#eyes on the prize boyos

[angelsanarchy]

Fever Dreams: Mike x Y/N One Shot Series PRT 02

Tagging: @icarus-star @chainsawgvtsfvck @romanroyapoligist @liquidsmoothdomme @madamemaximoff06 @drazenka @blacksoul-27 @444rockstargf @kappasbbgirl

Leff had asked Y/n to take Mike under her wing for a few drop offs knowing that if anyone could keep him in line, it would be her. When they pulled up, Sicky and Y/n were standing in the parking lot smoking a cigarette and chatting. Mike realizes he's never seen Sicky talk to anyone with a smile on his face.

"Here he is. Still in that same Halloween costume. Tell me Mikey, are you going to ever switch it up or is homo cowboy the only getup you've got?" Sicky laughed.

"Ha-ha, blow me." Mike responded leaning against the wall.

"That's more Y/n's speed." Sicky nudged her arm and she laughed.

"She's more than welcome to accept that invitation." Mike cocked his eyebrow at her.

"Yeah right. You couldn't handle me sweetheart." She chuckled at him.

"I mean if you're scared, say you're scared." Mike teased making Leff scoff.

"Stop flirting with her." Leff scolded.

"Uh oh, daddy's mad. Better behave cowboy or I'll have to tie you up." Y/n walked past Mike and flicked the top of his hat as she followed Leff into the garage. Mike watched her ass as she went inside and Sicky let out a snort.

"Oh no no no little buddy. She's way out of your league. Don't embarrass yourself kid." Sicky couldn't believe Mike was checking Y/n out.

"How is she out of my league? She works for Leff. It's safe to say she's on the same level as I am." Mike argued.

"Oh boyo, if only you knew. Y/n doesn't just work for Leff. He went out of his way to acquire her to be a part of this team. Leff would cut your balls off and hand them to you." Sicky explained.

"So they are fucking...he acted like they weren't a thing." Sicky shook his head at Mike's assumption.

"No no no, you're not hearing me. He is very protective of her. She might as well his kin. He's not going to let you fuck around with someone he took a bullet for." Mike's eyebrows went up.

"He took a bullet for Y/n? Why? When? By who?" He started questioning and Sicky waved his hands.

"Keep it down Nancy Drew!" Sicky scolded. Mike leaned against Sicky's car trying to pull whatever information out of him as he could.

"Let's just say in this game, everything has a price, sometimes even people. Y/n was caught up in a pretty shit organization but she was doing Leff a solid by keeping an eye out for your moms." Sicky explained.

Y/n walked out of the garage and looked between the two suspiciously.

"You're with me cowboy. Sic, Leff wants you with him on a meet today." She patted Mike on his chest and he smiled at her.

"Be easy with that one Y/n. Boyo still has training wheels on him." Sicky teased putting his cigarette out. Mike gave him the finger before he was left with just her standing next to the car.

"You're going to behave, aren't you?" Y/n looked him over.

"Well what kind of punishment do I get if I don't?" He cocked his eyebrow stepping into her space.

"Typically a bullet in the ass and from what I've seen-" She grabbed a handful of his ass and squeezed.

"You've got an awfully nice ass to be pulling bullets out of." She smirked. Mike bit his lip at the feeling of her hands gripping his ass.

"Seriously, keep your head down and we'll be just fine. Good boys get prizes too." She teased as she slipped into the driver's seat of the car. Mike quickly adjusted himself before getting into the passenger seat.

"So...how long have you worked for Leff?" Mike asked casually making her chuckle.

"You spent 10 minutes with Sicky outside and that's your first question?" She asked playfully. Mike rolled his eyes.

"I was trying to be subtle." Mike kept his eyes on her as she drove.

"Oh baby, nothing about any of this is subtle." She reached over and tugged on the collar of his leather jacket.

"I've got to ask, is this like a legit taste in fashion for you or are you trying to create a name for yourself in the game?" She asked seeming genuine.

"I just happen to like it. Plus the hat keeps my hair from being all over the place." Mike explained seeing her nod her head.

"I mean if I'm being honest, the leather looks sexy on you and the hat isn't awful. Who doesn't want to think about riding dick when they see a guy in the middle of the day at a bank." Y/n made wild gestures with her free hand and Mike laughed.

"So you're admitting that you thought about it when you first saw me?" Mike asked.

"I mean my first thought was what crazy metrosexual just jumped into Leff's backseat and will I have to hide his body." Mike found himself laughing more in the last 5 minutes with Y/n than he has since moving to New York.

"We can talk about first impressions and braid each other's hair another time. Right now, I want to show you how things are done so everyone gets paid and no one loses an eye." Y/n pulled up to a location and parked the car.

"As much as I know you'll want to, keep your eyes alert and off my ass...you get a 2.5 second window to get a glance but that's it." She got out of the car and Mike took a few seconds to steal glances before getting out. He shut the door and she stood next to him.

"Eyes on the prize, Billy the Kid." She teased.

"I thought you said I only get 2.5 seconds?" Mike commented throwing his hands out. Y/n rolled her eyes and started for the front door of the establishment.

Mike had a soft spot for her and he knew it was only going to get so much worse.

[sekhisadventures]

Dissonantia

Pandaria, The Vale of Eternal Blossoms, Year 30 After First War

The cave lay open in the ruined, sha-blighted lands of the Vale. Abandoned by the Horde after Garrosh found the prize he sought. The heart of the old god Y’shaarj, torn from the voidspawn’s breast by the titan Aman’thul when they first came to Azeroth to order the world. All around it were the remnants of his breath, the sha, scurrying this way and that driven by the darker impulses of the minds of mortals, seeking one to corrupt.

The one that came to the Vale however they seemed to instinctively avoid. Shadows will try to flee from a bonfire after all, and this woman’s mind and soul were a blaze of demonic flames.

Dissonantia walked into the abandoned mine, her erstwhile companion Az’arad stomping along next to her. “Quzgup said ta be bleedin’ careful with this shite… but I want an ace up me sleeve. Yez never know when power like this could come in handy.” she grinned, looking around the tunnel. Goblin and peon corpses lay everywhere, killed by their fellows (and in some cases, themselves) as the dreaded power of the sha overcame their minds.

She had attempted to use a sha-corrupted soul recently, one of the mantid twisted and driven mad by the Sha of Fear. The result was that the Void had consumed part of her mortality and the fel had swooped in to fill in the gap, leaving her with a pair of curling demonic horns growing from her forehead. Her imp had warned her that it was a terrible risk, however. The Void might well consume all of her, leaving nothing but an empty husk. If nothing else, she figured that making someone else suffer that fate could be useful.

As they strode past the carnage she paused, her ears perking up. “Hm?” she mumbled, unsheathing her dagger. “Oi, Azzy. Yez hear that?” she grunted.

The Wrathguard nodded, glancing into the corner as she walked forward, conjuring a handful of felfire to act as a torch.

Huddled there was a goblin miner, the sole survivor of the carnage. His body was chalky white, his eyes wide as he whimpered, biting down on his nails. “I touched it I touched it why why why did I touch it why…” he stammered.

“Eh, touched wot?” she grunted, holding her dagger ready incase he transformed into a sha.

The goblin wailed and clawed at his ears, “NO! Nonononono! Don’t make me say it! I don’t wanna remember! The voices! The darkness! TOO MUCH!”

The worgen cocked her eyebrow, then smirked and stepped forward, “Oh I’ll make yez remember boyo… you’ll tell me, or me mate Azzy will break fingers till yez do.” she grinned widely, showing her fangs as Az’arad sneered, cracking his knuckles. He did so enjoy the fingers, they screamed great when he did that.

The goblin, however, laughed. “FINGERS?! Fingers… hehehe…” then his head snapped around and he stared at her, his eyes like saucers. “FINGERS DON’T FUCKING MATTER!” he snapped, “Nothing matters… I saw him, I saw his mind… I know what he wants…” his teeth chattered. “He’s not dead… he can’t die… you can’t kill a fuckin’ GOD…” he whimpered, covering his eyes with his hands.

Dissonantia and Az’arad glanced at each other, then back at him. ��Bleedin’ fel this gobbo’s completely barmy…” she muttered, “Right then, out wiv it. What’d yez touch!”

The goblin giggled hysterically, then gasped out, “His heaaaaaaaaaaaaaart!”

A moment later the cavern erupted with purple light and his body fell, dead and soulless, to the floor. “Aye, that’ll do.” she grinned.

The Twisting Nether, Present Day

Dissonantia snarled and stomped through her lair. Her attempt to use Malgum had ended in utter failure. She’d watched them fight him back until his felfury ran out through her cauldron, the witch cursing at the top of her lungs. “A BLOODY BEER GIANT?! WOT THE FECK!” she snapped, “Ugh, first that pandaren git saves Sekhi, now he can do that?!” she shook her head, storming towards her throne and falling into it with a grimace. “At this rate I may as well just stay hidin’ out until they all die of old feckin’ age…” she grumbled.

After a moment she heard a faint chuckling sound. A muffled one, as if the person who was laughing couldn’t use their mouth properly.

She glanced around, then glared up at the wall. Hanging there was the disembodied head of Fel Master Aartox, the former owner of her lair. She’d kept him alive after Az’arad decapitated him, sewing his lips shut out of spite. “Wot’re yez laughin’ at?” she growled.

The eredar’s head glanced away with a smirk… and Dissonantia narrowed her eyes. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She stood up and snapped her fingers, the threads sealing his mouth burning away in a flash of felfire. “You… wot did yez fuckin’ do?!” she demanded.

The eredar grinned maliciously at her. “You should have left me dead witch. We man’ari are able to speak telepathically to others of our kind. I told Malgum all the secrets of your protections, and now he lives and is back with his allies.” he taunted her, a triumphant expression on his face. “They will come for you, and they will end you! Even in death, Fel Master Aartox is victorious!” he cackled.

Dissonantia’s expression was a sight to behold. The witch roared in fury and gestured, the decapitated head of Aartox erupting into felfire as she channeled her power and rage into it, the demon laughing all the while even as he was consumed.

The members of Unlimited Sin watched their leader, able to tell how furious she was. This wasn’t just bad for them, it was downright apocalyptic. They had relied on the protections Aartox had established to keep the members of Avalon and Savage United out of their base. Especially after Guzzle had managed to follow Dissonantia once, the imp getting in only because the protections ignored something that small.

Dissonantia seethed, staring at the now blackened man’ari skull hanging there as Aartox finally died completely… then she spun around and snapped. “WOT TH’ FECK ARE YEZ STANDIN’ THERE FOR! THEY COULD BE ON US AT ANY MOMENT!” she shouted, “AZZY, GREMORI! REINFORCE THE FRONT GATES! CENOON, XELKEK! SET UP SOME EXTRA SPELL DEFENSES!” she snapped, the worgen walking towards the shelves that held the treasures she’d plundered from Aartox when she took the lair.

It also held one other thing.

A small, locked chest. Her ‘ace up her sleeve.’ She opened it and looked inside the chest, seeing the soul shard of the goblin she’d found in the vale that day, the pathetic wretch having come into direct contact with part of one of the Old Gods themselves. Rather than the normal purple of a soul shard this one swirled with black and white, showing the signs of sha corruption on a nearly unprecedented scale.

“As for me… I got some brewin’ ta do.” she growled, closing the chest and picking it up, then walking through her portal to the Shadowlands. She hadn’t told Quzgup about it. The chest had always been locked and resisted any attempts her imp had made to open it. As far as he knew what was in there was just some bauble of his Mistress’s that she didn’t want him meddling with. There was no time to redo the main defenses now that her enemies knew the way to bypass them, she needed something, even something this dangerous.

The Dragon Isles, near the Obsidian Citadel.

On one of the fields of hardened lava rock near the waters west of the Citadel, the members of Avalon and Savage United were preparing for battle. It had taken some time to find a good fallback spot, but finally Nitika had come up with an idea and contacted one of Dissonantia’s former victims outside their circle.

As Edwood set up a massive demon gate with Malgum’s help, Nelen went over his notes on her defenses. “We have to assume that Dissonantia knows we’re coming guys. Somehow she was able to spy on us before, and if she finds out that Malgum revealed her lair’s location and defenses to us…” warned the magus.

Nitika nodded, looking over a wooden table they’d set up with a rough sketch of the lair itself that had been drawn by Aziguni with help from her brother. “Yeah, but this is it. We’ll never get another chance like this.” replied the seer.

“Ah, if only I could come with you…” sighed a newcomer on the far end. Standing there was a mag’har orc with glowing ember-like eyes, wearing a set of black-scaled robes. The visage form of Iridikron, the dragon that Dissonantia had enslaved to serve as her steed on the Dragon Isles until Nitika had broken the spell controlling him. “I suppose I’ll have to content myself in having played a part in the witch’s downfall…” he grinned, his teeth still rather fang-like even in this form (for some of the younger drakes, their visages still showed hints of their true nature.)

Nitika smirked, “Don’t worry Iridikron. We’ll give her a few extra for you.” she chuckled. “Really though, thank you for this. We need to know we have a safe fallback point incase we need to flee.”

The dragon shook his head, “It is a small thing in exchange for my freedom Nitika. When you told me that she had enslaved another…” he snarled, smoke leaking from the corners of his mouth as he remembered the humiliation of being dominated by her fel magic… then he shook himself and stood straight, nodding to her, “Fear not, the black dragonflight will guard your flank until your return!”

Well, some of the younger members of the flight at least. Iridikron’s clutch-mates. Standing nearby were what appeared, at first glance, to be a dark iron dwarf and a zandalari troll… though in the same black robes as Iridikron, marking them as two more dragons. Still, even young dragons would be more than a match for most of Dissonantia’s tricks.

Nearby the rest of Avalon and Savage United made ready. Zhan-min refilled his maces with fresh unbrewed beer base, then sighed. “Now, that trick I pulled back in th’ Dream… can’t do it without proper ale in these, ‘n that was the last I had back there. So no alemental.” he warned, nodding to the others.

Shalandrae sighed, “Likewise. As powerful as I was back there, I was able to transform like that because we were in the Emerald Dream.” she shrugged, “I think I might be able to do it on Azeroth, as long as we’re near a portal like the one in Duskwood or Feralas, but nowhere else.”

Jaie smirked, “Well… we do at least have one more trick Dissonantia won’t expect…” she nodded, reaching into her pouch and pulling out a small wooden flask.

Sekhi looked at it, then yipped and pointed at it. “That’s th’ same stuff from th’ Azure Span! Th’ one that almost blew ya up!” she shouted, able to hear the elemental song coming from it. It sang of storms, and danger, and power…

Jaie winced, “Its okay! Zhan-min and I worked out a safer version of it. I won’t be near as powerful as I was that day, but it doesn’t have any of Raszageth’s scales in it.” she nodded firmly.

Sekhi’s ears flicked, “Huh… yeah okay. It sounds close, but yeah…” she murmured, still sounding worried.

Dareley nodded, “Hmph… aye, we dunnae want a repeat o’ THAT mess. As good as it was ta stop Dissonantia that day, we thought we were gonna lose ye lass.” he sighed.

Jaie nodded, “Yeah, I don’t want to go through that again either. Worst hangover of my life…” she grinned apologetically.

Shalandrae glanced at the aging paladin but said nothing. She was concerned for her friend though. Dareley had been really showing his age lately, but like many dwarves he was stubborn as a rock. Add onto this that he was a Paladin of the Holy Light and he’d hardly miss a chance to finish off a threat as horrible as Dissonantia.

Next to her and Aziguni stood Laurelgosa, the Dracthyr already having shed her mortal guise in preparation for the upcoming battle. “Well, if we are fortunate it will not come to that Jaie. Perhaps we can take Dissonantia by surprise before she can mount a proper defense. As Malgum told us, the secrets of her defenses were imparted to him through telepathy from another of her victims. She may not even be aware we know how to reach her now.” nodded the evoker.

Samantha grinned at her. “Damn right Laurelgosa.” replied the rogue, then glanced to her side and cocked her head. "Hm... Annulus says that she can sense something odd in our future, but its hard to get a fix on what exactly…” she muttered.

Galdia just shrugged, the mag’har woman standing nearby with her eyes locked onto the portal, her only thoughts on the fight ahead as her massive undead worg Nightpelt sat near her. “Mm.” she grunted. She was a Warsong after all, either they would win or they would lose. One way or another Dissonantia needed to die.

Finally, three more were nearby. They wouldn’t come with them, but they had insisted on at least helping Iridikron to guard the gateway. The two vulpera Leza and Jeemjazo, and Jeem’s companion Murgly Jim, were sitting close to the water as the murloc splashed about in the river.

Jeemjazo glanced at him, then back towards the group. “Oi, Sekhi. Just… come back aye?” he asked.

Sekhi smiled at him and nodded, her tail wagging. “Yeah.” she replied. She and Jeem weren’t like that, but they were as close to family as two vulpera could be without actually being family like she and Leza were.

Leza nodded, the young mage trying to focus on her spellbook to prepare anything she could before the group set off. She was silent, but it was more because she was trying not to think about what could happen to her teacher or sister.

Finally however those magically inclined felt a woosh of energy behind them as Edwood finished inscribing the last rune upon the gateway, a swirl of fel energies tearing a hole through to the Twisting Nether. “OI! Time ta set sail mateys!” called the forsaken to the others.

Grimo cocked his rifle and stubbed out his cigar on the table. “You heard Ed! Lock ‘n load ya mooks!” he shouted as the group began advancing towards the portal.

Malgum glared into it, then stood aside. “I will remain and help Iridikron. Dissonantia was able to capture me as she could bind demonic beings, I can’t risk her doing it.” he explained, though the irritation in his voice was clear. He truly wished to be able to end her for what she’d done, but the risk of being turned against his sister again was too great.

Aziguni however gave him a smile and a pat on the arm as she passed. “Do not worry brother, we’ll see she cannot ever again.”

Even Shalandrae gave him a small nod, the druid then turning her focus to the portal as the swirling energies showed a huge rocky mountain floating on an island in empty space. A cave in the front had a huge door set into it, sturdy and reinforced… but no door survived Grimo Blamstick if he didn’t want it to be there.

Nelen took a breath, then nodded, “Right then. Avalon!”

Grimo grinned, holding his rifle ready, “… and Savage Untied!”

Then in a woosh the magus transformed into his worgen form as Grimo pressed the buttons on his gauntlet, his robotic dog L.U.P.E. barking in acknowledgement. “CHARGE!” shouted Nelen!

“FUCK HER UP!” shouted Grimo at the same time, and with that mis-matched battle cry the members of Avalon and Savage United disappeared through the portal and left Azeroth altogether for the Twisting Nether, to face down the Witch of Blackwald Forest.

Dissonantia’s Lair

The worgen stepped back through from the Shadowlands, tucking something into her pouch. The soul was a real mess, she hadn’t gotten a lot of anima out of it, but hopefully it’d be enough. It was potent, that much she could tell… and the moment she picked it up she’d heard whispering, but she ignored it for now.

Then her head jerked up as she felt several of the defenses outside popping like soap bubbles. Misdirection spells, curses set into the path to the cave like landmines, and the like disappeared one after another as their countercurses were invoked. She growled and glared at the door. “THEY’Z HERE! GET YER ARSES READY!” she roared, moving to the back of the cave.

Her demons and Gremori took up positions between her and the door, Az’arad brandishing his axe as Cenoon readied his whip, Xelkek hissed, his tentacles glowing with shadows as Quzgup hopped onto a table, readying a blast of felfire. In the middle of them all Gremori stood ready, her body swelling as she transformed into her demonic form once more.

For a moment there was nothing… then a sudden rapid beeping before the door to the entrance blew inwards off it’s hinges! Gremori snarled and let fly with her eyes, a gout of felfire incinerating the debris before it could reach them as Grimo’s voice came through the haze of smoke.

“Hah! Seaforium! Never leave home without it!” cackled the goblin, “GET ‘EM!”

Through the smoke burst Galdia, Jaie, Samantha, Zhan-min, and Mola’raum. “LOK’TAR OGAR!” roared the mag’har woman as she made a beeline straight for Az’arad, her shield and sword already raised as Nightpelt howled along with his orcish partner.

Jaie ran for Gremori, Zhan-min and Mola’raum backing her up as she dodged the felsworn’s fist, then countered with her own punch to her middle. Gremori’s eyes bulged as electricity shot through her body, the pandaren having already taken a drink of Zhan’s new brew. The final form of Xuen’s Fangs had been less than the original, but enough to break through the fel-elf’s resilience! She snarled and shook her head, then lashed out again as Zhan-min thrust his hand out and a blast of flames shot forth from his mace, the pure fire cutting through her felfire.

Cenoon looked around the group, then saw a blur as Samantha appeared infront of him and slammed her foot home into his face, the incubus stumbling backwards. “OH NOW REALLY!” he huffed, then looked at her and grinned, “Darling, do you truly wish to fight someone like me?” he chuckled, wiping the felblood from his mouth as he gestured, focusing his powers up on Samantha… then reeling back in revulsion! He’d reached out to influence her mind and found what was living there, coming face to face with Annulus!

“DO NOT EVEN TRY DEMON! THIS ONE IS MINE!” shouted Annulus, the connection allowing Cenoon to hear her as he stumbled as if struck, and in that moment Sam darted forward and slashed across his chest with her daggers! He screamed in pain as the void-crystals bit into his flesh, the power in them so cold it burned him!

Samantha grinned then glanced to her left. ‘This one is mine? Well Annulus, I didn’t know you cared.’ she thought.

“Do not lose focus Samantha. I sense a presence… Dissonantia has something here… something very dangerous.” she warned.

Sam was about to ask what, then she yelped and vanished in a swirl of shadows as Cenoon’s whip bit through the air where she’d been moments before as a blast of sunlight and several arrows cut through, the ranged attackers of the group beginning their offensive.

Xelkek and Quzup returned fire, shooting bolts of darkness and felfire, as Dissonantia snarled and flexed her claws. She didn’t need to cut holes in reality here, she already was in the Nether! “This time yez is in MY home turf! KILL ‘EM ALL!” she roared as twin portals opened and a gigantic swarm of bilescourge shot forward only to be blocked by a shield of pure Light! Both Nitika and Dareley were channeling the Light through themselves, the Seer and the Paladin protecting their allies from Dissonantia’s minions as Nelen roared and summoned his mirror images, a huge slavo of arcane bolts soaring through the air towards the warlock!

She snarled and dodged to the side as they struck home, destroying the bookshelf behind her! Dissonantia grimaced in fury, she had been planning to use the relics there to defend herself, but the full force of Nelen’s arcane power had wrecked most of them! She stood up and glared as she heard a clicking sound, then saw something roll under the table next to her cauldron. Her eyes went wide, “BOMB!” she shouted.

The demons looked around as their opponents fell back, then Grimo’s grenade went off!

When the smoke cleared the cauldron was upside down, its contents leaking onto the floor. Xelkek was on the ground with splinters piercing through him, felblood leaking everywhere, and Quzgup… she growled, the imp was a stain on the ceiling. She could bring them back, they were bound to her… but for now they were very very much dead.

As they tried to recover Jaie suddenly shot forward again, her body still sparking with lightning, and she slammed home into Gremori once again, landing blow after blow against the stunned Felsworn as Az’arad’s axe came up just in time to block Galdia’s sword and Mola’raum’s spear, the two tag-teaming the Wrathguard.

Cenoon coughed, retreating back towards Dissonantia. “Er… this seems to be going against us Mistress Dissonantia… if you have anything planned, now would be an excellent time…” he warned.

She growled, reaching into her pouch, and taking something out of it. It was a small crystal vial, barely more than a mouthful, and it was filled with anima that swirled black and white like ink and oil mixed together. “I was hopin’ ta avoid this…” she growled.

As soon as it came out Sam stumbled, clutching at her head.

“SAMANTHA!” screamed Annulus in her mind, “Dissonantia! The thing in her hand! YOU MUST NOT LET HER USE IT!”

Sam looked up, then shouted to the others, “GUYS! DISSONANTIA IS DOING SOMETHING! STOP HER!”

But it wasn’t heard over the sounds of combat. Spells were cutting through the air, Sekhi’s flute was piping to summon bolts of lighting to rain upon Az’arad and Gremori, and the sound was simply too much!

Dissonantia uncorked the vial, then upended it into her mouth and swallowed.

A moment later she screamed, clutching at her stomach as she staggered backwards.

The surviving members of Unlimited Sin risked a look at their mistress as she braced herself against the wall, and slowly her eyes turned dark as polished jet and rivulets of black ink-like liquid began to pour from her mouth. Her fur turned ashen, the air around her seeming to darken…

As she did Nitika stumbled, gasping and clutching at her shoulders. “W-what? Here?!” she stammered, then she looked up. At her height she was able to see over Gremori and Az’arad, and she saw what was happening. “Oh no… EVERYONE! GET DOWN!” she cried out in warning!

Suddenly, darkness erupted outwards from the body of the Witch of Blackwald Forest, and the cavern was blown apart from the inside out!

The Waking Shore, the Dragon Isles

Malgum stood before the portal, the two vulpera and the black dragons behind him. Without warning, the portal trembled as if struck and an explosion echoed through the area!

He grimaced, drawing his axes as one by one the runes on the portal went dark like lightbulbs blowing out, and the swirling energies dissipated. Soon nothing was visible through it but the coast ahead of them.

Malgum swore in demonic, glaring at where the portal had been in horror...

“What happened?!” exclaimed Iridikron, the dragon pointing at the now dead portal.

“Aye! Sekhi was on th’ other side o’ that! Whats goin’ on Malgum?!” demanded Jeemjazo.

The man’ari growled. “Something has gone wrong. The portal connects to Dissonantia’s Lair in the Nether… but for it to close in such a way, that place would have to stop existing at all.”

The group turned to stare at the portal, then Leza spoke up, “S-stop existing?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SISTER?!” she yipped in a panicked voice.

Malgum gritted his teeth, “I… do not know…” he admitted.

Somewhere else…

The sky was visible now, but it was no sky they knew. Rather than the rolling chaos of the Nether it was inky black with millions of stars all around them. The dust was still settling from where they’d all landed, the demons and Gremori gathering themselves first. “Ugh… hey Dis? The fel was that?” she asked, looking behind her, then her jaw fell open.

Where Dissonantia had been was a swirling mass of pure black and white, and from inside it came a hissing like thousands of voices all at once.

Nitika gasped and clutched her shoulder as she stood up, the scars she’d gotten in Pandaria suddenly feeling like they were on fire! “G-guys… its… agh… she… she’s…” she stammered, but even trying to talk hurt!

Suddenly, a crackling sound filled the air as a ball of dark energy formed infront of the boiling mass that had been Dissonantia, and it erupted outwards towards the others, including her demons!

Cenoon, Az’arad, and Gremori fled as fast as they could, but the rest were still stunned by the sudden explosion. Nitika tried to focus, tried to call upon An’she’s power, but the Sun God felt so distant here… A few motes of light danced around her fingers, then died.

Then there was a clatter of metal and Dareley scrambled infront of the blast, raised his shield, and roared out “FOR TH’ LIGHT!” as golden wings erupted from his back, a wall of holy energy appearing between them and the wave of shadows!

The beam hit it and pushed him back several feet, leaving deep furrows in the ground, but he held on. “RUN! GET OUT O’ TH’ WAY DAMMIT!” he shouted as the others shook themselves and scrambled to the sides.

“DARELEY!” shouted Shalandrae, but there was nothing she could use to pull him away that wouldn’t put her in range of the blast.

Dareley gritted his teeth, the paladin holding on… then suddenly the wall began to crack. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he focused as hard as he could… and then with a crash his spell broke and the shadows swept over him!

The others cried out as the dwarf screamed in pain, the blast engulfing him for a long moment before dissipating. He was barely protected, a thin shell of light just visible around him, but he was not unscathed.

Slowly, painfully slowly, he fell to his knees. The paladin's sword and shield fell from his numb arms onto the ground next to him, and Dareley Steelhammer collapsed in a heap.

“NO!” cried Shalandrae as she raced over to him and knelt down, feeling his neck and gasping. “He’s still breathing! Sekhi! Nitika! HELP!” she shouted to her allies, “Jaie, Zhan-min, anyone who can heal! I need your help! NOW!”

“Hey! What happened?! Dis! Are you in there?!” shouted Gremori as Cenoon and Az’arad looked into the shadowy mass where their leader had been.

Then they all heard it… a laugh coming from inside it. A mad cackling sound. Dissonantia’s voice, but wrong. Distorted and warped, as if coming from a new mouth.

“Well, I didn’t bleedin’ expect THIS, but I ain’t exactly complainin’…” came the reply, the shadows spreading to reveal the Witch of Blackwald Forest, but not as they knew her. Her body swirled with black and white, her wings now big enough to cover her entire form, and her hands had elongated and warped into misshapen claws… but that was nothing compared to her face.

Her mouth was too long, full of huge fangs, and her eyes… the two red ones were still there, burning like coals against her new monochrome fur, but there were five new ones. Two on each side, and one massive one on her forehead between her horns, all of them glowing a deep acidic yellow.

As they saw her transformed Samantha suddenly shrieked and clutched at her head, her temples throbbing as visions swam in her mind.

A half forgotten nightmare... Darkmoon Island… a twisted forest… Sekhi and Nitika corrupted and mad…

Say their name…

SAY THEIR NAME…

SAY THEIR NAME!!!

The void elf looked up and gasped, realizing what Dissonantia had done to herself, even if she didn’t know how.

Dissonantia had consumed anima wrung from a soul of a poor wretch who had come into direct contact with the Heart of Y’shaarj. What she had consumed hadn’t been the soul of the goblin however. It was the purified essence of the heart itself, what remained of the dreaded deity torn limb from limb by Aman’thul.

“G-guys… this is BAD! That’s not just Dissonantia anymore!” she shouted to the others. “I don’t know how, but thats Y'shaarj! We have to kill her! If we don't he'll use her body to return to Azeroth!”

The others readied their weapons almost immediately, Shalandrae giving a pained look at Dareley before shifting into a bear and growling at Dissonantia.

Gremori’s mouth became a thin line. “Nope. Nooooooope. I did not sign up for void shit.” she nodded firmly, then pulled a crystal out of her pouch, wrapped her fingers tight around it, and slammed her fist into the air next to her! The air seemed to shatter and a swirling mass of felfire appeared, a portal back to the Twisting Nether! “Cenoon! Az’arad! This way!” she shouted.

The incubus immediately chased after her, eager to get away from the monstrosity that Dissonantia had become, and Az’arad gave one last glare at the assembled adventurers before following. He was no fool, he knew when to cut his losses.

“Tch…” snarled Dissonantia. “Fine then! I don’t bleedin’ need yez!” she turned back to the members of Avalon and Savage United, then raised her claws and barked several syllables in Shath’yar! The air trembled as great rents appeared in the ground, and from them emerged wave after wave of the sha! Dissonantia flexed her wings, then flapped and shot up into the air. “KILL ‘EM! IF I GOTTA SHAKE HANDS WIV AN OLD GOD, THEN I’LL TAKE IT IF IT JUST MEANS I CAN FINALLY BE RID OF YEZ!”

The sha roared, a wave of dark emotions echoing outwards as they surged towards the group, who retaliated as best they could. Galdia, Jaie, Shalandrae, Zhan-min, and Mola’raum took up positions infront to face the onrushing horrors as behind them Nelen, Sekhi, Edwood, Aziguni, Grimo, and Laurelgosa aimed their spells onwards.

Sekhi whined, channeling the elements into the encroaching horde of monsters, blasting several apart with a bolt of lightning... but that was all she could do! Even if she wanted to risk unleashing the Singing Sands upon the mob, she couldn’t!

Wherever they were now didn’t have a song! She couldn’t hear anything at all! In Ardenweald she knew the song was there, she had just lost the connection until it broke through when she first manifested her power… but here it simply didn’t exist!

Nitika tried to focus, but her head was swimming. It was impossible to focus here. “Dammit… D-darkhoof, what do we do?” she hissed.

‘Running would be a damn good idea, but the portal is closed and I don’t even know if our hearthstones will work from here!’ came the reply, ‘Look around us! This isn’t the Nether! When she merged with Y’shaarj she dragged her entire lair to the Void!’

Nitika shook her head and stood, then gripped her staff, “No wonder I can’t feel An’she’s presence…” she whispered, “Fine then… we’re in your element, YOU deal with it!” she snapped as she blinked her eyes.

When they opened again they’d changed from yellow to purple, “Eh, whatever…” she shrugged, then slammed her hand outwards as darkness slammed into darkness, the tauren’s darker side lashing out against the sha with their own weapons!

But they were in the Void now, and with every second Dissonantia’s transformation intensified and more and more sha appeared! Finally their line was broken and they scattered. All over island the dark children of Y'shaarj swarmed. Mola’raum’s ghoul was already in pieces, but there were no bodies to raise new ones here! The death knight’s spear glowed like a grim beacon as it’s runes ignited, stabbing into the voidspawn over and over. “DIS BE BAD! WE GONNA GET OVERRUN!” he shouted to the others.

“Yeah yeah! Tell me somethin’ I don’t fuckin kno-OH SHIT!” hollered Grimo as a massive sha surged towards him and slammed into the goblin! He growled and shoved a grenade into it’s mouth, but the creature had him in it’s claws! He couldn’t get away in time! “FUCK FUCK FUCK!” he smashed the butt of his rifle against what passed for the creature’s face, then suddenly the bomb exploded and the creature was blasted apart! Grimo let out a cry of alarm as the explosion sent him flying over the edge!

“GRIMO!” shouted Nitika, racing to the edge of the platform.

“I HAVE HIM!” replied Laurelgosa, spreading her wings and shooting off after the goblin as he plummeted, a small series of rocky islands floating in the Void below them.

Grimo landed with a sudden thud on the ground, coughing and rubbing his arm. “Ow fuck ow ow…” he hissed, standing up as the dracthyr landed next to him. “Ah, good… knew it was a good idea to hire ya…” he grinned, then paused.

He looked down at a small beeping sound coming from his gauntlet. “Huh? Signal located? What sig..." he started as he raised his arm and looked at the display, then his jaw dropped, “No fuckin’ way…” he looked around, then spotted another island nearby, with something metal glinting in the rocks on it. “It can’t be… Hey! Laurelgosa! Get me over there! FAST!” he shouted, pointing towards it.

Laurelgosa looked at him, then where he was pointing. “Grimo, we need to aid the others! Why do you want to go there?” she asked.

He gave her a toothy grin. “If that’s what I think it is… Dissonantia ain’t gonna know what HIT her!”

The dracthyr looked back to the platform above, seeing flashes of light and hearing the cries of battle. “… against my better judgement…” she mumbled, then she lifted the goblin into her arms, spread her wings, and took to the skies once more.

Back on the platform the battle was going badly. No matter how many sha they killed more and more came! They were in the Void, the literal heart of darkness that spawned the dreaded old gods. Here, the fragment of Y'shaarj that Dissonantia had allowed into her could summon an endless tide of the horrors!

Dissonantia cackled above them, now more sha than worgen. Her body had doubled in size, her wings flapping to hold her aloft as she conjured another fountain of darkness. “Hah! Oh this is so feckin’ satisfyin’! How long will yez last against THESE ones?” she sneered down at her foes, barely noticing as Laurelgosa landed back onto the island with Grimo, the goblin running towards Zhan-min as the dracthyr exhaled a gout of dragon fire to drive the sha back long enough to reach him.

“HEY! Zhan! Those scales! The ones that ya used ta make th’ beer that almost blew Jaie up! You still got any?!” he asked.

Zhan-min snarled and slammed his maces home onto a monstrosity’s head, causing it’s body to shatter into motes of darkness. “Yeah! Why? Ya’ll wanna last drink?” he snapped, the pandaren man breathing heavily.

“Nope! Just give ‘em!” he insisted, showing the shaman what he had as Laurelgosa flew infront of him and flapped her wings hard, sending the sha infront of them flying backwards!

“Oh… oh shit I getcha… I heard ‘bout that thing! They don’t have a ton of power left after we freed Raszageth’s spirit, but if ya’ll use all of ‘em…” he grinned, digging in his pouch and pulling out a bag of dragonscales that seemed to crackle with electricity.

Grimo grinned back, snatching them. “Right, keep those bastards back while I install ‘em!” he nodded, getting out a spanner and working frantically as his L.U.P.E. robot let out a mechanical snarl and tore into another sha!

Dissonantia laughed, watching the chaos below her, hearing the whispering fill her mind. She was reveling in her power, and as soon as she returned to Azeroth she could unleash it everywhere. She wouldn’t just be a warlock, hiding in the Nether and seducing halfwits for their souls to extend her life and youth. She’d be an immortal demigod! She’d RULE Azeroth! Any who refused her would be turned into sha-corrupted monsters at her beck and call!

Then she heard something…

“HEY BITCH!” came Grimo’s voice.

Dissonantia snarled, her head snapping around, then she saw what he was holding. She didn’t recognize it though. She never really talked much to her former allies. She hadn’t heard about this...

Grimo was grinning ear to ear, taking aim with a rather unusual rifle. It had a long barrel ending in a wide mouth, was made of blue-tinted metal, and attached to where the ammo cartridge would normally be was a tesla ball packed to bursting with the scales of the now deceased Storm Eater! “SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!” he laughed as Zhan-min and Laurelgosa stood behind him, bracing him by the shoulders.

“Th’ feck is that?” she growled.

The members of Avalon and Savage United however, they knew what it was!

Nitika stared at it, her jaw falling open as her eye twitched, then she gripped her head and grimaced. “HOW?! HOW THE… I THREW IT… HOW… THE ODDS OF IT…” she babbled as Mola’raum ran past her, slapping her shoulder firmly.

“FREAK OUT LATER SISTAH! GET BEHIND ‘IM!” he shouted as the taureness shook herself out of her shock and raced after him, the others moving to get out of the line of fire, fighting their way past the sha as Grimo took aim at Dissonantia… then pulled the trigger.

There was a roar like a massive primal dragon and a beam of pure lightning exploded out of the barrel, aimed directly at Dissonantia!

She growled, then held her hands out as a shield of darkness formed over her, and the beam slammed home! Dissonantia gritted her new fangs, but she was channeling the power of an old god! No mere gun could get through that, right?!

Maybe not a normal gun… but this wasn’t just any gun. Call it fate, call it predestination, call it sheer blind insane luck… but in Grimo’s hands was none other than the legendary rifle forged by the Keeper Mimiron, Titanstrike! Modified by the goblin, thrown into the Void by Nitika after the chaos he’d caused last Winter’s Veil. Somehow, they had wound up in the same part of the Void that the rifle had landed in! Grimo had recovered it, filled it with the remaining scales of Raszageth, and now the Incarnate’s power was exploding forth into the transformed witch!

She snarled in fury, channeling Y'shaarj's essence infront of her, but her transformation was far from complete. She wasn’t even as powerful as the greater sha that had plagued Pandaria yet! The shield began to crack, then Dissonantia’s eyes, all seven of them, widened in shock as the barrier fell and a blinding flash of lightning filled her vision!

What the beam struck was the infamous Witch of Blackwald Forest, the soul-stealing warlock responsible for countless deaths, who had sacrificed others without a second thought in her pursuit of immortality.

What landed on the island was a blackened and scorched worgen skull with two curling demonic horns. All around them the sha screamed, then one by one they vanished in bursts of darkness. With his host's death their master's remaining essence had been scattered across the Void, and without Y’shaarj’s presence they couldn’t exist.

Slowly the beam dissipated, and Grimo lowered the rifle. “Nitika. You do not. EVER. Touch this thing again. Capiche?” he glared over his shoulder at the tauren.

Nitika, her eyes still purple, glared back, then snorted and looked away. Just this once, she’d let him have that.

Then they all looked up at a rattling cough from across the arena.

“Dareley!” gasped Shalandrae, “He’s still alive! C’mon!” she shouted, racing to him as she fell to her knees, channeling what little energy she could draw upon in this realm into him. “W-we need to get him back to Azeroth! I can’t heal him here!”

Nelen nodded, running forward. “Right! Hang on!” he replied, taking his stave out and making a circle in the air with the tip. He was almost spent after that, but Dareley had saved his life when the Twilight’s Hammer attacked Wyrmrest Temple, he’d be damned if he didn’t at least try!

The air shimmered, then sputtered, and Nelen swore and did it again, then again, then another time… “Dammit…” he growled… then he paused, “Hm?”

The others looked at him, “What?” asked Samantha.

“I thought I felt…” he whispered. Then he focused, a moment later he grinned, “Sekhi, when we get back… we need to do something really nice for your sister.”

Sekhi cocked her head. “Huh?”

The Waking Shore

Leza had set out her spellbook and wand infront of her, along with her glasses folded over them, and as an afterthought her bracers, the vulpera focusing on them as hard as she could, channeling arcane energy into them.

It was a desperate plan, but the only one they had. The objects before her had been crafted, in part, by Nelen. She hoped that by using her own magic on them that he could use them as a beacon of sorts to find his way back.

“Are ye sure this’ll work?” asked Jeemjazo, sitting next to her. Nearby Murgly Jim watched with wide, curious eyes. He could feel the magic, even if he didn’t understand what he was seeing.

Malgum nodded, stroking his chin. “The theory is sound… but as she is the only one of us who can channel the arcane… we will simply have to hope.” he mused.

Iridikron frowned, “I could fly to Valdrakken, enlist the help of some of my friends in the Blue Dragonflight…” he pointed out.

Malgum shook his head, “That could take hours. We may not even have minutes. Whatever happened, that part of the Twisting Nether is no more. This may well be our only hope of seeing them again.” he frowned.

Leza growled, “C’mon Nelen… sense this… I’m puttin’ everything I got into it…” she whined, “Ya made my book, ya helped make my wand ‘n my bracers ‘n glasses… they’re connected to ya…” she focused as hard as she could, screwing up her eyes… then she gasped as her fur stood on end. “I-I think I felt something!” she shouted.

The air infront of them rippled, then shimmered, and in a burst of arcane light a massive portal opened and through it came the assembled members of Avalon and Savage United!

“HOT SANDS IT WORKED!” exclaimed Jeemjazo as Murgly Jim let out a cheerful gurgle, waving his fins.

“SEKHI!” shouted Leza, scrambling to her feet as she jumped over the pile of objects and raced towards her sister, almost tackling the shaman off her feet as she hugged her tight!

Malgum gave a satisfied nod, then asked, “Well?”

Nelen looked back at him and nodded, “Its over. Dissonantia will never trouble anyone again, ever.” he grinned widely.

Valdrakken, later that evening.

It was true that the war against Fyrakk’s forces was still ongoing, but even the greatest of heroes need a chance to recover after a major battle, and for these fourteen this was perhaps not as great as the Incarnate of Flame, but very personal.

Everyone was there. The members of Avalon and Savage United, Sekhi’s family, Jeemjazo and his mother Neidhari (and of course Murgly Jim,) Malgum, even Iridikron had found an excuse to get away from the citadel to join in the celebration.

Grimo lowered his mug and sighed, “Just sayin’ it’s a shame is all. After all th’ fuckin’ work I put into those things, we don’t need ‘em now!” he sighed, gesturing to his wrist where the demon detection tool sat.

Nelen shrugged, “Oh I don’t know Grimo. It could come in handy for other things. Tracking down rare artifacts, maybe even seeking out other foes. I’m simply saying that we shouldn’t discount it just because its main purpose is settled.” replied the mage as he sipped from a mug of moonberry wine. He normally didn’t drink, but today was special.

Grimo shrugged, “Eh fair ‘nuff… just hope we don’t gotta deal with something like HER for a long fuckin’ time.” he said with a smirk, raising his mug.

Nelen chuckled, then tapped his mug against Grimo’s. “Well said.” he replied, the two of them taking a deep gulp of their drinks.

Nitika watched them, then sighed and leaned back against a wall. “I’m beginning to think that rifle is cursed. I mean… I threw it into the Void.” she frowned, “Even after what Dissonantia did, the odds of us winding up in that specific spot…” she trailed off as Mola’raum chuckled.

“Ya be overthinkin’ it sistah. We won. Dissonantia be gone. Just be happy.” laughed the troll, leaning against the wall next to her with his hands folded behind his head, his runespear resting next to him.

She felt a tap on her arm and saw Laura Brightflame standing there, the dracthyr holding out a large mug of tauren-brewed beer. “Mola’raum has the right of it Nitika. We should not question co-incidences. After all, it was by accident that Raszageth’s escape freed my own people from our prison in the Forbidden Reach. Simply accept that the outcome was in our favor.”

Nitika sighed, then accepted the mug from Laura and took a big drink, “… fine.” she shrugged, “Just… gah… I’m afraid to ask what he’ll blow up with it next!”

The three of them looked up at the sound of a cheer as Galdia stumbled past, an empty bottle of ale in each hand. “PARTY! HAHA! THE WITCH IS DEAD AND WE’RE NOT! LOK’TAR!” she hollered, drunkenly stomping her way across the inn as two of the barmaids chased after her.

“… where did her shirt go?” sighed Nitika as Mola’raum started to laugh, his shoulders shaking.

“I believe that it is hanging from the chandelier up there, Nitika.” grinned Laurelgosa, pointing upwards.

Nitika rolled her eyes, “Yep, that’s it.”

Across the bar Jaie and Zhan-min were talking with another few pandaren, sharing tales of what they had just done with the other adventurers, who would in turn share them with others they met in their travels. Because all pandaren love a good story. Perhaps it would even make it’s way back to Pandaria and the Lorewalkers would record it as an exciting adventure to tell to children.

A bit further away Shalandrae sat with Aziguni, the two sharing a bottle of moonberry wine, holding hands at the table. After all that had happened their relationship was pretty much past the ‘trying it out’ stage, though Shalandrae kept giving worried glances to another table.

Dareley sat there, looking tired, but otherwise well. He gave a nod to her, raising his mug, and took a drink. Thunderbrew, but a lower proof ale. No point in taking risks after his brush with death. He seemed fine, but Shalandrae had an odd feeling that there was something he wasn’t telling her…

Seated at the bar proper was Samantha, wearing a long and deep purple velvet dress. She didn’t want to go to a party in her ‘work clothes’ after all, and after years of having to pretend to be something she wasn’t she never passed up an opportunity to dress up.

Next to her was Edwood, the two swapping tales of pirates. Edwood from the stories he was told as a child of great Kul Tirian naval victories, Samantha the… less embellished ones she’d gotten from the pirates themselves with her time running with the Uncrowned.

Even Malgum was there, though he was keeping out of the way of the others. This was their victory, he was just pleased that Dissonantia had been dealt with and his sister had returned safely. As one of the man’ari, he had to take those small pleasures where he could get them. He didn’t expect thanks, nor did he ask for it. He just accepted that he had done his part.

Lastly, seated around a big table were the vulpera. Sekhi, Leeza, Jeemjazo, Neidhari, Atu, Risala, and the twins Zato and Eeda. The latter two were chattering excitedly, peppering their older sisters and Jeemjazo with questions, though Sekhi was reluctant to tell all of what happened when they passed through the portal.

“Look kits…” piped up Jeemjazo, “Th’ important bit is th’ Witch is gone. Savvy?” he said, gesturing to them as Murgly Jim messily devoured a plate of crab meat next to him. “Ye don’t need ta know the details.”

“BUT WE WAAAAAAAAANNA!” shouted Zato, flailing his arms.

“Yeah! We wanna beat up bad guys like Sekhi ‘n Leza!” grinned Eeda, her tail wagging excitedly.

Jeemjazo raised his eyebrow, “… and me?” he asked.

The twins looked at each other, then shrugged. “I mean… do ya?” asked Zato.

Jeemjazo snorted as Leza bit back a laugh, “AYE! Why just a few months back I saw to a buncha bloodthirsty pirates in th' Azure span! Ask Laura! She was there too!” he barked, pointing across the room.

Laura looked up and nodded, “I saw him personally defeat two of them myself. One of them was an orc infact.” she confirmed.

The twins turned back to him, their eyes wide. “Woaaaaaaaaaah! You took down an orc?!” yipped Zato.

“HOW?! They’re yippin’ huge!” shouted Eeda.

Jeemjazo grinned, puffing out his chest. Sure the recognition of young kits may be easy, but he’d take it. “Okay, so me ‘n Jim got hired by Brenna, Iskaara’s Chief, ta find out who was stealin’ their grub…” he began.

Neidhari chuckled, listening as well. She’d heard Jeemjazo’s story before, but it still made her feel better to know that her son could handle himself in a battle and had friends who would help if things got out of hand (she’d gotten the full story from Laurelgosa afterwards.)

Leza giggled, then glanced over at Sekhi, who seemed to be lost in thought, her ears flicking back and forth. “Ya okay sis?” she asked.

Sekhi blinked, then shrugged, “Just… kinda yippin’ nuts Leza. We were so worried about Dissonantia for so long, ‘n now she’s gone. Just… doesn’t feel really real yet…” she replied.

Leza nodded, then grinned, “Hey, maybe once Nelen thinks I’m good enough, I can come with ya and we can beat up the next one together.”

Sekhi giggled, then smiled back at her sister. “Hehehe… sounds good!” she yipped.

The party continued on into the night. Jeemjazo told his tale to Sekhi’s siblings, Grimo and Nelen discussed possible uses for the now-defunct demon detection tools, and eventually Galdia blacked out over the bar table and Nitika carried the unconscious orc up to her room after retrieving her shirt from the rafters.

But this tale is not yet over. Azeroth is a wide world, and adventures can happen every day. Today’s battle was won, but who knows what tomorrow’s would bring?

However... there was one person for whom the adventures had ended…

Somewhere…

Dissonantia awoke with a jerk, looking around. “Wot… where th’ feck am I?” she growled, trying to step forward, only for a sudden pull on her wrists and the rattle of chains to alert her to the fact that she was shackled to a wall.

As her vision cleared she saw a cell like one would find in a prison or dungeon. The walls and floor made from rough cut stones and all around her she heard the moans and wails of other prisoners.

It was then that she became aware of something else. She wasn’t in her worgen form! She was human again! Whats more, she wasn’t young anymore either! She saw her hands, veined and sporting liver spots, then felt her face and grimaced as she felt the wrinkles that had vanished after she’d managed to steal Theotar’s secret of brewing anima into tea…

… anima… then it clicked in her head.

“Oh bugger…” she whispered as a door opened at the far end and a figure approached her, hidden in shadow until she drew within a circle of torchlight.

She was a tall statuesque woman in an elegant black and red gown, her face a pale grey and her ears long and pointed. She had two dark eyes and fang-like teeth, and in her hands she held a freshly carved tablet of stone.

“Well well, Dissonantia… or should I say ‘Camillei Theodore?’” she nodded, reading it off the stone. “My my my… we have been naughty haven’t we? Took the dredgers a while to get your sinstone carved I must say.”

Dissonantia growled, “Accuser…” It wasn’t an insult but rather it was her name and her title. The reality of her situation hit her like a led weight. Grimo’s insane gun, the blast of lightning, the sudden cessation of everything.

She was dead, and this could only be Revendreth. This time, however, she was not here as a Maw Walker to save the realm.

“Mmm… we were not expecting to see you again so soon, but I have to say we certainly have our work cut out for us with you.” replied the Venthyr woman. “Murder, theft, infanticide, soul-cannibalism… dear dear…” she shook her head.

“Were it the old days we would have cast you into the Maw and been done with it... but our new Arbiter has decreed that all souls, no matter how irredeemable, are given at least the opportunity to absolve themselves.” she sighed, clicking her tongue in an annoyed way, “One wonders if Pelagos realizes just how much he has increased our workload." she shrugged, "No matter, it is our duty and we will carry it out, and besides…” she smirked, leaning in.

“After you left, Theotar worked up the courage to tell Renethal what you had done. He asked me personally to see to your ‘rehabilitation’ when your time came…” she grinned, “I do not normally take pleasure in the punishments I give souls, but this time I may make an exception.”

Dissonantia grimaced, flexing her fingers. She wanted to summon a swarm of bilescourge, she wanted to call Az’arad and set him loose upon her, she wanted to rain felfire and death upon all who stood between her and the exit to this realm… but she was a disembodied soul now. Her powers were gone!

The Accuser smirked, recognizing what she was doing. It was hardly the first time a newly arrived soul had instinctively tried to fight back. “However… as I said, we are extremely busy under Pelagos’ new rules, so I am afraid I have prior engagements I must attend to…” she turned to leave, “We must schedule our next session for… oh… twenty, thirty years from now should do it. So many souls to see to…” she shook her head, “But plenty of time for you to think about what you’ve done.” she chuckled.

Dissonantia snarled, tugging on her chains as she roared in fury, however it was not the furious howl of a worgen but the angry scream of an old woman. No felfire, no demons, not even the power to shapeshift. She would sit, and wait, until the Accuser returned to administer her ‘penance,’ whether she liked it or not.

That was the end of the Wicked Witch of Blackwald Forest.

Next Story

Previous Story

[baisleyarts]

The silent stalkers

[abbatoirablaze]

Queens Of The Mayans, Brooke, Chapter 1

Word Count:  2.4k

Warnings:  none really

Bishop’s POV

“Are you serious about this right now, Bish?” Che asked. He had looked sick to his stomach...and I knew why. He was looking at me the same way he looked at Palo. But we weren’t like his old club.  We weren’t traffickers.  This just happened to be an odd wager.

“Yeah,” I nodded, looking to my cousin, “you sure about this padrino?”

“Come on hermano,” he chuckled, looking over his cards, “don’t you trust me?”

“Of course, I do,” I said nervously, trying to hide how I felt about the current wager, “I just don’t think we should be betting actual people in a card game though.  Taza’s right.  It seems a little wrong.”

“We’re just ‘avin a bit of fun,” Chibs chuckled across the table. He patted his old lady’s hip and she got up to grab him another drink.  The look on her face was one of anger, but she managed to conceal it as she swayed over to the bar, “nothing insane.  Just a friendly wager.”

“You better not lose my little sister,” the girl commented, “you do and you’re not getting any tonight, Filip.”

“So how old is the wager anyways?” Marcus asked, eyeing the pot which already had a few cigars, a bottle of scotch, someone’s gun, and some cash Happy had laying around, “the girl I mean.  She looked a little on the young side when we saw her earlier and I’m not looking for underage pussy to be surrounding the guys. Unless you boys are interested in the guy?”

A few of the guys chuckled but Chibs leaned in, “few days shy of being legal pussy. And don’t tell her sister I said this, but she’s a prime piece of it, ey lads?”

A few more guys around the table chuckled and agreed. Marcus eyed him down, “why you givin her up then?”

Chibs shrugged, “she’s gonna get my guys in trouble. She’s a little flirt.”

“She’s not a flirt,” Happy huffed, “the guys just turn into horny teenagers around her.”

“You’re always around her,” Tig scoffed. Then he jokingly elbowed him, and chuckled, “you sure you’re not banging her?”

If looks could kill.

I could sense the tension between the two men before Chibs hit Tig a little harder than necessary on the back, “come on brother, relax. We all know you wanna nail the little lass, but she’s not interested.”

“Yeah, she likes men that fuck women,” Happy snarled, “real women!” 

“Appy,” Chibs warned. The two men shrugged one another off and Chibs turned back to me, “so what’ll it be, boyo?”

“I’m not a boy,” I laughed, finally tossing in the keys to my bike. Then I turned to Marcus, “you better not be wrong hermano.”

“I’m never wrong,” he chuckled, “trust me.” 

“I’ll remember that next time your wife asks.” 

There was a roar that came over all of us at the table as the men acknowledged my final bet, agreeing that it’d be worth the trade should it come to that point. Tig, Taza, and Happy forfeited the hands they had, and it was down to me and Chibs. President v President. I smiled and we laid our cards on the table. Another roar arose. This time from my men. I’d won the prize. Chibs old lady came back and sat down on his lap, “who won, daddy?”

He looked around nervously, and she caught on as I sent her a wink. She rolled her eyes at him and began cursing in Chinese.

“I think you got an angry one on your hands, brother.”

I watched as Happy left the table, making his way over to the girl who’d hit the bar.

“We don’t have to take the girl,” I shrugged, seeing how upset it’d made her. I looked at Chibs, “we’ll just take the guy.  It’s fine.”

“A bets a bet, brother,” he said in his heavily accented voice, “and like I said, that one is trouble. If we keep er after she’s legal, lord knows she’ll be the death of some of my men, and we’ve already had enough of it.”

“Well, I don’t want that kind of danger for mine,” I laughed, not thinking much of it.

“Oh, you don’t believe me,” he laughed, “but she’ll mess with your head more than you know.”

“Sounds like you’re talking from experience,” Marcus chuckled, “you takin on both of em, huh?”

“I am talking from experience, but no, just my old lady,” he said, leaning back on his chair, “thought I’d never find anyone after my last old lady, Alicia. But then that fiery broad came into my life. Savannah Lin turned my world right-side up after all the shit that’s happened...And I can see that her little sister is a lot like her. A little more innocent in the respect that she never saw outside the Lin compound before comin to us, but she’s got the same game as her sis. And she learns quick.”

“And what does she learn, quick?”

I nudged my cousin, “sounds like you wanna try her out hermano.”

“She tends bar pretty well,” Chibs chuckled, “good cook. Runs errands for us and insists on holding down a regular job to ‘earn her keep.’ Her words, not mine. But she insists on payin us rent and shite. I don’t fight it.”

I tried to take a peak over at the bar, but the only Asian girl sitting there was Chibs very upset old lady, “you sure she’ll be okay?”

“Sav will be fine,” he said dismissively, “but she may not let me sleep for a few days.”

“You mean she won’t let you sleep in your bed.”

“No, she won’t let me sleep,” he laughed, “That crazy bitch will drive me up a wall for losing her baby sister. When we got her a few years ago, she was 13. Watched over Gemma and Mandy. Took care of the babies. Then with the shit that went down this past year...”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me, brother.”

He nodded, thankful of the reprieve and I hopefully took another glance, thinking that there may be an off chance that she’d walk through the door.

“She’s at work,” Happy said, sitting back down at the table, “she won’t be home for a few hours.”

“What?”

“That’s who you’re looking for, right?” he asked.

Chibs got a grin on his face, and nudged Tig, “Look at el presidente. You sure you didn’t wanna try out the goods before bringin her back?”

“No,” I chuckled, “we don’t do that. I’m gonna let her do her part for the Mayans, just like Chucky will, but If she wants to be with a Mayan I won’t fight her on it.”

“She works at a café downtown,” Happy muttered more to me, “if you want to meet her, I can take you there.”

“It’s fine. We’ll meet her when you guys drop her and Chucky off next week.”

“Next week?” Happy asked, “you guys aren’t gonna take her tonight?”

“Well, I’m gonna let her say goodbye to her family and get packed up,” I chuckled, “that wouldn’t be very hospitable of me to take her right away, would it?”

“She’s yours now,” Chibs chuckled, “do whatever you guys want with her.” 

Brooke’s POV

Well, it was only a matter of time.

“I’ve never worked for the Mayans before,” Chucky continued on as we were led up to a clubhouse, “I know your family had a big issue with them before tho-“

“Chucky for the love of god, shut up.” I groaned at him. He’d been talking nonstop for the past two hours that we had been in the car, and now that we’d finally made it to the clubhouse, I thought he would stop...but I was so wrong.

Instead, he’d just started spewing off the history between the Mayans and Lins...and it was something that I definitely didn’t want to hear.  

“Just say the word and we’ll make a run for it, kid,” Happy whispered in my ear. I laughed at my best friend and shook my head, “glad I could make ya laugh at least.” 

I knew Happy was upset to let me go, but I’d left him with the best going away gift that I could. A brand-spanking new baby pitbull puppy, which he’d lovingly named Opie.

“I’m serious,” he said in a low tone, “if you decide you aren’t happy here, just call me and I’ll run away with you so quick. Me, you, and Ope.”

“You’re too sweet, Hap,” I giggled, wrapping my arms around him, “I’m really going to miss my partner in crime.”

“Me too.”

“What do we have here,” one of the new prospects whistled. I rolled my eyes at the wannabe son and looked back at Happy. The kid wouldn’t quit, “getting some nice little nookie before we hand her over?”

Before I could say something smart, Happy had pinned the prospect up against the wall and had a gun pointed under his chin, “you show some goddamn respect prospect, or I’ll blow your brains out all over this fucking clubhouse. You think Chibs or Tig will miss you? You’re a gum on the bottom of our shoes. They won’t give a fuck.”

“Happy,” I pleaded, feeling more nervous for the prospect. I felt him melting under my touch, as he let the prospect down, “please...you’ve lost enough brothers this year.”

He sighed.

He knew I was right.

“Apologize.”

“I’m sorry Miss Brooklyn. I wasn’t thinking.”

The kid looked scared, and he wouldn’t look me or Happy in the eyes.

“I was talking to you, Hap.”

Happy’s eyes shot up at me, “what?”

“You heard me,” I said quickly, “yes, what the prospect said was rude, but you know better than to let your emotions get the best of you. The sons have lost enough of their brothers, right?”

“I’m sorry,” Happy huffed, not bothering to look at the prospect, “for calling you out on your shit...but if it happens again, I’ll pull the trigger.” 

“Thank you.”

I tried holding back some laughter, knowing that was the best attempt of an apology that I would get from Happy. 

“Alright,” I sighed, turning back to the door. I could hear some noise inside as I knocked, “what’s the guess, Chucky?  Think they’ll kill us?” 

“GET THE GODDAMN DOOR, PROSPECT!”

There was some shuffling behind the door. 

“Me or Angel?”

“WHOEVER THE FUCK IS CLOSER!”

“Fuck.” 

A few seconds later my breath caught in my throat. A very attractive man opened the door, and upon seeing the patches of Happy and the prospect he opened it wider. I couldn’t help but stand there, frozen at the door.

“You comin in, or stayin outside?”

I smiled at his joke, and he held his hand out. I took it, and he pulled me over the threshold and into the clubhouse. 

 I was smitten with the man in front of me. 

 He was gorgeous.

“Brooke,” Happy said, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked at my best friend again, and Happy gave the mystery man a dirty look. He let go of my hand, “come on. You should meet everyone.”

“See you later, Brooke.”

“Bye,” I smiled. I followed Happy down to a sectioned off room where there were already a few men waiting. I looked around, “hi.”

“Welcome,” a man said, coming forward. He was taller than me and had long flowing hair, “our president is a little busy right now, but I’m Taza. This here is our sergeant in arms, Tranq, and our secretary, Riz.”

I looked at the two men and gave them a warm smile. The bigger guy nodded at me, but the one, Riz, came forward and kissed my hand, “pleasure to meet ya, princessa.”

“Down tiger, she’s still a minor,” Happy warned, “that’s underage pussy you’re kissing on.”

“For a week and a half,” I said jokingly with a wink. The man chuckled and backed up, hands in the air, looking at Happy.

“Hey brother I got an old lady,” he laughed, “she’d kill me if I cheated on her.” 

I looked outside of their meeting area, and in the hall, I could see a few of the guys talking. Taza noticed, “Gilly and Coco are the ones to the left by the table, and the one running around like an idiot is Creeper. The guy that let you in is Angel.”

“Are they all prospects?”

Tranq shook his head, clearly amused by the fact that I was interested in their club, “No. Gilly’s been here since 2011, and Coco got voted in last year. Only Creeper and Angel are prospects.”

“Okay.”

“If you need anything and we aren’t around just ask them, okay sweetheart?”

I nodded at Riz, “got it.”

“BISH!”

The loudness nearly made me jump out of my skin as Taza walked past me to greet their president.

“Sorry, got caught up talking with el padrino,” he said dismissively. The two of them talked for what felt like forever behind me, and Happy left my side. Chucky was going on about how nice the inside of the clubhouse looked. But all I could focus on was how loud my heart was beating. I looked at the ground, not really sure what to do in this situation. Sav had told me to be courteous, as Henry and my father had told us horror stories about the Mayans and the Niners when we were little.  But none of these men seemed the slightest bit scary to me, “Thanks for waiting, brother.” 

I know that Chibs had told me that I didn’t need to be with a Mayan and that their president wouldn’t pressure me to, but I knew what the sons were like. They’d been waiting the past year for when I turned 18. It felt like I was in shark infested waters. The only difference was that now, without Happy, I would have no one here to protect me from the sharks.

“Well, we were just talking to our new girl about our brothers,” Taza said loudly, “Brooke, come meet Bishop.”

I turned around.

My breath caught for the second time in the ten minutes that I had been there. But I wasn’t struck by just this man’s beauty. He wasn’t sculpted like the man who’d opened the door, no... this felt very different.

The gruff looking man had a more worn-out kutte, and he was easily in his mid fourties. The stubble of his beard and mustache were peppered, and his hair was showing the slightest touches of it, but he pulled it off well. He had a ruggedness to him that made me want to do things I hadn’t thought about with any of the sons.

“Hi,” I gasped, unsure of what else to say, “I’m Brooklyn.” 

He nodded at me, “welcome home, Brooklyn.” 

Chapter 2

[1d-discourseoftheday]

Sun 24 Jan ‘21

Today, even more obviously than usual, literally everything is fake-- except Cliff's birthday which I have no reason to disbelieve! Happy 5th birthday to the good boyo Cliffy the dog!! Now onwards to the guys, who are very much working this weekend, even if that work is to pretend they Being Very Chill and Doing Chill Stuff.

A fan receipt placed Harry at Azoff owned LA restaurant the Apple Pan last night; there would be nothing at all odd about Harry eating food at a restaurant in the city where he currently is, or even choosing to go to one owned by his friends, but it's difficult not to side eye the location when the Azoff name is invoked, and sure enough! By morning rumors of him having been there with Olivia were circulating, along with a picture so blurry it could have been anyone, but sure- it would make sense if it was them. We all said the ridiculous insta follow would be followed by some more Very Casual and Private Holivia content we just Happen to see, and yep- it seems we're now firmly in (extremely ham-fisted) “make it look organic” territory, although if they think having an actual news outlet saying “it's DEFINITELY not promotional, just like if anyone was wondering if it's promo one thing it definitely is NOT is promo”, using a public blog to draw attention to a 'private' instagram account that has been known and publicly said to be Harry's for a year, or having the pair go for an outing to a restaurant OWNED BY THE AZOFFS are going to sway people from thinking this is laughably fake, WELL. Just call ME a news outlet cause I have a breaking story for them about how likely that is...

Zayn, who has been tweeting about UFC (and ONLY UFC) all this last year, has moved into doing more official spon-con for them, which I guess retroactively explains why he was publicly tweeting about just this one single thing. Anyway, he posted a blurry pic of swag they sent him, including a big ass prize belt (“the belt is a naughty little touch” uhh okay calm down) and later he tweeted about a fight. Niall also tweeted about the same fight (along with many golf related posts) and I never thought I'd think Niall tweeting about sports was anything other than from the heart but damn! Now I gotta ask, is he getting paid too? Meanwhile stans- “so is UFC football?” “no I think it's basketball...?” TBH not sure we're the ideal audience for this ad content lol, but get that coin boys! (I'm gonna be real with you guys, I thought it was boxing this whole time AND not a single one of you corrected me so we are no better over here: it turns out it's Mixed Martial Arts fighting!) Niall also posted a bunch of golf related things which I would never question his passion for but even so, that is promo too, for his golf management company. So a business day all around.

Zayn and Niall also let us know that we could look forward to, respectively, a Vibez music video behind the scenes which sounds really cool and I'm excited for, and a golf chat interview which, well as established I might not be the target audience for but I'm sure that will be... very cool... also?

[tttinytrash]

Ok fine, I caved again. Originally I said I’d at least attempt to not kidnap @shamedump‘s boys again, but their boys are so sweet (and also have to convenient distinction of not actually wanting to hurt their little reader buddy). Dumpling gave me the green light so with their blessing I’m going ahead with Shy’s final prompt for spoopy hide-and-eat with the Bad Sans Gang using Dumpling’s version of the spooky boyos. I hope I channel their personalities adequately, and I hope you guys enjoy!

Movie night with they guys was always a highlight of your week.

You all met as Archer’s castle on a regular basis to just hang out, piling into one room. Thank goodness this was a whole freaking castle, because your gang was pretty big. Despite the size of the room, the couch really wasn’t big enough for your whole group. As per usual Chain, Mage, Dusty, and Mason were crammed on the couch leaving Deca and you to nest on the floor. The plethora of cushions strewn about made that a non issue, luckily. Crash had made himself a hammock out of his own strings overhead, knitting a scarf absently as the movies served as background noise. This week, the reason the seven of you were sprawled over the couch in the first place was the horror movie marathon going on the TV across the room. 

You turned away as the blood curdling screams shrieked from the speakers, the delightful sounds of the hot blonde being torn apart by the feral werewolf on screen acting as your backing track as you cried “Oh come on! That’s just gratuitous!” You laughed, entertained by the campiness buried in the gore but still refraining from watching until the wet squelches subsided.

“you ok?” Chain asked, looking you over. (You didn’t miss Mage glancing over at you either.)

“I’m good. Having a good time, but so not looking forward to the nightmares tonight.” you respond, flapping a hand as if to waft away the concern.

“scared of horrible monsters coming to get you in the night?” Mason teased, abandoning his spot on the couch to push at your shoulder and attempt to loom.

Despite the blank sockets and black tears, the goof didn’t scare you so you laughed easily. “Not like that, and you know it. Stoppit.” You started to push him off, which made him double down on the game and try to knock you over into the pillow pile. 

Mage broke up the game before it turned into proper rough housing, wrapping one tendril around your waist and another around Mason’s ankle. He yanked you both off the floor, chiding “enough, you two.” 

Mason ended up limply hanging upside down, clearly unabashed and jokingly making grabby hands at you.

To prevent further childishness, Mage dumped you into Chain’s lap and dropped Mason into the thickest portion of the pillow pile.

You giggled when Chain wrapped himself around you, setting his chin on the crown of your head and purring about the newfound proximity.

Deca spun around to look at you, “you get nightmares after scary movies?”

“I mean yeah, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay for a good time.” You shrug, as best you can while wrapped up in Chain’s arms.

“Y-y-you know you’re just about the best guarded human-n in the multiverse, right?” Crashed asked, setting hit knitting aside.

“Yeah, I’m well aware that anyone who wanted to get me would have to go through you guys. My brain is just dumb.” You pat the skeleton wrapped around you as best you could, which in your position was patting the thick ecto on his middle since that’s all you could reach.

His belly reacted to the attention by growling, which you could feel while being pressed into it. You could practically feel the mischief coming off Chain as he said “well, i’m plenty willing to make that more literal if you want.” To emphasize, he licked your head.

You pulled away from the intruding tongue, and Chain let you tumble away from him and back onto the floor, laughing as you squealed about him being gross and trying to fix your hair from the huge cowlick Chain had gifted you.

You noticed Dusty quietly saying something to Mason, which was a pleasant surprise as Dusty usually preferred not to speak much if at all. You asked Mason what was up, curious what made the reserved skeleton speak up.

“he’s asking if i think you being taken in would help with the nightmares. so, would it?”

“Uh... dunno. Never tried it before.” You said truthfully.

“why don’t we try it out, then. but make it a game?” Mage asked, grin quirking predatorily.

“Game?” You asked, curious to see where this went.

“yes. you run, we chase. winner gets to keep you for the night.”

“Hah! Am I player or the prize?”

Mage shrugged, “both.”

You glanced around the room and saw several hopeful gazes and a few curious ones. Crash rolled his eyes and went back to his knitting, but you couldn’t deny the puppy dog eyes you were getting from some of the others.

“Alright, game on.”

-----

Crash made a seat for himself and another for Deca high up in the canopy of the woods by the castle, which would serve as your arena for the game. (Thematically appropriate, plus no one could tumble down unforgiving stone stairs.) Crash and Deca tapped out before the game began, neither of them really wanting a guest your size. The others still seemed gung ho, so they were on the forest floor with you. 

You waved your flashlight around the area, already scoping out routes, as Mage explained that a victory meant catching you, no shortcuts allowed, and stipulations about magic to keep you from getting hurt during the chase. You kinda tuned it out, instead strategizing. Not like you had to worry about limiting spells you couldn’t cast in the first place. 

You got a minute head start, and your heart was pounding as you ran. 60 seconds had gone by in your mental countdown, which meant you were officially being hunted.

You were mildly nervous, but far from afraid. You did try to tamp down on the nervous feeling and instead focus on your excitement about a new game. Hopefully a more positive feeling would be harder for Mage to track. 

You weren’t left alone too terribly long, as Dusty had a habit of popping up randomly, forcing you to run away with him snickering behind you. You quickly caught on that he was just there for jumpscares, which made you laugh. You weren’t totally positive where the others were for now, though. That made you more paranoid.

The first time you actually felt the game was afoot was when Mason suddenly appeared on your right and made a grab for you. You dodged the grab, and darted in the opposite direction. Being chased by Mason, you almost missed the dark chuckle in front of you. Luckily you didn’t, as your quick turn saved you from Mage’s tendril’s snapping out towards you. The realization that the tendrils were significantly harder to dodge than Mason had been made you realize Mason wasn’t actually trying to catch you, instead herding you towards Mage.

The realization that Mason was helping Mage rather than himself wasn’t surprising, but definitely amusing. You had to dodge plenty more of Mason’s divebombs, and Mage quickly caught on that you knew what was going on and actually had to chase after you now as well, rather than waiting for Mason to bring you close enough for a grab. You heard Deca laughing from high above when Mason lunged at you but missed, ending in a face plant. Good to know the two non participants were still entertained. Given this opening, you took off yet again only to be stopped by Dusty springing from a shrub.

It was no effort to get away from him, as per usual. But how did he keep finding you so easily?!

Oh, Delta. It was the freaking flashlight! You realized the bright light was all but a beacon in the dark woods. Mason had given it to you, hadn’t he? Ooh, that cheeky little-!

Fine, you could use their trick against them. You jammed the light in the crook of a tree and took of running, leaving the bulb alight. The laughter from both Mason and Mage meant they’d found your trick, but you were far from your boobytrap and felt a sense of victory.

Your skeleton sightings became fewer now, and your night vision had finally adjusted to the dim light of the moon. But it also heightened the nerves instinctual for humans in the dark. You actually screamed the next time Dusty caught you by surprise, and while you backpedalled you didn’t miss the surprised look on Dusty’s face before you felt two solid somethings wrap around from behind you and lock you in place.

You wriggled with all your might out of a pure fear reaction but stilled when you realized two things. 1) The things holding you were big, thick arms. 2) The plushness of the body you were being held to meant it was Chain.

You looked up, breathy laughter tinging your words as you said “I only saw you once this whole game, but wow did you make it count!”

Deca shortcutted to the ground beside you, while Dusty and Chain chuckled at your outburst.

“figured ambush was the way to go. picked a spot and waited for the right moment, and dusty gave me the perfect window.” Chain explained.

“did you even know he was there, dusty?” Deca asked. 

He shook his head, smiling wide.

Crash seems to have been the one who called Mason and Mage that the game was over, as all three approached in a group.

“well played, chain. and you did pretty well too, human.” Mage said as he approached. 

Once the trio joined, the group was left in a loose ring and you still being held by the large skeleton who’d caught you. Conversation was immediate and comfortable, reliving some of the more lively moments and near misses with glee and laughing over mistakes made. After a bit, the chatter was cut by a rolling growl from Chain’s stomach which served as a reminder as to what victory entailed.

“well, the wager was already set. we’ll go set up the sleeping arrangements and meet you back at the castle. see you later, human.” Mage said, leading the others away and leaving just you and Chain out in the cool night air.

“you ready to get in your sleeping bag?” Chain asked, adjusting his grip on you at last to a more bridal style.

“Hah, yeah. Sounds pretty comfy to me.”

Chain smiled before gently fitting your head into his mouth while you went limp to make the next few moments easier on your host. Chain started swallowing with an easy, steady rhythm and you felt yourself relax in response. This was far from your first time being taken in by one of your skeletal companions so you knew the drill. It was with a happy sigh from Chain that you finished your downward journey and slid into the more open space of his stomach. The magic around you was mildly cool but comfortable, and the softness let you sink in a bit and feel cradled and safe.

Chain’s hand pressed in from outside to steady his newly added weight and you felt the light sway as he began to walk back into the castle. You began to rub at the surrounding walls in a successful attempt to get the monster to purr, and he even started rubbing back at you with your free hand.

He did you the favor of turning his magic transparent for you once you were back in the castle. He knew you preferred being able to see people if conversations were happening, and knowing how these nights went sleep wasn’t on the itinerary just yet despite the bedding being set up and pajamas being on.

Once you host had settled where he’d be sleeping, conversations flowed and jokes were made amongst the group with little difference from before despite your seating arrangements. Eventually, Mason approached and started to lightly pester you through the barrier of magic between you two. Chain seemed more entertained by the banter than bothered, but you hadn’t missed the black puddle that formed on the floor behind Mason.

A tendril emerged, wrapped around Mason’s ribs, and dragged him in. The satisfied look on Mage’s face would have clued anyone in the group in to where the troublemaker had ended up even without seeing him be puddled. Any nonexistent doubts also would have been dashed by Mage’s hand remaining on his belly the rest of the evening.

After a while, sleep was imminent and everyone settled comfortably strewn about Mage’s room. Mage and his internal guest were of course veiled on Mage’s four poster bed while everyone else was on various cots and cushions. Even without the luxury of a king sized mattress you felt exceedingly comfortable.

“doin ok in there?” Chain asked quietly.

“Oh, peachy on my end. How ‘bout you?” You kneaded at the wall the way you knew he liked.

He purred at your attentions, rubbing back as best he could from outside. “just wondering if this nightmare cure will do you any good, but i’m feeling pretty peachy too.”

“I will say, pretty hard to feel vulnerable in here. I’ll let you know come morning.”

“good. night, y/n.”

“Goodnight, big guy.”

You both settled in, and it felt like Chain falling asleep took mere seconds. You smiled fondly at the soft sounds of his slowed breathing and his body working around you.

As you drifted off, you couldn’t help but wonder if the chasing game would be played again at some point. 

...

Maybe next week you could watch the sequel to tonight’s movie.

[diddlesanddoodles]

Dumpling ch 27

When they made it back to the library, the sun had already set and though she knew Farris was going to be angry that she had not returned before his curfew, it was the farthest thing on her mind.

“For the time being,” Maevis said to Jae and Nenani. “I think it best we keep what has happened here to ourselves.”

“Shouldn’t we tell Warren?” Jae asked dubiously. “I mean, he has a right to know.”

Maevis nodded. “I will broach it with his majesty and when Keral returns, I will share our new information with him as well. But for you two...act as though nothing has happened.”

“Well...I did kind of tell Farris that were looking for dead people in the tunnels.” Jae admitted sheepishly.  

“Then you will tell him you found the lost tunnel, but no catacombs,” Maevis instructed. “And that because of your unfamiliarity, you got lost. Perhaps that will gain you a little sympathy for the hour.”

Jae leveled a flat and unimpressed look at the magician. “…I don’t know if you’ve actually ever met Farris, but that’s not really something he does.”

“Nenani,” Maevis said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Today must have been very hard for you. I am sorry to have drug you through all of it.”

“How are we going to find the fallen flame?” she asked.

Maevis looked at her, taken aback, but seemed very pleased that she had not been reduced to a further sobbing incoherent mess by the day’s events. “First we must ascertain what, or who, this fallen flame is. Barnaby has likely retired already for the night and I will not rouse him. The poor man needs his rest, but tomorrow we will begin our research. But for now, I believe both of you need some supper and a good night’s sleep.”

“I don’t think I’m going to be getting much sleep after seeing the glowing green skeleton garble cryptic nonsense at us,” Jae said, rubbing the back of his head. “...Donal’s gonna hate me tomorrow.”

“No, I don’t suppose any of us should expect a peaceful night tonight,” Maevis agreed. “But we should make the effort regardless.”

“Come on, Nenani,” Jae said in tired resignation. “I’ll take you back to Farris. Maybe if you give him your best kicked puppy look he won’t be that angry.”

……………………………………………

The cooking fires had been extinguished when they made it into the camp proper and everyone had retired to the hut for the night. As Nenani and Jae approached, they could hear voices from inside and what seemed to be an argument. Farris’s irate voice chief among them.

“...better have one damn good excuse!”

“It’s the brat yer talking about,” said someone. Nenani was sure that it was Bart as it was too deep for anyone else. “He won’t have anythin’ but a mouth full of excuses.”

“You should go find that old cocotte, boss.” Someone laughed and she heard Yale reply, “It’s in the back of the tent on top of the larger oak chest. Y’know. Just in case.”

“Not a bad suggestion, lads.”

Beside her, Nenani heard Jae grumble unhappily. “This day just keeps getting better and better...”

“You don’t need to stay,” she told him. “I’m fine.”

Jae glanced at her with furrowed brows. “Are you sure? Because you’re awfully...quiet. I mean, seeing the thing and hearing all that junk...it freaked me out. Aren’t you scared?”

She thought about it. “The smoke mage scares me more. A lot more. But the skeleton doesn’t. Not really. I mean he does, it was a talking skeleton! He was a skeleton and we was talking! But...he didn’t seem to want to hurt me and he did tell us some things, so that has to be good, right? He wanted to help.”

“I guess...still freaky.”

“Very freaky,” she agreed. “And it does help to talk about it, I mean. When it was just in my head all the time it just felt like it got bigger and bigger until I couldn’t stand it anymore and sometimes it was all I could think about. But...saying it all out loud helped a lot. And you were right about Maevis. He’s really good about making you feel better when your scared.”

Jae smiled fondly. “Yeah. He is. For a man, he’s very motherly.”

She laughed. “He’s very kind.”

“So I guess I’ll leave you to your fate then,” Jae said and was about to say his goodbyes when the moonlight above them was abruptly cut off. They both looked up and any hope that Nenani could somehow muster a pitiful look great enough to surmount Farris’s anger was quickly dashed when they saw the spice master’s face.

“Ah shit...” Jae said just as Farris reached down and grabbed him up by the back of his tunic. “AH! Fuck, Farris! Put me down!” Nenani was also quickly swept up into his other hand and without a word, the giant marched back to the hut with his prizes. Farris used his shoulder to push his way into room with his captives and all eyes turned to them.

“Ah! Well, look what the cat dragged in!” Kol laughed.

“Hold ‘em, Yale.” Farris said gruffly as he dumped both Jae and Nenani into Yale’s lap and turned back out into the night. He caught Nenani awkwardly and Jae mostly fell onto the cot, but Yale was quick to grab onto the young man’s leg as he tried to scurry away.

“Oh no ya don’t, boyo!” Yale laughed.

Jae twisted and kicked at Yale’s hand and managed to wiggle his foot out as Yale tried to adjust his grip on Nenani. But as Jae tried to make a break for the door, Bart’s foot was there to block his path and then rough and hard hands gripped him around the middle and lifted him up. Bart sat the flailing boy on his thigh and held him, ruffling his hair and making the unhappy human even more so.

“Nice try, lad,” Bart chuckled. “But ye should’a known better than cross Farris.”

“It was an accident!” Jae protested, experimentally wiggling in Bart’s grip, but Bart had a solid hold of him. “It’s not like there are windows in those tunnels, y’know!”

“Aye, but this ain’t yer first offense neither, is it boy?”

Jae sighed, exasperated as he tried to fix his hair. “Great...what else did I do?”

“Brought the lil’un back without ‘er marker,” the butcher replied.

Jae paused and considered that. “Oh...yeah.”

“And then before that,” Yale added, fixing his grip on Nenani so she sat in the loop of his arm. “Ya

brought her back all drunk off a’ Maevis’s loopy juice.”

“Yeah, but that one wasn’t my fault,” Jae protested. “That shouldn’t count!”

“And yet it does,” Saen added, his wide grin just making Jae all the more irate. But his bluster and bravado dropped like a rock when Farris walked back into the hut caring a cocotte. The kitchen staff burst out into raucous laughter at the sight and Jae just stared incredulously.

“You got to be joking,” Jae said, real worry starting to sink in and he started to struggle, but Bart just held him firmly.

Farris took the lid off the cocotte and jerked his head. “Put ‘im in, Bart.”

Bart was laughing loudly as the others as he complied with Farris’s order and forced Jae into the open bowl of the pot. “Duck yer head, boy,” Bart chuckled he pressed the human’s head down and Farris’ slipped the lid on top.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE YOU FUCKERS! THIS ISN’T FUNNY!” Nenani could hear the muffled sounds of Jae’s kicks against the metal pot’s sides. She sank into Yale, trying to maker herself as small as possible.

“You may not think so!” Kol said to Jae with a loud and boisterous laugh. “Oh...oh, Gods. I can’t breathe.”

Everyone was beside themselves with mirth and Nenani ducked down further behind Yale’s arm as Farris sat the cocotte down on the floor and use one foot to secure the lid. He flicked his sharp and angry green eyes to meet her own.

“Told ya one thing, didn’t I?” Farris asked, his voice deceptively low. She could almost see the vein at his temple throb with ire. His face was almost purple. She nodded, gulping nervously.

“And what did I fuckin’ say?”

“...to be back before sundown,” she replied meekly.

“Aye. Ya see the sun anywhere, lil’un?”

“No, sir.”

“And yet ye two come strollin’ in two hours passed curfew!” Farris’s voice rose and it sounded very loud in the small hut.

“We didn’t mean to!” she protested.

Farris pinned her with a very unamused look and jerked his head down the cocotte under his foot. “Ye wanna join ‘em in there, Dumplin’?”

She shook her head vigorously.

“Then don’t be feedin’ me any ‘a that,” He warned. “Your punishment comes tomorrow, lass. When I tell ya to do somethin’ or when’ta do it, it ain’t no request. I expect it to be done the way I told ya. Understand me?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. ‘Cause next time somethin’ like this happens, I’m stuffin’ ya both in there.”

“THERE’S NO ROOM!” Jae’s muffled reply came from down near the floor.

“I’ll get a bigger one.” Farris replied flatly.

“Ugh, fucking piece of...how long are you gonna make me stay in here?”

Farris scratched the side of his face as he considered. “Ye got ‘bout eight hours before the sun rises and nine before Donal will be expectin’ ya.”

“YOUR GONNA MAKE ME SIT IN HERE ALL NIGHT?!”

“Aye. Use it as a’ opportunity to figure out how to tell time in th’ dark so this won’t be happenin’ again.”

“FARRIS FOR REAL. THIS WAS FUNNY WHEN I WAS TEN, BUT THERE IS A LOT LESS SPACE IN HERE NOW!”

“Settle in, brat. Ye ain’t gettin’ out till I say.”

“Wha –? Seriously?”

“Aye.”

“DAMMIT, FARRIS –!”

………………………………………………

Farris had not been bluffing when he told Jae he would be spending the night inside of the cocotte and as everyone began to get into their cot’s for the night, Farris weighed the lid down with a large rock before settling into his cot and closing his eyes. But in the early morning hours before the sun had risen, Nenani woke from a fretful and not very refreshing sleep to see Farris at the edge of his cot, wiping away the sleep from his eyes before looking down at the cocotte. He bent down to remove the rock and slipped the lid off. Jae was curled up inside, fast asleep. His chest rose and sank slowly as he breathed.

Farris touched the young man’s back and nudged him. “Come on, boy. Wake up.”

Jae groaned and twisted in response to the prodding, but before he was fully awake, Faris slipped his hand under the young man and pulled him out. The bleary eyed human was set on his feet, but Farris held him steady as he found his footing and once Jae was awake enough to stand for himself, Farris nudged him towards the hut’s door. “Off with ye now. Ye got a few hours yet before Donal will be lookin’ fer ya. Go get a bit a’ rest in a real bed. And don’t think I won’t put ye back in there if ye don’t start mindin’ me, eh?”

Jae just mumbled something noncommittally, still half asleep, rubbing at his eyes. Farris snorted, but the edges of his mouth curled into a light smile. He pressed his knuckles into Jae’s back to encourage him forward.

“I’m going, I’m going...” Jae replied sleepily. “Geez...first that fucking skeleton ghost and then fucking cocottes...never gonan get a full night’s sleep again at this rate. Just gonna tell Donal I’m sick or somethin’.”

Farris narrowed his eyes. “What was that?”

Jae turned back to stare blurry eyed at the spice master. “Huh? What was what?”

“...skeleton ghost?”

Jae was suddenly very much awake and his mouth floundered as he tried to explain himself. “Oh...uh. Not...uh. Nothing. Just nothing.”

“Yer were always a terrible liar, boy,” Farris said with a warning peppering his voice.

“Just a bad dream is all,” Jae replied, but even Nenani could tell that his nervous body language gave away the lie.

Farris pinned Jae with a look. “Jae?”

The young human opened his mouth as though he were going to answer, but paused and then turned on his heals and ran out of the hut before the giant could make a grab for him. Farris just glared after him and sighed. “Gods piss on it...”

Nenani watched silently from her spot tucked up against Yale’s side as Farris spent a few quiet moments for himself in the quiet, just looking out passed the open door to the sun as it slowly started to peak over the edge of the horizon. When the first hint of sunlight crept into the hut, Farris stood up with a grunt. “Alright, boys. Get yer lazy arses up and let’s get to it!”

Yale had become very good at sensing where Nenani was in the mornings and well before she felt Yale stir, his hand slipped under her and he pulled her up with him as he sat up, yawning. Yale was still rubbing the sleep from his face when Farris stepped up to his cot and held his hand out.

“Huh?” Yale asked, looking up at him.

Farris gestured with his fingers. “Hand me the Dumplin’, Yale. She’s with me today. I’ll leave the mornin’ prep to ye to look over.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Yale replied, holding Nenani out to Farris. She settled easily into his warm hands, regretting her poor sleep and as Farris gave out the orders and quickly ran through the day’s work assignments, she laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes. There was no chance the smoke mage could get near her. Not with Farris around. Even with him angry at her, she still felt perfectly safe. The warm ball she had curled herself into, however, was abruptly undone when Farris sat her down on the cold wooden table inside the tent. The morning chill lingered even as the braziers and cook fires were lit.

“Now then,” Farris said as he placed several empty jars onto the table and filled them with vinegar. “By the end of breakfast, I’m expectin’ these all finished. Hear me, lass?”

She looked at the jars and counted. There were seven. It had taken her almost an entire day to do nine and now Farris wanted seven within a few hours. Her face must have betrayed her inner turmoil, because Farris laughed.

“Oh, aye. I’m serious. Seven by end of breakfast, girl. Best be gettin’ a move on then,” he said. “I’ll check on ya in a bit an’ don’t let me catch ya slackin’ none. Remember; that cocotte’s empty now and I’m sure yer plenty small enough t’be fittin’ just fine.”

Her strategy starting off was to pre-ground all of each ingredient first and then divvy them between each jar. She started with the licorice root as it was the easiest one and then started in on the ginger next. Farris peaked in on her after the first hour as she was just starting in on the ginger, but seemed satisfied enough to leave her at it.  As she ground up the yellow roots, her mind began to drift and all she could focus on was the spirit’s words of warning.  

“Find...the fallen flame...little one. They are...the one...who survived...the slaughter...of the ancient...blood...who has...no name...to pass...to her children.”

She wondered if Maevis or Barnaby were up yet and if they had began to look for clues. It just felt like they were sinking deeper into the mud and no where closer to knowing anything more about the smoke mage. It frustrated her to no end and it was only when she realized she had all but mashed the ginger into soup that she snapped out of it. She stared into the yellow goop clinging to the bowl and pestle. Her dress and hands were splattered with it. The smell clung to her.  

“He is...the smoldering...wreck...of a man...once promised...great things.”

A wreck of a man promised great things. Was he out for revenge? What had he been promised? Had the fallen flame...wronged him? But why was he coming after her if this fallen flame was who he was really after? What had her Uncle done to deserve the death he got, stuck down by this mad man…

Her breath hitched in her throat as a sudden thought came to her. In her dream, her Uncle had spoken to the smoke mage and had said...said that he would be denied again.

“You will be denied. This time and every other. You have haunted my family all these years, took everything we ever had, and yet still you are here, demanding more!”

“I will have what is mine. I will see the dead walls rise...”

“You bathe in the blood of thousands. And crown yourself emperor of a mountain of bones. But you are not my King. No King at all...and she will never be yours, no matter how you twist and pull these threads. In this life or the next! She chose Hayron.”

She chose...Hayron. Her father.

“Mama?” Nenani asked aloud to the winds. “Mama...chose Papa...over him...”

Her mother...was the fallen flame. Oira. The woman who rocked her to sleep and sang her lullabies. Who made her clothes and teased her when she grew too big for them. Her gentle, warm smile. Her laugh. The smell of her hair and feeling of being wrapped in her arms. Safe and loved and…

The smoke mage had taken her mother from her. Had murdered her father and her uncle. And now he came for her. A nauseating pull from inside her stomach had her doubled over and it was only when she struggled to take in a breath of air that she realized she was crying. Yelling. Screaming. The flap to the tent flew open and many bodies rushed inside. She heard their voices, but could not understand their words. Hands, warm and soft, touched her lightly and she shrank back. There was a horrible urge to bite and scratch and hurt something. Someone. It was difficult to resist the urge.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” she yelled, her voice cracking and making her throat ache. Her head hurt so badly now. Sound made everything hurt and all she wanted was to curl up and disappear into nothing. No sound. No touch. None of it…

“NENANI!” She opened her eyes to find bright green irises looming over her, hands cradling her in large open palms. Yale was looking down over Farris’s shoulders in worried bewilderment. She saw Saen and Harit. Farris’s face was suddenly all she could see and she realized belatedly that he was speaking to her. “What is it, lil’un? What’s wrong? Talk to me, lass!”

Her chest heaved in great gasping sobs and she couldn’t speak. She couldn’t meet his eyes and she pressed her knees to her chest, curling into herself and shaking. It was too much. Everything hurt and throbbed and she was so tired. No more. Please no more. Help me. Please. Someone...

She could feel Farris’s hand rub down her back, trying to soother her. To calm her. His voice washed over her in a worried, soft brush of air. “Come on, lil’un. Breathe now. Yer alright...”

“He...he’s coming to kill me...” she told him, choking on her own tears.

“What?” Farris’s voice did not sound like his normal self. He sounded concerned. Very concerned. “What are ye talkin’ about? Who wants t’be killin’ ya?”

“...the smoke mage...”

“What? What the fuck is a smoke mage? Ain’t no one after ya, Nenani. Ye had a bad dream is all.”

“No,” she said, shaking he head and the looked up to meet his gaze with wet and wild eyes, full of fear and desperation. “No, Farris...please. I...I’m in trouble...really bad trouble.”

And she told him. Everything.

……………………………………………………………………….

His heart was pounding loudly in her ear, but she did not care. She pressed her forehead into the fabric of his shirt as he carried her through the halls, his hands pressing her to his chest protectively. Everything passed by in a blur and her head ached and her tummy hurt...

There was a crash as a door was violently flung open and she could smell parchment and ink.

“MAEVIS!” Farris roared, the sound of it echoing around the large expanse of the King’s Library. “GET OUT HERE YA FUCKER!”

“F-Farris! What on earth is the matter?” she heard Barnaby speak. He sounded alarmed. She didn’t blame him, though. Farris sounded murderous.

“Holy hell Farris!” Jae. What was he doing in the library? Didn’t he have work?

“Gods above, Farris, what ever is the...ah,” Maevis’s voice came from the other end of the room. “Oh my. I think I know why you’re here...”

“OH, I BET YE DO! WHEN THE FUCK WERE YA GONNA TELL ME SOME LUNATIC’S BEEN TRYIN’ TO KILL MY FUCKIN’ WARD?!”

“Farris, please. I understand you’re angry...”

“ANRGY? YA THINK I’M ANGRY? MAEVIS, I COULD GLADLY HURL YER USELESS ARSE OUT THAT FUCKIN’ WINDOW RIGHT NOW!”

“Please. This is not helping. I can tell you everything if you just...”

“JUST WHAT? SIT DOWN AND HAVE SOME DAMN FUCKIN’ TEA? LOOK AT HER, YA FUCKIN’ NUTCASE! SHE’S SHAKIN’ TO PIECES!”

“We can explain what’s going on, but...”

“AND YOU, BOY! YOU KNEW AND DIDN’T SAY A DAMN WORD EITHER! YA TOOK HER INTO THOSE TUNNELS AND FUCKING….WHAT? WOKE SOME DEAD FUCKER UP? AND YA THOUGHT IT’D BE A GRAND IDEA FER HER TO SEE THAT?”

“We needed her there to be able hear them if they spoke.”

“SHE’S A FUCKIN’ BABE, MAEVIS! A CHILD! SHE SHOULDN’T BE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS MESS!”

“BUT SHE IS!” Maevis’s voice matched Farris’s. “She’s firmly in the thick of whatever it is this Smoke Mage is after. We’re trying to find out what he wants. To protect her!”

“IT AIN’T YER FUCKIN’ JOB TO BE PROTECTIN’ HER! IT’S MINE!”

“Farris, please, listen to us,” Jae begged. “This guy is really bad news. That dead guy gave us some clues to how to stop him and that’s what we’re trying really hard to figure out. We have to find this fallen flame person and...”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS A FALLEN GODDAMN FLAME?!”

“We think it’s a person. Maybe someone who...”

“Mama...” Nenani said quietly, uncurling herself from Farris’s shirt. Her head hurt so much…

“What?” Maevis asked. “Nenani, what did you say?”

“Mama is...was the fallen flame.”

“You’re...mother?”

“Nenani,” Barnaby said to her, his voice urgent and pleading. “Nenani, dear, I need you to tell me. Was your mother’s name Aine?”

“No...her name was Oira...”

“Yes, my dear, but was her full name Aine Elaine Oira?”

“I...I don’t know.”

“Nenani, please, this is very important. I have reason to believe you are right, that the person the spirit spoke of is your mother. This fallen flame, but I need to know...”

“But she’s dead...she can’t help us. He killed her. And Papa...” Nenani said. There was another painful throb inside her head and she felt ill. “My head hurts...”

“Farris, put her here,” Maevis said gently, gesturing to the table.

“What are –?”

“I have some tonic to help with the pain. She’s hurting.”

She felt his hands curl around her for a moment before he lowered her onto the table. Barnaby was next to her suddenly and held up a tea cup, a small amount of bluish liquid at the bottom. “Drink, my dear. It will help.”

She tipped the cup back and the liquid hit her throat and she began to cough. It tastes vile and burned a little. Barnaby rubbed her back as she coughed. “There’s a good dear.”

“Oh my child,” Maevis said, standing near one end of the table with his hands pressed to the surface. “I am so sorry...”

Farris growled. “Ye should be fuckin’ apologizin’ to me dammit, Maevis. Does the King know? Why hadn’t ye said anythin’ before?”

“Yes. You’re right,” the magician said, bowing his head. “And I will explain what we know now and…wait.” Maevis’s head tilted to the side as though he had heard a sudden noise. “What…?”

“Huh?” Jae asked, taking a few steps towards him. “What’s wrong?”

“I just –Oh!” Maevis’s looked worried now. “Oh no…”

“What’s ‘oh no’? Maevis?” Jae asked, his own voice beginning to sound worried.

“One of my barriers was just destroyed...”

“What? Now? Where?”

“The one I cast near the north tower and...” Maevis’s eyes opened wide. “Another! Some...someone is dismantling my barriers!”

The magician ran to the window and thrust it open. The cold morning air rushed in, scattering a few papers. Nenani’s head gave another powerful, painful throb and she dropped the tea cup and it shattered at her feet. Farris loomed above her protectively, reaching an arm around her.  

“Jae, my boy,” Barnaby said as he hurriedly thrust something wrapped in a hemp blanket into the young man’s arms. “Take this.”

“What is…?” Jae unwrapped the top part of the bundle and from the folds of it was the hilt of a sword. Jae starred at it in disbelief and apprehension. “What –?!”

“Just in case,” Barnaby said, his face strained. “Just in case.”

“Wha...where the hell did you get a sword?” Jae demanded. “And why do I need it?”

Nenani’s head was swimming and the tonic did not seem to be helping at all. In fact, it seemed to make it that much worse. She heard the voices around her argue and speak, but she did not hear or understand them. She was too engrossed with trying to fight the painful aching between her temples. And then she smelled it. The scent of ash and smolder. She opened her eyes and looked around the room, searching with fervent paranoia. Her eyes were drawn to the velvet curtain that marked Maevis’s private study and there she saw it. Thin tendrils of smoke leaking up from behind the curtain and she followed it up and up to the ceiling. The face of a stag skull starred back at her, its two red eyes glowing from high up. He seemed to be suspended in air, but she realized he was crouched on the topmost shelf a hundred or so feet up, staring down at them.

“UP!” Nenani screamed, raising her hand towards the black cloaked intruder. They all craned their heads up and finally he was revealed to them. He was no longer a possible figment of Nenani’s imagination. He was there. He was real. And they all saw him.

“Stay down, lass.” Farris told her, nudging her down into the safety of his looped arm.

“By the seventh seal...” Baranby breathed as he too laid eyes on the smoke mage. The stag skull mask turned to the archivist and tilted curiously. “It’s true...”

“Well I am surprised,” the black figure said, high amusement in his tone. “Is that truly you, archivist? I did not think you were still alive, but there you are. Still intact and everything! It appears you’ve managed to escape their soup pot all these years. Too bony for you, giants? I can rough him up a bit for you. Make him a little more tender.”

“How...” Barnaby seemed lost for words and in great distress.

“Shut your filthy mouth, Mage,” Maevis growled up at the figure, reaching out to wrap his hands around Barnaby and pulling him closer to his person. “If you should even think about harming him, I will rip your legs off.”   

The smoke mage just laughed. “And you magician. Your annoying spells and incantations have been quite bothersome. Forgive me if I wasn’t very delicate in dismantling them. They were in my way.”

“What do you want here?” Maevis demanded.  

“You have something of mine. I am simply here to collect. As well as pay you back handsomely for destroying my favorite pet. He still had plenty of use let in him before his body would have given out.”

“There is nothing for you here. I suggest you leave.”

“No,” the mage said and pointed his finger down towards Farris. “No, I don’t believe I will. I have need of that one. That thorn guard’s bastard...”

Farris growled a deep, guttural, feral sound, and his arm pulled Nenani closer to him. “Over my fuckin’ rottin’ corpse ye will, ye hazey lil’ fuck.”

“Such eloquent talk, giant,” the Smoke Mage replied dryly. “But if that is all I need to do, then it will be my pleasure.”

The Mage raised his hands and a black mist burst from his palms. Farris barely had time to take a breath before the force of it hit him straight in the chest and sent him flying back several dozen feet to crash against a bookcase. He fell to the floor and did not get up.

“FARRIS!” Nenani screamed. Jae’s arm wrapped around her shoulder when she made to run to her guardian.

“ENOUGH!” Maevis sent two blue orbs back at the Mage who leaped away from the wall just as the blue light struck where he had once been. Parchment and the shredded remains of several books rained down upon them. The Mage clung to wall like a bat and raised his palm towards Maevis to release another powerful burst of black mist. It struck the magician in the shoulder and sent him flying to the floor. He was dazed, but not knocked out, groaning against the pain and struggling to get back to his feet.

“NO!” Nenani yelled and then looked around to see where the Mage had gone, but his movements had been so fast…

“NENANI!” Jae yelled and pushed her away from him just as the Smoke Mage’s sword came down between them. Nenani fell hard on her hip and look up just in time to see the black figure standing above her, his hand reaching out for her. Then movement as Jae was there behind him, his own sword raised above his head to strike at the Mage and Nenani recognized the sword immediately.

...it was her father’s sword.

The skull tilted and Jae brought the blade down, but in a flash the Mage was turned towards Jae, his own black blade parrying the boy’s downward thrust. Jae looked startled at the figure’s incredible speed and that was all the time the Mage needed. He kicked Jae in the chest and the boy fell back hard. Jae laid there dazed for a few moments, but he got back onto his feet, wobbling and breathing hard.

“You’re annoying,” the Mage growled and turned his hand towards Jae as though to send a shot of black mist at him as well.

“NENANI, DUCK!” Maevis shouted and she had just enough time to pull her head down before another blue orb shot towards the Mage and this time it hit true and the Mage was sent hurling across the room. Jae went to Nenani and helped her up.  

“RUN!” Maevis told them, pointing to the open window. “GO! GET TO THE KING’S KEEP!”

“Com on,” Jae said, pulling her along with him and in his other hand he still held the sword. “We need to move!”

“But Farris!” she protested, sending back an anxious glance to where the spice master lay prone on the ground. His head was bleeding, but she could see his chest falling and rising.

“We have to go!” Jae told her and even as she allowed herself to be pulled and ushered to the window, she did not take her eyes off of the prone form of her guardian.

[thesealovesme]

@imherebecauseyourehere​ shENANIGANS

| |The sea I so loved, she rejects me, she rejects me!:;

  Liquid citrine tumbling from a glass prison, breaking into droplets across a dusty hardwood floor as yet another victim fell at the BLOODY hands of a BEAST, lifeless form limp against the countertop.      A graveyard of ivory, a funeral dirge in the form of expression, a smug carnivore awaiting prey to fall carelessly into his open jaws - a rough chuckle expelled from scarred lips as the poor bastard was hauled off by comrades, all cursing his name.

             “Tough luck, boyo - try again some other time, aye?                       Well, now - -  Anyone else?“

The tavern was small, secluded, disheveled and filled to the brim with debauchery, violent revelry and sweat - wanted posters littered the walls, including his own, which currently had a knife stabbed straight through the wall between the eyes.       Outside the derelict remains of society, a sign hung boasting the atrocious establishment to be called the ‘WONKY DONKEY’, in relentless bold lettering, while under it, an advertisement for an ongoing drinking contest fraught with spelling errors indicated that a grand prize was to be presented to the victor.         He had been there for hours, now - haunting the Inn as some form of inebriation demon that would not fall, claiming the consciousness of many a contestant. There was no care for the prize, a New World log pose, as he merely utilized a Sea King’s sense of direction and his own nose to find where he had once been, but the booze was free as long as he kept winning, kept challenging, and that was sure as hell a nice deal.

                                                                       ;;Take me then, it’s where I belong, the sea, sea,                                                                                                      by the wrathful God of the sea.| |

[chez-pezeater]

TCR Birthday Bash 2019: Day 7- Game Night

So this is probably going to get me either a lot of hate, thrown out of the fandom, or (best case scenario) requests for more. I’m honestly not sure which is worse (worst?) at this point. Either way please enjoy Cards Against Humanity: The Cat Returns Addition. Persephone is a TCR OC that belongs to @tcrmommabear & @sindysugar being used with their permissions.

At this point Hiromi has long since become a frequent visitor to the Bureau after following Haru one day. Meaning Hiromi while not quite as close to the others as Haru is, is still considered a friend.  Also the humans are in their early 20s and knowing my friends and I when we get into the game, potty language. Which really should just be a warning for CAH in general.

Cards Against Humanity (for those that don’t know) is played with two types of cards: Black prompt cards and White (I call them) Reaction cards. A person draws a prompt card and the other players put down their reaction card(s) face down and then replace the number of cards they used. Prompt drawing player flips them over and selects the best reaction card of the round. Best reaction card(s) win the prompt card. Prompt cards use between 1-3 reaction cards.

- - - - - - - - - - -

To be fair, the entire thing was ENTIRELY Hiromi’s fault. Now that’s not to say that Haru didn’t love her best friend, because she did. She also knew EXACTLY what kind of humor Hiromi had. Mix that with a card game who’s box quite literally proclaims it to be “A horrible game for horrible people”. Yeah… It’s all Hiromi’s fault.

Hiromi drew a black prompt card. “’What’s making things awkward in the sauna?’ Ok folks hit me with your best shots.”

Louise puts down a card reading ‘A sales team of clowns and pedophiles.’

Muta chose to use ‘Scrotum tickling.’

Persephone gave it some thought before selecting ‘Cute Boys.’

Baron hesitated before putting down ‘MechaHitler.’

Haru slaps down ‘Full Frontal Nudity.’ with NO HESITATION.

Toto calmly places down ‘Fiery Poops.’

Hiromi reads all the reaction cards before declaring “A sales team of clowns and pedophiles is the winner. Who put that down cuz yeah that would make things awkward?”

Louise raises a hand while smirking. She accepts her prize before drawing a new prompt card, “’Only two things in life are certain: death and (blank).’ Oh my, there are so many ways that could be taken.”

Hiromi slapped down ‘The violation of our most basic human rights.’ as her card.

Muta, thinking of everything that happens regarding any of the groups antics, put down ‘Total fucking chaos.’

Persephone, not having very many good cards, selects ‘The male gaze.’

Baron, knowing how dramatic his sister is, chose ‘Dropping a chandelier on your enemies and riding the rope up.’ (winner)

Haru hemmed and hawed before putting down ‘Kamikaze pilots.’

Toto put down ‘Every ounce of charisma left in Mick Jagger’s tired body.’ hoping to get some laughs.

Louise read the cards out loud, cackling in between them, and said “’Dropping a chandelier on your enemies’ wins. So which one of you called me out like this?”

“I did sister dear, after all between the two of us this is exactly the kind of dramatics you would use.” Snorts echoed around the table, implying that Louise wasn’t the only over-the-top-Gikkingen around.

And so the game continued:

R3) Muta- (prompt) Listen, Gary, I like you. But if you want that corner office, you’re going to have to show me (blank).

Hiromi- Being a busy adult with many important things to do

Louise- Deez nuts

Persephone- Exactly what you’d expect

Baron- A constant need for validation

Haru- My worthless son

Toto- Meaningless sex

“Tough call but with how humans are ‘A constant need for validation.’ wins although ‘Meaningless sex.’ was close.” “Drat,” Toto declared while Baron took another card.

R4)Persephone- (prompt) Dear Sir or Madam, We regret in infom you that the Office of (blank) has denied your request for (blank).

Hiromi- Bill Nye the Science Guy & A gassy antelope

Louise- Republicans & Black People

Muta- Blackula & The shambling corpse of Larry King

Baron- Sean Penn & Tripping balls

Haru- AXE Body Spray & Being fabulous

Toto-  Wifely duties & Consensual sex

“Seriously Louise? ‘Wifely duties.’ AND ‘Consensual sex.’ You know that combination wins.” “Sorry Love but that wasn’t mine.” “Nope it was mine.” “Well either way it was well played, well done Toto.”

“Looks like it’s time to pull out the ‘Most Horrible Person of the Night Award’.” “Hiromi, No!” “Hiromi YES!” “Hey! Why does Birdbrain get Doritos?!”

R5) Baron- (prompt) Well if (blank) is a crime, then lock me up!

Hiromi- The boners of the elderly

Louise-  Eating together like a god damn family for once

Muta- The harsh light of day

Persephone- The Boy Scouts of America

Haru- Saying “I Love You”

Toto- The light of a billion suns

“I feel like I’m being called out right now. Who played ‘Saying “I Love You.”?” Baron asked with a very unamused look on his face.

“I did,” Haru replied straightfaced.

“You’re never going to let that go are you?”

“What do you think?”

Baron sighed before handing Haru the prompt card. It was better not to argue with her.

R6) Haru- (prompt) When I was tripping on acid, (blank) turned into  (blank).

Hiromi- Sudden Poop Explosion Disease & Used panties

Louise- The economy & The sweet song of sword against sword and the braying of mighty war beasts

Muta- Expecting a burp and vomiting on the floor & Turning the rivers red with the blood of infidels (winner)

Persephone- Crazy opium eyes & Treasure beyond your wildest dreams

Baron- Natalie Portman & Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night

Toto- A Ugandan warlord & Former President George W. Bush

“Really Muta? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: That’s disgusting.” “So are some of these reaction cards.”

R7) Toto- (prompt) Life for American Indians was forever changed when the White Man introduced them to (blank)

Hiromi- All my friends dying (winner)

Louise- Syphilitic insanity

Muta- How awesome it is to be white

Persephone- Indescribable loneliness

Baron- The Pope

Haru- The eighth graders

“Toto pass Hiromi the bag. Hiromi you’re terrible.” Hiromi just giggles naughtily.

R8) Hiromi- (prompt) (Blank): Brought to you by (blank).

Louise- Homeless people & Rich people

Muta- Mouth herpes & Going down on a woman, discovering that her vagina is filled with eyeballs, and being totally into that

Persephone- Santa Claus & Being rich

Baron- Shutting the fuck up & The Rev. Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr.

Haru- Getting caught by the police and going to jail & Going around punching people(winner)

Toto- Running out of semen & A mine having a stroke

“Sound about right.” “Oh and how would you know Turkey Leg? You don’t have any fists!” “Wouldn’t you like to know fatso.”

R9) Louise- (prompt) (Blank). Betcha can’t have just one!

Hiromi- Heartwarming orphans

Muta- Grammar nazis who are also regular Nazis

Persephone- Gwyneth Paltrow’s opinions

Baron- A sad handjob (winner)

Haru- Horrifying laser hair removal accidents

Toto- Emotions

“Is there something you want to confess brother dear?” “Not to you sister dear.”

R10) Muta- (prompt) This is the prime of my life. I’m young, hot, and full of (blank).

Hiromi- My dad’s dumb fucking face

Louise- Cancer

Persephone- Lunchables TM (winner)

Baron- YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS

Haru- The Hamburglar

Toto- Statistically validated stereotypes

“What? I’m hungry!”

R11) Persephone- (prompt) We never did find (blank), but along the way we sure learned a lot about (blank)

Hiromi- Blowjobs for everyone & Pac-Man uncontrollably guzzling cum (Hiromi)

Louise- What Jesus would do & The South

Muta- The white half of Barack Obama & A black-owned and operated business

Baron- God & A chimpanzee in sunglasses fucking your wife

Haru- Jobs & Western standards of beauty

Toto- Important news about Taylor Swift & Starting a shitty podcast

“HIROMI!” “AHH SAVE ME SOMEBODY!” (This was not the first time Hiromi used Pac-Man against Haru. Nor would it be the last.)

R12) Baron- In return for my soul, the Devil promised me (blank), but all I got was (blank).

Hiromi- Jesus & White people

Louise- Third base & Being fat and stupid

Muta- A subscription to Men’s Fitness & Pooping back and forth. Forever.

Persephone- Some shit-hot guitar licks & An ass disaster

Haru- Interspecies marriage & Necrophilia (winner)

Toto- The Blood of Christ & Adderall TM

“Guilty conscious Haru?” “I’M NOT A FURRY DAMNIT!”

R13) Haru- (prompt) You won’t believe what’s in my pussy. It’s (blank).

Hiromi- Daddy issues

Louise- The power of the Dark Side (winner)

Muta- A salty surprise

Persephone- Old-people smell

Baron- My collection of high-tech sex toys

Toto- How wet my pussy is.

“I hate you all.”

R14) Toto- (prompt) Money can’t buy me love, but it can buy me (blank)

Hiromi- The mere concept of Applebees TM

Louise- Sexual peeing

Muta- Authentic Mexican cuisine

Persephone- An asymmetric boob job (winner)

Baron- Helplessly gigling at the mention of Hutus and Tutsis

Haru- Switching to Geico®

R15) Hiromi- (prompt) (Blank) is a slippery slope that leads to (blank).

Louise- Blackface & Ripping open a man’s chest and pulling out his still-beating heart

Muta- Court-ordered rehab & Words, words, words.

Persephone- Same-sex ice dancing & Butt stuff

Baron- Establishing dominance & Stockholm Syndrome (winner)

Haru- Overpowering your father & Darth Vader

Toto- Copping a feel & A boo-boo

“Damn Baron, what are you into?” “I’m not! Why are you handing me these?” “Because you made shit go real dark, real quick boyo.”

R16) Louise- (prompt) My gym teacher got fired for adding (blank) to the obstacle course.

Hiromi- Walking into a glass door

Muta- Sperm whales

Persephone- Peeing a little bit

Baron- A face full of horse cum

Haru- Meatloaf, the man.

Toto- Warm, velvety muppet sex (winner)

“I think I need to give these back to you Toto.” “No no, you can still keep them.” (Cue unhappy Baron face.)

R17) Muta- What gets better with age?

Hiromi- Crippling debt

Louise- A Super Soaker TM full of cat pee (winner)

Persephone- Roland the Farter, flatulist to the king.

Baron- Yeast

Haru- The placenta

Toto- Nothing

“At least no one played ‘My genitals.’ this time.” “That can still change Haru~.”

R18) Persephone- (prompt) In his new action comedy, Jackie Chan must fend off ninja while also dealing with (blank).

Hiromi- Not having sex

Louise- Aaron Burr

Muta- Mixing M&Ms and Skittle like some kind of psychopath

Baron- The dentist

Haru- Samuel L. Jackson (winner)

Toto- Getting eaten alive by Guy Fieri

“To be fair, Ryan Renolds had a hard time dealing with Samuel L. Jackson in ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard.’” “Still funny.”

R19) Baron- (prompt) Today on Maury: “Help! My son is (blank)!”

Hiromi- A woman

Louise- A monkey smoking a cigar (winner)

Muta- Teaching a robot to love

Persephone- Running naked through a mall, pissing and shitting everywhere

Haru- Such a big boy

Toto- Filling every orifice with butterscotch pudding

“What is ‘Maury’?” “An American TV show that mostly deals with people deliberately exposing themselves to lie detectors and paternity tests because they can’t stay in their lanes and be decent human beings.”

R20) Haru- (prompt) Heed my voice, mortals! I am the god of (blank), and I will not tolerate (blank)!Hiromi- Sunshine and rainbows & Incest

Louise- The profoundly handicapped & Throwing a virgin into a volcano

Muta- Sweet, sweet vengeance & Cheating in the Special Olympics

Persephone- Finger painting & The hiccups

Baron- Erectile dysfunction & Having a penis (winner) (game end)

Toto- Nickleback & Licking things to claim them as your own.

“That’s it, game over, Baron wins, Good night.” “Oh c’mon Haru.” “Nope! Can’t do it! Good night!”

- - - - - - - -

‘Most Horrible Person of the Night Award’ is an inside joke among my circle of RL friends that typically ends up being a bag of Doritos.

[abitscripturient]

15 for 15 Tag

Thanks for tagging me @magsiswritingnow

Rules: Answer 15 questions about your WIP from a character’s perspective, then tag 15 people.

1. What is your full name?

Graven Tod Stefanson

2. What does your full name mean?

Graven means “ditch” or “channel” in German. Tod means fox.

3. What are your other nicknames/names?

My usual nickname is Gray, but my mom calls me Boyo. It used to be little boyo when I was little and it stuck. 

4. What is your gender?

Male

5. What is your sexuality?

Heterosexual

6. Where are you from?

I live in Relic City which was originally Chicago.

7. How old are you?

I’m 23...I think. 

8. What is your species/magic form?

I’m human and I don’t have magic. Is magic really a  thing somewhere? With these weird-ass scientists and this stupid hovering city, I wouldn’t be surprised. I am pretty good at sharpshooting and singing. 

9. What does your human form look like?

I have long black hair that is usually unbrushed at the bottom until it’s near dreadlock level. It gets that way because it’s usually under my coat and I don’t mess with it. If Seren gets to it, she fixes it until it’s got a slight curl to it. My eyes are green from my dad...but he’s not around anymore.

10. What’s your aesthetic?

Rockstars, guitars, trenchcoats, the color black, shotguns, friendship, long hair, grunge

11. Who’s your best friend?

My best friend? More like my best friends. The other three members of my band Bloodstream (Rebel, Turbo and Monster) are three that I would gladly give my life to save theirs. 

12. Would you ever get a piercing or tattoo?

I have an eagle on my back with a wingspan and feathers that go across my shoulders and upper arms. I have it to remind me that I’m looking toward my freedom from this bullshit.

13. When are you happiest?

There’s a couple of situations where I’m happiest. Of course when I’m with my Prized Fighter. Second is when I’m with my mother and third is when I’m with my bandmates playing our instruments. 

14. What’s your biggest secret?

I haven’t told my mother that I held the Empress hostage in Soramerica. 

15. What was your first impression of ___?

Seren? Oh my God...seeing her in the crowd that night made time slow and seeing her nearly gold eyes made a shiver go up and down my spine. I’m so glad I met her and have her in my life from that fateful night.

Tagging who I’m following: @piratequeenofpixies @visionofwriters @cawolters @kainablue @crowandmoonwriting @vasilisapeadarsan @writingonesdreams @writer-jessicac @quilloftheclouds

[dr-gloom]

Spookmonth Fics Masterpost

Read them all here on AO3

Simply Meant to Be - Day 1 

Summary:  Virgil really loves Halloween, and parties. Especially Halloween parties. Patton really loves Virgil.

Ship: Moxiety

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, costumes, Virgil is non-binary, Remy is genderfluid, hence the costume

This is Halloween (Everybody Make a Scene) - Day 2 

Summary:  Patton really wants to go trick-or-treating and manages to convince his boyfriends, but not everyone is as enthusiastic as him about the idea of adult trick-or-treaters.

Ship: LAMP/CALM

Tags/Warnings:  genderfluid Patton, Nightmare Before Christmas all over the place, I’m not sorry, some anxiety but let’s be honest I can’t write anything with Virgil without him freaking out at some point, mean suburban mom, can anyone feel my distaste for the suburbs yet?, Human AU

The Pumpkin King - Day 3 

Summary:  Halloween is coming up and Patton wants to carve pumpkins with his friends-turned-roomies. Virgil hasn’t even looked at a pumpkin in years, and the others are about to find out why.

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, pumpkin carving, lots of angst for like the first half, mentions of cancer, minor character death but it’s just mentioned

But Who Here Would Ever Understand - Day 4 

Summary:  Patton and Virgil have both had hard days at work, so they decide to take a little walk and talk about Serious Business™.

Ship: Moxiety

Tags/Warnings:  Virgil has Borderline Personality, Patton is a transmale, poor bois, hot chocolate, sweaters, sunsets, Human AU

There Are So Many Things I Cannot Grasp - Day 5 

Summary:  Logan hates the fall, because all he can see is the death of nature. Patton loves the fall, because he can push his boyfriend into a pile of rotting plant bodies leaves!

Ship: Logicality

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU (which I always forget to tag), idk what else to tag?, jumping in leaves, hhhhhh what a mess, I can feel the leaves scratching me no thanks

How Could I Be So Blind? - Day 6

Summary:  Virgil has never understood the point of decorating. Much less decorating for a season.

Ship: Moxiety

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, Non-binary Patton, Patton is an elementary school teacher, decorating for fall, there’s like one ‘oh shit’ moment but everything’s okay, cute dorky gays

This Looks Like Fun - Day 7

Summary: Patton’s been getting a lot of questions about the cookies people see his boyfriends eating in his videos, so he decides to make a video about them!

Ship: LAMP/CALM

Tags/Warnings: some swearing, Virgil eats like, everything, very ridiculous, Human AU, Virgil goes by Anx on Tumblr and his boyfriends try to respect that

I Must Be Dreaming - Day 8

Summary: Virgil has never been to a fall festival before, but he really wants to go with Logan. 

Ship: Analogical

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, a little bit of angst, will I ever be able to write straight-up fluff? Who knows, cute boyos

I’ve Never Felt This Good Before - Day 9 

Summary: Virgil and Roman have been together for a few years now, and Roman’s been planning something big. He loses his patience and decides to spring his plan into action on Halloween.

Ship: Prinxiety

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, dorks, cutie patooties, hella gay

Life’s No Fun Without A Good Scare - Day 10 

Summary: Roman talks Patton into trying out the corn maze. They totally don’t get lost.

Ship: Royality

Tags/Warnings: Human AU, useless gays, some swearing

Don’t We Love It Now - Day 11 

Summary: Patton drags Logan along to a hay ride. Logan does not like hay, but ey loves Patton, so ey doesn’t complain. 

Ship: Logicality

Tags/Warnings: Agender Logan, hay rides, little accident, it’s fine though no one’s hurt, Lo’s a sap for his sap

Instead of Throwing Heads - Day 12 

Summary: Logan takes Virgil apple-picking. 

Ship: Analogical

Tags/Warnings: slight injury, dw it’s okay, gay nerds pickin apples

Year After Year (It’s the Same Routine) - Day 13 

Summary: Patton loves many things, but Friday the 13th is not one of them. 

Ship: LAMP/CALM

Tags/Warnings: superstition, cute poly boyos, Patt’s not all that into religion because lots of ppl use it as an excuse to hurt others, but he doesn’t have a problem with ppl being religious, cute phone contact names

I Can’t Believe My Eyes - Day 14 

Summary: Virgil has a secret. Roman is more than thrilled to discover it. 

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings:  Logan is non-binary, Dee has vitiligo, bois obsessed with caffeine, idk man it was just funny

Make You Jump Out of Your Skin - Day 15 

Summary:Deceit really loves October. 

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings: sympathetic Deceit, Dee plays pranks, it’s funny, s/o to @lucifer-in-my-head​ for helping me with Patton’s idea.

Why, That Looks So Unique (Inspired) - Day 16 

Summary: No one makes couples costumes for polyam relationships. The boys decide to take matters into their own hands, with a little help from Steven Universe. 

Ship: LAMP/CALM

Tags/Warnings:  costumes, fusions, halloween, roman’s good at art (unlike me), cute boyos

And How You’ll Scream - Day 17 

Summary: Virgil talks Patton into watching a Halloween movie with him, despite how nervous they are.

Ship: Moxiety

Tags/Warnings: non-binary Patton, halloween movies, cute supportive boyfriends, patton gets scared but virgil comforts them

Feels Like Tragedies At Hand - Day 18 

Summary: Virgil doesn’t sleep. He isn’t capable of sleeping anymore, and he hates it. But one night, Thomas can’t sleep either. 

Ship: platonic ThVi

Tags/Warnings: shitty summary, ghost virgil, witch thomas, idk are these really monsters?, sorry yall, reference to death

Something’s Waiting Now To Pounce - Day 19 

Summary: Virgil and Patton go to a haunted house and someone gets too scared to finish what they started. 

Ship: Moxiety

Tags/Warnings: Human AU, this is based off of a real event, i went to a haunted house with my friend, i was virgil, some spook/angst/suspense(?), minor swearing

Won’t The Children Be Surprised - Day 20 

Summary: Patton convinces the others to explore a supposedly haunted carnival with him. It… doesn’t exactly end the way they’d thought it would

Ship: platonic LAMPDS

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, haunted carnivals, spoopy, remy’s a butt, is he real? no one knows

Only Dust And A Plaque - Day 21 

Summary: Logan hated not knowing what happened. He wished he would just be left alone. 

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings:  human AU, ghost logan, angst, idk sad logan, minor violence but no one is hurt

Here Lies Poor Old Virgil - Day 22 

Summary: Virgil had been the one to always talk Patton into visiting the graveyard, but this year Patton has to go alone. 

Ship: Moxiety

Tags/Warnings: human AU, major character death, really freaking sad, I’m not sorry, poor Patton, poor Virgil

You’d Better Pay Attention Now - Day 23

Summary:  Virgil’s up late and gets scared by something unexpected.

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings: virgil gets spooked, it’s dumb

When You Call “Who’s There?” - Day 24 

Summary: Roman gets out of rehearsal pretty late one night, and has to walk home alone. He lets himself get a little too paranoid. Or does he?

Ship: romantic or platonic Prinxiety

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, hella suspense yo, roman’s an actor, virgil is mentioned, very spooky walks home

It’s Been Dead For Much Too Long - Day 25 

Summary: Not all ghost stories are told by the living. 

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings:  Human AU, graphic depictions of blood/gore/violence, seriously if you’re at all squeamish you probably shouldn’t read, ghost!Roman, ghost!Deceit, death, suicide mention, animal mutilation, murder

Somewhere Deep Inside of These Bones - Day 26 ((sequel to Day 21))

Summary: Remy had heard all the stories growing up, so naturally he wants to see what the truth is when he still believes in the ghost that lives in that rundown house downtown. 

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings: Human AU, angst, poor Logan, things are all coming together, Remy and Declyn are dorks, ouija board usage, i do not condone such acts of foolishness

With Lives on the Line - Day 27

Summary: Roman brings his boyfriends to the imagination, and things go horribly wrong. 

Ship: LAMP/CALM

Tags/Warnings:  violence, but i mean like, fist fights, uhm, idk what else

Can’t Shake This Feeling That I Have - Day 28 

Summary: Patton wants to play Outlast with Virgil. How could he say no?

Ship: platonic Moxiety

Tags/Warnings: it’s a horror/suspense game so, creepy, suspenseful, anxiety attack, some swearing, Human AU (I keep forgetting to add that one to my fics whoops)

Something’s Up With Virgil - Day 29 

Summary: Remy throws amazing Halloween parties, with a crazy money prize for his costume contest. Virgil wants that money. 

Ship: Prinxiety

Tags/Warnings: Dragon Witch costume, Virgil’s unfairly hot, based on @em-be-lievable‘s Dragon Witch AU, Human AU, College AU

What Have I Done? - Day 30 

Summary: Roman ate the last of the Crofter’s. He could only imagine how furious Logan would be.

Ship: no ship

Tags/Warnings:   intimidation, servitude, Roman wtf, belittling, slight swearing, Human AU

Join You By Your Side - Day 31 

Summary: This was by far the scariest thing Virgil has ever done in his life. He’s planned for this day for months, put up with things he never would have before, just to see this day happen. All for Remy. 

Ship: Sleepxiety

Tags/Warnings:  flashbacks, cute nerds, self deprecation, halloween festivities, I’m trying to tag this without giving anything away, Human AU

[akingofcrows-blog]

Medic union children

So, the Medic Union has ranks, the rookies (consisting of only Yellow), the Red zones (Consisting of Red, Blu, Violet, Orange, and around 2 others) the next group is the Necros (consisting of White,  and a Pyro), the next rank is the Alcatraz (only Medic in this rank is Pink), then there is the Kaiser, aka Black medic who controls the entire medic union, but White has his own tiny group but Black takes control over his medics half the time because he needs to feel in control. Anyways, Pink tries to kill White a l o t, but White escapes by hiding behind Black medic who wonders what the fuck is going on and looks back at Pink medic who is all like “Oh, it’s nothing! Just playing hide and seek”, and when Black leaves, the cycle continues. Now lemme get the boyos out of the way:

Black medic- Very controlling and dominant, he started the Medic union on the fact the opposing team's Demoman blew half his face off and now has nasty scars all over the left side of his face. He pays little attention to how his fellow medics are doing and constantly ignore White medic's pleas to stop and take a break for him to heal the other medics. He hates Green medic because the Green medic supposedly (betrayed him) while the Green medic saved a scout who was cornered by the Red Medic during a battle between the blu team vs the Medic Union. His main weapon is two large guns which fire white bullets, his special move with the guns is something he calls a "Parasite bullet", after charging up his guns, he fires a white bullet that embeds itself in an opposing teammate, he can play puppet with the teammate till the parasite bullet explodes, killing the puppet with it. Pink medic- He is very sweet and kind when Black medic is around but will turn into Satan once the Kaiser leaves, he has a pet cat which has a camera in its eye and sends it out to check up on the various Medics. His main weapon is an ax that he got from their team's pyro and he cherishes it like no other. He has a very bad relationship with the White medic and has a frenemy relationship with the Black medic. White Medic- He loves to help the other medics with their issues, but depends on the help of others in order to get things done. He brought the Blacc pyro into the medic union by convincing Pink Medic to let the Pyro stay. White Medic longs for a higher rank in the Medic union, but Black medic tends to ignore him and pay attention to Pink medic more, causing some envy between the two. He has the standard medic weapons and heals the Medic union rather than fighting, but just in case, he has a smoke bomb to get away from potential threats. After Black medic beat up the Green medic, he patched him up and allowed him to switch to the White medic's group instead of staying in Black's care.

Black pyro- Very quiet, loves setting off bombs with the Orange medic. He prefers Pink Medic over White medic but doesn’t love White any less. Pink only acts nice to him because he doesn’t want to piss off Black and lose the leader’s trust. Pyro likes to mess around with the other medics by playing games, such as find the hand, hide and seek, or freeze tag, with Blu’s mines. Doesn’t do a lot but helps find hiding spies within the ranks.

Violet Medic- Known as the spider or Grim Reaper, he is a valuable member to the Medic Union, being able to steal info, however, like the spy, he can disappear but it takes longer to get his ability to work. His main weapon is a scythe and carries around extras in case something breaks his own scythe (a total of 8 scythes). He is very cocky and clever and hates the spy. He has an old watch that he stole from the spy that is around 6 years old so that’s why it takes so long to get it to work and it will shut off at random times, not helping him any better.

Green Medic- He once dealt with poison but got eliminated by Black for failing the Medic Union when Green rebelled against Black’s orders. White patched him up, but his eyes are permanently pitch black and hypersensitive to sunlight so he wears bandages around them.

Orange Medic- He mostly deals with fire and explosives. He is also a valuable member of the Medic Union. He will set off random fires and his main weapon is an explosive he calls “Explosive X” which has a rather wide range and lowers the player's health down to half. He will set off fireworks every day with their pyro and is really ExPlOsIvE usually being ticked off easily.

Blu Medic- He uses mine like objects that release a blue gas that can freeze the player for around half a minute. He is valuable to the Medic Union. He argues with the red medic a lot, causing the mission to be slowed by their long arguments about little things like who stole whose coffee. He is very cold and wears a classic medic mask so he won't be affected, he alerts the other medics in the area when he's setting off one of his mines so they can put on their color chosen masks and continue fighting. His side weapon is an ice pick but rarely uses it when the other medics are there to help.

Red Medic- Known commonly as “The Scout Catcher” he has a whip with a bonesaw attached at the end that he throws at running scouts or anybody else to cut their legs off and then chop off their heads. Unlike Blu Medic, he isn’t very civil, usually never giving warnings and being straight up cutthroat to anyone who dares to try and reason with him. 

Maroon medic- A parallel to scout, he wields a baseball bat despite not ever playing baseball. Most of the time he aims for prized kills to impress Black and go up a rank. His personality is very loud but he can be very serious whenever he feels awful, like Red medic he doesn’t experience a large variety of emotions, only experiencing sadistic joy, anger, and overwhelming sadness.

Silver medic- Wears a scarf around his mouth and neck, usually smokes a cigar when he doesn’t wear it. He is the Medic union’s version of Sniper, his best friend is Gold medic, and he acts like a seeing eye dog to Green. He is very calm and understanding, and will usually try to cheer up White whenever Black goes on a long bender of cursing White out. His main weapon is a sniper rifle that has the words “Long Live the Silver reign” carved on the side.

Gold medic- Silver’s best friend. He is very loud and eccentric but will remain quiet and charming when Silver isn’t in the mood for fun. He wears large gold mechanical wings and is the equivalent to soldier, usually wearing his prized rocket launcher like a medal. He tries to aim for Snipers and Scouts, feeling proud whenever he gets a kill. (Also says really stupid shit late at night)

Yellow medic- He was the Gold medic of the Black’s group till he revolted and then was convinced by Pink to kill himself. He was like a brother to Green, but sadly lost his brother to White’s group due to the violent attack on him. Yellow struggled with depression and separation anxiety till he started revolting, gaining the trust of Blu, Silver, Violet, and Maroon before being shut down by Pink in the midst of one of his breakdowns and then killing himself with an overdose of painkillers.

Aaaaa I’ll draw my boys later but for now take em, Yellow actually used to be major before he was replaced by Maroon, but yeah. Hope you enjoy these kiddos! I can draw a few of em, got a lotta art of Black, Blu, and Red! I was also heavily inspired by Bindyboo’s medics and they started out as that but it got more advanced and complicated as I went on with their stories sooooo this is going to be the final product for nowwwwww

[juniemunie]

HTTYD Books: How To Ride a Dragon’s Storm Commentary :P (w/text pictures!)

((shoutout to astrid-the-fearless that started the whole thing and giving me permission <3))

Yoooo this is how far I’m in the books right now thanks to the blessing of pdfs and I thought; “Hey? Lemme try reacting to this!!” 

Mind you, this is ridiculously long and it’s all because of the pictures I added in lmao so peruse for your amusement ((I might continue this just for kicks :P))

So it begins!

-everything went wrong when the fire nation attacked

-OOh! Swimming competition?? Don’t count me in!! I’m terrible at swimming, in  fact, I don’t know how to do it at all!!! :DDD

-of course the competition has to have a spice of suicidal bravery and possible death

-clueless, tf dude

-aRE WE GONNa TIME TRaVEL??? WHaTS THE WHOLE aLaRM THING OLD WRINKLY??? EXPLaINNNN HoW DID U EVEN KNOW????

-the judges are basically 99% old dudes 99% of the time

-aweeee toothless u cutie

-snotlout my boy, sometimes i really want to strangle u, u know

-yooo sTOICK U'RE DOING UR BEST THE BEST ISNT aLaWYS THE MOST OBVIOUS he's trying im proud that he's trying

-good ol teamwork

-nONONONONO DONT TRUST EM 

-u got bamboozled 

-only in the near end of his life, yeah

-oh man hes gonna kill em again 

-same

-awe, she's just like meatlug

-uh oh

-bet y'all it gets worse

-damn straight

-sHOOT CaMI NOOO-

-i hear the Jaw's theme song guys

-tOOTHLESS KEEPS TRYING ;-;

-well you're a jolly dragon23

-how was this marketed for children again

-brUH U SERIOUS?? I JUST THOUGHT IT Was only nORBERT

-woh fist time getting a look on nobert and he looks cool

-whoops u gon axe him again??

-u mean an unfortunate series of events??? wink wink

-i wouldn't go there if i were you its completely messy there

-buddy this dude has survived so many times out of pure dumb luck

-theres still more to go hiccup so much more

-awww this is such a throwback to the first book

-norbert is a crazy inventive dude i wanna see how well he goes with movie hiccup in the right circumstances :/

-thats a problem

-im not sure whether to be terrified or impressed

-yoooo hiccup youre right youre prize is absolute misery

oh no

-whoops i guess this is where he became a slave??

-bitter grandma is bitter than all my mates when discussing love42

-oH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD THIS IS IT HES GOING TO BECOME a SLaVE  HOLD ME

-nONONONONONONONO NOOOOOOOO

-my poor boy my POOR BOY

-oh man i knew this already but its still giving me shivers

-look at these drunk cuties lmao

-perfect excuse toothless hiccup totally believes u

-yOOO dragon nip exists in the books too!!!??

-This is one happy lot

-( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

-Uh oh

-Look at this happy boy <3

-U sure??? I don’t think so

-Oh shit.

-oHHHH shitTTTT

-u aint wrong tho

-hahahaAHAHAHAHA not yET

-well fuck

-YO. WATCH YOUR FUCKING LANGUAGE.

-Oh. My fucking god.

-pHYSICS  WHY WOULD YOU BETRAY US-

-Knock knock its death’s doorstep

-Chances are, it wont.

-yEP

-“dafuq, why the hell is he running at us??” “maybe he’s given up”

“is it just me or is that an eye back there? “oh sHIT-“

-Y’all these kids know the drill already

-Toothless’ still asleep during the whole ordeal lmao

-So that’s how it works…69

-Stuff like that usually happens boyo they’ll prolly be back

-Poor Ronald.

-Not anOTHER ONE

-Shouldve made a spare and changed it while you were still in the border smh *Cinema Sins Ding*

-same

-a terrifying but intriguing thought.

-These sweet loyal kids backin up their parents yo ((Poor Fishlegs))

-i like the books that they portray a more worrier Stoick but the movieversion is also great too

-DON’T BELIEVE IT STOICK

-This LITTLE SHIT

-what??? really?? That’s a dumb revenge excuse :/

-We DON’T

-Holy shit he survived ((just like his third son cOUGH COUGH))

-In short; “Sorry to disappoint the masses, but I AM STILL ALIVE”83

-YOOOOO OLD WRINKLY KNEW??? HE’S AWESOME aND INSaNE!

-Poor stoick, tbh if he was movie stoick he’d have a heartattack by now

-Shit I feel bit teary in the eyes-DON’T LOOK AT ME!

-True just like this post that has way too much pictures like tf

-Sweet, but WHY WOULD yOU LEaVE THEM BEHIND???

-tbh this is both true

-Basically every country that was going to pillage America

-Oh shit times up

-whA-AA-At???

-Hiccup u little shit

-Discrimination between hair color too??? Jesus. Just when I thought skin colors -were ridiculous

-Have I told y’all I love sword fighting hiccup?? Because I do

-Nooo not his poor beard agaIN

-Oh. Oh no.

-fuck.

-Godzilla??? That u??

-tHINK aGaIN

-Tbh cats are sometimes really cruel ; - ;

-Nope. Theres always a chance of death bro

-OF COURSE IT WaS.

-This ridiculously huge shit

-Geezus. You’re fucked hiccup.

-Press F to pay respect

-ToothLESS HICCUP IS GONNa FUCKIN DIE

-TOOTHLESS U LITTLE SHIT

-Tbh, he does have a point

-Friendly reminder hiccup wrote this himself

-Hiccup the Insane. Sounds about right

-Me procrastinating some stuff i cant procrastinate while everything is going wrong

-yOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

-yOOOOOOOO tf he doin??

-“yo bro”

“yeah loki?”

“some kid’s asking for your help. It’s getting pretty intense.”

“really? Lemme see”

“see?”

*whistles* “wow, he’s crazy. I like it.”

-“wtf is this dumb redhead doing??” everyone thought simultaneously

-oHHHHHH LIGHTNING LIKES METaL!!!!

-Benjamin Franklin can eat HIS HEaRT OUT123

“wow thor, you actually helped”

“¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

“how tf did you say that”

-Ship: If I die, I die with STYLE.((Like Grimbeard fucker sang to his death while burning his entire kingdom down))

-SWIM FISHLEGS SWIM ((wow he c an swim now amazing what near death experiences teach you))

-Poor toothless ; - ;126

-Itsss the cirrccccleeeeee the ciiirrrccclleeeee of liiiiiifeeeee

-Lets hope I wont learn to swim in this emotionally draining way 0-0

-Tbh this is kinda terrifying imagine if they died this way 0-0

-I KNEW THEYD BE BaCK YOU BETTER BRING HICCUP aBOaRD U LITTLE SHIT

-Oh thank god

-In short; “we have ship standards, peasants.”

-LaTE FOR a VERY IMPORTaNT DaTE

-G G. u did ur best lol

-yEEEE YOU BEST KNOW IT HICCUP Me BOYYY

-They gONNa FLYYYYY

-FISHLEGS MY BOY WERE GONNa DO IT WHETHER U WaNT TO OR NOT

-That’s THE TRUE CHIEFTaN WaY BOIS EXaCTLY HOW STOICK DIED- I mean shit uh

-Awww berk would love u back in their own way too

-*sobbing in the distance* ((fuckin alvin))

-yOU BET THEY ALL ARE

-“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!” screamed the Reader.

-Happy sweet old senile future guessing dudes make me happy ; v ;

-How tf would it be deer

-Just like Grimbeard did.

-YOOOO IM SO PROUD OF YOU FISHLEGSSSS

-“IM SORRY TO DISAPPOINT THE MASSES, BUT I AM STILL ALIVE.”

-SNOTLOUT DO U WANT TO BE DEAD??? ((before your proper death))

-When Old Wrinkly is mad at u, you better be ashamed of urself.

-He really is Grimbeard’s Heir ain’t he? ; v ;

-Uhhh more common than u think boyo *turns to Harry Potter*

-oooHHH u done for gumboil

-My heart kindly says mercy, but my mind screams revenge

-SHit stop giving me ides to draWWWWW

-Somethings are often just found at home <3 like my MISSING PENCIL WHERE TF IS IT

-Summary of Httyd 2 Hiccup

-SO MUCH WISDOM IN THE EPILOGUE HICCUP SLOW DOWN

-Nooo HICCUPPPP- THE DRagONSSSSS

-DON’T REMIND ME OF THE SLaVEMaRK U CRUEL BEING

wow

that was a ride from start to end. (pUN INTENDED)

things are getting intensee

*scrambles to read the next book*

[unaugmentedmonkeyscantfly]

Muse: Agent Leopold James Fitz, PhD

What Is Your Muse’s Blood Type: O+ How Do You think Your Muse Handles Rejection?: Outwardly, he’s very gracious and understanding.  Inwardly, he can nurse a grudge. What Makes Your Muse Jealous?: Being left out or not even considered over someone with less qualifications (including but not limited to significant others of love interests) What’s A Bad Habit Your Muse Has?: Self-depreciation. A Prized Possession Of Your Muse: The astrophotography poster he’s had since he was a pre-teen. Any Medical Conditions?: Oh boyo.  Anoxic temporal lobe injury (probably not limited just to there but eh) aggravated by severe psychological trauma and multiple things stemming from it, including but not limited to: depression, anxiety, hallucinations, motor control problems (mostly trained away by now), aphasia, fatigue, and in rare cases psychosis.  PTSD symptoms are also present although he mostly attributes those to the brain injury rather than to the trauma.  {in a couple of AUs, the injury that took his life in canon was lower and either crippled or severed his left leg.}

Questions for the Muse to Answer

What’s Your Favorite Color: “Blue-grey, like the sky when i’s about to rain.” What’s Your Favorite Food: “I’m a simple bloke.  Apart from Jemma’s mozzarella an’ prosciutto with a hint of pesto aioli, pretty much anythin’ you could find in a pub would do me fine.” Skiing or Snowboarding?: “They both sound cold an’ miserable and way too easy to break a limb or get caught in an avalanche.” Worst Injury You Ever Got?: “Well, I mean...I would have to consider the brain injury to be well above an’ beyond the time I got shot by a Kree, or the time I got my arms broken.” Early Riser or Sleep in?: “It is extremely rare for me to want to get up before the roosters stop makin’ their awful crowin’.” Video Games or Books?: “They both have a time when I’ll prefer them, it all depends on what I’m feeling like and what books.” Something That Makes You Cry?: “Most everything these days, either happy cry or sad cry.” Someone You Hate? Why?: “Ssssssso...there’s this bloke, and he did some bad stuff, tortured Inhumans, dictator, blah blah, crimes against humanity, without a shred of emotion about it.  Him.  I hate him.”

Phobias: “Drowning.  And I wouldn’t call it a phobia, but I very much did not like looking out into space with nothing else around and only a thin membrane of what I assume was glass between me and certain death.” (also, to a point, claustrophobia and blood.  And parasites.)

Favorite Soda?: “Irn Bru, what is this, a citizenship test?” Favorite Drink in General?: “Tea with two sugars an’ a bit of milk. Or maybe beer.”

What Did You Have For Breakfast?: “Some sort of MRE that was down here, I think it was supposed to be grits and bacon or some other very American dried nonsense.” When in the Shower What Do You Wash first?:  “My face, while my hair’s soaking.” 3 Items in Your Top Drawer?: “Packets of crisps, socks, and an improvised divider to keep them separate.” What Kind of Underwear Do You Have on Right Now?: “Boxer briefs, not that i’s any of your business.” Stockings or Leg Warmers?: “Uh...for me, or are we talkin’ what I like to see on other people?” Superhero Name: “I dunno, it would depend on whatever powers there are.  I can’t go around callin’ myself Captain Underpants an’ then my power is heat vision.” (There are verses where he has powers, and thus names, but not in mainverse.) Super Villain Name:   “I’d rather not have that conversation.”  (The Doctor.  Obviously.)   Song you are listening to right now?: “Deke yammering on.” Worst Job Ever?: “Military prisoner.” Best Job Ever?: “Highly acknowledged genius who people had to bribe people to get on their team.” What’s Your Type?: “Intelligent, kind, usually brown-eyed brunettes but one had blue eyes, confident in her abilities, and a sharp dresser.” When Giving Spankings, I Use: “Nothing.  I am vehemently opposed to spanking in any context.” Ever Been Thrown Out A Window? Why?: “I feel like at some point I probably was considered someone worth tossing out a window, but i’s never happened.” Do Dogs Randomly Sniff You?: “First off, dogs don’ normally randomly sniff anyone.  It just seems random to us because our olfactory senses aren’t as keen, so we have no idea what scent they’ve found interesting.” What’s Under Your Bed Right Now?: “Jemma does a damn good job makin’ sure I don’t accidentally store things under there..” What Kind of Drugs Are You On?: “Anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, an Alzheimer’s drug, and I think Jemma’s looking at anti-psychotics.” Last Person To Give You An Orgasm?: “Jemma.”  {ct: temple of unrequited love:  “Yeah, I’m not, I don’t wanna talk about that.”}   Do You Regret What You’ve Done?: “A lot of it.” Your Best Pick-up Line: “I don’t...have those.” Any Roommates?: “In the traditional sense of people who share a living space with common areas, pretty much everyone I work with.  In the literal sense of people with whom I share a bedroom, just Jemma.  And I don’t especially want that to change.” Are they Sexy?: *awkward stammering* “In the right circumstances.” {ct: temple of unrequited love:  “I don’t...find...there’s not...ehm...”}

Would You Steal a Kiss from them?: “Theft is wrong.  I might surprise her with it, should it be appropriate.”

Choose Between

Boxers or Briefs: “Hybrid.” Panties or Thongs: “Neither, not on me, thanks.” Coke or Pepsi:  “I haven’t done an objective comparison.” Dominant or Submissive: “Go fuck yourself.” Dogs, Cats, or Both: “Dogs.”  (although he does want a precious little Scottish Fold kitten to look after) C4 or Dynamite: “They both have uses, I can’t answer that without context and details.” Catch Phrase or One-Liners: “Definitely one-liners.” Day or Night: “Day.” Star Wars or Star Trek: “You can’t categorize them in the same sentence.  One’s pure fantasy in a space setting, the other is military-styled exploration.  That’s like comparing apples and tomatoes.  Yes, they’re both fruits, with some similarities, but they’re more different than they are alike.” Spanking or Whipping: “Neither of those, since the way this is phrased is asking for a sexual situation.  I hope.  Because it’s either that or you’re talking about discipline, and we do not have time for that conversation.” Cake or Pie: “Cake if we’re just eating it alone, but pie if we’ve got vanilla ice cream.” Zombies or Vampires?: “Both are terrifying possibilities.  Zombies make the better video games, though.”

tagged by @jemmaqueenofspace

[hiphopandtheirishquestion]

The Birth of Def Road

It all started sometime around 1985. As a music journalist and chancer, my brother Johnny rarely paid for anything. I grew accustomed over the years to standing by the entrance while he negotiated free passage into whatever gig we were at.

- ‘I’m on the guest list  

- You’re name’s not down

- I rang ahead. I spoke to the manager. I’m doing a write up for Hot Press.

- No one told me’

... and so the drama would unfold, me standing there like a lemon (the +1) thinking ‘can we not just pay the fiver in?’ But inevitably they crumbled and in we went, journalist +1.

The experience would stand him in good stead as he set about liberating the music companies of New York of their choicest cuts. Zip, Buck, Artie and the boys were no match and he returned with a veritable treasure chest of records, none of which he'd paid for. The vast majority belonged to a genre called hip hop, or sometimes rap. Wasn’t that just talking?

By 1985, the Irish Republic had been in existence for nearly 50 years. The Brits, may God’s curses, shit, piss and jizz rain down on them, had long since been kicked out. Ireland was now, finally, in the hands of the Gaels - who immediately palmed it off to the church.

And New York was in my hands. The city, it seemed, consisted mainly of black lads in tracksuits and gold chains. Their ‘music’ involved a DJ stealing the best parts from other people’s records while a rapper bragged in rhyming couplets about, amongst other things, how great he was. The other things could be anything from the size of his cock to how much weed he smoked and on to race, crime, politics, cars, shopping malls, guns, hookers, snot, STDs, cars, watches...the list is long.  

Introspective it wasn’t. Feelings and inadequacies rarely entered the lexicon of that first wave of MCs. They spoke with absolute certainty and iron resolve. Self-doubt was an ailment the rapper didn’t appear to suffer from. It was all fierce confusing.

‘No one understands me’, went the lament of angsty teenagers like me. ‘I’m gonna lock myself in my room and listen to The Smiths. Girls are so pretty – if only I could talk to them. Who am I? What’s it all about?’

‘Yo! Everyone look at me, screamed his black NY counterpart. ‘I got the best clothes, I even got jewellery. Girls? Fuck, man. Dime a dozen. Life is so damn straightforward. I’m the coolest, smartest best looking bastard going’.

At first glance, Tramore, Co Waterford seems quite different to the ghettos of New York. People from our neighbouring estates did not spend their time ‘dissing’ each other. Sweetbriar residents did not wish to ‘take out’ motherfuckers from Moon Laun. And gunshots were almost never heard at the Friday night GAA Discos. This could not stand. The ‘boroughs’ of Waterford would have to be re-classified, starting with my hometown.

What is Tramore? Upwardly mobile Gardaí and Secondary School teachers were by now colonizing it's burgeoning estates. A beautiful beach, amusements for the kiddies, pubs, pissed up jackeens in the summer, and now lots and lots of new homes, from where people set off for the bright lights of Waterford City every day if they were fortunate enough to have jobs in 80s Ireland.

We were a bit wussy – just didn’t have that hard edge that came so naturally to people from the barrios of places like Lisduggan and Ballybeg. We weren’t the Bronx. Long Island was seen as being a bit ‘soft and country ’ by New Yorkers. Culchieville, or at least suburban. But it was also where Public Enemy came from, along with De La Soul, EPMD, and Eric B & Rakim to name a handful. They didn't like the name, so they changed it. Long Island became Strong Island.

Tramore, or Tra Mhor as Gaeilge, meaning 'big beach', would now be Strong Beach. Kinda shit, but still better than Tramore. My home address of Cliff Road was renamed  Def Road – considerably better. The newly-drawn boroughs of  Waterford began to take shape.

It was an era that came to be known as hip hop’s Golden Age. Ireland had once had a golden age of it's own. The Island of Saints and Scholars we had been called, as the Christian Brothers were quick to remind us. Alas that time had long since passed. When darkness prevailed in Medieval Europe, Ireland had been a beacon of light, home to the dopest lyricists and flyest artwork. And as recessionary 80s Ireland trundled on hopelessly, we could at least pat ourselves on the back in the knowledge of our glorious past.

Through the lyrics of the likes of Chuck D and Krs-One I discovered black America was prone to leaning on a similar crutch. The extremist Nation of Islam claimed that the great kingdoms of Africa had thrived when we Europeans, or cave dwellers as they called us, were still running around on all fours. Take that whitey!

Ireland’s time as the foremost creator and preserver of the written word ran from about the sixth to ninth centuries. Missionaries from Christian monastic schools went forth from the motherland into the wild lands of Western Europe; writing, learning and being generally noble as they went. The Roman Empire was falling and the barbarians were ransacking the once civilized and ordered cities of Europe. It was left to a previously unheralded wee island to preserve the written word. Which, miraculously, it did. But no one outside Ireland seemed to care.

It’s a state of affairs that many pan-African movements would empathise with. They often claim history is written by the white man, cynically removing their own people’s contributions from the record books. We break it down a step further. White Anglo-Saxons and Protestants decree what is history – the achievements of the paddy man and the black man just don’t make the cut. And so we glory in our past deeds, with a healthy balance of chips on either shoulder.

The pinnacle of Ireland’s Golden Age would come to be seen as The Book Of Kells, a kind of Three Feet High And Rising of its time. There for all to see in Trinity College - proof of our glorious past. Suck it up, ye bastards!

Hip hop travelled a fair old road to reach its Golden Age, if not quite as far back as the Vikings. But just like the Irish scholars of medieval Ireland, in that second Dark Age of the mid-eighties, hip hop was a beacon of light. As mediocrity thrived all around them, the ghettoes of New York became the ultimate seat of motherfucking learning.

The New York we saw on our 80s TV screens pre-Giuliani and zero tolerance seems barely believable now. Apolcalytic, Mad Max style urban wastelands. Anything went, or so the schoolyards of Tramore CBS would have it. There was never any graffiti on the Tramore-Waterford bus route, aside from the odd ‘Paul is gay’ or ‘Sharon Loves Browner’, but New York?

-‘Sure the whole feckin’ subway is full of it! Can’t even see out de windows.  Me uncle works there and he says there do be gay lads stalling the heads off each other on the street. Full of black lads too but they love the Irish so you’re alright there’.

Mental, like. And it was into this environment that one Clive Campbell, soon to be better known as Kool Herc, rocked up on the streets of the Bronx in the early 70s with his quare Jamaican ways.

Quare Jamaican ways that included sound systems – very, very big sound systems – which he used to rock parties all over the neighbourhood. He occasionally employed a rapper, but more importantly began cutting up records.  He played the funky, instrumental bit of the tune and then played it again, and again and again if the vibe was right. The break. The two turntables were now an instrument.  This was the cue for the b (for break) - boys to do their thing on the dance floor. Or breakdance. The big eejit from the Caribbean had only gone and invented hip hop.

A boyo called Patricius had a gameplan of his own when he rocked up in Ireland with his big Welsh head on him around 432 AD. This was his second trip. First time round he had come as a slave, and spent his days working his hole off high in the mountains, tending sheep and the like. Fuck this for a lark, he thought. And like so many convicts down the years, he turned to God for help.

And he was rewarded with a vision, enabling his escape. Six years swotting up in a French monastery, a brief trip home to check in with the folks, and back to Ireland. ‘ Right. I’m gonna Christianize these chumps’, he vowed to the man above as he returned and set to work.

Patricius was a good egg, albeit one with a bit of ‘previous’. As a former slave, he empathised with their plight, a borderline pinko stance unheard of in those brutal days. The Black Panthers had MLK and Malcolm X, we had Saint Patrick.  And he was a hard bastard. Slavery, the monastery and then 30-odd years trundling across the wild lands of Eireann spreading the word. No choirboy either. Some unexplained sin, committed at the age of 15 and later confessed to, racked him with guilt. At least one historian hints at murder. Ireland, denied the ‘civilizing’ influence of the Roman Empire, was no place for the faint-hearted.

The original Paddy may not have driven any snakes out, but if he’d wanted to those slimy fucks wouldn’t have stood a chance. And neither did the pagans. With the bold Patricius at its helm Christianity stomped all over them. Like Ray Houghton a couple of centuries later he had earned his spurs. He was now one of us – an Irishman, and a proud one

Kool Herc was good, but he was no Saint Patrick. He needed help. And two others would rise from the East (Coast) to create a glorious triumvirate. Hip hop now set about crushing the faggoty, silk-shirt and gold-medallioned world of disco.

Afrika Bambaata (or Kevin Donovan as he was then) hadn’t required enslavement to have his eyes opened. He won a motherfucking essay writing contest, motherfucker, first prize being a trip to Africa. Bam’s eyes were opened and he returned with a new vision. No more gang banging – it was peace, love, unity and having fun from here on in.

St. Patrick may have passed on the ‘having fun’ aspect of Bambaata’s message. There was already far too much of that in early 5th century pagan Ireland. But otherwise he surely would have concurred with the mission statement. Patrick had come to enlighten and Christianize, Bam enlighten and Africanize. Peas in a pod. Kind of. Patrick wanted less of that kind of thing, Bambaata probably a bit more. He formed The Universal Zulu Nation, a broad church of hip hop, spirituality and all things Africa.  

Joseph Sadler was a wiry little bollocks. Like Herc, he was originally from Jamaica, and was good with his hands. Not only could he spin records, he was a qualified electrician. So it should come as no surprise that it was he who first succeeded in wiring two turntables to a mixer.

-‘Janey Mac’, he said to the waitress at his local cafe , ‘I’ve only gone and opened the door to sampling, changing the face of contemporary popular music, perhaps forever. Not bad for a wiry little bollox from de Bronx, wha’?’

-‘Fuck you on about? she replied.

And he was no mere DJ, either. Herc played his records, Bambaata enlightened, but Grandmaster Flash was a showman. He span the records with his feet, pirouetted, spliced, diced and generally acted like a prize chimp in the DJ’s booth.

- ‘Tell ye what, dat’s savage’, noted Walter ‘the bomb’ MacKenzie to his fellow Bronxian Rashid Washington Jr at one of Flash’s jams.

- ‘Ye not wrong there, so you’re not’, replied his pal. ‘Dem Jamaican lads are at it again. Must be something in the air out there – or maybe the grass, if ye know what I mean. Ay? Ay?

- ‘Ha ha. Ah will ye stop. Tell ye what, though. I predict this will change the face of music as we know it. It won’t be long before it’s threatening the higher echelons of the charts. DJs will now be limited only by their imaginations and the size of their record collections’.

- ‘It will and its bollocks’, replied the less-effusive Washington Jr.

But history shows Mr McKenzie's statement wasn’t a ‘will and its bollocks’ at all. Far from it. Flash, Bam and Herc – the holy trinity, as hip hop lore would have it. The disaffected youth of New York now had a voice, and its name was hip hop.

There would be others. Run DMC duetted with Aerosmith and got heavy rotation on MTV. They even played Live Aid, not that you were likely to see it.

- ‘Run DMC? You fuckin’ kiddin’ me’? We’re trying to raise money for staving Ethiopians. Last thing we need is people ringing in kicking up shit about two black lads in Adidas tops grabbing their balls’. They were the only Live Aid act not shown live on TV, the risk of bollock-grabbing too high.

But it couldn’t stop the juggernaut. And it would culminate in a spotty teenager in the arse end of Ireland being beholden to the sound of black men in sportswear and gold chains rhyming over pre-programmed beats.Watching The Sunday Game one summer’s evening in the late 80s, he realized why.

-Michael, I’ll tell ye now why hurling is the greatest sport in the world. Are ye listening now? I’ve watched some desperate games over the years. Brutal, only brutal. But I’ll tell ye this. No matter how bad it got, there’d always be something. Some lad would crack over a point from 65 metres, or cut one over the bar. Something to have you saying, ‘Holy God, that was savage good.

‘Compare that now to foreign rubbish like soccer. No goals at all in some games. Sure they all have long hair and they wear shinpads. Bunch of Nancy boys. I’ll tell ye know, if I got my hands on....

-‘Thanks Ger/Ogie/Denis/Micheal/Mossie (can't remember who), the point is well made though. Hurling is clearly the world’s greatest game because even the most boring game can be enlivened by a bit of trickery or magic. Ireland and the Irish are great!’

- ‘That’s exactly it Michael’.

This got me thinking. Krs One had a track called ‘Part-time Suckers’.  It consisted mainly of a serious of dictionary definitions, intended presumably to illustrate the superiority of his vocabulary over that of his less educated contemporaries. It sounded a bit like the speak-and-spell gizmo that Elliot gave ET to help him phone home. It was pretty shit, in all fairness.

But the last minute or so made it all worthwhile – a DJ workout, scratching the bejaysus out of a line from an old Smokey Robinson song. The half-way line cut over the bar, the point from the impossibly tight angle – the otherwise ‘brutal, only brutal’ track enlivened by a bit of DJ tomfoolery. It all made sense!

Hip hop was the hurling of the ghetto – the black man and the paddy man once more inextricably linked. Def Road would bear witness.

[rctchild]

it should have been GLORIOUS.

         --- to walk down the dark halls to the royal quarter, && see the dreadguards SALUTE HIM. to see the glowing eyes of fellow undead regard him with respect, their words to him impressed. to know that to speak his physical age did no justice to the body count at hand, && to see the leaders & heroes of the horde gathered in his lady's throne room. though he did his best to keep his chin raised, his gaze forward -- forceful orders still rang loud in his ears.

                           ( GREYMANE'S FORCES HOLD THIS WARDEN TOWER. )                                              ( BREAK THEIR RANKS !! )                                                ( SHOW. NO. MERCY. )

other battleground champions filled the court. ‘pon the hips & backs of some, legendary weapons with awed whispers about them were on full display. these people were of the horde’s variety, of course. orcs. goblins. blood elves. other undead. tauren... but few, very few, were trolls. the deficiency, it was said, was on account of the loss of their previous warchief & the leader of the darkspear tribe. he couldn’t imagine their grief.

he met eyes with one of them. even with his vision blurred & dulled by death, the could see the deep-set sadness in the soul of the troll. malkhaz suddenly felt a hard hit to the gut & his heart suddenly tear itself from its proper place to sink to the pit of his stomach. he identified the feeling as regret  ( for what ?  he wasn’t sure )  before the troll did their best to soften their features & give hush whispers to the others.   -- “ move aside, d’ere be another short one here t’a put up front. ya won’ be seein’ da ceremony from d’ere, boyo. ”

a blue, three-fingered hand guided him by the arm to stand in front of the troll, amongst goblins & other particularly young  ( or at least short )  prodigies loyal to the black / red flag. his shoulders tensed, but it would be hard to notice with his heavy leather pauldrons. the troll kept their hands ‘pon them for the moment, & though he was no longer in a position to meet their eyes, the sense of guilt did not leave him.

he could see the current leaders from here. he could identify them -- go’el, son of durotan. high overlord saurfang. lor’themar theron, baine bloodhoof, trade prince gallywix, ji firepaw. he could see nathanos blightcaller & the black bride. as he took a nervous lungful of plagued, musty air, he looked far to the other side of the room to see the lone troll that was asked to represent the darkspear. rokhan, he thought he heard the name to be. in front of them all...

sylvanas herself, hosting & speaking at the ceremony. her speech was beautiful, ever-rousing & true. he did his best to pay attention, even though his mind wanted to leave reality & flee anywhere else. talk of dedication, of sacrifice. some of the others were looking impatient, waiting for their prize. others were bowing their heads in contemplation. there was even outright discomfort as some of them were not used to the undercity, or happy with the situation. understandable. there were demons crawling out of every orifice. fel pooled where water evaporated. people were dying -- && here they were, thousands of miles away, to be rewarded for -- for --

the dark lady called up her heroes one at a time. she told the crowd what they were recognized for. several goblins were being applauded for inventions in wartime engineering. the murders of important generals were announced in praise to orcs, tauren, other undead. the few trolls were scattered between sheer body counts & feats of battlefield heroism, rescuing fellow horde soldiers from the grips of death & the alliance. malkhaz was called up somewhere in the middle of it all, his lady’s blood red eyes, seemingly unfiltered by his impaired vision, locked ‘pon his.

he hoped she did not see his weakness.

malkhaz marched forward as she beckoned, his body turned at a diagonal so he could see both her & the crowd, && vice-versa. he did not meet eyes with any of them. he saw furrowed brows, amused smirks. as though the dark lady were telling a joke, showing what must have appeared to them as a literal BABY as a war hero. oddly, he wondered if he would prefer to have been a joke to the horde, as the accomplishments that put him ‘pon the court’s center of focus left him dissatisfied in a way he could not place. not as if it weren’t enough, but something along those lines.

did his age make him special ?  he wondered as she turned him a bit more towards herself. she pinned a medal of honour to his chest. t’was the forsaken emblem, && he was gifted with an affectionate pat ‘pon the cheek as he was finally given permission to exit the stage to let the next champion walk forward. he watched several others get applauded & recognized, before the feeling in his stomach felt too much like nausea for him to stay. it was lucky for him that he was trained as a rogue, that he could leave without being seen.

          -- or so he would think, as he did not notice the trade prince’s beady red eyes watch the end of his cape disappear into the hall.

he found himself leaving the underground city, sitting in the elevator by himself until it reached the surface. he climbed up to a high tower of the ruins, walking past a patch of dry blood. the screams of dead lordaeronians echoed faintly in his ears, behind the pain he felt in his empty chest.

malkhaz unpinned the badge from his chest. he leaned over the side of the tower, resting his elbows on the cold stone. he watched the moonlight reflect off of the emblem of his queen’s face, the bird & the arrows. he thought of her. of the horde. of the shifting of shoulders & mutterings of unhappy living allies. the sadness in the eyes of that troll, who had set aside that suffering to accomplish... something. he had not seen them go up yet. the fact that rokhan was the only troll leader that could be seen.

what had he done ?  he had killed. for his lady, he had contributed to the killing of several captains. captain razorclaw. captain blackmaw. archmage brixton. there was a proportional body count of soldiers to go with it. it was one of few ways a boy with no prior major accomplishments -- at least not to the degree of many others who were sent to the isles -- was allowed to contribute. but the alliance wasn’t even the enemy at hand, he knew that.

SYLVANAS knew that.

he had not aided the horde, not really. he had gorged on his taste for blood because it was the only thing he could do. yes, he had taken jobs to slay demons where he could, but he had killed more worgen in that time than he’d even seen the legion’s forces.

it was this he regretted -- the FAILURE that disguised itself as accomplishment. a smart kid would have defied orders && gone to help anyway, to hell with waiting for a superior’s permission slip. a smart rogue could have even forged such a thing, if he needed it so badly. hell -- a smart rogue could have even broken into the NIGHTHOLD, or the TOMB OF SARGARAS to bring back intel, a head, SOMETHING of true value. instead, all he had was this.

the boy DROPPED the medal between his bony fingers, watching it fall into the thick, dark foliage below. he collapsed his face into his hands, groaning.

he didn’t know being called a hero would feel so empty.