#and im trapped in a screaming flesh prison

[themodethecitythesoul]

Nothing like having a million issues to attend to while feeling like there's needles in all your joints...

[flowerprinxe]

:V

[bangtangalicious]

death valley finale (dark v.) | part 3 (m) | teaser

summary: a summer internship at a famous record label turns wild with blurry nights of dangerous men, dirty money, and extremely hot sex. you soon get caught in a savage game of greed, power and obsession, only to find out that you are the grand prize

pairing: ot7 x f.reader  teaser smut ft: jimin x reader wc: 1k

genre: smut. yandere. thriller. mafia!au rockstar!au

teaser warnings: penetrative sex, groping, breast play, choking, praise, heavy drug & alcohol use, implied masochism, rough sex, implied oral sex, implied illicit photography, manipulation, brief suggestion of death

a/n: i know ive been really busy so heres a little sneak peek teaser type thing. im really so sorry for the delay but hope you enjoy this in the meanwhile!

Breathless, the city lights glimmered in your eyes. It was a rush, seeing the world from this high in the air. From the balcony of Jimin’s penthouse, where you floated—a tight red bikini submerged in the scalding waves of his hottub. Red that matched the soft hue of coming from beneath the water, red like the color of your eyes as Jimin came up behind you, pulling the blunt from your lips so he could take a hit himself. Proceeding to trail his lips across your jaw. Thick smoke dancing against your skin. Exhaling bliss into your pliant lips.

You inhaled him. Everything he was, you let him consume you. Eyes crossed, elevated beyond sanity as he deepened this kiss, groaning against you. Hands tugging the string at your hips, allowing the garment to float away as his ringed fingers slid up your folds. Finding your clit, he bit your lip, tugging on it with a growl. Fingers caressing the sensitive flesh with tender intension.

“Jimin—“ You sighed, eyes half lidded as his palm made home over the fabric of your bikini, fondling you lightly. The tempting press of his erection nudging into your ass. He left you in gasps, moving his lips behind your ear where he could whisper sweet nothings. Filthy promises. Dirty lies.

The two of you hadn’t left the apartment in days, trapped in a haze of liquid courage, nothing but moans and the slick slapping of skin on skin, steadily harmonizing. Each time convinced you had already reached nirvana, only to be proven wrong. Bottles on bottles of liquor open as he’d tug your hair back, pouring it down your throat, licking the spill from the edge of your lips until he’d swallow you into him.

Until you’d find yourself pushed back, with Jimin pouring tequila down your body, licking all the way to your cunt. A man deprived. A man with unquenchable desire. Letting the bitter liquid fill your core before slurping it out of you. Screams filling the room as you’d hold his hands, clawing into his palms as he ate you out, high off your sweet arousal. It burned terribly. It was obscene, dirty, painful—and you loved it.

After sucking you dry, he’s shower you with praise. You were his good girl. His little whore. Tongues intertwined. Nails raking across each others backs, bodies covered in sweat. Imprints of his hands bruised around your neck, hickies all over your skin. Wrapping your tongue around him, kneading him good as he would tug your hair.

You’d fall apart, gasping for air with him right next to you. Only for him to pull you into the shower just to do it all over again. You ached—ached bad. In the best possible way. Knees weak. Trembling with pleasure.

“God I can never get enough of you” He mumbled, teeth sinking into your neck as he gripped your breasts. Pinching your nipples, he enjoyed the way you winced in his hold before ripping the bra off you, tossing it across the ledge.

“Jimin!” You squealed, giggling as the two of you watched it fall many stories down. He smirked, turning you gently so that you could wrap your legs around his hips, hands knowing to find your ass, carrying you through the water. He looked up at you in amazement. There was no way for you to know how beautiful you looked to him in that moment. His hands crawling up your back as he began to lower you onto his throbbing cock.

“I love you so much” His words were quiet, but you heard them with every move he made. He settled you down onto him, basking in the sensation of your warmth, tightly gripping around his length. "Fuckkk baby”, he lifted you, cock dragging against your walls, sending heat shooting through your veins. 

Water spilt over the edge, sloshing around as Jimin began to pull you back down, pumping you slowly— not leaving your eyes for a second as he bounced you on his dick. You gripped his shoulders, allowing him to move you as he wished. His lips latched onto your erect nipple, gnawing on it lightly before suckling the sensitive nub with his tongue.

“I love you too” How could you not? With the way he was worshipping every inch of your chest with the wet glide of his tongue. With the way he filled your every crevice, leaving no part of you untouched. The way he pampered you and praised you. 

It was everything you ever wanted. Right?

Your heart dropped, a pair of eyes invading your memory as yours fluttered shut. The sly smile of a man who petrified you. Who adored you. Who would do anything to get his hands on you. You were a prisoner to him, and he was trapped inside your head.

Pushing the thoughts out of your head as fast as they came, your refocused onto Jimin. “Fuck me harder” You whined, hands finding his so that you could pull them to your neck “Please Jimin…please I need you so bad”

The rockstar chuckled, choking you lightly before pulling out. He moved so fast, you were dizzy by the time he bent you over the ledge, guiding his cock easily back into your sopping heat. Fingers gripped around your jaw he pulled you back against him, teeth grazing against your cheek as he pounded you. Heavy cock hitting you deep with every thrust.

You were faded. Too drunk to mind as he filled you with his seed, plugging you up and keeping you there. Too drunk to react to the fact that across the neighboring buildings, paparazzi were having an absolute field day. Too drunk to see Namjoon’s 30 missed calls.

Too drunk to comprehend two simple words flashing on your phone screen before it too slipped off the ledge:

Yoongi’s dead.

series navi | masterlist | scream in my asks

[ivy-loves-chocolate]

Chained (Lady Dimitrescu x F!Reader)

Ok at first I thought this was Alex

Warnings: nsfw under the cut.

She was assigned to work in Chris’ team to find a civilian named Ethan Winters and his daughter Rose, who were abducted from their house. Their rescue is important because after his involvement in the Dulvey incident he was infected with the mold which was passed down to his daughter. Chris believes the kidnappers want to use their gift in some twisted way. 

Knowing Chris’ history of not being able to keep his men alive, she didn’t trust him enough to follow his commands, sometimes questioning his decisions and doing thing in her own way, which turned out to be effective too. Chris threatened her to kick her out of his team and place her under someone else’s command, but he knew that her rebellious nature would get her fired and she was too good in the field to be discharged. He would have to gain her trust. 

How she wished  he wouldn’t question her captain now. 

The squad got into the castle where the kidnaper, a woman named Miranda, was hiding. They were stunned by the beautiful renaissance architectural style from the inside, everything being a shade of crimson with golden inserts. The aesthetic created a relaxing atmosphere for the team, but they were quickly pulled back to the reality by their captain. 

“This seems too beautiful for a villain’s hideout” she remarked. 

“Focus on our mission.”

Despite his efforts one of their member still got missing. Chris ordered them to stay close and to not investigate on their own. He didn’t want to repeat the incident from Edonia.  However, she got away from the squad despite. His orders thinking she heard the missing man, but it was a trap set by those witches.

As she approached the source of sound she didn’t realise that the hall became more and more narrow and poor illuminated. She was in complete darkness, and the voice sounded like it was still far away. To make the matter worse, her light flickered meaning the battery was running out. 

“Y/N!” Chris was screaming in the radio. “Where the hell are you?”

“I don’t know, I got lost. It’s like these halls are changing. I swear on my way here I saw some paintings. Now they are all gone. Shit, I can’t see a thing, maybe they are still here.”

She heard some gunshots through the emission 

“Chris, is everything alright?” 

“…don’t….back…Miranda…”

“Chris!” The signal was cut off. 

Her light was cut off too. Surrounded by darkness, she got a better grip on her pistol and pressed her finger on the trigger. As she was wandering around on her way back she had a feeling she wasn’t alone anymore. 

She heard some steps behind her and quickly turned around aiming at the possible enemy, but it was nothing there. Sighing in relief, she turned around to continue her walk, but bumped into someone. Yellow bright eyes were looking down at the small woman who was backing up slowly. Her company was tall, muscular, and judging by the large exposed chest she was a woman. She was standing there like a statue without saying a word. Freaked out Y/N pulled out her pistol and shot the woman in the head, who made a few steps back placing a hand on the wound. Y/N didn’t look back and ran past her finding a safe spot. 

She felt that gaze on her as she desperately ran to find Chris. She was trapped. Eventually she got tired of running and stopped to catch her breath. The radio was still off. She didn’t know if her team was alive or dead, or if that lady still followed her. In order to calm herself, she took a deep breath, letting the faint smell of wood and old furniture filling her lungs. It was the equivalent of a library.  She let herself dip into the silence. When her heart stopped beating in her year and she could hear, very dimly, the sound of a piano playing.

“…im going crazy..” She thought. 

“Enjoy the piano?” A firm, feminine voice asked her. She turned around and saw the same woman from early. Her outfit was fitting the aesthetic of the place, wearing a white dress with a crimson flower attacked to her dress, and a big black hat with black leather gloves. Her big smile exposed her perfect teeth. Not to mention she was very tall, Y/N being high up to her chest. She was still a beautiful woman. 

“I would enjoy a way out to be honest.”

“Come with me.”

She didn’t had a choice and she followed her.

The wood was cracking under their feet as they walked through the halls. The woman didn’t say a word, not introduce herself. The only thing Y/N could do was to look around and try to memorize as much as possible her surroundings in case she needs to run again.

“Don’t even think” her attention was back again on the stranger. “You won’t be able to leave by yourself.”

“Where’s Ethan?” Her eyes were fixated on her curvy figure and on the way she balanced her hips while walking.

“That’s where im taking you”

“You’re bluffing. We’ve been here before, I remember. We’re walking around in circles.”

The woman stopped and let out a chuckle. Then, she turned around and smacked Y/N so hard that she sent her flying across the room. The impact was so hard that she loft her consciousness. The only thing she remembers is the blury image of the woman approach her.

She woke up in a dungeon. The wooded smell was replaced with a rotten flesh and blood one. Her head still hurt from the impact. The woman tied her up on a metal table, with her hand laying beside her body. Her weapons, radio and other gear was taken away, leaving her in a turtleneck and cargo pants only. She tried to break from her restraints, the sound of chains hitting the metal surface echoing in the room.

Not long after she woke up the tall woman made her appearance. She walked to her side, caressing her face and removing some strands of hair from her forehead.

“How come a beautiful woman like you works with such beasts.”

She couldn’t help but blush when she heard the remark. She chose to remain silent.

“Im so happy that i took off that savage equipment off your body so i can have a better look at these curves” she trailed with a gloved hand the sides of her abdomen, sending shivers down her spine. It was a soft touch she didn’t experience in a long time. It wasn’t a good time to be touch starved.

The woman bend over her body, her chest pressing against her body and sending a warm wave down her lower abdomen. She removed the fabric that covered her neck and began to lick the tender flesh. Y/N dug her nails in the metal table when she felt the warm tongue licking and nibbling her flesh, and when the woman properly bit her she let out a scream. She was constantly moving like she was searching a vein causing her an immense pain. When she started to suck out her blood it didn’t hurt anymore, her screaming being replaced with loud whimpers.

The woman raised herself to let her breathe. Y/N liked the warm coming from the vampire’s body and she was disappointed when she was hit by the cold breeze.

“I don’t want to kill you, yet.”

“I didn’t know you kind existed.”

“You don’t know many things.” She began to caress her side again, going to her side boob to her hip and up again.

“I always enjoy a mortal’s body. So fragile and easy to break. But also very interesting to please.”

She closed brought her legs closer, feeling her core heating up.

“You blood pressure is high, and your face is all red. I don’t think you’re scared little girl.” She laughed at the conclusion.

“Just do it.” She spat out the words, feeling ashamed she let herself falling for her instincts. In the same time, she wanted the woman so bad.

The woman slid her hands underneath her shirt and reached her boobs, which fit perfectly into her big and large hands. She started to squeeze them firmly, then she raised her shirt and lowered the bra in such manner to release her nipple. The skin hardened in the contact with the cold air, but soon her hands found them again and began to roll the nipple between her fingers. She brought her mouth to one of them and sucked it, leaving lipstick and some of her blood on the skin. The other hand was working the nipple. Y/N tried to lif her legs but she couldn’t because of her restraints.

“Let me help.” The woman went to the end of the table and began to remove the cuffs. Y/N knew it was no point to escape because if her legs were free, her hands were still cuffed. Besides, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to leave.

The vampire freed her legs then she went to unbutton her pants. She grabbed both pants and panties and pulled them down revealing Y/N white smooth skin. She bent her knees and spread her legs. The woman kneeled lifted her dress and kneeled at the end of the table. It wasn’t an issue because she was very tall.

She bent over the table again with her boobs laying on the metal table, her mouth being close to Y/N pussy. She spread her folds and pressed so she could expose her clit, then she pressed her mouth sucking the wetness.

Y/N raised on her tiptoes from the pleasure. Her mouth was hot and her fangs pressed occasionally on her folds sending her head in the clouds. The vampire started to circle the bud with the tip of her tongue, them suck it. She wanted to suck blood from the flesh so bad but she didn’t want to stop her from moaning. Living in the castle tends to be lonely, and eventually you get tired of your minions. The only fun she gets nowadays is with her prisoners.

The vampire lifted her dress so she could slide her hand between her legs. She found it so hot when the mortals are moaning. She continued working her clit, then she moved to her entrance. She tasted so sweet, a vanilla flavour different from what she experienced so far. She moved in circles inside her, then she started to move in and out. Y/N was rocking her hips according to her tongue motions. The vampire pulled out her tongue and placed it again between her folds, but this time she didn’t move her face and let Y/N ride it instead. The hand began her panties started to move faster.

The mortal’s moans were increasing meaning she is approaching her climax. The vampire pressed a hand on her belly to stop her and began to lick her clit again until she finally came. She removed her face and continued to work on her own orgasm which didn’t take long to achieve.

Y/N took a while to get back to reality. By the time she was finally herself, the vampire was gone and her handcuffs were removed completely from both of her limbs. She got up and put on the pants, and went to explore the are.

As she explored the dungeon, she heard some moans coming from a cell. She rushed to it hoping this time there isn’t a trick again. The cell was opened, and inside a blond man was cuffed and beginning to wake up. She immediately recognised him. It was the man from the file and the reason why she’s here. She just found Ethan Winters. Quickly she went to check if he was hurt, but by her relief he just had some minors bruises.

“Wh-who are you?” He asked confused.

“Im not here to hurt you, im here to rescue you.” She helped him to stand up and walked out the cells.

This wasn’t a victory. Yes, she found Ethan, but her gear was gone and she was carrying an injured man in an unknown place. She needed to protect herself and the man, and that was difficult without her gun. Her priority is to find Chris and the res of the squad. Or whoever survived.

[cdroloisms]

more of the mutually assured destruction duo, post-prison this time! this one was really fun, thinking about what this dynamic might be like in the future gives me SO much brainrot, im so excited. this one’s also a little dark, so make sure to read the warnings + tags !! :D 

tw: implied prison abuse, starvation, toxic relationship, touch starvation, manipulation, panic attack, trauma, blood, injury

Dream hasn't been the same since he escaped prison.

And it's ironic, because Wilbur hasn't even been around, has been in hell for fuck's sake playing Competitive Solitaire for nine-odd years, but even he could've seen the self-destruction hanging like a cloud around the other's head from a million miles (and several months? years?) away. Perhaps, he thinks wryly, you can only see the signs when you've lived them, or maybe red flags don't raise alarm when you’ve painted the entire figure in blood, but it doesn't really matter, in the end, because the final result is the same.

Still, it's just a little funny when he's stopped in the middle of his journey through the Nether, not a piece of armor on him per usual and an unused netherite sword slung over his hip.

"Hello, Sapnap." The kid is standing in front of him, eyes gleaming in badly-hidden anger and desperation, smoke rising from the mottled red-black skin on his hands. "Fancy seeing you around."

"You-" Sapnap sputters, unable to speak as his face flushes red in frustration, and Wilbur smiles at him condescendingly. The expression on the other's face is one he's seen before - one Tommy had been particularly inclined to give him in the past, when his emotions raged so heavily that there was nothing for the pressure to do but build, too thick and heavy to force themselves out of his throat. "You're monsters," Sapnap manages, finally, and Wilbur quirks an eyebrow.

At least we're self-aware, he thinks, the all-too-familiar twinge of irritation at Tommy's - and apparently, Sapnap's particular brand of reckless naivety pulsing at the base of his skull. He lets none of these thoughts show on his face as he cocks his head to the side, smiles wider - and Sapnap, just like Tommy, takes the bait.

'Why are you smiling?" He looks achingly young - they all do, really, their expressions and reactions dripping with a sort of innocence and sincerity that dissolved from Wilbur's own face somewhere around the fifteen-hundreth game of poker, and it really does feel ironic, how quickly the outside world can fall apart compared to the unending constancy of the void - but he digresses.

He didn't know Sapnap well before his whole death thing, and as much as he wants to use his partner to get information on the other members of the server, he doesn't really think Dream is really even lucid enough for that - the man clearly hasn't been thinking clearly, not for a long time. It doesn't matter, though, because you learn to read people when your life becomes nothing but running the same broken-edged memories over and over again in your mind and smiling jaggedly over the same few card games - Wilbur had always been a people watcher, and Sapnap's feelings are stamped on every corner of his face.

"Monster, huh," he says, saying the word slowly, rolling it over his tongue like he's tasting it for the first time, watching from the corner of his eye as Sapnap squirms, "Interesting word you've got here. You use it often?"

Sapnap bristles, smoke curling from his nostrils - "It's what you are, dickhead."

Rolling his eyes internally, Wilbur keeps up the act, humming as he fiddles idly with his cufflink. "I mean, if you really believe that," he rocks forward on his right foot, stifling a smile at the way the younger draws back, "But really, it's all a matter of perspective." He twists himself around, pivoting around his heel, beginning to walk in an arc around Sapnap's left side, watching as he spins around, shoulders drawn up to his ears. "What do you think?"

"I think that you're full of shit," he says, voice flat, and Wilbur laughs. It's genuine, really, because well - Sapnap's different. He's fun; the entire server is, after so long in the void. You can only spend so much time with the same two people before they drive you a little up the metaphorical wall, but Sapnap's reactions are fresh and new and different, still saturated with vitality that hasn’t been leached out by the same deck of cards in the same scarred hands shuffled and reshuffled for eternity. He's interesting, and new, and most of all, predictable.

"Say, Sapnap," he continues, blowing over the other's anger, knowing that it'll only make the frustration build more. He lets his hair flop lazily over one eye, lets his smile grow wider, lips pressed together in amusement, turns his face so that it's lit eerily by the lava lake beneath them. "If we're monsters for, I don't know, setting off a few stacks of TNT," he waves his hand flippantly, watching the muscle of the other's jaw jump in poorly-hidden rage, "What does that make you for what you did to Dream?"

Sapnap's eyes go wide, and Wilbur knows he's struck the jackpot. He lets his lips part to reveal bared teeth, jagged and glinting in the light. "I'm sorry, did that hit a nerve?"

The kid's mouth opens- closes- emotions warring on his face, fists curling and uncurling at his sides, lip trembling. "We- we had to-" his hands come to his face, palms digging into his eyes, and while he's not looking, Wilbur draws his expression back a bit, becoming softer, more welcoming. When Sapnap looks back up, his eyes are shining, hands shaking still; he steps forward, then rocks back on his back foot like he doesn't know where to go. "What do you mean?" he throws the words like they're meant to be a threat, but by the end his voice has devolved into something high-pitched and keening, overflowing with desperate grief that Wilbur latches onto like a starving man (ha) with his last meal.

"I'm sorry, it does seem rather insensitive for me to assume," he resumes pacing around the other, voice lilting, soft, "I just mean, it seemed pretty obvious, don't you think? I don't think I've ever seen someone so skinny, really, but I guess that is what happens when you get starved,"

"Shut up-"

"Not to mention the whole panicking thing, I mean, he's like Tommy sometimes with all of the fucking shaky breathing and mumbling around like creepers, not that I'd know what all of that's about," he watches Sapnap through half-hooded eyes, darkly amused, "and pickaxes, oddly enough, but oh well. Who am I to judge?"

"Shut up-"

"And all of the scars - I thought they were from you, honestly, he told me about the whole 'taking his last life' thing, but then he jumped into lava one day - I guess there wasn't much to do in that cell, huh? He didn't even scream, it's really pretty fucking incredible - I thought I'd actually have to break him down a bit, but really, you've made my life so much easier-"

"SHUT UP-"

Wilbur watches with a too-wide grin as Sapnap finally, finally charges, a netherite sword appearing in his hand as he races blindly ahead, tears shining on his cheeks, his words more pain than thought as he brings the blade down-

A blur of purple, the sound of crumbling netherrack and metal meeting metal, flesh hitting flesh - Wilbur moves smoothly out of the way as Sapnap crashes to the ground, an armored figure bearing down an axe against the shield he's raised between them.

Dream, hair tangled and long, wearing armor that is far too heavy for his skinny frame, every inch of him shaking in panic, should hardly be a threat - but this is Sapnap, weakened by Wilbur's sharp words and crippled by the shock of seeing his former best friend's face again, eyes still unfocused from the rage and tears that had clouded over them moments before, so he can do little but raise his shield as the netherite slams into it, again and again. Not a word falls from Dream's lips, but he brings down the weapon at a ruthless pace - ever since he's been free, his attack style has changed greatly from the defensive style he used to favor, even to Wilbur's untrained eye - there's no skill, no art to the way he attacks anymore, just the fearful ferocity of a dog trapped in a cage for far, far too long.

He finally kicks Sapnap down the netherrack cliff that they're on, the other man left to nurse his wounds below them - Wilbur doesn't bother sparing him another thought; Dream's far too weak to cause any permanent damage. Instead, he approaches his partner, weapon, with a smile, watching, satisfied, when he whirls around with a manic expression.

"I'm alright, see?" he croons as Dream's shoulders move up and down with his heaving breaths, eyes fever-bright, teeth bared. He brings a hand down on the other's shoulder and watches as he flinches at the movement, breath hitching, every muscle freezing, knuckles pale on the handle of his axe, before moving again, stumbling forwards, hands reaching for Wilbur's head and stopping halfway. Wilbur tips his head forward, lets the shorter brush his face with trembling fingers, checking his unmarred skin for blood through the purpling bruises already forming on his cheek, and thinks how powerful he is to have a god at his beck and call, a perfect attack dog brought to heel, death itself obediently at his side.

Dream hasn't been the same since he escaped prison, and as Wilbur runs his hand up and down his back, feeling the way his spine arches at the touch, at the fluttering pulse under the skin-and-bone wrist under his fingers, he thinks how fortunate he is to be the first to notice.

[isabellitah]

Title : Our Wife

Pairing : Sakusa Kiyoomi x Female!Reader x Miya Atsumu

Warning : blood ig, curse words, attempted rape, torture, and mentions of death

Credits : to the artists regarding the drawings of Sakusa Kiyoomi and Miya Atsumu found on the banner- i saved them from pinterest I think.

Note : do not copy or repost this anywhere else. I do not write Haikyuu!! fics anywhere else.

Y/n Miya-Sakusa was scared. No- scratch that- you were terrified.

You wouldn’t show it to your captors though- your husbands taught you to never show fear- but Jesus Christ- you were terrified not only for yourself but more so for your unborn child- a child you didn’t even know existed until half an hour before you got kidnapped from your own room. For the past hour that you’ve been tied to a chair in the middle of the room, they haven’t touched your body. The same couldn’t be said for your face. Half of your face was covered in slightly dried blood; blood that came a wound you got when they slammed your head against the edge of your beside drawer to knock you unconscious, and a spilt lip that was still bleeding slightly from when they punched you when you spat at the face of the person who demanded your husbands’ locations and the locations of all your warehouses. The thought alone made you scoff- you’re no rat. Unlike whoever the hell gave your home’s location away. Your husbands were going to be so pissed when they find you gone and your shared room thrashed about.

Sitting on the wooden chair was become a pain in the ass. Literally. You couldn’t even escape because of the metal cuffs attached to your wrists, forearms, and ankles and they took your daggers away. You’re stuck and all you can do it wait. Wait for either your husbands to burst through the door or wait for your promised torture session and possible death.

Minutes- hours- who knows how long later, two men in black barged into the room, startling you from your daydream carrying knives with guns in their holsters. Well... looks like your Omi and Tsumu are too late huh...

“Ready, Princess?” thing 1 with an eyepatch said with a smile, showing his yellow teeth, “Boss said we gots to kill ye before yer husbands get here. Ye know, so they barge in ‘ere only to see yer bleeding body. Even better if they get to see yer naked corpse, doncha think?”

“Boss said not to rape her tho-” thing 1 interrupted thing 2, “what boss doesn’t know won’t hurt ‘im. And besides- I wanna leave Miya a surprise for stabbing my eye.”

And just as thing 1 started moving towards you, a scream was heard from outside the door and echoed into the room, sending shivers down things 1 and 2’s spines. You, on the hand, smiled. They’re here... fucking finally.

“What was that?” Thing 2 looked around nervously. Huh- he must be new to the business. Poor guy he won’t make it far at this point. Thing 1 shrugged, “eh who cares? There’s no one we can’t kill.” he boasted. Dumb overconfident pig.

Another scream rang through followed by a shout of terror, “THEY’RE HERE!” that was cut off as a loud gunshot echoed through the walls followed by a series of bangs and clangs. The familiar sound brought you off guard- they brought everyone? You were sure that that clang was from Michinari’s favorite weapon- his metal bat. Where were you and who took you that they felt it necessary to have everyone here? You were brought out of your train of thoughts when you realized that all of a sudden everything and everyone was silent. All you can hear was your own heartbeat.

“Ah fuck it-” thing 1 looked at your form with a crazed look in his eyes that sent shivers down your spine.

“Dude what are you-”

“Well it’s obvious we won’t make it out alive-”

“Wait what?”

“-might as well have fun before we die, ey?”

With that said he closed the gap between you two. You felt your mind blank as tears started forming in your eyes. The moment he ripped Atsumu’s shirt from your person, the tears fell along with the loudest scream you could muster, “OMI! ATS-” you were cut off as thing 1 smacked your cheek with the butt of his gun, “shut up ye lil bitch. Yer not leavin til I get my f-”

Thing 2 was suddenly down- a hole on the side of his head. None of you even heard the door open so that meant Shinsuke was here- well him or Rintarou since they’re the stealthiest in your family.

Thing 1 suddenly stood up straight and placed his hands up with his palms up and blocking your view from whoever was with you two in the room, “hey uhhh I was forced to do this, mates- it- it wasn’t anything personal, yea?” Sat on a wooden chair in just your undergarments and the remnants of one of your husbands’ shirt, you let a small smile appear on your face. They’re here. You and your little bean are safe now.

Rintarou stepped out of the shadows and from his voice you could tell he looked bored, “so... where is she?”

Thing 1 shook his head, having lost his voice the moment his eyes met the bored yet malicious ones of one Suna Rintarou- one of the deadliest assassins of the Inarizaki family, and prayed that the fox wouldn’t notice your bleeding form behind him.

The moment you let out a sob, he pushed thing 1 away and squatted in front of you. And he was not happy with what he saw was done to you-

He saw your bloody and bruised face. He saw your shaking hands and the tears you let flow from your eyes. But what angered him the most was the fact that someone he viewed as his little sister lost the brightness is her eyes.

Any chance the idiot had with reasoning with him was gone.

“Congratulations, idiot. You’ve secured a spot in our personal dungeon.” Rintarou smiled as he heard a sharp thump before the telltale sound of a body hitting the ground, “you didn’t hit him too hard, did you, Shinsuke-san?”

“Not hard enough.”

“Ok- let’s get these off of you before your hubbies come in here,” with that said both men started unlocking the cuffs trapping you onto the chair. After freeing you, you were immediately hit with the feeling of fatigue and let your body fall onto the person closest to you. Shinsuke caught your semi-limp body and immediately became worried but calmed down as he felt your breaths. He arranged your position so that you were laying across his lap, facing the roof of the cell. Rintarou settled himself beside Shinsuke after texting Kiyoomi your location- receiving an immediate reply that they’ll be there as soon as Atsumu is out of his blood haze. Shinsuke brushed his hand through your hair but immediately stopped when you whimpered, “hit- t-table- home.”

The two men exchanged worried glances when you stared up at them with your eyelids slowly closing. Rintarou tapped your cheek, “Y/n-chan, stay awake- how do you feel right now?”

“Aish of all the questions Rin-”

“B-baby...”

“Kiyoomi-san and Tsumu will be he-”

“M-my baby...” their eyes widened as you shakily placed your hand onto your tummy before falling limp in Shinsuke’s arms. He refrained from panicking when he saw your chest still rising and falling in patterns- you probably fainted from exhaustion.

“Holy shi-”

“Y/N!”

The moment the two saw your limp body they assumed the worst- but as Atsumu was about to yell out his rage and sorrow, Osamu appeared from the shadows and hit the back of his head, “she’s breathing, you moron.”

“I knew that, shitface.”

“Who ya callin’ shitface, ya pig?”

“Who ya callin’ a pi-”

“Aran,” Kiyoomi calmly spoke as he turned to face the hitman- ignoring his husband and brother-in-law, “lead the way out- make sure that there will be no delays. We must take Y/n to Motoya immediately- we don’t know the extent of her wounds- however they look... less than favorable as of the moment.”

At the reminder of your current condition, the twins shutted up, “Osamu,”

“Yeah, Omi-san?”

“Bring that thing with us.” was muttered with great disdain while his finger was pointed towards the unconscious thing 1.

And so they left the building covered in blood with neutral faces.

They may not show it but they were livid.

They didn’t miss your tear and blood stained face nor the the fact that your shirt was ripped right down the middle.

They knew what was going to happen to you had they been a second late.

“Hitoshi and Heisuke are already tracking the rats- we’ll have them in the basement by tonight,” informed Kiyoomi’s trustworthy gunsmith, Tsukasa Iizuna.

“They better- only question now is who gets first dibs on the assholes.”

As they settled into the car, Shinsuke told them the news of your latest surprise. He knew that they’d go even more ballistic were they to find out during the check-up from Motoya. But since they were in a closed and moving car with you on their laps, they couldn’t really do much except stiffen and let their rage grow stronger- and he looks forward to seeing what they’ll do to the bastards tonight. Shinsuke, above all things, is a man of honor- and what he hates above all things, are traitors.

“PLEASE! I’M SORRY! PLEA- AHHH” Thing 1 screamed as Kiyoomi dug his dagger deeper into the man’s shoulder- forming a hollow hole of sort.

“Just a little more... I want to see if your bones are clean or if they need to cleansed as well-”

“Omi-omi~ I want my turn !” whined Atsumu as he crossed his arms and pouted at his husband.

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes, “you had your turn five minutes ago when you spilled acid onto his legs- it’s my turn now.” with that said, Kiyoomi ripped his dagger from the man’s flesh without a warning and grabbing a bowl from the prisoner’s ‘meal’, poured the bowl of scalding hot soup into the hollow flesh.

And as the man wailed, the two traitors squirmed in fear as they awaited their turns.

“We don’t usually go to this extent but what can we say...”

“No one messes with our wife.”

please reblog if you liked it hehe 🥺🥰

[mettleborn-a]

@warrioroflondonbelow​ said: 

"Righ', 10, ye' had yer' fun. Untie me and get me down from here and I may go easy on ye' and spare yer' life, how's tha' sound?" grumbled Richard, dangling in 10's trap, like prey caught in the spider's web. (im sorry I just couldn't help it after that post u tagged me in haha)

==================

Sitting back in a chair, Adelia extends a lengthy leg, shifting the sheer material of her skirt up to nestle the sharp point of her heel against the flesh of Richard’s shoulder, presenting a clear view of the scant underwear worn beneath. As she digs in to issue him a slight kick, the motion instantly causes the tightly bound agent to swiftly swing and veer back and forth, now a prisoner caught in the complex shibari web she’s wrapped him in. It took her hours to position him to her liking, hours 9 spent soundly asleep after she administered him a little cocktail of drugs to help him relax.

“You really shouldn’t trust every pretty little thing that bats her adorable eyes at you.” She grins, suggesting that the girl Richard was chatting to at the bar was perhaps a plant, placed into position by Adelia herself.

“It’s very cruel of you to cultivate my jealously like that 9.” She warns, rising to her feet, to light a cigarette. “I told you when we first met, I don’t like to share.” Bending Adelia presses a wet kiss against the agent’s bare arm, before bringing her cigarette up to burn his moistened skin, though she withdraws before making much of a mark; she’s only teasing. If she wanted him to hurt, he’d be screaming.

Holding onto the rope, 10 continues to swing the helpless agent back and forth at her absolute leisure before her hand ventures beneath him to indulgently explore, fingertips finally running along the length of a scar at the back of his thigh, a patch of marred skin, just below his very naked rear.

“Tell me about this one, how did you get it, 9? I’ve never seen it before.”

[sunnyxlove]

Imagine being a Endermen hybrid and teleporting your self into the prison every night just to see Dream you would cuddle him and give him the affection he was missing because you knew it wasn't his fault he did what he did people broke the rules others started the war they started fighting for the land Dream had to protect his home and the land his friends and him had made

The people wanted a villain so they got a villain

You knew Dream since you guys were kids you knew that he never wanted to be the villain

He had told you once

"I didn't want to be the villain,I don't enjoy hurting people,I did it because they started it I needed to hold the server together,They n̶e̶e̶d̶e̶d̶ wanted a villain and I had to be the villain"

You watched as he broke down when Sapnap finally visited him

You heard the scream no body heard when Puffy left him and said she was disappointed

You seen him tear at his hear scratching at his skin and bang his head on the wall

Because he defined himself as dirty t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶a̶u̶t̶i̶f̶u̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶

You felt you blood boil every time Quackity abused Dream

And his screams of distress

And when he panicked and asked you about Drista in the aftermath

You knew Quackity reminded him of his biological parents t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶s̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶

But when Technoblade got trapped in the prison with Dream

He had stopped your nightly visits cause he didn't want you to get discovered

You felt useless and guilty that because you were a hybrid you couldn't teleport Dream out of the prison with you

̶A̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶b̶e̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶e̶r̶c̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶u̶d̶d̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶e̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶e̶n̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶l̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶r̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶l̶o̶n̶g̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶

One day 5 months after Technoblade's escape from the prison when it was finally safe for you to visit Dream again

You were ecstastic when you hastily teleported into the prison

You teleported in to see Dream standing near the lava

"DREAM!"

You yelled happily

"Dreamcatcher"

He answered

i̶f̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶i̶c̶e̶d̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶v̶o̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶u̶n̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶a̶d̶

Dream had always called you his Dreamcatcher because you were always there for him and kept him grounded and you were the level headed one between you two

i̶f̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶n̶i̶c̶k̶n̶a̶m̶e̶

"My dear Dreamcatcher you came to visit me"

As you sat on the bed in the prison you patted the spot beside you as a way to tell Dream to sit next to you

But Dream didn't make a move to walk towards you

"Dreamcatcher can I ask a question?"

You frowned as Dream hadn't made a move to walk toward you or hug you either but you just thought he wasn't up for it tonight and didn't think their was anything wrong with it i̶f̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶p̶i̶d̶

"Sure"

Came your short response

"Has......Has Technoblade made a plan to get me out of prison yet?"

You felt you heart drop,as you knew Technoblade hadn't

"......No"

You noticed Dream tense up as his hands clenched

"Oh"

A bit of pregnant silence fell over the both of you

"How about George?"

You felt the pain in your chest pulse as he asked about George

It seemed like he still liked the short brunette

"What about George?"

You asked as you felt your eyes burn because of the tears threatening to leak out and burn your face

"How....How is George,Puffy,Sapnap,Foolish and Purpled?"

"Um their doing well"

"And Drista?"

You swallowed hard

"I-I don't know Drista hasn't entered the server in the last few months but I talked to Ender-Shardz and they told me Drista has been hanging out with Lani in their server"

Ender-Shardz was another Ender hybrid and was the owner of the End SMP they had met when both of them were looking for netherite in the Nether on the Origin SMP

Dream seemed to visibly sigh at this

Wh̶e̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶i̶e̶f̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶a̶d̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶

.

.

.

After another bit of silence this one more tense

"Do you think anyone would care if I died"

Your eyes widened at this

"Dream I- alot of people would miss you"

"It doesn't seem like it"

"Listen Dream you aren't gonna do what I think your doing right!?"

Dream smile h̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶r̶o̶n̶i̶c̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶

"Live on for me my dear Dreamcatcher I'll see you on the other side"

"DREAM!!!"

You ran at him as he fell in the lava you plunged your hand into lava as you weren't fast enough to catch him

As hissed as you pulled your hand out of the lava it was burnt scared and you could see the flesh underneath as the skin burned away

You felt you face burn as you tears flowed down your face

Dream tried to swim in lava(Lives 0)

-Ender

SOBS NOW IM SAD 😭

But great writing though 👍

I love angst sm

[mystilotls]

Tokyo Soul AU: Chapter one

Song: Cabinet Man

Tw: Implied gore, implied death, violence, shipping

This is for the peeps who don’t watch TS, these chapters are for the plot of this au.

also PLEASEEEEEEE send me asks ( @ask-mystis-aus ) im opening an “ask the characters event with drawn reactions so-

Enjoy, (no grammar check, we fail like men)

Long ago in a dimension where time doesn’t exist, where every up is a down, Where space is irrelevant, and when Cthulhu ruled with his army of demons, inflicting terror and darkness to all.

However, there was one soldier in the army that seemed more powerful than the rest.

This demon went by many names but to mere mortals, he was referred to as Necro. 

Necro could manipulate all, even the dead, Necro could summon anyone or anything at will, Necro possesses all knowledge of any dimension he sets foot in, and most importantly, it is dangerous to make a deal with him. For if you shake his hand, the consequences could be dire.

Demons found Necro’s powers to be too catastrophic and after a long war between them, Necro, and Cthulhu, the demons of the realms were victorious.  

Cthulhu was banished to R’lyeh where he built up the once fallen empire he had.

As for Necro?

Necro was trapped in a spellbook, and to add insult to injury, his prison was labeled as the “Necronomicon”. The Necronomicon was banished to a far void, where it was rare for anyone to even find it.

 Even when the Necronomicon was found, He is forced to share his wisdom of the dimensions he has traveled to and or harmed. He watches as wars break and mass genocide all from trying to obtain him.

 He loves watching but he vows, one day, someone will free him and he will return. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That’s the book we need!” a voice had exclaimed, it seemed to have belonged to a young man with an accent that is different from his colleagues 

Necro had gotten up from the corner he normally sat in, at first spending unbearable moments with nothing but dribbling fools constantly grabbing your cell and splattering blood of their former friends on you can get irritating, but since there was nobody to bother him, he often learned to meditate and ignore his surroundings.

Until now. 

However, these mortals seem like a change of pace for once. Necro crawled over to where the seeing eye is and looks out to see a bag of flesh grabbing his cover, he tries to remember what lifeform this was and had come to the conclusion that these were creatures from the Earth dimension. Necro never was able to take over this world but he heard stories that the smartest creatures...humans were just as if not more as primitive than the other idiots he had slaughtered like the sacks of meat they are.

These humans seemed like no exception.

Necro looked back and thought this was too easy, none of these fools know what the Necronomicon truly is.  All the easy to watch as they destroy themselves. Just a simple compliment or a simple suggestion and he already knows there is going to be delicious anarchy everywhere. 

Necro watched as he was being held by the obvious animal hybrid of a human and a long-eared rat humans call rabbits.  Necro could easily tell behind the dirty rabbit beanie this mortal calls a disguise.  

“It called the Necronomicon” “good eye, genius” Necro mumbled hearing the echo of the freak holding his book and wonders Since he looks like a freak in his dimension, would he be an easy pawn and not clash with his army.  He eventually got his attention drawn to the young man from before. 

“Oh no, no! No, I’m out” Necro watches from the seeing eye and grins wickedly. This human is smart enough to know his left from his right yet dumb enough to fall for all types of manipulation

He is perfect.

~ Necro groaned listening to them babble on about nothing that interests him. He then chuckled when his “friends” started to insult him. This is just too easy. He had been talking to the rabbit hybrid but his insults were to no avail. Meanwhile the blond, the rabbit had broken him so much that a simple insult or a compliment could make him all his. 

“As ugly as a wart too,” Necro said, loud enough for all of them to hear and he got the blond’s attention. Great, now to add gas to this unstable fire.  

He tries to hide his grin as the rabbit hands over the Necronomicon to the blond. This pawn seemed easier to control since the rabbit is too broken and too wrapped up in his own fantasies, it would just be a waste of time. 

  Necro was grabbed out of his thoughts when he was spat on by the blond. 

“Well that was a bit unnecessary” Necro mumbled

~

 “This is too boring and such a waste of time to try and get out of this damn book,” Necro thought as he just laid in the void. If only he had his actual body, then he could just watch as Cthulhu’s armies could mow down all these useless souls. Watching as they beg for mercy but then vaporate mid-sentence, at least then it would be a little fun. 

He got up and floated around in a sitting position. He thought it was time to try something different

“Take out the nurse. End him” Necro whispered in the blond’s ear. He saw the rabbit’s ears perk up and walk to the other young male.

“The Necronomicon wants us to kill Dr. Nurse, dude!” 

“And you want to listen to a TALKING BOOk” 

Necro sucked air through his teeth, he may not listen to him now but he soon will. He looked through the seeing eye and saw 

Cthulhu, in the body of some sort of walking creature that apparently lives in their water, all he knows is that this animal shouldn’t be walking on land.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grian held the Necronomicon during his date with Silly. It was more of a peer pressure date (he liked Silly in a sisterly way) but he was confused. He thought he was with Taurtis.

 Taurtis comes to his bed every night for cuddles and Tuesdays are a day when they can be all alone, but was Taurtis just using him to relieve tension, just his constant play toy for him to use while he goes dating other girls? 

Taurtis keeps claiming that he is just taking the girl out for a date so she can help him “get his hair back” but the half-shaved head works for Taurtis. However, he is growing his hair back and that’s all that matters.  

Suddenly, this cursed book ripped him away from his thoughts. The Necronomicon had been whispering to Sam yet Grian was the one to have to listen. While Sam went to go get Jorje from Mr. Chupa, Grian looked and saw many shadows of arms grab for Grian’s. They wrapped around him before reaching for his face, cupping his cheek before grabbing for his throat.  His eyes went white as he gasped for air.

Grian screamed before tripping and falling to the floor, panting heavily. Silly had rushed to help him up. He looked at his hands to see the shadows gone and all of the students and Mr. Chupa stare at him in confusion. 

“Grian, are you oka-?” Silly’s gentle question of worry was interrupted when Grian got up and ran upstairs, Silly could see him with eyes of fear and worry. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grian ran into a bathroom stall before slamming the door. He threw the Necronomicon and opened it to see the undecipherable font which is on every page. He growled before ripping the pages right out of the book, ignoring all the pained grunts from the disembodied voice. Using the sound of torn paper to encourage him. 

“Why do you do this, why do you put up with what you do. Cthulhu told me you wanted to go home, that’s not what you really want. I may be a book but I can read you like an open one. You just want respect, You just want to be loved, You want to be wan-”

“SHUT UP!” Grian screamed as he threw the damaged book on the floor, huffing as he glared into the seeing eye which he couldn’t tell if it winked or blinked. 

“I’m not just a book you know” Grian gasped as he heard a whisper right in his ear, nobody was behind him but he could feel a weight on his shoulders as if someone was trying to be comforting. It sent shivers through him as he shook it off. 

“I can give you respect, I can make people listen to you, I can help you get all the power you deserve” Grian pushed against the door. His eyes wide as he tries to get his bearings straight. This isn’t the weirdest thing by a longshot but something about this made him uneasy. He looked down to the seeing eye and saw red. 

“All you need to do is-”

SMASH

Grian stomped on the eye of the book and kept stepping on the cover. He heard a chuckle and soon laughter 

“Well, thats all I need, Thanks for the invite~”

A dark mass appeared from the seeing eye before it rushed into Grian’s lungs. He fell and hit his head on the bathroom floor, passing out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taurtis was starting to be concerned about Grian, he just stopped talking for the rest of the day, he wouldn’t even look at them or let go of the Necronomicon. Taurtis waited for Grian to come out of the bathroom so they could cuddle, he sleeps better on a bed than a mat but he feels more comfortable with another human next to him

Meanwhile, Grian looked at his hands before looking in the mirror, seeing his reflection gaining red pupils and sharp, dagger teeth

“Ah, It feels great to have a body again” Grian chuckled before hearing the bathroom door knock.

[auroraaa555]

“Domain expansion. Infinite void”

My current #1 Anime is Jujutsu Kaisen and I absolutely LOVE the idea of domain expansion. Particularly Gojo "Daddy" Satoru's Infinite Void. As I was watching episode 7 I found myself wanting to know what it would be like to experience Infinite Void so I decided to write a short scrip of what might be going on in Jogo's (aka. Mt. Fuji) mind at that moment. I hope you enjoy.

Uhh spoilers I guess.

It's my first time posting on here so take it easy on me and it's a rough draft so don't be too harsh :3

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

“Domain expansion. Infinite void”

Those were the last words I heard. Not even a second had passed since.

I tried to bring the Jujutsu sorcerer down, I was sure my attack had hit him and Sukuna’s vessel, but somehow not only had he stopped it but he had also laid his own domain in less than a blink of an eye. How!? What was the meaning of this!? How is his curse energy and mine on so different levels!? I HAVE TO KNOW

“Infinite void”. Those words resonate with me on a different level. I know what the six eye cursed technique was and how the limitless curse worked, this man had been blessed with both of them. I knew that since he was born yet I was naive enough to think I could take him down. I had told Geto that it would be nothing but easy work for me, after all, humans have no innate control over cursed energy as we do

“You can try, but you’ll die, Jogo” he had said. I know he is watching from some distance, Hanami is with him too, I have to make sure I stop Gojo right here, right now.

I glance up, frantically trying to make sense of what is happening, I can see how my domain is shrinking, it's getting overtaken by Gojo Satoru’s domain. He even has Sukunas vessel under his right arm, it's almost as if this is a charade for him.

Light around me flickers and turns into lines of multiple colors, I'm frozen in place, not just because of his technique but also because of the atmosphere around us, it's so dense, so powerful and so insanely destructive. light turns into darkness, the lines get longer and longer until it turns into a massive white screen of... nothing… I have been quietly watching innumerable horizons over what felt like years, it had been years right? could it be perhaps that it had only been a minute? or a second? This absolute whiteness has no direction, no up or down, no sun, no moon or clouds, no air or even a breeze, no way of telling the passing of time, just hollowness.

After a while I realized that I'm just standing on the edge of infinity. I could feel the cursed energy all around me. The whiteness is never ending, there are no colors beside this... Had the sorcerer blinded me? I tried to raise my hand, afraid of realizing that indeed I had lost my sight. To my horror I couldn't move. I knew as much since the beginning, not only that but also my legs didn't respond, I couldn't feel my heartbeat either, or even blink, my body just not … was i dead? just what the hell had happened? What kind of cursed technique had he used on me? Was his domain really that refined?

My mind is not understanding anything that's around me, there is no input of information, it's only my thoughts, and they are running wild, the prospect of being trapped in this place made me want to tear my flesh, eat my own fingers, gauge my eye, ANYTHING if it means breaking free, though, that doesn't really mean anything if i cant move.

After a while I start noticing something, there is movement! there's sound! I'm not blind! i… i … a whisper, a glimpse of color, basically undetectable but its there, somewhere. Then it hits me, i get absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of information that is just thrusted into my brain, there is just too much of everything, it doesn't stop it keeps pushing through it's like

trying to fit the whole ocean into a cup but when it resists the information just keep pushing down, there is no breaking the cup, it just keeps widening, i want to scream for it to stop, but i can't, nothing happens, just the onslaught of information.

Numbers and words simply cant convey just how much of everything there is, oh how many lives I had seen, just how many sunrises and eclipses were happening at the same time everywhere. i'm sure they were all real, even though I am still frozen in the same spot as i was, this infinite void as the sorcerer had called it is not so voidless anymore, there is so much happening, and even though to my there is no forward or backwards everything keeps moving at the speed of light

Every second is agony, the cup that is my mind has tried to explode millions of time but it keeps getting bigger and bigger, not one process is ever completed it just starts, it gives me time to understand what is happening and then it stops, just to start again, again and again. My mind is shattering. No, it has shatter many times already. No experience had prepared me for this sensation, every animal breathing, jumping, flying eating and being devoured, every human smiling, all of their suffering or success are inside my mind. I can feel millions of bites, billions of smiles, tears, eyes opening, closing, mouths saying an uncountable amount of words in all the languages that exist

“This is the inner world of limitless”

I hear the sorcerer say, even though the information was still coming, his voice was on top of everything. He put a cold hand on top of my head and smiled, i cant see him but i can somehow tell what he is doing, he is not blindfolded anymore and he is moving within this domain he seems free.

“Perception, communication, every action involved in living is forcibly carried out an infinite number of times.

He pauses for a second, that smirk of his gets bigger, i know he is looking down on me, his tone of voice is soft, like someone who is talking to a dying pet just before they pull the trigger. I don't know how, but I'm going to bring down Gojo Satoru even if it kills me!

“It's ironic isn't it? when granted everything you can't do anything but just die peacefully… but i have questions i want to ask you, so i'm letting you off the hook with this…”

The sorcerer starts grabbing my head with such force that it slowly crushes my head, unable to move, i'm trying to scream, the pressure behind my eyes is too much im totally helpless as this monster just pulls up, it feels as if the world is just spinning on this one point, it's just us, the sorcerer pulling my head, my body resisting and everything just... everything just…

A cracking noise where my spine is separating makes me get back to the ugly reality, I feel like thunder surges through my body as the sorcerer finally is able to sever my head with his hand, my body doesn't resist the pull, it just gives up and he tores not only my head but my whole column, my blood spills in every direction, but it doesn't reach him, that infinity of him stops it once again. i have been trying to understand how this works, how can he touch me

but i cant my mind is going blank … the last horrific second i can see that that the infinite void is shattering into a million pieces of glass under his feet, Sukuna’s vessel is still under Gojo’s arm, unaware of the unspeakable terror i had just been through. i start to wonder what exactly would take for someone like me to defeat this monster, Prison realm is probably not enough anymore, i … gotta… find a way…

Light starts fading …

I can spot Hanami in the distance, she has a flower in its hand. I wonder why... please just�� Silence...

[little-ligi]

Whumptober - No. 14

No. 14 - Branding | Fire Fandom - BBC Merlin Wordcount - 772

Sweat was pouring down Gwaine’s face. It was unbearably hot. Fires circled the room, if you could call it a room; it seemed more like a cave. Firelight flickered off the brown walls, the heat radiating back from the packed earth. A foot wide trench along the far wall was filled with burning coals, glowing red at the edges fading into brilliant bright white at the centre.

At first Gwaine had been thankful when the men had removed his tunic, it had been stifling, trapping more heat against his skin. But now he wished for it back, some protection from the heat of the flames. The hot metal of his necklace was stinging his neck.

He heard screaming from elsewhere in the caves, most likely other prisoners like him. Footsteps heralded the approach of an angry looking thug, his hands wrapped in thick cloths. He thumped one hand into the other, menacingly.

Gwaine looked up through his hair, glaring at the thug standing over him. He tugged at the ropes holding his hands behind his back.

“What do you want with me?” he spat.

“Selling you as a slave,” the thug said with a grin.

“A slave!” Gwaine swore, trying to kick the man.

“For the fighting pits.”

He stopped kicking. He should’ve known. He’d been in fighting rings before, living by the sword. He closed his eyes.

“Oi, you two.”

Gwaine looked up as the thug called two more men into the room.

“Having a party are we?” Gwaine sneered, trying to flip his hair, but it was stuck to his face with sweat.

“All slaves gotta be branded for their use,” the first thug said, poking about in the trench of hot coals at the other side of the cave. He drew a long iron rod; the shape at the end was bright glowing red. Gwaine scrabbled backwards, his tied hands frantically clawing at the dirt floor beneath him.

“Hold ‘im down!” the thug grunted.

The two men advanced on either side of Gwaine. He thrashed and kicked at them, but they grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Get off! Get off me!” He pulled at the ropes but achieved nothing except making his wrists burn. He writhed, trying to dig his heels into the solid earth to give himself leverage. He fought for all he was worth against the men holding him as the third man took a step forwards with the red hot brand.

“This one’s a fighter, ain’t ‘e. Put my money on ‘im once ‘e’s down in them pits,” the one holding Gwaine’s right shoulder said, chuckling. Gwaine arched his back, wrenching his shoulder from the man’s grip and head-butting him as hard as he could.

Pain exploded in his forehead and black dots danced before his eyes but at least the other man fell backwards, blood pouring from his nose.

“You’ll pay for that!” the man screamed.

The big thug whistled and two more men ran into the room.

“Hold ‘im.”

This time Gwaine couldn’t break free. Each arm and both legs were being pinned to the floor, the four men using all of their weight. Gwaine couldn’t move. His hands were crushed beneath his back, which was being forced into the ground.

The man with the hot iron moved closer. Gwaine’s eyes fell on the brand, his breath coming out in harsh pants. It was a pair of crossed swords.

His heart was pounding in his chest, terror ringing in his ears.

He tried to pull as far away from the heat radiating from the brand as he could. The thug moved so slowly then jabbed forward.

The scream tore from him unbidden as the brand touched his skin. Burning, searing pain blazed across his chest. The smell of burning flesh clouded his senses. The hissing sound of his skin cooking.

The brand was held in place longer than necessary, the thug clearly enjoying the agony he was inflicting. Gwaine couldn’t help crying out, swearing and screaming, tears pouring from his squeezed closed eyes.

There was a nasty ripping sensation as the brand was pulled away, but the pain didn’t leave with it. The pain seemed to increase as the hot air ghosted across the blistered skin.

Gwaine collapsed as the four men holding him let go. One kicked him in the side as they moved away. Probably the one with the broken nose. Gwaine couldn’t tell. He couldn’t see. The white hot agony had filled his head until nothing else existed.

He tried to curl in on himself, tried to twist away from the pain.

He welcomed the blackness as it pulled him under.

[laurelsofhighever]

The Falcon and the Rose Ch. 58 - The Bear and the Falcon

Chapter Rating: Explicit Chapter Warnings: Animal cruelty, Sexual Threat, Canon-Typical Violence (incl. Torture) Relationships: Alistair/Female Cousland Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Fereldan Civil War AU  - No Blight, Romance, Angst, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Cousland Feels

Read on AO3 Or start at Chapter 1

----------

An ache in her arms; cool, damp stone against her cheek that held a faint, sour-animal odour; darkness. Her throat burned with thirst. The quality of the silence told her she was inside, and – after a few more careful breaths with her eyes still closed and tension forced out of her body – alone. Her heart throbbed, but the terror it compelled would be of no use to her until she knew more about her surroundings, so she swallowed it back and forced her attention elsewhere, to her arms bound behind her back and the pins and needles in her leg. Bruises, but nothing broken.

Finally, she cracked an eye and levered her protesting body up into a sitting position, flinching when her back met cold iron bars. Her oilskin and gambeson had been removed, along with her weapons, but as her examination passed from her self to her surroundings, she noted with a sick kind of relief that her shirt was still tucked into her breeches and the laces fastened neatly. Even so, it meant little considering who had taken her.

To distract herself, she examined her cage, and the rest of her prison beyond it. Light fell dimly through a grated door at the end of the room, just enough to reveal a narrow space with a low, vaulted ceiling above her, and more rows of iron bars stretching away from her into the darkness. Small windows were set high into the walls, but the pitch dark outside offered no help. It was night, then – but which one? Was it days, or merely a few hours since the battle at the cove? She couldn’t remember seeing Windcaller escape, only Cuno lunging for one of Howe’s soldiers, and Alistair –

No, she told herself firmly. Don’t think about it – either of them. She could worry about them later, once she had a better hold on her situation. Forcing a deep breath, she turned her attention back to her bound wrists, and the clink of the cuffs against the bars that told her she would never get them off. They still allowed a bit of slack, however, enough that if she curled her spine and wriggled, she might be able slip them down the backs of her legs and bring them in front of her. It wouldn’t be much, but it would improve her chances until she could snatch a key. 

As she worked, the nagging familiarity of her prison resolved itself in a moment part elation and part panic: she was in Castle Cousland, in the kennel run that stretched under the eastern side of the curtain wall between the keep and the Marl-land Tower. Cuno had imprinted on her in the whelping den at the end of the row. They were fools to bring her here. A childhood of running the roofs and hiding from Nan’s temper had given her every secret in the place, from the nooks in the ramparts left over from ages of building to the best handholds to climb the walls and reach them. Even if Windcaller hadn’t made it, a chance for Cailan’s plan still lay with her, and if nothing else, she would finish Howe.

She had almost managed to squeeze her arms past her hips when the bolt on the door snapped back and the latch turned. She threw herself back onto her side just as light spilled across the far wall. Heavy, booted feet made a slow approach, every step jangling with the telltale sound of mail, and she tracked it until it stopped outside her cell, behind her, and every nerve in her body screamed against the need to lie still, limp like a plucked daisy, and wait for a chance.  

Leather creaked as the guard squatted down. “My lady!” His voice emerged as a hiss, panicked and urgent. “Lady Rosslyn, wake up – there’s not much time.”

A hand reached through the bars to shake her shoulder, but when she kept still, whoever it was cursed and retreated, and then she heard a rattle of keys, something settled on the floor, and the door groaned inward. She waited. The guard loomed over her, hesitating.  

“My lady?”

As soon as his touch landed again she launched upward, throwing herself bodily against him regardless of the sharp jab of pain in her side as unprotected flesh collided with the sharp points on his armour. Before he could do much more than yelp his surprise she twisted, kicked out, braced her back against the wall of her cell so she could jam her boot against his throat.

“Please – my lady –” he gasped, clawing at her foot. “I’m here to help – help you –” His helmet fell back, revealing a round face and a mess of dirty blond hair.

“You’re Master Darion’s boy,” she realised, letting up the pressure in her shock. His name was Gareth. She had gone months thinking everyone in the castle had been killed in the attack, and yet here was a boy who had trained next to her in the lists, followed after her through the summer orchards. Blazing with the orange and white of Amaranthine.

He saw the moment her eyes settled on the Bear on his surcoat, and raised his hands as if to ward her away, but the cage door still stood open, unnoticed, and freedom just a few hundred feet beyond. She feinted towards him, got her feet under her. He flinched. She used the distraction to bolt for the door.

“No!” He tackled her before she made it three steps, bringing her hard to the ground with an impact that jarred all the way to her teeth.

“Traitor!” She spat, and lashed out hard.

A grunt of pain met her ears, but he didn’t let go. “You’ve got’a listen to us - Lowan’s sent for you, there’s not much time –”

“My parents were murdered by Howe and now you’re here in his colours, and I should listen to you?”

“It wasn’t just you! They killed everyone. Me Da, Canavan, Gilmore, all of ‘em what he thought would be loyal to you. Please – just listen –”

With a final heave, she kicked away from him and rose into a crouch, hating the limitation on her arms. “Get me out of these manacles,” she demanded. “If you are loyal.”

The kennelmaster’s son scrubbed a hand down his face, then across the reddened skin at his throat. “I canna. It’s a different key, Lowan’s got the only one. I’m sorry.”

“How are you still alive?”

He held up a hand again, asking patience. “After he killed the officers, the rest of us was given a choice – serve, or have the same thing happen to us. We knew you were out there, that you might need our help, so we let ‘im think he’d won, and waited for you to come back.” When she didn’t reply, he ducked his head and pointed to the lantern he had left just outside the cage. “I brought you water. And there’s some bread and cheese there, an’ all. It’s nowt fancy, but you’ve been out a few hours now. Can I –?”

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded, and he scurried across to pick up a small horn cup and a parcel of food wrapped in a napkin. As much as she disliked being fed like a child, her current state allowed for little choice. Some of the water dribbled down her chin as she gulped it down, more eager than she had realised for the rush of cool liquid, but Gareth held the cup steady against her lips and the spillage was minimal. When there was none left, she wiped her mouth on her shoulder.

“None of us knew what’a do when they said they’d brought you in,” he said as he unfolded the parcel of food. “Reckon you’re lucky Howe’s got a bigger fish fryin’ him right now.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.  

“Loghain, my lady.” When she stared at him, his eyes widened. “Din’ you know? He’s here with his entire army waiting out in the orchard by the west gate.”

“We thought he was still on the road,” she muttered. “That means the king is walking into a trap… Tell me, is Queen Anora here?”

He frowned. “Anora? I don’t know about her… but there was someone brought in ‘bout a month back and put in the southwest room on the top floor, guarded day and night. The servers take meals up, but they never see who it is – the guards take the trays and say bugger all that’s not snide comments. My lady, what’s –”

“Gareth!” A voice thundered from outside. “Is that bitch awake or not? What are you doing in there?”

“It’s Commander Lowan!”

“Get rid of the cup,” she hissed. “And the rest of the food.” The bread had been little more than a scrap of crust, the cheese sharp, but her empty stomach was grateful all the same. She watched as Gareth stuffed the evidence out of sight beneath a mouldy pile of straw, their time slipping away with every growing echo of boots along the corridor.

“He’ll think you’re still out of it, so you’d best –”

“Listen to me,” she interrupted. “I wasn’t alone when I was caught. I have over a dozen soldiers who will be coming up the secret passage through the pantry to help. No matter what happens to me, you must make sure the queen makes it safely away and that the king’s army can get in through the gate.”

He shook his head. “My lady, I can’t just –”

“Gareth!”

“Just getting her up – that bloody second-rate apostate kept her too far under!” he shouted as he knelt next to her and hooked his hands under her arms. “I’m so sorry. We’ll get you out, soon as we can.”

The door slammed against the wall. Gareth flinched from the sound, and squeaked an instant later as he was knocked out of the way by a hand clad in a gauntlet made of stiff, scratched leather. Rosslyn let herself sag as that same hand grabbed her shoulder and hauled her off the floor. The rough action tore at her joints, but she refused to stand under her own weight – if he wanted to take her anywhere she would bloody well make him work for it.

“On your feet. Teyrn Howe wants a word.”

She rolled her head back to look at him through heavy eyelids, a man with close-cropped grey hair and deep lines around his eyes, and a jagged, poorly-healed scar down the left side of his face. “I don’t recognise anyone with that title.”

“Too bad for you,” Lowan snapped as he dragged her into the corridor. “If he didn’t want to play with you himself, you would’ve woken up in far less comfort than you did, girlie.”  

“This day will end with his head on a spike and yours next to it,” she snarled.

That made him pause. He turned to her with a leer, his grip on her arm bruising as he leaned close enough for her to see the broken capillaries in his cheeks. “I told him he should’ve passed a blade across your throat before you woke, but with that defiance? It’s going to be fun watching him break you.”

Revulsion coiled in her stomach as he reached up to wind a lock of her hair around his fingers. Every inch of him radiated the smug superiority particular to those who think themselves untouchable, and her lip curled. Baudrillard had been the same.

“And maybe after he gets bored, he’ll let the rest of us have the leftovers.”

She lunged forward and headbutted him in the face.

“Fucking bitch!” he yelled, as Gareth came forward to catch her. Blood was already pouring from his nose. “Get her out of here.”

She allowed herself a moment to admire her handiwork before she was pulled away, an ugly smirk still lingering at the corner of her mouth. She might face retaliation for it later, but even a small victory sent a message; she would not be cowed, not inside her own keep.

“Been wanting to do that for months,” Gareth muttered in her ear. He guided her down the corridor to the room that usually stored harnesses for dogs, though now the nooks set into the walls were empty. More men in Amaranthine colours waited for her there, and none offered anything but blank stares as her gaze flicked between them, no sign they could be trusted. Apart from the soldiers, she recognised the scrawny, mousy-haired man standing in the corner as the apostate from the beach. Several days’ patchy growth of beard disguised the weak line of his chin, and his dark robes cut off at his elbows to reveal forearms wrapped in fresh bandages and criss-crossed with lines of pale scarring, some more faded than others. He looked anxious.

She turned her attention away. Voices were growing beyond the door at the far end of the room. One held a gravelled quality, clipped with irritation, while the other was a thin, nasally whine she recognised from years of backhanded disapproval and family dinners. Gareth tightened his grip on her shoulder as her face tightened into s snarl, and she remembered just in time that she was meant to be helpless.

The door opened as she was forced into a chair in the middle of the room, and the conversation cut short. Gareth blocked her view, catching her gaze just once as he linked her manacles to a chain set into the back of the seat, far more loosely than he should have done; her legs were left free. He gave her the barest nod before he scurried away, full of trepidation, a last flash of solidarity before the storm descended upon her.

“Well, well, Bryce Cousland’s little spitfire!” Howe cried. “Finally awake! All grown up and playing the soldier, I see.”

As her mother taught her, she straightened and wiped her face clean of emotion, of the hatred surging like fire in her blood. Her eyes fixed unfocused on the far wall, but she could imagine his smile, spreading like the spill of lamp oil over water. Before he could say anything further, however, Lowan clattered in pinching the bridge of his nose, a torn rag held over the bottom half of his face that did little to stem the mess of blood pouring from his nose. She must have broken it.

“What happened to you?” Howe demanded.

Lowan spared her a glance, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Nothing, Your Lordship.”

“Get out of my sight.”

Lowan’s scowl deepened but he did as he was told, ducking past his master with only a perfunctory murmur of deference to the man standing next to him. It was Loghain, Rosslyn realised. He looked terrible, hardly recognisable as the proud advisor who had stood beside the throne at every Landsmeet she could remember. His once military bearing was sunken, gaunt, his cheeks bloodless as tallow and his unkempt hair worn with grey where it wasn’t thinning completely. Only his eyes retained their vigour, but even then, when he fixed his gaze on her, something in them reminded her of the dead at South Reach.

“An interrogation now is useless,” he said, with only a thin veneer of patience. “There is nothing she could tell us we do not already know.”

“I disagree, sire.” Howe still had his smile. “And I’ll remind you she is my prisoner, to do with as I choose.”

“Your petty vengeances do not come before the task at hand,” Loghain snapped. “Cailan is already here, and only waits for the morning. You have until I have spoken to my daughter to deal with this, and no longer. Anything else will wait until after I have that fool boy in my grasp.”

“Of course, sire.”

The old general turned to go, only pausing in the doorway to spare Rosslyn a glance before whatever he wished to say was swallowed up by his better judgement, and he left without a word. Without him, Howe unfolded himself from his servile crouch, the sycophantic tilt if his head curdled into a sneer, and though she squashed it down, her fists clenched with the awareness of being surrounded by enemies commanded by a man who wished her nothing but ill intention. Only her rage kept her shielded against the chill in her spine, so she stoked it, channelled it, anything to keep the worm in her chest from clawing its way up her throat.

“Are you quite comfortable, my dear?” her enemy asked.

She gave him her most disdainful stare. “You should address me with my proper title, Arl Howe. I am the Teyrna of Highever.”

A muscle ticked in his cheek. “You are nothing, you’re the last of nothing. Your parents died begging, your brother’s body rots where no one will ever find it, and his brat was burned on the scrap heap along with his Antivan whore of a wife. There’s no king coming to save you, no prince charming.” At that, he grinned, and her heart faltered. “The way you threw yourself after him on the beach meant nothing, and in the morning, the last of those who claim loyalty to you will be swept from the face of Thedas once and for all. You’ve lost.”

She struggled to control her breath, and heat pricked at the back of her eyes, but she had learned her lessons well. She kept her voice level as she replied, “And yet you’re still scared of me.”

“What?”

“I count four guards,” she mocked, straightening. “Not including your right-hand, who you no doubt wanted present, and a blood mage. Why else would you need them all around one chained woman if you weren’t afraid?”

The soldiers glanced at each other. Howe saw it. He advanced on her, fury contorting his features, and though she saw the slap coming – braced for it – the strike sent her reeling, ears ringing, blinking away the sting.

“You are entirely at my mercy, you pathetic little whelp, and you will learn it sooner or later,” he spat.

She probed her cheek. Blood welled from a cut, but all of her teeth were still in place.

“The more you fight, the more I’ll enjoy it, but you will submit. And through you, my claim on these lands will go beyond anyone’s doubt.” The manic grin came back. “The regent will approve the match, no doubt.”

For an instant, cold terror held her in its grip, the knowledge that her only help lay beyond guarded walls twenty feet thick, that her crew was scattered, that Alistair was…

But she was the Seawolf’s daughter; she had faced down the dead. Rolling her shoulders, she turned away from Howe and casually spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor.  

“Don’t make threats you can’t keep,” she sneered, fixing him in her glare once more. “Everyone at court knows how your poor wife had to find her comfort elsewhere because her husband was impotent. The horsemaster, the cook –” Her lip curled. “And don’t think it went unnoticed how much Thomas looked so much more like the Vigil’s seneschal than he did you. We all knew, everyone knew, and everyone laughed at you for it.”

She saw it, the moment her barb struck its mark, in the wild flicker of his gaze around the room and the lift of a snarl over his teeth, and her battle blood rose in response. He wouldn’t win this battle of wills between them; she wouldn’t let him. And then, she would kill him. But even as she thought it, his shoulders lost their tension, and the scowl smoothed from his face as if she hadn’t scored a point at all.

“There it is, right there,” he murmured. “That damned look in the eye that marked every Cousland success that held me back. Your father would be proud. I, however, intend to wipe that defiance away once and for all.” He smiled, and her fingers itched for a weapon. “Bring in the animal.”

One of the soldiers nodded and hurried out. Rosslyn watched him go warily, aware of Howe’s smug expression and the anxious way the others shifted on their feet. Soon, a burst of shouted curses carried through, almost drowned out by the rattle of chains and the monstrous snarling of some enraged beast. Behind her, Gareth stirred in his place in the corner, as if to intervene, but his courage failed him and he stayed silent.

The wait took longer than it should have, but eventually two burly men in heavily quilted jackets with thick leather shields on their arms squeezed through door, dragging chains behind them. The creature on the other end was Cuno. He thrashed and snapped against the restraints cutting into the thick muscle of his neck, trying at once to twist free and attack the guards holding him captive, to fight, but two others hung on behind him, so that he couldn’t lunge in any direction without being wrestled back by the other three. Foam lathered in his gaping jaws, his breath wheezed from his throat in ever more desperate gasps as he threw himself against his enemies, and as she took in the blood staining his flanks, Rosslyn’s hatred of Howe set into a cold, hard ball in her gut.

“Put him over there,” he pointed, as if directing nothing more dangerous than a new piece of furniture. “And you,” he added, turning to Rosslyn, “will learn. there is nothing you can do but watch.”

“What are you going to do?” Gareth asked. His eyes were wide on the dog he had known since puppyhood, and who had now seen his mistress was in danger and broken into new ferocity as he tried to get at Howe.

“What is always done with uncontrollable beasts,” he replied as the first guard returned with a crossbow and a quiver of bolts. “Unless you want to tell him to be a good boy?” he asked of Rosslyn.

She stared at him. Her own thoughts were drowned out by the drum of her heart, Cuno’s mad barking, the desperation that surely there must be something she could do. He wanted her to beg. The glint in his eye told her it wouldn’t make a difference. Cuno launched himself forward again, jerked back by the end of the chains, his breath harsher than ever, trying to get to her, to help her, and her nails dug so hard into her palms she was sure they would bleed.

“Void take you,” she hissed, and spat in Howe’s face.

He grabbed her jaw. His fingers dug into her skin like claws as he moved within inches of her face, his eyes greedy in anticipation of what was about to happen. “I said, you will watch this. Hold it still.”

“Your Lordship, you can’t –”

“I’ll deal with you later,” he snapped at Gareth. “Take aim.”

For Rosslyn, the world slowed. Every click of the ratchet drawing back the string, the guards straining, the flecks of blood and saliva cast to the floor as the dog tried to reach her. The bolter raised the crossbow. Cuno roared. Her gaze turned to Howe, to his sneer and his eagerness and every line of cruelty held in the slack, sallow mouth.

The rage took her so quickly she didn’t have time to think. Past the first stirring of it, her mind went blank. She felt her body coil, felt the snarl curling at her lips, and before she registered the movement she threw herself at her enemy, blind instinct, raw fire, nothing but a snap of energy bent into pure vengeance. Greasy cartilage caught between her teeth. She twisted, tore her head away and kicked out in a spray of red and a scream. There was a thud of metal hitting flesh, a yelp. The chair back hit her legs as it fell over. It didn’t matter that her hands were still bound. All she could see was Howe, writhing on the floor, clutching the side of his head She was insensible even to the hands that grabbed at her shoulders to keep her from him, to keep her from ripping him apart with her teeth if she had to.  

“Get her out of here!” someone shouted. “And get a healer!”

She spat out his ear at his feet. “That was your last mistake. There’s nowhere you can go, nothing you can do that will save you. I’ll kill you.”  

The words caught hold of her, worked through her sinews like roots as the guards wrestled her back, out of sight and down into the bowels of the castle. She didn’t know where they came from, but they rang through her head, burned in her throat, reverberated in her bones like the clarion notes of a horn in an empty hall.  

“Whatever you do, I won’t yield!” she bellowed as they hauled her away. “Not until your head is mounted on a wall! There is nothing left you can take from me – run to the far corners of Thedas and I’ll find you! Set an army against me and I’ll slaughter them all to get to you! Even if you kill me, I will crawl back through the Fade over broken shards of glass to make sure you suffer. You won’t escape – do you hear me, Howe? You will never be rid of me!”

--

The screams echoed off the walls of the dungeon, distorted through the thick stone and hollowed until the words were lost beyond the guards’ curses. There was a lot of screaming these days. For those who had months since lost their hope, it made pity a distant thing. The noise disturbed the prisoner’s rest, that was all, and he resented being pulled from the meditative oblivion that these days came to him almost as naturally as his own breath as he waited for death to claim him. He shut his eyes in the near-complete darkness as the woman – more the shame – was dragged past his door, and with nothing else he could do he turned his head away.

Something moved on the other side of his cell. He could still hear screaming, but it was muffled behind doors and walls, and far more immediate was the sense of another body, betrayed perhaps by the rustle of cloth, or a breath, or the clink of a chain as whoever it was shifted into wakefulness, little more than a half-imagined outline in the gloom. A spark of curiosity lit in the prisoner’s mind. It was a novelty in itself, the first emotion to break through his despair in months.

“Who’s there?” A male voice, and then a groan. “Is someone there?”

The prisoner leaned forward, licked cracked lips, and in a voice scratchy with disuse, told the stranger his name.

[bouncyirwin]

HI im sorry for messaging you so close to the deadline for #surpriseme! it was a struggle to decide on one thing. shisaku, M, "all that blood really brings out your eyes" as the prompt/sentence starter if you'd like, but i really don't mind if you switch up the rating and/or the prompt. thank you very much for doing this!

I know that the initial plan was to write those prompts for 2018 but uh, 2018 had other plans for me. Hopefully 2019 will be the year I finish them. Nevertheless I hope you enjoy this and that came as a pleasant surprise @yakourinka​ ♡

This piece can be found on ff.net as well. 

Stolen Moments | ShiSaku | M | 1,830 words

She follows him through the darkness, silent steps that skip through leaves and branches and fall steadily in the spaces his occupied, a guide through the night where his eyes are better suited to protect them than her healer hands could.

He and she— they’re a varying contrast of collected cool and raging passion, shadows in the light and embers in the darkness. Yet they are the exact match of lethality and grace, of safety and danger in equal measures. 

He is sunny smiles and blood drenched hands, a man twisted into something hard, yet soft and warm at the core, something to sink into, something to wrap yourself in. She is spring hair and laughter that bubbles forth from between cotton candy lips—she is a woman who clawed her way through mud and blood with vicious anger and hurt locked behind her teeth, something that tore you apart, something terrifying—something that healed your shattered pieces when she could break them. Something beautiful. 

Shisui ducks; he is fast, like a whip of lightning, and she has to strain to keep up with him. He’s always just in sight, just out of reach. Sometimes it feels like she’ll run the earth twice over trying to catch up to him, to keep him locked away between her arms, safe from the world and all the monsters that wished to exploit him. 

He manoeuvres through a series of traps, feet light and quick like a wicked dance he choreographed—her soles align with his footprints, every step perfectly measured to match his.

In one fluid motion he’s whipped his sword out, and then he’s driving through something invisible and blood goes spraying in the air, thick and dark, a sick twirling dance of death. Sakura follows through—it’s a familiar waltz after all—and knocks the enemy’s head off with one decisive punch.

She’d long learned to stop flinching at the arterial spray—there’s so much of it that it soaks the ground and drenches her vest and smears on her neck. Shisui and Sakura share a look, a silent conversation all by itself as they spring away in opposing directions, leaving behind a corpse.

They sense the crackle of chakra in the air as their enemies converge—it was never meant to be an easy mission; it never was, and those were never theirs to take. He’s Shisui of the Body Flicker, and she’s the woman with the strength of a hundred; together they make a force that crumples mountains and raises the sea and levels cities. 

The string of endless missions were starting to blur into one … they’d part and join again and again over a bloody field, and they’d exchange a fleeting hello  and a meaningful goodbye until they met again. 

Sakura pulls her fist, charged with so much chakra her bones thrum with it. When she strikes, the vibrations quake the earth like a shift in the tectonic plates, and the rocks shatter beneath her will. There are screams—there are always screams, blood curdling, seeping beneath her skin to haunt her nightmares, but Sakura’s fists have a mind of their own. They push and break and kill, and they never falter. 

She feels Shisui like the aura of a ghost behind her, present in every swish of the wind but just out of sight. He’s always first to take out his enemies, she a very close second. 

He flashes in front of her, manifesting into something distinguishable from the blur of the nightly forest just as his blade sweeps down like the damning call of the reaper and severs clean through the enemy’s neck. This time the blood splatters her face and cascades down her cheek to drip down her vest. 

Shisui sheaths his sword and turns to face her. The shadows conceal his features, but his eyes stand out a crimson red through the darkness. He steps forward, and suddenly the moonlight bathes him in an ethereal glow and his eyes darken to a liquid charcoal. He smiles—something dangerous and sharp as his fingers glide over her bloody cheek, “All that blood really brings out your eyes …” 

His fingers swipe through her hair, and they curl around the nape of her neck. They’re possessive, imploring—he towers over her as he draws her closer—she hasn’t seen him in days, weeks, she has counted them even, and they mark too long since she’s felt his touch, and when he presses their mouths together, there’s a momentary lapse in time where she teeters on the verge of breaking. 

His mouth covers hers fully, something scorching and familiar—home—and her heartbeat roars in her ears. Sakura takes the violence and passion of his kiss like parched land welcomes the rain and moulds herself against him, pushes into him until they’re wrapped in the shadows of the forest where they are the most dangerous creatures. He leans her against a tree and presses into her.

It’s ludicrous, that after all the fights are fought and all the blows are dealt, when her hands ache and his drip with blood, that it’s now, in this moment in time, in the prison of his arm, in the frigid fall air, that she finally feels fragile. It’s easy to surrender to him, to the muscular arms that snake around her waist and the calloused palms that map a trail up her spine. 

His touch leaves tingles in its wake as it covers scars, sweat, and grime and drags across her skin, and she wants—she wants—to make a sound … something that bubbles in her throat and propels her to shove her hand down his pants and stroke him to the stumbling cadence of her heart. 

Teeth sink into her lip, a hitching breath fans her skin, and he bucks into her hold, once, twice, gasps, something raw and heady, and it sinks in her stomach like lava. His fingers frame her jaw, they squeeze her neck, something restless and itching as they fall away to rip open her vest and trace the expanse of her torso and chest. They squeeze greedily and wander under her shirt. Expert fingers latch onto a distended rosy nipple, and he tugs and tweaks and pinches, and that sound locked away behind her teeth threatens to burst through. 

Sakura squeezes his cock tighter. He’s so hot in her hand, rough and pulsating for the wet heat between her legs, and she wishes they were anywhere else—anywhere at all as his fingers reach below her skirt and trace a hot line across wet folds. He presses insistently into the seam, the rough pad of his finger gliding over her clit and circling. 

She kisses him then so that he swallows her needy moan as she grinds against him, and she nips and licks and sucks on his mouth until it’s bruised rosy. 

“Please,” she says incoherently through a ragged breath, and his fingers slip seamlessly into her, his palm covering her sex and squeezing. She gasps and rocks eagerly against him, her free hand clutching desperately on his bicep, on his neck, in his hair. His fingers press a spot inside her that makes her walls clamp down tightly around him, and he grunts quietly into the electric air between them. 

A sound like a sob escapes her, her hand stilling on his cock as she begins to fall apart. Shisui’s forehead presses against her own, damp and feverish, and his nose brushes against her own as he whispers heatedly, “Come on—that’s it, give it to me … give it to me, Sakura, come.”

She quickly buries her face in the juncture of his neck and keens as she comes, hot spurts of liquid drenching his hand.

 “Fuck … Just like that … shhh.” His face nuzzles her hair like he wishes to sink into her—he’s breathing hard, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “You’re so beautiful, I’ve missed you so much …”

He waits until she’s calmed down a little, just relishing in her proximity before slipping his fingers free of her heat and tucking the ends of her skirt into the waistband. He pulls her shorts down just below her ass, his hands running over the supple flesh, riveted. 

“Turn around,” he commands hoarsely in her ear, tone rough and strained.

She complies with blood rushing hard through her veins, her fingers finding purchase in the bark for an anchor.

The night is so quiet, the silence is so loud it’s deafening, and she can hear every thud of her heartbeat loud and clear. She listens with baited breath to the rustle of his clothes as he undoes his pants, feels his hands ghosting over her rear and then the head of his cock sliding between her folds, coating himself with her come. 

Sakura whimpers when he presses into her and slides all the way through. He’s so hard and thick, but she’s so wet that she sucks him in easily, her pussy clamping down greedily around him.

He hisses, and his fingers tighten their hold on her hips as he slowly eases back and thrusts into her again. 

“Uhn,” she moans sweetly when their hips meet with a resounding smack and she weeps around his cock inside her. 

Driven by the helpless little noise and the way her body contracts around him, Shisui grips her harder as he angles his hips and slams into her. She chokes on a moan, pressing a palm to her mouth, but her hips move back to meet his halfway. 

He makes a sound at the back of his throat, like a growl, and his fingers dig into the creamy flesh of her ass as he rams her back against his length. 

Sakura’s walls begin to pulse wildly around him again, and he reaches to pull her upright against him, moulding their bodies together and biting on her shoulder as the first spasm of his orgasm hits him. He shudders inside her as his seed coats her walls, and she cries out into the palm that suddenly covers her mouth as he comes long and hard, jerking his hips erratically against her own. 

A small eternity seems to stretch between the moment they come down from their highs and the moment they separate, his cock slipping out of her with a wet sound followed by a sticky trail of his come mapping a path down her inner thigh. 

She breathes deeply, trying to regain her bearings, and waits another moment before pulling her shorts up and fixing her skirt. 

“I’ll see you.” Shisui draws her in for one last kiss, something soft and secret and so filled with longing, it makes her heart ache before he flickers away to continue his follow-up mission and she does the same.

All she has are these stolen moments, the quick fumbles in the dark and the memory of him on her skin.

He’s always there, just out of reach. And when she has him, she has to let him go again. 

[spideronthewindow]

im suddenly reminded of my dream last night. there was this woman. she was in this plastic bag kinda like those bags when you buy fish only the water was brown and she was bald and naked and in the water was like the placenta and her child still half grown floating in the water her skin was like pale and the blue of her veins were showing through hand the entire bag was placed inside a deep fryer like the ones for french fries at mcdonalds and she was screaming and crying for her dad and then the scene kinda like zooms out and there's like a communal shower right next to the deep fryer and another naked lady just casually walks towards it and takes a shower 

yeap

btw the backdrop to this is that there's an apocalypse and people have mutated into monsters and the woman taking the shower is like the leader of the a human stronghold which is kinda like a hospital/prison kinda deal and there's a cult in there?

in any case, people sacrifice themselves to an eldritch god and the leader is his favoured so she can choose who dies and of the people you could choose like there was this one curly haired woman who said she’d be honoured to be chosen or something 

also the context of the entire thing is a flash game i found recommended on the back of a comic magazine thing with a link to the website of the game and the leader lady is the person you play as

basically the entire game is kinda like those visual novels where you choose which part of the prison/hospital you wanna spend time in and what you wanna do and manage your resources 

and at some point i chose to check on the defences and some monsters got through and i just was trying to trap them so i had like a few of them fall into meat grinders and shit or like a revolving door of blades slicing them up as they went through. the monsters mostly looked like weird purple flesh things, imagine a huge rectangular block made of flesh with two more slightly smaller rectangular blocks sticking out of it as legs

and at some point there was like a clear plastic bag or liquid which was brown and had like flesh floating in it and for some reason like had cartoon eyes and a cartoon mouth floating in there too and it was still alive

but in any case the lady you play is is not a nice person and during that shower scene after the ‘camera’ pans from the naked pregnant lady to the leader lady showering there was an internal commentary which sounded like a youtuber video essay voice suddenly said ‘ah yes the infamous shower scene, many young men looked forward to this though it caused much controversy due to the nudity and rotoscoping of the actress’ body’

so yeah my dream

[yourlocalallnaturalhomosexual]

Nah cause I’ve been super dysphoric lately but instead of it being like, sad dysphoria I’m like, angry.

I’ve just been finding myself observing the cis guys just in school with me and being mad that I can’t have that.

Like yes I know I’m a man and I have my circle of people but it’s so annoying because I just want people to look at me and know I’m a man.

Im so sick and tired of having to correct people when they misgender me cause sometimes I forget that I have to.

I want people to see me as a man but it seems no matter what I do it just doesn’t happen.

I feel like a dog chasing it’s tail.

Chasing after something that is forever going to be to far ahead of me, so much so that I can’t catch up.

Like today my packer was all fucked up and I looked like I popped a boner and when I went to fix it I was low key like “don’t do touch it maybe if people think you have a massive Shlong they’ll finally get it.”

And I keep reminding myself that my body doesn’t define me as a man but words won’t change the fact that I’m trapped in a female flesh prison.

I’m so mad and I can feel it bubbling up inside me.

I’m just so pissed I feel so stuck.

I wanna scream it.

I want a masculine chest and just everything I hate my tiny hands why aren’t my arms longer.

I haven’t been able to shower because of how much I hate my body.

Why can’t I do such a simple task.

Even when I do shower my tits and hips make me feel like there’s still and think layer of grime on me that irritates my skin and my soul.

I’m so angry and currently resisting the urge to bang my head against the wall of punch something.

I’m so tired and still haven’t done my math homework.

Anyways this dysphoria is really gonna kill me someday.

Thank a lot universe for fucking me over.

[abloomntime]

A Bloom In Time Ch 32

(Warning: Nightmares. Also if you look through the The Tale Of Queen Vanessa storybook, on the fifth page when the Prince pays for the flowers as it shows Vanessa running away, it looks like he paid with a gold bracelet which is what the Florist is holding. So that's where the golden bracelet headcannon came from. Kudos to anyone who spots the Steaven Universe reference.)

Cold. Darkness. All of it came rushed over so suddenly. No- NO!! THIS COULDN'T BE HAPPENING!! SHE DIDN'T WANT THE NIGHTNARE TO RETURN AGAIN!! SHE DIDN'T WANT ANOTHER RUN IN WITH VANESSA AGAIN!! Well to give the poor lady credit it wasn't about Vanessa but a different red eyed ghosts that twitched and smiled like a maniac in a giant black filled void surrounded by red ropes dangling dangerously around himself. Laughing like a crazy man who just got turned loose and was given free reign to wreck havoc on the world as he saw fit. It was a living night mare as she relived the events that just took place the previous day before.

He just nodded smiling. ''Im glad to have been so helpful to you. ...But there IS one more important thing you must know about.~"

She looked back to him with a raised brow. "And what is that?"

"This." He held up one of his hands and snapped his fingers. The sound echoing out eerily and Poppy flinched at the sound. After a few seconds a bright red string dropped from out of nowhere and stopped right beside his head.

She stared at it for a moment. "...What is that thing?"

"It's how I make contracts. You see Snatcher isn't the only one who can make those, the only difference is that the person HAS to willingly agree to sign the paper or he can't do anything...While MINE can be forced upon." His smile widened more. "And frankly I don't think he deserves someone as special as you!!"

His wrist that he still had held up suddenly went down in a slashing motion and in an instant the thing sprung to life on his command. Poppy yelped as it went straight towards her and on instinct brought her arm up to shield her face, the red string wrapped around her arm like a snake and proceeded to tighten like one Poppy was pulled forward by it and she yelped before digging her heels into the ground and pulling back, her otherhand clasping over the string. Moonjumper smiled and simply motioned his finger forward as it painfully tightened around her more.

"WHAT THE PECK DO YA THINK YER DOING?!," She angrily snarled at his smile.

"DAD!! What are you doing?!," Timmy asked just as horrified as the other two children. Obviously he wasn't expecting this to happen.

"Don't worry. They all fight at first but soon you'll forget any pain and be eternally happy." Moonjumper said in a reassurring voice. "Won't that be better? You'll never be in danger again, and be here with me."

"YOU'RE MORE CRAZY THAN SNATCHER!!" She stumbled forward a foot at a sudden yank, The red string glowing a bright red and her blue eyes widened at it.

"Don't worry. I promise it doesn't hur-"

At that very moment a giant burst of energy throbbed hard within the very core of her body. Temparaily knocking the wind outta her. Poppy gasped and fell to her hands and knees at the sudden tight feeling within her. Her body emitting a small purple light in the dead center of her chest and she stayed there gasping and blinking at the sudden sensation leaving goosebumps across the pale flesh and her shaking like a leaf again. Coughing and gasping for air like a drowning sailor, the red string absolutely disintagrated from the purple magic that glowed in a heart shape right in the middle of her chest. Moonjumper froze, staring at the woman on her hands and knees in absolute shock like the time he first saw her. Poppy's red hair went around framing her face as she coughed and faced the floor....Before slowly looking up through her bangs with the angriest more visious snarl on a mortal woman one could have.

"You can-...NO!" Moonjumper snarled back. "NO!! This can not be it! Y-You-....YOU DONT POSESS ANY MAGIC STRONG ENOUGH TO COUNTER MINE!! I-I-...THAT SHOULD'VE WORKED!!"

"Is THAT what that was?," she hissed out.

"How did you do that?! How you you have possibly have- No! Your will against it just must be stronger than the normal mortal!" He held both hands out and Poppy's face went back to panicked when near ten strings came from the dark and towards her. Timmy yelled at Moonjumper to stop but he either didn't notice him or didn't listen when Poppy was painfully suspended into the air. Most of the strings too tightly wrapped around her arms but some wrapped around her legs too and one around her neck, she cursed and struggled like a mad women being sent to the looney bin. Fighting and fighting before that still glowing purple heart sent out another energy burst and in an instant all the strings were destroyed. Leaving her to fall on the ground and start coughing and breathing again for air like a dying man. Moonjumper once again stood there stunned too shocked for words. Eyes going to the purple throbbing of her body....and suddenly absolutely fear wracked his face and form. "......N-No.....N-NONONONO!!!" His hands suddenly went over his mouth and he floated a few feet away. "N-No.." His red eyes snapped to her face when she weakly pushed it up. "Y-You signed it didn't you? Y-YOU SIGNED THAT CONTRACT WITH SNATCHER!?"

You signed a contract with Snatcher??? .....Yes. Yes she did. Is that what made Moonjumper so scared? Why? Was he scared his plan would fail if she was already in servitude to another powerful spirit? None of it made any sense. Not that it needed to in the first place for Poppy to be scared and start thrashing around again fighting against the madness of the ghosts in her life. This was it! She had enough! No more ghosts! No more red eyes!! No more traps!! No more prisons!! She just wanted it. ALL. TO.

"STOP!! STOP ITSTOPITSTOPIT!! LET ME GO!! STOP!!.....SNATCHER!! SNATCHER PECKIN' HELP ME!!"

Something grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. All she could see was red eyes and feel the tightening grip on her arms all red from strings from the darkness. Screeching that sounded like bloody murder echoed out through the child's bedroom and blue eyes opened in a sudden blurry black vision. Someone stared at her and more screams were hollered out at two glowing yellow orbs that scattered away from the source of the sounds as whoever was cutting his ears with piercing screams moved back away from him. Blanket uncovering their body and a pillow tossed in the direction of the ghost of nightmares coming back for her. .....Well it most certainly WAS a ghost. But NOT the one she just had a nightmare about. This ghost yelped when his face was suddenly wacked by a pillow and as it fell to the floor he shook his head and watched as the panicked woman stared up at him frazzled and breathing heavily. Heart pounding against her chest as she stared up at him and he stared down at her. Blinking her head whipped around her surroundings and saw nothing but cute harmless things you'd normally find in a child's bedroom. Toys. Animal themed wall paper. Book shelf of fairy tales. And that familiar giant pillow pile. It was.....Not the dark void of the Horizon Moonjumper was in. That gave her some peace of mind as her breathing began to slow and her eyes closed but she still asked.

"W-Where....Where am I?"

"The kid's bedroom." The raspy voice of Snatcher's came. That beautiful annoying voice she would GLADLY take over Vanessa's or (now) Phi-....Moonjumper's. Said ghost lowered until he was eye level with the startled woman and gently placed his hands on the bedside next to her. "You passed out and I thought this would be better than the attic floor. ...Hazelle said you were exhausted by the overflow of magic but you'd be alright."

So that was it. Well at least she was gonna be alright....But now-......Moonjumper's voice was still fresh in his mind, as well as Snatcher's and as well as both of their actions-

FIRST!! THERE WAS EVERYTHING ABOUT SNATCHER UP TO THIS POINT!!

When she first glimpsed him at the manor. The brown hair was...P-Philip's. It was like everyone's voices and actions were being replayed back through her head with every moment of foreshadowing, hints, and puzzle pieces finally being put back together-

"Hey! I know who can help! Snatcher can!! He's really, REALLY old too and he should what to do!! Come on! He had to deal with being frozen and Vanessa just like you!" Hattie had given her the first major clue to it all. He had to deal with being froze to death AND Vanessa because he was the one who took the brunt of Vanessa's rage. "Hey! I know what can help a little bit. Y-You like flowers right?" He had a flash of panic fly over his face for a moment before he coughed and shrugged. "You said you had a flower stand before Vanessa sent her goons to take you right? O-Obviously you must've liked growing things then. Or at least flowers." That....THAT PECKING PECKNECK KNEW ALL ALONG SHE LOVED FLOWERS!! HE PECKING KNEW!! "We're all that's left and you should accept that's how it is now before you get hurt. Believe me the sooner you do the sooner everything starts to get better for you." "Hey. I can understand that. Believe it or not you're not the only one who's gone through that kind of thing....I'm certainly no stranger to feeling like that. In fact it took me forever literally just to realize my place after I got lost," "Ok. To make it in mushier terms..I DO want to help you ok. Believe it or not I do and I have my reasons. But you gotta know I can't change the past no matter what. Trust me I have TRIED and look where that got me. Stuck fused with a mushy corpse and having to lead a whole bunch of strangers through the forest like a tour guide." he glanced at her confusion again. "Uh..B-But that's not important. The important thing is that I can't change or fix anything that's already happened alright? I can't send you back. I can't give you anything from your old life......And I can't change what happened to you." Her face dropped and eyes widened even more- "But, I can help make the future easier and help you with whatever you need to settle down with alright? But you got to understand that it's NOT just going to be with a snap of my fingers. I know, I've experienced it for hundreds of years. Just know that...You're not going to be alone in any of this alright?" "No. You were right the first time. She was always a monster, it just took her a while to show everyone what was really inside. So don't give her any credit. She was never a queen, just a spider wearing a pretty mask." "I-I...I know exactly how you feel." He scowled. "Yeah. I know EXACTLY how that feels. Vanessa took everything from me too when she froze everything!" He growled and his grip on her became a bit tighter if he was being a lil protective. "I pecking didn't see it coming until it froze me right before my very eyes! I died before my life even took off the ground and now I'm stuck like this....But you aren't." He ...attempted a smile. "Listen, Poppy. I'm not good at this speaking from the heart stuff, but Im pretty good at speaking from experience stuff. So trust me when I saw you still got your whole life plus more ahead of you. It's....probably going to take a while for you to process this properly and start to move on like I did." "Look. I ....can't change the past no matter how badly I want to. But I can change the future, and so can you. Think of all the things you can do now without anyone to hold you back!" He might've been speaking from what he perceived as a positive but she gave him a funny look. "Uh...By that I mean vanessa of course. She's not holding you prisoner anymore." "I stumbled across him a few times coming up here to visit. Hmph! He's very rude and always steals any dish I make with bacon when he's around me cooking. Quite the oddball out if ya'll ask me." P-Philip ....LOVED bacon. And Vanessa banned bacon from their kingdom around the time she died. "Of course I can! I made the kids all those clothes and my minions their highly durable bodies." ""YOU painted all of these?" she asked gawking at him His smile widened more smug if that was possible. "Yep. And those." He pointed to the left wall wear there was five giant paintings behind the space cow mobile. He then pointed behind her. "And the ones right behind you." Now that Poppy thought about it hard, she faintly recalled Philip learning embroidery from his mother and taking a liking to hobbies like painting and reading books. Both of which he did and you can CERTAINLY learn to sew along with embroidery. "How do you know that?," she asked genuinely confused. "UH....I- Um-....I-I-I was there when he was killed." He still eyed her for a moment before looking to the floor unable to look her in the eyes anymore. ".......Vanessa killed him. Just like she did to everyone else....a-a-and y-y-you...." "Just like you. She locked him away until everything froze over. Vane-.....That MONSTER!'', he spat hand slightly tightening as he scowled at the floor, "She was pecking crazy. Thought he was....cheating on her behind her back when he was nothing but patient with her. She didn't deserve anything." "Because she was nuts! Always have been and always WILL be! She would've snapped sooner or later with the way she was back then, always so paranoid and thinking I-.....I THINK he belonged to her." His other hand was quick to shoot out and grab her shoulders accidentally making her jolt at the sudden grab but it was enough to get her to look at him. "Now you listen to me and you listen good." A claw poked her chest as he pointed it at her crying face with a deep frown of his own. "I have dealt with too many years of pecking guilt over whether or not it was my fault or if I could've stopped it! And I'm sick of it all! You. Are. Not. At fault!! Do you hear me?! Vanessa was always going to snap and it was HER fault for being so batpecking crazy, she couldn't tell the difference between fantasy and reality! There was no reason in her! We should've expected nothing less of her for anything! But I'll be just as bad if I didn't it now, and I'm saying it's not your fault. Least of all people you. All you did was sell flowers. Big deal. It would've been the same if she saw m-....him buying a necklace from a jeweler or a ham from the butcher. BANG!!" She flinched at the loud yell he made at 'BANG'. Tears running down her face as he spoke. "Ice. Death. Lots of ghosts. You get the picture. The point is, it's ABSOLUTELY! NOBODY'S PECKING FAULT!! BUT VANESSA'S!! .......You and me didn't do anything wrong." "So-...I take it this..'prince' friend of yours was a nice person? Not that I knew him, but it seems you two were close. Not that it's any of my business." He had an anxious feeling saying all of this as a stranger but he couldn't help but feel the need to get all this anxiety off himself by asking. "It just sounds like you cared about him a whole lot." "Yeah.....Hey. This might sound out of no where but do you blame him, your friend, for what happened between him and Vanessa?" "How did you die?," she found herself blurting out before she could stop but she instantly regretted it. "WHAT?!" Snatcher whipped his face to her wide eyed. "S-Sorry." She held up her hands worriedly. "Is it rude to ask a dead person that? I d-didn't know honest. It's just that.....You're doin' an aweful lot for me and I don't know a lot about ya, since you already know alot 'bout me from my rambling. I figured ya would return the favor." "Sorry. NO can do, Red. That's private information." She scowled again. "OH come on! Purple onion. Your contract paper thingy said I could ask for anything I wanted in return for helping ya!" "Within REASON!," Snatcher stressed, "Asking a ghost about their past is like asking a poor person how much money they spent on their shoes!" "Same as you. I died during the Great Subcon Freeze." "Oh. Well you said you saw what happened when Philip....p-p-passed away, right? Does that mean you were employed by the Queen?'' "Sorta. I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." Which wasn't really a lie. He couldn't have ever been in a more wrong place or time. "Another innocent bystander to a crazy curse." "Oh right. Dumb question. Then who wer-" "Next question!," "Ok! Well ya technically did, but I mean what made ya decide to help me? I just don't get it.". "Because I recognized you from the village." "I-...Sometimes saw you selling flowers in the square, and-.....I guess I was simpathetic to someone else in a similar situation as I was."

That.....Night....The night she had her nightmare. THERE WAS SO MANY HINTS HITTING HER IN THE FACE AND SHE WAS STILL BLIND TO THEM ALL!!

"So....does that mean Philip is a g-ghost too?" "A ghost? Well that's not exactly easy to answer. Any ghost I know if they even became ghosts would be in the forest .....or another plain of existance. A-And like I said BARELY any of my minions remember who they were before they died."

He LIED!!....No. Not exactly lied. He did tell the truth but...BENT IT!! Without actually answering anything!! Or telling Poppy anything!! WHY?! What reason would he have to keep his identity hidden from her?! They were friends....Weren't they? ALL OF IT!! Everything he or anyone else had said lined up perfectly with what Moonjumper-....Or second Philip had told her.

"And you know I could always scare you out of any debt you got yourself into with those pecknecks down there." He offered genuinely. "I may not look like it, but I'm very good at legal technicalities. I did want to be a lawyer at once upon a time!" Philip studied laws to better his future kingdom one day. He always said he wanted to be a good king. And mentioned if he wasn't destined to be prince he would've liked to become a lawyer. And there was a bush cat in his home...Philip mentioned having a pet bush cat. A gift from his father. Moonjumper's echoing voice still rang around in her head with everything he said. "HA! That's rich coming from him! That halfling is lying right to your face!" "Why? Didn't dear Snatcher tell you?" He chuckled and gave a smile similar to Snatcher's smug one. "We're two halves of the same person.~ Split at death and now wondering through death two halves of the same person.~" "Oh! He didn't tell you did he?" He smiled and gestured to himself with a smile. "Well allow me to elaborate for you, my dear.~ Snatcher and I are both Prince Philip Snider Of the Kingdom of Subconette.~ When we died in the frozen celler we split personalities resulting in us becoming two very different ghosts. How I have no idea, but it's quite the sight isn't it?~"

"Are you sure about that?"

AND THEN-.....THEN THERE WAS MOONJUMPER!!!

"Poppy, it's ME!!," Moonjumper pleaded to the red head looking guilty and holding up his hands in a non threatening gesture. "PHILIP!!" He admitted it the second he saw her. "Y-Yes. Philip Snider. Y-You remember me right?" he leaned down more until he was eyes level still smiling despite her shuffling back a lil bit against the nightstand. "I bought flowers from you all the time for my Darling Vanessa. You remember don't you?" He lifted a hand towards her smiling steadily and as a friendly gesture. "D-Do you remember the last batch of flowers I bought from you?" "Daises.." They both answered at the same time and Poppy paused. Of course he knew...he was Philip. .....Poppy shook her head. "N-No. No! Y-Y-You can't be Philip. " She pointed at him-....It-....The thing! "Ya'll look nothin' like him! He wasn't some....twitchy mess of ...What are y-ya exactly?" He regarded Poppy for a long moment before sighing and reaching a hand up to rub at his head. Well...It was too late to back out now, and he'd come this far hasn't he. He turned fully to Poppy. "Well, yes. I admit I look nothing like I did when I was alive, but neither does my other half or any other ghost for that matter. Some of the one I've seen look very stranger....And you wouldn't be too far off on me not being the same Philip as you remember. I-...I-I actually go by Moonjumper now. " .....Was it normal for ghosts to look completely different from when they were alive?? She guessed so. Moonjumper huffed making Poppy flinch at the sound. "HA! That's rich coming from him! That halfling is lying right to your face!" .....Poppy blinked. "W-What?" Moonjumper smiled sweetly. "Why? Didn't dear Snatcher tell you?" He chuckled and gave a smile similar to Snatcher's smug one. "We're two halves of the same person.~ Split at death and now wondering through death two halves of the same person.~" Poppy's eyes widened big and in shock not processing the words he said right. "W-What?" "Oh! He didn't tell you did he?" He smiled and gestured to himself with a smile. "Well allow me to elaborate for you, my dear.~ Snatcher and I are both Prince Philip Snider Of the Kingdom of Subconette.~ When we died in the frozen celler we split personalities resulting in us becoming two very different ghosts. How I have no idea, but it's quite the sight isn't it?~"

Snatcher didn't tell her ANY of that information, but Moonjumper was all too willing to throw his half under the bus like that and exploit everything within a minute of meeting. Then there's what he said to her in the Horizon before he attacked her.

He looked her over for a moment before sighing and holding up his hands. "Alright. Allow me to tell you a story that will clear EVERYTHING up and help you catch up with recent events. Once upon a time a thousand years ago, there was two Kingdoms." He closed his hands behind his back again as he gave her a neutral look as he slowly started floating to her left. "The Kingdom of Subcon and the Kingdom of Subconette. The rulers of these kingdoms decided their children would get married and unite both these kingdoms in harmony. Their names were PRINCE Snider of Subconette and Princess Vanessa of Subcon. The princess was the most beautiful woman any where and the prince in my opinion was more better looking.~ But for some unknown reason the princess CRACKED!" He vanished behind her and Poppy had to turn her head the other way as he continued to slowly float in a circle around her. "She slowly descended into madness and became nothing but a controlling dictator that put me-..The prince through NOTHING but misery, and yet the prince still foolishly loved her and tried his best to make her happy! His only saving grace was when he had to leave for his studies and when he met YOU!!" Poppy blinked as he now smiled. "Poppy Rose Bloomington. A small time country girl who grew up on a farm and moved to town to sell her pretty flowers.~ Catching the eye of a prince with your understanding and very kind nature. Basically being everything to him that Vanessa wasn't or ever will be. But THEN." His smile turned back into a snarl. Like the kind of snarl Snatcher gave the Mafia Boss but she wasn't sure where his anger lied with now as he stopped in front of her. "Vanessa turned on me! Over nothing but a few measly flowers all for her!! After everything I sacrificed for her! All those years of pandering to every single one of her demands no matter how ridiculous and impossible they were! I gave her the best dam bloody years of my life and she repaid me for my loyalty and love to her by chaining myself in the dark abyss of the cellar and ending myself up trapped here for over a thousand years! Watching while others got to frollic free and Snatcher get to rein over our kingdoms!!" They. Were. Stunned. Not just her but the kids too. Even Timmy who lived her with Moonjumper seemed in shock from the sudden tantrum. But as soon as it came it left when he exhaled and leaned back holding up his hands. "F-Forgive me. My death...i-is a sensative topic. I just find it so unbareable when the old memories from how unfair it was was brought up....But that's the story mostly. I don't know how or why we ended up splitting on death but each of us are half of what made up our personality and thinking process." He held a hand to his chest. "I am, if I do say so myself, the much better half. The part with the actual manners and dignity and the proper way to actually behave. Meanwhile Snatcher is full of anger and resentment, stubborn an an Express Owl, gloomier than a graveyard, AND he lacks any empathy or positive qualities other than his own motives!!......I hope that answers your questions, my dear."

......Her fists balled up some of the rocketship printed blanket in her hands from it all overwhelming her brain and her body tensed. Catching Snatcher's attention. ....Philip..Her Philip...Her Prince..Her..Her best friend..Had not become not one but two terrible people. One who was willing to give her nothing but the truth but had her lured to a place away from his other half who he KNEW wouldn't let him do it and attacked her for some reason lost to her. And the other....While much more nicer and docile where she and others she'd seen were concerned, had deliberately LIED to her face and made her sign a contract of servitude. What other things was he willing to lie to her face about and for how long...SHE WASNT A TOY TO BE PASSED AROUND!!!

Snatcher sensed her distress and saw the trembling she did and feared for a moment she was going to cry. "Poppy? What's wrong?"

".....Why did you lie to me, Philip?"

Snatcher. FROZE. Any thoughts in his head haulting and fizzling into thin air as that one word left her mouth. Anything he was about to say dying on his tongue as those yellow glowing eyes continued to stare dead at the woman who went to absolute burningly staring back at him with that absolute seething expression. It was over. Done. He was absolutely finished. The end of the line for him after only a week. This was how he was going down in flames. THIS was TRUELY how things were unraveled.

"That was your name. Prince Philip Snider from the south Kingdom of Subconia, and was engaged to Queen Vanessa." Her blue eyes bore into his absolutely SCARED yellow ones. She sat straight up and looked at him like a woman. Oh hoho! He was NOT going to get away with this. She was more than glad to throw. EVERY. SINGLE. THING. She knew back at him. "Ya'll loved to paint and read! Yer favorite food was bacon! Ya'll studied law ta make yerself a better KING and wanted to be a lawyer secretly. And your mum taught ya how ta sew! That lil bushcat in your comfy home down there was ALWAYS yours! I KNOW VANESSA MANIPULATED AND ABUSED YOU IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP AND THEN SHE THOUGHT YALL WAS CHEATIN' ON HER WISH ME AND THEN THREW YA'LL IN THE CELLER WHERE YA'LL FROZE LIKE A SNOWBALL LIKE ME AND THEN SOMEHOW YOU BECAME SNATCHER AND MOONJUMPER!! AND I WAS LOCKED AWAY TOO UNTIL THIS WHOLE MAGICAL MESS HAPPENED!!" Something suddenly grabbed his arm closest to her and yanked him down until he was directly in from of her snarling form and he gasped....GASPED. In fear of her as the mortal woman grabbed a hold of the fluff around his neck. "AND YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND!! I TRUSTED YALL AND YA LIED TA ME AND YOUR LIL HALF TRIED TO HOGTIE ME LIKE MY PAPA'S CATTLE!! SO YA BETTER PIPE UP ON WHY YA LIED TO ME!! AND DONT DENY IT!! MOONJUMPER! TOLD!! ME!! EVERYTHING, PHILIP!!!"

Absolute. Silence. Seriously. You could hear a piece of dust from the ceiling float in the air it was that quiet. Poppy was seeing red throughout her entire rant. Panting and gripping his soft floof in her hands like he would get away if she didn't. But as she breathed and the red slowly went away, she blinked and actually got to look at his face once ..most of the anger and built of rage left her veins. He. Looked. Scared. Like a mouse backed into a corner by a cat knowing they were about to be eaten. And her hands shook with remaining rage-...Or so she thought at first. Upon further inspection she realized it was actually SNATCHER who was shaking up her hold, her hands were just trembling from her holding the shaking ghost. Could...Could ghosts actually get scared? Or was he about to cry? A brief wave of guilt came and left her before she shook her head and looked back at him with a scowl...and slowly released him. Despite her not deathgripping him anymore Snatcher dared not make a move. Only stared at the scowl on her face as she still silently stared back at him. His mind a complete blank. His insides feeling like they were doing backflips. He felt like he was about to toss ectoplasm. ...Could a ghost even vomit? He jumped hard at Poppy's next words.

"Ah'm waitin' for an answer, Philip." Her eyes narrowed more.

He made heavy breathing noises(ironic because he didn't have lungs or needed to even breath) and stared at her. What should he do?! Answer her?! She looked like she wanted an answer but nothing came out of his mouth except a small weird sound she rose a brow at. But soon he managed to force something ...ANYTHING out of his mouth to satisfy her.

"Why?"

Smart choice right? Real brain power there.

"WHY?! YOU tell ME!!" She crossed her arms and while her voice wasn't as harsh as her rant she was still stern. "You LIED to me and I wanna know why ya did so. So cough it up if ya gotta but I better hear an answer outta ya, Philip....Or would you prefer me ta call ya Snatcher still?"

"Snatcher s-s-sounds good." He squeaked out....before he blinked. "Hey! W-W-Wait a minute!" Oh peck. Was HE of all people really stuttering in front of her right now? Nice. "I-...I-I never lied to you!," he pushed still kinda feeling dizzy sick.

"Oh REALLY!? What about that time in the attic?," Poppy insisted thinking back to that moment where he had comforted her during her first mega nightmare. "Ya said ya'll was there when 'Philip' died!"

"W-Well Im pretty sure I was there experiencing my own death! I didn't lie about that!" He crossed his arms but didn't look mad....Ashamed and guilt all over his slumped over form.

"What about when you told me ya died in the frost!? Or that ya'll worked for her?! 'Wrong place at the wrong time' thing!!," she pushed voice raising a bit.

"THAT WAS SO LIE!! She made me work as her slave! I was definately at the wrong place for all my living life and I DID die from her deciding to play mother nature! I froze to death chained to a pecking wall!! Worried about how badly I messed up and beat myself over how pecking badly I messed up!!" His face frowned in a mixture of anger. Guilt. Shame. Fear. Anxiety. The ghost's arms shook as he just stared down this woman. Yellow eyes wide and many many memories suddenly slapping him in the face as those yellow eyes saw the seen play before him as a downward spiral for him in panic and fear. A seen in a dungeon, a sobbing prince hanging from shackles as the cold crept in, one last promise escaping his lips to a Princess of Flowers. Sharp as a thorn. Hair red as roses. Blue eyes like hydrangeas. Skin as soft as petals. And always surrounded by a scent better than any lily. A final promise and good bye he made long ago with his final dying breath- 'I-Im s-so sorry, Poppy. I-...love-...you ..w-with all my heart and soul....may my soul...never....forget...that..' ......Snatcher instantly trembled and shook those thoughts from his head before back to her and pointing at himself. "I N-NEVER LIED!! "

"Then WHY didn't you tell me YOU were Philip when I asked where he was?!"

"DO YOU THINK I WANTED YOU TO SEE ME LIKE THIS?!" It was Poppy's turn to blink and lean back when Snatcher's face contorted into what she could only describe as pained rage after all this time coming out. Giving her a desperate look as he rose up to kinda tower over her and hold up his hands for questioning. "WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO SAY WHEN I FIRST MET YOU!? WHAT COULD I SAY TO YOU THAT WOULDN'T MAKE YOU SEE ME DIFFERENTLY?! I-....I-I'm not...." His hands balled into fists and his eyes closed as he snarled at nothing but himself. A chorus of 'Your fault! Your fault! Your fault!' rang into him and this time...he gave in. There wasn't any more tiptoeing. This whole situation with her from past to present has always been his fault and now he had to face it in death too. "I'M NOT PHILIP!! IM THE SNATCHER!! THE MOST POWERFUL GHOSTS ON THIS PITIFUL PLANET AND I DON'T TOLERATE FOOLS TRESSPASSING IN MY FOREST BUT TO SERVE ME!! WHAT I WAS A THOUSAND YEARS AGO D-D-DIED OFF WITH ME!! ILL NEVER BE THAT SAME PATHETIC PERSON AGAIN!!"

".....Then my friend completely died when Philip did." He absolutely stopped when he opened his eyes and stared down at her as she just...blankly stared up at him. Blank as paper. She regarded him for a moment before looking down to the shiny gold sparkling on her wrist. To Snatcher's absolute horror, she slowly took it off. Looking at her reflection in the sparkly gold color and the scared darker reflection of the ghost behind her. What remained of Philip was literally and figuratively dead. And so was any good about him too she guessed. She hand trembled and before either knew it the bracelet was launched right past his head in a gold streak like a shooting star until it hit the wall behind him and fell to the floor with a thud. Snatcher snapped his head towards it as it sparkled on the ground.....before ever so slowly turning his head back towards the lady. And jumped when he found tears sparkling like diamonds running down her cheeks. "W-W-Well then whoever you are...GET. OUT!! JUST GET OUT!!" She screamed and pointed to the door. "IF YOU'RE NOT MY FRIEND THEN I NO LONGER WANT YA'LL AROUND MAHSELF OR ANYWHERE NEAR ME!! YOU'RE JUST AS BAD IF YOU THINK I'LL ACCEPT ANY OF THIS!!"

Snatcher bristled and once again went back to holding his hands out pleading pathetically like a beggar. "N-NO!! T-THAT'S N-NOT WHAT I MEANT I PROMISE YOU, POPPY!!" "I DONT GIVE A FLYING PECK!! JUST GET OUT!!"

"I-...You-....." He trembled for a while his eyes starting to vibrate slightly as something within him happened. Sad and fearful auras all around suffocating him to his last shread of sanity as he blurted out the last possible thing he thought he was capable of saying at this moment. "N-NO!!"

Poppy looked at him and he paused momentarily surprised that came out of his mouth. "NO!? ARE YA D-DEAF?! I CAN SEE YA GOT NO EARS!! GET!! OUT OF HERE!!"

"I SAID NO!!" His eyes slammed shut as he balled his hands back into fists and forced himself to let out whatever it was that was flowing out from his mouth. "N-NO!! IT'S MY FAULT ALL THIS HAPPENED!! YOU WERE KILLED BECAUSE OF MY STUPID PECKING SELF!! BECAUSE I COULDNT SEE THAT I WAS PUTTING A MONSTER BEFORE MYSELF!!" A choke escaped him and he felt something in his body tighten like a screw. "I COULDN'T STOP IT!! I COULDN'T PROTECT ANYONE!! I-I-I C-C-COULDN'T PROTECT YOU!! THE ONE PERSON WHO I TRUSTED MORE T-T-THAN ANYONE IN THE WORLD AND I GOT YOU KILLED!! *hic*" He took a long raspy gasp for breath like he needed air in his none existing body and he didn't notice that his hands came up to grip his forearms or that his form leaned over until his head almost touched the bed. Was he having a break down? Could a ghost have a break down? "YOU GOT HURT B-BECAUSE OF ME!! AND I THOUGHT THIS TIME WOULD BE DIFFERENT!! I WANTED IT TO B-B-BE DIFFERENT BELEIVE ME I DID!! T-THAT'S WHY I-...I....I lied...but only one time. *hic* I promise it was for your own good."

"For mah-..." She blinked scowling again. Honestly she had been in a small pause of shock at the over confident ghosts breaking down in front of her but all of that was dashed at the one line in the chorus of the shocking confessions. "Then do tell WHEN did you tell me this 'one' time for 'mah own good'?!"

he choked again dipping into himself more. "....T-T-The contract! I-..." He made another gasping sound. "I n-never took your soul out...I-I-I promise you that's something I would n-never d-do t-t-t-to you.''

The contract!? He had...HE LIED TO HER ABOUT THAT CONTRACT!! "YA LIED AND TRICKED ME INTO SIGNING A CONTRACT WITH YOU?! WHY THE PECK WOULD YOU THINK THAT WAS OK TA DO?!"

"It's not a slave contract!! B-Believe me it's n-not!" He opened his eyes half way seeing nothing but yellow and feeling something strange boiling in his eyes but his mind wasn't there to question it. "T-Think of *hic* it as a s-symbiotic relationship l-l-like b-b-bees and flowers if you have to! Y-Y-You're n-n-not trapped to me a-a-and I can't force you t-to do anything you don't want, but I would still make sure you were getting the t-t-things you need."

She just stared at him too exhausted to be mad and screaming anymore...shaking her head. "Ya STILL haven't told me WHY ya did it!? Why would you do something like this, Philip? Expecially when you knew I didn't blame ya?"

"BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WOULDNT BLAME ME!!" The strange feeling in his eyes became too much and he snapped then shut again as his hands dug into his shaking body. "I THOUGHT YOU WOULD H-H-...*HIC* HATE ME F-FOR WHAT I HAD CAUSED!! PLEASE!!.....JUST PLEASE UNDERSTAND!! I WAS ONLY TRYING TO PROTECT YOU BECAUSE I D-DIDNT WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN!! I COULDN'T RISK IT!! I JUST WANTED TO MAKE UP FOR WHAT I-I-I'VE LET HAPPENED TO YOU!!" Poppy's frown lightened when another horrible choke noise came from him and she had FINALLY come to the shocking realization that Snatcher....Was CRYING?! Brightly colored yellow tears were rolling down his face landing into his fluff or staining the bed sheets his head was now touching. Claws now clutching his head as he sobbed. Not cry. Not tear up. SOBBED into the bed sheets and wailed like a wounded animal. The noises sounding broken and shattered. "PLEASE!! D-D-DONT-...*hic* DONT HATE ME!! MORE THAN ANYTHING I N-NEVER WANTED YOU TO HATE ME!! I WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP!! I KNOW I PECKED UP!!! B-B-BUT PLEASE!! DONT HATE ME!!"

".....Then answer mah question. Why didn't you tell me?," she insisted though her throat tightened real bad at her words.

"B-BECAUSE I WAS SCARED!! ALRIGHT!! A-A-A-ARE- *HIC* IS EVERYONE HAPPY NOW?! I DIDNT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO?! I COULDNT T-TELL YOU AFTER THINGS WERE GOING FINE!! I-IF YOU JUST LIKED ME HOW I AM NOW I DIDNT WANT TO RUIN IT!! I DIDN'T-...." Another small series of chokes and sobs wracked his trembling form as he shook his head no against the sheets. "I didn't want to add to your p-p-p-pain...*hic* to see...what I had become after all this t-t-t-tim-m-m-me. *hic*....I-Im sorry...please..d-don't hate me."

He froze. Something touched the top of his head....He slowly took his gaze away from the blankets and up into the crying face of Poppy's. Tears slowly falling down her cheeks making it look like her ocean eyes was leaking diamond tears that mixed with her red freckles that resembled so much like flower petals. She looked so beautiful. The two stared at each other for a long time as the silence still lingered as well as the tears, the soft hand on his head slowly giving him reassuring pats as she stared at him.

"...I don't hate you."

.....He blinked. "Y-You don't?"

"No...And ah ain't angry. Just.....disappointed."

Disappointed?? Well that's better than being hated wasn't it?.....Well in the long run YES!! YES IT WAS!! ABSOLUTELY PECKING BETTER THAN BEING HATED!! Which brought him some relief, but she was still obviously disappointed him him in some way or form.

"L-Let's get that straight." She sniffed and wiped her tears with her other arm. "I don't hate you, b-but that don't mean Im still not ticked at ya. Especially 'bout tricking me into signing that darn contract."

He hummed and gave a shaking exhale. Yellow eyes comming to rest on her exposed arms. There was light marks where Moonjumper's red strings had gripped her body still and he felt some of the anger from before come back to him, and Poppy jumped when his own gentle hand gently ran across the light marks frowning at them. "....Are you...alright?"

She blinked and sighed. "Y-Yeah. I'll be fine...I just don't get why he done went ahead and did that."

He was pretty sure the THAT she was referring to was Moonboy doing this. And slowly his hand gently wrapped around hers as he shrugged. "With that guy who knows? He's always envied those who weren't stuck in the prison he was in and took what he wanted. He....probably would've tried to take you either way because of the memories we both have of when we were alive when he first found out. Peck. He would've probably tried it sooner if he had found out about you before he did...And I have a pretty good idea about how he did find out too." His eyes narrowed thinking back to Timmy as he soothed a hand over some of the marks. They'll soon fade away with time. No need to worry about them. "Thank peck that fool's blasted strings didn't stick to you."

Poppy froze as a memory suddenly flashed across her face. "That reminds me. How did ya'll find me all the way in that spook's realm?...And how did I not get pecking trapped like a carp in my papa's fishin' net?"

"To answer both questions simple. Your contract." She looked confused for a moment so he sighed. "Maybe I should explain. In case you forgot about the fine print in your contract, I'll repeat two qoutes in the contract that are most important here. Ahem." Expertly he recalled exactly what his contract said word for word. "  'By signing this the signer shall be paid for their service and loyalty with immortality, protection from the Snatcher and those under him, a home, and anything the signer requests within reason. Binding by contract means your soul shall remain bound to the contract which cannot be broken by any means except by will of the employer, a.k.a the Snatcher. By agreeing you shall also be safe from other supernatural entities and their influences whatever they may be, including influences from the employer and other minions."'

She looked slightly amazed. "Ya'll remember all that?"

"I never forget a contract." He smiled at her. "And in case you're wondering what I just said meant, in simple terms it means I can't force my magic or will on you to make you do anything you wanted unless you agreed fully. It also meant it no other ghosts could harm you." he growled with a frown. "Like Vanessa."

"Or Moonjumper." Oh. So that must've been what she had felt back there when the peckneck tried to do whatever magic he was trying to force on her. But still- "How did ya'll find me then?"

"The magic binding your soul with my essence sends out a message whenever you're endangered or needs help badly. Ive already done it once back when you had that nightmare."

OH!....Right. The 'nightmare' who happened to be Moonjumper visiting her for the first time. Guilt over took her for lying to the ghost, but he did lie to her first didn't he? Still tho. It was kinda fair since he done confessed to everything. So she cleared his throat making him look up to her. "I uh-...G-Gotta confession ta make mahself." He rose a brow at her confused and she sighed. "Ah uh.....Ah met Moonjumper and may have lied 'bout havin' that nightmare."

Snatcher Stared at her. ".......WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know how'd ya react and at the time I was too shocked I guess."

"Why didn't you tell me!?" he frowned. "I probably would've stopped him from trying that stunt of his!''

"You knew he would do somethin' like that? Why didn't ya tell me 'bout him?!"

"I didn't know he'd lure you all the way out there in a different dimention! But I know him enough to know he would've tried something if he knew about you. Which is why I DIDN'T risk telling you because I was right!"

"You couldn't have warned me!"

"Because I knew you'd go try and find him! And look what that did!"

"BECAUSE YOU NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING!!" "I KNOW!!!" Snatcher held up his hands. "I. Know. .....But so did Moonboy, and unlike him, I didn't do anything as remotely as bad as THIS!" He pointed a claw to the almost faded marks on her arms. "And I technically never lied to you except that ONE time. And thanks to that anything he planned was defeated before he even thought of it!"

"...." She crossed her arms. "Snatcher, tell me this. Would he have really tried to do somethin' like this if he find out eariler?"

Snatcher still didn't stop frowning and sighed. "....Most likely yes. Moonboy's always had a nack for this kidnapping scheme for everyone he first meets. Hazelle and the kids being some of his past victims of his events. ....And a few of my minions."

Poppy looked at him for a long moment before looking down again. So....She would've most likely gone through that either way. And he did it to the girls and Hazelle too?? Then that means the only reason she wasn't taken was because Snatcher tricked her into signing that contract which ended up saving her life in the end.

"So..where do we go with this now?" She looked at him. "What do we do now that all of this is out in the open?"

Snatcher just stared at her. He....He never really even thought of that. Now that it was all out, and she wasn't mad (thank peck) and everything was.....now this. What now? Where DID they go from here? Well he did tell her everything-...Except one thing. But no. It'd be wrong of him to even claim he loved her more than his friend now. It....It was still better to be a friend and not a forced love interest. So to her question he shrugged, even if he did tell her it wouldn't make a difference and probably only make things more awkward between the two.

"I...I'm not sure."

A small silence passed.

"I think....we need some time from each other." He looked up surprised as she stared at him. "Ah don't mean that in a mean way. I just...think we both need some space to think 'bout this and to figure out where I wanna go from here. I'll still take care of them while I'm here. Ya don't have ta worry 'bout me repayin' ya for everythin'. Cuz I will. But I really do think it's fer the best right now to clear mah head."

He still stared at her not knowing what to do. But what else could be do but agree? And that's exactly what he did. He agreed. And left a little while after making sure the girls would be ok. Thankfully they weren't scared of what happened with Moonjumper as much as they were worried about Poppy's condition and were like none of that ever happened as soon as they learnt she would be ok. She found the two sitting in front of the TV watching a penguin cartoon when she gained the courage to come out, and was tackled by the two children in a hug relieved to see her again. She was glad to see they were alright too but that was the least of her problems...In fact she didn't have any problems at all anymore. From that day things were...weird. But a normal weird. It was like she went back into her ritual of one of the girls waking her up, shoving something in her mouth quickly for breakfast, getting freshed up, and go back to work off the debt she owed the birds. It wasn't too bad. She wasn't worried or distracted by anything anymore. The more she thought about it, the more Poppy realized that it was probably best if she just focused on repaying back the two debts she was owed. Mr. Grooves for the camera thing, and Snatcher for (even tho causing a whole lotta trouble) did help her out as promised. How she would pay back snatcher in full for what he did concerning Moonjumper yet she wasn't sure, but she should focus on one thing at a time for now. She saw Hazelle when she first went back too. Not Timmy tho. At least not at first. The two didn't interact as much beyond their interactions in the play and it's not like Poppy wanted to at first either. For now she just wanted to focus on her play parts and over the days coming to pass by, since nothing else was distracting her or really bothering her anymore, she was able to focus on her parts and movements, and reread the script and Starella storybook for practice when she wasn't cooking something for the girls or spending sometime with them. Sometimes they'd go around the Express Owl Town surround the studious or Moon City with all the Moon Penguins running around and the flashy stores she's have to lean down to walk in too. It was a nice change of pace even if it's just a few places.  Or sometimes very often after her work for the studios, they would go to Cookie's resturaunt to have dinner. Which was free since Cookie was asscociated with the Studios and so the resturaunt provided all the staff and actors free food for their lunches, which worked out well for her. She was having fun trying all the new foods. As days past, she sometimes thought of how Snatcher was doing or what the others were up to now. She was very tempted to ask Hazelle quite a few times but decided against it all the time. But soon all of that was dashed away by one simple day back on the ship. One of the rare days off Mr. grooves gave everyone due to the tight scheduale they were all on to finish by the deadline for the Award Ceremony. It was just as average day rereading through the script while the girls watched Tv. Hattie happened to look up at Poppy who had her bangs angled just the right way to cast a shadow over her blue eyes and Hattie's eyes suddenly went wide.

"YOU'RE HER!!" She jumped and pointed at Poppy all of all sudden startling the other two girls as they also jumped and looked at her. "THE LADY FROM THE STORY BOOK!!"

....Poppy blinked. "Yeah? I know I'm playing your favorite fairytale charactor. I have ta for Mr. Grooves."

Hattie shook her head. "Not that book! Hang on! I'll show you!" Before any of them could say anything else Hattie was already dashing away from them and ran through the door that lead to her bedroom. .....Poppy and Bow exchanged glances and Bow shrugged. A second later Hattie returned and had something in her hand which she shoved into Poppy's face, causing the older woman to blink and drop her own book in the process. "HERE!! LOOK IN THIS BOOK!!"

"What in tarnation has gotten inta ya?" She blinked again and looked towards the book Hattie was holding in front of her face. She reached up to grab it and hold it away from her face to see the cover more clearly. The hard cover of the thin book was all black and on the front was a red heart with a slash through it. A white swirl mark was beneath the slashed heart and above the heart was what she guessed was the title of the book in white letter. "The Tale Of Queen-...." Her blue eyes widened as she stared at the name. Then to Hattie. "Vanessa....What is this?"

"It's Snatcher's story. You're in it." She pointed to the book. "I got it from a time rift I fixed."

Snatcher's.....story? Poppy's eyes went wide and looked back down to the book in her hands. It didn't look like a thick book, just as thin as a regular child's book. But the cover....Poppy's hand shook as she held it up and slowly grabbed the cover....before opening it. And her eyes widened. Despite the dark, ominous cover the first page of the book showed a very happy sight that made her jaw drop. IT. WAS. THEM!! Moonjumper-..I mean Snatcher-...Both?? PHILIP!! Was there on the first page holding hands with who clearly used to be Vanessa!! She would recognize Philip anywhere. In cartoon book form both looking so in love with their eyes covered by shadows, the background a cute pink with hearts showing how in love they ar-...They were once upon a time. Poppy just...Stared at it. What was this? She looked back to Hattie with wide confusion. She didn't say anything so she just slowly looked back down to the book and shakily turned the next page. The next page was obviously the Queen walking through her village surrounded by some of the townsfolk's children who wore their silly disguises to play games. They all looked so happy. The next page after that made her stomach DROP. It.....It was HER!! She was standing right there. And Philip right in front of her, they looked to be holding hands and they were surrounded by her flower stand in the corner of the town square. It..It even had a close up picture of the two holding hands. And there was Vanessa, looking to be wearing a shocked face. No! Blue eyes widened at the events unfolding before her in this nightmare of a picture book. NO!! THIS COULDNT BE WHAT SHE THOUGHT IT WAS!! The book trembled in her hold as she stared at it, her heart and breath picking up pace. This couldn't be- She quickly flipped to the next page. Vanessa again. She was crying with a black background behind her and a picture of a broken heart in the middle of her chest. NO!! NONONONO!!! THIS ISNT IT!! She flipped a page again-.....HER. STOMACH. DROPPED!! It was the three of them again. A very familiar scene played in front of her in one picture. Her flower stand again with her standing there smile on her face and a gold bracelet in her hand, Philip looking up in the direction of Vanessa who's form was running down an alley way. The memories came flooding back to her.

He jumped almost dropping the flowers he was just handed. "Vanessa!?" The florist looked to where he was looking but didn't see the woman that dashed into the alleyway as he stared in confusion. "Vanessa?.....Why did she run away so suddenly?"

...The florist shrugged lightly with a smile. "Maybe she was embarrassed she walked in on you getting her flowers?", she suggested.

....He gave a smile. "OH! Of course! She's considerate l-like that." He gave an almost nervous smile and turned back to her before bowing. "T-Thank you for your help once again...Ms. Poppy."

She waved her hand. "Oh, don't mention it! It's always to see just a nice man be so considerate and give the gal he loves so many flowers."

This.....T-This was that fateful day. The day which they were all frozen. And she wasn't even done with the storybook. Which meant there was more. She didn't even realize she turned another page until she was met with another horrible sight. It was Philip and Vanessa again. Playing another part in the story she didn't witness but heard about a few times from both Philips. The fated meeting of Vanessa before he was locked away. It showed Philip and Vanessa in what looked to be the Queen's Summer home away from her castle, a painting of the couple behind them slashed apart. With Philip holding the rainbow daisies he bought from her and Vanessa looking enraged surrounded by a dark aura and still crying. New page and new heart rate and new horrror. Vanessa was mid twisted into some form of shadow amalgamation and it...IT WAS THEM!! The guards that had marched into the town square and kidnapped her away when she was closing her stand all those years ago. Before she was locked in that room! They had a hold of Philip who was desperately reaching out to her flowers falling to join some kind of ice on the floor. Poppy just stared wide eyed silent as the page breathing heavy enough to be heard by the children who were watching her intently ignoring the cartoons on TV in favor of just seeing her expressions. Another page turn by a very shaky hand- She gasped and a hand shot up to cover her mouth. It was Snatcher!! IT WAS SNATCHER!! IT!! WAS!!! SNATCHER!!! There in the dark chained to a wall and crown discarded on the floor of some dark cell!! Her mind completely went blank!! It was true. He was killed by her greed and jealousy!! But that's not what made her throw a hand to her mouth. It was the tears running down from the yellow golden eyes like the ones she had seen so many days ago when he distressed everything to her. How so scared and sad he looked-

THUMP!!

Both girls jumped when Poppy jumped up and away from the book with a bigger gasp at the last page and made both girls jump too at her frightened reaction to the very last picture in the book.  A picture. Of Vanessa. The monster. The murderor. The twisted form of hate, jealousy, greed and pain she really was. The monster that caused so many deaths and so much pain. The book fell open wide on that page with the monster staring up at them all and Poppy still stared at it all. Suddenly feeling like she would cry from the heavy emotions filling her.

"W-What is this?," she demanded when Hattie picked the book up and closed it. But she already knew the answer so it was a stupid question.

"Snatcher's story made from the time rift. Time rifts made them when they fell down in a place with a lot of magic or memories, and then it makes a book with the strongest memories." She rose a brow. "I don't know why."

"Why did you show me this?"

She looked right at her. "Because you're the Flower Princess! It took me a real long time to figure out Snatcher was talking about you! Why didn't I use my Detective Hat!?"

"H-Hold on now there!" Poppy looked even more confused. "You said Imma what?!"

She frowned looking frustrated, " The Flower Princess!! From Snatcher's story he told me!"

".....And what 'story' did that purple onion tell ya?"

Hattie paued for a minute. Her face scrunched up in thought thinking back all that time ago before Poppy was even brought back to life with the time piece. "....Once upon a time." Hattie sat down as she tried to think back to what she was told. "There was a beautiful flower Princess named Poppy." Hattie looked at Poppy's slacked jawed, wide eyed look as Bow listened curiously. " An evil witch named Veronica. And a stupid, stupid King. WAY, WAY back before your great granny was even born there was these three." Hattie went back to that thoughtful face. "The Flower Princess was very beautiful. Her hair was a rose red and her skin was as soft as their petals. She had the most wonderful patience listening to her friend The Stupid King, and his p-problems. But..she didn't know the king was in love with her. You see. He was too cowardly to tell her or anyone else because he was betrothed to the Evil witch Veronica."

Snatcher....told her about them through his own interpritation of the story?? Twisting it into some kind of fairytale for her?? NO!! No it couldn't be....But Veronica?? Really?? Obviously that reminded her of Vanessa and Poppy the flower princess?? No. That HAD!! To be her. Snatcher even used her OWN PECKING NAME for this!! Which meant the stupid king was-...And he was engaged to marry-... but he was secretly in love with-...Moonjumper's voice suddenly rang out to her.

"She slowly descended into madness and became nothing but a controlling dictator that put me-..The prince through NOTHING but misery, and yet the prince still foolishly loved her and tried his best to make her happy! His only saving grace was when he had to leave for his studies and when he met YOU!! Poppy Rose Bloomington. A small time country girl who grew up on a farm and moved to town to sell her pretty flowers.~ Catching the eye of a prince with your understanding and very kind nature. Basically being everything to him that Vanessa wasn't or ever will be."

Did-....Was he suggesting that Snatcher- Or Philip-..or him...They-...IN SOME WAY OR FORM liked her liked her?? Like romantically!? Her face suddenly became hot at even the mention of some man liking her. S-She wasn't that likable!! Back in her day no man wanted a woman who was stronger than them, worked in the mud, got dirty and sweaty working, and had a job of her own that wasn't something 'acceptable' for a lady like a teacher, a maid, nurse, lady in waiting, cook, or-....or SOMETHING femenine across those lines. Which was why her papa was so adament she became a milk maid like her mother! So in his words 'would have a better chance of settling down and givin' me grandchildren. Cuz no man in his right mind would want a woman who snapped back and raised her voice at him.'  But...The way the Flower Princess Poppy was described as red hair like a rose and skin as soft as flower petals?!?! Her face became even more red just thinking about it.. Well, Snatcher couldn't be considered a man in his own right mind could he? First cuz he wasn't a man but a ghost. Secondly he was dead so technically had no brain or mind that was right or wrong. And thirdly when was a ghost in a haunted forest with an adopted alien daughter 'right minded'?!?!

Hattie continued not noticing her inner turmoil over there while she tried to remember everything Snatcher said. "But....She was in love with a fairytale. She loved the Stupid King for being like a King from a story. She never loved him for who he really was as long as her fairytale wasn't tampered with." Poppy flinched for a moment before slowly looking back to Hattie. The young girl probably wasn't realizing the gravity of the words she repeated as she just focused on telling it to her. " She was clingy, selfish, nothing was never good enough unless it was expensive, and she demanded all his attention all the time. Until one fateful day the witch saw the King And Flower Princess holding hands. AS JUST FRIENDS." She clarified just as Snatcher did mimicing how he stressed that part. "Nothing romantic. Just two friends holding hands for a little bit. And she got really, really jealous. In fact she got so jealous she blamed him for breaking her heart and locked him away forever. And then she cursed the Stupid King's and Princess's kingdoms. All the plants died, all the animals ran away, and everyone moved on from there. But karma struck her good and The Stupid King managed to escape and get free, but the Witch's spell backfired. She cursed herself too and was trapped forever in her home, the black magic keeping her inside the cave she dug, but it was too late. The Princess was gone and he never saw her again." Hattie's eyes widened at the events of the story she just repeated to herself and everyone else. Suddenly quickly opening the book and flipping through it. Stopping at this page and that and squinting at them taking in the details. Before her blue eyes widened and she looked at Poppy again with a sad expression. "A-And...he never saw you again Poppy."

Poppy stood there STUNNED. What...Wait. Snatcher....LOVED her?? HER?! The one who had dirt on her all the time and came from the poorest farming family you could think of, of fruit farmers and milk maids. Someone who openly critizied the Queen when she banned bacon in her entire kingdom and got angry with all the stunts she pulled on Philip but didn't say anything too badly?? The one who snorted like a pig when she laughed and had an accent thicker than the mud she used to farm flowers!? THAT POOR FARMER'S GIRL?! HER?! Catching the eye of a cute, handsome, talented, polite, selfless, loyal, sweet, rich and famous PRINCE?! The one who always loved to study magic and laws to be a better king for his people one day and was engaged to the most beautiful rich lady and who could literally get any girl he wanted?! THAT PRINCE!? SNATCHER?! No! Oh no! NONONONONO!! There must've been some mistake!!...But then again she thought there was some mistake when she thought Moonjumper was lying about Snatcher and him used to being the same person. UGH!!! WHY DID HER LIFE HAVE TO GET MORE COMPLICATED RIGHT AFTER SHE WAS GETTING OVER SOLVING ANOTHER PROBLEM?!

Wait a minute....

WHY THE PECK DIDNT SNATCHER TELL HER HE PECKING LIKED HER LIKE THAT?! ....Well. O-On second thought. She rubbed her red face. Maybe it would've been the better idea not to tell her when they first met. She would've no idea how to handle that ....BUT HE COULDVE TOLD HER WHEN HE WAS CONFESSING EVERYTHING BACK THERE!!!

Bow tilted her head at Poppy's red face. "Poppy? Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah," she managed to squeak out red faced. "W-Why d-d-don't ya'll go get ready f-for bed?"

Safe to say that sleep didn't come easy for her that night either. She went to bed and was once again awakened in a flustered state and gone to work again with help of the girls. Prince on the mind and being in a play with her as a princess and falling for a Prince only reminded her of the story Hattie revealed to her last night. She once again could only try to go through the play again messing up a few times to which Mr. Grooves called out and had her try again until she corrected until after the day's work that day. She was glad it was over for the day and had half a mind to just eat herself drunk on all the chocolate cake and hot coco at Cookie's resturaunt. When someone stepped in front of her blocking her and the girls way out. The lady blocking her exit was one with brown hair and copper eyes, in her traditional white and pink witch outfit.

Hazelle stared at her for a long moment. ".....We need to talk."

......"Oh DO we?" Poppy narrowed her eyes. She still didn't forget that Hazelle knew about this whole ordeal. "Ah think the talk Snatcher gave me said enough since no one else bothered ta tell me!" She attempted to move around her but Hazelle moved in front of her holding up her hands.

"Yes! Yes, I know!!" Hazelle gave a soft look. "But PLEASE hear me out."

"Ya'll didn't tell me anything!"

"I KNOW!! But I didn't want to get involved because I felt like it wasn't my place." She sighed and let her arm drop as the other came up to rub her face. "I WANTED him to tell you himself and he said he would so I just left him alone."

"Well it sure took ya long enough!"

"Look. I know you're angry about what happened, and BELIEVE me. So. Am. I." She looked back to her. "But when Snatcher opened up a little more that one night I thought he was getting to that point."

Poppy rose a brow. "Where are ya'll goin' with this?"

Hazelle looked at her with genuine concern. "Poppy. I want you to talk to him again." She held up a hand when Poppy opened her mouth to speak. "I know you saw the book, and heard his little story. Hattie informed me on my break backstage. I want you to go and let him know that you know he likes you as more than just a friend and clear up this mess once and for all."

Poppy just stared at her for a little longer.....before she shouted. "ARE YA PECKING INSANE?! I CAN'T DO THAT!?"

"And why not? Preferably tonight would be best-"

"NO!! NO NONONO!!" Poppy's face once again went red with that information. "There's no way in peck ah would do that!!!"

"....." Hazelle sighed again sounding defeated. "Look. Snatcher....Hasn't been himself lately. He still feels really bad about what happened and the longer you two avoid one another and the problem that needs to be discussed the more damage it does. I'm surprised you two haven't learnt that already considering what happened last month." Poppy went to speak but Hazelle beat it to her again. "And it'd be nice considering he did save you. YES!! I know he lied to you. Yes. I KNOW he tricked you. YES I KNOW!! He didn't tell you the whole truth and because of that he put you within harm's way, but at the same time he saved you at least three times."

"....Three??" Poppy rose a brow and crossed her arms. " Oh really? Three times?"

"Well three and a half if you count that the contract indirectly protects you from all kinds of harm, then yes."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh enlighten me. When did he do that three times?"

This time it was Hazelle's turn to look smug. "Well he DID steal a time piece and resurrected you. So that's one. Then the time you blindly ran off into the woods and had to climb a noose to escape one of those cursed statues. And then he had to get you down from it." Poppy's eyes widened and Hazelle's smirk got wider. "Oh yes. He told me about that. And then there's the obvious contract that let you escape Moonjumper. ...He may have tricked you but by doing so saved you in the end, and trust me when I say Moonjumper's strings aren't something to bat an eye at dear. It's just as impossible to escape from them as it is to escape Snatcher's contracts unless they decide to release you."

"What's the point of this?"

"My POINT is that Snatcher's scared alright. It's not exactly easy for him to admit it when things he does are wrong or when there's something he doesn't have control over. The way you might react to his love for you is one of them. So just...please think about it. Because it's obvious he cares about you a lot. And I'm saying this as the noodle's friend."

That was the message Hazelle had given her before she left, and that was the message Poppy had to try and sleep with when she laid in her makeshift bed and stared at the ceiling. GREAT!! Not like she finally got peace or anything. But now whenever she thought about Snatcher or any of the new info she was given her face would turn red and her mind blank. AFter a while of staring up at the dark ceiling  flustered she groaned and turned to her side holding up the gold shimmering against her wrist. The bracelet she had previously thrown that day long ago when Snatcher confessed to everything. It had somehow found it's way back into the attic and left on top of the giant desk against one of the walls for the past days after their discussion. But now she found herself placing it near her, as she looked at it and remembered the day her friend insisted he'd take it as payment. She sighed looking at it wrapped around her wrist again, it's always helped her for some reason, as if some of the past peace she felt was obtained by it when she just had a simple life of selling her pretty flowers to people and making them smile instead of dealing with all these complicated feelings of-....She froze when two glowing yellow orbs shined in the dim gold in the dark. She yelped and instantly threw the blankets off of herself twisting her eyes over and up towards the source of those glowing orbs.

"Whoa! It's me!," A raspy voice spoke out as a shadow moved in ths dark and Poppy could see a yellow glowing mouth moving as it spoke.

No. It couldn't be-

"Snatcher?" Poppy was relieved it was just the spook but that begged the question as she sighed and pushed herself up to stand. "What are you doing here?"

"Hazelle.....S-Said you were expecting me?,'' he replied looking and sounding nervous as he did so as he looked at her.

Poppy looked at him. ....Then facepalmed. Of course she'd be doing this after the comment about how they should 'preferably talk tonight'. Snatcher flinched when she facepalmed herself and rose a brow nervously. Was...Was she not wanting to talk to him tonight? PECKING DARNIT!! He knew he should've known better than to take the word of that stupid Moonboy when he popped up outside of his home!! He shoud've chucked him back into that dimension the moment he laid eyes on him! He was just..sitting there minding his own buisness, reading his book on Theories Of The Penguin Mind in his home trying not to think about the amount of time that's passed since Poppy asked to have some space to think about what happened and to process all the information now discovered. He couldn't really blame her for that, after all it was pretty overwhelming for her he was sure. So he was happy to agree and give her as much time as he needed. He wasn't completely heartless you know. He was sitting comfy in his chair day and night in and out. Doing his usually routine of catching fools stumbling into his forest and if he was really bored he went out to swipe new books from somewhere. But after a while he was starting to miss the troublemakers causing trouble in his forest and the red hair and blue eyes of Poppy. He was sure she was taking good care of them but-..... He was just sitting there staring blankly at a page he forgotten which part he left off at when one of his minions came flying in and ran around to dive behind his chair.

"BOSS! HE'S BACK!!", he shouted before diving around the chair.

Snatcher snapped his head over to the cowering minion before looking over towards the entrance to his home...And the book dropped to the floor with a thump. The very recognizable twitching, glitching form of Moonjumper was floating right there in the entrance of his home. Yellow eyes met red ones as Moonjumper looked absolutely worried.

He suddenly flinched and held up his arms. "W-WAIT WAIT WAIT!!"

He was snatched up by a shadowy bullet as Snatcher shot out of his home and grabbed his other half within his claws in their iron grip!! A blur as The two kept shooting out until Moonjumper felt his back slammed into one of the petrified trees and crows cawed out as they took off from the trees, spiders cowered away, and any minions or dwellers under Snatcher's reign watched as their King glared at Moonjumper in his clutches. The mane of hair around his neck spiked up and his face turned into a snarl as he literally growled out. Moonjumper freezing at the sight of him and reminded of just how more powerful he was in and out of the Horizon.

"YOU GOT A LOT OF NERVE SHOWING UP ANYWHERE NEAR ME FOOL!!," he bellowed out and shook the terrified ghost in his clutches a little. "AFTER WHAT YOU PULLED YOU DARE SHOW YOUR FACE HERE AGAIN?! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?!"

Moonjumper squeaked something out something that sounded like a mouse before he shook his head, eyes wide blown in fear. "P-P-Please S-Snatcher. L-L-Lets be r-reasonab-b-ble now. I-I came to apologize-"

"HA!" Moonjumper froze up again. "YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?! AFTER THE STUNT YOU PULLED BEHIND HER BACK?! GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULD LISTEN TO ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY?!"

"B-B-Because." He swallowed and forced a smile. "H-Hazelle told me to?"

Snatcher stared at him.....Hazelle told him to come apologize? Yeah....That sounds like something she'd make Moonboy do alright. He still frowned but thankfully slowly released him much to Moonjumper's releif. "Im not interested in what you have to say to me." He then pointed to the sky. "GET. OUT. OF. MY. FOREST. And DONT you DARE think about coming near Poppy ever again!!"

He still didn't budge anywhere. "U-Uh...Ab-b-bout that. Uh...H-Hazelle...MayhavetoldPoppyhowyoureallyfeelaboutherandexpectsyoutotalktohertonight!!"

That's what made him freeze. And for a moment his face was blank before his rage came back in full swing again. "W H A T?!" His voice boomed and echoed throughout the forest and Moonjumper held up his hands.

"Trust me i-i-it wasn't my idea a-a-at all! S-S-She just w-w-wanted me to tell you!!"

Snatcher growled out lowly. "When I see that witch she's about to get the royal boot!!"

"B-But w-what about Poppy? S-S-She'll be expecting y-y-you tonight."

A shot of panic and fear quickly zigzagged through his form as his eyes widened at the realization. Hazelle told Poppy he LOVED HER!?!?! Oh peck he felt like he was gonna chuck ectoplasm again! WHAT WAS HAZELLE THINKING!?!? POPPY KNEW HE LIKED HER LIKE THAT?! OHPECKOHPECKOHPECK!!! HE WAS IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!! WHAT WAS POPPY THINKING RIGHT NOW!? SHE PROBABLY THOUGHT HE WAS WEIRD!! OR SOME KIND OF CREEP!! His claws gripped his head as he spiraled down into those thoughts. IF SHE DIDN'T HATE HIM SHE SURE WOULD NOW!! OR AT THE VERY LEAST BE ANNOYED AT HIM FOR NOT TELLING HER!! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO HIM?!?!

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO PECKING DO?!"

"Tell her?" Moonjumper meekly suggested and smiled nervously when Snatcher snapped back to him with a questioning look.

''WHAT?!"

Moonjumper sighed. "Look. I-.....I-I tried to trick her into coming into the Horizon with me."

Snatcher sneered at him, "SO WHAT!? You love her too!"

Moonjumper stared at him a little more calmly now. " You're right...I do. But you love her more." Snatcher stared at him for a while and Moonjumper sighed. "When we split into two upon death, so was our personality." He explained pointing to himself. "Took me a while and Hazelle explaining. But I am the embodiment of the prim and proper prince we always were...And the one who still feels for who Vanessa once was. I am the person We WERE. The sadness, the proper manners, the very lonely calm past us...That's me. I-...I miss my Queen despite everything." Snatcher wanted to gag. "But you..." Moonjumper stared dead at him and spoke with a genuine voice. "You are the part of us that had our buried side. All of our love for her. For Poppy. Your protective ad fierce side Vanessa made us bury in favor of me...or my half."

Snatcher narrowed his eyes and stared at Moonboy long and hard with a suspicious look crossing his arms."....Why are you tell me this?"

"Because Snatcher....I want her to be happy as much as you. Which is why you should do what we always wanted too and tell her what we should have....As you love her more than I ever could." His yellow eyes widened as he eyed his face, but found no traces of Moonjumper lying or hiding anything. And believe me he could tell when this corpse was lying to him, but he seemed actually concerned about this as his face now twisted to a softer tone and he tilted his head. "....You love her still. Don't you?" Snatcher didn't say anything, but his grip on his arms tightened and his frown widened. "Oh! Please. Do not give me that silent treatment old boy. You risked loosing your entire forest for her when I tried to trick her into coming into the Horizon with me."

"THEN WHY THE PECK DID YOU DO THAT IN THE PECKING FIRST PLACE?!," Snatcher snapped back at him.

"Because I missed my FRIEND!!" Moonjumper scowled at him. "And I never saw her as my 'love'! YOU DID! Why else would you even risk that much for Poppy unless you loved her?!"

Snatcher stared at him for a while longer again before he grunted and turned his gaze away from him. ''And why should I even do anything after you went BEHIND MY BACK!?"

"Because Poppy is going to be expecting you tonight. Wouldn't it just cause her more trouble if you don't go? You know how stubborn she is! If you don't go to her she's going to eventually storm in here looking for you demanding answers! Then you'll have to try and explain to her why you didn't go see her. It's very rude to keep a lady waiting."

''OH SHOVE IT MOONSHINE!! It's also rude to attempt to HOLD HER HOSTAGE and TRICK HER like a TRAITOR!!"

Moonjumper stared at him for a moment before he sighed again. "Very well. I know when I've done all I can. But please at least think it over? For Poppy's sake."

And then he left in a puff of scattering glitchy square things. Like he never showed up there. Leaving Snatcher to think, sulk, curse about, freak out over, and get flustered over everything and the situation Hazelle threw him into this time!!.....In that order. And after much continplating figured that Poppy WOULD be stubborn enough to march into Subcon to find him if he didn't show up. And-.....I-It took a lot for him to force himself to teleport himself into the ship. He felt oddly empty inside, like he hadn't been complete. But he didn't want Poppy to have anymore reasons to be disappointed in him. So after searching a bit he popped himself right on into the attic since that's where she most likey be at the moment. He guessed he must've not noticed how much time has passed with him thinking because he popped in on her about to sleep he guessed and accidentally spooked her. But now she sighed and looked up at the darker form's eyes as they blinked at her nervously. Poppy flinched when a snap rang out and a moment later a ball of blue flames popped up in the air next to Snatcher's head as he gazed down at her, lighting up the entire attic and allowed them to see one another. Poppy blinked at the sudden change in lighting, and after a few blinks managed to see the worried frown on the ghosts face as he stared down at her. The silence stretched on for a few moments with each party glancing around and Snatcher gave a small cough to help ease them into this.

"So....I was told you wanted to see me?" He crossed his arms looking at the floor. "I don't suppose it's because of what Hazelle told you."

Poppy awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh.....Actually I-I wasn't plannin' on seeing ya tanight."

Snatcher turned to her with a raised brow. "That's not what I was told.".....he suddenly frowned and growled. "Hazelle. I swear that witch is going to get a piece of my mind after this."

Poppy nodded in agreement that she didn't approve of what Hazelle apparently had planned with either of their consent but-....."Well. S-Since yer here-..." She looked back up at him with a light scowl and Snatcher froze under her eyes. As she crossed her arms. "Would ya mind tellin' me what in tarnation all this mumbo jumbo with that-...t-that darn book of you and me!?"

Snatcher couldn't have snapped at her faster recoiling like he was stung. "Y-YOU SAW WHAT?!"

She scowled further. "I said what's with the book!? And this whole story of you calling me a 'Flower Princess'??"

He looked confused for a moment. "Flower princess? What the peck are you even-...." He stopped mid sentence, yellow orbs suddenly going wide. ".......Oh.....Oh no."

"Oh, yes." Her brow rose as she shifted awkwardly on her feet. Blue eyes shifting away for a moment. ".....OH!! FOR THE LOVE OF PECK!!" She looked at him suddenly. "Everyone says you're in love with me!!"

"W-WHAT?!" Snatcher flabbergasted at the sudden and bold forward approuch from her. Face suddenly glowing a bright yellow to match his wide eyes and open mouth.

Poppy wasn't too far off either. Her face turned a bright pink as she still stared at him. Her mind racing with questions. Was that too straight forward? She didn't want to beat around the bush anymore. Why did he react so badly? Was Everyone just exaggerating and he doesn't? Is he mad he got caught? Why didn't he tell her. Her throat suddenly felt tight and dry as she forced herself to say the next few words. "I-I...Y-YA'LL H-HEARD ME!! W-W-WHY D-DO YOU LIKE ME?!"

"WHO IN THE P-P-PECK TOLD YOU THAT!?"

"HATTE!! A-AND HAZELLE!! A-A-AND EVEN M-M-MOONJ-J-JUMPER D-DID WHEN I MET HIM!!" Her face was as red as her hair now as she fumbled with her fingers. "Did ya.....I-I-I mean-......Are you......A-A-Are t-t-they r-r-right??"

Another silence followed throughout the room as Snatcher couldn't do anything but stare and Poppy figited and stared shyly anywhere but Snatcher after her embarrassing outburst. Wishing she hadn't said that and wishing she could slap herself for the embarrassing situation she put them in now. But jumped when she heard a low sound from Snatcher as the spook sank down to the floor. Sighing lowly and bringing a hand to rub his face where one's temples would be on his face if he still had a normal human face. She watched as the brightly yellow blushing ghost sat down on the floor and leaned his back against the wall in front of her. Sitting there and just rubbing his face. Seriously?! Why was his whole existance, life and death, have to be so complicated? Seriously, it was one situation after another for him now a days. More silence rang out and he assumed Poppy was doing to do the same thing he was. Trying to figure out how the peck he was supposed to explain this new situation to her- He looked up when he heard something shift and sit down next to him, looking to see Poppy sitting crosslegged right next to him looking up at the bigger ghost. Still red faced a fair amount but not saying anything as they did.

".........A-Are uh-....Y-You ok?," she asked. It might've been a dumb question but it was the only ice breaker she could think of at the moment.

He huffed in return. "Peachy. Real pecking peachy." He grumbled and looked to his own lap. "How do I keep getting into these things?"

"You tell me when ya find o-out cuz I'd like that question answered too." Another small bit of silence passed before she spoke again looking at him from the corners of her eyes. "I-....h-hate to be pushy but.....Is that..all they said.....True?"

Snatcher didn't say anything at first. suddenly finding his claws very interesting. "IF it was what would you say about it? Not that I'm admitting to anything."

Poppy rose a brow but decided to answer anyways. "W-W-Well-...I uh-" ...Actually what WOULD she say if Philip had confessed to loving her all those years ago or Snatcher liking her now the same way? The thought of anyone telling her they liked her. A woman who had already come to terms with the idea that she'd never get into a relationship, covered in mud or dirt 87% of the time, and had a mouth and attitude that could make a sailor blush. Why would any self respecting man, let alone a prince, love someone like her? She'd probably ask them if they were drunk or crazy!...But to be honest, she WOULD ask that wouldn't she? So she turned up to him fully. "Well.....IF someone told me they liked me like ...t-that, I would ask why? What would they see in someone like me?...Not pointing any fingers at anyone of course. Just sayin' what if."

He stared at her for a moment before looking back to his lap. "Well....IF someone liked you, they'd probably tell you-....T-That you were the most understanding person in the world....If someone liked you that is."

OH! She saw what game he was coming at her this time. More beating around the bush for him but to her it was just a case of reverse phycology again. So she hummed and looked at him. "That's a very nice compliment someone would give mahself. But ah ain't too convinced anyone would like me like that." Snatcher tilted his head slightly to her indicating she had his attention. "Let's just say that YOU liked me, not sayin' that ya do, just y'know as an example. And ya'll wanted to confess ta me. What would YOU tell me?...If you were interested that is."

.....He sighed again. "Well...I definately wouldn't say it was love at first sight."

"Why not?"

"B-Because-...." He scowled and softly glared at his claws. "Love at first sight doesn't exist. Love takes time and love takes work. And at the very least you have to know the other person." His claws shook as they slowly balled into fists. "And Vanessa literally had no idea of who or what I was." .......After a few seconds of tense posture, Snatcher sighed and slowly allowed himself to relax un balling the fists and looked at Poppy. Who was staring back at him wide eyed. "I know I said I wasn't good at this emotional talk, but I'm good at talking from experience. We-....W-We're all told fairytales about how the prince sees his princess and immediately falls for her, but...How could that happen? How could love at first sight truly exist? You don't know them. You don't know who they really are. Being blinded by someone's outward beauty can blind you to what's inside. A person can be beautiful....but have an ugly heart." His eyes lowered themselves from her own as he just....gazed off. "Vanessa wasn't actually in love with me. She was in love with the idea of me or what her twisted version of me should've been. She never allowed me to be me, but wanted me to fill a role she desired. And that's not love." He looked back at her. "That's selfishness." Yellow eyes scanned her face. ".....I think if I were to fall in love with you it'd be for all the opposite reasons Vanessa gave me, or other ladies. You weren't kind to me just because I was a prince, or because I was handsome, which I do claim.~ " Poppy rolled her eyes. "I could tell because you were so genuinely nice to everyone you meet. Even now. But even when you do fight with other people you were never.....cruel. Maybe a well deserved punch but you never really liked to fight with anyone. You treated me no different from the common man, and when we became friends you-....You were always so honest and open with me like I wasn't your future ruler or had this massive duty, or some fake fantasy. You treated me not as your superior, but as your equal. You listened to me even when I didn't listen to myself and....A-And you even AGREED with me when that pecking blonde demon did those pecked up things to me! You..you were the first person to really tell me what she was doing wasn't right. B-But ....I didn't listen. And...A-And my ignorance cost you and millions of others their lives probably...." He looked over at her again. "You were the most kind, fun, honest, down to earth person I had ever MET. Poppy, everytime I was around you, you made me smile when I was going through the worst part of my life! And you're the m-m-most forgiving person too....E-Even when I lied and I tricked you, and after everything that happened...You forgave me. I didn't to. You're the m-most beautiful person I've ever met. Inside and out." Her blue eyes were wide with an expression he couldn't place. Like a child seeing a toy for the first time in their life. He didn't notice it, but his body was likely shaking again. "A-A-And...I-I will never be able to make up for what I've caused. I'm...I'm s-so sorry."

"......Why?" She asked hands trembling within her lap as she just...looked at him. Blue eyes wide as she just..didn't know how to accept this new information. "....W-Why would you l-love someone like me l-l-like that?!"

"Why?! I just told you!" He stared at her and held his hands up. "For the love of peck I just told you why! I love the way you treat others! How kind you are!? That's why I love you!!"

Another moment of silence went by as the two just stared at each other for a long moment as the silence went on for a while longer as Poppy's face reheated with a new shade of red at his words.

"S-So...You admit you love me?"

Snatcher couldn't have turned a brighter yellow faster. "WHAT?! WHEN DID I EVER SAY I DID!?"

"JUST NOW!! YOU SAID 'THAT'S WHY I LOVE YOU'!!"

"NO I DIDN'T!!"

"YES YA DID!! AND DON'T LIE TA ME AGAIN YA PURPLE ONION!!"

"Rrrrrrrr! YOU'RE.......YOU'RE PECKING IMPOSSIBLE!!" He crossed his arms and looked away pouting as he he did so, still very obvious yellow blush running across his face as he did so. Which also confirmed everything he had just said. "FINE!! S-SO WHAT IF I DO!? IT'S NOT LIKE YOU WOULD'VE LIKED ME THAT WAY BACK!!" A silence filled the room as he just stared off.....before he peeked over at her. "R-right?"

She didn't answer at first, just sat there red faced and hummed. "W-Well.....maybe not now or like this....B-But it would've been nice if you didn't keep so much from me all the time."

"H-Hey! I said I was sorry!," he argued.

"And I said it was alright! But ya don't have to keep anymore stuff from me!" Her brow rose a little. "Don't suppose there ain't anything else I should know 'bout?"

Snatcher shook his head. "N-No...No. That's pretty much everything. Blabbered out behind my pecking back!....But all of it none the less."

"....Yer tellin' the truth?"

"Course I am! Pecking-.....*sighs* There's nothing else to lie about anymore."

Once again like in a cliche romance movie, the two looked down in silence. Well....what now? Were they just supposed to move forward like nothing at all happened? yeah right. Nothing would ever be the same now. It'd be awkward to everyone on both sides and in between. Way way too awkward!!

Poppy took a breath and looked back up to Snatcher who perked at her suddenly looking at him again. "W-Well....I'm glad you told me. I know it was...probably really hard for ya'll ta tell me anything considerin' what had happened." He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "For what it's worth, what I said still stands. Ah ain't mad at ya. Not one bit. I-...I'm upset ya didn't tell me but I ain't mad. And I don't hate ya." Her hand reached out and Snatcher blinked when Poppy grabbed one of his hands into hers. "And....I don't think I ever thank ya for what ya did for me. Ya'll saved my life. M-More than once." She looked down at the embarrassing memory of her dangling from the dum rope in the middle of the forest like an idiot. "Ya didn't have ta help me at all..But ya did. And I can't ever say how much I appreciate it. So...how 'bout we jut call it even and be friends again?" She smiled that smile that could put any jewel or flower to shame. "Whatcha say, Snatcher? Care ta make a friend again?"

Snatcher looked at Poppy for a long time. Her beautiful kind smile looking back to him as her hands squeezed his large one, ever patiently waiting for an answer. She was offering him something he lost a long time ago. A friend. Didn't matter that he loved her in a way she might never return and didn't have to. After everything they experienced together. The lies, the fights, the fear, the near death experiences....She was still ready and willing to be his friend. Just like all those years ago when he lost her to the cold dark void of Vanessa. .....A small smile passed over the spook's face and his hand curled around hers.

"I'd like a friend very much."

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

Snatcher wasn't bluffing when he said he was going to rip into Hazelle the moment he saw her again for the stunts she pulled. And he did call her out for it the second he saw her, which was when he tagged along one time to Poppy's rehearsal. After that night with the two becoming friends once again, thing's were less tense and awkward around the place now that there wasn't any bad blood or anymore lies between them. Snatcher was like his old self again but a bit better.....If you count Snatcher going back to being how he was better. He was now more at peace when he was sitting in his forest reading and had taken up letting Poppy know the girls could go whereever they wanted without her watching them if that made it easier for her to pay off her debt to Mr. Grooves but Poppy had to decline since they were her ride there and back and she wanted to fix all debts before anything. Snatcher had rose a brow at her and told her as far as he was concerned their contract was upgraded to mutual friends status instead of servant and boss. He literally had in in rewriting to show her. So no more debts were owed to him since he agreed they were even now. Which was fair she supposed. At least it was another thing off her mind to worry less about as the days flew on. They were mostly spent with Snatcher.....Well doing everything he's been doing for the past thousand years which entertained him just fine. And Poppy studying/practicing her route for the play, feeling more and more nervous as the time flew on, taking care of the girls, or going to work paying back Mr. Grooves like she promised. Snatcher would pop up more often to talk with her about this play(which he thought was ridiculous of course) or it was spent with the two catching up with what Snatcher had gotten himself into for the past thousand years. Or sometimes he'd take her and the girls shopping somewhere, him always hidden in her or one of the girls' shadows. In one of those trips the gals were just exploring the other side of the town surrounding the studios before Poppy was rehearsed that day and she couldn't help but stop when she heard there was a plant shop in town. Of course being a plant lover she'd want to go in there and have a look around. The place ended up being smaller than she had thought. Selling small cacti and other desert plants small enough for tourist to take home and decorate their desks with. But there was ONE small pot that stood behind the cashier's desk that caught Poppy's eyes. And her blue eyes widened at the stunning rainbow displayed behind the female owl. Hattie yelped and was nearly run over by the older woman when Poppy ran up to the counter and slammed her hands on it. Startling the owl in front of her.

"WHERE IN THE PECK DID YA GET THOSE FLOWERS?!," she asked pointing to the rainbow roses behind the owl.

The owl just stared at her for a long moment before huffing and crossing her wings. "If you MUST know. I grew them myself." She smiled smugly. "They bring in all my customers during the touring seasons.....They're not for sale." She added coldly eyeing Poppy up.

Poppy's jaw dropped at the sudden bold coldness of her...before shaking her head and scowling. "NO WAY!! Ya'll don't understand! My family made those flowers! They're mah BIRTHRIGHT!! Tell me yer price! I'll buy 'em whatever they cost!! PLEASE!!"

The owl sneered at the human eyeing her up and down. "Let me make this perfectly clear to 'ya'll'. I don't know what pecking filthy human would know about MY flower business but you'd have better luck courting a mushroom into growing than you would taking MY property. Now if you're not going to buy anything, I suggest you leave before I call the Sheriff and his Deputy."

Poppy's anger rose. "Why ya no good filthy son of a peckin' PECKNECK B-"

"POPPY!!" Bow tugged on her dress and pulled towards the door. "We're going to be late! You promised DJ Grooves you'd be back before ten o clock!"

Poppy stared at her...before back at the smug looking Express Owl. "But ...I-...Mah roses!!"

"We don't have time!"

She managed to start pulling Poppy step by step away from the counter and out the door as she still scowled at the smug looking owl who waved goodbye. Not noticing the yellow orbs peeking out from Bow's shadow. Which lead up to what was happening now. After another month or two of their usually routine Snatcher got curious about what Poppy was actually doing for this play ever since he found out she'd be dancing with a man and acting a romantic scenario. And he was (concerned) interested in what they were doing so he decided to tag along and see what was up, the studios were too busy for his liking. Even more so when he had seen Hazelle and yelled at her from Hattie's shadow. Hattie had to shush him when a few other actors looked their way and Hazelle being Hazelle, was just amuzed. Teasing him even about how she reunited the (love birds) friends. Hazelle wore what looked like some rip off rich lady's dress, but somehow it suited the witch greatly as she was playing the evil step sister. Turns out the entire cast was taking a break from rehearsing to do costume fitting so the tailor could do final touch ups to everyone's outfits and make sure they were all fitting well. Poppy was called in not soon long after they arrived and they were bit busy distracted by Hazelle in her costume.

"It's so nice seeing you two getting along again with out you moping around that gloomy tree house."

"I swear you WILL regret this," Snatcher hissed from the shadow running up the wall.

Hazelle rolled her eyes. "Yes. Yes. Revenge and justice. Yadda, yadda, yadda. But since we're on the topic of justice. I don't think this dress's skirt does me any favors."

"HA! Now you look even more like a real witch!"

"Jealous? At least I don't look like an overbearing literal shadow watching over my crush's every move-"

"THAT'S IT!!" Snatcher detached himself from Bow's shadow and glared at her. "Laugh all you want! As soon as she's done, tell Poppy to meet me back on the ship!"

Hazelle rose a brow. "You're leaving before you get to see her in that pretty dress?"

"Yes! I have some business to take care off across town. No if you'll excuse me!"

If Snatcher had stayed a few seconds longer he would've seen Poppy come out to show the others the beautiful gown she was wearing that would've make Snatcher's metaphorical heart skip a beat. But no. The shadow had other business to attend to on the other side of town. In a small plant shop with a sneering owl. No one noticed the shadow skittering around buildings and along the sand towards the shop. Neither did the shop owner until a giant purple hand grabbed her middle and brought her into the air. Making her squawk as she was lifted up, and was gazing into the mad yellow eyes boring into her.

"Unless you want me to eat your soul, you'll give me those flowers and tell me where you got them."