#catch little lizards and give them safety in the bush

[swampstew]

A flower for my flower (my rose with vicious thorns 🥰 🥀)

🥰 if you were a flower, I'd say you're a gardenia! Beautiful, magnificent, smell like pure love, blooming with unrestricted confidence, and my all time favorite flower!

[sweetcatmintea]

Ms Myrtle’s Garden

Hello hello! I’m back after a million years ^u^ It’s @flashfictionfridayofficial‘s 50th promptiversary today so I really wanted to try and participate. Writing has been less than stella lately but I finally had an opportunity to explore an idea I’ve had for a while. It’s more of an atmospheric piece than an actual story but I hope you enjoy nonetheless! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜

Prompts: Smoke and Mirrors | Unusual Concoction | Shattered Sunshine Words: 1140

---

Dearest Olivia,

Though the distance between us is great, the moments between my thoughts of you dwindle by the day.

How was that, pretty Pride and the Prejudice right? I’m only messing with you Ollie. Theatrics aside, I miss you so much! I can’t wait until we see each other again. If nothing else, at least this “studying abroad” thing has allowed us to realise our lifelong dreams of writing long winded letters with homoromantic subtext and sending them across the ocean to an eagerly awaiting recipient. (Yes, I know all of the good opportunities the pamphlet listed; I’m being dramatic!) Just kidding about the subtext though. (Or am I ou<~*)

I’m still reeling from your last letter! There’s no way you really bunked with a ghost! That’s terrifying. You may laugh and play it off as nothing, but I would have jumped ship and swam home if that was me. Though, you always have been the braver of us so I’m sure you’ll indulge me and forgive my reaction. Just say the word and I’ll jump on the first plane and come rescue you! A la a redeemed antagonist proving their worth.

Honestly, it hasn’t been too exciting over here in my little corner of the world. I paid Ms Myrtle a visit yesterday, so I’ll tell you about that. (Ms Myrtle says hi!) I’ve been working on restocking new blends for the store and figured it would be nice to take some over for Ms Myrtle to sample. I feel kind of bad for her, y’know? She doesn’t get many visitors these days. I think the children are all too scared of her.

It was cold, oddly so for this time of year, when I arrived. Her front yard is as immaculate as ever, though I’m not sure I’ve ever actually seen anyone tend to it. Maybe it’s just the perfect level of overgrown that everything looks nice simply because the plants are healthy? I don’t know, I digress. It took a few minutes of shivering and waiting for her to answer once I’d knocked on the door, but soon enough, she greeted me with a warm smile and welcomed me in.

“Oh, hello dearie! It’s so lovely to see you again.” The way she talks is so cute.

Camembert, like the stinky cheese he is, took one disinterested look at me and trotted off on whatever cat business he had planned. Probably off to eat someone’s beloved pet. I’m not sure there’s a single person in the block who doesn’t have a personal vendetta against him. It’s practically a childhood right of passage. I know your dad still hasn’t forgiven him for Captain Bubbles’ murder. Still, we could be friends if he’d just let me love him.

Right, staying on topic.

The incense hit me as soon as I passed the threshold, thin plumes of smoke wrapping themselves through the air of the living room, following as we passed through to the kitchen. It wasn’t unpleasant. It never is. But it certainly gives her home a particular presence. A nostalgia rattle. She still keeps the house dim, like even the lamps know they are in an old person’s home and want to be as stereotypical as possible. She led me into the kitchen, flicking on the kettle with shaky carefulness.

“What wonderful concoction have you brought me today, sweetheart?”

I laughed, awkwardly playing off the compliment like it doesn’t absolutely make me blush every time. Because it doesn’t. Don’t smirk, I can feel it from here.

“Nothing too unusual today, Ms Myrtle,” I said, passing her the box, “It’s a rose-almond blend. Black tea base so it should be pretty forgiving for beginners. I was wondering what you thought of the flavour? I think something’s missing but can’t place it. Although, any excuse to visit you is always a good one.”

“Oh ho ho, you flatterer.” She set the mix to brew, smiling airily all the while. “Everything you do is so clever! I’m sure the tea is just wonderful.” Beckoning me to follow, she ambled to the back door. “It’s rather nippy in here, let’s enjoy this outside. Maybe we will be lucky enough to catch the afternoon sun.”

If the front yard is homey and inviting, the back garden is whimsically sweet to the point of toothache. Thick, lush foliage, a thousand flowers blooming no matter the season, windchimes that were little more than mirrored shards hanging from the trees and shattering sunshine across the grass in every colour imaginable. Her garden is so wonderful, I really wish I could enjoy it more. I never could get past the little bells though. There has to be hundreds of them by now. I don’t know, something about seeing all of those little strings poking out of the ground… You know what I mean.

We spent the afternoon sitting together, sipping tea, and chatting about this and that. I talked about the store and my ideas for future mixes. Ms Myrtle suggested adding vanilla to the rose blend. I think I’ll try that. She talked about how proud she was of me (and you) for growing into ‘such fine young ladies’, and that she’s been rather into baking lately and would be so happy if I’d take some rosemary bread home with me. I accepted of course. We spoke about her partner and the war they were in. More the dancing whenever they came home side of it than the fighting side. I still don’t know which war they served, but I don’t think anyone really does so what else is new.

The windchimes quietly sang the entire time. Despite the vitality of the garden, there’s still this all-encompassing stillness about it. No bugs sitting on the rim of our teacups, no lizards basking, no rustling in the bushes. I can’t help but wonder, are the chimes a cover? Did Ms Myrtle notice? Does it distract her from the absence of birds?

Despite the twinkling and the dancing rainbows refracting around us, a muffling shadow crawled over us, a stiff breeze running shivers up my spine and agitating the chimes. Our visit was cut short by the ring of Camembert’s bell. In her polite and dottering way, Ms Myrtle ushered me out the door, depositing a loaf of bread into my arms and requesting I visit again soon. I can only imagine her cat caught another unfortunate creature. I watched as Ms Myrtle sighed, took up as trowel, and disappeared back towards the garden, smiling all the while. I left as Camembert’s bell was joined by those of the safety coffins.

That was that. Nothing too out of the ordinary. It may have only been yesterday but I demolished that bread. You’re really missing out haha! Anyway, write again soon!

Miss you, love ya,

Your bestie,

Wren.  

---

Tag list

@snobbysnekboi, @inkovert, @kainablue, @i-rove-rock-n-roll , and @goblin-writer

---

This is supposed to have an unsettling atmosphere. I’m not sure if it comes through or not. I’d love to know what you think!

[l0v3-g4m3]

Iceclaw’s Revenge - Chapter Five

a Shadowclan AU story

written by @kebinnipple

edited by @krabpopz

——————

Icepaw and her littermates had just finished their morning meals when their mentors woke up and padded to the fresh kill pile.

“Early risers, I see.” Skeet purred jokingly. The apprentices were standing excitedly, if a little anxious, ready to finally begin their training.

Once the three warriors had finished eating, the apprentices were even more antsy than before.

“I think we should all tour the territory together.” Smallpelt suggested. “We can practice hunting along the way if we find anything, as well.” Mousepaw looked at her mentor and gave him a slight grin. Icepaw couldn’t care less what they did today. She just wanted to start her training.

“I’m okay with that. Skeet?” Thornfoot looked over at the tom. He grunted in agreement and finished eating his last bit of lizard. Rootpaw jumped up and padded towards the camp entrance, the rest of them lagging slightly behind the excited apprentice.

“Great Starclan, what is that smell?” Mousepaw doubled back in disgust and almost knocked Smallpelt over as an acrid smell rushed up.

“That’s the thunderpath.” He said, matter-of-factly as he weaved past his apprentice.

“Well, it smells terrible.” Rootpaw shook his head, as if trying to get rid of the scent. Icepaw scrunched her nose and continued towards the large path, but Skeet put his tail in front of her.

“Not so fast. You don’t want to get too close, cats have died on the thunderpath.” He crouched down and slowly stepped out of the trees. Everyone else followed him closely behind. Rootpaw gasped and darted up.

“Is that Thunderclan?” He squeezed through the group to get a better look. “Well is it?” He began walking closer to the thunderpath but the ground began shaking, stopping him in his tracks.

“Get back!” Thornfoot grabbed Rootpaw by the tail and thrusted him backwards. Icepaw spun around and leapt back into the trees as the rumbling grew closer. A giant thing flew by just as everyone had gotten into safety. Mousepaw was pressed against Icepaw’s flank, shaking.

“What was that?” Her mew was practically a whimper. Smallpelt came up next to them, not taking his eyes off the thunderpath.

“That was a monster.” He told the apprentices.

“They are extremely dangerous.” Thornfoot swung his head to Rootpaw, “First lesson, never be reckless. You could have gotten yourself killed!” He hissed. Rootpaw looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, Thornfoot. I’ll be more careful next time.” The apology came out as a whisper, just barely audible. Skeet came up behind Icepaw.

“Let’s continue. I want to make it to the Carrion Place before we hunt.” He began walking through the trees. Smallpelt and Thornfoot looked at each other then followed him. Mousepaw ran up to her mentor and fell into step with him.

Her brother let out a sigh and began trekking through the forest.

“Hey, don’t get down.” Icepaw came up next to him and gave him a playful shove. “We all make mistakes.” She placed a comforting lick on his shoulder and started in the direction of the others. “Come on.”

“My paws are aching.” Mousepaw groaned as they got closer to camp.

“Well lucky for you, we’re going to practice hunting now.” Smallpelt pricked his ears and fell into a hunters crouch. “Watch closely.” He creeped towards a bush and swished his tail back and forth in the grass. Taking one more step forward, he finally leapt into the bush, and a few seconds later came out with a mouse in his jaws.

“Give it try, Rootpaw.” Thornfoot nodded towards another patch of brush.

“Oh, um, sure.” He crouched down and started stealthy towards the bush.

“Be lighter on your paws, you’re shaking the whole forest.” His mentor growled. Rootpaw adjusted himself and kept stalking. Finally, he pounced into the greenery. Icepaw’s eyes were glued on the place her brother had just disappeared into. There was a sudden rustling and Rootpaw ran out with a plump vole. Thornfoot squinted his eyes and shifted his weight.

“Whoa! Great catch Rootpaw!” Mousepaw padded over to check out the prey he’d just caught. Skeet gave Icepaw a gentle nudge.

“How about you give that a shot?” He grinned and peered over in the direction of a small swamp. She looked up at him and then towards the marshy land. He was serious. There was no way in Starclan she would catch prey on her first try like Rootpaw.

You don’t have much of a choice though, do you… she held her breath and with every step fell closer to the ground until her belly fur was dragging on the grass. The croaking of a frog was the first thing to enter her ears. Following the noise, she soon had eyes on the creature. One wrong step and she would alert it of her presence. You can do this, Icepaw.

She moved her front paw forward one more time before getting ready to pounce onto the frog.

Crack. A stick. She’d stepped on a stick. The frog jumped from its position and hopped away.

“Mouse dung!” She stormed around back toward Skeet.

“No luck?”

“Obviously not! I stepped on a darn stick.” She sat down next to him and huffed. He snickered but rested his tail on her shoulder indicating he understood her anger.

“Not everyone catches something their first time. Rootpaw was just lucky.” He stood up and started walking towards the camp. “It’s getting late, you must be starving.” Icepaw hadn't even been paying attention to her stomach, but he was right, she was starving. With the sudden boost of urgency, she followed him back.

The clan was all gathered around the fresh kill pile. Icepaw looked up at Skeet and he gave her an approving nod to go and get something to eat. She picked out a nice fat lizard.

“How was your first day of training?” She heard her mother's sweet voice come from behind her and immediately whipped around.

“So much fun! I missed a frog though…” her shoulders sunk at the thought, “Rootpaw caught a vole, first try too!” She took a bite of the lizard she’d just picked out. Amberheart purred and gave her daughter a reassuring lick on the forehead.

“I’m sure you’ll catch something next time.” She added. “Where are your littermates?” Just as she asked, Mousepaw, Rootpaw and their mentors all walked in together. Her brother was clearly proud of his catch. Once he noticed Amberheart, he ran over and dropped his vole at her paws.

“I caught it for you.” He nudged it closer.

“Oh thank you, but I already ate. Take it to the elders, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.” Rootpaw let out a sad sigh, but did just that.

“I’m exhausted.” Mousepaw could barely keep her eyes open for what Icepaw could see. “I might head to the den.”

“Good idea.” Icepaw stood up and walked slowly into the apprentices den. Mousepaw curled up in her nest and was asleep in seconds. Icepaw sat down and a wave of tiredness swept over her. Once her eyes were shut, sleep engulfed her.

———

End.

thank you to everyone who’s been reading this whole thing, i really appreciate it :>

chapters.....

One

Two

Three

Four

[wildtige429]

Imposter

@lynea-kureji This story is taken during the war. And we get to see why Mint is acting so weird around the general recently the entire day.

PS, may contain a reference to American Dad in one segment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something weird is going on here.

It’s not the numbers of the Mewman army rising to take him down. Or the fact the weather is not right.

It’s about his second-in-command/right hand man, but in full respect right arm woman, that is weird.

Mint, or Woodleaf by her army name that he suggested, is not being her usual self recently. Even a few of his men have begun to notice. One even stated she is having PTSD, that is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. But they have been in war for a year now and she has never shown signs of PTSD.

How can she have PTSD if she is so clingy and possessive around him? One time, he was having a meeting with his commanders and all of a sudden, she suddenly screamed and barricaded off any of the female soldiers who got to close to him. They were shocked by her aggressive possessiveness. Including himself.

And another time, when he gives out instructions on the army’s strategy, Mint suddenly bawled and whined that she should be in his line of attack rather than being in her own line of attack. That is something he never heard her say because she was never such a complainer and positioned her part of the army quite well.

What is wrong with her?

“Maybe she’s on her period or something? Girls can change dramatically because of that,” the purple reptile, Ripjaw suggested, matter-of-factly.

Toffee couldn’t help but felt insulted and offended by that statement around his second-in-command. Eyes wide with a fiery ire, and his brows knitted in a deep scowl, he made a creepily and robotically slow 90 degree head turn to his colleague. Seeing the anger in his face, the purple lizard became submissively scared.

“It...it came to my head okay? What else was I going to say about her!? I mean, what if she really IS on her period!?” he whimpered, making a frightened excuse that he wished could calm his general’s ire down.

“Or maybe she’s not in a good mood now that you two are not....doing it?” Rasticore suggested, matter-of-factly.

Offended and insulted again by his statement, The Lizard did the reverse 180 degree turn in the same robotic and creepy slow manner, his anger face unwavering as he sets his sights on his old ally. The frilled lizard could feel his anger and he nearly cowered in submission.

“Oh come on, sometimes women get a little moody when they’re not doing it with their guys! Don’t you remember the last time she was grumpy because you were not in the mood!?” he whimpered, hoping his excuse could help calm him down like his friend did just now.

The general didn’t say anything. Not a single word. The air around him was so thick, they knew one thing. 

They are in deep shit.

(Moment later)

“PLEASE, PLEASE!! I’LL NEVER TALK ABOUT - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

“I SWEAR I WON’T TALK ABOUT HER BEING MOODY ABOUT - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

As punishment for insulting and offending Mint, Toffee had the two tied by their ankles and shove them over a cliff that looms over a volcanic lake. Giving them a terrifying bungee jump that would teach them a lesson for good.

“Is that necessary, General?” Mint asked, worried about the two lizards’ safety.

“They will learn,” he answered darkly, passing by her.

The halfbreed second-in-command jogged after him until they were at level speeds, “Toffee, there is a storm coming and we suggest on stabilising our equipment if we want to succeed this,” she reported, “I fear the rain might slow us down alongside the Mewmans and make most of the lizards in our army sick. Including me and you.”

He sighed. It’s true, being cold-blooded has its disadvantages. Months ago, the rain was so cold and heavy, all of the reptiles and lizards in his army, himself included, and Mint, were affected by the cold flu. The flu was so bad, it lasted about three weeks.

But by a miracle, their flu even infected the enemy soldiers too.

“Inform the army to get their rain gear ready. And inform the Hottails to supply the blacksmiths with Forever Stones for the reptilian soldiers,” he ordered.

She gave him a nod and then she had a questioning look on her face. He took notice of it (She was staring at him) and said, “What?”

“Well.......,” she began, twiddling her fingers, “I was wondering about having a short moment of break in the forest. Away from the army like that and catch some zen, get what I mean?”

He was surprised by this offer that he stopped walking, Mint following suit. He had to admit she was right. He’s been stressed for a little while and perhaps taking his mind off of things could help clear his head.

“I’d appreciate that,” he admitted, “What time?”

“Tonight,” she suddenly grinned, “We just meet at the waterfall in the forest. Remember?”

He nodded, “Yes, I remember.”

“Great! OOOOH! I CAN’T WAIT!!” he was startled by her squeal and she suddenly realised what she did and reeled back to her former self, “Sorry. I mean, I will wait for you there.”

“Okay,” he warily said, glancing aside a bit. What is up with Mint today? She was never this excited of being alone with him before. Well, if she wants a short break, then so be it.

(That Night)

There was a slight rain tonight and it brought a little comfort to him through his track through the forest. The ground has become a little muddy and his attire is a little dirty from it. He had one time slipped on a crooked root in the ground and fell face first into the wet mud, coating himself entirely in the wet soil. No way is he going to present himself like this.

“At least I’m here early,” he told himself, finally reaching the destination that he will meet Mint. She was nowhere to be found so that gave good time for him to wash off the mud. 

Moments later, he had taken off his attire, except for his trousers, and rinsed the mud off under the waterfall until they were spotless and clean off of any debris. However, he couldn’t help but feel like he is not alone in this part of the forest. Almost like, he was expecting an ambush from a Mewman assassin or something like that. 

That is why he brought a knife in his pocket.

“YOU CAME!!!!” a shriek startled him and he found himself being thrown into the water by a tremendous force from behind. As he resurfaced, sputtering and spitting out water, he found himself being glommed by an over-excited Mint, not caring that her attire is wet and soaked.

“YES! YES! YES I FINALLY GET TO BE ALONE WITH YOU!!” she screamed like a maniac, “Now LET’S HAVE SOME FUN WHERE WE LEFT OFF BEFORE THE WAR STUFF HAPPENS!!”

He couldn’t stand her strange behaviour and he pulled her off, pushing her away at arms’ length and hands pinning down on her shoulders to prevent her from moving. Mint was confused by his annoyance and frustration and she looked at him like a little people who couldn’t find its chew toy.

“Mint, I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you, but you are scaring me with this behaviour of yours,” he chided, anger audible through his tone, “ I don’t know if you’re on your period or some bullcrap, but so help me, you have to stop acting like a brat!”

Mint was struck by this. She looked like she was about to yell at him when they heard a rustle from the nearby bushes. What popped out of the bushes left Toffee speechless with horrified realisation.

A second Mint. And she appears to be in a horrible scuffle judging by her scratches and she had a big black eye like something had bashed into her face.

“Toffee! Get away from her!” the second Mint warned.

“Don’t listen to her, Toffee! That’s an imposter trying to replace me!” the Mint with him screeched, her voice shrill from lunacy.

“Liar! You knocked me out in the forest last night and was planning to take him from me!” the second Mint argued.

“No! I’m taking him away from you!” the first Mint argued back.

“Are you calling me a liar!”

“Yeah!”

“Then get away from him, you BITCH!!” 

Toffee just had to throw the first Mint away from him because he fully understood where and why she was acting this way the entire day. A person he just wished had moved on without him in the past had come haunting back to me.

“Toffee?” the first Mint whined, stunned and hurt by his action.

“Don’t you Toffee me, Mint,” he growled. He slowly narrowed his eyes as he exposes her with these words, “Or should I call you......Artica!”

The imposter reeled back in shock by this. A moment later, she snarled and turned her sights onto the real Mint. As she stomps out of the water, cold vapour whisper out of her talons, “You...,” she hissed with such hatred and venom, “This is ALL YOUR FAULT!”

She aims her hands at her and fired a cold blast. Mint was able to dodge it as the blast turned a tree behind her into ice. Just as fake Mint was about to fire another ice blast again, the real Mint caught her by grabbing her wrists. The two Mints wrestled with each other, trying to subdue each other.

“MINT! BE CAREFUL!!” Toffee called out.

The imposter smirked, cruelly at her. Mint was confused, until realisation hit her hard like boulders from an avalanche. She looks down and finds ice shards forming on her hands, and she can feel the numbness and chills running down her arms.

“I would have taken them off, if I were you,” the fake Mint taunted cruelly. However, she noticed the real Mint smirking back and she couldn’t figure out why until she felt it. Something liquid and hot is burning her hands.

Looking down with horror, she watched as green liquid oozed out of Mint’s ice-covered hands, melting the ice immediately, and getting it onto her hands. Her skin begins to melt off to reveal pearly white scales. The imposter tried to force her hands out of Mint’s grip when suddenly, the second-in-command grabs her face, spreading more of the poison until what’s left of her form oozed down onto her feet.

Standing before Mint was a Wintertail woman wearing a white jacket and a tunic seemingly woven with cords.

“I should have known you were a Wintertail,” Mint pointed out, shoving the woman away from her. Toffee walked up to her side so he can glare down at this woman, “What are you doing here, Artica!?”

“I want you back with me, Toffee!” the woman, Artica, proclaimed, “After that break-up, I couldn’t stand it! Last time I heard, you were dating a freak and now you made her your second-in-command! No woman should take what’s mine and gets away with it!”

“Now I see why he broke up with you,” Mint pointed out, making the Wintertail hissed with hatred. As she and Toffee continue to glare at her, Artica made a vow, “I maybe a sergeant major in the other part of the army that didn’t revolt, but I will take my revenge on you for taking my Toffee! Remember that, freak!”

And with a huff, she turned tail and disappeared off into the forest, her anger making her ice powers turn up and freezing everything in her way.

“Tell me what happened,” the Lizard said, checking on her wounds. Mint tried her best to smile cheerfully, “Last night, I was going through the forest to check for any Mewman assassins when something hard hit me. I only got a glimpse of Artica using a disguise potion to make herself look like me so she can get you,” she pursed her lip in wonderment, “That Artica chick is really obsessed with you.”

“She really is,” he sighed with defeat, “And here I thought I’ll never see her again.”

He felt a hand on his cheek and looks down to see her smiling, comfortingly at him, “Just like old times, huh? Remember that Axel crook?”

Toffee began to chuckle, remembering their teenage days that brought a smile to his face, “Oh yes. I’m glad he doesn’t know you and the lizard girl he likes are the same person.”

It was Mint’s turn to chuckle back, “Ah, I miss the old days.” 

He had to agree to that. Perhaps one day, if they win the war, they can go back to the days they once had when they were younger. And they would not step until they reach their goal.

He swore on it.

(Epilogue)

Meanwhile, the two lizardmen that were punished for offending and insulting their general and their second-in-command is still dangling from their ankles over the lake of molten lava at the cliff. It has been hours now and they could feel their blood draining into their brains.

“You think he’ll remember that we’re still here?” Ripjaw questioned his friend.

The frilled lizard let out a shrug, “Maybe. Or maybe not.”

They couldn’t help but sigh in defeat. It’s going to be a long day for them to get back up the top.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Found another song that matches the rivalry of Toffee with Axel and Mint with Artica.

I hope you enjoy reading this!

[thdorkmagnet]

Light of the Sun and Stars: Prologue

Figured I’d go ahead and start posting this on here, so here you go.

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

Next Chapter>>

The fire blazed with an uncontrolled fury, as wood and cement alike crackled and disintegrated under the intense pressure of the blaze. The little house, once cozy and kept, now fell to ruin as flames consumed every part of the country home. Above the scene of destruction, a lone moon shone in the night sky, watching over the scene as a large pillar of smoke rose up from the flames to greet it and the rest of its bright shining companions. The flames in the house grew and grew, spreading through the once peaceful house, bathing all inside in its hot breath of destruction that wasted no time in devouring its prey. Finally, with a mighty crack the house gave in to the fires uncontainable will and collapsed in on itself, allowing itself to be consumed by the flames.

…

Farther from the blaze, a lone monster walked alone, his back to the smoke and ashes that were slowly rising up into the night sky, with no signs of stopping. The monster in question was a tall, muscular frog. Buff Frog, as many had become accustomed to calling him, wore a green military like top with a skull belt wrapped tightly around his waste, the muscles that made up his name sake visible underneath his shirt. His normally green body was, at the moment, covered head to toe in soot making his features difficult to make out in the darkness of the night. He panted heavily his eyes darting around constantly as he walked, every little noise making him jump.

The reason for his paranoia seemed to be the small bundle he held securely in his beefed up arms, wrapped up tightly in a soft, red blanket. Despite the muscles that coated every inch of the monster's body, he held the bundle gently, letting it rest safely against his chest. As he slowly pushed on through the forest, fighting branches and bushes alike out of his way, he was extra careful not to let the cloth covered object get hit with any stray branches as he battled his way through the unforgiving vegetation.

Eventually, the frog monster found the path of resistance lightening its hold as, with one more mighty push, he became freed from the forest's entrapment now standing in the middle of a silent clearing. He took a moment to catch his breath, checking over the bundle in his arms for any damages. Unlike the monster, the bundle was free from any soot or ash, the cloth clean and fresh in the monster's arms. As carefully as he could, he turned it over until a face could be made, peeking through the swaddling cloth. It was a boy, not even a year old, his tanned face peaceful as he slept. Small, tufts of brown hair rested on his forehead, his normally brown eyes closed tightly. A small mole was just under his left eye, but that was easily overshadowed by the twin suns on both cheeks, which even now glowed bright red in the darkness of the night. The cloth slowly rose and fell with his breath as he slept, the child's mind at peace unaware of the disaster only a short distance away and how close he had come to being a part of it.

The monster smiled at the cute, little bundle of joy he held, a smile of both joy and sadness. “No worry, Marco,” the monster said in a thick Russian accent. “I will keep you safe. You will live normal life with other Mewmans. This is promise.” The baby moved a little, snuggling closer to the monster, seeking his warmth and the frog smiled, pulling the blanket a little tighter around the baby.

Suddenly, the baby became uncomfortable, squirming around in his grip, no longer content in his dream-like state. Buff Frog was confused for a moment, trying to shush the squirming child, until he heard the snap of a branch behind him. Buff Frog turned, already on guard, holding Marco as close to him as possible. He squinted trying to see the source of the sound, until another monster emerged from the shadows. This one was a tall, lizard-like creature dressed in a finely made suit, one you would expect a business man or lawyer to wear. But this monster was neither.

Toffee, in fact, was the newest leader of the monsters and Buff Frog's boss, taking over after the old leader had passed away under “mysterious circumstances”. Very little was known about Toffee, due to his often distraught nature, showing very little emotion towards anything. Very few monsters were even sure how he had gotten his position, most of it hidden in rumors and secrets. But none the less, Toffee had assured the monsters that he would bring them into a new age of freedom and help them gain justice from the Mewmans who had stolen their land. And, so far, he had yet to go back on his word, keeping true to all his promises. In no time at all, Toffee had already begun making major changes in the monster's poor living conditions, providing his fellow monsters with food and essentials that many of them had gone without all their lives, building confidence and hope in their new leader and his intense methods.

But for all the good things Toffee had done for his fellow monsters, an equal number of bad were being inflicted on the Mewmans. With Toffee in power, no Mewman was safe. Monsters, who had once been submissive and domicile, were now openly attacking them, killing any group who wandered too far from the safety of the Butterfly Kingdom and into their land. And Toffee not only encouraged it but demanded that they act out more, to take back their land from the “monsters” who had stolen it in the first place. The attacks, for the moment, were random and not very common place, just the monsters defending what they knew was theirs. But there was no doubt the relations between the Mewnians and the monsters were about to take a turn for the worse, as Toffee continued to poison his monster's minds with hatred. And the monsters, tired of oppression and seeking prosperity, seemed to be buying his lies, as their contempt grew every day and acts of violence became more and more frequent.

Buff Frog, a trusted and well-known member of the monster's society, however, openly defied Toffee's plans coming to the defense of the Mewmans, claiming them to be capable of understanding and change. His words mostly fell on deaf ears, but a few monsters were getting confused at the frog's statements, still unsure what the right solution was.

And so here the two were face to face with what they considered their equivalent rival. Buff Frog stared open daggers at the lizard, while the more controlled Toffee, only gave him a look of passive indifference, a look he seemed to have mastered.

“Buff Frog fancy seeing you here this late at night. I hope you weren't planning on running off on me, now were you?” he said, his voice as emotionless as his face. Buff Frog felt his anger boil at the mere sight of the lizard, but he tried desperately to keep it in check, hoping to find a way out of this situation with the least amount of trouble.

“Toffee,” Buff Frog greeted, but the anger and suspicion in his tone was as obvious as his accent and Toffee gave the slightest hint of a smile, enjoying watching Buff Frog's armor break. “What are you doing here?”

` “I saw the smoke and came to see what I could do to help,” Toffee reasoned, gesturing to the smoke that still rose up from the distance. Buff Frog followed his gesture, but only gave him a glare in return, not believing a word the monster was saying.

“Really, you come to help,” Buff Frog asked accusingly, but Toffee showed no emotion over the frog's cold demeanor simply replying, “Yes of course, but it seems I was too late. A nasty fire broke out and completely destroyed the home I'm afraid, killing everyone inside. But it seems you were more successful than I,” he continued, his eyes coming to a stop at the still-kicking baby, his face morphing into one of dark hatred for a second, before immediately shifting back to the blank expression he normally wore. .

“Yes,” Buff Frog began, the suspicion never leaving his tone, keeping a secure grip on the struggling Mewman child, who was quite uncomfortable with Toffee's lingering gaze on him. “I see fire and manage to pull baby out before it harmed.”

“Curious, cause it seems that the boy has not a burn anywhere on him, nor any soot or ashes unlike yourself. It seems almost as if he was pulled out before the fire. But then, that would make no sense.” Buff Frog's eyes narrowed at the comment. Toffee and he held a glare between each other for a moment, before Toffee suddenly shrugged the subject off like it was nothing. “No matter,” he said, reaching out a hand to Buff Frog, making Marco scream even more. “Give me the boy so that I may... handle the situation.”

“Handle?” Buff Frog spat, unable to contain his hatred anymore. “You will kill boy.”

“I will do what's necessary,” Toffee replied, his voice suddenly becoming hard. “You know what our goal is, Buff Frog. You know what must be done.”

“He is innocent child-”

“It is a Mewman,” Toffee hissed, anger in his tone for the first time since the conversation started. Buff Frog jumped at Toffee's sudden rage, Marco's body shuddering against him. “There are no innocent Mewmans.”

Buff Frog stared at Toffee silently, his eyes dark with hatred as he softly whispered, “Perhaps then you would like to explain to other monsters why you kill Mewman baby. A baby under the name Diaz no less.”

Toffee's seemed visibly unsettled at the mention of the name, trying his best to remain expressionless. All monsters knew the weight the name carried. The Diaz's had dedicated their lives to peace amongst the monsters and had become a symbol of harmony between the two races. No monster would dare to indicate harm against any under that name, their family alone free from the monster's revenge, including Toffee's. Toffee considered his options. He had only recently become leader of the monsters and his lack of experience was beginning to show. Though the monsters followed him, they still seemed weary to give him their full support. He didn't have the same level of trust Buff Frog held amongst the monsters and if he was going to make any progress he needed Buff Frog. And things were even more shakey now than ever before, as recently a new threat to his position arose when that pipe-squeak Ludo had began wrangling his own group of monsters from under Toffee's nose, attempting to claim himself as leader. Though he doubted it would go anywhere, Ludo's name was well-known amongst the monsters and he needed Buff Frog's own influence to keep them under control. Moreso, Toffee's more violent methods were beginning to be off-putting to the other monsters, none having the stomach for the more radical approach to “freedom fighting”. His want to eradicate as many Mewmans as possible, putting many on shaky footing. Though they wanted change they weren't quite ready to start a war against the Mewmans. They were all new to killing, none really sure if his approach was a good one. If word got out that Toffee had killed a defenseless child, even a Mewman, it could be the end of all he had accomplished. As much as he hated Buff Frog, he had no choice but to comply.

Buff Frog knew he had won, as Toffee's face slipped back into its indifference once again, all anger and venom gone from the monster's features, his hands behind his back. “Very well,” Toffee said his voice showing just the slightest hint of anger beneath it. “You may keep the child. But you both now belong to me. You will remain by my side and do exactly as I ask.”

“No! I must raise Marco away from monsters-”

“If you wish for the boy to live, you will not question my decision. He will abide by my rules and remain so until I see fit. Do we have an understanding?”

Buff Frog felt his anger growing, his grip tightening on Marco just slightly. He and Toffee shared a gaze, one that seemed to last a lifetime, both hard and cold, both waiting for the other to yield. The only sound in the forest was the moans and grunts of the restless boy in the frog's arms.  Finally, Buff Frog looked away, barely whispering “Yes, is deal,” before drifting off into a guilty silence. He knew he had already broken his promise, but there was no way he could fight Toffee and still keep Marco alive. Toffee had bested him after all, he had lost.

“Good. Make sure to hurry home. It's not good for a child to be out this late at night. Who knows what could happen to him,” Toffee said, his voice just dripping with arrogance, before he turned on his heels and walked off, disappearing into the shadows from whence he came. As he did, Marco calmed down, managing to drift off to sleep once again.

Buff Frog stared at the child for a moment, feeling guilty, as he watched the boy slowly fall back into his peaceful sleep, unaware of any wrong in the world around him. Buff Frog felt a tear in his eye as he softly whispered, “I'm sorry.” Behind him the smoke continued to rise, like a signal in the night, alerting all of the disaster that had just occurred.

[bryyo-data]

Diaries of a Pirate Hussar

Log Entry 1

Well, I've finished training and today they're gonna give me a beast. Also, I broke my personal records device. The one I stole off Captain Brules a cycle ago. Oh well, I'm missing it more than he ever did. Luckily I managed to get hold of a new one today- the respect you get as a rider is glorious! They'll just give you this stuff.

They've captured a new bunch of Korakk Beasts, all younglings fresh for training. I've gotta get mine into shape and then we'll be patrolling down by the jungle generator, I think. Supposedly it won't take long- they're loyal beasts, but dumb as shit. Dangerous, mind, but dumb. Kinda reminds me of Brules, now I think about it.

Log Entry 2

I met up with my beast yesterday. He's a weird looking thing. I mean, I haven't seen that many Korakks, but this one has this straggly look about him. And he just doesn't sit still. It's gonna take us the rest of the year to get the armour on him.

Wish I could say he took to me like the Velbop in that old story they used to tell us as youngsters. Nah, he threw a hissy fit when I tried to get near him and knocked my lance out of my hand. Could've been trampled. But I'll persevere. It'd be cowardly to back out now. This is my beast and I will tame him.

Log Entry 3

Beast taming is not going well. Somehow he managed to put a dent in the walls of his pen, because he was thrashing around so much and acting like an idiot. Then he sat in the corner and made whimpering noises all evening. It pisses me off because I saw Hussar 15 go off with her beast into the jungle, and she's only had it for ten days! It's not like I'm expecting instantaneous results here, but I can't even get the thing to sit still for five minutes so I can get on its stupid head.

Log Entry 4

Two week's worth of training finally paid off. I managed to get onto his head today. Then I sat myself down in what we like to call the driver's seat, and away I went! Flying through the sky because the freakish creature bucked me off. Then I was nearly trampled by it, and let me tell you, there's absolutely nothing fun about a Korakk running at you at high-speed while you're incapacitated on the floor.

Having been, ahem, rescued by a few of my colleagues, I set about putting a complaint in to command. Clearly there's something wrong with this one. With the amount of time we've spent on it, it should be as cooperative as the rest of them. I suspect Phazon madness, because you see more of that stuff growing around every day. Nearly stepped in a blob of it before- could've melted my leg off!

Log Entry 5

We had Commando 68 take a look at it, but the beast has been given the all-clear. He beat the thing pretty harshly into shape- it wasn't nice to watch. In fact, I feel a bit sorry for inflicting that on the stupid thing now. It looked awfully subdued afterward. I felt so bad that I went out and caught a Nightbarb for it- the normal ones, not those Phazon weirdo mutants. Seemed pleased enough.

Tomorrow they're going out to round up a couple more beasts, aiming to catch at least three of four of them if they can. I was gonna volunteer to help, but they want us to go mounted, and that probably ain't a good idea. Either I'll end up dead, or my beast will.

Log Entry 6

I've been sneaking rations to my beast. He's starting to look fatter, but that's okay because he was skinny to start with. Now he just looks normal.

It's fine, I can afford it. We're well paid in our position. It's a dangerous job handling Korakks, given their size and strength, so we're compensated. It takes someone like 68 to really know how to handle them- I still ain't too pleased with his methods, but he's the expert so I won't question it. But he's not handling my beast. I am, so from now on I'm handling things the way I want to.

Also, I decided on a name for him. I'm calling him Pod. It's short for "my brain is the size of a Wryl Bean Pod and I'm stupid" because he is.

Log Entry 7

Hussar 11 caught me sneaking Nightbarb wings to Pod and told me it was dangerous. Said I "wouldn't be the first to get devoured by my Korakk if I associate myself with food". I feel a bit bad stopping now because he always looks forward to them, but oh well. I prefer my head.

We rode around a bit today and he's actually taking a liking to me. Well, I hope so anyway, maybe it's just the snack thing. Maybe he's gonna toss me off and eat me. Hopefully not.

Log Entry 8

Today I'm confident enough to take Pod out on duty. We've had some worrying reports coming from the north and Command aren't risking anything. It sounds like the Federation are getting suspicious. I'm surprised they haven't turned up sooner if I'm honest, Norion's only, like, a planet away.

We're just trying to get the Phazite armour on Pod now. He's a bit hesitant, but I think if we- oh, bugger.

Log Entry 9

We got the armour on Pod. He took it off again. Commencing attempt two.

Log Entry 10

Great, Pod just inflicted a fatal wound on Hussar 18. They had to drag him off. Won't be seeing him again. Didn't like him much anyway, he was a- POD

Log Entry 11

Pod somehow got OVER the pen walls, found a few storage barrels, and is eating weapons fuel. I really don't wanna go near him because of the whole food-association thing... Man, his tongue's huge... I didn't even realise they were that big... Oh damn, those guys have weapons. They're gonna shoot Pod. I gotta do something.

Log Entry 12

So I managed to drag Pod away from the weapons fuel and somehow convinced my superiors that he's a really nice Korakk Beast and it won't happen again. He's actually an idiot and he's going to ruin my reputation, but I still feel bad about what 68 did and now we've bonded so I have to look out for him. We got out on duty within good enough time, and nothing interesting happened. Now I'm sitting on Pod's back while he paces up and down this stretch of path non-stop because he can't sit still for two minutes.

I guess his energy levels are a good thing?

We did spot a few of those reptiles who live on Bryyo, and I swear one of them was riding a Korakk too. But they vanished into thin air the moment we got up there. They like to lurk behind those giant thorn plants, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. At least I have Pod to protect me.

Log Entry 13

Pod caused a little bit more strife. He got into a fight with one of the other Korakks, and things got nasty. I mean, Korakks are nasty beasts anyway, so two of them locked in a deathmatch is brutal. Next thing you know there's Korakk blood-goo everywhere and claws waving wildly in the air. Me and the other Korakk's rider managed to get well out of the way in time, but we couldn't call the beasts off each other. Pod managed to rip the other one's tongue out and then was making jabs at its belly. That could've killed it.

Lucky a few aerotroopers showed up. They managed to distract Pod from the safety of above while we climbed away and the other terrified animal made a run for it. Luckier still, you can't reach a Korakk's stomach from above, and that's the vulnerable point. Those guys would've killed Pod for sure if they could.

Log Entry 14

Pod and I have been removed off duty due to disciplinary issues. Commando 68 isn't best pleased with my efforts. I guess he was right? And I was starting to think me and Pod were pretty tight.

There's been a couple more attacks on the jungle base by those lizards, and apparently the gel plant area is having major problems with them as well. At least our glorious Leader has sent a new Commander to help us sort them out while our technicians finish up the generator defences.

In the meantime, I dunno what I'm gonna do. I've been accused of being "too soft" which is just about the worst reputation-tarnisher a Pirate can get. Too soft means not ruthless enough for battle. Unable to battle means unable to serve the Pirate forces. If I get struck off, I'll be shipped back to Urtraghus and have my head put in a drone 'til the end of my days. I'd rather not.

Log Entry 15

Me and Pod have been sent to a quieter location down south. There's less for him to get angry at there, and so the both of us are safer, as is everyone else. We're basically just keeping the reptiles at bay from down here, but most of them are coming from the north anyway. It's not particularly entertaining.

I've been a bit stricter with Pod- haven't talked to him much, or picked bugs off the thorn bushes for him. I even jabbed him in the side at one point when he was misbehaving. He nearly threw me- won't be doing that again. I felt bad doing it, but security is paramount, and the only way he's gonna keep going is if he learns to behave himself.

Log Entry 16

Some of those Bryyonian lizards dared to get close to us today. I could tell Pod was on edge for a while, then suddenly one of the things lunged at his face. Couldn't get past his armour, but it was a shock. Needless to say, he dashed the thing to the ground and it was a pulp in seconds.

I signalled to a couple of the ground guards and they pretty much took care of the rest. A few more lizards jumped through the bushes but they were basically leaping into weapons fire. It almost feels like some sort of weird test. They can't be that intelligent, they're brutish and their planet's soaked in Phazon.

Pod wasn't too shaken by the assault, but he had taken a very small wound to his right leg. It must've been hurting him because he didn't move about too much afterward, which is uncharacteristic. He even let me clean it up afterwards. I don't know if he's forgiven me for the harsh treatment, but I'm gonna have to admit it- I'm not cut out for that. I'm too nice or whatever. From now on, it's bugs as often as I can catch them.

Log Entry 17

68 noted today that I've been working hard on Pod. I dunno what I've been doing that he's noticed, but he was pleased. Said the guards on the south end were impressed, partly because I managed to control Pod enough to prevent him from killing them too. I still think that was something to do with his leg, but oh well, I'll take the praise.

I know what I haven't been doing, and that is harsh treatment. You simply can't do that to them. They get annoyed, and you end up dead if you aren't careful. Treat 'em nice, and they love it. Today Pod followed me around while I was on foot, didn't ignore me, didn't try to eat me, just followed me around like a faithful Velbop. It was- dare I say this about my killer beast? It was adorable.

I hope nobody reads my diary.

Log Entry 18

Those lizards made a full-scale assault on us today. I was out towards the east near the generator with a couple of other Hussars, and suddenly we were surrounded by them. Some of them were huge, bulky things which turned invisible the minute you looked at them. The rest had these animals, Warp Hounds, which could teleport with them. Horrible things, they were. I saw a trio of hounds tear the limbs off someone's Korakk. The rider had a lucky quick death after that.

Pod handled it well- kept his stomach shielded, just like he was trained to do, and didn't falter once, even when one of those reptiles grabbed hold of his tongue. Korakks have sensitive tongues and it hurts to pull on 'em, but Pod managed to yank the reptile over and crush it. I also managed to coax him into spitting Phazon, which isn't something he generally likes to do because it burns his mouth on the way out. It worked well, though. Not exactly hypermode-PED levels of power, but I was impressed.

Near the end of the battle I got knocked off by one of those lizards' throwing weapons. I landed near the holobarrier, and the electric shock disabled all my limbs. Ruddy things. What amazed me was Pod stuck around and shielded me the whole time, standing over me to keep me from harm. At first I thought he was gonna trample me by accident, but I could tell he was being deliberately careful with where he put his feet.

After the battle, I was taken in for repairs, which is where I still am. Supposedly I'll be out tomorrow and back on duty. I'm a lucky one. About half the guards over there are lying dead in the mud now, plus two Korakks. Those lizards really know how to beat them.

Log Entry 19

I've come out of repairs and all my limbs are good to go. This is what happens when you don't evolve your own legs like most other species, you're transformed into a useless slug when the technology inevitably fails. Not even like I could crawl away with all the heavy metal stuck to me and pinning me down. But hey, I had Pod to look after me, and even if it did take a little coaxing for him to let the guards get to me, he did a good job.

Bad news from the north- the Hunter Samus Aran has made planetfall. And here we were thinking she was dead or something. She's never dead, she comes back faster than Lord Ridley. Well, bugger, we're dead.

Except we can't afford to be dead, because Command are insistent that we beat her this time. We have Phazon on our sides, and Phazon makes us stronger. Our Leader makes us stronger, with Phazon. Nothing's going to go wrong, okay?

Log Entry 20

Me and Pod have been reassigned again, this time to the way between the generator and the nearest viable landing site. It's a pretty vital path if the Hunter wants to get down to us, but Commando 68 is confident that we can handle it. Apparently you need a "wild, unpredictable beast" to take down something as dangerous as the Hunter. Apparently, to no surprise, a "wild, unpredictable beast" is how they're referring to Pod these days. No worries, I've got a handle on him.

I really hope the Hunter isn't gonna come down this way, if I'm honest. There's other ways to the generator, albeit longer ones- wouldn't it be ridiculous of her to place her ship so close to us? She's probably got the sense to make her way down from the cliff region instead. Maybe, maybe not.

Oh well, no good panicking about it now. I'm not a coward and I'm not disobeying orders. As much as I like Pod, his duty is the same as mine- we go in together, and if we die, we die. Whether we do or not, hopefully we'll stop the Hunter in the process.

At least it's a good spot down here, near the densest part of the jungle. There's bugs galore! I keep catching them out of the air and sneaking them to Pod. Tried a few myself, but they get stuck between my teeth. So I'll just give them to him for now. He seems pretty happy with himself.

That's a funny looking ship up there. Don't recognise that one. Maybe it's a Federation vessel, or the Hunter? I'd better investigate, I think I can see some rising smoke. Thought I heard a funny loud noise too. Didn't spook Pod, though. If I leave my records device up here, I hope nobody makes off with it, or there'll be hell to pay.

-- Records end here --

[therealjammy]

The Love They Have is Strange and Wonderful

Just a drabble from Gen’s POV about Root and Shaw shenanigans and some events that happen in her own life. 

Shaw was acting like a complete ditz. She probably wasn’t aware of it, because she was so caught up in what Root was saying, but from her vantage point—behind the two women, forming the point of an invisible triangle—Gen could see everything. The slight crinkle of Shaw’s eyes and the barely-there smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth as she shook her head at something Root said, too soft for Gen to pick up. Though she knew Shaw usually wasn’t like this, smirks and a different light in her eyes. Usually she was serious, or grumpy, or hungry, or irritated about something. Usually Root, who had a knack of getting on Shaw’s nerves, pressing just the right buttons. Once, Gen had walked in on them when Shaw’s hand had been pressed against Root’s throat, clearly a warning and an attempt to get her to shut up all in one go, and the look on Root’s face was one of pleasure. Since then she’s made sure to knock.

           But besides the strange thing playing out before her eyes, there were other things on Gen’s mind, like the fact that she was contacted by someone via computer chat port a couple nights ago. No name, just a thing that said /unknown user/ at the left side and a >Hello, Genrika. The conversation had started out strangely, the unknown user knowing things about her it—they?—couldn’t possibly know. Like her mother’s imprisonment, her grandfather’s passing, the fact that she kept a box cutter underneath her pillow in case of intruders even though the boarding school was in a safer part of town. But then the unknown user had said, This is making you uncomfortable. We will talk about something else.

           Like what? Gen asked.

           What do you know of spying?

           It was a subject she could talk for days about. And the unknown user proved themselves interesting and entirely too fascinating that Gen couldn’t wrap her head around it. Even now her thoughts were spinning. Was it a human that was the unknown user? It couldn’t’ve been Root, she thought, glancing up at the tall brunette, her arm looped through Shaw’s and tugging her happily along. Root was a genius at hacking but didn’t speak so formally. It definitely wasn’t Harold, even though he was as prim and proper as a man from the damn 20th century whose computer skills were as good as Root’s, in different areas. (He didn’t speak to her much anyway, and now the rumour was he was all the way in Italy. Gen wished he would’ve said goodbye, at least.) And it wouldn’t’ve been John, who didn’t speak to her much because they didn’t really know each other or see each other often enough. She didn’t even know the extent of his hacking skills, but based on the little information Shaw told her, he was probably better at kneecapping bad guys than fucking around with computers.

           She had yet to tell Root and Shaw about the encounter. The unknown user had given her permission to, once she had done a bit of thinking. But after two nights of fitful sleep and one stolen energy drink later Gen’s mind was still a tangled web of thoughts. She sighed, loud enough for the two women in front of her to hear, without meaning to.

           “What’s up, kiddo?” Shaw said, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to let her catch up. Gen walked between them, smelling the minty-metal scent of Shaw and the apple-leather of Root. “Something’s got your gears churning.”

           Gen chewed her lip for a moment. Then, “I have something to tell you,” she said to both of them. “Can we eat somewhere?”

             “This is serious,” Gen pouted around her ice cream, feeling a small flare of jealousy crawl inside her when Root didn’t pay attention. She was watching Shaw with that lovesick look on her face, the same look Tara Landry—Gen’s obnoxious roommate—got on her face whenever she was around her crush after school.

           “I’m listening,” Root said.

           “Someone contacted me on my computer two nights ago.” She dipped a fry into the semi-melted cup of strawberry ice cream. “I tried to trace them, like you taught me,” the fry pointed at Root, “but I was blocked. I couldn’t do anything else.”

           “What did they sound like when they spoke to you?” Root questioned, interested now, leaning her chin into her palm. “Formal? Informal? Harsh?”

           “Formal. And kind.” Gen popped the fry into her mouth, fireworks going off as sweet and salty danced together. “It seemed like they weren’t… from this time period. They sounded old-fashioned.” Another fry dipped into ice cream. “Plus they knew things about me they shouldn’t know.”

           “Like?”

           “The box cutter under my pillow. No one knows about that but you and Shaw.” Gen hurriedly scooped the rest of her ice cream into her mouth, doing her best not to cringe at the cold ache making its way through her teeth and into her skull. “Do you know who it is?”

           Root sighed, her face falling in sudden surrender. She did know.

           “It appears,” Root said, “we have a lot to discuss.”

 […]

             The Machine. That’s what She was called. A benevolent AI who knew just about everything but not enough, particularly about people. She knew Root and Shaw and John and Harold well enough, but She wanted to know Gen. She asked as many questions as Gen did and they bounced off each other for hours at a time. Gen didn’t know what she expected when she heard the Machine’s voice for the first time but she hadn’t expected it to be a mix of different voices, sounding robotic. Like different answering machines.

           “Does She sound like this when She speaks to you?” Gen asked Root a few hours ago, studying recent surveillance pictures that’d been taken by Shaw much earlier in the day.

           “She uses a different voice for me,” Root replied, a different look of love on her face that Gen came to know was specifically for the Machine. “It sounds like velvet.”

           Gen removed the earwig from her ear with a sigh, setting it on Root’s nightstand, next to the obnoxious purple lava lamp. For someone who just turned forty-one she had the room of a teenager. The Machine had talked to her about many things, information coming at her like a brick wall would, and it was overwhelming. She lay back on the bed, head thumping against a fluffy pillow. She got a nose full of artificial lilac. Gen said, so Root could hear from inside the subway car, “How can you stand to have Her talking to you all the time?”

           “I’ve had Her voice in my head for five years,” Root replied. “But when I first had Her spilling countless strings of information to me I was a little overwhelmed too.” A pause. “You get used to it.”

           “You’d think,” Gen said after a beat, “that having someone else’s voice in your head prohibits you from thinking your own thoughts. Because it’s always filled with someone else’s.”

           Root made her way to her room, boots clicking on the cement floor. “After a while you learn to tell the difference between Her thoughts and your own. It’s like sorting through data,” Root said thoughtfully, leaning against the doorframe.

           “Hmm,” Gen hummed, absorbing the information. She reached for the earwig again but didn’t put it in her ear. Instead she wrapped it in her palm, like she did when she found the occasional lizard in the shower to carry it outside into the safety of a lavender bush. “Whenever you talk to Her,” she continued, voice softer now, “you have a look of fondness on your face. And you use a different voice for Her.”

           There was a smile tugging at Root’s mouth. “We have different voices for the people we love.”

           A sigh. “I still have to wrap my head around all this.” She closed her eyes. Maybe a nap would help clear her head.

 […]

             “I’m not talking about that fucking kiss.”

           Gen collapsed on her bed with an irritated sigh, wanting so badly to kick her shoes off but knowing Shaw would be along in ten minutes to pick her up. She would stay in Shaw’s loft over the three day weekend and there was, underneath the irritation, excitement bubbling. Staying with Shaw was always interesting, even if she did grump half the time.

           I am curious to know how you felt about it, the Machine texted. Root had failed to tell her how nosy the damn AI could be.

           When Gen didn’t say anything, She continued, Your tone of voice suggests that it was not to your liking.

           “Okay. Fine. You want to know about the kiss? Richard Wright is a fucking terrible kisser.” She rubbed her eye with the heels of her hands. “Terribly wet lips.” The feeling of dissatisfaction reappeared, along with Richard’s puffy, wet lips sliding softly against her own. It didn’t matter that she’d followed him out to the garden, the perfect romantic setting for a first kiss, or that he was handsome. Bad kissers ruined a handsome face. Maybe she could tell Shaw about it, and maybe Shaw would offer good advice. Because she was a fantastic kisser, according to Root and Gen’s own first-hand experiences when accidentally walking in on them and seeing Root blush beet red with a tender bottom lip, swollen from Shaw’s teeth.

           What had Richard said, as she walked away?

           “C’mon, Gen! Practice makes perfect!” A pause, and then he’d called, “I promise I’ll make it up to you!”

           Gen gathered her books for homework and her phone charger, shoving them all into her backpack. The Machine was silent now. Maybe She ran out of things to say, or was watching something going on somewhere. Shaw texted her that she was waiting in the pick-up line in a blue Corvette.

           “See ya, Rover!” Tara Landry said when they passed each other in the hallway. It was a nickname Tara had given her, because she couldn’t pronounce Zhirova. Gen didn’t grace her with a call back.

           She slid smoothly into the passenger seat of the Corvette, aware that other kids were giving her curious looks. There was a temptation to roll down the window and flip them all off.

           “Something up?” Shaw asked, apparently noticing the frown on Gen’s face. She pulled away from the curb, cutting off a soccer mom in the process. She glared at them from behind her square sunglasses.

           “I’ll tell you later.” Though she really didn’t want to relive that unpleasant memory. Obviously Richard didn’t practice kisses on the back of his hand or against shower glass like normal people. “Can we stop for ice cream?”

           Shaw scoffed. “With this kind of diet you’ll have a heart attack by thirty-five.”

           “I think we should just eat the things we like and worry about the consequences later,” Gen countered, plopping her elbow on the armrest and supporting her chin in a palm. She stared at her reflection in the rear-view mirror. Her hair was wild, like 80’s rocker wild, and her cheeks were still slightly flushed. Her eyes, though, were calm. Thoughtful. She watched the world pass by until her attention was turned somewhere else when Shaw pulled into the parking lot of their favourite diner.

           “Gotta eat something else with your ice cream, though,” Shaw advised, that smile playing in her eyes. Proudness? Fondness? Shaw wasn’t fond of anything except steak and the dog Bear and maybe Root. “Like the bacon burger from the kid’s menu. Should be about your size.”

           “One day I’ll outgrow you,” Gen declared, sliding into her usual spot once they were led back to it.

           “My brain will always be taller than yours.”

           Halfway through their late lunch Gen ordered an ice cream sundae, extra sprinkles. Shaw got herself a slice of apple pie. Gen waited until she’d made a dent in her sundae to tell Shaw of the earlier events, starting with the awful nicknames Tara made up for her. Eventually it led up to the garden and she said timidly, “Richard kissed me.”

           Shaw’s brows rose. “Yeah? The awkward kid?”

           “Handsomely awkward,” Gen corrected, hating the blush in her cheeks, “but yes. And it was awful.” She scooped too much ice cream into her mouth and shut her eyes against the onslaught of cold ache, swallowing the rich chocolatey stuff like it was much-needed pain medicine. “I’ll have his slimy lips imprinted in my memory forever.”

           “Kissing takes practice,” Shaw said, lowering her voice so that the other patrons didn’t hear their conversation even though the din of the place muted it anyway. “Everything does, no matter what it is.”

           “I know. Clearly he hasn’t.”

           “Do you want to kiss him again?”

           Her nose scrunched. “Not after that, no. I’d rather kiss the star quarterback or the head cheerleader.” Who was, Gen admitted, quite pretty. In the sun, Augustine Russo’s eyes looked like liquid amber. But the rumour was she was dating someone at a rivalry school, girl or boy, nobody really knew, because her private life was kept well under wraps. The star quarterback, Gene Fitzpatrick, was probably the least assiholic guy on campus. Not as handsome as Richard, sure, but there was something… charming about his slightly crooked teeth when he smiled. Not to mention those blue eyes…

[…]

             She should’ve come back later. Diverted from course, gone to Park’s Deli instead, brought them back sandwiches and Cokes. But Gen had walked in at the wrong time, in the middle of a particularly charged staring contest between Root and Shaw. The context of it was lost on her, but she guessed they’d been arguing over something and were both so worked up at all they could do was stare at each other and dare the other to make the first move. Gen was close to backing out the door and going elsewhere—Shaw seemed ready to shove Root against the nearest surface and strangle her, and not for punishment reasons—but Shaw caught her gaze and said, “We’re done here. Come on in.”

           It was Monday, the last day of the three day weekend. Her homework was done and stuffed into the proper textbooks, the backpack waiting on the spare bed over at Shaw’s loft so she could take it with her tomorrow when Shaw dropped her back off in the morning. She made her way towards the subway car and, before they parted, heard Root whisper, “We’ll continue this later.” Later probably meant in bed. (Yeah. They tried to be quiet, sometimes, when they thought Gen was asleep. Ear protection like the kind people wore on runways would’ve been a fantastic investment.)

           “Should I even ask what you were talking about?” Gen questioned, letting suspicion leak into her tone.

           “Mission stuff.” It was half a mumble, which meant that it was half-true. Probably bed stuff was the other half of it, something she would rather not know about even though details slipped through the crack underneath the spare bedroom door. “Had a bit of an argument.”

           “You looked like you were about to choke her.”

           There was a light in Shaw’s eyes, a smile. She’d enjoy that too much. Because even if they tried to keep things relatively PG-13 around her, Gen was still capable of picking up some signals. She was a spy, for Christ’s sake, and good spies read people.

           “Heard anything more from Robot Overlord?” Shaw asked then, leaning casually against the desk that held computer monitors. They were black, showing signs of being off, but the cameras stared at Gen like they were analysing her core being.

           “No,” she admitted. “Not since That Day.”

           Shaw nodded and from somewhere in the subway, Root’s voice echoed, “You will soon. She’s got something lined up for you.”

           Even if She was strange and sometimes invasive, the Machine never failed to make things exciting or intriguing. She kept Gen’s attention for long moments, often making her lose track of time whenever they talked. This could only mean more spy stuff, Gen thought, feeling excitement flood her. Maybe it meant going on a short mission or doing some minor hacking, or it meant accompanying Root and Shaw somewhere as long as they didn’t get into a gunfight. (She was still uneasy around weapons, after HR had kidnapped her. And the idea of being shot didn’t sit well in Gen’s gut. Both Root and Shaw said bullet wounds burned like fire and pulsed like stab wounds.)

           “Does this mean I get to come with you and Root on missions?” She was trailing behind them again, forming a triangle on the sidewalk. Shaw looked over her shoulder and slowed her pace, motioning for Gen to walk between them.

           “The stuff Root and I get involved in is much more dangerous.”

           “She assures me it’ll be fine,” Root said, smiling a little. The Machine Smile, as Gen called it, that affectionate mask that covered Root’s face whenever the Machine was talking to her, or a mix of that and admiration. It was like when that Catholic kid Benny talked about God’s love; he had this look of awe on his face, a constant question of how did I get so lucky to have someone love me this much despite my flaws?

           Gen poked them both in the arms. “If I do come with you, it means I get to see Shaw act like a complete ditz around you.”  

[rachelisnotatwork]

Week 5: the one in which we meet all of Australia’s creepiest creatures (and some cute ones)

The site we’d been smoked out of is just one of two sites in Kakadu that are famous for rock paintings. We decided to head out to the next one the next day. It was extremely muggy when we got up in the morning with thick cloud and constant rumbling thunder. Apparently these dry thunderstorms are incredibly common at this time of year; they promise rain that never comes and start bush fires. We came across one of these burning by the side of the road just as we came out of town. It was pretty small (hence we drove past it) but even passing it at 100kmph you got an incredible wave of heat off it.

We decided to drop into the visitors centre to learn something more about the area/enjoy some air-con before seeing the rock paintings. It was alas not air-conned. We thus poured sweat and steamed away in the 40c heat whilst learning about frogs etc.

By the time we arrived at the first site there was a bit of a breeze. This was pleasant. The rock art was pleasant. We walked to the second site. Just as we stepped under the rock awnings to the sheltered spot where ancient people had sheltered from thunderstorms and doodled on the walls, teeming rain began. And continued. Apparently the weather hadn’t got the memo it was still supposed to be the dry season. We assumed it would last a couple of minutes. It did not. 20 minutes later, us and a very wet tour group were still in there.

Eventually we made a dash for the car. We were booked into a sunset river cruise about 60km away so our hope was we’d drive out of the weather. Which we did. By the time we arrived at the yellow water cruise site, the weather was cloudy but there was no rain. This lasted about ten minutes after we set off, after which the heavens opened with thunder and lightening. And the rain was cold. And furious. We were in a little aluminium boat (having just received a safety briefing involving having no limbs over the side at all unless we wanted crocodiles to pull us under) with open sides. Our tour operator, who was driving the boat, said he was just going to “stick near the trees to protect us from lightening”. This was a strategy I was not sure was based in science at all. Also if we weren’t struck my lightening, having a boat capsized because a tree has been struck and fallen onto the boat, is what I would describe as suboptimal in a river packed full of saltwater crocodiles.

And we did see a LOT of those. Hanging out, fighting, trying to catch fish from our bow waves. It was pretty horrifying. Bit like being in Jurassic Park- since as nature’s perfect killing machines, they haven’t needed to evolve since then. We did also see water buffalo, cows and brumbies, but some huge bird thing, and eventually the rain stopped. Plus we didn’t get struck by lightening and no one got dragged overboard by a crocodile, so that’s a win.

The next day was thankfully more sunny. We were heading back to Katherine, because we’d not yet had a chance to visit Katherine Gorge, which is the big “must see” of the area. However on the way there was another beautiful swimming spot to visit- Edith Falls. Marcel suggested we could either read and swim or swim and go for a hike. Since it was, as usual for sunny days, about 38c and I could see the hike and it was full of climbing giant rocky hills, I told him he could go for a hike and I’d stick around and swim and read. He considered the hike but the swimming hole really was delightful and in the end he stuck with me.

The pool had a warning sign saying the waterfall at the back of it was 150m away and to swim within your ability. Apparently everyone who visited Edith Springs (all 7-8 of them) had a very low impression of their abilities (perhaps having had a similar riptide experience to me) so they all stuck within about 3m of the steps down into the lake. We swum over to the waterfall and had the whole place to ourselves, all afternoon, which was rather delightful. We alternated between swimming and reading and enjoying a ridiculously beautiful spot that was nearly empty.

We awoke the next morning to the sounds of a thunderstorm. Which again shouldn’t have been happening and was also a little dispiriting as our afternoon plan was 4 hours of kayaking. An activity that is distinctly less enjoyable in teeming rain. However we decided to see how things played out. Our first planned activity of the day was a trip to Cutta-Cutta Caves, which is a series of caves near Katherine that Marcel mostly wanted to visit as they apparently have a lot of snakes. This he did not tell me when he booked us onto it. I was somewhat unkeen to enter the caves most caves flood in the rain and I didn’t want a repeat of the Thai football team, only in a cave jam-packed with snakes. However by the time we’d arrived the rain had stopped and our guide promised us that the only snakes in the caves most days were tree snakes and “they are only mildly venomous so if you get bitten you just have to chill out for a couple of hours with a beer”. Probably this just meant your leg would fall off. Mild by Australian venom standards.  

We were the only people on the cave tour. It was thankfully very dry, unfortunately not cold (not deep enough) and we did see some tree snakes. One of them was doing a great impression of a stalactite. They apparently hang out on the walls and eat bats as they fly in and out the cave.

After that we set off for the gorges. By this time, the sun was out and it was boiling hot again. This was in some respects great (good for kayaking) but in other respects suboptimal, as you aren’t supposed to “pollute” the freshwater with suncream. So I had decided to put on my burkini. Which is fine but to get to the gorges where you can kayak, you have to take a boat trip through the first gorge because it could potentially have crocodiles. So we had to walk 500m down to the dock and then sit on a boat for 15 minutes. Swaddled in neck-to-foot black swimwear, I was concerned I was going to die of heat stroke before reaching the kayak.

We grabbed our double kayak (he tried to give us two solo ones but screw paddling for myself) and paddled to the nearest marked beach for a swim (some of the gorge beaches are designated for the freshwater crocodiles to lay their eggs). Swimming having just cooked in my suit for that long felt amazing. We had an amazing afternoon of paddling, swimming, paddling, picnicking and swimming. There was only one other pair out in kayaks and we only saw them once all afternoon so it felt like we were pretty much the only people in the gorge system. It was amazing.

This was at least gave us some nice memories to revel in during the next day. In which we drove for hours and hours and hours to get to Tenant Creek, a town that is generally described as a shithole. It wasn’t particularly obviously awful, but the only recommended activity in town was to visit the local lake “recreational park”. Being big on swimming and finally being out of crocodile territory we grabbed our swimsuits and headed out there. To find at this time of year it is a muddy waterhole, surrounded by an all-male collection of peacocks, guinea fowl, geese and about a million ants that immediately tried to eat our feet. We did not stay for long.

The next day we drove on down to Alice Springs, via the Devil’s Marbles (a bunch of large, roundish rocks) which we found underwhelming (although full of interesting frog facts).

We set off quite early because we’d booked onto a kangaroo tour that only runs in the evenings on the week days and so we had to make the Friday night trip out to the sanctuary. The sanctuary there is run by a guy who has spent years saving orphaned baby kangaroos (second to their general idiocy as adults when it comes to cars). He had a BBC TV programme made about him because clearly nothing ticks the British boxes like slightly handsome man and adorable baby animals. 

The tour was fantastic though, because he always has a bunch of orphaned kangaroos on the go, so you spend the tour holding baby kangaroos and feeding them whilst he shows you the sanctuary. It was amazing and about level 10 Australian on the scale of experiences.

Just as soon as we’d left it started teeming with rain and a thunderstorm began. We dashed back to our airbnb to discover the rain had brought out….a fucking giant spider. Like the size of your nightmares. I immediately requested Marcel killed it. He refused as thought it might be dangerous...so thought it would be safer to catch and release. I suggested it was his funeral but I would stand on the other side of the room and watch. One terrifying spider released.

We sat down at the table and tried to relax. Google suggested it was a harmless Huntsman spider. We decided whatever it was we were glad it was gone, only to notice sitting on the picture frame right by the table was ANOTHER FUCKING MASSIVE ONE. Catch and release repeated again. Then I made Marcel pretty much crawl around the airbnb with a torch before I would sit down on any surface.

The next day we decided we’d have a lazy day in town. It was a cool 29c, which felt amazing. We wandered into the free aviation museum to see the wreck of the Kookaburra- a plane that was scrambled to rescue the plane that crashed on the mudflats of Wyndham (the ones I talked about a few years ago where they drank coffee and rum cocktails until they were rescued) and crashed killing the rescuers. I was mostly just curious to see how tiny a 1920s plane was. So tiny. So fragile.

After that we went to the Desert Animal Park, which was basically a zoo of local creatures. Given I’ve never seen a Quoll, dingo, weird thorny devil lizard thing, it was pretty exciting. Also they had a bird show featuring a magpie that called out on command etc. A pleasantly relaxing afternoon was had by all.

When we got back home though, relaxation time was over fairly immediately as we came back to find one of the giant spiders wanted back in and was hanging out on the screen door.

Marcel chased it under the house with a broom and we spent the evening with our legs drawn up on the sofa, watching movies and feeling very twitchy glaring at the shadows.

On Sunday, we decided to head out of town for a swim. We went out to a place called Ellery Creek Big Hole. For the last few weeks all of our swims had been in gloriously warm waters. However around Alice Springs it gets cold at night, and the water in the Big Hole was deep and very very cold. It was hot enough that it made swimming pleasant, but the cold was quite shocking. We spent the afternoon alternating between swimming and warming up on the sand around the pool.

And so concluded week 5. Warm swims left behind us, but still plenty of adventures ahead!

Ways I’ve thought I might die in Australia this week: caught in a wildfire, drowned in a flash flood when rain came in epic proportions, struck by lightening, eaten by a crocodile after the boat was sunk by a tree that had been hit by lightening, overly keen crocodile grabbing one of my limbs that was too close to the side of the boat and dragging me under, drowned in a flash-flooded cave, killed by a not particularly venomous tree snake because I’m weak, of heat stroke in my burkini, death by spider bite, death by heart attack having imagined a giant spider just crawled over my foot, cold immersion syndrome from swimming in cold water after getting used to bathing in essentially bathwater temperatures

[typingol-blog]

Swords in the Wind (Part 3)

Orn 08, 1102 A thin layer of fresh snow crunched under commander Rasnih’s boots as she walked with the mages around the perimeter of what had once been a stone mages tower. The bodies had already been removed by the lower members of the Order and now it was just up to the higher echelon to decide what to do with the remains of the structure itself. And the girl found in it. “Definitely not natural…” one of the mages said as he scratched at the small beard growing in around his neck, “the inner layers of stone are all melted.” “I could do it,” said one, rather large mage, crossing his arms. “Not in a million years,” replied a robed woman, slaping him on the back. The last member of the small group bent down and laid out a black square cloth with symbols Rasnih couldn’t read embroidered in gold on it. The others all grew quiet as he began to chant softly and sway back and forth. This went on for at least ten minutes before Rasnih left them too it and began walking around inside the remains of the tower. The paladins had already explored as far as they could, which wasn’t much. They had found more charred bodies and skeletons, a few clearly not human. No written record could have made it through, and all they managed to find relatively unscathed where some tattered remains of red and gold scale armor and the magically unburned remains of something that looked like a cross between a lizard and a dog. All this ‘evidence’ was given over to the Mages, they would know better how to deal with something like this. “Commander,” the female mage called, “Sir Rasnih, you should hear this.” she made her way back as the largest mage helped the diviner up and the poorly bearded mage folded the man's cloth for him. The sear brushed the snow and pine needles off of his knees while Sir Rasnih waited. “There was definitely arcane magic being cast here…” he said, and the paladin had to resist rolling her eyes, obviously it was arcane magic… “but not by mages.” Rasnih arched an eyebrow, it would make sense that the representatives of the mages guild would want to distance themselves from any illegal magical activity, but who else could have… “Warlocks.” Both eyebrows shot into her hair at that. “Warlocks caused the fire?” but the mage was shaking his head, “No, but their flavor of stolen magic permeates the area.” the Paladin turned to look at the tower again. Warlocks, magic users who gained their power through illicit pacts made with other planar beings, the practice was completely outlawed in all the provinces, violators executed. How had they been practicing in her jurisdiction? And so close to Hammerfoss? But the old mage wasn’t done, he let out a huge sigh and shook his head, “I need to do more readings… it doesn’t make any sense.” “None of this makes sense,” Rasnih said, but he just continued to shake his head. “The fire.” he brought his hands up in a helpless gesture, “the stones indicate a dragon.” *** Shon held the door open and Lily straighten her shoulders, taking a deep breath before walking through it into the large ‘war’ room. Shon saluted the general and his guests, trying to catch Lily’s eye to give her some kind of reassurance before he left. General Davies was joined by weaponmaster Daunas, five robed figures including the mage Ivelm, and Knight commander Sir. Rasnih from the Smilnda Temple. The crowd explained why this was happening in the largest meeting room in the fortress, and Shon couldn’t blame Lily for feeling nervous. A small fire burned in the large hearth on the far wall, casting strange shadows over the faces of the attendees even as the sun shone through the large window. Shon stood at attention waiting for a dismissal that didn’t come. General Davies had looked like he was going to dismiss him when Ivelm leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Davies looked a little troubled but nodded and waved his hand inward instead. “Shon, could you stay please.” Shon dropped the salute and took up a position beside Lily. She was still looking at the adults in front of them but she shifted her weight to lean ever so slightly to the side to brush her arm against his. “So. what have you decided to do with me?” Shon looked wide eyed at her for a moment. She wasn’t one to beat around the bush but this was an elite meeting. There should be some decorum. The two paladins had sower looks on their faces, the mages seemed a little taken aback, and weaponmaster Daunas let out a loud “Ha!” which earned him his own set of sower paladin looks. Sir. Rasnih nodded to general Davies who looked at Lily and said, “we have decided it would be best for you to go To the mages guild in Tarorn. It is the capital of this particular province and they are well equipped to…” he trailed off and the female mage stepped forward to take over. “Your magic needs to be evaluated and registered. Should you choose to, you may receive training with the mages guild until you can pass the ‘Sorcerer's Public Safety Exam’.” she spoke matter of factly, like someone giving a lecture to a class of young students, “If you can not pass the exam on your third try, or if you choose it, you will be given a ‘tattoo of safety and sealing’ which will seal your power so you can not bring destruction upon the general population or the kingdom.” Shon listed without reaction. He had already known the procedures for dealing with a sorcerer, and had explained them to Lily. However, though she knew what was coming, he could feel her shaking slightly next to him. She swallowed and her voice quivered a little when she spoke, “I don’t want my power sealed.” Shon shifted his weight as she had before and brushed up against her arm. The movement was slight but she stopped shaking. The woman who had spoken nodded and stepped back among the other mages. They were all staring intently at Lily with looks that where starting to make Shon very uncomfortable. “Very well,” Davies said, leaning back in his chair. It seemed his roll was over. Sir Rasnih spoke next, “we have a few questions concerning the North Tower you were found at.” Lily tilted her head and said nothing. The local command had already questioned her extensively. “What do you remember about the fire.” Sir Rasnih said, squinting at Lily. Lily sighed, exasperated. It seemed that with the decision of her destination finalized, she got some of her gumption back, “I already told them, I remember hearing something unusual… something that made me scared. I went to check on my treasures…” her voice fell. Shon leaned into her again, and she took a deep breath and continued. “I remember he had killed them… and then... “ she looked at Shon but he didn’t have any way of helping her with this, “I don’t remember. The next thing I saw were two old men and Shon…” it was the same answer she had given every time she had been asked. They both knew what the follow up questions would be, but it didn’t make them any easier. She took another deep steadying breath as Sir Rasnih asked, “what do you mean, ‘he killed your treasures’ what are these treasures?” Shon, looked sideways at Lily who was still breathing slowly, at least this time there were no silent tears to stain her cheeks. “My treasures.” she swallowed again, “They were the other subjects in the tower. Half-breeds mostly, they were delicate and sickly so I helped the caretakers look after them.” her eyes and voice got steely for a moment, “They were mine.” The paladin commander studied Lily’s face and body language, looking for a lie, finally she said, “half-breeds,” she paused, obviously not believing the idea she was going to put forth, “dragons?” Daunas humphed but Lily rolled her eyes, how many times were they going to go over this, “Yes. They are trying to bring back the dragons.” she wasn’t privy to the details, and hadn’t been interested in them at the time. “They mostly did experiments on old armor and artifacts made of dragonhide or teeth or whatever.” she waved her hand in the air, as if it didn’t matter one way or the other, “my treasures were the results of mixing what they extracted from those with people and animals.” her voice fell again thinking about what she had lost, “they were so weak…” The four new mages leaned in and whispered with one another while Sir Rasnih looked unfazed, continuing her silent study of Lily. They had been told all of this already, after general Davies and Daunas had questioned her, Shon was sure of it. None of them seemed surprised by her words, more surprised that she continued to say them. “How did Mage Mourndancer kill the half-breeds?” Sir. Rasnih’s voice was cold and her use of the archmages name was proof that they had been informed of Lily’s story before calling this meeting. Lily hissed at the name, her eyes momentarily flashed, “I don’t know for sure. He had a staff, and a knife… there was a lot of blood…” “How did the fire start?” she interrupted Lily who stopped before she got much angrier and tilted her head. “I don’t know.” she furrowed her brow and looked up a little, like she was trying to remember something, “there were small fires in my room from the door handle…” Shon had no idea what she was talking about, she hadn’t mused outloud over this question before. How would a door handle start a fire… he thought he might know how but didn’t want to say anything. Lily shook her head, “I don’t know, I don’t remember.” “Did YOU start the fire?” Sir Rerves asked, and Shon clenched his fists behind his back. Where they trying to prosecute her or something? “No.” Lily said, but she spoke slowly and furrowed her brow again, “I can’t make that much fire…” “That's enough.” mage Ivelm stepped forward now, bony arms crossed over his chest. Shon arched an eyebrow at the man. Wasn’t he supposed to be retired? “We are not here just to deal with her.” he turned his gaze on Shon, “Squire Shon.” Shon came to attention but with more than a little hesitation in the movement. Ivelm didn’t seem like himself, he was always gruff and grumpy but now he was brisk and cold, almost cruel. “Sorcerer Shon,” he corrected himself looking Shon over, “We have decided it is in the Kingdoms best interest that you be given the Tattoo of sealing” Shon’s eyes went wide, and the stone on the hilt of his sword turned dark blue over his shoulder as he looked between all of the adults in the room. “But…” he stammered. “No.” Lily stepped forward, “You said the stone was enough. You said the tattoo would prevent him from being a paladin, that it would make him sick.” she glared at the mage, her golden hair falling forward to frame her face. Ivelm sneared down his nose at her and her nostrils flared, “It’s either that or he is imprisoned until we can be sure he can control himself.” then in an offhand voice, “or he dies. He is too strong to just let wander free.” Lily twitched. Shon just continued to look at all of them again, in complete shock, “Master Daunas…?” the weaponmaster turned his face away, staring intently at the fire in the hearth. One of the logs snapped in the fire. Ivelm motioned for two of the mages to step forward. What kind of nightmare was this? “I said NO.” Lily's voice was quiet but the fire in the hearth flared brightly and shot out of its bounds to intervene between the approaching adults and the two of them. “Thats enough.” General Davies was on his feet and Lily twitched again, shifting her glare to him. the fire danced before them and Shon thought he could hear a growl coming from deep in her throat. “Ivelm, enough. Mages, stop. Shon isn’t going anywhere.” And just like that the old man Ivelm threw his hands into the air in that same exasperated motion he had done with smith Nurangran. The mages who had stepped forward stepped back and Daunas looked back at Shon with an evil smile. “It’s evidence but not proof!” Ivelm said angrily. “It doesn’t matter anyway, she can’t be held accountable under the circumstances.” the female mage said in resigned voice, as if they had had this argument before. “That's not why it matters!” Ivelm shouted. Beside him Lily had finally stood straight, her face clear of the fury but definitely confused. She looked at him but all Shon could do was shrug. “All that was, was the display of an angry sorcerer with fire magic. We need to see…” “No we don’t Ivelm. It doesn’t make any sense. You’ve been living in that hut for too long.” the largest of the mages chimed in. Ivelm sputtered at them both and beside him Lily said, “Um… what just happened?” Shon wanted to know himself and looked to the warriors in his order for answers, but none was forthcoming. They just watched the mages argue until the fire flared again and Lily yelled, “What the hell just happened!?” Everyone stopped talking, looking around at one another. Finally Ivelm snorted and crossing his arms like a foiled toddler said, “I was TRYING to prove that you are a dragon.” The silence stretched on for what felt like hours. ‘I doubt she’s human’ Shon had heard Ivelm say it while he was recovering after the tower. Was this what he meant? He looked to Lily who tilted her head at them all. She didn’t deny it, instead she said, “I don’t know. But if I am why did they keep doing experiments?” that was not question Shon would have asked. He wasn’t the only one because Daunas blurted out “more importantly, why would she look like a human? Aren't dragons supposed to be giant lizards or something?” Ivelm threw his arms up again. “I don’t know! Don’t ask me to fathom the mind of mad warlocks.” Shon looked back to Lily and saw her staring at him. “Shon, I’m glad you're not going to get a tattoo.” The adults continued to argue but Shon just smiled back at her, “me too, Lily” he was relieved and overwhelmed. He was fine, nothing had changed there, and Lily… he took in her blue slitted eyes and the exposed red scales on her face. He traced them down her neck with his eyes, then crossed over to her right hand held loosely at her side. The others continued to argue, “it makes sense if ‘tressures’ are like a hord…” Shon ignored them and took Lily's right hand in his left. She gasped but didn’t pull away. “Promise me you won’t stop practicing your staff forms.” he said, looking back up into her smiling face. Lily nodded once saying, “maybe I’ll even be good enough to beat you.”