#launching themselves at his legs and trying to tackle him successfully

[narwhalandchill]

while the scenarios are obviously sweet and all i have to say every single person whose conceptualization of ajax playing in the snow with his little siblings begins and ends at just this innocent happy fun time of snow castles sledding and ice fishing Clearly hasnt been hunted for sport by an older brother twice your size and five times stronger with the explicit intent of grabbing you by the coat and just fucking hurling your ass into the nearest (very thick and soft dw) snow pile the second your vigilance slips bc he thinks its funny. or watched your step non stop lest you get tripped face first into the snow when ur literally just making ur way to the store together. or been helplessly outmatched in both strength and accuracy for impromptu snowball fights (until obligatory avoid a Situation pity moment when he just stands there and lets you hit him point blank for righteous payback). wintertime is a sibling war zone and Mr childe ajax tartaglia is a menace dont get it twisted and somehow think these things arent also happening on the regular alongside the cutesy stuff actually. Please keep tonia anthon and teucer in your thoughts and prayers theyre 100% going Thru it every year

[dopescotlandwarrior]

A Hero Among Us-Chapter 10

Previous Chapters on AO3

Chapter Ten

Frank Randall senior finally looked up from his Saturday morning paper after ignoring the butler, tortuously bend forward, for the past five minutes. He took the mail from a silver plate and looked through it quickly. One letter was from California, St. Helena, which meant news of his deceased son or widow or their failed farm. His face pulled into a sneer involuntarily because he found the entire venture in very bad taste and destined to fail. He opened the letter quickly before his nosy wife asked who it was from. She was still quite unstable emotionally and any news of her poor son might send her back to bed for another three weeks. Frank senior opened the letter, read the short paragraph and quickly folded it back into the envelope and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Well, he thought, that is unexpected news.

“Sassenach, my dearest love, ye promised to meet with Ben and the men this morning to learn how to cut the vines.” He smiled at her face, so angelic, so buried in her hair. He pushed the hair away from her face and one eye opened then quickly closed.

“I beg to differ Jamie darling, I did not promise.” Her voice was groggy with sleep.

“Aye, that ye did, in front of the men, so ye must get up now and put yer riding clothes on.”

“You have to help me.”

“Just hearin ye say that makes me dangerous, so no, I canna.”

Claire pulled his hand under the covers making him launch off the bed. “Yer a wee vixen and I’ll no be seduced…until later.” With that, he grabbed her quilts and threw them off her naked body making her scream in protest and follow him around the room trying to get them back. Three laps around the room and she was awake glaring at him in a way he found adorable. “Don’t be late.”

Claire had not been awake at this time of the morning, ever. She made several attempts to stab her legs into her breeches and finally sat on the floor and slid them up. She tied her binding around her breast and missed one side completely, donning her shirt and boots she was finally ready. Her hair looked like it had not seen a comb in a month so she shoved it under her hat and walked to the stairs. She glared at the banister and decided she would sustain bodily injury, or fall asleep if she tried to slide down it so early. When the front door opened Jamie took three seconds to push her back into the house and fix her binding. While he worked on capturing the rogue breast, she fell asleep.

Ben had worked with Jamie, Rupert, and Angus the day before so they could take smaller groups of men into the vineyard and teach them how to cut the vines back. This annual task ranked in the top five in importance to the health of the grapevine. The men were focused and ready to learn. Claire was leaning against Jamie sound asleep. Ten men groups practiced cutting and hauling the vegetation away. By noon, even Claire had her first grapevine cut back like an expert. Jamie and two of the strongest Highlanders hauled the piles of vegetation to the back of the property to be burned, destroying the evidence of the healthy vines as soon as possible.

It was back-breaking work that continued for five days of cutting, and three weeks of burning the vegetation. Seventy percent of the vines are cut away leaving only the trunk and two arms for next year. Ben walked through the vineyard totally impressed with the commitment of Jamie’s men.

When this enormous task was completed, Jamie was tortured over which of the men he would keep on for the winter. He decided on ten men and would cut the others loose so they could make their way back to the city before the cold settled in. When he was stymied he would find his wife for a fun ride through the property. Sometimes Misses Crook packed them a lunch to eat by the lake and Jamie found great value in quiet moments to talk with Claire, plan their future, flirt, tease, and look for a private place to make love.

Rain would nourish the sleeping vines and drive everyone indoors for a day of rest, brawling, or exploring the flesh of the one you loved. Claire would take a quick bath on overcast mornings just in case the big black clouds decided to rip open and confine them to their rooms.

Claire loved the new swing so much Jamie built a slanted roof over it to shelter them from the rain. His clever design was removable in nice weather but during the winter rains, it was very handy and allowed them to stay outside. On one cold afternoon, they cuddled on the swing, bundled up in a blanket, and read their current book for hours. As the sun lost it’s fight against the storm clouds the day got too dark to read and Jamie pulled Claire down to lay next to him. They cuddled and kissed, giggled and pinched. When the heavy rain came Claire gripped his hair and panted into his ear, pressing her legs open as he laid his erection against her heat. She was doing her best to push his pants low enough to free his erection and he was watching the sky for a break in the rain to run to their rooms. Mother nature won and Jamie slid into her body with a grunt suggesting she keep as still as possible.

The water slid off the roof of the swing in a thick sheet and the lovers discovered a new level of eroticism when they forced themselves to hold very still and not make the obvious body movements that would reveal their secret. Jamie held Claire’s hips still and inched in and out of her pulling lusty moans from deep in her chest. He used his mouth on hers to seduce and then fuel the arousal that lasted all afternoon. The sunset left them in pitch dark and they were finally free to chase their release with complete abandon.

The weeks passed and Jamie tortured over releasing the men. He walked to the cabins and rang the bell pulling every man to attention around him. He looked from one face to the other and cleared his throat.

“I ask yer forgiveness for taking so long to let ye go for the winter. I hope yer able to find some work this late in the year. Personally, I hate to see ye go. Yer my brothers and it just feels like ye belong here. So, those of ye that can stay on without pay are welcome. We will feed ye and give ye a place to live but we can’t do much more than that. The holidays are comin and some of ye need to send money home to yer families. I will write ye a letter of introduction to take with ye, and hope we see ye next year for the crush. Ye will all be missed.

Jamie pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and told the men to call out their names if they were leavin. He anticipated writing letters the rest of the day and waited for the names. With his led poised above the paper the minutes passed and he finally lifted his eyes to look at the men. No one called out and after five minutes Jamie put the paperback in his pocket.

“Well, all right then. I’ve heard this land has deer and turkeys. Thanksgivin is next week and a passel of ladies will want to dance if we have a full table. Let us endeavor to impress them.”

The men erupted in laughter and joking, slapping Jamie on the back and shoulder as they moved out to scout the local fauna before starting the hunt. Rupert jogged toward the road to catch up with his friends when Claire called to him. She handed him a list of items to get in town and dazzled him with her smile. Ordinarily, Rupert would pull a sour mood to miss the scouting, but he would do anything for Claire, gladly.

Jamie was in a jovial mood now that the men were settled and staying. With little else to do, he grabbed Claire and pulled her, protesting, to the lake. She would learn to fish today, like it or not. It was part of his campaign to plug his wife into the everyday heartbeat of the property. Something she would never know staying in her rooms all day. Jamie set up two long narrow branches with string, hooks, and bait, cast the bait far out into the water and propped the branch up on a rock. Then he laid on his back and fell asleep. Claire was not happy being left alone with no one to talk to. She opened her book and saw one branch move a bit. Starting to read the branch jerked violently and she lunged for it before it was dragged into the lake by a fish on the hook.

“Oh! Oh! Jamie, you must get up and take this pole. Oh my God!” She did an impressive body dive toward the second pole that was bouncing violently. “Jesus, Jamie, what do I do! There are fish on the poles and they are monsters!” With a pole in each hand, she did her best to hang on as the fish fought for their lives and Claire made many noises that had never been uttered or heard in the history of mankind. One fish came jumping out of the water like it was trying to attack her and Jamie could no longer keep quiet. She dropped the pole and fish on Jamie and ran away dragging the second fish out of the water and bouncing behind her. She was scared shitless running away from the fish that chased her because she would not let go of the second pole. Jamie laughed so hard he fell in the sand trying to stop.

Jamie knew exactly where Claire was because she never stopped screaming. She came bursting out of the brush looking behind her at the bouncing fish with the pole gripped tightly in her hand and was successfully tackled by her laughing husband who pried her fingers from the pole and proclaimed her to be a master fisherman. The poor bouncing fish was rather torn up but added to the day’s catch anyway.

“Sassenach, do ye want to watch the poles?”

“I would rather not.”

“Alright, take this knife and the fish into the bushes and slide the knife straight down the line under the belly. Reach into the body and wrap yer fingers around the guts, pull straight down and then check the insides for any pieces that broke off.”

Claire launched at Jamie and almost threw the knife at him, then plopped down between the two poles and stared straight ahead across the water. By the end of the afternoon, they had twelve good sized fish to add to the dinner table. When the house was in view Claire ran straight through the front door and into the bathing room for a bath.

“Oh! Yer clothes smell worse than the dirtiest man I’ve ever met. What am I to do with them. Burn them, aye?”

“No Misses Crook, that is my only riding outfit. Just wash them twice and pray.”

Jamie and Misses Crook waited as long as possible for Claire to get out of the bathtub. Jamie finally cleared his plate before bringing her's to the bathroom.

He held fresh fried fish to her mouth and told her how brave she was. She swallowed the food and smiled as she ran the soap over her skin once more. Forkfuls of carrots, beans, fish, and cornbread were happily chewed as she washed. Jamie held her fingers up and declared her done wrapping a towel around her before Misses Crook came down with her robe. Jamie picked her up and carried her to their bed where he read to her until she chased her dreams.

Jamie was very pleased with his project to get Claire outside and active in the farm. When the image of her screaming while being chased by a bouncing fish came to mind he shook with laughter until he got out of bed to avoid waking her.

Rupert was back in town the next day to finish Claire’s shopping. He stopped for his annual haircut before the holidays and heard the scuttlebutt about the fancy lawyer that rode into town that day. Rupert listened with half an ear because he was looking for any of the lasses that came for their Fiesta. The barber slapped his shoulder to get his attention and pointed out the window as the dandy walked by.

Rupert looked at the man three times and rubbed his eyes before looking again. As he paid the barber he let out a loud NED! The newcomer stopped in his tracks and turned around, a smile breaking across his face when he saw Rupert.

“Well, what good fortune and quite a surprise to see a Highlander in this part of the world. What on earth has brought ye this far Rupert?”

The two men were clearly happy to see each other and talked for twenty minutes before Ned dropped his head and lowered his voice.

“The tenants of Lallybroch asked me to find any news of James Fraser. He came out west to find gold about three years ago and was never heard from again. I expect he ran into trouble and hope to give his sister the news of his fate if I can. Have ye heard anything about Jamie?”

“He’s no dead, if that’s what ye mean.”

The older man’s eyes grew large and he leaned into Rupert. “What have ye heard man?”

“Come see fer yerself Ned. I’ll be bringin the shopping back for his wife and he’s never too far from her.”

Ned’s smile was big and he beckoned Rupert to lead on. They talked animatedly on the way back to the vineyard. As they walked into the yard Ned pulled a paper from his pocket. It was a hand-sketched map with a large X on the property he now stood on. He wiped his brow as the front door opened and Claire ran out to relieve Rupert’s burden. She was introduced and curtsied bringing a fine blush to Ned’s face.

“How exciting, you know Jamie! He will be thrilled! Please come in Mister Gowan.” She spun in a swirl of skirts and led the men into the house.

Ned looked at Rupert with a bit of shock on his face, “she’s British.”

Rupert left Ned with Claire and went back to his chores while Claire pulled Ned into the dining room asking Misses Crook for a cool drink for all. She heard Jamie stamp his feet as he always does when he comes in from the barn. Claire disappeared to announce their company and she was back in her seat smiling in less than a minute.

Ned heard boot steps coming closer and felt his heart rate shoot up. Could that be Jamie, he wondered. It was his single wish in life. To see Jamie safe and fulfill his promise to his best friend, Brian Fraser. He watched the door as Jamie’s large frame filled it and piercing blue eyes looked at the second most admired man in Jamie’s life. He approached silently and held out his hand as Ned stood. They spoke volumes with their gaze and Jamie broke into a huge smile and hugged Ned right off of his feet.

Ned dropped into his chair laughing, red-faced, and shaky from finding Jamie alive. Jamie took a chair at the table and a conversation that would change all of their lives commenced.

Ned described his law practice in San Francisco, leaving out his reason for coming to America was to find Jamie. He also left out the reason for his visit to St. Helena and the client who sent him there. Little was said about how Jamie came to marry Claire or how they came to possess the vineyard and fine house.

Dinner was served as the conversation went on until both men felt completely caught up with the other. Misses Crook blushed a lot behind her napkin and did her best to serve and clear dishes with shaking hands. She knew she was in the presence of a great man and fancied his looks from the first minute. When there was a lull in the conversation Misses Crook blurted out that a rooster had gotten their chickens and now they had twenty layers to feed the men. Claire’s head shot sideways at her and she saw the flushed cheeks on the older woman. Okay, she thought, this just got interesting.

Jamie took Ned on a tour of the vineyard and those who knew Ned were able to exchange hello’s. Coming back toward the house Ned spotted the swing and asked if he could sit a minute and talk. What came next almost made Jamie vomit.

“Did Claire come to California with a man named Frank Randall? I believe he died in the first year, is that right? How did you come to marry her?”

Jamie knew their worst fear had come true and he struggled to breathe before he had a heart attack. He gave Ned the quick version of their marriage and life. He explained what a horrible man Frank was and how he left her destitute after spending her dowry on this land and vines.

“Why exactly are ye here Ned?”

“I’ve been hired by Frank Randall senior to investigate the value of this land and crop. Seems he was notified by a banker in town that there was a good harvest this year. This banker was a personal friend of Frank junior.”

“I can just imagine. Do ye have a name?”

“The damage is done, Jamie. Don’t complicate your life and Claire’s with a jail sentence. Leave the banker be and start making a plan. My loyalty is with you Jamie, as always. Whatever you tell me will not be shared and I will hold Randall off or shut his interest down completely. Tell me everything and we will figure it out.”

Jamie, Ned, and Claire talked into the night. Mostly answering the hundreds of questions Ned asked from Claire’s family and marriage to the value of the harvest and every detail in between. Claire caught Jamie staring at her and she nodded to him, knowing he wanted to tell Ned about the coming harvest.

“Ah, Ned, there’s somethin else about this vineyard I have to tell ye.” He described the blight ravaging the region and the immunity of their vines. Ned’s eyes got so wide that Claire giggled, breaking the tension so Ned could compose himself.

“Th..that is starkable, remarking, oh!… it is stunningly remarkable!”

They all laughed or tried to, and Jamie decided Ned was probably ready to pop from so much information. Jamie got Ned settled in a guest bedroom and they spoke quietly for a few minutes.

“The banker is an example of a loose end. Do the men know?”

“Aye, we had to tell them when the vines were bein stolen. They knew there was a secret reason I wanted them to defend the vines with their life. So, what is your gut tellin ye, Ned?”

Ned smiled at the reference to Brian and his favorite saying. “It’s time to move, of course.”

Jamie looked at Ned like he lost his mind.

“You need to scout the area and find a piece of property for sale, better than this one, or bigger, hell I don’t know. A property that won’t break yer heart to move onto.”

“Leave my vines? No.”

“We’re taking them with us, Jamie boy.”

Claire opened her eyes for a short second before slamming them shut. It was not nearly light enough in their room to suggest a decent time to rise. Turning on her side she burrowed under the blankets and went to war with her eyelids that would not stay closed. She felt her gut in turmoil, something invisible shaking her awake, a tapping shoe close buy.

“Jesus! Okay, I’m up.” As Claire looked around, seeing no one, she recalled the meeting the night before and the source of her anxiety was revealed. She jumped out of bed and ran for her riding clothes. London knew their secret, sent a lawyer to gather facts, they would send another if Ned failed them. They were coming.

Claire flew down the stairs looking for Jamie and jumped out of her skin when he came up behind her.

“I was comin to get ye, lass. We have work to do.”

The horses were tacked up and ready for a brisk morning ride, the first in their search for a new property. Jamie told her just enough so she would know what to look for. They rode all morning taking notes on properties they liked. Jamie had read Frank’s journals so many times it seemed like Frank himself was behind him telling him what to look for.

They insisted Ned stay with them and he began the first draft of the report to London. Each day Jamie and Claire went out scouting for land. There was so much of it they could not tell where boundaries were and made little progress. Hiring a real estate agent would tip their hand so they continued searching with the precious time they had left.

“Eat ye porridge and shut ye pie hole. Obviously, somethin has happened and the boss and lady are not themselves. They will tell us when the time is right and it's not yet so I propose we organize into a night watch. I want to know who might be watchin us, or the vines, and why. After my morning piss, I’ll be in front of my cabin. Those interested, meet me there.” Rupert walked away toward the outhouse. When he came around the corner of his cabin twenty minutes later he almost fell over the men in front of his cabin. It looked like the whole group just got up, walked ten paces, and sat down again. Rupert smiled and blushed with pride in the men.“Who has some ideas for the task before us?”

Jamie struggled to keep Donus facing the land he studied. Brimstone loped up on them and kissed her boyfriend hello.

“These lovebirds are a bit sickening, don’t you agree Jamie darling. Five minutes apart and they have to make out.”

Jamie looked at his bride and smiled knowingly, making Claire giggle.

“Look at that Sassenach. It has all levels for what we grow and the land is plowed, level, terraced and staked. What on earth could be better? It seems bigger than our property.”

“Jamie it’s all dead. Every vine as far as the eye can see, dead.”

Jamie made his thinking noise and Claire knew he was deep in his head. She decided to investigate the property knowing Donus would follow and carry a thinking Jamie with him. They loped along the edge of the property for twenty minutes before they found the outbuildings. Every vine they passed was dead. They dismounted and tied the horses up to smooch in private. Jamie called out a loud hello a few times, not wanting to be shot on the porch. He noticed the stone construction of the house and the European style. The outbuildings were also stone construction. “Big money built this place so where did everyone go?”

Several loud knocks brought not a soul to the door and Jamie turned the knob allowing it to open. He motioned for Claire to stay behind the stone wall and wait for his signal. Five minutes later he popped around the door jam and pulled her inside, kissing her breathless. When he broke the kiss Claire let her eyes fill with the abandoned structure. Someone had put a lot of effort into the interior design, there was a male influence as well as female. She imaged it without the layer of dust and garbage and found it stimulating, making her want to dance.

“If yer this captivated by the front entry ye better not go upstairs just yet Sassenach. My guess is someone created a fine estate, European, old money. The crops failed and they lost everything leaving a worthless property behind to sail back in defeat. Poor buggers.”

“Sassenach, we should go. Sassenach?” Jamie walked quickly through the first floor and then took the stairs two at a time. He spotted her in the corner of a bright room with a crib and rocking chair. She held a stuffed bear, left behind with the other toys that were piled in the corner. She had a dreamy look on her face as she hugged the bear to her.

“Sassenach?”

“What!”

The toy was discarded and her face lost the luminous expression instantly. Jamie held out his hand and pulled her back downstairs. The large kitchen was modern and pulled Claire in like it was needy for a family. Jamie pointed to the window and following that direction, Claire saw the most extraordinary thing.

The sun sparkled off the tiny waves almost blinding if you looked right at it. The water moved to the shore, undulating softly. The lake was large enough that she could not see across it and the spark of a thought jerked her head up to Jamie.

“Is it the same…”

“I am willin to gamble it is, love. Let’s find out.”

They came back to the house and explained what was found. Rupert was called to the meeting and the group made a decision on who the best swimmer was in the group. It was Jamie. Ned Gowen and Claire left on horseback, Jamie walked into the lake, and Rupert took Angus to find Ben and bring him to the house. Misses Crook looked out the upstairs window until Ned Gowen was out of sight.

It took twenty minutes for Claire to find the property again and a fire was lit with wet wood at the entrance to show a smoke signal to Ben and the boys. Another was lit near the beach in front of the kitchen so Jamie could navigate. Claire explained to Ned what she knew about the elevation requirements for the grapes they grew.

Ben let the boys use two of his horses and the three took off, following the smoke column in the sky. When they came up on the fire, they covered it in dirt and rode on to the house seeing the second column of smoke. They entered the house with rubber necks and Ben disappeared shortly after.

Claire was tired after all the excitement and worried about Jamie. Where was he? Rupert and Angus explored the outbuildings telling scary stories to each other about finding the family with axes in their heads or hung from the hayloft. It wasn’t long before they came racing back to the house where they would hang out for the rest of the day.

Claire was feeling frantic at Jamie’s late arrival. What if something happened to him and he could not make it across? What if he… She watched the column of smoke and daydreamed about what life was like for the family that lived here. She saw the water droplets catch the sun with tiny rainbows inside of them and smiled. Wait, why are there water droplets in the air? “Jamie!” She stood up smiling at the image of her husband shaking the water off his long curls. She ran outside and jumped in his sopping arms feeling him shake with cold.

When Jamie’s teeth stopped chattering he described the passage across the lake, where he saw homesteads, where he saw vines. Ned encouraged him to draw a rudimentary map before he forgot the details.

Ben emerged from somewhere below the house looking like he had been kissed by an angel. His eyes were misty, his smile large, and his skin flushed. Jamie walked to him and slapped him on the back good-naturedly. Ben smiled up at him, “they left it all,” and pointed down and waved Jamie toward the door he had emerged from.

Jamie ran down stone steps that led to a subterranean basement as large as the house above. He bent over, hands on his knees to keep from pitching forward. When he thought he could stand he turned in a circle seeing all the equipment for a commercial scale winery. Giant mashers, holding tanks, fermenting chambers, tools, glassware, and a solid wall of oak barrels lined up three tiers high.

Ben joined him looking around like he was seeing it for the first time, smiling in a daze of wonder.

“ My brothers winery,” Jamie whispered.

“Huh?”

Split into the three critical parts, the winemaker, the grape grower, the laborer. We split three ways. You and I get a share and the third is divided among the men. It’s perfect,” he whispered. “My Brothers winery.”

[welshsidekick]

To The Stars - The First Half of a Draft of Chapter 1

Pairing: Gamora/Peter Quill/OC (this is gonna be super slow burn though I’m so sorry I just want to emulate the actual Peter/Gamora romance in the films)

AU: Soulmate AU (name tattoos, although that doesn’t really come up in this part)

Word Count: 2456

Notes: Catch me posting this first half of a draft of the first chapter in the hopes that it’ll push me to actually get this damn thing done and published, because I’ve been working on it for months.

“So, what do you say? We have a deal?”

“A deal? Ha!” The large, fleshy man spat in her face, causing her to recoil slightly. “You expect us to believe that you have the pass codes to the largest bank in the galaxy?”

“And I’m willing to hand them over for just 20% of what I’m sure you’ll ‘rightfully liberate’.” ‘And trying incredibly hard to not stare at that nutsack you call a head.’ She thought, although she wouldn’t dare say it aloud. Not until they were at a fairly safe distance, anyway.

The man scoffed. “No deal, Chip.”

“Oh come on!” She exclaimed. “When have I ever lied to you?” There was a brief silence from the thugs that surrounded the dealing table as they shared looks, before the murmuring began.

“Well, there was that time with the nuclear launch codes from Terra-“

“The Sovereigns’ Anulax batteries-“

“The Kyln blueprints-“

“Okay, okay! I get it, I’ve screwed you guys over.” A pointed look from a purple, but equally phallic looking man caused her to continue. “A lot. But I promise that it’s the real deal this time.”

“Promise?” Sack-head inquired, leaning over the table and extending his pinky. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but locked her own with his.

“Pinky promise.” That seemed to satisfy him, if the smirk on his face was any indication, as if the self-serving grunt wasn’t a big enough sign already. Only seconds after handing over the chip he shot his fist victoriously into the air, standing up so quickly that his chair clattered to the ground as his men yelled in celebration.

Shaking her head, Chip carefully got up from her own seat and tucked it back beneath the table, before making her leave from the dingy base, weaving between the sweaty men who’s now raised arms allowed a wave of BO to assault her nostrils, resulting in her nose wrinkling as she sped up her pace.

“Suckers.” She grinned to herself, flipping the actual memory chip from one hand to the other before placing it back into the appropriate pouch on one of her many belts. You’d think that they’d stop trusting her after a while, but they were far too naive. It’s a miracle that they got out of trouble as much as they did, but she supposed that someone had to take pity on them. If not for their gullible incompetence, then for their unfortunately shaped heads.

The streets of Xandar were far cleaner up top than down in the underground where she had been. Of course, that was likely due to the fact that the underground was the home to the dumber criminals, while the ones up here were smarter to disguise themselves and their transactions with the assistance of their vast wealth. But she always had had a soft spot for the stupid ones – they were much easier to mess with.

Speaking of the Intergalactic Bank, she should probably utilize those codes to draw out some money herself. She doubted that they’d notice if about 2% went missing from some of their wealthiest accounts, and that would be more than enough to keep her going for the rest of the year.

She was ripped from her thoughts when a green woman suddenly shoved her out of the way. Despite her slight disorientation as she stumbled to the railing, it would have been difficult to miss the red wire flying past and wrapping around the woman’s legs, causing her to fall and trip. It didn’t help her confusion when a man wearing red suddenly jumped on the woman, only to be easily kicked away and – hey, when did she get that wire from around her legs?

“This wasn’t the plan.” She heard the green lady say as she finally got the upper hand, pulling out a knife. It seemed that the universe didn’t want her to wrap her head around this situation because, out of fucking nowhere, a raccoon of all things tackled the green lady to the side.

“Put him in the bag, put him in the bag!” The raccoon repeated as a humanoid tree, as if this couldn’t get any stranger, approached the scuffle with a large sack, his branches seemingly extending to wrap around the woman. “No! Not her, him! Learn genders man!”

Chip’s attention was quickly drawn away from whatever the hell was going on over there when she noticed the small metal orb rolling around the ground, only for it to quickly be snatched up by the man in red who began running. This was the kind of thing that was probably best to not get involved in, especially as she swore that she knew some of these people’s faces from somewhere, which was hardly ever a good sign in her line of work. Curiosity killed the cat and all that. But, satisfaction did bring it back…

A quick glance to make sure that the other three were still preoccupied was all she needed before she took off after the man with the orb.

“Hey! That’s our bounty, back off!” She heard a yell from behind her, which merely caused her to smirk. A bounty, huh? Not her usual game, sure, but she did need  the money, so she’d bite.

“Finders keepers, losers weepers!”

It didn’t take long for her to close the distance between them and seal the deal by sliding along the ground with one leg extended to sweep his out from underneath him.  As he fell, she stood and twisted her torso so she could grab his arm and flip him onto his stomach, turning his arm to an uncomfortable angle and placing a foot on his back to keep him down. She grabbed the orb as he whined underneath her, turning it over in her hand to inspect it.

“Oh, quit being such a- Ow!” She was cut off when a dagger hit her hand, causing her to drop the orb and turn to look at the perpetrator.

So, apparently the green woman had gotten free. Somehow.

The man below her used her distraction to flip the tables, literally. He rolled over, causing her to fall onto her back as he leaped off the side of the bridge. “Oh, come on.” She groaned, turning herself over to her stomach. She caught the cut on her hand quickly healing up and brought it to her mouth to lick the blood away before pushing herself up and running over to the railing where he had jumped, only to see him roughing it up with the green woman again. Deciding to jump down after them was apparently a mistake, as the woman somehow slammed into her, causing Chip to fly over a fountain while the she landed in the water.

Pulling herself up using the wall allowed her to see that the raccoon and tree were back, and trapping the man in the bag this time. “Wait, are we after him or the orb?” She asked, leaning against the wall with one arm resting on top of it as she blew a stray hair out of her face. The green woman merely shook her head before planting a palm straight into Chip’s face, shoving her back down to the ground and using the force as leverage to begin storming back to the scene. “Not much of a talker. Gotcha.” She clicked her finger, pointing it over the wall towards the woman, although she doubted that she would turn back and notice.

Getting back on her feet a little slower this time allowed her to get back just as the man in red fell flat on his face in front of her, being shot down by a shock that apparently came from the raccoon. The gun looked bigger than the creature, but she decided not to question it.

“Taken down by a raccoon, huh?” She chuckled, crouching down to search through his pockets. “I’d say we’ve all been there, but we really haven’t. It’s pretty embarrassing, really-” Of course, her train of thought was cut off when a pair of hands grabbed at her upper arms to haul her up.

“Alright, let’s take this nice and-” This time, Chip didn’t let them finish as she threw her head back, hearing a satisfying crack and an even more satisfying “Ow!” as she was let go. In hindsight, she really should have paid attention to where she was running, but the truth of matters was that she didn’t. Instead, she simply sprinted forward, running over the man in red as she kept her head down, only to quickly be stopped as she found herself caught in a Star Blaster tractor beam, alongside the raccoon and humanoid tree.

“Good going, Einstein.” The raccoon huffed, seemingly amused. Chip only rolled her eyes as she held up her hands in a mock surrender to appease the Corps.

“Junth Lagrinne, by the authority of the Nova Corps you are under arrest for endangerment to life, the destruction of public property, and assaulting an officer.

Chip merely smiled sweetly as she turned to look over at the now disgruntled officer holding his bloody, and likely broken, nose as he helped another corp arrest the man in red. A mischievous glint appeared in her eye as she turned back, the grin morphing into a smirk as she shrugged.

“Well, I wasn’t about to make it ‘nice and easy’,  was I?”

The silence that fell over them while they were being shipped out in handcuffs was to be expected, but that didn’t make it any less awkward. There was a lot of unwarranted - and warranted - glaring. Most of their backs were hunched to some extent, like bristling cats, yet the green woman was sat ramrod straight, and successfully ignoring the rest of them. Something Chip wasn’t wholly succeeding at.

“- yeah? Well at least I didn’t run into the tractor beam!” The man in red was only getting more and more aggravated by the raccoon, who seemed to be enjoying said aggravation far too much, if his hysterical laughter was any indication.

“Well at least I didn’t get shot down by a rodent.” Chip shot back, eyebrow arched like a taut bow. The man looked like he was preparing to fire back, but the raccoon’s laughter suddenly ceased.

“Hey!” He exclaimed. “I’m not a rodent!”

“Fine, Raccoon.”

“No!”

“Rabbit?”

“Wha- No!”

“Meerkat?”

“N-”

“Chihuahua?”

“No!” His final retort was the loudest, and it needed to be, to be heard over the terran’s laughter. But as amusing as it was, it also drew the ire of the Corps, who were quick to try and calm the situation.

“Hey! Quiet back there!” The words themselves weren’t threatening, but the way the ones who were watching them adjusted their positions on their guns were, which quickly caused the group to shut up.

“At least I don’t have a butt for a chin…” The raccoon muttered grumpily under his breath.

“Hey!” Chip turned suddenly, her expression stormy, only to once again draw the ire of their captors.

“I said quiet!” The voice yelled out once more, allowing the raccoon to huff in self-satisfaction as Chip grumpily returned her attention to the metal beneath her feet, but not before catching a glance of the green womens seemingly eternal sour expression.

Chip only squinted slightly at the bright lights that reflected from the screen in front of her, but quickly composed herself. She knew the deal; they were going to rattle on and on about her and her crimes from the safety at the other side of the screen while she was expected to stand there like a mannequin as if she couldn’t hear every single word.

“Junth Lagrinne, although most folks just know her as ‘Chip’. She’s Terran, but was raised on an unregistered spacecraft where they conducted illegal experiments into cybernetics, particularly in connection to the brain. Seems like they were trying to make some kind of living AI, but all that seems to start and end with her.” While he was rattling off what he’d likely read on some report, Chip read the information they were showing on the screen. It had been a while since she’d been here, so it must have updated. She would be severely disappointed if it hadn’t. Her fingerprints showed up on the left side of the screen from her perspective and were noted as a ‘system match’. On the right side there was some more personal information about herself,

JUNTH LAGRINNE

ALIAS: “CHIP”

ORIGIN: RS DLDC*

LENGTH: 224 MICROBULES

WEIGHT: 831 GRETS

LEGS: 2

ARMS: 2

ENHANCEMENTS: CYBERNETIC BRAIN & OCULAR IMPLANTS, ENHANCED REGENERATION & MUSCULATURE, INCREASED METABOLISM, TRANSLATOR IMPLANT IN NECK

The images on-screen soon faded and changed, with the fingerprints on the left being replaced by a strand of her DNA and, if the notes surrounding it were any indication, the typical confusion as to the aspects weren’t quite Terran but not quite any other species either. The right side now sported an interesting x-ray view of her skeleton, with her the image of her brain lighting up and the orange of the cybernetics in her brain and eye-sockets showing up as orange, with the image soon filling that section of the screen. Some new information appeared beneath her name, causing her to look up from underneath her hair and wink at her captors while wetting her chapped lips.

ASSOCIATES: DEFENSE LAB OF THE DIAGNOSIS OF CRYPTOLOGY

CRIMINAL RECORD: 75 COUNTS COMPUTER FRAUD AND ABUSE, 81 COUNTS ILLEGAL MANIPULATION, 63 COUNTS FRAUD, 1 COUNT OF ASSISTING ESCAPE FROM INCARCERATION

“She’s a well-known intergalactic hacker. Word has it that she downloads anything and everything on those little memory chips of hers, from top government secrets to your grandma’s secret cookie recipe.” The skinnier Corp gave her an almost offended look after that.

“If it makes you feel any better, they were delicious.” She winked, which only seemed to upset him further, as she was soon shoved out of the way for the next person. The raccoon, seemingly.

The green woman was already waiting on the other side, and despite Chip’s attempt at an acknowledgatory nod she continued to ignore the rest of them, purposefully looking the opposite direction. Soon enough the disgruntled nuisance followed, followed suit by the overgrown houseplant. The man in red was the last behind the screen, and decided to hold up procedures by flipping off the Corps.

“What a bunch of a-holes.” The Corp’s irritatingly posh voice didn’t go unnoticed, but it definitely went unappreciated.

“Says you.” She muttered under her breath, which seemed to draw the attention of some of her fellow prisoners, but any conversation that may have developed was quickly cut short.

“Transport all five to the Kyln.”

Extra Notes: Once I get this chapter done it’ll extend to the beginning of the scene in the Kyln too, but I’d just like to thank @quinnhayden for both her help with writing this, agreeing to beta read it, and her writing being the inspiration! While it’s not super clear here without the prologue, and won’t become incredibly important until later on in the story, this is technically an AU based on the Fenrir AU for her own series Not the Standard Unit, which is an amazing Stucky/OC Soulmate AU story that I’d recommend to all of you! The Fenrir AU itself is only a single chapter (+ a teaser chapter if you want to read both, which I’d also recommend), so that’s all you’d really need to read to fully understand what’s going on when the relevant stuff comes up later in the story, but like I said for the most part it won’t be necessary to understand it.

[deztinywarriors]

ES Spectre 2.0 Chapter 36

[jorius-and-co]

Session 3: The Road to Vallaki (Pt. 2)

This session begins on the road at the crossroads to Ravenloft, after the fight with direwolves and Strahd. Miraculously, none of them are injured.  

Bavirim is real mad at Strahd and can't wait to take a shot at him. Jorius seems unhappy. Eda is starting to enjoy herself, considering all the possibilities here of killing the undead. Mir is starting to feel bleak about finding a way out of Barovia.  

As the characters hurry away from the direwolves they've left dying in the road, it begins to rain heavily, obscuring their vision. They chatter amongst themselves about the Tarokka reading with Madame Eva, which they never properly had a chance to discuss. They spend the next mile or so trying to decipher the prophecies.

After about a mile they come to the crossroads, where the road transitions to a lazy trail that descends into a fog-filled valley. Ismark tells everyone that in the heart of the valley below is the walled town of Vallaki, on the shores of a mountain lake. A branch in the road here leads west, though their vision is blurred by the downpour. A sign points to Vallaki below, and a broken piece nearly hanging off the edge of the sign identifies the road to the west simply as "Mill Road."  

Jorius recalls that the mill was a place where there may be treasure to aid them in their quest, and they all agree to approach cautiously. With their obscure vision, they can't see much, and Eda sends Mark ahead to scout. Mark returns to tell them that a mill sits at the top of a promontory ahead.  

They approach further up the hill and when they get within sight they find a dilapidated stone windmill, with three floors and an onion-shaped domed attic, and crumbling, but intact, grey stone walls and dirt covered windows. The second floor has a balcony that wraps around it, though not much of the balcony remains. A flimsy door appears closed. The vanes of the windmill are completely bare and sort of creaking in the wind.  

Bavirim successfully rolls a high perception check and is properly freaked out; there is clearly danger here. He sees that perched above the door is a raven. It is hopping about and squawking, seemingly agitated. Jorius says he could cast detect magic but he's pretty sure what they'd find.  

Eda decides to talk to the raven, which flies over to her and warns her of the danger in the windmill before flying off towards Vallaki. There are at least three evil creatures (unknown) within and possibly a child. Mir concludes this must be where the pastries are made and where the old woman they saw in Barovia was headed. They all waver for a moment about whether to try and save the child, but agree that they can return here later and that this possibly isn't the moment to try to defeat all that evil when they don’t know what it is. Ireena and Ismark agree – they are just eager to get to Vallaki.  

They return to the Old Svalich Road. It's stopped raining. No one has a high enough passive wisdom to sense that there is a spy on the road, and Mir, who is at the back, suddenly feels something tug at his hair and he turns around to see a creepy little man holding a lock of his hair. For some reason this freaks everyone out more than anything they've seen in Barovia so far. The weaselly looking man dashes off into the woods back in the direction of the crossroads before they have a chance to react.  

Mir, who is very protective of his hair, starts launching Vicious Mockery at the man, who simply shrugs it off. Eda tries Entangle on him, but he is stronger than he looks and shakes that free as well. Bavirim finally launches a hand crossbow at him and shoots the man through the leg. He falls to the ground and the group catches up to him, trying to make him talk. Initial attempts at intimidation are unsuccessful and the man simply sneers at them, but then they try a little good cop/bad cop and set Mark on him. Apparently the man is deathly afraid of birds because Mark strutting around showing off his talons has him ready to talk. ("Be cool, Mark! Be cool!").  

He doesn't give them a whole lot of info that they didn't guess already – the guy is afraid that Strahd will kill him if he doesn't return as he's told. He'd rather die at their hands than at his. He doesn't know what the hair was for, though they all agree that it was probably for some creepy dark magic. They figure they won't get much more out of this guy, and Bavirim decides they're going to strip him, get Mir’s hair back, and tie him to a tree for the wolves. The guy somehow wriggles free from Bavirim and Eda has to tackle him before they can accomplish that. He has three gold pieces in his pockets and a cheap watch, which Bavirim takes, the rest of his belongings are left there. Bavirim tells Mir to burn the hair, just in case.  

They reach Vallaki at about 430pm, and it's going to be dark soon. They feel that they ought to find a place to stay the night, but agree that they have enough daylight left to try to seek sanctuary at the church before retiring. The guards at the eastern gates give them no trouble and offer directions to both the Blue Water Inn and St. Andral's Church. They proceed directly without stopping through Vallaki, noting the garlands, wolves heads, and other paraphernalia, as well as the carnival cart in the stockyard.  

At the church, they are received kindly by Father Lucien. Jorius takes the lead and speaks with respect to the old priest, who sadly informs them that the ground is no longer hallowed and that the bones must be recovered before he can help them. He tells them that the only people who work there are Leska and Milivoj, though he suspects neither of them.  Mir and Bavirim excuse themselves to go talk to Milivoj, the boy they saw in the graveyard on the way in.  

Lucien allows the group to examine the crypt where the bones were taken. There is some blood and a bit of dark hair to be found in the splintered wood. The priest mentions that he's been afraid to tell the burgomaster for fear the town will riot. They consider trying to save the blood but none of them have the magic that could help them identify it.  

Milivoj is a surly emo teen and isn't willing to give up much, but they eventually try some subtle intimidation tactics and he admits that he overheard Leska talking to a strange man, seemingly noble. He didn't see the guy, but he heard him ask about the bones, and pleads with the PCs to leave little Leska alone.   

The group rejoins and they talk to Leska, the studious young altar boy. Leska doesn't want to talk but is easily persuaded to admit that he is just afraid that he'll get in trouble—he needed money to help his sick mother, which the strange man offered. He can only say that the man asked about the bones, and that he was tall and dressed like a noble. He had longish hair and was wearing a hat that hid most of his face.  Mir asks, "was he handsome?" And the kid nods. They give Leska a gold piece for his troubles and they promise not to tell the priest about his indiscretions. They all suspect the burgomaster or possibly Strahd may be involved in the theft.  

They return to talk to Father Lucien, and ask about strangers or noblemen who have been seen around the church recently. Lucien couldn't possibly suspect Burgomaster Vallokovich, who comes to the church often, and the other nobles in town are only the Wachter brothers, who live with their mother Fiona in town, and the burgomaster’s son, who no one ever sees anymore. He does remember hearing that Henrik Van Der Voort, the coffin maker, had done business with a stranger recently...  but Henrik is harmless.

It's getting late and Ireena is anxious to reach safety tonight, so they proceed back to the Blue Water Inn after assuring Lucien that they will do what they can to help.  

At the inn, the owner Urwin Martikov, a stout man with an impressive black glossy beard, is tending bar and he welcomes the strangers and gives them room and board for a reasonable price. They pretend to be traveling performers looking for work.  

There is one young boy, with the same black hair as the barkeep, scampering about between the patrons at the tables. There are 12 patrons in the bar, mostly commoners. Three people stick out: one is a colorfully dressed half-elf, who sits at a table near the bar talking animatedly with two male commoners. There are also two very large men sitting alone with their backs to the wall, on the far left side of the room, each eating a steak. They are wearing what appears to be wolf pelts, and they are shaggy and grim looking. One has a cape, thrown over a chair, that appears to be made from a direwolf.

The other 7 are split up:  One man and one woman sits at the bar. There's a rowdy bunch of three men and two women sitting at the big table by the staircase on the right.  

The PCs get some food and wine and Ireena and Ismark retreat upstairs while the others stick around to see what they can uncover.  Urwin is quite chatty and says that if they are performers, he is willing to offer free wine for their entertainments. He also tells them that they are low on wine and that he will offer a reward for anyone willing to check out the Wizard of Wines supply problem. He hasn't found anyone willing to take the problem on for some reason. He also mentions that the wolf heads on their walls are the work of the two guys in the back.  

Bavirim listens in on the story that the colorfully dressed half-elf is telling about the goblins he found for his act once.  

Mir breaks out into song and gets the whole tavern dancing. Everyone is getting drunk.  

Eda talks to the wolf-pelt guys in the back, and they open up once she starts to tell them about the direwolves they killed recently. They talk tactics and offer themselves as guides for 5 gp, or they can provide directions in exchange for free wine.  

At some point Urwin's wife comes out to listen to the music with her son, Brom, and someone engages with the wife and kid. Brom asks if they are adventurers, because if so can they help find his brother? The wife shushes him, and sends him off, reluctantly admitting that their son went missing a few weeks ago and they fear he is dead.  

Shortly after they retire, and though they've reserved two rooms they pile into one. Jorius sets an alarm on the other room, and they've set it up Prancing-Pony style to look like there are other people sleeping. Mark is hanging out with the ravens up on the roof, but close by. Bavirim has spread oil in the hallway outside their doors. It's about 9pm, and they set up two hour watches: Jorius first, Eda second.  

They plan to speak to Henrik Van Der Voort first thing in the morning.