#can i write some ff where tomas comes back

[itachi86]

I finally got and read runemaker and O.M.G it was great. just about everything i wanted to happen in it happened there was a big epic battle some really great narration; my one single complaint is there wasn’t enough tomas.and

SPOILER

HE FREAKING DIED. LIKE AFTER ALL THAT HE WAS FREAKING MURDERED I AM SUPER UPSET ABOUT THAT I REALLY WANTED HIM TO JUST SHOW UP AGAIN AT THE END FOR FUN. i am still freaking out. i can’t i kind of wanted the end battle to be like dark!aidan and tomas vs tenn and jarrett and the twins

but it was still excellent. 5/5 stars like actually way more stars than that

[chiimei]

A New Path - Chapter 16

I'm truly sorry for the long wait! I've been struggling to write this chapter, so I took quite a long break to think about it. I hope I've written it well. I might not upload weekly, but I will try to at least upload once in two weeks. Oh also, if you have any questions for Nathaniel / Vulpino, you can ask it on my new askblog @nathaskblog! Do write [ANP] after your question, so I know that it’s related to my fanfic. :3 Okay, now I'm done talking, enjoy reading~!

Short Story Summary: The akumatized villains are getting stronger. Ladybug and Chat Noir are no longer able to protect Paris on their own, there’s a need for a new hero. And that would be Nathaniel, the new fox hero in town.    

C.1 | C.2 | C.3 | C.4 | C.5 | C.6 | C.7 | C.8 | C.9 | C.10 | C.11 | C.12 | C.13 | C.14 | C.15 |

FF | AO3

“What is taking him so long? Did that stupid tomato head get lost or something?”

Chloé snorted as she annoyingly crossed her arms. She glanced over her shoulder to check if Nathaniel was coming, but there was no sign of him. The sparkle of hope in her eyes slowly faded with disappointment. If she still had her legs, she would hug them at this moment or just run away. She narrowed her eyes and stared down, gripping her sleeves tighter. She felt so helpless in this state. It would be understandable if Nathaniel quit on her, she was only a burden to him. It wasn’t like they were truly friends, heck, they even hated each other not so long ago. But she started to care more about him and grew quite fond of him, yet what if it was only her, caring that way. It was her who mostly approached him after all, it was a one-sided action. Maybe Nathaniel still held some grudges against her.

This was no good, she shouldn’t behave like this. Why would she even be so bothered by him anyways? It wasn’t as if she was in love with him. If she was, she should have acted this way around Adrien too. However, with Adrien she mostly felt happy and with Nathaniel she felt a lot more emotions, overwhelming her. Most of the time those were an annoyance though. She sighed out loud and leaned back on the couch.

“Ugh, what’s the matter with me. Quit thinking about him.”

“Thinking about who?”

As if she saw a ghost, she reacted with everything that was left of her body. Her eyes wide with horror, her mouth rigid and open, her face slowly turning from pale to a shade of deep red. Out of impulse, she grabbed the pillow on the couch and threw it in to the direction of the redhead’s face.

“Don’t scare me like this, you idiot!”

Nathaniel groaned when the pillow hit his face. As if she was the only one who was startled. Suddenly screaming as if she witnessed a terrifying monster was rather offending to him. After the pillow fell down, he glared at her.

“You should be thankful that I’ve returned. Not only that, I brought someone special with me.”

Nathaniel stepped aside, looking in the direction of the bookcases where a guy in skin-tight reddish orange suit came forward. He smiled gently towards Chloé, though he mostly felt relieved that his illusion didn’t disappear.

“V-vulpino?”

Chloé stuttered, wanting to stand up, but she couldn’t. Instead, she looked at Nathaniel and then at Vulpino. Was this why Nath was taking so long? If that was the case, she’d forgive him for being late and scaring her to death. It was a shame that Vulpino had to see her like this though. She didn’t even dare to look him directly in the eye. Was she even allowed be happy to finally see Vulpino again, considering the fact that she was in a damaged state?

“Thank you for bringing me here... Nathaniel, right? I will bring miss Bourgeois home, so you don’t have to worry about her. You should head home too, where it’s safe. I hope you don’t mind me escorting you home, miss.”

Nathaniel felt slightly weird to talk to himself like this. If he was able to fool Chloé with his acting, maybe he should consider going to  acting school. Of course that was but a joke, he would rather go to an art academy.

“No, I’m fine with that… However, will Toma-Nathaniel really be alright?”

She looked rather worried towards Nathaniel. He didn’t get hit yet and that meant he was more in danger now. It would be better if he was escorted. She was safe as long as she didn’t lie or obviously hid things from people.

“I will be fine, Chloé. Don’t worry about me. I will text you when I’m home if that would make you feel more reassured.”

Honestly, Vulpino didn’t expect Chloé to be so worried about him. She should certainly be more worried about herself. Well, he couldn’t really tell her that, the Nathaniel in front of her was an illusion, so she shouldn’t worry about him. Moreover, since when did she start to care so much about him anyway? Didn’t she already mention that they were just acquaintances or something? She sure acted like he was more to her than that. Did she consider him a friend? Would it be weird to ask her later on? After they defeated the villain of course and after he detransformed.

Chloé sighed lightly and nodded. Nathaniel was still able to run, while it was almost impossible for her to move. Luckily they exchanged their numbers when she commissioned him. Else she might end up worrying till she saw him. Though of course if her legs would return, that meant Truth Seeker was defeated.

“Alright, I will first try something out.”

Vulpino grabbed his flute and sounded, creating Chloé legs. Allowing to his illusion powers, Chloé should be able to use these legs as if they were her own. He could’ve used Fox Fire on her too, to return her to her state before she was harmed, but that would mean he would detransform. So maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Creating these illusions only required a small amount of energy.  He already created himself and now he imagined Chloe’s legs. These were still small, so he had a lot of energy left for the fight. Who knows how many illusions he had to create this time. It was important not to get hit by those Truth feathers, so illusions were in this case very convenient. His illusions could just dash towards Truth Seeker without the fear of getting hurt. Though the more illusions he made at once, the sooner they would disappear, so he had to be careful.

Chloé had gone speechless. She moved her legs and they really moved as if they were her own. She knew about Vulpino’s powers, they were the same as that fake hero. At least that was what Alya stated on her blog. However, she never thought that illusions could feel so real. She truly was speechless.

“Can you stand up?”

Vulpino smiled gently, but there was also a hint of concern in his expression. He held out his hands, so Chloé could hold on to them while she was going to stand up in case she needed it. He wasn’t sure how those illusion legs would affect her. According to his experience with his power, Chloé should be able to control her legs as if they were her own.

Chloé held onto Vulpino’s hands when she was slowly standing up. It felt weird, she knew these legs were illusions, but they did what she wanted, just as her own.  She did feel like she became a newborn lamb though, as her legs were slightly wobbly. That made her more nervous. She was already troubled that she needed support in the first place. Though honestly she didn’t really mind to rely on Vulpino.

“Since you’re not used to these legs yet, shall I carry you home?”

“That might be easier when you’re going to jump on and off buildings, no?”

Chloé saw the heroes always jumping around, so she would rather get carried instead of some other way. She didn’t even know how else Vulpino was going to escort her back to the hotel. Though it was fairly gentleman-like of him to ask for permission first. She wrapped her arms around Vulpino’s neck and was ready to be carried like a precious princess.

“Well, you sure seem to enjoy yourself. I will just excuse myself.”

Nathaniel frowned when he saw Chloé’s smile when she wrapped her arms around Vulpino. It was as if she was hoping for him to carry her. She wasn’t that willing when she was with him as Nathaniel. Well, maybe it made sense since Vulpino is a hero so he was extortionary unique or something. Not that he cared either way, for now he just had to leave this place and disappear without anyone noticing.

“I have to be quick though, so I apologize for the rough trip.”

Vulpino said as he looked out of the window. He could hear that Ladybug and Chat Noir were struggling fighting against Truth Seeker. If they had to battle against strong opponents like her or even stronger, who knows how long they would hold out. They also needed to find a way to defeat Hawk Moth, this couldn’t go on much longer.

As soon as he stepped out of the bookstore, he started running. He need to create some distance first, before he could jump around. He didn’t want Truth Seeker to notice him and endanger Chloé again after all.

Chloé didn’t mind if it was going to be rough at all. It would only give her an excuse why she would lean closer in to Vulpino. The tighter she gets to him, the more intimate they might become. Who knows, maybe she could become a hero herself one day.

It only took a few minutes before they arrived at the balcony of the hotel. Vulpino noticed some chairs and placed Chloé delicately on one of those. His fox ears twitched as he heard loud noises coming from the direction where the fight was going on.

“I’m sorry, but I have to leave now.”

“Wait!”

Chloé quickly grabbed his arm before he left once again. There might be no other chance for them to meet like this. He had no idea how many times she thought about him after the day he saved her. He even saved her today.

“When can we meet again?”

Vulpino was honestly troubled that Chloé held him back from leaving. He was sure that his hero friends needed his help right now. He softly sighed and turned around, facing Chloé with a tender sweet smile and slightly narrowed eyes.

“We will meet again when night falls, mademoiselle.”

He gently took the hand what held him back and put a soft kiss on it before leaving. Maybe he was going a bit overboard, but seeing Chloé’s dumbfounded expression and seeing her turning red like a tomato made it totally worth. He chuckled as he left the balcony, squatting down on the railing before he jumped off.

“You can’t avoid my feathers forever~!”

Truth Seeker laughed and shot them from every and all directions. She couldn’t keep shooting her feathers forever though, there needed to be some opening. Maybe she could even create one.

“Where is Vulpino when we need him?! I don’t think I can swing my staff forever!”

Chat groaned as his arms were slowly getting tired of swinging them around for who knows how long. There must be some way to attack their opponent, but the only one who could just dash without risking anything were Vulpino’s illusions.

“Me neither, but I’m sure Vulpino will be here soon!”

She didn’t spot Nathaniel around this area any longer. So they must’ve escaped and that could only mean that Vulpino would arrive soon. In the meantime, she had to find what and where the precious object of this villain is. If she could find that and destroy it, everything would be over.

“Chat, we need to find the precious object of her. Do you see anything that could be important?”

Chat scanned her, but he didn’t notice anything. From toe to head, anything could be precious to her. Her dress appeared to be quite fancy, maybe that could be it. Or maybe the necklace she wore. That didn’t change color, unlike the rest of her look.

“So it must be the pendant… It’s the locket! My lady, the necklace doesn’t seem to change at all, it must be that!”

There must be some way to get closer to her. As long as he would just keep his mouth shut, then it wouldn’t be that horrible to get hit right? They couldn’t keep defending themselves or wait for Vulpino to show up, they needed to take action now! He was sure his lady would get mad at him for doing this, but Truth Seeker left him no other choice. He dashed forward, still swinging his staff as a shield against the feathers.

“Chat!”

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Chat Noir leaving her side. He had decided to take action, to take the first move, to be reckless once more. She should really scold him for not valuing his life more! She ground her teeth and glanced around to see if Vulpino was somewhere.

“Nathaniel… please hurry up.”

“Hey, hey, miss Truth Seeker. Don’t you look very pale? Why don’t you lie down for a bit!”

Chat Noir grinned as he extended his staff at full speed towards her. Of course he would get hit by a feather when doing so, but he would be fine. At least, that was what he believed.

“Ha, why don’t we have an honest heart to heart talk, mister cat.”

She laughed heartily as she dodged the staff just in time, it did leave a scar at her cheek, but she didn’t mind that at all as she hit Chat Noir with her feather in his heart. Not only did she hit him, she created a strong wind force with her feathers, which send him flying towards a car. Broken glass could be heard alongside with the car alarm that went off.

Honestly, Chat didn’t expect that she could’ve created a wind force so strong to send him flying like this. He groaned out of pain as soon as his body slammed into the car. His right arm got hit against the windscreen which injured his arm. He held his left hand against the scar, trying to stop the bleeding. He had indeed been rather reckless. However, since Truth Seeker was paying more attention to him, he created an opening for his lady. Hopefully she would use this chance.

“Now, now, why don’t you tell us who you truly are, Chat Noir. Who are you under that mask? You know that remaining quiet has no use, right? That only shows that you’re obviously hiding something! So spit it out. Unless you want to suffer some great pain.”

“I’m…”

He need to buy some time. So remaining quiet was no option… In that case, he just need to drag out the truth. In the meantime, he noticed that Ladybug was indeed getting closer to Truth Seeker. He thought that His Lady might glare at him, but instead, she gave him a heartbroken look. As if she thought that she was going to lose him. He wanted to shout out to her so badly that he was fine, but that would only ruin the plan. Besides, she wouldn’t believe him when he was in this broken state.

Chat Noir got so many bruises, he was bleeding, for God sake! Did he truly not consider how she would feel if he was badly hurt over and over again? If only she could’ve come up with a plan instead of waiting for Vulpino. If only she took action sooner… Then this might’ve not happened. He might think everything would be alright as long she lucky-charmed the day. However, there would come a day when she could not heal the wounds… when it would be all too late.

She shook her head, trying to shake those fears away. She needed to concentrate on this fight now. Chat was already in danger and he properly did this so she got the chance to grab that necklace. But how? If she would use her Lucky Charm now, of course Truth Seeker would notice her because she would scream it out, so she couldn’t do that. Maybe she could use her yo-yo to wrap Truth Seeker’s arms and then jump to pull the necklace off her. That might be the only option she had left.

She stood straight up, holding her yo-yo as if it was a baseball. She threw it as if she was the pitcher, also trying to let the yo-yo swing around the villain. It did succeed, the yo-yo went around the arms of Truth Seeker as her guard was down. However, Ladybug noticed a smirk on her face. She felt something piercing through the back of her suit, reaching her heart at rapid speed.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t have seen that coming? Fools! Now you both are hit by my feathers! Time to tell me the truth. Quit the heroic act and tell me who you are. Who are you really under those pathetic masks?”

“You should quit the act! You’re not a real villain, so snap out of it!”

The voice screamed, neither coming from Ladybug or Chat Noir. Soon followed by that voice, when Truth Seeker turned around to the source, she got hit by an orange-brown flute against her stomach. Soon followed by that, another same person appeared from above to pull her hair up. At that moment, another fox hero snatched the necklace.

“Vulpino!”

Chat and Ladybug shouted relieved. He finally made it here. Not only one of him, but three of him! Were those three all illusions or was one of them the real one? Either way, they cheered for their fellow partner. Everything seemed to be going well as he was able to grasp on the necklace. However, they cheered too soon. Everything would’ve went according to Vulpino’s plan if Truth Seeker didn’t have quick reflexes to hold onto her necklace.

“GIVE THAT BACK TO ME!”

She ignored her pain, she even ignored that her hair was being pulled. She glared with her bright bloody-red eyes to Vulpino. She would not let someone steal this from her. She would not let someone defeat her. She would not be defeated.

“I’m sorry , but this has to end.”

Vulpino uttered as his two other selves clutched her arms, holding her back. He pulled the necklace out of her grip and threw it towards Ladybug, so she could break it and catch the Akuma right away. Meanwhile, the Truth Seeker cried out, cursing the heroes they would regret this.

“No more evil doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilise!”

Ladybug threw her yo-yo at the Akuma after she smashed the necklace on the ground, letting the black butterfly fly away. The yo-yo caught the Akuma as Ladybug pulled it back towards her. The lid opened and a white butterfly flew out peacefully into the sky.

“Bye, bye, little butterfly.”

Ladybug smiled tiredly and waved it goodbye. She was so relieved that this fight finally came to an end. Though she shouldn’t be relieved that soon as she remembered how badly hurt Chat Noir is. She didn’t use her lucky charm this time, so that meant everything still remained the same, right? She rapidly jumped off the building to check on Chat Noir. Everything was still a mess, so she was right. Without using her Lucky Charm and throwing it up, shouting “Miraculous Ladybug”, it wouldn’t return everything the way they were before the fight.

“Chat! You stupid kitty. Why do you always lay your life on the line to save the day? We should’ve waited for Vulpino to come…”

Just seeing Chat in this horrible state made her fear again that it might have gone worse for her partner than leaving some bruises. Just remembering all those times that Chat risked his life to protect hers or just being reckless to save the day, broke her heart deeply. Only thinking about what she would do without Chat made her already shed tears.

“My lady… Please don’t worry, I’m fine. These are just some bruises.”

Chat laughed tiredly, trying to reassure his love. However, that went in the total opposite direction. Instead of making her less worried, she snapped.

“THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER CHAT! Don’t you care about my feelings at all?! Do you not know how scared I am, seeing you on the edge of dying! You’re almost always the one getting hurt. Why are you taking so many risks? Why do you have to protect me every time? I’m not some damsel in distress… I know you’re my partner and partners have each other’s back… but… but…”

She looked down as her tears fell on the ground. Her hands were clenched into a fist, so tightly as if she was digging her nails into her flesh. She was tired of this. She was tired of seeing someone she cared for so much with bruises all over his body.

“Ladybug…I-I…I’m sorry.”

Chat didn’t know how to answer. He always thought that he could be the great hero for Ladybug, that she would notice how deeply he cared about her by protecting her. However, she was right. He never saw her as some damsel in distress, but maybe he treated her that way and that was wrong of him. He only made her worry. He wanted but to protect her, because she was the most important person in his life. He wanted to safeguard her because she was so precious to him. Was that so wrong of him? He didn’t know anymore. He could only apologize.

“I don’t need your sorry Chat. Just please… Don’t ever do this again. I don’t want to lose you, Chat. I know you want to keep me from harm, but please be more careful. Please value your own life more. You’re my important partner, no one could replace you. I don’t even want to think about that!”

Chat snorted once he heard ‘important partner’. So he was only that? Just an important partner. Way to partnerzone him. Did she still not get it or was she just flat out rejecting him? He was honestly happy to hear he was important to her, but adding the word ‘partner’ did hurt him.

“Important partner, huh… I’m only that to you? I know I’ve never told you directly, neither do I want to make you uncomfortable or push it, but… I also have my limit. I love you Ladybug. That’s why I want to protect you. I don’t want to see you hurt either! I don’t treat you like someone who’s weak. As if I could! You’re a strong woman and I know that. However, even strong women should be protected when needed. I’m here for you now and always will. You’re my everything, Ladybug. I won’t be reckless again if that only causes you worry, but I will not stop protecting you from harm.”

Ladybug stared horrified and confused at Chat Noir. She always thought he was just playing around, not being serious when he flirted with her. He even kind of flirted with her as Marinette, so how could she have taken him serious? This wasn’t like the time when Vulpino confessed to her. Chat made her unsure, making her even doubt her feelings for Adrien. Her mind was not in the right mindset to reply to his confession… so she took a step back.

“I… I need some time to think… I’m sorry.”

She whispered softly as she quickly turned around and ran away. She knew it was rather cowardly of her to run away like this, but she couldn’t think of any other option.

Vulpino was taking care of Truth Seeker in her civil form while watching everything what happened just now. He didn’t really know what to say as some old feelings for Marinette slightly remained in him. He knew how Chat feels and he could imagine what his friend is going through now.

“Miss, will you be fine on your own now?”

He still needed to take care of her first. She was also a victim by Hawk Moth after all. How badly he wanted to rush towards Chat Noir now, he had his own duty as hero as well. He helped the lady stand up and she nodded at him with a kind smile.

“Yes, thank you. I’m fine, I think your friend needs you more than me now.”

She nodded towards Chats direction, gesturing he could go to him. Even though she said she was fine, she was still slightly confused what happened a while ago. She couldn’t remember what happened after she ran away from home, but if she looked around, she could guess what happened. Not only that, she must’ve been quite beaten up as her stomach and head hurt.

“Alright, also I’m very sorry. I’ve hurt you quite a lot during the fight. I will use my Fox Fire to heal you, so don’t worry, the pain will vanish. Please do not panic if some blue fire covers you, it won’t feel hot or painful.”

He said as he turned his flute into the blue fire, covering her in blue flames. She didn’t seem to panic, but instead was smiling at him, confirming the pain vanished. She nodded again towards Chat Noir that he can go and Vulpino thanked her for her understanding. She wasn’t the only one who was embraced by blue flames, Vulpino spread the fire through the whole of Paris in case something or someone else was damaged or in pain because of the fight. Of course Chat Noir was also covered with blue Fox Fire now.

“I’m sorry I came too late… If I was faster, you didn’t have to risk your life and Ladybug wouldn’t have snapped at you like that…”

Maybe he should’ve send out some illusions sooner while he was bringing Chloé home. That would’ve been way better and he would’ve been able to help Chat Noir and Ladybug sooner too. It was only now, when it was too late that he thought of it.

“It’s alright, foxy. I shouldn’t have been reckless in the first place. Either way… this was bound the happen sooner or later anyway.”

After Chat Noir felt better, he stood, with Vulpino’s support. He was still feeling weak, but the Fox Fire definitely helped out. His right arm felt much better and he could already feel that his scar is fading. Even though he was healing, Vulpino still looked worried about him. Must be because of the other reason than his injuries. He sighed slightly and forced a smile on his face, while putting his hand on Vulpino’s shoulder. 

“Don’t look at me like that as well, Vulpino. Don’t worry about me, she said she would think about it. That means I still got hope.”

He grinned and tried to lighten up the situation. However, that only made Vulpino more suspicious. In return for that grin, Vulpino was frowning at him. Chat realized it was not long ago that Vulpino was rejected, so this might’ve been hurtful for him too. He was just about to apologize to him, when Vulpino interrupted him.

“You don’t have to force yourself, Chat. I’m here for you, just like you’ve been there for me. Also don’t worry about me, I’m over Ladybug already. I hope she would chose you, Chat. I truly wish for the happiness you deserve.”

Chat couldn’t help but chuckle at that. He didn’t thought Vulpino would be so sincere to him now. Though he already knew that his friend was a sweet guy. He smiled sincerely to Vulpino this time, thanking him for saying that.

“Even though I’m all healed now thanks to you… I do have to admit I’m quite tired, so I will head home.”

Before Chat Noir left for home, Vulpino called out to him, still looking anxious. “Don’t worry too much about Ladybug, alright?” is what he said. Chat just nodded and left, he sure had a worrywart as friend. Not that he minded, he was glad he had a friend like that. He knew that if Ladybug would reject him, he now have a friend who would be there for him as Chat.

[ Next Chapter - Coming Soon ]

(Beta by Tjikicew - AO3 )