#he started regularly travelling between the villages

[tiredspacedragon]

Also, I think that's the Vuata Maca tree wizard from Quest for the Toa piloting a Boxor. This issue is full of surprises

BREAKING NEWS: Two of the Three Virtues spotted in the wild pre-2003!

[whatavery]

Ordained Defiance Ch. 1

Finally, after weeks of buildup, finally I can start posting this very special story. Of all the characters in Lackadaisy, I really wanted to create some Abelard content, because I love him.

So what better way to do so than to write a little fanfiction featuring him, his family and my OC? A slow-burn story set in the small town of Defiance, Missouri...

For the first chapter, I present you with an image of my new OC alongside Abelard!

This lovely piece here was drawn by the amazing @mergestucs1!

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With the sweeping, green hills, the freshly sprouting leaves on the trees and the mostly clear, blue sky, Defiance was beautiful in spring. The air was getting warmer, but the breeze still had a sharpness to it whenever it graced Abelard’s face. It was a Thursday morning like any other as he made his way into town on foot, the apricot-furred cat enjoying the spring weather. Abelard's shoes dug into the dirt road that led the way through the small town that was Defiance. Granted, it really wasn't much of a town (it was closer to a village, if anything) given how small it was, and how much distance there was between the homes here.

The lean reverend took long, fast strides, walking with purpose. His morning strolls generally took him all over Defiance. He started at home and took the scenic route out to Defiance General, going through the small community and finally ending by the church.

He'd left the store just minutes prior, having stopped by the outskirts of town to see the shop owner. It was usually his first stop these days. Most days Mr. Weaver was up and working early, despite his age. Abelard always did make sure to purchase something when he visited, often in the form of cigarettes or other small items, usually something edible. Sometimes he brought home bigger items such as potatoes and the like.

And Abelard would, of course, gladly take on Mr. Weaver in a round of chess when time allowed it. Reverend Arbogast usually wasn't one to turn down an opportunity to spend time with the locals. It was part of his daily routine, making sure to visit with members of their little community. Though he didn’t personally visit each and every inhabitant of the small town, he made sure to at least greet them whenever possible, whether by the church or around town.

The man running Defiance General was one of the few that Abelard regularly visited personally. As reverend, Abelard saw it as part of his job to maintain a good relationship with said community; it was what the reverend before him had done. And it was what he’d taught Abelard; it was any reverend’s job to spread the word of the Lord and maintain good relations to those who believed, and even those who didn’t. After all, it was how a man of faith might help others see the light.

And as village minister Abelard didn’t just do services in the church on Sundays. Of course, that was part of the job; he took care to preach to his fellow man, woman and child. Though it had been a while since the last time, he had also done confessions and he’d heard quite a number of things. But as was his sworn duty, he’d never disclosed this to anyone; it was for him, the Lord and the sinner to know.

He’d been doing this job for decades at this point, and everyone in Defiance, and the nearby townships, that was part of his congregation, knew him. He'd established a good trust and good relations with the community, but it had taken time.

The township of Defiance primarily consisted of a small collection of farm buildings and barns around a main road that stretched through the small town. Defiance General was the primary place to do shopping for those who didn’t wish to travel further away by car, where they had more options. St. Louis was about forty miles away and Abelard himself hadn't made the trip there in quite some time. He was content in this small town where he'd grown up.

The town itself had a few things of note, despite its small size. For one, there was a local mechanic, though it wasn’t really a proper business, just a farmer who knew how to handle cars and other machinery. It wasn't so unusual to see him taking a look at someone’s vehicle, just as he was today. The farm house he lived in with his family was one of the larger ones on the side of the road that Abelard walked on. The barn door was open and the tuxedo cat could be seen fiddling with the engine of one of his neighbors’ cars.

As Abelard passed, he was spotted by the mechanic, who wore messy overalls over his clothes. He waved to Abelard as he passed. “Good morning, Father Arbogast. How do you do?”

“I’m quite well, thank you,” the lean cat called back in a proper tone. Abelard waved back as well, and offered him the slightest of smiles. Abelard was clad in all black from top to toe; black shoes, black pants, black jacket, black hat. The only article of clothing Abelard wore that wasn't black was his white button-up shirt under his jacket. “I hope you are as well.”

Though not a man who smiled much, nor a man to whom smiling came naturally, Abelard still did his best to be personable with the locals. At least for the most part. That wasn't to say he was all-smiles around them all the time, far from it. Father Arbogast, as he was most often called, had quite a reputation for being a man not to cross. It wasn't often, but he’d had to tell local children off more than a few times, using the colorful language he had become rather infamous for. And for the most part, it worked. He’d even had to tell off their parents on occasion.

Children as well as their parents knew to respect him and that was how Abelard liked things to work. Abelard was never one to shy away from doing such things if someone were to do or say something morally apprehensive.

Abelard didn’t linger around too much as he continued down the road.

The houses around the main road were generally large, quaint farm houses, many of them quite old with a fair bit of distance between each one. Defiance had never had a large population. Abelard knew they currently didn’t even amount to a hundred. The entire community could fit inside the church during services, even despite how small the church was. In the open area of Defiance, they had a few small businesses, such as a post office, an inn and a carpenter who also did metalwork on occasion. There was also a single bookshop and of course, further away there was a train station with its depot.

The businesses were mainly being run out of people’s homes, further adding to the feeling of a small, tight-knit community amongst the locals.

The area all around was wide and open with small groves and forested area nearby fencing in the majority of Defiance. The rolling hills and fields all around offered space for farmland, like the cornfields near Abelard's home.

The cornfields had gone from being harvested for food to also being harvested for more unsavory reasons in recent years. He'd been there for it all, as the changing political landscape of America had ushered in changes to his life. Not just his life either; Abelard also knew the unspoken truth that farmers both in Defiance, as well as all over the country, were doing the very same thing.

Abelard had spent most of his life in Defiance, as had many of its inhabitants. He'd traveled to visit nearby towns and cities, but home was always here. For better and for worse. But the small town of Defiance needed him. The Lord’s work was never finished until the day of reckoning and Abelard intended on continuing to spread the word of the Lord till his last breath.

He knew that there was no such thing as a one-man army when it came to his job. Abelard wasn't entirely alone; he spread the Lord’s word, he preached to warn of sins and temptations in the hopes that his congregation would help spread the same message. It was the point of preaching at all to begin with, to spread the word of the Lord, to help enlighten and to save as many souls as he could.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil… That part of the Lord’s Prayer had taken on a new significance to Abelard just a few short years ago. The nation-wide prohibition on alcohol had changed so much for so many people, again for better and for worse.

For Abelard? To him the very idea of stripping away a source of temptation in such a way was an affront. It had never been something that sat right with him; Abelard knew so many who saw it as removing the very option of giving in to sin from their lives, but Abelard privately saw it as a disruption to the natural order of things.

If anything, it seemed to have inadvertently added a whole new caliber of trappings into the lives of many. Abelard knew as much, being an initially reluctant participant in the illicit alcohol business.

But alas, here he was; illegal liquor had paid for much of the maintenance around the church and the town. Abelard knew that the cursed liquid would go on to add temptation back into the realm of the living – of the souls who would eventually need saving. Abelard knew that the very allure of the illicit only made sin all the sweeter to the ones who chose to give in to it.

But in the end, he knew that the truly good people would make the right choices, even with temptation in their lives. God would forgive sins, and although Abelard too would do his part to make sure people would not be led into the many pitfalls in life, he knew these complexities to be a necessary evil to separate the righteous from the wicked.

But Abelard kept these views to himself and a very select few close to him.

Passing more homes on his way, Abelard spotted more people who were getting their days started; a woman looking after the small garden around their front-porch where her small children were playing; a young couple leaving their driveway together in a car. Once more Abelard offered waves on his way, even if the children seemed rather frightened of him. He didn’t mind, of course. There was a fine line between fear and respect, and Abelard hoped they would learn to walk that line well.

If nothing else, Abelard hoped the younger generations would be given the chance to grow up with all of life’s complexities; the good, the bad and the tempting, all ever-present. Their parents (and he to some extent) would need to arm them to face the many trappings of life, and never stray from the righteous path. Whether they'd succeed or not was ultimately in their own hands.

All he could do was hope for the best… And hope that they may never get involved in unsavory business like his family.

Being in the liquor business had proven to have more downsides than upsides to Abelard. He resisted the urge to spit on the ground, to curse the names of those he'd had to deal with, as he continued on his way. Lackadaisy, Marigold, they were both the same to him; bands of immoral, cutthroat criminal that needed him and his kin for liquor and nothing else.

Though Abelard had no qualms with partaking in the making and smuggling of the liquor, dealing with others in the business had been less than pleasant. All the trouble that had come with it… It had cost him an organ player as well. Little Defiance had been the scene of some gruesome acts of violence, which Abelard still found unsettling to think about.

And that was despite all he'd seen and heard in his fifty-two years on this Earth.

Leaving the main residential area, Abelard passed the single inn that the town had. It was a small, family-owned place, a decently popular location that Abelard had visited many times. It was a two-story farm house where the family lived on the upper floor and the inn itself was located down below. It was one of the popular places for members of Abelard's congregation to end up after service on Sundays.

After passing the road that would take him towards the Arbogast Funeral Home, Abelard made his way past a tree line and out to another open area. The wide, open space was fenced in by trees from all sides, and the nearest farm houses could look right up to the white church with its single tower and tall spire that pointed straight to the Heavens. It was a relatively new church,; Abelard recalled in his youth that his parents had remembered the time when it was still newly constructed. Since it had been finished, it had been the church his family would visit for services every Sunday morning, and eventually the one that he himself would be the reverend of.

It wasn’t large and grand, but it was beautiful. All-white exterior, the church had two small steps leading up to the two tall doors out front with one short, wide transom above it. Further above the window as part of the tower was a clock, a relatively new installation. On either side of the large doors was a window, each larger than the one above the door, with a grid-like frame holding many small panes of glass. Each side of the church had four similar windows lining the walls, always making sure plenty of light could shine inside. The dark roof was angled upwards, the front merging into the small tower. The tower itself wasn’t that much taller than the roof, a small platform housing a thin, eight-sided spire reached higher than the roof, ending up in a sharp point.

There was always something to be done around the church, always something new to worry about, surprisingly so for such a small town. The illicit, ill-gained money helped keep the church in pristine order, and while they were currently out of a steady organ player, Abelard had other things to worry about. The groundskeeper was looking to retire. He was old and he had been looking after the grounds since before Abelard became the village minister. Just looking for a new groundskeeper would be a a mild challenge in the small community. Just something new for Abelard to figure out in the near future. Hopefully, the current groundskeeper would stick around long enough to find a replacement, so they wouldn’t leave the grounds unattended.

As a brisk morning breeze ruffled his facial fur, Abelard arrived by the entrance to the church grounds. The church was right by a crossroad; corn fields to one side, open stretch of grassland with graves on the other. The cemetery had expanded since the church’s founding, of course. Being framed in by the farmland, there was only so much space that could be used for graves; further away more grave sites had since been established.

No one was around at this time of day and as Abelard made it up the small steps to the large doors, he removed his hat and stepped into the Lord’s House.

It wasn't a very spacious interior, being a small church, but the space available had been optimally used. Stepping onto the wooden floor, Abelard walked up the aisle by himself. On each side of him were pews that could house the entirety of Defiance’s population during services, and there was even room for more people from neighboring townships. And in part owing to the small size of the church, Abelard had mastered utilizing the building’s acoustics to let his voice carry from the altar to the very back of the church, for all to hear.

Behind the last pew on the right side of the church, a small spiral staircase led up to a small landing above the entrance. This was where the organ was located, overlooking the small church’s interior. Abelard admittedly didn’t spend much time up there, nor did anyone else these days. The landing was close to the ceiling, which was painted blue like the sky outside, but even a man as tall as Abelard could comfortably stand up there without bumping his head on the ceiling.

Abelard made a mental note to attempt to send for a potential organ player in the nearby townships. He might even have to send for someone living further away, such as over in St. Louis…

The wooden pews that stood in rows on either side of the aisle were painted white, like the walls surrounding them. There were two windows up ahead flanking the altar, right across from each of the windows on either side of the door. Perfectly symmetrical. Along with the four windows on each of the church’s longer sides, plenty of light always poured in through these in the daytime hours. The same went for the circular stained glass window up above the altar close to the rounded ceiling. And of course, once it was dark, the multiple bronze candelabras on the walls and the large ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling in front of the altar would help keep the building illuminated.

Abelard stopped before the altar, right below the chandelier and closed his eyes for a moment, just enjoying the peace and quiet that the church offered him at times like this. The tall, lean cat had a white podium off to his left, where he would stand to preach and speak during services, facing the congregation.

Leaving the altar, Abelard slowly made his way back outside again, casting a glance out at the woods in the distance that served as the natural fence for this part of Defiance. Leaves were sprouting from the branches and the grass all around was starting to look as green as could be, it was a beautiful sight indeed.

The dirt road leading to the left from Abelard's vantage point led up towards where a small part of the cemetery was located. Further away along the road that ran along the side of the church was the Arbogast Funeral Home. It hadn't always been a funeral home, as it was these days; it had also been Abelard's childhood home where he’d grown up. He’d inherited the place from his parents and now it was also where he conducted his other ventures, including more unholy business.

Glancing up the path towards the cemetery, Abelard put his hat back on. The nearby funeral home would prepare the dead for burial, the church would hold a funeral service and the dead would be buried in the nearby cemetery. It truly was an efficient, albeit morbid, little system.

Abelard’s own parents laid buried there as well, as did other past inhabitants of Defiance and the nearby area. Growing up so close to not only the church, but also the cemetery had made Abelard’s skin crawl as a young boy, but these days the thought didn’t bother him at all.

The area outside and around the church was beautifully maintained, the grass kept short, the nearby trees kept healthy and the paths kept clear and clean. The morning sun’s rays casting a brilliant light over the trees’ fresh leaves, and the blades of grass, only added to the place’s natural beauty.

It was going to be a tall order to find someone new who cared about looking after the grounds this much. But Abelard had no doubt in his mind that he’d find the right person for the job, as was his responsibility. Odds were someone in town would be willing to do it – it would be easier and more efficient to not have to call in someone from out of town. Abelard knew he shouldn’t keep putting it off.

After enjoying a bit of time to himself, Abelard let out a content sigh. But he knew he ought to go about his business once more.

Turning back towards the church, however, Abelard spotted a single figure lingering by the white brick wall to the left of the church doors. He squinted slightly. He didn’t recognize the stranger at a glance, in part due to them facing away from him, apparently glancing out over the cornfields nearby.

The stranger turned their head as Abelard got closer, and already Abelard didn’t get the best first impression of them, noticing the way they were leaning on the church wall. They were practically lounging, like the church was their personal property.

“Ah, hello… Reverend Arbogast is it?” The stranger sounded uncertain as he spoke in a surprisingly soft voice. The Turkish Angora stood just a couple inches shorter than Abelard, his fur a grayish off-white color all over. His ears were particularly fluffy, though his fur overall was short, yet fuzzy. He had bangs reaching down to his eyebrows and the tips of his ears had white tufts on them. Very unusual.

Behind him he had a particularly fluffy tail that drooped ever so slightly. He wore a dark gray sweater with a thick, folded collar and a pair of blue denim pants. The right knee of his pants was torn open, his white fur showing through.

“Yes, how can I help you?” Abelard asked, his blue eyes taking in the stranger before him. Abelard's tone was polite, but slightly stiff. He didn’t recognize him, and yet there was something familiar about him at the same time. Abelard guessed he was likely from out of town – he made it a point to know everyone in Defiance, after all.

The stranger left the wall and approached Abelard, his fluffy tail fur swaying in the wind. Eyes met, sky blue and minty green, and Abelard noticed the younger cat had a face with soft, rounded, almost slightly… feminine features. The stranger held out his white-furred hand. “Well… I was just looking around a bit. I haven't seen this place in a long time…”

“You’ve been here before?” Abelard asked in surprise as they shook hands briefly. He squinted slightly at the white cat. Again, he got the sense that they’d met before…

“Oh, I lived here a decade ago, before I- Well, I moved out a long time ago.” The stranger’s stumbling didn’t go unnoticed by Abelard, but he was more so intrigued, though perhaps a touch suspicious as well…

Abelard still fixed the stranger with some amount of dislike, which based on the look on the younger man’s face didn’t go unnoticed. “Hmmm, I don’t recognize you… I know everyone in Defiance. What’s your name, young man?”

“My name’s Cainan – Cainan… Wirth.” Once more Abelard couldn’t help but feel as though something was wrong. The stranger seemed hesitant to give his name, which only made Abelard all the more suspicious of him. However, his name did stir something in Abelard – that sense of familiarity.

“Wirth? With an ‘i’?” Cainan nodded at this, though he didn’t meet Abelard's eyes when he did. “I see… Well, I might have known your parents in that case. Harold and Gabriela Wirth, correct?”

Abelard could see Cainan's face tightening at this, but the younger cat nodded. “Yup, them’s the ones. I was planning on visiting them after I’m done here, actually.”

At this Abelard raised an eyebrow as their eyes finally met again. He wasn't sure what Cainan's situation was, but this was… curious. For a number of reasons. The least of which being: “Well, they moved away a few years ago, if I’m not mistaken. They have not called Defiance home for a while.”

Cainan blinked up at Abelard with those pale green eyes. “… Oh.”

Was that disappointment Abelard heard in his voice? Or was it relief? Abelard genuinely couldn’t tell. The older reverend frowned down at the white cat. “You didn’t know…?”

The younger cat didn’t answer right away. Abelard could tell he was thinking hard about what to say. What was he up to exactly? He hadn't immediately struck Abelard as a troublemaker, though the way he hung around outside a church did seem suspicious. Abelard cast a glance over Cainan's shoulder towards the area beside the white building, which seemed to be quite untouched. When he glanced back at Cainan, the younger cat seemed ready to speak.

“Well, to tell you the truth, Reverend, no, I didn’t realize they'd moved. You know where to?” he asked. Again, Abelard found it curious how he spoke with the tone of someone just asking for the time; not with the tone of someone urgently needing to know the whereabouts of their parents.

“Hmmm, well, I don’t recall, I’m afraid,” Abelard told him calmly, though he watched Cainan closely, his gaze fixated upon the younger cat to wait for a reaction. Abelard had his suspicions, but he wanted to see just how Cainan might react to this information. To his surprise, the younger cat barely seemed to react at all – he just nodded slowly.

“Ah that’s alright. Guess I’ll try and ask around town,” was the response Abelard got, a surprisingly casual response. Now he was certain something wasn't right here.

“Were you hoping to run into them here?” The longer he spent in Cainan's company, the more Abelard could start to see some family resemblance. While he couldn’t say he'd been close with the Wirths, he still partially remembered what they looked like. He could see aspects of both Cainan's parents as he remembered them, when he gazed upon the younger cat before him.

“I suppose, yeah,” Cainan replied, his tone carrying that same casual carelessness as he spoke. Cainan seemed to hesitate for a moment, clearly thinking about… Honestly Abelard wasn't sure what was going through the young stranger’s mind. “I suppose I really just did come looking for you.”

“I guessed as much,” Abelard admitted, nodding slightly as he crossed his arms. The way Cainan had greeted him had indeed made it seem like he’d been waiting for him. Whatever this young cat could possibly want from him, Abelard didn’t know, but he was willing to hear him out. “So once more I ask you, how can I help you, child?”

Cainan’s left ear gave a small flick, possibly out of annoyance, though his facial expression didn’t show any signs of it. Abelard didn’t think calling him a child was unfair; he was young, clearly, though Abelard didn’t know quite how young. Perhaps he was older than his youthful face made him seem. “Well, I decided to return to town and, well, I’d like to do some work while I’m here. I’d like to… stick around for a li’l while.”

This was certainly a surprise to be sure. It wasn't at all what Abelard had expected of the young stranger, the reverend frowning slightly. He sighed. “Hmmm… And why didn’t you simply head into town and ask around? And why weren't you just honest from the beginning, young man?”

“I’m sorry, well, I figured this way was easier – I heard you were the village minister, so I figured… Actually, maybe this was a dumb idea.” Cainan suddenly seemed to change his mind mid-sentence. The younger cat shook his head and made to leave. “Sorry to waste your time, I should just drive-”

“Now hold it just a minute…!” Abelard put a hand on Cainan's shoulder to stop him in his tracks, gripping him firmly with his slender fingers. Cainan turned to look at up him, apparently surprised, his white eyebrows raised. “Slow down and explain yourself. I can’t figure out where to put you, if I don’t know where you came from.”

“So, you will help me…?” the Turkish Angora asked hopefully, his ears perking up immediately. Abelard let go of Cainan's shoulder and stared at him in disbelief. Had he been hoping for this kind of reaction…?

“I asked you to explain yourself. We shall see if we can find a solution to your predicament once I know everything… And I do mean everything.” Abelard had a feeling Cainan just might be a troublemaker, but of a different sort than the kind he had encountered before. He gestured towards the church with some apprehension. “We can step inside and talk, if you'd please.”

Cainan turned towards the church with an equal amount of apprehension of his own. He bit his lower lip and seemed to consider this for quite a little while. He awkwardly hovered around where he stood, though he didn’t step towards the church. “Uh… maybe we could talk out here? Or we could go for a walk? It was a long drive here, I’d like to just stretch my legs a little bit.”

Abelard thought it curious that he'd mentioned a long car ride, seeing as there wasn't a car around to be seen nearby. He looked at the younger cat, eyebrow raised in suspicion.

“Oh, I drove into town, but I walked here,” the white cat hastily added, apparently not ignorant to the doubt written all over Abelard's face. The white cat offered a would-be innocent smile, but given the hasty way Cainan had offered up a rather flimsy explanation, it didn’t make Abelard trust him any more. “And besides… I haven't really been in Defiance for years. You could show me around… Please…?”

Abelard scowled at the shorter cat, crossing his arms again. Cainan continued looking at him with that would-be innocent smile of his, but Abelard saw right through it. Whatever he was playing at, Abelard wasn't going to let him win. He knew for sure he didn’t want to participate in his little games. But if he wanted to stick around and work in the town he grew up in… Abelard supposed it wasn’t the worst thing to want, even if he was being deceptive about it. Still, something wasn't right about Cainan…

“Very well, we can walk together,” Abelard finally agreed, though he still scowled at the younger cat. Cainan on the other hand seemed perfectly pleased with this outcome. It indeed seemed like this was the outcome the younger man had desired.

As the two of them left the church grounds and walked up to where the two roads outside the church crossed, Abelard couldn’t help but feel like this was all an elaborate rouse. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Cainan was trying to manipulate him in some way. His intentions sounded innocent enough on paper, but the way he went about everything didn’t sit right with Abelard. “Now, young Mr. Wirth-”

“Ugh, no… Just call Cainan… uhm… please. Reverend.”

“Well, Cainan… If you wish for me to… potentially assist you with your plight, I must ask you a few things. And I ask that you return the favor by answering my questions honestly.” Abelard turned his blue-eyed gaze upon the other and fixated him with a scrutinizing look. “Do I have your word?”

“Of course, I’ll be… honest.” The hesitation made Abelard scoff and offer Cainan a side-eye as the two walked down the dirt road together. “No, sorry, I mean it. I’ll be honest – I swear.”

Abelard still scowled, but he ultimately nodded, breaking eye contact to look ahead. The two walked along the road that ran parallel to the church’s front door. They moved in silence for a few seconds as Abelard gathered his thoughts. He still wasn't at all sure what to make of Cainan. He didn’t appear very trustworthy; the way he spoke, his closed off body language from the way he slouched and the way he shrugged so often. Abelard very much felt that the answers he got from the white cat would prove whether he was to be trusted or not.

“So, tell me: when did you move away? And how come your parents didn’t contact you to let you know that they'd moved themselves?” Abelard decided to go for two big questions back to back. When he looked over to Cainan on his left, the younger cat did indeed seem taken aback by the questions. Abelard simply hoped he'd honor his promise and tell him the truth.

“Ah… Well, those are very good questions…” Cainan replied hesitantly, looking away at the cornfield they walked past. Abelard could tell he was stalling to answer, and he was starting to feel rather annoyed with Cainan already. Though the scowl on his face didn’t go away, Abelard calmed himself the best he could, and just waited. “Well, to answer the first one, I left town when I was… I think fourteen. Thirteen? Around that time at least.”

“Really now? And how come you decided to leave Defiance then?” Abelard wondered aloud, and he couldn’t help but privately wonder if Cainan had run away. It seemed unusual to travel away alone at such a young age. But all the same it seemed so unlikely; from what Abelard remembered of the Wirth family, they were a respectable sort, a good family with good values. They were people of faith and everyone in town seemed to like and admire them.

At least if Abelard's memory served him correctly…

“Oh, I needed a change of scenery.” Once more, Cainan appeared so casual. He stuck his hands into his pants pockets, looking completely unbothered. He still slouched a bit, whereas Abelard took proper strides, back as straight as a board. “Small towns like this are nice, but I wanted to see more of what the world had to offer.”

Abelard had to admit, the younger cat’s answer had surprised him. Assuming it was the truth, he couldn’t help but find it almost admirable to want to experience things like that at such a young age. Perhaps that was how his parents had raised him?

Of course, being out in the world meant temptation. How old was Cainan now? Abelard wasn't sure, but if he left about ten years ago, perhaps… Ten years was a long time… Who knew, maybe Cainan was older than he seemed at a glance. “And where did the road take you then?”

“Oh, here… there… all over the place.” Cainan offered up another casual shrug, Abelard feeling a twinge of annoyance shooting through him at the sight. “I started going from town to town. I traveled down south for a bit, then over east to St. Louis for a while. Never really out of state, though.”

“And now you’ve returned home.” Cainan glanced on over at Abelard in a manner that told Abelard all he needed to know. The look told him far more than the young cat likely meant for it to; he didn’t like the idea of referring to Defiance as ‘home’. Although he said nothing, it was written all over the younger cat’s face. “And what did you do while you were away exactly? I take it you must have done some kind of work to get by, have you not?”

Cainan nodded as they approached the treeline that bordered the fields near the church. Past the treeline there would be yet more farmland with more houses and more of what Defiance had to offer. “I did a couple different things. Factory work, courier work, personal driver, everything in-between, really.”

It was of course a very vague list, but Abelard supposed if he truly was that versatile and had gotten a lot of experiences in his time away from Defiance, he might just fit in after all. It shouldn’t be too hard to find something for him to do at least; Abelard was sure he (or at least the locals) might be able to find a niche for the Turkish Angora to occupy. But of course, that was all up to the community and how well he got himself reintegrated with them.

Defiance was a small, small town, but there should be room enough for one more – it might even help that he grew up there. Abelard wasn't sure if anyone would remember the white cat, but perhaps if they did, that might ease the transition.

As the two of them reached and passed the treeline, they also reached a more densely populated area. This was of course relatively speaking as the buildings scattered here still had a considerable amount of distance between them. Cainan glanced around with considerably more interest than he’d shown up until that point, his green eyes taking everything in. “Ah yeah, I do remember this place… a little. It hasn't changed that much from what I remember…”

“Suppose there’s not too much of a point in showing you around then. Hmmm, let’s see… If you left some ten years ago, I suppose you may not have seen that we have a bookstore now, have you?” Abelard asked as they approached the nearest building. He didn’t remember exactly when the bookstore had been opened, but he was fairly sure it must have been after Cainan left home.

“Oh, I don’t think so, no. I might have to stop by later,” the younger cat said. Abelard thought it might be the first time Cainan said something genuine. At the very least it seemed more genuine than anything else he had said up until that point.

Out here, there was more open grassland, less of it dedicated to farmland, more of it just simple grassy, green hills that rolled along the beautiful landscape. While there was distance between the homes here, they were closer in proximity than some the farms around the church. Cainan looked around curiously as the two of them continued along the dirt road. “Ah, I recognize some of the buildings.”

“So, where are you staying exactly? I take it you’re not staying in your parents’ old home. Are you renting a room at the inn?” Abelard inquired as they neared the very same inn on their stroll. Although it was one of the larger buildings in town, they only had two rooms they rented out, seeing as Defiance didn’t see many visitors, usually. It had a seating area inside for guests to sit and dine as well.

“Oh, no, I’m not. I’ve already got a bed with my name on it,” Cainan replied vaguely. As the two of them passed the inn and approached other houses, a few people took notice of the strange duo.

Abelard would nod in greeting to them, but he could tell people were curious. “And where might that be? If you’re planning on working here, I think we ought to make sure you don’t have to commute back and forth…”

“Ah. Well, I’m staying on over in Cottleville, it’s not too far.” Abelard watched Cainan closely, trying to see if he was being honest. He had a difficult time with this young, white cat; he was easy to read at times, yet other times, such as now, Abelard hadn't the faintest idea what he was thinking. His face was neutral, blank like a fresh new canvas, not showing a single discerning emotion.

“I see. I suppose that isn't too bad as far as distance is concerned,” Abelard reluctantly agreed as they continued on their way. He fell silent for a moment, the older cat needing a moment to think things through. They passed by the post office on their way.

It was another business that had had its start in someone’s home, albeit a house considerably smaller than most of the others. A single-story house where the very front had been converted into the post office where letters were sent and received daily.

Abelard privately thought that if anyone had kept in touch with the Wirths, Cainan may be able to get their new address and send for them… if that was even something he wanted at all. Abelard had gotten the distinct feeling that perhaps there was some unpleasant history between Cainan and his parents.

“So, say if you were to stay here, what work would you be willing to do?” Abelard finally asked after a brief of silence. He fixated the white cat with a scrutinizing stare once more. He supposed this too might reveal a bit about Cainan's current situation, as well as his character.

“Oh, anything and everything,” the young cat said almost lazily. “I did do food service for a while, but I don’t know if the inn would need to hire any help. I don’t know what else there would be around here. But I suppose I’ll just have to find out.”

Anything and everything was a very wide spectrum, and Abelard wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. It could mean one of two things to Abelard; either Cainan truly was incredibly versatile and not at all picky; or he was desperate. Abelard supposed that regardless, it shouldn’t be too hard to find something for him to do.

“I really ain’t too fuzzy about it. Maybe I’ll just stick around for a few days and see what happens.” Cainan cast an inquisitive glance back over his shoulder towards the post office. It was one of the first buildings one would encounter when entering Defiance from the direction they were going. “Hmmm…”

“What is it?” Abelard looked towards the building as well, then looked back at Cainan. He raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. Just considering my options,” the younger cat replied with a shrug. Cainan pulled his hands out of his pockets and cracked his knuckles rather loudly, before resuming his slouching posture. “So, hmmm… anything else you want to know about me?”

Abelard could tell Cainan was hesitant, and odds were he was only asking to be polite; it was clear to Abelard that Cainan was being secretive on purpose. Whatever it was, the younger cat did indeed seem to hide something, though perhaps he just simply didn’t enjoy sharing. Abelard supposed he couldn’t blame him there.

“So, if you’re staying somewhere over in Cottleville, are you a permanent resident there? Or what is your living situation? I’m trying my best to understand here…” Abelard had a feeling he knew the answer, but he needed to be sure. That was assuming Cainan chose to answer truthfully, of course.

“I’m… more or less homeless at the moment,” Cainan admitted, looking up at Abelard. Their eyes locked again and Cainan just gave a small smile when he saw the look on Abelard's face. “It’s alright, I’m managing just fine for now.”

Abelard watched the younger cat for a moment as they continued on their way. He wasn't so sure; being a young man without a job and a home didn’t seem like he was managing. He supposed if he had money saved up that was one thing, but he also didn’t know for sure. Abelard's eyes drifted down to the torn knee of Cainan's denim pants. That seemed like something he could and would have fixed if he’d had the funds for it.

Although Abelard didn’t want to give Cainan too much just yet (in case he was the type to take an arm, when offered a hand) he couldn’t help but feel as though he ought to do something for him. As untrustworthy as he’d been acting up until this point, Abelard thought that perhaps he was making light of his own situation to make it seem less severe. Perhaps a coping mechanism of some kind.

Nevertheless, the two of them continued along the road. They didn’t speak too much outside of Abelard explaining which buildings were from after Cainan had left town, which seemed to be a good number of them. Even with Defiance’s small population, there ought to be quite a few new faces among them now, at least for Cainan who had been gone for so long.

The two had made it all the way to the road sign that would first greet those arriving in Defiance, at which point they turned back. They’d ended up further from the residential area and closer to Defiance General.

The post office was the first building of significance they reached on their way back. A decently sized building with just one floor, a quite scenic one given the open field behind it. Abelard knew a local artist had once painted a beautiful piece featuring the post office and its backdrop. It was, in fact, iconic to the residents.

Glancing through the main window as they passed, Abelard offered a wave to the local postman, Mr. Lang, who was working inside. The gray tabby offered a wave back, though he cast a curious glance at Cainan, who seemed to be glancing the complete opposite way. He almost seemed to willfully try to ignore the post office’s existence.

“Would you like to go inside? Perhaps we can ask if there’s work to be done in the post office.” Cainan turned towards Abelard again and looked apprehensive at best.

“Oh, uh… Yeah, we can head inside,” the younger cat replied, speaking with a similarly apprehensive tone, his eyes not meeting Abelard's. Abelard raised an eyebrow curiously. For someone who said they’d take on anything and everything, this was a curious reaction, when the very prospect of a potential job was brought up.

What are we going to do with you? Abelard privately wondered as he stepped up to the post office’s door, looking sideways at the younger cat. Abelard knew next to nothing about him at this point, maybe Cainan truly was doing better than he appeared to be.

He was an enigma, this one…

[elizabethrobertajones]

Frog Time

I'm so bad at tagging people so consider yourself tagged if you want to be :)

B A S I C S

Name: Bounding Frog (redacted roe language name because I forgor)

Nicknames: Frog

Age: 18-22 (ARR-EW)

Nameday: 23rd Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon

Race: Hellsguard Roegadyn

Gender: cis woman

Sexuality: Bi

Profession: She has a summer job working with the hippo riders, although that doesn't pay as well as adventuring, so she's looking forward to Dawntrail and doing more than delivery runs.

P H Y S I C A L     A S P E C T S

Hair: maroon and light pink

Eyes: maroon and light pink

Skin: brown

Tattoos/scars: I headcanon the single choice of tattoos per face for roes are meaningful somehow - I chose coming of age, getting her Adventurer Name, and leaving home, so those were fresh porple swoops over her cheekbones in ARR :D I've only known her as long as she's been Frog and looked like this.

The scar on her nose is from being underhand punted like a rugby ball by an older brother back when she was an orb shaped child. Since adventuring the regular healing has stopped her getting too scarred up from any misadventures.

F A M I L Y

Parents: Notable members of their remote mountain community, maintaining an important set of Arcanima wards around an aetherically dangerous geological fault. Of course, they're good at their jobs so this wasn't very scary as an upbringing. They're a lovely couple and make a hell of a bowl of soup. All else I know about them is they're very supportive and Frog writes to them regularly.

Siblings: like six rowdy older brothers. She was very spoiled by this squad of bodyguards tbh. (Ignore the previous comment about one of them maiming her, they DO love her even if they saw her as a cannonball under other circumstances.) A couple of them left to be mercenaries, uncertain if for Garlemald - they don't write home as thoroughly.

Grandparents: Probably, tbh. We're getting out of my limited perception of Hellguard culture and history but I think I can say the remoteness of their village is an excuse for nothing too terrible to have happened to any of them :P

In-laws and other: She was sort of starting to think of Edmont as a potential in-law and he began acting like it after Events so she's acquired some without marrying. He DID also adopt Aymeric informally, so now she's courting him it's coming back around!

Pets: Multiple, even not counting animal sanctuary beasties. Some she drops by to visit where they're being looked after once she'd raised them or sheltered them for a while (the baby hippo was donated to the hippo riders thankfully before he got too large and hungry for example). Others live at the free company house getting spoiled by the staff. The free company is named after the baby tapir who is the best and cutest. :)

S K I L L S

Abilities: In character, she has yet to find something she isn't good at after a couple of false starts. (ooc is much more of a mess depending on my ability) As an all-jobs all-crafts all-gatherers weirdo she's genuinely alarming to contemplate.

Hobbies: crafting/gathering/fishing is more of a wind down respite than a career calling for her. Canonically she's finished the fishing log... ooc I haven't by a long shot :P She also loves visiting bars and pubs across the world that she's visited to drop in on old friends, or go on foodie tours of places she's liberated. They stole G'raha being a foodie traveller in the dawntrail trailer from her actually.

Kinda always wanted to do a in character review of all the drinking establishments in game.

T R A I T S

Most positive trait: determination and everything that went into being strong enough to do the end walk, which did feel like a culmination of all the positive things they ascribe to the WoL. Since she's living the life of box art Meteor with no plot deviations or alterations except what I can put into the downtime and spaces between cutscenes, I can't argue with times when they REALLY show the admirable heart of the WoL.

Most negative trait: She's not going to say no, so if you need a favour just stand near where she wanders by routinely and look forlorn and you WILL get helped to within an inch of your life.

L I K E S

Colors: royal purple, dark reds and deep blues

Smells: fresh baked anything. Probably also the fresh morning smell when she gets up at ass o'clock to do stretches or whatever gross things morning people do.

Textures: G'raha ears >:)

Drinks: black coffee, red wine, milky tea

O T H E R    D E T A I L S

Smokes: tried it with the Vath and hated it. Still has no idea if Fogweed is a drug or not.

Drinks: socially and merrily with a bottomless liver.

Drugs: nothing harder than caffeine and alcohol.

Mount Issuance: her sweet blue chocobo is called Turbulence and threw off everyone who attempted to ride him before that.

Been Arrested: not outside MSQ run ins with the law

[cocopuffsstillinside]

Messed Up - fanfic by cocopuffsstillinside

Full fic available on Ao3

Summary - Nico has just moved to the US with his sister Bianca. Their Mama died and now they live with they somewhat involved father. Life isn't going well for little Nico. The constant gay panic and dealing with his fathers favouritism is over whelming. Can life really get any worse?

Set in school AU.

Chapter 1 - Captain Westover

             11 year old Nico’s life was a mess. His mother had fallen terminally ill not long after his tenth birthday and his somewhat absent father had whisked her, him and his sister off to the US in the hopes of finding someway to save her. It was futile. She died not 2 months after they arrived.

             All Nico wanted was to go home to his little village just outside Venice. He knew he couldnt. What didn’t help matters was that when they had arrived, Nico discovered why his Father wasn’t around much. He knew he was a businessman and he travelled for work, so he had just assumed that was it. Unfortunately, it was worse than that, Nico and Bianca where the products of one of Hades’ affairs while he was travelling.

             When they first arrived with their mother, Hades had set up an apartment for them. Both he and his sister thought it odd that he didn’t stay with them, one of the only bright sides Nico could see about the move was that he might have a shot at a normal family life, but no.

             Turns out his father had a pretty little wife here in the States, and she wasn’t best pleased to learn of their existence.

              After their mother finally passed, he and Bianca were moved into the Hades household. It was huge, Nico didn’t realise but it was clear his father had money and by the look and size of the ‘house', there was a lot of it to.

              It didn’t take long for him to notice his Father had a clear favourite between Nico and his sister. Bianca would receive surprise gifts, she would always be greeted first and she would always be the centre of his attention when they were together. Nico however, not so much. If Bianca got a gift, so would he but it was clearly less effort. For example, once he gave her a pair of diamond earrings and Nico had got a new t-shirt. He didn’t care that hers was more expensive or flashier, it was more that his father just saw him as a extra mouth to feed and barely acknowledged Nico’s existence. It hurt - fucking hell it hurt, but after awhile he accepted that this was his life now.

              They had been enrolled at a local private school where, just like at the Hades household – Bianca was miss popular and Nico was nothing but the shadow that would follow her out the car when the chauffeur would drop them off for the day.

               He didn’t mind too much when at school, she would normally check up on him if they passed in the hall or if they bumped into each other at lunch, but other than that they kept apart. It was different at home though, she was always with him, trying to get him to talk about their mother and help him grieve – not that he wanted to, it hurt to much. It was easier to bottle it up and just pretend she was back in Italy.

               Bianca had made some friends that seemed nice enough, they didn't look at Nico like he was a nuisance – unlike his father and stepmother. There was Zoe, Thalia, Grover and Percy. She would hang out with them at school and soon enough was bringing them home to hang out after school.

               She would try to get Nico to join. At first he did, although he mostly just sat in the corner pretending to read while quietly watching the group. After a while he started to try and find excuses to avoid them. “Sorry, got homework” was his typical response - short, sweet and extremely plausible.

               Although, he had a much more secret reason he wanted to avoid the group. He wasn’t sure why but he regularly caught himself staring at Percy. There was just something about his eyes, sea green that sparkled when he laughed. The mischievous grin when he was clearly plotting something that would likely land him in detention, not that he needed to plot it. Trouble had a way of finding him – he seemed to be in detention every other weekend. He had a very sassy attitude that, with Nico’s growing resentment for his life, he could really appreciate. He had oddly sculpted arms for someone his age, on more than one occasion Nico found himself wondering if that was he case with the rest off his body... what! Ewww no, that’s gross! Don’t think like that!

              After being at Westover Hall for a few months, he was in the locker room getting ready for gym with about 15 other boys about his age. He’d noticed how he would stare out the corner of his eye at some of them as they changed when he was sure they weren’t looking, he would then mentally chide himself. Stop that! Don’t be a creep!

               Occasionally, they would try to engage him in conversation, normally something about some comic series or new movie, very generic stuff. Nico had decided early on that he would fake not understanding, so he wouldn’t have to engage in to much conversation and risk saying something that would give away some of his ‘weirdo’ thoughts as he’d taken to calling them.

               Of course he could understand and speak English perfectly fine. He still had a thick accent but could speak clearly without much stumbling. They had been taught the English language at school in Italy as there village was a fairly popular tourist spot and his mother had thought it important, though she never said why – guess it’s obvious now.

              It was one of those days when Percy walked into the locker room.

              He was wearing a blue shirt with the school logo and WOH Swim Team printed on it, with a pair of bleach washed jeans and white trainers.

              So, he’s on the swim team. That would explain a lot, how have I not noticed before now? No, WHY would I have noticed that? He's not my friend and I definitely don’t think about him. No, I definitely don’t think about him at all. He thought to himself as he stared intently into his gym bag.

              Next thing he knew there was a tapping on his shoulder. “A little birdy told me it was your birthday. Happy Birthday man!” said a voice he knew to well. He had dreams of the voice. No. No I don't dream of Jackson's stupid voice. No. Creepy. Weirdo.

              He quickly steeled himself and turned to face Percy. “Thanks, but I asked Bianca to tell anyone.” Nico frowned at him. Nico didn't exactly feel like celebrating. He had no friends, his mother was gone, his father clearly couldn’t care less about him and his step-mother made her hatred for him (and his sister) very clear. The only person he had was his sister, unless you counted the family guard dog, but somehow counting Cerberus seemed a little sad even for him. So no, Nico wasn’t in the birthday mood.

              “oh, sorry. She’s been going on about it all week, so I assumed...” Percy trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck as Nico scowled at him.

               “Going on about what? There’s nothing to ‘go on' about.” Nico retorted with a bit to much apprehension in his voice. He definitely needed to get better control of his tone of voice, he decided to work on that. He didn’t want to be so easily read or people might start to work out some of his other more distasteful feelings.

              Percy just smirked. Damn, he really needs to stop doing that. Certainly not helping my dilemma. 

              Nico opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. “I don't think it’s anything major. More like she's just looking forward to spending time with you this evening. Hasn't she said anything to you?” Percy tried for reassuring but clearly had no clue how to handle an 11 year old not wanting a birthday.

              Admittedly, it was an unlikely situation, definitely not how Nico would have imagined it a year previous.

              “No. She has been but I kept telling her to let it go.” Nico mumbled “I guess not, great.” New plan for the day, avoid Bianca Di Angelo at all costs.

               He knew the library was a safe bet for lunch, she'd never go in there unless absolutely necessary. ‘It smells like loneliness and boredom’ was her reasoning, but that suited Nico just fine.

               On the way home, he could put his headphones in and pretend he couldn’t hear, but he knew she’d just pull them out his ears... maybe he could just walk home? Bit of a trek but doable and he’d be gone most of the afternoon then it was just a case of sneaking in without her noticing him...

              “ermmm... Nico? Planet earth is this way.” Percy's voice sounded hazy at first but as he got Nico's attention back it became clearer. “Maybe you should just talk to her about it, I'm sure she'll understand.”

             “Well clearly not. If she hasn’t dropped it by now, after me telling her a million times...” Nico growled “I doubt one more conversation about it will do me any good.”

              “Wait... you CAN speck English runt?” came a snarky voice from the door. It was one of the guys from Nico's class, not a pleasant guy either. James was on the larger side, mostly because he'd been held back a year but he was large even for his age. Nearly as tall as Percy and the same dark hair (although in a crew cut), but none of the charm and no where near as cute. Shit, he is not cute!

              Nico froze. He'd been dealing with James making these jokes since day one - short jokes, foreign jokes, looser jokes, nerd jokes... honestly the list could go on forever.

              Nico had just been ignoring it but was surprised to see the look on Percy's face. It was pure hatred. Nico wasn't aware of any history between the two but clearly there was something there.

             “What did you call him, Winters?” Percy spat. Wait, what is happening? Does he think I need protecting or some shit?

             James let out a laugh. “Of course, Jackson has taken on yet another hewlpless wittle looooser!” he said the last part in a mocking baby voice. It made Nico seethe, but what could he do? Lash out? Verbally? Physically? All routes would likely land him in a hospital bed.

             Before he had a chance to process the thought, Percy had stepped in front of him and stood up straight, making his shoulders broader. As far as looking intimidating goes for a thirteen year old, Percy was the picture of it.

             Oh shit! This is not the time to question your sexuality Nico. But fuck. Nope. Nope, I'm not gay. Shit.Shit.Shit.

             “You are not gonna pull your usual shit Winters.” Nico just stared at Percy in awe as he growled at the bully. “You’re nothing but a pathetic coward with mommy issues. I honestly don’t know how you are still here, after the last stunt you pulled. And more to the point what has Nico ever done to deserve your bullshit?”

              James advanced on Percy, with Nico still standing frozen just behind him in full gay panic mode and complete awe. Winters fully squared up to Percy with a shit-eating grin on his face, “It’s basically just the fact he exists really. Plus when he’s in the locker room, he spends most of his time checking out the half naked guys.”

              Nico winced at the comment. There was no way he was that obvious about it, sure he had to check himself a few times but there’s no way James could actually know. Was there?

             “HA! Ohhh we're doing this trick again are we?” snickered Percy “Isn't that one a little played out by now? You’ve made that rumour with Kyle and Sarah! Honestly, you need to get some new material.”

              Maybe James doesn't know then... if there is a god out there somewhere, please let that be the case! Nico thought as he regained some of his composure.

              A sudden burst of confidence filled him. He was tiny in comparison to the meat-head in front of them, so he had no clue what he was going to do. Whatever it was, he better do it and leg it. James was bigger but Nico would bet his life he was faster, and just as he was about to Winters swung for Percy!

             Percy blocked it with his left arm and punched with his right. His fist landed square on Winters nose with a cracking sound. Nico couldn't help but grin as Winters stumbled backwards into the row of lockers behind him. “Holy shit!” Nico gasped. Percy grinned as he stared at James.

            “Anymore Winters? I think you need a reminder of the last time you tried to take me on-one-on one.” Percy smirked at the brute now laying in a heap on the floor with blood running down his mouth.

            “Fuck you, Jackson! You're not always gonna be around the pipsqueak to act as bodyguard.” Winters retorted in a gargled voice.

             “Very true...” he turned to Nico grinning ear to ear. Nico himself probably looked like a awe struck mess at this point. “Dude, I think I'm gonna need to teach you how to throw a punch. Consider it a ‘not-a-gift' for your ‘not-birthday'” Percy offered his hand out to shake a deal.

               Nico just stared at his hand for a second, it was slightly red and maybe a little swollen at the knuckles. Percy Jackson just broke a guys nose for me! And he’s smiling about it!  “Come on man, Winters is staring" he muttered through gritted teeth "Was it the not-a-gift/birthday thing? Was that weird? Hearing it back sounds weird.” he said with a laugh.

               Nico snapped out of his daze and grabbed Percy's hand in a shake, all be it with what could only be explained as a dazed expression on his face. I am so gay. Shit! No, I'm not!

              After Percy asked Nico to accompany him to the medical office. Once they were a good distance from the locker room, Percy turned and said “You don’t actually have to come with me, I was just giving you an easy way out and away from the future roid-head back there.”

             “Oh Okay, sorry I'll just...” Nico trailed off, the suddenly “Actually, were you serious back there?”

             “For once, everything I said was completely genuine. First for everything I guess, why do you ask?” Percy replied with a chuckle.

             “Well, you said you'd teach me how to punch? And has he really done that rumour thing before?” Nico questioned, his thoughts were simple. More ‘one-on-one’ with Percy could be fun and possibly productive. And if Winters was a serial liar, maybe no-one would believe him about the ‘checking out half naked guys in the locker room' thing.

              “Oh, yeah. To both. I'm no professional when it comes to fighting and stuff, but I didn’t always go to this posh-ass wanna be Hogwarts school. My old schools were in a bit of a rough area, so I learnt how to hold my own pretty good rather early. And Winters, well he's all talk really. He looks big and scary but after he did the whole ‘gay' rumour to Kyle, plus a few other rumours with other kids, by the time he did it to Sarah no-one really believed it after they found out who started it.” Percy laughed as they turned the corner of the corridor to the medical office. “Personally, I can't stand bullies and he knows it.”

              “Guess that makes you the school superhero and him your arch nemesis.” Nico chuckled and IMMEDIATELY regretted it! NOT COOL DI ANGELO! He chided himself.

              “Just call me Captain Westover!” Percy snorted as he struck a superman pose.

              Nico laughed. Like, Genuinely laughed and Percy couldnt help but join him. He hadn’t done that since his Mama died. It felt so good, how had he actually forgotten how good this felt?!

................................

This is not a Percio fic, it just takes place in the time period when Nico has his crush on Percy.

[tomyo]

Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (its trans)

So I've finally hit a point where I feel like I can breathe again which means its time to get back into my backlog made majorly of Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games. Admittedly the moment I get into the DS era and beyond, I get overwhelmed by all the mechanics but I spent....a dumb amount of money on these games and I have to push myself to try. Between Trio of Towns and A New Beginning, I chose ANB for two reasons; 1.It might be simpler to jump into 2.You can back door hack yourself into being gay....kinda.

You see the thing is you still can only date hetrosexually BUT you can just change your character to basically look completely like a girl. Trans rights??? Except you'll get misgendered all the time...unless this is a transmasc story instead for the fuckers like me that like to be he/him'd while in full femme mode. Either way, time to romance Yuri!

So admittedly this is a little bit mixed of a guide slash person road map, I am using a Fogu guide but that doesn't necessarily make it easy. So, I'm only on spring 14 but here's what to know thus far:

The game is as handholdy as ACNL/NH and will slowly dole out mechanics over thankfully in game days. Only worry about mechanics as they come.

You will spend per usual a good part of the start will be foraging. Sell the bugs but save flowers/herbs/mushrooms. You will need moon drops for the start of the town restoration. Also save Honey Bees for the second part of it too. Blue flowers are for Emma to befriend her. Hold onto all logs and stones for when Iroha comes.

Talk to all villagers to increase friendship, show them an animal as well but be careful of preferences. Most villager friendship is required to progress to more stores/upgrades.

When you unlock crops, only buy two things of grass. You are given all you need for most of your farm already. Plant and water the grass in the barn area so you'll have fodder in time for the free cow you get a few days later.

Work on shipping tons of potatoes in spring, this will be a headstart for Town Restoration #4 where you need to ship 30 of them.

Events Process: You arrive>>You unlock crops>>Neil arrives and gives you a cow>>Iroha arrives and gives you an Axe and Hammer>> Rebecca arrives and needs house help which unlocks blueprints>> Town Restoration #1>> Town Restoration #2>> Town Restoration #3 start>> Tailor Shop Blue print should unlock if you befriended Emma enough.

Yuri also seems extremely easy to woo honestly, her special like is one of the early recipes which is also important to eat regularly. In general I just love her and its a crime she can't be romanced same sexly but its okay because again, we are transing ourselves which she and Allen will help with. Wow! What a little gay gender affirming circle that is lmao.

The goal is to get Yuri in my town by early to mid fall, the biggest road block is during restoration 2 you need to ship 10 honey which will take 6 days to make so the more hives the better from the start. Clearing out the farm during summer is imperative. Hives are made out of small lumber and honey combs which is why collecting as much as possible is important (and collecting bees for them too!).

After Yuri is unlocked, the only goals are to raise a lot of sheep for wool. hatch 10 chicks, and get one yak when the chance is given. Side goals include birthing three Cows, sheep, and Alpaca during my second year. Most of Restoration 3 and beyond involves mining and wool so I expect to spend winter doing a lot of digging while also being aware that I'll probably not complete the storyline until at least late into year 2. There's more focus on festivals in the final two restorations as well as a lot of odd gems.

Post main plot is for clothing, house decoration, and child rearing. Emma, Neil, Olivia, Sanjay, and the travel location people are important towards gift exchanges. Outfits will just unlock as I go thanks to Yuri. I might also do a split save before marrying Yuri simply because Witch Princess is always kinda cool but is so late game that having to rebuild everything to marry her might honestly kill me.

It seems partially ridiculous to be so early in the game and to be writing so much already but its one of those series where you need a huge planning stage before you even start anything. To which I find fun the preplan. Admittedly also because the current game play is so repetitive; Watering and animal care in the morning, chasing after Emma for her daily gift, and then wrapping around foraging a couple of times before the night watering. It doesn't help either that there is no quality of life improvements as you go, apparently not even power berries this time.

The path to repairing a town is kind of a fun mechanic to be real; ACNH widely disappointed me for not really being the civilization maker it promised, Hometown story is interesting for a similar was in how it runs, Pioneers of Olive Town sometimes is the perfect amount of town rebuilder, and of course the ever popular stardew valley is great for slowly building up additions to an already pretty sound townspace, and I yearn for easier access to Animal Parade for how lovely the area is even if a bit of a travelling nightmare at points. I don't expect ANB to be revolutionary necessarily but I'm excited to GET to the point where I can suddenly dish out a bunch of town support. It's kind of cool how there's barely love interests as well because of it.

[nettleshuttle]

if you’ve got ~20 minutes of free time on your hands, go watch ep 1 of hikari no ou (the fire hunter). like, really, do it.

i usually don’t do anime recs, as everyone’s got different tastes etc etc and i never feel certain that other people will like something just because i did. but this one, this one instantly struck me as objectively good, or as close as possible to that notion — and so good, that it made me convinced i found a real gem. thus the recommendation.

the aesthetics are insane — they give me this intense ghibli vibe, but are different and very individual in many ways. definitely not the bland style of new animes you cynics would expect if i told you it’s ongoing. i’m no expert, but the animation and music appear really good too. the pacing is great — it forces you to slow down a bit with the long, calm sequences, but it doesn’t lack action and dynamism either. opening? easily one of the best i’ve ever seen. characters? here i can’t say much as they can’t have shown much of these over three episodes, but the concepts of the two protagonists seem interesting and background characters are nicely done.

the plot. starts almost in a medieval fantasy vibe, turns out to be rather a regressed post-apo world and while i usually hate this in anime, here the fusion of magic and technology, myth and history, old and new: fantasy and post-apo, turns out very well. basically, in a world after a great human war and catastrophe, humans became unable to come near fire, as they start burning up from the inside once they even get close. instead, the so-called fire hunters, along with their trained dogs, have to harvest a different kind of fire from fiends living in the forests that now cover the majority of the world, or in the skies. the first mc is a girl living in a village, who is saved by a fire hunter once she wanders into the dangerous forest. the man ties and she is tasked with returning his dog and other personal belongings to his family in the capital. she has to get aboard a vehicle that regularly travels between villages in the land and the capital, but the journey through forests will be long and dangerous nonetheless. the second mc is a student in the capital, whose father is the dead fire hunter. he works on developing new technology from the magical fire that his father had harvested. the two will, of course, meet in due time — as for now, four episodes have been aired.

[raptorbricksart]

since i know nothing abt your ocs could you introduce them to me..

Can do, haven't got art for all of them, but I'll do what I can!

Starting with Clara Ambritt

She's a Skyfolk lass from a little floating village called Cirrus. She runs a blog where she writes about anything and everything she learns on her travels, her end goal being to start up an online encyclopedia. The Internet is young in this world so nothing like Wikipedia has popped up yet, her plan is to change that.

She lives in a little house with her sister, Nyla, and is quietly dating her friend, Gwen Miller.

----

Next up, Captain Maya East.

A former princess, now the captain of a mining/delivery boat after her mum dismantled the monarchy in favor of running a café.

She's strong as hell on account of 6'6'' and regularly training, and is an expert in fire magic. That said, she's really quite chill.

----

And here's Katie May! My longest running OC, I had OCs before, but she's the one who stuck around the longest (Maya being a close second)

She's Maya's first mate about her ship, in charge of equipment, weapons and accounting.

Despite being rather small (4'5''), even by Skyfolk standards, she's got enough energy in her to make up for it. She's feisty and ready to fight anyone who gets in her way. That said, she is very gay, and very easily flustered (usually by a certain someone now coming up)

----

Martha Oriole Rose Emberwood Honey-Dekken-May

Katie's partner and the ship's cook/engineer. She's probably one of the chillest people you'll ever meet.

She was born to her two mothers as part of a study by the secretive Soliil. Other than that, she's a pretty average lass, other than her Soliil tech prosthetic arm that she got after a warehouse accident.

These days, she sails aboard Maya's boat during island season, and returns home with Katie during the off-season.

Despite her soft and kind personality, she is very much not PG when left to her own devices. The comments she makes, especially when talking to Katie, catch everyone off guard.

-----

Finally, he's here for you, it's the last member of B.Q. crew! Peter McNeill.

No art for him yet, but anyway.

He's the ship's navigator, well known for his excellent sense of direction.

He joined the crew after being rescued after his former ship got wrecked in a storm. He decided that he owed the crew a debt because so joined the crew to pay it off, Maya doesn't accept this though, so she just officially hired him.

During the off season, he goes back home and lives with his twin sister, Annie.

----

Next up, the Nayurans. Their population was wiped out long ago, down to 6 kids who are now giant 10,000+-year-old young adults.

Gleam

Their leader and the oldest among them, a user of light elementals

Nocta

Gleam's twin sibling, a wielder of dark elementals

Ignatia

The youngest (though when you're thousands of years old, 11 years doesn't make much difference). They use flame elementals.

Fulgin

The gentle wielder of lightning elementals

Floris

The sour plant elemental user

Aquis

Wielder of water elementals

Spirare

The final of them, and a wielder of wind elementals

Elementals are a fair bit different from regular magic, magic being gentle steering of nature, elementals, however, are raw elemental power. They are innate to each nayuran, but they can temporarily gift it to others through the use of weapons forged in their own hands (quite literally, they can crush raw material into a powerful weapon with no equipment)

------

Garlic (right) and Parsley (left)

Garlic is an explorer who's somehow not gotten any serious injuries in their time exploring the deep caves, despite their slight recklessness.

Parsley is a travelling medic/search and rescue who ended up finding a place at the base camp Garlic operates out of. After having to save Garlic several times, there's a bit of a mutual crush between the two of them. Parsley has a sibling called Basil who works with her and finds this whole "will they, won't they" thing incredibly entertaining.

------

Here's Gwen Miller!

A bit of an emotional wreck, but an expert electrician. She's currently quietly dating Clara and trying to transition out of a nocturnal lifestyle.

------

Maya's close family is up next!

Clockwise, starting at the top left

Florence East

Maya's mum and former queen of the Seafolk. She runs a little café these days. She prefers to just go by Flo.

Ignacia East

Maya's little sister. She's just getting started as a streamer and is also one of Ignatia's (the fire nayuran) champions.

Seabrook East

Maya and Ignacia's auntie, Flo's sister. She helps out at the café from time to time

Karl Thorpe

Maya and Ignacia's dad (and the source of the pink streaks in their hair), and Flo's partner. He's a lofi who travelled from Home after getting to know Flo on an online forum, he had no idea about the whole royalty thing.

------

Mican Hatuli

A lofi singer who is unable to speak. She ended up developing her own way of talking by combining electrical and acoustic magic controlled by sign language. While the voice is very synthetic sounding (in a Vocaloid/UTAUloid way), but naturally suited to singing. She's ended up getting pretty darn popular, her cassettes are in high demand and you've got to get really lucky to get a ticket to her shows.

----

Buddleja and Teasal

Martha's mums

Buddleja is a textile craftsperson and has a small business making clothes and toys. She also drives the local train on the weekends.

Teasal is an apiarist and has a small business selling honey and brewing mead.

-----

Nyla Ambritt

Clara's older sister and an artist. She focuses largely on pottery. Haven't actually done much with her yet, but it's coming along.

-----

This one's just my personal persona, she's just a witch vibing out in the woods.

There is a character that shares her design in the setting, but she lives in a nowhere place and doesn't come up in the story much.

-----

There are others, but these are just the ones outside of background characters that have been on my mind lately.

I have got my own Spider-sona and the associated Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker, but they're still very much a work in progress so I'll share more about them later.

[chettj]

Part 1 about my projects and works

tho i haven't created anything fully yet, i do have some ideas, plans and early materials i just wanna share with you for now

like some ideas and concepts for my comics and games, sometime i wanted to create my own music but failed ^^'

So the first thing i wanna tell you about is my very first sonic-comic idea: No More Chaos or Sonic No More Chaos (SNMC), it's comic about how Eggman conquered the world before Sonic was even born, so yeah I've change a lot in original timeline, canon and "canon", and 've seen as just it was with Eggman in charge: all anthros were isolated on the islands and were not allowed to move between them without special documents, and those who violated the ban were taken away in an unknown direction. Nobody even dreamed of reaching the continents.

The takeover itself happened a long time ago and it happened smoothly, I would say diplomatically, namely Eggman ran for president and, thanks to his promises and technology, won the elections. He rebuilt the world to suit himself. Sonic was born and lived on a south island in a small village, and never saw another world. None of the locals have any idea who his parents are or where he came from, but no one cared really because he brought benefit and joy to the locals. And when he grew up enough and acquired his speed, he began to be drawn to other parts of the island, and then beyond its borders, because the residents somehow made him documents. Sonic believed that documents were just a hassle and therefore began to penetrate the borders secretly, without being caught by the robot guards. All the islands and continents were divided into sections, which made it difficult to move around. Trains carrying various goods and materials regularly travel between these borders, and one day a small fox arrived on one of these to the southern island which Sonic discovered when he was robbing train cars out of curiosity (robots are bad guys, Sonic realized this long ago, and he stole only what he liked and what he knew no one needed, so he didn't steal from others). Sonic brought the fox home without showing him to the rest of the village, fed him and tried to find out where he was from, and of course he called himself Miles, soon Sonic called him Tails, only he doesn't remember how he ended up on this island, but he told about how he ended up on the train, for the little fox it didn't matter much, but Sonic got tense from his story. Next, Sonic will start fighting Eggman's system and will get into a lot of trouble, he will lose a lot, learns even more about the world he lives in and grow up as a person.

it's all standard yeah but the very first version of the plot was different, not completely but still, long-story-short Eggman took over the world again and Sonic had to fight, they've been through war, Sonic's powers were took away, and these powers i called The Chaos Sparkle or The Particle of Chaos (частица хаоса (chastic'a haosa) on russian),

during the plot Sonic regained his powers, fought with Shadow whose story and some features I rewrote, and ultimately defeated Eggman in the final battle, in the final version he killed the doctor.

This is the first part of what I want to tell you about hee hee, at the moment the SNMC comic is frozen until better times. But honestly, I doubt that I will ever be able to return to it. + a lot of concepts are lost and i can't find them and i still wish i could😔🥺

but 'ey look at this Fancy Super Boy i have, lookin' good

yeah, it is his super form in my story and i just love this design

[thepancakewitch]

Heavenly Peach Banquet - Momoko's Relationship Web

more self reference more than anything // keeping track of everybody in her relationship sphere

Jiraiya

Sexual - Romantic - Platonic

EXTREME PDA

Touchy Feely with one another constantly - always hands on

By extension, always cuddling or glued to one another somehow

Jiraiya becomes more of a romantic with her over time and takes care of her

Boobies - either sex

Public stuff

"Im gonna impregnate you"

Actually does

Regrets a lot of shit but feels less alone with Naruto and Momoko

"Accidentally" runs into her while she's traveling for missions

Not really the jealous type but worries about her safety

New Era

Probably one of the biggest loves of her life, she is still grieving and healing but she tries to think of him fondly.

Tsunade

Platonic - Sometimes sexual?

Two peas in a pod, double trouble

Have had wayyy too many girls night out

Always relies on one another

Shizune

Platonic - Sometimes sexual?

Momo genuinely thinks she’s cute

Loves her to bits

Orochimaru

Sexual - Platonic

CONFUSING

An EXTREMELY one sided love from Momoko

Yamato & Jiraiya realllyyy hates that she sees him

Jiraiya is more sympathetic/can see why

Yamato just hates it

Momoko is an object to Orochimaru but a fun one at that

He likes being near her but I think Orochimaru is aromantic, so it’s just not in his dna/doesn’t care to

But will fuck

"I wanted kids"

Adopts Mitsuki

Creates a child between Yamato and her… and ofc some snake dna

tries to experiment with Lotus

"i mean hes my long time friend's son…"

Doesn't really get jealous but will grab her when he needs her

New Era

Long time friends with benefits.

Usually will pick up Mitsuki and be a mom to him, is sometimes told to knock it off by either of them.

Gaara

Sexual - Romantic - Platonic

married

Really protective/clingy

ALWAYS in a cuddle pile with her

Loves to eat her out

Still finds it hard to speak sometimes since she is so overwhelming, but he likes it

Always wanting to kiss

Developed an infatuation with her fairly early on in his life

Kankuro and Tamari: idgi but you do you

Does get jealous of Yamato often

LORD KAZEKAGE I NEED MY WIFE BACK

"maybe in another week"

Chunin Exams

First meeting!

After Shippuden

Opens up to Momoko and confesses his love for her. Momo is ELATED and ofc reciprocates.

New Era

Despite his roles as Kazekage, he often allows her to visit or will drop into Konohanakagure. They see each other at least monthly.

Archive…. Yamato

Sexual - Romantic - Platonic

Momoko’s rock.

Need to work on them more……. I just want it to work ok

Has trouble not being invisible

Momoko dotes on him a lot/coaxes it out/boosts him up

Kakashi: Don’t you want to spend time in the sunshine? Yamato’s mind wanders to spending time with Momoko……

Is really shocked/hurt/betrayed to hear she’s wrapped up with Orochimaru

Easily made to be jealous, but also sort of into hot wifing so it's a weird line to walk

New Era

The main malewife.

Kakashi

Sexual? - Platonic

New Era

Hangs out with Yamato and her a lot.

Might Guy

Romantic - Platonic

New Era

YEA

Obito Uchiha & Rin

Platonic

New Era

Kakashi and Momo always will visit their graves together, she serves as a sort of back up support.

Ebisu

Sexual? - Platonic

New Era

Zz

Iruka

Platonic - Flirty

New Era

Zzzz

Koji Kashin

Runs into him at some point, is overwhelmed and becomes obsessed with finding him. Asks for Orochimaru’s help to track him down.

Amado

Tries to beat his ass regularly, extremely angry about him having Jiraiya’s DNA.

Gets chilled out by his claim that Yamato is a clone as well, but is his own person.

Mitsuki

Momoko’s godson in a way….

Log

Another one of Momoko’s sons………………

Created Family

Lotus - Jiraiya & Momo’s Son

He’s a good boi…… promise

Is an absolute terror on the village

Destroys stuff regularly

Has started training in Toad jutsus since it’s in his DNA, combines with moms’ taijutsus techniques to make his new moveset, Slip & Slide

“Tadpole”

[bu1410]

Good afternoon TUMBLR - March 23th - 2024

''Mr. Plant has owed me a shoe since July 5, 1971."

January 1998 - October 1999 - NLNG - TSKJ Port Harcourt Project (Nigeria).

Part 5.

Mr. Ottani The SAIPEM protocol, as already mentioned, prohibited expatriates from driving vehicles in Nigerian territory: the consequences of a possible road accident involving locals were too dangerous. However, there were some of us who sporadically broke this rule. On one of these occasions Mr. Ottani risked his life, and he was saved thanks just by chance. So Ottani- alone (another infringement of procedures) was traveling along a secondary road between Port Harcourt and Obi Obi, when within villages that stood along the road, a little girl suddenly crossed the road. Fortunately, with a twist of the steering wheel, Ottani managed to avoid impact with the little girl, who was only grazed by the Toyota's bumper. But the guy had now lost control of the vehicle, which ended up in the road's side drainage canal and overturned. This fact sparked the ire of the villagers, who, seeing the Toyota in the ditch, immediately rushed over, not to help Ottani, but to punish him for the accident he caused. Someone started shouting ''Oibo…Oibo…'' (A White…A White) and immediately someone else brought a can of petrol, doused the Toyota with fuel with our colleague half unconscious inside, and set it on fire! But Ottani's time had not yet come: a police patrol was passing by, and immediately intervened, pulling the poor guyi out of the jeep, which in the meantime had caught fire. Then he was made to get into the police van, which set off at full speed for the nearest hospital. The fact that it was the Police who had intervened did not keep either the ''white'' or the members of the patrol themselves safe. Ottani was treated at the Port Harcourt Emergency Department for minor burns to his arms and face, and never drove again for the remainder of his stay in Nigeria.

FOOTBALL IN NIGERIA At that time, the Nigerian national football championship had been suspended until further notice years before my arrival in Port Harcourt. Violence with numerous deaths and injuries had become the norm duirng matches. The local team – the Port Harcourt Sharks – had been disbanded. The Port Harcourt stadium, capable of hosting up to 35,000 spectators, had been stormed by homeless people and transformed into a ''condominium''. They told me that in 1998 around 25,000 people lived in this ''once stadium'' whose conditions were terrible to look at: railings and temporary block walls had been installed under the stands, to transform the structure into ''apartments''. These facts did not prevent Nigeria from hosting the African Under-21 football championship, and a new stadium was built on the outskirts of the city, where the final match would take place. The Nigeria team had made a triumphant march through the qualifying rounds, and on the Saturday night of the final against Ghana, there was euphoria and electricity in the air. And it was precisely the one that was missing when the match was in the twenty-fifth minute of the first half, with the local team leading 1-0. The generators that provided power for the lighting system went out, and the stadium was plunged into darkness. At the moment there was an ''Ooohhhh'', then the wait began - in vain - for the generators to start up again. In the end, the organizers, using torches, explained that the fault could not be resolved in the short term, and arranged to meet the public the following day at 3.30 pm. Strange but true, the crowd left the stadium without causing any incidents. The next day the match took place regularly - in the light of the incandescent sun - and Nigeria won the cup over Ghana 2-1.

NEAPOLITAN MATERIAL EXPERT TSKJ project Management demanded that SAIPEM to bring an expert from Europe to certify the materials we were using in the project. Now, as often happens in SAIPEM projects, for inscrutable reasons (he must have been a ''friend'' of someone) a Neapolitan University Professor was brought in - the guy was already over sixty y.o. at the time. ''The Professor'' turned out to be a real pain in the ass, and a disaster for the project. He was paid by day, and therefore managed to extend his initial one-week stay to three weeks. He was staying at the Presidential Hotel and no one had bothered to explain him the particular ''social conditions of Nigeria''. The morning after his arrival , we picked him up to take him to the site: he was furious!!!

Last night - after dinner - taking advantage of the cool evening I said to myself: why not take a digestive walk around the hotel? I SHOULD HAD NEVER DONE THIS!!!

Well Professor, what happened?

An incredible thing!!! I was robbed!!

Excuse me Professor, being you a Neapolitan, do you come to Nigeria and get robbed?

Yessss…and not only robbed!! I was attacked by a group of women…well.women, you understand wht I mean! they are walking here in the hotel's street ……they groped me, pushed me into the bush, and took away all my belongings, wallet, watch, chain, even my glasses. look they robbed me!!!

Well, we're really sorry about this, Professor….

Now I don't speak a word of English, but with your help I want to go to the police and report the matter!

Mmm…Professor'… first of all this news that you don't speak English is not a good new - and then going to the police…here in Nigeria…for a theft perpetrated by prostitutes……is not a good idea….

So what do we do?

Forget it, Professor…and from tonight don't go out of the hotel as soon as it starts to get dark!

The Professor's stay in Port Harcourt and then Soku was not easy at all. And it was peppered with small incidents and big misunderstandings. Finally, after three weeks of ''passion'', we managed to get the Client to accept the Professor's reports on the materials. But U' Professo' wanted to create problems until the end, and although we advised against it, he bought about twenty leather covers for cushions and puffs at a local market. Aside from the horrible smell, when checking in for boarding at the airport custom police confiscated all of them. He screamed like an eagle (he didn't understand that it was just an attempt to extract money from him) but it was of no use, and he left Nigeria without the wrappings.

BLONDE DUTCHMAN WEARING WHITE COSTUME It was Saturday evening at the Cheers club and Attuati and I met a Dutchman from Shell, who had just arrived from Holland. He was obviously blond, and dressed all in white, jacket, trousers, shoes. We drank a couple of drinks together, the guy was part of SHELL, our Client, so we had to treat him well. Around midnight we left the club, our trusty driver Akooya was waiting for us, sleeping in his usual position: lying on the hood of the Toyota! On the way back to the Guest House, in the dark night of Port Harcourt (public lighting didn't exist) suddenly the car's headlights framed something white that was moving: it was the Dutchman!! We ordered Akooya to stop immediately and called the Dutchman:

Where are you going? Are you crazy to walk alone at night in Port Harcourt?

Why so? - he said - what's the problem? I'm going back to compound, it's not that far.....

You're asking what's the problem? Come inside the car and I'll explain it to you. … After he got into the car, we explained to him that a white man alone on the streets of Port Harcourt is formally ''a dead man walking'' - at best, if he had not met us, he would have been robbed of everything he had. he had on him, including clothes and shoes. We saw him again after some time at the club, and he never stopped thanking us and offering drinks:

Now that I've been living here for some time - he said - I understood the danger I going though that night! Thanks guys for saving my life!

MR. DIKSMANN Mr. Dicksmann was SHELL's Project Director and formally our ''Big Boss''. The typical blond Dutchman, about 2 meters tall, bearing a ''Haineken paunch'', a very lovable man. On the occasion of the pipeline welding completion, Mr. Diksmann organized a party at the chalet where he lived, inside the cozy compound SHELL had built in the 1980s. The Dutch Company had spared no expense in building the residential village: once you entered the gate you might think you had been catapulted into one of those Dutch villages all white chalets, tulip beds, waterfalls, pubs and cinemas included. Mr. Dicksmann's chalet was no exception: large enough to accommodate a family of four plus servants, it was equipped with a large terrace and swimming pool, all in complete privacy. The perfectly organized evening was attended by around fifty people: Americans, English, Dutch, and six Italians including, in addition to myself, the Top Management of SAIPEM. On the terrace overlooking the swimming pool, a buffet had been prepared with all sorts of goodies: grilled meats, grilled fish, all types of appetizers, ice containers with wines, champagne and beer. We entered the chalet, and we noticed that it was splendid, no one could have imagined that homes like that existed in a place like Port Harcourt. In the large illuminated living room, beautiful paintings on the walls, flowered sofas and even a splendid white grand piano were on display. Strategically placed on the piano, inside beautiful silver frames, the photos of the Dicksmann family: two beautiful children with almost white blond bob hair – in another photo Mrs. Dicksmann was smiling from what could have been a Amsterdam bridge. To the right of the piano, lying on one of the white leather sofas, barefoot, dressed in a dress undoubtedly imported from Europe, Mr. Dicksmann's official black s**t was sipping champagne from a flute. The attentive waiters, were not hesitate to refill her glass each and every moment. At that sight, the members of SAIPEM's Top Management passed words in each other's ears, like ''But… did you see? Did you see her? That's incredible insn'it? .......etc''. They had seen something that could never, ever have happened at a party of the ''puritan SAIPEM''. A Company that maintained (and I believe still does despite privacy laws) internal dossiers on the behavior of all its employees, and whose careers were also influenced by the news and gossip that other employees never missed to report to HR office in Milan. The discriminating factor for employees, and especially aspiring managers, was the classification into ''individual who go out for dinner and clubbing '' or ''individual who does not ''.

[autumnalwalker]

happy worldbuilding wednesday!

how do people mark the passing of time in your world?

Seeing as Empty Names (for the most part) takes place on a version of normal, modern day Earth (just with supernatural stuff running around outside the knowledge of the public), so marking time there is the same as it is here. The only part where it gets a bit tricky is when people start traveling between worlds whose flow of time may or may not be entirely in sync with that iteration of Earth's. I don't expect it to come up in the main story as more than a passing reference, but there are people who make entire careers out of doing the cosmological math to let travelers know if they risk leaving for two or three weeks their time and returning to find that a whole month or even year has passed at home. But that's an extreme case. Most of the time it's a fraction of a percent off at most that's only going to be noticeable over the course of years. Like with Ashan leaving his Earth as a child and after coming back a bit over a decade later resulting in it being ambiguous if he's technically of legal drinking age in the US yet or not, but even that's a question of months rather than years.

Meanwhile in the world of The Archivist's Journal, the world appears to be operating on the same day and year length as the Archivist remembers of Earth, but the Village is oddly absent of clocks or calendars so it's hard to exactly verify. In general if anyone needs to arrange something they just go by rough positioning of the sun. "A bit before noon," "a while after sundown," etc. Any references to hours, minutes, etc. are just estimates/translations by the Archivist. That said, most people fall into a rhythm over the months and years such that if one where to hypothetically bring a clock to the Village they'd still find regular schedules being operated on.

Also, while one might expect the impossibly tall Tower just a day's boat ride north of the Village to function as a giant sundial, well... it technically does but that sort of sundial doesn't work particularly well when it is exactly on the equator. Perhaps if the Village were on the north end of its island instead of the south the Tower would be more useful in that regard. Six months out of the year anyway.

The three periodic events that do however mark the rhythm of life an flow of time in the Village are solstices and equinoxes, market days, and moon phases.

The solstices and equinoxes mark the transitions between the alternating wet and dry seasons. Equinoxes are accompanied by Village-wide festivals as a sort of last hurrah before the next few months of daily heavy rain make being out and about more difficult and generally encourage a significant portion of the population to spend more time inside. Solstices are also times of celebration, but they are quieter, more intimate affairs meant to be spent with family or, in some cases, very close friends. Birthdays are reckoned not by days since the start the year but by days since the last equinox or solstice. For example "the seventieth day of the fist wet season" or the "tenth day of the second dry season." Although for certain reasons outside the scope of this ask/answer, birthdays tend to be clustered near the end of wet seasons and start of dry seasons. School for the Village's children is held during the rainy season.

If you're wondering how everyone is tracking solstices and equinoxes without calendars and when the equatorial latitude minimizes the difference in hours of daylight between them all... the Archivist is asking that same question and not getting much of an answer beyond taking everyone else's word for it.

Market days are a much more arbitrary human contrivance, but arguably the most regularly impactful on the rhythm of life in the Village. The Village's population of several hundred can be broadly split between the half-to-two-thirds that live in the Village proper and the rest that live in the "outskirts" spread throughout the southern half of the island. Every seven days (mostly) everyone from the outskirts comes into the Village proper and most regular activity gets either put on hold or moved to the Village's market forum. Market days are as much about socialization as they are about the distribution of resources, especially as weekly reunions for friends and families split between Village and outskirts.

Perhaps most relevant for the Archivist, market days mark both the start and end of the rainy season's teaching semesters and serve as days off while children from the outskirts who have been staying with older siblings and cousins all season get to see their parents for a couple of days. Somewhat ironically, this leads to the Archivist spending rainy season market days away from everyone else as a chance to leave the library and get some time alone in a house that just barely counts as outskirts.

Moon phases are something that everyone keeps an eye on because on the nights of full and new moons ethereal shades that may or may not be spirits of the dead rise from the ground and attempt to drag away anyone caught outdoors after nightfall, never to be seen again. Which sounds horrifying, but on the days that happens a thick mist blankets the island, which also sounds creepy and is unsettling if you get lost out in it and can't see more than a few feet ahead of you, but in practice that means that everyone has plenty of warning to look out their window in the morning, go "Nope," and then stay inside all day cleaning the house or folding laundry or something until it all blows over by the next morning. Don't go swimming in the ocean during a storm, don't eat brightly colored frogs, don't go outside on a mist night. The sort of thing that you grow up getting used to until you develop an attitude of "Sure, it can kill you, but who would be dumb or reckless enough to put themself in that situation?"

The Archivist, that's who.

[suncursedhealer-old-blog]

Hello, I have a question for Ichika and a question for mun.

Ichika, how did you meet Tanjiro? ((Mun, what made you think of your OC?))

-- <3

Hello, and thank you for the question. I was traveling between villages and ended up lost, luckily with extra food and water. I eventually stumbled upon Tanjiro on his way back up to his home. He invited me to warm up at his house before going to the village, although I did decline at first.

When we got there... well I tried to do what I could for the family but they were already cold so I focused on Tanjiro and Nezuko. I really wish I could have done more but I can at least help the siblings.

~_~_~_~_~

((Thank you so much for the ask! Ichika started out super vague. I'm pretty sure she started with me thinking about various powers and abilities and liking random things in various bits of media. I then tried to see how a character with certain traits would act. It took maybe a year before I came up with putting her in Demon Slayer and from there it slowly evolved to what she is today.

Mind you, I don't want to spoil what entirely inspired her because then some of her story becomes obvious but thanks to some friends I ended up with her as a Demon Slayer character that I think about regularly.))

[hifimuses]

@monmuses​​:

“Huh… K.K. Slider?” It almost sounded familiar. He was a traveling artist? She must’ve seen his works in those big disc albums in the display windows from time to time. “You look a little bit familiar. I might’ve seen your albums before! Uh… where are you from?”

That was a way to start some sort of ice-breaker, right? Being in the same room as a potential musical celebrity, from the looks of it! She wasn’t entirely a musical nerd, but she knew… certain songs. Probably not ones that he might’ve been familiar with, but she couldn’t help and think. Did he know? Maybe he did.

“Yeah… I come here regularly. It’s my favorite place to go after work,” she said. “Were you, uhm… renting one of the karaoke rooms?”

"That's the name I've gotten! I got to say that it has a certain ring to it." He listened to her as she started to go in thought it seemed. "Oh, I come from just a small little village you probably never heard of it, honestly." It was hard to say where home was at this point. Where there was a gig for him, there seemed to always be a place for him to stay. It made things a lot easier. Retsuko was right though it did do a good job at breaking the ice between them. "Have you always lived here? Wait, that's probably assuming too much that you're not also not from here! Well, I guess you can tell me if I messed up." He said laughing out loud.

His ears perked up when she mentioned coming here more often than usual. "Is it now? I love little joints like this. I was going to get a room, would you like to join me?"

[heartkade]

Post-Red Banquet -> Present Day lore recap!

Lore and arcs summarized for each character who’s part of the Egglore finale, up to present day. Just a basic refresher to know where each character is at currently

*Updated to Ponk’s lore stream “A Helping Hand” so it’ll be outdated for current egglore

c!Hannah

Was granted fairy wings from DreamXD

Sam employed her and c!Boomer to work under Awesamdude Inc. She is the bank manager. Boomer and her share a strange connection/familiarity, and became fast friends.

Sam holds what happened at the Red Banquet against Hannah, but she wants to move on since it’s “all in the past.”

Boomer tears off her wings accidentally, they declare each other as enemies and fight. Sam wants them to fix their issues for the sake of the business. She’s upset at both of them for not caring.

Currently: desperate to have her wings back, wants to ask DreamXD but can’t get in contact

c!Sam

Locked the Egg away after the Red Banquet, was still the Prison Warden. On the side, works on Awesamdude Inc. for the bank and Las Nevadas for Quackity.

Big reveal that he can transfer his soul between (possibly artificial) bodies that lay dormant all around the server. He knows c!Boomer from the past.

The whole giant Prison Saga which I’ll sum up very briefly: People die on his watch, he continues getting corrupted mentally by the Warden role. Allows violence, kidnaps and takes lives himself believing it’s for righteous reasons, and everybody escapes from the prison in the end. Very few people trust him now.

Gets locked in the prison as retribution. c!Dream visits every day, breaks down his willpower, and takes a canon life.

Has nothing else to do but throw himself into work with Awesamdude Inc. Regularly doing projects with Sam Nook and Foolish.

Egg Resurgence Arc. He finds out that the Egg is growing in power, realizes his methods to contain the entity didn’t work, and is worried about Bad.

Sam Bucket Saga

Currently: just disturbed by everything.

c!Ponk

Post-Red Banquet, moves into the Summer Home to regain Foolish’s trust and heal from egg control, they become good friends, and she later moves out

Confronts Sam for chopping off his hand. Finds out that Foolish went on a date with Sam and breaks off their friendship. Cuts off all ties and lives in a cave for a while.

Later rebuilds their friendship with Foolish.

Confronts Sam again after the prison break for what he’s done. Is disappointed in what Sam has become, when he used to be such an amazing person.

Still lives in a cave, not doing too well & had another bad encounter with Sam

Currently: desperate to get his hand back and went to the Egg for help (egglore finale)

c!Puffy

Still unsure of how she got to the dsmp, had gotten amnesia from her ship crashing during a storm.

Accepts that everybody on the dsmp is evil in some way, even herself for killing Antfrost at the Red Banquet. Ant and her mutually apologize. Was still upset at Bad.

Slightly involved in the L’Sandburg War arc

Gets her restaurant exploded. Later on decides to leave, wanting a new start.

Currently: birthday party

c!Eryn

Half demon, knows Tommy from childhood. His parents died in an attack on their village, and after many years of traveling he arrives in the dsmp. Tries to befriend Tommy again.

Immediately gets attached to Badboyhalo as a father figure. Views Sapnap as a brother.

Big reveal that they can relive past moments of war and violence as auditory hallucinations. Hears the Red Banquet but doesn’t believe that c!Bad would’ve ever hurt anyone.

History lesson from Eret. c!Dream prison escape happens.

Everybody on the server seems on edge and depressed now, Eryn is upset that he can’t help. Feeling lonely & also scared by the past violence he heard, they hide underground for several weeks until c!Aimsey comes and the two become friends.

Currently: deflecting their emotions but otherwise is doing okay

c!Antfrost

Apologized to everyone for his involvement with the Egg and Red Banquet.

Continued to work as a prison guard under Sam.

Takes his work vacation only to come back and find that c!Dream has escaped the prison. Sam blamed him for not being there to help.

Ant talks to Bad and they confront Sam for abandoning the Badlands and blaming them when he should be responsible. After more arguing, Ant quit the job and left.

Currently: unknown

c!Seapeekay (C!PK)

Fox that can travel to different dimensions and ended up in the dsmp.

Is given a tour by Ponk and later Badboyhalo. Bad repeatedly loses his memory of meeting CPK during this because of the egg trying to control him. Foolish quickly intervenes and brings the two to the Summer Home. Bad later takes CPK to the egg room, before managing to stop himself and disinfects the two in a panic. (this is one of my favorite lore streams)

One day CPK hears creepy voices, curiously goes to the source (egg room) then passes out.

Starts changing his preferences to the color red & his fur becomes discolored.

Another day when cc!CPK is not at the computer, his character begins unconsciously moving on its own. He goes to the Egg and touches it, then runs away. 

He and Aimsey make a team devoted to fixing things but it doesn’t work out. He decides to destroy stuff instead and his house gets exploded.

Currently: unknown. probably not doing very good

c!Badboyhalo

Was not willing to apologize to everyone for his involvement with the Egg and Red Banquet. Trying very hard to repress it out of guilt.

Continued to work as a prison guard under Sam.

Decides to live with Foolish at the Summer Home, beginning the very long rollercoaster ride that is the Roommate Saga. Many arcs are part of it, in order we have:

The L’Sandburg War arc

The DreamXD Statue arc. We find out XD hates Bad for some reason.

The L’Cactusburg Prank War arc. Bad & Skeppy’s house got moved to Ohio.

Dream prison escape, Bad quits his job as a prison guard along with Antfrost.

Egg Resurgence Arc. One part being the CPK tour egg-control thing already talked about above. The other part follows Bad and Foolish trying to find out why the Egg is growing stronger, as bloodvines are growing around the Summer Home & Foolish’s builds.

Bad moves out, ending the Roommate Saga “for now”

Sam Bucket Saga

Currently: friends with Sam Bucket, concerned about the Egg and is gathering people for Puffy’s birthday party

The Egg

Got drowned in church prime by Foolish Post-Red Banquet

Tried to get revenge on Foolish and infect Bad again during the Egg Resurgence Arc

Successfully infected C!PK instead

Was “destroyed” by Foolish but actually just moved somewhere else (has similar properties to an ender dragon egg)

Momentarily stopped by Sam Bucket

Currently: growing more powerful. uh oh.

As for the lore of characters that also have a good chance of being in the finale:

c!Foolish

Post-Red Banquet, the Egg was in his head until he drowned it in prime water. They apparently have a long history that Foolish doesn’t remember.

The Roommate Saga & the Las Nevadas Saga happening at the same time

DreamXD Statue arc, became besties with XD and was granted immortality and knowledge of the Death Book.

Egg Resurgence Arc same as with Bad. Foolish used his immortality to destroy the Egg; the action kickstarting the Sam Bucket Saga. The egg moved locations and is now more dangerous.

Roommate Saga end & Las Nevadas Finale

Currently: fixing Las Nevadas with c!Quackity

c!Skeppy

Was slightly involved in the L’Sandburg War and L’Cactusburg Prank War arcs. Him and Bad’s house got moved to Ohio so they rebuilt it.

Currently: living quietly at his house

c!Punz

Has mostly been planning things with c!Dream after the prison escape

Slightly involved in Las Nevadas Finale

Currently: unknown

Sam Bucket

Was a victim of the Egg long ago. He wanted his dog Francis back and the Egg said it could help

Realized he was being controlled and discovered the egg’s weakness to iron. Buried himself with the Egg so hopefully no one would ever find it again. Now has an extended lifespan and teleportation powers

Badboyhalo rediscovered the egg and got corrupted. Sam Bucket wasn’t able to stop the Red Banquet & could only watch

Could physically appear as a result of the Egg Resurgence arc

Sam Bucket Saga. Is trying to protect people from the egg

Currently: saaaam bucket

———

[skateskunk]

I decided to re-design her ^^ because the Inuyasha writers make me so angry. Keep in mind they're only rough sketches and I'll probably do more in depth ones later

The two different designs are her in the two different time periods. This is kind of both a re-design and a re-write so I’m going to tell you about it for funzies

Okay so some basic information on my redesign of Kagome :

- She's a little chubbier before going to the Feudal era and becomes more toned with broader shoulders after she starts going regularly

- Every 24 hours in the Feudal Era is an hour in the present day, which also makes more sense considering the fact that its canon that the choices she makes in the Feudal era affect the present day history, meaning the time discrepancy should be smaller if not nonexistent

- Kagome trained in archery for most of her childhood as an extra-curricular, as she had a natural talent for it that her mother discovered while they were searching for extra-curricular activities for Kagome to do in her downtime

- Her grandfather is actually quite knowledgeable in seals and ancient practices and although she is bored with his old stories most of the time she does retain a lot of the information regarding the practices and she becomes more interested in it as time goes on in the Feudal era

- I made her 20 because I think it’s very yucky that she’s fifteen and Inuyasha (though he has the maturity of a young adult) is nearly 200 years old. Plus it generally is just weird considering the interactions she has with some of the adult men in the show. The way I resolved this was I decided she’s incredibly smart but often doesn’t have time to focus on school between helping around the house and the shine and with her brother so she continuously fails her classes. She has taken her last year of high school twice and if she fails again this year she’ll be expelled, which puts extra pressure on her to find a balance between her home life, the feudal era, school, and friends.

- In my rewrite Kagome becomes a very powerful and accomplished priestess. She is proficient in combat (especially as she gets more practice) and her ability to create sacred arrows is beyond impressive. She is capable of holding her own on the battlefield and when captured she is capable of making efforts to escape on her own. I find it annoying that we get glimpses at what Kagome could be in the anime regarding her strength and resolve but its always thrown out so she can be saved by Inuyasha or someone else

- I gave her a more accurate and less fetishy school uniform. I also think it's completely impractical the way she wears her uniform in the Feudal era instead of changing so I changed that as well

- Her Feudal era uniform is a high priestess outfit similar to Kikyo’s, though there are some key differences in its design to make them distinguishable. Kagome has her hair in two low ponytails that she often drapes over her shoulders and lets hang down her front. I imagine Kagome wears more jewelry and more practical shoes, probably boots of some sort as well. As far as character designs go it's not the best because of their similar silhouettes but my justification is that since Kagome is her reincarnation so it still makes sense.

- I imagine Kagome doesn’t spend all of her time in priestess garb, though I'm not well versed in the more casual outfits of the Feudal era. The priestess garb is probably usually for around Kaede’s Village and on longer travels. If she is anticipating battle (especially after meeting Sango) I’m sure she wears something more armored and closer to Sango’s outfit.

- The bag I gave her for the Feudal era is what I found when I was looking for traditional bags for that time period. A lot of the thought I put into her outfit is based on the intent of making her blend in. The backpack she keeps doesn't make sense from a tactical standpoint, and only works to put a target on her back, as well as her clothes. The character on her bag is the Kanji for guarding, defense, and protection.

-Also please ignore that I forgot what a quiver is called el oh el

Now the general story :

- Inuyasha stays the same age because, as far as I can tell, 200 for demons seems to be the maturity level of 20 for humans

- His personality doesn't change much, he’s still kind of a bitch and he still has mostly the same character development throughout, though he has more respect for Kagome’s abilities while still being worried about her / being protective of her

- Miroku is mostly the same at the beginning but he’s not fucking nasty to kids and his character development comes sooner after we meet him. He’s more respectful to Sango probably over the course of a season or so

- Shippo stays the same I love Shippo more than anything

- The story largely follows Kagome’s abilities and her powers growing as well as Inuyasha’s development with accepting that he doesn't need to be a full demon to be powerful. It less relies on Kagome being useless and Inuyasha swooping in to save her and more follows the both of them learning how to work together. If anything Miroku takes Kagome’s place and becomes the one getting captured as he doesn’t use the wind tunnel out of actual fear of being enveloped by it. Without it he’s not very useful in battle, having not seen much of it outside of protecting his old shrine.

[chaoticpuff17]

La Belle et la Bête

Forbidden Fables Masterlist

Hers was a quiet village where nothing of note had ever happened in the history of the world, that was until recently. Typically, they lived a quiet existence. It was a community of farmers with a quaint village center tying all the little homesteads together in the midst of the sleepy countryside. It was idyllic if not a tiny bit boring, but then the disappearances had started. 

Surrounding their quaint little valley was a forest that people regularly transferred to trade and interact with the other villages in the area. The only problem was that now people were simply vanishing from the forest. There had been a shepherd boy that had disappeared while looking for a lost lamb, a farmer who hadn’t returned from selling grain in the next village over. The only thing that remained of him was the horse that had returned with its cart intact but no farmer. A young couple had also gone missing returning from that same village. The groom had simply been bringing his young bride home, but they never made it. 

As a result, a dark cloud had formed over their previously idyllic home. Everyone was too scared to venture into the forest, tales of some sort of monster snatching people away running rampant among the village. Avoiding the forest worked for a time. People stopped disappearing, but then, someone was taken from their bed in the dead of the night. 

The victim had been an older widow woman who lived on the edge of the village sending everyone into a panic. The creature had never taken someone from the village before, and suddenly nowhere was safe. No one was safe, and what could they do? All communication between the two villages ceased. This is where Y/N had run into her problem.

The doctor traveled between the two villages, and the strong relationship between the two villages is what kept them both thriving. With no one brave enough to traverse the forest, the doctor was trapped in their sister village, and both villages were withering with lack of trade. At least their sister village had a doctor to tend to them though. 

Her father was sick, and she did what she could, but she was no doctor, and he was getting worse with each day. She’d begged the men of the village to go for help, but no one was willing to risk their lives for an old man, a crazy old man at that. 

Her father was a tinkerer. He worked with his hands, made things. In her youth, he’d fixed tools and made better tools for the villagers. As she got older, his improvements and inventions got stranger. No one had any use for what he was making. Perhaps in the city there would have been interest in them but not in their tiny country village. After a time, he’d become an oddity, simply the crazy old man who lived on the edge of the village. 

Y/N kept them afloat. She encouraged and cajoled him into continuing repairs for their neighbors in between his more elaborate projects. It wasn’t much. The people didn’t trust him anymore, and the few who did still come to them did so more out of pity for her than anything else. That pity only extended so far though, and apparently it didn’t extend to helping her find a doctor. 

“Kai, please.” she begged, chasing after the retired army captain as he strode through the streets. 

He stopped suddenly, whirling around causing her to bump into his chest. “Why should I?” He asked as she rubbed her forehead. “What’s in it for me?” 

“Can’t you just do something good?” he quirked an eyebrow unimpressed by her entreaties. “Please, Kai. He needs a doctor.” 

“You know what I want, Y/N.” he purred, leaning down so that his face was only inches from hers. 

She pulled back, her features twisted up in disgust. “And you know I can’t give you that.” 

He shrugged, straightening back up. “Can’t. Won’t. That’s your choice.” he sighed, a sad sort of mocking expression on his face. “But think of your poor father.” 

“You would use an old man’s life as a bargaining chip?” she hissed, thoroughly repulsed by the man before her. 

He’d been after her to marry him for the past two summers. She’d refused him every time he’d asked her. He wasn’t the kind of man she wanted to be tied to for the rest of her life. 

By village standards, he was a catch. He was well off. He had a respectable military record. He was handsome. Any girl would be lucky to have him as a husband, but then there was the matter of his personality. Kai had a horrible, arrogant personality. He lorded himself over the town, and everyone let him. Why wouldn’t they? He was probably one of the most handsome young men in town, and he was well off. It was enough for most people to ignore his rotten personality- most but not all. 

Kai had a habit of belittling her father to her and others. He didn’t appreciate her inquisitive mind either. Women didn’t need to have their heads in the clouds. They should be taking care of the home and their families. Y/N winced every time he opened his mouth, but he was her best chance of fetching the doctor. As much as she hated to admit it, he stood the best chance of venturing into the forest and returning alive. 

“Kai.” she whimpered, hating how vulnerable she was in front of him. “He’s dying.” 

“It makes no difference to me.” he shrugged, a cocky smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “Either you marry me while he’s alive or you marry me after he’s dead. Either way, I get you as my wife.” 

She physically recoiled. “And how do you figure that?” she hissed. 

“Poor little, Y/N. You’ll need someone to take care of you once the old fool is gone, and who else would take the daughter of a lunatic?” he cooed completely ignoring the fact he was insulting both her and her father even though he was essentially proposing in his own twisted way. “You won’t do better than me.” 

She was very sure that she could, actually. 

“Go to hell, Kai.” she hissed, turning on her heel and stomping back in the direction of their little cottage. 

“You’ll come around soon enough!” he called after her. “You’ll see!” 

She was seething all the way home. Did she want her father to be well again? Yes. But she wasn’t willing to tie herself to the most boorish man she’d ever had the displeasure of meeting. If no one would help her, she’d simply have to venture into the woods herself. 

It wasn’t the wisest idea, but what other choice did she have? Everyone else she could possibly ask had already refused, and the price Kai demanded was too high. 

She packed up what meager supplies she could, asking a neighbor to check in on her father while she went for help. The old woman had agreed, thankfully, but had very grimly reminded her that her father would likely be dead by the time she returned- if she returned. It was a risk she was going to have to take.  

“Papa?” she rested a hand on his clammy forehead. “I’m going to get you some help.” she whispered, pressing a kiss to his brow as she pulled away. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” 

He made no indication that he heard her. He didn’t even stir. She’d have to hurry if she stood any chance of saving him. 

“Good luck, child.” the elderly woman murmured from her seat before the hearth as Y/N tugged her threadbare cloak tight around herself. 

“Try not to die.” the old lady called again just as she walked out the door. 

Try not to die. That was the plan. It wasn’t a very solid plan, but it was the only one she had. 

Philippe stood outside saddled and ready to go. The old draft horse used to draw the cart that her father would take between the villages. He didn’t do much these days, but he was still a reliable horse despite his age and lack of activity. 

She rubbed his nose, feeling his breath against her hand as he softly nickered. “Are you ready, old friend?” 

He huffed, shaking out his mane. She was going to take that as a no. He enjoyed his leisurely life of semi-retirement, but they were going to do it anyway. 

It had been a long time since Y/N had ventured into the forest, and she’d never done so in the winter before. Her father had always told her that it was too dangerous. It was going to be a miserable journey through the snow as well as a dangerous one. There wasn’t just the creature to contend with. Wolves roamed the forest, and they got nasty during the winter. Everyone got a little nasty during the winter, so she couldn’t exactly blame them. Food was short, and the cold was creeping in, and with contact between the two villages cut off, this was shaping up to be the worst winter in recent memory. 

Shadows danced along the snow covered ground, and the wind howled through the empty branches. Other than the wind, the forest was unnaturally silent, and a quiet forest was a dangerous forest. 

Philippe was a calm horse. He always had been. Riding him was a gentle thing, but the forest made even him uneasy. Every stray noise sent him dancing to the side, pulling in an effort to turn around and go home. She wouldn’t let him though. They had a job to do still, even if she agreed with him. Something just wasn’t right in the forest. The dark cloud that hung over them all was a tangible thing here. She could feel it in the air bearing down on her, circling around. It wasn’t hard to understand why everyone had refused her now. 

She didn’t know what it was that sent Philippe off, but the horse suddenly reared, crying in terror as he kicked at the air. 

“Woah.” she cried, braiding her fingers through his mane in a desperate attempt to keep herself seated. “Woah boy.” 

It was no use. Whatever it was had sent him into a frenzy. The next time he reared up, she tumbled from his back, lying winded in the snow as he galloped back towards home. 

It took her a minute to collect herself. She’d never been thrown from Philippe before. She’d never seen him like that before either, and she wasn’t looking forward to seeing what had set him off. 

The wind blew harshly through the trees, and Y/N pulled her cloak more tightly around herself. It wasn’t much against the cold, but it was something. 

Slowly, she got to her feet, unsure if she should continue on or if she should just turn back. The likelihood of making it through the woods without Philippe was slim to none, but if she turned back, her father would have no chance at all. 

With a sigh, she continued onward trudging through the snow. It was slow going. On horseback it would still take over half the day to get to the next village. On foot it would take much longer especially through the cold and the snow, but on she went. It was a foolish endeavor. They hadn’t even been half way through when Philippe had bolted, but she was determined, perhaps foolishly so. 

She kept on sluggishly making her way through the snow until she could no longer feel her toes and she felt like the wind would knock her over. Eventually, it did, and she was sent careening to the forest floor in a shivering heep. 

Why was she here again? Where even was here? She couldn’t remember anymore. All that she knew was that she was tired, so very tired. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to just lie down and take a nap, would it? She was just so very tired, and this was such a lovely place to take a nap. 

“What have we here?” a voice purred in the distance. “Poor little human so far from home.” 

----

Y/N woke up sore and groggy in the fluffiest bed she had ever slept in. It certainly wasn’t hers though. Her own bed was thin and uncomfortable. This one felt like a cloud, a very warm luxurious cloud. 

Opening her eyes, she was completely sure that this wasn’t her home. She didn’t have a canopy bed or luxurious wallpaper covering her walls. Her own home wasn’t this large either. She could probably fit the majority if not all of their cottage within this one room. 

“Oh, miss!” a cheery voice called as a maid appeared by her side. She didn’t have a maid. “The master will be so pleased to hear that you are awake! We were all so worried for you!” 

Y/N stared at her, blinking slowly. She was torn between confusion and fear. Who was this woman? Where was she? 

“Is there anything I can get for you, miss? We were all so shocked when the master brought you home. I almost didn’t think you’d wake up.” 

There was something too sharp in her smile, sweet but too sharp all the same. 

“Where am I?” 

“Oh, you poor dear.” the maid cooed looking at her sympathetically. “You’re at the castle. The master brought you back. He found her half frozen in the forest.” 

“Castle?” she asked. “There’s no castle here.” 

“Of course there is.” the maid smiled at her patronizingly. “You’re in it right now.” 

“No. There’s not.” her brow furrowed in confusion. “I need to go.” 

She tried to get out of bed, but the maid pushed her back with a surprising amount of strength. “You should really stay in bed, miss. The master would be very upset if anything were to happen to you.” 

“I have to get home.” 

“You should really rest, miss.” the maid flashed her that too sharp smile again. “I’ll let the master know that you’re awake.” 

“I already know.” a new voice called from the other end of the room. 

Both women looked over to the man staring them down from the other end of the room. 

He had an imposing aura that sent shivers down her spine, but in spite of that he was incredibly handsome with his dark hair and fathomless dark eyes. Even from a distance it looked as though they held unfathomable secrets and seen innumerable ages, and yet he was so young. There was something sweet about his features though, something trustworthy that was in complete contradiction to the imperious way he held himself. He looked simultaneously like a knight from a fairy story and some sort of dark prince.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he crossed the room to her, the sound of his voice sending shivers down her spine. 

As he did something in her began to panic telling her to run to get as far from this man as she possibly could, but that was ridiculous. He hadn’t done anything to her. He’d even saved her from the cold from the forest and whatever was lurking in its depths. 

“I’m fine, but I need… I need to go home, sir.” 

He stopped a few steps from the bed, smiling at her gently. “I couldn’t possibly let you leave. You’re in no condition to travel yet.” 

“I’m really fine, sir. I need to get back to my family.” 

He nodded understandingly. “I’ll have someone send a note to inform them of your whereabouts, but you really should rest.” 

“Sir, you don’t understand.” she looked up at him pleadingly. “My father, he’s sick. I have to…” 

“Everything will be fine.” she could have sworn that his eyes flashed a silvery hue if only for a moment, but when she looked again they were the same dark color as before. “Rest, my love.” 

She didn’t know why, but her entire body felt leaden, and the effort to keep her eyes open was too much for her as she sank back against the pillows once more, feeling sleep beginning to overtake her. 

“That’s it.” his voice purred distantly, almost as though he was speaking through a fog. “Rest.” 

----

Y/N woke again to the soft sunlight filtering through the crack in the curtains. It was a warm gentle light so unlike the cold winter sun that should have been shining through. 

Slowly, Y/N pulled herself from the bed, making her way towards the window. 

Drawing back the curtains, Y/N was more than a little surprised to find that it was not in fact winter outside her window, it was spring. But that wasn’t possible. She knew it was winter. She’d trudged through the snow. She knew. 

“Oh, miss!” she turned to find the maid from before entering the room. “You’re awake, and just in time!” in time for what exactly? “Are you feeling more rested now?” 

“Yes…” she answered hesitantly. “I’m sorry. Who are you?” 

“That’s good.” there was that too sharp smile again. “We should get you ready for dinner, shouldn’t we? And I’m Eva, miss. The master has assigned me to serve you.” 

Y/N startled. “Dinner? No, I need to go home.”

Eva waved off her concerns. “The master can’t very well send you home on an empty stomach. He’s requested that you join him for dinner.” 

“I don’t have anything to wear.” it was a feeble excuse, but she was hoping it would be enough to send her on her way sooner rather than later. 

“Nonsense!” Eva chuckled, striding across the room to the armoire. “You have a whole wardrobe full of dresses.” 

“Those aren’t mine.” 

“Everything in this room is yours, miss.” she made a grand sweeping gesture. “Courtesy of the master.” 

“That’s very generous of him, but I really should be going.” 

The maid’s smile dimmed. “Please don’t be difficult, miss.”  Y/N’s eyes widened at the vague threat behind those words. “I’d hate to keep the master waiting.” 

With no small amount of trepidation, Y/N allowed the strange young woman to dress her up for dinner with “the master”. 

While she was poked and prodded and shoved into the fanciest dress she’d ever worn in her short life. It was an experience she probably would have enjoyed if it weren’t for the strange circumstances and the anxiety of seeing the master of the castle again. She’d seen him for such a short amount of time, but he’d certainly left an impression. She wasn’t sure yet if it was a good one. 

“What happened to my clothes?” Y/N asked as the maid did up the laces on the back of the dress. 

“Your clothes?” she mused, giving a harsher than necessary tug on the laces. “Those old rags? We burned them. They weren’t fit for a dog.” 

She couldn’t help but be offended by that. Those were her winter clothes, the only passable set she had for weathering the worst parts of the winter. The other set was thinner, having seen a few too many winters. It served its purpose, but it did little good when the cold was as harsh as it was now.

The young woman seemed to understand that she’d said the wrong thing though as she began chirping away in that perky voice of hers. “Don’t worry, miss. You won’t be needing such things here. It’s far too warm for heavy wools, and the master has provided such pretty clothes for you. Look!” she turned Y/N by the shoulders so that she was facing herself in the mirror. 

She was more than a little disgruntled by what she saw there. She felt like a child playing dress up, but whatever magic the young woman had worked made her look like a proper lady all wrapped up in a dusty, rosy pink silk with her hair piled high in elegant curls, little pearl pins shimmering here and there. 

“The master has excellent taste.” 

“These are too fine for me.” she shook her head, half frightened the movement would displace the precarious curls and the delicate little pins. 

Eva sniffed. “The master doesn’t make mistakes. If he says these are for you, they’re yours whether you deserve them or not.” 

“Eva.” a sharp voice called from the doorway bringing both women’s attention to the master of the house. “That’s enough.” 

The young woman went pale, looking almost as if she would faint. “Master.” she whimpered, dropping into a painfully low curtsey while Y/N frowned. The door was in direct line of sight of the door. She should have seen him in the reflection, but she hadn’t. “Forgive me. I…” 

He waved her off. “I’ll deal with you later.” 

The young maid bobbed another curtsey before scurrying away. 

“She’s right. I don’t suit these clothes. I’d prefer my own.” 

He scoffed, making his way to her side. “Those rags didn’t suit you at all. These are much better.” he mused, noticing how the color of the gown brought out the pretty flush of her skin and how it exposed the slope of her neck and a delicious portion of her chest. 

He pulled his eyes away from the cut of the gown and how it framed her. “Shall we?” he asked, extending an arm for her to take. 

She hesitated for a moment, but took his arm. He was being polite, and he had been kind enough to rescue her from the cold and the forest. The least she could do was be polite in return. 

He led her through the sweeping halls of the castle to a grand dining room where dinner was already laid out and waiting for them. There was a half full glass of red wine sitting in front of the seat at the head of the table. 

She flushed a little realizing the reason he had come to escort her was because she was late. 

Her host didn’t say a word though, graciously helping her into her chair before taking his own and motioning for the servants to begin serving. 

“I can serve myself.” she mumbled, fiddling with her fingers on her lap. “There’s no need for such a fuss.” 

He arched a brow, his lips pursed a little in displeasure before his expression broke into a beautiful smile. “It’s not every day that we have such a beautiful lady as a guest. Please, let us serve you.” 

“I’m sorry.” she sighed, forcing herself to stop fidgeting. “I didn’t mean to trespass on your hospitality.” 

He smiled again. “It’s no trouble. Though I would like the pleasure of knowing who I have as a guest?” 

She startled a little, realizing she’d never told him her name. “Y/N. I’m from the village on the east side of the valley.” he hummed, taking a sip of his wine. “I should be getting back. I…” she paused remembering the sight outside her window. “How long have I been here?” 

He set his glass down, a shadow crossing his features. “Less than two days.” 

“Two days?” her brows shot up in surprise. “But it’s spring outside?” 

He smiled at her indulgently. “Yes. It is. It’s always spring here.” 

“That’s impossible.” 

He shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “It’s part of our curse.” 

“Curse?” 

The shadow passed over his features again. “I’m cursed never to leave this place.” he spread his arms motioning towards the castle around them. “I can never leave the grounds.” 

“Why?” 

He smirked, thinking to himself how cute she was with all her little questions. “It’s the gift of a witch and a jealous rival. Contained within her spell, I have only a fraction of the wealth and influence I once had.” It was hard to imagine this as being only a fraction of wealth. “I also cannot exact my revenge, but she was kind enough to gift us with eternal spring even if I can’t leave the grounds.” 

She nodded, still trying to process the sudden existence of magic in her world, but what other explanation was there for the springtime just outside the door? There was none that she could think of. The world was a wide place, and she’d only ever seen the confines of her little valley. There were many things she didn’t know or understand. This had to be one of them.

“Is there no way to break the curse?” 

“None that I know of.” 

Her host let her eat in silence, processing the information he’d given her. It was quite a lot to take in. 

She picked at her food, but her host wasn’t much better, preferring his wine to the meal laid out before them. In the end, neither of them ate much by the time she was ready to call it an evening. But her host didn’t say a thing, choosing instead to escort her back to her room. 

As they reached the door, she whirled to face him. “When can I go home?” 

He smiled, though there was something hard in his expression. “Get some rest. We’ll talk more in the morning.” 

He turned to leave, but she called out to stop him. He turned back to her, arching a brow in question, smirking as she blushed under his gaze. 

“I realized I never asked your name.” 

“Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook.” 

-----

The next day dawned with a new maid ripping open the curtains with a cheery smile. 

“Good morning, my lady.” she chirped, smiling brightly as Y/N shielded her eyes against the sudden onslaught of sunlight. “The master has asked me to get you up and ready for the day. He thought you might enjoy a tour of the grounds.” she placed a breakfast tray across her lap as she sat up. “Where’s Eva?” 

The smile remained fixed on the new maid’s face. “Eva has been reassigned, my lady. It will be my honor to serve you from now on.” 

“I won’t be here long.” 

“Of course not, my lady,” her smile had a sort of patronizing twinge to it now. “But while you are here, I will be your maid. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call on me.” 

“What’s your name?” Y/N asked as she began to pick at her breakfast.

“Marie, my lady.” 

“I’m not a lady.” she laughed, pushing the eggs around on her plate. “You’re probably of higher birth than I am. You can just call me Y/N.” 

“Of course, my lady.” Marie hummed, flitting over to the wardrobe to pull out a dress for the day. “You should hurry, my lady.” she called over her shoulder. “We still need to get you washed and dressed for the day and then meet the master at the stables.” 

“The stable?” she perked up at that. “Am I going home?” 

“You would have to ask the master, my lady.” 

Y/N hurried to finish her breakfast and wash her face while Marie laid out her dress for the day. 

She was sat down in front of the vanity despite her protests for Marie to pile her hair up again. It was a less elaborate arrangement than the night before, but it was still more than she needed when all she was doing was going home, and she certainly didn’t see the point in the fancy riding dress that Marie laced her into. It wouldn’t hold up well against the cold, and the little tricorn hat that was pinned into her hair would do little to protect her from the sun or the wind. It was more fashionable than anything else. Y/N had never been fashionable before. She took what they could afford. Very rarely was it fashionable. 

She was given a pair of gloves to match the burnt orange of her riding frock, and off they went to the stables. 

Jungkook was waiting for her there with a great black horse by his side. It did nothing to diminish the imposing aura he had. If anything, it added to it. 

“My lady.” Jungkook greeted, lifting her hand to place a kiss to her gloved knuckles. “Are you ready, my lady?” She nodded, giving him a nervous little smile. She was more than ready to go home. “This is Della.” he motioned towards the little dappled gray mare that was being led from the stables. “She’s a sweet girl, the perfect mount for a lady.” 

Della was certainly a daintier horse than Philippe, and Philippe was the only horse she had ever ridden before. She’d certainly never ridden side saddle before, but that was what was provided. Then again, she’d never ridden a horse in such full skirts before either or such an elaborate panier.  She’d looked quite the lady when she returned home. She could probably even sell the dress to help support them. 

“Allow me.” Jungkook murmured from just over her shoulder as his hands settled on her waist. 

He lifted her up with ease, setting her on Della’s back as she stared at him wide eyed. He shot her a rakish grin before moving to mount his own horse. 

Jungkook rode with her around the borders of the castle, showing her the estate it sat on in all its glory while she marvelled that no one knew that this existed. Surely someone had stumbled up on it before, but Jungkook told her that it was all part of the curse. No one knew of them here, and yet she wasn’t so sure. Their valley was small. At least she thought that their valley was small. How could such a vast estate exist in their tiny valley? It didn’t make sense to her, curse or not.

Despite the mind boggling ramifications of the existence of this place, she couldn’t deny its beauty. If one had to be trapped, this was a lovely place to be trapped, but by the time they circled back to the stables, Y/N was getting antsy. It was very kind of him to show her his home, but she needed to return to her own. 

“Jungkook?” she called, pulling his attention to her. “When will I be returning home?” 

He stiffened in the saddle. “I couldn’t possibly send you out into the forest in the dead of winter. It’s too dangerous.” 

“I have to go home. My father is sick. I have to fetch the doctor for him.” she explained, a gentle sort of desperation in her tone. 

Jungkook sighed deeply, pulling his horse to a stop before the stable and swinging himself down. He made his wait to her side, lifting her off her own horse. She yelped at the sudden movement, gripping onto his shoulders as he set her on the ground again. 

“It’s too dangerous.” 

“But…” “No.” he cut her off sternly. “I’ll have someone send a doctor to your village, but I can’t condone sending you off into the forest.” 

“But…” “I won’t hear anymore of this.” he hissed, glaring down at her, and her jaw shut with an audible click. There was something very daunting about being the object of that gaze. It was like he was about to swallow her whole. 

He brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. “Go rest. I’ll see you for dinner.” 

Y/N was left reeling as Jungkook prowled off into the castle seething with something she couldn’t name and didn’t know the reason for. 

----

Her days passed much the same as her stay at the castle continued. Marie would greet her in the morning with breakfast in bed. She’d take a walk in the gardens. She’d read whatever book Marie brought her from the library. Sometimes Jungkook would take her on a ride around the grounds. She wasn’t to go riding without him. It was one of the only rules that had been laid out for her stay. And most evenings she’d join Jungkook for dinner in the grand dining room. 

She’d found in her time at the castle that while Jungkook was a gracious host, he got irrationally upset when she brought up her departure. He made excuse after excuse as to why she couldn’t leave. Some were sound. The winter and the forest were indeed very dangerous especially for a young woman alone, and Jungkook had assured her that a physician had been sent to her father. There was no need for her to rush home. Other times he simply brushed her inquiries aside, giving her an indulgent smile and moving onto a different topic. But each time she brought it up, he seemed to become more and more agitated as she became more and more desperate. 

More confusing than anything else was the bustle that seemed to fill the castle overnight. She couldn’t go home because of the “danger”, but Jungkook was hosting a ball. Wasn’t it just as dangerous for his guests to travel through the forest as it was for her? She couldn’t ask him though. Jungkook had been avoiding her ever since news of the ball had reached her, and everytime she asked Marie, she was given a patronizing smile and told that the master was very busy. 

She couldn’t bring herself to care if he was busy anymore. He had been a gracious host, but it was time to go home.  

“My lady!” Marie called, rushing to keep up with Y/N’s purposeful strides. “My lady, the master is very busy. The ball is tonight, and there are guests to attend to!”  

“All the more reason to see him now. He won’t have time closer to the ball.” she shot back.

“My lady, you should be getting ready for the festivities!” 

Marie had been anxious ever since the guests that had started filtering into the castle two days ago. Something about them set her on edge, and she’d been doing her best to keep her mistress as far from the visitors as possible. Y/N herself had only seen the guests from afar, mostly from the window in her room. 

“If you won’t take me to him, I’ll just have to search the castle myself.” that only seemed to make Marie more flustered. 

“I’m quite sure the master will have time to talk with you after the ball.” 

“And I’m quite sure that I won’t have the time for him then.” 

“My lady, please.” Marie begged, seemingly on the edge of a nervous breakdown. 

“Marie.” Jungkook’s silky voice called as he stepped out of his study a little further up the hall. “Y/N, my dearest. What seems to be the problem?” 

Marie paled, stuttering to find an explanation as she clung to the sleeve of Y/N’s dress. “Master, I was… we were just…” 

“We need to talk.” 

Jungkook assessed her coolly before motioning her into his study. “Marie.” 

“Yes, master?” the young woman whimpered under her master’s stare. 

“Fetch lunch for the lady and I.” 

“Yes, master.” she bobbed a curtsy and scurried back the way they came, in a rush to fulfill his request. 

Jungkook placed a hand on her back as he nudged her into his study, closing the door behind them. 

He was the perfect gentleman as he always was, pulling out a chair for her and waiting until she was settled until he too took a seat. 

“What is this all about, Y/N?” he asked, staring at her from above steepled fingers. 

“I want to go home.” 

He sighed deeply before shooting her a placating smile. “We’ve had this conversation before, dearest. It simply isn’t safe for you to return.” 

“And yet it is safe for your guests to come here.” 

“That is a different matter entirely.” 

She huffed, the frustration building up in her. “It doesn’t seem to be.” 

“Master?” a timid voice called from the door, pulling her from the discussion at hand as Marie appeared once more. She was always unusually quick, almost supernaturally so. 

Jungkook waved her in, allowing her to lay out the meal on the little table in front of the window where they were sitting. 

As at every meal that they had together, Jungkook was provided with a glass of dark red wine, a drink she was never provided with. Any wines she was given were always different to his. She’d asked him about it once. He’d chuckled and said something about it not being suited to her delicate, ladylike disposition. She had a hard time believing that as she’d never been called a lady before coming here, but she hadn’t pressed the issue. She had bigger problems, namely returning home. 

“Please, eat.” Jungkook waved, elegantly to the plate in front of her. “I’m afraid you won’t get much chance this evening.” he grinned, taking a sip of his wine.

She still found it odd that such an elaborate evening didn’t include a dinner. 

“And who says that I will be joining the festivities?” It wasn’t polite, but she was nearing the end of her patience when it came to him. 

His smile fell if only a little. “I had thought you would do me the courtesy of being my partner for the evening. Have you changed your mind?” he arched a brow questioningly, but there was also something subtly condescending about his tone and actions.

“If it means that I can go home finally, then yes.” 

“I hoped that you would begin to see this as your home.” 

“I need to go home to my father. He…” 

Jungkook cut in, a hard glint of annoyance in his eye. “I’ve already assured you that a doctor has been sent to your father.” 

“I would like to see that for myself.” 

“And you will, but not tonight.” 

She set down her fork, none too gently. “And how do I know you’re telling me the truth?” 

“Don’t you trust me, dearest?” No. She really didn’t. Despite his princely appearance and gentlemanly overtures, there was something about him she didn’t fully trust, but she kept her mouth shut, thinking it better not to let him know that. “Eat, please. You’ll need your strength for tonight.” 

“I’m not hungry.” she sniffed, her fingers clenched in her lap. “If you’ll excuse me.” she stood up in a whirl of skirts. 

“I’ll see you tonight, Y/N.” he called after her as she marched out of his study, unable to see the dark smile that stretched over his features.

Marie and a team of other maids that Y/N was not familiar with bustled about her room as they got her ready for the evening. It was far more poking and prodigy than she had become used to, and the dress was unlike anything else that she had worn in her time there. 

The fabric was a creamy color covered in an extensive array of crystals carefully embroidered into the fabric. The skirts were bigger, the cut lower. It was the most opulent thing she had ever worn in her life, and it was every bit as uncomfortable as it was beautiful. And she would be expected to dance in this all evening. She was already tired just thinking about it.

She couldn’t help but think though, that with the color, it resembled a very elaborate wedding dress. 

By the time the maids were finished with her, it was time for her to make her way to the ballroom. She’d asked Marie to show it to her after the news of the event had reached her. 

It was a massive room, one wall entirely filled with windows and doors that led out into the gardens. Three massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling to light the space along with the countless number of candelabras attached to the walls. When Marie had taken her to look at it, it had been filled with servants trying to get the vast room ready for the party. 

She pitied the poor soul who had to light all the candles in that room.

Looking at it now though, it was beautiful. The entire room was awash with golden light. It reflected off the windows and the ladies’ jewels and the medals some of the gentlemen wore.

What was odd among all those glittering people though was that they were all staring at her, every last one of them. Some looked at her with curiosity. Others looked at her with something more ravenous, but every one of them was staring at her. Her skin crawled with all the eyes focused on her. 

“You must be the prince’s new lady.” a soft almost slimy voice purred from just behind her shoulder. She whirled to find a man she had never seen before staring down at her with that same ravenous expression that some of the others were giving her. 

“The prince?” she asked hesitantly, every fiber of her being screaming at her to get away from this man, that there was something wrong about him. It was the same feeling she’d had when she’d first met Jungkook. 

“Our great Prince Jungkook.” the man elaborated, that strange smile still stretched across his features, too wide and too sharp, quite literally too sharp. His teeth were almost pointed. 

“I didn’t… I didn’t know…” she took a little step back, not unaware of all the eyes that were still on her, watching the interaction like vultures. 

“He’s too modest.” the man sighed dramatically. “Especially after being trapped here all these years. It’s good that he’s found himself a pretty little human to keep him company.” 

“Baekhyun.” Jungkook’s voice barked sternly as he appeared by her side, placing a hand on her back. She jumped at the contact. 

“My prince.” he purred, sweeping into a low bow. “I was just introducing myself to your lady. She’s quite a treat.” 

“That she is.” he agreed, gracing the man with an odd little smirk. It was almost as if they’d exchanged a sort of private joke, but she couldn’t see the humor in any part of the exchange.

“Congratulations, my prince.” 

Jungkook inclined his head slightly, a polite if not aloof gesture, before he led her further into the ballroom. Unlike her, he didn’t seem at all bothered by the eyes on them. 

“Dance with me, dearest.” he purred into her ear. 

“No one else is dancing.” 

“It is our job to open the ball, dearest.”  he stepped away, holding out a hand to lead her onto the floor. 

“I’m not much of a dancer.” 

“I’ll lead.” 

No sooner had she placed her hand in his than he tugged her into his arms sweeping her into a waltz as the music started. They made one or two turns around the floor before others began to join them. 

The entire dance Jungkook kept her close, closer than was proper, but who would stop him?  After all, he was a prince, a fact he had neglected to share up until this point. Prince or not, she was uncomfortable in his arms. He held her too close, too tight, and he was unwilling to part with her when the song ended and she tried to get away. 

“You’re flushed, dearest.” Jungkook purred into her ear. 

“It’s hot.” 

He chuckled, brushing his fingers over her cheek where the blush was most concentrated. “Beautiful.” 

She smiled, the expression strained, and took a small step back. “I’m sure you have guests to greet.” 

She curtsied and tried to take another step back, but Jungkook’s hand shot out, grasping her arm and stopping her from moving any further away while he brought her back into his side, tucking her hand delicately into the crook of his elbow. 

“You shouldn’t wander alone, dearest.” he cooed, smiling sweetly, but it was wrong. The expression did not meet his eyes. It too held a hungry quality that left her unnerved. Had his teeth always looked so sharp?

“I think I should go.” 

His head tilted to the side slightly, his smile fixed in place. “The party’s only just begun, dearest.” 

“I should go.” 

Her heart was beating rapidly against her chest. Jungkook’s eyes strayed down to her chest, watching with fascination as she heaved against her stays. 

“Stay.” he ordered, his tone sweet but unbending. It wasn’t a request.

Jungkook did not make rounds around the room. People came to him, all of them exuding a sort of fearful respect, all of them paying her a cursory respect as well congratulating the prince on his find. But she was going home. Why didn’t he tell them she was just a guest? 

Y/N grew bored of the simpering greetings. None of the conversations were really directed towards her. She was a pretty ornament on Jungkook’s arm, only given respect because of her connection to the master. But the lack of attention paid to her allowed her to pay attention to those around the room. 

Everyone was dazzling, almost inhumanly so, but there were a few around the room like her, ordinary, human. But the few that didn’t seem to fit into the ethereal mold as the rest had a sort of haze about them. It was almost as if they didn’t know where they were, following behind their partners like obedient dogs. On one lady she had even noticed a bruise peeking out from under the satin of her choker and what almost looked like a bite mark accompanying it. The lady didn’t seem to notice it though. 

She’d smiled obliviously and curtsied as she and her partner greeted Jungkook. The lady seemed to be in her own world where the only thing that mattered was her partner. Every other person she noticed with that far away look in their eye behaved much the same. It did nothing to ease her growing sense of apprehension. 

“Come, my love.” Jungkook whispered into her ear, pulling her back to the present. “It’s time for the dinner to begin.” 

She looked up at him in confusion. There wasn’t supposed to be a dinner, not that she knew at least.

Her confusion didn’t seem to faze him at all though. He led her to the grand staircase. He stopped half way up, turning them both to face the crowd that was staring up at them with rapt attention. 

“Friends,” Jungkook began, his voice ringing throughout the room. “Thank you all for joining me on this the eve of my mating.” Her head whipped to face him, completely confused. His mating? What was that? How did it involve her? She tried to pull her hand away from him, but Jungkook held her firm, gripping her hand on his arm in a way that bordered on painful. “I had not thought I would find my mate in this wretched imprisonment. I had no idea such a gem was hidden within my hunting grounds.” the crowd chuckled. “But it was fate that I came upon her. So in celebration of our union, please, enjoy the feast!” he let go of her hand, making a sweeping gesture as servants opened the doors to the garden. “Happy hunting.”

She stared out in horror as his guests zoomed out into the gardens at inhuman speed, all those except the ones who were accompanied by those hazy eyed people. No, they stayed. They’d brought their meals with them it seemed. 

Her knees almost gave out as she saw the man from earlier, Baekhyun, take a bite out of the neck of his companion. She probably would have collapsed if it weren’t for Jungkook’s firm hold on her. 

She turned her head to him slowly. “What are you?” 

He ignored her question, leaning down to run his nose over the column of her throat. “I can feel your heartbeat from here.” She held her breath, keeping perfectly still. If he was the same as the creatures at the foot of the stairs, she didn’t want him anywhere near her neck or any other part of her for that matter. “It’s racing, dearest.” 

“Please.” she whimpered, still frozen in his hold. “Please, I just want to go home.” 

“You are home.” he growled, the gentle skimming of his nose against her neck stopping. He sighed, pulling away from her slightly, but tilting her head up by the chin so that she was forced to meet his eye. “But your little village will cease to be after tonight.” 

“No.” the word was barely audible, only a horrified whisper.

 “I’m tired of you constantly asking to go back. You’re meant to be here with me. Aren’t you happy here?” 

“My father…”

“Has been dead for weeks.” he scoffed, releasing her chin. “He died the same night I brought you home to me.” 

“No.” tears welled up in her eyes. “You sent a doctor. You promised.” 

“I lied.” 

She backed away from him, moving a few steps down on the staircase. “You’re a monster.” 

He shrugged elegantly. “Perhaps.” 

She looked around herself desperately, trying to find a path, an exit, somewhere to run. Jungkook would have none of it. 

He grabbed her arm, yanking her into his chest with formidable strength. 

“You’ll never age. You’ll never die. We’ll have eternity together.” he purred, brushing a stray curl away from her neck. “You’ll live in comfort here with me in an eternal spring.” 

“I don’t want it.” 

He smirked, his teeth elongating into a wicked point. “You don’t have a choice.”