#imagine those nine beautiful thick blue tails...

[biggerbagingos]

foxgirl naoto.

[thewingedbaron]

Owlcatober Day Eleven: Medals

So glad to be back to writing. Its been a WEEK folks! Hope you can forgive me for missing a few days, things have been real weird the last couple days. This fully self-indulgent scene between Allix and Arueshalae should help :)

Seriously, thanks for reading these. Interacting with everyone has been so so fun this month ;-;

Medals and Recognitions (1,446 words)

Fandom: Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous

Ship: Arueshalae/KC (Allix)

Warnings: Very Cute.

Read here under the cut, or over on Ao3

The doublet itched. Allix turned himself this way and that, studying every inch of his costume in the full length mirror. That’s what it felt like, a costume. He was dressed to the nines in a custom tailored suit, dark satin green with forest brown accents. It fit him like a glove, everything in its proper place except for the gods damned doublet. 

With a sigh, he removed it, buttoning up his shirt to fill some of the gap. He was left with a neckline just short of plunging that exposed the tops of his collarbones. Not a bad look, by any means, but a touch less formal than the tailor had originally intended. He could deal with that. 

As he studied the suit, his eyes could not help but travel to the man behind it, tail swishing anxiously as he looked himself over. Just short of three years ago, he’d been a bounty hunter, down on his luck, drifting through the world wound in search of more dangerous targets for heavier sacks of gold. Almost three years ago, he’d awoken in a square in Kenebres, bleeding from the chest with a dragon leaned over him. In those three years, he’d lead armies against the forces of the abyss, tread through the worst horrors a mortal could imagine. He had almost been an angel, though Heaven would have likely rejected his… contrary nature had he followed through. Instead, he’d given up his power, become a mere mortal again, and then lead one of the most daring military campaigns in Golarion’s history that had ended in the death of two demon lords and the closing of the World Wound, which had plagued the mortal realms for more than a century. And yet… 

When Allix looked in the mirror, he saw the same roughshod mercenary desperate to scrape up some coin before he starved. His eyes had crows feet at their edges. His thick beard was beginning to show a little more gray than he was comfortable with. Scars, new and old littered his body like the words of a fairytale, each telling the story of a different battle, a different danger. His horns were chipped in places from uncountable close calls, but they were still his horns. Without the adrenaline of combat, he found that his hands shook slightly, but they were still his hands. His eyes looked older, wiser, more tired from the great trials he had undertaken in the last three years, but they were still the same blood red color, flecked with bronze. Despite it all, he was still… him. 

Soft arms wrapped around his shoulders, as softer lips pressed a kiss into his hair, gently drawing him from his musings. 

“You’re thinking too hard.” Arueshalae murmured with a soft smile. “I can see it in your eyes.” 

She was dressed in a deep blue dress that complimented her eyes and hair. Gold highlights and jewelry adorned her wrists and neck. Her hair had grown longer over the intervening months. With no reason to fear her own beauty any longer, Arueshalae delighted in trying different styles and fashions recommended to her by their friends. This was one of her, and Allix’s favorites. 

“Only good things.” Allix replied, leaning into her embrace. “We’ve all changed so much from when this all began.” 

“We have.” She said. None had changed more than the once succubus, now redeemed follower of Desna. Allix felt a swell of pride in his chest as he met his soon to be wife’s eyes in the mirror. She, amongst all others, had climbed the steepest cliffs and faced the greatest dangers. To give up his powers was one thing, but the throw off the yolk of the Abyss, itself. To  find compassion, forgiveness, and love in a place that taught only blood and hate? He could think of no greater challenge. 

“Ready to go?” She asked, drawing him from his thoughts once more. The former Knight Commander suppressed a cringe. 

“Not at all.” Even after leading the crusades, fighting gods and monsters alike, he still did not feel comfortable in crowds. Especially ones gathered in his honor. “Are you?” 

“Absolutely not.” Arueshalae laughed. “All those eyes focused on us? Do mortal ceremonies always have to be this large?” 

“Only ones orchestrated by a Queen that wants the world to know exactly who saved their collective ass, I suppose.” Allix returned her smirk. “Think of it, Kings and Queens, nobles from across the world, all gathered to pay us respects.” 

“I think I’d rather just go back to the cabin.” 

“Me too, love.” 

Arueshalae stuck out her tongue at him in the mirror, scrunching her nose in distaste. “At least we won’t be alone up there.” 

“Very true. Did they finally talk Lann into a suit?” 

“I believe they tried, right up until he threatened to turn the next person to come into his room with a coat into a pin cushion. I believe they have settled on a nice robe for him in the Crusade’s colors.” 

“I don’t suppose he took the title either?” 

“Of course not, but the Queen agreed to sponsor his first three ships in his trading fleet. I think he values those more than any empty title.” 

“Good.” Allix smiled. 

“Darling.” 

“Love?” 

“You’re delaying as much as you can. But we do need to leave this room.” Arueshalae smiled, pressing another kiss between his horns. “Come now, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home.” 

“You have such a way with words.” Allix grinned, turning to kiss his love proper. “Hand me Finnean and we’ll get on our way.” 

She passed him a beautiful sword, the vessel that once contained the lost soul of a Pathfinder named Finnean. Allix’s preferred weapon was the heaviest crossbow he could find, but he had carried the blade through the remainder of the crusade in the memory of their friend, now released to explore the afterlife. It was a beautiful blade, and a comforting weight on his hip as he took Arueshalae’s arm and the pair stepped out into the hall to await the Queen’s escorts. Her guard arrived a short time later, the majority of their party in tow. 

Greybor had remained in the Abyss. The dwarven assassin had little interest in the Queen’s recognition, and had his hands full running his new business. He had, however, sent them a lovely letter. Also missing from the gathering was Regill, who, despite his exile from the Hellknights in the later days of the campaign, believed he needed no recognition for his efforts, and had politely declined the ceremony. The rest, however, eagerly accepted. 

Embraces and words were exchanged as they joined company, walking together down the wide steps toward the Queen’s own courtroom. From there, the party would proceed to the front steps of the palace where they would receive their honors and recognition, alongside many other officers, warriors, and heroes of the crusades. Allix had spent weeks pouring over the long list of martyrs, heroes, and soldiers that had served, hand picking dozens to receive their medals alongside him, and hundreds more that would be awarded honorifics in their own time. Every soldier who had served in the final taking of Iz and the closing of the World Wound would receive their recognition, as well as a large enough pension to keep them fat and happy for the rest of their lives. 

In the courtroom, they were joined by two more familiar faces, Irabeth and Anevia. The Knight Commander’s most trusted advisors easily fell into step with the rest, chatting and hugging their way to the great doors of the palace. There, they stopped for one final time, listening to the distant remarks of Queen Galfrey as she addressed a mixed crowd of hundreds of crusaders, emissaries from a hundred nations, and a dozen Kings and Queens from the various kingdoms and empires that had contributed to the fight. 

When it was finally time for the Knight Commander’s party to be recognized, the little group was quickly organized by the guard and set to wait just by the doors. Two by two they would be called up to the dais to stand with the Queen, until all had joined. At the front of the line, Allix exchanged a glance with Arueshalae. 

“Nervous?” He asked. 

Arueshalae looked him up and down, then back at the line of their friends, closer than family, behind them, and shrugged. 

“How could I be?” She asked. 

Allix grinned and planted a kiss on her lips as the grand doors were thrown open. Together they faced the world, fingers and tails intertwined.

[comparativetarot]

Nine of Swords. Art by Nara Lesser, from Neurotic Owl’s Faerytale Tarot.

Someone is going to have to beg me to stop doing Snow Queen cards – it won’t work, though.

I was a little stumped on this till a friend suggested the Snow Queen and it was just PERFECT. I know I’ve been a little dismissive of Kay previously, and in general he is pretty awful. BUT if you read the the demon glass getting caught in his eye and heart as a metaphor for depression, suddenly Kay is infinitely more understandable and everything makes a sad sense. And then if you go one step further and wonder why a nearly pubescent child might be suddenly depressed and also acting out this very exaggerated stereotypical masculinity it becomes very easy to read Kay as a trans child in a time and place when that would barely have been imaginable for them.

“I think it is gone,” he said. But it was not gone; it was one of those bits of the looking-glass—that magic mirror, of which we have spoken—the ugly glass which made everything great and good appear small and ugly, while all that was wicked and bad became more visible, and every little fault could be plainly seen. Poor little Kay had also received a small grain in his heart, which very quickly turned to a lump of ice. He felt no more pain, but the glass was there still. “Why do you cry?” said he at last; “it makes you look ugly. There is nothing the matter with me now. Oh, see!” he cried suddenly, “that rose is worm-eaten, and this one is quite crooked. After all they are ugly roses, just like the box in which they stand,” and then he kicked the boxes with his foot, and pulled off the two roses.

“Kay, what are you doing?” cried the little girl; and then, when he saw how frightened she was, he tore off another rose, and jumped through his own window away from little Gerda.

When she afterwards brought out the picture book, he said, “It was only fit for babies in long clothes,” and when grandmother told any stories, he would interrupt her with “but;” or, when he could manage it, he would get behind her chair, put on a pair of spectacles, and imitate her very cleverly, to make people laugh. By-and-by he began to mimic the speech and gait of persons in the street. All that was peculiar or disagreeable in a person he would imitate directly, and people said, “That boy will be very clever; he has a remarkable genius.” But it was the piece of glass in his eye, and the coldness in his heart, that made him act like this. He would even tease little Gerda, who loved him with all her heart. His games, too, were quite different; they were not so childish. One winter’s day, when it snowed, he brought out a burning-glass, then he held out the tail of his blue coat, and let the snow-flakes fall upon it. “Look in this glass, Gerda,” said he; and she saw how every flake of snow was magnified, and looked like a beautiful flower or a glittering star. “Is it not clever?” said Kay, “and much more interesting than looking at real flowers. There is not a single fault in it, and the snow-flakes are quite perfect till they begin to melt.”

Soon after Kay made his appearance in large thick gloves, and with his sledge at his back. He called up stairs to Gerda, “I’ve got to leave to go into the great square, where the other boys play and ride.” And away he went.”

Sorry, that’s a long excerpt, but it just builds Kay’s sudden coldness and disdain for girlish things really nicely. And it just happens that I had already drawn the Snow Queen as non-binary way back in the major arcana – in this reading you could see them as taking Kay because they see a reflection of themselves and intend to take away Kay’s pain in the only way they can.

Anyhow, nine of swords! Depression and maybe dysphoria! Fun times!

[sup-hoes-its-me]

Golden (Kakashi x Reader)

A/N: you are in a relationship with kakaski, but after an accident, you have amnesia, and can’t remember him anymore. angst baby. Very feminine Civilian!reader (you own a bookstore, so cliche lmao) essentially, this series is mindless romantic indulgences i wrote mostly for myself, but if other people can enjoy them then i did my job as a fanfic writer.

A/N: im definitely not writing a fanfic for every song on fine line...haha

Word count: 5600

_____

He lay awake at night after the incident, imagining the moment he truly knew he was in love with her. Completely infatuated with this beautiful woman working at the bookstore. It was the only thing he could do now that his entire world had come crashing around him. With everything that happened in the hospital, this was the only way he knew how to cope.

He drifted off into the dream once again.

__

Kakashi stood by the front gates of the village, a paperback book he had just bought in his hand, folded over so he could read with one hand. One more time before he left for this mission, one he knew would last longer than anyone would like, he visited the old bookstore in town. He wanted to think he just stopped by to stock up on reading material, but that wasn’t it.

It was always about her.

When he saw Y/N running up to him, her apron nearly falling off and her hair in disarray, his eyes widened and he set the book down by his side. She was out of breath when she got to him, pressing her hands to her chest to get herself put together. Her brows furrowed deeply as she lifted her eyes to meet his.

“Kakashi,” she exclaimed.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?”

“I know you’re going on this long mission and you won’t be around for a few months, and I can’t stand the thought of you leaving without me telling you this,” she said, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t insanely curious what she had to say. She was a sweet village girl, and he frequented her store, quite a bit actually. On occasion, he would drop by a few times in a day just to say hello. He definitely wasn’t slick.

He waited for her to continue and she didn’t hesitate. “Every time you leave, I get this pain in my chest. I worry about you day and night because I know the life of a shinobi is never guaranteed. I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you this time, if I kept acting like the coward I am.”

“I see? Well, what’s on your mind?”

“I-I’ve never felt this way for anyone before, and I don’t know how to deal with it, so here goes,” she told him, taking a deep breath before her next words, “I think I’m in love with you, Kakashi Hatake. I think I’ve loved you since the first time you stepped foot in my parents store.”

“I…”

What was he supposed to say to that?

“You don’t have to say anything back. It doesn’t bother me, I know how closed off you ninja are. Just please, take my words and hold them close on your journeys.” She paused, clenching her soft fists by her sides. She wasn’t scared of rejection, not at all. She was only scared that Kakashi might not care about her words at all. “Please, don’t forget someone loves you.”

In that moment, he felt his heart stop beating, only for a second, but he felt it. Shifted awkwardly, not wanting to let off that he was getting even a little emotional at her declaration. He was tough as nails, the copy-nin. Not some lover boy, even if he wanted to be. Even if he wanted to swoop in right then and kiss her to pieces.

All he could say was, “I’ll keep that in my mind. Thank you, Y/N.”

“You’re welcome. Now, don’t fool around out there so you can come back to me in one piece!” she laughed, feeling tears bubbling up in the corners of her eyes.

He found himself smiling back at the young woman. “You got it.”

__________

Kakashi was never really one to express his feelings. Generally, he kept them inside to mourn alone. It was just in his nature, it was nothing personal with the people he knew and trusted. There was just something about Y/N that made him drop down some of those thick barriers.

His girlfriend was a normal woman, working long shifts in the village bookstore since she was a teenager. She never attended the academy, wasn't chakra sensitive, nothing in particular was so outstanding that she was noticed. Nothing on the surface, actually.

It was her smile and her laugh, the way she could make anyone feel like they were important and wanted, that attracted Kakashi to her in the first place. From the first time they met as teenagers in the bookstore aisles, he knew he was caught in some sort of trap. For a minute, he compared the feeling to that of a genjutsu, even though he knew that was far from a possibility.

To him, when she smiled, it felt as if everything was going to be okay. All the pain and suffering disappeared when she was around. He really couldn’t understand how that could be happening, with the world crumbling around him everyday.

That was a particularly rare attribute among ninja folk, whose lives led them to believe that happiness wasn’t achievable and death was common; pain was so normal for him. It was refreshing to have someone around who didn't think like that, that could change the tone of a room in a moment with just an ounce of positive energy. Y/N was innocent to the majority of these harsh realities that the ninja faced, for the most part.

As with most people in the village, her parents lost their lives during the invasion of the nine tails. She was alone for a long time, but despite that, she tried to find joys in reading, in stacking new books on shelves, in talking to unique individuals that would stop by. And as she aged, she realized her most favorite customer was one with a masked face, and a love of gushy, perverted novels.

She was even friends with some of his closest friends, Gai, Yamato, Sakura. She reached out to them, getting visits here and there while she worked during the day. After he informed his closest companions of his blossoming affair with the bookstore girl, they just had to get in an insider view. They kept visiting after the first meetings. Sakura bringing lunch, Yamato helping her with repairs, and Gai just bringing his brightest smile and a boatload of jokes and giggles to share at the front counter.

It was only a matter of time before they fell into some weird friendship, a civilian and one of the top shinobi of their village. He was gone half the time on missions, and sometimes, when he was ANBU, she wouldn’t see him for weeks at a time. Occasionally, when a mission was long and difficult, she would hear pawing at her window late into the night. When she pulled back the blinds, a small dog would be sitting there with a folded piece of paper in his mouth, waiting for her to take it.

She loved those letters, they became her prized possessions. There was nothing else she loved more in the world than seeing his kind words written out on paper, his declarations of love that he would never dare say aloud. To him, it was easier to say those things on paper, to not be around when she read about his feelings for her. He was still attentive and kind to her in person, but the letters spoke with a romanticism that he couldn’t.

Y/N practically glowed when she spoke to him, so in love with him she could barely keep it restrained. He knew this. He knew she was as deeply in love with him as he was entranced with her. It had been 5 years since they started dating, and he prolonged the inevitable path of marriage as long as he could. Having a girlfriend was one thing, but marrying someone felt like a burden he couldn’t shoulder. He wanted to, but it just seemed like too much work, too much risk.

After years, he realized the waiting just wasn’t worth it. They were only getting older as the time went by. She just warmed his empty heart, he knew that was something only she could do for him. He needed that.

And that's why he sat in the comfort of Ichiraku, Sakura by his side, sipping on some soup. She was the only one he truly trusted with this knowledge, the only one who could give him genuine advice. He just needed to tell someone what he was about to do. He sat there, his fingers hovering over his pants pocket, eyes trailed down at the table.

"What did you want to talk about, Sensei?" She had asked.

"You really like Y/N, right? Think she's good for me?"

She smiled with a small nod. "Of course. Y/N is so sweet. She makes you so happy I can tell. I think it's really good for you." It was true. Sakura didn’t know what her sensei was like before he met the woman. That was years ago before she was even born. What she did know is that someone with that much pain seeping from his heart could use some love in his life, a stable shoulder to lean onto. If anyone was stable, it was her. Without any cares in the world other than worrying for her boyfriend and keeping her business afloat. Her trauma was behind her, unlike some of the shinobi that carry those with them for the rest of their lives. Guilt, anger, resentment.

He pulled a tiny, drawstring bag from his pocket and fiddled with the strings between his fingers. "When I was in the Land of Fire last month, I picked this up from a merchant," he explained, pulling open the bag and pouring out the contents. A small ring clicked against the bar table. "Take a look, tell me what you think."

She dropped her spoon and reached over for the ring, holding it gently with the pads of her fingertips. It was beautiful. It sparkled like sunlight hitting clear blue waters. A stone rested in the center, flecks of lavender and blue floating in the sparkly gem. When she turned it in the sunlight, more colors appeared and changed, morphing into something spectacular in every sense of the word.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's gorgeous. Are you going to give this to Y/N?"

"After all this time, it seems inevitable really. Time flies."

"Oh my gosh. I'm so happy for you. She's going to be ecstatic, I just know it. She loves you more than life itself." He liked hearing that reaffirmed for him, even though Y/N frequently told him how she felt, daily ‘I love you’s. Unlike him, those words were not rare, but each time it filled his chest with warmth.

He smiled fondly, watching as she continued to turn to ring in her hands. He never thought this would happen to him: marrying someone. He didn't want to lose anyone else. He didn't want to put that risk on someone, especially Y/N. He had suppressed his feelings for her for a few years before he finally succumbed to the urge to tell her. Finally, after years of longing and avoiding the obvious, she became his, and he was undoubtedly hers.

It was a hard decision. He knew it was wrong to risk it, put her life on the line, but now he felt ridiculous sulking around waiting for something that was never going to happen. Nothing had happened to Y/N yet, and it had been years. She was gonna be fine. He was only being paranoid, he had convinced himself.

"Tonight. I'm going to help her close the store and do it then."

"You're a good man, Kakashi. She’s so lucky to have you protecting her and watching out for her, ya know? You two balance each other out perfectly,” the girl sighed. If only she could find a love like her sensei had with his significant other.

"Thanks, Sakura.”

They finished up their conversation, and he paid the bill for her, feeling so high that a bit of money from his wallet didn't even bother him. It was slightly later than he was supposed to go see her. The bookstore should have already closed by about 10 minutes.

All he could think about on the way there was how she would laugh about him being late, as usual. She would hug him to say hello, like she usually wound, and then give him a kiss on his masked cheek. He would help her quickly reorganize books before pulling out the ring. To him, it wasn't really about her saying yes at all so much as this moment, proposing to the love of his life, meant he could leave his curse behind and be happy for once with someone he cared about. She was his savior, an escape from a mindset so ingrained he couldn't fight it on his own.

But when he walked up to the front of the store. He noticed the lights still on even though she would have shut them off by now. The sign out front still flipped to open. He didn’t think it was too weird at all, he just thought maybe she was waiting for him to come along to finish up.

As he walked in though, he noticed the whole reams of paper strewn across the floor. Piles of books were aggressively thrown from the shelves, scattered around the floor like someone side swept them from the stands. Ink stained the checkout counter where she normally sat, inkwell tipped over the edge and dripped onto the carpet which she took care to keep clean. It was disastrous getting stains out of that carpet, she always said to him.

Most importantly, on some of the papers scattered around, he spotted blood splatter, drips of half dried blood present all the way from her desk to the back door. He felt panic rise up from his stomach all the way to his throat, and his heart raced. It was rare something made him truly terrified, and this was one of those moments.

He searched, god, he scoured that entire building over and over again for the woman. He checked every aisle and under every table. He ran upstairs to her apartment and checked in the few small rooms she had, scared she was cowering in her bathtub or hiding under the bed. He ran to the neighboring stores, asking if they'd heard from her, and received nothing but empty words. He just wanted her to be anywhere that he could find, anywhere but in the arms of someone evil.

His Y/N was gone, and he was hopelessly at the mercy of his curse once again.

______

He wasn't even allowed to go on the search mission for his girlfriend. Instead, Tsunade sent Yamato as well as a few chunin who knew Y/N enough to recognize her but not enough to fail at being objective. Apparently, the copy-nin wasn't in his right mind to go on a mission right now, especially one that was so personal to him. All his missions for the foreseeable future had been cancelled and another jounin was set to replace him. He could only sit back at home, guilt ridden and feeling useless, unable to help, unable to search. He did this to her. He knew that putting his heart into someone else's hands wasn't right, that it would only lead to her suffering but he couldn't listen to his own experience. He didn’t think it could happen to Y/N. he thought he could protect her.

But fate finds a way, it seems.

He trusted Yamato and the others to find her, but it was nothing like going himself. He wanted nothing more than to see the men who stole her away taught a lesson for what they had done. He wanted to cradle her in his arms and kiss her head, and promise something like this would never happen again. At least, that’s what he wanted to do. He didn’t know how he would react in the moment, despite developing quite good self-control over the years. How could he contain himself when the perpetrators caused his beautiful girl to bleed, and no doubt suffer?

Sakura felt the worst for Kakashi, knowing what she knew. She could imagine him heading to propose to his little girlfriend whom he loved more than anything in the entire world, and see only her blood splattered across the room and endless signs of a brutal struggle. Not to mention no one had a clue why they stole her or what was happening where no one else could see. The medical nin nearly shed a couple tears when Kakashi rushed into the Hokage's office without announcement, proclaiming that his girlfriend was gone, kidnapped from her own store where she worked alone all day.

Tsunade, despite barely knowing the girl, knew it was important; for anyone to be stolen from their village was serious enough. Although she felt for Kakashi, she had to keep him calm while she worked on finding the subject of his affection. She sent out teams immediately, and stressed that Kakashi was to remain in the village until everything was resolved one way or another. She didn't want any accidents because of a reckless, emotionally compromised shinobi faltering.

It only took the teams a single day to find their target.

Shikamaru and Choji were the ones to come back first, and in the larger boy's arms rested the limp, unconscious body of a missing woman. Ever so gently, he had her head tucked away against his chest the entire way home, trying his best not to hurt her anymore. Even if she was unconscious, he wanted to respect the body. From the moments they spoke before, she seemed like the nicest girl. He felt awful. She wasn’t the one putting her life on the line, she was the one that shinobi were supposed to protect. And they failed her.

When they walked through the gates of the village, Kakashi was already rushing up to the gates waiting for their arrival. He caught up to the boys and reached out to take her body from his arms, just to cradle her against him. It was the least that he could do was take her to the infirmary. To feel her faint heart beating against his chest. He was surprised when one of the chunin sadly shook his head.

"Kakashi, she's alive, but trust me, you don't want to see what they did to her," Shikamaru warned, and Choji flinched, just thinking about what her poor face looked like when they found her. Shikamaru knew for a fact that if his girlfriend was ever handed off to him looking so pitiful, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He didn’t want the same to befall on his sensei. "Just trust me, I cannot let you see it, for your sake. Let Choji bring her to Tsunade."

He felt a burning in his stomach, pain creeping up in his abdomen like he was going to throw up all over the dirt path they stood on, but he did his best to remain calm despite the mix of emotions running through his head. He watched as the Akimichi carried her quickly off to the hospital. Kakashi didn't miss though, the blood stains on his tunic surrounding the area where her head was resting, circling her face. She had bled a lot in her time away, he realized.

God, he felt sick. So fucking nauseous.

"What happened?" he breathed heavily, words slipping through.

"Apparently, the guy had a grudge against your clan for something your father did to his family. Killed a criminal brother or some shit. When he heard wind of your girlfriend he knew he would take his revenge. Didn't want ransom, fame, nothing, just to torment you and torture her. Disgusting bastard."

There was one thing he wanted to know on top of his worry about her condition. He’d been thinking about it for the entire day she was missing. Obsessing even.

"What did you do with the man?" He hoped that justice had been served, and he couldn't imagine the two boys doing anything less.

"A man that would do that to a woman doesn't deserve his life," he muttered, his eyes trailed off to the village, “I made it painful.”

Kakashi nodded to him, and together they stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity.

“Sensei?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry.”

____________

When he got to the hospital, Choji was directly quickly to a special unit with particularly fancy machines around the room. Sakura was standing beside her own mentor awaiting the arrival of her friend. The moment she finally saw Y/N's exposed face, she cried. Tears fell from her eyes and she leant over the hospital bed to get a look at all her wounds. She looked alien, and the amount of blood that stained her hairline and cheeks was thick and heavy. Choji had tried to wipe it off, but he just couldn’t get it all.

"Y/N! Oh my God, what did they do to you?" She cried, running her hands shakily over the contusions and the cuts and the bulging areas near her temples. Her body was no better but her face is what hurt Sakura the most. It was hard to believe that all the life had been drained from her body after this one incident.

The light had left her body. Her familiar glow emanating from her soft skin was missing. She looked cold and dead. For the first time, Sakura saw her without her smile, without any bit of optimism. It felt like she was staring at an empty shell of the woman she knew.

"Sakura, get the IV ready. I need to get to work."

And so she did what she does best. Healers at work in their element fixing broken bones, burst capillaries in her head, torn skin. Everything they could. It took hours, and her face still wasn't completely healed in the end, just less swollen. She still had some bumps and bruises but those weren't going to be so bad. They could heal by themselves with a few days of rest and care.

She would be okay, they decided after a while of treatment, and moved her into a normal hospital room, under watch of nurses every so often, no visitors allowed either. Not for the first few days, much to Kakashi's displeasure. He was really getting irritated with the way everyone was keeping him from seeing her. Shouldn’t he be allowed? Essentially, the only family she had left? In reality though, he was scared.

But did he even want to see her again? He loved her, would do anything in the world for her. If only he had the guts to just give up on her and let her meet a normal man from the village, let her marry him and just forget all about their relationship. Then, nothing like this would ever happen again. She would be safer without having connections with him. He was so upset with himself for letting this happen.

He hated himself. It had been a long time since he genuinely thought those words. He hated himself more than anyone else. He let this happen, he was to blame for all this mess. A monster.

He headed back to his apartment that night and stared over at her tiny pile of belongings in the corner, ones she had left over his place as time went on. They still didn't live together so it wouldn't be the worst thing if he broke up with her. She would be hurt, probably cry for a few days, a week, maybe a month. He didn’t know. All he knew was that a little bit of crying was a lot better than getting fatally injured.

Just return her belongings in a box, and never go back to that fucking bookshop where he fell in love with her. He could get his novels directly from Jiraiya if he wanted them.

Tsunade already told him it would be days before he would be allowed to see her again, something about the healing process and that her chakra wasn't enough to fix everything. Based on what Shikamaru had told him, the way he acted- it must have been pretty bad. He couldn't even imagine her face beaten and broken.

All he knew was that in 2 days, he would be allowed to see her again, to possibly talk to her and apologize for what he had caused. It was the least he could do. At this point he couldn't imagine giving her that ring. How could she accept when he was the reason she was abducted and tortured?

He barely slept that night, but it didn't matter. He didn't have anything to do. He was given time off work until everything was resolved. He wondered if it would have been better to have a mission and forget all about the situation for even a couple fleeting moments.

He was just so tired of these feelings. He felt suffocated, and unlike himself. He was finding it hard to be cool, calm, and collected like usual. He just felt terrible. Too terrible to eat, too terrible to sleep, too terrible to do anything but stare up at the ceiling and wonder what could have been.

______

It was time to head to the hospital and see her. Yamato had come to his apartment so they could go and see Y/N. Tsunade gave him the green light first thing that morning when he reported to her. The wood style ninja wanted to see her as well, just to say he was happy she was recovering and even tell her that next time she needed help, if Kakashi wasn't around, to run to his apartment. He would always open his arms to help. So many shinobi of the village, after this incident, would be willing to drop everything and help. Her bookstore would probably always have eyes on it from now on.

Word travelled fast between the shinobi and soon enough almost everyone was giving Kakashi sympathetic looks, patting him on the back and apologizing to him for something they knew nothing about. He just wanted to get to her and say sorry for everything he had done. For not being there sooner, for his father and his clan causing this whole thing. He just needed to see her face. He couldn't get her out of his head.

Sakura was standing outside the room when he arrived. She was biting on her nails, which was oddly uncharacteristic of her. She rarely got nervous enough for habits like that to arise. She was normally so confident. That was the first of the red flags.

"Kakashi-sensei, Yamato. You're here to see Y/N, aren't you?" she asked, her voice quiet and hesitant.

She let him Yamato walk past her into the room but she raised her hand before Kakashi could walk in. She gave him one of the most sorry, pitiful looks he had ever seen, and her lip was quivering just a bit. It was barely noticeable but Kakashi was talented at noting the smallest things.

"Kakashi, I'm really sorry about everything. Lady Tsunade did everything she could. When you go in there, just please don't get upset. It's not as bad as you think. I'll explain everything later, but I want to see how she reacts to seeing you first," she bit out, her words mending together awkwardly.

He figured she was just nervous about her condition or maybe she was still bruised and bandaged up. If she was in a full body cast, he wouldn’t care. As long as he could see her. He couldn’t understand why Sakura was so worried. She would still be beautiful to him. She could never lose that shine that she carried regardless of her external features.

"Hmm. I'm sure it will be fine."

"I'm serious. Don't get upset and alarm her, it's very important you be careful."

"Gotcha."

She watched as he walked past her into the white room, sunlight leaking onto her bedside. The woman was fond of staring out the window since she woke, comforted by the familiarity of the village and the birds that flew by. That was the one thing she needed. Comfort.

Yamato sat at her bedside, and she seemed to be talking to him quietly. Her brows were furrowed deeply and she seemed strained, thoughts running through her brain.

"Kakashi-" the man began to say, desperate to say anything to his friend before the inevitable, but was interrupted.

"Y/N, I was so worried about you," he said, words tumbling out before he could even think. He just had so much to say. He continued, "I need to apologize for what happened. I know I should have been at the shop earlier to help you close, I just got caught up in something. It was my family's fault for your kidnapping. I cannot believe I dropped my guard and let this happen to you, baby-"

She looked at him, but without an ounce of the fondness he was so used to. Instead, his girlfriend just looked confused.

"I… I'm sorry but, Sir, do I know you?"

No.

Not this.

He pleaded in his head that this was not happening. That somehow he had misheard.

"It's me, Kakashi,” he replied softly, almost pleading for her to say something else.

She smiled sympathetically, peering up at him with a little glimmer of that kindness he knew in her eyes. He could tell she was confused, and he began to feel his heart break. "Uh, I'm so sorry but I don't remember you. We're we friends or something?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say something like that,” he muttered, his eyes turned to stare at the white tiles beneath his feet.He couldn’t look at her anymore.

"Yamato, you're friends with Kakashi-san, too?" She asked the brunette at her bedside, sitting in a chair wiping his sweaty palms on the thighs of his pants. He felt himself becoming nervous, especially when he felt Kakashi watching him. Why did she have to ask him that question? Why did she have to address him by his name so casually? He could feel Kakashi begin to bubble up emotions he hadn’t felt from him before.

"Yes. We are all very close friends, Y/N. You were closest with Kakashi actually."

"Then how come I can’t remember any of you?"

"I don't know." He felt fear creeping up his neck, Kakashi overwhelming his senses. The grey haired man just stood there, his eye flickering between the love of his life and his friend who apparently her brain thought was more important than him. Did he not look friendly enough to talk to? Was Yamato more inviting than he was, was that why she stopped talking to him? “I really wish I could help you there,” he mumbled.

She turned back to Kakashi and smiled, but it wasn't the one he knew from her. It was different. He hated it. He didn't even want to look at her anymore.

"I hope I remember you soon, or I'll just have to get to know you again, Kakashi-san," she chirped, reaching out to touch his hand which rested on the edge of her bed. The reaction he had was immediate and almost startling. The second her hand touched his, her warmth pressed to his cold fingers, he yanked his hand away and shoved it into his pocket.

He didn't want her to touch him. He didn't want anything other than to leave. Fuck getting to know him again. That wasn't an option.

"I need to go. I've got a mission I need to prepare for."

"Okay! Goodluck out there," she called to him as he turned on his heel to leave. He grit his teeth, feeling another wave of emotion overtake him. As he stepped outside the door, Sakura was still waiting there for him, her arms crossed over her chest sheepishly.

"Will she ever remember me again?" He asked simply.

"I don't know. She's got retrograde amnesia which can sometimes be permanent depending on the damage done to the brain. We couldn't fix it, no matter how much we tried. She doesn't remember me either. She doesn't remember Gai or Naruto or even Tsunade. She only remembers the village and a few bits and pieces that she can associate with it. Of course she remembers her name and her bookstore, but specific people and memories are essentially gone for now."

"So she's lost to us?"

"She can still get her memories back, but it will take time," she explained. "Sensei, I'm so sorry. None of us wished anything like this on you. I told Tsunade about the ring you were going to give her and the proposal, and we mourned for you. I'm so sorry." She felt so bad, and they did cry for him. They cried for the girl who got to keep her life but lost her soul.

"I have to get back to my apartment and clean up a few things," he dismissed, turning his head away from his student as well. He felt his heart clench in his chest as he walked away. The ring still sat deep in his pants pocket and he wanted nothing more than to throw it in the river.

He wished he was the one who forgot everything. Maybe this pain in his heart would subside. Maybe all the guilt would be washed away once and for all.

Part Two and Three are out.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Pica

Black-Billed Magpie by USFWS, in the Public Domain 

Etymology: Magpie

First Described By: Brisson, 1760

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Australaves, Eufalconimorphae, Psittacopasserae, Passeriformes, Eupasseres, Passeri, Euoscines, Corvides, Corvoidea, Corvidae, Corvinae

Referred Species: P. mourerae, P. pica (Eurasian Magpie), P. serica (Oriental Magpie), P. bottanensis (Black-Rumped Magpie), P. asirensis (Asir Magpie), P. mauritanica (Maghreb Magpie), P. nuttalli (Yellow-Billed Magpie), P. hudsonia (Black-Billed Magpie)

Status: Extinct - Extant, Endangered - Least Concern

Time and Place: From 3.6 million years ago until today, from the Piacenzian of the Pliocene through the Holocene 

Magpies are known from all around the Northern Hemisphere 

Physical Description: Magpies are beautiful, if fairly recognizable Corvids, famed from all over the Northern Hemisphere for their cleverness and beautiful plumage. They can range in size from 43 to 60 centimeters long, with the Yellow-Billed Magpie reaching the smallest sizes and the Black-Billed reaching the largest. This makes them rather large as far as songbirds are concerned, though they are still significantly smaller than the Ravens and Crows that they’re close cousins to. Magpies tend to have black backs, heads, and necks, with varying levels of black on their bodies; they then have white bellies and white tops to their wings. The rest of their wings, and tails, can be black - or an iridescent mixture of colors on a black background. These colors vary from species to species, but can be blue, green, and purple-ish tinted - at least one species can even blend into the yellow-brown range. They have thick, strongly clawed toes; and they have very large, thick beaks, like other Corvids. They have short to medium sized wings as well, indicating their adapted ability for flying between and among thick trees. 

Oriental Magpie by Yoo Chung, CC BY-SA 2.5 

Diet: Magpies are creative, opportunistic omnivores - they literally will eat anything. Insects, small vertebrates, eggs, carrion, leaves, fruit, seeds, your leftover pizza, that hamburger it found on the street, falafel, rice, a heaping load of spaghetti - literally, anything. It will eat anything. Hide your food.

Behavior: Magpies are clever little buggers, with complex behaviors and extensive social communication. They tend to feed on the ground, usually with other Magpies, and even in mixed-species flocks depending on the abundance of food. They’ll Pick food up from the ground and dig into soil and litter, flipping over all sorts of things to look for food - including trash and poop. They’ll also hunt live food from perches in trees, or make traps to catch flies and other insects. Some will also stick around with predators and larger scavengers, looking for roadkill and other sources of meat that could be easily gotten from. They often will also store the food, in crevices and trees and the like, though usually they don’t leave the food for long and go to pick it up in a few days. The walk around and strut, usually fearlessly, attempting to catch whatever food they can; thousands of them can often be found foraging together, and using their unique cleverness to track down food. 

Black-Billed Magpie by the USFWS, in the Public Domain 

Magpies are some of the smartest known animals - with large brain to body mass ratios, similar to those of cetaceans and primates; the region of their brains that works on cognitive tasks and higher thought processes is of a similar size to those found in chimpanzees and even close to those of people. As such, Magpies - much like their cousins the ravens - are some of the smartest animals alive today, probably holding second place after humans. They have high levels of social cognition, reasoning, flexibility, imagination, and ability to evaluate and predict the future. They also have very elaborate social rituals - they are able to recognize themselves, even in the mirror; and they show grief and rituals around the deaths of family members and friends. They also use tools, and use their experiences to predict the behavior of others. This knowledge of tool use is passed on from generation to generation, and modified as well - so they also have culture and rituals. They can count, imitate people, recognize words, and use tools to clean their own cages. They tend to form gangs in the wild, and use complex strategies in order to gather food and stick together. They also will ant - ie, apply ants to their plumage in order to prevent parasites and irritation - and sun-bathe to stay warm. 

Maghreb Magpie by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0

These birds roost communally and fly quite slowly over their ranges, usually interspersing their flaps with gliding to conserve energy. They make calls to flock members with regular frequency, mainly chattering and squeaking calls, as well as warbling songs and mimicry. Some species tend to have larger vocabularies than others, though they all make similar calls. Begging from the young sounds about as high pitched and peeping as one would expect. They have dominance hierarchies within the flocks formed during the non-breeding season, and dominant individuals in the flocks can and do steal food from the subordinate individuals. Interestingly enough, the younger males tend to dominate the older ones - though that may be more of a tolerance thing than anything else. These birds don’t tend to migrate, though they do move from place to place in response to climate and food availability. 

Black-Rumped Magpie

Magpies are monogamous, possibly staying with the same partner for their entire lives, and multiple sets of parents will work together to tend for the nests and care for the young. They start laying eggs in the winter, though usually most eggs are laid in the early spring. The parents will build the nests together, with the male bringing materials and the female doing the building. This usually takes a couple of weeks, and at the end the pair have a large domed structure made of sticks and twigs - a very deep cup, lined with soft wool, fur, grasses, and feathers. A fresh nest is built every year, even though the pairs stay together; they’re usually built in trees, usually near to the top, though buildings are sometimes used. Old nests are sometimes reused, if they were particularly good and lasted that whole time. They lay between two and nine eggs, though of course four to six is the most common number; and they are incubated mostly by the female for about two weeks. Both sexes will then feed the chicks, while the female does most of the watching and caring for them at the nest - leaving the male in charge of gathering the food and helping to fend off predators. Other pairs may come to help - usually relatives or friends. The young will leave the nest after a month to two months, and young in the nests may come together with other young - especially if there was a communal brooding situation - to form a creche of juveniles their own age. Honestly, it’s almost like a school class in some ways, with how they behave with each other and socialize and learn from the adults. They reach sexual maturity in about one to two years, and live for six years in the wild. 

Juvenile Eurasian Magpie by Cyberolm, CC BY-SA 4.0 

Speaking of friends - yes, magpies have been known to befriend humans, or at least have interactions with them. They are tame and friendly in areas where they’re left undisturbed, and in areas where they are shot at or bothered, they are defensive against humans coming into their areas. This can vary wildly, as they used to be considered viable game birds, but today they aren’t hunted as much and tend to be a little less on guard. They defend their nests violently against humans, and do not abandon them except as a last resort. Parents will mob people looking in on the nests - even scientists - especially if they are repeat offenders. But, since they recognize people’s faces, they are able to tell friend from foe (or perceived foe) and will seek out humans who give them treats or protection. 

Asir Magpie by Mansur Al Fahad 

Ecosystem: Magpies stick to woodland and forests, though they do venture into more suburban and developed areas depending on the availability of trees. They will also inhabit open country, so long as there are some scattered trees available. Magpies can be found in all sorts of elevations, including in the mountains and as high as 4400 meters up into them. Some species, such as the Yellow-Billed, can tolerate warmer temperatures than others. Those that encroach on human habitat are often considered pests. While they do have predators, most are killed by West-Nile virus, to which they are particularly susceptible. 

Eurasian Magpie by Andreas Eichler, CC BY-SA 4.0 

Other: Magpies are Corvids, so they’re cousins with all the other ridiculously smart passerine birds, making the question of “are members of the genus Corvus or the genus Pica smarter” rather one of splitting hairs. In the end, both genera showcase extreme intelligence, and are either the second smartest animals or close to it. Honestly, if they were smarter than humans I wouldn’t be surprised - they show culture and the ability to pass down learned things from generation to generation, and they might just be smart enough to not fucking destroy the planet (unlike us). Anyways, Magpies are often thought of as pests for their ability to get at sources of human food and also steal the eggs of birds with more pretty songs, so birders actually hate them. However, they don’t actually have a negative impact on the song-bird population. Most Magpies aren’t threatened with extinction and have populations in the thousands, though the Yellow-Billed species is vulnerable due to poisons used to take care of squirrels, and the Asir species is endangered due to a restricted range and decreasing suitable habitat. 

Yellow-Billed Magpie by Bill Bouton, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Species Differences: The different species of Magpie differ primarily on coloration and range, as their sizes tend to be very similar. The Eurasian Magpie is often synonymized with the Oriental and Black-Rumped Magpies; whether or not these are three different species of bird is a bit of a taxonomical question. These birds range all over Eurasia - as the name suggests - with the “Oriental” subspecies (species?) being found more in Eastern Asia, and the Black-Rumped subspecies (species?) also found in Eastern Asia. At least a few varieties have a purple tail and dark blue wings; while others are more green on both the wing and tail, with only the tail tip coming out as purple. Asir Magpies are the only Magpies known from Saudi Arabia; they have dark blue wings and brownish tails, which end in a purple tip. The Maghreb Magpie is known from Northwestern Africa, and has a complete rainbow-colored tail and blue wings. The Yellow-Billed Magpie is especially distinct from the rest in having a yellow bill and yellow patches around the eyes (while the other species have black bills and black patches); they have blue wings and blueish-purple tails, and are found in California. Finally, the Black-Billed Magpie is found in the rest of North America (though not the eastern portion of the continent, or the southern), and has blue wings and a rainbow tail. There is one extinct species, P. mourerae, from the Pliocene of Spain; it seems to be very similar to living species except for that it wasn't as good of a flier - and it may have even be flightless, due to the fact that it lived on an island!

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

Bekoff, M. (2009). "Animal emotions, wild justice and why they matter: Grieving magpies, a pissy baboon, and empathic elephants". Emotion, Space and Society. 2 (2): 1–4.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017

del Hoyo, J., Collar, N. & Christie, D.A. (2019). Maghreb Magpie (Pica mauritanica). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Emery, Nathan J.; Clayton, Nicola S. (Dec 2004). "The mentality of crows: convergent evolution of intelligence in corvids and apes". Science. 306 (5703): 1903–1907.

Madge, S. & Kirwan, G.M. (2019). Asir Magpie (Pica asirensis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Madge, S., Christie, D.A. & Kirwan, G.M. (2019). Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Marzluff, J. & de Juana, E. (2019). Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Marzluff, J. & Sharpe, C.J. (2019). Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nutalli). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.  

Mourer-Chauvire, C., J. A. Alcover, S. Moya and J. Pons. 1980. Une nouvelle forme insulaire d'effraie geante, Tyto balearica n. sp. (Aves, Strigiformes), du Plio-Pleistocene des Baleares. Geobios 13(5):803-811.

Parmalee, P. W. 1992. A late Pleistocene avifauna from northwestern Alabama. Science Series, Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, Science, and Art 36:307-318.

Segui, B. 2001. A new species of Pica (Aves: Corvidae) from the Plio-Pleistocene of Mallorca, Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean). Geobios 34(3):339-347.

Wetmore, A. 1962. Notes on fossil and subfossil birds. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 145(2):1-17.

[mother-snake]

the grims wish

(the next series im writting!!! and its got a first chapter! also should i bring my oc’s into this??) tags: @idkanameatall

next: n/a warnings: swaring

- janus is a magician. he has been since he was nine. and recently, things have been changing... its up to him and several others to fix whats gone wrong

Chapter 1- it was a stormy day

there were once skies filled with wonderful things. Birds, bugs, planes and clouds. the earth had people walking the streets getting to work. Some would ride bikes and others drive via car, bus or taxi. the planet filled with beautiful stones and flourished green everywhere.

Now things were changing. Ever since the lunar eclipse almost 100 years ago now. Things changed. the eclipse lasted for an entire day, and when it had stopped… two suns were in the sky. One shining bright and the other barely duller.

The people of the planet changed. Some could transform into wild animals; others couldn’t walk in the light. Some could manipulate the elements with spells. very few people had changed however. Most people stayed the same. And that meant the fear of the unknown would resurface. Those who had changed learned to adapt to the less forgiving.

Some would band together and try and find a place to fit in. some did, others couldn’t. starving of hunger or dying from the harsh winters.

I was one of the less fortunate. After I had turned 18 id been kicked out of my home with sunny by my side. sunny was my familiar. Looking like a boa constrictor but almost ghostly. You could see through her yellow shinny body. But her black eyes could pierce through your own skin.

Right now, she was wrapped around me like a thick warm scarf. Trying her best to provide me some warmth as the rain thundered down onto the ground. I was already soaked to the bone and an icy feeling had already set into my bones.

I looked around the streets, vision being blurred by the rain that poured relentlessly.

I pushed myself of the ground where I sat. there was no place open for me to sit in. and if there was, they didn’t take too kindly to magicians. that’s what I hated about coming back here. but there wasn’t anywhere else to travel to.

I grumbled as my hood fell down. Exposing my already wet hair to the rain. At least with it up I could contain some warmth. I didn’t bother to put it back up. there was no point in doing so.

I let out a huff. My feet made barely any noise as I made my way down the street. If there was one place, I could go it was the train station. But even then, I was cutting it close.

A loud bark cut me out of my thoughts as I felt something grab the hood of my jacket and tug me backwards as a car raced in front of my vision.

Whatever was holding onto me let go and I swivelled on my heel to face it. my eyes locked onto a black dog. It stood up to my height. Its glowing indigo eyes alerted me to the fact it wasn’t human. it glanced to my neck and looked curiously at my familiar.

“thanksss,” sunny hissed to the dog who barked back in response.

It nodded to me and soon a bright blue light swarmed where it stood. Shifting to the form of a human. A tall one at that. “sorry for the scare,” they said.

He wore a black suit. A blue stripped tie matched his animal’s eyes. a black umbrella was raised in the air, protecting him from the rain. A small part of me was jealous. Another part slightly ready to turn tail and run.

“come, we should get out of the rain, I have a feeling it won’t let up any time soon,” he said as he held out a hand. sunny turned her head to look at me and gave a small nod. Well if she could trust him. So could I.

I took his hand and was pulled under the umbrella. It wasn’t much. but it was nice to not have rain pouring over me. we walked silently next to each other. Not saying a single word. I hunched myself over. My overgrown hair covering the left side of my face. something I was thankful he couldn’t see.

“so,” he said, “may I ask for your name?” “Janus, and you?” “Logan berry. It’s a pleasure Janus,” he said loudly, trying to talk over the rai.

We turned a corner. I chuckled as I realised the school I’d gone to so long ago was still around. It was by no means small. It stood proudly in the storm. A small part of me felt my spine shiver. As if something from inside was looking into my soul.

Then before I knew it was out of vision.

 It was around ten minuets later that we arrived to a very posh looking set of apartments. Definitely not new. I recognised them.

Soon we were inside one. A deep red door with the numbers 24 plastered on neatly. Logan opened the door and ushered me inside. It was a lot different than I had imagined. The entrance hall had several doors lined up on either side. A couple were open.

“hey Logan its good to-“ a voice called. the figure at the end of the hall stood stunned upon seeing me, his eyes going wide upon seeing sunny. “oh my, Logan can you grab a towel for the poor soul?” he said.

Logan gave a sharp nod before patting my arm as if saying ‘good luck’. I let a weak smile on my face as I made my way forwards as he ushered me further in. warmth seeped into my bones. Something I had been very thankful for. Almost relaxing as it hit my skin. sunny let out a content hiss as well. I’m not really sure if it was because she was warm or if it was because she knew I was. a mini mother snake is what she was… and I was perfectly fine with that.

“my names Patton, you’re more than welcome to stay here to wait out the storm he said as he ruffled my wet hair. he let out a chuckle, making his way out of view.

Thankfully Logan chose that moment to walk in. a towel in hand and some other things. “I brought you a change of clothes, I have a feeling those cant be very comfortable nor hygienic right now,” he said, “the bathroom is down the hall. Second door to the right.

I stood there stunned. My mind seemingly frozen. “I think you broke my human,” sunny hissed over to Logan as she looked at me with a smirk.

“I never asked for your name, my apologies,” Logan said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “sssummer, but my human callsss me sssunny,” she said.

I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts, “are you certain? I don’t want to intrude,” I muttered. “it’s quite all right Janus. I know what its like being out there. To be honest you look like you need a place to stay for tonight. So, might as well get comfy.”

I nodded and made my way to the bathroom. so…Patton and Logan hu? Were they now my friends?

I’m not surprised at Logan knowing what its like to be on the streets for so long. He looked at least two years older than me. His skin was a pale white, black ebony hair seemed to contrast his skin. and sky-blue eyes that could melt the iciest of hearts.

A small flush of the cheeks was all it took for me to take the things he was holding and make my way into the hall. the bathroom hadn’t been hard to miss. Going in had made me chuckle. Several shelves on the walls held rubber ducks. Multi coloured and wearing clothing of famous figures.

I couldn’t resist the smile that slipped onto my face.

 I was out of the room within five minutes. My hair was still slightly damp, but at least not dripping onto my back.  I pulled it back into a ponytail. But kept the left half covered by my hair.

I took a deep breath. All my damp clothes were shoved into my previously empty backpack. I picked it up and opened the door. Laughter rung in my ears. But it was familiar. One I hadn’t heard in years.

I could feel both mine and sunny’s excitement flooding us all at once. I made my way forwards and peaked my hear around the corner and let a grin cover my face.

“ah! There you are kiddo,” Patton said excitedly, grabbing my hand and dragging me in.

“holy shit,” moustache said, “dude, how the fuck are you still alive?!” the strangers in the room seemed startled for a couple seconds. “Remus, I haven’t an idea,” I said as we brought each other into a hug.

“seven fucking years Jannie. Seven fucking years,” he muttered as he held on tighter. “eh, could’ve been longer,” I looked over Remus’s shoulder to see his gobsmacked twin, “hello roman.”

“wait, you two know Janus?” Patton said stunned “hell yeah!” Remus exclaimed, “we went to the same school.”

“well anyways, have time to talk,” Patton said, “dinners in the oven and id like to get to know our guest,”

And that’s how the evening went. I answered their questions. Mainly the twins spitting them out rapid fire. there were plenty of laughs as I told them about everywhere id been. They had seemed genuinely surprised that I had been everywhere it seemed. With the limits of being in the uk, it was much easier to travel around than if I were to be in America. I would most likely still be roaming thinking about it.

 Time passed quicker than I’d realised. Soon the rain had stopped pouring from the sky. Instead replaced by an inky black sky. Clouds seemed to cover the sky as I looked out the window.

Sunny shimmered back into view from her invisible cloaking on the window ledge. “he hassn’t changed, hasss he?” she hissed out. “ha, indeed,” I muttered back, letting out a yawn.

There was a knock on the main door. I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard someone open the door and slam it behind themselves. “hey guys!” oh god… this wouldn’t go down well… “hey Virgil, we have a guest for today so be polite okay,” Patton called out.

When Virgil entered the Livingroom, basically commons for them. He froze as he saw me sitting by the window. “oh for fuck’s sake, why are you here?” he groaned. “trust me, ill be out of your hair soon enough Virgil. I promise,” I sighed, “I already feel like I’m intruding.”

He gave me a pat on the back and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small clip. he reached up to my face and pulled my hair out of my face, clipping it back with a spider hairclip. “you will have shitty vision if you keep covering that side you know?

I sighed, there was no point on letting my hair fall back into place. From memory Virgil seemed to have hair and bobby pins all over himself. There was no hiding from the onslaught of hair accessories.

“so… what you been doing these past three years then?” he asked nervously.

I chuckled and began to recount all I’d previously told the others. it had been a while since he had felt welcome anywhere. And here in this small pack of monsters and humans… he hadn’t felt at home ever more than now.

[ashswritingplace]

Myōri’s Blessing

Here is a short story I wrote based on an idea I had penned in 2017. Yulia goes to a spirit festival with her parents, and she is punished by the spirits for her disobedience.

Content warnings: A child is harmed by supernatural beings.

“Myōri’s Blessing”

For one night every year, the world came alive in a dazzling foray of bright colors, cheerful music, and the mouthwatering aroma of deep-fried food to celebrate the spirits. Yulia had never been to the Spirit Festival before, and as she got out of her parents’ car, a hand in either of theirs, nearly tripping over her brand-new yukata, her excitement was palpable.

Never in her seven years had she seen a celebration like this. Her parents had always been too busy with their careers or social lives, and she often felt forgotten in the wake of their responsibilities. Now that she was finally here, she would never ask for anything again.

She wriggled free of her parents’ grasp and ran to a man welcoming people at the entrance gate. He wore a wide smile and a wider hat adorned with fox ears. He bowed in greeting, and Yulia replied with a chipper hello. “What does your shirt say?” she asked, pointing to the archaic symbols printed on the sleeve of his happi. She looked to the fox-shaped balloons he held. “How did you get them shaped like that?” She pointed to his hat. “Why do you have ears?”

Her parents caught up to her then, apologizing and trying to nudge her away from the greeter, but the man only waved them off with a chuckle. He turned his attention to Yulia. “Well,” he said, “this reads ‘Myōri.’ Do you know who that is?” When Yulia shook her head, he explained. “She’s the most beautiful and most powerful of all the spirits. She commands all the foxes of the forest, and she brings blessing and growth wherever she goes.”

Yulia looked on in fascination. “I want to meet her!”

The man smiled warmly. “You must be careful,” he warned. “Myōri is a kind spirit, but if you pull one of her tails, it is said that she will curse you for the rest of your life.”

The girl gasped. She tried to imagine why anyone would pull a spirit’s tail, but before she could ask the man, her parents were whisking her away. She waved the man goodbye and turned her attention back to the rest of the festival.

~~~

Yulia spent the night scampering through every cranny of the spirit celebration. She made her way to a stall and asked the vendor a million questions about the fried fish he was selling, where they’d been caught, if he’d caught them himself. She ran to another stall and asked the vendor there about her collection of uchiwa fans, what the patterns represented, how long they had taken to make. As she started for the festival games, her parents, exhausted from chasing her all night, caught up to her again, and they promised her cotton candy as long as she would just sit still.

The young girl poked at the pale green and blue sugary wisps, and she giggled when they evaporated to crystals on her tongue. When she had finished half of the sweet treat, she handed the cone back to her mother and wandered away. “Only where we can see you,” her mother warned, and Yulia obeyed.

She watched the festivalgoers all around her. Their yukatas formed an endless rainbow of elegant patterns adorning the fabrics. Many women wore their hair tied back with beautiful jeweled combs or silken ribbons. Yulia rubbed her fingers against the ribbon in her hair, the one her mother had gifted her that morning. She stroked it lightly, then tugged at it. It unraveled, and as she tried to pick her hair back up, the ribbon floated a little distance away.

She stumbled after it, nearly colliding with a group of university students. She grabbed her ribbon, and as she waited for the students to pass, her eye caught on something shiny. Behind a couple of stalls was a balloon, bright and yellow and all alone.

Yulia looked over her shoulder. Her mother and father were laughing with each other, ignoring her even here. She looked back to the balloon and, nodding to herself, padded towards it, slipping behind the stalls unnoticed. There, she realized the balloon was not tied down to anything; it was floating just above her as if by magic. She cocked her head to one side as she asked, “What are you doing here by yourself, Mr. Balloon?”

The balloon floated away from her, innocently beckoning the girl away from the festival. She tried to grab its string, but it jerked out of her grasp. Yulia tried again and again, following the string as it bounced just out of reach, giggling at the game it created. So amused, she didn’t notice the festival getting further behind her, nor the trees closing in around her, nor the malicious smile forming on the balloon’s face.

~~~

By the time Yulia stopped chasing the balloon, she realized she could barely hear the uplifting notes of the shamisen or the biwa that had filled the fairgrounds. She paused and looked over her shoulder. Behind her was a sea of trees and thick bushes, and she could no longer see the bright colors that had surrounded her before. Her parents were going to kill her for wandering away again.

The clearing she stood in was grassy, dark, with tiny, dull flowers blooming under her feet. Maybe, if she brought some back for her mother, she wouldn’t be as upset. But which way was the festival?

She looked back to the balloon, and for a moment, she glimpsed its intimidating face. It fell away, and she was left with a plain balloon once more. She took a cautious step away from her new friend, rubbing her eyes, knowing she had to get away.

A shadow stretched in front of her, enormous and haunting. The balloon shrunk under it and deflated into the trees, afraid. Yulia slowly turned around, and she saw a creature unlike any she had seen before.

Filthy golden fur, thick and matted, covered its bipedal body, tall enough to loom over her. It wore a man’s face save for the long, trunk-like nose curling towards her. A cheshire grin stretched beneath its nose, and its dark, vacant eyes stared through her. Its voice was low, grating, inhuman. “Hello.”

The girl tried to scream, but her voice was gone. The creature crept towards her, slowly, tauntingly. Yulia gasped, frozen in fear. When its face was mere breadths from hers, it smiled at her, and with impossibly long fingers, it reached into her mouth.

She lost consciousness in a blink, as if put under a curse. The demon followed her to her dreams, where it watched her greedily. Pain rumbled through her chest, seizing her heart, spreading through her limbs. Even in her subconscious, she was paralyzed and powerless while this creature haunted her. It laughed at her, a thundering sound that pierced her skull.

Yulia was ripped from her nightmare, and phantoms of pain turned to palpable agony. She tried to scream or get away from the creature, but her body was overcome with fatigue, and her voice was still gone, so she could only lay immobile and helpless. The demon made a deep sound like a laugh, tapping its feet in amusement.

She stayed there until the distant music died. She stayed until new darkness claimed the forest, then dull, filtered light, then dark again. Pain stole her movement, exhaustion stole her thoughts, and fear claimed her every breath. She dared not sleep, for her captor taunted her from her dreams, feeding on the fear it produced, making a feast of its reluctant prey.

The girl lost all sense of time. The creature came and went with the sun, but during the brightest hours, she still could not find the strength to escape. As the days went on, she gave up on ever seeing her mother or father again. She had disobeyed them, had wandered too far, and now, she was paying her price.

One morning, as sunlight trickled faintly through the leaves overhead, after the demon had left for the day, Yulia noticed a twinkling coming from between the trees. Even with the creature gone, she had no strength to move, so she only squinted, trying to make out the new light. Someone was approaching her.

The being was not human. Its skin was translucent, shining with an ethereal glow, and its hair, long and dark and iron-straight, was tied back with seashells and gems and delicate combs. A pair of cat-like ears poked from the top of its head, and they moved gracefully, taking in the silence of the forest. It wore a golden kimono wrapped in red silks. Its eyes were piercing, benevolent, the color of shimmering peridots.

The spirit approached Yulia and knelt beside her. As it grabbed her face in its soft, dainty hands, Yulia could see the fluffy, wavering tails behind its back. There were nine of them, black and tipped with silver, moving independently as if each had a mind of its own.

The tails brushed against Yulia’s cheek while the spirit looked at her. Could this have been the benevolent Myōri the greeter had told her about? The girl tried to speak, to ask the spirit for help, for anything, but her voice remained stuck in her throat.

The spirit lost interest, and she let go of the child’s face. She turned away, waving her nine tails tauntingly in front of Yulia.

As she started away, Yulia thought back to the man’s warning. If you pull one of her tails, it is said that she will curse you for the rest of your life. What, Yulia thought, could be worse than this?

She looked around the clearing. The long-nosed creature was still gone, but it would be back. It always came back. This was her only chance at salvation, her only opportunity to escape the evil demon. She had to take it before it was too late.

Summoning every drop of malice in her frail body, with all the strength she could manage, Yulia grabbed one of those beautiful, silken tails, and she tugged with all her might.

~~~

A new pain burst through her, rippling agony through her bones. Her skull felt as if it were shattering into millions of pieces, and a severe pressure seeped through the cracks. Her body spasmed violently, throwing limbs against dirt and rocks. Yulia soundlessly wailed and shrieked in a blind fury. And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the pain ceased, leaving her broken and exhausted.

Silence settled over the clearing. Myōri was gone, and the long-nosed demon had not yet returned. For a blissful moment, Yulia was alone.

Then, a voice spoke to her. “Hey, you. Get up.” It sounded like it belonged to a girl not much older than her. “You can hear me, right? Get up.”

Yulia struggled to balance herself on her elbows, and she looked around the clearing. She was alone. “Hello?” she rasped. “Who are you?”

There was no reply until laughter split the silence.

Yulia startled. The laughter came from inside her own head, thunderous, painful. She flinched.

“You can call me Freya,” the other girl replied. “You shouldn’t have attacked Myōri, you know. Now it looks like I’m your curse.”

Yulia felt herself get up and walk a few paces, but she was not controlling her actions. “What are you doing?” she cried. “Who are you?”

“I already told you. I’m Freya. Just another rotten kid who thought to attack a spirit.” She laughed again, and the sound came from Yulia’s own lips, unwelcome. “We belong together, you and me.”

“No! We don’t!” Yulia tried to stop herself from moving, but it was as if someone else were controlling her legs.

“I can get away with anything I want now,” Freya mused. “You will take the blame. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”

As Freya’s laughter filled her mind again, Yulia felt herself losing consciousness, leaving her life in a stranger’s hands.

[doedreamss]

The Cowboy and the Mustang

Ship: Hangman Adam Page x Jane (OC)

Summary: While on a road trip into mid-northern Montana, Jane takes a quick walk with the intent to stretch her legs before she gets back on the road.  She stumbles across an arena where a gentle cowboy is working to earn the trust of a curious but wild young mustang.

Rating: General (this is pure fluff)

Length: 2,881 words

Available below the cut or on AO3 HERE

“We just need to stop for gas real quick,” Kate was squinting at the road signs up ahead, scanning for the off-ramp they’d need for a gas station, “and we’ll be golden for another five-hundred or so miles.  Aha!” Triumphant, she clicked the blinker, switching lanes until she could take the proper off-ramp.

The town they’d stopped off at was charmingly small.  Nestled in mountainous Montana, the streets were shrouded in shade cast off tall, healthy douglas-fir trees.  A few small homes could be caught nestled through the trees as you drove past, but they were gone in a blur.  Jane realized nearly all of them had wood-fenced corrals on the property and livestock, too.  She grinned. This was exactly what she expected the Montana mountains to be like, as if it leaped from the pages of those sappy, horribly cliche cowboy romance books she used to read when she was younger.

They pulled into the two-pump gas station and Jane popped the door open, hopping out of the passenger’s side as Kate prepared to start pumping.

“I’m going to stretch my legs for a few minutes if that’s cool?”

“Yeah, I need to go to the bathroom anyways.  I’ll park the car over there,” she pointed at a lot beside the convenience store, “after the tank’s full.”

“Awesome!”  Jane tucked her phone into her pocket and turned on her boot’s heel, starting to walk aimlessly down the road just for the sake of walking.  They’d been in the car a little over nine hours, traveling since they’d woken up and left the hotel room that morning and only stopping once, very briefly over five hours ago.  

Jane and Kate had met in veterinary school, where they were both studying to be equine veterinarians. They’d become best friends and eventually realized they both had a dream to drive across the mid-western United States, stopping wherever they wanted on a whim and with no real destination in mind.  Next year would be their final year of school together, so they’d decided to spend the summer before fall semester doing what they’d dreamed of doing, together.

“Hold up boy!”  A low, reassuring voice shouted out gently, startling Jane from her thoughts.  She blinked, glancing to her left.  A cowboy stood in the middle of an arena with his large hands in the air, palms out in surrender to a stocky bay colt who was heaving heavy breaths as he glared under his forelock.  She could make out the white freeze-brand in the colt’s neck.  He’d been a wild mustang seized off his home range by the BLM and sold at auction.

Curiously narrowing her eyes, Jane turned toward the scene and took quiet steps over the dried, fallen pine-needle floor toward the wood-post of the arena fence.  Hands in her pockets, she studied the scene in front of her.

The cowboy was handsome in a Romantic way, as if he could be on the cover of one of those very novels she’d thought of earlier.  He had fluffy, gold-blond hair that fell in a soft cloud on his shoulders and caught the sunlight with enough beauty to make her breathless.  He had a low brow and a defined nose, and a soft vulnerability about him that was comforting, even though he was a stranger.  A fine, well-kept blond beard made his gentle face just rugged enough to be complimentary.  He wore fitted Wrangler jeans, worn leather cowboy boots, a belt with a flashing, big silver belt buckle, and a flannel button-up shirt in checkered blues and whites.  A cowboy hat sat on those curls, just barely containing them and helping keep his eyes out of the sunlight.

He was concentrated on the horse he was in the pen with.  He didn’t take his eyes off the colt, and even murmured in a gentle breath, “Easy boy, easy…”  He hadn’t even noticed he’d gained an audience.

The mustang – a rich, chocolate bay with deep black points and a small white snip on his dark muzzle – struck the sand in the ring, digging a small trench.  He tossed his head, upsetting his rich, black mane over his neck, snorted again and stepped back.  His tail swatted his muscled hindquarters and he turned, giving the cowboy one last eyeful before trotting away and putting space between them again. Whatever the cowboy had done had made the mustang scold him for it.

Jane watched the slight tension leave the cowboy’s shoulders and he lowered his hands slow, hooking his thick thumbs into his pockets.   He was still watching the colt, who’d stopped by the fence post a few yards in front of him and was gently nosing it, pretending he wasn’t watching the cowboy.  He was very clearly doing just that.  Jane’s mouth slowly melted into a smile.  The mustang was curious about the cowboy and wanted to trust him, but he was telling him it wasn’t going to be that easy.  The cowboy was telling the mustang he understood that, he wouldn’t expect it any other way, and he’d be there when the colt was ready to trust him.  All without saying a word.

It was in their subtle body language.  The way the mustang kept his side slightly turned in to the cowboy and flicked his ears with interest wherever the man moved.  The way the cowboy glanced away from the mustang, scuffing his boots in the sand and pretending that was more interesting to watch instead.  A curious horse felt sneaky if a person’s eyes weren’t on it, and that’s just the opportunity the cowboy was giving the colt.  Jane held her breath, wondering if the colt was going to take it.

The mustang’s tail flicked gently back and forth before he jerked his chin gently toward the cowboy and turned, moving almost aggressively, testing the cowboy’s commitment to his indifference.  But the cowboy didn’t jump at the sudden movement or even turn his head toward the colt. He glanced away slow, up into the towering pines and squinted, pretending to watch the Steller’s Jay that sat on a branch and bobbed its black-mohawk head.  The mustang swayed, leaning his weight forward as if he was going to walk, and then thinking again before leaning back.  His ears were still pointed on the cowboy.

Come on, come on… Jane wanted to say, but kept her lips firmly shut so as not to speak and disrupt this almost magical moment.

One step.  Two.

The colt’s wild-worn hooves left soft tracks as he inched slowly closer and closer to the cowboy, who was looking back down at his boots.  Jane saw a smile twitch at the corner of his lips, but he was holding himself together and trying to maintain a calm, neutral front.

Another step.  Another.  Surely, he could feel the colt’s hot breath as he huffed softly, nostrils flared with his neck stretched, trying to smell the cowboy without being too close.  If there were any sudden movements the colt would spook, this moment would be broken, and they’d have to start from the beginning again.  The cowboy was doing his best to stay perfectly still, clearly concentrated and listening to every sense that could grab a hold of the colt and tell him exactly where he was and what he was doing.

The colt leaned in close enough that he rubbed his muzzle over the soft material of the cowboy’s flannel shirt.  He snorted and did it again, this time with intent.  He drew closer and closer until he no longer needed to stretch to touch his muzzle against the cowboy’s shirt.  In fact, he lifted his head and gently rested it on the cowboy’s shoulders.

That’s when the cowboy broke into a smile that lit up his entire face in a way that nearly made her heart stop.  The joy was so pure it pushed his cheeks into his eyes and gently crinkled them at the edge. He turned gingerly in place and the colt lifted his head but didn’t step away.  He waited for the cowboy to face him.

“Hey buddy,” the cowboy said as if greeting an old friend and lifted a wide palm to gently run over the colt’s broad face.  The colt nodded his head as if to show the cowboy he wanted to be pet a little firmer, and the cowboy laughed.  “Pushy, pushy.”  His fingernails curled and he gently scratched the colt’s short chocolate brown hair on his forehead, face, and the bridge of his muzzle.

This was a different scene than just a few moments ago, and she imagined it was even more different than before she’d come across them.  The cowboy’s perseverance had paid off and given the curious, wild young horse the right to choose whether he wanted a human’s company.  Horses, naturally herd creatures, didn’t often want to be alone when given the choice.  Especially one like the bay, who’d been wild and always run alongside his family.

With a final pat to the colt’s thick neck, running gently over the white freeze brand, the cowboy told the colt they were done for the day.  He turned and walked away, but soon there were the steady plods of hoof beats following.  The cowboy grinned again and glanced over his shoulder at the colt who was trailing in his path.  He shook his head, disturbing those pretty blond curls just slightly, and turned back around again. 

“Now I can’t get rid of you, huh?”  It was said fondly.

He didn’t notice Jane until he was already outside the arena and had latched the gate.  He’d glanced away from the colt and turned toward his left, where she stood just a few feet away.  He jolted slightly and blinked, surprised.

“Ah, howdy miss.”  He reached up and pinched the bridge of his cowboy hat, giving it a gentle dip of respect.

“I’m sorry,” Jane said, and felt her stomach tense and her breath feel stuck in her lungs.  She hadn’t been able to see how blue and gentle his eyes were from where she’d stood or just how nicely his thick, solid ranch-man's body filled out his clothes.  “I um,” she blinked and realized she was staring.  She gave her head a small jerk back and forth to shake her brain up and set it right again.  “My friend and I stopped for gas and I needed to walk, we’ve been in the car since Idaho Falls and I was feeling a little cramped.  I didn’t mean to spy on you or anything, I was just… the way you were communicating with that colt, it was breathtaking.”  She felt really, really stupid and closed her mouth fast, her cheeks starting to burn.  She knew she had to be the brightest shade of red.

The cowboy’s blue eyes fell to the floor and his smile curled wide.  It looked like he had to work to keep it from spreading too far.  Wait… was he blushing too?  She could barely tell on account of his beard and the shadow his cowboy hat cast across his face, but she swore she could see the faintest hint of pink.

“Thank you miss.”  He spoke with a humbled, country accent and pulled those eyes back up to hers. 

“So, who’s your friend?” She asked, jerking her head toward the colt in the arena, who was watching them.  

“Don’t know yet,” he said, giving the colt a glance and smiling back at her.  “They tell me their name when they’re ready.”

“They tell you their name?” She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow but couldn’t keep the smile off her face.  “So, you’re telling me you can talk to horses?”  

He laughed and it was a warm, comfortable sound.  Like a fire you could curl up to, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket, while snow fell in lazy slow flakes outside the window.

“No, not that.  I just mean sometimes I’ll be working with the horse and the name will just come to me.  Sometimes I’ll see something and think of them and realize that’s who they are, or they’ll show me more and more of a personality and it’ll remind me of something else.”  He shook his head and blew a semi-amused sigh out his lips.  “I sound like I’m crazy, don’t I?”

“Not at all,” Jane said quickly, shaking her head.  “You listen to them.”

“Yeah,” he agreed soft, his blue eyes on her.  “I’m Adam, by the way.  Should have said that earlier.”   He smiled sheepish, as if he was embarrassed he’d just now realized he hadn’t introduced himself.  He moved close enough to extend his hand and Jane glanced at it, noticing how small hers appeared in comparison as she slipped it into his.  He gave her a firm shake and pulled his hand back.

It fit him, somehow.  Adam, created from the earth.

“I’m Jane.”

“So… you said you haven’t stopped driving since Idaho?”  He kept talking, asking her a question that’d keep her there.  Her heart raced a little faster, thinking that he didn’t want her to leave so soon.

“Idaho Falls.  We left from Boise this morning.”

“Oh,” he said, and cleared his throat.  “You and your beau?”

“Oh, no!”  Jane shook her head with a smile, completely missing that he’d almost seemed disappointed when he thought she had a partner.  “My best friend Kate and me.  We’re both studying at university to be equine veterinarians and next year’s our last year, so we decided to do a road trip together before fall semester starts.”

“Oh!”  He said and smiled broad again, nodding his head.  “That’s really cool.”  His tone was genuine, expression open.  “So are you planning on staying anywhere nearby or–”

Before he could ask his question, they were interrupted by a sharp, loud car horn honking.  They both jumped and glanced toward the road a few yards off and saw Kate in the car, her window down and waving her arm to beckon Jane back toward the car.

“Jane!  Come on!”

Jane wanted to scream. She knew they had a tight schedule to get to where they needed to go at the end of the night before they went stir crazy from being on the road too long, but did it have to be right then? She’d been certain Adam was trying to figure out if she was going to be somewhere close by.  Why would he want to know that unless he wanted to see her more? Jane gave Kate a look, letting her know she’d interrupted something, and immediately saw the guilt flash across Kate’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Jane said as she turned back toward Adam.  Everything inside her was wailing dramatically, hating the words that were going to have to come out of her mouth next.  “We’re on a really tight schedule…”  She took a step, hating it as she forced herself to start to turn away.

“Jane, wait,” he said, and his voice was urgent, but gentle.  He reached out and his wide, warm, work-calloused hand wrapped around hers again. His thumb stroked her skin and he looked a little breathless when she looked from their clasped hands and into his face.  “I, uh,” the tips of his ears faintly reddened, but he didn’t let go of her hand and she didn’t pull it away.  “If you were going to be around tonight, it’s Saturday night and around six in the evening I sometimes wind up down at Harry’s Bar in town.  I’d like to buy you a drink and maybe get to know you a little better, if you’d like that too.”

She could see his nervous hopefulness clear as day, and it endeared her to him immediately.  Where had this adoring, sweet, handsome cowboy come from if not her dreams?  The fact that he was genuinely interested in her, enough to ask her to stay so he could see her again, nearly blew her mind.

Jane took a step back, and another, until his hand gently dropped hers.  She turned around, tossing ideas through her mind, weighing options and wondering how mad Kate would be if their plans took a slight detour.  They’d said they wanted to stop wherever their heart told them to stop, hadn’t they?  Jane met Kate’s eyes and saw she was smiling.  Jane matched that smile and stopped, turning to look at Adam.

“Hey, Adam?”

He looked at her.

“I think your colt told me his name is Whiskey.”

“That so?”  He asked, grinning.

“Yeah, and that’s what you can have ready tonight when I meet you at Harry’s for that drink.”

Adam’s smile was so wide, it showed a pretty row of teeth.  It made Jane’s heart feel like it skipped a beat.

“I look forward to it, Jane.”  He tipped his hat, and his smile turned a little softer, a little fuller of the wonder he had in his eyes for her.  Her name had never sounded more wonderful than it did in that warm country baritone.

“Me too, Adam.”

The colt she’d said was named Whiskey snorted and bobbed his head, watching her from where he stood in the arena beside Adam.  She imagined it was a gesture of encouragement.

 (to be continued…) 

[hunterartemis]

The Assistant: (Theseus X OC) Epilogue (Finale): Nostoi

Words: 5562

Chapter Theme: The Shores of Scotland by Max Richter : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgAQtr8g_mA

Theseus waited behind Ms. Nishimori because he couldn’t see a blooming thing because of the thick shroud of foggy mist.

“The sky was completely clear until now...” Theseus exclaimed, “where did the fog came all of a sudden?”

“Sore wa Kiri ja nai—It is not fog” Ms Nishimori had already advanced few steps, her silhouette hazed and edges softened as she entered the whiteout, “they are watering the trees.”

Theseus stopped for several seconds, watering the trees? He couldn’t believe that such massive amount of mist which only appears in the dawn of deep winter can appear thus by watering the trees. Either the trees were inhumanly massive or the waterbearers were airy sylphs floating around and throwing miniscule droplets of water—but all that seemed possible in the Beedle the Bard’s stories, not in real life.

“You don’t believe me do you?” Someone spoke from his behind.

Theseus swiftly turned at his back, and saw Ume Nishimori standing on a rock with her hand extended towards Theseus, and as their hand joined, with a crack they vanished from the edge of the misty veil near the moonbridge.

When Theseus’ vision adjusted with the views, he found himself standing under the endless canopy. He could not comprehend where Ume Nishimori disappeared, and even after several called, no one answered. Confused with this unexpected abandonment, he nervously where he was. And like the streak of sunlight peaking from the mask of cloud, a strange melody entered through the labyrinth of the leaves.

He had no choice but to listen to the strange song the reverberated through the forest around him. A strange mist felt against his skin and for the first time he felt warm and comfortable. His heart relaxed as he looked around him from the ground to the heights of the ceiling of leaves; suddenly he felt stupid about his loss of direction—it was right there... straight ahead.

His pace lead him steadily towards the lighter section of that forest as he followed the direction of that strange tune. His eyes looked straight up towards the canopy as he saw a great silver blue bird glided over the forest singing that strange song that filled Theseus with surety and direction. At the the same time he felt that he wasn’t alone in that forest, someone or something was running past him with a strange invisibility that felt his heart with ease. He tried to look around to see them and he saw a strange creature. It looked like wolf but had none of it’s feral nature—it had glowing silver coat, beautiful turquoise eyes and many bellowing tails that left a trail of glowing mist as it almost floated alongside him. Theseus knew about that creature; it was the most famous and mysterious Japanese Nine-tailed-fox. It had been attempted to be captured and bred by foreign breeders for many centuries but none of them were successful. He looked at his other side and saw couple of more, each one with different eye colour. Their presence assured that he was never alone, never lost.

He had no idea why the beasts were trying to befriend him, he was unknown, he was a foreigner... he should fear them, as they should be wary about him. He was so mesmerised by them that he didn’t even realise that he was standing at the edge of the forest.

The scenery was something out of a fairytale. A brook flowed with roaring current like a flashing line of thunder through the brown arms of the surrounding mountain. The song of that great bird resonated through the valley and as if to enjoy the song, the endless lines of foreign flowers lolled their head. Pink and white petals blew with the gentle and warm wind like lost love letters from some unknown trees. In the world where everything slumbered in wintry covers, this Eden woke with the spirit of spring. Nature seemed to embrace the unknown man from the faraway land with open arms. Not even the first glimpse of the great forest of Hogwarts evoked such a passion in Theseus’ heart. He put aside his coat and sat on the pebbled shore of the brook...

For the first time, in a long time, he could see the heart and spirit of his brother; for the first time he understood the rush behind the life of wilderness—and it made him tremendously peaceful. However no matter how hard he tried he could not fit Maxine’s silk clad, diamond laden, sharp figure into the peaceful Eden. In his spirit of serenity, a mild tremor arose that compelled him to rethink about the woman who pulled him in this far eastern shore. Like an illusive dream, he felt she was slipping away once again. He felt tremendously jealous of Newt who saw her in wilderness—why else she would voluntarily choose such an obscure job! He tried to imagine Maxine’s face in the midst of those nine-tailed fox or that bird, nothing but haze appeared before him. He looked at the silvery mid-day sky, perhaps hoping that her face will appear there.

In the meanwhile, Ume Nishimori was already other side of the forest, upon the hill from where women watered the trees. With swift feet she entered her living quarters and sat herself down. She needed to make herself scarce lest she mars the union of two waiting people. The moment she saw Theseus, his mind was made clear to her like an open book—she was a skilled legillimens after all. However she did not want the straight-forward meeting, thus under her slightly bitten lip hid a plan of mischief.

“Who are in water-duty today?” she called an attendant, dressed in violet cotton yukata.

“Yoka-san, Ryoko-san, Mine-chan--”

“Tell them that they can take the day off...”

“But Nishimori-sensei, who would water the trees? It is still not spring yet, the trees will lose moisture--”

“I didn’t tell you not deprive the plant, I have just given them a day off. And as for your concern, Matsu-chan would be enough to handle the entire forest.”

“Hai...” the attendant left without another word. After she left, Ume Nishimori poured herself some tea, and through every sip, smiled a mysterious smile.

“Now then, Matsu-chan, let’s see how much you’ve learnt”

...

The moment the attendant reached in the inner sanctum of the living quarters, Maxine knew that either she was summoned for the water duty or for Nishimori-san. As soon as she heard about her duty, she bid the attendant goodbye and started to dress. She picked up a maroon pinstriped juban top and the black hakama pants to put on for today. It was quiet meditative, the process of Japanese dressing, or as she thought. Because a snippet of yesterday’s conversation with Ume-sensei was still plaguing her mind.

“what is going on Matsu-chan?” she asked softly leaning on the door panel as Maxine sat under the window, looking outside ponderously. She glanced slightly and stood up as soon as she heard her professor’s voice. She sat down obediently as Ume-sensei decided to take a seat beside her.

“What is going on Matsu-chan... ” Ume spoke with her meandering tone, “your thoughts are so loud and distracting today, I couldn’t concentrate on the firebirds at all! You know they are ovulating right?” seeing that Maxine didn’t respond at all, Ume turned her student towards her by the shoulder to take a proper look at herself, “look at you, all tensed up—no no, occlumency won’t work on me now—I have seen too many things.”

“Then tell me what should I do?” Maxine asked her sincerely, “my days are getting closer and I have said something irresponsible to someone I don’t know what to feel about—I have told Theseus that I will wait for him before I left.” she looked away from the penetrating gaze of her teacher “how I am supposed to face him--”

“You are having second thoughts about him?”

Maxine couldn’t answer. She silently lowered her face with shame and confusion.

“Any sane person would have told you that you shouldn’t have done it, or advised you to give it some time” Ume said reflectively “but what can I say,you have always been very hasty Matsu-chan. The moment you started Mahoutokoro, I have been watching you. You are hasty, attention seeking--“

“Attention seeking?”

“Yes, and irresponsible—and that it what also makes you insecure and do things that you feel oblidged to do but do not mean.”

“I am not a people pleaser, if that’s what you mean. I never were--”

“Oh yes you are... it’s your survival mechanism, otherwise how else you survived in that house of your family if you were not. Humans, no matter how we claim to be better than the animals, are the same as them. We fit ourself to adjust to our environment long enough for us to leave or change. And as for the dilemma of yours, it’s the same.”

“That seems a little extreme even for a legillimens for to figure out.”

“How would you justify your thoughts about him then? You fall for him but do not pursue him, you get cowardishly angry when he was with someone who was not you. And you found yourself a perfect situation to justify your departure from him, in conclusion you decided to return your poisonous roots—to Anatole.”

“Sensei, you know very well that I do not want to talk about it--”

“—you chase, you cheat but you never try to reach, because you cannot stand rejection. The child that feared exclusion have grown up to be a woman who is too insecure to take a ‘No’. And like a unsatified man with a virgin wife, you loiter around with thirst in your heart and grab the nearest whore who stands in your way”

“—please professor, I beg you to refrain from using that term. Newt was everything that I ever hoped for and he is not the ‘whore’ you are suggesting--”

“—and again that chase begins, that superiority complex kicks in and replacing his fiancee with the mistress begins. You know it, deep down in your heart that you never want to give in—you would rather have a whore than someone your equal. and the further I see, I feel that the man of you is the same also—coward, full of himself, reluctant to be rejected from the person he is mad for and thus he chooses convinience over passion.”

Maxine listened to her without interruption. Her face was low and reflective—never in her life has her entire character been stripped naked in front of her own self. She felt as if she was witnessing her own autopsy.

“—so you are saying that I should abandon him--”

“—no... no.” Ume shook her head irritably as if Maxine got the entire thing wrong, “I am so sick of you feeling afraid, I am sick of seeing you fearing that once more your heart would be broken... in fact I think that I think you’ll leave him the first chance you have--” she stood up on her feet, “when you are insecure you do not only hurt yourself but others as well. I suggest you to think it through like an adult.”

Why would she say something like that? why would Ume-sensei say something like that? She was well aware of her mind games, hell! It was from her she learnt the art of twisting words but this time, she felt everything was piercing through her skin. Does she not believe in her own student, or does she think that her student is not confident enough...

Maxine climbed the mountain with doubts and counter-doubts firing against her mind. She tied the bowstring against her longbow as her frown deepened. Her quiver full of glittering transparent looking arrows fell off her shoulder with her absence of mind—disaster! In Futen Sanctuary, when the rain is scarce and the grounds are dry, specially trained archers fire water-arrows from the highest peak of the mountain towards the forest. The arrow melts into mist and precipitation to moisten the soil. The archer needed to be exceptionally nimble and steady to fire the water-arrows, each of which in their solidified form packed the power of a raging flood that had the power even to erode a mountain. Those who studied Beast Trainership in Mahoutokoro under the governence of Yonomori Family are well aware of how hard it was to master the archery of waterarrows, and very few are as capable. A long time ago it was the art that showed Maxine the centre of peace in her mind when the world she knew fell apart.

The mental state of Maxine requires no explanation at this point; tension of firing the bow properly added into her jeopardised mind. She forcefully breathed in as she lowered her bow to fix her arrow. Her posture erect and fixated at the very top of the forest, the upper canopies fluttering into the gentle wind caused by the Song of the Forest guardian, the silver Heron bird—she warned the occupants of the forest to take cover as the archer is in position to fire the arrow.

Theseus sat on the bank of the brook, that strange songbird that he heard earlier floated like a great silvery-blue kite at the gray sky towards the mountain on the other side. Theseus’ eyes followed his gliding motion, until he saw her.

No, it was no mistake. Despite all the distance, the unfamiliar austere clothing, he knew whom he saw. It was the old familiar figure of Maxine, standing like some tall mast of a ship as her unseen long hair bellowed like some black standard behind her. Something glittering and long was rested upon the peculiar looking bow, and her figure stood still as the marble statue. Theseus rose slowly, without blinking an eye, he could see her drawing the bow taut and far, his heart throbbed like a boy and his whole body couldn’t contain the impulse to call her

Maxine...

WHOOSH

Her hand shook as she let go of her arrow, something which was forbidden on every account. The entire mountain valley resonated with her name, as if the entire forest was calling her. She knew that voice, for a moment she thought she hallucinated but when she looked at the other side, she saw the tall figure of Theseus, standing and looking at her way. When Maxine got into her senses, she had already fired her first arrow—it was going straight towards him.

Trouble.

The arrow followed it’s crooked passage towards Theseus’ heart and he stood there as if he has locked his eyes with the basilisk, he couldn’t even see Maxine’s figure on the rocks. The glinting point of the arrow grew closer and closer and suddenly he felt a pressure on his chest, as he toppled at his back towards the stony ground.

After several moment of darkness, Theseus’ eyes fluttered into the light. In the greenish chroma of the forest, he saw Maxine was leaning towards his face. After a few moment when he realised the close proximity of their distance, he uncomfortably wiggled himself up. However he wasn’t prepared for the next.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?” Maxine thundered as landed a tight slap on Theseus’ cheek, “who stands in the middle of a forest and screams at someone who is about is fire an arrow--”

“It was just an arrow though—I would have stopped it with my wand--”

“Right... you would. Have you ever wondered why you are standing like a soaked imbecile?”

Theseus didn’t notice until now. Suddenly he looked around him: the soil the trees looked like they had been hit by a massive flood. He then looked at Maxine, completely soaked and dishavaled who  was pacing up and down with the great bow tied at her back

“Merlin’s beard, I could have killed you—and lord knows how much blood I have on my hand already”

“Maxine...” Theseus stopped her with a disapproving frown, as if he wasn’t really surprised with her self-guilty, only very concerned that she was still investing in it.

“Why are you here...?” Maxine asked with a tone of surprise, as if his presence didn’t register in her mind earlier.

“I came here...” Theseus stopped in his words, chewing and tasting it. “--to take you home.” Theseus asserted with his head held high and lack of confidence in his voice.

Maxine’s brows gathered in a frown, as if she couldn’t believe what he was saying. Her earlier contemplation starkly clashed with Theseus’ upright confession.

“is that because I asked you to wait for me?”

Theseus stopped for a while, his face reddened and hsi brows frowned as if she had said something offensive, “why does everything have to be about you... everything I do has to be about you isn’t it? How spoiled could you be—no, no, how dense could you be to understand that something does not happen because you ask people to tell so--” he said heatedly. And with natural phenomenon of contagious affect, it caught on Maxine too.

“Why are you being such a prick? I just asked a question—a mere question and you just going around like a--”

“It’s not fair!” Theseus screamed on the top of his lungs, “it’s not fair how you push into my boundaries making a complete fool out of me; it’s not fair how I try to be someone else and do things that I never did for anyone—do you know, I am scared to death to sea and I spend a FREAKING WEEK IN IT JUST SO--”

Maxine could not find the reason behind Theseus’ anger and irritation; as far as she knew him, he was one of the most patient person she had ever seen. Otherwise he wouldn’t have put up with her despite her track records of playing the trickster to get what she wants. He paced and fumed in the muddy soil of the forest as Maxine watched him with a stupefied expression.

“Just so?” she asked tentatively.

She could see a slight change of expression in his face, the frowns unknotting and the lines smoothing. His blue eyes looking straight towards her, “Maxine... I was annoyed and angry when you joined Newt without the ministry notice. I was jealous like a stupid child when I saw you dancing with my brother at Yule Party, I was hopeless when I saw you kissing him at the church—but I never realised what was the reason I felt those emotions towards you--” he came closer to her, speaking with his fullest sincerity, “can you forgive me?”

“No...” Maxine said firmly, “No... It is I who must ask forgiveness...” Maxine stepped two steps closer towards Theseus and grabbed him by the shoulders, “I had been so mean towards you—I had been so jealous when you started with Leta—I shouldn’t have done that. Furthermore, I hurt you the most when you needed me. You trusted me and I hurt you and that’s why all those emotions had been generating in your heart. Truth is, now I realise—I refused you in anger and I sought after Newt when my heart was hungry, I wasn’t in my rational self and I almost ruined three lives—of course I forgive you Theseus, but in return I ask for yours--”

“Tell me...” Theseus’s face darkened like a clouded midday sun, “are you still in love with Newt?”

“Yes, I am... ” Maxine looked upwards, “however there is no expectations in that. I went to him in a distraught mind—I am grateful to him because he looked inside my heart and knew what I was running away from. I caused him pain and his companionship showed me where I was supposed to be--”

“Where were you supposed to be?” Theseus asked with eagerness in his voice, in reply he got Maxine’s meaningful silence.Theseus used this pregnant pause and pulled out the emerald box out of his breast pocket and knelt on the muddy ground to put the ring in Maxine’s fingers. Maxine inspected the ring in the little light she got inside the forest and said with an amused annoyance.

“This is what you get for me, Roses and Filigree?” Maxine replied sarcastically.

“Look closer...” Theseus said with a mysterious smile.

As Maxine looked closer the outer layers of rose-gold melted away and vanished. Instead of the soft rose-gold design, a beautiful black gold baroque ring held a miniature crown; the crown was actually a scepter of a fiery opal that looked like a miniature sunset.

“For the dark and fiery soul—for the trickster and perfection of my life” Theseus said softly, admiring Maxine’s expression.

“So, Maxine Adrienne Odessa Valois--”

“I hate when you take my full name--”

“—stop interrupting me, you minx—“ Theseus rebuked her with a paradoxical smile, “so, Maxine Adrienne Odessa Valois, I would like to ask you, if you are willing to spend the rest of your life with me?” he asked with a deep voice.

Maxine paused for a bit. Her eyes glistened with moisture and her usual Devil’s Attorney crooked smile graced her wet lips, “are you, Mr Theseus Scamander willing to bear my wickedness for the rest of your life?”

“—you are suppose to answer in ‘yes’ or ‘no’” Theseus said with irritability, but his face said he felt otherwise.

“Trust me; it is a great responsibility—so, are you?” Maxine repeated.

“—yes!”

“Then yes... I shall be willing to do the same!”

The forest suddenly filled with claps and laughter. They both looked around and saw the entire sanctuary was applauding to them, as if they were waiting for this to happen. Suddenly out of the crowd the old familiar face peeked through the crowd, Maxine knew her—she was Professor Nishimori. Her face could not be seen from Theseus’ side, as if she was a phantom who appeared only before Maxine. Her black eyes streaming in a motherly joy as she applauded with the rest. Through her tears, Maxine felt as if her own mother was standing behind her whispering that she was proud of her own daughter. Her eyes veered towards Theseus, whose eyes too was streaming with joy. There was a pharse in Japanese community she heard for many times, but never understood its full meaning. Now today, as she stands realising that there was more than the shame, jealousy, rejection and fear she recieved in her life.

Umarete Hajimeta

She was reborn.

...

“Merlin’s beard if I don’t have a firewhisky within three seconds I am going to be petrified--” Theseus murmured as Newt fixed his bow tie, very patiently in their room in the Family home in Scotland. The merry morning rays of spring crept in with the roaring sound of sea through the east window.

“Isn’t the bride be the nervous one?” Newt asked as he straightened up and Theseus fixed his tie with an irritable frown. Newt smiled on his own to see his brother on his toes, struggling to cope with the gravity of the situation.

“—nervous? She? The dead shall rise from the grave just to see her flinch a little—Merlin knows what I have put myself through.” Theseus exasperated. Newt wasn’t particularly impressed with the situation, he gravely commented “—Theseus I thought you were looking forward to marry her--”

“—who said I don’t want to marry her...” Theseus interrupted Newt irritably and plopped on the ottoman to put on his silk socks, “—I am out of the world with happiness—but the problem is not her... it’s her family. As long as she was solo, everything was fine, but as soon as her family made up with her... boom... Saint Chappell all over again.” Theseus pulled his socks so hard that the elastic snapped audibly and painfully, “I am scared to death for their expectations—Newt, you don’t understand, I have met her father and all the time I felt like the worst piece of crap in front of his influence and extravagance—they have booked the Drum Castle.... THE Drum Castle for the wedding--”

The train of rant was interrupted with a warning notice by Tina, who huddled inside in a bright turmeric flapper dress and a myrtle bouquet.

“Five minutes...” Tina huffed as she totted, “They have send a Rolls Royce... a flying one”

Tina hadn’t looked anywhere until now, and when she looked at Theseus tying the strings of shoes through his calves. Before leaving an unexpected snigger left her lips.

“IT’S A KILT....” a desperate scream of Theseus left a trail behind her.

The people on Groom’s side, including Theseus, his best man Newt, Mother of Groom Mrs. Bronte Scamander and finally Tina boarded the car nervously. The Royce flew across the Caledonian ranges of beautiful glen until it landed at the front of the castle. Tina huddled through her heels to Maxine because it was a tradition of Scamander family that the bride is to be dressed by the sister of the groom, since the Scamander had no girl sibling, the immediate choice was Tina, and she was soon to be sister-in-law too, if the circumstances permitted. She may have been difficult in some cases in the past, but she had learned that even the worst of the people can change.

“Oh... Ma chere, you have arrived...” Marguerite was standing at the bottom of the tower, dressed in Mauve bell-epoch dress and tilted pillbox hat—Tina had a mini-heart attack at how well this woman looked, the flaming red hair arranged in beautiful chignon and her entire figure exuded power and elegance. But she had to pay attention to her words, “thank Merlin... would you be glad to ‘elp Maxine to add some final touches?”

Tina didn’t know that such mellow and polite lady can hold so much power in her soft voice. She didn’t know if she even had to decline her.

“Of course Madame...”

They apparated at the top of the tower with a crack, Svetlana who was at Maxine’s service opened the door to reveal the bride sitting upright near the ornate Victorian mirror.

“You look beautiful Maxine...” Tina admired Maxine with a tinge of envy as she beheld her. Maxine had rose from her former seat. The simple satin wedding gown adorned her tall figure gracefully and it added the space to the flowers and jewels to shine. Tina, for a moment compared her soft and fluid look with that of the winter wedding in Paris. This Maxine didn’t look like Ice queen with blood lips and decked in diamond—she looked like a bride.

Tina, with fullness in her heart, added red lacquer in her lips, added the baby’s breath and myrtle flower crown at the back of her perfectly pinned curls. After huffing and puffing over her already finished near perfect look, Tina finally stepped down.

“How do I look?” Maxine looked at Tina through the mirror, a nervous tone disturbed her natural cockiness of voice. Tina smiled internally, even the most confident gets nervous.

“the most beautiful bride I have ever seen” her reaction evoked a stray tear in Svetlana’s light blue eyes.

As Newt and Theseus settled near the isle, Theseus’s nervousness pumped through the ceiling. He had a sip of firewhiskey already, but it did nothing—he was marrying a Duchess for Merlin’s sake. He looked around the wedding hall, all the important figures of European ministry were there, looking at Theseus’ way, sitting at the most elegantly dressed hall. The wedding hall somehow transformed from a stony room to a Baroque palace—golden filigreed chandeliers glowed against rose-motived pink walls, he felt like he was an insignificant part of a French painting. Newt could see the tumultuous waves of inferiority and nervousness on his brother’s face. He softly grabbed him by the shoulder.

“—‘Seus, she is their only daughter—she has no blood relatives left in the world, they are trying their best to make up to it all.”

“—Newt, I am not sure if I can keep her happy or not...”

“I believe in you...”

Theseus looked at his brother with widened eyes, his little brother hid again under the unkempt strawberry blond bangs, but the strength he channeled through his softness made Theseus extremely proud of his younger brother.

Maxine fidgeted behind the great Cypress door of the wedding hall. The door will open at anytime soon. In the absence of father, she will walk alone and her bridesmaids Tina and Svetlana will follow.  

The door swung open and the entire hall blazed with a very non traditional music for a bridal march. Maxine knew it was the choice of her family, who would have opted for some ecclesiastical pieces by Vivaldi, Monteverdi or Faure like her wedding; Arrival of the Queen of Sheba was an unusual choice for a bridal march. Maxine slightly leaned back before walk towards Tina to ask who was the one to pick the music.

“It was Theseus...” Tina said with a smile.

Maxine’s lips curved into a full, genuine smile as she stepped forward with light feet. Her eyes veering towards her wedding guests, who were giving her a standing ovation. She saw Charlemagne, Lucian Carr and entire Auror department looking at her; at her right she saw Bongartz and the other wizards from Romanian dragon reserve smiling at her way; a little further stood her professors of Durmstrang and Hogwarts. Dumbledore looked handsome in his tweed suit, accompanying Mcgonagall and Nishimori sensei in a petal pink Silk kimono and really elaborate hairdo. Everyone important in her life gathered under one roof to witness the one thing she needed most in her life.

“Dearly beloved we’ve gathered here to witness the holy union of Theseus Delian Chrysostomus Scamander and Lady Maxine Adrienne Odessa Valois--”

“So... ” Maxine discreetly whispered, “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, huh! Nice touch, bit Baroque and old, but classy—you know your Handel”

“I had to resort to it, because Handel didn’t write anything for The Duchess of Croy...”

“Chrysostomus...’golden mouth’, how come I never heard that name before?—”

“Because I hate it... and the person after I was named...”

“Who?”

“My great uncle, Chrysostomus Scamander—he gave that name to himself once he became a Seer; none of his prediction ever came true... including me marrying an ugly wealthy widow--”

“—I don’t know whether I should slap you in the face or the old geezer who dared to call me ugly--”

Theseus could not understand what she was talking about until he realise what he has said, “—Oh... I am so sorry, Maxine I didn’t mean that” he whispered under his breath.

“Concentarte Mr. Scamander, we are at a ceremony” Maxine said with a forced deadpan face, painfully suppressing a laughter.

“Why you always put me in an embarrasing position and don’t let me apologise?”

“First of all, it is not my fault that you have no brakes on your mouth and secondly when someone ignores someone’s embarrasment it means that they have already let it go--”

Theseus stopped for a while, so that is what she has been doing all along? All the scolding and anger outburst he had with her at the later years, the ones for which he tried to apologise and she ignored it—that is what she was doing? Silently forgiving him? He felt a rush of gratitude towards her and a pang of guilt in his heart. But as he looked at his left, he could see the radiance of Maxine’s face even under her veil—nothing bothered her anymore. Before she looked like a shiny outer skin masking darkness, but now she looked like something was cleansed from her heart, a weight she had carried all her life was lifted.

While they conversed with each other, the sermon was mostly complete, they both now looked at the Cardinal who had a look in his eyes that he heard everything, but chose to ignore it.

“Do you, Theseus Delian Chrysostomus Scamander take Lady Maxine Adrienne Odessa Valois as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do...” Theseus confessed.

“And do you, Lady Maxine Adrienne Odessa Valois abdicate your position as the Duchess of Croy and take Theseus Delian Chrysostomus Scamander as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do...” with her confession the entire hall stood up to applaude.

“Or do I?” Maxine turned towards the audience with her crooked smile and witnessed the flabbergasted audiences abruptly stopped in their standing ovation.

She savoured the audience’s bafflement. Newt almost slipped from his pedestal, the pastor at the side nearly dropped the wine glass and Theseus looked like he was about to have a breakdown. In the midst of the nearly cruel words, she broke out into a heart-lightening laughter, pointing a finger at Theseus like a small child.

“Come here you minx--” Theseus pulled her by the face to kiss her.

Before Maxine closed her eyes completely immersing herself fully, from the corner of the eyes she saw Newt hiding beneath his unkempt bangs, squeezing his temple with his fingers for a brief moment. Perhaps he saw that the bride was looking at him, and he did one of the rarest things he ever did. He looked straight at Maxine’s eyes with tears streaming down his face.

The tears that said so many things he wanted to say.

--

Nostoi: a Greek word taken from Odyssey which means “Homecoming”. You might have noticed that one of Maxine’s name is “Odessa”, which is a female version of “Odysseus”. The entire story of Assistant is Maxine’s journey from returning “home” or to people whom she was meant to be. It is not only about Theseus or their “skinny love”, but also to her own family who finally accepted her, and Newt. She may not have the relationship she wanted with Newt, but without him her “homecoming” would have been impossible.

    It is Theseus’ homecoming as well. He lost hope on Maxine, terming her unattainable, which caused a rift between them and Maxine’s wandering. When he finally came to terms with his heart and mind he could finally pick up the courage to pursue what he had wanted for so long. Theseus too, sought for Maxine, like Odysseus’ son Telemachus went to Voyage to look for his father. (There is another myth I have based on Maxine and Theseus’ story, I will later reveal it it a post as an addendum)

Yukata: The easy version of traditional Kimono, worn mainly informally and inside the household.

Juban top and Hakama pants: mainly worn by archers and samurai, and is still worn as ceremonial outfit in Japan.

Yume or Japanese Longbow: see above picture

Drum Castle:  Drum Castle is a castle near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. For centuries it was the seat of the chief of Clan Irvine. The place-name Drum is derived from Gaelic druim, 'ridge'. Maxine’s family arranged something that would be the last splendor for Maxine before she abdicates. They chose it with the mutual agreement of the Scamanders because the owner of the Drum Castle, the Irwins, were the starting line of the Scamanders. The Scamanders are descended from a Muggleborn Witch named Maud Irwin.

Also I wanted their wedding to be on Scotland to give Maxine a closer; she was wed to Theseus on the same soil where her mother was born. Although Aberdeen and Edinburgh are far apart, but they are both on the west coast of Scotland

Arrival of the Queen of Sheba:  A piece written by  George Frideric Handel from his Opera Solomon. Although it is a popular choice for bridal march today, but it was certainly not in 1920′s. The fast violin conveys the excitement of the mob to see the queen, and the wind instrument convey the welcoming bugle of the entrance of the Queen. Theseus chose this to convey his excitement to marry Maxine who was an Aristocratic Witch. It is also a Baroque or 17th Century piece, a time which was most valued by Maxine’s family (it wasn’t intended by Theseus, just a coincidence). 

Listen to this piece : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TGKJ9MgCOQ

Delian : a name of Apollo who was born in the city of Delios. Notice, how Newt had ‘Artemis’ in his name, so I thought why not give Theseus’s middle names a bit Apollo-centric, but Apollo seemed way too obvious, so I chose this name.

Chrysostomus: Greek for ‘Golden Mouth’ or someone whose speech is always true (an oracle). Apollo is also God of Soothsaying and Oracle.

Thank you for all the support you gave me. 

[hazelnuthuntress-blog]

ATSFY (2/32)

[Pidge]

I turned toward the voice, and immediately, I gasped at the life forms before us.

Two tall, slender figures stood before us. They were well above Lance's height, maybe eight or nine feet. I felt tremendously small. Both looked like females. They both had dark skin, a long braid of thick, light-colored hair, double-tipped elfish ears, and feathers that extended from their behinds like coattails. Their arms and face were covered in feathers that matched their tails.

"Who are you, and how have you been expecting us?" Lance, drawing his weapon, asked with a threatening tone in his voice. "We've told no one of our arrival."

The one who spoke had dark blue skin, pale green hair, and white feathers. Her light blue eyes penetrated Lance's thoughtfully. "We saw your lions and came out to meet you. We don't have tourists very often, so it would be our pleasure to hospitalize you and your mate during your stay."

"My mate?" Lance's eyes widened, and he glanced at me quickly.

The other Shizan, who had dark grey skin, pink hair, and magenta feathers, cocked her head in confusion. "It is customary that males and females travel together only if courting. Aren't you two courting?"

Lance stared at me a moment, as if he was trying to decide what to say.

Well, of course he'd say no. He'd be out of his mind if he said—

"Yes. This is Pidge, my fiancée. My apologies for the confusion," Lance said, the thoughtful expression now replaced with one willing me to comply. "We would be grateful for your hospitality."

Holy crow... that just happened.

"Great, you can follow us and we will lead you to our dwelling," the blue Shizan said, eyeing Lance and I carefully.

The blue and gray giants began to walk forward, and Lance hung back a little.

"Lance, what in the—" I whispered, before he clamped a hand over my mouth.

"I know, I know. I said that for a reason. They'd separate us otherwise, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with either one of us being alone with these creatures. Please, spare me the violence and just play along, okay?" Lance's expression was laced with worry.

Wow, okay, that actually makes sense. But again, Holy Crow this is happening!

Still at a loss for words, I simply nodded.

I stared ahead at the tall creatures that were now thirty yards ahead of us, quietly talking to each other. Something wasn't right. I could feel it. But we were lost on a strange planet, our lions needed to be fixed up, and these Shizans seemed to know what they were doing.

I felt a warm hand slip into mine, and glanced over to see Lance's fingers tangled with mine. Heat tinted my cheeks as I struggled to keep from smiling like an idiot. He's playing the part. Gotta be convincing, you know?

We caught up to the two creatures, who watched us with caution.

The dark blue Shizan spoke. "My name is Aurora. And this is my younger sister, Astrid."

Astrid's facial feathers puffed out, and she smiled cheekily. That must be their version of blushing.

"We are nearly to our humble abode, young Paladins," Astrid said, after flattening her feathers. Looking us each in the eyes, she asked, "Have you two planned a wedding day?"

Blushing, I quickly answered, "No, no, we... we haven't."

"We... planned on having it when we got back to the palace," Lance said, glancing at me.

Aurora exchanged a glance with Astrid, and said, "We can host one here. I'm sure we can find something in your size, Miss..."

"Pidge," I spluttered nervously. I was just envisioning Lance in a suit and tie, and gazing at me amorously with those big, blue eyes of his that pulled me in like an ocean. How long can we keep this façade up before somebody finds out we aren't engaged?

"Well, Miss Pidge, I'd be happy to help you find a dress," Astrid offered.

"And..." Aurora nodded her head towards Lance, "I can help you find a suit."

Lance smirked, throwing Aurora one of his signature smiles before replying, "I'm sure you would, but I think Pidgey and I would like to settle in before we get into that, if that's alright."

Pidgey. I blushed at the pet name. But something occurred to me— here, standing before us, were two jaw-droppingly beautiful girls. And Lance hadn't once flirted with them.

I felt his fingers shift around mine as he pulled me forward. My breath hitched in my throat, and I, out of habit, pushed my glasses up my nose.

Why did his hand seem to fit so well in mine?

The two Shizans opened a huge, dark wooden door, and held it open for us. It seemed to be the equivalent of polished oak.

I breathed in the heavenly aroma of flowers and nectar. The house was decorated in orchids and lilies, and a huge wooden table was situated in the center of the entrance room. The flooring was made of what seemed to be clay or a very fine-grained sand that gave it a beachy or desert-like appearance. Bubbling water poured out of the top corner of the room and dribbled down into a bowl that fed a miniature fruit tree.

"Wow... this is... beautiful!" I gushed, staring up at the two Shizans in awe.

"Ustedes tienen una casa muy hermosa," Lance said, his blue eyes sparkling with interest. "It's stunning! Imagine that, Pidge, we get to stay here til our lions are fixed!"

Astrid nodded. "Yes! We do take pride in our architecture. Shall I show you two to your room? We don't usually expect visitors, so we have only one."

"Of course," Lance said calmly.

On the other hand, my heart couldn't race any faster. We had to share a room. This is fine. Sharing is caring, right?

Warm fingers tightened around my hand again as Lance pulled me along. "Woah, Pidge, look at this!"

I looked up to see a beautiful white bed covered in sewn-on flowers. A drawn-back curtain surrounded the bed, making it look mystical. Beside it was a nightstand and a beige couch.

"We'll just leave you two to settle in," Astrid said.