#how to train your dragon untrainable

[i-write-stories-not-sins-bitch]

BROO THEY REALLY BROUGHT THEM TO LIFE

EVERYONE NEEDS TO LOOK AT HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON UNTRAINABLE THE STAGE PLAY RN

[thereweredragonsss]

OMG SO AMAZING!

(source)

[tiredwiredanduninspired]

The absolute deadpan delivery of Hiccups lines while Toothless is acting up during the flight with Astrid sends me every time

Because it sounds just like what I’m like when my dog stops listening to me on a walk

“And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing you useless reptile”

“C’mon we’re leaving. Or not. Or we could just eat grass. Get off the damn greenery “

[brokenpieces-72]

Monster!141 x female! Jackalope/wendigo reader

CW/TW: poor eating habits, mentions of eating, mentions of human meat, crying, younger reader, note: in no way am I intending to offend anyone.

This was inspired by both @diejager and @bluegiragi and includes the reader character Hunter. This is also my first fanfiction being posted here and I have a couple to come if this one goes well.

A program is set up for hybrids that are considered difficult to control or dangerous to be around in public. Usually this is when their current living conditions are deemed as unsafe.

A jackalope with little knowledge of their own self fits both sides so locations and positions are set up for them to be in a safe controlled environment to learn how to keep themselves under control.

Price isn’t exactly happy when Laswell brings this to him. He’s not a babysitter and neither are his men. She explains to him there is little to be done and while she doesn’t agree with sending a vulnerable, uneducated, untrained teenager to a military base that deals with monsters, humans and hybrids alike, there isn’t much she can do either. Thankfully she does have some say in it, able to choose who comes on to the base. The files for candidates are sent to Price as well for review and upon looking at yours with a very dark and concerning past, he considers tossing it aside. Then he sees what hybrid you are. Having a few encounters in his past with hybrids like you he figures it would be safer taking you in then letting someone else get to you.

You do receive some training before transferring with a Retainer/handler who watches over you and determines whether you are ready to integrate into society. You aren’t sure if this will really help you join society but you figure it’s better someone taking you in rather than staying in the program. Price intends to put you to work after all and the location isn’t without risk. You’re told there are other hybrids on base, and you assume there will be at least a couple.

The first person you meet is Nikolai, the pilot for the awkward bumpy flight to base. He’s almost twice your height, plenty of people you have met are. You’re not very tall so not surprising, but you aren’t very used to people. Part of the program especially for you is keeping you isolated from most humans. His friendly attitude towards you is a little startling but you warm up to it quickly.

The flight was mostly your retainer setting ground rules and briefing you on what you will be doing. You would be training with him mostly, and doing everything he says. No stuffing your face, meals kept strict, and no seconds or late snacks. Nikolai calls you to the front halfway through the journey and lets you sit next to him. He could overhear your conversation with the retainer, wanted to give you a break from it while wanting to learn more about you.

You don’t have much to say, cause well you haven’t done much on your own. Well you do enjoy drawing, and reading. Sometimes writing is fun but that’s mostly it so far. He tells you a bit about the 141, recounting the small tales but while hinting at what hybrids you’ll be working with.

Soon you land on the base and exit the chopper heading towards the Task Force 141. In front is a dragon hybrid and next to him is a human, both in uniform. Names are exchanged and you’re led inside the base where you meet the others. You notice he’s missing a wing and his tail wrapping around the human’s leg. As a hybrid your instincts tell you what he’s doing. You’re not a massive threat to him being so young, but his body language makes it clear the value he puts in the medic and likely the rest of his men. He read your file, so you can’t blame him for being extra protective. You keep your head down as you’re taken inside with your handler.

You’re introduced to each of the 141 including the human, who asks to do a health assessment before anything else. Your retainer is strongly against this, insisting that you’ve already been cleared and don’t require one. There’s somewhat of a back and forth between them with you simply standing there. Your handler raises his voice and you have to dig your nails into your palm to not run off. You’re wondering if you should offer your own choice or ask someone what you should do while waiting. Price puts it forward that you get a check up so that Hunter can assess your conditions first hand.

You follow Hunter to their station in the infirmary, taking you to a private room. Hunter gets many looks while you follow them from the other soldiers with a couple even following with them to the room. You meet a harpy called Gaz and a werewolf called Soap. They stick closer to Hunter almost in a protective sense. Though each of them give you an acknowledgement. Soap has never smelled a hybrid like you before, and Gaz wasn’t sure what to make of you either. Your rabbit ears and antlers were hardly a cause for alarm though. You weren’t exactly intimidating. Hunter takes you into the private room while the two hybrids wait outside, offering to help them with paperwork and taking you to wherever you need to go next. The examination is very simple, checking to see your vitals, understanding how you worked so Hunter could help you on missions, and learning any instinctual habits you may have.

When Hunter asks you to take off your hoodie and remove your shirt, you do so. Their eyes go wide upon seeing your body. Your retainer’s “work” was evident by your rib cage and flattening stomach.

“When was the last time you ate?” Hunter asks.

When you tell them the last time you ate, they excuse themselves. You wait for about 15 minutes, when there’s a knock telling you to get dressed and come out. Gaz is still there but clearly Soap had left with Hunter. He takes you to a small room for you to bunk in for the next while.

You later find out Hunter had left the room and smacked your retainer for his methods. Even Price had to get involved to keep the two from getting more violent. Hunter is certainly a force to be reckoned with when it comes to patients. The handler believes that limiting your food intake will help you keep control. Hunter doesn’t agree with starving you, but Price can’t really argue with it.

The next while you’re training, and you do everything you can to keep up. Your limits are pushed and Price isn’t about to go easy on you. Partially cause he hopes the retainer will increase your food intake. It’s a lot, and Hunter doesn’t like seeing you running laps and drills knowing you haven’t been eating much. You push yourself hard, not giving in to judgements from humans or the other hybrids. It doesn’t matter if you’re the last or the worst or even fail the most, you keep pushing.

Meals are strict, with small but reasonable portions for you and eating by yourself in your room. For the next while this becomes the routine, with the occasional snack being slid to you by Hunter. It does make sleep difficult and your stomach growls periodically. Soap takes notice right away how bad it is, your stomach is almost like a random alarm for him, that he can’t shut off.

“You hungry?” He asks sarcastically. You shake your head, only for your stomach to object again. Soap rolls his eyes.

“Take a couple.” He says offering you some of his snacks. When you try to turn it down, he starts insisting harder. “Come on, the noise is drivin me bloody mad. Take em, a few won’t kill ya.”

You do so, and you take another couple after. Soon enough he’s slipping you pieces of his snacks when your handler isn’t around, like chips or cookies.

You have to go to school still, off base and some jerks decided to lock in a closet. Despite your protests and pleas they decide to leave you there overnight. You have a few snacks but you can feel yourself getting increasingly hungry, and you know it won’t be long until you lose it. You try your handler but they aren’t picking up. You don’t want to but you call Soap who picks up groggily.

“The hell is callin…” he groans.

“Soap it’s me…I’m really sorry…” there is a quiver in your voice as you talk.

“…kid? The bleeding hell you still doing up? Wait, where the ell are you?”

You explain you’re stuck and hungry and really need help.

“Alright alright…I’m on my way… you need food?”

“Yes.”

He sighs and asks what you want to eat, if there’s any comfort food you have while he’s getting his shoes and pants on.

“Are you mad…” you ask in a small voice he can just barely hear over the phone. He’s been in highschool as a hybrid and had people pick on him, call him a mutt yank at his tail, try to get him in trouble and whatnot.

“I’m mad at the pieces of shite that did this to you. What do you want to eat?” He says. You tell him and wait patiently after he hangs up.

Gaz is woken up, and looks over.

“Was goin on…” Gaz asks.

“Kid is stuck at school. Literally.” Soap says, lacing his shoes.

“She have food?” Gaz mutters rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“No, so I’m getting her some.”

“What she want?” Gaz yawns.

Soap tells him and he orders it for pick up before getting dressed himself.

“What is she still doing at school?” Gaz asked pulling his hoodie on. “Little help?”

Soap helps get Gaz’s wings through the slots on his hoodie as he explains. Gaz can relate. He’s been bullied as well, and hell you’re a kid with a strong will. It’s not fair for you to be pushed so hard only for school to make you feel like shit. They pick up the food and head over to the school.

“Come on.” Soap jogs to the door and tries it. “Mother…they don’t check if anyone’s still inside?”

Gaz takes one of his feathers off and picks the lock. Gaz opens it and Soap shifts and gets in, as soon as he can fit through the door.

“Kid you here?” He yells. Nothing. Gaz comes up behind him.

“I want to make a lassie joke so hard right now.” Gaz admits, while Soap picks up your scent and hurries off up and down the halls, trying to figure out where you are. He starts scratching at a maintenance door. Gaz knocks on it.

“Kid you in there?” He calls.

“Y-yes!” You call back.

“We’re gonna help you okay? Just hold tight.”

“Gaz move.” Soap says. Gaz just barely gets out of the way before Soap manages to smash it in. They find you curled up and clutching your stomach. Gaz flaps away the dust before stepping over the broken remains of the door. He gives you the bag ripping it open and you hands go in quickly. You ravenously eat away at the first thing you get, a still warm hashbrown. One bite and you stand up but Gaz keeps you sitting.

“Don’t choke, finish that first.” He orders. You do as he says a mutter through mouthfuls, “sorry.”

“So what exactly happened?” Soap asks.

“They pulled my ears and kept asking to see my tail… kept telling them I didn’t have one.” You mutter, finishing the hashbrown. “A few of them grabbed me and shoved me in here…kept calling me ‘bunny’ and ‘rabbit’. Said they would stuff me later.”

“No one’s stuffing anything except the assholes that did this and where it don’t shine.” Soap growls. In the dark it’s a little more intimidating with yellow glowing eyes. Gaz stretches a wing around you and gives you another piece of the order to munch on while he helps you out of the room. You go on about how they kept messing with you in various childish ways. The bullies had yanked your ears, played with your antlers and called you a bunny breeder. Gaz and Soap get you into the backseat and encourage you to keep eating.

“You got made fun of by the teachers pet?” Soap asked a little surprised.

“He said I was the new class pet.” You say. “Then he wouldn’t stop saying I had to eat carrots and wasn’t allowed to have any of the snacks I brought.”

“You ignore em?”

“Tried, but then he started telling me I shouldn’t be snacking and had to eat ruffage.”

“Wow…” Gaz says. “You could always threaten to gnaw on his pencils.”

“How’s the food?” Soap calls from the front.

“Good. I should stop though.”

“You almost finished?” Soap says checking on you in the rear view.

“Uh…halfway?” You relay after checking the bags contents.

“Keep eating.” Soap says.

Gaz gives Soap a look.

“One meal won’t kill her.” Soap says quietly.

“Thank you for getting me.” You say.

“Hunter would have my head.”

Sadly your bonding time doesn’t go unnoticed and Price calls you all into the office. Your handler is unhappy you didn’t try contacting him first, and you stay quiet. Price chews out Soap and Gaz for B&E and property damage, until they explain what had happened to you. He’s a bit more lenient but not by much.

You, Soap and Gaz have definitely bonded more and at this point you’ve sort of become the team’s pup. Soap and Gaz teach you to fight hand to hand, and they’re careful with you at first. You’re younger and smaller but you don’t hold back against them. They show you some maneuvers and Gaz uses his hardened feathers for knife training, going slow and giving you the chance to bat away his strikes. Off time is spent with them, getting a chance to go climbing or hanging out in the rec room. Soap teaches you how to play football, and Rudy and Alejandro join in as well. Soap and Alejandro definitely start showing off their speed and strength to the point you and Rudy find it safer to watch from the sidelines with Gaz. One wrong kick makes all your caution warranted, as you have to shove Rudy over and the ball takes off part of your antler and is pierced in the process. Hunter gave Soap a very harsh talking to afterwards, and made sure you were okay.

Your handler over time becomes less and less involved with you but maintains your eating routine. He keeps your training high giving you exercises daily, that keep you busy from dusk til dawn. It’s exhausting and Hunter does express some concern to your handler who eventually gives in and increases your food intake some more.

Soap and Gaz have basically taken over your sparring sessions, keeping you trained and ready for anything. You have found a couple weaknesses when you go one on one. If Soap shifts to werewolf, you can get him with belly rubs.

Rudy had started showing you some tracking skills, and even introduced you to his dog spirits. Both spirits are weary of you at first with the red and black growling while the other stayed close to its vessel protectively. After calming them, Alejandro shifts to a panther or jaguar based on the terrain and becomes the target to track. At first he makes it easy but since you don’t hold back on Soap and Gaz he doesn’t hold back on you. You and Rudy both have to try and find him before he finds you, which is a bit of a 50-50. Your own skills as a hybrid are shown to be useful in more wild and natural terrain. In fact you become the one to be the target and the two of them actually find some difficulty locating you.

“She couldn’t have gotten that far yet…” Rudy is scratching his head, genuinely dumbfounded. Alejandro shifts back next to him looking at his partner.

“Fast learner.” He comments, impressed by your skills.

“Si.” Rudy sighs before jerking forward, hit in the back from behind. “Agh!”

Alejandro checks Rudy’s jacket and finds a stain from a paintball. They both look up and towards where the shot had come from. There they see you behind a tree covered in dirt and mud, trying to hold back the grin on your face. The two men look at you surprised, and even Alejandro is stunned that he couldn’t detect you, while the white and blue cadejo trots over and barks at you, tugging at your clothes with his teeth. The two men look at each other baffled how you got 15 feet away from them without either noticing. Alejandro waves you over to them, while the cadejo playfully tugs at your jacket.

“Fall in corporal, back to base.” He calls over and you get up from your hiding spot. Your legs were dirty and…wet? The ground was damp but you were almost soaked.

“You take a bath Mija?” Alejandro asks crossing his arms.

“No sir.” You answer, shaking your head.

“You’re wet though.” Rudolfo comments, noticing the state of your pants as well.

“Yes sir.” You reply. Alejandro gives a half grin.

“Why are you wet corporal?” He asks.

“The river sir.” You answer. They hadn’t told you about the river nearby, not to mention it was a few clicks further than they had expected you to reach. You take note of their expression and shift slightly in place. “Should I not have…?”

“Por el contrario, you did very well Mija.” Rudolfo says.

“Very good.” Alejandro comments. “You cold?” He asks. You shake your head. There was a chill but it didn’t bother you. They take you back to base.

Missions go fairly well though you are often knocked down. It can be hard when you’re up against many other hybrid creatures. Ghost comes to your aid before any fatal blows can be made, consuming enemies in his shadows when he wasn’t slipping out of them to slit enemy throats. The lieutenant didn’t agree with bringing someone as young as you on missions, and hated that he was playing babysitter half the time. Ghost can sense something off about you though. Maybe it’s your smiling, or your friendliness, of this odd presence that seems to surround you like an aura. Either way, you show yourself to be a fast learner and strong soldier. Your main focus is to incapacitate enemies, even though you’ve been taught where vitals are and how to use a gun and a knife quickly.

“Would make life easier to kill… that’s what soldiers do.” He comments. You look out at the men he’s fed on. You’re quiet thinking for a moment before responding.

“If I killed all of them though…you wouldn’t get to eat as much.” You say with a cheeky smile. His expression doesn’t change.

“Don’t worry too much. Focus on your safety first.”

“Yes sir.” You say losing the smile. He’s not wrong. After that you ask Ghost for help with laying killing strikes. Not in the field but in training. He agrees mainly because you’ve shown promise and a willingness to improve yourself. Knife training with him is rough usually leading to you getting winded and on your back.

The hands on learning is honestly better than anything else though and your exercise routines just become a warm up. You look forward to everything and take everything seriously, asking questions and showing interest in what is presented to you. Weapons training is a bit daunting, as the guns are a bit heavy, but you find your skills work good with unconventional weapons. A slingshot proves strong with you, and even crossbows. Price helps you with improving your poor aim and there are times where you will spend almost an entire night just trying to hit the targets set in front of you.

Your handler is an afterthought except when you get invited to eat with them. He’s right there ready to tell you you can’t eat with them and your food is in your room. You excuse yourself and eat alone again. However on the nights he’s away you do take the opportunity to sit with them, and just bring your food out of your room. The amount while bigger is still small for a soldier, even for a teenager. Most of them assume it’s an insecurity for you so they don’t pressure you to eat more, or comment on it. Soap offers some of his snacks still.

Hunter is instructed when the handler goes on leave to give you meals he has premade for you. They have half a mind to toss them and get you to eat with everyone else, however much you wanted, but they leave the opaque container in your room as instructed.

You don’t eat any of it though. You recognize the smell and are both disturbed and distraught. No. Not that. Memories come flooding back, ones you wanted to stay buried. It takes everything not to break down, and your stomach is churning and begging for sustenance.

Do you tell someone? Would anyone believe you? Should you eat it? No of course not! But you’re so hungry and your mouth is watering. The scent makes your stomach do hard and painful flips, as if there was a grinding wheel whipping around in your belly. You try to look for snacks that you may have hung on to from Hunter but find nothing. The hunger starts to consume your thoughts faster than you’ve consumed anything. Your body starts to alter, you teeth grow sharper, your sense of smell grows stronger and you cling to yourself.

Hungry hungry hungry…starved…

You act fast and get your pillow case, tying it in your mouth, before getting your hoodie on and bolting. You’re fairly agile in your human form and your desire for sustenance drives you forward. Meat is everywhere but you don’t want it. You don’t want to want it. Any soldiers you pass, you keep your head down, and rush past them. You don’t even look up for your teammates calling for you, and instead bolt faster. You finally get outside and sprint for the woods with soldiers calling after you, and trying to stop you to figure out what’s going on. It isn’t long before your body shifts and contorts and you smell meat nearby.

Eat…eat…

Your sudden leave doesn’t go unnoticed. At first, your team saw you and thought you had to hurry somewhere or didn’t see them. Then Alejandro and Soap passed your door while talking.

“Hunter really told you no more football?” Alejandro asks.

“Won’t stop me from playan, but they did warn mae ‘bou-“ Soap and Alejandro both freeze in place smelling the food in your room, the door shut. What the fuck? They look at each other disturbed and in shock. Soap opens the door and his eyes widen in shock seeing what was inside the container.

“Steamin bloody Jesus.” He says while covering his nose and mouth with an arm. Flies buzzed around the human organs you were served in the container.

“The hell kind of diet is this, Mija?” Alejandro says under his breath. Soap puts the lid back on and takes it to Hunter. No way they would do this, but they likely knew who did.

“OI! Hunter!” Soap yells.

“Soap! Gods, please knock next ti-“

“The bloody hell is this!?” He demands holding up the container. Hunter is confused.

“The corporal’s meal? Why do you ha-“

Without wasting anymore time he sets it down and opens the lid enough for them to see. Hunter stands up from their desk quickly, and in shock.

“Soap the fuck is wrong wi-“ Hunter starts.

“The fuck kind of meal is this!” Alejandro barks.

“What?!” Hunter is just as confused.

“This is the corporal’s meal.” Alejandro clarifies.

Hunter is just as disturbed as they are and goes into the storage where the rest of your meals were being kept for the time of his leave. They found more organs and human remains. Hunter wasn’t sure whether to be pissed, disgusted or distraught.

“What the bloody… I’m taking this to Price immediately this is beyond fucked. Where’s the corporal right now?” Hunter demands to know. Soap recalls seeing you running down the hall.

“She’s run off.” Soap concludes. Hunter takes a moment to breath and calm themselves, somewhat relieved.

“She could be anywhere by now.” Alejandro adds recalling your tracking lessons.

Hunter heads for the door and the two hybrids follow as they go to the captain’s office. He looks up from some papers before standing, seeing the door open.

“The corporal is MIA.” Hunter states. Price is confused until they explain what was in the food. Price is angry, ready to roast the retainer upon his return but you are more important along with any bystanders. A search is put out and human soldiers are instructed to stay on base while Task Force 141 along with Rudy and Alejandro track you down. Price knew there was too much of a risk for regular humans to be close to you in this state.

The cadejos catch your scent and lead the search with Rudy keeping a watchful eye for any movement. Alejandro and Soap follow the scent and cadejos with Hunter riding Soap’s back to assist them. Gaz had taken to the sky trying to find you from above and cover more ground. The scent is how they follow you but they know you’re in the area by the sounds of screeches and unearthly clicking. Price hasn’t heard noises like that in a very long time. Ghost advises caution to everyone while he moves through the shadows and senses death all around them. He soon finds it as well.

At first a couple of bisected birds and bitten voles were traces. The deeper they went the bigger the animals. Soon it was small boars that had their meat stripped. There were a few large birds that had managed to escape but were bleeding. A few foxes were limping and cowering in their dens. When the team finally found you they kept their distance with Ghost being the closest to you, discovering why he had felt uneasy around you.

You were gorging yourself on the carcass of a large elk, and stuffing handfuls of blood and raw meat into your mouth savouring every bite. Dark crimson caked your mouth and hands as you continued eating, getting into your hair every time you decided to literally stuff your face. Your boney limbs and sharp fingers clawed pieces off and your jagged sharp teeth tore into thicker, tougher parts. Gaz lands in one of the tall trees while Alejandro circles around slowly and quietly planning to flank you if you tried to bolt, his oanthef form slinking around in the underbrush keeping distant and cautious. Soap proceeds closer, slowly. He has Hunter on his back and at the moment was a muscled riot shield for them. You continued feeding ignoring them all, when Soap noticed the screeching had stopped and heard your muffled whimpers and sobs mixed in with the sounds of your eating.

He moves closer and closer, letting Hunter walk next to him.

You stop eating to wipe your mouth fruitlessly. That’s when you notice the large wolf standing before you, staring at you with eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. In the moonlight he could see your tears, lightly cutting through the blood and grime on your face. Your eyes were pure white, and almost void of life. Hunter came up next to him, and you start to scramble back, worried you might go for them.

“Hey hey, no it’s okay. You’re okay…” they reach into their med bag and took out a chocolate bar, tearing off the wrapper for you and offering it. It was like an animal trainer trying to get their charge to trust them. You slowly crawl over, eyes blank and white, but docile.

“Let’s make it a bit smaller.” They mutter. Hunger breaks a piece and you back away again, crawling on all fours. Hunter leans in a bit, offering the smaller piece to you. You take it gingerly and bite down on the candy. When the human medic offers the rest, you dig into it, eating it like nothing had gone wrong. Like you hadn’t run off, shifted and started gorging on the elk carcass right next to you. The area was quiet while your team watched as you continued eating. The snack was so good, so much better than the carcass.

It had happened again. You lost control again. You were a monster and you killed so many innocent animals. Tears continued to fall as the regret set in. When you smell human meat and you’re hungry, it can set you off, making your only thoughts to be “eat”. Animals weren’t as effective hence the number you had taken out. Human food, like the candy, was a middle ground. It would take some time to bring you back to your human state, and taking less to do so.

When you finally spoke, all you could croak out was a small and raspy, “sorry”.

Hunter offers you some more food, proper food, and you eat it slowly, trying not to make yourself sick. First it was the chocolate bar, and then some crackers, an apple, some water, a few carrots. Your beastly features begin to dull, and you feel yourself growing tired. Hunter moves closer with every bite and holds you close while you cry into them, and continue eating the food they give you. Soap curls himself around you preventing escape and trying to comfort you and protect Hunter. Neither of them worries about the blood, they had worse before. Soon you tucker yourself out and Hunter picks you up, and gets back on Soaps back.

“Price, target found and incapacitated. Returning to base.” Ghost said over comms.

“Copy Lt.” Price responded through a long sigh of smoke.

When you woke up you had food next to you on the bed, and Soap asleep in a chair. He wakes up to see you eating the food left for you, and smiles.

“Mornin’ Corporal.” He says.

“I’m sorry.” You say.

“Don’t. You didna do anythin wrong.” He said. He ruffles your hair which you realize had been cut off rather awkwardly. Apparently the blood was too thick to wash, and cutting it was the safer option. You didn’t mind.

For the rest of your handlers leave, your eating becomes top priority. If you try to skip meals, you’re hauled to the mess hall, or get a protein bar in your hand. You get firm reminders that your actions that night are not your fault. Hunter is ensuring you get your meals at regular times, and that you’re staying healthy in your eating habits. They’ve also taken to checking your weight, and body, which regains some pounds. Meanwhile paperwork is being shifted around and sorted and handed and signed making a report about what happened and the illegal obtainment of human organs and their distribution. Laswell is more than pissed and ensures your handler is kept off base for longer than he had intended to be.

A couple months go by of you recovering and getting into a healthier routine. You mention to your team that your form is much different and (you later learn) the one they had seen happens when you get hungry and are unable to eat. With this comes the chance to show off your monsterous form, which leaves them with surprised looks and a bit of shock. Your human form grows and your head is replaced by a deer skull, while your limbs shed skin and are replaced with natural wood, and your rib cage and a few other pieces are beared for them to see. Like Soap your clothes do get torn up, but you prepared with a blanket nearby.

You look down at them, and step back a little while they stare. Price smiles seeing what you are meant to look like, the full spirit creature. Price approaches you first and you go lower for him to meet your eyes. A hand is place on your skull and tilt your head.

“Welcome to the 141.” He says smiling. Soap steps up and shifts to his wolf form. You get down on all fours for him and he gives a soft headbutt against your shoulder which you return.

“Stuck with us now Corporal.” He barks.

Soap helps you feel more comfortable with your form, and helps you learn to move in it as well, alongside Alejandro. You find that while you’re bipedal, running on all fours does have some speed to it. You’re even more of a natural climber, able to launch yourself off large tree trunks and latch on to the next one, making any large enough forest a parkour playground. The cadejos are weary still but Rudolfo continues working with you on tracking. Alejandro is often busy having to assist the captain with paperwork. Gaz starts helping you instead, making your hiding even more fun, since he has the best sight out of everyone. Now you’re the target even more for them to find, which they assume won’t be hard with your immense size but your terrain becomes a part of you, and you it letting you hide almost in plain sight.

Ghost assists you in ways you weren’t expecting, as he helps you feel more comfortable with death. Now your sparring and take down sessions often come with a small talk. Taking a life isn’t easy, and given your story, he wants you to know you’re defending yourself and others. It’s not uncommon for you to get a bit carried away on missions now, as you’re able to charge with Soap into a fray. Your larger size makes it easy for you to forget your surroundings. It leads to more casualties than knock outs. Price even tells you what he knows about wendigos and works on getting as much information from you about the handler as he can. Price lets you use him as a target now for shooting range, given how much better your aim has gotten.

Your team becomes your family as older siblings, uncles and sometimes even dads. They pass on everything they can to you. At this point they’ve come to see you as the pup in their pack, the one they raise into a fighter and protector for the future.

Visual reference for wendigo form

[dragonsinboston]

whaaaaaat i love this! i don’t think i’ve ever seen such a high-quality version of it anywhere!!!

I know the water sprayed by dragon is actually very dangerous, but this animation is really cute🥹

[morgana-larkin]

Ok here it is, my Moiraine Sedai x reader one shot. If you would like to be on my Moiraine taglist then let me know! Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

Together

Warnings: none

Words 5.5k

“I don’t want to take her.” One of the Aes Sedai says.

“One of you has to take her and train her to be an Aes Sedai.” Siuan says to the room.

*Outside the room*

You’re standing outside the hall as Siuan tries to find you an Aes Sedai that will take you in. You fear that no one will take you as you barely show any connection to the One Power. A couple girls that you trained with walk by and stop to talk to you..

“No one is going to take you, you barely have the One Power, no one is going to waste their time with you.” One of them says.

“Ya, you’re basically untrainable.” The other one says. Just then Moiraine and Lan walk by and see them picking on you.

“Don’t you girls have somewhere else to be?” She tells them and they look at her and leave right away. “What are you doing out here?” She asks you.

“No one has taken me in to train with them so The Amyrlin Seat is in there trying to find someone who will. But I know no one will.” You tell her.

“Why would no one take you in?” She asks you.

“Because I barely have any connection to the One Power. I don’t even know why they won’t just send me home.” You say and lean against the wall.

“That’s crazy, I’ve seen you train and you hold back. You haven’t tapped in to your whole power yet, only the surface.” She says to you. “I had trouble at first as well, but that was only because I had so much and only someone with a strong connection to the wheel was able to train me fully.” She tells you and then the doors to the hall open. The Aes Sedai leave, some of them spare a glance at you and you immediately know the meeting was unsuccessful. Siuan comes out at the end and she turns to look at you.

“I’m sorry Y/n, no one is willing to train you.” She tells you and you nod and bow your head.

“Siuan, why don’t you just send me home. It’s obvious that I’m not going to advance further.”

“If that’s truly what you want then-” Siuan starts to say but Moiraine cuts in.

“I’ll take her in and train her.” Moiraine blurts out and both you and Siuan turn to look at her.

“What?” You say confused.

“Moiraine can I take with you for a second please?” Siuan says, Moiraine nods and then they go into the hall to talk privately.

*In the hall*

“Moiraine as much as I’d love for you to train her, you’re currently on a mission right now to find the dragon reborn and you leave tomorrow for light knows how long.”

“I can take her with me, better to train outside the tower anyway.”

“You think she has more of a connection than she’s showing, don’t you?” Siuan says and Moiraine nods. “I think the same, it’s almost as I can sense it but it’s all been untapped.” Siuan adds on. “Do you really want to take her with you? It’s a big responsibility to try and find the dragon reborn and take on an apprentice at the same time.”

“I’m sure.” Moiraine says and Siuan nods before they walk out of the hall. “What’s your name?” Moiraine asks you.

“It’s Y/n.” You tell her and she nods.

“Well Y/n, you better pack up your things because you’re leaving with me and Lan tomorrow.” She tells you and you widen your eyes.

“Wait, you’re training me?” You ask her and she nods.

“Oh my Light, thank you!” You squeal and then run to your room to pack your things.

The next day you’re putting your stuff on your horse when Moiraine and Lan come out.

“So, are you just about ready to go?” She asks and you nod with a smile.

“Why are we leaving the tower though and for how long?”

“I can’t tell you yet and for however long it takes for me to complete my mission.” She tells you as she walks to her own horse and you follow her.

“Wait a mission? Why did you agree to train me if you’re already busy with a mission?” You ask her and she continues getting her horse ready.

“Because no one else wanted to train you and you need to be trained in order to access your full ability.” She says.

“Well thank you for taking me. And not just for training me but getting me out of the tower, those other girls I trained with don’t like me.” You say as you look at the ground.

“Hey.” She says as she grabs your chin and lifts it so you look at her. “Those other girls don’t matter anymore. What you learned in the tower was only the beginning, and I know that when you start tapping into your full power then you’ll do great things and be so much better than them.”

“You really think so?” You ask her and she nods. 

“Ok.” You say and then smile. “I can’t wait until we start, I have one more thing to grab from my room and then I’ll be ready to go.” You say and then run to go get it. Moiraine watches you run away with a smile and shakes her head as she finishes getting her horse ready. 

Lan walks up to her and leans in to whisper in her ear. “Might want to get rid of that blush before she comes back.” He tells her and she turns to look at him with a glare.

*An hour later*

“Ok so how is this going to work? Like how are you going to do your mission and train me at the same time?” You ask her as you’re all riding in the woods.

“Well, we’ll ride and look around the towns during the day and then I can train you for a couple hours in the evening.” She says and you nod.

“I can only help if I know what you’re looking for.” You say and she turns to look at you.

“Nice try, I don’t trust you enough.”

“How are we supposed to be a master and apprentice if there’s no trust? And I also barely know you.”

“Well what do you want to know?” She asks you and you’re taken back.

“Wait, you’re actually willing to tell me something about you?” You say and she nods.

“Like you said, we need to have trust, especially outside the tower, and a way to do that is to get to know each other.” She tells you. “So what do you want to know?”

“Ok, um, is your favourite colour blue or is it something else?” You ask and she smiles at you.

“It is blue, although sometimes I wouldn’t mind wearing another colour.” She tells you and you fake gasp.

“You rebel.” You say and she giggles.

“What about you, what’s your favourite colour?”

“F/C.” 

“Hmm interesting.” She says and you look at her. “Your favourite colour isn’t the colour that you choose but you’re required to wear it all the time.” 

“Why? Like you can’t wear beige pants and everything else blue?” You ask and she smiles and lowers her head for a second before looking back at you.

“Unfortunately not. That would seem unprofessional.” She tells you. “Do you have a colour you’re more leaning towards?” 

“Ya, I was thinking green.”

“Why green?” She asks you curiously.

“They’re the warriors, the important ones in the fight.” You tell her.

“All the colours are just as important.” She tells you and you look at her. “Sure that some are more in the shadows like the brown, but even what the brown Ajah does is important. Their research has saved us countless times and will continue saving us.” She explains and you look down at your hands. “I’m not saying to not pick green, because if you are as powerful as I think you are then green would be thrilled to have you. I’m just saying that every Ajah has a part and they’re just as important, even if they’re not fighting in the front lines.” She tells you and you nod.

A few hours later of talking and getting to know each other, you reach a town. All 3 of you get off your horses and continue walking through town on foot. 

“Where are you from?” She asks you.

“A small village, about a week's ride up north. Why?”

“So this is your first time exploring a town?” She asks and you nod. “Lan, do you mind finding a place to tie the horses up?” She asks him and he nods before grabbing the ropes from you and Moiraine. Moiraine then grabs your hand and pulls you further into town. “Welcome to the town market.” She tells you and your jaw drops. In front of you are a huge line of stalls set up with 100’s of people walking around and looking at what each stall has to offer. “I have money so if you want something then I’ll get it for you.” She says and you look at her.

“Really?” 

“Ya of course.” She says as she pulls you to the first stall. “What do you like? Jewellery? Clothes? Little trinkets?” She says and you have to think about it.

“I don’t know, never had to think about that.”

“Well let’s find out.” She tells you and she proceeds to bring you to many stalls in an hour. 

“That was a lot of fun.” You tell her and she smiles at you.

“Good, I’m glad. And you managed to find a hair clip that you like.” She says as she points to it in your hand. “Although I’m surprised you chose a blue one instead of green.”

“I’m not 100% sure I want to choose green, and besides the blue one looked prettier.” You tell her.

“Now there’s one more question for you.” She says and you look at her. “Do you want to sleep in an inn tonight or under the stars?” 

“Won’t we be sleeping under the stars a lot when we’re between towns?” You ask her and she nods. 

“I guess in an inn tonight.” She says. 

And that’s exactly where you found yourself in a few hours. She bought two rooms, one for the two of you and one for Lan.

“Good, just feel the One Power run through you, connect with it.” She says as she’s walking around the room, teaching you. All of a sudden the power you gathered vanishes and you sigh. “You keep losing your control on it.” She says and you look down. “Why?” 

“I don’t know, everytime I try to connect with it fully, it becomes a lot and I get scared.” You tell her.

“Look, yes it is scary but I promise you won’t hurt anyone. I can protect myself and anyone else if needed.” She tells you and you sigh. “How about I teach you that actually, have you been taught how to conjure a shield?” She asks and you shake your head. “Well it’s a good thing to know, especially since we’re travelling a lot.” She says and then proceeds to teach you how to conjure a shield.

The room only had one bed in it and you both ended up sharing the bed and you snuggled into her during the night. Moiraine woke up before you did and enjoyed a couple minutes with you snuggling into her before getting up. She carefully climbed out of bed without waking you up and got ready to see what she can get you for breakfast. 

You wake up a few minutes after she leaves and you immediately get dressed and go to find her. You find her downstairs and she’s sitting at a table with Lan talking.

“Good morning.” She says when she sees you and you walk over to the table. “I ordered us some breakfast, should be here any minute now.” She tells you and you nod. “How’d you sleep?” She asks you.

“Pretty good, my bed at the tower is definitely comfier, but no one is picking on me so I think it’s a fair trade.” You say and she smiles.

“Well when we get back to the tower, you’ll be better than all of them.” She tells you as she playfully nudges you. You smile and blush a bit at her words and then the food arrives. On the table in front of you has some scrambled eggs and a piece of bread. You look and see that Moiraine had gotten that for all 3 of you. 

“Thank you.” You tell her once the server leaves.

“Well we got a big day of walking around town ahead of us. And the town is quite big.”

“How is there a town this big close to Tar Valon?” You ask her and she shrugs.

“I don’t know. All of the others around Tar Valon are quite small.” 

“Lan, how come you don’t talk much? I think you’ve said 4 sentences since yesterday.” You ask him and he looks at you.

“Not much for talking.” He tells you and you look at Moiraine.

“I don’t really talk much either, it was a pretty good match.” She tells you.

“You talk to me a lot.” 

“That’s different, you’re my apprentice, I have to talk to you.” 

“We both know you don’t have to talk to me unless we’re training, you choose to talk to me when we’re not.” You say with a quirked eyebrow.

“Well how else are we going to build trust?” She asks you and you look at her and then continue eating, and you hear her giggle when you don’t answer.

You all finish eating and then get ready for a big day of walking around the town. You keep getting amazed at everything they have here. Moiraine has left you a couple of times to go somewhere but always leaves you where she knows she’ll find you and that you’re safe. A few hours later she brings you into the woods for some new training.

“Thought you might connect with your power more if you were surrounded by nature.” She tells you and you shrug.

“Worth a try.” You tell her and then close your eyes.

“Ok now feel the One Power run through you. Feel it, connect with it, feel it run through you.” She tells you and she sees the One Power being summoned and goes to you and starts to circle around you. “Don’t worry about what might happen, it’s your power, you control it.” She tells you. And then all of a sudden a leaf hits her in the face and she looks to see a bunch of them coming her way. She backs up and sees a bunch of leaves swirling around you. You open your eyes as you don’t hear Moiraine and see a bunch of leaves swirling around you and you cut the connection with the One Power and then they all fall down around you. Moiraine comes up to you with a smile. “I knew you had more power than what you were showing.” She tells you.

“I didn’t even notice I was doing it. How can I control what I don’t know what I’m doing?” You tell her.

“You do know though. You let go and let it flow through you. I’m proud of you. And I know it can be scary at first but you’ll love it soon.” She says and you nod. “Come on, let’s go back to the inn, I want to show you something.” She says and you both walk back. Once you get back to your room, she goes through her bag and pulls out a book. “I brought this to show you.” She says and hands it to you. You take the book from her and flip through it. “This is everything I was taught when I finally started using my full power. I want to teach it to you now that you’re finally starting to do that.”

“Some of these are pretty advanced and powerful.” You say and she nods.

“But they’re ones that you are able to do. With some more practice, you’ll be able to start learning these.” She tells you and you smile.

The next day the 3 of you head out of town and travel through the forest. You and Moiraine ride beside each other all day while Lan stays behind you both. Moiraine is talking all about history of the Aes Sedai and about her family while asking you questions about yours.

“We can stop by and visit your family.” Moiraine suddenly says after you finish telling her about your older brother and little sister.

“What?” You ask her and she looks at you.

“You like your family and it wasn’t fair that you got pulled away from them. But we can change routes if you want to see them again.” 

“But you have a mission, don’t you?” You ask her.

“I do but it’ll still be there when we get back on track. We can start heading North now and be there in a week and a half.” She says and she sees you look a bit guilty about doing that. “We’re going east so it won’t be completely out of our way.” She adds and you nod at that. 

“Ok, it would be nice to see them again.” You tell her and she smiles at you. 

A few hours later, Lan was out finding firewood while you and Moiraine found a log to sit on while she was showing you the book from yesterday. 

“Wow, you know how to produce fireballs?” You ask and she nods. “That’s so cool.” 

“I usually start the fire so I can show you when Lan finishes getting the wood.” She tells you and you nod. “For now, let’s work on your control.” She tells you and you nod. “Today just let it be around you, let it spin around you and nothing more. That way you can learn to connect with it more.” She tells you and you nod. 

You close your eyes and start summoning the One Power, and you bring it to only twirl around you.

“Good, now summon as much as you can, don’t worry about consequences.” Moiraine says and you nod. You start summoning more and more. “Open your eyes.” Moiraine tells you and your eyes flutter open. You look and see the amount of power you summoned and it was overwhelming. You had no idea you actually had this much power inside of you. “Do you see how close you are to the wheel? How powerful you really are? You have the same amount as I do.” She says with a smile. 

At that moment you hear a twig snap behind you and you shoot some power in that direction and you see Lan too late. Luckily Moiraine acted quickly and sent a shield to block it before it hit him.

“Lan, I’m sorry.” You tell him and he shrugs it off. 

“I wouldn’t be a warden if I couldn’t handle things like this.” He says and starts making a fire pit. 

“Wanna see me make a fireball now?” Moiraine asks and you nod enthusiastically. Moiraine summons the One Power and with a few waves of her hands, a fireball appears and she throws it at the wood, creating a fire instantly.

“Wow, that’s so amazing.” You tell her as you go sit by the fire. 

“You’ll be able to do it too, maybe sooner than I thought.” She tells you. 

After eating and practising a bit more, you both are laying next to each other on the ground and looking up at the sky.

“The North Star is right there.” She says and points straight up at the brightest star in the sky. Just then a small gust of wind blows and you huddle closer to Moiraine. 

“I forgot to bring a blanket.” You tell her when she looks at you confused. 

“Well we can get you one in 2 days when we pass by a small town.” She tells you and you nod. She allows you to huddle closer to her and shares her blanket with you. 

Moiraine wakes up with you cuddling her and instead of getting you off of her, she just lays there in content for a few minutes. She then carefully got up, readjusted the blanket on you and restarted a fire to cook breakfast. 

After you wake up, you all eat and then get back to your horses and continue riding. 

“Moiraine?” You ask after a bit of riding and she looks at you.

“Ya?”

“This mission, whatever you’re looking for, what are you going to do when you find it?” You ask her.

“I’m going to bring it back with me to the white tower. It’s supposed to help with the final battle.” She tells you honestly.

“What could help with the final battle? I thought only the Dragon Reborn can do that.” You say with a small chuckle and you look over at her as it hits you. “Oh my light, are you searching for the Dragon Reborn?” You ask her and she quickly looks around and then glares at you.

“Keep your voice down, we don’t know who’s around.” She tells you sternly. 

“So it’s true, everything we were taught and that’s what you’re searching for?” You ask her and she nods.

A little later in the day, Lan alerts you both that he hears something. You all continue riding with caution and then people start jumping down from trees and attacking you. Your horse gets scared and sends you flying back and off of him and you fall on the ground.

“Y/n!” Moiraine shouts and quickly gets off her horse as well as Lan. 

Lan does his best to protect you both while Moiraine goes and helps you up. After doing that, she starts conjuring the One Power and knocking the people out. Some of them start advancing on you and you start backing up, away from Moiraine and Lan. You start to get overwhelmed, not knowing what to do, and you see Lan get crowded with people as well as Moiraine. You feel yourself get kicked in the back and it sends you to the ground and it becomes too much for you and you let yourself go. 

The people start getting close to you and you start screaming then the One Power comes out of you full force and it sends every single person flying backwards, either to a tree or to the ground. Moiraine stops summoning and runs over to you while Lan cautiously follows her, making sure no one goes to attack again. 

“Y/n, are you ok?” Moiraine asks you and you whimper.

“I was surrounded, I didn’t know what to do.” You squeak out and Moiraine pulls you into her. 

“It’s ok, we’re safe now because of you.” She says while still hugging you. 

“Because of me?” You say and you feel her nod.

“Your survival instincts must have kicked in. I’m proud of you though. You connected to the One Power fully and used it to protect us.” She tells you and you pull back.

“We should go now.” Lan says. “They’ll start waking up soon.” He adds on and you all go to your horses.

You ride there silently and Moiraine can’t help but keep looking at you. She’s worried about you as you just experienced your first fight and while you normally start conversations, you’re now quiet. You’re too wrapped up in your head to notice her keep looking at you. You all ride a few extra hours that day to make it to the closest town by dusk.

Moiraine immediately brings you to an Inn while Lan brings the horses to a safe place. Moiraine orders you all food to eat and pays for two rooms. You inhale your food as the last thing you ate was breakfast and it’s been a tiring day. 

You then all make your way to the rooms, Lan goes to his and you and Moiraine go to your shared room. 

“Want to tell me what’s on your mind now?” She asks you while you get ready for bed. You shake your head at her and she sighs while walking up to you. She reaches you and you stop your movements, she grabs your chin and gets you to look up at her. “Please tell me what’s bothering you.” She says to you and you take a deep breath.

“I could have killed all of them.” You finally tell her and she brings you to sit on the bed. “I was lucky this time but what if next time we’re attacked and I use my power and kill everyone.” You tell her.

“If that happens then it happens. You’re still not fully in control of it yet but that’s why I’m teaching you. If you’re worried about that then the next thing I’ll teach you is controlling it during a fight.” She tells you and you nod. “But I’ll tell you that eventually you will kill someone, every Aes Sedai who’s left the white tower has. We don’t always want to but to survive then sometimes we must.” She adds on and you nod. You then wrap your arms around her and cuddle her and she lets you. She’s not normally a touchy person but with you, she is. “It’s any comfort, Lan and I didn’t go flying because you didn’t want us too.” She adds and you bring your head back and look at her.

“What?” You ask.

“Every single person went flying and got knocked out, except for Lan and I. Why do you think that is?” She asks and you think about it.

“I don’t know.”

“It means you have control over your power, you just think you don’t.” She tells you with a smile. “If you couldn’t control it then you would have knocked me and Lan out as well.” She adds. “Everytime I teach you, you could have hurt or killed me but you haven’t, because you don’t want to.”

“Moiraine, why are you the one searching for the Dragon Reborn?” You ask her and she sighs.

“Because Siuan and I were with the witch, the one with eyes so white, she saw the Dragon being born again when we were with her. And we made it our mission to find whoever it is. They’ll be 5 now.” She tells you.

“Are you and Siuan together?” You suddenly ask her and she looks at you.

“We were, we broke up when she became The Amyrlin Seat and I continued the mission.” She says and you nod.

“How did you know you liked women?”

“You’re asking a lot of deep questions tonight.” She jokes and you chuckle.

“I’m curious.”

“That’s a very brown Sedai thing to say.” She tells you with a smile. “But to answer your question, I never had any attraction to men and I always thought about women. Like hugging them, holding their hand, kissing them, being married to one.” She tells you.

“Moiraine, I think I like women.” You tell her and she holds your hand. You look at her with wide eyes and you glance down briefly to her lips and then you look away from her. She grabs your chin and gets you to look at her.

“I know.” She tells you and you lean forward and kiss her and she immediately kisses you back. “We should go to bed.” She tells you when you both pull back and you nod “Come here.” She says when she’s laying down and pats the spot in front of her. You curl up against her and she wraps an arm around your waist before you immediately fall asleep.

*15 years later*

Moiraine enters the tower with the 5 people from the two towers and Lan. 

“What are we going to do now?” Egwene asks Moiraine.

“We need some help, and I’m hoping that she’s here.” Moiraine says and walks down the hall.

“Who’s help?” Nynaeve asks Lan and Lan doesn’t answer, only smiles.

They all walk to a hall, following Moiraine and then she suddenly stops in front of a door. She takes a deep breath, looks at Lan for a second and then knocks. The door opens a few seconds later to reveal a man there. 

“Christo!” Lan exclaims and they go and hug.

“Is she in here?” Moiraine asks Christo and he nods and then lets them all in.

“Who was at the door Christo?” You ask and then you come into view. You stop when you see Moiraine there and you both look at each other before smiling and then running to her and attack her with a hug. “Oh my light! After 2 years I can’t believe you’re back.” You exclaim and then Moiraine surges forward and kisses you.

“Sorry, I’ve been wanting to do that for 2 years.” She tells you and you smile at her.

“You wouldn’t have had to wait if you let me go with you again.” You tell her and walk to the other side of your room.

“If I recall you were busy 2 years ago.” She teases you with.

“You know as well as I do that that’s not true.” You say and grab a book before walking towards her. “I’m assuming that this crowd means you need something.” You say as you exit your room.

“Yes but…” She says and goes to catch up with you. “I would prefer to have the conversation in one of our rooms, in private. 

“And why’s that?” You ask her, not bothering to face her or slow down. She then suddenly grabs your wrist and you turn to look at her. You then suddenly really look at the group and you feel it. “Did you find them?” You ask her and she nods. You then turn to Christo and hand him the book. “Christo, can you return this book to the Brown’s please. The rest of you, we’re going back to my room.” You tell them and they all follow you back to your room and you close the door behind them. “There’s 5 of you, which one is it?” You ask Moiraine and she gives you a look. “You don’t know.”

“I don’t but we’re going to face the dark one, all of us.” She tells you.

“And why do you need me?” You ask her with a quirked eyebrow and put hands on your hips.

“Well I could use the help of a fellow blue and my wife.” She says and you hear gasps from the rest of the group. You glance over at them briefly before looking back at Moiraine.

“It’s been told that whoever goes there, who’s not the Dragon Reborn, will die. You want to go there and you’re not even sure who the Dragon Reborn is.”

“I know but this could save everyone.” She says and you walk up to her and slap her head.

“Do you even hear yourself?!? You want to bring kids to the final battle, not knowing which one is the Dragon Reborn, knowing 4 of them will die, including yourself and you think that will save the world?” You say sternly. “If you really think that then you’ve gotten stupider with age.” You add and she pouts at you.

“Well this is why I came to you, I need some help.”

“No kidding.” You say sarcastically.

*A few days later*

You ride with Moiraine to the designated spot after Moiraine is exiled and you see everyone there already.

“I hope this plan of yours works.” You tell her before entering the void.

*Two days later*

You anxiously wait for the return of Lan, Moiraine and Rand. You’re sitting there near the entrance and then you see two figures coming and you quickly stand up which alerts the others. You see Moiraine and Lan emerge and you immediately go and hug her and she wraps her arms around you.

“What happened?” Nynaeve aasks.

“Where’s Rand?” Egwene asks right after.

“He’s gone.” Moiraine says and then looks at you after pulling away. “I’ve been stilled.” She says as tears fall down her face and you cover your mouth with a gasp.

“No, that can’t be true.” You tell her and she tries to summon the One Power and then looks at you with red rimmed eyes. You immediately wrap her in a tight hug and then you pull back and put your hands on her cheeks.

“We’ll figure this out together, ok?” You tell her and she nods before bringing you in a hug.

[bookoftheironfist]

    In which all of the comics fans who spent this whole episode going “Heal her, dummy! Heal her!” are finally rewarded! What a great reveal this is. I mentioned in an earlier post that this season did not dig very deep into the Iron Fist power-set, but it did give us two key components: the punching and the healing, and since the healing is much less famous than the punching, it was hugely exciting to see it spotlighted in this climactic moment. 

    In the comics, pre-Immortal Iron Fist Danny was, relatively speaking, an untrained Iron Fist-- which is to say that he didn’t know about a lot of the things that the chi of Shou-Lao could do. This wasn’t really his fault, as his predecessor, Orson Randall (who we will get to next episode!) took with him the source of that knowledge, the Book of the Iron Fist, when he ran away from K’un-Lun. Both 616 and MCU Danny are forced to learn a lot of the business of being the Iron Fist through lived experience, trial-and-error, and sometimes just by accident. 

The circumstances in which Danny discovers his healing powers in the comics are different than in the MCU, but equally desperate: he gets caught in a collapsing building and finds himself trapped in the rubble, dying from his injuries. On the edge of unconsciousness and hallucinating, he receives some vital information from the image of his uncle, Nu-An, the Yu-Ti of K’un-Lun: 

Nu-An: “Save yourself, young dragon!” Danny: “H-how?!” Nu-An: “The power lies within you, as it always has, nephew. The legacy of Shao-Lao can heal as well as kill... The Iron Fist is not a weapon--it is a force of will...and used properly, it can accomplish...miracles.” Iron Fist vol. 1 #4 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Janice Cohen, Frank Chiaramonte, and John Costanza

    Danny’s first healing experience is extremely painful and exhausting, but it works. He survives. Over time, he grows more comfortable with using the dragon chi in this way, and after his power-up in Immortal Iron Fist he is able to do so casually, whenever he needs to, for both himself and others.  

Lei Kung: “Daniel?” Danny: “Hunh...I healed without even thinking of it. And I don’t feel drained at all.” Immortal Iron Fist #8 by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Matt Hollingsworth

Danny: “Your doctors did most of the hard work weeks ago... All I’m doing...is focusing your chi a bit...” Dakota: “...Whoa...” Danny: “...To speed up your natural healing process.” Daredevil vol. 2 #111 by Ed Brubaker, Clay Mann, Matt Hollingsworth, Stefano Gaudiano, and Chris Eliopoulos

    MCU Danny is at much the same state of training as pre-Immortal Iron Fist 616 Danny, and I love that his effort at healing Colleen is clearly painful for both of them, reflecting that early power level and lack of experience. And the fact that Danny just passes the heck out afterward and is unconscious for the rest of the episode means a lot to me.  

    (There is a great issue of Heroes for Hire volume 1 in which a desperate, pre-Immortal power-level Danny heals Luke from life-threatening injuries and nearly kills himself in the process. Obviously, this is not on the same level as that, but it has a similar flavor.)  

    While this is all very exciting for geeky reasons, it is also a major plot point. After being teased as Colleen’s mysterious sensei earlier in the season, here Bakuto swoops in to save the day...much to the annoyance of Madame Gao, who is pissed that he’s muscling in on her Iron Fist manipulation efforts. And not only does Bakuto help, he knows about the Iron Fist-- including details that even Danny doesn’t know. That is hugely significant, a mystery that leads us directly into the next episode...

[I’ve been going through and providing in-depth commentary on Iron Fist season 1. Look here for all of the posts so far!]

[otwdfanfic]

Into the Polar Night - Chapter 5: Bite the Hand

Summary: Despite the political turmoil on Berserker Island, Baldur and Nuffink are scheming to kill a warlord, so Zephyr pays a visit to our favorite traitorous one-eyed shipwright for an important piece of information. And, oh yeah, Baldur sets his mind on taming an untrainable dragon. Oh, for Thor's sake. TW: Extremely vaguely implied sorta-cannibalism *in a dream*

Zephyr visiting Gustav, illustrated

[dragonmasterhiccup]

Viggo: Relocate them?......

Eret: *chuckles* Hiccup, Viggo wants to train them.

Viggo: And teach them to not eat dragons. I'd like to see what they're capable of and discover the use of their venom.

Dagur: Ooh, I can't wait to see how the babies look like! I couldn't see through that amber what colors they had so I'm curious what comes out of those eggs.

Eret: Let's hope that the dragons on your island will accept them.

Viggo: Hopefully. Hiccup, you're more than welcome to stop by and test out my training grounds. Eret helped me design them and Dagur helped us to build it and test it.

Dagur: It's wild! Almost like a battlefield!

"Train them?" Didn't he know some species were just... untrainable?

"You know, in theory, that's a great idea...but...they're going to have that natural instinct to hunt other dragons. I'm not sure other...meat substitutions will be proper for what they'll need to survive."

Rubbing the back of his neck, he was still uncertain about this plan, but he nodded. "Uh...yeah. Yeah, I'll come by, take a look around."

Dagur's excitement made him grin. "Then I'll definitely have to make sure I stop by!"

[duhragonball]

How would you have written pan as a character for gt?

Above all else, I'd want to establish an end goal for her character arc. Where do we want Pan to end up at the end of the story? How will she change? And then I'd write the character with that goal in mind.

Let's use her father as an example. When Gohan is first introduced, he's established to have great potential, but he's untrained and easily frightened. He taps into that hidden power when he sees his father in danger, or when his own life is threatened, but that's about it. Piccolo declares his intention to train Gohan to control his hidden power, so that he can become strong enough to defend the earth.

And that mission statement becomes the throughline for the character. It's not the only thing Gohan does in Dragon Ball Z, but with each adventure he goes on, he gets a little more capable and a little more responsible and mature.

Static characters are a thing, and you can have them in your story. Yajirobe is basically the same guy in Dragon Ball Super as he is in his first appearance. He moves into Korin Tower and ages a few decades, but otherwise nothing changes. It works in his case, because he's a supporting role in a very large cast of characters.

But Gohan and Pan are presented as major players in their respective stories, and they need to develop over time, in order to keep the audience invested in them. This wasn't lost on the makes of GT. In episode 2, Pan makes it clear that she wants to be taken more seriously by the adults, and she sneaks aboard the ship and forces the others to let her stay aboard, all so she can prove her worth.

But what progress do we see Pan make towards that goal? I'm sure there's some throwaway lines at the end of the Baby Saga about how proud everyone is of Pan for her courage, but the Pan at the end of GT looks and acts basically the same as the one we see at the beginning. What did she learn from all those adventures? How has she grown?

With Gohan in DBZ, this is always obvious to the viewer. He goes from trembling at the thought of fighting Nappa to standing up to Recoome all by himself. At the Cell Games, he doesn't just show superior strength, he also demonstrates skills that he didn't have before he spent that year in the Time Chamber with Goku. He uses the Kamehameha, but he also deflects a Special Beam Cannon, among other things. And there's a lot of visual changes he goes through as well. Fans can just look at a picture of Gohan and identify what period of the show it's from.

GT Pan doesn't get any of that. She's stuck wearing the same Winnie the Pooh shirt from start to finish, and while I'm sure she increased her power level over the course of the series, there's no clear indication of this.

This was why I was always mad that she didn't turn Super Saiyan in Episode 15. It was a perfect opportunity to have her reach a tangible milestone, something that would force everyone to accept her as a peer. Then she could have racked up some wins later in the show, maybe defeat Tuffle Goten or something, and then later she could take out a major league dead villain in the Super 17 Saga. And then she could have scored a big solo win over one of the Shadow Dragons. She wouldn't have to become the strongest character on the show, or anything like that. The point would be to demonstrate that Pan Has Changed A Lot, and she's much more capable in Episode 60 than she was in Episode 3.

If you want to get into specific ideas, I would probably focus on Pan doing "penance" for stealing Goten's spot on the GT Crew. The idea Vegeta had was for Goten and Trunks to go with Goku as a sort of training journey. Pan took Goten's spot, which means she has to do all the hard work Goten would have had to do. They showed her doing (and assigning) chores on the ship in Episode 3, but she never learned anything about the tech that makes the ship run, and we never see her training with Goku.

A big problem with GT, especially early GT, is how they just waste time doing nothing, when they could use that time to develop the characters. So you have scenes where Trunks says something responsible or anxious, and Pan acts whiny or bossy, and Goku says he's hungry, and it's like, that's it, there's your characterization for the week! It's hollow and performative, and it betrays the formulaic attitudes of the creators. They're just making GT in order to hang on to the time slot for one more year.

What they should have done was to use those quiet moments in the stories to show Pan learning from Goku and Trunks. If they're on their way to the next planet, Trunks should be showing Pan how to fly the ship. If they're waiting for repairs, Goku should be sparring with Pan to pass the time. Goku should be very eager to get Pan up to Super Saiyan level, because it could literally save her life one of these days. And, more importantly, Goku knows she's capable of earning the respect she craves.

She should also be learning lessons to curb her shitty attitude, the same way Goku learned some manners in the original series, and Gohan learned to take care of himself in Z. It's bizarre to me how often Pan treats Goku and Trunks with such contempt, and yet she wants them to respect her. It would be so easy to have someone point out the hypocrisy, and maybe that would get Pan to rethink how she looks at the world, but that conversation just never happens.

I could take this in more radical directions, like giving Pan special powers or a unique skill no one else has, but it boils down to the same thing. If you're going to send Pan into space for a year, then she needs to come back older and wiser than she was before. The change needs to be apparent to the viewer, and we should get to see that change happen over the course of the story.

[theurgic-necromancer]

You come upon Gale late one night. Dinner is long over, and the others have dispersed to their own corners of camp. Gale, however, lingers near the fire, hands moving around in an obvious attempt to cast a spell, but it's not one you recognize. After several failed attempts, he gets up and mutters what sounds like an incantation to the untrained ear. But you’re reasonably certain it's just a curse.

"That was a failed spell if I've ever heard one," you remark.

Gale sighs. "Failure. You'd think I'd be used to it by now." He shakes his head and rubs his face. "It's getting late. I think I'll turn in. Perhaps some sleep will do me good."

"What were you trying to cast?" you ask. "Maybe I can help troubleshoot."

"A bygone spell from a bygone era," Gale waves a hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter."

"I'm practically from a bygone era, Gale," you point out with a grin. "I've lived through Mystra's death and resurrection twice. Once when I was barely even aware of who Mystra was as a goddess."

"Ah, elves and your ridiculously long lives," Gale laughs. But it's short lived as he turns his attention back to the fire. "You said before that you were once a powerful and skilled necromancer, correct?"

You follow his gaze towards the fire, momentarily falling quiet. "One of the best. I was fairly well known on the Sword Coast. Even as far south as Amn."

Gale lets out a low whistle. "That's either a compliment or a condemnation, given Amn's general opinion of arcane magic."

"Probably a bit of both," you admit. "But I was well-regarded enough for a time that they allowed me to train some apprentices."

"So you were an archwizard once, too," Gale says quietly. You glance over to see him looking at you with a degree of sympathy.

You shrug. "Not in any official capacity. But in terms of power and knowledge… yeah."

You both stare silently into the fire. Your attention drifts to your hands, shadows dancing across them with every flicker of the flames. In the right light, they almost look skeletal. You hate that fact.

"But now, I can barely cast a cantrip without falling over myself." You clench your fists in front of yourself, and hate the way your hands tremble despite holding still. "I could summon lightning, conjure clouds of noxious fumes, raise and control undead, even wish for whatever I damn well wanted. Now I'm back to casting sleep and hoping it keeps my foes out of the fight long enough for us to finish off their allies."

"I know how you feel," Gale says, softly. "There was a time I could make this fire take the form of a dragon and roar in delight. I could silence a Beholder with a word, and lift a tower from its foundations with a flourish."

"Now you can barely get it lit in the first place," you say, recalling an earlier debacle with the campfire. Gale heaves the heaviest sigh.

"Now I can barely light a campfire reliably," he agrees. "I was all but one with the Weave once upon a time. But no more. I'm a mere shadow of the wizard I used to be."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." It's your turn to heave a sigh.

"You know my sordid tale, at least," Gale says. "Of how I sought to impress my goddess muse, Mystra herself. How all I accomplished was ensuring my death—"

"You know I'll help you find a way to stop it, right?"

Gale pauses, chancing a look at you before turning away again. "It's a fine sentiment."

"I mean it, Gale. I've helped people with far wilder problems."

He waves a hand. "First, let's see to our little tadpole problem, and then we can worry about how to… deal with this ticking time bomb in my chest."

You sigh, but let the point drop.

"But if you don't mind my asking… how, precisely, did you end up divested of your own powers?" He smiles wryly. "You didn't also happen to run afoul of the goddess of magic somehow too, did you?"

You let out a huff of a laugh. "Not her, no. I've certainly run afoul of at least one god I can think of though. But my current predicament wasn't his doing."

"Now you've gone and piqued my curiosity." Gale grins. "If not the result of divine wrath, then what?"

You hesitate. You don't want to tell the whole story. But would only a sliver be enough to satisfy a fellow mage's boundless curiosity?

"It's a long story,'' you say. "Far longer than I want to get into tonight. But…" You sigh and cover your mouth. "The shortest version is, I put myself into a magically induced coma for about a century."

"…On purpose or by accident?"

"On purpose."

Gale raises an eyebrow. "Why, precisely?"

You turn away. Thankfully, he gets the hint.

"A long story that you do not wish to get into tonight." Gale sighs. "You know, it's strange. We've spent a fair bit of time with you at this point, and yet I barely feel as is I've had a chance to get to know you." He looks at you with the smallest of smiles. "But between our little stint with the Weave before and this conversation… I feel like we've grown a little closer."

You look up and catch that smile, and find yourself smiling back.

"I'd like to continue getting to know each other－with or without the looming threat of death, of course."

You snort, the first time you've laughed properly this whole conversation. "Yeah, the looming threat of death really puts a damper on things. I’d like that, though. The getting to know you part, at least."

"Well then, we’ll just have to carve out some time between carving up enemies and wrestling with basic cantrips." Gale smiles again. "I'll look forward to it."

[writeintrees]

Moon + Seraph Pitch Week

rules: likes are to be added to a tag list. feel free to reach out about being a beta reader/critique partner!

The Kaiju Preservation Society X How to Train Your Dragon

CLAWS IN THE CANOPY

Bennett’s expedition is stationed in the dangerous forests of the planet Zora. Something is destroying their equipment high up in the mammoth atlas trees, and he knows that if he solves the problem, the council will finally be proud. What he doesn’t expect is to save the life of the mystery creature, breaking the tenets of their society, and being thrown into a mission to keep the untrained Ionan Guard alive as they cross the jungle. All the while, things are getting bad with import/export holds between two of the cities, and political tensions are rising.

found family, dumbest smart people you’ll ever meet, animal companion, queer love, and a diverse cast

finishing up revisions and looking for beta readers

CWs: animal injury, animal death (not Celeste), guns, war, human injury, blood, bones

[mysticstarlightduck]

You know what time it isss. Eve's weird question time: describe your wips but in a form of AITA (am i the asshole posts from reddit)

Hello, Eve! Thank you for the Ask, @repressed-and-depressed!

I loved this question lol.

Describe your WIPs but in the form of AITA (am I the asshole posts from Reddit) -

The Last Wrath :

Raelen - AITA for angering an age-old sorceress queen that wants my entire family dead? Also, AITA for getting in trouble with the law since I was twelve and stealing ancient tomes from Royal Archives?

Azra - AITA for stealing an untamed, and untrained, dragon only to proceed and crash land on a deeply cursed forest while on the run from assassins who want my (adoptive) sister dead?

Ellinor - AITA for killing every nobleman (and noblewoman) who betrayed my family in the past, with the help of my highly trained friend group of assassins?

Zephyr - AITA for being a sorcerer and searching for a forgotten anti-magic spell while ignoring the fact that my curse slowly consumes me?

Darian - AITA for running away in the middle of the night, ignoring my dad's warnings, with only a flimsy clue to guide me towards my long-lost best friend while the kingdom struggles with a civil war?

Julyan - AITA for discovering I am the vessel for a deeply unstable and dangerous ancient power that I don't know how to control while being stuck in an evil dungeon?

Bryn - AITA for wanting to kill the bitch that destroyed my brother's life? Also, AITA for getting into bloodlust-driven fights with the knights from the Imperial occupation?

Nyx - AITA for using my Faeborn powers to enchant my audience as a bard so that my two best friends can pickpocket them while they listen to my songs?

Peregrine - AITA for making a mistake that got me kicked out of the Order of Knights by the man that raised me (my adoptive brother) and then proceed to make it my life's goal to defeat the Secret Court in order to prove myself and be accepted back?

Trystan - AITA for banishing my reckless adoptive little brother from the Order after he almost got himself and his soldiers killed because he refused to listen to my orders?

Seira - AITA for hiring a mercenary known for being a scoundrel to be my guide across the continent as I search - from dubious sources - the truth about who I am?

Lukan - AITA for being a thief and a scammer who gambles away most of what I earn as a mercenary? Also, AITA for leaving behind my childhood best friends after an argument for years and then returning to ask for their help without having contacted them in years?

Jamie - AITA for falling in love with the weird Mageborn healer I hired to translate an ancient book of spells?

Tanwin - AITA for becoming a soldier for the people who kidnapped me and then being forced to become their best killing machine for years while believing that my best friend - towards whom I have unspoken romantic feelings - lied about his promise to find and save me?

Isolde - AITA for wanting to make my mother proud so much that I often forget to realize I am overworking myself? AITA for ditching my chance at becoming a knight to help a shady prisoner and my happy-go-lucky best friend stop an ancient evil?

Arammis - AITA for being furious at my former childhood friend for returning unprompted and asking me for help in his new friend's quest and yet accepting to help them anyways for a personal reason?

Innara - AITA for disappearing from my family's palaces because I refuse to bow to the current House Regnant's rule over mine who turn a blind eye to the corrupted magic slowly destroying our kingdom? Also, AITA for saving a convict because he is my only clue to finding the cure to this magical corruption?

Vallerius - AITA for hating my magical abilities and instead of finding a way to control them, dedicating myself to finding a way to get revenge on the Secret Court for killing my father, while blatantly ignoring my growing powers and traumatic shame towards my past?

Fabian - AITA for willingly becoming an Imperial Hunter (thus betraying my own kind) on the promise that the lives of my sister and our friends would be spared (making them believe I betrayed them)? Also, AITA for sparing the mage I was supposed to kill and thus endanger my alliance with the Empire?

Nadinne - AITA for dreaming of sailing away and braving the seas as a privateering captain rather than focusing on my duties as a lady? Why can't I be both a lady and a sailor?

Cassander - AITA for being a rebel spy and befriending an Imperial servant in hopes of discovering more information on the Emperor, while slowly falling in love with her?

Luciya - AITA for threatening the weird rebel spy I found with exposing his secrets if he did not help me find a way to escape my captors (who killed all my friends)? Also, AITA for wanting vengeance over my older half-brother for joining the Empire as a Hunter - and for abandoning me as a servant of the woman who destroyed my life?

Emryc - AITA for stealing things - with pride - because I want to be the most fashionable one on my team?

Ansell - AITA for being such a deadly archer that I was nicknamed the Silver Wraith by my enemies? AITA for overworking myself as a bodyguard of the lost princess to the point of endangering my well-being, even though she asked me to be careful and take care of myself?

Yuna - AITA for liking to drink way more rum than I should at my age and then try to drunkenly win fights with other people while also trying to save the world on my sober days?

Nethen - AITA for secretly becoming a political manipulator to try and bring down my corrupt family and their beloved Emperor, while pretending to be an Imperial politician and blatantly falling in love with my rival?

Orion - AITA for being done with the world because my only job - a.k.a the only reason the Secret Court hasn't killed me yet - is healing a Mageborn prisoner whom I barely know?

[leviathanverse]

Another information about my HCD! Au dragon species. I feel like I am making dragon species for your au at this point, @mylou-doodlesworld. But I don't mind!

This species is inspired by Velociraptors and Speed Stingers!

--------------------------------------------------

Appearance:

Species name:

Nickname is The Vengeful Shadow.

The Speedwraith.

What they can't do:

People have taken notice of how these dragons can't hunt alone.

What they can do:

They can run a lot faster than the subspecies of the Scaleless Firewing.

They can work as a pack to take down larger prey.

They can breathe a blue fire that can melt flesh and bone.

They can hunt up to 110 people in one night.

They can jump extremely high.

They can sense when to hunt a different species.

They can paralyze prey with the help of their tails.

Some people got a glimpse of their tails.

It is spiky with a massive knife shaped stinger at the end.

They can make sharp turns while running.

Life expectancy:

It is believed that they can roughly live between 159 to 300 years.

Dependency:

They are very dependant on their packmates.

They can't be independent, as it is not in their nature like some dragon species.

Rarity, information and locations:

These dragons hunt other dragons and humans alike.

These dragons reproduce quickly, and are like a plague.

Their locations are unknown.

They are not endangered or rare.

They are the most common dragons to encounter.

These dragons have dark colours that help them blend in the darkness of the night sky.

They hunt in packs that have thousands of pack members.

They are known to hunt and eat up to 12 people in 30 villages in one night.

They are easily at the top of the food chain.

They were known to have had only one predator that went extinct 67000 years ago.

Those that have seen them have not lived to tell the appearance or the tale of these fast dragons.

Eggs:

People have tracked these dragons to their dens, and found no eggs or remains of an egg that had hatched.

It is believed that they give live birth instead of laying eggs.

It is also believed that they might lay eggs and consume the eggshell to prevent any creature to locate them.

Egg colour spots and meaning:

As mentioned, it is believed that they give birth to live young.

No one has ever seen a young Speedwraith before.

How to tell an infertile and fertile egg apart:

It is believed that they give live birth instead of laying eggs.

So, instead of infertile eggs, they give birth to stillborn babies.

It is only a theory, as people don't know if they lay eggs or give live birth.

But people can be wrong, and they might or do lay eggs.

Males and females:

No one knows the difference between a male or female.

Or if they can reproduce asexually.

What people get wrong:

People mistake them for the other fast Wraith species.

Trust:

Don't even try to tame or train these dragons or earn their trust.

They only see you as prey and nothing else.

Whether you helped one of their pack members, consider yourself as good as dead.

These dragons are said to be untrainable.

Nesting:

Their nests are made out of leaves that people have never seen before.

There are remains of their prey at the edge of the nest like a barrier.

Their nests can range from 4ft- 7ft.

Both in width and length.

How they are during nesting season:

People took notice that these dragons hunt more frequently in Autumn than in the other seasons.

They also tend to be more aggressive during this season.

Many speculated as them nesting or provide food for their young.

Personality and behaviour:

These dragons are hard to get a read on when it comes to their personality and behaviour.

If you asked what their personality was, then the people in the villages they frequently target and hunt will say nothing good about these incredible and majestic creatures.

" They are monsters, I tell you! They are careless and are nothing but cruel! They show no mercy!"

Others would say the exact same thing about these incredible and intelligent creatures.

Fun facts:

Did you know that these dragons are the only known species to have the most kill count from any other dragon species?

[flockrest]

spell out your url using song titles / then, tag as many people as there are letters in your url!

tagged by: @quillheel ( thanks bunches!! ♡ ) tagging: some of you have pretty long urls and i don't want to be annoying sldfkjd so whoever wants to do this! go for it, nab it from me!!

this was super fun to figure out! both as someone who runs a mumu and as someone who primarily listens to soundtracks and scores :'D i've included my thoughts on how the songs i ended up choosing would vibe with the blog since i don't have the luxury of highlighting lyrics, either through a specific muse-centric lens or just as a general thematic thing! i do cheat with some letters but. i think my input makes up for it. probably aslfkjsd

F. fire emblem main theme, as featured in the sounds from fire emblem Ø: horse and rider as one album. it's an understated rendition compared to the original, but i think that works in its favour because oh man. the way hope feels here...like. the way it's delivered? it's so sincere, it sounds like a hope built from the ground up! if i had to put a taste to this, it would be sweet! listen to how earnest that acoustic guitar sounds against the more grounded piano — i genuinely love this piece and do listen to it occasionally when writing!

L. ( the ) legendary hero, as featured in the legend of zelda: the wind waker. please just roll with the fact that i wanted to put a ww mention in here so badly that i stretched this far for it. "but ray, you've got—" shhh, that letter's reserved for another song. this track has nothing to do with the rito specifically, but it's very good storytelling music and is literally the bgm for narrative exposition slfkjdlf the kids would've been listening to Songs like this in their early childhood for sure :)

O. once there were dragons, as featured in how to train your dragon: the hidden world. i have many qualms with this movie, but damn if i don't have nothing but praise for its soundtrack. this one in particular recounts an entire story on its own, no explicit exposition needed even to the untrained ear. it's the telling of a legend in music motion, as the above track was, just in a different flavour! also it has test drive's, the flying theme of all time, leitmotif in there to cap it all off; i can't not endorse it on this blog!!

C. carlo's theme, as featured in guillermo del toro's pinocchio ( please appreciate the amount of self-restraint it took to not slot colgera's theme in here asflkjg ). the airy, fluttery sound texture at the beginning flowing into such a measured, charming melody...feels like a swell of love and longing at the same time! what i envision kido's theme would sound like, esp. in his botw era, if he had one.

K. kass' theme, as featured in the legend of zelda: breath of the wild. bonus extended cover. this was a no-brainer, if only because there aren't a lot of tracks i know that would vibe with this blog and start with "k" anyway sdflkd we love kass, all my homies love kass! also i only realised it this year, but there is a lovely little hint of rito village's theme in his own — it's way subtler than revali's homage, but it's sweet how kass' song basically starts the same way his home's does ♡

R. revali, ace archer and aviator, as featured in hyrule warriors: age of calamity. come on...you can't expect me to not fit in one of the blorbo's themes!! i'm so glad we got an extension of it in aoc...one that sounds so bombastically triumphant too? a fanfare compared to the more reflective piece in botw — which i do appreciate lots for how and what it adds to revali's narrative and character — but aoc's rendition is just. it sounds like him at his peak! and it speaks of such a definitively hopeful future for him...so what if i'm weak for a revali who gets to live, huh?? i love the tragedy of being doomed by the narrative as much as any other chump but so WHAT if i love the nobody dies-everyone lives route too!!

E. echoes, as featured in fire emblem echoes: shadows of valentia. the shortest piece on this list, but when i think or talk about dineli and his legacy, esp. regarding its presence in tulin's time, it's with these vibes. that sort of...emptiness, tinged with melancholy but also hope! no this was not the hardest letter for me to do, why do you ask

S. sea winds and travellers, as featured in the sounds from fire emblem Ø: go! go! summer tour album. aside from the perfect track name, the mellowness of this piece almost rivals that of rito village's theme itself?? how wonderful does this rendition sound! it's got a different harmonic colour to it, but the tones are so similar and convey that same feeling of warmth, wistfulness, and something like facing strife and pulling through anyway...it just feels like it'd be a good pick for the theme of, say, a migrating rito flock!

T. the apex of the world, as featured in fire emblem: three houses. see, i was going to cheat again and put tulin's theme or a tulin of rito village suite here, but oh man. this track! dineli vibes for his final battle!! what an evocative track name — the apex of the world, deep underground — and the major leitmotif sounds so charged with emotion; as i imagine the culmination of the imprisoning war would have been, no matter how lacklustre it seemed in canon retellings...okay, maybe this is more rauru-centric. but i'd love for people to listen to this anyway adlfkjls

[heresiae]

so... I haven't write in ages and definitely never did in English, but I was able to cough up a short story fairly quickly so, here goes nothing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This one is particularly prepared. 

Not the usual young noble trying to win a kingdom for their family name, more equipped in words than metal, but a good trained warrior.

It was the fourth day after they arrived at their lair. 

They didn’t walk through the front entrance or announce themselves. I mean, it’s only logical to not do those things, but you know, young nobles… 

That’s why you hadn’t realised another one had come: you were too used to the idiots ones. The only reason you caught them was because they triggered one of the traps you had laid down the first weeks of her imprisonment. They shouldn’t have even been able to arrive so close to her cells. There used to be several other traps before that one, but after the first dozens of untrained overgrown children, you didn’t see the point in maintaining such an articulate defensive system. 

That day you had dismissed it as the luck of the “not idiot one”.

You just shot some flames in their direction, roared and ran after them a bit, till they got out. 

The second day you caught them while they were climbing their way through the cells on the cave walls. You had decided to take a stroll just before lunchtime and while stretching you had seen them moving. They looked like those little reptiles that were very common down south. They were even wearing camouflage. The only reason they moved (and you saw them) was because they’ve lost their footing on the old slimy rock. You had to admit that you were impressed, it was the first time someone got really creative around there, but you kicked them out nonetheless. 

The third day they made a diversion. You didn’t understand it was a diversion though, the spell was really good. You were really believing that that big rock out of your lair was a young injured dragon. Luckily you don’t know shit about younglings and while panicking you accidentally kicked them hard, dissolving the illusion. You arrived just in time to stop them from figuring out the locking system of the cells. That was the moment you almost thought that you might have been the lucky one. 

Today you are sure you were, because the warrior has decided to confront you face to face, and you are helplessly losing. Which is perfectly normal: dragons have pretty much no defences against dragon hunters.

Humans that know how to defeat a dragon and are trained in it, usually don’t hunt them, because dragons help in the training. Side effect of the training is that nobody who learn how to kill dragons actually wants to kill dragons.

History and knowledge have been kept from the majority of humans by purpose, but dragons not only like humans, they help them. Several big farming and magic discoveries were possible because of cooperation with dragons. In order to prevent the extinction of entire ethnicities, dragons would keep pandemics, famines and natural disasters at bay. They often regulate the climate in order to favour food growth or end a harsh winter. They meet regularly with mages, help them research or just have a jolly good time with them (the beer of the coven of Elsther is to die for). Hecks, they were the ones that taught them how to work wood, rock and metal in the first place!

Every land has its own guardian dragon, but it’s kept as a secret, even from their rulers. That’s because if not, humans would try to depend completely on them or worse, use them to wage war against others. They know, it already happened. After a couple centuries of wars, annoying demands and even hunts when they refused to do something, the entire magic collective decided it was best to let the dragons disappear from human life. Some knights were trained in order to hunt them down and free the lands, except that their training was more in theatrics than slaying. 

To spice things up, dragons faked to turn against humans, burning a couple of fields and destroying some useless (but very "important") buildings. 

Nowadays dragon hunters are usually trained to confront criminal dragons (a not so uncommon circumstance, unfortunately) or the mad ones. Dragons can’t expose themselves completely without risking some more clever humans to discover the truth, so they equip others to do the job.

This warrior in front of you, is not just good, they're clearly a hunter too. What this warrior doesn’t know is that you are doing humanity a favour. 

You are an old dragon, retired, living the last of your decades in your lair, with the occasional fun of kicking young noble asses and sending them back home in the direction of a more suitable companion. You are no match to that warrior and you’re not understanding why they want the princess so badly. Good warriors, especially the ones trained in dragon slaying, are not interested in princesses, kingdoms and all that. 

Unfortunately you’ve been retired for a long time already and you don’t remember well how to speak to humans. Not commoners at least: mages have the decency to learn dragon tongue, but others usually rely on them to translate if they have to interact. The fact that this warrior didn’t bring anyone with them is not good, it means that they were prepared to just kill you if the other strategies had failed. 

You’re covering behind a mound of rocks while they’re besieging you with some clever spells meant to incapacitated you. You tried the usual plays: ground tremors, rock throwing, flaming rocks, regular flames to send them into traps, but the warrior had easily dodged everything and didn’t even break a sweat in doing it. 

Meanwhile your bones ache and creak and your flame is starting to be more of a smokey cough. 

While you’re still trying to remember the human word for “stop”, a little bottle bounces on your back and lands near you. Before you can even process that, the bottle explodes with a bright flash of green light and smoke, successfully blinding you. 

“Ow! Ouch! Damn it!”

You cover your snout and roll over, trying to disperse the spell. When you finally stop weeping, the warrior is at the base of your neck, with their sword exactly in your most weak spot.

“Lay down, don’t try to move or do anything and I will not kill you”

Did that annoying human just speak your tongue?

You cough up smoke, green and grey, spit out more green and turn around only to see nobody.

“Stop!”

You get up and limp through the passage that leads to the holding cells, hoping to not be too late.

“St - !” you abruptly stop just in time to avoid being impaled by their sword.

“I told you to…”

“She’s a tyrant!!” you cough up. 

The warrior is completely covered up, only their eyes are visible, but even like that you can see how annoyed they are. 

“And not just a regular one, the kind that will undo entire kingdoms just because she’s bored.”

They take down their hood and mask sighing. It’s even worse now, they have a very condescending look on them.

“Listen, I know you're old and lonely, but keeping princesses hostages is not the way to overcome them. Her father aches to have her back and I was hired to do it.”

You roll your eyes.

“Oh please. Every girl is their father's little princess. That’s why her mother brought her to me.”

The warrior took a step back.

“What?”

“Her mother, the one that birthed her? And raised her? And was scared as hell the day she came and begged me to keep her here forever?”

You sit down and lean on the wall. You’re way too old for this stuff. 

“Why would she…”

“Because she caught her torturing and killing animals, poisoning her younger sibling's food and, the last straw, trying to summon a horror’s army in order to overthrow her father and become queen. At eleven.”

The warrior’s sword and eyes are still on you, her expression completely blank, looking into your pupils in what you can only guess, is an attempt to understand if you’re serious or a victim of senile dementia.

“And that’s only a few examples. Why didn’t she bring her to me when she tried to kill her while pregnant with her last, I don’t know. Mother love, I guess.”

The green stuff stuck to your fangs. How annoying.

“But why is her father…”

“He didn’t believe her. Or the nannies. The housekeeper. The court mage. Anyone. For him, his daughter was just the cute little girl that looked at him with her huge green eyes and told him that she loved him. So the mother arranged for me and the mage to fake a kidnapping while the king was out of the country.”

You spit the last remnant of the green stuff.

“You had to use the green one. Not the purple, not the blue, the green. It always leaves a bad back taste. It will take days to wash it out.”

The warrior seems completely lost now, the sword just hanging on their arm out of habit.

“S-sorry, I was trying to just…”

“Save the princess, yeah yeah.”

“... not killing you.”

You stop checking your scales for green foam and look at them. They look young and you can’t remember what’s the difference between males and females, but they seem genuinely frustrated and apologetic. 

“Listen, I appreciate your effort to not kill a lonely old dragon, but I didn’t go crazy. I’m doing Madam Adelaide a favour and…”

“This is Madam Adelaide’s doing?!” 

“Uh, yeah.”

The warrior immediately sheaths their sword and kneels before you. 

“I’m so sorry, noble dragon! If I knew you were in agreement with the great Mage Adelaide I would have never bothered you. Please accept my humble apologies.”

“Uhm… ok?”

The warrior doesn't move from that position and you try to remember, again, what’s the correct behaviour to keep with humans. 

“I ahm… I forgive you.”

The warrior gets up and comes near you. They take a piece of cloth out of their pack and start cleaning some of your back scales from the green mush. 

“You know,” they start, “the king is offering a hefty sum to everyone that will bring his daughter back and the more the moons pass, the more he’s raising it.”

You growl. If there is a thing that spoils a perfect retirement plan, it’s a bunch of adventures and bounty hunters constantly popping up at your place.

“And she’s not completely past her prime yet.”

True. Still young enough to tempt not only the desperate, but the good willing ones.

“So you probably need more traps. Working ones, I mean. And someone who knows how to make them.”

You start to nod.

“Maybe a little magic, just to reinforce the danger of even approaching your lair.”

You keep nodding.

“And definitely a housekeeper.”

You’re still nodding before realising the meaning of their words.

“Wait a minute.”

“Where do you keep your crystal ball? I have to contact a few friends.”

The warrior starts walking toward your chambers, still pointing out stuff to improve.

“I don’t want people here!!” you yell, limping after them. 

But you’re an old dragon and you lived with humans a long time.

That’s why you retired in the most secluded lair you could find, because if they decide you need their help, it’s impossible to kick them out.

You have heard of dragons pretending to be princesses. And you also know of princesses rescuing knights from dragons. Now is a tale of a dragon saving a knight from the princess.