#it's also blurry as all get-out :|

[shreksstepfather]

"Vicky says that Thistleclaw was originally in StarClan and gave Tigerstar one of his nine lives, but when Bluestar joined StarClan, 'she must have chased Thistleclaw to the Dark Forest.'"

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Laios's three Boy Best Friends. And yes, they hate him.

[chitinleg]

got him off-balance!

[roots-symphony]

it's only water, it's only fire, it's only love

it's only slaughter, we're only liars, it's only blood

you're only dying, you're only crying, you're only dead

[randomminty]

You wont believe what song was looping in my head while i drew this

[boxwinebaddie]

hard work being a single Motha

[a-ramblinrose]

👻🎃👻All Hallows Read Begins!👻🎃👻

[blackjackkent]

There are too many of them. Karlach has been through many battles, many wars. She can see the way the odds are turned. Balthazar, who would be a powerful foe even in his own right, backed up by almost twenty undead, each of them brought to life with only one course - destruction.

And almost immediately, everything goes bad.

Almost before they have time to blink, Hector is staggered - a burst of corrupting necromantic energy slams into him out of Balthazar's fingers. Karlach can see the pain rocket through him as he is knocked to his knees.

"Gods!" he cries out, and the agony in his voice tears at her heart. "My Lady...help us...please..."

But there is no answer. Even if the Moonmaiden is watching them, she has no power here in this land of dark.

Karlach finds herself moving entirely on instinct, lashing out in all directions as the undead begin to close around them. Higher up she can hear Gale and Shadowheart shouting spells, trying to knock back the tide of horror. But each chink in the oncoming wall lasts only momentarily, and then Balthazar's endless legions are back on the attack again.

Can we win this? Is it even possible? Is this the end, after everything?

The rage is coursing through her, each strike landing true, and she holds onto some hope, some certainty that perhaps they might do the impossible yet again...

And then Hector goes down.

"No!" Her scream is muffled in the noise of battle all around them. "Damn it, soldier-- get up!"

She isn't sure what hit him. One of the large skeletons, most likely, which is bearing down on him with its deaths-head grin, an enormous blade clenched in one hand. She staggers backwards, stands over his body - a furious lioness crouching over her fallen mate, all rage and love and terror.

But gods, gods...they are still coming.

And she can't fight them all, not even to save him...

The crowd of undead close around her and she feels despair grip around her heart. Hector, at her feet, spasms with pain; his breath rasps in his chest, a death rattle. All the fury and rage in her does nothing to change the fact...

It can't end like this. It can't--

Her eyes drift upwards, to the platform where Gale and Shadowheart are still standing, both of them equally battered, drenched in acid from one of Balthazar's attacks. Her eyes meet Gale's, and she sees the same despair she feels reflected back at her.

His wrist flicks, a ball of flame appearing between his fingers, and he hesitates.

She understands in an instant what he means to do - and she knows that he's right. And before she can second-guess herself, before she can reflect on what it means, she lifts her voice and bellows above the hissing of the undead.

"FOR GODS' SAKE, GALE, DO IT! DO IT NOW!"

Gale's head snaps back, and then he twists his fingers in a quick burst of movement and the fireball crashes across the platform.

Karlach is no stranger to the heat of fire; she has burned alive every day for the last ten years. But the explosion bursts through her like a thunderclap, the concussion hurting as much as the flames, and she is knocked sideways with a cry of pain as the fireball consumes her and all the creatures around her.

As she hits the ground, she hears Hector's scream as the flames consume him, and though she does not want to see it, she turns her head and meets his eyes as he dies.

It feels as if everything has gone completely still inside her for a moment.

She knew exactly what she was doing, of course. She knew he would not survive the blast, that she herself is barely hanging on through the damage it did. They have Shadowheart, they have scrolls of revivify, they even have Withers if it comes to it... he will come back to her. He has to.

But all that knowledge pales against the true, immediate agony of seeing the life fade out of him in front of her.

"HECTOR!" she screams, and it tears at the burned muscle of her throat. She wants to drop to his side, hold him, beg his forgiveness for causing this to be done to him, but she can't. The fight isn't over, though most of the skeletal force has been decimated.

Balthazar still lives, and it is on him that her rage can expend itself.

In an explosion of movement, she leaps across the platform trailing flame off her armor and out of her hair. And for a moment she almost thinks she sees a burst of fear in the necromancer's eyes before her blade crashes through his skull.

Blood splatters around her and she swings and swings again, all the rage in her coming to bear on this one target. And she screams with grief and fury and all the pain they have all suffered and do not deserve.

It is a long time before the storm in her cools and she realizes that he is dead.

-----

She comes back to herself knelt at Hector's side, gathering him into her arms. She realizes she has been sobbing; the boiling heat of her tears sizzles on her cheeks. Gale and Shadowheart are standing at a slight distance, watching, each uncertain how to break the silence.

"I'm sorry..." she whispers, pulling his still body against her, running her fingers desperately through his hair, across the burns on his face and shoulders. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I love you... I'm sorry..."

Cautiously, Gale lays a hand on her shoulder, and flinches feeling the now-unusual heat under her armor. "I'm sorry as well," he mutters. "But you were right. It had to be done...we'd never have been able to take the upper hand otherwise."

She shakes away the attempt at a comforting touch, leans forward and presses her forehead against Hector's. Her breath comes in short, stuttering gasps.

Shadowheart steps forward now, crouches at her side. "If... you can give me a moment to prepare a spell... I'll revive him," she says uncertainly.

Karlach lifts her head and glares at the younger woman fiercely, feeling oddly defensive against anyone else's offer of help. "I'll handle it," she mutters. "You just... do what you came here to do..."

[lesbiandarvey]

dan rydell + right where you left me

right where you left me / 1.08 / 1.16 / machiavellian mistletoe, edna_blackadder / landslide / napping on couches with boys, kristophine / all too well 10 minute version / first base, octothorpetopus / 1.01 / even sugar peas run out of snap, sandyk / small town, ashinae and jay_linden / slaughterhouse-five / 2.19

[actualartistgrill]

the devil is like a rabid dog tied to a chain

[chiropteracupola]

If it strikes your fancy, for kiss prompts-A king and a herald, 19? (I'm not in any of your other fandoms lmao)

19. a kiss for luck

[sequoiareachesforthesky]

Milgram fic idea: the prisoners are bored (as they always are) and they've already celebrated every holiday imaginable. So someone suggests doing a cross-dressing event for a change. Mahiru, Mikoto and Muu help everyone find the perfect fit (Mahiru sews half the clothes herself to make it look perfect).

A bunch of gender crisis ensue.

[roots-symphony]

I had all and then most of you some and now none of you t a k e m e b a c k t o t h e n i g h t w e m e t

[nexus-nebulae]

i feel like half of my posts are just hidden from other people's dashes bc like 80% of what i post is just not seen by anyone

[talkorsomething]

I can't sleep again.

[luvsavos]

i deserve financial compensation for the amount of fucking hoops i had to jump through to enable tipping on here