#and deal some damage to a young sea serpent

[gricean-sphinx]

Seren’s Superior Stories

Kanatash the Lightning

Assailed by an ancient sea serpent and her army of sahuagin, we were in the thick of the storm! Just as their power threatened to overwhelm us, Kanatash planted himself firmly on the ground, the sky thundered, a ripple of energy swept through the ground and into him; h,is eyes glowed with a sharp blue light; for a moment he smoked and smelled faintly of ozone. Quick as a whip, he moved his arms though the air as if cutting though it, clapped his hands together pointing them toward the humongous viper, and released a crackling bolt of lightning! It sizzled and hissed and cut through the sahuagin in its path, before piercing sea serpent through the eye, forcing it to retreat as its minions lay slain and Kanatash the Lightning stood, victorious.

[poetlcs]

books I’ve read in 2020 (so far) + their ratings

non-fiction

crossing the line: australia’s secret history in the timor sea by kim mcgrath: important research into australia’s theft of oil in timor leste. didn’t rate

hood feminism: notes from the women that a movement forgot by mikki kendall: essay collection dissecting modern feminism, pointing out the exclusionary practices of mainstream feminism and offering new frameworks through which feminism should operate. really recommend. didn’t rate

the uninhabitable earth: life after warming by david wallace-wells: good introduction to environmentalism and the climate disaster. a little too introductory for me but good for those new to the topic. ★★★

homo deus: a brief history of tomorrow by yuval noah harari: it is simply not Sapiens nor as good as Sapiens. Looks at potentials for our future but, thought it was a little poorly researched. Some parts were still interesting though.  ★★★

SPQR: a history of ancient rome by mary beard: a little dense at times, but super interesting and detailed look at ancient rome. enjoyed it a lot. ★★★★

sister outsider by audre lorde: collection of audre lorde’s essays and speeches, about feminism, lesbianism, the queer community, being Black and a lesbian ect ect. outstanding, important collection anyone interested in intersectional feminism must read. ★★★★★

all boys aren’t blue by george m. johnson: memoir about johnson’s experiences growing up as a Black gay boy in a poor neighbourhood. Very poignant memoir, written in such accessible language which I liked. guarenteed to get you emotional, another one everyone should read. didn’t rate because it’s so highly personal that felt wrong but highly recommend. 

under a biliari tree i born by alice biari smith: memoir by an Aboriginal Australian detailing her life growing up learning traditional Aboriginal ways and how the lives of Indigenous Australian’s have been impacted through the years, specifically in Western Australia. Probably more aimed at school age people but still a 101 I think many Australian’s (and non Australian’s) can benefit from. didn’t rate 

classics

maurice by e.m forster: gay man coming of age story in college + themes around class and sexuality. forster’s end note saying he thought it imperative to write a happy ending because we need that in fiction, i love him. ★★★★★

emma by jane austen: read before seeing the movie. loved emma as a character but thought this was okay compared to other Austen I’ve read. ★★★½

perfume by patrick suskind: a man with an incredible sense of smell starts murdering young women to try and bottle their scent for a perfume. weirdest shit I ever read still don’t know how to feel about it. ★★★

the color purple by alice walker: follows the life of Celie, an Black woman living in rural Georgia. deals with her relationship with her sister Nettie, her lover Shug Avery, and with God. this tore my heart to shreds absolutely everyone must read it, like even just for the beautiful writing ALONE. ★★★★

a study in scarlet by arthur conan doyle: its sherlock holmes #1 no further explanation required. not my fave sherlock story, was the weird morman subplot needed? ★★½

dracula by bram stoker: yeah vampires!! this was way easier to read and also way funnier than I expected. we STAN gothic aesthetics and Miss Mina Harker here. ★★★★

fantasy

the diviners by libba bray: teens with magical powers/abilities solving mysteries in 1920′s new york. reread. ★★★★★

lair of dreams by libba bray: the diviners #2. reread. ★★★★½

before the devil breaks you by libba bray: the diviners #3. reread. best one in the series hands down.  ★★★★★

the king of crows by libba bray: waited so long for this series ender and it let me down lol. ★★★

clockwork princess by cassandra clare: the infernal devices #3. dont @ me this is my comfort reread series and I was travelling. ★★★★★

we unleash the merciless storm by tehlor kay mejia: we set the dark on fire #2. latinx inspired fantasy about overthrowing a corrupt government with an f/f romance. didn’t like as much as book one but still good, BEST girlfriends ever. ★★★½

wolfsong by t.j klune: basically feral gay werewolves and witches living in a town together. feels like a teen wolf episode but way more gayer. despite that hated the writing style and I don’t like age gap romances so yay the concept no the execution.  ★★

the fate of the tearling by erika johansan: the tearling #3. finally finished this series, dunno why everyone loathes the ending so much I thought it was cool. underrated fantasy because it’s very unique. ★★★★

girl, serpent, thorn by melissa bashardoust: persian inspired fantasy about a girl who is cursed by a div to kill anyone she touches. has an f/f romance. bashardoust writes the most aesthetically rich settings I love her. ★★★★

crier’s war by nina varela: reread. f/f enemies to lovers where the main character poses as a handmaiden in order to try and murder the princess whose father killed her family. PEAK gay content literally a modern classic. ★★★★★

we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal: I was so disinterested in this book I barely can describe the plot but basically it’s a prince and a hunter who are enemies but are forced to go looking for this magical artifact together anyway it was boring.  ★

ghosts of the shadow market by cassandra clare + others: short story collection set in the shadowhunter world. probably the strongest of her collections but they just don’t hit the same as her full length books. didn’t rate. 

a storm of swords: part two by george r.r martin: a song of ice and fire #3. I WILL finish reading these books eventually i swear !! probably the best one yet though. ★★★★

amarah by l.l mcneil: world of linaria #3. high fantasy with politics, dragons, warring races. tolkein/asoiaf vibes if they had more women with agency. didn’t rate because I haven’t decided my feelings on the end yet. 

science fiction

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: f/f enemies to lovers between spies on rival sides of a time war. good book but writing style wasn’t for me (others love this so eh take my opinion with a grain os salt:  ★★★

not your sidekick by c.b lee: main character is from a superhero family but has no powers herself, so she takes an internship working with a superhero corp. has an f/f romance with a villain character. so much fun and super cute

speculative fiction:

the deep by rivers solomon: speculative fiction wherein pregnant African women thrown overboard by slave ships gave birth to babies that became mermaids. main character holds all the memories of her people’s past but runs away after being unable to deal with the burden. about self discovery, intergenerational trauma and the burden of remembering. a little short imo but still all round excellent book ★★★★

how long ‘til black future month? by n.k jemisin: short story collection, many with an afro-futurism focus. hard to explain because there is such a wide variety of stories but this is an AMAZING collection. didn’t rate because I don’t like rating short story collections but wish more people would read it. 

mystery

the family upstairs by lisa jewell: woman inherits an english house and starts to unravel the secrets of a mass cult suicide that happened there years ago. loved it because it was wild. ★★★★★

the hand on the wall by maureen johnson: truly devious #3. boarding school mystery where the main character has to solve a murder that happened in the 1920s at her school while another mystery is happening in present time. my least favourite of the series but satisfying conclusion nonetheless. ★★★½

contemporary fiction

maybe in another life by taylor jenkins reid: dual timeline book showing the two outcomes of a decision the main character makes. cool concept but ultimately boring book because I didn’t care about the main character at all.  didn’t rate because I didn’t finish it. 

girl, woman, other by bernadine evaristo: vignette stories of various women whose lives are vaguely interconnected. incredibly well written with such vivid characters. deserves the hype. ★★★★

tin heart by shivan plozza: australian YA, the recipient of a heart transplant wishes to connect with the family of her donor, after she discovers the identity of her donor. good story but didn’t like the writing style. ★★★

a little life by hanya yanigahara: follows the life of a group of friends living in life, especially that of jude, a closed off and damaged man with a troubling past. a little too torture-porny/Tragic Gays but I cannot deny the author has a beautiful writing style and I went through all the emotions. didn’t rate

a girl like that by tanaz bhathena: explores the events leading up to the main character dying in a car crash. set in Jeddah, saudi arabia and explores expectations on women, feminism and expressions of sexuality and relationships between women during teenage years. kinda no good characters but I loved it for it’s messy depiction of teen girls (whilst not condemning them for this). underrated. ★★★★

little fires everywhere by celeste ng: drama in white american suburbs when a new family moves in and the neighbours start investigating their past. eh, I heard a lot about this and thought it was just okay. ★★★

stay gold by tobly mcsmith: trans boy decides to go stealth at his new school and falls for a cheerleader, georgia. about navigating being trans and definitely felt like it was written to educate cis people. it was okay but ultimately not my thing and not really the story I was looking for, even though I respect it being written by a trans author and still would recommend to certain people. ★★½

everything leads to you by nina lacour: main character and her best friend have to unravel a hollywood mystery, all while the main character is trying to get over her ex-girlfriend and find work as a set designer. f/f romance and loved the focus on movie making and the power of stories. ★★★½

the falling in love montage by ciara smyth: a girl meets another girl at a party, but she’s not looking to date due to the amount of family issues she has going on. so her and the girl decide to spend the summer having fun, renacting scenes from rom-coms, but never dating. awesome family dynamics and the relationship between the two girls was sweet also set in ireland which is fun. 

normal people by sally rooney: explores the relationship between connell and marianne, who meet in school, date secretly, and then are inexplicably drawn to each other for the rest of their lives. explores power dynamics, relationships, love and trust, and what we owe to eachother. great book, great mini-series, love it to bits. ★★★★★

the glass hotel by emily st john mandel: impossible to explain this book, but there’s a mystery about grafitti, a ponzi scheme and a character falling to their death on a boat under suspicious circumstances. honestly idk what happened in this book but I liked it. ★★★½

historical fiction

half of a yellow sun by chimamanda ngozi adichie: historical fiction about the biafran war loosely based on adichie’s family experiences. incredibly well written with an ending that punches you in the gut. ★★★★

hamnet by maggie o’farrell: explores the shakespeare family after the death of their child, Hamnet, from the plague, and how this leads to Shakespeare writing Hamlet. cool as fuck concept and boring as fuck book with such tropey female characters. ★★

all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr: WW2 fiction, dual perspective between a blind girl living in france and a german boy forced into nazi youth. I cannot believe this book is award winning it’s so boring and predictable and i reget the time i wasted on it. ★

poetry:

on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong: poetry memoir. vuong writes a letter to his illiterate mother, knowing she’ll never read it, exploring their relationship, his experiences growing up as second generation Vietnamese-American, and hers during the Vietnam War. My favorite book I’ve read so far this year, just too good to explain, genuinely just feel like everyone is better off for having read this. ★★★★★

currrently reading:

girls of storm and shadow by natasha ngan

meet me at the intersection: edited by rebecca lim & ambelin kwaymullina

stamped from the beginning: the definitive history of racist ideas in america by ibram x. kendi

get a life, chloe brown by talia hibbert

[lyricwritesprose]

My Good Omens Fic Masterpost For Those Stuck At Home

Pretty much what it says on the tin.  The only thing I can offer during this crisis is fic to take people’s minds off things, so here’s some fic to take people’s minds off things.  Please consider giving it a reblog and not just a like so that lots of people will see it.

The Thing About Apple Cottage

Easily my most popular story.  Features married Ineffable Husbands in a cottage near the sea and a child who finds refuge in their cottage.  Has transphobia, but also a happy ending. The Path From Fire To Snow

Read the fic that inspired this one first.  Crowley has a trauma dream, and Aziraphale helps.  This fic is part of the #ButterOmens project on Tumblr, meaning that it’s available for remixes, art, etc.  I particularly love the chain that this particular fic inspired.  Includes trauma angst, but is ultimately very hopeful and soft. Divinity

Mature and highly shippy Aziraphale/Crowley!  Aziraphale perceives love, including being able to taste the love of cooking that people put into his food.  Crowley perceives want.  Aziraphale has a clever idea.  Light angst, much fluff.  Also part of #ButterOmens, so if anyone wants to remix it, do art, or anything of that sort, feel free!  I have to admit, I would be very interested to know how an experienced NSFW writer would make of this general concept.

Going Fast

A night-at-Crowley’s-flat fic.  Features no sex and an arguably asexual Crowley, who isn’t opposed to sex and is deeply in love with Aziraphale, but isn’t sure exactly what attraction is or how it works.  Light angst, mostly fluff.

An Entirely Effable Game Of Aziraphale’s Devising

Fluffy drabble.  Aziraphale asks a question.  Crowley, for somewhat good reason, panics.

Disposable

The Disposable Demon comes to Aziraphale and Crowley while seeking a better life for themself.  Features a good deal of angst, mostly stemming from the Disposable Demon’s awful life, but ultimately a happy ending.  Also may count as xenofiction, since the Disposable Demon’s multi-body deal is really weird.

The Dove, the Serpent, and an Awful Lot of Water

One possible take on what Crowley got up to during the Flood.  Doesn’t really fit with my other historicals.  Less angst than you’d expect given the subject matter.

Series underneath the cut.

Charity Commission Fics

Not a formal series, because I want to avoid AO3′s rules about money for fic.  The money for these commissions went to various organizations that fight for the rights of children on the US border, mostly RAICES.

“Being Seen” Crowley plays with gender; Aziraphale struggles with ideas about remaining inconspicuous.  Contains some brief offscreen Islamophobia, with karmic or at least Crowley-ic comeuppance. “Book of Stairs” A Doctor Who crossover featuring Aziraphale and Charley Pollard.  I feel like the two universes don’t fit together at all, but the characters played off each other beautifully.

Tales of the Them Series

Basically a number of stories that document the Ineffable Husbands interacting with Adam and the Them (and also Newt, Anathema, and Adam’s parents).  Angst level: fairly low.  Everybody has some trauma from the Apocalypse, but they’re all dealing with it.  Might be continued at some point when I come up with a good story for Brian.  The stories are:

“Godfathers” in which Anathema talks Aziraphale and Crowley into talking to Adam “More Fun With Fire” in which Crowley trolls Newt “Sharing the Stars” in which Wensley gradually gets used to the supernatural in general and Crowley in particular.  Has a spin-off, “Hanging the Stars.” “Finding William” in which Adam’s parents find out—twice.  It’s the only fic in the fandom that I know of with this particular plot.  It’s also partially Adam’s narration and partially letters. “Ophidiophobia” Pepper has a phobia.  Considering the company she keeps these days, it’s a problem. “Tartan” Why does Aziraphale keep putting tartan on things?

Warlock Dowling’s Not Entirely Normal Life

So far, only two stories, both of them about Warlock and the Ineffable Husbands.  I am actively looking for ideas for more stories in this series.  Fluff level: high.

“Happy Belated Birthday” in which Crowley has a nightmare about Warlock “What’s in a Name” Warlock joins some boys in a half-drunken attempted demon summoning, and (naturally) gets Crowley.

Myth-taken

Various outsiders encounter Aziraphale and/or Crowley and mistake them for various beings from myth, legend, literature and pop culture.  Many feature some pretty heavy topics, such as Islamophobia, homophobia, and even suicide.  There’s not a single unhappy ending in the bunch, however.  Continued whenever I think of a new myth to riff on, or a new take on something I’ve done before.

“Lair of the Elder Gay” A very queer Dungeons and Dragons group try to make sense of Mr. Fell.  Contains an Islamophobic attack, shut down quickly. “On Gender And Snakes” A Tumblr post about a young person trying to figure out an odd encounter at the opera.  Features that same young person trying to work through gender things.  They are not out of the closet to their parents. “The Phantom of the Motorways” An old police officer briefs a rookie on an infuriating and untouchable black car.  Pure humor. “Strength” A boy went to Pride, and his homophobic father followed him there.  Violence is going to ensue, and a fussy old-fashioned gay man surely can’t help with that . . . can he?  Includes some pretty heavy subjects like homophobia, and also trauma to a hand. “Soul of Soho” A young bi man has a supernatural encounter while trying to save the life of his boyfriend.  Full of lots of heavy themes, including suicide, but ultimately has a happy ending.

Scatterings of History

Unfinished series that will be available both in chronological order and publication order.  Various historical stories featuring Aziraphale and Crowley.  The tone varies greatly.  Will definitely be continued, since this series is meant to be more of a story arc than some of my others.

“Blades and Healing” Aziraphale saves Crowley in ancient Sumer, and has a crisis.  Angsty as anything.  Contains war flashbacks and violence. ”The Man In The Moon Came Tumbling Down” Camelot fic, with a discussion between Aziraphale and Merlin.  Only light angst by itself, but some callbacks to “Blades and Healing.” “A Maiden, a Dragon, and a Unicorn, Roughly Speaking” A maiden is sacrificed to a dragon, and rescued by a unicorn—only the maiden mostly isn’t, the dragon is a very tired snake who doesn’t want to eat anyone, and the unicorn is a certain angel’s way of remaining anonymous.  Very lighthearted. “Not All Right” Aziraphale shares his war trauma with a traumatized soldier during World War One.  Angsty.

Damaged

Stories that focus on Aziraphale’s trauma (although the second one has a lot about how Anathema’s life was messed up as well).  Angsty, with some heavy themes of fear, but still contains some humor.  Both happy or at least hopeful endings.  May be continued if I think of more stories that fit.

“Damaged” Madame Tracy tries to help Aziraphale, but has to get past the fact that he really wants her to go away, and he’s willing to weaponize the uncanny valley to make it happen. ”Hospitality” Anathema really shouldn’t use second sight on Aziraphale and Crowley.

[thedarkestdragonknight]

Fatherhood, His New Chapter

Content Warning: This story contains mentions of Graphic Violence, Character Death, Gore, Blood and other sensitive material. Please keep yourself safe and read at your discretion <3

I finally managed to sit myself down and will myself to write more. This story is a slight continuation from “Blood on the Steppe” so the content in this, while not as heavily detailed, is still going to be for mature audiences. This also explores more into what I had in mind with the previous story and details it slightly more here. Again, it’s a mix of poachers hunting certain animals for their body parts for use in folklore medicinal things with a bit of Hannibal Lector in there (Without the Cannibalism to an extent) so this should give an idea of what to expect from this story as well as the previous one.

I will say I am not 100% sure if I want to make this canon or just simply an AU for Jacques now. I’ve been having a lot of anxiety and emotional problems with it for some reason and I’m debating on what to do. Either way, Jac stepping up and being the big daddy that he always could be here. Even if there isn’t too much interaction between him and the babu yet... that’ll come if I do another ‘chapter’ to this series.

The sun was slowly starting to disappear behind the cliffs in the distance... just past the Dawn Throne. Jacques had made his way up to the cliff that he had been traveling to before he came upon the... gruesome scene that lead him to the child who was sleeping curled up in his lap. The man was simply watching the lingering light as he was trying to figure out just what he should do now... he didn't know what to do in a situation like this so his mind was going in several directions trying to just... find one solution to the situation. What to do... what was the best course in this case... Carefully the Au Ra brought his hand down to rest on the young boys back, feeling as the child twitched in his sleep before he curled up more. The boy was pressing against Jacques' stomach and those small hands were clutching at the Au Ra's tunic shirt... clinging to it and not wanting to let go at all. Gently Jacques rubbed at the boys back in a comforting manner, wanting to reassure the child that he was still there and that the boy was safe with him. Especially since the poor thing likely had to see his family getting slaughtered...

His thoughts lingered on that... Jacques had come across the boys father and what he would assume was older brother, but there had been no signs of the boys mother. And that had him concerned, where as she? Or had she been killed along with the others? If she was killed was it at the same time or had she been killed well before this event? The mans attention slowly drifted to the side of the cliff, towards the cavern that lead into Yanxia... he'd seen the blood leading from there. There was a slight grimace as Jacques thought about what could have happened, the many outcomes and of course... those what ifs. His mind lingered more, he was concerned that he could have saved the boys mother if she had been alive. But if he saved her then the boy likely would have been lost. And then there was just the thought that she was likely gone because of the... 'hunters' partner having taken what was needed. Those thoughts made the Au Ra grit his teeth ever so slightly... grinding them together as he closed his eyes. These 'hunters' had targeted the boys family for very specific reasons... their scales, tails and potentially their horns as well. When he had set out to give the two a proper burial he'd taken note of how their scales had been carved off their bodies and the father's tail had been cut clean off with the scales of his back. The only other damages done were the killing blows which was done with a blunt weapon to no doubt avoid damaging the scales too much and to potentially avoid damaging the horns. Of course, his mind was wondering just why these bastards would do such a thing but... he'd heard some stories before and even read up on certain things in a few books. Some people had certain traditions that would use the body parts of various animals in the world because of folk tales that spoke of medicinal properties to them. One such thing was with the Mammoths of the step and their tusks... of course, Mammoths were far more abundant and weren't... well people. A thought came to mind however because of how his scales were often shed and how most reptiles would shed their skin as they grew. Jacques shifted only slightly so he wouldn't disturb the sleeping babe and he reached over to grab a leatherbound journal. The hunters journal. Looking down to the child in his lap he watched as the boy was suckling on his thumb in his sleep... noting how the boy had wrapped his tail around his leg and just how he was curled up. Slowly the man drew his hand away so that he could look over the pages of the journal... would he find the answers to this... bastards ways. Would he find out why the family had died for... well no reason in his mind. Perhaps he would... As Jacques flipped through the pages he would see sketched out pictures, Au Ra specifically... each section detailing the anatomy and specifically pointing out the scales and horns. Other areas would point out information about various reptiles of the world... such as the serpents found in the Ruby Sea or the small Frilled Dragon that most would keep as a pet. It detailed about how these reptiles would shed their skin and there was mentions about how reptiles shed their skin several times if they had a severe wound to get rid of the scar tissue and to mend the area. Flipping through a couple other pages Jacques paused as he came to one page that brought attention to the scales of the Au Ra and he was looking it over. A low snort coming out of him as he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly... so that was it then. These... hunters believed that the scales of the Au Ra could lead to regenerative properties... and could even lead to the regrowth of limbs. Grazing a clawed nail along the page he was taking it all in... "A non-lethal blow to the head..." he muttered out before gritting his teeth ever so slightly, so if the boys family hadn't been killed then they would have just been left to die anyway. The thought being that just taking the horns and scales wouldn't harm them and that those regenerative properties would mean that the things taken would simply grow back. Movement caught his attention as he looked down to the boy who had shifted and was sniffling a bit as he was starting to wake. Jacques closed the journal and set it aside before he shifted again and brought his hand down to rub at the boys back as he was stirring more. The child rubbing at his eyes as he whimpered out softly... "It's okay..." a soothing voice as Jacques continued to stroke the boys back before he drew his hand away to allow the child to sit up, of course... once the boy was up he was clutching onto the massive Au Ra and clinging to him again with such a fierce need to not let go. He couldn't blame the boy... especially after what he saw and knowing well what could have been after he'd read through the pages of the journal. Part of him wanted to bring this to the attention of the Tribes of the Steppe but... he had the boy to care for now as well. Sure, he could take the child along with him but he didn't want to scare the poor kid by showing him the various tribes of the Steppe. Of course, the Mol and the Qestir weren't the ones he was truly worried about... and his attention carefully turned to the Dawn Throne as he thought about it. Magnai had learned his lesson when he'd challenged him the one time... but his concerns were with Daidukul and the Buduga. Then again... the boy was of the Raen so perhaps he didn't have too much to worry about. But he didn't want to risk it... nor did he want to deal with the... 'problematic children' of the Steppe, which is how he saw both Sadu and Magnai. Jacques shifted his attention towards Reunion however... he'd want to pick up some supplies before heading back to Limsa and he could leave the word there. Every clan would come through Reunion at one point or another and then word could easily spread throughout the Steppe... which, while likely not the fastest of means to get the information out there, meant that he wouldn't have to worry too much about the child and potentially scaring the boy further. Jacques carefully shifted enough so that he could stand up, bringing an arm down and under the boys legs to prop him up so he could hug onto him easier and wrap his arms around his neck so that he wouldn't have to worry about falling "How about we go and get you something to eat hm?" a warm smile formed over his features as he looked at the boy. He could still hear him sniffling... but the boy was carefully rubbing at his teary eyes before he looked up at the man and gave the slightest hint of a nod... now was the big task of trying to figure out what the boy wanted to eat, or would eat... Milk and such would likely be the go to for drinks... but what about food? Well... he could ask those of the Qestir what they might suggest for it as well as those who were there in Reunion. When you didn't know what to do it was always better to ask for guidance after all... and he never had to deal with children before until now "Yukiko, let's go." once he called the large snowy wolf was rushing over from where she had been resting. Tails wagging happily before she came around to sniff at the boy who was burying his face against Jacques again. Not because he was scared but rather because he was trying to avoid getting his face licked... Thankfully the boy had been able to get acquainted with the 'Fenrir' pup as she was who carried them up to the cliffside and had actually stayed curled up next to them while Jacques was checking the child over. Yukiko had also been doing her best to take care of the boy because he was a 'puppy' that needed a 'mama' so to speak and those paternal instincts were on overdrive now. At least she was being gentle and understanding, especially since the poor kids reaction at first was fear obviously. Reaching out with his free hand Jacques gave the large wolf a scratch behind the ear before he was pulling himself up onto Yukiko's back. Settling in and making sure that his little bean wasn't going to fall off in the process, he was growing... attached to the kid. And now he was hoping that he could give the boy a home... especially since it was more than likely that the boy had no family left. Which those thoughts got a sad frown to cross his features before Jacques gave the wolf a gentle pet "Go on girl, let's head to Reunion..."

[paladin-andric]

Moments in History: Guardian Angels

A fisherman out at sea comes face to face with death as his ship capsizes, and just as everything seems to have gotten worse, a surprise awaits him...

Victor clutched onto the strip of wood as tightly as he could. The man was shaking like a leaf as the storm rocked his minuscule boat, the tiny vessel not suited to weather anything but a short trip from the coast.

Curse his arrogance. Curse his foolishness. “What’s the big deal? I won’t be far out for too long,” he had said, “So what if it’s going to rain? No big deal, the fish will still bite,” he had said.

God damn it, if he had the chance he’d have gone back in time and beat some sense into his past self. Well, that wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t have the chance to do anything anymore.

The rain poured down in buckets as the boat violently rocked from side to side, the ship nearly capsizing each time. Victor didn’t even have a bucket to dump out the water with. He hadn’t even thought to grab one on the way out.

Finally, with cracks in the hull growing, water up to his chest, and the howling winds intensifying, Victor could only let out a short scream as he was thrown from his boat, crashing into the waves below.

For a few moments, there was nothing but darkness. Victor tried to swim upward, but even as he felt himself surface, the terrifyingly powerful waves pushed him back under.

It went like this for several minutes, with the fisherman occasionally surfacing for a deep breath, only for the mighty currents to crash into him once more. He could do little more than pray something changed. He cried out for someone, God, ANYONE, to help.

His prayers did nothing, it seemed.

After enough time, he couldn’t keep it up. His body burned with exhaustion, his limbs refused to work. Despite his best efforts, he could feel himself sinking lower and lower, down into the black abyss of the ocean.

This was it. He was going to die, drowned at sea, and there was nothing he could do.

Suddenly, a loud noise directly in front of him made the man open his eyes.

As his vision adjusted even as his lungs burned, he could make out a face. Long, dark blue, reptilian in nature, with draconic eyes and a huge mouth with massive, razor sharp teeth.

A sea dragon was staring back at him, grinning.

Whatever reserves of oxygen that were in Victor’s lungs were lost as he screamed uncontrollably, thrashing in terror. Not only was he going to die, he was going to be eaten, too!

The serpent looked perplexed by his reaction, though Victor hardly got a chance to tell, for his vision faded soon after.

...

The sea dragon let out a series of grunts, growls and warbles. Though he didn’t actually speak, his brother could understand him completely.

“He is...unconscious.”

“Eheheheh! Did you see the look on his face? How humorous!”

Another sea dragon drifted behind him. His little brother. The young dragon constantly butted heads with his brother, but they always forgave one another in the end.

Astril, the older dragon, gently wrapped a hand around the sinking human.

“Today just is not your day, is it? Let me lend a hand...“

“Oooooh, you going to eat him?”

“Vendril!” Astril cried, “No! His life is in danger! We must help!”

Vendril pouted. “Aww, where is the fun in that?”

The older brother surfaced, taking the human out of the water and raising him into the air.

“Hmm...what to do...”

“I have a few ideas.”

“Quiet, you,” Astril growled tersly, “We are not eating him.”

“You’re no fun...”

Astril looked at his brother with a twinge of anger. “Life is not a game! What is wrong with you?! Are these the lessons mother and father left you with?!”

The young dragon grinned. “Yes! Mother and father said the two-leggers aren’t important! This is our domain, and we can do anything we want. It’s not our fault if they fall into our maws...”

Astril frowned. “That is not my way...they never spoke so cruelly about the small ones to me...what has changed in them? They never loved these...humans...but they never told me I should attack them! Brother, please...show them a little compassion.”

Vendril looked confused. “But why?” The dragon rolled over, now reclining against the waves on his back.

“Because it is the right thing to do!“ Astril cried, “The sea offers us all we could ever need...there is no need to take even more! Are you even hungry?!”

His little brother looked conflicted. “N-no, but...”

“Eating a fish is a world of difference from eating a person...it isn’t right! They are people, just as we are! They merely come from another land...”

There was a long silence between the two brothers, Vendril looking ashamed while Astril glared at the younger sea dragon.

Suddenly, loud coughing and gasping made them both look back. The human was conscious once more, writhing in the sea dragon’s massive, clawed hand.

Astril suddenly grew excited, shouting, “Oh, look, look! He is coming to!”  His brother frowned.

“That he is...”

After some time retching and recovering, the man looked up at the sea dragon, eyes wild.

“Don’t worry,” Astril chirped soothingly, “We are here to help!”

This didn’t seem to comfort the human, who shivered in the beast’s claws, silent.

“Curses!” the sea dragon muttered, “If only you could understand me...oh well, it’s not like there’s anywhere for you to run off to, anyway.”

The fear-stricken human suddenly began screaming as the sea dragon slowly raised him towards his face, fearing being devoured...and ceased as the beast continued raising him, gently placing the man on the top of his head.

“Hold on to something!” Astril cried cheerfully. The man didn’t need to be told, quickly wrapping his arms around one of the dragon’s horns as he began sliding off of the beast’s wet, slick hide.

Vendril gave his brother a confused look. “Why are you bothering speaking to him? He does not understand us.”

“Well,” Astril said thoughtfully, “Perhaps he understands my tone, and that should give him a vague approximation of what I am thinking.”

“If you say so...”

Astril slowly raised an arm back up to the man, gently grabbing the human’s arm and holding it up.

“Where to, friend?”

The man said nothing, putting his arm back down as the dragon let go. Astril grumbled a bit in annoyance, quickly grabbing the human’s arm and raising it up again.

“Perhaps you need a bit more direction...” The dragon slowly, cautiously, gently raised a claw and, with surgical precision, extended the man’s index finger so that he was pointing forward. After a pause, Astril swam forward, then stopped. He moved the man’s arm to the left, and then turned to his left and swam a bit. He did the same again, pointing the human’s finger far to the right and veering in that direction. He came to a stop, bringing the man’s arm forward once again.

“Now...tell. Me. Which. Direction...to go!”

The man looked down at the beast, bewildered. For the first time since they had met, he spoke. “Are...are you...asking which way is home?”

“Noooo,” Vendril interrupted in a mocking tone, “We’re just doing this for fun. Idiot.”

“Brother!” Astril cried indignantly, “There is quite the language barrier! I’m impressed he got the gist at all.”

“Whaaatever...” the young sea dragon returned, still laying on his back and gently kicking the water with his hind legs.

The man pointed to the north. “That way...I came from the coast of Geralthin!”

Astril grinned. “Aha! Excellent! Do not worry, good man, under our watch you shall return safely!”

The dragon began moving forward, only to freeze as the man cried out.

“Wait!”

Astril looked up at the man, confused. “Hmm?” The human paused, seeming conflicted.

“...my...my boat.”

The sea dragon’s eyes lit up. “Aaaaah, I get it! You want us to save your boat, too! I shouldn’t dive down looking for it with you on me, it must have sank quite far by now...but...there is someone else who could help...”

Astril slowly turned his head to face his brother. Vendril’s eyes shot open wide. “What, me?! No way! It’s already ruined!”

“Brother...that boat just might be this man’s livelihood. Come on, it would be easy for you!”

“B-but it’s already wrecked...I don’t understand...”

Astril smirked. “Humans aren’t like us, brother. They’re all about salvaging and reusing...something that YOU could learn a thing or two about! Now, come on...look at the sorry state of this man...”

The dragon gestured toward the soaking wet man, shivering and in torn up linens. “...look at his face. Isn’t it worth just an ounce of effort to save him?”

Vendril looked like he was about to argue...but instead frowned and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fiiiiine...you owe me though...the things I do for you!”

The young dragon dove down into the water, vanishing under the waves. Astril wasn’t in the least bit concerned. They had spent their whole lives in the ocean, this little storm was nothing to sea dragons. The man seemed anxious however, glancing over the dragon’s muzzle to look into the tumultuous waters.

After a few moments, Vendril surfaced, holding up a small, heavily damaged boat.

“This pathetic thing?” the dragon asked, incredulous.

The man gasped. “You...you can understand me?”

Astril sighed. “Indeed...if only the opposite were true as well.” After a short pause, the dragon perked up. “Well! Looks like everything’s sorted. Time to go home!”

Astril moved forward, swimming at a leisurely speed. While he could have sped up considerably, he didn’t want to accidentally send the man flying off into the sea again...he doubted the man could keep himself afloat, as pained and exhausted as he was.

As they continued moving forward, the man looked down.

“I...thank you. I thought I was dead when I saw you...I don’t think I could ever repay you...”

“Oh, it’s nothing!” Astril said bashfully.

“Repay us by luring some tasty humans down to the beach!” Vendril shouted, carefully pushing the damaged boat along the water’s surface.

“Brother!” Astril stopped and turned to face Vendril, eyes narrowed. “How dare you, after everything I said!”

The younger dragon looked genuinely surprised, freezing like a deer under his elder’s gaze. After a brief pause, the brother averted his eyes to the water, looking guilty.

“...I’m sorry...I was only joking...I didn’t mean it.”

The sea dragon looked up in surprise as his brother gently pressed his head against his own. With his head bent down in such a way, the human was now straddling his big brother’s horn like one would a horse. Vendril would have laughed, if it weren’t for the display of affection his brother was offering him.

“I’m only hard on you in this way because...I know you are a good person, brother. I just want you to understand that other people matter, even if they’re different from you. Please forgive my harshness, but I just wish for you to be the best version of yourself you can be. Please find it in your heart to forgive me...and to show kindness to the smaller ones...is that alright? You know I love you, don’t you?”

Vendril could feel tears in eyes as he strained to answer. “Oh, brother...I understand. I’ve been childish...I know, you’re right. I love you too. I’ll try harder to learn, I promise.”

“Are you two...lovers?”

Both sea dragons froze at the man’s words, Vendril wrinkling his face in disgust. “Oh, gross!”

Astril began laughing, the human shifting his position as the dragon no longer leaned down. “Talk about ruining a moment! The timing! The delivery! All combined into one of the most inappropriate comments I’ve ever heard!”

Vendril rolled his eyes and faked a retch. “Ugh! Let’s just get this over with!”

“Right, right...” Astril began swimming forward again, leaving the human quiet and confused as to what had just happened.

The younger dragon looked over the boat he was pushing along, appraising the battered vessel with interest.

“It’s no bigger than a rowboat, really...why did he care so much about this? Surly he could make another.”

“It’s probably all he has, brother!” Astril chimed in, “Imagine how much time he’d lose from building a new one from scratch! He could have a family to feed! Even just himself! The sooner he’s ready to head back out to fish, the less time for him to go hungry.”

Astril expected a mocking response from his brother, but the younger dragon simply nodded his head. “Hmm...I see...” Astril was heartened by this somewhat. It gave him hope that their parents’ advice hadn’t left such a strong impact after all.

Finally, the sea dragon could see the coast on the horizon. A beach was off in the distance, empty and desolate.

“Oh, oh, look! There’s the coast! We’re nearly there! See, human? I told you I would bring you home!”

The human’s grip on the dragon’s horn tightened. “I’m...I’m going to make it...oh, God, I can’t believe it.”

Astril had a big grin on his face as he continued toward the coast, feeling a portion of the human’s elation.

Finally, the trio made it to the shore, both dragons slowly lumbering onto the beach. Their limbs were not designed for land-faring, but since they only needed to move onto the beach their mobility wasn’t important.

“Well...here we are!” Astril announced excitedly, watching as the man slid off of his head and onto the sands below. The man was shaking, likely from the cold, though there was little doubt the trials he had just undergone had left some adrenaline pumping through him.

“Oh God...land...”

Vendril casually put the tiny boat onto the beach, looking over at the other two. “Well...that does it.”

The human looked into Astril’s eyes, silent. Finally, he shook his head. “I...I can never thank you enough...you saved my life...my boat...everything...I have nothing to offer, but...” the man looked at the beast hopefully.

“...do you think I’ll ever...see you again?”

The sea dragon looked up thoughtfully. “Hmm...I suppose I can come around here every now and then...sure! There’s plenty to eat here...with good company to boot!”

Astril pointed at himself, and then down onto the beach. “I’ll visit this place! You can greet me if I’m here!”

The human nodded in understanding, having gotten better at reading the beast. “You’ll be here? I come down here to shove off and fish...how wonderful! We’ll see eachother a lot! That’s great! I don’t know if I can offer you anything...but having a friend out here in these lonely waters is something to treasure!”

Astrid nodded. “Right! It’ll be great!” He looked over to his side. Vendril was standing at the water’s edge, looking back impatiently. “Well, brother is getting bored, so...it’s time to take my leave! Until next time!”

The two dragons lumbered back into the water, taking off with shocking speed as soon as they were submerged. The man watched them go for a moment before turning and stumbling home, in a daze as exhaustion overwhelmed him.

Vendril looked over to Astril. “Brother?”

The older dragon looked over his shoulder. “Yes?”

The young sea dragon was quiet for a moment. “...that felt...kind of...” He struggled to find the word.

“...nice.”

Astrid smiled warmly at his brother. “See? What did I tell you? I’ve always known you were a brilliant person, you just...needed the excellence teased out of you, is all.”

Vendril returned the smile. “You’re...a good brother. Thank you.”

“Any time.”

...

Victor groaned as he woke up, slowly forcing himself out of bed. The sun was up, and light was bleeding in from the windows. He had to get up, who knows how long he had overslept!

What a bizarre dream that was! Sea dragons saving his life from a storm...how preposterous!

Victor felt hot all over and awful to boot, he must have had a fever dream from catching a cold or something...how irresponsible for him to head out fishing without warm clothes!

Oh well, he could probably get an hour or two of fishing in, at least. Enough for a short dinner before heading back to bed to recover.

Victor looked into his dresser. He found some waders and threw them on, eager to get today’s short fishing trip done with. The fever was terrible, he’d need plenty of sleep if he wanted to recover anytime soon.

As the man left his shack and headed to the beach, he froze.

His boat was gone.

He had left it at the beach?!

It can’t be...

Hurrying down to the beach, Victor’s eyes shot open as he pushed his way through the shrubbery and onto the beach proper.

On the sands before the sea, there were two things that confirmed his suspicions.

The first, was his boat. It was horribly damaged, and carelessly tossed onto the sand.

The second, was a large, familiar figure. The one from his...

...no, that’s wrong. It clearly wasn’t a dream. This proved it.

The sea dragon spotted the man, perking up and smiling as he recognized him.

Victor, recovering from the shock, slowly smiled. “H-hey, pal...”

The beast let out a small rumble. “Heya!”

Well, this is the last story for a little bit! I’ll be away for a while on vacation, so I hope you enjoy this! A bit of a farewell gift, I guess! I’ll be back in about a week. Figured since I’m headed to the beachside, a beachside tale would be a good story to hammer out!

Tag list: @thereisnothingwrongwithbeingmad, @lady-redshield-writes, @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword, @sheralynnramsey, @the-true-shadowmaster, @tawnywrites, @writer-on-time, @oceanwriter, @zwergis-spilledink, @fluffpiggy, @elliewritesfantasy, @homesteadhorner, @laurenwastestimewriting

[myth-lord]

Meet the Dragons of Mythika.

Meet the Dragons of Mythika.

In these upcoming weeks I’m going to post all the main-groups of creatures from Mythika in the group they belong to, with all the information about them I have made up so far.   NOTE that this about the creatures in Mythika and they change a lot with the real mythology, mostly their appearance is the same, but the abilities and behavior is changed. I keep saying this to avoid complications.

Group five are the powerful Dragons, together with the Deities and Titans the oldest inhabitants of Mythika. Dragons are ancient beings, mostly wise and large and very magical and powerful at the same time. Though Dragons come in all sizes imaginable from the enormous Zirnitra to the very tiny Pyrausta. Most dragons have a form of breath-weapon that sets them apart from the other dragons, but there are also lesser dragons (known as drakes) that lack a breath attack, Basilisks are an example for this.

Most other creatures avoid dragons as they fear them, others hunt dragon eggs, and Ichneumon even feed primarily on dragon eggs and hearts, so dragons of all species fear them.

Aitvaras (Lithuanian) – Dragon / Shifter - Magical dragons bred from the eggs of ordinary chickens, Aitvaras appear as monstrous black roosters with burning tails indoors and as cockatrice-like abominations outdoors. - An Aitvaras appearance and size is always adopted to the environment it is currently in, falling in a river will grant this strange drake fins for swimming for example. - These enigmatic dragons can control the luck of other creatures, giving it an amount of good fortune or making a creatures life miserable with despair and ill omen. - When creatures meet the gaze of an Aitvaras, there is a chance the victim will be engulfed in cursed flames. - Being bitten by these creatures will curse the victim, it now takes more damage from heat and fire based damage and magic. - Aitvaras often serve powerful Hags (like Baba Yaga) as pets and familiars, Hags enjoy the Aitvaras cruel nature.

Amhuluk (Native American) – Dragon / Shifter - Very magical dragons which look like Asian Dragons or Sea Serpents with four small limbs sticking out of their snake-like bodies, two large antler-like horns grow from their dragon heads and their beautiful scales change color faster than the eye can blink, but always ranging between, gold, black red and green. - Amhuluk corrupt the lakes in which they settle, turning the waters into an mutant goo which looks like ordinary liquid, but which mutates any creature that drinks from it or which baths into it. - Creatures turned into new mutant forms will always serve the Amhuluk as it is their master, their entire memory is wiped from their brains. - The Amhuluk’s breath-weapon is a multi-colored mist which creates horrid mutations into everything it touches, even plants are not safe from this effect. - Plants around the lake of the Amhuluk have bizarre forms and colors, this mutant landscape is often the first sign you are dealing with an Amhuluk. - Many creatures and chimerae, such as the Ahuizotl, are believed to be the creations of the Amhuluk, but this hasn’t been proven. - All types of chimerae are immune to the effects of the Amhuluk, this adds to the belief they are actually it’s creations. - Non aquatic creatures that are changed by the lakes mutating magic will roam the river’s edge and protect the Amhuluk like a pack of wild dogs, they will often change victims into the lake, so more guards/slaves are created. - While their own bodies are immune to the morphing effects of their waters, they can still shift their own bodies in horrid ways, growing random horns, spikes and other bizarre features on their bodies as they please.

Asdeev (Persian) – Dragon / Shifter - Beautiful but vile dragons with a pure white pelt of fur mixed with reptilian scales that almost look like diamonds, it has a long mane of pearly hair on its head, growing all the way to the tip of their tails, mist follows them around at all times. - All Asdeev are female and they breed with the black dragons known as Zirnitra to produce offspring, they always lay two eggs, one black and one white. - Asdeev are dragons of mist, cold and crystals, their breath-weapon will release a thick mist of utter cold upon its victims and enemies. - These mysterious dragons often stalk their prey for days before they finally kill them, they can stalk prey in the form of pure mist. - For dragon standards the Asdeev is a pretty whimsy creature, they are slow to attack without knowing the weakness of their victims first. - They are hard to hit with melee weapons as they can turn their bodies into mist, even parts of their bodies which are targeted with the weapon. - Asdeev love mountain caves and are mostly found on snowy mountain tops in the deepest caves, surrounded by all types of crystals which they crave. - When killed the Asdeev will first turn into a statue of pure icy crystal, then it will explode into a nova of sharp crystals which pierce everyone that didn’t find cover. - Young Asdeev are known as Fog Drakes, they look like white, hairy wyverns and they use their mist abilities to hunt, covering parties or caravans in a thick layer of mist and attacking them one by one in assaults from cover.

Basilisk (M-European) – Dragon / Reptilian - A weaker variant of wingless drake, these six legged monstrous reptilians can appear in any type of environment, from high mountains to arid deserts and swamps. - It’s gaze is lethal to most other living creatures, it contains a powerful poison which saps the strength and will of a victim, their fangs and claws are coated with the same poison. - Because of their six magical legs the basilisk can easily climb through any type of environment, for some reason they can even walk over water without sinking in it, skinning a Basilisk and using their skin in the creation of special shoes will create Water-Walking shoes which are sold for high prizes on the Black Market. - Basilisks are the most common prey of the dragon-killing Ichneumon, which are also immune to their poison, Basilisk seldom flee, but in these encounters they mostly seek shelter on water where the Ichneumon cannot follow. - Basilisks can grow to the size of a horse, but the biggest varieties are hunted and trained by Vish Kanya, which prize the creatures for their strength and poison.

Xhumpedzkin (Mayan) – Dragon / Reptilian - A variant of the Basilisk, the Xhumpedzkin is a giant six-legged Gila Monster, with purple/pink and black banded stripes. - Unlike the Basilisk, which can live anywhere, the Xhumpedzkin only inhabits deep jungles and underground caves. - The gaze, claws, aura and fangs of these creatures possess a dangerous psychic toxic which causes extreme headaches and migraine attacks, some of which are deadly. - They also have a stinger on the end of their tails, they can sting a creatures shadow with it, the headache that follows is so severe than the creature can lose its sanity for a few hours. - Their name means “brief time” and that is all you get when you encounter such a horror. - These oversized reptilians feed on psychic stress, which they mostly find in the brains of their victims, first turning the prey crazy with headaches and then feeding on their brains is their preferred tactic. - Xhumpedzkin are one of the rare psychic creatures in Mythika.

Whowie (Australian) – Dragon / Reptilian - A very large variety of Basilisk, looking somewhat like a six legged mixture of Frilled Lizard and Monitor Lizard, these creatures mostly appear in deep caves and desert landscapes. - The fangs, claws and gaze of these creatures induce a deep fear into the minds of their victims, everything that gazes into their big eyes will be overwhelmed by primal fear. - Whowie use their large frills located around their necks, to add to their already powerful fear abilities, they mostly use it against group of attackers or bigger creatures that want to turn the Whowie into their food. - Desert dwelling Intulo sometimes befriend Whowie and ride them into battle, but some Whowie view Intulo as any other humanoid prey.

Codrille (French) – Dragon - Probably one of the more feared dragon species in Mythika, these diseased horrors spread plague and illness wherever they go. - These look like sickly colored green dragons with big crests underneath their throat, many creatures confuse them with undead dragons, as they look as if they died on some horrid dragon disease. - Their breath weapon is a cloud of flies which will carry diseases of all types with them, inflicting it on everyone within reach, the flies die within a few minutes after being released though. - Young Codrilles are known as Blight Drakes, they look like winged Basilisks, the diseases they spread are weaker, but still fatal. - Codrille are among the favorite pets of the Horseman of Pestilence, and he is probably responsible for their vile creation. - The Horseman of Pestilence rides the most ancient and powerful Codrille into battle, this Codrille is known as Taniniver. - These dragons only feed on diseases flesh, letting it rot in horrid pits or caves filled with decay and death.

Azi Sruvara (Persian) – Dragon - A more powerful variant of the Codrille, instead of diseases these yellow, horned dragons spread the most potent of venom known to the world of Mythika. - Their drool, blood and corpse will spawn all types of venomous snakes and even Seps into the area. - All types of venomous creatures will follow a Sruvara as its aura makes their own venom more potent. - Even Undead, Spirits, Elementals and Vish Kanya aren’t immune to the venom/poison of these Yellow Dragons, and it is so potent that it creates rust on metal and other constructs. - Azi Sruvara are the most poisonous and venomous creatures in the history of Mythika, nothing can beat their venom. - These creatures are found everywhere, but mostly live in Deserts, some deserts were even created by their own venom and powers. - Azi Sruvara love to poison rivers and lakes, and nothing else can amuse them more than seeing a creature die by the effect of poison. - Its breath-weapon is a cone of yellowish gas which kills everything that comes in contact with it, it turns most metal to rust instantly, Sruvara rarely use their breath weapons though, they are confident enough to think they don’t need such a weapon to beat their prey.

Haietlik (Native American) – Dragon / Sea Serpent - An evil sea serpent with a very typical spear-like head, its blue and black scales crackle with electric sparks and lightning. - These very aggressive sea serpents can grow to enormous lengths, but most of them die younger because they challenge every creature they come across. - Their heads are a bony growth shaped in the form of the tip of a spear, when they attack their enemies they turn themselves into living spears covered by lightning, shocking and piercing their prey at the same time. - They can breathe lightning at their enemies, but rarely choose to do so, as they are more into melee combat, they only use this weapon if the combat goes against them. - Haietlik are proud creatures and never flee combat, they rather die in combat that being known as a coward or weakling. - These cruel serpents enjoy catching large flying creatures by piercing them from below, they can make enormous leaps from the water, their favorite prey are Marlin, humanoids and avians of all types.

Hydra (Greek) – Dragon / Reptilian - Starting out with six heads, these wingless dragon-like reptilians are able to generate two lost heads for every head that is cut off. - Hydra’s appear like big sauropod dinosaurs, but unlike those big herbivores the Hydra only feed on flesh, and their many heads enjoy tearing other creatures apart. - The maximum heads a Hydra can gain is unknown, but specimens with over heads are reported. - These creatures have extreme regeneration abilities, most non-magical damage is regenerated instantly, and only fire and acid magic and abilities are very effective against them. - Hydra’s are often used by Vish Kanya as guard beasts, they guard the towns of Vish Kanya, these Hydra’s often have many heads from their battles with the Vish Kanya. - While the Hydra’s have a poisonous bite, the poison doesn’t have any special effects. It is still very deadly though. - They are most often encountered in swamps or jungles, but some freshwater lakes also house them.

Orochi (Japanese) – Dragon - A very dangerous variant of Hydra, each of the eight heads of this monstrous dragon holds its own magical venom. - While more powerful than any Hydra, the Orochi can only have eight heads, when cut off they don’t grow back, non-fatal wounds are regenerated just like with their Hydra cousins. - They also have a sauropod-like body, but more feral, with large spikes growing over their backs and a tail that ends in eight tentacles. - As each head has its own poison, each has its own horrid effect, the green head has the same poison as the Hydra, which adds nothing special. - The red head has a very horrid poison, this poison is similar of that of the Haemorrhois, it forces all the blood out of a body and re-opens all old scars. - The orange head will set the victim aflame, burning them from the inside, this is a very cruel and slow death. - The blue head has a very cold poison which turns the victim into an icy statue from the inside out. - The purple head’s poison will inflate the victim’s body until they explode into a carnage of viscera, blood and bones. - The yellow head has a very odd poison which will create extreme thirst in its victims, some victims become so desperate for liquid to drink, they slash their own wrists and drink their own blood as a result. - The white head will release a terrible poison upon its victims which will devour the victim from the inside out, much like an extremely nasty variant of gangrene. - The last head is black and its poison is said to turn a victim extremely hostile and aggressive, the victim often kills itself by accident in the wild rage that follows. - These creatures are also known as Chaos Hydra’s, and indeed the Chaos Deity Hundun is behind their creation, he took Hydra’s and infused them with chaotic energy.

Nidhogg (Norse) – Dragon - Wingless ancient dragons which mostly live underground, burrowing their way through the soil to feast on giant insects and the roots of giant trees. - These monstrous dragons rarely come to the surface, but when they do they cause chaos and destruction to any village unlucky enough to be in its way. - Nidhogg lack a breath weapon, but their magical abilities over roots, plants and earths are formidable enough to adjust that. - These earth dragons are seldom seen in their full form, they mostly dig only half their body through the soil and command the roots and earth to constrict and hold their prey so they teeth and claws can finish them. - Their bodies are half flesh and half wood, some scholars believe they are actual plants, but this is false, Nidhogg are among the eldest of dragons. - The World Tree Yggdrasil, which roots cover the entire world of Mythika, and which hold the world together, are mostly targeted by the Nidhogg, because of this most other creatures kill Nidhogg’s on sight when they get the chance, they are especially hated by Fae of all types.  

Pyrausta (Cyprus) – Dragon / Vermin - The smallest and weakest of all dragons, they look like mixes of insects and very small dragons, they are almost cute, but their behavior is much like their much bigger cousins very harsh and arrogant. - In the game there are two types of Pyrausta, the first are the most common Pyrausta which combine the features of very small green dragons with those of dragonflies, they mostly feed on vermin, but they also love to trick and annoy humanoids with their dangerous pranks. - Another type of Pyrausta combine the features of multi-colored tiny dragons with those of moths and butterflies. - Butterfly Pyrausta are mostly gentle creatures, though a bit vain, the Moth Pyrausta are poisonous and nasty creatures which love to see other creatures choke on their dust-like poison. - Because so many other creatures prey on Pyrausta they became very defensive, attacking everything before the enemy can attack them. - Pyrausta are often found in beautiful fae forests, playing among the evil, neutral and good natured faeries and other fae, many royal Elves and fae creatures use Pyrausta as familiars and friends. - The breath-attack of a Pyrausta is a cone of glittering dust which causes temporary blindness and an itching feeling to the skin.

Scytalis (M-European) – Dragon / Reptilian - Extremely beautiful and deadly at the same time, the Scytalis is probably the most beautiful and colorful creature alive, they look like giant cobra-like serpents with a dragon-like head, multiple cobra-like frills grow from its body. - Their beautiful scales glow and glitter with all the colors of the rainbow, changing color in every direction you look at them, as if beautiful fire burns from inside of them. - It uses its dazzling scales to bewitch its prey, making curious creatures come to it in admiration and becoming easy snacks for the dragon. - Such beauty can’t be alive without sacrifice however, and the environment these creatures live in often turns ugly and devoid of color as the dragons absorb color away from living creatures and the environment, turning it into a grey wasteland devoid of joy and color, while the Scytalis becomes more beautiful in the progress. - The environment will eventually regain its colors after a few days. - Narcissus, the Sinlord of Pride loves the colors of the Scytalis and he keeps many of these monsters as pets and guardians. - These snake-like dragons have a breath-weapon which is also very bright and colorful, it confuses any creature that is caught within it. Confused creatures have a chance to attack their own allies and behave very randomly. - The poison of an Scytalis will control any creature weaker than itself for a few hours, so these dragons often are found with other creatures which function as bodyguards.

Tiamat (Mesopotamian) – Dragon - The dragons of chaos, these two headed purple dragons have all types of chaotic features growing from their bodies, like multiple eyes, tentacles and spikes. They look much like two headed versions of this dragon: https://78.media.tumblr.com/90eb0218669752a0d239f6e4765202c4/tumblr_o8b5bnwy7u1v9qvuco1_540.jpg - These creatures come straight from the chaotic parts of the Abyss, and inside their bodies reside portals to the abyss, they can spit out minor demons from these portals which serve them or which bring chaos on the battlefields they roam. - Every creature that is bitten by one of the two heads of these female dragons is transformed into a demon over time, if not stopped in time they become a full demon. Tiamat see all other demons as their children. - The chaos aura’s of these dragons heal demons from their wounds and give demons of all types more strength and speed. - These demonic dragons are also known as Ajatar, Entropic Wyrms and they are named after the first female dragon Tiamat. - Tiamat bring chaos to any world they visit, they are among the most powerful of dragons and few creatures have the power to destroy them.   - These dragons serve Hundun the Lord of Chaos, and his will is their command, in his human forms Hundun often rides a Tiamat or Azi Dahaka. - When slain the Tiamat will implode and a portal will be spawned from its body, from which pour a lot of angry demons of all types. - The breath-weapon of a Tiamat is a chaotic gas which has lots of random effects on its victims. - Creatures swallowed whole by the Tiamat will end up in the middle of the Abyss, as they are teleported through the inner portal of the Tiamat.

Azi Dahaka (Persian) – Dragon - The male variant of the Tiamat, these look pretty much the same as the Tiamat but their scales are dark blue, black and yellow, and instead of two heads the Dahaka has three heads. - When killed the Azi Dahaka will explode and spawn an enormous swarm of monstrous lizards upon the battlefield, when this creature’s blood touches the earth the same lizards are born. - Only the middle head of this dragon can breathe chaotic gas upon its enemies, the other two heads can only attack with melee bite attacks. - This dragon is almost impossible to kill, and is the most powerful of the non-unique dragons. - From the inner portal the Azi Dahaka can summon all types of evil creatures, mostly demons but also more powerful evils and other dragons. - These chaotic dragons often serve as leaders in demonic armies, their aura’s give demons more morale and power.

Wyvern (M-European) – Dragon - Almost non-intelligent drakes which lack arms and instead have two large wings, a snake-like neck and two legs much like a reptilian bird of prey. - Wyverns are large, but they are often targeted by bigger predators. - Wyverns always feed on female flesh, they mostly ignore male enemies and target the females first, male flesh is poisonous to them. - They love swamps, forests and mountains, and are most often found there.

Vouivre (French) – Dragon - The female variant of the Wyvern, these have a beautiful and strange red ruby-like crystal placed upon their heads, and a vile poisonous stinger on the end of their long tails. - Vouivre only feed on male creatures, female flesh is poisonous to them, they often kill female creatures by stinging them with their tail stingers. - Unlike their male Wyvern counterparts, the Vouivre is very intelligent and uses her ruby crystal to lure men to their doom, they can also mimic the voice of a female human. - Vouivre live in and around lakes and rivers, washing their beautiful ruby gem every hour as they are very proud on it. - Whenever someone kills the Vouivre and takes it gem, they become very greedy and rich, fortune (with winning and gaining treasures) shines upon them. If other people see this gem however they try to steal it at all cost.

Cuelebre (Spanish) – Dragon - Whenever a Wyvern survives for 1000 years they transform into a iron cocoon and hatch a few years later as fully grown Cuelebre, only male Wyverns can undergo this transformation. - The scales of a Cuelebre are metallic and very powerful, each year they harden until they eventually turn into indestructible adamantine. - Cuelebre are also intelligent like Vouivre, and they are known to give their services as flying mounts to other evil creatures, a very powerful adamantine Cuelebre functions as the flying mount of the Horseman of War. - While they don’t have a poisonous stinger, the Cuelebre can use their tail as iron spear. - Only adamantine weapons and some powerful magic spells can hurt an adamantine Cuelebre so they are very arrogant and confident creatures in battle, attacking first and thinking strategies as the enemies are already dead. - Dactyl love the scales of these dragons, as they can make many good weapons from it and Adamantine is a very rare metal.

Zirnitra (Slavic) – Dragon / Shifter - The black dragons of magic, darkness, shadow and corruption, their black and purple scales are perfect for hiding in darkness, scheming and plotting against the world around them. - Zirnitra are the male counterparts of Asdeev, though they are a very different dragon species all together, they can only breed with the female white Asdeev. - The juvenile Zirnitra are known as Gloom Drakes or Umbral Drakes and while their abilities aren’t that powerful yet they use the shadows as cover and often plot with Bauk, Nalusa Falaya or Brollachan against the villages which border their environments. - The breath-weapon of the Zirnitra is a creeping, almost living liquid darkness which disables any vision and which attacks any source of light until only darkness remains. It does negative energy damage and gives the Zirnitra lots of benefits in battle as its enemies become blinded and weak. - Zirnitra serve the Queen of Magic Hecate, they are the only male creatures that gained Hecate’s trust, she learned a lot of darkness spells from the Zirnitra. - While Zirnitra control lots of spells, they are experts in darkness and shadow magic, all spells from this group are under their control, they can summon darkness, animate shadows, become invisible in shadow, destroy light and do a lot more.

The Dragon Bosses will be posted another day: Bakunawa, Balaur, Fafnir, Gaasyendietha, Kampe, Ladon and Vritra

The next group (probably the Undead) will be posted in smaller groups, otherwise the post will be too long. 

[jd-the-anime-fan]

The GX 12 Chapter 1: Entrance exams

fanfiction.net

Summary: AU Crossover, set in the GX-verse, includes Synchro and Xyz summons though. Naruto and Karin Uzumaki, cousins who enrol at DA in hopes of looking into the disappearances of their respective fathers. They are soon joined by new friends, Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga, however their investigation comes at a time when dark forces begin to stir, with the fate of the world on the line. Eventual Naruhina and Sasukarin.

                                                                                                                             Duel Academy the first-built and one of many schools across the world where aspiring duelists go to train and refine their craft. However, attending such a place is not easy as applicants must undergo a written exam before duelling an exam proctor on a separate date. It was on this very day that one such applicant who had passed the written test was getting ready to head out for the practical portion.

He was a teenage boy about fifteen years old, with spiky, blond hair, bright blue eyes and three whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek. He wore a black shirt with a red spiral-like pattern in the middle of the chest area and dark grey tracksuit pants with similarly-coloured trainers. This was Naruto Uzumaki. Currently, he was shovelling the breakfast his mother Kushina had made for him that largely consisted of rice, salted salmon, miso soup and pickles down his throat.

A transparent, blue, serpentine-like monster with a light-lavender-coloured underside that easily reached the size of a full grown materialised beside the blond and regarded him with a look of surprise and exasperation, "Naruto slow down, you're going to choke." It said in a concerned and oddly soft-spoken voice. This was Codarus, a duel spirit and one of Naruto's partners.

"Sorry Cody," The young boy apologised, using the spirit's nickname as he took a brief break in his eating, "But the faster I eat, the faster I'll get to the exam building, I can pass my exam then-ugh!" The blond tried to explain excitedly between mouthfuls of food, only for him to start choking, exactly as Codarus had said, much to the Sea-Serpent's alarm.

"In fairness Cody did warn you." His mother scolded playfully, handing her son a cup of water that he eagerly took and drank from, sighing in relief once he could breathe again.

"Where's Karin?" The teenager asked.

"She already left, didn't want to get caught in the rush hour traffic." His mother explained, "I'm proud of you, ya know?" She asked kindly, "I know you'll ace the duel exam and if your father could see you now..." She rambled on, trailing off as a slightly solemn expression overcame her features.

Naruto got up, putting a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture, his mother smiling gratefully in response, "I know it's been three years since dad disappeared, but I promise if he's still out there, then I'll find him, along with uncle Nagato." The blond swore.

"It's a nice thought Naruto," Kushina admitted, "But don't be doing anything dangerous, alright? It's not worth it if you get hurt."

"And I don't think it'll be that dangerous." Naruto said assuredly, "Love you mom." He said before quickly giving his mother a kiss on the cheek, running off to catch the next subway train into Konoha City Centre, where the exam would be held.

One hour later...

"Stupid train!" Naruto cursed, "Of all the days it could have broken down mid-journey, why did it have to be today?!" The blond continued to shout, thankfully the train had broken down during a stop at a platform that was still some distance from the city centre and his destination building, the Kaiba Building, one of many small buildings used for the sole purpose of dueling dotted across the world as well as judging applicants to see if they had what it took to enter one of the various academies owned by the CEO of Kaiba Corp. Unfortunately, the delay had caused Naruto to realise he would need to sprint for at least a good portion of his journey on foot. Now he was approaching the Kaiba Building, as well as the deadline for entry to it. Once he reached the top of the stairs in front of the temporary exam hall, he saw the attendants were just about to pack up, "Wait!" Naruto shouted desperately, garnering their attention "Naruto Uzumaki, present."

The blond breathed a sigh of relief as he was allowed to enter the Kaiba Building, entering the duel arena, several duels between hopeful students and proctors seemed to be wrapping up. He smirked as he spotted a familiar mane of red hair in an odd fashion, where one side was spiky and the other was straight. Karin was Naruto's cousin and Kushina's niece, she wore a light-purple tank top with black shorts, a set of glasses adorned her face, behind them was the gaze of her red eyes. She was currently facing one of the proctors, a young man with a horizontal scar running across his face with hair tied up in a spiky pony tail, this was Iruka, a teacher and for the moment, Karin's exam proctor.

Iruka: 2200

Karin: 1900

On Iruka's side of the field were two Marauding Captains (A: 1200-1600/D: 400) and a Command Knight (A: 1200-1600/D: 1900) whilst on Karin's side were two face-down defence position monsters, "You've done well to come this far Ms Uzumaki, but you have three monsters staring you down, with their respective abilities preventing them from being attacked even if you summon a stronger monster. Now my Marauding Captains will attack your face-down monsters." Iruka commanded as the blond warriors clad in armour lunged for a face-down each. The two monsters revealed themselves as a jester-like monster dressed in garish clothing and a somewhat creepy mask (A: 500/D: 1200) and a young woman in indigo-coloured robes holding a staff with a crescent moon on the end (A: 300/D: 400). The two were destroyed and due to their position, Karin took no damage.

"Since you destroyed Magician of Faith when it was in face-down defence mode, its flip effect activates, allowing me to retrieve a Spell card from the Graveyard." Karin explained.

"Perhaps, but it won't help you here as Command Knight can attack you directly." Iruka stated, the regally-clothed knight rushed forward, striking the aspiring duelist.

Karin: 300

"Now, you have two options, A: Surrender and try to apply next year or B: Wait for my monsters to deal damage to your Life Points on my next turn. Which one will you pick?" The proctor questioned, his intent clearly being to turn up the heat on Karin.

"I choose C: Neither," Karin retorted without skipping a beat as Iruka's turn ended, allowing her to draw a card, "And I'll start it by summoning this monster: Shadowpriestess of Ohm!" The Uzumaki declared, summoning a woman in dark blue robes with a gold belt, an elaborate black headdress and flowing, grey hair to the field, (A: 1700/ D: 1600), "And though you're right that I can't attack your monsters, I can do this, activate the effect of the Peten the Dark Clown you sent to the Graveyard. By removing him from play, I can summon another one from my deck." A second clown that looked the same as the one destroyed previously appeared on the field in attack mode, "Next, I activate the Spell Card I retrieved from the Graveyard, Dark Room of Nightmare so whenever you take Effect Damage, three hundred extra points are taken away from your Life Points. It just so happens that my Shadowpriestess has an effect that allows her to sacrifice a DARK monster on the field, such as Peten and deal eight-hundred points of damage to you." At her command, Peten turned into an orb of purple light, which Ohm then used as a projectile, launching it clear past Iruka's three monsters and creating an explosion that damaged his Life Points.

Iruka: 1400

"Now, Dark Room of Nightmare's effect activates," Karin said, a surge of electricity shot from the continuous Spell Card, hitting the proctor.

Iruka: 1100

Just when Iruka thought the examinee's assault was over, Karin spoke up, "It also just so happens that I have another Peten in my deck, I think you can see what's coming?" The redhead questioned confidently as she removed the second Peten from the Graveyard, summoning her third, and final one. Iruka's eyes widened in surprise as the process was repeated, Karin's Shadowpriestess once again inflicted eight-hundred points of damage to Iruka, quickly followed by the effect of Dark Room of Nightmare.

Iruka: 0

Winner, Karin: 300

Despite his loss, Iruka smiled approvingly, "Very good, welcome to Duel Academy."

"Thank you, sir." Karin said, bowing to him

"Hell yeah! That's my cousin!" Naruto declared boastfully, proud of his relative's victory.

"Congratulations," Someone a few rows of seats in front of him said, a young woman about his age with long, dark-blue hair and featureless, yet oddly pretty white eyes.

"Thanks," The blond said, "You here for the exam too?"

"That's right, I won my duel and just thought I'd see the rest of the duels, I'm Hinata by the way." She greeted.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto, I just arrived for my duel."

At his statement, Hinata looked a little concerned and slightly confused, "You haven't duelled yet?" Naruto shook his head, "Sorry to say but I think these are the last duels…"

There was a long moment of silence for the teenager before he comically shouted, "What?!"

In another part of the building, situated above the duel fields was the chief proctor, Mizuki. He loved the idea of several hopeful duelists being in his dorm, Obelisk Blue even if they had to share a campus with less prestigious Ra Yellows and Slifer Reds, though the former was much more respectable than the latter, "Excuse me, Mister Mizuki?" One of the attendants asked, the white-haired man cast an annoyed glance at him, "One of the attendees arrived last minute." Typical, there was always at least one person who turned up like this though there was also another reason why he was annoyed with the question, "Did you just call me Mister?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, professor?"

"I have a PhD in duelling." Mizuki said pointedly, "It's Doctor, and if this slacker wants to duel he can apply-" At that moment, his mobile went off, "Hello, I'm very busy-" Mizuki began before he was cut off by a gruff, old voice on the other end.

"Mizuki it's me."

"Ah, Chancellor Hiruzen, nice to hear from you." Mizuki said much more pleasantly, "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to remind you that so long as the students arrived within the deadline, you are to allow them to duel and do not prevent them from taking the exam for some other ridiculous reason. What was it last year? That they referred to you as, Mister or Professor instead of Doctor?" The old headmaster brought up.

"Of course Chancellor." Mizuki said.

"Very good, continue with your work." Hiruzen said before hanging up.

"Old windbag," Mizuki muttered under his breath, "Very well, let the new arrival duel," He continued as he got up.

"Alright Doctor, but what exam deck should we use?" Another of the proctors asked.

"Don't worry, you just leave that to me." The Academy teacher said, with a smirk that he quickly hid from his colleagues. Maybe he couldn't stop the late arrival from duelling, but he could definitely do the next best thing!

"But I got here on time, how can I not be allowed to duel?" Naruto wondered aloud tugging at his hair in frustration so hard it looked ready to come out.

"Naruto, calm down." Codarus said trying to reassure him, the aspiring Duel Academy student shot a look at his duel spirit, quickly taking him to the side so his new potential friend wouldn't think he was talking to himself, little realising that Hinata could see the WATER monster clear as day.

'He can see duel spirits too?' Hinata thought surprised, to find someone who had the same gift as her. Naruto couldn't see her surprised expression as he took Codarus with him.

"How can I be calm?" He asked through gritted teeth, "If I can't duel then I can't attend Duel Academy, kindly explain what I can do to keep calm?" He finished sarcastically.

As if to prove him wrong, an announcement was made, "Will Naruto Uzumaki please make your way to Duel Field 3."

"Shut up." Naruto snapped as he noticed Codarus looking at him smugly.

"I didn't say anything." The Sea-Serpent said nonchalantly, though it was clear he knew exactly what Naruto meant.

As he made his way down the stairs towards the duel fields, he noticed his cousin coming up the opposite way, "Someone's a little late." She sneered playfully.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up." Naruto responded in a good natured manner, "I'll be joining you soon enough."

"Of course, good luck."

"Thanks Karin."

"I was talking to Cody." The redhead replied, she promptly began laughing at her cousin's comical indignance. When the two parted ways once more, Naruto himself chuckled at the banter between them.

Once he arrived at Duel Field 3, he was given a Duel Academy-issued duel disk, "Welcome!" He was greeted as he entered the field while strapping the duel disk to his arm. The person who greeted him was a white-haired man with a blue blazer, "You're Naruto Uzumaki, correct? I'm Mizuki the head of the Obelisk Blue dorm, congratulations, you've been selected for a rather special condition on your entrance exam."

"What condition?" The blond inquired.

"You see, I'm not really a fan of anyone who turns up late, so your punishment is you have to duel me at eight-thousand Life Points, against my own deck instead of an exam one. When I said 'welcome', I meant it as 'Welcome to the big leagues kid.'." The exam proctor announced.

"What a dirty trick." Karin said as she took a seat on a row where she could get a good view of the duel. The odds would clearly be stacked in Mizuki's favour.

"I would agree." Another voice a little further down the row she was on said, the source of which was a young man with black hair, black eyes and wearing a black trench-coat over a dark-red t-shirt with black jeans, "You're that guy's cousin, right?" The stranger asked.

"That's right, how did you know?" Karin inquired.

"He made it pretty clear for everyone still here when you won your duel." The young man replied with an amused smirk.

Karin snorted at that, "Figures that knucklehead would do something like that. I'm Karin by the way."

"Sasuke." He replied, "Though from what I've heard, Mizuki uses Zombie-Type monsters and supposedly he has quite a few rare ones, maybe we'll get to see them."

"Maybe…" Karin mumbled, despite her cousin's predicament, even she had to admit, seeing not just one but several rare cards was definitely something of a treat, for both the audience and Naruto.

After hearing the news Naruto's head had sunk and he had begun shaking, "What's the matter, are you scared?" Mizuki asked in a thinly-veiled taunt.

"Scared?" Naruto said before he began chuckling, much to the confusion of his soon-to-be opponent. The chuckling soon erupted into full-blown laughter, "I'm excited! This is the type of challenge I was looking for! But if I beat you, there's one thing I want from you in return."

"And what would that be?" The white-haired man questioned.

Naruto pointed a finger at Mizuki and made his condition known, "You have to recommend me for a place at your dorm."

The doctor was stunned, though his shock soon turned into a scowl, "Cheeky and turning up late, I hope you realise that's a bad combination. Very well, I'll accept your offer, not that you have a chance." Mizuki stated as the two of them readied their duel disks.

"Let's Duel!" The two declared.

Mizuki: 8000

Naruto: 8000

"As your senior, I'll begin, I draw," Mizuki said, "And I'll start by summoning a face-down defence monster and setting two cards face down to end my turn."

"That's your best?" Naruto asked, clearly having expected more than such a simple manoeuvre, "Then I'll draw and start by activating the Field Spell, Umi and summoning the monster, Mermaid Knight in attack mode." A mermaid with a green tail, flowing red hair and a purple cuirass armed with a sword and shield appeared on the field, (A: 1500-1700/D:600-800), "Thanks to Umi, not only does she get a boost in attack, but since it's on the field she can attack twice this turn. Now attack his face-down monster Mermaid Knight!"

The face-down monster flipped face-up, revealing it as a turtle with a square-based pyramid on its back (A: 1200/D: 1400), Mermaid Knight brought her sword down, cutting clean through and destroying the monster, "Since you destroyed my Pyramid Turtle, I can summon a monster with two-thousand or less defence from my deck, and I select my Vampire Lord!" A pale-skinned man adorned in gothic yet regal clothing appeared on the field, (A: 2000/D: 1500).

'This isn't good.' Naruto thought as now his monster would be defenceless on his opponent's next turn, "I end my turn." He said reluctantly.

"Very well, then I'll draw, and activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed." Per the card's effect, Mizuki added two new cards to his hand, "It seems that I'm in luck," The proctor stated, "I summon my Soul Absorbing Bone Tower to the Field in attack mode and activate the Trap card, Coffin Seller." A tower composed of blackened and bare bones with an eerie orange glow appearing from a small cave close to the summit appeared alongside the Continuous Trap, (A: 400/D: 1500).

"So long as there's another Zombie-Type on the Field, Soul Absorbing Bone Tower can't be attacked, but that's not its only effect. I activate the Polymerisation in my hand, fusing my Zombie Dragon and The Snake Hair together to summon Great Mammoth of Goldfine!" A purple dragon with rotting flesh and a woman with snakes for hair dressed in a blue robe appeared briefly before being sucked into a vortex. What emerged next was a golden woolly mammoth skeleton that let out a roar as it took its place on the field, (A: 2200/D: 1800).

"Since he was Special Summoned, my Bone Tower's second effect activates, when a Zombie-Type is Special Summoned the top two cards from your deck are sent to the Graveyard. Naruto discarded the two cards, Salvage and Torpedo Fish, "Since one of the cards was a monster, you take three-hundred points of damage due to Coffin Seller's effect." A mist-like, white projectile shaped like Naruto's monster was launched from the card.

Naruto: 7700

"But I'm not done yet, by removing my Vampire Lord from play while it's on the field, I can summon this, Vampire Genesis!" Mizuki declared, as his vampire was engulfed in a shroud of darkness, a new one took its place. Its skin was dark purple, had two large, bat-like wings protruding from its back, jagged teeth and two piercing, red-coloured eyes. It was easily the biggest monster on the field, standing much taller than the already large mammoth (A: 3000/D: 2100), "Another Zombie-Type Special Summoned, so you know what that means?" He asked rhetorically, Naruto grunted in frustration as the next two cards in his deck were also sent to the Graveyard, Gruesome Goo and Xyz Reception, "Another monster, another three-hundred points of damage." Just like before another monster-shaped cloud of mist hurtled towards Naruto, damaging his Life Points.

Naruto: 7400

"Now, Great Mammoth of Goldfine destroy his Mermaid Knight!" Mizuki declared, with a charge that shook the ground, the mammoth-like zombie rammed into Naruto's monster. Naruto flinched as his only line of defence was destroyed, "And don't forget about Coffin Seller."

Naruto: 6600

"Next, Vampire Genesis, attack him directly!" Mizuki's strongest monster gave a bellow as it brought a fist down in a hammer strike on the blond.

Naruto: 3600

"Finally, Soul Absorbing Bone Tower, do the same." The tower appeared in front of Naruto, a vacuum pulling on the blond as if the creature was really trying to absorb his soul.

Naruto: 3200

"Those rare cards pack quite a punch, your cousin is going to have to make a big comeback if he wants to even have a chance of beating Mizuki." Sasuke commented.

Even Karin had to admit that Sasuke was right, Naruto's current situation was dire, it would take quite a lucky draw to get him out of it, "I have a feeling he'll do it." A feminine voice behind the two spoke up, they turned to face the young woman behind them with questioning looks, "I was speaking with your cousin earlier," She addressed to Karin, "My name is Hinata."

"You think he can actually get out of this one?" Sasuke asked, "Care to put your money where your mouth is?"

"One-hundred ryo that he wins." (1) Hinata replied, placing her bet as she agreed to Sasuke's wager.

"Then I'll bet the same that he loses." The young man said confidently.

"That's my cousin you're betting on." Karin stated incredulously, "So, how much can we raise the stakes?"

"My turn," Naruto said, "I'll draw." Looking at his card, Naruto grinned, "I activate the Spell, Moray of Greed so, by returning two WATER monsters to my deck, I can draw three cards."

'Please be good.' Naruto thought nervously as the deck finished shuffling, taking the top three cards, internally the blond breathed a sigh of relief, 'Just what I needed.'

Noticing his pause, Mizuki once again decided to taunt his opponent, "What's the matter do you give up?" The white-haired man was surprised and strangely… unnerved when the blond grinned at him.

"On the contrary, I just got the cards I needed." Naruto said, "Come on out, Codarus!" The blue Sea-Serpent appeared on the field, (A: 1400-1600/D: 1200-1400).

"This doesn't look good Naruto." Codarus said in concern.

"Don't worry Cody, I have a plan." Naruto said in a reassuring tone.

"Mind filling me in?" His duel spirit inquired.

"I would, but where would be the fun in that?" Naruto retorted.

"You're a dick." Codarus muttered, realising that his friend was probably doing this for how smug he acted when Naruto was first called up to duel.

"I learned from the best."

"Are you… talking? To your duel monster?" Mizuki asked in clear confusion since he wasn't able to hear the conversation taking place between the duelist and his monster.

"And what if I am?" Naruto asked.

"Reminds me of someone else who believed those myths about seeing monster spirits, Minato Namikaze…"

"They're not myths," Naruto said adamantly, "And he's my dad."

"Well that explains the craziness," Mizuki said, "But I wonder if you're a hack like he was?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto growled in anger at his father being insulted.

"Please, you mean you don't know?" Mizuki asked, "Your father was an intelligent man, I'll give him that much but at the end of the day, he was a fool who spent his time researching fairy tales instead of actual duelling." He elaborated upon noticing Naruto's confused expression.

"Do you know anything about his disappearance?" Naruto demanded angrily.

Mizuki simply shrugged in response, not seeming to care, "Only that he, along with a few others, disappeared three years ago and hasn't been seen since. Maybe they all finally realised how fruitless their efforts for 'studying' these supposed duel spirits would be and packed things in. They could have at least told someone where they were going their disappearances caused a scandal that almost got Duel Academy shut down."

"Then I'll make him tell us where he's been all these years!" The blond stated.

"What?" The proctor asked in a confused tone.

"I came here to search for him, to find answers about what happened, I promised my mom that I would. I won't go back on my word, my pride as a duelist is on the line!"

Mizuki could only sigh in exasperation, "You really are your father's son, obsessed with chasing something so inherently hopeless. But enough blathering, continue with your turn." He said, internally smirking at his current setup, 'Codarus's ability allows it to destroy Umi, then target two cards on the field and destroy them. Chances are that he'll destroy Genesis and Goldfine to target Bone Tower but with Negate Attack face-down, I can stop the attack and end his Battle Phase. Then when it's my turn I can switch Bone Tower to defence mode, Codarus will have lost its boost so it won't be able to destroy it, that's if I don't get a Zombie-Type on my next draw.'

"I destroy Umi," Naruto began, seemingly, Mizuki's prediction was coming true, "By placing another Field Spell." The blond stated, causing the white-haired man to gain a look of surprise, "I activate, A Legendary Ocean." The sea below them was replaced by an ancient city submerged deep beneath the waves. "This card still gives Codarus a two-hundred point boost to attack and defence but also lowers the Level of every WATER monster on the field and in our hands by one. I set a card face-down to end my turn."

'That's it? The kid might even be more foolish than I thought.' Mizuki internally stated, "Very well, I draw. Since it's the only card in my hand, I'll activate it, Monster Reborn and use it to bring back, Dragon Zombie." The decaying dragon reappeared on the field (A: 1600/D: 0), "Another Special Summon, so Bone Tower's effect activates." Once again, two cards were sent from the top of Naruto's deck, another Moray of Greed and Sea Kamen. Coffin Seller's effect then dealt three-hundred points of damage to Naruto's Life Points.

Naruto: 2900

"Now Vampire Genesis, attack and destroy Codarus." The purple monster roared as it swung at the Sea-Serpent.

"I activate the Trap, Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord, with this all Level 3 and below Aqua, Fish and Sea-Serpent-Type monsters can't be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn." Naruto declared, regardless the attack of Mizuki's strongest monster still connected.

"That may be, but you'll still take Battle Damage."

Naruto: 1500

"Goldfine, attack Codarus as well." The mammoth skeleton charged, head-butting Codarus.

Naruto: 900

"And with the effect of your card, there's no point in attacking with Dragon Zombie, I end my turn." Mizuki said.

"Thank you, now it's time for this duel to end." Naruto said as he drew a card.

"Are you joking?" Mizuki scoffed, "I have almost ten times your Life Points, what makes you think you can win?"

"This," Naruto said as he flipped a card around, "The Spell Card, Cost Down, so I discard one card." The blond began to explain as he discarded the monster, Amazon of the Seas, which of course activated the effect of Coffin Seller.

Naruto: 600

"Now all the monsters in my hand are two levels lower and because of that coupled with A Legendary Ocean, a normally Level 7 WATER monster, is now Level 4." There was a collective gasp from most students who had opted to stay and watch the duel, excluding Karin who already knew this part of her cousin's usual strategy. Mizuki's eyes now widened in terror, since there was now a very real possibility of his opponent bringing out a powerful monster with almost no cost.

"What I'm choosing to summon, is Superancient Deepsea King, Coelacanth!" With the declaration, a large grey, fish with jagged teeth, a powerful-looking jaw and most strangely, arm-like appendages that were tipped with claws appeared. Superancient was an understatement as the monster looked like it was from prehistoric times with armour-like plates modern day fish weren't known for having and kelp was growing from between small gaps in the plates, as well as the crown-like formation on its back, (A: 2800-3000/D: 2200-2400).

Mizuki calmed down at that, "It's an impressive monster, I'll admit but it only matches the strength of Genesis and even if Coelacanth isn't destroyed I still have a solid line of defence, whilst you only have two montsers."

"Well, it's a good thing subjects follow their king." Naruto retorted, "Let me demonstrate, I activate Coelacanth's ability, by discarding one card I can summon as many Level 4 or below Fish-Type monsters from my deck as possible." Thankfully the card discarded was Salvage, so Naruto took no damage from Coffin Seller.

"What good will that do?" Mizuki questioned.

"A lot of good actually, when two of the monsters I'm summoning, are Spined Gillman and one Great White." Coelacanth gave a long, reverberating bellow that seemed to shake the very building, once it finished, two blue humanoid, fish-like monsters with barbs running the length of their backs appeared, holding red tridents. The other monster to be summoned was reminsiscent of a great white shark, as the name implied but it also had muscular arms that ended in webbed hands, "Due to the effects of my Spined Gillman, the attack points of all face-up Fish, Aqua and Sea-Serpent-Type monsters goes up by four-hundred since there's two that totals eight-hundred. Plus, A Legendary Ocean's effect gives an extra two hundred."

"A total of one-thousand extra points…" Mizuki mumbled as the two monsters raised their tridents and a blue glow surrounded both themselves and their fellow monsters.

Great White, (A: 1600-2600/D: 800-1000). Spined Gillman, (A: 1300-2300/D: 0-200) x2. Coelacanth, (A: 3000-3800/D: 2400). Codarus (A: 1600-2400/D: 1400).

Mizuki was definitely worried now but calmed himself down when he realised he still had Negate Attack, it would be easy to destroy the two Spined Gillman on his next turn. Yet the proctor couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, "Before my Battle Phase begins, I activate the effect of Codarus. You see, when it's on the field, A Legendary Ocean is known as Umi. By sending it to the Graveyard, I select two cards on the field and destroy them, what am I selecting? Vampire Genesis, and your face-down."

"What?!" Mizuki cried in shock, of course he had expected the blond to use the ability, but that was just when Codarus was on the field. Now with five monsters, each with more than two-thousand attack points staring him down, his confidence in his strategy was at all-time low.

"Good plan, Naruto." Codarus said, beginning to draw in the water from A Legendary Ocean as it disappeared and launched them at the two intended targets in the form of miniature typhoons. The first of them slammed into the vampire, destroying it whilst the second one sucked up the face-down, picking it up and causing it to shatter.

"Unfortunately, my monsters lose the benefit of A Legendary Ocean, but they're still strong enough to take you down." Level 3-4 (A: 2600-2400/D: 1000-800), Level 2-3 (A: 2300-2100/D: 200-0) x2, Level 4-5 (A: 3800-3600/D: 2400-2200), Level 3-4 (A: 2400-2200/D: 1400-1200), "Great White, attack Great Mammoth of Goldfine." The human-like shark rushed forward, the Zombie-Type attempted to defend itself but Great White quickly stopped the tusks and brought its teeth down on Goldfine's skull, shattering the monster.

Mizuki: 7800

"Spined Gillman one, destroy Zombie Dragon." The humanoid monster leapt at the rotting corpse and plunged its trident through the dragon's chest, destroying the monster.

Mizuki: 7300

"Spined Gillman two, attack Soul Absorbing Bone Tower." Like the first one, Naruto's second Spined Gillman attacked, practically dismantling the Bone Tower.

Mizuki: 5600

'This can't be happening, this isn't happening!' Mizuki internally screamed, his defences were completely wiped out, and two of Naruto's monsters still had their attacks…

"Coelacanth, attack him directly." Naruto commanded, despite its size, the giant fish moved quickly, opening its maw and bringing its jaws down on the proctor.

Mizuki: 2000

"Now Codarus, finish this, show him what duel spirits can do!"

"I was planning on it." Codarus said, lunging forward and biting Mizuki's arm.

Mizuki: 0

Winner, Naruto: 600

Mizuki fell to his knees, 'I lost?' He thought incredulously, 'This kid is a slacker, I used my personal deck, and he beat me! How, could this get any worse?!'

"Hey, Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto called, the blond's now soon-to-be teacher looked up from his kneeling position and scowled at him, "Now don't give me that look," He began in a teasing tone, "You still have to recommend me for a place at your dorm, after all you promised to in front of all these people." He finished, gesturing to the room around him.

Mizuki's face fell as he realised that what Naruto was saying was true, he would have to recommend a place for him at Obelisk Blue. Otherwise, he would run the risk of looking like a sore and petty loser throwing a tantrum, a pupil doing that would be one thing, a teacher though likely ran the risk of either demotion or being outright fired. The worst part? If Naruto somehow remained in Obelisk throughout his entire stay at the school, Mizuki would be subject to that blond being a smug little shit about his victory for at maximum, four years. Thus as Naruto turned away and began heading back to the seating area, Mizuki shouted out the only sentence that felt appropriate at the time, "I hate you!"

"I'm sure this is the start of a beautiful friendship!" Naruto called back, Mizuki gritting his teeth in anger as he heard the WATER-user's echoing laughter.

"He actually beat him?" Sasuke mumbled.

"He did indeed, now pay up." Karin said as both she and Hinata held out their hands for the five-hundred ryo that Karin had raised the stakes to. Sasuke grumbled as he took out his wallet and handed the two smirking women five hundred each.

"Were you really betting if Naruto would win or lose?" The familiar voice of Codarus asked, leaning his head on the spot in front of Karin.

"I had the utmost confidence in him!" Karin stated unconvincingly, Codarus raised what would have been an eyebrow curiously, likely not believing the redhead.

"You mean you only betted in his favour when he summoned Coelacanth?" Hinata asked rhetorically.

Both of those she addressed looked shocked, "You can see me?" The Sea-Serpent asked in amazement.

"That's right." Hinata said, a transparent werewolf-like creature with particularly vicious-looking claws wearing tattered, blue trousers appeared, quite a stark contrast to the gentle-looking, petite woman next to it, "This is my duel spirit, Lycanthrope." The werewolf merely grunted out a greeting, "Sorry, he can be a little aloof." The blue-haired woman said apologetically.

It was at that point that Naruto walked up the stairs, still chuckling after his victory against Mizuki, stopping briefly as he noticed the group together, as well as the yellow-eyed Beast-Warrior staring intently at him which became slightly more unnerving as it appeared to start grinning at him, showing off gleaming white teeth. Slowly, the blond walked up to his cousin, "I'm just going to take a stab in the dark here, ignoring the fact that that duel spirit is starting to creep me out and say Hinata can see duel spirits?" He whispered to her.

"Yep." Karin said, nodding her head.

"Sorry," Hinata apologised, "I would have told you sooner, but we didn't exactly have the time."

"Pardon me?" Sasuke spoke up, "You guys have actual duel spirits?"

"Yeah, are you another person who can see duel spirits? And who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Not see, but I can sense them and even if I couldn't I'd still believe in their existence. The name is Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke explained, "My brother was on the same team that your father disappeared on Naruto and like you I'm going to Duel Academy to find him. If you want to work together, I'd be grateful for the help."

There was no hesitation in Naruto's answer, "Sure, I'm in."

"Count me in too." Karin said, "My dad and Naruto's uncle was with them as well, if they're still on the island, then I'll do whatever it takes to get them back."

"Glad to hear there's someone else who wants to work with us." Sasuke said, smiling almost kindly at Karin, causing a pink hue to briefly dust her cheeks before it faded, "And what about you?" Sasuke asked, the remaining members of the group turned to Hinata, awaiting an answer.

The other young woman looked a little awkward, "I guess I'm the odd one out, I don't have a relative who disappeared on Academy Island, but if you need anything feel free to ask, I think I know someone who could help."

"Thank you," Sasuke said, "How about we have a battle royal when we get to the academy?" He suggested, he noticed his companion's looks before leaning in, glancing around suspiciously as if to make sure no one was listening in, "It's not normal for several people to disappear, not without a trace, something is up. It could be that people in the upper echelons of the Academy, maybe even the chancellor himself are in on the disappearance. If we're going to trust each other completely, we should at least know part of each of our duelling styles. Keep in mind that it's just an assumption, but it's also a distinct possibility that shouldn't be ignored."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Naruto agreed, with the two women of the group also nodding.

"Well, can I suggest something?" Hinata spoke up, the young woman took out her deck, and removed a blue card, a Ritual monster card, not just any one though, it was Lycanthrope, "My mother taught me a way of duelists making a pact together, we put a monster that's sentimental to us in some way together in a silent agreement that we share the same goal, as well as stating what that sentimentality is to show the trust between the participants. For example, Lycanthrope was a going away present from my father." She explained, placing the Ritual monster on the table top in front of them.

Karin was the next to select a card, "She's gotten me out of some tight spots in the past, even if I don't have a duel spirit of my own, she's easily my most trusted monster." The redhead placed Shadowpriestess of Ohm on the table so that the tops of both it and Lycanthrope were touching.

Sasuke took his card out, "A gift from my brother before he disappeared." The Uchiha said, placing the Synchro monster, Exploder Dragonwing so that it partially covered the two previous cards.

Lastly it was Naruto's turn, "My strongest monster, and the first duel spirit I ever saw." He said, though aside from Karin, it was not what the other group members were expecting, Ocean Dragon Lord – Neo Daedalus. Hinata looked surprised at the sight of such a rare monster and Sasuke gave an impressed whistle.

With Naruto placing his card in the final position, a pact was formed between the four of them. A pact to discover the mystery behind the academy's disappearances, to find those who were missing, and most importantly, to look out for each other if the journey they would undertake got dangerous. Little did the group realise that the latter would become reality far more often than not.

A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter, this was my first time writing a duel so I really hope you guys can give me some constructive criticism on that. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next chapter.

1) For those wondering, I did the math and basically Sasuke lost about USD$90/£90.

[slytherinmybedcuzimcold]

Poseidon's Chariot: Chapter 5

The Message

The two day deadline for repairs to be done had come about and just as promised, the Poseidon's Chariot looked as sea worthy as the day she were made. The crew busied about both on ship and in the harbour to get all purchases on board. Elizabeth stood on land at the side of the boarding plank keeping a watchful eye over her men and the goods they were carrying when she suddenly felt an unpleasant presence behind her. Turning sharply she glared at the intruder. A skinny, ageing dwarf in black rags clearly too big for him. He was dirty, had missing teeth and bad breath. His hands clasp together in front of him like interlocked claws as he grinned slyly up at the fierce Captain before him. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

“What do you want?”

“It is not a question as to what I want but what you want, Miss Jones.”

“And what do I want, pray tell.”

“Knowledge. Information. Information concerning a certain Captain.” Now as much as she hated to admit it, this did catch her attention and so she pushed him further to spill what he knew.

“Oh? And this Captain would be who?”

“Howl of The Serpent's Tail.” With what she had expected confirmed Elizabeth couldn't help but want to know more. If listening to a whisperer meant that she could get to Howl then that's what she would do. The disgusting bug of a man broadened his golden grin and narrowed his eyes at her in challenge. Jones bent to get closer to his face and lowly spoke,

“Listen, whisperer, I know your game and I ain't playing. Tell me what you know and I may let you live to store secrets another day.” The man stroked his thin, barely-there beard, pretending to think about it before shaking his head and laughing mockingly at Elizabeth.

“Secrets are not given out for free, Miss knows this. So how much would Miss be willing to pay for secrets on Howl's whereabouts and destination?” Elizabeth's short temper reached it's limit. She had no time for parasitic scum like him. Grabbing him and locking her arm across his windpipe she held her hand dagger against his throat and whispered in his ear,

“Listen to me, you poxy bilge rat, you tell me what you know about Howl or this blade will taste it's first blood of the day.” The man struggled but there wasn't much he could have done considering he was up against someone at least twice his size and he was lifted off of the ground; not to mention she was healthy and strong and had the ability and chance to easily slice his neck if she wished. He stopped struggling and nodded. He was then swiftly dropped to the ground, cradling his neck as he glared up at Elizabeth and opened his mouth to insult and threaten her but before he could five silver coins were held up in front of him.

“I'll make you a deal. For every useful bit of information you give me I will give you a single coin; you're a somewhat smart man, I'm sure you know that you can live comfortably for a week on a single silver coin and here I am offering you the opportunity to earn five. But know this, if you have no information that I haven't already chased or heard then I will cut out your tongue. Deal?”

“Deal.” The two shook hands and Elizabeth leaned on a barrel to listen to what the whisperer had to say. “Howl been spotted in the Caribbean Sea-”

“Chased it. No luck.”

“Went to Ghana last month-”

“Chased it. I need recent information, whisperer, do not waste my time with things I already know! Do you know where he's headed? When and where he last ported? Which direction he sailed off?” The whisperer thought about this, searching through the many secrets he had bungled up in his small head.

“Oh whisperer knows! Yes, Howl left Ghana and heads East. Stopped at small island near Tanzania. Is following British Royal ship.”

“Which ship?” The dwarf scratched his head trying to remember the name of the Royal vessel. Finally he beamed up at her.

“HMS Rose.” Brilliant! Thought Elizabeth. Now all I need to do is find out the destination of that ship and Howl will finally be in my grasp! She flicked three of the silver coins at the dwarf and turned to her ship.

“The Miss promised five!”

“You only gave me three bits of useful information. Be happy I kept my word and gave you three. A coin for each piece of information.” With that she turned and made her way up on deck, ready to set sail.

Elizabeth gazed out at the open sea, finally, that whisperer may have given her the information she needed to be a step in front of her father's traitor. This time she would catch him and finally have her revenge, she was sure of it; she could feel it in her bones. In her mind she had already mapped out the quickest way to get there but unfortunately if they wanted to catch up to The Serpent's Tail they would need to cut corners and that meant going through two places any sailor in their right mind would avoid. Unfortunately for her and her men, she wasn't in her right mind at the moment and even less so now she had dirt on Howl.

“Captain?” Elizabeth let out a surprised yelp as she jumped around to see the person who had ripped her from her thoughts.

“Bell? Bloody hell, don't sneak up on people like that!” Andrew covered his mouth and tried to disguise his laughter as a cough. He failed.

“Sorry, Ma'am.” Elizabeth grunted in response. “Who was the small fellow? The one you were talking to at the harbour.”

“He was a whisperer.”

“A whisperer?”

“Yes, they are people who find out information on other people and sell the 'secrets' to whom ever is willing to pay for them.”

“I see... and what information did he give you?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, “I saw you give him some money.” She hummed.

“He told me Howl's whereabouts, or rather the ship he's following and it's destination. Apparently he's following a royal vessel, the HMS Rose heading in the direction of-”

“-India!” Andrew exclaimed, interrupting Elizabeth's explanation.

“Yes that's right, how'd you know?”

“That's the ship I meant to board in Ghana!”

“The one you mistook my ship for?” Andrew nodded, a mixture of expressions on his face. “Well then, it seems you would have gotten caught up with us anyway, Mr Bell! Ha, what a strange twist

of fate!” The historian agreed with the Captain and they fell into a comfortable silence.

“Mr Bell?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Why are you here? I would have thought you had gotten on the trading ship this morning.”

“Oh..” Andrew shrugged giving the Captain an easy smile. “I was hoping I might stay here for a while longer. After all, it's not like it really matters, we're heading the same way anyway!”

“True. So what became of your ticket?”

“Oh I sold it to a young boy around Jim's age. Was willing to give me all the money he had for it but I made a deal and got this,” he held a beautifully carved compass, “and this,” he gave Elizabeth a small bag of silver coins. “I think that should be a rough payback, am I right?” The Captain laughed and nodded taking the small bag.

“Keep the compass, I already have one.” Her companion smiled and nodded, putting the device back into his jacket pocket.

“Listen up!” The Captain's voice rang out across the ship. “We have a new heading. At long last we will taste the revenge we have been seeking for the past five years! Don, Charlie, set a course for India!”

“Aye, Captain!” The entire crew 'Ar'ed and 'Aye'ed at the thought of finally fulfilling the Captain's long awaited dream to avenge her father's death.

“Now back to work! Full sails. When we catch that reptile, I'll make his snake's skin into a bag!”

Elizabeth made her way up to the helm and took over from Charlie. It felt good to have her ship at her hands once more and she quickly fell back into the gentle rhythm, keeping the large vessel steady on the patterned waves. Elizabeth felt a large presence come beside her and glanced up to see Skips with a concerned expression on his weathered face.

“What is it, Skips?” Elizabeth spoke gently for this man was one of the few men whom she truly trusted on board and who she thought of as a somewhat father figure. Not a replacement, nobody could replace her father. He was more of someone who was there to council her in her times of need.

“You spoke to a whisperer.”

“Aye, that I did.”

“How'd ya know you can trust his word?”

“He knows Murhad. And you know that Murhad wouldn't let anything or anyone loose that would damage his reputation.” The old sailor grunted and the two were silent as they set sail to catch up to their new target.