ismithlogan

[day-rp]

Tag Dump: Aurora Pt.1

[minusgangtime]

TW: descriptions of body horror and gore.

Sprunki crew horror body conditions.

Shelby (survivor)

Nala (missing hands and eyes)

Casper (torn out wings.)

Midnight (torn out ears and tail,burnt skin and missing one eye.)

Pinkie (torn open)

Temp (survivor)

Sunny (burnt)

Simba (head cracked open)

Herb (eyes popped out)

Seasalt (suffocation)

Lavender (mouth torn out.)

Blaze (burnt)

Snow ( got monocromed)

Nightfall (skin torn apart.)

Galaxy (survived)

Penny (chopped apart

Sweetie ( stomach torn open)

Coral (torn out arms)

Shade (eyes sliced.)

Kiara (survivor)

Thunder (head cracked open.)

Oreo (brain torn out.)

Cloud (insides and hair torn out.)

Snowball (teeth and eyes torn out)

Flambé (burnt)

Ella (mouth ripped out and crown stabbed into head.)

Leo (pipes stabbed into him.)

Elly (survivor,covered in blood.)

Lapis (torn open,carved smile and eyes torn out.)

Zack (eyes torn out.)

Emreld (legs and arms torn out.)

Xavier (survivor)

Eda (survivor)

Ghost (survivor)

Cali (survivor.)

German Shepard - gallace (one half of his face torn out.)

Bulldog -Chase (heart missing.)

Golden retriever - Goldie (mouth torn out)

Husky -cookie (survivor)

Chuwalla-rascal (legs and mouth torn out)

Wiener dog -biscuit (legs torn out)

Bichon (poofy pooch) -marshmallow (most hair torn out/revealed brain)

Pomeranian -Cheeto (legs and mouth torn out.)

Yorkshire terrier -buck (legs torn out)

Corgi - pixie (tail snd ears torn out)

Sheltie-Sadie (hair torn out/exposed brain)

Shiba Inu-janko (tail torn out,slit throat)

Samoyed-taffy (torn out hair/exposed brain)

Poodle -jewel (torn out hair/brain exposed,torn out legs)

Australian shepered-Brutus (arms and legs torn out.)

Chow chow-crunchie (hair torn out/exposed brain)

Cavalier king- Charles (ears torn out.)

Black pup-spot (slit throat.)

Alaskan malamute -Everest (cracked open head.)

Bernese mountain dog-toasty (torn off feet.)

Lollipop (head impaled on bars)

Derpy (eyes torn out)

Bloom (survivor)

Inkie (missing skin)

Blinkie (arms chopped off.)

Minkie (eyeless and wide toothy grin.)

Onyx (survivor)

Thomas (deadname: Sarah) (face torn off.)

Maud (eyes torn out.)

Crimson (cut open)

Sugar (cut open.)

Mulan (deadname: moldo) (legs cut off.)

Babs (survivor)

Kiki (key stabbed deep into head)

Stella (skinless and carved open.)

Cascade (shot several times.)

Cupcake (missing insides and eyes.)

Lily (flowers in eyes)

Blossom (skin ripped off face)

Rouge (ripped off tail and arms)

Diane (hung)

Hazel (plants growing out of body)

Starry (burn marks and eyes missing)

Izzy (exploded head)

Zippy (half of head missing.)

Swirl (mouth torn out)

Misty (heart missing and bloody eyes)

Poochi (eyes and mouth torn out)

Aqua (insides ripped out)

Nova (missing eyes)

Skye (legs missing)

Cosmo (face ripped out)

Nimona (survivor)

Zapp (missing arms)

Amber (burnt)

Celeste (broken apart)

Gloopy (survivor)

Aurora (missing eyes)

Petal (roots coming out mouth and eyes)

Maleficent (survivor)

Dory (survivor)

Smolder (horns and wings torn out)

Breezy (wings abd eyes torn out.)

Bella (wings and arms torn out)

Frost (torn open)

Pollen (nose and mouth skin gone)

Quartz (torn open)

Flour (survivor)

Clover (eyes hanging on roots)

Nova (eye area torn apart)

s’mores (survivor)

cocoa (survivor)

moon (face skin removed)

Scott (head trama/brain revealed)

Vress (tail ripped out)

Tuxie (eyes and teeth ripped out)

Screwball (half face gone)

Rattle (slit throat and missing tail)

Wallace (eyes missing)

Willow (covered in metal bars)

Mars (survived)

Sammy (survived)

Rosie (survived)

Dumbo (survived)

Eve (survived)

Molly (survived)

Glimmer (bottom half gone)

Ray (missing arms)

Nothing (survived)

Feather (survived)

Hover (survived)

Peppermint (missing legs)

Cozy (survived)

Fruity pebbles-flint (bloody eyes/cracked head)

Coco pebbles-pebbles (missing eyes)

Coco puffs-puffy (insane and bloody)

Crunch-calico (cracked open head)

Apple Jacks-applejack (missing eyes/carved smile mouth)

Corn flakes-chipper (beheaded)

Frosted Flakes-frosty (shot)

Lucky charms-charmy (cut open/drained of color)

Honey Nut Cheerios-honey (torn off wings and tail)

Hash brown-luke (skinned)

Pancake-fluffy (head cracked open and several cuts)

Waffles-cubic (missing arm,half tail is gone and head cracked open)

Coffee-decaf (missing eyes)

Frapeechino-Java ( torn open)

Poptart-fruity (half face gone)

Rice crispy treats-Maria (shot)

Glazed donut-glaze (gaping mouth)

Frosted donut-frosting (torn open)

PB and J sandwitch-jelly (half skin gone)

Ham and cheese sandwitch-Gouda (sliced head)

Blue Doritos-spices (holes all over body)

Doritos-spicy (burnt)

Lays-salter (face torn off)

Fritos-twirl (spine out of body)

Cheetos-tigress (torn out leg and bite marks)

Popcorn-butter (head trama/bloody head/body)

Grilled cheese-jaffle (melted eyes/bloody)

Fries-Louis (burnt)

White rice-grain (bite marks everywhere)

Corn dog-Apollo (torn open head)

Pudding-pudding (melted eyes/bloody)

Spagettios-raggy (head trans/bloody)

Mac n cheese-cheesy (boiled)

Spaghetti-noodle (hung)

Chicken-crispy (burnt)

Burger-Mac (torn open)

Chicken nuggets-Nuggies (survivor)

Quesadillas-Antonio (torn open/blood pouring out)

Pizza-ceesers (covered in holes)

Cheese pizza-cheddar (partially skinned)

Pineapple pizza-domino (survivor)

Pasta-pasta (partially skinned)

Hot dog-cinder (burnt)

Diet Coke/pepsi-cole (allergic reaction/stomach burst open)

Fanta-Fanta (covered in holes)

Root beer-float (torn open)

DR pepper-pepper (bloody head/covered in holes)

Beer-helga (torn open/cracked open head)

Hot chocolate-steamy (torn off hands and burnt)

Tea-melody (stabbed)

Milk-milky (survivor)

Sprite-sprite (stomach burst open)

Gatoraid-suprise (survivor)

Smores-cracker (melted eyes)

Cookies-chip (bite marks on body,holes all over body)

M&Ms-lulu (gapping mouth)

Skittles-rainbow (bleeding eyes,mouth and nose)

Chocolate ice cream-brownie (melted eyes)

Vanilla ice cream-cream (clear bleeding eyes)

Mint ice cream-minty (holes all over body)

Cookies and cream-reo (torn open)

Peanut butter and chocolate-luz (half skeleton)

Chocolate milk shake-yogurt (frostbite/bloody eyes)

Vanilla milk shake-vanilla (bloody)

Reese’s-Reese’s (head cracked open)

Milkyway-Carmel (organs hanging out.)

Milk duds-bean (cuts on body)

Jelly beans-chewy (bitten off skin,bloody eyes.)

Butterfingers-butterfinger (scratched)

100 grand-trixie (holes in skin/hanging organs)

Twix-twister (ripped off arms)

Swirl ice cream-Neapolitan (half skeleton)

Lava cake-magma (melted eyes and bleeding head)

Candy corn-candy (carved open)

Mint cookies-Lyra (head cracked open)

Swamp fever-petunia (flowers spurting out of eye)

Poison joke-indigo (survivor)

Imposter parasite-fungle (exposed mouth flesh)

Black tree virus-ivy (ripped out arms)

Mushroom infection-mushy (ripped apart face skin)

Metal virus-silver (survivor)

Immortal infliction-rarity (survivor)

Phantom ruby-infinite (survivor)

Cyberspace-sage (survivor)

Frankenstein-frank (torn off limbs)

Panther-Luna (survivor)

Lynx-Celia (survivor)

Caracal-susano (survivor)

Alien kitty-vee (survivor)

Tiny fluffy cat with tiny legs-squishy (legs removed.)

Siamese cat-sable (legs and eyes removed)

Munchkin kitty- munchie (arms and legs removed)

Trans kitty-belle (head cracked open)

Lesbian kitty-ruby (burnt)

Asexual kitty-violet (hung,eyes removed)

Aroace-Ari (run over,sliced open)

Bisexual-twilight (spine sticking out of back.)

Aromantic-matcha (head cracked open,one eye missing.)

Gay cat (blue)-pretzel (snapped off tail and broken leg)

Gay cat (rainbow) -pickle (missing eyes)

Genderfluid cat-cadence (sliced head and missing arms.)

Nonbinary cat-Bao (missing eyes.)

Poly cat-yuno (shot in the head,half head missing,chest is open)

Pansexual cat: pancake (tail and ears are torn off.)

Eevee shiny: Sophia (mouth skin is missing,tail is missing and half her hair is ripped out.)

Espeon: espurr (shot in the head,one tail is ripped out.)

Leafeon: leafy (vines are sprouting from eyes and tail is missing.)

Umbreon: umbra (survived)

Jolteon: bolt (ears are torn out,tail and hair were pulled out.)

Vaporeon: Ariel (tail and gills were ripped out)

Flareon: flare (burnt)

Glaceon: glacier (icicles impale the body.)

Sylveon: twinkle (survivor)

Ghost: obsidian (survivor

Rock: marble (arm and ear are broken off.)

Cloud: eclipse (survivor)

Fighting: bandana (deep scratches are where his bandannas once were,ripped out eyes.)

Poison:limestone (survivor)

Ground: peaches (arms and tail ripped off.)

Dragon:spiky (survivor)

Bug: flutter (antennas and wings ripped off.)

Steel: rocky (survivor)

Bonus: all the gangs kids also survived without a scratch thanks to there parents brave efforts..

-mod shelby

(Lemme join in on this, even tho we already know what happened

Beta - Victim, Got cuts all over his body

MB - Victim, Hung by a rope by his neck

Blue - Survivor(?), Has a tire mark on his body but is unfazed since he's already dead

Pico - Victim, Got shot multiple times

Girlfriend - Survivor, Has no injuries cuz- demon and was able to escape)

[ask-the-kitty-crew]

how many new kitty mods are there now? What are there names- what are there refs- I’m sorry to beg but I may or may not be planning art ehehehe hoo :3

Oh boy-

In total the animal companions in this blog-though most haven’t been introduced to THIS blog yet-total up to 124-why? I have issues.

Here are ALL of thier names

nala

Casper

Midnight

Temp

Sunny

Simba

Herb

Seasalt

Lavender

Blaze

Snow

Nightfall

Galaxy

Penny

Sweetie

Coral

Shade

Kiara

Thunder

Oreo

Cloud

Snowball

Flambé

Ella

Leo

Elly

Lapis

Zack

Emreld

Xavier

Eda

Ghost

Cali

gallace

Chase

Goldie

cookie

rascal

biscuit

marshmallow

Cheeto

buck

pixie

Sadie

janko

taffy

jewel

Brutus

crunchie

Charles

spot

Everest

toasty

Lollipop

Derpy

Bloom

Inkie

Blinkie

Minkie

Onyx

Thomas (deadname: Sarah)

Maud

Crimson

Sugar

Moldo (mulan)

Babs

Kiki

Stella

Cascade

Cupcake

Lily

Blossom

Rouge

Diane

Hazel

Starry

Izzy

Minty

Swirl

Misty

Poochi

Aqua

Nova

Skye

Cosmo

Nimona

Zapp

Amber

Celeste

Gloopy

Aurora

Petal

Maleficent

Dory

Smolder

Breezy

Bella

Frost

Pollen

Quartz

Flour

Clover

Nova

s’mores

cocoa

moon

Scott

Vress

Tuxie

Screwball

Rattle

Wallace

Willow

Mars

Sammy

Rosie

Dumbo

Eve

Molly

Glimmer

Ray

Nothing

Feather

Hover

[rumor-imbris]

Snatching shades of nightfall and scarlet auroras from the winter skies to make your war paint anew

[chicksung]

One Last Time || Park Jisung

Genre: Fluff, best friends to lovers!au, nonidol!au. Part of the @neo-the-stars-net halloween collab

Pairing: best friend!jisung x fem reader

Word Count: 2.9k (I didn’t intend for this to happen)

Warning/s: Mentions of fake blood (red paint), singular mention of alcohol (not consumed by either party)

Synopsis: Senior year. Full of teenagers trying to pack the most into their last year of high school to make it memorable. You and Jisung have decided that this year will be the end of your tradition, trick or treating. Better make it count, right?

A/N: I was so happy to be able to be a part of this collab and a special thanks to @ncitythoughts for letting me bounce ideas off you. I really appreciate it, elle! This concept also one my favourites. I also couldn’t find a gif of it but the costume that jisung is in is his one from Halloween 2018! Enjoy, spookies!

Adding the final touches to your makeup, you smiled brightly at your mirror image and stood up, looking the same reflection up and down at your costume. You had recently found your obsession with Stephen King horror movies, your favourite of which being It. You knew that was basic, but the character design of Pennywise was something that continued to fascinate you. So, with your slowly growing sewing capability and enough dedication, you created your genderbent Pennywise cosplay. White top with ruffled sleeves, ruffle white skirt, a lot of white, but for a bit of fun (and what was pretty much canon) you had splattered the clean material with red paint, creating fake bloodstains.

Now your face was coloured white and your lips were shaded into the creepy and sinister smile that Pennywise always harboured. Once satisfied with your reflection, you turned to your best friend. “What do you think?” You called out to him, drawing his attention away from the whiskers he was drawing on his cheeks. He looked you up and down for a moment before smiling.

“Truly terrifying.” Jisung smiled, turning back to his reflection to add the last whisker. He placed down the eyeliner pen and stood up. Jisung’s costume was also mainly white, but his taking on a more animalistic and innocent portrayal, polar opposite to your ‘blood’ splattered clothes.

“Look at you, Jwi. So cute.” You said, playfully pinching his cheeks, causing him to groan.

“Y/N stop~ We’re not five anymore.” He stated.

He was right. You weren’t five anymore. You were both eighteen and in your final year of high school. Funniest thing about this whole thing is that you didn’t even know Jisung when you were five. The two of you didn’t meet until you were eleven and the seating plan the teacher had set up had graciously introduced you to Jisung, the soft spoken, gangly boy who spent way too much time in the gymnasium for your liking, yet the two of you became inseparable.

To be quite honest, you had no idea how it happened, it just did. Asking for solutions for the math homework ended up turning into the most important friendship you’ve made.

“Y/N! Y/N! Are you ready?” Your little sister, Gyuri squawked, running into your room in her cheap Halloween store Princess Aurora dress. The young girl was six and only came up to Jisung’s knee, but her excitement was measured to approximately seven feet tall. It was the first year that your mother had let her go trick or treating but only if you went with her, and knowing Jisung, he wasn’t going to mind the girl tagging along. You knew he was very much whipped for Gyuri and she looked up to Jisung like the older brother she never had.

“Give us a minute, GyuGyu. We’re almost done here. Why don’t you go and get the little bags I bought. They’re the purple and black bags I put on the kitchen table. There’s one for each of us, and our names are written on them. Can you do that for me?” You said, slowly shrinking down to her level so she hopefully wouldn’t be to intimidated by the creepy clown makeup, but thankfully she remained bubbly.

“I can do that!” She said, her hands curling up into little fists before running back out the door she had entered not long before.

“Does she ever just...stop?” Jisung asked. He was honestly jealous with how much energy the six year old had. You shook your head, a reminiscent shine glazing over your eyes. You didn’t recognise the trance you were in until Jisung was waving his hands in front of you.

“Hello? Earth to Y/N? Do you copy?” Jisung huffed, his big brown eyes almost touching your own. Your eyes finally snap back to now and you see how close in proximity your face was from his.

“Yes, I copy. Now get out of my face.” You rolled your eyes, shoving Jisung away from you. He chuckled and stepped away from you, a warm feeling buzzing in his chest. A buzz he recognised way too well, and one he only felt when he was with you.

“Okay you two, stand in front of the door. I think you know the drill.” Your mom smiled, camera clamped firmly in her hand as she gestured towards you and Jisung.

Another one for the scrapbook

You shuffled towards the tall boy, looking towards your mom and smiled. Jisung did the same. His heart shaped smile revealed his teeth and gums to the camera and your mother couldn’t stop herself from fawning over him a few seconds after the shuttering of the camera was heard.

“Aww, Jisungie, dont you just look adorable?” She cooed, making you roll your eyes. “Mom, stop it~ It’s embarrassing~”

“What? Am I not allowed to compliment someone?” She teased back before you rolled your eyes and strutted over to see the photo, a soft smile gliding across your face. This was really the end of your tradition, huh?

You and Jisung retreated back to your bedroom and from under your bed, you pulled out a scrapbook with its spine cracked from how many times it had been opened.

It had been your mother’s idea to scrapbook your friendship. Although you thought it was dumb at first, you’re really glad she had suggested it. Calling for Jisung to pass you one of your many orange gel pens, you made small decorations in the page before writing ‘Halloween, Senior Year’ at the top in cursive and glued the picture onto the page.

You couldn’t help but flick back to your very first Halloween together, you dressed in a cheap princess dress and crown (very similar to your little sister’s), and Jisung in an equally as cheap vampire costume, complete with fake teeth. Your pumpkin shaped candy buckets clutches tightly in your hands.

The more pages you flip, the more you watched yourselves grow. Jisung went to being shorter than you to being five feet taller than you and you grew into your body and developed as every girl did.

“God, I was so cringey back then.” Jisung groaned when he saw what picture you were looking at.

“And what makes you think you grew out of that?”

“And what makes you think that...that...” He tried to find something to fire back at you but all he came up with were bent bullets.

“Better luck next time, Sungie.” You smirked slyly, your hand creating a ‘V’ on his face and squishing his cheeks. He puffed his cheeks out and stood up, walking towards your little sister, who was busy imitating a spinning top in her dress.

“Gyuri! You silly, if you keep spinning like that, you won’t be able to come trick or treating with us!” Jisung told her, placing his hands lightly on her back to stop her. Gyuri stumbles for a second when she stopped before smiling up at Jisung.

“I’ve stopped now. Can we go?” She asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her heels and with a singular nod from your mother, she squealed (which rang through room in a pitch you didn’t like to think about) and grabbed her little black and purple bag and raced to your side.

“I take it you’re ready to go?” You asked the little girl, who nodded her head enthusiastically. You looked back to Jisung, but his eyes were trained to your sibling and an unconscious smile touched your lips.

“Have fun, kids!” Your mother voice broke your train of thought and you nodded.

“We’ll see you later, mom!”

As dusk turned to nightfall, you, your best friend and your little sister went to the doors of the decorated houses, which broke the familiarity of the normal picket fences neighbourhood. The excited rap on every house’s door was opened with an equally excited parent, placing candy into each of your buckets. There were a few who questioned you and your friend, asking if you were too old for dress up.

“It’s been our tradition for years. It’s what brought us closer together.” You would always tell them before taking Gyuri’s hand and skipping back up the path and onto the next house.

By 9pm, Gyuri was in Jisung’s arms, fast asleep, her pudgy cheek squished up against her eye. The stars were out now and the moon’s reflective rays were the only thing that lit up your path aside from the occasional streetlight. You opened up the front door, Jisung pushing passed you to deliver the six year old to your mother.

“Are you two going to stay out a little later?” She asked the boy. He nodded. “Yes, we are but not too much later.” He promised. Your mom smiled. If there was anyone who was just as whipped for Jisung as you were, it was your mother.

“Alright but no later than midnight, alright kids?” She called out as Jisung made his way to the door. With a call of reassurance delivered, you and Jisung left the house once more and began to wander the streets.

The memories from the past seven years crashed over your mind like a tidal wave, images of a younger set of best friends, running like crazy through the streets, playing chasy with all the other neighbourhood kids while the parents sat around and drank and conversed. The memories of your younger self. A younger friendship, a younger mindset, a younger crush.

Neither you ever confessed your feelings but you lost count of how many people (particularly adults) who assumed you were a couple.

“Do you remember when I would sleep over, if the sky was clear, we would say we would sleep under the stars but chicken out and just sleep in your room?” You reminisced on the story aloud, Jisung giggling in return.

“Yeah. We were so scared something like a cougar was gonna eat us or something.” His laughter picked up again, his eyes squinting as he did.

“The wild imagination of a child, I guess.” You concluded, falling back into comfortable silence before stumbling across a part of the neighbourhood that was all too familiar.

The woods.

Many games of hide and seek and murder in the dark were played here, the latter being played with other friends and children on the same street. You remember the nights of giggling until your sides ached, hiding until you had to find the seekers, being too good that you were always made the seeker.

“We basically know every inch of that wood.” Jisung cocked his head to the side, trying to peer into the wood, seeing if there were any creatures of the night lurking around. There weren’t but it wouldn’t hurt to check.

“I remember making so many cubby houses with Yuna and Seulgi. You, Renjun and Chenle wouldn’t let us into yours so we made our own. Turns out ours was much more stable when it came to windy days.” You teased, letting your shoes tease the edge between the woodly maze and the street. Jisung scrunched his nose up and folded his arms, mumbling something about Chenle being dumb and Renjun being just as dumb when it came to stability.

Jisung stood there for a second longer, before his eyes lit up with an idea. “We should play hide and seek.”

You snapped your head towards him so fast, it almost gave you whiplash. “Huh?”

Jisung looked at you and felt his chest was about to explode from the warmth inside it. “I mean, if we’re stopping our tradition tonight, might as well finish it properly. Let’s play hide and seek one last time, before we become boring adults stuck in office jobs and getting more paper cuts than hours of sleep.”

You couldn’t see why not

“Since it was your suggestion, you’re the seeker.” You declared as you dashed into the woods, looking for the same pile of old plywood that you would hide behind and no one could ever seem to find you. Jisung tried to protest but you were too far into the wood that his complaints fell onto deaf ears.

You could hear Jisung’s footsteps approaching and distancing themselves from the spot you sat. ‘Even after all these years, that idiot still can’t find me.’ You thought to yourself. You checked your phone and you had been crouched in the same position for ten minutes.

“Y/N! Y/N! Where are you?” You heard Jisung’s voice echoing from the other side of the wood.

“Over here, you stupid!” You called out, knowing that he was nowhere near close to finding you. He dashed back to the centre of the forest, looking around and trying to pinpoint where your voice had called out to him moments ago.

“Where’s here?” He asked, but this time, no reply. He groaned before calling your phone. You were quick to decline the desperate boy’s plea and watched as he tossed his head back in annoyance. You watched him slowly make his way closer to you, and you were in perfect alignment with his ankles. Yes. Yes. This is what you wanted.

One step. Two steps.

When he reached his third step, you grasped his right ankle, causing the boy to screech in a high pitch and high decibel rating. You were laughing your ass off, while Jisung calmed his racing heart (mind you, you were dressed as a psychopathic clown). You pouted at him before wrapping your arms around him.

“I’m so sorry. I saw the opportunity and I had to take it. Please please forgive me.” You pleaded, squeezing him tightly and listening as his heart slowed, but his heart still had a skipping rhythm to it.

“I suppose I can. But I can’t promise anything.” Jisung sighed out, plonking down at the base of a thick oak tree whose branches reached over the night sky, obscuring the stars that dimly shimmered above. You sat down beside him and sighed, your head resting against the tree.

Jisung watched over your smiling form, your fascination with the stars saving him from being caught staring at you. His heartbeat quickened once more and unbeknownst to him, a soft pink hue poked at his cheeks and reddened his ears.

“Y/N?” He called out to you, pulling you from your starry trance. You caught the flaming red that flowed on the tips of his ears.

“Yeah, Sungie?”

“Can I tell you something? Something I’ve been hiding from you?” His question was hesitant and his tone was shy, like he was scared of your reaction.

“Jisung, we’ve been friends for years. You don’t need to ask me to tell me something.” You chuckled, nudging his arm to try and get him to lighten up. The blush in his cheeks darkened crazily fast and he sighed.

“I’velikedyouforareallylongtimebu-” His words were jumbled and close together and you couldn’t understand anything he was saying.

“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, Jwi. Take a deep breath and try again.” You reassured him, turning your body towards him and rubbing his shoulders. Jisung followed your instructions, sighing out his breath and trying again.

“I’ve liked you for a really long time but I didn’t know how to tell you. I felt like tonight would be my last chance before I chickened out again.” This time, you understood him and you couldn’t quite still your pounding heart.

“You don’t have to accept and I know this might ruin our friendship but I had to shoot my shot, you know and Haechan said-”

“I like you too.” You interjected, your own cheeks dusting pink. There was a silence, filled with processed emotions and spiked heartbeats.

“So...”

“Guess Renjun was right.” Jisung snapped his head towards you. “What do you mean?” You chuckled at the boy’s confused face and hummed.

“He said that if we didn’t like each other by the end of high school, there was something wrong with us.” Jisung scrunched up his face and mimicked the words you just, imitating Renjun’s voice. “Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong.” You smiled, picking yourself up and dusting off your knees and butt.

“How long have you liked me?” Jisung asked, standing up himself as the two of you started to wander aimlessly. You looked up to the sky in thought, the stars helping you connect the question to the last seven years.

“Since I was like...13? 14? We had been friends for a while but I kept it quiet because you were still dating Heejin.” You could hear Jisung audibly cringe at the name of his ex-girlfriend. Yes, he and Heejin were only together for two months but she was awfully clingy and had tried to drive you and Jisung apart.

“You know what’s good about this though?” Jisung said, looking back to you, still seeing the sparkle in your eye despite it being almost pitch black.

“What?” No sooner had you said that, you felt Jisung’s lips touch the burning skin of your cheeks and your face flushed red. He laughed at you before pulling your arm towards the street once more.

“I should get you home. Your mom said to be home by 12, didn’t she? Don’t want her thinking I’ve Up and left with her daughter.” He smiled at you.

As the two of you walked side by side, like you had done for years, your pinky fingers wrapped around each other as you set off home. Down the same road you had walked for years, with the person you loved more than anything.

[phatburd]

From the travelogue of Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, upon witnessing the aurora borealis for the first time:

In the [king's] country I saw uncounted marvels. Thus, the first night that we spent in this land, before the light of the sun faded, [a full hour before sunset] I  saw the horizon turn a brilliant shade of red and in the upper air there was a great noise and tumult. I raised my head and saw a red mist like fire close to me. The tumult and noise issued from it and in the could were the shapes of men and horses. These spectral men held lances and swords. I could see them clearly and distinguish them. Then suddenly another bank of mist appeared, just like the first, in which I saw men, horses, and arms; it advanced to charge the first, as one calvary detachment falls upon another. Frightened, we began to pray and beseech God most humbly, while the locals laughed and were astonished at our behaviour. We watched the two armies charging. They clashed for a moment and then parted, and continued for an hour after nightfall. Then they vanished.

We questioned the king on this subject. He claimed that his ancestors said:

"They are the believing and the unbelieving Jinn. They fight every evening and have not failed to do so every single night since they were first created."

— Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, by Ahmad Ibn Fadlan (c. 879 AD - 960 AD)

[muddyhippy]

Look to the Stars

Inspired by this AMAZING artwork done by the ever-lovely @tricksterkat209

“Jonny! Jonny!”

 Lily was bounding over to where Jonny was sat, slightly apart from the group taking in the rare peace of the evening. They’d landed on an unpopulated planet, following the excitement of Lily’s first visit to a planet they’d taken the opportunity the next time another such planet presented itself.

 It was a verdant world, clean and green and disgustingly wholesome.

 Much as the others made the customary grumble a lack of war or bars or crime they’d all embraced the day willingly, and it had been quite a day.

 Gloriously hot, the river clear but slow flowing enough that Lily could splash around happily and practice her swimming with only one mech to hand to keep an eye (several of them did anyway) Tim and Jonny descending into another splash battle that quickly roped Marius and Lily in, the latter riding the former’s shoulders.

The Toy Soldier joined in with the river exploits shedding its uniform to reveal a smart, striped swimming costume that would not have looked out of place on British beaches from Tim’s timeline and waded happily into the water, offering its services as a floatation device to help Lily continue her swimming lessons.

 Ashes had been persuaded to paddle in the shallows on the understanding that if a single drop of water touched from the others (except Lily) they would murder without restraint, trouser legs rolled up and cigarette firmly between their lips. Ivy had climbed a tree to enjoy her reading safe from her crewmates. Raphaella also paddled for a while before she got down to work collecting new samples and showed Lily some less lethal natural science experiments in between the child’s mission to find as many shiny rocks and pretty flowers as she could and gift them to everyone.

 She saved a special pile for Aurora to take on board later.

 Brian sat under the shade of Ivy’s tree playing his banjo. Nastya eventually emerged from Aurora, encouraged by her love to share the day with rest of the crew, violin in hand and joined him, shedding her heavy coat after a while, allowing the heat of the day to soak into her.

 Like he said.

 Disgustingly wholesome.

 The group members who’d not been in the river were even wearing wonkily-constructed flower crowns for fuck’s sake.

 Jonny absolutely wasn’t sat smoking slightly apart from everyone, appreciating his crew as the sun set and some of the flying bugs started to glow, the dysfunctional family that they’d been for a long time but only recently recognised. Ashes was setting up the campfire, refusing any help because they knew exactly how they wanted this fire to burn and woebetied anyone who messed with their plans whilst TS set up the second round of food prepared by Lily and Brian as Marius brought the cuts of meat he’d pulled out of the cold store ready to be barbecued by the quartermaster.

 The rest were staying well out of Ashes way whilst they set up determined to enjoy the excuse to laze in relative calm for once, Tim was jamming with Brian and Nastya, Ivy was sat next to Raphaella, wrapped in her wing as she read quietly to the science officer.  

 Lily reached Jonny beaming with excitement, “Jonny! It’s getting dark!”

 “I might have noticed.”

 Lily continued unperturbed at Jonny’s wry comment, knowing that the way his lips curled upwards meant he was teasing her, “Do you know what that means?”

 “Ashes better get on with the campfire?”

 He felt, rather than saw, the bird flipped at him from the quartermaster.

 “No!” Grinned Lily, too excited to be put out him being deliberately obtuse, “The stars are coming out!”

 “Oh?” Jonny was well aware of the imminently approaching nightfall, dusk apparently wasn’t a thing on this planet.

 “Look!” Lily immediately scrambled up onto his lap, first mate automatically helping her settle on him.

 Jonny refused to interrogate when this became so normal.

 Lily’s eyes were shining in the ‘I’ve-learned-something-new-and-I-am-desperately-excited-to-share-this-with-you’ way he’d also got far too used to witnessing.

 She started pointing out particularly bright ones, one arm wrapped affectionately around his neck to anchor herself to him as she enthusiastically explaining what each one was, obviously reciting what Brian had taught her from the pilot’s seat, which, fair play to her, she’d managed to recognise from planetside. Jonny schooled his face into looking interested and fascinated by what she was saying, despite knowing for a fact that he’d murdered at least one person on every single planet that orbited every single star she pointed out and knew the stars names in at least eight languages.  

 It was no fun to take this excitement away from her, she was still so painfully, terrifyingly young and he was not going to be the one to piss on her interests. It was oddly nice to view the universe through fresh eyes.

 As she came to the end of her spiel Lily sighed and leaned against him, contented and safe listening to his rhythmical ticking, beginning to fiddle with one of his belts before continuing, “I can’t wait to visit them all.”

 And wasn’t that a thought? Having a plan, a real, ‘let’s go to all these places because now time actually matters and all of us want something in common for once’ plan.

 It was surprisingly pleasing.

 Jonny felt the weight of the small child settle against him, the newest addition to the crew that were all, in this moment at least, equally contented.

 Not for the first time he listened to a very human heartbeat settle in rhythm with his and hoped, secretly, there would be many more nights like this to come.

[withabackpackandcamera]

September 16th, 2020

Day 3: A Full Day of Hikes and Lights

Today was our designated Denali National Park hiking day, especially after we weren’t able to squeeze one in before nightfall yesterday. To fuel ourselves for it, we got some extra sleep because we didn’t wake up super early to hike and we ate our leftover flatbread from last night. Both great decisions. By the time we actually checked out of the lodge, the weather did us a favor and cleared up and was looking pretty good, with little bits of blue sky actually visible in between the heavy layer of clouds.  

On our way to the park, I made a couple of quick roadside stops to take some photos of the area. Not too long afterward, we were back in Denali National Park. We first made a stop at the Visitor Center to talk to the rangers about some different hiking route options before ultimately heading to the Mountain Vista Trailhead to hike the Savage Alpine Trail. This hike was essentially a 4+2 mile hike (meaning that we would hike through the alpine landscape for 4 miles before hiking 2 miles back along the main road to our car to close the hiking loop) that would take us up around 1,500ft in elevation gain. And the hike was gorgeous with superb weather. We couldn’t have lucked out any more than we did. The hike itself was a slow, winding hike through beautiful landscapes that were ever-changing as we ascended. Most of the hike was under the partly cloudy sky, providing great views all around. There were great colors and great views of the Alaskan Range. During some parts of the hike, especially along the ridge, we even got glimpses of Mount Denali (though it wasn’t entirely free of clouds)! What a treat! Because of all of our stops for photos, videos, rest, and views, it took us around 4 hours to hike through the beautiful landscape and get to Savage River. Once there, we pulled out our Lunchables (which we had brought as snacks and not a meal) to re-energize ourselves before leisurely hiking back up the main road to our car. 

Because Cynthia had some business to take care of that required access to cellular data, we drove back to the Visitor Center briefly. Even though we had hiked for 4+ hours already, it was still relatively early in the afternoon and we wanted to make the most of our time in Denali with good weather. So, before closing out the day, we went on another short hike near the entrance of the park called Horseshoe Loop Trail. This 2-mile hike wasn’t strenuous at all. We essentially walked down to the observation area to view Horseshoe Lake below before descending further to lake level. At that point, we wandered along the trail and through the trees and managed to find views of the Nenana River and Beaver Dam. But little did we know that the first path that we took wasn’t actually the entire trail. On the way back, we found the real trail and took that trail and looped around Horseshoe Lake back to the Nenana River before turning back to the car as the sunlight was fading. Oh, and I must mention that there were TONS of mosquitoes along the trail as we hiked around Horseshoe Lake. I mean LOTS of mozzies. 

We reached our car around sunset or so but given how heavy the clouds were in the area, I decided not to go all the way back into the park for sunset photos and instead decided to start our 2 hour trip up to Fairbanks. As we drove through the fall colors of interior Alaska, we had great views of the sunset as it went from nothing but clouds to full of color and warmth, with very colorful oranges and reds exploding across the sky until 9pm or so. 

Once we arrived in Fairbanks, we grabbed some quick fast food dinner (Subway for Cynthia and McDonald’s and their new Spicy Chicken Nuggets with their new hot dipping sauce and a McDouble for me) to quickly fill our bellies before it got too late. By the time we made it to our AirBnB, our hosts had already called it a day so we didn’t see them and let ourselves in. 

After eating our food and cleaning up, we started to look at tomorrow’s plans. And just as I was starting to look into things to do in Fairbanks, I got side tracked by the crazy idea of chasing the auroras tonight, even though we had spent an entire day hiking and it was getting late in the night. But I found myself looking up the night’s forecast and the aurora forecast with it. Based on what I had found, there seemed to be a slim chance of catching the Northern Lights tonight. But we went out to try seeing them anyways because the whole reason we drove up to Fairbanks at all was to give Cynthia every opportunity to see the auroras. 

I looked at a couple locations just outside of town to find the best viewpoints for the auroras and decided that we would check out Cleary Summit Aurora Viewing Area, located about 30 minutes outside of Fairbanks. We didn’t want to go too far but we also didn’t want to be stuck in the city lights trying to view the northern lights. So I drove us out there and before long, we were sitting in our car in a dirt parking lot with other hopeful and eager Northern Lights spectators parked around us. It took awhile for the sky conditions to become optimal as dense clouds heavily blanketed the sky above us. But we waited and waited. Eventually, the clouds started to lift just a little, enough that I was able to somewhat discern possible shades of off-gray that could possibly be the auroras. And I only knew what I was looking for after my short time and experience in Iceland and Norway with the auroras back a few years ago. So I took my camera, changed the settings, and pointed it at the sky from the car. Click. The shutter opened and a couple seconds later, it closed. And tada! There was some green light in the sky! The auroras! The very elusive auroras were visible on our first try! 

With evidence that the Northern Lights were indeed active tonight, I adjusted my eyes while also telling Cynthia about the trick to viewing weaker auroras in the sky. After we adjusted our eyes for some time and the clouds started to lift, we started to see more and more auroras in the sky. Eventually, the activity became high enough that we could see gray-ish, cloud-like lights slowly dance across the sky above us! At this point in the night, people were coming and leaving because they probably didn’t know what they were looking for. Some people actually came to me to figure out what they were supposed to be looking for and what they were expected to see. I kindly passed my knowledge and experience along to them as I stood there with camera and tripod in hand ready to capture some shots. We stayed out at the viewing site for a little more than 3 hours because I wanted to give the auroras a chance to get even better and more spectacular. And it did! Even though it never became super green to the naked eye, the activity level of the northern lights got to the point where we could see the lights flickering across the sky, something I didn’t at all expect during our trip given how difficult it is to time the auroras to good weather and good fortune. But wow, three hours that were well-worth the wait!

Eventually, the lights started to die down and become less dynamic. It was at this point that I called it a night with a sleeping Cynthia in the passenger seat. I drove us back into town while catching up with my dad on the phone before eventually arriving at our AirBnB sometime past 3:30am. Whew, what a night out! 

5 Things I Learned/Observed Today:

1. Alaska is home to 16 of the U.S.’s national parks and accounts for nearly 2/3 of the acreage of all the national parks combined! Wowzers! That’s humongous! 

2. There are very few trails in Denali National Park and Preserve. The reason is because the park service wants to keep the area there as pure as possible and give people the opportunity to try off-trail and backcountry hiking. 

3. Mosquitoes are the real deal in Alaska. We had read about all the mosquito issues people have in the summer and expected to avoid them altogether in mid-September but boy were they swarming in the damp, moist areas around Horseshoe Lake. Luckily, no bites. 

4. Alaska has some of the prettiest fall colors I’ve ever seen. It seems as if there are way more and way denser forests of aspens in Alaska compared to what I’ve seen in the many parts of Colorado I’ve visited during the fall. It’s amazing! And when you drive (for example, from Denali to Fairbanks), it feels as if you’re driving through a tunnel of gold! 

5. The northern lights are definitely viewable in Alaska in September! But as always, the weather and solar flare radiation from the sun must both be optimal in order for the auroras to be visible to the naked eye. Always temper your expectations when trying to view the lights as you don’t want to be too disappointed if you don’t catch them. However, you should always give aurora searching a shot. Even if it’s a cloudy or rainy evening.. Even when the forecasts say nothing will be visible or that there’s a low chance… You just never know because the conditions change so quickly. Always, always give it a try. Go out into the darkness and look up (and/or shoot your camera upwards if you have one) and you may not be disappointed. But remember, patience is key! Also key are the following websites I found very useful for aurora viewing in Alaska, especially Fairbanks:

a. https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast (University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute’s Aurora Forecast Page (Note: You can access live camera view in (b) from here))

b. https://allsky.gi.alaska.edu/#page-tonight (Live Camera View of Night Skies at Poker Flat Research Range, AK)

c. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov (NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center)

d. https://www.explorefairbanks.com/explore-the-area/aurora-season/aurora-tracker/# (Explore Fairbanks’ Aurora Tracker)

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Beneath an Aurora Sky (Ch. 4)

Summary: The South Pole Station is equipped for research and Edge has always made sure things run smoothly for the inhabitants. His charges are meant to follow his rules and regulations, and in turn, he makes sure they survive in the arctic temperatures. It takes plenty of hard work and determination and Edge, along with his crew, can handle both.

He wasn’t counting on one of the newest researchers. He wasn’t expecting Rus.

Tags: Spicyhoney, First Time, Arctic AU, Hurt/Comfort

Notes: So, @cheapbourbon came up with an amazing AU and did some lovely art for it: please look at it and love it.

Honestly, I know I am busting pages on this but I am having a lot of fun researching and writing it. ^_^

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Newest: Chapter Four

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

The morning’s work was satisfying. The two researchers Edge assisted would be conducting studies on the weddell seal population, and today they’d only wanted a basic overall picture of the local population. Better still, one of them had already done a rotation in Antarctica at one of the other facilities and quickly demonstrated that she only needed a refresher on handling the vehicles.

They were both reasonably friendly but mostly absorbed in their work. Edge took no offense to that and while they were out gathering their data, he sat in the Cat, keeping a close eye on them and adding to his daily report. He also took the time to file their request to be allowed to stay at the research campsite for a few days next week, once their less experienced member passed all the survivalist requirements.

He’d already approved the request, but a paper trail was vital. They needed to have a vehicle properly signed out and supplies readied for them, along with running communications tests and confirmation on the expected weather for the days they were on location.

Their focus was on their research, as it should be, and his was on their safety. No one had ever been lost on his watch and Edge wasn’t about to start losing anyone now, certainly not on account of mishandling the basics.

The drive there and back was over an hour both ways, and by the time they returned, they’d missed the group lunch. There were sandwiches wrapped for them all in the refrigerator. Edge took one for himself, leaving them to their meal and excited discussion while he headed back towards his own quarters to contemplate what he’d managed to successfully avoid thinking about all morning; his evening session with Rus.

Civil twilight, the first darkening of the sky before nightfall, began in an hour’s time and if Rus wanted any daylight for his excursion today, they should leave soon.

But there was a niggling problem that was bothering him, and he decided it would be best to address it now; he only needed to retrieve something first.

~~*~~

Undyne wouldn’t be leading their little clan of researchers to the recreation area until after dinner tonight, so it was a reasonably safe guess to assume Rus was in his quarters. A guess that was confirmed when Edge knocked on his door.

It opened a crack and then wider, Rus peering out warily. He opened the door fully, blinking down at Edge in confusion. It was still passing strange for Edge to be forced to look up at anyone.

"hey, uh, i thought i still had half an hour…" Rus started hesitantly. Behind him, his bed was an unmade rumple of blankets, a match to his rumpled layers of clothing. Which left the question of whether he’d been sleeping or simply never made it in the first place. Either possibility seemed highly likely.

"You do,” Edge said and held out the stack of clothing in his hands. “I brought you these to wear on our outing.”

It wasn’t a surprise really to see his expression tightened, eye lights going narrow as he ignored the offering. "thanks, but i'm full up on pity right now, i don’t need any of yours."

“Good because I’m not offering any,” Edge said crisply. “We provide gear for everyone, as stated on the provisions sheet you received when you signed up. So, if you’re finished worrying about special treatment…?”

He held it out again, watching as a blotchy flush rose in Rus’s cheekbones in a charming shade of soft orange, finally revealing the color of his magic. Idly, Edge noted that it suited him, cheerfully vibrant. He looked as if he was entertaining the thought of arguing more, but finally took the bundle away from Edge with a muttered, “thanks.”

Edge thought it wise not to tell him the thermals were a set of his own. The gear they normally provided was excellent but his own was better and while the sheet didn’t state it, they usually only provided outdoor gear, not whatever was layered beneath it.

No reason to tell him all that.

“If you get dressed and we can get going now,” Edge said. Rus only stood there, holding the bundle uncertainly. “You requested the closest checkpoint, so it's not far.”

“yeah, okay,” he still seemed oddly uncertain, blinking too much, and Edge almost asked if he was all right when he added, “i’ll meet you in the vestibule.”

“Good.” Edge left him to change and went to start on his own outdoor gear again, for the third time that day. Despite Undyne’s gleefully meddling, there was no reason for this to take long. A little vehicle training, whatever time Rus needed to set up for his research, and soon enough he’d be back at the station with the greater bulk of his duties done for the day.

There and back to the closest outpost. It wouldn’t take much time at all.

Edge looked up from tying his boots when the door opened a few minutes later and stilled.

The clothing fit well enough, a little short in the ankle but not ridiculously so. It was actually rather unfortunate how not-ridiculous it was. In the form-fitting thermals and pants, Rus was much smaller than he'd appeared beneath all those layers; tall, yes, but the faintly visible outline of his bones was slender, almost elegant, and Edge had to tear his gaze away from it, focusing on his own outdoor gear.

Damn Undyne to all the fiery hells she deserved.

“all right, boss, getting dressed for you,” Rus called, and when Edge glanced at him reluctantly, he got a sassy wink for his efforts. “better time me, make sure i can get dressed fast enough.”

“I’m counting,” Edge said, dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. He did watch while Rus scrambled into his outdoor gear and he was tightening the last lace on his boots when five minutes ticked away.

“do i get an ‘ice job�� sticker, teach?” Rus grinned. His goggles were pushed up, tilted rakishly on his skull.

Edge tugged them down over his sockets with a firm snap and Rus yelped. “You’ll earn a re-take if you don’t take this seriously. I’m sure you’ll love another opportunity to take our version of the bucket test.”

“nope, nope, anything but that,” Rus sounded like he was only mostly kidding, “i’ll behave, boss, promise.”

“Then come on.”

Rus trailed after him outside where the sun was already low in the sky, casting off reds and orange to fill the horizon.

He was carrying a backpack along with that long, cylindrical case that Edge remembered from the boat, and despite his long legs, he kept having to trot to keep up with Edge, distracted by the sunset, the buildings, anything that seemed to catch his gaze.

“so, i was scheduled with undyne before. why are you taking me out?” Rus called, almost tripping as he tried to walk backwards, the better to watch colorful sky.

“Because some people think they are funny,” Edge said beneath his breath, then louder. “She had to take on another group and I was free. Come on.”

He led the way to the vehicle shed, showing Rus the hanging board for the keys and the sign out sheet that were inside the door.

“After you pass your vehicle testing, you can sign out a vehicle on your own.” Edge gestured to the collection of vehicles behind him. There were Sno-Cats, snowmobiles, a few quads, all dependent on where the researchers needed to travel. “If you don’t sign up for an allotted time, it’s first come, first serve, so plan ahead. I’d encourage you to make use of a guide whenever you can. Most of our researchers work in pairs or groups. Solo researchers aren’t strictly prohibited but until you prove to me you’ve learn how to handle the vehicles on this terrain, you’ll need a ride along. Standard protocol.”

He waited until Rus nodded, then went on, “You’ll also need a ride along if you’re traveling past the first perimeter. Storms can blow up very quickly and you don’t want to be caught in one without me or Undyne.”

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the key fob to Rus. Which he promptly fumbled, barely managing to keep from dropping it. “Everything is numbered. We’re taking Sno-Cat #2 today.”

Normally for a trip like this, Edge would use snowmobiles, but he wouldn't be able to offer instruction over the sound of the motor. They were usually easy enough to test out on once the hopeful driver was more accustomed to the terrain.

"i should tell you, i'm not a very good driver." He sounded resigned and something in that made concern twitch. Not because he was admitting to being a poor driver, but that he seemed so fatalistic over it.

Edge wasn’t particularly skilled at reassurance, but this seemed a good time for an attempt. "Luckily, there isn't much to run over out here. Just follow the flags, stay on the road, and you'll be fine. This is a smaller snow track, you won't even need to change gears."

After they climbed inside, Edge waited patiently while Rus adjusted the seat and the mirrors, fussed with his seatbelt, and only hit the button for the powered overhead door when Rus turned the key. The door rolled upward and the continent lay before them.

“here we go!” Rus said with false cheer. He tapped the gas and they lurched forward hard enough for the seatbelts to lock. Rus let off immediately with a wince, "sorry, sorry."

"You're doing fine,” Edge assured him. “There’s a bit of a learning curve, don’t worry so much. You aren’t going to hurt anything. Try again, press down easy on the gas and don't let up this time."

Another lurch, not quite so rough, and they were moving forward.

"Left at the flag,” Edge directed, and they crept into the turn, heading in the direction of the checkpoint. “You never want to go too fast, particularly after dark," he cautioned. "You don't usually have to worry about obstacles, but fresh snowfall can send you into a skid."

Not that he thought he needed to worry about that with Rus. They were crawling along at such a slow pace that Edge thought getting out to jog might get him to the outpost faster. He didn't say so and Rus only nodded tightly at his advice, his eye lights on the road with laser focus.

At least he didn't have to worry about Rus hot-dogging out amongst the glaciers.

The first checkpoint was approximately three kilometers from the station. It took close to fifteen minutes to get there, but Edge wasn’t complaining. Not when Rus turned the vehicle off with a shaky sigh, not when he turned to him with obvious glee, his eye lights bright with elation and for once, his smile was real and not that smirking one he usually shared, “how’s that, boss? am i road worthy?”

Well…he supposed slow was safe, “On a Sno-Cat, yes. We’ll test on the snowmobiles later.”

Rus grimaced, grabbing his bag and case before climbing out. Edge followed him, boots crunching on the snow as they went over to the outpost. There wasn’t much to see, only some permanent environmental monitoring equipment along with a shelter meant for emergencies. Inside were enough supplies to hold a group through a snowstorm for several days. It would keep them alive if not strictly comfortable.

After checking over the equipment for any warnings or issues, Edge glanced back at Rus, who was rummaging through his pack. He pulled out a tape measure of some sort, securing it to the ground and he used it to mark off a radius of about four meters. Then he opened the long case and drew something out.

Edge kept back, watching with no little curiosity. He'd seen plenty of research equipment in the past two years and this was nothing like he'd ever seen. A long, thin pole that extended even longer, and Rus didn't seem to have any difficulty pushing it into the frozen ground. He did something with the little device that sat on top, correcting the angle and then switch it on. Red and green lights flashed, then settled into a steady glow.

"and, gyftmas achieved. awesome." Directly across from it on the line of the circle he'd drawn, he started setting up another.

“Any equipment you put out here needs to go back with you when you leave,” Edge called out in warning.

“like i'd leave anything?” Rus snorted loudly, the sound carrying in the quiet. “this shit was expensive. i carted it in, i’ll be carting it out.”

He set up two more, each an equal distance away, taking them in with a satisfied nod before he picked up his empty case. "done. now all i need is to wait on the data."

"What are you researching?" Edge looked at the device curiously, but none of it seemed even vaguely familiar. And while Red and Undyne might enjoy sneaking around, Edge preferred direct questions.

It was into the better part of twilight now and Rus pushed up his goggles, his pale eye lights gleaming through the darkness. "ah, ah, i'd have to check with my sugar mamma before i told you that."

Edge blinked, startled. "You've been talking about your research to Undyne?"

That earned him a surprised bark of laughter. "nah, my real sugar mamma, my sponsor. i'm not as lucky as some of these other guys, i don't have a collection of grants to keep me running. but i’ve got one person willing to help out, at least a little."

"So, you have a sponsor." That was information Red would appreciate and despite his implications, Edge hadn’t needed to be anywhere near anyone’s sheets to learn it.

"yeah, but you'll have to earn a talk about her. old lady is nice, though." Rus winked at him. “i’m finished, we can head back.”

“I’ll drive,” Edge said, and Rus only tossed him the keys. “Normally I’d let you, but I think you’ll be safe enough driving one of the Sno-Cats when you need to.”

And with the way Rus drove, they wouldn’t be home until midnight.

The trip was much shorter this time around, the scenery around them passing briskly, but they were only halfway through it when Rus sat up abruptly, looking out the window.

"stop," Rus said suddenly. "please. please, stop."

Edge stepped on the brake, easing them to a halt, and before he could ask what was wrong, the door was open and Rus was gone.

“For fuck’s sake,” Edge grunted, exasperated, and undid his seat belt to follow him.

He hadn’t gone far, only a few steps from the vehicle, and he was standing still, staring upward. It was only as Edge got closer that he could see the soft gleam of dampness on Rus’s cheek bones, a faint shimmer in the faint light.

"What wrong?" Edge asked. Perhaps a little gruffly but he wasn’t especially talented with comforting an upset person. This one was certainly giving his social skills a hell of a workout.

Rus only shook his head. "it’s beautiful,” he whispered, awed, “i've never seen it before."

It was only then that Edge realized the aurora was swirling above them. It was beautiful, the hectic colors writhing together in the sky were a sea of shimmering greens and yellows, like an ocean from another world, beckoning. Edge had seen them before, of course he had, a hundred times. He'd been working at the station for over two years now and the Aurora Australis was a common sight for him.

Rus stood next to him, staring up in wonder with the soft tears on his face reflecting those colors, and Edge wondered when he stopped bothering to look up.

He let Rus stare up at the sky, at the auroras, until he was shivered visibly. Even then, Edge waited until he turned on his own and climbed back into the Cat.

Edge followed him and started it back up, turning the heat on high. They rode in silence until Edge pulled up in front of the door to the main building.

“Go on in,” Edge told him, “Dinner will be starting soon. I’ll get the Sno-Cat sorted this time.”

Rus didn’t move at first, only sat with his gloved hands in his lap. Then he said, quietly, “thank you, for letting me watch for so long.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say it was his job; he was a guide, and if Rus wanted to waste his precious, expensive time here staring at the auroras, it wasn’t up to Edge to make that choice for him. The words felt wrong, hovering unspoken and instead he said, equally soft. "You don't need to thank me for that."

"no?” Rus ducked his head and smiled, the faint, real one of before. “maybe this would be better.”

Before Edge interpret that, he leaned in. The softest touch brushed Edge’s cheek bone, less a kiss and more the spirit of one.

He closed his sockets and inhaled sharply. He could smell his own laundry detergent and something else, the sweet tang of unfamiliar magic. Then that light pressure was gone and so was Rus.

The door closed behind him with a clang and Edge sat a minute longer, gripping the steering wheel tight enough to set his fingers aching. Then he drove the Sno-Cat over to the shed to put it up for the night.

Before he went in, he tugged off a glove and touched his cheek bone with bare fingertips, smoothing over the rough, scarred bone. He shook his head and his tangled thoughts away and went inside.

Dinner was soon and he wasn’t about to miss it.

~~*~~

Read Chapter Five

[daybreak-mun]

Past!Aurora thing I came up with:

Crystal and Shade stare at each other in relative silence, minus the howling wind that the latter’s home dealt with this time of year. Around the purified shade lie several assassin’s bodies, most of which were dispatched by the magic rifle wielding girl. Eventually, Shade broke the silence, looking directly at the mostly defenseless child in front of her, who was still clutching a small staff fashioned from wood.

“I’m not even gonna ask why you came out here. But I will ask how.” She knew that if assassins were after her too, then this had to be the next Earth guardian... But how did she manage to slip out of her forest village this far? Even if they weren’t aware of her status and future abilities, Shade knew they kept as many eyes out into the wilderness as possible. After a few minutes to think of a response, the forest villager answered.

“I just wanted to explore for a while... It’s no fun only doing the same things all day every day...”

Another minute passed before Shade began to break out into laughter. She knew personally how that felt, up until her powers revealed themselves. Before that, she was always in the village, doing whatever chores her area was assigned for the day. Given she was a bit less than two years older, she knew it wouldn’t be long until Crystal’s showed. But until then, she was about as helpless as many of the other villagers.

“Ahahaha! Oh don’t I know the feeling, kid!” She paused for a few beats to stop laughing, before a grin spread across her face. “But trust me, if you’re who I think you are, things are about to get a lot more interesting for you! But for now, c’mon. We should get you home before someone else shows up!” She gently punched the other on the shoulder, eliciting a small ‘ow’ from her. “And you’ve got some explaining to do to the head honchos of your village!”

The two began walking back out of the barrens towards the lush greenery in the distance. It would be about an hour or two of walking to arrive, so Crystal spoke up for once.

“What’s your name...?”

“Hm?”

“I w- want to know the name of the person who saved me...”

“... It’s Shade Nightfall. And yours?”

“Crystal Earthquake.” Shade had to resist the urge to let out a chuckle at the name. Someone ran out of last names apparently. “... And Shade?”

“Yea?”

.... “Thanks... For saving me back there, I mean.”

“Heh, that’s part of being a member of the Dawnbreaker Guild. You protect the innocent...” She grinned as she looked into Crystal’s emerald green eyes. “No matter how stupid they can be sometimes.” Shade let out a playful snicker, to which Crystal let out a ‘hey’, punctuated by a punch on her shoulder. It left a small bruise, but that’s to be expected from how tough her village’s people are.

Shade had a feeling this was only the beginning of their friendship. She knew that, after her powers showed and she got some training under her belt, the two would be seeing quite a bit of each other...

[avani008]

Maleficent (from the 2014 movie) for hours & days, 6^2. Feel free to leave out this one if you're not too familiar/a fan of it.

morning after

If there is any sensation in the world worse than reaching towards her shoulder blades to find the bloody and broken stumps of her wings, Maleficent does not know it: and all that matters anymore is to make sure Stefan feels her pain. 

high noon

She toys, at first, with the idea of challenging the new human King to a duel–to humiliate him before all his subjects when he is inevitably defeated is no little thing– but no, she decides, she wants more. She must ensure that her name is remembered forever in the kingdom’s lore, and feared as much. That is the only way the Moors will be safe.

Diaval squawks in disgust. Maleficent ignores him. 

lady of the evening

“She’s–she’s barely clothed!” Stefan stammers, turning a rather ridiculous shade of red as the fae passes by, and Maleficent giggles. 

“Fairies have their own sense of propriety,” she explains. “We’re not so stuffy as you humans.”

sunset years

Seventy years pass, and though they take their toll on Aurora, Maleficent is unchanged. So it is with the fae, who rarely age: instead, they only wink out of existence when their years come to an end as though no more than dreams. 

“Stay with me,” Aurora begs, extending a hand no less lovely for its liver spots and fine wrinkles–though maybe it is only to Maleficent’s eye it appears thus. 

She takes it anyway. “Always,” she promises. 

ships in the night

The Moors remember King Henry’s bride, an unfortunate woman born with enough fairy blood to be bound by a fearsome curse–and bound to Henry when he inadvertently broke it. Her suffering ended when she perished in a suspicious fall down the stairs, but not before she gave birth to a single daughter: the only heir Henry would ever produce. 

As a child, Maleficent dreamed of saving the poor Princess Leila, of convincing to abandon an uncaring sire for their cause, and up until she walks into the Stefan’s castle, she still toys with the thought.

But she sees Leila sitting there beside Stefan, all unknowing of what he had done to win her hand in marriage–and what would Henry’s daughter care, even if she did know?–and cannot like her, even a little bit. Months later, allows Leila’s funeral cortege to pass by unmourned. 

bad moon rising

The Queen labors for an entire day, but it is not until nightfall that her daughter is born. The human populace cheer like the fools they are, but Maleficent watches the blood run moon rise–and grins. 

[sintheyokai]

(LCRoA-3) Chapter 2: It’s No Fairytale

A/N: Sorry this took forever, I've just been REALLY out of it lately (that and I wasn't really proud of the word count for a good long while)... But on that note, I hope to finish this story, so I'll try to post more often!

A/N 2: The foreign language in this is one that I wrote myself. I wrote my own alphabet and pronunciations of letters (because I'm THAT lazy to not play or watch Azran Legacy and get clues from there). The language is, no surprise, called Akbian. I will also provide translations for ACTUAL languages and I'm sorry if they start to get annoying. Now you may proceed.

Word Count: 7214

Five figures, all gathered around in the back of a dark alleyway. The youngest held up her forefinger, a single dim light glowing from the tip.

"Wichihrih eex Ooleebroondoolee?" the eldest asked, pushing a strand of crimson hair behind her ear and careful to not hit the bow on her back with her hand.

(Where is Umbrundum?)

"Pr-Prawbahbisleheer shahooxeenig t-tirawoobislehih..." the second youngest of the group stuttered, dagger in hand

(Probably causing trouble...)

"Roodih... Eerawoor wawrdix shoot eerawoor ihslehdihr xiwooltihr, Preesha..." an emotionless voice came echoing from the shadows.

(Rude... Your words cut your elder sister, Prica...)

A woman, Umbrundum, emerged from the shadows of the alley, her staff grand and beautiful compared to the black hoodie and jeans that she wore. Her older sister gave her an irked look.

"Wichaht chahvih eerawoo bihn oop taw?" she asked.

(What have you been up to?)

"Ahx Preesha xaheerx... Mawnd chahx swawoond xawmihawnih, ahnd chih weesleh ahreevih shawmih neegichitswahsleh..."

(As Prica says... Mond has found someone, and he will arrive come nightfall...)

The third eldest sighed and shook her head in response to her sister.

"Fooeetih ahn awd baweer... trayed taw sweegichit mih..." Umbrundum told the clearly disappointed sister.

(Quite an odd boy... tried to fight me...)

"Ee chahvih ahslehxaw swawoond a mahn... chim ahnd chix axeewooltahnt peefooih meer eentihrihwoolt." the shadow woman stated, sending the youngest into a fit of giggles.

(I have also found a man... him and his assistant pique my interest.)

"Eerawoo? Eentihrihwooltihd? Swooneer!" she teased.

(You? Interested? Funny!)

"Chix xawoosleh eex xipsleheet een tiwaw, Shawreeootahnah... wicheeslehih chix axeewooltahnt, tichrih. Ee wawndihr..." the second eldest mused.

(His soul is split in two, Corioanna... while his assistant, three. I wonder...)

She pulled out the stone ball and tossed it to the third youngest, who caught it.

"Awn ahnawtichihr nawtih, Ee rihtrayevihd tichim. Ahsleh eenixeedih."

(On another note, I retrieved them. All inside)

The third youngest grinned, quickly proceeding to open the ball and pull out her emerald earring. She put it in her left ear before taking her third elder sister's diamond necklace and handing it to her. The ball went around, with each sister, except the second, removing an item. The eldest, her garnet bracelets; Prica, her sapphire ring; and Corioana, her citrine hairband before making quick work of placing her hair into a comfortable ponytail.

"Ooleebroondoolee, ahrih eerawoo awehahrih tichaht-" The eldest looked to the sister in question before she was interrupted by said sister.

(Umbrundum, are you aware that-)

"Eerihx, Ahleesah. Tichih Eeshihrx. Ee xahweh awnih ahtahshgoo a wawmihn ihahrslehayer."

(Yes, Ajiza. The Icers. I saw one attack a woman earlier.)

This caused Ajiza to sigh in exasperation.

"Tichihn wih moowoolt rihmaheen lawweh." she said before turning to the third youngest and third eldest, "Veerdahn, Gahlslehnzhoo, shihp wahtishich. Wih weesleh waheet oonteesleh Mawndix shichaweeshih shawmihx."

(Then we must remain low.... Vydan, Gajlnx, keep watch. We will wait until Monds choice comes.)

After this was said, Corioana's finger returned to normal, the light disappearing as they sat in the darkness, waiting for nightfall.

Time- 3:05 p.m.

It hadn't taken Ernest that long to stop foaming and leaking goop, but he had been forced to lie down on the long couch for a bit.

The room was still in a silent state, no one really daring to speak. Ernest suddenly realized just how many people were standing up and felt a pang of guilt. He began to get up.

"Mr. Layton, Ms. Baker, I can get up if-"

"NO." Aunt Okri fiercely said, pointing an index finger directly at him, "You will keep your ass right in that couch and not get up until we are satisfied with your health! So lay your ass back the fuck down!"

"Greeves, listen to my aunt." Alfendi warned, "She told us herself that she has the beating skills of... um... Kat remind me again?" he turned to his sister. The brunette gave a small smile.

"A hormonal teenager who's just been denied chocolate on their period." she managed to say with a semi-straight face. Alfendi held back a laugh before turning back to Ernest.

"That. So I suggest if you don't want to have any broken bones, stay down."

Ernest, only slightly amused from the previous joke, nodded and layed back down again.

Katrielle noticed that Lucy had quickly fallen asleep against the wall. How, she had no clue, but with a smirk, she lightly slapped her friend. She notice her ginger hair grow a slight shade of bright red rather quickly and backed up. A pair of angry red eyes opened up.

"Not fuckin' funny, Faun, I thought we agreed: no smackin' me when I'm asleep." Loopy said. Katrielle raised an eyebrow.

"Lucy? Are you al-"

"Who th' fuck are you?" She turned to Alfendi, "Ya know this bitch?"

Placid closed his eyes, sighing, "Loopy, I would very much appreciate it if you didn't call my sister and Lucy's friend a 'bitch'."

Loopy raised an eyebrow and gave the very confused detective a look-over.

"Seems t'check out. Wrong foot, eh, love?" Loopy held out her hand in greeting, "Name's Loopy Lily. Ya know Longstockin'?"

Kat cautiously shook Loopy's hand, "Yes... Al, what's going on?"

"Ah, right," Potty came out and put his fingers to his eyelids, "You weren't around to meet Lily. Long story short, Daddy issues lead to the Lucy Baker you know to have a split personality like me. Only she can't share memories with other personalities like I can."

Katrielle looked at her friend, "How many?"

Loopy smirked and held up three fingers. "There's Longstockin', li'le Scotland Yard girl; Barde, who's shy as fuck and can't 'andle th' most basic tasks; then there's me~! The crazed serial killer: th' York-Lanc Fox~~!" She gave Lucy's friend an insane smile, then looked around the room, giving everyone a look-over.

"Well, well, who've we go' 'ere? Th' whole gang an' family, Red?"

Potty chuckled, "Yep." he then turned to his aunt, "And still waiting for an explanation from our aunt!"

Okri sighed and dropped her head in minor shame. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you..." she said, taking a few deep breaths before beginning her story.

"I'm pretty sure you all knew that my last adventure was not actually a simple government rebellion because they have something they shouldn't. I'm your aunt, I don't take jobs that boring; I'd die in a snap! No... While it is true they had something they shouldn't have, they didn't know at first. Obviously, that thing was the ball I was carrying around. Since you all opened it, I guess y'all saw what was in it?"

Seeing the group nod, Okri continued.

"Those items aren't exactly normal jewelry pieces ya find at home, and that hairband (yes Alfendi, knowing you, my nephew, I knew you'd question it) is of the same- call it what you will, I'll call it danger capacity- of the jewelry. As cliché as it sounds, put in the wrong hands or misused and you're conducting the end of the world. Didn't wanna risk the government trying to use it improperly."

Fauna raised her hand.

"Okay, I get that, but what's the big deal? Kat nearly died because some..." she gestured to the dead body, "Crazed bitch was after it."

"And with good reason." their aunt stared at the body and numerous glass shards on the floor, "Those things belong to the six empirical princesses of Akbadain. The statues that were stolen."

The room grew quiet.

"Kit-Kat," Sherl whispered, "Doesn't that mean... the woman you gave the ball to..."

"That was Ooleebroondoolee." Okri answered the pooch, "The princess of shadow."

"Eh?" Kat gave her aunt a surprised look, "You can hear him, Aunt Okri?" she then noticed everyone, aside from Flora and Ernest, giving Sherl wild looks. Her aunt nodded, "Guess everyone else can too."

Loopy gave a wild grin, eyes almost glowing. "A talkin' pooch! Now this is interestin'!"

Sherl instinctively backed up from the crazy eyed killer.

Potty dug through his ears for a bit before taking a deep breath, "OkaY! Ignoring the fact that the dog talks, what other princesses are there, aside from... Ooleebroondoolee....? What's their deal?"

Okri took a seat on top of her niece's desk.

"Well, listing them from eldest to youngest," she began, "There's: Ahleesah Shreemaw of flames, Ooleebroondoolee Shayewoolt of shadows, Gahlslehnzhoo Spahfah of stars, Veerdan Green of flowers, Preesha Bloo of pools, and Shawreeootahnah Kaye of light. As for their whole schpiel, the rumor is, when the Azran Dolls destroyed the civilization, Akbadain was warned by one of their mercenaries, Aurora. The king and queen of Akbadain, Teetahn and Shawximeeah, agreed to go down with their city, but refused to let their children suffer a death from rebellion. So, the princesses were told to become statues until the time came where they would be safer than they were then. They just listened and did that, leaving their enhancory (enhance-ery) items behind and weapons separate."

"Auntie, I'm pretty sure 'enhancory' is not a word." Flora piped in.

"That's what they were called by Akbians, Flora, I'm calling it by the same damn name." Okri replied, "Each princess has a magic ability pertaining to their title: Ahleesah, fire; Oolee, shadows; ya get the idea. Those items in the ball were called 'enhancory items' because they, as their name pretty much suggests, enhanced each princess's natural ability to a nearly god like level. It's why they're hella dangerous when they're misused."

Suddenly, there was knock on the door. No one moved a muscle.

Another knock, a bit louder and quicker this time. Aunt Okri began walking to the door. Alfendi and Katrielle gave her a bewildered stare.

"If you're worried it's one of those bitches again," she pointed to the body, "Let me ease your conscious." Okri said.

"They don't knock like that."

She went to answer the door while the others stood, processing the story and information told to them.

Aunt Okri had never been one to lie to her family when they were children, lest she considered them too young (of which she did rarely). So even if this did seem like nothing more but a child's fairytale...

Could it really be true?

Were six ancient princess really just walking about the streets of London?

Okri suddenly came back into the room, a woman trailing behind her.

"Kat, honey, do you-" Aunt Okri tried to say, before being interrupted.

"Katrielle Layton, I might actually require your help." the thin, dark skinned woman said with a hint of desperation.

"Emilianna Perfetti? You? Need my help?" the detective exclaimed in playful mockery.

Alfendi heard Loopy mutter under her breath, "Oh Jesus fuck it's logic bitch." He had to hold back a laugh at the insult. The restraint caused the criminal analyst to turn and look at him.

"Inspector Layton, are you not supposed to be at the Yard solving the case given to you earlier this afternoon?" she said irritably.

"See, I would, Perfetti," Potty retorted, "But my sister beat me to the punch."

Emilianna pursed her lips and gave Lady Layton a sharp look.

"And what... mystical solution has your sister offered?"

"The statues are alive, hon." Okri answered her promptly. Emilianna chuckled.

"Even for you, Katrielle, that seems rather far fetched!"

"Well, guess wot Perfuck-ti!" Loopy threw an insult at the analyst, "We're pre'y fuckin' sure it's true."

"And how can you be sure?"

"Because one is literally at the door right now." Okri was looking into the hall and out the door. Before she could step forward, Emilianna yelped, her eyes glued to the corpse on the ground.

"Wh-What is the meaning of this?!" she asked, trembling ever so slightly, "Which one of you did this!?"

Loopy let out a snicker, "Funny 'ow, even though you're a criminal analyst, you don't see the dead body right away~"

There was a muffled cry outside the door, "Chihslehaaaawwww!?"

(Helloooo?)

"Shawmeenig, Shawreeootah!" Okri responded, hurrying to the door.

(Coming, Corioan!)

"Wait!" Emilianna tried to stop the Layton aunt, but to no avail. She turned to the group in the room, "What are we going to do about..." she gestured wildly to the bleeding mass, "THIS?"

Before anyone could answer, Aunt Okri returned, a peppy woman close behind. Her bright golden hair was tied up in ponytail. She dawned a bright blue tank top, paired with a white puff skirt but no shoes. Her yellow eyes appeared to shine with the light of a thousand suns, and her pale skin was almost translucent. She was quick to look at the body, puffing her cheeks up in mild annoyance.

"Deed Oolee daw tichaht?" she asked. Okri was quick to answer, "Eerihx."

(Did Um do that?)(Yes)

The bubbly woman made an odd noise of frustration, before turning to the student on the couch. She giggled.

"Deed Mawnd beetih eerawoo, gooeed?" she asked.

(Did Mond bite you, kid?)

"Eerihx, Preenishihx." Ernest answered, not even thinking about the words that came out of his mouth until he finished saying them.

(Yes, Princess)

The girl giggled again before taking a small thorn and vial out. "Naw chahrd swihsleheenigix, boot meer xiwooltihr wahntix taw ihzhoopslehawrih." she said, approaching him.

(No hard feelings, but my sister wants to explore)

Ernest gave her a concerned look before she shoved the thorn into his arm. If that didn't send the group into a controlled frenzy, it did when they saw that Ernest's blood wasn't red, but rather black. Leaving the blood covered thorn in for a while, the woman giggled again before waving to everyone. For some reason, each one of them waved back.

She soon took out the thorn and placed it in the vial, closing it tightly. Getting up, she walked over to the window, basking in the afternoon glow. She turned to everyone and waved again.

"Gawdibeerih!" She exclaimed, before dissolving into light, disappearing into thin air. Katrielle turned to Ernest.

(Goodbye!)

"Where did you learn that language?" she asked. Ernest shrugged. Okri piped in to answer her niece's question.

"Snake bite." Everyone turned to her, Emilanna only opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. Okri continued.

"That snake is Mond Tanz, the immortal pet of Ooleebroondoolee. His bite marks you as a guide for the princesses, turning your blood black until they understand the era they're in."

"What drugs were put in this room!?" Emilianna finally snapped, violently jabbing a finger into Okri's chest, "All of this defies logic, and I believe you're the one behind it!"

Okri smirked and let out a hearty, guttural laugh, "You're funny! I like you!" She exclaimed, casually brushing off the analyst's accusations. She continued.

"You think I drugged the whole room because you're the type to decline fantasy subjects? The type to not play a bit of Murderous Blue's Clues and Life or Death Cinderella? Listen sweetheart, the shit that's going down now? Oh, it's nothing compared to what might happen in the future. So I suggest you buckle the fuck up and take your logic goggles off, cause since you're here with us," she pointed to the dead woman, "You'll be made a target by things like her."

Emilianna was as pale as fresh driven snow, stealing glances at the corpse.

The room was quiet as everyone realized what the old Layton said, and it dawned on them, to their horror, that she was right.

They were all spotted together when they were attacked. And now that Perfetti was involved, she, too, was considered a threat to these ice haired people. They would hunt her, someone who had simply walked in for help with a case, until they knew she was dead.

"Does that mean..." Kat shyly whispered, "None of us are safe anymore?" Okri gave her frightened niece a slight frown.

"Yes, sweetie it does." she said pitifully, "Sleep in groups tonight, all of you. Gather knives, light fires, do the best you can to stay safe. I'm pretty sure it's obvious, but these things are brutal." she glanced at the dead one on the floor, "This one wasn't even much more than the tip of the iceberg."

"Excuse me, Mrs. Layton?" Emilianna raised a hand, putting it down once she had Okri's attention.

"Ms. Layton Senior, hon. Still single."

"Well, Ms. Layton Senior, might I ask what exactly ARE these things?"

Okri sighed.

"Ahgoobeeahn Eeshihrx. Or, in English, Akbian Icers. They're exiled Akbians that practice voodoo and ice magic, which was a banned practice and ability in Akbadain. They're also hella feral; these guys saw." she said as she looked at her family.

She turned to her nephew, "This shouldn't be too difficult for you, Al, but for the rest of you," she gestured to the others, "Try not to interact with people for more than a minute. Those things easily jump to conclusions, and talking to someone for too long makes them think they're involved. It's easy to unintentionally put a target on someone's back."

"Then should I be concerned for people like our forensic and janitor?" Alfendi asked, "I talked to them for a while."

Okri's eyes widened a little bit. "I'm not too sure," she said, "But it-"

Alfendi's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and looked at the name.

Pertinax

This concerned him. Hilda almost never called him personally, at least since the first Forbodium incident.

"Why's Busty callin' ya?" Loopy asked. Placid shrugged and answered, putting the phone on speaker.

He was greeted by shallow, frightened breathing.

"Al?" came Hilda on the other line, "Al, where are you?" she asked, quietly and frantically.

"At-" Alfendi shot his aunt a look. Was he allowed to disclose where he actually was? Okri nodded, and Potty continued, "I'm at my sister's agency, why?"

"Al, we need backup! Of any kind, I don't care, but we need it!"

At this point, everyone was on edge, hearts pounding.

"Hilda what's going on over there?" Potty asked, Loopy picking up quickly on the small trembling of his voice as he spoke.

"These... things...!" Hilda spat, "They-They got-!"

"Wichaht eex tichaht?"

(What is that?)

A dry, yet peppy voice spoke, loud enough to be heard on Alfendi's line.

"I-I don't understand you, I'm sorry! P-Please! S-Stay back, don't hurt me too!" they heard Hilda frantically speaking, almost shouting.

Then there were shouts in the background that sent the room into a cold sweat.

"Oi! Luv! Lemme go!"

"Shove off! Hey, mind the drip!"

The Icers had Dustin and Florence

In a split second, Alfendi, Loopy, and Fauna were out the door, sprinting with hard breaths towards Scotland Yard. Okri called out to them.

"Y'all, that's what the Icers want dammit!"

The trio didn't listen and only kept running, the others staying in the room.

Split point! --------------------- A- Alfendi's party K- Katrielle's party ----------------------------------

(A)

Time- 3: 36 p.m.

They arrived to see that a large group of Icers, perhaps 15 or 20, had swarmed the Yard, cornering every officer with chunks of sharpened ice. It didn't take long to also notice Florence and Dustin, trapped in a ring of black ice with an Icer fiercely grabbing either one by the wrist.

All pairs of piercing blue eyes suddenly turned to Alfendi, and he suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach.

"Eet eex cheem~!" A whisper came.

"Tichih awnih wichaw weesleh paheer weetich cheex sleheeswih~~!" Another responded.

(It is him~!)(The one who will pay with his life~~!)

"Let them go." Alfendi said with authority, hoping to intimidate them.

Some simply giggled while others smirked.

"Xawmihawnih eex awvihr shawnsweedihnt~"

(Someone is over confident~)

They gave wide grins, all 20 suddenly launching themselves at him. Alfendi reached for his gun before remembering he had left it in his office. Damn his forgetfulness! He panicked as the Icers' blades glistened.

He shut his eyes, hoping death would come quickly.

There were screams, but he felt no pain. It was suddenly quiet.

Was he dead?

He opened his eyes to see he was encased in a pink, translucent flower. He noticed a small hole in one of the petals, and peeked through.

His heartbeat quickened as he saw that a small handful of Icers had been impaled, through both the heart and head, with a vine, while the rest quickly dived onto the floor. He heard the voice of a woman from above, muffled from the thick petals.

"Eecheedah (Ihida), what a fuckin' pain...." it said, the flower receding back into the floor and freeing Alfendi. He turned to the woman who had spoken. She was thin, albeit looking more masculine than feminine, with scruffy short green hair and a bulkier build. She held two bladed wands, each adorned with an emerald. She gave Alfendi an irked glare.

"What exactly was your plan, bud?" she jeered, "Get your ass murdered?"

The remaining Icers snarled, 12 horrible, hair raising gargling noises echoing in the back of their throats. The green haired woman turned to them.

"Koot awp!" she shouted, "Eerawoo ahsleh kawooslehd nawt ihvihn bih chihrih!"

(Shut up!... You all should not even be here!)

She swung a blade at the ice, which shattered on contact. The two Icers inside scattered, dragging along their captives.

Suddenly, a flash of silver zipped through into the head of the Icer holding Florence, who promptly collapsed. Alfendi and the woman turned to see Loopy had thrown a knife.

"Sorry, beauties! Couldn't find th' knife quick enough." she said.

"Hey now, as long as you can throw that knife and kill, you're good!" the woman smirked. She looked back to Alfendi, "Noodle, make sure the sick girl's safe, got it? Bring her outside or something."

Clenching his teeth at the nickname 'Noodle', Alfendi crept over to Florence, whose drip had miraculously stayed in her arm.

He gently picked her up, somehow grabbing onto the drip before slipping outside unnoticed. He felt Florence stir awake.

"A-Al?" she croaked, "Wha... What happened? Where's everybody else?"

"Personally, I've no clue. Loopy and someone else are fighting the attackers, however, and I think Fauna is as well." he reassured the forensic. Actually...

Where was his sister?

He brushed the thought off, fairly confident that his sister could handle herself wherever she may be. He snuck a peek inside.

Loopy was in the air, vines holding her in place as several knives glistened in her hand. She threw one, and it swung around the room, hitting 3 targets. The green woman whooped in rapture.

"Ay now!" she cheered, "Keep it up, you're doin' great!" she suddenly spotted Alfendi by the door. She gave him a wild, childlike smile, "She with you?"

Alfendi nodded. Her grin grew.

"Keep 'er! She's a damn good shot!"

Blushing, Alfendi scanned the room to find Dustin. Everyone else had scattered when the fighting started, so it shouldn't have been a problem.

And yet, he couldn't find the Icer grasping the pale blue jumpsuit of the janitor.

"Al!"

He turned around to see the Icer, Dustin thrown over her shoulder, directly behind him, teeth bared and nails poised to strike his throat. Upon being spotted, however, she fled, sweeping Florence and her drip off the pavement.

Alfendi quickly followed, ignoring the ginger woman staring from across the street.

He ran and ran, but eventually lost sight of her and Florence.

My God, Placid thought, Where the hell is she going?

(K)

Time- 3:32 p.m.

Katrielle watched her aunt, the room silent as Okri blankly stared out the door.

"Ms. Layton," Emilianna broke the silence, "Aren't you worried about your nephew?"

"Al?" she let out a short burst of laughter, "That shinless, noodly body's a lot tougher than it looks, Alfendi can handle himself! As long as he doesn't panic, he'll be good."

Emilianna nodded and Ernest began to sit up. Okri snapped her fingers.

"Greeves." she growled it as a warning. Ernest turned to look at her, still sitting,  and the group panicked.

One eye was, yet again, guzzling black by the gallon, while the other remained normal. No constricting, no dilating. Just his normal pupil size.

"No, no, it's fine Ms. Layton Senior, I feel fantastic!" he said.

Katrielle pointed to her left eye, "You may feel that way, but you certainly don't look that way!"

"What do you mean, Ms. Layton?"

"Are you joking? Your eye is going berserk again!"

Ernest's hand immediately went up to his face, fingers getting coated in the black goop. He pulled his hand away instinctively, and it trailed from his cheek like a sick, disgusting slime. Flora, cautiously reached out her hand, taking a bit of slime with her finger and putting it up to her nose. She sniffed it.

"Odd..." she mused, "It doesn't smell like anything." she looked at the gang. "Wish me luck." she said before putting the slimed finger in her mouth; almost everyone made some noise of distress.

She kept the stuff in her mouth for a while, face neutral until she grabbed a tissue and spat it out.

"Doesn't taste weird either; although I could've sworn I tasted a hint of blood in there."

"Would that not be something to, I don't know, perhaps worry about?!" Emilianna urged. Okri raised her hand to wave it off.

"Not really. The stuff's part of his bloodstream, but it's not his actual blood per say. Of course, it's obviously a thicker consistency, so it has a bit of trouble integrating itself in." she said. When she only received odd looks in response, she sighed, "So it's his blood, but at the same time it's not. It's more of an unnecessary blood donation that he (prolly) neither wanted nor needed."

Ernest pointed to the dripping streaks of black. "So, if I understand correctly, this is nothing more than a blood overflow? There's too much, so it's releasing itself?"

"Yeah. Just be glad it's not coming out your mouth or your ass." Okri instinctively reached to caress the latter, "Had that happen once when I met an Akbian mercenary... NOT fun."

Katrielle and Flora giggled.

"However," Okri's tone grew much more serious, "While it's not a personal threat, we should throw caution to the wind. If you're suddenly spilling black, that could mean something's nearby."

Flora's ears perked up at the phrase "spilling black".

"You used to tell Alfendi that..." she said, "Whenever someone we didn't know came to the cottage; 'Now don't go spilling black, Alfendi.'"

"Oh yeah!" Katrielle chirped, "You told me that too, sometimes! Never explained it though..."

"Well," Okri took a deep breath,"When Ahgoobiahn Kahdihx, Akbian Shades, sense a threat, they start leaking black from an orifice, usually the eyes. But there were some that were complete nervous wrecks, like the ones with social anxiety. So even if there wasn't an immediate threat, they'd spew the black blood. That's why, whenever Al thought there was a threat when it was really an old friend, I told him to not 'spill black'."

Katrielle looked at her assistant.

"Ernest, now would be the time to tell us if you have anxiety."

Ernest shook his head.

"Wait a doggone minute!" Sherl barked, "How come Pinstripes isn't shaking like he was before?"

"Prolly because he's gotten used to it and the toxicity. It's mixed and molded to fit both his blood flow and blood type." Okri answered the pooch, "Call it a part of him now, if you will."

The front door suddenly opened, Okri whipping out a Bowie knife from her bag and holding it near her chest. No sooner was it out before it was flung across the room, pinning itself against the wall near Flora. Okri immediately relaxed.

"Slehahdeer Shayewoolt, a wahrneenig nihzhoot teemih wawooslehd bih swahntawoolteesh." she said rather irked. The door closed, and a woman's shadow stretched across the floor, rising to form the hooded woman, a thick black scarf round her neck.

(Lady Ciest, a warning next time would be fantastic.)

"Slehahdeer Slehaheertawn, Ee bihslehayevih eet eex eerawoor lawb taw goonawweh wichaw eex ahreeveenig..."

(Lady Layton, I believe it is your job to know who is arriving...)

"Who are you?" Emilianna gave the princess a hostile glare. Ooleebroondoolee turned to the analyst, face devoid of emotion. The scarf began moving and spoke to Emilianna.

"Ssomeone you besst resspect..." a snake head rose out of the scaly mass to look at Emilianna, who turned pale and began trembling.

"Al-Alright, why does the snake talk?" she asked Okri.

"Mawnd Tahns, koot awp." Okri ignored Perfetti, instead responding to the snake, "Kih eex a beet deexawrayentihd. A slehawgeeshahsleh pihrxawn, eerawoo xih."

(Mond Tanz, shut up.) (She is a bit disoriented. A logical person, you see.)

The reptile hissed in acknowledgment as Oolee turned to Ernest. After seeming to inspect him for a moment, she snapped her fingers.

Ernest stood up and immediately got on one knee, as if the snap were more of an order than a gesture. His left arm went to his opposite shoulder, grasping it loosely as he held his right palm over his heart.

"Swawr eerawoo ahnd Ahgoobahdaheen Ee wooltahnd." he said, in tone much more menacing than normal.

(For you and Akbadain I stand)

Oolee snapped again, and Ernest stood up once more; one eye dripping black while the other constricted and dilated rapidly.

"Chahndslehih tichihm..." she said, before glancing at Katrielle, "Eerawoor slehahdeerx sleheeswih dihpihndix awn eet."

Blushing, Ernest nodded, "Eet kahsleh bih dawnih."

(Handle them) (Your lady's life depends on it)...(It shall be done)

Oolee, with a noise close to contempt, disappeared into shadows as the only other door was destroyed.

Split point end

Alfendi finally caught up with the kidnapping Icer, tracking it all the way to his sister's agency.

He saw the door busted, and feared for the worst as he peered inside.

There, both eyes dripping black, stood Ernest.

He stood between Katrielle and an Icer that, from the looks of it, had launched at him (or at the very least, Al's sister).

He was seizing it by the wrists as it squirmed in his grasp, Florence and Dustin dropped on the floor.

The Icer raised a foot to kick the boy in the shins, but was a tad late as Ernest twisted his body, swinging the woman  with what must have been enhanced strength.

She landed with a loud thud against the wall, a slight crack eliciting from her spine.

"Pinstripes! What on earth are you doing!?" Sherl barked in a frenzy.

Ernest did not listen, however, as his hand darted to grab a shard of glass from the previous Icer incident, the piece slicing his palm and staining itself with black blood. He creeped towards the twitching body, raising the impromptu blade over his head and aiming for the creature's heart.

Katrielle stepped forward, perhaps to try and stop him, but both Alfendi and Okri grabbed her shoulders tightly.

"Xaw eerawoo wawooslehd rahtichihr wahtishich cheem gooeesleh mih tichahn wooltawp cheem..." The Icer croaked as Ernest plunged the glass shard into her chest, a spray of indigo blood coating and staining his top and hands.

(So you would rather watch him kill me than stop him...)

Ernest turned to Katrielle, gaping at him in horror and discomfort, and bowed, both hands behind his back.

"Gawd wawrgoo. Rihwoolt, baweer." Okri told him, pointing to the sofa. Ernest, understanding the command, laid back down on the couch, his eyelids fluttering shut as Loopy and the green haired woman came in.

Okri practically yanked the forensic and janitor off the floor, promptly waking them up. She then searched her bag and fished out two shoddy pendants. She gave one to each of them, sternly speaking as they began to focus on her.

"Put these on and head straight home. Don't stop to talk to anyone, call saying you can't come in to work for a while, and pick up food if you have to because this could take a hell of a long time before you can step out y'all's houses again."

She looped the necklaces around their necks as they nodded and began walking home without a word. As they left, Fauna walked in.

"Al, where the fuck did you leave your gun??" she immediately asked.

"On my desk Fauna! Is that honestly why you were missing for half the danger!?" Potty shouted in disdain. Fauna raised an eyebrow and barked back.

"Duh, genius! I was gonna run and get it for you so you could actually kill somethin', but I couldn't find it in the fucking tornado wreckage you've called your office!"

"You do need to clean your office, Al." Kat agreed. Her brother simply gestured to her messy desk in response.

Suddenly, there was a click, and Loopy yelped, "Uh, love, would really appreciate it if ya would put tha' thin' down!"

"Chill, hotshot, just wanna see what it does!"

Everyone turned and panicked to see the green haired girl gently holding a gun. Alfendi stared at it before doing a late double take.

"Now hold up one minute, that's my gun!" Placid exclaimed. The girl's attention snapped to him.

"Cool! What's toe di- What dots- Towhat-" she stopped speaking, sick of her own stumbling tongue. She stared into space, face disheartened before shoving the gun into Alfendi's hands. "SHOW."

Taking the firearm, he cocked it before aiming at the corpse by the window and pulling the trigger.

BANG!

A new hole appeared in the Icer's head instantly. The green girl jumped, frightened before grinning.

"Damn!" she breathed, "A tiny death bringer!"

"Slehahdeer Green, Ee rihahsleheer ticheengoo eerawoo kawooslehd giht bashgoo taw eerawoor xiwooltihrx." Okri told the woman rather urgently.

(Lady Grin, I really think you should get back to your sisters)

The lady groaned before grabbing something from her pocket and tossing it to Flora. The latter opened her hand to see a little flower bell.

"You seem safe. Just give that thing a ring an' I'll be there quick as I can. Name's Veerdahn by the way. Veerdahn Green."

With those parting words, Veerdahn wrapped the Icer corpses in vines before leaping out the window with them.

Ernest was suddenly back up again, eyes perfectly normal. He raised an eyebrow in utter confusion.

"I..." He said rather puzzled, "I was sitting up... Why am I lying back down on the couch?"

"Don't worry bout it, Greeves." Okri quickly said, looking at the nearby clock.

Almost 6

"It's getting late, and we're gonna have to choose groups to sleep in."

Alfendi grabbed Lucy, "I'm taking Lou and none of y'all can stop me."

Fauna smirked, "A'ight, then Auntie can go with ya an' make sure ya don't get too stupid~"

Potty let out a short burst of laughter, "HA! Oh my sweet... dear... innocent older sister... You CLEARLY have not known Auntie Okri that long because she would NOT discourage that ooOOOOHHHH no she'd force me and Lou into a closet fulla aphrodisiacs if it meant a chance at grand nieces and nephews."

"This is true." Okri confirmed with a cheeky, satisfied smile, "And I totally would, Alfendi, thank you for the idea. Although, Fauna, I think you should go with them. It's easier if we stick to familiar groups. Of course..." everyone looked at Emilianna.

"I'll go with the elder Layton." She said in a rather condescending tone, "That way, Katrielle can have her little dream team."

Okri nodded, "Good! Cause then that means I can take you and Flora and protect the weaker links in this dysfunctional chain."

Flora huffed playfully, "Hey now!" she exclaimed. Alfendi smirked.

"It's true~"

"Really now? Then please explain how I can nearly beat your skinny shinless ASS Mr. Noodly Noodle Legs."

"Now you fucking take that back, missy, see here, you may be older, BUT I-"

"Alfendi Layton, cool your man tits," Okri joked, "Let's just get ready to leave. Lou, you might wanna call your momma and siblings. From what I've eavesdropped, you prolly don't wanna make them targets again, am I right?"

Lou blinked once.

Twice.

Three times.

"Wh-What?"

"I said-"

Okri was interrupted by the poor DC's high pitched squeak.

"M-! M-M-M-Mr. Alfendi!?" she panicked, "Wh-Who are-!"

Potty grabbed his assistant tightly, holding her close and petting her hair.

"There there, calm down dear..." he cooed, "Family and friends, Lucille, no need to fret..."

"My, Alfendi!" Okri chirped, "You were never this calm with any of us unless you were your trauma made self!"

"Auntie, I'm gonna have to politely ask you to HUSH."

"A-Al, where are we? We-We were jus' at my folks' place, r-right?"

"Yes, love, but we got called to work." Alfendi pointed to his family, "Those are my sisters, Flora and Katrielle (Lucy's actually Kat's friend), my sister's friends, Ernest and Sherl, and my Aunt, Okri Lay-"

"A-Aunt!? Ohgolly I'm so sorry! I 'aven't brushed my 'air, I din't get ta shower this mornin', oh god golly I prolly look like a right awful mess!"

"Oh no, honey, you're fine!" Okri crossed over and gave Barde a gentle hug, "You look fine and dandy, just beautiful!" Potty smiled before he noticed his aunt giving him a very fierce glare, mouthing:

YOU BETTER FUCKING KEEP HER

He flushed for a split second before taking hold of Lucille again. "Luce," he said, "You might not like what I'm about to explain to you... Do you still want an explanation?"

Lucille gave a shy little giggle. "Well, I kinda need one t'understand wot's goin' on, don't I?"

Potty smiled and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

"We just met a few ancient princesses, and we're being targeted by some psychos who hate them. My aunt dragged us into this, by the way; you need to call your family and tell them you won't be home for a while because if you go to them, they'll become targets too."

Poor Lucille slowly went pale and wide eyed, only nodding and reaching towards the phone in response.

"So that's set in stone?" Flora asked, "It's Lucy, Al and Fauna; Kat, Ernest and Sherl; and me, Emilianna and Auntie. Right?"

Nothing was said, so presumably that was the plan.

"Then, let's get a move on." Al said, "The girls and I'll go to my apartment, where I can call in to temporarily check out of work; Kat, you and your group can stay here at your agency (Ernest, you might want to call your school); and..." he looked to his aunt, "Auntie, do you have a hotel room? Or some other place to stay?"

Okri nodded, "Mhm! Bout a good 30 minute walk away from here though, so girls, you better fucking deal with it and work those calves!"

"Understood, captain..." Emilianna muttered.

"I'll start setting up the agency to be lodging." Katrielle said, "We'll also have to close temporarily..."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Kit Kat?" Sherl asked accusingly.

"What do you mean?"

Flora chuckled. "Perhaps he means your... healthy appetite?"

Katrielle huffed. "Then how about you watch Lucy? I don't know about Loopy or Lucille, but I know Lucy eats as much as I do!"

"Lucille, ya don't gotta worry bout!" Fauna piped up, "She can eat an apple that'll last her till dinner, where she eats, like, a fuckin', half a ham sandwich. Loopy's the foodie time bomb you have to worry about!"

"How so?" Placid asked.

"It's always random." Fauna started, "Some days she'll eat less than Lucille, others she'll eat twice as much as Lucy."

"So, just gather food as if it's the start of the apocalypse."

"Yes. Although you technically could also sign up for delivery."

"Or just have them eat the minimal god-knows-what you eat!" Okri exclaimed before taking a sip of water.

"Understood, pray my wallet can handle it."

Lucille suddenly came back.

"I-I'm done! I-I-I also gave mum th' kids feedin' schedule, Fauna, case ya were wonderin'..."

"Oh, shit, thanks Lou!"

Lucille shifted shyly in response.

"So are we finally done?" Emilianna queried, "We seem to have been discussing this for a lot longer than expected."

"Yes, Ms. Impaziente (*impatient in Italian*), we are finally done. We can go on over to your place and grab whatever shit you need. And Kat?"

"Yes?" Her niece asked, already pulling a blanket out of her desk.

"Smotret' na nego." Okri glanced at Ernest, "Ubedites' chto on v bezopasnosti."

Kat nodded, "Sa'afeal, aleima."

Okri gave the boy another short glance. "Kare ha sotodashi you tosuru deshou. Kono mondai ga hassei shi ta baai, kare o ki ka se te. Seguirlo."

"We'll be fine, Auntie. And don't you worry, I'll be sure to."

Russian: Watch him. Make sure he's safe.

Arabic: I will, aunt

Japanese/Spanish: He will try to go outside. If that happens, let him./Follow him.

The large group dispersed, each trio going out a couple of minutes between each other and leaving Kat's group in the agency. Ernest turned to his mentor.

"You speak Arabic?" he inquired. Katrielle nodded.

"And Russian, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Dutch, the list could go on forever and ever." She handed the blanket in her hand to Ernest, "Aunt Okri taught us a lot of languages whenever Dad was on an adventure. Alfendi and Fauna spent a lot of time with her, so they'd know a more about her activities, but I do remember the particular lesson she gave me in archery!"

"Arch- I'm sorry WHAT." Ernest went wide eyed. Katrielle waved a hand to brush it off, "I'll show you some other day! Don't worry! For now, let's get to bed; we'll need it for tomorrow."

Not another word was said throughout the evening. Not while they disposed of the Icer corpses, not while they fixed the doors, not while dinner was had, not even while setting up camp in the office. In fact, the only time words were exchanged seemed to be when Ernest had a sudden blood overflow, and even then, barely much was said.

When it was time for lights out, Ernest suddenly felt very uncomfortable, like an iron ball of dread was just plopped into his stomach. He contemplated consulting with Miss Layton, but, against his better judgement, decided not to.

Slowly, he shut his eyes, drifting off into a peaceful dreamland.

Time- 1:32 a.m.

Katrielle awoke with a start, jolting up to the sound of a hand hitting glass. She turned to see Ernest, just standing in front of the door and tapping it with his palm. Remembering what her Aunt Okri said, Kat got up and opened the door, noticing how her assistant's face was pale and lifeless, black smudges everywhere.

Ernest simply ignored the gesture, walking outside as Katrielle followed at a fair distance behind. She crept in the shadows as he entered an alleyway. Standing behind a dumpster, she saw Ernest be approached by six women.

The statues she had been looking at just earlier that day...

She strained to hear what was said, but the voices only seemed to lower and lower until it was silent. Instead, she watched as they extracted black blood from the boy's eyes, putting it in a glass vial before the princess with crimson hair took a sip. It was then passed around: Oolee, then orange haired princess, Veerdahn, the blue princess, and finally Shawreeootah.

Katrielle suddenly felt woozy, swaying back and forth. Taking her aunt's mentality, she supposed she had seen too much. Slowly, her vision went black as she felt herself collapse.

A/N: Kay, lemme know a few things in the comments:

1. Was this chapter okay? Be honest please! I just honestly feel a little iffy since I feel like I was forcing comedy and honestly feel like this was slapped together in the end.

2. I've wanted to know for a while, but what are your thoughts on the current cast/my interpretation of canon characters? What were your thoughts on the LB:DC cast? I really would like to know!

But anyway, if you're still sticking with the story, thank you for dealing with my laziness and lack of keeping interest in absolutely anything.

[aloksingh3090-blog]

Best Solar Powered Lights Review 2019

Solar Outdoor Lights 2019  Sunlight based fueled lights are helpful for lighting a garden way around evening time or in beautiful, multi-hued variants to make your gallery look brilliant and inviting.

They energize amid the day (so ensure they have a continuous perspective of the sky instead of in the shade), and discharge their repressed vitality as light after nightfall.

The greater the sun oriented board, the more brilliant the light, clearly. Batteries in sunlight based lights commonly last two or three years – keeping them clean is critical as buildup on the sun based board can influence charging. Furthermore, obviously, they get all their capacity for nothing from the sun. Most lights have sun powered boards worked in yet separate sun based boards for the most part breaks even with more splendid light.

Dark days are less powerful to charge yet at the same time deal with some charge. From completely charged you ought to expect four or five hours of light – however infrequently the eight or 10 hours guaranteed. In any case, you would prefer not to be up throughout the night, isn't that right?

1. Philips myGarden Dusk Solar Powered Wall Light: £46.50, Amazon

No one does lighting a remarkable way Philips does, which has advocated the utilization of LEDs in everything from local globules to its flexible Hue brilliant lighting. Its sun powered lights are more brilliant than most opponents and come in different styles, for example, descending confronting posts, upward-confronting lights and progressively mechanical divider mounters. This divider light has a major sun oriented board to finish everything, which means you get all the more light for longer from the LED for a decent six hours. It's easy to set up and has incredible form quality. You can likewise pick a variant with an inherent movement sensor. Sufficiently able to effortlessly check whether that is an olive or a bug in your serving of mixed greens.

2. Blooma Aurora LED Solar Stake Light: £17, B&Q

The Blooma set of six lights is sturdy and well-made, particularly at the cost. The LED is housed in strong glass – however make sure to fix the cover appropriately as it can feel free. You can pick between white light and shading changing settings and each light is controlled by a battery-powered AA battery. Like most here, this set is anything but difficult to set up and functions admirably. In spite of the fact that these gadgets are conservative, the light they give out is amazing and a few together are sufficient to peruse by.

3. The Solar Center Lumify 300: £60, John Lewis

OK, so they're not modest but rather you get such a large number of them. Truly, 300. The aggregate length of the line is 32m with lights each 10cm for the last 30m. You can fold them over trees and hedges or wrap them over items. In spite of the fact that these are overwhelmingly beautiful, sheer power of numbers implies they're a solid light source. The quality here is great and in the winter when there's less daylight to enable, you to can likewise charge the lights by means of USB.

4. Home Solar Color Changing Lights: £16.49, Argos

The posts are made of treated steel, so they look and feel quite great. The lights change shading and however they're not the most brilliant on our rundown, there's sufficient of them (18) to make a good impact. The sun oriented board on top every one is sufficiently enormous to overwhelm every light, except all things considered, coordinate daylight is prescribed to guarantee enough charge. Enlivening, principally.

5. Blooma Nessus Solar Garden Light: £6, B&Q

The cost is quite enthused about the Nessus so it's nothing unexpected that the assemble quality isn't remarkable, picking plastic basically all over the place. In any case, it doesn't look awful, particularly around evening time, so makes an extraordinary garden-edge definer to avoid visitors sprinkling into the koi lake. The light isn't that brilliant, giving a gleaming shine, except if you change the LED to multi-hued, which sparkles starting with one shade then onto the next rapidly. It accompanies mounting ties to join to places where you can't dive the post into the ground.

6. Philips myGarden Dusk Solar Powered Post: £74.99, Amazon

Another brilliant light from Philips, this one is intended to viably light a way or grass and cast a gleam over a garden. Philips has adjusted this light to cast a warm white light (a few LEDs lean more towards blue which can give a chilly vibe). The effectively open light switch implies you can either abandon it to naturally switch on at sunset – like most lights – or let it charge every day. Perfect plan, as well.

7. Blooma Lelantos Blue LED Solar Deck Light: £15, B&Q

You need to charge these lights for two days, turning them off around evening time, to completely charge the battery (so don't get them on the day you're hosting a gathering). And, after its all said and done, don't anticipate that them will remain brilliant throughout the night, or anything like, however a decent three hours is conceivable. You can put them on decking or straight into the ground. They are truly brilliant and the aluminum and tempered steel fabricate is extraordinary. Additionally accessible with white LEDs. These are better at demonstrating the decking off climatically, say, than giving out and out light.

8. Khara White LED Solar Stake Light: £8, B&Q

There's no shading choice with the Khara, however since you get 10 for just £8, it's nothing unexpected a few corners have been cut. Each light stands around nine inches high when you've planted it in the earth. There's almost no light given out by them however they function admirably as minor, enriching knobs that are appealing when gathered together.

The Verdict

Sun oriented fueled garden lights offer charming greenery enclosure lighting with negligible exertion or support, no links or confused set-up. The greater part of the least expensive lights are more for delicate enhancement as opposed to splendid lighting. In the event that you require all the more light, full for one of the Philips items here which are exceptionally powerful. For excellent beautifying impact, the Solar Center Lumify 300 is extraordinary and satisfying. Also, the best esteem lights here are the Blooma Aurora LED Solar Stake Lights which are great quality for a minimal effort.

[daybreak-mun]

Guardians of Aurora

In each age, there has been many guardians of the elements, but only a small handful of them have to fight the enemy the Dawnbreaker Guild was formed to combat. These heroes went down in history, becoming legends, and each time their enemy reawakens, the story is quite different.

The First Age (0-1500)

When Phantom first awoke, there wasn’t any Dawnbreaker Guild, just a young girl with a baby Spirit Dragon as her closest friend. When one of Phantom’s creations, a dark dragon, attacked her village, the Spirit Dragon merged it’s soul with Emily’s and changed the course of Aurora forever.

The heroine traveled across Aurora, obtaining the power of all the elements, before confronting Phantom and, with the aid of Marigold, creating an eternal seal, trapping him in the Tower of Spirit, before creating a new continent, leaving the old one in it’s cursed state for eternity.

She founded the Dawnbreaker Guild, a group dedicated to protecting Aurora and keeping Phantom locked away, though Emily retired soon after, as her spirit was greatly strained from making the seal and a new continent to the point of irreversible damage.

The Second Age (1500-4000)

As Phantom began to find new ways to attack Aurora from his prison, a complete team had been formed. The twins Xander and Tael Drake, warriors of Fire and Ice, respectively. Crystal Earthquake, the warrior of Earth. Flash Drako, warrior of Wind. Xavier Drakor, the warrior of Lightning. And the reflections Jewel Solarblaze and Shade Nightfall, warriors of Light and Darkness respectively. The final warrior, the warrior of Spirit, up to now, was working as a miner to recover minerals for the capital, unaware of his power. However, following a cave in that forced him to pass through an underground ruin, his heritage became known to him.

The warrior of Spirit for the Second Age, was Drake Kotori. He traveled across the land, freeing the other guardians from Phantom’s shackles, before heading to the old continent to try and finish off the demon. Phantom seemed to be invincible, but thanks to his counterpart, Marigold, the warriors were able to completely sever Phantom from Dust, leaving him without a host. Marigold then trapped Phantom in the Reality Stone, the only thing powerful enough to hold him. She then sealed Dust’s physical form away before she faded, going into hiding.

The End of the Second Age (4000)

At the end of the Second Age, Archie recreated the universe, both inside and outside of the simulation, so that Project Aurora could continue unhindered, and as a result, an identical copy of Aurora was made, however, Phantom escaped the Reality Stone during this time, and left the Tower of Spirit before the seal could be re-applied.

The Third Age (0-present)

After the third age began, Dust was found by a patrol, and was brought to the healers, who noticed that he had no spirit energy, yet was still alive. Taking interest, the royal family’s guardian, Ember Firestorm took Dust in, though she noticed that he lacked the ability to feel. Though after a few years, Phantom made himself known, directly attacking the capital. Ember escaped with Dust in tow, and set out to gather the other guardians. As they traveled, Dust realized that this was a world worth protecting, and developed a resistance to the creatures of negativity. 

The Elemental Guardians of this age were Ember Firestorm, the heroine of Fire; Frost Drake, the heroine of Ice; Alex Winterheart, the hero of Spirit, and the other 4 guardians that I need to make concepts for.