#finally more downfall au lol

[skyward-floored]

Downfall IAU, next part to Sunlight. Legend stresses, everyone worries, and Twilight’s finally safe... but is he okay?

(Blood/injury warning, and the very slight beginnings of a panic attack)

————————————————————

Legend had had the thought before, but lately he was really starting to wonder if one day his head would just pop from the weight of everything that was going on in his life.

He was wanted by the government, Twilight was hurt, their parents were gone, the odds were stacked endlessly high against them, and whenever Legend tried to help, things only seemed somehow to get worse. Not to mention how apparently there was another dimension where things seemed to be better and he had four extra brothers, two of which had ended up here somehow.

...But now really wasn’t the time to be thinking about it.

Twilight mumbled something indecipherable beside him from Sky’s arms, and Legend bit his lip. Twilight just needed to be taken down into the base, and then he’d be fine. Hyrule could heal him just fine. Getting Twilight there was going to be the most difficult part, but they’d manage.

Sky lifted Twilight onto his back with a grunt, Legend going first down the ladder in case he slipped to catch him. Wind went last, helping Sky in any way he could, and their trip down was near silent except for Twilight’s rasping breath. Legend felt near dizzy with emotion by the time they reached the bottom, and he almost missed a rung when Twilight groaned.

I swear Twilight if you don’t make it out of this alive—

“Hyrule!” Legend shouted before his feet even hit the floor, and Hyrule’s head shot up from where he was still playing uno in the corner. “Hyrule get over here!”

“Twilight!” Four gasped as Sky eased him off his back, and Hyrule scrambled to his feet, rushing over to where Legend was helping Sky carry Twilight towards the room with the beds.

“Can you help him?” Sky asked worriedly, and Hyrule nodded as he walked beside him, already lighting up his hands.

“It’ll help if his shirt is out of the way,” Hyrule replied shortly, setting a hand on Twilight’s head where the dried blood was thickest. Sky hurried through the door, setting Twilight on the closest bed, and he let out a groan that sent a jolt through Legend’s chest. He firmly ignored it and began unbuttoning the shirt Twilight had on, and saw Wind hovering anxiously nearby as Four ran up, eyes huge.

Aryll tried to follow them through the door, but Ravio took her arm and said something Legend couldn’t hear over the roaring in his ears.

“Is he okay?!” Four gasped as he looked at Twilight, and Legend very much ignored the red staining his hands.

“He will be. Hyrule’s good at this,” Wind said in a voice he was obviously trying to make reassuring as Legend began ripping Twilight’s shirt where there weren’t buttons. Twilight stirred a little at the motion and looked at them all, then tried to clumsily grab at Legend’s arm. Four took his hand before Legend could do anything.

“I’m-m fine,” Twilight slurred, his eyes unfocused, and Legend glared at him.

“You’re not, shut up,” he hissed, finishing with his shirt with a sharp rip. “There, done.”

Sky propped Twilight up a bit so they could remove his shirt, Twilight hissing in pain as they pulled it off. But Legend had made sure to rip it neatly, and they didn’t have to move him too much. The moment it was out of the way Hyrule moved forward, and he pressed his hands to Twilight’s bloody shoulder, the action prompting a strangled yell from him.

Twilight tried to launch himself out of the bed, and Legend moved to help Sky and Wind hold him down, their faces shining with blue as Hyrule used his powers. Twilight writhed a little, clumsily pawing at the arms holding him down, and somehow despite his exhaustion he felt as strong as ever to Legend.

“Twilight, hold still,” Sky urged, and Twilight squeezed his eyes shut, obviously making an effort, but still shaking.

The shouting had attracted more attention as well, and Sun hurried into the room with a sharp intake of breath, shooing Aryll away again when she tried to run in, and setting a hand on Twilight. Hyrule kept working, eyes closed and face creased, and Legend watched him and Twilight with his heart in his throat.

He didn’t have a very good grasp on everything Hyrule was capable of, but he looked like he was focusing rather hard. Was that bad? It must have been bad.

Was Twilight even more hurt than he looked?

Hyrule shifted his hands and Twilight started squirming around again, face pained. Sun noticed, and she began to hum, soft glimmers of light drifting through the air at the action. Twilight’s bleary gaze flicked to her, and his struggles slowly relaxed as he listened.

His breath was still coming fast, and he occasionally let out a sharp twitch of pain, but the humming seemed to help with the worst of it. Legend even felt marginally calmer with the sound of his aunt’s music as well.

But only a bit.

It felt like a long time before the glow from Hyrule’s hands finally faded, and he let out a sharp exhale. His hands jerked as he withdrew them, palms stained red, and Legend immediately swung his gaze from him back at Twilight.

He wasn’t moving.

“Did that do it? Is he okay?” Legend asked sharply, and Hyrule flinched.

“H-He’s stable. But he n-needs, a sling, probably, a-and his shoulder, bandages,” Hyrule forced out, voice oddly clipped despite the stammering. “Further examination should— should be, done. Dismissed?”

Legend and Sky both looked at him then, Legend’s whirling thoughts screeching to a halt as Sky’s expression turned to one of dismay. Hyrule was shaking like he’d just run a marathon, but his pose was rigid, eyes fixed forward, back straight, hands tight at his sides.

He looked... blank.

Sun quickly moved when she noticed Hyrule’s state, and she put her hand on his arm, holding him up when he swayed.

“Yes, dismissed. Rest, Link,” she reassured softly, and Hyrule dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, unconscious.

Sun caught him in her arms, and the room went quiet.

“What... was that?” Four asked after a minute, and Sky looked at Hyrule, face saddened.

“Old habits die hard,” he murmured, and Legend suddenly felt very, very sick.

Before he could process it though, Twilight grunted, catching everyone’s attention and distracting Legend from the sudden urge to vomit. Twilight still looked utterly exhausted, but when he opened his eyes there was a clearness to his gaze that hadn’t been there before.

“Oh. Hey,” he mumbled, blinking up at everyone staring at him, and Legend felt a sharp stab of relief hit him.

“Hey yourself. How are you feeling?” Sky replied with a small smile, and Twilight slowly blinked, then closed his eyes again.

“Better. Not... great. But better,” he said, voice still hoarse.

“Well why don’t you get some rest,” Sky said gently, moving his hand to rest on Twilight’s head, and Twilight weakly hummed, leaning into the touch. “We can talk later.”

Twilight was asleep in seconds, and Sky drew back, exhaling as he shifted his wing a little. He set it around Sun and Hyrule, and Legend’s gaze snapped back to the healer, silent and pale.

He was vaguely aware of the other people in the room, Wind looking around at everyone, Twilight still bloody where he lay asleep in the bed, Four quietly holding his hand. Sun held Hyrule as she and Sky gave each other a look, but Legend couldn’t tear his gaze away from Hyrule, unconscious and exhausted with his hands coated in blood, and felt the urge to be sick again.

He thought he was back there because of you—

“Come on. Let’s let them rest,” Sky said finally, breathing out and giving Legend’s shoulder a quick squeeze. Legend nearly threw him off. “That’s what they both need right now. We can reevaluate once Twilight can tell us more of what happened.”

“But... will he be okay?” Wind spoke up, eyes darting between Twilight and Sky.

“He will. Right now sleep is what he needs more than anything. Come on,” Sky said encouragingly, and Wind reluctantly pulled back.

“I’m staying,” Legend managed to choke out when Sky nudged him, and his uncle nodded, giving him a gentle look.

Sky began steering the others back out of the room while Sun settled Hyrule on a bed, and Legend watched distantly as she quickly wiped the blood from his hands and set a blanket over him. He was feeling oddly detached from what had just happened, even with the emotion frothing around inside of him like a storming ocean.

Legend had spent most of the day before now in a tired daze, wrung out from the entirety of yesterday and having barely slept overnight. He thought he didn’t have anything left, but the whirlwind of relief and terror that Twilight’s return had brought along with Hyrule’s reaction was bringing it all up again and he just felt... sick.

Suddenly his aunt was pushing him down to sit in a chair, and Legend blinked as she handed him a wet cloth to wipe his own hands off with.

“Come on Legend, you’re all right,” she said gently, and Legend realized he was shaking. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“Twi first,” he managed to get out, and Sun’s eyebrows crinkled.

“Me and Sky already got him cleaned up. You’re the only one left,” she said, and Legend blinked, looking at Twilight and realizing she was right. His brother had had the blood cleaned from him and his injuries wrapped, a blanket placed over him, same as Hyrule.

When had that happened?

When Legend didn’t move, Sun sat beside him and began gently wiping his hands herself, the feel of the damp cloth oddly startling. Legend looked down at Twilight’s blood still on his hands, parts of his shirt damp with it from when he’d hugged his brother, and felt rather lightheaded all of a sudden.

“Easy Legend,” Sun said, her hand suddenly catching his shoulder. “Deep breaths. You’re okay.”

Legend swallowed and tried to do as she said, shakily breathing in, then letting it out. He flicked his gaze away from the red on his hands, and focused instead on the golden color of Sun’s hair, swaying a little as she wiped off his hands.

He was... really not a fan of blood.

But he managed to even his breath by the time Sun finished, even though his cheeks burned a little at the realization she’d had to clean him up like a child. He easily could have done it himself, though... looking at the red and thinking about everything else it meant would probably only make him feel more lightheaded.

Embarrassing as it was, he... appreciated the gesture.

Sun set the washcloth aside, and Legend finally looked down at his hands, clean of any blood, calloused and speckled with scars.

“I set Hyrule off,” he whispered.

Sun breathed out, nodding. “You were only part of it, but... yes. It was hardly on purpose though, and I know you’ll apologize when he wakes up.”

“He thought he was back at that clinic we saved him from,” Legend croaked, “he thought we were them.”

“This isn’t the first time it’s happened, and it won’t be the last,” Sun replied gently, something heavier in her voice. “...I hate it as much as you, Legend. But Hyrule was there for a long time, it’s not all going to be erased in a few weeks. All we can do is help him as best we can. We all have our scars.”

Legend didn’t reply, glancing down at the old burns on his wrist, and Sun sighed. She ran a worried hand over his head before standing up, and said she was going to go touch base with Sky. She seemed to have realized he wasn’t in the mood to talk, another thing Legend was grateful for, and he nodded at her as she left, carefully closing the door behind her.

Legend was alone.

He breathed out, rubbing a hand over his forehead as he glanced at Hyrule again. The healer was almost as pale as Twilight was where he’d curled into his blanket, and Legend’s fingernails dig into his palms. He’d make it up to Hyrule. He didn’t know how, but he would.

For now though, he had someone else to worry about.

Legend swallowed and stood up, his feet wobbling a little under him, but he managed to walk over to his brother’s bedside, sitting on the edge of it as Twilight slept on. Twilight was much less pale, closer to his normal skin tone, and though there were too many bandages for Legend’s taste, he looked a lot better. Just exhausted.

An idea flitted across his mind then, and Legend stilled, surprised he’d had the thought. He glanced around the room, hesitating, but before he could have second thoughts, he breathed in, and let the power he almost never used sweep over him. His body compressed, twisting around, ears elongating, frame shrinking down and leaving the world a lot bigger than before.

Legend, now a small, pink rabbit, wiggled an ear as he adjusted to his body. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d turned into a rabbit, it had been... a while.

Sometime before Dad had died.

Legend almost turned back, but then he remembered why he’d done it in the first place. Twilight liked animals. A lot. And since Legend couldn’t really do anything else for him at the moment... it had seemed like a good idea.

Legend swallowed, and placed a paw on his brother, feeling his heart beat steadily. Twilight shifted just a little in his sleep at the touch, and Legend sighed, wiping a paw across his nose. He carefully climbed up beside Twilight, curling himself into a ball, and nestled up to his side, frowning as he felt him.

Twilight was cold. Twilight was never cold.

Legend nuzzled closer, and made sure the blanket was tucked to Twilight’s chin, and let himself be comforted by the steady movement of his brother’s chest going up and down, focusing on the sound of both his breath and Hyrule’s nearby.

Twilight was okay. They were both okay.

Legend closed his eyes against all the other thoughts in his mind, focusing only on that one.

They’re okay.

[gyuswhore]

Never Shall We Die (1)

«« Nothing is too outlandish when it’s a life of liberty on the line. »» 

PAIRING: kwon soonyoung x reader

PLAYLIST: right here!

pirate lingo glossary (pls refer!)

SYNOPSIS: Deadliest pirate on the high seas or a damn fool? The stupid King and his men have snatched Hoshi's precious pirate ship with their too clean, too soft hands; grounds to question his own vices. Except, when he and his crew land in the quarters of a navy ship, revenge on their roster, they stumble across a princess in its gallows. Hoshi wonders if he's just struck gold, or if you'd become the final tread to his downfall.

GENRES: pirate!au, enemies to lovers, slowburn, angst, fluff, smut [minor dni], some pirates of the carribean vibes but ? idk

WORD COUNT [full fic]: 48.1k

Part 1: 17.07k | Part 2: 15.2k | Part 3 [final]: 15.8k

@highvern's out of context comment box: new fear unlocked: hoshi with explosives, victorian ankle moment, HATE HIM (need him carnally), hoshi covered in soapy water would distract me enough, strip for me pirate mingyu [hes litrally taking off his jacket], your honor hes a bitch, freaks!, mingyu crushes hoshi's head like a grape, WONWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, massive dick, the way i literally gasped like an old scandalized woman

masterlist

WARNINGS: slowburn, plot heavy, happy ending bc no angsty endings in this household, being taken hostage, knives, bombs, and guns, mentions of blood, mentions of SA (does not happen and it is not explicitly mentioned), alcohol, mentions of death (patricide), hoshi is ✨selectively moral✨but kind of moral nonetheless, side character death, [pls lmk if im missing something its alot] smut tagin following parts

[AN]: thank you so much to @highvern for betaing for me and helping out with the plot so much, this fic would not exist if it weren't for her!!!! and thank you reader!!! for clicking on this and reading it, this one's been about 7 months in the works and I would love to hear what your thoughts are when you're done, plsplspls leave a rb or a reply with your brainrot lol <3 happy reading

HOSHI’S BOOT IS STUCK in the ground. 

No, that’s a branch. 

Or is it a plank? 

He doesn’t try to find out as he yanks his foot out of whatever stopped him from moving. A tree root, he finds as he kicks the remnants of jungle rubbish from the surface of the shrouded root. He kicks it to satisfy himself. 

His crew resides on the beach; where he can see them attempt to build a fire before sundown, the mound of discombobulated twigs making up most of the sad pile of wood. Hoshi trudges up to it and drops another handful of puny branches into the mix. 

Exhaling loudly as Mingyu calls for him, he falls to his bottom and sits cross legged on the sand. Mingyu trudges up next to him to inspect his pile, sighing when he realised this was all he had to work with. He picks up two hefty looking stones and begins to strike them together, putting his faith in the primitive fire. 

Hoshi stares into the horizon, watching the died down waves drift onto the shore, moving closer by the minute. 

Hoshi thinks, which he can’t say is something that he does very often. Perhaps that’s why he was sat on this nature-overrun island as a shipless captain of his shipless crew. He chews on his tongue as he thinks of his Tigress, his beloved hunk of wood and metal; the beloved hunk of wood and metal that he could not see on the shoreline, because she was taken by the royal navy. 

He wonders if Tigress would ever forgive him for letting that happen to her, for letting those clean, soft handed soldiers rip her away from his grasp. 

Hoshi needs to start thinking more often.

Mingyu is frantic over the small flame that erupts in the middle of his leaves, dropping his rocks to blow into the fire, encouraging it to grow. 

“Captain, it’s done! We can rustle up those fish we caught, have supper sorted.” 

“Hm.”

The bustle of the entire crew lasts until night has fallen and they’ve gotten food in their stomachs. Hoshi hasn’t moved from his spot for hours, something the others noticed very quickly, but decided not to mention for fear of waking something dangerous. They understood he was suffering from a broken heart. 

It isn’t until the first of the crew had begun to doze off that Hoshi speaks. Chan is propped up against a tree while Seungkwan laughs at the dangerously low coconut that hangs above his head. Mingyu readjusts his trousers after a full meal. Minghao stretches onto the sand, feet facing the water. 

His voice isn’t loud, nor is it commanding, nor does it have his usual edge of jest—in fact, it sounds nothing like Hoshi at all. 

Or does it?

“Who wants to steal a ship?”

YOU'RE AWOKEN BY THE sound of yelling. Which is never a good sign in any case, but especially not when it’s pitch black outside and you’re on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

The grogginess is quick to fade as you try to understand what’s going on outside your quarters. Your room isn’t a mess, all the trinkets and royal seals remaining in their places on the walls and shelves. Nor is the ship lurching or moving in odd angles to indicate an unexpected spat from the skies. A quick peek outside the window shows you clear, calm water amidst the mostly dark expanse of ocean. 

There is only one other answer in your head that would cause this much commotion—especially on a boat where the admiral resides (and a princess). 

Slipping out of the covers, your feet hit the cool hardwood floors of your quarters, a small shiver going through your spine from the cold, with nothing to cover you but your thin nightgown. You’re in the middle of tying your robe to see what the ruckus was about outside when a particularly loud thud hits outside of your door. You immediately freeze. 

Staring at the doorknob, you attempt to move backwards in the space, heart beating faster as you watch the knob move slightly. The back of your knees hit the bedside table with a thud, the sound has you gasp out loud. Whoever it was outside your door jiggles the knob harder, the force exerted having you scan the room for something you could use as a weapon. 

Spotting the letter opener on your desk, you lurch across the room to grab it, holding it in front of you as you back away from the door. The knob continues to bang against the wood as you refuse to take eyes off of it. There’s sounds of men outside, loud and rambunctious, momentarily halting the grievances. 

Until the knob moves again, slower this time, a light click that could be heard as it unlocks itself, opening into the low light of your quarters. 

You recognise the frazzled looking soldier at your door. 

“Lieutenant,” you voice in recognition. “What’s going on?”

He eyes the letter opener that you hold defiantly in front of you from across the room, and it has you retracting your force slightly. 

“Pirates, your Highness,” he breathes out. “We must get you to lower deck—”

“Where is the Admiral? The Captain?” you ask as you take a couple steps forward. 

“They’re handling the situation, your High–” 

An arm has come up behind the soldier that pulls him into a headlock, a swift pull to have him dragged away from your vision. You would’ve gasped if your voice hadn’t been caught in your throat, refusing to make itself known as fear brews in the pit of your stomach. Your hold on your makeshift weapon is tighter than ever before, yet you doubt how it’s going to help you as the culprit finally steps over something to appear in your doorframe. 

His clothes are in a disarray; slashed, torn and covered in grime. There’s a deadly looking machete in one hand, the blood that coats it has you eyeing the trail that drips onto his hand and on the floor. His forearms are perched up on the doorframe as he inspects you, tongue to cheek as he stares. 

Threatened as you feel, there was less hunger in his gaze as you had expected, more like he was trying to figure out who you were. He eyes your tiny letter opener you hold like a knife and lets out a little exhale you think might be a laugh. It has you gripping the handle impossibly tighter. The man moves his face into the hallway, to where you know the staircase to the main deck is. 

“Hoshi!” he yells loudly. “How’s this for bait?” 

Your back is pressed inexplicably against the wall, wanting to sink into the wooden boards as you attempt to gain your bearings amongst the nauseous bouts of mortification that surge through you. Your only exit is blocked.

No. You have one more option. 

The sound of more men bounding down the hall has you praying there were more soldiers here, but the calm regard the man has for the approaching people has your heart sink to the depths of this very ocean itself. 

More faces peer into the room, men with the same haphazard, grimey clothing complete with  equally sinister weapons in their grasps. One of the men breaks out into the biggest grin as he lays his eyes on you. You nearly throw up. 

For the first time in your life, you wish you’d listened to your father. 

“Jun, you savvy motherfucker,” the grinning man explodes, slapping the man who found you on the back. 

Another voice speaks from behind him, “Ships cleared, captain.” 

“Perfect. Bring a spring upon ‘er. Get as far away from those cleans as you can, let them fend for themselves in a tiny boat for once.” 

Captain. The grinning, stupid looking one is their captain. 

He regards the rest of his crew as he finally steps through the threshold, waving them away as he enters your quarters.

It was taking everything out of you to not buckle your knees as you stood, every step he takes is turning your strength into dust. He keeps his eyes on you, eyes on your sorry excuse of a weapon. He registers the mix of fear and determination in your eyes. 

He stops a few feet away from you, looking directly at you past the makeshift knife you hold. 

He says nothing as he drops the knife in his own hand to the ground with a loud clang. He removes a pistol, a couple more knives, a grenade and a sword. Weapons drop to the floor one after the other, emerging from all over his body and clothes. All in a pile on the wooden floors. He puts his hands in the air.

“No weapons on me. I merely wish to talk.” 

The look on his face is not ordinary, some strange combination of mock innocence and jest. You don’t answer him.

He continues, “You can keep your… scalpel… if you so wish.” 

“What did you do to the soldiers?” you finally rasp out.

“They’re not dead, if that's what you’re asking.”

“Yet?” you ask with a slight tremble to your voice. 

“They’ve been shoved into a boat with a map and a compass to fend for themselves. I’m not entirely ruthless,” he adds with raised brows and a hint of a smile. “Admiral, were they calling him? You must be his wife.”

“W-what?”

“Oh, guess not. Daughter? Captain’s wife, Captain’s daughter?”

Your previously stagnant brain is now running a derby with all the thoughts galloping across your mind. He doesn’t know who you are. Yet, anyway.

He’s scanning the room now, nodding at the trinkets and trophies scattered across the place. “Can’t imagine giving a lieutenant’s anybody quarters like this.” He circles back on you, eyes sharp. “Who are you, darling?”

You don’t think you have anything that should give you away, but the way he starts pacing the room has your anxiety going through the wooden roof.

He has his back turned to you. You’re not sure if he’s confident or careless considering you could drive your weapon into his back and make a run for it. But then what? By the looks of it there’s an entire crew of pirates pacing the deck. Perhaps the soldiers haven’t gotten that far; they know you’re still on board, they know it’s their heads on a pike if they leave you here. 

He’s reached your desk during your thinking, inspecting your stationary, picking at the bejewelled quills and paper weights as he mutters nonsense to himself. 

“Oh!” he announces, a little too enthusiastic. “What’s this?” 

He brandishes the loose leaf of paper, and you recognise the print on the back immediately. It was a letter from your father, the King.

“How on Earth did you read this, the writing is illegible.” He flips the paper over, double taking when he sees the royal seal on the back. He looks into the letter closer now. 

You wait with baited breath. 

“The kingdom needs their princess…your father…ah.” 

Should you plunge the knife into him anyway? You almost do it, but stop when he begins to turn around to face you again. His eyebrows are raised, a slight hint of exasperation on his face when he begins to laugh a loud, loud cackle. 

It’s mortifying, especially when you don’t understand what on earth was so funny to elicit a reaction like that. The man is downright hysterical. He wipes a lone tear from the corner of his eye as he drops the letter back onto the desk.

“W-what’s so funny?” you try to sound brave.

“It seems, miss princess, that we’ve gotten more than we bargained for,” he says, looking straight at you as he sobers up. “You’re the King’s daughter, now, are you? What are the odds the first ship I hop onto with a royal seal slapped on it, held the crown jewel of the kingdom in its gallows.” 

And then he starts walking, towards you, for that matter. Imperative because you know for sure that this is how it all ends. 

You know you still have your one last option, the option that is now pressed against your back as you shimmy to it with miniscule movements. The window is cool on your hand that rests on the glass, you know the lamp will be enough to break it, enough for you to push through and fall into the abyss of the dark, dark sea. He knows who you are now, and you’d rather drown than die at the hands of a pirate—or go through whatever it was that’s curling the minds of all the men on this ship. 

He takes another step forward, hands on his hips. “He’s not going to like this, is he? His dear daughter in the hands of the Kingdom’s favourite degenerate captain.” 

What?

He then adds in a whisper to himself mostly, “Or least favourite with all the wanted posters off the churches and brothels.” 

Hoshi. Hoshi. Hoshi. 

The man who had found you had called him Hoshi. Hoshi the pirate. Hoshi the pirate that’s been giving the Kingdom and its court absolute hell for as long as you can remember. 

The man that you are now trapped alone with on a ship is the most feared pirate the Kingdom has ever seen. 

You don’t doubt your face has gone grey, feeling your breathing turn near erratic. “Oh God.”

He smiles wryly as the life is sucked out of your very soul. 

This was bad. Very bad.

“Now, fear not, you will soon be returned to daddy dearest,” he places a mildly dramatic hand over his heart. “Pirate’s honour.”

He paces back to pluck the letter off the table, pocketing it. “All you need to do is relax and tell me a few things so we can part ways as soon—”

“No.” The word blurts out of your mouth before you can stop it, horrified at the thought of giving information to any pirate, let alone this one. 

“No?” Hoshi looks genuinely shocked, his eyes wide, eyebrows raised. He laughs a little incredulously, “Oh, I see, can’t tell all the delicate details to a scary ol’ pirate.”

He smiles a little bit, “Worry not, miss princess, we shall only need a few minor details. Just enough to have your father sprinting to get you out of here. We all win.”

He stares at you almost expectantly, and you wonder if you look as confused as you feel. 

“Well, I’ll be bidding you goodnight now, I’m sure we’ve interrupted your beauty sleep enough. Rest assured we won’t be bothering you for the rest of the morning.”

Hoshi begins to make his way to the door, picking up his pile of weapons off the floor before wrenching the door open. He’s calm as ever, but your mind is in a disarray.

A ransom, but whatever for? Gold could’ve been retrieved by raiding any ship, and it sounded like he’d chosen to hop on a ship belonging to the navy. Come to think of it, as much of a nuisance this man has proved himself, you don’t remember a case where he’s directly meddled with the Kingdom. All of this can’t just be for gold. 

Steeling yourself, you bet your odds against your voice and asked him, “What do you want from my father?” 

You watch as he halts in his tracks, halfway through the door as he finally looks over his shoulder. The look on his face has you wanting to break open the window immediately and let the water flood in, once and for all as you take these bastards down with you. 

“Your father has something of mine. And I intend to take it back,” he says, before finally slamming the door shut. You hear a shuffle and a thud, and you do not doubt that he’s locked you in. 

Your knees give out almost immediately, dropping to the ground as you breathe in quick, shallow breaths. Trying to look past the dizziness, you try not to think about the last thing he’d said before he left, moreso the look on his face as he did. 

The first rays of morning sun are beginning to shine through the windows, casting the beginnings of a glow in your quarters. You think of the supposed assurance he had given you, that they wouldn’t hurt you, that they intended to return you. 

The thought leads to a faraway memory, yet one that’s tucked itself into a front corner of your mind, you can almost hear your father's voice as he says it; never trust a pirate.

You remain on the floor, and you remain wide awake. 

THE SUN IS HIGH in the sky by the time you put your limbs to work. 

The first hours after the pirate locked you in your quarters were spent trying to reign yourself to earth. You can’t be entirely sure your soul has come back to your body, but whatever little of it that has landed is whispering some very dangerous things. 

The lamp remains, the ornate jewels glinting almost enticingly in the afternoon light. The flame inside it has long died, but you itch to give it another purpose. You don’t note the trembling of your hand as you reach for it, pushing yourself to your feet as you get a feel for the heavy hunk of glass and metal in your hands. 

If there was a level of regard before, it disappears when you set eyes on the bright window and the creases of crystal blue water. With all your strength, you don’t think twice when the lamp makes hard contact, a loud thud erupting as a result, but no damage when you pull away. 

You go again, harder this time, and only vaguely register the glass of the lamp that shatters into your hands. Gripping the metal bit tighter, you swing for the third time, pulling back for the strongest blow yet. 

A hand wraps around your elbow and you’re yanked backwards, landing on the floor. There’s a kick at your hand that’s flown into the air, the one that holds the bludgeoned lamp. It goes flying across the room as you retract your hand into yourself. 

You don’t register a thing as you’re suddenly being pulled back up to your feet. Face to face with the pirate captain, your soul finally clicking back into place. 

“Didn’t think I scared you this bad.” He’s made a joke, but all you can see is his face that’s a mask of rage.

The initial instinct is to move away, pulling your elbow out of his grasp in an attempt to flee. You fail as he tightens his grip to a painful degree, hauling you towards the ajar door of the quarters. 

It’s only then that you realise that there’s more people in the room.You note another big, burly man next to the window you just assaulted, inspecting it with another shorter man. You don’t get to note more as you’re pulled into the narrow hallway, begging the saints he doesn’t take the turn towards the lower decks. Instead you find he leads you upstairs to where the main deck is. 

Walk the plank? Did navy ships have planks to walk on? Not that you’d mind too much, you were trying to drown yourself and this ship in any case. But then there’s a settle of dread in the pit of your stomach, realising death may be the most merciful thing this man could give you. 

The pirate captain pushes you against a mast, one of his other minions rushing in with coils of rope on his shoulder. The sun beats down on the deck, not a gust of reprieve from the wind. 

“Keep the ropes tight, she’s got less wit than I’d thought,” the pirate captain says with a grunt, huffing as he lets go of you. He takes a few steps away, hands at his hips, the image of vexation. 

The person who ties the cords around your hands whispers slowly, “Stop moving.”

But you can’t, not when the panic is near the lip, not when all the possibilities are flashing gore filled images into your vision. It's scary to blink. 

“Why won’t you let me die?” you ask to the back that’s turned.

He turns around, not even bothering hiding the exasperation that paints his face, mouth opening furiously before closing again. “Why won’t—Because you were trying to take us all with you!”

“Kill me!” you all but scream. “They won’t know till you’ve gotten what you want, I’d rather be dead than let you try whatever’s brewing in all your sick heads!” 

He’s silent for a moment, noting your defiant gaze, your pull against the ropes, the heaving of your chest. Taking a few steps forward, Hoshi seems to be attempting to bring the boil in his blood to a low simmer, “Listen, princess. We’re pirates alright, but me and my crew, we keep to ourselves. If your daddy the king hadn’t decided to meddle and steal my fucking ship, you would’ve been home in your pretty palace, asleep in your bed of gold by now.” 

The pirate captain’s face is closer than you’d ever be comfortable with, seething in a way that has you pressing further into the mast. “We may be degenerates but we keep our own morals, as twisted as your people heed them to be.” 

When he finally pulls away, you take a breath and thank the air that simply exists, eyes downcast as you attempt to look braver than you feel. 

“I’m not pushing you overboard. I’ve duped your people once, they’ll be more prepared next time. We need you alive while you’re in our hands.” 

“How are you going to summon a ransom? You sent away your only messengers,” you ask, a sad attempt at a mock, but also because you wanted to know what his plan was. 

“Your useless Admiral’s taken up that job.”

“By lifeboat? You’ve left them all for dead, how do you expect this genius plan to work?” 

“They could’ve swam to shore if it came to it, we were close enough.”

“How are you so sure?” you spit.

“Do I need to gag you too?” he gives you one last irritated look before stalking off towards the lower deck. You’re left alone in the cooling afternoon heat, the sound of the sea keeping your ears company along with your own slowing breaths. 

Everything he said has a good enough chance to be a complete and utter lie. Never trust a pirate. No weapon to cut yourself out of your impossibly tight binds, nothing to protect you or give you reassurance besides a pirate’s word—the worst pirate’s word. 

Your battered thinking leads you straight through the setting of the sun, the orange glow of the sky shrouding the ship in the dreamiest backdrop while you live what you can only sum as a nightmare. Perhaps not, for you doubt your mind could ever conjure up a terror like this. 

This was life, the most terrifying nightmare of all. 

Having managed to wiggle your tied hands downwards, you had seated yourself with your head against the wood of the mast, staring into the translucent skies. So much freedom that taunts you in its illusion of proximity, yet so far still. 

There’s murmurs below deck, the only semblance of life you’ve heard in the past few hours after the stupid pirate captain stormed off. It seems to be on the stairs, a heated argument. 

“Obviously this wasn’t part of the plan, the chances were supposed to be zero to absolutely none. We landed with that scumbag’s successor, that’s just our piss luck and nothing more.” 

“You wanted a woman for bait, this should work the same.”

“Hao, I wanted a woman for bait to trigger a lukewarm reaction, this princess could either doom us all or make our job a fat punch easier, and I’m not betting on the latter.”

There’s a pause. 

“If only she’d cut it with the random hysterics and creepy-staring-at-the-sky we could actually get something useful out of her.” 

“Pray that window holds up or any chance of a miracle is gone to the wind.”

It’s like you’ve woken up with the way the stupid idea begins to form in your head. You think of your father, the kind of man he is, the kind of ruler he is. All the ‘if’s are guiding you to a conclusion. One that gives you a fighting chance, one that may go beyond this massive navy ship and clear into the rest of your life—if you make it that far anyway. 

Your father and his men would come, give this unhinged pirate what he desires so dearly, you know that for sure. But you also know it wouldn’t be for you, but for the crown that’s destined to fall upon your cursed head. 

If it’s his ship that he wants…

The next time you see one of the pirate captain’s goons on the deck, you ask for an audience. 

“DID YOUR STUPID FATHER drop you on your head as a baby?” 

Hoshi stands before you under the light of the midnight moon, an incredulous expression on his face. You try to keep the scowl off your own but it proves difficult when his voice pierces your skull. 

You ignore him from your position on the floor, “I know my father, and I know he loathes you enough to finally want you and your incompetent crew gone for good.”

He scratches his chin, “Can’t be that incompetent if he hates us so much.”

“I can help you.”

“You were ready to die than to be on the same ship as us a few hours ago. What’s changed?”

“Perspective,” you shrug in an attempt to remain nonchalant. 

“Are you gonna go back to wailing in the morning then?” 

God, this was going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do. 

“You want your ship back and you were hoping for someone less important to exchange it for. But you’re stuck with me and you know it’s not going to end well for you. You need my help.” 

“Why so merciful, miss princess? Are you not on your father’s side?” 

You gulp as discreetly as possible.

“I want something in exchange.”

He raises his eyebrows, staring at you to continue. 

“I want you to kill my father.”

If his eyebrows were raised before, they’ve broken for the skies now. He leans his head back, eyes closing for a moment before reopening, reigning back to you before asking very gracefully, “What?” 

“I want you to kill my father.”

“No, I got that bit,” he snaps. “Your father as in, the King?”

“Yes, as you’ve pointed out far more times than anyone ever has.” You can’t help but roll your eyes despite the weight of the situation and the hammering in your chest. 

He stares at you in an expression you can’t quite read, and it unsettles you deeply. For a moment, you wonder if you’ve gravely miscalculated, watching as he moves around the mast you’re tied to. Out of the corner of your eye you see the metal glint of a dagger, and you nearly short circuit. 

Is he about to cut your hands off?

You feel a distinct tug at your wrists, the sound of slicing, and the voice in your head asking why it didn’t hurt. 

Suddenly your hands are free, intact and free as you achingly bring them in front of you, wincing audibly at the pain of moving them after so long. 

“You can jump into the water if you’d like, I won’t stop you.” He walks back over, sitting cross legged opposite you, at eye level. 

“What?”

“You’ve clearly gone mad, I’ll find another way to get my ship back.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Of course, and I utterly enjoy having a kingdom’s worth of blood on my hands. Shall I take the entirety of the court down while we’re at it? Carry out a fucking waltz with Jack Ketch?”

“Why are you acting like you’re above murder? Another part of your strange moral code?” 

“No, no, not above it at all. But I like my head and rather not have it guillotined. They might skim over the death of some too-nosy soldier but I doubt they’d leave me be after I put a bullet between the King’s eyes.”

“I’ll protect you.”

He looks at you for a moment, “Quite reassuring.” 

You sit up straighter, licking your lips as you prepare yourself. “My father isn’t a good man.”

The pirate captain snorts, “Oh, I’m well aware.”

You try not to stare too hard at the still unsheathed dagger that he digs into the floorboards, knifing out splinters in disregard. 

“My father doesn’t want me home, he wants the crown home. He wants me to be a carbon copy of himself, he wants to be in control long after he’s gone.” You try not to grind your teeth too hard but it’s difficult when your father’s face burns behind your eyelids. “I want control over the throne, full control.”

“And your conclusion is to eliminate him.”

“I don’t have another choice.”

“Then what? You’ll pardon me and my crew after we get our hands dirty for you?” he asks, eyes wide in mock hope. 

“Yes. You can do whatever it is that you sail about doing and no one will be of bother. I might ask you for sparing favours. For a wage of course. But other than that, you can live as lawlessly as you wish.”

“You’re asking me to become your personal lackey?”

“Having a queen’s favour is no small feat I hope you’re aware. Besides, it's a leap better than the hoops you’ve been jumping through during my father’s reign.” 

You realised his face had been shrouded by the dark between your negotiating and the clouds that had veiled the moon. Every moment that was supposed to strengthen your understanding of the man that sat across from you only brought you more confusion. 

“You want your ship and freedom of land and sea,” you continue when it’s silent for a beat too long. “I only ask for a small favour in return.”

“I’d argue the miniscule nature of what you’re asking from me,” he scoffs.

“Nothing is too outlandish when it’s a life of liberty on the line.” 

There crawls in the silence once again, the same one that seems to grab you by the throat for every moment that ticks past undisturbed. 

“We’ll have to see to that,” he says, huffing as he gets back on his boot clad feet. You follow him with your eyes as he walks towards the creaky stairs that lead to the lower deck, utterly confused. 

“Where are you going?” you ask, bewildered at his strange behaviour. 

Turning around, just as he had a mere day ago in your quarters and you feel yourself suppressing a shudder. “I have a crew to consult.”

So he was considering it. 

“But you’re the captain.”

“And?” 

THE SKY IS A lighter sheen of blue, leaning towards the premature hours of the morning. He’d left you untied, and as you gaze into the duned waters in the minimal light, the urge to jump in and create a ripple that goes beyond just the water is less tempting than you’d thought. The prospect of having a dead father, and a dead king, was enough to snap you out of your hysteria despite it being a plot of your own devising. 

You’ve been alone for a while, little indication that there was other life on this ship at all with the lack of human activity. There wasn’t much that you knew of sailing or ship handling, but leaving the deck unmanned for this long gave you the vague impression that you were on a vessel with poor practising pirates. If they’d thought you’d be equipped to handle any hiccups, they’d either find out the hard way, or whenever it was that you could find the wit to bring it up to the pirate captain and his strangely attached crew. 

Something that sounds distinctly like boots are thudding gradually up to the main deck, the unmistakable blond of the pirate captain himself coming into view. You aren’t quite sure what it is, but the low thuds are sending your heart racing, panic overcoming your senses for a brief moment before you recalibrate. It’s only then that you realise it’s been more than 24 hours since the ship was hijacked. Somehow, you could have believed it was a lifetime. 

He’s disturbingly nonchalant, hand at the sheathed hilt of the dagger at his hip, a casual glance around at the empty abyss of ocean and sky. When he reaches the far end of the deck, right above the prow, he stops. 

“Are you going to push me off the rails?” you ask, half genuine, half trying to fill the silence as you face one another. 

“No.” He said it plainly, the single word reply leaving you even more uncomfortable. 

“Have you thought about what I said…with your crew?” you ask, hand coming up to grab the railing for support. 

“I did.” 

“Do I sense an objection?” you ask, swallowing the lump in your throat

“Not exactly,” he says. “We want to hear your master plan for this heist before we agree to anything.” 

He’s asking for a plan, a plan that you do not have.

You aren’t sure how he figured it out, perhaps it was the slight darting of your eyes as you thought of a response, but he seemed to read you like a book. He snorts loudly, “You don’t have a clue, do you?”

“You’ve done this before, you’d know better.”

“And if I led you astray?”

You look at him, this time right into his dark eyes, “Then you lead me astray.” 

“Your contentment with death is wildly unsettling.” There’s a ghost of a sneer at his lip. 

“I’d rather be lounging in the bottom of the ocean than live with a prospective future with my father.” 

“So I’ve heard.”

There’s a huff that leaves you as you steel your voice. “I’m not trying to set you up if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“I doubt you’d have that capability,” he says as he leans his forearms over the railing. You briefly consider pushing him over but think better of it. 

As much as you wanted to be a sneaky link, you simply didn’t have that trait. You blame all the dependency your father’s fostered into you, ensuring that you couldn’t rule without his influence. 

“Are you willing to brew a plan or not? I need to time my dip in the ocean accordingly,” you say, sounding almost disgruntled.

He lets out a big sigh, “Follow me.”

He’s made himself familiar with the ship, you soon realise, as he leads you right downstairs to the lower deck towards the war room. When he opens the door, the room is lit with lamps, casting a golden glow on the reddish interior, warmer than the rest of the ship. 

“Stay here, and don’t do anything stupid,” he tells you as he shuts the door behind him, leaving you alone in the cabin. 

You only exhale in response as you turn away from the door, towards the large table in the centre. It’s slightly cluttered, studying the scrawled notes as you realise they’re all from the Admiral, his directions and plans of course littered across the table. Turning towards the map on the walls, you lift a finger to trace the lifted ridges of snow capped mountains, trailing towards the dipped shallows of the blue water. 

It was an exact replica of the tactile map in the war room back home, and you’re suddenly hit with a pang of nostalgia. Not that you’d been away from home for too long, but the end result of what you're about to do, regardless of the outcome, would change your life forever. 

You feel yourself breathing in the lingering scent of mildew, a strange comfort in the warm quarters.

There’s a creak at the door, and you quickly retract to find the pirate captain back at the door, walking in with a trail of men behind him. You recognise them by their faces, watching as they all take their places in the edges of the room. They look relaxed. You note the pirate captain taking his place behind the main drawing table. 

“Your throne, miss princess.” He gestures exaggeratedly towards the lone cushioned chair across from him. You’re hyper aware of all the eyes that are trailed on you, and you feel almost embarrassed to take the only seat. 

It only lasts for a moment. You walk up to the chair with what you hope exuded confidence and take your place across from the pirate captain. His men circle the edge of the room, and you count five other men. 

He sighs, “I think introductions are in order.”

“Mingyu, Minghao,” he points to the two men that had inspected your window right after you tried breaking it open. 

“Jun,” he gestures to the one who had found you in your quarters the night it all went wrong. 

“Seungkwan and Chan,” you recognize the latter as the one who’d tied you to the mast at his captain’s command. 

“They’ll be helping kill your dear father.” 

It’s silent for a moment as you attempt to moisten your mouth. You’re reminded you haven’t eaten or drank for hours, not since one of them had come up with a tray of whatever they could find for you from the reserves. 

“I know I may not be the most admissible person to trust, or vice versa—” You hear someone snort but choose to ignore it. “But I’m willing to make myself useful to you if it means you would help me too.”

“Would it not be easier to lock him up instead?” someone asks, and you turn to find Seungkwan asking the question from next to the tactile map. 

“He has too many people indebted to him, too many that are too loyal for their own good. I cannot truly rule for as long as he’s alive and well.”

“And how do you expect his loyal court mongers to let you bid favour to the people who killed their king?” the pirate captain asks with a raised brow. 

“Which is why it needs to look like an accident.” 

“How do you reckon we go about that?”

“What message have you given the Admiral?”

“You don’t answer a question with another question—”

“We need to be transparent with each other if either of us wants to make it out relatively unscathed.”

He doesn’t look too happy but he answers anyway, “My ship and five hundred thousand for all our trouble. Two months from now at the Green Islands up north.”

The Green Islands were anything but green, the glaciers being near uninhabitable owed to the ruthless weather. It was smart enough, it’d be near impossible to bring as much violent power that far north, no matter how influential anyone is.  

“Is five hundred thousand all I’m worth?” you feel the beginnings of a sneer rise up your mouth. You aren’t sure what prompted it but you don’t want to fight it either. 

“Didn’t know I was bartering for a fucking princess’ case, did I?” he snaps. “Now tell us how you want us to commit the undetected homicide of a King.”

“We need to blow up his ship.” To your surprise (and maybe even a little horror), the pirate captain breaks into a slight grin. Neither do you miss other bits of his crew releasing a bit of a snicker. 

There’s a flare of defiance within you, “Do you have any better ideas then?” 

“No, no. Go on,” he says with his head hung. You’re surprised he has the character to shield his smile. 

“He doesn’t frequent the seas but I’m almost sure he’d be present at the exchange.”

“Almost?” he questions.

You hesitate. The combined chance of needing the crown home and seeing to the downfall of his enemies would be enough warmth to send him to the greenlands himself. You were confident, but your father could also be unpredictable.

“He’ll be there. I’m sure of it.” 

The pirate captain lifts his head, locking eyes with you. You try not to look as weak as you felt, as unsure as you felt, pooling all the remaining confidence into your face. 

He swallows before looking away, addressing one of the crew members. “How big are we talking?”

Jun looks up like he’s only just begun to pay attention, fumbling over the revolver in his hands as it thuds to the ground like a theatrical mistake, “What?”

His captain sighs before replying, “Explosion. How big does it need to be to blow up a naval ship with a King on it?”

The man brings a hand up to the back of his head, scratching his nape. “If it’s anything like this one, we’re gonna need a lot of ammo.” 

“Just enough to sink it,” you speak before you could decide not to. “Even better if they don’t realise it’s happening.”

He thinks for a moment. “We could plant it in the bilge somehow.”

“But how do we get on that ship? When they’re giving us a tour of the lower decks?” The man you recall as Seungkwan scoffs. 

“Throw a grenade on board somehow?” you hear one of them suggest. 

“Real subtle, Chan,” you hear another mock. 

The war room is in shambles before you know it, loud voices talking over threats to slit throats and to shove people overboard. The room is humid and it feels as though the light from the oil lamps are fading. You close your eyes amidst the utter chaos, rubbing the heel of your palm on your temple in an attempt to soothe the throbbing vein. 

“Enough!” The pirate captain has spoken and you have the urge to ask what took him so long. 

Tranquility once again and you almost thank the man. Before anyone can say another word, nausea begins to build in your stomach. 

It takes you a minute to realise the room was spinning and that you weren’t completely losing your mind. The ship begins to rock harder as the seconds tick by, everybody in the room seemingly still as they perceive the change.

“Batten down the hatches,” the pirate captain says to no one in particular.

Chan is the only one who moves to the door to leave before he’s interrupted. 

“All of you. Those clouds weren’t looking too nice up there, we’ve got a storm on our hands.”

By everyone he surely did not mean you, because as the room rushes out and you hear the thuds of boots clamouring up to the main deck, you’re left alone with the captain. Yet again.

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep steady, and you wonder how he’s able to remain balanced while on his feet. It isn’t long before your chair begins to slide as well, the legs croning as they slip on the hardwood. You spring up on instinct, hands coming to the bolted down drawing table to stabilise yourself. 

The pirate captain seems unphased, moving the curtains on the far end to try to get a glimpse at where the water breaks. He steps like he knows exactly where the evermoving floor would be, barely glancing below to gauge his footing. 

“Shouldn’t you be up there?” There’s effort in your voice, your grip on the table as hard as ever as the ship banks to a hard left. He barely grabs the wall in support. 

“Huh? They can figure it out themselves, they’re big boys,” he grunts.

“Your big boys were at each other’s throats a moment ago,” you grunt back, stumbling at a particularly forceful lurch. 

“If you weren’t so ill prepared they wouldn’t need to use their brains, that’s always dangerous,” he shoots back. He’s on the other end of the room, pushing the unbolted cabinet back in its place 

“I gave you a job and it's up to you to see it done, I’m not—ah— I’m not supposed to be planning at all!” 

“Are you?” He’s turned to look at you know, mouth hitched in a snarl as his forehead reflects a light sheen. “Because trying to murder a—”

“Trying to murder a King isn’t a normal task,” you finish for him in a hiss. “Yes, as you’ve reiterated a million times.”

“Great, so you know!” Sarcasm is a deadly look on him, you realise as he walks over from the cabinet to where you were in the middle of the room. The waves have given in, the rocking becoming significantly slower. “Now do you mind telling us about a plan that actually has better odds?”

Your white knuckles have relented, the hands that gripped the table coming loose as you stare back at the pirate in defiance. “I should just hand you over.”

“It’s sweet you think you’re in charge here,” the grit in his voice is evident. “This isn’t your turf anymore, miss princess.”

“You don’t trust me, and you don’t give me reason to trust you—ugh.”

The waves seemed to have decided she hadn’t had enough just yet, this particular lurch sending you hurtling backwards into the wall, back hitting the hardwood as the stable pirate himself loses his footing. You could almost believe you’d landed sideways with the gravity that’s lost its way beneath your feet. 

The chair you were once sitting on is hurtling towards you with a vengeance, gaining momentum as you simply watch it approach like a wooden bullet. A boot clad foot kicks it to the other end and you realise the pirate captain’s gotten hold of his bearings before you have. 

“What happened to being transparent with one another?” he huffs, breathless and wide eyed as he attempts to pull himself to his feet. 

There’s another lurch that sends you both skidding towards the table, just short of grabbing on before you’re hurtled into the cabinet that had moved again, and now slams back into the wall with the weight of the sea and two humans with a bang!

“Fine. You give me your ammo to blow up the bilge, let me on the ship with my dear father and one of you scoops in and saves me before I drown with him,” you yell over the sounds of clanging and banging of everything on this cursed ship, and the whooshing and thunders of the skies, winds and water. “And if I riddled the chances of you letting me drown with my father? Where does that leave me?”

“On the bottom of the seabed,” he deadpans. “But that also leaves me without my freedom.”

You find the opportunity to look at him for a moment, and he’s looking at you too. He looks away towards the door, already making moves to walk out and join his crew above deck. The conversation was over, and it was evident in your lack of reply.

Mother nature, however, sends another one in as a surprise and you're both sent flying to the other end of the ship, yet again. 

There’s a cushion to your blow this time as you find yourself landing right into the pirate captain’s chest, hand above his heart in your instinct to save yourself any more bruises. Between your bickering and the staggering of the ship, his shirt had flown open nearly down to his navel. 

Your eyes barely register the nasty scar across his left pec, instead moving upwards to lock eyes with him. It’s insanity, how you instinctively dart your eyes towards his half open mouth. 

“If you wanted me that bad, miss princess, you could’ve just asked.”

Whatever airborne drug that’d been willy nillying in your noggin seems to spin into a rage as his words register a moment too late. Clenched jaw and a vice grip on his shirt, you spit back. 

“I don’t ask for things. They come to me.”

There’s a crash above you and you realise the oil lamp that was suspended above has shattered, raining glass over your forms. 

Expect you don’t feel it, because he’s ducked over you and suspended his arms in the air to catch the crystalline. 

Before you can decide whether it was instinct or not, you hear a yell at the door.

“Captain! One of the—oh.” 

A barely balancing Mingyu, is staring into the now dimly lit war room, his captain and their supposed prisoner pressed against one another in a dark corner of the room. 

Your instinct forces you to take a slow step backwards. 

“Get back up,” he snarls, already pushing past you to stalk towards the door. He actually makes it this time, shoving Mingyu into the hall towards the stairs. 

Not as much as a glance back before he slams the door shut, leaving you in the tattered war room alone, shards of glass at your feet.

THE STORM SEEMS TO have done its damage as it calmed itself for the rest of the morning and well into the day. 

One of them had come down and escorted you to your quarters, Chan telling you that you could keep it while the rest of them adjusted in the other cots and quarters aboard. Changing out of your ragged, days old clothes felt luxurious, the familiar scent of your quarters putting your tense shoulders at ease; or at least a semblance of such. 

Neither you nor the captain have attempted to speak to each other after the incident in the war room. Having berated yourself for letting your guard down enough, you chalked it up to the lack of food and sleep and put the matter to rest in some deeply buried chest in your head. 

For now you board up the door of your cabin (because you haven’t completely lost it), and burrow under the covers for some much needed shut eye. 

You aren’t sure how long the universe lets you rest, because unless you’ve slept all the way to the Green Islands the banging on the door seems incessant enough to warrant an arrest of its own. The sleep is slow to leave, and it’s hard enough to push an entire drawer against a door, the bleariness paired with whoever the fuck was outside the door isn’t making it easier to push it away from the entrance either. 

By the time you’ve wrenched the door open, you’re thoroughly annoyed, and met with a very alarmed Seungkwan. 

“Oh thank goodness, I was about to try opening it,” he says, looking genuinely relieved. “I thought you might’ve….anyway.”

“You weren’t trying to break in before?” you ask.

He only thrusts a tray of rations and water towards you, “Captain said to give this to you.”

Accepting the tray, you try to balance it in one hand with furrowed brows, “Oh.”

“Um. That’s it, sorry for waking you up.” He makes a move like he’s about to turn around and leave but falters. “If…if you need anything a bunch of us are on the main deck.”

And then he’s gone. 

You take it as your cue to shut the door, kicking one of the heftier pieces of furniture against it before moving back inside. 

When you peer up your tiny window, it’s late afternoon and the beginnings of orange on the surface tell you the sun is beginning to set. You decide it was a good enough amount of sleep. Setting the tray down on the smaller than usual desk, you find that these pirates do not have a knack for subtlety. Many of your letters and papers are haphazardly stacked and shoved into one corner of the table, very obviously sifted through. 

Not that you care too much, there was nothing awfully important that you wouldn't have told them yourself. Ripping off a piece of bread from the tray, you take pleasure in chewing as loudly and as open mouthed as you wished, plucking the parchment at the top of the pile to study. 

It’s another one signed by your father, not a question of your wellbeing in sight as he scrawls ink on paper all the incorrect things you did in the Southerner’s banquet last month. If anything, you were glad the stupid Admiral was away from your presence, his incessant habit of reporting your every breath and turn to your father was becoming too much to handle. 

This was one of his tamer letters, less insults attached to his criticisms but a pain to read anyway. You don’t brush away the crumbs that fall onto the parchment. 

There is not a diplomatic bone in your body. Perhaps move on from drinks and dessert and into more important territories besides the Duke’s son. Our kingdom needs a ruler that’s strong, not one that forgets where she is after a sip of brandy!

If you squint hard enough, it almost reads as a parent scolding a child for a spill, like regardless of what you did, he might just love you the same. 

You wonder how good of a mood he was in when he wrote this. 

Sifting through the rest of the papers you take a mental note of every reason he’s given you to believe that you’d be a hopeless ruler, a few years ago you even questioned why he kept you around before realising his contradicting intentions. As you read, letter by letter, you think of reasons you know are going to make you a better ruler, better than him and better than his stupid court of old men.

These pirates are a blessing, you think, and you aren’t about to let this chance from the universe drown in these waters.

HOSHI ISN'T IN TROUBLE. No, he isn’t. On his butt on the sleek floorboards of the ship, his own golden dagger glinting in the sunlight as it's held in a threatening hold, except it isn’t in his hands. 

It’s pointed right into his jugular vein, held by some grimy sailor who considers himself something akin to a pirate. Perhaps the stench this sorry excuse of a crew carries around may be their idea of a criteria, but as Hoshi remains inches away from death, all he can think about is the atrocious fingers around his dagger, and all the scrubbing he’s going to be doing after this is all over. 

Mingyu had warned him, told him to take down the flag of the navy from the mast, the royal seal in the smack middle of the ginormous thing. He brushed it off. He wasn’t quite sure if he was tipsy, hungry or just plain exhausted when he made that decision, because he’d forgotten just how stupid some of these simpleton sailors could get. 

They were taken by surprise, their only weapons mops and buckets of soapy water as they were ambushed by some overlooked wherry that had suddenly thrown hooks over their railing and climbed up like uninvited sewer rats. 

In the initial confusion, interrupted mid-chorus of some pretty siren and her pirate prince, the first few intruders had simply crumpled over onto the slippery deck, a few slipping overboard completely from the suds and water on the wood. His crew, and Hoshi himself, could only stand and watch as the newcomers sabotaged themselves for a few incredulous moments before they gained their bearings. 

Chan and Seungkwan swang their mops right into the necks of a couple, sending them into the ocean without waiting for a splash. 

Hoshi slips out his dagger with practised ease, swinging the butt of the hilt over the head of another ambushing intruder, right on the head as he crumpled to the floor with a loud thud. He kicks him over for an indication of where he came from. No ink that shows an alliance, no brooch or jewels with a crest. 

New guys, ones that were clearly still learning the ropes. 

Hoshi’s crew had better senses than required for him to yell out orders, and it only took a few more disgruntled minutes to disable the remaining extra men aboard. 

“Where the fuck did these guys come from?” he asks no one in particular, mostly just annoyed that they were disturbed. 

Minghao, who’s peeking over the railing replies, “It’s a tiny thing. They either lost their actual boat or didn’t have one at all.”

He vaguely registers him making a jerking arm movement over the exterior before he hears a wail and a splash. “Disgusting.” Minghao holds his hands away from his body like he didn’t want it anymore. 

Hoshi’s mistake was keeping his guard down, because before anyone could warn him, the dagger that he held loosely against his hip had slipped out his palm. The next thing he knows, his neck is in some grimy sleeve’s grip, and the point of his dagger is lodged into his own throat. He holds his breath, afraid he might pass out completely from the stench alone. 

“Not a move.” He sounds like a boy more than anything, but his grip indicates a harsher life. “Everybody into that fishing boat. I’ll throw this one in when you’re done.” 

He sounds unstable, but that only makes him more dangerous. Hoshi can’t try to wiggle his way out of this one, one wrong move and it’s the end. His crew can’t do anything as they stand with broken mops and empty buckets as their weapons. 

It was stupid of him to even allow himself to be cornered like this, not when he’s weaselled his way out of more dangerous situations with more ease than this. 

His crew looks at him, and he can only close his eyes in encouragement. He watches as Jun steps over one of the defeated bodies to reach the hooks that’ve lodged into the railing. His movements are slow, and he can tell he notices the unhinged nature of this boy that he doubts is barely over 17. 

Chan follows, then Seungkwan as Jun double checks the integrity of the ropes. He’s stalling. 

“Hurry!” It was supposed to come out as a threat, but it sounded more like a plea from the boy. 

And then Jun stops completely, his eyes trained on Hoshi. His eyes are wide, his grip on the rope so tight he can see the whites of his knuckles from the other side of the ship. 

No, he wasn’t looking at him, he was looking behind him. Before he can register, there’s a loud bang of a gunshot, and Hoshi feels the body of his captor slump against his back, his dagger dropping to the ground with an ominous clang. He falls with him, turning over to push the dead weight of the body off of him. 

There’s smoke in the air when Hoshi looks back and it takes him a moment to realise who just basically saved his life. 

You stand in your nightgown, shawl over your shoulders, and a revolver, Jun’s revolver, clenched tightly in both hands. It remains frozen in the air, hovering as he takes in your face. Eyes wide, mouth open slightly, the colour drained from your face. 

Hoshi scrambles to get up as the rest of the crew swarm both him and you. He grabs his dagger before anything else, looking back to see a bullet lodged in the back of his captor’s skull, blood pooling the deck. 

He looks back at you shoving the revolver back into Jun’s hands eagerly, like you didn’t want to feel the warmth of the metal any more than you wanted to make that shot. 

He looks back at the cooling body, and then back at you, an undeniable warmth overcoming his chest. 

You just saved his life.

“Are you alright?” he hears Chan ask you. You nod slowly, and then quickly. 

“Where did you find this?” Jun asks. 

“Uh, in one of the quarters. Downstairs. I went down because I thought it’d be safer, you were handling it and I didn’t want to get in the way. But then…all your weapons were there.” 

Your voice sounds airy, like you were in a daze. Hoshi comes to the stark realisation that this may have been your first time with a weapon, and then even more horrifying, your first kill. 

“I’m sorry, I just thought it was getting out of hand and—” 

“It’s alright,” Seungkwan says. He watches as you let him lead you back down the stairs below decks. 

It was like the shock turned you into a different person, complacent, less defiant. Seungkwan clearly had more of an emotional range, because it certainly took Hoshi too long to realise you might be on the edge of panic. 

Hoshi doesn’t say a word as you disappear, the smell of gunpowder from the singular shot wafting through the deck. He doesn’t realise he’s staring into space until Mingyu interrupts. 

“Should we—”

“Throw them overboard,” Hoshi says, voice flat. 

“But, this one seems like he’ll come around. We could question him and drop him off wherever next—”

“He’s a shit seaman, if even a pirate, he’s got what came for him. Throw. Him. Overboard.” Hoshi is out of breath, yet grits the words out through clenched teeth. “All of them.”

Hoshi slips his dagger back into its sheath at his hip. All he can think about is your blown pupils and you in your nightgown. All he can think about is how they were almost bested by a child. All he can think about is how you had to make that final shot to save his ass, that he couldn’t do it himself. 

Mingyu senses his mood and asks no more questions, simply pushing the remaining bodies out into the water. He vaguely registers Minghao sending the men a prayer into the sea. Mingyu’s already trying to get the stupid naval flag off the mast, stripping off his jacket and disposing of it at the base to start climbing. 

Chan pushes a clean rag into his chest, and he looks down to receive it and notes a tinge of blood at his collar. Right, he was bleeding. 

They go back to cleaning, except it’s a lot more silent. 

Jun walks back up to help, but this time he has both of his clean, black revolvers strapped at his hip.

THERE WERE FEWER PEOPLE in the war room this time around, the captain sits beside Mingyu, Jun and Minghao as they attempt to sketch out a crude rendition of your discussion. The pirate captain does nothing but use his dagger to pick under his nails, barely speaking as he listens in on the conversation. 

Not that you cared, you and the rest of his crew seemed to get along better than you did with the captain anyway. Saving the man’s life seemed to hold no weight to him, not that you expected it but a ‘thank you’ would have sufficed. 

“Keep the grenade til the last minute if it makes you feel better, so you’ll know I’m not trying to sink the wrong ship,” you sigh as you clarify. Minghao doesn’t reply as he scribbles the details. Jun rolls his eyes at his meticulous nature. 

“We need to port in the next couple days if I’m gonna finish this grenade in time,” he says, looking at his captain pointedly. 

“We can stop at Port Ash,” Hoshi says. 

Port Ash was no man’s land, which also meant it was every man’s land. 

Being mostly occupied by pirates and other thieves and criminals it was considered dangerous territory for anyone who didn’t speak in lies, deceit and fists. This crew would fit right in, but you worry for yourself. 

“That’s not gonna be till a week and a half,” Mingyu interjects. 

Jun frowns as he looks at Mingyu and then back at his captain, “I can’t wait that long.”

“We’ll pick up what we can at Hasry when we stop for rations,” Hoshi replies. 

“But—”

“Deal with it. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

Jun looks like he wants to say something, and Mingyu has the good sense to interject again to ask more questions about the plan. 

“How much manpower do you think the king’ll have?” he asks.

You sigh, crossing your arms as you lean back in your chair. “I have no idea. Could be five, could be fifty.”

“Not even an inkling?”

“Considering how he wants the lot of you gone, it’s probably on the larger side. But…” you pause. 

“But?”

“He’s smart. Always seemingly one step ahead. I wouldn’t be surprised if he catches us blind.” 

“I know enough about that,” Hoshi snorts. There’s a glint in his eye that suggests something, but you don’t press.

“I was wondering…we should probably change course even if it takes us longer. My father might intercept—”

“Did that. Didn’t take the obvious alternative route either,” Mingyu replies, and you note that he looks proud of himself. “We can take our time too, the ransom note suggested we took the way past Scarsfield.”

“We should be careful of other boats anyway,” you say, gulping down a lump in your throat before continuing. “Those other sailors could’ve been my father’s men too, for all we know.”

“They were on a smaller boat too,” Hoshi adds, he looks like he’s making connections in his brain. “What’re the odds they were dropped farther back into a smaller boat?”

There’s a pause as you absorb what he’s implying. “Are you saying they’re on our tail?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” he says, exhaling heavily through his nose. “He’s done it before. It was a sorry attempt then and it was a sorry attempt now.”

“How did you shake him off last time?”

The panic in your chest is barely there, but as you register the possibility, you find yourself breathing increasingly heavy. 

“Circling farther out before going the opposite way so we wouldn’t cross paths.” He shakes his head. “But we can’t do that now, not when we can’t afford detouring. The port stops are as late as I’m willing to go.”

“What if we skip Hasry? It’s our more obvious stop, we’ll just stop at Ash later,” Minghao suggests. 

“We’ll starve, we’ve got no food,” Hoshi gruffs.

“Portwater?” 

“Too far.”

It’s silent yet again as everyone racks their brains. You feel very useless all of a sudden, you didn’t know the names of harbours or ports this far out.

“We’ll just port at Hasry and be extra careful, there’s nothing we can do.” Hoshi sighs at his own ultimatum. 

He gets up and walks around the table to the door, “I’ll update the others.”

You glance as he walks past you, his figure leaving a gust of wind in your face. He smelled nice, which was saying something considering the state some pirates are known to be in. As he brushes past, your gaze is met with the other side of the war room, an empty oil lamp bracket on the wall. 

The memory of the storm floods your mind, and suddenly your cheeks are burning. Snapping your head back, you're thankful they’re all absorbed in the papers and plans on the table, oblivious to the memory that’s flashed before your eyes. Mingyu was the one who saw you in your compromising position, and you didn’t know him well enough to decide whether he’d do something as dumb as dish out his captain’s ‘affairs’. 

You file out the room with them. They don’t escort you to your rooms, make sure you stay in one place, restrict your wandering anymore. Perhaps they’d realised you weren’t actively attempting to sink the ship anymore, or that if you jumped off the edge it didn’t matter to them that much, but you appreciated the space anyway. 

Briefly catching Seungkwan filling Mingyu in on the past couple hours they’d been below deck, you turn over to catch his eye. He waves, and you wave back. You don’t realise what you did till it already happened, noting the smile on his face as he did it. You choose to move past it and find the captain. 

There was something you wanted from him. 

There’s no trace of him on the main deck, eyes scanning the area to no avail. A movement from above catches your peripheral attention, eyes squinting as you crane your neck up to look. Hoshi has leaned his back against the railing of the crow’s nest, arms crossed, visible hand occupied with a brass telescope that glints in the sunlight. 

He isn’t using it though, merely gazing at the horizon with furrowed brows. As though he could see better without the device in his hand. In the few minutes that you’re looking at him, you notice the muraled, multicoloured shirt that blows with the wind, a kaleidoscope of beiges, greens and reds. The crop of his blonde hair blends in with the clear blue-white sky. 

Briefly wondering how he’s managing the impossible heat, a hand coming over your own eyes as a visor, you simply look back down. Seungkwan is next to you. You aren’t quite sure how he got there, but he stands next to you, hands on his hips, a pleasant expression on his face. 

“Is there anything you want when we dock? We’re trying to make a list,” he says. Somehow, the prospect of pirates making lists boggled you a little. It was a little jarring, not quite sure why he asked a captive anyway.

But then again, were you a captive anymore?

“I don’t think so, no,” you reply and then juggle whether you should push it with another measly formality. “Thank you for asking.”

“That was your first kill, wasn’t it?”

“What?” You knew what he was talking about, but you weren’t expecting him to bring it up in the moment when he’s asking you about restocking supplies. And especially not with a smile on his face. 

“That day, when you used Jun’s revolver to shoot the lad.” 

A kid. He was a child. 

“I…yeah I’d never done it before.”

“What made you do it?” he asks, remaining as nonchalant as ever. 

“I—I don’t know, it looked like there wasn’t another option,” you say, not quite sure of yourself either. 

Why did you shoot him? You’d never laid hands on a gun before, your father forced you into the category of archery and crossbows, not that you were very good at them either but it was also because you simply wanted to spite your father by being plain bad. It worked, because it only took a year and a half and an arrow straight into his study window to retire from the sport entirely.

Even then, your targets had been apples, barrels and tree trunks. Never a person. 

You’d heard of what people tended to do in pressuring situations, and with the way the aftermath unfolded, it didn’t seem like you made the wrong decision to pick up that revolver anyway. 

But the feeling lingers, the same one that you saw as you gazed into the back of the boy that held the captain of this ship hostage. It felt wrong. Like watching the pirate captain cornered was a picture you couldn’t quite make sense of in your head. 

So you pulled the trigger. 

“In any case, we’re glad you made that decision. We all owe you for it.”

You don’t know what to say to that, so you gulp, inhale and press your lips in a line. “That’s a lot for a pirate to say.”

“I know.”

BY THE TIME YOU manage to corner Hoshi it’s already the next day, and you’re only a couple hours away from docking at Hasry. 

It’s an anxious ordeal, the crow’s nest constantly occupied by someone trying to catch sight of a possible tail. There was no sign, yet anyway. 

“I want to learn to use a knife.”

He was piling coiled ropes when you’d said it, pushing the heap to the side, sweating through his clothes. There was a flash of confusion on his face as he registered you. 

“Why? So you can slit all our throats in our sleep?” he grumbles as he pushes a barrel against the railing. He’s too aggressive, and the force has the splashback soaking his clothes in freshwater, tsk-ing audibly. 

You ignore the way his previously loose shirt now sticks to him, ignore the way the droplets land on your boots when he shakes his sleeve. 

“We’ve discussed what we might be up against, I don’t want to be useless when the time comes.”

“Seemed pretty alright with that revolver.”

“Anyone can shoot a gun,” you say, getting the sudden urge to fidget with the front of your shirt. You try to make your voice sound as declarative as possible. “I want to learn to fight. With a knife, with a sword, with my hands if I have to.” 

He doesn’t say anything as you look down, fiddling with the tassels on your shirt. Your excuse was the sun and the way it was beating down on the deck this afternoon, getting tired of squinting to simply look straight. When the silence prolongs you look up to push further, juggling with bringing up the fact that you saved his life and that, as Seungkwan very graciously told you, he owes you. 

The sound your throat makes is unhuman, because when you look up the captain's soaked shirt is now off his back. 

The skin is near white from the glare of the sun, remnants of glazed water that’s somehow made its way to his back as well. The dip in his shoulder blade reflected a dark marking, one that you couldn’t make out. 

He wrings it as you can only watch, mouth gaping like a fish. Hanging it over one of the suspended ropes to dry, he mutters as he walks to the lower decks. 

“Fine,” he says nonchalantly. “We’ll get you a knife at Hasry.”

Hasry. Right. 

The port is quiet, at least as quiet as a port can be. There’s not much to see but fishermen both returning and leaving for another week's worth of fish supply. Minghao manages to pay and convince the harbourmaster that they were merchants on their way back to the Kingdom, stopping for supplies. The naval make of the ship helped, and then the crew pulled lines and ropes secured from masts in ways you couldn’t quite decipher. 

You assumed you would stay on board, yet when Chan knocked and brought you some roughspun clothes from the town, you were informed you’d be joining them. 

Hoshi deemed it safer, keeping the rest of the crew on board while he, along with you and Seungkwan, ventured into the village to get what was needed and leave before the sun fully set. If they really were being followed, the ship was going to be the first thing they seized. 

Pulling the grey shawl further up your head, you attempt to look as blended as you could, Chan pressing down your shoulders to force you into a slouch. 

“Stop walking like you're important,” he had said. 

“I’m a princess,” you snapped back, but he wasn’t listening, only jabbing at you to keep the haughtiness out of your tone before it caught somebody’s attention. 

The town was a quaint little place, something out of what you were read from storybooks, reminiscent of the paintings that you’d run past on the walls of the palace. The streets cleaner than you’d expected, the faint scent of baked goods in the air mixed with, onion soup, was it? In any case you were glad you were past the fish market, the yelling and the stench nearly sending you to the pavement, gagging. 

When Hoshi returns, you and Chan are looking at a jewellery stall that’s selling necklaces, bracelets and anklets that look like rosaries; colours of deep ocean blue and sunset pinks, beautifully vibrant against their grey canvas backdrop. 

You can only observe from afar, instructed to not interact with anyone while he was gone. Hoshi was gone to get food supplies, but returned empty handed. Systems were in place, that the crates would be on their way to the “big naval ship” at the docks for the rest of the crew to receive.

“They said there was a blacksmith up this alley” Hoshi says, eyes also trained on the uncharacteristically colourful jewellery stall, but he does nothing to move towards it. “We can get your knife there.”

“Knife?” Chan asks, confused. 

“Miss princess wants to learn to fight—”

“Don’t!” Chan hisses, eyeing the men in black uniform that patrol the market from the shadows. 

“It’s fine, they’re too far,” Hoshi says. “Let’s get this over with.”

You do find a blacksmith, an older man with a greying beard and bloodshot eyes that presents Hoshi and Chan with an array of knives and daggers. Either they were able to give an excuse, or he gave no mind to the third woman that trailed behind, the blacksmith continued to deal with the two men as they haggle over prices. 

There’s another seller a ways away, and she’s laid out her goods on the floor on what looks like old drapes. It’s a woman, not much older than you were, unravelling a long string of leather cord. She cuts it, strings a charm through and seals the frayed end with a candle flame that burns at her side. 

The curtain she’s laid her accessories on is patterned with bright colours, and you realise you can’t make out any of it from where you stand. 

Glancing behind you, the men are still occupied with their bartering, seemingly forgetting of your presence. Taking a step back, you pretend to skim through the neighbouring stalls, glancing breezily at woven baskets, layers of folded fabric and towers of painted ceramic cups. 

You stop before the laid out array of more necklaces and earrings, scanning the ground. The vendor looks up and gives you a big, crooked toothed smile, urging you to come forward, to take a look at what she has to offer. 

Something does catch your eye, and you immediately crouch down to see it better. Picking up the necklace from the charm, you let the gold and red rest on your fingers as you study the make. 

“That one’s new,” the woman says. “Practical too.”

The small brass letter opener that’s looped through the cord looks like it could do its job just fine despite its miniscule size. 

“It’s quite popular among the busy merchants,” the vendor speaks in a rough tone, almost like she had a perpetual sore throat. “Easier to use this instead of looking for those bulky ones in their neverending drawers and—and in their cabinets.”

She lets out a laugh, “Quite pretty too.”

You stare at it for a moment, “How much?”

“Ten coin.”

You sigh, setting the necklace back down onto the cloth. Standing straight, you turn to walk away before she yells again. 

“I’ll do seven!” 

You consider whether you should speak, but you also doubt you’d be recognized just by the sound of your voice.

"I don’t have coin,” you rasp. 

“How about that pretty thing on your finger then?” she asks. 

The ring on your middle finger is a simple band of silver, a coming of age present from your father’s court a few years ago. You stare at the band, worth boatloads more than what this woman in an alley was offering you.

But you find yourself moments later, middle finger empty, and pocket lined with the long leather necklace with the miniature letter opener charm. 

By the time you return to the blacksmith’s shop front, Chan is handing the man his coin as Hoshi holds an object sheathed in fabric. They turn around just soon enough to make it seem like you never left. 

“Why are you standing so far away?” Chan asks. “Come closer.”

You listen, moving closer to the both of them as they get ready to make the trek back to the docks where the ship waits. 

“The crates have probably been loaded too,” Hoshi says, his hands suddenly empty. You assume he’s pocketed the knife somewhere. “Let’s hurry and leave before—”

“Princess?”

It was your mistake that you turned around to acknowledge the title, something you realise as soon as you register the man that spoke to you. 

Henley was a stout man, dressed even now in the finest suit of a berry colour, hair white as a ghost. There was no reason for a merchant so rich he had ties with the royal family to be wandering in a harbour market, but he also had every reason to be here. 

If it was the recognition in your eyes, or the fact that they were just being smart, you feel one of the pirates wrap their fingers around your upper arm and pull you to walk away from the alley. 

“Princess!” Henley yells and you cringe at his volume. People are looking now, and you briefly wonder why you aren’t running yet. 

Your heart is pounding against your chest so hard it’s deafening any other sound in your ears, you still don’t know which one has a hold of you, but you let them guide you into a speed walk as you exit the narrow alleys of the main market. 

The shawl above your head is pushed further down, shielding your face in a shadow. There’s nothing in your mind other than Clarence Henley and his rich suit, his gold pocket watch, his trimmed, white hair. His face that you only ever saw within palace walls, always accompanied by your father. 

There’s a good chance you’re shaking, because you can feel your body rejecting it with the pain in your palms that you can only consider to be your own nails pressing into your hand. 

The stench of the fish market helps, bringing you back from your daze as you finally register the ground beneath your feet. It’s only a few more minutes till you reach the docks and you’re suddenly being pushed up the ramp that leads to the main deck of the ship.

It’s immediate comfort, the familiar brown of the floorboards, the scent of saltwater and warping sounds of the sails. You’re led to your quarters, where you finally let the makeshift hood and cape fall. 

“Are you alright?” 

Snapping your head up, you’re met with Seungkwan and his concerned gaze. 

“Oh, erm.” Your voice sounds…not like your own. 

“It’s okay, breathe.” It helps, because it really did feel like you’d forgotten to breathe. 

“We’re leaving in just a few, everything’s been loaded. Nobody followed you on board, don’t worry.”

Right. You were on the ship, you were in your quarters with some of the most feared pirates on the seas. 

The way Seungkwan is easing you through your gulps of water suggests legends in the mix, but you appreciate it regardless. 

When you’ve come round, feeling more like yourself, the ship has already left Hasry Harbour, sailing into the deeper waters of the ocean. 

“Captain said they couldn’t run because it just would’ve been more suspicious,” Seungkwan informs you as you nod. “Did you…did you recognise him? The man at the market.” 

The thoughts come flooding back, the colour of his suit, the jarring nature of a man of such wealth standing in a rundown port market. 

“He’s a merchant, one of the wealthiest. A friend of my father’s. If he even has any friends.” 

You pause as you think about the near blackout you’d had, the way the panic more than boiled over, taking over your senses and your rationality. 

“I think…” you trail off. “I think I just felt like it was the end. I finally had an opportunity to get rid of that tyrant and seeing something that was from home, felt…it felt like I was going to end up right back where I started.”

Seungkwan doesn’t say a word as you digest your own words, accepting your own fear that had rendered you useless in the time it probably mattered most. 

“Do you feel better now?”

“A little,” you answer. 

“Maybe a weapon can help.”

At the door stands Hoshi, a stern expression on his face as he looks directly at you on the bed. In his hands, the same fabric covered knife he acquired at the market. 

You know that you asked for this, but the jolt in your stomach still makes itself known. 

“He’s right,” Seungkwan says, lifting from his chair. “Blades have a way of calming you in any case.”

You note the glinting hilt of Seungkwan’s sword sheathed at his hip, remember Hoshi’s own daggers that he seems to be emotionally attached to. 

Lifting your head back to Hoshi, you ask, “Can we start now?”

He smirks. 

ALL NIGHT, THE STUPID pirate captain had you taking swings at the air. 

“Your opponent’s baked a fruit cake by the time you were done with that swing,” he comments, continuously unhelpful. “Swing faster.”

It’s nighttime, nothing but a few oil lamps on the floor of the deck keeping you and Hoshi in the light. Your shoulder burns, your forearms are liquid, and your non-existent opponent remains forever stronger than you. 

“I’m done,” you huff, thoroughly spent. Crumbling to the floor, you bring your non-dominant hand up to your aching shoulder in an attempt to massage it. 

It’s been a while, the moon high up in the sky when you finally decide to quit it for the night. He lets you go without a fight, and you doubt you’d have the energy to if he decided to do it anyway. 

The following day, he’s tweaked his regiment a little, and you find that you’re finally swinging at something tangible; him. 

He leaves himself open, an invitation to strike wherever you want. You feign for his shoulder, but he sees you coming from a mile away, already deflecting your flattened blade that comes for his thigh.

“Don’t look where you want to strike, you’re giving yourself away.”

Furrowing your brows, you dislodge your knife from his own and back away again. He’s immediately cocking a brow, telling you to come at him again. You go for his middle, slashing your knife in an arc as he simply deflects. 

“Come on, find a pace,” he grunts. 

Coming down with your knife again, he blocks you but this time with his forearm, pushing you back by the wrists. It was a battle of strength, as he forces your wrists down. He was stronger than you, and there was no way you could push away, so you dispel your own force. He stumbles from the sudden forward force, and you pull away to take a swing from above. 

He recovers faster than you thought he would, already coming up when you’re ready to swing. He raises a hand to deflect, half a moment too late as your blade slashes across the heel of his hand. 

There’s a brief splash of red against the blue backdrop of the sky, and you gasp on instinct, immediately moving away. 

There’s an apology ready on your lips, mouth gaping as you watch him inspect the wound. You don’t get to say anything because he beats you to it. 

“Deep enough,” he comments, like he was inspecting a painting. “Keep this up and you might actually be good by the end of the week.”

Oh. 

“Alright,” he says again, moving back into position.

“Are you gonna wrap that?” you ask, referring to the bloody hand. 

“It’s fine, I’ve fought with worse,” he says. 

You blink as you reluctantly get back into position, bracing yourself as you continue to look at his hand dripping blood onto the deck. 

“You’re getting the hang of pacing, but you need to start considering your blade as an extension of yourself—JESUS!”

You’ve swung at him faster than you ever have, putting everything into that single tug of your knife. He wasn’t expecting it, still talking over your glances at his palm. He had his guard down, and you took the chance. He ducks on instinct, but it could’ve been another scar for him to remember if you’d made it. 

You stumble as he circles you to the other end, flattening his blade on your back.

“Nice try,” he says. “Really nice try. But you never turn your back to your opponent.”

“I lost my footing,” you defend, but even you knew that wasn’t an excuse. 

“And I just stabbed you in the back. And now I’ll have to present your corpse to your father and hope he’ll accept it and give me my ship. We all lose.” 

The pressure of the blade leaves your back and you're suddenly left looking stupid despite doing something somewhat right. 

“You’d just swindle another poor sailor off his boat and move on,” you say. “You’re a slippery thing.”

He has a smile on his face that borders a smirk yet is innocently mischievous enough. It’s a strange sight, bloody hand, relaxed face. There’s a clean-ish rag on a nearby closed barrel that he uses to wipe the excess blood off his hands. 

“I keep going because I live without regret.”

You can only roll your eyes as a scoff leaves your mouth before you can stop it. You simply turn around, settling to the floor, going back to massaging your still aching shoulder. That last blow only made it worse.

“I don’t regret things, miss princess. Ask me why.”

You remain silent. 

“Come on,” he urges, that silly smile remaining on his face. He’s washing the wound now with freshwater from the barrel.

Sighing, you ask him, “Why?”

“Because I don’t ever do things I’d regret.”

“That insinuates you think before you act.”

“Right-O,” he declares, wrapping another torn cloth on his cleaned wound.

“Funny,” you answer. “Because I dont think I’ve ever seen any hint of light behind your eyes.”

He turns around to you, sheathing his dagger at his hip, a dangerous look in his eye.

“You’ve looked into my eyes?” 

The clench in your jaw must have been visible, or the look of disgust on your face might’ve been apparent just the same, because the pirate captain simply laughs out loud before retreating towards the stairs to go below deck. 

“I’ll send Jun up, practise with him.”

You wanted to send your knife, point first, hurtling into his retreating form. 

Never turn your back to your opponent, my ass. 

But you don’t, mostly because he’d probably manage to deflect that too. So you resort to sitting cross legged on the deck, staring at your dagger while waiting for Jun to meet you upstairs. 

Hoshi said he picked the knife based on a number of things you’d already forgotten, something about carbon steel and having a good grip. It’s quite pretty, you’ll have to admit. It’s plain silver, but the reflection it makes in the sun makes it difficult to look away. You’d gotten used to the handle and how it fit in your palm, Hoshi assured you that the more you used it, the more the hilt would mould into your grip. 

Jun stomps onto the deck, revolver-less and instead equipped with an array of knives that he deposits on the deck. 

“Should’ve picked a plain old gun,” he grumbles as he holds one of the longer blades in his hand. “Job’s done and you don’t need to get within ten feet.”

“Don’t have to reload a knife, do I?” you comment, taking the first swing. 

Jun may have an affinity for guns and explosives, but his handling with a knife was still nothing below an expert level. He pushes your arm off before spending you into a ballroom spin, flatting his blade at your collarbone. 

That could’ve been your throat.

“No, but by now I could’ve shot you, thrown you overboard, and been on my way to a nap,” he says in your ear, before releasing you as you get back into position again. 

That could’ve been your throat.

THE FOLLOWING WEEK PASSES with your days and nights muddled into a strange mixture of swinging knives and taking breaks slumped against the deck of the ship, unmoving. 

It’s a particularly hot day, the giant glowing orb beating down on the deck with no mercy. Not that it stops you, because the sun remains unwavering, high in the sky, and you remain unwavering in your wide legged stances as you lunge for Chan again. 

Chan’s entire being glistens in the afternoon light, the beads of sweat that he wipes off his forehead only seem to reappear every couple minutes. His clothes cling to him like a second skin, taking long breaths through his teeth amidst the difficult, humid air. 

You don’t doubt you look the same, one hand in your hair suggesting you just took a bath in your own sweat. But Chan seems accustomed to the heat, and while you weren’t, you couldn’t deny your growing comfortability with it all. 

It’d been a while since your meal, hence your sluggish movements were slowly turning increasingly sharp, having cornered Chan multiple times in the duration. You’re determined to not be the one to call for a time out, so you find yourself pushing beyond what you’ve been doing for the past week or so. 

There’s a particular punch of heat at your sides, and you can feel yourself slowing. 

One deep breath, a slow exhale.

It’s all clangs and reflections of knives, tiny droplets of blood as evidence of both of your tiny, unintentional nicks and cuts. You’re succeeding, pushing the man further and further back. 

“You’re getting sloppy, aim for the blade not my tendons,” Chan seethes through his teeth. 

“I’m trying,” you grunt through the effort. 

You’re set back for a couple minutes before you go back to pushing. Your lungs burn, your entire side is numb from exertion, but you give more than your body is made for, and you succeed—kind of. 

Chan back is against the railing of the deck before he realises it, and perhaps it was momentum, or sheer exhaustion, because one minute you’ve got eyes on Chan’s hands and his blade, and the next he’s gone. There’s a loud splash, and you suddenly realise what you’ve done. 

You just pushed Chan overboard. 

You scream before you can help it, dropping your knife with a loud, resonating clang. Pushing against the rails, you peer down to find a giant ripple on the surface of the ocean, whipping your head around to the stairs leading below deck to find Mingyu and Hoshi bounding upstairs. 

“What? Where’s Chan, he was supposed to be with you,” Hoshi asks, whipping his head around the deck. 

Your wide eyed, horrified response from near the edge tells them all they need to know. 

By the time Chan’s pulled himself on board, soaked and dripping like a wet poodle, you’ve sat yourself the furthest away from the railing to prevent any more trouble. He drops onto the floor, creating a human sized puddle. 

With the way the two men had merely sighed and threw the ladder over the exterior of the ship, you concluded that this must happen enough for them to be beyond the point of concern. It only adds to it when you see Mingyu nudge Chan’s unmoving but heaving body with the toe of his boot, giggling at his expense. 

You make your way over, crouching beside Chan sheepishly. 

“Sorry about that, got carried away.”

He’s sitting up now, quickly pulling himself back to his feet and you spring back from your crouched position. 

“It’s fine, happens.” He has a small smile on his face as he says it and you conclude that he may find the situation laughable as well. 

“Now, Chan,” Hoshi says, not letting Chan move into the deck any further from the railing. “What’s the first thing you learn about brawling on a ship?” 

Chan looks slightly embarrassed as he answers, “Be aware of your surrounding—ARGH.”

Hoshi pushed him into the water. 

You jump as you run back to the rails, watching as Chan’s head re-emerges at the surface after his second dip in the ocean. 

Just as you’re about to say something to Hoshi, he’s stuck his head over the railings as well, yelling at Chan in some singsong voice. 

“One time was a mistake, twice is a problem!”

To your left, only adding to your horror, is Mingyu doubled over in his fit of laughter, heaving as he giggled uncontrollably. He’s also holding onto the railings for dear life, but clearly, for reasons completely different from yours. 

The situation resolves itself as both you and Chan learn a few lessons of practicality. Deciding you’ve done enough damage to your body, you announce that you’d be retiring for the day. 

“Thank goodness, I was about to confiscate that stupid knife, I’ve been hearing clanging in my sleep,” Mingyu mumbles as he pulls the rope ladder back up to the deck. 

In any case, you have the urge to take a dip in the ocean yourself, feeling increasingly uncomfortable in your drying sweat. 

Grabbing a clean washcloth, you fill a bucket of freshwater from one of the barrels on deck and lug it into your quarters. The soaked washcloth does wonders for your overheated body, feeling enormously better after a change of clothes. 

Your scalp, however, remains itchy and burning, so you decide to go back up to the main deck, hoping to manoeuvre a hair wash situation without needing to mop the floors of your quarters. 

Refilling the bucket of freshwater, you set it down before scanning the empty deck for another spare bucket. You try not to scoff at the unwavering determination of the pirate crew to keep the deck unoccupied for such long increments, that last altercation teaching them absolutely nothing. You wonder how they’ve managed to survive for so long like this. 

Shaking the thought, you use the spare bucket as a way to deposit your waste water as you pour cups of clean water over your aching scalp. The feeling does wonders for you, letting the water wash away weeks worth of grime, sweat and stress. 

You’re almost back home in your quarters when the whiff of your hair salts hits your nose, the ones you’d packed for yourself, closing your eyes for a moment as you rub them into your scalp. You don't expect the clench that seizes your chest, but you falter when it happens anyway.

It’s nostalgic, and you hate it. 

It smells like the palace, like the incense your ladies in waiting always burned, the stench of citrus having made its way into your bones from the years of exposure to the scent. It’s too much as you blink back tears, owing them to the suds that have made their way into your eyes. 

The sting helps bring you back, opening your eyes to an orange glow and the waft of seasalt  hitting your nose. You’re more aggressive when you dunk your cup into the bucket this time, too aggressive as you feel the half full bucket tip over and spill water all over the deck as you cause yet another accident. 

Cursing loudly, you try to blink away the suds from your eyes, soap still in your hair as you try to figure out how to get another bucket of water without ruining your fresh change of clothes, mentally kicking yourself at not thinking this through.

“You realise we have to make do with that freshwater till we make it to Ash?” 

Wet hair still in your hands, you attempt to peer up at the voice, only to find Hoshi standing above you, arms crossed over his chest with a funny expression on his face. Huffing, you grumble out in response, “Can you just get me a fresh bucket?”

“Hm, I don’t know, can I?” He removes his gaze and begins to pretend looking over at the horizon and the setting sun. 

Chiding yourself for even bothering to ask, you reach for the tipped bucket yourself, deciding you’d figure it out yourself if this dumb pirate was choosing to be of no help. But before you could latch your fingers on the handle, the bucket’s snatched away. 

At first you think he’s being funny, taking the bucket away to watch you struggle even further. “You—”

Except you watch him as he dunks the bucket back into the barrel of freshwater, lugging it back to where you could reach. “Try not to paint the deck with it this time, I’ve already mopped twice.”

The thank you freezes on your tongue, and for some reason you can’t say it to him. So you make a scene of splashing into the bucket with vigour, sending spills over the rim and taking mild satisfaction in hearing him sigh at the sight of more mopping. 

He’s already gotten hold of the worn mop by the time you’re done as you remerge with clean hair, wringing your own mop of hair to deposit the excess water. Straightening out your back, you take hold of the spare cloth you brought along with you, patting your hair with it. 

The sun remains in its mission to cast its golden glow, but only illuminates Hoshi’s grumbling form as he mops up all the water you’ve spilled. 

“You know, I should really be making you—” He halts as he makes eye contact with you, your hands still occupied with patting your hair dry, flicking the wet strands. You have a rebuttal already prepared, waiting for him to finish his jab. 

“Make me what? you grind. 

You can’t make out the look on his face, somewhere between constipated and on the edge of a yelp, he keeps staring at you. You note a slight trickle of water making its way down your neck and chest, bleeding into your shirt as yet another water stain. 

“Nothing,” he says, to your surprise. 

And with that uneventful climax, you trudge back down to your quarters, a strange brewing in your chest.

[AN]: congrats you made it to the end of part 1!!!!! reblog ur thots and opinions or send me an ask, id love to hear the turmoil in ur minds lol

[voltaicsnail]

What if N and Lysandre met right after the event of BW1 ?

AU - Lysandre and N collaboration

After acknowledging the real intentions of his former-father Ghetsis , N was thrown out of the castle while Ghetsis would try to groom another person to find the remaining stone for him to use.

N , lost , with barely any time to process what just happened to him , his ideal , stumbled upon a man who swore with passion to get rid of the filth in the present world.

Seeking what he always knew was the truth , he decided to learn more about Lysandre , his stance about humans , and Pokémon alike.

Sure enough , since the timeline in BW2 is similar to the one in X/Y , Lysandre obviously heard about Team Plasma , probably even believed in their cause in the beginning : at the end of the day , he does hate the idea of Pokemon remaining mere tools for humans to use as they wish.

He heard about the downfall , about how Ghetsis lied to everyone before vanishing , letting all his puppets behind and also his son.

He despised the man , but actually praised his ideas.

When N and Lysandre finally interacted , when Lysandre understood where N was coming from , it was only logical for them to unite and share their mutual thoughts.

""I'm sure you understand that Pokémon are not tools for humans to fight each other with."

"And that people who do think that Pokémon are tools are beyond saving, no matter how hard you try." (Lysandre in game (master ex ) quotes)

N wouldn't accept Lysandre ideas of removing Pokemon from the world and letting only a few humans alive to avoid the Pokemon abuse , and wouldn't take much for him to make Lysandre change his mind as well :

N is saying the truth : the only problem is the story are the trainers , not the Pokémon.

They would become allies , joining their ideals , and get lost former-Plasma grunt on their side.

The Ultimate Weapon would be used , but they would have to find a way to make it work as they wanted it too : to eradicate only the very thing that threaten both of their ideals : Humans.

__________________

I was just thinking about it , despite going in totally different ways in their games , if N found Lysandre in his vulnerable state after going through such traumatic experience , he probably would have latched unto this new purpose. For all he knew was that Pokémon were hurt and that Humans were bad.

Would he be scared of Lysandre ? Probably for a moment , but I would think that N can be too trustful , especially when the person in front of him is directly despising the very man that destroyed his self-esteem month prior.

Would Lysandre be manipulating N ? Not on purpose , I think Lysandre would genuinely think of N as a little brother and would actually try to help him but in the wrongest way possible.

It's just an idea , but I do think that if Lysandre met N during the end event of BW1 or even slightly before , it could have had terrible consequences and we know for sure that Lysandre wouldn't mind dying for his ideal.

They would probably try to make the ultimate weapon work by feasting upon human energy ; and not Pokémon.

Sorry I write like shite lol it's 4AM here and my brain is turning off ok

also please save me from the lysandre autism

[lowkeychenle]

masterlist + all about me (and nct dream)

hi everyone! name change/rebrand alert ;)

prev @/lowkeyjaemle, now @/lowkeychenle :D

i'm juls (as some of you already know) and my ult group is NCT Dream! i'm chenle biased (this will never change lol) and the majority of my blog is also chenle biased lol.

i do not have a bias wrecker. chenle is safe (although jisung is my #2, which just makes sense bc chenji is a package deal okay).

i'm 23 years old, and my pronouns are she/her. now that all this intro/boring stuff is out of the way, please keep reading for my updated masterlist ;)

p.s. if u are also a chenle stan, there are so many chenle fics here just for u

AY YO! MDNI >:(

text!au masterlist | smau masterlist

labyrinth

Chenle was more complex than you originally gave him credit for, and unfortunately for you, that would be your downfall. Lost in the labyrinth, you’ll always struggle to find your way out when the rose-colored glasses don’t let the light shine through.

the hardest part (M)

You, Chenle, and Jay have been best friends since before you could even remember. After moving away to pursue your dreams, you don't talk to them as often as you should. One day, you get a call notifying you of Jay's passing. When you go back to your hometown, you find everything is different except for one person--Chenle.

Some Things Can't Be Taught (M)

In which you are failing college physics, and your childhood best friend offers up one of his friends as your tutor—except, there’s a little something he wants to learn from you in exchange.

Guilty As Sin? (M)

Chenle is everything you want--everything you need. Somehow, the thought of him manages to pull you back in even after you were free. Messy kisses, late night trysts, and him tracing the word 'mine' on your thigh--barely anything, so how could you possibly be guilty as sin? (based on Guilty As Sin? by Taylor Swift)

And Then It Was (M)

After your marriage with Chenle was arranged by your parents for a company merger, things with him aren't quite like you expect. In your life full of obligations, he's determined to finally give you the ability to make your own choices. (smut/fluff/angst) *WC>10k

Cruel Summer (M)

He wants you. Everything to do with you--your heart, your body, all while keeping your friendship. What's a man to do during a 30-day hook up to get you to stay? (smut/fluff/angst) *WC>10k

See My Sea (M)

You never expected your lab partner to be the captain of the basketball team...or a decent human being, but you get proved wrong twice. Despite a rocky past of your own, you find yourself falling for him faster than you thought. Maybe, with his help, you can finally find your way home and see your sea. (smut/fluff/angst) *WC>10k

Like We Just Met (M)

Everything else about the day is completely normal when Chenle realizes he wants to marry you. It hits him like a tidal wave, and he's itching to tell you just how much he wants to love you forever. (smut/fluff) *WC>10k

SOS (M)

Road trips with Chenle are your favorite thing. Late at night, the two of you stop at a hotel, but it's not everything it seems to be. You barely have time to settle before you get a call to evacuate immediately. Beneath red neon flashing lights, you and Chenle have to try and escape the group of people hunting you down. (suspense/thriller/smut)

this is me trying (M)

Meeting Chenle was a fluke--a good one, at that, but you never expected things to escalate the way they did. But despite the whirlwind romance, you'd go back to December if you had the chance... (smut/fluff/angst) *WC>10k

Is It Over Now? (M) (Feat. Jisung)

Your relationship with Chenle is nothing but fight after fight. Amidst the toxicity, infidelity comes into play--except you're determined to one up him...but is it ever truly over? (angst/smut) *WC>10k

Within the Piano Keys (M)

For as long as you could remember, Chenle has been your neighbor and childhood best friend. That is, until one day he disappears without a word…or so you thought, since your mother hid all the letters he sent you. (smut/fluff/angst) *WC>10k

Paris (M)

Pure smut on a hotel room balcony in Paris! Woo. (smut)

Sunshine (M)

You're not usually able to wake up with Chenle due to his schedules, but on the days that you can, it's certainly worth it. (smut/fluff)

Quiet Down (M)

You and Chenle visit your parents, but he just can't help himself... (smut)

You're Not Sorry

You and Chenle broke up two weeks ago. The first time he calls you at 3am, you ignore it. Then he calls again. You answer, and you go to him knowing there's nothing he could do to fix what he's broken. (angst)

The Last Straw (M)

Chenle has been your best friend for as long as you can remember. Being in love with him isn't easy, until you find out he reciprocates those feelings (thanks to Cockblocker!Jaemin). (smut/fluff/angst)

Chilled Nights, Fogged Windows (M)

After being gone for weeks, the first thing Chenle wants to do is get ice cream with you. One thing leads to another, and suddenly, you're in the backseat (oooops). (smut)

In Your Dreams (M)

What started as innocent phone sex hotline stuff (if that can ever really be innocent?), you get an offer you just can't refuse...you just have to be a little sleep deprived ;) (Chenle as Freddy Kruger Halloween thing lol)

Irrevocably (M) Series Masterlist

You were friends with benefits with Chenle until he got a girlfriend...fast forward months later, and now they've broken up--leaving Chenle to come back to you, very much in need of a distraction. (angst/smut/fluff)

Opposites Attract [Poly!Jaemle AU] Series Masterlist

Your relationship with Jaemin started out simple--friends with benefits with zero complications...until there was one. That complication's name is Zhong Chenle, and after Jaemin agrees to expand your exclusivity deal to involve him, there's only one logical thing left to do... (smut)

모래성 (ONE) (TWO) (THREE)

You and Mark have had a friends with benefits relationship for almost a year now. He's in love with you, addicted to you, but you don't feel the same. You're his poison. (smut/angst)

Late Nights (M)

Mark's busy schedule only gives him time to come over late at night, but it's safe to say neither of you are complaining by the time you fall asleep. (fluff/smut)

Empire State of Mind (M) (Feat. Jisung)

Life with Jisung is almost perfect. He loves you, and you love him. But when you run into your ex, Mark Lee, you realize the one thing you've been missing all along is him. (smut/angst)

Lost & Wayward Mini-Masterlist

After the worst couple weeks of your life, you finally break down in the middle of an alleyway. Jaemin hears you and comes to comfort you, and little do you know, he's about to change your life--in more ways than one. (fluff/smut/angst)

[dreamweave01]

Hi Dreamweave, I have two questions about your au tmnt swap

What is Splinter's relationship with the Turtles? Does he die at the hands of Shredder?

Hello!

Dang, I haven't thought about my swap AU in a while lol.

Splinter's relationship with the Turtles is. . . rocky, let's put it that way.

I mean, a merciless warlord with anger management issues bent on revenge doesn't exactly scream "dad material" :/

As for dying at the hands of Shredder, I haven't actually thought that far ahead in my AU yet, so I got no idea.

While the two are definitely as much enemies as they are in the show, I personally think it would be more fitting if Splinter brought about his own downfall.

Maybe his rage finally gets the better of him, or his lust for vengeance finally pushes him too far. He makes a wrong move, and. . .

Who knows if that'll be how it turns out though. That's still well into the future.

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

Hello it's me again can I request the hlc students, professor and villians meeting THE VILLAIN AU of MC, (Mc is a dark entity who was stored under wookrook castle after the first ancient magic stop was open they let out !villain! Mc who's a 11ft entity who is sassy, manipulative, playfull/ Mc in this au plays a game with her victims if they lose they lose a limb if they win they get some power (btw this is a discarded au of mine Lol)

A/N: If I'm following your idea correctly, MC is not human but a dark entity that manifested inside the repository under Rookwood Castle? I can roll with that.

HLC REACT TO VILLIAN!MC

WARNING: angst,death, destruction, mayhem, evil!MC

RANROK: Finally. The Rookwood repository was unearthed. This one was the largest by far, he could practically smell the magic buzzing within its cage. In his haste, the magic beam from his hand killed a loyalist that didn't get out of the way fast enough. The repository shattered, releasing the large black and red mass of magic.

Something was different. The magic didn't automatically come to him. It didn't attach itself to his armor or go inside his body. Instead it writhed formless on the ground. He angrily shot another beam of magic, but it had no effect.

The magic did not come to him. Instead it started to rise. Higher and higher until the mass was near the height of the surrounding trolls. The magic swirled in place, gradually forming the silhouette of a human. Two exceptionally bright red lights glow where eyes would be.

The goblins behind him started to back up, looking to him for orders. He stared up at the unknown entity, unsure of the correct action. His magic had done nothing.

His hesitation was his downfall. The creature of undiluted dark magic simply pointed a finger at him and he felt as though his own soul was being ripped from his body. All the magic he had collected from previous repositories flew from him to the entity.

He fell dead while the entity seemed to grow stronger. Its form was more defined, more humanoid. The faceless head split across the front into a gnarled, chaotic smile.

VICTOR ROOKWOOD: He was outside Hogsmeade negotiating his next step with Harlow when the sky above went red. He pulls out his wand, thinking he's ready for what's about to come out of the sky when he sees it.

A large winged creature, not unlike a dragon, swooped down from above. A blast of dark and red energy came from the entity's hands and vaporized entire rows of houses. The protective barrier around Hogsmeade is entirely ineffective in stopping it.

He and Harlow try to flee, but the entity lands within feet of them. The weight of the creature shakes the earth and knocks them to the ground. He rolls onto his back and starts firing every destructive spell he knows, including the killing curse. His magic is merely absorbed.

A low shrill laugh pierces the air, he looks up in terror to see the sound coming from the entity standing over him. An impossibly tall humanoid figure with undefined features was staring down at him. They seem to be made of liquid chaos and fire, their skin constantly shifting and morphing. From the back came four large wings, like those of giant bats. They too seem to be constantly changing shape and definition.

The last thing he heard were his own screams as darkness descended upon him.

~~~

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: The school was in chaos. The alarm bells rang out as professors rushed to collect the students for emergency evacuation. He fought against the crowd to get to the nearest floo powder stantion. He needed to get to Feldcroft.

He nearly reaches one when the wall next to him blasts apart. He's thrown off his feet and half buried in rubble. His ears ring. The screaming of the students around him feel distant when he sees a horrific being approach him. It glares down at him curiously.

He couldn't reach for his wand, his arm was broken. The creature reached down towards him and he tries to shuffle away when he feels a slight tugging inside of his chest, like his own heart was trying to leave through his ribs. An oily black substance oozes from his skin, shining red like blood and he believes he's dying. But then...he feels nothing. Not fear, not anger, not pain. He doesn't need to go to Feldcroft. He doesn't need to do anything...he doesn't want anything.

He's left there in the rubble. The creature absorbed what they took from him and moved on through the school, heading downward.

OMINIS GAUNT: He's lost in the crowd and couldn't find Sebastian, no matter how many times he called. He's forcefully shoved through the hall and to an evacuation point. No matter how much he protested, he was floo-ed away without explanation of what was happening. The best he could tell was at the school was attacked by something. It had to be huge by the sounds of crashing and all the screaming. Whatever it was was horrible and he was slightly grateful he didn't have to lay eyes on it.

It's later he overhears people saying it's the end of the world. An unstoppable monster immune to magic was destroying the wizarding world as they knew it. He never heard from either of the Sallows. He doesn't know what to do or where to go. He's never felt so lost and alone in his life.

ANNE SALLOW: Her uncle rushed her away from Feldcroft without explanation. Only that it was urgent and they needed to leave the valley immediately. She asks repeatedly about Sebastian and Ominis but her uncle insists that the boys will be kept safe by the professors and likely taken to the ministry to be reunited with families.

She never sees her brother or her best friend ever again. No matter how much it hurts her, she screams and spits at her uncle for leaving Sebastian behind. Even if there was no time, he could have at least tried.

IMELDA REYES: She gets escorted away with other students and eventually gets back to her family. With them being well off, they could afford to flee the country. Not that it may matter in the long run. Any bit of news she could get her hands on, wizarding or muggle, talk of the end of days.

NATSAI ONAI: Brave soul that she is, she fights against the flow of panicked students to try and find her mother. She instead finds the monster cornering a group of second years. She casts at it, shouting for the young students to run, and gets the attention of the entity.

It stands to its full height, unfazed by her attempts to attack it. She stares back, showing no fear. The entity shows its horrible grin and echoed words, that sounded like screams of the damned, came from it. "You... look... fun..."

GARRETH WEASLEY: His aunt finds him before he knows what's happening. She shoves an old rag in his hands and he gets pulled away by it. The rag was a portkey back to his home. He sits on the floor, dumbfounded and confused. He doesn't get word until later at Hogwarts had been destroyed. Unknown casualties. He never saw his aunt again.

LEANDER PREWETT: He runs past the hall the monster is down. He only catches a glimpse of Natty in the monster's grasp, black magic being pulled straight out of her throat. He's in a blind panic for the nearest floo. Once he's on the other side of it, far from Hogwarts, he vomits on his own shoes.

AMIT THAKKAR, EVERETT CLOPTON: Both of them make it out together with many other students. The ministry had been alerted to the emergency and sending every auror they had to Hogwarts. The students being rushed in were collected in the main area around the fountain. They stayed together, trying to find comfort in their familiarity amongst the chaos.

POPPY SWEETING: Her only thought was to get home. Get back to her gran. They needed to- CRASH! The wall in front of her caved in as the entity came through it with another person. She didn't have to worry about her gran anymore. Or anything ever again.

~~~

ELEAZAR FIG: He sees the Onais with the monster. NATSAI was on the ground, Professor Onai standing numbly. He fires at the entity and distracts it. His magic doesn't seem to harm it, It just grins and rushes him. He gets shoved through the stone wall behind him. So many of his bones are broken, he can barely breathe. His suffering doesn't last long as the entity inhales and sucks the pain out of him, along with any energy he had left.

MATILDA WEASLEY: She is the one that raises the alarm. She witnesses the attack on Hogsmeade and rushes to get the emergency portkey for her nephew. If she could at least get one person out safely, it would be him. Seconds after he's gone, the ceiling above her collapses. The entity falls through the floor as it continues its destructive path to get to the repository it's senses beneath the school.

CHIYO KOGAWA: She's The first teacher to be evacuated out to the ministry to help guide the students and keep them together. Her voice is still calm and commanding as she tries to maintain order, but she feels the same dread and panic as the scared children around her.

AESOP SHARP: He actively pursues the entity. No matter how many times he fires at it, it doesn't seem to pay attention to him as he chases it through the halls. He and many aurors from the Ministry are the last ones on the grounds when the entity finally decides it's done playing and heads down to the caverns.

He sees it happen. The final transformation. When that thing absorbs every last drop of whatever magic was in the cage. Had no idea what it was or what was happening but it was bad. No matter what he threw at it, it just smiled. It looked at him and the others like they were curious insects.

To his surprise, the thing spoke to him, and it's awful voice. "Such suffering... I can taste it..." It raises one of its arms and he and all the aurors come off the ground. He struggles against the invisible force holding him, but to no avail.

Then he feels the tug in his chest. Black and red magic comes from his body, and the others, and is absorbed by the entity. When it was over, he did not care that he was falling head first to the ground. He didn't feel anything at all. Not even when his neck broke.

ABRAHAM RONEN: His class was one of the first destroyed in the attack. He and the students had no chance to defend themselves, not that there really was any way to defend themselves. For him, it was quick. Shards of glass and stone made for an unceremonious end.

MIRABEL GARLICK: She's at one of the evacuation points, getting students out. She sees the horrible thing come down the grand staircase and she stands between it and the students. The last thing she hears is it's terrible laugh as she and any students remaining have their pain removed.

MUDIWA ONAI: She finds the monster holding her daughter off the ground by her throat. She doesn't hear her own cries as her daughter falls limp to the floor with a sickening thud. She's too stunned to move. She doesn't even hear the entity's laugh as it rejoices in her pain.

BAI HOWIN: She goes through the floo after Kogawa to maintain order with the students they manage to get through to the Ministry. She is not, however, a steel willed as Kogawa so she's on the floor with her head in her hands.

DINAH HECAT: She manages to evacuate most of the defense against the dark arts tower before the monster comes stomping through. She tried to defend the floor the students were using to run, but it fired a black beam of magic and destroyed it. Her analytical eyes scanned the beast as she tried to figure out what it could possibly be. From her time as an unspeakable, perhaps this is an ancient beast that none have seen in centuries. She never figures it out, unfortunately. The monster feasts upon her pain.

CUTHBERT BINNS: He and the other ghosts are trying to Shepherd students to evacuation points. There's nothing he can do for them when the monster comes. Just watch as they become empty husks.

SATYAVATI SHAH: She makes it through a floo with her students. Only seeing two other professors and less than half the student body, the gravity of their situation hits her hard. One being, whatever it was, destroyed Hogwarts and most everyone in it in a matter of minutes. Not days, not even hours, but minutes. This was the end.

PHINEAS NIGELLUS BLACK: The coward fled when the school was attacked. Abandoning his post and ruining his reputation in the process, but he did not care. Nowhere in the job description was he ever supposed to fight off demons from the darkest pit of hell.

~~~

MC: Oh, what fun they've had! The screaming, the crying, the pleading, the begging! The insurmountable amount of pain they got to experience! They never felt so alive! Now the largest repository of dark magic was theirs! All theirs! They pry the repository apart with their bare hands.

When they consume the magic, they undergo their largest and most drastic transformation. They more than double in size, being about the size of a giant. They grow another set of wings, more demonic seraphim in appearance, and grow another set of arms. Horns burst forth from their skull and another set of glowing red eyes blinks open.

They're horrible cackling laugh echoes from the depths of the crater that was Hogwarts. Everything the ministry tried to throw at them, were now dead and gone. The world was theirs.

[numinous-scribe]

I’m seeing a lovely trend of recommending DPxDC fics going around so here I am throwing my hat into the ring lol

+++

Beauty lays behind the hills by Library_of_Chronos

Danny loses everything. He runs fast and he runs far, somehow ending up in a back alley known as Park Row, where a strange man with flowers in his hands changes his life.

While Danny does end up staying with Bruce and a much younger Dick, the story focuses more on giving Danny a good support system both within Wayne Manor and with the Justice League, as they all come together to help Danny fight against Vlad. Status: Incomplete

Law of Retribution by Michaelisunderatted

“The ghosts like you.”

Danny watched as Red Hood reeled. Now that he thought about it, that was probably a creepy thing to say. Danny hadn’t talked to living people in years though, so Jason really should cut him some slack. He was trying his best. It wasn’t his fault living people had such weird hang ups about things.

“Okay,” Jason said, taking a deep breath. “Okay kid, what the fuck.” ...

Jason starts seeing ghosts. Danny comes back to the Living Realm for the first time since the Incident.  He has a job offer for Red Hood

I have not caught up with this one myself, but so far I’m really enjoying the darker/more serious tone of the story. Jason sees ghosts, Danny fumbles the “how to human” ball, and Duke takes no shit. It’s great! Status: Incomplete

Sundials by AkelaNakamura

Damian Wayne is nearing sixteen and it's finally feeling like a future is something he might get to choose. He has a Soulmate, somewhere, who is no longer subject to Grandfather's judgement. He wonders though, how he's going to find him when he's unmarked. There's a thousand ways to find a Soulmate, he knows, but Damian has nothing physical to guide him.

Tucker Foley has always worried that Amity Park will be too much for his Soulmate, whoever they are. Soulmates are supposed to match each other, to walk with each other, but there's not many places that are as wild as Amity Park. The only mark he carries though, is the one that links him to Sam and Danny, so he's left to wonder how they might meet.

Damian turns sixteen and everything changes.

A really sweet Tucker/Damian soulmate au with wonderful lore and mechanics and just overall oozing with tender softness. 100% adore this one. Status: Complete

Bruised by DizzlyPuzzled

The Guys in White are preparing for war. The Justice League doesn't believe in Ghosts and wrote Amity Park off. And Danny just wants things to chill for a moment so he can enjoy his life. But now he is the only thing standing between complete reality collapse and peace.

Ghost King au + political drama + taking down the GIW and Vlad? Amazing, stunning, I’ve re-read this at least five times now. Status: Complete 

Ouroboros by Rhapsody_in_Pink

In the end, it was Jack and Maddie that caused Phantom. It was Phantom that caused the downfall of Jack and Maddie. It was Jack and Maddie that destroyed Danny Fenton. It was Danny Fenton who accepted Phantom. And so Ouroboros swallowed himself.

An alternate take on how Danny acquired his powers and interacts with the ghosts around him as well as well as dimensional travel. I genuinely don’t have the words to describe how much I love this one, it’s just so good! Status: Incomplete

Your City Loves You (And Your Home Was Always Here) by bongo_balderdash

After a meeting between the Reigning Monarch of the Infinite Realms and the Justice League, King Phantom asks Superman to stay behind for a moment. Superman is a little hesitant, but they’ve just agreed to a peace treaty between the lands of the living and the dead, and apparently someone on the king’s council has something they’ve been waiting to say.

Not just a message for Superman. A message for Clark Kent.

This one was so sweet and it made me cry. Status: Complete

A Vigilante A Day Keeps the Government Away by DeathlySilent13

Lucius Fox gets a phone call he'd never expected from a source even more unexpected. Now, he's got to figure out what to do with a betrayed child, a traumatized nephew, a protective son, and an adoption-prone Bat.

Very interesting choice in using Lucius as the main POV, and it provides a fresh look at the beginnings of coordinating a take down of the GIW. This is only the first part of the series, and while it is Complete, there is still more to come!

What’s a Spleen Between Friends? by Cielle_Noire

Tim gets Isekai'd a few times, which is really inconvenient. The guy (meta? ghost? half-ghost?) who keeps helping him is cute though, so it's okay. Well, it's not okay, but it could be worse. Probably.

OR

Five Times Tim Fell Through a Portal and One Time He Didn't

A very witty 5+1 Tim/Danny fic. Great lore, great plot, great jokes. 10/10. Status: Incomplete

[pipedreame]

Get In Loser, We’re Going Ghost Hunting

(Danny Phantom DanDash Prompt #2)

Mean Girls AU in which Danny and Jazz have been homeschooled and/or taken online classes so their parents could travel the country (and sometimes abroad) to further their studies in the paranormal/clean energy (ectoplasm) but Maddie gets offered a position at a prestigious university or lab and they finally settle down enough to go to public school.

Danny is NOT Phantom (…yet?) as his parents never got around to actually building the portal (that would require a stable place of living, and their priorities shifted to ectoplasmic energy more so than ecto-entities) so he’s just plain old Danny Fenton, son of the weirdo ghost hunting scientists.

He is rightfully pretty nervous but finds himself making quick friends with Sam and Tucker who take him under their wing for the first couple of days until he gets invited to sit with the ‘A-Listers’ at lunch (Wes stops him in the middle of the cafeteria to grill him about his parents’ work and research and Dash or Paulina tell him to leave Danny alone, cue the ‘why don’t we know you?’ plastic spiel) and thus springs a revenge plot for Sam and Tucker who have both been wronged by one or multiple of the group.

They make Danny their inside man, passing along the stuff that is talked about and trying to bring the downfall of Paulina Sanchez and Dash Baxter.

But, the more time he spends with the group the more he finds himself just having fun and genuinely enjoying himself (minus the reality checks when one of them ends up bullying someone and no one in the group sticks up for the victim and get uncomfortable when Danny does so — but surprisingly Dash never bullies anyone past a few stinging words and Danny finds himself curious as to why, and maybe there’s angst later if Dash does get physical with someone that pissed him off and Danny realizes he’s not the type of guy he thought he was and Dash has to face the consequences or smth… maybe…)

He finds that Dash and Paulina aren’t actually a couple, they just pretend so that they can stay in the hierarchy of ‘power couple’ that gives them like ultimate status in the school. They’re not in love, they aren’t dating, they’re just really close friends (Paulina is in fact in love with Sam who she spread rumors about being gay in a twisted way to protect herself. Gotta love that internalized homophobia and denial.)

Which then opens the floodgates of Realization and he finds himself getting flustered around Dash, wanting to spend time with him and creating his own schemes to put the two of them together whenever he can. He knows it’s a disaster waiting to happen and he knows that it’s just going to be painful for him, but he can’t stop it from happening, especially not when Dash seems to be flirting back sometimes ???

Yada yada, maybe there’s a burn book, maybe not, maybe someone gets hit by a bus, maybe not, idk I just work here, man

(The school-wide therapy session would be hilarious and it wouldn’t just be the girls in this version which opens even more funny possibilities, but who knows?)

It obviously ends with prom and the couples getting together, finally, so woo hoo that’s a win for love and a wrap

—

(… alternate version where Danny IS Phantom and is also dealing with ghost shenanigans the entire time and trying to maintain his secret identity on top of the new battle of high school drama. enter Wes Weston who is suspicious and keeps trying to get people on board with the conspiracy lmao)

(also bonus points if Jazz actually graduated early so she doesn’t attend school with Danny and is just there for the therapy session ‘why can’t everyone just get along?’ ‘she doesn’t even go here!’ scene lol)

[bubble-popping]

okay this is kinda embarrassing bc i meant to post this a long time ago and just... Didn't.

More dnb gods au bc them <3

Truthfully, Techno didn't know why he stood here, hand hovering above the wood of a door. Even less did he understand why he felt so nervous about going in. The words 'Dream's Study' felt like a permanent 'do not disturb' sign. He knew how much he hated to be interrupted when he worked, especially for trivial matters such as a minor headache. Techno hadn't seen Dream for a while, and it was showing with how Chat nagged and clawed at his brain. He wasn't quite at the stage of attacking his dearest friends and causing major property damage because of their volume and relentlessness, but Dream had asked--pleaded, to be more precise--for him to visit before it got to that point. So, here he stood, trying to think of how to phrase his current predicament without sounding like a total loser. And Chat was not helping.

just knock?

man's forgot how to knock

bro forgor

E

E

average dork in love behavior

no u guys don't get it he's so normal about dream i promise

social anxiety L

L

LOL

L

L

"How do you nerds even know half those phrases? I don't say anythin' like that-" Before he knew it, the sound of squeaks and chirps emitted from behind the door. The Blobs' heightened senses never ceased to amaze him.

"What? Techno's outside? How-OW!"

Techno startled upon hearing the exclamation accompanied by a thud and finally kicked himself into gear, opening the door and peeking inside to see Dream standing up from behind his desk, cradling his horns and uttering more hisses of pain. "Dream? You alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Jus' bumped my head is all. I'm alright." The blond waved off his concern as he sank into his chair. "Is something up? Chat being loud again?"

The piglin god decided to step further into the room. He'd gone this far, might as well go the full mile. "Well, not at the moment now that you're, ya know, talkin'."

"Aw, they just missed me, huh?" Dream rested his head in his hand, smile smug and eyes scrunched.

YES

DREAM

DREAM POG

simps. every single one of you. me too.

GUYS SHUT UP I CAN'T FOCUS ON HIS PRETTY

pretty dreamie :)

WE AGREED ON DAYDREAM FOR THE NICKNAME IDOIT

**idiot lol

lol

LOL

Lol

LOL

"I didn't say all that. Don't get ahead of yourself, teletubby." As if Techno's absolutely scathing remark wasn't enough of a blow to the man's ego, several Blobs then decided it was their special moment to shine as they dropped down on Techno chirping and cooing not too unlike Phil's crows. He glanced up to see many more piled on a hammock above his head. The majority still soundly slept. Techno could only imagine what it'd look like if they were all awake.

"Hey! What have I told you guys about personal space?" Dream promptly stood from his chair and came over to brush the little Blobs off, a bright gold strong as sunshine glowing on his cheeks. It really didn't match the stern expression he was trying to show. "I'm so sorry about them. We're still working on that..." He didn't meet Techno's eyes as his hands swiped across his shoulders. Not even when he reached further up, lifting on the tips of his toes to pluck away the ones that had settled in his hair.

"They're not so bad. At least they're cute. Chat is just plain annoyin'," Techno grumbled.

WE'RE RIGHT HERE YA KNOW

techno hates us y'all

we're literally fixing your love life?

so ungrateful

Dream giggled softly, shaking his head. Only then did he meet Techno's gaze. "Chat isn't bad either. It's just like the Blobs, they're excitable. I think Chat's cool."

dream gets us y'all

omg he's looking at us guys

HE'S THINKS WE'RE COOL

i hope he wins the custody battle in the divorce

they aren't even married yet

praying on their downfall already is crazy

SHUT UP HE'S STILL TALKIMG

he stopped tho?

**talking

LOL

LOL

L

L

L

Techno pressed a hand to his temple, face twisting in discomfort. "You don't have to hear 'em all the time..."

Dream offered a sympathetic smile before he seemed to get an idea. "Would you like to rest with me while I fulfill some dream requests?"

"I don't wanna bother ya if you're workin'-"

"You wouldn't be a bother, ya big idiot. C'mon, I could use the company." He smiled sweetly, taking Techno by the arm with pretty green eyes begging from under long blond lashes. Naturally, Techno let himself be dragged away--but he still wasn't a simp, Chat, shut up--to a different corner of the office: an area that closely resembled a pillow fort.

Techno really had to duck down to enter it, clearly not built for a god his size. Inside was more spacious than it initially appeared. Made of many different colors and shapes of cushions, all draped with soft blankets, and partially bordered by the lower shelves of a bookcase. Dream easily found a spot to lay down, propped up and facing the curtain canopy. Techno squeezed against the nearest wall out of consideration for Dream's space, but regardless only managed a gap of mere inches. He too looked up, and when he did, he swore that nothing was above them at all. Tiny lights were strategically placed to emulate the night sky. Techno could even see certain constellations in the pattern.

"How did...?"

"Oh, some Blobs got into my glowstone dust by accident and they reminded me of stars, so I got this idea." And Techno believed him because when he squinted he saw, as his eyes adjusted to the change in lighting, many tiny Blobs hanging by thin threads with the proudest grins on their faces.

"Of course..." He huffed, smirking and shaking his head.

A comfortable silence succeeded his words, covering the pair in a particular kind of blanket. The kind that had Techno curiously glancing over to see Dream concentrating on a cloud held aloft by the green strings connected to his fingers.

"What's that one? If ya don't mind me askin'."

"Hm? Oh, well, usually I don't share other people's dreams. They're personal things, meant for your mind alone. But..." Dream got a small, almost mischievous smile on his face. "This one here is for one of my regulars."

"Regulars?"

"Mhm. I think she prays almost every night, always for the same thing. She's an old woman and recently her wife of almost 60 years passed away from an unfortunate accident. Do you know what she asks to dream of?"

Techno couldn't imagine knowing that much about a mortal. But then again, all those that prayed to him usually didn't live very long, so he supposed he just never got the chance to.

"What?"

"She just wants to speak with her again. Nothing else matters, except that she's there. They talk about so many things. Sometimes, they don't speak at all. Just sit there next to each other, enjoying the company. I've put them in all sorts of places. Relaxing on a beach, watching a fireworks display from afar, sitting on their rocking chairs in their living room..." He'd finished crafting the dream by then, offering it to one of the Blobs who devoured the cloud whole and promptly wiggled into the crevice of two pillows. Afterwards, he folded his hands atop his stomach and closed his eyes, smiling wistfully. "Such a sweet, pure love... I only hope someone will love me like that."

A heat unlike any other instantly filled Techno's cheeks.

ASDFGHJKL HE'S LITERALLY ASKING FOR IT

LET'S GOOO

KISS HIM YOU IDIOT

how did that guy make that sound

KISS

KISS

KISS

L matchmakers fr

wdym we're such W matchmakers

yeah he boutta get that sheep pus-

Techno quickly sat up from the comfortable pile onto his elbow, resolutely pushing that thought out of his head.

"Techno?" Dream looked to him, gaze wide and inquisitive. The piglin god turned to stare down at him, and though he knew he had to say something that might finally shut Chat up about this, the words got caught in his throat. Green eyes were simply too pretty, surrounded by freckles and waves of golden blond. A hand surprised him out of his admiring. Gentle fingers pushed the hair that had fallen into Techno's face behind his pointed ear then came to a rest at his cheek. "Something wrong?"

"No," he answered with a shake of his head, placing his hand upon Dream's and leaning into the touch. It still didn't make a lot of sense to him, why Dream was so tender towards him despite his reputation and prowess... Or, perhaps, because of it? Techno cherished it all the same. "Nothin's wrong. 'm just... 'm not sure how to, how to word-"

"Tech," the sheep god murmured, now cupping both of Techno's cheeks and wearing a bittersweet smile, "you don't have to force yourself. I was just thinking out loud. I wasn't trying to-"

"It's not that, I mean, well, it is, but-" He sighed, closing his eyes to collect himself before opening them with a renewed determination. "I get what you're sayin' and I feel the same way."

"You do?"

"Ya think I'd come just to make Chat shut up? That's just a sweet bonus, dude."

Dream giggled, a similar blush rising on his face. "So, what does that mean?"

"It means I... would really like to kiss ya, if you'll let me."

The blush immediately brightened to a shimmering gold. He pushed himself to a sit as well, closing the gap between them to barely a few inches. "I think I'd like that."

They both leaned in, heads tilting to accommodate the other, but when Techno connected with something, he knew it was not Dream's lips. A Blob had managed to slip in at the last second, squeaking happily. The two pulled back in equal astonishment, allowing the Blob to drop on Dream's lap.

Dream's expression rapidly soured. "You little-!" He snatched the Blob up, gripping its little body in a tight grasp. "That's it. You're all going in timeout now." With a snap of his fingers, all the Blobs including the ones that hung from the ceiling exploded into puffs of clouds, leaving the two in near total darkness aside from Dream's glowing eyes. "Much better. Now..." Hands suddenly grabbed Techno by the shoulders and twisted them so he was flat on his back and Dream was straddling his waist. His voice lowered to a whisper as he leaned in once again, bright green illuminating both their faces. "Where were we?"

[tirastales]

Trolls AU: The Depths

They say in ancient times, before Trolls sang, they practiced magic. No one knows if these legends are true, as no remnants of the civilization has ever been found.

But no one has thought to look underground...

Decided to finally start posting about my main Trolls AU! Its not so much of an alternate universe as it is a continuation of the main story (with a hint of the Infection AU trend)

I love the idea of ancient Trolls practicing magic before they practiced music like an usual mythology. But like most highly magical races in stories, they flew too close to the sun, and their desire to achieve greater magic causes their downfall.

Very inspired by Hollow Knight, the ancient trolls kingdom lies DEEP DEEP underground. Infested with Trolls infected by their own magic, creatures and animals of enormous size and ferocity, and the descendants of ancient trolls who will kill any outsider that comes near. And above we see the poor fuckin sap who winds up in The Depths after crawling his way out of the body of a giant animal that tried to eat him and the chef (the chef wasn't so lucky)

Creek has been in The Depths since the end of the first movie. Using his small size, he was able to worm his way out of the body of large creature that ate him and the Chef, and wound up deep underground in the ruins of some ancient civilization. He tried for months to find his way back to the surface, but so far has found none.

And after a run-in with a particularly ferocious beast resulting in his back being completely burned, Creek realized there was no getting out. He was trapped. Likely forever. And it's his own fault.

(I also wanted to throw in my own Creek Redesign lol)

Creek remains down in the depths, fighting to survive every hour, every minute. Until one day, a blue troll covered in white patches with plum-colored hair winds up in The Depths, begging Creek for help to find a way out and back to his brothers.

Creek at first wants nothing to do with him. He doesn't trust anything or anyone. He's better off alone. But after considering it... Maybe two sets of eyes and ears will give them more hints to finding a way out. And... It'd be nice to have some company...

(Yes this is a Fleek story cuz I have the Fleek brainrot)

Decided to name this AU "The Depths", since it takes place deep underground (also inspired by LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom)

Creek's lack of an arm is a future event. When he meets Floyd, he has both arms. He'll lose it later on.

[maliciousandcrude]

I remembered my god forsaken MM Reverse Au so Uhhh have the All Stars thing!!!

It starts with Ultra M falling down from the sky and landing in what seems to be a backstage. As he wanders, LMX begins monologuing.

"Not bad. Not bad at all!"

"I gotta say, you and ya furry slave are better at this than I thought."

"I bet ya missing that precious godhood of yours no?"

"Well. Sorry to tell ya this."

"But nothing ever lasts forever."

"Remember when I said I might let you out of that cartridge hell if you just beat my ass in 3 songs?"

"Well. That promise was broken. Long ago."

"And I'm not letting that go."

"But yet I wonder."

"WHY do y'all keep on fighting?"

"Are ya just that desperate to return to your godhood?"

"Well. Hate to break to it ya pals."

"But there's no light at the end of this tunnel."

"Especially."

"For."

"MURDERERS."

"WHAT'S BEEN DONE IS DONE."

"YOUR CURIOSITY HAS BEEN NOTHING MORE THAN YOUR DOWNFALL."

"A DOWNFALL THAT SHALL BE FORGOTTEN FOR CENTURIES."

"YOU KNEW WHAT THAT FLASHDRIVE WAS. AND YET YOU STILL WENT ALONG WITH IT."

"YOU'RE IN MY DOMAIN NOW. BOTH OF YOU."

"SO YOU BETTER BE READY TO POUR ALL OF YOUR BLOOD. SWEAT. AND SOUL. INTO THIS FINAL SONG."

"AND THIS TIME."

"NO. MORE. RUNNING."

"SO WHAT ARE YA WAITING FOR?"

"TIME FOR OUR PERFORMANCE PLUMBER BOY."

"SING LIKE YOU'RE ON THE BRINK OF DEATH."

As M reaches a noticeable light in the middle, Omega gets dropped down.

"DON'T WORRY. YOU WON'T BE DOING THIS ALONE. FOR NOW."

The platform underneath them then raises, bringing them to the main stage. And the song starts in the mall from week 5. Just destroyed. And LMX is now powered up. (I don't have a name for his Ultra Espue form lol.) Right before Act 1 ends, LMX snatches up Omega and sends Ultra M to fight Kanojo (Fucked up Girlfriend) one jump scare later, Kanojo flies away and has her creations. Hōshu (Fucked up Pico), Meresuto (Fucked up Mommy Mearest) and Shin'ainaru (Fucked up Daddy Dearest) after that. Act 3 happens. M suddenly finds himself in a hazy stage. As the mist clears, someone lowers down from strings. It's... Omega. And he's dead. This isn't good. M is understandably upset by this. He tries not to show it but there's that faint hint of him physically dying on the inside from the fact he just learnt his own creation died. All the while LMX is watching them. After the first section, he starts singing (Not writing lyrics cuz I genuinely have zero ideas for lyrics rn). After that section ends. LMX monologues again.

"DON'T YOU GET IT NOW? I'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING YOU HAD. AND NOW YOU'RE NOTHING. THERE'S NO HOPE FOR YOU. SO WHU ARE YOU STILL TRYING?" And so the final act begins. Ultra M is standing on a floating stage while LMX now a giant looks down on him. He starts mimicking all the various characters throughout the mod. And soon after, M starts singing by himself, a light shining down on him. As he sings, he grips his microphone tightly in anger, before pulling out a Racoon leaf powerup and using it on himself. (Also, I kinda like to think that after this point, instead of copying LMX's moves he just makes up his own out of rage. Basically breaking the FNF formula of copying your opponents moves.) One solo with the two later, a spike comes out of the ground and pierces through Ultra M's head. Killing him. And the song.

[victoriousscarf]

Was tagged by @katajainen

How many works do you have on AO3?

302

What's your total AO3 word count?

5,012,937

Some of these were co-written but still when I went to check for this and found I'd finally passed the 5 million mark I was super psyched. I'd been approaching it for a while lol.

Your Top 5 stories by kudos

the forest is dark and deep and i've seen you here before

Its Not the End of the World (But It Might as Well be the End of Your World): This one will forever crack me up because I literally thought 2 other people were going to get a chuckle out of it when I wrote it. Still gets weekly kudos 10 years later (Wait *record scratch* ten years??? Yeah I started posting in 2015. Did not see that coming/had not processed that)

My Downfall is Rooted in Your Desperate Need

Looks Can be Deceiving, Even if You're on the Right Track (Technically it's Two Sides of the Coin but that's a co-written one so I'm going with my next down one)

I Won't Move the Heaven's for You and You'll Pretend to Forget Me

Okay I do love the fact that it's like "the forest is dark and deep is an outlier and should not have been counted" because everything else is DCU.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try! It's rough in my inbox right now so I've started just opening up stories and replying to all the comments on them straight on to try and tame the inbox down. You might be two years late but I'm getting there.

Honestly, sometimes people tell me I don't have to and I'm like "No, I'm gonna--eventually" not because I feel like I must, but because I like to! Author's talk about their love of comments all the time, but it's the love of the conversation, and sometimes having that back and forth reveals new and fun things about your story too. I love comments and replying, I just, sometimes get to a point where it's "you either get a reply or an update" and then I do that too many times in a row and the inbox becomes ungovernable.

Do you write crossovers?

I used to. I'll still enjoy a good fusion au, but I rarely straight up cross over characters anymore. They're fun thought experiments though, trying to figure out how different worlds would collide.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. What kind? I don't know, whatever kind serves the plot. I'm not a PWP writer, let's put it that way. It's more "if this fits the purpose of the story or emotional arc, I'll write it." Very rarely do I just because... though that happens randomly sometimes.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. In both the straight up plagiarism way and in the someone reposted my fic to wattpad and said their friend (with a totally different name) wrote it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Though some of them seem to have disappeared off ao3 over the years which is too bad. But I remember some were Chinese and some were Russian. A few podfics too! And let me tell you, nothing is better than that feeling, but also hearing someone read my own words does send me immediately scurrying to hide under my bed.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Hmmm idk. @meddalarksen? Have I ever co-written a fic before?

(The answer is yes).

What's your all time favorite ship?

Uhhhh... depends on the day but an evergreen classic is Spock/McCoy

What's a WIP that you want to finish but probably never will?

Hold My Hand Under the Rust and the Dust will probably never get finished. Unless I figure out how to do something totally different with it than I originally planned.

What are your writing strengths?

Logistics, according to multiple people. Smut for the aces. Making people cry.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Staying on task.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet, but want to?

I never have written a single Legends of Tomorrow fic, despite talking about multiple ones.

What's your favorite fic that you've written?

That's a pretty impossible question lolol.

At the moment? The fic I'm incredibly proud of: to gain, to lose

The fic that gave me something no other fic has/I have probably reread the most: Only Break What's Yours

The fic that taught me I could do it: Find the Sun in the Corners of Shadows

The fic that fundamentally changed me as a person: the forest is dark and deep and i've seen you here before

[your-ne1ghbor]

Hey! Here I come with ✨asks✨

There’s a lot here sorry 😭 And if you’ve already answered some of these, just pass them

Why did you choose to remove Amaya’s eye? Does she wear an eyepatch?

Why is Mag specifically afraid of fire?

Are they going to get villain transformations?

Are we going to learn more about the royal couple’s backstories in the actual story?

How are you going to show your story? (Writing, blurbs, comic, animatic, etc.)

How many songs are you planning to show?

Star’s backstory?

Design dump on the main four! Symbolism?

What are you going to do with Valentino? Is he important in the story?

Who gave Val to Asha?

How does Valentino act with the royal cat?

What deleted scenes specifically inspired your story?

How would Asha react knowing you created her backstory?

Asha meeting canon!Asha. Would she die again

Is cursing allowed in your AU?

What are the seven teens’ roles?

What about Sabino?

If Mag had the chance to get rid of Asha, would he? Without Amaya getting mad at him? (Since she was the one that brought Asha in)

Do the royal couple have similar goals in the story? (Like how @annymation’s royal couple are both in love and villainous, versus @oh-shtars’ royal couple is literally titled Grand Despair)

Will “A Kingdom of Thorns and Roses” name ever be mentioned in the story?

Draw Mag dressed as Megamind >:3 (or meeting him or treating to him, idrc)

Canon!Amaya reacting to TkoRaT!Amaya

What dementor-like monster is shown in your past drawings? Will we see other ones?

Where did they spawn from?

Will there be other realms in your story? Like a Star realm or a cursed realm

Would you consider this a “Disney movie” or more of an AU? Like, could it be made by Disney? (minus a few things like queer representation or cursing)

How can stars die? Can their physical bodies die but their “spirits” remain? (I know you cut this aspect but will it reappear?)

Are there any aspects of other rewrites you want to incorporate in yours?

Why did Maggy and Amaya name the kingdom “Rosas”?

Who discovered wish magic?

Who taught Asha how to make flower crowns?

Are you scrapping any songs?

Adding any new ones?

Adding any new characters? (Like how I’m adding Evangeline)

Are Asha’s parents important to the story?

A little self-indulgent, but some TFS doodles? :3

I hope you enjoy these questions! <3

yoo I finally got internet now let's get to these questions

Ooo you really cooked with these questions @wings-of-sapphire✨️✨️

The eye originally was a way to explore how I can make her more scary, but then it kinda stuck with the overall design so yeah lol. And no, she doesn't wear an eyepatch. I mean, an eyepatch is cool and all, but just an empty eye socket is more terrifying and disturbing to look at for me and works with the overall tragedy of her character.

Mag is more afraid of Star's than fire. But...

He couldn't do anything except watch as a star destroyed his home in flames.

When it comes to fire though, he is more nervous or afraid when it is used to destroy things. If it is used to light up a room or cook food, he doesn't really mind since the intentions aren't bad.

3. Maggy will 100% get a villain transformation, including Amaya as well. It's kind of like boss stages. So basically, they will have a total of 3 transformations, the last one being something scary (haven't thought about the designs yet for the final transformations)

4. The beginning song or replacement song called Home is the founding of Rosas and the actual downfall would be shown since Star Boy didn't know what happened since the stars didn't tell him why Mag is the way he is basically. So yes, 100%.

5. A mixture of all of them. I do want to write it out, but rn I just don't know how to execute it.

6. I'm not sure. It's debatable since I've been focusing more on the worldbuilding than on the songs. Plus, I am no song writer, I suck at writing songs. Even if I get an idea for one (for the replacement song "Welcome to Rosas" is a good example of that [Its called Home]), it's just execution for me.

7. Heh heh that's for a separate post but here is somewhat a glimpse:

(That's mag btw, I'm just messing with his design again 💀💀)

8. I had finished Asha's design, just need to add some minor details. Plus, the other 3 is still me messing with the designs. However, I can show you some of my ideas:

Maggy's is somewhat gonna look like this:

Ofc with more sharper edges and thorny design.

For Amaya, I'm still not sure outfit wise lol.

9. Valentino will actually serve as a guide through the castle and of Rosas to Star and the 7 friends. Idk I just think a goat helping a star with directions is a funny and fun premise. Plus, Star Boy is terrible with directions 😭

10. Idk he just appeared one day and Asha was like: imma keep you. I probably will add more to both of them, but I'm not sure how they met at the moment.

11. They are silly. Aka, they are close friends. Just that Charo gets a little annoyed by Valentino haha.

12. The scene where Asha and Star escapes from Amaya, and the villain couple deleted scene and the wishing tree deleted scenes.

13. She wouldn't care. She probs be like: No shit? Until she realizes how much I do her dirty and she will collapse emotionally.

14. TKORAT Asha would moreover be nervous around her ad Cannon Asha would probably dislike her

15. Yes lol

16. tbh idk yet, I haven't really put much thought into their characters yet since I wanna focus on the main 4 and worldbuilding before I come to the 7 friends since I personally don't know at the moment. All I know is that Dahlia and Gabo are most likely will be siblings since I loved their semi bickering in the OG film.

17. Dead.

18. Mag will only take that action if she becomes a threat to him or the kingdom.

19. They have similar goals in the story, yes. They both want to make sure that everyone will never dream again. They both lost everything because someone wished on a star, or hense had a goal to pursue, and it caused an entire kingdom to fall. Why should they let a dream go Rouge again? They would at least be doing everyone a service by making sure the problem doesn't become a bigger problem later on.

20. The title is so long that idk how I will incorporate it in the story. But if I do, you guys will probably read it 🧍

21.

Megamind has a point Maggy 🤷

22.

TKORAT Amaya wouldn't like how Cannon Amaya literally didn't do anything or even tried anything to prevent her husband from going down the path he did in wish. So yes, TKORAT Amaya pretty much hates her.

23. I don't necessarily have the drawings with me except for this one:

But moreover, another one I have, that I am still designing for "the River of Lost Souls" is probably the closest thing to it. I have more, I just don't have it on me rn 😭

24. Hell, for the River of Lost Souls. And the pic I showed above is from my Oc, Axe's species. Or basically coming from the ground I guess. Plus another one I wanted to show was an old design I had for Axr hehe

25. The Star realm does exist in my au, so does hell, and I'm debating a monster realm, but rn it is cut for it kind of complicates things heheh.

26. I have thought of this before, and I see it more as it's own thing that can be futher explored in other interpretations like shows, pre-quals, ect. It's more AU than Disney to me at the moment.

27. You have to get them out of their disguise form in order to cause any sort of long lasting injuries. Other than that, dark magic is literally the only way to hurt them. And it has to be in their star form. Their disguise form are like a shell for their true form. That's why it is better to have them in their most vulnerable state in order to do any sort of damage to the Stars.

28. I was inspired by a ton of AUs, and a lot of them did rub off from me, like The Wishing Kingdom, Fallen Star, and Reach for the Stars aus.

29. When they founded the kingdom, the whole place was covered in so many roses and flowers. They also dubed it Rosas not only because of the roses founded on the island, but it has a calming name that isn't threatening to people. It sounds...peaceful.

30.

31. Her parents. No not her adoptive parents, her biological parents taught her :3

32. I am a Star is removed. I fucking hate that song with every fiber in my being. This is the Thanks "We" Get would be rewritten to fit the context of Mag and Amaya.

33. I want a song between Mag and Star. It would be focusing on how much of a monster Star could be and "will" be. Plus the song called Home (that I still dunno how to execute 😭)

34. Quite a bit, but the few would be Maggy's Star, or the Blue Star, the star that destroyed Rosas, Aster, and some creatures that makes the worldbuilding whole.

35. Not sure at the moment. I would imagine it as a lingering effect on most of the people in Rosas.

36.

(I had no refrence for Asha when I drew her when I was camping lol 💀)

Anyways thank you for the questions! I had a lot of fun answering them! Hopefully this gave you guys some more info on my AU!

Gonna go through my inbox, so now I will bid you adue 💕

[w0rmdahl]

the snow ; day one — ilyily

gif ©: earthgif, theseulgis

film: i love you i love you (au)

synopsis: in order to evade the luneberg brigade attacking the kingdom, samir and yuna decide to take their chances in the wood hidden behind the north tower, suffering together through their first harrowing night of 3.

word count: 2.8k

featuring: (oc) yuna min, (oc) samir devgan

warnings: physical violence, strong language

a/n: hey again! here is the first piece i wrote after completing the outline of the first act which you can read here (recommended!) day two & three were left as wips that i hope to get to this week if i'm not distracted by my 5th watch of monkey man lol

"i ask not for refuge in the cold but instead your company and protection from man. can you do that for me, samir?"

the young knight-to-be towered above the princess as he stared back into her urging eyes sparkling brighter than any of the stars in the sky, lips pressing into a thin line before he could find his resolve within her gaze and concede to the fate laid before them. taking her hand in his sam could hear the lune brigade spilling into the field as they took toward the wood and dashed into the treeline in order to hide their presence. though, upon entering the vast and endless maze of trunks and bushes it became apparent just how driven the soldiers were to catch the fleeing pair as they lingered behind in a thick group, using the frantic footsteps shoved into the snow as a map leading to the very treasure evading them now.

fortunately, samir and yuna's countless memories made in and around the ellyn forest awarded them a huge advantage above the lunes who trailed in their footsteps, so while it would be difficult to lose the brigade in the snow, they ultimately knew these woods better than anyone in the kingdom. this did not cover for the fact, however, that the princess had to really watch her feet so as to not get caught up in the floor-length-skirt that had now grown soaked by the ice under their shoes, further weighing the hem under her toes. sam was surprised at how well she kept up with him — hand in his and the other lifting the heavy fabric — legs half as short as his moving twice as fast just to stay at his unrelenting pace that led them toward the cave he'd lost her in years prior. it proved to be a fantastic hiding spot all the way back then, entrance concealed by the unassuming rock angles and foliage spilling over the darkness. simply getting to it would be their best bet for now.

and then sam found himself abruptly yanked by the hand to a halting stop. his eyes whipped back wildly to the owner of the iron-grip on his fingers only to find yuna looking back at him with his same features reflected, panicked and hasty as she pulled at her dress snagged by a log. they could still hear the lunes in the distance gaining on them as quickly as they split up into smaller groups to cover more ground. samir was on his knee in an instant to wrap both hands around the fabric and tug.

"let me know if you see any coming," sam wheezed absentmindedly as he continued mustering all of his strength to rip this stubborn cloth free through panting breaths.

"three." she heaved.

"what?"

samir now looked up from the hem to find three lune men bolting for them only a few yards away through the heavy downfall of snowflakes, promptly finding his feet to wield the already-stained sword with the princess behind his back, other hand reaching behind him to find her waist. "stay behind me." he said. as if she was going anywhere.

the lunes drew closer and closer until they were finally charging headfirst for the helpless deer caught in the storm, showing no signs of slowing until they finally lunged for them. samir was immediately slammed into the snow with heavy chainmail armor crashing into his ribcage, knocked of all breath in his lungs as he met the cold earth below. his feeble gasps for air went utterly unheard, however, as the princess herself fought pressed against the wet dirt while one of the lune men attempted to hold her down.

"let go, bastard!"

the man laughed above her, grubby hands flailing to catch hers while also avoiding the jabbing elbows aiming for anything they could reach. "by gods, such a big mouth for a princess. i can fix that." he then redirected his filth covered hands to wrap around her throat and squeeze. yuna's mouth subconsciously fell open as she battled for air despite the grip beginning to crush her windpipe. her nails found their way dug into the dry, cracked skin on the back of his hands, leaving crescent shaped lacerations in the flesh. she could hear the man chuckle as her feet kicked at the frigid snow.

"you must relearn your manners, your highness." her palm pressed flat into the ground as she felt for anything of use in this moment — whether that be a weapon to defend herself or a hand to accompany her on her journey to the afterlife. "girls in luneberg speak properly without any exceptions, my lady. shall we take you back and make an example of you?"

there, hidden beneath the snow sticking out of the muddy earth, yuna's fingertips came across the sharp and jagged edges of a rock. she had to dig her fingers into the dirt with soil accumulating under her nails as she clawed this rock free from its dormancy and equipped it in her white knuckled fist. she then pulled back, and with one heavy swing using all of her draining might, brought the unyielding sediment into the side of his skull with a macabre crunch! once his relentless grip ceased around her throat she was shoving his weight away to catch her breath, choking down oxygen all the while trying to regain her composure and strength to turn back to the man. and without a second thought or even a moment of hesitation yuna clutched the harsh chunk of stone in both hands and bashed it into his face once, twice, three times before deciding it was enough.

he laid unmoving in the stark white ice as blood spilled down his broken facial bones like a grotesque reminder of peoples' fragility that left a nauseating feeling swirling in her stomach, the realization of what she'd just done donning on the panting girl. but it wasn't over yet; for she could still hear the muffled grunts of samir who'd faced two guards at once during this time. yuna rashly brought the sordid rock clasped in her tainted hands to swing into the snagged hem of her dress and crush it free from the rotting trunk that held her captive before attempting to aid sam. she finally propped herself on a knee before looking up to survey her options — only to find a predatory set of eyes already on her, growing closer with his sword drawn. and then she went completely still, frozen in fight or flight while she internally begged the question, 'is he gone? is he dead?'

the lune man now ambled only a few feet away with a growing appetite in his gaze and smirk on his lips as the wind lowly whistled a sorrowful song. the snow around them absorbed all sounds of havoc emanating from the kingdom, leaving this unlikely pair — the lune lion and divine sheep — completely and utterly alone with no one to witness this historical travesty but the snowflakes gathering in her eyelashes and the wailing wind around them. yuna pressed her lips together in acceptance of her fate and steeled her narrow gaze up at the last face she'd ever see, presenting forth each ounce of rage and frustration she'd let fester over the years on her face like a badge of honor.

and then, accompanied by the guttural howl that pierced through the air sharper than any blade, the lune stopped dead in his tracks — literally — head sliding from his neck to tumble along the ground. behind his toppling body that followed after stood samir with his own sword in battered hand, eyes just as vengeful before he looked down upon the bloodstained royalty in the snow, chest heaving along with his quivering lip. "a-are you alright?"

she looked back up at him, her gaze far more incredulous than his, and let the rock fall from her grasp as she brought herself to her feet. "yes." yuna panted "are you?"

sam nodded and swallowed thickly before dropping his sword to instead reach out for her hand with trembling fingers, met halfway by her crimson palms clasping his and giving a firm, reassuring squeeze. and without another word they were off again, journeying further toward the hidden cave at a substantially slower speed than before.

shivering shoulder to shoulder in the cramped rock, samir and yuna sat in wait with attentive ears whilst the lune guards called out to each other across the snow outside.

"people don't just disappear, damn it! they're here!"

"then where, osric?! where are they?! because i don't see them."

sam instinctively shot a knowing look at yuna who held back the smirk that heavily contrasted their desperate situation at the moment.

"just — just let me think—"

"no — no, we are not going to sit here while you fucking think. if they haven't been lost to the snow already then they will soon. and we will, too, if we don't find our way back."

there was a beat of silence outside before a final anguished shout echoed through the woods, "rot in hell, bitch!"

and then, as indicated by the crunching of ice under heavy sets of footsteps, the men slowly descended back into the woods from which they came. thankfully sam had been levelheaded enough to muddy their footpath prior to entering the cave, leaving the remaining...4? 5? lunes still lingering behind nothing more but a dead end. they had been holding their breath for the last thirty minutes as the final men of the brigade searched high and low in the area for them before finally giving up.

when the world outside imminently went quiet again, yuna let out the breath she had been holding and laid her head back against the cold stone, eyes fluttering shut to bask in the relief. she felt a nudge from the arm pressed to hers.

"you alright, your highness?"

her eyes snapped open again and she quickly enacted her previously restrained smile as she found his sincere gaze. "yes. are you?" he nodded shortly.

"yes," samir sighed, now following her lead on taking in a normal amount of oxygen. "i think we're safe here for now. i don't imagine they'll be heading back anytime soon. i say let's catch our breath and head back around the long way."

"tonight?"

his head cocked to the side as her nose scrunched at the idea. "yes?"

"but what if they're still there? what if we run into more?"

"then...we'll figure something else out. i'll protect you either way, princess."

again she grimaced, now outwardly shaking her head at him in disapproval of this suggestion. yuna placed her hand on his arm as if to halt any unexpected movements. "i don't think that's a good idea. i think we should rest here until sunrise and leave as the ice starts to melt. we would be better equipped to face the trek home." she noted (and appreciated) the intent with which he listened, mulling over her words before expressing his own response.

"but...there's a chance we won't survive the night, your highness..." he now noticed the scowl that flashed on her lips at the title "the cave will only grow colder through the night, and the wood is too wet for fire..."

"we'll just have to stick close, then. we can keep each other warm."

"or; we'll freeze to death together and our bones will be lost to this cave forever."

yuna chuckled at the thought, her luminous laugh tinkling off of the crystals as she shrugged. "i think that sounds alright; an eternity of hibernating here. better than falling to fatigue in the snow." samir could feel his own small smile curling his lips at the ghastly idea of being lost to the wood with the princess for the rest of time and ultimately decided to abandon his own plans in favor of taking a chance with hers, hoping — praying to make it out the other side in the morning yet content with a perpetuity of her remains beside his.

"okay" he'd announce "but we leave at first light. i'll carry you if i must."

yuna beamed up at him through the shiver that chattered her teeth and took hold of his frigid hand, entwining their frozen, crimson fingers. sam would have to pull his eyes from hers as to not get lost in their warm depths and make a rash decision, sight then locking on the immensely unfamiliar sight of her stained palms. of course he'd seen blood on her skin before — plenty of times, even; like the time she gashed her knee open on the castle steps after trying to race him up. but this time was far more distinguishable as a vastly different scenario, her pure, clean hands now stained with blood not of her own. a flash of pain registered on his features.

"i'm sorry, your highness." sam's voice was quiet in this space of their own, soft and tender as his glossy brown eyes looked back up at her through dark lashes "you shouldn't have had to do that."

there was a split second of misunderstanding before she put the puzzle pieces together and gave his distinctively bloodier hand a squeeze while mirroring his tone, "it's alright. i'm wildly resilient. don't worry." her unrelenting light-hearted nature never failed to bring a smile to his face no matter how grief-stricken it may be. sam held her hand a little tighter.

"your highness—"

"please, drop the formalities, sam." the red-nosed girl interrupted with a groan "yuna. just yuna."

he gulped down the utter bewilderment growing in his chest. "yo—princess, i couldn't."

"why? no one is here to reprimand you. and you know i won't tell." yuna could see as the cogs in his mind turned in comprehension of her words, eyeline flickering between hers as if to check for a trick.

perhaps she was playing a joke on him and would soon give him a jab to his sore ribs as she revealed her elaborate ruse. or, maybe — if he had understood her well enough over the last 15 years — maybe she was honestly and truly sincere in her words. perhaps she was genuinely granting him the permission to call her casually like she called him so easily. perhaps he'd be able to utter her name for the first time outside of the solitude of his dark bedroom and stand on level ground with the girl he'd looked up to his whole life. maybe he'd call her by a nickname later on.

"...yuna," he spoke hesitantly, urged on through the nerves by the encouraging grin on yuna's face "there is no one in the world who knows your tenacity better than i. but, i think — just because you can brave harsh conditions doesn't mean you should have to."

she replied almost instantly. "i'd say the same for you."

once again sam was left scouring the corners of his mind for something to say — something worthy of responding to such ardent words from the subject of his undying fondness sat before him. thankfully the anticipation for some sort of response from him was interrupted by the sudden shiver of yuna's goosebump-riddled form, her teeth now clattering loudly throughout the echoing cave as she simultaneously wrapped her free hand around herself and pressed closer into his side.

"here," sam sat up to remain in the same position as much as possible as he untucked his cape from around his neck and pulled it from behind his back, moving to throw it over her before she stopped him.

"hold on, i have an idea."

shuddering with every movement she made yuna released the warm grip on his hand to stand as much as she could within the confines of the rock around them, accepting the cape from sam's insistent extended hand before looping it over her shoulders. then, without a word, the princess lifted her skirt to find her feet and stepped over his legs to then sink down into his lap. with wide attentive doe eyes watching each and every maneuver, yuna unfurled her dress and tucked it around his legs as best as she could, creating a makeshift blanket from her place straddling his hips. she then ran her fingers down the outer hems of the cape to outstretch the fabric enough to insulate their top halves as she wrapped her arms around samir's broad shoulders, effectively pressing herself into him and pulling him into her. and though this position left his heart thrumming against her chest it almost instantly generated the most heat they'd felt all night, drawing his hands to wrap around her back and pull her impossibly closer.

not another word would be spoken that night as the saccharine pair plunged headfirst into the warmth and comfort the other offered, lulled into the deathly grip of slumber by the soft breaths ghosting over the shell of their ear as they burrowed their faces into the others' neck.

[hirukochan]

i’m sad that your tears finally soon to come to completion, but i’m glad that i was part of the waiting journey of this amazing fic to read our 2 protagonists finally get their happy ending!

buuuuut excited from your upcoming fic astrea x voldemort snippets, they got me salivating would you count this as reverse harem? 🫣 i’d love to read the dynamic differences of each voldemort from various of time frames, and to read them beefing over astrea or his horcruxes insulting voldemort like “you can do better that that” for losing the first war(i can see a little shit teenager tom riddle saying it), it makes sense that his worthy competitors are his own self/creation. will voldemort lose his shit over that? cause i love me some unhinged snake face voldemort😏

will you reveal in the tags a as voldemort wins au? and the type of ending? or are you going to keep the reader on their toes, letting the characters move on their own in your mind?

though i got a feeling this will be a merry-bad ending (fucked up tragedy from outsiders’ pov but the main characters themselves are happy)

Thank you so much! And what a journey it was! There were so many sub-plot I didn't see coming but that worked so well within the story I couldn't just *not* write them.

For the upcoming fic, yeah, I'd say it's reverse harem even it's technically the same person but...three times. There is sweet, innocent Astrea, sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle and Voldemort and then some time later Mr Gaunt joins into the fun as well. It'll be a dark fic. Voldemort isn't nice and his past selfs certainly weren't either.

Voldemort is pretty much the same as I write him always, very manipulative, charming and he can be 'nice' if he wants to.

Tom Riddle is certainly influenced by the years he has spend with Astrea already, I think consuming someone's soul leaves its traces lol. He is trapped in that moment right after killing Myrtle with the Basilik and creating his first Horcrux. So he's ofc also emotionally stuck at sixteen.

Mr Gaunt, the locket, was created some time before Voldemort's downfall, I put it somewhere between 1965 and 1970 personally. He is older, has a more 'refined' taste in cruelty and was at the height of his power before his 'death'. He still has his human features but he isn't quite human anymore. Kinda uncanny valley style. Astrea can feel that something is off and it scares her.

All Voldemorts find her fear entertaining but all Voldemorts have their own aspirations and all Voldemorts are jealous and wildly possessive - even towards each other. I am very much looking forward to writing them interact and exploring different facets of the same character. Voldemort is such an interesting character!

They are each unhinged in their own way! And Tom, because he has already spend so much time by Astrea's side, already considers her 'his' so that'll result in some delicious conflict.

I am not sure yet if the other Horcruxes make an appearance too. Nagini is there but her Horcrux is different, it doesn't seem to really manipulate the world around her like the diary does - same goes for Harry. I like the idea of the diadem, cup and ring joining but idk if I could make more than three believable and yet different versions of Voldemort. Also the whole name thing would get confusing. Thomas, Riddle and Marvolo perhaps but eh.

The fic is both canon-divergent and a Voldemort-wins-au. The diary never reaches Hogwarts so the entire second year wouldn't happen like it does in the novels and the adults act...more intelligent lol xD Astrea herself also influences several events.

I have an idea how the fic will end but that might still change, I can see this fic getting potentially quite long 😅 So I will for now not say much about that other than that I personally don't like bad endings full of misery and death and hopelesness.

[idv-ask-the-showman]

don’t take this as a rush to do the Mirror Essence but may I ask who is your favourite character among all the cast members?

//no worries anon! I actually love it when ppl ask me about it since I really wanna talk more about the Mirror AU!! But as to who is my favourite?… well that a hard question since I like many of them although~

{spoilers for “The Guide” character}!!

*slap this sorry excuse of a man on your face*

HIM!!

//Okay so~ this is the Guide (The cast:- Lawrence from @idv-askchaoticduo) who would be always by The Guest’s side as her… well, GUIDE!! Basically just acting like fucking Paimon in Genshin lol. Although it wild be painfully obvious from the get go that this guy want nothing more then your downfall, he may be fun and silly and you can not help but sometimes love him but you can always tell he is trying to drag you to your demise, manipulating you and gaslighting you in every possible ways just so you can never reach the true ending and take down the Emperor.

//in fact he even would be one of the final bosses of the story before the emperor himself. Why is he like that you may ask?! Well I can not really say much now since I wanna save the rest of the info when I draw him and the Guest but basically know that he is so loyal to the Emperor (and a simp lol) that you can not really try to drag him to your side, he is forever stuck and your enemy, he is basically fucking Kyubey from Madoka Magica!!

//HACK!! If I have to give him a theme it would be the cover of Ice [Theme of Puella Magi] by Lambia

{a bit of a spoiler for his possible design next but I just really wanted to share it, so if ya want to see the doodle go ahead if not then wait until I am done with him in the future!}