#but also both demons and demonic cultivators probably could have great value in a live cultivator at their mercy

[lbhslefttiddie]

okay so visualize with me. a no transmigrator, no lbh au where sqh (OG) betraying the sect goes a lot better for him. im imagining a plot that has been decades in the making, in which hes brought in demons and/or demonic cultivators, something designed to separate and incapacitate/kill all the peak lords at once, starting with yqy bc hes obv the most dangerous. theres greater value to him in this plot to allow as many peak lords to be captured alive as possible, and hes been gathering info about their weaknesses for so long that this is actually feasible.

as everyone is struggling and getting rounded up or whatever, not yet realizing that one of the peak lords fighting beside them is the one orchestrating all of this, everyone sort of forgets about sqq. he's one of the peak lords, and no one really cares if he kicks it, and fuck maybe hes in on it, since hes seems like he wants to kill all of them himself anyways. no one has seen him almost since this started—they all either assume hes either behind this or was one of the first to die

but sqq, who has never trusted any of his martial siblings, least of all shang fucking qinghua, who fights dirty and survived on the streets and absolutely fucking refuses to be bested by rats or demons, is very much not dead, and trudges in covered in blood after all his colleagues have either been killed ("killed" in sqh's case) or captured. he ignores them for the most part, only demanding to know where yqy has been. most of them dont trust him and think hes a traitor, but absolutely none of them think hes going to be able to do anything anyways, and besides, yqy was one of the first to be hit, and they havent seen him, they dont even know if hes still alive—

—and sqq looking back at them, expression cold as death, telling them they better fucking hope he is still alive, because if he isnt, then none of them are making it out of this alive.

ohhhh im having. ideas

[hitodama3]

The Consorts Go Feral

Story ideas someone please please please write this I need it.

So there's some kind of competition where all the different regions of the demon realm get together. So of course SQQ and SQA have to go with their demon husbands.

At the competition SQQ and SQA are just chilling when they over hear their husbands stating that they'll win the competition for them. It's a pairing based competition where all the high rank demons do some competitions and scavenger hunts and stuff like that So of course the demon lords and their consorts are going to compete together.

Now they don't mean it in a bad way it's just demon instincts that they want to show off for their consorts and provide for them so that they don't have to actually participate but will still win and get the prizes. Especially considering they didn't want to come to the competition.

Now both SQQ and SQA are millennials and even though they didn't want to come if they hear someone making fun of them and saying they couldn't actually do the thing they didn't want to do they're going to do it out of spite.

Enraged that their demon husbands think they're such delicate flowers that they could not win the competition they declare then and there that they are going to be on a team together and they'll see who wins the competition then.

Combining SQQ's monster knowledge and SQA's world knowledge they make a formidable team. Then the system decides to make it interesting and make it a quest for b points or some kind of reward at the end but once the quest is activated LBH's protagonist Halo is turned off so that he won't automatically win the competition.

So since the north is the one hosting this event and SQA had to set most of it up he knows the entire schedule for the event. So on the first day SQQ is left to win the first competition while SQA sets up for the second day. You don't need both competitors to be there to win the competition and just one of them has to do the work to win.

So the teams or the three teams that the stories mainly going to focus on is SQQ and SQA, LBH and MBJ, and a surprise pairing that showed up to crash the competition TLJ and ZZL!

So first day is a killing competition there is some kind of sensor or something that tracks how many beasts that you kill. SQQ using his knowledge of flora and fauna finds the blood trees that inhabit the area of the competition is being held and since he can use leaf attacks he's able to infuse the slightly sentient trees with his qi communicating to them that they can use him as the lure flower to attract prey and they'll get to consume any of the beasts and the blood that is attracted by him. So not having to do any work SQQ sits down in the middle of these trees like a lotus flower in his bright green robes and flares his qi drawing monsters to the trees that then kill them and the blood starts soaking into the ground so eventually his robe gets stained with blood. So his counter keeps going up for kills because he is technically the one bringing in the kills even if he's not doing it himself. SQA has gone off on his own to bring them a last-minute win if needed and also to prepare for tomorrow's competition.

Team demon lord and team former demon lord are still heavenly demons and so they are the only ones at the top of the scoreboard that are battling super hard. SQQ is still keeping up with them but is remaining in third place and it's kind of annoying him but he's also not actively putting in any work trusting that airplane is going to pull through.

The day is almost over and both team demon Lord and team former demon Lord are baiting each other as they're trying to find even a little bit more prey and they come upon SQQ in the middle of the cove of blood trees just looking transcendent in his light green robes as the entire floor of the forest is just covered in blood and you see that his robe goes from its nice translucent green to the bright red of blood and he looks amazing.

LBH and TLJ try and tease him for being in third place when there's only a few seconds left to the competition about to end when suddenly team consort score skyrockets and airplane pokes his head out from behind a tree shaking his hands complaining about an ant hill or whatever the proud immortal demon way version of an ant hill is that had gotten flooded and eventually drowned them due to the blood building up in the cove of blood trees which is what airplane was betting on. Though the ants aren't impressive to kill they still count as lives taken and So team concerts score considers that as lives taken and puts them in first place.

Team demon Lord are of course very impressed and infatuated with their consorts but SQQ and SQA are still peeved about the earlier comments and snub them for the night and have a sleepover but of course demons being demons think that the concerts are sleeping together because of the fact that they're snubbing their husbands.

The other demons are also impressed by them winning and thinks since they are mad at their husbands they might get a shot with the consorts and that just makes team demon Lord very mad. Of course team former demon lord specifically TLJ is going to rattle the beehive because he enjoys chaos and likes to tease his son so will be flirting with SQQ and inciting ZZL to flirt too.

SQQ Will ignore it or be oblivious as usual. SQQ is under the impression that since demons are might makes right if he wants to make a impression he needs to be very aggressive instead of his very calm demeanor as a peak lord. SQA who is a gremlin and enjoys causing chaos and is still mad at his husband is not going to tell SQQ any different. So SQQ on the second day is channeling all of his anti. fan hatred and his S tendencies to verbally and physically destroy the other demons when needed. Demons who are might makes right society meaning they're attractive to people who are powerful meaning that they're all slightly M's under all that bluster are very attracted to this. SQA who sees his son LBH wanting to tear all of them apart for looking at his consort and feels vindictively pleased for all of the anxiety his son has caused him.

Now because SQQ acted as the lure flower and brought them such great amounts of food that the blood trees will probably not have to eat for another year means that the trees have taken a very great liking to him. So to improve his image of terrifying the blood trees have started interacting with him just as he walks around or doing things for him like picking up his fan if he drops it or if he needs something the roots will spring from the ground and bring it to him and finally to make him more demonic to go with his aggressive approach he's taken to the vines weave a crown of branches around his head making him look like he has his own set of horns.

The demons are very curious if SQQ is a demon that has been parading as a cultivator. Now the second day of the competition is a battle campaign where the top three teams from the day prior will be put in charge of the other teams based on a lottery and will wage war. The top teams being the generals in the war. SQA knew this and prepared in advance for it setting up a bunch of booby traps and acquiring a certain animal for SQQ to tame with cucumber bros ability to cause anything demonic or non-demonic to fall for his charms. SQA Will lead the army in the front to utterly decimate team demon lord and team former demon Lord while SQQ is to stay back and look intimidating.

Essentially make all of the focus be on cucumber bro while airplane bro is able to work behind the scenes and take down the armies while they're too focused on cucumber bro. To assist with this since cucumber bros outfit is soaked in blood from the day prior airplane prepares a more demonic outfit meaning there's very little cloth involved in black and dark green to give cucumber bro a bit more demonic aesthetic. He gives a BS reason to assist with cucumber bros misinterpretation of demonic culture that cucumber bro will be valuing the culture by dressing like this. SQQ is aware there's a trap involved but not where the trap is so just goes along with it because he is still mad at LBH.

So cucumber bro comes out in this dark black and dark green outfit with his striking face especially making him look very disdainful & beautiful due to the color change and the demons are taken with him. Especially because the blood trees have weaved the branch horn crown into his hair this morning instead of him putting in his normal hair piece and so he looks very demonic.

Airplane puts into action his second part of the plan and gives cucumber the hellhound babies that he had acquired the day prior. Cucumbers immediately smitten with them of course and fawns on them all day completely ignoring his husband and his increasingly desperate attempts to get cucumbers attention.

Now it's time for them to wage war and cucumber sets up shop in his blood forest now and looks like he's the one leading the army but really airplane is working his magic in the background and suddenly destroying everyone while they're paying too much attention to cucumber.

ZZL tries to capture SQQ on orders TLJ but he's trying to be respectful and not touch him too much and apologizing for having to be rough. SQQ has a soft spot for ZZL and the care and loyalty he's shown and does not want to harm him either. Now airplane was expecting this so had made sure that cucumber had a container of that rice wine whatever alcohol was used in the book to intoxicate ZZL after hearing about SQQ's misadventures in his plant body.

Because of this ZZL is intoxicated and immobilized by the blood trees think very much the tentacle hent*i after all this is airplanes world. He is struggling a lot and even though they were enemies SQQ does really like ZZL And doesn't want him hurt So what does Mr I need to hide LBH who has snuck onto the premises from his father of course I'll throw a bed sheet over him and sit on him do? But sits on ZZL's back while he's struggling using him like a chair or bench. Then completely oblivious to the sexual overtones and quite sadistic overtones of what he's doing he says something like ZZL makes a very comfortable chair and that he shouldn't struggle so much placing the container of wine or alcohol right in front of his face so that he stays intoxicated and the trees tighten so he can't move from his position.

LBH is chugging vinegar at this point. Eventually LBH and TLJ Make it to where SQQ is enthroned in his circle of trees but because the protagonist Halo is taken off SQQ is able to fight them to a standstill until the blood trees are able to immobilize them because the second benefit of these trees is that they are one of the few flora that can take out heavenly demons and are unaffected by heavenly demon blood outside of drinking it makes them stronger.

After immobilizing TLJ SQQ Will come up to him and lightly stroke the fan across his body up to his chin saying that he won't go any further or something similar because TLJ is quite breakable while cucumber is referencing the plant body thing where TLJ would fall apart everyone nearby thinks something entirely different and in the much more S category.

SQQ Then turns to his husband and lightly taps his fan against his chin mockingly asking what he thinks he might be able to do now that he has completely taken over both generals of one team in the war game and has one general from the other team. LBH is slightly confident that they'll come to a tie because MBJ will obviously be able to take out airplane but just as he says that airplane comes trotting into the cove of trees with MBJ tied up and immobilized on the back of a cerberus like hellhounds that is apparently the mom of the litter that airplane left with cucumber bro. Seeing that cucumber bro treated them so well and that they liked the two cultivators the mom decided to help out just as airplane planned. The hellhounds are fire based demons and were able to absolutely destroy the ice-based demons MBJ included.

So at this point team consort has won two out of the three events so they're obviously the winner and at this point the third day is just all of the demons trying to prove they would be good partners for the two consorts since obviously there husbands aren't satisfying them if they are participating in the event together.

The third day is a scavenger hunt for rare items and I haven't thought of what would happen during that day past that is a scavenger hunt so you can have free license with that day on what happens. Whether they sweep the competition and then have their wicked way with their husbands or if they decide to sleep with someone else.

This post had no structure and was very voice to text so I apologize for probably the large amount of grammar mistakes I just needed to get this idea out.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Pastime (with good company) (ao3) (aka the NMJ/WWX/LWJ one) -  part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, past 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

-

There were few enough causes to be grateful for Nie Huaisang’s shopping addiction, Nie Mingjue reflected, but it did mean that they had enough materials available for Wei Wuxian to work out his anxiety over what they were doing by incessantly arguing with Lan Wangji over the exact type of metal to use before finally selecting one and handing it over.

The middle of the night, in the midst of a thunderstorm, was not the most auspicious time to begin the forging of a spiritual weapon, but Nie Mingjue thought it suited Wei Wuxian better than most.

Especially now.

He hadn’t missed the gaps in the story he had heard, the oddity of Wei Wuxian losing his golden core despite Jiang Cheng being the one to bear the marks of torment from being captured by the Wens – perhaps Wei Wuxian did not know that Nie Mingjue knew of those. But then again, he had served a different role in the war than they: his demonic cultivation was a distance weapon, the overseeing general of the troops of fierce corpses he summoned, and so he did not know the dirt and grime and muck of the front line, the feeling of blood and viscera on your blade and splattered over your body and how unlike a simple duel it never seemed to end. The way that the adrenaline that carried you through your first battle eventually failed you, leaving you empty and exhausted; the way you had to keep going anyway, relying on muscle memory and sheer willpower to raise your blade up even when all hope had gone, when all sense of the future was gone, when it wasn’t fighting but merely butchering.

As a general matter, Jiang Cheng was highly sensitive about who saw him undressed, but after a solid week of war at Nie Mingjue’s side, he had thrown himself into the first stream they’d found without reserve, just as Nie Mingjue had, desperate to be clean and uncaring of anything else.

And so Nie Mingjue had seen – he had known. He’d seen similar marks all too much already in this war.

So the gaps in Wei Wuxian’s story didn’t make sense. He might even call it odd and go so far as to say unnerving, but Nie Mingjue wouldn’t press on a wound that was clearly still bleeding. It was already a matter of great trust that had brought Wei Wuxian here, that Lan Wangji had chosen to bring him here, and Nie Mingjue was honored by it.

Shocked by it, even.

Nie Mingjue didn’t know if it was due to the misfortunes in his youth or some deficiency in his nature, but despite his relatively casual views on the subject of who shared his bed, he’d always been very slow to actually warm up to people – to actually like them. He routinely judged people’s characters as part of his duties, of course, whether positively or negatively, and there were plenty of people he approved of, but there was a vast chasm between approval and actual friendship that very few people had ever figured out how to cross, and even he himself didn’t know how they did it.

When he was younger, he’d had cousins that he’d considered to be friends, but that had turned out to be habit and familiarity more than anything else, and the stiff formality of his role as sect leader, taken on too early, severed most of those relationships at the root. There were a few rare exceptions that could pretend otherwise – Nie Zonghui, who liked practicing saber techniques to a degree even Nie Mingjue found excessive, was one – and they were as precious to him as rubies.

There was Lan Xichen, of course, who’d pestered his way into it after Nie Mingjue’s father had died. He’d forced his way into the Unclean Realm, declaring that he had to come, that they were best friends, that Nie Mingjue was expecting him, even though up until that point their relationship had been little more than the vague obligated friendliness of two heirs of allied sects, especially ones with several years between them in age. He’d refused to leave until he was sure Nie Mingjue was all right, and ever since then, Nie Mingjue had taken their friendship as seriously as he’d ever taken anything.

And then there was Meng Yao –

He didn’t want to think about Meng Yao.

Everything that had happened with Meng Yao had made him more cynical, untrusting, less optimistic than before – he had truly liked Meng Yao, beyond merely respecting or valuing him. Nie Mingjue hadn’t thought of him merely as a competent deputy or even as one of his precious Nie sect disciples, but as a true friend, and he had tried to make that as clear as he could given the positions fate had put them in.

He had known, of course, that there would always be the issue of power between them, staining each and every one of their interactions; there were texts aplenty that spoke of the inherent loneliness of authority, the way that no one could ever really forget which one had the power of life and death over the other. And yet he had tried so very hard to give Meng Yao a sense of security despite that inherent imbalance, to give him sufficient funds and personal authority to carve out some autonomy within the sect, the freedom to leave it if that were what he desired, and also space so that he could determine how he wished to present himself to the world.

He’d known, too, of the insults Meng Yao faced, through no fault of his own. How could he not? But he had made clear to Meng Yao early on that he would interfere in his personal affairs only if asked, stressed that Meng Yao was welcome to ask no matter who was on the other side, and then he’d backed off. If he wanted to be a friend, he had to give Meng Yao the right to decide on his action.

And then, he supposed, Meng Yao had decided.

Nie Mingjue had seen Meng Yao’s true colors that day, a chance meeting that ruined everything for them both – Meng Yao’s plans, his dreams. Meng Yao had not been prepared to be caught, and not planned out his excuses ahead of time, and in scrambling to construct one that might serve had accidentally let the curtain drop on the process he used to create them.

That’d been the problem, really. To learn that everything between them had all been a sham designed to cater to his preference – that the very personality that he had allowed into his heart was nothing more than a means of manipulating him for Meng Yao’s advantage – that his Nie sect had been used as if it were nothing more a stepping stone aimed at the Jin sect…

The worst of it was that he thought he probably would have liked Meng Yao anyway.

Nie Mingjue tried to be righteous, but he was only human – he would have promoted Meng Yao if he’d been only competent, competent and selfish, selfish and vicious and ruthless, and might even have befriended him regardless, but it had broken his heart to grow love the kindness and gentleness and righteousness that reminded him so much of Lan Xichen only to learn that it had all been a lie.

The war had been brutal, and there were weeks where the entire army’s morale seemed to depend entirely on Nie Mingjue being some sort of war god, undefeatable and untouched. There had been no room for a man that wanted to shed tears for the men he’d lost in the victories he’d won, that empathized with the war-ravaged innocent lives that he could not afford the time to help more, who was tormented by nightmares filled with blood and memories of still worse – he had needed a friend, someone he could trust and rely upon, and Meng Yao had taken advantage of that weakness.

He’d done it deliberately.

It’d been easy enough to follow his traces now that Nie Mingjue knew to look: the people who had answered questions about him, the inciting incidents that had allowed Meng Yao to accidentally come into his path. Meng Yao had come prepared, as he’d always come prepared, and he’d managed their growing friendship as efficiently as he’d managed his duties as Nie Mingjue’s deputy.

Meng Yao had hurt him, doing that, and he had never apologized, not really, not in any way that mattered. Worse, he’d kept right on with the stupid pretense that Nie Mingjue already knew was a lie, insisting on treating him like an outsider that could be deceived, all smiles filled with daggers instead of finally letting down his guard and showing who he really was at last – he still didn’t respect Nie Mingjue enough to trust him with actual friendship, not even after they’d sworn brotherhood.

Nie Mingjue hadn’t really held out much hope for anyone else, after all that.

Even when Nie Huaisang had asked him what would happen if he fell in love with his husband, when they’d been discussing his marriage to Wei Wuxian, he’d more or less shrugged it off – lust was easy enough, for him. As for love…

Love was love, uncontrollable and untamable and unpredictable. It would happen whether he wanted it or not, so why worry in advance?

Perhaps he should have worried.

Perhaps he should have reflected on Wei Wuxian’s effortless charisma, his causal but often justified arrogance, the smile that always reached his eyes in the way the now-named Jin Guangyao’s never did and perhaps never had, his overwhelming desire to do the right thing no matter how unpopular or how much he would have to sacrifice for it. Or perhaps instead he should have reflected on Lan Wangji’s steadiness and faith, his steel-bright sense of righteousness that reminded Nie Mingjue a little of Baxia, unbending and inexorable, the hints of humor hidden deep within his solemnity, the awkwardness of the youth he remembered disappearing into the elegance and poise of the man.

Perhaps he should have thought about all of that when he offered to marry them, and they him, because now they trusted him.

Not just the trust imposed on him by virtue of his role as Sect Leader Nie, which was his responsibility and his burden to bear, but personal trust. They turned to him first, before all others, sought out Nie Mingjue and not anyone else because he was Nie Mingjue, their future husband, and because they did not want to lie to him even by omission.

Other than Nie Huaisang – who hadn’t had much choice in the matter – no one had ever put him first just because they wanted to. His Nie cousins and disciples were bound to him by duty, Lan Xichen had his sect to consider, and Meng Yao had his ambitions…

He liked how it felt.

He liked to be trusted, and to feel that he could trust in return.

He liked them – he liked the way they unabashedly watched him as he forged the base for Wei Wuxian, a process that was both strenuous and complex, a matter of carefully trained skill and even more carefully deployed spiritual energy. They had been especially delighted to discover that he preferred to do his forging shirtless because of the heat of the flame he was using, relying on his cultivation to guard him against any sparks that might fly.

He liked the way they blushed when he spoke to them, he liked the way that they liked him, he liked –

Nie Huaisang was right. He really was good-for-nothing when it came to romance.

“I haven’t yet told Huaisang the full truth behind the cultivation of the sabers,” he said to them, dismissing all his thoughts as unhelpful. So what if he liked them? He was going to marry them – now would be the stupidest time of all to start pining, especially for something he would very shortly have. “I would appreciate it if you refrained from doing so as well, at least for a time.”

“How can he not know?” Wei Wuxian asked, chin on his hand. “You said he cultivated his golden core using the Nie sect’s traditional technique. Surely comprehension is an invaluable part of mastering a subject?”

Fancy words, coming from someone who had very obviously been devoting the last shichen to comprehending the mysteries of Nie Mingjue’s ass.

Not that Nie Mingjue minded.

“Comprehension aids in mastery, but it is not required,” Lan Wangji noted, logical as always. “Instinct is a different teacher, but no less worthy. Is there a reason you haven’t told him, Mingjue-xiong?”

“It would only cause him pain, and I have no stomach for that,” Nie Mingjue admitted. “And to be frank, it always seemed, well, unnecessary. Huaisang has never learned anything through comprehension – sending him to Gusu was a fool’s errand –”

“Only if the goal was for him to learn something about cultivation, politics, ethics, or etiquette,” Lan Wangji said, his voice a little dry. “As destination for an aspiring painter or poet, however…”

Nie Mingjue’s lips twitched, and he didn’t deny anything.

He’d always spoiled his little brother. He always would.

Instead of answering, he turned his attention back to his forging, letting the voices of his two brides-to-be wash over him as they lightly debated the artistic merits of the Lotus Pier against the Cloud Recesses – Wei Wuxian not even bothering to try to defend the Yiling Burial Mounds beyond a mention of how it was very interesting from a certain aesthetical perspective – as he shaped the metal on the forge.

Forging was a basic skill in Qinghe, with smithing of all sorts being one of their main exports alongside the meat and animal products his sect was still so strongly associated with, but spirit-forging – the creation of a spiritual weapon, a living weapon – was a rare skill, typically reserved for those members of his sect that devoted themselves to it entirely. Nie Mingjue had become enamored of it when he was younger, and it was one of the very few interests that he had managed to preserve after becoming sect leader. He had missed it very much during the war, when it was too dangerous to take his attention away for the time it took to complete a full weapon, and it wasn’t exactly something that could be done out in the open where everyone could see.

This particular type of spirit-forging, creating a channel capable of manipulating a cultivator’s qi, wasn’t generally done for outsiders at all, in fact, though that was a rule Nie Mingjue had a bad tendency to break.

He was still getting dirty looks from any number of his cousins for having gifted Meng Yao with a hairpiece that could filter an opponent’s qi to help him bear or block a blow from a stronger man – that had been before Meng Yao had left for the Jin sect and Langya, a farewell gift of well-wishing. Back then, Nie Mingjue had still had his illusions about Meng Yao’s character, had still foolishly hoped that he might come back one day once he’d seen Jin Guangshan for what he truly was, had not yet realized that Meng Yao knew perfectly well what Jin Guangshan was and still wanted it more than he’d ever wanted anything Nie Mingjue could give him.

Still, even Meng Yao hadn’t been allowed to see him actually making it – even Lan Xichen had not, and he had several pieces in his collection that had come from Nie Mingjue’s hand.

But neither of his sworn brothers were marrying into his sect, while his brides were, and he could think of no other way to repay them the trust that they had put in him than by trusting them in turn.

Do you think I’m being a fool again? he thought at Baxia, who he had placed into the stand he had made for her, appropriately placed to watch as he forged.

The saber spirits did not naturally speak as humans did, shaping feelings into words, but after enough time and cultivation, they were capable of the sorts of reactions that might be deciphered into something not unlike a response if one were creative about interpretation.

Finally paying attention to me, Baxia hissed at him, sounding smug, and Nie Mingjue refrained from rolling his eyes only because it might cause his brides to ask questions he wouldn’t be able to answer without sounding like he’d gone mad. The new saber will be good this time.

I’m not making him a saber –

For you it will always be a saber, she said, and a shiver went down his back. She was not talking about the metal beneath his hands. You do not value anything else. All metal contains impurities: last time it was too brittle, shattering at the first blow. This time it will be better.

There are two of them, you know, he told her, feeling a little helpless – everything was so clear-cut to a saber spirit, everything split into black and white, good and evil, and sometimes he thought it would be so much easier to live like that. I’m not just marrying one.

Xingyun and Liushui can be wielded apart, but they are better as one; it was not greed that drove your cousin to pick them both.

Nie Zonghui’s dual sabers, the moving clouds and flowing water – he supposed in the world of sabers that was the closest precedent for what he was doing with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. Nie Mingjue wasn’t sure any of the saber spirits actually understood the concept of marriage, or indeed of the notion of sexual reproduction, much less political marriages between pairs that couldn’t reproduce. But then again he wasn’t sure Baxia was wrong in her analysis, either: both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were men that could kill as easily and indifferently as the whistling wind and would if they were badly handled – as vicious against evil as any Nie saber, and as beautiful.

He would have to prove himself worthy of being called their husband.

He would have to –

“What are you doing?!” someone shrieked.

Sect Leader Jiang is here, Baxia helpfully told him far, far later than would be helpful. She’d kept it back from him deliberately, the troublesome little minx, indifferent as ever to all things that did not rise to the level of evil in her mind. When you’re done calming him, maybe we kill something?

Sect Leader Jiang’s appearance during the war had usually heralded a battle; she’d gotten accustomed. He’d have to train her out of the association.

I’m not going to spoil you right after you played a trick on me, he told her.

“Is there something you need, Sect Leader Jiang?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the metal in front of him. The spiritual part of the forging was done, at least, or else he’d be angrier at his sect disciples for allowing an outsider in while he was working.

He suspected Nie Huaisang might have had a hand to play in that.

“Yes!” the man bellowed. “A fucking chaperone! Ever heard of it?! Or does the Nie sect believe that swanning around half-naked is an appropriate measure of preserving your bride’s reputation?!”

Baxia cackled in his ear, and he sighed and put the metal down; it was basically done anyway. It wasn’t much to look at yet – a mere circle of metal small enough to fit into the palm of his hand, but layered many times over with spiritual arrays and qi mixed in with the metal and Wei Wuxian to the point that it all but glowed to his senses with the feeling of him, intimately understood in the way only a creator could.

He’d have to make another one for Lan Wangji, too. He couldn’t wait to compare them.

“There have been guards outside the door at all times,” Lan Wangji said, but he sounded embarrassed, and Wei Wuxian’s little huff of surprise made clear he hadn’t even realized that much. “You have my apologies regarding the impropriety, Sect Leader Jiang. It was my fault.”

“Your fault?”

Nie Mingjue couldn’t fault Jiang Cheng for the surprise in his voice: Lan Wangji was truly the last of them that might be expected to violate the rules. Indeed, Nie Mingjue had known the matter to be urgent merely from the fact that Lan Wangji had brought Wei Wuxian to him in the middle of the night when he ought to have been asleep, and he himself had fallen back into the habits of war, when only dealing with the crisis was important, nothing else, and all social norms could simply be ignored.

If he’d been thinking, it wouldn’t have been an issue to resolve. Really, he should have just called some old lady of his sect with impeccable credentials and absolutely no hearing to sit with them.

Still, they were engaged, the date set and everything signed – the only remedy for impropriety of this sort was marriage, and they’d already agreed on that, so the only thing they’d lost was face.

Assuming that Jiang Cheng would ever let it be known that this meeting had occurred without him being present, of course.

“Come out night-hunting with me,” he said, already sighing internally at how this wasn’t going to help Baxia’s association of Sect Leader Jiang with fun in the slightest, and three eyes turned to stare at him. “Sect Leader Jiang only. You’re right – I was disrespectful in permitting myself their company without appropriate supervision, for all that I vow to you that I did not lay a finger on them. Allow me to make it up to you.”

“Do you know how long I flew to get here,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, but Nie Mingjue had an eye for people: he wasn’t tired at all, full of nervous energy and adrenaline; a hunt would be just the thing to get it out. “Fine. Let’s go. Right now. Because this whole thing? Never happened.”

Nie Mingjue nodded in agreement. “Once it’s cool, it’s yours,” he told Wei Wuxian, nodding at the circle of metal. “Master it as soon as possible, and then we can discuss what form you’d like it to take. I have some ideas.”

In fact, he’d gotten a new one just now, looking at Jiang Cheng. Zidian spent most of its time as a ring, deceptively simple, and only sometimes became a whip. It, too, was a spiritual weapon, an ancestral one – someone had once forged the core of it the way Nie Mingjue had forged this new one, still unnamed.

A ring was the universal symbol, representing the sky and the earth, and it was near to the fingertips, which were tied directly to the heart – one of the main channels of cultivation. There was a reason swords and sabers were held in the dominant hand, and Zidian worked on the same principle; if Nie Mingjue made Wei Wuxian a spiritual weapon that functioned as a channel for the resentful energy he now cultivated and tied it there, he could use the ring as a connection between himself and any other object he might choose.

Chenqing, for instance – or even Suibian.

Nie Mingjue thought Wei Wuxian would like that.

He put back on his robes and swept out the door, Jiang Cheng behind him.

“You’re lucky it was me that found you,” Jiang Cheng told him as they went out to the back mountains to find something worth hunting – and there was always something worth hunting there. The Nie sect made sure of it.

“I am,” Nie Mingjue agreed. “Not everyone can be trusted to keep secrets.”

Jiang Cheng had been about to continue complaining, probably about how he (unlike others) wouldn’t feel the need to stab him or shame him for being alone with his brides for too long, but the unsought-for compliment immediately tripped him up the way Nie Mingjue hoped it would.

After a few stunned moments, Jiang Cheng huffed. “Yes, well,” he said. “Wei Wuxian’s my shixiong; my Jiang sect couldn’t bear to have it said that he was badly raised. I’ll keep your secret.”

“Thank you.”

“I won’t even ask why both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian turned bright red when you said you hadn’t laid a finger on them.”

Nie Mingjue coughed, glad that he wasn’t inclined towards blushing himself, and ignored Baxia’s cackling to incline his head at Jiang Cheng, conceding the point.

“You’d better behave better in the future, though,” Jiang Cheng said, looking pleased with himself for having scored a point. “I should hope that you can hold off a little longer. It’s not even that far away, now!”

“No,” Nie Mingjue said, and his heart felt full. “No, it’s not.”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes at him, and Nie Mingjue grinned at him – they’d become something like friends during the war, Jiang Cheng seeking him out as the only other person who might understand his situation and be willing to give him advice on all the things his father had not thought to teach him.

Nie Mingjue had shared all the things he’d wished he’d been told back when it had been his turn to take the heavy role of sect leader too young and unprepared, a difficult and unpleasant conversation that had nevertheless felt good when it was over.

Perhaps it had been that connection, however slight, that had given Jiang Cheng the confidence to come to him with his bizarre request that he marry his shixiong – to choose to trust Nie Mingjue once again, and in doing so give him more than he had dared to dream he might have.

Feeling unusually pleased with life, Nie Mingjue reached out as he rarely did and patted Jiang Cheng on the back, feeling as he did the warm spark of his cultivation, passionate and almost – strangely familiar.

As if he’d felt it before, very recently.

“So tell me,” he said, throwing the puzzle to the back of his mind for the moment. He was acting as host, and night-hunting could be dangerous no matter how familiar the environment; he could figure it out later. “I take it that you’ve been the one that’s been providing Wei Wuxian with spring books?”

“There was only one!” Jiang Cheng howled.

[pollyperks]

(1/5)

i feel like there was supposed to be something here RIP your wonderful thoughts at 3am BUT

(2/5) like you said, there just wasn't time, and by the time there was, everything had already settled on terribly destabilized foundations. and yeah, honestly, by the end of it in the canon novel their resolution is both jc and wwx letting go. wwx having spent his whole life expecting to be jc's right hand and support, and then All That, and jc having spent 13 years after wwx's death gripping tight to that rage/grief to kill every demonic cultivator he could find without truly accepting (3/5) wwx's death (he MUST still be around). and at the very end they're both just. exhausted. tapped out. they're both so much older now, and they'd lost everything, and now that they've confronted each other they've also kind of acknowledged that they lost each other a long time ago. in that time they've built totally different lives for themselves. wwx lets go and finds a new home and a new direction in life and starts to live and love and value HIS life, and HIS love (which!!!! good!!!) (4/5) jc watches them walk away and the line that you quoted, "there's nothing to say" - i don't know if he was necessarily going to say anything about the core, or being captured by the wens, but whatever it was (an apology, a request to talk, anything) would be a call to ask/tie wwx back (to him, to his past). and instead jc watches him go and finally starts to let go, and maybe for the first time really let himself feel that his brother wwx is gone. (5/5) it's bittersweet but it's one of those things like... they've got the chance to truly let each other go, build their own lives, heal, and maybe one day in the very far future, they'll meet each other as new, healthier and happier people, and they'll be able to start something new, if they want to. anyway. i don't know if any of that made any sense (it's 3 am and i am,, this close to oblivion) but thank you again for indulging me with this stuff!!! love u, hope u have a great day

god i love you too you must have brought me good fortune because i got offered a manager’s job today so jc watches him go and finally starts to let go, and maybe for the first time really let himself feel that his brother wwx is gone” like go hop in a lake honestly and i can’t think of anything more to add really!!! jc and wwx are a tragedy of people who loved each other, who wanted to keep loving each other, and probably won’t ever completely stop feeling like they should still love each other how they used to, but time has passed and things will never be the same, never can be, and never should be, not with all they’ve done to each other. in the future i imagine they will be given the chance to build something new altogether—probably because of jin ling—but what that relationship is like will be entirely up to them. but i guess i just don’t ever see them having comradery again, wwx can’t feel like he can joke around and jc can’t feel like he can chastise/play the straight man so it’ll just...be friendly respect at most. 

((((also hhhh i know in radio interviews lwj talked about getting around this somehow but wwx doesn’t have a golden core. he can’t be an immortal. he’s going to die, and age way quicker too. imagine jiang cheng hearing about how his estranged brother is aging and knowing that the force that would have kept him strong is seated in his own chest AHHH imagine getting the letter one day informing everyone that the yiling patriarch has passed imagine jc alone in his chamber crumpling the announcement in his hand and gritting his teeth as he closes his eyes and sets his forehead against the wall, thumps the hand holding the crumpled note against the wall and lets his arm rest there, grasps at his robes with his free and because all of a sudden his chest feels so tight and this wasn’t supposed to hurt anymore. how much does he have to lose before it doesn’t hurt like this? trying to breathe because he can’t let anyone know how much he mourns because not only is there his pride to consider but other people have much more right to mourn than him. 

BUT THAT WON’T HAPPEN because lwj will find a way to make up for the golden core thing and happy endings all around!!!))))

[metazensae]

Who's ur fav oc and what's ur fav trait that u like about em?

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YOU GUYS WERE WARNED BUT YOU STILL HAD TO ASK!!!!!��

ahaha I’m so PLEASED!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could talk FOR DAYS about any single one of my OCs (and have done so, sorry and thank you, Tiavon, Sonya, Jade, Rob, Cat, and Talia, for listening to me in the past)!!!!

Tbh, it’s hard to have favorites in my FoB cast. They’re ALL GREAT in their own rights. ALL OF THEM. And often, I feel whoever I’m writing/drawing at the time is my ULTIMATE favorite. That is…

…until the end of the day when I put the pencil down and stop typing…

There are two that stand out from the rest and for good reason.

And they are:

~Zeke and the Consort of Fiadhr~

(as pictured in a Beach AU episode from this summer!)

Zeke and the Consort of Fiadhr are a supremely personal characters for me. I basically split my soul in half and gave one part to each of them, which I then allowed to cultivate into new individual forms. When I see Zeke or the Consort, I see myself, very, very clearly. I feel extremely vulnerable just HAVING them as characters at all, but my soul recollects and ascends whenever someone confesses their admiration for either one (or BOTH) of them.

Anyway. Now I’m gonna ramble about my pure children, so get ready!

First up is Zeke:

Zeke is my precious son and the first lead character of FoB. I’ve talked about what I love about Zeke probably a 1000 times before, but I’ll rehash it here in prose.

What I love most about Zeke is his purity and simplicity.

Zeke is a hero type with strong ideals. He was once a soldier during the Demon Wars, which has left him with a very black and white world view regarding demons and humans respectively. Because of his past experiences, he’s vowed to protect mankind to the best of his ability - or die trying. He’s already done the latter, so he’s hoping for better luck this time around.

He believes so strongly in his ideals that he actually gave up the thing he valued most - his identity as a HUMAN -  to gain the power to protect his loved ones. That didn’t particularly pan out the way he’d hoped; he’s now internalized a lot of self-loathing and self-destructive habits juuuuuuuust to find purpose in his cursed second life, but he’s getting by.

But at the end of the day, he’s a simple guy - he just wants to have a semblance of a human existence and find someone to love. The plot is basically about him LEARNING how to START letting go of all that other stuff. After all, 800 years is long enough to suffer, amiright???

Idk, I just love EVERYTHING about Zeke. He’s strong, he sweet, he’s capable, he’s charismatic, he’s BEAUTIFUL, he’s great? He’s a giant, sexy beast too? My perfect man, tbh.

Also his nose is stupidly big and that’s my favorite thing to draw. I’m drawing an entire long-form comic JUST for that damn nose I SWEAR IT. You can jot that down and quote me.

Second is the Consort of Fiadhr.

The Consort is a human prisoner of war acquired by the formidable Nidthel Lord Fiadhr. Though she is not part of the main trio, she ties Glass as the third most important character in this story.

After centuries of exposure to Nidthel’s environment, her body has corrupted into a half-demon form with horns, black sclera, rectangular pupils, and blackening limbs. She no longer remembers her days spent as a human, which is preferable, to be honest. Remembering what happiness, however small and brief, would make life much more painful than it already is.

However, her difficult life at the whims and mercy of her reactive demon Lord and the other jealous court members has not deterred her from her goal of finding a way to protect both humans AND demons.

Consort holds that no one should suffer needlessly when there are other means of diplomacy and/or deterrence. And as idealistic as she seems, she’s also dreadfully pragmatic. She will do what she needs to survive and make compromises where she must, even if it means a little sacrifice for the greater good. 

The problem is, it’s not always the Consort who makes the sacrifice… 

I love the Consort SO MUCH, SOOOOO MUCH. She is on a GOD LEVEL of pure while also being capable of calculating cruelty. She is nonbinary too - and it does play a major part of her backstory as a human. That bit of /small happiness/ I refer to is true. SPOILER NOT SPOILER - her human existence was not that good either.

What I love about her is her complexity? Sometimes doing the /right thing/ is actually ugly and complicated, but even more often, we find /there is no right thing, no good or bad, no one way to approach something./ 

In the end, all we can do is equip ourselves with knowledge, make choices we can live with, and hope what we have done is our best.

Anyway, I hope I answered your question, albeit in a long-winded manner. This was as brief as I could make it, but I hope you enjoyed learning about my beloved children as much as I enjoy writing about them.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your question!!!!

[valvntinass-blog]

me ?? late 2 the party ?? ofc ( it’s also be i’m a complete embarrassment & also wanted to attemPT to write smth worthy of reading ) but hey there, demons. it’s me, ya girl, aka shan aka probably the worst ?? anyway i’m chillin in the gmt timezone probs for the rest of my life bc who has the money to move anywhere else these days ?? i’m 19 w she / her pronouns & spend waY too much time on photoshop & instagram so i’ll probably disappear for hRS just to make smth or go cry over some insta model ?? ummm i watch too many tv shows ( s/o to the og joey tribbiani up there ) & am alsO a huge film buff !! ( kinda mad bc apparently the newest transformers is supposed to be the last one like ?? whY end it like that ?? ) anywaY imma stop rambling bc i’m a rambler & am literallY just gonna copy & paste most of my app bc i’m too lazy to write it all out !!

˚✧* ( CINDY KIMBERLY, FEMALE + SHE/HER ) welcome the exuberant valentina morales. this club’s great for twenty year olds. plus, i hear you’re the skux, huh?that’s interesting, since you’re so manipulative and devious. but i guess it makes some sense given you’re coquettish and alluring as well !

BIOGRAPHY ;

    ❛ congratulations, you’ve had a beautiful baby girl ! ❜

    these are the words that francisco & nadya morales would never forget. for years, the power couple of barcelona had been trying for a daughter, after being blessed with a handsome son, alvaro morales. & then by some miracle they had her. a gorgeous, tiny baby with jet black hair & dark brown eyes. her name ? they called her valentina.

    that girl was a sweet child. she had a smile that could make the wind blow & a laugh so contagious that when other hear it, they had to join in, afraid of missing such an beautiful experience. she lived to make people smile, to see them happy & be the one who makes them happy. she loved to pick roses & to smell flowers, be surrounded by nature & love. she was happy.

    her parents were naturally busy, however. her father, being the owner a well-known &successful business, which had been passed down from generation was always travelling to different places, sometimes taking his family with him. whereas her mother was a model who people loved worldwide, so valentina, so small & young was left in the HANDS of her older brother.

    valentina grew close to him. he was like her best friend, he confident. he helped her with her homework & protected her from anyone who would try to do her harm. he loved her, & she loved him, & whenever all the family was together it was complete bliss to her. she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than this.

    growing up, it was clear to see that valentina had talent. not only were her features soft& pretty, much like her mother’s, but she had a love for the camera & the camera had a love for her. she wasn’t quite sure what career she wanted, however her mother did. but as a child, growing up in spain & knowing little english, how could you ever do something with that ?

    she did, though. she was taken to small photoshoots at home to kick start her career, &for a relatively shy & timid six year old, this was scary yet oddly exciting. needless to say, valentina loved it. but she loved something else, too. at school, they did plenty of plays &productions which valetina threw herself into. she loved it. she loved acting & singing &dancing, almost as much as she did modelling. then she knew what she wanted to be — she wanted to be a model, but she also wanted to be an actress.

    she was comfortable. she loved her life & wouldn’t change a thing. but then her parents dropped the bomb that they were moving & val felt her dreams shatter into a million pieces. moving to america was hard at first. she barely knew any english & the city was intimidating. but as she lived on & met the tempest, the hellion, & the quixotic, things started to even out & as time when by she was pretty much in the same place she was before she moved.

( TRIGGERS ; CAR ACCIDENT, DEATH )     but then came that night. when the crash happened, her heart broke. she never even got to say goodbye to her brother which just made her hurt more. it made her nights restless ; she couldn’t close her eyes without seeing it so she seeked comfort in other people. she slept around, not really thinking about what people would call her. she needed the distraction, & distracting it was. her parents disagreed but she ignored them. she learned to separate her emotions from her thoughts so she became devious, flirtatious, poisonous. anything to forget about the empty feeling in her chest.

    over the years, val has altered incredibly & now works as model for img models. she goes to college, however recent opportunities have made it so she hardly has time for it any more & so tends to cut class to work on her acting career. she tries her best to work her schedule around her friends as well as her arrangements for the night time. never the same person, is a rule she’s set for herself. she’s scared of attachment & anything that could mess with her feelings. god help everyone if that happens.

PERSONALITY ;

val has two sides to her. there’s the sweet side, which can throw people off when they experience her devil side. she’s been described before as a ’ quiet genius ’, meaning that she can seem all cute & innocent but in the meantime is probably planning your downfall. she’s incredibly destructive, reason being why she doesn’t believe in romance or love so her interest in the tempest is quite confusing &annoying for her. but val can be very possessive & jealous, so if she ever found out about the quixotic’s feelings she’d probably flash a smile but secretly would be thinking of all the ways she can destroy them. even though they’re one of her best friends & val is incredibly loyal, nobody gets in the way of what she wants. val can be very withdrawn, however, which would probably be an issue for the hellionbecause she’d rather be out sleeping with someone than she would talk about her issues.

ENTJ ; as an ENTJ, val is very leader-like. she focuses on the most efficient &organized means of performing a task. this quality, along with ger goal orientation, often makes val superior leader, both realistic & visionary in implementing a long-term plan. val tends to be fiercely independent in her decision making, having a strong will that insulates them against external influence. generally highly competent, val can analyze & structure the world around her in a logical & rational way. due to this straightforward way of thinking, val tends to have the greatest difficulty of all the types in applying subjective considerations & emotional values into the decision-making process. as an ENTJ she often excels in business &other areas that require systems analysis, original thinking, & an economically savvy mind. she is a dynamic & pragmatic problem solvers. she tends to have a high degree of confidence in her own abilities, making her assertive & outspoken. In her dealings with others, she is generally outgoing, charismatic, fair-minded, unaffected by conflict or criticism. however, these qualities can make her appear arrogant, insensitive, & confrontational. she can overwhelm others with her energy& desires to order the world according to her own vision. as a result, she may seem intimidating, hasty, & controlling. she tends to cultivate her personal power. she often ends up taking charge of a situation that seems ( to their mind, at least )to be out of control, or that can otherwise be improved upon & strengthened. she strivea to learn new things, which helps her become a resourceful problem-solver. however, since she relies on provable facts, she may find subjective issues pointless. she appears to take a tough approach to emotional or personal issues,& so can be viewed as aloof & insensitive. in situations requiring feeling & value judgments, she is well served to seek the advice of a trusted feeling type. when striving toward a goal, she often puts personal needs aside until the work is done ( & may expect others to do the same ). for this reason, she may be considered self-sacrificing by some, but ’ cold & heartless ’ by others, especially those who prefer feeling.

HOW VAL FEELS ABOUT BEING A MEMBER OF THE EXUBERANT CLUB ;val is very prideful, so being a member of one of the most affluent clubs in new york really does make her hold her head a little higher. she’s already boastful, but to have this privilege is just as good as winning an oscar to her. she loves the privacy & the inclusivity of the place, meaning that she finds herself feeling very comfortable & rewarded.

HEADCANONS ;

001 ; valentina is more known for her talent in modeling & acting, but what many people don’t know is that val loves to dance. since she was a child, whenever a song came on the radio she would be moving whatever she could in the back-seat of the car & one time, when she & her brother went to the mall her favourite song came through the speakers & she just dropped what she was doing & started dancing. she’s an avid fan of music & so can dance to any song, especially spanish songs because that’s a part of her heritage & they’re generally good for dancing.

002 ; val is a very dedicated vegetarian. she says it’s to aid her diet ( because god-forbid if anyone thought she cared about anything for one second ) but in truth it’s because she’s highkey against animal cruelty & won’t eat something that another creature has died for. to be honest, she has a huge love for animals & is the ambassador of a cause that’s fighting against animal cruelty, & although her reasons are genuine she tells her peers that it’s just for the promotion. yeah, right.

003 ; she absolutely loves roses, specifically white ones. whereas people are forced to believe it’s just because of the aesthetic — after all, everything val does is for the aesthetic — the reason is actually deeper than that. when she was little, her family went to a rose garden & her brother told her to pick her favourite rose. she spotted a pristine white one, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen & he picked it for her to take home. the rose lasted a good couple of weeks before it died, leaving val feeling devastated. she’s never told anyone that story in fear they’ll see through her cold mask.

004 ; she’s an exquisite baker. before moving to america, she used to visited this bakery on the weekly. her parents were good friends with the bakery owner & so when val wanted to learn how to bake something new, she’d always go there &they’d teach her all their tricks. val likes to bake for her friends her friends on the daily yet claims that it’s just to pass the time rather than a genuine hobby, but if you go to her place you can guarantee that there’s always cookies on the table.

005 ; is still very connected to her life in barcelona. she visits her friends & family there as often as she can & loves indulging in her hispanic lifestyle. although spanish is one of her main languages, she’s fluent in many others & won’t hesitate in using them to her advantage should the opportunity arise. she’s very culturally orientated & still favours her old life, however she claims to love america more than anything & that clouding her emotions is the best thing she ever did.

[taconight3]

LoZ: The Journey of the Hero’s Spirit

The Birth of the Hero’s Spirit (½)

This is ment to be one whole part like on Wattpad (and other places if I put them there and it fits), but ended up not that way because of Tumblr’s limited ‘blocks’ in text posts. I’m now just hitting the limit adding this context and a continue link at the bottom. For those wondering why it seems to have two titles (no not Wattpad’s weird must title each part ordeal), it’s because I may add more since this is mainly about the beginning of hero’s, but over all this 'series’ (even if it may only have one part because confidence and wondering if I should publicize certain parts).

The village he lives in, though, found it weird in a peaceful land that doesn’t need too many swordsman currently. It is especially confusing when his village is so small they all know each other, so no one really wanted to harm one another.

The young boys of the village found it apparently fun to always interrupt his training with their jokes and rude comments. He usually just stayed quiet and kept training.

“What’s the point of training with a sword if the world is at peace, huh?” A red headed one asks his two friends next to him, chuckling to himself.

“Must be some hobby of Link’s.”

“What a weirdo. If peace is here and it won’t help anyone nowadays, why do it?”

The friends made their snarky comments like it was all some joke, but Link just lowered his sword that he held against the training dummy and let out a quiet sigh.

The way the boys spoke though wasn’t strange at all, and Link knew his history and current state of the land. It’s not like he’s oblivious or anything. He probably cared for and knew more of the history than anyone else who lives here.

Link even loved to tell it, but so far the only one who truly cared seemed to be his wife. Maybe he could tell it to his daughter one day? He could just think of the way he’d tell her the stories… Maybe even use them as just some fun little bedtime stories. He smiled at the thought, clearly not paying attention to anymore of the boys’ comments.

“HEY!” The red head soon snapped him out of his thoughts. Oh boy… He turned to look at the kid, who looked furious. Link sighed and rolled his eyes. “Don’t you know how to at least pay attention when someone is trying to talk to you?!”

“And I’m sure you know how to not make fun of someone for their likes and dislikes?” He says in a serious tone and slowly walks over. He looked just as serious as he sounded.

The red haired boy backed up a bit, seeming to not know how to react. “I-I- u-uh…”

Link stares for a bit to make sure he got the impact he wanted on the kid. “Learn words mean a lot more depending who you say it to. You’re lucky you’re talking to me and no one else. I don’t care half the time. Others can either be hurt, or hurt you for it.” Link starts to walk back to his original spot.

The kid’s only managed reply was a quick nod of the head. His friends nodded as well, shaking a bit from not expecting a reaction after all this time.

Link looks back and gives a soft smile. “And hey. It’s not a bad idea to know how to fight in main aspects, fist or weapon. Never know who you might meet or if you come across a point in your life when you need to know some self defense.”

He looks away from the kids and starts walking to his shed to put his sword away, only for the red head to yell at him. “It’s still weird!” He heard the boy run off with his friends in tow and sighed.

He didn’t expect them to start wanting to learn how to fight with the sword or anything. He was more hoping they’d stop picking on people at least, but he can’t tell if he made the proper impact he wanted on them yet.

He put up his sword and headed back into his home. He smiled softly as he saw his wife, who was taking care of his daughter. She was almost one year old. Link could say he was a bit more than excited for when she is.

His wife, Alma, looked his way and gave a soft smile. He smiled a bit more before heading to his room.

He walked up to a bookshelf, with who knows how many books, and read the spines. Everything was organized alphabetically and seemed mostly based on the very history of the land. He pulled out a few and examined the covers of each before sitting down at his desk.

He took an empty journal and writing utensil. He tapped it a few times before opening up the journal and beginning to write.

“The world had peace as a normal state of being. Of course, you had occasional criminals and all, but war was like a myth or legend. No one expected it and most could only see their future as long and happy. The land of Hyrule loved the peace it had, and most thank the goddesses for this. Din, Nayru, Farore and the one watching over the land, Hylia.

Din, Farore, and Nayru made Hyrule the way it is. Din cultivated the land and made the red earth. Nayru gave her wisdom and gave the spirit of order. Farore created all life forms, who would also uphold the order they got from Nayru.

They had left the land after and left the Triforce though, leaving Hylia in charge. They left the Triforce to keep the land from falling apart, and maintain the peace in that way. It came with a perk for mortals too.

Anyone who manages to touch it will be granted any desires. It doesn’t diverse between good and evil, so both wishes may be granted. A catch is also in place though. If one does not hold a strong heart, innate ability, and a balance of three different virtues each triangle represents then it shall split apart, or as we have been told to possibly keep us from using it for petty desires.

The three virtues are courage, power, and wisdom. As it splits apart into three triangles, the most valued by the one who touched it will go to them, and the goddess possibly chooses who the other two shall belong to.”

Link stops writing there, glancing over how far he’s gone and then closes the journal. He looks out the window, feeling the nice breeze coming through. He sighs and gets up, walking over. He originally planned to close it but stared as the sun began to set on the sky. He smiles softly as he watched.

The world soon dipped into twilight and he shut his window. He sighs and lays in his bed. Another day was over, and only more to go later. Will peace really last like everyone expects…? He couldn’t help but wonder…

—

When Link awoke the next morning, he instantly noticed something off. Shouts seemed to sound off outside, confusing him. He got out of bed and quickly went outside to check what was happening.

A bunch of injured people were being aided by the village people. Link quickly rushed over and examined the wounds for himself.

They were grave. Most looked on their death beds. It was way more than just bruises and a few cuts. They looked like they got attacked by a bunch of wild animals gone ballistic.

“Demons of something attacked them! They burned the village nearby to ash and less than half made it out!” He overheard someone say. He looked up only to catch eye of the red head, who had a strong look of fear in his eyes.

He now realizes peace can be destroyed in an instant- Link guesses. The red head caught eye contact with Link, his eyes widening, only to then run off almost as if he was fleeing.

Link rushed back to his house and starts going through his shed. Alma came out for the same reason Link did, carrying their daughter on her hip. She notices Link and walks over, seeming a bit panicked with the way he was acting.

“What hap-” Link cut her off.

“Something attacked a nearby village. Everyone is describing them as demons and most of the village was killed. Make sure you and Colleen are ready to flee if the same happens here.” Link said quickly, taking out his sword and shield in the process.

“W-what are you going to do…?” Fear and worry was obvious in her voice.

Link stood up and looked at her, seriousness shining in his eyes. “Fight back as best as I can if they do attack. Aftermath if I survive… I’m not sure. I’ll figure out something. This is one of those times I have to go with the flow.”

“B-but- what if you don’t survive-??” He gave a soft smile in first response.

“What matters most is that you and Colleen live through this, whatever is happening. If I die, you being alive is good enough. And hey, taking out a few if I manage may prove to save a few lives if they attack others after.” Alma started to tear up.

“L-Link… Don’t die on me p-please…” She begged, truly upset by the calmness in his tone.

“I’ll try not to.” He cupped her cheek, only to pull away shortly after and go back into the house. He started searching around in his room, looking for something.

He eventually grabbed a bow and an empty quiver just next to it. He tested the bow a bit before taking it with and filling up the quiver with normal arrows, putting that on as well.

With that, Link headed back out the door. He got a bit of information on the attack from people, mostly attempting to see if the ones attacked could describe. With each bit of new information, Link’s fear of peace breaking grew…

—

Link sat waiting on a perched area. Most villagers have decided to flee to a farther away town, some already gone and others still packing. Some decided to just pack and be ready if needed to. Alma was one of them.

Link watched as the village did what it could to prepare, helping out the injured as well. They barely managed to get here and survive, and was only thanks to their comrades who didn’t care to leave everything behind if someone’s life was in danger. They were very lucky people.

Guards were also set up in the best viewing spots nearby, kind of like Link was. He could a hear a few shouts from the village, most of them being prayers with a few cries and a bit of begging.

“Hylia! Please protect us!”

“Save us from this fate, oh Great Goddess!”

“Why is this to happen?! What did we do to deserve this??”

They hoped that the goddess, that promised to watch over them all, would protect them from the presumed demons that seem to be ravaging the land. Maybe after I see these 'demons’ for myself, I’ll go pay a visit to the Temple of Hylia then… For now, it was just a thought. If this isn’t true or as bad as perceived, then he won’t bother.

He sighed softly as time seemed to go on forever. They can’t be too far off unless they went somewhere else or maybe are even going slow. Which it is, that’s the unclear and annoying part for Link.

Just as Link was about to call it a day and just assume it was some animal attack that seemed to be from demons, some thing caught his attention in the distance. Trees seemed to be turning wilted and grey, looking lifeless, at least from the distance he was. It became more obvious as the trail of decay got closer.

Once it got close enough someone let out a shout of alarm. Other guards started to warn the village as well. Link watched as the village started to rush around, and after a while some left.

Link’s main concern went to Alma’s location. He looked around, but couldn’t seem to find her. His attention averted completely to find her at least somewhere, to the point of not noticing quite a few of the guards had left.

He eventually got up from his post and started looking around the village. Did she leave already? He was glad for that, if she did that is.

He rushed into their house quickly to see if she was in here, looking around in every room. When he started looking in his room, he looked at his desk and noticed the journal from the night before.

He took a moment of thought before picking it up and basically taking it with him. Might as well take this so if I survive what ever this is. With that quick thought he rushed out of the house.

They’re were already here. It was a flurry of death they brung, and a few of the injured from the last attack caught in it too. Link was utterly shocked and so far unnoticed.

It wasn’t long before a monster among the army of them spotted Link, calling a few friends of it to follow. As they started rushing at Link, he drew his sword and prepared to be assaulted by who knows how many will come at him.

Once the first was near, Link swung at it with a horizontal slash and ended up killing it, which was shown by it falling backwards. They seemed surprised someone was actually fighting back, taking a moment before continuing trying to attack.

What hit Link as a surprise as he kept swinging at the ones in front of him, he end up barely getting missed from behind on his back by another. He felt slight pain as the blade grazed his back. They have some sloppy swordsmanship. They just swing and hope they hit something!

He swings around and slashes at the ones behind him, making them fall. Not too hard to make topple over.

He kept at them, getting hit a few times. Cuts started slowly covering his body the longer the fight continued. The more cuts he got, the more his heart seemed to quicken. With every moment he could feel and hear his heart beat faster.

One after one the monsters fell from a strong hit from his blade, while he slowly started to weaken. There was a point he didnt know if he could take much more. His strength was starting to run out too much.

The monsters came in all colors and seemed to have different specialties. One thing Link noticed in the middle of the fight was something black with a dark aura following. He wanted to see what it was, being the first time in who knows how long, but the monsters kept coming in hordes and wouldn’t let him move.

For what felt like forever, he kept fighting, but even so it wasn’t long after seeing the figure that he noticed the numbers start decreasing. Some seemed to plan to go fight Link but decided not to. Link found it strange but ignored it for a while…

It took him a moment of looking around to realize he eventually killed all the monsters that decided to stay. His body ached with pain from it all though. His breath was heavy and his steps were shaky as he walked around.

It was like a ghost town now. No one was here besides the dead and himself. Homes were a bit destroyed but it looks like everyone fled so soon that they didn’t hit the town that hard, which made him breath a sigh of relief.

He didn’t find his wife’s or child’s body anywhere either. He was realized but worried still. It was a fifty fifty chance they’re alive or dead, just maybe not here or had been dragged off.

He eventually just walked home, the exhaustion getting to him. He washed out his cuts and covered them all up, before walking to his bed and flopping in it.

Even if he wanted to go stop whatever it was, knowing no one else really has the ability to face whatever it was because everyone is use to peace, but his body just couldn’t do it. Rest would be needed before he even starts his journey to the Temple of Hylia.

It didn’t take long for him to be lulled to sleep from his exhausted body…

—

He woke up a while later. He blinked and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, only for realization to hit him. Nothing was the same anymore, and it wasn’t just a dream like he wished.

He searched his room for things he felt like would help on the way to Hylia’s temple. He used a satchel to carry all the books, maps, medical supplies, and other important things for the journey, only to be eventually looking around with little clue of what else to get.

After a while of looking around and grabbing nothing, he walks out of the house instead. He takes everything in with a deep breath, then looks at his map to see where to go.

He realizes how far away he actually is from the Temple, but it doesn’t discourage him. He walks his way around the death that the attack had caused and makes his way out of the village, starting his long journey.

—

He occasionally came across villages that were safe at the moment and stayed there, or put camps up when the light of day started to go away. He found himself after a while not far off, and was glad of this. This didn’t mean his journey was exactly going to well since it so far kind of has, not including bad weather.

He came across a small village, about the same size as his, only to notice it didn’t seem to give much of a friendly welcoming as Link expected. Apparently, news travels fast and these people already had weapons of all different kinds, but didn’t seem all the best as using them. They pointed the weapons at him, not seeming to have much trust.

He tried explaining who he was and all to these people, only to notice the red haired kid pointing at him and talking to someone else. That person slowly walking over and talked to one of the people pointing a spear at Link. The words were too quiet to hear. It only made them more angry and aggressive.

“Wait. So this is the guy that use to strangely train with a sword and acted like the peace will never last? He must’ve knew…” The guy turns towards Link and puts the spear right in his face. “You! We don’t want you here, and if we have go we’ll get rid of you ourselves! We don’t want monsters like you here!”

Those words struck a cord for Link, only to realize that red head kid basically tattled and lied about him. He looked at the kid angrily, only for the villagers to start threatening him and making him back up.

When he stopped at the entrance of the village, Link stopped even if they threatened, but he didn’t dare hurt them either. “I didn’t know any of this was going to happen! Wouldn’t I try to do something to prevent it, especially with a daughter and wife to protect?!”

They didn’t seem to take his word for it. “Get out of here! We don’t care you obviously knew!” Looks like sword training daily had its drawbacks…

Link was going to argue more, only for one to actually seem to try hurting Link. He planned to jump back but only looked up as a woman dropped from the sky and knocked the villagers attacking out with one strong kick to each.

“Fools. Guess that’s how they become with danger brewing…” She mumbled to herself. Link blinked in surprise as she turned to him. “Your name’s Link, right?” The warrior fitted women asks. Link was baffled that she knew his name. He only nodded in response. “Good. Hylia sent me to find you. Looks like I got here in time.”

Link nods quickly. “Y-yeah! Thanks for helping me out there, er, whoever you are.” One thing he could tell by her looks, mainly her symbol she bears, was that she was a Sheikah. He was also surprised as he examined her by the hair that came down along the side of her head, with the fact it didn’t seem to get annoying while fighting.

The woman just smiles fondly. “The name’s Impa. Hylia’s servant.” Link was surprised at that title for herself.

“R-really-? Must be an honor for you then, to be protecting her and all.” Link shuffled in place, clearly taken aback.

She chuckled. “I guess it is, but you’ll see yourself soon enough.” Link blinked more.

“H-huh…?” He didn’t seem to understand her comment, just making the servent laugh.

“Don’t worry about it. Just follow me.” She starts walking away, looking behind to make sure Link is following. He blinks but then just follows, trying to sort out what happened exactly and figure out what she ment.

[Continued]