#he promised to stay safe
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I know that realistically William kept in contact with his family during the timeskip but like...what if he didn't?
#the last they heard from him he promised to go home for the holidays#he promised to stay safe#and then radio silence for ten months#they wonder where he is#they see the headlines#OVERLORD DEFEATED#they try not to think about the fact that the article says that one of the heros who accomplished this vanished after the battle#they try not to worry#meanwhile william stares at the contacts in his phone and can't bring himself to text him back#he cant respond to his mothers desperate messages pleading for his safety#jrwi#jrwi prime defenders#william wisp
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concept: omegaverse on the gorkhon except twyre bloom doesn't send anyone smack dab into feral heat during the plague, it just means artemy runs around going increasingly insane about how bad he wants to take a nap with daniil while city man furiously has to resist his Deep Desire to put on one of artemy's sweaters and hiss at people who call him mean things. out of normal emotions. absolutely not for overwhelming domestic urges reasons.
#daniil: what do you MEAN you're going out into the steppe and the abattoir to battle it out with oyun#i NEED you to stay here so i can make sure you're safe for absolutely no reason at all#pathologic#burakhovsky#daniil dankovsky#artemy burakh#like just. just hear me out. daniil is so protective he's almost a tank under regular circumstances#imagine his ass on hormones#there is something here i *promise*
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I think Jamie talks to Georgie like every night and spends at least 45% of the call updating her on the latest in his insane and volatile relationship with Roy because it's always something. She literally never knows from one day to the next what the status will be. Yes we did get in a fistfight yesterday mummy but then we went to the kebab place so we were totally friends again :) and he forgave me and he even drove me home this morning. I said he drove me home. No I wasn't there overnight. I don't even know why I said that. I don't think I even said that
#oc#she puts jamie on speaker for 30 seconds so that he can politely say hi to simon#he asks her about work and she tells him everything is good at the salon and possibly an update on one of her clients' messy divorce#she asks him about work and he talks about whatever drama is going on with roy for like an hour#then she demands to know whether he's eating enough and whether he has mittens because it's getting cold#and he's like yes i eat enough yes i have mittens yes i lock the door before i go to sleep#yes yes yes mum okay okay yes yeah i promise yeah staying safe yeah#love you too bye#royjamie
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Hey. The Finders have no idea that Bonzle was captured. Fritz and Spitz are still waiting, playing video games in the Monastery, for Cole to bring their sister out of hiding now that the blood moon is over. Geo is still sitting by the window, watching and waiting for a dragon on the horizon to return his kid safe and sound. Cole took a very unsure Bonzle, assured them all everything would be okay, and they'd be back soon. He promised he'd find a way to protect her.
Don't think about how they'll smile when Cole finally trudges back, happy to know he's okay. Especially don't think about the Finders stopping, looking out over the group, and how Cole can't look them in the eyes when they turn to him and ask; where's Bonzle?
#ninjago#ninjago dragons rising#lego ninjago#dragons rising#bonzle#finders#cole#cole brookstone#geo#fritz#spitz#text post#angst#talk#LISTEN TO ME#COLE LOST 2 WHOLE FAMILY MEMBERS DURING THAT BLOOD MOON#HES GOING TO NOT BE OKAY!!!!!!! HES DOING SO BAD#mans is a FATHER and he PROMISED he'd keep his kid safe. he promised it to the OTHERS#and hes going to have to walk back up those steps and admit to being a LIAR and a FAILURE#hes not obviously sht just went sideways but you KNOW he blames himself#geo very worriedly stayed behind w fritz & spitz FULLY TRUSTING that cole would keep bonzle safe & bring her back#he loves him so much (in a gay way. u know it to be true) so he trusts him IMPLICITLY to keep them safe. hes done it before#can you imagine the HORROR when cole comes back and hes...alone. with no one else but the other ninja (minus 1)#geo realizing what happened before the kids. the way everything just freezes and drops. cole curled so tight in on himself#and cole cant say hes sorry because he cant even look at them. he lost family hes had for over a decade & a kid he claimed his own for year#you saw how he was w child wu. you saw how desperate he was to keep bonzle safe. AND KAI IS GONE TOO???#homeboy is having the literal worst day ever. imagine him trying to tuck fritz & spitz close while on one knee trying to explain it all#and bro jsut feels like hes literally the worst person in the world#something something 'you dont get to stay with the ninja & be happy. i tried to protect you from what hurt me as a kid'#'and instead your right in the thick of it'
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ooo he's eating 🍜(HS'05 AU takeda was made by @kiinuuzzz <3)
#takeda takahashi#mortal kombat 1#mk1#mortal kombat#mk#mk1 fanart#mortal kombat fanart#everyone PLEASE go follow kiinuu they are so cool and such an amazing artist#their HS'05 au runs around in my brain a lot#they r also a very nice person to talk to PLEEASEE PLEASE FOLLOW THEM#love takeda in this au he's so stupid#I really enjoy doing this#im awful at drawing every single day so this is a fun little thing for me to do#plus I love takeda#sorry to everyone who followed me for MKLegends content I swear I still love them#I will post cage blind stuff after takeda's release I promise#also thank u for all the love on these <3 means so much!!#some of my fav artist on here have been liking my takeda art like HUH!!!#ok ok im done now bye bye stay safe be healthy
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I'm once again thinking about the missed opportunities to have Klaus and Kol bond more. Part of Klaus' whole motivation as a vampire is to get his werewolf part back and to finally be stronger than Mikael (sort of, I'm simplifying) both of which can be obtained by breaking his curse. But Kol? Kol is the only other original that can relate to having a fundamental part of themself ripped away from them. Klaus might not have known he was a werewolf until he killed, but he likely still had a connection he couldn't explain, as evident by him going to watch the wolves transform. And something he'd never been able to explain was now gone. He might only be able to realise the connection afterwards through its absence.
Kol though. Kol had grown up with magic, a connection to nature and the world around him in a way the rest of his siblings supposedly didn't have. And then he gets turned. And not only has his baby brother died, his father has just murdered him and the rest of his siblings after forcing them to drink human blood, which he'll later learn. Now, not only does he have to deal with the grief of Henrik's death and also his own but also the loss of his magic. A loss that's likely only worsened by Kol being a self-proclaimed child prodigy.
Kol is pretty much the only one who could understand what Klaus is going through with the binding of his wolf. We know Kol searched for ways to get his magic back/carry on practicing magic in the same way that Klaus was looking for ways to break his curse. While Klaus likely could still feel his wolf there despite being bound, Kol has no access to his magic anymore. I just think they should've been able to bond or connect over their shared loss of an intrinsic aspect of their selves at the hands of their parents
#TVD#The Mikaelsons#Kol Mikaelson#Klaus Mikaelson#briefly back on my the originals shouldve gotten to be a family goddammit and as someone from a big family im personally offended bs#i did right a lil snippet about them bonding over this that i havent posted yet for the joml verse but still think its an unexplored concep#need more witch!kol acknowledgement honestly. just need more content of my boy#anyway. klaus having a fascination with the moon and kol telling him about celestial events and how it affects his magic when theyre boys#klaus losing that connection to the moon feeling lost & extra tempermental feeling his wolf claw at its binds and vowing to break his curse#kol determined to get his magic back at any cost relating to that devasting loss and promising to help him find a loophole for his curse#kol who becomes extra reckless and determined when he learns that theres a way to break klaus' curse so maybe he can get his magic back too#that knowledge and recklessness combined with his loss of magic driving him to become the volatile vampire that we see#that leads to him being daggered repeatedly but that first time breaks something in that bond between him & klaus that never fully recovers#it makes him bitter and resentful only fueling his reckless behaviour particularly when there seems to be no leads on reclaiming his magic#that he becomes distant from his siblings in the process especially with finn still daggered but that distance only cements the idea#to his siblings that hes a danger and cant be trusted that he needs to be daggered if theyre to stay safe from mikael#the loss of his magic leading to his spiral as a vampire and him being ostracised by his family > actual tvdu kol canon#klaus being trapped in a room staring at the corpse of his little brother knowing he never repaired that relationship with him#and now he never can so he refuses to look away as penance and a reminder of his failings to his little brother#*edit: one of the reblogs on this post is the author of big bad wolf and honestly she does an amazing job at portraying the mikaelsons#as actual siblings if you havent read it its one of my favourites for characterisations but we need more 😭 i want it to be the norm
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Hunter what the FUCK-
.
#love this because it's the following reaction to the last ask#this is funny considering 72.7% of 44 people who interacted with the poll considered Hunter worthy of forgiveness. which is around 31 votes#tbf forgiving is one thing but moving on is very different#someone commented on the post saying they would forgive Hunter but would struggle to continue friends/acquaintances with him#and honestly? that's absolutely fair. but yeah you can guess Bee's reaction to the truth wasn't the best one#Hunter is used to her explosive reactions so he kinda expected her to lash out#but worse than that he was met with an utter and deadly silence. B2 never made it clear whether or not she forgave him#on one side all those years of hardwork and friendship sounded like a lie and she struggled to process the weight of it all#on the other side she wasn't the only person affected by his past actions and that infuriated her even more.#a whole civilization was nearly annihilated by Bee's kind - all because Gideon decided to send 'em off to war#the same civilization he's infiltrated under the disguise of a 'rebellious android'#the same civilization they spent years trying to rescue and save. the same civilization she considered family. the closest thing to home#------ now to a more inconsistent and unexplored side of this story...#There's a Certain Event that takes place after this and is very heartbreaking. however I'm not entirely sure if Hunter's told the truth-#-before or after the final conflicts of the story were over#i like to think he waited until the very end to talk to Bee. presuming it was safe enough to do so#It's likely Bee was so hurt and angry that she promised to go back to her Real Home (to her orbit as a comet) and never look back#and that's when- oh boy i talked too much in the tags again!#oh gee! so sorry for rambling#i'll stop here :]#the continuation to this can be found in an illustration i'm working on!! stay tuned!!!!#ok byeee#inbox#fusionsprunt
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Joshua supremacy 😭😭😭 I’m so soft for him. Just let me be his little princess. He can make all the rules idc
omg he’s so gorgeous and like the thing about him—at least in my opinion/my own personal interpretation—is that while he is genuinely so sweet (almost sickly so at times!) and so kindhearted and so so tender, he is also so used to being served and so used to being the Boss, the undying’s precious phoenix prince, the king of everything, and it comes out in these tiny little wisps and hints in certain interactions; a vaguely bratty comment, a gentle yet vehement assertion, a soft chuckle beneath a gloved hand……..
all of this is to say, i think he’d fucking love to have a partner who lives to serve him and be his precious lil doll (to the point where he may even feel guilty about how much he loves it, because he knows it isn’t necessarily right, but he just can’t help but feel this way about you <3). he wouldn’t push it on you, and he wouldn’t hold you back from doing things you wanted to, either, if he deems them good or beneficial for you—he’d definitely encourage you to do things if they were things you wanted to do/made you happy—but oh, to have a baby who’s syrupy sweet and devotedly doting and hangs on his every word; to have a precious lil princess who gazes up at him as if he’s painted the entire night sky by hand, speckled the stars across the atmosphere and carved out the moon himself; to have a soft sweetheart who clings to him in every way possible, hands curled around his fingers or wrists or biceps when he takes you for a walk in the gardens or when you sit down for a meal (always beside him, never across from him, protocol be damned), who snuggles in his lap or straddles his thighs and nuzzles their sugar-sweet lips against his neck or collarbone or jaw, who obediently never leaves his side unless it is absolutely necessary <33333 that sounds like a perfect dream, a paradise, to him <3
#i’m in love i’m in LOVEEEEEE#i’m writing a small piece of prose for him right now that’s mostly angsty but does focus on his bratty bossy tendencies hehehehehehe#i am also writing something i promised myself i wouldn’t write for this blog HAHAHA and in Clari Tradition i kind of want it to be the very#first piece i post but it’s also getting quite long so we’ll have to see#anyway i blame jote for like;;;;; half of this behaviour#joshua could murder an entire village in cold blood just because ‘he felt like it’ and girlie would be like ‘excellent job your grace’#pls gtfo outta here~#this post is me beginning my yandere joshua campaign HAHAHAHA#hope ur having an awesome day anon!! <3#stay safe n drink water okay!!!#inky.bb#inky.joshua#clari gets mail#shOULD I PUT THIS IN THE TAGS???????#maybe :o#joshua rosfield x reader#omg (^q^)
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More Borrower au!!
Will and borrower! Nico.
Borrower! Jake having a panic attack and being comforted.
Borrower! Luke thinking he's suave(he's not)
Panic attack Chris(instead of Labyrinth, maybe lab rat type scenario similar to that one scene in Muppets from space or something gtge)
Sleepy Jason and confused borrower!Leo
And second image is Michael and queer panic Jake.
But yeah. Kinda figuring it out as I go. But love playing with dynamics.
#mine#pjo#percy jackon and the olympians#percy jackson and the olympians#my art#will solace#nico di angelo#borrower au#pjo borrower au#leo valdez#jason grace#jake mason#michael yew#lee fletcher#luke castellan#chris rodriguez#leeluke#solangelo#jake mason/michael yew#masonyew#valgrace#gt#g/t#g/t pjo#gt pjo#i might run with lab rat Chris#maybe the borrowers stay in the complex cause Kronos found them and “promised” they'd be safe#but he and business partner Minos ends up using some of them as lab rats#Luke is blissfully ignoring the signs because he's a mess#and the Hephaestus kids are way to suspicious that something' up
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thinking about fallout 4 against my will
#random thoughts#fallout#unfortunately nora compels me#the fact the 'hi honey!' tape specifically mentions her 'shaking the dust off' her law degree is interesting#like she gave up her job to stay at home with her husband and kid. why?#like that's a whole year. at LEAST.#love the idea of nate pressuring her into it <3 maternity leave turns into 'isnt it so nice being with sean around the clock?'#'too bad you won't have this quality time when you return to work'#turns into 'you can always return to work if you feel like it but we DO have a lot saved up . . .'#and it's like. okay so fallout 4 would be so much better if it were set in the 1960s. literally no reason it shouldnt be#yknow beyond complying with lore which. it isnt that faithful to in the first place#i just think it's weird the game is like 'here's the FUTURE' and then it's like 'here's the FUTURE FUTURE'#anyway make it the 1960s. give me time-appropriate fucked up family dynamics#and nora's a laywer and a feminist who promised herself she'd never compromise her career for a man#and nate seemed so NICE and like he understood until uh oh. frog in a slow cooker#and he makes everything seem like it's her idea until she's barefoot in the kitchen with a screaming baby on her hip and burnt food in a pan#and she doesn't even realize she's trapped until it's too late. isolated from friends and family#idk ill do more research later to make it more time-accurate (ESPECIALLY interested in second-wave feminism)#anyway i think she cheats. with a door-to-door salesman selling places in the bomb shelters#(honestly probably the only adult social interaction she's had in weeks beyond her husband)#i like to think at some point she had a bit of a car accident due to the stress so nate took her keys#probably just a minor fender bender he blew out of proportion but she believes it because oh god what if she hurt sean#her feelings toward sean are complicated. i dont think she quite loves him which she feels guilty about so she overcompensates#with trying to keep him as safe as possible and she feels like he KNOWS and HATES her#(honestly when the bombs drop everything happens so quickly and when she's in the future and registers sean's gone she feels. so relieved)#(followed by heavy shame)#nate sabotaged her birth control btw. love evil 1960s patriarchs#never outright stated but heavily implied!#anyway nora in the future (while she felt very progressive for her time) feels very out of place#like her ideals have no place. like she has no place
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hee makes me so crazy
#ssr — heeseung.#the gaze i am floored quite literally#i have so so soooo many things so say . too bad this is es ef dablue blog 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 stay safe guys DONT stan heeseung#he's problematic he would make u crazy and SICK!!!!! let me handle him 😊☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️ doing charity 🙏🙏#i have no reason to post this except i want to tell that he is mine ya'll pick other members idk . sage is an exception shes in this w me#rest of u..... 🫤🫤🫤 PLS THIS IS A JOKE for legal reasons#lee heeseung im in love w u really ok gn again#disclaimer: dont stan him!!!! we cannot lose more promising women and men to lee heeseung 😊🤍
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thinks about mr. fnaf cassie's dad for too long and gets really sad about him
#like!! he left his daughter at home with the promise to be back soon - he thought he'd just be goin into work like normal#but then he wound up trapped and had to leave his daughter totally alone for who knows how long#but he at least had the relief of thinking she was safe - only to wind up finding her having wandered into the plex and being trapped too#and she's RIGHT THERE but she doesn't know it's him and he can't talk to her or tell her he's sorry for leaving her#and he can't do much of anything at all to save her. it's unclear how much control he has over the map bot his mind is uploaded into#all he can do is just... give her a technician's mask and hope that his little girl is strong enough to find her way back home with it#while he just stays stuck there. alone in the dark. watching her go.#UGH!!!!
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me and the generic extra strong Tylenol and the pure rage in my system
#Every once in a while I think. It’s not too bad home. I’m over dramatic. It’s not bad and it won’t be bad when I go home and never been bad#Then actually think and remember#I shouldn’t have been hit as a small child. I thank god that my parents stopped that with me.#But also. I should have been taken seriously when I went To them with concerns and shouldn’t have been brushed off.#But also to be a 14 something year old and to realize your parents aren’t in love is a crushing feeling#Since that must have been when. 13-14. Appa passed. Pandemic times. I’m sure my father. Since this would have been the last time I saw Appa#We went down to visit. Dad didn’t go he had work. He sent us off. I remember sitting in the passenger seat by mom in driver#Dad praying for our safe travel and for him going in for a kiss and the moment of hesitation and unwant from my mother#And the awkward silence and the way everything seemed to just shift to the side#That was summer of 2019. My first time realizing my parents weren’t both in love happened when I was 13-14.#I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.#And going to college has me feeling so guilty. Like I fucking ditched my siblings? The kids I raised as a child myself?#(I had to go. I don’t know if my scholarship would have held I don’t know if my financial aid would have held. I couldn’t have waited. )#(I would have likely done something bad to myself. Genuinely. If I weren’t able to be here. If I had to stay. I wouldn’t survive that.)#my siblings are fine. They have no responsibilities. My sister is manipulative. They will manage. They want me to get the education I need#They aren’t going to have to use their own college money to pay to be able to eat because the parents won’t feed them for the summer#I went into college with at least a couple hundred less than I should have. Because I had to parent. I had to feed my siblings.#And I had to pay to fill the gas tank on my father’s gas eater truck. We couldn’t be home because of the selling home situation.#I had to do something to get us out and to feed us but I didn’t get paid back for anywhere near all of it#I don’t regret it. But a kid shouldn’t have to pay for them and their siblings to live.#But then I remember the dread I have for returning ‘home’ for the breaks. I don’t know what I’m going to do.#If I can’t work all of the breaks then I either won’t be able to pay next semester#Or I’ll have almost no money in savings. Like nothing to my name. Can’t buy gas. Can’t do anything. Can’t buy food.#Unless the next scholarship stuff I’m doing pulls through. But I’m willing to work the whole break just to get away from either house.#I want to violently shake my parents and get them to comprehend#Father you have dropped 260$ into my bank account in the last two weeks. Why could this not be earlier in the semester.#Why couldn’t that be in the time and fashion you FUCKING PROMISED for helping me pay my schooling?#You have money to spare. Stupid. Why couldn’t you help like you promised.#Mom you fucker. I get that you are kinda with a new man now. But you’re leading yourself into a relationship with a man you said yourself#You don’t want to date because he wants to move away with his sister and because he hates it here
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The outdoor enclosure is finally done and the kitties are loving it! HUGE thank you to @milomeepit for helping Mum and I put it together!
#arra’s thoughts#cats#my cats#my cats: Lilah#my cats: Polly#my cats: Molly#Mocha is absent as he was considerably more wary of The Outside than the other three and did not stay to have his picture taken#but he liked it too I promise#cat enclosure#cat enrichment#cat-safe outdoors
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She had not trusted this world, this dream.
The companions who had walked with her, led her here.
The warrior-prince with pine-green eyes and who smelled of Terrasen.
Him, she had not dared to believe at all. Not the words he spoke, but the mere fact that he was there. She did not trust that he'd removed the mask, the irons. They had vanished in other dreams, too—dreams that had proved false.
But the Little Folk had told her it was true. All of this. They had said it was safe, and she was to rest, and they would look after her.
And that terrible, relentless pressure writhing in her veins—it had eased. Just enough to think, to breathe and act beyond pure instinct. She'd siphoned off as much as she dared, but not all. Certainly not all.
So she had slept. She'd done that, too, in those other dreams. Had lived through days and weeks of stories that then washed away like footprints in the sand.
Yet when she opened her eyes, the cave remained, dimmer now. The thrumming power had nestled deeper, slumbering. The ache in her ribs had faded, the slice down her forearm had healed—but the scab remained.
The only mark on her.
Aelin prodded it with a finger. Dull pain echoed in response. Smooth—not the scab, but her finger. Smooth like glass as she rubbed the pads of her thumb and forefinger together. No calluses. Not on her fingers, on her palms. Utterly blank, wiped of the imprint from the years of training, or the year in Endovier. But this new scab, this faint throbbing beneath it—that remained, at least.
Curled on the rock floor, she took in the cave. The white wolf lay at her back, snoring softly. Their sphere of transparent flame still burned around them, easing the strain ember by ember. But not wholly.
Aelin swallowed, tasting ash. Her magic opened an eye in response. Aelin sucked in a breath. Not here not yet. She whispered it to the flame. Not yet.
But the flame around her and the wolf flared and thickened, blotting out the cave. She clenched her jaw.
Not yet, she promised it. Not until it could be done safely. Away from them.
Her magic pushed against her bones, but she ignored it. Leashed it. The bubble of flame shrunk, protesting, and grew transparent once more. Through it she could make out a water-carved basin, the slumbering forms of her other companions.
The warrior-prince slept only a few feet from the edge of her fire, tucked into an alcove in the cave wall. Exhaustion lay heavy upon him, though he had not disarmed himself.
A sword hung from his belt, its ruby smoldering in the light of her fire.
She knew that sword. An ancient sword, forged in these lands for a deadly war. It had been her sword, too. Those erased calluses had fit its hilt so perfectly. And the warrior-prince now bearing it had found the sword for her. In a cave like this one, full of the relics of heroes long since sent to the Afterworld.
She studied the tattoo snaking down the side of his face and neck, vanishing into his dark clothes.
I am your mate.
She had wanted to believe him, but this dream, this illusion she'd been spun ... Not an illusion.
He had come for her.
Rowan.
Rowan Whitethorn.
Now Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius, her husband and king-consort. Her mate.
She mouthed his name.
He had come for her.
Rowan.
Silently, so smoothly that not even the white wolf awoke, she sat up, a hand clutching the cloak that smelled of pine and snow. His cloak, his scent woven through the fibers. She rose to her feet, legs sturdier than they'd been. A thought had the bubble of flame expanding as she crossed the few feet toward the sleeping prince.
She peered down at his face, handsome and yet unyielding.
His eyes opened, meeting hers as if he'd known where to find her even in sleep.
An unspoken question arose in those green eyes. Aelin?
She ignored the silent inquiry, unable bear opening that silent channel between them again, and surveyed the powerful lines of his body, the sheer size of him. A gentle wind kissed with ice and lightning brushed against her wall of flame, an echo of his silent inquiry.
Her magic flared in answer, a ripple of power dancing through her.
As if it had found a mirror of itself in the world, as if it had found the countermelody to its own song.
Not once in those illusions or dreams had it done that. Had her own flame leaped in joy at his nearness, his power.
He was here. It was him, and he'd come for her.
The flame melted into nothing but cool cave air. Not melted, but rather sucked inside herself, coiling, a great beast straining at the leash.
Rowan. Prince Rowan.
He sat up slowly, a stillness settling over him.
He knew. He'd said it to her earlier, before she'd let oblivion claim her. I am your mate.
They must have told him, then. Their companions. Elide and Lorcan and Gavriel.
They'd all been on that beach where everything had gone to hell.
Her magic surged, and she rolled her shoulders, willing it to sleep, to wait-just a while longer.
She was here. They were both here.
What could she ever say to him, to explain it, to make it right? That he'd been used so foully, had suffered so greatly, because of her?
There was blood on him. So much blood, soaking into his dark clothes. From the smears on his neck, the arcs under his fingernails, it seemed he'd tried to wash some off. But the scent remained.
She knew that smell—who it belonged to.
Her spine tightened, her limbs tensing. Working past her clenched jaw, she inhaled sharply. Forced a long breath out through her teeth. Forced herself to work past the scent of Cairn's blood. What it did to her. Her magic thrashed, howling.
And she made herself say to him, to her prince who smelled of home, "Is he alive?"
Cold rage flickered across Rowan's eyes.
"No."
Dead. Cairn was dead. The tautness in her body eased-just slightly. Her flame, too, banked. "How?"
No remorse dimmed his face. "You once told me at Mistward that if I ever took a whip to you, then you'd skin me alive." His eyes didn't stray from hers as he said with lethal quiet, "I took it upon myself to bestow that fate on Cairn on your behalf. And when I was done, I took the liberty of removing his head from his body, then burning what remained." A pause, a ripple of doubt. "I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to do it yourself."
She didn't have it in her to feel a spark of surprise, to marvel at the brutality of the vengeance he'd exacted. Not as the words sank in. Not as her lungs opened up once again.
"I couldn't risk bringing him here for you to kill," Rowan went on, scanning her face. "Or risk leaving him alive, either."
She lifted her palms, studying the unmarked, empty skin.
Cairn had done that.
Had shredded her apart so badly they needed to put her back together again. Had wiped away all traces of who and what she'd been, what she'd seen and endured.
She lowered her hands to her sides. "I'm glad," she said, and the words were true.
A shudder went through Rowan, and his head dipped slightly. "Are you..." He seemed to grapple with the right word. "Can I hold you?"
The stark need in his voice ripped at her, but she stepped back. "I ..." She scanned the cave, blocking out the way his eyes guttered at her retreat. Across the chamber, the great lake flowed, smooth and flat as a black mirror. "I need to bathe," she said, her voice low and raw. Even if there wasn't a mark on her beyond dirty feet. "I need to wash it away," she tried again.
Understanding softened his eyes. He pointed with a tattooed hand to the trough nearby. "There are a few extra cloths for you to wash with." Dragging a hand through his silver hair, longer than she'd last seen it—in this world, this truth, at least—he added, "I don't know how, but they also found some of your old clothes from Mistward and brought them here." But words were becoming distant again, dissolving on her tongue.
Her magic rumbled, pressing against her blood, I, squeezing her bones. Out, it howled. Out.
Soon, she promised.
Now. It thrashed. Her hands trembled, curling, as if she could keep it in.
So she turned away, aiming not toward the trough but the lake beyond.
The air stirred behind her, and she felt him following. When Rowan gleaned where she intended to bathe, he warned, "That water is barely above freezing, Aelin."
She just dropped the cloak onto the black stones and stepped into the water.
Steam hissed, wafting around her in billowing clouds. She kept going, embracing the water's bite with each step, even if it failed to pierce the heat of her.
The water was clear, though the gloom veiled the bottom that sloped away as she dove under the frigid surface.
The water was silent. Cool, and welcome, and calm.
So Aelin loosened the leash—only a fraction. Flame leapt out, devoured by the frigid water. Consumed by it. It pulled away that pressure, that endless fog of heat. Soothed and chilled until thoughts took form. With each stroke beneath the surface, out into the darkness, she could feel it again. Herself. Or whatever was left of it.
Aelin. She was Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, and she was Queen of Terrasen.
More magic rippled out, but she held her grip. Not all-not yet.
She had been captured by Maeve, tortured by her. Tortured by Cairn, her sentinel. But she had escaped, and her mate had come for her. Had found her, just as they had found each other despite centuries of bloodshed and loss and war.
Aelin. She was Aelin, and this was not some illusion, but the real world.
Aelin.
She swam out into the lake, and Rowan followed the jutting lip of stone along the shore's edge. She dropped beneath the surface, letting herself sink and sink and sink, toes grasping only open, cool water, straining for a bottom that did not arrive.
Down into the dark, the cold.
The ancient, icy water pulled away the flame and heat and strain. Pulled and sucked and waved it off.
Cooled that burning core of her until she took form, a blade red-hot from the fire plunged into water.
Aelin. That's who she was.
#Chapter 35#Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius#Aelin Ashryver Galathynius#Aelin Galathynius#Rowaelin#Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius#Rowan Whitethorn#can I hold you#Rowaelin moments#Kingdom of Ash#Sarah J. Maas#KoA spoilers#first read#read with me cry with me#read along#no spoilers please#pt 1 perspective#more notes spoilers quotes annotations etc. in the tags cause these are scenes that both made and broke me#real or not real. too lovely a dream to wish to wake up. but here he was. safe. home.#Aelin. That’s who she was. — Is. — Both Assassin and Blade - and forge#she was not afraid. she did not yield. she had endured.#that’s why she went to sleep because if she woke up he would not be there from the dreams but he stayed#she kept blinking so Fenrys could tell her because Maeve didn’t know that trick and still she stayed close to protect him#the dream she most wished for terrified her most the one without scars to believe or tell the lie the dream she didn’t want to wake up from#but she was so tired in the horror of it and false memories#there was nothing there of hers yet promises still made and kept she was forced to learn to control the magic yet she did#everytime they add consort it gets me — the channel wasn’t broken — even here it was — her mirror — not and glad and she meant it#she had to say it and it was silent yet still he heard it heard her his mate#their love language of revenge lol-&when she knew real cause not all was right — but she was here-he was with her-shes relearning & ready#the fact she’s protecting them from her magic even then-Rowan not asking are you okay knowing she’s not-her feeling guilty about the beach
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i am blogging to u all live from washington dc
#this place is weird. kinda a vibe tho#my brother was meant to stay in a diff room w my dad & other brother but he is here w me and my mom#which is like whatever he's chill but is kinda annoying since im on my period#i was promised a female only safe space ..#[discreetly grabs tampon] [discreetly grabs tampon] [dis#shitpost.txt
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