#everyone in his life: twi are you okay did something happen is this a cry for help??

[crazylittlejester]

my modern au twilight, full of nothing but love and kindness bless his heart, will accidentally scare the fuck out of everyone he knows by texting “i love you” and/or “thanks for being my friend :)” to whoever he’s really thinking about and feels the need to say that to at 3 in the morning immediately before passing out and falling asleep and then ofc he wakes up to panic texts from various people and sometimes several missed phone calls (because his ass sleeps like he’s dead, nothing wakes him up) asking if hes okay or if something happened to him and he then has to call and text everyone back like “im fine i just love you and you deserve to be told that often because you’re awesome and i want you to know you’re loved” or when War or Sky knock on his door 80 times to see if he’s okay he’s gotta open it and look at them like this and say like the same thing and then apologize for worrying them again (it will not be the last time):

he just genuinely really loves his friends, bless him

[cloudiilink]

Memories

I just don't know how to sort through my emotions so I'm torturing wars. No, I'm not okay lmao. Yes, I feel better after writing this.

The ending becomes ridiculous but that's because I needed to finish this on a slightly happier note I guess

They were talking about their adventures earlier.

The chain had looked so interested in the War, until their interest changed to concern when Warriors had remembered Ghirahim and the Turncoat Soldiers.

His men. His brothers in arms.

He killed them.

Wars had stopped his explanation and zoned out in a similar way Wild did when he remembered something.

Warriors knew all the soldiers by name. That morning, he had even are breakfast with them and wished each other good luck.

They were under a spell and we didn't have time to free them, Artemis told Warriors when he had snapped at her for this, as Artemis called it, 'unfortunate situation'.

He could've almost let it slide, had he not been forced to visit the families of every man he killed- of every man whose soul weighs on his shoulders and stains his sword.

It was the same message he told everyone who he had to visit; "I'm sorry for your loss but your family member died a hero, please don't be sad and celebrate their life."

He wanted to wash his mouth out with soap after every family. He should be telling them the truth.

It was all bitter memories.

They were all traitors, some of his fellow captains tried to reason with him. Of course they did, they didn't understand the spell they were under.

Warriors couldn't change the past, he told himself.

It had to be done.

He hoped the men he killed with hesitation would've hesitated but completed the task if it would've been him under the spell.

Warriors knew tonight he wouldn't be sleeping.

All he remembered was the faces of the men he killed, and if he closed his eyes, he could see the face of one of the men he was closest too- someone he could've called a brother.

Warriors remembered his sword stabbing into his brothers chest.

He remembered the realisation hit.

He remembered taking his scarf off and pressing it around the wound, in the middle of the battlefield.

He remembered screaming and crying for them to stay.

He remembered Mask and Impa pull him from his now dead brother.

Before he knew it, that battle was over and he was in his tent. Mourning.

Warriors almost laughed now, he mourned his brothers for almost a month before anyone saw him finally leave the tent.

His hair was an absolute birds nest, unruly curls and tangles instead of the straightened and almost silky looking hair. He even had the start of a beard growing, the only reason he left the tent was because it was irritating him.

The thought of the beard was what made him laugh and he finally spoke. "Remember when I didn't leave my tent for a month and came out with a beard?"

Oh, Time instantly knew what Warriors had meant. So did Wind.

"Yes I do. It was worrying."

Warriors couldn't help but laugh.

"You looked horrible."

"I felt horrible." Wars traced his fingers along his jaw. "I might grow the beard out again. On purpose."

Time pulled a face. He didn't like seeing Wars with a beard back then, he wouldn't like it now.

The chain wanted answers but they really didn't want to ask.

Warriors met the other Links eyes and smiled. "Don't worry. I- there was a... An unfortunate event during the war and I didn't leave my tent for a month because of what happened. I had a horrible looking beard."

"Wars, don't grow the beard out." Wind begged. "It looked terrible. No one said that to you because you were so out of if-"

"Oh I know."

"Then don't??"

"I dunno why you have a thing against it, Twi has stubble constantly."

He heard a small growl come from the rancher. "I literally can't 'elp it Cap'n."

Even though warriors wouldn't be sleeping tonight, right now he could try have fun poking at the others. He could try have fun before the dark memories return to haunt him.

[no-whump-on-main]

Apartment 307-8 (Grabbed by the hair)

Hi guys!! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. School and work have been crazy but luckily I'm out of school next week so I'll have much more time and be posting more frequently! Apologies for the short chapter, I have no idea why but it just kicked my butt lol. I tried doing some cool multimedia stuff, I hope you enjoy! This is @sableflynn's BTHB request, grabbed by the hair.

TWs: Creepy, possessive whumper, mention of branding, also this chapter made me sad bc I love my mom and Elora's mom is sad so warning for that lmao

Elora was still lying there crying hours later. The tears had slowed from her initial keening sobs, but they still fell steadily down her face, accumulating in a small puddle on the tile by her head. She could see a bit of her reflection in the salty water; just her eyes, mostly. She saw green eyes that had once been so full of hope and life that were fading, the slow abandonment of hope almost making them gray out. She wanted to lie there forever, staring into her own eyes, until oblivion took her. If she cleared her head enough, she could pretend she was elsewhere, somewhere warm and loving; the blanket draped over her body did help with the fantasy, though she always knew somewhere in the back of her head that it was just that: a fantasy. She was still here. With him.

Clyde tried to give her time to recover, but his patience wore eventually. He began to get antsy after a few hours of watching her lie there, doing nothing but cry. Admittedly, he did enjoy it at first-seeing her so weak, so docile, because of him-but it eventually grew tiresome. Watching each tear drip down into the puddle became like watching paint dry.

He stood up abruptly. Elora was startled by the motion, flinching before stilling and watching him very carefully. What was he going to do?

“Get up,” he said simply.

Elora froze. She still felt sick, dizzy with pain and the lingering scent of her burning flesh in the bathroom. But why would he care about that? Why should she disobey him, when she knew what would happen?

Yet pride and pain got the better of her again.

“I can’t,” she whimpered. She felt weak. “I hurt. You hurt me.”

The piercing sound of a loud, sudden laugh began to echo through the bathroom. It reminded Elora of the laugh of a hyena. She winced.

“Darling, did you not think that was the point?”

Her expression hardened and her heart thumped in her chest. That was the point. She wanted to say something, but her mouth suddenly got dry.

The man simply grinned. “Get up,” he repeated, but she didn’t. She just laid there, dumbfounded.

He groaned angrily, rolling his eyes. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Be that way.”

He gathered up her hair in his hand, locked his fingers in a tight fist, and pulled up. Elora yelped and scrambled to get to her feet to relieve the pain, but he didn’t give her the chance; he carelessly dragged her off, out of the bathroom, through the hallway, and into the living room. She screamed and thrashed wildly, her hands desperately trying to push him away as her scalp burned like fire. Again and again, her feet scraped the ground to no avail, kicking and kicking but never able to gain enough traction to stand as she was mercilessly dragged. The man finally dropped her on the floor at the foot of a worn leather couch, releasing his death grip on her hair. Her hands immediately flew up to her head, applying gentle pressure to her scalp to try to ease the burning pain as she looked around the new room.

The living room was barren, like the man had half moved into it then given up. There was a dusty box in the corner, the couch, a worn coffee table, a small stand, and an old TV. Other than that, it was empty, in an eerie way. The aged carpet spanned the floor like an ocean.

The pressure didn’t do much and Elora dropped her hands, still wincing as the man plopped himself on the couch behind her, the leather making a loud crackling noise as he sat. She whipped her head around as her shoulders raised up to her ears instinctively. The man made a sour face, his features twisting into an ugly frown.

“Relax,” he commanded, forcefully pushing her shoulders down. At first, she tried to wiggle away, but that idea was abandoned when he tightened his grip, clearly as a warning. He grabbed the TV remote from the arm of the couch and turned it on. It started on some history channel documentary about cars, but Clyde quickly flipped through channels until he found the local news station.

A grin spread across his face as he read the blue banner spanning across the bottom of the screen. They were just in time.

UP NEXT: CAPE COD GIRL GOES MISSING; DESPERATE MOTHER PLEADS FOR HER RETURN

His hands wandered to Elora’s scalp and began to gently card through her hair. She inhaled sharply, and it took everything she had in her not to immediately shove him off. Somehow the gentleness felt worse than the pain; the false sense of care disgusted her. He was a maniac. He hurt her, he branded her, and now he was sitting on the couch petting her hair, pretending like none of it happened. It didn’t escape her attention how he set her on the floor instead of the couch, below him, like a dog.

The banner was bad enough, but she felt sick to her stomach when the station cut to a reporter sitting at a desk with a picture of her on half of the screen. It was the picture her mom took of her at the orchard last fall. It was candid; she remembered it. She was intently focused on a butterfly off on a tree, ignoring her mom as she snapped the photo. It was one of her favorite pictures of herself. And now, it was plastered all over the news.

The reporter on the TV began to speak. “Tonight, a desperate mother pleads for her missing daughter’s safe return. Elora Larkin, nineteen, of Barnstable county, Massachusetts has been missing since Friday night. She was last seen walking home from her job at Agathangelou’s bakery, wearing khakis, a black t-shirt, and black sneakers. The police have opened a tip line and are offering an unspecified reward for any information that leads to Miss Larkin.”

Elora felt a lurching sensation in her stomach, so visceral she wanted to throw up. That was her. On the news. Gone. Missing.

Behind her, the man chuckled.

“Look at that, baby. You’re all over New England.”

“I’m not your baby,” she snapped, turning around. But her head was spinning. All over New England? It wasn’t the Cape Cod news station on the TV. It wasn’t even a state news channel. It was entirely unfamiliar, the reporter’s face one she’d never seen.. So he’d taken her across state lines, making her chances of being found lower yet.

The man shushed her and put a finger up to her lips. “Watch.” She almost bit him, but decided it wasn’t worth the inevitable punishment that would follow. Besides, they might say something useful, something that could help her. She needed to pay attention.

The screen changed, and a missing persons poster popped up. Hers.

It was up for a minute before it faded away as the reporter came back on the screen.

“Such a sad story. Everyone in the studio is hoping and praying for her safe return. Unfortunately, vigilance is so important in this day and age. Up next, we have a recording of a press conference with the girl’s mother.

The girl’s mother. Her mother. Elora felt her heartbeat thumping in her chest.

And there she was. Jodie was standing at a podium in a building that had to be a police station. Demetrios was standing by her side, offering support by merely being present. While Elora hadn’t seen him cry even once in all the years she’d known him, he now looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Her mom started to speak. She looked so sad. Withered, like the life had been sucked out of her, from fear and overthinking and sleepless nights.

“My daughter-My daughter Elora has been missing since Friday night. She’s got-she’s got blonde hair, and green eyes, and she’s real tall. I’m sure pictures have gone around by now. She was walking home from work and-and then she disappeared. We were supposed to have dinner Sunday and she never came. It was supposed to be her weekend off. I- If someone has her, please, I’m begging you, let her go. Bring her home safe. She’s a good kid, she works hard, she rescues cats in her spare time...she doesn’t deserve this. And Elora, if you’re seeing this, I love you. I love you so much, honey. If you chose to leave, please just tell us you’re okay. It’s okay. You can go see the world, just tell us you’re okay. And if something-something bad happened, we’re gonna find you. I promise, baby, I love you and we’re gonna bring you home. Promise.”

At that point, she set the microphone down and began to cry, tears streaming down her face as she hurried off to an exit, the cameras following her for a few moments. Elora’s heart twisted in knots. Seeing her mom’s face brought her so much joy, yet knowing how worried she had to be made her feel sick with guilt.

But she promised. She promised she’d find her.

“That your mom?”

Elora stilled. He already knew the answer.

"She’s kinda pathetic. Could barely keep it together long enough to tell them about you.”

She went cold. “Stop,” she seethed. Her voice was eerily calm, given her anger.

"Or what?” he replied, twisting her hair up in his hand and giving it another tug.

Elora was silent. There was no or what. She knew that.

The reporter came back on the screen.

“Well, folks, that’s all we have on the case for tonight. Remember to be safe and vigilant. This has been Hannah Brown with News12.”

The man released her hair, picked up the remote, and turned off the T.V.

“Notice how they only talked about you, not me?”

Elora turned her head around. She was crying.

“What?”

He scoffed. “I said, notice how they only ran their mouths about you the whole time. Never said a word about me. You know what that means? They don’t know jack shit about me. They don’t know who you’re with or where you are. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but we’re in Connecticut. We crossed state lines twice. They’re never going to find you, you know that?

She tried to hide it, but he could see her expression falling with every word he said, hope beginning to seep out of her. She shook her head vigorously, her bottom lip trembling.

“N-no! No, they will, you’re just crazy! You’re just fucking crazy!”

A scowl formed on his lips. “No, they won’t.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but in a split second, his hand was gripping tightly around her throat, cutting off her air. Her eyes went wide.

“No one is coming to save you.”

Elora swallowed, fear bright in her eyes. She tried to rip herself away, but the man raked his fingers across the fresh brand on her collarbone, sending her to the ground, keeling in pain.

“We could’ve had a nice evening if you behaved. Listened,” he grumbled, standing and once again grabbing her hair tightly before dragging her off towards the bathroom.

Tags: @exploringspaceinpyjamas @all-whumped-out @badthingshappenbingo

[queenof-literature]

Hey! Your writing is superb! May I request angsty Time being scared out of his wits by Wild and Twi being reckless in dangerous situations?

Hi thank you for the request and the kind words! I’m so sorry for the slow updates I hope you enjoy!

At this point in his life, Time expected the unexpected. Time travel? Fine. Magic masks with spirits trapped inside? Okay. Meeting his descendant? That sent him for a loop but he supposed it made sense when looking at the big picture. Coming to be the leader of eight boys who gave him at least one heart attack a day? Even he still got stumped when he thought too much about it.  

It was his protege and his protege’s protege that truly scared him more than anything. He cared for all his companions more than anything, and felt personally responsible for every single one of them. They were all loving in their own ways, and selfless and kind. 

But there was just something about Twilight and Wild. He knew that with Twilight it was because they were family. Not just by bond like with the others, but by blood as well. He supposed that with Wild, it was because his pup and taken him on as a protege. 

No matter how it ended up this way, these boys made his heart stop far more than was healthy. 

Wild wasn’t anywhere near stupid or incompetent, but his name fit him perfectly. He was untamed and although he cared deeply for his Hyrule and loved his Zelda, he was a free spirit. A free spirit who jumped off cliffs, dived into water for Korok seeds, rode deer and bears, and was overall a ‘feral gremlin who should not be allowed near fire’ as Legend put it. Wild always made sure to serve everyone dinner before himself, sleep with the rest of them even though Time knew he was used to sleeping in the huge trees of his Hyrule, and put up a huge fight about having a bed when others in the group didn’t at stables and inns. 

Twilight thought that Wild was bad in the pushing himself too hard department, Time always failed to see how Twilight was any different. The amount of trips Time had taken to trek into the woods and drag Wolfie back from scouting was astounding. Time would have to force him to go to bed when one of the others was injured, especially the younglings of their group. That’s just how Twilight and Wild were. And he loved them both for it. 

It was Malon who taught him after the Kokiri that love hurt sometimes, but it was worth it. It hurt, but the moments of happiness helped make life what it was. 

He had dreams sometimes. Simple dreams of the boys spending time on the ranch, sometimes with their loved ones from their worlds. after their quest. It left a bittersweet ache in his chest everytime. 

Time found himself praying for the first time in so long, that it would all come true. That he and his new family would not be separated forever. He wouldn’t let Hylia do that to these boys. Not after all they had been through alone and together. He would keep them alive, and he would keep them safe.

Although Twilight and Wild were certainly making that difficult. Pushing each other out of the way of danger, taking hits for the others, as far as Time was concerned neither of them could bitch about the other being too reckless. They had calmed down slightly after Time had talked to them, but they were still reckless in protecting the others.

They had been separated in the middle of the night. Again. At this point Time wasn’t sure if Hylia had any control on where they went, because separating them was a surefire way to get them all killed. Time was completely alone in a wasteland covered in snow. He didn’t know what Hyrule, he didn’t think it was anyone’s in the group. All he knew was he hadn’t seen a trace of the others yet. He hoped beyond anything they were in groups and safe. Whenever they were separated, they would usually at least end up in the same area or kingdom. This was convenient most days, but now Time was desperately worried the others were stuck in this weather and far worse off than he was. Time at least had his bag, the others might have been separated from theirs. It had happened in the past. They were sucked into a portal and separated without their bags. It turned out that all the bags had gone with Hyrule and Four. Their stuff was always around at least one person, sometimes those people just got mixed up. Epona somehow always ended up safe somewhere, something they all were extremely grateful for.  

Time continued to stumble along in the deep snow. His bag fortunately had some things to keep him warm. Not enough to stave off the cold completely, but he had some coats and a pair of pants to at least help him continue on. The best option with him being alone was to find some shelter, start a fire, and hope the Master Sword would lead Sky to everyone. He had seen what looked to be a cave etched in a small mountain. He would search for the boys until he physically couldn’t anymore, then take a break in the hopefully animal free cave. 

Time stopped. He heard something, he swore he did. He listened more carefully. There it was again! He couldn’t tell what it was yet, but he cautiously moved towards that direction whilst unsheathing his sword in case it was an animal of some sort. Once he got further, he noticed a speck in the distance. Soon enough, he noticed the speck was a creature of some sort. Growing closer still, Time’s heart leapt in hearing the sound again, louder now.

“-body!” The rough cry was drowned out by the cold winds. Time rushed as fast as he could towards the now confirmed Hylians in the distance. The first thing he noticed when growing closer was that the two figures were stumbling through the snow, leaning against each other, desperate for balance. The second thing he noticed was his protege’s fur wrapped around the taller figure. The third was the shorter figure’s long blonde hair. 

“Pup! Cub!” Time shouted, finally close enough to see their faces. Both faces were as pale as the snow below them, bodies quivering and shaking. Twilight was leaning heavily on Wild, unfocused eyes opening only once in a while, although he looked relieved to see Time. Looking down, Time’s heart stopped once again at his pup’s bent ankle he could see even through the man’s boot. Wild’s wide and frantic eyes landed on Time, brain finally realizing who was there.

“Time!” Wild cried out in relief. Looking at the cub, Time noticed he was missing his cloak, realizing it was peeking out from under Twilight’s pelt. Wild himself looked awful as well. Dull blue eyes stood out even more against his sickly pale skin and deep dark bags from exhaustion. When they went to bed last night, Wild was wearing a thin shirt with short sleeves to counteract the slightly hotter region they were in. Wild’s bare arms clutched desperately to keep his mentor standing. Wild’s legs shook under the weight and stress his and the pup’s bodies were under. Both boys were soaked to the bone. 

“What happened?” Time asked hurriedly, rushing forward to help support his protege. Upon putting one of Twilight’s arms over his shoulder, Time saw the cut on the back of Twilight’s head. It was bleeding substantially, but head wounds did that most of the time. It didn’t seem overly deep. Wild’s back, however, was a whole other story. The cub had deep slash marks across the whole of his back, the backside of his shirt was covered completely in blood around the holes. 

“We l-landed near a-a river.” Wild stuttered out, slurring his words together slightly. “A-a beast, I d-don’t know what it was.” Wild struggled to get his words out between the cold and the bloodloss. “It… it p-pushed me in. Twilight broke his a-ankle. Don’t know… what h-happened. P-pulled me out. Hit his head… I-I-” Wild trailed off more and more, eyes becoming unfocused by the blood loss by the second. Time needed to get them back to the cave. Right now. 

“Help me get him on my back.” Time demanded in a strong voice, hopefully covering his fear for his boys. Wild’s weak and shaking hands tried to help, but Time did most of the work getting his pup situated. Time wished more than anything in that moment he could carry both boys to the cave, but together they were both too heavy. Time wasn’t sure Twilight even knew what was happening with that head injury of his, not even mentioning how awful his ankle looked, so he was the one that had to be carried. Twilight was pure muscle. Time guided Wild’s hand to his shoulder that didn’t have Twilight’s head on it to provide at least a little support.. “There’s a cave not far from here. Just a little further, Cub.” Time encouraged as they kept walking. 

Time thanked every God there was that Twilight and Wild were still shivering. They weren’t in the far stages of hypothermia yet, but they certainly weren’t out of the woods. 

The trek back to the cave was much slower than Time appreciated with two injured Links that severely needed medical attention. Time went as fast as he could with a protege on his back and snow up to his knees. Glancing at Wild once again, once frantic eyes had become complacent as Wild shuffled along. It seemed Wild was keeping himself going on mere adrenaline before, desperate to get his mentor some help. Time was supporting as much of Wild’s weight as he could, but the boy was still trying to walk almost completely on his own. He tried to hide it, but Time could see the slow oozing of blood on Wild’s twitching back. 

Finally, Time could see the cave’s opening in the distance. Wild had slowed down to the point of looking half asleep, and Twilight’s hold had tightened over the journey. Wild stumbled again, hand slipping from Time’s shoulder as he fell into the snow. 

“Come on, Cub, only a little more to go.” Time leaned down as much as he could and pulled Wild to his feet. “Look, it’s right there.” Time’s hand guided Wild’s chin to the opening of the cave. Normally the boy would rush towards their new shelter and start preparing a fire, excited to cook their meal. Now though, Wild’s dim eyes just lit up in recognition for a moment, before shifting over to check on Twilight once more, just as he had been the entire trip over here. 

Finally, after their long trek, they made it to the mouth of the cave. It was relatively shallow for a natural cave in a mountain. Time could see the back of the cave clearly from where he was standing. There were thankfully no creatures within that would harm them. Time gently crouched down and deposited the pup against the wall. Twilight groaned softly and Time felt a pang in his heart. 

“P-p-otions?” Wild murmured, sitting next to Twilight’s ankle. 

“No, Cub. I’m sorry. We really have to pack at least one in all our bags, yeah?” Time joked wryly. 

“B-bandage?” Wild asked, gesturing to Twilight’s ankle. Time rolled his eye. 

“That we do have, but you’re laying down.” Time ordered sternly. Wild and Twilight would ignore their wounds for days if it meant putting the group first. Wild huffed, but did as he was told with no argument. Now that had Time worried. Wild bit back a whimper as his back stretched, before finally settling on his stomach, still aggressively shivering.

“Why did you give Twilight your cloak?” Time asked, taking an extra coat from his bag to drape over the boy. 

“H-he… wasn’t responding. His head. I could r-rub m’ hands together n’ stuff. He couldn’t.” Time sighed, hating how right the cub was. He stayed quiet. Not wanting to lecture Wild for protecting his brother, but not wanting to exactly say it was okay to give up his cloak either. Time reached to lift the coat and take care of Wild’s back. The sooner he was able to cocoon the boys in anything warm they had, the sooner they would hopefully thaw out. 

“Him first.” Wild slurred, not even having the energy to open his eyes.

“Wil-” Time began to lecture.

“No. H-his ankle. Bone needs to heal right. And head wound. M’ fine.” No matter how nervous Wild’s injury and lack of coherent words scared him, Time knew he was right about Twi’s injuries. 

“Don’t fall asleep yet. We need to get you warm first.” Wild hummed in confirmation of Time’s order, which was probably the best he was going to get. Time gently laid the coat back on Wild, trying to ignore the hiss as the fabric brushed against the wound on his back, before turning back to his pale protege. 

Twilight’s bones thankfully hadn’t shifted enough to require his ankle to be set, so Time just steadied it with a tight bandage. Twilight whimpered and winced at the manhandling of his injured ankle. 

“Sorry, Pup. Almost done.” Time reassured the younger. Time wanted more than anything to take Twi’s pain away in that instant. Getting a monster club to the chest was less painful than seeing one of these boys hurt from their quest. Satisfied with his work on Twi’s ankle, he moved on to his head. The wound was just as minor as he thought, just requiring a bandage and good cleaning for now. It was enough to do him in if he was alone out here, but now he would just need sleep and potions. Thank Hylia Wild was with him… Wild! He needed to stay awake!

Time hastily finished checking his pup’s injuries, deeming him out of the woods for now. Time whipped around to face Wild, still laying with his back facing the cave ceiling. His eyes were still closed, and his breathing was still uneven as shivers wracked his body. 

“Wild? Wild you’re still awake yeah?” Time asked in a steady voice, not even being met with a noise from the boy. “Wild? Wild!” Time snapped louder. The body beneath him jumped slightly, a noise of indignation rising up. It was then Time noticed Wild’s hand tucked underneath him. 

“Wild, let me see your hand.” Time demanded. Wild either didn't hear him or didn’t listen. “Wild, Cub, I need to see your hands.” Time said far gentler, reaching under Wild’s body to grab one of his hands. Instantly, Time felt his own hand grow colder, even under his gloves. Wild groaned at the loss of support under him that caused his back to twitch. 

Looking at Wild’s hands, Time was struck with the realization that Wild wasn’t wearing any gloves. How could he have not noticed? Internally Time was yelling at himself for being so foolish. Glancing over at Twilight, Time barely resisted the urge to bang his head on the cave wall. Idiots! Both of them! He recognized the dyed blue edge of Wild’s warmest gloves. Why were they even out without Wild’s slate? How? Time resisted the urge to groan in frustration. He would have to ask Wild later. 

“Why did you give Twilight your gloves?” Time almost yelled in frustration. 

“Coun’n stop fross-frosbite like m’. Needed gloves.” Time rolled his eye.

“Awful, the both of you. You’re the same person I swear to Hylia!” Time staed gruffly. “I need to move you to take care of your back, then we’re taking care of your hands. I have an extra pair of gloves in my bag.” Time explained, pulling Wild’s upper half into his lap as gently as he could. Time winced at the groan Wild let out against his will.

“Cub?” Twilight murmured, bleary eyes opening a sliver. 

“He’s fine, pup. I’m taking care of him now.” Time reassured him, reaching out and placing a hand on his protege’s forehead, the way he did when Twilight was hurt or feeling under the weather. It always helped to relax him. 

“Needs me?” Twilight struggled and fought to stay awake.

“No, Twi. Wild is fine. Just needs some bandages and warmth. Everythings okay.” Twilight let out a hum and finally succumbed into sleep once more. If Time said it was okay, it was okay. 

Time began to bandage Wild’s wound, managing to clean it with the few supplies he had, at least until the others found them. Wild tried to hold in his shivers and hisses of pain as Time cleaned and wrapped his wound. Finally, the wound was dressed.

“Okay Wild. We need to get you warm again.” Time stated softly before lifting Wild into a sitting position. Wild let out a low grunt of pain shaking hands twitching in the direction of his back. “Sorry bud. Almost there, then we can get you warm and you can rest.” Time picked up the spare coat and wrapped Wild carefully and tightly within it. Wild finally seemed able to relax, snuggling closer to the warm fabric. Time felt his lips twitch as he carefully extracted Wild’s hands from within the coat, closing any gaps in the fabric this motion caused. 

Time rubbed Wild’s frozen hands within his own, creating friction and hopefully enough heat to prevent frostbite before he gave Wild his extra pair of gloves. ild winced slightly in pain before relaxing further into Time’s side. There was nothing Time could use to make a fire, so this would have to do.

“Wild. I need you to tell me the truth. Are your feet or toes or anything else cold?” Time questioned.

“No. Good boots.” Time huffed out a small sigh of relief. He knew Twilight had good boots for the snow, but with all of Wild’s items and what he wears and doesn’t wear around camp, it was hard to keep track.

“And your legs?” Time eyed the thin pants Wild wore, already knowing the answer.

“Fine…” Wild was an awful liar when he was out of it.

“Wild, I need both you boys warm while we wait for the others or there will be trouble later.” Time chided, causing Wild to huff.

“A little cold…” Wild murmured. Time huffed a small laugh before using one hand to reach into his bag and pull his last spare blanket. Time managed to wrangle it under the legs of Twilight and tuck it under the legs of Wild, sticking him in the middle. As much as he wished one of the boys were in the middle to receive the most warmth, he needed to have easy access to both of them to make sure they were warming properly. Falling asleep with a body that was too cold might lead to never waking up…

Time felt Wild’s hands again, deeming them warm enough to put into the gloves. He double checked that the boys were warm enough before wrapping an arm around both of them. Wild and Twilight curled further into him, breathing peacefully. Time made sure to stay awake, continuing to check the boys for shivering, frostbite, and any other signs of hypothermia. At some point the boys had locked hands over Time, as if assuring themselves the other was okay. These boys constantly gave him heart attacks by being reckless and putting others before themselves, but in this moment, Time knew they would be okay. 

Plot twist: Time is literally just as bad as Twilight and Wild and this entire fic is him being a hypocrite.  

[hunidlo]

Call of Fire

CHAPTER 3 - The Decision

Rating: M

Word Count: 3K

Pairing: The Mandalorian x F!Reader

Warnings: slow burn fic, language, mentions of death, angst

A/N: I really enjoyed writing angry Mando parts for this chapter. Hope you enjoy them too.

Summary: Now that you know where your parents might be, you need to figure out a way to get out this planet. And the Mandalorian has a ship, doesn’t he?

Chapter 1   //   Chapter 2 //   Masterlist //  Chapter 4

***

By the time you get to the village, the sun has already set and you are troubled by a number of questions. You worry about what might be awaiting you in the village. 

Have the villagers come back? … Are the bandits still there? … Is the Mandalorian dead?

Then, you see light coming from the settlement. There is no turmoil, no clattering of weapons, no blaster fires—a good sign, you think.

When you get closer to the square, a heartbreaking cry comes from somewhere in front of you. 

“No!” A woman is running towards you—Zullu’s mother. “My baby!”

She hugs the body that is being carried in your arms and weeps. 

“S-she saved me.” You eventually say. “I’m sorry ... I couldn’t …” 

Zullu’s mother raises her teary eyes at you and nods. She understands.

A couple of men from the village come and gently take Zullu’s body from your arms. Too weak to resist, you let them. One of them places a hand on your shoulder. “You should rest …,” he says compassionately.

Having a chance to look around now, you see dozens of torches lit around the small village, illuminating the rubble that used to be the square. You observe the people who are getting rid of the dead bodies, cleaning up the mess and going through the clutter that remained in the place of the barn.

Then, you see the Mandalorian. He’s standing on the front porch of one of the houses—his feet wide apart, thumbs tucked into his belt—his visor fixed at you. 

So he’s still here.

“This ...” You tilt your chin towards the debris. “... his doing?”

“... Not his fault …,” the man replies. “One of them decided to blow the barn up with the Mandalorian in it.” 

You turn your head to the man.

“They underestimated him,” he continues on when he notices your baffled look, “He killed them all ...”

“No, he didn’t,” you mutter to yourself, remembering the bandit you killed in the forest.

The Mandalorian’s gaze makes you uneasy but you do not have the strength to think about it—about him—any longer. You really need to rest. 

You let your weak legs lead you to your hut. You head straight to the ‘fresher, washing the blood and dirt from your hands and body. You can’t stop thinking about what happened in the woods—the way the bandit’s body split in half because you wished it to do so, what Zullu said about your parents ... Zullu—you try to suppress a sob—you can’t believe it ... can’t accept it. Your limbs begin to tremble and you burst into tears again.

When you get out of the ‘fresher, you’re beyond exhausted.

You fall asleep as soon as soon as your body hits the bed.

***

You wake up early. The sleep helped with your exhaustion but it did not ease your mind at all. You look in the mirror to see your eyes are puffy, your cheek is swollen, and you have a split lip. 

It doesn’t surprise you, the bandit hit you really hard yesterday.

Everyone is already up. They are still working on the repairs around the village. Some of the men are cutting down trees near the woods—for the funeral pyre, you realise. 

You squint and see something shiny near the cart … the Mandalorian is helping the men load the logs ...

Why hasn’t he left yet?

It was sort of exciting seeing him on his ship yesterday—witnessing all the stories you heard about the Mandalorians coming alive. You remember how you laughed with Zullu when you ran away from him. But today … everything is different. Zullu is gone and you—despite knowing you shouldn't because it’s unreasonable—blame him as well. You blame yourself for not being able to save Zullu, and the Mandalorian for starting the fight with the bandits in the first place.

Lost in your thoughts, you walk to Zullu’s hut. You hesitate a little before you enter.

Zullu’s mother is kneeling next to the chest that belonged to her daughter—clutching to one of Zullu’s dresses—weeping.

You silently approach her and sit next to her on the floor.

She turns to you to hug you.

“I’m so sorry,” you let out on the verge of crying again. “I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s not your fault,” she says and pulls you closer.

“... She was so brave ...” You need to say it, you need to let her mother know that Zullu died honorably.

“I know.” 

She reaches inside the chest and takes out a piece of clothing. “Here ...” She extends her hands towards you. She’s holding a light brown, slightly worn leather jacket—it’s Zullu’s.

“No.” You gently push her hands away. “I can’t take it. It’s her favourite—”

“She would have liked you to have it.”

For a beat you just stare at the jacket wordlessly.

“Thank you,” you say, not knowing what else to say as you take the jacket from her.

“Zullu said … you knew my parents.” You’re hesitant and it comes out more like a question.

“Yes,” she breathes out. “I was here when they brought you to the village.” And then, she tells you the whole story about the day when you were left with the villagers.

“... So my father stole something from the Empire and ran.”

“Yes, I don’t know what it was though … You have to understand that your parents left you here to protect you, spare you from the constant running and hiding.”

“I want to find them,” you say eventually, looking at the jacket that you’re clenching in your fists.

“No.” She shakes her head. “You have to stay here—safe—with us. Your parents didn’t want you to come looking for them, they feared someone might capture you, use you to get to your father. 

“But I have no idea where he is …”

“The Empire doesn't know that … they would torture you.” She looks seriously worried now. 

You want to push her, want to know more. Zullu said her mother knew where your parents were hiding. Yet … you can’t. Not now. Not on the day of her daughter’s funeral.

“You look tired … should get more sleep … be ready for the evening,” she says after a moment of silence. “I’ll see you on the hill.”

You nod and leave without a word.

On your way back you catch sight of the Mandalorian. He’s leaning against one of the huts—his legs and arms crossed—his visor following you as you walk by.

What’s his problem? You’re definitely getting irritated by him constantly gazing at you. Especially since you can’t see his face or guess what he’s thinking. Is he still pissed about the ship?

Even now—in what you imagine is a comfortable stance for him—he’s still threatening as hell. He looks like a bescar vulture that has spotted a womp rat and is now circling around it, waiting for the right moment to strike.

You consciously choose to ignore him and thus deny him the pleasure of seeing how nervous he makes you feel. 

The tension is unbearable though. You can’t help but glance in his direction when you reach your hut.

What the …? 

He’s gone.

“Creep,” you say to yourself, checking your surroundings before you enter.

***

Someone is shaking your shoulder. You wake up instantly. 

Zullu’s mother is leaning over you. “It’s time …”

The sun is setting as you walk up the hill where the funeral takes place. 

The pyre is prepared and Zullu's body is already lying on top of it. No one says anything. This is how it goes in your village—no speeches, no pompous ceremonies. Zullu’s mother lights the pyre and the whole village stands in complete silence, watching. 

“One day, we’ll walk among the stars together,” you whisper as you raise your vision towards the night sky.

When you look down again—

He’s gotta be fuckin’ kidding … 

The Mandalorian is standing opposite to you—behind the pyre. 

That does it!

You can’t be sure whether he’s watching you or the pyre in front of him but you don’t care. You have to ask what his deal is. You need to know what exactly he’s doing on this planet—

“I’m sorry.” Zullu’s mother is now standing beside you. 

“Excuse me?” You look at her with raised eyebrows.

“I shouldn’t have kept it from you for all those years. Maybe ... it’s really time for you to find them.” Her voice is quiet, eyes gleaming—reflecting the fire. “They might still be alive. You deserve to see them again.”

“But … h-how do I find them?”

“Go to the planet Hoth. There should be a Rebel base. If they are still on that planet, they would be there.”

“Thank you,” you say and lay a hand on her shoulder.

Hoth. You’ve never heard of such a planet. Your parents are most probably very far away, yet you feel them being closer than ever before. You’ve been trying most of your life to forget about them, accept the present and not dwell on the past. But now? Now when you know where your parents could be, you can’t continue living your life in the village, can you? 

No, you can’t. 

Okay, how do you get out of this planet …  

Then it strikes you—the Mandalorian!

You look in the direction where he was standing.

Not again …

A group of men is standing where the Mandalorian was just a couple of minutes ago.

You rush towards them. “Um ... have you seen the Mandalorian?” you ask.

“No,” some of them say while others just shake their heads. 

A little hand by your side tugs your sleeve. “He left,” the child says.

You lean closer to her. “Have you seen where he went?”

Your eyes follow a tiny finger pointing to … the lake.

He’s setting off … 

Okay, don’t panic. First things first.

You sprint to your hut, take your backpack and shove a couple of things you think you might need in—some credits, food, water bottle, and clean underwear of course.

You put on Zullu’s leather jacket and run out of the village towards the lake without looking back.

***

It’s dark outside but the forest is even darker. By the time you get to the lake you can barely see a couple of steps ahead of you. You trip and fall several times before you get to the clearing. You breathe heavily, your hands and clothes are dirty, and you’re positive there is mud and little twigs tangled in your hair.

Phew! … The ship is still here. 

Through the gap under the aircraft, you see two armoured boots. It seems that he’s doing some maintenance on the opposite side of the ship, meaning … he has not seen you yet.

You contemplate your options. Of course, you could approach him and ask him to take you with him. However, for some reason, you feel like he would not be compliant to fly you to Hoth. Moreover, there’s a good chance he’s still mad at you. So it’s decided.

Treading softly—as silently as possible—you sneak into the ship. Unnoticed. 

There’s a little … thingy lying on one of the crates and it’s flashing rapidly with red light. You get to the weapons locker to see it’s open. 

“Just in case …” You take one of the blasters and continue to the end of the hull. 

Where could you hide?

Yes, the boxes and crates conveniently stacked up by the wall will do perfectly. You hide in the space between the crates and cover yourself with some sort of canvas that you found folded in one of the boxes.

Let’s hope he won’t find you until you are far away from this planet. Then you can figure out the rest.

Yes, let’s … 

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

The Mandalorian finishes the work on his ship and is ready to hit the road. He walks up the ramp, puts his blaster in its place in the weapons locker—

One of the blasters is missing … 

He quickly looks around the hull and notices the tracking fob on the crate is flashing.

He cautiously presses something on the side of his helmet, turning on the thermal vision. He can see you now—sitting on the floor behind the crates, curled up. 

He takes his blaster from the cabinet and walks towards the crates to eventually stop in front of you. He raises his blaster, aiming at what he assumes is your head.

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

The canvas is abruptly pulled away and you blink at the armoured man standing in front of you. You could hear him coming and prepared your blaster, so you are now pointing your weapons at each other.

“You,” he utters but it sounds more like I knew it.

Obviously examining you, he tilts his helmet to the side, looks at the blaster in your hands, sighs, and puts his own weapon back in the holster.

“Take me to Hoth,” you command, suddenly emboldened by the fact that he is now unarmed.

 “No.”

The lack of emotion in his answer and its bluntness shock you. You expected him to protest but you’re now struggling to find the right words to continue.

To your surprise, he … he relaxes—transferring his weight to one foot—clearly anticipating what you’re going to do next.

“I have to get to Hoth to find my parents.” You try to play on his—quite possibly non-existent—feelings.

“I don’t take passengers,” he speaks again, his voice raspy.

You’re losing your patience. “Y-you’re going to take me to Hoth or else—”

“You’re gonna shoot me?” 

He’s taunting you ... You have your blaster aimed at him, trying to look as threatening as humanly possible, and he’s mocking you.

“Well … yes … I will shoot you and take your ship.”

“Try,” he enunciates slowly—leaning closer to you—his visor trained on your face.

He thinks, you’re not going to do it. After what you’ve been through in the past couple of days, you’re sure you could kill anyone who stands in your way, right? Right?

You put your other hand on the blaster too to steady yourself, and point the barrel at his chest.

An annoyed sigh comes out of the helmet. “You’re not stupid but you need to stop acting like you are … See this?”—he taps his chest plate with one fist—”Beskar … It would hurt, but won’t kill me … You want to aim at the gaps in the armour.”

Is he giving you advice about how to shoot him?

You lift your blaster so that it’s trained on his neck—covered only by his cape that is wrapped around it.

“Better …” he says. “Now shoot.”

What? Is he serious?

“I-I will …,” you warn but your voice deceives you, indicating you’re fucking scared right now, even though you are the one holding a blaster.

He takes a slow step towards you. As he moves closer, the barrel of your blaster digs into his cape until you can feel his neck pressed against it.

“Shoot me.”

You hesitate.

“Shoot!” he shouts.

Your whole body is quivering.

You … can’t do it. You can’t kill an unarmed man.

Your grip around the weapon eases and you slowly start to lower the blaster.

Before you can do so, his hand shoots up, catches your wrist and you can feel your finger being pushed against the trigger with his. 

He pulled the trigger! He pulled the fucking—

But …

Nothing happens. The blaster doesn’t shoot.

“Next time you try to kill me with my own blaster, at least turn the safety off,” he grunts at you, ripping the weapon out from your hands.

“Wait …” you’re still trying to process what happened.

“Go home,” he says coldly and turns away from you to put the blaster back in the cabinet, grumbling something about an insult.

Before you can think of a better reaction, you push his armoured back with all the strength you can currently muster. 

Considering how well-built he is, his chest moving by an inch at most came as no surprise.

Oops … 

He stops and turns to look at you, slowly tilting his head sideways a little. Did you really just do that, the silent gesture says.

You are quite thankful that you can’t see his—most definitely furious—face right now. You would swear you can hear him grinding his teeth under his helmet. It was stupid … and you really don’t know why you did it. You’re perfectly aware that you are throwing a tantrum like a child right now.

And he treats you as such in return. 

He grabs you by your upper arm, drags you through the hull and shoves you down the ramp, out of the ship with ferocious force. You have to make a couple of clumsy steps forward to prevent yourself from falling over.

He turns to shut the hatch. 

“Please!” you hear yourself pleading to stop him, tears now flooding your eyes. It’s pathetic. “I … I p-promised her … promised her to find out wha—” You hesitate for a second. “I need to find my parents.”

He sighs. 

“Look …” he says eventually, his voice considerably softer than before. “I’m sorry about your friend, okay? But trust me, it’ll be safer for you here.”

Oh no … the rage is back. “Trust you?” you cry out. “It’s your fault that she’s dead!”

“My fault?” He sounds genuinely confused.

“If you didn’t stalk us back to the village and play a hero—”

“Me? … I wasn't the one to spit in that guy’s face. If it wasn’t for me, you’d be dead now!”

“And she would live!” your voice cracks with grief as you yell.

He takes a couple of steps forward, grabs your shoulders, yanks you closer to him so that your nose is practically touching his visor, and shakes you in an attempt to knock some sense into you, “Do you think they would stop there, huh? Do you think they wouldn’t massacre half the village after that?”

“Well, if you had let me take that blaster instead of pawing me—” you snark at him.

He immediately lets go of your shoulders as if scalded and takes a step back.

“—I could have protected them ...” you finish.

“Yeah …,” he chuckles darkly, mocking you again, “… sure … I’d like to see you kill thirty armed men with the safety on ...” He turns and starts climbing the ramp back to his ship.

“Well, fuck you!” you yell after him. “If you won’t help me, I’m sure I can find another ship that would take me out of this planet!”

“Good luck with that,” he utters, his tone ice-cold.

Suddenly, a laser blast strikes the ground just a few feet from you. You duck and try to spot what caused it.

A small starship flies over your head.

Someone is shooting at you.

“… To the ship …” The Mandalorian shouts to you.

You quickly run into his ship and he closes the hatch. Before you can ask about what’s happening, he’s already climbing the ladder up to the cockpit.

You follow him.

He sits in the pilot's chair pushing various buttons as the ship rumbles and takes off.

“Sit down and fasten your seatbelt,” he exclaims without looking at you.

You stand behind him, gaping out the cockpit window trying to spot the attacking ship again.

“Who was—”

A laser beam hits the ship. You are tossed sideways and against the wall, knocking yourself unconscious.

The Mandalorian turns his head to look at you, growls and steers his ship so that it now flies directly against the little starship. He readjusts his hands on the control sticks and inhales deeply.

“This is more than I signed up for.”

***

Chapter 1 //   Chapter 2  //  Masterlist

[endexe]

                   “Thank you, but nah. They gotta have someone to blame, I guess."

The line will always wander across Zero’s mind the moment they first step into Quinn’s town. Calm words given after a laughter was made, sharper than snapping bones, louder than phantoms’ wails. He then offered Zero a small smile, yet full of assurance it was, when they asked him if they could kill harm those who had labelled him as a serial killer, though his eyes said otherwise. [ QUINN DAVIES, THE SOLE KILLER SURVIVOR ( ? ) OF THE SIX. ] Though Zero didn’t say any more on the matter and pulled Quinn through the distraction, the disappointment was clear through their grim expression, their mismatched eyes full of raging, dying stars.

Zero stops by a candy store to admire the treats displayed behind the front windows. They plan to purchase them for themself and Quinn, though pause when they hear several cackles nearby. Out of curiosity, they follow after the sounds to see what was entertaining and found themself walking through the alley. They make a turn and gasp at the large, bolded texts on a brick wall before them.

         QUINN DAVIES IS A KILLER WHO NEEDS TO BE KILLED

The words were printed in dark red, done without any care to them, and noticing the small splatters around them, Zero wonders if it was blood that was used instead of paint... Blood. They glance over to find a few teenagers laughing at the corner, their limbs covered with the red, red, red. One of four, supposedly the leader with black hair and brown eyes, him being the most insensitive to the others ( Four is his name now ), mentions about how he plans to commit a crime, that he will make sure Quinn will be the main suspect of it.

Zero’s eyes glow as they realize something.

“...You,” they snarl, approaching closer to the group, their glitches hissing and snapping at the reality.

“YO- YOU - YOU BLOODY. FUCKED UP. P̵I̵G̴S̴.”

Zero remembers. Quinn’s day of graduation. Once he took the diploma while everyone was out with their own already, and a small celebration was done with icecreams and milkshakes, Zero was with Quinn and his father as they returned home. He opened the front door and Zero saw red. Saw Quinn covered in blood—pig’s blood. His father rushed over and tried comfort him as he remained still, his eyes widen and diploma dropped to the blood stained floor. Zero didn’t know what happened from there when they exited their home to find out who was responsible for it. Their powers couldn’t work so they spent the rest of the evening alone with just their human abilities searching for answers. 

In the end, Zero only learnt that the incident was recorded and already uploaded across the social medias.

“And who the Hell are YOU?!”

Zero’s attention snaps back to the present to find the blonde haired kid ( Three ) taking a threatening step forward.

“I recognize him,” comments the other ( Two ) with the brown hair. “He’s with Quinn and his pussy of a dad. He was in the video as well.”

“Shit, I didn’t even notice him!” says the last kid ( One ). “Wait, Quinn has another dad?! Didn’t he have a mom?”

“He did until she abandoned him because she couldn’t bear the fact her own child is a mass murderer,” sneers Two. “Anyways, I’m not surprised his dad would fuck with guys too. Quinn gives me that f—” Zero T E A R S his jaw off from him, watches with a blank stare as blood explodes and coats on them and their surrounding. Two gags and gurgles as he collapses to the surface and tries to breathe for life, his hands trying to cover their jawless face, though can only bear so much of his blood before his body stills.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT, SHAWN! WHAT THE - WHAT THE FUCK!?” screams Three, taking his gun out to shoot at Zero. The bullets enter through their stomach and as the aches tear across them, they fall to their knees. In the corner of their eyes, they watch One and Four leave the area before they realize Three have the gun against their forehead.

Zero takes his hand and bites his wrist hard enough to take a chunk of raw meat from him. Three screams as he pulls the trigger, another bullet hitting to the sky. Violent rings echo at the back of their mind and they freeze for a brief moment before they shove more of his hand into his mouth, constantly chewing through the flesh. Three tries to take the gun with his free hand, though Zero grabs his other wrist and SNAPS it.

“FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” He drops his gun and finally steps away from them, wailing from the agony. Before he can look up from his damaged hands, he falls to the ground with a bullet through the eyeball before the gun is shoved through the other socket.

“DO YOU THINK MARK GOT HIM!?” shouts One as he and Four finds the exit entrance of the alley.

“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW, JUST RUN!” responds Four, pushing him on the back.

One trips his feet over and falls, crying out from their knees and arms got scrapped against the concrete surface. He watches One’s form disappearing as he takes a turn. “FUCK, LUKE!” he loudly hisses, trying to pull himself up. “LU-” Two knifes pierce his mouth and his eyes roll back, dead.

Four reaches to the exit, he tries to call out for help from the people passing by. Hearing no one, his blood runs cold realizing they are frozen, stuck in time. He tries to make a run, though only to find Zero standing before him, giggling madly with two knifes held out, his right weapon holding the head of One. There is nothing human about them while they are coated in red, red, red, though the worst thing about them? They’re wearing a human face.

Four’s face.

Luke gags and covers his mouth. He runs to the opposite direction, though nearly bumps into Zero. He trips and falls on his back, whimpering and wheezing. ��WHA - WHAT - WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?” he yells, his hands shoved into the pockets before he throws whatever he have at Zero. Wallet, drugs, everything. Yet nothing seems to attract Zero as they stomp on his crotch and rest their entire weight there. Luke wails and tries to push them off of him, though Zero stops him by throwing One’s head on him. Luke screams, pushing it away and violently shakes his head before he constantly begs to Zero to let him be alive.

Zero’s head perks up at the pleas. “You - you want to - YOU want to be ALIVE?” they innocently ask, quirking an eyebrow at him. “Well, I - i - IIIIII want you and your boys to leave - to leave Quinn Davies, my best fucking friend, al- alo- ALONE.”

“Thank you, but nah. They gotta have someone to blame, I guess," said Quinn to Zero a while after one of the teenagers— Luke pushed him down and insulted him right before Zero’s eyes. It was the first time they witnessed something like this to Quinn and before they could do anything, Quinn stormed off, leaving them behind and Luke walking away, laughing, laughing, laugh—

Zero grabs Luke’s neck, keeps him there as he squirms, his nails digging through their bleeding arms, before his body begins to twi- twi- twitch. “Here’s the deal: I’ll keep - I’ll keep you alive. I’ll resurrect your friends too. ONLY as long as - as looongggg as you all can do T-H-A-T for me, okay?” He clenches his skin tighter and watches the purple forming beneath their fingertips. Luke tries to nod, though seeing the desperation in his eyes, Zero laughs and lets go of him with enough force for his head to hit the ground, knocking him out. “Okay,” says Zero, falling to the surface on their back, their blood still gushing from their stomach wounds.”Okay,” they whisper and weakly snap their fingers.

Darkness falls.

"Four teenagers are taken to the hospital with severe injuries. One of them have a dislocated jaw, another have missing eyes, and the third have a missing tongue with a deep cut around the neck. The fourth, while only having bruises on the neck, keeps rambling on about this entity who had a face like his and lashes out at anyone who tries to come close to him. No one seems to know what happened to them or even who they are. Police had tried contacting their families and close associates with their given phone numbers, though none of them recalls being associated with them. The police are still investigating the case. If you know who any of these teenagers are, please contact at—”

"Zero?”

Zero’s gaze slowly rises, though doesn’t meet the other’s, their attention everywhere and nowhere at once. “Yes?”

“Do you know who they are?”

They glance over to the television, staring at the pixelated images of the four teenagers on the screen. “I - I do not”, they blankly respond, staring down at their alphabet cereals and starts playing with them again. They can sense the suspicion, though they don’t know why. Can’t remember if there’s any reason for there to be suspicion.

“Do you?” Zero asks quietly after a heavy period of silence, almost if they’re afraid of the answer.

“No, I can’t remember them,” replies Quinn.

[mikeisthricedeceased]

Ghost Stories

Chapter 1: Ghost Stories

Mando x OC

Warnings: Violence, Language

Word Count: ~1k

Chapter 2

A/N: I’m planning for this to be pretty slow burn, but there will be eventual smut (and a lot of it, if the scenarios saved in my notes have anything to say about it). For now, we need to get everyone together.

Takes place sometime after Chapter 8.

Summary: Toram is a mechanic who’s seen her fair share of rough situations. She likes to stay out of fights, but sometimes, she gets caught in the crossfire. When she comes across a damaged ship and a crying child while looking for a ride off world, she might’ve just taken another step into No Man’s Land. Mando is still on the search for the Child’s people, stopping in even the most questionable parts of the galaxy in an attempt to learn more about the mysterious Jedi.

AO3 | Masterlist

~*~*~*~

He stumbled out of the cantina, trying to turn and give another excuse, only to be shoved away once again.

“I’m not the only one with a price on my head,” he growled to the Twi’lek now guarding the door, “especially not here.”

“It’s more than a price for you, though. A request, if the rumors are true,” said the guard, arms folded as he leaned back against the wall.

The smuggler yanked at his jacket to straighten it. “So what? It’s all the same.”

The Twi’lek shrugged. “If that’s what you believe, fine.”

He let out a harsh laugh. “Didn’t realize you Twi’s were so superstitious.” He shook his head and scratched at his jaw. “They might be sending mercs after me, but ghost stories aren’t real.”

He pursed his lips, nodding. “Yeah, but nobody wants to get caught in the crossfire. Riever or not.”

A loud scoff and the smuggler was walking away, waving a dismissive hand back at the guard.

“I’d keep out of the shadows, if I were you,” the Twi’lek called after him.

“Fuck off!” he shouted back.

The smuggler stalked back to the small building where he’d managed to find lodging.

Bastards, all of them, he thought as he entered his room and locked the door. Can’t even let a guy enjoy himself.

He grumbled as he walked around the tiny kitchen, searching the cupboards for the bottle he’d tucked away, hoping to make up for the lack of drink he’s found at the cantina. He was oblivious as a heavy boot appeared from the darkness behind him.

The figure moved fluidly, closing the distance between itself and the smuggler without a sound.

A spike of primal fear burst in his chest as its gloved hand suddenly grasped him by the hair.

There was no time to call out, no time to fight back, no time to even register the press of the blade before his life simply ceased.

The smuggler’s body thudded dully onto the floor. His head remained suspended in the figure’s grip before being neatly slipped into a thick, stained bag at its belt.

~*~*~*~

Nal Hutta was a reeking pit of a planet and Toram hated every second that she was there. Unfortunately, with the amount of smugglers and mercenaries that landed their damaged ships there on a regular basis, there was good work to be found for a mechanic.

Despite the credits, she was more than ready to leave.

She stalked into the local cantina for one last meal before she’d try to hitch a ride offworld.

“And it ripped his arm clean off, slicing his buddy open across the belly with its durasteel claws!” Davro was exclaiming as she walked in, holding up his curled fingers and baring his teeth.

Toram rolled her eyes.

Davro spotted her, hopping up from his seat and calling after her.

She looked down at him as he appeared next to her at the bar, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

He leaned close, a giddy expression on his face. “Did you hear about the smuggler who went missing the other day? They kicked him out of here because rumors say that somebody sent the Riever after him. He didn’t show up for his drop off on Kashyyyk.”

She sighed as she lifted a hand to get the bartender’s attention. “I try not to consume gossip on an empty stomach. And you know I don’t go in for your ghost stories.”

“Well, then how do you expl—”

“Mercenaries,” she stated. “Mercenaries, bounty hunters, and assassins. All very real. The real reasons that people end up missing.”

He pursed his lips at her as the droid behind the bar stopped in front of her and she ordered a bowl of stew.

When she pushed away from the bar to go find a table, he was right at her heels.

“What about the Mandalorian?”

She shook her head as she eased down into a booth. “What Mandalorian?”

Davro plopped down across from her, excitement renewed. “An old gunship landed in the field right outside of town. Apparently, a Mandalorian stepped out. If it’s the one the Empire is after, he picked a bad place to refuel,” he said with a snort.

Toram gave a small nod. “That, he did.”

“Who do you think’ll go for him first? Wareq or Ykef? Maybe Pav?” he was practically shaking with glee.

“Who knows?” she said, offering a shrug.

He pouted. “Where’s your betting spirit, Toram?”

“Lost it about twenty years ago,” she said dryly. “Ironically, in a bet.”

It was Davro’s turn to roll his eyes. “Whatever.” He stood up as a droid approached the table with her stew. “Just send me word if you see anything interesting on your way out today. I like fitting all the pieces together.”

“You mean making shit up?” The droid set her bowl down in front of her.

Davro grinned, giving an innocent shrug. “Call it what you like.”

~*~*~*~

It began sometime later. The cry for help.

It vibrated deep, pulling at something far below the level of hearing, strumming across nerves in its desperate panic.

The utter, galaxy-shattering anguish of it was enough to reveal that a child was its source.

A figure slipped through the dark alleys of town, drawing closer and closer to that silent cry.

~*~*~*~

Mando kept a hand on his blaster, scanning through the crowds as beings turned to stare at him.

He doubted that any of the information he’d gotten while quietly asking around town would be worth anything. The planet was mostly populated by the worst liars and thieves in the galaxy. He would’ve found more luck on an uninhabited world.

The walk back out to the Crest was a tense one. He let his hand fall to his side, but kept it ready, prepared for a fight to break out solely for the armor he wore.

When he got within view of the ship, he squeezed the grip of his blaster once again.

The side ramp was lowered and sparks flew as someone welded along the edge of it. The kid sat at the top of the ramp, watching the lights with great interest.

He slipped his blaster free and aimed as he got closer. “Get up,” he commanded coldly. “Away from the little one.”

She looked up, pulling her goggles down so that they hung loosely around her neck, revealing a cruel scar that stretched across her face. She seemed unimpressed, but she did as he said anyway.

He walked closer, stealing a glance at the kid and finding him seemingly unharmed. The baby even cooed quietly, a small grin showing his tiny teeth. He brought his gaze back to the woman.

“What are you doing here? What happened?” he asked, lowering his blaster slightly.

She shrugged. “From what I can tell, those idiots broke into your ship and took the kid.” She gestured off behind her and he could make out a scattering of bodies across the field. “I was on my way out here to find a ride offworld and heard the baby crying, stuck under one of the bodies. Looks like somebody took them out before they could do much with the spoils.”

He looked back to the child, slowly holstering his blaster. His gaze went to the ramp. “And my ship?”

She walked over to it, crouching back down where she’d been. “Like I said, they must’ve broken in. They fucked up the seal around the ramp to get it open, so now it won’t be much use if you want to leave the atmosphere. I’m trying to fix it. Figured you wouldn’t want to stick around too long if people are trying to steal your kid from you.”

He watched her slip the goggles back over her eyes and get back to work.

“How much?” he asked.

She paused, lowering her tools a fraction. “What?”

He gestured to the ramp. “For the repairs.” A small coo reached him and he met big brown eyes. “And for looking after the kid.”

She considered for a moment before looking up at him. “A ride off of this stink pit would be nice,” she said.

He took her in for a moment. Long, dark hair, shot through with a streak of silver and pulled into an intricate braid. A black bandana tied loosely around her neck and a deep blue leather jacket. A belt decorated with an assortment of tools and a blaster. 

“Okay,” he said, walking up the ramp and picking up the kid. He looked down at her. “You got a name?”

“Toram,” she stated simply.

“Toram. We’ll leave when it’s fixed.”

She nodded, looking back down at the section she was working on as Mando walked deeper into the ship, the sparks flying once again.

~*~*~*~

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

Taglist

~ Mike

[rijurambles]

Storytime!!

So - I'm into RP, not necessarily on here but I love doing it.

I thought I'd share one of my favorite RPs of all time to you guys. The Secret Grove!! Also known as SG. Still ongoing so if anything big happens then I'll put it here. This one was organized by yours truly, starring my best friends: Ashcan, Minish, Toony, and most recently old friend Bongo!!

This took place in the usual zelda verse, in some made up forest called the Secret Grove. Basically the plot was that everyone got stuck here and now has to work together to get out. Pretty simple, but this ended up being the most fun I've had with a concept in a long time.

Our Characters:

Riju/Me: Twilight (TP Link)

Ashcan: Princess Hilda, Yuga, Zant

Minish: Time (Oot Link) and Navi

Toony: Aqua (Blue Link from Triforce Heroes)

Bongo: Marin (but he hasn't really done anything yet so he's not here)

All relationships here are platonic(except for vague mentions of midlink)!! We're about found family.

OKAY SO-

I start us off with Twilight setting up camp, and he gets found by Windy (WW link,who sadly left the rp, but he was only active for like two months) . More like Twi finds /him/ but whatever. The two team up for a bit, because their only knowledge of this place came from a creepy vague signpost that implied that they might die here.

Meanwhile, Hilda shows up and is very, very confused. Aqua is there also and is so confused that he just - /screams/? This man just straight up yells. He misses his friends, okay? So right now it's nighttime, and Hilda has made a fire, and she happens to be in sight range of Twi and Windy. Twilight decides that they need as much help as they can get, so he proceeds to metal gear solid his way into her camp, pops up from behind a tree and offers vaguely to join them which either confuses Hilda more or pisses her off. I'm still not sure, but this is the moment where these two become rivals. Hilda refuses, but she still kind of sticks around.

I'm not entirely sure if I remember how Aqua joined the gang, but I think he just walked into our camp. So Twi is mostly group leader (much to Hilda's chagrin), starts assigning the gang roles so that they can get a camp running. Aqua goes off to get water, Twilight is in charge of finding food, and Hilda needs sticks for a fire. Also, we get nicknames!! Hilda never tells the group her actual name so Twi called her Dark Duchess one time and the name stuck. To fire back, Hilda called him dark lord. Aqua got called Turquoise Tunic once but gave them a lecture on how his clothes are sky blue and not turquoise.

Hilda ends up finding Time and Navi passed out in the middle of nowhere, and she trusts him because he mentioned that he's friends with Princess Zelda, so she tells Time her actual name. Time is a nice enough guy that he keeps the secret. Meanwhile, Twi places a deku nut trail to find his way back after discovering a decrepit mansion deep within the forest. Sure, it's not food, but it's better shelter than staying out in the wilderness.

The gang regroups. Twilight /swears/ that he recognizes Time but will never admit it. Eventually, just before they leave to go to the mansion, Time and Twilight have a bonding moment where they learn about each other's histories. Twi tells him about the whole Hero's Shade thing, which is a shocker to the younger Time (who has just completed the Spirit Temple), but he promises to make sure to still teach him since it's essential to his journey. This makes Twilight trust Time more than anyone else in the gang.

So everyone heads to the mansion.  Upon arriving and heading to the second floor, Twilight senses a Poe and is forced to go into wolf form to fight it. To the others, it just looks like Wolf Twi mauling air while levitating. Hilda is a little late to the party so she never got to see wolf Twi, and he explains this to the gang.  Aqua is still hecka confused. Hilda also takes off her heels, finally. The room with the Poe is actually a bedroom,  and so Twilight uses his lantern to light the room up a bit. They're all pretty tired. Twi hasn't slept since they got here, and who knows how chaotic his sleep schedule was before this.

After making sure everyone has blankets, Twilight passes flat out onto one of the beds. Everyone is pretty shocked by this since they haven't seen how much of a rough sleeper he is. He keeps mumbling things to himself and rolls around, falling off the bed at some point. Time plays his ocarina to help them sleep. Twilight wakes up in the middle of the night,  heads downstairs to try and clear his mind. 

He explores the mansion,  coming into a hallway with a sort of Darknut. Twilight fights it because  of course he does,  and like hell he's gonna let anyone else get hurt.  A thing about Twi: he will ALWAYS dedicate himself to protecting other people as a defense mechanism after losing a lot of his friends. He succeeds,  but also ends up waking up Hilda. Hilda is cranky because she didn't get her beauty rest or something,  and Twi makes the argument of "Uhm, I just save your life??". The two bicker a bit before Aqua and Time get up.

Deciding to explore the mansion,  the gang stumbles into another room. Twilight gets crushed by a wall master which is /ow/ but manages to cut his way out of it,  killing the thing.  This also leaves him covered in blood and slime and generally ew things,  which makes Hilda panic until Aqua uses the waterfall rod thing to clean him off. They end up finding themselves in the kitchen, where they meet the ghost of a little girl named Clarice. 

You might be thinking, what harm could this little kid possibly do? A lot. A lot is the answer. So basically, Clarice is bound to the mansion and can't leave. All she wants to do is explore the world outside so she can have some playmates. Hilda tries to use her magic to unbind her. This does not work, Hilda messes up the spell, and now Clarice is flying away and Twilight is following her in wolf form. The gang chase Clarice until they get to the top floor; a magnificent ballroom. Twilight goes back to human form and sees who else but Princess Midna, the girl who left the light world for good. Or did she? If she's here, then he thinks that things are going to be alright.

Twilight rushes up to hug Midna, after all, he hasn't seen her in nearly two years. Hilda catches up and sees a different story- Ravio. Holding Lorule's triforce. Not realizing that her triforce has already been restored, Hilda sprints up to go hug Ravio. This causes problems with Twi, who was kind of having a moment there. They start to argue for a bit. Aqua comes in, he sees Blaze (red link from Tfh), the friend that he hasn't seen since he got here. He's of course happy to be there, and also goes up to him.

And then Time comes along. He's the only one who sees the /real/ person. A horrifying monster. And all three of them think that this is someone dear to them. When Time fires an arrow at the corrupted Clarice, as you can expect, PROBLEMS OCCUR. Because you basically just stabbed Midna right in front of Twilight, which by the way, the last time that happened, he nearly had a coronary. Because you basically just stabbed Ravio right in front of Hilda. Because you just stabbed Blaze right in front of Aqua.

All hell breaks loose after that.

Twilight is reasonably pissed and pulls out the ball and chain. Time panics and cast's Nayru's Love to protect himself. Hilda wants to hurt Time first so she tries to trip Twi with magical vines. Twilight doesn't give a crap and runs himself over to Time, getting into a sword fight. After a while of arguing, Time manages to convince Twi that what he saw wasn't the real thing. Meanwhile, while Hilda and Twi are busy trying to give Time hell, Aqua rushes up to try and get Blaze out of the crossfire. Perhaps they could escape together and forget all this. He's about to make a run for it when Twilight comes up and starts telling him what Time said while Time fends off Hilda.

Aqua is SO confused and doesn't know what to do until Twilight says "That's an illusion " and everything starts making sense to Hilda. Lorule's triforce is fine. They don't even need this. Ravio isn't here. This isn't real. Having used up her magic, she falls down and nearly passes out. Time stabs Corrupted Clarice, which also nearly traumatized Aqua.

The fight is over, and everyone is mentally and physically destroyed.

They all recuperate, Hilda finally tells the group her real name and now has intense self doubt, Twi and Time patch themselves up with the help of Aqua. They start sharing stories to pass the time. Hilda talks about the beauty of Lorule, Aqua talks about his adventures with Forest and Blaze, and also sings a song. Twilight takes a deep sigh before finally talking about Midna and the Twilight Realm. Everyone is surprised to hear about all this and he seems genuinely distraught about it.

Everyone is mostly okay until an arc that me and Ash planned happens - a Kargoarc bursts through the window. Aqua had gone down to get their blankets, also. Twilight notices that it's from his Hyrule and gets up to fight, but Hilda is stubborn and wants to help too. Twilight aims a bomb arrow, Hilda uses a fireball.

BOTH miss.

The mansion is on FIRE.

Both of them panic. Hilda just wants to stay here and burn after all the things she's done but even though Twilight hates her he's not leaving her behind to die. They argue again, Time tries to reason with them but their fight escalates until they're both screaming their lungs out at each other. At one point - Twilight just /breaks/ and shifts into the mind of a little kid, which is really all he is, a kid that grew up told fast. He's crying. He asks if Hilda hates him and Hilda is about to scream at him before Time interrupts and knocks her out, having Twilight just carry her out. Time sends Navi to go help Aqua, and now it's a race against time to get out.

Twilight rushes down to the lower level, makes it to the second floor before the fire blocks his exit. He's trapped in a room, and has to make a split second decision to use a bedsheet as a rope to get them down from the window. He ties himself and Hilda together, ties an end to the windowsill, and jumps. It catches them the first time, thank Hylia, but then the sheet catches on fire and Twi is forced to untie themselves before they get burned.

He holds onto Hilda as much as he can, and then they fall.

Twilight hits his shoulder on a rock, shattering it on impact. Ow.

Hilda is mostly unharmed. That's all he needs to know before he passes out.

Time also jumps out of a window, but doesn't get hurt. Aqua finds a door and runs out, shielding Navi before passing out from the smoke.

These guys have been through some shindizzle, and it'll only get worse.

[linerwriter]

A Talk

Part 1: Isolated

Part 2: Crowding

Word Count: 2045. For the @linkeduniverse AU. Enjoy!

By the time the two got back to the inn, the others had gone to sleep. This suited Wild just fine, the urge to sleep having been in the back of his mind since he had stopped crying. Time waved him to bed, looking deep in thought as they trudged upstairs. Probably annoyed about how much longer it’s gonna take to see Malon, Wild thought to himself with a sigh. I’m sorry, Time.

The boy dragged his feet towards his bed once he reached his room, flopping down on the mattress with a groan. He wasn’t worried about how much noise he was making; Sky was a deep sleeper, thank god, so he could make as much noise as he wanted.

Doesn’t help when I want to speak, though, Wild sniffled, the earlier feelings coming back to him. A few tears slipped down his cheeks before he wiped them away. I gotta be strong now, Time’s counting on me to be okay, he thought as he flipped over onto his back. His eyes shut as he drifted off to sleep, a frown melting onto his face.

Time, meanwhile, had reached his room that he shared with Twilight. Unsurprisingly, the younger man was still up reading a book, waiting for Time to come back. “How is he?”

Time sighed, “As good as he can be. You two are gonna start heading to the ranch tomorrow.”

Twilight hummed. “Are we? I’ll start packing, then.”

“You do that.”

“You gonna talk with the others tomorrow morning?”

“Yep,” Time heaved out. “Tell them to meet me in here before you leave. You guys are gonna leave early, since it’s only you two.”

“Got it. Anything I should look out for with him tomorrow?”

“Just the usual, although I’d keep him away from large establishments and people. He’s probably gonna be really quiet, so try to get him to speak. Also, if he ever expresses a desire to please you, tell him he doesn’t need to do it. Goddess knows he needs the reassurance.”

Twilight nodded, “Will do. We should probably go to bed, we’re gonna need the energy tomorrow.”

Time laid on his back, “That we will. Goodnight, Twilight.”

“Night, Time. See you in a couple days.”

The next day, a knock on the day roused Time from his sleep. When he blinked his eyes blearily in the morning sun, he saw that Twilight was already gone. Good, he thought, it’ll make things easier for me.

Another knock broke him out of his thoughts. “Coming!” he called out, “Just give me a second!” He yawned, getting out of his bed with a stretch.

By the time he opened the door, the knocking had steadily gotten louder. He yanked the door open, his face poised with annoyance, “What?!”

On the other side was Wild, who had shrunk back at his tone. He was dressed in his travelling gear and had his bow strapped to his back. “I’m sorry! I was just coming to tell you that me and Twi are leaving.” His voice was so soft, Time’s ears visibly strained to hear it.

Time’s eyes softened, “Don’t apologize for that, cub. You were doing the right thing, it’s my fault.”

Wild nodded hesitantly, refusing to look Time in the eye. Time studied the boy for a couple seconds before speaking up, “I was planning on talking with the boys about yesterday. Is that okay?”

Wild’s body froze for a couple seconds before life returned to it. “O-okay, yeah. T-that’s fine.”

“You don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to, Wild.”

“I-I know, but I kinda want them to know why.” He looked up to Time. “A-and if you’re the one telling them then it should be fine, right? ‘Cause I trust you!”

Inwardly, Time sighed. “If that’s your decision, then I will. We’ll see you in a couple days, alright?”

“Yep.” Wild bounced on his feet. “See you soon, I guess.”

“Have a good trip, cub.” Time waved goodbye to him, watching the youth trip over his feet repeatedly.

On the way past, he bumped into Hyrule. “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

“S-sorry.” And with that, Wild vanished from Time’s vision.

Hyrule looked after Wild with a slight frown on his face, “What’s up with him?”

Time sighed, “I’ll explain later. Did Twilight tell you guys to meet in our room?”

Hyrule bobbed his head up and down, “Yep. Everyone else is finishing eating, so they’ll be here soon.”

“Good.” Time gestured inside, “Go sit down. I’ll be talking with everyone once they get here.”

Gradually, the others filtered in to the room. Predictably, the last one to arrive was Warriors, who had a confused look on his face. “I saw Wild and Twilight heading out in their gear, are we leaving as well?”

Time shook his head, “No, they’re going on ahead.”

Four tilted his head, “Why’s that?”

“Wild doesn’t feel the most comfortable here, so I sent him and Twilight on ahead.”

“Doesn’t feel comfortable?” Hyrule piped up. “Why? It’s just a town.”

“Yeah, it’s only the most highly populated town in all of Hyrule.” Time slowly breathed in, preparing himself for what was to come. “How many of you actually know what happened to Wild during his quest?”

Silence. The Links all looked at each other with perplexed expressions on their face, some shrugging half-heartedly. Sky was the first one to speak up.

“Um, we know that it got delayed a hundred years? And that he woke up in a shrine? We don’t know that much, he doesn’t speak about it a lot.”

Time nodded. “I’m not surprised. Frankly, I’m amazed you even know that much. Wild’s not very… trustworthy, to say the least.”

Legend’s mouth scrunched up as his eyebrows furrowed, “Yeah, what’s up with that? If we’re supposed to be saving the world or something, why ain’t he talking with us?”

Time’s answer was short and to the point. “That’s exactly what I’m here to talk with you about.”

Once again, silence among the group. “P-pardon?” Hyrule raised a hand, “Talk to us about what?”

“About Wild.”

“Why? Yeah, he’s a little odd, but all of us are. What makes him so different than us?” Warriors asked.

“See, that’s the problem.” Time brushed the hair out of his eyes, “Wild is different than us. It’s just not noticeable.”

Legend growled, “For goddess’s sake, old man, just get to the point! Stop beating around the bush!”

Time glared at Legend before turning his attention back the group gathered before him, “As I’m sure you all noticed, Wild gets nervous from time to time, especially around new situations or people he isn’t familiar with.” Everyone nodded. “Well, there’s a name for that. We call it anxiety.”

Wind held up a hand, “Is that why he doesn’t speak all the time?”

Time smiled toward the younger boy, “That’s exactly why. Anxiety,” his eyes slowly dragged over every face, “is the state of feeling nervous about an impending situation. Try picturing when you’re meeting a person in authority, like a king or something. Everyone picturing it?” Time waited for a second before continuing. “Imagine that feeling, and making it grow until it feels suffocating. Now have it follow you like a ghost all the time, always present but not always visible. That’s what the illness feels like.”

Everyone grew quiet. Sky’s voice echoed in the room, “I can’t imagine anyone feeling that way, all the time no less.”

Time breathed out heavily, looking at the floor, “It sucks.” He laughed without humor, “The thing is, you aren’t really born with anxiety. It’s definitely possible, but I haven’t met with anyone that had it their entire life, so Wild’s anxiety was a learned behavior.”

“Learned behavior?” Warriors parroted, “Learned from what?”

“His journey.” Wind spoke up quietly. Everyone turned toward him, surprised at the amount of emotion in his voice.

“Wind?” Time asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “You okay?”

Wind looked up, his eyes shining, “It’s because of his journey, isn’t it?” Time nodded. “Of course it is.”

No one had ever seen Wind act like this before. “What about his journey?” Hyrule nudged their youngest member.

Wind held his arm over his eyes, taking a few shaky breaths to calm down. When he lifted his arm away from his face, his eyes held sadness in them.

“I’ve seen something similar, with my sister. I didn’t initially start with trying to stop Ganon, as you guys know.” Everyone confirmed this. “When I got my sister back, she seemed fine, but over the months, she started to act less and less like her old self. She was still bright and cheery, but she’d always flinch if the seagulls got too close, and she couldn’t be away from me or my grandma for a couple years. I never found out what was wrong with her, but it sounds exactly like what happened with her.”

Time lowered his head in Wind’s direction, “That’s exactly what happened with Wild.” He faced everyone else once more, “As you all can probably guess from what we’ve seen of Wild’s Hyrule, it’s big. It’s big, but more importantly, it’s empty. There’re several stretches of land where it’s just grass or something like that.”

“So because of that, he couldn’t interact with as many people.” Four’s voice held understanding.

“Exactly,” Time confirmed. “He didn’t have a familiar town or place to go back to for a long time. He’s used to quiet and low populated areas, not places like Castle Town.” He waved his hand toward the window. “So when we came along, the opposite of his environment, his mind went into high alert. He’s getting better, yeah, but it’s going really slowly. Which brings me to my main point.”

He locked eyes with his audience, “He can’t do the same things as us and feel perfectly safe. Remember when you dragged him around the fair yesterday? That scared him, badly, but because of his constant need to please everyone, he agreed to go along with it.” He sighed, “And because he doesn’t know his limits, it kept on building up until he eventually broke, making him storm away from Warriors.” He nodded towards said Link.

“So how do we stop that from happening?” Hyrule asked, worry etched on his face. Looking at them, Time saw that same expression matched on every single face. He smiled,

“It’s simply, really. All you need to do is ask.”

“Ask?” Legend repeated, “How’s that gonna help?”

“By asking,” Time explained, “that opens an avenue for him to deny wanting to do something without seeming like he doesn’t like you. This may not matter to you guys, but to him, knowing what others think of him is critical. If he thinks you don’t like him, he’ll try to blow it out of proportion, when in reality you were just a little annoyed at something entirely different. Do you all understand?”

A chorus of yes came toward him. Wind added on, “Also, don’t force him to do something. I learned this from my sister, but if you force someone with anxiety to do something that they know will make them anxious or they just don’t like, they’ll go into a panic, and we don’t want that happening.” He smiled, “But besides that, I think we’re good.”

Time smirked, “I think we are. Break!”

Everyone slowly filed out of the room. “Wind!” Time barked out. Wind stopped and turned around, an questioning look on his face. “Stay back for a minute.”

They waited for everyone to leave. “So,” Wind fidgeted, “what’cha need me for?”

Time looked down on the younger boy before him. ”Just wanted to say thanks.”

Wind’s head tilted toward the side. “For what?”

“Your story, with your sister. It drilled into their heads how badly this affects people.”

Wind looked at his foot, “Yeah, I get it. When it was first happening, it was hard to wrap my head around it, so I can understand why it’s kinda difficult to get why it’s happening.”

“Still,” Time put his hand on the younger’s shoulder, “you helped a lot, and for that, you have my thanks. Now,” he winked, “let’s go finish that festival.”

Wind grinned, “You got it!”

[gludgenbell]

Happy NaNoWriMo Guys!

Day 1: I'm Not Okay

-Ashryver's fingers curled as they stared at the trio. Their mind raced with thoughts and arguments, but in the end, they could only nod and smile.

-"You go by yourselves, I'm sure you'll all enjoy your time!" It was happening again. Why could they never have anything for themselves?

-"Are you sure?" Lynander reached to stroke their cheek. "I don't want you being alone."

-Instinctively, they stepped out of his reach. Guilt panged in their chest when they saw him frown, but it was too late to step into his touch now, so they looked away.

-"I'll be with Twi, I'm sure everything will be just fine." But even as they said it, the words were strained. They were surprised and disappointed that no one could hear it. "Go have your fun, and when you get back, tell me all about it!"

-Margarett wrapped an arm around Lynander's, Ashryver hissed. "Yeah, Lyn!" The elf giggled. "Come on!"

-Lynander passed one more regretful look to Ashryver as he was pulled away.

-At least he cared.

-No sooner had everyone been out of sight Ashryver's claws started digging into their chest. Tears threatened to fall, and they began to shake.

-The sound of bongos cut through their griefing, they followed it all the way back to camp, where Twi was.

-The man was somewhat of a mystery to Ashryver. He was a criminal, an outlaw, a pirate who sold illegal cargo.

-And yet, he was the nicest person Ashryver had ever come across.

-They made sure to burn the tears away, monitoring their body heat as they approached the pirate man.

-He was missing an arm, and a leg, replaced with robotic pieces. Ashryver never asked, not because they didn't care, but because they didn't know how to.

-They sat on a long across of him from the green fire. Much like the man, his hometown was a mystery. Green fire, white grass.... though, the blue trees, and pink sky were familiar. Much like on their home.

-"Why aren't you adventuring with everyone else?" Ashryver inquired, not because they wanted to be alone, but because they were genuinely curious.

-He shrugged, the bells on his wrists jingling in a pretty sort of way. "Didn't feel like it."

-Ashryver frowned, sighing as they listened to the strange music.

-"This song is missing something," He mused. "Don't you think? In the tent there's some instruments, go ahead and play one."

-Ashryver frowned. "But, I can't..." He had returned to playing, eyes closed and mind somewhere far away.

-Ashryver sighed, pulling open the flaps of the bright pink tent.

-A handful of strange instruments were strewn across the floor, quite messily, but the one that stood out to Ashryver was the one that looked... something like a harp.

-It obviously wasn't, the strings were stiff and hard, Ashryver only managed to pick at it with tweezers.

-Ashryver couldn't help but smile at themself, recognizing the creation. It was a faere instrument that high lords and ladies played.

-Actually, Ashryver's mother used to play one.

-Ashryver returned it to Twi, sitting across of the strange pirate, and hesitantly picking the strings

-"Jealousy is a feeble thing, but everyone experiences it at some point," Twi mumbled. "I like to think it's one of the things that connect us."

-Ashryver paused, staring at Twi. Were they that obvious?

-Twi just smiled. "Having insecurities about yourself is normal, too. It's what makes people do what they do," He shook hid wrists. "Acalla, my wife, is insecure about her looks."

-So that was why he reminded her consistantly and constantly that she was beautiful. Ashryver squinted, daring him to tell then that they were not alone, daring him to even attempt to reassure them.

-He chuckled. "I just wanted to tell you, that it's okay to cry."

-Ashryver huffed. It was not okay to cry. Crying was a thing that children did, and children were disgusting and revolting and hated by her third father and trainer Floren.

-"Crying is for babies."

-Twi tilted his head. "I cry, do you think I am a baby?"

-Ashryver frowned. "No, but... strong men don't cry."

-"Strong men are strong, but strength comes through being open to your emotions."

-It sounded like something their mother would say, and they sighed. "I suppose..."

-"Are you okay?" It was a bit of a random question, given this was the middle of their conversation.

-Ashryver took a deep breath, trying not to let their insecurities overwhelm them again.

-Two voices fought in their head. One, adamant about the notion that crying was for children, and that acting like a child ended in pain.

-The other, murmuring that it was OK to cry.

-For the first time in their shitty life, the second voice won.

-The tears pricked and gathered at the corners of Ashryver's eyes, instinctively, they raised their body heat, trying to stop the tears before they were noticed.

-But Twi offered a patient smile, returning to the calm serene of his music.

-The clouds offered fat raindrops, somehow missing the fire completely.

-Ashryver suspected it was that hot that neither rain nor tear could bypass it.

-And in a way, Ashryver was the fire, unallowing to any sign of weakness.

-Ashryver hung their head, trembling as the tears, and the mental war returned.

-They shakily picked at the strings of their instrument, finding the melody with Twi.

-It didn't sound very happy, in fact it sounded remorseful, depressing, but calm and soothing at the same time.

-What with the raindrops that only assisted the music, and the steady fire crackle, and the tears that freely fell, Ashryver finally answered the question.

-"I'm not okay."

-Lynander was excited to get back to the camp and tell Ashryver everything he had done.

-He smiled and joked with Jaquil that the rain will turn into candy with how their day was going, he bounced and answered most of Bug's questions, he ran in circles with Margarett, and he pretended to be as stoic as Acalla, gaining a laugh from her.

-His day had been absolutely perfect so far! Save for the fact that, his favourite shapeshifter had not been apart of it.

-The small group slowed as music reached their ears. It was an odd sound, but they followed it to camp anyhow.

-The surprise came when Lynander stumbled upon Ashryver picking the strings of a strange instrument with tweezers, their two toned voice ringing out in an eerie sort of way.

-They looked calm, peaceful.

-Twi smiled at the group, bringing a finger to his lips as he kept turned to Ashryver, singing in a soft, low voice.

-Their words clashed, Ashryver's constant 'I'm not Okay,' and Twi's 'You're Not Alone.'

-At some point, the words mixed.

-The now constant "I'm not alone, I'm not alone." was soft, soothing, and somewhat optimistic.

-Ashryver lifted their head, and Lynander noticed the black streak marks coming from their eyes.

-Their purple gaze narrowed, seeing Lynander's arm linked with Margarett's. They glanced at Twi, who offered a warm smile.

-"Welcome back," They greeted, standing. There was a nervousness in their aura that confused Lynander.

-An extended hand, yanked back, replaced with hesitant open arms.

-Lynander smiled, stepping forward, and simply resting his head on their shoulder.

-"It seems you spent quality time with Twi," He chuckled. Ashryver grunted.

-Lynander buried his face in the crook of their neck. "Can we spend quality time together, too?"

-It sounded more like a whine than a question, and Ashryver couldn't help but laugh, petting his head. "Of course."

This year for Nanowrimo I'm not committing myself to writing another story, instead I'm going to be writing scenes, each inspired by different songs

This one in particular came to mind when I was listening to Corpse Husband's song Agoraphobic

[moonstandardtime]

Part 44- Safe

Wild had practically melted as he bawled his eyes out. It was almost like there was a toddler in his place with how loud he was.

Eventually, they got to Hateno and went to the nearest hotel. It was far enough away and sheltered enough that it was hopefully safe.

Wild refused to get out of the car. Or, rather, he wouldn't move at all. He just sat there, silently crying.

So, Twilight texted Time.

~

Twi: hey, where r u

Time: hateno

Time: I'm guessing that's where u r

Twi: yeah

Twi: where in hateno?

Time: we should stay apart

Twi: time this isn't the frickin time

Time: shut up

Twi: WILD IS HAVING A FUCKIN MENTAL BREAKDOWN RN AND THARES AN ALL OUT WAR HAPPENING THAT doesn't FUCKIN MATYER YA DIPSHIT

Time: fine

Twi: IM GONNA KILL YOU WHEN YOU GET BACK

Twi: now where are you

Time: at the inn

Twi: which one

Time: ton pu

Twi: actually, we're there

Time: I'll meet you in the parking lot

Twi: thanks, I need some help with wild

~

Soon Time came outside. He looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept in ages. He stared at Wild's shaking firm for a minute, then looked at Twilight.

"What happened?"

"Explosions."

"Ah."

"It was terrible. My ears hurt now."

"Because of the explosions? How close to them were you?"

"No." Twilight chuckled. "Wild was screaming." He smile disappeared when he said that, knowing he shouldn't be laughing about it. Wild was truly terrified.

He put a hand on Wild's back and sighed. Wild relaxed a little at the touch.

Wind hopped out of the car and ran up to Time, immediately bombarding him with questions.

"Why'd you leave? Why do you look so tired? What did you do that whole time? Why is Wild doing that? Is something wrong with him?"

Time just sighed. He didn't even bother to push Wind away or anything.

Legend climbed out of the car, looking annoyed, and Four came out after him.

"My ears are gone," Legend complained.

Four nodded in agreement, then added, "I don't like long car rides. I really need to stretch."

"It wasn't even that long."

"It was an hour. Although, now that you put it like that, maybe I'm overreacting a little."

"Overreacting? Psh, if anyone here is overreacting, it's Wild."

Twilight glared at Legend, not saying anything. It was enough to shut him up, at least for a while.

Legend crossed his arms and leaned in the car.

Twilight didn't blame him for being grumpy. Everyone was stressed and scared. Especially Wild.

Eventually, Wild was calmed down enough for them to get to Time's hotel room.

"I'll go get you guys a room for yourself."

Twilight nodded. "Warriors and everyone else will be here soon. I hope."

He looked down, wondering if they were okay.

He decided to text Sky. If he was even awake.

~

Twi: u awake

Sky: mhm

Twi: wow

Sky: I can't sleep, for once in my life lol

Twi: lol

Twi: we're at the ton pu inn

Sky: k

Sky: I'll tell warr

Twi: thanks

~

Twilight looked over at Wild, who was lying on the messy bed. He was holding a pillow over his head, presumably to block out any noise.

Wind was sitting on the end of the bed, flipping through channels on the tv. Eventually, he settled on a movie.

Legend was staring at his phone, and Four was looking out the window.

Several minutes later, Time came back.

"The room next to mine was free, so I got that for you. Here's the key card."

He tossed it to Twilight, who caught it. "I texted Sky and told him where we are. They should be here soon."

Time nodded. "I'll go wait for them at the front door."

"Thanks."

Time left again, and Twilight looked around the room once more.

Wild had sat up when Time came in, and was now looking at Twilight like he was waiting for something.

"What?"

"When are they gonna get here?"

"I don't know. Soon."

"Are they okay?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

Twilight walked over and sat down next to him. He gently put his hand on Wild's shoulder and gave him a small smile.

"Yes. Sky told me they'd be here soon. You don't have to worry."

Wild brought his legs close to his body and sighed, hugging them. "I know, but... I don't..." he looked down. "Now that I know we've gotten here first... I wish I went with them."

"What?"

"I just want to know they're safe. And I can't know for sure because I'm not there. And it... it's like when my... my dad.... and I don't wanna leave Zelda in the castle for the same reason... because my dad was... he was in the castle... and I wasn't there... and even though I was with my mom and sister... I couldn't save them... and I know that even if I was with Zelda or the others I know I couldn't do anything if they got hurt because did you see me earlier? I was a mess. I can't fuckin... I can't... there's too much going on..."

He reached forward as if going to pick something up, then froze.

"My box. No. I... I left it at the house."

Ooh boy. Get ready for a crazy series of events in the next five chapters of Paranoid. I'm serious, a lot of shit happens. Hold onto your fuckin hats, bitches.

Chapters 41-45(oh god, this is getting long)