#i never drawn him without boots but it looks cool i guess with his claw toes

[sugarsh3]

A bug

[thedumbguywithaheart43]

BoomLords weird adventure

Chapter 5 reluctant companions

Rairty spoke up."excuse me darling what is the crazy stallion saying?"Twilight was spaced out for a moment trying to process what she had just done. Apon realizing Rairty was speaking she snapped back to reality."what oh Rairty. Sorry uh he was talking about me helping him to uh shit"She blinked, wincing as she couldn't get the thought of what she had just done out of her head. She didn't intend to create Rose fire in fact in that moment she had wanted to kill him to render the flesh from his bone, it was as if another creature had entered her head for a moment and fueled her rage."I think I have to go with him."before she could explain why."WHAT ARE YOU TAKING ABOUT HE JUST MESSED WITH YOU AND THE PRINCESSES HEADS!"rainbow yelled."I merely showed them what they wanted to know however to be honest I didn't expect this to happen. I had been looking for the rose fire in every world every terrifying, every cruel, and every unforgiving place in the Omniverse. But it turns out all I had to do was accidentally induced fear and rage into a horse."the pony stared at him for a moment."He's telling the truth and now that we know what's at stake we have no choice but to help."Celestia stated her tone was dark however as if she was doing something she wasn't so sure she wanted to."h-how long until it happens?"Boom and Celestia stared at each other for a moment. It was clear Boom really didn't want to answer this."could be days could be another year time works differently for me but if I had to give a rough estimate maybe a year or two or less."Celestia took a gulp of air as she looked to her fellow ponies. She looked as if she was holding back tears."my little ponies I ask no I beg you all to go with him this is no longer a matter in my control and I cannot force you to partake in this. What he is asking is dangerous beyond anything any of you have ever faced and while he may only require Twilight I would never send my student alone into what I was shown."this time no one spoke not even dash because when princess Celestia tells you shits about to go down it's going to go fuckin down. And in unison without hesitation without regret without fear all the ponies and Spike responded"were in!"boom looked at the group of ponies a look of discontent on his face."fuckin great I'm babysitting a whole party."most of the ponies ignored what he said with the exception of rainbow dash and Applejack."hey no one asked you"dash got in his face while AJ got close next to her."yeah that's right and don't think we're going to take our eyes off you for a minute partner. Not after what you just pulled.

2 spike walked over to the stallion cautiously"so how are we leaving? I mean you said we had to leave."well you see that's why I'm going to need my notepad and Pen also my satchel if you don't mind."a look of confusion re-entered the faces of everyone."oooo are you gonna draw us amagical portal to another dimension?"pinky blurted out as a few of the others started to chuckle."actually that's a pretty accurate assessment of what I'm about to do, in fact spot on."Twilights jaw nearly dropped as BoomLord began scribbling on the paper. Boomlord had drawn a nearly perfect circle on a piece of the notepads paper and in the center of it wrote the words, °home space°as he took the pen off the paper another electric golden ring started to form, the area within beginning to blacken about 10 ft away."okay everybody we're about to leave but don't worry I can send us back to this exact point in time give or take a few minutes so while we may be gone for who knows how long to the princesses it will only be a couple minutes."Boom that hope this comment would calm them however they're confusion only broaden. 'God how are they going to react when they all change'

3 boom was the first to enter the portal then Twilight followed by Pinky, rainbow,Applejack, rarity Fluttershy, and lastly young Spike. Boomlord looked down at himself. He was human again his blue jeans and thick yellow hoodie once again with him. Pulling back the sleeve he saw that the green fur that once covered his body was gone replaced with his light taned skin. Okay I hope everybody's ready for some exposition and descriptions. Boomlord looked back at the ponies first up was Twilight she had grown into a human form unsurprisingly. Her mane or I guess her hair had stayed the same she had fairly pale white skin and a few smalls freckles adorning her face she was also fairly short compared to Boom. Boom knew his height was about 5'7 give or take so Twilight had to be about 5'4 or 5'3 she wore a purple t-shirt and a darker purple skirt with pants to go with it all put together with very nice sneakers which all the girls have with the exception of rarity and Applejack. Pinky on the overhand was definitely much taller than Twilight in fact she was about the same height as boom. She wore a striped blue and pink shirt with a polka dot skirt and light pink leggings she had average white skin no major tan or anything although she did have pink nail polish on. Dash was next she still had her rainbow hair but she was on the shorter end with Twilight only being a inch or so taller along with fairly tanned skin as if she's been spending her days at the beach. She wore a plain blue sleeveless top and jean shorts her wings were also noticeably missing the same with Fluttershy. Speaking of Fluttershy her outfit was rather green she wore a green t-shirt with a yellow peace symbol on it and long jeans. Additionally in her hair she had is a flower crown witch she probably took off, besides that her skin was also fairly tanned. Applejack definitely took the show with her outfit she was wearing thick brown leather gloves and a brown leather vest with tassels on it. Underneath the vest was a plain white shirt covered in bits of brown dirt, and long stylish cowboy print jeans and good old-fashioned cowgirl boots. Applejack skin was also the most tanned being she was definitely the one who spent the most time outdoors. Also she and rainbow dash were the only ones with noticeable er muscle growth as even through their outfits they still kept their physical physique. Applejack and Fluttershy we're definitely the tallest of the group with Fluttershy being 5'8 and Applejack being at least 6'2.Lastly of the girls we have rarity wearing a clean white shirt with stylish blue diamond print in it, and a rather long dress to accompany it. Along her neck was a rather lovely diamond necklace and alot Lower down beautiful high heels. She also had the darkness pigment of her skin when compared to everyone else. Also sorry if that's not politically correct I'm not entirely sure what the correct term is now. Do feel free to let me know. As soon as the girls walk through the portal though most of them with the exception of Twilight who seemed almost familiar with the sensation of walking on two legs fell to the ground."oh no whats happing?"Pinky yelled and she started crawling on all fours along with Fluttershy. Dash and Applejack were occupied with balancing themselves on a desk next to them and rarity had somehow crawled her way to a sofa and dramatically pose."oh darling what has happened to us?"boomlord rolled his eyes as he knew he was going to have to teach them how to be human it also occurred to him where the hell was spike.

4 Then he saw it or well him. Unlike his fellow ponies Spike didn't turn into a human and no he did not turn into a dog. This isn't Equestria girls guys turning into a dog is really dumb and I already have one in the story. Spike's body had remained reptilian however he's noticeably taller now at least about Twilights size inner current form his body seemed to get longer and his claws along with it. His face has narrowed Abit becoming far more similar to his dragon freinds with the exception that he had a much longer neck which allowed him to survey his own body. Put it simply he looks more like what a small dragon would look like in our world if they existed."woah I look really cool!"spike yelled in excitement."ponies don't talk where I'm from so the portal has adjusted your body's to something a bit more familiar to me that I have set and in Spike's case I already had something in mind for dragons." Ponies now began to look around their surroundings. They notice they seemed to be in a rather decent sized living room a few desks a television ,yellow rug, a few lamps. The room seemed mostly normal only the walls and floor and ceiling all looked the same. It looks like the inside of a treehouse and where there was a window there was no... Well anything just an empty void."welcome to my home away from home a little place I made outside of the Omniverse and what I like to call free space, basically this entire place is an extension of a thought everything here with the exception of a few items were made from nothing. No magic and no magical effects can be taken here with the exception of the notepad so sorry girls but your wings and horns are temporarily unavailable don't worry when we go to other worlds you should be able to use them."Twilight rapidly blinked as she didn't expect well boom to look rather nice. He still had rather unkempt hair and the rings under the eyes but here the black in his eyes were gone however his irises remained red and gold. He had a warm smile or a warm fake smile and while definitely wasn't the biggest guy around he still had a rather fit physique. And the rarity was the first to comment on that"oh boom darling you look um..... Better than I would have thought."boom roll his eyes."well im far more comfortable like this."the girls who were having trouble standing took a few minutes to themselves to start copying the motions of Twilight who began pacing."uh hey are we safe here."like asked while moving around the girls who were rather surprised to see him as they did not expect such a change."spike looking badass today."rainbow dash teased.spike blushed slight as Boomlord spoke."well girls work going to have to set some ground rules since it looks like you'll be staying with me for a while."

(Oh one more thing because I know you're all wondering or at least some of you are wondering.

Breasts size from largest to smallest :Applejack dd followed by pinkie and Fluttershy then Rairty.twlight has the average size and rainbow dash is flat but that doesn't make her any less of a woman)

(not sure why I felt the need to put that there but I feel like some people just had to know)

[fangmaw]

misc vampire bf scene #2

"That's it. We're going to the farm."

Hex lifted his head from the arm of the couch to frown at Caleb, currently standing two feet in front of him, arms crossed.

"You heard me. Get your vampire ass off the couch and grab your coat." He jangled his keys and watched Hex bury his face in a throw pillow with a groan.

"Don't wanna."

Caleb softened, but stood his ground. "You've barely moved the past three days. Last time you fed off me, I practically had to drag you away."

Hex tilted his head enough to make eye contact and regarded him for several seconds before he spoke. "I'm sorry, Caleb. I didn't mean to hurt you." His voice wavered slightly as he turned away again.

"No, I didn't mean-" Caleb fumbled as he stepped up to the couch and knelt alongside his boyfriend. He slid an arm over his chest and pressed his own torso to the man's back, enveloping him. "I'm fine. I know you'd never hurt me." He felt Hex murmur in agreement. "I brought it up because it illustrates my point— you're getting hungrier."

Hex sighed and held Caleb's outstretched arm to his chest before leaning down to place a kiss on the back of his hand. "Still don't wanna."

"Well, I can't bring a sheep into the apartment without someone noticing, so it looks like we have a dilemma." At that, Hex made an effort to roll over, and Caleb quickly hopped back to his feet. 

"How do you know your aunt won't care?"

Satisfied that he'd won, at least for now, Caleb turned to hunt down a warmer jacket as he replied, "It's a massive farm. Ranch? Not important. What matters is that I know where it is, I have keys to most of the gates and outbuildings, and there's enough livestock that a couple heads can be chalked up to animal attacks without ruining anyone's livelihood."

He disappeared into the bedroom and soon returned, bearing his own fleece-lined windbreaker and a sweater for Hex. As he shrugged into the teal behemoth, he watched Hex rise and stretch his back. His face looked drawn, and the skin above his collar more taut. Before Caleb had a chance to pity him, the ghoul saw that he had returned and grinned, exposing dual rows of jagged teeth. Hex thanked him and tugged the garment on over his head.

The turtleneck hid his collar from view; unfortunate, but Caleb still had the satisfaction of knowing it was there. Since Hex didn't leave the house much, Caleb had chosen something a bit more obvious than he would have otherwise - a lovely strip of black leather, fashioned into a choker as clasped with a petite silver lock. Hex was delighted to receive it —though not surprised, as after Caleb mentioned the idea, he had to measure Hex's neck to get it fitted, and at that point the gig was well and truly up. He wore it with pride nearly every day, and frequently Caleb caught him admiring how it looked in the mirror, or absently reaching up to touch it.

Looking at the collar always stirred that needless protective instinct in his head. Hex was more than capable of destroying any possible bodily threat that came his or Caleb's way, but seeing the clear mark around his neck, bold and unabashed, he felt that responsibility anew. He wanted to care for what was his.

Idly, he wondered if Hex felt something of the same for him. They'd never explicitly talked about it before, but Hex was always so tender with him after a bite, even just a nibble. Caleb was hesitant to broach the subject. He knew Hex struggled with reconciling biological necessity with kink, but it probably wouldn't hurt to ask. Eventually. Right now, they had other priorities, and they'd all be happier and more relaxed if Hex was fed properly first.

Hex was still a bit tense in the car. The Minnesota back roads were treacherous this time of year, and it was pitch dark beyond the headlights, so Caleb was focused mostly on the asphalt ahead of them. Even so, the restlessness of his passenger was hard to miss.

Out of the corner of his eye, Caleb caught him chewing at one of his claws and swatted in roughly the right direction.

"Quit that."

"You're not my mom," mumbled Hex. He did stop gnawing at the nail, though.

"No, I'm your chauffeur."

"Should've found a different driver. I always forget how small your car is." Though he couldn't see Hex's expression, Caleb could hear the smile on his voice.

Caleb chuckled a bit, and the pair fell into a silence. Caleb took it upon himself to slay the elephant in the room.

"Are you nervous because it's live animals?"

Hex didn't reply for a moment, so Caleb chanced a glance at his face. He was looking down at his hands, toying with a loose stitch at the hem of his sweater.

"I guess."

Caleb kept watching the road. They were less than twenty minutes out at this point, plus some time to find a good parking spot. He heard Hex sigh.

"It's been a really long time since I was feeding off animals regularly. I'm not sure- what if- it was different before. I was different." Hex breathed heavily. "Does that make any sense?"

With a nod, Caleb replied, "I think so. What if you think of it this way: you're always on my ass about eating something and drinking plenty of water after you have a treat; this can just be me getting payback. You don't even have a choice. I want you strong and healthy, so you'd better do as I say, or else." With a smirk, he flicked his eyes back to his partner, who was considerably more relaxed and currently mid-eyeroll.

"I hate how much that works on me."

"My psychic powers are unparalleled. And we're getting close. You had better start planning out your menu."

Turns out, cows have a lot of blood. Like, well over a gallon. Not that Hex seemed to mind.

The ghoul had whined about the cold the entire time they spent sneaking around the pasture, but now he was on his knees in the muddy snow, hunched over a limp heifer that quit kicking a good five minutes ago.

Caleb was nervously checking his phone, both for time and in case he got some last minute text from his aunt that she was coming back tonight. They were beyond the reach of the sparse lightposts framing the pasture, so even if there was someone nearby, they were as good as invisible. By the light of his phone's lock screen, Caleb could get a better view of Hex.

It was fascinating to watch. His face was magnetically pressed to the soft skin under the animal's jaw, while his hands roamed aimlessly about the body. Occasionally he would take a deep pull, struggling against the dying heart, and dig his claws into the nearby flesh, reflexively. Caleb bent lower, close enough he could see Hex's jaw work as he adjusted his grip, nosing along the stretch of muscle and making a fresh wound.

Though Caleb was tempted to place a hand on his back, he thought better of it and maintained his distance. He knew enough about animal behavior not to disrupt a predator while it was feeding. Even domestic dogs bite when they're approached incorrectly.

Caleb settled for taking a squat on the opposite side of the cow, a good few feet away, but close enough that his pathetic light permitted him vision. For a handful of further minutes, the only sounds were muffled breaths against wet fur and the crunch of Caleb's boots as he shifted his weight.

It took him a second to realize Hex had gone still.

"Hey." He would never use the word "feral" to describe Hex to his face. It was good that he was able to relax so much, especially with Caleb around, but it was always wise to test the waters after something intense like this.

"Mmph." Hex's face still hung limp off his shoulders, pressed to the animal's neck.

Caleb smirked. "You good?" Dork.

"Mm. Good cow."

With a short laugh Caleb got up. "I'm coming over, okay?" He could just discern the outline of Hex nodding against his expired dinner. Caleb surprised himself by throwing caution to the wind and kneeling in the slush. He lit up his screen and balanced the device on the massive shoulder to his left. The greenish glow let him locate Hex's hand and cover it with his mittened own. "Well, I'm glad you liked it. I'm impressed by your capacity."

Hex finally sat up, just enough to brace his forearms on the beast's back and allow Caleb a full view of the gorey mess. The animal's neck looked as though it had been run through with a garden rake, the flesh thoroughly tilled by Hex's greedy mouth. The ghoul in question tugged his hand out from under Caleb's to swipe his fingers across the dark blood cooling on his face. He laved his tongue over the digits before he looked to Caleb, grinning.

"I live to please." His suave demeanor buckled when his gut audibly complained about the rapid influx of fluid it was dealing with.

"I suppose I've never seen you really pack it away before." Caleb’s eyes widened as he watched Hex delicately push himself the rest of the way up off the animal and sit—or rather, try. The waistband of his jeans was giving him some trouble. Caleb watched him swiftly unbutton and unzip the garment with his slobbery fingers and bite back a sigh.

"Holy shit," Caleb gawked.

Hex narrowed his eyes, but he looked far too satisfied to actually emote irritation. "I'd like to see you drink a fucking cow and not bloat up a little bit." He tugged self-consciously at his sweater, now clinging tight to his midsection. He muffled a hic behind his sleeve. "Ugh."

"Swallow some air?"

"I will bite you."

"You can't possibly still be hungry."

As though it had gained sentience, Hex's stomach growled angrily.

"No way."

Hex stuck out his bloody tongue. He was always far more playful after he fed, even if he had glutted himself beyond all human decency.

"It's a freak biology thing. Eating makes me hungry. It's like snakes and stuff." Hex leaned back on his hands, far too proud of himself.

Caleb frowned slightly as he thought. "Do we need to get you another cow? Because I'm not sure I can swing that, and definitely not again next week."

"It wouldn't be much of an animal attack if they just found this lady dead and bloodless.” Hex gave the cow’s head an affectionate pat. “A good carnivore would take advantage of all that precious organ meat before abandoning its catch."

"I'd argue I caught this one," Caleb huffed.

"We can both take credit. You can barely see out here." Hex fell out of the banter to eye the soon-to-be carcass.

"You're drooling, dumbass."

"Sorry," Hex mumbled.

"Don't be. I'm happy for you. But, uh, I'm not sure I want to watch, if that's okay." Hex tried to hide his dejected expression under a guise of wiping saliva and cow off his face. Caleb's heart sank. "If I go now, I can have the car all warmed up by the time you're finished, so it'll be nice and cozy when you immediately fall asleep."

This seemed to reassure Hex, as the dopey grin was back. He stifled another soft burp. "Uh, will you be okay to get back by yourself?"

Caleb picked up his phone from its bovine perch and waggled it. "Flashlight." Hex nodded, but looked dubious. "I'll be fine. Promise." Caleb got up and did his best to brush the unmelted snow off his now slush-soaked pants.

Hex nodded and waited until Caleb was within the range of the lamps before tearing open the heifer's belly and burying his head in its chest cavity.

[kittinoir]

Echoes of You ch. 14

Read on Ao3

Chat Noir was on the edge, and Marinette - Marinette - had walked him there.

Alright, technically he’d been the one escorting her, but still. It was just supposed to be a chat and a walk. A stroll, even. Easy breezy. He’d shoot her a few compliments, impress his already impressive classmate, get a few minutes reprieve from this constant search, and carry on his way to the Tower.

And literally the first thing he did was call her Mousinette. Again. Like he couldn’t even remember how to be cool around her, like the second he opened his mouth his brain shut off.

And the damn moonlight. Moonlight. He was having a tough enough go of it without the moonlight playing tricks on him, making him see things… making him see people who weren’t there. He’d known, though, when he’d thought he’d seen the similarities, why he was so drawn to Marinette, the reason he kept swinging by her place when it was off the beaten path: she reminded him so much of his Lady that it hurt, but in the moments in between the ache it was almost like she was there again.

He’d seen those similarities before, of course, before Multimouse had appeared. After that, he just assumed their similarities were the reason they were friends. Perhaps Ladybug was a classmate from elementary school who had gone to a different high school. He just didn’t know. He’d run through the list of girls at Francois Dupont and none of them had matched up. He didn’t know if he was disappointed or happy about that.

And having to use his baton as a tool to keep his hands occupied, because he’d known if left unattended his fingers would somehow find their way laced with hers. 

“Ridiculous,” he muttered as he scaled the beams of the Eiffel Tower, slipping between the shadows cast by the numerous lights. “Absolutely ridiculous.” She was his friend. She’d said so numerous times. Just his friend. And he had no right to take advantage of that because he was hurting. After all, he knew how she felt about Chat Noir. It wasn’t fair of him.

But he wondered when flirting slipped into sincerity, because as he made his way to the top of the Tower, he found himself thinking about what would have happened if he hadn’t reached for his baton. If he had slipped his fingers through Marinette’s, if he had offered to bring her with him to see the sights, if he had kissed more than just the back of her hand. If, if, if.

Marinette…she’d never felt like just a friend to him, but even then he knew she deserved better than someone who was in love with someone else. She deserved someone who was sure and devoted. Maybe he could be that for her one day, but not this day. He wouldn’t make her wait for him to figure it out.

Chat Noir paused to catch his breath as he finally reached the top of the Tower and Eiffel’s office. Anticipation buzzed in his blood like a swarm of bees, but still he waited. All the answers he sought could be on the other side of that door. If he was lucky, he was minutes away from discovering his Lady, though luck had always been her domain. At the worst, at least he had the grimoire back - a piece of her back. Something she had held, something they had worked on together. Something to remind him she was real on the nights he woke in a cold sweat afraid he had only ever dreamed her.

Bracing himself, Chat Noir strode the rest of the way to the office and through the door. The room was organized chaos, arranged for tour group, but it wasn’t hard to find the tablet. Annoyed as he was, he had to laugh: Salem had stuck the tablet in Gustav’s hand like he was designing another architectural masterpiece on it.

Part of him wanted to drop to the floor there and search for the clues he thought might be there, but he knew that one way or the other, when he opened it, he wouldn’t be moving for a while. Besides he wanted Plagg’s input, if his kwami could give him any.

That had been a particularly rough day, the day he remembered Plagg had known who Ladybug was because they’d destransformed in front of their kwamis. He’d begged Plagg for a name, a hint, anything. And Plagg hadn’t been able to give him anything because she was a former Black Cat Miraculous holder. He’d argued it had been for less than half an hour, a mistake, a technicality. Plagg had said it didn’t matter, he couldn’t say her name. He tried. Bubbles appeared, floating up and popping on the ceiling of his room, her name trapped inside where he couldn’t hear it.

That was the first time he cried. The first time he felt truly hopeless, that despite everything, he wasn’t smart enough to find her, and even if he was, the world was conspiring against him to keep him from her. Every time he thought he might be close, she slipped through his fingers like smoke. He cried mostly from the frustration, but he also cried from the unfairness of it all. They were heroes. They had sacrificed everything for their city. They gave up everything and asked for nothing in return. Didn’t they deserve happiness?

It was also the last time he’d cried. There would be time for tears later, after he had set everything back to right. Besides, he wielded the power of destruction: if the universe was unwise enough to have placed a wall between them, he would turn it to dust in the wind.

The trip home was slow-going. Chat Noir wished he’d thought to bring a bag with him to carry the tablet in, but he hadn’t, so he had to carry it under his arm. He did stop briefly at Marinette’s, frowning when he saw the window was open. Why did this girl insist on inviting trouble into her life? But he couldn’t be too sore about it when he saw she’d already pushed the dress form in front of the window and that the reason it was open was because she’d placed a small plate of cookies on the sill for him. Her kindness tugged at his heart. It always had. It was one of those qualities he’d always adored. Er, admired. Liked. As a friend. It was rare, and it wasn’t always easy, but it just seemed to be her nature.

She was right about the dress, though. It didn’t look like much yet, but he was glad for the excuse to come by, to be able to find his Lady in Marinette, a least for a little while, even if it wasn’t real. To feel the echoes of her.

By the time Chat Noir finally reached home the sky was beginning to turn the dark purple of a a fresh bruise, fading to raspberry red near the horizon. It had been a full night, a good night, but it wasn’t over yet.

“Plagg, claws in.”

The kwami burst forth in a flash of green light, spinning towards the mini fridge where Adrien stocked the camembert.

“Busy day, kid,” Plagg sighed, digging into an entire wheel of cheese. “I don’t trust this Salem character. Did you get the tablet?”

“I did,” Adrien said, plugging it in beside his bed before stripping off his shirt. “Doesn’t look like any damage has been done to it. I think Salem was telling the truth about not being able to unlock it.”

“Finally some good news.” Plagg licked his whiskers as he pulled a second wheel of cheese towards him. “And what about that little detour?”

“Detour?” Adrien repeated as he pulled on his pyjamas. “Oh. You mean Marinette. It was nothing. Civic duty, that’s all.” He turned his back to the kwami, hoping Plagg wouldn’t see his blush in the dark.

“You’re in love with that girl, Adrien,” Plagg said behind him.

“I am not,” Adrien said quickly, but his heart was fluttering. “She’s…she’s just a friend. She’s made that very clear. Besides, I’m in love with Ladybug.”

“You’re in love with her,” Plagg insisted. Adrien could hear him drifting closer.

“It doesn’t matter!” Adrien exploded. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about Marinette, ok! How I feel about anything doesn’t matter at all. I have to find Ladybug. That’s the most important thing right now. So please, Plagg, just…drop it.”

“I’m sorry, Adrien, I…” Plagg floated around to his face. “I’m just trying to help.”

“I know,” Adrien said softly. “I know you are. I’m sorry I yelled., I just… Any sign of Tikki?”

Plagg shook his head. “None. She and LB might have come up with this plan together. On the other hand, Red might be keeping her captive, like Nooroo. If Red’s refused to let her leave, Tikki wouldn’t be able to, but it seems unlikely. I’m with you on getting LB back, but Red doesn’t seem the cruel type.”

“I agree,” Adrien said, dropping onto his bed. “We’ll keep an eye out, though, just in case.” He reached for the tablet. As he pulled it onto his lap, he could see his own reflection in the dark screen. Empty green eyes stared back at him.

“Ready, kid?” Plagg said softly.

Adrien shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m more afraid of: finding answers or finding nothing.”

“You’re not alone,” Plagg reminded him. Adrien nodded. He took a deep breath and punched in the code - the date he and Ladybug had become Paris’s protectors. The tablet took a few minutes to boot up from lack of use, but in minutes the familiar home screen was displayed. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the notes app opened up, as though whoever had used the tablet last had forcibly shut it down knowing it would be recovered when it was turned on again.

‘Dearest Adrien,’

“I guess Salem was telling the truth about that as well,” Plagg murmured as he read over Adrien’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Adrien said, swallowing past the lump in his throat. “I mean, we knew it was possible, but…she never brought it up.” He bit his lip, the words blurring before his eyes. His Lady had written this note. She’d left it for him. She hadn’t abandoned him. He hadn’t realized until that moment how afraid he was that she had.

‘Dearest Adrien,

You can’t know how sorry I am to do this to you. I know you will feel betrayed by the choice I make tonight, but I hope this note will give you some comfort in the coming days. I’ve tried to think of a better solution, but this is the only way I can think to protect you.

By now you must have realized that I know your identity. I discovered it by accident that day on the Pont Neuf when you fell into the Seine. I should have told you, I know, but I was afraid of the consequences. I was afraid you would try to give up your Miraculous, and afraid I wouldn’t be able to accept it. I know our responsibilities as the guardians, but I can’t win this fight without you. 

Another confession: when we fought Veritas a few days ago, I admitted I knew your identity. I didn’t reveal it. Please know it would have been the last secret, the very last truth Hawkmoth would have wrung from me. Unfortunately the admission was enough; a sentimonster cornered me on patrol today and tried to get your name. They were unsuccessful, but it’s only a matter of time. Hawkmoth is becoming more clever with his akuma’s. This knowledge is too dangerous to keep.

That’s why I’ve decided to give it up. 

I’m sorry. I know it’s not enough. But I know if I shared my plan that you would try to stop me, and I know that I would let you, because leaving you is the last thing I want to do. Giving up Ladybug is the last thing I want to do. But I believe it’s the best way I can continue to protect our city.

I know you will try to find me. It’s that thought that gives me the courage to follow through with my decision. I have to admit restoring my memories is not part of my plan. I don’t know if it’s even possible, but I know you will try to find a way, once it’s safe, if only to tell me how foolish I’ve been. In this I place myself in your hands.

Until then, I renounce our shared guardianship of the Miracle box and entrust you to be its’ sole protector. I know it could not be in more capable hands. I know the responsibility I have placed on you is enormous, but I there is no one else I trust as much. 

Adrien - Chat Noir - I love you. I always have, I just didn’t always know it. I wish we had more time. If love was enough, I’d still be here. But giving it up is the only way I know to protect you and our city. I hope you can forgive me, but I couldn’t hold it against you if you can’t. I know I’m asking a lot - maybe too much. I hope when you remember me it is with some fondness. I will miss you every day, though I may not know it. I hope we find each other again some day.

All my love, 

Forever Your Lady

Tears slid down Adrien’s face and dripped onto his hands. He let them. They were coming too fast to stop anyway. He doubted he would ever be able to stop.

“Oh, kid.” Plagg curled up on Adrien’s shoulder, the smallest rumble of a purr emanating from his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

“She…loves me,” Adrien managed, tracing a finger over the words. “She really does.”

“She really does,” Plagg echoed softly. “You were right about all of it.”

A sob broke from his chest. “I doubted her,” he said. “I thought horrible things. I resented her.”

“You had moments of weakness,” Plagg corrected. “Anyone would. She knew that, too. Although from the sounds of it she expected you to see this message a lot sooner.”

Adrien read the line again to himself: 'I renounce our shared guardianship of the Miracle box and entrust you to be its’ sole protector.’  So how had it ended up in Salem’s hands? Right then he found he didn’t even care. She loved him. She trusted him. She was counting on him. They were still a team. 

The sun had spilled over the horizon, gilding the city in gold when Adrien finally lay down to rest. By then he had memorized her note. He knew he’d never forget it as long as he lived, whether he found her again or not. But he would, he promised himself as he drifted off to sleep. He’d spend the rest of his life searching for her, chasing the echoes of his Lady through the streets of Paris, if only to restore what she’d lost.

[elsajeni]

The Devil in the Dancehall

What if all the funny tales and legends that feature “The Devil” were really caused by various demons getting up to shenanigans throughout time? There are literally a ton of these sorts of tales out there just waiting to be paired with the demon of your choice…

(If you look up “devil in the dancehall” you’ll find several versions of this bit of folklore– which is best known in South Texas and the Southwest– including the one I’m borrowing most heavily from, an Absolutely True Occurrence at a nightclub in San Antonio in 1975. Whoever left this kinkmeme prompt: thank you, friend, I like the way you think.)

“Fine,” Crowley mutters to no one in particular. “‘Too fast,’ fine, that’s fine. I’ll just– he cools off by going dancing and fucking half the Aesthetic Movement, two can play that game, right?” More or less that game, anyway. Adjusting for time and place. Aesthetic poets are a bit hard to come by these days, and even if they weren’t, the nightclub in front of him doesn’t look like their sort of place. But there will be someone in there looking for a good time, and he will take them home and blessed well show them one, and if there’s any justice in the world, somewhere on another continent Aziraphale will wake up at three in the morning with the vague discontented sense that he’s missing out on something and that, whatever it is, it’s spectacular, and that will show him– It occurs to Crowley that he is, maybe, spiraling a little. Also that he’s been lurking in a parking lot talking to himself for… a while, and that the humans trickling by on their way into the club are starting to give him strange looks. All right. Yes. He’s not going to prove any sort of point, to Aziraphale or to anyone else, by standing out here talking to himself all night. He’s going in. *** In fairness to the Aesthetic poets, it’s not really Crowley’s sort of place either. Not that there’s anything wrong with it; it’s just, really, he’s not a nightclub sort of demon. He’s on board with the drinks, obviously, and he can live with the dancing, but there’s something about the crowds and the noise that’s… well, a bit Hellish for his taste, if he’s honest. Although, of course, if this were Hell the music wouldn’t have any discernible beat, and the crowd on the dance floor would be… slimier. Grabbier. Altogether less pleasant company. For a while Crowley just sits and drinks, and watches the crowd, and takes note of who in the crowd is watching him. He knows he stands out a little, and he’s gone to some trouble to make sure that it’s in a good way– silk shirt, well-cut suit, something that looks very much like a pair of expensive snakeskin boots. And it’s working; he keeps catching people stealing glances his way, young girls and older women and one or two very brave young men.

He’s been sulking about Aziraphale and his gentlemen’s club for nearly a hundred years, he’s worked up a good solid grudge about it– what could they even have to offer you? I spend six thousand years learning exactly how you like things, exactly what you want, and you throw me over for, what, a couple of decades at best with some human– but the truth is, the longer he stays here, the more he understands it. This isn’t as good as being with Aziraphale, of course it isn’t, but all the same he’s enjoying it. People are noticing him, and even without demonic senses he’d be able to guess what they’re thinking, but if he concentrates a little he can feel it, taste it, can revel in the sense and the certainty of being desired. It’s the simplest of temptations– Crowley knows humans, knows how something that’s seen to be desired becomes desirable. It takes very little effort to reach out for the little tendrils of interest and spin them around himself, making them into something that’s nearly visible to human eyes. When he unfolds himself from his seat at the bar and steps onto the dance floor, it’s not just the humans he’s already spotted watching him; more of them are starting to turn his way, noticing the others noticing him and taking an interest in what has them so interested. The dances are fast-paced and complicated, and he’s never been much of a dancer. But he’s also clearly not from around here, which excuses his ineptitude nicely. And anyway, he’s caught enough people’s attention by now that the crowd feels more than welcoming, and before long he has his choice of partners, all of them happy to show him the steps, half of them willing to lie and tell him what a natural he is. It’s nice. It’s fun, more fun than it should be. But, Crowley reminds himself, he’s not here for fun. He’s here to make a point, to coax someone away with him and show them what Aziraphale is missing. Which means he can’t just go on dancing with whoever will have him, switching partners every other song; he’s got to find the right partner, focus his attention, make a proper temptation of it. It won’t do to put out a forked tongue and test the air– not in this crowd, and certainly not now that he’s drawn as much human attention as he can manage. But he opens his mouth a little and breathes in, and– yes, there. There’s one person in here who’s watching him closer than the rest, one person whose thoughts are hungrier than the rest. It’s easy enough to slip toward her, to make it seem like the natural movement of the crowd. When he fetches up at the bar beside her, there are two glasses in his hands, and he pushes one toward her with a grin. “I haven’t seen you dancing.” “I’ve seen you,” she says, and there’s a certain familiar primness in her tone that makes his smile falter, just for a second. But she accepts the drink, so that’s something. “You’re a danger to everyone in elbow range.” Crowley reels back a half-step and affects a wounded look. “That bad? Really?” “Really.” “Well, maybe what I need is a better teacher.” He lets his smile grow wider, sharper, at once dangerous and inviting, as he offers her his hand. “Dance with me?” She looks at him skeptically for a long moment, long enough that he thinks he’s going to have to properly tempt her into it, reach out for that thread of desire and give it a tug. But then she knocks back the rest of the drink and takes his hand, and he grins and lets her lead him out onto the floor. He really is very bad at this dance. There’s something in the beat of it that he just can’t get the hang of– and Linda, as she introduces herself, is clearly not the type to flatter him and tell him he’s nearly got it. She smirks when he turns the wrong way, shakes her head in mock despair when he steps forward with the wrong foot. But she’s enjoying herself, he can tell, warming up to him in spite of herself, that little thread of interest growing stronger and bolder, and if he just chooses his moment right– He misses a step again, and something that looks very much like an expensive snakeskin boot, but isn’t, comes down on Linda’s foot. She yelps and looks down, and for a second Crowley doesn’t quite realize what’s happened. He’s startled her, obviously, and ruined what might have been the right moment, but it’s all right, he’ll recover, he can still pull this off. But before he can apologize she screams again, louder, and jerks her hands out of his, leaping backward away from him, pointing down at his feet– –which, he realizes suddenly, may look like expensive snakeskin boots, but probably don’t feel much like a snakeskin boot, and now that Linda’s calling attention to them it’s dawning on him that they don’t really look enough like snakeskin boots to pass a close inspection– Other people in the crowd are staring now, screaming, shouting about devils. He can hear someone muttering a prayer, and at this rate it’s only a matter of time until someone tries for an exorcism, which probably won’t work without a priest handy, but… “Well, shit,” Crowley says aloud, and bolts for the exit. *** It makes the paper, under the headline “NIGHTCLUB SCARE”; slow news day, Crowley supposes. He picks up a copy and skims through it, thinking that this might still be salvageable– he didn’t get what he wanted out of it, but maybe there’ll be something he can report back to head office, at least. And sure enough, the bit where he vanishes in a puff of smoke and brimstone is pretty good, very convincingly demonic. Beats 'legged it out the front door’ any day. The part where the mysterious stranger is reported to have had the clawed, scaly feet of a chicken, on the other hand… Hopeless. Disastrous. When will he learn to just stay out of this blessed country? First that business with the kid and the fiddle, and now this. Crowley sighs heavily, and resolves to absolutely never mention this to Aziraphale, and manifests back in his flat with a glass of wine already in his hand. Chicken’s feet. Honestly.

[theentiregdtime]

mac buys a motorcycle.

PHILADELPHIA, PA 11:15 ON A MONDAY

"Come on, it's badass, dude! I thought you'd be excited! It's like I'm Ghost Rider and you're- Wait, no, it's like I'm Michael Carrington and you're Stephanie Zinoni!"

"... I'm Stephanie Zinoni."

"Yeah, man, but not like, because of the romance and stuff, because of the motorcycle!"

"That's not even the original, Mac, why is that your first thought-"

"Because I am no ordinary boy, Dennis. I am now a rider... that's cool."

Dennis pinches the bridge of his nose.

Mac assumes it must be because of the mid-morning sun or a hangover or a migraine, not that he's annoyed- because there's no way he could possibly be annoyed with this. It's basically the best thing that's ever happened to them.

One Mac Mcdonald is now the proud owner of an actual, working, not-stolen, bought-with-real-life-money motorcycle. Sure, it's a little... antique and... rustic... and some of those other words people on fixer-upper shows use to describe garbage. But it was cheap and it runs and Mac kinda sorta mostly knows how to ride it- and that's enough for him.

"This is why we never have money for the goddamn groceries, Mac-"

"Dennis, Dennis..." Mac holds out his palms like he's trying to steady a spooked horse, "I didn't take it out of our account."

"Then how- You know what?" Dennis flits a dismissive hand through the air. "I don't care, I don't want to know."

This isn't exactly playing out how Mac had pictured it in his head. He'd tossed in bed for hours last night fantasizing about rolling up on his bike, leaving a trail of gravel and skid marks in his dust. Then Dennis sees him and his jaw drops just before his mouth curves into that big, disbelieving smile, and he thinks Mac's just as cool as Country Mac was (God rest his soul) and he hops on and they speed off and Dee and Frank and Charlie are so jealous and-

It's not going like that at all.

But he could fix this!

Mac curves his eyebrows up into a knot and pouts his lips, staring Dennis down without so much as blinking. Dude could act frustrated all he wanted, but he never said no the puppy dog eyes.

Dennis folds his arms across his chest, lowers his shoulders, and visibly softens. This is working...

"So you want me to ride it with you?" he asks quietly and matter-of-factly, all of the sting gone from his voice.

"Uh-huh."

"And you expect me to sit on the... the bitch seat of this Mad-Maxian death trap?"

"Oh," Mac chirps. "Well, if you're scared, then you don't have to-"

"I am not-!" Dennis steels himself, glaring at the triumphant grin on Mac's lips. His tone is calm when he speaks again. "I am not scared. That's absurd. I am a very impetuous man when I want to be."

Mac simply shrugs. He has no idea what that means, but it sounds like a yes, so he'll take it.

"Then prove it," he teases, turning back to the motorcycle.

Mac knocks the kickstand off the ground with his boot and throws his leg over the seat. He grips the handlebars, just clenching them in his hands, squeezing until his knuckles turn white. Taking a deep, full breath, he revels in this moment. Sure, he was already badass before, but on this thing, he's like fucking Maverick in Top Gun. It's an incredible feeling-

Until Dennis' damn reptilian monster claws dig into his shoulder blades.

"You're supposed to put your arms around me, dude," -Mac clicks his tongue in chastising disapproval- "so you don't fall off and get, like, shredded."

"I am not a goddamn wedge of parmesan cheese, Mac, I will not be shredded by anything," -he slackens his already loose grip- "and it's humiliating enough I have to sit behind you like I'm an aging Harrison Ford, I'm not going to wrap my arms around you."

Mac sighs through his nose in quiet annoyance, like he's dealing with a bratty child (because he essentially is), and revs the engine just once. "Fine, but I'm not paying your hospital bills when you get, and I repeat, shredded."

"I'm skeptical that you could."

Eh, that's fair. He'll let him have that one.

"And aren't you going to put on a helmet?" Dennis keeps rambling. "You do remember how this ended for your cousin, right? And he was certainly better at this than you."

Mac suppresses a grumble in his throat.

"Oh, sure, Dennis," he scoffs, "and while I'm at it, why don't I just slap a sticker on my head that says pussy?"

There are- finally- no more protests after that.

Good.

The motorcycle gets going with a bit of a struggle, sputtering like a kinked hose, but once it's off, it's off. The streets are uncharacteristically empty, giving the bike a lot of room to swerve and move around- not that Mac needs to, he knows how to work it! After a couple of twists and turns through Philly, once he really gets a feel for the thing, Mac starts gunning it and blatantly disobeying all posted road signs. He's not sure how far over the limit he's going, but it's hard not to speed when there's no one on the road. The few cars he does pass, he weaves in and out of and drifts around, earning himself a few frustrated honks in the process. They're just jealous of how cool he looks with his boy-

His boy. His guy. His dude. Bro. Buddy. Den. Dennis. Dennis Reynolds. His friend.

"You're going to get me killed, you know!" Dennis, think of the devil, shouts over the sickly cough of the struggling engine.

Mac can't figure out why the hell Dennis is so stressed out. It's not as if they're going to take a wrong turn and careen off the edge of the Grand Canyon, they're in fucking Philadelphia. Worst case scenario, they'll ram into some bozo's car, tip over, and walk away with a couple of scrapes and road rashes.

Not that that's going to happen.

He's definitely holding on now, though. Each time they pick up a little speed or take a sudden corner, Dennis curls against his back like an agitated cat, hands clutching fistfuls of Mac's tee shirt and grinding into his sides. Den is all knobby bones and sharp knees and jagged edges, but Mac doesn't mind- he's gotten used to it over the course of... basically their entire lives. He's never minded. Not in high school when they crashed together under the bleachers, not during movie nights at their apartment, not getting brownout drunk in the same side of a booth at the bar, and definitely not now. He figures some people would probably find being prodded in the backside like this unpleasant, but it's just... just Dennis. It's familiar.

"It's not- not that I'm scared or anything! I just think everyone would be a lot happier if you slowed down a little!"

"I don't know, that sounds pretty scared to me, man!" Mac yells back as sharp fingernails burrow into his ribcage. He likes the way it feels, like God himself cracking the rib of Adam in his hands to set the world in motion.

"It's not about that, it's about obeying the goddamn traffic laws so you don't end up with a ticket that I have to pay out of our- my bank account!"

Mac pretends not to hear him. Maybe if Dennis would just shut up and enjoy the wind in his hair, he wouldn't be so testy. He can't figure out what the big deal is. Dennis hadn't been upset last night. He was sober (not totally sober, that would be dangerous, but mostly), took a long shower before bed, did his nightly skincare routine, sat across the sofa from Mac while they watched Food Network, complained about every single dish even though he himself almost never cooked or ate, fell asleep with his head flush against a throw pillow and his balmed lips slightly parted as he breathed softly-

Stoplight! They're at a stoplight!

Mac hits the brake hard to avoid rear-ending the car in front of him, which sends him lurching forward. As he sways, two ridgid hands clamp onto either side of his head and a sharp, anxious breath is drawn behind him.

What...?

He glances back at Dennis over his shoulder, brow tense with confusion. Before he can ask him what's up, he's struck by the gentle look of concern on his face, by the teeth rolling over his lip as he tentatively lowers his hands back down, by the way all of his edges go soft...

Oh.

Oh.

Oh!

"Oh my God, Den, are you worried about me?" Mac slaps a hand on the bike in surprise. "Dennis, that is so sweet, dude!"

"Well..." Dennis swallows a lump, avoiding direct eye contact. His hands are pulled back now, resting on his own thighs instead of around Mac. "If you die, we both die, so... I simply have my best interest in mind."

A long moment passes between them, neither moving back into position or saying anything more. Mac watches a bead of sweat roll down Dennis' forehead, watches him lick his chapped lips, watches him like he's the only fucking person in the whole entire world because, to Mac, he-

Some dick is honking at him. Asshole. He could just go around or whatever!

"You want to head back to the bar, man?" Mac asks sympathetically, like he's asking him if he needs medicine for a headache or a warm blanket.

Dennis doesn't answer immediately.

Then the jerk behind them honks again.

"Would you-" Dennis does a one-eighty, then whirls back to Mac. "Yes, I would like to go home and get away from," -he waves a hand in the car's direction- "this rude man who honks!"

And just like that they're back to normal... which is kind of a relief. Totally normal. Just hanging out. That's a good thing.

Mac repositions himself and starts back towards the bar, slower this time, at what he guesses is a reasonable speed. He has no idea, honestly, but he's pretty sure he's supposed to go faster than the cars because the bike is smaller. That makes sense to him.

Dennis' hands are no longer jabbing into him like a couple of Swiss army knives with all of the tools loose. They aren't exactly around him, either, but they're definitely on him. They're trained at either side of his torso, not hesitant in any way, just there. One of Dennis' fingers is drumming against his rib, presumably to some song he's got stuck in his head. His breath is steady on the back of Mac's tousled hair and, every once in a while, at a stop, he adjusts and Dennis' chest and thighs brush up against his back- just for a second.

Mac will never admit that he takes the long way back to the bar.

By the time they return, he figures it must be about half past noon. The middle of the day on a Monday isn't exactly a busy time for them. No one is really drinking (themselves excluded, of course), so hopefully Dee and Charlie won't nag about where they've been and how they haven't worked all morning. Then Dennis would get annoyed and probably never do this again.

They'll probably never do it again, anyways. He is not Michael Carrington and Dennis is not Stephanie Zinoni.

Mac hangs back for a minute after Dennis hops off and heads into the bar, muttering something about how he has to go fix his hair and reminding Mac to pick the bugs out of his teeth- the ones that weren't already there before.

They're back to normal. That's a good thing. It's definitely a good thing.

He drifts off thinking about that scene where Michelle Pfeiffer somehow climbs around onto the front of the motorcycle and flips her hair and blocks the view, but it doesn't matter because the road is empty and they're together and they're in love, and Dennis is kissing him and he doesn't even complain about the metal prodding into his back and bruising his pale skin because he just wants to kiss Mac that badly and-

He's going to have to say some Hail Marys later for that one.

Mac isn't sure how many he has to say to repent for how badly he wants Dennis' hands in his hair again. If he asks a priest, he'll have to confess to it out loud, so he'll just guess. Maybe there aren't enough breaths in him to make up for the things that he feels. Maybe he'll have to pay in the afterlife instead.

The bike is still worth every Hail Mary, and every penny.

[eldridgecandell]

Orcs: Does your muse tend to be protective?

The first child of Nimueh bounced forward in a jumble of metal and bone as it stumbled, one arm swinging loosely to the side as it turned back to the source of its newfound affliction.  The second gunshot sent it crashing onto it’s back with a smoking hole in it’s piecemeal armor, offering a perplexed tilt at the cantaloupe sized wound.  

“The head Josiah!  The head!”  Roared an ethereal commanding voice, as the heavy clop of metal shod boots chased the voice followed by a roar of a warrior out of time.  Cheryl Duun, wielder of the rune axe Tre Ur Steini and the witch hunter’s apprentice, screams with the strength of her forefathers to smash the heavy stone rune blade deep into the second child of Nimueh sending the hollow form bouncing across the brick floor.  The woman bristling with the ancient power leaps to protect her mentor for the vampiric touch of the vampiric hag.  “Get away from him, you bitch!”

Strings of glowing blue light rose from the head of the rune axe as the inquisitor stood protectively in front of Eld, facing squarely without fear in front of the san’layn lord.  Nimeuh, still enraptured by the psychic feeding of her prey, felt emotion and hot anger at her meal being taken from her as she faced the young woman.  The once alabaster skin now dripped with crimson, hair, and skin as she spread her arms wide to howl in the face of these new interlopers.  The howl intensified in the closed space as the vampire let loose the primal rage before letting it die with a throbbing intensity, Duun never blinking in the face of evil as she wielded the axe.  

Eld behind her toppled to his hands and knees as he felt his world get big and small with each breath.

“I got him!” A new but familiar voice cut through the throbbing noise, strong calloused hands catching him beneath the arms to ease him onto his back.  Eld’s head pounded with the screams as he felt the brick catch him below, the face above him familiar in shape but mostly the eyes.  His eyes.  Worry and apprehension filled them as Sarasam Styrnlock got to work on the wounded inquisitor.  She was thick and hearty for a Kul Tiran but had sharp angles to her face like a woman of Elwynn and muscle to back both thanks to her time at the forge.  Now she was here and for once he was truly glad to be rescued.

“Fuckin ‘ell, she did a number on ya sir,” Sara muttered her thick hands swift as the rising tide as she dug into her bag for bandages and gauze for the older man’s wounds.  Pain was everywhere for the witch hunter, but the pain was good to keep him awake and knowing he was alive.  The thin woman’s ministrations had fed her well on his pain and blood, but the amount of blood slowly leaking across his face meant that it hadn’t been enough to kill him.  At least not right away.

Gunfire would resume from the direction from hence the women had come, a short figure dressed similar to the older witch hunter though with decided darker hair and spectacles stood his ground with pistols drawn.  The pistolier Josiah Nubern was living up to his new found calling, as he stood cool as ice as he unloaded his pistols in the direction of their new foe.  He was new to the Order, but seemed to suffer the same losses and dark beginnings many of the inquisitors survived to join in the fight against the dark.  Born from ledgers and money lending, a hex culling had stolen his family and friends from him to be conscripted into the soulless blue eyed shock troops the Coven employed.  Watching your fiance be split apart by bloated sow had a way of steeling one's mind and deadening the heart.  Josiah found solace in the irons and showed it with steady practiced shots at Nimueh.

The lead bounced about as the thin woman fueled by the meal of the older man seemed to slide between the shots as she growled with the inhuman notes of a feral beast, formerly pale face flush with red and eyes wide with hungry horror.  The only keeping her at bay though was the mythical axe of the Drust and the chosen wielder who would swing the stone blade through the air with eldritch blue light.  Cheryl’s eyes lost in the power she conducted facing  the braying nightmare, her feet spread as she would try and press closer to make contact with the san’layn.  With each step close and gunfire raining from behind though, Nimueh would slink back further into the shadows of the sewer though hardly relishing in a retreat.

“By the light she damn near scalped you, Eld,” Sara muttered as she pulled a waterskin and began to clear as much of the ruined skin and blood as she dared, her face grim as she worked on him.  Eld shivered at the cold water over his tingling exposed skin, his eyes fluttering as he reached forward to grab at the blacksmith hammer the tidesage had set to rest near them.  

“Stay awake, Candell.  I need you to be conscious.”  Sara ordered him again in her thick Stormsong accent, her hands working independant to her eyes assessment.  A green vial was drawn forth as she leaned him to rest on her fallen knee, the battle raging about them as she did her job.  “I’m sorry, sir, but this is going to hurt.”

A pop of a cork lead a scream from the old man to match that of the vampiress that battled his other rescuers.

Sara grimaced as she pressed gauze to Eld’s head and began to wrap his wounds quickly, her face unflinching in the face of her medical work.  “We’re almost done, stay focused Candell.”  A shifting movement to the tidesage’s right brought a new problem.  

“Mister Nubern.”

“On it,” came the curt reply of the pistolier as he stepped into a guard over the witch hunter and medic.  The glass of his spectacles flashing in the low light as he shifted the barrel of one of his pistols on the crawling child of Nimueh, a loud thunder and smoking barrel signing the end of the slave.  Stepping forward again to stand in front of the kneeling pair, Josiah would fire the final shots from his right pistol and already swiftly begin to reload, his one word spoken in Duun’s direction.  “Empty.”

Nimueh would hear the word as well, as her jaw began to stretch and become more gruesome hoping to chill the hearts of the invaders.  What was planned as a meal would become a feast as she let her hand stretch sharpen along those obsidian and crimson caked fingers to slash at the mortal before her.  A slash would be followed by an elongated lunge and a bestial cry as she made to tear into the axe wielding inquisitor, never tarrying on what she hoped to find.  Rend, slash, and tear were all that the blood mad san’layn could want as her strikes began to increase in frequency and power.

Cheryl growled as she swung and bounced a strike away from her face, another sidestep following as the claws raked at the sewer stones leaving deep gouges to the stone.  Her booted foot would slide across the brick again as she pivoted her body away from another lunge turning with the creature as they danced.  Nimueh growled again as she began to slash over and over again, gaining a step against the warrior as they found themselves on edge of the dais.  A misstep caused Duun to lose a foot in her dodges and swing the axe haft up to catch the swipe of the thin woman’s claws as they struggled against one another.  Nimueh’ wide jaw lapsed into a dog’s grin as she bore her feline eyes into the blue lite eyes of the Drust fueled inquisitor.  

“I have you now,” Nimueh gargled from her wide throat, the red and pink of the suckering hungered flesh to the pumping blood of the struggling warrior.

Cheryl grit her teeth, her own feral vykryl blood pumping and burning through her into the magical axe as she met the demon’s gaze with flint and fury.  She would not scream though, never wanting to give any satisfaction to the monster.  But Cheryl would speak, one word in a harsh whisper of an order.

“Fire.”

One.  Two.  Three.

Gunshots would fill the air as the bullets ripped into the exposed side of the san’layn lady, each silver shot tearing through the supernatural web of chaos that had spawned the dark one from whatever shadow they were born.  

Four.  Five.  Six.

Josiah kept his feet planted firmly and wide as he unloaded each gun at her, stony as the axe and brick below them as his natural aim took over to bombard Nimueh.  

Seven.  Eight.  Nine.

The san’layn howled in pain at the silvered kissed lead that tore into her, spilling the precious siphoned blood and her own former reservoir when she began her attack on Candell.  Her clawed hands raised as a feeble shield from the hail of shot.

Ten.  Eleven.

“Twelve!”  Josiah cried as the final shot went off and he lowered the smoking barrels, his green eyes hard behind glass she looked through his line of fire to see the bloody body of Nimueh.  But she was hardly still as faced her mangled fury on the short inquisitor, her shorn and bloody bullet kissed body already scrambling to find the source of her many wounds.  Blood black and red mixed among the broken sewer floor as Nimueh charged at the three.

“Die!”  The roaring cut of Cheryl Duun as she leapt through the air behind to bring her blazing axe down with the soul-searing fury of ancestors she never guessed she possessed.  The rage was at berserker levels as she crashed atop the vampire with a crushing swing, focused and furious as she chopped again and again.  Blood, bone, and flesh split from the magical runes that drank in the slaughter as Nimueh barely had a moment to scream before her head was smashed by the flinty edge of Tre Ur Steini.

@jacobdcheshyre

[fanofawesomethings]

Rise Part 1: Wild Hairs

A I don’t know how many part series for Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons. If you don’t know what that is then this story will be really weird for you.

Another starless night, though it was impossible to tell. Fog densely thick dressed the highlands eight months out of the year like a cotton blanket. Without twinkling stars a grandiose lake had no reflection and without the paper pale moonlight the forests were dark. But there were faint whispers of lights, flickering here and there, just out of reach on a night like that. When everything was still the forest was quiet, so it was anyone’s guess what those mysterious lights are. It was a gray night, calm. Perhaps a little too calm.

That morning the summer heat was especially blistering. The simplest chore would have anyone sweating even under shade. Once it got dark, the guards on lookout appreciated the cool night air. It was their duty to protect DunBroch and yet the cool air of eventful night made them too sleepy to work. One such guard fell asleep grasping his spear. He didn’t mean to sleep on the job. DunBroch has been invader-free for years. The kingdoms surrounding became allies, wars have ceased, and there was no need to for a sense of urgency that night.

Behind him the flock of sheep ready to be sheered in the morning slept. One of them had its head slumped on the wooden pen’s door. Suddenly its weight caused the door to swing open, startling it awake. The simple animal yawned but it spotted a lump of grass within trotting distance. It broke away from the others to take advantage of a midnight snack.

“Grrkkkkk.”

The sheep was stirred. It paused from taking a bite. The sleeping guard snored, making the animal think the noise it heard was him, and it went back to eating.

“Graaahh.” The same noise. That time the sheep was more suspicious. Spooked it darted towards the nearest cover, a wagon.

The night was still. Nothing in clearly was out of the ordinary. The sheep poked its head out.

“GREEE!” A roar—a monstrous roar—shook the ground.

In an instant every guard and every person inside the castle was startled awake. And the first thing they saw was a flash of bright red. An eruption of fire and rubble flew up. The entire castle heard the shriek of a sheep running for its life. The guards on the wall raised their spears, scurrying to see what attacked them. The guard down below watched the sheep, and then he watched it was swooped off the ground.

A creature with bright red scales shimmering like rubies against the glow of the fire. It grabbed the sheep its claws beneath elongated legs, flying with tiny wings. When it caught sight of the guard staring frills on the back of the creature’s head furrowed and it snapped at him from the air.

“MONSTAH!” The guard below screamed.

The other men saw it, briefly. Faster than it appeared it was gone, and no one saw where it fled, and yet they could still see the sheep floating in thin air and screeching with fear.

Another blast! That time it destroyed the stables, causing the horses, goats and remaining sheep to flee from the flames. The guards leapt from the castle walls and formed a secure circle on the ground, jutting their spears out in front of them. Archers drew their weapons and watched the sky.

“WHAT IS IT!?” A voice thundered down the halls of DunBroch’s castle. It was its king, Fergus, the famed warrior king, hero to many battles, bursting out of the nearest window, a sword firm in his hand and his chest bare—he threw sheet around his waist and charged outside without anything else.

“Sire, monstah attack!” One guard shouted down below.

“Monster? ‘Nother bear?” He asked himself, thinking of the only monster the warrior had seen. But he saw the carriage crackling under rising flames and knew no bear could do that, monster or not.

One of the horses bucked as a guard fought to pull it into the castle for its own safety. The sturdy stallion resisted once spooked, its flowing mane of black and white whipped in all directions. A plume of fire, like a red geyser of embers, blasted the castle door. The horse threw the guard to the ground and galloped away from the fire in a frenzy. That was when the monster touched down. Shaking the castle from its foundation with its landing, its talon stabbing the ground, the monster locked eyes with the fleeing stallion, and suddenly the horse was too afraid to move.

“Angus!” Fergus cried, for the horse was the prized steed to his daughter.

The warrior king darted, finding the nearest window big enough for him, and leapt through in a crash of glass. He charged through the fire like it was nothing to him; his skin felt the burn but he didn’t. Fergus threw himself in between the monster and Angus. The monster snapped its tail on the ground, its protruding fangs rose—a smile. With his sword drawn and over his head, Fergus met the beast.

“Ah’ll mek yur scales…into...boots…”

The flames cast light on the monster.

“It’s not possible. A dragon?” Fergus gasped. Like any of the land he only knew drawings of the legendary creatures, but there was no mistaking the beast in front of him. And then he saw that it carried cargo.

A rope tied around its thin neck and under its fat belly secured a saddle on its back between the wings. The dragon shivered and a small flag became visible. There were markings, eligible to the king, but he only needed to see the cartoonish drawing of a Viking on the red flag.

The monster snapped at Fergus while he was staring. He dodged, and the tips of the dragon’s fangs scraped his stomach. Fergus swung the sword but the monster was quicker to dodge. It whipped its tail and Fergus was thrown aside, letting go of the sword. The king was down but the beast’s aim wasn’t him; it turned back to Angus, licking its lips with a serpent tongue.

The guards hurried to their king’s side. They heard the cries of the stallion as the monster picked it off the ground. But because of its weight the dragon wasn’t quick enough to ascend. The archers fired, striking its body but not deterring it from rising.

“Cowerd! Fight me!” Fergus shouted, throwing his sword like a spear which stabbed the dragon’s belly, yet still not stopping it.

Finally Angus’ owner got to the castle walls. Merida was just in time to see her horse in the hands of the beast.

“Angus!” Without a second thought, Merida drew her bow. Taking out an arrow, aiming and firing took seconds. She inhaled. The world slowed down. Her breath slowed her racing heart as the dragon rose and Angus cried out in terror. Her horse’s safety was her concern but the expert archer would never forget the fundamentals to archery. The monster’s eye was her target. She saw it clear. Merida exhaled.

CRACK! The swift arrow soared across the night and pricked the dragon’s eye.

“CRAAAA!” It hollered.

Angus was dropped from the air and slammed back down without ease. Above the monster’s pain, Merida heard something snap in her horse.

The monster writhed in pain while in the air. Before their eyes its entire body turned blue, and suddenly they all understood why it evaded their sights. Once free of Angus, it was much faster to rise. It floated away from the warriors with haste, higher than the guards could throw their spears at; it looked to be the end of the ordeal. But the dragon was spiteful for its blindness. The scaly belly engorged, its entire skin bright red, and with a toothy grin the dragon spat a boulder-sized fireball straight at one of the castle’s towers.

“No! Elinor! Boys!” Fergus cried. While the blast did not hit the tower their rooms were in the flames were spread fast on the stone structure.

The flames kept Merida from going inside while the others down below rushed in. While everyone was concerned for the queen and the princes, only she saw the dragon slam its talons on the topmost tower. Merida watched it take a DunBroch flag away in its claws. She watched it disappear.

 Morning of a sleepless night came down like an anvil. The damage was great, too much to ignore and too big for anyone in DunBroch to sleep through without helping. Fires all over had to be put out. Accessing the entire damage had not ended even after dawn broke. Other dragons attacked the village and made off with countless sheep; the damage to the village was greater although no one was killed. When the castle fire was extinguished, King Fergus called his top warriors—eight kilt-wearing and weapon-adorned men—into the Great Hall.

The Bear King grabbed his stone throne by its armrests and threw it clear across the room; it shattered upon impact with the wall. He grabbed a chair and split it in two. He threw his sword, cutting the chandelier, and bending it in half.

“Fergus! Please do not make a mess of the Great Hall,” said Queen Elinor.

“Leave me be! Ah’m workin’ out ma issues!” Fergus grabbed another chair, tore the legs off, bit the seat, and shattering it into splinters on his good knee. He’d broken nearly every chair and stool in the room since last night.

Finally exhausted, but without a throne to sit on, Fergus slumped on the ground with his back on the wall. The warriors moved in closer instead of standing so far away. Unbeknownst to most of them, Merida was listening from the balcony.

“Dragons. Boggin’ Dragons!” Fergus wiped the sweat off his face.

“Think they’ll come back, Sire?” One warrior asked.

“Course they will, ya div! Dragons got bellies of hellfire, ther just waitin’ for the next time to gobble up our sheep.”

“Les hunt them down first!” Another warrior exclaimed with zeal.

“It is much more complicated than that,” said Elinor. “Fergus.”

“Aye, she’s right. Ah saw it. Berk’s flag.”

The men whispered with distressed. Merida on other hand didn’t know what it meant. A secret among the king and queen that the princess didn’t know about was rare.

“Thought they were neutral,” said a warrior.

“Thought they were a myth,” said another. “Ah mean dragon riders? Thas a great bedtime story.”

“Ain’t no myth. Way back one of them came here. A chief. ‘e asked for help dealin’ with a crisis on ‘is island. ‘e said dragons attack ‘is villagers and Ah laughed ‘im outta the castle. When he left Ah saw a boy holdin’ that flag off the boat. Ah recognize it anywhere.”

 “You don’ think they attacked us cause they’re angry?” A warrior asked.

“We do not know that for sure,” Elinor intervened.

“Course we know that! Bloody dragon ‘ad the saddle and the flag! They came back for revenge, and they’ll attack again I tell ya!” Fergus raged.

“Fergus! We should not act without considering all possibilities.”

 “They almost killed you, Elinor! If you and the boys slept through that fire you’d be dead.” His voice cracked with the disparaging thought.

The Queen breathed a sigh of relief for herself and her children. “I know. But what do you suppose we do? Send the men to fight an island of dragons?”

Some of the warriors looked nervous, knowing their king’s rash nature, while others looked pleased for the challenge.

"Nah. Ev’ry highland clan is fightin’ their own battles now they can’ help. I hafta ask an ol’ friend. But first. Merida! Come down lass I know yur there!”

The king knew his daughter well because listening in was the same thing he’d do. Merida hopped off the balcony, landing on top of her throne before planting herself down, something her mother would disapprove of, even then.

“You wan’ me to fight too, Dad?” Merida was quick to ask. With her mother’s newfound free spirit, her archery had improved tremendously, as well as her swordplay.

“Aye, ma fightin’ lass! But later. Ah need you to come with me. Ah’m gonna ask my ol’ friend, a king, for some help. Ah hear they face magic things all the time,” said Fergus.

“You’re going to ask Frederic? Fergus, the man has enough on his plate already,” said Elinor.

“But he’s got an army just sittin’ there. It’s our only shot,” replied Fergus. He turned to his daughter. “Frederic’s got his daughter back. Maybe if Ah bring ya ya’ll bond with ‘is daughter and guarantee us an army! Would ya like to do that?”

“So the only reason I get to come is cause I’ma girl?” Merida presumed, annoyed.

It was exactly the reason, and Fergus didn’t know how to respond, but Merida wasn’t being serious. Truth to be told, the princess was just as angry as her father. The sword slashes on her bed frame are proof. She wanted nothing more than to get justice for her injured horse and burned home. Where it would take her Merida hardly cared.  

“Aye I’ll come along. But you owe me, Dad,” she said.

“Ah! That’s ma girl!” He picked her up with a hearty hug.

The King, Merida, and a few others gathered their things and rode the prized boat of the kingdom. Thankfully no dragons attacked the following night. As a precaution, Elinor led the villagers into the forest where they would stay until Fergus and the others returned.

Journey by boat to the kingdom of Corona from DunBroch took a day. The winds were strong and the tide was in their favor, carrying them faster. Merida had never been on the ocean. The closest she’d ever been was sailing on DunBroch’s lake. The experience would be amazing as her first time if she weren’t busy in thought. She pondered a lot of things while on the journey. The dragon. The princess faced her own share of danger three years ago but a dragon before, and hardly one that changed colors. She thought about Berk as well. Fergus was preoccupied along the way so Merida couldn’t ask him, not that it would do much difference. The king didn’t know more than what he said in the Great Hall. Merida wondered where this journey would take them. The thought of war sent shivers down her spine.

In the afternoon the next day the sun bounced off Merida’s eye as she was on the deck. She saw the kingdom in the distance. Corona. Merida rushed to the very edge of the boat until her heels were the only thing touched the wood. The massive island kingdom was single upward-ascending mound with a mighty castle at the very top and a beautiful city below.

 Even in a city so large Merida and others managed to be the center of attention to everyone. The people were awed by a hulking man with a wooden peg leg, warriors in checkered kilts, swords on their backs and scruffy beards across their faces, and a young woman with wild orange hair. Word of the visitors reached the king before they even saw the palace.

  A few minutes in the city and Merida felt the buildings close in on her. She followed Fergus who seemed to know his way around, but without him Merida knew she’d surely get lost in a city where every house and building looked exactly the same. That day Merida discovered she didn’t like cities. Forests and rivers were the princess’ natural element.

Merida held in her distaste for the city. They were there on a diplomatic mission to ask for help; she didn’t want to be the cause of their failure. As it stood, there were many who looked at their weapons on their backs with apprehension, as though there had been conflict recently in the city. Merida kept her walk dignified but not too stiff. She faced forward but she could feel the eyes on her; it wasn’t much different from home but there were also whispers and mothers shielding their children from them.

They came to the foot of the castle. Merida stumbled on her next step, the ground bulged out. It was a design on the ground, a sun, which she guessed was the mark of the kingdom.

“Fergus!”

A regal man overlooked them from above. An older gentleman with ash gray parts of his hair and a mustache and beard, he was very proper, wearing expensive clothes and jewelry, and poised. Fergus’ face lit up. The bear king threw two Corona guards aside, raced up the stairs and swallowed the man in his arms, chortling with joy.

“Frederic! How ya bin, lad?” Fergus laughed.

“F-Fine. I remember—this part well. You haven’t changed a bit, have you, Fergus?” He chuckled, not showing how much Fergus’ hug hurt his old back. Merida guessed it was the king, the man they were there to see.

“Never!” Fergus dropped the king.

“My old friend, it’s great to see you again, but what are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Frederic inquired, a tad worried. “The last letter you sent me was when your princes were born.”

“Aye, Ah’m sorry, ol’ friend but Ah came to ask ya somethin’ important.” Fergus leaned in to the man’s ear and whispered. “There was an attack on DunBroch.”

“Hmm, I see. Please, come into the palace and we can discuss it at once.” The king noticed the man staying behind and more importantly Merida. “Is that…Merida? My, how she’s grown!”

Merida climbed the stairs and bowed in front of the man.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she replied, keeping her voice poised.

“Don’t you recognize me? I suppose not. I met you when you were no bigger than my knee.” Merida couldn’t recall a thing about him. He turned back to Fergus. Why don’t we discuss things? Merida, feel free to walk around the city, unless you feel like accompanying us.”

“Ya’ found yur daughter, right? Maybe she’d like to meet ma Merida,” said Fergus.

“Dad,” Merida whispered a groan because her father wasn’t being subtle at all.

“My daughter is a free spirit. I’m sure if you search the city you’re bound to find her. You’ll know her when you see her,” said Frederic.

The two kings entered the castle by themselves. The warriors and Merida were left behind, sharing a look of disinterest to do any sort of exploring, but Merida knew as much from those dull warriors.

Music was being played in the distance. Flutes and guitars instead of bagpipes and lutes. Not that Merida was much of a music fan. Merida observed the area. Of course there wasn’t much to admire in front of them besides a city and passing, suspicious glances directed at them. But then a gleam of sunlight bouncing off a mane so bright caught her attention.

A white horse! Finally a glimpse of nature, an animal amongst the crowd of stone and people. It caught Merida and she refused to look away. A snow white coat and a rather commanding look to it, the horse seemed to be a palace horse, without a rider no less. Merida saw her opportunity for something fun to do.

The warriors were uptight and ridiculously suspicious, surely they would object to their princess going off in a stranger’s city. But Merida decided not to leave without giving notice.

“I’ll be right back okay,” Merida whispered the smallest squeak, tiptoeing away slowly. Of course the warriors didn’t hear it, and when they looked away for a second they turned back to find their princess was gone. Merida heard them cry out in the distance.

Already she felt herself nearing lost. But the expert animal hunter focused her mind on clues to follow the white stallion. Hoof prints she found on the ground, they were fresh too. She knelt down on the floor to trace the direct they traveled in, unaware of the stares she got from being on the ground. Merida followed the trail, exhilaration for the first time since arriving.

“Scuse me!” Merida ran through the smallest gap in between two people as she ran full sprint.

The ground was different than the forest floor, but Merida felt strangely happy running on the stone. The hard impact as her soles touched down sent shockwaves up her body. Merida ran faster.

She turned the corner and saw the tail end of her target of pursuit rounding the corner. It was so close! Merida practically pranced to make sure it didn’t get away. Suddenly she felt grass prickled her ankles. She had caught up to the horse in a park. There was a small pond, one or two square foot of grass, and a single apple tree that had a signed nailed to the trunk that read “Maximus’ Tree”. The white horse happily ate an apple from the branch.

“So you must be Maximus,” asked Merida, startling him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

The horse had a mouth full of apple, in the midst of chewing. He was confused at the stranger. But because he didn’t show signs of fright, Merida stroked his mane.

“Yur a grand horse, but what’re you doin’ here all by yourself. Where’s yur rider?” Merida asked.

The horse shook his head.

“Don’t got one, eh? You mind if I give it a run?” Merida asked as she jumped on Maximus’ back in a single bound before he knew what she asked.

The horse didn’t appreciate its feeding time being interrupted. He bucked once, a strong one, but Merida gripped the saddle tight, with a single hand no less. Maximus realized she wasn’t like the other who jumped on his back without his permission before. He bucked harder, Merida hung on. Again—the same results. Merida knew how to tame an unruly horse. He was angry then; Maximus dropped on his backside, fell on his side with Merida still on his back, and rolled over swiftly like a dog. For half a second Merida was suffocated under his weigh—it was enough to make her let go.

“Ey! What’s with you!? And I thought Angus was prissy brat when I got him,” barked Merida.

“Max!”

The horse was startled stiff. A young woman storming towards him gave him cause for alarm. As she marched, her bare heels scraped the ends of impossibly long hair that had already been tied and combed and wrestled for what looked like several hundreds of times. Her eyes were gorgeous emeralds, but Maximus backed up to the tree. The woman caught up with him, standing with her arms crossed and her foot tapping. He started to sweat like a cornered animal.

"I saw that. Now don’t give me those sad eyes. I saw you roll over on this girl, it’s rude. You apologize to her this instant,” she demanded.

Maximus neighed.

“I don’t care if she interrupted your lunch, she was just being nice. Apologize or no baked apples for a month.”

Maximus grumped. He trotted to Merida and neighed what she assumed was an apology. Merida didn’t think much about the insult, and rather then she couldn’t think about much at all. Unlike Maximus’ reaction, she was captivated by the golden sheen radiating off the young woman. She was absolutely beautiful. Merida was stunned into silence, not noticing how much she was staring or that she was still on the ground.

"Are you all right? Sorry about Max, he can get a little grumpy when he’s eating, or sleeping, or just doing anything in general, but he can be a good boy,” said the woman offering Merida a hand.

The princess’ hand moved on its own to take the offer. The woman’s hand was so soft; Merida felt her hand flinch, something the woman noticed too.

“Everything okay?” She asked.

“Yes! Sorry…I mean is…don’ worry ‘bout it I’m fine. My horse gives me a fight like that when I try to his oats,” said Merida.

“You have a horse? But…?” The woman examined Merida. There wasn’t anyone like her in the city so it made it easy for the woman to come to her own conclusion. “Oh! You must be new to the kingdom!”

“Yes. Me and my father just arrived.”

 “That’s amazing! We haven’t been getting a lot of visitors lately. There was this big thing a while back and it was all like crazy but Corona is so much more better now, back to its beautiful self. I’ve lived in Corona for a while now so if you got any questions feel free to ask. I can even give you a tour of the palace if you want. I’m sort of free since my friend is away,” she smiled.

Enamored, Merida’s tongue got caught for a moment. “That...sounds nice, but I not a fan of cities and I’ve seen enough palaces. There any forests around here?”

“Are you kidding? The forest is the best! Come on come on! I can show you my favorite spot ever!” The woman tugged at Merida’s arm.

The offer was tempting to the already forest-starved Merida, but she hesitated. She was supposed to meet Frederic’s daughter, the princess, soon—the reason for her coming. It would be rude of her to keep a princess waiting. But Merida also considered how long her father and the king would be discussing things which would take some time; not to mention Corona’s princess wasn’t in the palace, so whose to say she wouldn’t be in the forest. Merida’s favoritism thoughts led her to agree.

“That would be grand!” Merida cheered.

The woman pulled on Maximus’ ropes to wordlessly tell him they were going for a ride. He had to comply. She jumped on and extended a hand to Merida who happily took it. To be in the backseat of a horse was rare for the princess.

 “My name is Rapunzel,” she said.

“I’m Merida from Dun—Broch!” Rapunzel snapped the whip and Maximus took off, startling Merida.

Maximus was undoubtedly faster than Angus. At his fastest, Angus was still gentle and Merida never had an issue holding on with him. But she could tell it wasn’t Maximus’ full speed and yet she dug her nails in the leather saddle to hang on. A bump! Merida almost lost her balance; she wrapped her arms instinctively around Rapunzel.

“Hang on,” said the woman.

“Ah! I’m sorry!” Merida blushed.

“It’s okay. I thought you said you had your own horse,” teased Rapunzel.

“Angus has more manner than this one.”

Maximus snickered.

“Well we gotta hurry. I technically need to be somewhere in a bit. My father has an old friend over and I have to say hi real quick. Let’s go Max!”

Merida braced her hold around Rapunzel’s waist. Maximus grinned as he exploded with speed. He charged through the city, around people and obstacles without faltering. They were coming up to a wall with a low hanging archway—only a tiny opening. Merida thought the worst, but there was no way the horse would risk a narrow space like that, or so she thought. But Maximus didn’t stop or turn.

“Hey…Max…?” Rapunzel stammered, oblivious to his intentions too. “You’re not going to…jump that…right?”

The horse ignored his rider. Rapunzel tried to turn him, but Maximus was focused. When it was obvious that Maximus was going to jump through the small gap, Rapunzel grabbed Merida’s hands. Merida couldn’t enjoy the sensation while she braced for it.

Maximus leapt. The two young women closed their eyes. His speed propelled him and his riders swiftly through the gap. The impact of his landing sent shiver down their spines. He didn’t miss a step to continue running afterwards; his speed was impaired for only a brief second. Merida and Rapunzel hadn’t opened their eyes yet, Maximus laughed.

“You’re going on a diet after this!” Rapunzel snapped when she opened her eyes.

There weren’t as many people and obstacles then. On horseback, and with the fear of hitting something gone, Merida saw the city zoom by her. It was hard to concentrate on anything as everything she saw was gone in a second. And yet, Merida didn’t mind the city as much anymore. It was brief but Merida could smell stovetop bread as they passed a bakery. She spotted an array of colors from a mural on a wall. Maximus’ speed caused a group of wind chimes to sound like chirping birds. She still preferred the forest, but Merida didn’t completely dislike the city then.

Out of the city a single bridge connected the peninsula to the mainland. A sea of forest farther than the eye could see with not a single spacious opening in sight. When they were under its shade, Merida smelled lavender. Sunlight poked through the coverage in pockets of gold warmth. It was the same yet different at the same time to the forest outside DunBroch. For one example, none of the trees had arrow holes in them from being Merida’s target dummies.

They stopped in front of a massive oak tree with a gaping mouth at its trunk. It looked like something had either struck it from the outside or something came out of the inside to split it open. A tiny path of grass and flowers was already growing inside.

“I found this tree a while back. It’s a little scary, not sure what made this big crack, but now it’s a house to whatever wants to go inside. Like these plants,” said Rapunzel. “Do you have forests like these in Dombrack?”

Merida giggled. “It’s DunBroch. Done-Bru-hh. All our trees are lanky. If yur lucky to find a big one like this it’s far. Not really for climbin’. But when we got mountains close by. There’s nothin’ like watching the sunset from the highlands.”

 “I’d love to see it. I love nature. Sometimes I sneak out of the city just to smell the grass here. And the best part is climbing.” Rapunzel clung to the giant trunk and started to climb. “You coming?”

Rapunzel wasn’t aware at what she instigated. Merida rolled her sleeves and with a charged she kicked off the ground and grabbed hold, higher than Rapunzel. She gave the other woman a smug look.

“Oh, it’s a race you want?” Rapunzel grinned. She had the confidence of someone who had experience climbing tall object too.

Merida and Rapunzel had a close race to the top. The split trunk created a fork in their climb with the two young women each taking their one side. Indeed Rapunzel was a nature climber. Merida was more used to climbing on rocks than bark but she didn’t miss a step. It was exhilarating! Merida never had anyone her own age to compete against, and Rapunzel was a worthy opponent. Their tree was taller than all others; Merida got hit in the face by the top of another tree on the way to top. She lost sight of Rapunzel; Merida climbed with a burst and grabbed the very top of the tree. It was a thin piece but sturdy nonetheless. Rapunzel came up not two seconds after, seeing Merida already waiting for her.

“Beat you,” Merida laughed.

“You win this round, Merida,” Rapunzel pouted playfully, “but I’ll have the true victory!”

Merida helped her up. The two young women laughed together. From way up, Merida felt the warm sunlight meet with the cool air, a nice complimentary. Behind her were hills Merida was eager to see for herself, and in front of her was the city so far yet still so big. A calming sensation drifted into Merida’s body. She never loved tranquility, finding it boring when there wasn’t something to do, but for once she didn’t mind sitting down and watching the sky while doing nothing or thinking of nothing.

“In DunBroch you stay up here for too long you’ll catch a cold. The highlands can get really cold at times. But ma mum always says ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad choice in clothes’.”

“Your mom sounds funny.”

“She used to be a bit of a know-it-all but she’s gotten better. What’s yur mum like?” Merida asked, innocently. The question, however, caused a shift in Rapunzel.

The young woman stared off into space, lost in thought. A little blue butterfly landed on her golden hair and she smiled as it crawled around before taking off again.

“That used to be a loaded question. Now it’s really clear to me. My mom’s a kind, gentle woman,” answered Rapunzel.

Merida was afraid she may have asked a heavy question, but a shining smile soon returned to Rapunzel’s face. She returned to her happy self. The feeling passed on to Merida who never saw a more beautiful smile than on Rapunzel.

Down below, Maximus munched on a patch of grass. It wasn’t the glamorous snack he envisioned he’d have that day but it was something. As he munched, defeated, something spooked the horse’s sharp ears. He analyzed the area. The forest was quiet that day. Too quiet. The birds had stopped chirping, everything was unusually silent. Maximus felt a rumble under his hooves. The horse sniffed the ground. He didn’t expect to find anything because he was startled at the ground he sniffed. A flare, like a floating ball of blue fire, tickled his nose.

An ember with what looked like tiny hands patted his nose while he was frozen by confusion. Unbeknownst to him, it was a will-o’-the-wisp. Its tiny makeshift arms pointed towards the forest. Maximus didn’t know the meaning. Without anything more the wisp vanished.

The rumble came again and it was close. He started neighing, loud, but the two couldn’t hear him with the distance between them. Maximus kicked the bark, but that was even less helpful.

“I like your bow,” said Rapunzel, unaware of everything down below.

“Thanks, I made it maself. Back home I’m the best in all the land. No one can shoot a target as good as me,” boasted Merida.

Rapunzel giggled. “I don’t know much about archery myself. I showed you this secret place, now you have to give me something in return. I love learning new things. So you teach me archery. Will you?”

Merida had never been more excited to teach someone her ways. “Sure. Taught my brothers a thing or two and they can’ sit still to save their lives. Think you’ll be a better student?”

“Oh I know it. How about a demonstration of the so-called ‘best in all the land’? I…bet…you can’t…hit…hmm…ah! That’s bald tree over there. You hit that and I might even give you something special: like an apple for the teacher.”

The significance an apple went over Merida’s head. Her teacher was only every Elinor and Merida seldom felt the need to give her an apple for all the dull lectures. Rather, she was interested in the competition.

Merida did her best to plant her feet firmly on the splintered bark. The breeze was lively but on her side then. Her fire hair fumbled freely behind her head; Rapunzel couldn’t stop staring. Merida drew an arrow, pulling the hawk feather fletching to her cheek as she inhaled. A dangly bare tree branch was her target some meters away. The world faded around her. She exhaled and let the arrow loose; Rapunzel’s heart skipped a beat when she did.

The arrow soared gracefully. Rapunzel was on the edge of her seat to watch it. Merida was confident it would hit it. But the winds changed, steering the arrow slightly to the right. It vanished under the brush. Merida sighed, her moment to show off was ruined. And then the forest screamed.

An earsplitting roar stung their ears even as they clapped their hands over them. The trees rustled and then one toppled over. The ground shook down below, a rapture that traveled up the bark to them. And then a tower of fire erupted into the air. Flapping mighty wings what looked like miles long, something rose from the forest floor, its wide mass knocking even more trees down. It was a grotesque monster. Mud brown scales with a body covered in tiny hairs, its snout was long and narrow with a stout nose at the end, its tail was fat with a ball at the end, red patterns on its thighs like slash marks, and its chest was broad as if it had muscles. It watched the two women.

Merida drew an arrow out of apprehension.

“What is that!?” She inquired.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it!” Rapunzel said. “We have to get down, now!”

Merida withdrew the arrow. The two tried their hardest to climb down fast. The air ruptured—the beast flapped its wings towards them. The entire tree shook. It swiped its battering ram-like tail against the top of the tree, splinters zipped across the forest floor. Merida and Rapunzel shut their eyes and hung on tight; it was like a hurricane hit them with powerful wings. Maximus cried out for them. The tree shook once more. Merida looked up to meet the eyes of the beast who’d grabbed onto the bark; the strong tree supported its enormous weight, and it started climbing down towards them.

 “Rapunzel, we gotta jump!”

 “What?! Are you—?” Rapunzel looked up and saw the same thing Merida did. “Okay let’s jump!”

 Merida squeezed Rapunzel’s hand. Maximus read their signs and positioned himself to catch them. Merida could feel Rapunzel’s hand start to tremble. With a firm grip on her, Merida pulled herself and Rapunzel down. The intelligent steed caught their riders and blasted through the forest.

The beast let out a sour cry when its prey escaped.

"That was just like the things that attacked DunBroch. Maybe they’re dragons too,” said Merida, grabbing tight to Maximus’ ropes.

 “A dragon? Like a real dragon? Mother always—I heard they were just imaginary,” said Rapunzel.

“Thought so too! Come on, Maximus!”

The horse put more speed into its gallop.

Rapunzel was relieved to see the monster wasn’t behind them. But then she became confused because the monster wasn’t behind them. She heard its wings flapping. Above them! It sailed across the air like a serpent wiggling on the ground, and it only had gray eyes for them.

"We have to turn around! It’s following us, we’ll lead it back into the city if we’re not careful. Who knows what this thing will do?”

“We can’ outrun it forever!” Merida protested but seeing the argument.

 “We won’t have to. Follow that river,” Rapunzel pointed to a thin brook. “It’ll take us to a ravine, we can hide there.”

Maximus steered towards it like he already knew where to go from there.

“And then there’ll be a dragon on the loose. No. I’m not runnin’ from this, I’m gonna fight.”

Rapunzel was shocked and was ready to argue but an explosion nearly tipped them over. A fireball the size of a cart struck the ground. The dragon fired another one, Maximus evaded, embers flew everywhere upon its impact.

 The dragon was seemingly relentless. The fireballs thundered as they exploded craters in the ground, deep and so none of the embers spread to the innocent forest. It kept its distance because of the trees. Maximus was guiding himself; Merida turned back with an arrow ready and fired. The silver-tipped arrow struck the dragon’s paw but bounced off its dense hide. Left with nothing else to do, Merida cracked the horse’ ropes.

  The amber walls of rock hid the canyon Rapunzel spoke of on the other side. Sadly, there were no openings for them. The young woman realized she only remembered being swept away by the tide and nothing else.

“Oh no. I’m sorry, Merida, I didn’t know there was no way to get in,” said Rapunzel.

  “It’s alright. I think this’ll do fine.” Merida jumped off the horse. “Get her out of here.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna fight.”

Maximus shook his head.

“Look it’s the only way. And I’m not gonna go toe-toe with a dragon. I’ll knock it out and clip its wings just like a bear,” proclaimed Merida.

Rapunzel got off the horse, stood by Merida and held her hand.

“If you’re going to fight I’m fighting too,” she said.

“Nothin’ doin’. You don’ even have a weapon.”

“You think I came unprepared.” Rapunzel searched the folds of her dress and pulled a frying pan, black with soot like it had been used earlier that same day, brandishing it with in hand, cocky. “Never leave home without it.”

It was clearly meant to be her weapon, but for the life of her Merida couldn’t take it seriously.

“You gonna fix him some eggs after?” She joked.

“Eggs of victory, for us!”  Rapunzel didn’t detect the sarcasm in Merida’s voice.

The loyal steed would not leave his riders’ side. Maximus scoffed the ground beside them, ready to fight as much as they were.

For a second the sun was eclipsed. The dragon circled the skies like a vulture assessing its prey. They were hesitant to move in the slightest. Merida noticed it flew faster than when it was chasing them—it let them run away. This dragon was a natural hunter with a sadistic mind; Merida pressed her elbow closer to Rapunzel. The air became noticeably hotter. Smoke sprinkled down. They heard it snarl, a crackling fume like an alligator growl with a stronger throat.

Four spruce trees were turned to woodchips beneath it. The dragon shook the earth with a plummet straight down from the sky. Neck lowered, back arched, it crawled and any tree unfortunately in its path was knocked down with leisure like toothpicks. They saw its gleaming eyes watching them. To it, they were cornered by the canyon walls and Merida couldn’t help but see it that way too.

 “Okay, what was your plan to fight it?” Rapunzel asked with the side of her mouth.

“I…I didn’ have one,” replied Merida. Rapunzel couldn’t turn her head, but Merida felt her eyes judging her.

“So you were going up against a dragon with a wing and a prayer. You sound like someone else I know.”

“I’m open to ideas,” Merida countered.

“Oh I have a great plan. It’s…involved…” Rapunzel searched for anything in the area to give her the perfect plan.

The dragon was halfway to bridging the gap between them.

There were trees. And trees. And more trees. Excluding the dragon and the canyon walls, everything in front of Rapunzel was delicate wildness. Merida pushed the thinking Rapunzel back until they hit the amber rock. Deep in thought, Rapunzel bumped her head on the hard wall. It hurt. Rapunzel rubbed the spot on her head, without realizing an idea was slowly forming because of it.

"Max, do you think you could run really really fast around it?” Rapunzel asked. The horse of course could but he didn’t see the reasoning. “We need to get it angry, really angry. We’ll lead it to charge right into the rock, and hopefully it’ll knock itself out.”

“That’s…that’s genius,” Merida paused, awestruck. “You could make general thinkin’ like that.”

“But it’ll only work if we can be super obnoxious. Can you be obnoxious, Merida?”

“Ask ma mum.”

Merida reached her hand ever so slowly. It was sweet revenge that Merida happily pinched Maximus’ backside. She intended it to be the signal for him to start running for the sake of the plan, but the horse flew away in terror; Merida believed she found a weakness to the palace horse.

The dragon spat out a fireball that sailed far too slow to strike Maximus. Dodging another blast gave him a surge of vigor; Maximus escaped. As it turned to follow the horse, Merida fired an arrow which pricked the inside of the beast’s nostril. The steel eyes beamed at the archer who waved playfully back. Maximus crushed the very end of the scaly tail under its hooves. Miraculously, the dragon groaned. Caught between the two, it snapped its tail to deal with the enemy behind it while its front concentrated on the two, but not for long.

The two women separated. Merida fired another arrow which almost struck one of the silver eyes; thus the dragon turned its attention to her. Rapunzel undid one of her braids, tied it to the end of the skillet, and whipped the frying pan across the plain with enough remaining it punt the pupil of the other eye; Merida was momentarily swooned by the amazing length of Rapunzel’s loose hair. The dragon targeted Rapunzel then.

While Rapunzel ran and reeled her weapon back in at the same time, the dragon sprinted. Maximus appeared and zipped in front of it; the dragon snapped its jaw at his tail without stopping or changing direction.

“Over ‘ere, beasty!” Merida’s next arrow bounced off the brown scales. Neither of the two’s attempts got the dragon to turn away from the other woman. Merida’s heart sank to her feet.

Rapunzel ran faster than she thought she could. She heard the snarling louder and louder behind her but she didn’t look back. The trees were her aim, to hide amongst the forest, but she feared she wouldn’t make it in time. The dragon’s shadow coated her, she could see it under her feet. With its maw opened wide, bearing two rows of serrated teeth, Rapunzel closed her eyes in despair. The dragon snapped! But it missed. Maximus scooped Rapunzel off her feet and raced back to the wall.

“Oh my gosh, thank you, Max. No diet, ever, I promise,” Rapunzel sighed.

Merida could feel her heart starting again.

On four legs, the dragon could barely catch up with Maximus then. The horse led it in circles, just out of reach of its snapping jaws. But suddenly Maximus squeezed between a row of trees standing in alignment, a straight line that restricted him from evading. The dragon stopped then and they all knew what it would do next. Maximus would never be able to dodge a fireball; he gave a burst of speed to escape quickly. Claws buried in the ground, the dragon opened wide enough for both sides of its jaw to touch the sky and the ground at the same time, and with a malicious roar stuck its head out and…nothing. A tiny cloud of smoke puffed out of its throat.

Maximus stopped because of how dumbfounded he was. The dragon rattled its head, as if confused, trying to reach for the fire in its stomach. It coughed smoke but not a single ember. Everyone was staring at it and somehow it seemed the dragon knew they were, for the hairs on its body stood on end. A powerful roar infused with bellowing rage. The beast charged.

“Max, like we discussed. Straight at the wall,” said Rapunzel.

The horse burst out of the brush. The monster destroyed the trees in its pursuit. In its anger it traveled faster, each step crushed the earth.

“Merida! Get it’s eye!” Rapunzel called out.

A moving target was nothing to the archer. Merida had an arrow at the ready before, but she did not yet aim. Seeing Rapunzel in danger put Merida in a state of panic. Inside her chest her heart was pounding which made her restless; her toes were fidgeting in her shoes. The dragon’s stomps startled her heart with each one. Merida wasn’t in the right state to fire an arrow, so she had to recompose herself. She exhaled through her nostrils and focused her mind to listen to the stream of air fill her lungs. Rushing wind like smelled of pine and dirt. The pattern on her bow bumped the bottom of her fingers, she stroked them. She raised the bow. Her big silver target was bobbing but she would have to force it to stay still. It had to be still. Still. She exhaled through her mouth. The muscles in her fingers relaxed and the arrow was loosed, striking the beast in the center of the eye she had missed before.

At the same time, Rapunzel threw her frying pan. Her aim was impeccable to hit the other eye.

The dragon charged blindly. Merida leapt out of the way, Maximus steered away. It was exactly as Rapunzel envisioned it. The dragon slammed head first into the rocks that were steadfast against the beast. They were blown away by the force of the collision. A colossal crack expanded more than where its head struck. The dragon was motionless, its head appeared to be stuck inside, and it fell with a thud. It was defeated.

“Wooooo!” Merida cheered.

Maximus cantered in triumph. Rapunzel took Merida’s hands and they two danced in circles with glee.

Up close the beast was admittedly impressive. Under the sun the brown scales cast a gleam like jewelry and they were tough; Merida knocked on them with her a light tap and she felt her skin get scratched. It had to be several feet long, too many to count. The wings were like a bat’s, only twenty times the size and width. Merida had never seen such huge muscles on an animal, but it was a dragon, different rules apply, she thought.

"The boys back home’ll never believe this one. Probably shouldn’ mention it to my mum, huh?” Merida grinned.

“Not unless you never want to come back here,” said Rapunzel.

“Yeah, she’d probably put me in a lock and key.” For some reason Rapunzel laughed nervously with Merida’s joke.

“Okay…how are you going to do this?”

“Think we can use yur hair to tie his wings shut?” Merida snickered.

“No way. You got poofier hair than me, why not yours?”

“All have you know my hair is as wild and untamable as the highlands themselves. It’s the pride of DunBroch.”

Rapunzel laughed. Merida smiled—she liked the way Rapunzel laughs.

Suddenly the tail whipped in every direction. It slammed into Merida and Rapunzel and sent them flying, doing the same to Maximus on the other side. The dragon awoke. It shook the injury, its head was spotless, but then it launched into the air and away into the canyon it went. Merida and Rapunzel barely got up before they knew what had happened. In half a second the entire dragon was gone. Neither them nor the horse knew what to make of it.

Sunset over the city was a beautiful sight to behold. Every color still shined bright even as the sun slowly faded over the horizon. Musicians had even started playing more; of course the melodies they played were smooth to fit the hours as people went into their homes to enjoy dinner. Except for Merida, Rapunzel and Maximus, everyone wore a tired smile. The two women and the horse had an expression that was just tired. When the excitement of besting a dragon fell, the fatigue of running around all day set in along with the trip back to the city which lasted from morning to afternoon with how far they got. The sun was halfway gone by the time they made it back to the castle.

The warriors weren’t where Merida last left them. One of two things she guessed happened. Either they went looking for their princess in the city or they were inside the palace.

“Bet my dad’s got an earful to give me,” Merida groaned, stretching her limbs after the long trip.

“I thought you were said yur dad was fun,” said Rapunzel.

“Yeah, but the whole reason he wanted me to come was cause I had to meet the princess. I was supposed to get chummy chummy with her. It was his idea. Sounds sneaky, but I did want to meet the princess.”

“Princess?” Rapunzel was puzzled.

“Merida, where ya bin, lass?”

Fergus and Frederic did not come out of the palace, as Merida expected them to, and they also didn’t look like a pair of kings coming out of discussing important matters. Her father was missing his bear skin cloak and his collar was messed up. Frederic’s combed hair was ruffed and though he swung his hand to correct it a few strands stayed out of place.

“Dad, what did you do?” Merida groaned.

“We descussed it, ruled things over, and celebrated the plan over a pint. Even got Fred to have some too,” laughed Fergus.

“Dad? Look at you. I didn’t know you could get wild,” said Rapunzel.

“Ahem—only when there’s company over. I see you’ve met Princess Merida already. We were hoping you’d meet in the palace, but we couldn’t find you, or her,” Frederic chuckled.

“Princess?” Rapunzel repeated, gawking at her.

“Dad?” Merida gasped, staring back.

“Is that yur daughter? Ma gosh! She’s the spittin’ image of Arianna. ‘Cept the hair. She got it crazy too. Bet she makes a fuss to when ya want her to cut it,” laughed Fergus.

Merida and Rapunzel were bewildered by the person they’d met hours ago like it was the first time. The person she was with the whole day was a princess? It was a question shared by the both of them.

“Member when ya told me Arianna was pregnant. Ya know, lass, if ya turned out to be a lad we’d ’a married ya to Merida,” said Fergus.

“Dad!” Merida snapped at his side, her face was redder than her hair. Rapunzel’s cheeks were flushed as well. The blonde princess’ embarrassed face only made Merida more embarrassed. She was frantic to change the subject. “Dad, did you get anything settled?”

   “Aye, we got help. It ain’ much but it’ll do,” said Fergus, grasping Frederic’s hand in triumph.

“Joking aside, Fergus, I hope you know what your getting your men into. If the rumors you told me are true, a fight with Dragon Riders is nothing short of suicide,” said Frederic.

“Dragon Riders?” Rapunzel was the odd one out of the conversation.

“Highland men don’ run away jus’ cause of wee dragons! Berk’ll pay for attacking us,” Fergus snarled, cracking his fists. “Ah’ll make books outta those dragons!”

Frederic cleared his throat. “You’re both probably tired. You are more than welcome to stay in the palace, I insist. Those three hundred bedrooms have to be good for something.”

Fergus yawned with his jaw seemingly dislocated wide open.

So much was happening around Rapunzel as she was being pushed into the background at the same time. She took Merida’s hand, seeking answers. They had a ways walk to where their rooms would be; Merida had plenty of time to explain to her what happened and what was going to happen.

[perditaalottachocolate-blog]

Next Rainfall (3/4)

@miraculousfluffmonth , Day 26: Please?

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

AO3 / fanfiction

***

3. Patience

It took a week. A week in which he also realized she hadn’t given him a second clue. A week in which his curiosity twisted his stomach every time Adrien saw Marinette at school. He observed her closely looking for some hints as to who her crush might be. He registered her interactions with every boy and girl she happened to talk to in his presence. Nothing. He got exactly zero traces. Either she must have been really good at hiding her feelings, or he wasn’t lucky enough to witness her interactions with her crush.

After that week he quietly accepted his defeat and came next rainfall Chat Noir was out again, leaping over the rooftops and looking for the familiar combo of pink boots, black umbrella and dark pigtails.

‘Well, well, well,’ Marinette drawled as she saw him dropping in front of her, and carefully avoiding the puddles. ‘Isn’t that my favorite feline hero!’ she greeted and he couldn’t help sticking his chest out a bit, proud that she considered him a favorite of hers.

‘Evening, Princess,’ he shot her a two finger salute. ‘I believe you owe me two clues tonight,’ he all but purred leaning in to wiggle his brows at her.

‘Two clues? Oh, no, Chat. The deal was one clue at a time,’ she chided, shaking her head. ‘You have to be patient.’

‘Oh, I am extremely patient, believe me,’ he shot back. ‘But last time you didn’t give me a clue after I found you. That’s cheating.’

‘Moi? Cheating?’ she gasped in mock hurt. ‘Most certainly not!’

‘In that case, two clues, please?’ he stuck out two clawed fingers in a V gesture.

‘Hmmm, any suggestions for today?’ Marinette knitted her brows, as she considered her answer. ‘Last time you were very helpful.’

Chat thought about his little investigation. It would allow him to narrow down his research at school, if he knew some more substantial details. ‘Is your crush a boy or a girl?’ he asked, trying to override his embarrassment with feline bravado.

‘You just got yourself some points for not giving into stereotypes, well done,’ she winked. ‘And my crush is a boy.’

‘Yes!’ he exclaimed earning a quizzical frown from the girl. He was just happy he could eliminate some potential candidates, but on second thought, he probably shouldn’t let her know that he was working on figuring out her secret also outside of his mask. ‘I m-mean… thank you.’

‘There’s nothing to thank me for,’ she shrugged. ‘Or were you afraid my crush might be Ladybug?’

Chat snorted, but deep down he actually felt relieved. Marinette would be very tough competition if she happened to set her eyes on his spotted partner. ‘Yeah, I was afraid that might be the case.’

This came out wrong again. For the second time Marinette eyed him suspiciously, but she quickly shook it off. ‘And the second clue?’ she prompted.

There were many things he wanted to know, but once again he decided to make his investigation easier and check if his strategy of watching her as a civilian wasn’t a waste of time. But he didn’t want to alert her as to the extent of his nosiness, so instead of asking if they were in the same school or even class, he went with a more vague, ‘Do you see him often?’

The girl considered his question, while delicate blush brushed her cheeks. ‘I’d say that yes,’ she replied with a timid smile. ‘I see him practically every day.’

‘Hmmmm,’ he hummed.

‘Hmmmm?’ she parroted. ‘Are you trying to figure out who he is now?’ she asked, amused.

‘Who, me?’ He rubbed his neck. ‘Pfffft, I’m just a curious cat, is all.’

‘A curious cat indeed,’ she replied. ‘You know what they say about curiosity and cats?’

‘Are you saying that your crush is dangerous?’ He crossed his arms in front of his chest. ‘Because I seriously doubt he could threaten me.’

‘And why would you want to compete with him?’ she mimicked his stance.

‘Who says anything about competing?’

‘Well, you just preemptively stated you’re better than him,’ Marinette pointed out.

‘I most certainly did not!’ Chat spluttered. ‘The saying goes that curiosity killed the cat. I can’t see any danger though. The only thing that might kill me here is a cold I might catch while looking for you in this weather. And my comment simply referred to that.’

Marinette looked as if she was holding back a laugh. ‘Maybe you should start taking an umbrella with you then?’ she asked.

‘Can’t parkour with an umbrella, Princess,’ he countered. ‘Anyway, this cat needs to run. Thank you for the clues,’ he bowed.

‘See you next rainfall,’ she giggled.

Those two clues got Adrien only so far. He could exclude the girls, but there were plenty of boys Marinette saw every day. How to make sure he wouldn’t miss the right one? After some consideration, he decided to spend more time in Marinette’s company. It didn’t took much to convince Nino to join the girls for breaks and lunch. The boy was even relieved he didn’t need to choose between his bud and his girlfriend. And that left Adrien with a perfect and inconspicuous opportunity to spy investigate observe.

Marinette interacted with plenty of boys, smiling warmingly at every person who approached her, offering advice, encouragement or praise. It was a pleasure to witness her in action, sending everyone on their way in a better mood. No wonder people were drawn to her. She had both charisma and charm, necessary in a leader, but matched with her kind heart, they made her shine like a star.

Still, she treated everyone the same. No playing favorites, no suspicious behavior. He must have been missing something.

‘Tell me something more about your crush,’ Chat asked next time he found her in the rain.

‘He’s sensitive,’ Marinette replied.

Nathaniel? Nathaniel was sensitive. He was the artistic type, and Marinette was always supportive of him. But it was known that Nath used to have a crush on her, so if she reciprocated his feelings why weren’t they a couple? No. It couldn’t have been Nathaniel.

‘Is your crush good at sports?’

‘Yes, most definitely.’

So Kim? But Kim was dating Ondine and Marinette definitely rooted for them. And before that, when the jock was interested in Chloe, their pigtailed classmate supported him. It couldn’t have been Kim.

‘He’s smart.’

Max? Max was the smartest of them all, and he shared gaming interest with Marinette. She was always friendly towards him, and even risked a detention when he had brought Markov to school for the first time. But she never actively sought his company. Max spent more time with Kim and Alix. Nah. It couldn’t have been him.

‘He’s kind.’

Nino. Nino was a very kind person. They knew each other for ages and he also used to have a crush on Marinette. But just one look at the girl as she watched Alya and Nino together dispelled his suspicions. There was so much happiness in Marinette’s eyes at the sight of that couple, without a hint of jealousy, that it left no doubts. It couldn’t have been Nino.

‘He has a talent for music.’

Maybe Ivan? But from what Adrien had heard Marinette was trying to help Ivan confess to Mylene even before Ladybug’s assistance. Nah, not Ivan then.

Luka? Marinette always enjoyed his company. He was a fan of Jagged, just like her. And as Adrien had spotted, he was definitely impressed with Marinette. She didn’t act different around him, but she was pleased with his compliments. Hmmm, maybe this was the right track.

‘How does he look?’ Chat finally gathered the courage to ask for a more substantial clue.

Marinette frowned, and he instantly felt guilty. He knew her better than to think she was after looks. Besides, she never mentioned physical appearance, only personality traits. That was more important.

‘He is handsome,’ she said reluctantly, ‘but that’s the only detail about his looks I’m willing to share. For all I know you could be stalking me outside of the suit, and apparently I’m quite obvious around him, so knowing how he looks you’d guess right away.’

Only later at home did Adrien realize she unconsciously had given him two clues that night. As to the handsome part - as far as Adrien was concerned beauty was a very relative and personal thing. Every guy he had so far considered was handsome. That could have been basically anyone. But she admitted that she had been acting different around her crush. How could that be, if Adrien hadn’t noticed? There was one possibility he hitherto hadn’t thought about - Marinette might have been seeing her mysterious boy outside of school. At the bakery, or even before her rainy walks. Maybe that was the reason she was so happy while getting wet? Somehow instead of feeling excited at this new conclusion Adrien felt a heavy weight setting in the pit of his stomach. Why was this making him so nervous?

‘Does your crush know about your feelings?’ Chat figured this would be the least invasive way of checking, if she had been seeing the boy before her walks.

Yet instead of confirming, Marinette dropped her gaze to her pink boots and shook her head sadly. ‘I’m too shy to talk to him about this,’ she confessed. ‘So no, he doesn’t know.’

Shy? He always thought Marinette was a very brave girl, and the few times he had witnessed her facing a difficult or dangerous situation, she always kept her cool. It was hard to imagine her not having the courage to do anything. But maybe her crush’s presence made her tongue-tied, like he sometimes felt as Adrien when encountering Ladybug?

Still, he felt a bit sorry for her. Somewhere out there was that oblivious boy, who got the heart of a wonderful girl, and instead of making her happy, he hadn’t noticed what was right in front of him. What a fool, Adrien thought. How that boy could not see someone as amazing as Marinette?

He decided he needed to find that idiot and knock some sense into him. Marinette deserved to be treated like a Princess. She deserved to be adored, loved and cherished. So he, or rather Chat, would not rest until she got who she wanted.

[fantasyelffanfic]

Star Wars: Thief in the Darkness (Kylo Ren/OC Fanfic) - Chapter 1

                                                  Chapter 1

                                                   -o-o-o-

"You must be ready at any moment, to sacrifice what you are, for what you will become..." - Eric Thomas

                                                     -o-o-

(Planet Jakku)

I sat there, lounging across the beam of a market tent. A barely tangible breeze drifted across its fabrics, making it flap under its caress. One of my legs dangled as I watched the villagers below move about with their daily activities. The small village was awash with various people of mixed races, both human and non-human. There were those that bought and those who traded. It was the way of the world here, survival at its highest peak. The bright golden sands of Jakku were vast and empty with little signs of life beyond the small town. Though it was a peaceful place, it was also a dangerous place to live alone, unprotected and young. I learned that the hard way.

Grit and dust blew up into my face, but the cowl wrapped around my face and hair protected me. Not far away, I caught sight of a familiar lone figure. A woman with dark hair tied back behind her head. Tattered pale cloth adorned her shape. Though young and slender in size, she lugged a heavy net of shrapnel across the area and headed straight for the exchange counter.

"Rey." I whispered the name.

My eyes followed her movements as I stood and began to make my way across the beams towards her location. The twin blades at my hips swung against me, hidden, but there. My legs were steady as I leap my way across the marketplace. Unseen. Unnoticed. A ghost amongst the crowd.

A huge Crolute stood behind the counter and spoke to Rey. Unkar Plutt, junk boss of Jakku, was a beast of male to deal with. Though I knew his tricks well, others were not so lucky. Thuggish, unfair and lawless, he took from the desperate and paid little in return. His grotesque personality matched his equally grotesque appearance.

I paused above the container that was his trading block and listened closer, peering down at the girl and brute with interest.

" What you've brought me today is worth," came his raspy gruff voice that set my teeth on edge, "hmm... One quarter portion."

I snorted and shook my head. Old habits never died with Unkar, it seemed. The idiot that he was. From my position, I could see Rey's expression, twisted with turmoil and struggle.

I sprung and twisted, leaping with the agility of a cat to the sandy ground directly between Rey and booth. I rose up from my crouch and turned to glare at the Crolute.

" Bollocks, Unkar." I pulled down my cowl to reveal my face as I glared up at the mangled-fleshed waste of space behind the counter. The blistering hot air drifted across my scalp, ruffling my short hair. Both the woman and Unkar turned to look at me with surprise at my sudden appearance. I couldn't help it, a grin drifted across my lips.

"Freya?" Rey whispered, taken aback. Her young suntanned face frowned before she nodded to me in greeting.

I grinned back her, before turning to Unkar once again and leaning a hip casually against his workspace. I peered up through the bars up at him. Despite his gigantic height, I was not intimidated. Far from it.

" Are you really gonna do this again?" I asked him, giving him my most dazzling smile. " Come on, you know it's worth more than that."

"You again!" He grunted. "I'm sick of seeing your face around here. Always mingling in business that has nothing to do with you."

I sighed dramatically and shook my head at him like a mother would a disobedient child. "Now, now, blobby-" he gave a deep growl as I called him by his favourite nickname. "I saw you take less than half of what this lass is offering you for half a portion earlier. A bit unfair, don't you think? Where's your integrity?"

A meaty fist slammed down hard upon the counter, fury flashed across his hideous features.

"What would you know about integrity? You dirty thieving scum!"

"Ouch, careful blobby, you may just hurt my feelings." I gave a sardonic laugh, "I guess that makes both of us then, huh? You take from the poor for little payment. That sounds like theft too in my book. And I steal from people who are greedy, lazy bastards-" I gestured a hand towards him nonchalantly, "-like yourself."

I barely had time to finish my sentence before a thick, heavy hand thrust between the bars and wrapped itself into the front of my jerkin. My whole body weight lifted with alarming strength until I was inches away from Unkar's sneering face.

Perfect... Set the bait. Lure them in. Distract, And then swipe the goods.

Blobby was breathing hard against my face, practically glaring daggers. Oh, if looks could kill. But it was perfect. His focus was entirely on me. His anger was in full control of his senses. He did not notice the sly smile that crept across my mouth. He didn't notice my hand slide across the package of portion and drag it into my pocket.

He'd fallen for it again. What a moron. I couldn't help but appreciate the rush of satisfaction that flooded through me.

"I'll have your guts for decorations if you don't clear out," he grumbled. "I'm warning you now."

I lifted my hands in an innocent gesture, trying to look as placid and appeasing as possible.

" Alright, Alright, I give up. You win." My feet were slowly lowered to the floor again. The hand holding me loosened and disappeared. "Don't shit your knickers," I mumbled under my breath before stepping to the side.

"Go," Unkar grumbled, "Don't let me see you around here again."

I shrugged, "Ok, fine. Hurry up and give her the payment and we will get out of your hair."

"What?" An ugly snarl twisted across his thick protruding lips.

Rey glanced between us, confusion shining through her bright eyes. I winked at her, gesturing with a lift of my brow for her to follow my lead.

"I want my payment," she finally said after a brief pause.

Unkar slammed a fist down in anger once again, "I just gave you it!"

Rey shook her head, her face still as stone. "No, you didn't."

"Come on, blobby, don't be playing games with us now." I joined in, giving him a stern look. "Don't forget to pay your clients, otherwise it will look bad of your reputation."

We watched him struggle for a moment. His flabby cheeks puffing angrily as he looked around his container.

"Fine!" I heard his draw open and close with a solid bang. His thick-fingered hand slammed down upon the counter, revealing another sachet of portion.

"Half a portion for the goods. Now get out of here!"

We didn't need telling twice. With a brief nod, Rey and I turned and walked away towards her chunky red speeder.

" One day Freya, he's going to catch you doing that and have your head on a pike," Rey said.

I chuckled at her. My boots crunched across the sand, kicking up dust with each step. I reached for my belt and untied a canteen of fresh water. I took long, much-needed swallow before passing it to her.

"Maybe," I wipe at my mouth with the back of my sleeve, "but his ass is too fat to be able to catch me. So I highly doubt it."

There was a moment's pause between us. A short time in which we simply stood there looking at one another. Rey looked drawn, tired. There was a shadow within her eyes. Something that echoed back to me, something I recognised, but could not name.

"It's good to see you, Freya." She said finally, "It's been a while. Where have you been?"

I shrugged at her, "I've been here and there. Keeping alive."

Rey took a heavy swig of the cool water and sighed before handing it back to me with thanks.

I pushed it back to her. "Keep it, you're gonna need it." I pulled the stolen portion from my pockets and threw it to her. "Take this too."

She caught it easily and looked at me with uncertainty. "But, what about you?"

"I have extra. Take it."

The hidden message behind my words was loud and clear between us as though I had spoken them aloud. I stole what I wanted. I wasn't an honest working person. If I wanted it, I took it.

"Thank you," was her reply. So deeply sincere and heavy with appreciation. Something inside my chest twinged in response.

I shuttered my expression and buried those unwanted feelings deep. Hiding them from myself and the rest of the world. I bid her a brief goodbye and began to wander back into town.

I pulled my cowl back up around my head. Troubled thoughts rolling through my mind like turbulent waves.

Thinking back, I could not recall at which point Rey and I had become known to each other, even friends of sorts. Over the years we had become aware of one another. I knew little about her, yet I knew she was like me. A woman, alone, struggling to survive. But I never loitered. I never got involved or close to others, no matter how much I connected with them. I would not face that pain again, not like before. The pains of the past were too much to bear. So like a lone wildcat, I travelled from place to place. Never settling or belonging anywhere. I stole what I needed. I lived a life of unscrupulous means. A life drowning in uncertainty, blood, sweat and loneliness. There was no such thing as home for me, or family, or friendship. It was how things have always been. It was survival, it was life.

In a world of uncertainty, fear and war; I was a warrior.

I stood there looking around with emptiness at the empty sands around me. The sun beat down on me without me without mercy. The ancient sands beneath my feet offered no comfort to the longing in my heart.

I wish, silently, but for a brief moment, that things could have been different...

I wanted more from life.

... -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- ...

The following few days went by in a whirl. The baking heat made me lethargic. I found myself snoozing most of the time, sometimes watching villagers go about their daily lives. I laid across the roof of one of the vegetable stalls, staring up at the bright sky. Boredom clawed at my insides, making me restless. I found myself daydreaming about a beautiful sunset across a vast and open sea of water. I imagined cool grass beneath my bare feet, instead of burning sand. To be in another time, in another world, another place, sounded heavenly.

"One half portion." I heard a familiar gruff voice sound from not far away below me.

I let my head loll to the side and found the rather deja vu sight of Rey standing before the exchange counter. I frowned. What was she doing here again? I knew her schedule, like many others who came here. I knew her habits. I watched people closely, ever observant. It wasn't like her to come twice in the same week.

"Last week these were half a portion each." I heard Rey argue, followed by a strange beeping noise that made me sit up to attention. I leaned forward, peering down at the situation unfolding beneath me.

Sure enough, Rey was there arguing with Unkar again, but beside her was a very strange little bot. A droid of sorts. It was like a sphere, rolling around animatedly, making noises like it was actually having a conversation.

"What about the droid?" Unkar retorted, I could hear the slyness in his voice. The treacherous snake that he was.

"What about him?" Rey responded. She cast a steady look down upon the little ball-shaped machine by her legs.

"I'll pay for him. Sixty portions." He slammed the packages across the counter and even I felt my eyes bulge at the generous offer.

Holy shit balls, sixty portions was a lot! Even for a droid, it was enough to feed a single person a good month or two. I watched Rey curiously, interested to know what she'd do.

" Actually... the droid isn't for sale."

Was she nuts? I shook my head slowly. I would have gladly sold that bundle of metal for that amount of food. I had never seen it with her before, so I couldn't understand what value it must have had to her.

Rey walked away, the droid rolling in tow behind her. I could hear Unkar's frustrated grumbling. His large shadow moving beyond the bars of his container. His voice reached me from across the short space.

"Follow the girl, and get me that droid!"

Shit. This wasn't good. A heavy sensation drop like a rock into the pit of my stomach. I leaped up from my spot and began to follow Rey. I stalk her, vaulting quietly from one roof to another. All the while keeping a distance, ever vigilant.

Something was going to happen. I could feel it. She was in danger.

It didn't take long for me to figure out what. I saw them coming straight away, approaching from the side with a purpose in their step, heading directly for Rey and the droid.

Unkar's thugs...

I picked up my pace, leaping across the space with ease. Years of experience and practice gave me the advantage and speed that I needed. I reached them quickly. One thug attacked, grabbing for Rey as the other tried to throw a blanket across the droid. Rey kicked and fought against them.

I sprung into action dropping down amongst them with my twin blades drawn and activated. They surged with a heady electric pulse, glowing a dangerous blue. One of the thugs whirled towards me, surprised by my sudden appearance. I twisted, leaping into a spin, my leg swung out connecting soundly against the imbeciles skull with such force that I heard his neck crack. I pivoted on my feet, my arm swinging out. The blade in my hand flew from my fingers, spinning dangerously, before lodging itself deep in the throat of the attacker who held Rey.

Both bodies fell to the floor with a thud. Silence filled the atmosphere as my adrenaline began to fade away into calmness.

"Freya." Rey sighed in relief, pulling herself to a stand.

"Are you ok?" I strode to her, grabbing her arm gently to look her over for injuries. "Did they hurt you?"

"I'm alright. I was just taken by sur-"

The droid chimed into action, beeping animatedly. We both turned to it with confusion. It seemed to be trying to tell us something. And while Rey seemed to have some idea of what it was saying, I, however, was completely clueless.

"What's up with him?" I asked, sliding my blades back into their holders.

They both ignored me, deep in conversation with one another. A panicked expression fell across Rey's face and they were both looking in the direction of one of the tents.

"Who?" Rey asked, looking directly at a lone figure watching them from the shadows. "Him?"

A frowned at the person in question. A dark-skinned guy stood there, observing us. He wore a lot of clothing, including a tanned leather jacket; he clearly was not a local around these parts. A foreigner? From a distance, he looked tall and athletic, but there was something strange about him. Suspicious even. He shuffled uneasily, looking directly at us before spinning around and darting in the opposite direction.

What a weird guy...

I barely had time to process what had happened before Rey was up and running after him, disappearing amongst the crowd.

What the fu-

"Woah, Rey. Wait!"

My legs sprung into action and I began to follow them.

[frostedpuffs]

Broken Hearts Club - Ch.6

Broken Hearts Club Summary: Upon confessing to their crushes, Marinette and Chat Noir both find out the hard way that those who hold the key to their hearts have affections for another. Rejected and blue, the pair find themselves in an odd sort of friendship, all while hiding the fact that they’d been the one to break the other’s heart. When feelings that hadn’t initially been within them begin to rise, they both have to come to terms with the fact that maybe the person they’d rejected means more to them than they had originally expected… Rated: T Pairings: Marinette/Chat Noir, Adrien/Marinette

Chapter 6 - Catnap Word Count: 4,194 Read on: ao3 | fanfiction.net

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"What do you think would happen if I told Ladybug my real feelings?"

Plagg slowly rolled open an eye and gazed at his Chosen, ear twitching in mild disinterest. He had been busy taking a nap on the windowsill and soaking in the morning sunrays that streamed through the glass, and Adrien noted the brief glint of annoyance that flashed through his eyes. He knew his kwami didn't like being woken during a catnap, especially when said nap was in a warm patch of sunshine...but the question had been eating at him for days now, and he wanted some advice.

Plagg stretched, his mouth opening in a wide, drawn-out yawn. "What do you think would happen?"

Adrien shrugged. "I don't know. Part of me hopes that she'd sweep me off my feet and profess her undying love for me, then we'd run off and elope and live a fulfilling life together."

"Allow me to be blunt," Plagg said, floating over from his perch on the windowsill and settling himself on Adrien's shoulder. "You and I both know that isn't going to happen. What you want and what she'll do are two entirely different things."

"I know that." Adrien sat on the edge of his bed and slipped his shoes on. Distracted, he struggled with the laces for a moment before he threw himself back onto his mattress and sighed."But the other part of me is scared that she'll flat-out reject me. Or laugh at me or call me dumb or something."

"Do you really think she would react so coldly?"

Adrien shook his head. "No. No, I don't. But I'm still scared."

"Well, don't be," Plagg yawned. Licking a tiny paw, he began to clean his whiskers. "I don't know Ladybug like you do, but from past experiences...just do what you think is right. Whatever happens, happens. That's how I look at life, anyways."

Adrien's expression flattened. "Dive in without thinking of consequences?"

Plagg snorted in response. "Well, that's one way to put it. But what I mean is don't worry too much over it. Just let things take their own course and if something bad happens, you two will get through it." Stretching, Plagg floated back over to his resting spot upon the windowsill and curled up into a little black ball, sliding his eyes closed to signal that the conversation was over. "You two weren't chosen to be a team for nothing. Now let me sleep."

Maybe Plagg was right. Maybe he should just go with his gut.

But what if his gut was wrong?

Frowning, Adrien shook his head and sat up, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Decision making wasn't really his thing. He usually had Nathalie to make most decisions for him.

He allowed himself a moment's pause as he considered the pros and cons of confessing to Ladybug. On one hand, he'd feel much better knowing that he didn't have to carry the burden of a secret anymore. On the other, if she rejected him…

He didn't want to think about it.

(Correction: he didn't want to think about how much of a mess it would make him.)

"Being in love kind of sucks," Adrien mused as he pulled on a light jacket and peeked out his window at the trees to see how strong the wind was. "Don't you think so, Plagg?"

Plagg grumbled, unmoving. "Heck if I know. Love is a gross human thing."

Adrien chuckled, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Don't you love cheese, though?"

"Cheese is something you don't entirely understand."

"Right," Adrien laughed. "Cheese is an enigma. Let's go, cheese cat."

Plagg sat up and regarded him with an expression so sour it almost made Adrien take a step backwards. "I am a god that has lived for over five thousand years. That's Monsieur Cheese Cat to you."

Giving a playful roll of his eyes, Adrien patted his backpack and opened the flap for Plagg to fly inside. He didn't want to be late for class, after all, and he still had to make a pitstop by the kitchen to swipe some Camembert for his hungry companion.

The morning was starting off pretty well. The outside air was cool and the leaves on the trees were at their peak, decorating the streets of Paris with an array of orange and red. As he bid a goodbye to his empty house and stepped out into the sunshine, Adrien took a deep breath and sighed, relishing in how nice the breeze felt against his skin.

It was a cool autumn morning. The weather was changing. Soon, it'd be cold—winter—the only time of year Adrien didn't mind being cooped up inside all that much. While he definitely wasn't fond of being trapped in his room, he was much less partial to the drop in temperature that came with the season.

Not even Ladybug enjoyed winter. She seemed slower, less focused. Usually on especially cold days—well, as cold as it gets in Paris—patrol would be cancelled lest they freeze to death, meaning it would be another day gone by without Adrien seeing his Lady.

His Lady...

(As if.)

Blinking at a gust of wind that blew against his eyelashes, Adrien adjusted his scarf and walked down the steps to the silver sedan awaiting him. He grabbed the handle and opened the door, stepping one foot inside and-

"Akuma," Plagg hissed from his backpack. His nose stuck out of the flap of Adrien's backpack, sniffing the air with a twitch of his whiskers. "Coming this way."

-and was promptly showered in a cloud of golden dust.

An aching exhaustion began to seep into Adrien's bones. Bracing himself against the side of the car, he shook his head, trying to clear the sleep that clung to his eyelids. One glance to his bodyguard slumped over in the driver's seat confirmed that it wasn't only Adrien who was feeling a tad weary.

(The fact that Gorilla's head was resting against the horn would have been funny if Adrien wasn't so tired.)

"Yep, definitely an Akuma," he grunted. Shutting the car door, he ducked down behind the vehicle and gave Plagg a determined grin as the black kwami zipped out from his backpack, tail curling in anticipation. "Plagg, transforme-moi!"

Chat Noir dropped down onto the asphalt with a roll, his heart pounding in his ears as he righted his position and stood up straight, baton in hand.

Today's akuma was a tricky one. While Adrien didn't mind waking up early for school, he didn't exactly enjoy the prospect of having his morning interrupted. He'd even taken the time to style his hair, damn it...and it would probably look like a complete mess by the time he made it to school.

Vaulting himself to the top of a building, Adrien paused. He could see Dreamscape floating down the road on his puffy mode of transport, no doubt in search for innocent people to bore with a drawling monologue until they were begging for an early rest. Most citizens were smart and ducked into hiding spots, like alleyways or bathrooms in small shops, but others went about their business without even batting an eye. Adrien supposed it was because the people of Paris were nearly desensitized to Papillon's villains by now. After all, the guy had been attacking the city for two years—battles were beginning to become old news. Every now and then even Adrien found the fights to be a tad boring.

Except for Ladybug, of course. He could never get bored of fighting by Ladybug's side.

He huffed as Dreamscape went to corner an innocent shopkeeper against the front of a deli and slid down the side of the building to the ground, the heels of his boots clicking against the sidewalk. The villain was droning along about his inconsiderate neighbors and how he wanted to make the entirety of the world sleep forever, blah, blah, blah...

Adrien could sympathize slightly. He knew how annoying it could be to have his sleep consistently interrupted. But instead of crappy neighbors, it was more like a kwami who could snore as loudly as a full grown man.

Still, Adrien did find the akuma's motivations interesting now and then. Some even had hilarious intentions, like the time someone had become akumatized because they'd stepped in chewing gum and wanted to cover the entire city in it.

It was all so silly.

Extending his baton, Adrien gave Dreamscape's back a few taps to get his attention before resting his hands upon his hips. "Wow," he began. "I guess somebody's upset they didn't get their catnap today, huh?"

"Chat Noir!" The villain bellowed. As he leaned in, Adrien took note of the purple bags underneath his eyes and the stink of his morning breath. His dated sleeping cap swung in his face. "Give me your Miraculous or the whole city of Paris never wakes again!"

"I have a better plan." Adrien clasped his clawed hands together with a grin. "How about you tell me where your little butterfly is located, and I take the item to Ladybug so she can purify it and you can go back to bed, okay?"

Dreamscape's face immediately contorted into an expression of rage, and his eyes glowed red. "No! They must learn! I won't be bothered during my sleep any longer!"

"Right, well." Adrien's brow quirked as he crossed his arms. "I guess not everyone can be civil."

He shielded his eyes with his arm as a cloud of gold dusted his suit. Holding his breath, he resisted the urge to cough as the sickeningly sweet scent of honeyed sand caused his eyelids to feel droopy.

Twice. That was twice now he'd been hit with the sleep dust.

Fighting a yawn that begged to rise from his throat, Adrien stood his ground on unsteady legs, splitting his baton to spin it in both hands. He would not fall asleep on the job—he would wait until Ladybug arrived and this guy was dealt with. Then he could go to school, see his friends, and go home where his bed awaited.

Speaking of Ladybug, where was she?

He hoped she wasn't too far behind, or worse—that she'd fallen asleep somewhere. But the sound of wire zipping across the sky made Adrien's heart jump in his chest, and he beamed as he caught sight of his Lady, her scarlet form glinting in the sunshine.

(His Lady, his Lady, she was not his Lady-)

She paused atop the awning of an ice cream shop and frowned at the scene of sleeping people, eyes searching for her partner.

"Down here, LB!" he called, giving her a wave.

Ladybug responded with a grin and landed next to him. Her legs wobbled as she hit the ground, and her hand fell to his arm for support. On instinct Adrien grabbed hold of her shoulders, steadying her, studying her features.

Wow.

He'd never in his life seen Ladybug look so...so tired.

"Got caught in a gold shower, 'Bug?" Adrien chuckled. His lips quirked upwards into a smirk as she shot him with a glare.

"Three times," she sighed, bracing her hands on her knees. "I'm so tired, kitty."

"You and me both." A yawn rose from Adrien's mouth. "Twice for me, now. My bed sounds wonderfur at the moment."

Ladybug rolled her eyes at his pun. "Then let's get this over with."

When Ladybug had arrived Dreamscape began hovering down the street, flicking the glittery substance at any civilian he passed. Now, Adrien watched as one by one bystanders toppled over onto the sidewalk, causing others to flee in all sorts of directions. At least most of them had the right sense to hide.

"Ready, my Lady?" Adrien asked, leaning on his baton and twirling his tail. He had to keep himself moving—he was afraid if he stopped, he'd fall right over into a heap of sleeping Chat.

Adrien silently thanked Plagg for whatever magic was keeping him on his feet. He had a bad feeling that if he wasn't transformed, he'd be curled up in the middle of the street taking a well-deserved nap.

Ladybug nodded, casting out her yo-yo and hooking it on a lamppost. "Ready, Chat."

"Let's get 'em."

They chased after Dreamscape on sleepy legs, Ladybug on the right side of the street and Chat Noir on the left. It didn't take long to catch up with the akuma; he was moving a slow speed. While Adrien stayed close, Ladybug hung a bit behind, seemingly having a tad more trouble bearing with the fatigue than Adrien was.

But she didn't let it get to her, not one bit. He admired her dedication.

"Chat Noir," Ladybug said as she landed by his side, running in step with him. "Can you use Cataclysm on his cloud and bring him to the ground? I'll use my yo-yo to tie him up and immobilize him."

Adrien nodded. "Perfect plan as always, my Lady," he purred. "There isn't a day that goes by where you don't ameowze me."

Ladybug clicked her tongue and zipped back to the other side of the street.

(Adrien could have sworn that, just for a moment, he'd caught a hint of a grin on her face.)

As they flanked Dreamscape's sides, the duo kept their speed, waiting for him to pause to put another civilian under his sleeping spell. Adrien's brow furrowed as the villain picked up his pace. Hunkering down to all fours, he ran like his namesake, bolting after the speeding akuma victim. He and Ladybug followed him as he turned a sharp corner, Adrien hissing as he slid into a parked car and scraped his shoulder.

Yep. He'd be feeling that later.

Dreamscape was getting faster. He was trailing down the street like a madman, flinging sleeping sand in all directions and cackling as he flew quicker, quicker, quicker-

-and then he stopped, hand raised to deploy his dust to a large group of citizens that huddled around a TV shop, most likely watching the attack on the news.

The world seemed as if it was moving in slow motion.

"Now!" Ladybug shouted, Adrien responding automatically with a leap. He pushed himself up into the air with his back legs, using his baton to gain altitude and sinking his claws into the soft, plush material of the villain's cloud. But as he hauled himself up on top of it, Dreamscape was waiting, ready with outstretched palms.

"Lights out, kitty!"

Golden sand assaulted his eyes, and Adrien growled, scrubbing at his mask. His vision was bleary and he was almost certain that he'd been hit with more than one dose that time, yet wasted not a moment more, shouting, "Cataclysm!" at the top of lungs before plunging his hand deep into the swollen cloud.

It cracked, shuddered, and then disappeared into black mist.

The sound of Ladybug's yo-yo barely registered in Adrien's mind as he hit the ground and rolled, letting out a puff of dust once his body came to a stop. It didn't hurt, of course—his suit protected him from that—but the fog of sleep that clouded his mind left him feeling groggy and heavy.

He heard Ladybug crack somethingopen, shout her cure, and his droopy eyes were drawn to the sky as a swarm of ladybugs purified the city in a gleam of pink light.

He watched as Ladybug assisted the victim up. It was a round older man, clad in plaid pajamas and looking miserably embarrassed.

Adrien shook his head and pushed himself up from the ground. His muscles felt worn, and his head spun.

How in the hell was he supposed to go to school like this?

"Chat?"

Was someone calling him?

"Chat Noir?"

Ladybug.

"This cat's fine, my Lady," he slurred, leaning against a lamppost to keep himself upright. "All fine. Good. Fine. I am...I am one-hundred percent perfect."

Ladybug frowned, blinking sleepy eyes up at him. "You're about to destransform."

"Am I?" Adrien spared a glance at his ring. Three pawprints flashed back at him with a beep. "Oh, would you look at that."

"I'll see you later, Chat, okay?" Ladybug laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a small, tired smile. "You gonna be okay?"

"Fine!" he said a little too loudly. "So fine! I am definitely not about to fall asleep!"

With a playful roll of her eyes, Ladybug patted his back and whizzed off.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief once she was out of sight and slid down the lamppost, his rear plopping to the floor. Why hadn't Ladybug's cure gotten rid of his exhaustion? Didn't that usually fix akuma-related inconveniences? Or was it that he'd been hit with the sleep dust too many times for it to go away? Could it be that deeply rooted?

Something in the back of his mind, most likely Plagg, urged him to get off the street and find somewhere safe to destransform. He idly wondered where Ladybug was off to and if she was about to lose her transformation...but then again, she hadn't used her lucky charm, so…

Go, the voice in his head screeched, get off the street, you idiot!

"I'm going." Adrien bit back a cranky snarl at his kwami's insistence. He knew Plagg was right; he couldn't just sit in the middle of the sidewalk and let his transformation drop. Dragging himself up the lamppost, Adrien groaned, squishing his cheek against the side of the cool metal.

(Metal that was probably unsanitary.)

With a last bout of energy he vaulted himself over several streets and rooftops before landing in a cramped alleyway. Above him was a clothesline stretching from a window with a few garments drying, and a dumpster sat to his left, but nobody seemed to be meandering about. Adrien took that as permission to allow his transformation to fall.

What he didn't expect, however, was the wave of exhaustion to hit him ten times as strong once Plagg had fled from his ring.

"Woah," he groaned, pressing his hands against the brick wall before toppling onto the ground. "Woah, woah…"

Woah was right.

Concrete flooring had no business being that comfortable.

The leftover dust seemed to have affected Plagg as well, because the kwami was curled up in the pocket of his Chosen's jacket, back rising and falling with each breath he took. His eyes were closed and a small snore rose from his nose, whiskers twitching in his sleep.

Plagg had the right idea. A nap sounded wonderful.

 "Just gotta get home," Marinette told herself as she zipped across the city. Her arms felt like limp noodles and her head felt heavy. "Get home, get home, get home…"

She was a block from her house when a blur of blonde caught her attention as she leaped over an alleyway, and she had to backtrack to make sure she hadn't been seeing things, or...

...or dreaming.

Marinette's eyes widened comically.

There was no way in hell she was awake right now if she was seeing Adrien Agreste curled up in an alleyway about ten steps from their old collége.

To check her sanity, she pinched herself.

Ow, okay, nope, definitely awake. That meant there was no doubt that a sleeping Adrien was curled up fifteen feet below her. A sleeping Adrien who was definitely not safe taking a nap on the floor.

He must have been hit with the sleeping dust, but...why hadn't Tikki's magic rid the exhaustion? It had for other civilians. Why not Adrien?

Was it because she hadn't used a Lucky Charm to cleanse the city?

"Adrien?" she called, lowering herself to the ground with her yo-yo. "A-Adrien? Oh gosh, Adrien, are you okay?"

He didn't stir. Panic began to flare up within Marinette's chest.

What if he was hurt? What if he was injured or bleeding internally or shit, what if he was dead!? She couldn't deal with that!

"Adrien!" Marinette practically squawked as she gave his shoulder a gentle nudge with her hand. "Hey, answer me!"

The boy in question grunted, and Marinette breathed a heavy sigh of relief, her heart thrumming in her chest. She had to resist the urge to coo over how cute he looked when he nuzzled his face against his arm, or how his wonderfully long eyelashes brushed his cheeks. He looked so peaceful like that...so adorable...did she really have the heart to wake him?

What are you saying, Marinette?! her mind retorted. He's passed out in an alley! Take him somewhere safe!

Somewhere safe. Yes. She needed to bring Adrien somewhere safe.

The bakery was just across the street. She could slip him in through her trapdoor and let him rest in her bed.

In...her bed.

In her bed, in her bed, IN HER BED-

No. Nope. That wasn't happening.

Besides, Adrien would probably be really weirded out to wake up in her house. He might think she was creepy, and the excuse that Ladybug had brought him to her wouldn't be very convincing considering that Ladybug had been to Adrien's house before.

Marinette sighed. She combed her fingers through her friend's bangs, brushing his hair out of his eyes and smiling down at his sleeping form. Nobody had any business being that cute. Not even a model.

(And to her, he was the most beautiful model out of them all.)

Adrien's lips parted slightly and a soft breath blew from his mouth, drawing a smile to Marinette's own.

"Let's get you home," she whispered, lifting him into her arms. It would be tricky to carry him in one arm and use her yo-yo with the other, but she'd manage. She was Ladybug, after all.

Marinette ignored the shouts of her name as she zipped across the rooftops, as well as the sounds of phone cameras snapping pictures and the surprised gasps of civilians. She didn't have time for an interview, especially when she had precious cargo in her grasp. Adrien's need to get home and rest in a safe room was more important than any reporter's invasive questions.

She did, however, feel momentarily guilty that Adrien would probably end up on the Ladyblog later that evening.

As she arrived at the Agreste household and attached her yo-yo to the roof, Marinette silently thanked the universe that one of Adrien's windows had been left ajar. Using her foot, she pushed the window open and swung inside, making sure to hold on to the boy in her arms as she landed on his bedroom floor.

"Okay," she said to nobody in particular. "Okay, we're here. Bed time."

It felt odd to be in Adrien's room as Ladybug. She'd been over plenty of times as Marinette, but every one of those visits had also included Alya and Nino. Being in his room with him alone caused a slightly uncomfortable (yet exciting) feeling to rise within her stomach, and she had to mentally contain herself from squealing.

She was not fourteen years old anymore. She could keep her composure around her crush.

Her crush who she was definitely, completely over-

Adrien stirred in her arms, and Marinette gently rested him atop his mattress. The sheets wrinkled under his weight, his hair ruffled against his pillow, and Marinette almost swore she'd heard him let out a contented little sigh.

It was barely even ten-thirty in the morning, and she had already written this day off as a long one.

It wasn't a bad day, though. Not a bad one by a long shot.

Smiling at her friend, Marinette allowed herself a moment to sit on the edge of his bed and regain her strength. She hadn't even realized she'd been blushing until she brushed her palms against her face when she went to rub her drooping eyes. She wished she could will herself to do something other than sit there with heated cheeks. Like leave Adrien's room. That was the next logical step.

But she felt...stuck. Drawn to him.

It was probably just the sleep in her head.

She couldn't stay.

True, her Miraculous was not about to power down since she hadn't needed her Lucky Charm, but there was no feasible reason for her to stick around. This was Adrien's room, and he was asleep. She needed to leave and go home and go to bed and just forget about things for a while.

If his father came in and saw Ladybug sitting on his son's bed…

Marinette let out a soft chuckle at that.

She breathed in, held it for a moment, then exhaled slowly, her shoulders relaxing in time with her breath. Wobbling slightly, Marinette pressed a hand to her forehead and fought to keep her eyes open. They were too heavy. They were just too heavy.

She needed to go home...this was Adrien's room…and Adrien was right behind her, sleeping soundly.

Tikki buzzed at her in the back of her mind, but Marinette was too tired to care. She opened her eyes one last time, slumped backwards, and collapsed onto something soft.

Sleep was quick to overtake her.