#and he died before he broke eighteen as a child soldier. so. not much time to get normal there. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

jinmukangwrites · 6 years ago

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Benefits

"I’m not too sure how big of a Zelink fan you are but could you write about the other links meeting Wild’s Zelda? Like everyone else is ready to bow and be all forming but Wild just straight up runs at her. And then Zelda pulls a Steven Universe and says smth like ‘I’ve been waiting to kiss your cute face,” (if you haven’t seen Steven universe I’d recommend it it’s pretty cool)" -anon

-o-o-o-o-

The stable could be seen through the distance and Time couldn't be more relieved. Everyone was aching; Wild's Hyrule was such a wide and vast place, most of the others in their group were simply not used to traveling long distances like him. Wild was the only one not stopping every few minutes to rub at his feet or take a gulp of water. Four and Wind were both exhausted, thankfully Sky offered to carry Four on his shoulders and Twilight did the same with Wind.

They would have stopped earlier, but Wild told them a stable was close by and after a few minutes of discussing the issue, it was decided that a soft bed with a roof over their heads was more desirable than the hard forest floor with the chance of rain.

"That's the Riverside Stable," Wild said pointing at the towering building that looked like a horse head.

Riverside Stable was a very fitting name for the building. It bordered a beautiful river with little bridges connecting small islands where goats laze around, eating grass and enjoying the company of their shepherd dog. Soft music could be heard as they approached and the air of civilization whispered over them.

"Let's go," Twilight said, sweat lined the top of his forehead and his arms were slightly trembling with exhaustion as he carried the practically asleep Wind.

Legend took the first move towards the stable with Warriors following close behind. Time gave the rest of the group the go ahead before they all began to follow after. As they walked, Time noticed Wild's eyebrows come together.

"What is it?" He asked.

"There's soldiers…" he said quietly. Time looked back to the stable and sure enough, there were two armed soldiers standing guard at the entrances of the stable, not allowing Legend (who was yelling at them) inside.

"Are there usually not?" Time asked wearily. Everything about Wild's Hyrule was almost barbaric, not that he'd tell them that. Time was used to a land filled with guards and soldiers watching over and protecting every inch of their land. He was used to order. Not the hastily glued together pieces of Wild's world.

"We don't have a big enough army," he said quietly. He reached up and brought down his hood and began to stride over towards the stable.

Time looked at the others before following after.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot let you in-" one of the soldiers were saying. He was strong looking, like he'd lived doing labor his whole life. The stature of knight, yet his armor looked like a rusted puzzle instead of what a knights should be. The other soldier looked much the same.

Wild ran up and shoved Legend aside before a fist fight could commence. The soldiers looked shocked for a moment as they stared at Wild with wide eyes glinting behind their rusted helmets.

Legend rubbed his arm and glared. "Wild, what the-"

"Sir Link!" One of the soldiers said, gasping.

And before anyone could do anything, both the soldiers fell to their knees in a low, respectful bow. Time stopped and Twilight gave him a confused look with Four looking at the oddity with half open eyes full of interest.

Wild took a step back, as if he himself were shocked by the action, but he shook his head and cleared his throat, but no noise came out. The next shock came when Wild signed, and the soldiers understood.

What are you doing?

"We cannot let travelers in, sir," one soldier said, slowly rising to his feet. The other nodded as the stable master leaning against the counter scoffed. "The Queen needs to freshen up-"

"Queen?" Wild asked, his voice choked with surprise. His mouth hung open and his eyes flicked past, trying to catch a glimpse inside. She's here? His hands asked.

The other soldier nodded, "we're returning from Hateno Village, Queen Zelda has had a long trip and needs to-"

"Zelda!?" Hyrule gasped, voicing the other's surprise and shock. Even Time found himself shocked at the information, sure, it's been a few decades in his time, Zelda eventually married and became queen, but… they were older. Zelda in this world couldn't be older than eighteen. It seemed the others were also expecting a princess, not a queen.

A feminine voice suddenly called out from inside the stable. "Are you not letting people in again?" The voice asked, sounding annoyed. "This is a traveler's stable, not a royal-"

The voice stopped as a girl dressed in a blue traveling cloak and brown trousers stepped out of the stable and ended up with her mouth open, standing right in front of Wild. Her hair was golden and her eyes were a beautiful green. Time didn't have to ask who she was, and neither did the others in their group.

"Link," Zelda breathed.

Time watched as Wild stared at her. Wild had never told them what his relationship with Zelda was, in fact, he hardly spoke about her unless he was talking about his fight against Calamity Ganon, which was very rare.

Suddenly, Zelda surged forward and grabbed Wild around his jaw and smashed her lips against his. Behind Time, Sky gasped and Wind made a small snort of disgust, yet Time remained silent as Wild gently wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss hastily. She broke it for a moment, running the tips of her fingers lovingly across his scared cheek. "I've been waiting to kiss your stupid face," she said.

They stared at each other before a moment more before Zelda pushed herself from him, smiling at the rest of the heroes. Wild too turned, though he was blushing hard enough to almost hide the scars on his cheeks, clearly he had forgotten the rest of the group were there.

"Where are my manners," Zelda said, as she folded her hands in front of her and smiled, "I'm Zelda, and you all must be-?"

-o-o-o-o-

Zelda and her small group of knights decided to stay the night at the stable with the heroes. She didn't seem surprised to hear about how each of them were previous incarnations of her hero, more fascinated than anything. She sat them all down by the fire and practically grilled them on their own Hyrules… or more of the kinds of things in their Hyrules.

"Interesting, so you're able to play songs with plants?" She asked Twilight, leaning forward. Twilight laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. Everyone was preparing themselves for a graceful maiden, not a geek. Not that that was bad, just surprising.

"You'll have to teach me," she said, "I have never thought that plants could create music, I was always more interested in the properties they pass on when consumed."

"Yeah," Twilight said awkwardly. Time smiled and brought his hands a bit closer to the fire toward the chilling night away.

Wild smiled and leaned against Zelda, "he collects bugs, too."

Her face lit up and she launched into a list of her favorite kinds of bugs and why they're interesting while Twilight gave a helpless look to the smirking Wild. She was in the middle of explaining why the Energetic Rhino Beetle was so important to the ecosystem before she cut herself off with a gasp. "I need to get something, I just remembered-" she untangled herself from Wild and half sprinted over to the Stable entrance. The two soldiers gave her a "here we go again" look as she ran past.

Wild was grinning over at the stable when suddenly Legend nudged Wild. Wild yelped, rubbing his upper arm. "What?" He asked.

"So what are you?" Legend asked, leaning back into the makeshift log chair below him. "Future king of Hyrule?"

Wild opened his mouth and gapped like a fish, blood rushing to his cheeks. "N-no! It's not-" his hands rushed in front of him before they were slammed onto his face, hiding his ever growing blush. "It's not like that…" he whispered.

Legend laughed and Warrior smirked as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Ah," he said, "so it's friends with benefits."

Wild whimpered and moved so both of his arms were wrapped around his face, curling into himself, as the multiple voices broke out into laughter. His protests went unheard.

"Wild, you sly dog!" Four said, laughing.

Time rolled his eyes as the laughter continued. Wild kept trying to tell them they were wrong but he was too flustered to mutter more than quiet no's and shake his head.

Twilight too was smiling until Wind nudged him. "What's friends with benefits? What's that?"

Twilight looked at Wind with horror as Time also came down with the realization that they had a child with them. "Warrior!" Twilight snapped, "there are children present!"

"Hey!" Wind protested.

Warrior had the decency to at least look a little shamed as the laughter died down. Wild looked relieved beyond measure that the attention was taken from him. Awkward silence sat around the campfire until Wind spoke up again.

"Is no one going to answer me?" He asked. When no one answered, all looking at the fire or in random directions into the sky, he growled and stood up. "I'm not quitting till I get an answer."

"Um," Hyrule said, he cleared his throat when Time gave him the don't you dare look, "it's… friendship is the benefits. Just- ah… super close… friendship."

Wind didn't look convinced but Zelda decided to return at that moment, stacks of papers towering in her arms. "Sorry I took so long," she said, plopping down next to Wild, "I had to search for all of them in my travel bag…"

She brought the papers out and placed the stack on her legs, nimble fingers flicking the corners of the pages. "I heard laughter?" She said, as she searched through the papers, "I'm curious to what was so funny?"

Wild looked horrified for a moment and no one could stop Wind from folding his arms across his chest and speaking. "Just about how you and Wild are friends with benefits."

Zelda visibly started as Legend desperately made motions with his hands, trying to tell Wind to cut it off now.

Zelda looked at each member of the group with wide eyes before she turned to Wild, who looked like he'd rather be a puddle. "Did you-"

Wild shook his head and in one fluid motions he brought his hood above his head.

"Yeah," Wind continued, eye's narrowed mischievously, "at least that's what War-hmoh."

Warrior lunged forward and grabbed Wind by the mouth and locking him against his chest. "I'm sorry your majesty," he said, his smile way to nervous, "kid hears things while traveling, gets terms mixed up. Grew up on an island, doesn't know how to treat royalty-"

Wild let out muffled curses and struggled to get out of Warrior's grasp while Zelda studied them for a moment longer. She cleared her throat and looked back down to the papers. "It's alright. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you can read this?" She asked. She held out a small group of the papers and Warrior let go of Wind. Wind sat back down, looking satisfied.

Time reached out and took the papers. They were ancient and browned. The edges were torn and crinkled, the writing faded from years of being left alone.

"I don't recognize it," he said, looking at the characters. He passed it on, each Link saying they didn't recognize the writing, until it ended up in Legends hands.

He flicked through the papers and looked at the faded characters for a minute before he looked up. "it's a recipe of some kind," he said, "looks like for a health potion."

Zelda reached forward and grabbed the notes, flicking through them herself. "We're rebuilding the lab," she said quietly, "and we found hundreds of these papers. All notes and recipes I believe. It's fascinating." She looked up at the group, "if… before you leave, if you wouldn't mind helping me translate some of the papers."

Legend cleared his throat. "Of… of course."

Zelda smiled brightly and then turned to Sky, "so tell me about Skyloft. Are the legends about it true?"

Sky nervously smiled and folded his hands together. "That depends on the legends you have heard…"

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secret-engima · 5 years ago

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Snippet of Deleantur

(Was working on my other FFXV time-travel when this bunny bit me so here we go, a preview of the one-shot that I can already feel spiraling into the 10k+ length without my consent)

The world would forever remember the night of the Wave. The night when the Crystal, the symbol of the Astral’s blessing upon House Caelum and the source of their power, erupted into light and power so great it stretched to the horizons and beyond. The night when the full moon was outshone by the earth itself as magic blazed from the earth to the heavens, set the sky on fire and shook the world with the echo of a voice no one could quite understand —a voice that said No. Not this way. Not this time.—.

Lying in their beds, two brothers woke up screaming as the magic in their veins boiled over under the touch of the Wave as it passed over them. Their minds burned with visions of things that did not exist and had never happened even as the Oracle in her prayers collapsed in tears and every soul on the planet woke up with a feeling of fear and relief both.

For eighteen year old Somnus, the world turned dark with jealousy and red with blood. A throne sat cold beneath his skin and a crown heavy as a mountain on his head while deep voice called him fool and showed him the price of his greed —his line would never know true peace, his brother would suffer for ages and his line would end where it began: a familial sword through the heart—. For Somnus, the world became a grey landscape of duty and desperate regret, an endless attempt at apology that would never be heard by its recipient and that fell from his lips with his very last breath.

For twenty-one year old Ardyn, the world stretched on for a black eternity. His love died in his arms and the world burned around him and his voice laughed with glee as the night turned black and no one seemed to notice his desperate screams —no one could hear them over the laughter of the Thing living in his skin—. Reality broke into meaningless fragments and by the time it had reformed there was nothing left but regret for his continued existence and hate for the man who wore his brother’s face even though that man had done nothing wrong.

Somnus died old and beloved, with many children and grandchildren. Somnus died with tears of shame sliding down his face for all he had betrayed and all that he had sentenced his family to.

Ardyn died ancient and hated, with no line to call his own and only the tiniest fragments of humanity left in his soul to cry out in grief as he ended the last of his own family. Ardyn died with a snarl on his face and a sob of relief in what remained of his heart because finally, finally, he could rest.

The Wave passed on, tearing the knowledge out of their minds before it could break them. It rolled heedlessly across the sky, leaving them with only desperate impressions and echoes that drove them from their chambers and into each other’s arms where Somnus apologized past his tears for betrayals he did not remember —had never done— and Ardyn shook from relief at his release from a soul-deep agony he could not recall —had never suffered—. The rift that had been growing between them as Somnus sided with their father —who spoke of purging the growing plague in the lands by force— and Ardyn —who resisted with pleas for mercy and medicine— burned away under the anguished feeling that they had both lost each other —lost everything— and only just now found each other again.

The castle roiled with chaos as guards staggered under the pressure of the magic rushing by and every animal in the grounds and stables and kennels screamed with something they could sense but the humans had already forgotten.

By the time anyone rushed into the throne room to actually look upon the Crystal, the Wave was over and done, and the lone figure that had shimmered into existence on the throne had already staggered to his feet and fled into the dark of night. Past the panicking guards, past the screaming animals, out into the wilderness where no one could ask questions.

By the time anyone rushed into the throne room, all that was left was a passive Crystal and a throne drenched in blood, its back torn open at chest height like someone had driven a sword into it and then ripped it messily free.

No one understood why Ardyn took one look at the bloodied throne in the morning and fell to his knees sobbing like he was bearing witness to the end of the world, startling his father out of his angry theories about thieves receiving their just punishment for touching the Crystal with immoral hands. No one could explain why Ardyn pressed his forehead into the bottom step leading to the throne and whispered “thank you” over and over past his tears. Not even him.

No one could explain why Somnus for once ignored his father’s bluster about nobility staying dignified and knelt beside his brother, a hand on the elder’s back, tears trickling silently down his face as he mouthed “I’m sorry” to the bloody throne.

It took weeks to piece together the true ramifications of the Wave. It took months to confirm those ramifications.

The Starscourge was gone. The plague that had been warping people and animals into monsters had vanished without a trace. The ill who had been quarantined, covered in purple-black lines and lost to the torments of their mind, were now clear-skinned and sane —if confused, having lost all memory of the time they were sick—. The animals that had wandered the wilderness, spreading their sickness with their dripping fangs and limping about as if in great pain were either gone or seen trotting about in the distance, fur healthy and aggression settled to the levels of any of their respective kind. In every kingdom, every city, town, or village, every class from beggars to nobles, the Starscourge was nowhere to be found.

The Oracle consulted with the Astrals in search of answers about the miracle, but no answer was forthcoming. The Astrals were strangely silent, and their messengers did not come when called. They had nothing to say about the Crystal’s inexplicable surge of magic, or the bloody throne that sat beneath it, the stains refusing to come out no matter how the servants washed and scrubbed and repaired fabric or stone steps.

It was around that time that the other rumors reached their ears. Rumors of a stranger wandering the land, hunting monsters, protecting innocents, healing the sick…

Wielding magic.

Only two houses in the world could wield magic. That of the Lucis Caelums, blessed with a connection to the Crystal, and that of the Oracles, blessed with the ability to speak to the Astrals. For some unnamed stranger to appear from nowhere wielding magic, mere months after the Wave and its bloody throne… It was suspicious at best.

Their father assigned both Somnus and Ardyn to hunt down the stranger and see if he was the source of the Wave, or if he was just a pretender using sleight of hand to make people believe he was magical. If he was neither of those, but some kind of illegitimate half-blood, they were to bring the stranger back into the fold. By force, if necessary —there were to be no loose lineages, no wayward drops of magic escaped their family control—.

The two brothers, practically inseparable in the aftermath of the Wave, set off by themselves into the wilderness. They left their father’s soldiers and Somnus’s Shield, Gilgamesh, behind to watch over the Crystal. Working together, the two brothers were easily a match for some random stranger who might not even have magic. A few days after they started, Aera trotted up on her finest black chocobo. If there was a chance that this mystery person could shed light upon the Wave and the sudden silence of the Astrals, then as Bahamut’s chosen Oracle, she had a duty to question him.

Despite Somnus’s teasing groans about never having a moment’s peace from Ardyn’s and Aera’s affections for each other should she come along, both brothers welcomed her on their journey. They were as curious as she was to learn if the stranger was truly involved with the Wave after all.

They abandoned their fancy robes in favor of simpler, more travel-hardy wear within a week. Their royal clothing attracted too much of the wrong attention, and they would never get anywhere if they had to fend off bandits what felt like every fifteen minutes. They couldn’t hide their noble bearing of course, none of them knew how to act like peasants to save their lives, but dressing simply made bandits less likely to pay attention to them on the road and made the common folk speak more freely in the taverns and villages.

Out here it was easier to get more details on the stranger, though all the details were fuzzy and steeped in a level of awe Ardyn and Somnus thought unhealthy.

The stranger gave no name, no matter who asked or how many he saved. In fact, most rumors did not even recount him speaking —save for the rumors that he shook the skies with the words of the Astrals and could call down Bahamut’s blades at will, but those were nonsense—. Since the man had no name, the common folk had given the wanderer one. Deleantur. Very roughly, it meant the Erased in the old languages. That or Destroyer, and that name did not fill them with much confidence over procuring a friendly meeting. No one could explain why they called him Deleantur, only that it made sense when one looked upon him.

No one could tell them where Deleantur was going next either, and so they trailed him from village to village, always just a few days too late to catch up with the mysterious figure who left dead monsters and stories of miracles in his wake —revived a child torn open by monster claws with a tuft of feather, healed a man’s ruined arm by shattering a tiny glass bottle on it, cured a woman turned to stone with flash of magic—. All impossible tales, all sworn to by those they asked.

Then one day they finally arrived in a village where the people helpfully told them that Deleantur had just left less than an hour ago on chocobo back, if they hurried, they might still catch him before nightfall. They pushed their chocobos to near exhaustion, but found nothing more than dust and waving grasslands. Frustrated, they made camp for the night on a tall, flat rock, Aera carefully warding it with signs of blessing and safety just as she had all their other camps before.

Ardyn had the middle watch just in case —blessings did not stop bandits after all, only wild animals—, and despite being certain that he was awake every moment of his watch, sword balanced on his shoulder as he sat with his back to the fire, he still didn’t sense the stranger until the man kicked a tiny pebble on the rock’s surface.

Ardyn spun in alarm, sword in hand at the sound, raised his blade defensively at the sight of the stranger mere steps away from his sleeping brother and lover, “Who goes?”

His shout jerked Somnus and Aera from their sleep. Aera sat up sluggishly, unused to reacting to danger in the night —no one would dare touch an Oracle, and even before that the Mirus Fleuret line had possessed the fewest political enemies—. Somnus, on the other hand, was very used to assassination or kidnapping attempts happening in his sleep and tumbled out of his bedroll in a moment, sliding to his feet with a sword in hand like he’d been awake the entire time.

Both Ardyn and Somnus pointed their blades at the stranger, but hesitated to attack. The cloaked figure just watched them from beneath his hood, hands hidden beneath the tattered fabric. In the flickering firelight, Ardyn thought the man’s eyes gleamed eerie blue, but he couldn’t be certain. Somnus stepped closer, blue eyes snapping and blade far more ready to swing than Ardyn’s, “Who are you to come into our camp unannounced? Speak, vagrant! What is your purpose here?”

Aera had stumbled to her feet at that point, her trident clutched in sleep-shaky hands, and Ardyn shifted around behind his brother to reach his lover’s side and pull her to safety behind them. Through it all, the stranger didn’t move, just watched them.

Ardyn could almost see his little brother’s impatient twitch, barely resisted the urge to scold Somnus when the younger man gestured his sword at the stranger in threat, “Well? Answer me!”

Ardyn, uneasy at the continued, eerie silence, lowered his sword tip to the ground and tried to placate both his brother and the unmoving figure in their midst, “You startled us. Did you come to share our fire? It is cold tonight. We won’t take offense so long as you mean no harm.” Still nothing. He might as well have been talking to a breathing rock. Off to the side, their chocobos began to wake up, giving out soft “kwehs” of confusion —he really hoped the stranger didn’t scare them off, the next village was almost a week away on foot—.

Somnus opened his mouth, but Ardyn gently laid a hand on his brother’s wrist in a request for silence. More shouting was clearly not going to work, and someone losing their temper was the last thing they needed. Ardyn then pressed his hand to his chest, “I am Ardyn. This is my brother Somnus, and my … my friend, Aera. Do you have a name we might call you by?” A thought occurred to him and he added, as gently as he could, “Can you speak? I know the tongue of hands if that is what you prefer.” He added a few greeting gestures just to prove his point —and in case the stranger was deaf—.

Finally, the stranger reacted. His feet slid a half step away from them, and his head ducked down as if finally aware that he’d been eerily staring. Heedless —or just not afraid— of the sword Somnus still had pointed at his neck, the stranger looked away from them and into the darkness for several seconds before looking back and finally, finally, speaking.

“Why are you … following me.” Ardyn jolted at just how quiet the voice was. So raspy from disuse that the question was robbed of even its tone. Just flat words that had the strangest accent smudging them. It wasn’t a seaport accent, or a peasant’s drawl, or anything from the neighboring kingdoms. Not even the northern dignitaries that Ardyn had met once matched the accent of this rusty voice.

Then the words settled in his head and he exchanged a wide-eyed look with Somnus and Aera, “You are Deleantur?” Somnus blurted, his sword dipped downward a fraction before rising again.

The stranger made a funny little gesture with his shoulders that Ardyn couldn’t interpret, “…That’s what … some of the people call me.”

#Melodies and Manuscripts #Secret-Engima's Writing #ffxv au #ffxv noctis #ardyn #somnus lucis caelum #ffxv aera #ffxv time-travel fic #good guy ardyn #good guy somnus #these two will have a healthy sibling relationship so help me #and then they will adopt Noctis/Deleantur into their sibling dynamic #and it will be glorious #ffxv fixit fic

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coyotescribbles · 5 years ago

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Title: And Then There Were... Chapters: 1 Word Count: 2,280 Rating: PG

First there were eighteen.

Molly. Alec. Eli.

Shane. Addie. Marcus.

Rana. Theo. Jacob.

Dustin. Jay. Tarah.

Jason. Mai. Roman.

Kim. Damon.

And herself.

Eighteen lost, frightened, angry children, none older than six. All rounded up and bundled together and called "X-Ray."

It was chaos from Day One. They quibbled and jostled and fought over everything, from who got which bed to who got meals first to where they stood in the shower line. Alliances formed and cracked and broke apart on an almost daily basis.

But there was one thing they all seemed united about, and that was their dislike for Jeanette.

In typical child fashion, they'd singled her out for her small size and thick accent and poor English, and made her the group outcast. Suddenly, she found herself having to fight five times as hard just to hold her own.

It infuriated her.

It discouraged her.

She pushed on, anyway.

And, as the months ground on and their first year on Onyx drew to a close, the constant bickering and infighting died down. Her persistence and ferocity slowly won first grudging respect, then a gradual acceptance. Piece by damaged little piece, X-Ray began to coalesce into a team for the first time.

The second year dawned, and then there were fifteen.

Dustin, Jay, and Damon were "washed out," unable to keep up with the demanding classwork and the punishing physical demands placed on them.

Jeanette didn't see them again, after that.

The rest of them were given no time to process their collective loss. They had to keep up with the rest - keep up with and excel past, if they wanted to be Spartans.

And they very, very much wanted to be Spartans.

Days blurred into weeks blurred into months. They were constantly exhausted, physically and mentally, driven by a schedule that gave them no reprieve. They were growing, too, in fits and spurts that were physically painful, that made it hard to sleep and even harder to focus and function. They merely tightened their grips on one another and continued to forge on - taking more and more of their cues from Jeanette.

Jeanette, who was still small. Jeanette, who had all the ferocity and tenacity of a wolf. Who refused to take insults or attacks sitting down, whether they were directed at herself or her team.

Her team.

When had she started thinking of them like that? More importantly, did it matter? She decided that it did not. They were hers, and she wouldn't - couldn't - let them down.

Addie washed out. Then Theo. Then Kim.

And then there were twelve.

Autumn came, and by then they'd grown lean and gangly - small children masquerading as teenagers, all of them carrying more responsibility than most adults could tolerate. Roman plucked a stray silver hair from his head and they laughed at the absurdity of it all.

They slogged through winter, struggled through another spring. Summer marked the end of their second full year together with the promise of yet more trials to come. Still, they stumbled on.

Autumn fell amidst hushed whispers and half-heard arguments behind staff room doors. About what, they couldn't have possibly guessed, but it became clear that it had something to do with them when, one afternoon, they were rounded up from their exercises and brought to an empty classroom. Two strange adults stood at the front of the room, dressed in crisp black uniforms and looking very serious. They explained that they were from the Office of Naval Intelligence and that, after reviewing each team's overall performance, they'd personally selected X-Ray for "special training" - at a different location, separate from their peers and instructors, for an unknown period of time.

Jeanette had misgivings; something felt off about all of this. She had no say in the matter, though. They were to leave first thing in the morning, and that was that.

She didn't sleep that night. She couldn't, and when her favorite instructor found her wandering, she couldn't stop herself from spilling out her worries, either. Of course he reassured her - of course he did - with promises that it was only temporary, that she would be back in just a few short weeks.

He'd gathered her up, then, and carried her back to the barracks.

She'd fallen asleep on his shoulder before they were even halfway there.

----------

Marcus was the next to fall.

Quite literally, falling to his death at the foot of a towering desert mesa. Roman had nearly fallen, too, trying to catch him, but Molly had hauled him back before his own grip could fail him. They had then had to finish their climb while fighting back tears, knowing that even a moment of blurred vision could send them plummeting down to die alongside him.

And then there were eleven.

They hadn't even been allowed to grieve their loss, being harshly reprimanded for any show of emotion. Perfect soldiers didn't weep over the loss of the weak.

But they were not perfect, they were only children.

The weeks ground on. Their physical training intensified.

Jason was the next victim.

Tarah and Eli followed soon after.

And then there were eight.

Jeanette felt like she might break under the pressure of it all. Her body hurt, her heart hurt, her soul hurt and she was just so very tired... But she couldn't stop. She couldn't just leave them like that. She had to do something - but what? And how?

As she had so many times before, she found herself sneaking about after lights-out, prowling the darkened underground complex that had become their prison.

That was when she heard them - the DIs, talking quietly amongst themselves. One of them dropped the word "cull." Another casually spoke of "only needing to weed out three more" before commenting that then he'd "be able to get back to doing worthwhile work." Jeanette, however, barely heard that last part over the pounding of her heart and the rush of blood in her ears. '

They had been killing them - deliberately killing them, and they were going to kill more of them.

She didn't even pause to think over the situation, rushing back to the bunk room where the others slept to quietly wake them, to tell them what she'd heard, to hurriedly hash out the barest idea of an escape plan because that was all they had time for as they pulled on uniforms and boots and prepared to run.

They couldn't afford to waste a single minute.

In the end, they'd climbed, from the landing pad all the way down; it had been slow and treacherous, but they'd climbed down step by tentative step.

Mai had suggested taking one of the Warthogs parked by the lift doors not far away, and the rest of the team considered it for a few moments before nixing the idea - it would draw too much attention, and it would take too much time to push one out far enough to start the engine without alerting anyone to the theft. They would be better off on foot... or so they hoped, as they scraped out a shallow pit underneath the perimeter fence, wriggled free, and set out across the moonlit badlands of Onyx's desert.

The grasslands were only a dozen kilometers away. The outer fringes of the forest, only another twenty-five. As long as they kept to an easy jog, they would reach the cover of the trees before dawn.

For what felt like ages, the eight of them trotted along in silence, hyper-alert for any sign or sound of pursuit.

For a time, there was neither, and after a while they grew less vigilant.

After all, the edge of the forest was in sight, and once they'd reached the cover of the trees...

The sound of distant engines reached their ears, and X-Ray panicked, broke, and bolted. It took all Jeanette had to keep her own head and pull ahead of the rest, calling out to them to follow her, not to split up, to stay focused, but she was tired and they were all terrified and the Warthogs were growing closer by the minute.

She had to pull them back together. She couldn't afford to fail them, not now.

So she sacrificed precious seconds to fall back, to pull - physically, with Mai and Shane - the team back together, even as the Warthogs ate up the kilometers between them with every passing moment.

They had to get to the trees. Once they were in the trees, they would have cover, even makeshift weapons. They could cover the last hundred kilometers in relative safety, at an easier pace, and when they got back to Currahee their own instructors would be there. Kurt would be there. They would be safe.

But that was not to be.

The first to go was Rana.

Then Roman.

Then Mai and Shane in quick succession.

Jacob all but threw himself at the DIs, trying to disarm at least one. They killed him, too.

Seven, six, five, four, three.

Jeanette felt herself cracking steadily as bit by bit she failed. All she had left was Molly and Alec, two out of what had once been seventeen, and the DIs who were hunting them were relentless even on foot. When they inevitably caught up to them, she felt the desperation that Jacob must have felt as she turned, fully prepared to fight - only to be pulled back by Alec as he swung a fallen branch like a club over her head and into the face of the nearest DI. The man crumpled to the forest floor and a moment later Alec was on him, tearing his gun from its holster and throwing it at Jeanette's feet, screaming at her and Molly to run.

Molly did not run, but she did shove Jeanette back. Go, she'd said. Get help, she'd said.

We'll hold them off, she'd said.

Jeanette had been left with little choice but to snatch up the handgun and run, choking back the tears that threatened to blind her. Behind her, gunfire chattered and screams echoed through the trees, but she didn't dare look back, or even think about what was happening.

She just ran.

She'd failed. She'd failed all of them. Had tried to protect them, tried to save them, and she'd lost them anyway...

They were dead because of her.

But still, she fled. Despite the tears and the pain and the fear, she vanished into the trees and ran and ran and ran until she tripped on the roots of a sprawling banyan tree and tumbled to the ground. Her limbs and lungs burned like they were on fire, her head throbbed, her vision swam... she couldn't run anymore.

Shaking and sobbing quietly, Jeanette dragged herself into a hollow space beneath the roots of the tree and curled into a ball, still clutching the handgun Alec had thrown to her.

She didn't know how long she'd slept before the sounds of heavy footsteps and rustling undergrowth jolted her awake again - all she knew was that it was almost pitch-dark, and she was still being hunted. Did they have night-vision visors? She didn't know, though it seemed likely, meaning that they could no doubt see her, while she was nearly blind and helpless in the dark.

It occurred to her that it could be Alec or Molly, maybe even both - but if it were, surely they'd be signalling for her, waiting for her to sound a call back.

But there was only silence, broken by footsteps and leaves whispering.

She held the handgun tightly in both hands, shaking as she raised it, aiming it at the nothingness outside of her tiny shelter.

The footsteps drew nearer, and still there were no signals, no sign that it was her two remaining teammates.

Closer still, and now she could hear heavy breathing as well. There might have only been one person, or four, or five, it was impossible to tell. Her arms screamed in protest as she held the gun higher, tighter, finger hovering over the trigger.

A branch snapped.

The handgun sprang to life in her hands, spraying the undergrowth with bullets. Something fell, too close, and she squeezed herself further back into the hollow, letting the gun drop. There were no more footsteps. No more rustling. It was quiet once more.

She didn't move again until the first filtered light of morning turned the air silvery-gray - and then, she darted from her hiding spot and ran once more, not looking back.

And then there was one.

She fumbled through the forest for days, half-certain that she was lost. Once a day, she would climb up as high as she dared to try to get her bearings, before climbing back down again. Sometimes she kept to the trees, sometimes she was forced to the ground, and at all times she was taut and shaking with terror.

What had she done? What would she do?

What would happen to her?

She could hear Pelicans overhead, sometimes. Sometimes, she thought she heard movement in the underbrush again. Jeanette didn't let those things slow her down. She couldn't afford to. She had to be close to Currahee by now, and Currahee meant help. It meant safety.

It meant that maybe, hopefully, Alec and Molly and Jacob and the rest hadn't died in vain.

She clung to that hope like a lifeline. Clung to it as she recited their names and numbers over and over in her head.

She was still clinging to it when, as she crossed a shallow river, something hit her in the back.

There was a brief burst of pain.

And then the world went mercifully dark.

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vide0-nasties · 6 years ago

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on the alabaster stones

2.9k words, arthur morgan/f!oc, sfw: arthur morgan and wildwood bordelon prepare for their ramshackle, spur-of-the-moment wedding. spoiler-heavy, specifically for chapter 5: saint denis and on.

It’s a funeral as much as a wedding, Wildwood straightening his collar-length hair pushing it from his face. Her eyes are bloodshot, brimming, and she sniffles and sighs in effort to keep herself composed.

Her hands shake, and Arthur is sorry for it. He catches them and kisses them when he can. When she tucks a yellow wildflower into the breast pocket on his vest. When she tucks a purple one behind his ear. He brings her knuckles to his lips, and speaks against her skin without meeting her eyes, “Actin’ like you’re laying me out for burial, Perdie.”

Calls her by the name her mother kept gentle in her cupped hands. Snags her, tugs the thread of history between them to still her hands and catch her eyes.

“I’m makin’ peace being your widow,” she tells him, voice deep and dark as the bottom of a dry well. Her skin is pink under the evening sun, her freckles a pretty chestnut against it all. “There’s coming a fuckin’ reckoning, and chances are I won’t get to bury you. I want to do you right, even if it’s right now.”

He’s dying—by bullet or his vengeful lungs—and he’s leaving her behind. The way things are going—the way she is acting—he will go first, but she won’t be trailing far behind him.

The train station is off a ways, Monroe and Calderón farther away from it then they are now. Arthur’s chest burns through every searing breath. He is being very careful now not to cough near her. He will not damn her if he can help it.

He worries for her, for everyone, but for her especially. Now, and in the future. He does not want her to be alone. Gets too sharp when she’s alone too long.

Her hands smell green from picking flowers, smell like gun oil and cordite from the shootout.

“I want you to go with John and Abigail after,” he says. “Take our horses, go do something decent.”

She gives him an empty look, as if she wants to fight him on this, just can’t figure out how. There’s been two plans ever since the return from Guarma and the diagnosis, forking in the road where he either lives or dies. The fork where he lives gets dimmer and more overgrown, less navigable with time and every mounting tragedy and fuck-up.

“It’s all our faults,” she sighs instead, letting him hold her hand to his chest, rubbing the side her thumb his own. “We all done killed ourselves, sprintin’ blind into the darkness, tryin’ to chase an endless summer that never existed.”

“Yeah, we just about did,” he agrees. Every death was senseless, every death was brought upon themselves. Greed and wantonness and recklessness. And now they’re almost all too far gone to escape the sink.

He worries. He worries.

“Are you going to be okay?” Part of him regrets asking. Part of him wants to hurt, the part that sees Wood for how low she’s been cast.

Thin and gaunt in her dirty shirt, wearing boots stolen off a soldier’s corpse, her rust-colored hair shorn shorter than any of them’s ever seen, and her seams literally fraying. The once rich embroidery on the lapels of her vest comes unsewn, blurring and ruining the original detail of the work. They used to be dripping poppies and willow switches on plum corduroy. Now it is a field of loose silk threads.

Her right eye, blind and milky, surrounded by angry, red scars that have yet to settle into her skin.

“I’m gonna live, even if it ain’t gonna be a happy life,” she admits. “It’s a bridge to burn if I reach it.”

Arthur can’t stand the defeat weighing her upper body down, like her arms and shoulders are too heavy to lift. Wood has never been accused of being an optimist, but she’d never faced her death with ‘when’ or 'if,’ only a faint, morbid curiosity. As if death was a thing that happened only to other people, and she was sure ponderous how life leaving the body felt.

A concept in the abstract. An animal’s understanding.

The first words he’d ever heard from her were screamed with the deepest offense he’d ever heard taken. “YOU can’t kill ME!” screeched almost eighteen years ago at the chicken-necked sheriff escorting her to the hanging rope for attempted murder, grand larceny, and horse theft. Disgusted that this lowly little lawman thought he could get his hands on her pelt for a trophy.

Little no-named outlaw. They all were, back then. Bunch of losers and wash-outs and orphans stuck on an ideal. Still are, in a way.

And, ah, fuck, it gets him laughing. She was pretty lamb-necked back then, herself, and the horse she’d stolen liked to eat meat and was renamed for the equine prince of hell.

“Perdie, we’re blowing up the bridge,” he says, feigning wide-eyed ignorance and misunderstanding in the face of her confusion. “I mean, if you wanna come with me and Johnny, all’s you gotta do is ask.”

He can only grin when her blank look slides fast into a sneer, trying half-heartedly to take her hand back. “Fais pas ça! Arrête ça—bastard, little boy-child, tryin'a make a fool of me,” she tries to snap through her cackling. Even with her crows feet, even with the elastic lines hugging her mouth, she looks so young. He wishes things had happened differently.

He squeezes her hand, takes a step forward, then another, following her insincere retreat. “Never—I wouldn’t never,” he protests, reaching for her other arm as he smears a mockery of contrition over his expression.

“Enough, couillon,” she snorts, wearing her dimple and missing tooth out for his benefit. She swats away his arm without sting and sighs. Looks a little less close to crying. “Got a cleaner shirt in your saddlebag? And a dabber? Want this blood of my face, me.”

Finally, he lets go of her, but she tangles their fingers for the duration of their slow fall. “Sure, something’s clean enough. That blue one, I think, but it's better torn up for rags.”

“Love that shirt.”

“I know you do. Wouldn’t surprise me none if you wore it til it fell apart on your back.”

Wood mutters to herself in that French of hers—the Cajun kind she spoke before she knew English, that she forgot with the blow to the head that turned her like spun-dime heads-or-tails from Perdita to Wildwood, and learned again—as she strips out of her layers. With her vest, shirt, and chemise thrown over the seat of his saddle, he gets a good look at the livid bruises cropping up on her ribs and the points of her hips.

But he refocuses—he knows he’s not a specimen of health, himself, right now—and concentrates on the ocean of freckles that turn her shoulders and elbows orange-brown, and that he knows her knees are almost as colorful. He concentrates on his shirt sliding over her arms, down her torso, too-too big but comfortable, and how he thinks she looks fine and lovely in that shade of blue.

He reminds himself to make sure that shirt is in her saddlebag if he feels like the end-all-be-all shit is about to go down. His buck skin jacket, too. Whatever he owns is hers, anyway.

“Hey, Wood?” he calls, using his thumb nail to scratch his adam’s apple, then drops his hand to his gun belt. When she looks over her shoulder—her left, now always her left—he shifts his weight and does his damnedest to make eye contact, though he ends up looking at her feet like a chastised dog. “I love you, is all. Just wanted to say that.”

“…I know you do, Arthur Morgan. I love you, too. Got a powerful love on for you."

"Still don’t understand why,” he chuckles, a little bittersweet, “but I guess I’m luckier for your poor judgement.”

He can hear the frown in her voice, all the scars left on her through the years, “Ain’t neither'a us been loved any right kinda way, cher.”

If he tries to swallow that sentiment, he will choke to death on it. Too big, too many sharp edges. But fortune continues to favor him, because she finishes up doing her borrowed buttons and does an about-face, hands on her hips. “You got them rings, boug?”

He does, and pats his satchel to show her. Pleased enough, she motions him closer, wetting an old bandana with water from her canteen. When he’s close enough to feel the warmth come off his Fox Trotter, smell the soap oil off her tack, he loads his repeater and shotgun back into the saddle scabbards. He pushes out of his shotgun coat after he’s slung the satchel’s strap over the saddle horn, layers it over Wood’s clothes already on the seat.

“Aw, Penny, thank you,” he croons, scratching her croup over her meaty haunches, watching her chew the bit and let her head droop. “Get treated like a clothesline and still actin’ like a proper lady.”

“She’s a good lil pony,” Wood agrees, “makes me feel awful for still missin’ Boadicea.”

“Penny ain’t little,” he says, half-offended, letting Wood strip him of his gloves and roll his shirtsleeves to the elbow. “Ain’t no pony either.”

Wood carefully takes the flower from behind his ear and flicks it back into the grass waving and rolling around their shins, maybe having decided she no longer preferred it, and keeps his hair pushed back with one hand as she begins to wipe the grime from his forehead.

The water is cool against his face, and, without his layers, he can feel the breeze that much better against his skin. He tries to keep from thinking about the way his body just look, how his face must look—bone and gristle and bruises and nothing else—feeling goosebumps prickle over his forearms.

“I know,” Wood hums. “Just miss Boadi, is all. Big ol’ beef steak, lazy as all kinds'a hell. But that’s just 'cause you spoiled her big ass. That’s your bad habit: spoilin’ things what love you, not disciplinin’ things what love you.”

“I…I dunno.” He can’t accuse her of being wrong. Boadicae had been fat and happy and slow until hell broke loose and he had to call on her for action, then she would drop her head and go to work like the devil’d lit a fire under her belly. Even Copper had never learned sit, drop, or stay, but he’d been loyal and unceasingly soft-mouthed and docile.

Isaac…

Arthur almost retreats from the memory. He’d seen so little of the boy through his short life. It felt wrong to tell him no for any reason. Eliza told him it made her feel like a villain when he showed up with a pack of chocolate bars and picture books and whatever little somethings had caught his eye. She hadn’t been unkind about it, either.

Said it with a peeved sort of fondness that told the intrusion was easily tolerated—even a little welcomed—because it would be forgotten a few days after he made himself gone again.

But, hell, even with Wood, he’d gone and inundated her in their new, short time. A saddle from the trapper, an Algernon Wasp hat and a corset, jewelry. Paid for their Saint Denis dinners, bought her ammo and a Litchfield repeater. He loves her, he needs her to know that, and he can’t figure a way to show better.

But she gave it back. Reciprocated. Cooked for him, took him dancing, killed them that tried to kill him first. Held him and made room for him and roared to silence rooms for his voice to be heard. Touched him and gentled him and tugged him outta the dark when he’d wanted to stay there.

She stole him a horse, one of the best he’s ever had.

The wind hits his face and dries to cool, clean sheen on his skin, making him shiver. It picks up his hair, and Wood’s, and in the dying light they both look a little golden.

She opens the collar of his shirt to clean his neck and chest, then moves to his forearms and hands. She pays extra attention to his fingers, the nail beds.

“What was I? Probably nineteen or twenty, when I told you I loved you that first time?”

“Yeah. 'Bout right. Made me that nice dinner.” Salmon seared in cast iron, crispy and drowning in butter and fresh pepper and lemon grass.

“Just askin’, 'cause I’d been sitting around with this picture of you in my head. Been down around Wyoming, saw that wild little scrub pony while we was getting, I dunno, something for camp. All hushed, you told me to watch, and you just walked right up to her, all slow and quiet. Started petting her, had her eating from your hand.”

He doesn’t remember that. They’re’ve been so many horses since then, wild or otherwise. It makes him ache he can’t remember her memory.

“It just crushed me. I never fell in love like that. And you looked a lot like you do now, with the sun going down behind your hair, giving you a halo. Like you one'a them saints in the cathedral glass, or like Mary holding a lamb.”

She sighs and wrings out the bandana, satisfied enough with his cleanliness. “Was always something holy 'bout you. Above and below and the middle of the world’s rot and distemper. Thought you were meant and due a different life than this the one we got.”

She re-wets the bandana and cleans herself up, with only a fraction of the gentleness she’d used on him. It is quick, and efficient, and if he sees her hands work over the quarter of her face with the blind eye a little rougher, a little more fearful, he says nothing.

“Uh, one night,” he starts, not understanding where he wants to go with this confession, “you were dancing with Dee, after he got you carrying Louis. And then you lost Louis not much later, and Dee left…I loved you, and I was real angry at the world for a long time about that happening to you. I was angry at myself. If I hadn’t left you that first time, you might not’ve been hurt like that.”

Already sober and sad, it gets worse. She’s dressing him for burial and marriage, both. Doing it now because she might not get to later. “You keep losing people, Wood. It ain’t right.”

“I have them a little while before I lose them. This life is short, and at the end of it there ain’t nothing but a dreamless dark-everlasting. Rather taste ash than nothin’ at all.”

Arthur feels a finality in those words, a hammer cocked on a pistol, aimed down at some un-bowed head. Rather taste ash than nothing at all. Looking back at a wreckage of a life, and pinpointing glitter of better times in the debris.

“I hate that I didn’t marry you the day we met,” he laughs, shaking his head.

“Would’ve been hard, what with that rope on my neck, and all them bullets flying. Y'all boys always knew how to brew a shitstorm,” she snorts back. “And, 'sides, we’re jumpin’ the broom now. Better late, et cet'ra.”

Speak of the devil, and he doth appear, or the saying goes, and Wood roots through his satchel to retrieve the little silk bag with their rings. Cleaned and refitted by a jeweler in Saint Denis, briefly abandoned during the catacylsmic exodus to Guarma, and used through the years in countless scams, they were familiar and, frankly, worth as much as a tin nickel outside of sentiment.

But they were emblematic, and they are theirs. Cheap yellow gold, fitted with that fraudulent hunk of green glass Margaret had passed off for a priceless emerald, polished to a spit-shine. History, old and new, something she could hopefully wear both pieces of after the inevitable comes to pass.

They marry as the sun dips fat and slow below the horizon, with only a mouthful of promises passed between them. They kiss, and they kiss, and they keep kissing, pressed close and shivering against each other’s bodies.

It makes Arthur hope and hurt and want to see the world that comes after this private apocalypse. The one where guns are put in the ground, where they spend their lives decently, atoning for the blood they cannot possibly wash from their hands.

Where the dreamless dark-everlasting is met with him hand-in-hand with the woman he’d spent his life with, and not kneeling head un-bowed facing down the barrel of divine retribution’s revolver.

“The world gonna remember the good you left in it, Arthur,” Wildwood Morgan tells him, her arms wrapped tight around his waist, “I’m thankful for having seen you rise into it.”

#red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #I was threatened to put this in the tags #OC: Wildwood #rags wrote a thing #s'cuse the ending I'm bad at them

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that-buckley-gal · 6 years ago

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Powerless - (Final) Chapter Eighteen

December 14, 1945

It’s now been seven months since Bucky died and five since Steve disappeared and believed to be dead. After leaving Italy, I didn’t know where I could go, if I could go anywhere.

When I finally arrived in the states, I was directed to and eventually locked up on Ellis Island for about two days trying to prove I was a natural-born American who’s been on vacation in Europe for the past two years. I had American citizenship. The only way I got through was by quietly telling the person who was handling my case was by showing her my marriage license, my birth certificate, and confirming the truth that my brother was Captain America, rest his soul. Only then was I allowed to place a call to the number Howard gave me along with the address. Slightly concerned about the time, 5:43 AM, I thought I should try again later in order to not disturb whoever it was I calling. “Hello, this is Jarvis,” a smooth voice rang out from the other end just before I was going to hang up the phone. “Oh, um. Hello,” I said nervously. “I hope I’m not bothering you, sir. But Howard, uh, Stark gave me this number – ” “Madison Barnes, I assume?” Jarvis asked, more alert this time. “Um, yes,” I weakly confirm. “Are you in danger or in need of any assistance?” He asked, and I knew the poor man was fully awake now. “Um, I just need some help getting out of this place, I guess. I had to go through immigration,” I say. “Give me forty minutes, and I’ll be there.” “Thank you, sir.” I waited forty minutes, and then a man in a suit came and got me out of there. Only once we were safely strapped in in a car and driving away did he properly introduce himself as Edwin Jarvis, Howard’s household butler who was, up until now, on indefinite vacation from his post. He expressed gratitude for calling him right away instead of letting him sit around a while longer. We drove around the city for a while, and got breakfast at an automat where a spunky girl served us; she was slightly proud in admitting she’d just started working there and was aspiring to be on Broadway. She was adamant that we leave with the belief that we would see Angie Martinelli on Broadway in the near future. Shortly after that, Jarvis drove me to Howard’s mansion where I would be staying until he returned, and said I could call him any time if I needed anything else. Later, in the beginning of May, World War II officially came to an end with the Nazis surrendering to the Allied Forces. It didn’t bring me any consolation other than slight relief that my baby wouldn’t have to grow up in a world at war. Shortly after that, Howard came back to New York as well and said that, if I wanted to, I could continue to live at the mansion while he went looking for Steve. I accepted the offer and he took his leave again. He would pop back in every now and again with news of his findings – apparently he came across the Tesseract in his search for Steve, and he brought it to his own lab for further research. His sporadic visits, and my rarely leaving the house, lead the press into printing news that I was his wife and that he was the father of my child. Speaking of the baby, Stefan James Barnes was born on June 20, 1945 at 7:43 in the morning. Labor was a pain, and my only support was Jarvis, not that I minded so much; apparently Howard was on his way home to come see that everything was okay, even though it was. Stefan was 6 pounds, 8 ounces and measured in at 20 inches. He didn’t cry too much after he was out, and despite my deep desire to hold him, I didn’t. He was my baby, yes, but he was out. Seeing him there, knowing he would never be cared for or taught right from wrong by Bucky or Steve, or even fully understand who they were as people depressed me and I couldn’t bring myself to hold him. A few hours passed before I managed to convince myself that it would be all right to hold him. I picked him up and held him for hours until he finally woke up from his nap. When I saw the color of his eyes, I knew I would never let him go and would sooner die rather than let anyone try to hurt him. Stefan had Bucky’s eyes. So, my life moved along as my baby grew everyday. Occasionally the thought to try to call Peggy or let her know I was at least okay and alive crossed my mind, but something told me she already knew. On the first day of August, I received an envelope that confirmed it. There was no return address. When I did open it hours later, I found it was nothing but a congratulatory note from Peggy on my birth. I figured she must’ve talked to Howard because she wouldn’t know Stefan’s name otherwise. I also recovered the vial of the super-soldier serum from my old apartment back. My old acquaintance, Dottie, was now living in my and Steve’s old apartment. I met her husband, Jack Thompson, who was also her first boyfriend who she met up with when Steve left her at the World Expo. He was a little weary of my being Captain America’s sister, but otherwise welcomed me into my former home. Since Dottie was so empathetic, I decided to express a desire to say goodbye to my home. She convinced Jack to take a quick walk with her to give me time to be alone. As soon as they were gone I went to my old room and pried up the floorboards that hid the serum, grabbed the bottle and returned to the living room just as the couple returned. I wished them a happy life together, and Dottie and I parted ways on a happy note. When I got back home, I sent Jarvis off to his own home for the rest of the day. Partly because he needed a break every once in a while, and partly because I wanted to break into Howard’s lab to grab something smaller than what I had now to present the serum to Howard.

Howard returned, leaving his team to continue his search for Steve. He and I spent the day, as usual, in the lab. Me doing paperwork, and him doing what it was he did. I’d just returned from feeding Stefan when I decide now was a good time as any to give Howard the serum. Taking a deep breath, I stop writing down information and look up at Howard. He was observing the Tesseract again. I call his attention to me and grab the vial from my desk drawer and hold it up. “I have this vial of Erskine’s serum,” I stated. Howard’s eyes popped open and his jaw slacked. He barely managed to stammer out, “How did you get it?” “Uh… Don’t be too mad, but he gave it to me just before Steve’s transformation. He, uh, he trusted me to keep it a secret ‘until the time was right’ and it just feels like now is the right time.” Howard gently swipes the serum from me and eyes the vial hungrily before looking at me. “Do you have any more?” He asked hopefully. I bite my lip and shake my head. “No. This is all that Erskine trusted me with. Nobody besides him knew I had it.” “Oh, wow. This is really amazing,” Howard gushed. “Thank you for trusting me with it.” “Well, it’s not going to do any good just sitting there,” I say with a shrug. “I’ll have to use this sparingly if I’m ever going to figure it out. And also find a way to get my hands on Erskine’s original research.” I could hear Stefan beginning to cry, and left Howard to his own devices as he continued to mutter things about what he needed and plans on how he could possibly get what he needed. Stefan was such a good baby. He’d usually stop crying as soon as I entered the room. The almost-six-month-old gurgled and reached out his hands. Knowing he wanted to be held, I just smiled at him and picked him up. He was my little boy and I was going to spoil him, especially since the only other two people in my life currently weren’t going to try to stop me as they spoiled him too. “HEY – MADI? Can you come here for a sec?” Howard called. “Ooh, what’s uncle Howie gonna need now?” I ask Stefan, who only giggles. “Can you said ‘Howie’?” “Ooh,” the baby cooed. “Oww-ee.” “What’s up?” I ask once we enter the room. Howard had set the serum on his table, and appeared to be moving papers while trying to clean up a spilled cup of coffee. Concerned for my scatter-brained boss, I step further into the lab. “If you could just move your shield to your workstation and out of my way, it’d be appreciated,” Howard said. Looking by his feet, I could see my shield was on the ground, feet away from Howard. Shaking my head at him, I walk over and grab it. “What are you even doing?” I ask once I step towards my station, still having Stefan secured in one arm, and the shield in the other as I look for a place to set it that wasn’t ‘in the way’. “Trying to figure out how I can balance the serum and the Tesseract,” Howard said nonchalantly. “And I’ve come to a decision that I need to pick one.” “All by your self?” I ask. “Ha, ha,” Howard said drily. I snigger to myself before kicking a box away, not knowing where it would go. Only when I heard a crash did I look up to see that the box had crashed into a shelf, which was already on the verge of collapsing, and made the whole thing fall apart. Everything that was strategically stacked on it went crashing to the floor. One of the larger, more pointless, things (a large ball of some sort that I still didn’t know what Howard used it for) went rolling in the direction of the triangular table that stood behind Howard, and took out one of its legs. The table now balanced on two legs, and cringing, I watch as it fell, dropping more papers and the case the Tesseract was in. The glass case broke, letting the Tesseract free bounce away. When everything finally stilled, I looked at Howard apologetically while Stefan started giggling at the mess. “I am so sorry.” Instead of being angry, like I would understand him to be, he just gave a weak shrug and a tight chuckle. “Don’t worry about it, kid. I probably needed new furniture in here anyway.” “But still. I should’ve just – ” The Tesseract, that was seemingly unaffected, suddenly let off a large emission of power that was headed straight for me. Instead of jumping out of the way, I curl up around Sebastian who started to cry, and cover us with the shield. “MADI!” The shield turned blue, and I could feel the Tesseract’s power engulf Stefan and myself. I couldn’t stop it, but whatever happened, if we survived this, I knew I would do whatever it took to keep Stefan safe. A loud ‘CRACK’ sounded and I heard myself screaming, from both fear and frustration because, for the first time in my life, I felt completely powerless.

#powerless #bucky barnes #captain america #the first avenger #steve rogers

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imgilmoregirl · 7 years ago

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Love and Honour

AO3 Link

Summary: Rumford had never expected to become king, but he also didn't expect to fall for the dowager of the enemy.

Notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters and storylines in the show. This is just a fanwork made for fun. This is based both in the Cousin's wars books and the English history itself, which both I obviously don't own.

So I've had this dream about Rumple being Richard III and Belle being Queen Anne a few days ago and I couldn't help myself but to write this slightly pointless one-shot. Have some fun! ;)

Rumford wasn’t born to be much a thing. The fourth son of a family hardly gets to be important, but he never had great expectations as he learned to relish in following his brothers in their wars, being guided by love and honour whenever he went to. He had been to many places, fought many battles, however he always did it in order to help one of his brothers, never for himself, but it all changed in the night the English crown was restored to Henry.

It had been a massacre. Gaston’s army stricken down easily, the dead bodies filling the field and painting the grass with red. He conducted his army to the sanctuary, where the women, children and servants were certainly hiding with the intention of taking them out and murdering them too, until the moment he saw her. One of his men had just throw her on the floor and she yelled harsh things at him and everybody who attempted approaching her, the blue dress she wore now ruined by the mud, her dark hair a mess of curls. Rumford had never seen her in such disarray, but also had never noticed how strong she could be.

He walked towards the girl – because even if she was now a widow, she was just eighteen and she would always be a girl in his mind, he had seen her growing up after all – offered her a hand, and for the first time she didn’t scream, only blinked a pair of cerulean eyes in his direction, seeming to be confused with the gest. The duke smiled at her, trying to get her to trust him again.

“Lady Belle, it is good to see you again. How infortune that we ended in opposite sides of this war, but I’m sure I can convince Henry of your innocence, you were only a pawn for your father and husband’s interests. He will forgive you and I will assure you stay safe.”

Swallowing hard she nodded, finally taking his hand and rising up on her feet.

“Is my husband dead?”

“Yes,” Rumford answered, analysing her face. “I need to know if you had any children with him while you were in France.”

Considering the war, they were facing at the moment, Lady Belle knew this question could come at any moment, because any heir Gaston could have had would be a threat for Henry in the future and he surely would kill them for his own family’s safety and it only made her glad to have not conceived during their miserable year of marriage. She was a pawn, Rumford was right. Her father was obsessed in making one of his daughter’s the Queen of England, but when marrying her sister to one of Rum’s brother didn’t work well, they had fled to Paris where Gaston – her cousin - the heir of one of the royal houses lived, waiting for the moment he could finally bring an army to the country and claim the throne. Belle had been forced to marry him and it was the worse thing that had ever happened to her.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” she finally said. “He has left no heir, title or money in this Earth.”

Rumford nodded, his face a mask of relief as they continued to hear the horrible sounds of people being dragged off the sanctuary, just as what would surely have happened with Belle if he hadn’t arrived in time. But he was glad he did.

“Come on then, I’ll take you home, all by myself.”

There was a moment of hesitance. She knew him ever since she was a child. Her father, earl Maurice had once worked for the royal family, had been one of Leopold’s most beloved counsellors and soldiers, but now he was dead, just like her despicable husband and Belle was alone. She remembered how happy she was the day her mother had said they would ask for the King’s blessing so she could marry Rum, but he never allowed it. He didn’t want the kingmaker to have a way to put one of his daughter’s in his throne.

In the past, she had been foolish enough to believe she could have a nice life beside a nice man, but now she wasn’t a naïve girl anymore, she was a smart woman who would played whatever games she must to stay alive. She accepted the hand Rum was stretching out for her and followed him to the horses, decided to make her own fate.

Belle was taught to hate Queen Cora. Her father had splendid plans to Henry until he fell for her, a mere peasant, and made her his queen, all in secret. Maurice and the King’s relationship was never the same after that betrayal, which was why this war started, as England couldn’t have such a vile woman in its throne and her father dreamed to have one of his daughters in her place. He married her sister Briar to Stephan, but when he couldn’t crown them, both fled back home and asked forgiveness to Henry.

As she walked inside the great hall with Rumford by her side, Belle saw the whole royal family gathered in a corner, looking down at the new prince. Cora didn’t have boys until now, only two girls, Regina and Zelena and the arrival of this child was going to make her reign unbreakable. Belle bowed for them, begged for forgiveness and was designated to become her sister’s lady in waiting. She was no one now. Daughter of a traitor. Dowager of the enemy.

Rumford had just arrived London when he heard of his brother’s intentions of locking Lady Belle in an abbey. She was becoming a problem, asking for her part of her father’s fortune and wishing to marry again so she could leave her sister’s house, but Stephan didn’t wish to allow it, because he wanted all of her money and, if they sent them to the abbey, he could get it easily, but Rum couldn’t allow this to happen.

He knew the castle very well and found the secret passage to Belle’s bedchambers, paying the guards for their silence as he broke in, startling the girl who had been reading a book by the window.

“Rum?” Belle questioned with wide eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking you away from this prison…” he trailed off seeing the hesitation in her eyes and adding: “Unless you don’t want to.”

She stood up, casting her book aside and walking towards him, analysing the duke’s face in search of any clue that he was just playing with her, but he looked extremely serious and determinate, which made her heart flip with the kind of hope she didn’t get to feel ever since her family fled from England and she discovered she would soon have to become a tough woman and bury that silly girl she once had been, forever.

“Oh, yes, I do,” the lady guaranteed. “But, where should I go to? I have no money, no lands and no family.”

He shook his head and took her hand in his. The gentleness of his touch brought some kind of blush to her cheeks that she had never experienced before – not even at the times she dreamed with her father’s promise of making her Rumford’s wife.

“My darling, if you accept, I’ll take you to a church right now and become your husband,” he proposed. “You’ll be equal to your sister. A duchess, and I’ll retrieve your fortune. Now, will you marry me?”

There it was, the chance she was waiting for, to change her whole life, and do it herself. Belle allowed a soft kiss to fill her lips as she nodded to him, several times, unable to contain her excitement.

“Yes!”

Leaning forward, he kissed her lips and she realised that she had never been kissed that way, with love, passion and kindness.

Most people thought that Rum shouldn’t feel happy with what he had. When you’re Royal, you always want ascend, get a better title, earn more gold, even attempt to become the ruler of the country, but he didn’t want any of those things, because he relished in the life he acquired.

Once he and Stephan had divided the kingmaker’s daughters’ fortune between themselves, he took his new wife as far away from London as he could without offending his brother and they settled on her old home. Belle didn’t want to attend court never again if she could, of course she knew that eventually they would have to, but for now she was just going to enjoy those first blissful weeks of their marriage.

Belle had, unfortunately, never been loved. She was forced into her first marriage, her husband wasn’t gentle or kind, he barely talked to her and they never shared one good moment for her remembrance. However, things were fairly different with Rum. He adored her, he taught her what being in love was and everything he did was for her, so even when he said they needed to go back to London for the Christmas celebration, she didn’t complain, because she knew her husband would protect her from anything.

It didn’t make Cora be any nicer to her. The woman hated her father and he hated her, which obviously made her hate Belle nonetheless and the fact she had married Rum without the King’s blessing, only got her angrier. But none of them cared for it, they were happy and it was all that mattered.

Rumford’s heir, Gideon, came just after they celebrated their first wedding anniversary. He was a very loved boy with a great future ahead and neither Rum nor Belle could ever manage to stop spoiling him.

For a couple of years everything was nice and calm, until it came the day in which King Henry died and suddenly nothing was the same, because a big power Rum never thought he could have was within his grasp and he found out that sometimes people choose it over love, but that was his biggest mistake, because in the day he was crowd King of England, he didn’t know he was signing up to lose everything he had, including the woman he most loved in his whole life. However, for a while, as Belle - wearing a gorgeous golden gown - took his hand and they walked along the great hall, with their son following them, he ruled their world and he had the illusion that he had finally reached greatness and it was enough.

At least, for a while.

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #mine #writing #rumplestiltskin #belle french #au #war of roses au #ao3 #fanfic #i know this is not what i should've been posting #but not chapter was finished today #tomorrow maybe

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ohcnnes-archive · 7 years ago

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The Milton’s: Northlake’s Happiest Tragedies

ft. Christine Evans, Jonathan Milton, Jacklyn Milton, Anne Milton, Daniel Milton, and Hera contents: history, quick facts, and too much detail for a bunch of npc’s written by: sam, avoiding her uni work as per the usual triggers: death, depression implications

Christine Sarah Evans ( mother )

better known as: Chris

faceclaim: Madchen Amick

age: forty eight (born: 1969)

occupation: chiropractor

relationship status: widow, casually dating but considers herself single

zodiac: sagittarius

Jonathon Robert Milton ( father )

better known as: Jonny

faceclaim: Simon Baker

age: deceased at thirty eight (born: 1966, died: 2004)

occupation: military major

relationship status: died married to Christine Evans

zodiac: taurus

Jacklyn Diana Milton ( older sister )

better known as: Jackie

faceclaim: Tiera Skovbye

age: twenty one (born: 1996)

occupation: studying in Chicago, part time kitchen hand in a steakhouse

relationship status: recently started dating Xavier Levy (fc: Bob Morely, born 1994, met through friends)

zodiac: gemini

Anne Marie Milton

better known as: Anne

faceclaim: Lili Reinhart

age: eighteen (born: 1999)

occupation: Senior at Northlake High, babysitter

relationship status: dating Blake Henley (fc: KJ Apa, born 1999, met by being long time friends and neighbours) officially for the past 8 months

zodiac: virgo

Daniel Paul Milton ( younger brother )

better known as: Dan

faceclaim: Ross Lynch

age: sixteen (born: 2001)

occupation: Sophomore at Northlake High

relationship status: single

zodiac: aquarius

Hera ( family angel )

better known as: Queen of the House

faceclaim: any white and cream cat tbh

age: two (born: 2015)

occupation: owning everyone in the Milton household

relationship status: the girl every man wants

zodiac: scorpio

History

note: um this is long as shit so first paragraph is about Jonathon, second about Christine, third about the start of their family, fourth about the loss of Jonathon (this where all the triggers are), fifth is about Jacklyn, sixth is about Anne, seventh is about Daniel

The Milton family has had at least one relative with their name in Northlake for the past four generations, and most of that time it had been large families. Jonathon Milton, being the eldest brother of four, was always expected to carry on this legacy. Born and raised in Northlake he was well loved by the community, as Milton’s had always been, but he had no direction in life. There was nothing keeping him in Northlake but there was nothing inspiring him to leave either. By the time he finished high school he had no idea what to do. He worked in Northlake for a while, but doing odd jobs here and there but wasn’t living. Joining the army gave him a purpose, something to focus on. It wasn’t until his mid twenties that he really felt he could continue on this Milton legacy. Of course, it was when he met newly local chiropractor: Christine Evans.

Christine Evans was very different from Jonathon Milton. An only child raised by single father. She travelled all across America during her growing up due to her father’s work. Most of her childhood she lived in motels, doing her her homework under a broken desk light. Her first chance at stability was college, and even then she quickly lost contact with her father, forcing her into a whole new world of challenges alone. She didn’t know any other relatives and after a few months of being bitter, alone, and tired in college, already swimming in debt: she didn’t want to know them. They’d never known her so why would they help her. She quickly learned she had to help herself. And that’s how she survived. She never relied on anyone for anything. Until she moved to Northlake, working as a chiropractor and met Jonathon, a soldier visiting home before his next deployment.

They were like two lost souls finding their home. Hitting it off within in moments of laying eyes on each other for the first time. Within a year they were married and by the next Christine was pregnant. An element of their relationship always felt rushed, maybe it was because they were only ever seeing each other for months at a time, and then not seeing each other for longer. But that’s how they were. Shortly after Jacklyn’s birth, the two were able to save up and by a small house of their own, by Jonathon’s childhood home. It was important to keep the family nearby, no matter how much Christine protested that she could handle it on her own. Over time Christine let her walls down, she became reliant on her new family and no longer doing absolutely everything on her own. But the further Jonathon progressed in his career, the more money he made for his family, but the less he was around. Their family grew two more times in the arrival of Anne and then later Daniel over the next five years.

It had been almost fifteen months since they last saw Jonathon Milton when they received the news. Killed in action. It felt so without warning, they had been so happy beforehand. Eight year old Jacklyn and five year old Anne had been preparing all sorts of things for their father’s return. Jacklyn had a collection of welcome home posters and had taken charge of printing photos for him. Anne laid out her girl scout’s uniform on her bed every morning, so if she had to make a quick change to show it and all her badges off, she’d be ready. Even Christine, after years of living like this always kept every aspect of the house orderly and clean, just in case he returned unannounced. Daniel was too young to ever understand, but even the three year old noticed the shift in the house when the news came. Christine broke. She managed to keep a strong front for three days before she locked herself in her room. Jacklyn was old enough to make sure her younger siblings ate, but she couldn’t look after them. Thankfully, Jacklyn was, still is, and probably always will be the smartest of the Milton children. She managed to get herself and her siblings over to their grandparent’s house. They stayed in between there and their family home for months while their family, especially Christine, recovered from the loss. A year after the loss, the family moved to Evercrest Lane, they needed a new home to continue the healing process.

With the loss of her father and her mother continuing to struggle with the loss, even as the children grew older, Jacklyn quickly became the secondary caregiver of the family. Forced to grow up quickly she became very serious. When she’d been younger she’d been rather silly, even among her love of books and learning, she’d loved jokes and stories. But once her father was gone, she had more important things to do. Like sometimes making sure that everyone in the house ate, including her mother. This responsibility that weighed down on her caused her to not have a great relationship with Christine. In school she was an academic before anything else. She dreamed of leaving Northlake but knew she’d never be able to go far without feeling like she was abandoning them. So she studied and studied and studied so she’d hopefully have more choices. She worked part time at Maya’s Cinema so she had a little more to add to the family’s college savings. Graduated valedictorian and received a partial scholarship to University of Chicago. She and Anne have remained just as close since her moving away, and the distance has started to heal the relationship between Jacklyn and Christine.

Anne Milton, unlike the older females of the family did not seem to change with the loss of her father. Even as a child she found it more important to bring happiness to other than to dwell in sadness herself. That being said, she struggled to adjust to a life without her father. She still struggles to know that she’s “missing” something, or at least that some people might perceive that she’s missing something. Not blessed in academics like her older sister, Anne filled her time with just about everything else. Gymnastics and Girl Scouts took up a significant amount of that time, as did being a bit of a social butterfly. By the time she reached high school she was being welcomed into the Queen Bees largely thanks to her closest friend Tilly Worthington, and welcomed into the cheerleading squad, her dreams coming true! Even if the reality behind her being selected was a little shady. Between freshman year and senior year, she blossomed. Becoming a much loved smiling icon of school spirit and good nature. Involved with a million and one things, dating the quarterback and her best friend,

Daniel is the only of the Milton clan that had no memories of his father. No matter how much he stares at photos of the blonde stranger holding him as a baby, he can find nothing. But he has been just as much affected by that. Being raised entirely by women, save for his grandfather, always left him feeling left out and in the dark. He’d once said he didn’t want to get his period, assuming it was a thing that everyone got, not just girls. He became very quiet, barely speaking with people he didn’t know and even being quiet among his own family. He’d always been more expressive through drawing, and as he got older he played around with different art forms but always returned to drawing. He opened up more once he reached high school, comfortably finding his place in the Artists and having his older sisters watching over him.

#everyone doin it so wassup #we out here #NORLA:task #( about )#*:･ﾟ✧ we travelled for weeks just to escape your demons ( musings )

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jojuarez26 · 7 years ago

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We fell in love in a hopeless place part 6

Divergent fanfiction: Eric/OC

I do not own any part of Divergent

@pathybo @tigpooh67 @lunaschild2016 @beautifulramblingbrains @clublulu333 @kiiiimberlyriiiicker1995 @iammarylastar @kenzieam @jaihardy @sparklemichele @scorpio2009 @mom2reesie @ariwolff14 @ericdauntless @captstefanbrandt @frecklefaceb

I threw Max's door open and unceremoniously deposited myself in the chair in front of his desk.

"Good morning Eric," he sighed sipping his coffee.

"Is it? Because I have an investigation I have to open because I am almost certain someone is out to get Sam. Also care to finally tell me what the fuck yesterday was about?"

Max sat back in his chair with a look of a man who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Being the head leader of the warrior faction was taking it's toll on him. But he was still one of the most capable soldiers and outstanding commanding officers I have known. He was fair and honest man and I respect him.

"So word travels fast around here. Most people where shocked you pulled somebody out of the Chasm instead of throwing them into it for starters." I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"What really sent everyones tails in a spin was when it was discovered it was Samantha Miller, the Candor trust fund baby. You also put said trust fund lawyer in Dauntless holding for five days," I suddenly had a very clear picture of where people thought this was going.

"People think my simple act of humanity is driven by greed. I want Sam's money. Max that is total bull shit and you know it." I swear I am eternally damned if I do and damned if I don't.

" l know Eric. Believe me if I thought for even a second that was the case I would string you up by your ass. She is a really great young woman who had a shitty hand dealt to her in her life so far. It's refreshing to see someone standing in her corner for once."

"Max I am going to tell you the same thing I told Sam. I'm not her happy ending, I'm just not that guy. But I will be the person who will stand up to protect her where so many others have failed." A slow smile broke out on Max's face.

"Eric nobody would ask anymore of you than that, most people would expect less coming from you of all people son."

He had a point. Most people always expected the worst out of me. They should, I'm an

asshole. But even assholes have their limits.

"Eric I think you have just been needing the right cause and the right person to find a compassionate side of yourself."

This statement made me cringe and laugh at the same time

"You give me to much credit. I don't believe compassion is in my wheel house."

"Are you sure about that? From what I have seen you have displayed an amazing amount of compassion for a woman who has never had an ounce of it in her life." He had an eyebrow quirked in that way he did when he didn't think you saw the situation the same way he did.

"Alyson has been very grateful for all you have and are doing for Samantha. After Sara died Quentin really fucked those girls up. After Gina died and Samantha was all alone with Quentin and Jordan, it all but destroyed her."

"You know Max, the irony of this whole situation is that usually it's the masses asking what the hell is wrong with Eric and he way of thinking. But for once, I'm asking the masses, what the fuck is wrong with you. How did an entire faction drop the ball so fucking bad." That was really what got me the most.

Max shrugged with a dejected look in his eyes. "I guess the same way Abenegation did. Not wanting to believe someone they trusted with authority and power would ever commit such a gross misuse of it." He shook his head in disgust as he spoke.

"After this is all said and done I want to take a proposal to the council to open a new program that would be available faction wide to all five faction." Max threw a curious look my way

"What would that be. I'm intrigued you would want to do anything that benefits all five factions."

"A child safety protection and task for and support group." With that I stood and returned to my own office.

"Four, did you get all the footage I requested pulled? Also you made sure to do it discreetly correct?" He rolled his eyes at me but nodded and waved for me to follow.

I may not particularly like Four, I trust him though. Especially with a sensitive case matter of this nature. His father is the reason I lost all faith in Abenegation after all.

"There is definitely foul play involved in this situation. On a hunch I pulled security footage from the cell blocks from an hour before and an hour after the estimated time Sam was drugged." The man was smarter than anyone gave him credit for.

"Let me guess, suspicious activity there too," I sneered.

"You got it. We' ll start with the footage from the med wing. See this person here, the one that enter's with the syringe. Two things wrong with this footage. First she just appeared around the corner syringe in hand, she never entered or exited the locked med room. By looking at this can you tell me the second."

I study the frame and the nurse very carefully. It took me three times of scanning the frame to figure it out. When I did I was fucking furious.

"Her scrubs aren't Dauntless issued. If you just glance at her you can't tell because they are extremely similar. But where the red stripe and Dauntless flame embroidery should be it's a small white square," how did security miss this. How did she get in?

"Exactly. Those are actually Candor issued. More specifically to people who are employed in faction government house keeping and food services."

"You are one smart son of bitch Four. You sure you don't have any Erudite in you?" He just gave me a smug smile and continued on to the next set of footage

"So this is the feed about twenty minutes after our mystery woman exits Sam's room. Same woman now only in what would appear to be Dauntless kitchen staff attire. But clear up the image and take a closer look and-"

"It's just a black shirt, black pants that are not any kind you could purchase in Dauntless. With black loafers, not Dauntless cross trainers or regulation boots."

"That would be correct. She hands the lawyer a piece of paper and what looks like a flash drive, but I'm not really sure exactly what it is."

"Did you already send her profile threw the facial recognition scanner," he got a disappointing look on his face.

"I did. Whoever this was has insider knowledge all the way around. Like serious knowledge for Erudite technology and the layout of Dauntless security. Not to mention Candor uniforms." Four looked impressed and perplexed all at the same time

"Explain," I crossed my arms leaning back becoming seriously annoyed. Who the fuck would have inside information to be a traitor to one let alone three factions.

"She never looks fully at the cameras. In order for facial recognition to work, the image must capture at least sixty-five percent of a person's profile. She new that. That's Erudite knowledge."

"She also knew where all the cameras where placed and the angle they where set. She absolutely had to or she wouldn't have been able to avoid getting enough of her profile to not meet facial recognition for every fucking camera feed she appeared in," Four was getting pissed the more he spoke.

It wasn't all just about Sam any more. This was also now about the fact that a traitor, quite possibly an outsider was able to infiltrate more than just one of Dauntless safety protocols. This also meant whoever was going after Sam was extremely capable and dangerous.

This knowledge was causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. I was going to have to double the amount of security details and protocols I already had in place for her

"Four call Casey and have two guards pulled for infirmary detail. One for the whole floor and one specially for outside of Sam's room. Also see if you can't conjure up one of those print scanners for I.D. entry to give to the guard on post. Last but not least send me a few copies of stills with our mystery woman's picture on it. Thank you Four. You went above and beyond and it was all excellent work." I knew I could count on him.

Four gave me a baffled look and looked like he wanted to say something. He looked down at his feet for a moment before looking up and locking in eye contact with me. He looked, determined maybe?

"Eric, I know we aren't friends or anything, hell we barely even tolerate each other. But what has been done to Sam. I take that personal," I nod in understanding and motion for him to go on.

"Anything you need from me, anything at all that pretains to Sam for professional OR personal reasons, just let me know. I'm here to help. If anyone knows what it's like to feel alone or abandon growing up in the situation she did. I do." His eyes took on a fiery look I have only seen a handful of times.

Marcus use to beat the sit out of Four until he was eighteen and finally left. I may not always like Four, but do have a healthy respect for him.

It also made my throat feel like it was closing up and a wave of emotion I couldn't place that he would offer to stand up and be Sam's voice when she needed as well. Maybe Max was right, maybe compassion was in my wheel house.

Not trusting my voice at the moment, I hoped my eyes and my body language relayed my thanks as I nodded my head and exited the control room. I had a lawyer to go torture

#jai courtney #eric coulter #divergent eric #eric divergent fanfiction #eric insurgent

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obviouslyelementary · 7 years ago

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Rose the queen - chapter 1

Yet aNOTHER original hahahahaha. have fun guys

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Chapter 1 - The Beginning

There was, long time ago, a kingdom. This kingdom was filled with magical, wonderful creatures, and it was ruled by a very nice woman, called Rose, a brilliant witch, that used her powers to help all of her people. She was the prettiest woman in the entire kingdom: her hair was as brown as the dirt, her skin was rosy and alive, her lips were pink like the petals of a flower, her body was curvy, and her eyes were black, as black as the night.

One day, the young woman fell in love. She married a very nice man called Victor. Victor wasn’t the most handsome man in the kingdom, or the regions around, but she fell in love with him nevertheless. He had a wonderful smile, a great sense of humor, he gave her flowers when she was happy and hugged her when she was scared. He had been the animal caregiver for as long as she remembered, and being a few years older than her, they had always played together, even before the royal family died and left her as the only heir. He was tall, not very strong, not very thin, curvy, had brown eyes and hair, tan skin from the constant sun.

When they got married, the whole kingdom was unhappy with the marriage. The men said Victor had poisoned her to get her fortune as the future king. The women said Rose deserved someone better than a dirty, common man like him. Victor wasn’t a wizard like she was. He was a common human. But she didn’t care. She loved him and she would marry whom she loved.

However, there was a traitor in her kingdom that went by the name of Alexander, who more than usually contacted the kingdom next to hers, where a very evil wizard ruled. This man, called Lucius, had wanted to marry the queen since he had been a teenager. Before his family had died, they had made a deal with her family, assuring that she would be his as soon as she had completed eighteen years old. However, her parents died when she was sixteen and she broke the deal as soon as she became queen. So Lucius had to accept his defeat, but he was simply waiting for when he saw the possibility of getting her to marry him.

At hearing the news that Rose was married with Victor, however, he decided he was done waiting, and armed his soldiers to go to her kingdom and fight for her love. The news were heard by Rose’s kingdom and soon, the wise man that helped her with all the decisions she had to make told her to run. The man’s name was Olivier. Hesitating, she ran away with two royal guards and one of her chaperones. The guards were Steve, a forty eight year old wizard that had been with the royal family since he was eighteen, tall, green eyes, black hair, strong and with master in sword fight; and Leonard, a twenty four year old human, one of the newest and best guards, yellow hair, blue eyes, strong body, not very tall and master in archery. The chaperone was Alice, Rose’s best friend, a wonderful girl that was Rose’s age – twenty two – and had been her friend since she was born. She had strawberry blond hair, hazel eyes, pale skin and she was very thin, and she was also human.

The four ran away at Olivier’s orders, and Victor stayed behind to fight for the kingdom. Rose ran away, not knowing if she would ever see her husband again, and taking with her a child she still didn’t know that existed. And the four ran in horses through the forest, reaching another kingdom after a week and asking for stay. The king of that kingdom, an old wise man called Mathew, let them stay in the conditions of servants, which the queen accepted easily, but the 0ther three disagreed a bit. In the end, they stayed, and eight months later, the queen had a wonderful baby girl, a witch, that she named Victoria, in tribute of her husband.

That was also close to the date when she found out her kingdom had been taken, and that Lucius was now looking everywhere for her. She told Mathew about what was happening, and he told her not to fret, that he would protect them as if they were his own family. Mathew was already of age and didn’t have any heirs or wife, so he decided to watch Rose for a few years, until he was sure she was good enough to be left in his place.

And with the protection of the king, she didn’t need to worry anymore, and lived there until her dying days. The end.

“End?” the girl asked, her eyes wide as she stared up at her father. He chuckled softly before nodding, gently pulling the blankets over the six year old’s body. The girl frowned, shaking her head. “This can’t be the end papa!”

“Well, it is Vicky” Leonard said softly, before leaning down and kissing her head. “Now it is time for you to sleep. Alright?” he asked, but the small girl crossed her arms and stared at him angrily.

“I don’t want this to be the end. I want to find out if mom found her husband again” she said, sadly, pouting to her dad. He gave her a soft and sad smile before kissing her head.

“One day sweetie. One day” he said, and then stood up, smiling a bit brighter to her. “Now good night” he repeated, walking to the cabinet and blowing the candle off before walking out of the room and closing the door. Outside, Rose waited, smiling to her new husband.

“Thank you for being so good to her” she mumbled, leaning in and giving him a soft kiss on the lips before walking off with him next to her to the kitchen. There, Alice had just finished serving their food for the night: fresh apple juice, chicken and bread. It looked delicious.

“Well, dinner is served” she said, smiling to the other two before placing her hand on her waist and frowning. “Where is Steve?”

“He told me he was going to hunt for the night, to relax a little bit” Leonard said, chuckling softly. “The man is almost a sage and he keeps pretending to be in his twenties” he said, making the two women laugh with him. The three sat down, getting ready to eat, when the door opened and Steve walked inside, smirking and showing the stag he had hunt.

“Hello family” he said, before placing the dead animal together with the others to be salted later. He hummed contently when he saw the food on his plate and sat down, nodding to the others. “What a wonderful dinner, Alice”

“You’re welcome, old man” she said, smiling and sipping on her juice. He chuckled, shaking his head before starting to eat and being followed by the others.

“My princess is already asleep?” he asked, and Rose nodded slowly, giving him a soft sigh.

“Yes. Leonard told her my story. Again” she said, looking at her husband who just stared back, eyes wide.

“I thought you liked when I told that story” he said, and she sighed, shaking her head slowly before staring back at her food.

“The problem is that it isn’t a story. And sometimes I just miss Victor too much” she mumbled, and Leonard sighed, taking her hand and kissing her fingers gently.

“I know, my love. And I’m sorry we were never able to find him. But at least now you are safe and you have us, correct?” he asked, and Rose smiled, nodding slowly while staring down at their hands.

“Yes I do. And I love you three more than anything in this entire world” she mumbled, before smiling at all of them. Steve, Alice and Leonard smiled back, all of them calm and relaxed and feeling their best. For now, everything was fine, and they could live in harmony.

For you see, the world was divided in two: the humans and the wizards.

The humans, the younger race, were the ones that, for some unknown reason, could not have any type of powers. They were simply humans, and though some of them had different abilities, they weren’t considered powers. They were also more vulnerable and died earlier on, around sixty.

The wizards, the older race, were the ones that, for some unknown reason, could have any type of powers. Their powers were, at first, mainly mental and elemental, either being able to control human and animal brains or being able to control one of the main four elements: water, earth, air or fire. They were also more resistant, usually being able to live to their one hundreds.

These two races were categorized as the ‘dominating races’, and they lived in harmony. In so much harmony that some humans dared to call the wizards ‘gods’ or ‘divinities’. Some wizards took advantage of that and became kings, some others became dictators, and some decided to stay simple and help their communities, letting a human lead them.

Obviously that, eventually, humans and wizards started to get married and have children with each other, and those children were categorized as humans or wizards depending of their abilities. If they had powers, they were wizards. If they didn’t, they were humans. Sometimes, two humans could have a wizard baby.

The human mix made the new wizards be born with different powers, and slowly, there were thousands of types of powers from where, before, there were only five, which made harder to know if a child was a wizard or a human. But eventually, the newest powers were cataloged and these kids found themselves categorized.

And after centuries of peace, the Killers appeared.

The Killers were groups of humans who found out that, sometimes, by eating the heart of a wizard, they could steal their powers. It didn’t work every time, but the times it did made these people become wizards. Most of times, human kings, to protect their kingdoms from any type of wizard attack, used Killers. However, no one wanted to be friends with Killers. They were murderers, they were evil, and their souls were corrupted, which meant that they could not find peace in the afterlife, just like the wizards and humans that messed up with black magic.

Or, at least, that was what humans and wizards taught their children.

Once upon a time, there was this very loyal royal guard from a very distant kingdom, a human, called Anthony. He was strong, had red hair, blue eyes and pale skin, around his twenty two years old, a master in the art of sword fighting. He had a wife, the beautiful Lisa, a potter who had lived with her parents in a small farm until she met and married Anthony. She was also a red haired, blue-eyed woman, as pale as the moon, thin. She was nineteen years old when they got married.

One day, Anthony was called by his friend John. A war had started. He told Lisa to protect herself, and save the baby she was carrying, before he left for the fight. He did his best defending the castle, but all the efforts were in vain. The king had been killed, together with his wife. Their baby, however, was still alive. Anthony knew there was no way the baby would survive for himself inside the castle, so he ran inside and got the baby, running off with the two years old prince in his arms.

Anthony ran to his house, in hopes of finding Lisa well and leave with her and the prince on a horse somewhere very far away from there. However, when he arrived, all he found was a pile of ashes. The enemy had already reached his house, and there was no way Lisa had survived. He left the kingdom as fast as he could, holding the baby in his arms and crying all the way to a small village.

It was a Killers’ village.

Anthony wasn’t a wizard, and neither was the baby he held in his arms. The baby boy, called Philip, was the son of a wizard and a human, being born completely human. Which, at the moment, was incredibly welcome.

Anthony talked to the leader of the village, explaining the situation, and they let him live with them as long as he could find a wizard and become a Killer himself. Anthony agreed for Philip’s sake, and spent the next two weeks hunting wizards. After he was able to kill one, he took the man to the tribe and ate his heart in front of the leader. Both the leader and Anthony were pleased to know it had worked, and now Anthony had the powers of that old wizard.

The leader welcomed him to the tribe. His name was Jeremy, a fifty something man with the palest skin, dark eyes, black hair and strong body. Jeremy took Anthony and Philip under his wing and taught the guard everything he needed to know about being a Killer.

Not long after, Anthony became Jeremy’s right arm, and Philip was brought up in the best way possible inside the tribe.

The end.

“I love this story” the eight year boy mumbled, pulling the blankets over half of his face, leaving only his eyes out as he stared at his dad. “Do you think you’ll ever get revenge from that evil man that killed Lisa?”

Anthony sighed softly, before smiling to Philip, caressing his head and shrugging softly.

“I don’t know. I hope so, but I’m not sure. You see, revenge is not a good thing. You shouldn’t let your actions be dictated by those types of emotions. However, you should use them at your advantage. Now, sleep” he said, standing up while the boy nodded.

“Good night dad” he mumbled, and Anthony smiled.

“Good night, my prince” he said, before taking the lantern out of the room and closing the door behind himself. He walked through the narrow hallways before arriving at the meeting room, where Jeremy and a few others waited for him. “I’m here”

“Finally Tony!” Jeremy spoke, smiling to him and tapping the chair next to him. “We were waiting for you. There is a new plan Cameron would like to discuss” he said, and Anthony nodded, sitting on his chair and staring at the man in front of him. Cameron was thirty, skinny, weak, but incredibly smart.

“Hello” he said, and Anthony nodded. “Well, the plan is simple. There is a wizard-only community close by and I think we should go over and take a look. There are around twenty wizards living there, in which three are children and two are elderly. Most of them have basic powers, but their leader has the power to heal himself and others he touches” he said, and all of the man in the council nodded.

“We are in bigger number and we have better powers. This one will be a breeze” Marcos, another man from the council said, making Anthony rise one eyebrow.

“It sounds easy, but last time we had this much confidence, we lost three of our own. We need to be careful” he assured, and all the others agreed, including Marcos.

“So, what is the plan?” Harry asked, tilting his head as he cleaned his knife. Anthony smirked before leaning in, taking a map out of his pocket and placing it on the table.

“It’s easy. Don’t worry. We just have to work out the groups”

For you see, normally, two people like Philip and Victoria were never meant to meet. He, a prince raised as a murderer, and she, a princess raised as a craftswoman, were never meant to even know of the other’s existence.

However, destiny is a very funny thing, and no one can stop it from doing what it likes.

Not even the worst or the best wizard that could possibly exist.

#my original #rose the queen #our kingdoms #my story #oh god i am in a rush today

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thelostandforgottenangel · 7 years ago

Text

Never The Same - Part One

THANK YOU ANON! Guys I didn’t notice this but when I posted the original it cut out the first part of the story... You guys came in at the middle if you read this already so here it is completely fixed

Okay so SAINW from the 2003 turtles was always one of my favorite episodes even though it always leaves me in tears.

This started out as something completely different but warped into this after a friend saw it and mentioned I ripped off the cartoon even though I hadn't seen the episode in years - this is set in my AU Bayverse turtles and since I'm a horrible person here it is

Fair warning it's dark and full of things most wont like so read with caution: Blood, gore, graphic details

I don't own TMNT

This story is set in the year 2059, Hell has broke loose in New York - the turtles of that time are dead except for one who is hell bent on changing their futures for the better, Shredder won and has taken over the world and enslaved or slaughtered all of mankind, because of that it ends up with Raven back in the year 2016 in hopes to not only stop Shredder before he plunges their world into the inevitable apocalypse world the teen is from now that the last of her family is dead

This is her last shot to change what has happened - to save her family from the life she has to repeatedly live but like everything else in her life her actions will prove their world will never be the same

Enjoy!

“Are you sure this will work?”

“It has too… you need to go back and make sure nothing happens to them”

She looked down seeing the green feet of her genius brother kicking himself back under his machine working to finish it fast since they had just gotten the call that this location was no longer safe

“But what if it doesn’t… what if I fail again? What if I have to watch you all die again?”

Something hit the door denting it as the teen looked over at April seeing she had pulled her weapon looking over at the person under the machine “Hey lets hurry it up!” she heard a whirling sound behind her seconds later the machine sprung to life as a loud creak came from the door as it started to give out

“Just do your best little sister… it’s up to you to save the guys”

The door finally gave as Raven wrapped the shredded red mask around her head pulling the katana blades from her back seeing the huge figure coming through the door before several soldiers stormed the private room

“Both of you come with me we can do this together and we might be able to stop this completely”

“RAVEN GO! You’re the only one who can stop this-”

She turned as a scream pulled her attention back seeing April go down blood pooling around her “NO APRIL!” the teen bolted taking out the man standing over her only human friend snarling as another started inching forward “It’s almost ready Rave, just buy me a few more minutes so I know it won’t screw up”

“Just get the machine ready and I’ll hold them off for a bit longer”

She leaned down checking for a pulse pressing her fingers harder into the woman’s neck but there was nothing as she felt a fire burning in her gut as she took the yellow ribbon in her hair wrapping it around one wrist next to the blue fabric “D-Don’t worry… I’ll save us this time” lunging forward she attacked two men that were going for her brother feeling both blades enter their bodies before she turned holding off three more whirling around fast taking one guy’s head off in a single motion looking back as he grabbed his staff swinging it knocking someone away that had slipped past me.

“It’s ready lets go”

The teen fell back grabbing his arm pulling him with her towards the machine “Come on”

“No raven move-” he shifted shoving her out of the way making her stumble hitting the ground just in front of the portal looking back as he screamed out seeing a blade shoved threw his gut before he tossed her his bag “Go – Go while it’s still open”

“Donnie… No Donnie you have to go with me”

He shoved the large figure away bolting towards the teenager as the portal started to close grabbing her hand as she pulled his bag around her “Listen –I love you Rae” he chuckled as she let a tear fall when he moved closer kissing her on the forehead holding tight to his stomach “If I go with you there will be nobody to hold them off – they will follow us back and then we’ll never have a chance” looking back in time he moved to block a sword “NOW GO!”

The teenager bolted forward knocking the man that had attacked him away checking him over seeing he may not have much time left with his current wounds digging her nails into one palm making it bleed giving him a small smile before placing it over the wound as her lips crushed his in a quick peck holding tight to his shoulders

He returned the kiss chuckling to himself when she reached out touching his face gently “I-I’m so sorry” he nodded pulling the woman into a small hug nuzzling his face against hers before he placed something soft in her hand shoving the teen through the open portal as it closed hearing him go down screaming out in pain

“I-I WONT FAIL DON… I PROMISE I’LL STOP IT THIS TIME…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Raven opened her eyes looking around seeing she was in the sewers but they looked practically new compared to what they looked like in her time

She slowly glanced down seeing Donnie’s bag laying at her side and a deep wound in her side from a knife but after years of pain and torture the girl couldn’t feel it, grabbing some bandages out of one of the sides placing what gauze she had in her pocket over the wound wrapping it around her waist before tying her hoodie around it to keep pressure on the still bleeding wound looking down to see there was something wrapped around her hand realizing it was a torn purple cloth; Donatello’s mask.

“D-Donnie… I won’t fail – not this time” she got to her feet tying the cloth next to the orange material looking down seeing they were all with her again turning around fast remembering the way home before running down the tunnels heading for the lair, if she was correct he had gave her an extra hour to convince their family to listen before the first attack came so focused on getting there she tripped an alarm before entering the door ducking as something flew at her head looking up to see four figures standing over where she was crouched staring at her their weapons at the ready

Looking down after a moment I could see a throwing star stuck deep in one shoulder pulling it out without wincing seeing blood blossoming under the shirt she was wearing “Who are you?”

The teen stopped looking at each of them doing her best not to move once she was on her feet as they took in the girl standing in the door way as she pushed the blade that was resting against her neck back with one finger stepping forward hearing the alarm going off again as Leo turned to Donnie as he ran over typing in several commands “Shut it off already” saying it wasn’t working

“It’s not working again”

She clicked on her mic aiming her watch at the computer seeing Mikey jump as her voice echoed loudly around them “System Alarm Delta await command; User FallenAngel92 security code 45-993, Password Raphael. Shut down”

The alarm died down as she looked back at the Seven foot turtle standing closest to her remembering that she didn’t look like herself anymore and hadn’t in ages - she no longer looked like the Raven they had known since years of war and deadly battles had taken their toll on her body but still looked as if she was eighteen even though she should have been in her late thirty’s by now she hadn’t aged in over twenty years, her long black hair was now blonde with red streaks braided behind her back under the red bandana she constantly wore to remember her fallen mate seeing them glance at the colored fabrics on her arms that were a constant reminder that she had failed them - each one to remember the lost family members she hadn’t been able to save.

The woman looked over seeing the picture of her and her brothers on the wall feeling like it had been taken in another life time, reaching out touching the glass seeing the child that she had tried so hard to protect barely remembering what it felt like to be her looking back at them feeling a small smile pulling at her lips as a flash of power pulsed through her body changing the smallest features to the ones she had forever ago abandoned seeing all the eyes in the room widening as they recognized her watching the long hair slowly changing to black and dull crystal blue eyes turning to a bright lifeless green as her features softened looking up to see her brothers stepping back in shock

W-Wait a minute… Raven?!?”

She bolted forward wrapping Leonardo in a tight hug when he stepped forward feeling him freeze before his arms came around her pulling the teen’s face up whispering under his breath as he looked her over again “It’s really you… your home” she moved back looking around at her brothers finally able to let out a strained breath seeing all of them alive once more mumbling softly so they couldn’t hear her as she looked around at her home

I made it in time…

“Where the hell have ya been? We haven’t seen ya in years and ya show up looking like ya just survived the end of the world, figured ya abandoned yer family-”

The teen looked back seeing Raphael step closer grabbing her arm looking surprised when she shrugged him off yelling back with just as much fire “I didn’t abandon anyone, in fact I’m here to save you guys” her voice died down as she shifted moving back when she saw his face harden before reaching forward touching his cheek gently looking up at his golden orbs smiling “I’m sorry” grabbing his hand in hers she took a deep breath catching his scent which only seemed to relax her all that much more “I missed you big guy… missed looking into those eyes too” a small grin cross his face as he patted her on the back before ruffling her hair

“Good to see ya too kid”

She moved away looking at Mikey as he moved forward pushing past Leo “Baby girl you okay?” she looked over as he pointed out the blood dripping down her side from the fresh wounds but she didn’t hear him bolting forward wrapping her arms around his neck holding tight when he tried to pull away stopping when she nuzzled against him

“I-I’m so happy to see you alive Mike” she didn’t let go seeing them watching her cherishing the moment of getting to hold the youngest of her older brothers after so long before she moved back looking at her watch seeing they needed to move

Raphael looked her over again seeing she was looking around the lair as if she had never seen it before “Kid ya wanna explain what’s going on and why in the hell are ya dressed like ya just came out of the apocalypse?”

“I can’t explain right now but we need to move and I’ll tell you later”

They paused when Master Splinter entered the room tapping his stick on the floor to gain their attention “My son’s what’s with the yelling-?” looking her over for a second he moved forward staring at her as if she were a stranger stopping her as she started to insist they leave immediately “Explain now – you my child are not my daughter… your aura although like hers feels almost old and hardened”

“Please Master… Guys we only have half an hour before this place will be attacked. I can’t fail this time”

They all looked between one another as a soft voice came from behind them making her jump looking up seeing April stepping around the guys Casey right behind her as she looked at both of them not recognizing her two friends after everything that had happened pleading with them to listen to me as they looked me over again asking what I meant by ‘this time’

“They will be here soon… Jeez if it will make you move your shells any faster I’ll explain but then we need to go. I-I’m not your Raven… I’m from forty years in the future and my Donnie sent me back to save you guys.”

“I-I sent you back”

“Yes. Six years ago the foot kidnapped your little sister; kidnapped me off the streets after Raphael and I got into a fight. They couldn’t make me tell them what they needed to find you guys so they… they used any means necessary to make me talk but years of torture couldn’t break me thanks to the stubborn streak ya’ll use to tease me about and when I still refused they experimented on me mutating me with the DNA of a chameleon and several other things they had discovered over the years all at once; in the process they created a monster that couldn’t be controlled. The Raven you ONCE knew is gone, because in fifteen minutes the foot will kill her for protecting your family. I’m what was reborn when she wakes up tomorrow and after all this time I have watched the people I loved grow old or die while I never age. They track down this lair and set off a chain of events that makes the apocalypse you see in those horror movies look like a paradise in comparison to what the hell I’ve seen and if we are still here I can’t save ya’ll and the future I have to live in will become a reality”

Raph laughed at her actually holding his stomach as he hunched over “Good story kid but you have to know how crazy that sounds-” he continued to laugh at her as the other’s looked her over seeming not to believe it either making the fire in her gut explode stepping in his way blocking his path reaching out to keep him from leaving when he tried to step around her hearing him growling under his breath “Get outta my way kid” she didn’t move and in that he reached out grabbing her shoulder trying to push her out of the way only to wind up on his shell with the small girl towering over him

Reaching back she quickly pulled the sais from her belt flipping them in her hand before holding them out seeing his eyes fly to them mumbling softly under his breath as his golden eyes met hers “T-That’s impossible… those are – those are my sais” he sat up pulling his from his belt looking them over seeing hers were more worn out before she put them back

“You didn’t believe me the first time either; you made fun of me for trying to tell you the truth even bragging that you guys never went looking for Raven because you thought she had left on her own. Truth be told you went out every night alone for a whole year searching for her - I’ve had to do this four fucken times now on my own and I won’t fail again. I watched my entire family die once I won’t let it happen again”

“Baby girl…?”

Raven watched their eyes widen further before Leo stepped forward as she pulled her arms up looking at the ribbons she had wrapped around them holding them up to her chest “I can’t do this again they are gone and the only way to fix it is to save you before it happens”

Raphael grabbed ahold of her arm looking at the woman as if she was hiding something “Kid that don’t explain nothing” she pulled away from him with a sad sigh drawing one of the Katana blades off her back looking uncomfortable “Leonardo – attack me all out… I’ll explain further after” he looked at the sword in her hand pulling one of his glancing between them in shock

“How do you… how do you have my blades?” she shook her head as he readied himself rushing forward going in for the attack as she held the sword up moving it just enough that she would miss the block feeling it slice through her stomach clenching her teeth to suppress the scream as he pulled his blade away seeing all the blood “Raven!?”

Donatello moved closer holding her up as she started to drop “You should have blocked that – why didn’t you block-” his words cut off as he jumped when she pushed him gently back standing up lifting her shirt so they could see the deep cut where smoke rose from the wound seeing them watching closely as it closed up healing fast leaving a small light pink scar looking up at Raph who’s mouth had dropped looking her over

“Just now before I came through this door Raphael - you were contemplating on walking out. You and Leonardo got into an argument last night, it got ugly and you’re getting ready to leave them but if you walk out that door now the foot show up with Shredder before you can get back to help them. Dad and Casey won’t make it, Mikey loses his left arm trying to get April out of here after they are killed, and Leo takes a blow to his eyes and becomes blind doing what he can to keep them safe. When you do get back you jumping in to save Donnie and Leo but you catch a blade to you left eye trying to protect this family, losing it in a few weeks from now when Don has to remove it to stop an infection from getting any worse… after that Donnie goes missing for three years and it isn’t until he returns that the world I’m from nose dives. Raven finds you guys in a few years but she will never be the little girl you all remember and for that every last one of you shun her and make her feel like it was all her fault… as if she could have stopped it”

They looked between one another trying to process the story as she moved forward meeting their eyes carefully “We need to leave now – please, guys please believe me and I promise once I have you safely out of here I will explain everything in full detail” they finally nodded seeing the relief take over her face as Master Splinter tapped his stick once more

“Go my son’s gather whatever you need before we head out of the city and be sure to pack light” she saw them all nod before the old rat stepped closer once the guys were moving reaching out with a furry hand touching her cheek running his thumb over the tiny scar on her chin that she had gotten when she was a child from her first day training with the guys before he stepped back “Raven – it’s good to see you again my daughter welcome home”

The teen smiled bowing low to her Master saying a quick thank you under her short breath before glancing down seeing the stab wound on her side was disappearing it was a silent conformation that history was changing looking up seeing April step closer wrapping her in a small hug “Oh god it’s good to see you” the teen nodded motioning that they needed to hurry giving her a list she had in her pocket

“Help Don gather these things” once she had let her go the young reporter bolted towards the lab rushing to help gather what they needed and putting it on the elevator before Donnie took it up to the warehouse to load in the van as she ran around helping all of them being sure the old rat was ready to move the moment they were done

Donatello had just came off the elevator when the security system went off blaring an alarm that was still fresh in her mind from the last time she had tried this “Shit that’s not good. They’re early - we should have another ten minutes”

She looked over seeing Donnie’s computer system turning to see the turtles had frozen looking to her for answers as she snapped into survival mode “Mike – Casey you two get April and D- Master Splinter out of here. Wait for us in the van its safe there” almost calling Master Splinter ‘dad’ had paused her turning to see Leo standing behind her instantly taking charge

“Raphael with me”

She saw them taking their positions at the door before Donnie ran over tapping her shoulder already wearing his full tech gear “What can I do?” she moved over giving him room at the computer pulling up the security video so he could see the men were five minutes from hitting the door but they weren’t in the tunnel they should have been in, something else was changing as she saw the cuts on her arms fading away

“Okay don’t fail me now genius-”pulling up the lairs files on the hallo screen connecting to her arm after plugging the headset she was wearing into the server pushing in a small flash drive to the main system, she couldn’t help but grin seeing her brother’s face pop on the image in front of her “Computer” the mainframe whirled to life several screens flashing up fast letting her fingers fly over one of the many keyboards changing a few things fast closing the files as soon as she was done waving for his help “Okay start closing down all the fire walls so these updates I’m uploading won’t get stopped halfway – these codes Don came up with will work like a charm”

His eyes lit up as she continued to work seeing a few of the things she was implanting in the system “That’s it! Okay get on the elevator guys” they didn’t move as she looked back seeing them pulling their weapons silently telling her they would all be leaving together or none at all as she shook her head mumbling under a breath before she was on her feet “Been so long I almost forgot how stubborn you guys can be” her words earned a small smile from each of them as she moved to the open part of her old home

“We got your back little sister”

Something akin to relief and happiness pulsed through her chest as she looked to her brother’s faces her green eyes falling on Raph for a moment longer before she ripped her attention away “When they get here stay back from me. Leo no jumping in to save me no matter what, I don’t want to hurt any of you Donnie keep the doors on the elevator open because we are going to have to bolt fast - this place is gonna shut down just before the weapons discharge. And for the love of god please listen to me two of those four times nobody listened to me and trust me it got ugly”

“How ugly?”

“…As in I killed one of you in a blackout moment – not exactly a happy memory to have-”

They started to say something before she heard a noise turning moments before the door exploded inward sending rocks and debris flying towards them knocking her back a few feet “Donnie get back” pulling the katana blades from their resting place on her back happy to see them step back from her as Foot soldiers flooded into the room only seconds prior to the huge form of Shredder stepped in seeing several men stop when they saw the teen standing there looking back as Shredder stopped almost in shock “Long time no see. It’s refreshing to see you haven’t changed just yet”

“This is impossible!” he growled as he stepped forward extending the blades on his hands “How did you survive!” looked over the small woman’s body as she grinned cracking her neck feeling the pulse of energy surging through her veins hearing a snarl escape her throat stepping forward as he brought his blades down on her shoulder laughing as blood dripped down one arm before he jumped back watching as her hair changed tiny red streaks floating down the black curls

“Next time you kill someone maybe you should check and see if they’re really dead”

Before he could process what had been said she had transformed into the demon he had created feeling joints popping as her body changed slightly looking up seeing the golden eyes reflecting off his armor bolting forward knocking several men away feeling their bones shattering with the blow growling as her blades sunk into one of them splattering blood on her and the floor watching as the men started to move away from the creature

Where a sweet innocent girl who looked a lot like their baby sister had stood moments before now they were looking at what had almost looked like a half morphed mutant. She had a new sleekness to her body, a set of pointed ears and a fluffy tail swayed behind her, and then the most startling part was her eyes – once beautiful deep green now wild golden orbs with the blood lust of a wild animal as red slowly floated from the irises

Glancing back she could see the guys had moved to stand further back looking terrified when the animalistic eyes were looking back at them after she had slaughtered several men in the blink of an eye, looking back just in time to block Shredders hand when it came down at her before screaming out as his other hand slammed into her stomach breathing fast as pain wracked through her body

She signaled behind her back for them to get in the elevator pulling the bladed hand from her gut wincing once the knives were out, blocking the clawed hand that came down at her again knocking it away before grabbing him around the throat throwing him across the room like he was nothing “Security Protocol” hearing it kick on beeping loudly before the metallic voice resembling Donatello’s asked for an order making the other’s jump ‘Awaiting commands’ she blocked a sword knocking it away holding them off looking back as soon as her weapon was free seeing the guys were in the elevator watching before she turned running towards them reverting back to her original form “This is an emergency! Code 56-843 MAYDAY!”

Raven suddenly felt several sharp pains stab into her back once she was on the elevator before the doors slammed shut trapping them in the small space as the lights shut off hearing a loud bang before several screams echoed from in the room just behind her as it fell silent

The teenager dropped crying out as she reached back feeling a blade stuck deep in her shoulder blade looking up with a smile being met with three stunned facial expressions “Well – that went so much better then I originally imagined” the safety lights above them kicked on before any of the guys could speak hearing the security system beep and Donnie’s voice was back awaiting the next set of orders “S-Safe code 23-904 … Family”

The elevator sprung to life moving up as Donnie checked his tech looking for what was going on “How on earth did you do all of that in such a short time – a virus that shut down all electrical pulses yet didn’t mess with the weapons or my gear-” he stopped looking down at her as she coughed up a gush of blood trying to pull the blade out of her shoulder alone hissing at the realization that it was in deeper then she thought as Leo moved forward

“What just happened back there?”

Raph leaned down grabbing the smaller hand in his seeing how tired she was starting to look “Kid stop” for once she listened to his surprise as he moved pulling the girl up off the ground when Leo kneeled down next to them

“Hold tight to her” she turned leaning on the biggest turtle crying out at the slightest movement holding onto Raph breathing in his scent as her older brother grabbed the first knife pulling it from the place it was embedded in her back stopping when she cried out squeezing Raphael’s arms burying her face in his chest “Sorry little sister” all he got was a small nod before Donnie pressed something into her stomach as Leo removed five more watching as the wounds healing the second they were gone

“Thanks. Don thought it would be a good idea to have a safe plan just in case something went wrong and you don’t live with a genius without picking up a few pointers. I just didn’t think the past would change so much though by me actually getting ya’ll to believe me for the first time”

She slowly stood up leaning on the wall for support breathing fast as her body adjusted to the normal state once more “You would think – after all these years I thought I’d be used to having to use this stupid transformation on an occasion” she stretched her arms still feeling jittery seeing Raph looking at her as she tried to get comfortable

“How often do ya have to use that kid” her eyes drifted up as he glanced away when Leo nudged him before she sighed looking away hating they were unable to look at her now before the doors opened seeing the van was running but when she looked around it was hard to suppress the growl that rose up in her chest reverberating around them in the small elevator

Mikey and Casey were holding off several men who had blocked them in trying to keep them back from getting to April and the elderly rat who was probably protecting the young reporter inside the truck “To your question Raphael I do this way too often in my time”

Her words were still hanging in the air when she bolted forward as a sword came down at Michelangelo when he was kicked to the ground being held down by a heavy boot of a massive man

“MIKEY!”

She was there before anyone could move feeling a sharp pain as the change happened again without her having to try looking up seeing fear enter the dark blue eyes above her “Stay away from him – don’t you dare touch him” her hand lashed out ripping his throat open dropping him at her feet with a snarl showing the sharpened teeth that had elongated as she slipped further over the edge

A whimper suddenly made her look back as she took a deep breath seeing Mikey’s wide baby blue eyes looking at her in horror when he saw the blade had ripped open the left side of her body making her feel bad for scaring him, in an instant her voice softened coming out like it was that of a child compared to the monsters voice “Mikey… Mike look at me get in the van. Lock the door once you and the guys are in there and no matter what don’t open it until you know it’s safe. Understand?”

He looked at her eyes for a moment before nodding waving the others to go as she moved back when more men surrounded her taking a deep breath once her family was safe “Let’s play boys” she growled harshly letting the monster out completely blacking out for a second before she opened her eyes looking around seeing the bodies lying in a pile across the room.

A shiver ran up her spine shuttering when the strong scent hit her nose choking on the air as she looked down seeing both hands covered in blood and a blade through her chest trying to breathe even if at that point it was clear her lungs had been damaged glancing back seeing her brothers eyes were seconds from popping out of their heads when she pulled it out biting the inside of her cheek hard taking a breath once it was out as she waved them to pull forward stepping out the garage doors checking the area before pushing them open with ease

Her eyes closed as she stepped out letting the down pouring rain soak her having not had the freedom to do so in so long rinsing any blood off her skin before stepping back to the guys climbing in when Raph opened the door hitting the floor seconds later as she finally dropped from exhaustion “Casey I have a location already set into the GPS follow it – it’s going to take us to a safe house”

Raven laid back staying a good distance from them trying to hold back the pain that was radiating through her chest looking down seeing the wounds were healing but slowly as Donnie moved closer checking over the injuries looking slightly freaked by her demon form that was taking it’s time to leak off “Don’t worry about it Don... it isn’t that bad I’ll live”

He chuckled nervously seeing her smiling as he shook his head “Bad pun sis – seems the healing process is starting to slow down the more your body had to regenerate and repair itself” she nodded showing she already knew as she paused for a moment as he took in a few of the placements of her wounds “If it wasn’t for your bodies mutation that last blow should have killed you – draw of luck huh?”

The woman looked away almost as if the comment had hurt worse than her current injuries “Curse is more like it but let’s go with your idea” they all looked at her having caught on there was something deeper to her words but she waved them off “Never mind it’s nothing”

Glancing at Michelangelo she could see the fear that on more than one occasion she had seen in the eyes of all of them at one point in her life grabbing his left hand once she could move looking at it seeing a small cut where his arm had been amputated in her time smiling as she touched it gently “Sorry you had to see that Mikey… I didn’t expect to have to show any of you that monster”

He moved over hesitating for a moment before wrapping his left arm around her body making the teen stiffen as he smiled at her brushing something off the back of her jacket “It’s all good baby girl” slowly she cuddled closer to him holding tight to his arm looking at her brothers feeling so much of the emotions she had lost all those years ago trying to shut them down knowing they were what would make her weak if anything else happened

“Seems like yesterday I can remember when it was the four of you having to save me instead of the reverse” hearing Leonardo laugh was almost like a bolt of electric to her system and for the first time she felt lighthearted as Splinter looked back at his family almost seeming happy to see they were all still together

“Now my child do you think you could explain what is going on now that things have calmed”

They all looked at her as she reached into her pants pulling out a picture from her pocket smiling at the familiar faces as she held it up showing them the only picture she had of her brothers before she lost each of them letting go of it when Leo took it from her hand looking at it in shock “Is this really us?!”

“Dude we look so old… but shit do we look cool” the teen smirked as Raphael looked at Leo comparing the photo to his brother before a smug grin pulled at his face “Yo Fearless looks danm badass in a trench coat – t-they don’t look too happy to be getting their picture taken”

“Oh they weren’t… in fact I think they would have been happy not being anywhere near each other”

Their faces dropped looking over on the girl as she thought about something before realizing they were waiting wanting her to tell them anything to explain how crazy today had become

“Whatever Shredder and Sacks did to me - it stopped me from aging after that day I look older but its only from having to relive this life over several different times; I can’t die even though I’ve tried to end it many times. The world I’m from, the future that I have is a never ending nightmare. A real hell in which you beg for death, in the last few forty years I had to watch my entire family turn on me because of what I am… and I’ve done this four times. They never called me by my name just ‘Monster’ or ‘Thing’ for the longest time I responded to it but almost all of them came around later on in life.”

“Wait you said four sets of forty year increments… how is that possible”

“In my time I’m supposed to be in my late fifties while my brothers are in their sixties when the truth is every time I fail I have to live that life over just until I find my Donatello again and he manages to build the machine that sends me back all over again”

“So wait you – how old are you?”

“In actuality I’m more like – two hundred and eighteen give or take a few years. Could easily be sneaking up on the two hundred thirties but I’ve really lost count… in those years I watched Mikey die when were ambushed by the Foot at our safe house a week after this picture was taken and that was when our Donatello disappeared - we thought he was dead; Raph and Leo had just left that morning so we never had a chance, then a year later Leonardo made us run trying to give us time to escape, he wound up giving his life to save what was left of our family, then after that I was forced to watch them… I had to watch them kill my mate when he came back around”

“Rave?”

The teenager pulled the red bandana out of her hair looking at it for a moment running a hand over the old worn out fabric not daring to look up at Raphael holding it to her lips trying to remember his scarred face the last time she had seen him even as she looked at the younger form of her mate, remembering how lifeless the eye he still had was the last time she had held him as Raphael touched his mask

“I lost my Raphie and… our daughter Evangeline” if it weren’t for the fact that her tears had dried up years ago she would have been crying by now looking up seeing the others watching her and Raphael as she tied the red bandana back on her head “Even if we were technically mates – he never did stay with me for long, that man hated me for killing the woman he had fallen for when they mutated me. He’d come around for a little while then would disappear again; he’d always leave and come see me every few years never getting over the guilt he carried with him – but that changed when Evangeline was born”

“Wait so in your time Dad and Casey are long gone… Leo, Raph, Mikey don’t talk and die separately, what about April and me”

“That’s why I can’t fail this time; if I do there is no fixing it this time because the Donnie and April from my world are gone I lost them an hour ago… in the future I’m the last of this clan. I am the only survivor. And since he’s gone I’m stuck here until I complete my mission but… I fear I might have already failed, I saved you guys but if I really changed the future I shouldn’t be here as for the Raven of this time there is no telling if she survived with the changes that have already happened but the fact that I didn’t blink out of reality means she has to be alive for now”

Everyone fell silent as the woman moved away pulling out Donnie’s note book flipping to a new page trying to come up with a plan for saving her younger self but after twenty minutes she was punching the floor of the van, finally sitting back with a low growl feeling her brain hurting; she had never gotten this far so right now she couldn’t come up with a plan without knowing what all had changed and without Donnie to give updates she would never know.

She sighed reaching into her pocket pulling out the phone she was carrying hooking it up to the watch she was wearing flipping it open as the screen saver popped into a halo screen cleared smiling when she was looking at her stuff brushing her finger over the sweet little face she wished she could see once more before Mikey edged over “Hey who’s that little girl?”

She gave him a sad smile opening her gallery clicking on the file with all her pictures scrolling down before clicking on an image showing it to him “Dude is that me! Look at me I am freaking awesome!” she couldn’t help but laugh as the others moved closer crowding her as she made the image bigger for everyone to see feeling slightly claustrophobic but didn’t say a word knowing she may never get this chance again they sat watching as the teen flipped through the pictures of her family showing them the memories that she had left

“Oh my god look at April” trying not to laugh when they pointed at a picture of her and the reporter in their normal clothes that were better then what she wore now “Holy crap she looks nothing like our April” she kept flipping through her memories stopping on a video playing it before looking at Leo as his older counterpart stood in the middle of a room practicing with a few recruits moving smoothly taking out each without putting in much effort until he was the only one standing “Blind and still better then everyone – guess nothing changed there” she sighed nodding even if they could see there was something she wasn’t saying

Raph grabbed her hand out of nowhere making her stop suddenly at the touch “Could ya go back one picture”

She did as he asked showing him a photo of the older Raphael who was still built like a tank with the left eye of his mask sewn shut smoking glaring at her in the photo “That’s my Raph… On a good day” she looked at him pulling up the next photo seeing his face drop when he saw a picture of the future him holding a little turtle girl up over his head smiling up at her as he looked at the teen “And that’s my… our daughter. She was just like him in every way including her attitude and temper”

He looked at it for a while smiling as the woman reached out trying to touch that moment “Looks just like you hothead… that’s a real shame” the comment from Leo had all of them laugh when Raph nudged him, he looked over seeing a small sad smile on the girl’s face before looking at it again seeing she had reached up flipping to the next picture running his hand over the screen seeing him sitting in a chair with his daughter in his lap reading a story to her

“He may not have loved me but he loved that little girl – god he was such a good dad. She brought out the softer side of him that I remembered” they all started looking closer at the doll the little girl was holding seeing it looked like Mikey before looking up getting the message without her having to say anything but looked down pulling the ripped and tarnished doll from the bag on her gripping it to her chest as if it could give her the comfort she seemed to need before holding it out towards him “She used to love this thing; I made it before she was born right after Mikey was killed. I used a small piece of his mask that had been torn off in the battle”

They all looked at the girl before Mikey took it grinning “Aww it’s cute – just like me” a soft chuckle came from around the chamber as he handed it to Raph when he reached for it holding it in his hand squeezing it slightly

“When did we lose her? How did we lose her?” Raven couldn’t bear to say it but held up two fingers not looking at him feeling fear for the first time in what felt like a hundred years before he lifted her head “What happened?”

“Sacks took her… Raph wasn’t around; losing Leo took its toll on all of us but he took it the hardest since he always believed we could have saved him; of course he tried to blame me for not making Leo leave with us. Not long after he left us again the soldiers stormed our base taking out the resistance camp before kidnapping her wanting to try and create another like her but they didn’t know she wasn’t created in a lab. I went after her thinking he had never got our message after April sent for him but there’s only so much a heavily pregnant person can do.”

His golden orbs widened as she glared at the floor realizing that even with what she had said there was more sadness then anger “Kid”

“I failed her… B-By the time I got there it was too late, I held her in my arms until she passed watching the light leave her eyes as I tried to comfort her… she wanted me to sing to her at the end. I just proved to her how much of a horrible mother I was - it had been a trap set for both of us… I tried to get out; I lost control of the monster but took too much damage in the long run. My body was too weak from the battle and I was so upset over the loss of my baby - I lost our son too, I had never got to tell him we were going to have another child and I couldn’t bring myself to tell him because I was just a mistake to him. When Raphael finally did get back to us he flew off the handle from the grief. As always he was reckless but this time my head wasn’t on right and I followed his lead. Raph thought having a monster would give us an edge and fought bravely next to me against Shredder for the first time in years, the next thing I remember was a soldier was holding me down a-and… seeing h-him… She would have been thirty now”

The teen dropped her head hiding her face before looking up when he lifted her head “Rave – ‘m sorry” she shook her head trying to pull away but he held tight to her face leaning in catching her by surprise as he pulled the girl into his arms holding her against his chest pressing his lips over her forehead whispering under his breath so she could only hear him “Kid ‘m so sorry”

She froze hugging him back once her brain connected what was happening finally pulling away looking into his eyes seeing the bright orbs she had missed so much as he ran a finger over her cheek “I’ve been waiting years to see ya again, ya don’t look the same but I can still see the real brat under all this”

She looked down nodding “It feels like forever – since I have been able to reach out and touch you – but I’m not that person you remember guys. This is just the thing that had inhabits her body… Raven’s going to need you once we rescue her”

Mikey quickly wrapped her in a hug as she paused going stiff from the contact “Baby girl you’re not a monster – if you were you wouldn’t have the heart to still wear the ribbons for your family” she didn’t speak looking down holding her tongue to stop herself from saying what she wanted too.

Raphael flipped over to the next picture looking closely at it seeing him and Leonardo standing far away from each other looking at the teen when she started laughing taking in the image “Been a while since I looked at that one they both had left us a few times to live on their own. After the team split up they didn’t really get along, Raph blamed Leo for Casey and dad’s deaths even though our father gave his life to save his sons, hell I couldn’t even get them to speak to each other without it turning into a fight; actually the only time they did get along was when the two of them were reminding me that I wasn’t their sister”

They looked between each other “Look sis don’t take this the wrong way – but we sound like dicks in the future” a soft giggle met Mikey’s words as she looked at her pictures grinning at the faces she had missed for so long shaking her head after a moment enlarging one picture to life size looking at the drunk induced grins on her brother’s faces as she sat in the center yet nowhere in the actual photo looking happy just to see the in a good mood whispering once she flipped to the next photo of them look a little upset that she only had those memories to live with – all the ones in pictures she had snapped in secret

“They were right to alienate me from the clan”

As soon as the next picture came on the screen she had to look away toughening up her lip as it quivered the ragged wound was still fresh from losing him today feeling her eyes burning for the first time in a long time showing them the picture she had taken of Donatello yesterday smiling as a tear fell down her cheeks touching it slowly confused for a moment “Woah – Don with an upgrade and prosthetic limbs”

She smiled weakly clicking on a video as her Donnie worked on the machine with a small smile on his face as he pushed his tech goggles up with his robotic limb “I haven’t changed all that much in twenty years – I’m still your loving nerd little sister” there was a heartfelt giggle from the background as April cam on screen but she stopped it unable to look back at the image as it fluttered out of focus before it kept playing from her memories

For a while she just listened to him yammering on about something before another memory played of the moments before she was sent back stopping as she finally shut it down not wanting to relive it again

They smiled looking at their Donnie who had copied the image looking at some of the tech in the background “Did I really build all those machines?” she never answered taking one more look at her notes still unable to understand what she was missing

“As soon as I’m done changing your futures I don’t know what I’m gonna do, Don had a theory that after I changed our past the future would change for the better since every time I did something in the past our time line altered in the slightest way. I even managed to have it so my brother’s survived longer but I still couldn’t stop them from dying… Don and April were all I had left. We were the last people still around in the resistance, the rest have long been exterminated by Shredder; he somehow got his hands on this power that makes him almost immortal then he enslaved the humans not long after killing dad forcing them to live as slaves killing the children that were too young and the women that were too weak to work in his camps and after they had built his machines he conquered the world slaughtering thousands of people… in my world I am possibly the last person alive. Never in a million years did I ever think I would outlive any of you”

They all looked at her in horror as she scanned the pages trying to see if Donnie had given her anything that might tell her what the next move was “Your world really does sound like hell”

“Trust me it is-” she grabbed her head feeling a headache coming on before something in her chest moved; pain exploded through her body as she grabbed her leg hissing as it happened again leaning back on the wall trying to breathe through the agony but soon it was happening more and she couldn’t hide it anymore.

Leo leaned closer touching her arm gently drawing her eyes to him when he saw the young woman’s face scrunched up “Hey you okay?” she couldn’t respond crying out moments later hitting the ground curling into a tight ball holding her chest squeezing it harder when she felt something moving under her hand

Feeling someone flipping her body over didn’t help before Donnie’s voice floated into her consciousness “Raven – hey what’s wrong?” she shook her head trying to curl back up but he kept her still before moving her hand out of his way looking for any obvious wounds that he could see “It might be her heart guys”

She looked around in a panic seeing Raphael holding her up as Donnie listened to her chest scanning her looking up at her “I’m not finding anything abnormal here” the pain eased off until she couldn’t feel it anymore finally able to breath trying to slowly get up without getting sick as he sat checking over a few other things “Your hearts beating strongly so there’s nothing there”

Her eyes widened looked up fast seeing them freeze as her emerald orbs started to look slightly different “R-Repeat what you just said…”

He looked her over slowly before displaying her vitals on his virtual watch “Your heart – it’s perfectly fine but it is a little faster than normal everything here looks fine-” he stopped as she placed her hand franticly over her chest feeling the steady beat as her eyes locked on him having to clear her throat for a moment still unable to believe it

“T-That’s impossible... It can’t be my heart; it hasn’t beat in years. It stopped when Raph... died-” they looked at the teen before she moved keeping her shaking hand over where the organ was pounding away taking a deep breath as she felt her heart beating strong under her grasp “I don’t understand what’s happening right now”

So what did everyone thing? If you were confused about anything in that first part feel free to ask and I'll try my best too answer you back

@devilsnevercry1388 Promised I'd post so here it is

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magicalenglishzombifiedwere-blog · 7 years ago

Text

The Life and Times of Gramdevon Stratford 2: Electric Boogaloo

I rewrote Gram’s history. Because I can. And none of you fools can stop me.

The Life

Nothing was very remarkable about Gramdevon as a child. He was the son of two farmers in Gilneas, worked the fields alongside them, constantly complained about the rain while also being thankful for it that it always watered their crops, and he wondered what the world beyond the towering stone walls looked like. He had a fairly built form, with emerald green eyes, and a fiery mane that flowed down his back to the small of it. Though as he reached adolescence, he became more fascinated with war, hearing epic tales of events that happened before Gilneas was walled off. Of battles involving tens of thousands, of heroes conquering overwhelming odds, and of people who rose from nothing and became legends among their peers. While Gramdevon knew he would never rise to something so great, he always remained hopeful, and even began training himself to properly wield a sword, or in his case, a stick that vaguely resembled a longer-than-average, misshapen dagger. He was sloppy, had little to no form, and accidentally threw the thing more times than he'd care to admit, but he felt he could do better if he had a real weapon and training.

At the age of fifteen, he abandoned his position on the farm and hitched a ride on one of the very few caravans that left Gilneas, aspiring to join the Alliance military, though eventually changing his decision to join the city guard for a while to get some fighting experience. Eventually, he found himself at The Alliance capital; Stormwind. Because of his stature, and a stubble he was sprouting at the time, Gram seemed much older than he really was, and easily got accepted into the city guard. He underwent training and, as he expected, was much better with an actual blade than a piece of broken wood. In fact, he quickly picked up the basics and spent a good deal of time honing his skills to become a true warrior. He managed to show off his skills during sparring matches with other recruits, managing to best all of them, and even giving a few seasoned guards a run for their money. Though he wasn't a master, and he was beaten down a few times, though he never was angered by it, he simply took it as a sign that he needed to improve, and improve he did. By the end of his training, he was top of his class and had beaten all but one of his instructors in the ring. While he longed to fight him and prove his worth, he was never given the opportunity and was assigned his squad before he could. He took up his standard equipment; a longsword and a kite shield, with his plate-mail armor, and patrolled the city streets every day. Many days were uninteresting, having to break up fights or deal with a petty theft or pickpocket, not the glory the young Gilnean was seeking. Though every so often, the Defias Brotherhood found their way into the city and began stirring up trouble, and nine times out of ten, it led to a fight. It was there that Gramdevon showed his prowess, able to handle the bandits fairly well, even during his first encounter but a few days after his assignment, cutting down a pair of bandits running towards him with daggers. He was later reprimanded for using lethal force instead of attempting to incapacitate them, but he enjoyed the thrill of the fight so much, he brushed it off. While guard life had it's moments, Gram hoped to officially join the military one day, wanting to cut down legions of orcs, having developed a hatred for the Horde solely based on stories he'd heard of their barbaric nature. Each night he looked from the barracks window out into the Stormwind Harbor, silently whispering to himself, "The Alliance is comin' for you, Warchief. All th'Kor'Kron 'n Azeroth can't save you." For three years he remained as a guard, never being able to join the military without risking being dishonorably discharged from the guard for leaving before a predetermined time had elapsed, but his time soon came. After those three years, he was days away from being able to sign up as he would be eligible for being honorably discharged from the guard, and thus having no risk of being denied. He was eighteen then, still young, ambitious, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Except for one thing. The Death That one thing was the most important thing to him, and anybody else, really. Only days before he could have joined the Alliance military, flying the banner of the Golden Lion on the battlefield, tragedy struck the city. Stormwind was attacked by the Undead Scourge; ghouls, zombies, necromancers, abominations, frost wyrms, gargoyles, and any other unholy, sickening spawn of undeath and bloodlust charged through the city. Gramdevon was confident in his abilities, as well as those of his fellow guards, and took to the front lines to defend his home, standing in the center of a shield wall at the front gates. At first, things went well, a few ghouls and skeletons charged, were cut down or shot by crossbowmen before reaching the shield wall, but then the true force came. Abominations charged head first into the wall, all three arms flailing about, impaling guards and throwing them about like ragdolls. Gargoyles had swooped down and halted the crossbow fire by attacking them directly, and a frost wyrm came down from the sky to let loose a breath of unimaginable cold. Though as his brethren fell, amidst the chaos Gram stood tall, ice crystals forming on his armor, blood dripping from his mouth, shield cracked and near useless, sword in hand with icicles hanging off the blade. He let loose a cry of bloodlust and began cutting down undead as if he'd been doing it for years. He wasn't dodging attacks or even blocking many of them, he was taking massive wounds, wounds that should have killed him, but he ignored the pain, simply because he knew that he had only one thing to lose, and he was going to lose it anyway, he might as well lose it in hopes of becoming one of the legends he'd heard about. Those were his last thoughts as he eventually succumbed to his wounds, falling to his knees as the dead began tearing off his armor, feasting upon his flesh, and he lost it. The one thing he had to lose left him. His life. The Rebirth Gramdevon opened his eyes, the first thing that came to his mind was the biting cold that overcame him, resembling that of the breath of the frost wyrm that attacked Stormwind. Though strangely enough, he felt no pain or even discomfort from the cold, it gave him a strange sense of calmness and fullness, it felt right. The next thing that came to him was the smell; decaying flesh, rotten meat, and sorrow. Though, like the cold, he felt nothing wrong with it, instead embracing it as if he was smelling a field of roses. Before he could determine where he was, a tall man, clad in blue armor with skin pale as sin, grabbed him by the back of his neck and threw him to the floor, ordering him to stand. Normally, Gram would have clocked the man for disturbing him, but he simply rose to his feet, feeling truly no emotions. It was then that he explained what exactly happened to him, or rather the short version of it. He died, though that much he remembered, and he had been resurrected to become an instrument of destruction for the Lich King. He didn't know what to feel, if anything, and simply nodded, before moving off to begin his training as a Death Knight. Gram originally attempted to fight with sword and shield, as he remembered, but he at one point tried wielding a pair of rune blades, and decided it was a better choice, as he could, "Decimate more people with two blades." His physical training was brief, it was his magical training that was a challenge, though even that came and went fairly quickly. He opted to use frost magic along with his physical strikes, empowering them with the icy winds of Northrend, as well as harnessing them in a pure form of magic. Though his time as a warrior of the Scourge was brief, as he broke free of his mental bonds of the Lich King, along with numerous other Death Knights, during a battle against the Argen Dawn at Light's Hope Chapel. After forming the Knights of The Ebon Blade with his fellow freed Death Knights, and joining it with the freshly formed Argent Crusade to create the Ashen Verdict, Gramdevon returned to Stormwind for a brief time. While he wasn't given a warm welcome initially, he did finally get to join the Alliance military and was sent to the front lines. Gramdevon was initially very skeptical about fighting alongside the Horde. His hatred for them had not left him when his life did, he still saw them as a band of savages only working with the Alliance so they could have the pleasure of killing Aliance soldiers to themselves. Though things changed one day during a raid on an Argent Crusade outpost in Zul'Drak. Gramdevon took up arms against a party of Scourge assaulting the outpost, cutting them down and freezing them with his newfound ice magic. As strong as he was, he couldn't take on all of them, and all of the other Crusaders were in their own battles. Things looked grim for him, until a beast of a man shoulder charged into an abomination, yanking its exposed organs out and burying an ax into its head. It was an orc, clad in plate-mail with a pair of great axes. He said to him, "I don't think you wanna die again, do ya? Lets send these beasts back to the grave!" Gramdevon, put aside his hatred of the Horde aside for a moment, realizing the orc was right, he didn't want to die again. The two of them fought side by side, back to back, not letting a single zombie or skeleton get the best of them. When the battle was over, Gramdevon and the orc, who he found was named Kraguld, went back into the outpost, rested, and decided to chat a little bit. Over time, the two of them fought in quite a few battles together, and Gram's mind opened up more about orcs, realizing that the Horde wasn't a band of murderous beasts, but rather survivors plagued with the sins of their ancestors, trying to better themselves. Eventually, after years of fighting across Northrend and months of besieging Icecrown Citadel, alongside both the Alliance and the Horde, The Lich King was slain, victory had been achieved. Though Gramdevon had changed, at least his opinions had. Before going to war, his perception of the Horde was a negative one, of savages and barbarians who sought to kill for the joy of it. However, after befriending Kraguld, he felt much differently. Kraguld hadn't been a massive advocate of the war himself, but felt like fighting would benefit the Horde as a whole, giving them new land to sustain their growing population. The two of them bade farewell after a night of drinking together in celebration of the Lich King's defeat, and they returned to their homes, wishing the best of luck on their future endeavors. The Change After reaching the mighty gates of Gilneas, it was only then that Gramdevon realized that he might not be able to enter the city. They most likely hadn't gotten word of the Scourge invasion and didn't know that some Death Knights had broken free of the Lich King's control. Though he also realized something else; The gates were not only open but broken down. Fearing something had happened, he rushed to his old farm, hoping his parents were okay. He feared the worst as he found the door broken open and scratched, but nothing could have fully prepared him for what he saw; Ravenous Worgen tearing apart his parents' bodies. He reached down to grab his rune blades, cutting apart the beasts with a frozen fury, but not before they slashed through the joints in his armor. Undead or not, Gram felt the affliction coming upon him, and stumbled to the ground not long after his encounter. Just before blacking out, he found a pair of people running towards him, something in their hands. Once Gramdevon woke up, he had been stripped of his armor, wearing only a pair of leather pants. He had a splitting headache and moved a hand to clutch his forehead. Though he soon discovered that his head felt much hairier than it did before, as did his hand when he brushed it against his chest. He then looked down at his body and felt panic, he wasn't a human anymore, he was a Worgen. Initially wondering how it could have possibly happened, one of the people who'd ran to him earlier told him that he was infected with the Worgen curse, but an antidote managed to prevent him from going completely feral. Unfortunately, it was an early stage of the antidote, and Gram could not revert to his human form, even if they gave him a more perfected version. Initially, he was furious, but learned to embrace his new form with time. That time being from fighting back the Forsaken Undead that were invading Gilneas. Gram may have had a respect for the Horde, but the Forsaken had lost a good deal of trust because of their use of the Plague. Once the infestation, and the invasion, were dealt with, Gramdevon gave his parents a proper funeral, burying whatever remains he could in the house. Because of the bad memories he received from the house, and Gilneas in general, he left. Gram decided that the only place he had left to call home was the military. He may not have hated the Horde as he did in his younger years, but he had a duty to the Alliance to defend it from attacks such as what he'd witnessed, and to retaliate for such events. Gram made a quick trip to Acherus to get a new set of armor for his new form, before returning to Stormwind and re-enlisting in the military. His first mission was to meet with a Horde battalion in Ashenvale. He went out with his own battalion and prepared for yet another bloodbath. The Regret Gramdevon's battalion got on a few boats and sailed to Ashenvale, marching into Astranaar to meet up with some Sentinels who would be joining them on the field. The combined Astranaar and Stormwind forces marched through the dark forest, aided by the Night Elves' natural ability to see in the near light-absent woods. Eventually, they saw a clearing where the sun shone through brilliantly, very odd for Ashenvale, and very obvious of the Horde cutting down trees. Sure enough, there was a Horde logging camp situated there, with quite a large force of soldiers. While they were unprepared, the Alliance didn't exactly have the element of surprise on their side. The creaking and clattering of the Stormwind troops' plate armor put the Horde troops enough on edge to get themselves ready. Alliance forces, wasting no time, charged into the fray, and the clashing of steel began. The battle was long and bloody, both sides were decimated because of their disadvantages. Stormwind forces were brought down by their lack of knowledge of the terrain, and Horde forces were cut down by experienced Sentinels, who while invaluable in the fight, were few in number and taken out in the end. Gram cut down the Horde wherever he saw them, surprised to see quite a few goblins among the ranks. He knew some worked for the Horde, but not that they had fought for them. Regardless, they died all the same, until he met face to face with a warrior. He had dark plate armor, with a massive broadsword in one hand, and a tower shield in the other. His face was covered by his helmet, and his armor was incredibly bulky, giving him the appearance of a living tank. The two of them clashed, sparks flying as steel smacked against steel. The sound of their blades grinding against metal filled the air, eventually drowning out the sound of the battle around them. Little did the two of them know the battle ended in a stalemate, both sides took too many casualties and fled, leaving the worgen to fight his opponent in a true duel. The fighting lasted for quite a while, the two seemed evenly matched, and it was a rush. Gram didn't try to use his magic to gain an advantage, as using it often took a lot out of him, and if he messed up with it, his strength would wane and he would die. Though in the end, he didn't need it, as he drove one of his runeblades through the slit between his opponent’s helm and breastplate, directly into his neck, watching him choke on his blood as he fell onto his back, sword and shield still in hand, as his last, strained breath left his body. Gram stood wearily, strength sapped of him, his muscles aching. It was finally over. He began wiping his blades off before he noticed that the warrior’s eyes were still open through the eye slit on his helm.

Gram knew that the very least he could do for this warrior, who fought so bravely and savagely, was to shut his eyes, and let him rest. He knelt down and took of his helmet, only to scream in horror and shock as he saw who it was. It was Kraguld, the orc from Northrend he befriended. He'd evidently changed up his gear in the time they spent apart, leaving him unrecognizable to Gram, just as Kraguld most likely didn't recognize him given his form change Gram stood up quickly, taking a look around the field. For the first time in all his years of fighting, he felt true horror. He saw the dead bodies of people in his battalion, people he overheard talking about their lives an families, ambitions. He turned down to Kraguld, remembering what the two of them talked about together. Getting to know each other not as soldiers doing the bidding of their superiors, but as people. Gram felt disgusted with everything. The deaths of soldiers on both sides wasn't just one less sword swinging, it was an entire life cut short by a horrible, ruthless act of killing. And for what? Gram turned to his left shoulder, where an insignia of the Alliance dangled by a chain on his pauldron. He yanked it off, threw it to the ground and walked off the field. He didn't return to Stormwind, he left. Forever. Gramdevon began a new life of wandering Azeroth, seeking not to end the lives of people, but to simply live his own life. Even if it meant leaving his old one behind.

Yeah it’s probably slightly less terrible so here have an Irish dead werewolf having a bad time but still finding a way to throw fuckin’ puns everywhere

I’m very tired

#Warcraft #World of Warcraft #Story #Roleplay #RP #Writing #Worgen #Death Knight

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theinquisitivej · 6 years ago

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The New Century Multiverse Reactions – ‘Secret Rooms’ Definitive Edition: Weirwood Epilogue

You can listen to the full episode here.

Weirwood ends with an epilogue from Katherine Holloway as she tells us the Story of Weirwood. This chapter is taken from The Cartographer’s Handbook and is Katherine’s account of her life and the years she has led the inhabitants of Weirwood. This is a story we’ve heard before, but I’ve never actually talked about it in detail on the blog. Now that Maya Santandrea is playing Katherine, we have a new narrator and a new vocal performance to enjoy, so this seems like a decent time to go over it.

The chapter details Katherine’s life before the emergence of the Wendigo, when the American Civil War had only just concluded. She had fallen in love and married a soldier named Lieutenant Preston Beauregard, who she had plans on marrying once he returned from the war and they could inherit her father’s plantation to live their lives in prosperity. Preston made Katherine laugh and feel like she was a lady, a grown adult that she could be proud to be. He made her so sure of what her life would be, and that they would share a happy life together. But Preston received a serious injury during one fateful battle and lost his leg along with three of his fingers. He came back a quiet shadow of his former self, withdrawn and lacking the vibrant spirit he once had. But Katherine stood by him. She would keep her resolve in the face of defeat and build a life with the man she had become devoted to, even if it was not the life she had envisioned.

This and life during the aftermath of the Confederacy’s defeat made Katherine one of the hardiest people you could meet. When the Wendigo’s sickness started to spread, she planned for the worst and decided to fortify Weirwood and take in children like James and Abigail. Over the years they educated the children, set up vegetable patches and expanded their livestock, and generally set up a comfortable enough life for the people of Weirwood whilst also training them to be ready to dispatch Wendigos and fight when the day came when they would come face-to-face with danger. This is what we’ve been seeing in Weirwood and these additional chapters of Secret Rooms. Even Preston regained some of his fire, offering instructions on how to fight and telling Katherine everything about his own experiences and mistakes in battle.

One day, however, a suspicious man approached the gates of Weirwood to ask about their living situation. After sending him away with as little information as possible, Katherine was confronted a few days later with a group of men who demanded they take them in. After Katherine refused to do so and made it plain that she was armed and fully capable of fiercely defending her home, the group retreated, and both sides begun preparations for the inevitable fight that would follow. That night, the attackers came, but Katherine and the inhabitants of Weirwood were ready for them. They used the darkness of night to their advantage and sent out some of their best people to take out some of the attackers’ scouts, and used bows and arrows to fire several volleys silently at the enemy. Eventually, however, the battle descends into a frantic close-quarters fight, and the people of Weirwood give everything they’ve got to repel these bandits. When dawn comes, every one of their attackers has been dispatched, and eighteen of Weirwood’s number has been lost. Among the dead was Preston Beauregard, who had died underneath the cherry tree that he and Katherine had once spent their early days together. The bodies of the three men who had taken his life were found alongside him, telling a story of how fiercely and bravely he had fought to the very end. As Katherine finishes her account, she knows that Abigail and James are the sort of resourceful people that the Cartographers will need in their fight to ensure the survival of the people of America.

I can’t tell if any additions or changes have been made since this short story was first published in The Cartographer’s Handbook. Whether it’s always been there or if it’s been included now that we know who James and Abigail are, I like hearing Katherine talk about these two. Abigail is described as one of Katherine’s “very favourite girls”, even though her brashness caused trouble when she was younger, and Katherine sees James as a grave young man, but someone who has been invaluable throughout the years in his assistance to Weirwood’s resident doctor. In the context of Weirwood, we’ve spent nine chapters seeing Katherine from the perspective of the children in her care. As such, she has come across as authoritative and slightly unknowable, which is understandable for any stern older guardian figure when they are being looked at from a child’s point of view. Up to this point it’s been difficult to discern what Katherine thinks of Abigail and James, but here we’re plainly told that she values them. Hearing about their crucial roles in the battle to defend Weirwood after experiencing the story of Weirwood shows how far they’ve come in the intervening years. Abigail and James are now some of the most capable and indispensable members of this community. Katherine appears to be very proud of each of them. It must have been hard for her to send them away with the Cartographers.

Listening to this short story again, I’m struck by how well the writing communicates how the sequence of events that made up the battle played out. It’s difficult to make describing action or battles engaging in a non-visual medium that relies heavily on descriptive narration like literature or audio dramas. This chapter manages to overcome this challenge by approaching the encounter like an historical documentary. Each step of the combat and the tactics involved in Katherine’s decisions is clearly laid out, and the reasoning behind each move is compelling to listen to. In addition to this effective overview of the different movements of the battle, the writing also makes a point of emphasising what this tense encounter means to the character we’ve been following and care about, and what it makes her feel. When the inhabitants of Weirwood have the lead on their attackers by taking advantage of the night and using silent volleys of arrows, Katherine comes across as a calculating tactician who knows the best way forward. But when the fight turns ugly and she’s forced to stay apart from it all as the people following her, the children who she has protected for years, are being killed by these intruders in a mindless close-quarters brawl, she understandably feels powerless, horrified, and furious that these men would dare to do this to her children. The encounter means more to the audience because we see what it and the losses mean to Katherine. As fictional battles go, this is an excitingly tense sequence that makes you shudder to think what it would be like to go through something like this.

And that’s why this story is as important to establishing the tone and theme of New Century as it is. Trials and hardships like this are something that most of us hope to never go through. Katherine and the people of Weirwood have had to show incredible resolve and willpower to fight to survive and defend themselves from the monsters of this new frightening world. In telling this story, Katherine tells us that she hopes to inspire others to fight with their very last breath to defend against those who would take everything. But she realises that, if they’ve managed to stay alive this long, they likely already have gone through their own version of these events. Everyone who is alive in America has faced their own ordeals, and everyone has lost something or someone. Weirwood and Katherine show remarkable strength of character, and yet it’s suggested that stories like this may be relatively common in the America of New Century. It hammers home how trying life is for the people of America, and yet it also feels like a source of hope, because as much as we lose, as much as we fear what tomorrow may bring, this world is filled with people who have survived the hardships of yesterday. People aren’t always your allies, but there is something unifying about knowing that everyone is mourning something, and as bittersweet as that is, I find that to be a hopeful sentiment.

As I mentioned earlier, this chapter has a new narrator due to Maya Santandrea now playing the role of Katherine. This is one of the defining moments in New Century for Katherine’s character, showing us what she has gone through and how it has made her one of the hardiest and most capable of leaders in the series. Maya has been selling Katherine’s compassionately understanding yet firmly authoritative nature throughout Weirwood in each of her appearances, but it’s here where she gets the chance to shine, and shine she does. Her vocal performance captures the character’s determination to hold her head high and push forward as well as her moments of vulnerability when she remembers the heartbreak of her Preston coming home a different man, or her frustration that she couldn’t do more to fight and repel the bandits attacking her home and killing her children. By the point in the chapter when Katherine supposes that everyone’s gone through their own hardships, she’s firmly established the character’s strengths as well as her humble disposition that prevents her from making more of what she’s gone through than she does. She hopes this will inspire others, but she figures plenty of other people have already gone through this, and that she has simply done what is necessary to survive. The thing that broke me, and breaks me every time I relisten to this segment of the chapter, is at the very end when Katherine tells us of Preston’s fate. Maya’s performance drove me to tears, conveying such love and admiration for the man she married as her voice crumbles and the sadness of her loss hits us like a bus. Her delivery manages to convey Katherine’s simultaneous pride and indignation that three men, including the bandits’ smug leader, were necessary to take down her crippled husband. Maya’s voice is filled with disdain when she speaks of the bandits, but filled with loving admiration for the bravery of her dear husband. And yes, the tears are once again coming as I write these words.

The epilogue closes with a new section that has been added to the end of the Definitive Edition of Secret Rooms. In it, we see Abigail approach Virgil and Fuck Yo- I mean, Karl and strike up a conversation. It’s a touching and uplifting way to end Weirwood and a welcome addition to Secret Rooms. It shows Abigail slowly reaching out to make more friends and relieves some of the emotional strain we’ve been going through between the end of Lucy’s story and Katherine’s grief for her husband. Karl taking the piss out of Abigail is funny to listen to and you feel glad to see Abigail getting more comfortable around the pair and offering to buy them and their wives a drink later. The scene is one of those moments in life where, even if it’s not the most significant thing that will ever happen to you, it’s still one of those moments you treasure because things feel alright. Even if they aren’t, at least there’s pleasant company with the people who are going through it alongside ya.

Join me very soon for the last Secret Rooms post – a general overview and review of the Definitive Edition of Secret Rooms.

#The Inquisitive J #review #critic #narrative #narrative analysis #fiction #audiobook #audio drama #fictional podcast #books #alternate universe #alternate history #alternate history fiction #new century #new century multiverse #the new century multiverse #secret rooms #secret rooms definitive edition #the inquisitive j reviews

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intergalacticrp · 7 years ago

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NAME :// JET LAOGAI ORIGIN :// AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER AGE :// TWENTY-FOUR GENDER :// NONBINARY ( HE/HIM/THEY/THEM ) JOB :// MECHANIC FC :// ZHANG YIXING

Underneath it all the truth is that I Really feel like shit I'm so sick of being tired I'm so tired of being sick

BIOGRAPHY ://

trigger warnings: death, murder, blood, depressive episodes, parental death, military and dissociation.

Jet Laogai wouldn't call himself a healthy puppy. He knows his shit's fucked up, that he hasn't had it all together for a very long time, that war broke him apart like chopsticks. He remembers some brights spots before his parents died, but they've all blurred together now; it's been over ten years, after all. He doesn't remember his mother's face or his father's voice, but that doesn't stop him from hearing his mother's voice ring through the apartment or from seeing his father walking down the hallway. His parents had never even left his home planet, not once - he wonders if they would approve of him now. He hopes not.

Fan and Wei Laogai were poor, but they were upstanding individuals, the kind of people who shared game with their neighbors and kept other people's children free of charge. They raised Jet to be like them, to take care of younger kids and be nice to animals and all that good, wholesome shit. He was eight when they were killed, slaughtered in front of him with blood spattered on their cheap apartment furniture, and Jet stayed hidden. He hid in the bottom of his father's closet with his legs tucked against his chest, breathing slow and quiet and waiting for the soldiers to leave. Sitting there, scared out of his mind and preparing himself to die, Jet decided something: he would never be afraid of soldiers again. Never again. His parents were the best people he had ever met, and he wouldn't let them die in vain. It could be said that the Freedom Fighters were founded by Jet's parents, really.

Starting the Freedom Fighters was kind of an accident, to tell you the truth, and not one of Jet's happiest. He started collected kids like stray dogs, because maybe he needed to eat, but so did they; he didn't mean to infect them with his fire, to let it eat out their insides and make them into nothing but charred remains. He raised them and razed them, turned children into soldiers without meaning to, and he's so sorry, but he wasn't at the time. At the time, it was power crawling up his throat instead of bile, and he was twelve leading a hundred soldiers, leading a raid, making killing things of kids. He remembers so well that they were only kids - sometimes he forgets that he was one too.

He was thirteen running things into the ground, because he never learned how to balance leadership with bloodlust. He doesn't know when he gained bloodlust. Smellerbee and Longshot pulled him out of that, made sure he did not drown in his own awful need for chaos, and he still doesn't know how to thank them for that. It's been eleven years. The war lasted and it lasted and it lasted, and he fought and he killed and he taught others to fight and to kill and he ruined as many lives as he ended and he's still dirty, he'll never be clean of this - he isn't finished yet.

Two years after Smellerbee and Longshot pulled him back to being a relatively rational leader, he was fifteen, and the military occupants started using bombs on populated cities. Jet evacuated as many as he could, helped people out of cities, wiped out a lot of red in his ledger just sneaking into military camps and finding plans that were not his business to find. That was when the Freedom Fighters started being less fighting and more freedom, liberating information and people and try to keep everyone alive rather than ripping out any soldier rot and leaving it all for dead. When saving people stopped being enough, Jet took the next step: he became a spy.

Becoming a spy at sixteen was admittedly not one of his best ideas. He could pass as eighteen, but he shouldn't have even tried; he had the adult weight and the attitude, but not the temperament. He shouldn't have left Smellerbee and Longshot, he shouldn't have gone off on his own, they could be trusted to lead, but he couldn't be trusted alone, and he never should have gone. June would have made a better spy, Teo, even the Duke would have made a better spy, and the kid was just a kid. They figured Jet out less than two weeks after his infiltration, and he doesn't talk about what happened after that. He thinks he blacked most of it out.

The war ended when he was nineteen. For the past three years, he had been going between letting himself recover from what could be called torture (what he called "I don't want to fucking talk about it, 'shot!") and ruthlessly suppressing every mental health issue he had ever had by continuing to lead his army. It only grew during his time being a spy and thereafter, but he almost wished that it hadn't. So many kids looked up to him with their big, hopeful eyes and he just wanted to tell them to give up hope, to throw it out the window and never be disappointed again. Then, the war ended.

Longshot and Smellerbee took him off planet, practically forced him along with them, and again he had a gratefulness to him that he didn't know how to speak. The two of them have always had a habit of knowing exactly how to push him into taking care of himself. They made him start talking again, start letting out some of his anger in the gym rather than just letting it burn him up, turn him to soot and rot and nothing of the person he used to be. He'll never be that kid again, but maybe he can steal some parts of himself back. He doesn't think so, sometimes.

He spends his days like this: he goes to the shop, works on someone else's car. He feels content and he feels like he's doing a job, something that doesn't take big decisions or directions or telling other people what to do. He sweats and it feels clean, and he gets along with some of his coworkers if not all of them, and they don't know about who he was before the war ended. He does not think about the war. Sunshine reverberates off of his shoulders and he feels just so light. He's excited about seeing Smellerbee and Longshot at the end of the day, but he's not rushing home. He is happy to be at work.

He spends his days like this: swathed in darkness, he does not know if he is even a person anymore, if he is separable from the shadows or if they've just swallowed him whole for once, if he doesn't have to be anymore. He only knows the wrongs he has done and the wrongs done to him, the things that no one can take back and that, as hard as he tries to force them down his own throat so he can digest them, get rid of them, remain lodged at the base of his spine. He remembers every moment of pain and sadness, no matter how hard he tries to push them away.

He spends his days like this: everything is grey. This is not a bad thing. He is not happy, but the sadness hasn't come back for him yet. Everything feels scraped out and empty, like every bad thing is gone, but every good thing is gone as well. He doesn't hear his mother's voice when he's alone. He almost misses her all over again. These days are both the best and the worst. There is no comedown, but there is no high either.

Jet Laogai would not call himself a healthy puppy. But he's working on it.

AESTHETIC ://

a sleek smirk, bright eyes, midnight, dusk, dawn, whispered plots, metal jewelry, fast paced music, leather wallets, dancing, when the sun backlights the trees, dreaming with your eyes wide open, falling asleep with all the lights on because you can’t do it any other way, co-sleeping, yin and yang.

MISC ://

on their own planet, things were a lot less fun and free for jet. he and a few of his friends (he always says a few, like there weren’t hundreds of them near the end) were better known as the freedom fighters than their names. at twelve, he was their leader, a child army, and all of them looked up to him for command - even the older ones. he couldn’t ever look lost or scared, to anyone but smellerbee and longshot. they’re the best friends he’s ever had.

there were enough of them to convince some adults to join their cause as jet grew older, and when he was eighteen, there were enough of them grown that they could actually petition the government. child labour laws and labour laws at large on their home planet have gotten better. they even stopped sporadically killing their citizens! but none of the efforts meant that jet could look at it the same anymore.

he doesn’t like to talk about it, but jet’s parents were killed in front of him when he was eight years old. it was his motivation to start the freedom fighters with his closest friends. because of this unfortunate history, jet is paranoid of authority figures and semi-prone to lashing out at anyone - besides smellerbee - who tells him what to do. he can’t stand to live alone anymore, so he, smellerbee and longshot share an apartment.

jet is known for his charisma, more than anything else, a smiling face and a magnetic personality that most everyone who has met him gets sucked into. jet knows he has this aura, and isn’t afraid to use it.

for fun, jet is a very skilled sword fighter. he used to use them during his days as a freedom fighter, but it’s just a pastime now. his personal favorites are two swords that end with hooks that he brought from their home planet, some of the only things he brought with him. he’s used to working with his hands with weapons and with fixing their homes, which is what brought him to becoming a mechanic.

CONNECTION ://

shan “smellerbee” lin and lok “longshot” sun : his closest friends, his confidants. the best things that have ever happened to him.

katara hakoda : just some girl he knows, but maybe not. he’s always good to see where things go.

aang roku, sokka hakoda and toph beifong : people who run around with katara. not as much fun.

zuko yu: katara’s friend, but different because jet finds him really sketchy.

AVAILABILITY :// OPEN || TAKEN BY MER

#disney rp #animated rp #bio rp #skeleton rp #literate rp #jet laogai #avatar: the last airbender #nb #zhang yixing #taken #tnb #death tw #murder tw #blood tw #depressive episodes tw #parental death tw #military tw #dissociation tw

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