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mwolf0epsilon · 2 years

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Whumptober Day 14: Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to Become the Villain

Prompt: Desperate Measures

Warning: Mentions of Cannibalism

Summary: Lichtenberg knows what desperation tastes like.

[Umbara has left deep scars in many clones. Talking about it doesn't come easily...]

THIS STORY IS ALSO ON AO3

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You know this is going to sound a little strange, but there's a lot I can't remember about the campaign itself. Not the beginning of it, not the moment it started going wrong, and definitely not the moment I collapsed.

Most of it is just... Strangely blank...

Like someone cracked open my skull, shoved their hands deep inside of my head, and scrambled everything until it all become one big blurry stain.

What I do remember is waking up after. Hard not to wake up when something was gnawing on my leg, trying to get through my armour like I was a giant crab ready to be de-shelled. Like I was a clone-shaped seafood dinner. Delightfully picked up by one of those... Those things... With the green eyes and the huge claws.

I can still remember the way it sounded. The way its teeth felt against my thigh...

It was dark. Granted that everywhere on Umbara, even the places where there were lights, was dark. And not just because it was hard to see, but the way it felt as well. Like there was a deep dense and very cold fog trying to choke us out.

When it wasn't the animals or the plants (yes even the plants were trying to kill us) trying to have a go at us, it was the environment itself that proved to be a challenge. Kind of made sense why we never saw any of the shadow people without helmets. I think they must have known something we didn't about the air. Tasted off.

Lots of things tasted off. The plants, the animals, the water... I got sick a lot, in between the moments where I'd find discarded supply boxes that got left behind. Mostly because I... I guess I tried to eat what the land had to provide?

Fat good it did me... Nothing stayed down.

Nothing but the rations. And what little water remained in canteens I pulled from stiff fingers. Never got easier seeing another dead brother, but their emergency gear was mouth watering to some degree. I think I even quilted myself a coat out of ruined campsites. Torn tent tarps, ripped up sleeping bags, even those really shiny blanket things that medics carry.

There was plenty of stuff to warm myself up... But eventually the food that the 501st and 212th left behind ran out.

I was an idiot. I thought if I tried to get used to the animals I could take out with my blasters that, eventually, I'd be able to stomach their meat. Ended the same as the first times.

My stomach never got used to them, and I wasted so much heat trying to hunt... I don't know how the Umbarans can survive on their forsaken little hellhole of a planet...

All I know was that I was hungry and thirsty.

The water I was drinking tasted awful even after I boiled it, but at least that stayed down. Keeping hydrated is... It's important. The medics at least drilled that into this thick skull of mine. But I knew it wouldn't be enough to keep me alive. Eventually I'd need to eat, or else...

Damned clone metabolism. Damn it all to sith-hells.

I got desperate. I got desperate and... And even if the rations were gone, the GAR had left something else behind. Something plentiful. Something still relatively fresh because of how cold the planet was.

Couldn't hunt the beasts, but I sure could out-compete them...

Taking our armour off is muscle memory. Some of us do it in a specific order. I always did it in a specific order. Never done it to another brother before... I think that's what really screws with my brain you know... The fact I... I was...

De-shelling corpses. Like you'd de-shell a crab.

Clone-shaped seafood dinner. I became the thing that gnawed on the leg. Sometimes I wonder how my teeth feel raking over someone else's thigh... Not great I imagine. Makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it.

I know what desperation tastes like... And no matter how hard I try to forget, it doesn't go away...

I'm a monster. Umbara. The dark. It's made me a monster.

I need to keep the dark at bay. I can't do what I did back there. I can't let myself be that ever again. I just can't... I can't...

Xabe listened with a heavy heart as Lichtenberg finished the macabre retelling of his harrowing experiences. She'd offered to listen, when she'd noticed the rising tension between the three brothers.

When she'd seen how close he'd been to breaking point, and how much he'd refused to speak to anyone about whatever had been eating away at him so much.

She'd asked Sponge about him. She'd asked if they knew what this was about. They hadn't know. Lich always deflected their questioning. And for a moment... Sponge had looked just as outwardly worried as she felt. Seeming unsure of whether or not they could help their fellow clone at all.

So she'd taken matters into her own hands. And ancestors forgive her... But she had not been prepared for just how haunted this man really was.

Just how afraid of himself, how burdened with guilt, he really was.

How did you console someone that had to do something of such a heinous nature just to survive? How did she help him reconcile with himself, when it was so clear he was unwilling to forgive himself?

Xabe did not know... But she'd give him one thing at least. Someone to turn to, to let him speak and process.

A kindness he'd gone without for too long.

"And... That's that..." There was no sadness to be found in those blue eyes of his. Face blank, twisted lightning arch scarring stamped on his face almost neatly. Lichtenberg looked empty. A hollow man. "You know what I did now... Are you happy now, that you decided to try to help me?"

"..."

"I don't imagine you are... You thought you could fix it..." Lich chuckled darkly, eyes gleaming with something unreadable. "You can't... You can't take back what I did to stand here today. I can't either..."

"You didn't have a choice."

"I did. Eat my brothers or die." He snapped back. "Die a man, or live as a monster..."

"You're not a monster."

"99% of clones would disagree if they knew." He looked away in shame. "Loyalty to your kin... It's... It's sacred to us. The only sacred thing in our lives... And I defiled that..."

"Anyone in as desperate a situation would have done the same." There were tales, older than she, older than her clan, older than time itself, of instances like this.

No matter how advanced the civilization, no one could escape what the will to survive could make you do. Living with the guilt was always the issue.

"If they knew what I did, PB and Olly would hate me..." Lich shook his head. "Force gods... They'd hate me. My baby brothers would hate me. I can't..."

His fingers tug at his own locks. Rake mercilessly over his scalp. He's scared and alone, agonized and disgusted at himself. Looks so small despite being a fully grown man. She feels bad for him.

"I can't... I can't stand them arguing all the time... I... It makes me so angry!" Lich cried out in dismay. "We're together again... We survived, we're... Isn't that enough? Shouldn't that make it worth it? But they're... They're not happy and I'm... I'm scared. I don't want to lose them but, but if this keeps up I'm gonna lose them anyway! And I can't!"

"..."

"I can't... I can't I can't I can't..." He was rocking back and forward, lost in his own despair. Soft blue eyes stormy and dark even in the too bright lighting of her living room.

Umbara had truly left it's mark.

#Eps Writes #star wars #the clone wars #whumptober2022 #clone ocs #clone trooper lichtenberg #Xabe the Mandalorian #cannibalism #survival instincts #I have been WAITING to write this one for so long :)#ehehe lich hurting hours

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augustinegao2000 · 2 years

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TALES OF CATS AND WOMEN IN ANCIENT TIMES

Cats in ancient Egypt

Cats in ancient Egypt were highly revered, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats and snakes — especially cobras. Bastet was also a goddess of pregnancy and childbirth, possibly because of the fertility of the domestic cat. Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective of their offspring, Bastet was also regarded as protector of family, a good mother and sometimes was depicted with numerous kittens. Bastet was also depicted as the goddess of protection against contagious diseases and evil spirits.

Cats in Greece

Cat are not as popular in ancient Greece as it is in ancient Egypt. But Greek associated cats with the Goddess goddess Artemis, the Queen of the Moon and the Hunt. One story tells of how Artemis escaped Typhon by transforming herself into a cat.

People observed that cat's pupil changes as the waxing and waning of the moon, that's why cats are associated with moon. (Cats in Sailor Moon are named Artemis, Diana and Luna. They are assistants of Sailor Moon.)

However, cats donnot always enjoy good reputation in ancient Greece. Black cats were thought to be an omen of death because of their connection with Hecate.

Cats in Rome

The Romans respected the vermin-catching abilities of the domestic cat, but also saw them as exotic pets and sacred animals. They associated the cat with liberty and divinity, so the cat was the only animal allowed to walk freely around their temples. Libertas (the goddess of liberty) was often depicted with a cat at her feet.

The Romans thought that their cats represented the warmth and safety of home. Sacrifices were made to their cats during both funeral and wedding celebrations to get the cat to bless the participants.

Cats in Norse mythology

The Norse goddess Freya (Freyja) had a chariot drawn by two large grey or blue cats (possibly Norwegian Forest Cats) called “Gib-cats” in the Prose Edda. She was a goddess of hunting and warfare as well as a goddess of love and beauty and the cat was her sacred animal.

A Scandinavian Folk Tale tells of a cat who helps a poor man. The cat wins a silver castle full of gold and jewels by tricking a troll who lived in the castle into talking until sunrise, at which point the troll turned to stone. Then the cat was transformed back into a beautiful princess who told him that she had been turned into a cat by the troll. The two married and lived happily ever after in the golden castle.

Cats in Finnish mythology

Cats in Finland are associated with witchcraft. There is a story about a witch sending people to “Pohjola”, a place where evil resides in everlasting night, by transport them with a sleigh drawn by a giant magical cat.

Werecats

Werecats are women who can magically turn into cats. A number of legends involve ailuranthropy (the ability to turn into a cat), and 9 times out of 10, the shape-shifter is a woman.

In French folklore, she is known as the chetta orchat-garou. In Asia, she is Bakeneko, the Ghost or Monster Cat. The Bakeneko appears as a beautiful woman who just happens to cast the shadow of a cat. Sometimes she appears in the stories as a prostitute; she is found out only when her customer awakens the next morning and discovers her chowing down on live fish and shrimp.

“Crazy Cat Lady”

“Yet in certain cities of every country we find persons who push their passion for cats to excess; generally, it must be said, they are elderly dames [women], who establish asylums where neglected, lost, or sick cats may find a refuge. Sometimes these asylums are organized in a practical and sufficient manner, in which case the motive that provided them is laudable; but often they are mere nests of disease and objects of scandal to the neighborhood.”(Our Domestic Animals, Their Habits, Intelligence, and Usefulness)

‘Crazy cat lady’ is linked to earlier beliefs in the connection between femininity, witchcraft, and cats. During 16th centry witchs are burnt together with their cats. Superstition on cats being evil still exist in today's world. The tradition has also continued on into the twenty-first century: it is common for people to joke about single women who live with cats as crazy or scandalous.

From this we can infer that prejudice against cats are highly associated with prejudice against women.

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godofcreatitivity · 1 year

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One Piece the Movie

Chapter 4: The Troll King Rises

(Dark Lands)

The penguin king stood in front of the line of prisoners that were being taken though the dark land castle.

He turned his head around to see how his people were handling their situation.

And obviously they weren’t taking it very well.

The penguin people were shivering in fear as they were being escorted through a dark and eerie hallway.

The penguins were looking all around the castle just so that nothing would come out and attack them if they weren’t paying attention.

They heard a loud screaming noise coming from one of the rooms. This made one of the penguins start to hyperventilate, badly.

The penguin next to him saw this and put his arm around him, trying to calm him down.

The king turned his head forward and brought it down in despair.

His people were doing far from fine.

They were taken as prisoners by the troll kingdom and would probably be put to death for standing against them.

They were being escorted in by the same armored monstrosities that had obliterated their kingdom.

They lingered over as if they were giant hawks, watching them, just waiting for them to make one wrong move.

But even if they wanted to, they couldn’t.

They were all chained to each other so that no one was able to run. And they knew better than to try, they could easily be hunted down and slaughtered.

The king was drenched in fear wondering what the monstrous troll king planned to do with him and his people.

He had heard many stories about the troll king's twisted and sick version of entertainment.

What they put their prisoners who dared disobey them through.

As of right now they were all in danger and he was helpless to help them.

But even though they were in danger, he at least was able to buy time for the other half of his kingdom to evacuate and escape.

This was a backup plan in case they were defeated by the trolls, the other penguins would move to the other kingdoms and warn them about what was coming.

This at least gave the king some reassurance that whatever happened to them didn’t matter as long as they were able to help the other kingdoms.

One of the penguins was starting to fall behind, one the guards noticed this, moved towards him, and roughly shoved him forward,”KEEP MOVING”!!!!!, the guard roared violently at the penguin.

The penguin ran forward to catch up to the group in fear of what would happen to him if he didn’t comply.

A few minutes of walking around inside the castle halls go by before they reach a massive steel door.

The door itself reached up to the castle ceiling and was so side it almost touched the side of the walls.

One of the guards stepped in front of the penguins and slowly opened the door, making a horrifying screeching sound that made the penguins cover their ears in pain.

The guard then turned to them,”The King Will See You Now”, he said menacingly as he and the other guards had ushered them through the door.

Once they were inside they were met with an excruciating wave of heat that filled the entire room.

After a few moments they finally realized what was causing the heat, it was the magma in the room that almost entirely swallowed the castle walls.

It was like an overheated sauna that would cook any normal creature alive. Not exactly the kind of temperature penguins are supposed to be in.

Not only that, there were the skulls and body parts of humans, animals, and other creatures hanging on the walls.

Their remains were being used like trophies to show to guests.

They continued to move forward trying their best not to pass out from the heat.

They looked forward as they saw the very reason they were in this situation.

The one they had only heard about in stories, the one thing that all of the kingdoms feared most of all.

The bastard king of an immortal empire of monsters.

The one known for stripping kingdoms of everything they had, and devouring any that got in his way.

The one they all said, was the reason why the human race had been completely wiped clean off the face of their world.

He was right across the room sitting on his throne, drinking from what looks to be a human skull, drinking what you could hope wasn’t blood

It was then and there that they once again came face-to-face with The King of The Trolls himself: Bular The Butcher.

There were female trolls and other female creatures that were at his side, either combing his hair, or sitting next to him.

They had looked as if that had the will to live taken from them, their faces blank with despair.

It was hard for the penguin king to really get a good look at him at first, but now that he had a chance to fully observe him with his own eyes, you know that’s just how unusual the troll looked.

He was an enormous beast, even bigger than most, if not all of his soldiers. He was a large Gumm-Gumm Troll with black skin, yellow eyes with red orange pupils, and a set of horns curled around his face, the right horn end chipped. They were somewhat crooked and almost disfigured but stood prominently on his head. His skin looked as hard as a rock, almost as if you could scrape yourself with him as he brushed across you. He wore around his body, the remains of all of his victims that he had killed over the years. Next to him were two blades that he left out in the open as if they were just props to him.

The Penguins began to shiver as they saw the monstrous king himself staring right at them, a look of hunger in his eyes.

They watched the red substance dripped slowly from his mouth as he gave them a horrifying smile.

One of the armored soldiers stepped forward and bowed to his master,,” we bring you the prisoners, my Lord”, he said, prominently and clearly.

He gave a nod, signaling to his soldiers that he was satisfied with their job well done.

The soldier caught this and stood up moving back into position with his fellow comrade.

The king stood up, finishing his human remains drunk as he slowly way, his way toward his.

“Guest welcome to my humble above”, he said, almost in a homing tone , though even with it, his voice gave out a horrifying, low, growl, as if it was inhumane, it terrified the Penguins even more,” as you can see decorating my home to its fullest extent is my kingdom top priority, when it comes to inviting neighboring kingdoms”.

The penguin king was disgusted by the troll kings, homing attitude, as if he didn’t mercilessly up, destroy their kingdom.

He gave them a maniacal smile,” and of course, I always make sure to take care of my guest as well”, he said then stopped himself as if he had just realized something,” oh, and where are my manners?, he started walking toward a table and grabbing a silver tray and bringing it towards them.

“And as a king and leader, it is my duty to make sure that all who are invited to the kingdom are given the top treatment that troll kind can give”.

He stopped dead in front of the penguin king himself, and held out the tray to him before lifting the top, just to see what it looked like with the remains of other living creatures that look like they’ve been freshly cooked from the oven.

He pushed it forward,” concessions anyone”?, he asked, holding the platter out to the crowd to see if anyone would like to try.

When no one said anything, he simply shrugged,” Oh well, suit yourselves”, he said, before practically shoveling bits and remains into his mouth, almost devouring at one gulp causing him to burp out loud.

He soon covered his mouth,” oof excuse me”, he said, trying to give an almost friendly smile,” you will not believe the kind of damage these could do to your digestive system, but to be honest, they are to die for”.

The penguin king had grown frustrated and impatient with the trolls' games.

He stepped forward,”ENOUGH GAMES, TELL US WHY YOU BROUGHT US HERE YOU MONSTER ”!!!

The troll king looked shocked, as if he did something wrong.

But the penguin king knew better than to trust anything this beast would give him.

He began to chuckle as he threw his hands up and held them high in the air,”relax don’t worry I’ll get to that part, I mean, if you’re gonna be impatient about it”, he said, under his breath as he threw the tray to the side where the lava was and watched as it slowly dissolved into nothing but metallic liquid.

He snapped his fingers and his soldiers came in and made their way towards the penguin prisoners.

They had all jumped in fear of being torn to pieces.

But to their surprise, nothing that happened, except that the trolls were cuffing their chains, and even helping some of them to the.

The penguin king was confused by the troll kings actions wondering why he would bother to free his prisoners.

He looked up at the monster in aw, “w-why”, the penguin asked him in shock.

The troll king simply smiled,” well you’re my guest, of course and also it would be very difficult to form an alliance if my guest felt as if they were prisoners”, he said calmly, and confidently as if he expected them to go along with this.

This triggered the penguin king, after what this monster had put them through, he had the nerve to ask an alliance from them

Bular stood there smiling arrogantly as he awaited for the penguin King's answerAs if they were to just bow down to him like dogs.

the penguin King was going to give him an answer all right and an answer he wouldn't be too thrilled about.

The penguin King step forward trying his best not to be intimidated by the much larger figure in front of him,” AFTER ALL THAT YOU’VE DONE TO US AND OUR KINGDOM YOU THINK THINK JUST BY ASKING US TO JOIN YOUR KINGDOM WE’LL JUST ACCEPT YOUR TERMS YOU BEAST”, the penguin King Scowled at him angrily.

The penguins were all shocked to see their king bravely standing up to the troll king.

They all took a step back in fear that this monster would attack them.

But after a moment or two went by and they had yet to see him take any action towards the outburst, as if he had no intention in hurting them.

Instead he began to chuckle loudly as if this situation was amusing to him.

The penguins tilted their heads in confusion, wondering what he thought was so funny to him.

This behavior had frightened the penguin king a tiny bit.

Bular then stopped chuckling then looked back down at the penguin king,”You see now why would I need to ask for an alliance”, said almost too calmly as he stepped forward, nearly towering over all of the penguins in a means of intimidating them.

This worked obviously as they all took a step back when he came closer.

“You see, within the next five or so minutes you’ll all be begging to serve my kingdom”, and said before etching closer to the penguin king's face,” And you will join my kingdom”.

That last statement alerted the penguin king, his suspicions were correct, the troll truly did have something up his sleeve.

“What do you mean?”, he asked the king with concern.

The troll king began to chuckle once more in response to the question, before suddenly his malicious mood changed almost completely and he backed away quickly.

“You know I seem to notice that your kingdom seems to be lacking a lot more in its residents than I thought”, he said almost as if the hole was getting to a point.

It took a moment or so before he realized what bular was talking about.

He then grew a shocked and terrified expression on his face.

Bular noticed this and continued,” Why don’t we fix that”, he snapped his fingers and another loud screeching sound came from the door causing the penguins to once again cover their ears in pain.

Once the horrible noise had stopped they turned to the door to see in their horror that the same penguins they had evacuated earlier were in captivity and also being escorted by guards.

They all looked in shock as their loved ones were being held hostage against their will by those monsters.

Men, women and children penguins were all in chains terrified from what they were going through.

The penguin king turned back to bular, who had an evil smile on his face.

“One of my ships had spotted them all wandering in the distance and I being all so kind and merciful ruler that I decided, why don’t I give them a ride and so here we are”, said with a generous tone.

He then began walking toward the civilian penguins,” and I mean come on we even took the time to take the whittle kids too I mean look at those happy little faces”, said in a baby-talking voice while pinching one of the obviously terrified baby penguins on their cheeks.

He patted her on the head before walking back towards the king,” and so I figured, sense you're already here and quite literally lacking a place to call home that you stay here and form an alliance with my kingdom.”

The king gave him a look of disgust in response to his proposal.

Bular was disappointed by this but he kept himself tamed,”Come on guys think about it, you get three meals a day, protection from any enemy forces, and best of all you’ll be contributing to the troll empire, its perfect-“, he was saying before he was so rudely interrupted.

“HOW DARE YOU”!!!!!, a loud voice spoke out.

Bular stopped in his place and looked over to see that one of the penguin soldiers had stood up and moved toward him.

The soldier looked at him furiously,”YOU THINK WE’LL AGREE TO BE YOUR SLAVES”!!!!

Bular looked at him I shock,”what no no no no no slave is such a bad word, no you’ll be more like….”, He paused, trying to think of the right words,” interns, that’s right, interns that will have to serve me without pay for the rest of your liv-“.

“I DON’T CARE HOW NICELY YOU MAKE IT SOUND, I’D RATHER DIE THAN SERVE YOU, YOU MONSTER”, he said loudly, as he was still only a foot away from Bular.

All the penguins in the room, and even the guards were shocked at what I just came out of the penguins mouth.

The penguin king almost immediately tried to pull his subject back, but it was too late.

The damage had been done, and there was nothing they could do to save their friend.

Bular simply stood there, staring down at the penguin, not making a sound.

The penguin seeing this ad began to regret what he had just done. He had tried to creep back slowly.

Bular still stood there, staring down at him not saying a word.

To everyone's shock, it was as if the words didn’t bother him in the slightest bit.

He simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them back up.

He step closer to the penguin,” you know, I really hate that word, Monster, I don’t know where everyone gets that from, I mean, if I were really a monster, I would do something like THIS”!!!, he yelled right before grabbing the penguin by his throat, and lifting him up in the air.

The troll king slowly began to open, his mouth widely preparing to eat the Penguins soldier.

The penguin soldier was in shock screaming loudly as he was hoisted up in the air by his throat for what was about to happen,”WAIT NO PLEASE IM SOR-“.

Bueller's jaws clamped shut on top of the young penguin's skull.

Young penguin's body had suddenly frozen in place, as if it were still processing what was.

All of a sudden his limbs had given in and collapsed towards the floor, the only movement left with twitching slowly from the almost severed nerves.

Bular ripped away what was left of the Penguins body away from his closed teeth, and began to slowly chew the penguin’s mostly severed head as if to relinquish the taste of his victim, blood, meat chunks, and blue fur slowly dripped down his mouth, he chewed loudly.

“yeah, I'd do something like that”, he said, as he tossed the Penguins headless corpse across the room towards the other penguins.

They all had a look of fear and despair, as they saw the phone comrade or what was left with him.

The penguin king walked over to his fallen friend and held him in his arms.

There he was holding one of the people he was supposed to protect, that he failed to protect, This was his fault.

He knew they had no chance of defeating the troll army, but he went at them anyway thinking they could at least buy time, but all he did was destroy his own kingdom in danger, the lives of his people.

He than looked at the monstrous troll in complete rage,”YOU FUCKING MONSTER”, he screamed from across the room while holding his friend and his arms.

“ENOUGH WITH THE NAME CALLING”, he snapped while slowly making his way toward his prisoners,” IT'S A LITTLE RUDE CONSIDERING HOW MUCH OF A GRACIOUS HOST I'VE BEEN JUST FOR UNGRATEFUL MISCREANTS LIKE YOU TO COME IN AND SHIT ALL OVER IT,

I MEAN YOU DON'T SEE ME COMING TO HOME AND START BEING RUDE TO”, he roared as if he had forgotten that he was the reason the penguins were in this predicament.

This outburst of his had frightened everyone in the room, even a few of his guards.

He took a deep breath and fixed himself up, not wanting to upset his guests too much.

“And you know what I think I deserve something from you in return for this kindness I’ve shown you ”, he maliciously turned his head towards some of the other penguin prisoners giving them a bloodthirsty look.

He stepped forward towards them all nunching together in fear.

Bular reached his hand out and grabbed the younger penguin that he had spoken about earlier by the head and picked her up.

She began to scream and cry, the monster lick his lips in hunger,” I wonder just how tender the baby penguins really are", he began to open his mouth slowly and widely preparing to feast.

“STOP”!!!, bular stopped in his place after hearing a loud cry.

He turned to see who it was, and to no surprise of his it was the penguin king

He was bowing down on his hands and knees,” please spare their lives, and I will serve under your rule just please leave them be”.

The penguin people all gasp in horror as they have just witnessed their king surrendering their freedom.

The king knew what would happen to them by going along with this, but it was better than watching more of his subjects die.

Bular smiled widely at this,” you see everyone I told you that there be no need to fight”, he said, before walking over to the penguin king and standing over him.

The penguin king looked up at him and hope that in some way he would convince the troll king to spare them.

“I accept your gracious offer and you and your people are free to go”, he said, welcomingly as he turned around and made his way to his throne.

The penguin king outside in release, thinking that he has his subjects will be all right for the time being.

But then Bular had stopped in his tracks and turned around to face his prisoners,” although you did cause a bit of a ruckus in my castle and all those rude comments really hurt my feelings, so I’ll just make this easier on everyone just take half your subjects off my list.

At the cross, the penguin king looked up and whore as a group of armored troll soldiers began to swarm around some of his penguin subjects separating them from the others, isolating them.

He turned back to Bular,”BUT YOU SWO-“.

Bular raised his hand in defense to interrupt him,” I know I know, but hey, consider this their first act to help out the empire it’s hard, feeding an entire kingdom of trolls consider this a contribution to our war”, he said, before giving off an evil smile.

He began to hear horrifying screams coming from behind the armored troll soldiers.

He quickly got up from where he was kneeling, and tried to run over to help his subjects, but was quickly subdued by one of the armored trolls.

He tried to get up, but it was futile. The troll was much stronger than he was, and much bigger. All he could do was sit and watch as he saw the troll soldiers' tears, his people apart, limb by limb, only listening to the screams in agony.

He looked over at the king, who was laughing maniacally at his throne, as if this were some sort of entertaining show.

The penguin King began to feel complete and utter rage as he yelled out,”YOU FILTHY DISGUSTING MONSTER, YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS”.

Once Bular had finished laughing he had stood up,”all right all right unfortunately I have other matters to attend to you so will have to cut the meeting short GUARDS”!, he called them from across the.

The guards that were in the room had to stop eating the penguins and ran over to heed the king's command.

The penguin Kim looked over at it at the spot they were just in, and all he could see was a pool of blood and bits and pieces of what was left of some of his fellow penguins' subjects.

“Yes your majesty”, they all said, at the same time as he stood in the bowing position.

he began to speak,” round them up and take them to the Work camps”, he then stopped and looked over at the Penguin Kay, and gave a small,” and see to it, that I guess gets the VIP treatment as well in his quarters”.

The guards, not as they began dragging the penguin king and his people away out of the throne room.

The penguin king still swore at Bular,” YOU WILL PAY FOR TH-“, until he was cut off by the shutting of the door.

Now that that was over the troll king hat, his schedule cleared, preparing for the next phase of his master-plan.

He turned his head upwards calling out, "ANGOR ROT”, summoning his second in command.

After a moment or two of waiting a sudden dark shadow appeared in the middle of the room grew larger by the moment.

I figure began to appear out of the darkness, slowly walking out of it, as if it were flames,

This figure had a thin, almost human-like physique but much taller, with long, muscular arms and a broad chest. His tall, thin head is skull-like in shape. Its most distinctive feature is its pair of glowing, sunken yellow eyes with black sclera. With him was a crooked staff he held in his right hand.

This figure was the second most powerful being in this kingdom, a Warrior for Trollkind: Angor Rot

“You called for me, my Lord”, he asked in response to his Lord, summoning.

Bular chuckled and stepped forward soon, patting his shoulder,” since when are you so keen on using formalities”.

Angor turned his head towards what was left of the Penguin people his king had killed,”well considering how you treated our guest earlier I had decided that I wouldn’t want to make the same mistake they did by being too rude”, he said, in an almost sarcastic tone.

Bular gave a look of offense to that last comment,” oh, come on, that’s not fair they should know better than to be rude to the person, who also willingly gave them a new life, I mean, I could’ve easily just had them all eaten alive by the soldiers, but decided to spare them at least a tiny bit of mercy, plus that was more of an initiation for them”.

“ oh, yes, you’re the kindest lord in space and time by far, saying this was more sarcasm than before.

Bular looked back at him with a black face,” are you trying to upset me?”

Angor rot gave off a smug look,” depends are you finally going to start paying me”.

“No” bular, answered and amusingly.

“Then yes I am”, he said, smugly.

Bular rolled his eyes, turned to one of his guards,” Hey, you’ve worked hard won’t you do yourself a favor and clean all this up my treat” he said graciously.

The troll soldier nodded gratefully as he went over and started eating the bits and pieces of what was left of the penguin people.

Anger, then turned to his king,” yeah, not that having a little conversation isn’t entertaining, but may I ask why you had to call me here, " he said impatiently.

Bular turned it to him and smiled, because the Royal advisor had mentioned earlier that the portal had almost been completed and I want a front row seat to the near completion of my plan”.

Just then a burst of flames appeared in the middle of the room as well in front of both of them.

Bular smiled at this.”Well speak of the devil”.

The flames revealed a figure wearing a large cape of black feathers, with red wooden pauldrons on each shoulder which function as another pair of eyes. Their actual eyes glowed bright orange like the flames that surrounded them. But they wear a black blindfold with red markings. The figure had gray skin and red hair. They also wear a bird-like creature's skull on their head, but only when they left the castle.

They were known as the royal adviser of the kingdom and the third strongest being of the entire empire, The Keeper of the Flame: Bellroc

They stepped forward out of the flames bringing alongside them, one of the prisoners from one of the kingdoms they had conquered.

He was holding what looked like an agent book foreign text on the cover.

They both stopped and bowed to their king,”preparation for the portal have been complete”,they said, and in an almost double voice.

The king nodded his head and stepped forward,” this pleases me, Bellroc you have done well”, he turned to pat his second in command on the shoulder,”you see now didn’t I tell you they would get the job done”.

Anger rolled his eyes of annoyance,” oh, yes, of course, sir your wisdom is always unlimited and gracious”, he said, very sarcastically.

Bular was in too good of a mood to pay attention to his second in command negativity, and wanted to focus on the bigger picture.

He had finally after all the centuries, he had a rule started to see the final stages of his plant come into fruition.

He turned back to his royal advisor,” show it to me”, he commanded.

Bellroc nodded,” as you wish my Lord”, they turned around and slammed the bottom of the staff upon the floor.

Soon after doing this, the same scenes that they appeared from Harry appeared in the center of the throne, and slowly what came out was what looked like a giant bridge.

It was at least half the size of the room and was covered with ancient troll markings.

What also stood in front of it was a giant pad with a human handprint that looked as if it controlled the very bridge that stood before them

This was one of the reasons why they had to invade the ice kingdom.

It was to find one of the many pieces of this bridge in alignment with the others.

Unfortunately, they had originally been scattered across the galaxy, and we’re in possession of multiple kingdoms.

But after the attack on the penguin kingdom, we had finally retrieved all of the pieces that the bridge needed.

“Just look at her. This is the very thing that will help us conquer all of the worlds”, Boulevard cheered excited to see his plan almost complete.

Bellroc turned back around to face the thief king about their head,” and by using the mushroom kingdom’s power source we will be able to make it 1000 times bigger, big enough to help transport the entire empire, anywhere we wish”.

Bular stepped forward and placed his hand on the bridge,” you know what since I’m in such a delightful mood. I’m just thinking we should give it a bit of a test drive wouldn’t want anything bad to happen”, he suggested, wanting to make sure that this would work, he turned to the prisoner that stood next to his royal advisor,” this will work, right, he gave an eager and ominous look towards him.

The prisoner looked back at him, frightened,” huh oh, y-yes yes all you have to do is place your hand on the pad and it will go wherever you see fit and not only that it says that once you enter through the portal, the s-sun will not be a p-problem for you”, he said nervously,

The reason he mentioned the sun was because unfortunately for the trolls they were only as strong as the night lasts

The only few things that could actually hurt or defeat them was lava or the sun. Any contact with either one could result in them turning to Stone almost instantly.

This was one of the reasons why Bular's plan needed to work in order for his empire to continue growing even more massive than it already is without any fear of being killed by the sun.

“Good”, he said, grinning wickedly as he placed his hand on the pad.

After a moment or so, of nothing happening a light began to glow from the bridge as it started to activate.

Not only was it lighting up it was starting to shake the room as if it were trying to get itself started like an engine.

Seeing the portal working for the first time, Bular began to smile evilly as he knew this would mean the end of any and everything that stood in his way.

He saw that underneath the bridge a portal that had begun to spark as it was beginning to open up into a small portal.

It grew larger by the minute, almost as large as bular was.

The other end of the portal was beginning to opening was being created

Everything was going perfectly fine until the portal started growing out of control.

Though the more it grew the harder it was for the Troll king to control.

He was trying his hardest to control and continue opening the portal but nothing he did was working.

It was as if something was fighting against him, trying to keep him from using the portal.

This continued until a massive blast of energy had pushed out from the portal and blasted them all the way from the bridge.

Bular quickly got up from where he was landing and went to check and see if the bridge was damaged at all.

Luckily, it was fine and undamaged, but all of the light coming from the portal had disappeared, and is back to its old and dark look.

Not only were they unable to control the portal, but they were even able to fully open the portal.

He looked over at the pad and saw that it was undamaged. He quickly got up and ran over and placed his hand on it, trying to open up another portal.

Unfortunately, this time nothing happened. No spark of light, no movement in the floors, nothing simply an empty and dark portal.

He tried this multiple times, but to no avail. The portal was shut off and will remain that way.

The troll king, seeing this, dropped to his knees and others were shocked at what had just happened.

Everything he had worked for, would be for nothing if this didn’t work.

Bellroc looked at the portal and, shocked by what had just happened, they immediately turned to their book to see if they could find out why the portal wasn’t working.

Angor instead was more infuriated at what had happened.

He turned to the prisoner who had a shocked and terrified look on his face”. he thought for sure that the portal was open. It was his only chance for survival if he didn’t open, he’d be as good as dead.

Angor furiously turned to the prisoner, shooting at him a burning gaze,”tell me what’s this part of your plan”, he said angrily, as he made his way toward the prisoner.

The prisoner began to back up at this in a panic,” n-no no no this wasn’t supposed to hap-“, he tried to say before being grabbed by the throat by none other than bular.

The troll king had rage in his eyes as he grip, the prisoner around this neck and hoisted him up in the air,”YOU SAID THAT THE BRIDGE WOULD WORK”, he said furiously as he gripped tighter around the prisoners throat strangling him,”DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW LONG WE’VE FOUGHT AND KILLED FOR THIS PLAN TO SUCCEED”.

The prisoner was quivering in fear, as he struggled to breathe from being strangled.

Bular tightened his grip,”ANSWER ME”!!!!, he roared furiously

“T-t-this was supposed t-to w-work I swear”, he said, struggling to breathe, trying his best to convince the troll king of his innocence.

Angor pushed his fingernail against the prisoners face, you know what I think”, he turned to Bular,” I think he tried to deceive us!!

The troll king looked back at the prisoner furiously,”YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD DECEIVE ME AND LIVE”, he brought the prisoner closer to him.

The prisoner shook in fear as the color left his face, for he knew what was about to happen to him he panicked,”NO NO NO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, he felt the troll king's hand begin to close and tighten slowly,”I’M SO SORRY I’M SO VERY VERY SOR-“, he was unable to finish as his neck had been snapped in two.

He stood there, frozen in place for a few seconds before completely falling limp, silently coughing blood, and twitching, slowly, as if he were a broken toy that couldn’t be fixed.

Bular held him there for a moment or two before throwing him across the room to the troll soldiers,”FEED THAT LYING INSECT TO THE GOBLINS”, he roared to the soldier who quickly grabbed the corpse and left the room.

He growled loudly in frustration as he slammed his fist into the ground, creating a giant crater.

Angor walked over to him and look down,”So now, how will we be able to complete the plan without the bridge”?

Bular just sat there in response, trying to think of anything they could help get his plan back on track he couldn’t risk is failing not for anything.

“I think I found out why it didn't work”, an echoing voice came from across the bridge.

The two trolls looked over to see that the royal advisor Bellroc had found the answer to the problem.

Bular stood up, and he and Angor rot walked over to them, stopping, right where the control pad was,” enlighten me”, he said quickly to get the answer he was looking for.

They look back at him and turn the book around for him to see the pages,” that foolish parasite had missed one of the pages, that bridge was not only built by a troll as it was built by the Sun God Nikas”, they said ominously.

This news made the troll king take a step back.

The sun god Nikas were known as some of the most powerful gods, who had the power and properties of rubber, giving them the means to fight, however they saw fit.

They were known as some of the beings who had created the world’s most kingdoms.

The problem was, no one had seen them for thousands of years; they had all been thought to have died out from constant war.

He looked back at the book,” that shouldn’t be possible so kindly built this bridge centuries ago”, he said, irritatedly.

Bellroc continued,” the trolls had physically constructed the bridge. The sun gods were the ones who gave it its power, and so therefore, only a sun god can activate its portal and use its power”.

Anger, sighed in frustration,” then we’ll never be able to get the bridge to open. They all got wiped out centuries ago, none remain.

Bellroc shook their head in disagreement,”Wrong There is one descendent with the sun god powers I still remains”, they said, before slamming the bottom of their staff onto the floor, once again, pulling up an image of what looks to be a boy with a straw hat, and a wide smile.

“this is the last descendent of the nika” they pause for a moment, giving the king time to process the information, from the human world they call the straw hat boy:Monkey D Luffy”, they stated.

They both stood there for a moment, surprised to see that the one they needed for their plan to work was none other than a human species that they had not seen in quite some time.

A moment or two of silence went by before angor rot burst out laughing,” this flesh bagged human we need in order to activate this plan you love to make me laugh”, he said mockingly.

They glared at him in annoyance and step towards him,”You dare mock, my power”!!, they said in anger.

Angor responded with a sly Grin and began to respond.

Wow, this was happening to our head step closer towards the hologram, looking straight at the boy, wondering how such a scrawny child could actually house so much power to the point where you can complete his entire plan.

But no, that didn’t matter he use any message to see his plan done, for her.

He closed his eyes, stood up and turned to his two subordinates, who were still budding heads.

“Bellroc”, he called to them from across the room.

They had stopped arguing with Angor rot, and turned their attention to the king before bowing their head,” yes, my lord”.

He pointed his hand at the boy with the straw hat,” So this boy is the one we need for our plan to succeed”?,he asked.

The royal advisor nodded their head for confirmation on the question,” yes, my lord, the portal will not work without him and he must be alive”, they pulled their head up to look at him,”He is the key”.

This made the troll king smile, widely and evilly as he turned back towards the hologram,” good, so all we need to do with hot down another flashback that can stretch, and I plan will succeed”, he turned his head toward Angor,”Bring this boy to me,Alive kill any who stand that your way”.

Angor put his finger on his shin in curiosity,” I don’t know I haven’t hunted humans in a long time so I might be a tiny bit rusty, but if you so wish it then it will be my pleasure”, he pointed his staff towards the other direction.

By doing this, this opened up another black hole that he used to travel wherever he wanted.

He turned back to his comrades and nodded his head.

They both nodded back, giving him confirmation for him to move on and that is what he did.

Once he stepped into the portal, it had closed, almost immediately, leaving nothing but a speck of dust behind.

Once he had left, Bular turned to his royal advisor,” now that that’s over with, gather the entire army, and set forth to the mushroom kingdom at once”.

Bellroc nodded and disappear through a burst of flames.

Bular look back at the hologram, smiling wickedly,”Monkey D Luffy huh, (chuckles), You have no idea what’s coming”, he said, before throwing one of his swords through the hologram, signaling that he would kill luffy once he was finished with him.

The hunt was on, and straw hat pirate luffy what is the pray.

(End of Chapter)

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p-taryn-dactyl · 2 years

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Hi I loved your agatha harkness fic. Could I request an agatha harkness x vigilante reader? Kind of like batman? Or maybe more like dexrer morgan if you want. Just any kind of vigilante reader really. Also I wasn't sure where to request this because I've never requested a fic before so I think this is how to do it.

a/n: Hi!! i absolutely love this idea so i hope i did it justice! sorry if it isn't what you wanted (also, you definitely requested correctly) also thank you @nyx-aira for helping me fill in some plot points <3

warning/disclaimer: i kept rewriting this because i didn't want to ruin the prompt...i would love to do headcannons of this soon; also i am sick so i apologize if this is poorly written.

word count: 1.6k

pairing: agatha harkness x reader

You sat on the top of Stark tower, watching the people below. Your power surrounded you, keeping you invisible. The party had just started, a celebration of your mother’s life. You knew it was rude how you left before the event began, leaving your brother alone to face the press. Especially since he didn’t know you had left. She didn’t know. You enhanced your vision, watching as the clone you had made of yourself interacted with your brother and fiance. She spoke and acted like you, but she was merely a physical reflection. You watched with annoyance as your fiance was fooled by a phantom. Shifting in your spot, you winced as the wound on your thigh opened up, exposing your injury to the cool night air. As you went to heal yourself, you heard Agatha’s laugh. She had an arm around your clone’s waist, a giant smile on her face as she conversed with Tony. You smiled, proud of yourself for keeping up the illusion but also annoyed that she hadn’t figured it out yet. You knew you should tell her about your night job but every time you tried, anxiety swallowed your words, leaving you in silence. So you told yourself she would have to figure it out herself.

“Mercenary, on your left-” you barely had time to acknowledge the words being spoken when you were pushed off the edge of the building, falling towards the party below. As you fell, you rolled your eyes, propelling yourself back up. Your enemy of the evening, some wacko who called himself the Night Terror, hovered at the top of the building. Both of you landed at the top, circling each other as you both listened to the people below who were calling out your vigilante name. You gestured downwards, raising an eyebrow.

“Well congrats, I’m no longer a myth now,” You had been hunting corrupt businessmen and criminals who had escaped justice for years, never leaving enough evidence of your existence for people to confirm you were real. But falling from the top of Stark Tower in front of a giant crowd kind of gave you away. Night Terror (god that’s such a stupid name) laughed, shaking his head.

“That was not my goal. The power you hold could be used for so much more, yet you go around helping the people who would gladly throw you in a cage for experimentation. So I’m going to take it off your hands.” Oh great, a power stealing psychopath. Maybe you should’ve told Agatha about this sooner, she could’ve pulled an uno reverse on this guy. You sighed, bowing your head. You raised your arms in mocking surrender. When you raised your head, you smirked.

“Come and get me.”

You sent a burst of energy his way, temporarily blinding him. Leaping to the side, you fly into the air, trying to draw your enemy away from the crowded area. But something caught your ankle and when you looked down, you saw a shadow wrapping around your leg, tightening with every second.

“There’s a reason I named myself Night Terror- I control the darkness.” With that weirdly ominous statement, the shadow flung you into the building adjacent to Stark Tower. Even with ringing in your ears, you could hear the people down below screaming. As you tried to stand up, another shadow wrapped around your neck, tossing you out of the building, restraining your hands. You tried to escape but as soon as you summoned your magic, you felt a shadow catch you, flinging you onto the ground. Groaning, you sat up, vision blurry. You saw vague beings made of darkness roaming around the streets, terrorizing citizens. You stood up, legs wobbling as Night Terror materialized before you. He opened his mouth, probably to make a snide comment, but you pushed your magic into the ground, splitting the concrete to become jagged walls, trapping Night Terror. You only had a slight moment to revel in your win, when the man passed through the concrete, his form flickering slightly. Your eyes widened.

“You’re not the only one who can create a clone.” With a dark laugh, he dissipated before you. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in your stomach, something warm seeping through your uniform. You looked down and saw a sword protruding from your midsection.

“Well shit.” With that eloquent statement you started falling towards the ground.

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Agatha couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. All night, you seemed off, like you weren’t yourself. With this bad feeling creeping up her spine, she kept you as close to her as possible. The night had barely started, champagne just being passed around, when someone fell from the sky. Agatha tightened her grip on you, content with bringing you inside for cover while the New York vigilante fought Night Terror. People were running in every direction, screaming as their shadows came to life, terrorizing them. She had almost gotten you inside, following Stark’s voice as he tried to corral people into safety. But then the building next to the tower collided with the vigilante, sending glass and shadows down below. Agatha stood frozen as she saw shadows, tendrils of darkness, wrapping up the building, flinging Mercenary down to the ground. She watched as the ground rose up to capture Night Terror, magic sealing the concrete prison into a prism. But the shadows didn’t stop. Agatha felt a sense of dread over her as the villain phased through the concrete. From where she was standing, secluded from the giant crowd, she saw Night Terror stab the vigilante.

“Well shit.” Your voice, tinged with pain, made her fling around. She gasped at the sight in front of her. Your stomach was bleeding, red spreading on your dress. When she went to hold you, her hand passed right through. That was when everything clicked. Your weird attitude tonight, the mysterious bruises she saw you healing when you thought she was asleep, the bags under your eyes even though you insisted you had a good night sleep. She took a long sigh, her eyes and hands glowing purple as she calmly walked towards Night Terror and Mercenary, also known as her fiance. She caught you with her magic, making sure she couldn’t be seen by the people running around in terror, and created a magical noose around Night Terror’s neck, throwing him backwards. She set you down gently, propping you into a sitting position, your head leaning back to see her better. She watched as your eyes widened as you realized what was happening.

“Hello my love,” emphasizing the last word, she brought her hands up into a questioning position, raising an eyebrow, “anything you want to talk about?”

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

When you didn’t hit the ground, you knew you were screwed. The purple light surrounding you gave it away. So when you raised your head to see your fiance, you had to keep yourself from choking. Even with her frighteningly calm demeanor hiding her anger, her appearance made your breath catch in your throat. You hadn’t been able to see what she was wearing from high above and now you couldn’t take your eyes off of her. Her strong form was enhanced by a dark purple suit, which had a black dress shirt with the buttons undone, leaving her smooth skin exposed. A simple black tie lay loose on her chest, a trail for you to follow. Her heels gave her a dangerous height advantage as you sat on the ground. Agatha clenched her jaw when you didn’t answer her question, coming to kneel down in front of you, one hand covering the wound on your stomach, magic healing the injury. You winced at the force of her hand, her anger starting to show on her face. Her other hand came up to cup your chin, forcing you to look into her eyes. Anger, hurt, disappointment, and something else swirled around in her eyes, her normally bright blue eyes dimmed by worry. She searched your eyes, your mind, your face for answers. You took a deep breath when you felt her remove her hand from your stomach, your wound healed. Her grip on your chin loosened, her expression one of hurt.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You laughed to yourself, looking to the side. Agatha moved your chin back to face her and you saw the confusion written on her face. You sighed, raising your arms in a defensive pose.

“I don’t know! Everytime I tried I- I couldn’t get the words out and then I didn’t want you to hate me or tell me I shouldn’t do this because I need it Agatha! My brother can’t go after the people I do, the media would rip him to shreds, and I can’t allow these dangerous people to be roaming my city and-” Agatha’s hand moving from your chin to cup your face silenced you.

“[Name], I could never hate you. Sure, I am angry that you didn’t tell me and we definitely will be having a longer conversation about trust but right now,” she used her eyes to look behind you, where Night Terror was starting to recover from Agatha’s blast. She stood up, holding a hand for you to take. You took it and stood up, stretching your muscles as you summoned fire to swirl in between your fingers. You looked at Agatha, questioning look on your face.

“So, you’re going to help me? Dressed like that?” You made a show of checking her out, making your witch laugh lovingly. She shrugged.

“What? I look hot,” you laugh, shaking your head as the two of you create balls of magic as Night Terror rose from the ground. Agatha propelled herself in the air, trapping Night Terror in strands of magic. As she hovered above, she gestured towards the villain. “He’s all yours, Mercenary.”

#agatha harkness x reader #agatha harkness #marvel fanfiction #fanfic #anon #agatha harkness x fem!reader #fem!reader #??? i think

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nightingaelic · 3 years

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Can I request for Fallout new vegas companions reactions to the courier yelling at them to ‘come and look at this thing!’ And when they get there, they see the courier riding on a horse as if it was nothing. The courier doesn’t recognize it as a horse since they never saw one before, but they still proudly declare that they’re gonna keep it.

(The horse itself can be a normal horse, ghoul horse, or a mutated horse. Whichever is easier for you to write..I just like the idea of the courier becoming a straight up cowboy)

Much as I love @scuttlebuttin's hayburners and @owligator/@duddyruck's sleipnir, I'm going with a regular, unmutated horse. If a purebred German shepherd is running around the Commonwealth, I can get away with this no problem

The courier and their companion had been tracking their prey for several days now, ever since the latest shipment to the Crimson Caravan Company's base by Freeside had spread the story of the strange animal they had spotted out in the scrub while navigating the mountains. None of the caravan hands could agree on what it was. Some said it was a one-headed wild brahmin, a rare sight for sure but something people had definitely seen before. Others thought it was a polled bighorner, rarer still and destined for some predator's meal because it wouldn't be able to defend itself in a fight. A giant night stalker, a really fast centaur, a robotic prototype left over from the Enclave's experiments or the Great War itself: The tales grew taller and taller, until the courier grabbed their gun and hit the road with some backup to go find the damn creature.

The pair had followed the strange, crescent-shaped hoofprints up into the trees, but it always managed to stay just ahead of them. That is, until the courier drifted off in search of some wood for the evening campfire and disappeared for longer than usual. Their companion was startled suddenly when they called out from somewhere up the mountainside. "I found it! Hey, come and look at this thing!"

Arcade Gannon: Arcade grabbed his plasma pistol and hurried up the hill. "And just why are you announcing your position for this thing to find you," he muttered to himself as he jogged. "If it's so dang dangerous that the caravan hands were-"

He stopped short when he reached a prairie clearing, where a lone horse was grazing at the drying bluegrass. The courier was seated atop it, beaming as if they'd just won the lottery. Arcade looked between them and the horse, open-mouthed.

The courier waved at him. "It's friendly!"

"It's... supposed to be extinct," Arcade managed. He took a few steps forward before realizing he might spook the animal and backing off. "Six, please get off the horse."

"Horse?" The courier twisted a hand up in the horse's mane and reached down to pat its neck. "Never heard of it."

"How have you never-" Arcade shook his head. "There's one on every pre-war cigarette billboard from here to the Hub. Big Boss and his big... hoss. Horse."

"Oh yeah," the courier agreed. "I kind of see it. But that one's white and this one's all brown. Is it sick?"

"It's fine." Arcade waved the courier's worries off. "Er, well, I'm not a veterinarian, but it looks fine. They come in different colors."

The horse raised its head and thoughtfully chewed the mouthful of grass it had ripped up. It shivered a bit under the courier's touch, but it stayed still. "Good horse," the courier cooed, running a hand over its fur. "Get your fill before we go back to the city."

"We can't keep it," Arcade said quickly.

"Oh yes we can," the courier argued, shooting him a defiant look. "It's all alone up here, and we sure as hell won't be the first people who decide to come and hunt it down. This horse goes home with me."

Arcade ran a hand through his hair. "That's just going to draw more attention to it, Six, you know that."

"Arcade, that's what the Securitrons are for. Now help me get a rope around it and we'll lead it down to the highway."

Craig Boone: Boone saw the animal through his scope before he saw it with his own eyes, and a chill ran through him. It wasn't a brahmin or a bighorner, but it also wasn't anything Boone had seen before and it still looked familiar. There was something otherworldly about it, standing in the narrow beams of the fading sunlight while the equally-miraculous courier stroked its face. They smiled as it devoured the biscuit they offered from their own traveling supplies, and when the animal pricked its ears toward the sniper in the brush, they grasped the line of hair that grew from the ridge of its neck and swung atop its back before it could protest.

Boone flexed his trigger finger and put the creature's head in his sights. It stared him down, clearly aware of his scent and the small noises his feet were making on the forest floor, but it didn't bolt like a normal prey animal.

"Boone," the courier's voice came, as if from far away.

He eased off the trigger and turned his scope to them instead. They were frowning at him and shaking their head, so he put the gun down and slowly stood up.

The courier's mount shuffled a bit at his appearance, its hooves snapping twigs under the trees and sending some rocks bouncing down the mountain, but it still didn't run. The courier stroked its neck and flank, murmuring soothing words while it let out a bubbly, uncertain sound.

When it stood still again, the courier beckoned Boone to move closer. "Try not to startle it."

Boone shook his head, but the courier kept gesturing until he finally rolled his eyes and cautiously approached. The animal reached its head out as he drew near, snuffling at him with its tall nostrils. He put a hand up, and it thrust its nose beneath his fingers, searching for more food. Its skin was dry, velvety, but also streaked with scars from a lifetime spent running through forest branches, cacti and rusty barbed wire fences. Slowly, Boone stroked a thumb over its inquisitive nose, and it flapped its lower lip as if satisfied.

The courier giggled. "It likes you."

Lily Bowen: Lily thundered through the brush, searching for her pumpkin, but as soon as she caught sight of the courier atop the horse she drew up short and clasped her hands together. "A pony," she said joyfully.

The pony in question was clearly put off by the nightkin's appearance, and it half-reared in fear. The courier's hat fell off and they clasped both arms around its neck, terrified, but Lily put her arms out wide and began to make shushing noises. "There there, dearie," she said, directing her affectionate tone to the animal instead of her usual target, the courier. "It's okay. No danger, no danger. Grandma will stay over here unless you want her to come closer. That's a good pony."

"You know... what it is?" the courier called, still clinging to the creature's mane. "It's not some mutated bighorner, or whatever?"

"Of course not, dearie," Lily answered. "It's a horse. Grandma hasn't seen one in a long time. Maybe never."

"Huh." The courier made a face. "A horse. I liked the first name you called it better. Pern-y."

"Pony," Lilly corrected them. "Like the Pony Express."

"What's the Pony Express? Is it like the Mojave Express?"

Lily nodded solemnly. "They were couriers, way back before even the Great War. Back when brahmin didn't have two heads yet, but there were still brahmin barons owning all the land out west. The Pony Express would carry letters across the country on ponies."

"Really?" The courier's face lit up. "Lily, I have an idea."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: Anticipating a firefight, Raul took his time heading up the hill to the courier, but as soon as he arrived he regretted this decision. "Es un caballo," he said, excitedly striding forward toward the animal that the courier was struggling to climb atop. "Careful, careful, you're going to hurt her if you keep yanking on her mane like that. Aguanta, aguanta."

"Caballo?" the courier asked, breathless from their expended effort.

"A horse," Raul clarified. "Like the ones mi familia used to keep on the ranch. Here, let me give you a boost, boss."

With the old ghoul's help, the courier finally swung a leg over the horse's back and settled into a firm seating. They made as if to slap the animal's shoulder, but Raul caught their hand before it could connect. "Ni se te ocurra."

"Sorry." The courier grinned sheepishly. "How do you make it go?"

Raul made some clicking noises at the horse, and it perked up its ears. To make things a little easier, Raul looped a length of rope around its neck and began to lead it through the forest, offering Spanish words of encouragement here and there as they navigated the rough terrain. The courier watched him shed the centuries of hardship that weighed him down, watched him lose himself in the simplicity of a task he had done ages ago when he had a different name, a different life, and they couldn't help but smile.

When they finally stopped, Raul turned to caress the horse's soft nose. "I don't know who you belong to, bonita, but you sure walk well for a wild animal," he said.

"You," the courier offered.

"Que?"

"She belongs to you."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: Cass barely had time to grab her shotgun before something crashed through the brush and burst into the campsite. It was the courier, clinging for dear life to the neck of a giant, hoofed creature that looked very upset about this new arrangement. Having entered a relatively clear space, the animal began to dance, bolting this way and that and bucking up and down to try to free itself. The courier held on admirably, but when their mount started to spin in circles their grip on its mane slipped and they went flying into a nearby creosote bush. The animal stamped once, twice, let out a decisive whinny and trotted away into the trees.

Cass doubled over in laughter as the courier picked themselves up. "Goddamn," she wheezed. "It's a šúŋka."

"A what?"

"A šúŋka." Cass wiped a tear from her eye and tried to catch her breath. "Shuen-kah. Never seen one this far south, but the tribes of the Annex Nation keep them. Real tough cookie you found there, if it's making a home down in the Mojave all on its lonesome."

The courier brushed some creosote twigs from their coat. "They don't live on their own?"

"Nah, they're like brahmin or bighorners. They need a herd, to really make a go of it." Cass had a wistful look in her eye. "Mom used to tell me about them. She saw a few in her traveling days, before she met dad and got saddled with me."

"We're a herd," the courier pointed out. "Or as close as it's gonna find, in New Vegas. You got any rope on you?"

Cass handed her spare coil of rope over. "You're liable to get kicked in the head," she said. "Honestly, it's a wonder you weren't already."

"It let me get in close before," the courier replied, tying the rope into a rough lasso. They reached into their pack and retrieved a crumbly piece of cornbread. "And this time, I've got snacks."

Veronica Santangelo: "I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm-" Veronica's replies cut off when she caught sight of the courier sitting atop the animal they'd been hunting. "Oh."

"Isn't it beautiful?" the courier called, while the creature slowly ambled across the clearing toward the Scribe, sniffing the air curiously.

Veronica popped off her power fist and let it fall to the ground. She put a hand out slowly to let the animal sniff her fingers. "I've seen these before, but only in books. No wonder the Crimson Caravan people had no idea what it was."

"What is it?" the courier asked, leaning down to rub their mount's shoulder and belly. Shed fur came away on their hands, little flecks of white and copper that floated away on the mountain breeze.

Veronica wracked her brains. "A noble... noble... stead? No... steed. It's a steed. I think. But that book about King Arthur and his Knights kept changing words for things, so that might just be one way to refer to it."

The courier held their hand out. "Get up here."

"Oh, no thank you." Veronica backed away with her hands up. "I am not interested in falling and hitting my head on a rock. Maybe you're capable of shrugging off cranial trauma, but I'm not taking those chances."

"Fine." The courier giggled as their steed bobbed its head up and down, confused by Veronica's retreat. "But don't come asking me for a turn later. I want to ride this thing into the middle of the Tops."

Veronica smirked. "Bet the Securitrons doing the credit check will charge you double for bringing it with you."

ED-E: ED-E charged into the woods, blaring its usual battle music and evading branches as it did. When it nearly barreled into the side of a dappled flank, though, the eyebot narrowly avoided the animal by barrel rolling in midair and letting its momentum carry it up into the canopy. This spooked the creature, which took off at breakneck speed into the underbrush while the courier did their best to hang on, whooping in delight as it leaped logs, dodged tree trunks and whipped through low-hanging boughs. ED-E followed above the trees, trying and failing to scan the creature as it threaded its way through the forest until it came up to an open meadow and decided it was safe. ED-E turned its music off and floated down a safe distance away, while the courier tried to catch their breath from the excitement.

The animal's stillness finally allowed ED-E to scan it, and it beeped its discovery for the courier. The courier nodded and patted the horse with a grin. "You're a little easier to ride than a deathclaw or a yao guai, but let's not do that again unless we have to."

Rex: Unbeknownst to the courier, Rex could recall the scent they had been tracking across the mountains around Jacobstown. It was an old memory for sure, from his days as a police dog in Denver. Mounted police units weren't common anymore even before the bombs fell, but Rex had encountered a few before that fateful day and it excited him. He sprang into action at the courier's call, and he trotted happily into the wooded area where the courier was recklessly clambering atop the wild horse.

The horse shook its head and stamped at Rex's arrival, and Rex started barking. The cyberdog only quit when the courier scolded him, swiveling to meet his eyes from their seat atop the horse. "Bad dog, Rex," they said reproachfully. "I'm trying to make friends, here."

#fallout #fallout new vegas #fnv #fnv companions #fallout new vegas companions #fallout new vegas companions react #fnv companions react #give me some kind of mounted option in the next fallout game bethesda #i dare you #even if it's just a giddyup buttercup #i know you have the technology #i've played skyrim and oblivion

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aneenasevla · 2 years

Text

Heavy Bakery Short Story 1

"Inside Out"

Back to MasterPost

Ohma finds out a little girl while still living in the Inside, and, for once, he is a child.

Somewhere on the outskirts of suburban Tokyo, one afternoon on summer vacation, a boy was rummaging through the garbage at a market. After a few days of the week, it was a good opportunity to hunt for food there, especially at this hour, when the beggars weren't there and the servants were busy working inside. And there was good stuff, if you paid attention. Unlocking a lock wasn't difficult, if you had the strength. And since he started training with that long-haired old man, he's gained a bit of strength.

He didn't exactly need it right now, but something in himself said it wasn't good to depend on the old man, and this time he wasn't after fruits or vegetables. Today was a special day, when the market threw out sweets and some types of meat, from the previous week. After he cleaned the mold and fried it well, he could eat it without getting sick. And he wanted something different today.

He found a packet full of those brown bars, which melted in your mouth. He never understood why the market threw such delicious things in the trash, but he would be the last to complain. He looked around to see if he hadn't been seen and smiled as he took the package out of the giant green container.

He was about to open one of them when a large projectile hit him in the head, knocking him off balance and causing him to drop everything to the ground. Luckily the thing was very light and didn't exactly hurt him, but it smeared his face with mud. The round black and white thing bounced to the ground beside him. Who the hell had thrown that and messed up his lunch…?

“Oh no!” a voice growled. It was from a girl.

“Sheesh Kana, look what you did!” said another boy.

“Right in the p’ohibited area!” Said another of them, tongue-tied.

“Hey guys, sorry…” Another voice spoke, it was from another girl. That's probably the one that threw the ball “I'll go get it.”

“Are you cwazy, girl? It's in the fo’bidden area!” the tongue-tied boy said.

“Now you owe me a soccer ball!” the second girl yelled.

The boy in the garbage raised an eyebrow. He looked down at the “sockerball” lying on the floor beside his candy bars. It was almost the size of his head, made of something that looked like leather, worn in some places.

For some reason, the kids didn't want to come here, which, in some part of his mind, was understandable. Nor would he be there if he wanted to, but it's not like he didn't have a choice, he wanted the brown bars today. Chocolate, his mind explained. He didn't know where that knowledge came from, but he knew he didn't have to worry about it.

“You're a bunch of softies” the girl grunted “there's a wire door over there, we can go through and get it…”

“But there is the fo’bidden á’ea!” the tongue-tied boy exclaimed, fearfully “there is a toxic gas that makes people into ‘monfters’!”

“Nonsense, there is no such thing” the same girl as before said “I'll go there, I'll get the ball and you will stop being idiots.”

“Jeez, Kanami said a bad word…” the second girl laughed softly, and the others laughed too.

The boy inside those walls was curious. Something about that voice sounded familiar to him, and they were after the "sockerball" so he took it. He put the box of brown bars back in the trash, of course. He would eat that later. He threw her over the wall, and he heard a general gasp.

“Ah! The ball is back!” a boy shouted.

“It's the monster, run!” he heard the children leaving in a stampede. He was confused. Hey, wasn't it supposed to be returned?

The boy, curious, saw some points on the wall that were conveniently climbable, and he did so. He surveyed the area. It looked like a wasteland. In the center of it, a girl screaming at the others.

“So scared of what, you slackers? It was just someone who threw it!” she said as the children ran away. She had light brown hair, and her clothes were clearly way better than his, so she must have been one of the “outsiders”, like the others. Naturally he would be suspicious of people “outside” but this one, he knew, not exactly how, but he knew, that she was to be trusted.

She looked at him. Green eyes. He stared back. The two looked at each other.

“You… you who threw the ball?” She asked.

He nodded. She smiled back.

“Thank you” she bows a little “the others say it's dangerous to go there, but I knew it was bullshit.”

“It's dangerous, yes,” he manages to say, his voice a little hoarse. It came out way higher pitched than he remembered, but that's what he had “One has to know how to survive here.”

“Ah” she looks him up and down, and smiles a little in disbelief “you're just a kid, too. So you survive too?”

He looks at himself. Thin arms, clothes torn but wearable, and she felt his long hair.

“Yeaa… what's up with that!?” He frowns.

“Nothing, but ok…” she takes the ball “Nara left her ball here… do you want to play? We can't make a football team, but we can play passes…”

He looked at her, smiling at him. He had no idea what she was saying, but he found it amusing. He jumped over the wall and landed on the ground, not feeling his legs ache from the impact. Weird. He was too light.

She smiled and came closer “you have a long hair… isn't that a girl thing?”

“It’s not, my master is a man and he has much longer hair than mine…”

“Oh, I think it's different there” she shrugs “but it's a beautiful hair.”

He snorts “what is this ‘playing’ you talk about?”

“Oh yes, it is… you have to move the ball without your hands, then we go from one to the other foot” she explains, as best she could, like playing, even explaining things she had learned at school.

“Oh… right.” He watches her kick the ball from one foot to the other. And she passes it to him, and he, awkwardly, tries to imitate her. He passes it to her, and she kicks him back in the air, but the ball goes over him and she runs behind him, catching the ball with her knees and parrying it with her feet, laughing when he looks a little confused.

“Try to take it from me now! No hands!” she laughs, running and kicking the ball away.

He was confused for half a second, standing in place, but then he smiled, running after her. She sure knew how to play it better than he did, but someone like him was the type who learned fast to survive, so he was soon getting the hang of it too.

By the end of the day the two were laughing and pushing each other to see who would have possession of the ball, almost grappling with each other trying to reach the thing with their foot, almost fighting for strength, and laughing out loud. He pushed her and she landed on her ass on the floor, and he managed to catch the ball, kicking it. He stopped when she wasn't chasing him. He looked back and saw her on the floor.

“Hey, what happened?” He went back to her. She was angry.

“You cannot push others!” She gets up “This is a joke, it's not meant to hurt!”

“But it was to catch the ball, wasn't it?”

“But you hit me!” she looks at her arm, it was red and bruised “it hurts…”

“Ah…” he looks at her, looks at the wall, wanting to run away, but looks at her “it’s just a scratch, it’ll heal soon…”

He approaches and she takes a step back, not wanting to look at his face, her eyes watering, she was trembling.

“Stop it, you look like a girl…” he tries to joke.

“I'm a girl, you idiot,” she retorts. Okay, that wasn't the best line, he scratches the back of his head, his faces red.

So he has an idea, and he runs, jumping and climbing the wall. The girl looks confused but still sad. Just when she thought he was gone, his hair pops out from over the wall, and he throws some things on the floor, before climbing up and over the wall again, on this side. And he comes back, with things in hand. Shows her.

There were chocolate bars. Brand new, still packaged in original plastic.

“Where did you find this?” she asks, he shrugs.

“I'm always happy when I eat this. Stop crying, then I give you.”

She blinks, looking up at him, then nods and wipes away her tears. He hands her one.

“There” he smiles, his hand goes to the top of her head “You’ll feel better, ok?”

She nods, smiling a little, cheeks flushing, pouting.

“Thank you” she murmurs, and then seemed to remember “Oh yeah, I didn't even introduce myself… I'm Oomori Kanami, how about you?”

“I don't have a name,” he said automatically. Oh, it's true, now he had a name “I mean, I do. Yeah… is Tokita Ohma…”

“Nice to meet you, Ohma.” She bends over a little and looks at his face. He opened the chocolate and began to eat. She mimics him, still looking. He looks back.

“What?” He said with his mouth half full.

“You're cool. I like you.” She smiles. He widens his eyes.

“Huh?” he was going to ask something, until he hears someone calling him.

“Ohma!!’ he knew that voice very well “where did you hide, boy? It's already dinner time!”

As annoyed as he was with that old man, the promise of food always brought him back. And also lessons on how to hit others, so instinctively he ran.

“Hey!” she calls him back. He stops, and looks at her “will I see you again?”

He looked at her, and he wanted to smile, but his master was calling him. He nodded, and ran back to the wall, jumping and climbing, back to the "inside."

The sight of the girl looking at him was the last thing he saw before waking up.

…

Ohma shifted a little, sensing his surroundings before opening his eyes. As it came into focus, he saw the ceiling of a room, dark but dimly brightening in the morning light streaming through the window. His body felt its own weight again, and shape, and suddenly he felt much heavier, bigger… and there was something warm beside him. He looked, and as he witnessed his wife's sleeping body, he suddenly remembered things. She was at home, in their room, and today was Sunday.

A strange sense of peace and laziness washed over him, so he rolled onto his side and hugged her. He smelled her, and the sound she made in her sleep, snuggling against him, and smiled. She liked those early morning moments, the silence of the room, just enough light for him to see her, and nothing else. But he felt her waking up, and he was sure of it when she opened her eyes, lifting her head to him.

“Good morning,” Kanami says, her voice slurred. He just grunted in response. Her face was certainly much older than the girl he'd seen in the dream, but still, he felt happy as he leaned his forehead against hers, and hugged her tighter “we're lazy today, huh?”

“Hnmmm…” he nods, still slurring his voice “you are.”

“And who is preventing me from getting up?”

“Leave me be… I'm happy…” he starts to laugh softly “and, for some reason, I feel like eating chocolate now.”

The comment made her laugh, and he laughed along. This bottomless bag…

Back to MasterPost

#kengan ashura #kengan omega #kenganverse #heavybakery #ohma tokita #tokita ohma #kengan oc #fanfiction #kengan ashura imagines #children #soccer

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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

Note

I love your Nie brothers content, all of it, but there is so little written about the friendship between Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian! We know they were friends in Cloud Recesses, but it's never explored how these genius guys, even if one is focused on magical inovations and the other on strategy and politics, got on. Something which shows how well they got each other would be great

Wei Wuxian’s fist trembled. How dare he – worthless peacock – my shijie..!

But before he could throw a punch, he saw a swirl of white – Lan Wangji, sweeping forward with a face like a graveyard, and Nie Huaisang cringing in his shadow – and suddenly he realized that he didn’t need to punch Jin Zixuan.

Speaking of others behind their backs is forbidden.

Sneering without reason is forbidden.

Arrogance is forbidden.

Do not be haughty and complacent.

Do not praise yourself and slander others.

Do not make assumptions about others.

Do not insult people.

Do not take your words lightly.

Wei Wuxian grinned with teeth. “Hey, Lan Zhan!” he sang out, and Jin Zixuan blanched. “Perfect timing!”

Later, after he’d laughed himself sick at Jin Zixuan’s punishment – humiliatingly perfect – and making his appreciation very clear to Lan Wangji, he went to go find Nie Huaisang.

“When did you go get Lan Zhan?” he asked, honestly curious. He hadn’t known he was going to get into a fight until he was there and it was happening, but Nie Huaisang, of all people, had apparently figured out what was going to happen before it happened and took steps to fix it.

“The second they started talking about girls,” Nie Huaisang said promptly. “It’s fairly obvious that Jin Zixuan is resentful of his parents managing his life and he’s lashing out at everything, including specifically your shijie, so a nasty comment was inevitable.”

Wei Wuxian blinked, derailed from his original line of questioning. “He – what? Wait, that’s why he’s so rude about my shijie?”

“Of course,” Nie Huaisang said, blinking back at him. “What did you think? That he just didn’t like her? He’s barely even met her.”

Wei Wuxian hadn’t thought about that way, but it made a certain amount of sense. “When did you get so good at reading people?” he asked, bemused. “I didn’t…uh…”

“Think I have any skills?”

Wei Wuxian coughed.

“I don’t!” Nie Huaisang beamed, clearly very proud of it. “But I do have a lot of expensive hobbies, and that means I need pocket money.”

Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure he understood the connection, and said as much.

Nie Huaisang laughed at him. “The Nie sect believes in self-sufficiency,” he explained. “My brother gives me a certain amount of money to spend, sure, but we’re not the Jin sect; I can’t just buy everything that I lay my eyes on and send the bill back home – my brother would break my legs! I’m expected to find a way to increase the money I get until it’s enough to cover both my needs and wants, necessities and luxuries both, and if I can’t, then I have to do without luxuries.”

Nie Huaisang has never, not once, in the entire few months Wei Wuxian spent in his company, done without luxuries.

“So,” Wei Wuxian said, feeling oddly unnerved and unsure why, “you learned how to read people because you want to act like…a merchant?”

Nie Huaisang lightly tapped his head with his fan, rolling his eyes at him. “Stop being such a landed gentry young master, Wei-xiong. There’s nothing wrong with trade! How much of your sect’s money comes from merchants interested in keeping their trade routes free of resentful energy?”

Wei Wuxian wrinkled his nose a little. “That’s cheapening it a bit, don’t you think? As cultivators, it’s our duty to stand up as heroes, to defend the innocent and defeat evil, to purify –”

“Right, right. Remind me again how the Jiang sect pays for all that pretty purple?”

“Well…I mean…”

Technically, yes, there were all the dye sellers and the fabric merchants, but…

Nie Huaisang was laughing at him.

“Don’t worry about it, Wei-xiong,” he said, wiping his eyes. “You stick to doing your own thing. If you ever need to sell anything, come to me.”

“Of course,” Wei Wuxian said, privately thinking to himself that he’d rather farm for crops than become a seller hawking his goods in the marketplace. “Hey, wait, what is it that you sell, anyway?”

Nie Huaisang sniggered and refused to tell him.

It was porn.

Also barbeque and liquor, although in that case Nie Huaisang mostly played the middleman between the vendors of Caiyi Town and the students stuck eating Lan vegetables.

Sometimes he could even be convinced to tug on his contacts for other things, too.

“You’re a true friend,” Wei Wuxian said, clutching the bottle of chili sauce to his chest. “A true and wonderful friend.”

“You still have to pay,” Nie Huaisang said, his eyes curving up behind his fan. “No discounts.”

“A ruthless, vicious, cut-throat friend…”

“I lend you the porn for free, don’t I?

“Wonderful! Wonderful friend!”

No matter what Jiang Cheng said, Wei Wuxian was trying to keep his head down during their time at the indoctrination camp. He was taking this whole thing very seriously: he wasn’t making a fuss (too much), he wasn’t being insulting (too much), he wasn’t even socializing (too much).

Lan Wangji didn’t count, anyway; after what had happened to him, he needed someone bothering him.

But Wei Wuxian was being good and keeping back from the rest!

Well, he was, except then he saw Nie Huaisang and just had to go over to say hello. It was only polite, and had nothing to do with the fact that during the months he spent at the Cloud Recesses, he’d learned that Nie Huaisang could sell anyone on anything.

“I don’t suppose you have contacts that will sell you barbeque here,” Wei Wuxian said as a greeting, because the food they’d received was frankly disgusting in a way that made him wistful for the Lan sect like it had been a gourmet restaurant.

“Well,” Nie Huaisang hedged, and Wei Wuxian’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t get too excited, it’s not barbeque…”

It was meat, though, chunks of that had probably been roasted as skewers at one point, and Wei Wuxian didn’t even care that it was cold as he scarfed it down, immediately feeling ten times better than he’d been before.

“Where?” he asked. “How?”

“There’ll be a surprise inspection tomorrow morning,” Nie Huaisang said instead. “Keep your head down, they’re looking to make an example out of somebody.”

“How do you know that?”

Nie Huaisang shrugged. “I brought art.”

“To the indoctrination camp?”

“Wen soldiers get lonely and bored too, Wei-xiong.”

“You’re trading for information using porn?”

“Don’t be silly. I’m trading porn for meat, and getting the information while we’re chatting. A large number of the Wen sect cultivators used to be their own sects, you know, before they were absorbed, and not all of them are happy about what’s going on here. You just have to figure out who the loyalists are, avoid them, and focus on the rest, and it’s easy.”

“I still can’t believe you brought porn to the Wen sect,” Wei Wuxian said, shaking his head. “What’ll you do if your brother finds out?”

“You’re joking, right? He helped me pack it.”

Wei Wuxian will never understand the Nie sect.

Wei Wuxian stared wordlessly at his bowl.

There was a single slice of radish in it.

“Is this a joke?” he asked Wen Qing, because it might be, and she glared at him, meaning that no, it was not. “Don’t we have anything else?”

“With what money, Wen-gongzi? Do you think it comes from thin air?”

“I had a friend once who could make it come out of thin air,” he grumbled, looking down at his bowl. He’d practiced inedia, he didn’t need it, except for the fact that he really, really did. Not having a golden core made things hard. “He could’ve sold fish to fishermen, except he mostly just sold porn.”

Wen Qing rolled her eyes at him. “Wonderful story, Wei-gongzi. Positively heartwarming. But unless your old erotic art dealer is going to come to Yiling to help us sell some radishes, I don’t care.”

Naturally, that was impossible. Wei Wuxian was a villain now, his name blackened, the whole cultivation world against him –

Actually, as far as he could tell, the Nie sect didn’t seem to give a damn about him one way or another. From all the stories Nie Huaisang had told about his brother and from everything he’d seen in the war, Nie Mingjue wasn’t the sort of person to let evil sit around on a mountain while he was busy with other things – if he objected, he’d be there the next day with his saber, ready to put him in his place.

He hadn’t, obviously.

His hatred of the Wen sect was pretty well-known, but he’d taken no action at all to invade Yiling and demand that Wei Wuxian hand them over, and Wei Wuxian was mostly sure that it wasn’t because he was scared of what Wei Wuxian could do with the Stygian Tiger Seal.

…it was probably just the hunger getting to him and making him think crazy things. Not caring enough to go against him was pretty far from supporting him, after all.

But, hey, he wouldn’t be risking anything if he just wrote a tiny little letter asking Nie Huaisang for some advice on selling things, right?

I never thought I’d see the day my Wei-xiong finally became a merchant, the return letter said. I’ll be there in three days. I expect to see liquor.

Wei Wuxian took Wen Ning down the mountain and stood on his shoulders in order to emancipate a jar from the local tavern, but by the time Nie Huaisang arrived, there was, in fact, liquor.

Even Wen Qing – who had opposed the entire outing once she had heard about it upon their return – suddenly thought it was a perfectly reasonable sort of theft when Nie Huaisang offered to trade a giant crate full of meat for it.

“We had some leftovers from a boar hunt,” Nie Huaisang said mournfully, accepting the liquor and a bowl of radishes. “I need variety, Wei-gongzi, it’s terrible. You have to help me get rid of it; I can’t stand to look at it any longer.”

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Wei Wuxian reminded him in between glorious bites of pork. He was going to be a very good friend and do his best to ensure that Nie Huaisang’s request was fulfilled, even if it meant taking seconds and possibly thirds. “I asked for advice, not a visit.”

“You can’t expect me to put my good name on what could be inferior goods,” Nie Huaisang sniffed.

“Your good name? The one known for porn, you mean?”

Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes at him. “So show me what you have to sell.”

“It’s mostly just the radishes,” Wei Wuxian said. “I tried to tell Wen Qing that we should plant potatoes, but –”

“Forget the radishes,” Nie Huaisang said. “What’s this I hear about you designing a compass that pinpoints resentful energy?”

“Oh, that?” Wei Wuxian said, blinking. “Yeah, I made one of those – the Burial Mounds is the biggest source of resentful energy around, and it’s easier to have a compass that points home instead of north, you know? But what does that have to do with selling radishes?”

“Wei-xiong, you’re hopeless. Leave it all to me, and you’ll have your sect up and running in no time.”

“Yeah, that would be – wait, sect? What sect?”

“Actually,” Nie Huaisang said, tapping his fan against his cheek. He was just plain old ignoring Wei Wuxian now, which, hey! “I take it back – before you leave everything to me, show me what other ideas you’ve been cooking up. What about those talismans you used during the war? The spirit-drawing ones?”

“Spirit summoning,” Wei Wuxian corrected.

“Yes, those. Have you improved on those at all?”

“Uh, I mean, I guess…”

“Good. Show me everything.”

“So I have a sect now,” Wei Wuxian told Lan Wangji, who had come to visit. “We sell things to support it. Apparently.”

Lan Wangji nodded, apparently already aware of this. “The clan elders have agreed that using your flags to draw fierce corpses and other creatures away from areas with innocent human lives is an acceptable use.”

“Even the Lan sect?” Wei Wuxian marveled. “No wonder we’re making so much money.”

Then he sighed.

Lan Wangji looked questioningly at him.

“Well, I have a sect now,” Wei Wuxian said. “Everyone’s expecting me to – you know. Form the core of the sect.”

“Marry,” Lan Wangji concluded. Possibly advised? No, that didn’t sound like he was urging him to go ahead, which made a total of one person. “You do not have to if you do not wish. You already have an heir.”

“A-Yuan’s too young to be a proper heir,” Wei Wuxian objected, though he was secretly gleeful that people were generally accepting him as one. “And obviously I can’t just pick anyone; how will I know if they’re a spy? Or if they’ll secretly dislike A-Yuan?” He sighed again. “The worst part is, I think Nie Huaisang is plotting against me, too.”

“Plotting?”

“Yeah! He’s encouraging people to ask me about marriage, when clearly it’s better for me to stay off the market…what about you, Lan Zhan? Are you planning on marrying?”

“No,” Lan Wangji said.

“We’ll be a bunch of old bachelors, then,” Wei Wuxian said. “You should come more often, A-Yuan loves you…hey! I have a great idea! Why don’t we get married? Then no one will bother us ever again!”

“Mm,” Lan Wangji said.

“Mm? What does that mean?”

“It means I will need to send Nie Huaisang his payment in the morning,” Lan Wangji said, and moved to sit next to Wei Wuxian.

“Payment? You bought something from him? What did you want to –”

Lan Wangji silenced him pretty effectively, no spell necessary, and by the time Wei Wuxian retained enough ability to think through what exactly the purchase must have been, he’d already been converted to thinking that it was a very intelligent purchase to make.

Nie Huaisang really could sell anything.

#mdzs #wei wuxian #nie huaisang #wangxian #my fic #my fics #sales pitch #violetablood

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cookietroop · 3 years

Text

Mechanic! Reader x Yandere! Security Breach Characters

The Last Job (Finale)

Y/n was running she didn’t want to be taken by the robots that she called friends. She was so stupid! Why didn’t she saw this happening?! Why?! She didn’t want to bother now she needs to hide!

In the beginning she was going along with her shift but then she felt someone restraining her while trying to put cloth over her mouth but luckily she stopped and pushed them away to see a crazed Vanessa.

“The FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! Is this a sick prank?!” Yelled Y/n but then she turned to see the whole group of pizza plex, they weren’t in their regular room s they were all here.

Y/n ran and ran and hide but she soon gone into the maze to try her luck.

So here she is in this pathetic situation, breathing heavily and quietly while she heard arguments from the others.

“OOOH BESTEST FRIEND~!!! Where are youuu~!” Said Sundrop as he hopped away looking for her but she quickly turned away from the voice and went off in the maze, surely no one could find her.

“Y/n! There you are~! Don’t try to run~!” Said Chica but y/n ran to her and slid down between her legs like she was in maze runner.

Chica’s screams of anger was like a dinner bell to the other and y/n knew it wouldn’t be long before they came and hunt her down.

Roxy was the first and she ran after y/n quicker than the others but was knocked down by Monty throwing a trash bin to her.

Y/n was trying to go to the front entrance but her route was guarded by security bots that were also trying to catch y/n under the orders of the other animatronics.

‘FUCK THIS!!! FUCK ALL OF THIS SHIT!’ Thought Y/n as she hurried to the another route but then she saw Vanessa in her bunny costume running with a knife in her hand.

“FUUUUUCCCCCKKKK YOU!!!!! BITCH!” Yelled Y/n as she ran to Vanessa at full speed and slid under her and sprinted away while giving her a middle finger.

Y/n was fearing for her life! She felt like a little weak prey in a domain of giant apex predators wanting to eat her. Like a mouse in a lion den.

Y/n hurried to the entrance but then she stopped to see Freddy who was holding the keys.

“Freddy j-just give me the keys an- CRUNCH*” pleaded y/n but Freddy wasn’t having that and instantly crushed the keys with his strength.

‘This Fucking son of a-‘ thought y/n but she instantly jumped out of the way as a crazed chica tried to catch her but she fell.

Y/n wasn’t going to be caught! Y/n wanted to go out now! Why why why why why why why why why Why WHy WHYY!

But luckily for her she knew about the emergency exit and ran straight for it but then as she was about to taste her freedom, Moondrop caught her.

“Naughty Naughty~ you must be punished!” Said Moondrop, Y/n only stared at the door.

She couldn’t believe it, she was so close but oh so far, was she going to die? What did she do so wrong to deserve this?

Suddenly she blacked out…..

She heard beeping, people whispering among themselves, people coming in and out, she felt her entire body sore.

She quickly woke up and saw Jade, Blake, Alex, and Macy were looking at her with worry.

“Y/N! You’re awake!” Said Jade as she hugged her but Blake pulled her away.

“They are still in bed are they? You could hug her later when she’s well.” Said Blake, y/n was shocked when Blake even cared.

“You cared about me?” Said Y/n as she placed a hand on her chest, having fake tears.

“Y/n this isn’t a joke, you were actually fighting for your life! You had an incident at the pizza plex and now your family is currently suing the hell out of the fazbear’s entertainment company.” Said Blake.

“What? So what happened to me?” Asked Y/n.

“Well we don’t know, but we have our guess with malfunctioning animatronics.” Said Macy.

Y/n didn’t want to explain whet happened that day, but on the way out of the hospital after her months were over, she notice a little boy along inside a cardboard box sleeping.

Y/n looked around as she waiting for her parents to pick her up, but then she picked up the boy and carried him to her parents car.

“What am I doing here?!” Said the boy.

“Sorry if I carried you away but I’m nice, I promise.” Said Y/n and Gregory calmed down a little.

“I’m Gregory, who are you?” Said The boy.

“I’m Y/n, currently my family is suing the entire company of the fazbear’s places.” Said Y/n as turned to him revealing her full face, it was something out of a fighting movie, a huge long scar that was covered in patches, a swollen bruise and a few stitches.

“Woah what happened?” Asked Gregory as he couldn’t help himself looking at the injuries.

“I’ll explain when we go to my new place.” Said Y/n with a saddened smile.

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leonhardt-simp · 3 years

Text

Welcome Home.

[werewolf au]

werewolf! annie x reader

summary: It had been a bit you last saw

Annie.

cw/ mentions of nudity and blood. a lil make out

You watched as the giant wolf slipped into your bedroom window, thumps hitting the ground as it made its way inside, slightly struggling from the tight fit.

“I think I should just start letting you in the front door, Annie.” You commented, hearing a huff in return watching as the wolf walked towards you.

You were happy to finally have the blonde back in your arms again but just as you were going to envelop that girl, that’s when you smelled the familiar iron smell. You hated that smell cause during the early stages of your relationship, whenever Annie came back from her hunts, she always made a small mess without realizing it.

You would wake up with dried-up blood on your bedsheets. Sometimes the smell was also hard to get out! SO MANY GOOD BEDSHEETS WASTED! But it was worth it.

You pushed her snout away from you in a soft manner, her reaction being a small hum and eyes darting towards you for an explanation.

“Ah— Nope. You’re not getting blood on my bed.” You said, crossing your arms. Annie’s eyes seemed to tilt a bit, whimpering a little as if she tried to compromise with you. Puppy eyes never seemed to be cuter.

“You’re lucky that you’re cute, blondie.” You gently petted the blonde fur under her chin, her eyes closing at the nice feeling. “However, No. Go get yourself in the bath. I’ll be waiting for you.” You told her, that’s when you noticed how the blonde wolf just sat there as if expecting something.

After you couldn’t figure out what exactly, Annie leaned her head in, headbutting her head against your cheek. You let out a small laugh, shaking your head at how cute she was acting.

Perhaps she genuinely missed you? You both hadn’t seen one another in a bit due to her pack moving a bit away from the city. A much-needed thing since Sasha was very messy in her hunting and the people of the small city were beginning to catch on…

When the big wolf struggled out of the door to go to the bathroom, you turned your head to notice the mud paw prints on your wooden floors. “Thank god I don’t have carpets?…” You sighed, shaking your head. Well... Looks like it was time to clean up.

It wasn’t a long wait, however, due to how late the night was, you found yourself dozing off quite a bit. You tried to distract your brain by looking through your phone but that only did so much. You laid back in bed, your head hitting that comfortable pillow, a few minutes wouldn’t hurt…

Suddenly you felt a weight fall onto you, your eyes shot open, and looked down to see your girlfriend. “You said you would wait for me…” Annie said, her human form still naked and wet from the shower she took. “I am waiting… You, however, are making a mess.” You let out an amused hum, reaching to touch her hair. It was still very wet as well.

“You know… When you get out of the shower, you have to dry yourself.” You teased her, her head shaking a bit before she leaned into you to headbutt against your head again.

“I know but… I just really missed you.” Annie sighed, keeping her head pressed against you. It was cold and wet… Sigh, what were you going to do with her?

“I’m not going anywhere, I already told you that..” You smiled, placing your hands on her shoulders and moving her away. “I don’t want you getting sick, okay? Let’s get you dried up.” You leaned in to gently press a kiss against her hooked nose, the action causing Annie to close her eyes and lean in a bit more into your affections. Annie missed just being spoiled in your love, nothing was more comforting than just being in the same space as you.

“Off to the bathroom with you.” You said, the naked girl nodding as she helped you out of bed, her hair still dripping from the shower. “I didn’t expect you to come in my room naked, Annie.” You teased, the wolf’s cheeks beginning to blush. “Not to say I don’t like the view but, next time at least dry yourself, yeah?” You gave her nose a small pinch as you walked past her, her eyes following you.

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” Annie moved some of the wet hair behind her ear, following after you.

Just down the hallway and to the left was your bathroom, opening the door you were welcomed with the sight of wet puddles and more mud tracks. Were you surprised? No. This has happened before.

You decided to tease, “Annie if you keep tracking mud into the house, I’m going to start getting you those dog boots.” You said, turning to her. Her expression turned into one of disapproval, shaking her head. “Hell no, I’m not running around with booties.” She protested.

“I think they would look cute, no?” You smiled at her. She could never say no to you…

“I’m sorry… for making a mess…” Annie nervously rubbed the back of her neck, looking down but soon she felt a towel finally get wrapped around her wet form. When she looked back up, you were already getting everything in the bathroom situated and cleaned up.

“I don’t mind, as long as it means you’re happy to see me.”

Words like those always warmed her, she knew she was a lot to handle sometimes… She was happy you handled her with care.

“I’m always happy to see you…” She held the towel tighter around her small body, making sure not to cause any more messes.

You hummed happily as you continued to clean up the bathroom, mopping up the water puddles and mud before moving on to getting Annie some clothes. A simple baggy-T and some running shorts were good enough, she slipped those on with ease.

“Thank you..” Annie said, turning to you who was putting things away still.

“Don’t thank me yet, your hair is still wet.” You pointed put and Annie noticed that you were right… Annie felt a towel get placed on her head, her head falling forward before lifting back up to meet your eyes.

“You don’t need to help me.” She commented and soon felt your hands beginning to ruffle the towel against her hair.

“I know.”

Annie closed her eyes not long after you continued to ruffle the towel to dry her, feeling you close and your hands on her made her feel warm. Not warm as in temperature but warm as in homey. She wasn’t used to your attention but it felt nice to be pampered, she wouldn’t deny that.

Your eyes caught a glimpse of her face, you couldn’t help but exhale happily, she finally seemed relaxed. You continued your ruffles before you finally felt that her hair was dry enough, pulling the towel off her head.

“There we go, all clean.” You happily said, getting ready to go put the towel up to dry but that’s when you felt the tug on the back of your sweatshirt. You turned your head back to see the blonde, holding onto you.

There was a small moment between the two of you when her eyes opened back up to meet yours, her hand shyly gripping the fabric.

“You haven’t seen me in 3 months and that’s all you have to say?…” Her cheeks showed how embarrassed she was, her eyes were begging almost. That’s when you realized.

“Ah… You’re right…” You began, finding her new behavior to be very cute. From the way you saw Annie let go of your shirt, beginning to fidget with her hands nervously. To the way she denied eye contact, it was very cute. Annie was a very cute girl.

You let the towel fall to the ground, finding it in your best interest to just pick it up later, and found your hands moving to hold the side of the blonde’s face. “Welcome home, Annie.” You said happily, her eyes widening as you leaned your head against hers, gently headbutting her back like she always did to you.

Annie felt her heart quicken, she was happy… so happy … She wanted more of you. Her hands reached to grab your wrists, pulling your body into hers with enough force to almost knock you both over. Her arms held you in a protective embrace, her head nuzzling into your shoulder where your lovely scent was strongest.

You were slightly surprised at the sudden move but you knew how she felt and you weren’t going to deny her any longer. “I missed you too.” You softly said against her head before pressing a light kiss there.

That’s when you felt her face lift, blue eyes looking into yours. Did Annie not like it? That’s when you felt another headbutt against your forehead. “If you’re going to kiss me, kiss me properly,” Annie whispered, her eyes shifting from your eyes then back down to your lips.

An amused exhale escaped as you nodded, placing your hands back onto the sides of her face to pull her into a long-awaited kiss. Annie hummed happily when she finally felt those familiar lips onto her, pressing in deeper to fall in further.

You felt Annie push you backwards, following close, lips not daring to leave one another as you both guided each other back into your room. Your lips slightly parted, letting Annie slip herself into your taste. You felt yourself get pushed down onto the bed, your eyes widening up to look at the hungry blue eyes of your girlfriend.

Just when Annie was getting ready to climb on top of you, you let out a tired yawn that caught both you and Annie off guard. You both looked at each other nervously before Annie started to chuckle, climbing into the spot beside you on the bed. You shook your head, covering your face with your arms in embarrassment.

“Shall we go to sleep?” Her voice so nice and inviting with that offer. Annie laid on her side to face you, lifting one of your arms away from your face.

You knew it was late, all day you waited for her burning out energy with little tasks to waste time. Now that she was here, you had both the reassurance that she was safe and she was home. But what about what she wanted?

“What about–” You started and soon felt as she started to get comfortable under the covers. “We always have tomorrow, Y/N.” She stated, holding her arms out for you.

She was right…You did… Everything would go back to how it was now that she was done moving. She wouldn’t have to leave again, she could just stay here with you.

“So shall we head off to bed?” Annie asked.

You nodded your head, moving into those arms and under the covers with her. Her warmth is much more comfortable than when you fell asleep alone for those three months. You nestled your head against her neck, her arms keeping you close like before. Annie shuffled around a bit to get comfortable herself before finding her spot, her eyes looking down at you as you looked up at her to get one final peck for the night.

Annie was happy when that morning she woke up to your sleeping face resting peacefully beside her. A sight she always wanted to wake up to, it was all she needed to know that she was truly home...

#annie x reader #annie leonhardt x reader #aot x reader #annie leonhart #annie snk #annie leonhart x reader #aot imagines

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dukethomas · 3 years

Text

Summary: Duke’s parents recover and come home. Written for Duke Week 2021 Day Six: Family Bonding.

I was going to write something angstier for this prompt, but it actually turned into just the comfort part of hurt/comfort. Sometimes I need a good cry about something good happening to characters I love.