#and worry all the animations i suddenly have to do LATER damn it!! *scuttles to my cave *

[okopocoh]

not at ALL where i want it to be but -- getting there.

[fandomwriterstuff]

“We’re a well-oiled team of military-grade kindergarteners,” his best friend, and the only other human on the ship who would understand what kindergarten was, continued chastising him and his companions. “The level of education and training among the three of you eclipses that of the entire rest of the members of this operation,” Annabeth continued, pointing her finger individually at himself, his pilot Jason, and his Chief Science Officer Nico. “You know, I’m not that surprised with you, Percy, but you are our XO so you should really be more responsible,” he winced at that, still feeling a bit of imposter syndrome at being the Commander of the USS Olympus. “Jason, shouldn’t you be piloting a ship or something?” At that, he saluted her and did an about face before scampering off to get into more trouble. “And you, you’re definitely way too responsible to have gotten mixed up with this Seaweed Brain and Sparky, so what’s in this tomfoolery for you?”

Nico, the only Neptunian on the ship, shifted his large black wings self consciously under the scrutiny of their Chief of Operations. Percy, as the Commander of the vessel, felt obligated to protect his usually stoic and well-behaved… acquaintance? Di Angelo was reserved, almost standoffish, and resented anyone who tried to stick up for him for some reason, but that didn’t stop Percy’s stupid seaweed brain from doing so. Hence the acquaintance. Percy was 99% sure Di Angelo didn’t consider him a friend. But he was nice to Percy and a great officer, so Percy considered him his friend.

“It was my fault, Annie,” he used her childhood nickname carefully, not knowing whether it would soften her up or piss her off more. He was hoping for softening. “It was just another one of Jason and my dumb ideas that we thought we would need a scientist to help with, and we didn’t want to piss off Leo by involving him in it. You know how he is about his engineer and warp cores and whatnot,” Percy held his hands up placatingly. “Leave Di Angelo out of this, he has sciencey things to do, isn’t that right?” Percy side-eyed his companion who (not surprisingly) rolled his eyes.

“I try not to get involved with human pranks or even Jovian mischief, but Officer Grace and First Officer Jackson were about to be meddling with my linguistics team. It isn’t my duty to tell my superiors what to do, so I sought out the next best option, supervising and ensuring no lasting damage was done to the physical or emotional state of the linguistics team. Now,” Here Percy held in a smirk as Di Angelo shrugged. “If they caused interference with the machinery of the ship, that wouldn’t be my expertise, so I allowed it to happen and-” Percy held back a laugh as the other male started speaking even faster to get everything out as Annabeth turned redder and redder. “I’m very sorry about that, truly, but I had no control over the situation.”

“No control over the situation? You three broke our LIT machine and now we have to go back to Earth as soon as we pass close enough to fix it. Soon enough nobody on this ship will understand each other,” the woman across from them crossed her arms and Percy shrunk back a bit.

“I want to make a joke about a machine being called “LIT,” but I feel like it isn’t the right time,” he muttered. “I know the Linguistic Inhibition Technology is important, but most of us have a working understanding of at least one other language, so it shouldn’t be a huge issue, right?”

“You know it works by connecting to the implant technology in our brains, so as it shuts down one by one, members of this ship from spaces stations and planets far and wide will have no clue why they suddenly can’t understand their XO, or their Chief Officer, or their best friend. So you better explain this. And you have to tell them that we’re going straight back to Earth to fix it because no nearby planets have the same brain implant tech as us. Damn Terrans and their brand name technology copyrights,” Annabeth grumbled and finally turned around to walk off.

“Hey, you’re Terran, too!” Percy shouted after her, but she just flipped him the bird.

“She can do that?” Di Angelo asked, side-eyeing Percy.

“Yeah, she’s been my best friend since we were twelve. As long as she doesn’t undermine my authority in front of everyone else, I don’t really care. I’ve done way worse to her,” Percy laughed at the other man’s frown. “Nothing bad, just pranks and things of that sort. Maybe when we get back to Earth we can show you where we’re from. You never set foot off of the training grounds while you were in school.”

“I would… like that,” Di Angelo paused and gave Percy a soft smile.

“Great,” Percy patted the younger male on the shoulder and made his way to the Command Center.

Percy sat himself down in the rotating chair and pressed on the comms device.

“Gooooood evening crew of the USS Olympus, this is your Commanding Officer, Percy Jackson, speaking,” he smiled at the engineering crew that was scuttling by, only for one of them to pause and look at him like he was speaking a different language… Whoops.

“There was a malfunction with the Linguistic Inhibition Technology and we will be returning to Earth henceforth to repair it before the damage becomes problematic. You may experience glitches with your implant technology and may revert to only understanding your first language and those you have studied extensively. If somebody looks like they’re not understanding what I’m saying right now, please escort them to the linguistics team in Science Bay 3. Carry on. Jackson, out.” He clicked again and the mic turned off.

He sighed, this would be one of his bigger mistakes. They were supposed to be exploring, but they couldn’t do that if nobody could speak to one another. One trip home couldn’t hurt him, and he was sure Annabeth would be happy to see her father.

It wasn’t until later after the Chief Officer meeting when someone finally asked Percy about Earth. For many of the non-humans on the ship, Earth was a place to get education and training to go out in the star fleet, and they never set foot outside the campus grounds, just like Di Angelo. But people had stopped asking him questions because Earth was basically “Space Australia,” as Annabeth had explained to him. The adaptability of humans and their need to pack bond astounded many and horrified many others. So, he stopped talking about home.

It was a new member of their ship, Novax (a Vulcan who was a part of Leo’s engineering team), who asked him about it first.

“I hear Earth is 75% made of pure salt water, and is filled with animals of all kinds. Do you have a favorite water animal?” he asked Percy excitedly.

“Definitely dolphins, though they aren’t underwater creatures. Like humans they need oxygen to breathe, and come up for air very often. My favorite actual underwater species would have to be a hippocampus from Neptune. I’ve always wanted to go and see one, but my human anatomy prevents me from going on-planet,” Percy explained and sipped on his hot tea.

“There are a million creatures in the ocean and you pick one that doesn’t breathe underwater?” Clarisse grunted. His Chief Tactical Officer was a brutish Martian, but very specialized in weapons. “And your second favorite isn’t even Terran.”

“What else do you know about the ‘ocean’?” Novax breathed, leaning forward.

“Eh, not much,” Percy shrugged.

“I’m not sure I heard that correctly, maybe my LIT unit isn’t functioning well,” another member of engineering asked, Nyssa. “Your planet is 75% water and you don’t even know what is inside it?”

“I could tell you about the people who spend their life learning about what survives in the deep depths,” Percy looked up, knowing he had all of the non-Terrans hooked on every word. Even Di Angelo had paused in his note taking and was staring wide-eyed at Percy. “But I don’t know if you’d want to know.”

“No we do!” Nyssa exclaimed. “There are people who dedicate their lives to a place that’s literally not navigable by humans, the main inhabitants of the planet?”

“Well as you said, most of the planet is water. Which means that coastal communities are filled with fisherman, whalers, swimmers, and more. I could tell you about some of those. I could also tell you about the scientists that spend years of their lives building bots that can’t even come close to withstanding the pressure at the deepest depths without imploding, or I could tell you about those that do come close,” he shrugged.

“What happened to those?”

“The video feed cut out after only seeing multiple rows of sharp, jagged teeth,” Annabeth answered, her sharp grin frightening those who hadn’t noticed her. Some forgot that she was Terran, because she was also half Minervan.

“I could tell you about whales. Beautiful, they come in black and white or grey or blue. But they can be as big as almost 100 feet long. That’s as long as most pirate ships. And they could fit about 400 average sized humans in their mouths. You don’t want to cross one of them. And they only live on the surface. The things that live in the deep,” Percy shuddered for effect. There were no Neptunians on the ship, so there were no natural water dwellers there, so all of his rapt listeners were shocked by this information. “There’s the anglerfish. They light up the dark with an antenna on top of their heads, and the light lures in prey. But it’s so dim elsewhere that you don’t see their big sharp teeth until you’re right up against them,” he murmured. “Giant squids are almost as big as whales but not nearly as peaceful and beautiful. They have eight arms and two tentacles that could wrap around any boat and crush it.”

“Ten limbs?” Nyssa whispered, clearly disturbed.

“Plus, the Portuguese Man o’ War,” Percy shrugged nonchalantly. “Also known as the floating terror. It’s like a big blue jellyfish that sits innocently on top of the water with huge blue tentacles that sit just underneath with a sting strong enough to kill a full grown human.”

“Don’t worry,” Annabeth grinned that shark grin again. “Percy won’t tell you about the stories of the old days. He doesn’t want to scare you.”

“That was the not scary part?” Novax gulped.

“Anyway, I just got notified that we’ll be back on Earth in a few days, so brace yourselves,” and with that, she stood and left them all staring after her. When the door clicked shut, Percy had all eyes back on him. He shrugged.

“Don’t look at me. I wasn’t going to tell you about the kr- nevermind,” he stood. “Di Angelo, with me,” the younger officer stood, back to business and was at Percy’s side again in a moment. “Clear your schedule, you’re spending shore leave with me, pal.”

“Great,” came the deadpan reply.

“Don’t sound so somber,” Percy rolled his eyes. “I’m just going to show you the beach and maybe a good gay bar. You need to let off some steam my dude.”

The other male reddened.

“That is so… That is…” he huffed. “Highly inappropriate.” he glared down at the ground and Percy felt a little bad, maybe the guy wasn’t out? But it was clear he had a preference for males. Oh well, that foot was already in Percy’s mouth.

“Fine. But I will be attending and I am a great dancer so you’re missing out,” he winked at the flustered officer and made his way back to his cabin. It would be an interesting few days.

He made a plan with Annabeth. Day one before shore leave, Percy would spread a rumor to Novax about the kraken. Bigger than a giant squid and meaner. Known to crush entire pirate ships in the olden days.

Day two, Annabeth would mention sirens to Nyssa. Hideous creatures that could lure you in with their voices and lead you to believe you were bringing your ship in to everything you ever wanted, when in reality you would crash your ships and then drown.

Day three, Percy would tell Leo about the Megalodon. A definitely very real shark so big you couldn’t even imagine it. Percy shuddered at that one.

“But, there are some good things,” Percy was speaking to Nico Di Angelo from his Commander chair, in ear shot of some of the participants of the conversation a few nights prior. “Mermaids, the siren’s nicer cousin species. And the lost city of Atlantis. Known to be a great and bountiful city, lost to the sea and cursed by the gods to be stuck down there forever. Some believe it still exists, but it’s within the Bermuda Triangle.”

“What, pray tell, is the Bermuda Triangle,” Clarisse sighed.

“Hard to explain. Ships just… go in… and they never come out,” Annabeth shrugged. “Planes go down. Ships wreck. People who go in don’t come back out, so we don’t know if Atlantis is really there or not.”

“That’s… terrifying,” Novax whispered as he walked by.

Percy was sure he had created a healthy fear of Earth’s oceans in his crew. And he meant to, because while he loved the beach and swimming, he did want to make them shy away from the depths. They wouldn’t do well to explore it.

[thicctails]

Summer of Whump Day 5 [Buried/Labour]

Yes I know it’s late shhhhhhhh

Ω

  Omega yawned and stretched her arms out, the warmth of the sun lulling her into a state of laziness. She could hear the sound of the rest of the Bad Batch as they went about their day, but for once, she didn’t feel like jumping up to help. Beside her, Pillow snoozed happily. The pale amphibian had found a multitude of plump bugs, and he was now sleeping off the hearty meal.

 They had set up camp on a raised grassy plateau that was surrounded by mountains. A large forest was nearby, a half hour walk if you moved briskly. The sky overhead was a light indigo, and was peppered with fluffy white clouds. The occasional avian flew by, tweeting a sharp, beautiful song. Long legged creatures with orange and white fur and long, pointed ears grazed on the lush grass, their curled tails flicking away insects occasionally.

 Echo wasn’t too far away from her, begrudgingly sitting on the ground with his leg propped up. The clone’s leg was broken, and he needed to stay off it as much as he could. That was part of the reason they were on this heavily forested planet, as running away wasn’t really in the cards for poor Echo. Omega thought that it couldn’t be too bad; the man deserved a break. They all did. She just wished that they would stop moving so much. They were disturbing the bugs in the grass, and she didn’t want another insect to get into her mouth when she yawned.

 “Guys, come lay in the sunlight with us. It’s great!” She called, tipping her head back.

 Hunter paused in his knife sharpening, giving her an amused smile.

 “I’ve spent enough time lying in the dirt, Omega. I don’t need to do it for fun.” He said, his voice holding none of its usual seriousness.

 “Yeah but this dirt is warm. I didn’t even know the ground could be comfortable.” She said, pressing her fingers into the dry earth.

 “Give it a few years, and your back will tell you just how fun it finds lying on the ground to be.” Echo commented.

 Omega playfully stuck his tongue out at him, laughing when he copied the action. Rolling over onto her stomach, she watched a beetle crawl up a blade of grass, its ruby red elytra glittering in the light. She hoped Pillow didn’t eat this bug, as it was rather pretty.

 “Omega, I have been tasked with gathering firewood, would you like to come along?” Tech questioned, looking over his shoulder.

 “Yes!” She replied quickly, scrambling to her feet. Pillow snorted and rolled over, stealing Omega’s spot on the ground.

 She quickly fell into place beside Tech, eagerly following him down into the meadow that sat below the plateau. Small, striped animals scuttled around, leaping in front of their path and tussling in the meadow’s green grass. Omega chased a few, dashing around but never straying too far away from Tech’s sight. The older clone smiled as he watched Omega be… well, a kid. She hadn’t had too many opportunities to do so, and sometimes Tech worried that she was being treated too much like a cadet and not enough as a young, bright, curious child. She had the potential to become more than just cannon fodder for whoever controlled the galaxy, and he’d be damned if he just let the hardships of a life on the run take that chance away from her.

   As they approached the forest’s treeline, he turned to her. “See if you can find some thick branches. I’ll look for a dead tree to cut.”

 Omega gave him a mock salute and ran into the forest. Tech followed her closely, looking around the brush that now surrounded them. The trees here were enormous, likely hundreds of years old. Pale lavender moss covered many of the tree trunks, and the plants, interestingly, shrunk back if he came too close. His inborn curiosity itched to take some samples and examine the flora, but that could be saved for a later date. He was looking for…

 There! A leafless tree, bowed over and covered in overgrown in plants. As he set about sawing off some branches, Omega scoured the ground for more sticks to add to her ever growing pile. As she reached to pick up a stick that, to her, resembled a blaster, she felt a vibration run through the ground. She pulled her hand back in surprise, turning to look at Tech.

 “Did you feel that?” She asked, still crouched on the ground.

 Tech paused for a second and looked over at Omega. “Feel what?”

“The ground just vibrated.” Omega said, looking down at the forest floor.

 “You probably just felt the vibrations from the saw I’m using. This thing shakes so much I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t fallen to pieces.” Tech said, showing her the rickety saw. Omega frowned but went back to collecting sticks, hesitantly accepting Tech’s explanation.

 A few minutes later, the hairs on the back of Omega’s neck stood on end. An unpleasant buzzing sensation formed in the back of her mind, and she looked up from her stick gathering.

 Something bad was about to happen.

 “Tech,” She said, standing up straight and beginning to slowly back up, “I think we should go.”

 “What? Why?” Tech questioned.

 “Just trust me. We gotta go, now.” She said, pulling on his sleeve.

 Confused, Tech grabbed the branches he had sawed off and let himself be pulled forward. Omega set off at a quick pace, forcing Tech to quicken his stride to keep up. She kept glancing over her shoulder, like she expected something to pop up and start chasing them.

 “Omega, what’s gotten into you?” He asked, his brows knitting together. “You’re usually the one who wants to stay longer.”

 Omega opened her mouth to answer, but was distracted when a flock of birds exploded out of the trees behind them. Both clones dropped the wood they were carrying and hit the ground, covering their heads as the swarm flew over them.

 “What the-” Tech started, but was cut off by a low rumble. The ground beneath them began to shake, rattling the trees around them.

 “Tech, what’s going on?!” Omega cried, unable to find her balance.

 “It’s an earthquake! Of course, why not?!” He yelled, getting to his feet. “Can’t we have a day where nothing happens?!”

 A nearby tree crashed to the ground in front of them, forcing the clones to jump back.

 “I guess not. Come on, we’ve got to get out of here!” He said, running towards the treeline.

 Omega sprinted beside him, yelping when a branch just barely missed her head. “What’s an earthquake?!”

 “Its a phenomenon caused by the shifting of a planet’s tectonic plates. This one is particularly vioLENT!” Tech’s voice spiked at the end of his sentence as the ground in front of them suddenly split open. He quickly jumped over it, Omega copying his movements.

 “Does it usually last long?!” Omega cried, nearly tripping when another rumble shook the forest.

 “It depends! Some last for minutes, others, hours!” Tech answered, leaping over a fallen young tree.

 “There’s the exit!” Omega called, pointing towards the treeline.

 Another wave of shaking hit them, this one stronger than the last. The sudden force caused Omega to trip, and the young girl yelped in pain as she hit the ground. The sound had Tech skidding to a halt, and he was quickly helping Omega to her feet.

 “We’re almost there, come on-” He silenced himself and decided to just carry the young girl. The constant quaking and his own panic caused him to nearly fall over himself, but he somehow managed to power through it and started to run again.

 They had almost made it out of the forest when a thundering mix of crunches and snaps suddenly reached their ears. Both of their heads snapped to the left, and to their horror, they saw a wave of dust, rock, and broken trees hurdling towards them!

 Thinking fast, Tech sprinted towards one of the large trees and took cover behind it, tucking both himself and Omega into the ancient plant’s thick roots. He held Omega to his chest, shielding her with his body. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced for impact.

      Echo had just started to drift off when he felt it. It was like the ground itself was shuddering, causing the nearby wildlife to scatter. Wrecker, who had been trying to sleep of a headache, startled awake. Hunter was on his feet in an instant, searching for the cause of the disturbance.

 “Was that an earthquake?” Echo asked, sitting forward.

 “I think so. A pretty big one too…” Hunter replied, frowning.

 Pillow, who had also been awoken, started to let out long honks. It was the noise he made when he wanted Omega’s attention, but couldn’t see her. Echo grew worried when, upon looking around, noticed that Omega and Tech were still gone.

 “Why aren’t Tech and Omega back yet?” He questioned aloud, his gaze turning towards the direction of the forest. “I hope they didn’t run into any trou-!”

 “Echo?” Hunter looked towards his brother, who had now gone stiff and still. Him and Wrecker walked over to where Echo was sitting, and gasped at what they saw.

 A cloud of dust had risen into the sky, smothering the pleasant blue hue. It was right around where the forest was. Where Omega and Tech were.

 “Everyone in the ship, now!” Hunter barked, running to get the engine started. Wrecker helped Echo make his way back to the ship, the large clone looking worriedly over his shoulder. Pillow was quick to follow them, his stubby little legs going as fast as they could.

 Once everyone was onboard, Hunter piloted the Havoc Marauder towards the source of the dust cloud. As they neared the forest, the true nature of the situation revealed itself, and what they saw made the present members of the Bad Batch go from concerned to full on panicking.

 A landslide had decimated part of the forest, many of the ancient trees on the forest’s edge had collapsed under the barrage of rocks, mud, trees, and other such debris. The brothers’ stomachs sank as they realized that they couldn’t see Tech or Omega anywhere outside the flattened forest, which left only one place they could be.

 Echo activated his comlink, his hands shaking slightly.

 “Tech? Tech, can you hear me?” He asked, his voice betraying his worry.

 There was only crackling silence for a long, torturous moment. Then, a voice, weak and broken up by coughs.

 “I-I hear you, Echo.” Tech’s voice broke a growing tension in the ship, and the enhanced clones sighed in relief.

 “Thank the Maker. Stay put you two, we’ll get ya out.” Hunter called back, moving to set the ship down.

 “We don’t really have much of a choice. There’s rubble below and above us. I can barely move, and Omega is worse off. I think her leg might be pinned, but I can’t tell.” Tech said, sounding strained.

 “Why not just ask her?” Wrecker questioned, activating his own comlink.

 “She’s unconscious. I am unable to move enough to check for any head injuries, and she isn’t responding to me. I only know she’s unconscious and not dead because I can feel her breathing.” The younger clone was clearly distressed, his voice hitching a bit as he spoke.

 “Don’t worry Tech, we’ll get you two out and you’ll both be just fine.” Echo tried to sound as reassuring as possible.

 Tech was silent for a moment, then spoke again, this time in a very soft voice.

 “Just, just hurry, okay?”

   Hunter and Wrecker worked together over the course of an hour to dig Tech and Omega out. Echo, who could not dig on a broken leg, stayed on the ship and tried to keep Tech calm. They had limited oxygen in their little pocket, and panicking would only make it run out faster.

 Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Echo could hear the sound of dirt being moved aside over the com frequency. He exhaled in relief and felt his muscles relax. Running a hand over his face, he listened in as Hunter spoke to Tech.

 “How are you doing, Tech?” Their leader’s voice was soft as he hooked an arm around Tech, pulling him up. Wrecker was right beside him, lifting Omega up out of the little air pocket. He had to push aside a few rocks first, and winced when he saw that Omega’s pant leg was stained with blood.

 “I’ll be alright. Is Omega okay?” Tech asked, coughing into the crux of his elbow. Fresh air had never tasted better, but he had definitely inhaled some dust. They both had.

 Wrecker gently shifted Omega into a more comfortable position, supporting her leg. Now that they were out in the open, Omega’s injuries were obvious. A large gash was present on the top of her head, the blood that had spilled out matting in her hair. There was also a large scratch on her back, the cloth around the wound stained crimson.

 “I dunno. She’s pretty banged up…” Wrecker trailed off upon seeing Tech’s face. His youngest brother looked like he was going to be sick.

 “But she’ll be okay! We’ll get her fixed up, right Hunter?” He quickly added. Hunter nodded, pulling Tech up and letting the younger clone lean on him for support. Tech’s own back sported several cuts and multiple bruises, which meant that they would likely be taking a trip to a medical centre.

 “Yeah, she’ll be okay. She’s a tough kid, and she’s been through worse than this.” Hunter reassured.

 “That’s not a good thing.” Tech mumbled, his eyes downcast. “She shouldn’t have to be tough, Hunter. She’s only a child.”

 Hunter couldn’t argue with Tech’s statement. His brother’s words were true; Omega shouldn’t have to be tough. It was their job to keep her safe, but ever since they had left Kamino, they had just barely been escaping death at what seemed like every turn. They hadn’t been able to protect her on more than one mission, and the unfamiliar sting of failure weighed heavy on the group.

 “I know… I know that she wants to be with us, and I want her to be with us too!” Tech continued. “But maybe… she would be better off with someone else. Children need stability, especially young ones like Omega.”

 “We can’t just abandon her, Tech!” Wrecker protested loudly. “We’re all Omega has!”

 “What about the bounty hunters? We need to be there to protect her.” Hunter added.

 “Oh yes, we’ve been doing a brilliant job at that!” Tech snapped, his face wrinkling in pain as he stepped away from Hunter. “Face it, we’re not good enough to raise her. Almost every time we go somewhere, or try to do something, she either ends up hurt or traumatized! The longer she stays with us, the higher her chance of dying becomes!”

 “So what do you purpose we do? Dump her on some backwater planet and leave her to fend for herself? Hand her off to some orphanage?” Hunter was angry now, and he bristled at Tech’s words. “She’s a clone, Tech! There isn’t really many places for her in this world. If we can’t look after her, who the hell do you think can?”

 “The Jedi.” Was Tech’s reply. “Of course, finding one now will be quite the challenge.”

 Both Hunter and Wrecker looked at Tech like he was crazy.

 “The Jedi?! Why are they the first damn people you think of?” Hunter threw his hands up in the air. “The Jedi are gone, or did you forget that we saw our brothers start murdering them not too long ago?”

 “The Republic is gone, but it would be ignorant to assume that every Jedi was killed that day. They are masterful hiders, and I have no doubt that some still remain.” Tech argued, looking over at Omega, who was still unconscious. “They could hide her, and perhaps help her in ways we won’t be able to.”

 “What are you talking about?!” Wrecker cried, utterly confused by Tech’s words.

 “I have reason to believe that the Kaminoans accomplished something previously thought to be impossible. I think Omega here might be a Force-sensitive.” Tech explained.

 “What?” Hunter squinted in confusion. Omega? A Force-sensitive? Where was his brother coming from?

 “I had some time to think about it while we were trapped underneath the landslide, and the signs have always been there. At first, I thought that she was just intuitive, but it seems like she can actually feel our emotions and get a good idea of what we’re thinking. Whenever she speaks to Pillow, he seems to really understand what she’s saying, even if it’s something beyond a simple command. That doesn’t happen with us.” Tech shifted his weight to one leg as he spoke, clearly favoring one limb over the other. “And today, when we were collecting wood, she suddenly stopped what she was doing and told me that we had to leave right away. She knew something bad was going to happen, even before we felt the earthquake.”

 Hunter blinked in surprise. When you put everything all together, things did start to look strange.

 “So… what? We leave her with a stranger just ‘cause she’s different?” Wreckers voice was quieter now, but the anger was still there, bubbling underneath.

 “It would be for the best. Jedi know how to train Force-sensitive children, and Omega’s unique circumstances may cause her to need that sort of guidance.” Tech replied, trying to make his squadmates see things from a logical standpoint. “A Force-sensitive clone has never existed before, and her being genetically modified may change how the Force manifests itself with her. She could develop powers that haven’t existed before, and we would have no idea how to handle that or how to teach her to control her powers.”

 The three stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other.

 “We’ll discuss this later, when the two of you aren’t bleeding out.” Hunter finally said, extending an arm to Tech, who took it gratefully.

 Wrecker looked down at Omega, sadness entering his eyes. He didn’t think that Omega would want to go, magic powers or no. The girl loved being with them, and his heart clenched at the idea of leaving her with some random Jedi who wouldn’t know her like they did. Would they help her with her nightmares, like Echo did? Teach her to fight with more than just a blaster or bow, as Hunter was doing? Answer her questions and teach her about the world, a job that was shared by all of them but mostly fell to Tech, who loved being able to share his knowledge without getting eye rolls? Would they laugh at her jokes and carry her on their shoulders like he did? Would they entertain her curiosity? Let her take Pillow with her?

 Would they treat her like family?

 These, at least to Wrecker, were important questions, but his brothers didn’t seem to be asking them, so he kept quiet. Tech was the smart one, after all, so maybe he shouldn’t be doubting the younger man.

 ‘Still,’ He thought to himself, ‘I hope Echo says something, because I really don’t want to have to say goodbye!’

   “Absolutely not.” Echo said, wrapping the last of Tech’s bandages,

 “Echo,” Tech started, but the other man cut him off.

 “We are not handing Omega over to some Jedi just because she might be Force-sensitive and might develop powers.” Echo stated, a tone of finality clear in his voice. “The Empire is going to be hunting the remaining Jedi down relentlessly, and you want to leave her with one?”

 “The Jedi have a talent of disappearing when they need to. The Empire would have a harder time finding her under their care.” Tech argued.

 “Yeah, sure, until a Sith Lord tracks her Force signature and finds both of them. Do you want her to end up as another casualty?” Echo asked, tying a bandage tighter than he needed to. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get her killed.”

 Tech whipped his head around and glowered at Echo, his gaze full of burning anger.

 “How dare you. You think I want to give her up? She’s family to me too, Echo!” He hissed.

 “Really? Could have fooled me.” Echo shot back.

 A growl was the only warning the clone got before Tech had launched himself at Echo. The two crashed to the floor, wrestling with each other. Pillow, who had been sleeping under Omega’s arm, honked in alarm as the bunk was jostled. Angered by the disturbance, the amphibian puffed himself up and hissed, baring his sharp little teeth. He launched himself forward, clamping his jaws down on Echo’s prosthetic arm.

 Hunter appeared beside the fight, gripping both of his squadmates and hauling them apart.

 “Cut that shit out! This is not the time or the place to start a fight.” He snarled, glaring at his brothers. “Tech, go lie down and cool off. Echo, come sit with me.”

 Upon being released, the two followed Hunter’s commands. Tech huffed as he lay down, rubbing a sore spot on his arm. Echo struggled for a moment to peel Pillow off of his arm, glad that the pale animal hadn’t latched onto the limb that he still had feeling in. His leg ached, and Hunter had to help him up. Together, they made it to the pilot and co-pilot seats, and the two men faced each other as they sat.

 “Hunter, you can’t seriously be thinking about going through with this.” Echo rested his head on his hand, looking at Hunter with pleading eyes.

 “Tech makes some good points. None of us can use the Force, so how could we help her if she is Force-sensitive?” Hunter responded quietly.

 “We can keep her under the radar of the Empire! If we keep moving, It’ll be harder for any Sith to find her Force signature if she isn’t in one place for too long.” Echo gestured towards the bunks. “I worked with Jedi masters and there is centuries of information out there. Actually, it’d probably be easier to find hidden written information than it will be to find a Jedi. We can help her, Hunter.”

 Hunter shook his head. “Information can’t replace experience. You know that, Echo.”

 “So that’s it then?” Echo frowned. “We’re just kicking her to the curb and hoping that she doesn’t get caught? What happened to not leaving anyone behind?”

 “It’s what's best for-” Echo looked at him sharply, silencing Hunter before he could finish.

 “She’ll hate you. If you try to leave her behind again, Hunter, she will never forgive you. Do you want that? Can you handle that?” He asked, making direct eye contact with Hunter.

 “I’d rather her hate me and be alive then love me and be dead.” Hunter said, looking away from Echo.

 Echo closed his eyes and shook his head, letting the crushing silence exist for a moment before speaking.

 “You’re making a mistake. For her sake, I hope you realize that sooner, rather than later.” He stood up and limped his way to his bunk, leaving Hunter alone with his thoughts.

[crownvetch92]

Light Eternal Chapter 1

The moon shown down on lush green leaves as a large shadow swooped down over a sea of trees. A shrill screech filled the air, scaring up massive amounts of birds and insects from the branches. Yellow eyes searched the resulting panicked swarm, honing in on a particularly plump partridge. Gigantic leathery wings beat as the large bat creature snagged the partridge with furry spindly arms, sinking it’s large claws onto it’s prey, killing the bird almost instantaneously.

With her prey in her claws, the bat creature landed on a sturdy branch, plucking feathers off her catch. It was an old habit picked up from her time living amongst mortal humans, before the rise of Vlad the Impaler, and subsequent fear of vampires took hold. She huffed, brushing scratching her ear with her wing claw, as her hands were busied with plucking the last feathers off, and disposing of them into the pitch black forest below.

Aside from her spindly arms she looked just like a giant version of a big brown bat, standing 6 foot from head to talon, and a wingspan of 10 feet. She gazed up at the stars, admiring their tiny flickering lights. She chittered in excitement as a meteor shower began to light up the sky above. She continued eating, discarding bones and inedible gizzards into the leaves below. Small scavenging creatures leaped through the branches below, squabbling over the scraps. They looked like pale, twisted, hairless monkeys with needle sharp teeth. They squawked and chattered, bickering amongst themselves. One was brave enough to sniff at the giant bat’s three taloned feet. She shifted away in disgust, kicking the vile scavenger away. The creature hissed, and jumped down to a lower branch.

The bat finished her nightly meal, and started grooming herself like a rat would. A flash of light caught her large yellow eyes. A meteor passed right past the tree line, and into the forest below. The she-bat sniffed at the air, and then skittered down the tree. The forest was impossibly dark, at least for mortal standards. It was like descending into the deepest part of the ocean, where no light could ever reach. The she bat maneuvered down, using only the sturdiest branches.

She sniffed the air, trying to pick up any strange scent left by the falling star. She followed a scent, that of heated stones. She looked around, nothing was out of the ordinary. Only the bioluminescent flowers that littered the forest floor dimly pulsed with faint light. The she bat huffed, nothing was there, her curiosity lead to disappointment. She scuttled back to her cave.

“Was your hunt successful Estelle?” Echoed a deep yet powerful female voice.

“She smells of blood and bone, arvak.” Came a deep male voice.

“You could say zat...” Estelle the she bat replied, flying up to a large stalactite and clinging to it, “Vat about you?”

Arvak, a large ice dragon looked up, her scales glittering pale blue, “Boar meat, again.”

“Still better zan nosink.” Estelle replied. Ragnar, a red scaled fire dragon, just grumbled in response. Food was more important now that Arvak was heavy with eggs. Most of Ragnar’s kills went to feed his lifelong mate.

“If only prey was as plentiful here as it was on earth before humans came to be,’ he griped.

“You could vedy vell move,” Estelle squawked.

Ragnar blew sparks out his nostrils, “It is not that easy bat,” he shouted, “The humans destroyed my wings!”

He spread his once glorious leathery wings, now nothing more than heavily torn, hole filled connective tissue. He had lost his ability to fly when mortal humans discovered weapons. “I cannot fly at all!”

Estelle held her comment. She just huffed, buried her head in her wing and fell asleep. The next few nights brought more of the same, but she decided to catch a few fat birds for Arvak to dine on while the eggs developed. Arvak laid her eggs a few days later. The eggs were healthy despite their small size. While the eggs incubated in Arvak’s care, Estelle hunted for herself.

While hunting, she noticed an oddly soothing floral smell. She followed the floral scent, finding an enormous white lily. Estelle sniffed around, something seemed different, aside from a new bioluminescent flower suddenly appearing in a place she knew so well. Estelle heard something, akin to a puppy’s whimper. She twitched her ear in the direction of the sound. She slowly turned her head, out of the corner of her yellow eyes, she saw motion.

“Is alright,” Estelle crooned, “I von’t hurt you.”

A small child emerged from the bush.  She looked to be about 7 years of age. Her long hair was a dark blue, with small pinpricks of light, reflecting the night sky itself. The child wore a simple dress made of the same flower petals as the lily. It glowed white, making her exposed skin look ghostly pale. Her eyes glowed a vivid green, as her cat like pupils widened in silent panic at the sight of Estelle.

A tarantula sized jumping spider sat on her shoulder like a bird, reared in a defensive posture, fangs bared.  It’s white fur bristling.  Orange spots on the sides of it’s abdomen gleamed in the pale light from the flower, and 6 U shapes spots decorated it’s back. It was incredibly fluffy for an arachnid familiar, with large shining eyes facing forward, and 6 more smaller ones spread around the sides of it’s head. The spider had an incredibly cute features despite taking a protective stance.  Estelle looked around, the bodies of several scavengers littered the area. Surely they caught a whiff of the new flower, hoping for a fresh meal. There were fang marks on each one’s hairless body, as well as sticky spider silk covering their grotesque, twisted faces. The little girl had numerous scratches on her legs, and dirt covering her feet.

“Don’t worry little von,” Estelle crooned, “I vill not hurt you.”

There was no response aside from trembling from the girl, yet the spider had eased up, putting it’s forelegs down. The spider still eyed Estelle suspiciously, chittering quietly into the child’s ear.

“Zat is a little better,” Estelle said soothingly, carefully walking closer before brushing the child’s tangled blue hair to the side with her clawed hand, “Vat is your name child?”

The girl gulped, “c-c-caeweth…”

A deep growl sounded, Estelle’s fur stood up, this creature sounded large.

“Ve must go,” Estelle whispered, picking up the girl and spider in her spindly, fur covered arms as a giant skeletal dog like creature with saliva covered fangs and bloody elongated claws trode onto the light of the giant lily.

The grave dog completely lacked eyes, sniffing about the flower with it’s exposed bony nostril holes. The flesh on the top of it’s muzzle had long been stripped away, leaving only exposed bone. The animal hungered, salivating and gnashing it’s teeth, trying to chew on a petal, and poke it’s nose in the flowers center. Estelle took advantage of the creatures distracted senses, and fled with young Caeweth back to the safety of the cave.

“Damn grave dogs,” Estelle said under her breath.

“What was that thing?” Caeweth whimpered as she clutched Estelle’s soft, thick, brown fur.

“A grave dog,” Estelle said a bit louder, “Humans thought a dog would guide them to ze land of the dead, so zey buried them in grave yards. Unintentionally creating a twisted beast vitch dines on all types ov fae.”

Caeweth clutched Estelle’s fur tighter, making Estelle wince slightly.  The trip back to the cave went simply enough, as the scavengers and grave dogs were busy squabbling over meat scraps near the lily.  Within the cave, Ragnar lifted his head, smelling an odd scent

“What have you brought this time, Estelle?” He growled, spewing sparks out of his nostrils.

Estelle lifted her wings, revealing little Caeweth, “I found her in the nick of time, any later and she voud haff become grave dog prey.”

Ragnar growled, “You do realize that is a Night Fae?  If they find out, they could very well kill all of us without a second thought!”

“Vagnar,” Estelle said calmly, “She is but a child, born outside ze kindergarten, she vould surely haff died out in those voods.  Vat vood Arvak say, hm?”

Ragnar huffed.  Estelle had a point, Arvak’s motherly instincts would overturn any argument he had the audacity to come up with.

“Fine.” He growled, “But if any harm comes to my eggs, she will be left to the mercy of the forest.”

“Sounds fair,” Estelle nodded.

Caeweth had buried her face in Estelle’s fur, frightened by the loud confrontation.  Estelle’s fur was so unreasonably soft, silky, and comforting, she was practically embedded in the cloud like softness.

“You haff nosink to fear little von.”  Estelle cooed, moving deeper into the cave.

The sound of water echoed throughout the chamber.

“Where are we?” Caeweth asked tentatively.

“Zer is a spring here,” Estelle cooed, “a place to vash up.”

Caeweth dipped her toes into the clear water.  The water was comfortably warm despite the underground temperature.  She giggled as the water relaxed her sore muscles.  Before she knew it, a silver comb was passed through her tangled hair, preening out all the knots that had accumulated over the past few hours.  Caeweth washed off all of the dirt and sweat she gathered, and soon was wrapped in a warm blanket, placed on a soft, yet rudimentary, nest of straw.

“Do you feel better?” Estelle cooed softly, stroking Caeweth’s still wet hair, “never you mind Vagnar, he’s just grumpy.”

Ragnar huffed at the comment, laying down on the smooth stone floor of the cave.  His tail twitched back and forth uneasily, red scales glinting in the soft light of the glow moss lining the crevices in the walls.  He shook his horse like head, nearly hitting his ram like horns into the wall.

“Arvak better come back soon,” he muttered to himself.

Estelle was too busy soothing the little fairy child to sleep with lullabies and stories, while the jumping spider clung to the wall.  Caeweth drew one of the nest lining cloths into her arms.  She was not completely sure what was going on, but Estelle seemed nice enough.  This was better than the alternative of being ripped apart by scavengers, or disemboweled by grave dogs.  She yawned as her eyelids grew ever heavier, till she just drifted off into a deep sleep.

[fuckyeahjerlita]

Code Lyoko Fanfic - Memories Buried in the Snow - Chapter 3 - Frolic in the Snow

A gentle snowfall through the night has cast the mantle of oblivion on the howling wilderness of last night. The bright sun and blue sky beckon our young lovers outdoors to partake of the winter wilderness.

Aelita's eyelids fluttered open, drawn by the light of the new dawn pouring in through the window, lightening her heart. The howling wilderness of last night had been transformed into a bright, sunny day beckoning to her from outside.

Moving with renewed energy, she stretched her body out slowly, then rose. After quickly dressing in new clothes, she turned her attention to the blond still sprawled out asleep on the bed. There was one surefire way to awaken him.

Aelita headed down to the kitchen and got to work on breakfast for both of them, stomach feeling quite hollow since she hadn’t bothered to eat last night. Toasted bread was spread with butter, cheese was added as well, plus cereal in milk, to be chased by good, strong coffee for both of them.

The morning sun’s bright rays streamed in through the window, penetrating the veneer of Jeremie’s eyelids.

‘Damn sun!’ he thought sourly as he prepared to roll over and go back to sleep.

That is, until the unmistakable scent of toasted bread piqued his olfactory lobe. His stomach cramped and rumbled, pointedly reminding him that he hadn’t eaten last night. Abandoning all thoughts of sleep, Jeremie rose, quickly changed into fresh clothes, then hied himself downstairs before the toast could cool.

Jeremie reached the kitchen to see Aelita just sitting down at the table, his place already set for him. With a silent smile between them, the young couple tucked into their respective breakfasts.

“Jeremie,” Aelita spoke up after a while spent eating in silence.

Jeremie looked up from his cereal.

“I’m sorry for worrying you yesterday,” Aelita said simply, gazing steadily into his eyes.

“Wha? No. You have nothing to be sorry for,” Jeremie quickly protested. “I can’t imagine what you were feeling last night. I don’t know how it’d feel to suddenly…”

He trailed off, heart clenching in mortal dread of upsetting her all over again by dredging up too much of last night.

With a small smile, Aelita reached out and caressed Jeremie’s hand.

“Thank you for understanding, darling,” she said softly before retreating into her breakfast yet again.

When they finished, they took their dishes to the sink to wash later. Jeremie was about to retreat to his laptop, when Aelita grabbed his hand and began tugging him over to where they had discarded their coats last night.

‘Oh, no,’ he thought as Aelita led him to the front door.

She unlocked the door, pushed it open and stepped out into the glorious vault of blue sky under which the snow crystals sparkled like miniature diamonds.

It was even colder now than yesterday!

‘That’s one thing that’s totally different between us: she loves the cold and I hate it,’ Jeremie thought, half-minded to just retreat indoors and hunker down with his laptop.

That was, until Aelita gave a goodly tug and yanked him along behind her.

“Ah!” Jeremie yelped, though he made no attempt to pull away.

Aelita led Jeremie out onto the snowy field that surrounded the chalet, broken up only by the driveway. Through the snow they romped, Aelita leading Jeremie into the copse of pine trees that resided behind the chalet.

Only now did Aelita slow their pace down, permitting them to walk among the stately evergreens, their steps cushioned by a carpet of soft brown needles. Jeremie’s olfactory sense was overtaken by the sharp scent of pine on a cold winter’s day. Among the trees they weaved till they came to the edge of the little glen, which opened out onto a wide snow field.

Suddenly, Aelita released Jeremie’s hand and burst from his side, running out onto the field, seeming to fly over the snow. Jeremie scratched his head as he watched her. Finally, he slowly made his way out, feet sinking into the deep snow. He lowered his gaze to watch his footsteps so that he wouldn’t end up faceplanting.

SPLAT!

Jeremie’s glasses were knocked off as he received a faceful of snow from his loving, kindhearted wife.

“Ah! Aelita!” Jeremie yelped in bemusement. ‘If she thinks I won’t give her payback, she’s sorely mistaken.’

After retrieving his glasses, Jeremie knelt down and packed his own snowball, which he lobbed at Aelita.

Aelita however, had been watching him the whole time, easily dodged, and lobbed another snowball, which hit Jeremie in the left shoulder.

Jeremie again packed a snowball and threw it, only to miss her by a mile and receive one on the rump for his efforts.

“Quit dodging around!” he cried in consternation.

“Well, you don’t expect me to just stand around waiting, do you?” Aelita replied saucily.

“Yeagh!” Jeremie yelled as he launched himself at Aelita, succeeding in catching her and sending them both tumbling down into the white drifts of snow.

An impromptu wrestling match now ensued, a laughing Jeremie and Aelita rolled over each other and thoroughly caked themselves in cold, white delight. Somewhere in the melee, Jeremie’s glasses were again ejected from his face. This time, he took scant notice, much more interested in the pink haired woman now dumping some snow down the back of his coat.

“Ae-LEE-tah!” he yelped, feeling cold trailing down his spine.

Jeremie grabbed for her, missed by a mile as she sprang to her feet and loped away over the snow, and succeeded only in face-planting once again.

SMUP…

Jeremie lifted his snow-caked face to see Aelita all the way over on the other side of the field now, beginning to roll a large snowball.

‘To throw at me, I suppose,’ the blond thought as he groped about for his glasses.

Ah! There they were. After putting them on, he saw that Aelita now had a very sizable snowball, far too big for her to pick up and throw. This one in place, she was already rolling a second one. She stopped for a moment, looked over at Jeremie and vigorously beckoned him over to her.

Jeremie took off as fast as he could, moving clumsily through the snow as it seemed to always cave in under his boots and drag him down.

By the time he reached Aelita, she had the second snowball mounted on the first and was already rolling a third smaller one. By now, Jeremie had deduced what she was doing. He immediately did his part by ducking into the surrounding woods and returning with two long sticks.

Each of them took a stick and stuck it into either side of the snowman. Alas, there was no coal for eyes, nor a carrot for a nose, but gloved fingers could just as easily trace a smiley face onto his head. Aelita removed her scarf and Jeremie his hat, which they draped onto their newly made friend, thus completing him.

They stood side by side, admiring their creation, before whipping out their phones and snapping several shots, of the snowman alone, then of each other with him, and finally a timed shot of all three together.

Aelita grabbed Jeremie’s hand and led him back into the forest, walking much farther and deeper than their foray among the pine trees. Jeremie had the feeling that Aelita knew the way by heart, as she walked with confidence in her stride, never once stopping to look about for landmarks or the direction of the sun.

As they walked, Jeremie saw movement in the distance among the trees.

“Lita!” he said in a dropped voice. “Over there.”

The two stopped and stared. Aelita’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of a trio of red deer: a doe and her two yearling fawns, as they moved slowly about the forest, stripping bark from trees as their only winter food.

Jeremie slowly pulled out his phone, fired up the camera, zoomed in as far as he could, and managed to get a decent shot of the three deer, which he promptly forwarded to Aelita.

After a bit, the deer moved deeper into the forest in their search for food. Aelita and Jeremie continued on their way, Jeremie wondering where she was leading him. After a much longer time spent walking, the sound of trickling water began to filter into their hearing.

Soon the treeline ended, revealing a merrily babbling brook, the sun’s light refracted on its cascading surface. The water was so clean and clear that the bottom was readily visible, populated with many small, smooth stones. Along its banks were several large rocks. The young couple stood side by side, taking in the natural splendor.

“Wow! It’s really pretty!” gasped Jeremie.

“My parents used to bring me here,” was all Aelita said.

Jeremie nodded, daring say no more. Instead, they went and sat down on some of the rocks overlooking the river, content to rest for a bit after their long sylvan stroll. As they sat, they took in the hushed stillness of nature in its winter sleep, infrequently punctuated by a small creature or two scuttling out for a quick drink from the babbling brook before retreating into the bare foliage for its scant shelter.

One of such was a mountain hare, white fur speckled with brown, which emerged from the forest and began nosing about for food, quickly devouring whatever it found. The sight of this made them think of their resident funnyman Odd, who was keeping watch over the Hermitage back in France. This caused a smile to ghost on both their lips as they watched the hare turn and hop slowly back into the forest’s shadowy embrace.

Aelita leaned down and plunged her right hand into the water. She then brought it up and drank the cold, clear water from it.

Upon seeing her eyes light up as the water’s fresh taste hit her tongue, Jeremie made bold to try the same thing, flinching as the icy water hit his bare hand. When he tasted it in his mouth, however, he knew tap and bottled water were forever ruined for him. This was what water was supposed to taste like! One look into Aelita’s laughing green eyes told him she thought the same.

Content, the couple remained sitting on the rocks and watching various animals come and go from the river for the next several hours.

In the dying sun’s crimson light, the young couple stomped their way back to the chalet, their breath coming out in vapor streams. Hand in hand, they took one last look about the forest and the field with their snowman keeping silent vigil over it, before disappearing into the chalet, which was warmed by the crackling fire.

Inside the house, Aelita decided to take pity on the poor shivering blond man before her. She knew Jeremie wasn’t a huge fan of the cold weather and his spending much of the day outside with her meant the world to her. To that end, she helped Jeremie out of his coat, guided him to the couch, draped a blanket around his shoulders, then retreated into the kitchen to make some genuine Swiss hot cocoa.

Soon, the two of them were sitting on the couch before the hearth, each with a steaming mug in their hands, slowly sipping it, allowing the sweet liquid to warm them from the inside, and each other’s body heat to warm them from the outside.

“Thank you for coming outside with me today,” Aelita spoke up. “I know you don’t enjoy the cold.”

“I actually had fun!” declared Jeremie with a small smile. “You know, until today, I’ve never drunk water straight from a river before.”

Aelita smiled.

The two lapsed into silence after this. As he gazed into the roaring fire, Jeremie ruminated. What had started as a weird, even scary weekend, with Aelita so out of sorts, had morphed into a relaxing fun-filled time, spent getting reacquainted with old memories, playing and romping out of doors, and most importantly, just being together. Best of all, Aelita was back to her usual, happy self again, for which Jeremie was eternally grateful.

The hours ticked slowly by, the last of the sun’s light was completely gone now and the fire was beginning to die out. On the couch, the young couple sat snuggled against each other, arms around each other’s waists, heads resting against each other, fast asleep.

[fanficshiddles]

The monster within, Chapter 10

It took me a minute to remember where I was when I woke the following morning. But the familiar arms wrapped around me was soothing, even if they weren’t cold like they used to be.

Loki was still asleep when I managed to carefully slip out of bed without waking him. I went to freshen up in the bathroom then I got myself dressed. I had a look at the menu that offered breakfast, it was cheaper to go down and eat in the restaurant than to have room service. I was happy with that, it would be nice to be around other people as well, since it had been just Loki and I for such a long time.

While I was taming my hair, I heard Loki waking up behind me on the bed. I glanced round over my shoulder to see him sitting up and stretching. His muscles rippled as he did so, he was so lithe and I found myself slightly mesmerized while I watched him.

His gorgeous green eyes landed on mine and he grinned, catching me ogling him. A blush crept up my cheeks and I turned back around, continuing with my hair. ‘Morning, Loki.’

‘Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?’ I heard him get out of bed and his footsteps came towards me, only just audible against the carpet under his bare feet.

‘Yes, best sleep in a long time.’ I said honestly. I could sense him now stood right behind me, like his eyes were burning into the back of me while I brushed my hair. But I found the brush was suddenly plucked from my hand, before I had a chance to look round or say anything, he was gently brushing it for me.

‘Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?’ He purred, gliding the brush through my locks.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘Uhm… No.’ I said quietly.

My heart was beating so fast, I could barely hear anything else. We’d been close before, but this felt oddly intimate for some reason.

‘Well, they should have. And you will most definitely have to become accustomed to hearing it every day.’ He finished with a kiss to the top of my head, making my heart soar. God, he was going to be the death of me with how sweet and affectionate he was being.

Plucking up the courage, I spun around to face him again. Having to tilt my head up a lot since he was very close to me and ridiculously tall. He smiled softly and hooked my chin with a finger, keeping me in place he bent his head down and kissed my lips.

His lips were gentle, my eyes fluttered closed so I could take in the feeling. When he realised I was enjoying it and that I wanted it, he deepened the kiss slightly. Only releasing me once I was well and truly breathless.

‘And your lips taste so sweet.’ He brushed his thumb lightly over my lower lip that was trembling.

Then my god damn stomach had to ruin the moment with a loud gurgle that sounded more like a wild animal. Luckily Loki found it amusing and he laughed.

‘Hungry?’

‘Yeah.’ I nodded sheepishly. ‘Sorry… Kind of ruined the moment.’

‘Not at all.’ Loki grinned and gave me another quick peck on the lips. I then merely blinked and he was dressed, his hair was also brushed and looking amazing as if bed head didn’t exist for him.

‘Let’s order room service. What do you fancy?’ He picked up the menu.

‘I thought we could go down to the restaurant? Since it’s a bit cheaper, I know we have a lot of money but that could disappear quick if we aren’t careful. And I thought it might be nice to be in public a bit again.’

‘We don’t have to worry about money. It’s simply paper, really. I can make copies with ease, darling. So don’t worry there. You’re a Queen and deserve to be treated so.’ Loki said determinedly, tickling under my chin, making me scrunch my shoulders up. ‘Besides, it might be best to stay under the radar for a while. Just in-case.’

I took a moment before answering, my mind was just completely gone and in awe at the God. ‘Oh, yeah. You’re probably right.’

We picked what we wanted and I called down to reception with our order. When the waiter arrived half an hour later with our food, Loki went to answer it. Having summoned on a black suit, instead of his Asgardian wear, not wanting to rouse suspicion. Though the waiter did look perplexed when he realised it was just two of us eating the banquet of food we ordered. It was enough to feed an army.

But between the two of us, we managed to get through pretty much all of it. Omelettes, bacon sarnies, toast, croissants and apple juice. It was delicious!

‘Oh man, that was amazing.’ I put my hands on my stomach and lay down on the bed with a groan. ‘At least I can use the excuse that I am eating for two now.’

Loki laughed as he lay down next to me on his side, he reached out to rest a hand on my stomach too. ‘That is true. You need to keep your energy up by eating plenty.’

‘We should get to a doctor at some point over the next few weeks. Get a scan to make sure everything is ok so far with the baby.’ I suggested and Loki nodded in agreement.

Later that day I managed to convince Loki to go out to the cinema. I wanted to get out of the room, feel a bit of our freedom. The cinema was the perfect place since no one would be paying any attention to the people around them. Everyone was there for one reason only, to watch a film in the dark. It was the perfect place to go.

We bought large popcorns and drinks, Loki almost had to juggle it all to carry it into the screen. We hadn’t been sat down for long when two guys came in and were seated next to us. I heard Loki growl low, deep from his chest, his arm sneaked around my waist and he pulled me as close as possible to him, almost hauling me onto his lap.

‘Loki?’ I whispered.

‘I don’t like the way he was looking at you.’ He whispered back to me, eyeing up the man over the top of my head with a glare.

His arm remained clamped around me for the duration of the film. I was sure that the couple were gay, so there was no way he would have been looking at me in any kind of suggestive way like Loki implied. But then again, you never know. Perhaps Loki was still on edge after what Tom did to me. It was no wonder, really.

It was nice to watch the film and feel like we had escaped for a short while into another world. It was a comedy so we laughed along with everyone else in the screen. After it was finished and the lights went up, the man next to me turned to face me when we were stood.

‘You look familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen you before.’ He said, frowning.

‘Really? I don’t recog’ I was cut off by Loki stepping in, putting me to the other side of him so that he was between myself and the guy.

‘We do not know you. I’d appreciate it if you would not bug my girl.’ His voice was stern and slightly dark, but I knew he was a bit possessive in nature, being a frost giant and all. Especially with me being pregnant.

The man certainly didn’t argue back with Loki or say anything else. He quickly scuttled away with the other guy he was with. Loki then took my hand and led me out of the screen.

‘What was that about?’ I questioned him when we got into the foyer.

‘I don’t like strangers.’

‘He was just mistaken. Obviously. It happens.’ I shrugged.

Loki just grunted in response, clearly not agreeing with me. I rolled my eyes but smiled, my over protective frost giant was still adorable. Even when he seemed a little grumpy.

I wrapped my arms around his arm as we headed to the exit. ‘Did you enjoy the film?’

‘It was rather good, for a Midgardian film.’ Loki smirked.

‘Are there films on Asgard?’ I asked.

‘No. We have plays though. Much better than the plays here.’

‘Have you ever been to a play while here?’ I raised an eyebrow at him, thinking the answer would be no. And I was right.

‘I have not.’

‘Then how do you know Asgardian ones are better?’ I challenged, grinning up at him.

Loki chuckled. ‘Because, my dear. Asgardians tend to be better at everything.’ He winked at me.

‘Oh yeah? I bet there’s something that we are better at.’

‘I highly doubt that, pet.’ He laughed.

When we returned to the hotel, we had gone through many things that perhaps humans were better at. But Loki had good comebacks for them all. Even though I was convinced already that Asgardians were better in general, I still wasn’t going to admit that to Loki. It was fun seeing a playful side to him, mischievous.

‘I better call my parents. They will be worried sick about me.’ I sighed, heading towards the hotel phone.

But Loki was by the phone in a flash, gently grabbing my wrist to stop me picking it up. ‘I do not think that is a wise idea, darling.’

‘Why not?’ I frowned.

‘We need to come up with a story first. To counter whatever lies Tom will have.’

‘Tom… Hopefully he will do or say nothing. It would be foolish if he did. I can’t not contact my parents.’

‘Give it a few more days. Wait until we move on from here, till we are further away from Tom. I just don’t want to risk him finding us again.’ Loki said, his voice wavering slightly as he raised my hand up so he could kiss the back of it.

I could tell he was still scared. It was to be expected, I was too.

‘I guess… We don’t know if he has more of that serum that was turning you.’ I sighed. ‘Alright. I’ll wait a few more days.’

‘Good girl. It’s for the best. We need to stay safe.’ He cupped my face and pressed his forehead against mine.

‘I will not lose you.’

[squirenonny]

Five Times Zethrid Flirted With a Cat (and one time it flirted back)

Rating: T (language and brief but graphic depictions of violence) Words: 5392 Summary: Zethrid has a problem, and that problem is a cat.

(Or, Zethrid might be crushing on Narti. She might be too much of a coward to talk to Narti. Not that she'd ever admit it out loud.)

Written for @queen-gr​ as part of the @vldlunarladies​ exchange!

[Read on AO3]

1. Accidental

It was a slow day in the Galra Empire. No rebellions to put down, no threats to confront, no large game on nearby planets to hunt as a gods-damned break from the monotony.

“I hate this assignment,” Zethrid said to no one in particular. It was just her in the officer’s lounge on the space station in the middle of literal nowhere that had been her home for the last… how many decaphoebes? Hell, she’d given up counting ages ago. Not like she was going anywhere anytime soon. All the interesting posts were reserved for the pure Galra. The ones with respectable parentage. The real soldiers.

Yeah. She’d like to see one of them step into the ring with her. Then they’d see who the real Galra was.

The lounge remained disappointingly quiet, and when she drove a fist into the couch cushion in frustration, it gave a rather anticlimactic huff and then, slowly, sagged beneath her knuckles.

Groaning, Zethrid flopped backward and pulled a pillow over her face. She could only imaging the lecture Lotor would give her if he saw her moping like this—let alone Acxa . But she couldn’t help it. She was bored. There was nothing to do except go down a few decks and pick a fight with one of the enlisted men, and it had already been made clear that that was not an option befitting one of Lotor’s generals.

The door hissed as it opened, and Zethrid groaned into the pillow. “I swear to fuck if you’re here to tell me there’s some dumb-ass meeting I should be at right now--”

Something small, light, and poky landed on her gut, forcing the breath out of her in a rush.

“What the--? Kova?” Zethrid lifted the pillow from her face and glared at the cat as he began kneading at her stomach. He didn’t purr—he never did—just stared her in the eye as he jabbed his tiny, sharp-clawed paws into her again and again. She swung the pillow at him and he scuttled back, hissing at her. Zethrid hissed back.

They glared at each other for a long moment, a silent battle of wills that dragged on longer than it should have. Once Zethrid realized she was having a staring contest with a cat, she flopped back down and cursed at the ceiling.

“That’s just perfect,” she grumbled. “I’ve stooped to getting territorial with an animal. Great job there, Zethrid. Really striking fear into the men’s hearts with this one.”

It was only a matter of seconds before Kova forgot his indignation and ventured forward once more, stubbornly ignoring the hand Zethrid shoved in his face and squeezing himself into the space between her hip and the back of the couch. He did this, sometimes. Found the warmest, softest body in the room to use as a bed. It was only luck that had spared Zethrid that fate so far—well, luck and the fact that she usually tried to keep herself moving. Sitting still never got anything done.

So it was usually Acxa who wound up with a sleeping Kova sprawled across her lap, or sometimes Lotor. The cat was a common fixture at their strategy meetings and Acxa’s research sprees, when he wasn’t curled up on Narti’s shoulders. But Zethrid’s core temperature ran higher than the other generals’, thanks to her father’s heritage. She supposed all this fur made her a softer bed than most, too.

Damn this cat.

Zethrid’s hand hovered over Kova’s back for a long moment, slitted eyes staring back at her beneath heavy lids. Kova didn’t blink, didn’t even stir at the irritated growl that built in Zethrid’s throat.

But she couldn’t keep her hand in the air forever, and there were only so many comfortable ways to lay on a sofa, so with no small degree of reluctance, she lowered her hand down onto Kova’s back. “You want to smother me?” she growled. “Then you can deal with me returning the favor.”

A long, taut silence followed, during which Zethrid was sure the cat was going to tear her hands to shreds.

Instead, he started purring.

It was a strange sound, gravelly and uneven. Sounded more like he was snoring than purring, but it vibrated in the ridges of his spine where they pressed against Zethrid’s fingertips, pulsing in time with his breathing. On the inhale, the sound faded, only to return in force when Kova huffed an exhale.

“You can’t possibly like this,” Zethrid muttered. Her fingers found the hollow where Kova’s ear met his skull, and the first scratch had the cat melting into her touch, purrs coming more insistently. Zethrid shook her head. “Well, shit. You’re as much of a surprise as--”

The door opened again, and Zethrid’s body went rigid as Narti stepped into the room. With her mask on, as always, it was impossible to read her expression, but the flick of her tail didn’t seem particularly pleased. Zethrid felt too hot, her mind grinding to a halt.

“Uh...”

Zethrid snatched her hand away from Kova, who stretched and lifted his head to peer toward Narti, still purring away. That was the thing about familiars—they weren’t just pets. Kova was Narti’s second pair of eyes, and though she didn’t need to look through him to get around, she could peer into their bond, no matter how far apart they were, and there was no way to tell from the outside whether or not Kova had someone else in his head.

Narti crossed her arms, cocking her head to the side in a question. She lifted one hand, running her fingers across her chest in the sign for, Really?

“It was his idea!” Zethrid cried, sitting up so fast she dislodged Kova, who dug his claws in in an attempt to hold on. It hurt like a xinthosian rivvu’s bite, and Zethrid bit down on her tongue to stifle a cry of pain. Like hell was she going to complain about it. She wouldn’t give Narti the satisfaction.

Kova resisted a moment longer, then hissed again and sprang up onto the arm of the couch. Narti lowered her hand, and Kova climbed nimbly to her shoulders, where he sat staring at Zethrid, tail lashing from side to side. Zethrid got the distinct impression Narti’s tail wanted to do the same.

The damn cat was still purring.

After another, painfully long silence, Narti finally turned and walked out, and Zethrid moaned into a pillow. She should have picked a fight with one of the soldiers.

2. Experimental

“You need to do something about that crush of yours,” Acxa said, not looking up from her display screen. “It’s going to get you into trouble one of these days.”

Zethrid squeezed her water pouch so tight it split at the seam, contents running down her arm in little rivulets of shame as she choked on her cry of, “What?!”

Acxa lifted her head, eyebrow arching. “Don’t play dumb with me, Zethrid. You can act the meathead in the field all you want, but you and I both know Lotor never would have promoted you if you didn’t show at least a modicum of situational awareness.”

A shiver of restless energy slithered up Zethrid’s spine, taking up residence in her ears. (Curse her ears. No one else on this team had to worry about body parts projecting every damn thought to cross her mind.) “Who told you?”

“Told me?” Acxa snorted. “Please. All anyone has to do is spend five minutes alone in a room with the two of you. All that unresolved tension in the air is enough to power a teludav.” She swiped at her screen with two slender fingers, seeming for all the world like she was telling Zethrid to add soap to their next requisition list. “It was one thing when we were stationed at the fringes of the Empire and Prince Lotor didn’t have anything better to keep him entertained. But we’re at war now, Zethrid. If you give the paladins an opening, they’re going to take it.”

Zethrid scoffed. “Were we watching the same battle? I could pulverize those wimps with one hand tied behind my back—even if I am distracted by whatever crush you think I have.”

Acxa sighed, switched off her screen, and stood. “If you’re afraid Narti doesn’t feel the same way, then why don’t you just ask her?”

“Uh, I don’t know, because I’m not generally in the habit of making an idiot out of myself?”

Holding up her hands, Acxa backed toward the door. “I’m not getting dragged into this, Zethrid, okay? Just… figure it out? For your own sake. It’s painful watching you pine over her.”

Zethrid scowled at her back as she left, abandoning Zethrid to her watch. It just figured. They finally got called back to the heart of the Empire, finally got to see some real action, and now suddenly Acxa got on her case about Narti. (So Zethrid had come to watch Narti train once or twice in the past few weeks. It wasn’t a crime to take an interest in a comrade’s progress.)

Anyway, it was entirely Acxa’s fault that, a varga later, when Lotor brought them all together to talk about the paladins and the fight and blah, blah, blah—Zethrid couldn’t concentrate on what Lotor was saying.

Now, obviously Zethrid couldn’t take Acxa’s first bit of advice, the part about “just” asking how Narti felt about her. But she could try to follow the second suggestion and “figure it out.” Experiment. It seemed like something Acxa would be proud of, in all honesty.

She had a piece of raw seppabeast meat wrapped in plastic in her pocket, and she spent the first five minutes of the briefing fiddling with the loose edge of the wrap. Narti stood beside her, fully focused on Lotor, as were Acxa and Ezor. Kova, though… Kova was staring right at Zethrid, watching . Which meant Narti was watching.

Fine then.

Shooting a look at Lotor to be sure he wasn’t paying attention (he wasn’t; he was too focused on whatever Acxa was saying to care about Zethrid), she pulled the meat out of her pocket and held it up in front of Kova’s nose. The cat perked up at once, following the meat as Zethrid waved it back and forth in front of his face.

Narti didn’t react.

Zethrid smiled, inching the meat closer so that Kova started to bat at it. There was always a question of whether or not Narti wanted you interacting with her familiar, and when he was on her shoulder, sprawled against the curve of her pauldron, which had been designed specifically to give Kova a perch, it was safest to keep away.

But Narti wasn’t telling Zethrid to back off, as she did when someone crossed a line, a certain sharpness to her signs that hit with the same force as a shout. She hadn’t yet moved to position one of the others between her and Zethrid, either, and neither her tail nor her hands were twitching with murderous intent. Which was a bit of a disappointment, really. Narti was damn hot when she was primed for a fight.

Narti turned her head a fraction—just far enough that their eyes would have met, if not for the smooth, opaque helmet in the way. Which was ridiculous, of course. If Narti wanted to keep an eye on Zethrid, she’d do it through the cat, and if she wanted to listen to what Zethrid was doing, her ear was already pointed in a perfectly useful direction.

No, she wanted Zethrid to know she’d taken note of the—was this flirting? Zethrid wasn’t sure if this could be called flirting, feeding raw meat to a cat.

But it was something , and the fact that Narti was watching her, was openly acknowledging the exchange, sent a thrill through Zethrid. She grinned wider, staring deliberately back at Narti. Not at the cat; at Narti. If Narti wanted Zethrid to know she’d noticed, then Zethrid wanted Narti to know she’d noticed she’d noticed.

You’re not stopping me, Zethrid thought. That knowledge brought with it the rush of battle, adrenaline and a primal hunger coursing through her blood. She wanted to push the limits of this contest, though she hadn’t yet figured out the rules.

She didn’t care. She always lived on the edge, and if the danger here wasn’t the bloody, fatal sort she was used to, it still made her feel alive.

Kova’s next swat caught Zethrid’s fingers, claws sinking right through the fabric of her gloves and drawing blood. She yelped, cursing as she snatched her fingers back, and Acxa’s voice trailed off. She, Ezor, and Lotor were all staring at Zethrid now, exasperation plain on Acxa’s face, while Lotor looked merely surprised. Ezor glanced from Zethrid to Kova, who now had the chunk of meat trapped between his paws and was tearing into it with a bloothirsty sort of glee—probably because there was actual blood on his treat—to Narti.

Zethrid could have done without the delighted smile that suddenly lit Ezor’s face.

She growled, ready to tear into whoever made the first comment, but it was Narti who broke first, lifting one hand to her face as though to hide a smile. Zethrid’s anger and embarrassment faded to something softer around the edges, something that left her feeling like someone had bashed her on the head.

When they all finally split off to their various tasks, and Ezor hip-checked Zethrid a coo of, “You two are adorable,” Zethrid was still too flustered to defend herself.

3. Sentimental

Ezor wasn’t allowed to give romantic advice anymore.

Zethrid wasn’t honestly sure what had possessed her to take said advice, especially considering Ezor had given it entirely unpromtped, and Zethrid didn’t know what counted as a “cute romantic gesture” when you were dealing with a magical, psychic, nigh-immortal cat, but…

Yeah. She was regretting this already.

Narti wasn’t here, which was some small mercy. Not because it spared Zethrid the embarrassment of knowing the other woman had seen her bringing half a robeast’s worth of kitchy toys to the command ship for Kova—because Narti was most certainly watching this entire awkward display. But at least Zethrid didn’t have to face the laughter.

Kova, himself, was having a great time… with the wrappings. He ignored the hollow balls and stuffed mice and tassels and even the climbing tree (evidently Zethrid herself was far more fun to climb, and she had the scratch marks to prove it). The officer’s lounge was an explosion of cheap plastic, fuzz, and embarrassment.

And Kova?

Kova was curled up, asleep in an empty box with shreds of brown paper for a blanket.

4. Coincidental

Battle.

It was a nice change of pace, as far as Zethrid was concerned. Too much of the fight with the paladins was confined to space, where Lotor insisted on holding back and leaving Voltron in one piece if you can, girls.

Zethrid didn’t do restraint.

That was probably why Lotor kept her out of the new ship, the one he’d made from the meteoric ore. That ship was a beauty, faster than anything in the universe except the Red Lion itself, more powerful than a hundred ion cannons compacted into one. The havoc Zethrid could have wrought from behind the controls of that beauty…

But of course havoc was bad . Havoc was counter-productive . Havoc was off the table, Zethrid, and until you learn to keep your destructive impulses in check, you’re not allowed to touch the new ship.

Lotor and his frickin’ schemes.

It had been a few weeks since they’d last faced the paladins of Voltron, and things had been quiet. A few minor shows of force, a whole hell of a lot of parlaying with planetary leaders. That silver tongue of Lotor’s was getting quite a workout these days as he folded would-be dissidents back into the empire.

So it was a gigantic relief when they came across Hakkadia, a world that would not be enticed. The local leaders had outright refused to meet with Lotor, the people hid when Lotor tried to appeal to them directly, and then this morning, they’d actually dared to launch an attack on Lotor’s vessel with their cute little home-built ships.

The orders to put down the rebellion put Zethrid in a good enough mood that she could be generous and say the locals had spunk. They were kind of adorable, actually.

Especially when they screamed.

Blood seeped between Zethrid’s fingers as she impaled a rebel on a length of rebar, the heat a pleasant contrast to the chill Hakkadian wind. A trail of carnage traced her path across the city, rebels lying where they fell. They were all as good as dead, though many of them still breathed. Their moans made a nice score to accompany her fury.

Two more Hakkades charged her, polearms crackling with electricity. Zethrid smacked one away, leaped, and came down on the haft of the second weapon, crushing it beneath her. Its wielder dropped it at once, pulling out a knife as he backed away, while his companion stumbled, fumbling her weapon. The force of Zethrid’s backhand could have flung it two blocks away, and the rebel’s hands had to be smarting from holding on.

A flicker of movement on the rooftop beside her caught Zethrid’s eye. Kova sat there, tail curled around himself, eyes unblinking as he watched her fight. Zethrid looked around, but Narti was deep in her own fight, a stolen polearm glinting as she twirled it. Her tail tripped up her enemies, and their own blade cut them down, and when she was done she stopped, her back toward Zethrid.

Kova meowed, a question and a challenge, and Zethrid grinned. Her blood already sang in her ears, but this—this was even better. She charged in, roaring as she went, and though the looks of terror on the rebels’ faces were no less satisfying than normal, her mind remained transfixed by the cat on the roof, looking quietly on.

And, well, if Zethrid fought with just a touch more… flair… than usual, no one ever had to know.

5. Temperamental

Things finally came to a head as they left another newly-loyal world behind. All five of them were in the cockpit, waiting for Lotor to step in with the usual debriefing and handing out of assignments for the long vargas before they reached their next target—not a planet, this time, Zethrid suspected. It had been too long since they’d made progress on their real goal.

Not that she particularly cared at the moment. Narti was sitting at her station, Kova curled up on her shoulders and watching Zethrid—always watching. He hadn’t approached her once since that first day, before the summons from Haggar arrived, and Narti seemed to be going out of her way to avoid being caught alone with Zethrid.

She’d seen it as a challenge. Of all the generals, Narti was the most reserved—not because she couldn’t speak, but simply because she preferred the company of her familiar to any other. Even Acxa was reasonably social. She spent a lot of time with Lotor, and she let Ezor tempt her into having a drink every now and again. She was always there whenever Ezor or Lotor decided it was time to have a “girl’s night”--be that drunken duels, holovids, a spa day, or some good old-fashioned hunting of massive, ancient beasts. Narti was more of a toss-up. Sometimes she showed, sometimes she didn’t.

But it was different now. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t show up to group activities as that she didn’t show up other places she could normally be found. That, and Kova sometimes seemed to be patrolling the halls. He vanished as soon as he caught sight of Zethrid—off to warn Narti, no doubt. The only place Zethrid could talk to her anymore was in company.

Fine, then.

She waited until Ezor went to grab something from the cargo hold. Something to boost the scanners, maybe? Zethrid hadn’t been listening. All she cared was that the seat next to Narti was open now, and Zethrid wasted no time in claiming it. She reached out as she passed and gave Kova a quick scratch behind the ears.

The cat’s eyes snapped open, pupils dilating as he focused on her, and his tail gave a single, violent lash. That gave Zethrid pause, but she didn’t back down. She sat, kicking her legs up onto the seat back and leaning backwards over the armrest, her ear quivering as it brushed against Narti’s arm.

Narti stilled.

“You’ve got some blood in your whiskers,” Zethrid observed, reaching up to scratch Kova under the chin. His ears went back, but he didn’t resist the touch, which she figured was good. There was blood in his whiskers—all over his snout, really. He’d gotten deep into it during the last battle, latching onto the face of a much larger beast while Acxa lined up her shot. Kova wasn’t hurt—he, like Narti, was much too slippery for that—but he seemed to have missed a spot in his grooming. Maybe he was just too tired.

He let her scratch him for a few more seconds, but when she traded scritches for pets, he let out a low, unhappy growl and retreated to Narti’s other shoulder. She reached up and laid a hand on his back. Neither of them looked at Zethrid.

Stunned, she sat upright, her feet dropping to the floor. “What’s your problem?” she hissed, keenly aware of the others in the room. “You’re giving me the cold shoulder now? What gives?”

“Aw, come on you two. Don’t fight.” Ezor leaned suddenly over the back of Zethrid’s chair—Ezor’s chair, technically. Her eyes, bright with interest, darted from Zethrid to Narti and back. “Did… something happen?”

Zethrid looked at Narti, waiting for an explanation. She said nothing, though, just continued to scroll through scan data and pet Kova, whose tail was flicking harder than the Altean princess’s whip.

Pressing her lips together, Zethrid stood, feeling an uncomfortable tightness gathering in her chest. “Nothing happened,” she growled. “Apparently, nothing has been happening for the last few weeks, and I’m just too dense to get the memo.”

Still she waited, just a few seconds longer, silently begging Narti to contradict her. A gesture, a single sign, a glance from Kova—anything.

All she got was frosty silence and the sense that somehow, Zethrid had crossed a line.

“Well,” Lotor said, leaning his cheek on his hand. “If we’re done with the drama for today, could we move on to actual business?”

Zethrid balled her hands into fists. Shame and hurt were battering at her—neither one an emotion she had much experience with. She felt like an idiot. She’d let herself be strung along like a lovesick Altean, tripping at Narti’s heels—and for what? For a laugh? Was Narti just bored ? Was this all a game to her?

With a roar, Zethrid slammed her fist down on the console beside Narti, who flinched, snatching her hands back from the sparking remains of her station. Kova arched his back, hissing at Zethrid. She bared her teeth in return and then, ignoring Lotor’s budding lecture, she stalked out of the room.

(+1: Transcendental)

Kova dropped a dead rat in Zethrid’s lap.

She jerked back, staring at the mess of blood and sinew in disgust as Kova tucked his paws underneath himself and stared.

Zethrid stared back, baring her teeth. “What are you expecting me to do with this, eat it? ” She picked it up by the tail— she normally wasn’t bothered by a messy kill, but it was different when she was trying to relax and someone came along and dropped it in her lap. “For fuck’s sake, Kova, where did you even find this?”

Narti sat quietly beside Zethrid, their knees brushing together. He went hunting, she signed, gesturing toward the forest visible beyond the ruins they’d claimed as their base on this gods-forsaken planet. There were no people here, no rebel outposts, not even any dangerous predators. Just a weird energy signature Lotor and Acxa wanted to check out.

Zethrid craned her head to search for Ezor, who was supposed to be helping her watch the ship, but of course she was nowhere to be found. Probably planned it that way.

After a moment, Narti started signing again, and however mad Zethrid was, she couldn’t keep herself from turning to catch the words. It’s a gift. To apologize.

Zethrid turned to the cat, who arched his back, rubbing up against her leg. He was… honestly, he was irresistibly cute when he did that, and his warmth made Zethrid keenly aware of the relative coolness of Narti’s body. They’d never been close enough for Zethrid to notice that before.

“Apologize for what?” Zethrid asked, ignoring the painful bubble of hope building in her chest. “I’m the one who was too stupid to realize I was making you uncomfortable.”

Kova meowed once, mournfully, and butted his head against Zethrid’s hand. Seeing that she wasn’t resisting, he climbed onto her lap, curled up, and started purring. Zethrid stared at him, utterly baffled.

You didn’t make me uncomfortable, Narti signed. Not… Her hands stalled, and her shoulder rose and fell with a sigh. Not like you’re thinking. Can I? She peeled off her glove and held her hand out, fingers ghosting over Zethrid’s bracer.

Zethrid knew a few things about Narti. Not a lot, mind. She didn’t talk much, and very rarely about herself. This conversation was already the longest they’d had. But Narti had served under Lotor for a long time—almost as long as Acxa herself. What Lotor hadn’t deemed relevant knowledge for the rest of them, Acxa had passed along at Narti’s request, and Ezor had pried most of the rest of it out of Acxa before sharing it with Zethrid late at night in hushed tones.

So Zethrid did know the basics. Narti’s father was Galra, and her mother had belonged to a race that shared a distant ancestor with Balmerans. They were a subterranean species, used to living in darkness. Narti had eyes, and she could see, poorly, but she didn’t depend on sight to navigate. She wore her mask to filter out the bright lights her eyes weren’t equipped to handle.

They were also a psychic species—but where Balmerans’ minds were linked to the Balmera on which they were born in a symbiotic relationship, Narti and her mother’s people were psychic parasites. They took hosts and controlled them.

It was this ability, presumably, that had drawn Narti’s father to her mother, though Zethrid wasn’t clear on which had been the hunter and which the prey. And it was this ability that had made Narti so valuable, first to her father and then, later, to Lotor.

Zethrid didn’t know how all that psychic shit worked, but she knew it involved physical contact, ideally skin-on-skin.

She hesitated only a moment before yanking off her gauntlet and holding out her hand, palm up, for Narti to take. She felt the instant Narti slid into her mind with a brief chill, followed by an unfocused moment, and then a peculiar calm settled over her.

Sorry, said a voice in her head. It sounded like wind through trees, like water dripping in a cave, echoing and indistinct. It shifted, and Zethrid settled back into her own skin. Narti’s mind no longer hovered over her, but rested beside her, in the space between them. I never learned how to do this without overshadowing someone first.

“This?” The word echoed oddly, rebounding off Narti’s psychic presence a split second before the sound reached Zethrid’s ears.

Communication, she said. My mother used to speak to me in this way. My father… did not approve. This was not useful to him. I had to rediscover how to do this after Lotor and Acxa gave me a place on their ship. It is still not perfect.

“Huh.” Zethrid’s fingers traced the ridges on Kova’s back, and his purrs burrowed into her. They didn’t quite attain the level of words, as Narti’s touch did, but there was more to it than what Zethrid could sense without Narti inside her. “So… You’re really okay with… you know...” Zethrid barely had to think about her mediocre attempts at flirting before they appeared before her, layering over the view of the ruined city like a holodisplay. She flushed, trying to force the memories down.

Amusement radiated up her arm—a strange sensation, but not unpleasant. Like someone running a feather against the grain of her fur. I am more than okay with it. I am… sorry. Your advances made me uncomfortable, but not because they were unwelcome. I’m just not used to… that. To receiving that sort of attention. To being desired as anything other than a weapon.

Zethrid couldn’t help but snort. “A weapon? Please, Narti, at least give yourself enough credit. If anything, you’re an entire armada.”

The link stilled for a moment, Narti shifting in surprise and confusion. Zethrid sensed she’d said something wrong. Vague impressions drifted toward her, filling in the pieces she’d missed.

“Oh. I thought—” Zethrid fell silent for a long moment, absorbing the nebulous communication drifting through her. “When you said weapon, you didn’t mean soldier, did you?”

No, said Narti. I was a tool, nothing more.

“Aw, hells, Narti. I’m sorry. I didn’t--”

You do not think of me that way. I know. Kova purred, the sound swelling along with Narti’s affection. You prefer to fight with your own two hands.

“And I prefer not to treat people like things,” Zethrid growled. “I mean, shit! Who are these people? Do I need to go bash some heads in, or would you like to--”

They are dead. A single image crystallized in Zethrid’s mind: a Galra in an officer’s uniform, dead in a puddle of his own blood. A younger Galra, diamond-patterned scales punctuating her thin fur in a line from the crown of her head down to the base of her long, reptilian tail, stood over him, her face unreadable for the familiar, expressionless mask.

Zethrid grunted. “Good for you,” she said, hoping Narti felt the full weight of the words.

From the way she squeezed Zethrid’s hand, the meaning came through all right.

I’m sorry for ignoring you, Narti said. I’m afraid Kova may have rubbed off on me.

Zethrid barked out a laugh that startled both Kova and Narti, and she winced as the cat sank his claws into her leg. Gods, I want to kiss her.

She didn’t realize Narti would be able to hear the thought until the cool hand on hers flushed hot with the same embarrassment that turned the psychic link to jittering fuzz.

Oh, Narti said.

“Shit.” Zethrid leaned her head back, groaning frustration at the sky. “Sorry. Again.”

No, it’s all right. It’s just—the sun--

“Yeah. Right. Listen, we can just pretend this never--”

We could go inside.

Zethrid froze. “Inside? Like--?”

There’s too much light out here for me to take off my mask, but if we go inside, turn down the lights…

“Make out in the dark, huh?” Zethrid smiled her best, most predatory smile. “I could be into that.”

Laughter rang in Zethrid’s head for a moment before Narti withdrew, the absence of her hand leaving a cavity in Zethrid’s mind. She stood, backing away, and even without the mental link, Zethrid could read her intent in the sway of her hips. She was way better at this than she gave herself credit for.

Come, she signed.

Zethrid stood without thinking, completely forgetting the cat in her lap. Kova yowled, sinking in claws as he scrambled upward, and before Zethrid could decide whether to throw him off or shield her face, he’d reached her shoulders, where he caught his balance, flicked his tail once against her nose, and settled in, curled up atop her pauldron.

He likes you. Narti’s hands hesitated for a moment, then flashed through one last, hasty sentence. So do I.

Zethrid was grinning as she followed Narti inside.

[fullmetalgrigori]

so like 2 months ago i promised @l0chn3ss a bday fic and uh ta-da? im sorry ilu bae <3 it can be a happy new year fic?

also i took the prompt (which was something to do with A catching B dancing with glowsticks?) and hijacked the fuck out of it -- i present to you a modern fantastic beasts au

it’s been forever since i’ve actually written something forgive me and my growing pains as i try to fufill my new year’s resolution to Write, Goddammit

Bowtruckles, Soul decided as he took one more swipe at the branch, were much more trouble than they were worth. Especially when they decided that the benevolent wizards who looked after them, fed them, and provided them with a perfectly suitable habitat weren’t worth listening to.

“Wendell,” he hissed for the seventeenth time, “I swear on Merlin’s left pinky toe, if you don’t get down here this instant…”

The bowtruckle in question blew a raspberry and ducked deeper into the branches that he had, apparently, claimed as his new home.

“That’s not even a wand tree,” Soul muttered through gritted teeth. “It’s a stupid birch, nothing magical about it, so why don’t you come over here and I can take you back to the nice little elm I gave you and all your much more well behaved friends, and you can get as territorial as you want over that tree.”

The bowtruckle chittered at him angrily, but didn’t move.

Soul gave a close-mouthed scream of frustration and shot the creature a narrow-eyed glare down the barrel of his wand. “We can have this conversation later, Wendell, and I promise to hear you out, but please, for the love of Merlin, get down from the damn tree.”

“Excuse me, sir, are you alright?”

Oh, perfect. If getting Wendell to behave on his own was hard, it was going to be well-nigh impossible with a Muggle around.

“Now look what you’ve done,” Soul hissed, stuffing his wand away in a panic. “Drawn attention to us and it’s all your fault.”

Wendell shook his head and ducked behind a branch in protest.

Taking a deep breath in to try and calm himself (and failing miserably), Soul turned around and pasted the best semblance of a close-lipped smile he could manage. “Hello, yes, everything’s alright…” The words died on his tongue as the Muggle in question stepped into the pool of yellow light cast by the streetlamp nearby, revealing a petite build, smooth blonde hair tied into twin plaits, and an expression caught between amusement and curiosity. 

“Are you looking for something?” she asked, eyes leaving him to scan the trees behind him.

Soul’s mind raced, trying to find any kind of explanation that would get her out of the park as quickly as possible. A distant memory from his Muggle Studies had him blurting out, “My phone. My friend thought it would be funny to chuck it in the woods, only now I can’t find it. But I’m close, so no need to worry about it.” He made an attempt at a light-hearted chuckle, only it came out sounding more hysterical than he’d have liked.

The Muggle’s eyebrows shot up. “Some friend. Why aren’t they helping you?”

“Because he can’t handle the consequences of his actions.” Soul turned his head slightly to shoot a glare at the tree behind him.

“Wait,” the Muggle said, drawing his attention back. Her brows were furrowed in confusion. “If you’ve lost your phone, where was that light coming from? I thought you were using the flashlight on your phone before, but that can’t be right if you’ve lost it.”

Soul swore colorfully in his head. He hadn’t followed her train of thought fully, but understood enough to know that he’d fucked up with his previous answer. He wracked his brain, struggling to call up anything he could remember from Muggle Studies. What else did Muggles use that generated light?

Unfortunately, his mouth reacted before he could think his answer through. “Glowstick! I was using a, uh, glowstick.”

She looked at him suspiciously. “You just happened to have a glowstick on you?”

Well, this was going even more disastrously then he could have imagined. “Um… yes?”

“Alright, let me rephrase – why do you happen to have a glowstick on you?”

Shit, where did Muggles get glowsticks? Something his friend Blake had said a while ago floated to the surface, and he seized upon it with fervor. “My friend went to one of those, uh, what’s it called… a rave? And gave one to me?” It didn’t come out sounding nearly as confident as it should have. Which seemed to be how a majority of this conversation was going.

“A rave,” the Muggle girl said flatly. “You’re looking for your phone, which your friend threw in the woods as a joke, and you’re looking for it with a glowstick, which your friend got at a rave and gave to you.”

“Yes?”

“You have very interesting taste in friends.”

Soul caught a glimpse of Wendell scurrying to another branch in the corner of his eye and growled, “Oh, he’s something, all right. I’m definitely going to give him a piece of my mind when I can.”

The Muggle girl chuckled suddenly. “You know,” she said mildly, and as Soul turned back she looked at him with undisguised amusement. Soul wondered if he’d missed a joke somewhere. His stomach flipped uncomfortably, but he wasn’t sure if it was due to panic or the way she smiled. “I’ve always thought that you caught more bowtruckles with wood lice, instead of insulting them. But I was sick that day in Magizoology, so I could be wrong.”

“He deserves it, he’s being a prick,” Soul replied automatically, before giving her a rather violent double take. “I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about, what are those nonsense words, should you maybe see a doctor?”

“Very smooth,” she said dryly.

About a million questions buzzed through Soul’s mind, but he only managed to ask, “Who are you?”

“Maka Albarn, Senior Auror.” She flipped out a badge as she approached him, the gold lettering winking in the lamplight. “And you’re Soul Evans, magizoologist. I’ve been looking for you.”

“You could have mentioned that bit before I made a fool of myself,” he grumbled, turning back to the tree to hide his burning cheeks. Glowsticks? A rave? What the hell had he been thinking? He’d never hear the end of it.

“I wanted to see how well you thought on your feet. Not very, by the way.”

Soul huffed petulantly. “You caught me by surprise. Why are you looking for me, anyway? I have a license, I haven’t broken any laws.” He extended one hand toward where he’d last seen Wendell, the other pulling out his wand.

“I know,” Maka said, stopping by his side. “I was looking for you for a different reason.” Instead of elaborating, she peered into the branches of the tree. “What happened with your bowtruckle anyway?”

“He’s pouting. Thinks I don’t like him as much as the others.”

“Does he do this often?” She poked at a leaf, sending a wave of rustling down the branch. Soul pulled out his wand and lit it, sending watery shafts of light between the twigs.

“Not really.” Soul shrugged. “He’s younger than they are, so he’s probably just feeling needy.”

Wendell’s beady black eyes glowed as he sulked in the crook between two branches. He didn’t resist as Soul gently reached in and plucked him from the tree. The little bowtruckle chittered a brief retort, turning away in the palm of Soul’s hand. “Come on, it’s not going to be as bad as you think. It never is.” He turned his hand to look Wendell in the eye. “If you keep hanging around with me, it’s not going to get any better.”

The bowtruckle simply scuttled up his arm and ducked into the folds of his coat, worming his way into an inner pocket.

Soul sighed, shaking his head. “Let the record show that I tried, alright?” When he glanced back up, Maka was looking at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

“What?” he said defensively, thinking back to the comments he used to receive during particular Care of Magical Creatures classes. He was perfectly aware that he was often more comfortable with animals than with people, but that didn’t mean he liked to hear it pointed out to him, thank you very much.

Maka smiled. “Nothing. I was only thinking that I’d found the right person for the job.”

“What job? You haven’t told me anything yet,” he replied, a little exasperated. “All you’ve done so far is manage to make me look like a right idiot.”

“You did that all on your own,” Maka pointed out. “But fair enough. We’ve had a case come up that we think could benefit from your expertise.”

“An auror case? Sorry, but you’re the one with those particular skills, not me.”

Maka ignored him. “We’ve had a string of disappearances that have gradually shifted to killings. We don’t have many leads, but there is evidence suggesting that some sort of magical creature is involved. We can’t figure out what, though, or how we might be able to track whatever it is. Our hope is that you might be able to assist with that.”

Soul frowned. “Magical creatures don’t tend to attack unless provoked.”

“That’s why we need you. To figure out what’s going on.” Maka’s gaze was earnest. “You came highly recommended.”

“Really? Who?”

“Professor Stein said you were one of the best magizoologists around, and that if anyone could solve this, it’s you.”

Soul snorted. “Liar.”

A corner of Maka’s lips turned up. “Alright, so maybe not in those exact words…” She trailed off, waiting for his reply.

He didn’t have to think about it too hard, honestly. If someone was using a magical creature to carry out their dirty work, he wanted them to pay. Another, very small part of him may or may not have wanted to spend a little more time with this auror, whose smile made his stomach flip. She intrigued him, just a little bit, perhaps in the same way he intrigued her. So no, the answer wasn’t too far from his lips.

“Yeah, I’ll help you. Lead the way.”

probably not gonna continue this, but i have a few headcanons i’d be happy to share -- feel free to ask!

[kailenawolf]

It was too long to put in an ask but maybe it will make your day a little better? @cassandrapentayaaaaas

The last of Dennets stock had finally been shipped into Haven, the strain on the makeshift stables was showing but damn did they have a fine herd to show for it. Eris had made little headway with her chosen mount but she wasn't giving up, he just needed a little more time. Grabbing two apples in each hand from the kitchens, Eris scuttled away from the cook waving a metal soup ladle at her as she chased the elf out of her domain. Tucking three into her pocket Eris bit into the sweet fruit relishing the flavor, she missed the treat during the winter months and was beyond grateful that Josephine had secured a trade route that got the fresh produce to the town. Meandering down the paths leading towards the stalls and small arena Eris let her eyes wander, Solas and Dorian nodded to her as she passed Adans medical shack. According to her sister Solas had already picked his mount and even named the mare, a golden colored beauty Eris recalled. The elf doubted Dorian had even attempted to go near the stable, his fussy protests about the smell and how they couldn't compare to the Tevinter bloodlines was already ringing in her ears. Rolling her eyes Eris knew there was a flashy enough horse in that herd to attract the mages attention if he would just go SEE them. Waving cheekily at Varric by the fire by the stairs she wondered what kind of mount would be suitable for him, he was compact and sturdy and much stronger than he let on. Eris had seen those impressive arms when she had to stitch a nasty wound closed when they had run out of potions, and damn was he built, such a pity he wasn't interested.

The sounds of the recruits fighting each other and Cullen barking orders quickly drew her attention and Eris paused watching them run through the drills. Cassandra wasn't far off sparing with the dummies, the dulled practice sword still managed to chip off wood splinters with the force of her swings. Cocking her head an idea began to form in Eris' mind, swinging her gaze left Eris scanned the visible stalls and grinned. "I don't have to know you very well to know that look spells trouble." Bull quipped as she jogged up.

If she remembered right Bull had chosen a horse as well, a hulking beast of a gelding, though Dennet swore he was in fact a warmount the big lug had the temperament of plow horse and seemed quite content to eat and nap the day away. "You wouldn't be wrong, I usually am up to no good."

"Got plans huh? Anything interesting?" The qunari warrior smirked back as he fell in step with her towards the pens.

"Maybe, I'm about to pick out some mounts for someone."

"Thought we were picking our own?" Bull was curious now, a slight tilt of his head telling he was a touch confused at what she was doing.

"Oh you are, but this one is... special."

"It's for Varric isn't it?"

Eris chuckled not surprised he guessed somewhat correctly. "Close, I will be selecting some for him to choose from later but this is for someone else."

She really had his attention now. "Hmm, alright don't tell me I want to try to guess who it is from your choices."

"You're on."

Bull leaned against the fence of the enclosure as she perused the horses in their stalls, her first pick was a bright chestnut. He was solidly built and well trained with wide set eyes that spoke of intelligence, but he just didn't feel right. When she moved with him it felt like the beast was just going through the motions, there was no spark or connection with him. Frowning Eris finished working him quickly and let him be taken back. She tried again with a painted buckskin, she was much more lively and full of spunk with her high stepping strides, and while the pretty mare responded well to commands there was a tiny trace of timidity when Eris asked her to do something a bit more daring. "Not quite."

Bringing the mare back in she sent a look to Bull who was watching everything unfold in earnest, his eye missing no details as the elf weeded through the herd. Eris was slightly frustrated and a crease was beginning to etch deeper into her brow at the lack of results after another two horses, but a deep snort and a stomped hoof drew her attention to a stallion being teased by a lovely shaded mare over the stall wall. The stallion in question did not seem to enjoy the mare lipping at his ear and nipped at her since the limited stall space couldn't get him completely out of her reach. Feeling sorry for the handsome bugger she decided she might as well bring him out, the stallion gratefully whickered to her and quickly trotted out of the stall his pale coat glinting in the sunlight. The stallion was a snowy white, nearly blending into the drifts surrounding the corral if not for the glowing attention Dennet gave to grooming his charges. He was a stunning example of his breed, a blend of Antivan grace with Nevarran strength. The white charger had a supremely smooth gait without being overly flashy like he was in a parade, it was effortless and the stallion listened to her cues with an ear always turned to her. He challenged her for control a few times by taking hold of the bit, but with firm hands on the reins and quick reprimands he accepted her leadership. Tilting her head Eris felt a smile start to grow on her face at the happy accident that drew her to him, bringing him around she tapped him into a charge at where Bull was standing. Understanding what she was asking the pale animal threw his weight forward the first few paces with a snort before finding a steady stride, Bull didn't flinch but neither did Eris or the stallion. He skidded at the last second rearing up with a scream, his sharp hooves renting the air above Bulls head, when he dropped to the ground with a loud bluster Eris knew she had found the mount.

"Perfection."

"His is impressive and a good match for her."

Eris raised a brow. "Figure it out did you?"

Bull gave her a saucy grin and a one shouldered shrug. "Cassandra will love him."

"You're gonna have to teach me how you do that. But would you go get her for me? I want to see if he connects to her."

"Sure, and I can't divulge Ben-Hassrath secrets that would defeat the purpose of you keeping me around aside from my affinity for hitting things and good looks."

Bursting out with a laugh Eris watched him chuckle with her and walk off to collect the Seeker. Trotting him around the ring as they waited the stallion tossed his head with restless energy that the mock charge had left him with. "Don't you worry, someone is gonna give you a run for your money. Let's hope you like her."

"You wanted to see me?" Cass' voice rang out at the fenceline and Eris grinned from ear to ear.

"I did, what do you think of him?"

Cassandra didn't question why she was summoned verbally, a slight twitch of her mouth was all she got before the Seeker took in the stallion. "He is a fine specimen, and much preferable to that... other one. I'm glad you are choosing a more suitable creature." Her gaze lingered over the animal, his dark eyes and elegant ears turned to her in turn.

"Oh this boy isn't for me, he is yours."

That got Eris a reaction, Cass jolted like she'd been shocked by Solas' staff, taking an unconscious step back. "Mine?"

"If you connect with him that is, and... if you like him." The stallion shifted as his riders emotions went from confident to more trepidatious. "Come meet him."

Cassandra hesitated but after a steadying breath slowly moved through the poles to meet the charger Eris had chosen. Dropping to the ground Eris lead the male closer, his grey velveteen nose reaching out to sniff at the armour clad warrior. Eris stroked his neck encouragingly as a back hoof stomped a little, she bid the Seeker to remove her gloves to get more of her scent and learn her touch. He again pushed some boundaries like a typical stallion but before Eris could correct him Cassandra did with a sharp word and a glare. He exhaled harshly into her face for it but did as she bade, when his muzzle stretched to get a whiff at her neck Cass let out an uncharacteristic giggle at the whiskers tickling her skin. Slipping her the last apples Eris let the two get acquainted further without distraction, though she stayed close to the fenceline watching. “Introduction went well I see.” Bull commented appearing as if from nowhere.

“Mhh I only wish it were that easy with some of the others.”

“Oh you have your work cut out for you with that one.” Bull grunted using his horns to point at the seemingly scowling silver black stallion in his own stall.

The animal had his ears twitching back and forth nostrils flaring with each hard heavy breath, but it was the subtle head bobbing that made Eris frown as she realized what he was going to do. He screeched at the top of his lungs a challenge that many of the other horses stallion and mare alike answered. Fearing that the white would get to spooked and ruin whatever ground he and Cassandra had made Eris was about to jump back in to wrangle the warhorse before either of them got hurt. Bull stayed her with a firm hand on her shoulder. “Wait.”

She was about to protest when she heard the white scream back, ears flat against his skull and tail lashing his sides in agitation. Cassandra held tight to his reins and kept him in place, the charger angrily pawed the ground with his hoof, shifting his body around Eris watched in rapt fascination as the charger laid claim to Cassandra. It was done, the stallion had chosen. She hadn’t expected it so suddenly and given male behavior he may have only done it because the black had challenged him but the end result was the same. Cass now had a mount straight out of the fairytales she had read as a child, wanting to be the knight on the white valiant steed instead of the wilting princess. The two would be a fine pair, now if only her own stallion would stop being such an asshole and let her get near him to prove they could be partners too.