#dig a dent in the hole and bow inside the hole ��… it’s not enough … i genuinely love every square inch of this JSNDNXN i just adore … how u

[unriding]

hi evie !! how have you been ? :33 i hope you dont mind me borrowing you and moze for something ehehe <3

[wannabe-fic-writer]

Kara Danvers x Reader : Behave

Summary: Only good girls get rewarded. 

Genre: 18+ Smut Includes(d/s dynamic, choking, edging, spanking, bondage, temperature play, overstimulation)

Request: Yes / No

Word Count: 3,104

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Blazing blue eyes watch you from across the apartment. A deep dent rests between light brown eyebrows as pink lips press together.

This is the third time you’ve bent over to show your ass to Winn and James and there’s no way they weren’t looking with the way you’re dressed tonight. That plus your shameless flirting with Lena.

Kara trusts that none of them will do anything but that is far beyond the point. 

When you raise up you make direct eye contact with your girlfriend and she catches the glint in your eyes. She’s seen it a million times and knows exactly what it means, that doesn’t change a thing for her. 

The second you step away from your shared group of friends into J’onn’s dining room, she’s grabbing your hand and pinning you to the wall around the corner. Her thumb and fingers press into either sides of your neck, the palm of her hand against your throat. When you swallow you can feel the slight pressure of her palm.

“You are testing my patience little one.” She speaks in a lustfully menacing tone that sends a shiver down your back straight to your core.

The way you raise your head and look down at the blonde could be taken as a challenge from anybody else but Kara knows it’s your way of exposing yourself to her, in the only way you can at the moment. More of your neck is laid bare before her eyes, a just barely noticeable vein there that Kara stares at, she could just lean forward and leave a perfect mark right there. You’d walk away from here with everyone knowing you’re hers.

“I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” You feign innocence. 

With the way she narrows her eyes you just barely fear that she’s going to hit you with her laser eyes. 

Her jaw clenches and you swear you can hear it click.“ You do a lot of cute things, but playing dumb isn’t one of them.” Kara keeps her voice low which just adds to the faint throb between your legs that you’ve been feeling since you saw her putting on your favorite strap earlier.“ If you behave for the rest of the night, you can get the reward I had planned for you after your punishment.” 

Knowing that your girlfriend will hold true to her words you nod. And you do in fact behave for the remainder of the night. 

You’d gotten the exact reaction you wanted from her so you have no reason to dig a deeper hole, even though there are times where you like to push the limits. 

By the time everyone is heading out, your anticipation has reached its peak. You can barely keep your expression neutral as you hug J’onn goodnight and walk out with Kara. The blonde wastes no time securing you in her arms and shooting across the sky to her apartment. 

In a matter of seconds, she’s setting you down in the living room, her hands gripping your hips,“ go strip and wait for me.” The swat on your ass is hardly enough to even warm you up for what’s to come but it does make you jump a little.

“Yes ma’am,” you say teasingly, making sure to look back at her when you pull your bottom lip between your teeth.

Inside the bedroom you make quick work of shedding all your clothes off, neatly folding them and setting them on the dresser, before placing yourself on the edge of the bed. 

There isn’t a single noise that gives way to what she could be doing and it slightly worries you. However you trust Kara. This is far from the first time something like this has happened so you know she won’t hurt you or do anything you’re uncomfortable with.

When she finally steps into the room she comes to stand in front of you. With a teasing slowness, she removes each article of clothing without taking her eyes off of you at all. You swallow at the sight of her completely bare in front of you.

The number of nights you’d gotten off on just the sight of her and your own touch plays in the back of your head, only fueling the flames that are growing inside of you.

Reaching out, Kara curls a finger under your chin,“ what’s our word little one?”

“Jumanji.” 

Despite the intensity of the situation, a smile cracks on both of your faces. Your safe word never fails to amuse you both. It was oddly fitting when you’d chosen it, both of you being movie buffs, also what better phrase to use to stop something you can’t handle or don’t want happening. 

The smile wipes from her face quickly.“ Good girl,” she stands up straight,“ lay back and put your hands over your head.”

You do as she says, scooting up the bed and crossing your arms at the wrists above your head. Patience chips away as you wait for her but you remain silent, there’s no need to worsen your punishment. What it’ll be tonight you don’t know but Kara never disappoints.

Your beautiful girlfriend returns from her trip to the closet with an all too familiar cloth in her hand. Made from the same fabric that her cape is, makes this particular cloth perfect for the current situation. Bullets couldn’t pierce her cape so you both know there’s no way you’re getting out of it when it’s tied perfectly around your wrists.

Ever loving, Kara tugs on the perfect bow and glances down at you,“ too tight?” You shake your head in response. 

It truly is a sight to see the woman throw her legs over your body, sitting her ass back on your thighs as she runs her hands up your sides.“ I’m proud of you for behaving,” she speaks softly,“ but I can’t disregard how you acted at the beginning of the night little one.”

She doesn’t miss the way your breath seems to hitch when her fingers brush under your breasts.“ You gonna be a good girl for the rest of the night?”

“Yes.”

“I know.” Dragging her nails down your side ever so slightly, she raises up enough to spin you around. 

Her chosen punishment is a spanking, made incredibly clear when her hand lands on your ass, much harder than it had earlier. The shock of the first hit always sends you pressing into the bed, a near silent hiss slipping through your teeth. 

Each hit gets progressively harder and makes you all the more aroused. The magic number is twenty but you can feel the slick coating your thighs at ten. 

“Oh you’re enjoying this aren’t you?” She pauses,“ you love when I mark this little ass up don’t you?” The next smack tells you she expects a reply. 

A sigh of yes falls from your lips, the struggle of not squeezing your thighs together growing by the second. 

She tsks,“ but this is supposed to be a punishment baby.” Before you can even reply she spanks you harder than she has all night. A mix between a cry and a moan leaving your lips.

The light throb on your backside is welcomed as it accompanies a wave of arousal. 

But you know, as pleasuring as you find this, it won’t be enough to douse the fire in your belly. 

When she delivers the final smack you swear you can feel it all over. It’s possible she put a little more power behind that one, enough so that you never forget but not enough to truly hurt you. Letting you calm down, she straddles your back, hands slipping around to your front. The instant her fingers pinch your nipples you know the break is over. It never lasts long. 

Just as she had before, she turns you over. You can now feel her core against your abdomen. Her slightest movement spreads her slick across your stomach along with a light brush from the harness of the strap. The thought alone of her being so turned on is enough to make you moan, the sound starting deep in your throat.

Soft fingers brush your now pert nipples, one of the appendages replaced by the warmth of her mouth. Her tongue swirls around your nipple, teeth gently biting into it, tugging up to leave a tingling sensation.

You swear you were about to say something, possibly ask that she speed up just a little, but the words are snatched from you mouth and brain at the suddenly cold feeling on your had been warm breasts. 

A glance down shows her mouth still wrapped around you which draws the conclusion that she most certainly just used her ice breath on you. 

It’s an odd sensation at first, completely out of left field, but she repeats it. The cold goes away, she warms you up, and the cold comes back. You can feel the goosebumps rising across your skin as you arch up into her.

Kara places one featherlight kiss on your abused nipple before moving to the other. More than anything you wish to thread your fingers into those golden curls and the inability to do so frustrates you.

Growling lowly makes blue eyes flick up to you, a brow quirking in curiosity.

She pulls her mouth from you with a quiet pop,“ getting impatient are we?” Puckering her lips, she blows down on your breast, cold air bursting over your nipple. 

“Please let me touch you.” You beg, for the first time tonight.

Her head tilts, fingers running down your jaw,“ you think you deserve to touch me little one?” You nod frantically. You need to touch her. For a split second she looks like she’ll let you, only to shake her head,“ not yet.” 

With still cold lips, she kisses your neck. Your heated skin clashes with the temperature of her lips and your toes curl with yet another shiver. 

“Kara…” you groan when those kisses press to your hip bones and pelvis. Just a few inches south and she’ll be exactly where you need her to be, where you crave her touch.

Instead of her mouth though, you feel the digits of her fingers run through your folds.“ Oh you’re absolutely soaked baby.” She whispers against your pelvis, breath no longer cold. 

Collecting your juices on her fingers, she trails them up your folds to your clit, light circles drawing around the bundle of nerves. Your hands clench into fists above your head, hips pushing up in search of more friction. If you weren’t experiencing such pleasure you’d frown at how easily she allows you to get it. 

Her fingers press tighter circles into you, loving the occasional throb she feels, before she moves them back down to your entrance. With ease she slips both digits inside of you, dragging them across your walls and expertly curling against that perfect little spot in you. 

You say her name like it’s a prayer and her need to keep hearing it drives her to finally wrap her lips around your clit. However you aren’t expecting her mouth to be cold again. 

“Oh fuck,” you sigh, body unsure whether to run from the sensation or embrace it. Your back arches into the bed, running from it, while your hips jolt up in search of more. 

She swirls her tongue and curls her fingers like she was put on this earth for the sole purpose of pleasing you. Your moans bounce off the walls and Kara knows her neighbors can hear but she doesn’t care one bit, not when silencing you means stopping. You taste like honey and Kara laps at everything you have to offer like it’ll save her.

The coil in your belly wounds tighter and tighter. Kara can feel how close you are, your walls fluttering around her fingers, clit throbbing more with each lick. Just when she feels you about to let go she pulls away. 

“Kara!” You whine, body slumping into the bed dejectedly as frustration runs over you. 

“It’s only what you deserve little one.” A teasing smirk forms on her lips as she bathes in how needy you are for her. She’d love to say this is only part of your punishment but she’d have done it anyway. It’ll be worth it in the end and she knows that, almost better than you do. 

Pushing your legs even further apart, she kneels between them, blue eyes taking in the mess you made of the sheets. Gods if she didn’t already have plans she’d eat you like you were her last meal, cause there’s nothing better than you coming on her tongue. 

“Kara,” the softness of your voice draws her eyes up. Her eyes widen a little at the look in yours, she isn’t sure she’s ever seen it.“ Please fuck me.” You beg for it so sweetly that she couldn’t say no even if she wanted to. Those eyes reveal your need for it even more than mess between your legs does.

Moving up to hover over you, she raises a hand to cup your cheek, and pull you into a kiss. Your lips mold together perfectly. The taste of yourself on her tongue as she slips it into your mouth elicits another moan and your, now free, hands rests on her back, nails lightly scratching the skin there.

The hand on your cheek slips down your body, smoothing over your breast and ribs and then away. Tracing the tip of the dildo through your folds, deliberately running it against your clit, she covers it in your slick, before thrusting into you. 

She gives you a second, a literal second, to adjust before taking you with a brutal speed. The nails on her back dig in harder, nowhere near breaking skin. Your legs wrap around her hips, bringing her closer to you. 

Every moan and gasp that slips from your lips travels straight to her ear and only fuels her ministrations. But she can’t help but feel like it’s not enough. Her head leans down to bury her face into your neck, seconds later she bites and sucks marks into your skin. 

You could feel that flame that had been inside of you, licking every inch of your skin. The toy drags across your walls perfectly and every angled thrust causes it to hit your gspot. 

If she weren’t a kryptonian you’d swear that her superpower was fucking you so perfectly. 

Feeling you close again, Kara snakes a hand between the two of you, fingers wrapping around your throat. She just leaves it there for a moment, the anticipation enough to build you to that perfect point. Just when you arrive, she applies the slightest bit of pressure to the sides of your neck. 

A whimper falls from your lips, so pathetic that if it weren’t Kara causing it embarrassment would’ve killed you. Your eyes screw shut, lip getting trapped between your teeth. With how hard you’re biting it she knows you're fighting hard not to come without permission and you’d already received your punishment. 

“Come for me little one.” She whispers against the shell of your ear. 

Your legs tighten even harder around her and she slows her thrusts. She feels the pressure of your nails on her back increase and it drives her mad. There will never be a sight more beautiful than watching you come undone. 

Her hand unwraps from your throat and you breathe easier, chest heaving from your orgasm and lack of air. 

When she sits back on her calves, still softly rocking into you, the purpose for her trip to the bathroom is revealed. Two vibes seemingly appear in her hand out of thin air. She clicks one on, slipping it behind the harness to no doubt rest against her clit based on the moan she releases, and the other, she sends it to its highest setting and presses it to your swelling clit. 

The instant vibrations makes you throw your head back into the pillows, fingers now clenching the bed sheets as your back arches. 

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more intense, she sets an even more brutal pace than before. Her hips slam into you at an ungodly speed, going deeper than she had before. 

You know the vibe plus her thrusts are going to send you over the edge long before she does and she’s hoping for it. 

Pressing the vibe even closer to your clit pushes you over. It seems as though your body adopts the vibration of the little toy. Your thighs quiver as you come but she doesn’t stop. 

With the next one, you feel as your juices nearly explode from you, soaking Kara and the bedsheets. A loud cry leaves your lips as your fingers wrap around the wrist of Kara’s hand holding the vibe. 

“Please, I can’t-” breathless words spill from your lips and Kara clicks the vibe off, stilling her hips and removing the vibe away from her own swollen bud. 

Blue eyes search your form as you breathe laboriously. Her hands rest at your hips, gently rubbing from them up to your sides in a soothing manner. 

It takes a long minute for you to finally breathe evenly, your chest now rising and falling in a less concerning way. 

Kara slips the dildo from you, your pussy clenching around nothing at the now empty feeling. She leans down to kiss your thigh,“ you did so well little one,” her lips ghost over your skin,“ look how much you came for me?” Sitting back, she allows you to look down at the large damp spot on the sheets, you felt it on your thighs, but seeing it on hers and the sheets makes you realize just how hard you truly came. 

“Well fuck,” you mumble, head falling back against the pillows,“ this is my favorite set.” Both of you chuckle at the little joke.

Having tossed the toys aside, your girlfriend moves to rest beside you, her elbow allowing her to prop her head on her hand.“ Are you okay?” She asks softly, combing her fingers through your unruly mane. 

You nod, kissing the palm of her hand when it lays against your cheek to back up your words. 

“Okay,” her thumb strokes your cheek,“ I’ll run a bath.”

She rolls out of bed and your head lolls to the other side to watch her naked form head to the bathroom.“ If this is what I get for misbehaving,” your words make her stop at the door, gaze catching yours over her shoulder,“ I might have to do it more often.”

* * * * * *

Taglist: @owloftheshadows @zhellas 

[insomniamamma]

Prickle: Ezra x F! Reader

A/n: Okay, so don’t know what the hell this is. I was trying to go to sleep a few days ago and this just kind of popped in there, the idea of Ez giving the reader a weird nickname. I swear I have a more serious, put together fic in the works, but this demanded my attention first. I meant this to be short, but I suck at keeping things short.

warnings: language, angst, mild violence, lil bit of fluff, no beta

______________________________________________________________________

He calls you Artichoke. Since hiring you on, Ezra has thrown a string of nicknames at you, mostly botanical or avian, some referencing things you have never heard of, and this is the one that stuck. Cee is Little Bird most of the time, until she indulges in teen-age surliness and then she's Channel Rat. You are Artichoke. Which would be fine, except you don't have the foggiest idea of what an artichoke is. Nothing about the word triggers anything in your brain.

You are not so well-travelled as Ezra and Cee. You grew up on Falnost, a dusty little fly speck of a moon, only colonized because it orbits a gas giant with lush rings, perfect for ice-mining operations. Falnost has one port city that caters to people who come downworld on leave. The rest is cattle and corn. Nothing to do but pull rocks out of the ground, dig irrigation ditches and spread the sandy dirt with live bacteria concentrates in hopes of convincing the ground to grow something. Not a place for fancy words or much beyond a standard technical education. You scrimped and saved and bought your passage off-world as soon as you could, and you've been drifting ever since. Puggart Bench was the closest you've been to civilization, and even that seemed overwhelming and a bit weird. You suspect artichoke is something from the inner worlds, but you have no idea what it could be. What if it's something bad, or nasty like a channel rat? What if Ezra's been making fun of you, calling you this name?           It started two drops ago on Sammana. You were there to harvest lattice corals. Sammana once had a deep liquid ocean, but now all that was left were vast, glittering salt-flats. It was hot on Sammana. The air, while not toxic, stank like sun-dried shit. The corals themselves were fragile and you had to dig through the salt-pan with hand tools to get to them. By the end of the first day, your hands were raw and sobbing from a hundred salt-burnt cuts. You were hired on as muscle, but Ezra's been teaching you the trade as well. Many hands make light work, he said, and dimpled at his own joke, being down one hand himself.           The dig did not go well. The corals you were finding were few and of mediocre quality at best. Enough to keep you fueled and flying, but little else. There was less than a cycle before you had to catch the slingback and even Ezra's mood was dark.             "I'm callin it," he said, after a small and brittle coral crumbled in his hand. "We got enough to get us onto the next job. Fueled and flying, right?"             "Fueled and flying," you echoed back, grabbing the railgun and taking point. Camp was some ways and the sun overhead felt like a physical weight grinding down on you. The railgun was heavy, sweat ran into your eyes and pooled under your body armor. So much miserable effort for so little reward. Today's pull was a pittance, a little extra fuel, a little extra data bandwidth and that's all. You swiped the sweat from your eyes for the hundredth time today. You were over it. Camp resolved itself out of the heat-glitter rising up from the salt crusted ground, the drop pod sitting in a crater of shattered salt, the tent next to it, hooked up to the pod's RTG by a thick braided cable. The tent's flaps were open. Someone was moving inside.             "Oh, hell no!" You pelted towards camp, railgun raised, the figure paused, and then continued rifling through the tent. He had your trophy case at his feet, what little you've been able to collect over the last cycles and this bastard meant to take all of it.            "Hands in the air motherfucker!" The thief dropped his haul and raised his hands. "The fuck out of the tent, right fucking now!" You felt Ezra and Cee behind you, heard their hard breaths.            "I didn't mean nothin," he says, "I thought this camp was abandoned--" And something snapped in you. Never in your life had you been this angry.            "Bullshit you did! Abandoned with the pod still hot?" You primed the railgun, and aimed through the scope right between this dumbass's eyes, and then you felt Ezra's hand on your arm. He spoke low and close to your ear.            "Ease up on the rails, there, Artichoke, ain't no need for bloodshed yet." And for as angry as you were, you did as he asked, relaxed your stance some. Ezra walked toward the kid, no mercenary, this, just some dumb local.            "My friend here wants to shoot you," Ezra said, "And she is well within her rights to do so. We have toiled long to get what little we could out of this bitter ground."            "I'm sorry!" said the would-be thief, "I didn't mean nothin--"            "What you meant or didn't mean is not the issue here," said Ezra, "What you do next is going to determine whether you walk away or I tell my over-eager associate here to indulge her violent nature. Here's what is going to happen. My partner, Cee, knows every stitch of equipment we own. You  will dump your pack for her, turn out your pockets and give back everything that's ours. One aggressive move and Artichoke here will kill you. Rely on it. You do what I say and you get to walk away with your life. Clear?"           "Clear," he said. He dumped his pack as instructed and Cee picked through the contents, reclaiming several items.           "We're good,"said Cee, and gave the thief a shove, "Get out of here." He turned and started running, you fired a few shots that crackled into the salt-pan at his heels.           Later, as you broke camp, you and Ezra got into the first real argument you'd had. So far you've managed to keep things professional, but the anger was still there, hot and pulsing behind your eyes.           "You should have let me shoot him,"           "It doesn't always have to come down to shooting," said Ezra, "Things turned out right in the end. We kept our harvest and that foolish boy gets to keep on breathing."            "He was trying to steal our whole harvest," your voice rose, "Gods be damned, Ezra, you know what that means. You of all people--"            "He was a kid," Ezra's eyes were wide and dark, "Not much older than our Cee. Would you have that kind of blood on your hands?" There was no good answer. Ezra had all the words, you struggled with them. There was no way to speak back. Ezra sensed something shift in you, something in the slump of your shoulders. He laid his hand on your upper arm, gave a brief squeeze.           "It's alright, Artichoke, We're all safe. It's alright."

          Since that crazy day on Sammana, you've been Artichoke, and you don't know what to make of it. You can't ask Ezra directly. Ezra has ten different words for everything. You don't always understand him. You don't know if he's doing it on purpose, but sometimes he makes you feel stupid. You can imagine his self-satisfied smile as he explains the why of your nickname. You're not about to ask him. So you decide to ask Cee.           It's morning and you hand Cee a dented metal cup with fake coffee in it. Ezra shoots you a look and you shoot him one right back. You shouldn't give her coffee, he'd said, it'll stunt her growth, to which you'd said, Kevva's sakes, she was processing Jhata Balu at twelve. I think she can handle a cup of coffee. Ezra is a morning person, one of the things about him that infuriates you. You and Cee have barely joined the land of the living and he's up and about and doing maintenance on his suit. One handed, he struggles, but you've learned not to offer help. You did once and the look he gave you made you want to strap your body armor a little tighter. So you just tune out the string of muttered curses coming from the other end of the tent. You've learned to tell when Ezra is talking to himself.           "Hey, Cee?"           "Mmmh?"           "What's an artichoke?" You pitch your voice low, but there's heat prickling in your neck. Cee sips her coffee and smiles, a slow, one sided grin, like she's been expecting the question.            "It's a Terran plant," she says, and pulls her battered notebook and pen from under her pillow, furrows her brow as she sketches. She turns the notebook so you can see. "It looks kind of like this." And now you are even more confused, presenting with what looks like a scaly ball on a thick stem. What this has to do with you, you can't even guess.

          "Why does he call me that?" You ask, and Cee just stares over her coffee cup like she's staring into the black hole at the center of the galaxy, "Cee! Why does he call me that?" Cee smirks and jerks her head up. And the fact of the relative silence hits you, Ezra's muttered string of curses is done and you hear him chuckle close and behind. You bow your head, heat rushing to your face. 

          "If you wanted to know the reason for your moniker you could have just asked," says Ezra, you're not looking at him, but you can practically hear him smirk. He's gone and done it again, set a snare of words, and you've bumbled into it. You clench your hands and jaw and turn to face him, best to absorb whatever little humiliation he has planned for you so you can get back to your coffee.           "Fine," you say, and it comes out angrier than intended. It is too early in the morning for this. "Why do you call me Artichoke?" His brows furrow briefly and his smirk softens into a warmer smile, the kind that crinkles his eyes at the corners. He squeezes your upper arm, like on Sammana, but there's no body armor between you.           "I call you Artichoke because I believe that, like an artichoke, you conceal beneath your prickly exterior a tender, delectable heart." He drops you a wink and then jams his helmet on and out the tent flaps into the sticky heat of day.          "Good one, Ez," Cee calls to his retreating back and the purr of the zippers pulled back up, "Real subtle."           "What. The. Utter fuck?" You mutter into your cup of shit fake coffee. You shake your head. You and Cee suck down your coffee in silence for a beat.           "You know he likes you, right?" Says Cee.           "Well, I should hope so," you say, "We're crew." Cee is giving you a look of pity and condescention that somehow only teenagers can manage. Oh.           "Oh. Oh no! No no no no no!" The realization comes pouring out of you and Cee giggles. "Nope! Not in a million years! Hard no!" But part of you thinks this is wrong even as you say it. Part of you likes the idea of being Ezra's artichoke, his tough and prickly thing with soft insides. Part of you wonders what would happen if you let him in beneath your spiky outer layers, just a little.

[disastermages]

this is chapter 13 of the au where Xiao Xingchen raises Wei Wuxian

--

The Wen guards who had accompanied Wen Qing look nervously between themselves as they wait in the doorway, but Xiao Xingchen is barely paying attention to them as he walks forward, standing at his grandmaster’s opposite side and reaching for her elbow, though he’s quickly batted away.

“I’m fine, Xingchen. I’m only tired.” Baoshan Sanren shakes her head, trying and failing to wave off his concern when she stumbles and Wei Ying tightens his grip on her. If she was only tired, she wouldn’t have to lean on Wei Ying the way she was, she would at the very least be able to stand on her own, but the sight of it makes Xiao Xingchen’s eyes snap up to his nephew’s.

“A-Ying, what happened? Was there trouble in town?” There were a thousand worst case scenarios that Xiao Xingchen could think of, more than half of them involving Xue Yang, if he was still somewhere in the village.

Wei Ying shakes his head and opens his mouth to answer, but A-Qing beats him to it, “Grandma crushed the metal with her hand!” She peeks around Wei Ying’s robes as though she’s afraid of getting a scolding, but Xiao Xingchen can only blink at her, unsure if he’d heard her correctly.

Baoshan Sanren hadn’t been able to do anything about the Yin Iron when Lan Yi had decided she wanted to purify it, but more than a hundred years had passed since then, it had to be possible, right? “Grandmaster?” Xiao Xingchen asks now, setting a hand on her shoulder and nudging himself just behind her.

She doesn’t push him away again and Xiao Xingchen takes that as progress.

For a few seconds, Baoshan Sanren says nothing, looking past Wei Ying’s robes to where A-Qing had been standing before she sighs. “To think my own granddaughter would tell on me.” There’s exasperated fondness in his grandmaster’s voice and Xiao Xingchen smiles just a little, reaching out and setting his free hand on top of her head when A-Qing reappears at his side.

“We ran into Grandma while we were in town,” Wei Ying continues, picking up where his sister had left off as they guide Baoshan Sanren to sit down at one of the tables, though she waves them off again once she’s settled. Xiao Xingchen pulls Wei Ying back up with him, shaking his head just slightly. Their grandmaster was more stubborn than Wei Ying could ever hope to be. “Me and Lan Zhan told her everything we could think of, but we might’ve forgotten some stuff.”

Xiao Xingchen nods as he listens, glancing back at Lan Wangji as he presents Wen Qing with the now limp qiankun pouch, his arms held behind his back while she examines the contents. Her mouth falls open and she looks back at the four of them crowded around the table and Xiao Xingchen nudges Wei Ying when she starts to walk over, clutching the bag tightly.

“Sect Leader Wen,” Xiao Xingchen says, not bothering to bow this time, “please allow me to introduce my grandmaster, Baoshan Sanren.” Beside him, Wei Ying gives a short wave to his former classmate, smiling even as a look of determination sets across Wen Qing’s face.

“I am grateful for Baoshan Sanren’s help.” Wen Qing says, her voice and face both serious as she moves into a bow, not seeing the way Baoshan Sanren’s head cocks to the side at her, her own face dropping off into something thoughtful, as if she were trying to remember something. “If you would allow it, I was a doctor before my appointment as sect leader, I would like to offer my services as repayment for your aid with the Yin Iron.”

“You remind me of someone I once knew,” Baoshan Sanren says, rather than accepting or declining Wen Qing’s offer, her eyes squinting, “which branch of the Wen sect are you from?” Baoshan Sanren offers her wrist slowly, her eyes flicking between Xiao Xingchen and Wei Ying and Xiao Xingchen feels himself stand up straighter on instinct.

If he were any younger, he might’ve gotten a lecture about wandering headfirst into the trouble involving himself with sects would bring him, he still might, but Wei Ying and A-Qing would have to sit through the lecture with him.

Baoshan Sanren came down harder on he and Cangse than he ever had with either Wei Ying or A-Qing. Xiao Xingchen could only hope that she would continue spoiling the two of them, even if she ended up lecturing him.

“I’m Dafan Wen by birth.” Wen Qing answers, transferring a steady stream of spiritual energy directly into his grandmaster’s wrist, her eyebrows knit together as she works. “I was brought to Qishan when I was very young, Ma’am.” Baoshan Sanren huffs a laugh then, bringing up her knee and resting her elbow on it before she drops her cheek against her hand, dull amusement in her eyes.

“Dafan Wen…” The smile that spreads across his grandmaster’s face is one Xiao Xingchen hadn’t seen before, though the faraway look in her eyes was more familiar. “Wen Liao would be proud of her descendents, but I never thought she would actually break away from her brother.” The smile on Baoshan Sanren stays in place as she shakes her head, though she pulls her wrist back from Wen Qing. “That’s enough, little one, you’ll exhaust yourself if you keep going. I’ll be fine.”

Looking at her, Xiao Xingchen can see that Wen Qing has grown pale, though her energy has barely made a dent in Baoshan Sanren’s color. His grandmaster’s stores of spiritual power ran deep, Xiao Xingchen knew that firsthand.

“Sect Leader Wen, what happened to my grandmaster?” Xiao Xingchen asks, looking between the two of them, an unfamiliar anxiety settling in his chest like a summer storm cloud, thick, dark, and heavy. There had been a handful of times that Baoshan Sanren had returned to the mountain injured and bloody, she’d locked herself away in her own rooms with Cangse until she had recovered then, but Xiao Xingchen had never seen her so spiritually exhausted.

Pursing her lips, Wen Qing stares hard into the table, as if she could burn a hole into it with just her thoughts alone. “The Yin Iron most likely attempted to latch onto her golden core with the intent of draining her spiritual power.” Wen Qing says, dropping down to both knees and sitting at the table properly now. “I saw similar effects while I was caring for my uncle, but he lacked a core as strong as Baoshan Sanren’s. When she crushed it, the resentful energy may have attempted to fight back and harm her in retaliation, but I cannot say without having seen it for myself.”

“Grandmaster Baoshan became agitated while handling the piece.” Lan Wangji speaks quietly, coming to stand beside Wei Ying, their shoulders brushing together. Out of the corner of his eye, Xiao Xingchen thinks he sees his grandmaster’s eyes narrow at the two of them, though Lan Wangji doesn’t back away.

Xiao Xingchen turns to Baoshan Sanren then, her face betraying nothing as she nods along. “It was more spiritual power than I’m used to using on a singular thing.” She confirms, lowering her knee back into its original spot, a frown replacing the smile that had been on her face. “While I was holding it, it felt as though something was trying to dig its claws into me, every instance of irritation and anger was dragged to the front of my mind as if it had just happened.” Baoshan Sanren doesn’t look over as A-Qing begins to press herself into her grandmother’s side, she only lifts her arm and drops it again once A-Qing is comfortable, her own gaze burning into the table.

“Memories I’d sworn to forget nearly drowned me when they came flooding in.” A sigh weighs down Baoshan Sanren’s shoulders as she speaks, and very suddenly, her age shows, though only for a moment. “My mind only cleared when it was dust in my hand.”

“You believe this piece of the Yin Iron has been purified?” Wen Qing asks, holding the bag up and looking at it quizzically, as if she expected it to leap up and sink teeth into her hand.

Experimentally, Xiao Xingchen reaches out for it with his own spiritual energy, but receives no response, not even a spare bit of energy lingering behind to snatch at his own. He’d expected something to be there, something to lurk underneath the calm and answer him at the slightest agitation, but there’s nothing.

“There was resentful energy seeping through the pouch while Grandmaster held it.” Wei Ying thinks out loud, tapping his finger against the bridge of his nose as he looked off to the side, his eyes dark and thoughtful, “Her spiritual power must be stronger than the resentful spirits inside the Iron, but that doesn’t explain how Xue Yang is unaffected by it.”

“We don’t know for sure that he is unaffected by it, A-Ying,” Xiao Xingchen reminds, speaking to his nephew gently, trying to pull him back before he even had the chance to bury himself in research. “We’ve never fought Xue Yang long enough to notice any sort of deterioration and from Sect Leader Wen’s information, we only know that Xue Yang was vicious long before he was involved with the Iron.” Wen Qing’s face goes still as Xiao Xingchen speaks, her hands coming to rest on top of the table.

“I had another reason to speak with all of you.” Wen Qing says quietly, keeping her face neutral, “After the five of you left Nightless City, Xue Yang’s quarters were searched, and at first we found nothing of importance, but when we passed through again, we found evidence that he had been traveling to and from the Yiling Burial Mounds though a teleportation spell.”

The air turns too thick to breathe then, Xiao Xingchen, Wei Ying, and Lan Wangji all looking at each other, though Baoshan Sanren and A-Qing both have their eyes focused on Wen Qing.

“I thought you said no one could survive in the Burial Mounds.” Wei Ying says, looking at his uncle, and Xiao Xingchen bites at his own tongue, wishing he had some sort of explanation for him.

“No one is supposed to.” Baoshan Sanren answers for him, “The five great sects have each sent their own cultivators to try and purify it at some point and not a single one of them have ever come back, even a handful of rogue cultivators have tried it. If he’s taken up residence there, I have to wonder what the resentful energy is doing to the Yin Iron.”

“Still, his surname is Xue…” Wei Ying trails off, casting a glance over at Lan Wangji, who only looks away for a moment, before he looks back at Wen Qing.

“Is there any known connection to Xue Chonghai?” Lan Wangji seems to follow along with Wei Ying’s train of thought without hesitation or question, their arms pressed close together as Wen Qing shakes her head.

“None that I know of now, but I could ask my advisors to look through my uncle’s journals, there might be something there.” Even as she says it, Wen Qing looks doubtful, neutral face bleeding into a frown as she rises from the table, hands placed perfectly in front of her stomach.

“I will do all I can to aid you in apprehending him, but I must take my leave now. My advisors have told me that it is no longer necessary or wise to hide my uncle’s death from the rest of the great sects, we’ll be announcing it within the next week. My presence is required in Qishan.” Wen Qing bows deeply at the waist as she finishes, her eyes hard and genuine as she looks between the five of them, “Whatever you need, please request it.”

Another round of bowing passes between them as Wen Qing leaves, her guards closing ranks around her, their security undoubtedly doubled now.

“She’ll do well.” Baoshan Sanren says from Xiao Xingchen’s side, her eyes sharp as she watches them leave, “She might even pull her sect out of the muck Wen Mao’s grandson left them in.” Xiao Xingchen laughs lightly at that, a quiet smile spreading across his face as he turns around.

“Thank you for your help with the Yin Iron, Grandmaster.” Xiao Xingchen says, bowing to Baoshan Sanren, though she stops him cold, her hand tight on his forearm.

“There are things you and I need to discuss without quite so many eyes on us, Xingchen,” Baoshan Sanren’s voice dips low now, dropping to a hum without becoming a whisper, she moves to the side just slightly, and Xiao Xingchen catches sight of Wei Ying and A-Qing both watching from the dining room, though he couldn’t see where Lan Wangji was. “I’ve taken a room, we can talk there.”

“Whenever you called me into your rooms before, I was always in trouble.” Xiao Xingchen teases, dropping his arms back down to his sides when his grandmaster releases him.

“That was because you listened to Cangse.”

“Just like you told me to when you brought me to the mountain.”

“A-Chen.”

“Yes, Grandmaster.”

Baoshan Sanren goes upstairs ahead of him, leaving Xiao Xingchen to come stand in front of Wei Ying, A-Qing, and Lan Wangji.

“Is everyone alright?” Xiao Xingchen asks, kneeling down at the only empty place left at the table, though he waves it off when Lan Wangji offers to serve him tea.

“We’re fine, Uncle Xiao,” Wei Ying speaks for the group, though the small frown on his face is enough to make Xiao Xingchen doubt it, “but is Grandma okay?” There’s uncertainty in Wei Ying’s voice that Xiao Xingchen can only smile at, some of the tension dripping out of his shoulders.

“Grandmaster is fine, A-Ying.” Xiao Xingchen answers honestly, reaching over and brushing his thumb over the crease between Wei Ying’s eyebrows, “If anything, she’s only annoyed that she had to ask for help, you forget how when you’re as old as she is.”

He only gets to sit with them for a few more minutes, letting A-Qing push her way into his side for a little while before he has to stand up and leave again, though he drops her into Wei Ying’s lap and tells the three of them to stay close if they leave at all, only then does he climb the stairs after his grandmaster.

Part of him is pulled towards his and Song Lan’s room as he reaches the top of the stairs, wondering if he’d already woken up alone or if he still slept. He would have to fill his husband in if he’d already woken, but if he hadn’t, Xiao Xingchen should let him rest, there would always be time later, wouldn’t there? Breathing in deeply, Xiao Xingchen forces himself to turn and walk down the hall to his grandmaster’s door, feeling all of 12 years old and like he’s been caught swapping out a sect brother’s water for vinegar at his older sister’s request again.

Xiao Xingchen swallows down that feeling as he raises his fist and knocks on the door and enters when Baoshan Sanren calls him, forcing himself to stand up straight as he closes the door behind himself.

His grandmaster is sitting at the table by the time he looks at her, the sight of it doing absolutely nothing to make her appear shorter. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d gotten lost, come and sit, I won’t have you standing against the wall like a statue.” Baoshan Sanren’s voice lacks it’s usual sternness when she speaks, but Xiao Xingchen won’t make her repeat herself, walking forward and dropping down to his knees across from her. A cup of tea has already been poured and sat at his place.

“If I get lost, I only need to stay where I am and you’ll find me,” Xiao Xingchen says, staring into the dark liquid, “that’s what you always told me.”

“My A-Chen has always had a good memory.” Baoshan Sanren says, lifting her own cup to her mouth and taking a deep drink. “You and Cangse balanced each other well that way. I worried about you after she left, but then you left too. It only proved my point.”

“I missed her.” Xiao Xingchen confesses, still unable to drink his tea, “I was able to meet her again, but I miss her still.” His grandmaster smiles ruefully then, a chuckle shaking her shoulders.

“Wei Ying has her face, it’s hard to look at him sometimes, but it’s harder to hold him at arm’s length.”

“He acts like her, too, you should hear about the tricks he played while he studied in Gusu.” Xiao Xingchen allows himself to smile now, his hand at least reaching for his tea now. He expects another chuckle to leave his grandmaster, but silence is his only answer.

“Do you trust Lan Wangji?” She asks him point blank after a few beats of silence, and Xiao Xingchen nearly drops his cup back onto the table.

He only barely manages to set it back onto the table, dropping his hands back down to his thighs and digging his nails into them. “I trust Lan Wangji as much as I could trust someone with A-Ying’s heart. I believe them to be a good match, Grandmaster.” Saying it that way feels too simple, as though he’d taken a single look at Lan Wangji and decided that he was good for his nephew, like he hadn’t considered the possibility of one or both of them breaking each other’s hearts.

“They are young, Xingchen, and Lans only love once, you know that don’t you?” Regret and envy both run underneath his grandmaster’s words like a river, her dark eyes turning wistful. Xiao Xingchen had heard the story of the Lan sect’s founder, Lan An, and at first, he’d thought it was romantic, he’d only come to understand the tragedy of it when he was older. “They could grow apart from each other.”

“They could also grow together.” Xiao Xingchen argues quickly, regaining his grip on his cup and forcing himself to drink the tea, though now, it was only lukewarm.

“Xingchen-”

“Mother-” Xiao Xingchen starts but catches himself, his head snapping up from his lap and to Baoshan Sanren’s face, his eyes wide as he breathes in deeply.

Xiao Xingchen expects his grandmaster’s face to be red when he looks up, he expects her to be annoyed with him at the very least, but he’s only met with the softest face she’s ever turned onto him. “You truly have faith in them, don’t you?”

Swallowing thickly, Xiao Xingchen nods, setting both of his hands on the table where she could see them now. “I do, I believe they compliment each other.” Xiao Xingchen refuses to allow himself to get quieter, reaching forward and refilling Baoshan Sanren’s cup before his own, his eyes flicking up to her face.

She looks thoughtful, as if she were turning something over and over in her mind like a particularly shiny stone. “They deserve a chance, if you have such faith in them.” It’s an admission if Xiao Xingchen had ever heard one leave his grandmaster’s mouth, her thumb running over the rim of her cup. “Your faith in them won’t stop me from giving that boy a shovel talk, no matter how many times you call me mother. It’s my right as Wei Ying’s grandmother.”

All the tension seeps out of Xiao Xingchen right then as he laughs, his shoulders dropping. “You gave one to Zichen, I’d hate for Lan Wangji to feel left out.” He and Song Lan had been married for a year and a half before he’d told Xiao Xingchen the specifics of the shovel talk he’d gotten from Baoshan Sanren.

Xiao Xingchen had only been able to look at him with wide eyed horror and then embarrassment.

~

“Are you gonna marry Xian-gege?” Qing Sanren asks as she comes to stand just inside Lan Wangji’s room, and Lan Wangji sets his hand across the strings of his guqin to silence them as he turns to face her. He hadn’t heard her come in and he’d only left the door to his room open because he and Wei Ying had been together earlier. Lan Wangji was determined to follow the rules set by Wei Ying’s uncles.

Qing Sanren watches him from the doorway, neither coming in nor running away now that she’s been caught while Lan Wangji struggles to answer her question.

“Did you hear me? I asked if you and Xian-gege are gonna get married.” She repeats herself, though hearing it again doesn’t make it any easier for Lan Wangji to answer her.

“One day, I would like to.” Lan Wangji answers haltingly, “If Wei Ying wanted the same.” Lan Wangji wouldn’t pretend that he hadn’t thought about it, but even in his own daydreams, their wedding was still a handful of years away.

His answer though, doesn’t seem to be what Qing Sanren wanted to hear from him, her face dropping off into a small frown. “Xian-gege said that Baba and A-Die got married when A-Die met Grandma, but you just met her, so shouldn’t you get married to Xian-gege now?” Blinking, Lan Wangji considers the words coming from Wei Ying’s seven year old sister, panic beginning to leave him as he lets his hand fall off the guqin.

“Your fathers were adults when they got married.” Lan Wangji explains simply, “Wei Ying and I are not yet.” That should be the end of it, but Qing Sanren lingers in his doorway still, her head cocked to the side as she considers it.

“Do you have to be a grown up to be married?” Qing Sanren asks, taking a further step into Lan Wangji’s room.

“Typically.” Lan Wangji answers, though another thought crosses his mind, “Sometimes two people might elope.” He lifts his hands back to the guqin strings then, expecting Qing Sanren to walk away and hopefully close the door behind her, but she doesn’t.

“What’s that mean?” Taking his hands away again, Lan Wangji debates whether or not to answer her, surely there wouldn’t be any harm in just telling her what it meant?

“It means that two people run away to get married, usually without their family’s permission.” Before his uncle had warmed to Wei Ying, Lan Wangji had considered the possibility of elopement, though by the end of Wei Ying’s time in Gusu, his uncle had warmed to him as much as he ever would.

Qing Sanren looks as though she’s about to ask another question, but Wei Ying appears behind her then, a sneaky smile spreading across his face as he lifts a single finger to his lips when Lan Wangji catches his eye.

Lan Wangji feels his chest warm almost immediately and manages to betray nothing, his fingers beginning to move over the guqin’s strings again. The corners of his mouth pull upwards when Wei Ying catches his sister up in his arms with a short shout, holding onto her and refusing to let her scramble away from him.

“Xian-gege!” She cries, letting herself hang limp in her brother’s arms, choosing to act as dead weight rather than fight against him like she usually did. “Baba told you not to scare me anymore!”

“That was yesterday!” Wei Ying argues with a laugh, and Lan Wangji feels something in his chest soften. “Besides, I don’t see Uncle Xiao anywhere, do you Lan Zhan?” Lan Wangji shouldn’t help Wei Ying tease his sister, he knows that, but once wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

“I do not, Qing Sanren is at her brother’s mercy.” Lan Wangji waves his guqin away, allowing himself to smile at Wei Ying as he finally releases Qing Sanren from his arms. She sprints away from him like an angry cat, her footfalls heavy in the hallway until they fade away completely.

Wei Ying stands in the doorway to watch her for a moment longer, the smile still on his face when he turns to look at Lan Wangji again. “She’s going to get us back for that, you know.”

“Mn, I will keep Wei Ying safe from his sister.” Lan Wangji promises, moving to the side when Wei Ying comes to sit down next to him, not caring one little bit about the three unoccupied sides of the table. Lan Wangji is half joking and half serious, he’d already seen what kind of tricks Qing Sanren was inclined to play.

Wei Ying laughs though, his smile making Lan Wangji flush with all the warmth of sitting in the sun. “My Lan Zhan takes such good care of me, defending me from A-Qing like that.” Wei Ying leans into him, their shoulders pressing together. The warmth and light pressure of it is welcome, Lan Wangji feels himself leaning into it before he can think twice about it.

“Were you playing something before A-Qing came in?” Wei Ying asks, pulling himself away from Lan Wangji by a fraction of an inch, though Lan Wangji misses him right away. “I thought I heard you, but I couldn’t figure out if you were learning a new cultivation piece.”

“Not cultivation music.” Lan Wangji answers, and says nothing else, though Wei Ying expects him to.

“Were you playing for fun, then? I didn’t think the Lan sect did that.”

“We do, but this song is not one of them.”

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying whines, crashing his shoulder into Lan Wangji’s again, though this time it’s gone just as quickly as it came. “At least tell me what it is!”

“Not yet, it isn’t finished.”

“But you’ll tell me when it is?”

“Mn.”

~

Song Lan is sitting up in bed by the time Xiao Xingchen returns, dragging a hand through his unbound hair to comb it back as Xiao Xingchen shuts the door. “Where did you go? I woke up and you were gone.” Song Lan asks, still sounding as if he were half asleep.

Xiao Xingchen sits at the foot of the bed, their knees pressing together as he tries his best to try and summarize the last few hours. “Sect Leader Wen came to offer her condolences.” Xiao Xingchen starts, keeping things simple before they became a complicated knot of words. Song Lan nods along with it, his face falling for just a moment before he pulls it back, allowing Xiao Xingchen to take his hand and hold onto it. “And then A-Ying and Lan Wangji brought my grandmaster with them when they came back from their walk with A-Qing.”

For all the effort Xiao Xingchen had put into saying it casually, he still feels Song Lan’s hand tense in his, any and all sleepiness evaporating from his face. “Baoshan Sanren is here? She’s not hurt, is she?” His husband’s words come out quickly and Xiao Xingchen waves them off just as fast, explaining what had happened as best he could and hoping that he wasn’t forgetting any details in the meantime.

By the time he’s finished, both of Song Lan’s hands are wrapped around one of his, while the other strokes through Song Lan’s hair. It’s meant to soothe him, but Xiao Xingchen isn’t sure it’s working as he watches his husband process the mountain of information he’d just piled in front of him.

“Where do we go from here? The Burial Mounds or Gusu?” Song Lan asks finally, his hands tightening, his eyes burning into the quilt.

“I’m not sure yet,” Xiao Xingchen confesses, shaking his head and letting his free hand drop to his husband’s cheek, “usually I discuss this sort of thing with my husband, but I thought it better to let him rest a while longer.”

Song Lan chuckles, but doesn’t smile, instead, he takes one hand off of Xiao Xingchen’s and lifts it to his other wrist, his fingers curling tightly around it. “Your husband can’t sleep without you anymore.” Song Lan admits, stroking his thumb over Xiao Xingchen’s pulse. “We should go to Gusu first, we can’t risk him getting his hand on another piece of the Yin Iron.” Nodding, Xiao Xingchen strokes his thumb back and forth over the apple of Song Lan’s cheek.

“Are you hungry? I could have something brought up.” He offers, the need to fret and look after his husband coming back the second their next destination is decided. He’d eaten with his grandmaster, and once he’d been allowed to leave her room, he’d made sure A-Qing, Wei Ying, and Lan Wangji had all eaten, making his rounds until he’d finally been able to return to his own room.

“Just tired,” Song Lan says, shaking his head and looking past Xiao Xingchen again.

“Should I put you back to bed now that I’m back?” Xiao Xingchen smiles sadly, he knows he should ask Song Lan to try and eat something, something small, but he can’t make himself deny his husband rest when he asks for it.

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” Song Lan asks, not fighting back in the smallest way when Xiao Xingchen begins to press him back down into the bed, his arms reaching up and wrapping around Xiao Xingchen to pull him down as well.

“I will.” Xiao Xingchen says, moving himself until Song Lan can lay his head against his shoulder, “I promise.”

[chibistarlyte]

keep it safe

It's been many years since Shouto carried his heart with him.

After his mother tried to destroy his unsightly half, she had been sent away. Shouto's heart hurt so much, a near-constant burning in his chest that threatened to sear his lungs, the bones of his ribs, the veins and arteries that pumped blood through the vessel…

Well. One day, he decided he didn't want it anymore. So he took it out.

my piece for the @bnhahorrorweek prompt “body horror” but like...it turned out fluffier than i expected? how did that happen?

thank you so much kat @sunshineijirou for doin a quick beta!

you can read the fic under the cut or here on ao3! you can also find a masterpost to all my bnha fics here!

.

It's been many years since Shouto carried his heart with him. 

After his mother tried to destroy his unsightly half, she had been sent away. Shouto's heart hurt so much, a near-constant burning in his chest that threatened to sear his lungs, the bones of his ribs, the veins and arteries that pumped blood through the vessel…

Well. One day, he decided he didn't want it anymore. So he took it out. 

Normally, when someone took out their heart, it was to give it to someone else. Usually a lover, sometimes a close friend or family member. The social norm was to only remove your heart from your chest when you had someone who could safeguard it for you. 

But Shouto had no one. 

His heart was angrily yanked out by his own hand, blood and gunk dripping and staining the tatami as he held the throbbing organ in his fist. The gaping hole in his chest spilled red, strings of muscle and sinew hanging out of him like vines of a wisteria tree dangling over the water. 

Shouto shoved his still-beating heart in a beaten up bamboo box he'd found amongst his mother's possessions, closing the lid with a definitive slam. He could still hear his heart beating inside as he carried it to his closet, shoving it in a corner towards the back and burying it beneath various clothes and blankets stored inside. When he slid the door shut, he could no longer hear the cursed thing thump-thump-thump-ing against the sides of the box. 

Without his heart rattling inside his chest, Shouto felt…

Empty.

But emptiness, he decided, was better than all the pain he’d endured in such a short time. So he kept his heart locked away in his mother’s old box, tucked away at the back of his closet where no one would ever find it.

.

Every time Shouto looks in the mirror, his scars stare right back at him.

The one on his face...and…

The one on his chest.

Frostbitten fingertips trace the deadened skin on the left side of his chest, where the shredded edges have curled into each other and healed over into bumpy, discolored, jagged lines like a bare, dead tree branch etched onto his body. He taps his chest once, twice, feeling the echo inside his ribcage where his heart is supposed to be.

Shouto inhales a rattling breath, exhaling a puff of frost that coats his lips in ice.

Days like these make him glad he’s discarded his heart, kept it in a box locked away. Else, his father would have broken him completely by now.

Shouto splashes some cold water on his face and looks one more time in the mirror, traces his heart scar one more time before tugging on a sweater and hiding it from the world once more.

.

Shouto can’t remember feeling this emotional in a very, very long time.

Ever since he’d ripped his heart out, any kind of feeling that would bubble up had always felt muted, subdued.

But this...this anger...this sadness…

He feels like he’s going to burst from the pressure of it all.

When Midoriya looks at him with fire burning in those bright green eyes, fingers broken and bleeding and a snarl on his usually innocent face…

Shouto burns in a way he hasn’t in eons.

“It’s your power, isn’t it?!”

Those words alone ignite something in Shouto’s chest, a flame bursting to life in the hole where his heart used to be.

Shouto burns. Midoriya smiles.

Then…Shouto cries for the first time in over a decade.

.

In the days after the sports festival, Shouto brings the beaten bamboo box out of his closet. He sits down cross-legged on his futon and gingerly sets the box in his lap, running his hands across the lid littered with nicks and dents. Through the old wood, he can feel the beating of his heart resting inside, the rhythm stronger and steadier than he can ever remember it being. In the close proximity, he can almost feel his pulse echoing in the vacant chamber of his chest. 

He sits there for a long time, the locked box in his lap and the faint beats of his heart pulsating in his ears. 

But he doesn't open the box. 

He's…afraid of what he might find.

Soon enough, he puts the box back into his closet and covers it back up with blankets, feeling strangely empty.

.

Shouto has no idea why, but he brings his heart with him when they move into the dorms. 

He'd had every intention of leaving it behind. After all, he's gone without it for over ten years now. Why would he need it?

And yet, seeing his belongings stacked up and waiting to be loaded into the car but no bamboo box among them, Shouto feels nervous to leave home without it.

So he digs it out of the closet and holds it close to his chest for the entire ride to the UA dorms. If he holds it close enough, he can almost pretend it’s still inside his chest, beating away in a steady, relaxed tempo.

.

Midoriya holds out a jar to Shouto, crooked fingers curled protectively around the glass.

“What’s this?” Shouto asks softly, trying to peer past the metal lid and into the jar to see its contents.

“I-It’s my heart,” Midoriya says, holding the jar up so Shouto can see it better.

And there, inside the glass, is a heart almost too big for the container to hold. Parts of it are shriveled like raisins, some parts purpled and mottled with bruises, other parts covered in plasters and wrapped in old, bloody bandages that look ready to fall apart. Yet, despite its beaten appearance, it beats a strong, even rhythm that somehow puts Shouto at ease.

“I want you to have it, Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya says a bit shyly, smiling up at the taller boy. “I mean, you already kind of do, anyway. And I know you’ll take good care of it.”

Shouto gingerly reaches out for the jar, taking it in shaking hands and trying to hold it steady so he won’t drop and break it. He pulls it close to his chest, hugging it almost like a child would a stuffed animal. He studies Midoriya closely, noticing a scabbed mark coming up just a little past the collar of his t-shirt.

He must have just recently removed his heart, so sure Shouto would accept it.

“Come in, Midoriya,” Shouto says, backing into his room and giving Midoriya enough space to enter. Shouto goes and sets Midoriya’s heart jar on his desk to keep it safe before retreating to his closet.

“You can call me Izuku,” Midoriya says from where he’s standing by the door. “Since you’re my heart’s keeper now…it’s only fitting, right?”

Shouto hums affirmatively in response, finally finding the beaten up bamboo box beneath a pile of clean laundry he has yet to fold. He withdraws the box and walks over to Izuku, handing it out to him hesitantly. “Then…as my heart’s keeper, you can call me Shouto.”

Izuku blinks once, twice in rapid succession before he reaches for the box. “I…wow, um…I didn’t expect…I mean…what?”

Shouto bows his head, unable to look Izuku in the eye as an explanation comes tumbling out of his mouth. “I took my heart out almost eleven years ago. I’m…sorry if it’s not in great condition.”

“Eleven years ago?” Izuku asks, and Shouto can clearly hear the shock in his voice. 

Shouto looks up as Izuku unclicks the latch on the lid, tilting it open to gaze at the heart inside. Both of them stop breathing—Shouto because he hasn’t seen his heart in over a decade, and Izuku because, well, Shouto doesn’t know for sure.

His heart is small, much smaller than it had been in his childhood. There are patches that are darkened brown, almost black, like a freezer-burned slice of meat left uninsulated in an icebox for too long. Other parts look charred, as if they’ve been left sitting in an open flame for far too long. And though it’s grotesque and bloody and damaged by the opposing elements that flow through his veins, it’s almost…beautiful in a way.

“Shouto…” Izuku breathes out, closing the lid softly and holding the beaten up bamboo box close to his own chest, where his own heart mark is in the process of scarring over. “I promise I’ll keep it safe.”

“Thank you,” Shouto says, leaning forward and pressing his forehead to Izuku’s. “And I’ll keep yours safe as well.” 

[autobuttonsanddeceptistitches]

Viper’s Vengeance Chapter 2: Beware the Wild Weasel

Chapter 1

Hey guys, so I’m finally returning to this story. There’s been a lot going on right now, so hopefully updates won’t be too far between. This chapter also contains graphic depiction of gore for one short part near the end as a trigger warning.

Grand doors opened up to the sight of three thrones. The three Megatrons resting upon their high horses. All different bodies, yet the same name of an atomic weapon as powerful as one million tons of dynamite. Soundwave took attention of the sudden appearance, a new bulky body with Cobra armor. Viper clenched his servos, detesting the sight of another bearing the same curse as him. The true blue mech bowed down, wings remaining high. The gray leader smirked, getting off his chair.

“Viper, how good to see you again, I didn't expect you to come back. It seems Cobra was much weaker than I expected.” He said in such a twisted glee. Armada Megatron scoffed, as Beast Wars Megatron paid attention to the T-Rex head for an arm. Viper rose, his true blue sight unseen before.

“Its over now, we don't have to worry about them or the traitor anymore.”

“So you got rid of Luca as well?” The Cobra prototype nodded, remembering the flesh melting from his bones. How the calcium fell apart.

“I told you it wasn't a good idea to team up with those humans!” Came a shrill shriek. Everyone turned to face Starscream and his two Seeker buddies. Among them being Skywarp, wearing far uglier armor than before. Viper glared at the jet, feeling pity oozing out of his seams. The dark armored bot ran up to the snake, gripping his wounded shoulder.

“Hey, could you tell me that you salvaged my body?!” Came such a loud noise that echoed across the room.

“Sorry Skywarp, I didn't want any humans to use those parts, so they're all melted down. You should go to Cybertron and get a new one.” He teased, right as a fist crashed into him.

“Enough! Viper's done his work and we're moving on from that.” Armada Megatron interrupted, his powerful frame standing up and glaring at the fliers.

“Indeed Armada, I am happy to see your attack was successful.” The gray mech replied, he seemed to be happy to see another one of himself, let alone two of them bearing his name. Sure, on the surface it seemed they all detested each other. Yet, Viper could tell something lied beneath that. Soundwave detected it as well, but chose not to speak. The dark blue mech got up, wiping his face of the purple fist that whammed into his.

“Thanks, I needed a warm welcome from the likes of you. Lord Megatrons, may I request a few days off from the raids? Hook mentioned that I needed more repairs on my armor before I can fight.” Blue optics reflected the three Emperors of Destruction as they whispered among themselves. Starscream and Thundercracker dragged Skywarp off as he screamed out various Cybertronian swears.

“Fine, it seems you've done far much more compared to the rest of the army. Go on then, before we change our minds... Yessssss.” The Predacon leader hissed. The former Cobra soldier exited, making sure to avoid the bitter Nightraven. Who knew he loved his old self that much.

Back here again, staring at nothing as Hook tinkered. This time, a lot more precise with the sensitive wings. Good thing the irate Seeker's fists weren't strong enough to make a dent. The vibrant red mouthplate came off, showing the forever hidden white armored face. In the green mech's reflection is markings of a scar. New one gained from the chaotic battle from last night. Nothing to worry over, not if it doesn't hurt.

Dirty work, that song they listened to earlier, quite symbolic of such a situation. Done working for Decepticons, done working with everyone. A few days off is what he needs. It was nice that the dinosaur gave him an agreement. A lot of time to think, to question life's choices. One grew in his head as the Summer Breeze made him feel fine.

How did Cobra get the idea to make him? It couldn't be an idiotic idea that some crazy scientist could come up with. Come up to the boss and proclaiming they could make a jet that'd transform into a large fighting warrior. That urge to dig deeper, to discover why he came to be in these dark times. Who is he?

“I repaired your visor the best I could with what little I had. Sure its not the right color, but at least it'll shield your optics like it did before, so be happy with that.” Hook moved back to pick up a thick orange visor. Must've ran out of black and ditched the primary color for one not found on dark blue armor. The left part of it still broken that'd expose the optic. Its not the prettiest job, but it'll do for now. Servos soon placed the visor back on, fragments of glass included, but tight enough not to go loose and stab him. Hook smirked, knowing how much of a patch job this is. It'd contrast well with his vibrant blue vision. Then came back on the mouthplate, hiding the most human aspect of him.

After Hook finished, Viper sat up, looking towards the medic. “Thank you, I needed that a lot.” He exhaled, wings moving to show that they looked a lot better.

“You know, I could use a paint stripper and get rid of those ugly symbols.” Hook suggested, yet the former Cobra soldier got off the medical berth and adjusted his visor.

“Your repairs are all I needed. Our Megatrons agreed that I needed a break from the fighting. Its my time off now.” Blue armor left the room, closing the door behind him. Hook scoffed as the door opened again. A damaged Build Bot and Shrapnel getting dragged in by Kickback, with a cheeky grin on his face. How wonderful.

The human made machine got out of the shade and into the sunlight. The bright light displaying the restored paint on the weary body. What a strange part of the world to be at, a desert with hidden patches of life. Its often nice to listen to the soft sounds of distant animals and birds. I'd be best to go to the best spot to observe the vast wilderness of this planet. Time to concentrate and think, think over what to do with his past and how life became the way it is.

Viper saw two figures standing on the edge of the ravine. One that guarded the place from any ground vehicles from reaching the base. Breakdown and Drag Strip, two of the Stunticons enjoying their time off from the battles as well it seems. The Rattler came closer, noticing little rodents popping out of the ground. Some traveling across the large holes they dug up.

“Hey, look at those weasels, they're all over the place. Isn't that wild!? Hey, wild weasels!” Breakdown laughed, right as his brother smacked his helm.

“No you dummy, those are gophers! Or groundhogs? I remembered hearing a crazy old man tried bombing his farm to get rid of them. Left a giant hole that's used for tourism in Japan! Best place to dump you off!” His brother chided, before noticing Viper staring at them. “Hey, what's bothering you?”

“Wild....Weasel....” Came a whisper, optics going blank before his processor bloomed into a familiar pain. This damage came from when Cobra tore through his head. The last sight before shutting down was Drag Strip running up to him while Breakdown kept screaming apologies...

A sight returned of blue skies over a forgotten base. An old place with worn out red paint hidden in a faraway jungle. A figure sat inside of the cockpit of a Cobra Rattler. One bearing the iconic symbols, yet having the Decepticon ones embedded as well. Before a consciousness, all that existed was a lifeless husk, a prototype.

“Wild Weasel, how is the Viper performing?” A harsh voice came out, Cobra Commander's own, escaping from the radio into the cockpit. A pilot wearing red, hiding his face behind that intimidating helmet of black and red. He picked up the message, glancing back at the other prototype Rattlers.

“Wild Weasel here, this change to my plane is performing well. I haven't heard anything from the others yet. But I can tell they're performing the same as always.” A blank voice chimed, his pronunciation of s emphasized. An older one, still bearing a cocky attitude matched by his flying skills.

Wheels landing onto the ground, a sweet sensation to anyone bearing a fear of flight. Such bliss for anyone as the other tires began to land onto the soft surface. Overgrown plants, the typical sign of forgotten memories. A row of Cobra Rattlers, seven in total, yet one had the unique marking of purple. Upon command, six had changed their shape, walking on two legs rather than the three wheels. All remained static as their faces showed silver and black. Regular Cobra soldiers hiding at the back of the armored heads, adjusting to the new shape. All eyes left onto the main one, piloted by the great Wild Weasel. His fingers rested onto the controls. Muscles tensing, to soon hear the transformation as everyone watched.

Then, everything came to life. The flickering of an ember, growing into an inferno at the pouring of gasoline. A harsh scream filling his cockpit, crushing of bones as machinery filled the small spot. Never giving the weasel a chance to weasel away from the rising metal. Life, upon the begging of death. The firstborn stood, staring upon the crimson red dripping in his optics. Blood, what flows in the veins of humans. So much of it, the first memory, to hear a horrid screech, then watch the fear on the small creatures faces. A gun slipped out as armor malfunctioned, acid fired and melting the other prototypes. How could they be under full control, yet he could not?

Vision flooded, death, screaming, orders refused to follow. Then, a horrid shot hit his face, breaking the glass. More shots filled the sky as his vocalizer began to function. A scream of his own, startling everyone before they kept firing. Like a feared animal, fighting back against what he couldn't understand. Angry creatures, others identical to him melting down into puddles consumed in green. Such horrid sights, before one powerful blast took him down. Broken glass, staring at the strange color up above. Blue, its so beautiful, glistening the blood before going to sleep.

The prototype couldn't move, arms and legs tied down to slabs of steel. He struggled, making random noises towards the creatures, startled upon his awakening. Right in front of him, a man in the same color of the up above. Face hidden by a shield of silver, black gloves clenching the worn railings. Two other figures stood there, a woman with black, and a man of white. They whispered among each other, before a scientist ran up to the three. This person gave mention for something to be ready. Ready?

Upon the orders, a tremendous pain broke the functioning processor. New thoughts silenced, a forgotten voice. A vegetable, a robotic cabbage, never to be seen again...

“Viper?” Came a whisper, oh that sweet voice. Nightbird's, but, why is she here? Viper turned his numb helm, vision clearing up to find her staring down at him. He perched up, seeing Breakdown and the other Stunticons close by.

“How long was I out?” Came the first words, armor burning at his frame remembering the forgotten memories. The ninja rose a hand to his shoulder.

“A few hours, we thought of taking you to Hook, but he was busy. But, it seems we don't. Alright you five, the show's over.” Leading to the groans of the five mechs. They transformed and drove off into the desert. Ready to do their usual dangerous stunts for the others and their self amusement. Nightbird helped the former cobra mech up.

“What, were they going to ditch me in the middle of nowhere during that?” Came irritation in blue optics upon Nightbird's nod.

“You know them, I would've expected them to use you for their ramps. I've seen what they do with overcharged Decepticons. Need to go somewhere?”

“Yes, I was going to head somewhere, until I heard Breakdown and Drag Strip talk about the darn weasels.” An emphasized hiss on the rodents.

“Well, we'd better get going to wherever you're going. The sun's starting to set, what happened in your vision?”

“Its the reason I'm going there. I wouldn't suggest you coming along, its all for me to take care of. Although, you did make sure I wasn't Stunticon roadkill, so I should repay you in that way.” Viper transformed as Nightbird performed a cartwheel before entering into her alt mode. She drove off alongside him towards the one path able to let anyone in and out of the base.

Gotta pass the long roads that are famous for their tourist attractions in this side of Nevada. Few cars tonight, which is good for any Cybertronians during this time of the dying day. Viper seemed to be feeling a lot calmer since his episode, which should be a good thing. Nightbird remembered the first time she saw him on the floor during a large meeting. Stuck unconscious due to remembering another one of his 'memories'. She remembered hearing Soundwave and Hook discuss the cause of these episodes. The fracturing of his neural systems, vital parts to a Cybertronian to function. It may be repairable, given the time and resources from Cybertron come together. Viper did come into the Earth Wars a few months after her, so they were new back then. Now, a lot's changed since those days. More soldiers, more adjustments to the base's inner structure. What strange days, still having their sense of joy. Although the questions rose in her helm during the drive. Pondering of Viper's intentions.

What seemed to be forever lead them to California in the dead of night. Nightbird's engine hummed, used to long drives after frequent testing by her creators. Oh those days in the labs, born and built for one purpose, yet her own Spark lead her to this. She noticed Viper swooping towards a tunnel in the side of a mountain. A bridge abandoned for so many years. He waited on the old bricks, finding his tag along nearby landing onto the said bridge. Both their optics and armor lighting helped illuminate the tunnel.

“So, what was your memory about?” Nightbird chimed, seeing how Viper remembered his way down these long unforgiving paths.

“My birth, how I had my first kill. Tell me, have you seen blood?”

“In the horror movies Swindle and others watch.” Nightbird chuckled to herself. She'd often sneak into their little parties, such a shame it'd be American and British horrors. They needed some Japanese stuff to watch too.

“I saw it drip down my face and pool out, my optics, stained in so much of it. I'm amazed that Cobra left me alive, but, that's why I'm here.” Said with no emotion. Both reached an aged door with the infamous symbol of red worn away by time. Upon pressing a few buttons, it opened to the sight of forgotten technology. Old machinery whirled to life for the first time in years.

[roccorrios]

How To Start a Fire With Sticks: Make Friction Fire Steps (Bow or Hand Drill, No Lighter)

A fire can keep you warm and protect you from wild animals. It also provides light and helps you prepare meals in the wilderness. You can use fire to boil and purify water to make it safe for drinking.

Because of this, you should always have a fire starter in your survival kit for emergencies – like these.

But what if you don’t?

Read on to learn how to start a fire with sticks.

More helpful reading:

How to Make a Snare Trap Step By Step (Build, Set, Tie, & Wire)

How to Build a Lean To Shelter (Building Step By Step)

How to Escape a Sinking Car (& Get Out While Underwater)

Fire starting methods

What is the proper way to start a fire? Starting a fire with sticks may seem easy until you have to do it yourself. Nearly everybody understands how to go about fire starting. However, it can get complicated if you’re stuck in a survival situation or in the wilderness alone.

When you’re in a survival situation, you should first examine the area to make sure it’s safe. You don’t want to endanger your life by starting a fire in the wrong place.

What to consider before starting a fire

There are several different factors to consider before starting a fire.

First, make the location you choose is the right distance away from bushes, plants, or trees to avoid bush fires. The distance between the spot you choose and any plants should be approximately 6 feet. Before starting a fire, make sure the ground is bare.

Never start a fire with sticks on the grass. If you can’t find bare ground you may need to rake vegetation away and dig the spot to form a bare section. Remove any dry vegetation or plant material before starting your fire-making process because they can easily catch fire.

Once the fire and sticks light up, you’ll need to contain them. You can do so by creating a stone fire enclosure. Use this enclosure to mark out where you’ll start the fire.

Here are several methods on how to start fire.

Materials you’ll need to start a fire

Some of the fire starting methods we’ll discuss here require using a lighter or matches. Still learning how to start a fire without a lighter is a life-saving skill. If you’re a survivalist, always have a lighter or matchbox and survival stick in your backpack.

Let’s find out materials you need to start a fire in the wilderness.

Tinder

These are lightweight and small materials that help you start a fire. There are different types of tinder that can easily be found including:

wadded paper

cardboard strips or shavings

wood shavings

wax

You can also use dry leaves or bark in case you haven’t carried any tinder in your survival bag. Where possible, always carry some homemade tinder to make your fire starting process easier especially during the rainy season.

Kindling

You also need this next layer in your fire making process. Kindling are medium-sized sticks that light easily when they encounter a burning tinder. These can be small fire sticks,  twigs, or larger pieces of bark.

The branches and twigs you choose should measure between 0.5 and 0.5inches in diameter. Any bigger and the kindling won’t light fast from the tinder. To start fire fast in the process, your kindling should be dry.

Wood Logs

Wood logs are critical to make a fire and have it keep burning for a long period. They’re the core of your fire. If you haven’t got enough wood logs then your fire won’t run long enough to keep you adequately warm.

Firewood varies in size depending on what’s accessible. However, each of your firewood pieces should be between 1 and 5 inches in diameter. They shouldn’t be overly big. All you’ll need is firewood that’s large enough to keep your fire burning. Remember, bigger firewood takes longer to combust but when they do, they burn for a longer time.

Make sure you have enough wood to last you an entire night. An axe will also come in handy to help you chop your logs. It’s worth mentioning that different types of wood burn at varying rates. Hardwood and oak require some patience but it’s worth the wait.

Softwood on the other hand is ideal for beginners and also makes crackling sounds. An example of softwood would be cedar. Once you have all the materials you need, assemble them to build your fire structure.

Here are basic fire-making methods that everybody should know.

More helpful reading:

How to Make Pemmican Survival Food

How to Make a Rechargeable Homemade Battery (DIY)

The hand drill method

The hand drill method is a friction fire making process that is good for survival situations, but requires lots of skill to master. You’ll need the following materials.

Hand Drill

The Hand drill method uses a straight stick piece whose rough surfaces have been sanded or scraped away. It can measure approximately one or two feet long and ½ an inch in diameter. The one end that’s wider is often used as a friction part to spin against your flat piece of fireboard.

Fireboard

This board measures approximately ½ an inch thick and around two times wider than the thickest drill you plan to use. It can be wider to contain two rows of holes. It should, however, be flat enough on one end (the bottom) to stop it from wobbling. The best fire board can be made from weeping willow, cedar, or basswood.

Preparing your equipment

Choose dry and dead drills, carve the branches off, and scrape or sand any rough spots. Carve or sand each end to make it round. You’ll use the thicker end to instill friction against your fireboard. What should you do if the drill isn’t pointy? You’ll need to sharpen the end by carving to enhance efficiency.

Pick a dead dry piece of wood or branch to become your fireboard. Carve it flat at the bottom to prevent it from wobbling while in use. This will also create a flat surface at the top where you’ll drill holes. Create some holes around ⅛ inches deep and ½ inches wide from the edge of your board.

With your knee or foot on the board, twist your drill using your hands on one hole. Insert enough pressure to make a deeper hole in the board. Now, make a 45-degree angle incision at the edge of your board. This is the most common notch shape and size. However, you can make any of your preferred sizes or shapes.

Making the hand drill method fire

Set up your hand drill in a kneeling or sitting position. Hold the board down with your knee or foot. Have dry leaves or bark under your fireboard to act as a barrier against the humid ground. Place a small piece of wood, a thick dry leaf, or bone under the incision you made to pick up coal.

With your hands pressed together tightly, spin the drill back and forth while pressing it down in your fireboard. The spinning back and forth while pushing down generates heat and dust before finally producing coal. It also forces your hands to move the drill down. Once you get to your drill’s bottom, hold on to it in the hole firmly with one hand.

Now move back quickly to the top part of your drill. You want to resume spinning faster to avoid losing heat from your drill and fireboard. Continue with this drilling method until smoke forms. At this point, lots of dark brown dust should be coming from the incision.

Drill faster once dust fills up the incision and make various runs down your drill to flare it (dust) up. When you stop drilling and the dust is still smoking, a coal will form after a few seconds. However, if the dust stops smoking, you’ll need to resume drilling at a higher speed to set dust on fire.

Leave the dust to smoke and glow for some seconds before tapping your board. Proceed to carefully lift it away to expose the coal. Place the coal under a bundle of tinder and close it. Blow gently until the tinder bursts into flames.

Hand Drill Method Video

The fire plow

The fire plow method is a friction fire making technique that’s good for survival situations, but requires lots of determination to master. Here’s how to go about it.

For the fire plow method, get a piece of softwood approximately 2 inches wide and 18 inches long. This will be your plow board. Poplar and willow trees would be ideal options. These are commonly found near rivers and streams.

Carve an 8 inch long and 1-inch wide trench along at the center of your plow board using an edge of a sharp rock or a knife. This trench should be around 2 inches from the end.

Choose a hardwood stick approximately 1 foot long for your plow. One of its ends should be pointed out.

Place your board flat on the ground. Now put the plow in your trench. Rub your plow back and forth with gentle pressure to produce small pieces of wood dust.

Once you’ve produced some moderate amount of dust, lift the top end of your board. Now place it on your knee and allow dust to collect at the bottom.

Rub fast with lots of pressure until the dust burns. Pick the board and blow gently until a flame forms. You can now transfer the flame to your tinder.

Fire Plow Method Video

Bow Drill

You’ll need regular practice to master the Bow Drill friction fire method and feel comfortable using it in a survival situation.

Materials you’ll need

For the Bow Drill Method, start with a socket. This can be a hand-size flat rock with a small dent on one side

Bow Drill. This should be a straight and sturdy hardwood stick approximately 1 foot long and between 1-2 inches in diameter

Bow. This should be a sturdy and flexible green stick between 18 to 24 inches long and 1 inch in diameter.

Fireboard. This should be a softwood flat board approximately 6 inches wide and 1 foot long. It should also be around 1 foot thick.

Cord. You can even use hiking boot laces

Making the fire

Carve a slight round dent inside the middle edge of your fireboard

Make a V-shaped incision at the base of a middle edge

Bend the bow stick to form a half-moon and tightly tie it with your bootlace

Put your board on the ground. Now place some tinder under the incision

Place your foot on the board for added stability. Now coil your bowstring around your drill and rest it along with the round dent

Put your socket at the top of your drill with slight pressure and move your bow back and forth. This will spin the drill and produce a black hot powder that’ll fall on your tinder. The tinder should flare up within a short while. Now you can transfer your fire into the fire pit.

Bow Drill Method Video

How long does it take to start a fire with sticks?

There isn’t a general answer to this question. However, some seasoned survivalists have mastered how to start a fire with sticks in between 10 and 15 minutes. Others have managed the same time using a bow fire starter.

You’ll need to consider a few factors including weather conditions, humidity in your sticks with fire wood, and type of wood. Your stamina in exerting pressure to start the fire also plays an important role.

If you’re a beginner with these survival techniques, it’ll take some time before you master how to start a campfire. For example, it may take you up to one hour to produce any dust. With experience and regular testing, however, you’ll reduce this time and improve your fire-starting skills.

More helpful reading:

How to Find the North Star Using The Big Dipper

How to Build Underground Bunkers & Shelters

How to start a fire with friction

How do you make a fire? You’ll need fuel, heat, and oxygen. Heat is provided through friction between the hearth board and spindle. Fuel on the other hand is generated when a hearth board wears away and creates dark brown fine dust. Oxygen is supplied by mother nature.

Equipment you’ll need

Hearth board and spindle

Bow

Ember pan, and

Bearing block

Hearth Board & Spindle

There are 2 different methods of making your spindle and hearth board as seen below.

Make both of them from different pieces of wood, or

Make both of them from the same pieces of wood

Regardless of the method you choose, these components should be made from very dry wood.

Using the different type of wood technique

This is a commonly used technique that offers higher chances of success. It’s one of the best techniques that beginners can use to develop their friction fire-starting skills. The spindle you choose should be harder than your hearth board. It should also be the right diameter. Your spindle can be made from different types of trees such as sycamore, ash, or hazel.

Using the same type of wood technique

This technique is more difficult for beginners but it’s also essential. By mastering this technique you’ll be able to achieve two things as seen below.

Save time

Eliminate irregularities where nearly everything needs to be precise

How to make the hearth board

This is a piece of wood that you’ll be drilling into. It should be approximately 10cm in diameter.

Cut around 30cm long of wood and avoid knotty areas. Split down your wood in the middle to get two pieces. Split one of the pieces again to form a board whose thickness is approximately that of your middle finger. Clear away any remaining bark and make sure both sides of your block are flat and almost smooth

Clear away any pith that may be present and ensure your hearth board doesn’t get into contact with moisture.

Making the spindle

People’s preferences vary when it comes to the diameter and length of their spindle. Some people prefer short and thin ones while others work well with longer options. You need to practice regularly to determine your favorite option. If you’re just beginning, choose a 20cm long spindle.

It’s worth noting that while a longer spindle will last longer it may wobble inside the hole. A shorter spindle on the other hand wobbles less but it doesn’t last. Some survivalists say that a longer spindle helps maintain an upright position of their backs during the drilling process. This allows them to apply downward pressure using their body weight as opposed to their arms.

Making a spindle and hearth board from the same type of wood

To make a spindle from Hazelwood, get a straight piece, and ensure it’s the right length and diameter. It should also have proper point ends. How do you make your spindle and hearth board from the same piece of wood?

Pick the wood that remained from making your hearth board. Split it into two. Remove any corners and carve it to form a triangular shape. At some point, you’ll need to use a knife to continue with the process.

Your spindle should be cylindrical with a sharp part similar to a pencil. The bottom part should have a small bow shape. This will ensure that friction is created between the hearth and spindle.

Bow

The bow shouldn’t be too thick as this makes it heavy which means it’ll end up tiring your arm. It should be between 2, to 3 cm in diameter with a slight curve and well balanced. If one of its ends is heavier you can make it the handle part.

Drill a hole at the handle part to fasten your cord. Tie your string around a hand’s width from the end. This way, you can use your index finger to apply more pressure on the string when bowing.

The cord should be strong and stretch free. In this case, a paracord can be a good option but you can still use a bootlace especially in case of an emergency.

Ember Pan

You can pick the ember pan from a cut created when making your hearth board. Make sure it’s very dry.

Bearing Block

This can be made from seasoned wood. The size of your hand will determine your bearing block’s diameter. The block you choose should sit on your palm comfortably.

The process

Start by greasing the top part of your spindle. This will eliminate friction at the top. There’s a proper way of holding your drill and bow as detailed below.

Put your left foot on the left part of your hearth board. The dents should be at your right. Your cord should coil once around the spindle. Position your spindle and bow to ensure the blunt part faces down.

The arc of your bow should face away from your knee. Grasp your socket in your left hand and place your left wrist against the lower part of your left leg. Shift your right foot slightly from the hearth board. Put the lower part of your spindle on a hearth board where you want to create a dent.

Making the dent

Choose a point where the spindle’s diameter lies in line with your hearth board’s edge. Rotate your spindle gently to create a small dimple. This process will generate smoke. Create a large dent capable of holding your spindle through with ease.

Now stop and make a small incision near the middle of your hearth board. This will allow dust to fall from the hole while also providing an edge to facilitate heat build-up. Finally, this will trigger dust to flare up.

Put a leaf under the incision to collect coal. Use slow, rhythmic, and methodical movements during this process. Within a short time, smoke will start drifting up and this will increase with time.

Once you notice a great amount of smoke stop and check at the dust. If the smoke continues then chances are high that you’ve already produced coal. Place the coal on your tinder and blow gently until flames burst.

How to start a fire with sticks and a lighter

Collect tinder from small materials such as dried grass and shape them to form a ball with a hole at the center. Fur or cotton wool can be good tinder materials. Make a hole in the ground and ensure it’s deep enough to shelter your fire from strong wind.

Throw in some lighter fuel or kerosene if these are available and strike. Your tinder will start burning slowly and you can add your medium sticks one at a time. Once these start burning, add thicker pieces of wood.

How to start a fire with sticks and string

This method involves the use of a fire bow and it’s commonly used in movies. A fire bow comprises a stiff branch but in this case, it should have some moisture. This prevents it from cracking during the drilling process.

Making a fire bow as a beginner

If you’re a beginner, start by making a bow fire starter at home using natural material. This will help you know what to do in case you’re stuck in a survival situation. With your bow-shaped stick, you’ll now need a paracord or string. A shoestring or twine can work well.

If you don’t have these you can rip off a long strip of stiff material from your clothes. When stuck in the wilderness with none of these, find flexible and sturdy vines such as grapevines. Your cord would be approximately one and a half times longer than the fire bow. Fasten your string to both ends of your fire bow.

Creating a smooth spinning process

Remember, a fire bow drill works well if your stick has a larger circumference which you can’t spin in your hands. This gives your bowstring more space to hold on and helps create a smooth spinning process. Use one of your hands as a stabilizing bearing block and place the other on the fire drill.

A stabilizing bearing block can be wood. When using wood ensure you add a natural lubricant on it to prevent it from working against your spinning efforts. Now prepare your tinder material and start drilling the fire.

The fire drilling string is coiled once around your stick. Coil it by moving your bow in an alternating motion as though you’re sawing. The string will rotate your fire drill until its point rubs across your fireboard to create fire generating friction. Hold your fire drill steadily in place with your hand on top of the clamp to prevent fire sparks from splashing all over.

How to start a fire with sticks and paper

Roll dry paper (preferably newspapers) to form a tight tube and tie it into a knot. Place it inside your fire pit before putting thin kindling on top. Light the paper knot and watch it as it burns slowly allowing your sticks to flare up. Once your thin sticks catch fire, start adding thick wood.

How to start a fire with rocks

You’ll need to locate the right stones for this activity. In this case, these should be hard and heavy rocks which you can break with a sharp edge to form flint. Here’s how to go about it.

With your tinder and kindling in place, proceed to build your preferred fire layout. The most popular layouts are lean-to and Teepee shapes. However, there are various other shapes you can try out in the process of enhancing your survival skills. Now prepare your tinder nest or ball and start sparking.

Creating a spark

Strike two rocks against each other to create a spark. Remember, you can strike your rock against a high carbon steel where possible. Once the produced sparks land on your tinder it should ignite almost immediately. Don’t expect it to light up to an orange blaze immediately.

You’ll need to give it time or blow into your tinder nest to ensure it lights up accordingly. Some people prefer lifting the tinder nest and spinning it around to facilitate a stronger flame. Once your tinder nest catches fire, you can transfer it to the rest of your wood to build a good campfire.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you start a fire without kindling?

This is a list of items you can get in your home.

Potato chips

Toilet paper

A match or lighter

Dry lint

Pinecones

Pine needles

Twigs

Bark

Leaves, or

Moss

Roll your material of choice and place it between and beneath your firewood. Use a lighter or match to start the fire. Keep watch on the fire just in case you need to add more paper.

How can you start a fire with damp firewood?

With a hatchet or knife, remove most of the bark from wet wood. If the wood pieces, you can split them using a hatchet to form kindling. This way, you’ll expose the inner drier layers. Start a small fire with your stripped kindling and use it to heat and dry the larger wood pieces.

How can you make a fire when it’s raining?

Starting a fire when it’s raining can be a difficult task. However, with prior preparations, you can manage with ease. You want to have a good supply of dry kindling, tinder, and fuel wood stored safely in a dry place.

It’s also important to learn and improve your fire-making skills during friendly weather conditions. This way, you’ll be better placed to beat the challenges that come with making a fire when it’s raining. You’ll also need a camping hatchet and knife in your survival backpack. These are ideal for quick fixes such as making kindling from feather sticks and thin wood shavings.

How do I choose the right fire stick?

Some of the great fire stick options to choose from include:

Bamboo

Willow

Yucca

Sycamore

Cottonwood

Mullein stalks, and

Dogwood

Ensure your fire stick is dry enough and not too thick. Your fireboard should also be dry. Your goal should be to ensure that the stick and fireboard have similar softness. Alternatively, you can choose a fire stick that’s harder than the board.

One way of succeeding when rolling your fire stick is by developing momentum slowly. Be sure to maintain pressure on the fireboard. This will enable the wood to warm up. You can speed up the drilling once you notice smoke coming out of your fireboard.

Start practicing today

One thing you’ll notice about these fire starting methods is they all rely on materials that are easily available near you. Start practicing today so you won’t make newbie mistakes on a camping weekend with your friends.

More helpful reading:

https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Fire

The post How To Start a Fire With Sticks: Make Friction Fire Steps (Bow or Hand Drill, No Lighter) appeared first on .

source https://survivalistgear.co/start-a-fire-with-sticks/ source https://survivalistgear1.tumblr.com/post/619959855938191360

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How To Start a Fire With Sticks: Make Friction Fire Steps (Bow or Hand Drill, No Lighter)

A fire can keep you warm and protect you from wild animals. It also provides light and helps you prepare meals in the wilderness. You can use fire to boil and purify water to make it safe for drinking.

Because of this, you should always have a fire starter in your survival kit for emergencies – like these.

But what if you don’t?

Read on to learn how to start a fire with sticks.

More helpful reading:

How to Make a Snare Trap Step By Step (Build, Set, Tie, & Wire)

How to Build a Lean To Shelter (Building Step By Step)

How to Escape a Sinking Car (& Get Out While Underwater)

Fire starting methods

What is the proper way to start a fire? Starting a fire with sticks may seem easy until you have to do it yourself. Nearly everybody understands how to go about fire starting. However, it can get complicated if you’re stuck in a survival situation or in the wilderness alone.

When you’re in a survival situation, you should first examine the area to make sure it’s safe. You don’t want to endanger your life by starting a fire in the wrong place.

What to consider before starting a fire

There are several different factors to consider before starting a fire.

First, make the location you choose is the right distance away from bushes, plants, or trees to avoid bush fires. The distance between the spot you choose and any plants should be approximately 6 feet. Before starting a fire, make sure the ground is bare.

Never start a fire with sticks on the grass. If you can’t find bare ground you may need to rake vegetation away and dig the spot to form a bare section. Remove any dry vegetation or plant material before starting your fire-making process because they can easily catch fire.

Once the fire and sticks light up, you’ll need to contain them. You can do so by creating a stone fire enclosure. Use this enclosure to mark out where you’ll start the fire.

Here are several methods on how to start fire.

Materials you’ll need to start a fire

Some of the fire starting methods we’ll discuss here require using a lighter or matches. Still learning how to start a fire without a lighter is a life-saving skill. If you’re a survivalist, always have a lighter or matchbox and survival stick in your backpack.

Let’s find out materials you need to start a fire in the wilderness.

Tinder

These are lightweight and small materials that help you start a fire. There are different types of tinder that can easily be found including:

wadded paper

cardboard strips or shavings

wood shavings

wax

You can also use dry leaves or bark in case you haven’t carried any tinder in your survival bag. Where possible, always carry some homemade tinder to make your fire starting process easier especially during the rainy season.

Kindling

You also need this next layer in your fire making process. Kindling are medium-sized sticks that light easily when they encounter a burning tinder. These can be small fire sticks,  twigs, or larger pieces of bark.

The branches and twigs you choose should measure between 0.5 and 0.5inches in diameter. Any bigger and the kindling won’t light fast from the tinder. To start fire fast in the process, your kindling should be dry.

Wood Logs

Wood logs are critical to make a fire and have it keep burning for a long period. They’re the core of your fire. If you haven’t got enough wood logs then your fire won’t run long enough to keep you adequately warm.

Firewood varies in size depending on what’s accessible. However, each of your firewood pieces should be between 1 and 5 inches in diameter. They shouldn’t be overly big. All you’ll need is firewood that’s large enough to keep your fire burning. Remember, bigger firewood takes longer to combust but when they do, they burn for a longer time.

Make sure you have enough wood to last you an entire night. An axe will also come in handy to help you chop your logs. It’s worth mentioning that different types of wood burn at varying rates. Hardwood and oak require some patience but it’s worth the wait.

Softwood on the other hand is ideal for beginners and also makes crackling sounds. An example of softwood would be cedar. Once you have all the materials you need, assemble them to build your fire structure.

Here are basic fire-making methods that everybody should know.

More helpful reading:

How to Make Pemmican Survival Food

How to Make a Rechargeable Homemade Battery (DIY)

The hand drill method

The hand drill method is a friction fire making process that is good for survival situations, but requires lots of skill to master. You’ll need the following materials.

Hand Drill

The Hand drill method uses a straight stick piece whose rough surfaces have been sanded or scraped away. It can measure approximately one or two feet long and ½ an inch in diameter. The one end that’s wider is often used as a friction part to spin against your flat piece of fireboard.

Fireboard

This board measures approximately ½ an inch thick and around two times wider than the thickest drill you plan to use. It can be wider to contain two rows of holes. It should, however, be flat enough on one end (the bottom) to stop it from wobbling. The best fire board can be made from weeping willow, cedar, or basswood.

Preparing your equipment

Choose dry and dead drills, carve the branches off, and scrape or sand any rough spots. Carve or sand each end to make it round. You’ll use the thicker end to instill friction against your fireboard. What should you do if the drill isn’t pointy? You’ll need to sharpen the end by carving to enhance efficiency.

Pick a dead dry piece of wood or branch to become your fireboard. Carve it flat at the bottom to prevent it from wobbling while in use. This will also create a flat surface at the top where you’ll drill holes. Create some holes around ⅛ inches deep and ½ inches wide from the edge of your board.

With your knee or foot on the board, twist your drill using your hands on one hole. Insert enough pressure to make a deeper hole in the board. Now, make a 45-degree angle incision at the edge of your board. This is the most common notch shape and size. However, you can make any of your preferred sizes or shapes.

Making the hand drill method fire

Set up your hand drill in a kneeling or sitting position. Hold the board down with your knee or foot. Have dry leaves or bark under your fireboard to act as a barrier against the humid ground. Place a small piece of wood, a thick dry leaf, or bone under the incision you made to pick up coal.

With your hands pressed together tightly, spin the drill back and forth while pressing it down in your fireboard. The spinning back and forth while pushing down generates heat and dust before finally producing coal. It also forces your hands to move the drill down. Once you get to your drill’s bottom, hold on to it in the hole firmly with one hand.

Now move back quickly to the top part of your drill. You want to resume spinning faster to avoid losing heat from your drill and fireboard. Continue with this drilling method until smoke forms. At this point, lots of dark brown dust should be coming from the incision.

Drill faster once dust fills up the incision and make various runs down your drill to flare it (dust) up. When you stop drilling and the dust is still smoking, a coal will form after a few seconds. However, if the dust stops smoking, you’ll need to resume drilling at a higher speed to set dust on fire.

Leave the dust to smoke and glow for some seconds before tapping your board. Proceed to carefully lift it away to expose the coal. Place the coal under a bundle of tinder and close it. Blow gently until the tinder bursts into flames.

Hand Drill Method Video

The fire plow

The fire plow method is a friction fire making technique that’s good for survival situations, but requires lots of determination to master. Here’s how to go about it.

For the fire plow method, get a piece of softwood approximately 2 inches wide and 18 inches long. This will be your plow board. Poplar and willow trees would be ideal options. These are commonly found near rivers and streams.

Carve an 8 inch long and 1-inch wide trench along at the center of your plow board using an edge of a sharp rock or a knife. This trench should be around 2 inches from the end.

Choose a hardwood stick approximately 1 foot long for your plow. One of its ends should be pointed out.

Place your board flat on the ground. Now put the plow in your trench. Rub your plow back and forth with gentle pressure to produce small pieces of wood dust.

Once you’ve produced some moderate amount of dust, lift the top end of your board. Now place it on your knee and allow dust to collect at the bottom.

Rub fast with lots of pressure until the dust burns. Pick the board and blow gently until a flame forms. You can now transfer the flame to your tinder.

Fire Plow Method Video

Bow Drill

You’ll need regular practice to master the Bow Drill friction fire method and feel comfortable using it in a survival situation.

Materials you’ll need

For the Bow Drill Method, start with a socket. This can be a hand-size flat rock with a small dent on one side

Bow Drill. This should be a straight and sturdy hardwood stick approximately 1 foot long and between 1-2 inches in diameter

Bow. This should be a sturdy and flexible green stick between 18 to 24 inches long and 1 inch in diameter.

Fireboard. This should be a softwood flat board approximately 6 inches wide and 1 foot long. It should also be around 1 foot thick.

Cord. You can even use hiking boot laces

Making the fire

Carve a slight round dent inside the middle edge of your fireboard

Make a V-shaped incision at the base of a middle edge

Bend the bow stick to form a half-moon and tightly tie it with your bootlace

Put your board on the ground. Now place some tinder under the incision

Place your foot on the board for added stability. Now coil your bowstring around your drill and rest it along with the round dent

Put your socket at the top of your drill with slight pressure and move your bow back and forth. This will spin the drill and produce a black hot powder that’ll fall on your tinder. The tinder should flare up within a short while. Now you can transfer your fire into the fire pit.

Bow Drill Method Video

How long does it take to start a fire with sticks?

There isn’t a general answer to this question. However, some seasoned survivalists have mastered how to start a fire with sticks in between 10 and 15 minutes. Others have managed the same time using a bow fire starter.

You’ll need to consider a few factors including weather conditions, humidity in your sticks with fire wood, and type of wood. Your stamina in exerting pressure to start the fire also plays an important role.

If you’re a beginner with these survival techniques, it’ll take some time before you master how to start a campfire. For example, it may take you up to one hour to produce any dust. With experience and regular testing, however, you’ll reduce this time and improve your fire-starting skills.

More helpful reading:

How to Find the North Star Using The Big Dipper

How to Build Underground Bunkers & Shelters

How to start a fire with friction

How do you make a fire? You’ll need fuel, heat, and oxygen. Heat is provided through friction between the hearth board and spindle. Fuel on the other hand is generated when a hearth board wears away and creates dark brown fine dust. Oxygen is supplied by mother nature.

Equipment you’ll need

Hearth board and spindle

Bow

Ember pan, and

Bearing block

Hearth Board & Spindle

There are 2 different methods of making your spindle and hearth board as seen below.

Make both of them from different pieces of wood, or

Make both of them from the same pieces of wood

Regardless of the method you choose, these components should be made from very dry wood.

Using the different type of wood technique

This is a commonly used technique that offers higher chances of success. It’s one of the best techniques that beginners can use to develop their friction fire-starting skills. The spindle you choose should be harder than your hearth board. It should also be the right diameter. Your spindle can be made from different types of trees such as sycamore, ash, or hazel.

Using the same type of wood technique

This technique is more difficult for beginners but it’s also essential. By mastering this technique you’ll be able to achieve two things as seen below.

Save time

Eliminate irregularities where nearly everything needs to be precise

How to make the hearth board

This is a piece of wood that you’ll be drilling into. It should be approximately 10cm in diameter.

Cut around 30cm long of wood and avoid knotty areas. Split down your wood in the middle to get two pieces. Split one of the pieces again to form a board whose thickness is approximately that of your middle finger. Clear away any remaining bark and make sure both sides of your block are flat and almost smooth

Clear away any pith that may be present and ensure your hearth board doesn’t get into contact with moisture.

Making the spindle

People’s preferences vary when it comes to the diameter and length of their spindle. Some people prefer short and thin ones while others work well with longer options. You need to practice regularly to determine your favorite option. If you’re just beginning, choose a 20cm long spindle.

It’s worth noting that while a longer spindle will last longer it may wobble inside the hole. A shorter spindle on the other hand wobbles less but it doesn’t last. Some survivalists say that a longer spindle helps maintain an upright position of their backs during the drilling process. This allows them to apply downward pressure using their body weight as opposed to their arms.

Making a spindle and hearth board from the same type of wood

To make a spindle from Hazelwood, get a straight piece, and ensure it’s the right length and diameter. It should also have proper point ends. How do you make your spindle and hearth board from the same piece of wood?

Pick the wood that remained from making your hearth board. Split it into two. Remove any corners and carve it to form a triangular shape. At some point, you’ll need to use a knife to continue with the process.

Your spindle should be cylindrical with a sharp part similar to a pencil. The bottom part should have a small bow shape. This will ensure that friction is created between the hearth and spindle.

Bow

The bow shouldn’t be too thick as this makes it heavy which means it’ll end up tiring your arm. It should be between 2, to 3 cm in diameter with a slight curve and well balanced. If one of its ends is heavier you can make it the handle part.

Drill a hole at the handle part to fasten your cord. Tie your string around a hand’s width from the end. This way, you can use your index finger to apply more pressure on the string when bowing.

The cord should be strong and stretch free. In this case, a paracord can be a good option but you can still use a bootlace especially in case of an emergency.

Ember Pan

You can pick the ember pan from a cut created when making your hearth board. Make sure it’s very dry.

Bearing Block

This can be made from seasoned wood. The size of your hand will determine your bearing block’s diameter. The block you choose should sit on your palm comfortably.

The process

Start by greasing the top part of your spindle. This will eliminate friction at the top. There’s a proper way of holding your drill and bow as detailed below.

Put your left foot on the left part of your hearth board. The dents should be at your right. Your cord should coil once around the spindle. Position your spindle and bow to ensure the blunt part faces down.

The arc of your bow should face away from your knee. Grasp your socket in your left hand and place your left wrist against the lower part of your left leg. Shift your right foot slightly from the hearth board. Put the lower part of your spindle on a hearth board where you want to create a dent.

Making the dent

Choose a point where the spindle’s diameter lies in line with your hearth board’s edge. Rotate your spindle gently to create a small dimple. This process will generate smoke. Create a large dent capable of holding your spindle through with ease.

Now stop and make a small incision near the middle of your hearth board. This will allow dust to fall from the hole while also providing an edge to facilitate heat build-up. Finally, this will trigger dust to flare up.

Put a leaf under the incision to collect coal. Use slow, rhythmic, and methodical movements during this process. Within a short time, smoke will start drifting up and this will increase with time.

Once you notice a great amount of smoke stop and check at the dust. If the smoke continues then chances are high that you’ve already produced coal. Place the coal on your tinder and blow gently until flames burst.

How to start a fire with sticks and a lighter

Collect tinder from small materials such as dried grass and shape them to form a ball with a hole at the center. Fur or cotton wool can be good tinder materials. Make a hole in the ground and ensure it’s deep enough to shelter your fire from strong wind.

Throw in some lighter fuel or kerosene if these are available and strike. Your tinder will start burning slowly and you can add your medium sticks one at a time. Once these start burning, add thicker pieces of wood.

How to start a fire with sticks and string

This method involves the use of a fire bow and it’s commonly used in movies. A fire bow comprises a stiff branch but in this case, it should have some moisture. This prevents it from cracking during the drilling process.

Making a fire bow as a beginner

If you’re a beginner, start by making a bow fire starter at home using natural material. This will help you know what to do in case you’re stuck in a survival situation. With your bow-shaped stick, you’ll now need a paracord or string. A shoestring or twine can work well.

If you don’t have these you can rip off a long strip of stiff material from your clothes. When stuck in the wilderness with none of these, find flexible and sturdy vines such as grapevines. Your cord would be approximately one and a half times longer than the fire bow. Fasten your string to both ends of your fire bow.

Creating a smooth spinning process

Remember, a fire bow drill works well if your stick has a larger circumference which you can’t spin in your hands. This gives your bowstring more space to hold on and helps create a smooth spinning process. Use one of your hands as a stabilizing bearing block and place the other on the fire drill.

A stabilizing bearing block can be wood. When using wood ensure you add a natural lubricant on it to prevent it from working against your spinning efforts. Now prepare your tinder material and start drilling the fire.

The fire drilling string is coiled once around your stick. Coil it by moving your bow in an alternating motion as though you’re sawing. The string will rotate your fire drill until its point rubs across your fireboard to create fire generating friction. Hold your fire drill steadily in place with your hand on top of the clamp to prevent fire sparks from splashing all over.

How to start a fire with sticks and paper

Roll dry paper (preferably newspapers) to form a tight tube and tie it into a knot. Place it inside your fire pit before putting thin kindling on top. Light the paper knot and watch it as it burns slowly allowing your sticks to flare up. Once your thin sticks catch fire, start adding thick wood.

How to start a fire with rocks

You’ll need to locate the right stones for this activity. In this case, these should be hard and heavy rocks which you can break with a sharp edge to form flint. Here’s how to go about it.

With your tinder and kindling in place, proceed to build your preferred fire layout. The most popular layouts are lean-to and Teepee shapes. However, there are various other shapes you can try out in the process of enhancing your survival skills. Now prepare your tinder nest or ball and start sparking.

Creating a spark

Strike two rocks against each other to create a spark. Remember, you can strike your rock against a high carbon steel where possible. Once the produced sparks land on your tinder it should ignite almost immediately. Don’t expect it to light up to an orange blaze immediately.

You’ll need to give it time or blow into your tinder nest to ensure it lights up accordingly. Some people prefer lifting the tinder nest and spinning it around to facilitate a stronger flame. Once your tinder nest catches fire, you can transfer it to the rest of your wood to build a good campfire.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you start a fire without kindling?

This is a list of items you can get in your home.

Potato chips

Toilet paper

A match or lighter

Dry lint

Pinecones

Pine needles

Twigs

Bark

Leaves, or

Moss

Roll your material of choice and place it between and beneath your firewood. Use a lighter or match to start the fire. Keep watch on the fire just in case you need to add more paper.

How can you start a fire with damp firewood?

With a hatchet or knife, remove most of the bark from wet wood. If the wood pieces, you can split them using a hatchet to form kindling. This way, you’ll expose the inner drier layers. Start a small fire with your stripped kindling and use it to heat and dry the larger wood pieces.

How can you make a fire when it’s raining?

Starting a fire when it’s raining can be a difficult task. However, with prior preparations, you can manage with ease. You want to have a good supply of dry kindling, tinder, and fuel wood stored safely in a dry place.

It’s also important to learn and improve your fire-making skills during friendly weather conditions. This way, you’ll be better placed to beat the challenges that come with making a fire when it’s raining. You’ll also need a camping hatchet and knife in your survival backpack. These are ideal for quick fixes such as making kindling from feather sticks and thin wood shavings.

How do I choose the right fire stick?

Some of the great fire stick options to choose from include:

Bamboo

Willow

Yucca

Sycamore

Cottonwood

Mullein stalks, and

Dogwood

Ensure your fire stick is dry enough and not too thick. Your fireboard should also be dry. Your goal should be to ensure that the stick and fireboard have similar softness. Alternatively, you can choose a fire stick that’s harder than the board.

One way of succeeding when rolling your fire stick is by developing momentum slowly. Be sure to maintain pressure on the fireboard. This will enable the wood to warm up. You can speed up the drilling once you notice smoke coming out of your fireboard.

Start practicing today

One thing you’ll notice about these fire starting methods is they all rely on materials that are easily available near you. Start practicing today so you won’t make newbie mistakes on a camping weekend with your friends.

More helpful reading:

https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Fire

The post How To Start a Fire With Sticks: Make Friction Fire Steps (Bow or Hand Drill, No Lighter) appeared first on .

source https://survivalistgear.co/start-a-fire-with-sticks/