#but normally the first portal i find is the marketplace portal

[slashmagpie]

🌲🐖

🌲Favourite tree and type of wood? 

Acacia and jungle wood! I know a lot of people hate them but I think they're just mean. They're fun colours!!

🐖 How much time do you spend in the nether?

Barely any tbh. My nether spawn on my solo world is awful so I rarely go in because. Death and terribleness awaits. And on the SMP I play on I only really go in when I get lost exploring and end up stumbling across someone else's base with no idea how to get home (I'm so terrible at coordinates like I know how they work but I get so lost still). And then I wander confusedly around the nether hub until I either find my portal or the market portal because I know how to get home from there.

Minecraft emoji asks!

[phantom-playdough]

MK, Mei, Wukong, Red Son, & Macaque x GN!Reader: Stressed Doggo

Requested by: @nightraveler2

Request Concept: Reader is a human, but transforms into a dog. They cannot do it on command and end up panicking when they do transform. How would the characters above react? Let's find out.

Side note: I ended up adding a detail. I imagined that the reader ended up getting cursed by a non-specified artifact and that is how they transform into a dog, as well as it takes a lot of focus to transform back into a human.

Side note #2: You can pick the dog breed you take the form of, I left it ambiguous.

Wukong:

I feel like he likely be outside of his hut picking peaches when he suddenly hears a loud shriek from inside. His first thought was that a demon had somehow come onto his island and was hurting you. So, with him boiling at the thought, he zoomed into his house. But he paused in shock when he saw his S/O running around in an absolute FRENZY... in the form of a dog. But Wukong had to push his own shock aside to help his S/O try and calm down.

So, he would slowly approach them, picking them up and holding them in his arms. At first, Y/n struggled in his grip, but then they realized it was just Wukong and started to relax in his hold. But they were still scared of course and were beginning to hyperventilate. Wukong hushed and shushed, speaking soft, reassuring words in their now more sensitive but soft ears.

Eventually, Y/n's breathing slowed down and their anxiety calmed down. Wukong took that time to ask, "Y/n, how did you turn into a dog?"

"I don't really know. I was just putting some stuff aside for you to throw out like you asked and I touched some weird looking artifact. Next thing I knew, it started glowing and I transformed into a dog."

Wukong paused as the gears in his head turned, before snapping into place. "Ohhhh, I know which one you're talking about. Welp! Luckily, it's pretty easy to fix. You just have to put a little focus into imagining your normal form and before you know it, you'll transform back!"

"I don't know..."

"Just trust me! C'mon, I know you can do it, Y/n!"

Y/n sighed and took in a deep breath. They then cleared their mind and focused on their human form. Suddenly, a flash of white covered their vision and they slowly opened their eyes to see their hands instead of paws.

They exhaled a breath they didn't know they were holding and hugged Wukong, still sitting sideways in his lap. Wukong laughed a little and wrapped an arm around their waist, kissing the top of their head.

Macaque:

Macaque and Y/n were at the marketplace, intent on spending the day to have fun window-shopping together. But while they were walking around, an odd-looking artifact caught Y/n's eyes. So, they paused their steps to take a closer look at it.

By the time Macaque realized Y/n was no longer by his side and turned around, he saw too late that they had picked up the artifact to hold in one of their hands.

"Y/n! Don't touch that!"

But it was too late, like I said. And the artifact glowed a bright green and by the time Macaque blinked once, Y/n was a dog. They immediately came to the same horrific conclusion and began to panic.

Macaque ran over, picking Y/n up and summoned a portal back to the dojo. Once the pair were back at the dojo, Macaque sat down and held Y/n in his arms.

"It's okay, Y/n. It's okay. Just breathe for me. Just breathe." Macaque said in a soothing voice. He inhaled a deep breath, Y/n following his example and taking a deep breath in as best as they could. After a minute or two of this, Y/n managed to calm down. But they started whining, making Macaque chuckle just a tad bit.

"Shh, shh, shh. Just focus on my voice. Clear your mind, imagine your face. Imagine your human form. Focus on that image. Okay?"

Y/n did as instructed and with a flash of light, they had transformed back into their human form.

After breathing a sigh of relief, they looked at Macaque, a curious expression on their face. "How did you know what to do for me to transform back?"

Macaque looked off to the side sheepishly. "I... may or may not have...experience with those kind of artifacts..."

Y/n paused for a moment. But they busted out into a small fit of laughter. "You ought to tell me that story sometime, Mac."

Macaque rolled his eyes with a poorly hidden smirk. "I don't think so."

"...Thanks."

Red Son:

Red Son had just recently acquired an artifact for a scheme or something for his father. Y/n wasn't sure what the scheme was, but they had to admit the artifact was quite beautiful. But, because it looked so stunning, they just couldn't resist touching it with a finger.

Within no more than a moment, a bright flash of light blinded them and they suddenly were a dog.

"RED!!!!" Y/n screamed. Red Son immediately busted into the lab and immediately froze to see Y/n in the form of a dog.

"Y/n, you peasant!! Why did you touch that artifact!?!" Red Son yelled, but immediately calmed down when he saw Y/n run around in circles because they were in a point of complete panic.

He took a breath and approached his table, grabbing a small screwdriver-looking device. He then walked over to Y/n and pressed the button on the device, making Y/n freeze and start glowing bright yellow. They shut their eyes, bracing themselves for God knows what would happen next.

But when they opened their eyes, Y/n was relieved to see their hands again. Y/n smiled, looking at Red Son before kissing his cheek.

"You're staying out of my lab for a while, you peasant."

MK:

Monkey King had sent MK out to get an artifact for him. MK wasn't really told what Monkey King needed this thing for, but he assumed it was for some scheme or something. Who knew with him, though?

So, Y/n and MK went out on a mission to find the artifact. Luckily, they got it without much issue. (Aside from Y/n almost falling off a cliff.) But while the pair were on their way back to Pigsy's Noodles, Y/n was marveling the artifact when they saw a gemstone set in the middle of the base. Y/n couldn't take their eyes off of it as much as they tried to focus on the street ahead of them.

But, Y/n finally cracked and pressed a single finger against the gemstone, caressing it softly. Suddenly, a blinding light was left piercing through the otherwise dark night sky. MK shielded their eyes from the light, waiting for it to fade. When it finally did, MK opened his eyes to see Y/n much shorter...and hairier than normal.

"Hey, MK...? How come you're suddenly so much taller now?" MK couldn't fight the cringe on his face if they tried. But they didn't have aa chance to explain the fact that their significant other was now a DOG because Y/n caught a reflection of themself in a trashcan.

Right on cue, they shrieked and began running around in circles from blind panic. MK thought quickly and picked Y/n up, before summoning his staff to launch himself over to Pigsy's Noodles. MK all but busted into the establishment to see Tang and Pigsy sitting at one of the booths.

"MK, where did ya get a dog? We aren't--"

"Mr.Tang! Y/n got transformed into a dog by some weird artifact!" MK sped over to Tang and shoved a hyperventilating Y/n Dog Edition into his face.

Tang immediately pulled out a book (Where was he keeping a book?!) and flipped through the pages. Meanwhile, MK was rocking Y/n back and forth in their arms in an attempt to console them. Finally, Tang landed on one page and explained the artifact cursed those who touched the gemstone on it with becoming a random animal.

Tang then explained that the fix was relatively simple. MK would just have to calm Y/n down and help them visualize their human form. MK decided to try just that. Calming them down was relatively easy because there was an explanation as to what was happening. But helping them visualize themselves was a bit more tricky for some reason.

So, MK decided to try a different approach. So, he grabbed his art supplies and began drawing at a neck-breaking pace. They ignored the confused look on Y/n's furry face. Finally, MK turned the page around and showed Y/n a drawing of their human form. They stared at the drawing for a moment or two, before they finally transformed back with another blinding flash of light.

Y/n slowly opened their eyes to only be crushed by MK in a hug.

"Thank you, Xiaotian. I owe you one."

Mei:

Mei set her fork down, looking across the table at her loving S/O eating their food. Y/n caught Mei's eye and swallowed their bite. "What? Do I have something stuck on my face?"

Mei brought a hand to her chin, thinking for a moment. "Yeah, you do. You have SEXY written all over your face!!"

Y/n laughed, not expecting that answer. Mei was the type to stare and not be ashamed for doing so. Not that Y/n minded.

"I actually have something for ya, Y/n." Mei said, pulling a gift bag out of seemingly nowhere.

"Aww! And here I thought we weren't going to get each other gifts."

"You deserve to be splurged! Now open it up, already!" Mei had such a strong amount of cheer that it was almost impossible to not be cheerful when around her.

Y/n peeked into the bag, pulling out a super shiny artifact. "Wow, Mei...where did you get this?! It wasn't too expensive, right?"

"Pssh! NOTHING is too expensive for you. Buuuuut, I found it while I was on an adventure with MK." Mei then immediately pulled her phone out and fired up her livestream. She zoomed around the other side of the table and showed the artifact and Y/n.

"THIS is yet another good look at the beautiful light in front of me. The artifact is nice too!"

"Oh, my God Mei!" Y/n shrieked with a cackle.

But suddenly, the artifact started glowing brightly. Y/n shieled their eyes with an arm while Mei dropped her phone to cover her eyes.

Once the light faded away into nothing, Mei opened her eyes to see a dog.

"M-Mei, why are you so tall?" The dog asked. It was only then that Mei realized that Y/n had turned into a dog.

"HOW DID YOU TURN INTO A DOG!?!?"

"I'M A DOG!?"

Mei's phone dinging at a near constant rate brought them out of her moment of panic.

'Mei, tell them to visualize their human form. That artifact probably was cursed and that can fix it.'

Mei immediately took Y/n into her arms and began rocking them back and forth. They wiggled around at first, but Mei shushed them and whispered, "Just think of your human form. You should transform back if you can picture it."

Y/n did as they were told and before they knew it, another bright light covered the area.

Once the light faded once more, Y/n looked down at their body to luckily see no fur or fluffy dog tail.

Y/n breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mei."

"No problem, babe."

[beff-jezos]

FOR MY FOLKS IN GA:

There's been a recent switch from the normal Marketplace portal to a new Georgia specific one called Georgia Access!

Here's the link:

If you already have Marketplace, you've probably already received a couple emails about this exactly. They'll send you a code that you can use to link your former Marketplace account to the new Access portal OR if you can't find those emails, just follow this link here and use your SSN instead to connect from Healthcare.gov! You're gonna want to choose the second option of "Consumers with an Access Code or Using SSN". (I found that actually they ended up renewing my same plan rather than me having to go and find an entirely new one which honestly? Such a score.)

You can also enroll there even if you DIDN'T sign up for Marketplace insurance by clicking the first option of "New Consumers". Make sure to follow the steps and enter your income for pre-eligibility screenings to make sure you're eligible for Exchange plans with the tax credit.

(I know that they push for options of brokers and assisters on the main website but I can't necessarily speak to that. Be wary with whoever you sign up with and put your information in for. I know a couple folks who I have reason to believe utilized brokers who had their data sold and now receive stupid amounts of spam calls so if you feel comfortable using the portal above to directly choose your own plan, I'd recommend it! And if you do use a broker or secondary website and see the options if Speridian, Benefitalign, or Inshura on there, DO NOT FUCKING CHOOSE ANY OF THEM. THEY ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM MARKETPLACE FOR SCAMMING AND DATA SELLING.)

Anyways, go forth and get affordable healthcare while the option is there!!

Banging on the walls chanting "OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR ACA THRU JAN 15" like some deranged town crier. Election results aside, you have options to access healthcare as a RIGHT through the ACA. NO one can dismantle the Affordable Care Act in less than 4 years, so SIGN UP! GET YOUR CARE! USE THE SYSTEM!

You have options RIGHT NOW that will be stable thru the next year, the one after that, and I'd be shocked to see them shrink even the year after that. That means RIGHT NOW you can get signed up for next year to gain 100% covered preventative care (your annual check ups, pap smears, dental cleaning, vision check). You have the option to get checked and screened as you need, do NOT be dissuaded from exploring ACA choices. They are SOLID, LEGISLATED, and WORK BEST WHEN PEOPLE USE THEM.

I can't change most things around me, BUT I CAN tell everyone I know that THEY CAN GET LIFE SAVING CARE. THEY CAN GET PRESCRIPTIONS. THEY CAN GET PREGNANCY CARE. THEY CAN GET CANCER CARE. AND THEY WILL GET THAT CARE!!!!!!

SIGN UP BY DECEMBER 15, 2024 FOR COVERAGE TO BEGIN ON JANUARY 1, 2025. ENROLLMENT AFTER 12/15/24 WILL HAVE COVERAGE BEGINNING FEBRUARY 1, 2025.

[jinmukangwrites]

Whumptober 2021 - October 3 - "Who did this to you?"

Fandoms: Linked Universe

Ao3

Warnings: major injury, attempted murder, blood, near-death experiences

---

Trouble comes with a smiling face; not that Wild knows that yet. All he sees is an eager young woman with kind eyes and a humble dress, offering to show him where he can get some wine to cook with tonight.

He and the rest of the heroes have been on the road for quite a while now, without a single town in sight. Nothing but various barns to cross their path. This is the first actual town they’ve seen in miles, even though it’s not a very big one. Yet, there is a small inn for weary travelers, and a marketplace near the front entrance of the town where farmers can sell their goods and towns-folk and gossip. The whole group of them are rather low on funds, but the market seemed like the perfect excuse to relax. Spend some money that they just barely have. Pretend to be normal people for just a few hours.

Just until sunset.

It was Wild, Twilight, Warriors, and Hyrule out in the market while the others were making deals with the innkeepers to get cheaper rooms and more beds. Wild wasn’t really sure what the others were wanting to find out in the market today, but Wild was on the hunt for quality ingredients for quality food that he couldn’t make while on the road. He planned on making a meal tonight fit enough for Zelda herself, and he needed wine to do it. Not to drink, of course not, but to soak into fine slices of meat to add extra flavoring. Nothing strong enough to get a man tipsy—and if he ends up with extra wine, he’ll put it in a flask and gift it to the Old Man. Hylia knows he deserves it.

But he couldn’t find anything even remotely related to wine in these small markets. Some stalls sell alcoholic jars of milk, but Wild honestly has never even heard of milk that could be alcoholic, let alone ever cooked with it. By the time the sun was starting to caress the horizon, frustration was bubbling in his belly because of this and all he could think about were those berries he saw on a tree a few days ago that looked perfect for making some of his own wine out of.

Twilight and Warriors were looking at a jewel-smith's stall, admiring the finely crafted trinkets and murmuring to themselves about the ones that would match her eyes, or impress that gentleman at the tavern, and Wild soon lost interest in both the stall and his love-sick companions. He had stood several feet off, leaning against a brick wall, eyeing the closest stalls to him and hoping for even a small sight of anything close to wine set up for sale.

And then he saw her. Trouble, despite him not knowing it. He didn’t even suspect it. Perhaps he’s gotten too used to the threats of other worlds, that he forgot the threats of his own.

She walked up to him, a swish to her brown dress that seemed to almost have a pink tint. Her hair was brown, done up in messy braids and a bun above her head. Wild assumed she was the daughter of a farmer who was selling crops from their farm, so he didn’t assess her too critically. Before he knew it, she was stopped a few feet from him, swaying her dress side to side between her thin fingers.

“Is there something you’re looking for, travelers?” she asked, her voice sweet like sugared honey. Beside him, Hyrule blushed a bit at the ears.

Wild wasn’t much in a good mood at the moment, but he decided that asking for help might be his only option at this point. “I’m looking for wine, or any kind of beverage like it made out of berries?”

The girl hummed, pressing her finger to her chin in thought. “The most popular beverage ‘round here is milk…” she said, and Wild’s shoulders slumped. But then she continued. “Though, I know a liquor shop further in town where they sell all kinds of drinks. I’ll show you the way, but it closes really soon.”

Hope surged in Wild’s chest. Perhaps he would be able to make a fancy meal tonight after all! Feeling in lighter spirits than he had all night, he told Hyrule to inform Twilight and Warriors that he would be going to the liquor shop. Wild barely noticed the slight hesitation on Hyrule’s face before he turned and did as he was asked. Wild should have noticed it. He should have thought more about how eager and smooth talking the girl was, should have been more in tune with his companion’s concerns, but he followed her out of the market anyway.

And now he’s here, laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood thanks to a hole in his stomach. The “liquor store” was nothing more than an abandoned shop several blocks away from the market, but he only found that out when he walked inside and saw the hastily put together lanterns to give the illusion of life, each one placed among dust and cobwebs. Before he could even turn back and question what was going on, the girl was sliding her arm around his side and heartlessly impaling him with a familiarly curved, sickle-like blade.

Her laugh was also familiar as his knees gave out and he crumpled to the floor, wheezing. Though not familiar in a way that he knew her name; he knew her kind.

“Wh-” he gasps, using one hand to clutch at the floor blanketed in bloody dust, and the other to press onto the wound in his stomach like he’s trying to keep everything in. “What-”

“You’re probably wondering why I’m here, hero,” the girl… Yiga chuckles, stepping over his crumpled body to squat by his head. “To tell the truth, I’m not sure either. I fell into a portal… and found myself in a whole new world. And I saw you, and your friends. I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to take you down. This is for Master Kohga-” Wild’s too weak to fight her off as she reaches for his body, searching his pockets and taking the only healing potions that he had. “-and for Calamity Ganon. I don’t care what happens to me now, as long as you die painfully and slowly, right here.”

Then, she stands up, takes his potions, and leaves, shutting the door behind her as she laughs into the night.

Stupid. Wild is so stupid. How did he not guess something like this would happen? Did he truly let his guard down so badly that he forgot to always be on the lookout for Yiga soldiers? Has he become so comfortable traveling between worlds that didn’t have rogue Sheikah that it didn’t matter for him to worry about them as much?

He’s going to bleed out and die here, all because he wanted some wine to cook with in a town that only sold fucking milk and he couldn’t bother to make sure the person he was following was actually someone with good intentions. He can already feel his vision swirling, and his entire body feels pathetically weak and cold. The pain is unbearable, bringing tears to his eyes.

He coughs up blood, and does his best to prepare himself for a failure’s death, as he’s too weak to even call for help; let alone try and save himself.

Stupid…

His vision swirls white, and then fades black, and he knows nothing more.

-o-o-o-o-

“Something’s wrong,” Twilight says, several minutes after Hyrule told him and Warriors that Wild had gone off with some farmer girl to find a liquor store.

“Something is wrong,” Twilight repeats when they ask a local villager for directions to the nearest liquor store, and they reply the only alcohol this town sells is the milk in the market.

Hyrule is quick to point out the direction he remembers seeing Wild and the girl go off in, and then they thankfully split up to cover more ground. The second there’s no one to see, Twilight changes into his wolf form, sniffing the air desperately for his kid. Wild’s scent is one that he will always remember, it’s stored and locked within his brain, right next to Mipha, Zelda, and all the kids at Ordon.

He finds Wild’s trail after a nerve wracking few moments, and then he’s dashing through dimly lit streets like his life depends on it.

The feeling of something being horribly wrong only gets stronger when he finds Wild’s scent leading inside a run down looking building with dim, flickering lanterns in the windows. Then, the reek of blood hits his nostrils at full force. He shifts back into his human form and bursts into the front door without a single care on what’s on the other side.

The stench of blood is stronger here, even for his human nose. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that his eyes drop to the floor along with what feels like a stone in his stomach. Wild is at his feet, curled up like a child, red pooling around his terribly pale body.

“No-” Twilight drops down to his knees, already pulling out his spare red potion and gathering Wild into his arms. Wild makes a strangled groan through his throat, but his eyes are squeezed closed.

He’s alive though. The thought that he’s still alive is the only thing that gives Twilight enough strength to pull out the cork of his jar and shove the opening to Wild’s lips.

Wild chokes as the liquid enters his mouth, but Twilight doesn’t let up. It’s preferable to drink red potions, but when it comes to drastic situations like this, just getting it in the injured person's body is enough to save their lives. Wild coughs through the liquid and writhes in Twilight's arms, and it’s all Twilight can do to keep the bottle there and shakily whisper every comforting word that he knows. Eventually, color returns to Wild’s cheeks, and his eyes blink open blearily as his choking turns into instinctive swallows.

When the contents of the bottle is gone, Twilight lets the glass jar fall to the floor as he now uses his newly freed hand to check Wild’s wound.

It’s still nasty, and deep, but no longer life threatening. Another potion or some stitches and Wild will be as good as new. For the first time in what feels like years, Twilight allows himself to breath out a sigh of intense relief.

“Twi…?” Wild asks, voice incredibly small.

Twilight holds him just a little tighter, willing his heart to calm down. He’s almost… he’s come so close to almost losing-

“Who did this to you?” Twilight demands with a bite to his tone that he doesn’t mean to direct at Wild.

Wild doesn’t react to it though. He just closes his eyes and shakes his head. “It… doesn’t matter…” he replies in a whisper. Twilight feels anger swell in his stomach and he almost argues back, but Wild talks more despite how much it must still hurt. “Later,” he says. “’M hurt, wanna sleep. Deal with… it later.”

Twilight takes a deep breath, counts to five, then lets it out. He doesn’t feel any less upset. However, he keeps his voice level, deciding that arguing with Wild here will just upset the boy more than help him.

“Okay,” he agrees reluctantly. “I’m going to carry you, okay? I’m out of potions, but Wars or Hyrule should be nearby with some of their own. Then we can go get a well deserved sleep.”

Wild simply nods and relaxes into Twilight’s arms, breathing a sigh and closing his eyes. Twilight bites his lip, then resolves himself to hold one of his dearest friends close to his chest as he stands up. There’s blood everywhere, staining his hands, his tunic, his boots, his pants. But he got here in time. Wild will be okay.

That’s all that matters now. Once Wild has all his color back and his stomach no longer has a hole in it… then Twilight can make sure whoever did this regrets being born.

“I got you, kid,” he says, “I got you.”

[starshineskyandthepowerofrock]

Stuff You Wouldn't Think To Find

Part 23 of Starshine, Sky, and the Power of Rock

The portal kinda feels like how sparkling water tastes, if that makes sense. I meet Sky on the other side to find her shaking magical shimmers out of her hair.

"They really like sparkles over here, don't they?" she says.

I wiggle and watch the glittery particles fall from my pajamas. There's Sky's pencil next to my slippers! I pick it up. "Hey, look!"

Sky smiles and puts the pencil behind her ear for safe keeping. She looks around. "Any idea where we are?"

I shrug. It's super dark in here. The portal glows pink next to us and Sky's eyes glow blue so I can see just around me. But everything else? I haven't got a clue. "Do you know a light spell?"

"I know a 'make lights brighter' spell. It's a duet."

I don't see any lights to make bright in here except... hm... I put my hand through the portal again and swoosh it around a little. I pull back out with a handful of magical sparkles. Sky sings each part once for me, then I sing the melody while she sings the harmony. The sparkles glow brighter until we can see everything within two feet of us.

"Oooooh!" I say.

The walls and ceiling are a whole lot closer to us than I'd expected. We're in a super tight hallway, it looks like. No windows, no doors, nothing but what looks like an endless corridor. My heart's going again. I wonder what's down there! I've never explored a palace before, especially not an enchanted one!

Sky and I creep down the hall, our footsteps muted by our slippers. "Do you think that portal's always been there?" I ask.

"No clue," she says. "I feel like we would've noticed. Can't imagine why they'd put a secret passageway in a common room. Must be some kinda... magical glitch."

"Do you think your piano playing opened it? Like, on accident?"

Sky chuckles. "C'mon, you think I could do that? With a normal piano?"

I shrug. "I dunno. I've seen you do other cool stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like when you beat that guy in a guitar battle? That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

Sky doesn't look amused anymore. "Thanks," she says.

"Oh, um, sorry, i-is that a sore poi-"

"It's okay," she says a little too loud. She softens up a bit. "Thanks -- uh -- really, I'd forgotten I'd done that."

"See? So, you are cool!"

"You're pretty cool yourself," she says. "I wouldn't think you'd be up for something like this."

"Like what?"

"Ya'know. Sneaking around. Doesn't seem your speed."

I giggle. "I snuck around all the time back on the moon!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really! My friends and I used to sneak each other out of our bedroom windows and go hang out after curfew," I giggle. "They'd love you."

"Huh, maybe I'd love them too, then. You'll have to introduce us if that can happen."

"I sure hope so," I say, only to notice that feeling in my chest come back. Hmm. Time to change the subject. "Where do you think this leads?"

Sky scrunches her eyebrows a bit. She's quiet for longer than I'd expect. "I've got a theory but I'm not sure it's a good one."

"At least you've got one, right? Lemme hear, lemme hear!"

She takes a glance at me but turns back. "Let's see first before I say anything."

She keeps answering in ways I'm not ready for, huh. "Oh... Okay, then?"

The floor has been slowly inclining as we go. It was only a bit at first but it's getting so steep I wonder if we'll slip. I'm very thankful for the little sticky things on the bottom of my slippers-

"Ah!" Sky yelps. I catch her by the arm right before she hits the ground. "Thanks," she says. Then she furrows her brow. "Wait." She kneels back down again, more careful now, and puts her ear to the floor. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It's... It's like... Uh. A hum? No, not a- Huh." She stands back up. "But you hear it, right?"

I shake my head. "What are you talking about?"

"It's, uh. A sound? Or..." She tries clearing her ears, rubs her temples. "No, not a sound. It's, it's not in my ears, it's..." She's starting to breathe, oh no!

"Are you okay? Maybe we should turn back-"

She hits the side of her head. "What the hell is happening? You don't feel it?" She grits her teeth, squeezes her eyes shut. Then she puts her hands over her head and ducks as if shielding herself from... I don't even know what. She reminds me of...

"Do you have anxiety, Sky?"

She doesn't seem to hear me, she just keeps whispering "What the hell, what the hell, what the hell?"

Ohhhh gosh, what did my mom do? Would it work with her? I've gotta try!

"Sky? Sky, look at me, okay? Name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things-"

She says a word I don't feel comfy repeating. Okay then, what else do I do to ground myself? Uhhhh. I start flapping my hands. I've gotta be the calm one now. Okay, okay. I take a big breath and let it out. "Can you try doing that, Sky?"

Her eyes land on me. I do it again. She tries a shaky breath of her own. I take another deep breath. Then she does. We breathe together few more times until she takes her trembling hands away from her head. She looks away, gulps, and says, "Uh, thanks. You're right. Maybe we should turn back."

🌙🌙🌙

We both sleep in the next day. It's 12:30 when we've just started rubbing the clouds out of our eyes over a game of cards, only for Star to come into our dorm saying, "You two are still in your PJs? Was there a no-sleep slumber party that I missed?

Sky swirls the coffee in her mug and says, "Eh, I guess we're just both night owls, right, Crescent?"

I smile, realizing Star probably isn't the best person to tell about sneaking around secret palace corridors past curfew. "Yep!"

"Well, while you guys slept in, Citrus and I checked out the local marketplace. Sugarsweet has some great shops I think you two would like! Oh, and I asked around, Sky, and the music store wouldn't mind you coming in! We could go CD shopping!"

Sky's eyes light up. "Woah, really? That's great! Wanna go, Crescent?"

"Sure! Maybe we can skate, too! I hear the ice rinks here are made of frozen rock candy!"

🌙🌙🌙

Wow, Sugarsweet really lives up to its name! Star says it's the capital of Dulcet Falls, a province I still can't believe exists! Oh my gosh, I'm so so happy we're here for the week! We stick out our tongues and let blue sour-sweet snowflakes land in our mouths.

"The precipitation is a different flavor in each city. Here, it's blue raspberry!" Star tells us.

"How'd that even happen?" I ask.

"Oh, I haven't a clue. Scientists have been studying the phenomena of this province for years and still aren't sure why."

"Well, I'm not complaining!" Sky says. "Hey, your tongues are blue!" She smiles, revealing her fangs are stained blue, too.

We giggle together and head towards the music shop. Just as Star promised, Sky steps right through the doorway without a problem. The aisles of CDs each end with a touch screen with attached earbuds so you can listen to a sample from any album on sale in the store.

We of course make a beeline for the rock section and browse CD after CD. Sky and I still don't really know a lot of the artists in the Land of Light, so we listen to tons of samples. Star is so excited to show us band after band, singer after singer. She's also got a lottt of allowance money that she has no trouble spending on us.

Sky is drawn to the secondhand section, maybe because she doesn't wanna have Star spend more on brand new CDs, or maybe because she's interested in that retro sound. The older stuff sounds cool, too! But there isn't a ton of hip hop over in this section, probably because the Land of Light's history with that is only as recent as moon rabbits coming down here and sharing our music with them. The Land of Light's hip hop has an interesting pop bent to it, one I don't hate at all and actually find kinda fun! But it does make me wish I could hear some beats that sound closer to the kind you hear back home...

Hm.

I ask Star and Sky if they can catch up with me at the skate rink. I can pay for my stuff, I assure Star.

🌙🌙🌙

I'm no better at skating then I was yesterday, but if it gets my mind off things then I'll take it. After a few more very wobbly tries at not letting gravity get the better of me, I finally decide to sit on a bench until Star and Sky catch up.

Okay. What are 5 things I can see? I see the pale blue skate rink. I see shop buildings with peppermint pillars supporting gingerbread walls and roofs covered in frosting. I see fairies and unicorns and elves and cat people who all skate way better than I do- uh uh, stop that! They're all doing their best, just like me! What's the point of a grounding technique if I'm gonna put myself down during it? Now, let's see. I see I girl who's... what is she doing? She's touching the edge of a chocolate road sign. Is she... She's broken off a piece!

I do my best to unlace my skates and get back in my boots as fast as I can and try to go get a better look. "Excuse me!" I say.

The girl's head snaps in my direction. Her eyes widen -- Her red eyes! She runs off.

"H-hey!" I say a whole lot of "excuse me"s and stumble a few times going at this speed but I've gotta catch up! "Wait up!"

The girl only stops to scoop up handful of snow and lob it in my direction. It whizzes past me. "That's not very nice!" I shout, still after her. "People have gotta use that sign, you can't just-"

"Buzz off, loser!" she shouts past the scarf covering her mouth. She's scrambling into the woods now.

I gasp. "No!" I pounce on her back and we both tumble into the flavored snow.

She shoves me off of her and coughs up a mouthful of snow, revealing a set of fangs I'm not much surprised to see. She looks up, eyes wide with worry. "What are you gonna do, report me? It'll be the last thing you-"

"You can't go running into the woods like that, silly! The Band of Darkness could snatch you up like that!" I try to snap to make my point but it's a little hard to make a sound with this wooly mitten on.

She blinks. "What?"

"When I first came to the Land of Light, I had to learn a lot about safety since the Band of Darkness likes to lurk around a lot. And the biggest rule was don't go in the woods! One of my friends is a vampire, too, so I know they won't go easy on you! Be careful, okay!"

She stares at me, not sure what to say. "I'll, um. I'll take that into account." She takes a bite out of the chocolate chunk in her hand.

Wow. I'm not sure what else to even say. I've got so many questions but none of them are coming out!

"Well then," she says, standing and brushing the snow off herself. "I have to go. You didn't see me, okay?"

"Huh? Yes I did!"

"I mean if anyone asks, you didn't meet me, okay? We didn't meet. Got it?"

"Uh. Um..."

"Got it?" she asks, more intense this time.

I nod. "I-I've got it!"

"Good. Now, aren't your friends wondering where you are?"

[drabbles-of-writing]

Can We Keep Him? (pt 3)

This is part of my Uncursed AU

AO3

Masterpost

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For the first few weeks, their routine worked.

Eda would open the portal to the human realm, warn King to be careful, and have him go at it for about an hour before reopening the door and sorting through whatever he had collected.

The first day King mostly only got food, and Eda could barely sell any of it. Half because it was too disgusting by Boiling Isles standards and half because King kept eating it.

The second day King grabbed anything he could that looked vaguely like a crown. Eda made him sell each and every one, much to his distress. She did, however, save a silver and blue plastic tiara that she gave to King, who was thrilled. Even if his crowns never lasted very long, it was worth it to see him so happy.

The third day King didn’t make it back to the portal because he had been caught by the human version of animal control and Eda had to break him out.

But aside from those hiccups and a few others, it went fine.

So fine, in fact, that Eda was nearing enough money to finally get a place of her own instead of crashing at Lilith’s and sometimes her dads when Lilith accidentally locked the doors.

Things were starting to look up...almost.

,

King was absolutely, positively, not worried.

It was un-kingly like for the King of Demons to be worried about a witch.

No, he wasn’t worried.

Simply...curious. Wondering. Questioning.

“Have you seen Eda?” King exclaimed, jumping up onto some poor unsuspecting witches table, scaring the life out of them. “She’s tall, I think, with hair that looks like a rats nest on fire, usually causing trouble and scamming people?”

“Beat it, you overgrown rat!” A second witch at the stand snapped, swinging a broom at the demon.

King yelped and leapt off the table, hitting the ground awkwardly before scuttling further into the marketplace.

“Have you seen Eda?” He asked a passing cyclops, clinging to his leg. “The witch who sells human collectibles? Looks like she probably stole your wallet?”

“Get off!” The cyclops demanded, kicking out his leg and sending King right back to eating the dirt.

King sprung right back up, fiddling his paws together as he rushed down the marketplace, asking any witch, demon, or vaguely-sentient being if they’d seen Eda. Most brushed him off, others only shook their heads.

Normally, King wouldn’t be so worr--er, inquisitive about where Eda was. She had a new place she set up shop every day, and it was always fun to hunt her down in the morning.

But Eda had told him where she was going to be this time. Right smack in the middle of the marketplace, so to sell more stuff today.

She wasn’t there. Or anywhere, for that matter.

Not a single sign, disgruntled customer, nothing. Eda rarely missed a day to sell. And whenever she did, she would always make sure to tell King beforehand. He had to be extra careful with his crown of the week when she wasn’t around to replace it, after all.

King swore he’d searched the whole marketplace from top to bottom three times around. He couldn’t find Eda anywhere.

It was nearing afternoon, and he was getting tired.

“Aw, I’m sorry to hear that, sweetie,” his most recent inquiry said sympathetically. “Maybe she was just sick today. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“Yeah...yeah! That must be it!” King said. “Eda’s just sick. I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“There you go,” The nice lady smiled. “Run along now, you look tired.” “Oh you have no idea,” King agreed. “Thanks, random minion!” He called before turning and trotting back through the marketplace.

Of course Eda was sick! It made perfect sense. She wouldn’t dare to come near the King of Demons if she thought she could infect him. No subject would wish that upon their ruler.

Still, he’d make sure Eda found him the best crown tomorrow. He broke his weird circle crown yesterday and was anxious for a new one.

It wasn’t long before King made it out of the marketplace and began making his way to the playground. It had become his kingdom, since it was close to the marketplace and he got to survey his land from the top. Though the small raiders were always a nuisance.

The things King put up with for that witch.

As he wandered down the street, he passed a row of old broken benches. Not many people took this route towards town, since it had yet to be fixed from a rogue Slitherbeast attack and was faced with only the backs of houses.

So King was rather surprised when he saw a witch sitting on one of the benches, knees curled up to her chest and face hidden under a nest of orange hair.

Wait a second…

“Eda!” King cried, racing on all fours across the ground to the bench. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Eda jerked her head up, strands of hair rumpled and sticking out everywhere. Her eyes were wide and...King would dare say hurt.

King paused, one jump away from leaping onto the bench beside the witch. He blinked up at her, now noticing that her face was very damp.

“...Eda?” King asked, quieter now.

“King! Ah, sorry, sorry,” Eda sniffled and quickly wiped a sleeve over her eyes. “Took me a minute. I, ah, I missed opening the shop, didn’t I?” She said, giving a small strained smile.

King thought he preferred her old smile better.

“Missed it? It’s noon!” King exclaimed, crawling up onto the bench beside Eda. “I thought you were sick or something.”

“Sorry, pip-squeak.” Eda said, her voice hoarse. “I didn’t realize the time.”

King sat in silence for a few moments, his little legs splayed out as he looked at the stone street before looking back at Eda. She was staring off again, arms crossed on top of her knees with her chin resting on them. She looked like she was about to cry.

“Not that I’m worried or anything, but...” King hesitated a moment before placing a paw on her arm. “Are you okay?”

Eda gazed down at King for a moment before sniffling and a fresh wave of tears spilled from her eyes.

“...no,” She said, shoulders hunched as she buried her face in her legs again, trembling with choked back sobs.

Well this wasn’t something King was prepared for.

King flinched back, looking around for anything that could help him. But nobody else was around. Just the open, broken street.

So, with nothing else to really do, King pushed his head underneath Eda’s arms, startling her. He wormed his way into her lap, which was a very cramped space at the moment, and lay across it. His limbs were hanging off at an awkward angle, and his head was smooshed between her legs and body, but it didn’t feel right to complain.

“Is, uh,” King glanced up at the young witch. “Is this better?”

Eda stared before she let out a weak chuckle, the shaking of her body jostling King a bit. She lowered her legs, freeing King of his prison, and wrapped her arms around him instead, bringing the small demon closer to her chest.

“Yeah, that helps.” Eda said quietly, stroking a hand down King’s back.

King was stiff as cardboard before, worrying any movement would mess it all up. Once he felt Eda petting his fur, however, he visibly relaxed and became loose like a noodle.

“Oh, this is nice,” King purred.

Eda giggled slightly and brought one of her arms underneath King to hold him steady and pet him with her other hand, smiling as he curled closer to her to get more pets.

“Thanks, King.” Eda said softly, scratching at where his skull met his fur.

“Don’t mention it,” King said, still happy from the pets. “...again, not that I care, but,” King paused again and flicked his tail. “Did something bad happen?”

Eda went still for a moment. King, admittedly, got worried again. Fine, so maybe he cared. What of it?

“Just my dad.” Eda said, stroking her hand along King’s back again. “He thinks he knows everything and...well, he thinks I’m doing things wrong. Just an argument that got out of hand. I can always crash at Lilith’s, anyway.”

“I thought you liked your dad?” King looked up at her, turning over on his side for Eda to pet there.

“I do, I do.” Eda agreed, relentining in scratching his stomach, making him twitch and kick out a leg happily. “But...he sometimes...isn’t all that great. ” She said, eyes glazed over in thought.

“He’s a good person...but sometimes I wonder what it would be like if my mom was still around.”

King opened his eyes from his momentary bliss, and Eda’s hand slowed as well. He squirmed in her arm a bit so he was sitting up and lay his chin on her shoulder in an attempt of being comforting.

“Sorry,” King said quietly.

“Don’t be. I’ll be alright.” Eda lay a hand across his back to hold him there. “If anything, I should apologize to you. I don’t normally info-dump my life to demons I work with.”

“I don’t mind,” King said, standing in her arms and placing his paws on her one shoulder. “I mean, I am the King of Demons. It’s only natural that I must inspire my subjects when all seems lost.” He said, placing a paw on his chest.

“Whatever you say, weirdo.” Eda rolled her eyes.

She looked away for a moment, staring off at the silence and nothingness around them both.

“But I guess I’m a weirdo too, huh?” She said, giving him a smile.

“Eh, everyone’s a little weird.” King shrugged, laying back down in her arms once more. “You sell human junk and refuse to join a coven, I live at a very small kingdom, that one weird lady down the street calls herself Tiny Nose--”

“A small kingdom?” Eda cut in, sounding amused.

“Yeah, back where you gave me my first crown.” King explained.

“You live at the playground?” She gasped, all amusement lost in an instant.

“I prefer the name ‘King’s Kingdom,’ thank you.” King said. “Wait, that doesn’t sound right…”

“Alright, that settles it.” Eda said, picking up King from under his arms and holding the demon in front of her face. “I have seen what nightmares those kids are at the playground, and if I’m being honest, I feel really guilty letting you sleep on the streets.”

“My kingdom is not ‘the streets!’” King grumbled. “But continue.”

“I’m going to be buying my own place soon, and at this point, I’ll likely be living with Lilith for the next week or two.” Eda said. “So, as a…” She thought about her words for a moment. “A token of my gratitude, how would you like to sleep with an actual roof over your head?”

“I get to live with you?” King blurted, wiggling happily from his place in the air.

“I take that as confirmation that you want to?” Eda laughed, setting the demon back down on her lap.

“Yes! I always wanted to see what the inside of those houses looked like!” King jumped up and down in her lap. “Is it true you have fresh uneaten food?” He asked, his eyes practically sparkling.

“Bud, you don’t know the half of it.” Eda said, picking up King again and getting to her feet. “But it’s only just past noon. Why don’t we try and sell the scraps you got from yesterday first?”

“Fine, if you insist.” King muttered, huffing as Eda began carrying him back to the marketplace. “But I deserve two new crowns, you hear me? I spent all morning looking for you! It was exhausting.”

“Of course, of course.” Eda nodded. “Anything for a king.”

,

Getting Lilith to let King stay, however, was going to be a lot harder than selling a few human trinkets.

Which is why Eda didn’t plan on letting her know right away.

“I am a king! Why do I have to be smuggled in like some common thief?” King huffed, hiding in Eda’s arm in a cloak she had been recently using to hide from any nosy guards.

“Because Lilith isn’t keen on getting a third roommate.” Eda replied, walking down the roads towards Lilith’s Emperor Coven mandated flat. “She already complains enough about getting food for the both of us.”

“If it’s such a hassle, why does she let you stay?” King wondered. “You said she was in the Emperor’s Coven, didn’t you?”

“She may be annoyed by it, but we’re still sisters.” Eda said. “She promised that when we made it to the Emperor’s Coven, we could get a place of our own. We love our dad, he’s not exactly...well-off.”

“But you’re not in the Emperor’s Coven. Didn’t you say you were covenless?” King pointed out.

“Eh, dreams change.” Eda shrugged. “Now keep quiet. For now, you’ll hide in my room. I’ll just have to warm up Lilith to the idea of you.”

She stopped in front of the door of one of the small, stone houses. It was far too close to Emperor Belos’ castle for her liking.

Luckily for her, she didn’t have to stick around for too much longer.

Eda held the front of her cloak closed with one hand, holding King under her arm with the other. Taking a deep breath, she opened the front door, which was thankfully unlocked, and slipped inside.

She barely made it ten feet into the door before she was hounded.

“Eda!” Lilith exclaimed, bolting from around the kitchen corner and rushing over. “I heard what happened with dad,” She said and Eda visibility recoiled. “I’m so, so sorry. You know he didn’t really mean it, right?”

“Maybe not that harshly...but I think a part of him did mean it.” Eda mumbled, stepping around her sister. “What are you doing back? It’s barely dusk.”

“I managed to get in a good word and cut my training short,” Lilith said. “I should be free tomorrow to help you sell that junk at the marketplace, too.” She said happily.

“Excuse you,” Eda huffed, tightening her hold on King as he squirmed. “I prefer the term ‘human collectibles.’” She said with a teasing glint in her eye. “Helps sell it a lot easier to suckers off the street.”

“Whatever makes you feel better.” Lilith rolled her eyes. “Are you hungry? I got some bloodrain noodles from the pitstop a few streets over.”

“Oh, uh, actually...I already ate.” Eda lied, looking everywhere but at her sister. “Hey, remember when I mentioned I met a funny little demon two weeks ago?”

“Yeah…? Why’s this come up? You haven’t spoken of him since then.” Lilith said, raising a brow. “Did he get you in trouble?”

“No, no, not like that at all.” Eda insisted. “But, what if, hypothetically, he didn’t have a place to stay? And I could, I don’t know...share my food with him?”

It was a long shot, she knew. But hiding King of all people in a flat as cramped as this would be next to impossible without trying it the easy way first.

Lilith narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, glaring at her sister.

“What’s in the cloak, Eda?”

“What? Pssh, nothing, nothing at all.” Eda said, pulling it closer around herself as King stiffened up. “I was just wondering what you’d think. Testing the waters a bit, you know?”

“Take off your cloak, Eda.”

“Why? It’s my cloak, and I can do what I want with it.” Eda said, stepping back and giving Lilith a firm look. “And you can’t make me.”

Lilith uncrossed one hand and drew a circle in the air. Eda’s cloak suddenly lit up before going flying across the room and out of her grip as it hit a wall before sliding to the ground.

King, who was currently being carried like a football, blinked at the sudden light and craned his neck to look up at Lilith.

“Huh, I guess wild hair runs in the family.”

“Edalyn!” Lilith accused.

“What else was I supposed to do? Let him live on a playground full of screaming kids?” Eda demanded, re situating King so he was curled up in her arms like a baby. “Come on, Lilith, he’s not even that big!”

“Eda, I understand your worries,” Lilith exhaled, pressing her hands together in front of her face like she was trying to steel herself. “But I can’t extend my generosity to random stray demons you find.”

"Hey!” King cried indignantly. “I’ll have you know I am the King of Demons! You should be honored to house me.”

“And you found a delusional one, too?” Lilith groaned.

“Alright, hey, that’s a bit harsh.” Eda defended, laying a hand over King. “So what if he’s a little weird? I am too! Besides, he’ll only be here to sleep. The rest of the time he’ll be helping me sell in the market.”

“Edalyn, please,” Lilith rubbed at her temples. “I’m having a hard enough time at the Emperor’s Coven, I can’t worry about a demon you’ve gotten attached to.”

At that, King looked up at Eda, almost seeming surprised. Eda sighed, shoulders sagging.

She got a sudden idea and perked up. She slowly held out King like a doll in front of Lilith’s face, a smile growing on her face.

When Lilith opened her eyes, she was immediately greeted with a confused King staring back at her.

“But he’s so cute,” Eda whimpered, giving her sister a pleading look.

“I am not cute!” King squeaked, kicking about as Eda giggled.

“You should hear him when he’s mad,” Eda said, lowering King but still holding him. “He’s got a squeak of rage. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” She grinned.

“You can’t buy me with cuteness,” Lilith crossed her arms and turned her head away.

“Aw, please?” Eda tried, sliding up beside her sister and holding King in front of her again. “I promise to take full responsibility for this little brat.”

“Responsibility! Ha! As if I cause trouble everywhere I go.” King snorted.

Eda knew very well how true that was, and thankfully had enough self-control to keep her mouth shut.

Lilith cracked open an eye, and Eda gave the biggest puppy-dog eyes she could muster.

“Please?” She begged. “I’ll be moving out soon, anyway. You won’t even know he was here!”

Lilith curled her lip and glared for a few moments. Her eyes shifted between Eda’s begging face and King’s naively hopeful one.

Lilith sighed and uncrossed her arms, letting her head hang back.

“Fine,”

“WOO!” Eda pumped a fist in the air, almost dropping King. “You won’t regret this, Lily. I promise!”

“I better not.” She warned, though her tone held no real malice.

“Huzzah!” King cheered. “Does this mean I can have uneaten food now?”

“Buddy, you can have as much uneaten food as you want.” Eda grinned.

“From your share, Edalyn.” Lilith sternly reminded her.

“...you can have almost as much uneaten food as you’d like.” Eda corrected herself. “C’mon, I think I have some scream bars in the pantry.”

“I have no idea what those are, but I am ready!” King agreed as Eda set him down and raced into the kitchen, the demon following after her.

Lilith watched her sister vanish around the corner, talking excitedly with the demon as she took her own food to feed to him.

As much as Lilith didn’t want another mouth she’d inevitably be feeding…she couldn’t help but feel happy.

It was worth it, if only to see that smile on Eda’s face.

[navii-blaze]

Just Another Day

Hello, this is my piece for the current LU exchange! I had the honor of being the gifter of @/Crystal Dragon (Suri) who’s tumblr i don’t know unfortunately. They had so many good prompts to pick from so I chose “Hyrule being a capable hero and saving others with his skill/magic” for this gift. I rly hope you (and whoever else reads this) enjoys it!  

Also ao3 has decided it doesn’t like me, sorry for it being here than somewhere more formal like ao3. 

Word count: 2022

     Hyrule knew that this day was going to be one of “those ones” when he woke up with his arm bent in an awkward position, and his morning tea gone cold before he was even finished with it. So of course the next portal they came across led straight to one of his least favorite spots in his world. From what he’s seen while venturing through the different time periods of past and parallel eras, most people like to spend their vacations at beaches with soft, white sand, basking in the sun without having to worry about a Moa or Daria sneaking up on them. Or perhaps at bustling marketplaces, buying expensive garments and stalling the day’s time by lounging at fountains and gossiping about meaningless topics. But not in his time. Nope. No rest for him or anyone of that matter, “a hero’s line of work” might be said by one of his comrades, but it still wouldn’t hurt for a break would it? 

     The current situation seemed to give him the answer. After the portal had sucked him in, distorting his mind and leaving him nauseous, it had dumped him and everyone else smack into a pile of coldness. Instantly the chill of whatever he had landed in seeped past the thin protection of his tunic and left small sharp pains whenever he moved. He had opened his eyes to see blinding white, and then the rest of his surroundings as the back of his tunic was grabbed by someone and hoisted up. He could faintly hear the voice of the resident captain asking him if he was alright, he nodded and felt the knight pat his shoulder a couple times before leaving. 

     Heaps of snow (at least he thought it was snow, before meeting the other Links he had never even heard of the concept of water freezing) laid in mounds around him. The others were looking around to gather their bearings, some of them already starting to put on more layers. To his right was Wild and their wolf companion, the Hylian had put on a strange pair of boots which for some bizarre reason let him walk perfectly normal on the powdered snow. The wolf decided to stop watching the champion and started laying and rolling in the snow, which probably felt nice considering its thick and warm pelt. But Hyrule wasn’t a wolf so he wouldn’t know. 

     Something about the place seemed familiar to him, unlike the other heroes who were looking at maps and conversing about which possible era they were in. The area they were in was quite large, a dense forest stretched across one side of the snow-covered turf, opposite from it the snow continued on in heaps and mounds. A small glimmer from the horizon caught his eye, Hyrule trudged up one of the larger piles to get a better view point. Beyond the snow sparkling in what sunlight there was, the horizon seemed to be moving just slightly. At first to him it looked like a fog bank, but a sudden breeze smelling of salt and fish confirmed that he was mistaken. The scene felt more and more familiar to him, he knew for sure now that he had been here before. He just couldn’t identify where they were at. 

     A shout of his name came from where the others were, he headed back down the mound until suddenly the snow gave out beneath him and he sank into the pile. His leg hit something hard, sending a wave of pain through him. The youngest heroes of the group came over to help him, they grabbed his arms and pulled him out, causing the rest of the mound to collapse. He got to his feet once no longer chest deep, and looked back at what he had hit his leg on. A small round dark slab of stone poked out of the top of the snow, he walked over to it and pushed the snow off of it, revealing the larger size of the stone and the engravings on it. Finally the puzzle pieces were put together to him. Once he had uncovered the gravestone he fell on, the others started finding more under the heaps of snow. Hyrule notified the group of where they were, a graveyard in the southeast corner of his kingdom. Though last time he had been here, there had been a variety of monsters that he had dealt with. The silence and absence of these foes here in the graveyard, and rather close to a dungeon, unnerved him. 

     The wolf jumped up from where it was rolling around in the snow, its ears perked up and fierce blue eyes alert and scanning the treeline. The rest took note of it and the sound of weapons being unsheathed was heard along with hushed orders and warnings. Suddenly something whipped by the back of Wild’s head, missing him by mere centimeters and the breeze caused by whatever it was making his hair whip to the side. The scarred hero quickly turned around sword and shield at the ready, his gaze trying to find whatever had almost hit him. Until he landed on Hyrule, who simply shrugged his shoulders. 

     A whistling sound came from Hyrule’s left, his senses screamed at him to get down. A flash of red appeared out of the corner of his eye, and upon trusting his guts he grabbed the collar of Wind’s tunic and pulled him down with him. The same thing that had brushed by Wild swept over their heads, at a speed that would’ve probably given one of them some kind of head injury if Hyrule hadn’t reacted as quickly as he did. 

     From out of the treeline came a dozen of rat-like humanoids bearing short knives and boomerangs. With a grimace Hyrule recognized them as Goriyas, easy enough to defeat one-on-one, but a nuisance when they’re grouped together and actually cooperating. He relayed this information to the others, trusting that the battle-hardened warriors would take his words to heart; a nice contrast to the stubborn and rude soldiers and travelers of his era. But now was not the time to be scornful of his experience working with other people, the creatures started to spread out along the flank of the group of heroes. Hyrule and the captain must have had the same idea at the exact moment, because the older warrior had noted how the Goriyas (after horribly mispronouncing the name) were trying to surround them. The champion made the first move, suddenly firing an arrow at the closest monster to him and then unsheathing his sword as he ran over to his opponent to finish it off. The snow-covered graveyard became a battlefield in a matter of seconds. 

     Hyrule cursed under his breath as the monster he faced mimicked his every move, he was just barely managing to deflect the quick jabs the Goriya gave in between. The rodent monster seemed to be having no problem fighting through the snow, its feet barely sunk into the heaps of coldness while numbness started to creep into Hyrule’s legs and feet, making his movements stiff and somewhat painful. A sharp pain came from his side, alerting him that he was becoming too slow, though thankfully by the looks of the now red-stained boomerang; he wouldn’t have to worry yet about being poisoned.

     A Goriya went flailing in front of him, colliding with his opponent and knocking it into a heap. From where the tossed monster had been was Time knee deep in the snow, fast and deep breaths visible in the cold air. A Goriya jumped up from behind a mound of snow, the older hero quickly put his shield up, but nearly toppled over when the rodent monstrosity landed on his raised shield. 

     Hyrule started to trudge through the snow towards Time, his feet sinking deeper and becoming numb with the soaking cold. His path was suddenly obscured by yet another one of the Goriyas, its weapon raised. A quick glance over the monster’s shoulder showed him that Time was struggling to keep his footing while his opponent circled him and tried to breach his defenses. A snarl brought his attention back to the monster in front of him. 

     With a resigning and frustrated sigh, Hyrule grumbled a spell in ancient Hylian verse, causing his sword to emit a red glow. His opponent charged at him, right as he finished the spell. He sliced through the air in front of him and orbs of fire expelled from his blade, hitting his target square in the chest. The Goriya went down, disappearing into a puff of smoke. The magical fire had also conveniently paved a path in front of him directly to Time, no longer knee deep in a mound of snow but still holding off another monster. 

     As Hyrule advanced towards him two more Goriyas came out from the treeline and readied their weapons, stalking the older hero. He broke into a sprint, trying desperately not to slip on the muddied ground or trip over a tombstone. Yet another Goriya slid into his path, but a quick mumble and a bit of magic let Hyrule hop on a tombstone and jump over the monster with ease. Though of course his landing was a bit rough with the melted snow, making the ground beneath muddy and slippery. A shout of pain brought him back to focus, a spike of panic going through him when he saw that Time had been knocked down and the new Goriyas getting closer. 

     Ducking under the swing of the monster Hyrule had leaped over, he raced to Time’s side and kicked the closest Goriya away. The four rat-like beasts, including the one that he had left behind, grouped together in front of the two now very tired heroes. The monster that had knocked down Time let out a sequence of chitters and inhuman noises to its buddies, probably telling them a plan that would result in both of the Hylians’ doom. Hyrule put up his shield, and used a spell to enhance it, creating a red aura that would deflect any projectiles. One of the creatures bounded to his side, seeking a blindspot. But it was thwarted as Time, despite still on the ground, and with an injury to his side, took out his bow and quiver. His arrows wouldn’t be able to go through Hyrule’s shield spell, but at least he could keep their opponents from surrounding them. 

     Realizing that they couldn’t attack from a distance, the other Goriyas closed in on the two. Hyrule sensed that keeping his ward up wouldn’t do much help and only deplete his magic supply and energy, so he cast it off and readied his sword. A Goriya rushed at him with its spiked boomerang in one claw, and a small but most likely poisoned (considering that most of the monsters in his time era were just jerks like that) knife in the other. He locked his sword with its boomerang, staying on the defensive to preserve his strength. The rodent thrusted forward with its knife, narrowly missing Hyrule’s shield arm before he twisted the boomerang out of the creature's grip and sliced through its shoulder. The Goriya shrieked and scurried back to the others, snarling and gnashing its teeth. 

     Hyrule felt a hand on his shoulder, he quickly glanced back to see Time finally standing, his face a grimace of pain but also of encouragement. The younger hero faced back to the Goriyas, a small squeeze from Time gave him a final assurement. Under his breath he spoke yet another ancient verse, giving him the power to do one last spell with what energy he had left. Looking over the shoulders of his opponents, he could see the other heroes finishing off the rest of the Goriyas and shooting down the ones who tried to retreat. Hyrule sheathed his blade, and with one final murmur he felt vitality flooding through him. Going to where he centered it in his hand, green sparks coming from his fingers.

[dem-obscure-imagines]

The Time-Traveler’s Daughter

Prince Zuko x Reader Summary: You are where history and prophecy collide, the daughter of a time traveler and a witch, and this has done nothing but cause problems...But maybe getting stuck in another dimension isn’t the worst thing to happen to you. Note: I will probably use this reader again. I don’t know, I just really like this concept. Warnings: None? I’m a hoe for Zuko as usual lmao. (I went way overboard. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is the longest one-shot I’ve ever written for this blog) Word Count: 6k

Being the child of a dimension-hopping time traveler and a witch who knew better had given you quite possibly the strangest childhood you could have ever asked for. Your father’s friends from all over history and the universe were always popping in for a visit, and your mother’s ancestry granted you an education at a magical boarding school.

It was the summer just after your graduation, and so each of your parents had decided to give you a gift. Your mother’s gift was her own coming of age necklace, a powerful amulet that had been passed down from woman to woman, all the way down her side of the family. Your father, as always, had invented something of his own for you, a watch.

This was no ordinary watch, however. The large steel device allowed the wearer to time travel or travel through dimensions as they pleased. It harnessed the same technology his metal glove did. Your mother was a bit on the fence about this gift, but your father insisted that it was time for you to explore and have your own adventures. After all, if he hadn’t gone out to explore the universe, he would have never met your mother.

So, she relented and let you try it out. That was, perhaps, why you were blacked out in a dimension that wasn’t your own. Your head hurt something fierce, and by the time you started to open your eyes, there were two familiar strangers hovering over you. The first was older, his friendly features obscured by a white beard. The second was around your age, shaggy dark brown hair partially hiding his fierce amber eyes. A scar stretched across the right side of his face.

“Oh my God…” You groaned, struggling to sit up.

“I’ll get you some tea. Please be careful.” The first stranger, someone you recognized as Iroh from your years of watching Avatar as a child, told you. “You’ve been asleep for a long while.”

“You’re...Iroh and Zuko…” You mumbled, looking at each of them for a moment. Zuko’s eyes widened and he looked to his uncle for some clue about what to do. Depending on when in their timeline you’d found them, that might have not been the best thing to say. “I’m...I’m not from around here. I don’t know how I got HERE of all places…”

“I thought you were dressed a little strange.” Iroh noted, chuckling to himself. He didn’t seem bothered about your comment, nor the fact that you knew who they were while they were pretending to be simple refugees as opposed to powerful fire-benders. “I’ve never seen clothes like those before.”

In most dimensions, your gray hoodie, black t-shirt, and ripped jeans would have been more than normal. Of course you found yourself in the one where they weren’t. And then there was the matter of your watch, which upon further inspection was broken, sparking and jolting when you rushed to take it off. “Shit!”

“What’s wrong?” Zuko jolted at your sudden outburst.

“It’s broken! Oh my God, my mom’s gonna kill me! I...” You took a deep breath, trying to center yourself. “I can’t get home without it. It’s broken, so I’m...stuck here.”

“What do you mean you’re stuck here? It’s just a bracelet. I’m sure if you explained to your mom--”

“You don’t understand, Zuko. That watch is...the reason I’m here. It’s like a portal. And without it, I can’t get home.” You looked to Iroh. “I, uh...wasn’t kidding when I said I wasn’t from around here…”

“You’re from another world, then…” Iroh thought about it for a long moment, passing a warm cup of tea to you. “That is quite the pickle. Well, you’re more than welcome to stay with us until you find a way home. Zuko, find our guest something...suitable to wear. Wouldn’t want to draw attention.”

“Thank you.” You were still floored that this was your reality. Your whole childhood, you’d looked up to Iroh. His wisdom and kindness were values you’d appreciated forever. And Zuko...well, it wouldn’t be too far off to say he’d been one of your first crushes, despite the fact that he was animated. Of course, now he was in the flesh in front of you, and it was...different. You couldn’t deny the fact that the prince was handsome.

Zuko left to go to the market and get you something that wouldn’t make you stand out in Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile, Iroh asked about where you’d come from.

“My father is like me. A dimension-hopper. He made my watch as a graduation present. Where I’m from, you and Zuko...you’re fictional.”

“Fictional, you say? Very interesting…” He took a sip from his tea. “So how did you come to know about us, then, if we’re fictional in your universe?”

“Well, you two are characters in one of my favorite cartoons growing up.” You thought for a second. This world you’d found yourself in was very technologically behind the one you’d come from. “Cartoons are like...drawings that move. And they have sound. It’s...hard to explain, I’m sorry.”

“Cartoons sound incredible! It must be such an interesting world, where you’re from.”

“It is, yeah. Where I’m from, the only people with powers are witches like my mom. Like...me. I always thought benders were so cool. The idea that you can just control the elements is so cool.”

“You have magic?!” The old man’s features lit up. “Would it be out of the question to see some?”

“Of course not, um…” You thought for a moment before letting go of your tea cup and letting it float in front of you. When you did it, the amulet around your neck glowed. “I can’t do much. My staff is back home, but without it, I can do some little things. If I had it, I could just...fix my watch. Without it, though, I guess I’ll just have to figure it out.”

“Zuko could probably take you to the market tomorrow to look for parts. Someone around here must have something that could help.”

“What about me?” Zuko entered the house, closing the door behind him. He had a bundle of clothes tucked under his arm. He handed it to you. “I wasn’t sure what size you are, but I think those should fit.”

“Thank you.”

“We were just discussing the matter of (Y/N)’s broken watch.” Iroh explained, motioning to the device that was still sparking every few seconds. “She needs some parts to fix it. I wondered if maybe you could take her to the market tomorrow to get some spare parts for it.”

“Sure.” He shrugged, sitting between you and his uncle. Your heart lurched, and so, you stood up to go to the spare room and change into these new garments. Zuko had found you some naturally colored undergarments with a green dress that went over top. You used some clips to pull your hair back and folded your clothes from home before returning to where Zuko and Iroh were sitting.

The way they both stopped talking and looked up at you when you returned made it obvious what they had been talking about. Well, that, and Zuko’s interested statement, “You’re a witch, too?”

“I’m a lot of things.” You laughed, tucking your folded clothes into the corner of the room with your backpack. “Did Iroh tell you the other thing?”

“That we don’t exist? Yeah, he did.” Zuko looked uncertain as he said it.

“It’s not that you don’t exist.” You walked back to the table and sat down next to him. “My dad explained it to me when I was young like this: there are a lot of dimensions in our universe, and sometimes they leak into each other. Sure, you don’t exist in MY world, but you do exist here. If we’re being technical, most of my dad’s friends technically don’t exist where I’m from, my mother included.”

“Really?”

“Hell, I technically went to school in a whole dimension that isn’t supposed to exist.”

“Well, I guess that makes me feel a little better.” He laughed and shook his head, smiling softly. “It must be weird to...meet the villain from your favorite childhood thing.”

“You’re not the villain.” You told him with an amused chuckle.

He looked genuinely surprised. “I’m...I’m not?”

“Not even close.”

Iroh smiled to himself, going to the other room to get some sleep while you talked with his nephew.

“So...If I’m not the villain, then who is?”

“Your dad.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” He nodded. “So I’m, what, I’m some minor villain then?”

“In season one you were. Kind of. Although that’s arguable, even.” You shook your head, taking in his face in the quiet. There were crickets chirping outside. “I mean, sure, you’ve done some questionable things, but...honestly, you have one of the best redemption arcs in history.”

“Redemption arc?” He laughed. “Me? Really? Me?”

“Really. You’re a fan favorite.”

“People like me?”

“People more than ‘like’ you.” Your cheeks flushed, thinking about it. That you were sitting on the floor next to the love of your seven-year-old life.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Goodnight, Zuko.” You got up and walked to the bedroom, settling into the bedroll Iroh had set up for you.

“Night…” He watched you go, a surprised smirk settling onto his handsome features. Maybe he’d have to investigate that some more…

***

The next morning, Zuko decided to make breakfast for you and Iroh, which judging from the slight burning smell coming from the pan, you learned was not a usual thing.

“I’m really sorry. I tried.”

“Thank you, Zuko.” You laughed, eating it anyway. It wasn’t great, but it was edible, and that was really all that mattered. “It’s actually pretty alright.”

“Thanks. Just, uh, trying to get that redemption arc on a roll.”

“What’s this about a redemption arc?” Iroh asked, amused, as he drank his tea.

“Nothing, Uncle. After breakfast, I’m taking (Y/N) to the marketplace.”

And so, he did. The prince of the Fire Nation led you through the rows of stalls, and you diligently searched for any merchant that might have a little box full of gears and metal bits. Zuko watched you as you went, an unsure expression on his face. How was it that this stranger had wandered into his life and changed so much? Good, changes, sure, but changes no less.

Your face lit up as you approached the stall of an inventor. Among his wares, there was a  box filled with itty bitty gears and pieces, exactly what you were looking for.

“Sir, how much for the...box of gears?” Zuko asked, his hand on your shoulder, essentially claiming you in front of the locals.

“Oh, those? Couldn’t find a use for them, I’m afraid. My eyesight went years ago, so I don’t have the patience to deal with such small parts. If they make the girl happy, then take them. They’ll do you more good than they ever have me.”

“Thank you so much, sir. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course.” The kind old man handed you the box and winked at Zuko. “She’s a keeper, that one. You’ve got yourself an inventor on your hands, boy. Be careful not to lose her.”

“Believe me, sir, I will.” He smiled and the two of you turned, faces flushed, as you walked back home. “Thank you. For playing along.” He said once the market was far enough away.

“Gotta blend in somehow.” You nodded. Of course. Of course that was what had happened. The two of you were just blending in. The love of your childhood life had certainly not just claimed you as his sweetheart in front of an entire market full of people.

When you got back to the house, Iroh was reading, his cup steaming with a fresh cup of tea. You moved your watch to the table and set the box of gears down. In your backpack, you had a pair of tweezers and some goggles, so you put them on and set to work, carefully pulling out the broken pieces and searching the box for suitable replacements.

Zuko watched as you worked, amazed that someone could know how to manipulate such tiny pieces. “How did you...learn how to do that?”

“Many years of practice. My dad is kind of the best inventor ever. He taught me everything I know.”

“Mmm…” Zuko nodded. He wondered what it was like to have a loving relationship with your father. After all, he’d never really gotten that. His mother had been one of the kindest people he knew, but once she’d exited his life, he was left with Ozai, and...well, the rest was history.

“Speaking of parents...there’s a moon in this dimension, right?” You asked. “That’s a dumb question, of course there’s a moon here.”

“There is. Why?” Iroh asked.

“Well, I have to contact my mom. You know, tell her I’m alright. She was worried about this whole dimension hopping thing.”

“Ah, I see.” Iroh nodded. “Well, I’m sure we can help you if you need it.”

“Thank you. Seriously, thank you both. You’ve done so much for me.”

“Well, showing you some basic kindness is the least we can do. I can’t imagine what would have happened to you if someone else had found you.” Iroh lamented on it, humming to himself.

“Me either.”

You tinkered away for a few more minutes before finally finishing. “I think I did it.” You sat up straighter, wrapping the watch around your wrist and looking it over.

“You’re done?” Zuko asked, watching as you stood and started to gather your things. “That was...quick.” You pretended not to notice the disappointment on his face.

“Yeah, I don’t think it was as broken as I thought it was. Well...here goes. Thank you for everything. I’ll come visit if I can.”

“You’re welcome here any time.” Iroh promised.

You let your eyes linger on each of them for a second longer before adjusting the settings and pressing the button on the watch. For a few moments, it whirred the way it was supposed to. And then...everything went wrong. The metal started to get hot. Really hot. The device groaned, pieces grinding against each other. You ripped it off of your wrist and threw it out the window, just in time too, because only a moment later, you heard a loud BOOM and then a cry of “MY CABBAGES!”

“Maybe my...calculations were off.”

“Maybe.” Zuko nodded, looking out the window and then back at you. There was some little piece in him that couldn’t help but be glad you weren’t leaving just yet…

***

When dark fell, Zuko took you beyond the city walls. It was a clear night. The stars reflected off of the little pond, and inside the crystal waters was the image of the crescent moon. You walked over and knelt beside it, reaching out to skim your fingertips along the surface, letting the waters ripple out from you.

When the image cleared again, your reflection was replaced with your mother’s. She looked at you with concern.

“Are you alright? Did something happen?”

“I’m fine, mom. I just thought I’d check in, let you know where I landed. I’m in the Avatar universe. My watch broke on impact.”

“BROKE?!”

You winced at her outburst of panic. “It’s fine, though. Dad said I’d have to learn how to fix it, so why not now?”

She wasn’t listening to you, though. “That’s it, I’m sending your father to pick you up right now—”

“Mom, you don’t even have to. Seriously, it’s fine. Don’t send Dad. I need to figure this out on my own.”

She looked at you, tilting her head in that way that she did when she was deciding to be angry or proud of you. Eventually, she caved. “Fine. I’m not sending your father. But…you call me if you can’t figure it out and I’ll send him in a heartbeat. You don’t have to do everything alone, you know.”

You looked to Zuko, smiling softly when he looked at you with those sharp golden eyes. “Believe me, Mom. I’m not alone.”

You talked with her for a few more minutes before finally dismissing her aura and standing up again. Zuko stood up beside you, looking down at you, waiting for one of you to break the silence somehow.

“You’re taller than I expected you to be.” You told him.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s weird that…you know, you knew who I was before. Maybe not weird, just…you know.”

“No, it’s definitely weird. I used to watch your cartoon every single day before school. They used to play reruns in the mornings while I was eating breakfast. My parents had to basically drag me away so I could actually catch the bus.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah.” You nodded, and the two of you began the long walk back to the safety of the city walls. But not before running into a bit of trouble first.

“What have we got here? The fire prince and his little damsel in distress? I wonder how much we could get for the two of you…” A group of bandits had formed around the two of you. You looked up at Zuko, his eyes blown wide with panic before melting into the confidence he so often had. Flames tickled his palms before igniting in his hands.

You didn’t have any weapons, no watch, no swords of any kind. You were lucky, though, that the two of you were standing back to back beneath the branches of a great tree. You reached a hand up and the tree seemed to kneel under your control, one of the limbs dipping down, down, down until the wood was gripped tight in your hand. The end of the thin branch snapped off, leaves flying off as the new staff formed, twisting and bending to your will.

“What kind of bending is THAT?” One of the bandits’ very panicked voice asked.

“Oh, I’m not a bender.” You replied, fingers tightening around your staff while the tree stood itself upright again. “But you’re going to wish I was.”

And then the battle broke out. Zuko’s flames blazed any of the bandits that dared to get close to him, punching fireballs at anyone who got too close to you. Meanwhile, you were using your staff, which was nowhere near as powerful as the one you had at home, to send the bandits back with waves of sheer power. Needless to say, they hadn’t ever seen anything quite like the two of you.

A few minutes later, all that was left was a scorched field, a panting fire bender, a tired witch, and a trail of bandits making a run for the woods.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?!” Zuko turned to you excitedly.

You rested your staff against the ground and looked up at him. “My mom.”

“Figures.” He chuckled. “You’re good. And you’ll have to be if you’re going to stay with us until we get your bracelet fixed. Uncle Iroh and I…”

“I know. You’re in a bit of trouble. Maybe you need someone like me looking out for you, huh?”

“Yeah, just maybe…”

***

It didn’t take long for you to fall into a rhythm. In the mornings, Iroh would make tea while you helped teach Zuko how to cook breakfast. After that, Zuko ran the store they were using as a front with his uncle and you helped tidy up a bit. It was only at night that you tinkered with your watch some more. Well, that, or Zuko would take you out to the field to practice fighting. After all, you had a staff to break in.

Fight practice led you to be caught in some precarious positions. Only a few nights ago, you’d wound up pinned beneath him, his breath warm across your cheeks, his shaggy bangs hanging in your face. Something in you lurched, your heart doing a backflip. Never had you imagined, despite your unusual childhood, that you’d ever end up there, your wrists pinned down by rough, warm hands, breaths shallow, lips aching for his. But neither of you acted on it.

Your magic was getting stronger by the day as you became less dependent on your primary staff and learned how to use this new one. Every time you cast a spell, Zuko noticed, the amulet around your neck would glow, as would your eyes. You would meditate on sunny afternoons, and when you did, your form would hover a few feet above the ground. It was mesmerizing to watch, and he often did, only caught by you a few times, causing him to leave the room red-faced, babbling some excuse about going to find his uncle.

Zuko wasn’t sure what it was about you, but he trusted you. He supposed he had to, since you were living in their house after all. Given that he and his uncle were wanted fugitives, trust was a thing they had to be careful with. Yet, the longer you stayed, the less he wanted you to leave…and the less YOU wanted to leave.

In all of your days there, you had yet to see Aang or Katara of Sokka or any other members of the main cast. Just Zuko and Iroh. Not that you were complaining. The fire prince and his uncle were more than fine with you and they had been nothing if not welcoming.

It had been a few weeks since you’d woken up in this place. You were sitting by the window, looking out at the starry sky. Zuko walked in so quietly you didn’t hear him and he sat down beside you, watching the way your features flickered in the light of the lantern.

“Would it be awful…if I said I didn’t want you to leave?” Zuko asked quietly, his voice soft and his expression softer.

“I’d love to stay, Zuko, but…you have a destiny. One that doesn’t involve me, I’m afraid.”

“Mmm.” He nodded. “Right. You know everything that happens, then.”

“Just about.”

“And this…your visit?”

“Not part of the plan.”

“But a pleasant addition.” He amended, reaching out to rest his hand on top of yours. He was so warm, endlessly warm, a result of the flames raging inside him. How someone so broken could be so soft, you weren’t sure, but he was. You were certain you’d never met anyone with a kinder soul. “I could just…go with you.”

“They wouldn’t win the war without you.” You whispered, shaking your head. You looked away from him and instead locked your eyes on the sky. “They need you, Zuko. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph…they all need you.”

“Please don’t leave me.” He pleaded. “Please…”

“Zuko, what am I supposed to do? If I stay here, I’m putting you in danger. I’m putting your whole WORLD in danger! You’re so important to this place. So, so important…”

“So are you!”

“No I’m not!”

“You’re important to me!” Zuko shouted. It was the first time you’d heard him raise his voice the whole time you’d been there. Sure, he’d had little spats with his uncle here and there, but never like this. There were flames flickering in the golden irises you’d come to love. His expression softened when he saw how tense you were. He reached out with a gentle hand and stroked your cheek. “You’re important to me…”

“I can’t be. I’m not supposed to be. I’m not even supposed to exist…”

“But you do. You’re here and so am I. Why can’t you just—”

“You’re supposed to end up with Mai.” You interrupted. He went quiet for a moment. You could have cut the tension with a knife. “She’s your endgame. Not me. You’re going to end up with her and forget all about me.”

“I don’t want Mai anymore.”

“What do you mean you don’t—”

“I want YOU.” Zuko leaned closer. “I don’t want Mai. I want you. Don’t you feel the same?”

“It’s not about my feelings, Zuko, it’s about your future.” You fought the tears that were welling in your eyes, blurring his face.

He was quiet for a long time, thinking. “You can leave this place. You can go home. But once we win the war, I’m going to come find you. I don’t care what it takes.”

***

You could only stall on your watch for so long without letting it be noticeable, but you knew the longer you stayed, the more it would hurt when you finally left. So, after a few tests and the aid of your growing magic, you decided you were finally ready to go back.

“You know you’re welcome here any time. We could use a witch around the house.” Iroh told you, pulling you into a tight hug.

“I know I’ll see you again. I’ll be sure to come visit sometime.”

“You better. I’ll miss you if you don’t.”

Zuko stood there quietly for a moment, waiting for his moment with you. Once Iroh had said goodbye, he left the two of you alone, and it was silent for a little while. Then, Zuko took a step closer, hesitating before reaching out to take your hand. Zuko let out a long sigh.

“You…don’t have to leave, you know. You could stay a little longer.”

“If I stay any longer, it’s just going to hurt both of us more.”

“Yeah…” He was quiet, tilting your chin up so you were looking at him, into those fierce golden eyes one last time. Zuko let his eyes drift shut as he closed the distance between you, his lips pressing against yours for the first and last time. Then, he murmured softly. “I’m going to find you after the war. I don’t know how or where, but I will. I promise.”

“I hope you do.” You whispered back, tears welling in your eyes as you kissed him one more time. And then another. And then one last kiss for the road, and then before you knew it, you were activating your watch. There was a flash of light and then you were standing in your backyard, knees trembling until you fell to the ground, finally letting your tears flow as you realized that he was gone. You’d never see Zuko again.

***

It was quiet in the house without you. Dark. Empty. Zuko missed you. He missed your glowing eyes, your fierce energy, the sight of you floating in the sunlight streaming through the window. This place was so different now. He thought he’d be ready for it, but he wasn’t. He never could have been.

“You miss her.” Iroh noted, watering one of his plants. Zuko only nodded. “So do I.”

It was then that there was a bright flash of light. The same kind that had happened when you’d left him. Zuko sat upright, preparing himself for whatever or whoever was standing there, but to his disappointment, it wasn’t you. However, the stranger standing there did resemble you a bit.

“Are you Zuko?” The man asked, looking over the fire prince. Scar, check. Shaggy dark hair, check. Forlorn look in his fiery eyes, check. This had to be the outcast prince you were so heartbroken over.

“Y-yes, sir. Who are you?”

“I’m (Y/N)’s dad.” He offered the teenager his hand, and he shook it, unsure. “She doesn’t know I’m here, before you ask, and no, I’m not here to take you to her.”

“Oh.” Zuko deflated slightly, listening for what else the dimension-hopper had to say.

“I came to give you this.” He pressed a small metal token into Zuko’s palm. “After the war, use this, and it will take you to her. You’ll know what to do.”

“But how do I—” Before Zuko could finish his question, the inventor was gone as fast as he’d come, leaving him standing there wide-eyed, gripping the disc tightly in his hand. He couldn’t lose this. It was his only chance.

***

For the summer solstice, as you had every year since you were young, you helped your mother prepare the back yard, put up tables, string up streamers, tape balloons into place. You helped her cook food and make punch and make sure everything was just right for when all of her witch friends came over to celebrate.

You were wearing your nicest summer gown. It was yellow, knee-length, and the fabric was covered in butterflies, a crown of enchanted flowers sitting in the curls of your hair. Everything was perfect. Well, everything except for one thing. You’d gotten home from the Avatar dimension about a month ago, and still, you were stuck in a post-Zuko gloom. You didn’t think it was possible to miss someone so much.

You weren’t sure why it was, exactly, that the fire prince had captured your heart. You hadn’t stayed with Zuko and his uncle for all that long. You had only kissed the one time before you left. And yet, you couldn’t help running through all of the memories: that day in the market, your first fight side by side, practicing combat with him in the field outside the city once the sun had gone down, and it was just you, the prince, and the stars. You thought of every meal you shared, every stolen glance, every flicker in the golden amber of his eyes.

There had been a time, once, when Zuko had gotten a cut on his face. Some squabble with some man in the market had resulted in the prince being on the receiving end of a knife. He’d come to you, a little blood dripping from the wound, claiming it to be nothing. The cut had been just above the top of his scar, something you knew he was sensitive about.

“Can I?” You’d asked gently, and he’d nodded, leading your hands up to the spot. Your fingers brushed against his reddened skin as you used your magic to heal him, reducing the bleeding gash to nothing more than a faint white scar.

That was the first time the two of you had been that physically close before, face to face, his lips only a step away. The next was the sparring match near the woods that had led to him pinning you down in the grass. Your heart raced, remembering how it felt to have him. And God, it still hurt.

Liking Zuko had been so much simpler when you were seven and he was a cartoon.

“It gets easier.” Your mother whispered, embracing you from behind. She kissed your cheek tenderly before letting go of you. “I know it hurts now, but it will get easier. You have a universe of possibilities at your fingertips. There’s no need to get tangled up in one boy.”

And you knew she was right. What you were, both halves of what you were, gave you quite the variety of opportunities. But it still hurt.

One flick of her wrist sent the gate at the front of the yard flying open, and minutes later, your mother’s witchiest friends started filing in, mingling with each other under the sun’s bright light. Your father was bouncing around, too, chit-chatting. Some of his friends from other dimensions had shown up, as had some of your school friends, who were dying to hear about your experiences dimension-hopping.

“So uh, have you ever…you remember that cartoon Avatar?”

“The one with the blue people?” One of your friends, Jacob, asked.

You laughed and shook your head as your friend Amber corrected him. “Avatar with the blue people wasn’t a cartoon. She means the one with the four elements and the little bald kid with the arrow on his forehead.”

“Yeah, that one.”

“What about it?” Jay asked, watching your expression. Usually when one of you brought up a childhood show, it was met with waves of nostalgia, not…whatever look you had on your face. “Oh my God, is that where you went?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but yeah.”

“Oh my God, is Sokka as handsome as I remember him being?” Amber gasped.

“Wait, wait, wait, you had a crush on SOKKA? Not Mr. Fine-Ass Firebending Prince of my Heart?” Jade held her heart like she’d just been shot. “Zuko is so hot. No pun intended.”

“And that look has to be for something…” Jacob studied your face when the topic had changed.

“No way, you met Zuko?” Amber’s expression softened.

“I…yeah, you could say that.” Before anyone could ask anything else, you grabbed Jade’s hand and dashed over to the dancefloor, pushing all of the thoughts out of your head and instead giving into the beat of the music. Time didn’t exist anymore, which was evident by just how fast the sun seemed to set, igniting the sky with orange.

Eventually, you wandered to the edge of the dancefloor, where Amber and Jade were. You could tell they were curious, and you couldn’t hide from the questions forever, so in the reds and pinks of the setting sun and the flickering lights of the candles on the tables, you decided to surrender to their inquiries.

“So…what exactly happened between you? You don’t have to answer—”

“I kissed him.”

“You AAAAAAH! Oh my God! Tell us everything!!!” Amber squealed.

“You kissed Zuko.” Jade stated, dumbstruck. “You Kissed him. With your lips.”

“Yeah.” You giggled, shrugging. “I kissed a prince.”

“You kissed a prince.”

“So…are you going to bippity boppity boo yourself back to him?”

“I can’t.” You shook your head. “When I got to him, he and his uncle were still pretending to be refugees. The war hadn’t ended yet, and by the time it does, he’ll probably be in love with Mai. I’m…I’m never going to see him again…”

“Now, why would you say that?”

Your eyes widened, and you traced Jade and Amber’s gazes to a spot behind you. Your racing heart had prevented you from noticing the bright flash of light.

“Holy shit…” Jade murmured, covering her mouth. You were almost too afraid to look.

“Zuko…” You whispered, voice catching in your throat. You felt a large, warm hand on your shoulder. As much as you wanted to turn around to look at him, you couldn’t move. You were paralyzed, frozen by the fear that if you looked, he wouldn’t be there.

Footsteps trailed through the grass, walking around you until he was standing in front of you, as real as you remembered him. His hair was a bit longer now, shaggier, almost hiding his gorgeous amber eyes from you. But his smile was still there, as rare and precious as his smiles tended to be.

His voice was soft and gentle, as gentle as the large hand that rose to stroke your cheek. “We won the war, princess. I told you I’d come find you.”

Instead of replying, you launched yourself into his arms, causing him to let out a soft ‘oof’, his strong arms fastening tight around you. “H-how are you here? H-how did y-you--?”

“Aww, don’t cry,” he cooed, stroking your hair as he teased, “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“I missed you s-so much…” You cried, shaking as he held you like you were the only thing in all of the worlds that mattered. “I t-think I love you, Zuko.”

“I know you do.” He chuckled. “I love you, too. Took us long enough to say it, huh?”

You pulled your face out of the crook of his neck and stroked his cheek, turning his face towards yours. He smiled softly before leaning closer and closing the distance between you. The crowd of people in your backyard cheered when they saw you and the prince of the Fire Nation locked into an embrace.

“Oh my god, she’s dating Zuko.” Jade whispered to Amber. After only seeing the prince in cartoon form, it was strange to see him here, living and breathing, and as real as you were.

“She’s done what every cartoon-loving little girl has ever wanted to.” Amber agreed.

“I can’t believe you’re here…” You whispered, brushing the bangs out of his face. His hair was a bit longer than when you’d last seen him. You wondered how much time had passed since you left.

“But that’s a good thing, right?”

“A really, really good thing.” You nodded, stroking his cheek as you studied his features, his arms still tight around your waist.

“Good. Because I don’t plan on leaving you any time soon.”

You pecked his lips. “Good.”

Tagged: @rikersgirl22

[imagine-loki]

Ragnarok

TITLE: Ragnarok CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 6: Is This the Real Life?

AUTHOR: traveling-classicist

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you take care Odin when he was homeless on Midgard (based on the deleted scene from Ragnarok). You take him in and listen his crazy stories about Asgard and Thor thinking he’s just some crazy hobo who needs help. Then one day, Thor and Loki break into your apartment looking for their father. Hela returns in your living room and insanity ensues. RATING: This chapter is M for triggering content

AO3 Link: Here NOTES/WARNINGS: 

MENTIONS OF PAST RAPE, MENTIONS OF PAST DRUG ABUSE, MENTIONS OF PAST PSYCHOTIC EPISODES, PTSD AND PTSD RELATED FLASHBACKS

We are getting into Theo’s backstory a little in this chapter and she has been through it, ya’ll. From a literary standpoint, I’m playing with flashbacks (I’ve never written proper flashbacks before) and I would love some CC if you’re open to giving some.

Also, sorry for the wait between chaps for this and my other fic (Loki’s Daughter). I’m having some medical problems (not COVID-19 related, thank goodness) that I’ve been trying to sort out so, even though I’m not working, I haven’t had a ton of time to dedicate to writing.

Anywho, enough of me. Enjoy.

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Theo staggered through the streets of Asgard, half-naked and covered in blood. She had no idea where she was. She could not see any street signs. She couldn’t find a taxi anywhere nor a subway station, not even a bus. All she could see in front of her were horses and carts. She must be near Central Park, she thought. That’s where all the tourists took those weird horse and carriage rides.

She really hated New York sometimes. There were cars and taxis everywhere until you needed one. The people parted around her as she limped through the street. Her foot hurt but she didn’t know why. She looked down. A little bit of blood squished up from between her toes with each step. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t have shoes on, she was quite sure she put some on this morning.

She looked up at the giant skyscrapers around her but did not recognize any of them. To her surprise, these buildings shown with a golden hue, unlike anything she had ever seen. They brought a new definition to a skyscraper, as they seemed to stretch upwards for miles. She squinted, covering her eyes to block the glare of brilliant light all around her. As she looked harder, she thought, for a split second, she could see flying vehicles darting about above some of the shorter buildings. She shook her head and looked again but they were still there zipping by one another. Thousands of them formed ribbons of traffic that wove in and out of the golden buildings around her.

Her eyes widened as she realized what they were. New York was under attack again. It was the Chitauri. It was Loki. He was back to take over Earth again.

It hadn’t been a dream. She had woken in a frenzy, covered in a cold sweat. Another nightmare, this time about Loki opening a portal to his army in her living room, but when she woke, she was not in her bed in her apartment. Nurses were surrounding her, holding cloths to her nose and mouth, restraining her to the bed. A man with a spear guarded the door. The sight of him sent Theo into a rage, she attacked the evil nurses with their drugs and ran away, not caring about the mess she made.

Now, she watched in terror as Asgardian skiffs flew about high above her head on their daily commutes across the city. She turned and ran, looking for a place to hide, running into an open marketplace. Vendors shouted prices and bids, selling goods and livestock from around the Realms. A man stepped in front of her, eager to sell her a decorative ceramic vase. She stepped one way but he stepped in front of her, blocking her path, speaking to her in a language she did not know.

            “What are you doing, you idiot? We’re under attack! Look!” she pointed at the sky, briefly revealing her breasts beneath the tattered, silken robes that draped over her shoulders. The man stared at her bare chest. She gasped, following his gaze, and smacked him, sending him careening through his shop stall. Broken ceramics and pots scattered across the pavement.

Theo looked down at her hand in shock. It was red and reverberated with the sting of the slap. The slap was only meant to remind him where her eyes were. Not to kill him. She trembled as she turned to see the man climbing out of his ruined stall. He pointed and yelled at her. She took off, relieved he was alive, but terrified of what might come next. She made for some crowded streets nearby. She pushed people out of the way as she went. They flew against the walls with her shoves.

“Excuse me! I’m sorry! Make way! I don’t know what’s happening to me! I’m not normally this strong!” she cried as she ran down the street, sending people flying through the air, overturning tables, chairs, and children.

She came out on another square. She doubled over, panting, putting her hands on her knees. She hated running. She thought it was the worst way someone could voluntarily abuse their body. She straightened up and blinked away tears. She tried to cover herself with what was left of the clothes she was wearing. She vaguely remembered trying to tear them off to see what the evil nurses had done to her.

When she felt she was sufficiently covered, she looked around, trying to get her bearings. She stood in a large, open square. People bustled about, laughing and talking. Some stopped to stare at her, pointing at her absurd choice of clothing. She turned around and gasped, nearly wetting herself at the sit in front of her: a gigantic, golden statue of Loki, the Asgardian terrorist that attacked New York, towered over the square. It stood as tall as the Empire State Building. His curved horns cast terrifying shadows on the ground around her. She shrieked.

People turned to look at her, staring at the half-naked girl, screaming in the newly dedicated garden square. Theo fled. A million thoughts and scenarios began rushing through her mind, none of them probable or even plausible. As she turned several corners down different streets and alleys, the best probable solution she could come to was that she had been in a coma for six years after Loki had conquered earth, enslaving humanity, and she had just woken up with superpowers.

Tripping over her own feet, she stumbled and fell. Before she could hit the ground, someone caught her. A massive, green hand gently lifted her back onto her feet. Her vision blurred. Her heart raced, skipping every other beat. She jumped and staggered back, looking up to see the Incredible Hulk standing in front of her. He cocked his head to one side and looked down at her.

            “No, no,” she said, stepping back. “No. This can’t be real. It’s a dream. I have to wake up.” She shook her head wildly, trying to force herself to wake up but it only made her dizzy. The pain began to creep into her chest. Her throat felt like it was closing; she couldn’t get air.

            “No dream,” the Hulk said, stepping towards her. She screamed and ran from him. “Wait, Naked Girl!” he shouted, chasing after her.

            Theo ran back through the alleys and onto the streets, pushing through the crowd, throwing people out of the way. They flew to the sides, hitting the walls of the buildings and the pavement. Pounding footsteps chased after her. The vibrations shook the ground beneath her feet as she ran. She darted down an alleyway and came out on another street.

            Suddenly, two crows divebombed her, pecking her head and pulling her hair and tattered clothes. They cawed at her and scratched her bare skin with their claws. Theo put her hands over her head and swatted at them, but they wouldn’t leave her alone.

            “No, you rats! Go away! I don’t have anything!” she cried.

            The people in the streets watched the poor, half-naked girl struggle as the birds attacked her. She swatted at one bird and caught it with the back of her hand. It flew backwards and hit the wall of a building, flopping pathetically to the ground. She tried to hit the other one, but the green giant rounded the corner and bounded towards her, arms outstretched.

            “Naked Girl, come here. Hulk help!” he shouted but it only frightened her more.

            He grabbed at her and the crows but missed, tearing away a piece of the silken bandage that covered Theo’s midriff. Stunned, Theo whipped around and backhanded the Hulk across the face. He staggered and fell to his hands and knees, still holding the torn cloth in his hand. He felt the spot on his face where she hit him and looked up at her. Anger boiled up from deep inside him as he slowly rose to his feet.

            Theo cowered beneath him, unable to fathom how she had knocked the Incredible Hulk halfway to the ground. Flashes of memory darted before her eyes.

An explosion, rubble flying into the air. A Chitauri vehicle flew overhead, closely chased by Iron Man. Bullets zipping past her head. The Hulk lifting a car and throwing it towards her.

She blinked the memories away. Staggering backwards, reeling from her first flashback in months, she put up her hand in defense, covering herself with her other arm. The Hulk still carried the cloth in his clenched fist. He stomped towards her, ready to smash her into the pavement. A lump caught in Theo’s throat. She was frozen to the spot. A circle of onlookers was beginning to form around them.

            “Someone call the guards!” a person shouted.

            “Get out of there, girl!” another cried.

            “What is that thing?”

            “It’s a monster!”

            “Stay back!”

            Hulk was jolted away from Theo by the cries of the people around them. He snorted at them and let out a roar that shook the buildings nearest them. The people screamed and ran away in terror like scurrying mice from a barn cat. Satisfied that he had taken care of the mean people that called him a monster, he turned back to the mean, naked girl who had hit him but she had vanished.

 Theo ran as fast as she could, tearing up through the streets. She had never run faster in her life. Tripping occasionally on her own bare feet or an uneven stone slate, she tried desperately to find a place to hide from her pursuer. Her feet began to hurt. The pain was beginning to seep back through her body, radiating from that spot on her chest.

Despite the pain, she found she was running for much longer than she ever had before; a new strength in her legs and lungs. Her strides were long and quick. Her head was on a constant swivel, looking for a place to hide. She ran across another open square and back into crowded narrow streets. Descending steps and turning corners, she thought the more turns and twists she could take, the faster she could lose the Hulk behind her.

She stopped. The world came to a screeching halt that sent her tumbling face-first into the cobbles. She was breathing hard from all the running. She made a mental note to never do it again. She propped herself up on one hand, covering herself with the other. A quick look around confirmed she was alone in the alleyway between two tall buildings.

            There was no sign of the Hulk. She looked up at the small patch of sky above, between the towers. The little flying vehicles she had seen before were nowhere to be seen now. She listened carefully. There were no screams or sounds of explosions. No bullets or blaster sounds. No flying whales or spangled superheroes. All she could see and hear were the sounds of a bustling city. In the distance, she could hear the familiar din of voices speaking languages she did not know, the sound of foot traffic, vendors selling goods, the sounds of machines – though they sounded a bit strange to her.

            “You’ve lost your mind,” she told herself. “Loki didn’t take over Manhattan or Earth, you moron. It wasn’t real. None of it was real! This is just a dream. You’re asleep!”

She pinched herself as hard as she could. The pain burned on her arm. Maybe it wasn’t a dream. Maybe it was real. Maybe she was hallucinating again; psychotic again. She made a sharp movement with her neck, turning her head as if she had been slapped by an invisible hand. She wrapped her arms around herself, as she came to the realization she had had another lapse in public.

“You didn’t see the Chitauri. You… You just saw… birds… or drones…? or one of Stark’s stupid demonstrations. Yeah, that’s probably it.” She nodded as she spoke to herself.

            “I don’t know what the Hell that statue was. Some art demo maybe? Some sick artist,” she reasoned. She rubbed her arms hard, trying to force the goosebumps that had risen on her skin away.

“And that wasn’t the real Hulk. It was just one of those buskers from Times Square… the ones that dress up like the Avengers and take pictures with the tourists… You… You just freaked out and… and… oh, no… you hit someone…” she said, putting her face in her hands. “No, no, no! You idiot! You hit tons of people!” she suddenly remembered the shopkeeper and all the people in the streets.

“No, no. We gotta go home. You gotta take your meds and call your doctor. No one is gonna believe you. We can’t go back to jail. No, no, not again.” Her voice quivered with fear at the thought of the police and a jail cell.

Her whole body began to tremble. She stood. Her knees knocked together. Afraid to walk towards the sounds of the city, she turned to walk down the steps of the alleyway. She had no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar. She was not even sure if this was Manhattan anymore. Holding onto the wall for stability, she slowly made her way down the large steps, hoping it would lead out to a quieter area that had not seen her outburst.

            The steps ended, flattening out into a street. There were a few doorways on either side of the street, leading to dark shop entrances or bars or restaurants. She could smell food wafting down the street as she walked. She looked up. The buildings soared above her, taller than they ever were before. It made her dizzy. Looking back down at her bloody feet, she limped on, slowly. She could hear voices coming from somewhere further down the street. They were laughing and talking. Theo felt a sense of a calm wash over her. Perhaps she could ask someone for help.

She readjusted, making sure she was well covered and decent. She did not like the fact that her little, pudgy tummy was showing nor that her thighs were visible, save for her pineapple panties and the scraps of whatever silken robes she wore, nonetheless that both breasts were free if she did not keep them covered with her arm. As she fought with herself over what part of her body was most important to cover, her eyes fell heavy on the tattered remains of the garments she wore. Memories began to flash in front of her eyes again.

A dark alley. She lay on the ground in a sobbing heap. Her dealer stood over her, zipping up his pants. Her clothes were ripped and torn. He tossed a dirty needle and a packet on the ground in front of her and laughed.

The laughter rang in her ears. She stumbled backwards, slamming into a wall as if she had been hit. Tears had filled her eyes. She wanted to go home. She needed her medicine. She needed to text her therapist. She needed to meditate. She needed to hug a puppy.

            “Hello there, lass, are you alright?”

            A large man walked towards her. She jumped and covered her breasts with her hands. She turned and faced him, gasping a little as tears still ran down her cheeks. He was bald with a great black beard and fat face with rosy cheeks. He wore very strange clothing. Brown robes with silver patterning. His accent was unknown to Theo but Manhattan was full of accents.

            “Um, I—I don’t know where I am, sir. Can you help me? I’m looking for 81st Street. 81st and—”

            “81st Street? Ha! What have you been drinking tonight, lovely?”

            Theo took a step to the side, pressing up against the wall. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. “Oh, w—well, if you don’t know, that’s fine. I’ll just ask someone else. Thanks anyways.” She started to walk around him.

            “Hold on, hold on,” he said, taking a step in front of her. “Why don’t you come inside and have a drink with me and my friends? You can ask them where this, uh, 81st Street is. See if they know.”

            “Oh no, that’s alright. I, um, I really need to get home.” Her heart was racing. The man was looming over her now.

            “Your accent’s a bit funny. I don’t know what tiny Realm you’re from, pretty lassie, but it’s rude to refuse an invitation to drink with an Asgardian, especially when you’re naked,” he laughed.

He put his hand on her shoulder and slammed her back against the wall, pushing her up against it with his body. She wanted to scream but her voice caught in her throat. Instead, her hand left flew up from her side and punched the man, full force, under his chin. He flew backwards, hitting the other wall so hard it left a massive hole where his head hit. Theo was gasping for breath, memories of her self defense classes flashing through her mind.

“What’s going on out here?” a man shouted, running out of a doorway beside Theo.

            “He—He—He assaulted me!” she stammered. “I—I hit him to get him off of me but I didn’t mean to do that. I—” she trailed off, fearing she was admitting too much guilt over a man that clearly wanted to do her harm.

            The second man ran to the first, checking to see if he was alive. More men started to walk out of the door, carrying giant mugs of yellow drink in their hands. A sickening feeling washed over Theo. These were the man’s friends he had mentioned. If they were anything like him, things did not bode well for Theo.

            The fat man sat up with help from his friend. Blood ran from his lips into his beard. He spat out several bits of broken teeth onto the pavement and looked up at Theo. She turned to run but his ‘friends’ blocked her way. Five men encircled them. These men were practically giants, there was no way she would be able to fight them off. Her hand was still throbbing with the pain of hitting just one of them.

            “You all can have what’s left of her,” the big man huffed as he stood. He rushed at her. Theo screamed, throwing a fist blindly. She stumbled backwards, slipping on a loose cobblestone. The man caught her arm and twisted it painfully behind her back. Her face was suddenly pressed up against the cold stone of the wall. She shoved back with all her might, sending them both careening backwards. Dizzied by the amount of strength she was displaying, she turned to see the other men closing in on her.

      ��     There was a sudden flash of green. Three men disappeared in the flash, leaving behind only guttural, blood-curdling screams and a single boot that had fallen off an unsuspecting foot. Silence fell over the fight. Theo took her chance to run but the big man caught her with the back of his hand, splaying her onto the ground. Stars flew before her eyes. The right side of her face went numb. She tasted blood but she was not sure where from. She had never been hit so hard before. She swayed deliriously on the ground for a moment before she heard another shriek from a man, followed by a gust of wind.

            “What is this?” the fat man shouted. Now, only two of them remained.

            Theo tried to get up but her head still spun from the blow. She lowered herself back down. As her elbow hit the pavement, the ground shook underneath her. She cried out, thinking for a moment something must have exploded or even that she had caused the ground to quake. She covered her head with her hands. Peeking out from beneath them, the Hulk towered over her.

            Hulk glared at the two men hurting the naked girl. The took a few cautionary steps backwardss. He looked down at the naked girl, she was crying and bleeding. He gently stepped over her. She shrunk to the ground beneath him, cowering, trying to make herself as small as possible surrounded by the massive men. One man turned and tried to scamper away. Hulk took a single step forward and caught him in his fist. The man wriggled and writhed, squealing with fear. Hulk gave him a squeeze, turning his gaze to the big man. The man in his fist popped, writhing no more. The naked girl let out a yelp and hid her face. Tossing his body aside, Hulk turned his full attention to the big man.

            Theo never knew what happened to that man. She didn’t want to. All she heard was a yelp, a rip of fabric, and what she feared was skin and bone, before she slammed her hands against her ears. Pulling herself to her feet, her eyes clamped shut, she ran in the opposite direction of whatever horrors the Hulk was performing to the big man’s corpse. After running some distance, she found the courage to open her eyes.

            She came out of the dark alleys onto a sunny, bright street. The light blinded her for a moment, glaring off the golden buildings. She put her hand over her eyes. She heard caws overhead and looked up into the sun. For a brief moment, she saw the silhouettes of the two dive-bombing crows before she doubled over, baring her back to them so they did not peck at her face. They screeched and cawed at her, scratching her just as before. She looked up from the chaos to see three men with spears running towards her, shouting at her. In her panic, she swatted hard at the birds, making contact again with at least one of the feathery demons before fleeing back down the alleyway she had come.

            She saw another alley to turn down and took a sharp left, then another, then a right. The network of alleys closes, and stairs were her only escape. She turned down a dark crevice between two buildings that dead-ended. Slumping down against the wall, she panted and cried. She sat there, rocking herself, trying to calm down. She pulled on her hair and dug her nails into her skin, chewing her lips and the insides of her cheeks. Her breath came in shuddering gasps. A sudden pain racked her body. She grabbed at its epicenter: a spot on her chest. She looked down. She could see a gaping wound down the middle of her chest in the dim light of the alley. Another flashback hit her like a brick wall.

A figure in golden armor and curved horns stood at the helm of a fast-approaching Chitauri vehicle. Explosions billowed up on either side of the street. She had nowhere to go. Frozen to the spot in the middle of the street, she saw a flash of blue light and felt a searing pain in her chest.

            “No, Naked Girl, no cry.”

            Theo screamed. A giant hand covered her face, muffling her, smothering her. She flailed and clawed at the hand but it was no use.

            “Shhhh, guards hear you,” Hulk said in his lowest possible voice. He peered around the corner. Heavy metal boots echoed on the pavement above them as the guards searched helplessly for the Midgardian girl in the endless maze of alleyways.

            “I…Can’t…Breathe…” Theo squeaked, muffled beneath the Hulk’s giant paw.

            “Oh, sorry, Naked Girl,” he said, letting go of her. “No scream.”

            She gasped, coughing as fresh air filled her lungs. She took in a deep breath to scream again but Hulk made a move to cover her face. She froze, the scream caught in her windpipe. She quickly covered her mouth with her own hands. Hulk stared at her, sitting still with his hand raised, ready to smother her if she made more noise. Theo swallowed her scream and slowly tried to back away from Hulk.

            “Naked Girl hurt,” Hulk said, pointing at Theo. She wasn’t quite sure what part of her he was referring to. She hurt all over: her face, her chest, her feet. “Hulk help.”

            Theo glanced around. She shook her head. “Y-You’ve done enough. Th-Thank you,” she stammered, nodding at him.

            He shook his head. “No, Hulk know safe place. Hulk take Naked Girl.”

            “No! Hulk will not take Naked Gi-, what am I saying? I’m not going with you.”

            “Yes.”

            “No!”

            “Yes.”

            “NO! And that’s final,” she said, standing, trying to cover herself again. “I’m done with men telling me what to do.”

            Hulk stood, making Theo scrunch up against the wall. “But Hulk want to help.”

            “Please, just go away,” Theo cried, hugging the wall.

            Hulk looked at the ground. He did not like seeing the Naked Girl cry. She slipped back down to her knees, collapsing onto the ground as she cried. Then, he remembered something. Digging in the pocket of his trousers, he pulled out the ripped piece of fabric he had torn from her bandages earlier. He felt its smoothness in his hands and then offered it to her.

            Theo looked up at him and then at the cloth in his hand. She sniffled and gingerly took it from him. A smile spread across his face. She sat there a moment with the cloth in her hand.

            “Oh,” Hulk said. “Hulk sorry.” He turned around to face the other way, putting his back to her.

Theo glanced towards the open alleyway; her only escape route now that his back was turned. Pushing herself up onto one knee, she tried to stand again but wobbled uncontrollably, still reeling from the blow she had received. She plopped back down onto her butt and sighed. There was no way she would be able to run anymore. Her legs felt like jelly and her feet were bleeding. She could taste blood in her mouth and her chest throbbed with an intense percussive pain. She gave in and took the cloth, tying it around her chest for some proper coverage at last.

“You—you can turn around now,” she said.

Hulk turned and saw she was decent. He grunted. “Good. Now, we go.”

“Go where? Where’s this safe place?”

“Outside city! Hulk knows way. Come on.” He stood and walked out into the adjacent alley.

Theo leapt up, sending her head spinning like a top. “Wait! Wait! We can’t go out there!” she said, trying to keep her voice down so he wouldn’t smother her again. She wobbled on her spaghetti legs, leaning on Hulk’s massive arm for balance. “Those cops are after me.”

“You? Ha! No cops. Guards,” he said slowly to her so she would understand. “Follow Hulk.”

Theo shook her head in despair. He turned down the alleyway and beckoned her to follow. She looked back towards the sound of the pounding metal boots. This dream kept sucking her back in; she did not know what reality to trust.

            “Naked Girl coming?” Hulk asked as he walked.

            Theo sighed, looking down at the ground. She didn’t have much of a choice. If she was stuck in this dream and Hulk was going to take her somewhere safe, maybe she would wake up there, she figured. She followed after him, down the alley steps.

            “My name is Theo, by the way,” she said, sheepishly.

            He grunted at her. She looked around awkwardly, the silence biting into her. As they descended the steps, they descended further into darkness. Despite it being broad daylight above, their position at the base and in between the massive buildings that towered all around them, shadowed the sun and left them in a state of semi-permanent twilight. Theo stayed close to Hulk, keeping her eyes on every dark door they passed, in case some other greasy, greedy men would step out to harass them.

            Suddenly, Hulk stopped. Theo bumped into him. She quickly jumped back.

            “I—I’m sorry,” she said.

            He grunted again and knelt down, inspecting the ground. Theo glanced about, warier of the dark street they were on than whatever he was looking at. She looked up at the blue sky far, far above them. It seemed unfathomably far away. Looking straight up the buildings made her dizzy. She started to sway but Hulk steadied her. She flinched at his touch, taking a step to the side.

            “Wh—What are you doing?” she asked, quietly.

            He looked down at the ground again and brushed off a dirty manhole cover. It was massive; nearly ten feet in diameter. As Hulk rubbed away some of the grime, Theo could make out intricate knotwork in the metalwork of the cover. She had never seen anything like it. Not that she paid a whole lot of attention to the manhole covers of Manhattan but this one was simply huge. She thought she had seen knotwork like it before. Perhaps it was Celtic? No, she thought, it was more familiar.

A book on her coffee table. Odin sipped his coffee. She sat down beside him and picked it up. Another Norse mythology book. Turning the page, it showed an image of an old manuscript with intricate knotwork. A triquetra, an ornate knotwork border around the page, and an intricately designed world tree made of knots.

Odin! She had forgotten all about Odin. Everything was fuzzy. She tried to remember back further but it was like trying to catch fish with her hands in murky water. She put her hands on her head and closed her eyes but nothing came to her. She groaned. Why couldn’t she have flashbacks to the things she wanted to remember?

            Hulk stood, putting his fingers into a few holes on one edge of the cover and lifting it with terrifying ease. He pushed it aside and gestured for Theo to go down the hole beneath. She peered down into the blackness below. She thought it was dark in the alleyway but no light reached the bottom of the sewer drain. She looked up, glaring at the wall, trying to think of what correlations her subconscious was trying to point out about her life by having her literally end up in the gutter in her dreams.

            “We’re going down a stinky, dirty sewer? That’s your safe place?” she asked Hulk, folding her arms.

            “Not stinky! Little dirty,” he admitted. “But safe! No guards.”

            “Ugh, well, I guess it doesn’t matter if this is just a dream,” she said, as she reluctantly climbed down. “I think.”

[lilacmoon83]

Dashing Rose: A Finding You Always Vignette

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 6: The Land of Untold Stories

Upon being unceremoniously deposited in a strange land that was not her own, a panicked Rose Red tried to find help. She was in tears, for her beloved Fandral was now cursed to be a ferocious bear that would most certainly be hunted and she was separated from him. His only hope was true love's kiss and there was no way to give that to him if she wasn't even in the same realm.

So when she came upon a marketplace, she had hope that someone would help her. It was the strangest marketplace she had ever seen though and there were many strange magics she had never seen before. But as she hurried around the marketplace, asking for assistance in finding a portal, most people immediately shied away from her. She begged and pleaded with them, but no one seemingly wanted anything to do with her or a portal. She felt hope slipping away, until she collided with someone as she rounded a corner and nearly fell.

"Dear me...let me help you," the man said, as he kept her from falling. She looked up to find a bespectacled gentleman that was not much taller than her.

"No one seems to want to help me," she said tearfully.

"I heard you asking about a portal. Not many in this land wish to leave it, for they have come here to escape their former lives," he explained.

"But I must get back to my land!" she cried.

"It's all right...I shall help you. I am a Doctor and though portals are very difficult to come by, I am always up to taking on a challenge," he said with a kind smile.

"You'll help me?" she asked and he seemed to stare deeply into her emerald eyes.

"Y..yes, but first I believe you may want to tell me the whole story," he stammered.

"My husband, Fandral and I, have been fighting with my evil Uncle for control of my Kingdom for almost a year now. He's ravaged my land, pushed my people into dire poverty and stolen my birth rite. But we were fighting back and winning," she explained.

"My Uncle has an evil dwarf in his employ or some say he's a gnome, but whatever he is, he is well versed in dark magic. He has cursed my beloved into a ferocious bear and the only way to break the curse is true love's kiss," she continued.

"So naturally this gnome has found a way to send you away to a far off land so you cannot break the curse," the doctor surmised.

"Yes...now you see why I must find a way to return. Not only must I save my beloved, but Kingdom as well. My Uncle cares only of himself and the riches he has clamored away from my people with unfair taxation. I must save them," she pleaded.

"Not to worry...it won't be easy to find a portal, but nothing is impossible. I have learned that much in my time here in the Land of Untold Stories. Come...my place of employment has extra rooms and one is yours for the duration of your stay," he said.

"You'll really help me?" she asked, as he looked at her, noticing not for the first time how incredibly beautiful she was.

"Of course...but I must warn you. At my place of employ, there is a warden and you must avoid him. He is quite dangerous...you do not want to have a run in with Mr. Hyde. I am confident that we can conceal your presence from him though," he replied.

"Oh thank you...I promise to work or assist you in any way I can to repay you for your help and kindness," she said gratefully. He smiled.

"Now I could use an assistant...especially such a lovely one," he agreed, as she smiled shyly.

"I am Rose Red," she introduced herself.

"Dr. Jekyll...Henry Jekyll," he replied, as they shook hands and he led the way back to his laboratory.

~*~

Zorro led his soldiers through the woods. Since the King's treachery, the Kingdom had erupted in war. The people were losing hope, but he remained steadfast. They just needed to give Rose Red time to find her way home. And that meant protecting their Prince, Rose Red's husband, against the King's hunters until she returned.

They heard a terrible roaring in the near distance and he signaled his men.

"Stay alert and draw them away. Keep your distance, as he will not recognize you, but allow him to escape," Zorro instructed, as they moved in and began to fight the King's army. Fandral, in his cursed form, killed any of the King's soldiers that came near him and roared angrily. Fortunately, once Zorro and his men managed to push the King's soldiers back, the bear fled.

"How long can we keep this up?" one of his men questioned, as the King's soldiers retreated.

"As long as we have to," he answered.

"Rose Red is our rightful Queen...and she will return. She will find a way back to her true love and break his curse. We just have to keep him alive for her and keep our hope alive as well," he said.

~*~

That night, after Dr. Jekyll had shown her to a small living quarters he said she could stay, Rose attempted sleep. But it would not come. Only tears came, as she missed Fandral and worried endlessly. She cried uncontrollably, wondering if he was even still alive and then chided herself for losing hope so quickly. He was alive...he had to be and she would find him. She missed his arms around her and sniffed, as she looked out into the night sky. This place had very different stars than home and no moon and she sniffed. Just one night ago, Fandral was holding her in his arms and making love to her beneath a blanket of stars in the forest. And in one moment, her evil uncle and his dwarf had changed it all.

Since she knew sleep was impossible, she got up and put her cloak on, before quietly exiting the room. She padded quietly down the hall and outside the place the doctor had called the asylum. He said that there were some very disturbed patients housed there, but that she didn't have to worry, for the warden kept them in line. He had warned her that the warden was dangerous and to hide if she ever encountered him. He would probably scold her for going outside in the middle of the night, but her restlessness could not be soothed and knew fresh air might be the only solace, if any at all.

As she stepped into the garden, she admired the variety of flora and was captivated by species of flowers she did not recognize. Immediately, Fandral came to her mind again and she could only be reminded that they had met in her garden and fallen in love there as well. She burst into tears and fell to her knees, as her grief became overwhelming. So when she heard footsteps and saw a man towering over her, she felt a stab of fear. This had to be the warden that Dr. Jekyll had warned her about.

She cried out and scrambled away from him, but he put up a hand and though his face was stern, Rose did not sense malice from him.

"You need not fear me, Rose Red," Hyde spoke in his deep voice. She sniffed.

"How do you know my name?" she questioned suspiciously. He smirked. She would not be ready to hear the truth behind his identity, so he offered a different explanation.

"I am the warden...I know about everyone within these walls," he said.

"The doctor warned me that you're dangerous...that you would hurt me," she said cautiously. He smirked.

"Yet you do not run. You know evil when you see it, Rose Red. Yet you remain kind and gracious," he said.

"How do you know anything about me?" she questioned.

"Do not fear...I was not spying. There is a man here called Aesop. He used to be an author and though his time has long passed, he still has his pen and the power to chronicle all the stories in this land," he said. That intrigued Rose greatly.

"That's amazing...he's an author?" she asked with interest, as her fear seemed to melt completely away.

"Oh yes...though this is a land where the people have come to pause their stories. He gets quite bored with so little to write, so as you can imagine, your arrival gave him much excitement," he mentioned.

"Then you know of my story?" she asked.

"Yes...you seek to be reunited with your husband, so you may give him true love's kiss and break his curse," he replied.

"Will you try to stop me?" she asked.

"Never...in fact, I vow to help you," he replied, which surprised her.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I am not the evil that Dr. Jekyll will have you believe," he explained.

"Yes…I have done questionable things. Perhaps even evil deeds, as well. But I am not evil. You will see that in time," Hyde said.

"Dr. Jekyll said he would help me too," she told him.

"He will try, but ultimately, the doctor will fail. He always does, because there is a darkness in him that eats him away," he said.

"A darkness?" she asked curiously.

"Yes...one that only surfaces when triggered. That is why he is here...to escape the trials that life brings. He is...incapable of living in a normal society without incident for long," Hyde warned, as he grimaced a bit, just as Rose was about to ask more questions.

"What happened to him?" she asked, but he quickly turned away.

"I must go…" he said in a strained voice.

"Please be careful, Rose Red. Things are not always what they seem," he warned, as he quickly disappeared into the shadows of the garden. Rose contemplated his words for a moment, becoming lost in the many questions she had and then jumped at a voice.

"Dear me...Rose, what are you doing out here so late?" Jekyll asked, as he appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Oh…I could not sleep. I miss my Fandral so much...and the garden reminds me of home," she said, as a smile came to her face. Jekyll felt a pulse of desire, as he gazed at her silhouette in the pale light of the stars.

"We met in my garden...and fell in love there too," she said, as she started to cry again. Jekyll instantly put his hand on her arm and offered her his handkerchief.

"Thank you," she sniffed.

"We shall find a way to return you to your beloved, but we cannot be too careful. You must not wander off, especially not at night," Jekyll said, as he led her back inside. His words made her think about the contrary things that Hyde had said and she decided to carefully prod him for more information.

"You mean from the warden?" she asked.

"Yes...you must avoid him," he replied.

"Is he really that evil?" she asked.

"Oh yes...if he sees you, he won't ask questions. He will attack you and I fear the horror he may inflict upon you just for being here," he said. But none of that had happened. Hyde had been nothing but a gentleman and even comforted her. Jekyll was attempting to comfort her too, but something about the way the doctor did it seemed...off.

"You must not wander. Promise me, Rose," he said. She nodded.

"I promise," she fibbed, as he saw her back to her room.

"Excellent…I will see you in the morning and we will begin our research," he said. She nodded, as she closed the door and went to the window again.

"I will return to you, my love...and break your curse," she promised to the stars, hoping his heart would somehow hear her words...

[monrougirfashion-blog]

You’re Buying Fancy Jewelry Wrong

  It Is the perfect    

locket photos

Time to buy something important for a special person--you know, show them you

care

  Jewelry is an

Intensely personal way to express style, even for guys.  (Do not attempt to tempt

your tweed-wearing friend with an Apple Watch--that he will recoil.)   If you have someone in your life with even the barest shred of personal design, approach

the job with eyes wide open and ears curled toward every hint of

preferences that float your own way.  

 It is possible

To win this challenge. It only requires some effort.  

 The primary thing

Is to understand what you do not know.  I met Fiona Druckenmiller at her Upper East

Side store to  seek her best suggestions for buying gemstones. She's got

credibility: As one of the multibillion-dollar Druckenmiller fortune, she presides over FD Gallery, a six-story townhouse full treasures from

the likes of Société Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels Inc., JAR,

Verdura, Hemmerle, and Viren Bhagat.  Walk through the heavy,

double-door portal site and you will find yourself amid glittering things worth

thousands and thousands of dollars .  Her clients include Upper East Side

doyennes and French financiers to youthful, Asian entrepreneurs and Italian

barons.  

 Druckenmiller

Wants to make it obvious:"Just because you've purchased an engagement ring doesn't

mean you know how to purchase gemstones."  It's sound advice, and a great place to

start.  Here is what else you want to learn if you are in the marketplace for some

seriously elaborate jewelry.

 You can't eyeball qualityDo you know the

Gap between heated and unheated rubies?  Would you see an emerald that has

been oiled, vs. one which includes no oil?  Probably not. But these enhancements

greatly alter the value of stones.  

 "People have

Been heating stones for hundreds of years to boost the colour," Druckenmiller

says.  "But a Burma ruby that's unheated is going to be worth 10 or 20 times up to a heated blossom from Africa."  

 In Terms of emeralds,

Many have small fissures inside them, because emerald can be brittle.  Jewelers

often use oil to make the cracks less observable.  So an emerald with no oil will

obviously be much more valuable than one that has been altered.  

 "It is not

Some thing you can look at and tell," says Druckenmiller.  "People just don't

understand.  It is not that they are wrong to buy them.  It is only inexperience."  

  Find out which kind of quality you're dealing with is to ask, simply and

straight.  Question the seller as to where the gem originated and how it's been handled. Request to see the certificate documents.  And bring along an

expert, or a well-trained buddy, to act as backup and offer another opinion.  

 Even in the Event That You have a lot to spend, do not presume

While such

 It is all built into the cost

structure of every huge brand.  

 What is more,

These brands don't necessarily offer you the highest-quality stones.  (Also remember that lower-end big-box jewelry shops sell stone increased in labs, a

clinic so clear that this year the Diamond Producers Association

established a promotion campaign called"Real is infrequent" to emphasize the importance

of real stones and to bolster business, particularly one of millennials.)  

 For Example,

Mikimoto sells lots of cultured pearls.  The value of a cultured pearl could be

only 10 percent that of a pure pearl.  If you want the most natural,

rarest thing at the best price, you may want to look elsewhere.  

  Since you can and find a trustworthy source, who also can enable you to learn,"

Druckenmiller says. To find the finest authentic items at acceptable rates, visit

small, boutique stores and trustworthy private dealers, as well as auctions and

estate sales.  

 Should You take

Your chances in public auctions and sales, be prepared to go up from dealers, retailers, and brand-name houses like Cartier and Van Cleef,

which often buy back property - and museum-quality jewelry to maintain their archives and exhibit worldwide.  Why wouldn't they?  The supply of

jewels that are significant and stone stones dwindles annually, thanks to inevitable

loss, irreparable damage, and collectors who squirrel items into personal coffers.  

 The major gem

Auctions --believe Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams, Christie's--normally begin in

November in Geneva and run through December.  Industry insiders who attend "will probably be very concerned" in the very first class of auctions, Druckenmiller states.

They then retreat.  

 "When it gets to

Be a week before Christmasthey have probably already spent their money or they've gone to other thingsso you can find deals," she says.  "This may also happen just at the later end of night earnings, when they're falling out, or their attention wanders.  However, you need to be blessed.  It is a matter of

becoming really attentive."  

 Refuse to accept old or poor certificates of credibility When you Speak to

A retailer or dealer, always ask certificates of authenticity for any stone.  

 Look to ensure

That the lab certification is from a trustworthy source (the Gemology Institute

of America is the most

reputable).  GIA's certificate confirms the geographical origin, grade, and

quality of stones after the institute has decided an item's gemological

individuality, alterations, and origin.  The area where a gem originated is

important because certain nations, areas, and mines are renowned for the

quality of their stones.

  That certificate papers exist.  Two years of age?  Fine. Ten years of age?  Not

acceptable.  

 "Should you visit a

Dealer and they try to sell you a ruby or a sapphire, and they reveal a

certification that is from 2008, I would not trust it," Druckenmiller says.  Lab

technology has improved exponentially in recent years.  

 "I've seen

Labs that said in 2008 a ruby is out of Kashmir, but today we're finding out

it's from Madagascar," she says.  "That rock from Africa is well worth a tenth of

what it would be worth if it had been from Kashmir."  

 Do not underestimate the law of supply and

demand

 As mentioned

Previously, the supply of top-notch vintage Cartier and Van Cleef valuables and jewelry declines yearly. But buyers in Asia continue to feed the

area's voracious demand for known and historical brands, including the ones and Tiffany, Hermès International SA, and Chanel SA.    

 The imbalance

Elevates prices.  

 "It's the

Historic names they know, so each year in these niche markets, the demand goes

up and the distribution goes down," Druckenmiller states.  This is different

than buying something in a modern retail store, where lab-grown stone and cultivated

pearls, and costume-style jewelry and altered stones, can be

supplied indefinitely.

 Combat this by

Those can give a good indication of

current market rates.

 "One thing you

 Could do is ask exactly what you're working with, whatever jeweler you visit, if

they have a store:'Would you show me auction comps for similar products? '''

Druckenmiller states. "That is a really good way to get a yardstick on valuations.

So if you are looking at a Cartier Art Deco diamond necklace, and you also see a

similar auction outcome, it may not be exactly the exact same bit, however when the

width is the same, it can provide you a good idea for what something similar may be worth"  

 If the trader

 Know your audienceThe biggest boohoo returns

 Stumbling block to buying jewelry for someone else frequently comes from simple

supervision --buying a bit, such as a ring or bracelet, which really doesn't fit the

personality of the recipient.  

 "Try to  photo locket necklace

 Know the lifestyle of the individual you're buying for," Druckenmiller states.

"Is she occupied?  Does she put her hands for her occupation?  This person might require something more lightweight, or made from more durable stuff, than somebody who [leads a more serene ] life"  

 Titanium,

Platinum, and diamond are options more rugged than, say, garnet, opal, and

gold.  

If the person

 You're buying for often wears enormous rings and chunky bracelets and necklaces wikipedia ,

[yourbohofashionblog-blog]

You’re Buying Fancy Jewelry Wrong

boohoo returns,zodiac necklace  It Is the perfect  

Time to buy something important for a special person--you know, show them you

care.  

 Jewelry is an

Intensely personal way to express style, even for guys.  (Do not attempt to tempt

your tweed-wearing friend with an Apple Watch--that he will recoil.)   If you have someone in your life with even the barest shred of personal design, approach

the job with eyes wide open and ears curled toward every hint of

preferences that float your own way.  

 It is possible

To win this challenge. It only requires some effort.  

 The primary thing

Is to understand what you do not know.  I met Fiona Druckenmiller at her Upper East

Side store to  seek her best suggestions for buying gemstones. She's got

credibility: As one of the multibillion-dollar Druckenmiller fortune, she presides over FD Gallery, a six-story townhouse full treasures from

the likes of Société Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels Inc., JAR,

Verdura, Hemmerle, and Viren Bhagat.  Walk through the heavy,

double-door portal site and you will find yourself amid glittering things worth

thousands and thousands of dollars .  Her clients include Upper East Side

doyennes and French financiers to youthful, Asian entrepreneurs and Italian

barons.  

 Druckenmiller

Wants to make it obvious:"Just because you've purchased an engagement ring doesn't

mean you know how to purchase gemstones."  It's sound advice, and a great place to

start.  Here is what else you want to learn if you are in the marketplace for some

seriously elaborate jewelry.

 You can't eyeball qualityDo you know the

Gap between heated and unheated rubies?  Would you see an emerald that has

been oiled, vs. one which includes no oil?  Probably not. But these enhancements

greatly alter the value of stones.  

 "People have

Been heating stones for hundreds of years to boost the colour," Druckenmiller

says.  "But a Burma ruby that's unheated is going to be worth 10 or 20 times up to a heated blossom from Africa."  

 In Terms of emeralds,

Many have small fissures inside them, because emerald can be brittle.  Jewelers

often use oil to make the cracks less observable.  So an emerald with no oil will

obviously be much more valuable than one that has been altered.  

 "It is not

Some thing you can look at and tell," says Druckenmiller.  "People just don't

understand.  It is not that they are wrong to buy them.  It is only inexperience."  

  Find out which kind of quality you're dealing with is to ask, simply and

straight.  Question the seller as to where the gem originated and how it's been handled. Request to see the certificate documents.  And bring along an

expert, or a well-trained buddy, to act as backup and offer another opinion.  

 Even in the Event That You have a lot to spend, do not presume

While such

 It is all built into the cost

structure of every huge brand.  

 What is more,

These brands don't necessarily offer you the highest-quality stones.  (Also remember that lower-end big-box jewelry shops sell stone increased in labs, a

clinic so clear that this year the Diamond Producers Association

established a promotion campaign called"Real is infrequent" to emphasize the importance

of real stones and to bolster business, particularly one of millennials.)  

 For Example,

Mikimoto sells lots of cultured pearls.  The value of a cultured pearl could be

only 10 percent that of a pure pearl.  If you want the most natural,

rarest thing at the best price, you may want to look elsewhere.  

  Since you can and find a trustworthy source, who also can enable you to learn,"

Druckenmiller says. To find the finest authentic items at acceptable rates, visit

small, boutique stores and trustworthy private dealers, as well as auctions and

estate sales.  

 Should You take

Your chances in public auctions and sales, be prepared to go up from dealers, retailers, and brand-name houses like Cartier and Van Cleef,

which often buy back property - and museum-quality jewelry to maintain their archives and exhibit worldwide.  Why wouldn't they?  The supply of

jewels that are significant and stone stones dwindles annually, thanks to inevitable

loss, irreparable damage, and collectors who squirrel items into personal coffers.  

 The major gem

Auctions --believe Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams, Christie's--normally begin in

November in Geneva and run through December.  Industry insiders who attend "will probably be very concerned" in the very first class of auctions, Druckenmiller states.

They then retreat.  

 "When it gets to

Be a week before Christmasthey have probably already spent their money or they've gone to other thingsso you can find deals," she says.  "This may also happen just at the later end of night earnings, when they're falling out, or their attention wanders.  However, you need to be blessed.  It is a matter of

becoming really attentive."  

 Refuse to accept old or poor certificates of credibility When you Speak to

A retailer or dealer, always ask certificates of authenticity for any stone.  

 Look to ensure

That the lab certification is from a trustworthy source (the Gemology Institute

of America is the most

reputable).  GIA's certificate confirms the geographical origin, grade, and

quality of stones after the institute has decided an item's gemological

individuality, alterations, and origin.  The area where a gem originated is

important because certain nations, areas, and mines are renowned for the

quality of their stones.

  That certificate papers exist.  Two years of age?  Fine. Ten years of age?  Not

acceptable.  

 "Should you visit a

Dealer and they try to sell you a ruby or a sapphire, and they reveal a

certification that is from 2008, I would not trust it," Druckenmiller says.  Lab

technology has improved exponentially in recent years.  

 "I've seen

Labs that said in 2008 a ruby is out of Kashmir, but today we're finding out

it's from Madagascar," she says.  "That rock from Africa is well worth a tenth of

what it would be worth if it had been from Kashmir."  

 Do not underestimate the law of supply and

demand

 As mentioned

Previously, the supply of top-notch vintage Cartier and Van Cleef valuables and jewelry declines yearly. But buyers in Asia continue to feed the

area's voracious demand for known and historical brands, including the ones and Tiffany, Hermès International SA, and Chanel SA.    

 The imbalance

Elevates prices.  

 "It's the

Historic names they know, so each year in these niche markets, the demand goes

up and the distribution goes down," Druckenmiller states.  This is different

than buying something in a modern retail store, where lab-grown stone and cultivated

pearls, and costume-style jewelry and altered stones, can be

supplied indefinitely.

 Combat this by

Those can give a good indication of

current market rates.

 "One thing you

 Could do is ask exactly what you're working with, whatever jeweler you visit, if

they have a store:'Would you show me auction comps for similar products? '''

Druckenmiller states. "That is a really good way to get a yardstick on valuations.

So if you are looking at a Cartier Art Deco diamond necklace, and you also see a

similar auction outcome, it may not be exactly the exact same bit, however when the

width is the same, it can provide you a good idea for what something similar may be worth"  

 If the trader

 Know your audienceThe biggest boohoo returns

 Stumbling block to buying jewelry for someone else frequently comes from simple

supervision --buying a bit, such as a ring or bracelet, which really doesn't fit the

personality of the recipient.  

 "Try to

Know the lifestyle of the individual you're buying for," Druckenmiller states.

"Is she occupied?  Does she put her hands for her occupation?  This person might require something more lightweight, or made from more durable stuff, than somebody who [leads a more serene ] life"  

 Titanium,

Platinum, and diamond are options more rugged than, say, garnet, opal, and

gold.  

 If the person

 You're buying for often wears enormous rings and chunky bracelets and necklaces,

it is a fantastic bet she'd enjoy more in a similar vein.  If she wishes to wear only

delicate stud earrings or a thin band around her ring finger, it's likely she's

a minimalist.  

 She

May even prefer a wristwatch, Art Deco box, or classic cigarette lighter

 To traditional stones. Notice what jewels she wears--if she wears any whatsoever --and

Select your purchase so. wikipedia

[pictureperfectdesign]

The Significance of Engineering and Engineering Media in Day to Time Life

There is an old expressing which moves something along the lines of'the fact is the very first casualty of war ', and I think that it is particularly applicable as it pertains to the civil conflict that is currently unfolding with soft effects in Syria.

You can find two principal issues as it pertains to learning the facts about what's happening in virtually any conflict. The very first of the issues is the obvious fact that warzones are Belg-nieuws  dangerous areas to be at best. Journalist do needless to say get into warzones to supply insurance about what's occurring, but that generally means which they must be stuck with a military system so they have some defense and to ensure that their actions could be knowledgeable by military intelligence which will be maybe not offered to non-military personel. This has its own issues, since the writer can't move wherever they need and only see what the soldiers they are embedded with happen to see. But in Syria actually this is impossible. Rebel soldiers are ill-organised and usually associated with international terrorists, and as they are mainly a guerrilla force rather than normal army they've number appropriate bases and need certainly to dissolve back to the overall populace at times. Therefore journalists cannot actually tag alongside them. On the other area the Syrian regime has restricted all foreign revealing, meaning not only this journalists can't be embedded using them, but also means that there surely is an added layer of threat for just about any journalist seeking to operate independently. All of this combines to mean that it's virtually impossible for almost any skilled journalist to use inside Syria.

The 2nd problem is that both sides of any conflict can attempt to pose the reality to improve their own propaganda efforts. When lives have reached stake this is only to be expected. However when the only path for news press organisations to have information about what's occurring inside Syria is from people involved in the conflict, you will see that makes the information which is being described excessively unreliable.

American media gets the majority of the information they report from either Syrian state TV, or even more generally from an organisation named the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which will be located in London and correlates reports sent in from rebel communities across Syria.

Put to this the truth that virtually every place whose government might be expected to possess intelligence reports about Syria has stated help for just one part or another and therefore has a vested fascination with the struggle and you will see that finding neutral media about Syria is essentially impossible.

Have you been pushed by the'get rich fast'fable? Don't enter the trap. It is easy to get rid of but hard to win. You will require enough persistence and require adequate knowledge to produce a tag in the inventory market. An individual will be comfortable and have set goals with the right strategies and as soon as you can learn the complexities of the deal, just then are you able to opportunity for good returns. You need to be able to exactly discover critical industry information or industry data from the stay stock news.

For most novice investors, the many knowledge, maps, and lists exhibited in the live stocks look a bunch of confusion. You need to equip your self with the power of deciphering the best stock recommendations. You might stumbled upon a quantity of inventory guidelines in the live inventory news but it's choosing potential stocks that matters.

How crucial is stock data towards the achievement of your trading objectives? The importance cannot be tested because if you should be perhaps not knowledgeable of what is occurring available in the market, about market variations, about the motion of stock rates, about which industry is getting, and related paraphernalia, you will stay much behind. It is just industry news that may keep you current with the most recent inventory trends. Now, the question is where can you study or view applicable stock industry information that which provides detail by detail information regarding every event concerning the stock.

Certainly it is really a information portal. You cannot depend on magazines since up-to-the-minute market media can't be published; you do get an overview of the last day's or last week's efficiency of the marketplace in the printing media. You can count a bit on television stock industry information but you might not get comprehensive information of what exactly you need as most information goods are included in a matter of 30 minutes or an hour. It's only a media site, preferably an inventory news site that will properly function your purpose. Not all information portals may satisfy your yearning for information. Conduct an investigation and select a platform that contacts information quicker than different platforms. When you can find it, you can generally sign in to that one news site anytime of your day or night as per your ease from the comfort of your space.

[parkerjasmine1996]

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[lateviews]

LateView: Killing Floor 2

Killing Floor began as a mod for Unreal Tournament and since the beginning the developers knew what they wanted to make. It’s a co-op zombie shooting game and it’s not shamed into trying to be anything else.

Killing Floor 2 is no exception. They’ve taken the winning formula (Zombies + Bullets = Fun) and applied it here with a slick coat of paint and a generous helping of tweaks, balancing and some new ways to shoot bullets to spice things up. If you’re not up for shooting zombies then there’s literally nothing else here for you, so for those of you still reading, you’re in luck because KF2 is very good at doing what it’s designed to do.

Before you start the game you have to pick one of the 10 classes in the game. Each of the classes specializes in a particular type of weapon (SMG, Melee, Dual Pistols, etc), except for the survivalist, who’s speciality is not having a speciality (it’s as awkward as it sounds). Each game consists of waves of enemies with a respite period in between for you to hunt down the trading pod and purchase new weapons using the “dosh” you get from shooting the zombies. This gives the combat some nice pacing. Each wave you start confidently with your new shiny weapon, only to realise that each wave gets progressively harder and you find yourself still struggling. Then you can take a breather, buy a new shiny toy and restart the process until the boss comes. And shiny toys, this game has! Each class has a handful of weapons that scale with how much dosh they cost and deciding which one to buy constantly provides an interesting choice. Do you save up for the bigger gun and not have as much firepower during the next wave or do you buy the slightly smaller gun so you can kill zombies better? Killing Floor 2 has also taken the modern game design choice of shoving loot boxes in everything but they’ve had the sensibility to restrict it to cosmetic items. Reskins for weapons and outfit pieces for your character. You can buy keys to open crates if you want but if you don’t then everything (including crates you don’t want) can be broken down into... powder...stuff, and then reconstituted into another cosmetic item. Additionally the game gives you daily acheivements to earn dosh (not the same as the in-game dosh) and with that dosh earn already opened “vault” crates. With a combination of the untradable vault crate items and the random drops you get from playing and crafting, you should probably have a decent enough skin for all the guns you like to use. And if you don’t, a lot of the skins are available for pennies on the Steam Marketplace. To keep players returning, there is a progression system in the game. While you play as any particular class, you’ll earn XP killing zombies and bonus XP for killing them in a class specific fashion. The progression system here has been lovingly tweaked since the first game and I think it’s in a really good place right now. Each level will provide you with a stat boost relevant to your class and every 5 levels you can pick a perk. You’ll start with each of your classes at level 1 and you’ll have to join games on the normal difficulty because you won’t have the firepower to do anything else. I remember attempting a game on Hard before I had hit level 5 and I was very overwhelmed. The brilliant thing is that as you level up, the exact moment you start finding normal mode easy is the moment you’ll find Hard mode achievable and I’m currently finding the same thing for the transition from Hard to Suicidal difficulty (although it’s drawn out considerably). The game is also smart enough to make each difficulty feel unique by changing more than just the zombies stats. Harder difficulties will send more powerful zombie types at you on lower waves and even harder difficulties will give zombies new attack animations to throw you off guard.  As far as aesthetics go, the game is mostly on point. Most environments are colourful and interesting with a few duds thrown in. It’s hard to applaud a map set in a cave when you could be exploring a mansion, shooting up an abandoned Paris, getting nuked or travelling through literal hell (actually the nuked map is a little too brown for my tastes but it’s still better than a cave). There are a whole bunch of characters you can play as but pretty much all of them are insufferable. It’s especially apparent when you play as the character as they are spouting off lines about stuff that nobody cares about constantly and there’s nowhere near enough variety to stop them repeating the same line everytime you walk through a cave. Now, this game is totted as a co-op game and it’s true, you can invite a friend through steam and play on the same map but it’s not co-op like Portal 2 is co-op. You never really work together. Sometimes it just feels the exact same as single player except that you sometimes get your kills stolen but someone standing behind you and you don’t get hit in the back as much. When all’s said and done Killing Floor 2 is a solid, well-rounded game. Although the game doesn’t offer a variety of things to do with your time, it offers you a smorgasbord of ways to do the killing with and rewards you for doing so in whatever method you wish. KF2 retails at $30 USD but often ends up on sales. As long as killing zombies remains entertaining, killing floor will easily entertain you.