#help me come up with their warrior names question mark

[uwu-scraptrappy]

Okay hear me out. Addison who age regresses as a coping mechanism x Michael whose behavior stimming and special interests fall under childish behavior and also never had a real childhood. You agree. Reblog.

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Nightmare ships  

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

“Most terrifying ship I ever seen?”

Mordray repeated the question as he took a thoughtful bite of his xala and pondered the question.

“I’d have to say a Hive Node ship.”

Lithinio scoffed. “When the seven hells have you ever seen a Node ship?”

“I watched a documentary on it just last rotation.” Mordray countered rather defensively. “And having watched it I have to say I’m glad I never saw one in person since they eat entire ships whole.”

Ninten sighed and rubbed the ridges of his face. “Let me change the question then to “What is the most terrifying ship you have ever seen IN PERSON.””

Mordary took another bite as he took in the updated question while Lithinio stepped in with their own answer.

“I once saw a Dru Hunter Class while part of a convoy escort mission.” He took a sip of his drink and ran his hands through the air as if tracing the vessel.

“From bow to stern it was covered in spikes and upon each spike was a corpse. It was like a ship of the dead come to collect its toll of the living.”

“I heard the stories about those.” Ninten nodded. “Doesn’t matter if you were a victim, an enemy, or just some bad luck bastard in the wrong place at the wrong time; they’d spike you just the same. Where’d you see it?”

“The Dinar Campaign,” Lithinio replied, “they couldn’t beat our warriors on the ground so they’d send out small raiding space parties to hammer the transports and supply ships before ever reaching their worlds.”

“Lost a lot of good lads that war.”

The trio of crewmen turned to see the speaker at the table opposite them had turned around. They wore the uniform of an engineer but had several markings of honorary navy marine, honorary gunner, and even one for honorary helmsman. This could be none other than the legendary Midar Nus, the most famous crewman on the ship.

“Apologies for intruding,” Midar said sheepishly, “I was overhearing your conversation and it drew up some memories.”

‘You are more than welcome to join us sir.” Ninten said as his two comrades nodded and made room at their table for Midar to join. He smiled and took the offer, changing tables and nestling himself down in the now free space.

“No need for that protocol with me lad,” Midar spoke with a wintery grin as he eyed Ninten, “especially since you technically outrank me.”

“Experience counts for more than bars, sir.” Ninten replied without thinking.

Midar was taken aback by the boldness and for a moment Ninten thought he had overstepped himself. Instead, Midar let out a deep booming laugh and patted him on the back as Lithinio and Mordray let out a sigh of relief.

“We could have used a dozen more of you during that scuffle with the Dru; would have saved a lot of my friends.”

Ninten took the compliment and tried to redirect the conversation before he said something to ruin his now good standing with a living legend.

“What about you then? What’s the scariest ship you’ve ever seen?”

The trio listened in half expecting him to say something heroic like “I’ve never seen a ship worth being afraid of” or “I once thought I saw one, but it was really my mate’s in-law”. Instead, the old sailor replied without even pausing to think.

“The ones who piloted them don’t have a name for it officially; only a name they had given to them by a creature of their dark past.”

“Whose they?” Mordray asked as Lithinio smacked him for interrupting the answer.

“Humans crewed the things, though it’s been a thankful many years since I last encountered one of those damnable vessels.”

He leaned in close and slowly cast a frightful gaze across the three of his listeners.

“They called them “Frankenstein” ships.”

None of the three said a thing, partly because none of the three had any idea what that word meant. Midar saw this and further explained.

“There’s a story amongst humans about a human named “Dr. Victor Frankenstein”, and they were so focused on circumventing death itself that they began performing horrific experiments on the living and the dead.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ninten asked “How can you perform horrific experiments if the subject is dead?”

Midar shrugged. “Story goes the mad doctor took the chopped up pieces of several dead humans, sewed them together, and then brought the creature to life.” 

“Putting aside the continued depraved and discouraging nature of humanity,” Lithinio chimed in, “what does this have to do with their ship design?”

“Because,” Midar continued, “like their mad doctor humans have an infuriating habit carving up the parts from other ships and adding those parts to their own.”

He leaned back into his chair as he recounted his first experience. “The first time I found myself up against one of those ships was in the Delta Cluster. We just fought of a border incursion and were tasked with protecting the wreckage while we sifted for survivors.”

“We just finish a patrol when we got a strange energy signature return near the edge of the wreckage. So we went to investigate it and there we found a human ship the size of a frigate slowly drifting through the debris field using a variety of arms to grab bits and pieces of ships.”

“The captain ordered a scan of the ship and the returns were a confusing mishmash of technological parts.”

“A Thorian engine block, a Juriet power core, a Nexium stabilizer…” he said listing out a surprisingly long list of ship parts from different species.

“None of those parts are designed to work with other tech.” Mordray commented. He would know as he was part of the engineering crew and well trained in ship maintenance. “The Juriet power core alone would generate far too much power for a ship that size; dangerously so much that using it could trigger a system overload.”

Midar nodded at the crewman’s insight. “Indeed, were it not for the majority of that power also going towards a Feren Gel class shield system. We found that out when we tried to disable their engines and our volley bounced off the thing like oil on water.”

Lithinio let out a whistle in awe while Midar continued.

“After that the thing began to slowly turn to make a run out of system so we drove in hard ready to grab it with our tractor beams. We were just about to make it when a panel at the rear of the ship opened up and a turret protruded out of it.”

“One shot.” Midar remarked as he held up a single taloned finger. “It took one shot at us and shattered our shield, blew out our engines, and triggered a cascading system overload that left us dead in space as they plowed out of system and made a jump.”

Ninten grumbled as he pondered Midar’s words. “Must’ve been a Telkar railgun. It’d run the entire length of a frigate ship, but it’d pack enough of a punch to deal that kinda damage; but the recoil alone would’ve split a ship that size in half.”

“Which we later found out was counter acted by a Wu’l gravity displacement field. They jacked it to max just as the railgun would fire and the counter action would cancel out the recoil.”

“I’m still confused why these things are so scary to you?” Mordray asked with a hint of a mocking tone. “They sound like garbage barges held together with scraps.”

Midar took on an offended expression and straightened up. “They’re terrifying because you never know what you are going up against. Frigate size packing battleship class weaponry, a patrol craft that can launch mini black holes, a cruiser that interwove nanomachine and organic materials that could repair any damage; every and anything was on the table!”

The ships seemed beyond reason and logic but the enthusiasm with which he spoke there was some truth to each description.

Ninten took a sip from his drink and nodded in appreciation. “Only fitting for the species that defies existence to have ships that actively defy the laws of technology.”  

[felinisnoctis]

Tales of Old

Tags: @kit-williams for Anrir, @sleepyfan-blog for Cedric @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan for the other ducklings. Other tags @egrets-not-regrets @nightshade-victorian

Content warning: should be none?

Olly hurried into the new marine’s room with his intake form.  Normally he’d get the intake information when they came into the clinic, but this one had been rushed in with head trauma.  He’d finally gotten the all-clear from Cedric that the patient was up and able to talk.

“Hi, I’m Olly, I’m here to do your intake form?” He said.  The marine in bed nodded at him very carefully.  His head and chest were both still covered in bandages from the wounds he’d received before coming to Terra.  “Anrir did warn me about ultramarines with paperwork.”

“Um, well, that’s me I guess?” Olly said, scribbling Tercelle’s name down. “The first question is your name, rank, and Legion/chapter/war-band association?” He looks at the bit of Tercelle’s forehead that’s unbandaged.  “I’ve never seem a diamond service stud before.”

“Tercelle, blackshield.  And the stud was given to me after my first millennia of service.” Tercelle explained.  Olly blinks once, twice, "ah, an honor to meet you, Honored Ancient Tercelle."  Tercelle just laughed softly.  “Thanks, I suppose.  What’s next on your form?”

"The 'questions about what you know is going on in your time and the date' questions. "

"That's quite a question." Tercelle says dryly.  "I'm from 011.M31."  Olly could recognize the date as he went back through his history.  During the Heresy.

The next question is, "Do you know what happened at Istvaan III?" he asks, reading off the form.

Tercelle is silent for a very long moment before finally answering “...better than you do, I wager.”

"Care to speak of it?" Olly asked, then quickly backtracked upon seeing the hurt look on Tercelle’s face.  "Or... or not..." He quickly marked out the next several questions as to be asked later by someone with more social skills.

“Maybe someday I’ll tell you their names.  Not today,” Tercelle said.

Cedric peeked in the door on his rounds, meaning to check on how the patient was doing.  He heard Olly respond “"I would be honored to hear the tragedy of Istvaan III from a Loyalist survivor!"  Cedric carefully scooted in behind Olly to listen in.

 "You say we're on Terra itself, right?  I wonder how far we are from where I was born." Tercelle mused.  Olly’s eyes went wide.  “You’re terran born.”

Tercelle nods.  "I was the second child of a general and her husband.  Nobility in a kingdom called Antirra.  When the Emperor came - well, fights between the various powers were common at that time.  No one thought he'd be more than another warlord, so we fought back.  Well, my parents and older sister did.  I was still in my teens at the time."  Tercelle told how the armies had been defeated, and how the Emperor had demanded the teenage sons of the nobility as recompense - for what he had not said at the time.  How many died, but those that survived became a new type of warrior, able to endure and fight against the many horrors of the Age of Strife.

Outside in the hall Ramiel and Jophiel almost ran into each other.  “Oop!” Jophiel whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m checking up on Cedric.  He’s late.  Why are you here?” Ramiel whispered back.

“I’m looking for Olly, he was supposed to help me with a craft project.”

They both turned to the room as Tercelle started to talk about his first battle as a new astartes soldier.  How the Emperor had set them against massive twisted beasts enhanced by unknown arts and driven onward by handlers crackling with energy fields, beasts that could easily send even the gene-enhanced astartes flying.  How the Emperor had taken the field himself to strike down their allegedly invincible witch-king, backed by a handpicked set of the best Astartes warriors.

Ramiel’s eyes went wide.  Real stories about the Master of Mankind, from someone who had actually fought alongside Him?  He scooted into the room, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.  Jophiel followed behind quietly, settling in for storytime as well.  Older brother-cousin storytime was always fun!

Almost an hour later, Claude came by the room.  Anrir had wanted him to check on his patient.  The old night lord was busy with - ugh - paperwork.  Stupid ultramarines.  He peeked around the corner into the room to see Cedric, Olly, Ramiel, and Jophiel on the floor listening attentively.  Huh.  He hears Tercelle talking about a particularly miserable campaign, slogging through deep mud that caught at their armor as constructs attacked them from above.  How different it was from the epic battles they’d first fought, working through the darkness and treacherous terrain against an enemy that had no such weaknesses.  Claude leaned against the wall behind Cedric, using the skills they’d been teaching him to stay silent.

Much later, as Tercelle was ramping up an exciting story about an assault on one of the last remaining enemy fortresses, a voice from the door suddenly said “Yes, it was quite glorious, wasn’t it?”  Claude jumped as Anrir loomed in the doorway.  “Anrir!  I’m sorry, I got distracted.”

“Out with you lot, I have a patient to see to.” The old apothecary made a shooing motion as he turned down the lights for the exam.  The primaris obediently filed out, with Cedric handing him the medical clipboard on the way.

With just the two of them in the dark, Tercelle commented “Aw you old bat you didn’t have to chase them off.  They’re so young and sweet.”

“Enjoying dazzling them with stories of times long ago?” Anrir responded.  “They are.  But I have a job to do, so you’re going to have to put up with me instead.”

"Hmph. Well get on with it, grumpy old man," Tercelle snarked back as Anrir started his exam.

[waterfire1848]

Whump Azutara incoming fic

Just a small piece of it but I wanted to share. Shout out to @emluckyowl for listening to my rants on this and helping me write

Katara had to use her waterbending to see in the dark dungeon. Apparently, whoever created this place was smart enough to remember that firebenders drew their power from the sun and, with enough time in it, could grow strong enough to escape. Down here, there were no windows and only lanterns were given to the guards so they didn’t trip over their own feet. All in all, it was completely pitch black and terrifying. The blue light of Katara’s waterbending illuminated Ursa’s face perfectly and reminded Katara that, no matter how she felt, she needed to press on.

I will never, ever, turn my back on people who need me!

Ursa had come to her a few days after the war, begging for help. She said her daughter was still being held by the Fire Lord. When Katara questioned her further, she finally admitted that her child was the Fire Lord’s daughter. Katara, beyond confused, confronted Zuko, who said that he did have a sister but she died years ago when she was only nine. Ursa begged Katara not to tell Zuko about her. She didn’t believe she was worthy of seeing her son again, but she knew her daughter was alive and after days of not hearing any news…..A member of Team Avatar had to be of some help, right?

“You’re sure she’s here?” Katara asked.

“That’s what the servant said and, in the palace, the servants know everything.”

“If you’re sure.” Katara whispered, “This place is creepy.”

“I know, but I need to find my baby.” Katara had to admire Ursa’s willingness to press forward. 

The woman clearly wasn’t a warrior by any means but she didn’t let that stop her from charging forward.

“We’ll find her.” Katara promised, “Do you know what cell she’s in?”

“No, but we should try calling for her. She’ll hear us.”

“What’s her name?"

"Azula." Ursa quickly told her, “Azula. Azula!”

“Azula.” Katara whispered, trying the name out, “Azula!” 

“Hey!” Someone called.

The two knew this wasn’t Azula because they were yelled at by a voice that clearly belonged to an old man, but they still turned towards him, “You looking for the little princess?”

“Azula! Where is she?!” Ursa demanded.

“Fire Lord’s special cell. You gotta go down one more level.”

“But there isn’t a level lower than this.” Katara argued.

“There is. I remember the kid’s screams coming from below me. Her cell must be right below mine.” Ursa felt her stomach do knots. No….no, Ozai wanted Azula. He wouldn’t hurt her….right?

“Let’s get back to the surface and find Toph. She can tell us where the secret-“

“No.” Ursa said, “My baby is down here.” Without another word, Ursa went to the wall and began to press her hand anywhere she could, “I didn’t live in that palace for years without picking up on how they hide their secret doors.” Finally, her hand landed on a patch of rock that pushed in and revealed a secret door.

“Impressive.” Katara said.

“Come on.”

They walked down the stairs—still being guided by their lantern and water—until they came to another dark hallway. However, this was different than the previous ones. This one just had one large cell—probably as big as seven or eight of the ones above them—and chains all over the walls with claw marks in the rocks.

“Azula!” Ursa called.

“Mmmm…” A voice came from the cell causing Ursa to run.

“Azula!” Ursa yelled, “Azula, are you in there?”

No response.

With Katara’s help, Ursa broke through the cell door and used her torch to try and see where her daughter was inside the cell. For a moment, there was nothing but darkness and Katara started to worry that maybe all they had heard was the wind.

Then the light illuminated a figure.

For a moment, Katara didn’t really know it was a person—or alive—until it moved. The creature placed a hand in front of them which looked more like a dragon’s paw than a human hand and Ursa’s torch gave enough light for them to see her face. It took everything in Katara not to scream.

The face looked human but also like that of a dragon. Instead of skin, the person had scales almost all over their face. Mostly they covered their cheeks and forehead. Two large horns poked out of her head that looked like they were weighing on her. Her human ears were gone, replaced with two pointed dragon-like ones on the side of her head. While one hand resembled a dragon’s paw almost perfectly the other was completely human. Katara also noticed two giant wings on her back that looked like that had been painfully forced onto her back—if the blood and red skin was anything to go by. Finally, a large tail curled around her. Despite the fact that they shouldn’t be there, the girl seemed to have perfect control of her dragon features.

It’s her eyes though that almost broke Katara. They looked so lifeless, so dead, they were completely black without any understanding that there were new people in her cell.

Ursa, for her part, managed to keep a hold on her torch but was now kneeling on the ground, “Azula?”

The girl—Azula—looked at her mom then Katara, “M….m-mom?” Azula whispered.

That was it. Ursa dropped her torch and launched forward to hug her daughter, “Azula! Oh, I’m so sorry, baby! I’m so sorry!”

“M-mom? ….M…m…”

“I’m here! I promise. I’m right here.” Ursa said. She could tell that Azula was struggling with her words so she chose instead to hug her child and prove that she was really there.

Katara was moved my the touching scene but she also was a healer first and noticed Azula was shaking. Without a word, she broke Azula’s chains and, when Ursa noticed this, she helped her daughter stand up—which is how Katara also noticed that her legs resembled dragon legs as well—allowing Azula to lean against her.

“…Hurts.” Azula managed to get out.

“Katara?” Ursa asked.

“Lean her against the wall.” Katara ordered.

Ursa got her outside of the cell then leaned her against the wall. Katara pressed her water against the most visible injuries, hoping to provide some aid from the pain. Relief flooded both of their hearts when Azula visibly relaxed and stopped shaking.

Ursa pushed her daughter’s hair out of her face. Azula’s eyes were still dark, still lifeless, but she did seem to understand that her mom was here. She learned into her mother’s touch as if it would disappear any second.

“It’s okay.” Ursa whispered, “You’re gonna be okay, baby.”

[discombobulatedderry]

Silent Steps, Lethal Hands

Hi, everyone! First time posting here, really. Still got no nerve to post in AO3, the idea is scary to me. So! I'll post here in Tumblr for now. I will mainly post Sevika or Ambessa fics, they're my muses! Do enjoy, I will most probably do one-shots, since I do not have enough drive nor time or energy or even the passion to keep updating a certain fanfic, college and life will definitely fuck me up. But, something tells me I'll have to lengthen this one into different parts.

Damn it.

Now, enjoy this story of Sevika x reader, or in this case, you're a foreign mercenary called Sylvara. It won't really be that much of an obvious fact though, I also want her to just be "x reader". Okay, really, enjoy!

;)

In the underbelly of Zaun, Sevika, Silco’s loyal right-hand, encounters a mysterious foreign mercenary named Sylvara, who has come to handle a secretive commission. As Sevika hunts for answers, the silent, deadly mercenary proves to be a challenge at every turn—both elusive and dangerously capable. In a tense game of cat and mouse, Sevika’s determination to uncover the truth clashes with Sylvara’s icy resolve, leading them down a dark path where loyalties, power, and secrets collide. Neither is willing to back down, but one thing is certain: both are playing a game with stakes higher than either realizes.

The Last Drop was busy tonight, but no one here seemed to care about the usual chaos in Zaun. There was always something going on—people stumbling in from Piltover’s high-class districts looking for “cheap thrills,” dealers peddling powders and potions, and mercenaries coming and going, looking for jobs and looking for blood. Sevika had seen it all before. She had run this city by Silco’s side for long enough, and nothing surprised her anymore. Not much at least.

But the figure seated at the bar? She was new. And not the kind of “new” you let slip by unnoticed.

A mercenary.

Sevika’s sharp eyes narrowed as she watched the foreign woman from her table as she took the wins from her recent gamble.

Lean, graceful, but there was something about the way she held herself that set her apart. Quiet. Calculating. Her presence didn’t scream for attention, but Sevika couldn’t help but be drawn to her, as if the air around her hummed with tension. The woman was dressed in simple, unassuming black leathers, with a black hood currently down, but Sevika could see the marks of a warrior—there was no doubt. The scarred skin peeking from the sleeves, the quiet confidence, the cold, detached way she moved. She was dangerous.

Ironically, Sevika craves danger. Masochist? Maybe.

No one came to Zaun for nothing. And no one moved through its underworld without purpose.

Sevika wasn’t here to let people like that slip through the cracks. So, she did what she needed to. Grunting, she stood up from the table, smirking a bit at the protesting men who lost against her in cards, before making her way over to the bar.

“You,” Sevika grunted, her voice a low rumble as she thumped the counter with her metal fist. “Speak.” She flicked her head subtly to the mysterious figure's direction.

The bartender, a man who had learned long ago to stay out of trouble and keep his mouth shut, gave a quick glance toward the foreign figure. Then he leaned in, his voice trembling due to Sevika's nature. “Don’t know much. Foreign. Seems like she’s only here for one thing.”

Sevika leaned in, her eyes burning. “Keep talking.” Her scowl imprinting on her face in impatience.

“Business. Hired for something... under the table. I don’t ask too many questions.”

Sevika hummed, lips curling into an even more obvious frown. “No questions, huh? Then maybe I will be the one asking.”

The bartender swallowed. “I wouldn’t if I were you... she’s a quiet one, but I’ve seen her handle a man twice her size in the blink of an eye.”

Sevika looked steely at the bartender, as if daring him to say that sentence again, as if to say just who the hell are you to order me around, as she stood up, her heavy boots thudding against the floor as she moved toward the far end of the bar. Her muscular frame parted the crowd like a wave splitting around a stone. She towered over most of them, but the foreign mercenary? She barely budged, her back still to Sevika as if she didn’t notice her presence at all.

“Got a lot of nerve sitting here,” Sevika’s voice cut through the noise, smooth but dangerous. “Most people around here can’t handle the weight of the city. You’re not from here, are you?”

The mercenary’s head didn’t turn. She took a sip from her drink, the faintest flicker of amusement flashing in her eyes. She didn’t answer.

Sevika was used to silence. Hell, she was the silencer around here. But something about this woman’s stillness intrigued her. A foreigner in the underbelly of Zaun, sitting unbothered by all the madness that surrounded her. The more Sevika watched her, the more she understood: this one wasn’t afraid of anything.

"Not one for words, huh?" Sevika muttered. She leaned against the bar next to the foreign figure, her arm resting on the counter, flicking her lighter open as her metallic hand fished for the cigarette in her pocket, huffing before lighting it. Her gaze flicked over the woman, eyes calculating. as she blew smoke from her cigarette. She can't deny, it was also a display to intimidate the stranger.

"The hell's a foreigner doing here in the Undercity? What are you, another Piltie? Go back, no one wants your donations.” Her irritated voice marked a clear intention, to intimidate her, to spew her very own thoughts about Piltover and foreign people in general, to make her leave. She blew the cigarette to the woman's direction on purpose.

Finally, the mercenary turned her head slightly, just enough for Sevika to catch the sharpness in her eyes. Dark, piercing. There was a dangerous edge in them, like a predator toying with its prey. A brief, sharp silence passed between them before she spoke.

“None of your concern.” Her face was stony, not caring if puffs and clouds of smoke attacked her face, her eyes, and her nose. Only a simple crinkle of her nose gave it away, and Sevika saw it.

Sevika grinned at that, glad that she gave a reaction, before leaning in closer. “Everything in Zaun is my concern.”

She let out a soft yet alluring chuckle, and there it was—confidence, a quiet sort of defiance. “You should be more careful, then.”

Sevika’s smile faded. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, a sense of danger finally catching her attention. This woman wasn’t just any mercenary. She was dangerous.

Shit.

For a moment, Sevika considered stepping back. But then she remembered who she was—Silco’s right-hand—the one who controlled this city’s pulse. If anyone could find out what this foreigner was up to, it was her.

"Alright," Sevika said, taking a step back, but not too far. "Fine, don't speak. I'm better at roughhousing answers anyways." She seethed out the final words slowly.

Sevika was quick, a master of hand-to-hand combat, her fists deadly weapons with the sheer force to crush a man in seconds. She moved like a storm, surging forward to grab the mercenary by the arm.

But she was faster.

In one fluid motion, she twisted her body just enough to avoid Sevika’s grasp, and with a sharp flick of her wrist, she sent Sevika’s metal hand crashing into the wooden counter. The sound echoed like thunder in the otherwise quiet room, definitely from the current display.

Sevika blinked, momentarily stunned. No one—no one—had ever avoided her grip so effortlessly. And yet, there she stood, unfazed, her posture as relaxed as before.

A slow, mocking smile crept onto Sevika’s face. “You’ve got some skills, I'll give you that.” Her voice carried a tilt of condescension, which made Sevika's vein in her forehead throb angrily.

Her lips twitched, barely enough to show that she might’ve enjoyed that comment, but it was gone before Sevika could be sure. “I don't do this for fun.”

A brief pause passed before she stood up, her long coat flowing with her every movement. She set her drink down, her fingers brushing against the glass in a lazy, almost absent motion. She was preparing for something. A dance, a fight—something Sevika couldn’t quite read yet.

“You’ve been trailing me long enough,” She continued, her voice quiet, but sharp as a knife. Direct as an arrow.

“I can feel your eyes on me.”

Sevika took a step back, considering her options. The mercenary was skilled, no question about it. Dangerous, precise, silent. She was the kind of person that made things happen in the shadows. And now Sevika was standing right in the middle of that shadow, with no clear way out.

“I don’t like to be followed,” She cleared, her eyes narrowing in the displeasure of the idea as her eyes finally locked with Sevika’s, intense. "But if you're looking for answers, you can follow me. But know this: you won’t like the answer you get."

Sevika narrowed her eyes. "You think you can walk out of here without me making you talk?" She seethed out, her snarl intensifying.

She stood up straighter, her gaze not leaving Sevika’s, unflinching as she raised an eyebrow as if to say,

“Try me.”

A silence settled between them, thick and heavy. Sevika’s hand twitched toward her metal hand and the compartment of Shimmer inside it, but she stopped herself. Something about this was different. This wasn’t just some street rat she could wring answers out of. No, this was a mercenary with a purpose.

“Well,” Sevika drawled, “Let's get out of here, then, doll.”

The mercenary raised an eyebrow at the pet name, as if amused by the audacity, turned, walking out of the bar without a glance back. Sevika didn’t hesitate. She followed.

There was something about Sylvara’s calm, unbothered demeanor that grated against Sevika’s nature. Everything Sevika did was loud, forceful, meant to draw attention. But her? She was a ghost, slipping through the city unnoticed.

The two women walked side by side through the streets of Zaun, the buzzing lights above and the distant noise of machinery mingling with their footsteps. The city pulsed beneath them, alive and chaotic, but there was something about the way she moved—like she belonged here, like the chaos bent around her will.

“Don’t make me chase you,” Sevika said, her voice low and rough, with a hint of a threat.

Her lips curled ever so slightly. “You’re already chasing me.”

And for the first time in a long while, Sevika found herself wondering: who exactly was this woman?

[links-in-time]

How about a oneshot Wild and Four going climbing? I love both Links but don't see them interact very often, and that's something they have in common

@bradicalguy This was a tricky one for me to write and I think it's because you're right, Four and Wild don't interact much. So I hope this goes down well.

New Heights

Four sat near the campfire with a mail shirt covering his lap. The shirt in question belonged to Warriors, who had taken a hit for Wind and ended up tearing open a section of his right shoulder. Hyrule had healed the wound, but it was up to the smithy to fix the armour.

Four tuned the other boys out while he worked, expertly pulling out broken links and fitting in new ones. The newer loops of metal were slightly brighter than the rest of Wars’ mail. Four hoped the Captain wouldn't mind the difference in colour. After all, the armour had probably helped to save his arm, he doubted if it would really matter if the two metals didn't match.

The sound of Wild whistling by the fire caught Four’s attention and he glanced up at their cook. Wild stood beside a spit which he slowly turned over the dancing flames, preparing something for their evening meal later in the day. He looked content, in his own little world, just as Four had been while mending Warriors’ armour. Four smiled to see his brother looking so at ease and happy. It was a feeling the nine of them rarely got to savour.

He realised then that he and Wild rarely spent much time together. Of all the Links, he knew Wild the least. Four was close with Wind and Twilight, he often spent long hours chatting with Legend and Hyrule. Since their eras seemed to be the closest in the timeline. But he and Wild felt distanced by more than just time.

The last time they had actually spoken alone, Four had revealed the secret of the Four Sword and threatened violence on his brother. All in the name of protecting Twilight in his fragile condition. But the interaction had left a black mark on their relationship. Wild struggled to meet Four’s eye sometimes. And Four couldn't remember the last time Wild had sat beside him around the campfire.

Making a mental note, Four decided he would endeavour to get to know Wild better. To really truly count him as one of his adopted brothers

“Alright everyone!” Time said, earning him the attention of the group. “Twi's just come back from scouting the road ahead. Looks like a recent storm washed out a bridge that connects this part of Hyrule to the next town. We're gonna have to take another look at the map the merchant gave us and try to find a new route forward.”

This news earned a mixture of groans and sighs from the boys gathered around the fire. Four noticed however that Wild and Hyrule in particular seemed fairly pleased about the idea of staying put. Probably so they could go explore without the others worrying too much. He imagined them getting lost in the woods again, and their faces when Wolfie brought them back to camp.

Four chuckled to himself while the others continued talking. He returned to his work, fixing the last few links into place to finish the sleeve of the shirt. As he turned the mail in his hand, examining the structure and how it caught the sunlight, his attention was drawn back to Wild.

The Champion had removed the cooked meat from the spit and laid it out on a rock to rest. Having finished preparing for dinner, he returned to his bedroll and picked up his slate. Four watched, intrigued, as Wild struggled out of his clothes and pulled on a light sleeveless tunic and a pair of knee length sorts. Finally he wrapped a bandana around his head and clipped his slate to his belt.

“Going somewhere?” Twi asked, a second before Four could open his mouth.

“There's a cliff nearby on the map, I was gonna check it out and see if it's climbable," Wild replied.

“You know the Old Man doesn't like us going off on our own,” Twilight grumbled.

“It's not far!” Wild insisted.” You'd probably hear me scream if I fell.”

“You know that doesn't make me more inclined to let you go, right?!” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“I'll go with him,” Four spoke up. “I've finished Wars’ mail and I know you'd feel better knowing Wild has a spotter while he's climbing.”

“You don't have to, Smithy,” said Wild, a little sceptically.

“I don’t mind, besides, I could use a walk to stretch my legs.”

“If you haven't stretched them with all the walking we've done, they're not going to get any longer Four!” Legend called from the other side of the camp.

“And you won't gain wit by throwing insults Vet!” Four retorted, fixing Legend with a pleasant smile and violet eyes.

While Legend bristled, Wild and Four headed away from camp. They walked in silence through the trees towards the spot Wild had seen on the map. Birds wheeled overhead and squirrels darted about among the trees. Four wondered how the Minish of this era were fairing. He hadn't seen any portals in this time, however, just because he hadn't seen them didn't mean they weren't there.

Four wondered what he would do if he found one. Would he go off alone, or would he take a member of the Chain with him? Would he take Wild with him? As someone who loved to explore, Four considered that Wild would love to meet a new race of people and delve into their world. The idea sparked Red and Vio’s curiosity, a feeling Four thought he had lost on this adventure.

“This is the place,” Wild announced, drawing Four back out of his thoughts.

As he looked up, Four almost bumped into his brother, who had stopped on the edge of the woods. The smaller hero had to crane his neck to see the top of the cliff towering above them. Birds circled overhead and Four had to fight back the image of vultures pecking at their remains.

“Are you coming or staying down here?” Wild asked, as he turned to look at his companion.

Four considered for a moment. He'd done plenty of climbing during his adventures, but it had been a while. He flexed his fingers, wondering whether he was still strong enough to pull himself up a sheer wall like this. Blue reminded him of all the time he'd spent in the forge, gaining the strength and muscle necessary to hone his craft.

Yeah he could do this.

“I'm coming with you. I haven't climbed in years, I wanna remember how it feels to reach the top!” Four stated, clenching his fist.

“Alright, we'll tie ourselves together with a safety line in case one of us slips.”

As Wild spoke, he pulled a long length of rope out of his slate and looped one end through his belt. He offered the other end to Four who did the same.

“Good idea, who knew you would consider a safety precaution!” Four chuckled, but when he looked up at Wild he stopped.

Wild's expression looked crestfallen.

“What's wrong?”

“That's what you all think of me, isn't it? That I'm unreliable and dangerous.” Wild uttered, avoiding eye contact with Four.

“What?!” Four exclaimed, taken aback by Wild's statement. “Wild, no one thinks you're dangerous!”

“But I cause problems!” Wild insisted, throwing his hands in the air. “My memory gaps make me unreliable and I know I'm impulsive and… I threatened you when Twi was hurt, Four. You of all people should understand.”

Four sighed, he knew Wild wasn't over their encounter in the courtyard outside the Inn. But he hadn't realised just how much it was affecting his brother.

“Wild,” Four said, his voice calm and even. “You are not dangerous, at least not to us. Drop you in the middle of a hoard of monsters and you slay brother. But you've never put any of us in danger. You took a hit for the Sailor, remember! And you make up for your impulsiveness by taking care of the rest of us in our down time. We'd all go hungry without you, or we'd be forced to eat Hyrule's cooking, or Twi's soup forever!”

Four shuddered to emphasise his point. The joke got a little smirk out of the Champion, but Four wasn't finished yet. Hands on hips, he continued to hammer home what a valued member of the team Wild really was.

“Don't forget that after we had our - disagreement outside that Inn, after you went and cooled off, you came back and brought potions to help Hyrule. Which very well could have meant the difference between Twilight living or not. There's no way someone who's unreliable would have done that.”

Wild's frown slackened and a pensive look passed over his face.

“You're a good man Wild. We all have our insecurities about our abilities, trust me. But yours do not make you a danger to any of us. You're our brother Wild, we'll always be here for you.”

For a while Wild said nothing, he simply stood staring at the grass and considered Four’s words.

“You really mean all that?” He asked eventually.

Four huffed a short laugh.

“I think as a rule guys like us don’t tend to lie.”

“I think we're all like that really. We're not a particularly complicated bunch of guys. Although, perhaps I was wrong about you Four.”

Wild raised an eyebrow at the smaller hero, and indicated the sword on his back.

“Ah, I wondered if you would get onto that topic at some point.”

Four decided not to elaborate, and instead began walking towards the cliff face, scanning the pale rock for signs of his first hand hold.

“Wait a minute!” Said Wild, as he hurried to follow Four as the slack in their rope grew taught.

Wild joined Four at the base of the cliff and stared up at the challenge before them.

“You're not going to tell me anything about how or why I was faced with four of you that day?!” He exclaimed. “Does anyone else know about it?”

“Not yet no,” Four sighed. “And I don't know if I want anyone else to know. What happened with you was a one off. I try not to use the Four Sword if I can. The more I use it the more - complicated my mind becomes.”

“Does it affect you that much when you use it?” Wild frowned.

“Look, I'm not up for talking right now,” Four sighed. “Can we just climb, then maybe we can talk after.”

“Er, sure. You think you can handle a climb like this?” Wild asked, throwing a smile at Four in an attempt to lighten the souring mood.

“You just stand back and watch an old master, young one!” Four remarked, waggling his eyebrows before practically launching himself three feet up and grasping the wall.

Wild watched with silent awe as Four scaled the first few metres of the cliff. Easily scrambling over the lower boulders and onto the near sheer face of the rock wall. Just before their rope grew taught, Wild leapt up and grabbed a rock jutting out from the cliff. In a few strides he came level with Four, shooting the smithy a grin before he overtook him.

Four huffed and shook his head. Wild had longer legs than him, and he was pretty sure his climbing gear actually made him a better climber. Four called that cheating. He pressed on, endeavouring to keep up with the older teen.

Silent moments stretched out between them. Wild always stayed a few feet above Four, neither of them hardly ever slowing down. Four’s fingers ached with the long forgotten strain, but his body was buzzing with the thrill of hanging from the rock face. He chanced a glance down to the side. His stomach leapt as he realised just how high they had climbed. Four estimated they were at least thirty metres up already, with another forty to go at least.

He was far from deterred however, if anything, staring up at the cliff top high above him only exhilarated him. Goddesses how he missed this feeling. The freeing sensation that came from exploring just for the sake of it. Four supposed that was why Wild and Hyrule were always sneaking off. They weren't trying to cause trouble for the group, they were just curious. Curiosity which leads to moments like this.

“You good?” Wild called down, when he realised Four had stopped.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I just haven't done this in a while. I kinda forgot how much fun it is.” Four replied, earning him a wide smile from his companion.

“Yeah, it was one of the first things I remembered how to do when I woke up. When I was too weak to fight I could always outclimb the monsters. Anyway, come on, let's get to the top.”

Four nodded, quickly processing the nugget of information Wild had given him. After that the pair resumed their comfortable silence. Rocks scraped knees and finger tips. Heavy breathing and the pounding of blood in their ears were the only sounds accompanying them on their climb. The occasional breeze tugged at their clothes and ruffled their hair, but neither were deterred. The ground dropped further and further away as the sky came ever closer.

“Need a hand?” Four heard Wild ask after a while.

The smithy frowned, he hadn't zoned out and stopped again. Why would Wild think he needed help? Looking up, Four found Wild smiling down at him from where he stood at the top of the cliff. THE TOP! Four stared. He had been so focused on the climb, putting one hand and foot above the other, he hadn't realised just how far they had gone.

He huffed a laugh and accepted Wild's outstretched hand. With a grunt Wild pulled Four over the edge and onto the soft grass at the top of the cliff.

“Wow! That was brilliant!” Four panted, a little out of breath but not winded.

“Yeah! Thanks for coming with me. I usually climb alone, but it was actually nice to have company.” Wild agreed, beginning to untie the rope connecting them.

“I didn't slow you down too much?” Four teased, though in truth he was a little worried he had.

Wild shook his head as he unhooked his slate and pulled out two bottles of water and an apple each. He tossed the rope inside which disappeared in a swirl of vivid blue.

“Slow me down! I was just keeping pace with you!” Wild scoffed, he sounded surprised. “I take it you used to do this a lot?”

“Occasionally yeah,” Four shrugged, taking the water and the snack. “I kinda forgot how much fun it was. We used to do it a lot together.”

“We?” Wild asked, intrigued.

“Oh, my um, the four of me,” Four replied, turning away as he realised his slip up.

“You can talk to me about it if you want,” Wild suggested cautiously.

He kept his body language open and his tone casual, hoping Four might open up to him. Four appreciated Wild’s relaxed nature. Perhaps he should have gotten to know him better sooner than this. Of all his brothers, Four was beginning to realise Wild seemed the most open to new things. Owing no doubt to his memory loss, but also to his sense of adventure and natural curiosity. The others all had their secrets too, but Wild was an open book. He had told the Chain most, if not all that he could remember of his old life.

Wild’s tales of his adventures were some of their favourites to hear around the campfire. Most ended with fire and explosions, those were Wind’s favourites. But others featured his close friends and allies, some he had lost, but others he had made on his journey.

It occurred to Four then that he and Wars weren’t the only heroes who had worked with others on their quests. Wild had allies he could call upon too. Whether it was gifts granted by the other champions spirits, or the newly formed group of sages, Wild was used to a team.

As Four turned the apple in his hands, he looked past Wild towards the clouds drifting over the horizon. The great orb of the sun had begun to dip during their climb. It was still a long way off sunset, but the sky had taken on that soft hue of late afternoon. Soon the clouds would be painted with hundreds of different colours, all shining out in celebration of the day.

“Would you,” Four paused, eyes dropping to the apple in his hands. He let out a breath. “Would you like to meet them properly?”

Four finally turned and looked up at Wild, watching his expression for signs of hesitation. However, Wild could sense Four’s own trepidation from a mile off. This was clearly a big deal for the smithy. He hadn’t mentioned his other selves or the Four Sword to anyone since his altercation with Wild. Perhaps this really was something he preferred to keep secret? Yet he had offered to share it with Wild.

“I’d really like that Four,” Wild nodded. “As long as you’re sure.”

“Yeah, I could do with getting them out of my head for a while anyway!” Four sighed, a wave of relief washing over him as he reached for the sword on his back.

Wild watched in awe as Four drew his blade and held it over his head. He was briefly blinded by a flash of white light which engulfed the smaller hero. As the light faded and Wild dared to open his eyes again, he found Four no longer stood before him. Instead, four different versions of his brother, wearing different coloured tunics stood facing him.

“We’ll give you a minute to panic,” said the Four in purple.

“No, I’m okay. I think I panicked enough the first time you did this.” Wild said, with a shake of his head. “So, what do I call all of you? I assume you don’t all go by Link, or Four?”

“Yeah, you guys weren’t the first ones to have to come up with nicknames for yourselves!” The four in blue scoffed.

“Not that ours were very creative,” added the ruby coloured four.

“True,” green four nodded with dismay.

“Okay, wait wait!” Wild insisted, holding up his hands.

The Fours stared at him with mixed expressions of concern and impatience.

“Can you tell me what to call you. You all sound just like Four!”

“Right,” said the green four. “Like Blue said, we weren’t very creative with our nicknames. So blue tunic is Blue, red is Red, purple is Violet…”

“Vio for short!” Vio cut in.

“Yes, Vio. And you can call me Green.”

“Inspired,” Wild grinned.

As the colours interacted and talked over each other, Wild began to notice subtle differences between them. Green seemed the most assertive, Red looked relaxed and curious about their surroundings. Vio and Blue meanwhile had stepped away from each other. Clearly not all of Four got along with himself.

Wild struggled to come to terms with that sentence even as he thought it.

“It’s nice to meet you properly Wild, I’m so sorry about how it happened last time. Four only did what he thought was necessary to protect Twilight.” Red said softly, hands clasped as he stepped forwards.

“It’s good to meet you, Red. I’m sorry too. I wasn’t my best self that day.”

“None of us were,” Green remarked.

“We’ll get that bastard Dark eventually though. One day soon he’ll slip up and we can pay him back for what he did to Twi.” Said Blue, his eyes alight with excitement at the thought of revenge.

Wild realised then that he had seen that expression on Four’s face before. Could this really be how Four’s actions and thoughts were influenced? Where did Four end and the colours begin? Wild decided these were probably not the right questions for their first interaction.

“It’s a beautiful day, perhaps we should watch the sun go down,” suggested Red.

The others all turned and looked to the west. Forests, rivers and roads spread out beneath them from their vantage point at the top of the world. Or so it felt to Wild at least.

“We ought to get back before dark,” Vio pointed out. “But there’s at least four hours until the sun is actually due to set, so I suppose we have time.”

Surprised by Vio’s evident intelligence, Wild recalled all the times he had seen Four with his nose stuck in a book. The smithy was brilliant at his job; Wild had yet to find an armourer in his time whose work would rival Four’s. But metal work wasn’t Four’s only skill. Perhaps Vio’s intellectual attributes were what kept Four curious, constantly seeking new knowledge.

“So, how much of you guys is in Four? Is one of you Four? Or are you all Four?” Wild asked, as he dropped his legs over the edge of the cliff and let them dangle as he sat down.

Red plonked himself down beside Wild and shuffled closer until their shoulders were brushing. He pulled his legs up, loosely holding onto his crossed ankles with his hands. Green sat on Wild’s other side, Vio beside him, while Blue sat next to Red, one leg dangling over the edge.

“We’ve spent many days and nights going over those questions,” Green remarked.

“Many!” Vio added.

“What we’ve concluded is that the Four Sword split Link into four of his strongest traits, kindness, courage, intelligence, and strategy. We are all Link, but at the same time none of us are Link, get it?” Green tried to explain, with much gesticulating and squinted expressions.

More features Wild recognised from Four.

“No, I don’t really get it,” Wild shook his head.

“Nether do we. But we’ve made it work,” Blue shrugged.

“We get along like brothers,” Red spoke up, leaning into Wild a little more. “We have our differences, we argue and we even fall out sometimes. But our connection is deeper than the spell that divided us. We’re all parts of a whole, even divided like this, we’re still connected through the sword.”

“What’s it like for Four?” Wild asked, his brain working at a mile a minute to process all of this information. While at the same time trying to learn the mannerisms of four essentially new people.

“It’s noisy!” Vio declared.

“It can feel a bit cramped sometimes,” Green agreed. “When the Four Sword split us, its effects weren’t entirely reversible. When we come together as Link the four of us are still semi conscious within him.”

“You ever notice Four staring into space, or just zoning out?” Blue asked. He pulled at a tuft of grass and watched it blow away on a soft breeze.

“Yeah…” Wild said apprehensively.

“That’s probably the four of us arguing in his head and Four can’t process it fast enough,” Blue continued.

“The three of you!” Red clarified. “I hardly ever argue with any of you!”

“Yeah sure, you never argue over anything,” Vio replied, with more than a hint of sarchasm in his voice.

“Sounds like a nightmare,” Wild uttered.

He considered what it might be like to have multiple voices in his head. Listening to the Chain argue was bad enough sometimes. What in Hyrule would it be like to have different parts of himself arguing all the time?

“It’s not so bad, Blue likes to exaggerate. You should hear him tell stories about our fights. The enemies double each time he tells a story!” Green chuckled good naturedly.

“But we’re never alone,” Red said, trying to shine a positive light on the situation.

“For better or worse, yes,” Vio agreed. “None of us will ever be alone again.”

Wild had been alone when he woke up in that cave. He had been alone as he explored Hyrule, a world he couldn’t remember. He was alone in his efforts to save Zelda, a woman he only had vague memories of. Alone in the Divine Beats. Alone at night. Alone fighting the Calamity.

What Wild wouldn’t have given for even an argumentative companion on his adventure. Someone to share in his perils. He had Wolfie occasionally. But even though Wild could talk to him, Wolfie couldn’t talk back. He couldn’t provide encouragement or praise, only cold looks and the occasionally happy sounding ‘boof’.

“That sounds kinda nice.” Wild uttered, his gaze dropping from the vast horizon.

The colours shared glances around Wild until they settled on a collective thought. Blue got up from his spot and sat behind Red, throwing an arm over Wild’s shoulder. Likewise, Vio moved into a similar position on Wild’s other side. Red finally gave into his urges and wrapped his arms around Wild’s middle. Meanwhile Green wove his fingers into Wild’s hand.

“You’re not alone anymore Link.”

[lavenderbexlatte]

day 8: seduction

nct 1.6k words female reader insert Reader x Na Jaemin suggestive/SFW

🖤 warnings: a reader with no game, jaemin turned out a little mean but in a sexy way just trust the process🖤

kinktober masterlist

connect with me! / masterlist

"Oh, you're gonna lose that bet."

You look at Giselle, taking in her unamused face under the weird half-lighting in the corner of the library. She has one side of her over-ear headphones slid off, her phone open in her hand to her messages.

"How d'you figure?"

She raises a brow. "What exactly did Yeri bet you?"

Yeri snitched about the bet. Of course she did.

"That I couldn't seduce one of the guys who always use that study room by the time the library closes." You point across the library floor, to the row of doors along one wall.

"Yeah. At about 12 midnight, you're gonna owe her..."

"A week of meals," you supply helpfully.

Giselle sighs.

"You're doubting my game?" you ask.

"No, I just know-"

"You should be on my side about this, what the hell?"

"Have you ever spoken to any of them?"

The guys who use that study room are a bunch of loud, beautiful performing-arts types. Their hair changes color on the regular, but it's always shitty, like they exclusively do it at home in the bathroom. Usually, you can hear them clear through the walls, but since this floor is almost always empty (hence why you yourself study here), they don't get in trouble. They also seem to know the tall bespectacled student staff who runs the front desk, so you suppose that helps.

"No," you say.

"Then why do you think you'd suddenly be able to pull one?" she asks.

You're resolute. "Don't doubt my game!"

"I'm pretty sure at least two of them are dating each other," Giselle says.

"That's not my fault."

The side-eye is strong. "Sure. But don't blame me when you're starving to death because all of your meal swipes are going to Yeri."

Giselle snaps her headphones back on, and ignores you like she'd been doing all evening.

You have two hours to seduce one of the guys.

Might as well start.

You're thinking maybe the mop-haired one who always wears the Warriors jersey. He's cute, and he's got something desperate about him. Like maybe just the attention would be enough to seal the deal. And if not him, there's the skinny jeans guy who's always hanging around Mark and Jaehyun from the graduate music department.

But when you get to the study room and peer in the tiny window, there's only one guy inside.

It's one of them. But it's the most enigmatic one.

A generic, soft, handsome face, unassuming in a big sweatshirt. You remember seeing him in a tank top earlier in the fall, though, before it got cold, and you know he's got some shoulders and arms under that heavy fabric. You'd watched him for just a little bit too long, that day.

He's not the one you were going to pick, but he might just be the one you secretly wanted most.

You're just kind of staring, and after a moment, he looks up. Suddenly, as if you'd thrown something at him. He furrows a thick brow.

Sheepish, you point, asking wordlessly if you can come in. He nods, still a picture of confusion.

"Hi," you say, as you close the thick wooden door behind you.

These rooms aren't quite soundproof, but they are meant to at least partially muffle the noise from group projects and stuff.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

It's an odd question.

"Nothing," you say. "Um. I just wanted to...say hi."

He tilts his head to one side curiously, kind of puppylike. "Why today?"

You're thoroughly caught off-guard. "I'm sorry?"

"I see you here every day. Why today?"

"Less embarrassing when you're alone," you say, and though that is not the reason, it is true.

He nods once, firm. "Okay."

"What's your name?" you ask.

"Jaemin."

Jaemin is exceptionally off-putting. Usually, you have game. You weren't lying to Giselle about that. But this dude...you already don't understand him at all.

You tell him your name, too, and he just nods.

He's off-putting, but you might as well get started. You've met college guys before. Usually, the bare minimum of concerted attention is enough to catch their interest. They're easy like that, always desperate for some ass. You smile.

"You're really handsome, Jaemin."

He nods again. "I know."

Most of his attention is still on the textbook open in front of him.

"You know," you repeat.

"Yeah. I own a mirror."

He should be infuriating, what with the things he's saying, but he's speaking so matter-of-factly. Not arrogant, just assured. Rather than making you want to leave, his bizarre manner is making you want to pull up a seat.

"Do you mind?" you ask, gesturing to one of the seats across from him.

Another nod. "Doesn't look like you have anything to study, though."

"That's okay," you say. "What's that?"

"Book."

"Obviously. For what?"

"Pre-med."

He's pre-med. Of course he is.

"Cool."

Slowly, so slowly, Jaemin closes the book. He looks across the table at you, gaze even. "What do you actually want?"

He doesn't even seem annoyed, but still, you wilt. "Do you want me to be honest?"

"Sure."

"My friend bet me that I couldn't seduce-"

"Seduce?" he interrupts. "That was you seducing?"

Jaemin smiles. It's incredibly charming, flawless teeth and matching eyesmile, the kind of big childish smile that changes his whole face.

You shrug, helpless. "I mean, kinda."

"No offense, but were you even trying?"

It's hard not to be offended. You scoff. You stand up again, and take a few steps backward toward the door.

"I was trying," you say.

"That's worse, then."

He stands up too. He's taller than he looks seated and slouching. He tilts his head again, looking at you curiously. You could probably duck out right now and then just hope that he never talks to you again, but then he asks you the most ridiculous question.

"Do you want me to show you what it's supposed to be like?"

Your stomach drops. "What?"

Jaemin's smile is so bright and empty, but he has terrifyingly intelligent eyes. Like he's putting on a show, and he knows that it's working.

"Do you need me to show you how to seduce someone?" he asks.

"I...I mean..."

"It's an offer," he says lightly. "You can say no."

You'd be fucking insane to say no.

"Sure. Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." You swallow your nerves. "How do you seduce someone, then?"

His smile drops into a pout. "Easy. Someone just has to want you."

Jaemin has his hands in his jeans pockets as he wanders around the big wooden table toward you. He's slouching again, shapeless in terrycloth, but suddenly, visions of his bare arms fill your mind. He stops short just in front of you, making you look upward to meet his eyes. His tongue pokes out between his teeth, daring.

"I think it's already working," he comments.

He leans down a little, forcing you to bend backward to keep a respectable distance between the two of you.

"Do you want me?" he asks.

Skilled, measured, his gaze drops from your face, down your chest, down and down, and snaps back up to your face. You can tell this is formulaic for him, that he really is just showing you the method to his charisma. But you can't help how it's making you feel.

The bloom of butterflies in your stomach from the close attention, the buzzing under your skin as he checks you out so openly. He's gorgeous. He smells pretty. And he's so close to you.

"You can tell the truth," he adds.

You realize you're still bending your spine awkwardly, so you duck away from him, seeking refuge against the table edge, behind his turned back.

He laughs, full and a little shrill. "Come on, now."

The table is solid against the back of your legs as you catch your breath. Jaemin does turn around, though, and he laughs again at whatever expression he finds on your face.

"Oh, you want me," he says.

"I didn't say that," you answer.

Jaemin's smile twists, just a little, taking on an edge of the cold intelligence in his eyes. "Then tell me you don't."

He gets closer, again.

He walks right up to you. Nearly chest to chest. One of his hands is gentle on your side, a little bit of persuasion, until you're sitting on the tabletop. It makes you a good head shorter than him, perched as you are. Jaemin nudges in to stand between your spread knees.

He's not touching anywhere he shouldn't be, not saying anything. He's just looking at you.

It's good that he's not touching you, and good that you're wearing pants today, too, because you can feel yourself fucking throbbing at his careless attention.

"Tell me you don't want me," Jaemin repeats.

He's playing chicken with you, now, as he leans in close again. His eyes are so brown. The ends of his hair are absolutely fried.

His face is inches from yours when you break.

"I want you."

That tongue pokes back out between his teeth. He's way too pleased. "I knew it."

It occurs to you, then, that as much as he accused you of not doing anything to seduce him, he didn't have to do a goddamn thing to seduce you.

You shiver.

"Tell me," Jaemin says. "What were you going to do with me, once you seduced me?"

"I mean..." You blink at him. "I mean...I just...nothing, I guess."

"Hm."

He taps you on the tip of your nose with one pointer finger. It's fond in a way that sends the butterflies into a frenzy.

"Then that's what I'll do with you," he decides.

Like a switch flipping, Jaemin's smile turns bright and sunny again. He pivots on the spot, and goes to open the door again. He gestures you out.

Dumbfounded, you obey, weak legs taking you right out into the library again.

"Try again next time," he tells you, cheerful.

The door shuts.

Giselle is never going to let you live that down.

[sandiavolo]

Can you post art from the latest chapter on tumblr as well? Because it seems to me that then they have better quality <3

EXTRA (Sibling Lore!!!!)

Oare te Oman Sarwa’ite (Spider/Trr'ong's Big Sis)

An aggressive cat.

"Oare" means "Moon" in Na'vi

Sneaky huntress. Best archer in her clan, and youngest one too

Oare is crazy protective of her little human-brother (heavy emphasis on the 'crazy')

Has a dark sense of humor and personality a bit...offputting to say the least, especially to the Sullys and Ao'nung in particular. She's the kind of person to beat you to a bloody pulp without question, and ask how your day is in the middle of it (without stopping)

"Aw, why so down, little Metka'yina?" "YOU JUST STABBED ME IN THE FOOT 5 SECONDS AGO!!!" "*Holding the bloody knife* Oh yeah, I did, huh? Did it hurt?" "YES!" "...poke." "AGH! WHY?" "Wanted to be sure you weren't lying."

Kinda the trouble-maker, and would round up some Na'vi (especially Lo'ak) to break some rules and rebel some more 🤘

The paint near her hips hides a few scars

Txon te Oman Rewon’itan (Spider/Trr'ong's Big Bro)

Oldest child

"Txon" means "Night"

A very cool cucumber most of the time, pales in comparison to his sister. But mess with Spider and you unleash the beast (you don't want that if you know what's good for you)

Talented warrior, almost better than Trr'ong and Oare. Dual-wields a spear and a macuahuitl (ancient Aztec wooden war club), prefers the spear most of the time

Spider instantly grew on him the first time they met as kids. And was the first ever to give him the nickname "Txepvitsyip", or "Little Spark", cause ma boi Spider was a fiesty little thing

Forgets his own strength when it comes to giving his little brother affection, especially when it comes to hugs 😅

Amazing brother, like Neteyam, except he doesn't fret over it as much as he does. Very good listener and wise for his age, so he would like the company of the eldest Sully, especially to spill some tea amongst a fellow 'brother in charge of a bunch of feral nantang'

Major scars are on his legs and hidden by the red cloths, but has a few around his forearms and hands

Other neat details (courtesy of the beautiful mind of @anka-partizanka-from-pandora)

(My personal fave, Anka💙) If you look carefully, you can see the outlines of two palms near Oare's shoulder. The one in black, kinda hidden, is Txon's. The one in red, with five fingers, is Trr'ongs. It's a tradition of hers everytime she goes out on a clan mission, and she firmly believes it helps, b/c it allows her brothers to always be there supporting her

On Oare's bow, just below her hand, there is an amulet incased with a small fang and a lock of Spider's hair. This is used as a sort of charm. So that her arrows always find the right mark

Eywa, I love giving Spider a family so much! Even if that means someone gets whooped every five minutes in his name, I'll take it! My boi deserves to be snuggled with love and overprotectiveness 💙 Hope you guys enjoyed this!

[lycanlanterns]

Now that I've drawn all their designs here they are! (Left to Right, Gorsemoss, Sunstar, Gladebuzz)

Gladebuzz is probably going to go through a slight marking redesign at somepoint to make her easier for me to draw lmao.

Since the game doesn't give them back stories I will very tentatively summarize, some questions I want the game to answer.

Auroraclan was founded on a whim by Sunstar.

As the young loner "Sun" he was often visiting other cats around the area just to play and weave tales. He was an unintimidating presence to house cats, rouges, and loners alike. Gorsemoss known as "Gorse" was a rouge, Gladebuzz known as "Glade" was a kittypet. They both for one reason or another developed a fondness for Sun, and so did their surrounding cohorts in turn.

Sun had always been a vivid dreamer, but for some several moons, his dreams started to lead him somewhere. Letting his curiousity lead him, that's when he came into contact with other clan cats by mistake. They were not as wooed by his charismatic attitude and ran him out. While escaping and needing to find a place to hide, he stumbled and fell into a crystal cavern that smelled of no other cats.

He realized the clans cats didn't know this was here, and used it as his personal hideout.

His already vivid dreams became moreso upon entering this place. And even after leaving the dreams started becoming more insistent, teaching him and showing him all the ways clan cats live, and directly telling him how to go about becoming a leader. The dream's voices were ominously referring to him as "Sunpath" and speaking as though leadership was in his future.

Testing the theory - he visited the (Moonpool?) without permission, imitated what he saw in his own dreams, and was miraculously granted 9 lives.

Excited - he shared the stories with all who would listen, taught about what he knew, and invited other cats to come live with him in the caves.

Slowly but surely, cats came. The other clans started sensing the commotion, but were warded off by their medicine cats who insisted Starclan was very clear about this clan's founding coming to pass.

Glade was one of the first to join. She was an outdoor cat and often her owners simply would not interact with her. It was this weird balancing act where she knew she loved her family, but she had essentially grown up outside. She couldn't stand being inside long - and they couldn't stand to deal with the anxiousness that came with suddenly keeping her inside. They had adopted two new kittens that they were raising differently - so she was okay with moving on.

Gorse was one of the last, he already knew what it was like to have to survive and fight for every scrap of meal. He didn't inherently trust a ragtag group of cats wouldn't turn on each other. However, Sun didn't give up, kept visiting him and bringing him food that his clan was catching, inviting him to the cave for temporary tours, and generally being hard to resist. Finally, he let up, and decided to come.

Glade was renamed Gladebuzz - an homage to queen bees and named Deputy. She had a natural inclination to care for others and a powerful sense of empathy despite her strict demeanor.

Gorse was renamed Gorsemoss - Sunstar didn't give away the reason for this namesake, but it was meant to be because he was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. He was named medicine cat, to pretty much everyone's dismay including Gorsemoss'. However Sunstar insisted he'd be perfect for the job. Gorsemoss didn't argue seeing it as futile, but does his best in the role. Moons of tending to his own wounds and illnesses seeming to be very helpful.

Various young and excited cats from all walks of life make up the founding warriors and apprentices of Auroraclan.

[theadventurerslog]

Quest For Glory II: Trial by Fire | Part 2

Day 2 in Shapeir with more exploring and shopping. Hopefully I won't get so lost this time but the map shows where I am on it, so that'll help a lot.

I started the day with some breakfast. Shema also told me she would be dancing this evening and would be pleased if I came. I ate and left with another reminder from Shameen that Shema would be dancing. They really want to make sure I know and come.

And I walked into Alichica's advertising.

It made me snort in an ouch sort of way given the apparent not-so-good state of Raseir.

I bought a bouquet of flowers from Lisha the katta. And in the fountain plaza I bought a pot. I don't know what I'll do with the pot or flowers but if it's going to let me buy them I figure they'll have a use. My bargaining keeps working out very well.

Then it was apothecary time where there were plenty of things to examine including punful urns.

And a bookshelf with many books including "The Pizza Elemental: Fact or Fiction?"

The apothecary owner is Harik. He has vigor, healing, poison cure and mana pills for sale for 5, 10, 12 and 15 dinars respectively. Cheaper than the potions in QFG 1. He warned that if I ever go to Raseir I should stock up on pills here as the apothecary there was taken over by the new Emir and such things may not be available anymore. Other talk and questioning led him to offering to buy scorpion venom and ghoul claws off me for 20 and 15 dinars respectively. Something to keep in mind when I'm less afraid of monsters.

Okay, there are probably some things I could handle just fine. Even with a higher stat cap I'm not a total wimp here. But I'm still scared.

I was looking at the map trying to figure out where to go and it turns out the fighter's plaza and palace are already marked so I can fast travel to those places immediately. I decided to check out the fighter's plaza.

A place to buy waterskins was there, so it was a good thing I went as I'm going to want those for desert exploration. I bought two for a total of three. Maybe overkill but I'd rather be safe. I just need to watch my carried weight. I also bought a cloth bag from Kiram, who turned out to be the uncle of Shameen, nice! Love those little connections in NPCs. Said I was smooth of tongue when I successfully bargained.

I popped into the weapon shop. I don't really need a weapon, but I have to see all the things, and met Issur, who's kind of a grump.

And flexes randomly, so a grump and a show-off?

The weapons on the wall were fun to examine.

Look out wood-chucking woodchucks...

The other half of this plaza has the guild hall!

The lion fellow is a liontaur named Rakeesh. The woman is Uhura and her baby is on the floor playing with Rakeesh's tail.

The Sultan summoned Rakeesh to aid against the Dark Magic hovering near the city, but fears he's not the hero he once was. Perhaps I'll be the hero they need. Of course! There are rumours that in Raseir laws have become more important than men and it's become a crime to think. Few go there and fewer return.

I went to check out the notice board for quests and whatnot.

1000 dinars will be given to the one who restores Emir Arus Al-Din to the palace of Raseir, by order of the Sultan Harun Al-Rashid.

Harik needs some stuff but I already discovered that myself at the apothecary.

Keapon needs the whirling part of a Dervish for a Spell of Great Power, so I needed to go inquire about that.

"The Way of the Paladin: To seek. To learn. To do." - Paladin is a class to pursue but not necessarily something I'll be doing as a wizard? I don't know; we'll see what happens. I kind of just want to be a pure wizard though.

And there's a general note that services to the city and land of Shapeir will be rewarded. By order of the Sultan.

I spoke to the lady next, Uhura. She trains warriors. She's working at the guild until her baby, Simba, is old enough for them to travel back to their homeland. She likes Rakeesh whom she thinks is a kind, wise and strong warrior, though his leg had been once been broken and never healed right. You can practice with her to get your combat skills up. I did one bout until my stamina ran out. Magic is more my thing, but you know, MP runs out. Nice to have a spot that won't kill me to get a bit more strength and weapon skill.

I did wipe out my stamina though, so I returned to the inn to sleep for an hour before continuing my explorations and returning to ask Keapon about the Dervish. The ability to just go sleep and recover your stamina is glorious.

Of course returning to the inn meant more advertising from Alichica.

Keapon wants the whirl of a Dervish and will pay 1500 centimes, or 15 dinars, for it. The Dervish is at an oasis somewhere south and a bit east of Shapeir.

Then I wanted to go visit Aziza and got some directions from Alichica. I was still confused half the time between his directions and the map, but I fumbled my way there.

At her door I had to answer some questions then a riddle.

"My first is the first, My second the last, Next comes Myself, Then back to the end, And beginning again. Who am I?"

A riddle of which the last question is all you really need if you already know her name. But I suppose if you didn't learn of her before finding her place this is another way to figure out her name. That said the first time I saw this in the let's play I was puzzled too. I thought it'd be a word and was something along the lines of the LOVE riddle in King's Quest VI. But nope just her name.

So with "Aziza" stated, I entered.

She invited me to sit and have some tea and we had some discussions. Info time!

She mainly works with water magic, "that of knowledge and true seeing." She can reflect magic back to the casters. Noted there is much magic in the land, some very dark.

The city is built around a magic fountain, and protected by mountains and the desert, has only known peace prosperity. UNTIL NOW.

Once again learned that things are bad in Raseir, that had once been like a twin to Shapeir. There's a darkness over the city she can't see through with her magic. She reiterated on the missing Emir and having been overthrown by his brother.

If I want to the find the Wizard's Institute of Technocery, I have to use magic.

And finally I asked her about Elementals and got treated to a neat little show with my explanation.

Elementals are made from magic shaping elements into beings like living creatures. Elementals are very powerful and destructive and but can be weakened by their opposing element, though not destroyed. But, when they're weakened they can be captured and their powers turned to helpful uses. Good to know!

I will no doubt be back with more questions but I said farewell for now. And examined her shelves a bunch. She had lots of stuff to look at.

Lots of jokes.

I just think she's kinda neat, and I will no doubt be back, but for now I had more city to explore.

With Detect Magic I got shiny arrows to direct me to the Wizard's Institute of Technocery which made finding it much easier than anything else in this city.

It led me to a seeming dead-end until casting again to reveal the door. Then Open spell to open it of course.

Portraits! We've got Aziza and someone I'm not sure of on one side and on the other: Genesta! from KQIV, Erasmus and I'm pretty sure that's Zara from the first game, the one who owned Spielburg's magic shop.

Voices reached out to me to ask who I was and what I wanted. My name is Cinder Win and I wanna be a pirate wizard! But I needed a sponsor and had the choice of who to request, and I'm kicking myself because of course I leapt on Erasmus as the funny choice, but he is the right choice, so I didn't get to see the responses of any of the others and I forgot to save before entering. So, I'll maybe have to load an older file at some point.

They were surprised I'd request such a... "whimsical Wizard" because they apparently have no taste. They don't appreciate his jokes or his 'levity', hmph.

Anyway, he was totally on board with taking me in. I would need to pass a pre-test and then the main test.

First the pre-test. I needed to pick the correct object and move it to a stand then cause it to ring with only three spells.

Simple! Detect Magic to find the right bell, Fetch to move it and Trigger to ring it. Which resulted in a celebratory brief little firework style display showing Erasmus and Fenrus' names before Erasmus himself. Glorious.

See? Erasmus is the best choice!

Then I was ready for the WIT's trial of Initiation which would test my skills under time-critical and life-threatening situations.

It's a pretty area! A spinny blade thing appeared! I promptly fell off the bridge! And got booted back out into the street to try again when I've perhaps practiced more.

I was actually glad to end things there though because it was getting late in the day. I will go back another day earlier in the day. I mainly had just wanted to get it on my map.

Before I went back to the inn I went to see the sauruses and met Ali Fakir....

And I'm just... gonna let some screenshots speak for themselves with this man.

Yes I groaned appreciatively at "The Saurus".

I bargained for one and got a green fellow who licked my face in greeting.

Cutie...

But I was most definitely not ready to head into the desert when night was about to fall at any moment. In fact as soon as I entered town again it was night.

So, it was inn time to see Shema's dance...

And I guess I was too late to get dinner...

But I wasn't too late to get some spell practice in, not save part way, get spotted by a guard and get arrested again! I had saved right before but had do all my practicing again. One of these nights I'll practice without getting caught.

Then it was bed time. Day 2 in Shapeir complete. Day 3 here we come.

[jasper-tarot-reader]

Suns, reporting as a guinea pig! Name: Suns Pronouns: She/her/they/them. Consider me a Queen. I am in Out of Court! I dare say I am an Air element today. My question is what are some good suggestions for me easing back into magic now that spring is on the way? I need some stuff to help me get out of my fallow season, but gently.

Now that I have finally released the Three Kings Divination Spread in full, I can finally do the readings for fun instead of for testing! Which means I now get to just do the reading without having to write down the results and compare them.

The Antique Anatomy Tarot is the querent and the Queen of Blades along with being the head of the Court of Air, the Skyrim Tarot is the Queen of Voice and the head of the Court of Water, and the Neopets Tarot is the Queen of Wands and the head of the Court of Fire.

You are the Queen of Blades, head of the Court of Air. You are a knife in a skull, surrounded by white flowers. Your advice to yourself is the Hermit upright and Strength upright. These two cards are actually quite similar - a focus on the internal rather than the external, focusing on one's self and one's inner world rather than trying to impact the world around them. This means that you should potentially focus on spells centered around yourself in some way.

In my practice, Air and Earth are enemies, but Fire - as Earth's best friend and a neutral relationship to Air - can serve as the mediator and allow Air and Earth to benefit from each other's wisdom. This deck is one of the few I own where the Major Arcana are already associated with elements, which certainly helps with how focused on element relationships this reading is.

The visiting dignitary from the Court of Water is the Queen of Voice, the Storm Goddess Kyne. She is the head of the Nordic pantheon after the death of her husband Shor, known as the Blessed Warrior-Wife, the Mother of Men and beasts, the Kiss at the End, and Sister Hawk. Her advice to you is the Seven of Arms upright and the Ace of Arms upright. Your current methods likely won't create the results you seek, particularly if they're unstable. You will eventually overcome it, but it will definitely take a few tries. Kyne is advising that you don't try magic on anything important right away and brace yourself for failures since you're coming out of a fallow period.

In my practice, Air and Water are best friends. Air trusts Water's advice above all other elements, and Water is telling Air to trust itself and its instincts, focusing on things that are already well within its purview.

The visiting dignitary from the Court of Fire is the Queen of Wands, Kauvara the Starry Kau. She is the current owner of the Neopian Magic Shop in Neopia Central, which is a family business that she didn't really want to run herself. Her advice to you is the Fool upright and the Eight of Wands upright. The Fool is optimistic and eager, ready to try new things, while the Eight of Wands reels it in and reminds you that while this is a time of tremendous momentum and potential, you can't overwork yourself. Kauvara advises that you work with the energy you already have access to rather than trying to summon up something entirely new. This may be a good time to go further along paths you already have marked rather than clear a new one.

In my practice, Air and Fire are neutral towards each other. Air takes Fire's advice but ultimately maintains control of the final decision. I don't associate the Major Arcana with elements unless they come built into the deck.

Lots of moving pieces here, huh? Kyne and Kauvara's advice appear to conflict with each other, but that's what happens when you ask two opposing elemental Courts their opinions on a matter.

I apologize for this taking so long, these kinds of readings are very heavy draws on my energy. I hope you enjoyed reading it! If you feel so inclined, please feel free to send feedback in my ask box, leave feedback in a reblog of this reading, and/or reblog my reading guidelines!

~Jasper

(PS - for those curious, I will occasionally open Three Kings Readings now that I have the spread published, but it is entirely up to how I feel and if I want to. Do not expect any rhymes or reasons.)

[blossombriefs]

Legendary | Chapter Nine

The evening's festivities ended on a positive note. Eventually, the council began to leave the dining room and return to their homes. Broly stood up from the table, swaying gently from the copious amounts of wine he had drunk. Awkwardly, he pointed to the bathroom to communicate he would be back soon, giving The Grand Elder and me some time to discuss the topics. I stayed seated at the table, hands clasped as I looked up at him. "You wanted to discuss something with me?"

"Your name is Flora? Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir," I responded. "My comrade Broly chose it for me."

He nodded with a smile, slowly rising from his chair at the table. He beckoned me to do the same, so I quickly rose to my feet. "Tell me, my dear, you were a nameless warrior, weren't you? Not one on the side of good until now?"

I nodded softly in agreement, "Yes, sir. Unfortunately, I was, until now, part of the Frieza Force. We would wipe out planets and hunt for remaining Saiyans."

The Grand Elder calmly stepped around the dining room, leading me along to a wall that was coated in carvings. He slowly ran his gigantic hands across them, smirking as he chuckled. He stopped by one just behind where his chair sat, requesting I come forward. "Could you tell me what you see in this carving?"

I bounced over, crouching in front of him as I squinted my eyes. I tried to make sense of what I could see, but as I wrapped my head around it further, I was taken aback. The carving depicted two figures. One was taller than the other. They stood in a victorious pose, the taller one having his foot on a body on the ground. The more you looked at it, the more it made sense. The taller figure was masculine and covered in marks, fluffy hair shaded in with a muscular physique. The smaller of the two was a woman, with shoulder-length black hair, her arm raised high. "That's... that's Broly and me!"

"Yes, my dear," The Grand Elder continued. I stepped back in shock, shaking my head as my hand covered my mouth. "Your arrival was foretold many years ago in a prophecy. You would both protect Namek from the oncoming evil."

I looked up at him as I nodded, "That's why you reached out to us..."

"I could sense your appearance was imminent, so I had to act with haste. The distress signal was a risky move. I'm glad that we timed it just right."

He smiled softly at me as I traced my fingers over the marks on the wall. I was in utter disbelief. I couldn't believe that the Namekians saw us arriving to help for so long. It felt like I had big shoes to fill and a lot of people I couldn't let down. The conversation continued, circling questions that The Grand Elder was keen to ask.

"You don't remember much about your past, do you?"

I squinted as my mouth sat open, trying to physically think, "Uh... I wouldn't say so. All I remember really was waking up one day on a ship on a cold table, and the next day I was thrown in a gym."

"You will find out in due course what brought you to that ship, who brought you there, how long you actually were there for... in due time." He shuffled his feet as he returned to his chair at the head of the dining table. "However, I will inform you that you have family out in our universe."

"I do? A family?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, returning to my chair too.

"Yes. You have an older brother. He's an inhabitant of Planet Earth now."

"Ear...th. I haven't heard of that one."

"It's 48 light-years from here. I predict it would take three years for you to fly from here in the spacecraft you brought here. The engine is better than most other crafts we have seen, although our knowledge may be lacking. If you were to go out there and find him, you may be able to rediscover who you once were."

I nodded. I had family out there? A family I couldn't even remember? The more the conversation went on, the more I began to feel uneasy about my own memories. I couldn't even picture a single family member's face. I couldn't remember. Of course, that wasn't everything he wanted to talk about. The conversation went on much longer to the point I started to get concerned as to where Broly had disappeared to. Maybe in his intoxicated state, he was struggling to find his way back.

"Do you know why Frieza was so afraid of the Saiyans, Flora?"

"I can't say I do. I had it drilled in my head they were evil until I met Broly."

The Grand Elder leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a hushed tone as if sharing a forbidden secret. "The Saiyans were a warrior race, feared across the galaxies for their prowess in battle. But what Frieza feared most wasn't just their strength... it was their potential."

I furrowed my brows, puzzled. "Their potential?"

"Yes," he affirmed, his ancient eyes gleaming with a mixture of wisdom and sorrow. "The Saiyans possessed an ability that Frieza could never control or suppress entirely: the power of transformation. While they could harness their anger and transform into incredible forms, each more formidable than the last, one form surpassed them all. The fabled Super Saiyan."

My breath caught in my throat. "Super Saiyan..."

The Grand Elder nodded gravely. "Yes, a being of immense power, capable of rivalling even the most tyrannical of overlords. Frieza knew that if a Saiyan were ever to achieve this form, his reign of terror would be over. And so, he exterminated their race, or so he thought."

I felt a shiver run down my spine. The weight of the revelation settled heavily upon me. "And Broly... he's a Saiyan. Could he...?"

"It's possible," the Grand Elder admitted. "Though rare, there have been Saiyans who have achieved the legendary transformation. Broly's potential is vast, perhaps greater than even he realizes. But whether he can harness that power for good or succumb to its destructive nature... that remains to be seen."

As the gravity of the situation sank in, I found myself torn between hope and fear. Broly, my comrade, my friend... could he be the key to unlocking a power capable of protecting not just Namek, but the entire universe? He didn't have a bad bone in his body, at least when he has control of it.

"When Broly gets angry he gets so powerful. He emits this energy that would light up the world if it could, it's a bright green aura. He seems to lose all focus on himself. He goes absolutely berserk. What do you think of that, Grand Elder?"

The Grand Elder listened intently, his expression grave yet contemplative. "Flora, what you describe is the hallmark of a Saiyan on the brink of transformation. Broly's power, his uncontrollable rage... it all aligns with the ancient legends of the Super Saiyan."

"But what triggers it?" I asked, concern lacing my voice. "What sets off his transformation?"

The Grand Elder's gaze shifted back to me, his eyes filled with a sadness that seemed to stretch across aeons. "Broly's power is intertwined with a tragic past," he began, his voice heavy with sorrow. "He is the Legendary Super Saiyan, a warrior of unparalleled strength. But his power comes at a great cost."

My heart clenched at his words, a sense of dread settling over me. "What do you mean?"

The Grand Elder took a deep breath as if steeling himself for what he was about to reveal. "Broly's transformation is fueled by the pain and anger he carries within him. It stems from a childhood of torment and betrayal, inflicted upon him by none other than his own father, Paragus."

A gasp escaped my lips as the pieces began to fall into place. Broly's haunted expression, his violent outbursts... it all made sense now. "His father... he did this to him?"

"Paragus saw Broly not as a son, but as a weapon. He exploited his power, manipulated him, and subjected him to unspeakable cruelty in the name of his own ambitions. Broly's rage, his uncontrollable fury... it's a manifestation of the trauma he endured at the hands of his own flesh and blood." The Grand Elder nodded solemnly. "That may be why when Broly was able to reach this form, his father's blood was on his hands. You never know though, he may turn on you next if he can’t get it under control."

I stared at the Grand Elder, my mind reeling with the weight of his words. The revelation of Broly's past cast a dark shadow over my thoughts, illuminating the depths of his suffering and the true extent of his inner turmoil. My heart ached for him, for the pain he had endured and the scars he carried.

"But... can he ever find peace?" I whispered, my voice barely audible in the somber air of the dining room.

The Grand Elder's gaze softened, filled with a profound compassion that seemed to transcend the boundaries of time itself. "Peace is not easily attained, Flora. It is a journey, a path that must be walked with courage and determination. But I believe that with the support of those who care for him, Broly can find solace amid his turmoil."

I nodded, the weight of his words sinking into my soul. Broly, my friend, my comrade... he deserved a chance at redemption and to rise above the darkness that had engulfed his past. And I would stand by his side, unwavering in my commitment to help him find the peace he so desperately sought.

"Thank you, Grand Elder," I said softly, gratitude swelling. "Thank you for your wisdom and guidance, and of course, the wonderful food. I best go find Broly; we should head back to the house for some rest."

The Grand Elder smiled warmly, his ancient eyes twinkling with a gentle light. "It is my honor to offer whatever assistance I can, Flora. Remember, you and Broly are not alone in this journey. The people of Namek stand with you, united in our determination to forge a future of hope and redemption."

With those words echoing in my heart, I knew that no matter what challenges lay ahead, we would face them together. For Broly, for Namek, and for the countless lives that depended on our strength and courage. Rushing out of the dining room, I found Broly sitting at the top of the grand staircase we had climbed when we arrived. I smiled, settling my hand on his shoulder. In response, he shuffled away. I crouched beside him, looking as he kept his chin against his knees and softly swayed.

"You ready to head home?" I asked softly.

"I feel dizzy," he hiccuped, slowly rising to his feet. I reached out to take his hand again, but again he swiped me away.

"Can't I help you?" I asked.

"No, I can manage," he responded sharply.

Broly's silence on the walk home wasn't out of the ordinary, however, as I kept an eye on him, I could see his face screw up. He started picking up his pace, walking faster than I was. Concerned, I quickened my pace to catch up with Broly, who seemed to be struggling more than usual. His brows furrowed in discomfort, and his steps became unsteady.

"Broly, are you okay?" I asked, reaching out to steady him when I had caught up.

He shrugged off my touch, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. "I'm fine," he muttered, though the strain in his voice betrayed his words.

Something wasn't right. A palpable sense of distress replaced Broly's usual stoic demeanour. I scanned our surroundings, searching for any sign of danger, but the path home appeared tranquil in the moonlit night. He stayed this way the entire walk back; I looked up as he uttered the phrase for the door, staying close to his heels as we went inside together. The sound of a door slamming shut jolted me onto the sofa in the living room as I tried to slip off my shoes.

What was wrong with him?

Next Chapter Chapter List

[deusexlachina]

Antisocial DAO Part 1 (Dalish Elf Origin) - Defy societal beauty norms and good taste

In which I make the worst Dalish Elf ever and look upon my creation with pride.

My lack of social skills extends to character creation.

Because I Am Socially Inept, I must avoid levelling Cunning or Strength. This would pose major issues to Rogues and Warriors, respectively, so I must be a mage. Mages in Thedas are required to join the Circle, but, having already played the Circle Origin, I decline this invitation and use a mod to have the Dalish Origin while being a mage. (Given that there are Dalish mages, it's a little strange that you can't do this by default).

To help immerse the Warden in the world of Thedas, they use the same appearance options as almost all other NPCs. This is a solid design choice that I will be entirely subverting. After giving myself a Seriously Spooky Stare, I install a mod that expands the range of hairstyles and pick ostentatious twintails that go down to my hips.

I just need a name. Something goth, but also elvish...

Deathroot it is!

I have made yet another Horrible Goth Girl, but something's missing. I end up going back to add in facial tattoos, on the grounds that all Dalish have them and they're religiously significant. This is religion. Fashion is another story.

Being able to safely ignore Cunning and Strength, I put all my points into Magic. I choose to start with Paralysis, favouring the Entropy spell tree, mainly because it seems the most goth and edgy. I am rewarded for my aesthetic choices: paralysis is fantastic against the enemies in the ruins.

Unfortunately, as I explore the ruins, I lose my buddy Tamlen, and only survive because a mysterious human carries me back home. The Keeper sends me and Merrill out to go rescue Tamlen. This is the same Merrill as in Dragon Age 2, but here she isn't Welsh, isn't a blood mage and doesn't look like a baby. She's also not nearly as strong as her sequelized self, so to avoid dying horribly, I grab another friend, Fenarel.

Merrill protests at this unauthorized addition to my party because Merrill is very strict about the rules and would never do anything Keeper Marethari wouldn't approve of. There's an easy social check to convince her to let Fenarel come, but I cannot pass it because I Am Socially Inept. So I have to swallow my pride and Ask Mom if I can have a warrior in the party. Thankfully, she says yes. She even thanks me for asking her upfront, a scrupulous act that I have done solely because I could not convince Merrill to have a strong party otherwise. I cleverly forget to take a screenshot of this part.

Time is not on my side. I have been infected with the Taint, a disease which is very serious, despite the name. My friends notice I'm strangely pale.

I ask what they're talking about, because I'm always pale. And the veiny marks on my face are my Vallaslin, thank you very much.

After an unsuccessful hunt for Tamlen, I encounter Duncan, standing ominously amid the fresh corpses of several powerful darkspawn. There are a lot of pressing questions here, but the most pressing one on my mind is "Can I loot these bodies?"

He lets me loot every single one of them before talking to him. Poggers.

Duncan is a Grey Warden, an expert in my disease, and promises an unspecified cure if I just leave my family and join his secretive order. Unfortunately for him, he's a human and humans are currently preparing to forcibly displace my clan. The game, realizing this, gives you plenty of opportunities to openly distrust Duncan, and I pick every single one of them. This guy seems sus.

You always encounter Duncan, but the ways you can interact with this key character depend heavily on your Origin, giving you meaningful, interesting character choices right from the start. Take notes, Inquisition!

I tearfully embrace my clan and depart. This is a very solemn moment, full of gravitas and dignity. I am leaving my people, perhaps for good, and setting out on a dark, lonely path to fight nightmarish monsters. There is nothing even a little funny here.

[legofanguy1999]

Sorry that I was late, but this is a entry for day 14 of @inuvember event Inuvember 2023 featuring Inuyasha’s father Toga.

Long ago in the Heian period, a lord needed guardians to protect his lands and he ask a traveling wizard for help. The wizard took one of the lord prized Akita dogs and made it eat some magical dog food, which transformed the dog into a demon, becoming the first of the Inugami, or dog demon. The first Inugami would later turn any other dogs into Inugami as well mate with the females to create Inugami pups. The first Inugami however end up creating wolf demons and that, as well the increase of of the Inugami number worried the lord that he order the destruction of the Inugami, but most of them flee east to the rest of Japan. Over time, some of the Inugami would grant the ability to shapeshift into human form and it cause a rumor that their human forms are actually humans posses by Inugami. This is the story of one of the greatest Inugami whose sons Inuyasha and Sesshomaru will be legends as well.

A young boy with white hair and blue marks on his face play in the woods, saying as he act like a mighty warrior, “Take that, demon. You can’t beat the great Toga!” Just then, a older man appear and said, “Toga!” The boy turn around and he said, “Your grandfather’s time may be up. It’s time to see him off to the great beyond.” Worried, Toga said, “But grandfather is the first of us, father.” Toga’s father reply, “Unfortunately, your grandfather is not a immortal Daiyoki.”

Many Inugami gathered around Toga’s grandfather as he lay in his giant dog form, with his red eyes going dark.

The old Inugami said to his elder son, “My son, you must protect our family. You will known as Inu no Taisho, the Great Dog General.” The elder son and Toga’s uncle nod, “I will, father.”

Years has passed and Toga has become a teenage. But things troubled him one day as he wander in hills a bit far from the pack home and Toga said to a companion of his, “I’m a bit worried about my uncle, Myoga. Most of the attacks on the human settlements for food start become violence and he even ordering attacks on any humans that dare challenge us than scare them off. It is as if he wanted to fight the humans.” Toga’s companion, a flea demon named Myoga, hop on his shoulder and tell Toga, “It’s not best that you questioned your uncle, Toga. He is the Inu no Tiasho and that made him the mightiest of your people and it would be a honor to serve him and drink his blood.” Toga ask Myoga, “What was that last part?” Soon, Toga sense something calling for him.

Toga enter the cave as Myoga hop away in fear while the powerful aura draw him deeper and deeper inside. Finally, Toga see a sword in its sheath stuck in some kind of rock, and Toga see it growing red.

The spirit come before Toga and said, “I’m Saha, the spirit of the sheath of the sword So’unga.” Toga ask the spirit, “Who made So’unga, spirit?” Saya reply, “I’m afraid I have forgot the one whose forge it as well made me, but my creator forged the sword from the fang of a powerful dragon named Hi no o Doragon. However, a part of Doragon’s soul remind in that sword.” Toga said as he grab So’unga, “I’m willing to risk the dragon’s soul, if it will provide myself in the pack.” With a mighty pull, Toga break the sword out of the stone.

A red hair man in grayish violet and black armor came before Toga and said to him, “Fellow demon, I’m the daiyoki Kirinmaru! I have travel across the world to gather demons to ensure a world where we don’t have to fear the humans! I sense your power and I challenged you to a duel!” Toga reply, “Challenge accepted!” Both demons draw their weapons and steel clash echo in the fields.

Toga cut off Kirinmaru’s left horn and right arm and, as he is about to deliver the final fatal blow, the dog demon hearing crying. Toga turn to see a little girl watching and Toga ask, “Who is that?” Kirinmaru reply in pain, “My... daughter.... Rion....” and this shock Toga that he almost took a father away from a little girl. Just then, a voice start whispering, “Don’t stop! Kill him and that girl too!” Toga demand, “Whose is saying that?” Saya said to Toga, “That is the spirit of Doragon I warned you about. Any moment of weakness, and Doragon would try to control you.” Toga said in his mind to Doragon, ‘I will not give in to you! I will control you!’ Toga then said to Kirinmaru, “You may go to live another day, Kirinmaru, but never bring your daughter to battle again!” Toga changed to his dog form and fly off to his home.

With So’unga in hand, Toga said to his uncle, “I challenged you, uncle, to a duel for the title of Inu no Taisho!”

The duel was fierce, but in the end, Toga has won. With his victory in the duel, many Inugami call out, “He is now Inu no Taisho!”

Putting So’unga across the room, Toga get a moment to moan his uncle. He didn’t wanted to do this, but Toga have to stop his uncle mad ways. Just then, a female Inugami with a violet moon on her forehead walk in and said to him, “I accept being your mate, my lord.”

Years has passed and Toga become well known across the land as a powerful daiyokai. Of course, that mean dangerous foes to challenged.

Toga sneak inside the human palace unseen and he sneak inside a room, hoping to recover here until morning. He did smell a human in the room and Toga walk toward the human to check on them, only for the human to raise and hit him with a pillow. As Toga fall to the ground by that surprise attack, the human light a candle to get a good look at Toga, revealing themself to be a beautiful young woman with black hair hair and appear to be a noble woman by her clothes. The woman see Toga’s wounds and said as she check his injuries, “I’m sorry, sir. You has frighten me when you enter my room. How deep are your wounds?” Toga is a bit surprised that this human woman is not scared of him, as she slowly start taking off his armor.

The woman introduced herself, “My name is Izayoi. My father is lord of this palace.” Toga said to Izayoi, “Let me rest for the night, my lady. I purpose to be gone by the morning light.”

Toga start to close his eyes to sleep for the night until he feel something sucking on his wounds and he slap at it without thinking, which earn him more pain and a groan while Izayoi gasp in shock over Toga’s attack on his wounds. Toga look at his hand to see that he slapped Myoga as he get up and cry out in tears, “Master Toga, I knew I would find you! I needed to taste your blood to confirm it is your and to stop the breeding, my lord.” Toga said to his faithful companion, “So you managed to find me after you run away when that troublesome demon charged at me, Myoga? How long did it take for you to look for me?” Toga’s simple questions got Myoga nervous and he change the subject upon seeing Izayoi, “Oh my, you are seeing another woman, my lord. Well, I’m not questioning you since you are the Inu no Taisho.” Izayoi become surprised and said to Toga, “You’re Inu no Taisho. The daiyokai I hear from samurais.”

Izayoi said to Toga as they head outside, “I am to be married to Takemaru of the Setsuna clan in weeks.” Recalling his situation with that Inugami woman long ago, Toga ask Izayoi, “Are you okay with that?” The human woman think for a moment and reply, “N-No... But...” Toga however interpret Izayoi and ask her, “Why not run away with me?”

Getting on top of his dog form, Izayoi ride off with Toga.

[skylarstark4826]

Shuri, who is born with a name already engraved on her wrist, doesn't bother to look it up on any Wakandan registry, already making peace with the fact that she will find no matches. It wouldn’t take a genius (though Shuri prides herself on the fact that she is one) to recognize her soulmate, with his name spelled in foreign characters, is not a Wakandan citizen nor is he of Wakandan descent. 

At seven, she starts studying her soulmate’s language in secret. If in case he did not speak any of her languages, then Shuri will be there to communicate with him in his mother tongue. By the end of the month, she has already mastered writing the alphabet, and her free time is spent poring over the books in her soulmate’s culture. 

By twelve, Shuri grows impatient. She ponders the idea of becoming a War Dog and thinks of being assigned to the offshores of Mexico, dreaming of finally putting a face to the name on her wrist. Ultimately, she decides against it, content to stay in her lab to search for other, more alternative ways to find him, wherever he may be. 

When her brother is suddenly taken by sickness, Shuri temporarily holds off the topic of soulmates, and trades in her knowledge of history and linguistics for biochemical engineering and medicine. 

On the eve of her brother’s passing, Shuri is no closer to finding her soulmate, though she has since stopped looking. 

—

Shuri touches the painted walls of Namor’s grotto and starts to recall long-forgotten memories. As her fingers trace the waves, she is reminded of the warriors who speak her soulmate’s tongue. For years she had wondered what he would look like and now…

Now there is a slim chance that her soulmate might be blue. 

“It did not help my case when the Spanish priest had seen my bare skin, devoid of any mark, and branded me as el niño sin amor shortly after. I have reserved that name for my enemies ever since.” 

“So, I’m taking you don’t have a soulmate?”

There is a knowing glint in his eye when he says,  “I did not say that.” Then his gaze wanders briefly downward, leading to her arm. Where her mark is. 

Shuri, remembering that she is without her kimoyo beads, clutches her arm closer to her chest. One of her prerequisites during its early design stages was for the beads to be big enough to hide soulmate marks, so as to deter people from asking too many questions. A prerequisite that, up to now, Shuri still thanks her younger self for coming up with. 

To her surprise, Namor’s brows do not furrow in confusion, unlike the warrior who had bested Okoye. Nor does he glare at her in suspicion, much unlike the warrior next to him who had killed the American officers in cold blood. No, instead, the edge of his lips quirks in silent delight as he appraises her. 

He moves to grab her hand and brings it closer, Shuri along with it. She frowns at his boldness. The nerve of him, touching her without permission. She has to bite her tongue before any insults could fly, reminding herself that she is still a guest in his home and the probability of her negotiations ending in success depends solely on the extent of her self-control. 

“Your warriors took a good look at my wrist back there. They wouldn’t happen to know anyone with this name, would they?” She mentally sends Riri an apology and hopes the young scientist will find it in her heart to forgive Shuri for her selfishness. Surely she would understand if she delayed the negotiations for a few minutes. Just until she can wean out the identity of her soulmate. Perhaps maybe even his whereabouts if she asks nicely enough. 

Namor thumbs the pulse point located below her wrist, fingertips touching the edge of the second character. Shuri notes how big his hand is compared to hers, how easily it encompasses her slim wrist, but thinks nothing more of it. She had to focus. “They had looked at it because you are the first surface dweller in years to have a name borne from Talokan. And a princess no less.” He says simply, nodding like he has confirmed something in his head before letting her go. “But no, they wouldn’t know who it is.”

Her wrist is aflame, but it doesn’t deter her from asking, “But you do?”

Namor shows her his teeth and Shuri cannot stop thinking of a great white shark. 

“I do.” 

Before Shuri can question him further, he is already unclasping one of his bracers. When it drops to the floor, Shuri watches its descent. When the sound of its clanging reverberates along the walls of his hut as it slowly slides under his hammock, Shuri watches it, still. Namor raises his forearm to her face and the last few echoes of the golden accessory are the furthest thing on her mind right now. 

The words register immediately, but Shuri still has to blink—once, twice, just to make sure that what she is seeing is actually real. If her mind has decided that now was the perfect time to start playing tricks on her before she wakes up to find herself in her own bed. But the image does not leave her and the words do not change no matter how many times she repeats them in her head. 

There, on his wrist, is her name in familiar Wakandan text, barely legible to anyone save perhaps the author and its wearer. There, between the lifelines and long blue veins, is Shuri Udaku, written in rushed, easy strokes like she had been writing it in haste and proper penmanship was merely an afterthought. 

It is a shame, Shuri thinks, her head still reeling. Her soulmate is stuck with the chicken scratches she makes while running on seven cups of caffeine and pure genius, when usually her handwriting was neat and orderly. 

In one of her earliest memories, before her parents realize her mind would not be properly stimulated in a normal Wakandan school and decide to switch her to higher and higher grade levels, Shuri is five and showing her father a poem written by her own hand. She is sitting on her baba's knee and starts to talk of the baobab trees that grow strong and tall in Wakandan soil before he takes a peek at her paper and smiles, complimenting her on her shorthand. Five-year-old Shuri smiles too, preening at the praise. 

Now Shuri is twenty-four and does not sit on anyone’s knee nor does she write any more poetry about baobab trees. Instead, she stands with her feet planted directly on the ground, her spine ramrod straight, and swallows. The shock, the disbelief, the outrage–all of it goes down her throat, heading towards her esophagus. Her stomach ingests it in the silence. 

Her name might be on his wrist, but that does not mean he was her soulmate by default. There are many cases in which one half of a soulmate pair share a name and the other does not, which is rare, yes, but not impossible. On top of it all, Shuri is by no means an idiot and if he takes her for one then he will be greatly disappointed. She knows how to write his name in Mayan lettering and no matter how many ways she can put it, in how many ways she may twist it, K’uk’ulkan will never, not even in a million years, match the name on her wrist. 

Because how can Shuri ever accept the fact that this immortal god-king, who has trapped her with him in the cold dark caves he calls his home, and her mysterious soulmate (who, at this point, had practically been a childhood relic left hidden in the recesses of her subconscious) be one and the same?

As if reading her mind, he says, “You don’t trust me, I understand. But I told you this once before, princess, and now I will tell you again. I have many names. For my people, I am called K’uk’ulkan. For my enemies, I am Namor. But for my pixan gemela, for you, I am Cha’ah Toh Almehen."

Shuri blanched. “Can you prove it?”

Namor smirks almost as if he had expected her answer. With gentle hands, he picks up the bracelet Shuri has been eyeing ever since she walked into his hut and places it on her waiting hands. 

Shuri’s brows furrow at this, but he only juts his chin in the direction of the bracelet, silently urging her to inspect it. Though her head is still filled with doubt, she starts to examine the bracelet’s intricate jade beading. Her fingers run along its faint bumps and ridges carefully before she freezes in place. She has traced these lines before, hasn’t she?

In her lab, when she pauses her work to rest and takes off her kimoyo beads to massage tired wrists. In sleepless nights, when she tosses and turns in bed and brings a hand to cover her face. In the mornings, when she wakes up and it’s the first thing she sees—

All of a sudden, her head shoots up, almost smacking the side of Namor's skull. She looks at him, eyes wide and full of barely concealed emotion. “It’s really you,” she gasps, and he grins as he closes the distance between them.

Her soulmate might smell of the sea, but she finds that his tongue does not share any of its salt. Shuri is just grateful that her first kiss doesn’t taste like fish. 

—

“It would please me greatly if you accept this simple token of affection,” he says, already tying his mother’s bracelet to her wrist without waiting for an answer. “I have kept it close to my heart so that my uláak' chúumuk could wear it and think of me.”

They sit at the entrance of his hut, where Shuri can see her reflection in the water and Namor holds her hand with a certain reverence. It must have been hours now, she notes, since he had shown her his kingdom and yet his grip on her does not once falter. Not even when the bracelet is already safely secured on her wrist. 

She notices the size of it first; big enough to fully cover her mark. Almost like it was designed specifically for her in mind. Shuri is reminded of the promise made to his mother and, in a way, that might hold true. “It's very beautiful,” she says, in awe at the way the pearls shine against her skin. 

Namor brings her hand up to meet his cheek, and her thumb moves to feel the soft skin underneath. He sighs, leaning into her touch. “For years, I had dreamt of this day, wondering what name you would carry with you. Whether it was the name my people called me or if it would be the name that belonged to my enemies. Recently, I have even toyed with the idea that I may find both. But it is a great comfort to reunite with the name my mother gave me, even after all this time.”

Shuri’s eyes glance briefly at the water, her distorted reflection returning her slight frown, then back to him. “No one calls you by this name?”

His head shakes sadly and his beard starts to dig at her skin following the movement, tickling her. “I only allowed my mother to use it. My ears have grown used to hearing the same two names after she passed.” 

Until me. Her brain supplies, but she dare not voice it out.

“Would you like me to call you by Cha’ah Toh, then—only when it's just the two of us?”

Namor smiles then and Shuri thinks, not for the first time that night, how utterly beautiful he looks like this. She has seen his kingdom and even witnessed his vibranium sun in all its glory but none can compare to her soulmate’s kind warm eyes glittering against the low lights, looking contentedly at her like she was something to be worshipped. Like just the mere sight of her was enough to bring joy to his face. 

He kisses the inside of her palm, still smiling. “If it would only please you.”

Later, he will have to leave her for the surface, where her mother waits, but not without kissing the name–his name–on her wrist one final time, his nosepiece cooly pushing at the edge of her hand. Playfully, he will start to plant soft kisses on the pads of each of her fingers before she shoos him away, giggling at his antics.  

Later, she will be whisked away and leave death at her wake. Later, she will look at her mark in anger and she will hide the bracelet where it will find no light. Later, Shuri will see him as nothing but a curse to wear for the rest of her life. 

But here, in the now, she is with her soulmate who looks at her with stars in his eyes and warmth in his heart. Here they sit in comfortable silence, facing each other, and Shuri starts to envision a future with this man. One where she is not burdened with duty nor is she haunted by death. 

In her head, there is already an image of her smiling. This Shuri wears delight on her face like it belongs there. There is no grief to tug down at the corners of her mouth because he is there to kiss it away. 

[fan-clan-fun]

I'm currently working on a 'fanclan' called Estuaryclan, the zealous and cunning! They follow the usual Clan Ranks and the usual naming system. The only thing Estuaryclan does differently from the other five Clans is: Warrior and Apprentice ceremonies always take place on cloudless evenings when the stars are visible. Estuaryclan was founded by an ambitious Rouge named Weed who had been told many amazing stories of the Clans and Starclan by her Mother (who was an ex-Shadowclan Warrior) It became Weed's single goal in life to lead a Clan of her own, to become a legend. After many moons of recruiting, Weed deemed the sizable number of Rouges she'd gathered enough for a Clan. And with that Weed lead of her troup diverse felines to journey to 'a place where all water meets' After a while (I'm not sure who long it'd take to find an estuary from the lake territories) They marked their borderers, built their Camp and with that Estuaryclan was born. Estuaryclan's equalvilant to the Moonpool is the deepest point in the estuary, known as the Moonbed. Estuaryclan's Warriors tend to be quite frivolous, most decorate their pelts with seaweed, coral and seashells! Every single cat in Estuaryclan (even the Kits) can communicate using shells (chipped shells mean thank you, pink shells mean help ect) I've for all the Allegiances and stuff sorted out, I was wondering if you could give me some suggestions for interesting skills for Estuaryclan and some Camp structure ideas? I'm sorry most of this us just a messy ramble about Weed, I hope your well!!!

The clan sounds lovely! And it's no trouble that it's a bit of a ramble, although the childish person inside me giggles just a little at the name Weed, but I can be an adult and address the actual important part of the question.

So because I don't have a ton of info about the territory itself, aside from the name and it's connection to water, I'll have to extrapolate and fill in some gaps to answer the question.

For traditional water linked clans, the skills that would set them apart from normal land based clans include in general: swimming and fishing.

Of course a lot of the extra skills involved would heavily depend on what type of water based territory we have, so, let's see what options we can come up with.

For a marsh/wetland clan. Some skills might include

-navigating the reeds and marshes

-specialized hunting for waterbirds (ducks/etc)

-specialized hunting for fish and other creatures in the reeds

-stealth in a water/grass environment

For and ocean/sea clan

-swimming specifically with the ocean in mind (waves, riptides, etc)

-if the clan has tidepools, hunting/scavenging the tidepools

-hunting on the open beach (stealth in a wide open area)

-gathering useful items like driftwood

For a lake based clan

-diving to the lakebed

-identifying prime fishing spots

For a river/stream based clan

-swimming with/against the current/navigating rapids.

Again, a lot of these skills depend heavily on what type of clan territory you have. So taking into account the environment, you can usually come up with unique skills related to that. So, a river that has an annual migration of fish upstream or downstream (like a salmon run) would definitely have special skills related to that. And ocean based clans would have different skills based on if the beach was rocky (with tide pools) or sandy (with possible sand dunes). A lot of times, skills and specialties for clans will be a lot more obvious when you take those unique territory aspects into consideration.