#her job as a keeper for the forest that takes a lot of energy and care because it is full of creatures of all sorts

[sherisens]

neera's isolation comes 100% from her mother placing that fear of men being a menace to their kind. it is all due to her father and their past together, sure, but also the way people interact with nature (destroying it, taking too much without giving, creating unbalance) magic (wanting to cheat death, wanting to kill without consequences from the spirits) and how the previous kings used tika's shamanic and magical knowledge to their political games (especially her father but that's extra info for later). she didn't want neera to go down that path of corruption, in a way. neera actually ventures to the town to purchase things and is capable of handling herself, thank you very much, and does more and more of that now that tika vanished leaving her alone not only for supplies but also for CONNECTIONS, FRIENDSHIPS. and therein lies the danger because : she's a curious soul naturally about people as long as they don't endanger the verdant and the library. if she gets discovered as a "witch" too, there is no question others might true to use her abilities for their gain.

[roselyn-writing]

🌼💚Layla Buyunni OC lore 🍀🌳

Name meaning: ‘Night’ in Arabic. ‘Buyuuni’ means ‘The Keeper’ in the old Virginian language

Date of birth: 3rd of September 1440 (in Virginian time and year)

Age: 23 (Youngest Oc so far).

Zodiac sign: Virgo.

Hair: Long straight blonde hair.

Eyes: Green.

Skin tone: Porcelain.

Favourite food: roasted veggies, veggies, broth veggies, omelettes, Chickpea sandwiches, peas quinoa salad.

Least favourite food: Beef, Chicken, Jelly.

Aesthetics: Gardener, librarian, flowers, nature, forests, green aesthetics, plants, cottagecore, greencore.

Favourite colours: Green shades, white, Turquoise, Brown, Gold.

Job: Florist, Librarian.

Likes: Nature, learning new things, animals, quietness, cleanliness, reading books, writing poetry, likes to take care of her plants/flowers, Pixies and fairies, green clothes, green jewels, etc.

Powers: Plant-based powers, psychic abilities. Plant manipulation, Chlorokinesis, slight sound manipulation, Immortality, and Complete control of plant life. Healing magic, Her eyes glow green when she uses her powers, self resurrection, immortality, Hair manipulation (only in Verdant Seraph form)

Items: Eternal Verdant core (Its shape is similar to the heart of Tefiti from Moana, but it is bigger and has a heart-like shape with plant-based runic, etc.) Later, it infused with her soul making her a god-like being.

Hate/dislike: sexism, plant abusers, animal abusers, bigots, racist people, liars, criminals, parents who abuse their children, rude people, people who hate other people for being different, etc, nature abusers, etc.

Pet(s): Layla has a plant-like creature that she made out of her powers and pure essence it is similar to “Bellossom” from Pokemon, She named it ‘Marigold’

Faceclaim: Meghan Ory.

voice claim: Stephanie Sheh (Usagi Tsukino English VA)

Personality: Layla is very shy when she sees new people, but when she gets to know them very well, she won’t be shy with them at all, she talks and interacts freely with them.

"I feel the verdant energy coursing through me, surging like vines in search of life and sustenance. I harness its power and focus my will. The plants around me respond by swaying in rhythm, weaving a thick, green tapestry of life, And I swear by the holiness of nature I will use it for good!" ______ Layla Buyunni’s quote

Her lore is inspired by Anne Jefferies and the fairies but I decided to make it darker and bloodier hehe 😝.

[The Lore] CW: Blood, Death.

Across the north where the wind from the south meets the northern sea of Ma’chilga town as if they were lovers from different parts of the world, There, was a happy little girl called Layla Buyunni, She works as a florist and a caregiver to an old lady called ‘Granny Mira’

Layla is known among the people as a happy and carefree girl, let alone a very beautiful and popular girl in the town too. Every day, she finishes her morning chores in Granny Mira's house then she goes to the market to buy groceries so she can cook and prepare a meal for herself and Granny Mira.

This was her daily routine for years until one day, she was cleaning the backyard with a broom, when she heard a rustling in the bushes, at first she didn’t care at all, she continued to clean the backyard until the rusting became more frequent and annoying, she decided to go and see what is hiding behind the bushes and she saw nothing at all, confused, she decided to head back to the yard and continue cleaning it.

This time, she heard a lot of voices and more rustling in many bushes near her, she was beginning to freak out. She clenched her hands onto the broom as if it were a weapon, she gasped with utter shock when she saw 6 dwarves dressed in green and white garbs coming towards her way. They stopped when they came face-to-face with Layla. They looked at her and smiled.

“Hello, Fair Maiden,” The leader of the dwarves greeted her.

Layla was so shocked that she didn’t reply, she kept looking at them and said nothing, at first, she thought she was dreaming or something. Until one of the dwarves climbed on her feet and she yelped in shock as she backed away from them.

“Worry not, fair maiden,” Their leader said, his tone genuine and soothing, Then six dwarves dressed in green and white outfits came to meet her. They all stood in a row in front of Layla and smiled up at her.

“A-a-a-are you r-real?” Layla finally spoke, she was stuttering and her tone was scared and shy. She was in disbelief, still not believing what she was seeing, she rubbed her eyes with her hands and looked at them and they were still there.

The dwarves laughed at her; They nodded their heads while doing so.

“Of course, we are, fair maiden,” said their leader, It is a dwarf who wore a white hat while the other green ones.

Terrified, she fiercely swung her broom at the dwarves, They dodged her attack and looked at her in complete confusion, Their leader, Mattan, raised her hand at her in indifference so that he could explain the situation to her.

“Layla, stop it!” Mattan declared with a firm tone.

In complete bewilderment, Layla dropped her broom, she lifted a surprised eyebrow “How did you know my name?”

“We know you, but you don’t know us,” came his vague reply.

Layla only blinked twice or thrice at this, she didn’t know what to do or say; Dwarves appearing in your garden isn’t something you see every day or something you can barely process. Layla swallowed hard, trying her hardest to understand the situation she was in.

“Okay? And what do you want?” Layla inquired.

Mattan stepped closer, he gently raised his hand and touched the hem of her dress. He didn’t say anything in the least, He only did some hand gestures. A thick white fog like a cloud in a clear sky enveloped them and in fear, Layla covered her eyes.

It didn’t take long for Layla to take her hands from her eyes and see what happened. She is in a different place now – a jungle — a forest, She is in a forest-like place, full of thick trees and green grass. As if she is in a perfect forest in some fairytale.

The dwarves started to walk and Layla trotted behind them. Mattan was talking about the history of this glorious forest while Layla was eagerly looking around the place. She smiled as he mentioned something about ‘willow trees’ she loves them so much.

In a flash, Mattan and his dwarves came to a halt, Mattan looked directly into Layla’s eyes as he pointed a finger at her.

“Layla, You are the daughter of the mother forest,” Mattan announced suddenly.

Layla, bewildered at his claim, she calmly shook her head. “No sir, I’m no such thing,” She replied.

Mattan, still determined to prove himself right. “You are!” He said determinedly.

Layla shook her head. “No, Sir.”

“You are!”

“No, Sir.”

Mattan breathed to calm himself. Layla is as stubborn as a mule to accept the truth.

Mattan sat on a big rock. “Haven’t you asked yourself, where are your parents?” Mattan asked.

Layla’s eyes fixed on him. “I have, many times to count,” She said in a quiet tone.

“Both of your parents are gone, sadly,” Mattan told her, his tone is soft and mild. He paused then after long moments. “But, You must know your heritage, You are a verdant, a being of the forest and we need to protect you until you grow up into a powerful Sylvan!”

The dwarves nodded as they looked at Layla.

Layla was still in disbelief and she refused to believe any of this. “No, I’m no such thing.”

Suddenly, five dark creatures rushed towards Layla but Mattan easily blocked their path from Layla.

Layla gasped in utter shock and horror. From the look of them, they are dark dwarves, evil beings of chaos and evil. They are dressed in black and red clothes and they carry axes with them.

Mattan looked at Layla, He used his abilities to transported her back to her home. Layla was thankful to him for saving her life.

After days of this event, Layla discovered that she has some abilities, she can grow plants, flowers and everything that is plant-based. She told Granny Mira and the latter was shocked and scared.

“Please, Do not let the king know of this!” Granny Mira begged.

“Why?” Layla asked innocently.

Granny Mira breathed. “He hates magic, Because ‘magic’ is the reason for his wife's death,” She answered then she paused as if to remember what she was going to say. “Also, He will punish anyone that is doing magic or complicit in it!”

Layla was shocked, she didn’t know about this at all. No one in town said such a thing about magic.

“Okay, I got it,” Layla muttered as her head hunged down.

She was so happy about her gift, she wanted to help everyone and make their life easier, but now? She has to keep her gift a secret or everyone she knows will suffer.

Layla decided to look at the bright side. Granny Mira is right, she needed to keep this secret. Because if not: everyone she cares about is threatened with death. She decided to use her gift in secret and she won’t tell anyone about it except for Granny Mira, she already knows.

Days go by, and the dwarves finally come again to see Layla and to talk with her. They brought with them food and bread.

They sat in Layla’s room and surprised her. Layla smiled at them, it was the first time she smiled at them and she greeted them.

“Hello, Friends,” she greeted them happily.

The dwarves smiled and greeted her too, both were happy about their friendship. They decided to celebrate at little and the food they brought.

Layla took a bite of the bread, it was delicious and sweet, It was as if angels were singing in her mouth, she never tasted something as delicious as this. She thanked them for the food, she ate slowly and with manners, savouring every taste of it.

“This, this is delicious!” Layla spoke after she swallowed the bread.

“Glad you like it, It is called fairy bread,” Mattan exclaimed happily.

Then, The dwarves left, they brought with them so much food that Layla decided to put it on the hall table.

Later that day, Granny Mira invited her other friends, who were all older women just like her, she offered them the food that the dwarves brought to Layla. They took a bite of it and they were happy, they were praising Granny Mira for the delicious food she offered to them.

“This is delicious!”

“I have never ever tasted something like this!”

“This is out of this world!”

Granny Mira's smile flickered with a hint of bewilderment as she listened to their enthusiastic claims about the bread. Doubt crept into her mind, but curiosity got the better of her, with a determined nod, she reached for a piece and brought it to her lips. The moment she took a bite, her eyes widened in astonishment. The flavours exploded on her tongue, sending waves of delight through her senses. In a frenzy of hunger, she devoured the rest of the bread, savouring every delectable morsel as if she were a ravenous beast.

All her friends nodded. “See?” They chuckled at her display of hunger.

Granny Mira chuckled in agreement. She was embarrassed by her own inability to control herself. She is a well-mannered lady and she must show it.

When Granny Mira's friends left. She told Layla about the delicious bread and the food that was on the table, she laughed at how her friends, devoured it all, as if they were starving for days.

Layla smiled at this, she was happy but she was a little concerned since Granny Mira mentioned they ate the food that the dwarves gave her, and she was terrified that her caregiver friends would ask more of that food.

“Wellness, Granny,” Layla chuckled, trying her hardest to push her nervousness and concern away.

“You made it right? You always make delicious food,” Granny

Layla sighed. “No, I didn’t make it,” she confessed.

Granny blinked her eyes in pure confusion. “Y-you didn’t make it? Then who?”

Layla sat on the sofa. She looked at Granny and smiled “The fairies, or the dwarves, whatever they were,” she shrugged her shoulders. She was nonchalant and she didn’t know why.

“Layla, Tell me the truth,” Granny said as she sat beside her on the sofa.

“I told you the truth, It was the dwarves who made it for me.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“It is the truth!”

Granny crossed her arms. “Layla! There are no such things as ‘fairies’ or ‘dwarves’”

“Fine! You want me to prove it to you?” Layla stated as she got to her feet and went to a different spot in the room and she started to move her hands as if to summon a paranormal creature.

It didn’t take long as a green glow sparkled in the room and six figures emerged from it. They were short and dwarves-like, unlike dwarves who were known for their green skin and ugly features, these dwarves had fair skin tones and good-looking facial features.

Granny placed her hands on her lips in pure astonishment. “Oh my! You are right! They are real.”

“See?” Layla grinned at her.

Granny Mira nodded and smiled. “Of course, But you must not tell the people about them Let alone the King,” Granny declared.

Layla nodded at her. “Of course, Granny.”

Times go by, and The dwarves continue to visit Layla and bring food for her, Granny’s guests enjoy the food and tell Granny how talented her daughter is for making the food, They were unaware of the dwarves or the fairies or even of Layla’s new gifts.

Unfortunately, One day, one of the King’s advisors heard some voices in the house of Layla and her Granny, They weren’t human and they didn’t belong to Layla or Granny, He heard of local stories of witches and glowing creatures, etc; he decided to take a permit to investigate the house.

He took a permit and he is heading to investigate Layla’s house. He saw things, He didn’t wish to make accusations without evidence.

Layla and Granny welcomed the King’s advisor. At first, He didn’t find anything regarding the ‘witches’ or ‘the glowing creatures’ that he heard or saw.

Unbeknownst to Layla or Granny, The King’s guards were awaiting the advisor's word so they could enter and capture Layla and Granny. but he didn’t give his signal at all.

The King’s advisor still didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in the house. He is still looking for clues and he sees glowing green spots on the floor. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Layla and her Granny.

“Oh, that? That is some rare herbs I found deep in the forest!” Layla lied. She smiled as she looked him in the eye.

The King's advisor nodded. He didn’t know that it was a lie, her tone was genuine and sincere. and her body language didn’t show nervousness or lack of expression.

But the unexpected happened and one of the dwarves blew his cover as he fell from one of the top drawers of the kitchen.

The King’s advisor looked at Layla and Granny, He immediately lifted his finger and gave a signal towards the King’s guards. They came by kicking the door open and arrested Granny and Layla.

“Please! Please let us go!” Layla begged. “It is not what you think!”

His reply was a slap to her left cheek as he looked at her with disgust. “Silence! You witch!”

The guards took Layla and Granny to the King’s Yard for judgment.

At this moment, Hadi and Arouj were walking around the town, They heard people talking about a girl named Layla and her Granny, and that they were accused of witchcraft and magic.

Hadi’s interest was piqued by this. He knew there was more than meet the eye, He decided to do a rescue mission for Layla and her Granny, So, He pulled Arouj’s hand and they were running towards the King’s yard.

By the time Hadi and Arouj reached the place, the judge had said his final verdict and he saw Layla and her Granny were tied and ready to be executed.

His hand already glowed with green magic, With a snap of his fingers, the ropes on Layla and her Granny loosened, Layla quickly saw her chance and used her chlorokinesis, she shot out her palms, Thick hard vines curled themselves around the guards’ ankles and they were thrown away as if they were stones thrown by a catapult.

People gasped with horror and shock. They were scared of Layla’s powers, They ran at the sight of it. The King ordered his guards to kill Layla and The Granny.

So far, The King’s guards couldn’t get closer to Layla at all, until the King himself took Granny by surprise and killed her by decapitating her head with his sword. Layla gasped in shock and anger. The King’s sword is coated with blood, her Granny’s blood, She used her Chlorokinesis once again, she killed all the guards as her ravenous and scary monster plants killed the complicit in her Granny’s death.

Hadi magically pushed the guards away while Arouj used his lashers to kill them quickly, He didn’t want to but they forced his hands.

Layla growled with anger as she shot her palm against the king and his remaining guards. She commanded the ravenous vines to attack the evil King and his guards.

The King fought for his life till the end, But Layla decided to finish him quickly, One of Layla’s plant vines pierced him his heart, He yelled and gurgled as he placed his hand on his heart as if he was trying to lessen the pain but he couldn’t and died.

Hadi decided to intervene now. He slowly and carefully walked towards Layla. “We need to go,” He said urgently.

She smiled at him and nodded. “Let us go.”

Layla, Hadi and Arouj left the town, Hadi’s hands wreathed in a green glow as he conjured a portal to his home. Layla, Arouj and Hadi entered the portal before they were followed by the King’s guards.

Layla thanked Hadi for saving her and offering her a new place to stay, one where she could freely express herself and be herself.

She knew that she had fallen in love with Hadi Because he was the only guy who didn’t look at her as the guys would. He saw her as a friend and a great one. Layla fell in love with him and she likes him.

Aliyaa, Hadi and Arouj welcomed Layla and thus she stayed with them, as her new family. Layla also decided to look for answers about who she is and what happend to her parents.

[neriyon]

∙ Basics ∙

Name: Hawu'li Puu Nickname(s): No one's really came up with anything (me included) Age: 23 Nameday: 17th Sun of the 4th Umbral Moon (17.8) Race: Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te Gender: Male Orientation: Gayyyy Profession: Warrior of Light / travelling healer

∙ Physical Aspects ∙

Hair: Lavender purple and pretty fluffy. The turquoise part of his bangs is dyed, and needs to be redone regularily. Eyes: Bright yellow Skin: White with pink undertone Tattoos/Scars: White, slightly curved "dots" next to his eyes, three on each side. No notable scars - he's very diligent in healing any big hurts after battle.

∙ Family ∙

Parents: - Mother, Hawu Puu. Matriarch of the Puu family. Alive and well, strictly leading her family back in Shroud. Hawu'li visits her, but rather rarely. - Never met his father, nor know anything about him. It's uncertain if he even knows he has a kid. Siblings: - 2 older brothers, Hawu'a and Hawu'to. Hawu'a lives back in Shroud and hunts for a living, while Hawu'to is a researcher in Old Sharlayan. - Grand total of 5 older and 2 younger sisters. Three of the older sisters left home after adulthood to start their own families, the rest of them live with their mother and help provide for the family. Grandparents: Mostly unknown. Hawu sometimes talked about her mother (Hawu'li's maternal grandmother), but she had passed away before Hawu'li was even born. Other: - Draevoux "Drae" Chevalier and Nana Chevalier, elezen couple who are both his (currently retired) co-wols and "roommates". - Varying lineup of partners. He's poly with multiple partners and I've yet to make a solid list of them all since they change all the time. Aymeric and G'raha are the two I mention most. Pets: Carby the Carbuncle. Hawu'li's uh, not that good with names. Carby is your avarage ruby carbuncle, but is around pretty much 24/7. Often refered to as Hawu'li's "emotional support carbuncle", since it's jobs include keeping him calm when he is left alone.

∙ Skills ∙

Abilities: Strong affinity with healing magic and the ability to hear the elementals, making him a formidable white mage. When situation calls for destruction rather than healing, he's also well versed in the art of summoning, and has been known to call upon demi-Bahamut when feeling truly desperate. Hobbies: Cooking, reading and singing. Also likes to mend stuff (patch holes, fix broken furniture) and read stories to kids (usually his sisters')

∙ Traits ∙

Most Positive Trait: Seemingly endless positivity. For someone who's job is to kill gods and see people get hurt on daily basis he's somehow still sure Things Will Be Better, and that deep down everyone has the potential to change for the better. Most Negative Trait: Separation anxiety. From some deepest parts of his soul comes a crippling fear of being left alone. At it's worst, he'll go into full blown panic attack in fifteen or so minutes after losing sight of others. At it's best (mostly after EW) he'll survive with only Carby as his company for almost half a day.

∙ Likes ∙

Colors: Purples, turquoise, most pastels and bright colors Smells: Freshly baked things, forest, lilies, apples baked with cinnamon Textures: Running fingers through silky hair. Wood, fur and silk. Rocks smoothed over by water. Drinks: Tea (any), milk, blackcurrant juice, mulled wine

∙ Other details ∙

Smokes: Nope Drinks: Only in company Drugs: Nuh-uh Mount Issuance: Koivu, his beloved lavender chocobo companion. Disinterested in almost everything, but happily follows any command given by his owner in exchange of some tasty treats. Been Arrested: Surprisingly, only once - in Ishgard, on suspicion of heresy along with Alphi and Tataru. (Drae took the msq spot of fighting for Tataru's freedom)

Seen this tag game around a lot lately, and I wanted in on the fun despite not being tagged. Took a lot longer to fill than I thought, so we'll see if I have the energy to fill this for other ocs too.

If you want to do it too, go for it! ♪(´▽｀) It takes a while, but is very fun to fill~

[collectingsparechangemadeeasy1]

Song of Summer

Oop! I got another one! The Small Moments AU lives rent free in my brain, and I love sharing it with y’all! Also, if you have any questions, headcanons, or anything like that, send them my way!!!

Qrow was lounging on his wooden lawn chair, his straw hat resting over his eyes as he chewed idly on a stalk of hay. The day was hot, the air shimmering in the distance as cicada’s cried and the shade was barely a reprieve. Qrow didn’t mind much though, sure he had to forgo his usual charcoal work shirt and black canvas pants, and he definitely couldn’t wear his red cloak in this heat. No, now he had to wear a white billowy t-shirt with red embroidery along the collar, in the artistic shapes of crows and trees. Along with tan shorts, cuffed at the ends, and no shoes.

His black unicorn, Harbinger, wasn’t too far. He was napping in the shade of Qrow’s little shack at the edge of Oz’s property, laying down to preserve energy and because he felt safe to do so with Qrow around. He himself made damn sure there was a bucket of water for Harbinger, and a cool breeze blowing on them both whenever there could be. Wind magic was his second strongest type after all.

He was supposed to be working technically. As the officially unofficial grounds keeper of Ozpin's land, he took care of a lot. He’d generally let everything grow wild, but sometimes he’d snip loose branches before storms, top up artificial watering holes or feeders for animals as needed, get rid of invasive plants and bugs, and he’d patrol the grounds. Patrolling was his least favorite, but most important job.

He had to patrol, check for illegal traps, and free anything caught in them. He’d drive off trespassers, or occasionally save some poor lost soul in Oz’s forest. Or get rid of trespassers. Oz was fine with people wandering onto his property, so long as they didn’t touch anything. No taking souvenirs, no hunting or foraging without his express permission, and absolutely NO hunting of the rare or magical creatures in the woods. Those were protected species.

Right now though, Qrow was taking a break. He’d done his second patrol, topped up what needed to be topped up, and he’d gotten rid of a type of ivy that was extremely fast growing and could smother whole trees in a matter of days. He’d earned a little break for himself.

He lifted his hat as he heard approaching hooves. He smiled seeing the familiar black and white coat of Long Memory, Oz on her back. He was sporting a red bandana around his neck, white button up, with the sleeves rolled up to the forearm and blue jeans embroidered with vines and leaves in green thread along the sides, and his usual signature glasses; even if they resembled sunglasses more right now. “Good afternoon Qrow! I wanted to check on you, see if you needed anything.” Qrow waved a hand dismissively, “Nah I’m fine. So’s Harbinger. I appreciate the check up though Oz.”

Oz dismounted Long Memory and walked over, offering him a sip from his canteen. Qrow sniffed and took a swing, it was some kind of potion that cooled his entire body when he drank it. “Thanks. One of Glyndas?”

“Her recipe, but I brewed it.” he explained, sitting on the grass next to Qrow, sighing contently. “I may not like the heat, but I do like the way the world sings in the heat of the summer. Don’t you?” “It certainly adds the right touch, wouldn’t be the same without.” Qrow agreed, laying back on his chair and putting the hat back over his face. “Where’s Oscar today?”

“Visiting my brothers at home. They stopped by unexpectedly.” he hummed, playing with a wild thistle in his fingers. “I’d be over there, but it was getting a bit much. So I thought I’d check on you.”

“So to translate, you used me as “Get out of social engagement” free card?” he smirked, chuckling at how Oz blushed.

“I suppose it’s one way to look at it. But you know my brothers! Ozma and Diggs can get so… rowdy when we’re all together! I just needed a breather.” he almost seemed to pout, which Qrow thought was almost cute.

He shrugged, running a hand through his long messy black hair, speckled with strands of gray here and there, it was tied back in a messy ponytail at the moment. “Don’t gotta defend yourself to me Oz. I use you as an excuse just as much. I wanna leave, I just say “Oz needed me to get some work done on the property today! Gotta go!” and no one ever questions it!”

Oz laughed and shook his head fondly, “Well, you’re more than free to continue that practice. After all, what are friends for?”

“Cheers to that!” Qrow chuckled, sipping the cooling potion one more time before handing it to Oz, who also took a big swig.

They sat like that for a bit, listening to the song of summer around them. Their horses lay in the shade, snorting at each other, cicadas crying out looking for their potential mates, the occasional breeze from Qrow cooling them and rustling the drying grass. A true symphony.

Qrow eventually stood and stretched, “Alright, you should head back, I’ve got some work to do after… all. Huh.” Looking at his companion, he found Oz had fallen asleep. Hands behind his head, relaxed expression, chest moving up and down in a slow steady rhythm. There were wild thistles, black eyed susans, and regular daisies framing his sleeping form. The picture made Qrow smile, Oz just looked so peaceful. But he was also pale as anything, and Qrow didn’t want him to burn.

He picked up a stick and poked at Oz with it, “Hey! Sleepin beauty! Wake up!”

Oz grumbled and swatted a bit at the stick, but his eyes squinted open. “Qrow? Oh goodness did I fall asleep?” He rubbed his eyes and  yawned, stretching languidly. But suddenly froze. 

“…Oh gods I’ve been gone too long! Long Memory! Here girl!” He sprang up, as did the horse, and Oz quickly hopped onto her bare back, and smiled sheepishly at Qrow. “Thank you for waking me, I deeply appreciate it! I’ll see you soon Qrow! Come by the house if you want! HIYAH!” With a light kick, Long Memory ran off, leaving Qrow and Harbinger alone once again.

“See ya’round Oz.” he chuckled, walking towards Harbinger. Time for another patrol. Maybe he’d catch sight of Ozpin's brothers on his way around. Who knows?

[official-weasley]

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 6, Ch. 2

PART 6: THE YEAR WHEN EVERYTHING FALLS INTO PLACE Chapter 2 - The Captain and the Quit

Nova

I couldn't believe I thought we had more time this year than the year prior. We had fewer subjects but they were more demanding so the free time was just on paper. I still attended Advanced Transfiguration with McGonagall and I was now officially a proud owner of a Salamander named Pyro.

The first day after the classes began, I went to talk to Professor Kettleburn to show him my O.W.L. result for Care of Magical Creatures and to convince him to let me take care of a Salamander. He was over the moon when he saw my results and took me to see one immediately.

I jumped for joy when I saw the little guy and I couldn't help but fall in love. Kettleburn told me that they are a big responsibility and if I will take good care of him, I would get extra credit in his class at the end of the year. I assured him that I would be good with the animal even without the extra credit and I was sure that is exactly what he wanted to hear.

With our lessons being so demanding and the ton of homework we got in each class, I've made a decision to quit Quidditch. Andre wasn't happy about it and neither was Orion. But after I told him that I didn't bring them that many wins last year due to that Bludger hitting me in the back, he stopped trying to get me back on the Team.

I knew Charlie was going to be disappointed as well, as he couldn't wait to play against me this year. He talked about it a few times when we were at the Burrow. I, on the other hand, realized that I don't miss it all that much and that I have other talents that are much better than my flying.

After telling Orion, I wanted to find Murphy and tell him as well. I felt so bad the other day when he asked to hang out with me and I turned him down. I didn't do so just because Charlie was sitting right next to me but also because I don't know how I feel about him anymore. He still gave me butterflies and I still couldn't get enough of his blue eyes but the problem was, the same thing was happening to me with Charlie. I was so confused the entire Summer as I didn't know what was happening inside my head. Truth be told, I still don't know.

I thought about Murphy and I felt my cheeks flush red but being around Charlie made me feel something entirely different that I haven't felt before and the way he was acting around me made him more attractive each day. I liked his calmness and the fact that I couldn't figure him out. It was like he was hiding something from me all the time.

I caught myself daydreaming about him almost every day and when the boys were playing Quidditch at the Burrow I couldn't take my eyes off him. I was ready to admit to myself that I have feelings for my best friend, for which I am not sure how I feel about, but then Murphy asked me to hang out and made my heartbeat raise and that confused me even more. I can't like both of them at the same time, can I?

I couldn't find Murphy anywhere so I decided not to push my luck. He will find out at the tryouts anyway and I didn't know if I wanted to be around him or not. I didn't want to give him false hope in case he fancied me because I didn't know where I stood with my feelings and it wouldn't be fair to him in case I would realize that I don't like him like that anymore.

The day I quit Quidditch I sent Charlie an owl to meet me down by the Lake. I wanted to tell him in private and I wanted to know if he was made Captain of the Gryffindor Team. He was their best player and I doubt they would pick anyone else.

“Pip, I can't always draw you.” I smiled at my owl when he hooted rather disappointingly when he saw I was drawing a Salamander. “He is not going to replace you. I am only looking after it. I promise.” Pip was skeptical and I knew I was going to have to visit him a lot this year to stay on his good side.

“Here's my favorite person!” Charlie sat down next to me on the blanket.

“Hi.” I greeted him, moving my pencils.

“I meant Pip.” He said with a serious face. At this point, I really couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Pip obviously didn't care as he hooted cheerfully and started picking at Charlie's hair. I couldn't stop myself from wanting to go through his hair too, it was so soft.

“Nova, I'm joking.” He said gently when he saw my stunned face. I shook my head. I have to be more focused around him. “I'm happy you invited me to hang out.” He smiled and I felt like melting. FOCUS!

“Pip wanted to hang out not me.” I teased him back.

“Then Pip and I will take this elsewhere.” I stuck my tongue out at his smug face as he was pretending to get up and leave. Pip was hooting happily, enjoying this as much as we were.

I knew we were both glad things went back to normal between us even though I still had a feeling something changed in the Forest. We had this energy whenever we were together that I am not quite sure I can explain. It's like everything is falling into place and I feel more comfortable around him than I did before.

“I actually have to tell you something.” I didn't know why I felt nervous, I knew he was going to understand.

“Go ahead.” He turned to me, reached for my hand and placed it in between both of his. Was I reading too much into this or was he more affectionate?

“I decided to quit Quidditch.” He let go of my hand.

“Why?” He asked concerned.

“After last year's accident, I kind of got scared. I still need healing sessions with Madam Pomfrey and I don't know...I guess I lost interest.” I shrugged and looked into his eyes to see how he was feeling about this.

“Okay.” He said, gently. “Is that the only reason?” He knew me too well.

“No.” I shook my head. “After everything that happened with us last year, I am trying to manage my time better. You know how much school work we have this year and between taking care of Pyro,” his lips curved as I said my Salamander's name, “and Advanced Transfiguration, I would rather spend more of this year with friends and with you.” I smiled and I knew there was no way to hide my red cheeks.

“You have to stop blaming yourself for last year, Nova. It's behind us, we're good.” He pulled me into a half hug. He always smelled so nice. He smelled like home.

“I know.” I sighed. “But I'm not changing my mind. What I did to you last year was horrible and I will never forgive myself.”

“I forgave you.” He pulled away and looked at me. His eyes were full of understanding as if last year didn't happen. I, on the other hand, still couldn't get over how much I hurt him. How could I do that to my best friend?

“Thank you.” I tried looking him in the eyes but I kept looking away. Suddenly his gentle smile turned into a smirk.

“Look on the bright side, you will have one more match to stare at me.” He winked and my heart skipped a beat. Why was he doing this to me?

“Oh, no! You found out my real reason for quitting.” We both started laughing.

Every moment I spent with Charlie, I held close to my heart. I know I am never going to take him for granted again. He was the most wonderful person I know and I was the luckiest girl to call him my best friend. He was understanding and always put his friends before himself and the fact that he was able to find it in his heart to forgive me last year was something that I don't think anyone else would be able to do.

“What did Orion say about it?” He asked. I think I was beginning to freak him out by staring at him so much.

“He wanted to persuade me to stay, of course.” I chuckled. “But I made it quite clear that I wasn't the best Seeker and they will probably do better without me. When I reminded him of every time I didn't catch the Snitch, he gave up.”

“And Skye?” He mocked. He knew Skye and I were usually not on the best of terms. She was shouting at me more than smiling and I never knew if she was serious or if I could relax around her.

“She didn't want to show that she was pleased to see me quit, even though she did a really poor job hiding it.” I laughed.

“I am really curious who they will pick to replace you.” He laid down on my legs, looking at the sky, probably wondering who it will be.

“Oh, I didn't tell you!” He said suddenly. “I was made Captain.” He said casually as if predicting the next day's weather.

“What?” I screamed in excitement. “And you let me go on and on about me quitting!” I poked him in the ribs.

“Your thing was more important.” He smiled.

“Nothing is more important than you being made Captain, Char!” I was so proud of him and I knew he was being modest telling me so casually as I knew he wanted the position.

“You are.” Seriously, when did he get so smooth? It was moments like this that made me question my feelings for Murphy.

“Well, congratulations! I am so happy for you! When are you holding tryouts?” I ruffled his hair. He chuckled as I changed the topic back to him.

“Saturday morning. I am really curious about my applicants. I am thinking of keeping all of the teammates as we work really well together, but I do need to find a new Keeper, John was a Seventh Year like Bill.”

“I'm sure you're going to do great, Cap!” I smiled. “And I can stalk you with Penny from the stands.” I smirked.

“I'm counting on it.” He grinned.

Even though we had so much work and at this point, I was dreaming about McGonagall and Transfiguration, I found time to spend with Charlie and all of my friends. Even though I barely saw Tulip except in our dormitory and Penny was Merlin knows where, probably with Andre. I felt like I was studying more than her this year! And Tonks was so busy developing a new product with Bilton that I don't even know if she was sleeping in her dormitory.

But I didn't mind. It gave me time to focus on my studies and suddenly I had more time to draw which I don't remember when the last time was. I also visited Pip at the Owlery more and invited Charlie to tag along when I went to take care of Pyro. I was feeling more like myself than I did in two years and I promised myself I will do everything to keep it that way because last year, I was a disaster.

[blarrghe]

“don’t look at me like i’m a hero. you’ll only disappoint yourself.” For my stabby revolutionary Lavellan Lyanna? Born to a clan, but grew up in the shadow of Halamshiral. I’d love to see how she gets along with Taren and Theo. ❤️

Oh what a badass! I hope you don’t mind that there’s quite a lot of Taren/Theo in this and not a huge amount of Lyanna, I just thought this made a very excellent introduction line for her! Also I haven’t written them fighting together yet so that was neat.

--

“Who are we going to meet again?” Theo asked the question through a long, drawn-out yawn, stretching his arms over his head as they walked. The road was clear of travelers still, and a thin fog was being slowly lifted from the ground with the rising sun.

“Don’t you ever listen when I talk?” Taren scolded in reply, walking ahead of Theo. There was a brightness to his step, despite the fact that they had both only just woken from sleep.

“Not when it’s this early.” Theo grumbled behind him, shuffling in the way that he thought was more fitted to grogginess. Not that Taren would know anything about grogginess. Maybe all those mean spirited letters were on to something, and his brother really was some sort of insane demon who never needed rest. More likely though, it was the entire pot of coffee that Taren had opted to take for himself, after Theo had rejected the bitter liquid, that gave him his pep.

“Leliana only gave a nickname - “Fox” - but she claims some link to us.” Taren explained again, and Theo distantly remembered hearing the information before. He raised an eyebrow at “us”. Taren meant the Dalish us, not the Inquisition. The latter connection was a given for Theo, these days, but his inclusion with the former was more complicated.

“You mean the clan.” He countered quickly; not a question, more a reminder. Neither he nor Taren had been in the company of their clan since the breaking of the world began, but for Theo, the connection had been tentative long before that.

“Yes,” Taren replied, some of what Theo teasingly called his Keeper Voice breaking through in the remark, “that us.”

Theo sighed, it was too early for an argument. “So why are you bringing me?”

Taren shrugged. “I needed a scout,” he answered, “seemed like your sort of job.” Theo nodded along, already forgetting to listen to the answer to what he had just asked, as his mind attempted to wander away into sleepy daydreams again. Taren stopped and looked back at him, waiting for his attention to return; the bobbing of his head must not have been a very convincing response. “And you do have some connection to the clan, too.” Taren’s words were pointed as he linked one of his arms with his, keeping his gait quick as Theo stumbled to keep up. He was talking about himself, Theo realised with a pang of regret. Of course he hadn’t meant to exclude that.

“Did you know her?” He asked, letting Taren lead them on with his quick steps. It wasn’t that hard to keep up, his long legs could outpace Taren easily, if not for his endless supplies of energy.

“How would I know? All we have is a nickname.”

Right. He had said that. Did Taren not realise that it was still not even really dawn?

“Leliana thinks she could be a useful ally, and if the reports are right, I agree.” Taren was still talking, and Theo nodded along again, more of the information returning to his memory.

“Because she works for that elf you met in Orlais.” He had synthesized Taren’s explanation of the political machinations of Orlais into some few simple notes for his memory - elven revolutionaries were fighting against imperialistic nobility; everything was pretty much terrible, and it was mostly the shemlens’ fault. Taren had a somewhat more balanced view of things, one that took into account the relations of other countries, various historical battles, and all sorts of secret knowledge gained through complicated espionage. He appreciated that it was complicated, and if it wasn’t so early he might even have been willing to dedicate real intellectual thought to the discussion, but for his current purposes the categories “elven rebels” and “human jerks” made sense of things well enough. They were off to meet an elven rebel. He supposed that was indeed “his sort of job”.

“Didn’t sound like she works for anyone, from the report. But yes, she has a reputation.” Taren said.

“And you think you can get her to work for you.” Not a question, he knew exactly how Taren thought; and he knew Taren would be there anyway, even if he didn’t want the revolutionary’s help.

Taren shrugged. “She’s still a Lavellan.” Good old predictable Taren, putting on his Keeper Voice again.

The conversation was interrupted by the sounds of a violent commotion ahead. Horses neighing, shouted voices, and the clashing of steel echoed down the road, and a flock of birds lifted itself noisily from the trees. Theo and Taren sprang apart, each quickly reaching for their weapons. Taren cast a barrier over both of them while Theo nocked an arrow, and cautiously, keeping to the edge of the forest which lined the road, they approached.

The commotion was caused by an ambush of highwaymen, who had apparently jumped out to rob a caravan which traveled down the road. The victims of the attack appeared to be but simple travelers - refugees, probably. Theo saw pointed ears poking out of hoods, small bodies huddled behind larger ones. Two of the older looking travelers had shoddy weapons in hand, struggling against the bandits.

His throat tightened, anger flooding him as loosed his arrows at the attackers, catching one in the face before the brute could bring down an axe on a struggling civilian fighter. He wasted no time in joining the fight, aiming careful arrows at the gaggle of unlucky bandits. Taren had sprung to action as well. More protective barriers sprang up around the refugees without weapons, and roots and rock rose and shuddered from the ground under bandits’ feet.

Then as they fought, another entered the fray. She seemed to drop from the sky, two long blades flashing brightly in her hands. She moved quickly, zigzagging her way from one bandit to another, leaving them clutching bleeding wounds or lying motionless in her wake. One of the men ran, and Theo found himself in close combat with the large brute, wrestling against his arms to try to keep a blade out of his face. A couple stabs to Taren’s barrier over him had weakened it, another would likely break through. Their faces were close. The man was big and burly, with dirt-caked skin and wild hair. A sinister grin spread over the bandits face. Theo was taller, but not as broadly built, and his arms wouldn’t be able to hold back the blows for long. He shoved a knee into the man, staggering him long enough that he could attempt to draw his own short blade from his belt, but the bandit rebounded before he could land another blow, and he narrowly dodged a swing of his dagger.

Before he could dodge another blow, the fast fighting woman spun quickly in and out of view, shoving the bandit away, spinning around behind him as he struggled to keep his footing, and stabbing him in the back - a quick succession of stabs under the ribs - the bandit dropped clutching his wounds, tense, and then limp.

Theo took a couple steps back, catching his breath, and looked up at the woman who had come to his rescue. Bright red hair and eyes still narrowed for a fight. The rest of the attackers had fallen now, and Theo let out a breath. “Thanks.” He said to the woman, whose expression was changing now from a grimace to a proud smirk. “That was amazing.” He could have gotten out of it, of course, but credit where it was due: this woman could fight.

“Don’t look at me like I’m a hero, you’ll only disappoint yourself.” Replied his saviour casually, turning away from him to stoop over the now-dead bandit’s body, she rummaged in the man’s pockets, adding what coin was there to her own. As she went about pickpocketing the dead, a small fennec scampered over to her, following her and making circles around her legs.

“But you are one, aren’t you?” Taren stepped toward her, his eye scanning the scene. Theo looked again at the fennec. Oh. Fox. Taren went on talking, listing a few accomplishments that Theo again vaguely remembered from an earlier briefing. The woman stopped gathering spoils and stood to meet him.

“And who the fuck are you?”

Theo tried not to laugh at Taren’s expression. To anyone else, he seemed always to do a remarkably good job of staying calm, but Theo saw him twitch. He was really starting to like this Fox woman.

“Taren Lavellan,” he answered her with stress on the clan name and without giving his title. Not that he needed to, everyone in the world knew his name by now. But maybe he was spending too much time in Orlais, because it seemed to Theo that the words Taren chose when he met people always meant something.

“Oh.” She sounded surprised, eyes widening a little as she spoke, but Theo couldn’t tell if it was a happy sound. “No offence, but I expected you’d be taller.”

That time, he did laugh. He tried to stifle it with his sleeve, but it didn’t matter, Taren was laughing too. The woman’s smirk returned to her face, and her eye landed on Theo. He cleared his throat, banishing the rest of his laughter.

“Theo Lavellan,” he offered in introduction, “I uh, work for the Inquisition.”

“Lyanna.” Replied the woman with a curt nod. She returned her smirking gaze to Taren. “Can I help you, Inquisitor?”

“Actually,” Taren began with a smirk that mirrored hers, but it was amused, more than cocky, “I think we can help each other.”

Introductions over with, Taren broke the conversation to help the refugees return to their feet, and Theo heard him making generous offers of aid as he sent them on their way again. Lyanna was watching him work, the smirk not leaving her face even as her eyes narrowed again in careful consideration. Theo, meanwhile, watched her fox, and idly wondered where he could get one of his own. 

[ruffled-serpent]

Lair Review for ShadowKitty

@shadowkitty-fr-art​​

Alright SK sorry for the wait, but you’re finally up next~

224! That’s a lot of colorful and beautiful dragons! Glancing through your lair makes me feel like I’m looking at “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat.

Forest Lily

Nature themed dragons are my JAM so of course I’m going to single out the cool leafy dudes. Forest Lily is so unique-- I really like how you took the splash of color from the Opal tertiary and used it as an opportunity to bring in even more color (the blues and purples of the flowerfalls). Nature IS colorful, it’s not always about just being green, and I adore how you’ve represented that here with Forest Lily.

Ashe

Ashe is a solid take on some old fashioned apparel. I really like how you used the reds of this armor to pair nicely with the dark reds of his primary. The etching on the armor, and the highlights go so well with the whites of his wings and pearl.Pairing him with the cinder nymph to really bring out the greys of the armor was an excellent choice. He’s got such a regal and heroic vibe.

Eren

Oh Eren’s colors took my breath away. He almost looks like the planet Earth with all the greens and blues, and little “cloud” of the grimplate. What I really like about Eren is how the different shades of blue come together so nicely. Even the more cyan hued blues in mantis find a home in his overall palette. What a magnificent looking dragon, I could stare all day if I wanted.

Sol

Everything about Sol makes him a great light rep. The gradient from Gold to Sunshine to Carrot is so satisfying to look at. The oranges allow the apparel to stand out more, given that they’re much lighter, and I think you did an excellent job with choosing the perfect dragon to wear this Light themed apparel. He doesn’t seem too busy, but it’s still entertaining to the eyes to admire the details of his outfit. Pairing him up with the Shining Cancer familiar goes really well with the raiments he is wearing. Phenomenal job here

Amethyst

I see that Amethyst is in your projects tabs, but I do want to comment on how well you’ve dressed her. She makes for an excellent witchy arcane rep. The flowers from the crown and veil have given the outfit a nice crystal forest vibe, and I particularly enjoy how you married the birdskull feathers with the orchid feathered wings. She looks stunning, and I can’t wait to see her when she’s complete!

Viridi

Not only is the skin you chose for this dragon just absolutely beautiful, but to pair this skin with the dragon’s fire eyes is just galaxy brain energy. It’s SUCH a subtle detail on a dragon that is ‘just wearing a skin’ but it’s BRILLIANT. Plus you get such an intricate looking dragon without the pain of trying to layer apparel and find exact colors. I applaud your work with Viridi

Pyra

All of your spiral flight reps are just so well done and Pyra is no different. I’m blown away at how her reds and oranges with the crystal/facet combination looks so much like actual flames here. Speaking of noodles, pairing her with the new burning virgo familiar is just too much of a fabulous coincidence. Her marigold color goes well with the molten lava in the tubes along her back in the crucible apparel. Overall the colors blend so nicely together without washing anything out on Pyra. Well done

Lucien

Lucien is SUCH a stunning dragon. I mean the use of the bewitching ruby set on this dragon gives him such a devilish and attractive look! But you went a step further by giving him that gorgeous accent. He looks like a royal keeper of flames and like he may have an intimidating charm to him. I mean woof, I think I’m going to need a drink of water before I move onto the next dragon...

Spinach

I love everything about the colors spinach has, but we all know by now that I’m a huge sucker for blue and green. But I also want to point out at how well his eyes match the underbelly and birdskull apparel. I also chose him to be on this list because of his very interesting bio. I love how you’ve given him some fun lore and personality, and I can easily imagine the green birdskull feathers as spinach he carts around trying to get his friends to eat.

Noxie

Noxie here makes an amazing witch. Her smoke gene looks as though she’s peering over a smoking cauldron, and I looove the halloween themed colors she has. The riot of rot apparel really work to bring out those spooky vibes that Noxie is so obviously about. It feels as though she’s got something up her sleeves, and I’m not sure I’d want to test my fate around her. She’s so fun to look at and her personality really shines through with the outfit you’ve given her.

Thank you for letting me review your lair, ShadowKitty, you have such a unique and intricate style when it comes to dragons and that is something to be proud of. Great job in constructing your lair!

[tackyink]

The making of Anomaly, chapter 3

Link to chapter 3

I’ll openly admit that, at this point, I had no idea what I was doing, but I was in a YYH mood and Makoto seemed to have piqued people’s interest, so I thought I might as well keep going.

The chapter opens with Makoto and Yuusuke trying not to die as they run laps around the lake. That’s Amemasu’s home, so when she sinks her head in the lake, there’s a good chance they saw her for the first time in many years.

I didn’t know yet what lived in the lake, and neither did Makoto, but Amemasu had been aware of Mako as early as Nana first brought her to the temple and was shown around the lake. At this point in the story, she hasn’t been in the forest in a long time, so Amemasu probably had a very confusing moment as to who this young Nana lookalike with youki was.

"There is something odd about his aura. I cannot pinpoint it, but it's there."

"As I understand, he died and came back to life."

This is Makoto actually sensing Yuusuke’s weird wavelength that almost got him stuck in the afterlife. Genkai offers a passable explanation, but what Makoto’s picking up isn’t due to his resurrection, it’s the budding demon genes that are still obscured by Yuusuke’s very human… everything.

He wasn't supposed to be there. That's why Kurama's death had been so clear to her, it had to be. Her prediction hadn't accounted for this guy because he just wasn't supposed to be there, wrecking everything he came in contact with. He was tearing down the very paths of fate.

Plucked from the river of life and thrown back in without a care, the ripples he caused were affecting the people he crossed paths with.

The mother of all anomalies. The source of her headaches for over a week. It had been his fault all along.

I cannot stress enough that this wasn’t planned and I was just following Makoto’s thoughts to their logical conclusion. Luckily for me, Makoto turned out to be a very reflexive character, and I think a lot of Anomaly’s charm is due to this: we as fans know the story in a way that is hard to be surprised anymore, but re-experiencing these events through the eyes of someone with inside knowledge of how things work in-universe and no idea of how events will play out opens up many avenues for analysis. She notices things that our familiarity or ingrained first impressions make us overlook. At least, that’s how it worked for me.

And Anomaly could very well have ended here, with its main mystery resolved, but I was having way too much fun to let go yet.

I didn’t expect Mako and Yuusuke to get along so well. I honestly thought she’d just write him off as dumb and loud and he’d think she was off-putting and had a stick up her ass. I didn’t realize until I had them alone in the same room that Yuusuke and Fumiko are not so different, and Mako was used to dealing with her more than with anybody else. I think she finds some comfort in people who are so radically different to her, who’s always gone through life restraining herself. And after his trip through the afterlife, Yuusuke is not the judgmental type, so when he brings up her oddities, he does so in the same straightforward way Fumi does, with no ill intent. She knows how rare that is and appreciates it.

The other thing that I cannot stress enough is that Kurama is a nightmare to write. Their little back and forth after school was torture to write because I can never figure out what is going through his head. Rereading this with some perspective, I’d say that he found her funny and he was very curious about Makoto’s power. He’s taken a liking to her, of course, since she was worried about him and his mother back at the hospital, but at this point she’s a bit of a sociological experiment to him. Though, to be fair, all the connections Kurama forms along YYH have that feel. Human World relationships are a novelty he hasn’t experienced much.

"I'm sure you look fantastic when you exercise. Not a hair out of place, all prim and proper with your clothes neatly pressed."

I just want to point out that I share Makoto’s saltiness regarding this matter.

"Good morning, Makoto," he said amicably.

She refused to take her eyes off the road. "Are you a stalker?"

It’s fun to write people with little regards for social conventions.

At any rate, the entire conversation they have during the run was me trying to set the inner workings and limits of Mako’s ability for my own benefit as much as for the readers.

By the time Mako’s back to the temple, Yuusuke has surpassed her, maybe not in energy reserves, but 100% in technique. He’s a prodigy and she’s slow, she’s assumed that there are some things she simply cannot do, and this is why she won’t catch up to the others in terms of battling skill for the rest of the fic.

Mako’s habit of counting to three fit so well with it being a habit from training as a child, like a ballerina counting steps, that when I thought of it I was like, ‘Oh, so that’s why she does that!’

Genkai hummed and, after a few seconds, she said, "You should also know that you are always welcome here."

This small remark was, in the end, what decided Makoto’s fate at the end of the fic. I kept coming back to this sentence, thinking of how Genkai wanted the temple grounds to become a refuge for non-humans. She knew that Makoto was bound to feel out of place no matter where she went and wanted to help with that in her own way. It sort of worked, in the sense that it became Mako’s home down the line, but Makoto never felt it hers. She always felt like she was just the keeper of the grounds, waiting for the true master to come back, and she sticks to the philosophy of welcoming everyone, first to honor Genkai’s wishes, later on because she realizes that it is important for everybody to have a place like that. This is something I would love to explore in the sequel, if I ever get around to writing it.

As for her parents, they are just regular good people. They aren’t very interesting, nor were they meant to be. Mako’s home life is the model of what a nuclear family is supposed to be: happy suburban couple with a kid, a two story house, stable jobs, a nice car, and not a worry in life other than doing too much overtime. Makoto is weird enough for all of them, so her family didn’t need to be.

[cj-and-cjs-ocs]

I know it's complicated but is there any way you make like different essays on the different planets, places, and ships and stuff in the Star Gazer universe that we've heard of so far. (Like the terrains, the races of peoples and their abilities, politics and laws, some notable character who frequently visit or live there, etc. And maybe also some notable weapons or different kinds of food and drinks type or cool items in the Star Gazer Universe? Sorry it's a lot, don't feel pressured to do it.

Aight. It took me a day, but here’s the most information I could remember/come up with and write about...so...think of each paragraph as a sort of...mini essay ‘:D

Ships

Lyra/Leo’s ship: basically a scout ship for Freespace that Lyra and Leo use to complete missions. There’s not much to say about this ship, but it’s where the two spend most of their time before meeting up with Pegasus.

Peg’s ship: built on earth in a secret lab on earth and designed for constant space travel. It larger and stronger than most of Freespace’s scout ships but it’s used mostly for research and exploration. There are two giant lazed canons on either wing in case of hostile conflict.

Draco’s ship: built by and unknown being on a distant planet from a mysterious and nearly indestructible material. It features a crystal canon that shoots powerful beams on fiery light. This is the main ship of the fleet, although the other fight ships look similar in design.

Space stations: these are just found around various areas of space. Some of them belong to the Crystals, some belong to Freespace, and others are often linked directly to their home planet as a place for visitors to land and keep their spacecraft secure. (The school that Leo and Lyra went to was a station that was near earth)

Planets

Junglefra: a supposedly uninhabited planet covered in thick jungle and small rivers. Home to various animals including “night screamers” and small, blue rabbit-like beings. Leo lived there for a short while before being taken away, and Inlustris, Milo, and Chris end up living there later.

Unnamed Lava planet: this planet appeared in episode 4, with great grey mountains and a think crust of land that was broken to reveal a sea of magma underneath. This planet remains uninhabited and unfit to support life.

Planet 889: Leo’s home planet that used to host one of Earth’s colonies. It remains abandoned now, but used to be full of rich farmland and forest.

Thiolia: the home planet of the Reptmalian race. It hosts a wide variety of life and has become a hub for space-travellers due to its placement and hospitality. It is mostly covered in plains and mountains, but there are a few forests that are being preserved. King Solaris rules over the largest civilization on the planet.

Most of the story occurs in space, but other than earth, those are all the planets featured in the story.

Weapons

Guns: used by a majority of characters, there’s no real specific guns yet. They blast small beams of harmful plasma energy.

Leo’s staff: a normal looking staff, but very useful for fighting when it’s in the right hands. Leo can summon it when he needs it.

Draco’s sword: a sword of green fire that Draco can summon. It can also take the form of others weapons like spears and knives, as well as a shield.

Eda’s sword (used by Milo): a sword of red crystal that can appear or disappear at Milo or Edasich’s will. It’s jagged edges are what makes it more deadly than the average blade.

Ella’s staff: a combination of staff and sword, glows a bright white when used and can temporarily blind an opponent.

Peg’s sword: currently Pegasus is unable to summon a sword, but would be able to summon a sword of white light if she trained and worked on her powers.

Milo’s power: Milo can almost summon something, but it is not a very strong weapon and is more for protection.

Lyra’s power: Lyra can use sound as a weapon, but just doesn’t know it. She needs to discover this power if she trains and talks to her father about how to tap into it.

Solaris’s sword: King Solaris wields an electrified sword that can slice and electrocute opponents simultaneously. It is incredibly dangerous and mostly the reason he is successful in battle.

Races

Reptmalians: a species that is both mammal-like and reptile-like, native to Thiolia. They still retain primitive aspects from their ancestors like hyper-aggression and their teeth and claws. They build advanced civilizations that either destroy each other or create a truce, when two groups go to war only one group will remain and the rest perish.

Living Stars: a mysterious race or beings that appear starlike and have incredible power. Not much is known about them.

The blue-rabbit people: a race native to Junglefra, they hide from contact with other races and are usually aggressive to foreigners.

Keepers (tall-bird people): nobody really knows their home planet, but there are rumours it was destroyed a long time ago. They enjoy taking care of animals and often get jobs as biologists, vets, zookeepers, and zoologists. They’re found scattered around the galaxy in small groups or alone, and they don’t appear to have special powers.

There are a lot of other species that appear in the series but I haven’t though enough about them to be able to write about/name them.

Food

Berries: there’s a wide variety of fruits and berries on Junglefra, they aren’t named, but I figured I’d give them some recognition because they are delicious and some are practically addictive.

Reptmalian Tea: made from a mint-like plant that’s native to Thiolia, the tea made from its leaves tastes like a strange mix of mint and fruit that’s surprisingly delicious.

That’s all I’ve got for food as of now, but I’ll probably come up with more as I go.

[fangsandforests]

Review: Arcadia Deep Heat Projector

Up until recently, I haven’t had any reptiles that required external heat sources. All I’ve used is a space heater to warm the room during cold winter days.

But now we have a new gecko in the Fangs & Forests family, one that needs higher temperatures. I’ll share his full story at some point, but for now, let me introduce my rescued leopard gecko, Calcifer. (He is recovering from swollen feet and a tail injury, so if you notice those things in his photos, please know that he has seen a vet and had treatment. He lost the tips of some of his back toes before coming into my care.)

I know there’s a lot of conflicting information out there about leopard gecko care, specifically about how to heat their enclosures. Some keepers are diehard fans of underbelly heating, and others prefer overhead methods like basking lights and heat emitters. Calcifer came to me with a basking light, but I quickly figured out that it was creating a basking spot that was way too hot without raising the ambient temperature much. 

Since I have fallen in love with Arcadia products and already use their Shadedweller lighting for my crested geckos, I thought I’d try out the new Arcadia Deep Heat Projector (DHP). If you’re a fan of Leopard Gecko’s Youtube channel like me, you’ll know that she uses the DHP successfully with some of her geckos.

You can learn about the science behind the DHP on Arcadia’s website, so I won’t go into detail about that here. I’m simply going to give my honest opinion on how it’s been working out for Calcifer's enclosure. (By the way, the design of this bulb is pretty impressive. It’s definitely not a cheaply-made product!)

Tweaking the setup

Arcadia recommends pairing the DHP with a dimming thermostat. So I picked up a Herpstat thermostat (which I’m very happy with, by the way, but that’s a different review!). A dimming thermostat helps extend the life of the DHP bulb and ensures that it stays within set temperatures. 

As I found out, there are a few other things that are critical if you want to get the most out of the DHP. First, you have to take into consideration what type of enclosure you have. PVC and wood enclosures hold in heat well, especially if the heat source is mounted inside; glass, not so much. Since Calcifer's enclosure is glass, and I was using the DHP in a dome fixture on top of the enclosure, I ended up covering three sides of the enclosure with black contact paper to help retain heat. I also covered about a third of the screen top with a PVC sheet. (It’s an Exo Terra enclosure with front ventilation, so I knew I wouldn’t be blocking too much airflow.)

You’ll also want to incorporate a lot of natural rock into the enclosure. Since leopard geckos will sprawl out on heated rocks to warm their bellies, I put natural slate floor tiles on the warm side of the enclosure. I also built a hide/raised basking spot from slate rocks, and that’s where I put the thermostat probe. The reason for all this rock is that the slate absorbs the heat from the DHP. It then radiates out to raise the ambient temperature. 

If you don’t have one already, be sure to get an infrared thermometer so you can easily check the temperatures in all different areas of the enclosure. 

The adjustment period

Even if you’ve got all the right things in place, I found that the DHP doesn’t give you the temperature gradient you want right out of the box. This is because it takes some time for the heat to start working alongside the objects in the enclosure. 

For me, it took about three days before I was getting basking temperatures in the low 90s. But it was worth the wait, as the temperature gradient is absolutely perfect. The coolest shaded areas measure around 75, while the floor tiles and rock hide under the heat reach 88-92. 

How does Calcifer like it?

The DHP has been instrumental in Calcifer’s recovery process. I see a lot more of him since adding the DHP, not necessarily because he’s basking more, but he seems to have more energy at night. Rather than staying in one of his hides most of the time, he’s become more eager to explore and use every inch of his space. 

The most amazing part, however, was when he had his first shed in my care. He came from a home where he was having a lot of bad sheds. He’d collected so much stuck shed that his feet were swollen. So I expected that he might have at least a few rough sheds during his recovery, and I would need to give him soaks to help out. But, surprisingly, his first shed was absolutely perfect, not a sliver of shed left behind!

The DHP is excellent at heating the enclosure without drying it out too much. I’m able to keep the enclosure around 30% humidity without misting. Of course, Calcifer has a moist hide if he needs more moisture than that, but it’s good to know that the rest of the air is never at risk of becoming too dry. 

Since using the DHP, Calcifer has developed a predictable routine. He comes to the door at night for feeding (I give him one insect at a time and let him hunt), then he’ll sprawl out on the warmest tile or basking rock to digest his meal. He’ll stay there for a few hours at most, and that seems to be enough to charge him up for the night ahead. He doesn’t seem to need as much time under the DHP heat as he did with the basking light. 

Final word

Although the Deep Heat Projector takes some adjustment time and may require some setup tweaks, I don’t think I would ever switch to any other form of heating now. (Of course, I haven’t tried out all of the alternatives, either.) The DHP does its job and it does it well. I can see the benefits from my gecko’s behavior and health. 

I highly recommend pairing the DHP with Arcadia’s Shadedweller lighting and Earth Pro supplement schedule if you want to better mimic a leopard gecko’s natural environment and nutrition. I have yet to be disappointed in Arcadia’s products and guidance, so I encourage you to reach out to them directly if you have any questions.

Even though I’ve been researching leopard geckos for years, this is my first time keeping one, so I won’t be posting any sort of care guide until I have more experience. If you are interested in leopard geckos and want to learn more, here are some of the resources I recommend:

Leopard Gecko’s Youtube channel

Arcadia Reptile (for nutrition, lighting, and heating guides)

Lizards 101 

Geckos Unlimited Leopard Gecko Care Sheet (this is several pages of information from scientific research and keeper experiences)

Remember that we are always learning more about how best to replicate a reptile’s natural habitat, and our care should be continually improving as that knowledge grows. 

[abdostoryblog-blog]

The Beginning

As the night is getting closer, more and more travellers are to be found in camps and cities, and I was always a social butterfly, but I guess they are not so talkative. I guess they all have their worries and maybe they do not have time to relax a bit and have a chat… I hope that the people in Velia will still remember me. I miss my friends from there.I will begin first by introducing myself and sharing a bit of my background. I am Arilisu, a 28 year female, born in a mediocre family, but with a great intellect. My mother was a skilled warrior in her early days, then she met my father and she quit her dangerous life to take care of our cute house in Loggia Farm and tend the crops. My father was a skilful trader and managed to put the basis of a small business… he had as friends some interesting characters, or this is what I remember since I was a child. He was mostly gone with his trading and sometimes going on adventures, but he wasn’t a skilled combatant like my mother. However, one night, someone knocked at our door back home and told us that he was found dead in the forest near the main road to Heidel…. And told that he was probably killed by thieves that sometimes steal from wandering people…. It does not make any sense to me, as he was a good man with no real enemies, so his death is still shrouded in mystery…

However I spent most of my life helping my mother and having fun with my friends. I also took up some combat skills from Itai (my mother) as she taught me some of her moves… she always said to me that I have that special something inside me.

One day I woke up though out of nowhere near the Forest of Seclusion with this tiny little black spirit talking to me and giving helpful advices …. I can’t seem to remember much about the recent past… the only memory I had was when I was saying goodbye to my mother as I was on my way to Velia to meet a friend…

There were plenty of other people “appearing” out of nowhere next to me, all talking with their own black spirit … I tried asking them what is happening, but no one seemed to care, maybe they were worried about themselves too.

I was sent to do some tasks and I had to kill Grey Foxes …. These cute little animals I used to play with when I was a kid, I had to slaughter some of them to proceed forward in my journey…. I got sent to the Ancient Stone Chamber to speak with Edan and I can’t believe I lived so many years not knowing about these wonderful artifacts that were so close to me!

Even though the place was in ruins (seriously?) I could feel a strong energy wanting me to go deeper and search for more. I saw all these skeletons, all this statues and runes …. No wonder the soldiers guarding this place are not getting bored… there is always something new to discover.

I finally reached the Ancient Stone Chamber where Edan was expecting me. My head started to hurt a bit and my heart was pounding pretty fast… I could feel the energy, or something burning inside me, flowing inside me, trying to reach out, but I was trying to keep calm as I wanted to know what he wants from me and how I can be of aid.

They “saw” my black spirit … or they felt it. They told me that I am contaminated and I should get rid of it as soon as possible. They wanted to separate us, but the Black Spirit started absorbing the energy from the chamber, getting more intense until he froze time for a few seconds… It was just me and him moving in this timeless space, I could feel the rush even stronger inside me and that is when he grew a bit bigger and everything went back to normal… He told me that we will take care of each other … and to be honest, I trust him. Edan told me that Red Nose, the imp, stole a piece of the artefact and his powers grew stronger, attacking everybody in it’s way… he sent me to discover more about the Black Spirit and about Red Nose to Feinia and Cliff, with some more killing on the side, this time, the poor tree spirits that just want to be left alone in the forest… 

As I put my foot out of this forest, I was surprised and shocked to see a cruelsome battlefield between the imps and the humans, each trying to give its best, each with their own motive… I took the side of the humans and I helped them recover some goods from a lost Wagon the imps destroyed….

Guess all this killing is making me worthy to reach Cliff, the captain, who is looking for adventurers/mercenaries to do its killing jobs and send me to Red Nose…

I had to take my time and commemorate the lost lives…. They might have attacked us, but imps are still souls in this living world, whether we like it or not. Yes, I did kill this body, but the path of becoming a great warrior is to also acknowledge your fights and your enemy’s right to live…

After killing those poor tree spirits and killing more imps, I guess it was enough to earn Captain Cliff’s trust so I can get to know more about everything that is happening. I was invited to meet him at his tent in the Western Guard Camp… I hope that I can at least get some rest here and find something to eat as I am starving from all of these things that happened in less than a day!

I managed to get some rest in his tent and enjoyed the moment a bit as he was busy with other travellers when I arrived. I was invited to take a seat and enjoy a nice warm meal: a great vegetable soup with some grilled vegetables and a nice steak. I also tried one of their famous cheese! And It was tasty indeed!

I managed to meet with Cliff, finally, and he congratulated me for helping with the imp problem. However, there is still more of this to come so he sent me to meet with the Blacksmith to get some better gear.

As I left his tent, I said to myself there is no point in rushing, so I took my time to explore the camp more and found this lovely vendor lady that let me search through her potion boxes and I found 2 health ones! The great thing is that I didn’t have to pay for them, which kinda reminds me … I am kinda broke so maybe I should start doing some more jobs around here… However I seem to get closer to Loggia, where my mother lives, but my memories are still gone. What have I done in the past? How long have I been missing? And why do I feel like I have to strength to do everything?

I also took a moment to take a look over the field …. So much blood and so many dead bodies …. It is awful what is going on here …

Miguel, the Blacksmith, was a really nice guy and he helped me repair my equipment. He also said that I can buy gear from him should I ever need, but I guess for now I am just fine. I seem to sometimes get a piece of armor or gear whenever I am completing a quest, besides the silver I am making, and not to add, the experience I get! We had a few drinks in the sun and he sent me to speak with Feinia for more info about what I will have to do. And yes, it involves more Imp killing.

As I was going through the Western Guard Camp, I met the Stable Keeper and he told me I looked like my father…. I was very curious what was happening so I talked to him a little bit more about this subject. He wasn’t one of my father’s friends, but he knew him as my father was sometimes coming here for trading and to meet with old friends. From what the stable keeper told me, my father knew even Cliff, so I guess the apple is not far from the tree J He told me that my father had helped him with a horse once but he never managed to pay him back. So he gave me one of his young horses, Gold, for free, because he appreciated my father. I guess I am pretty lucky today because all these walking and running will get me tired soon! And this cute horse will surely help me in my travels! It is a good thing my mother owned several, and she still has her best one, Pipi, with her, so I know at least the basics of owning a horse! I am probably sure he will become my best friend!

As I was on my way to Incas, a Node Manager I was sent to check up on him and see if he needs any help, I met a weird couple(?), a human and a shai, the last one being depressed and sitting in the middle of the road. I later found out they have a weird fetish and a dom/sub relationship, with the shai being hired to fulfil the human’s desires, and to be pretty straightforward, the shai was hired to eat ass.

Guess a lot of things happen in this world, no?

Incas was a lovely guy, although, the same as other people that give me tasks or quests, he needed my help to kill some more imps and 2 imp altars. Seeing one was pretty extraordinary as I never thought how they would imagine and celebrate their “spiritual life”. Now back on my way to the camp, and this time, by foot, as I forgot to bring my horse with me. Well, I guess walking isn’t that bad…

As the night is getting closer, more and more travellers are to be found in camps and cities, and I was always a social butterfly, but I guess they are not so talkative. I guess they all have their worries and maybe they do not have time to relax a bit and have a chat… I hope that the people in Velia will still remember me. I miss my friends from there.

One last glimpse over the battlefield before I will head to get some nice sleep here. The scenery is beautiful and I always enjoyed nature. I am proud of being a Lahn, just like my mother used to be and I hope I will find more about the recent events in my past.

Had a few drinks before going to bed, guess this was all for my first day in this journey. And yes, I do like making sexy poses sometimes! I will head to sleep in this nice comfy bed and I will get ready for tomorrow, a new day full of adventures!

[promisedangel]

Fresh Meat: Confinement- Chapter 20

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Chapter 20- Intentions

Undyne walked the stone streets of New Home with the intruder’s picture in hand. She was thankful for the newfound hustle and bustle of the city. A few monsters browsed the stores. A handful of children chased one another with glee. Life had begun to return to monsterkind. A far cry from a few weeks earlier. Her expression turned downcast as she remembered these same streets when she spent a night over at Sans and Papyrus’s old place. The streets were almost silent then. Miserable shop keepers tried to sell their trinkets and wares to disinterested or energy deficient monsters. No children laughed or played. Undyne’s mind returned to the present. A subtle smile returned to her face. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an improvement.

Undyne approached one of the monsters with the intruder’s picture, “Scuse me.” The monster perked up before they replied calmly, “Ah, yes. What can I do for you miss guardsman?” Undyne lifted the picture, “Do you know this monster?” The monster carefully examined the picture for a moment. They frowned and shook their head, “Sorry. Not them in particular.” Undyne’s fins drooped as gave a resigned sigh, “Well… thanks for your time.” Undyne turned to leave. The monster perked up, “W-Wait! I think I might know somehow who could be related!” Undyne’s fins perked up immediately. She turned back towards the monster. She asked with a large smile, “Awesome! Do you know where that monster lives?” The monster pointed down the street, “I think… I few blocks that way. Then I think you turn right and go down two more blocks? Somewhere in that area, I think.” Undyne shrugged, “Well, that’s better than what I’ve been getting so far. Thanks!”

The monster silently waved goodbye to Undyne as she continued onward. She followed the monster’s directions. The streets had turned from shops to towers of homes akin to apartment buildings. Fewer monsters walked these streets, but what little were out and about still seemed content. She approached monsters one by one with the same questions. After three more monsters, she had her answer; the intruder’s home. Undyne climbed stairs in a large apartment building deep within New Home. She approached the door to one apartment. She paused. A grimace. Worrying thoughts burrowed into her mind. What if this family was in on the attempt? Undyne shook those thoughts away. No. They’d have gone with him to help in kidnapping the kid. She ignored any of those thoughts and took a deep breath to steel herself. She had to remain focused.  Undyne knocked on the door thrice. A feminine voice perked up, “Oh! Just a moment!” She heard a masculine voice mutter, “Who the fuck could that be?” The feminine voice shushed, “Don’t be rude, Ruindi.”

The lock clicked before the door slowly swung open. Undyne took in the sight of a svelte, lizard-like monster. Not a single hair on her. Her violet scales glistened in the candlelight of the apartment, though many were now far past their luster. Her long tail dragged on the floor. She dressed in a thick peach robe. This monster crooked her head in confusion for a second as she answered the door. It only took a second for her always open eyes to widen in recognition of Undyne’s armor. She stood in attention, “Oh! Hello there!” She curled down submissively, “What um… what can I do for you, miss guardsman?” Before Undyne could speak, papers rustled in the background. The masculine voice spoke, “What the fuck is the Royal Guard doing here?!” Undyne’s gaze shifted to deeper into the apartment. She saw a stouter monster approach. His face was rounded like his mother. His scaled skin was a deep forest green with hints of violet. His tail was stubby but still scaled. Small tufts of purple hair protruded from under the scales. Long claws protruded from his fingers, but the ones on his toes were trimmed carefully.

Undyne’s gaze returned to the female monster. She cleared her throat and spoke calmly, “I um… I’m sorry to disturb-“ The female monster began aghast, “No! Never any trouble for someone of the Royal Guard to visit!” Ruindi scoffed, “Only if we’re not in trouble.” The female monster shot a glare at her son before she turned back to Undyne, “Sorry about him, he’s cranky when he’s hungry and… well… you get the idea. I’m Rita and this is one of my sons, Ruindi. What can I do for you, miss guardsmen?” Undyne held up the intruder’s picture, “Does this monster live here?” Rita examined the picture for a moment before she gave a confused look, “Yes. That’s my younger son, Kurt. Did you need to speak with him?” She turned to Ruindi, “Ruindi, could you go get your brother?” Ruindi rolled his eyes, “He never came back last night.” Rita’s eyes widened. She sputtered, “What?!”  Undyne grimaced, “Yeah. That’s why I’m here. Before I really get into it, I need to tell you that he’s dead.”

Both Ruindi and his mother paled. Their jaws dropped slightly. The two were silent for a moment. Rita spoke quietly in her shock, “D-dead?” Tears poured from her widened, shocked eyes. She dropped to the ground in quiet sobs. Thanks to his mother’s sobs, Ruindi’s shocked face quickly boiled to anger. He approached the doorway with a growl, “What the hell happened to him?! He was fine last night so he couldn’t have fallen down that quickly! Did someone kill him?!” Undyne stood firm, but spoke in a sympathetic tone, “Yeah. I did.” Ruindi quickly got in Undyne’s face and flashed his fangs. Undyne looked down at him calmly and did not move. He spoke in a low, menacing tone, “You better have a good explanation for that, you bitch!” Rita grabbed her son’s leg, “Stop!” Undyne and Ruindi looked down at Rita. She composed herself somewhat as she spoke, “She… she must have only done it because it was her job. Let her explain herself.” Ruindi paused as he looked down at his mother. He shot a glare at Undyne for a moment. He lifted his arm, winding a punch. His arm limped to his side with a sigh, “Fuck this.” Undyne frowned before he took a few steps back in a huff. He crossed his arms and glared daggers at Undyne silently. Undyne leaned down. She extended a hand to Rita. Rita’s expression contorted. Mixed between distrust, submissiveness, and anguish. She sniffled, “I… I can’t take your hand until I hear an explanation.” Undyne stood tall once more. She cleared her throat and spoke gently, “Last night… I was called into Dr. Gaster’s lab by the human’s caretaker, Alphys. She said someone had broken in and was trying to track down the kid. I was able to get there… as he was trying to bash down the kid’s door.” Rita’s expression solidified into horror, “Kurt… he tried to steal the human?!” Rita stood. She sputtered, “B-But why? I don’t understand… but…” She held her head, “Why…” Ruindi relaxed slightly. He gave a look of shock and disbelief, “Shit, he was serious?” Undyne shot a serious glance at Ruindi. She cursed silently as she dreaded the answer to her next question. She asked in a serious tone, “You know something about this attempt?” Rita’s mouth dropped. Her gaze flitted between Ruindi and Undyne. Ruindi’s head dipped. He rubbed his neck as he confessed, “Before he left last night, we were taking care of our little sister, Susie.”

Undyne’s fins twitched at the mention of the sister. Gaster’s orders echoed in the back of her mind. She focused and said nothing. Ruindi continued unabated, “She’s… not in great shape. But she can still walk and stuff, it just takes a lot out of her, so she sleeps a lot.” Undyne’s mind drifted for a moment. She frowned, “I think I understand. I gotta friend who's in a similar condition. He crumples back down if he stands up too fast.” Ruindi gave a confused expression, “Yeah��� Exactly like that…”

Rita interjected, “Now wait just a minute! You walk in here and say that my son tried to do this… admittedly horrible thing and you killed him for it! I want proof of this accusation!” Undyne held up the picture, “This picture was taken inside Dr. Gaster’s lab through the cameras he has in there and the area surrounding the lab. It was a restricted area, too.” Rita leaned against the doorframe. Disbelief and shock returned to her face. Tears began to well. Her fists shook fiercely. Undyne saw but did nothing. All the while, Ruindi looked at the picture and said nothing. He continued to stew in his anger at Undyne. Undyne sighed, she spoke despondently, “Look. This is a bad situation. And I probably made it worse by being the one sent out to question you two.” Ruindi grumbled, “Damn right.” Undyne continued, “You’re right to be mad, fuck, I’d be mad if someone who killed someone close to me showed up on my doorstep. I’ll just… leave and send someone else to question you-“ Rita quickly grabbed Undyne’s arm. Undyne looked back, frozen. She really didn’t want to hurt Rita, but she didn’t know what Rita would do. Rita glared at Undyne and spoke with venom, “You’re not going anywhere until you explain yourself.” Undyne groaned, “I did explain myself! Dr. Gaster ordered the Royal Guard to immediately arrest anyone who got close to the human without permission. If they resisted or continued, we have to kill them! Without that kid, we’re all dead.” Rita’s expression deflated. She still had a firm grip on Undyne’s arm. Rita sighed as her expression became somber, “So that’s how it is…” Undyne turned back to Rita and spoke gently, “I don’t expect you to forgive me. I’ll probably carry this the rest of my life. You need to be interviewed to make sure you’re not a part of this.” Undyne turned and tried to move her arm out of Rita’s grip, “You don’t want to deal with me, understandably. I’ll tell Dr. Gaster to send someone else.” Ruindi growled, “Good. Leave. It’ll be better to hunt you down.”

Rita whipped back and glared at Ruindi, “You. Shut up.” Ruindi went pale. He looked away and stood stiffly, nervously. Rita looked back at Undyne, “If you need questions answered, we’ll answer them now and end this here.” Ruindi turned back around and blinked, “Wait, but she’s-“ Rita glared at her son again, “She may be his killer, but she’s still a Royal Guard. If we answer her questions, we don’t have to see her again.” Rita let go of Undyne’s arm. She widened the door and stepped aside. She motioned for Undyne to come inside, “Let’s get this over with.” Undyne blinked. She was unsure of what to do. The only thing she could do was walk in the door and continue the conversation.

Undyne walked into the room and noticed two couches facing each other, with a rug and coffee table in between them. On the coffee table was a few choice knick knacks and two books, each with a bookmark in them. One of the walls was filled with pictures, mostly paintings, while another wall was taken over by a large, filled bookshelf. Undyne sat in the corner of the nearest couch. Rita sat next to her while Ruindi sat across from her. Ruindi continued to glare daggers at Undyne, his claws flexed ever so slightly. Undyne cleared her throat, “Alright. So… how did Kurt first react to the distribution of the substitute?” Rita glared at Undyne, but answered in a civil tone, “He was excited at first. He’d watch as a couple neighbors came home with theirs in hand. I never received any notice that we’d receive any, and I told him after the first couple of days. He left and came back later that day. He was not happy.” Undyne pressed slightly, “As in?…” Ruindi butted in, “He was pissed.” Rita sighed, “Yes. He slammed his door shut and didn’t come out for hours. When he did, he still promised Susie she’d get better soon. He’s… been out a lot ever since and he didn’t talk about it. I just assumed he was with some friends, or something. I didn’t ask because he’d leave before I woke up and come back late. Until yesterday, that is. He stayed home all day until early evening.” Undyne nodded, “Did he bring anything home with him at all?” Rita shook her head, “Not that I saw.” Ruindi shook his head, “Didn’t see anything either.” Undyne muttered under her breath, “When did he get the keycard, then?”

Undyne shook off the question and continued, “Did he say anything when he left?” Ruindi shrugged, “Just that’d he be back late.” Rita cradled her head in her hands, “If he came back with the human… I honestly don’t know what I would have done.”Undyne shrugged, “I honestly don’t need to know that. But I do need to know about his friends. Who and where they are.” Rita frowned, “I’m afraid I don’t know.” Ruindi nodded, “Yeah. All his friends I know about are dust. Either before we got trapped down here or after.” Undyne muttered a “Damnit.” before she went to ask another question. 

Before she could, she heard one of the doors creak open. All three monsters looked towards it to see a younger monster exit a room. The first thing Undyne noticed was the messy, shoulder length, dark brown hair of this monster. It flowed around the shoulders and some bangs completely blocked the eyes from view. The skin was a light shade of violet and the skin appeared rough. This monster was dressed in a simple white shirt and comfortable blue slacks. Nestled under the monster’s armpit was a set of makeshift crutches. Rita perked up immediately. She flashed a genuine smile at Susie, “Oh! Susie! I’m sorry, did we wake you?” Undyne frowned. This smaller monster, a young teenager, was the aforementioned sister. Now was the time she needed to tread this conversation cautiously. Susie grumbled, “Sorta. The knock on the door woke me up.” Undyne gave a half smile, “Sorry about that, kid. I-“ Susie shot a glare at Undyne, “I’m not a kid.” Undyne was surprised at Susie’s quick jab, but paid it no mind, “Right. Sorry. It’s Susie, right? I’m Undyne and I’m here to ask you and your family some questions.” Rita stood, “Here. Let’s get you to the couch. Do you need help today?” Susie began to move forward on her crutches, “I’m fine.”

Rita quickly sat back down. The three monsters relaxed in silence as this new addition to the conversation made her way to one of the couches. She settled down next to Ruindi, her crutches to the side of the couch. Ruindi attempted to pull Susie close to him, but Susie swatted his hand away silently. Rita and Ruindi went back to glaring at Undyne. Undyne stayed quiet as well, unsure of how to begin. Susie began after she settled, “I heard only a little. You’re asking about Kurt, right? What happened.” Rita gave a pained expression. She turned to Undyne with a small glare, “I’ll tell her.” Undyne nodded with a sympathetic gaze. She leaned back in her seat and waited. Rita’s expression softened. She spoke to Susie with hesitation, “Susie… Kurt… he did something very bad last night and-“ Susie crossed her arms and interrupted, “What did he do? Mom, just tell it to me straight. I’m not a little kid anymore.” Rita sighed and smiled sorrowfully, “No. You aren’t a kid. Okay. Kurt… he tried to take the human last night… and he’s dead.” For a moment, Susie’s face was blank as she absorbed the information. She cupped her face in her hands, “That… fucking idiot.” Undyne waited for tears, but no sobs came. Susie just covered her face and sat there quietly. After a few moments, Undyne spoke softly, “I know this is a bad situation, but I’m here to prevent it from getting worse. I just need to ask you and your family some questions. Just some honest answers from you three and you probably won’t see me here again.” Ruindi grumbled, “Better be the truth.” Susie sighed deeply. She removed her hands. No tear stains to be seen. Her expression was hard to read, aided by her hidden eyes, but she frowned deeply. Susie spoke with a resigned tone, “Alright. I’ll answer your questions, too.”

Undyne gave a small smile, “Thanks. I’ll start with the important one; did you know anything about Kurt’s plan?” Susie crossed her arms, “He just kept saying that I’ll get better. It got annoying, but he’s that kind of monster. Before he left last night he said I’d be better today, and that he swore it this time. I just kinda laughed it off.” “So, he didn’t even hint that he was going to take the human to you?” Susie shook her head, “Nah.” Ruindi shrugged, “He spoke to me about it, but again, I thought he was joking since he didn’t bring it up again.” Undyne continued, “Did you see him bring anything home? Even small things.” Susie shook her head, “Nope. He’d spend a lot of time with me, which was kinda nice at first, but he became suffocating. I’m glad he went out every day the past week.” Undyne muttered, “That lines up to when the distribution ended… Do you know why he went out?” “No. He didn’t tell me. I dunno what he did or if he met anyone. I thought his last friend died over a month ago.” Undyne raised a brow curiously, “Huh? Who?” Ruindi muttered, “An aaron named Chase. He invited Kurt to go hunting for the human when it was just a rumor.” Rita frowned, “But Susie was really sick that day. He refused so he could help take care of her and make her crutches.” Ruindi continued, “But Chase never came back. No one’s sure what happened to him.” Undyne frowned, “Yeah, I wasn’t involved in those investigations… but I know nothing turned up. Anyway. Is there anyone that can vouch for you all being here yesterday? Just to be safe.” Rita perked up, “Yes! Our next door neighbor! I always have a nice chat with her every day around noon. Makes the day go by quicker. She can vouch for us.” Undyne nodded, “I’ll talk to her briefly after this. Is there anything else you all can think of to tell me to help this investigation?”

Rita and Ruindi froze. Each of them pondered in silence. Susie spoke up, “No. But I got a question. How’d he die?” Undyne’s fins drooped. She was prepared for Susie to treat her the same way as her family had. She spoke simply, “I uh… I killed him. He was trying to bust down the human’s door and wouldn’t stand down. Dr. Gaster expressly gave the Royal Guard orders to arrest anyone who got near the kid without permission, and to kill if they continued or resisted arrest.” Susie frowned as she shifted in her seat, “Whoa. First of all, fuck you for killing him.” Rita smirked, “That’s my girl!” Undyne interjected, “You’re right to be mad at me for killing him. I know I can’t make up for it.” Undyne stood. She walked over in front of Susie and leaned down. She pointed at her own cheek, “So if ya wanna hit me, here’s a free target for ya!” Susie glared at Undyne and wasted no time. The second Undyne finished speaking, Susie threw a punch straight into Undyne’s nose. Undyne was thrown off balance and landed on the coffee table, surprise in her gaze. Rita stood up and shouted with joy, “Good job, Susie!” Susie guffawed, “Man! I’m never gonna get that chance again! She wanted me to hit her!” Ruindi cracked his knuckles, “Keep her down, I want a good kick.”

Undyne began to laugh raucously. The family went still as Undyne guffawed and slowly stood. She had a huge, wide grin on her face after she collected herself. She spoke in a proud voice, “Man! For someone with little energy, you got a pretty decent punch!” The family looked at Undyne with surprise. Undyne looked down at Susie, “With some time and training, you’d make one heck of a Royal Guard!” Susie just stared with a blank expression on her face, “Huh?” Undyne stood tall, “Tell you what; once you get better, and maybe a little older, you come join the Royal Guard! Hell, I’ll even train you for the tests myself!” Rita blinked in disbelief, “Do you… really think she’s that good?!” Undyne grinned at Rita, “She’s got some potential, but I can’t say for sure until she gets better and has more energy.” Susie crossed her arms and turned her head away from Undyne, “Like I’d want to be in the Royal Guard.” Undyne’s smile defended slightly, “Alright, guess you’re cool with turning down the chance to beat up the one who killed your brother.” Susie turned her head back. She turned quiet as the gears turned in her head. Ruindi leaned in and whispered, “Do it, or I will.” She grunted and pushed Ruindi away. Undyne shrugged, “Well, you don’t have to accept it now. You got years to train for it.”

Undyne began to stretch, “Besides, I gotta get going. To me, it’s obvious you three weren’t involved in this other than as a motivation.” Rita rolled her eyes, “Good. Let the door hit you on your way out.” Ruindi stood and stretched, “So, when are we gonna get his dust back?” Undyne began to approach the door, “Should be soon. I’ll make sure his dust gets to you one way or the other.” Susie scoffed, “It’s the least you can do.” Undyne opened the door. She stopped as she heard Susie’s comment. She turned and smirked, “And the least you can do is get better once you do get some of the substitute.” Susie grumbled as Undyne left. Rita and Ruindi relaxed. Tears resumed in Rita’s eyes. Ruindi clenched his teeth and stewed in silence. Susie just sat there, dumbfounded at what just occurred.

———————————————————————————

A knock echoed on the door. Gaster turned away from the cameras and papers. He watched silently as Alphys entered the room. Gaster glared slightly at Alphys, “The results?” Alphys spoke calmly, “All key cards are accounted for. The only ones we don’t have in storage are mine and the six from Serol and his team.” Gaster smirked. He pulled out his cell phone, “Then we have a lead. We will call in Serol’s team immediately for further questioning.” He paused before he finished dialing a phone number. His neutral gaze fell upon Alphys once more, “Don’t let any of them in. Let them use their key cards to enter. If one of theirs is missing, we have our suspect.”

Alphys frowned, “Okay. Um… so, when is someone coming to inspect the crime scene and collect the dust?” “A few members of the Royal Guard should be on their way shortly. Undyne is currently investigating the family of the intruder and will not be with them.” Alphys hesitated. She curled down slightly and asked cautiously, “What’s going to happen to Chara? Are they going to be moved or…” Gaster pondered, “I have thought of a few possibilities. I would rather not keep watch over the human as I will be interviewing Serol’s team myself. Leaving it there, despite my curation, is a risk I’d rather not take.” He sighed deeply, “I suppose I could use the gas to render it unconscious, but that wouldn’t be preferable if the human acts out violently in the future…”

Gaster’s words turned to mumbles as he pondered the situation, now pressed for a decision. Alphys stood for a moment to await such a decision. At that moment, a thought of her own sprung to mind. Her eyes widened in realization. A smile briefly grew on her face. What a wonderful idea! She regained her calm but submissive frown. She knew this one was a toss-up. She perked up, “Um… sir?” Gaster’s mumbles halted. His gaze shifted back to Alphys, “Yes?” Alphys once more spoke cautiously, “What if… I watch Chara? I-I could take them to my room and lock the door. A-and if something happens, I can call you right away!” Gaster’s eye sockets narrowed. A hand went to his chin. He mulled the idea over silently. Alphys’s anxiety slowly grew. Her expression became more nervous. She fiddled with her claws. She silently tried to think of anything else that could convince him. Gaster broke the silence with a firm tone, “If the human leaves your room, or you take it anywhere else, I’ll know.” Gaster turned back to the screens. His fingers dashed across the keyboard. A few of the screens changed to hallway shots. Alphys looked at the screen curiously before her eyes set onto one hallway. It was like the others, but she saw a room with a nameplate in the middle distance of the camera. Her nameplate. Gaster turned back towards Alphys with a dark smile, “Do I make myself clear?” Alphys nodded slowly, “C-Crystal clear, sir. I’ll… go take Chara over right away.” Alphys quickly flew out of the room. Gaster let out a small, amused chuckle as he turned back to his papers.

[purple-urself]

Wild At Heart - A Kiribaku Zoo AU

So this is a tiny bit late, but I’m so proud to post my fic for the @takemyhandzine! This was such a great experience for me, thank you to everyone who took part in creating such an amazing project!

Title: Wild At Heart Rating: General Audiences Warnings: None Summary: "Technically, Eijirou isn’t actually supposed to be back here. It’s mainly reserved for keepers, vets, and sometimes security. But since him and Bakugou have been growing closer, Bakugou had for some reason decided Eijirou was trustworthy enough to accompany him. A terrible decision really, but one Eijirou appreciates nonetheless."

Or,

The one were Bakugou shows his caring side and Kiri swoons lol

READ IT ON A03

“And that concludes our Elephant talk for today!” Eijirou announces to the crowds of people gathered around the huge enclosure. “Thank you so much for listening! I’ll be hanging around for the next half an hour, if anyone has any further questions about the Hi Way herd, please don’t hesitate to ask. My next talk will be in the jaguar house at 3:30pm, so if that’s something you’re interested in I’ll see you there!”

Eijirou finishes his speech with a wave, stepping down from the podium and immediately turning off his head mic.

The crowd begins to chatter amongst themselves, and Eijirou takes the time to gaze across the desert terrain towards the creatures that lived within.

The Hi Way family were a herd of 7 Asian elephants, the youngest being only three weeks old. Little Anjan was trotting around in the sunshine, never straying far from his mother. Having a new baby at the zoo always boosted visitor numbers, and Eijirou couldn’t help but smile as he sees a man lift a little girl onto his shoulders for a better view of the calf.

“Excuse me.” The voice comes from his left, and Eijirou turns to find a boy, around the age of 12, with what seems to be his parents close behind.

“Hey!” Eijirou says enthusiastically, “Did you have a question for me?”

The boy glances back to his parents, who nod at him encouragingly. Eijirou smiles at him, and waits patiently.

“Well, um. I was just wondering, how much food they actually eat? ‘Cos they’re huge y’know?”

The boy holds his arms wide, as if imitating the size of an elephant, and Eijirou chuckles.

“It’s a really good question, and to be honest i’m not sure of the exact answer.” Eijirou tells the kid thoughtfully. “But what I do know is that they spend most of their time eating. Because they’re so big, they have to eat a lot of food so they get enough energy.”

The boy nods, as if agreeing with him.

“That makes sense I guess.”

“Was there anything else you wanted to ask?” Eijirou glances towards the parents questioningly.

“No, that was it.” The boy replies, going to grab his father’s arm to pull him towards the next animal.

“What do you say to him, Kouta?” The woman asks before the boy could run off.

“Thanks!” He shouts hastily before running off, parents trailing behind.

Eijirou smiles as he watches them go, before his attention is caught by another visitor, eager to learn more about the Hi Way herd.

Eijirou gets to the jaguar house a few minutes early, just in time to meet his favorite keeper at the back gate.

Bakugou doesn’t seem to notice him approach, instead focusing on the two big plastic containers he’s trying to balance in his arms.

“Dude!” Eijirou calls out, trying to get Bakugou’s attention. He succeeds, causing Bakugou to startle and fumble with the containers. Eijirou dashes forwards, catching them before they can fall.

“Dumbass, why would you shout me like that?” Bakugou growls at him, snatching his containers back from Eijirou.

“I was gonna offer to help! My huge manly muscles would finally be put to good use.” Eijirou flexes dramatically, and Bakugou rolls his eyes, cheeks turning slightly pink.

“I don’t need your muscles, just open the gate.”

Eijirou does, following Bakugou to the staff entrance of the building.

Technically, Eijirou isn’t actually supposed to be back here. It’s mainly reserved for keepers, vets, and sometimes security. But since him and Bakugou have been growing closer, Bakugou had for some reason decided Eijirou was trustworthy enough to accompany him. A terrible decision really, but one Eijirou appreciated nonetheless.

Bakugou puts both containers down on the stainless steel work surface, snapping on some latex gloves before going to open the lids.

“Please don’t tell me there’s something dead in those boxes.” Eijirou says in trepidation. Bakugou ignores him, reaching inside on if the containers and bringing out a whole dead chicken, feathers and all.

Eijirou wrinkles up his nose, looking away from the gorey sight.

“You’re the one who chooses to come in here, hair-for-brains.” Bakugou tells him. “I’m just doing my job.”

“I guess I’ll go and hang with Midoriya in the Education Center for ten minutes then.” Eijirou says innocently, turning on his heel to head for the door.

“I’ll be done in a minute, for fucks sake!”

Eijirou hides his grin.

With Bakugou still fiddling around with the dead chicken, Eijirou wonders into the next room, where there are two monitors showing grainy footage of the inside of the enclosure.

A closer look reveals Napo, their 11 year old golden-coated Jaguar, asleep on his favorite rock. Every once in a while his tail flicks outwards, but other than that he’s completely still.

Eijirou moves forward to flick through the 12 different camera feeds stationed around various sections of the enclosure. He finds Goshi after a good few minutes of searching. She’s always harder to spot owing to her pitch black fur, but eventually he sees her tucked away underneath a rock, overhanging a small stream that runs through the outdoor section of the enclosure.

She’s always been the shy one of the two, but it’s become more prominent since falling pregnant.

Or so Eijirou was told, he’d only started working for the zoo three months ago, which was around the time Bakugou and the vets guess that she might have gotten pregnant. She was due any day now, which seemed to be making Bakugou nearly as illusive as Goshi herself.

The keeper had been spending most of his time with the jaguars over the past week, Eijirou had noted. He also had the zoo vets on call, ready to help out with the birth at a moments notice.

His phone started to beep at him, signalling the alarm he’d set two minutes before his show was to start. He goes back into the main room, Bakugou wiping down the counters with the prepared food inside each of the tubs again.

“I’ve gotta go.” Eijirou tells him, gesturing towards the door. “But I’ll see you after?”

“Yeah,” Bakugou mumbles before looking up. “I’ll be feeding them separately again, Goshi inside and Napo outside.”

Eijirou nods at the info, knowing he’ll need it for his talk later.

“Awesome, see you later.”

Eijirou waves a quick goodbye before heading to the front of the enclosure.

There’s a barrier surrounding the enclosure looking across a small revine, on the other side of which is a forested area, complete with a running stream. There are a few small trees dotted around, and a huge wooden tree trunk, which was basically a glorified scratching post.

There’s already a small crowd gathered around the enclosure, but it doesn’t seem like any of them has spotted Goshi in the shadows.

As if hearing his thoughts, Goshi emerges from her hiding spot beneath the rocks, which causes quite a stir amongst the onlookers. There’s a flurry of camera snaps before she disappears inside. He can hear some of the visitors complain about how quickly she disappears, which makes Eijirou roll his eyes. Some people that visit the zoo don’t really understand that the animals actually have a choice whether they want to be seen or not. This isn’t some circus that forces them to perform. It’s a place to keep endangered animals safe, and to help increase populations of at-risk species.

Eijirou quickly steps up to the small podium to the side of the viewing area, putting on his head mic, and flicking it on.

“Not to worry folks, that’s not the last jaguar you’re going to see today!” He starts, trying to appease the grumbling crowd. “My Name is Kirishima Eijirou and I’m going to be telling you some fascinating facts about our jaguars today!”

Eijirou goes through his basic introduction for the jaguars, spouting off facts about their habitat and biology, keeping a close eye on the enclosure for any sign of movement.

He spots Bakugou not long after, striding into the enclosure, bringing with him the dead chicken from earlier carried on top of a long pole.

“And as you can see here, not a jaguar but just as scary, our keeper Bakugou Katsuki will be feeding Napo some lovely raw chicken.” He gets a few chuckles from the audience. “Keeper Bakugou will be putting the chicken right at the top of our 20ft scratch post.”

Bakugou does as Eijirou describes, using the pole to hook the chicken right at the top of the trunk.

“You might think this is a little cruel of the keepers, putting the food so out of reach from our Jaguar, but as you’ll see in a moment, getting the food down from that height will be no problem for him.”

Bakugou retreats from the enclosure, and Eijirou begins to tell the crowd about their two Jaguars.

“Napo, the Jaguar being fed here today, is our male jaguar. He’s 11 years old, and has the classic gold fur colouring with black rosettes. Goshi is our female jaguar, slightly younger than Napo at 10 years old. Some of you may have caught a glimpse of her just before my talk began. She has a black coat, though if you were to look really close, you’d still be able to see the black rosettes along her fur. Goshi is also expecting some cubs, so she’s going to be fed separately to make sure she gets enough to eat.”

Eijirou can see some of the crowd's attention being shifted from him back towards the enclosure, and sure enough, he looks over to find Napo slinking into view. He allows the crowd to chat amongst themselves for a moment .

“So here’s Napo, and as you can see, he’s opening his mouth and scrunching his nose slightly, which is, believe it or not, how he scents the air. He’s sniffing around, and he can already tell there’s food somewhere inside the enclosure.”

Napo slowly creeps towards the tree trunk, keeping an eye on the chicken at the top.

“He won’t run up and grab the food right away, like a house cat, he’ll look around for any danger or competition, and get ready to pounce when he feels like the time is right.”

As if on cue, Napo bounds towards the trunk at top speed, using his claws to drag himself up the bark. The crowd gasp at the display, camera shutters going off wildly.

The jaguar grips the chicken by the teeth, pulling it free, then leaping gracefully back to the ground. The crowd applaud, which Eijirou never understands because it only causes the animals to spook, but Napo seems to ignore them.

He settles down with his meal, ripping off chucks of meat clutched between his paws.

Eijirou finishes off the talk with some key facts about jaguar conservation, and how the audience could help with saving the planet, one recycled plastic bottle at a time.

After answering questions on the jaguars, Eijirou makes his way to the back rooms again, finding Bakugou hovering over the security footage, watching Goshi tear apart her own chicken.

“How’s she doing?” Eijirou asks when Bakugou doesn’t acknowledge his presence.

“She’s eating fine.” He says, not looking away, “Which is good. She seems comfortable, so I don’t think it’ll be today.”

“How will you be able to tell?” Eijirou enquires curiously.

“She’ll become restless, start pacing. She might even get aggressive with Napo, though they’ve been together for so long I don’t think that’ll happen.”

Eijirou nods to himself, not commenting, content on watching the jaguar consume her ‘prey’.

Bakugou lets Napo back inside once she’s done, and they both seem to settle down together, laying on a heated rock right next to the visitor viewing area. This gets quite a reaction from the crowd gathered in front of the glass, Kirishima can see camera flashes going off through the security feed.

“Are you staying?” Bakugou asks him, making his way to the small staffroom out back.

“I have a few minutes.” Eijirou replies, checking his phone. He trails after Bakugou, taking a seat at the tiny table in the corner of the room, whilst Bakugou makes them both coffee. Eijirou takes the mug gratefully, blowing on it before taking a sip.

Bakugou settles in the seat opposite, grabbing about 10 packets of sugar and dumping them all in his mug. Eijirou watches him wearily.

“That can’t be good for you.”

“Does it look like I give a shit?” Bakugou mumbles, stirring in the monstrous amounts of sugar.

“It kinda does.” Eijirou laughs. Bakugou frowns at him, so he continues, “No one looks as good as you do without caring about their health.”

Bakugou’s eyes widen slightly, and Eijirou can feel himself beginning to blush.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Eijirou scrambles for an explanation. “J-Just that you’re super buff!” He flexes a bicep as an example. “There’s no way those muscles of yours are natural.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes, but Eijirou can tell he’s trying not to grin.

“I go to the gym, yeah.” He admits, “So that means I can have 10 sugars in my coffee and you’re not allowed to judge me for it.”

“I’m still judging you.” Eijirou tells him, trying not to let out a smile.

Bakugou snorts derisively. He opens his mouth to retort, but is interrupted by Eijirou’s phone.

“Ah, shit.” Eijirou plucks his phone out of his pocket, swiping the alarm off. “Five minutes until the penguin talk, I gotta run!”

Bakugou nods in understanding, and Eijirou swigs the rest of his coffee as he gets to his feet.

“I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow?” Bakugou asks him, frowning at his half-empty mug.

“Yep, usual time and place!” Eijirou confirms. He puts his empty mug in the sink, then rushes out of the room with a backwards wave, “See ya tomorrow!”

The next day starts as normal, a team briefing in the morning, followed by assignments. Eijirou has a Meerkat talk first thing, which is always great because the kids really get a kick out of them. Next is the Komodo dragon, then the Chimpanzees. By the time he answers all the questions the audience has for him, Eijirou realises he’s running late for his lunch with Bakugou.

He makes it to the staff cafeteria 5 minutes late, glancing around, trying to spot the familiar spiky blond hair and annoyed scowl. He doesn’t see Bakugou anywhere, and after a few more minutes of searching, he realises Bakugou isn’t even there.

Maybe he’s running late, like Eijirou had been? It’s uncommon, but not unheard of. He knows Bakugou gets caught up in work, and tends not to notice irrelevant things like ‘time’.

He decides the grab a sandwich, taking a seat close to the window so he’d be able to see Bakugou approach.

He starts eating by himself, scrolling through his phone as he does so. He’s finished his sandwich when he glances at the time again. Bakugou is now 20 minutes late.

Eijirou bites his lip, wondering if he’d done anything to offend Bakugou, or if he was just late. Or maybe he’d arrived on time, and couldn’t be bothered to wait for Eijirou to show up. The thought makes him frown, hoping that wasn’t actually the case.

He opens the messenger app on his phone, shooting off a text to Bakugou asking if he was held up. Eijirou hopes there’s nothing seriously wrong.

As soon as Eijirou turns up to the Jaguar talk, he realises why Bakugou had stood him up.

There’s a sign just outside the Jaguar house, directing visitors away, due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’.

Goshi must have had her cubs.

Eijirou grins at the thought, full of excitement over the new arrivals. He contemplates going through the back door, wanting to see for himself, be he knows that it’s a bad idea. There’s probably other keepers and vets hanging around, and he doesn’t want to get in the way. He decides he’ll wait to hear from Bakugou before attempting to visit.

Eijirou plucks his radio from his belt, informing his supervisor of the situation. Aizawa tells him to go help out in the education centre for an hour before resuming his planned talks.

When Eijirou comes into work the next day, he isn’t sure what to expect.

He’d gotten home just after sunset the day before, calling his moms as he made dinner for himself. They were the same as usual, asking about the animals and his friends in and out of work. He’d moved cities specifically for this job, so he really missed being able to see both of his moms everyday.

He answered their questions, staying on the line even as he was eating his dinner. After hanging up, he had a quick shower before heading to bed.

It was when he was checking his phone right before falling asleep that he finally heard back from Bakugou.

“Sorry for not replying sooner. Goshi had the cubs.”

Attached to the message was a picture of Goshi, curled into a ball, fast asleep. He was able to make out tiny ears and paws poking out of Goshi’s larger frame. Eijirou felt his heart melt at the image, wanting to meet the cubs desperately.

“Congratulations!!” he types out, “You’re going to be an amazing Father ;)”

It only took a few moments for Bakugou to reply.

“I was going to let you meet them tomorrow, but now I’m not sure you deserve it.”

Eijirou gripped his phone tighter and grinned at the snarky response.

“Haa, that’s mean Bakugou! I’m gonna be a great mom to those cubs, just you wait.”

“First of all, you’re not actually allowed to take care of them, that’s my job.”

Eijirou snorted, but didn’t reply, waiting for Bakugou to finish typing.

“Second, they already have a mom, idiot.”

Eijirou maked a face, typing out his response.

“I have two moms, and I turned out just great :P”

“Damn fine, you can meet them tomorrow.”

Eijirou smiles at the thought of being able to meet the Jaguar cubs today. He heads to the staff briefing, arranging with his supervisor to change his break time so it coincides with when the Jaguar talk was meant to happen. Aizawa stares at him when he makes the request, but ends up shrugging his shoulders and telling him to “do what you want, as long as you work the proper hours,” which is fine with Eijirou.

He gets through his animal talks, replacing his usual lunch break with a session about their herd of black rhinos. He is gets more and more antsy as the day goes on, quietly admitting to himself that maybe it wasn’t just the cubs he was excited to see.

As soon as Eijirou’s lunch break arrives, he practically sprints to the cafeteria, grabbing himself and Bakugou a sandwich. He has no idea when the last time Bakugou ate was, but knowing him, he’d likely sacrifice his break time in order to look after the cubs.

Eijirou gets to the Jag house, opening the back gate and knocking impatiently at the door. He waits for a couple of minutes, about to call Bakugou, but the door eventually swings open to reveal the man himself.

Bakugou looks as if he hadn’t slept in days, with dark circles under his eyes and hair more of a mess than usual. He’s smiling though, which is a rare sight, and Eijirou can’t help but smile back.

“Mama’s here to see his children.” He tells Bakugou, who rolls his eyes, beckoning him inside.

The kitchen area is a bit of a mess, with feeding equipment littered across the work space. Bakugou ignores the mess, leading him towards the security feed.

Eijirou gasps at the image; two tiny balls of yellow fluff in amongst a mountain of hey. They’re not moving, apart from a slight flick of the ears every minute or so.

“Have they got names yet?” He asks in a hushed voice, though he’s pretty sure the sleeping cubs can’t actually hear him.

“Not yet,” Bakugou tells him lowly, “Haven’t had much time to think about it.”

Eijirou nods, making a mental note to annoy Bakugou with texts of different names until he actually decides on two.

“Why aren’t they with their Goshi?” He asks curiously.

“They just got done with the vets. Weighed them and stuff.” Bakugou rubs the stubble just begging to grow at his jaw, “They seem healthy enough, but Goshi is refusing to let them feed.” Eijirou frowns but Bakugou continues before he can ask, “It’s pretty common with animals bred in captivity. We’re trying to get her to let them feed, but in the meantime they’ll be bottle fed.”

Eijirou nods in understanding, watching the two new arrivals for a couple more moments.

“Speaking of feeding, when was the last time you ate?”

Bakugou frowns, and Eijirou can tell he’s trying to remember if he forgot to eat lunch.

“I guess this morning?”

Eijirou shakes his head, glad he had the forethought to buy some food for Bakugou as well as himself.

“You’re lucky to have such a great friend like me taking care of you.” He tells Bakugou jokingly, leading him out of the security office and towards the staffroom. This time it’s Eijirou making them both a coffee, whilst Bakugou rips open the sandwich and begins to eat. Eijirou dumps ten sugar packs in Bakugou’s coffee, placing it down in front of him.

“Black coffee, with enough sugar to make even you turn sweet.” Eijirou winks and Bakugou flips him off, mouth too full to verbally cuss him out.

Eijirou laughs at his response, sitting down to dig in to his own food. Bakugou tells him about the day before, coming into work to find Goshi in labour but not yet given birth. He had called the vet just incase of any complications, but leaving Goshi alone was the best thing to do.

“Got home late, and I couldn’t really sleep anyway.” Bakugou ruffles the hair at the back of his neck awkwardly. “Ended up getting here at six this morning, just to check on them.”

Eijirou’s eyes flicker down to the empty mug in front of Bakugou. “You want a refill?” he asks, gesturing to it with a grin.

“I’ve had… more than I care to admit already.” Bakugou grimaces and Eijirou bites his lip hesitantly.

“You need to look after yourself better dude.” He says seriously. Bakugou waves him off, and Eijirou drops the subject. He knows that this is a stressful time for Bakugou, and as much as he jokes about it, Bakugou does kind of exude the aura of a new father, complete with wrinkled clothes and too much coffee.

They clear up their lunch, heading back to the main room, Bakugou fiddling around with the milk bottles before handing one over to Eijirou. He stares at it for a second, taking it slowly from Bakugou’s grip.

“Are you serious?” He asks astonished.

“If you ever tell anyone I let you feed them, I’ll kill you.”

“I promise! It’ll be our secret.” Eijirou pretends to zip his mouth shut and throw away the key.

“Oh good, finally some peace and quiet around here.”

Eijirou mock gasps, slapping Bakugou lightly in retaliation.

They both wash their hands and snap on a pair of rubber gloves, before Bakugou leads him towards the other room, and Eijirou feels a slight wave of nervousness. He’s never actually been inside the enclosure before. Or any enclose for that matter.

“Are you sure the Napo and Goshi are locked outside?” He asks as Bakugou opens to first door, closing it straight after them.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

Bakugou opens the second door, allowing Eijirou to slip inside and locking it behind them.

From here, Eijirou can see the tiny balls of fluff beginning to stir. He steps closer, watching them roll around, tiny paws flailing in the air.

“Oh my God.” He says softly, not being able to express in words how adorable they were.

“Yeah.” He glances at Bakugou, who is looking at the cubs with an expression Eijirou had never seen before. He felt his heart rate speed up at the soft expression on Bakugou’s face. “Come on, they’re probably hungry.”

Bakugou sweeps them both into his arms, and one of them lets out a tiny squeak. Eijirou has to cover his mouth to keep from gasping out loud at how cute that was.

Bakugou settles down in amongst the leaves and foliage of the enclosure, gesturing for Eijirou to join him.

“It’s not that much different from holding a house cat.” Bakugou tells him, placing the tiny cub in his lab, “For now, anyway.”

Eijirou nods, putting down the milk bottle he was still carrying to pick the little guy up. He couldn’t really feel the fur underneath the rubber gloves, but he could tell it was soft and fluffy. The cub waves his paws in the air, mewling softly.

“I’m gonna call you Katsuki.” He decides and Bakugou huffs beside him.

“That’s not going to be his name.” He says, but Eijirou just shrugs.

They start feeding the cubs, who drink the milk out of the bottle with ease. Bakugou tells him it’s important for them to drink it all to stay as healthy as possible, so Eijirou makes sure his cub has every last drop.

“They’re so precious.” Eijirou says as he pets the cub, who is trying to grab at his gloves. He glances over at Bakugou, who is trying to coax his own fluff-ball out from under his legs. He manages to get ahold of her, laying her gently on his forearm so he can pet her against his chest.

Eijirou can feel his heart stop at the sight. Bakugou being so gently and caring apparently makes him go a little crazy.

“You should- I mean we should.” Eijirou tries to get out his words whilst he has the courage. “We should like. Do something after work.”

Bakugou looks up from the cub, quirking an eyebrow at him. “Do something.”

Eijirou feels his cheeks flood we heat, and quickly amends himself.

“Like a movie or food or something.”

“A date?” Bakugou is staring at him now, and Eijirou can feel his confident evaporating by the second.

“Yeah. You know, if you want. Or something.”

Bakugou looks back at the cub in his arms, and Eijirou can feel the rejection coming, except he notices the slight flush on Bakugou’s cheeks, and the small smile tugging at his lips.

[rhodesmystery]

natasha Facts™:

has subscriptions magazines, like trashy celebrity and fashion ones (witch weekly, spella weekly, the american charmer, the witch’s friend, spellbound, etc). has since she was in her early teens, keeps old editions.

endorses wonderwitch products hard. literally drops money backing it when she’s introduced to fred & george’s line. has three pygmy puffs, two pink, one purple, named kronos, atlas, and periwinkle.

her great-aunt vela urquhart played keeper for the holyhead harpies, and her uncle aquila plays chaser for the ballycastle bats. lots of her great-aunts/uncles and cousins are aurors, magical law enforcement or mediwizards, especially due to the war, having left previous careers that were also either to do with quidditch or breeding of magical creatures (notably for the urquhart family). there’s only one curse breaker in her family (great-uncle antares urquhart), one magizoologist (oriane selwyn (nee amell)) and one actress (phillipa graves (nee black)).

takes divination because she made a promise to her great-great grandmother, but she also gets a kick out of scaring trelawney with really great fake prophecies (especially when it means that class has to end early)

madam puddifoots tea shop is honestly one of the places she spends free weekends in hogsmeade at. you know when she’s in there because not many other dare to enter to find her.

may or may not have been involved in an incident where the previous slytherin captain fell off his broom at an early training, and natasha scooted on in as captain in her sixth year.

lyra, natasha’s mum and a number of her aunts and uncles and cousins were a part of the slug club, as was jacob. aquila, her mother’s brother thereby natasha’s uncle, didn’t quite get the ‘honour’

she’s a lot like her father, deep down. looks like him too, in the eyes.

her great uncle or cousin something removed or whatever, haytham black, married the infamous madame zabini. he died in ‘94 due to ‘natural causes’, which is considerably young for a wizard of his potential. no one could prove foul play. they had no children together, but the black family name in their line died with him. 

she’s a stupid dumbass, who climbed the astronomy tower from the outside on a dare. you could dare her to swim the length of the black lake probably, if weighed in enough, despite her fear of water and drowning.

this also means she plays guinea pig for penny a lot, because the girl would be like ‘hey look i made a perfect draught of living death but i need to test it’ and natasha would be like ‘oh that’s my job right’ and rowan would be like ‘NO’. also she plays guinea pig because she’s quite frankly a little terrified of penny

one time her and barnaby tried to find out if they cast aguamenti ‘hard’ enough, if they could propel themselves into the air with water. yep.

very good at carrying a haughty air of indifference and smarts, but the reality is that she’s a thrill seeker, and really doesn’t have a look before you leap sense. like preparation sessions for anything is more her being held by the collar of her shirt and being forced to listen. why people follow her leadership is beyond her.

was supposed to be a ravenclaw. like knows it. and sometimes (a lot of the time) catches herself staring at the towers, knowing she should be up there. choosing slytherin to follow jacob’s footsteps was not her brightest decision, and it kind of haunts her a bit.

in saying that, jacob was the pretty boy jock who was great friends with everyone and popular and smart and everything people aspired to be. until he wasn’t. natasha isn't sure if her memories are just trying to remind her of good times, or just messing up what she hears as gossip with the reality, but the whiplash of jacob before and after hurts her. especially since she was barely ten or eleven (math bad) when it all happened. gets to a point where she isn't sure if she wants him back.

lyra seals jacob’s room in the manor. magically very very locked. when natasha finishes at hogwarts, she finally manages to tear the door down.

gets very very good at sneaking around the castle. she can’t help it, gets like manic energy late, yknow? and what better to shake it off than a walk around a creepy old castle. means that she’s found a lot of places to hide, however.

like she’s honestly not That Bad at spell creation, but she’s pretty blasé about it. the only spells she's created, or helped create, were really just to make sure charlie didnt die in the forest lmfao (like ad meridiem is a lighting/waypoint spell, generally utilised on carvings, so he doesnt lose his way). has made up a few hexes here and there though. flitwick is disappointed in her for the attitude though, and she doesnt like disappointing flitwick. that said, she COULD tell him about her charms, but that would mean admitting she knows charlie goes into the forest still and no one wants that conversation

she botched up dying her hair one time but keeps it that really bad not quite a dip dye just to annoy her mother

can’t tell if she actually went into the room of requirement or just a very quiet classroom. and will probably never know.

lets out a low whistle when entering a room she hasn’t been in before

sleeps with the curtain pulled on the right side of her room, which is her right if she was laying on her back, and mimics it with the beds at hogwarts, because that’s how she used to sleep back home in america

picks up random objects with not always the intention of keeping them, but the few she has she keeps on her person (currently: two smooth rocks, worn down by her running her thumb over them in times of stress, a locket missing its chain, a tarnished ring, several pressed flowers and a collection of shells)

while she’s half blooded, through marriage, a number of her extended families are related to other muggle families, pureblood families, or half blooded families.

religiously tells her father’s muggle family she’s a wizard, and proves it by balancing spoons on her forehead, pulling birds out of thin air, or ‘reading their palms/minds’. they think it’s great party tricks with the polite laughter of high society, but really it freaks them out a bit when she stops playing dumb and says something legit. (but then lyra says ‘natasha helene rhodes!’ in that voice and the game is up)

she’s fucking awful at potions. like hands down terrible. penny is literally carrying her through the most part of her education.

her owl is called fox because she thinks she’s funny, and she has a snake called marquis de sade, the third. it ate the second. she rescues it from a shelter, simply on the basis that it was taken from the apartment of some old lady. no one had seen the woman in weeks, the apartment was empty, and only the snake remained. freaky™

legend has it that her great great grandfather, before being burnt of the family tree, raided the family vault at gringotts. while his family claimed he stole, he was still technically a legal part of the family at the time, so nothing could be done. that said, no one quite knows where he put the money. the manor natasha grew up on, named urquhart manor, is actually very far away from where the urquhart family put down roots, and is where a majority of her family lives, or had lived, in their lives. it apparently just appeared one day on the cliff, and that’s the end of that story.

before the legilimency thing was a thing in game, i actually wrote something regarding it. lyra had a knee-jerk reaction to the letters sent home about natasha’s adventures, and spent the summer before her fifth year training her in legilimency and occlumency, alongside other family members. natasha’s ‘natural legilimens’ status is a stretch, as with eye contract, she can get a general read on emotion, plus bits and pieces on a general population of wizard kind. a stronger read on those younger and unawares of the art of occlumency, of course. and then an even stronger cast, provided she uses her wand, that actually gives her the ability to read memories.

[starlightcurse-blog]

So I finally got time to make this post I’ve been wanting to make for a long while. This is a complete list of spirits I am bonded with and work with on an almost daily basis. this is long so ill post it all below the cut, just to save room on the dash of people who might not want to read this.

I also want to start this off by saying I like to differentiate three types of spirits. Really, two but I’ll entertain three. the main two would be living spirits and dead spirits, and I’ll say the third category would be divine spirits but I consider divine spirits to also be living spirits. Now what does this mean? Well, what I consider dead spirits are spirits of the deceased, those who have passed on and are wandering the earth or ones that have moved on to the afterlife. What I consider living spirits would be divine entities like gods, angels, demons, things of that nature, and other living spirits would be faeries, mythical creatures, or just other creatures in the spirit or astral realm, that were not incarnated on this physical realm or just have never had a physical form.

Midnight: She is a Goddess of Spirits, she refers to herself as the ‘Queen of Spirits’. She is the first one of these that I meet and bonded with. She is highly intelligent, but somewhat impersonal. She is blunt, but she gives good advice. She also connects me to the spirit realm and helps act as my guide. When I can contact her, she gives me a vision of what she looks like. Tall, ghostly pale skin, black eyes, and then lots of gray. She speaks to me through visions.

Lunar: She is a goddess of light and shadow, sunlight and moonlight, the sun and the moon, basically that whole duality of light and dark in the literal sense. Her alignment is basically lawful neutral. She says she is associated with wolves, owls, lions, and eagles. She is actually very gentle and nice, and has a motherly vibe. When I get visions of her, I see blonde hair, a long white flowing dress, and colors of black white. She speaks to me through mental images, which I consider different from visions because a vision for me is like a gif, whereas Lunar flashes pictures and words in my mind. She helps me connect with other deities.

Bloodwyraine: This will be long and detail and dark because I know the most about her. She is probably the second one of these spirits I met and the rest I don’t remember the order. I think after her it was Lunar or Esmerlda, then Rion or Peaches. She also has a very tragic back story. She is an angel, and she used to be the Keeper of the Sands of Time, she was also associated with storms, knowledge, time, and magic. She was sent to Earth on a mission, met this human Zara, fell in love with her and they somehow conceived a little girl Sarah. When her brothers and sisters showed up to tell her it was time for her to come home, she declined and told them how she had a family to protect now. They understood and left, but shortly after she was demanded to return to Heaven and she declined again, this time she also invoked God’s wrath(She calls him simply Yahweh, and in a very dead tone..). She left her house one day to get herbs and when she came back her family was gone and there was a feather on her door step. She went to Heaven and demanded her family back, of course they asked her to stay in return ad she told them to basically fuck themselves. They killed her wife Zara, turned her daughter into marble and smashed her. This sent Bloodwyraine in a fit of rage and she doesn’t remember much. She remembered sitting in a forest back on Earth, and being covered in blood and having no halo. She used to look like the embodiment of purity, short white hair, 18 big and small soft white wings, five blue eyes, and that’s all of her form she could show me. When she left that forest that night, she had three silver eyes, three black wings, long black hair and nails, and her skin looked greyish. She says she mutilated herself because she couldn’t His brand. She changed her name to Rosemary and went into hiding, and wandered the Earth as a medicine woman that would go from village to village curing people using her knowledge of magic and herbs. She decided to stop hiding and now goes by her old name. We have a very strong bond, and arrangement, I give her energy when she needs any from me and she provides me with tips on magic. Despite all that has happened to her, and the fact that she wants nothing to do with Yahweh or his... “minions”, she’s very sweet and soft spoken. She stays with me because she sees something in me, I don’t know what that is though. She actually shared all this with me in one very vivid dream and when I woke up from it I saw her sitting on my bed, two wings out and one folded behind her she looked very sad and nodded and I started crying and we held each other all night. I believe my bond with her is so strong and vivid because she has spent so much time here on Earth. I don’t spend a lot of time with her in one go though because if gives me migraines. She also helps me keep myself balanced and cleansed.

Esmerlda(Not a typo, seriously. I thought she meant Esmerelda but nope.): This is one feisty girl. She is a princess of some sort, I don’t know her parentage, and she certainly doesn’t act like one, but she does claim to be a princess. She is kind of full of herself though lol. She’s very carefree and friendly. She claims that she could transform her tail into two legs, i think it was either through cutting open her tail or by eating the heart/lungs of sailors after luring them into the water. She liked to use her legs to climb onto ships with her “girlfriends”(I don’t know if this was a band of female friends or female lovers or both), and play pirate. She also claims she was the basis for Ariel because they both had red hair and blue/green tails but I don’t believe that for. a. second. Esme can just be.. a little cocky. But we love her here. She likes to sit here with me and gossip, she is a pretty physical spirit, in that she likes to come to me and sit with me whenever I’m doing something, this also makes her the easiest for me to contact since I don’t have to use my energy to channel or astral visit her. I do not know if she used to be alive or not so I don’t know how to classify her. She is also in a very cute relationship with another spirit, Tiana. She helps me out with elemental magic and identifying other spiritual creatures.

Peaches- I have mentioned this cool cat before. She is very secretive, and doesn’t actually speak. She communicates to me through visions and mental images. She used to appear to me in a very strange form that had a small head and arms/legs, but a large round body. She now appears to me in the form of a short, fast, black as night humanoid form. She has ears, eyes, and a face like a cat. She has whiskers, I think, and a nose like a cat, I think, and she has small sharp teeth. She also has features of gold on her, like tattoos, in her eyes, and such. She doesn’t really give me complete answers, and when I asked when/where she’s from she shows me flashes of a sunset or sunrise, a plain of dead grasses or wheat, and some old stone building city. I know she had a tribe of beings just like her. I can’t tell if she hails from England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales or maybe Northern Africa, specifically Egypt. I have a suspicion she is the goddess Bast in disguise, but I don’t push her on that because its not my business or she would be straight forward with me about it. She helps me out with element magic, and anything that relates to ancient times.

Rion- He is, for now, the only male spirit I know. He is the spiritual incarnation of a thunder storm, and looks like a tornado in humanoid form, if that makes sense. He told me that his mother was a tornado and his father was a hurricane. He talks very softly in my head, because his real voice is deafening thunder. I believe he has a little sister that is a lightning bolt. There isn’t much to tell about him, I mostly only see him when it storms or is just cloudy out. I suppose you could classify him as a slyph, or ventus, but I don’t really know. It’s weird. I met him when I was alone one day at my old job and a storm knocked the power out. He is very sweet, and he does help me influence the weather when he’s around. He also can sometimes stop the rain for me when i need to run outside for something. He does like to talk about nature spirits with me.

Tiana- She is a lovely young lady. She was born and grew up in somewhere near modern day Estonia, but then moved somewhere near present day Hungary or Austria. It’s hard to say, since she hails from the 15th-16th century. She was surprisingly educated, and when she was a servant girl for either a type of Duke or Viscount, she overheard the Master of the house talking about a problem he was dealing with she spoke up, and he when he realised she was intelligent he quickly made her a form of nobility, even though she was just a peasant girl. She doesn’t have the best memory now, but she believes he married her, and shortly after there was an accident with food or maybe she was wounded and died from infection. She’s very quiet and soft spoken, and she’s not angry or remorseful in terms of her death, she knows it was an accident, but she decided to roam the Earth to watch mankind evolve. She’s very nice and friendly. She doesn’t help me perform my magic but she does like to watch. She is so gay for Esme.

and last but not least, my mother. Well, not my actual mother but yeah. 

Taliyana. She’s not helpful at all. But she takes care of me when I’m too tired to do things for myself. Mostly basic stuff, like showering, eating, driving home at night. She also takes care of me if I’m too stressed out or too emotionally drained. She lives within me, as in she has permission to just control my body at her will. She mostly just sleeps all day. She is a dragon, specifically a type of Wyrm. She has black iridescent scales, with purple skin and emerald eyes. She has two arms, legs, and wings but they’re very small and mostly just stay curled into her body so she can slither around like a snake. She also has highly venomous fangs, or so she claims. We communicate mostly through telepathy, or just in my mind really. 

[ravenlywritings]

Return of the Revolutionary

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                                                  Chapter Six

                                                   -Vanrahn’s POV-

     I take one last look behind me and freeze in awe. Her eyes were focused on something I couldn’t see. Suddenly, black flames licked at her skin and massive feathery wings appeared as if ready to defend. That was all it took, and I was off running again with Annalise in my arms.

    I can’t believe that actually worked. I also can’t believe that Annalise has been so quiet. My mind strays as I continue running from whoever that demon was. What did she want with Annalise? Regardless, I got us out of there without having to fight the she-demon. She seemed familiar but I can’t place my finger on it.

    I look down at Annalise and my chest pangs with the pain that I’ve grown to live with every day of my life. She reminds me of Mari. Maybe that’s why I want to protect her so much. I hate that Mari made me have more human-like emotions. God, I miss her more and more each passing day.

    “Vanrahn,” Annalise’s small voice calls.     “What do you want,” I groan, pushing the painful memories out of my head.     “What happened?” She asks as she pulls her head closer to my chest.     “A lot,” I say flatly. She still isn’t recovered from the blood loss from earlier so I’d only have to explain it to her again later.     “Can I call you Van?” She asks.     I stop in my tracks. Hearing that nickname again affects me more than I ever thought possible. “No,” I snap. “Only Mari can call me that.”     “Who is Mari?” She asks even though I can hear the sleepiness in her voice.     “She was the love of my life,” I choke as I start walking again. “Thankfully, you won’t remember me talking about her, so I can say that.”

    Just as I thought, Annalise falls asleep and her limp body bounces softly with each step I take through the forest. I find a relatively safe clearing to lay down in. I set Annalise down on the softer looking ground and I lean against a tree.

    My past is full of darkness but none that is darker than what I did to Max. I feel so much guilt, which, coming from a demon, is unheard of. Mari still has such an effect on me.

    The goal may be to kill Max, but I just want to try to make it up to her like Mari suggested I do. The only reason I was tasked to find and kill her with Annalise was that I am the one that took her to the Demon King. He changed her into the demon-angel hybrid she is. The thing about these hybrids is that they shouldn’t exist because of how powerful they are. In Draygar, the strongest beings are called Guardians and the only beings that rival the power of Guardians are demon-angel hybrids. The Guardians don’t like having creatures close to their power level so they created a bounty for every rumored hybrid. Max is the only one who still lives.

    Mari was so against this bounty hunt that she confronted a Guardian. Not just any Guardian, but the most powerful one out of all of them. Aleksander. The thing about Guardians is that they are a hybrid of their own. Even vampires are a hybrid, of sorts. Though it’s nearly impossible, especially in modern times on Earth, vampires are just the product of a male demon and a female human having a child. Just as Nephilim are the result of male angels and female humans having a child. That’s where the  Guardians come into play. Guardians are a hybrid of vampires and Nephilim.

    Mari decided that it was a good idea to let Aleksander know that she planned on showing them just how similar the angel-demon hybrids are and Guardians are. She showed them our daughter. I tried so hard to keep her hidden, but Mari thought she could change the Guardians’ minds.

    She was wrong.

    I never saw Mari or our daughter after that. I know Aleksander killed them both.

    Since that day, I’ve become colder than ever before. I need to find Max to help her escape the unwanted eyes of so many people. From Guardians to the Keeper of Souls. I wonder how Annalise would feel if I told her that she won’t get to kill the entire reason she was sent to Earth. I know she doesn’t understand that the whole reason I want that damned sword is so I can destroy it. It was designed to take her angelic powers away and, ultimately, her soul.

    I’m doing this for Mari and August.     “Vanrahn?” A meek voice calls. “Vanrahn, are you awake?”     “No,” I bark.     “Yes you are,” Annalise’s voice whispers, “I heard something move.”     “You’re like a dog that wakes itself up with its own fart, go to sleep,” I growl as I adjust myself.     “What’s a fart?” Annalise asks.     “Seriously,” I sigh. “I’m too tired to explain what a fart is. Go back to sleep, Annalise.”     “Since when do you call me by my name?” She smiles widely.     “I can call you something else if you’d like. Angel works just fine for me,” I leer.     “I like Annalise,” she beams.     “Angel it is,” I say with a small laugh.     “Then I’ll call you Van,” she challenges.     “No, you will not,” I frown.     “I think I will,” Annalise prods as she lays back down.     “I swear, I’ll kill you if you do,” I growl.     “No, you won’t. You’ve proven that to me already; that you won’t abandon me or let someone or something kill me,” she yawns.     “Watch me,” I sneer.

    What is it with angels that make me care so much? I’m an incubus, I shouldn’t want to keep them alive. Dammit, Mari. Look what you’ve done to me.

    I stand up and glance around the clearing. I feel so weak right now. What the hell was in those white flames? I feel as if I was hit by a train. Well, I was thrown into a car. I need energy but that requires going back into town and finding a willing donor, which there aren’t many of. It’s like a vampire asking a human, “Hey, can I drink your blood?” The answer is 90 percent of the time a huge no or worse, pepper spray or even cops. I don’t need that right now.

    If I didn’t have a heart, I could just try to take some from Annalise. Mari used to give me some energy when I was low. I’m not doing that to Annalise though, it isn’t a painless process. I’m not going to be able to find a willing human in the middle of the forest so I’m just going to go hungry. Let’s hope that I don’t have to fight anything else.

    I can see that the sun is beginning to rise, marking the second day searching for Max with Annalise. If that was what the first day was like, I really don’t want it to form a pattern like that. I can’t keep up if it does.

    The she-demon from earlier was so familiar. But why? That wild blue hair and those intense pale pink eyes. I can still feel her unwavering gaze on my own, making me feel uneasy even still. Her stance, though she had to have been around a foot shorter than me, did slightly intimidate me. She’d looked at me like I had sentenced her to almost certain doom even though I don’t know her. She knew me, that was clear. I wouldn’t have forgotten a face like hers.

    Max.

    It’s Max. How could I have not known that?     “Annalise, wake up,” I quickly shake her shoulder.     “What? You told me to sleep,” she mopes.     “I found Max, come on,” I nudge as I help her to her feet.     Her hand instinctively reaches for the sword that’s practically glued to her hip.     “No, give me the sword,” I say as I hold my hand out to her.     “No, I’m going to do my job, let’s go,” Annalise starts walking in the opposite direction.     “Wrong way,” I sigh as I make my way back to where we first met. I wonder how hard this is going to be. Annalise catches up with me and marches forward with determination. I have a bad feeling about this.