#and only the third is actually doing anything but her magic is fire-based so thats horrifying on a ship

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

YES HIGH-SEA ADVENTURES!!! I love the idea of them coming across a kraken or something of that nature

Sally's at the front of the line like "FOR GLORY" meanwhile others are freaking out or trying to keep the ship(and themselves, but mostly Eddie) stable

Also the bit with Eddie and Frank😭<3 so good

Sally, Julie, Frank: throwing themselves at the kraken

Eddie: attempting to back them up, failing <3

Wally: getting snatched by said kraken

Barnaby: holding onto Wally's ankle with one paw & holding onto the ship w/ the other

Poppy: dragging Howdy's deliriously sick self into a corner for "safety" & screaming

[huntsman-ash]

RWBY V8E10 LiveThoughts

Well since its my birthday, Im kinda bored, and there’s little else for me to do right now since I dont get food till later, lets catch up on last weeks episode in anticipation of tomorrows. 

Huh, starting off with a epilepsy warning. Thats...a good sign I suppose?

Probably not the first part with the RT logo if I had to guess. 

Opening shot looks like something outta Gundam or Halo. Ironwood looking thoughtfully out as a Manta cruses by randomly. Plus; sunlight. Second day dawns...damn, have they really been fighting for that long?

Brings up the wonder of how long Remnants day actually is.

More Mantas. One REALLY close by. Damn those things are QUIET.

Those poor Specialists. You can just TELL they’re bracing for Ironwood to kick their ass. The doors also still busted which is a rather nice choice.

Also interestingly the female Specialist’s coat is missing the top two buttons of her partners. No clue why. 

Actual sweatdrop on the girl. What is it with RT suddenly making their characters have body liquid?

Ahhh Qrow kicking ass. Excellent. I would expect nothing less. 

Also FUCK THAT TABLE IRONWOOD.

Homie loosing his SHIT XD

Oh. Whats this...energy blast? Looks like its coming out of the- Oh. Thats Oscar isnt it.

...my God. ITS. BEAUTIFUL.

(Cries in military nerd)

I love how the music cuts out when it hits, just like what happens when a nuke goes off. 

The fact the Aces have to CARRY the bomb in BY HAND is good shit.

Massed gunfire in the back, and for a second you can see the true thoughts of all of the members. Oddly enough Hare’s got her exoskeleton activated. HYuh, weird, everyone else is hauling it bare. Elm, obviously, she beefy. I guess Marrow and Vine are just capable?

Also based on the shot we see just before the entire screen goes yellow and it looks like the blast literally yeets marrow onto his ass (I assume its Marrow based on the weapon visible in profile) it looks like Atlas is actually WINNING the fight, they’re pushing forward towards the whale.

Grimm; PURGED. ...how much you wanna bet this was a one off? No way to weaponize it. No way to make this more effective.

The music is...dissapointing, truly. If I had scored this, it would have some orchestral choir, a little bit of Requiem for a Dream style kinda thing. Strings and intense flutes and maybe a bit of drums.

Everything goes white for an ABSURDLY long time

Annnddd the sun comes up JUST as the whale starts disintegrating. HA! DIDNT PLAN ON THAT DID YOU SLUT!

CUE NEO CASUALLY SKIPPING THROUGH THE HELLSTORM OF GRIMM BITS WITH THE LAMP

Wait wheres the bomb... Also Marrow being the only one who cares amuses me.

Ahh dont worry about it buddy, its probably MAGIC explosive force, if it didnt kill you it wouldnt kill them. Huh, part of the whales skeletons still there.  I think its dead. GOOD

Wait how tall is Marrow? Hes like a good six inches taller than Winter here and shes wearing combat heels

“Target destroyed, good work.” Oh how casual. I love how he thinks that was the bomb.

And he goes right on to the new issue as if this is the end of the Grimm situation

Oh they still have the bomb.

Cargo ship, huh. I thought it came in on a Manta? Maybe Im miss-remembering.

AND now everyone in Atlas is going to start suffering fucking RUSTLUNG like in Gears.

Oh. Wait. Most of the whale’s still there. Fuckin hell IF THIS THING REGENERATES

Watts is so casual about all of this. I mean it makes sense but like, damn bro, flexibility.

Mmm, I think Cinders about to get brainblasted on by Watts. Please do so. TEAR HER A NEW ONE.

Interesting that Cinder thinks shes in command here. Im sorry, Cinder, but one of you has a college level education and the other WAS A FUCKING DISH RAG BITCH AND PROBABLY A STREET WALKER.

Guess which one is which.

Heels. Interesting. I dont like them but interesting.

Mmm. Long way down.

Watts: STARTS LAUGHING. I love it.

Dude is speaking FIRE. And TRUTH! THIS CATHARSIS...

I know she wont kill him and Im already cool with that cause this alone has put Watts well above her in my book of awesome villains. 

Hope we get to see more of him after this.

Hey he actually got THROUGH to her!

NOW SULK WHORE!

AWW SHES CRYING

Yeah of course the heroes are okay. RIP whoever was in that Paladin though. Hes probably dead.

Oh, the Bees 

Where the fuck did Emerald go

Oh there she is. Just completely shattered. YEAH HE DEAD FRIEND

Agricultrual area, okay cool, glad we finally got a name for this place

Red Line...huh. Like in Metro Speaking of, theres the Metro. No power, lights out. Apathies maybe?

You got a prisoner now.

Scrolls as a light source too huh? No flashlights? Also, pink purplish pettles...whats that one for, GAY THOUGHTS?

...kinetic energy. Really. Thats it. HOW IN THE FLAMING FUCK DOES THAT WORK?!

For those of you not in the know, kinetic is just...movement. Thats it. The ACTUAL energy that results from potential energy being used. 

Its just physics. And they’re treating it like some kind of superweapon.

Talk about a bit of an ass pull. And of course theres only a little bit left, because duh.

Guess maybe its got to do with movement and stuff. An idea for later.

Imagine if everyone looked over at Emerald and shes gone.

Nope, still there. And t hey’re about to hit the civilian shelter...yep, theres everyone.

OH MAN THEY DONT EVEN HAVE ANYTHING GOING ON. Literally just people chillin on the sides of the rails. Boy that must SUCK

Depression everywhere. Damn the Grimm are gonna come right in and mulch em.

And back to Ironwood. ANGRY DAD FACE.

Glad they call it a payload.

Its hard to tell but I think the image hes looking at is a casualty report. If I h ad ot guess blacked out equipment is losses.

Closer look says “Status Report in the upper left (upper right reversed) 

So...based on this, Atlas has lost at least 4 airships, 8 Mantas, four Paladins, a bunch of troops...actually the more I look at this I think each one represents a bunch of units because there is no way that this is everything they had.

I cant really see the middle parts but on the right I cna see “First Fleet” and “Second Fleet” Seconds got fewer Mantas attached oddly. No clue what that means. Same amount of Airships, but nothing else.

Cant really read the middle points. I THINK it says “First Batallion” at the top and then under it is split into (Something) A, B, and C. Might be Squad or something similar, the breakdown seems to be identical across it. 48 diamond markings and four Paladins. 

Based on a quick check of Google, I believe these are, in fact, Platoons, the subsets of a Battalion. The numbers are flexible on there but it seems to fit.

48 men to a Platoon with four Paladins as heavy fire support sounds like a viable mix. If thats the case Im just gonna hope this is all that was depolyed and Atlas has other forces elsewhere BECAUSE IF THEIR ENTIRE MILITARY IS LITERALLY ONE BATALLION OF TROOPS IM GOING TO RIOT.

The number more or less makes sense. 

On the far right theres some kind of power core readings, no indication of what those are, and I cant read the wording over it. Maybe for the pylons. 

Ironwood then convinently walks past a window showing intel on the whale. Annoyingly all of the important looking text is blurred out.

Theres Hares thighs again.

Third ones some kind of profile on Cinder, the image is recent as well. Fourth one...I think its a map of some kind of the impact zone, perhaps the area lost to it. 

“Watts is either incompetent, or betrayed us.” WHICH DO YOU THINK IS MORE LIKELY.

Looks at hand dramatically while contemlating loss.

Hare loosing her shit is awesome.  Also, nice shot of her shoes. 

Maybe you should have put more faith in your military instead of Huntsman idiot.  I guess this KIND OF explains why he wants to leave. He doesnt thinkt hey can win no matter what. 

The look on his face is...disheartening.  Dudes gone the same way as Lionheart. Shit.

Also interestingly, the picograms above his office door show the phases of Remnants moon, rotating from full and unbroken to shattered.

What are you planning Ironwood.

Ohhhh. SEE NOW SOMEONE FINALLY FUCKING GETS THE IDEA You want someone in this world to do something YOU PUT A GUN TO THE HEAD OF THIER LOVED ONES!

Winters not having none of it of course. 

Ohhh shes in for a SPANKIN NOW

I love how Hare throws her under the bus like that. 

FUCK THAT TABLE

Radar. REMNANT HAS RADAR.

MOTHER...FUCKING... HOW?! HOW DO THEY HAVE RADAR.

Suns fully up now. Interesting.

Also, canonizing it now; the mountain just behind Atlas in this shot is where Fortress Academy is. 

This one.

Hang on. SDC Freighters literally look like neutered... ... GOD FUCKING DAMMIT.

AGAIN! EVERYTHING IN ATLAS’S ARSENAL IS JUST SDC EQUIPMENT MADE INTO MILITARY FORM! FUCK. ME. SIDEWAYS.

WHY!? WHY IS EVERYTHING SDC MADE?!

LE SIGH

The crazy logic sit down thing is...weird.

Also, I see constellation on the floor of Ironwoods room. Looks like...chiron and Pisces. So why are Earth constellations on the floor of a Remnant building?

Damn, air cleaned the fuck up real quick. 

NEO YOU CHEEKY BITCH. THE RAISED PINKY FINGER

Yay, the teams reunited. NOW THEY CAN ALL DIE TOGETHER.

FAUNUS EAR WIGGLE

Rens first comment; wheres Nora.  Yay. Also, poor Ruby.

I like how the music just died.

I hear gunfire...

YEAH! Mantas for AA work, hell yeah! I know Im supposed to be mad but fuck that swarm attack! Oh its so good.

AND IRONWOOD WITH THE FUCKING POWER STANCE

MY GOD XD

I like how he specifically mentions Atlas’s technology like their technology is anything hot 

Seriously could you get any more fucking dramatic. I get the point but like, dude, your from Atlas, wasnt this shit BANNED in the Great War?

Boy, he really doesnt like Mantle does he. Then again at the same time, my hometown doesnt care for the homeless here. Its probably like that.

Not sure I follow your logic here. Hes probably bluffing. 

Oh wait Penny...right she never left the mansion, she got fucked over.

And thats it.

[thenightau]

Chapter 35- Good Times for Help

AO3:https://archiveofourown.org/works/23525842/chapters/56422468

TW: Swearing, Yelling, Slapstick humor, Dad jokes. 

Iskall looked down at himself, clad in iridescent diamond armor. He looked at Doc, False, and Cleo, all armored up and ready for a fight. The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife. 

“Ready yourselves. I see them.” Doc said, his voice a low snarl. For a moment, Iskall swore his robotic eye was narrowed in a glare. The grip on Iskall’s sword got tighter, and he felt his feet dig into the ground. His years of training being so natural it was like breathing. 

Tango was the first to land. His hands were up and none of them were wearing armor. A show of good faith. “Woah woah there! We don’t want a fight!” He said, a nervous smile growing on his lips. 

“You kidnapped Scar, what else did you expect?” Doc growled. Cub, Ren, and Impulse were the next to land, none of them carrying weapons. Impulse was just nervously playing with his shovels. 

“Okay. Fair enough.” Cub sighed, having heard Doc’s growl. He scratched at his beard, and thats when Doc realized something. 

“Your nervous. All of you.” He said bluntly. And the group deflated. 

“What happened?” Cleo asked quickly, her orange hair tied up in a ponytail. “Night didn’t get Scar did he?” She asked again, before anyone could respond. The group of traitors looked to one another. 

“It’s only fair if Ren explains.” Tango said with a bit of a glare himself. Ren pouted a fraction, a low growl leaving him. 

“It’s not my fault.” He said. 

“And we know that.” Impulse said. “But… It still happened.” 

“What happened?” Doc asked, walking closer. He grabbed Ren by his collar, pulling the werewolf to his height. “You better tell me now, or pray to the void that respawn is fixed.” His voice was a low growl, and it sent shivers up Iskall’s back. Ren’s hands shot up, and he laughed nervously. Tango and Impulse stepping forward to separate the two.

“Well… You see…” Ren started, laughing still as he was dropped onto the floor. He looked up at the creeper hybrid. “We kinda… Lost him.” 

“wHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ‘LOST’ HIM?!” Doc yelled, and the group flinched. 

“You see…” Cub walked over, getting in between Doc and Ren. “With last night being the full moon, of which we… were neglectful to realize. And Ren kinda… Killed him.” Cub smiled, his hands raised. 

“So what your saying is.” Cleo sighed, stepping foreward and placing a hand on Doc’s shoulders. The hybrid turned and backed off, steam practically leaving his skin. “Ren killed Scar. And respawn is fixed?” 

“That’s what it seems to be.” Cub said. Iskall scratched at his beard. 

“Did you check spawn?” He asked. 

“Yes. Impulse and Tango checked spawn while Ren and I checked his shops.” Cub said. 

“His base?” False suggested.

“Checked there too.” 

“The diamond mines?” Iskall asked. He got a confused look back. 

“The what?” 

“Scar’s mineshaft.” 

“Oh… no we didn’t.” Cub sighed. Iskall nodded. “I’ll check there myself-”

“Oh no you don’t.” Doc said, walking right back up to them and shoving Iskall out of the way, grabbing Cub’s wrist. “You are not going anywhere until you agree that Scar will be free. It’s not his fault he has magic.” Doc growled. 

“We don’t know if he’s working with Night, Doc. I explained thi-”

“What would Xisuma say?” Doc said suddenly. And that shut Cub right up. “He would be as pissed at you as I am. Because you’re what? Discriminating against him for shit he can’t control?” Doc growled. Cub deflated. 

“... Fine. On one condition.” Cub said, “We keep him away from his own base, and hidden somewhere. I don’t want Night finding him and using him.” 

“Deal.”

____

Scar was sitting on a black bed, The stone house around him built to be in ruins. It was clearly Cleo’s work, the armor stand work made him sure of that. He wasn’t sure what this was, but he bet it was a fun thing that had happened. A part of him was upset he hadn’t been invited to make some apocalyptic builds, another part wondering if Xb could predict the future. Because to him, it sure seemed like it. Xb was sitting beside him, an arm wrapped around his shoulders as the other was trying to talk to him. He couldn’t hear what the other was saying right now. Everything was muffled. He knew TFC was talking to Jevin and Hypno, and he knew here he was save from Ren and Cub. But he was still in pain. 

Some sort of deep seated pain that clung onto a man and only squeezed a bit tighter every time the thought of pain was brought up. The pain started in his heart, and spread out to every limb on his body, a numbing feeling all the way to his fingertips. The pain was mixed with another feeling. A swelling of magic. He refused to let his magic be released though, especially not around other hermits. He almost hurt Grian the last time! He couldn’t let that happen again. 

“Scar? Scar!” Jevin was in front of him now, his face one of gentle concern. “You with us?” He asked, and Scar nodded with a weak smile. 

“Yea. I’m here.” He said faintly. His voice was weak. He looked around. “Wait… Where’s Tfc?” He asked, an immediate surge of panic flooding through him.  

“Don’t worry about him. I think he’s off to yell at the other hermits. He’s our dad after all.” Jevin tried to joke lightly. Scar didn’t laugh. 

“You let him go?! By himself?! What about Night-? What about the civil war I-” 

“The other hermits won’t hurt him.” Jevin said calmly, his voice cutting through the layers of Scar’s panic. “Night won't get him.” 

“H...How are you so sure?” Scar asked softly. Xb responded next. 

“I mean. We’re the only one’s Night hasn’t attacked.” He said. Scar immediately bent to the side and knocked on the wooden floor. Xb chuckled at him. “Yet.” He said, to ease Scar’s superstitious mind. Scar nodded, and slowly sat up straight. “I don’t think he has much of a reason too. TFC especially. I mean, the man’s 50.” Xb smiled gently, and Scar nodded. 

“Yea… Guess you’re right. Sometimes I forget.” 

_____

Tfc sighed as he walked through the nether for the third time today. He hated this place, He prefered the overworld, but he also understood the world was changing. The nether was the fastest place to travel. And he needed to find a few people. Cub and Doc specifically. He stepped through Cub’s portal first, hoping to find the quote un quote ‘pharaoh’ in his pyramid. He walked into a cave, sighing and just carefully walking across the packed ice. 

He really couldn’t afford a broken hip right now. 

He climbed up and into Cub’s pyramid, and saw no one there. He groaned loudly, wondering where the hell those two were. He walked over to the ender chest, and threw it open. He watched as his own stuff magically appeared before him. He pulled his communicator onto his wrist, and pulled on his elytra. He hardly used the thing, but thankfully Grian had been teaching him how to use it before everything went down. He rummaged through Cub’s things, promising to put back anything he misplaced as he grabbed a stack and a half of fireworks. He left an IOU in their place. 

Tinfoilcheif: Hermit meeting. Now. 

His words were simple and to the point. But he knew the other hermits would take him seriously. 

Tinfoilcheif: Meet at Grian’s mansion in 20. No exceptions. 

Docm77: got it. 

Cubfan182: Understood. 

Tfc nodded, walking out of Cub’s pyramid and walking up to the top of it, grumbling the entire way up. He couldn’t believe the hermits were being so stupid. He got to the top of the pyramid, taking a rocket and sighing. “Grian I swear to god if this doesn’t work. I will personally give you permadeath.” He grumbled, taking a running jump off the building and firing the rocket. 

Air flew past him quickly, and his eyes shot open. He. He was flying! Tfc laughed a bit, firing off a few more rockets and flying into the air. He started to head towards Grian’s mansion, twisting his body in the air and gripping onto the edges of the elytra. He understood why the other hermits used these now! It was actually rather enjoyable! 

___

It didn’t take long for the hermits to assemble. Scar was holding onto Xb, terrified that Cub and Ren were gonna drag him back into that cage again. As soon as the others arrived and saw Scar, they deflated. They knew how much trouble they were in. Tfc stood in front of them, all of them gathered outside of Grian’s ‘basement’ area of his mansion. His arms were crossed, and he glared at the other hermits. 

“Ya know. I used to think you were all really understanding, reliable people. But as soon as your admin vanishes you go straight into chaos?! You kidnap a fellow hermit AFTER HE WAS ATTACKED and almost killed?! Xisuma would be ashamed of all of you! Going into Civil war?! What the Nether is wrong with you people?!” Tfc yelled, and even Doc shrunk under the old man’s anger. “Scar was and still is hurting. Iskall is hurting and don’t you DARE lie to me and say you’re not, boy!” He scolded, pointing directly at the green clad man. “Listen! We have a HUGE threat in this world! A huge threat to OTHER worlds! And you guys are just fighting like children amongst yourselves! Grian, Mumbo, Wels, Stress, Suma, and Bdubs. You all claim to not know why he’s going after people when there's an OBVIOUS connection between them!” Tfc started to pace back and forth, unable to stay still with his anger. 

“Mumbo is a redstone genius, Grian is an amazing builder, Wels is loyal to a fault, Stress is a damn princess, Suma is an admin and Bdubs is also an amazing builder! Stress is the only one whom I don’t see benefitting Night! But I don’t know the young lady well. You should be protecting each other! Not at each other's throats! Cub is right. Scar could be next. You should be protecting him. Not locking him away to be some cHEW TOY.” He roared. “Am i clear?” He asked, his eyes still narrowed as he looked at the hermits. They were all hunched over, looking like scolded children. “AM I CLEAR!?”

“YES SIR!” The hermits responded with tenseness. 

“Good. Now, I am going to do what I do best, while you all make up with each other, and come up with a battle plan. Scar. Can I use your diamond mine?” Tfc asked. Scar looked up, his face brightening a little. 

“d...Diamond mine challenge?” he offered weakly. Tfc smiled kindly. 

“If you think you can beat me.” 

___

The rules had been set by Scar. One hour, in a straight line. Whoever came back with the most diamonds won. Each person had an ender chest and their tools, as well as their own intuition. Doc at first demanded that they take someone else with them, but Tfc managed to get out of being followed by a hermit awkwardly for an hour. Scar ended up going on his mining trip with False while the other hermits sat at the mine's entrance, coming up with battle plans. 

Tfc wasn’t necessarily human. Well… he was, just, not fully. He was half dwarf. So not only was he shorter than most of the hermits- Stress and Scar were only exceptions- He naturally was able to mine faster without beacons, and it was much easier for him to find diamonds. Sweat was on his brow, the underground tunnel hot and cramped. But something about the situation was… calming for him. He was alone here, with only his thoughts, his pickaxe, and the sweet sweet smell of diamonds. 

He broke through the last diamond of a cluster when his communicator’s timer went off. And he looked down at it with a chuckle. Scar had absolutely no chance against him. When he looked up again, he saw stone bricks. And for a moment he thought he mined all the way to the stronghold. Before he remembered the stronghold was in the completely opposite direction. 

Tinfoilcheif: Guys. have any of you used stone bricks at lvl 12?

Docm77: I don’t believe so. Hold up, im coming after you. DON’T do anything. 

Tinfoilcheif: I’m digging through it. I hear something on the other side. 

“Hello?” Was what he heard, and movement. Was that Xisuma? He heard Grian telling him to shut up, and how he was lucky to even be getting food. He waited a few moments, pressing his ear to the stone brick. He felt it vibrating as someone- presumably Grian- walked away. He heard a wooden door slam closed, before he took out his pickaxe. He broke the piece of stone, and his eyes widened at seeing the admin. The admins eyes were just as wide. “Tfc-?!” His voice was quiet, nervous as he looked back and forth. “H...How did you find-?” 

“No time. Let's get you out of here. I’ll write down the coordinates, we can get Doc and the others to get Bdubs if he’s still on our side.” Tfc said, sending his coordinates in chat and pulling Xisuma out through the small exit he had made. He quickly replaced the stone. Xisuma started to run, and Tfc followed after him. 

“What’s been going on?” Xisuma asked, and Tfc sighed. 

“Scar was attacked, killed by Grian essentially. The hermits were about to go into civil war because they found out Scar wasn’t Vex, and Cub assumed he was on Night’s side, so he kidnapped him. I had to yell some sense back into them, and right now they're in Scar’s diamond mine, coming up with a plan. And void do we need you right now.” Tfc said, running behind the admin to protect his back. “You happen to have a plan by any chance? We’re struggling.” 

“Surprisingly? Yes.” Xisuma said, panting as they ran the thousands upon thousands of blocks back towards the mine. 

___

“XISUMA!” The hermits yelled, seeing Xisuma emerging with Tfc. They were all wide eyed, watching the two collapsed into panting heaps on the ground. Doc and Cub ran over to them, helping them lay on their backs and telling Cleo to go get them food and water. Tfc only realized then how hungry he was. His stomach was tensing up painfully, and he put a hand over his larger belly. 

“Tfc? You okay?” Scar asked, walking over to the two weakly. 

“Yea. Just fine kid.” Tfc said, taking the golden carrots Scar handed him and gladly chewing on a few, Xisuma doing the same. 

“Thank void you guys are okay.” Doc sighed. 

“I heard what happened, and frankly I can’t believe you guys.” Xisuma said with a sigh. “But that doesn’t matter now. Cause I have a plan. As admin, I can go into other worlds. I can take people and things to other worlds with me. So, lets get us some alley eh?” Xisuma said. 

“Tango, Impulse, and Cub. I need you to start making some houses to hold others. Doc, I trust you to be a manager here, make sure this all gets done. The houses and rooms don’t have to look pretty. But we’re going far from our little area. As close to the world border as we can go. Everyone, while I’m gone, Collect every bit of spare armor, weapons, diamonds. Anything you have. Iskall, go to your pigman farm and collect as much damn gold as you can carry. I have to go meet with a few of our dear Grian’s old friends.” Xisuma smiled, taking his mask when Cleo came back with it. He borrowed Tfc’s elytra and rockets, before he flew off to his own jungle base. 

The rest of the hermits started to rush back to their bases, even going through the ‘converted’ people’s bases to loot, despite feeling awful for doing so. They’d pay them back whatever was broken later, when they won against them. 

___

Wels was carrying Bdubs as they flew through the sky. And So far none of the Stars had found them or were chasing them. The two were locked in a never-ending cycle of apologies. Wels apologizing profusely for what he had done, while Bdubs tried to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault and not make them crash because Wels starts hyperventilating. They landed the first place Bdub recognised. “THERE! There's a nether portal at Keralis’s base!” He said, and Wels flew down, looking around quickly. The two ran into the portal, laughing as they were so close to the others. So close to their freedom. Bdubs grabbed Wels by the hand, running to the shopping district. 

They jumped through the shopping district's portal, went down the water elevators, and Bdubs ran straight for Tango’s fireworks shop. He grabbed a whole bunch of them, before running and nabbing an elytra. The two hermits quickly flew to Tango’s base, as it was one of the closer ones. They caught sight of the blond man running around and shoving things into skulers, the two of them tackling him. 

“TANGO!” The two yelled, and Tango screamed- totally not in a high pitch, girly shriek of terror- as he landed hard on the ground. 

“Bdubs?! WELS?!” He yelled, laughing as he wrapped his arms around the two. “Oh my void you guys are okay! But- But I thought Wels was one of them-?” Tango asked, adn Bdubs nodded. 

“I managed to break the spell! A song of true love~” Bdubs grinned. Wels punched his arm.

“The idiot is only half right.” He said fondly. Bdubs and Tango laughed. 

“Come on, I need help packing everything together.” Tango said. The two got off him and looked at him odd. 

“How come?” 

“Tfc managed to accidentally mine into Night’s base. That means we have a direct link to him-their?-base. But they also have a direct link to us. So once they realize Xisuma is missing…”

“You’re doomed?”

“To the extreme.” 

“Alright! Wels then let's get goin-!”

Bdubs got a groan for that one. 

__

Xisuma sighed, walking through Grian’s old world. Evo. He knew some people might still be here, but he wasn’t sure who currently. He looked around at all the old textures. At the lack of blocks he was so used too- certainly no honey blocks that is. “Hello??” He called out, cupping his hands over his mouth. He was at Evo’s spawn area, not having moved yet off the platform. He saw Grian’s city in the background of spawn, and chuckled a bit. The little gremlin really left his element when he left Evo. And god was Xisuma proud of him. 

He started to walk around the mob ridden area, with only a diamond sword with him. He saw a flash of lavender from the corner of his eyes, in a tree. And he ran up to it. “HEY! Are you Nettyplays!?” He called out, and a panda hybrid poked her head out of the tree.

“Um… yes thats me! Who are you?” She asked kindly, “Wait, let me get down there!” She chirped, climbing down her ladder. 

“My name is Xisuma, I’m an admin. And I was wondering, You’re friends with Grain right?”

“Oh absolutely! Has he been okay?? He hasn’t been sending letters for a few weeks now!” 

“Ahhh… about that.” 

“What trouble has he got into-?”

“A lot. Let me explain to the best of my knowledge…” 

~

“So what your telling me is. Theres this scary void guy and he wants too… rule the universe?” 

“Pretty much.” 

“And he… processed Grian and a few others into joining him?” 

“Yeup.” 

“And you need me to go get my brother and his friends to help you get Grian back?” 

“That be ideal.” 

“Why don’t you move worlds?”

“He’d probably end up corrupting all of them.” 

“Touche.” 

Netty was sitting down, Her and Xisuma having made a small fire pit. She scratched at her neck, but sighed. “Anything to help Grian. I’ll get in touch with my brother. Actually! I can give you his world name! Would that help? And the names of a few others!” 

“Would you? That’d be awesome!” Xisuma said. 

“Stampy's lovely world, and Squid’s sky island!” Netty smiled. Xisuma nodded. “And I’ll come with you! My brother can be a bit… food driven. I know how to convince ‘em.” She giggled. And Xisuma chuckled. 

“Alright then! Thank you so much Netty. It means so much to me. To us.” Xisuma stood up and went over to spawn, which thankfully wasn’t too far away. He let out a breath, using his voice abilities and only softly mumbling the words. 

“Stampy’s lovely world.” 

___

Xisuma paused when they got to the world. “Holy…” He mumbled, looking around the vast and completely filled to the brim world. There was so many lights, shops, and he even saw a few rides in the background. He yelped when Netty grabbed his hand and started to run, running straight to a house over a bay. 

“STAMPY!” Netty yelled, and a few people poked out of no where, all animal hybrids. Reindeer, elephant, ect. What caught his attention though, was a bright orange cat. 

“He looks so fluffy-” Xisuma mumbled under his breath. He heard Netty giggle before explaining the entire situation to her shell shocked brother, waving her arms about and gathering the crowd of helpers. 

“So we really really REALLY need you’re help! And you’re dog’s help too!” Netty finished. And Stampy closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. 

“You’re so lucky I love you Netty.” 

“YES!!! Thank you Stampy!” She hugged her brother, and Stampy laughed. His laugh was a wheezing one, happy and infectious. Xisuma chuckled softly. “Stampy! This is Xisuma. He’s a fellow admin!” She chirped. 

“Nice to meet you! Can I call you X?” He asked, Xisuma waved his arms around shyly. 

“Ah… I’d rather you not. That’s… kinda what we call my twin.” Xisuma said. 

“Oh! Sorry then!” 

__

Doc watched as the others scramble around in the snow biome, making homes and work areas out of whatever materials they could get at their base and shops. It was quite amusing honestly, watching Cub run around like a chicken without his head. He was perched on top of a tree, looking at the village beside them and sighing. “Poor, poor villagers.” He said slowly, leaning back into the spruce tree. “They probably don’t understand whats going on.” He said, monologuing again. He held his sword in his hand, running his finger along the blade. “Oh It will be amazing once I get this sword through that creatures chest.” He grinned lowly, the expression twisted. 

“OI DOC! STOP DAY DREAMING OF MURDER AND HELP US!” False yelled. 

“Okay okay! Damn! No need to shout!” He said, jumping out of the tree. False rolled her eyes fondly, and Doc walked over to help her build the small, two to three person homes. “I wonder who Xisuma is bringing though. It make more sense to go to Stress’s kingdom and get her parents army to help us fight.” 

“Xisuma is our admin, not our brain cell.” 

“Very true.”  

The group paused when they got an influx of notifications on their communicators. 

Stamplongnose has joined the server

Nettyplays has joined the server

Iballisticsquid has joined the server

Mithzan has joined the server

Yourpalross has joined the server. 

And around twenty other people. Doc whistled lowly. “Daamn. And its only been an hour. ‘suma works fast.” 

False laughed. “Oh my void. I think those are other admins. And Grian’s old friends.” She grinned. “Oh Night is officially fucked.” 

___

“WHY THE FUCK IS SKY HERE?!” 

“BECAUSE I DON'T WANT MY WORLD CORRUPTED THANKS!” 

“Guys! Calm down-”

“MAX CHILL OUT!”

“SHUT IT POOKIE!” 

Xisuma pinched the bridge of his nose, bashing his head into a crafting table. Okay. Maybe he should’ve thought this through a bit more. “We don’t have time for you’re bickering. Come on. Lets get you elytras and we’re heading out.” Xisuma said, opening a chest full of boasts and throwing them down for everyone. He found out the names of these other admins and they were… and interesting bunch. 

Max and Ross were both admins to a lot of worlds, same with Sky- aka Adam. He was lucky he accidentally ended up in another server, with access to so many good pvpers. But… the bickering was unbearable. He guided everyone to the shopping district, being as discreet as he could with 20 people. 

___

Night knew of the others that joined the server. He had Bdub’s and Xisuma’s communicators after all. And he was quick to alert his Star’s on the situation. Assuring them that failure was not an option, no matter what. He noticed the flickering in Bird’s eyes, for now just assuming that was Grian telling him who these new people were… 

It was in fact, quite the opposite. Currently going on in ‘Birds’ head was…

“oH MY VOID NETTY AND TAURUS ARE HERE! THEY DO CARE!!! HOLY SHIT! HAHAHA FUCK YOU!” 

“Oh my vOID SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE I ACTUALLY THROW US DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS.” 

Around 20 minutes later, after Night had explained the situation, Observer was trying to find the winged Star, only… only to see him at the top of a ginormous staircase. “Bird?! What are you doing?!” He yelled, only to screech as the avian threw himself down the staircase. He watched the winged man thud down nearly 64 stair blocks of varying materials. Observer watched with a deep frown, and he could hear Mumbo’s hysterical laughter in the background. He watched as Bird got to the bottom of the stairs, groaning loudly in pain. 

“Well did you really think that was a smart idea?” Observer asked, holding back his urge to laugh. Bird nodded as he groaned. 

“I think I broke every bone in this body.” 

~Ollie ;)

[isaacathom]

So, when the dragons first reappeared, they did so in a big show of force - attacking the Sevarian Castle, home to the royal family

the royal family was very public, as is common. the king and his queen were well loved and admired, as was their eldest child, the princess Mathilda. her many younger siblings, while too young to make real character impacts, were adorable and loved. but there was a sibling of hers who seemingly avoided the public at all times. the second oldest child, the princess Sofia.

noone was sure exactly what her issue was with the public, but Sofia never left the castle. Many Sevarians didnt even know she existed, unless they thought hard about exactly how many children the king and queen had. She was quite and contemplative, and simply faded from the background. Mathilda, on the other hand, was very boisterous and confident, a hogger of attention and a genuine sweetheart.

all these children are at home in the castle, playing with each other in one of the big rooms while their mother watches over them and chats to some officials. Princess Mathilda is taken away to talk to her father, and in the course of their discussion wind up on the parapets between two of the towers, chatting in the sun. The clouds above moved fast, quite fast. When Mathilda noticed the glowing eyes and glittering fangs, it was far too late.

The dragons, arriving from the sky in groups, tore down the centre of the castle, splitting Mathilda from her father. His last clear sight of her was her screaming, the flapping of faded blue wings, and an empty, crumbling parapet.

Within the castle, little Sofia feels the rumbles and hears the screams. Interpreting it as an earthquake, and being old enough to have learnt about them, she quietly picks up her youngest brother and walks crawls under the table where her mother is sitting with the officials. as the rumbling gets worse, the Queen stands up and calls to her children, and holding their hands firmly where shes able, escorts them quickly to the safest room in the castle. and there they wait for news.

it comes slowly, at first. the Queen is denied exit to the safe room on the basis that the King cannot be found, and that in his absence her safety is paramount. News comes from chamber maids coloured white as snow, whispering gently to the Queen as she pats the heads of her children and coos gently. Sofia stands quietly at her side, looking intently at each bearer of news, barely hearing but completely understanding all the words that pass their lips. to the third maid, she asks a simple question - where was Mathilda? there was only silence and the shake of a head, but it said enough for Sofia to understand what that meant. for even as young as 8, Sofia knew her place. she was the second oldest of the royal children, and in the absence of the true heir, she was the heir.

The rumbling would eventually stop, and with in the news erupted. The queens exit from the safe room was met with screams for aid, for anything. The kids were instructed to remain in the room with a maid, but as she devoted her attention to soothing and feeding the crying toddlers, Sofia quietly slipped out into the wreckage of her home.

im losing steam and thats good fun, but the idea from here is that Sofia sneaks into the kitchen - which was ok in the attacks - and steals a bunch of sweets. and the cooks, who are busy making like, soup and shit for the people who were injured as well as like, really rudimentary potions (because you could hundred percent make potions here) either didnt notice her entry and exit or thought nothing of it given her hitherto complete obedience. actually, she probably offered to deliver some of the soup, like carry one of the trays, and the cook instead gives her a loaf of bread to carry (to accompany the soup, yknow) and directs her to where everyones kept. (like the main hall or smth)

and what Sofia does is she gives people a slice of bread and a lil lolly. she finds a couple of her cousins, whod been visiting, and she gives them extras and draws smiley faces on their band aids with a texta. in the chaos, shes noticed and told off, but never told to leave, and she continues quielty coming and going to deliver sweets and quiet smiles.

it takes far longer for concrete news about Mathilda to arise. the King is finally found, dazed and exhausted at the base of a collapsed tower, having had it collapse around him as he tried to descend, and only protecting himself from the falling debris with the magic inherent to his bloodline. hes incoherent and babbling, and quickly hidden from the sight of his emotional children and taken to the nearest hospital.

on the next day, as the media floods with the news of the dragon attack and subsequent major structural damage to Severia Castle, the King comes to and reveals Mathilda’s fate - kidnap by one of the dragons. through coordination with the castle knights, whod fired en masse at the dragons, they work out where it SHOULD be and begin to set up a troop to track it down. but until they know for certain, the kids aren’t told what they expect happened, simply that Mathilda is missing. but little quiet Sofia, with wide eyes and hushed lips, knows. she knows. and she steps up promptly.

When the Queen appears before the media to issue a statement re: the dragons sudden reappearance and attack, Sofia stands proudly at her side, her first major public appearance since she was a very small child. When the Queen finishes talking officially, the journalists press the two of them for more information on what they experience, and Sofia tells them about how she stole sweets for the injured and gives a massive grin as her mother looks on in horror and the crowd laughs. the queen laughs too, in the end, and gives Sofia a massive hug.

individual scenes dont really go much further than this, but the idea is that, with Mathilda’s death at the hands of the dragons (which is confirmed when her body is eventually recovered from the dragons lair), Sofia basically Becomes Mathilda. she emulates her deceased sister in a lot of ways in regards to her personality.

and what was fun about this, beyond general melodrama which i love, is what this means for Cecilia. see, Cecilia is the daughter of a Duchess, and has visited the castle a few times. but primarily, the royals would come to her estate for celebrations, and as such, Cecilia rarely if ever saw little quiet Sofia. its unlikely she never did, but with age, she believes that must be a younger sibling of Sofia (as Sofia does have a younger sister). and due to a delay on meetings between the royal family and Cecilia specifically due to the disaster, Cecilia doesnt see the royal children for like, 2 years. and when she meets Sofia then, shes a different person. and what Cecilia has done, with her naivety, is replaced Mathilda with Sofia in her mind, despite the fact that all of her memories of a pre 11 year old Sofia are actually Mathilda. the reason this works is not just general physical similarities, like hair and eye colours, but the fact that Mathilda hadnt hit puberty when Cecilia last saw her (she was like, 10?) and when Cecilia met Sofia proper, Sofia had, and basically looked to match. in Cecilia’s head, all that happened in that gap in time was that Sofia hit puberty. she didnt realise the age inconsistency because she didnt realise Mathilda was actually older than her, or even that Sofia was 4 years her junior. she simply had no reason to think

what it boils down to is this - Cecilia doesnt know that Mathilda and Sofia are different people. she never referred to Mathilda by name, only as ‘her highness’ or ‘her majesty’, and simply never realised the mistake she made. up until someone - probably Arianna, because Sofia doesnt know either - tells her the truth about it. in a conversation along the lines of ‘do you know all of sofia’s siblings’ ‘yea. younger bro and sis... ooh, another younger bro!’ ‘youre missing one’ ‘what’ ‘she had an older sister’ ‘WHAT’ and its kinda wild.

my idea for that is that Arianna, being as she is the daughter of a Marquis, has herself visited the castle and met the royal siblings. likely at an event relation to her families history as powerful warriors. something about veterans. whatever it was, Arianna personally met both Mathilda and Sofia, remembers them clearly as distinct entities, and clearly remembers hearing about Mathilda’s death. especially since its part of Arianna’s whole cowardice complex (smth like that). since the de la Fayes promptly fled the city following the dragon attack instead of helping people recover, blackening their once respected name. and like, the family does feel guilty about it, which is Why Arianna’s cowardice is her whole thing for her book specifically. but the point is that she knows Mathilda died because she feels like her family is responsible, even though realistically their aid would have done little except recover her body sooner.

the irony there is that Arianna is the same age if not slightly younger than Sofia, who was 8, while Cecilia was 12, and yet Cecilia had no idea about Mathilda’s death specifically. the whole naivety and coddling thing.

while all this is happening Leila was probably aware of the whole thing (being shes in the middle of Sofia and Cecilia age wise, i think, or older than Cecilia) but isnt aware that there was every any confusion. she never saw any reason to bring up Mathilda based on the simple fact that to do so would be a faux pas real bad. so Leila’s very much out of the conversation here. like, itd make sense for her to tell Cecilia about it since she and Cici are friends, but shes also not aware its a problem specifically. shes knows there is an issue with Cici’s perception of Sofia and who Sofia actually is, but she doesn’t know the source and doesn’t have the first idea of how she’d work it out, so she sticks to just cutting Cici off when she starts getting weird about it. hence it falls to Arianna to fix it, especially since shes met Sofia and Mathilda (while its not impossible for Leila to have met Mathilda or Sofia prior to Dragon Attack, its unlikely and wouldnt make a huge change) and since shes antagonistic towards Cici. like, Aria is a lot more critical of Cici’s actions, and is therefore more likely to notice whats causing it and address it, ESPECIALLY since Aria considers Sofia a good friend and she wants to help her. plus Aria adores getting an upper hand on Cici, fuels her ego real good. Sofia would never confront Cecilia about it, not just because of her general nature, but also because thats a really sensitive topic for her and has a lot to do with her personality as a whole, so bringing that up is.... yknow.... faux pas, again. hence Aria doing this 1v1 with Cici instead of bringing it up in a bigger conversation.

tl;dr Mathilda was real cool and then got totally fucked up by a dragon, and a quiet and shy Sofia promptly filled Mathilda’s role as heiress by basically emulating her sister and her mother in equal measure and just. bam. there she is! and Cecilia, for a long time, has no idea that Mathilda and Sofia are separate people, or even that Mathilda ever existed.