#ive been working more on swept up but this just came to me abruptly and i had to post it because voli's rushed 'RULE THREE-' made me laugh

[volivolition]

[affectionately] oh, i sure do love making his life so very difficult.

[earthspirit10]

Ninjago Angst Week: Day Three - Bleeding

@ninjago-angst-week Again, really late. (I’m sorry!) But it’s finally here!

Trigger Warnings: Gore, blood (of course), and slight mention of abandonment issues

---

“Watch out!”

Kai whirled around just in time to block the oncoming sword with his own. The harsh clang of metal was nearly deafening, making him wince. With a flick of his wrist, his katana sliced through the air, nicking his opponent neatly on the arm. The guy facing him hissed. Whether it was in pain or anger, Kai couldn’t tell.

The entire ninja team was in the middle of a battle against a couple of daring thugs, trying to mug a poor woman late in the evening. Jay had found them and called the team for backup, and as it turned out, the stupid criminals had been trying to lure the ninja here. For what, Kai didn’t know.

Whatever the reason, the ninja were here to take them out. And sure, the thugs were pretty impressive fighters, and there were a lot more than even Zane had accounted for, but they had faced way worse odds than this and still pulled through with minimum injuries. So, Kai was confident that they would easily win this.

Still, the thought of any one of his family getting hurt was too much to bear.

Using the butt of his sword to knock his current opponent unconscious, Kai twisted around to survey the scene. The others seemed to be doing just fine on their own, so he shouldn’t need to worry much. Not yet, anyway.

There was a sudden whistle of air, and Kai dodged out of the throwing knife’s way as it sped past him and embedded itself into the arm of one of the bad guys. He winced slightly. That really had to hurt, though Kai was forced to quickly turn his gaze away as the one who threw the knife came at him again with another knife.

Kai waited at the last second before stepping to the side and sticking his leg out, causing the thug to trip and fall flat on his face, the knife slipping out of his grip. He knocked that one out before turning again, his katana up in the air and already slamming onto another guy’s head.

A flash of metal caught the corner of his eye, and Kai raised his sword to block it, only to find that it wasn’t aimed at him.

One of the criminals was charging toward Lloyd, who was currently occupied with two people at once and wouldn’t be able to see his attacker from behind.

Kai didn’t think. He just acted, slamming his body into Lloyd, the breath knocked out of him as he felt something— something foreign rip through him, something that really shouldn’t be there, and then pain, sharp and cold and white-hot all at once, erupted in his stomach.

He blinked once, slowly, staring down at the blood (his blood), at his stomach, at the sword which was still embedded in him, not entirely sure if he was dreaming or not. The pain had kind of dulled, which was really strange, because last he checked, getting stabbed was supposed to hurt like hell.

Suddenly, the sword was pulled out of his stomach, drawing a gasp from him.

He crumpled. Oddly enough, the ground was wet and sticky. And warm. Really warm. Was that normal? He didn’t know.

“Kai!” Lloyd’s panicked voice swam into his consciousness, and Kai felt something—or rather, someone—press a hand to his stomach. He groaned, trying to desperately block out the pain. Vaguely, he could still hear sounds of battle near him, but it sounded far away, as if he’d been immersed in water.

Maybe he could . . . just . . . close his eyes for a bit. . . .

“Kai, no, don’t— you gotta stay awake—” Kai felt someone shake him. “Hey, stay with me, please!”

Blearily, he blinked his eyes open. Everything looked hazy, and there was a green blob above him, and then there was a face—Lloyd’s face—looking worried and panicked, and there were tears in his normally bright green eyes.

“Don’t cry,” Kai croaked, lifting a bloodied—bloodied—hand to touch his brother’s cheek.

Sirens wailed in the background, and he was suddenly aware of the burning sensation in his stomach as he felt himself being carried, and then there was someone screaming, which really hurt his ears. Oh, yeah, his stomach hurt too. Probably should mention that, except his mouth hurt too and his head was swimming, black spots dotting his vision.

“I know it hurts, Kai, I know it does.” Another voice—this one sounded feminine—reached his ears. He wasn’t sure who it was, but it sounded soothing. Kai focused on it. “Just— hang on, okay? I—” The voice paused as another scream ripped through the air, and Kai realized that it was him screaming. “The ambulance is here. You’re— you’re gonna be okay.” Whoever was speaking seemed to choke a bit, as if holding back sobs. “You gotta be okay, you idiot, or— or else—”

Kai couldn’t hear what happened after that, because his vision was suddenly swept in black, and then he was falling, falling, falling. . . .

⸺

Everything hurt. His head hurt, his whole body hurt, and his eyes hurt especially when he finally and painstakingly pried them open, only to be met with blinding white light.

Kai groaned, instantly squeezing his eyes shut. He heard someone gasp near him, some startled shuffling, and then the door opening and closing. Soon, there was nothing except for the beeping of a machine and the antiseptic smell of . . . a hospital?

Slowly, Kai opened his eyes, blinking multiple times to adjust to the light. He was met with the white walls of (definitely) a hospital, which he wasn’t sure how he got into. His arm was in an IV, which was dripping blood into him through a needle. It was then that he realized that his abdomen were wrapped in bandages, and then everything came rushing back to him—the fight, pushing Lloyd, getting stabbed—

Lloyd!

Kai sat up abruptly, which he instantly regretted. Pain flared in his stomach, and he couldn’t help the hiss that escaped his lips.

At that moment, the door opened, revealing a kind-looking doctor with a clipboard in hand. Kai watched curiously as he started doing some . . . doctor stuff, occasionally jotting some things down on the clipboard. After a while, he glanced up, opening his mouth, and Kai, knowing very well how hospitals worked (due to a few . . . unfortunate visits before), braced himself for a series of health questions.

And the questions came. Kai could barely keep up, he was tired already, and he just wanted to see his family before sleeping for eternity, but the doctor seemed to understand because soon, the questions stopped and he left with a, “I’ll leave you to rest.”

Kai sighed, resting his head back on his pillow. His eyelids fluttered shut, and he struggled to keep them open because he needed to see the others, to make sure his brothers and sister were okay, to make sure Lloyd was okay because all of this couldn’t have been good for the kid—

The door opened as Lloyd peeked through, his face showing a mix of emotions, all of them not good. Kai managed a smile before he was instantly tackled as Lloyd buried his head into the red ninja’s neck.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Kai said quietly, rubbing his little brother’s back. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“But you weren’t okay!” Lloyd protested, pulling back a little so he could look at Kai. “You— you were stabbed, and you were bleeding, and you couldn’t— I couldn’t even do anything—” He choked, raising his arm to wipe at his eyes. Kai reached out a hand to comfort him. “I didn’t— I thought you were dead, I thought you were going to die, and I can’t— you can’t do that to me, Kai, you can’t do that to— to us.”

Kai’s heart hurt seeing his baby brother hurt like this, but he clenched his jaw, remembering how he had shoved Lloyd out of the way because some stupid guy tried to stab him.

“You were about to get stabbed,” Kai said firmly. “I wasn’t going to just stand there and watch you fall at the hands of some stupid guy, knowing there was something I could’ve done.”

Lloyd took a shuddering breath, looking away.

“I don’t regret what I did,” Kai continued, his eyes squeezing shut, trying to block out the image of Lloyd, instead of him, having a sword ripped through his stomach. “I know that I’d do it again in a heartbeat. You’re my baby brother, and it’s my job to protect you, to keep you safe. I’m not going to apologize for that, for getting stabbed and keeping you safe in the process.”

“You shouldn’t have to take the hits for me,” Lloyd hissed, his eyes flashing a brighter green. “You’re— you’re not some expendable tool, you’re my brother, and I can’t— I can’t watch you die because of me, I can’t watch someone else leave me because of me—”

Oh. Kai’s chest tightened. This wasn’t about protecting the green ninja, nor was it really about Kai getting stabbed. It was about another person abandoning Lloyd, even if they didn’t mean it, because Kai sure as hell would never leave Lloyd like that, unless—

Unless he died.

“Lloyd—”

“Why does someone have to take the hits anyway?” Lloyd continued, tears flowing freely down his face now, showing no sign of hearing Kai. “Why can’t we all just— dodge them or something? Why didn’t you warn me?” He rubbed his arm over his eyes again uselessly. “Why can’t we all just get out fine, for once in our lives?”

Silence filled the air after that outburst, unpleasant and stifling. Kai stared at Lloyd, who looked away as if embarrassed.

Kai exhaled heavily, before scooting over to the side, even if it did make him wince slightly in pain. He patted the extra space. “Come ’ere.”

Lloyd blinked confusedly at the bed for a moment, before realization dawned on his face. He shook his head furiously. “No, you’re the patient here. It’s your bed, that wouldn’t be comfortable for you—”

“Oh, for FSM’s sake, Lloyd,” Kai said, exasperated. “Just get on the bed, will ya?”

Clamping his mouth shut, Lloyd tentatively sat down next to his brother, laying himself down and resting his head on Kai’s chest. He seemed careful to not jar the stomach wound, which Kai was secretly grateful for.

“I’ll— we’ll try,” Kai said softly, stroking Lloyd’s head. “We’ll try to get out fine. All of us.”

He could feel Lloyd swallow and nod. A moment later, his breathing slowed and deepened, his body relaxing as he fell asleep. It wasn’t long before Kai’s eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep with him.

[piscesbarnes]

Because of You [5] → Bucky Barnes au

pairing: eventual bucky x reader

warnings: n/a

prompt: training with sam goes well. up until your visit to the lab.

To say the baseball game wasn’t exciting would have been a lie. It was the first human experience you’ve had and it wasn’t as bad as you thought it’d be. Although, when the crowd would stand up and cheer, it scared the life out of you and you soon learned that it wasn’t polite to stand up abruptly with your fists up to your chest, ready to knock someone out. Only about half way through the game did you finally catch on.

“Hey, we’re about to win this game. We should leave before the exits get crowded.” Steve suggested as he leaned forward to your seats. He was the one to help you out of the crowd as Natasha and Sam went for another round of beers. He linked his arm through yours and you tensed up at the contact, giving him a side eye. It didn’t go unnoticed either, Steve was well aware of the look you gave him. “We’re meeting in the parking lot. We gotta regroup since Tony and Natasha drank.”

After about twenty minutes, Sam stumbled to the cars with Natasha, cackling about a memory they had that morning. Bucky followed closely behind; he’d never admit it, but he followed them to make sure they were safe. Clint and Wanda had hotdogs in hand, Clint holding a large Coke in the other.

“I assume Tony’s with Bruce, Parker, and Thor?” Steve questioned. When he got no answer, he nodded. “Bucky, you can drive with Nat, Angel, and Sam. I’ll take these two. Meet at the tower. If anything happens, call me.” Steve instructed as he tossed Bucky the keys Natasha had prior that evening.

You and Bucky glanced at one another with a knowing look. He looked a bit uncomfortable with the sorting and was about to retort, but Steve was already walking away, mumbling about Tony.

You and Bucky helped Sam and Natasha in the back. They giggled a lot, being more ticklish than usual when they were intoxicated.

The car ride was just as awkward, hell it would’ve been even more awkward if Natasha and Sam weren’t talking. They babbled and babbled to each other, making them laugh as you and Bucky stared straight ahead like annoyed babysitters.

“You’re Bucky right?” your voice rang in his ears as he came to a stop at a red light. He raised his eyebrows as he looked over to you in curiosity.

“Yeah, that’s right. Why?” he knew why.

“You seem a little familiar is why. I could be wrong.” you knew you weren’t though. You expected him to chirp up, explaining maybe where you’d seen him.

“Oh.” was all he said.

“Morning Angel,” Sam Wilson groaned, rubbing his hand over his face, trying to wake himself up. You looked at him, wide awake, nodding your head at him.

“Good morning. Are you ready for training?” you voiced at the hung over man. Your hands were already wrapped, you were ready, but apparently Sam was not.

“Are you training me or am I training you?” Sam joked, chuckling to himself. When he saw that your dull expression hadn’t moved, he sighed and patted your shoulder. “Come on, lighten up.” you turned your head slowly to glance at the shoulder he’d touched. “Okay. It’s obvious you’re holding in a lot of anger. Let’s take it out on training, yeah?” you ignored his comment, sitting on the ground as you began to stretch. It was like he was competing with you as well, following your set of stretches and trying to one-up you, at least from your perspective.

You helped Sam wrap his knuckles in hopes of punching him sooner. His mouth seemed to move faster than his hands.

“So, I hear you’re trained in mixed martial arts and more. You and I are gonna work on your combat skills, I’m here to report back to Tony because he’s concerned you’ve lost your way.” Sam introduced. He noticed you didn’t really talk much. You complied to whatever orders without a word. “It’s free reign, all you gotta do is get me to tap out.”

Standing on the mats, Sam held his arms up to block his face. You mirrored him almost, lowering them slightly so you could furthermore observe him.

Sam threw the first punch; you swiftly moved away. Then came a series of hits from his end, you were quick to dodge them, taking note that he always stepped before he punched. You took a jab to the neck, gasping out as you ducked under his arm, your arms extending to strike his torso. You didn’t give him time to recover, swiping your legs under his feet.

You didn’t expect him to tackle your legs. A yelp escaped your lips as you fell backwards. You swiveled your legs around his waist, twisting your bodies so he was under you. You had him pinned and yet he didn’t tap out. He somehow gathered enough strength to get you off him.

Soon, you were back on your feet, watching as Sam scrambled up to his. You were panting, puffing your white locks from your face. Sam went to tackle you, but you caught him in a headlock. He gripped your waist, hands grazing along your back. You tensed up and he noticed it. He made it his goal to for your back, it was your weakness. Your body went into defense mode. Your eyes easily calculated where his hit would go.

You avoided his advances toward you. You were able to curl your hands and slam his arms down, quickly reverting to slapping both of your hands to his chest. Sam flew back, he rolled over off the mat with a grunt. You took a step forward to see if he was okay, he then chuckled.

“You’re a feisty Angel, aren’t you?” Sam commented, getting back up on his feet. “I don’t have bad things to tell Stark, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use some improvement.” you nodded your head. You were more than accepting of feedback. “You let your guard down. I found your weakness almost instantly. If I was your enemy, I would’ve taken you down.” you nodded your head at the feedback.

“Just like how you step before you punch?” you noted. Sam blinked, shocked and confused as to how your observation never really dawned on him. Even when you pointed it out, he had a hard time believing he actually did it.

“Angel, Sam,” a voice echoed from the door of the training room. The two averted their gaze to Bruce Banner, standing at the door with a clipboard in hand. “If I could borrow Angel, that’d be nice.”

“But we still have training until...” Sam looked at the clock, reading 9 in the morning. Had they really be training for two and a half hours already? Sam was still gaping at the clock; he swore it had only been an hour.

“I’ll see you later Sam.” you waved to him, following after the scientist.

“So, Dr. Cho just came back from vacation. We would like to check your vitals once more, we’re going to continue to check your vitals everyday either during or after your training.” Bruce explained, going over some of the details he’d acquired from the previous appointment. You complied and followed after the man.

You were met with a woman in the same lab you’d waken up from. She wore a lab coat, she seemed to distracted by the vials in front of her, but nonetheless she looked up. Dr. Cho was surprised by your appearance; white hair that was usually swept over your forehead, tied back as your grey eyes speared back at her.

“Y/N, pleased to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Dr. Cho smiled at you.

“It’s Angel,” you said sharply, trying to be polite. “No one really calls me by my name.” she nodded understandingly.

“My apologies. I’m looking at your blood transfusions, or whatever’s left of it and I’ll be needing to take a few more blood samples, is that okay?” she went on about checking your blood pressure first, as well as your heartbeat and all that jazz. To be honest, you didn’t pay much attention. You were there to just sit there and go.

“What did you mean by ‘whatever is left of my blood’?” you suddenly brought up.

“Ah,” Dr. Cho nodded her head, rolling away in her rolling chair as she finished up hooking you up to an IV. She had a feeling you’d catch on to the phrase. “The blood Bruce extracted from you days ago has interesting qualities. He tried running as many tests as he could before he used it all.”

“Used it all on what?” you questioned.

Dr. Cho didn’t say a word, moving a pot of dead flowers to you. After sucking some of your blood into a dropper, she dribbled a couple drops of your blood onto the soil the dead flowers had been bedded in. You watched in confusion, your eyes flickering back to her; her eyes had been set on the flowers. It wasn’t until life began flooding back into the rose petals, a vibrant red spreading upon its features. The plant grew to life before her, it was clear why Dr. Cho hadn’t a word to say.

You had given life to something that was once dead.

“That’s not all.” Bruce pulled up an article on the lab’s iPad. He showed you the bright screen. It was for a missing persons. It was you. With a natural colored-hair and dark eyes. “This is from five years ago.”

BECAUSE OF YOU TAGS @mannls @animegirlgeeky @averagenightterrors

[sanctum-de-la-sorciere]

The Rewatch | Episode 1: Sakura and the Mysterious Magic Book

IN THIS POST:

I. General Clow Sorcery Observations II. Cardcaptors & Clow Sorcerer

Initiations

Using Clow Sorcery

Activating the Key

Using a Card

Capturing a Card

III. Specific Card Observations

The Windy

The Fly

IV. Guardian Observations

The Beast of the Seal

(Yue)

V. Miscellaneous

General Clow Sorcery Observations:

Sakura felt the cards calling out to her before she encountered them.

appeared in a dream with Kero

remembers Kero well enough to faithfully reproduce a doodle of him

dream lingers, inhibits ability to focus

causes mild hallucinations as she remembers the wand while at baton practice

Clow Book glows to attract her attention.

Cards are swept into the air and out through solid objects by Windy’s magic.

“When the Seal on them is broken, a catastrophe will befall this world... Those cards were special cards made by an amazing sorcerer name Clow Reed. Each card is alive, and possesses incredible powers... But they all like acting on their own, and normal forces are no match for them. So, Clow himself created this book, and placed me, the Beast of the Seal, on the book’s front cover.” - Kero

Cardcaptors & Clow Sorcerers:

Cards & book immediately resonate in her grasp. She recognizes them from the dream immediately. They also unlock immediately.

the fact the book opens at all means Sakura has magical abilities

Even saying “Win-”, the first syllable of The Windy, causes the energy & dust around Sakura to begin to circulate.

Upon stating “Windy” fully, the card glows, the Clow circle appears at her feet, & magic and wind circulate wildly.

Before one is a full Clow Sorcerer, one captures the Cards. During this time, they are referred to as a Cardcaptor. 

It is the responsibility of the Cardcaptor to recapture the cards, especially if they loosed them.

Cardcaptors are expected to have the critical thinking & under-pressure thinking skills to work out strategies & perform magic in intense, sensitive, and potentially dangerous/deadly situations.

Initiation:

Kero takes Sakura to a formless otherplace of blues and greens. Reality fades away into this space. The Clow Circle appears at her feet, and he stands upon the floating Book. No other items exist here. Kero speaks.

“Key of the Seal. There is someone wishing for a contract with you. A girl. Her name is Sakura. Oh Key, grant her the power.”

The Key lifts out of the lock on the Book, surrounded by a near opaque orb of white-blue light and floats before Sakura.

“RELEASE!”

The white light explodes out of the Key, washing everything else out of sight. Sakura steps back out of the circle. The key expands into the Wandstaff. Kero still stands upon the Book and commands Sakura to take it. The entire otherspace is white now with stark shadows. The circle appears on the ground in etched black, with Kero standing on the Book and floating just inside of it, directly across from Sakura.

Sakura walks forward, but does so as if being pushed backwards by great force. She must shield her eyes from the light.

Upon grasping it, the light is drawn back into the Wandstaff. The otherspace returns to a gradient of gold, to green, to blue. The Clow Circle at her feet glows gold once again.

“Yes! The birth of a Cardcaptor!”

Using Clow Sorcery:

Activating the Key:

Sakura holds the key in front of her face, then moves it out in front of her in the palm of her hand, straight from her chest. She speaks.

“The Key which hides the powers of the Dark!”

The orb of near opaque white light surrounds the Key, and it levitates over the palm of her hand.

“Show your true powers before me!”

The Clow Circle appears at her feet as soon as she begins speaking this line. Power begins to circulate around its outermost edges in a pattern resembling stylized crashing waves in a counterclockwise direction while she speaks.

“I, Sakura, command you under our contract!”

The Key’s orb of light has become less opaque.

“RELEASE!”

The Key spins, and the light orb becomes bright blue white light again, pushing outwards. Sakura does not look away or flinch from the light. The Key expands into the Wandstaff. When it has completely extended, Sakura flips her hand from flat beneath it to gripping it from above. The white light is drawn back into the Wandstaff at point of contact with her hand.

Using a Card:

Sakura activates The Windy while laying face down. She speaks.

“Wind, become a binding chain...”

The Clow Circle appears around her, glowing on the surface of The Fly.

Sakura throws the Card out forwards and stands. She spins the Wandstaff in her right hand. The Clow Circle glows fiercely.

“WINDY!”

The Card slides back into the circle, where she brings the jeweled ‘beak’ of the Wandstaff down upon the card, causing it to glow & become blue white light in the form of a card. Energy spikes around the edges of the circle in a much more powerful way than during the Key’s transformation, traveling in a clockwise motion.

The Clow Spirit of The Windy rises and grows out of the card’s white blue energy.

...

When Windy’s function was complete (binding The Fly), it disappeared as its opponent was drawn into its own card.

Capturing Cards:

Sakura needed to be not at risk of being attacked by The Fly before she could capture it. She binds it with The Windy.

Standing before the incapacitated Fly, the Clow Circle appears at her feet. Sakura speaks.

“Return to the form you originally came from....CLOW CARD!”

Sakura raises the Wandstaff above her head with both hands, bringing it down like a hammer. The jeweled ‘beak’ of the Wandstaff’s motion abruptly stops, as if the kinetic energy is absorbed.

Soft blue light ripples radiate in the air out from where the ‘beak’ stopped, growing in frequency & energy. Amorphous white & rainbow light appears at the tip of the beak. The energy convulses and expands out into the blue white light form of a card.

The Fly becomes formless, and is drawn into the card. Ripples still flow out from around the point of contact.

The Fly’s Card flutters to the ground before Sakura.

Sakura collapses to her knees, but it is unclear if the magical effort causes this, or just the stress & adrenaline of the experience.

Specific Card Observations:

The Windy:

immediately responsive

causes wind to blow wildly in a confined space, in a tornado-like fashion with Sakura at the eye

swept the cards out of the book and out through solid objects

may have been the nature of the cards, rather than The Windy

“Wind, become a binding chain...”

able to elongate itself into a yellow ribbon

The Fly:

takes the form of a massive bird (as depicted on the card)

causes windstorm levels of wind when flying overhead

has an ethereal warbling cry that fades overtime

lands and continues to flap, causing further winds that even crack glass patio doors

attacks Sakura

“attributed to wind”

this means The Windy is effective against it

aggressive, dives and swoops with talons extended at Sakura & Kero repeatedly while screeching

feathers fly off of it while diving, but are not present on the ground later

able to shoot beams of seafoam light which blew Kero straight into the sky

previously was flying with head craned down, but whipped it back and forward to perform this act

Sakura was able to ride upon its back

Activating the card causes the ‘wings’ of the Wandstaff to grow massive, allowing the bearer to fly upon it.

Guardian Observations:

Kero:

Sakura hears strange sounds from the basement office library before she awakens them. (Kero’s snores.)

Clow Book glows as he awakes, drawing himself up out of the cover.

Kero caught the Osakan accent because of the book’s longterm presence in Osaka.

“Kereberos, the Beast of the Seal who guards this book.”

His job is to guard the cards so the cards do not get up to trouble.

Kero levitates & glows over the book in an attempt to locate the cards, but fails.

Kero knows his job well and can speak with authority, but also accidentally took a 30 year nap.

Kero brings Sakura to the otherspace of her actual initiation, calls upon the key, and mediates the contract.

Kero is friendly and knowledgeable, but doesn’t instill or forcefully insist on obedience from Sakura. He is irritable but doesn’t form negative grudges or become overbearing.

Kero quickly identifies The Fly as it flies overhead, but does not state its identity with 100% confidence.

His serious nature comes out when Cardcaptor duties are in progress, and his direction seems less snappish and rude.

Posesses the strength to slowly lower Sakura to the ground when she is blown into the air by The Fly, but seems to need great effort to do so.

Supportive & encouraging of Sakura. “Nothing less from the Cardcaptor that I scouted!”

Sees the Cardcaptor as a working partner.

Yue:

(Yukito) is friendly and warm to Sakura, tossing her a piece of candy. He seems to enjoy seeing her but doesn’t have inclination to linger with her.

Other:

Series begins on a waxing crescent moon.