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inventors-fair · 3 years ago

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Keyword is Key Commentary

Boy, this week was a wild one. I admit this was a looser prompt than most (I figured we were due, considering we had a few simple ones and were getting another), so maybe I should have seen it coming. We’ve had more explicitly ineligible entries this week than any others that I’ve judged, as well as a few that really didn’t get the idea of this week. I wanted to see cards where the keyword was technically optional, but a huge upside. I tried my best to demonstrate that but it didn’t quite get across.

On the plus side, a lot of our best entries this week were new faces. Either ones I didn’t recognize, or ones that have been submitting for a while but really made something impressive this week. I was very happy to see that.

Anyway, here’s the rest of the commentary.

@ambermetalicscorpion - Gleaming Lord, Uranus

So, in the contest’s post, I said ability words are not allowed. Constellation is an ability word. You can tell both because it has that long dash, and because the word itself doesn’t do anything. It has to explain what the constellation does. The idea behind this contest was to have the whole card with a single word, not a whole sentence. So sadly, this card is not eligible to win. That said, the card is fine, maybe a bit strong. A one-mana enchantment with a sacrifice ability like unbridled growth, Serra’s Hymn, thrull retainer or any of the seals breaks this card really easily. I think the life-paying ability needed some other limitation, like a tap or once per turn.

@azathoth-the-bored - Rampaging Storm-Worm

This took me a couple reads before I got it, but I got there eventually. So, the floor is a 2/5 that shocks a creature when it connects. That alone is pretty rare. Repeatable removal, especially on a high-toughness evasive creature, is pretty rare. Your opponent effectively can’t play 2 toughness creatures any more. However, it’s 5 mana, so maybe they just shouldn’t be playing 2 toughness dudes at that point anyway. The menace is nice here, because you can force them to double block, and then deal the extra two damage to whichever of the two you prefer. However, the fact that it only triggers once would be confusing to most players. Even though you’re dealing damage to two different creatures, it’s still only one instance of “dealing damage.” Look at Angel of Deliverence’s rulings for confirmation. However, the menace is still a big deal. It means this effectively deals 4 damage to either creature, or possibly 1 and 3 or 2 and 2. Or, of course, you can ping something else entirely. There’s a lot to do with this guy, but the end result is the same: you shock a creature. I just don’t know if that’s worth all the text. A lot of the time this is just going to play like a 4 power creature or an expensive skirk commando. I mentioned it at the start, but I also think it’s really important to keep in mind how often your opponent is just going to feel stuck as they are unable to play any 2 toughness creatures. I think this card has some use and might see a small amount of play, but is more confusing than it needs to be for a simple and potentially frustrating effect.

@bread-into-toast - Kolaghan Stormcaller

Dash is actually a mechanic that works really well this week. A lot of dash cards have attack effects that make the haste really relevant. This card, instead focuses on leaving he battlefield. I think you may have made it a little too narrow. If this card didn’t have dash, not only would it be weaker, but you might not even know what you’re supposed to do with it. Red and black are the only two colors that don’t have abilities that return creatures to hand from play. Red has some cards that do it extremely rarely (mostly viashino). I think there were a few options you could have had to really expand out this card. Maybe if it triggered off of any card leaving the battlefield that entered that turn? Or maybe it could count any creature card put into your hand, so it could count raise dead effects? In any of these cases, you’d probably want to reduce the life loss somewhat. I think as it is, maybe it’s fine? My other issue is that it sort of undermines the whole point of dash. While impact tremors and outpost siege existed, most cards with dash had attack effects to encourage players to attack with their dash creatures. This card lets you play it too safely. You can just play this on four and dash two mardu scouts each turn until your opponent dies or kills your engine. This feels like a red-black dash card that doesn’t want you to do the one thing dash was designed to do: attack. In a sense, that’s kind of nice, since it gives you a different angle to come at the deck, or an out if your opponent has a good defense, but I feel like if that’s the case you shouldn’t be playing dash.

@corporalotherbear - Infuriating Visage

Art description: A wall with an incredibly ugly face painted upon it, a group of goblins running towards it, oblivious to the spikes.

I like this better than Rage Nimbus, so there’s that. I love the surface utility of this card: it lets you kill a two toughness creature each turn, but with a risk. However, you’re in red, so maybe you were going to attack a bunch anyway! The cooler thing I like about this is how it fits into Defender tribal, a personal favorite of mine. If you play this in a defender deck, especially a multiplayer one, you’re going to be the only player blocking (except those pesky vigilant creatures or post combat creatures). That really gives you a lot of strength and strategy to build around. However, there’s no way this should be common. Forced attacks are a little common at common, but usually on your own stuff. Occasionally red will get an aura that’s a bad removal spell, but that’s single target. Permanent forced attacks of every creature is not something you want to see in every game, and at common, this splashable, it might very well some to that. I also think if you moved it to rare you could drop the cost to four, maybe three. You might need something else to make it worth the rare slot (maybe some activated ability?), but as is this just going to lead to repetitive games in limited, or be dead in hand if you’re on the backfoot anyhow.

@deg99 - Lava-Field Hunter

I like this card, but it misses on a few minor things. I like the main text, I think a conditional FTK effect is really cool, since the ability is really strong and needs some sort of gate. Even so, I don’t know if the gate is enough. Double red double black isn’t that hard to do once you’re out of limited, so it’s actually not going to be that hard to miss. There will also just be times you don’t need to, like if their creature is too big or there isn’t one. The menace really ups the power of this card, too. Menace on a creature with such high power means you’ll always be trading up, and if you don’t you’re hitting them hard. The madness also means you can get it out early and really start pounding your opponent. For reference, bloodhall priest only did 2 damage conditionally, and Rakdos Firewheeler did the same, albeit to the face as well. This card is insane if you madness it out. If it were a rare, maybe, just maybe I could see past that, but this card is often going to be a three for one if the format supports it. I think you answered the prompt very well, and the card’s design is cool, but I think you needed to put more care into balancing the end result.

@fractured-infinity - Kardin, Ovalchase Champion

What if Rograhk was a dwarf. This guy has 0 power but a lot to do once has has some. He has vigilance, but also (essentially) grants it to another creature. That makes him really good at crewing vehicles, which his last ability also does! In fact, that last ability makes for some really weird combat steps. Used as intended, I think this card is fine, but may ask too much of the player. You need to have pump spells, vehicles, and reasons to have those abilities to be relevant. Lifelink seems a little redundant, since vigilance and the extra untap should keep you decently protected, but it has utility at least. Haste seems almost completely unnecessary, since you don’t need it to crew vehicles and it hasn’t got power anyway, but I guess it’ll help with that last ability. And now it’s time to talk about that last ability. I’ll be straightforward: you’re playing with fire. Granting abilities is something incredibly rare in magic because it can lead to a lot of incredibly confusing interactions. If this guy has a Surestrike Trident, can the vehicle throw it? Who’s power does it care about? What about enchantments? There’s also the fact that you can chain these. You can use a vehicle to crew itself, meaning you can have a creature with multiple instances of each of these abilities, which aren’t relevant except sometimes they are? Also, it doesn’t say end of turn, meaning it gains these abilities permanently, which is especially relevant since it could be crewed multiple times a turn cycle because of that untap ability. Also, even though this guy has 0 power, he can still crew with 0 power, something most players don’t even realize. So you don’t even need to pump his power, he’s just sort of like a weird enchantment that lets you tap him to add abilities to vehicles when you crew them. I think this card has a cool concept, but you may have wanted to spell out that last ability very explicitly to make it clearer to players exactly what happens and to narrow the amount of judge calls that’ll have to be made.

@gollumni - Mind-Mad Efreet

I have some bad news for you. Prophetic Flamespeaker already exists. This loses trample, a toughness, and a red mana in the cost. I don’t think that makes it different enough to be worth a new card. If I didn’t know that card existed, then yeah this card seems alright. Two mana double strikers are already risky, we don’t see them often with other abilities. Uncommon seems really low rarity on something that basically draws you two cards a turn and gets double use out of pump spells. But the card works and the effect works well with double strike.

@grornt - Barkweaver Elm

Sure. Straight and to the point. Add a counter, move a counter. I’m very happy you restricted the ability to only work at sorcery speed, though I still wish there were a way to prevent people from accidentally killing one of their own creatures. If you attack with this guy when he only has one counter on it, they block with a 3/3, then you untap him to move his counter, he’ll die as soon as the ability resolves. In digital that would be a huge point of frustration, and in paper it might be missed entirely. I don’t know if that’s something I can blame on you rather than players, just something I wish could avoid. The fact that this is an untap ability makes it a little more likely to happen, but just barely. Clearly this is meant to be a four mana counter granting ability akin to Hound Tamer. I think this card is stronger than it looks, as most people underestimate outlast, and this is really good with outlast. The last ability also has some weird templating issues. Daghatar, the Adamant, specifically says “a second target creature” because “another” could mean “different than the one targetted” or “other than this creature” and maybe this card has that issue. There’s also the fact that you can untap it without really using the ability, since you can target something without a counter first and therefore not have something to move. This lets you untap this guy without having to move counters anywhere. Is that a bug or a feature? This card is good and well designed, but has some play pattern issues and I worry about its power level.

@helloijustreadyourpost - Exemplar of Growth

Evolve is a hard mechanic to balance, since you need the creature small enough to grow, but big enough to survive long enough to groe. I like what you went with here, with high toughness and low power to reflect that. I also just really love that main ability. It seems both incredibly powerful and easily overcome. You need to do just a little bit with him, but he can be very rewarding. The evolve here is actually kind of funky. It means that you’ll pretty much never be putting the counter on every creature you control. Whichever one triggered the evolve is going to be bigger. That feels a little weird, but how it plays out might be fine. Chances are your opponent will have a removal spell for the bigger creature anyway. Still, it feels a bit anti-synergistic. This is a card that you want to have higher power than your other creatures, but evolve wants it to be lower than your next one. The link though is nice, since both abilities tie to power (though I’m sure you’ll trigger off of toughness eventually), so it lessens the mental load a bit. Only one number to track, mostly. For the most part I like this card, but I just can’t get past the weirdness with evolve.

@hiygamer - Fanatical Fangblade

It took me just a second to figure out where the first strike was relevant. If this guy hits something first, then all your normal combat damage is getting a plus one. That’s nice. I’m not sure exactly how I feel about venom counters, which are kind of the focus of this design. A permanent Sulfuric Vapors on a player is pretty strong, and this one is basically impossible to get rid of. On a permanent it doesn’t do much at all. A planeswalker usually dies to a few hits anyway, and a creature rarely gets hit with multiple points of damage by a single source in a turn unless it’s been double blocked, which is pretty uncommon. But on a single card, maybe it’s okay. On a two mana card, less so, but it’s one power, so maybe that makes up for it? I don’t know, this is really hard to judge. I love how the first strike works here, so on a strictly “adhering to the contest” scale, this gets an A, but the card as a whole just feels problematic. In the right deck (and why would you put him in the wrong one) this guy could cut an opponent’s life total in half with a single hit. That’s really scary. I think I could see this card getting printed one day, maybe in a supplemental product, but for now I think it may be too much.

@hypexion - Terrific Scarab

Is this a pun? Like, on how terrible and terrific mean two different things? Anyhoo, afflict! Haven’t seen that for a while. It wasn’t very popular among players because it was, by design, hard to interact with and made a player feel like there was nothing they could do. This sort of removes the issue by making the option a flat choice. Instead of reducing damage, it’s all damage or no damage. It’s actually pretty close to a tap ability, except your opponent decides what happens. Almost like a punisher effect. Or, of course, you can keep the board clear, then flashback spells to keep it clear. Tap to flashback was only seen on a card with a huge drawback, probably because wizards is scared of the idea of players playing the same spells the whole game. This fixes that by letting it only happen if your opponent lets it (if they can). The fact that this has 0 power helps with the afflict issue, but makes blocking sort of moot. Most players will tell you that 3 damage is worth killing a creature, especially a value creature like this one. If your opponent has 5 power worth of blockers, they will block this. But! They might not! In fact, I could see the mini-game this card creates where you want to spend some cards removing blockers, but not so much mana that the flashback is useless. If you tap out to kill a blocker, they can just let it through. If you don’t do anything, they can block and kill it. So you have to do enough to get in between. I think that’s a fun concept, but I’m not quite sure how it’ll play out. This, more than most cards this week, is something I’d want to playtest with. It just changes uses so much based on the board state. I’m most disappointed by this card, though, because it doesn’t really fit the theme this week. I wanted to see cards where the ability isn’t necessary, just good. Without afflict, this card does basically nothing.

@jund-berserker - Delirium Feeder

This card means business. First, to get it out of the way, delve is really necessary here. Without it, this isn’t a card. I was hoping for something more subtle than that this week, but I’ll take it. Next, I’m not a fan of dealing with the exile zone. This does about the least of any of them (which is good) where all it’s doing is counting cards in exile. That’s a small enough interaction that maybe it’s okay, especially since this seems to be connected to ashiok, who is all about the exile zone. Lastly, the big one. Delve is a busted mechanic. If you play an island on turn one, then tome scour yourself, on turn two you can play a swamp and play this as a two mana 6/6. If you don’t get that combo, I’m sure you can get something massive by turn three. It’s not even like it needs a dedicated deck: there are already decks in modern that try to do stuff like that on the regular. Giant creatures for tiny investments is probably not the kind of card you want to be designing. It’s high mana value also means it can dodge MV based removal like fatal push. So that means anything other than hard removal can’t kill this. I get what you were going for here, but I just don’t if anyone can make a good delve card that isn’t broken.

@kellylogs - Discerning Sangromancer

This definitely fits the prompt square on the head. You could play a card like this without lifelink, but it makes it that much better. It effectively gives double strike, plus has relevance when blocking. However, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose covered a lot of this card’s ground. The body ability, and cost are all different, but it’s the same concept. I think the fact that you don’t actually gain the life is worse than it seems. It means if you play this in a dedicated life-gain deck, you don’t get to trigger any of your Ajani’s pridemates or other sanguine bond effects. What I’m trying to say is that this concept is really good, but it’s been done a little more efficiently and a little more coherently.

@misterstingyjack - Stonehorn Scout

I think you misunderstood the point of the contest this week. The point was to try and make a card where the keyword (vigilance, in this case) improves the card. With this card, the keyword is a necessity. Without it, the last ability does nothing. Remove that restriction and it’s probably too good, you’d probably wan to up the cost, but yeah, this doesn’t really fit the contest. I really wanted that vigilance to be optional. Ignoring it’s eligibility, I think the card is fine, if a bit better than it looks. Exploring is really powerful, so getting to do it for one mana every turn is really good. The fact that you don’t know wether you’re going to be able to survive the attack until after you attack is a little much, though. A lot of players would attack, not get the counter, then get grumpy that they lost their creature due to bad luck.

@nine-effing-hells - Thunderbolt Spear

So, the thing about storm is that it’s really good. Like, really really good. This card is effectively double the cost of a bone saw (to get it on a creature) and in return you get a ton of them. Even just on a storm of 2 or 3 this provides a massive buff to your team, and not only that but you get to split them amongst your team as you see fit. When you’re playing this in paper, it’s going to be such a nuisance. Creature tokens often don’t last long, and you can use random face-down cards or something, but since these are going to be moving around as the game goes on, it will be very easy to lose track of them. You could use counters, but they aren’t quite counters and that gets confusing. Storm is just a problematic mechanic; there’s a reason it’s a 10 on the storm scale. I’m also a little disappointed with storm this week, since, because of its power level, it’s always going to have a huge impact on a card. This card does have reasons why having multiple of it stacks more so than the sum of its parts, but only barely. I think the power level of this card is almost okay, but the difficulty in actually playing it really detracts from it.

@nicolbolas96 - Surestrike Robber

I like this card’s theme and mechanics, but there’s some templating here that kind of kills the card. So, I like the last ability. I like how it’s subtle deathtouch tribal, but also gives a bonus to killing one toughness creatures efficiently. I think it’s a little narrow, sure, but I think players would enjoy trying to break it. However, the exact templating of the condition is confusing. The obvious situation of, for example, a 1/1 blocking a 2/1, means you draw one card. But what about if I kill a grizzly bear with two copies of grapeshot? What about if I hit it with a lava dart, then a lightning bolt? What about arc lighting? Can I plit it into 1 damage three times? I think you needed to specify whether you’re saying “exactly one damage” over the course of the entire turn or just at one at one point during the turn.My assumption is the former, in which case I might say “if it was dealt only 1 damage this turn,” which I think would work. Currently it sounds a little closer to the latter, since most things phrased like this ask about whether or not something happened, regardless of how often it happened, like asking if a creature attacked or fought. I like the concept of this card, but I worry about how confused players and maybe judges would be about figuring out how this card works.

@pocketvikings - Creative Chaos

At first I assumed cascade was the ability in question, since it has the huge impact, but putting foretell on this card is really clever. It lets you cascade into a 6-drop on turn four. However, do we want that? This card has a big potential to use up all your mana on turn two, all your mana on turn four, and then get you a 3 drop. It’s too big to be able to properly stack the deck. Cascade usually has this issue, but at least there’s normally something to do with the card after it resolves. This card is more all-or-nothing, which I don’t think is at fun as it seems. It’s also not pricey enough to hit really big stuff. Six mana is just were stuff starts getting interesting, beautiful you’re dedicating this much time to it, I kind of wish it could hit those game-ending 7 or 8 drops. As is, this card has just too much potential to whif. The extra cascade is also kind of awkward. Most players would just be confused by it. You might want to put “extra” on it somewhere. It also kind of messes with the point of this contest, where you want to have it so the extra ability (foretell in this case) could be cleanly removed from the card and still function. This would, but it would sound really weird. It’s also a shame that it doesn’t let you double up cascades, which is something cascade decks would want if they were playing this. As is, it’s just too little for too much risk.

@reaperfromtheabyss - Vigorous Timberhorn

The longer I look at this card the more I like it. At first, the trample feels a little tacked on. Giving an evasion ability to a creature with an “on hit” ability feels like a very bland way to fit the prompt, but the exact way this works really makes up for it. The “that many” carries a lot of this card. It makes the trample really mean something, as it’s the only keyword that changes the amount of damage you do, really. At least, the only way to bring your opponents’ decisions into it. I like how on it’s own it’s already a Kalonian Hydra with an upside and a downside. It spreads counters instead of needing as much set up, but it’s also only a rare to make up for it. In limited this will end games quickly, but not so quickly as to be scary. I love this card as a sort of intro-box rare. You see this and you just feel how strong it’s going to be.

@shakeszx - Pesky Pixies

I’m very happy you put the reminder text for ward in there, because otherwise I would not have known if it worked. But it does! So this basically reads UU tap, counter target spell or ability unless it’s owner pays 2. But, even if it isn’t countered, it still gets the target changed, so if it’s a shock or gavony trapper, it effectively still counters it. I don’t know how I feel about this one. First, as I implied earlier, people might not realize this is how ward works, even with the reminder text. Maybe it’s just with old players, but I’ve seen people assume it’s sort of an additional cost, not a trigger, which it is. Maybe that’s not your fault, though. Anyway, the ability alone I think is better than it looks. If you have a few counters on this guy (or, if you’re really trying, an indestructibility aura), this guy just blanks a lot of removal. I checked to see if there were other cards like this, and Spellskite was all I could find, outside of one-offs like mizzium meddler and muck drubb. I think the reason why is because they’re scared of situations like this. Players would need very specific situations in order to deal with these guys. Yes, it requires holding up mana and not attacking with them, but that’s pretty easy to do if you’re playing a mono-blue aggro style deck that mostly plays at flash speed. It’s also pretty narrow. If you’re in limited and they just don’t have a lot of removal, these guys are just some really weak flyers, and you’re stuck holding up an activation that never comes. The mix of either doing nothing or stalling the game means that these guys just end up being a nuisance. But that’s what the flavor of the card is, so I guess you got that part right. And honestly, that’s not sarcasm. I think you made a card that feels appropriately pesky for pixies. It just sucks that players don’t like being… pesked?

@snugz - Elspeth the True

I don’t understand how this is meant to fit into this week’s contest. It doesn’t have a keyword, it only grants them. And if you’re counting “exalted” on the emblem, it still doesn’t count, because the emblem would do nothing without it.

@stellarlight13 - Adamant Soldier

I like this card, and I like the sort of mini-games it creates. However, there’s two big issue: first, the pack rat problem. If you play this card, you kinda won’t end up doing anything else. If they play a creature, you fight that creature, and keep fighting it until it dies. If they play removal, you ignore it, because it’s indestructible. This card kind of is a one-man army. The worst case scenario is that your opponent just doesn’t play creatures, in which case you just keep attacking and kill them incredibly slowly. The second issue is that it’s off-color. Yes, I know this is basically just a weird brash taunter, but taunter was 5 mana, was always a 1/1, and was clearly a reference to stuffy doll through way of mogg maniac. It really performed more like an enchantment or spell in that it was used to deal massive amounts of damage directly to your opponent. It isn’t really meant to attack or block or kill creatures it fights. This guy definitely is, which makes the indestructible less excusable. It fits great with the card and the prompt, but it isn’t red, and it’s making the card powerful in ways red isn’t supposed to be. Even the fighting ability seems a little strange for red. There’s only about three or four cards in mono-red that let your fight repeatably, as opposed to tons in green. Plus, indestructible is okay in green! If this were a green card, everything this does would be fine. The only red aspect of it is the fact that it pumps power, which is fine in any color. In general I also think it’s too cheap, since indestructible on any size creature usually starts at four mana, and the fighting maybe as well, but I’m not sure what the right number would be. The only activated abilities we’ve seen like that are one a 1/1 and the back of two werewolves, so there’s not a lot of basis for it. I just worry it would dominate the game too much, especially because of how hard it is to remove.

@walker-of-the-yellow-path - Boros Arrester

This card is pulling in a lot of white’s color pie to make one complete card. It reminds me a touch of trapjaw tyrant (which no one ever played, sadly), but the efficient body might make this more appealing. I love the flavor of paying the fine or serving your sentence, too, though I wonder if that cost is right. I kind of wish you could mess with it, maybe tying it to either creature’s power, but that might just muddle the card. The templating also feels a bit off. “May pay” is usually only used for optional costs from the controller. When it’s an opponent, you say “unless.” So, even though it reads poorly, I think the proper templating would be “Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a creature, exile that creature for as long as you control ~ unless that creature’s controller pays 2.” Maybe you could get away with moving it up, saying “Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a creature, unless that creature’s controller pays 2, exile it until ~ leaves the battlefield.” Alright, finally, let’s look at how the card plays. If I attack with this, my opponent needs to either take two damage, or have a 2/3 or better and two mana up. That seems pretty straightforward. Maybe this guy needed more power? I know making it too big sort of makes the exile clause irrelevant, I just worry this guy won’t get a chance to do his signature thing when it’s so easy to just let him through. He’s a good blocker, though. I’d say too good, but the taxing effect helps negate that. Taxing isn’t as good when your opponent still has a main phase left. Anyway, as a whole, I like this card mechanically, and the design is sweet, I just wish there was a way to really make this guy shine.

@wolkemesser - Arena Overseer

I think there’s one really important word missing here: another. This card currently will wipe the board of all 0 power creatures, four 1 power creatures, and probably some other creatures, too. I also don’t really get the flavor here, but my guess is this was more bottom-up anyway. Still, the way fighting works with this card is just sort of strange and counterintuitive. I get the interaction with wither, but it’s not as synergistic as it looks. Yes, you get to shrink the card each time you fight it, but the math is awkward. If it has less than two toughness, it just dies, and if it has more than three power, the overseer just dies, so it’s only really relevant against a small subset of creatures. It will either wipe the board or just have deathtouch, there’s not a lot of nuance. I think combining wither with repeatable fight is a clever idea, but I think the body doesn’t really work with that concept.

@whuh-oh - Mycelich

This is a strange one. For the most part I like it, but as with most devour cards, this has a big all-in problem. This one gets hit with it extra hard because it incentivizes players to sacrifice creatures they want to get back. The decayed also feels really weird here. It already takes a lot of work to get these creatures into play, including attacking and possibly losing your mycelich, so the fact that you don’t get some blockers is annoying. The timing is also awkward, since you’ll have to wait extra turns in order to re-reanimate the decayed guys. There’s also the “total mana cost” issue that this lets you freely reanimate every 0-mana creature in your yard, which leads to some degenerate combos with cards like protean hulk. This might be slow enough that it’s fine, but it’s something I still felt like pointing out. This is why Orcus and Call of the Death Dweller have numerical restrictions to the amount of cards they bring back. Similarly, I wish the floor on this card weren’t so low. It won’t get back anything if you don’t devour something or pump it some other way. I think maybe 1 power with devour 1 would have been a little nicer. It would scale a little slower, which is also nice. It’s kind of odd to have a devour creature that just gets back what it devours. Kinda defeats the whole point of devour.

@yourrightfulking - Unsupervised Eschatology

This one may be a touch too hard to interpret. A board wipe with conspire is not entirely useless, but hard to find use for. So, you made it have use on its own! If the second copy doesn’t kill anything, it brings back your stuff! Or, in rare circumstances, you can use this as a normal reanimation spell if you were able to sacrifice your board somehow. It is going to be annoying, though, when you try to suicide your creatures into your opponents and they, knowing the cards in the format, leave you with exactly one creature left alive. Ignoring that, maybe 6 mana makes this card okay. I worry about one-sided board wipes, and this requires only the slightest planning to make it work. It also lets you get extra death and ETB triggers, which is not nothing, especially in these colors. Stapling mass reanimation to a board wipe is just plain scary to a developer. I also think it’s just a little too complexly written to be easily understood by most players. There’s also the memory issues that come with second sunrise type cards. I like this card more than I make it sound like, and I think you made a really cool card for this week, it’s just not quite at the top. Also, love the flavor of conspire in strixhaven, really gets the student feel.

And there we go, that’s everyone! See you guys later.

-Mod Mr. ShinyObject

#mtg #magic the gathering #inventor's fair #commentary #keyword is key #custom magic card

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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 4 years ago

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Book One: Gold (Prompto x Reader) Chapter II

An entire week has past since the fall of Insomnia. The group made it to the Duscae region after destroying the Norduscaean Blockade alongside Cor. After leaving the Leide region, Gladio desperately wanted to rendezvous with his younger sister, Iris, but they were quickly diverted away from Lestallum when Prompto begged Noctis to head to Wiz Chocobo Post to see the chocobos. The prince was eager to see the chocobos, but not as much as his best friend.

A few minutes passed and the Regalia pulled up to Wiz Chocobo Post. Prompto, who was jittery with excitement, scrambled out of the car. "Now this is what I'm talkin' about!"

"The kid's got it bad," Gladio commented as he stepped out of the car.

"There are worse vices, I suppose," Ignis said, shutting the door behind him.

Prompto bounded over to the pens with his camera in hand. While taking pictures of the yellow birds, he realized how frightened they were and had no idea why. He pushed aside the birds' strange behavior and walked over to an older gentleman as Noctis joined him. "'Scuse me. We'd like to ride the chocobos."

"The chocobos, huh?" Wiz hummed, glancing at the blonde. "I hate to break this to y'all, but we can't permit our birds to leave the post. Not while Deadeye's still about. He's an uncommonly ferocious behemoth that's taken to prowlin' these parts of late. His scent makes our birds nervous, an' to prevent accidents an' tragedies, we have no choice but to suspend rentals. But hold on, now-ain't you lads the hunters that've been makin' a mark? You reckon you could handle the likes of Deadeye? If you could bring the beast down, there'd be a reward in it for ya. But knowin' the danger, I wouldn't blame ya for sayin' no."

Noctis glances at the hunting poster and noticed the large sum of gil being offered to whoever slew the behemoth. He turned back to Wiz and crossed his arms with a confident smirk. "We'll do it."

Prompto blinked rapidly in shock. "We will?!"

"Yeah," Noctis replied. "We need the money, anyway."

The blonde jabbed his finger at the image of Deadeye. "That thing is huge! Do you really think we can kill it?"

"Only one way to find out."

Wiz nodded, respecting their decision. "I appreciate it, boys. Be careful out there. Deadeye ain't no joke."

Noctis and Prompto reconvened with Gladio and Ignis. The prince told them how he accepted the hunt for the behemoth and they didn't waste any time. They departed from the chocobo outpost on foot and headed to the Nebulawood in search of Deadeye.

As they crept closer to their destination, the sound of trees snapping in half and slamming into the ground caught their attention. The ground shook with each tree that was destroyed, but everything soon became quiet. A few seconds ticked by and the group was startled by a vicious growl coming from the Nebulawood. The group froze at the threatening sound.

"The hell?" Gladio murmured, brows furrowed together in confusion. Looking up, they witnessed more trees snap and collapse against the ground.

"Something's amiss," Ignis stated calmly.

The shield gestures for them to keep moving forward. "C'mon."

The royal retinue cautiously enters the Nebulawood, their eyes scanning over the numerous of trees lying on the ground. They step over the snapped trees and head deeper into the den in search of the behemoth. Eventually, they enter a clearing where they're met by a pack of voretooth fleeing from the other direction. Prompto gasped in shock at the sight. "Whoa! Look at 'em go!"

Continuing to make their way deeper into the Nebulawood, the area becomes blanketed with mist. They soon make their way to an abandoned stone structure with an opening large enough for them to pass through if they crouched. Noctis begins to lead the way in when they heard another menacing growl.

"Noct!" Gladio grabs the prince and gently pulls him back before stepping forward, turning back and holding out his hand to indicate he would be taking the lead. Crouching down, he entered the small space. The brute slowly and quietly makes his way forward a few feet, then turns back to motion for the others to follow. Halfway through the crawl space, Gladio heard a growl from close by and stopped. "Hold up!" Noctis, Prompto, and Ignis halt as they listened to the sinister sound.

The snarling continued as Deadeye comes into view through the holes in the structure. Prompto shudders at the sight of the behemoth and clamped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from whimpering. This was the first time he'd seen a behemoth and abhorred the close proximity. His cerulean eyes watched the creature closely as its nose wiggled, signifying it detected their presence. Due to its missing right eye, it was unable to see them.

Gladio looks at his friends, holds up a finger, closes his right eye, and taps it. ""Deadeye"-the name says it all." After a few more seconds of observing the massive animal, the shield motions for the others to follow him. "Let's move."

Prompto calmed his racing heart and evened out his breathing as he followed his friends further into the crawl space. Morosely, his calm demeanor shattered when the behemoth snapped its head in their direction.

The boys press themselves against the ground to avoid Deadeye's snout as it shoved it through one of the holes in the metal structure and into the narrow passageway. The boys remained silent as they froze. The behemoth's nose twitched again before releasing a thunderous roar. A few seconds pass and Deadeye gives up. It raises its head and roars again before retreating.

The four friends continue making their way through the passage and soon come to the exit. Gladio spotted it and quickly made his way out of the crawl space. "Here we go."

Proceeding forth, the royal retinue kept their focus on their target as they trekked through the Nebulawood. "It's weak on the right-no eye, no horn," Gladio stated.

"We'll stay in range until we can exploit its blind spot," Ignis replied.

Unconsciously, Prompto gripped at the bracelet wrapped around his right wrist. His fingers grazed the golden gemstone, wondering how (Y/n) would handle this situation. He was unaware of her true strength and wondered if she could handle the beast on her lonesome. Gradually, his mind was put at ease and his nervousness dissipated when all his thoughts were filled with the guardian.

While he knew she was always close by, he wanted her to walk by his side and not rest within the gold gemstone upon his bracelet. He wanted to talk to her like they did in Insomnia. Now, he was only able to see and talk to her whenever he could be alone and not fear one of his friends interrupting them.

Prompto unclasped the bracelet and gazed at his companions' backs. The past few days, he'd been pondering ways how to introduce them to (Y/n). Alas, he hated all his plans since he feared they would either react the opposite way he'd hope. In all honesty, the real reason he didn't tell them about (Y/n) is because he's selfish when it comes to her. His greatest fear was someone would take her away from him and he'd lose his one chance to confess his true feelings for her.

Due to his occupied mind, Prompto tripped over one of the snapped tree branches. Fortunately, Gladio caught the boy by the arm before he could kiss the ground. "Get your head out of the clouds or you're gonna lose it," the shield growled.

"Right..." The blonde muttered.

Continuing on, the boys crouch under a fallen tree blocking their path and proceeded forth. Before going much further, they come to a fence and jump over it. The four landed in a mist-filled clearing of the Nebulawood where Deadeye was prowling.

"We've got the beast in our sights," Gladio whispered, staring at the behemoth.

"But no plan of attack," Ignis added. "The behemoth should be headed back to its lair, where we can catch it fully off guard."

"Yeah, as long as we stay on guard ourselves," Noctis said.

Using their surroundings, the boys stalked after the large beast without being detected. Due to the mist, it was difficult for them to locate Deadeye at a distance and they had no choice but to follow on its heels.

Eventually, the royal retinue followed the behemoth to the ruins of a building. They stared at the remaining frame of the building as they hopped down a cliff side and land in Deadeye's den.

As they round the corner of the destroyed building, the behemoth is visible through the mist on a small cliff across the way. Ignis promptly grabs Noctis' hand and pulls him to the ground before he could be spotted by the beast. Gladio and Prompto join their huddle and discussed their strategy. Once they were all informed of the plan, they emerged from their hiding spot and faced off against Deadeye.

Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis summoned their weapons and attacked the beast, acting as a distraction and luring it towards a single oil drum. Once it was close enough, Noctis tossed a magic flask filled with fire at the oil drum, hitting it successfully. The drum exploded and the oil splashed on Deadeye as it ignited with flames. The beast howled in pain as it rampantly ran around and tried to extinguish the fire. When it neared another oil drum, Noctis didn't hesitate to throw another magic flask.

The process continued until there were no oil drums left. Deadeye managed to survive the flames and extinguish the fire from its body. The behemoth snarled, slobber dropping from its sharp fangs. Due to the previous attacks, the beast was consumed by anger and roared.

Noctis clicked his tongue in annoyance when seeing the behemoth was still standing. "Dammit..."

"This thing's still alive?!" Prompto shrieked. He aimed his pistol at Deadeye and pulled the trigger. The bullet left the chamber and pierced the beast's leg. Once the behemoth was no longer in pain, it set its sight on the blonde.

Ignis noticed where its attention was and shouted, "Prompto!"

The marksman glanced at the advisor for a split second before looking back at Deadeye. He stared into its one good eye and immediately regretted his decision to meet the beast's gaze. He took a few steps back while the others charged forward to attack it.

Deadeye leapt over Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis and charged at Prompto. The blonde stumbled backwards in a desperate attempt to run away, but he tripped over his own feet and fell on his back. His eyes widened in fear as Deadeye swiped its claws at him. Closing his eyes, he waited for the claws to pierce his flesh as he heard his friends shouting his name.

Suddenly, Prompto heard a low growl that didn't belong to Deadeye. Opening his eyes, the boy looked up and saw another creature looming over him.

Stunned, the blonde only could watch as the fox-like creature leapt onto Deadeye's back. It dug its sharp claws into the behemoth's back before sinking its fangs into the back of its neck. The larger beast tried to shake the fox off its back, but it only resulted in the fox to plunge its claws deeper into its flesh.

Deadeye jumped toward the ruins and slammed its back against the stony skeletal remains. The fox's body slammed into the stone with a cry of pain, but it quickly recovered before the behemoth could attack it. Leaping atop the cliff that overlooked the ruins, the black and white creature lowered its body to the ground as its multiple tails lashed outward in every direction. The white tips were consumed in bright flames as the fox bore its fangs at the behemoth. Using its tails, it created a large fireball and threw it at Deadeye.

The flaming projectile nailed the behemoth in the side, burning its flesh and knocking it to the ground. Seeing it was incapacitated, the fox leapt from its perch and landed on the beast's side. Like before, it bit into Deadeye's neck and ripped out its throat. Dismounting the beast, the golden-eyed fox tossed the flesh trapped between its teeth aside. Blood seeped from its mouth, but it slowly evaporated as Deadeye's body disintegrated into nothingness.

Once the behemoth was gone and left no trace behind, the fox set its sight on the boys. Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis gripped their weapons tightly and readied themselves to attack the creature. On the other hand, Prompto lowered his pistol as it vanished from his grasp. He stared into the fox's gold-slitted eyes and felt an all-too-familiar connection to it. He took a few steps toward it but froze when he noticed a shift in Noctis' position.

The blonde turned his gaze toward his best friend and his eyes widened when he saw the prince was about to perform a warp-strike. Running toward the raven-haired boy, the sharpshooter bellowed, "Noct, stop!" He reached Noctis before he could toss his engine blade and grabbed his arm.

The prince looked at Prompto in confusion. He was perplexed as to why he was stopping him. "What're you doing, Prompto?"

"It's okay, Noct," he replied, unwinding his fingers from around the prince's arm. Turning back to the fox, he took a few steps toward it. He slowly approached the beast, ignoring the protests from his companions. When the creature lowered its head and took a single step toward him, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

Prompto reached the fox and stood in front of it. He continued to gaze into its golden eyes as he lifted his hand up. The fox lowered its head further and allowed the boy to place his hand on top of its head. He stroked its fur, admiring the softness.

After a prolonged silence, Prompto spoke up. "So this is your true form, huh? Gotta admit, I'm really diggin' it!"

Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis dispelled their weapons when seeing how docile the beast became after slaughtering Deadeye. They were baffled as to why Prompto was talking to the fox in such a familiar manner.

"The hell's goin' on here?" Noctis grumbled as he approached his best friend and the creature.

The blonde continued to pet the top of the fox's head, his smile widening when it closed its eyes with what sounded almost like a purr of content. "Guess the cat's out of the bag," Prompto sighed. "Right, (Y/n)?"

"(Y/n)?" Gladio parroted the name, more confused than before.

"Well, you see... Um..." The sharpshooter was trying to explain who the fox was, but he wasn't sure how or where to begin. "This is harder than I thought it was gonna be..."

The creature opened its eyes, revealing its slitted pupils. It moves its head and nuzzled its wet, cold nose against the boy's chest to gain his attention. When it did, a nonthreatening growl emitted from its throat.

While Prompto heard the noise, he could already tell what the fox was trying to convey by looking into its eyes. He didn't need words to understand what the creature was trying to say due to the deep bond he'd developed with (Y/n) ever since they were toddlers. "Yeah, it'd definitely be easier if you explain."

The fox nodded its head before its body was consumed in a bright light. Once the blinding light vanished, a girl with (h/c) locks and golden eyes stood in the creature's spot. She smiled gently at Prompto, who smiled back. When turning her gaze toward Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis, she couldn't help but smirk faintly when realizing how tense and on-guard they were.

With Prompto by her side, she approached the boys and came to a halt a few feet away from them. Her eyes bounced between the trio, but they stopped on Ignis when she saw the shocked expression on his face. Noticing his emerald eyes weren't focused on her face, she followed his line of sight and saw he was staring at the golden gemstone embedded in her upper right arm. By his befuddled expression, she knew he had already connected the puzzle pieces. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. "This isn't how I imagined our first meeting, but it seems the explanation will be easier than I thought."

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#ffxv #ffxv x reader #final fantasy xv x reader #final fantasy xv #prompto x reader #prompto argentum x reader #prompto argentum

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paperanddice · 4 years ago

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Image ID: Three pictures of game stat blocks. The first is a 5th Edition D&D stat block for the shrieking terror, the second is a 13th Age stat block for the shrieking terror, and the third is a 13th Age stat block for the vargouille. Full text available under the read more. End ID.

Fiends constantly seek out ways to better guide their own brand of evil. Whichever of them created the shrieking terror managed to unleash a new form of horrific monstrosity to make the world a significantly worse place overall. Despite its name being vague and applicable to a great many potential creatures, the shrieking terror does live up to it. It shrieks, and it is a terror. All that’s left is to try and describe it in a more specific way.

The shrieking terror is the result of fiendish experimentation on vargouilles. An almost forgettable fiend when they’re not an active menace, vargouilles are most notable for being able to spread themselves with a vile kiss. Any humanoid that a vargouille kisses risks being cursed, and over the course of a day their head transforms into a new winged fiend, eventually ripping itself off and flying away to continue the spread. It was most fortunate that they could only curse humanoids in this way, as the possibility of more dangerous vargouille with special abilities or greater size is far too concerning. The shrieking terror is, unfortunately, the example of what happens when someone magically modifies a vargouille to be able to curse other beings.

Flying medusa heads are one such experimental result, but they hold nothing to the violence that can be brought about when a vargouille is capable of cursing a hydra. A nest of 5 or more heads on long, serpentine necks, with the lump of flesh at the center of the heads sprouting wide wings, a shrieking terror flies through the sky with a deadly purpose; to curse or kill everyone it encounters. Five sets of venomous jaws, a scream that can paralyze with fear, and a kiss that will curse and destroy its victims, a single shrieking terror can spell the downfall of an entire city if not checked. Even its death may not stop the horror, as dozens or hundreds may transform after it is finally brought down, creating a flight of heads spreading the infection even further.

There’s also a bit of a bonus in this update, as 13th Age doesn’t have vargouille stats anywhere in its SRD, so I’m adding that in as a bonus. Can’t have a monster that turns people into a vargouille without also having a vargouille, after all.

5th Edition

Shrieking Terror Medium fiend, neutral evil Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 130 (20d8 + 40) Speed 5 ft., fly 40 ft. Str 13 (+1) Dex 18 (+4) Con 15 (+2) Int 4 (-3) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 2 (-4) Damage Immunities poison Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning Condition Immunities poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft. passive Perception 11 Languages understands Abyssal and Infernal but can't speak Challenge 12 (8400 XP) Multiple Heads. The shrieking terror has 5 heads. While it has more than one head, the shrieking terror has advantage on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, or knocked unconscious. Whenever the shrieking terror takes 20 or more damage in a single turn, one of its heads dies. If all its heads die, the shrieking terror dies. At the end of its turn, it grows two heads for each of its heads that died since its last turn, unless it has taken acid damage since its last turn. The shrieking terror regains 10 hit points for each head regrown in this way. Reactive Heads. For each head the shrieking terror has beyond one, it gets an extra reaction that can be used only for opportunity attacks. Actions Multiattack. The shrieking terror makes as many bite attacks as it has heads. It can replace any number of bite attacks with an equal number of uses of its Kiss. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage. Kiss. The shrieking terror kisses one incapacitated humanoid or hydra within 5 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Charisma saving throw or become cursed. The cursed target loses 1 point of Charisma after each hour, as its head takes on fiendish aspects. The curse doesn't advance while the target is in sunlight or the area of a daylight spell; don't count that time. When the cursed target's Charisma becomes 2, it dies, and its head tears from its body and becomes a vargouille if it was humanoid, or another shrieking terror if it was a hydra. Casting remove curse, greater restoration, or a similar spell on the target before the transformation is complete can end the curse. Doing so undoes the changes made to the target by the curse. Stunning Shriek. The shrieking terror shrieks. Each humanoid, beast, and hydra within 60 feet of the shrieking terror and able to hear it must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of the shrieking terror's next turn. While frightened in this way, a target is stunned. If a target's saving throw is successful, or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the Stunning Shriek of all vargouilles and shrieking terrors for 1 hour.

13th Age

Shrieking Terror Triple-strength 6th-level spoiler [demon] Initiative +11 Poisonous Bite +11 vs. AC (5 attacks) - 8 damage plus 4 poison damage Natural even hit or miss: The shrieking terror can replace it’s next attack this turn (if it has one) with a kiss attack instead. Miss: 4 damage. [Special Trigger] Kiss +11 vs. PD (one dazed, staggered, or stunned humanoid enemy) - 8 ongoing poison damage and the target must start making last gasp saves as it starts transforming into a vargouille. On a fourth failure, the target dies and its head rips off to become a vargouille. C: Stunning Shriek +11 vs. MD (1d4 nearby enemies) - The target is dazed (save ends) Natural 16+: The target is stunned instead of dazed. Limited Use: 1/round as a quick action, if the escalation die is even. Flight. Roiling Swirl: If the shrieking terror has at least two poisonous bite attacks left during a turn, it can expend one of those attacks to move to engage a nearby enemy as a free action (but it will take opportunity attacks for doing so). Too Tough To Trick: Whenever the shrieking terror would suffer any of the following conditions, it ignores the condition and takes 5 damage instead. Sprout 6th Head: The first time the shrieking terror is staggered, as a free action it gains 45 hit points and a sixth poisonous bite attack, and is considered undamaged at its new hit point total. Using the shrieking terror’s current hit points as a new baseline, the shrieking terror will be staggered again when it drops below 50% of that total. Sprout seventh head: The second time the shrieking terror is staggered, as a free action it gains 4 hit points and a seventh poisonous bite attack, etc. Use a new hit point baseline as before, but there is no eighth head waiting to sprout. AC 21 PD 19 MD 17 HP 180

Vargouille 6th-level mook [demon] Initiative: +11 Bite +13 vs. AC - 8 damage Natural even hit: 6 poison damage. Kiss +10 vs. PD (one dazed, staggered, or stunned enemy) - 8 ongoing poison damage. If the target is reduced to 0 hit points while taking this damage, it must start making last gasp saves. On the fourth failure, the target dies and its head rips off to become another vargouille. C: Shriek +11 vs. MD (1d2 nearby enemies) - 8 psychic damage Natural 16+: The target is also dazed until the end of the vargouille’s next turn. Natural 20: The target is instead stunned until the end of the vargouille’s next turn. Limited Use: Regardless of the number of vargouille in the battle, only one vargouille can use this attack each round. Flight. AC 20 PD 18 MD 14 HP 23 (mook) Mook: Kill one vargouille mook for every 23 hp you deal to the mob.

Originally from the 3.5 Monster Manual III. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as see my premade adventures and updates on my alchemy project, consider backing me there!

#D&D #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #5th Edition #13th Age #homebrew #my homebrew #monster #fiend #demon #long post

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singtotheskiies · 4 years ago

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a single word // bruce banner x reader

request: Nothing would make me happier than a Bruce Banner X reader. He doesn't get nearly as much love as he deserves and he is adorable and smart and one of the many loves of my life. If you can make it a soulmate AU it would be even better and you would be my very bestest friend. But you don't have to write this if you don't want to.

summary: your soulmate’s emotions are written on your forearm. sometimes it’s only a single word—anger—and a news feed of New York being destroyed starts you on a mission to find him.

words: 2301

warnings: slight angst, but otherwise lotsa fluff:)))

a/n: i’m so sorry for the delay in writing! i was sick for a few days and found it really difficult to write. for that reason, this imagine may not flow as well or have as detailed writing as others, but i still hope it’s enjoyable!!

✖️✖️✖️

Your soulmate’s emotions were—complicated, to say the least.

Most people had multiple words on their arm based on what their soulmate was feeling at the moment—it wasn’t uncommon to see entire forearm-lengths of words like curious and fearful and hopeful. Sometimes your arm had a normal, long list like that, but over the past few years, things had begun to change.

Sometimes, the writing on your arm would fade away to one word—ANGER.

It was menacing—red and in all caps. Sometimes it would only last a few seconds, your arm flickering from ANGER to fear or attempted calm. Sometimes it stayed for hours before fading to confusion and regret and self-hatred. Your heart went out to your soulmate, mourning their seeming lack of stability. Sure, it was more interesting than a typical soulmate bond, but it seemed as if they had a hard time dealing with life and controlling their emotions. You hoped that if you ever met them, you’d be able to provide a much-needed constant of calm.

For your whole life, though, you were left clueless as to who it could possibly be. Someone who had such blindingly intense emotions was surely one of a kind—but no hints presented themselves until the attack on New York.

You were working like any other day when your coworker suddenly barged in, babbling about something horrific and otherworldly that was happening on the East Coast. Standing up in alarm (and, quite frankly, slight disbelief), you grabbed your phone and quickly opened your news app only to have your friend’s story confirmed. You clicked on a news feed, watching in utter shock as entire city blocks were torn down by what looked like otherworldly spaceships. They twisted through the air grotesquely, resembling some sort of worm or insect. Clearly, they were not from Earth.

A reporter was attempting to interview a shaken citizen—a young woman who seemed to be on the point of crying. The reporter wasn’t having much success, as the young lady’s voice was too choked with tears to get much out. However, after several painful moments, the woman’s face changed as she looked up. The camera pivoted wildly to show a small group of individuals making their way purposefully down the street. As it zoomed in, you got a closer look—the people looked intimidating and like they had a purpose.

All except one. The camera was slightly fuzzy and the chaos going on around it didn’t help, but you could tell a few details about this odd one out. He looked to be shorter than many of the others, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and a look of terrified confusion. He was unarmed with any weapon or armor, dressed only in work clothes. Your arm itched and burned as you looked at him, and you looked down at it in surprise.

Unsure, afraid, determined, disbelieving.

“No way,” you breathed, and your friend looked at you sideways.

“I know! Who are these people? I have no clue what’s going on anymore.” You didn’t have the energy to tell her that you were most stunned by the fact that the seemingly unarmed man may very well be the soulmate you had waited your whole life to meet. Although you did agree with her that you wanted to know who he was.

Before you could get a better look at the group of people, your maybe-soulmate spoke to one of the others and turned around to fight. However, as he did, he grew several feet taller, huge new muscles bunching together as his shirt ripped away to reveal—green skin? You couldn’t believe your eyes, staring at the screen in almost catatonic shock. Your arm started stinging again, and as you looked down at it, it shifted into that all-too-familiar word: ANGER.

“I have to go home,” you told your friend, packing up your things in a rush.

“Are you okay?” she asked you.

“Don’t feel well,” you said. Several other people were heading for the doors. You figured a disaster of this scale would cause more than a few changes in schedule.

Getting home in record time, you turned on your television and sat, not even bothering to toe off your shoes. You watched in utter astonishment as New York continued to be trashed by an otherworldly army. The news feeds gave as many updates on the team attempting to fight the aliens off as they could. Your eyes were peeled for any flashes of green, and you were occasionally rewarded with a few seconds of whoever-he-was fighting off creatures singlehandedly. Was this beast of a man the same timid person who had walked with the other fighters at the beginning? Maybe he was possessed or something. Hopefully he wouldn’t die fending off the alien attackers—possibly finding your soulmate and then having them ripped away from you on the same day was something you’d prefer not to happen.

After hours of battle, all the attackers had been taken out and the cube of energy—the Tesseract, it was called—had been taken to a government facility. You hadn’t seen any more of your potential soulmate, but the words on your arm had gone back to small black words: exhausted, relieved, frightened. He was still alive, thank goodness, but your only hope of finding out who he was was through news of some sort, so you kept your television on and scrolled through news websites as you ate dinner. After an hour or two, you began to feel a little hopeless—you couldn’t find anywhere that was listing the names of the group who had fought back—the Avengers, as they were being called. Eventually, you gave up and decided to call it a night. Maybe you’d find out more in the morning.

To your surprise (and relief) there was an article titled “Just Who Are the Avengers?” that seemed to list a few names. It was scant information (unsurprising, since they seemed to be spies or government workers of some sort), but it was something. The name that you were looking for seemed to be Bruce Banner—the Incredible Hulk. You felt a surge of adrenaline as you typed his name into your phone, pulling up multiple sources about your potential soulmate.

You discovered that he was a top scientist, a man who had underwent a freak gamma radiation accident that caused him to turn into the Hulk when he didn’t have control over his emotions. He now worked to understand radiation as well as countless other fields of study—the man had seven PhDs! He seemed to be quite the extraordinary person, and the pictures available of him painted him out to be quite the handsome man as well.

You looked down at your arm and sighed. Terror and hopelessness. Judging by the blue ink, he must be having a nightmare. You set your jaw and resolutely looked for some way to contact him. Yes, he had just saved America, but you had a feeling he needed some actual good things in his life. You wanted to help if it were at all possible.

The best you could do was find an email address, so you started a draft and stared at your screen wondering out loud what to say.

“Hi, I’m your soulmate—probably. Saw you turn into a big green guy on TV—that’s something else! No, that’s stupid. Uh—you seem to have a lot of trauma going on, maybe I could hel—no, I’m not his therapist. C’mon, think!”

You eventually settled on a message that stated your awareness of who he was, an admiration for how bravely he had fought, and the possibility that you may be each other’s soulmates. Breathing deeply, you sent the message and left your laptop open for easy refreshing.

It took him almost 36 anxiety-ridden hours to respond back, but his response made you smile.

Dear (Y/N),

I was so surprised to hear from you that I nearly dropped my phone—in a good way, of course. I appreciate your compliments, and your description of what happens on your arm would certainly be a good match for me. You seem to be a wonderful person, and while I would love to meet you right away, the rest of the team and I have a few post-battle things we need to take care of. Does coffee about a week from now sound good? Let me know, and we can work out the details.

Sincerely, Bruce

You emailed him back saying that coffee sounded wonderful, including your phone number because texting would be a little easier, you thought. He texted you about a half hour later, giving you details to a coffee place that was far enough away from downtown to be safe. Can’t wait to see you there, he said, and you grinned as you sent back a similar message.

Putting your phone down on your kitchen table, you hummed in satisfaction—finally, after waiting for years and years, you were meeting your soulmate.

✖️✖️✖️

You were a little nervous, to say the least, but it was tempered with a great deal of excitement. As you neared the coffee shop, you touched your hair almost self-consciously, but then took your hand away quickly. All you could do was hope for the best—if the two of you were really meant to be, things would go well. Taking a deep breath, you pushed open the door and went inside.

You found him almost immediately, and he stood up as if by instinct when you entered. He was at a small corner table, and his eyes met yours with a look of astonishment and admiration.

“(Y/N)?” he asked with near disbelief.

“Bruce,” you beamed, and without thinking, you threw your arms around him in a hug. He returned the gesture, arms wrapping tightly around you.

“I—I can’t believe you’re here,” he spoke into your hair. “I mean, really here. I always thought—“ he trailed off and you pulled back, looking in his deep brown eyes again.

“Of course I’m here, Bruce. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Thank you,” he said, smiling softly, and said “Shall we?” as he pulled out your seat for you. Thanking him, you took a seat and began studying his face as casually as you could. He had a strong jaw, full lips, lovely brown eyes, and the same curly brown-and-grey hair you had seen on the news. You had a very strong urge to reach out and slip your fingers through it, but resisted somehow. He noticed your eyes on him and cocked his head at you, a slight, sweet smile on his face.

“What?” he asked, his voice grinning along with him.

“Nothing, you’re just—really handsome,” you said, blushing. “I think you’re wonderful.” He blushed with you, and you smiled at each other for a long moment before discussing what you would order. After settling on a few things, you placed your orders and began chatting right away. He told you about his work in the science field (he shocked you with his intellect), while you told him about your job. You shared little facts about each other, and as you talked about your interests, he watched you intently with awestruck, loving eyes. It gave you more than a few butterflies, and you could still hardly believe that you were there with your soulmate.

After you finished your drinks, Bruce offered taking a walk outside. You nodded enthusiastically, wanting to spend as much time with him as you could. There’s a park nearby, fairly large for a city, with lots of pretty flowers and trees to enjoy. As you walked, you continued talking about all sorts of things.

Eventually the topic of his alien-fighting experience came up, and something in his eyes shifted. Looking down at your arm, you saw the words nervous and hopeful and worried etch themselves into your skin. You furrowed your brows in concern, and without thinking, took his hand. His fingers moved nervously under yours, but latched on with clear relief.

“I’m sorry,” he nearly whispered. “I just feel like—well, I can’t offer you normalcy, dependency, consistency. Sometimes he just takes over. I try, I really do, but I’ve still got a long way to go before I learn to control or even coexist with him. I could hurt you, I could break things, and it scares me, (Y/N). You’re very likely the best thing to ever come into my life, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Bruce,” you answered, tears welling up in the bottom of your eyes. “I don’t need consistency or perfection or anything close to it. All I need is you. We’ve been put together for a reason, and I’m going to fight for you, no matter what tries to stop us. I’m here for you now, and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”

He really did whisper now, your name softly under his breath. As his eyes met yours, you began to move a little closer, head tilting towards his as if magnetized. He raised his other hand to brush across your face gently, a question, and you smiled in response. With a soft tip of his head, your mouths fell together, eagerly gentle. Your hand came up to ruffle through his curls, and they felt just as lovely as you had imagined. The two of you stayed that way, together, touching, for several moments. As he came up for air, he rested his forehead against yours, kissing you again until your smiles outgrew the spaces between you.

“Thank you,” he murmured again, and as you looked into his blissful eyes, you noticed your arm—only a single word was on it, different from the one you typically saw by itself.

Smitten.

#bruce banner #bruce banner x reader #bruce banner imagine #bruce banner x you #marvel #mcu #marvel x reader #mcu x reader #marvel imagine #mcu imagine #the hulk #the incredible hulk #the avengers #mark ruffalo #mark ruffalo x reader #mark ruffalo imagine #fanfic #imagine

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watery-lane · 4 years ago

Text

Raven (Prologue)

Pairing: Ivar Lothbrok x Reader

Summary: Ivar hears of a woman who is said to be able to tame ravens. Lost in his curiosity and thirst for power, the new king decides to choose her as his bride, with the hopes of getting closer to Odin.

Little does he know, it is not very wise to try and domesticate the dark feather creatures.

Warnings: Heavy angst

Words: 3K

A/N: This was supposed to be my entry for @dreamwritesimagines writing challenge “Not Today, Writer’s Block” with the prompts: “If I can’t be happy, I will be a Queen.” “Gods must have sent you as a gift to me.” and “You are nothing to me from now on.” back in October or so. It has been a while and it is even rude to post this as an entry for the challenge after all this time, but I had the complete series already drafted and I really loved writing it, so I am posting this as a completely non-related fict. I hope you enjoy one of the last ficts I wrote before taking my long hiatus.

There is a high cliff near the pier of Kattegat, a podium on Midgard, not tall enough to reach for the other branches of Yggdrasil but ideal for a pair of human eyes to watch over the coastal town. The thick dark green mantle of perennial trees guarding the crystal covered grass valley grants the visitor a discreet and intimate environment, while a lone stone resting mere feet away from the edge provides a place to sit and contemplate the seas. Your hair, painfully braided into a complex updo resembles the roots holding your universe in place. You bite your lower lip, eyes stinging ever so slightly, not because of the new hairstyle you had to wear from now on but because the idea of shutting your eyes close escaped from your mind. The vertigo you felt, the lightheaded sensation you used to take for granted was being torn away from you with each decision you took... or did not take.

Two dark figures fall from the grey sky next to you, deep croaks like vague greetings as the tempestuous birds land on a long branch right above your head. You smile solely with your lips, moving your hand full of fading claw scars out of the furs and into the little leather sachet hanging from your waist. At such sight, the two ravens fly closer.

“Eat slowly,” you playfully commanded, your feathered friends quickly picking the fresh berries you left by your side “nobody is here to steal your food.”

Your eyes return to the sea, a persistent reflex you developed since you could barely walk.

When you were little, you waited on this exact same cliff so you could be the first one seeing the boats sailing back home. Your father, a loyal and humble explorer, used to take you and your now deceased sister up there, apples and toys made with the most exotic woods hidden under his robe. He told you two to keep your eyes at the horizon, where the line between the sky and the sea seemed to melt and merge into one. You two were in charge of informing mother and the little ones of his return from every raid. He told you that if you were faster than him and reached home before he did, he would narrate his adventures like a tale before you went to sleep.

A few weeks after your sister passed away due to an outbreak of a ravaging plague, two ravens seemed to take her place at the cliff. You never knew whether they were there before you or not, but the newfound company seemed rather comforting while you mourned for the loss of your best friend and caretaker. They couldn’t talk, they didn’t show pity towards your broken self and their simple presence brought a certain warmth and protection that reminded you of her. Your new feathery friends would patiently sit on the nearest tree as you jumped around and collected berries for everybody while you waited for the boats to appear.

They didn’t use to get very close at first, their dark eyes observing attentively every gesture you made, a menacing shrill harming your ears when you made movements way too harsh for their liking. But one day you saw one of the ravens with their claw stuck in the cracks of an icy rock and you tried to melt down the ice with your own hands and furs. To this day you still had some of the scars from the attacks, their peaks and free claws digging into your flesh while you bit down and rescued the creature that kept you company when you needed it the most.

The new company and the fact that you used to spend more time in nature before you sister passed away —event that pushed you to take over the household responsibilities she left behind— made you find your peace in that hidden cliff, waiting for father surrounded by nature.

Soon you started to develop a routine away from your peaceful nook, where you would wake up before the rooster crowed. You would visit the farmers and fishermen instead of the town market and clean the house before the little ones woke up. In this way, you found the produces to be fresher and the words of the workers much kinder. Whenever you managed to cram your household duties before noon, you gave the rest of your midday to your mother, who worked as the healer of Kattegat. It wasn’t until you finished sorting out the herbs and cleaning up the pots when you would quietly remove yourself from the wooden hut and hide in the woods again.

You could spend hours out there, picking up flowers, berries and branches. Your skilled fingers would work on the collected wood with the help of a small knife as you snack mindlessly either waiting for the sun to go down or your father to come back. You waited for hours, days and weeks.

You waited until you saw the ships sailing back home.

But your father never did.

Your mother, with a broken heart and four offspring to take care of, had to move on quickly, passing down more and more responsibilities to your ten year old self. She remarried a few months after the disappearance of your father, feeding the viper tongued people in town, who spread the rumour of how your mother cursed her husband so she could get married to her lover.

That is why, as she braided your hair under the dim light of the fireplace early this morning, she lowered her lips to your ears with discretion after you expressed your concern about your imminent marriage and whispered:

“If you cannot be happy, at least be a queen.”

A wise advice coming from a woman who knew what was to live under the influence of the people. As a queen, her daughter would always be above sharp tongues and poisonous rumours and with a husband like Ivar, those pigs would never dare to raise their voices against her. You will be protected.

“If I cannot be happy, I will be a queen.” You whisper to yourself as the two birds placidly eat their berries, hugging yourself while you feel your stomach churn as if a worm was trying to make your tummy its new home. “If I cannot be happy, I will be a queen, if I cannot be happy, I will be a qu— “

“What are you whispering about?” You jump on your seat at the sound of a second voice right behind you. The ravens croaked, annoyed at the sudden intrusion. They let an angry squawk before flying back into the woods. “Talking to the ravens?” Ivar jokes as he approaches you with slow steps, tired from the ride uphill to your hidden spot.

You stare as he gets closer, wondering if it is the added height what makes him make your guts squirm with concern and reservation. You liked Ivar, all these months of courtship helped you grow fond of him little by little. Yet, as the wedding time approached slow but steadily, you couldn’t help but feel your legs shake with nervousness.

The callous hands of the King search for yours under your furs after he sits down next to you, chapped lips kissing your knuckles tenderly as he observes you contemplating the ocean.

“Spill your thoughts.” Ivar asks calmly, eyes never leaving your profile. His voice, with a slightly higher pitch than all his brothers makes him sound a little bit more childish, a little bit more demanding. However, he was the king after all. He could ask for whatever he wanted to and he would get it.

That is how he got you.

“Why me?” You responded with a shy voice, such question eating you alive ever since the day he showed up at your house and asked for your hand to your mother. That was mere weeks after talking to you for the very first time.

Ivar chuckles at the question.

He remembers the day he heard of you. He just returned from York, still a prince, the memory of that mysterious thrall sitting on his lap completely naked still lingering in his mind like the most precious thought. It was the first time he felt… worthy. Appreciated. Loved. Not useless, feared or despised. And, as much as he hated to admit it, something inside him was searching to feel the same thing all over again.

Ragnhild, one of his first thralls, was preparing him a bath when Ivar found himself spilling his thoughts to the young woman: how he was told that he was destined to great things and that he believed it too, how much he wanted to be closer to the gods and how bad he longed for a woman to help him with his legacy.

The strawberry haired thrall was not much older than the prince. She was probably ten years older at most, not very smart but wise and reliable enough for Ivar to trust her with his thoughts. Her hooded green eyes and freckled face had always had a calming effect on Ivar, who would let his guard down as soon as she got close enough to take care of him. Maybe it was because she worked along his deceased mother. Maybe it was because she raised him since he was a teenage kid.

To his surprise, Ragnhild agreed with him, unaware of her tight lipped smile while she told him about the daughter of a widowed witch, a wicked sorceress who killed her own husband. Said young woman was single and, as the thrall heard, never bedded.

At first, Ivar separated himself from the soothing touch of his thrall, his scalp growing cold at the places her fingers were massaging. He asked, with a menacing tone if she was trying to get him cursed too. Calmly the thrall shook her head, using her soft touch to mould him back into his previous vulnerable state.

She revealed that it was said that you could tame ravens, as people had seen you carry around two of them on your shoulders and forearms as if they were nests of food. She hinted that they could even be Huginn and Muninn, the eyes and ears of Odin in Midgard.

And so, Ivar went looking for you, asking oblivious guards and sharp tongued rumourmongers if they have ever seen you.

He found you, peeling an apple in a hidden spot on the highest cliff, crossing a forest not even his horse was willing to walk through. He stood behind some dense bushes, watching you. It wasn’t until you cut the fruit into pieces and let out a whistle when he could see two dark figures descending from a tree. You were talking to them as if you were waiting for a response, a serene smile plastered on your face making Ivar feel a rush of heat warming up his cheeks. What a sweet and curious creature you were. Such sight proved Ragnhild was not lying. The more he stared, the bigger was his desire of owning your gift.

He kept observing and noticed how one of the ravens carried a small stone on its beak before leaving it next to you. You picked it up happily, your fingers stroking the small head of the raven before handing them a slice of apple each.

At such sight, Ivar got angry. How dared you, a simple Midgardian, treat Huginn or Muninn like mere pets, stroking their heads as if they were hounds.

So intense was his annoyance he clenched his fist and hit the wet ground, making the bushes that concealed him shake with the impact.

“Who is there?” You asked abruptly, head turning towards his spot.

Reluctantly, after a moment of silence and stillness, Ivar showed himself, crawling to your seat slowly as you stood up, a little bit frightened at the sight of a crawler snaking slowly towards you. It took you a little while before noticing he was actually prince Ivar, your body a little bit more relaxed.

“I got lost in the forest and heard someone talking. I followed the voice and found you here, playing with... Ravens?” Ivar lied, voice booming with confidence covering any sign that could give him away. You didn’t talk, making him raise his eyebrow as he tilted his head. “You are not scared of a prince, are you?”

Truth is, you had all the reasons to be scared of this particular prince. Yet you shook your head, keeping your head high and nails digging into your palm while you tried to keep your composure. Ivar kept staring at your tense frame with a crooked smile until he snapped his head to the right to look at the two curious birds moving their tiny heads, staring back at the young prince. Slowly he crawled next to them, raising his hand to see their reaction. You held your breath, fully aware that any wrong move could mean the end of your beloved ravens.

The two little feathered animals could sense your nervousness, yet they remained calm and composed, eyes blinking slowly watching the little prince look at them with contained fascination.

“It is unusual for them to stay this calm before a stranger.” You blurted out, trying to break the tension. “They must like you, my prince.”

He smiled. The thought of those sacred figures favouring him making him feel good.

“You have a sweet mouth...” Ivar looked at you, expectant.

“(Y/n)” You answered, hands tidying your skirt. “(Y/n) (Y/l/n).”

“(Y/n)” Ivar repeated, enjoying the sound of your name rolling in his tongue. “Gods must have sent you as a gift to me.” Ivar whispered as he looked at you blush, side smirk and piercing eyes exposing his hidden intentions.

Ivar recovers his trail of thoughts and tilts his head, a wide smile parting his lips as he lets his words out. You looked expectant, as if you were waiting for him to return from his trip to memory lane.

“Because you were born to be queen.”

You blink slowly, drinking down his words carefully like a strong ale, burning you and bringing heat to your cheeks the same way the beverage does.

The thing is, deep down you know you are not fit to be queen. You never were.

But the way he stared at you when he pronounced those words, as if he truly believed, firmly, adamantly, that you belonged next to him made you feel... Wanted. Worthy.

Maybe a little bit loved.

All of the sudden you feel a wave of gratification washing over you, silently thanking your mother for veiling for your protection. Her good wishes may have convinced Freyja to spare you a little bit more love than you probably deserved.

You nod with a smile plastered on your face, looking at your future husband with newfound tenderness.

“Those are beautiful words, my King.” Ivar grins with satisfaction, his calloused fingers bringing your cold hand to his mouth, gifting you another kiss before departing to the great hall. In the background, two different incessant croaks started to sound, menacingly.

Ignoring the persistent screams Ivar takes a few steps back, nodding to you as a farewell before leaving you on the same spot he found you, contemplating the silver water sway calmly like a child in the arms of the moon.

The physical pain of the braids tugging your skin no longer felt as bad.

You know that in a matter of hours, the weight of a crown would take over it.

As the moon fell upon the streets of Kattegat and painted the town in silver, the usually calm atmosphere that came with the darkness never got the chance of manifesting itself. Slowly but steadily, the soft argent shade was killed by rows and rows of bright fire, the voices of the people drowning the cracking of the fires.

Tonight, the king is crowning his queen.

“Do not forget the sacrifice, my King,” Ragnhild mumbles to Ivar, hot breath caressing his neck and ear like the touch of a lover, words dragging slowly like a menacing snake. Her hands tuck on the fur she was putting on Ivar, positioning them comfortably over his shoulders as he observes another thrall working on the last details for his wedding silently at the other side of the room. “you must do everything it is in your hands to protect your new family.” Still sitting in his fur coated chair, Ivar frowns.

“What is it that I have to protect them from, hm?” He questioned, counting the men and sources he had in his hands as he prepared himself to reprimand the mouthy thrall. “You have seen the army I own. Nothing will touch anything that is mine. Not her, nor Kattegat.” In the middle of her task, Ragnhild pauses for an instant.

“You can protect your loved ones from outsiders, but you cannot protect your wife from your own people.”

“I can punish them.” Ivar doesn’t miss a beat.

“Not when the harm cannot be seen. Or proved.” At this, Ivar turns around, chest puffed out at the idea of such menace.

“Explain yourself, thrall.” Ragnhild observes him pleasantly before walking around and bringing her hands to his hair, ready to braid it back again.

“You must remember the nature of this marriage, my King.” Her fingers start to take strands of hair slowly. “You have heard yourself first-hand what they thought about your mother-in-law and her offspring.” Discreetly, she leans closer to him. “Snakes cannot do anything else but hiss.” Under her soft touch and swift words, Ivar frowns.

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#dream writing challenge #ivar x reader #ivar/reader #ivar lothbrok x reader #ivar lothbrok/reader #ivar the boneless x reader #ivar the boneless/reader #ivar one shot #ivar imagine #ivar lothbrok one shot #ivar lothbrok imagine #ivar the boneless imagine

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sirspud · 3 years ago

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The Daring Ducks: The Living Bones

Previous, Next

Built into the side of a small hill, at the bottom of the Serpent Gorge, lies the Crypt of the Everflame. An archway of stone forms a tunnel leading towards the Crypt's entrance, one of its massive wooden doors slightly ajar. Though much of the archstone is covered in moss, it is clear that the keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol, a stylised rune in its centre.

Before the archway lies the site of a massacre. A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered in the small field before it, each corpse still tied to wooden posts, set into the ground beside them. A swarm of flies hangs lazily overhead, and a light stench of decay pervades the area.

The young ducks stand on the edge of the scene for a while in horror, Louie retching at the stench. Was this part of the test? They didn't think so. It wouldn't make sense to slaughter pack animals for the sake of a trial.

Warily, everyone but Louie approach the scene. Huey immediately inspects one of the bodies (Heal Check = 25). Quickly analysing the wounds, he tells everyone that the beasts were slain approximately two days ago, the wounds on their bodies indicating that they were killed with crude, slightly rusted blades.

...or, he adds hesitantly, perhaps claws.

(Perception Check = Huey 10, Dewey 15, Louie natural 20, Webby 19)

Engrossed in analysing the body, Huey doesn't notice the scattered bones underneath one of the other animals. The others do, and they cautiously move up to the scene. Dewey gets down and lifts up the horse's carcass to get a better look at the skeleton underneath (Strength Check = 17). He winces at touching the disgusting, half-rotted body, but he manages to just push it up.

The bones are that of a duck. But the cracks and the fragility of the body indicate that the bones are ancient. The ducks look at one another, unable to come to a conclusion. Dewey quickly lets go of the body and lets it fall, quickly going off to wipe his hand on the stone arch.

The team spends a while searching the area, but no answers seem to present themselves. The only other things they find are a set of backpacks, only one of which is still full. Within its confines are ten arrows, each with a blunted tip, two days' worth of rations, two pillows that look reasonably comfy, and 2 pints of lamp oil. Dewey and Webby both take one of the rations, Huey takes the oil, while Louie puts the arrows into his quiver.

They approach the entrance to the crypt, stopping just before the entrance to look at each other fearfully. Then, they each unstrap their backpacks and put them to the side. Whatever was going on in this tomb, they needed to be as unencumbered and light on their feet as they could be. Once everyone's satisfied that they're only taking what they need, Webby and Dewey move up to the doors and slowly push them open.

As the doors swing open, the faint light from outside reveals a long chamber with risen platforms on either side. On the far side of the wall is a large, faded mural of Silas McDuck, his fearsome, bearded form holding a large waraxe and looking down at the room brusquely, as if to judge them. Two bodies, a duck and a hound, are piled into the centre of the room, and ancient bones litter the floor. As they party enters nervously, the feathers on the back of their necks stand up in fright as they hear the faint sound of an echoing wail.

Louie, at this point, suggests shakily that the party turn back, go home, get the adults to have a better look at this. They all look at each other, considering following Louie's suggestion for a moment.

Then, the air goes cold. Almost clammy.

And the bones start to rise.

Frozen with fear, the young ducks just watch as the bones float up into the air, re-attaching themselves into six animated duck skeletons, each donning a rusty chain shirt, and each moving with unnatural, jerky movements. Three appear to be wielding ancient scimitars, while the other three have only wicked claws.

Their soulless eye sockets turn as one to look at the party.

Then, they advance.

The skeletons move faster than the party can react (Initiative Checks = 26, 25, 24, 21, 18, 14), immediately launching into a full-scale assault with blade and claw. The two skeletons at the far end of the hall can't do much more than approach Louie and Huey in the first few seconds of the fight, while the other four rattling menaces make their way towards the two fighters in the front. A flurry of claws and swords come towards the two ducks, and while Webby manages to deflect the blows that come towards her, Dewey isn't as well prepared, and takes two light cuts from the swords of the skeletons.

Huey quickly tries to compose himself (Initiative Check = 13), attempting to analyse the hollow monster before him (Knowledge [religion] Check = 10). These things are undead - obviously - and he realises that the hardened bone and gaps in the skeletal structure will reduce the damage from slashing or piercing damage. He instructs the party to use bludgeoning weapons, then he takes the symbol of Athena dangling from his neck and he calls forth the goddess's divine power.

Celestial energy erupts from the symbol in a flash of golden light, searing the undead monsters before them (DC 10 Will Save = 5, 5, 16, 19, 15, 4). The skeletons recoil from the golden light in pain, reducing the skeleton facing him and one of the creatures fighting Webby to dust.

The rest of the party try to fight back (Initiative Checks = Louie 9, Webby 6, Dewey 4), but to no avail. Louie swings his club, Webby her greatsword, and Dewey tries to hit one of the nearby skeletons with the pommel of his longsword, but the agile fiends manage to evade their attacks.

The next few seconds are frantic, marked by the two fighters at the front rapidly deflecting blows left and right. One of the skeletons catches Webby across the cheek with the tip of its scimitar, and another stumbles as it attacks, narrowly dodging two attacks made by Huey and Dewey. The skeleton in front of Louie tries to swing at him and Webby with its claws, but ends up tripping on the uneven flagstone of the crypt's entrance. Both Webby and Louie immediately retaliate. Louie starts to swing his club, but takes too long, leaving himself open and narrowly dodging a claw swipe from another one of the skeletons. Webby, meanwhile, swings her greatsword square onto the head of the skeletal beast, smashing the creature underneath the blade's mighty weight and reducing the skeletal horde to three.

Noticing that both the front-liners are looking a bit scuffed, Huey channels divine energy once more, this time channelling it into his allies and closing a few of their wounds. Louie moves behind one of the skeletons, trying to flank the skeleton, but missing with his club regardless. Webby and Dewey each make another attack, Webby attacking with all her might and Dewey trying again with his pommel, but neither blow lands.

The skeletons continue to try and shred the ducks to pieces, Dewey taking another claw right across the face as two of the skeletons move to flank him. The single skeleton facing Webby and Louie makes two more attacks with its claw, one of which rakes across Louie's face, causing him to cry out in pain.

Huey cries out in alarm and starts to move, only for Louie to shout at him to focus on destroying the things. Reluctant, but determined, Huey raises the symbol of Athena once more and calls forth a burst of light. One of the skeletons appears to resist the brunt of the blast, while the other two are sent stumbling backwards. One of the skeletons near Dewey is blasted into a thousand tiny pieces by the divine wrath.

Louie hesitates, waiting for Webby to move before making an action. The barbarian girl circles around the skeleton in front of them, yelling a battle cry as she swings her sword. And although the skeleton dodges out of the way, in doing so, it exposes itself to Louie. Taking his club, he swings it as hard as he can into the skeleton's skull, smashing apart the flimsy bone and sending the monster down to the ground in a pile of white shrapnel.

Dewey leaps up onto one of the upraised platforms, only to miss another attack against the skeleton. In retaliation, the skeleton slashes him through his waist with its scimitar and carves its claw across Huey's face, leaving both with a cut. Huey swings his mace once more, only for the blow to miss, and then Webby comes screaming from behind, swinging her sword into the creature's chest and sending its bones flying across the chamber.

The party take a moment to recover their breath, panting, fearful. No more bones rise to fight. They look at each other, as Dewey asks the important question - what on Earth was that?

Huey instantly begins rambling off facts about undead, saying that they can only be created by powerful, horrifically dark magic, they shouldn't be here! Was the tomb invaded by a necromancer? There's not enough information!

They spend another moment to recover before they investigate the room. The walls of this part of the tomb are covered with murals of Silas McDuck leading the villages to battle against a horde of men in dark green armour. The man in front of them, an obese old duck with a scar across his eye, leads the green warriors - presumably the mercenaries. It's clear that mildew and mould has taken its toll on the crypt, as the stench of rot is heavy in the air.

Staying well away from the two bodies, Louie investigates a pair of nearby packs, leaning against the wall. Another twenty blunted arrows are retrieved from within, as well as a pair of smokesticks, alchemical cylindrical blocks that are used to create smoke signals, and two days worth rations, which are taken by Huey and Louie. The smokesticks are handed over to Dewey.

Webby kneels beside the two bodies, both badly mauled and of two ducks. They look familiar to her, and she asks the other three if they recognise them. The boys approach, though they still keep a good five feet distance from them. Louie studies the faces of the bodies, unease written across his face (Knowledge [local] Check, taking 10 = 16).

Louie's heart catches in his throat. He does recognise them. Marcus Thinfeather and Adrian Gagglequack. A cobbler and a trapper from back in town.

Louie promptly turns around and head back outside, feeling sick. The party chase after him, asking where he's going. When he announces his intention to go home, Huey and Dewey try to stop him. The green sibling whirls around, tears in his eyes, and he just shouts them down. Between illusions that felt real, wolves, crappy weather and now freaking undead monsters, the past couple of days have been horrible, and whatever they'll get from going through that tomb cannot possibly be worth it. He's done.

Huey suddenly snaps at him, telling him that he's being selfish. There are five horses, and only two bodies. When Louie asks so what, Huey poses the question - "Where are the other three?"

Louie stares at him for a moment. Then, his shoulders slump in realisation. Dewey adds onto what Huey's saying, telling the younger sibling that they have to explore the place, if only to find the others. Even if they're... he hesitates, then continues. Even if they're dead, they owe to the village to find the bodies.

Louie looks down for a moment, silent. Then, quietly, he says, "Fine."

He walks back towards the brothers, and they return to the archway back into the crypt, in front of which Webby is standing, awkwardly watching the whole argument. Asking if everything's alright, the boys reassure here that they're fine.

Huey gets to work. He channels energy once more, wincing as it saps at his stamina, healing most of the party's wounds. Unsatisfied, he sacrifices his divine favour spell to cast a weak cure wounds spell on Webby, before telling Dewey to drink the healing potion. Back in a fighting state, the team move back into the entry hall. They decide to investigate the wailing sound, coming from the eastern halls of the crypt, opening the eastern door towards the back and delving into the Crypt of the Everflame.

+202 XP.

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askkrenko · 4 years ago

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Goblin Dating Game Episode 4: Toggo

Hello and welcome back to the Goblin Dating Game! On this, our final episode of the season, we'll be looking at Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith, inventor of Lightning and the Rock.

Our goal, as always, is to find an ideal Partner for our contestant, so let's take a look at Toggo's abilityto see what makes him tick!

"Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control" means that Toggo wants his controller to play more lands than normal. This can happen in any color, but we all know that Green partners give the best option of playing more lands. "create an artifact equipment token named Rock with" gives us two relevant words to look at. Toggo can be used with Artifact Matters themes and the narrower Equipment Matters themes. "“Equipped creature has ‘{1}, {T}, Sacrifice Rock: This creature deals 2 damage to any target’” and equip {1}." Now, the important part here is, throwing the rock is a tap ability. This means that while Toggo is happy throwing rocks himself, for maximum efficiency he's going to need multiple rock-throwing friends so they can gang up and beat down larger threats. Tapping creatures and paying 2 mana isn't going to work great as a win condition, but it'll go pretty far as removal.

So, let's start going down the list!

Akiri, Line Slinger, has an immediate and obvious synergy with Toggo: She gets power for each Artifact you control. This means if you choose not to throw Toggo's rocks, they can easily build up into a rather potent number for Akiri to attack with. Further, Akiri has vigilance, allowing her to throw a rock post-combat.

Ardenn, Intreped Archaeologist, allows you to equip all equipment for free... to a single target. This saves a bit of mana with generic rock throwing, and both allow for an equipment-matters deck, but I'm not really thrilled with letting one creature hold an armful of rocks.

Armix, Filigree Thrasher, like Akiri, counts your artifacts. With Toggo pumping them out, it's a simple and straightforward combo that simply wants to have as many artifacts as possible, no matter what they do.

Dargo, the Shipwrecker, is big and tramply and can use rocks as mana. Toggo can easily power him out, but the simple fact is a 7/5 trample, even a cheap one, isn't going to be a huge impact in commander without other abilities. Also, it traps you in a single color.

Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar doesn't care about artifacts, but it cares a lot about throwing rocks. Granting itself and Toggo deathtouch means a single rock can fell even the greatest of foes, and you've got some serious control available. On the other hand, Menace is basically wasted on both of them.

Glacian, Powerstone Engineer, costs a lot of mana but is one of the best things you can do with rocks. With rocks alone Glacian can easily be looking at 4 cards when he taps without any effort on your part, and with other artifacts you'll go even deeper. What you do with that power is then a question of what your Blue/Red deck can handle when it's getting whatever cards you want.

Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer, combines with Toggo to create a unique and interesting Golem tribal deck. Toggo's random rocks can be thrown at your leisure to put a +1/+1 counter on Ich-Tekik and each Golem you control, while green mana helps you ramp up and get more rocks in each turn. Making a Golem Tribal deck might be a bit harder in only Red and Green, but with plenty of Golems throughout Magic's lifespan, it should be managable for at least some casual fun.

Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor, is a pretty simple 'play a lot of artifacts' commander, turning Rocks into cards drawn. It's straightforward and effective, but spending six mana on a draw engine that only triggers every few turns and is particularly fragile really isn't the best way to handle this.

Kodama of the East Tree is one of the better ways to get out multiple lands in a turn as far as commanders go, allowing you to play a land whenever you play another permanent, but getting more rocks is not nearly as important as having a use for rocks.

Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel gets counters whenever one of your creatures throws a rock, but that's still rather small time compared to other options.

Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, isn't a clean partner for Toggo but there's some synergy there. Silas is happy to have a graveyard filled with artifacts, which means he's likely going to want to run cards that sacrifice artifacts, getting a big boon from the Rocks. Further, when he can't get in cleanly to use his ability, giving him a Rock to take advantage of Deathtouch is going to be a lot more effective than watching him get blocked by a 3/3 Beast Token.

So who's the winner? I think I'm going to have to call it a tie.

See, my general reaction is that the best option here is Akiri. I think a Toggo/Akiri deck would be the strongest, and I think Akiri's direct power boost makes best use of Toggo... But an Akiri deck is stronger because Akiri's just stronger, and I think an Akiri and Toggo deck is just Toggo as a card to support Akiri. Especially when it's so obvious Akiri should be teaming up with Bruse Tarl, and Toggo just fits in the 99.

But what do I think is the most FUN option here? Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer. That's the deck I want to see, with Toggo making rocks for Ich-Tekik to turn into +1/+1 counters, using green to play more lands and red to sacrifice artifacts while playing colorless golems (plus a few changelings.) It's not the best deck option overall, but I think it's the option that best showcases Toggo AND the option that best showcases Ich-Tekik, making them true partners.

Thank you for joining us everyone! That’s all our contestants, so we’ll see you again next season! And until then, may all you goblins find your perfect partner!

#Goblin Dating Game #Toggo

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bush-viper-cutie · 4 years ago

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“Final Exams Week” || YEAR 3 – Ch.33 (HP au)

Chapter List

<-- Last Chapter Next Chapter -->

Day posted: 12/4/2020

Word count: 3, 416

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

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A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

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Heather ran her tongue against her front teeth and squinted at the words on the page. The sun was shining down on her stolen potions book and no matter how she moved her head to block it, the glossy ink kept blinding her. She sighed and let her head fall back against the rough bark of the tree she was leaning on.

“Angelina said she’d work all summer to afford a firebolt – ”

“The team would be unstoppable then!”

Heather quickly stuffed the potions book in her bag and stood to face Harry and Ron as they approached. “Won’t you act the least bit disappointed you lost the Quidditch Cup? For me? Just for show.”

Ron nearly tripped and slid down the small hill in his attempt to suppress a laugh. “Just face it Heather. You saw how fast Harry was. Next year Gryffindor will win every match, the Quidditch Cup, and the House Cup. And the year after that, and the one after that. There’s no stopping the firebolt!”

“As if.”

“Catch!” Harry tossed a can of iced pumpkin juice at her. “We’ll get you a firebolt over the summer and then maybe Slytherin might be able to keep up.”

Heather caught it and dropped back onto her spot facing the lake. “You know we can’t afford it. And since we can’t, I think a week of gloating is quite enough from you two. You’ve only won a measly match.”

“Says the losing team,” Ron laughed.

Harry and Ron sat beside her and took out their textbooks.

“I can’t believe it’s almost June.” Harry flipped through the pages of his textbook lazily.

“How’re we supposed to study for our exams with all this homework?” Ron turned the pages one by one while staring at the giant squid as it propelled itself out of the water, twirled, and splashed back down.

Tiny waves crashed on the lake shore as laughter could be heard from the other students basking in the sun on the grassy castle grounds.

Heather picked at the can of ice cold pumpkin juice with her nail, wedged it underneath the tab, and plucked it up hearing the tantalizing fizz. She smiled and pressed the opening to her lips.

“WHAT are you three doing!”

Ron, Harry, and Heather screamed as Hermione came out from behind their tree.

“You should be studying for exams!” Hermione handed them each a paper with their study schedules along with their exam times.

Harry waved his textbook in her face. “We’re already doing that.”

Hermione pushed the book away and placed a single hand on her hip. “Not out here. There’s too much distraction.” She dragged the three of them into the castle and forced them to sit down in the much quieter Great Hall during study hour. “Now you can ask the Professors any questions you have.”

Heather, Harry, and Ron grumbled as the summer air blew through the doors.

Heather glanced at Hermione’s exam times and frowned.

‘Monday:

9 o’clock, Arithmancy

9 o’clock Transfigurations

Lunch

1 o’clock, Charms

5 o’clock, Care of MC

11 o’clock, Astronomy

Wednesday:

10 o’clock, Herbology

Lunch

1 o’clock, Defense Against DA

1 o’clock, Ancient Runes

3 o’clock, History of Magic

5 o’clock, Potions

5 o’clock, Muggle Studies’

“Hermione. I don’t think Snape will let you leave early to take your Muggle Studies exam or arrive late from it.” Heather watched Hermione stuff the paper in her bag and push her hair behind her ears.

“Of course not. That’s silly.”

Ron pulled a face. “Then you’ve copied the times wrong.”

“No.” Hermione snapped. “And might I remind you, you’ve got two essays due tomorrow. Now… I NEED to study so no more interruptions – Where’s my copy of ‘Numerology and Grammatica’? Have you seen it?”

“Yeah, I used it for a bit of bedtime reading last night,” Ron mumbled.

Heather pulled the book out from under a stack of five and slid it roughly across the table to her. How could Hermione not trust them? After everything they’d been through? What. Was she afraid of spilling her punctuality secrets?

Hedwig flew down and landed on the large stack of books besides Heather. She pulled the letter out of her beak and handed it to Harry to read while she smoothed down Hedwig’s fluffy white feathers.

“From Hagrid.” He turned the note over and flipped it open. “Buckbeak’s appeal… Its set for the sixth of June. That’s next month…”

“That’s the last day of exams,” Hermione said from behind her book.

“Well they’re coming up to the school for it with a Ministry official… and an executioner.”

Hermione gasped.

Ron took the note out of Harry’s hand and turned it around to read for himself. “That’s not bloody fair!”

“Mr. Weasley!” Professor McGonagall gave them menacing eyes from the High Table.

“It doesn’t sound like they’ll be very willing to hear Hagrid out.” Heather gripped her quill tight and poked holes into her parchment. “Not fair at all. Poor Buckbeak.”

“It’s Malfoy’s fault.” Harry looked around for him, ready to stare daggers.

“Yeah, and I’ve got a stack of handwritten Hippogriff research scrolls to shove down his throat. Where is he?” Ron stood, searching with Harry for their target.

“Do not make things worse with him,” Heather warned.

Although she managed to settle them down to study that day, she could not help the growing hostility between them for the next several days. However subdued Draco had been after the Slytherin Gryffindor match loss was all in the past now. Draco had regained his confidence after hearing from his father about Buckbeak’s scheduled beheading, thinking it was all thanks to him, and was now parading around the castle with Lockhart’s same pompous attitude.

After his daily dose of bragging, gloating, and boasting he took extra time from his busy schedule to sneer at them from afar, whisper rude comments about it in the corridors, and even pass taunting notes to Harry and Ron during classes.

‘Ignore him’ was all Heather and Hermione were saying until exam week began, and an unusual silence fell upon the castle. Even Percy was going around shushing anyone who disturbed the quiet of the corridors.

“People are studying!” he hissed at a group of second years before going back to soundlessly reciting charms and spells on his way up to the Gryffindor common room.

“He’s almost as bad as Hermione,” Ron noted, turning around to watch Hermione bump into student after student from behind a leather-bound book so large it hid even her bushy hair.

Harry eyed Heather as she doodled in her art journal as they walked. “How are you managing to not have a mental collapse like them?”

Heather scoffed. “For the same reason the Slytherins and Ravenclaws never worry over exams. Slytherins are always studying and Ravenclaws are always OVER studying – It’s not impressive they could pass next year’s exams, it’s annoying. They should stop bragging.”

They sat all of Monday’s exams and by late dinner the whole school was spent and puffy eyed. Heather sat with Pansy and her friends who were all talking about the tasks for Transfigurations, particularly the one that involved turning a brick into a crow.

“Yours looked like a raven.”

“Did you see Cindy’s magpie?”

“I heard Neville’s was still red – ”

“I heard Neville’s was still a brick.”

Heather rolled her eyes and turned away. Almost everyone at the table was bragging about their results, which would be fine if she wasn’t a little insecure about her transfiguration and charm skills. As much as she tried, Hermione was always better and got the spells faster than Heather did. The only reason she wasn’t more worried about her skills on those subjects were mostly due to Ron and Harry and their consistently horrible attempts.

Draco turned to Heather and smiled. “Know what I Saw in the crystal ball?”

“Was it Hermione smacking you again?”

He frowned and stabbed his fork into his potato salad. “No. That pigeons head rolling around those pumpkins. Got perfect marks for that too.”

“That’s funny. I saw YOUR head rolling around the boy’s urinals. Perfect marks on that prediction as well.”

Draco set down his fork and slid his wand out of his sleeve and pointed it at her, hidden from view of the High Table. “Is that a threat, Potter?”

Heather scoffed and leaned forward. “It is if you don’t stop talking about murdering that poor creature.”

He laughed and nudged Goyle beside him. “Hear that? She thinks she can take me.”

Heather had better things to do than sit around the table entertaining Draco and the two goons beside him. She still had Astronomy to study for and got up to join the several other students who were gathering at the astronomy tower to go over star charts and planet paths.

The test was on the last century only and as much as she hated when Harry cheated, even she knew he’d need her answers to pass. What star constellation was visible during the mountain troll attack of Hogsmeade in 1901? What planetary alignment led to the invention of self-tying brogues? The easiest part was the final question which asked what the current visible stars, constellations, and planets were.

After the test Professor Sinistra collected their telescopes and let them hang around for a few minutes while she put them away.

Ron’s hair danced in the wind as he leaned over the stone half-wall and squinted through the darkness at the grounds. “Er… Harry? Did YOU remember to put our Salamander away after the exam?”

Harry pulled him back and leaned over the wall, holding his glasses securely to his face as he looked down. “I’m sure Hagrid will notice the small fire…”

Heather looked down and saw tiny flames growing in the bushes on the outskirt of the forbidden forest. “Is there ever a year where you two WON’T damage the school in some way?”

“What did we do first year?” Harry pulled them back and together headed down the tower stairs.

If they still had their invisibility cloak Heather would have suggested going down to tell Hagrid about it and also taken the opportunity to check in on him – which they hadn’t been able to do for several weeks due to the strict rules on Harry and her because of Sirius Black. The strict rules wouldn’t be much of a problem, except the cloak was still down in the one-eyed witch’s tunnel which was under constant guard of Snape, Filch, and Mrs. Norris after their last talk and Heather’s outburst in Snape’s office.

She didn’t think there was anyone as naturally suspicious and distrustful as Snape was. The way he could smell out trouble and deceit and stay on his intuition was impressive in some ways and just downright annoying now that she disliked him.

The next day was spent studying for Wednesday’s exams in the common room during the morning – since Harry and Ron had stayed up late and were fast asleep during valuable studying hours – and the library and study hall in the afternoon with Hermione as frantic as ever.

“Oh! Why is there so much to know!” Hermione gathered all her notes and pulled at her hair. “I-I’m going to go splash water on my face.” She stood with a thick pile of notes in her hand and walked away from their table towards the large Great Hall doors.

Heather bit her lip and ran to catch up to her. “I’ll go with you. I could quiz you with those notes while you dunked your whole face in water if you wanted.”

Hermione stopped her and shook her head. “Oh, no, that’s alright Heather.” She stood waiting for Heather to turn around and march back to Harry and Ron.

“I don’t mind.” Heather crossed her arms.

Hermione nodded slowly and handed her the stack of notes. “Wonderful.” She walked out of the Great Hall and down the corridor towards the girl’s bathroom.

Heather looked through the notes and found the ones for Ancient Runes. “What’s – er – the symbol with the bug and two lines mean?”

“Too easy. It’s the letter ‘B’. Give me actual sentences.” Hermione turned the cold water on and ran her hands under.

“Hermione. How are you going to take this exam at the same time as Defense Against Dark Arts? In fact, how have you been attending this class at all?” Heather stared at Hermione reflection and watched her look around the sink.

She frowned and turned off the running water. “I – well – You’re supposed to be quizzing me. I have six exams tomorrow – ”

“You’re keeping a secret. I know it Hermione. I can understand why you wouldn’t tell Harry and Ron… but me? Last year you got upset that – ”

“Yes I know! But… I’m sorry, I’m just not allowed to tell. I swore I wouldn’t.” Hermione took back her notes and looked down at her shoes. “You can go back. I’m staying here for a minute.”

Heather clenched her jaw and ignored the tightness in her chest that made her want to tear up. Before she had friends she’d always found it easy to hold back tears. Now it was hard to not show her emotions around them, even when she was hurt and sad. “Just tell me. Please? You’ve hardly been around while somehow being around and if it’s because of this secret so why not just let me know? We’re best friends.”

Hermione looked up with watery eyes. “Then why don’t you share your secret first?”

Heather looked around at the dirty tiled floor and up at the streaky mirror. Should she come clean about the raskovnik growing in her charmed pot? She’d have to explain then about the stolen library books as well…

“I know you and Draco hung out over the summer. You went to his house. I overheard it.” Hermione wiped at her eyes and huffed. “He’s always using the word mudblood, always fighting with Ron and Harry, and now he’ll be responsible for Buckbeak’s death… and you’re friends with him. Harry doesn’t even know you’ve been INSIDE his house.”

“It was only a few days! I swear! I hated it there but I NEEDED to. You don’t understand how it is in Slytherin. Flint doesn’t even want me on the team for being a girl. I have to keep up the drills and beat all those stupid boys who are all so much stronger than me! I don’t even know what I’ll do next year if Flint doesn’t get held back again and some other idiot becomes team captain.” Heather pressed her palms to her eyes and sniffed. “I have to prove I’m not weak because I’m a girl. I have to prove I’m not weak because I’m a half-blood. I have to prove I’m not a house traitor because of Harry.” Heather wiped her nose on her sweater sleeve and sighed. “I don’t get to relax comfortably in a house that just accepts me… Everyone’s always watching me, waiting to see me trip up and prove them all right… And then I’m stuck all summer in a house that forbids magic? I’m sorry Hermione… please understand? I know how horrible he is to us. But I needed his help.”

“I… do. I’m sorry I know it must be hard not being in Gryffindor with us. But who cares what they think? They’re all just a bunch of blood-purists. You have us aleways. And we don’t judge you or anyone else like that.” Hermione hugged her and pulled away.

Heather nodded and wiped the few tears that had escaped. She was relieved Hermione forgave her. Maybe if Harry found out, would he too? Although it might be harder after Buckbeak’s appeal depending on the outcome. “What’s your secret then?”

Hermione sighed and hugged her arms. “I really can’t say… yet… Look, I swear I’ll tell you on the train. But you can’t tell Harry or Ron… ESPECIALLY not Ron. He could mess up the whole world and even worse, get me expelled.”

Heather nodded and they sealed the deal with a hand shake. She walked back into the Great Hall and a minute later Hermione followed and was back to her usual frantic self.

The next morning was the Herbology exam which had them out in the sun baking to crisps in the greenhouses. Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was after lunch and Professor Lupin had made them some sort of obstacle course outside.

“Oh no…” Heather’s eyes swept across the transformed grounds closest to the lake at the small pool labeled ‘Grindylows’, the field of potholes labeled ‘Red Caps’, and the patch of marsh labeled ‘Hinkypunks’.

“The end of the exam is hidden. Full marks to those who come out the right tree.” Professor Lupin smiled and signaled the start of the exam.

They waded through the pool – holding their socks and shoes in one hand and their wands in the other – then jumped over the Red caps, squished through the marsh while Hinkypunks shouted misleading directions, and headed into the trees. Heather stayed on the marked path and tried to figure out the correct tree. There was a large tree the width of Hagrid’s shack with a large hole carved out the side. It looked hungry, with its gaping mouth showing the darkness that would engulf anyone who entered.

Harry was the first to crawl in with Hermione, Heather, and Ron following in right after. With wands up they fought the new boggart that was shoved into a hollowed branch. For her turn, Heather swallowed as it slithered out from its hole in the darkness and dropped to the ground just beyond the light of her wand.

“Riddikulus!” Heather shouted, before it could manifest into anything. A bouncing red and gold ball rolled into the light. She shot a simple spell at it and it shot back into its hole, wedging in tight.

Almost everyone had received full marks, except poor Neville who had to face his grandmother telling him Snape would be his new grandfather. He was so shaken up several students had to help walk him up to their next exam, History of Magic.

Heather was fairly certain she’d passed all her exams so far, and was now worried about potions.

“After this we’re free!” Ron skipped down the corridor. “The last exam of the year!”

Heather could still hear herself shouting at Snape to shut up and the look of pure rage on his face. She was going to fail. She knew it. He hadn’t even given her detention for that – nothing. He was waiting for this exam to get back at her and Harry.

“We’re going to fail this one.” Heather shook Harry’s arm as they walked down the dungeon stairs. “He’s going to give us low marks out of vengeance!”

Harry pushed her away. “What’s new?”

“He’s never done that to me! You, I understand, but I always get high grades! Second to Malfoy – ”

Hermione huffed. “I thought you were second to me.”

They took their seats near the back of the classroom.

“No… Second to Malfoy but I’d be first if he’d just let me ‘study’ with him – ”

“Silence.” Professor Snape stood from his desk and began explaining the exam.

They were afforded two whole hours to brew a Confusing Concoction which turned into the biggest, messiest disaster Heather had yet seen. Cauldrons were erupting with goo, over spilling with sticky liquid, or hardening into chunks that melted out the cauldron bottoms.

It took Heather almost the full two hours to complete the potion and in the end she wasn’t sure if it was supposed to look like yellow cake batter in there. Snape peered in and grinned before marking his notes and tisking vindictively. He then stepped over to Harry’s cauldron and waited as Harry desperately tried to thicken his up enough. Snape stood tapping his notes with his fingers and the second the bells tolled, scribbled something suspiciously like a zero and walked away.

They left the dungeons feeling empty and relieved that everything was over. Heather and Hermione were starting to poke fun at Ron and Harry’s attempts when their attention was caught by the two men waiting at the bottom of the Entrance Hall stairs.

Cornelius Fudge and a black-hooded man with a large blade stood looking at all the students as they ran to the Great Hall for late dinner.

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#harry potter #heather potter #severus snape x oc #severus x oc #snape x oc #severus snape x reader #severus x reader #snape x reader #snape fanfic #pro snape #snape fanfiction #snape fan fiction #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fiction

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stormtide-leviathan · 4 years ago

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Kaldheim Booster Challenge

I posted this on reddit, if you’d rather check it out there, but I wanted to share it here too b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶'̶m̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶t̶a̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶p̶e̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶f̶f̶i̶r̶m̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.

In the third great designer search, there was a challenge to pick a set and make a booster pack full of custom cards that fit in that set. I’ve started doing this for sets since Zendikar rising, and wanted to continue that tradition here. Why am I doing this so late after the release of Kaldheim? Cause shuttup, that’s why >:(

Here’s the link to the full imgur album. There are also individual imgur links even though there are images, cause reddit doesn’t allow images directly and I’m copy/pasting from there.

Anyway, let’s get started! (Long post ahead)

Common #1:

Divine Goat 3W

Creature- Goat

W, Sacrifice ~: You gain 3 life.

Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.

Here’s a top down design, based on Thor’s goats that pulled his chariot and were sacrificed for food every night and reborn in the morning. Originally the recursion triggered based on Vehicles, but with two other vehicle cards in the booster including the other white common, one had to go and this was the best option, but I still liked the flavor so I went with another of white’s themes.

Common #2:

Dwarven Elder 2W

Creature- Dwarf Warrior

Whenever ~ crews a Vehicle, draw a card.

2/2

The fabled white card draw. Yes, I am your savior. Your messiah. Bow before my wisdom. I could technically see this design in either white or blue, but I liked white better and white cares more about vehicles anyway. I based the costing off Stealer of Secrets. This doesn’t put itself in danger, but relies much more on deck building to activate.

Common #3:

Ambusher Giant 5U

Creature- Giant Warrior

Flash

Foretell 3U (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)

4/4

Foretell works really well with instant speed, so I thought a big instant speed creature would be a good fit. Since blue has a giant tribal theme, and is one of the main colors for foretell, it was an obvious fit.

Common #4:

Heated Rebuttal 1U

Instant

Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2. They can’t spend S to pay this cost. (S is mana from a snow source.)

Here’s another snow hate card. What I really wanted to do with this was discourage running snow basics where you don’t have to, and though we have the god in the set that does this I think this is an issue that’s solved with both quality and quantity. I wasn’t sure on the power level of this for standard purposes, but I’d rather this more pushed version than be too weak and have it not do anything against snow.

Common #5:

Shapeshifter’s Trickery 1U

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant Creature

Enchanted creature gets +1/+0, is every creature type, and can’t be blocked.

Not too much to say here really. This is good for the tribal synergies in the set, and is just an innocuous little aura for limited. Not everything is gonna be pushing boundaries.

Common #6:

Draugr Fleshchewer 1B

Snow Creature- Zombie Berserker

Whenever Draugr Fleshchewer attacks, mill two cards. If a snow card was milled this way, Draugr Fleshchewer gains menace until end of turn.

2/2

This originally worked with the “exile a creature card from your graveyard” subtheme, but I had to change this to snow and I couldn’t get a good snowy design that used that mechanic. So instead, it fuels it. I also wanted to have another card that cares about the existence of snow instants/sorceries because they were introduced this set and the number of cards that only work with snow permanent cards when they don’t have to is strange.

Common #7:

Arrogant Stand 3R

Sorcery

Creatures without a boast ability can’t block this turn.

Here’s a simple little card that plays around with the flavorful space of boast. You have to be very full of yourself to stand up to the oncoming attack.

Common #8:

Winterdark Ritual 2R

Snow Instant

Add three mana of any one color.

Foretell R (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)

Is the name completely on the nose? Absolutely. And I find that hilarious. This is taking advantage of the fact that foretell is payed in multiple payments to turn that into mana storage. And it’s snow, because snow rituals are new to the set, play well, and I don’t think it makes it too powerful, though this has a lot of little factors to it that might push it over the edge. Any number of them could easily be tweaked though.

Common #9:

Blessing of Koma G

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant creature

Enchanted creature has “T: Add one mana of any color.”

2, Sacrifice ~: Draw a card.

This card is secretly also a snow card. The intention is, you can enchant snow creatures with it to get extra snow mana. However, it’s not snow itself because a) I thought that made for a cool moment of discovery and b) If it was snow, a lot of players would mistakenly think the mana is snow whether or not the creature it enchants is.

Common #10:

Boulderskin Troll 3G

Creature- Troll Warrior

When ~ dies, search your library for a Forest or Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your library.

3/2

I really wanted this card to be red. See, the legend goes that when a troll goes out in the sun it turns into rock and I thought tutoring for a Mountain when it died would be a good way to do that. However, I just couldn’t find a good way to do that which felt red, so I had to make this green. Luckily red/green are the troll colors so it could still find a mountain. I specifically chose nonbasic so that it could synergize with the snow duals at common.

Uncommon #1:

Immerstrum Berserker 3BB

Creature- Demon Berserker

Boast- 2B: ~ gains lifelink until end of turn. (Activate this ability only once each turn and only if this creature attacked this turn.)

Boast- 1B: Each opponent discards a card. (You may activate both boasts in a single turn.)

5/3

It has two boasts. Ya know how most creatures only have one boast, if any? Well not this, it has two. That’s it. That’s the design.

Uncommon #2:

Master Shipcrafter 1R

Creature- Dwarf Artificer

1R: ~ gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

Whenever a creature you control crews a Vehicle for the first time each turn, that Vehicle gains that creature’s activated abilities until end of turn.

0/2

There’s this weird tension in the set where R/W both encourages you to play a lot of vehicles, and has a lot of boast creatures, which do not work well at all together. This card is an attempt to fix that. Originally it just worked with boast, #notallactivatedabilities, but that was an extremely narrow card so I widened the scope. There’s certainly some weird combos you can do with this, but nothing too bad in limited though.

Uncommon #3:

Ring of Kinship 2

Artifact- Equipment

Equipped creature gets +1/+1

Creature spells you cast that share a creature type with equipped creature cost 1 less to cast.

Equip 1

I’m a big fan of equipment and auras that have a universal effect that cares about a quality of the equipped creature. I dunno why, but it tickles me. Creature type is a good thing to care about on designs like this though, and I wanted both an equipment and a tribal reward in the booster, so it was a good fit.

Rare:

Kvasha, God of Magic 3UU

Legendary Creature- God

Flying

When ~ enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying for each enchantment you control and each enchantment card in your graveyard.

Sacrifice a Spirit: You may cast spells as though they have flash this turn.

Kvasha’s Birth 2GW

Enchantment- Saga

I, II: Until your next turn, whenever ~ or another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.

III: Mill six cards. Exile ~ then return it to the battlefield face-up.

I’m genuinely really sad they didn’t do a god with a saga as its backside, it could have been really cool. So I made one myself!! I wanted it to at least be feasible as a commander for a Saga deck, and since Kaldheim has a lot of enchantments running around I figured it could use an enchantress like this. The tricky part was, I had to make a blue card that could also feasibly be a selesnya card, since the saga turns into it. It also works well with the tribal themes and the spirit subtype in the set, though that’s more of a bonus than anything else. If you’re wondering why this card looks different, that’s for two reasons. One, I can’t make Sagas on MSE. And two, this overlapped nicely with the Inventor’s Fair contest of the week on tumblr, which I use mtg.design for since it’s easier to get links that way. (Check them out! @inventors-fair That contest is what finally pushed me to finish this booster).

Basic:

Snow-Covered Swamp

Snow Land- Swamp

T: Add B.

Look, it's a snow-covered swamp. I needed a snasic in here. I dunno what else you want from me.

So there we go!! Finally!! The booster challenge that took weeks longer than it should have. What do you think of the designs? Do you think they would fit well within Kaldheim? If not, how could I fix them? Also I probably made a formatting mistake somewhere in here so if you notice like, a wrong link or something let me know. Also, if you want me to tackle an old set feel free to request it, though since this took me weeks for some reason I can’t make any promises lol.

Here’s boosters I’ve done before:

- Zendikar Rising: Reddit

- Commander Legends: Reddit // Tumblr

#mtg #magic #magic the gathering #custommagic #custommtg #kaldheim #booster challenge #long post #original post

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calamity-callie · 4 years ago

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The Wrath of Thunder Descends: Part 2 (Wiztober - Trusted Ally)

If you haven’t read the first part yet its not strictly necessary, but it’s right here! Also this entry is a monster hunter crossover bc I adore both games and have wanted to do something like this for ages~

Edited by @spiralcompendium

CW: Strong language, violence. These two wizards have insane potty mouths.

Lamentia sullenly sat on her bed, alone in her dorm room. “I lost?! How is that possible? How could I lose?” She ran the results of her duel with Calamity over and over in her head, replaying every turn and rethinking every possible move. The channeled insane bolt, the medusa, the basilisk: “Maybe if I’d blocked that goddamn stun… Nah, I just needed to hit harder, that’s all.” She got up and went over to her desk, her mind set on one thing - rewriting her off-the-cuff spell to be even stronger. She wrote it down then began examining it line by line.

O wrath of thunder, I implore, descend

‘This line’s perfect, nothing to fix here,’ she thought as she moved on. Scanning the rest of the lines though, she found multiple places where words could be switched around, rearranged, and made to evoke a wilder, more powerful, almost monstrous energy. “This. Now this is perfect. This’ll blow their fuckin minds.” With her modified spell written down on a scrap, she set out to the forests beyond Unicorn Way to test it out.

Once beyond the boundaries of the Unicorn Park, she began preparing her spell. She found a small clearing where, while still shaded by the thick canopy, there were at least no large trunks to cause a disruption. She pulled out her paper and began to read in a commanding voice.

O wrath of thunder, I implore, descend From portal formed of cold, unearthly spark With speed of wolf and strength of glowbug squall Release thy wild self unto this world

Lamentia held her breath as a breeze began to pick up. Static filled the air as, sure enough, a portal to another forest began to open up. This forest was far more alien though, looking almost as if it were a massive above-ground coral reef. “Alright, come on big lightning bolt! Any second now… come on, come onnn…” Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the loudest roar she had ever heard. Just as her poem had suggested, a beast unlike anything she had ever seen lunged out of the portal and directly at her, knocking her onto her back.

It was an incredibly large four-legged creature with silver and gold scales on its body and white fur on its back. Two large yellow horns sat atop its electric blue, dragon-like head, with two yellow ridges running down the entire length of its back and tail. The entire beast seemed to glow with a strange, otherworldly energy. Standing over her, it began to howl. As the sound escaped its large maw, she could see glowbugs from all corners of the forest being drawn to its fur, integrating themselves into it. Once they had stopped coming, the beast howled a second time, while its whole body was momentarily enveloped in a blinding flash of electrical energy.

Lamentia scrambled to get up before the beast tried anything and ran off into the underbrush to hide and gather her thoughts. “Well, fuck, that wasn’t supposed to happen. What the fuck do I do now…” She reached for her bowgun - gone. She must have left it in the tower or in her room. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” she cursed her forgetfulness silently. She hesitantly peered out through the leaves to see the creature pouncing around the area, sniffing the air as it moved. It was only a matter of time before it sniffed her out. She needed a plan, fast. Remembering her old spells, she began to recite a couplet in hopes of getting a surprise attack in.

O king of deep, o lord of ocean’s maw Arise and with thy trident smite this foe

Upon finishing the second stanza, a small portion of the clearing flooded entirely, allowing a triton to emerge. With a fishious roar, it raised its spear to the sky to call the lightning, directed it to rain down on the beast, then departed, taking the water with it. The impact was so bright and loud that for a few moments Lamentia couldn’t even see what sort of damage her spell had caused. “Fuck yeah, there’s no way anything survived that. I’m totally still the strongest wiza-” Her victory speech was stopped in its tracks as the lightning faded and the beast came barrelling out of the residual smoke. It had absorbed the full strength of the strike and seemed absolutely no worse for wear. Even worse, thanks to Lamentia’s ineffective spell and subsequent boast it now knew exactly where she was.

She quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the lunge, but the beast wasted no time re-orienting itself. Spinning on a single paw, it attempted to slam its long, wide tail on the ground. While she was able to dodge these attempts, each tail slam dislodged a few now-agitated glowbugs that proceeded to release immense amounts of energy. Though she managed to avoid the initial impacts, one of the insects discharged a bit too close for comfort, sending her flying. Lamentia hit the ground a few meters away and lied there, motionless for a moment. She opened her eyes just in time to see the creature circling her with a menacing glare on its face. She again scrambled to get up, but this time, upon seeing the movement, the beast pounced.

Using the last of her strength, Lamentia pushed against the ground with all her might and just barely escaped being crushed by the full weight of the monster’s back. It laid there for a second before righting itself, and she took the chance to try out the quickest spell she knew.

O fire of the cloud, of fortune’s hand One hundred, ten, or thousand; your command

At this, a single thick bolt of lightning appeared from the sky and struck the beast square in the head. It didn’t even flinch, and Lamentia watched in horror as it simply absorbed all of the energy from the bolt into its already supercharged fur. She could see the beast readying itself for another lunge, and she uttered what she thought would be her last word,

“FUUUUCK!!!”

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. Both Lamentia and the beast looked around the clearing to find the source of the shaking. There, across the small field, was a blonde punk girl who looked all too familiar. Her large gauntlets rebounded off the ground, which split apart at the impact point, and swallowed up anything that was small enough to fit. And the fissure was headed directly for the beast. It tried to get out of the way but didn’t have enough time--its back leg got caught in the crack. As it began to flail and whimper, the girl got up and walked over to Lamentia.

“Ugh, Calamity. Why’d it have to be you of all people.”

“I could have just let that thing kill you, but why would I do that? If you die here, I won’t be able to beat your ass in a duel again, will I!?” Calamity reached into her bag. “Here, I think you forgot this,” she said as she pulled out Lamentia’s bowgun and tossed it to her. “I can’t believe you’d just storm out like that and forget your things. By Spider, what an irresponsible rival.”

Lamentia scowled. “Fuck you, I don’t need this shit. Just… Help me get rid of this goddamn thing, okay?”

“Oooooooh, the high and mighty ‘best wizard here’ with the powers of a god needs MY help? Well, I’d be honored.”

Lamentia scowled even more intensely. “Just shut the fuck up,” she retorted.

“Well, the first thing you should know is that the fissure won’t hold much longer. We’ve already wasted quite a bit of time…” No sooner did her thought end than the beast finally tore itself free. “Looks like it’s go time! Hell yeah, this’ll be good!” Calamity jumped up and down, shaking her arms out as the creature turned its gaze to her. “I’ll keep it busy. Go, like, load your gun or something--whatever it is you do!”

Without saying a word, Lamentia ran back into the underbrush to prepare.

As the monster lunged, Calamity held her hands up and shouted a single phrase.

“BASILISK! LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH!”

Green and yellow energy began to swirl around her gauntlets. She lowered her hands, then squared up and braced herself. She timed her first punch just right to counter the lunge and hit the beast square in the nose. The two danced around each other: the beast lunged and flipped, slamming its tail and swiping its massive claws, while Calamity dodged, rolled, and weaved seamlessly around its every attempt to catch her, throwing punches whenever she had the chance. A hit to the leg, a hit to the face, a hit to the stomach - the location didn’t matter. Every hit not only slowed the beast down, but also infused more and more of the basilisk’s essence into the monster, until finally it fell over on the ground whimpering and writhing, having lost control of its muscles.

She looked over her shoulder and yelled, “You got that thing ready yet?”

“You know it,” came the reply. “Better move out of the way.”

Calamity stepped aside as Lamentia walked back into the clearing. She knelt down, rested the stock on her shoulder, and sent a low, steady pulse of storm magic to the firing chamber. The sound of machine gun fire filled the air as rocks, nuts, berries, seeds, pieces of bark, and whatever other vaguely round materials she could find shot out of the steel barrel at high speed, pelting the beast in multiple locations all over its body. Though the unconventional projectiles seemed ineffective at first, the incessant firing wore away spots of fur, eroded scales, and even broke off one of the majestic golden horns.

Soon, the creature began to regain control of its movements and stumbled to its feet. Calamity shouted, “It’s back, watch out!” as, sure enough, it lunged at Lamentia. Calamity ran after it and landed hit after hit on its legs and tail. Lamentia leapt out of the way and continued firing, reloading with various woodland objects as needed. The beast unleashed its full arsenal on the two, but between the small, repeated blows to its legs and the rain of projectiles on its head and back, it realized it no longer had the upper hand. It fled towards Ravenwood.

“Shit shit shit fuck shit no! We can’t let this thing get to the school!” Calamity yelled. “Lamentia, whatever dumb thing you did to summon this monstrosity, can you send it back?”

“Fucking of course I can, who the fuck do you think I am?” she replied. She indeed did know the way to dispel a summon gone wrong, but the technique was quite difficult - she would have to recite a very complex Counter-Verse, which involved correctly pronouncing many words that didn’t exist in any language. Failing could make the situation even worse, but she knew she had no choice.

She pulled her written spell out as Calamity shouted, “Hurry the fuck up then! We don’t have any time!”

“Goddamn! Be patient--I’m doing it!”

She slowly began to read.

Dlorw siht otnu fles dliw yht esaeler Llauqs gubwolg fo htgnerts dna flow fo deeps htiw Kraps ylhtraenu, dloc fo demrof latrop morf Dnecsed, erolpmi I, rednuht fo htarw O!

Upon completion of the Counter-Verse, another portal opened up, but this time she was unable to see through it to the other side. The beast stopped in its tracks and turned towards the new opening, drawn to it by the power of the spell. It jumped through, and a voice echoed from the other side as the portal closed. “Wha- a Zinogre? Here?? Where did it even come from? Alright, people, let’s drive this thing out!”

Calamity and Lamentia collapsed in the clearing, exhausted. “We fuckin did it,” Calamity gasped, out of breath.

“Damn right we did,” came Lamentia’s reply. She paused. “Hey, Calamity.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re alright. I guess.”

“You’re alright, too.”

“Now, now, don’t go thinking I like you or anything like that. I still wanna smash your fuckin ugly face in!”

“Hah, I’d like to see you try!”

The two laid in the field for a few moments before Calamity broke the silence. “Wanna go by Triton on the way home? There’s this cool bar there…”

“Calamity we’re underage, are you fuckin stupid?”

“Nah, I know the owner, It’ll be great!”

“You know what? You’re crazy. Let’s fuckin do it.”

‘Hell yeah.”

They fist bumped each other, then slowly got up and limped their aching bodies to the bar.

#w101 #wizard101 #wizzy fanfic #wiztober2020 #monster hunter fanfic #mhw #w101 mhw crossover #I think these are my 2 favorite OCs their dialogue is just so fun

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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 4 years ago

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Book Four: War (Gladiolus x Reader) Chapter Seven

Gladio and (Y/n) headed to Tostwell Grill, which was tucked away in the corner of the marketplace. They sat down at one of the tables and looked over the menu. It was small and only two dishes were being served.

Once reading the ingredients for each of the dishes, the Horseman's brows knitted together. "Neither one of these are breakfast foods. One's a stew and the other's skewers."

"You discriminating against food now?" Gladio asked.

"No..."

"Then pick one."

War told the man tending to their table what she wanted followed by Gladio. While waiting for their meals, the girl crossed her legs and arms as she focused on the shield across from her. "So, what did you want to ask about the nightmare?"

"Oh, right." Gladio recollects what he saw in the nightmare the night before. "After you're killed, water floods the throne room. What's with that?"

"As you're aware, I was also able to call upon the Astrals after earning their favor. Before Gaius could claim Vanaheim for Niflheim, I used my dying breath to summon Leviathan. My final wish was for her to drown the entire kingdom to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. That is the reason why Vanaheim now lies at the bottom of the ocean."

"Damn..." The brute mumbled.

"Was there anything else?" She asked.

"No, only the water was new."

Their food arrived. (Y/n) savored the stew while Gladio ravished the skewers. Halfway through cleaning his plate, he asked, "So, exactly how long has it been since you've ate?"

She lowered her spoon. "You trying to figure out exactly how old I am?"

Gladio picked up on her playful tone and chuckled. "Someone's getting better at messin' around. But in all seriousness, no."

"It's been almost eight months now since my last meal," she confessed. "My sisters and I might not need to eat, but we throw these huge feasts whenever it's one of our birthdays. It's more for fun than satisfaction."

"A huge feasts with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Sounds interesting."

"It's just a normal feast. There's nothing special about it," War stated.

"To you it might not be, but it does to me," Gladio replied. "Sitting at a table with immortals sounds like a helluva feast."

(Y/n) took another spoonful of stew, enjoying the flavor. She noticed Gladio staring at her and lowered her spoon. "Why're you staring at me?"

"Tryna figure somethin' out," he answered.

"And what's that?"

"Who that guy you were talkin' to yesterday was."

"Guy...?" War muttered. "You mean at the outlook?"

"Yeah. You seemed awfully close. Don't tell me you found a boyfriend."

Her eye twitches. "...Are you serious? Did you just hear what came out of your mouth and how ridiculous it sounded? Or do I need to repeat it myself?" She pushed the bowl of stew away. "For your information, that "guy" yesterday was the daemon king himself. He's not my "boyfriend." He happens to be the powerful immortal that resurrected me."

"Well, that explains the horns..." Gladio murmured.

"Haven't you been listening to me? I told you I don't trust mortals." She stood up, anger bubbling inside her veins. "Besides, my personal affairs are none of your business even if I have shared some small details here and there." War left the eatery in order to keep her calm.

Gladio quickly paid the bill and followed after her. He caught up with the Horseman and walked beside her. "Y'know, not all mortals are like Gaius."

(Y/n) stopped in the middle of the marketplace. "I'm well aware of that. You and the others have proven that, but I still have trust issues. The one job I gave you is to show that there is someone on Eos I can trust. Or do I need to find another mortal?"

"Trust me, I can do it," he confidently claimed. "Just wait and see, firecracker."

War pulled up her hood, hiding her face from the shield. "I'm counting on you, Gladio."

The brute was able to catch a glimpse of the smile she was trying to conceal. He wanted to tease her, but decided not to anger her.

The duo walked around Lestallum for a little while, chatting about various topics. Gladio was able to learn a little more about (Y/n) and vice versa. Their conversation was sidetracked when they were soon joined by a bubbly Prompto. The blonde excitedly told them how he ran into Famine and she spent some time with him.

At hearing the news, Gladio glances towards War. "You and your sisters are everywhere."

"We are just trying to do our job," she replied. "These monsters are not easy to find as they are much more intelligent than daemons or normal beasts."

"Guess you wouldn't be having so much trouble if they were, right?" Prompto asked.

"I would be back in the Inner Sanctum by now if they were pretty dumb. Sadly, they're not."

"Well, now you've got us to help you," Gladio stated.

"Oh, I don't think so. It's best you and the others stay as far away from these monstrosities as possible. They're here on Eos because they crave the blood of humans. You all would be a feast for the bunyips and the dullahan."

"I'd rather not be eaten alive by one of those things..." Prompto muttered.

The trio returned to the Leville to check on Ignis and Noctis. Once doing that, they discussed their next plan. Deciding to rest just a little longer, they would remain in Lestallum for the time being.

<-------------<<<<<

Several days later, Gladio told everyone what was on his mind. After having some time to think it over, he wanted to escort his sister to Cape Caem. They left the Leville and headed to the gas station located on the main road. Iris, who was kind enough to fill the Regalia's tank, was waiting for them. When she counted how many people there were, a worried expression appeared on her face. "There's six of us and only five seat."

"Don't worry. (Y/n)'s got a ride," Gladio said, gesturing to the redhead.

Iris looked toward the Horseman. "Are you sure you don't want to ride with us? I can always sit on Gladdy's lap."

"No, it's fine. You all go on ahead. I'll catch up with you in a short bit," she responded. The five climb into the car and depart from Lestallum.

(Y/n) called upon Ares, the flaming steed appearing from a thicket of fog. She promptly mounted his back and entangled her fingers in his mane. The flames danced around her hands, the heat causing her no injury. "C'mon, Ares, let's catch up." The horse neighed, taking off down the road.

Within a few seconds, she caught up with the Regalia. Although she was familiar with the way to Cape Caem, she wanted to stay with the others in case they needed her. Ares ran alongside the car, easily keeping pace with it. Due to the wind whistling in her ears, she couldn't hear what the others were talking about. However, she did catch Iris staring at her in astonishment. The young Amicitia wasn't aware of her status as Horseman until now. From the grin she saw on Gladio's face, she figured he was telling his sister all the details.

(Y/n) reverted her attention back to the road ahead. She kept her eyes forward, making sure Ares kept his distance from the car to avoid an accident. However, her attention was diverted when they were halfway to Old Lestallum. The rancid scent of decaying flesh and the tinge of iron she assumed was from blood reached her nose. Eyes narrowing, she looked around in a desperate attempt to locate the source of the odor. Since it was nearly noon, it was impossible a daemon could emanate such a stench. She also knew no beast indigenous to Eos smelt in such a manner.

Suddenly, Ignis slammed on brakes. Ares followed suit, slowing down and stopping beside the vehicle. War wondered what was the problem until she saw it. Her eyes widen before narrowing into a glare when recognizing the creature blocking the road. "The dullahan..."

"A wh-what?" Prompto swallowed in fear.

"A headless horseman," she simplified.

"Didn't know you had a creepy, headless brother," Gladio teased.

She ignored the shield, her (e/c) eyes glued to the dullahan. It didn't move towards them, but it was wielding its spine as if it was ready to attack. It whipped its spine like a whip, its horse neighing in response. While examining the monster's appearance, she noticed something was missing. "Where's its head?"

"Didn't you just say it was a headless horseman?" Noctis retorted.

"I did, but dullahans always travel with their heads. Something feels off..."

Prompto couldn't tear his fearful gaze away from the menacing creature. "I-Is it really a big deal that it doesn't have its head with it?"

"Without the head, I can't kill it," War stated.

"What will your plan of attack be, (Y/n)?" Ignis inquired.

"This thing has killed and I can smell the corpses. I will keep it occupied and pray to the Astrals I'll be able to find the head," she proclaimed. "You focus on escaping."

"You're not seriously gonna fight that thing all by yourself, are you?" Gladio asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I am." She summoned a bow, a single arrow materializing from the crimson crystal shards. Firing the arrow, she targeted the dullahan's steed. The monster used its spine whip to deflect the arrow with ease. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, War materialized another arrow and nocked it. At the same time, she dug her heels into Ares' sides to urge him forward. She released the arrow and it impaled the dullahan's chest plate. Seeing she had its full attention when it charged towards her, she shouted for Ignis to drive away. The advisor didn't hesitate and drove off.

The dullahan used its whip to try and grab the Horseman. However, Ares manages to dodge and protect his rider. (Y/n) thanked him before commanding him to run away from the main road. The horse did as she commanded, running away from the main road. The monster followed on its own black, hazy steed. Knowing the dullahan was nothing without its horse, she knew fighting it on-foot was out of the question unless it willingly abandoned its steed.

"C'mon, you bastard," (Y/n) hissed, glaring over her shoulder at the dullahan. Ares led them to a large, open area where there was enough room to ride around. The Horseman switched out her bow for a pair of daggers as she and the monster faced off. Urging her steed to charge directly at it, she yelled his name and he took off. Pushing herself into a crouching position on Ares' back, she waited for the perfect opportunity to attack.

The dullahan charged forward, meeting the Horseman and her steed halfway. It used its whip to swipe at the redhead, but it missed its mark when she dodged the attack and leapt onto the dullahan. She tackled it off its horse and buried one of her daggers into its chest plate.

"Where's your damn head, you bastard?" She growled, jamming her second dagger into its shoulder. A black substance dribbled from its wounds, cascading down its body. Once it dropped onto the grass, the luscious green turned into a decaying brown.

The dullahan chuckled demonically. It grabbed its whip and targeted the redhead. It pierced her side deeply, causing her to shriek in pain. She promptly summoned a javelin and plunged it through the monster's abdomen, pinning it to the ground. Shakily, she pushed herself off the dullahan and got to her feet. Yanking the tip of the spine whip out of her body, she tossed it aside. Blood soaked her left side and dripped to the ground.

Before War could strike again, the dullahan ripped the javelin out of its abdomen and stood up. It stood up and summoned its horse. It made a quick escape, but (Y/n) immediately took chase. She pressed a hand against her wound, knowing it would take more time to heal since the monsters from the Inner Sanctum were more powerful than an average daemon or beast. Following the monster, she fought against the wooziness she felt from the blood loss and focused on her target. "Show me where you've hidden your head, you bastard..."

<-------------<<<<<

A couple days later after their infiltration of Fort Vaullery and exploring Malmalam Ticket, the royal retinue and Iris were now resting at Kellebram Haven. Prompto was showing Iris the many photos he's taken since she's joined them. After looking through his new pictures, the blonde came across a picture he took of (Y/n) when they first met.

"Oh, it's (Y/n)!" Iris cheered. "Do you have any more pictures of her?"

"I've got tons!" Prompto flipped through various more photos before coming across more with the Horseman as the main subject. Most of them were of her fighting or chatting with Gladio.

Noticing the pattern, the girl asked, "Wait, does Gladdy get along with (Y/n)?"

"I guess you could say that," he answered.

Flipping to the next picture, Iris gaped in amazement when she saw (Y/n) wielding an array of weapons. "Oh, wow! She's so cool!"

Noctis, who'd been playing King's Knight on his phone, looked up at hearing Iris praise the Horseman. "Y'know, we haven't seen her in a while."

Prompto lowered his camera with a concerned expression. "It's been two days. Shouldn't she be back by now?"

"She's immortal. How much trouble could she possibly be in?" Gladio remarked. "Besides, she mentioned she couldn't kill that thing unless she found the head. She's probably looking for it as we speak."

"Or she's in trouble," he replied.

"I hope she's okay," Iris mumbled. "I still owe her for getting me, Jarred, and Talcott out of the city."

"Maybe we should check on her," Prompto suggested. "You've got that orb she gave you, right, big guy? Summon her!"

"And possibly fuck up her entire mission?" The brute scoffed. "I don't think so. I'll be the headless one if that happened."

"Maybe you could try after dinner?" Iris asked.

Gladio wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was worried about (Y/n). He'd already been tempted to summon her. However, he fought the urge knowing she was trying to focus on the dullahan. But now seeing he wasn't the only one concerned about her, his temptation returned and he wouldn't be able to stave it off this time. "Fine, I'll try after dinner."

Ignis was already ahead of the group. He'd been working on dinner for the past fifteen minutes and it was almost done. Once the food was done, he passed out plates to everyone. They ate the delicious meal around the fire as the chill of night crept around them. The sound of daemons soon filled the dark void of the night. Their shrill cries caused an uneasiness to wash over the group.

Iris lifted her head, gazing out into the darkness. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that. I don't understand how you all can ignore it."

"It took a while, but now we all sleep through it," Noctis said.

"It still freaks me out from time to time," Prompto confessed. He put his plate down and nearly jumped out of his seat when an earsplitting shout came from a daemon close by. "Okay, that one definitely freaked me out."

"It was quite unusual," Ignis stated.

"Our daemon reflector isn't here at the moment," Gladio said.

"Daemon reflector?" Iris parroted.

"(Y/n)," he replied. "Most daemons are afraid of her. Whenever she's around, nights are quieter and it's easier to fall asleep."

"Now that you mention it..." Iris mumbled. "No daemons attacked us the night we were heading to Lestallum. I thought we were just lucky."

"At least she's not a daemon magnet," Noctis commented. "Not sure how I'd feel about that..."

"I'd welcome it. It'd give us more opportunities to train," Gladio said. "It'd also make our hunts easier. Speaking of hunts, you said (Y/n) took down that naga without touching it, blondie."

"Oh, yeah!" Prompto cheered as he remembered witnessing the daemon turn into a pile of ash. "I don't know what exactly happened, but it's like (Y/n) just stared into its eyes and it turned to stone. Then it disintegrated into a pile of ash."

"That sounds...scary," Iris said.

"I was freaked out, but it was kinda cool to watch."

"I wonder what she did," the young Amacitia hummed in curiosity.

"Not sure. She hasn't said," Gladio explained. He fished the summoning orb out of his pocket, remembering what he promised to do after they finished dinner. He muttered her name and saw the orb gleam slightly. After some time, he learned that faint glimmer of light meant it worked.

Looking around the haven, he searched for War. The others followed suit and Iris was the first to spot the Horseman a short distance away. "There she is!"

Everyone glanced in the direction the girl was staring and saw the redhead slowly approaching the haven. Gladio noticed something was wrong while watching her stumble forward. Her form was hunched over and she was having difficulty standing on her own two legs. He stood from his seat, putting the orb back into his pocket. "(Y/n)?"

War didn't answer his call as she dragged her body towards the haven. Her hand was pressed against her side in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. Her vision was splotchy and she was barely conscious. She managed to lift her head when hearing someone approach. Seeing it was Gladio, she tried to speak. "Sorry..." she mumbled weakly as her legs gave our underneath her. Her vision turned to black as she fell unconscious.

#ffxv x reader #ffxv #final fantasy xv x reader #final fantasy xv #gladiolus amicitia #gladiolus x reader #gladio x reader

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carewyncromwell · 4 years ago

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[Previously on “Adventures in Cursebreaking”...]

And now...the next thrilling installment!

Carewyn took the most time to get ready the next morning, even if she did have to dress in the same clothes she’d worn the previous night. But honestly, just because she was preparing to face off against a dragon or two didn’t mean that her hair and make-up couldn’t still be polished!

When she came outside, she found Barnaby, Merula, and Penny waiting for her. They said Bill had told them to meet him at the top of the closest hill -- when they got there, however, Carewyn was taken aback to find Bill there alone.

She whirled on the others. “Have any of you seen Charlie?”

All three of them looked just as disconcerted as she did, admitting they hadn’t seen him since the previous night. Apparently they’d thought he’d run on ahead with Bill too. A flare of panic flashing through her, Carewyn immediately dashed up to Bill.

“Bill! Bill -- have you seen Charlie?”

Bill looked very startled. “You mean he’s not with you?”

“No -- “ said Carewyn, her heart sinking more and more every minute. “ -- none of us have seen him since last night -- ”

She’d told Charlie last night that he’d just have to prove his naysayers wrong -- what if he’d decided to run off by himself, to prove he could be a real dragonologist?! Why had she said something so stupid -- !?

Bill looked even paler and more panicked than Carewyn. His eyes narrowed very sharply as he urged the four students onward, into the preserve.

The group searched all morning. At one point, they even had to fend off a Hungarian Horntail together with Stunning spells after ending up a little too close to her nest. It was after they’d escaped the Horntail that Carewyn caught a strange sound echoing from somewhere close by -- something that almost sounded like a voice.

“Hello? Can anyone hear me? Please, help!”

Both Bill and Carewyn whirled on each other, their faces both very pale and terrified. It was Charlie!

The five of them dashed down the mountain, toward the jagged, mouth-like opening at the bottom. Bill and Carewyn were making great time in front of the others, Bill because of his long legs and Carewyn because of how she was bouncing down every single ledge like she was a character in an 8-bit video game. She almost ended up stumbling and falling when she landed on a cluster of pebbles at the bottom, and Bill quickly caught her arm to stabilize her before the two dashed into the cave.

It was very dark inside, but in the far corner, beside a nest of eggs guarded by two tiny bonfires, was Charlie, lying in a heap on the ground.

“CHARLIE!”

“Bill!” gasped Charlie. “Carey! You heard me...”

Both Bill and Carewyn ran over to him. His left leg was in terrible shape -- there were several large bite marks tearing through the fabric of his pants, leaving jagged, bloody gashes in the flesh. It was rather like Charlie were a ragdoll that the family dog had gotten a hold of.

When Carewyn reached Charlie, she immediately whipped out her wand.

“Charlie, thank Merlin, we were worried sick!” she scolded him, her voice dripping with anxiety. “Have you been here all night!?”

She’d never wished Chiara was there more in her life -- Chiara would know a better spell to slow the bleeding --

Charlie, however, resisted Carewyn’s attempts to heal his leg.

“Yes -- but forget that, there’s no time! The Horntail will be back any minute -- are the others outside?”

Bill looked startled. “Outside? No, they’re -- ”

But when he and Carewyn turned around to look for Merula, Barnaby, and Penny right behind them, they instead found a large, menacing shape lurching into the cave on all fours. its fangs bared and its horns glinting in the sun.

This Hungarian Horntail was much smaller than the one outside, let alone the one from the Portrait Vault, but it filled Carewyn with no less dread, for no other reason that it was blocking the way out. They were trapped.

Carewyn looked from Charlie to Bill to the dragon bearing down on them. There was no way Charlie could stand, let alone walk in such a state...

There was no other choice.

“Bill!” she said over her shoulder urgently as she watched the dragon lurch forward. “Can you carry Charlie?”

Bill’s eyes widened, realizing what Carewyn wanted to do.

“Carey, no, I am not going to -- !”

“Charlie’s too injured to walk!” Carewyn shot back fiercely. “Even if we carried him with magic, it’d probably only hurt him worse! And if you’re using magic to carry him, you can’t then use your wand to protect yourself!”

Charlie looked just as upset. “Carey, that’s a young Horntail! Young dragons are a lot faster and a lot more vicious than the older ones -- “

“I can’t lift you, Charlie!” Carewyn shot back fiercely. “I have to be the distraction here! Bill -- get Charlie out of here and go get the others! NOW!”

Blocking out the two Weasley boys’ objections, Carewyn, her legs quaking under her, dashed forward, pointing her wand at the Horntail. The dragon opened its mouth, blasting a sharp, short stream of flame at her.

“PROTEGO!”

Her Shield Charm rebounded the flames just enough that they dissolved away into a veil of red-hot steam.

“BOMBARDA!”

The spell bounced off the dragon’s horns. It shook its head as if the spell had been a meddlesome fly, before swinging its tail around as if to hit Carewyn. She dived to the left, trying to lead the dragon further into the cave -- to give Bill and Charlie a path out --

“INCARCEROUS!”

She successfully muzzled its jaws shut with some magical ropes for about ten seconds, before the dragon opened its jaws wide, making them break apart with a loud SNAP.

“STUPEFY! FLIPENDO! IMMOBULUS! BOMBARDA!”

Carewyn fought the Horntail with everything she had, lashing out at it viciously with spell after spell -- but unlike the dragon in the Cursed Vault, the dragon barely seemed to be weakening. It made her wish all the more she could use the Conjunctivitis Curse or blow some Pepper Breath in its eyes -- but as scared as she was, she tried desperately to keep her head. The dragons at the Sanctuary were protected by law -- Bill could get in serious trouble if she permanently damaged it --

“DEPULSO!”

The dragon once again shook off the blow. With a vicious turn, it swerved its tail around, and the horned spike collided with Carewyn’s side.

“AUGH!”

In an instant, she was thrown off her feet and slammed into the cave wall. She clutched at her side -- her red jacket and sweater were drenched with blood.

Wincing in pain, Carewyn had to quickly roll out of the way to avoid another blow from the dragon’s tail. The beast then opened its mouth, throwing out more flames.

“PROTEGO!”

The dragon’s small jet of fire breath collided harshly with Carewyn’s Shield Charm, knocking her to the ground.

Fortunately, at that very moment, five voices rang out from behind the Horntail.

“STUPEFY!”

The dragon lurched forward, clearly taken back by the force of the attack. It turned its long neck around to look behind it. The Slytherin Prefect hobbled to her feet, trying to see beyond the dragon.

It was Barnaby, Merula, Penny, Bill, and a newly healed Charlie, beating the Horntail back against the opposite wall of the cave with the force of their Stunning spells.

“Cromwell, come on!” yelled Merula.

Still clutching her bleeding side, Carewyn hurried over to them as fast as she could. Seeing that she was wounded, Barnaby immediately dashed forward to help her. His distraction, though, was an opening for the Horntail -- it opened its mouth --

Carewyn leapt fully off the ground, launching herself at Barnaby as she raised her wand --

“PROTEGO!”

She felt Barnaby catch her just as the Shield materialized around them like a bubble, protecting them both from the jet of dragon fire. The collision of dragon fire and Shield Charm made Carewyn lose her balance, but fortunately Barnaby was just barely able to stay on his feet.

“Carewyn, you’re hurt -- ” said Barnaby, visibly upset.

Carewyn looked up at him with a determined expression. “I’m fine -- ”

The other four, still launching Stunning spells at the Horntail, tried to spread out and lash out in turns in an attempt to distract it. Charlie ran off to the left, shooting spells at the dragon’s eyes and nose, calling over his shoulder at Barnaby and Carewyn.

“Carey! Remember what Kettleburn said!?”

Carewyn’s eyes widened. When they visited Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures professor had told them a story about how he’d escaped a Ukranian Ironbelly by shooting a spell into the creature's open mouth -- !

Barnaby’s eyes lit up excitedly. “The Sleeping Charm! Kettleburn used the Sleeping Charm!”

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed. “Then we need to get that thing to open its mouth again -- Barnaby, help the others with the Stunners! I’ll try to get closer!”

Holding her side as tightly as she could, Carewyn dashed forward on her wobbly, trembling legs. As the dragon yowled and gnashed its teeth, Carewyn at points had to close her eyes and cower, her breath and heart racing at a mile a minute --

She was scared to death -- but she charged through all the same. And finally, after weaving around the Horntail’s spiked tail and lashing out with Bombardment and Stunners, Carewyn finally got her chance. The dragon snarled, opening its mouth --

“Levisomnus!”

Carewyn’s Sleeping Charm landed at the back of the dragon’s throat just as all five of her companions’ Stunning spells also collided with its eyes. The Horntail swayed, his eyes drifting around drowsily, before finally collapsing to the ground with a low, resounding boom.

Once the dragon had fallen, the group all stopped stock-still where they stood. Then Penny barreled over to Carewyn, her face very white and scared.

“Carewyn! Carewyn, you’re bleeding!”

Carewyn tried desperately to reassure Penny, but the blond Hufflepuff quickly fished out a familiar green bottle from her robes and shoved it into her hands.

“Wiggenweld Potion?” Carewyn said, startled.

“I brought a whole bunch with me, just in case,” said Penny sheepishly.

“Good thing she did,” said Charlie as he approached. “Wouldn’t have been able to get back on my feet again otherwise...”

Bill immediately swept down on Carewyn too, taking in her chest wound and scanning her face. She could tell how simultaneously guilty and anxious he was.

“I’m okay,” she reassured Bill quickly. “Just a scratch from its tail is all...”

Carewyn quickly downed the bottle of Wiggenweld Potion, and within seconds she could feel the deep cuts in her side sealing up and the pain dissipating.

“Thanks, Penny,” she said. “Thanks, all of you.”

Merula scoffed. “Please. As if we were going to give you the bragging rights of taking down two dragons single-handed.”

Barnaby grinned. “...We did do pretty well, didn’t we? Too bad we can’t convince the dragon to give us a ride, for having beaten it...”

“No dragon rides,” said Bill sternly. “I’ve had enough heart attacks for one day. Now come on...let’s get out of here.”

“Wait!”

Charlie dashed across the cave, over toward the dragon’s abandoned nest of eggs.

“I wasn’t just running off,” he explained to the others. “I thought I could prove myself, so I went looking for the egg -- ”

“Charlie!” Carewyn burst out, sounding both reproachful and dismayed. She’d thought that was why Charlie had left, but hearing it aloud hadn’t made her any less upset with him.

“I know -- it was stupid,” muttered Charlie as he came running back to them, “but I thought I had an idea of where to look -- ”

He showed the others the thing he’d taken from the nest.

So he had. The golden masterpiece of Urguff the Unwise glinted in the rays of the sun just outside the dragon’s cave, letting off a flawless sheen.

Everyone was amazed, none more so than Bill.

The sleeping dragon beside them gave a low gurgle in its sleep. Deciding quickly that it was best not to find out how long a Sleeping Charm lasted, the group left the cave and headed straight back to the camp.

To Be Concluded...

#adventures in cursebreaking #carewyn cromwell #jacob's sibling #charlie weasley #bill weasley #penny haywood #barnaby lee #merula snyde #hphm #hogwarts mystery #dragons #gameplay #roleplaying #my writing #fanfiction

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satire-please · 6 years ago

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Play is the Work of the Childhood

Summary: I once saw a fanart of Hua Cheng snuggling a kid Xie Lian. Therefore this fic was spawn.

Perhaps Xie Lian should have seen this coming.

After all, in his 800-year experience, what goes around, comes around. What misfortune you see and witness will eventually happen to you.

Life enjoys being fair in that aspect.

Still, he didn't expect to be in this position as a wave of green smoke bellows from the mouth of the monster he and Hua Cheng just fought, just slain, it rushing at him and encasing him in a smoggy fist.

For the vile creature's last attack, it shakes Xie Lian like a child throwing a tantrum before throwing him across the cave.

He smacks into the stone wall, the pain makes him gasp...and the smoke rushes into his mouth.

It burns.

His lungs, his head, his bones twisting, his skin shrinking.

"Dianxia!" Xie Lian hurts, his brain rattling in his skull but he can still hear the desperate panic in Hua Cheng's voice, the ring of steel clashing in the background. "Are you alright? Answer me!"

Xie Lian coughs a few times. His ears ringing, he collapses down the rock face disoriented and forces his eyes to open. Hua Cheng's form is blurry but he can tell the man is sprinting towards him. "I'm fine–"

"Your voice! What's happened to you?" What was wrong with his voice? Well, it does sound different. The tone is off. Higher, younger.

Oh no.

It couldn't be.

Xie Lian puts a hand to his throat and rubs it. He tries to prioritize. "It was just the monster's deathblow, a curse I think–"

Hua Cheng swears loudly.

"–But I'll recover, will you destroy the body? Its remains could still harm any that come across it. It would be unfortunate if the villagers still had trouble after they worked so hard to get us for help."

"Yes. It won't ever bother them or Dianxia ever again," Hua Cheng declares vindictively. "Where are you? I can't see you, the smoke refuses to clear."

"Here. Over here." Xie Lian calls. He tries to get up, but his legs catch in sometimes, he looks down to see what's the matter and finds entire lower body trapped in his robes. They tangle over his limbs oversized...why are they so big?

He knows why. Yet please allow him to deny it a little longer. The clues of his voice, his clothes and the small hand he brings to his face are obvious and sooner or later he must accept reality.

He's been changed.

The curse turned him younger...much, much younger.

"There you are! Let me take a look at you, we'll figure out the contents of the curse and break it to–" A red tunic fills the corner his vision and Xie turns toward it.

But his friend, no his companion, freezes in place.

The man is not even breathing. True neither of them need to breathe but Hua Cheng has always been very courteous to do so in the past, so it’s alarming for Xie Lian to see him stop. The demon king is a statue harder than any stone.

“San Lang?” Xie Lian attempts to free an arm from his tangled nest of fabric, but the large sleeve flops over his wrist. Hua Cheng is so tall. Then again everything is so much bigger from this point of view. “What's wrong? Did the creature hurt you too?”

Hua Cheng moves fast.

One moment he’s a few feet away, the next he’s crouched in front of Xie Lian, hands cupping his cheeks to verify that this image is no illusion. Xie Lian notes the coolness of that skin and how those fingers reach the back of his skull easily.

He blushes and glances to the side. Hua Cheng’s hands are one of his favorite things about his man.

“I am blessed.” Is the first thing the demon king says in a minute. His one eye drinking in every change to Xie Lian’s form, his head cocked to the side. “Huh. I never knew I wanted this.”

“Wanted what?” Xie tilts his face or tries to. In Hua Cheng’s tender hold the action has him leaning into his palm.

Hua Cheng makes a trapped sound at the back of his throat. "You're so little."

Xie Lian should take offense, but honestly, he is...little. He had always been a terribly small child once upon a time, or he supposes in the current present. He attempts to calculate his age based on appearances. He'd barely come up to Hua Cheng's hip, his arms are chubby, oh dear, he must be around five or six and his–

"Your hair is so short. Is this how you felt when I was transformed against my will?" Hua Cheng muses, fingers twisting in the dark locks that fall right below his chin. "I have every inclination to lock you up and do all that I must to protect you. You're beyond precious."

“Ah. Now I understand why you were so embarrassed. This is humiliating." Xie Lian murmurs in reply. Xie Lian view’s blocked by a curtain of black hair and there’s a cold press of lips on his forehead. “San Lang!”

“Sorry.” But then he feels the same sensation on his temple. “Excuse me.”

Xie Lian’s cheeks are not left alone. A pepper of kisses rain down on his nose and his eyelids and Xie Lian is going to die if his face gets any redder.

“S-Stop!”

“Must I? Very well.” Hua Cheng finally leans back on his heels, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. However, he keeps Xie Lian trapped in his embrace, especially as he stands up. Xie Lian’s tiny hands scramble for broad shoulders as he’s basically manipulated to sit on one arm, the other moving around his back protectively. “I apologize, I truly can't help myself, Gege. You are honestly the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

"You were just as cute. No, cuter!" Xie Lian pouts.

"I doubt it."

"You were!" He insists. Xie Lian watches Hua Cheng reach into his red coat for the dice. He tosses them up absentmindedly before the portal opens to the Paradise Manor.

“Nonsense, most considered me to be a vile and ugly child. They called me a feral cat.”

“I didn’t’!”

Hua Cheng smiled. “This is true. Only you.” And he kisses Xie Lian on the cheek again to end the argument.

The hallways echo with the sound of Hua Cheng's heavy boots before they enter the bedchambers, the closet.

It's larger than four Puji Shrines put together and a whimper leaves Xie Lian before he can stop it.

“Now let’s see what we can do about your clothes.” Good cheer has never been so menacing.

During the length of an incense stick or two Xie Lian is tortured with good taste. The large robes replaced with a barrage of outfits Hua Cheng fishes out of the abyss of the wardrobe.

It takes a while before Hua Cheng plants the new child in front of a mirror to work on the final details. The demon king is pleased to find that even a scowl on the younger face is adorable

“Is this really necessary?”

“Now, Dianxia it’s only fair and just. I recall when I was forced into child form, I couldn’t leave your arms for at least a day. You kept carrying me around and playing with my hair.”

It was soft. Who could blame the martial god?

"You were a treasure,” Xie Lian mutters.

“Yes, and now you’re mine. So enough objections and stay still enough to let me put this on.”

Well, Xie Lian can’t stop Hua Cheng from doing anything, not really, therefore he sighs and keeps his arms up as Hua Cheng fixes his sleeves. “I meant the clothes. This is a lot of work for a temporary situation. Where did you even get these?"

"Secret."

Xie Lian wrinkles his nose. The reflection shows the spitting image of his five-year-old self. In fact, he believes these are the exact same hair ornaments his own mother placed into his hair so long ago. A bright golden dragon with ruby eyes, glaring at all, perches on his head to keep his hair half up and out of his face.

All so Hua Cheng can cup, squeeze and poke his cheeks better.

Which he demonstrates.

Quite often.

It’s as if there’s a time limit to how long those fingers can stay away. Thirty seconds or less.

The mirror reveals a victim draped in layers of the finest silk, pictures of flowers and fighting scenes race across the fabric in dark heavy thread. His feet have matching slippers with twinkling small bells to give away his location immediately. He hates them. He shifts minutely and they ring. They sing. It’s been a long time since he’s been decked in such ridiculous finery.

Hua Cheng loves it.

“So this is how you were as a child.” Hua Cheng coos. Dressing him has taken over an hour, yet much to Xie Lian’s dismay instead of complaining, he seemed to relish picking out every single detail from what sash goes best, the golden one of course, to the bracelets and rings that cover Xie Lian’s fingers. He hums happily, “How did they ever let you out of the palace?”

“They didn’t.” Xie Lian was only allowed to start making public appearances at thirteen. And then only by his father’s side or securely placed in his mother’s lap. Just like how he's in Hua Cheng's now with a tug on the back of his robe so he falls right perfectly into the bowl those crossed legs make.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to see so many sides of you.” Xie Lian closes his eyes, Hua Cheng reflection is beaming. It’s unbearable. “My luck just keeps getting better and better if I get a chance to see you like this too.”

“San Lang, please! Do you ever tire of making me look like a tomato?” Honestly. Consider Xie Lian’s poor blood vessels.

“No.” Hua Cheng snuggles up to him, smugly rubbing his face into his soft fluffy hair. “Never. Tell me how you were like as a child?”

Xie Lian’s brows knit together in thought and then he answers honestly, “I was a brat.”

Helpless chuckles are muffled into his hair. “Oh really?” Xie Lian picks at the leather boots under him in retaliation, yet the arms around him just tighten.

“I was! I had rooms of toys–”

“And of swords?”

“Yes, and of swords too, they were separate chambers. I made castles out of gold leaf cards and demanded to continue sleeping with my mother far after it was considered appropriate.”

“Now that's a request I would never reject.”

Xie Lian smacks Hua Cheng’s arm with his tiny palm. It just makes the chest behind him shake more with glee.

“What else did you like to do?” Hua Cheng nuzzles the tiny god, the hair jewelry poking dangerously but he doesn't care. He adores how Xie Lian fits completely in his arms with this new size.

It's a good size. He loves this size.

Xie Lian chews on his lip. It was a long time ago. That part of his life barely a blur, a wisp of light if he concentrates too hard it'll flicker away. “I remember I used to like playing on the...swings.”

Hua Cheng’s whole posture straightens. “I need to find a swing set immediately.”

“That’s not important.”

“I assure you it’s suddenly very important. To me. I need to push you on the swings.” To Xie Lian's absolute dismay, the man gets up and his own feet dangle as Hua Cheng settles him over his shoulders. Like a father with a child. The dice reappear and rattle as they land in Hua Cheng's palm.

"Shouldn't we care about finding out how to break the curse first? That should be our first priority!" He's careful to rest his hands on the crown of Hua Cheng's head, making sure not to jostle the eyepatch.

"Later."

Xie Lian sighs and plops his chin on top of his hands exasperated. The moment Hua Cheng has left the Manor when they hit the street, the eyes of every nearby ghost bulge and pop.

No one can resist not saying anything.

"MY LORD WHEN DID YOU GET A CHILD?" The phrase has more heads whipping in their direction.

Over at a vendor, a ghoul squints and then screams, "WAIT, IS THAT GRAND UNCLE?"

Xie Lian doesn’t have any time to swear. Not when a twitter of painted ladies screech and bombard the pair, "LET US TOUCH HIM. HE'S SO PRETTY. HOW DID HE GET SO SMALL?"

"A curse," Hua Cheng says. "And no. You do not get to touch him."

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly more merge with their group, it becoming in a strange parade as the curious trail behind them. There are hunched goblins with moldy green skin that run a few paces before giggling at the sight. Ghost flames that hover playfully darting here and there. From the willow female sirens to the largest ogre they fall in line with brightest horrible grins. A few offer Xie Lian odd sweets made from rather questionable ingredients.

"TRY THIS LITTLE GRAND UNCLE, MY SUGAR SPIDER WEBS ARE THE BEST!"

"NO HE'S TOO SCRAWNY, HE NEEDS MORE MEAT ON THOSE BONES. HERE. HAVE MY ARM! I DIPPED IT IN CARMEL FOR YOU."

Others wave an assortment of meat buns as close as they dare since no one has forgotten that one time in the gambler's den.

“COME ON, EAT SOMETHING PLEASE! OH, YOUR FACE IS SO CUTE. LOOK UP FOR US SOME MORE." Xie Lian firmly buries his face into Hua Cheng's hair and shakes it back and forth.

"Make them stop." He begs. “Please.”

Hua Cheng hums. "Now, now don’t ruin their fun Gege. We've become a proper Ghost Parade by now. Why I don't think I could stop them even if I tried. You know how they get when you 'visit,’ you're just that popular."

Xie Lian groans.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING, MY LORD?"

Hua Cheng's eye twinkles. "Your dear Grand Uncle has told me he used to like playing on the swings, so we are on a quest to find them. Any idea where we may find some nearby?"

The colorful crowd goes wild. "SWINGS? DOES ANYBODY KNOW ABOUT SWINGS?”

“NAH!”

“NO.”

“I’VE GOT AN IDEA. WE CAN MAKE SOME. RIGHT NOW. DON'T MOVE."

In seconds what used to be a simple plaza becomes the weirdest playground Xie Lian has ever seen. The 'swings' are made from chains the large monster butchers carry around and they connect to three or four large thighbones tied together with pretty silk ribbons.

Xie Lian hopes those bones are not human.

Let him hope.

Hopes are dashed when they tell him they were very enthusiastically donated.

Hua Cheng slowly settles him on swings and makes sure his fingers are wrapped around the chains securely. He fusses before pulling the swing back with a few steps. The crowd cheers.

Xie Lian wants to die.

He feels another kiss to his temple and huffs with a twist to his lips. He guesses he should let Hua Cheng have his own fun and amusement at his expense. He did when the demon was a child. And perhaps he shouldn’t ruin the entertainment the ghost inhabitants somehow crave. As lame as it is. Who wants to watch a child being pushed to extreme heights on a gory swingset?

But he did...really like the swings.

“Are you ready to fly, Little Prince?”

"Are you going to let me touch the ground anytime soon?"

"Nope."

And Xie Lian should have seen that coming too. Oh well. They’ll find the cure to this aliment...eventually.

“Then let’s see how high you can make me go. Can you make me ascend a fourth time, San Lang?” He dares.

Hua Cheng’s fingers tighten on the chains above his, a wicked smile in voice. “There’s only one way to find out, Dianxia.”

Only the ghost city witnesses the figure in white and silk fly so high but their master never lets the small boy fall.

Not once.

Not ever.

#tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #my writing #kid fic #fluff

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adventuresofsalih-blog · 6 years ago

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Forest Beauty Pt. 18

The broken people bandaged their wounds quickly. Each day brought with it a sense of urgency; none of them knew how long the bliss would continue , so they made the most of every moment. Every lesson Salih taught Tol was given with a tone of gentle urgency that had not been previously present. Any word he said to the boy might be the last. He loved Sabrina with unbridled passion, leaving no thought left unspoken. No hour was guaranteed.

The final one eventually came.

It was midday. He was in town at his side job when he saw smoke rise up from the trees in the direction of the house. Immediately, he threw down his load of firewood and sprinted toward Sabrina’s.

As he entered the clearing he peered through thick smoke. The barn was engulfed in yellow flames. Sabrina and Tol were carrying buckets of water from the well to the barn. As he started toward them to pull them to safety, the humble home exploded in the same golden fire, throwing them all to the ground. With ringing in his ears, the magician struggled to his feet, scrambling toward the other two, and carrying them to the far edge of the clearing. The family was covered in soot and coughing, with a few scratches, but they were unscathed by debris from the house.

Seeing that they were alright for the moment, Salih ran to the barn to investigate. Mid-stride he was whacked by an impossibly-fast assailant, thrown laterally through the smoggy air. Attempting to catch the wind that was knocked out of him, he tried to make out his attacker. Stepping through the haze, the warrior spied a pair of glowing amber eyes set above the wolf’s sickening, sparkling grin. With a single clap of Salih’s hands, the air cleared with a whoosh of wind. The form of the giant, violet demon was now clear, releasing an hideous laugh made of a thousand wailing voices.

The demon separated the man from his family. Rather than a look of terror, the mother and child stared at Salih in confusion. All they could see was him, crouched and ready to attack… nothing. He slowly circled to his right, every step firmly planted. The wolf sauntered in the opposite direction. With lightning speed Salih flew towards the wolf, lunging the blade toward its throat. The menace threw a swipe of his claw that sent him spinning across the field. Salih heard a scream as his skull came crashing down to the ground. He sprang up again, trying to steady his reeling vision.

He threw a bolt of electricity at the beast. It was absorbed with no effect whatsoever. A fireball yielded the same results. In a flash the demon had rushed him, stabbing his stomach with its talons and raising him up. Salih grabbed its arm for stability, but had to relinquish his grip as each second seared his fingertips with unbearable heat. As his skin tore, he whipped his hunting knife against the beast’s hide. With a short shriek, it threw him in the civilians’s direction as they screamed at the inexplicable carnage.

As he lie on the grass, bleeding out, his family rushed to his aid. Assessing his wounds, Sabrina felt a cold shadow stretching over her. Deliberately lifting her chin, her eyes met the beast’s for the first time. It stood as tall as two men, glaring with an otherworldly gaze. Mother and son froze in fear as it glared down at them with an evil, drooling maw. The young lady let out a shriek.

Coughing on his own blood, Salih raised his palm to the demon. It stood above him, chest heaving, an acrid mist falling from his fangs. “Please,” he choked. “Leave them alone.” It glared down, unflinching. The woman and the boy fell over his body, sobbing. “I’m sorry,” he breathed in defeat.

“Nonononono,” she whined into his ear. “You can’t, you can’t, you can’t!”

From his reclined position, the giant creature looming over, he softly pulled the two into an embrace. “Never forget that I will love you both until the mountains crash into the oceans. A low growl started from the animal. With a final squeeze and tear, he shambled to his feet. He limped past the beast toward the path that brought him to this place. He could hear the soft padding of its paws matching his, like an audible shadow, ensuring that he would leave.

The widow cried after him. He blocked it out and kept walking without looking back. His pace was slow, and he wept with each step, but he never turned from his easterly direction. He continued until evening. He was hours and hours from the comfort to which he had grown accustomed. He had not heard the footsteps behind him for some time. Collapsing onto a stony brookside, he slurped up some water. He began to beat the pebbles beneath his fist, quietly lamenting.

Ruin. Broken hearts. Disappointment. This was his legacy anywhere he went. He yelled into the darkening sky. Picking up rocks, branches, anything he could put his hands on, he hurled them in every direction, his face crimson with rage, and his veins strained in anger. He beat his head with his hands. He cursed any deity’s name that came to his mind. He cursed his own name. He cursed and flailed until he could do nothing but collapse in emotional and physical exhaustion.

…

After a restless night, a morning of sorrow, and an afternoon left alone with nothing but his own thoughts, he set his red eyes again to the east. He was unsure of what would happen next, but as he began another long journey, the one certainty was solitude. Never again would his curse traumatize another soul.

- F A D E T O W H I T E -

–Bizz

#forest beauty #Salih #adventures of salih #fiction #romance #fantasy #ya #redhead #adventure

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estro-gem · 4 years ago

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Black and White in Grey: Epilogue

EPILOGUE: FORGIVE AND FORGET

Pinkie Pie blinked at the sudden return to reality.

The two noble figures before her blankly stared at her, Discord looking unamused and bored and Luna looking slightly concerned. The lively party pony had gone silent. It was an understatement to say that it was out of character. It took a second for her to realize that her eyes were stinging and her whole exterior had flattened down. It made Luna second guess her idea to let the young one in on their secret.

“How long was I out?” Pinkie asked with a soft, breaking tone.

Discord gave a menacing smile before booming, “A whole week!” He let out something similar to an evil laugh, causing Luna to glare at him before putting the shocked mare at ease.

“Spirit, the poor pony will have a heart attack! He meant to say about 10 seconds.”

“All that in ten seconds? How could you keep this from us? How could Twilight lie to us?” Pinkie was frantically asking, with the pitch of her voice raising with every question. She suddenly simmered down like a deflating balloon, “It’s been almost 10 months.”

“Twilight didn’t lie, she couldn’t. A day after Celestia’s fall, she came running the me in tears.” Luna sighed sympathetically, “She said she couldn’t lie into her friends’ faces anymore and begged me to erase the memories of it all. She had the right spell in a book she brought, for her to be oblivious to the events, as well as avoiding suspicion of the situation and leaving the changed circumstances be. She is non-the-wiser and still idolize my sister, but I know upon the spell’s reversal, she will loathe Celestia again.” A moment passed, “She wanted to be in the same boat as her friends when I finally decide to share the whole story with the kingdom.”

“I always found it strange to see Princess Celestia lay there in a coma, guarded and showcased like some hero that won a war. I also found it strange that there was a very long day 10 months ago, with an announcement of new strange rules and that I never thought that it was suspicious,” the pink pony hissed while wiping stray-falling tears away, “The story felt so rushed and incomplete that it was hard to swallow, but after seeing you and Twilight taking care of things so well, it seemed clear that there was nothing dodgy going on.”

Pinkie let out a breath, “It’s was never you we had to be suspicious about – it was your sister.”

“Ok, can we go back to normal now?” Discord butt in, while waving his arms as if he was waving the tension away, “Pinkie, this is way too serious. I’m all for chaos, but this is way too out of character for you. I thought you were going to go bananas about Lulu and I… especially since I showed you everything.” He ended by putting his fingertips together, smile never leaving his face.

Pinkie lightened up a bit, even though it was barely noticeable, “Planning comes before the party, Discord.”

“I’m sorry, you did what?” Luna asked in a threatening tone, through gritted teeth, “What exactly did you show her?”

“OH, he showed me WAAAYY too much. It was so awkward, I could just gag!” Pinkie actually gagged at the thought of seeing the two nobles in their most intimate moment, “I mean, you guys were cute back at the Sun Castle and I DID ask you to tell me EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about your love story, but that was a bit too extreme. I could have died not knowing what I know now! I regret everything…”

“Discord!” Luna was burning up, cheeks red and flushed.

“Yes Lulu?” The draconiquus asked sweetly, only to be met by a scowl from the Night Princess. He retorted, “Oh, don’t give me that look. You know I would scream it to the rooftops if you’d give me a chance. Besides, she’s gonna forget it all anyway.”

“I can’t wait to forget!” Pinkie cried dramatically holding a hoof to her forehead and falling back.

“I was going to say that it’s time to come clean!” Luna cried, startling the other two in the chaotic room.

“My dearest, are you playing with my feelings? Tell me you are serious, please.” Discord jumped up with sudden giddiness and grabbed the hooves Luna was using to cover her face with to hide her embarrassment. He smiled brightly nonetheless, “I can finally yell it from the rooftops: Princess Luna stole my heart!”

“I thought I could be saved from the misery of knowing what you guys did!” the earth pony whined, but quickly corrected herself, “I mean, I’m happy for you guys, but you gotta understand how much it is to take in. You guys are practically never seen together, you have almost nothing in common and I always thought that Discord had a thing for Fluttershy. It doesn’t make sense!”

“Um hello? What else did you expect?” Discord scoffed in offense, “First of all, we hid or relationship, so there is no way that anyone could’ve seen us together.” Pinkie furrowed her eyebrows and nodded, as Discord continued, “Second, we have a lot in common! I am the embodiment of chaos, Lulu works with chaos in ponies’ heads. We both were corrupted and tried to take over Equestria, only to get our butts kicked by you mane 6 and become reformed. We both have trouble with jealousy and we have the same sense of humor.”

“That’s… all true, I guess.”

“Third,” Discord held three digits in front of Pinkie, causing her to flatten her ears in surprise, “Fluttershy is my first best friend I ever had, so of course we are close! Last thing…” the lord narrowed his eyes and moved closer with every word, “I. Don’t. Do. Logic.”

“Yes sir!” Pinkie Pie saluted the Lord of Chaos like a soldier, before looking at Luna with lowered eyes. Her voice came out hesitantly, “So how are you going to tell to whole of Equestria what happened between you and Celestia, Your Highness? Is everyone going to freeze for 10 seconds straight and see you two making out, or what?”

Luna cringed at Pinkie’s choice of words, but answered honestly, “I was thinking that Discord and I would call you and your friends first thing in the morning to tell you 6 together. We will probably have to organize and plan on telling the kingdom when we hold the function to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Night Kingdom – not that my new home could be called a castle, more like a cottage with a small town surrounding it... It will be an official announcement.”

“Oh yes, it’s finally done with a protection barrier and everything! To think how easy it was for Twilight when her castle popped out from the ground like a daisy! You had so many creatures help to build your home. It was brilliant for the unemployed creatures and for creatures who wanted experience working in construction and designing and decorating… that got me thinking… why didn’t you just ask Discord to poof a castle for you? He is your cult-friend, after all!”

“I have a will of my own, thank you very much.” The lord said in a matter-of-factly way, “Besides, Lulu refused my help.” He grumbled that last bit. It earned a snarky chuckle from the dark princess.

“Why were you two at the Sun Castle, anyway?” Pinkie giggled at her question, confessing, “I’ll never get over it, you know? Sun Castle? Though, it would make more sense if there was an actual Moon Castle instead of your Majesty’s Moon… town-cottage… thingy…?”

“I found that I don’t need a castle to feel like – or be the princess of a kingdom.” Luna deadpanned with no malice, before averting her eyes sadly, “To answer your question, I was there to check on Celestia… I... still love her.”

Luna looked at Discord with a smile while tossing a pillow in his direction, “And then this silly spirit came to distract me.” Discord playfully threatened to toss it back, chuckling with Luna, before setting it down on his lap. Pinkie just observed the encounter before her tone dipped into a quiet one.

“You know, a lot of ponies – and other creatures – will probably be mad at you for waiting 10 months to tell them your story, Princess. They will be mad at Princess Celestia for banishing you for longer than you deserved.”

“I know.” Luna sighed, “But it has to be done. The band-aid must be ripped off eventually. Everycreature will forgive my sister just like they forgave me.”

“Forgive and forget, right?” Discord chimed in, winking at you, only to have Pinkie jump in front of him and blocking the view of him.

“Well, they got the forgetting part under the belt, eh?” She chuckled.

“The subjects dismissed Celestia’s corrupted order, they didn’t forget… What are you two doing, anyway?” Luna asked, clearly confused.

“Trying to break the fourth wall.” Discord glanced at his marefriend.

“What is happening?”

“Don’t worry, Lulu, just (snort) forget about it.” Discord started snickering with Pinkie Pie, “This story took itself serious for long enough anyway.”

“Stars help me…” Luna put a hoof to her forehead.

Suddenly, Luna’s eyes widened then relaxed, making the two goofy characters calm their laughter.

“Lulu, is everything ok?”

“Yes, Spirit, Cadence breached the force field surrounding the Night Kingdom. It works like a charm. We’ll have to go to see her – she’s probably curious about the progress we’ve been making.”

“With the cottage or your relationship?” Pinkie asked curiously.

“Yes.” The nobles said at the same time, before laughing to themselves and leaving the party pony confused. Those to made more sense as a couple the more she thought about it. She smiled despite her confusion and it brightened when Luna returned her gaze while walking up to her, dodging a piece of furniture on the way.

“Pinkie Pie, will you tell the others to meet me tomorrow morning at my Palace? You may tell them our story on the way there to allow them to ask me questions when you arrive.”

“Oh, good!” the pony sighed in relief, “I hate keeping secrets.”

“It’s settled then.” Discord said, finding himself at his princess’s side, “Lulu, are you ready to go?”

Luna nodded. Pinkie’s gut twisted upon Discord’s warning to Luna before teleporting. She knew then why Luna disliked surprise teleportations or flashing lights and it was heart-wrenching to come to the realization. Everypony exchanged their farewells.

Within a heartbeat, Pinkie Pie was back in her room, knowing that the nobles were probably at the new ‘kingdom’ in the south to meet up with Cadence. Someone must have teleported her.

The following day was going to be the start of a new adventure. The kingdom will be put to the test when presented with a grey spectrum of circumstances. Some will choose to see the dark and some will choose to see the light, but it didn’t matter whether black or white were more prominent, because in the end, it was all grey.

END

Previous: Chapter 27

Masterlist

Author’s note: This was quite a journey and I enjoyed writing this (despite it taking forever to write). I hope whoever read this was entertained enough - if not by the plot, then at least by the grammar errors XD - to get to this point.

I feel proud of myself for being able to say that I had the guts to post a silly idea of a story online. I also feel so happy that I completed a story for once!

Now, others wouldn’t have to bear the pain of having read an INCOMPLETE story if they stumble upon this one.

Please be strong and stay safe out there!

I’ll see you when I see you.

#fanfictions #mlp #black and white in grey #chaosmoon #luna #discord #discord x luna #antagonist celestia #angst #WARNING: mature themes #slow burn

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