by a cult. He and Jack had to fight off a cannibal serial killer who had gone loose fairly recently. And now, there was this.

A voice began to speak from Jack's walki-talki being the rough sounds of the fuzzy static that John couldn't bear to have to listen to all of the time. The voice belonged to a male officer that they both knew, though the male officer in question was at a lower rank in the police department than they were. "Uh.. hey, I think we got a code 802d here.. there's some cat in the road, and it ain't movin'. We're just about near the forest already, so I think a wild animal must have killed it or somethin'.."

John repressed another sigh that tried to make its way out of his mouth. Jack only grabbed onto the walki-talki with his slender hand, and brought it close to his mouth. Speaking into it, Jack replied, "...well, okay. Does it have any injuries?"

The male officer on the other side of the radio merely responded, "...looks to be scratched up real bad. We ain't sure if it might have been a wild animal, or if maybe someone killed it. It looks like—". The male officer went quiet for a moment. "It looks like it must have been somethin' pretty big. I'll see if me and the person I'm drivin' with can take care of it."

Jack merely let out a sigh. It was only a few minutes into this investigation, and already, there were more dead things than either he or John thought there would be. He then spoke into the walki-talki, "Alright.. we'll try and investigate it with you when we get back from checking the forest out. Whatever you do, keep an eye out. If there's a wild animal, it might not be too good to stay out for too long."

There was a brief moment of silence yet again. "Alright." The male officer responded.

It then went silent again, and Jack re-attached the walki-talki to his chest with a grim expression. His mouth was curled down into a frown, and his eyebags looked more present than they usually were. If John had to guess, this was probably gonna be a long night for the both of them. "Ya think it might have been a coyote or somethin'?" John mumbled through the cigarette in his mouth.

"..maybe. We might have to tell people in the town to look after their animals more.." Jack replied, glancing over at John. A brief flash of light from a streetlight made Jack's face appear bright for a moment, before the vehicle that was passing them by eventually vanished into the distance of the fog behind them. John looked away from Jack, and looked down at his lap yet again. There was a box of donuts laying near his upper legs that Jack had been eating out of for most of the day. John only assumed he probably wouldn't be eating for this sort of investigation though.

The car made a repeated clicking sound, and the only thing John could see were the lights in the car among the pitch-black darkness. A vehicle up ahead began to drive away from the very place they were heading, zooming past them and creating a brief flash of light that brushed their faces again.

John furrowed his brows. This was going to be a rough investigation. He knew it would be. He just hoped that the ones who had gone missing hadn't wondered too far. Wherever they were, that is.

As they continued to drive, there was a police vehicle up ahead that appeared to be parked. Jack began to slow the car down, looking out of the car window. For a brief moment, he just stared. And then after a few seconds of silence, he turned his gaze back to the road, and continued to drive at the speed he was previously going at. John looked out the window. He opened his mouth to ask Jack why he kept driving, though as he gazed out of the shield of the glass window, he could see something. It was.. that male officer from earlier, who looked to be inside of the car they were gradually distancing themselves from.

Most likely, they were reporting what they found to other officers so they could receive backup incase any danger were to occur. John groaned, furrowing his brows yet again.

He then heard Jack's voice speak in a tone that was slightly lighter. "..hey, don't worry. I'm sure they'll take care of it."

John mumbled, "I know.. thats not what I'm worried about."

"..what are you worried about?"

"..I dunno. Somethin' about this just feels.. off."

"..John, are you sure you aren't sick?"

John sighed. "Yes, I'm fine, Jack—" He replied in a somewhat more raised tone, looking over to where Jack was sitting. He then looked down at his lap again, and mumbled, "..maybe it's the damn rain."

Jack paused. "..well, don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll all be fine."

John went quiet.

"...yeah, maybe."

...

...

The rain hadn't ceased. And by now, both Jack and John could finally see the scene up ahead of them through the fog causes by the damn rain. There were several red and blue lights up ahead, along with blinding car lights. Several officers were scattered among the group of cars that were parked by the area of the forest. The lights of the car made the trees that formed the forest visible, though neither of them could exactly see it all that well.

"...alright. Let's go ahead and do this." John mumbled underneath his breath.

————

"So.. can ya tell me where exactly they saw the boy headin' into?"

John asked this question with a slight huff, his tone a little more firm as he stood underneath the covering of the leaves above his head. He and Jack were standing beside one another, barely shielded from the rain due to the tree they were standing under. The air was humid, and the rain kept pounding against the grass and against the nearby road they parked on.

The female officer who stood in front of them paused. "Well.. they said they saw him head somewhere in the part we're standing in front of right now. I think they said they saw the other two near this exact same area too.."

"..I see." John mumbled beneath his breath. The pounding of the rain was growing louder now, and he could barely stand it. Sometimes, he could have sworn he heard a faint buzzing sound. He could feel his skin growing itchy at the thought of it possibly being a mosquito. John cleared his throat, and asked, "..ya think we could head in with some backup? There was a dead cat back there on the road, and if we aren't careful, one of us could get eaten alive by.. whatevers in that damn place." John spoke with a slight rasp at the end of his sentence.

"Uh.. yeah, sure. We might have to carry some flashlights in though." The female officer replied, looking off to the side. She then swiftly turned around, and began to speak loudly to nearby officers. She spoke, "Hey—we'll need some backup here!". A few officers glanced over to her. Some nodded, while others only gave stern or annoyed looks at the loud tone she was using. It was hard not to be irritated after all, considering the situation they were in was already stressful enough.

John looked down at his feet. He could feel his arms becoming numb, and unconsciously, his hands seemed to clench.

"Are.. you okay?" Jack questioned, staring down at him with an arched brow.

John paused. "..yeah, I'm fine."

John looked over to the forest. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw something among the crevices of the shadows that weren't embraced by the artificial lights of the vehicles.

He swallowed down a big chunk of spit, and looked away. There wasn't anytime to be thinking about.. whatever might have been in there right now. If there was backup, there was always a possibility they'd be safe. Or that was at least what John tried to convince himself.

Yet even so, John couldn't shake the feeling of something being wrong.

————

"Hey!"

Shouts were faintly heard from all around. John could hear yells surrounding him, and he kept a flashlight clenched in his hand. A gun was attached to his belt, and he was prepared to use it if he had to. Beads of rain trickled against his face, and wet pieces of it kept trickling against his gun. He could feel the mud beneath his boots stick to it like a leech sucking out the blood of an innocent animal. His steps were heavy.

Jack was walking behind him, with a flashlight on hand too. John could see the artificial light of a nearby officer shimmering from within the crevices of a few trees. Amber glows kept shining from all parts of the forest. John could barely hear Jack from behind him due to the damn rain! It was seriously starting to get on his nerves at this point. It was normally so hot in this goddamn town, and now all of the sudden, it was raining like crazy. And on a night of an investigation of all things.

John could hear Jack panting from behind him, sharp breaths coming out of his mouth from slight exhaustion. The smell of the rain was growing more rapid, and the two of them could still hear the faint yelling of the others who had come with them. "You sure they might have gone this way?" Jack inquired desperately, probably growing a little irritated due to the rain as well.

"..I—I'm sure, Jack! This is where they entered. If they aren't here, we might have to look some place else." John yelled back in a louder tone than he had meant to. He could feel Jack's gaze waver from behind him. John let out another sigh, and it most likely wouldn't be the last of the many sighs he let out for the night. "Look, I'm sorry.. this investigations killin' me. It doesn't help that its raining of all things."

Jack went silent for a moment. "..yeah, I get that."

There was another moment of silence between the two. Both of them could only hear the sounds of their feet squishing against the muddy ground, and the sounds of the rain surrounding them. Come to think of it, they weren't hearing shouts any longer. John could feel his heart thumping against his chest lightly from inside of himself. He kept his eyes up ahead, the fog of the rain not exactly helping him get a good view. Rain trickled against John's forehead. He felt almost as if he were being watched.

He shook his head. He had to investigate. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that! He knew that! But.. he just couldn't help it. He had to find the kids. He just had to. But he couldn't really do that while it was raining so much.

As they walked, John saw something in the distance among the fog. There was.. a silhouette of some kind. Even among the shadows, he could make it out. The shape of the silhouette looked humanoid, and it appeared to be sitting beside a very large tree. Green leaves from above the tree lightly wavered in the rain.

John stopped in his tracks. No longer hearing the sound of Jack walking behind him, he naturally assumed Jack stopped walking too, even if he couldn't see him.

"..what is it?" Jack asked.

John paused. "..there's somethin' up ahead." He spoke in a quiet tone. He could feel Jack's gaze shift over to the silhouette in the distance. The rain kept scattering from all around them, and it felt almost as if the rain were beginning to finally cease. Yet John could still feel the wet beads of it trickling against his skin and his clothes.

After standing there, John began to walk. He walked, and walked, and walked. He could hear Jack's footsteps slowly following from behind him, even behind the static noise of the rain. The fog began to slowly fade, and John could feel his skin becoming numb yet again. His limbs felt almost as if they were in auto-pilot. His mind felt as if it were melting from the very inside.

John kept walking, walking, and walking. And then.. he stopped.

He shined the flashlight onto the silhouette. The very silhouette that was sitting in front of the tree.

...

John froze.

He felt as if he could no longer hear anything around them for a moment. He couldn't hear the rain, Jack's footsteps, any sort of shouting from a distance. He heard nothing. His eyes remained locked onto the silhouette that now had the artifical light shined onto it.

The silhouette was a man. The man's eyes were blood-shot, and they were still open. The man wasn't breathing. There was a splatter of red blood on the man's right cheek. He appeared to have been wearing a suit. But as John began to slowly lower his gaze, he blinked.

His hands began to shake slightly.

There was an open slit in the man's stomach. Pouring out from the man's stomach was a pile of what could have only been guts and presumably intestines. The light made the long pink and slimy insides clear, and obviously, they looked to have been covered in blood.

John began to shudder. His hand dropped the flashlight held within it to the ground. "Holy shit.." He uttered. He could only guess by the sound of Jack's breathing from behind him that ne must have been feeling the same way as he did.

"..Jack?" John uttered. Jack didn't respond. He turned his head, only to see Jack with his mouth hung open. "Jack!" John said again. Jack still didn't respond.

John stood, unsure of what to do. He then stepped foward, and placed his hands firmly on Jack's shoulders. "Jack—breathe. Jack, breathe!"

Jack didn't reply. He only kept breathing harshly, staring at the sight.

"Shit.." John cursed. He then turned Jack away with enough strength, making him look off to the other side. He then swiftly walked over to Jack's side, and took the walki-talki attached to his chest.

He then brought it close to his mouth, and yelled.

"We got a 451! I repeat! We have a 451!"

///////////////////

E

[bearsbadblog]

The fire crackled somberly in the fireplace, casting light over the shadowy room. The blackout curtains were drawn tight against the early morning light.

I gripped the whiskey glass in my hand, draping my other arm over the side of the leather chair. The wound in my abdomen had crusted over hours ago, but my hands were still sticky with ash-gray blood. There was a trail of it from the doorway to the chair.

"Nik." There was the sound of heels clicking against stone, coming to a stop right behind me.

"I apologize for the intrusion, My Lady," I said hoarsely. "I believed it would be better to take refuge here than attempt to make it back to my house before sunrise."

My Lady made a drawn-out sigh. The chair creaked as she leaned against it.

"You made a mess in the entrance hall. I was worried someone was murdered."

"Someone was murdered."

"Your targets don't count, Nik. I meant someone of import."

I took another sip of whiskey. I was like a cat without a collar, to her. She brought me in to kill the mice, but she didn't want me bringing any to her door.

She brought her hand down to my shoulder, slowly tracing the seam of my suit jacket with her long red nails.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked softly.

I would be lying if I said I did, but I didn't want her doubting my abilities. "I feel fine, now. It was just a scratch."

Her hand slid down to my chest as her cold breath crept onto my neck.

"You do such great work for me, Nik."

I could feel her trying to use her powers to enthrall me. I could see her fangs in my peripheral vision, framed by her glistening lips.

"I'm so glad you're mine. Do you remember how we met?"

I really didn't want to do this right now. "It was a long time ago."

"Oh, but it feels like it was yesterday...meeting you in that speakeasy, when you were singing up on that stage...I just knew I had to have you the moment I heard your voice..."

She rested her head next to mine, letting both of her hands slide down to my stomach. I suppressed a shiver.

"I thought you would be such a great toy, Nik. But you turned out to be so much more..."

The enthralling feeling was intensifying. I had to put a stop to this. But my thoughts were muddled by the whiskey and her powers. So I said the only thing I could think of.

"They know."

I felt her stiffen. "Who knows?" Her voice was low, menacing.

I immediately regretted my words, but I had to follow through now. "The Hanson family. They know I'm a vampire now."

She stood up straight, the coldness of her body leaving like a fog burning off in the sun. The enthrallment went with it.

Her heels tapped against the floor again, maneuvering themselves to the side of the chair. I stared at my whiskey glass.

"How did it happen," she asked.

"I cornered the target in the alleyway behind the club. I thought she was preparing to feed. But as it turns out, her prey was actually another vampire, and he wasn't as helpless as I'd calculated. He came armed." I gestured at the wound in my stomach. "I bled all over the concrete, so of course they know now."

She said nothing. Her eyes dug into my skin.

I hated it when she made me feel this way--ashamed to even be in her presence. I felt like some horrible insect about to be squashed under her thumb---and she had every right to squash me, right now. I messed up tonight. Now her greatest enemies, the family that is posed to dethrone her as the Matriarch of Vampires, knew that the hunter who had been picking off their thralls for years was actually a thrall himself.

"Nik."

I couldn't look at her.

"Nikolai!" She snatched my chin and turned my face towards her, her nails digging into my skin. They were almost as sharp as her fangs had been.

"You wanted so badly for me to loosen your leash," she snarled. "So I give you a chance to be more than a toy. I made you into a tool. I made you into a Hunter." She leaned in close to my ear. "And what do I get in return?"

I shivered as her fingers crawled up onto my neck. My hands dug into the arms of the chair. I hated this. I hated when she did this.

"Is it because you want to go back to being one of my pets?" Her smile was poisonous. My stomach was heavy. I shouldn't have come here. I should've crawled into an open grave and slept for a hundred years. I should've let myself turn to ash in the sunlight.

"Please," I said, "I can make it right. I can fix it."

"I doubt there's anything you can do to make it up to me, Nik."

Her fingers tightened around my neck. I was once again scrabbling for something, anything to say to make her stop, and I once again settled on the worst possible option.

"I'll kill Arthur Hanson," I said.

"You?" she teased. "You're going to kill the thousand-year-old patriarch of the second most influential vampire family in the world?"

"Yes," I rasped. "I'll do it or die trying."

She laughed, but let go of me. I rubbed my neck and face. I could feel the skin scraped off where her nails had been.

"You're not much good to me dead, Nik. I don't want you to die trying, so I'll make you a little deal, instead." She turned away from me to face the fireplace, her shadow falling over my body.

"If you can kill Arthur Hanson, I will set you free." My pulse quickened. Freedom was everything I wanted.

She looked at me again, and her gaze turned me cold. "If you fail, you will be my toy again. And I will do with you whatever I please."

I swallowed. My fingertips drifted to my neck again.

"That is all," she said, exiting the room with a flourish. "Now get that stinking blood off your clothes."

Your family is the most prestigious and successful line of vampire hunters in the world, keeping everyone safe from the shadows. Nobody realizes that you are in fact vampires using your position to strike down competition and maintain supremecy over your own kind.