#kade writes

[blackandwhitecircus]

For those of you that can read german: I attended the world's largest gaming convention and wrote a bunch of articles about it that got professionally published!

Portrait of SvenjaDev, a blind streamer and developer

Coverage of an award for accessibility in gaming

A review of the indie game "Constance"

An article on "Slay The Princess" and it's expansion

[bedtimegiraffe]

I finally figured out why all the party members in Book 2 come out as so frustratingly self-focused to me.

It's not because they're all struggling with their own stuff. It's all about shelving your agenda- that thing in a relationship where you go, 'You need my support right now, so we're going to worry about my thing later.'

And MC does this constantly.

I just barely escaped death and found out a year passed, but is Kade recovered from the Shadow Court?

I just almost drowned, but it's time to comfort this owlbear cub and unpack Valax's trauma!

I just almost died twice to the Ash Empress, but is Nia coping with being corrupted okay?

Which can be okay. Shelving your agenda is part of a healthy relationship of any kind.

The problem is that no one does it back. I think Tyril and Nia kind of sum up the whole group's attitude:

But I don't think MC was ever going to be 'ready.' Someone else was always going to have to 'unshelve' it for them and make an effort to put the focus on MC.

Now, adventurers don't tend to be particularly well adjusted people. The full party has got maybe 1.5 healthy childhoods and 4 living parents between them (judged pretty generously). But it still feels like the others can't get it together enough to ask if MC is okay. Not that MC really makes it easy! I see MC as someone who is so used to pushing their feelings down to focus on whatever work is in front of them, they almost can't access their own emotions.

Which is why we had the brief glimpses of panic and the breakdown moment in Chapter 17. I think the breakdown makes sense mechanically. Kade is the one character your MC is guaranteed to have a strong connection to and this way it's not gated behind any diamond choices (like some really crucial character moments with Aerin and Valax, no I'm not bitter about it). But that makes it feel like the whole party has been neglecting MC while Kade immediately sees MC and goes, "Dude, you are not okay. Talk to me.'

And MC tries to turn it into comforting Kade! Kade has to actively argue with MC to make them actually acknowledge that they're having a hard time.

MC for some reason can't or won't talk about their own trauma and Kade (who's only been around for 5 minutes) is the one who has to actively force the issue for MC's own good. Which is not a great look for the rest of the found family.

Afterward, Mal and Nia both seem to address it without really getting the point. Mal says, "We know things didn't go the way any of us wanted." (Which could mean... anything. But I'm feeling generous.)

Protecting MC from death is not an equivalent exchange to talking about feelings! It is in fact dodging the feelings by focusing on practicalities again! Y'all better get it together in Book 3, I swear.

Overall, MC constantly delays addressing their own vulnerability and issues to focus on everyone else. And the others don't know how to do the same thing for MC, so the pattern just gets more engrained and damaging.

Except for Kade, my perfect boy.

Sources (they're fun, I promise!):

Screenshots from Neckrone Shen's playthroughs of Blades on YouTube, my go-to for whenever I can't remember something or don't have the screenshots myself.

I think @oh-so-youre-a-nerd's incredible piece 'Take Take Take' kept rattling around in my head until I figured out how to articulate why it felt this way: https://www.tumblr.com/oh-so-youre-a-nerd/736449955360899072/take-take-take?source=share

The language of 'shelving your agenda' came from the very good Cinema Therapy video about Kristoff from Frozen:

[therealbl0om-blog]

A DAY OFF

The Burn's Family and the Rescue Bots were on a mission observing the Mainland, Heatwave was the one who denied to go to the mission so he can keep the firehouse and the Griffin Rock secure. He should be fine due to the Griffin Rock knowing about the Bot's identities.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

In the morning... It was around 7 A.M. Heatwave woke up at 6 A.M., watching some TV as he didn't know what to do at the time. Suddenly, a soft rain was heard outside, including a little bit of thunder in the background, it caused the scenery to be a lot more relaxing for Heatwave.

"How perfect..." Heatwave spoke with a sigh, leaning against the soft couch.

As he watched the TV he suddenly heard a crash in the garage. "Huh?" He looked up toward the bot-elevator and decided to check it out.

He was ready for anything that was in the firehouse... As the elevator took him up to the garage he saw nothing, but a flipped over table with Graham's tool box on the ground. He groaned and walked over to it and picked it up.

"Okay, whoever is in here... Graham will be mad about his tools!" Heatwave shouted as he scanned the area, looking quite pissed as his relaxation was disturbed.

Another crash was heard again, but this time in the bunker. Oh for primus sake... He went back down the elevator and looked around, the TV was turned on... Heatwave swore that he had left that thing on. He walked near it and turned it back on. He saw a small flick of ginger hair on the ground, he crouched down and scanned it... That hair color looked similar... But there were other humans with ginger hair. It couldn't be him... He knows that he went with the others.

As Heatwave scanned the hair flick on the floor, another crash happened but it was right in front of him. Kade stumbled upon the chair and swore. "Kade! Watch your language!" Heatwave shouted as he saw Heatwave. "Wait, KADE!?" He stood there with shock in his optics.

"What in the name of Primes are you doing here!?" He lifted his servos in the air, growling... He thought Kade went with the others on the mission. Well apparently he was wrong.

"What in the name of God are YOU doing here? Aren't you with others?!" Kade shouted back at the fire bot.

"I told them I'm staying here to secure the firehouse and the island, now why are YOU doing here?! I better hear a valid excuse!" Heatwave shouted as he pointed down at Heatwave.

"I, uh, uhm?!" Kade tried his best to think of an excuse, course he is bad at making them anyway... "I just wanted to stay here too.... Uh... help you?.. Heh?" Kade chuckled with nervousness in his tone.

Heatwave face-palmed his face plate and growled. "You just stayed here because you were too lazy... Weren't you?" Heatwave scoffed and looked down.

"Okay, yeah..." Kade giggled softly and softly rubbed the left upper arm. "But hey! You at least got company, am I right? Hehe!?" Kade giggled as he made out a pose.

"Right..." Heatwave growled and turned around. "I'm going to stasis, don't do anything stupid around the firehouse!" Heatwave pointed his digit at him. "I ain't going to babysit you as I usually do on rescues."

"Pfft, whatever!" Kade lifted his hands in the air and walked away. Heatwave growled and went to the bunker where the stasis were located at.

It didn't pass long... about an hour or so. Heatwave woke up and stretched himself from the deep sleep. "Ah, now that's what I call relaxation!" Heatwave smiled and then looked around, it was quiet... Too quiet.

"He probably went to sleep as well, still raining... He shouldn't be outside should he?" Heatwave questioned himself and looked around the firehouse... Nothing changed, it was just quietness in the area... But then he heard noises up on the roof top.

"Of course he's still awake..." Heatwave growled and face-palmed himself. He went up to the roof top by using Blades' elevator and decided to check what was going on.

When he arrived at the roof top it was... nothing. Just the wind hitting against a metal. He growled. "... Paranoid me..." He walked over to the metal object and placed it straight on the ground so it doesn't make any noise from the wind.

"Prime.. this storm is getting kind of harsh. Hopefully there aren't any lightnings or thunder near us." Heatwave scanned the storm, it was going to be quite the one... He went back inside the firehouse and saw Kade sitting on the couch, clearly in stress.

"What's got the tough man shaken up?" Heatwave chuckled at his own joke as he walked over, placing his left servo on his hip.

"Nothing, I'm just... not a fan of thunder..." Kade gulped and looked outside the window. Right... Kade was a bit tad scared of the thunder, nothing worse can happen, right?

"Oh, I'm surprised the brave little captain cuddles is strong. That he fears nothing!" Heatwave spoke in his sarcasm and giggled.

"SHUT UP!" Kade shouted at him. "Stop calling me that! And you clearly DON'T understand what I'm trying to imply here!"

"Wow look at that! Someone is trying to stand up for themselves huh?" Heatwave shrugged and crouched down to Kade's face level. "I'm surprised you didn't come to me first and begged me for comfort."

"Don't you fucking dare..." Kade growled as he stared down at Heatwave.

"Would I now? Whenever you need me, you always come crying to me! Hailey that, that person that, work here! But when I need you, oh your face just vanishes off of the face of this meatball of a planet!"

"That is not true-" Kade tried to speak up, but he was clearly interrupted by Heatwave.

"I'm not done, knucklehead. Others keep on questioning me on why don't we talk? Maybe because the little Kade doesn't want to, nor does he care. All he wants is just the help from me! Or, wait, I'm lying to myself. All that he wants is me to do everything for him! And what does he do to me? Absolutely NOTHING!" Heatwave shouted at the end of the sentence, staring down at Kade.

"Can you let me talk?!" Kade growled at him as Heatwave just kept on complimanting.

"No, because all that I would hear is you keep saying no that's not true, when it clearly is!" Heatwave then crouched down and used his ring finger and thumb to hold Kade's chin up and face him directly. "Maybe stop talking to me and think of your selfishness and jerk-ness and try to act like a real partner for once." He let go of his chin and walked out of the room.

Kade stood there in silence... That completely hit him. But what Heatwave said, wasn't 100% true... Kade just didn't know how to explain it, nor would Heatwave let him try.

Kade growled. "FINE! I don't need your help, nor did I even need it!" Kade shouted loudly so Heatwave could hear him and went back to his room.

Heatwave was now in the garage, watching through the window as the storm was really coming down. "Finally... Some peace and quiet from him. I'm so glad I'll manage to find someone else..." Heatwave sighed and transformed into his alt, maybe a quick nap wouldn't be a problem...

Hours later, it was around 6 P.M. Heatwave was wide awake and quite confused. "This is getting quiet, too quiet." Heatwave looked around the firehouse and didn't see Kade anywhere. "Oh I'm sure he is fine! Not like I care anyway..."

It had been the next day... Ever since the argument Kade and Heatwave haven't spoken. In fact, Heatwave hasn't seen Kade the whole day... It's now 3 P.M... Still raining as usual.

Heatwave was watching TV, quite peaceful at the moment but nothing was seeming to happen. He looked down at the empty couch beside him and sighed. He started to massage his side face's and growling.

"You don't care about him... You don't care about him... You finally have peace... He isn't annoying you... Get it together Heatwave-"

"Hey, Kade?!" Heatwave knocked all of a sudden on the door. Well that was a sudden change of behavior. "Come on, I haven't seen you the whole day after the argument. I'm quite worried and that is a surprise so you better take that as a compliment!"

"Kade come on man, please tell me you didn't take that stuff seriously, right!? Even if they're true??" Heatwave kept knocking on the door but there was no answer.

"Fine! Be a drama queen, if you need me, DON'T look for me!" Heatwave walked away from the door all grumpy and pissed...

Kade was inside his room, completely locked. He did hear Heatwave loud and clear, and he did take all that stuff seriously because he knows that Heatwave didn't joke about it. He sighed and kept laying in bed as he was completely covered under the blanket.

As it was raining softly outside, Kade looked up at the picture frame on his nightstand of him and Heatwave the first time they met... They didn't look so happy... But they still had the nerves to take a picture together. Kade stared down at it and growled, he tightened his fists and threw the picture near the door as the glass of it smashed into pieces and fell on the ground, with the wooden frame cracked and broken as well.

Later Heatwave was cleaning around the firehouse to at least dust it and have it clean before the others come. Sure, there's still a week and a half till they come back... But he was bored. "I have to do everything around the house while I'm with that lazy ass..." Heatwave growled to himself and sighed.

He placed the broom back where it was and placed his servos on his hips. "Looking fresh!" Heatwave spoke as he sniffed something. "Ugh, what in the name of Primus is that smell...?" Heatwave covered his nose and walked over to the trash. "Disgusting..." He picked up the bag and threw it out in the container.

"Much better." He smiled softly and looked around the clean firehouse. "Time to rest... Hopefully Kade later comes down and finally sees the work that I done, I deserve a break from him and this damn job!" Heatwave growled to himself and sighed.

He went near the elevator and transformed, taking a quick nap while in his alt form. His engine making soft snores. Suddenly he was awoken by a sudden smash. "The hell?" He transformed and looked around... "It sounded like it came from... Kade's room?" He titled his head and turned himself to a smaller size and went up to Kade's room.

"Okay, this is the last straw! Open the goddamn door!" Heatwave banged on the door and tried to get his attention. "That's it." He busted through the door and shoved it open. He saw Kade on the bed completely covered under the blankets. He growled and clenched his servos.

"Oh, wait till I get you-" Heatwave paused as he felt something underneath his feet. He lifted his left right foot up and saw a picture frame. "... What the fuck?" He crouched down and saw the glass around it and the broken picture frame, the picture rotated.

"Kade do you not know how to keep your room dust-" He was interrupted when Heatwave lifted the picture. He paused and looked at it with a clear sight. It was him and Kade together when they first met. Oh they didn't look so happy. He frowned and looked up at Heatwave.

"Kade?..." Heatwave's voice softened.. That was new. He walked over and placed his servo on Kade's shoulder. "Hey, uh... I'm uh..." He didn't really know how to properly apologize to Kade, since it is a rare sight for him to apologize to Kade anyway.

"I'm sorry..." He frowned and looked at Kade with a concerned face. He slowly turned Kade over to see him directly in the face... His face was shocked.

"K-Kade?!" Heatwave winced with concern. "Oh, primus, oh the primes.." Kade looked malnourished and unwell... He frowned and took out an emergency hunger box. He fed Kade a small soft sandwich and gave him water.

"It's going to be alright, oh, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that..." Heatwave spoke with guilt in his tone. He laid down beside Kade and wrapped his hands around him. "It's going to be alright, bud..."

"Heatwave...?" Kade spoke with softness and exhaustion as he looked at Heatwave. "You're... you're here?..."

Heatwave nodded softly and rubbed the back of his scalp. "Yes, of course I am you jerk... What the hell happened to you?.."

"... I'm sorry I-I just couldn't stop thinking about that argument we had..." Kade let out a soft sniffle as he spoke, looking away.

"Kade, you seriously took the whole argument for real?! I wasn't being serious!" Heatwave shouted, but with a soft tone.

"You did take it serious. You never let me explain, it's not my fault that I don't talk to you! I just don't know how to properly communicate with you, without making you pissed or annoyed! Each time we talk, your ass is mad!"

"Kade-" Heatwave tried to speak.

"No, you hear me out this time! Each time I try to talk with you, your smile just fades away, which makes me so damn insecure! Like, did I say something wrong?! What did I do? I just want to talk, not make him angry! Others keep on neglecting me that I don't care about you!" Tears started to stream down Kade's face. "BUT I DO! I care about you more than anything! More than myself, I just don't know how to show it properly! I'm scared that I'll do something wrong! Again! I don't want to act like a softie in front of others!"

"Kade..." Heatwave spoke as he lifted his chin up. "I'm sorry that i misunderstood you..., but you don't have to cry about it." He slowly wiped the tears off of Kade's cheeks. "I know I may not be the best bot to talk to, but you can always come to me if something bothers you..." He smiled softly.

He laid down on the bed and opened his arms. "Come here..." Heatwave spoke, smiling softly.

Kade resisted... But then he laid down on Heatwave's chest and let Heatwave embrace him. He had to admit. He loved the warmth from Heatwave's embrace. And listening to his spark beat was also comforting. He buried his face underneath Heatwave's chin and closed his eyes.

"There we go..." Heatwave smiled softly as he massaged Kade's head, while with the other hand, he massaged Kade's back. He started to rock him softly left and right as he hummed. "Can't believe I'm doing this, but... I love this..." He smiled and scratched Kade's head while humming.

Heatwave stayed awake the night and listened to the rain outside while humming and rocking Kade. It felt odd to do so... But it just felt right... He wiped the remaining tears off of Kade's cheeks and even planted a kiss on the forehead.

"My little human..." Heatwave whispered with a soft tone and continued to hum. He secretly enjoyed this... But if others found out about this, he'd deny it. He closed his optics and continued doing his thing as he let Kade sleep...

"Don't worry, Kade, I could never replace you... It may seem that I don't care about you.. but oh oh ho, no one can replace you, buddy. I care about you more than anything. I may not show it, but I'll always be there for you, no matter the cause... No partner will replace you. You're beyond perfect for me..." Heatwave smiled and kissed his cheek.

"I love you, Kade..."

[cybertron-after-dark]

Blades would get along so well with (idw) Thundercracker,,, movie nerdsss

Heatwave is not beating the gay for kade caring about others allegations. "Are you certain this wont hurt him" its been established doc. Greene has used the nightmare-thingy machine on himself, i'm pretty sure its safe but the concern is adorable

They are writing the single most trope heavy, shameless romcom in Earth's history together, John Hasbro told me himself in a dream 💖

As for heatwave, Mans is PROTECTIVE over his fuckign BOYFRIEND.

[seersnake]

A Bird Amongst Griffins

Here's part 2 for you guys, hope you enjoy it as well. Again, I do not yet have a beta reader for things like Grammer so if you see anything, I apologize in advance.

The storm the night before had been a really bad one. The entire Rescue Team had spent all day bouncing from area to area, trying to clean up the damage. From a knocked over tree in the school yard, to roads covered in too much mud to drive through, to downed electrical wires, and everything between and beyond. Chief Burns pinched his brow, trying hard to will away the headache he was getting. He didn’t know if it was exhaustion from being constantly on rescues for the past seven hours or if it was that he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in that time, too busy to even stop at a store for something.

Chase turned on his internal screen, keeping his voice low as he questions, “are you becoming ill Chief Burns? If you are, we can go back to the Fire House and get you some Soup. Dani says that soup is very good when one is sick.”

With a sigh, Charlie removed his hand from his face. He manages to force a small smile while closing his eyes to block out the light, “I'm fine Chase, I'm just not a spring chick anymore is all.”

“Whoever called you a coward is severely mistaken Chief Burns.” Came the immediate reply from the agitated police cruiser.

Before Charlie could ask Chase what he meant by that, the radio crackled to life, drawing both their attention. It was Graham’s voice that came through the line, sounding just as tired as Chief felt, “we’ve got a Big emergency near the North Cliffs. Mr. Bunty said he was out on a walk with his Lobster and saw a boat washed up on the shore. He said he didn’t go near it but it looked like there was a body on the beach.”

Now that sends alarm bells through everyone’s heads. There’s a chance someone needed serious medical help on the beach. Chief opened up the radio, cutting the worried chatter from his other three kids, “understood. Everyone, head for the North Shore. Dani, Blades, be ready to airlift any injured people to the hospital.” When he gets an affirmative from all of his children, including Cody who has been flying with Dani and Blades for the past two hours, he relaxes just a bit. Everything was going to be fine. Chief Burns couldn’t help but sigh in worry anyways over what they may find.

Dani, Blades, and Cody got to the beach first, finding the wreck after only a few minutes. Dani radios in, “we see the boat, I don’t recognize it though. I think I see a body near it, but there’s nowhere around here we can land. I’m heading to the East side of the beach to find a place to land.” The trio fly back towards where they had come from, landing just as the other members of the rescue team arrived.

All four bots quickly transformed and Cody pointed to where the wreck was, “it’s up that way and it looks pretty bad. The whole ship’s on the beach and it’s in a ton of pieces!”

With a nod, they all hurried in the direction of the wreck, calling out for anyone who may have been a part of it that could hear them that help was on the way. It took the Rescue Team nearly ten minutes to get to the wreck so they could inspect it, and it was bad. The entire ship had been broken in two, there was wood and metal scraps from the broken ship all over the beach, as well as broken glass, soaking wet books, and a completely shattered laptop. There were tons of pieces of electronics that were scattered across the beach, nearly to the tree line, that were unsalvageable due to a mixture of water damage and impact damage. Though, despite having seen it less than 15 minutes before, the body on the beach was gone.

Blades scratched his head and motioned to where the steering wheel of the boat lay on the sand, “it was right here, I swear! They were wearing dark clothing, a big dark cape, and they were really pale! You saw it, right Dani??” The pilot could only nod confirming, “yeah, it was just here. Where did they even go, and why did they go? They would have been able to hear us yelling about help being on the way!”

Her elder brother shakes his head at his sister’s seeming naivety, “Sis. What if that’s why they ran? Who knows who that person was or what they’ve done! They could be a criminal on the run and our yelling scared them off and now they’re just on the island somewhere!” Though jumping to conclusions like this made Kade’s gut twist in an unpleasant way, the possibility of someone dangerous being on the island was too great a risk to ignore. Especially if it was someone who could endanger his family.

Dani shook her head as she shot his idea down, “Kade, whoever they are, they’re likely hurt and in pain. They could have a head injury that makes them unable to understand us, or for all we know, they might not even speak English. It’s likely they heard us yelling and saw the Bots before we could see them and they panicked and ran. I mean, most humans would be pretty scared of robots their size if they’ve never met them before.”

It was a good point, especially with all the stories from the mainland about people like Lex Luthor and Doctor Silvana using giant robots to attack towns and cities. Who knows what this person could have lived through or even just heard of before crashing on the island.

As the rest of them bickered about what could have happened to the stranger and why they would run away, Cody noticed drops of blood leading away from the puddle soaked into the sand. He glanced in the direction they headed, up towards the woods, before turning his eyes back to the trail and following after it. The indents in the sand made it look like whoever was there was stumbling, lending more evidence to them being seriously wounded.

Graham noticed his younger brother heading away towards the woods and called out worriedly, “Cody! Where are you going? Now isn’t the time for exploring.”

The blond simply pointed to the ground in front of him, “there’s more blood over here. I think whoever it was headed into the woods up there.” With that, the boy didn’t wait for his family to catch up, simply following after the drops on the ground.

When they catch up to him, Chief grabs his youngest son's shoulder before he can go into the tree line, pulling him back, “no way kiddo, we don't know if this person is hostile or not. Kade, Heatwave, head into the forest and see if you can track them down. The rest of you, head back to the wreck and see if you can find anything that could give us ideas as to who our mysterious guest is.” he patted his eldest on the shoulder with a small nod before heading back for the wreck.

Heatwave grumbled as he began trying to squeeze himself between the tightly packed trees of the forest without knocking any over, Kade not even bothering to hide his laughter as his partner managed to get himself stuck within minutes.

[icantthink-ofagoodname]

Whaaaat i dont project onto characters i would neeeeeever! *Runs quickly to hide this*

[chayscribbles]

Perhaps it was because the bombed-out Kandesa had become sterile and was devoid of plants, or perhaps it was because no one really came down there unless it was their turn to water, but Leo quickly discovered Zeya really liked the green room. She'd once found Zeya sitting in one of the large, empty flower pots, turning over a freshly plucked leaf between her fingers. There was a brief moment before Zeya realized she was no longer alone where her eyes were wide and curious, her face filled with wonder as she admired the plant. The look had vanished and was replaced by Zeya’s usual scowl as soon as she registered Leo’s presence, but Leo often caught herself wishing to see Zeya glow like that again.

Leo pining? it's more likely than you think

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[whatwooshkai]

ooh 14, 14!

Blades is still talking about his boyfriend or something with Dani when Heatwave and Kade finally return, the latter being held up by the scruff of his shirt in the former's hand.

"Found him," Heatwave announces, giving Kade a little shake despite the human's loud protests.

"Oh, put him down," Dani lightly chastises, crossing her legs from where she's perched on Blades' shoulder. "He's not a kitten."

"I can't put him down," Heatwave snaps, seeing a little vision of Kade run away again in the corner of his vision. Wow, thanks. There's absolutely no way I saw that coming again. "He keeps running away like a sparkling!"

"Some of us aren't thirty feet tall, you know-" Kade starts to argue.

“Forty,” Heatwave corrects automatically.

Kade blinks, before shaking his head and recovering. “Fine. Some of us aren't forty feet tall-“

“You are not,” Blades interrupts, putting his servos on his hips. “Are you kidding me? Boulder is 40 feet, and they’ve got a whole head on you!”

Whatever rebuttal Heatwave might’ve responded with is drowned out by Kade’s screeching laughter.

Heatwave's shoulders rise to his audials, but another vision in the corners of his optics warns him against throwing Kade as far as he possibly can into the forest.

"Catch," he snarls at Blades, tossing Kade at him instead. Blades scrambles to grab him before he hits the ground. Heatwave's turned around already, but the little beat of relief in Blades' field is proof Kade isn't dead.

He's still laughing, though.

[kyofsonder]

Brain in Daylight Hours: There is no mental or emotional space for writing. There are no new ideas, and no structure for old ideas.

Brain after Dark: Here's 38 new ideas, 3/4 of a structure, official permission to write, and -- oh. The only place to write in the dark is your phone? ... Never mind.

[petalouda85]

Birth

Fandom: Blades of Light and Shadow 2

Pairings: Tyril x f!human!MC (Kassandra)

Word count: 1.4k

Concept: Kade, Imtura, and Mal wait for news of the newest member of their family

Tags: @liviusofpella, @megas-choices, @starlight-starfury, @dutifullynuttywitch, @thosehallowedhalls @choicesficwriterscreations

AO3 link: x

A/N: Finally. The fic I’ve wanted to post for a very long time. I can finally reveal the name for Baby Starfury 🥰 after the emotional rollercoaster of Forever (in my Mind), you guys deserve a fluffy treat. Enjoy.

Reading had always been easy for Kade. Almost as easy as breathing. He could grab any tome and easily be lost in the words, his mind taken to places far away and times long gone, it all brought to life with his imagination. Tonight, however, it was hard to concentrate as his mind constantly drifted towards the cabin near to where he sat, his stomach twisting with the knowledge of what was happening inside. He tried to listen for any noise coming from the home, despite knowing it was pointless; Nia and Tyril had made sure of that.

Unable to focus on his book, Kade looked towards the other two that kept him quiet company in the homestead. Mal practiced a few quick movements with his dagger, stabbing into an imaginary foe, while Imtura stood off to the side, aiming and hurling her axes into a nearby tree, the bark splitting more each time. Boredom could rationalize their weapon practice, but Kade knew better.

A few weeks prior, when everyone had finally arrived in Riverbend, the villagers warned them of a group of elves that had recently traveled through. While no direct questions were asked, their apparent interest in the “Hero of Morella” had set off alarm bells in everyone and precautions were taken.

When Kassandra went into labor, Nia and Tyril had cast a spell over the clearing, masking the homestead, and then a silencing spell over the cabin. Once the door shut behind them, Mal and Imtura had pulled their weapons closer, ready to be grabbed at the first sign of trouble. Several hours had passed since then, the high afternoon sun now replaced by a bright moon; Kade reckoned it was past midnight already.

He snapped his book shut and leaned forward with a great sigh, rubbing his eyes and face trying to relieve the tension and growing exhaustion.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be an uncle.” He said softly. He must’ve been louder than he thought because in a split second, Mal stood before him.

“You and me both, buddy.” The rogue said, sitting down next to him. “It’s happening and I still have trouble wrapping my head around it. Elf boy and kit are going to be parents. Who would’ve thought the wet blanket and the life of the party would ever reach this point.”

“It is hard to wrap your head around it all.” Kade said. “For so long, it was just me and my sister. Now she’s having a baby.” He let out a weak chuckle. “It’s stupid to think so but, part of me is scared that she’ll forget me; a child takes priority after all.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Imtura said, pulling her axe from the tree before joining the two men. “I’ve travelled with Kassandra long enough to know that she’d never forget you or any of us. We’re all her family and nothing’s gonna change that, not even a new tiny landrat.”

“Would be nice if the little tyke made headway.” Mal said, letting out a loud yawn. “All this doing nothing is making me tired.” His yawn was replaced with a yelp when Imtura slapped him across his head. “Hey!”

“You can’t rush these things.” She scolded. “The tyke gets here when they get here. And that could be in the next 5 minutes or in the next few hours. Hells, little guy could already be here and Kassandra’s just not up for visitors right now. We just got to wait.”

“I know, I know! Doesn’t mean I can’t complain about the waiting. It’s not like we got a lot to do besides that and there’s only so many fake guys I can stab.”

“I’d offer a book, but I get the sense neither of you are readers, even when faced with endless boredom.” All three laughed.

“We’ll leave the reading to you, kid.” Mal stood up from the bench and pulled forth a deck of cards from his pocket. “Up for a game?” He asked the orc, who smiled.

“Always. Be ready to lose.” The two found a patch of grass to sit on and began their game. Kade watched them half-heartedly for a moment before opening his book once more, trying his best not to nod off.

He shut his eyes briefly and when he opened them next, his face was glued against the cover of the book and his back was stiff from the hard bench. With a groan, he sat up, a thin blanket falling off him. Looking around him, he found Imtura and Mal also asleep in the grass, their card game replaced by a now extinguished fire, and the birds singing their morning song as the sun’s beams began to peak through the trees. He stretched his back and checked the state of the cabin, finding the spell still on it, before moving towards his slumbering companions.

“Rise and shine.” Kade said as Mal woke up.

“Morning already? Nothing yet?”

“Nothing yet.” Kade moved to wake Imtura next. Soon, the three sat down for a silent breakfast, ready for the prospect of another day of waiting. After their quick meal, Kade returned to the bench and grabbed his book, ready to try reading it yet again, when a magical hum came from the cabin. He immediately abandoned the tome, jumping to his feet when some low noises could be heard from inside. The door clicked open, and everyone ran to it as Nia appeared in the frame, looking frazzled and tired. Despite her weary state, the priestess was smiling.

“Everything’s fine.” She quickly said, seeing the worry on their faces. “Mom and baby are doing fine. They were born just after midnight. They’re all cleaned up and have already been resting for some time.”

“Midnight? But-“ Mal began to protest but Imtura gave him another slap. The priestess fought down a snicker at his incredulous look before she opened the door a bit wider.

“You can come in but only for a little while; Kassandra’s still very tired.”

Kade ran in first, finding Aderyn preparing some food in the kitchen. He quickly sent her a grateful smile before dashing towards the bedroom, the others on his heels. The moment he stepped into the entrance way, he froze.

Mal unceremoniously bumped into him, but any complaint was quickly gone when the three heard the soft gurgling noises coming from the little bundle resting in Kassandra’s arms.

She was lying in bed, looking exhausted and worn out. Tyril, seated in a chair next to the bed, appeared exhausted as well but both were staring down at the bundle with immeasurable love and affection in their eyes. The two looked up as the visitors slowly entered the room.

“Hi.” Kassandra said, her eyes brimming with tears, before looking down at her child. “Look who’s here.”

Kade stood frozen in place for a moment, alternating his gaze between his sister and the child in her arms, before rushing to the bed and embracing her tightly, tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m so proud of you.” He whispered to her. He continued holding her, hearing her sniffle before she returned the embrace

“Thank you.” He gave her a kiss on her cheek before pulling away. He then quickly turned towards Tyril and embraced him too; it took the elf a moment to return the gesture.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Kade pulled away and sat down on the bed, watching the child with pride swelling in his chest.

“Do you want to hold them?” Kassandra asked after a while.

“Yes.”

Gently, she passed the bundle to him, the man gawking down at the baby nestled in the blanket their mother had made for them. They were beautiful, dark-skinned and a barely visible black fuzz on their head. They looked almost entirely human, if not for their ears. Granted, they were shorter than the standard elven ears but there was no denying the point at the end of them.

“Hi.” Kade said softly and in disbelief. He took their little hand, the tiny digits not even wrapping entirely around his thumb. “I’m your uncle.” He turned to look at Mal, Imtura and Nia; none had a dry eye. “And your other uncle and aunts are here too.” He looked back to the new parents, who beamed with pride as they held each other’s hand. “What’s their name?”

Tyril looked to Kassandra, who nodded.

“Everyone,” Tyril began with a proud smile, “meet our daughter, Kaya.”

[lovinglonerhybrid]

Chapter three is up:

Tw for mentions of hard drug use and bots being forced into bad situations.

Hope you enjoy!

[archester-creations]

Rated: G

Pairing: Heatwave/Kade Burns

Word Count: ~3k

A/N: Day five of @heartsandsparksshipweek fairy tale; dragon shapeshifter Heatwave, (very) loosely inspired by the prince in the dragon's skin

The second Kade is home, he’s punching Huxley for putting them through this. It was one thing to cause normal problems. Sure, the occasional fake call or even the stupid ‘I dare me’ series was annoying. But at least those didn’t end with a griffin– because Cody was somehow right and those things really did exist– kidnapping his little brother for its nest. And because this was the way their day went, it led to them listening to Mrs. Neederlander to try and find a dragon because apparently they were a griffin’s ‘natural enemy’. A dragon! On one of the four islands that surrounded Griffin Rock. Sure, why not. At this point Kade could scream.

He pushed through underbrush, already deep in the forest on the island he ended up on. The four of them split up among the islands so they could find the possible dragon– if Mrs. Neederlander wasn’t full of shit– faster. Personally, Kade didn’t think he’d find anything here. The birds sang like usual and none of the trees were knocked down or missing any branches like he’d expect them to be with a dragon around. If not for Cody he’d turn around right now. But until anyone else in his family com’d that they found the dragon, he’d search. And search.

And search.

The sun was much lower in the sky now then when he started. Kade sighed. Much longer and he won't be able to see much, depending on how bright the moon shone through the canopy. His comm crackled to life as if on cue. It made him stop dead, branch half pushed out of the way.

"Hey, I want everybody to start heading back now," Dad said through it.

"What? No," Graham;

"We can keep searching," Dani;

"Dad come on," And Kade all protested at the same time.

"No," Dad said. "It'll be dark soon and all of you know we won't be any good to Cody if we can't see. We'll pick up the search first thing in the morning."

"But Dad," Graham tried again, with Dani throwing in a "I can see fine with the helicopter!"

"No, Dani. You know that’s not true.” Dad sighed over the comm. If he's really with a griffin, according to Mrs. Neederlander he'll be fine for the night."

"Are we really going to trust her?" Kade asked.

"Kade," Dad said.

"I agree with Kade on this one," Dani said. "It's one thing for griffins to be real, but a dragon? And why would Mrs. Neederlander know about it?”

"Mrs. Neederlander does know about a lot of weird stuff for whatever reason," Graham said.

"She's like you, except not a nerd," Kade said.

"Hey!"

"Meet back at Doc's floating lab, we'll continue the search in the morning," Dad said pointedly and no one protested this time. Maybe he could search a little further, but he didn't want to get stuck in the dark. Whatever, they could find the dragon tomorrow. They had time.

If Mrs. Neederlander was right.

Kade bit his lip. Maybe just a little further. He trekked deeper for several minutes, still without finding anything, until the woods started to darken with the first real touches of twilight. Best to turn back.

A bush near him rustled as he turned. He paused to watch it for a moment. There were wild animals out here, so he wanted to be careful. It rustled again, near the bottom, and Kade rolled his eyes. It was probably just a rabbit. The bush continued to rustle– getting more frantic– before it stopped suddenly when Kade took a step and broke a dry branch. The branch crunched oddly loud in thr forest.

A bear broke out of the bushes and Kade screamed. "Oh god, that's not a rabbit." Somewhere high. He had to get somewhere high. But he really didn't want to turn his back on the bear to climb a tree. Instead, Kade stood half frozen there in front of the bear, like he had never done in any other emergency before. But a fire with tools to stop it and family he trusts is very different from a wild animal in the middle of the woods with no one else around. More rustling came from behind him. He only got the confidence to turn and look when whatever appeared behind him roared. And the bear whimpered and ran. Or maybe 'confidence' was the wrong word and he simply wanted to know what would get him instead. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw two rows of sharp teeth. Until he registered the long red hair, freckles, and deep laugh. It wasn't another animal, but a very tall man.

"Sorry I scared you," the strange man said, though he didn't look sorry. Orange eyes sparkled at him over a sharp smile.

"You didn't scare me," Kade scoffed.

"Sure I didn't," the man said. "So what're you doing out here?"

"None of your business."

"This is my property."

"No one lives here."

"Someone clearly does. Me," the man said. He crossed his arms over his chest. "So what are you doing out here, in the woods, so close to night."

"Just leaving," Kade said.

"Then I'll go with you," the man said. The toothy grin was back. It was too sharp, just on the edges of uncomfortable and uncanny. "I wouldn't want you to get attacked by any more bears."

Kade swallowed down what fight was in himself. He also didn't want himself to be attacked by any more bears. But he also didn't want this man to think he was just okay with this, so he simply walked away, back out toward the shore. No sound followed him, but the stranger was there when he glanced back. Was there every time he glanced back. Maybe he'd get Graham or Dani to trade him for their island, so he wouldn't have to deal with this stranger again tomorrow.

"Would you get off my back?" Kade snapped the fifth time he spotted the man.

The man shrugged. "You know, if you told me what you were looking for I could probably help you find it."

"Why would you?" Kade grumbled as he walked.

"Not that I'm looking for something or anything," Kade added.

"Because if you don't find it, you come back. If you do, I don't have to deal with you on my island again," the man said.

Kade stopped walking to look back at him. The man's arms were still crossed over his chest. This time, Kade registered that the man was shirtless. Also shoeless. The only piece of clothing he wore were white pants that didn't look like any pants he knew, though he didn't really pay attention to that kind of stuff. "And you think you can find it?"

"Yeah," the man said.

Kade scoffed. "Good luck finding a dragon."

"A dragon, huh?" The man said.

"It's nothing but a wild goose chase, some fantasy cooked up by a crazy old lady, meanwhile Cody is in real danger-" Kade trailed off the rant, because the man- The man-

The man transformed– because that was the only word for it–, limbs suddenly longer, body and head bigger, wings sprouting from his back, all in a matter of seconds. Where the man stood, a dragon now was. A large, red dragon. If he wanted to, he could probably pick Kade up with a single clawed hand. Or eat Kade in a single bite. He looked down at Kade with large orange eyes and sharp teeth that finally made sense. Kade bit off a scream; it came out as more of a high-pitched squeak. Apparently dragons could smirk. Because that is what the man-dragon did.

"You didn't scare me," Kade nonchalantly snapped.

"I didn't say I did," the man-dragon's voice rumbled, though his mouth didn't open. "So now what, tough guy?"

Kade straightened up. "Now you… come with me."

"Mmhmm. For this griffin of yours? Cody?" The man-dragon said.

"What do you know about the griffin?" Kade glared up at the man-dragon. He may be the scariest thing Kade has ever come across, but if he did anything to Cody- "Were you in on it somehow?!"

"Woah, calm down." The man-dragon held up a clawed hand. "I just overheard a part of your conversation. You mentioned finding a dragon for a griffin and just now you mentioned Cody, that's everything."

Kade took a breath through his nose, but the flare of worry didn't really go away. "A griffin's got my little brother, Cody."

"Ah."

"We were hoping to get a dragon to help us, so if you know any other, perhaps better dragons?"

The man-dragon blew frost at him. It crinkled against his hair and chilled his cheeks. Kade thought dragons only had smoke and fire. "None that I'm willing to foist you on."

"Hey, I'm a delight!" Kade said.

"I'm sure that's what everyone says," the man-dragon said with a sarcastic look Kade didn't know dragons could make. He was unwillingly learning a lot about dragons today, it seemed.

"So, do you want help or not?"

No, not from you, Kade desperately wanted to say. But he had Cody to think about. All alone in a griffin's nest, away on that island he'd talked about last year probably. He couldn't just leave Cody. It'd be a shitty thing for an older brother to do. And he just… really loves Cody, okay? "Yes," Kade grit out.

"Great." The man-dragon lowered himself again. "Now get on and hold tight. I won't catch you if you fall off, tough guy."

"What do you mean you wo- Woah!" Kade yelped and grabbed onto the man-dragon's neck as tight as he could; the second he’d sat, the man-dragon took to the air.

"I'd like to get this done before it gets too dark, I'm sure you understand," the man-dragon said. His tone made Kade's hackles rise. Though not quite in the bad way, like when bullies made fun of Graham or tried to pick on Dani back in their high school days. It was more like the competitiveness he felt when he played basketball with his family or when Dani and he raced to see who could perform a rescue faster. (Currently Graham held the unofficial Mister Pettipaws record, for getting him out of the tree in five seconds. Dani and him both agreed it was unofficial because Mister Pettipaws had jumped on Graham's face as soon as he was close enough, but they brought it up sometimes when they argued about who actually held the record.)

"Whatever, you lizard," Kade grumbled. He screamed and clutched what scales he could when the man-dragon tilted to the side. The laugh it garnered rumbled under him.

"Why are you helping me?" Kade asked, long enough into the flight that the stars are around them and his com is out of range of the others.

"It gets you off my island and it keeps you off my island," the man-dragon said. For some reason the idea that he wanted to stay alone on a remote island struck Kade wrong, but he's used to being around family all the time so who knew. Though of course sometimes it wouldn't be so bad… "We're here."

Kade looked carefully over the side. There was a dark blob in the distance, steadily becoming larger and clearer till he could make out the outline of trees and eventually of a beach. Once they are close enough, Kade can see the waves lapping softly at the shore and leaves made dark green by the night. The man-dragon remained airborne until they reached the base of a mountain.

Kade sighed loudly. "We have to climb?"

"Unless you want the griffin to spot us," the man– because he was a man again, transforming back in the seconds it took Kade to turn around after he slid down– said with a smile, arms crossed back over his chest.

Much as Kade complained, he didn't actually mind the hike all that much. His family always did hikes together, even before Graham and Dani and Cody were also adopted, so he was pretty accustomed to them. Though he would've preferred doing it during the day. It wasn't very safe for people to travel the forest at night, especially forests they didn't know, so any rare nighttime hikes were usually reserved for dumb teenage shenanigans or nighttime rescue training; both in a forest they could probably navigate blindfolded. Of course, if you knew one forest you knew them all, so Kade was pretty confident.

The forest isn’t silent or spaced out oddly like Kade expected it might be with a griffin living in it. If the man even brought him to the right island. None of them searched for Cody yet, though they knew the direction he went in was Wayward, the island from when he was trying to get his lad pioneer patch. If the man’s only motivation was for Kade to never return, dropping him on an island with no way back was a much easier solution than helping him save his baby brother. Though that didn’t really explain why the man stayed. Or why Kade got the serious feeling the man was going much slower than he could, just so Kade was able to follow. Maybe he really did want to help. Maybe the man-dragon-whatever was as much a rescuer as Kade’s family is. It didn’t really matter in the end, so long as Cody was saved.

The trail the man leads him through is mostly softer inclines. It’s a hiking trail without the actual trail. Kade might even say it reminded him of the trail up Mt. Griffin back home. Just, with more trees. A lot more trees.

The longer they walk, the thicker the forest gets. And the thicker the forest gets, the quieter it becomes. Unlike the dragon’s island, it feels unnatural, like the forest was holding its breath. It makes an unsettled shiver run down Kade’s spine. He tripped on something– not a root, it was too hard and too jagged for that– and the man caught him by the collar so he didn’t fully fall. But there was a face whne he looked up that loomed over him. It was a bird, beak wide open. Kade screamed and shut his eyes. He only opened them when nothing happened after several seconds. Other than the man’s laughter.

“Shut up,” Kade grumbled. The man smiled at him. As the man’s laughter faded, Kade looked up at the ��griffin’ that simply surprised him. It was a statue acting as a silent guardian. Under it was a doorway to a long, stone corridor with nothing but vines acting as a roof. He took a step to go inside, but the hand that was apparently still on his collar stopped him.

“Vikings. It’s probably booby-trapped and besides, it’s not what we’re here for,” the man said. He let go of Kade and began to walk beside the long corridor. It seemed a hastle to continue through the thickening forest instead of going down the stone walkway, but Kade didn’t know where it led and somehow the man seemed to. He followed him.

“What is it, anyway?” Kade asked. The stone wall beside him seemed old. It was cracked in places and the vines crawled up it. Some of the cracks Kade saw, he only saw through gaps in the dark greenery.

“A temple,” the man said.

“To the griffins?” Kade asked.

“Yeah,” the man said with clear distaste.

“You don’t like them,” Kade said.

“No,” the man agreed.

Kade nodded. “After this introduction, I don’t think I like them either.” The man made an amused noise through his nose.

“Well that’s good.”

“You won’t see them,” the man said when they make it to the nest. It was a large thing, thick branches and leaves and things that glint like metal, all on top of stone. For a glorified birds nest, it was intimidating. On top of all of that, Kade can see Cody. But he can’t see any griffins, outside the eggs.

“What?” Kade asked.

“The griffins. They’re away from their nest, so they’re invisible. You won’t see them,” the man said. Kade refused to admit the thing he felt at that sentence was fear.

"Can you see them?" Kade asked.

"No, but I can smell them." The man said and smiled so Kade could see the twin rows of unnaturally sharp teeth.

“Great, so you get the griffins and I’ll get Cody,” Kade said and went to stand up before the man could protest. Without so much as a word, the man yanked him back down.

“Maybe wait till I’m actually fighting the griffins before you run off, hot shot,” the man said.

“Yeah, of course,” Kade said. He felt eager to get Cody out of there. The griffins weren’t right in the nest right now, and the eggs were still unhatched, but who knew for how much longer that would last? Kade could swear one of the eggs twitched. The man rolled his eyes.

“Stay here until you hear the griffin scream, then grab your brother,” the man said. He transformed again before Kade’s eyes, skin becoming scales and limbs and face elongating unnaturally in a matter of seconds before the man-dragon took off. For just a moment, Kade stared after him. Then the screams came. They were beastly things. Deep and grating like metal. One of Doc Greene’s machines sounded like that once, Kade was pretty sure, when it was still just a prototype. It’d almost destroyed a house before they stopped it.

Kade took off running.

Cody was right in the middle of the nest, eyes on the sky and the man-dragon. Whatever he was fighting was still invisible. It looked like a lone dance in the air. He twirled and his tail moved like a colour guard flag. Even if Kade couldn’t see it, it seemed like the man-dragon was doing fine fighting it. Probably.

“Kade!” Cody lit up when he saw him. “You’re here!”

“Of course,” Kade said. “You didn’t think I’d just let you be kidnapped by some mythical beast or something, did you?”

Cody smiled. “No.” The griffin howled again, and both of them looked up toward it. There was a flash of colour that spurted sort of like a firework. Kade is sure it was blood.

“Is that a dragon?” Cody asked, looking awestruck, mouth hung open in an excited smile.

“Yeah. According to Mrs. Neederlander, it’s the only thing that could help us get you back,” Kade said. “I found it of course, like the expert I am.” Cody gave him a doubtful look. “What, you don’t think I could?”

“Thank you, Kade,” Cody said instead of answering him, but since it was gratitude Kade decided to let it slide. He helped Cody out of the nest, catching him when he tripped over an egg and fully tumbled out. Together they ran back to where the man-dragon and he parted. Hopefully he noticed them run away. The man-dragon probably wouldn’t appreciate being left behind. Plus, he was their only way off this island and to the others. A great flapping of wings followed a few minutes later and Kade turned to see the man. Cody looked even more excited at the possibility that the dragon could transform. Kade could practically see the questions form in his eyes.

“So you’re gonna take us home, right?” Kade asked. Before the man could answer, Cody pipped up with his own question.

"Are you going to stay with us?" Cody looked brightly up at the man and Kade watched Heatwave's face go through several expressions he couldn't follow.

"Uh, sure, kid," the man said. "For a time." Kade snorted and the man narrowed his eyes at him. With as much sarcasm as he could (which was a lot), Kade shrugged. No one could deny Cody. He wondered how their dad and the others would respond to having an actual dragon at the house.

[gorefreaklintjrwi]

I get to do an assignment about meee yayyyyyy I get to introduce myself yayyy only problem is I don't knkw who i am and I treat this like an important business document or something

[rescue-dragons-au]

Trust With the Soul

[cybertron-after-dark]

Does Kade ever get tired of comphetting so hard all the time?

[three-of-crows]

(either Katya and Lann or Kadee and Katya!)

3) casually linking arms, holding-hands, sharing hugs that lasts a teensy tiny bit longer. AHHHHH

One million years later...

IT’S GIRLS TIME!

"Ok, everybody, let's do it from the beginning."

The weather around the Wound was as weird as the landscape and everything that lived there. But it didn’t mean the local Ulfen community would let the approaching equinox pass without a celebration. If the endless winter back in their motherland never stopped any of their ancestors, neither a Witch's trickery would do that.

The group of people was in the square of the citadel, laughing and talking to each other. There were not only the Irisseni folk, but Mendevian people as well, and even some mongrels joined the rehearsal.

Bjorn clapped two times, and everybody made a circle again. Kadira reached her hand for the girl by her side, but she refused politely, saying she was tired. Before the tiefling could say anything, a familiar light shone in her peripherical vision.

"May I join you?"

Ekaterina was there. Bjorn, the 'dance master', scoffed, "Look at who decided to leave the burrow".

"Can you love me less, dear brother?"

He gave a playful smile. "I just can’t. Ok, let's do it! One, two, three and..."

The people followed his instructions, though many of them already had understood the coreograph movements. Some still bumped at each other and giggled, but the circular dance kept going on.

Kadira was self-aware of her hooves all the time, but couldn’t help and stayed there. That dance reminded her of her grandparents and the small parties her family used to organize. And when Ekaterina appeared and asked for her hand — literally —, she felt more nervous e made her best to concentrate.

Though she was not free of mistakes as anybody, and bumped at the druid by accident.

"I'm sorry," that was her first reaction.

Ekaterina laughed. "You are ok. Phew... I lost the ability to do this."

"No, you are good at this," Kadira disagreed.

Two lines were formed and they had to leave each other's hands. Kadira felt slightly weird when the warm palm of the druid left her alone.

"Clap your hands, clap your hands!" Bjorn walked through the lines.

The lines mixed and Ekaterina and Kadira was apart. The tiefling craned her neck and spotted the woman smiling at her mother in the meantime.

Her heart got small.

The bards kept playing, and the dance kept its flow. It seemed a decade until the sequence of the circle was restored.

"I got you," Kadira said as her arm reached Katya's.

The redhead smiled. "Did you miss me? Because I did."

Kadira thanked the destiniy for her skin didn’t blush easily. Though her tail could be too much talkative, and she coiled it immediately.

"And we are done!" Bjorn cheered the people up. "Good job, everybody!"

Some were so relieved that they finally made it that started to hug each other. Kadira and Ekaterina stayed in the same place, with linked arms for a long time.

Annya approached behind them, passing her arms around their waists. "My beautiful girls."

Her gesture made them get closer. Pressed against Katya, Kadee closed her eyes, afraid that her expression could be as talkative as her tail.

But when she noticed, Annya has gone for a long time, and she simply was attached at the other.

"Shelyn, help me," pleaded quietly.

Though, deep down, she was not sure if she did need help.