#i’m not as proud of this one as my den one. proof that i should be a furry artist i guess lol

[clickbeetle]

my unhinged queen

[tsarisfanfiction]

His Sons

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Gen Genre: Family Characters: Jeff, Tracy Brothers 

Fluffember eventually happened - day 9 ‘familiar’ also nudging its way into my Familiar Strangers series because I love exploring Jeff and everything that might happen post-series.  It’s nearly 4am, there has been even less proof reading than normal, and I’m not entirely sure this makes any sense, but I had fun writing it so it’s out here anyway.

Jeff had been gone eight years.  He’d missed his sons growing up into young men, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still the same boys he’d left behind.

There was no sound in space. For the past eight years, almost everything had been muted; his own breathing echoing inside his helmet the only thing he heard for days on end.

That was a figure of speech. There was no day and no night in the Oort cloud; too far from the sun, planetoids too inconsistent in their movements.  Just dark, dark silence.  He hadn’t known how long it had been, until he saw his boys again.  His beautiful, grown up boys standing like the strong young men they’d grown up to be.

He’d missed it.  Years of their lives, gone and never to be recovered. There were some home videos, footage he devoured whenever his mother brought it to him, but they were few and far between. They’d thought him dead, he learned. No point making videos a dead man would never see.

It hurt, if he let himself think about it too much.  His sons had given up.  They’d been right to – he’d seen that footage too, heard the stories of teenagers driving themselves into the ground before being dragged, kicking and screaming, into acceptance.  Jeff didn’t blame his sons one bit, but that didn’t stop the pain, sometimes.

But he watched his sons now, young men he couldn’t be more proud of, and found himself thankful that no matter what had happened through those eight years, they’d found him.  They’d saved him, brought him home in an impressive feat that should have been impossible.

He’d always said there was no such thing as impossible.  He’d thought he’d known, then, what limits really were.  Looking at his sons, the things they’d done, the things they did, every day, showed him that he’d never really understood what it meant to do the impossible, before.

It scared him.  His sons were brave, unrelenting, compassionate, but no parent enjoyed watching their children in danger.  Yet here he was, stuck at the desk, watching as Scott threw himself out of planes, off of mountains, with nothing but a jetpack and finite fuel.  Virgil ran shoulder first into burning buildings, seconds from collapse, while Gordon hurtled through the deepest depths of the ocean.  Alan and John, following in their foolish father’s footsteps, flirted with the dangers of space constantly, seemingly unconcerned that a single tear in their suits would kill them.

He hadn’t understood that, either.  Nine years ago, naïve and full of bravado as he poured money into an endeavour to save people.  It had never been for the glory, but that didn’t change the fact that he hadn’t realised how much danger the operatives would be in.  Not until the Zero-X.  Not until he came home and read mission logs and medical reports telling him exactly how many times he’d almost lost a son.

In that, the ignorance of life in the Oort Cloud seemed like a blessing.  He hadn’t understood the real danger, didn’t get to watch his sons flirt with death.  Now, he saw it all, helpless to do anything except ground them over comms and hold them when they came home – dirty, exhausted, sometimes injured, but alive.

The world he’d left behind was nothing like the world he’d returned to.

Except some things were still the same.

By the desk – his desk, for all that Scott seemed to have developed an autopilot towards the seat, and when particularly drowsy had in fact sat on top of him once or twice – stood the piano.  Lucille’s, once, Virgil’s now.

After a long day, a hard rescue, or just when maintenance wasn’t so demanding, his middle son would settle on the stool and begin some warm-ups.  Scales, arpeggios, simple repetitive ditties that took no concentration to get right.

Gordon was always first. Barely before the first scales were finished, he’d appear from nowhere – often with hair dripping wet, suggesting ‘nowhere’ was actually the pool – lounging against the side of the piano with an expectant grin on his face.  Scott would follow, whatever he’d had in his hand – once paperwork, now more likely a book after Jeff had forcibly reduced his eldest’s workload – discarded somewhere in the sunken area of the den as he leant over the piano, head propped up on an open palm.

John’s entrances were silent, more often than not a hologram shimmering into view from a holoprojector that now lived on the lid.  Jeff often didn’t notice him arrive, but by the time Alan stumbled into view, often half-asleep or semi-engrossed in virtual reality as he slumped against the piano, the second eldest was always there.

It was the same as it had always been.  Virgil at the piano had never failed to summon all of his brothers – Gordon first, then Scott, and Alan with John slinking in unnoticed somewhere in between.  Only once the five of them were all assembled would Virgil move away from warm-ups and let his fingers pick out something more complicated.

Some days, he had sheet music in front of him.  Jeff didn’t always know those pieces – new additions to the repertoire in the last eight years. Other days, it was all played from memory, songs that reminded Jeff of before, and also Before, when they were a family of seven and it was the mother, not the son, summoning the family for an hour of music.

So much had changed, in those eight years he’d lost.  Sometimes he despaired under the weight of all the differences, all the things he’d missed, things he should know but didn’t.  But he hadn’t lost everything; some things had stayed the same, grown or evolved with the same root.  It had been eight years but the single, unchanged fact was that they were still his sons.  Scott, protective leader.  John, quietly observant.  Virgil, calmly grounding.  Gordon, mischievous prankster.  Alan, brightly hopeful.

Eight years hadn’t changed that.

[whirlybirdwhat]

East Sea of Monsters - Chapter 19

Thatch loves his new brothers, but something is stalking him in the dark and its not friendly. Also ft. the spade pirates

-

Read the entire series on Ao3 for better quality and author’s notes, especially warnings for content within the fic!! Tag “Ficart” on my blog should also show some fanart and podfics for this fic, as well as the link to translations! give them some love! 

- 

Thatch - Paranoia

There is something on the ship. Thatch doesn’t know what it is or what it looks like, or even if it's corporeal, but he knows one thing.

One.

Thing.

And that is that this creature is trying to eat through all of the Moby’s food stores, one meat slice at a time.

He laments such claims to Marco and Ace, who are training on deck.

“It’s horrible! Absolutely horrendous! I woke up this morning to three – three, Ace, three! – carvings of that sea king from yesterday gone! Gone! And I have no idea what’s causing it, and I’m 99% sure it’s stalking me!” He flails dramatically out, but dead serious in his words. There’s been something in the shadows of late, something he can’t sense with his haki, and little (and not so little) scratches outside his door at night. He’s not the sort to be serious about personal danger, so he explains it as best he can.

Through jokes.

Ace laughs at him, throwing his head back and mirth clear in his eye.

Thatch is proud of him, their newest brother of only two months. He’s going to be second division commander in a week, not that he knows it yet, and Thatch is just so, so proud of him.

He’s so far from the angry creature that stalked around deck and threw himself, with the intent to kill, at Whitebeard every day.

In the sunlight, without the shadows of his usual hiding places, Ace looks even happier than before.

(Thatch could give a description of him, talk about his freckles or the way he smiles, but feels like anything he could say could never truly describe, well, Ace. His eyes are never truly the color Thatch think’s they are and his smile is just so pointy in certain lights, that Thatch often jokes about his feral nature.  But, more than these oddities is the way Ace looks ashy and cracked when he suddenly pops into view and his smile too wide and skin covered in darkness and his fingers tipped in sharp edged claws.

It’s nothing, supposedly, just figures of the mind but Thatch wonders when it seems like Ace is burning from the inside out and not because of his fruit.)

Marco swipes at Ace for getting distracted and then gives Thatch a look. “Have you tried trapping it? Stalking it back?”

He doesn’t ask are you sure it’s even there because Thatch knows it has been clawing at Marco’s door as well.

(Deeper gouges, the scent of ash at sunrise, different from the cooling unburning flames of the phoenix.

And Marco hadn’t noticed it with Haki either)

Thatch huffs, flopping further on the crate he’s using as a table. “Yep. Pulled three all-nighters and tried three different types of traps in the galley, and only wound up with paranoia and giving Jim from Third Division a broken toe.”

Marco winces at that, because getting that means you go down to the infirmary, where their medical staff’s age is ten times worse than any injury.

(They seem to have a soft spot for Ace – Thatch doesn’t know if it’s because Ace is stupidly polite to them, or just makes this confused look when they imply they should be the ones to help his injuries.

Ace tends to go to Deuce more often, (something about fire proof bandages?) but still, the soft spot is there. Thatch has used Ace to get out of trouble for kitchen injuries once or twice.)

“Have you tried bait?”

“Yeah.”

“Ambush?”

“That’s what the all-nighters were for.”

“Asking for help?”

“That’s what I’m doing now.”

“How about- “

Before Marco can give another useless bit of information, Ace cuts in. “Have you tried just, hunting it?”

“Observation Haki isn’t working on the thing.” Thatch explains, casting aside the idea.

Ace’s brow furrows, as if Thatch is an idiot. “I never hunted with haki, you don’t need it.” There’s something more to his frown, something sharp peeking out, but Thatch dismisses it.

“Yeah? You want to try then?” Thatch challenges him.

“Sure, it’s been a while.”

And that’s the start of it.

-

Thatch leaves Ace to his hunting, trusting that he’ll get the work done or give up trying, but that doesn’t stop him from curiously observing his new brother.

“Doesn’t that hinder your grip?” Thatch asks, referring to Ace’s right hand.

“Hm?” Ace says from his position at the top of their storage hold’s rafters.

“Your right hand.”

“Oh! Nah, I’m used to it. Say, pass me the turkey?”

“To eat or for bait?”

“Uh. Both?”

Thatch laughs and almost misses the way a part of Ace’s body seems to sink into the rafters. He tries to ignore it, he really does, but he can’t even tell if he saw it in the first place.

What.

Ace notices his stares. “Thatch?” He asks in that concerned voice of his, which sends all sorts of guilt up Thatch’s spine.

“Uh, nothing!” He searches for a new topic. “How’d you lose it, anyway?”

Shit! Not like that! Could be sensitive you dolt!

The ever present watching invisible creature seems to agree in Thatch’s mind.

Ace’s body (which gets all fuzzy, save for the tattoos, when Thatch stares to long, which he associates with the flame-flame fruit) is missing a crucial part.

“My pinky?”

His right pinky is a stub, stretched with scratched scars, like teeth dragging over skin that didn’t sink in on the hand until the base.

(Thatch is growing increasingly concerned as he swears he saw those marks glowing, he did, he did but he can’t say anything, can he? He can’t mention how the pinky stub itself has something dark around it, like a promise, like a curse, can he, without seeming insane and untrusting?)

“Yeah.” Doesn’t seem to be a sensitive subject, because Ace looks down at his missing finger with a grin.

“Just something that happened when I was a kid. Accidents happen when you live where I lived.”

“And where did you live?”

“A bandit den, for a while.”

“What.”

“Then a trash heap, just for a bit. Place was fun, lots of fights.”

“What.”

“Built a treehouse too though we grew out of it.”

“Oh my god.”

“What?” Ace looks confused and it would be funny if it didn’t…

“This explains so much, oh hell.” Thatch rubs a hand over his face. No wonder Ace is half feral, it’s a miracle he learned manners at all. He ignores Ace’s face and changes the subject. He’ll wait till Ace brings it up with the others, then he’ll tease him about it mercilessly.  “You done?”

“Yep! If your little thief is who I think it is this should catch ‘em.” Ace looks proudly at his contraption in the rafters – a bed of blankets with a few slices of meat in a bowl.  “Can’t believe I didn’t know he crept on here the bastard. Should have known anyway.”

“Wait, you know who-” Thatch is interrupted by a deep mrrowh? Coming from his left. He turns, catches a glimpse of Ace smiling, and is greet with the vision of an absolutely monstrous cat.

It looks like a lynx with simply monstrous fangs – but that’s the thing. It only looks like it and the way its eyes are wide and unseeing… well…

“What.” Thatch says as Ace makes a delighted noise.

“Kotatsu you little bastard! There you are! C’mere.” The lynx flies into open arms and suddenly Ace is holding a cat almost twice his size. That’s wearing pants. “Have you been stealing from Thatch?” Kotatsu, as Ace calls him, swipes at Ace’s face, smushing it to the side. A faint burning smell fills the air but Ace appears unconcerned, so Thatch lets it slide in favor of staring at the cat.

Upon noticing, Ace smiles at Thatch and tells him “This is Kotatsu! The Spades’ Cat. I thought he was with Skulls and Banshee on Moby Four, but no, you like stealing my food, don’t you? Bastard.”

Ace shoves his face into Kotatsu’s fur and is almost consumed by the fur that… that doesn’t really look like fur.

In fact, a lot of things don’t look like they are when dealing with the Spades.

“I’ll take care of him, making sure he doesn’t steal anything else.” Ace’s voice is strangely unmuffled as he walks away, Kotatsu in his arms and trap untouched.

Thatch stares dumbly and feels the sense of oddness washing away.

What?

God, he sounds like a broken record.

But now that the mystery of the stolen meat is gone…

A new mystery arises.

How the hell did that cat hide itself?

-

Thatch can’t sleep at night, now that he knows the watching feeling is Ace’s giant pet cat, which is too large to fit in any shadow yet still stalks him.

Something is up with the Spades pirates. All of them.

(It’s in the way Ace laughs or fights or exists on deck. His eyes are never the same color, his teeth a tad too sharp in certain lights, and his tattoos, emblazoned on his shoulder and back by Deuce’s skillful hand, have an unworldly shine to them

It’s in the way there is ash left in his footsteps soot where his fingers grip a tad too tight. Looking at him, directly, it’s like there’s a burning sense to eyes, like Thatch is looking directly at a blinding fire.

It’s in the way Deuce never takes off his mask but his entire face reacts a little too late to what he is saying, like he’s a second behind himself, like he’s a fault mask at work. It’s in the way Banshee lives up to her name and Skull’s skulls are always different but look a little too real for the odd horned shapes they have. It’s in the way everyone gives Finamore a wide berth but he’s less than five feet and the way Saber’s hat has five holes on either side, same as Ace. It’s in the way they all grow blurry when the sun goes down but no one mentions it, and the way Ducky Bree’s eyes aren’t ever exactly eyes.

The crew loves Ace, loves the Spades, for they are brothers and they won’t ever not love them, but they shy off, sometimes, when the dark is a bit too dark for anything normal.)

Thatch is going to find out what, because while the rest of the crew may chalk it up to Grand Line madness (a crew of misfits, the newspapers said) Thatch, and the other commanders, and some of the old hands of the crew who were around in Roger’s reign, know better.

What are you, Ace, really? What’s going on here?

He starts talking to the other Spades more often, trying to find out what’s going on, only to be met with laughter.

(Deuce’s mask shifts when he laughs, as if it’s not used to making that expression. He turns his head to fix it and Thatch swears his face slides forward just a bit, like it’s not even his. Its dark, under there, and it's gone for a second, but Thatch can’t stop staring.

He doesn’t talk to Deuce for a while after that.)

“Thatch,” Mihar says, tipping his hat up. “Be careful, won’t you? There are things you do not want to learn.”

Thatch doesn’t heed the warnings and backs off from Mihar too. But the rest of the Spades? Thatch is going insane.

He can’t explain it, he really can’t, he tries to tell Marco and Izo and everyone but he can’t explain anything beyond “It’s off.” His throat locks up when he tries to speak about Deuce’s face or Finamore’s presence or the way Banshee walks through counters in the kitchen and he thinks he’s going insane.

Kotatsu waits outside his door in the morning, and Thatch see’s agonized faces in his fur.

(Save us, they seem to scream voicelessly in inky black non fur (wasn’t Kotatsu brown?) Save us from this -)

He shuts the door before they can finish, and doesn’t come out till Ace starts making noises at Kotatsu to move.

-

He keeps quiet about it to others aft that, but now Ace seems to have caught on. He smiles at Thatch, baring sharp teeth and pricking him with too sharp fingers. When they slump together at drunken parties Thatch feels the point of something poking into his cheek.  

Ace is Thatch’s beloved little brother but he can be a little shit sometimes. Especially when he takes his giant cat around (which Marco avoids like hell and is the source of Thatch’s amusement if not for the fact that Kotatsu keeps stalking him.) and rides the thing, leaving sharp gouges (in the Adam Wood deck) everywhere he goes like a king on a carriage.

(Thatch is sure the beast grown and shrunk twenty different time since it showed up. He doesn’t know how big it is, truly, only that Ace can ride it and carry it.)

He’s no closer to figuring it out than when he started, just more horrified.

-

As always, Pops has the answer, if in an unconventional way this time.

The sky is dark as the Moby battles in the midst of a hurricane. Some upstart pirate, strangely strong, had taken to attacking the ship.

Pops was impressed at his tenacity at first, then caught him throwing crewmates who objected over board. Then that impressment quickly turned to anger.

Now, in the middle of the storm, Pops was taking no chances to prolong the battle especially with the predictableness of a Grand Line’s storm.

Conqueror’s Haki cut through the air like an executioner’s sword, dropping everyone on the opposing ship dead. Thatch didn’t particularly care what happened to them.

But, for a second, Thatch’s eyes were opened.

(The Veil was gone, raging at a King’s force in which it could not fight.)

There was Ace, fire and volcanic ash in the rain, horned and glowing and made up skin just barely holding together some force. His eyes shone as did his tattoos, red in the light but shifting to blue as he watched. The necklace around his neck was floating wrapping around him with soft power as Ace raged with a sharp tooth grin across the deck.

Next to him, Deuce stood, if that was the word, tall, limbs bent and strange and his face…

Deuce didn’t have a face. Only a smile made of knives.

Hot breath went down Thatch’s neck.

Kotatsu, Thatch knew without seeing, K’oltqevo.

(The name comes in whispers)

He doesn’t look back. Ever.

(The Veil hides what should not be seen and not a soul knows why.

But, occasionally, it is so the world doesn’t fall for what it doesn’t know.)

Lightning strikes and Ace is ‘human’ again but Thatch knows what he saw.

-

He can’t come up with an explanation. He can’t. Thatch tries summoning stuff in the basement only to have Kotatsu land on him, maps out conspiracies, places where the Spades might have turned into this, this whatever it is.

Kotatsu laughs at him in that cat way of his, and Thatch is suddenly very afraid of how often Ace insults the lynx looking thing to his face.

(Little bastard, Ace affectionately says, coaxing Kotatsu to leap at Marco, who is more skittish now because he too saw the truth in that storm, Come on, get em.)

Thatch has gone insane.

-

Whitebeard laughs when Thatch tells him his theories.

“You’re brother,” Whitebeard says, “Is a true son of the sea. Tell me, what sea does your newest brother hail from?”

“The East- Oh.” Thatch remembers now.

His father, the one he was born to, had toured the world with him, but never went to the East.

“Son,” He had said, “The devil lives in that Sea.”

Guess it was literal.

(The whispers now, of Garp and Roger and Ace and Dragon, seem a bit more literal now, a bit more terrifying. Monsters, they were called, demons.

But who could have guessed it went beyond mere power?)

“Could’ve explained that from the start.” Thatch grumbles, though he knows no more now other than that the East Blue is a demon sea.

Whitebeard has a twinkle in his eye, and thinking back to the battle he had with Ace, Thatch wonders if he knew it from the start.

(After all, wouldn’t Whitebeard know better than anyone? Demons attacking you in the night (Ace, tenacious bastard, had attacked at all times) would alert anyone to the truth.)

“Where’s the fun in that?” Whitebeard rumbles. “Treat him kindly. This is his home.”

Thatch squawks. “Of course! He’s my brother!” Pops knows that, he knows, he’s just teasing.

He waves goodnight to his father and avoids Kotatsu’s giant tail in the hallway.

Brothers, we are brothers.

Ace smiles, the world darkens, and Thatch wonders what else he can’t see in the dark.

[yuanzhous]

Tim always liked it when Dick was in town. He liked working with Nightwing, he liked training with him, he liked their post-patrol talks in the kitchen. He liked how Dick always seemed to have time for these things, how he always looked interested no matter what they were talking about.

Of course, Dick wasn't in town very often. And it was easy to be nice to someone when you only saw them once in a blue moon. Whenever Tim's mother was home - she and his father traveled together for the most part, but not always - she was always pleasant and happy to see him, taking him to museums and exhibitions and fancy coffee shops. But once his nanny had bailed, and his parents had been forced to take him on a trip with them, a whole month. He'd never felt more acutely how much of a burden he was on them. Dick had never had to be around him for a month.

"What're you thinking?" Dick asked now with a disarming smile, enough to put anyone at ease. Tim knew it was at least partially an act, but that didn't mean it didn't work.

They were sitting together at the den, in comfortable silence up until now. Dick was sprawled across the sofa, feet on the armrest and crossed at the ankles, reading a comic. Tim was curled up with his knees close to his chest, absently doodling new costume ideas. The suit he was using currently was one of Dick’s old ones, but Bruce had given him permission to come up with a design of his own.

It felt good. He couldn’t think of a better confirmation that he was Robin for real.

"Just about the upcoming science fair," he lied easily. "My science teacher thinks I should participate, but I don't know. I'm kinda busy."

Dick's smile slipped. "Robin stuff?"

"Yeah," Tim said with a shrug. "And I mean, I don't care about it that much? I have better things to be doing than making mini-volcanoes or potato solar systems, you know? Mom and dad might think it's cool if I won first place, but..."

He cut himself off and shrugged again. Dick was quiet for a long time.

"Well,let me know if you decide to go for it," he said cheerfully. "I'd love to come. And I'd offer my help, but you're probably better at this stuff than I am."

"Why?" Tim asked, baffled. "You know it's just gonna be a bunch of middle schoolers with projects made by their parents, right? It's not very interesting."

Dick shrugged. "If you're participating, it'll be interesting enough."

Oh. That was a very nice thing to say, but it made Tim want to cry a little. No one had ever been interested in something just because Tim was.

"I mean, I don't know," he said, "I'm not even sure I wanna do it, you know? And you don't have to drive all the way from Bludhaven just for that, so..."

"Oh, I don't mind the drive," Dick dismissed. "It's an hour tops. Totally worth it."

Tim wanted to insist, but his mind was already spinning with ideas for the project. He'd have to balance his time, obviously, he couldn't afford to look like he was slacking in his duties as Robin, but there was still plenty of time before the fair. If Dick really wanted to come, at least Tim ought to present something that would make it worth his while.

"Okay," Tim agreed.

True to his word, Dick was there. Tim watched him make his way through the crowd, eyes scanning the room. His face lit up as soon as he spotted Tim and he waved, changing course to come greet him. Tim waved back halfheartedly, glancing at his solar oven.

It had seemed like a good idea at first, but now that his project was out in the open for everyone to see, it felt woefully insufficient. He'd hand-painted it and made sure it looked good on top of being functional, experimented with different materials for the insides of the oven to find the one that'd heat up faster, double and triple tested the boiling time to be sure he wouldn't keep the judges waiting too long. It didn't feel like he'd done enough. Why had he even bothered participating in this again?

"I'm not late, am I?" Dick asked as he reached Tim, catching him off guard and momentarily trapping him in a one-armed hug. He pulled away and ruffled Tim's hair. "This looks amazing. Can I touch it or am I gonna break it?"

Tim squirmed. "Maybe wait until after the presentation."

“You got it,” Dick said.

By looking at Dick, you would have thought he was faced with a real scientific creation, not just some kid's school project. It made Tim equal parts wary – he wasn't at all sure what he'd made could live up to those expectations – and excited. If he did well in the competition, his parents might be pleased, but there was no question that they would ever take the time out of their busy lives to attend something like this. Neither would they gush over a cardboard cut-out solar oven.

It gave him the confidence boost he needed. Once it was his turn to show his work to the judges, he placed the little black pot filled with water he had next to him in the oven, walking them through the way it worked while they waited for it to boil. He'd timed his speech exactly so that he could take the pot out the minute he was finished talking, presenting it to the judges as proof that it'd worked.

To his immense relief, everything went off without a hitch. He got the timing down perfectly and he didn't trip over his words too much, neither did he stumble and shower one of the judges in boiling water, as had been a recurring fear of his. Throughout the whole thing, Dick watched with a wide, proud grin spread across his face.

Tim kind of felt like a fraud – he hadn't done anything that cool. He didn't even win first place. Other kids had better, more nuanced projects.

Dick insisted that they go for ice cream to celebrate, and like that wasn’t enough, that Tim tell him where his favorite ice cream shop was. Tim squirmed a little because it was halfway across Gotham, and it felt like he was just wasting more of Dick’s time, but nobody could resist Dick’s puppy eyes and relentless spirit for long.

They each got a huge ice cream in a cup with far too many toppings, and the lady behind the register slipped Tim an extra oreo. He was happy to have it but frowned a little. Surely twelve was far too old to be given free stuff on account of cuteness, although Dick did always tease him about how small he looked.

“Nice of you to treat your little brother,” she said, eyes crinkling at the corners. “All my sister ever does is hog the TV."

Wincing, Tim opened his mouth to correct her, but Dick just laughed it off.

“Well, I don’t live at home anymore, so that’s rarely a problem,” he said in good humor. “And he deserves the treat. His school was holding a science fair today, and -”

To Tim’s growing horror, Dick proceeded to talk her ear off about Tim’s project, blowing the whole thing out of proportion. Luckily the shop was mostly empty and the girl didn’t seem to mind, but Tim was still mortified by the end of it.

“What was that for?” Tim demanded quietly as they finally turned to leave.

Dick put an arm over his shoulder and pulled him into a loose hug. “Hey, you did good. Don’t I get to brag about you?”

Tim shook his head, perplexed and embarrassed. “Think you might be overselling it a little?”

“Nope,” Dick declared, popping the ‘p’ with great authority. “I’m proud of you, and that’s that. I’m telling everyone we see today about it. Deal with it.”

“Dick, no,” Tim groaned.

“Everyone,” Dick insisted, and just to prove his point, waved cheerily at a man crossing the road. “Excuse me, sir, but did you know that -”

“Dick,” Tim hissed, grabbing his arm and dragging him away. Dick went willingly, laughing all the while. “Oh my god, what’s wrong with you. That guy’s giving me the stink-eye now.”

Dick waved a hand as he tried to catch his breath. “Sorry, sorry. I’m just teasing you.”

Tim huffed. “You’re a real dick, Dick.”

“I know. But Tim,” his smile fell away, eyes earnest, “you know that I really am proud of you, right?”

Affirming it verbally felt like hubris of the worst kind, so Tim only nodded and, for once, allowed himself to believe it.

[kya-chan14]

Garrus x Reader Pt. 1

 Note: In this story you are Fem!shepard’s little sister. In the first ME I imagine Shepard being around her early thirties, so i put the reader in her early twenties - so you’re fairly new in the alliance. Plus, your have like a goth/emo look. Idk what’s it called. (You watch NCIS? You know Abby? The forensics scientist. Yeah, you’re like her and Mordin combined. I wanted to make it fun.) 

  Summary:  Unlike your sister, you prefer to stay out of the line of fire. You were training to be an engineer/scientist. You know, calibrating heavy weaponry or repairing vehicles, stuff like that. But when your sister requests to have you on the Normandy with her when she goes to fight Saren, your in for the roller coaster of your life. 

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   Both of your parents were in the alliance military. You and your sister’s childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in the same location for more than a few years. Following in your parents’ footsteps, your sister enlisted at the age of eighteen. Ten years later, now your able to enlist as well. You wanted to be in a totally different department though. You wanted to be a scientist and engineer. 

   Your sister proved herself at Akuze, showing that she is a sole survivor. Jane Shepard, the best hope humanity has for finding their place in the council. You’re proud of her, you’re happy to say, ‘That’s my big sis!’ All the stories she has to share and her captain is amazing. Part of you wishes you could go with her on all of these adventures, but on the other hand you’re not a soldier. You’re just someone you studies forensics and mechanics.

     You don’t plan on staying in the shadows for long though. One day you’re going to prove to your sister that you are just as great in the lab as she is on the battlefield. You do have a goal to accomplish after all, to cure the genophage. You’ve wanted to ever since you learned about the history of the Krogan. 

     Anyways, right now you’re still in alliance training back on Earth. The last time you heard from Jane, she said she was on a shake down run on a prototype war ship on her way to Eden Prime. She didn’t tell you anything else, she couldn’t. On a need-to-know basis. And I didn’t need to know. This happened about two days ago. Now you didn’t even know if she was alive.

    While you were finishing your report on a deceased rabbit, which died from a new species of a poisonous snake, one of your team mates sent you a message on your omni-tool and requested you to meet in the mess hall.

        “Shepard, this is Wilson. We’re all in the mess listening to the news, there’s something that I believe you’d be interested in. Put down the scalpel for once and come see this.” 

   You were hesitant about leaving your work, but you left the lab and headed for the mess regardless. 

  When you arrived you found that a crowd was already there. You made your way through and found Wilson. 

        “I’m here, now what is it you wanted me to hear?”

   He then walked away and helped Adams turned on the radio. When it comes on, you couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

       “In the light of the recent attack on Eden Prime, many colonial investors are pulling there support for future projects. Proponents of expanded human colonization insist that Eden Prime was a isolated case. Nevertheless, colonist enrollment has dropped sharply. Many colonial proposals are on hold until backers have some reassurance that human colonies will be adequately protected.”

     You turned to Wilson confused. 

     “What hit them?” 

      “Geth. Word is that there was an army of the swarming Eden Prime.” 

      “Bullcrap. The Geth haven’t left the veil in about 200 years.” 

      “You’re not the only one to say that, but it’s true.” Wilson set a hand on your shoulder. “I know your sister was there when the attack hit and I already talked to the Instructor. A ship is waiting at the docks to take you to the Citadel.” 

     You looked at him dumbfounded. So many questions going through your head, but right now you didn’t care. You were just thankful to have such a good friend. 

      “Thank you Wilson. You’re a damn good friend.” After you said your piece, you were gone. You had to see Jane. Make sure she was alive. 

--- 

After the long flight you had finally arrived at the Citadel.You raced for C-sec knowing that they should hold some record for your sisters whereabouts. You did your best to not bump into anyone on your way there. 

     Once you’ve finally made it, you raced in and asked the first officer you saw. A human. 

       “Excuse me sir, I’m looking for my sister! She’s known as Commander Shepa-” 

        “I’m going to stop you right there girl.” 

      The officer held up his hand in a moment of silence. He looked annoyed. 

    “Number one, you don’t just run in here like a maniac. Two, there’s no need to yell. And three, you expect me to believe you are related to Commander Shepard?” 

     “Why not?” 

     “Look at you!” 

   He gestured to your being as a whole. 

    “You look as far from a military family than a whale compared to a fish.” 

    “So just because I dress differently, you’re not going to help me?” 

    “Get out of her kid.” 

   You shake your head in annoyance and walk away. If someone was going to judge your relations through your attire, than you were going to have a harder time finding information than originally planned. 

   You started thinking of all the ways you could find her. Hell, you even thought of going to the shadow broker just to find out if Jane was alive or not. You didn’t know what else to do. You were scared, you weren’t sure if you wanted to know what happened to her. But you had to find her regardless. 

   You started wonder the back alleys for anything or anyone to help you get in touch with your sister. Instead you came across a group of people who you got a bad vibe from. A quarian standing in the middle of it all, you had a feeling she was in trouble. 

   “Where’s the shadow broker? Where’s Fist?” She seemed suspicious, looks like she got the same vibes. 

   “They’ll be here. Where’s the evidence?” A turian ran his hand on her sensually. The quarian pushed it away. 

   “No way. The deal’s off.” 

   She started walking away until the turian pulled out a gun and aimed it right for her. On instinct you pulled out your own firearm and shot the turian. The Quarian whipped around in surprise to hear a gunshot. Then it turned into an all out fire fight. The quarian on one end, and you at the other. 

  You were only trained with a pistol, so you couldn’t do much damage. On the other hand, the quarian had a damn shotgun! In the end, together you neutralized the threat. She approached you in a calm manner. 

    “Thank you for your help. If you hadn’t shown up, I’d be dead. But, how do you know they were the bad guys?” 

   “ At the mention of evidence and a deal, that was proof enough they weren’t C-sec. And it’s not cool to shoot someone in the back.”  

  “Well thanks. Not many people would stick up for a quarian, let alone save their life.” 

   “Meh. Let those people burn in hell. They’re assholes.” 

   She laughed at the remark.

   “What is your name?” 

    “(Y/N) Shepard. I’m a trainee of the alliance.” 

   “A soldier?” 

   “No no, just an engineer and Forensics scientist. Nothing to flashy.” 

   “Ah.”

   “She’s a lot more than what she let’s on.” 

  A new voice has joined the conversation. One you recognized well. 

   You turned around to find your sister accompanied by a krogan and a turian. 

   “Jane!” 

  You didn’t care how childish it looked to charged at her with your biggest hug. 

   “I was so scared! I thought...... I actually thought you were..” 

   “Hey, calm down. I’m alright.” 

  She gave a hug in return. You stayed there while she started talking to the quarian. 

   “You must be the quarian, Fist was after.” 

   “That’s right. He set me up! I knew I couldn’t trust him.” 

   “Were you hurt?”

   “I know how to look out for myself. Not that I don’t appreciate the help. Who are you?” 

   “I’m Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy. I’m looking for evidence to prove Saren’s a traitor.” 

   “Then I have a chance to repay (Y/N) for saving my life. But not here. We need to go somewhere safe.” 

   “We could take her to the human embassy. Your ambassador will want to see this anyway.” 

  That was a different voice, a deep one, belonged to a man. Right now though, you didn’t care. You were too busy crying silently into your sister’s chest. She even picked you up and started walking. Man do you have an awesome sister. 

------ 

   “You’re not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora’s Den? Do you know how many- Who’s this? A quarian? A little girl? What are you up to Shepard?” 

  THIS, is the human ambassador? What an impression he puts off. You already hated him. 

    “This quarian and ‘little girl’ can help us bring down Saren. I would’ve told you that if you hadn’t jumped down my throat.”

  You smirked when Jane put out that last comment. You were happy to have a sister that didn’t take shit from anyone. But, what was that part about taking down Saren. Who even was Saren!?

   “I apologize, Commander. This whole thing with Saren has me a bit on edge.” 

  Bullshit. 

  “Maybe we should start at the beginning, Miss...?” 

  “My name is Tali. Tali’ Zorah nar Rayya.” 

  “We don’t see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?” 

  “I was on my pilgrimage. My rite of passage to adulthood.” 

  Jane jumped in. 

  “Tell us what you found.” 

  Tali nodded. 

   “During my travels I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile the geth never ventured beyond the veil. I was curious. I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become seperated from it’s unit. Then I disabled and removed it’s memory core.” 

   “I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism.” 

   You didn’t know this one, but his presence alone told you he was to be respected. Though he didn’t seem like the others who always demanded it. Maybe it was Captain Anderson? Jane told you a little about him in her messages. 

   This time, You butted into the conversation.

  “Is that true. How did you get anything?” As a fellow engineer, you were curious how she managed something like that. 

  “My people created the geth, if your quick, careful, and lucky small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from it’s audio banks.”  

   Tali then went onto her omi-tool and started playing us something. It was a man’s voice. Deep but hollow. 

  “Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit” 

  “That’s Saren’s voice! This proves he was involved in the attack.”  Anderson exclaims. The way he reacted to that recording though, kinda made you think there was more to this than just a normal geth attack. You knew people were throwing a fit because it was a human colony but, humans have killed humans for years. What’s so different about a turian doing the work instead?

  “He said Eden Prime has brought him one step closer to finding the conduit. Any idea on what that means?” Jane seemed to be more into this than you were. Then again, you had no idea what was going on. You only came here to make sure she was alive, not to join some man hunt. 

  “The conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it’s some kind of Prothean technology. Like a weapon.” Anderson and Jane were thinking of all sorts of possibilities of what could happen.

  “Wait, there’s more. Saren wasn’t working alone.” 

  Tali wasn’t done with her presentation yet and played the recording again.

    “Eden Prime was a major victory. The Beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit” 

    “And one step closer to the return of the reapers.” 

    That was a woman’s voice, it was deep, sinister almost. But somehow wise.

    “I don’t recognize that other voice, the one talking about reapers.” 

 The ambassador stated as if he was trying to end it there. Though, Jane was pondering over the name. 

   “I feel like I’ve heard that name before.” 

 Tali saw the confusion in everyone and shared what she knew about the reapers. 

  “According to the memory core, reapers were a advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The rapers hunted to protheans to total extinction and than they vanished! At least, that’s what the geth believe.” 

  “Sounds a little far fetched.” 

    What a shocker, a politician shoving away a possible threat just because it’s ‘far fetched’. 

  “The vision on Eden Prime, I understand it now.” 

  You looked at your sister like she was crazy. 

  “Vision?” 

  “I saw the protheans being wiped out by the reapers.” 

  “The geth revere the reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the reapers back.”  Tali explained. 

  “The council is just going to love this.” The ambassador grumbled at this so called fairy tale. 

   Jane seemed to truly be expecting the reapers, so you believed what she said before about her vision. You would stand by her in any situation if you could. She’s always been there for you, it was time to repay her. 

  “This is a lot to handle. They might just ignore everything we tell them.” 

  “No matter what they think of the rest of this, those audio files proves Saren’s a traitor.” Anderson sounded excited over the whole idea of bringing this Saren down. 

  “The captain’s right. We need to present this to the council right away.” 

 “What about the Quarian?” The krogan that was following Jane finally speaks! 

   “Umm, her name is Tali.” You said politely but quietly. 

    “Thank you, (Y/N).” She slightly bowed her head at you in appreciation, then faced your sister. “You saw me in the alley way commander, you know what I can do. Let me come with you.” 

   You could tell that Tali was hoping to tag along instead of being stuck somewhere she isn’t treated with respect. You didn’t blame her, you would do anything just to get away from such a life. 

   “I thought you were on your pilgrimage?” 

   “The pilgrimage proves we are willing to give up ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on something like this. Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My pilgrimage can wait.” 

   “In that case, I’ll take all the help I can get.” 

  “Thanks. You won’t regret this.” 

  “What do you plan on doing with the girl commander? She seems confused over everything we have talked about.” After the ambassador’s question, everyone’s eyes were now on you. You shifted uncomfortably. 

  “This girl, is my little sister. She’s ten years younger than me.” Jane set a hand on your shoulder while she faced the captain and the ambassador. 

 “You’re right, she has no idea what’s going on. Knowing her, she more than likely only came here to see if I was alright after hearing about the attack on Eden Prime.” She then looked at her smugly. “Am I right?” 

    You just glared at her. “Fine next time I won’t care if you’re dead or alive.” 

 “Well then it’s probably best she stays out of it. Meet us at the Presidium commander. I’ll give you time to send your sister on the first flight home.”

 The ambassador didn’t like the idea of some child joining a fight. Even if she was a Shepard.

  He left the room and Anderson left behind him. It was then just you, your sister, and her new friends. You spoke up first.

   “You’re not really going to send me home are you?”

  “Depends. There’ll probably be danger on every corner here, (Y/N).”

 You looked at her with a smile. “I eat danger for breakfast.”

 “Well then. Are you hungry?”

 “Starving.”

[charmspoint]

5 works tag game

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Thanks for tagging me @scarletrain1724, sorry I ended up procrastinating this a tad ;;; This year i returned to writing fanfiction so its a bittersweet year for me, sweet cuz hey im writing again and it feels great! But bitter because theres still this feeling of ‘I could do better’. Still there’s some things I’m proud of this year and I hope the next I’ll write even more and get even better. Now in no particular order.

1. Lio Fotia: Unextinguished 

So fun story, me and my brother watched Promare this year, way after the initial hype happened and while the movie itself didn’t blow me out of water I ended up loving Lio a lot. So I wrote this fic in an hour and a half and posted it immediately with barely a proof read at like 3 am or something like that. That itself tells you it’s not the most polished of fics and it displays my biggest bad habits loud and proud, there are whole paragraphs in there that are only one sentence that runs on and on and on. It is my writing and it’s rawest, in a moment of inspiration and too late at night. I should probably edit it at some point to pretty it up, but I’m kind of fond of it’s raw status as you would be fond of an ugly kitten. 

2. Molotov 

I mostly did this one to be able to apply to Metamorphos DabiHawks zine and just by getting me in it went above and beyond what I expected. But it was also a work I tried in a new atmosphere in, one that I kinda wanna figure out how to use more because I enjoy it so much when I read it in other peoples work. It’s a snapshot fic and I might return to it and develop it’s story in the future and I might not, but I’m pretty happy with what it is right now. 

3. The suffocating quality of your dying breaths (And the effect they had on me)

Better known as the Chuuya fic. I had the idea for this fic while i was in bed and then got up and written the entire idea out in a oneshot in like a few hours. I was almost gonna post that but then i was like ‘wait i could do better’ and so I expanded that 2.3k long drabble into the whole fic. I still think i could have done better in some parts and that the characterization is a bit off since this was my return to the fandom, but its still dear to my heart and I think it ended up about how i wanted it to. It was also one of the thing that helped me get back into Bungou as well as made me wanna write more Bungou fics so theres that.

4. Red String of Death

My DabiHawks tragic romance fic that was quite a wild ride. I almost gave up on it at one point, thinking its too dull and boring but than I got a beta to read it and she really liked it, returning my inspiration for the fic tenfold (this is why chapter three is longest, cuz I wrote it after my beta read the first two and left her comments). It ended up pretty good and I’m really proud of it, especially since I’ve gotten a lot of positive interaction on it and even art that’s unrelated to the bang. It still feels a little surreal that people are actually building little theories and headcanons on my fic, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that kind of interaction with my fisc before. Of course with the attention comes the imposter complex and I once again end up worrying and scolding myself for not making the fic longer or not explaining some stuff well enough. One day I’ll write a fic I’m truely happy with ;;;

5. My thesis

I don’t got any other works I’m super proud of but I did finish my thesis this year and I think that’s worth celebrating. It was on topic of ‘Asexuality and the tendency to enter romantic relationships’ (Translated from croatian, I kinda ended up regreting the wording i chose since it doesn’t translate well what I mean in croatian to english ;;;) I poured my blood, sweat and tears into this goddamn thing and encountered every problem possible from uncooperative professor to unresponsive sites, faulty translations and my own many dumb failings. But it did got done in the end and I did get 5/5 so you know what I did well, can’t wait to suffer all over again next year 

Almost forgot to tag people hjbjhbhj Imma do @viiyverns-den and @autumn-foxfire and honestly anyone who wants in on this

[signs-of-the-moon]

Moon Rise: Chapter 35

It had been a difficult moon for Swiftcloud to bare through, but a full moon nonetheless. Staying in camp was harder than she'd remembered it being as an apprentice. But at least she was in good company. Shadowfang was still on nest-rest along with her, but appeared to be handling it better than Swiftcloud was. He seemed happy for the companionship, and for the chance to spend more quality time with his father, young siblings, and mate. Swiftcloud had to agree that it was enjoyable, but she missed being out in the meadow. She so badly wanted to run in the open fields, chasing rabbits, and training Tulippaw for battle. There wasn't enough space in camp for her to properly stretch her legs, and the medicine cats would yowl at her if she so much as tried to join in a playfight. Still, at least Swiftcloud was kept busy. Just because she was camp bound did not mean she did not have things to do, after all.

Frequently, she had been called to sit in on strategy meetings; an honor that was usually only granted to the clan's most senior warriors. Whitestar seemed to value the young molly's input ever since she'd come up with the idea to push back the border; like Swiftcloud was some sort of master battle planner. But Swiftcloud didn't exactly understand why she was looked upon in this light. She wasn't much of a fighter herself. The strategizes she came up with didn't seem to be all that special either, any cat could think of them with enough information given. But Whitestar had faith in her, so Swiftcloud kept some faith in herself-even when she felt she shouldn't.

Beyond battle planning, Swiftcloud took some time to speak with Dewstone. Before, Dewstone had been very intrigued by Swiftcloud's theory that one cat may be responsible for the deaths of Waspwing, Butterflytail, and Ambereye. Between strategy meetings, Swiftcloud gave her opinions to the Code Keeper about the situation. Inside camp, she kept an eye out for suspicious activity. And outside of camp, Dewstone searched for anything unusual. She'd even follow battle patrols to the Forest Patch, just in case evidence may present itself. Or if another warrior fell victim to whoever it might be murdering Grassclan's cats. So far, both mollies had come back without proof of anything. But Swiftcloud was certain there was something going on. She could feel it.

Beyond those obligations, Swiftcloud spent the rest of her time helping the queens by distracting the pluthera of kits in the nursery. They'd grown so big within a moon's time, doubling in size and intelligence faster than the blink of an eye. Most of the kits were talking already, and trying to escape from the bear-length of space they were allowed to travel from their den. Jaybird's kits already had names picked out, being referred to by their prefix for the time being while they awaited their official naming ceremony. Mint, Cinder, and Bunny were their names. It seemed Ashwhisker was fixed on a couple of names as well; Pigeon and Oriole. Good names for good kits, Swiftcloud thought when she had heard them. All the nursery members were good. Once or twice during her camp confinement, Swiftcloud had imagined herself joining the queens. What if during this time off she decided to take the opportunity to have her own litter? Was she even ready for kits? Shadowfang seemed to be happy with whatever decision she'd make, but Swiftcloud was still unsure if she was prepared for motherhood. Especially at this time. Leafbare was fast approaching, and war still hung heavy over their heads. Even though there was a perfect opening, perhaps now wasn't best for starting a family. For the time being, Swiftcloud was content to settle down and watch other cats' families form and grow.

Today, Swiftcloud watched the camp contently from the edge of her den. Across the way she saw Frostfeather lounging outside the nursery, Quailbelly's shoulder pressed gently against hers. The two she-cats were busy grooming one of Jaybird's kits each, while the third bounced and circled around them on clumsy paws. After nudging the silver tabby kit, Mint, off to play, Frostfeather stuck out her tail to block the silver and black tabby's path. With a nod of her head, Bunny reluctantly came to settle between her older sister's paws. The kit wiggled and whined as Frostfeather took her time cleaning her.

"Bunny, lift your ears please so I can clean them." The kit didn't seem to want to listen, antsy within Frostfeather's grasp. Thankfully the older molly was a patient cat, but at this point she seemed to be getting a little annoyed. "Settle down, you restless mollykit," she chided playfully.

"I'm not a molly!" Bunny proclaimed suddenly. He puffed up, wagging his striped plumy tail with indignation. Swiftcloud couldn't help but be reminded of Jaybird in the way he was posturing. Frostfeather blinked, smiling at Bunny with a soft purr of amusement.

"What do you mean...? Ooh. Of course, I understand. Now, would you settle down you rambunctious tom?"

The kit let out a tiny "hmph" as a sign of both satisfaction and surrender, allowing his sister to finish tidying his fur. His ears flopped back down when Frostfeather had finished cleaning them, much to her chagrin. "Would you like me to tell the clan about your identity?" She asked. The silver and black striped kit looked back at his sister and gave an excited nod, bounding off as soon as the opportunity was presented to him. Swiftcloud resisted letting out an audible mrrow of amusement.

"Hey Frostfeather," Rabbitstorm meowed from across camp, prancing over to his sister. He had an unusual bounce in his step, and his face was lit up like sunlight on water. The fluffy tom came to a stop in front of his littermate who looked up at him with curiosity.

"I have some amazing news!"

"Oh really? What is it?" Frostfeather wondered, amused by her brother's lightheartedness.

"Heatherwing's expecting kits. My kits!" He proclaimed, excitement oozing from every flealength of his being. Frostfeather jumped to her paws, trilling with delight. Quailbelly purred out a congratulations, standing and bounding away to be with her sister.

Over by the medicine den, Swiftcloud saw the lilac molly in question. Heatherwing was standing with Whitestar, Cricketsong, and Chicorynose. Whitestar was rubbing her head affectionately against her younger sibling's, Quailbelly joining in as she caught up with her twin. The five sisters were having a conversation that could not be heard at this distance. They all appeared to be in high spirits. If she focused hard enough, Swiftcloud could barely make out the slight bulge of Heatherwing's belly. She must be farther along than I thought.

"Kits? Already?" Piped a voice. Snowfrost emerged from the nursery in one swift motion, drawing attention onto herself. Her tail-tip swayed with interest at the news, eyes narrowed skeptically. She must have been checking on Ashwhisker and Cricketsong's kits, overhearing the news as she readied herself to retire from the task.

"Yes! Goldensong says it'll probably be a large litter. Maybe with four or five kits," Rabbitstorm explained, the pride in his voice unmistakable.

"Wow! Congratulations, bunny!" Frostfeather purred. "I guess Heatherwing will be moving into the nursery soon, won't she?"

Rabbitstorm shook his head. "She's going to remain a warrior actually, and I've decided to become a queen. Heatherwing will nurse the kits, but I'll be the one to care for them."

"But what about your job as a guard?" Snowfrost fretted. "Will you return to your duties once the kits have been apprenticed?"

Once again, Rabbitstorm shook his head. "No...as much as I enjoy my job, and love being a warrior...I think I will like being a permanent nursery queen too. Mama will be proud, I think."

"Tch. You should not give up your career for this," Snowfrost warned. "You are a gifted fighter. And a great asset to the clan as a guard. We could do without another queen. But we cannot afford to allow good, strong cats like yourself to dedicate their time to kit rearing and emotional support. And there's a war going on; we need every claw in the fight that we can get. Or have you forgotten that?"

"This is my choice to make, Snowfrost," Rabbitstorm challenged. "I'll always be a great warrior. And I won't allow my skills to dull, either. I can be a queen and still be a great asset to our clan. I am simply changing my title, and taking on a second job. I'm not giving up anything. And if the clan should need me to fight, I'll fight with everything I have."

Snowfrost took a step back in surprise, disapproval gracing her sleek features. Her tail began to wag and her muzzle raised into the air with a small "hmph" in remark.

"You will regret this decision." Snowfrost almost sounded threatening. But Rabbitstorm remained calm despite his aunt's disapproval.

"If I do, that's for me to decide."

"What in Starclan's name is going on here?" Jaybird yowled by the fresh-kill pile. From the looks of it she had just returned from a hunting patrol, depositing an impressively sized rabbit to the food supply. The silver queen wasted no time stalking towards the group to join in their conversation. Her nostrils flared with exasperation and her tail swayed slowly behind her as she walked."I leave camp to stretch my legs for all of a heartbeat, and suddenly my kin starts to fight?"

"He is being a mouse-brain," Snowfrost insisted.

"Snowfrost won't accept the fact that I'm going to become a queen when my kits are born."

"Kits? I didn't realize cats born toms could give birth to their own litters," Jaybird's voice sounded skeptical and playfully teasing.

"Heatherwing is expecting. I want to be the one to take care of our kits in the nursery," Rabbitstorm elaborated.

Jaybird's tone immediately shifted. "Oh bunny, that's fantastic! Congratulations!"

"You're encouraging this?" Snowfrost looked shocked.

"Of course. If that is what Rabbitstorm wants, then who am I to deny him? I want my son to be happy. He'll be a wonderful father, and a great queen. He has the same natural instinct as I do. He has my blood."

"And mine," Snowfrost snapped. She seemed utterly offended at Jaybird's remark, like the queen had threatened to poison her firstborn. But this confused Swiftcloud. Rabbitstorm and his littermates were adopted. Did Jaybird and Snowfrost only discuss their blood relations now because they were in front of the littermates?

"Mama, why don't we relax a while together; have some prey?" Frostfeather interjected, trying to diffuse the argument.

Jaybird glared at her sister a heartbeat longer before relaxing. She turned towards Frostfeather, her scowl raising into a polite smile. "Oh yes, that sounds lovely. Going on that patrol did leave me feeling quite famished."

Frostfeather purred in response, swaying her fluffy tail. She herded Jaybird's kits back into the nursery then headed with her mother to the fresh-kill pile. Swiftcloud rose from her spot by the warrior's den, deciding to join them. As she matched pace with Frostfeather she could feel the piercing eyes of Snowfost on the back of their heads. Swiftcloud spared a look over her shoulder to see the medicine cat tense and bristling. Anger glazed her eyes, her gaze snapping onto Rabbitstorm who jabbed her side with a paw. Snowfost jolted away from his touch, storming off to another part of camp to get away from the tom.

Swiftcloud gave her whiskers an indignant twitch as she returned her attention towards the fresh-kill pile. Tulippaw and Tigerfang were there when the warriors and queen arrived. The dark tabby was looking just as proud as the apprentice did, who sat with a bird by the tips of her paws.

"Look what I caught today, Swiftcloud!" Tulippaw exclaimed proudly, jestering towards the blue jay with her tail tip.

"I helped to hold an assessment today," Tigerfang informed. "Tulippaw hunted expertly. She's on her way to becoming a great Grassclan warrior. Though, of course, she still has a lot to learn."

That was a relief to hear. Despite Swiftcloud's confinement, it seemed Tulippaw was keeping on top of her lessons. Swiftcloud couldn't be more proud.

"Thank you for letting me know. I'll be sure to work on Tulippaw's weaker areas just as soon as Goldensong gives me the all clear to return to my duties. I don't think it'll be much longer, thankfully."

"Maybe you should get yourself examined soon, see what the medicine cats have to say about your wounds?," Tigerfang suggested.

"You know, that's actually a good idea. It's been a moon after all. I think I'll go do that," Swiftcloud responded.

"We'll catch up later, then," purred the tabby warrior, touching noses with his clanmate. "Come, Tulippaw, let's bring some of this prey to the elders."

"Yes Tigerfang," Tulippaw responded obediently, snatching up the rabbit Jaybird had brought home. She dragged the plump creature by it's leg, disappearing into the rock which housed the elders with Tigerfang. Swiftcloud purred approvingly before turning to her companions.

"Save me some prey please. I'll be back in a little bit."

"I'm sure there will be plenty left over when you come back," Jaybird mewed with a smile.

"Not with the way Frostfeather eats," Swiftcloud giggled, watching her friend snatch up the blue jay and begin tearing into it. She paused momentarily, plucking a long feather from the bird's wing. She moved close to her mother, inserting it into the fur by the base of the queen's tail.

"There. I think that looks pretty," Frostfeather purred. Jaybird twisted around to inspect her daughter's handiwork.

"Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you, precious, what a lovely gift," Jaybird trilled, rubbing her cheek against Frostfeather. Swiftcloud nodded in approval, turning away from the scene, making her way over to the medicine den.

Goldensong was inside the tree's trunk alone, sorting some fragrant herbs that made Swiftcloud's mouth water. The warrior politely cleared her throat, waiting for the medicine cat to take notice of her.

"Ah Swiftcloud, hello," Goldensong greeted as she stood up. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could give me an exam. It's been a full moon, and I want know how much longer it will be until I can go back to my warrior duties."

Goldensong let out a thoughtful hum, approaching the patched warrior. She first made Swiftcloud lift her chin, pulling back the cobwebs that had been packed on her wound a few days prior. Swiftcloud could feel the golden molly's nose poking the area, tickling her as Goldensong took quick sniffs. The medicine cat pulled back after a moment, moving to look at the other molly's shoulder.

"It looks like everything has closed up nicely. There's still some scabbing along your neck, but it should flake off within another day or so. I'd say you're well enough to get back to work."

Swiftcloud's pelt prickled with excitement. "Really!?"

Goldensong nodded approvingly. Giddy as a bird, Swiftcloud thanked the medicine cat kindly. She turned quick as a snake, prancing out of the den. She'd go on to have a bite to eat, then maybe out for a bit of training with Tulippaw.

[ogkunty]

Furcadia Toxicity

The complete log file is provided, everything here is unedited, this all transpired publicly and should be available for everyone to have access to at all times. Thank you. (19:14:03) Tacada: watching the riot police going (19:14:21) Kixy: Protesting doesn't do anything. (19:14:23) Kunty: Nah, tell people to spend time with their fucking families they keep trying to ride dicks/cunts out of (19:14:23) Tacada: theyre taking the hong kong approach the protestors. using cones n water to stop tear gas nades (19:14:32) Kunty: they riot if quarantined. (19:14:33) Ditty: god (19:14:37) Ditty: turned out as expected (19:14:45) Ditty: Kixy: People will make a bigger stink out of not being called the correct pronoun than anything important. (19:14:48) Ditty: so peoples pronouns are important (19:14:52) Ditty: not sure why you have to bring that into this lmao (19:14:58) Puffin: ^^^^^^ (19:15:01) Ditty: Maya: Just offer free heroin and meth, you'll see enough people. (19:15:02) Ditty: so thats gross (19:15:07) Ditty: not sure why you have to bring that into this either (19:15:08) Kunty: IDC about pronouns, why is that even a thing? (19:15:09) Kixy: The point was that people get more angry over stupid shit than anything serious? (19:15:15) Ditty: pronouns are not stupid shit (19:15:19) Kunty: They are (19:15:21) Kixy: Yes they are. (19:15:27) Puffin: Riots are the language of the unheard, fam (19:15:29) Kixy: Compared to SO SO many things. (19:15:34) Ditty: why do we have to compare (19:15:39) Ditty: peoples identities are extremely important (19:15:41) Ditty: you cant rank it among other things (19:15:54) Ditty: did you know humans have the capacity to care about multiple things at once or are furcadians not able to do that (19:15:55) Tacada: sorry ditty i started all of this O.O (19:15:57) Kunty: I agree with Kixy, pronouns are NOT important in comparison to riots, killings, and corona. (19:16:03) Ditty: why are we comparing them (19:16:06) Ditty: answer the question

SEE THE REST WITH THIS LINK TO THE HTML LOG FILE

----- ^^^ ----- ^^^ ----- ^^^ -----

The Devil’s Den Discord Meanwhile... Yes, you may Join.

/6:33 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: IMAGINE SEXUALLY HARASSING PEOPLE AND BEING TRANSPHOBIC AS FUCK ON FUCADIA [6:34 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: LITERALLY JUST FOR ATTENTION [6:34 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: WHO FAILED YOU [6:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: JK ITS YOUR OWN FUCKIN FAULT [6:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: "THE DEVIL'S DEN" THIS IS SOME SERIOUSLY TEEENY EDGELORD SHIT [6:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR GROSS RAPE FANTASY THESAURUS-FUCKING DESCRIPTION [6:36 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: UNAPOLOGETIC SEXUAL HARASSERS SHOULD BE SHOT [6:39 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: jesus your discord server is dead as fuck [6:39 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: small wonder you have no friends [6:39 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you are human garbage(edited) [6:43 PM] Hellcat: I'm here to fuck ass [6:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: its completely dead its no use [6:44 PM] Hellcat: Plague queens are my fetish tho [6:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: im here to fuck ass and fuck bubblegum [6:45 PM] Hellcat: Who failed you lmfao [6:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: yeah i had to rethink that cuz that'd mean it's someone else's fault [6:46 PM] Hellcat: It smells like poop and semen [6:47 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: as expected [6:55 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: [REDACTED] just thought yall should know your friend is a gross transphobe who repeatedly talked about my partner's genitals after being asked not to [6:55 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: and also claimed corona was a good thing because the world needs a "plague" [6:55 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: attention seeking teen edgelord bullshit [6:56 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: could only respond with "k" when it was brought up [7:08 PM] Ill: ? [7:09 PM] Ill: Logs please @Xzfgiiimtsath#6669(edited) [7:11 PM] Ill: It is without saying that unless evidence is provided, everything else is simply hearsay. I’m sorry to say that, without visible proof of this outrageous claim, you’re kind of just making empty accusations and slanderous character bashing. ): [REDACTED]  [7:12 PM] Ill: Oh, I guess they just wanted to troll. ): I’m sorry, hopefully this can be cleaned up. [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: OH HI [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: JUST ASK HER SHE WONT DENY IT [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: she was pretty proud of it on furc [7:28 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: i can post logs but judging from your response to that you'd just say i'd edited them lol [7:29 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: is it really hard to believe that she'd say something like that? seems pretty in-character for her [7:31 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: i mean you guys jerk it to beast porn tho i dont have high hopes for any moral outrage here [7:31 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: but if there were any trans people in the server id def want them to know [7:33 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: she was shit-talking people who care about their pronouns [7:33 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: my partner, who is trans, tries to explain to them what's wrong with that [7:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: then Kunty's response is to repeatedly talk about not wanting to hear about their genitals(?) which has nothign to do with pronouns and wasnt part of the conversation [7:35 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: when asked to stop talking about their genitals she continues unabated just to piss them off(edited) [7:36 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you can choose to believe im just making this up for no reason if you want, but that would be really fucking brickheaded of you [7:37 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: care more about your shitty transphobic friend repeatedly who was bringing up my partners genitals randomly and without their consent(edited) [7:37 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: @ill [7:40 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: again, 0 hopes for you response, youre a fantasy animal r*pe enthusiast who says things like, "It is without saying that unless evidence is provided," [7:40 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: holy fuck get your head out of your ass [7:41 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: but ill STILL warn you of your transphobic friend since judging on your art youre lgbtq+ [7:43 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: are you just gonna wait til i leave again to respond? figures [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you didnt even ask them about it, just "NO EVIDENCE SO ITS FAKE" [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: you'd really go that far to defend this person when you have no idea what happened? [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: god you fucking suck [7:44 PM] Ill: Okay but [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: but nothing [7:44 PM] Ill: You are actively here [7:44 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: wow youre a fuckin genius or something eh [7:44 PM] Ill: Why are you being aggressive? [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: because im pissed [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: obviously [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: stupid question [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: why are you deflecting [7:45 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: and defending your transphobic friend for no god damn reason [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz [7:46 PM] Ill: Okay, I understand that you are in an emotional state right now, but I would really need you to calm down first before coming off on a rage to people that have no idea what you are upset over. [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: ? [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: read my post dumbass [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: then you'd know [7:46 PM] Ill: No [7:46 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: LOL [7:47 PM] Ill: Here is why [7:47 PM] Ill: The stupidest things we say are said out of Anger. [7:47 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: are you legit like 14 [7:47 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: im wasting my time [7:47 PM] Ill: I will advise you a little more directly that you take time to calm down before you come venting. [7:48 PM] Ill: No, I am asking you to be an adult [7:48 PM] Ill: And not a raging tween with a hormone spike [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: said the literal child who thinks having emotions means "not being an adult" [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: lmfao [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: not being pissed about transphobia is a character flaw [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: work on it bitch [7:48 PM] Ill: I emphasize with your anger, I am not saying it is wrong to have them [7:48 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: emphasize with my anger [7:49 PM] Ill: I am saying that you are abusing everyone else for things we have no knowledge or control over [7:49 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: what the fuck are you talking about [7:49 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: im warning you about your transphobic friend and youre being a piece of shit about it [7:50 PM] Ill: You are acting like a child, I’ve been there and done that - it does not end well. Please take time to self care for yourself first so you can be an adult that can have a calm conversation [7:50 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: and you also fantasize about r*ping animals so again: 0 hope for you to have any concept of why things are wrong [7:50 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: total fucking human garbage [7:50 PM] Xzfgiiimtsath: [8:05 PM] Ill: I am going to go step away before I address this further, I am losing some patience very quickly. I am kindly asking you to do the same so that you may take time to care for yourself during this clearly highly emotional state you are in. Maybe sip some cool water, dab your cheeks with ice, and/or take a moment with a loved one that makes you feel safe. I do not know what else to recommend here, I do not assume ignorance right away when meeting people, and I would like to think that other people can also step back to rationalize themselves down from tensions like these. I call this being an adult, growing up enough to get beyond yelling and throwing every accusation at someone simply because you’re angry. Accepting that it could be possible there is a grave misunderstanding, or maybe even misinterpretation of intent/meaning. As a person that never gets these opportunities to rationalize issues away from pure misunderstood hatred, I have never seen the actual outcome. In the adult world here, if we are angry with someone that offended us, we can’t just go into their family bbq and be screaming like lunatics about how their goat fuckers based solely on our interpretations, either. That would lead to calling the police... it doesn’t get you anywhere ... not in the adult world. You need to stop and care for yourself before you come guns blazing. You don’t DO this in the adult world and then call the adults staring at you like a tantruming toddler “children” because they won’t feed your anger. I’m sorry, for whatever it is you feel WE did to you specifically. You came here, though and whatever your assumptions are, I understand that there is no arguing with you or reasoning with you beyond you are the victim of some unproven atrocity. 

- Xzfgiiimtsath#6669 - Hellcat#0186

(19:15:15) Ditty: pronouns are not stupid shit (19:15:19) Kunty: They are (19:15:21) Kixy: Yes they are.

[zrtranscripts]

Season 8, Mission 26: Soft Target

Drenched In Secrets

~

TOM DE LUCA: Thanks for joining me, Five. Everyone else is looking for the Edda, and there's no way the skincoats would leave it lying around for us to find. Amelia's reported the fungus on the mainland has died back completely. That doesn't help us. Everyone on Mor is still infected, and Janie's very sick. But she's considering ordering a frontal assault on the laird. It seems likely he's the skincoats' leader.

You know, Five, when Janie and I were young, after our parents died, we were sent to stay with a man named General Bakari. [laughs] I think he tried to kill you, once. He was a big believer in serving one's government. I suppose it made sense he'd side with the Ministry. He could be a, uh, sharp man. We played board games. He was better with children when there were rules. Jane didn't take to him at first. She always made a point of winning. Monopoly, Scrabble, [laughs] everything. He told us if we could excel, excelling was our duty. Pushed us to be better, stronger, faster. To be thorough, avoid mistakes.

I've made a lot of mistakes. I hurt people when I came back from Algeria. I was so very broken then, and I barely realized. [laughs] Negative operational condition. And now the dreams every night. [sighs] I've started to see things in daytime, too. Apparitions out of the corner of my eye. I just don't know if I can... trust myself.

[sighs] I recognize this beach. It's where Jones came ashore, where his hostage died in his place. I have to be in proper condition, Five. Janie's counting on me. I've got a hunch that could be key to beating the skincoats. I think many people on this island have been led astray. I think I can help, and I trust you to help me. We're meeting Shona at the far end of the beach. I need her, too. This way. Run!

~

SHONA REID: There you are, Tom. Got your message. Been waiting by this rock pool for ages. Hello, Five.

TOM DE LUCA: The caves here are impressive, aren't they, Five? They honeycomb the cliffs all along the beach. Shona, I'm sorry to drag you out here, but we need your help and we're running out of time.

SHONA REID: You know I'll do whatever I can. We're all in this mess together, aren't we? [?]. We're even sharing the same dreams.

TOM DE LUCA: It's about the skincoats. We don't know why they want the Edda, but we know the Edda's linked to king of the rocks. There's a connection between the Vikings, the ceremony, and the V-type fungus. The Edda's key to uncovering it. My instinct says the skincoats are using the island's cave network to move around undetected. They may have another source of fungus underground, too. [paper rustles] I have a compass and an island map. Five and I are going to sweep the caves for signs of hostile activity. We could use a local guide.

SHONA REID: It's a big island, you know. There's a zom or two still left underground, and some caves flood when the tide comes in.

TOM DE LUCA: We'll be careful. With your help, we can cover a good chunk of the island today. I want to start here, move east along the coast.

SHONA REID: All right. But we better be fast. We dinnae want to be caught by the tides. Come on. Run!

~

SHONA REID: Keep your torch out, Five. The way these caves wind, not much daylight gets down here.

TOM DE LUCA: Plenty of stalactites, though. Shona, I know we aren't too popular on Mor after the naming festival. What has your father been saying about us?

SHONA REID: He's in shock still. The skincoats are back, old legends walking, and a man turns into a monster right in front of his eyes. He doesn't know who's to blame.

TOM DE LUCA: He seems a formidable man. Proud. A valued leader.

SHONA REID: Aye. I've heard some call him that. You're very interested in my dad, big man. [laughs]

TOM DE LUCA: He reminds me of the general who helped raise me. A gifted leader, a fine mentor. Not always the best at judging right from wrong.

SHONA REID: Dinnae know what you're getting at there, Mr. De Luca. But we should hurry. Dad has been jumpy since the ice bridge. Me running off to Dearg made him worse. If I'm out late, he'll come looking, and be in a mood.

TOM DE LUCA: We should head east, according to my map.

SHONA REID: Down that cave, both of you. Run!

~

TOM DE LUCA: These caves are getting narrower. Did you and Jones really play down here, Shona?

SHONA REID: Aye, when we were young, before his... troubles.

TOM DE LUCA: Jones did evil things, but Morag told us he may not have been the one who murdered your uncle.

SHONA REID: Ach, that's madness! Everyone knows he did it!

TOM DE LUCA: Before the apocalypse, I worked in covert intelligence. So did my sister. Her first mission ended badly. My fault. I pressed her to join. After, I helped her cover it up. Lied so she could keep her career. I understand doing anything for family, I do. But I also know following orders isn't always right.

SHONA REID: You know, Mr. Spy, it feels like you've been steering us on a very specific route, the way you keep checking your compass.

TOM DE LUCA: Just keeping my bearings.

SHONA REID: Aye. Well, the path ahead forks two ways. One tunnel goes to the surface, and the other goes deeper. Not sure I remember which goes where. Five, you scout the left cave while we scout the right. Once I'm sure which is which, I'll know the way.

TOM DE LUCA: Sounds like a plan. Don't worry, Five, we won't be apart long. You go right, we'll head left. Down that cave, quicksmart. Run!

~

TOM DE LUCA: Five, are you receiving? The caves can limit comm range. Increasing power to my broadcast so you can track us.

SHONA REID: Keep going up the cave path, Tom. That's daylight up ahead.

TOM DE LUCA: Continue scouting in the caves, Five. Await further orders.

SHONA REID: Ach, we're out in the open. Feel that fresh air. This spot look familiar to you, Tom? Big hills, sharp cut of coast. This is near where we first met, isn't it?

TOM DE LUCA: I'm not sure. That night was very stormy.

SHONA REID: Funny how you seemed to steer us this way, and all that talk about my dad. You think he has something to do with the skincoats, don't you? Maybe even my uncle.

TOM DE LUCA: I think the skincoats have more power than we guessed on this island, and lots of people have been caught in the middle.

SHONA REID: You're a funny one, big man. Tell you what. The exact spot we met's a bit over there. There's something just past it that'll get your gears turning if you're thinking of my dad. Come on, before I change my mind.

[zombie moans]

TOM DE LUCA: That sounds like a zombie in the caves with you, Five. Use the tunnels to evade it. Run!

~

TOM DE LUCA: Sounds like you've lost the zombie, Five. Try to backtrack towards the fork where we parted. Find the tunnel Shona and I took. Shona's just lead me to the spot where we first met her.

SHONA REID: Come on, Mr. Spy. Why don't you drop the games? I see you looking at your watch. What are you sniffing after? I'm not showing you what I know until you say.

TOM DE LUCA: I've followed bad instincts before, hurt people by being wrong. And now the red fungus is clouding my mind... or clearing it. I needed proof to be sure.

SHONA REID: Proof of what, exactly?

TOM DE LUCA: You came from the wrong direction, Shona. That first night. I didn't realize then. It was dark, and I didn't know the island. But you weren't coming from the town or the laird's manor, not from a direction anyone lives in.

SHONA REID: Sure about that? Like you said, it was a stormy night.

TOM DE LUCA: Jody suggested Jones was telling the truth about the laird killing his decoy, but I keep thinking. Jones can't have seen clearly through that storm. You said something at the festival. We pop up where you don't expect. Jones never would have trusted your dad to get close, and range is tricky in a storm. But your dad knew someone Jones would trust, and you'd do anything for your dad. I think he sent you to kill Jones, and you've been living with the guilt ever since. But you don't have to hold it in anymore.

SHONA REID: [laughs] You think he sent me to kill Jones? Do I look like a killer?

TOM DE LUCA: No! I thought you'd used the caves to get away quickly, encountered us on your way home. You thought we were islanders. Helping us would have been a good alibi. Only we know roughly when Jones landed. I've been timing, seeing how long it took you to get from the beach to here. We've been too slow. At that pace, you would have missed us that night.

SHONA REID: Aye. I would have. You think I'd do all that for my dad?

TOM DE LUCA: I would. For the people I love.

SHONA REID: Well, it's nae dad, but there's someone I work for. Want to meet them, Mr. Spy? I know you do. This way. Come on.

TOM DE LUCA: [whispers] You need to get out of the caves, Five. Find the tunnel I went down. Hurry! Run!

~

TOM DE LUCA: Five, you should be in the tunnel Shona and I took by now. Keep going. Shona's lead me to the ruins of Gaisgeach Village. Lots of abandoned houses, frames overgrown with grass.

SHONA REID: Come on, big man, it's just over here.

TOM DE LUCA: Five, we're in some kind of den in one of the ruined houses. Shona's moving some stones by a wall... My God! Th-there's a book behind them... it's the Edda!

SHONA REID: Not going to celebrate? You've been looking a long time.

TOM DE LUCA: Five, there's a wooden pot by the panes. Red fungus growing out of it, silver dust around.

SHONA REID: I couldnae leave it at home with you lot poking around, could I? Go on. Say a proper hello to my boss.

TOM DE LUCA: You mean... the fungus?

SHONA REID: More a pal than a boss, really. I help it. It helps me.

TOM DE LUCA: Shona, listen. I'm armed. I'm trained. I don't want to hurt you, but I need the Edda and I need to destroy that fungus. If your father is making you do this, we can help you, we can -

SHONA REID: [laughs] Have you not been paying attention? It's never been my dad.

TOM DE LUCA: All right. That's it. Five will be here soon. I'm faster and stronger than you. You're coming with me. You're going to tell us everything!

SHONA REID: You know, the red god's a wonder when it's treated right. You've met its servants, the skincoats. They're strong and fast. I take a little every day, Tom. A pinch of red and silver. Been needing a top-up. I'd take my hand off that gun if I was you. The red god makes me very fast.

TOM DE LUCA: Five, Five, get up here now! [gunshots] Five! My God, she's fast. [TOM DE LUCA and SHONA REID struggle] She's strong! Five, code red! Warn the others! Tell Janie - !

[gunshot, cloth rustles]

SHONA REID: Sorry, big man. Turns out you weren't fast enough. I know you hear me, Five. I picked the headset off your dead friend. Ignore his last request. You won't be warning anyone. This is my island, Five. Mine. You're nae alone in that cave. I have a surprise or two for you down there, and you're never, ever getting out alive.

~

[croatian-magician]

I don’t like your attitude (part 1)

Pairing: Modramos

Summary: Bunny Luka is fed up with the tiger ruling over the forest and he won’t stay silent about it

Word count: 2155

Luka lived in a calm, quiet forest, far away from the cities built by mankind. There was plenty of food for everyone, not that many predators running around and more wood to chew on that he could dream of. At first glance, it looked like the perfect place for the bunny hybrid he was. And yet, he wasn’t content with his fate, thumping angrily while his friends stared at him worryingly.

“That’s it, I’ve had enough! I’m gonna tell him!”

“Don’t do that, Luka! He’ll eat you!”

Luka ignored Marcelo’s plea and Odri’s desperate look, a defiant expression on his face.

“Well, if he can’t take a little criticism, then he shouldn’t rule over this forest.”

Before they could tell him again that he was crazy, that he was only going to get himself killed, Luka put on his full animal form and jumped out of their sight. When his mind was set on something, it was near impossible to change his decision.

He enjoyed the peace of their homeland, yes, apart from one major problem: he couldn’t stand the tiger who had proclaimed himself kings of those lands. Luka knew the theory, that the big predator was keeping them all safe, that he was on top of the food chain, that he was kind enough not to hunt them and bla bla bla… Except that he was also short-tempered, full of himself and believed he could boss everyone around without having anyone complaining.

Well, Luka was going to prove him wrong.

Like everyone else, he knew the way to the tiger’s den, just like every animal of the forest. In case of danger, they were supposed to hide in there so he could protect them. Thankfully, no predator or human had come to threaten their safe heaven for years and so it never served that purpose during Luka’s life. Most of the time, prey animals like himself stayed away from the place, afraid that the tiger would renounce his vow not to hurt them if they annoyed him too much.

The fierce little bunny hopping through the forest didn’t care about that. Many would have called him bold for his actions, some courageous and others stupid. Not that Luka cared. He was going to have a serious talk with that tiger, and he wasn’t going to shake in front of him like everyone else.

The den was situated near a big lake, where the tiger liked to swim and fish. Luka cautiously entered the place, all while changing back to his hybrid form. He would still be smaller than the tiger, sure, but still, that was already better.

Bones cracked under his feet and for the first time, he started wondering if this wasn’t a bad idea. Luka knew that the skulls laying on the floor were there long before the tiger decided to settle here. He only kept those here so that others predators roaming by would understand that this was his territory and that he wouldn’t hesitate to fight whoever would challenge him.

He quickly spotted him, laying at the back of the cave and cleaning one of his big paws, his sharps claws showing. Luka gulped, his long ears flattening down in fear. He immediately cursed his prey instincts that were screaming to him to run far, far away. He tightened his fists, forcing himself to look strong and determined.

His smell betrayed his presence and the tiger rose his head, curious and amused. He slowly stretched then yawned, his jaw open wide and revealing his dangerous teeth. Once more, Luka needed a second to calm down, his friends’ words coming back to his mind. Maybe he was just crazy, maybe die here, his neck crushed under those powerful fangs…

Damn instincts! He crossed his arms and scowled, angry at himself for his own cowardice. The tiger raised an interested eyebrow, clearly entertained by the bunny’s internal struggle. Then he turned to his hybrid form too and walked toward him, an arrogant smirk on his lips.

Oh right, that was the reason why Luka was here in the first place. Because he couldn’t stand that bastard and his smugness any longer.

“What brings you here, little bunny? Did you get lost? Or did some big bad predator bully you? No need to be afraid, I’ll watch over you now.”

The tiger’s smooth, deep tone got on his nerves and Luka pouted, not missing the teasing in his voice.

“I’m not little and I certainly don’t need anyone watching over me! I’m here to discuss things with you!”

“Oh, sorry. It’s just that you do look kinda small from up here, you know.” The tiger mocked him, getting closer so Luka just wouldn’t be able to ignore the height difference between them. Again, his instincts told him that this was a bad, very bad idea and that he should flee this instant, but he forced himself to stay there, facing the predator. “And before discussing anything with you, I would like to know who you are, little bunny.”

Luka pouted, even more annoyed than when he first arrived to the den. Of course, everyone in the forest knew who the tiger was, but he didn’t even bother to get to know the people living under his protection. Not that this really surprised him.

“I’m Luka and you’d better remember it, because if you call me little bunny one more time…”

“It’s okay, Lukita, no need to be so tense. I’m not gonna eat you, you know. By the way, I’m S…”

“Sergio, I know. Everybody knows. And don’t call me Lukita either! My name is Luka. L-U-K-A. It’s not that complicated.”

Sergio barely managed to stifle a laugh, but he decided to let it slide so he could discover why this daring bunny came to him.

“So, Luka, what is it you wanted to tell me?”

“I don’t like your attitude.”

“What?”

Sergio was a little taken aback, not really expecting so much honesty from the frail prey in front of him. He could have killed him with one blow from his paw and yet the bunny was facing him, staring straight at his eyes, barely shivering while others of his kind would have been already shaking and begging for mercy in the same situation.

“You heard me. You’re always acting like you’re the best out there, as if you knew everything and everyone had to obey you. It’s really annoying and it has to stop.”

“Wait, so you came here to… Complain about me?”

“Yup, that’s the idea. Things need to change. You have to listen more to the other animals of this forest!”

Despite his surprise, Sergio couldn’t help but find Luka’s honesty endearing. So small and yet so determined, not afraid to speak his mind in front of a deadly predator…

It was only natural of him to play a little with such an amusing distraction.

“Oh, so you’re saying you know better than me how I should rule this forest? You, a little prey animal?” Sergio teased him, not even trying to hide the grin on his lips.

“Well, I sure know that you should stop acting like a bastard.” Luka replied, crossing his arms.

“Really? Okay then, let’s see if you’re strong enough to convince me of that.”

Before Luka could ask him what he meant by that, Sergio was a tiger again, looking really proud of himself.

“Oh so you want to show off with your predator form? Great, that’s really constructive to the conversation and… Ah!”

When Sergio suddenly pounced on him, Luka yelped against his well, trapped against the ground under the predator. He tried to control his panicking heart just as he started breathing heavily. Even if he tried to tell himself that the tiger wouldn’t hurt him, that he had promised not to hurt the animals of his forest, his instincts were still there, screaming to him to run for his life.

This time, he couldn’t fight against them, not when a huge tiger was leaning over him. He quickly shifted under his bunny form, which allowed him to escape since he was now much smaller than before. He hopped away from Sergio and started to run, his heart in his throat. He also couldn’t ignore how humiliated he felt, to have failed so completely and to leave running away.

This became the last of his problems when he realized the tiger was chasing him down, though.

Pure terror filled his mind and he ran as fast as he could, but it wasn’t enough. Powerful jaws wrapped themselves around his body and he closed his eyes, thinking that this was it, that this was how he died, hunted down by a predator.

However, the teeth never pierced his skin and the tiger only lifted him off the ground, carrying him in his mouth. The bunny tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but Sergio was too strong and soon enough, they were back in his den. Again, Luka feared for his life. Maybe the tiger brought him here just so he could kill him without leaving any proof of his crime in the forest.

Luka realized that he was wrong when the tiger let him go though. He immediately tried to flee again, but a playful paw brought him close to the predator. Before Luka could start panicking again, the tiger starting licking and grooming him and this time, the bunny didn’t miss his amused look. That jerk didn’t plan on eating him, he was just playing with him, making fun of Luka for being smaller and more vulnerable than him!

His anger kicked in again and it was enough for him to transform back. He ended up with a face full of tiger tongue and grimaced, trying to push the predator away. The tiger didn’t seem to mind this change though, because he cornered Luka, trapping him under his weight once more. He watched him trying to wriggle away for a few seconds, then he shifted back too.

“See my point now? You shouldn’t start a quarrel with someone who could eat you. You’re lucky I don’t want to harm you in any way, my little bunny.”

Luka wanted to protest again, to say that he wasn’t fair, that he wasn’t his little bunny, but something stopped him. He suddenly realized how close he was to Sergio, how he could almost touch him. He couldn’t take his eyes off those deep, deep brown eyes, defined cheeks, powerful muscles…

He quickly shook his head, a little ashamed of himself. He knew exactly what it was. His mating instinct, ticking in at the very worst moment, as usual. Not the best way to show that tiger how angry he was at him.

“Get… Get off me!” Luka stuttered, knowing he would have troubles gaining control  back over himself if he stayed so close to the predator, Sergio’s scent flooding his sensitive nose and slowly clouding his mind.

“And what are you going to do if I refuse, uh? Pout until I let you go?” Sergio laughed.

He rolled over to free his prisoner though and Luka quickly stood up, brushing the dust off his hair.

“Let me help you with that.”

Sergio ran a gentle hand through the soft locks, cleaning the spots Luka couldn’t reach himself. The bunny knew he should have protested, should have shouted at the tiger not to touch him, except that he liked it. A lot. Definitely more than he should have. And obviously, the feeling was sharing, because Sergio kept on caressing it long after he was done cleaning. His touch wasn’t rough like Luka would have expected of someone like him and for a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder how those fingers would feel on his fur when he was fully transformed, or even on his bare skin…

Luka’s eyes snapped open, as he realized he didn’t even remember when he had closed them out of contentment. He needed to leave, now, before things got out of hands, before he decided to do something he definitely would regret later.

“I… I’m sorry, I have to go. You know, things to do, all that. G… Goodbye.”

“Wait!”

Sergio tried to hold him back, but the bunny was already long gone, knowing he wouldn’t have been able to control himself if he had stayed near the tiger for one more minute. His heart raced as he ran through the forest, part of him praying that Sergio wasn’t chasing after him, part of him hoping that he was, that he would trap Luka against the nearest tree, skin against skin, ready to devour him…

Luka blushed hard as he disappeared through the trees and he decided that no one should know about this, ever. The forest was big, hiding from the tiger and pretending he never met him shouldn’t be that hard.

Or at least, he hoped so.

@smolmandzo @esparafuso

[staircasttext]

Ep 17 Transcript: She-cats Unite!

Episode 17

[intro music]

PAZ: Hi everyone, welcome back to Stairway to StarClan, a Warriors Cat reread pawdcast. I'm Paz.

JULIAN: I'm Julian.

LIZ: I'm Liz.

PAZ: And we are here today starting the third book in the series, Forest of Secrets. It's very exciting. But yeah, we had to take a break so it's been a bit since I think we all read these chapters, but there's a lot to talk about. I'm sure we will spark our memories.

LIZ: The reason we took a break was we couldn't record last time because it was 103 or something where I was. So I was in a liquid state.

PAZ: Horrible. Well, how was everyone's break period?

LIZ: It got cooler.

PAZ: That's good.

JULIAN: Yeah, I went to visit my parents and that was good.

PAZ: I read something different in between. I started reading Uglies, rereading it. Shout out to YA.

JULIAN: Hell yes.

PAZ: I'm a big fan.

JULIAN: I did look while I was home to see if we had any of the Warrior Cats books still. But I don't think I ever actually owned them. I just checked them out from the library a million times.

PAZ: Oh my gosh.

DOG: [barking]

PAZ: I was a little like, child king, then. Oh my god, my dog.

JULIAN: Oh no.

LIZ: Not a fan of Warriors.

JULIAN: It's atmospheric. We're under attack by... Just imagine this whole podcast is being recorded from Barley and Ravenpaw's barn.

PAZ: Yeah, that's right. There's probably like a UPS guy. Or she's faking it. It's probably the fish plates we ordered, Liz.

LIZ: Oh my god, unboxing audio, please.

PAZ: Okay, maybe she's done. I forget what I was even saying.

LIZ: Reading Uglies.

JULIAN: You were reading Uglies.

LIZ: And Julian was borrowing a lot of books.

PAZ: Yeah, I own a lot of Warriors. And I own most of them in hardcover.

LIZ: Wow.

PAZ: I guess that's all I ever asked for, apparently. My treasure hoard.

LIZ: Child king.

PAZ: Yeah.

JULIAN: That's so impressive, honestly.

PAZ: Yeah, I'm pretty proud of my collection. And I'm very happy to have the old covers for all of those, too, because I think they're better. I'm sorry, they're better.

JULIAN: No, they are.

LIZ: They are.

JULIAN: You're right.

PAZ: So I have an antiques collection. Yeah, I don't know. Should we get into it?

JULIAN: Yeah.

PAZ: Four chapters, technically.

LIZ: Yeah.

JULIAN: Prologue through chapter three.

PAZ: Okay, I'll just go into the summaries. So the prologue, okay. A tomcat is helping two tiny helpless kits travel through the snow to a small island in RiverClan. He takes them to the nursery and asks Graypool, a she-cat who has recently lost a kit, to help nurse them. Graypool asks Oakheart where he got the kits, and he just says he found them in the forest, where they were probably abandoned. Graypool doesn't think Oakheart is telling her the whole truth and says so, but he leaves without explaining. She is proved right when she smells the scent of an enemy clan on the kits.

Chapter one. Fireheart returns to the ThunderClan camp from hunting. It's leafbare so food is scarce. Tigerclaw shows up and says Fireheart doesn't need to go hunting again since Bluestar wants him and Graystripe to go to the gathering. They have a brief standoff about clan loyalty. Tigerclaw says he saw Fireheart let the RiverClan warrior escape from the WindClan battle, and Fireheart says he should tell Bluestar himself if he's so worried. Tigerclaw looks slightly afraid, and Fireheart wonders if Tigerclaw knows that he (Fireheart) knows he (Tigerclaw) killed Redtail. He does because Ravenpaw told him.

LIZ: Sorry, lots of he/hims here.

PAZ: Fireheart also remembers his frustration at Bluestar not believing him when he last told her this. Tigerclaw leaves. Graystripe boggles at Fireheart starting a fight with him and then apologizes for his relationship with Silverstream causing problems for Fireheart, though Fireheart says the problem has always been Tigerclaw. The two cats eat and rest in their den before the gathering, and Fireheart notices Tigerclaw, Darkstripe, and Longtail talking together. Fireheart sees that Tigerclaw is now spreading rumors about him. He decided to talk to Ravenpaw again after the gathering to ask for proof of Tigerclaw being dangerous to the clan. And Graystripe says he'll go with him.

At the gathering, Fireheart notices how tense everyone is because of the recent battle. Graystripe is eager to talk to Silverstream. Whitestorm and Tigerclaw talk to Bluestar about ThunderClan sheltering Brokentail, but she says they won't tell the other clans. Meanwhile, Graystripe has disappeared, and Fireheart listens to a group of elders from all clans talk about how bad the leafbare was back in their day. They mention Bluestar having lost kits in the past to leafbare.

The leaders make some announcements, mainly that WindClan's warriors are still strong, though they have lost an elder, and that ThunderClan has two new warriors, Dustpelt and Sandstorm. ShadowClan and RiverClan don't look very pleased. Graystripe and Fireheart get ready to leave for Ravenpaw. Fireheart has to lie to Sandstorm about hunting so she won't go with them.

Chapter two, Fireheart and Graystripe find Ravenpaw and Barley in their barn. Barley lets them eat some mice. Fireheart asks Ravenpaw to recount exactly what happened when Redtail was killed. It's painful for Ravenpaw, but he gives a detailed account. He was injured in the shoulder, and Redtail told him to hide. Redtail was fighting with a RiverClan warrior named Stonefur. Oakheart showed up and pulled Redtail off Stonefur, saying no ThunderClan cat would ever harm Stonefur.

Redtail flew at Oakheart, knocking him under a rocky overhang, and the rocks fell on both of them. Ravenpaw saw Oakheart's tail sticking out from the rocks, but Tigerclaw told him to go back to camp. He crept back to see if Redtail was okay and saw all the RiverClan warriors had fled, and saw Redtail run right into a waiting Tigerclaw, who pinned him down and killed him.

Fireheart says if they can prove the rockfall story, they can show that Tigerclaw was lying. Graystripe is skeptical, but Fireheart says Bluestar didn't believe him about Ravenpaw's story before because they didn't know about the rockfall part. They thank Ravenpaw and leave. On the way back, they meet three WindClan warriors, who are friendly, but Fireheart is still worried about Bluestar finding out where they were. They try hunting on their way back but find nothing. Tigerclaw is waiting for them when they return.

Chapter three, Tigerclaw asks where Fireheart and Graystripe have been, but doesn't believe the hunting story because he can smell that they've eaten. He takes some Bluestar, and they tell her they ate to get some energy for hunting but couldn't find anything after. She's disappointed and scolds them both because the leafbare is hard for the clan. Afterwards, Tigerclaw and Fireheart have another standoff, but Graystripe holds Fireheart back.

They go to rest in the den. Fireheart says he'll tell Sandstorm what happened later, and he falls asleep next to her. Fireheart has a dream about Spottedleaf, who shows him an unfamiliar landscape full of water. She tells him, "water can quench fire." Thanks, Spottedleaf. Graystripe wakes him up and says it's time to go hunting. Fireheart is distracted, wondering if Spottedleaf's prophecy means that ThunderClan is doomed. That's the end of our reading.

JULIAN: This is out of order, but I would love if Spottedleaf would be a little bit less cryptic.

PAZ: She is so cryptic. It just went all the way into like the common sense.

LIZ: It's like, is she like ghost Smokey the Bear now? Like in favor of controlled natural... Well, those are two different things. Like the kind of forest burning that's like to get rid of the dead like growth.

JULIAN: Oh, like a controlled burn?

LIZ: Mm-hmm. But also like, it's still fire. You do need to put it out, cats, somehow.

PAZ: Spottedleaf voice, only you can prevent forest fires.

JULIAN: Spottedleaf's forestry management tips.

PAZ: It's so funny.

JULIAN: I just like... yeah, water can quench fire. What the fuck does that mean?

LIZ: It means what it means.

PAZ: She's just giving Fireheart the crash course on being a firefighter. This is his training.

JULIAN: Oh, I am now imagining cats in little firefighter outfits.

PAZ: That's very good.

LIZ: Aw.

PAZ: The little hats.

LIZ: It's the introduction of the new job, the one new job they get every 100 years.

PAZ: Oh shit.

JULIAN: I also had another note about a new job that they could come up with, which is, well, it's really difficult for them with leafbare right now. But what if they farmed some mice? What if they had a little mouse farm? I think that would be really good for them.

PAZ: Oh, you mean they like develop, like animal husbandry?

JULIAN: Mm-hmm.

LIZ: Wow.

JULIAN: I think that would be a real solution to their problems.

PAZ: Yeah, for real.

JULIAN: And another job.

LIZ: Do you think the mice that they farm will develop their own little dystopian YA society?

PAZ: We talked about this before.

LIZ: Yes, I think so, actually.

PAZ: We 100% talked about this before.

JULIAN: Oh God. Then we have to worry about like that the cats are eating sentient creatures.

LIZ: The hero of the story is called Leafnibble.

JULIAN: Aw.

LIZ: And they have to escape from the Pit, run by the Hissers or something.

PAZ: This just sounds like a Fallout game.

LIZ: Leafnibble?

PAZ: No, the Pit part. The Hissers. That's great. You should copyright that, though.

LIZ: All right. To all the people listening to this podcast, don't fucking tell anyone.

PAZ: Well, I guess... should we go back to the beginning? Where we have this beautiful prologue with two cats we don't fuck-- I guess we know Oakheart. He's dead though. So we don't really know him.

LIZ: Nah.

JULIAN: We know of him.

PAZ: So I mean, obviously, this is not current-- unless he's not dead. But I don't think so because he was crushed by rocks. Or was-- he was the one crushed by rocks, right?

JULIAN: He was the one crushed by rocks.

PAZ: It was Oakheart crushed by rocks. Tigerclaw kills Redtail.

JULIAN: Yeah, I don't know. I'm with Graypool about this. If a dude showed up and was like, don't ask where these babies came from. I found them in the woods. I would ask some more questions.

PAZ: Oakheart was ahead of the trend of kit stealing is probably what she's thinking.

LIZ: Oh my god, this is where it came from.

PAZ: You can't just do that, bro. There's a lot of like, cats losing kittens and adopting more happening. With child death.

JULIAN: Yeah, a lot of like, parenthood trauma. I'm sure that these kits will never show up again, though.

PAZ: No. Why-- just an unrelated prologue.

LIZ: I think it's very funny that the line used every time now is, well, you've recently lost a child. Would you like another one?

PAZ: Exactly.

LIZ: Like it was very sad the first time it happened, with Cloudkit. But now it's just, oh, is this-- I guess it makes sense when you're a cat who's a stray. And there's just like a high infant mortality. Right?

PAZ: Yes. Oh, it's always high.

LIZ: Just yeah.

JULIAN: Don't worry. It's some replacement babies.

PAZ: Good thing that Oakheart found some.

JULIAN: Yeah, just out in the woods.

PAZ: Out in ThunderClan woods, apparently. I don't know, I don't really have much else I can say about the prologue at this point to preserve the secrecy for Liz. So I'll just say, wow.

LIZ: I have guesses, listen.

PAZ: Oh yeah? What are they?

JULIAN: What are your guesses?

LIZ: I think it's a very sensible guess. I don't know if I should say it.

JULIAN: No, I want to hear it.

PAZ: Yeah.

LIZ: So my guess is that Oakheart and Bluestar had a little thing, and then those are her kits, right?

PAZ: Mm.

JULIAN: Ooh.

LIZ: Yeah.

PAZ: Why do you say that?

LIZ: Because I think in the next chapter, someone mentions that Bluestar lost her kits.

[laughter]

Now, I did go get--

JULIAN: The law of conservation of kits.

LIZ: I did go and get my degree in literature. And I've read a book or two. It took some training, but I think this is what they call foreshadowing.

PAZ: Oh, I've never heard of that.

LIZ: It's very subtle.

JULIAN: Chekhov's kits.

PAZ: Well, we'll see if your literature degree pays off.

LIZ: Also, is one of her sons Stonefur because that's also a gray cat, from what it sounds like?

PAZ: I don't know.

JULIAN: Only time will tell.

LIZ: Well, maybe Bluestar's like literally blue, and they just never mentioned it.

PAZ: I don't know. I always envisioned her as like a Russian blue cat. That might be completely wrong, but.

JULIAN: Same. You know, that common coat color among cats in the wild?

PAZ: Listen. Yellowfang-- once again, Yellowfang is a Persian cat.

LIZ: Yellowfang's fucking a pedigree show cat. She has escaped from a beauty contest.

JULIAN: How does she keep like-- Persians are so hard to groom.

PAZ: I know.

LIZ: Her secret is that every summer she goes to like, I don't know, the vet and just gets shaved and comes back.

JULIAN: She sneaks off to Twolegplace to get a lion cut.

LIZ: Fireheart voice, oh Yellowfang, what happened to you? She's just like, Oh, I shed a lot. This is a special medicine cat fashion of shedding. We know how.

JULIAN: StarClan took my fur.

LIZ: StarClan took my fur and wove a smaller kitten out of it. And that's where they come from, Fireheart.

PAZ: Oh. Fireheart nodding in understanding.

JULIAN: Chapter one is a doozy. There's a lot that happens.

PAZ: Yeah, once again, we get a lovely recap of the previous book, right at the top. Oh, my God, I was looking at Goodreads reviews. And someone was really upset that the books do that. They were like, who would ever read these out of order. It's so stupid.

LIZ: Children.

JULIAN: I mean, they came out-- yeah, children. And also like, when they came out, it had been like six months to a year since the last one had come out.

PAZ: Exactly. Oh my god.

JULIAN: And children are not known for remembering every plot detail.

LIZ: Nope.

PAZ: I was a child who read these books out of order because I just started on the second series.

JULIAN: I think I also might have read them a little bit out of order because like they weren't always available at the library all in order.

LIZ: Yeah, exactly.

JULIAN: I was gonna read what I could get.

PAZ: Different times, I guess.

JULIAN: We didn't have Overdrive back in the day. Back in the olden times, we had to wait for Harry down the street to bring the book back to the library.

PAZ: Fucking Harry.

LIZ: You think it's hard waiting on Libby for two weeks? You didn't have to wait for your best friend to finish your book and give it back. Ugh. Did you ever do the thing--

JULIAN: Bring it back covered in Cheeto dust.

PAZ: Were you gonna say something, Liz?

LIZ: Orange like Fireheart. That's not what I was gonna say. I was gonna ask if you ever did the horrible thing of like, okay, I've returned this book, and you go immediately to the librarian, like, can I renew this?

PAZ: Yeah, I probably did.

JULIAN: Yeah, I definitely did that. Well, I didn't do it that often because I was such a fast reader that I would like--

PAZ: Yeah.

LIZ: Oh, that is true.

JULIAN: My family literally got library cards for us as soon as we were born because the like older kids--

LIZ: Aw.

JULIAN: Well, the older kids were checking out so many books that we needed, like the 20 book limit per card.

PAZ: Oh my god.

LIZ: Aw. So cute.

PAZ: Incredible. We were really bad at returning library books. We had lots of fines.

JULIAN: Oh, no.

PAZ: It's okay.

LIZ: I used my mom's library card for such a long time. And then by the time I had to get my own, I was a teen, and it was like a very serious process. I remember getting it at the library, and my dad had to be there with his driver's license or something. I don't know why. And then I ended up not using that one for many years because eventually, a book was overdue. And I just like, I couldn't face-- I couldn't face consequences.

PAZ: That's exactly what happened.

LIZ: The consequences was that they just let you forget about it and you can keep using the same library card as an adult.

JULIAN: I know a lot of libraries are starting to either do loan forgiveness entirely or like for kid cards, they don't do fines, which I think is a good strategy because kids are, you know, they're doing their best. Oh, Chickpea wants my chips.

PAZ: It's like, you can only really-- unless you live like, in walking distance of a library, you can only get to the library if like, your parents can take you.

LIZ: And kids are kids. Like they're gonna borrow, let's say, some random book about Thanksgiving for some reason. And when they are, let's say in their 20s, they're gonna find it in another pile of books in their house.

JULIAN: Oh no.

LIZ: And have a horrible sinking feeling.

PAZ: This is all hypothetical, right?

LIZ: Hypothetically.

PAZ: Anyway, back to chapter one.

JULIAN: Back to chapter one.

PAZ: I don't know. Tigerclaw's just all up in Fireheart's business immediately.

JULIAN: Confrontation right off the bat. After a fairly non-confrontational last book, Tigerclaw is done. He's tired of being nice. And he's going to be apeshit.

PAZ: Well, he did try to like directly murder Fireheart.

JULIAN: That is true.

PAZ: He's probably a little pissed that didn't work. So he's like, I need to make this happen sooner.

LIZ: He wasn't anticipating Fireheart to be so good at flipping other cats.

JULIAN: He didn't expect the protagonist halo.

LIZ: No, no, no.

PAZ: No. That's gonna be your downfall, Tigerclaw, you fool.

LIZ: Did you miss all the times they talked about how like, beautiful and orange colored his hair is? And how his love interest is also a different shade of orange?

JULIAN: They match.

LIZ: Yeah, that's protagonist stuff.

PAZ: Wait, I thought Sandstorm was just like light yellow.

LIZ: No, she's like a light orange.

PAZ: You sure about that?

LIZ: Yes. Which I think shouldn't be, because sand is not orange.

PAZ: I am looking. Sandstorm.

LIZ: She should be like a tan cat cause that's the color of sand.

JULIAN: Yep, pale ginger she-cat.

PAZ: What?

JULIAN: Barely visible stripe of darker fur. I always assumed she was like, just sort of light brown.

LIZ: Brown. Right?

PAZ: Right? Oh my god. I've been doing wrong for half my life.

JULIAN: I thought she was one of those cats that's like kind of a light brown and then has like--

PAZ: That's what she looks like. Hold on.

JULIAN: --a darker muzzle. Yeah, this is--

PAZ: I don't think this is light orange. This official art?

JULIAN: Yeah, that just looks like shading.

PAZ: That's just a tan cat.

LIZ: I think she's tan.

PAZ: Let me find a picture.

LIZ: I just remember like the little description saying she was orange, because I thought, well, that's bullshit.

JULIAN: Well, here she is on the Rising Storm cover, and she looks basically like Tigerclaw-- or like Fireheart. This is bananas. Okay, I'm sorry. I have to kick Chickpea out. Chickpea, you can't be on the desk while I'm recording. You cannot mess up the microphone setup. This is so delicate. Chickpea, come here. C'mere. Yep. C'mere. Nope, get.

LIZ: Oh my god, there's a fuckin plane flying over my house.

[door shuts]

PAZ: Everything's out to sabotage us.

LIZ: I hate-- no more noises. No more.

JULIAN: Sorry. She was being great. And then she woke up.

PAZ: I don't-- the old art, she looks like a tan cat to me, and that's--

LIZ: She just looks like a little mountain lion in this one.

PAZ: Yeah.

LIZ: I don't think she should be orange.

JULIAN: Oh wait. Please look at this art in which she has eye makeup from one of the--

PAZ: Oh my god.

LIZ: Oh my god.

JULIAN: One of the--

PAZ: No!

LIZ: Noooo.

JULIAN: --graphic novels.

PAZ: She has like shiny eyeshadow.

LIZ: Why does she have highlighter?

JULIAN: Like the sexy cartoon, like woman coding. She has like the purple eyeshadow.

PAZ: I'm losing it.

LIZ: Why? She's got those 2000s like thin eyebrows, too, to match.

PAZ: Yeah, oh my god. This is the most unappealing cat design I've ever seen.

JULIAN: She also-- oh my god. It makes her-- she also has eye bags, somehow.

PAZ: Yeah, I don't-- what's going on?

JULIAN: What's happening?

LIZ: Maybe they're supposed to be like stripes.

PAZ: Maybe this is like her as like an older cat?

JULIAN: Has this artist ever seen a cat?

PAZ: No, absolutely.

LIZ: No.

PAZ: The Warriors manga artist has never seen a cat, and that is fact. Okay, I'm looking in the-- I'm on the Warriors wiki, beloved by all. I'm in the alternate images section for Sandstorm. There are so many different color versions of her. There's like a tan one, which I think is right. And then there's a ginger one. Then there's this one's that's just dark brown. And then there's one that's like, tan and brown stripes. And then there's one that's white. Nobody can agree.

JULIAN: Wait, there's one that's white? Where's the white one?

PAZ: Yes.

LIZ: Maybe like the white sands of some famous beach.

JULIAN: Here is her official art from Code of the Clans. And that's just a cat.

LIZ: That's just a cat.

PAZ: Okay, I am sending you a picture of her and Fireheart. She's definitely not ginger. This is official art from the cover.

JULIAN: Yeah, that's the one that I was talking about that's on the cover of Rising Storm, and it's like--

PAZ: She's just brown.

JULIAN: She's just brown.

PAZ: That's what I always pictured her as.

LIZ: Yeah, ginger doesn't make sense. That's not--

PAZ: No, it doesn't.

LIZ: I mean, is it-- do the cats, like in their gathering of like, you know, medicine stuff, do they use ginger? Because real ginger on the outside is kind of a light tan.

PAZ: I'm very heated about this. She's not ginger. She's tan.

LIZ: She's tan. She's not orange-ginger, like a redheaded human. She's ginger like, the outside of the ginger roots.

JULIAN: Is this like a British like color differentiation?

PAZ: Oh, maybe.

JULIAN: Like how like red and orange are a little bit weird. You know, it's like a red breasted robin or whatever. Because orange as a color didn't exist.

LIZ: What?

PAZ: I'll just-- I will blame it on British people. I'm saying yes.

LIZ: Look at her little icon.

PAZ: That's tan though.

LIZ: It is tan. I prefer tan also, because otherwise it's doing like the very, like, straight cartoon thing where the couple has to look kind of like each other, just like different cisgenders. You know what I mean?

JULIAN: If she's just like a palette swap version of him, that's no good.

LIZ: I don't-- no.

PAZ: She isn't though. I think the art, the official art disproves this.

JULIAN: Yeah. I don't accept this description.

LIZ: She's the color of sand.

PAZ: I've gotten so-- what were we talking about? Tigerclaw? I got so sidetracked by this.

JULIAN: We were talking about... yeah, we were talking about the confrontation with Tigerclaw. And how Tigerclaw doesn't recognize that Fireheart has a protagonist halo.

PAZ: Yeah.

LIZ: Right.

JULIAN: It is really sweet that after that Graystripe is like you fought with Tigerclaw over me? It's like yeah, buddy, where have you been?

PAZ: Okay. I-- sorry. I'm putting another ding against Graystripe. His only concern re: Tigerclaw is that he could break up his romance with Silverstream. That is literally like how Fireheart convinces him to help. I'm so done with Graystripe. He doesn't care-- once again, he doesn't care that Tigerclaw's murdered people. He already said I don't care in the last book.

LIZ: And he knows that he did.

PAZ: The only reason he cares now is because he's like I don't want Tigerclaw to break me up with my gf.

JULIAN: Well, and I also like-- I'm like Fireheart, come on. Fireheart's like, oh, the problem's always been Tigerclaw.

PAZ: No.

JULIAN: And it's like, no, the problem-- like Tigerclaw is right here. The problem is Graystripe. Tigerclaw is being a mustache twirling villain about it, but he's not wrong.

PAZ: Yeah, I mean, he is not wrong that Fireheart did let a cat go.

LIZ: We are setting ourselves up for some division. We've already been called out for being Tigerclaw apologists.

PAZ: And what if we are? And what of it? Hashtag Tigerclaw was right.

LIZ: No!

PAZ: If you agree, tweet it.

LIZ: Controversial.

JULIAN: Paz trying to get our podcast canceled.

LIZ: Someone's gonna reply to us with a picture of the cat. Tigerclaw, this cat is a war criminal.

PAZ: Yeah, but Graystripe sucks.

LIZ: He does suck.

JULIAN: He does.

LIZ: I wish Fireheart wasn't unrequitedly in love with him.

PAZ: Yeah, Fireheart, bro, you deserve better.

JULIAN: You do.

PAZ: Onewhisker's right there.

JULIAN: Onewhisker's right there. Fucking Ravenpaw was right there.

PAZ: Yeah, I'm sure Ravenpaw and Barley would let you join in. They're chill.

JULIAN: Sandstorm is right there.

PAZ: Yeah. Sandstorm is so much better than Graystripe.

LIZ: She is great. And the color of natural ginger.

PAZ: Yeah, hold on. I'm just trying to--

LIZ: Find pictures of sand?

PAZ: Where Graystripe just like-- he's just like-- Fireheart's like, "'I don't trust them,' he murmured, flicking his ears in the direction of Tigerclaw and the others. 'I don't blame you,' meowed Graystripe. 'If Tigerclaw ever found out about Silverstream...'" That's all he has to say.

JULIAN: That's your concern, buddy?

LIZ: What about like, what if Tigerclaw kills your best friend?

PAZ: Nope.

LIZ: Also, underrated moment where they apparently used their little ears to point. I think that's very cute.

PAZ: Aw.

JULIAN: Yeah, there's a lot of like, you know, like cuddling and physical touch in these chapters, which I really like.

PAZ: They're little cats.

JULIAN: That's how cats show affection. They cuddle.

LIZ: They're little guys. Like fuck Graystripe, but.

PAZ: Yeah, I mean, that scene's basically like Graystripe being stupid. But Fireheart being like, we gotta go see Ravenpaw again.

LIZ: Do you think Tigerclaw takes a pet like no problem?

PAZ: No.

JULIAN: He takes a pet many problems.

PAZ: Yeah. You have to wear like falconing gloves if you try and pet him.

JULIAN: I think he's kind of a Chickpea style, where he takes like one pet and then he bites you.

LIZ: Tigerclaw looks exactly like Chickpea. No different.

JULIAN: I may have-- I might have adopted Tigerclaw into my home. I might be living with Tigerclaw.

PAZ: Ah, that's a great new sitcom.

LIZ: Chickenclaw.

PAZ: Chickenclaw. Should we move on to the gathering, though?

LIZ: Yes.

JULIAN: Yeah. I was a little worried when Tigerclaw and Onewhisker were talking at the gathering.

PAZ: Oh my god, I know.

JULIAN: Like uh-oh, what's being set up here?

PAZ: Better not be spreading rumors.

LIZ: He absolutely is. This is the part in the marriage of convenience political AU where he takes the new ambassador aside and is like, oh, it's so sad that you, our fine ambassador from the clan who is also not as good as ours, that you have to be married to the most shameful member of our clan. But you don't even know why. And then he walks away.

JULIAN: Perfect. Excellent. Sowing the seeds of distrust between the husbands.

PAZ: I do want to say Tigerclaw so far in this book has switched from being mean teacher to like queen bee mean girl character.

LIZ: His range.

PAZ: Who's just trying to turn the school against Fireheart and stop Fireheart from becoming prom queen.

JULIAN: Which everyone knows he deserves.

PAZ: Yeah. I did like at the gathering that we get to hear conversation between all the old cats.

LIZ: Yeah, I loved that.

PAZ: It's very cute. They're just like, back in my day, it was colder. All these kids these days.

LIZ: Fireheart gets called a soft millennial.

JULIAN: Well, and then Fireheart is like no, we're strong now, and it's like, shut up.

PAZ: I love that all the old cats are like just friends regardless of clans. They don't-- they're too old for this shit.

JULIAN: Yeah, it's really good.

LIZ: I'm just imagining a whole bunch of like elderly cats, the way they-- you know, elderly cats look, just like, huddled together.

PAZ: Exactly.

LIZ: And like meowing, because that's how they gossip.

JULIAN: With their fur all crispy.

LIZ: Some of them are just toothless.

JULIAN: Yeah.

PAZ: Aw.

JULIAN: They're just little guys.

LIZ: They are.

PAZ: I'm not really sure what else happened at the gathering, besides everyone being like, we're fine after the fight. It was sort of uneventful.

JULIAN: It is kind of sweet how Sandstorm is like, where y'all going? Can I come?

PAZ: Yeah. I hope she gets to come next time.

JULIAN: Me too. I want her to meet Ravenpaw.

PAZ: Graystripe disappears again to go be with Silverstream. I guess that also happens, of course.

JULIAN: Yeah. Shocker.

PAZ: Shocker.

LIZ: Let's have a forbidden romance meetup in the middle of literally every single clan being here. That's really smart.

PAZ: I just can't. I can't with Graystripe.

LIZ: If he was gay, it would be valid. But he's not. He's very straight. So he isn't.

PAZ: Yeah. The straight energies he has right now are-- they're powerful. And I hope he gets better soon.

JULIAN: Yeah, I would feel much differently about this if Graystripe was like a lesbian fuckboi.

PAZ: Oh, I'd be rooting for Graystripe.

JULIAN: I'd be rooting for them. But he's not. He's a guy fuckboy. And that's just not as fun a flavor.

PAZ: Just no good.

LIZ: No. I think that's everything that happens, right?

PAZ: Yeah. Then we go on to the much better friend--

LIZ: Oh, wait, wait.

PAZ: Oh, what?

LIZ: Yeah, sorry. Just to, in class discussion voice, backtrack a bit. We have to mention Bluestar losing her kits. That's--

JULIAN: Oh yes.

LIZ: I joked about it. Like not joked about it, but I did mention it before. But that's a big point here.

PAZ: Yeah, it's part of what the old cats are talking about.

LIZ: Yeah. It's not like news, but it is a reminder from the authors because they probably mentioned it like in book one or something.

PAZ: I don't think they did. I think this might be the first we hear about it.

LIZ: No?

JULIAN: I think this is the first time, yeah. The first time we hear about her having had kits.

LIZ: Oh, okay then.

JULIAN: Which yeah, that's a pretty big plot point.

LIZ: Definitely not leading anywhere.

JULIAN: Bluestar's tragic backstory, unlocked.

LIZ: We gave her enough little gifts of her favorite thing. Sardines.

PAZ: Should we... chapter two, with Ravenpaw.

JULIAN: With Ravenpaw!

PAZ: Yay.

JULIAN: I was so excited when they started setting up that we were going to get to see Ravenpaw again.

PAZ: He comes back so much more than I would have thought. Which I am not complaining about.

LIZ: No.

JULIAN: There is a moment where Fireheart is like, oh, Ravenpaw looks so like well fed and sleek.

PAZ: I know.

JULIAN: I must look like shit. It's like yeah, buddy, you probably do.

PAZ: Yeah, maybe rethink that living out in the forest thing.

LIZ: Yep. Lots of barns probably around this country like area. Lots of cats needed. There's always gonna be mice there.

PAZ: Ravenpaw and Barley are just living the life. There's so many mice. And they're all really fat, apparently. Like well-fed, as Fireheart lovingly describes.

JULIAN: I don't like that Graystripe is like, well, Ravenpaw changed his story, so he might be lying.

LIZ: No.

JULIAN: And it's like, what the fuck?

PAZ: Another point in the Graystripe sucks column. He's so insensitive.

LIZ: Why? Why is he doubting so much?

PAZ: Yeah, I think he was doubting Ravenpaw last book too. I don't-- what's your fucking deal, Graystripe?

LIZ: Like, I don't-- oh, sorry. Go ahead.

JULIAN: No, maybe just because he's lying so much all the time that he's like, well, everyone else must be also lying.

LIZ: He's like, oh, this must be normal.

PAZ: Yeah, that's how he's like justifying it to himself.

LIZ: It's because it's not like-- he didn't have any antagonism towards Ravenpaw.

JULIAN: They were friends!

LIZ: He has no reason to think he's lying. Like Ravenpaw never lied to him personally or anything.

JULIAN: And it's like, this is the hill you're going to die on? Is that Ravenpaw must be lying and thus Tigerclaw must be telling the truth? That's what you think?

LIZ: And he's also afraid of Tigerclaw. He knows that Tigerclaw's like evil.

PAZ: No, but he doesn't-- he still is not concerned that Tigerclaw has murdered people, because apparently he's not convinced on that. He only cares about Tigerclaw now because Tigerclaw might ground him and say no more dating the girl across the street. Sorry if anyone likes Graystripe. He's just--

JULIAN: Yeah, sorry to our listeners.

PAZ: His crimes, they keep coming.

JULIAN: We had a brief moment of turnaround with Bri's question, where Bri was like, well, you know, he's dating this cool lady cat.

LIZ: I think she could do better.

PAZ: She could.

JULIAN: I think she could too.

PAZ: Yeah, so the Ravenpaw stuff is very sad, because he's still like, traumatized from it, recounting his story. And I think Fireheart is nice about it, as opposed to Graystripe. At least Fireheart has some sensitivity here.

JULIAN: He does a lot of like, is there anything else you can tell us? Like sort of like gentle prodding, instead of like, Graystripe's like, I don't think any of this helps at all. Like fuck off.

LIZ: You come to my gay barn. You eat my dinner that I lovingly farmed. How dare you. Get out of my barn. Don't let the cows kick you on the way back.

PAZ: Yeah, there's like a line like-- there's like, "'what's next?' Fireheart prompted gently." And then, "'please go on,' Fireheart mewed. He hated putting Ravenpaw through this, but he had to know the truth."

LIZ: Aw.

PAZ: Meanwhile, Graystripe just...

JULIAN: I don't know why he's in such a bad mood. Like, no one asked you to come. I mean, Fireheart probably did, but.

PAZ: Sandstorm would have been much better companion here.

LIZ: Yeah, wait, wait. No one asked him to come, and he said he would come, right? Wasn't that the whole thing?

JULIAN: Oh, yeah, he's like-- something about like this concerns us both, or like--

LIZ: Invites himself.

JULIAN: I want to support you or something.

PAZ: Yeah, basically.

LIZ: Invites himself on the trip. Eats your dinner. Is mean to you. Terrible.

PAZ: Aw.

LIZ: Also, I think he's like-- oh.

PAZ: Sorry. I'm just looking back. They all share tongues after that, at least.

JULIAN: Aw.

LIZ: [grumpily] Okay. They are just little guys. I'm never gonna be mad for that long.

PAZ: Poor Fireheart, with his optimism that Bluestar will believe him now.

JULIAN: I know. He's so just like, yeah, it'll be fine. It's gonna be good.

PAZ: Fireheart, the criminal justice system, it won't serve you.

LIZ: Unfortunately, your mom is just the president (derogatory).

JULIAN: Sorry, Fireheart, your mom is a girl boss. She's not gonna listen to you.

PAZ: It's terminal.

LIZ: I know my vice president keeps trying to kill children under my care, but he does agree with all my policies.

PAZ: I guess Graystripe might have a single use in this book, in finding out if Oakheart did die to a rockfall, but I have doubts on his ability to get that info.

JULIAN: Also, I do think it was kind of stupid of them not to bring any mice back.

PAZ: Well, their reasoning was like the mice would be like, too well fed, It would be suspicious, which I think is fair.

JULIAN: That is fair. But I feel like it's better to come back with too like, well fed mice than no mice at all.

PAZ: Yeah, maybe.

JULIAN: Optics-wise.

PAZ: But then the question would be like, where did you get these, as opposed to like, why didn't you bring any back?

JULIAN: That's true. Damn.

LIZ: I'm not saying they shouldn't have eaten, but.

PAZ: Yeah, I mean, Fireheart says they forgot to wash the scent off them, so I think they could have. They just--

JULIAN: They just weren't thinking.

LIZ: Sometimes you're hungry. Especially if you're just a stray cat.

JULIAN: They probably weren't thinking super well because they were hungry. Maybe that's why they make so many dumb decisions is they're all like, you know.

PAZ: That's super true.

JULIAN: I do dumb shit all the time when I'm like haven't eaten yet.

LIZ: Everyone's just hangry.

JULIAN: Yeah.

PAZ: That makes so much sense.

JULIAN: They're all-- or like, you know, you just get really stupid sometimes when you haven't eaten.

PAZ: We do see WindClan on the way back.

JULIAN: We do.

PAZ: They're very nice.

JULIAN: They're very sweet. I did not think they would be so chill about Fireheart.

PAZ: They're the chillest clan. That's just true.

JULIAN: Like Fireheart is like, oh no, we got caught on their territory. They're gonna be mad. And they're just like, hey, what's up?

PAZ: They're like hey, you rule. Thanks for helping us. Bye.

LIZ: And you know this would not be the same if they went on ThunderClan territory.

PAZ: Oh, no.

JULIAN: No.

PAZ: No, because everyone is so mean to WindClan.

LIZ: For no reason. I mean, for shitty reasons. They're very well adjusted. They're just like--

PAZ: They really are.

LIZ: Yeah. This is what happens when you don't have evil Tiger-- I don't really know where I'm going with this actually.

JULIAN: This is what happens when you have gay leadership.

PAZ: Yeah. Exactly.

JULIAN: My mind immediately made a Tallstar-Mayor Pete comparison, which we cannot do.

PAZ: No, please. Do not. Do not smear his name like that.

JULIAN: I'm so sorry. Oh, chapter three.

PAZ: Yeah, what happens? I guess just, um, Tigerclaw calling them out.

JULIAN: Which, like, you know, it does look real bad.

LIZ: Yeah, it does.

PAZ: Yeah, once again, he's not wrong.

LIZ: No.

PAZ: But he probably also knows that they're trying to get dirt on him. He probably senses it. So he is wrong in that sense. Does Bluestar know Ravenpaw's alive? I forget. I feel like--

LIZ: She does.

PAZ: Yeah, yeah. Fireheart told her. Hopefully she didn't tell Tigerclaw that.

JULIAN: Woof.

LIZ: No.

PAZ: I feel like he would have done something by now. I don't know.

JULIAN: Yeah, I think he would have. So clearly she doesn't trust him completely.

LIZ: Yeah, I'm just imagining like the farmer who lives on the farm where Barley and Ravenclaw live is just like, why is this mean cat just hanging around suddenly? Found this mean cat in my chicken coop?

PAZ: Do you think they get pets from the farmer? I hope they do.

LIZ: Yes. Maybe.

JULIAN: I hope so. Although I don't know. A lot of times, barn cats, you can't really pet them.

PAZ: Maybe one pet.

LIZ: Maybe Barley? I think Ravenclaw's-- sorry, fuck. Damn it!

PAZ: You've done that so many times.

LIZ: We need to bleep that out. That is bad language. Ravenpaw is-- listen, it's very-- unfortunately it goes right into the Warrior Cats style of naming things. That's probably--

JULIAN: It does.

LIZ: It's a possibility of something he could have become if he stayed a warrior.

JULIAN: Like it is a valid Warrior Cats name. Ugh. The next--

LIZ: Okay. Ravenpaw's probably too skittish is what I was trying to say.

JULIAN: It is also like, there's-- like at the end of their confrontation-- or like, Bluestar takes them aside and is like, don't do this again. You have to go on a hunting patrol. And Graystripe-- or Tigerclaw is like, if I were clan leader, I'd have punished you properly. Which like, whatever. Fuck off. And then like calls Fireheart a kittypet and threatens him by being like, I saw you at the WindClan battle. And then Graystripe is like don't wind Tigerclaw up anymore. And it's like, he's not whining Tigerclaw up. Tigerclaw is just cat racist to him.

PAZ: Tigerclaw already tried to murder him. There's not much more wound up he can get.

JULIAN: Like Fireheart isn't even like saying anything back. Have your friend's back for once in your life.

PAZ: Yeah, he said something like the scene in chapter one. But this one, he just, he doesn't say anything back. He like hisses a little bit. And then Fireheart is, "I didn't ask for him to hate me."

JULIAN: Yeah. Aw.

LIZ: That's very sad, actually.

JULIAN: God.

PAZ: So yeah, the Sandstorm scene was cute. And it's also very funny that Dustpelt is extremely jealous, and Fireheart is like, I do not have the energy to care. Good night. Then there's a dream, with the wonderful prophecy, as we talked about.

JULIAN: Yep. We do have another mention of Spottedleaf's sweet scent.

LIZ: Oh my God. He's not like this with Sandstorm.

JULIAN: "Spottedleaf's sweet scent filled the air around him. Her voice sounded close to his ear. 'Remember, Fireheart,' she murmured. 'Water can quench fire.'" Like okay. Where is this energy coming from?

PAZ: There's also, "Fireheart bounded after her, admiring the dapple of moonlight on her fur."

JULIAN: The fuck?

LIZ: What? At least it's her fur and not her smell again. She is like-- it sounds like she's like a tortoise shell, right?

JULIAN: Yeah.

LIZ: That kind of makes sense.

PAZ: I guess. He's admiring it, though.

JULIAN: This is why I had a crush on Spottedleaf as a kid.

PAZ: It's so funny.

LIZ: Oh, they also do touch noses, which with cats is very cute.

PAZ: Yeah, her nose is described as "her soft pink nose."

LIZ: I don't know if I like that.

JULIAN: Every time.

PAZ: It's so funny. It feels like a bit but I know it's not.

LIZ: Why does only Spottedleaf get to be the sexy cat?

PAZ: It's so noticeable because she's the only one.

LIZ: It's very weird.

JULIAN: Wait, okay, I want to know if Spottedleaf has eyeshadow.

PAZ: Oh, please go look.

LIZ: Someone's done that.

JULIAN: I don't know if she ever shows up in the graphic novels though.

PAZ: She has to be there for at least a little bit.

LIZ: Like a dream sequence, too, maybe? Again--

JULIAN: All right.

LIZ: Pink nose. Very cute on a cat. Love it.

JULIAN: Official art-- she does not have any eyeshadow.

PAZ: No!

LIZ: Oh.

JULIAN: She actually does not look even particularly sexy.

PAZ: This is inaccurate.

JULIAN: Her eyes are drawn as like fully black, like black sclera, with little white dots and it's kind of terrifying.

PAZ: Okay, maybe that's on-- maybe she got possessed by a demon. She does have like that--

JULIAN: That might be when she's in StarClan.

PAZ: She does have-- that's kind of scary. She does have big old eyelashes in this other one, though.

JULIAN: Oh, yeah, she does.

PAZ: Yeah, but I can't-- what? I think Spottedleaf should have the sexy eyeshadow more than Sandstorm.

JULIAN: Um, I'm posting an image from presumably the cover of one of the, like one of the clan guides or whatever, where it's a picture of Spottedleaf, I guess with the rest of StarClan and her-- she's so round. She's perfectly round.

PAZ: Oh my gosh. Oh, that's a perfect cat.

LIZ: Oh my god.

JULIAN: She looks exactly like some of the cat pillows that Liz was showing me earlier, that are just shaved like little bop-its.

LIZ: Look at her little pink nose.

PAZ: Oh, she's so cute.

JULIAN: There's her soft pink nose.

PAZ: It's very cute there.

LIZ: Yeah. She's also just a little guy.

PAZ: Sorry, sorry. Hold on. Sorry. I--

LIZ: Uh-oh.

PAZ: I was just looking. I was just looking through Google Images.

LIZ: Uh-oh.

PAZ: Just to see what's out there.

JULIAN: Uh-oh.

PAZ: Cinderpelt vs Spottedleaf, Epic Rap Battles of Warriors Number 6.

JULIAN: Number 6?!

LIZ: What? What would they rap about?

PAZ: I don't know. I'm so scared. I can't hit play.

JULIAN: As soon as I searched Cinderpaw-- Cinderpelt vs Spottedleaf, I got lyrics.

PAZ: Oh, can you recite them please?

LIZ: Oh my good--

JULIAN: Yeah, here they are listed on Smule, for karaoke. I cannot read these aloud.

LIZ: Oh no.

JULIAN: No, I guess I have to. I am not going to rap them though.

PAZ: No.

JULIAN: "Sit yourself down and prepare to be schooled. Don't think for a second you can play me as the fool. I can say with certainty your jealousy is showing because Spotty, when you're dead and gone, the world keeps on going."

LIZ: What? They--

JULIAN: Spottedleaf. "You've been blessed with my presence since the very beginning. I've graced every dream you've had the privilege of seeing. There's no competition when it comes to you and me. But what can I say? I'm just the queen of prophecies."

LIZ: Have they met?

JULIAN: Apparently in the Epic Rap Battles of Warriors, they have.

PAZ: I don't think there's a rivalry here at all.

LIZ: I think-- I don't--

JULIAN: Oh my god. They're fighting over Fireheart?!

PAZ: What? No.

LIZ: What?

PAZ: That's your dad.

LIZ: One of them's too old for him. The other one is a baby, and it's his dad.

PAZ: Oh, this is such cursed content.

JULIAN: Oh my god. Now it gets ableist.

PAZ: Oh god.

LIZ: Oh no.

JULIAN: Sandstorm appears.

LIZ: Oh. Oh no.

JULIAN: And is apparently ableist in her rap.

LIZ: She wouldn't be.

PAZ: Don't slander her like that.

LIZ: She's very-- she's been nice. Leave her alone. Don't do this to her.

JULIAN: All right. Well, the ending of this is, "whoa, whoa, hold up. Hold up. I'm mortified that we tried to fight over a guy. It might do us some good if we put the hate aside. Yeah, screw the tom. Let's have some girl pride. All together now. She-cats unite."

LIZ: Feminism is over.

PAZ: Oh my god.

JULIAN: Um, yeah. So you can find this on Soundcloud and also YouTube and also just google Cinderpelt vs. Spottedleaf. And you too can hear--

PAZ: Good luck to anyone who actually listens to it.

JULIAN: Yeah, I can't hear this with my human ears.

PAZ: I would die.

LIZ: What year is this from?

JULIAN: 2015.

LIZ: I see.

JULIAN: Or now, not 2015. Sorry. Yep. 2015.

LIZ: Oh, I see.

JULIAN: User Blixemi. This has a million views?!

PAZ: Oh my god.

LIZ: Wow.

PAZ: What?

JULIAN: Yeah, this has 1 million views.

PAZ: This is a subculture I didn't know would be popular on Warrior Cats YouTube.

JULIAN: The most recent one is people I don't know. But two years ago they did Crowfeather versus Ashfur.

PAZ: Oh, you know those guys.

JULIAN: Yeah. Which was 600,000 views.

PAZ: Damn, people aren't bringing the same love to that.

JULIAN: Bringing the same, yeah.

PAZ: See, those are guys who would have an epic rap battle. I agree. That's some characterization right there. I don't even-- what were we talking about? Spottedleaf.

JULIAN: Spottedleaf. Epic rap battle.

PAZ: I couldn't remember how I got there. But yes, her sweet scent. I don't know, that's kind of the end of the reading. Just Fireheart wakes up, and he's like, I don't fucking understand what the hell she was talking about.

JULIAN: Yeah. Me neither, Fireheart.

PAZ: Yeah, me neither. And that's-- I don't know if I have much else to say about the reading. I think we covered a lot of it.

JULIAN: Yeah, I think we did a lot.

PAZ: A lot happened. A lot happened. We're only four chapters in.

JULIAN: Yeah, they were pretty robust chapters.

PAZ: They got a whole journey done in one chapter.

[meow]

If we don't have anything else to add, I thought-- I know we finished Fire and Ice, but I thought we could do a quick revisit to see what the Goodreads reviews have to say for it.

LIZ: Absolutely.

PAZ: I would love to know what the people think. So let me just open that up. So Fire and Ice has a overall rating of 4.38. Pretty good, I guess. I don't know. I don't use Goodreads much.

JULIAN: No, that's pretty good. I feel like most books that are pretty good tend to hover between four and five. Oh, there's also a reader Q&A section.

PAZ: Oh, yes, I was looking at that. Do you want to read that top question?

JULIAN: Yes. "What is your favorite character? Mine was Graystripe." Couldn't be us.

LIZ: 27 answers.

JULIAN: 27 answers, most of which are just a lot of people who say Ravenpaw. They're correct. Oh, here we go. "Bluestar because she's very brave. She trusts Fireheart and she is the wisest leader. I also like Yellowfang because even if she was from another clan, she dedicated the rest of her life to the ThunderClan." Yeah. Someone has commented on this to say, "Bluestar is mine too, but that's because she's flawed. She's not perfect, but that's what makes her a good leader."

LIZ: Hmm. Mm.

JULIAN: You know, debatable.

LIZ: You're allowed to have the take.

PAZ: That's one way to look at it, I guess.

JULIAN: I think someone is trying to get around the swear word filter because they've written "Fireheart: good. Spottedleaf: good. Tigerclaw: beach. Brokentail: beach."

PAZ: Got em. Okay, I'm looking at some reviews. Here's a good one. Alice Cullen rated it five stars over 12 years ago. "This book is the best ever besides Twilight."

LIZ: Aw, what year is this from?

PAZ: Over 12 years ago.

LIZ: Aw.

PAZ: So I can't do math. Whenever that was. "Warning, these books are addicting!!!!!" There's like 20 exclamation marks. "Don't pick up this book without having time to read the whole series."

LIZ: I would like to point to a review in the favorite character question. So I guess an answer from someone who has a lot of-- who just says like they can't choose between a lot of characters, but their icon is I think Sans Undertale. The vibes here are pretty, pretty good.

PAZ: Hold on. There is someone RPing in these ratings.

LIZ: Yes!

JULIAN: Yes, yes, yes.

PAZ: Logan, about two years ago. "Warrior Clan group ThunderClan, leader Nightstar, deputy Silverstone."

LIZ: The natural habitat for this.

JULIAN: Y'all, I found a one star reading from Mr. Coomey, teacher. "This book is all about Fireheart, nothing else."

LIZ: Yeah.

PAZ: He's the protagonist.

LIZ: He's the main character!

JULIAN: From October 13, 2012. And then, five years later, Abby H. comments, "He is the main character..."

LIZ: Get 'em, Abby.

PAZ: I don't know. Abby is like, are you sure you're teaching right? Where's your reading comprehension?

JULIAN: Mr. Coomey? We also have a one star review from Irina, who says "come on, people. The spelling and grammar? I spotted over 76 mistakes."

LIZ: That's quite a lot.

PAZ: I don't think I did.

LIZ: I don't think these books are particularly grammatically or spelling-wise that bad.

JULIAN: Yeah, I did not particularly notice.

LIZ: No.

JULIAN: Irina, you have a future as a copy editor, I guess.

LIZ: Wait a second. Wait a second. Wait a second. "Topic. What are your thoughts on Graystripe going against the warrior code and meeting Silverstream?"

PAZ: Oh, what do the people say?

JULIAN: [gasps] Oh.

LIZ: Oh, wait, I'm gonna give you guys the link. "I feel like Graystripe should have known better than to betray his clan and go and meet Silverstream. I was honestly quite upset and mad that he made this decision."

PAZ: Yeah, I agree, Maya.

LIZ: "But I started the third book and I can't wait to see what happens next."

PAZ: Maya from 2015, come onto our podcast, and we want to hear your thoughts and predictions.

LIZ: They seem very complicated. Yeah.

JULIAN: Celeste also.

PAZ: Oh, Maya does give her predictions.

LIZ: Ooh.

JULIAN: Oh?

PAZ: "I have two possible predictions, one that Graystripe and Silverstream will leave both of their clans and live on their own. Two, Graystripe will leave ThunderClan and join RiverClan." Interesting, Maya.

LIZ: Solid predictions.

JULIAN: Celeste also says, "I didn't feel much about it one way or the other with Graystripe's meeting up with Silverstream. Other than that he put a lot of extra burden on his friend Fireheart."

PAZ: True.

JULIAN: "Who was dealing with wondering if Tigerclaw was really as dangerous as Ravenclaw was making him out to be."

LIZ: [muffled] Mm!

JULIAN: "Or that Tigerclaw was just as--"

LIZ: Mm-mm.

JULIAN: "--loyal and dependable as the majority of the clan--"

LIZ: Julian!

JULIAN: [laughing] "--and Redtail's death happened exactly as Tigerclaw said."

LIZ: Julian, you can keep talking, but I heard what you said.

JULIAN: What did I say?

LIZ: You said-- you said the thing. You said Ravenclaw.

JULIAN: Oh my god.

[laughter]

I didn't even notice.

PAZ: I'm surprised that so far two people have seemed in line with our thoughts.

JULIAN: Yeah, no, people have turned on it.

PAZ: Oh my god. Somebody went and came and commented on this thread from like, six years ago ten months ago.

Ooh.

JULIAN: I feel like the Goodreads thread seemed to have a lot of longevity.

LIZ: I hope you get notifications for it. You probably do.

JULIAN: Oh, me too.

LIZ: Just like this comment you posted in 2015. And someone just comes in and is like, actually!

JULIAN: Well, actually.

PAZ: Sorry, there is a-- I cannot parse this review. Ian rated it three stars over two years ago. "You know how you watch a TV show and the characters always wear the same clothing? Like for 10 years and they're still wearing the same clothes? And you want something to happen but circumstances always thwart out the thing you want to happen? That's what this feels like."

LIZ: I don't think so. It feels very different.

PAZ: "It's not bad. It was written for young readers and they will love this book. Me, I'm enjoying it despite the flaws." Ian, I don't know what you're talking about.

LIZ: Part of why it's so upsetting is that everyone is like growing up in a very upsetting way. One of them is just not even there anymore. He moved. Also, they do not wear clothes.

PAZ: Yeah, I don't understand what that comment meant.

LIZ: It sounds like it's about static characterization, but it isn't. Not really.

PAZ: No, I don't-- I don't know.

JULIAN: Great news.

LIZ: I mean, except for I guess Tigerclaw's still evil.

JULIAN: We got a two star review from Angela from 2019. "Dammit, Graystripe." That's it.

PAZ: Angela, yeah.

LIZ: Angela, I know you're still reading these books. Come on our podcast.

JULIAN: Oh boy, Liz Henry has shelved it-- two star review, but has shelved it "good gender politics."

PAZ: Mm. Uh.

JULIAN: I don't know about that one, Liz.

LIZ: I'd say they're below neutral.

PAZ: Cryptid rated it three stars. "'I'm a man now, Fireheart,' said Graystripe. A summary."

JULIAN: Gregory, two stars. "I didn't like this book because it wasn't pulling me in and it was very boring. Like no fights or battles, just about what went on in the different clans. I think that this book is only for people who like to be informed about their reading all the time."

LIZ: It's the whole political intrigue for kids.

PAZ: Maryann rated it four stars. "Reread 8/8/17. This is better than I remembered. Reread 1/3/20. No, Maryann, it wasn't better than you remembered."

JULIAN: Oh no! Oh no.

LIZ: Lily from 2012 gives it four stars and says, "this is a very good book. It shows teamwork and how good it is to help each other out. I liked when Fireheart and Graystripe helped get WindClan home." And then some more about teamwork.

PAZ: Yeah, me too.

LIZ: Lily, good for you.

PAZ: Here's one from Juan, rated it four stars. "I'm a simple man. I read a description of Cloudkit doing literally anything, and I start crying." Me too. He's just a little baby.

LIZ: Tiffany from 2009 marked it as to read. Her only comments are, "Oh, fire. Ice."

PAZ: Yeah, that was me at the very last episode.

LIZ: Tiffany, did you read this? I hope you did. It's still marked as to read.

PAZ: Here's Neil with four stars, about two years ago. "I do wonder why don't the clans just talk to one another? I can understand the need for territorial boundaries, but why the mistrust and secrecy? Perhaps all will be explained as the story continues."

LIZ: Perhaps.

PAZ: Perhaps. Neil, that's a great question. Why don't they just talk to each other?

JULIAN: Ooh, incisive gender politics commentary from user Drakeryn, who read this in February 2021. "Critique of Warrior Cat society. Why are all the dads such deadbeats? Mamas everywhere, fussing over their kits, carrying their kits to safety--"

PAZ: True.

JULIAN: "--being frantic over their missing kits. But the dads are conspicuously absent. At Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw's apprenticeship ceremony their mom watched them proudly. But their dad couldn't even be bothered to show up. That's cold. Do better, toms."

PAZ: Damn. Called out.

LIZ: Three star review from just like-- let me check, like 19 days ago. 20 days ago.

JULIAN: Oh my god.

LIZ: Math is very bad. This month, from Dennis, who says, "okay, it's clear my favorite cats are lovers, not fighters."

PAZ: I need to know who Dennis considers a lover.

LIZ: It doesn't say. Damn.

PAZ: Ravenpaw, obviously. I don't know, I can't think of anything else.

JULIAN: Oh, here we go. Danielle Lee, three stars, January 1, 2021. "I can't believe this is going to be my first book of 2021. Can I just say, Graystripe, you beeotch."

LIZ: Get him.

PAZ: You know, we were having a hard time finding Graystripe dislikers. I think they were all just on Goodreads.

JULIAN: They were all in the Goodreads comments.

LIZ: Goodreads reviewers, listen, if you're still there, give us an email. Come on our podcast.

PAZ: Wendy three years ago gave it 4.5 stars. She makes a-- she sure makes a comment. "It's a bit like Game of Thrones, only with cats and a middle grade audience." Exactly. It's just like Game of Thrones only with cats.

JULIAN: Just like Game of Thrones.

LIZ: There's an equivalent amount of child murder attempts, right?

JULIAN: Incredible.

PAZ: Aw, here's someone over three years ago commenting on baby Onewhisker in all caps, excited. "Oh man, before he had to toughen up, he sure was a cutie. Cloudkit, love that little atheist."

LIZ: Wait, is Cloudkit gonna be an atheist?

PAZ: I don't remember. I don't remember this. I guess so.

LIZ: I guess that makes sense if your basis of religion is just other cats who--

PAZ: Who are all racist towards you.

LIZ: Yeah. You know what? Go on, Cloudkit. I'm supporting you. This baby is an atheist. Oh, my God. Review from Lacey from 2020. "My granddaughter has been reading the series and wanted me to read them too. I finally gave in. I truly like the books."

JULIAN: Aw.

LIZ: Aw.

PAZ: That's so cute.

LIZ: Good for her.

JULIAN: That's really sweet.

LIZ: Grandma book. Also, Julian, do you have to go grocery shopping soon?

JULIAN: I do need to go grocery shopping soonish.

PAZ: Well, there's some very good Goodreads comments, but Julian must grocery shop, so we should wrap it up.

JULIAN: I'm glad that we've found-- this is a deep mine.

PAZ: Yeah, we found the bastion of Graystripe dislikers, too.

LIZ: We've got to return to Goodreads.

PAZ: Yeah, we should definitely return to it once we've finished every book. I must know what the people think. Too bad I didn't think of this before.

JULIAN: Oh my god. Really incredible question here from-- let's see. A Goodreads user, six years ago. "Is StarClan the heavens?" Reagan: "Pretty much, but there isn't a king or queen."

PAZ: What?

LIZ: Is there a king or queen of heaven? Well, wait.

PAZ: I don't know.

JULIAN: There is not a king of heaven. Unless you count God.

LIZ: Do people count God?

PAZ: I don't--

JULIAN: I mean, I guess like people do talk about like the kingdom of heaven.

PAZ: That's true.

JULIAN: And like Christ the King, but like that's usually-- it's meant to be sort of a metaphor.

PAZ: Well.

JULIAN: Oh good. Sorry. Division 6 Mrs. Anima's class: "StarClan is a safe place in the clouds where the fallen kits, warriors, queens, all cats go to rest in peace. Do you understand? Sabrina, one of the grade fives of Mrs. Anima's class."

LIZ: Aw.

PAZ: Aw.

JULIAN: Thanks, Sabrina.

PAZ: Do you understand?

LIZ: It is very cute that the book is getting kids to ask these questions.

JULIAN: Important questions.

PAZ: I wish I was taught Warriors in my class.

LIZ: Man, we should talk about what we read as fifth graders or whatever because that would be very interesting. But Julian must go grocery shopping.

JULIAN: Cockblocked for my need for food.

LIZ: Aren't we all? Alright.

PAZ: Well, that's gonna do it for us this week. Thank you everyone for joining us as we start another book. Hope everyone is having the time. I don't know why I said that. As always, you can find the show @staircast on Twitter. You can send in questions and/or anecdotes to stairwaytostarclan@gmail.com. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and have a good week. Until next time, may StarClan light your path. Bye.

LIZ: Bye everyone.

JULIAN: Bye.

[outro music]

[thunder-the-ranger-wolf]

AU where Leafpool and Crowfeather actually left the Clans after she gave birth to her kits and was either told to step down or leave. She learns how to defend herself while she's away and eventually gets a sign that the Clans are in danger of extinction so she comes back to help however she can.

“Leafpool?!”

_______________________________________________

“Wait a second, you have to keep your eyes open we just got you back, Leaf!”

“I'm not going anywhere, Squirrel… just need a nap.”

“Leafpool wake up! I can't lose all of you to this please don't go!”

_______________________________________________

“Brambleclaw… you… what-? How-? We were supposed to have more time, how did you-?”

_______________________________________________

“Dad, dad what are you doing? You can't go to StarClan yet, mom needs you, the Clan needs you, for the love of the ancestors you're our leader! Dad wait! Daaaaaaad!!”

_______________________________________________

Squirrelflight shook herself out and padded over to her mother.

“Sandstorm… mama, you need to go to the medicine den. Take Leafy and go see Jay and Pebble. Come on, you can do it.” She purred weakly.

Slowly but surely, the pair of she-cats picked up their fallen relative and ambled toward the medicine den, where cats already awaited treatment.

“Jayfeather, Pebblefur, if there's anything I can do to help-.” Sandstorm rasped.

“Come here, for starters.” A third voice snapped.

Never has having three medicine cats been such a blessing.

Squirrelflight turned back to the crowd, surveying injuries as she scanned for cats who could start helping to hunt later on.

Brackenfur looks okay… need to check on Sorreltail and Dustpelt later. Stars, Ferncloud… she was in the nursery when I was a kit! Okay, wait. Brackenfur… Lionblaze maybe. Hollyleaf needs to see to that bite on her shoulder but Brambles took most of that so she should be fine… Stars I hope this doesn't get her too. Brackenfur, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze...

“You need to get treated just like everyone else.” Pebblefur urged. “You fought well, Squirrelflight. You can't worry about what's next when you're asleep on your paws.”

“I'm not tired.” She insisted. “And unlike all these cats, I'm still up and moving.”

“Then help the others. Hunting can wait, the borders aren't going anywhere because we all just fought the same battle.”

“We did… oh Stars, I have to tell Tawnypelt and Mothwing.” She whispered, slumping to the ground.

“Squirrelflight if you don't get up!” Pebblefur snapped, prodding the ginger she-cat to her paws. “You can't let this be the thing that gets you. The Clan needs you just like it needs anyone else. Come on.”

_______________________________________________

Squirrelflight can't bring herself to go to the Moonpool. Despite the fact that everyone commends her on how she pulled the Clan together after the Spirit Battle, despite her going on and sending out multiple patrols to ensure that the other three Clans were able to cope with their own losses, despite attempting single-pawedly to stock the fresh-kill pile day after day… She would shut down any talk of StarClan. She'd lost her father and her mate in the same battle, the cat who'd helped raise her was gone, her mentor was barely clinging to life himself, her kits… Jayfeather’s assurance that everyone would pull through was all that kept her going out into the forest sometimes, and Hollyleaf was a strong presence at her side. Lionblaze stalked every inch of the territory for ghosts and traitors. Seeing Ashfur turn on StarClan when they'd given him a place and didn't have to was… staggering, to say the least.

But Squirrelflight could not go to the Moonpool. She had no reason to become leader. She was too old; there were plenty of younger, more qualified cats.

Nobody knew what was supposed to happen, so ThunderClan went maybe half a moon the way they did, until one day, something changed.

_______________________________________________

“We're taking a patrol to the WindClan border and you need to be on it.” Brackenfur insisted. The brown tom and his golden-flecked brother decided to retire after the Dark Battle, but kept themselves limber by getting out into the forest every chance either one could get. They often took Brightheart and Whitewing with them, having lost Cloudtail to his wounds not long after.

“I needed proof.” He insisted. “I wanted to believe, but I wanted proof that I'd be able to see my mother again.”

The vigils for their Clan were all more heartbreaking than the last, because half the cats who died were sick before the battle and kept on for the sake of intruders, or they were content to be walking bruises and proud to join their Clanmates.

Now Squirrelflight, Brackenfur, Leafpool, Jayfeather, Dustpelt and Purdy were at the border with WindClan. They didn't have to wait long for a patrol to arrive.

“What could ThunderClan possibly want with us now?!” The lead cat snapped.

“Permission for a few of us to go to the Moonpool.” Jayfeather informed them.

“What?!” Squirrelflight yelped. “You said this was a border patrol! Why are we going to the Moonpool?”

“You need to talk with StarClan, Squirrelflight, because if you're not supposed to be leader then at least they'll tell us who is. But you've done the most to keep the Clan together these past few days, and if anyone deserves nine lives, it's you.”

Dustpelt was the one who spoke these words, and Squirrelflight stared at her former mentor, mouth open.

“Okay.” She murmured. “Okay, I'll… yes, we need to go to the Moonpool. ThunderClan can't go without a leader or deputy forever.”

“Then we wish you luck and a safe passage. You only said a few, though. Will the rest of you be waiting here?”

_______________________________________________

“Welcome, Squirrelflight.” Several voices chimed at once. When she was a kitten, Firestar told her that the cat she needed to hear most was the one StarClan greeted her with. She could pick out several voices, Ferncloud, Firestar, and Cloudtail included, but apparently the one she need to hear most was a dead kit’s.

“You were the ones we would have had alongside Jay, Lion, and Holly… we were going to name you Juniper and Rose… I'm so sorry, little ones.”

Two starfilled forms stepped out of the rows of cats. They were so much smaller than her… one had a dappled golden pelt that Brambleclaw had likened to his mother's, and her green eyes, while the other had Brambleclaw's dark tabby pelt with her white paw and amber eyes. They raced over to her and nuzzled her, bumping at her legs and flicking their tails cheerfully.

“We like it up here! There's so much to explore!”

“And everyone has so many stories to tell!”

“And now our mom gets to become leader!”

Squirrelflight froze.

“So they were right…” She whispered. “How could they possibly know? I was never supposed to be here, it was always going to be Bramble-. This doesn't make any sense.”

“This is StarClan's choice.”

Brambleclaw spoke now. His scent wreathed around her and suddenly he was just there and she leaned into him.

“You'll be a wonderful leader, Squirrelflight. It's in your blood.”

They sat like that for a few heartbeats before Squirrelflight inhaled deeply and got to her paws.

“Okay.” She mumbled. “What do I have to do?”

“Hold still when the time comes.” Brambleclaw murmured before melting back into the crowd with their kits.

The first cat to step forward had golden-brown fur that matched her daughter's.

I wonder if Brambleclaw and Thornclaw are related.

Goldenflower chuckled, and it occurred to Squirrelflight that the cats of StarClan might know her every thought.

“With this life, I give you the strength you will need to carry out your duties. It is often called a mother's love, but you have an abundance of that. So it is strength you will receive, when you must push on for the sake of your kits and your Clan.”

Goldenflower touched her nose to Squirrelflight and the ginger she-cat screwed her eyes shut as the force of memories hit her.

Flash.

“If you have nothing else to say, then I sentence you to exile,” Bluestar announced.

Wait! Tigerclaw what have you done?!

The words never left her lips, frozen as she was.

Flash.

I know exactly who he looks like but that doesn't mean that's who he is! You said that your father never kept a mate. Could you really see yourself with a trail of she-cats all sniffing your tail?!

Flash.

Thank you, Swiftpaw. You always were my brave little boy.

Flash.

That same kit lay torn apart on the ground.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Flash

I love you, son… don't ever forget that.

Squirrelflight winced and jerked back, panting. “How in the world did you…”

“The same way you did.”

The two she-cats touched noses and Goldenflower disappeared, to be replaced by

“Cloudtail, you made it!” Squirrelflight squealed when the familiar white pelt slipped into view.

“Hey there, little Flight… who'd have thought that'd be your warrior name.”

The former kittypet had a knack for calling cats things that described them but weren't their names. He, Firestar, and Daisy called then nicknames, and some of them were just weird.

“I'm so glad you found your way.” Squirrelflight purred.

“All I needed was proof, and boy did I get it. Tell Brightheart to hold on, will you?”

At Squirrelflight's nod, he bumped his nose to her forehead.

“With this life, I give you nobility and certainty and faith. Trust yourself when you can't decide, and look forward the Stars where you need our guidance.”

Squirrelflight closed her eyes and let the warm feeling wash over her. Something about this life make her sure of this. She knew, no matter what happened next, that she could do this. She could live for her Clan... and maybe even be the leader they deserved.

[pendulumprince]

IT’S EPISODE 27. LONELY BRAVE IS COMING HOME. 

So, at KoH headquarters

Faust is staring down at Genome and Vyra’s bodies

They’re in coffins?? Holy shit

Okay but he’s sad as fuck

Promises to capture “the ignis” if it’s the last goddamn ting he does…!

“No one can capture me anymore!” lmao oh Ai

Okay he and Roboppy just finishied getting it on??

Oh shit oh shIT OKAY

THEY’RE PLANNING SOMETHING??

“Yusaku will be surprised!”

*MANIACAL LAUGHTER*

Lmao Ai doesn’t want her laughing harder than him damn relax dude

Not like Roboppy gives a shit lol

After the opening!

So in the hotdog truck

Aw damn the sad piano music is playing

So another has died down

Looks like the whole Vyra situation made Yusaku realize he’s fighting real, actual people

Shoichi reminds him there’s one Another mastermind left

K so in Link Vrains, a KoH mook takes some asshat down

Is sad that he isn’t Playmaker

Okay so the KoH are still at it, those SOBs don’t give up

Back in school

NAOKI IS SHOUTING AT YUSAKU

“We can’t remain spectators! Playmaker and Blue Angel are fighting the Knights of Hanoi”

Lmaooo, if only you knew Naoki

“So?”

“The duel club is on break. But as duelists, we should—“

“Don’t do it, [bitch].”

“WHY NOT?!”

“T h r e e  r e a s o n s :

There’s not a website for the removal program, so there are fewer Anothers.

You have no plan, so you’ll get burned.

Deep down inside, you’re scared.

NAOKI TAKES EXTREME OFFENSE TO THAT LAST ONE, BUT

That’s the whole reason he’s asking Yusaku to join him, right?

Naoki isn’t convinced. Now he’s just mad.

He runs off

Ai pops out of Yusaku’s book bag (!!!) to tell him he went too far

Yusaku, as always, tells him to be quiet

Naoki goes to the Duel Club room

No one’s there

He remembers when he first joined the Duel Club…

“I’m Naoki Shima! I put my pride on the line during duels. In my duels, I’m full speed ahead! I won’t back down! I always move forward! My goal is to become the top duelist! … actually, within the top 50.”

EVERYONE IN THE DUEL CLUB IS WEIRDLY IMPRESSED BY THIS, BUT

“Then you’re not reaching for the top! … I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm. But just those.” Lmao well at least the prez tells it like it is.

They all welcome him to the duel club

Wow, that was actually pretty sweet.

But Naoki’s thinking back on it now

“Just my passion and enthusiasm… All show and no substance. When the going gets tough…”

His duel disk lights up??

It’s downloading some new data

HE DOESN’T KNOW WTF IS GOING ON BUT

It’s… Cyberse Wizard

THAT IS A FUCKING TRAP IF I EVER SAW ONE

YEAH

HE GETS A ~*MESSAGE*~ FROM PLAYMAKER

“Be one with the Cyberse.” PM

Omggggg this isn’t gonna end well

That’s for sure Faust

But why Naoki??

OMGGGG NAOKI IS HAVING A ROMANTIC DAYDREAM ABOUT MEETING PLAYMAKER AND I

SO HE GOES IN

“Into the V-V-Vrains!”

So he’s in Link Vrains

Alright guys so

Did I tell you that I actually like Lonely Brave’s design?

He looks like a damn action figure

But this is his first time in LV, so he’s just getting his bearings about him??

LIKE EVEN WALKING AROUND IS WEIRD TO HIM but it’s understandable lmao this is VR

HE STARTS RUNNING AROUND

THROWS HIMSELF ON THE GROUND BELLY FIRST

IS SUPRISED THAT HE CAN EVEN FEEL PAIN?? lol you’re prob gonna hate that real soon buddy

BUT HE HEARS SCREAMING

AND

IT’S A KNIGHT BOY KICKING SOMEBODUY’S ASS

AND LOOK

THERE ARE MORE

LONELY BRAVE IS FREAKING OUT

A KNIGHT BOY CONFRONTS HIM

“Just another weakling.”

“W-Weakling??” *thinks about his imaginary meeting with Playmaker* “I’m the only one deemed worthy by Playmaker!” OH LONELY BRAVE

“Such nonsense.”

HE SHOWS OFF CYBERSE WIZARD AS PROOF

WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT

THE KNIGHT BOY IS FREAKING OUT

So Faust is watching the duel

Lonely Brave and the Knight boy prepare to square off

“I’m the one who carries out Playmaker’s will! My name is Lonely Brave!”

“… I’ll defeat you quickly and force you to tell me where Playmaker is.”

NAOKI IS FREAKING OUT INTETRNAL, BUT DAMN IF HE’LL LET IS SHOW

ALRIGHT

SO THE DUEL STARTS

KNIGHT BOY STARTS OFF WITH A SHITTY HAND

SO DOES LONELY BRAVE LMAOOOO

HEY BOY PLAY IT OFF

KNIGHT BOY GOES FIRST

LONLEY BRAVE IS SECRETLY GREATFUL

KNIGHT BOY PLAYS A MAGIC CARD

SO THEY EACH DISCARD TWO CARDS AND DRAW TWO MORE

LONELY BRAVE IS SO HAPPY

THEY EACH DISCARD TWO

AND DRAW

And… it’s just mediocre

BUT THE KNIGHT BOY GETS AN IDEA

KNIGHT BOY PLAYS IT OFF AS A PERFECT DRAW

LONELY BRAVE DOES TOO, BUT AGAIN, HE’S FREAKING OUT INSIDE

KNIGHT BOY PLAYS A ANOTHER SPELL

SO HE DISCARDS ONE CARD

TO TAKE ONE FROM THE GRAVE

AND PUT IT BACK ON TOP OF HIS DECK??

What are you getting at, dude

So he does that… and activates yet another spell...

So he can special summon monsters for 1000 LP a pop

AND HE GOES DOWN TO 1000 LP

Okay so, Lonely Brave considers his options

He has 2600 ATK monsters in the grave that he discarded

So he figures he should try and revive him

BUT THE KNIGHT BOY SAW RIGHT THROUGH THAT SHIT

Gotta admit, LB/Naoki has a good poker face in VR

KNIGHT BOY TRIBUTES HIS MONSTERS

SUMMONS A 3200 ATK MONSTER

And one per turn, he can destroy every other card at the cost of half his LP

SO HE CAN WIPE OUT WHATEVER LONELY BRAVE DOES ONCE PER TURN

FUCK ME SIDEWAYS

LONELY BRAVE TAKES HIS TURN

IT’S CYBERSE WIZARD

Oh shit you know what just occured to me

DID FUCKING AI PUT IT THERE

LIKE

HE SAID HE HAS A SURPRISE FOR YUSAKU AT THE START OF THE EPISODE

AND THE CYBERSE MONSTERS ARE *HIS* ARCHETYPE.

IS THIS HIS IDEA OF A SICK JOKE.

Okay but like

He doesn’t even know how he’s going to use it

“*~*I know you can use it. I’m always with you, just like how you always watched me*~*”

“Always watched…”

ALRIGHT. THIS IS TOO MUCH.

NAOKI IS CANONICALLY CRUSHING SO FUCKING HARD

And because Naoki always watched Playmaker

Of COURSE he knows how to summon Cyberse Wizard

annnnnnnd Lonley Brave’s pokerface broke

Hes murmering to himself “I can do it. I cam do it. I can do it!”

THE KNIGHT BOY CAN HEAR HIM LMAO

Okay but Lonely Brave summons Cyberse Wizard

… and back in the real world

Yusaku enters the hotdog truck, and…!

SHOICHI SHOWS HIM THE DUEL’S LIVESTREAM

HE SEES CYBERSE WIZARD THERE

A MONSTER TYPE ONLY HE AND REV HAVE USED

Lmao, Ai thinks “Lonely Brave” is a cool name, but noT AS COOL AS HIS

But Yusaku’s confused, he has Cyberse Wizard

So what’s happening—

OH SNAP

SO AI TAPS THE CARD AND

APEPRENTLY IT HAS NO DATA

YUSAKU’S CYBERSE WIZARD IS AN “EMPTY CARD”

… lmaoooo wtf

No one knows what’s happening

And Faust continues to look on

BACK TO THE DUEL

LONELY BRAVE ACTIVATES CYBERSE WIZARD’S EFFECT

SWITCHES THE KNIGHT BOYS MONSTER TO DEF MODE

AND IT HAS 0 DEF

LONELY BRAVE GOES IN TO ATTACK, AND

DUE TO CYBERSE WIZARD’S EFFECT

HE CAN DEAL PIERCING DAMAGE!

THE ATTACK CONNECTS!

THE KNIGHT BOY GOES DOWN TO 0!

LONELY BRAVE WINS!

Omg

He actually won

Lmao didn’t see that coming

“You have no right to call yourself a duelist!” bitch stop stealing people’s lines

So to recap

Yusaku basically got his card stolen

And whoever did it gave it to Naoki

Ai suggests that Lonely Brave is the mastermind behind Another

But as Shoichi points out, he wouldn’t be dueling a Knight boy if that were the case

… but who knows. He might do it to lure out Playmaker, RIGHT??

So Shoichi starts doin some shit

(Probably gonna hack in and find out Lonely Brave=Naoki)

So back in Link Vrains, a bunch of folks are super impressed with Lonely Brave---

BITCH STOP SAYING YOU’RE CARRYING OUT PLAYMAKER’S WILL

IF ONLY YOU FUCKING KNEW THE REAL PLAYMAKER TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF IT

CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF

Alright looks like this bitch just changed his name from Lonely Brave to “Brave Max”

Fuck out of here, you’re name is Lonely Brave

So he logs out

And Faust… starts doing his research…

ALRIGHT

FAUST DEF WASN’T THE ONE WHO GAVE NAOKI THAT CARD

IT HAD TO BE AI, THAT PURPLE LIL ASSHOLE

YEAH, HE FINDS NAOKI REAL QUICK

So does Shoichi and Yusaku

SO NAOKI IS NOW IN DANGER

LOOK AT HIM, WALKING DOWN THE STREET, SO FUCKIN PROUD OF HIMSELF

“I’m already Link Vrains’ newest legend! The hottest duelist! I’m trending! BEcause I’m Playmaker’s—“

“You’re Playmakers what?”

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, IT’S IRL!FAUST

HE PUNCHES NAOKI IN THE STOMACH?? KNOCKS HIM OUT.

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS BINCH

So he ties Naoki up

Has him in a warehouse somewhere

“Sorry. But in order to capture the ignis…”

Naoki wakes up!

Faust tels him to call Playmaker

Naoki says he doesn’t know how

So Faust decides to use him as bait

Forces him to log into Link Vrains

“Brave Max is back!”

Shoichi, please stop. He is not “Brave Max”. Stop trying to make “Brave Max” a thing.”

Okay, but he’s with a Knight

Faust, obviously

He introduces himself, and addresses Playmaker directly:

“Fight me. If you refuse, I’ll defeat him and take his Cyberse card.”

“Whatever! I got that from Playmaker!”

SO FAUST CHALLENGES HIM

LONELY BRAVE FREAKS OUT

IS ABOUT TO FALL OFF THE LEDGE OF A BUILDING

IS BEGGING FOR SOMEONE TO COME SAVE HIM

“MY NAME IS NAOKI SHIMA! I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED AND LOCKED UP!”

Shoichi’s gonna try and locate Naoki while Yusaku goes in to save his ass

But his… duel disk is gone…

AND AI IS IN THE COMPUTER

HE’S BROADCASTING LIVE

“Hello, everyone! Broadcasting from above Den City.”

YUSAKU WANTS TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HE’S DOING

“Wait a sec. Umm…

HE ADJUSTS THE CAMERA  SO HE CAN LOOK AT YUSAKU

“What are you doing?”

“I had Idiotppi modify your duel disk.”

“Roboppy? … so that’s why my duel disk felt heavy.”

“I’ve gotten fat? I’m shocked!”

“COME BACK RIGHT NOW.”

“Are you sure? I’m trying to find Shima’s location."

Shoichi doesn’t think he can, since Den City is so huge

But Yusaku figures he’s using Cyberse Wizard’s data

YEAH, AI PUT A TRACKER ON IT

“… so you were prepared. As if you knew this would happen."

“ARE YOU ACCUSING ME?! I’m shocked!”

Shoochi asks where Naoki is

“I’ll send you his location signal. Switch the monitor to the map

So he’s southeast

THEY REV OFF TO FIND HIM

MEANWHILE,. LONELY BRAVE CONTINUES TO BEG FOR HIS LIFE

FAUST FORCES HIM ON A D-BOARD

LB’S STILL TRYING TO GET OUT OF IT

“Huh? The one who carries Playmaker’s will is a coward?”

HE REMEMBERS EVERYONE'S WORDS

(“Deep down inside, you’re scared.”)

(“I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm. But just those.”)

HE SLAPS HIMSELF AROUND SOME, AND DECIDES TO FACE FAUST

BACK IN THE REAL WORLD, AI CONTINUES TO FLY THOUGH THE AIR

IS HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN WITH IT

CRASHES INTO A BUILDING

BUT HE’S FINE

AND HE FOUND NAOKI

Ai goes back to Yusaku

AND THE BOYS GO TO LINK VRAINS

“Shima…”

AND THAT’S A WRAP

PREVIEW TIME

So basically, Faust and Playmaker are dueling

And the voiceover implies that Faust has some mixed feelings about what he’s doing

As well he should

[veneataur]

A/N: This is the longest one yet, clocking in at almost 3200 words. As much as I’ve enjoyed this month of prompts, I’m going to be glad that it’s over. These keep getting longer and more involved.

While you don’t need to read any of the other stories to understand this one, I think, I will say that it connects a bit with two others. First with Between a Rock and a Hard Place and An Unexpected Meeting. It’s more closely related to the first, but, again, I don’t think you need to read them to understand this.

TW: This story deals with a suicide attempt and an opioid overdose. Please don’t read if these are triggering to you.

And you have one guess as to who it is...

Prompt: Bandaging a wound

Fandon: BBC’s The Musketeers

Title: Coming to Terms

A week ago, Treville got the call but he didn’t believe it until now, refused to until he had written proof to show Aramis and anyone else who might doubt his word. He has his phone in hand to call Sarah, when she calls him.

“Jean, you need to come home, right away,” Sarah says. Treville can hear how she’s forcing herself to be calm.

“What happened?” He’s already getting things together, calculating if he’s going to be able to catch the next train home. Sarah wouldn’t make a call like this without reason.

“It’s Aramis. We’re at the ER. H… he’s not responding, Jean.” She nearly cries then.

“What happened?” He signals to Athos that he’s going out as he runs outside and doesn’t stop until he gets to the station.

“I don’t know. He was on the phone and then an hour later I found him in the bathroom, unconscious. He’d taken whatever was left from one of your old pain prescriptions. I didn’t know, Jean. I didn’t know.” She is barely keeping herself together now, the guilt and trauma of Aramis’ suicide attempt weighing on her.

“I know, Sarah. I’m going to have to go. I’m almost to the station but I’ll call once the train gets going. I’ll be there as soon as I can. He’s a fighter, Sarah. Aramis is a fighter,” Treville says and hopes that he’s not lying.

His mind wanders as he waits to board the train and then until he can call her back. He can’t think of what would have sent Aramis to this. There had been times in the weeks since Aramis came that they watched him closely, days where he thought so little of his own worth that they stayed with him around the clock, days where they hid anything dangerous and gave him meals that could be eaten only with a spoon.

Sarah has nothing new on Aramis when he calls her back. They talk to comfort each other and it doesn’t work for either. Aramis has so quickly become a part of their family, losing him would be devastating.

When his stop comes, he gets off without hanging up, hoping that if he waits just a second longer good news will come. It doesn’t and he has to hang up to drive. Traffic is heavy but he is also frustrated and panicked. He can think only of Aramis and Sarah and getting to the hospital as soon as possible and the cars traveling at the speed limit are going far too slow for him.

He runs into the ER, nearly passing the nurses’ station when he sees stern eyes and double doors that are closed to him.

“My friend was brought in here. My wife is with him. I need to go see them,” he says in a rush.

“Okay, sir. Who is your friend,” the nurse behind the desk asks.

“Aramis, René d’Herblay,” Treville corrects himself as he remembers Aramis’ given name. “I’m Jean Treville. I’m listed as one of his contacts. He’s not close with his family.” Treville feels like he’s rambling but he needs to get back there. The nurse looks through her records.

“Alright, I’ll take you back. They’re in one of the private exam rooms.”

“How’s he doing? Has there been any news?” He follows her as she walks him through the confusing corridors.

“Based off his chart, the Narcan worked but he’s still unresponsive. The doctor should be around shortly to tell you more.” She opens the door and gestures for him to enter. He walks in the brightly lit room and she closes the door behind him.

Sarah comes to him right away, leaving Aramis’ side to hug him, to gain strength from him. She’s read about suicide but never thought she’d be witness to it. Scrapes and bruises, that’s her every day, not this.

“How’re you doing,” Treville asks, holding Sarah tight.

“I’m fine,” she says, holding back tears.

“Really?” He raises an eyebrow that would have made Athos proud.

“As I can be. He’s the bigger concern now.” She nods her head in the direction of the unconscious man. Treville looks over her shoulder, seeing the young man for the first time. He’s pale and far too still. There’s an oxygen mask over his mouth and an IV in his arm. Wires sneak out of his hospital gown indicating a heart monitor and a pulse ox monitor is clipped to a finger. After all of the progress they’d made in the last three months, seeing him like this was more than disheartening.

“You said he got a phone call?” He turns back to her.

“Yeah. He got to it before I could and answered. Then he said it was an old Navy buddy and went into the den.” She shrugs her shoulders. Treville’s efforts to appeal his OTH discharge have been kicking up a lot of dust. People were calling Aramis to try to intimidate him into stopping. They intercepted the calls to save Aramis the stress of dealing with their vitriol and mind-games. He didn’t need to hear it while he was recovering. The calls had stopped in the last week and they thought they were safe. Apparently not.

“Did you hear anything?” They don’t eavesdrop on Aramis but he hoped that she might have heard something.

“When he said, old Navy buddy, I knew something wasn’t right. You’ve said he doesn’t have any, so I stood outside the door.” She doesn’t look remorseful. “He said Marsac a few times. I think that was who he was talking to.”

Treville curses harshly.

“Who’s Marsac,” Sarah asks.

“The guy who was supposed to lead that mission that Aramis did. Marsac was his commander. Damn. I thought he was done making trouble.”

“What’s he done?”

“Other than being instrumental in railroading Aramis into the OTH discharge and shooing away all of his friends?” Treville sighs. “He’s called a number of times, sent threatening letters, and threw what weight he has around to try to stop this appeal from happening.”

“I didn’t know.”

“He’s been a pain in the ass and I thought with the appeal approved, he’d let things go.”

“It went through?” There’s a smile on Sarah’s face for the first time since he got there.

“I just got official confirmation today. I was going to call you to tell Aramis.” He pulls the letter out of his jacket pocket. “I knew last week, but I was waiting for this. I knew Aramis wouldn’t believe a phone call. And now this.” Treville runs a hand through his graying hair. He’s sure there’s more there now than three months ago but he doesn’t regret it. He’d go bald if that meant Aramis would be fine.

Then the doctor comes in.

“Mrs. Treville,” he says, then looks to Treville.

“Oh, this is my husband, Jean. And please call me Sarah,” she says.

“Dr. Smith.” The doctor extends his hand to shake Treville’s. “I came to examine Mr. d’Herblay.”

“He prefers Aramis,” Treville says.

“Aramis, then. The nurse says that he’s still not coming ‘round.”

“She said unresponsive. That’s bad isn’t it,” Treville says as Smith begins his examination.

“He’s not quite unresponsive. There was a short time he truly was but he’s started responding to pain according to the last report. That’s a good sign.”

“Did the overdose do any damage?”

“That’s hard to know. We don’t know how much he took. Some of the pills were still intact, so that’s good. And the Narcan worked. It took a few doses, but it did counteract the morphine. While his breathing was severely depressed, he didn’t stop breathing. So, the chances of brain damage from lack of oxygen are low. You got to him in time, Sarah, and did the right thing in calling 911 immediately.”

Sarah nods, holding back tears as she remembers walking in on Aramis, unconscious with the empty bottle next to him, clear evidence of what had happened. She’d called without thinking. Treville puts a comforting arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“Now, when he wakes him will be up to him. The sooner the better, of course.”

“Of course,” Treville echoes lightly. Smith continues his exam, then, when finished, looks up at the two of them from behind Aramis.

“Has he been depressed recently?”

“He has PTSD. We’ve made a lot of progress but he got a phone call that disrupted it all,” Treville explains.

“Is he seeing a psychiatrist?”

“No. He’s a veteran who doesn’t qualify for benefits. Or didn’t. He does now.”

“I see,” Smith says, ignoring Treville’s rambling comments. “When he regains consciousness, one of our psychiatrists will be in to evaluate him.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’s made one suicide attempt. There’s a chance he’ll make another. He has PTSD that he’s had no treatment for. He has to be evaluated.”

“Look,” Treville begins, feeling his hackles raise in defense of Aramis, at the doctor’s matter-of-fact tone, “this young man has been through hell and he’s had nearly every sliver of dignity and respect taken away. These past three months he’s made progress because he’s been around people who care for him, who love him, and ask him what he wants instead of forcing him to do things.”

“He is a risk to himself and has to be evaluated,” Smith counters.

“And where is his say in this,” Sarah asks.

“If he’s a danger to himself, he has to be looked after. That’s the law. If the psychiatrist determines that he’s no danger to himself, then he’ll be let go. It’s not up to me or him. It’s the law.”

“I understand but…” Treville is cut off by a low moan from Aramis. The young man is finally waking it seems. Treville and Sarah move quickly to his side.

“’Mis,” Treville says gently, using the man’s nickname. It is rare for him to do so but he wants the man to be comforted as he rises through the dredges of unconsciousness. He slips his hand in Aramis’ and sees Sarah put hers on top of the younger man’s. They wait several minutes as Aramis seems to come back and then fades before his eyes open or recognition reaches his irises.

Then he comes back suddenly, panicking and trying to push the mask off his face. Treville ignores the doctor’s squawks of irritation as he pulls the mask off and works to calm Aramis.

“You’re safe,” he says. “You’re safe. You’re at the ER. Sarah’s here. I’m here. You’re safe. You’re not alone. We’re looking after you, keeping watch.” He keeps up the mantra until Aramis begins to calm. He stops fighting and follows Treville’s lead in taking deep breaths. By then a nurse has come in, waving a syringe full of a sedative.

“Don’t let her give that to him,” Sarah says. “Jean has him calming down. He didn’t know where he was and the mask scared him.”

The nurse looks to Smith, who’s watching the scene in front of him, hesitant.

“He doesn’t need it. You’re only going to make him trust you less if you give him that.” Sarah sterner this time, looking directly at Smith. She’s used to fighting for her kids, she thinks and Aramis is no different. They’ll sedate him over her dead body.

“We’re good,” Smith finally says. Aramis is much calmer than he was minutes ago. He still has a hand on Treville’s chest, which was put there and is being held by Treville himself. His breathing is not back to normal but it’s better and his heart rate is coming down.

“How’re you feeling, Aramis,” Smith asks. The younger man shifts his head lazily to look at him but doesn’t answer.

“He, um,” Sarah hesitates. “He’s not comfortable with strangers. He’ll talk, but it takes time.” She’s not apologetic in her tone but it does feel strange to talk about Aramis as though he couldn’t speak for himself. She knows he’s rather chatty. He keeps her company in the kitchen, sometimes doing some baking of his own when he feels up to it.

“’Mis,” Treville tries.

“Trev…ille,” Aramis says, voice scratchy, rolling his head back to look at Treville. There’s an emptiness in those eyes that sinks Treville’s stomach. It’s going to take time to pull Aramis out of this.

“Yeah.” Treville nods. “How’re you feeling?”

“Tired. Heavy. Hurts.”

“I bet. I think the doctor here wants to examine you now that you’re awake. You okay with that? We’ll be here the whole time,” Treville adds when he sees the panic rising. “If you’re uncomfortable, just squeeze my hand, okay?”

Aramis nods.

“Tell him what you’re going to do, before you do it, doctor,” Treville says. “He’s less prone to panic if he knows what’s coming.”

“Sure.” Smith nods and begins his exam. He is sure to be clear in his explanation of what he’s going to do and waits until he sees Aramis understand. The exam takes longer than normal but they get through it without more panic and the nurse has some ice chips for Aramis when they’re done.

“I have to go see some other patients,” Smith says, walking to the door. “I’ll come back in an hour to see how you’re doing.”

Once he and the nurse are gone, Treville turns his full attention back to Aramis. Sarah takes a seat on the other side of the bed, holding Aramis’ hand.

“I’m sorry,” is the first thing from Aramis as he breaks down into tears. “I s… said I w…wouldn’t, but I… I couldn’t… hel…p it.”

Treville pulls Aramis up towards him and hugs the young man as he cries, muttering the same sentence again and again.

“I’m not going to say it’s okay,” Treville says calmly. Aramis has settled some, the explosion of emotion fading to silent tears. “You know I’ll never lie to you and this isn’t okay, but we’ll get you through it.”

“They’re going to… keep me aren’t they,” Aramis asks. Treville sets him back against the raised bed.

“It depends on if you’re going to do this again.” Treville meets Aramis’ gaze with his own.

Aramis nods.

“Are you?”

“I… I don’t know,” Aramis says quietly.

Treville sighs. Days, weeks from now Aramis will likely feel different. But right now, so close to the crisis moment that they might as well still be in it, he’s not surprised by the reaction.

“I know Marsac called you and I’m sure he threatened you and made you think the massacre was your fault. But he’s only doing that because he knows the truth and that he’s in the wrong. You can’t listen to him.”

“But he’s right. I missed that intel. I got them killed.”

“You couldn’t get the intel because it was above your security clearance and he was the one who was supposed to plan and lead the mission. Not a newly minted SEAL who’d only been serving for five months.”

Aramis has nothing to say to that. He knows it’s the truth but accepting it against everything that he’s been forced to accept, the narrative that was given to that night, is hard.

“What if Jean told you the Navy agreed with him, that Marsac was in the wrong, not you,” Sarah asks. Aramis gives her a puzzled look. He knows that Treville has been working on the appeal, but he never believed it would happen.

“I got the official letter today giving you an honorable discharge,” Treville says, handing the letter to Aramis so he could see.

Aramis reads it twice and then twice more because he can’t believe what he is reading.

“This is real,” he asks.

“Yes. I waited for official notice to be sure,” Treville says. He hopes that this might be enough to lift the man’s spirits.

“Then Marsac called because…”

“Because I’m guessing by now he’s facing a court-martial for his actions,” Treville finishes for him.

“He threatened my family. He threatened your family. He said we’d never be safe, that he’d take out everyone I ever loved or cared about.” Aramis is getting himself more worked up as he goes on. “He said unless I killed myself, he’d kill everyone.”

“He won’t be able to get to anyone from behind bars, ‘Mis.” Treville sits on the edge of the bed, a comforting hand on Aramis’ leg.

“He said he had connections. He always was able to get things done that no one else could. I have to leave to protect you all. I have to go.” Aramis starts to rise from the bed but Treville and Sarah push him back gently.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Sarah says.

“But your kids.”

“Are safe with Athos and Porthos right now. They have the finest protection Chicago can offer.”

“And we’ll protect your family as well,” Treville adds. “He’s a bully, Aramis. A nasty one and if you leave, he gets his way.”

“But…”

“More than that,” Sarah says, sitting on the other side of the bed. “We don’t want you to leave. You deserve to have a family and friends. To be with people who love you. To make your own choices.”

“And if I decide to leave,” Aramis questions, quietly.

“I’ll fight you every step of the way because it’s not your choice,” Treville says. “You think it is, but I know that you don’t want to be alone. If you did, you would’ve never showed up on my doorstep and if you really wanted to die, you’d’ve done it. You’re depressed and lost. You don’t want to die and in time, you’ll see that. It’s just Marsac and the depression getting to you. With this appeal, you have your life back. You can live to honor those kids, your teammates. Do you think any of them would’ve wanted this for you?”

Aramis shakes his head. He’d been on good terms with all of his teammates, friends, too. And the children, as happened with most children he encountered, immediately fell in love with him, following his lead even into their deaths.

Aramis can’t hold back the tears at that thought.

Treville watches Aramis think. During the entire appeal process, Treville fought harder than he’d ever fought for something. He used every favor and bit of clout he had. He even threatened to go to the press despite the gag order when they were wavering despite overwhelming evidence. He hadn’t been under the impression that winning the appeal would be a simple fix for Aramis, but he had hoped it would be a big step in the right direction.

But watching Aramis now, talking with him now, he saw that it is more like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. These wounds are permanent and right now are gushing. Aramis needs psychiatric help, he needs his family and friends. The appeal will help but more than that, he needs support and understanding because no bandage is big enough for these wounds. They will stick with him for life and, if Treville has any say in it, it will be a long, happy life with friends and family who won’t leave no matter the struggles.

A/N: I originally had no plans to bring Marsac in but I needed someone to be the commander and he seemed perfect. It seems, though, that I’ve made him worse than in the canon.

[i4z-0892-il]

Eggshells 6

Author: Jena @i4z-0892-il

Summary: AU Serial Killers Sam and Dean Winchester find themselves in a bind when the Reader gets caught in the cross-hairs of their plans.

Pairing: Sam x Reader, Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2,001

Warnings: dark!fic, NSFW, 18+, Very graphic descriptions of violence, mature themes, death, mentions of death, torture abuse, language, assault

A/N: This has been one of my favorite fics to work on and I’m pretty proud to share it with you guys, so if you felt something please let me know. I literally survive off of your feedback.

Inspired by my girl @alphvjensen’s incredible story Sex and Violence

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12

If you like my work consider buying me a Coffee, or leave me some Feedback!

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Red droplets splattered across your hands had your eyes transfixed, relinquishing you to a state of catatonia,your mind shutting off in the horror of the sensory overload you'd just endured. You just killed a man. The circumstances didn't matter, none of it made sense. You just killed a man. He was just alive, screaming for help and you killed him. The wet thud as the ax buried itself deep in his clavicle echoed in your head. The warm spray of red on your face was a sensation straight out of a nightmare, but you weren't dreaming, no... If you had been dreaming you'd wake up safe and sound in your bed. Instead you were trapped,Dean's words barreled through your head, you were one of them. He was right, you couldn't leave now, what would you say to the police if you did manage to get free now? You murdered a man, to save your own life. If you hadn't you'd be a dust red stain on the floor too.

“He didn't deserve to die...” You muttered meekly. You didn't deserve to live, not after that. “I....I killed him.”

“Yeah sweetheart, you did.” Dean said, as he crouched at your side admiring your handiwork. “You know, I wasn't sure if you'd do it or not.” He stated, unlatching the magazine from the hilt of his pistol.,“but a killer will always recognize another one.” He finished as he dropped the clip into your dirty hands.

Empty.

You met his eyes mortified by what you'd done, and by what was left unspoken between the lines. The stench of copper and death hung heavy in the stagnant air leaving you little room to breathe. “Oh my god.” You whispered the world spinning around you threatening to pull you under. He took your face in rough, large hands, and pressed his forehead to yours.

“God doesn't exist Y/n. And if he does, he doesn't care. Not about you, not about me, not even about devout Jimmy over there. There is only one power in this world, and now it lives in your hands.” Dean said almost lovingly. You shook your head in defense not willing to even entertain the ideas he was trying to sow in your head.

“No.”

“Yes, Y/n.”

“No!” You shouted, everything around you, the world as you knew it scattering like ash in the wind. Any chance at living a normal life after this forever dashed with once fell swoop.

“Yes! Tell me you didn't feel powerful. Tell me that you didn't feel more alive than you'd ever felt!” He demanded, searching for the truth in your eyes, when you couldn't respond he got his answer. “You're a killer Y/n. Just like me.”

“No!” You snapped. “I'm not like you! You made me!��

“I didn't make you do anything, you have proof in your hands-you were never in any danger.” He said softly, his thumb running over a dot of blood and smearing it across your cheek.”You look beautiful in red.” He said before standing and leaving you alone in the cellar with your corpse.

“You what?!” Shouted Sam angrily. He'd never felt such heat course through his veins in his life.

“I said I took care of it.” Den said nonchalantly as he pulled a swig from her beer; number 8. Who gave a shit how the problem was solved as long as it was solved. You hadn't left the cellar, hadn't even tried, he knew he'd won. There was no need for restraints anymore, you were stuck there now.

“No, Dean, you didn't take care of it. You forced her into this, she had no other choice.” Sam spat venomously.

“She had a choice, and personally I think she chose right.”

“You made her believe you were going to shoot her in the head if she didn't!” Sam shot back. “Dean you've done countless stupid things in the past but this one takes the fucking cake. I told you to wait until I figured out our next move! Not to fill her head with your gas lighting bullshit!” He couldn't even believe he was having to explain just how wrong the entire situation was. “You know, maybe we should have let her go, maybe it's time you were caught.” Sam said, knowing that even if he could go back in time he would have still followed Dean's lead. There were times though, that he wished he was just a little stronger, strong enough to say enough was enough, to just fess up and tell the police everything. But it was Dean, the only flesh and blood he had left in the world, and without him... He couldn't even imagine what life would be like without his brother. This was different though, this was too far, and he couldn't even stand to look at him.

“What would you have done if she'd refused? What then? We'd have two people to deal with because you can't fucking think things through!”

“She wouldn't have refused.” Dean said too nonchalantly. “And it wouldn't have mattered if she did anyways, the guy  would still be dead, and not my problem.” Without another word Sam turned away from Dean and walked out of the house. “Oh Sam don't go away mad, just go away.” Dean called after him. The door slammed behind Sam leaving Dean alone again in the home that haunted him. He sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, his eyes trained hard on the floor. His stomach twisted into tight knots,a sickening fog creeping in around the edges of his sanity. There was little light left there, and after what he'd done today  he wasn't sure if there was much hope for any of the light returning. Sam was right, he'd gone way too far this time, he couldn't allow himself to admit it, he was not only too stubborn and prideful to admit he was wrong but if he did, how could he ever look at himself again.? The smell of vanilla settled around him easing the tension in his mind. He turned his eyes to the side, not wanting to move too quickly, knowing just how elusive she was, but he needed her there with him more now than ever before.

“Dean what are you doing?” He could almost hear her whisper a cool breath against his cheek.

“I don't know Lis...” He muttered his voice straining, desperate to feel her touch, to have her sweep away his troubles. “I miss you so fucking much Lisa, I don't know what Im doing without you” He should have never put you in that situation, it was too late for regrets now though. Nothing could undo the things that had been set in motion, and no amount of mourning could have brought her back.“She reminds me so much of you. I don't know what to do without you, and she- she's changing everything.”

“Is that so bad?” He heard her this time clear as day, but when he turned to face her she was gone, leaving nothing more than the faint smell of perfume, and the room somehow colder, and emptier than it had ever been. Beer was no longer a strong enough solution for his problems, he stumbled to the kitchen breaking out the whiskey. He paused for a moment deciding whether or not to drink himself to death or not.

Long legs carried him to your side swiftly, Sam knelt at your side. You hadn't moved all day, your eyes firmly on Jimmy's lifeless body. “This wasn't your fault.” He said softly, you turned to him and held the barren gun clip to him.

“I did this.” You choked.

“No Y/n, don't let him get in your head, he did this.”

“I could have done something, I could have fought back. I could have freed him, I could have chosen to let him live. I- I killed him.” You admitted, the flood of everything coming out by saying it out loud. “Sam I killed him!” You sobbed, your body going limp as you caved. He pulled you tightly to his chest as your hysterics reached critical mass. No matter how much you didn't want to believe Dean he was right. Something in you had surged with a terrible excitement, even if it was only a fleeting moment, it was there, and you had no idea how hungry it could be.

He simply held you as you rode out the emotional train wreck that wreaked havoc on your entire self. In the moment Sam became a solid grounding rock, one you hadn't needed in the past, but in the whirlwind 72 hours you weren't able to even comprehend how far off the reservation you'd flown. He held you tightly an with just enough pressure to force some sanity back to a mind past the brink. It'd never occurred to you what you might actually do to survive. Everyone likes to think they'd do the right thing, after all isn't self-sacrifice the most noble thing a person can do? You'd always thought of yourself as a humanitarian, willing to help and learn, if someone was injured you figured you'd try your best to help. But thinking of yourself as a good Samaritan was easy, the doing in the face of your own demise on the other hand- an entirely different matter.

For a moment time hung still in the air as the razor-edged blade of the ax sliced through the air carving through flesh and bone like butter on a warm day. The spray of warm red sizzled electric across any exposed skin; a shock of thunder had quaked your very core as soulful blue eyes locked unreadable on yours. The life drained from him and into you through your fingers, the dangerous might of power coursed through your veins triumphantly. It was the single greatest, and most shameful high you'd ever experienced in your life. It churned your stomach, but not for the reasons it should have, you were disgusted not by the fact that you'd murdered that man, but because you'd enjoyed it. Dean's words crashed through your head like a freight train uprooting your foundations, forcing you to question everything you'd ever known, everything you'd ever thought about yourself.

“You're one of us now.”

Sam watched you lose yourself, the thousand yard stare on your face driving him beyond reason. He couldn't justify Dean's actions anymore, and he couldn't continue to stand idly by and allow the disease of death that followed his family infected and suffocated yet another innocent life. His mind was set and he ran through his plan quickly. He shook you gently, rousing you from your thoughts.

“We're leaving.” He said taking you by the arms to help you stand. A cold chill shot through your body as you started to pull away involuntarily shaking your head.

“No Sam, he said he'd kill me if I tried to leave again.” You pleaded.

“No, no I won't let that happen. I promise Y/n. He won't lay a hand on you again, ever. We're leaving.” He coaxed easing you out of the cellar with as much patience as one could possibly have while in a hurry. He tucked you into the passenger seat of his sleek black charger. He slipped in and backed away carefully, silently. Your heart thumped erratically in your chest as you waited with nervous gaze to the house expecting Dean to crash through the door and shoot you both before you even leave the drive way. Through all of your frazzled nerves Sam remained calm and unmoved, he gripped your hand almost immediately quelling your anxiety. That was just Sam, collected in everything he ever did- careful, methodical. The second he felt he was far enough from the house he hit the gas and tore down the road.

Tags: @roseangel013bf, @sanityoverrated27, @nibeca, @deanlenaotp, @deanandsamsbitch, @classyjellyfishpoetry, @sarahbearccxc, @smiling-meerkat, @goldenangelbloodcastiel, @pearlparty, @aquabrie, @lindsaylove1226, @notnaturalanahi, @mogaruke, @deansbitch1967, @ladylustitia, @supernatastic101art

[forevermidnighttexas]

Some Things Don't Need To Be Understood

It swirled through Manfred's head the same as the ghost's voices, why was he still alive with just a few scars on his side when the tiger could have so easily killed him? One day in the church he started to get his answer, sort of.

Slash!

Spoilers!

Episode 2: Bad Moon Rising

Episode 6: Blinded By The Light

Relationship: Manfred Bernardo/Rev. Emilio Sheehan

On AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11982111

Like all my stories for Midnight, Texas

Churches, when one saw the dead they became a perfect refuge, completely calming and sometimes, there was an energy that soothed and calmed the soul, here in Midnight, it was perfect.

With Creek gone after, everything, with Connor, the small blue house had seemed emptier then ever and it stung, she had just upped and left without a word, leaving a sharp sting behind, and a very pissed off Olivia who was half way to planning tracking the girl down and breaking a few bones.

Manfred sighed and leaned back in the bench, he thought about following her, or just leaving all together but he couldn’t, there was something that pulled him here, different from the energy the town gave off, and that was before he even got into the reasons to stay or to leave.

Reasons to stay:

Good friends that accept him for who he is.

His house was dead proof (and wasn’t that a novelty that hadn’t worn off)

And then there was the fact that he would never be alone again

Reasons to leave:

Midnight was turning into a hellmouth.

Yep, that summed it all up, Manfred nearly laughed at that, but the truth was he couldn’t leave his friends, Joe had already risked so much for them revealing who he was, Lem was dealing with the hunger and then there was the Rev.

His hand drifted to his ribs, gently pushing against the clean, thin scars that had healed extremely quickly between Madonna’s stitching and a little help from Fiji. He still wondered why he was alive. The tiger had been right there, so close and so easily able to take him down and rip him apart, so why the hell hadn’t it?

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, the Rev was right there, crouched besides him, shooting a guilty look at the Gypsy’s ribs, trying to hide behind the brim of his wide hat.

Manfred all but ripped the thing off his head and whacked him with it. The elder man blinked at him in surprise while the younger placed the bloody thing on the bench besides him before gripping the pastors chin, ensuring he had his full attention.

“I have told you a dozen times, it was not your fault and I don’t blame you, and if I here one more apology I’m going to get Olivia to punch you.”

Emilio opened his mouth to speak but closed it, chuckling slightly before speaking again.

“I could have killed you.” The same thought that had plagued Manfred’s mind though in a very different context. The psychic sighed and without thought moved his hand to brush through the others hair, completely absent in the movement that felt so natural.

“Yeah, and you should have, I was the perfect target and yet you didn’t, I’m still here.”

Their eyes locked, brown burning into brown, one with a comforting surety while the other warred with guilt. Neither were sure how or even why it happened, but they moved closer, lips gently melding, moving softly in a tentative dance that came as naturally as breathing.

Manfred felt a firm hand cup his neck as their tongues began to dance, smooth and easy, lead by instinct, the same as when they pulled away, moving to brush their cheeks together. It was Manfred though who pressed their foreheads together, marvelling at the Rev’s eyes, they were a burning gold, enchanting and hypnotic, filled with something primal that seemed to reel him in, the prey caught in the predators gaze.

Manfred’s phone buzzed in his pocket making them both jump in the silence. It seemed Olivia was dealing with a ghostly problem and needed his help. Words failed him, he couldn’t explain or say anything, instead the psychic brushed their cheeks together and left, something tight in his chest that he couldn’t explain.

The next day was the full moon and Manfred felt that pull again, drifting out on to the porch, a beer in his hand when he heard the clink and snap of chains.

Before he knew it there was a tiger right before him yet there was no fear, he just stood, walking slowly towards the vast creature and kneeling before it, looking into the hypnotic, golden gaze. The tiger came closer until in was right in front of the human before rubbing their cheeks together, a greeting and a claim as the human let his arms curl around the animal’s neck, breathing in the wild sent and relaxing with it.

“Manfred?” Olivia’s soft voice caught his attention and he looked up a little to see her and Lemuel stood on the street.

“We’re good, I’ll shout if we need you.” Olivia nodded her head and they retreated, a little weary but if they could avoid hurting the Rev in any way, they would.

It was a testament to the Gypsy now being a Midnighter that spending the night under the stars with a tiger curled around him wasn’t strange in the slightest, if fact it was down right comfortable. He spoke softly for most of the night, fingers absently working their way through thick, smooth fur. He told the were’ about his past, the things he’d done regardless of whether or not he was proud of them, the people he knew from the asshole he’d dated in high school to his black ops cousin Lizzy who was more terrifying then Olivia and just as loveable.

They only moved when the sun began to peak over the horizon, the tiger returning to it’s den to take human form once more.

Manfred made his way inside, feeling incredibly cold and unable to sleep even though he was exhausted, he was drifting in a haze until a warm body wrapped around him and he finally managed to fall asleep in the other man’s arms, feeling the deep, to warm breaths against the base of his neck.

The Gypsy woke up feeling like he’d left the heating on, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull out of the strong arms that held him in place and managed to roll over. Manfred had always thought of Emilio as being ruggedly handsome, but now, while in a relaxed sleep with some of the solemness gone he looked even more so.

Brown eyes opened, a hint of gold still shining there as he searched the psychic features.

“I can’t explain this.” Emilio spoke softly, hand moving to rest firmly on the human’s side.

“Neither can I.” Came the reply. “But I don’t think I need to.” Manfred licked his lips as he waited, almost going boneless when a small soft smile appeared on the elders features before chapped lips closed over his own, not everything needed explaining, they just needed living.

It was easy enough though for people to notice the difference. Manfred found his headaches to be less, Emilio’s calm presence and strength soothing him while the tiger no longer hungered on the full moon, his mind as sane as Manfred’s those nights.

The Reverend became more social, gravitating around the Gypsy, a golden glow in his eyes, subtle, but there.

“So.” Olivia was walking besides the psychic as they hunted yet another creature. “What’s with you and the Rev?” She asked, smirking slightly, Manfred could hear it even as he kept shinning his torch around the warehouse.

“We’re not sure, there’s just this pull, I need to be close, it’s like, he balances me.” He tried to explain but nothing quite worked. Balance was the closest thing he could get but it was more in some ways.

“I know what you mean.” She said, a smile in her voice now. “That’s how I was with Lem, we never fully understood it but...”

She trailed off and the humans looked at each other for a moment, exchanging smiles, they may not fully understand but they didn’t need to, and they wouldn’t change it for the world.