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manyothermusingsofmine · 4 months ago

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Deer In Headlights || Drabble

Fandom: Xmen

Warnings: None (let me know)

Wordcount: 1773 Summary: What's worse, being cursed with the "freeze" option in the fight or flight debate, or feeling like you got tossed directly of a truck doing 80 on the interstate? ---------------------- It was supposed to be an easy infiltration mission, meant to check how far Miranda had gotten in gaining control of her powers. She at least had figured out how to turn her invisibility on and off on command most of the times, though it wasn't always perfect yet. She figured that was the reason they had stuck Nightcrawler on babysit duty with her, making sure she had a quick way out of the facility she was wandering around.

Though some impossibly technical way or another, Hank had provided her with a suit and visor that responded to her ability, both turned invisible along with her whenever she decided to switch it on. Through other ways she didn't care to know about he had put her visor in contact with Kurt's communication system, allowing Nightcrawler to see and hear what was going on around her.

"Just keep on the objective, okay? If we can figure out what they are up to it could help so many of us to sleep a little more soundly at night."

He fully knew she wasn't going to answer back. It would give her position away, and she was too focused on the task she had been giving. Places like these didn’t give their secrets up without a fight or implementing a confusing lay out to keep people from getting to highly valuable information on mutants. Kurt was doing his best trying to direct her through the maze of hallways from the blueprint map he held, when both of them were suddenly thrown off course and out of their train of thoughts as a red glow shimmered from behind one of the many, many doors that this place possessed. It wasn't exactly staying on objective like he told her to, but Nightcrawler couldn't deny that he was just as curious as Drifting to figure out what was hidden behind that door.

That's probably why he didn't stop her when he really should have.

She snuck in like a cat on the lookout, easily but cautiously slipping through the sliver of a crack the door was opened to, making her way into an suspiciously empty and enormous room. The only thing it seemed to harbor was something gigantic under an equally massive, plastic blue tarp, otherwise the room would have had absolutely nothing to offer. Which didn’t quite explain where that red glow had been coming from-

Without any doing on her end, the tarp dropped as the thing underneath stirred to life. At the slightest movement of it her body froze in place, her eyes following a pair of gigantic boots all the way up to the head of what could only be a Sentinel. The pure fear that took hold of her body didn’t even let her react when its supposed eyes started to flicker on, freezing her muscles further in place and just as easily short circuiting her power. It dropped her veil of invisibility as she could do nothing but stare into the glowing voids that were hellbent on destroying her and everything she stood for. She couldn't move even when the mechanical horror started making noises as if it was charging something up, no matter how much she internally pleaded with her body to move, please, just move

It was at that moment that something, or someone, grabbed onto her and full force yanked her away from the line of sight of the Sentinel, right before it reached the peak of its energy and shot two red laser beams at the place she had been standing mere seconds before. Wasting no time in adjusting his hold on her so she was easier to carry, Nightcrawler teleported off as fast as his ability and eyesight allowed him to, shooting through the hallways until the nearest window granted him sight and escape into the world outside of the building. He kept going until they were much further away from the premise, only halting when he misjudged the height of one of the rooftops and got caught on the edge, both mutants ending up rolling over the gravely top until they came to a stop.

Kurt immediately shot back up, looking around until he saw her rolling onto her back in somewhat of a daze while swiping her visor off herself.

"Miranda!" In less than the blink of an eye he was at her side, "are you okay?!"

She wasn't responding, just trying to regulate her breathing as her eyes almost seemed to glaze over. He couldn't read anything in her expression, his best guess being that the Sentinel had evoked such a primal sense of fear into her that she was still trying to process the shock.

He looked up when the lasers of the Sentinel fired again in the distance, taking out a chunk of the building that held it. He instinctively snarled at the destruction going on, knowing fully well that this facility wasn’t supposed to have a Sentinel in the first place. This wasn't good; this wasn't something he and Miranda could handle by themselves, taking out a Sentinel of this size required-

"Rogue! Logan! I need back up! Now!" and as soon as he had yelled that through the communication system he turned back to Miranda, lightly placing a hand on her cheek to make her look at him.

"Stay here," that almost seemed like a ridiculous thing to say with how little she had been moving, but if her ability kicked back in he wouldn't exactly be able to drop combat and go after her, "I'll come back for you when this is over. Okay?"

"O... kay..." she replied breathlessly, only hearing when he left and deciding she should probably do something about laying on this uncomfortable gravel. Her body protested when she pushed herself up in a sitting position, the scrapes everywhere from the rough landing not exactly making this a fun exercise.

"Well, that's going to be fun to explain to our resident healer," she groaned to herself, trying to ignore a weird, misplaced sense of upset that was rapidly building in her chest. She should be mad about the Sentinel activating or even being there in the first place, but all she could think about and get increasingly annoyed over is how she couldn't get herself away until Kurt grabbed her. She would've been blown to pieces had he not reacted; and for some reason she couldn't even describe herself it irritated her that he had to interfere in the first place. That she had to be dropped somewhere out of harm's reach and basically been left to twiddle her thumbs until someone deigned to give her a lift home.

The irrational boiling feelings overruled her initial intend to listen to his request, her invisibility flickering before clicking back on as she made her way to the fire escape, ignoring the way her body protested at having to move. The least she could do was get her lazy, useless self out of the crossfire and back to the mansion without waiting for a glorified taxi service that would pick her up when the grown ups had dealt with the threat.

When the three of them had finally taken the big metal chunk down, Nightcrawler teleported Rogue and Wolverine along with him to the rooftop where he had told Miranda to stay only to find she wasn't there. On some deeper level he knew better than to think she was there, but this was an invisibility mutant they were talking about. It was just as likely that she had hidden herself behind her power and stowed away in some corner.

"Miranda?!"

"She ain't here, bub," Logan replied gruff as ever, not entertaining this any longer than he had to, "don't smell her at all. If she were hiding out here I would tell you."

"Then where did she go? I asked her to stay."

"Girl like that don't heel like a puppy cause you said so, sugar. That gal has all the prowess of a street smart kitty, I tell ya. Reckon she needs a minute to clear her mind and sort herself out. She'll come back 'round."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Logan asked when the look on Kurt's face gave away he wasn't fully convinced she would come back.

"Stray cats will always return to places where they get fed, boys, especially if the one doing the cookin' is Gambit. And y'all know just as well as I do that if anyone knows how to keep a stray cat around it's Remy. Speaking of, we gotta go ourselves, before Morph decides to feign being one of us to get a bigger share of the food."

As she and Logan got ready to leave, Kurt threw one more glance over his shoulder at the rooftop. 'Please be okay,' flashed through his mind, 'I would've come back for you. Honest.'

It would probably be a relief for him to know that Rogue was right. Based on little but the feeling of wanting to go home and a growing hunger in her stomach, Drifting found her way back to the X-men mansion in a fashion befitting of her code name, easily slipping her way through the gardens surrounding the property like a sly fox. It was only when she stood in the doorframe of one of the back entries that she gave herself a moment to whine about the scrapes and bruises that she could even feel through the undamaged parts of her suit, her ability flickering off from her exhaustion.

"Ow, my everything."

She pushed herself back up, making her way to the kitchen that she had hoped to find empty.

"Petite?”

Oh, for fucks sake. “You look like you've been through hell; where are the others? What happened?"

She was in too much skin level pain to have a lovely conversation with Gambit about the ins and outs of this mission gone horribly wrong, and in her annoyance she couldn't quite appreciate him ushering her over to the nearest chair, her response coming out a lot more irritated than she had hoped to sound;

"Well it turns out a gravel rooftop is a bigger detriment to my physical health than a fucking Sentinel, so make of that what you will."

"... Pardon?!" Gambit's red eyes went wide in shock at that. She wasn't supposed to be facing off to a Sentinel by a long shot, but he shelved that thought for the time being when she winced and yelped out in pain. Right, solving the injured issue first, worrying about the adversary she faced later.

"Shadow!? Chère, need a little help in here!"

#Drifting writes things

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specialagentlokitty · 1 year ago

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Saul silva x teen!reader - what I wouldn’t do to make you better

Part three:

Eventually Jess and David decided to call Sky and tell him about your condition so he knew, but with Saul being imprisoned they couldn’t tell him.

You were kept in the OR all night, there was barely any new updates for the nurse to give them, not until they brought you back through that morning.

“(Y/N)!” The two called.

They rushed by your side and looked at you, holding your hand in theirs.

“One of the nearby hospitals had a match for them, the surgery was successful, but it will be a long recovery process. And right now we’re still in the stage of trying to find out if (Y/N)s body will accept their new heart or not.” The doctor said.

“Accept it or not?” David asked.

The doctor sighed.

“It’s strange, usually if the body is going to reject the new organ it does it right away. (Y/N)s seems to be on the verge of accepting or rejecting, stuck between.”

The doctor carried on exposing to things to them, and explained the only thing they could do for you now is keep monitoring your progress.

And even as time slowly went by, there wasn’t much of it.

When Saul managed to escape with the help of Bloom and her friends, Sky was on the phone to her while she tried getting him to talk to Saul.

“Bloom tell him something for me.” Sky said.

“What is it?”

Sky sighed a little bit.

“Tell him.. tell him to find (Y/N).”

With that, Sky hung up and Bloom looked at her phone in confusion and she turned to Sebastian and Saul.

Saul was wrapped in the blanket Sky forced them to bring with them, and she put her phone back in his pocket.

“Bloom?” Sebastian asked.

“He told Saul to find (Y/N).”

Immediately Saul’s head shot up.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“I.. I don’t know that’s all he said.”

“I need to go, now. Drive me to the border.”

“You can’t! Not in your state, not while they’re looking for you.” Sebastian said.

“I don’t care, I have to go. Now.”

Sebastian looked at Saul and sighed heavily.

“Wait an hour. Let me get some things ready.”

So they did, they waiting an hour while Sebastian and Bloom gathered food, water, some clothes, some weapons they could find.

Literally anything they could find in order to help him the best they could.

“Oh, here.”

Bloom reached into her pocket and handed Saul his phone back.

“Do you even know where they are?”

“I know where they should be.”

Bloom nodded and Saul hid in the back of the car as she drove to the edge of the barrier which connected them to the other world.

Saul got out, throwing his bag over his shoulder and he looked at her.

“Thank you.”

“I hope they’re okay.”

Saul nodded his head, nervously looking around.

“So do I…” he whispered.

He thanked her again and walked past the barrier. He was a mess, he hadn’t showered, he probably looked like he’s just crawled out of a hole.

But he didn’t care.

He knew Sky wouldn’t tell him to go find out without a reason, so he had to go and find you, even if it meant walking across the other world to get there.

He tried calling Jess and David, but his phone wouldn’t get signal, he had no clue where he was, no map, no clue, so he just wondered aimless in a random direction.

Months had passed, and the most Jess and David knew about your condition was that your body seemed to have accepted the new heart.

You were stable, but they still couldn’t take you from the machines, not yet, so they kept you hooked up to them and still monitored your condition closely.

They did everything they could, they talked to you, sat with you, brought all your stuff to your hospital room.

Anything to try and make the situation better.

Saul hitchhiked, ran, walk, fell, swam, tripped, got lost, found his way again.

He kept going until he was in the city you were supposed to be in, and he ran to the nearest coffee shop, getting weird looks from everyone.

“I.. I need to charge my phone…” he whispered.

“Yeah Uhm.. here we can do that. Do you want a drink?” The young man asked.

Saul nodded his head and the man brought over some water which he quickly downed.

Saul had lost everything aside from his phone, charger, your necklace and your blanket which was around his shoulders.

Saul sat down at a table and ran a hand down his face.

“Here, I thought maybe you’d be hungry.”

The man set a plate down and sat in front of him with a plate of his own.

“I don’t have any money on me.”

“That’s fine. You look like you’ve been through hell bro.”

Saul smiled a little.

“You’ve no idea. Thank you.”

The man nodded and gestured to the blanket.

“What’s with the cape?”

“It’s my kids.”

The man nodded.

“You know where your kid is now?”

“Wouldn’t be here if I did.”

The man nodded once more and stood up, he disappeared for a few moments before coming back with Saul’s phone and charger.

He handed them both over and Saul looked through his messages, finally finding one which said where you were.

Saul stood up.

“Thank you for everything.”

With that he ran out of the coffee shop and started to run down the streets.

He knew where he was going, he had been to this hospital once before, but that memory was burned into his brain.

He ran towards the large building, and he stopped when he saw the familiar solaria cars outside.

“No… no!”

He ran inside, rushing straight to the reception he showed the woman his lock screen.

“I’m looking for this person. (Y/N) Silva.”

“Oh, some more family?” She smiled.

“More?”

“Oh yeah we’ve just had some people come in. Here.”

She handed him the room you were in and he ran through the hospital hallways, but it seemed like no matter how fast he ran everything was in slow motion.

Jess and David where being held back by two soldiers as Rosalind and Andreas stood next to your bed.

“He’s not going to come here.” Andreas said.

“Don’t be so sure. He left Solaria, this is the only place Saul is going to come to.” Rosalind mused.

There was a thud at the door and she turned around with a small smirk.

“I told you.”

Saul stepped in, gasping for air, he pointed at her.

“Don’t you dare touch them…” he growled.

“Okay then. You’re coming back with us.”

Saul shook his head.

“You have no authority here.”

Rosalind nodded her head.

“Maybe not, but I do have control over whether or not I pull out this wire.”

She reached down towards the socket in the wall and gripped the plug.

“Rosalind!” Andreas yelled.

“Either he comes willingly or we force him.”

Saul looked between you and Rosalind, clenching his jaw.

“Fine. Okay. Okay… just.. just let me say goodbye… please…?”

Rosalind stepped aside and Saul walked over, taking the blanket from around his shoulders he draped it over you.

Then he took your necklace off, and he gently lifted your head, putting it around your neck and slowly lowered your head again.

He looked at you, how pale you seemed.

He turned to look and Jess and David.

“What happened…?”

They looked to Rosalind, and she raised her hand, the two soldiers releasing them.

They explained everything to him, and he sighed, ducking under the wires he laid next to you, running his fingers through your hair.

“You promised me you were going to keep fighting…” he whispered.

Saul placed his head on your shoulder, fighting with his emotions.

“I know it’s tiring…” he whispered.

He took a small breath.

“If you want to stop fighting… you can…”

His voice cracked, and everyone moved to one side of the room to give him some space.

“You don’t have to fight anymore… I’m here (Y/N)…”

His tears soaked your shoulder, because he couldn’t even begin to imagine what pain you must have felt, what pain you must’ve been in.

He asked you to keep fighting, and you did, but he couldn’t let you keep going like this, he knew what you wanted.

And a life on machines wasn’t that.

So even if it hurt him, he was ready to let you go, let you move on so you wouldn’t be in pain anymore, because he knew your mum was close, and she would watch over you just like he’d done.

“You can go…” he whispered.

Saul leant up, kissing the side of your head.

“I love you.”

The room went silent, aside from the beep of the machines, it was steady at first, then followed by one long constant beeps.

Alarms went off, and nurses rushed in and Saul shook his head.

“Don’t… please…”

They stepped back, but one of them turned the alarms off, and the volume to the heart monitor.

Tears streamed down Saul’s face as he pulled you against him, resting his head over yours.

“You did so well…” he whispered.

Rosalind stepped forward.

“Let’s go.”

Saul shook his head.

“Give him a minute Rosalind please.” Andreas said.

“He’s had a minute.”

“He’s just lost his child! Give him time!” David snapped.

The nurses urged everyone out of the room but Saul, and they left him laying there, holding you.

They took the tubes out of you, all the wires but a few, announced your time of death and they left him alone.

Rosalind was growing impatient, and she stormed back into the room.

“You’re done. Let’s go.”

Saul didn’t moved and she sighed.

“Fine. We’ll do this the hard way.”

Her eyes glowed and Saul suddenly found himself unable to breathe, he stood up to try and catch his breath as one of the soldiers grabbed his arm.

They began pulling him away, but stopped and Rosalind let Saul breathe.

“Well, take him then.”

“We cant.”

“Why not?!”

Saul looked down, your fingers grasping his hand in a white knuckle grip.

Your eyes were still closed, and he slowly moved his eyes to the heart monitor that was still connected to it.

It was tracking your heart that was now beating strongly.

Yet you weren’t actually awake.

“Oh fuck…” Andreas whispered.

“Well grab him!”

Andreas walked over but when he tried to reach Saul, he found himself unable to move, like he was frozen, and he looked down at his feet, ice crawling up his legs, the same with the soldiers.

Jess and David came in, and they stood next to you, nothing happening to them.

“What are you doing?!” Rosalind hissed at them.

“This isn’t us. We’re not magic like you.” Jess said

Rosalind tried to step forward, but she was frozen in place as well, and no matter how many times she tried to break it, it came back faster than before.

She looked at you, finding your other hand pointed in her direction.

“It’s the kid…” a soldier whispered.

Saul had his eyes glued to you, still unresponsive, but his hand still gripped tightly in yours.

“Rosalind they’re going to kill us if we stay here.” Andreas said.

She growled a little, and focused her stared on you, trying to use her magic, but she found it useless, like there was something protecting you.

Kicking the ice from her feel, she looked at Saul.

“This isn’t over.” She sneered.

They all left, and Saul immediately turned to look at you while Jess and David went to find a nurse or a doctor.

He gripped your hand back just as tightly in both of his, and tears fell down his face.

“(Y/N)…?” He whispered.

He looked at the heart monitor that was still going strong, and looked back down at you, and he slowly fell to his knees as he cried.

He didn’t know what happened, one minute you had passed, you were gone. Now you were back, stronger than ever before, and he had no answers as to why.

But he needed to know if you were going to wake up, if there was ever going to be a chance of you actually waking up even if it was a slim one

#fate the winx saga imagine #fate the winx saga #fate the winx saga x you #fate the winx saga x reader #saul silva imagine #saul silva x reader #saul silva x you #saul silva

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fragileizywriting · 9 months ago

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bear with me okay here's an idea (it's not necessarily original, but just. let me have this okay)

kitty and luka have been best friends since birth, really. luka is the prince of [hhhhhhhhhuuhmmmm. uh.] and he needs to find a partner. anarka is deadset on him getting someone to help him out rule, because he's more of a sailor than an actual prince, and lord knows she won't rule this country because she's also more of a sailor than actual queen.

meanwhile kitty is the most aquaphobic person in the world. boats are fine, they're great, but she's kitty— just like a cat, she's a land animal, and luka teases her all the time about it. there's not a single moment that she's on his ship does he not throw her overboard just to hear her scream out explicitives in his direction before climbing back on board like a pathetic wet cat.

(she always throws him overboard as a compensation.)

so there's a giant festival for luka to find someone. very cinderella-like. kitty follows behind on every single part of the festival, following behind luka as a right-hand-man(kitty) and the two of them are kind of dreading the whole thing. luka thinks this is way too much, anarka's just telling him to find someone that won't immediately blow up the country (surely there's someone that isn't going to try to stage a coup) and get on with doing what he actually wants which is sailing; kitty meanwhile just doesn't like the idea of all these girls (and guys!) giggling behind their hands and blushing whenever luka passes by.

he's not a prince charming, okay. he's some dude. she's watched him attempt to eat a whole hard-boiled egg in one swallow and she's watched the result of him spitting it across the table. this is the man who claimed he'd eat his own leather boots if he really needed to in an emergency and she'd watched him attempt to nibble on his shoe laces and proceed to throw up in the nearest flower pot. she's seen him walk into doors and go so quiet when she's reading a book and he's staring at her like she's reading a completely different language. he knows his way around a map and a compass better than a dance floor. she pities the poor dumbass who thinks prince luka knows how to dance. those poor toes... forget glass, whoever dances with him better have some steel-toed shoes.

one of the advisors that's slowly been culling out prince luka's potential suitors came from three kingdoms over just so there wouldn't be that much of a bias. they're still keeping an eye on him to make sure he's not trying to stage a coup by putting someone specific in the listing. kitty in particular has been paying so much attention that the adivosr takes it the wrong way and assumes that she's giving him the adhd glare because of other reasons— on the final round, for whatever reason kitty is put in the line. she's panicking. no amount of her saying "wait no, no, i'm not— hold on, you can't be serious," gets the advisor to listen. she tries to escape through the doors but the guards find it funny and refuse to let her budge. they think it's a prank. the advisor has no idea who she is. she barters with one of the guards— kim— to let her go and she'll get him a shot with one of the girls who had passed by recently and got let out because she was annoying.

no dice.

she's pulled right back in line. arguing and bickering, threatening to open every thread and suture on anyone's clothes who touches her and puts her back.

prince luka comes by just in time to see her standing there in line, bug-eyed, face hotter than anything in the world.

he looks at her.

keeps staring.

brows scrunched.

trying not to piss himself laughing.

she is shaking her head like she's begging god to not let this happen.

"i've found my partner," luka announces, and by the strength of willpower alone, kitty is not giving into the urge to tackle him and shut him up. "she's beautiful, and i know without a doubt she's smart. there's no one better than her. i choose her."

#speakizys #4am ginseng tea

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maryellencarter · 3 months ago

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oh my god. this is so bad. this is the worst piece of game design i have possibly ever encountered. it's so bad, you guys

so. pokemon scarlet/violet. The First Fully Open World Pokemon Game (tm). it tries so hard to pretend you can do things in any order, because it thinks that's what made breath of the wild popular. it does not seem to realize that botw actually did let you do things in any order, which is kind of an important part of that promise.

(botw also understands the difference between "gorgeous landscapes" and "an always-rendered ocean the size of the sun" *ahem*)

so. there are eight gyms, as in most pokemon games on console, and also five titan pokemon battles and five enemy team bases. none of these have level scaling. for instance, the bug gym will always be level 16 whether you tackle it at level 5 or level 30.

if you look up a guide online, it will tell you, okay, do the bug gym, then the rock titan, then the grass gym, and so forth. this path has you zigzagging east and west across the donut shaped map, working your way north on both sides consecutively.

if you try to play without a guide, asking the game itself what to do, there's what seems like a handy function to point you in the right direction. you can ask the nurse at any pokemon center "what should i do" and she'll tell you one of the eighteen options, one you haven't beaten yet.

until today i thought she told you the one that was lowest level out of the ones you hadn't beaten.

today, after beating the level 21 dark-type enemy base, i went to the pokemon center in the nearest town to heal up, and i asked the nurse what i should do next. and she told me to fight the gym in her town. thing is, i *know* because i'm also following a guide -- that gym is level 30 and there's a level 23 gym on the other side of the map.

so i teleported to the town with the level 23 gym and asked the nurse there, and *she* told me to fight the level 23 gym. then i teleported to a third pokemon center midway between the two, and that nurse told me to go after the level 27 enemy base. (none of them told me the numbers. those are from the exterior guides.)

so. this game. with no level scaling, a supposed open world where a linear path will kick your entire ass, and only one way to ask anybody for an indication of what to do next...

...takes its indicators of where you should go, not from your level or the level of what you've beaten...

...but just from whatever's closest. When that is almost never the right choice.

This is such a badly, badly made game

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the-larxist-manifesto · 6 months ago

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Whatnot ~ The long road to Saffron

Welcome to Whatnot, where I just kinda talk about random thoughts I'm having at the moment. Irl I say the phrase "... and whatnot" a lot—but do you ever wonder what exactly the whatnot is? That's what this blog will be.

I love me a good, long journey. I don't always know what decisions will lead me to a worthwhile journey, but the best ones tend to arise from spur-of-the-moment ideas and just saying "sure, let's give it a try." For example, this whole GameGirl31 project. Nintendo added GameBoy games to NSO, I noticed how few of the titles I recognized, and I decided it could be a unique challenge to play them. It is now setting in exactly how much time this will take me.

Pokémon Yellow, for instance. I don't know this particular generation super well, but I understand the Pokémon formula well enough. Despite this, more than 20 hours have been dedicated to this playthrough so far. I've only earned four gym badges (five if you count the one I skipped, accidentally?), meaning I'm about halfway through the experience. Just stating the facts here. We can imagine what the timer will read by the end.

I'm actually playing a session right now, taking a break in the middle to write this entry. I left off in the middle of route 14. In-game, I've been really wanting to return to Vermillion City because, about five hours back, I managed to completely avoid fighting Lt. Surge and then leave without the badge I need. That being said... five hours later, I couldn't be stuck on the more opposite side of the Kanto region. There is no quick way back to Vermillion from Fuchsia. I can only press forward. And the next leg of the journey is... the long, long road to Saffron City.

So, I packed as many hyper potions and ultra balls as I could into my trainer bag, and then started on the road. The journey is so long that it's actually made up of 5 separate routes.

Map; for reference, the path between any two cities in the Kanto region averages 1 to 2 routes

I can feel the length of the journey as I begin dismissing the possibility of travelling back to Fuchsia City for the Pokécenter. I'll just have to rely on the resources I've got. The only things to be found along these routes are other traveling trainers and the occasional patch of grass.

I've complained in the past about this game looking kinda ugly, in the graphics department. The overworld sprites are quite simplistic. The colors are limited. Often, it feels like I'm just staring at pencil lines etched in a white void. Yet somehow, the simplicity of the landscape around me as I bike the miles of this road... a true sense of distance sets in. DUCKIE is so far away from home. She's so far from anything that even resembles home. Only passing blades of grass, bushes, a small forest, abandoned fence posts... lines etched into the world by nature itself.

And then I read a sign.

Route 14 / West to Fuchsia City

There's something very haunting about a sign that only points you in one direction. Dead end. One way. Do not enter. Or maybe a highway sign that names a city you've never heard of about 50 miles away. This sign didn't tell me I was going anywhere. It only told me the quickest way back to civilization.

For those who don't know, in my actual life, I recently drove over 3,000 miles across the United States—nonstop except to sleep and eat, over the course of 6 days. It was another one of those decisions that felt so much smaller when it was just an idea in my head. Then I got into the car and drove away from my house, for once with no intentions of coming back. Then I crossed my first state border. Then I passed one last small town. Then, only the lines of rock and shrubs etched in the world around me.

I saw a lot of signs like this one on the long drive. Route 14 / West to Fuchsia City. It's just a practical sign to put up. A statement of fact as to where the nearest market would be, for instance. Yet something about it ineffably reads like a warning.

Subtle game design choices like this leave an impression on me like nothing else. The developers could have written "Road connecting to Saffron City," like they did with every other sign in the game. They could have put up no sign at all. But they chose this sign. I don't know; that made this world feel so much more real to me. And once again, for the first time ever, I think the simplicity of the graphics in this game do a great service to the tone and worldbuilding at this leg of the game. The same scenery passing you by over and over again. Eventually blurring into abstract lines etched in the void. You have grown so much as a trainer, to make it this far all by yourself. This is what it feels like to be far from home. It feels sickeningly lucid to become so aware of the bigness of the world.

That's a feeling only video games can give you, baby! And that's why video games are art, as if I even had to argue that. But who knew such strong emotions could come from a game that looks like... this?

Go on, guess which Pokémon that is. I bet you can't.

And so, I'm actually pretty excited for the long journey to Saffron City. It is, after all, just a small part of the long journey to beating Pokémon Yellow. Which is, of course, only a small part of the long journey to play 31 GameBoy games!

Well, at least for these journeys, I don't have to sleep in my car. :p

That's it for this edition of Whatnot! Too niche for GameGirl, but stuck out too much in my mind not to write about. I hope to do a lot more of these in the future (including non-video game stuff, ideally). Ta-ta for now~

#nintendo #gameboy #pokemon #random thoughts #whatnot

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thessalian · 7 months ago

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Thess vs Cauldron KAPPA

I swear, one of these days I am going to actually get back to the main quest. Or at least the side quest I keep meaning to do. Then again, I need to have something to do in limited time periods before work in the mornings. But the last two days? Nothing but sidetracking.

YESTERDAY

Right. Metal flowers across the river from the Carja camp. I go swim now. Underwater, I think, because Widemaws and Skydrifters.

...Wait.

Wait that said "carp". I NEED THOSE; LET'S GO!

Fifteen minutes later and I probably have enough carp to suit me. Really. Metal flowers.

...Is it wrong that I prize the data point over the vendor trash, as rewards for those last two metal flowers?

Okay, I really am going to head out in the direction of Talanah's whole deal, but I should get a couple of campfires first--

Wait. Wut.

Oh. Oh, this is Fenrise. And I don't see Gattak anywhere. Buuuuuut never let it be said that I waited for backup before I started liberating the hell out of a place. I mean, as long as I'm here, right?

Well, I've killed like two-thirds of these fuckers and I still can't find a way in. Sonuvabitch.

I'm kind of amused that they think I'd give up as easily as ... well, as they give up looking for me. Sneak sneak sneak--

Aha! Climbing spot! And here we go! Poonk-time is now!

I think we're mostly clear so let's free that Tenakth dude--

...Sir? Tenakth guy? I get that you're probably in a really shitty mood given the being-taken-prisoner and everything? But you're being rude as shit.

And onward to command ... and there's three more of you, and a lot of stealth grass. Bye, guys! POONK.

Okay, so this Asera woman Erend was telling me about is ... in someplace called First Forge. I've been all over the map and I haven't a fucking clue where that might be. But I figure I'll trip over it sometime--

Or I could ask Erend. Thank you, Quest Board.

...Hang on. It says "Kill the rebels" but I killed all the rebels--

Oh. More rebels just ... materialised ... to give Gattak something to fight.

...And you won't let me shoot the rebels from a distance? What the fuck? I really dislike being forced into close quarters, and doing it with game mechanics is worse than it being forced on me!

Show of force by rebels, huh? Taking over the sacred training grounds. Assholes.

Heh; you're welcome, Gattak. I'll probably come by and visit sometime, when you're re-established. But for now ... I'm going to drop a gizmo by Stemmur.

Here you go, Stemmur. I think there's like one more left but I'm going to have to read a serious wiki or watch a lot of let's play to figure out how to get that piece of garbage.

What do I want to see Horizon-world's take on? ...Halloween, I think.

...Stemmur, you're adorable and I love you.

Unfortunately, too tired to do much. But tomorrow? TALANAH.

TODAY

Right. Collecting a couple of campfires.

...Ooh, Fireclaws.

I FORGOT HOW DANGEROUS THESE FUCKERS ARE!

...I also forgot about hitting left-shift to slow time while firing until, like, just now. Fireclaws exploding is always a win.

Okay, I have blown so much blastpaste for smoke grenades. Need to stop at a shelter for more. ...Maybe the one near the coast; see if I can get those pouch upgrades.

Moonfish skin, carp skin, crab and lobster shells, aaaaaaaaand ... a pelican feather.

No. No. No... I DON'T NEED YOUR BONES, MOONFISH; I NEED YOUR SKIN! GIVE ME YOUR SKIIIIIIIIIIN!

THANK you.

Okay. Now. Before I go any further, there's a question mark up there I keep missing. Do I have to go through the Greenhouse for it?

*fifteen minutes later* Evidently, I do not. What does Google have to say about this?

Thank you, Reddit. Swimming swimming swimming...

Aha. Here we go. Data point. I do love the datapoints.

(Is anyone else amused that DEMETER seems to have spent a lot of its time writing really emo poetry?)

Right. I'll spare myself a swim and head for the nearest coastline. There's a shelter up there and--

And thaaaaaaaat's a Shellsnapper. Time to practice my left-shift time-slow manoeuvre.

................THAT. WAS. EPIC!!!

(Translation: it had, like, a sliver of health left, and it had gone underground. I was on a rock, waiting, holding a draw. It leapt right into my face and I fired, hitting it directly in its chillwater reservoir. This froze it and took its last little bit of health, all about a foot from my virtual face. That was awesome.)

...Oh. Oh, this is the entrance to that Cauldron I got told about the other day.

.........Oh, I might as well get it over with while I have the spoons.

And right away we start with Outlast-meets-Subnautica. Greeeeeeeeat.

Okay, in we go.

Fun with crates, wonderful-- AMBUSH!

Slow-time function is WIN. Die, Spikesnouts!

And UP we go.

Well, at least this isn't Outlast-meets-Subnautica. It's more a really intense physics puzzle.

I am nailing this time-slow manoeuvre.

At least this isn't as tense as some of the others on the jumping puzzle thing-- AAAAAA! AMBUSH! GET OUT OF MY FACE!

Mrr. Not as clean as I'd like, but they're gone, anyway.

You're literally setting up a Death-From-Above for me, KAPPA. Thanks. *DEATH FROM ABOVE*

...Ooooooh fuck. I'm going to have to outswim a fucking Tideripper.

............Which is easier than I thought it'd be because somehow, for some reason, smoke bombs work underwater.

Okay. Out of its reach. A little less water and a little more space for me to stand.

I HAVE NO PREP TIME FOR THIS AND ALMOST NO ROOM! FUUUUUCK!

But I do have good aim, time-slowing, and a very good weapon, so eventually, I win.

Okay, definitely need a break and-- oh hell, is that the time? I require bath and food.

Really, I will get to Talanah and Danur and everybody else who wants a piece of Aloy right now. But ... bath. Food. Work in the morning.

#Thess plays video games #Thess liveblogs Horizon Forbidden West

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scrunkore · 1 year ago

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Scunkore Media "Thread" 2023: Part 4

welcome back to the scrunko core

38) Miitopia (Switch, 2021)

Mii games are a dying breed, and honestly I'm not sure why they put this game on Switch when they did, but that's whatever really. It definitely has its fair share of improvements from the 3DS original, with a bit more content and an absolutely fantastic custom makeup tool that lets you make every Mii that much more unique, being put to great use by a whole bunch of creators. The game itself, though... it's still not anything special aside from that, and also its cute story bits and Mii interactions, but those get old well before you actually finish the game. And the game takes a while to get through, too, feeling very repetitive and grindy even while you constantly make progress. Basically, the game does some fun things, but it's not nearly enough to make the whole experience remain interesting throughout. It's just painfully average as an actual game, and I'd really rather have a new Tomodachi Life game, but that seems unlikely at this point. [2.5★]

39) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Movie, 2023)

I'll never get over the reaction to the casting announcement for this movie, that was the funniest shit to come from that one Nintendo Direct presentation and unfortunately it might be more memorable than the actual movie itself. Chris Pratt Mario is the least of its issues (actually the voice acting is fine) - the plot and indeed most of the characters are pretty half-baked and it feels like they rushed the story through basic plot points between various action pieces, but at the very least that does mean it's never boring. Trouble is, that does mean I can't say the movie is good, despite the really nice-looking visuals and great soundtrack (when it's not using corporate-mandated licensed songs), both clearly made with a lot of love for the series. Sure, it was an entertaining movie, with some fun elements like Jack Black Bowser banging out the tunes, but realistically I think it's pretty average when I'm not giggling at the references - the critics were in fact correct, who knew. Still, does give me some hope for future Nintendo movies, because it was well-made. [3★]

40) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch, 2023)

Breath of the Wild, one of the biggest and most popular games Nintendo has ever put out, finally got its sequel, and it somehow makes that game look like a demo. Everything new that they added results in Tears of the Kingdom blowing Breath of the Wild out of the water - the world map is about three times the size due to the added cave systems and whole new areas above and below Hyrule, the abilities Link gets to use are so much more complex and fun to use (especially the building mechanics), the enemies/bosses and side quests are more interesting, the list really does go on. It even has an excellent story that, while still unfortunately leaning back into "rescue the princess", delivers a really enjoyable narrative only marred by the fact that you can kind of ruin it by viewing it outside of the intended order, but I guess for an open-world game that's fine. I held off on writing this bit because I didn't really know what to say other than "game good", and now I don't want it to go on too long because I'll start rambling. The game is just really fucking good, man. Sometimes things in it are annoying, but I say that about every game, including Breath of the Wild - it may not be a particularly interesting opinion, but I think this game has just about perfected what it wants to be, and I have no idea what the Zelda team is going to do next. [5★]

41) Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast/PC, 1999/2011)

Next time someone tries to tell me that Sonic "had a rough transition to 3D" and it's clear they're talking about this game specifically, I think I might push them out of the nearest window, because that lie has gone on for far too long, though admittedly the ports of this thing have a couple unique issues and that's kinda why I modded the Steam port to be more in line with the Dreamcast version. But regardless, yes, this game is really good fun. It's a pretty unique 3D platformer with an excellent hub world and several different gameplay styles that each offer something fresh - from speeding through levels to fishing for a kind of annoying frog, I do rather like them all to varying degrees. The general vibes of the game as a whole (mainly down to the locales but also things like the incredible music) are pretty cool too, and the solidly enjoyable story - especially the parts with Gamma - is told in cutscenes that may look a bit awkward now but still have a lot of charm to them. Everything culminates in the classic final fight against Chaos, and that will always be really cool despite the actual gameplay of that fight being a bit of a pain. If you haven't played a "good" 3D Sonic game, open your heart up to this one - but do grab the mod loader if you're playing the Steam release. [4★]

42) Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast/PC, 2001/2012)

The sequel to Sonic Adventure is kind of a few steps forward and a few steps back, and production-wise we know it was a bit rushed, which does explain some issues, but thankfully the subsequent ports ended up having less issues than the prior game's. Adventure 2 takes a hit in not having a cool hub world to explore and instead opting for typical menus separating the two routes that include most of the different level types introduced in the first game, and one of those level types (the emerald hunts) is designed so much worse this time around for god knows what reason. In fact, the game can be a bit more annoying to play in a lot of areas, although plenty of the time it's just because it's deliberately more challenging and not actual bad design. But it makes up for anything that might be worse than in the first game by having even cooler presentation, with a stronger storyline featuring everyone's favourite grumpy hedgehog Shadow and better cutscenes, more banger music, and going right up into space for the supersonic finale. So generally it's both better and worse than the first game, but hey, you live and learn. [4★]

43) Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit (PC, 2022)

With the upcoming Sonic Superstars set to feature Fang for the first time since the original Triple Trouple, now's as good a time as any to check out the stellar fan remake that turns it into an awesome 16-bit style game mechanically rather similar to Sonic 3, like the more traditional Sonic 4 that we never got. It's a lovingly crafted game that perfectly re-imagines the zones from the original with much cleaner graphics and refreshed music accurate to the hardware it's trying to replicate, and more spectacular setpieces that give it a whole new burst of character, plus it's full of its own fun original gimmicks and surprises too. A full run of the game getting all Chaos Emeralds and defeating the incredibly cool true final boss won't take you very long, but if you're a fan of the classic games you're bound to enjoy the ride and want to replay it with the unlockable characters too. Definitely a really cool fangame that's worth checking out. [4.5★]

44) Pokémon Infinite Fusion V5.X (PC, 2022)

It's the Pokémon fangame that got all the content creators posting YouTube shorts of the funny things they made in it, and of course, it's easy to see why a game with a fusion gimmick would have so much mass appeal - it's a massive undertaking from the people working on the thousands of different sprites required, and the idea of fusing Pokémon together has been popular for over a decade at this point. And that's a gimmick that the game handles really well, every battle presents you with some new cute combination or hybrid abomination and you never know what's coming up next, plus you'll always be mixing and matching with your own stuff to see what happens and if you can make something completely overpowered (I recommend Shedinja + Absol for maximum cheese). Though, I'm not that big on the core adventure itself, because it's just Kanto again with some Johto and the Sevii Islands tacked onto it, along with more Pokémon of course, and the new story elements are just kind of whatever unfortunately. It's also an RPG Maker game, so there's some jank to be seen, but I'm used to that considering the other things I've played. So all in all, it's hard carried by the fusion mechanic, but at least it manages to nail that, and it's still being updated constantly with new sprites to check out. [3.5★]

45) Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! (Switch, 2023)

I don't feel much for this game, so I'll keep it short. I've only really dabbled in Puzzle Bobble once or twice, and so I figured I'd give this one a whirl, but it wasn't that good all things considered. Sure, it gets the core gameplay right, as it should, and the online multiplayer works pretty well, but what I found pretty annoying was the story mode - a lot of the levels are just stupid and a pain in the ass, at least for me, so maybe I'm not a hardcore Bobble-head after all. The characters are rather annoying too, but maybe that's just in this entry, who knows? If there are better iterations of this series then I'd be down to play those as well, I just didn't like this one that much outside of dicking around with non-story mode content, which was decent enough. [2.5★]

46) Nimona (Movie, 2023)

The once-cancelled Blue Sky adaptation of a comic from ND Stevenson, showrunner of that very queer She-Ra series, actually got rescued by Annapurna and actually came out this year, and boy am I glad it did, not least because of how poorly animation tends to get treated by so many of the large corporations. The movie is an incredibly fun and deeply heartfelt story of people society was all too keen to paint as monsters because of an authoritarian regime, and it's definitely pretty clear about its messages in a way that pretty much anyone can understand. It's also quite well-animated and put together really nicely, and although I have heard that it goes for a more family-friendly angle than the original comic did, it still manages to get everything across effectively and hit the right emotional beats, and it uses its runtime as well as one could expect from it. Also, I gotta say, this one's also very queer - the two most important male characters in the story are gay and get to kiss on-screen which is awesome, and I definitely get gender vibes from the titular Nimona, the awesome transforming girl who gets the most action in the movie. Maybe it's a good thing someone other than Disney released it, because I'm not sure how keen they are about gay people and anti-establishment messaging (this isn't even really a joke unfortunately). But anyway, this movie was awesome, and I hope we do see more projects like it. [4.5★]

47) Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Switch, 2023)

Ghost Trick has always been one of those really cool and unique DS puzzle games that people have been demanding everyone play for years, and in this case it's easy to see why that's all they were saying about it (in a good way). The story of this game is frankly too good to spoil, with some pretty great twists and turns that it takes, and I highly doubt anyone will be able to predict quite how it ends because that truly blindsided me and I loved it. The excellent cast of characters kind of helped with that too, especially the best boy of all time Missile; it's just very well-written as a whole. Now in terms of gameplay it's no slouch either, delivering some honestly genius puzzles revolving around setting up Rube Goldberg-esque series of movements with various objects that you, a ghost, can take control to prevent people from dying. Some of these puzzles are real head-scratchers, but I think anyone can get through them with enough trial and error, and it is immensely satisfying when you do, so it's a damn good puzzle game. Also worth mentioning, though it goes without saying if you've seen the game before, is that it has a really slick visual style with character designs that pop, and an excellent soundtrack that is very much welcome. Genuinely an incredible game, and I think they should let Shu Takumi do more original projects if this is what he can cook up. [5★]

48-49) Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack (Switch, 2017)

Had to check out some of Inti Creates' flagship titles when I saw they were doing a Love Live game in a similar style, and yeah, this is a fun type of game that feels inspired by certain Mega Man spinoffs. Both games in this pack have cool run-and-gun gameplay where you can "tag" enemies do deal more damage to them, and of course you kind of have to balance that with avoiding taking damage yourself. Not a problem in the levels themselves, but taking on bosses is where it can get super tricky, especially towards the end of the first game which is just way harder than the rest for some reason (so the first game does seem to require grinding for levels and equipment). So the core gamplay is something I quite like, but I'm not a fan of how it often presents the story as text boxes appearing during the action where you're not going to be paying attention to them because you're busy, and honestly I don't much care for the story and characters anyway (and honestly why are there so many little girls in these games, they even turn characters into them in the second one). I do also enjoy the little gimmick of having straight-up idol music playing at certain times when you're powered up, and the music is just kinda good in general, so there is that. Decently fun games overall, there's not that much left to say about them. [3.5★]

Finally, I'm done catching up on this, future entries will just have their own posts. Hope you enjoy these poorly-made stream-of-consciousness mini-reviews!

Last post

#scrunkore media 2023 #miitopia #super mario #zelda #sonic #pokemon infinite fusion #puzzle bobble #nimona #ghost trick #azure striker gunvolt

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thatsneakymedic · 1 year ago

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October Writing Challenge Day 3 Jester

It was always easy for Kabuto to infiltrate groups and teams of all sorts. Since the one thing that they all have in common and it's the surest way for him to lower their guard.

All he had to do is smile cutely, crack a few very clever jokes, and then act only a slightly bit clumsy and forgetful and in a click. He would win them over. Even if they had no respect for him in the end.

"Hey guys! Wait for me!" He yelled out as he lagged behind the group that he infiltrated as he carried their heavy bags and luggage for them. Of course, he had rummaged through it without them knowing anything about it. It was

But it wasn't what they had in their bags is what he was after. Nor their bodies either.

"Ha! Look at this loser! What kind of a shinobi are you if you're this slow? Get a move on, we're almost there!" The "leader" of the group named Osamu mocked and laughed at him along with the other two idiots who were merely following his example and they snickered and snorted along with him.

Yes, unfortunately. Kabuto's disguise is that of a too generous and gullible rookie who's too eager to get the attention of his "senpais" and he has been doing whatever orders they demanded of him. While his eager and bright eyes are seen from the outside, on the inside. His teeth clenched, his eyes felt like they could "turn red" at any moment, and his fingers and palms are itchy and ready to hurt his acquaintances. He knew that all he needed to do was to hold on a little longer till they make it to the rendezvous location and he'll signal his fellow spies to attack should the situation demands it.

His chest hurt, his arms hurt, his shoes have been torn from the weight, his face flushed and covered in sweat, and his clothes were dirty as well. Thankfully he had eaten a food pill before all of this since the trio refused to give him food or water till they made it to the area. Apparently as some sort of "training" when Kabuto knew full well that they were merely bullying and being cruel for no reason. Even though such practices weren't uncommon in the Oto village, in this case. Kabuto intends to not allow such personal injustices go unpunished, especially by these low ranked losers.

As if the Gods have granted his wish, he was finally granted mercy as the men finally shouted. "We're here! This is the site where the rumored ancient medicinal plants that can be found nowhere else in the world! I knew that my grandparent's treasure map was right all along!"

"We're going to be so rich if we pulled all of these herbs and sold them in the market!" Kishi, one of the men cheered as he hugged his other companion Kosho in sheer joy.

"Since we're the only ones who know about the location, we should keep this place secret and only harvest what is ready to be used. While also letting more of them grow so that we can never run out." Osamu chuckled, feeling rather proud of his idea.

"Osamu-san. What about our lackey? He also knows about this place and he's not in our friend circle..." The two men stop hugging each other and they glare suspiciously at Kabuto's direction who has also overheard their conversation.

"We made it? Oh thank god I can put these down and rest. Am I now part of your group? I did everything you asked." Kabuto sighed as he gently puts the bags down and he wipes some sweat off of his forehead.

Osamu thinks as he eyes Kabuto for a moment. He turns to his lackeys and he whispered to them, "I got this."

"Not quite. There IS at least three more things that you have to do for us rookie. It's then and only then can you become one of us." Osamu said casually as he sits on the nearest boulder with an arrogant flair about him.

Kabuto already knew that they have arrived, so before he could sic his allies on them, he decides to amuse himself by going along with his disguise. He scratches the back of his head with a tired laugh, "O-okay. Three labors left to go... I can do that. What else do you want me to do?"

Osamu despite that he appreciated the kid's enthusiasm, even he knew better than to trust him, and he also had no intentions to share his newfound wealth with his "friends" either. As soon as the favor has been made, he will kill all of them in their sleep and then pretend that they were attacked and he was the only survivor. Yes... a perfect plan and he'll quit being a shinobi since he won't ever need to work hard ever again.

"I'd like for you... to make me laugh. Tell me a joke. Or better yet, try to juggle some kunai and shurikens without cutting yourself. In other words, amuse me. If you can make me laugh as hard as I can till I feel like shitting myself, you won't have to do the other two tasks. Pinky promise." Osamu then reaches into his bag to pull out the bottle of water as he waits.

Kabuto raises his eyebrow as he crosses his arms, "Is that all I have to do? Make you laugh?"

Osamu's eyebrow twitched in annoyance since this "rookie" is already questioning his order, "Of course, but you're already off on a bad start rookie, now hurry up with the jokes or else I'll add another task for you to do! As the "King" of this group, you are still a jester and in order for you to get "promoted", I suggest you do as we say without asking questions. Now that I told you this, the next words that come out of your mouth had better be something funny. This is your last chance!"

Kabuto tilts his head as he thinks of a joke, but he sends a signal with his hidden fingers for his allies to attack the other two who suddenly disappeared out of the blue, without Osamu knowing.

"Let's see... you keep calling yourself a king, and it's even in your name. But I don't see anything remotely "royal" about you. But you do seem to fit the criteria on how obese and spoiled they can get. Let me guess... your parents named you that because they actually "believed" that you were going to become one? Jokes on your poor parents that their son is a pathetic loser relying on his ancestor's wealth than his own hard work!" Kabuto then snorts, "How pitiful. You're like that of a rooster who's only boasting how great he is as if he were a hawk."

"You want a joke? Go take a look in the mirror, you ARE the joke!" Kabuto sneered with his own laugh.

The man then attempts to throw his bottle at Kabuto but in a quick flash, he was pounced upon by two Oto nins who pierce his back with their blades and they pin him to the ground.

"Heh, I know I called you a rooster, but I can also compare your current situation of that of a bleeding... "stuck pig."

Taking another step forward, he kneels down to their level as he tilts his head, "How's that for a joke, "your highness." Kabuto smirked as he is dragged away into the brush and then immediately killed and his body tossed aside like the trash that it is.

He stretches his tired and sweaty limbs as he kicks aside the water bottle into the brush, "Well that was a pain in the ass, listen up everyone. Let's hurry up and pick what we can find and secure the area. Lord Orochimaru would be pleased to have this place all to himself. After all, he IS the true ruler who deserves this place."

notes: Osamu means "King, Monarch, Ruler in japanese Kishi means "Knight" Kosho means "Squire or an attendant of a samurai"

@lunyraartistry

#october writing challenge #this was a hard one #but I am happy to say that kabs really does tend to smile and laugh a lot #and laughter is the surest way to lighten the mood

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swinging-stars-from-satellites · 2 years ago

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Prologue/Part One | Part Two | Part Three

The best way to survive in a world like this is in community.

The towns that thrive, as much as anyone can thrive when the world has ended or stopped, are the ones that band together, where neighbors support neighbors and protect their own. Those are the kinds of places that will continue to rebuild, that will start to recreate the kind of society they came from.

Unfortunately for Dany, she was on a road trip when everything came to a halt. All she had at the time was two changes of clothes, two days' worth of food, two gas cans she filled after an attendant told her what had happened, and two guns. She picked up the revolver later. She'd driven straight through the night in her dad's old truck and taken a phone call halfway through, the last time she would hear her parents' voices.

She was alone from the beginning. An empty house greeted her when she pulled in with the fleeting whim that she could drive to meet her family, and she tore through it for bags and clothes and shelf-stable food and extra knives. She threatened a man who wanted to ransack but didn't shoot him, and nearly had a heart attack when she saw the boxy green bag that her parents had left behind. It was the first thing she took with her.

Community is survival, in a world that's stopped moving. Safety in numbers, like Robin said. But Dany is capable of surviving on her own. She's done it for months, now. She doesn't think Robin would make it so well, though, and- Dany isn't cruel. She doesn't want to hurt him if she doesn't have to, and she would love to leave him behind as soon as the sun rises, but he'd probably starve, the absolute idiot.

She sets off just after dawn, the forest sparser than she'd thought in the night. Robin, groggy, confused, follows. He tries to start conversation, tries to get her to talk, and Dany just ignores him. Let the guy stay curious. He doesn't get to know anything about her. She keeps a hand on her knife and an eye over her shoulder.

The wind picks up as soon as the trees thin, typical this time of year and hopefully blowing clear some of the ever-present smoke in the sky. Dany pops her collar. Behind her, the tagalong trips on a rock or a root or his own feet, she doesn't know or care. Dany hears him stumble and keeps walking.

"Where are we going?" He asks, eventually, halfway through that afternoon when Dany has finally gotten fed up and stopped to pull out her maps. She's going the right direction, still, which she didn't really doubt.

She glances up at Robin with a ducked head, glaring once again. "I'm going to find my family," she grumbles. "You, on the other hand, are going to the nearest surviving town and staying there."

"So you're going to leave me?"

Dany nods in response, and doesn't look up to see the stubborn look in his eyes. "I don't want a companion," she says, folding the map. She gives him a pointed look. "Or a sidekick."

"Very funny," he mumbles, rolling his eyes. Dany snorts, pushes windswept dark hair from her face, and starts walking again.

The nearest town that might be friendly, might still be civilized, and hopefully won't have scouts who will shoot them on sight, is at least another day's walk out. She doesn't tell Robin that. He'll figure it out.

He was right, when he said that survival is in numbers. It is.

Just not for her.

#shorter piece but eh i wanted to get something more done on this. so. this one might get rewritten if i ever post to ao3 #bc I'm not totally happy with it??? but anyway #Lu writes #crosscountry apocalypse #they be hikin

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vixtionary · 2 years ago

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UPON THE REMINISCENT nuance of her tone, dark eyes rolled to meet her worn visage. In his mind she still resembled that same lioness; the one who stood proudly atop a thousand bodies to quench the bloodthirst of their shared misguided youth. The welcoming warmth of her visage had drowned his judgement when he had accepted a seat at this here table, however, and he saw that now; in the cup kept cool under his icy grip. Men can claim to be free of sentiment; those are naive idiots, blind to the truth. Jericho considers himself an honest man compared to most — honest enough to admit he was out of his depth. ( and a little out of it, in general, thanks to the concoction )

Alas, Jericho indulged the ambassador with the measured grace of a man who had seen enough of the world to comfortably tread its grey lines. Shurimans for one were notoriously open people, honest in a way that could almost feel discomforting to Prime's folk.

"You were always a bold woman, Mariam. I like that about you." Matching her snark with a half-smirk, he raised his glass as if to toast her — but would take his sip regardless of reciprocation.

Caught back by the sudden familiarity, he tensed visibly under her nurturing touch. Subtle, yet pointed. Was she trying to appeal to his emotions, in her vain search for answers? He could not exclude the possibility, even if he would be loathe to believe it. Really, this amount of knowledge makes a man petty and paranoid; he mulled over that realization whilst gazing at her absently. That was, until something of her narration snapped him back.

"The one with the dent in the head?" He interrupted, perking up at the mention. Something vivid peaked through a boyish smirk, held back by the very tip of his misalligned incisors. "Ah, I want to claim I had foreseen that ending; but, there would be no glory in that whatsoever." Talons caged the cup's stem, absent-mindedly swirling its contents as he allowed his gaze to traverse. Tugging at the corners of his lips; a smile. "You know, back in the day I had heard this story of how he got the dent; trying to sheer a Mwati like a sheep. It bashed his head in and left him half-witted." He chuckled.

Solemnly still, the General was unwavering even as their shared bottle rattled the wood. He only followed her motion with dark eyes, downcast even as she spoke; albeit his chin, held high as per usual, clenching lightly upon her question. He did not seem distraught, though. Not any more than a man who was notoriously aloof would be; his shell, which she had once so tenderly managed to crack, now seemed reinforced. Under the table, his legs swept closer as a precaution. He clammed up, then, and just sat like that for a moment before suddenly regaining his fervor - or what was left thereof -and pointing his cup in her direction to request another fill.

"Let me ask you something on the topic, then, if you so insist on disbelieving me. When was the last time you had an opportunity for this?" Hand gestured between the two of them, subtly as not to disturb the wine too much. Albeit rhetorical, he allowed her a moment to dwell on his question. Lips pursed in a complacent fashion. He entrusted the silence to carry his point across the table. Placing his cup aside, as if he suddenly lost all interest in it, his finger instead travelled to the nearest platter's rim. "Tereshni is by no means a meager spot on the map; it is a crossroad, after all. But in size..."

A piece of cheese was plucked from the abundance surrounding it. He held it up between them to examine. "And yet this small lump of fat is festered with organisms; and if you leave it unattended it will rot in a matter of days." In one swift motion he popped it in his mouth, quietly mulling over the distinct goat-like scent. It was fresh, there was no doubt about it. Lightly spicy, smokey and rich; stubborn on the palate.

"I do not understand why you won't believe me when I say, I cannot afford to take my eyes off of the platter. Especially when there was nothing left for me here." He rolled his tongue over his teeth. Eyes found new engrossment in the tapestries. Then, softly, he finished his pregnant pause with a murmur; a tone so different from the one he'd used before. To confuse? To placate? Those weathered features refused to confess. The switch to Shuriman was a swift one, but his accent had remained thick as she would remember it.

|"I could rest easy knowing you were in charge."|

#shehili

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luimagines · 4 years ago

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He Accidentally Hurt You Pt. 1

Masterlist

Takes place while in the group, written as a platonic relationship.

this one got away from me entirely, so I had to split it up

Warrior

“I’m telling you, we need to head west!”

“And head straight into enemy territory? I don’t think so!”

“Wild’s right, Warrior. We can’t just sit around here and wait for them to come to us or the people of the town. We’re the only ones who can do something about it.”

“Need I remind the both of you that we’re all tired as hell as well? We have no potions or healing items, our weapons haven’t been tended to in over a week because of the constant fighting and everyone has an injury in one way or another. We can’t afford to keep going at this rate. We’re lucky enough to have enough food as it is.”

You glanced at the W Trio. Wild, Wind and Warrior.

They’ve been going over the map and strategies for the past hour and it’s getting tiring. That normally would have fallen to Time and Twilight to talk to Warrior about it but they went ahead as the currently strongest of all to secure the perimeter.

It hasn’t been going great.

You sighed and stood up, making your way over to where they were.

Warrior was getting worked up and his gestures became more agitated and pronounced.

They needed to stop.

“Ok, guys, take five and a breather.” You started before your head snapped backwards.

The arguing stopped instantly.

“Oh for Din’s sake! Are you ok?.” Hands covered your own as you felt your face trying to pry them off to get a read on the damage done. “Oh course this has to happen.”

You took a step back and plugged your nose for good measure.

Wild and Wind both look tense and looked between the two of you, expecting something to blow up in their faces.

“Well that was unnecessary.” You spoke after a tense beat.

Warrior bit his lip, warring within himself to both step forward to comfort you and too afraid of pushing your boundaries more than he already has. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Does it hurt?”

“I’ll live if that’s what you’re asking me.” You raised an eyebrow. “I was going to say that you should all take a break and leave it for a while. Maybe take a nap and come back to it once Twilight and the Old Man can have a say. Because yeah, we’re all tired as hell. I don’t think you liked the idea though.”

Warrior had the decency to look ashamed. “That was unintentional.”

“Regardless, I think I’m bleeding.” You smirk. “You’ve got quite the arm Captain. Last time I checked, a backhanded slap was usually reserved for-”

“Please don’t make this any worse.”

You laughed.

Wind

“Wind! Get down from there!” You called up the tree.

Mr. Sticky Fingers had taken something important from you, not that he knew what it was and you didn’t plan on telling him it’s importance since it was mostly sentimental value but the kid turned it into a game instead.

“I’m not going to climb after you Pirate!”

“I guess it’s mine then!” He taunted back.

You glared at his smirking face and snapped your head to the group. “Excuse me Wild Child, care to lend a hand? You’re the best tree climber among us and I’d really like to get my item back.”

Wild looked up and spotted Wind in the tree. He shrugged and stood up, making his way over. “I can make that climb. Sure.”

“Uh oh.” Wind huddled into himself on the nearest branch before making a mad dash through the tree.

Wild followed closely and you stepped under the tree to get a better view of the chase. The multitude of branches and leave and twigs made it hard to see through and you didn’t see make the executive decision to jump down.

And it seemed as if he didn’t see you either.

You both landed on the ground, a sickening crack following shortly. Your cry of surprise quickly turning into one of pain.

Wind jumped off of you as if you burned him but stayed close, handing your item back as if that would fix the problem.

The boys crowded you instantly. Hyrule led the charged followed by Twilight and Time. Warrior pulled Wind aside to give them room, Wild jumped down from the tree and Legend chose to stand closer to Hyrule to get a look over his shoulder. Four and Sky held back, concerned faces mirroring each other.

“I think you broke my arm.” You gritted through your teeth.

“I didn’t.... I didn’t mean-” Wind spoke up but bit his lip, cutting himself off. He knew there was no saving him.

“What on earth was so important that it had to come to this?” Time glared at the both of you. You would have felt a little more embarrassed because it was easily avoidable but at the same time, it was your dominant arm and now you struggled to sit up.

“Wind took an item of mine and refused to give it back. To keep me from getting it back, he climbed up a tree and I asked wild to help me out. The kid jumped on me and this happened. End of story.” Hyrule looked up at you questionably before snapping the bones back into place. A scream tore through your throat before you could stop it. “‘RULE! A little warning next time?!”

He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s better if you aren’t expecting it.”

“What’s so special about that item anyway, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sky came a little closer to rub comforting circles on your back. Hyrule took that as his cue to begin healing the injury properly. “Is it magic?”

Pain clouded your judgment slightly. “No, not exactly.”

“What is it then? It doesn’t look like anything special.” Legend gripped the tip of it and you pulled it closer to your chest, away from the others. “It’s defiantly not magic.”

“Not in the traditional sense.” You agreed. The pain was slowly fading away now, but with the quickening of the healing process, it looked worse than it did before. You turned your eyes away from the black and blue mess.

“It’s... the last gift my mother ever gave to me.” You admitted. “It’s a special kind of magic that only means something to me.”

“The sentimental kind.” Four smiled sadly.

You nodded in agreement. “But it’s not like it does anything. It’s only a token really. However... I’d rather die then let anything happen to it.”

The group stood around you silently, taking in the information.

“I’m sorry.” Wind stood before you. “I didn’t-”

You held your good hand up. “It’s not broken, I knew you would never try that and I got it back. I’m not even mad, just don’t do it again.”

He looked worse after your words, as if it was the worse news you could have told him. You knew the feeling. You felt like maybe it would help him feel better to get yelled at or something equivalent of a punishment but it wasn’t in your nature.

Once that mess was cleared up, he stayed to close to you but was unusually quiet.

You made it a point to make sure that he knew you were still on good terms by the end of the day.

Wild

“I wonder if theses are ok to eat.” You mutter to yourself. Poking at a berry bush that was near your camp, you heard (and felt) your stomach rumble. “Wild would probably know. Hyrule might know as well but....”

THWIP

Something was imbedded in your leg.

“OH MERCY ME!” You fell over, narrowly avoiding the berry thorn bush and looked down. “FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY- WHAT IN THE WORLD-!”

An arrow.

An arrow was just... sticking out of your leg.

Rustling came from the bushes beyond and out popped a twig and leaf covered head of hair. A scarred face came next that expressed confusion to immediate concern and shock. Wild jumped over the bush and made a mad dash to your side.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, I thought you were an animal.” He crouched down by your side and hovered his hands around the offending object.

“Why on earth did you think I was an animal?” You nearly cursed him then and there.

It hurt. It hurt and hurt and he wasn’t doing anything!

“I heard a growl.” He admitted, a bright blush on his face.

“No, that was me and my stomach. I’m hungry man! I was just checking if those berries were edible.” You growled and tried to move over but your leg wouldn’t cooperate without sending bouts of burning static up to your hip.

“That was a crap shot anyway. It wouldn’t have taken the animal down regardless.” Wild muttered to himself.

“Excuse you but I’m the one who was shot. Take it out!”

“Ok, ok, ok, hold on.” He placed a bracing hand on your leg and grip the arrow in the other. “Deep breath. Ready? One. Two.”

“OUCH! YOU SICK, TWISTED, SON OF A-”

“Here.” Wild handed you a potion. You recognized it as a healing item of his, even if the bottle was wrong and uncorked it, gulping it down with vigor.

“You owe me Champion.” You crossed your arms when you finished, handing the bottle back to him.

“I’ll cook you something. Anything you want.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. “Those berries aren’t edible anyway.”

You blinked at him and the berries, not pouting at all. Your glare hardened at the plant. “I blame you.”

“The plant?”

“I just wanted to eat something!”

Legend

You couldn’t believe it.

There he was, sleeping in your bedroll.

You were tired as it was and didn’t have the energy to put up with it. Instead of anger though...It was mostly confusion.

Why was Legend asleep in your bed roll?

Was he really that tired that he just didn’t care? Probably. The nightmares were bad the night before and he was working nonstop the whole day.

You couldn’t fully blame him. He probably didn’t even notice.

Still.

You were exhausted as well and you refused to take his spot.

You walked over and shook his shoulder.

BAM

You stumbled backwards and eventually fell over, your hands covering your face.

Legend sat up blearily and blinked for a solid minute before realizing his fist was still raised.

“Legend!” You yelled at him. “What the heck man? You can’t punch to save your life!”

“What?”

“That’s my bedroll, dumb bell. I would like to sleep please.” You crossed your arms and stared him down. “Also, I’m telling Twilight you can’t punch for crap.”

Legend pushed himself up and looked beneath him. “Oh. Sorry. Wait. What about my punching?”

”You suck at it.”

He glared at you for a moment before taking a swing in your direction.

You dodged it easily and grinned. “Your form definitely needs work.”

“Shut up!”

Part 2

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #linked universe x reader #good golly Wind's got away from me #I have to split it #part 2 will be out soon.

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detroitbecomeyandere · 3 years ago

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Spirited Away

It was going to be "the road trip of the century", or at least that's how your friends put it when they were trying to convince you to do something for summer break other than working.

"Come ooonnn y/n, all you do is work and study! You have to join us, you're gonna die of boredom at this rate!" Audrey whines and throws herself over your shoulders, almost making you drop your overpriced coffee.

"Not everyone has a scholarship or parents to pay for their degree Audrey, some of us have to work to be here. I can't afford to take two weeks off if I want to pay for the semester." Taking a sip of your coffee a grimace crawls across your face as the sugar hits you full force, "Remind me never to take a coffee suggestion from Rosie again."

"She's a sweet girl so it makes sense she'd drink liquid diabetes, but stop trying to change the subject you have to go with us this year!" The red head pulls the cup from your hand to take a swig then makes a face that matches your own before dumping the coffee into the nearest trash can. "Girl, you haven't gone on any trips the entire time you've been here. Live a little for once in your life, we are just driving up to Bentley's family cabin. What's the worst that could happen?"

After some more relentless badgering from your three friends and a promise of paying for this semester for you all four of you set off, and as you sit and listen to Bentley and Audrey bicker about if Chris Hemsworth was hotter than Chris Pine you were glad you came. All the windows were rolled down so you guys could enjoy the fresh air, and to help you with your car sickness. Your head was almost out the window as you tried to push the nausea away, the trees rushed by making you feel more sick. You shut your eyes hoping it will help and doze off.

By the time you wake up the sun is setting, the car is parked and your friends are outside, unbuckling you get out and join them. "Man Bentley, your parents really let their house go, look at all these trees."

"Yeah I've been meaning to tell them trees are so last century. Rosie got us lost and I'm trying to figure out where we are." Bentley was hunched over the hood of his car staring at a paper map. The blonde huffs and crosses her arms, "It's not my fault the phone signal crapped out, you should have downloaded the map!"

You check your phone and sure enough you were in a dead zone, slipping it back into your pockets. "Bentley, you come out here every year with your family, how could you get lost?"

"I don't drive when we do! Get off my back and give me a minute, okay."

Rosie opens her mouth to tease him too but is interrupted by Audrey shouting for you three to come see what she found. With a huff Bentley folds the map as the three of you make your way to her. Audrey was standing in front of a large man-made tunnel hidden behind old oak trees. The stone pathway looked old with grass and wildflowers growing wildly between the cracks, in the entryway of the tunnel stood a small stone tower that seemed fragile enough to fall over in the wind. Parts of the tunnel wall crumbled under Rosie's hand as she ran it across the plaster. "This place has seen better days. Who do you suppose put it here?"

Bentley scratched his chin, "If I remember correctly, some company was building a theme park out here, but the project was scrapped when they realized no one would drive this far out to see it. Guess they laid some of the foundation before then."

Just then a gust of wind blew behind you inching you all closer to the entrance, "It's like it's pulling us in. Let's go check it out!" Aubrey states as she starts walking through the tunnel Bentley and Rosie follow right behind her.

"Guys let's just head back to the car, I'm exhausted and could really use a nap."

"Come on y/n, how often do you get the chance to sneak into an abandoned amusement park? Let's make some memories!" Aubrey yells back at you from halfway through the tunnel, with a huff of annoyance you stuff your hands into your shorts pockets and start down the pathway. The tunnel was longer than you thought and the further you went in the more run down it looked. Maybe it was the darkness or the fact you were walking through a structure that could collapse in on you at any second, but something about this place made your hair stand on edge. There was just something unsettling about it and you seemed to be the only one to notice, your three friends just chattered on without a care in the world and ignoring all the possible danger.

The four of you emerge into the blinding sunlight, standing on top of a hill your group gets a glimpse at the abandoned theme park in the distance just barely able to make out the roofs of the buildings. "Ah man, what kind of amusement park doesn't have rides?" Rosie whines in disappointment and crosses her arms while she pouts.

"Maybe it's more of a reenactment place than a park?" Aubrey reasons, ever the leader she walks on towards the park and the rest of you follow. You walk through a long dried creek bed and into the village setting, now that you have a closer look the buildings seem to have been Japanese inspired. "Maybe this place never opened because of cultural appropriation." Bentley clicks his tongue in mock disappointment and a little chuckle at his joke.

"Shut up Bentley." The three of you say in unison.

The four of you walked around for a while just taking in everything, the buildings while old looking seemed to be in pretty decent shape and some even had little fountains that still had running water on the side of them. In the distance the sun was starting to set and you suggested heading back to the car so you wouldn't get lost on the way back. "Hang on y/n, there is still more to see. Worst case, we crash here tonight." Rosie replied.

"Yeah worst case we sleep in an abandoned park in the middle of the woods where no one else knows where we are. That's a wonderful idea." You grumble back to her. You all continue deeper into the town until you smell fresh food wafting through the air and in perfect unison your friend's stomachs growl.

"Maybe this place isn't so dead after all, come on, that food smells amazing!" The three of them take off in the direction the smell is coming from and soon find a restaurant-like building filled with fresh hot food. "Hello! Is anyone here?!" Rosie yells out but gets no answer in return, "Must have just stepped out for a second." She says with a shrug, three of them sit down and start to fill plates with some of everything in their reach. "Guys I think we should wait till they come back, you can't just take this food it might be for something." Aubrey waves you off and stuffs a dumpling into her mouth, "We can pay them later, I have cash and Bentley has his family's card. You have got to try this y/n, this is the best food I have ever had in my life!"

"No thanks, I'm gonna see if I can find the owner before we get in trouble." Walking off you hear your friends rave about the food as they cram it into their faces. The sun is setting below the trees, normally you would find the dusty oranges and pinks to be comforting but in a ghost town it gives you the creeps. You stop halfway on a bridge and look off into the distance, in the dusk the town was certainly pretty and you kind of wished you could have seen this place open. Lost in your own thoughts you don't hear the footsteps approaching you.

"What are you doing here?" The question jolts you out of your zoning out and you turn around to find a man staring intently at you. His brown eyes almost glowed in the dim light and his short brown hair seemed to be slightly out of place. "You need to get out of here, now!" "Look if this is about the food I'm sorry but you don't need to yell at me, we can pay for it."

"No that's not the… they're lighting the lanterns already. You need to get your friends and get across the river before it's dark. Go, now!" The strange man lunges at you and you bolt back the way you came from, you turn to see if the stranger is following you only to run flat into someone. You look up to apologize only to see a huge shadow creature, your heart stops when it growls at you and before it can grab your arm you duck around it and run as fast as you can. All around you more shadow creatures start to appear out of thin air as the once dead village comes to life, the darker it gets the more solid the beings become.

After a final turn you arrive back at the restaurant only to find three massive pigs in place of your friends and before you can even understand what's happening a large frog-like man appears behind the tables and starts to wipe the pigs at the table. Once again you take off, screaming your friend's names as desperation fills you. By the time you reach the creek bed the sun has completely set and the only light comes from the lanterns from behind you. The once dried river is now filled with a fast current and while you were a strong swimmer you knew you couldn't make it across. Your knees buckle and you crash to the ground skinning your knee in the process and the pain only cements the fact that all this is real. Your friends are missing and you are stuck in this place that shouldn't exist. As the adrenaline wears off, tears start to roll down your face as the panic sets in, you go to wipe your face only to find that your hand is see through now. A full blown panic attack ensues as you watch your body start to fade away, shutting your eyes and wrapping your arms around yourself one last time, all you can think about is how your family would never know what happened to you.

"You didn't make it across, you were so close." Your eyes snap open to see the man from the bridge and you try to stand up only for your legs to be cemented to their place. You reach out for his pants only for them to phase through him, "What's happening to me!!" you scream at him. The brunette kneels before you and pulls a little red pill out of his pocket. "Open, you need to take this before you disappear completely." You keep your mouth firmly shut not trusting the man before you, with a sigh he slips the pill into his mouth before pushing his lips against your own. His tongue pushes past your lips and forces the pill into your mouth and down your throat, he lingers longer than he needs to, probably just making sure you actually swallow it. By the time he pulls away your arms are no longer see through and you can feel your legs again, taking your hands in his he carefully pulls you to your feet. You open your mouth to question him when he suddenly pushes you against the wall, your face starts to heat up as his body pushes against you. After the initial shock wears off your eyes travel from his chest to search his eyes for any ill intent only to see that he wasn't even looking at you, instead his eyes were cast over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry for your friends and I'm sorry you're stuck here. But we don't have time for me to explain, he knows there's a human here and he's looking for you. Hold onto me, I'll keep you safe." numb from everything you just nod and slip your small hand into his.

In a flash the two of you are flying through the now crowded streets dodging every strange creature with grace. You glance up at the man next to you, his brows set in determination and he focuses on the route. Without warning he stops and you slam face first into his back, the two of you are standing behind a couple of bushes next to a bridge where dozens of monsters are crossing. "You need to take a deep breath and hold it until we cross over, it's very important that you don't exhale while we are crossing."

"But why?"

"When a human holds their breath on a crossway in our world they are invisible, if they see you they'll eat you. We have to go now, hurry, take your breath and stay close to me."

You take a huge gulp of air and grab his large sleeve and huddle close to him. The two of you make your way across the bridge to the massive, brightly light building ahead of you. Monsters of all shapes and sizes were flooding into the building. You pass one monster whose body was still a shadow but you could see that he was one of the more humanoid ones. His blonde hair was the only defined feature of his as his face was covered by a white and purple mask. Despite you still holding your breath you felt like he could see you, making you grip on your dark haired savior tighter.

Your lungs and throat start to burn and your eyes water but you were nearly there, peeking up you see that at the entrance stands dozens of women whose heads were at least three times the size of a normal head. Their waving stops as they spot the man you are with and run over to him, they reach out to grab at his arms but he takes a step back shielding you from their accidental touches. "Master, you're back! We are so pleased to have you home, come in, come in!" They continue to crowd around you two stopping your journey and even though you try you can't stop yourself from taking a breath. The moment you do the women start to shriek as you start to materialize in front of their eyes, your savior lifts his hand and casts a spell on the women freezing them in place before taking your hand in his again and quickly leads you away.

This time the two of you stop in a secluded garden area where he allows you to catch your breath before saying anything. "Those damn women, always clawing at me. You'd think by now they'd learn I'm not interested." From the inside of the building you hear people run around and start calling for the man, he looks up at the door and gives a tired sigh. "They're looking for me now, I need to go or else they'll find you too." Having finally caught your breath you apologize to him, "I'm sorry for causing you trouble like this, I just couldn't hold it anymore."

Turning back to you he pushes a strand of your hair behind your ear with a gentle smile on his face, "You did wonderful, I'm just sorry I couldn't have been more help. Now listen carefully, once things have calmed down go out that door and down the stairs to the boiler room. In there you'll find Hank the boiler man, you must get a job from him. He will try to send you away, trick you, but you can not leave until you get a job from him. That is the only way Elijah can't harm you."

"Elijah? Who is he?"

"He's the witch who runs the bathhouse, you'll meet him soon enough. I have to go now, be safe until we see each other again." Taking your hand in his for a final time he brings it to his lips and places a gentle kiss, he turns to leave only for you to grip his sleeve again. "Wait, you never told me your name."

He smiles softly at you, "It's Connor."

#detroit become human #yandere #spirited away #dbh connor #dbh ralph #dbh hank #dbh kamski #dbh kara #dbh rk900 #slow burn #spirited away au #part one #oh my god im so proud of this #beau is excited #mod beau

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starcrossedkaiju · 3 years ago

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Kingslayer AU: Chapter One

Finally! I’m sorry this took so long, I’m a nervous wreck.

Notes: this was originally a warmup for character interactions/setting. It is very dialogue heavy.

\\ Warnings: alcohol //

A single tumbleweed was all that crossed Scott’s path when he arrived in the Red Desert. It was rather comical, he stood and watched it roll away until he couldn’t see it through the sheets of sand blowing over the ground.

In the distance, the only mountain located in the desert biome loomed over the horizon. Imposingly backlit by the red, swirling, tendrils of the world border. Most residents kept away from the thing, as it was meant to give off an unsettling aura. Although Scott never minded it. The wall of his room was almost right up against it after all.

On top of the mountain was a barely visible “castle”, which looked as if it was built by someone wearing a blindfold. The inhabitants of the castle, and the aptly named “Monopoly Mountain” could be accurately described as menaces.

Clumsy when it came to forward thinking, and leaving hidden traps around so frequently that traveling through any wooded area required either a very long stick, or someone willing to take the business end of a TNT trap for the team.

They also happened to be Scott’s nearest allies. It hadn’t always been pleasant between them, but circumstance led to circumstance, and now Scott was making his semi-weekly visit to Monopoly Mountain to shoot the breeze.

Typically the only person at the base would be Grian. Scar liked to make himself elusive by causing problems elsewhere and returning late into the evening with a story to tell over dinner.

The base of the mountain was void of a bubble-elevator. To reach the top one must climb an absurd amount of stairs. Scott huffed and resigned himself to the task in front of him.

As his perspective grew higher and higher the rest of the map revealed itself. The roof of Joel’s house peeked over a swathe of trees, and the tall barricades of Dogwarts stood out as a stark silhouette against the sky. Scott took a few minutes to regain his purchase, shielding his eyes from the whipping wind.

The season was gradually descending into winter. Made obvious by the deciduous trees’ leaves choking out the last of their green pigment for fiery shades of red and orange. The weather was far less pleasant to endure. Everywhere outside of the Red Desert had to deal with bitterly cold conditions, although there hadn’t been snow yet, the sky churned with a constant overcast. Threatening to storm at the drop of a coin.

Scott rubbed his arms to fight off the oncoming chill and continued his ascent, hoping someone had installed a fireplace since the last time he visited.

Finally he rounded the last of the stairs and gazed up at the tall, thin roof of the Sand Castle. The Red Desert flag strung on the tallest rooftop flapped around in the wind. Pizza, the pet lama, grunted in Scott’s direction when he approached the front door. He hesitantly reached out to pet her (she bit him once and he’d never fully gotten over it) from over the fence of her pen, and she let him rub her fluffy bangs.

Scott knocked on the door three times and gave Pizza one last pat, anticipating someone to open the door. It would be a shame if he’d hiked all the way out only for nobody to be home.

Thankfully, the door swung open with a welcoming screech of it’s hinges.

“Hey dude,” Grian welcomed him from the front steps.

“Hey,” Scott greeted in return, “may I come in?” he asked.

“Of course! It’s freezing out here,” Grian replied and stepped away from the door, which slammed with a squeak behind the two of them.

Scott closed his eyes and waved to the resident enderman, who greeted him with a friendly, distorted “hello”. A furnace was running to warm the living room.

Scott took his coat and hat off. He draped them over the arm of the couch before swatting a layer of sand from the cushion and sitting down, observing the scene in front of him. There was always something going on in there.

This time, a myriad of blueprints were strewn across the floor. Each of them depicting heavily annotated structures and what looked like plans for redstone. Grian had planted himself on the floor with a pencil, and was furiously erasing a line of text.

“What’s that?” Scott pointed over his shoulder.

“These,” Grian held one of the outlines up to the other’s face, “are the blueprints for our secret bunker,” he explained.

“You hear that? Secret Bunker, so don’t go telling anyone about it m’kay?” He tapped the paper with the end of his pencil.

“Okay, fair enough. Is that redstone?” Scott slid another sheet of paper towards them with his shoe.

“Yup. I’m gonna equip it with a lava trap,” Grian said proudly.

“And this one will work?” Scott teased.

“Hilarious,” Grian pushed the other’s shoulder, “yes it will work, it’s going to be my best yet,” he assured.

“Oh good! That’s not a very high standard to meet then,” Scott congratulated.

“Blah, blah, blah,” Grian mocked back, “you better be careful what you say with twenty five reputation points,” he said.

Scott threw his hands up in surrender, still laughing at how the other man’s ears turned red.

The house fell into a comfortable silence after that. The sound of scribbling and wind served as a calming ambience. Scott intermittently shared a few words with the enderman, who seemed to understand more of what Scott said to him than the other way around.

“Hey, Grian?” Scott turned over on the couch to face his friend.

“Yeah?” The other said without looking away from his work.

“Do you think you would have still been friends with Scar if he hadn’t died from that creeper?” Scott asked.

There was a pregnant pause, then Grian said, “I don’t know. I never thought about it,” he doodled absently on the margin of his paper.

“Hm,” Scott replied halfheartedly. He mainly asked because whenever he visited Grian was alone. If they were even home at all. Other than that him and Scar were always attached at the hip.

“Why?” Grian asked in return.

“I don’t know, forget it,” Scott waved him off. Not wanting to get into it.

“When’s he gonna be back?” he asked instead.

Grian sat up and stretched his back, “uh, I don’t know actually. He said he went to gather resources but you can never really count on him doing what he says he will,” he explained.

“You didn’t go with him?” Scott asked.

“I don’t want to babysit him anymore. If he gets in trouble that’s not my problem,” Grian said. He stood up and wandered over the the kitchen, carefully avoiding the blueprints on the floor.

“Ha! I would drink to that one, Jimmy is the same way sometimes,” Scott replied and watched as Grian contemplated the contents of their cooler, reaching in and pulling out a bottle of red wine.

“Well then, let’s drink to it,” he held the bottle up with a grin.

“Where did you get that?” Scott vacated the couch and made his way over to his friend, taking the bottle and studying it, “I haven’t seen the fruit of the vine in years!” he recalled.

The bottle had clearly been tapped into before, although not much was absent from its contents.

“I have my ways,” Grian rummaged around in a cabinet and pulled out two glasses.

“I would say it’s too early for this, but for once, it’s five o’clock somewhere,” Scott uncorked the bottle with a satisfying pop and poured each glass a third of the way.

Grian cleared his throat, “To the safety of our stupid partners,” he raised his glass.

Scott nodded in return and connected their drinks with a polite clink, then they drank to the sentiment.

The conversation traveled to the dining table, which was more of a booth. Talking points ranged from preparing for winter to future plans to expand their bases.

“I’m not going to get anything done with the weather coming on,” Scott complained over his drink, “I don’t handle the cold very well,” he downed the last of it.

“Well you can always move in with us for the season, the attic is vacant,” Grian offered.

“Never in a million years. I’d rather be sick at home than spend a week living with barbarians,” Scott refused the offer.

Grian rolled his eyes, “it is not that bad,” he defended himself.

Scott raised an eyebrow and shoved his hand in between the cushions of the booth. Pulling up a handful of sand, which he deposited on the table.

“We live in a desert! What do you want us to do about it, of course there’s some sand in here,” Grian threw his hands up.

“Some?” Scott repeated.

“Okay,” Grian glanced under the table and shuffled his foot around, which scraped across a layer of sand, “a lot of sand,” he corrected himself.

“Get a vacuum. For the hundredth time, get a vacuum,” Scott demanded.

“We have a broom that works perfectly fine,” Grian stood up and opened a linen closet to reveal a single broom leaned up against the wall.

Scott didn’t comment on it, but he had a feeling that broom never left the closet.

The conversation was effectively halted when the front door screeched open, letting in a gust of wind and sand. It blew a few papers off the floor and scattered them around the living area.

“Hey,” Grian called out, “Scar? You back?” he asked.

“Yeah,” came from the front of the Sand Castle.

“Okay! We have company by the way,” Grian prefaced.

Scar’s head poked around the doorframe, he waved at Scott who returned the gesture.

“What have you guys been up to?” He inquired at the sight of the wine on the counter.

“Just hanging out. It gets a bit lonely up here you know,” Grian closed the linen closet and took Scar’s backpack from him. He opened it and looked at the contents.

“Oh, you actually did what you went out to do,” Grian revealed a bundle of wood from the bag.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Scar crossed his arms.

“Never mind, go wash up. I assume you’re hungry,” Grian opened a pantry and took some spices out, “are you staying for dinner Scott?” he asked.

Scott leaned out of the booth to check the time on the clock above the door, “mmm, yeah why not. I’m already here,” he decided.

“Let me just page Jimmy and tell him I’m gonna be home late,” Scott patted all his pockets but found no sign of his communication device.

“Hey Grian? Can I use your pager?” he requested.

Grian fished around in his back pockets and pulled out his pager, tossing it towards the other who caught it with both hands. Scott thanked him and flipped the screen up, selected the address he needed to contact, and typed out a short message. Making sure to say it was from him and not Grian before sending it to Jimmy.

“What’re we making?” Scott asked once he finished, intent on trying to help in the kitchen.

“Well, it’s Spaghetti Friday,” Grian declared and revealed a bag of Rigatoni pasta.

“That’s a thing?” Scott inquired, taking the bag and examining the packaging. It was pretty simple, mostly cardboard with a plastic window. Presumably from the village on the other side of the map.

“We’ve gotta have some fun around here, come on now Scott,” Grian said.

“You’re right, how can I help?” Scott said. Grian side eyed him.

“You can add the salt when I say you can add the salt,” he offered. Scott crossed his arms.

He wasn’t that bad at cooking. He’d only burned a few things, smoked the house out for three days once, and set scrambled eggs on fire.

“That one time was just a rookie mistake,” Scott retorted. It’s not like he did it on purpose.

“A rookie mistake that almost burned your flower forest down. I wouldn’t let you near the kitchen if I was Jimmy either,” Grian set a pot down on the stove.

Scar came back in the kitchen then, and was pulled into it almost immediately.

“A man can’t even sit down in his own house without his culinary skills being put up for debate?”

Grian laughed at him, sliding the pot under the water pump.

“That’s not an answer at all! Can you or can’t you?” Scott demanded to know, holding a salt shaker.

“I can cook,” Scar’s gaze wandered into thought, he started counting on his fingers, “pasta, assorted vegetables, mac and cheese, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and I can bake a half decent carrot cake,” he recited.

“I worked in a supermarket before the borders. We made some of our own stuff for the bakery and the buffet,” Scar said. It was the first mention he made of what he did back when things were normal. At least to Scott.

Scott was pleasantly surprised. He nodded, seeing as he’d been given a satisfying answer.

The spaghetti went off without a hitch, Grian was surprisingly good at making it. Scott had the sense that he’d done it many times before.

“Remember, you can put the salt in but you can’t take it out. Here taste the sauce and tell me if it’s alright,” Grian fished a spoon from a drawer and handed it to Scott.

“Hmm,” the other pondered after trying a spoonful, “maybe a bit more salt?” he suggested.

A window was propped open to let the steam and heat out. It was getting dark now, and the world border stood out against the purple hues of night falling over the server. The brightest stars made themselves known to the east as the sun set to the west. It was peaceful, the wind had died down. Scott wondered if anyone else was watching.

Personally, he enjoyed stargazing a lot more. His servermates knew next to nothing about the cosmos, which made him wonder who was teaching them about the greater universe. Clearly they’d never been out there.

“Yo,” Scar called him out of his trance. He handed the other a ceramic bowl.

“Thank you,” Scott said and waited to serve himself.

The spaghetti was pretty good. Decent meals were hard to come by, especially with the limited resources outside of villages.

Over the course of dinner, Scar explained his excursion of the day. He had been gathering wood to stockpile for the winter months (no wood in the desert, better to have a source available and not have to hike out and get more constantly) when he came upon Etho’s base.

“It’s entirely made of wool,” he recounted.

Grian raised an eyebrow in confusion, “All of it? Why?” he mused.

“Dunno. There was nobody around,” Scar replied.

“You didn’t steal from them did you?” Scott interjected.

“Not this time,” he said, which earned him a jab in the ribs from Grian.

The three laughed it off and switched the subject to current server affairs. Who had the best gear, everyone’s respective allies, the phantom problem, and the pros and cons of a vacuum.

“Well, I would say this is a fine work of spaghetti,” Scar complimented when he was finished.

“Indeed, couldn’t have done it without Scott. The best salt dispenser among us,” Grian agreed.

Scott tried to look offended but couldn’t repress a smile. He stood up, about to take his bowl to the sink; but Scar insisted that he was the guest, so he handed over his dish and sat back down. Preparing his “i’m out of here” pleasantries.

He settled on, “Well, I’m out of here,” after a few more minutes of banter.

“Okay! Thanks for keeping me company dude,” Grian gave Scott a hug as thanks.

“My pleasure,” Scott replied.

Scar offered to accompany Scott back to the Hobbit territory, but he refused.

“No need Scar, you’ve been out all day. I’ll be fine,” he assured as he adjusted his hat and jacket for the chilly walk home.

“Alright then, let me walk you out,” Scar proposed instead.

Final waves and good wishes were exchanged and Scott started back down all those stairs. It was quiet, save for the gentle buzz of the world border which sat right against the Red Desert.

Lost in thought for most of the journey, Scott traveled into the dark canopy of leaves. There weren’t many mobs out due to the moon being in its Waning Crescent phase. Scott rubbed his hands together and shoved them in his pockets, wishing he’d brought his mittens.

As he crossed over a clearing, an arrow whizzed over his shoulder. Scott ducked down in surprise, turning around and expecting to see a skeleton, but there was nothing there except a dreadfully dark bank of trees and a vacant plot of land.

Scott squinted into the darkness.

Then the handle of a weapon was brought down on the side of his face, and all the lights went out.

#THAR SHE BLOWS.#Time to get this monster out of my system! This au gave me brainrot.#hahaha! it only gets worse from here #kingslayer au #3rd life smp #3rdlife #3rdlife smp #grian #goodtimeswithscar #scott smajor #mcyt #cas types

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sylverstorms · 3 years ago

Text

Miss Fortune x Reader ----Salt-Crusted Heart

For an easier read, head to Ao3.

Another day. Another hunt for a fetter.

Feels like this is your life now, your present and your future. It feels like this war against the ever-spreading mist and Viego will never end. Your days as a trainee Sentinel, where the tough schedule of the Academy was your only problem, seem so far away now it’s like they belong in a dream. Like that was a different you.

And it was, wasn’t it.

That ‘you’ hadn’t ever slashed at anything other than a training dummy. Now you’re out here –with a very dysfunctional crew of lunatics— fighting mist monsters.

Said dysfunctional crew is, once again, arguing amongst themselves on which way you’re supposed to be headed next. Everyone’s got their own opinion and somehow it never matches with anyone else’s. You don’t even know how they manage that.

It takes a few light years for the majority to agree you’re heading to Bilgewater.

By the time you Wayfinder them there, you’re not surprised that all you see is darkness and sickly green mist. Half the world has gone to shit already and you’ve come to terms with that. More or less. Probably less.

“Wow.” you say as you take in the ghostly-looking town ahead of you and the armada of ships at the port below, blocking this side of the island off completely. Not that there’s a lot to block because the place is a ravaged hellhole anyway.

The environment has this wrecked, haunted vibe that would be super interesting to see in a movie with an apocalypse theme. Perhaps not so much on an actualapocalypse, though.

“Likin’ the view?” Graves asks, the corner of his lips sealed over his cigar.

“No, it was more of a ‘this is so much worse than I could have imagined’ type of wow.” you explain.

“It really is.” Riven agrees.

“Funny thing; the mist ain’t changed it all that much.” Graves laughs.

“Hey. Focus.” Lucian chastises. This guy, you’re convinced, is allergic to lightening the mood. He’s also not someone you dare say this to. “See that?” he points at the sea, to the massive ship there, towering over the rest.

You’re so focused on its fine craftsmanship and the little details you keep finding the longer your eye remains on it, you miss his point entirely, at first. Then you blink and look closer –at the thin, telltale trail of green-black smoke floating upwards from its deck.

There’s no mistaking it; a fetter is on that vessel.

“Now, listen up, everybody. Big Ol’ Graves is a legend around these parts, so my name will get us on that beauty. But. People here can be a bit… unfriendly towards new faces.” he begins. “Let’s not walk up there like an attack force and end up riddled with holes, ye?”

“Good idea.” you nod.

“Rookie, Graves, you’re heading up first.” Lucian motions with his chin.

“Bad idea.” you comment, but his skewering glare has you agreeing with the plan the same second.

“Signal if you need help.” Senna adds.

Graves only laughs heartily and grabs your uniform with his large hands, pulling you along. You know you won’t like what you hear when he leans down and whispers to you:

“We won’t have time to signal if they decide we’re not worth listening to but let’s not tell them that, Rook.”

“That’s… just what I needed to hear.” you grimace.

“Ha! Which means you’re goin’ up first. Chances are they won’t instantly shoot your pretty face off.”

“Wait… what about that ‘my name will get us up there, no trouble’?” you ask.

“Hah! That was just to impress Vayne, kiddo. My name is far more likely to get us killed in these parts.” he laughs but you don’t. “Did she look impressed?”

“No.” You shake your head. “No, she didn’t, mate.” Nothing has ever moved Vayne other than when she kills monsters in a particularly violent way.

“Ah, shit. Maybe next time.”

Yeah, if there is a next time.

Your chances aren’t looking good as soon as you step onto that deck and every weapon imaginable is suddenly shifted to you.

…

Graves tells you to put your ‘social skills’ into good use. You are not aware that was one of your talents, so it’s probably more of his bullshit. Either way, death by a thousand bullets gives you a solid motivation to turn the charm on and talk.

“Gentlemen, I’m sure we can all come to an agreement here. No need for all that firepower.” you say, totally not sweating at all underneath your white jacket. “You have something that we need and I’m sure we can negotiate a profitable deal for everyone.”

Jackpot. Bounty hunters want money more than anything. And there is not a sweeter sound to their ears than the promise of wealth. Even if you’re just talking nonsense to save your ass.

“If I could just speak to the captain—”

“The captain is listening.” a commanding voice says from up ahead. Some of the crew members part to let her through…

And.

You see a vision in this nightmare.

The woman that walks forward stands out like fire over water, like stark color on Bilgewater’s salt-washed palette. Maybe it’s the vivid red of her flowing hair, stark against the gold-trimmed black of her hat, or the emerald green of her eyes, or the way she holds herself, a queen on this deck. Whatever the reason, you cannot tear your gaze off of her.

Tongue-tied at the moment, you let Graves do the talking. Big mistake.

The goddess’ visage darkens when she sees your company, who she addresses in a less than pleasant tone: “Look what washed in with the tide. Malcolm Goddamn Graves.” You wouldn’t want that glare directed at you, ever.

“Fortune? Ah, hells, naw.” he curses. “What are ya doin’ here? How did ya get a whole damn fleet a’ warships?”

“A lot has changed since we last met. Fools around here decided to challenge me for control over Bilgewater. I locked this place down until we can resolve this inconvenience.” she says, like cutting off half the freaking island is not a big issue.

The sound of her heels on the wooden floor is downright ominous as she approaches. Her eye scans you lightning-quick, then the entirety of her attention is on Graves. The very next second…

A blunderbuss pistol is pointing right to your face, same as his.

“Whoah.” you gasp.

“What’s Gankplank paying you?!” she demands.

“I ain’t workin’ for that bastard! I ain’t even on speakin’ terms with his orange-eatin’ ass! Ya know that!”

“What I know is you came onto my deck with fancy new equipment and a whole team of mercenaries at your back. You know, just in case you thought you were being subtle, in all that silver and white sticking out in Bilgewater like a sore thumb.” She has a point. “That getup isn’t cheap and there’s only one cretin around here with that kind of coin. Now tell me what he’s planning, of you’ll be smoking that cigar through a new hole.”

“Um –ma’am? He’s telling the truth.” You almost regret speaking up when her piercing stare lands on you. “And we’re not mercenaries. We’re Sentinels of Light.” you add.

“You put on a convincing performance, cutie.” she says.

In any other scenario, a goddess like that calling you cute would make you blush. But the gun still very much in your face makes it difficult to really register the word.

“Like you’ve never heard of the ‘Saltwater Scourge’, ‘Reaver King of the High Seas’… ‘Scum-sucking Hagfish Who Takes All You Ever Cared About’…”

Oh, okay. So, she’s got a screw loose as well.Not surprising considering the company you attract, lately.

“Nope. Kiddo’s right, Sarah. They’re Sentinels, alright.” the very familiar voice of your boss, which normally doesn’t make you happy to hear, has the opposite effect now. Lucian walks up behind you to save the day.

“Lucian?” she asks, finally lowering her weapons. “…this is your crew?”

“Yep. And I’d appreciate it if you kindly refrained from killing them. Need about every gun we can get.” he replies.

“Follow me.” she says. “It seems we have a lot to discuss.”

…

Captain Fortune does not drive an easy bargain.

From what you hear later, she’s given Lucian a real hard time with negotiations. And even now, she’s the one who holds all the cards.

If you are to defeat Viego and make it clear to Bilgewater it was her who made it possible, she is willing to trade with the fetter and even let you stay on her ship in the meantime. Otherwise, if she gets the feeling it’s him who gains ground and holds the power in this place, you’re basically screwed.

The others are uneasy. They’ve suggested multiple times you steal the fetter from Fortune and dash for your lives after. Thing is, with how close she keeps that relic, that plan is looking impossible.

Which brings you to where you are right now, all the Sentinels and Miss Fortune gathered around the same map, planning your next action.

“Yes, but if I help you get there, what’s in it for me?” she asks.

And really, you don’t have anything to offer her in return. Even Lucian looks to Senna for help. Who, in turn, looks at you.

Why do they keep doing that? What have you done to convince these people you are good at talking? Especially to women like the captain.

“How about the… moral reward of helping save people from these monsters?” you suggest.

Her green eyes –and holy shit are they green— look at you like she wants to both scoff and laugh sardonically. “Tell me that is a joke.”

“It –it really isn’t.” you reply.

She huffs. “Look. I’m sure you’re all nice people. But nice people here get their throats cut.” She motions with her hand. “The cutthroats get the spoils. That’s how it works. I only care about the spoils.” she states. “So, if you want things from me and my crew, you need to make it worth our time.”

Their time sure isn’t cheap.

You know you don’t have anything at Headquarters with the kind of value she’s looking for. Definitely no coin and no gold for her services. But. You’ve heard multiple times during classes that the materials the Sentinel outfits are weaved from are extremely durable and therefore, extremely desirable.

“Would you and your crew be interested in a wardrobe overhaul?” you ask. All eyes are on you, but hers are the most intense. “Every prestigious fleet has to look the part, no? Plus, these clothes…” you say, grabbing the nearest knife and dragging it across your sleeve. The fabric is not so much as scratched. “…are pretty cool.” you tell her.

Miss Fortune leans back in her captain’s chair with a pretty smile painted on her –very attractive— lips.

“Now you’re talking my language, cutie. I’m sure we can work something out.”

…

On one hand, you have Gwen sewing day and night –your fault, you feel bad for it— while the rest of you handle the fighting. On the other, you do have a ship taking you wherever you need and making your job of clearing the darkness ten times faster.

Even Lucian has given you a pat on the back for that one. That was certainly unexpected.

“We need Fortune to take us here.” Senna points on the map. “Rookie, you go tell her.”

You almost choke on your water. “Why me?” you ask.

“Because you’re finally making yourself useful.” Lucian replies. Ouch.

“I’ve been very useful from the start!” you argue. The others look amongst themselves. “Hey!”

“I mean… points for effort.” Diana comments.

“Moral support is useful, I agree.” Riven smirks at you.

‘Asshole’ you mouth, rising from your seat. Her grin only widens.

You send them a narrowed, unimpressed look over your shoulder on your way out. Some of the crew members that see you walking towards the captain’s cabin whistle your way. You’re sure there’s tons of colorful comments behind your back but you have bigger things to worry about.

Like… the way a certain redhead looks leaned back in her plush chair, a queen on her throne, toying with a gold coin that flips over her nimble fingers with effortless ease. Focus on the mission. The mission, I say. Oh, Gods…

“I love how they send you in to ask for extra.” she says. “So. Are you the silver tongue of the group?” There’s something in her little smirk and the way she says ‘tongue’ that gets to you, but that’s probably just your vivid imagination.

That and the months you’ve spent without any outlet for your stress other than fighting, on top of more fighting.

“No, the others are just that terrible at basic social interactions.” It’s the truth.

Fortune gives a small chuckle. “Let’s see how good you are, then, Sentinel.”

You pleadwith your hopeless lesbian brain not to fry on the spot. “We sort of need you to get us further than discussed. While hoping that… the scenic route will be its own reward?”

“Cute.”

“Does that mean you’ll do it?” you perk up.

“No.”

“I’ll send Lucian here next time so he can bore you to death until you agree.” You never claimed to be above blackmail.

“A bold statement.” she replies. “Tell you what. If you demolish a few of my enemies’ ships during your hunt for the mist things, then deal.”

Sentinels aren’t supposed to do that. And if you tell Lucian, that will be his exact answer. You can already hear his unpleasant voice in your head. However, you’ve already figured out the world doesn’t work by the Sentinel Code, so…

“Accidents do happen on the battlefield.” you say.

Sarah gives you that slow smile that makes a certain part of you feel hot under your outfit. “And don’t bring any of the others in here to negotiate. I’d rather look at your pretty face.”

Uh.

Um.

By the time you exit the cabin, all you can think is, what just happened?

…

Combat is a rush, sometimes. As is knowing you’re getting stronger and faster by the day. You still don’t hold a candle to the rest of your group, but you can finally say you’re helping them out.

Being further up in the enemy’s face, though, is also petrifying. You see a twisted reflection of yourself in every mist wraith’s dead eyes. There are nightmares that come hand-in-hand with the experience… and then there’s physical pain.

You’ve been hurt before. Their talons can slice through even your magic-reinforced outfits. Still, every time feels worse than the last. The laceration you’re currently sporting on your side is burning like the fires of hell.

You’re trying not to scream by the time Riven lowers you onto the deck. Your vision is blurred with sweat and the tears you’re fighting to keep at bay.

“What’s going on here?” you hear Fortune’s voice in your haze.

“Tell me you have a healer on board!” Riven shouts.

“And they can get here fast!” Senna adds.

You’re not sure how much time passes. It feels like light years until someone kneels beside you and starts working on your wound. The healing magic pulls and sears at you. Every muscle in your body is taut with the effort to keep still.

“Isn’t …a healing spell supposed to numb the pain, first?” Diana asks.

“Look, blondie, I’m no professional here, ye? Just picked up a few things from mah old man. If ya wanna criticize, come here and do it yourself.” he answers. And it’s …not the best feeling in the world to hear your healer say that.

“No offense. Just worried for our teammate.” Senna adds. At least one of your bosses cares about your wellbeing.

The other just benches you for the next mission.

…

Out of all the people you expected to come see you while you’re recovering, Sarah Fortune is the last who came to mind. You’re almost shocked mute when the captain comes to sit on the edge of your bed, graceful and fluid as ever. Gorgeous as ever, too, while you’re sure you look pale as a ghost, eyes sunken as a shipwreck.

“Hey, Rookie.” she greets.

“Ah, great. That nickname’s never gonna come off, is it.” you roll your blue eyes.

“How’s the battle scar?”

“I’m not bleeding all over your fancy deck anymore, at least.” you say. “Guess I should be glad for that.” Although you are a bit frustrated that the ‘healer’s’ hand was so shaky there’s a scar left there now, permanently, when it could have been avoided. “And that the dude wasn’t drunk bad enough to stitch my organs to my skin.”

“Yeah, luckily he was only a little drunk.” she nods.

“That makes total sense for a healer. Who, from what I know from four years at the Academy, should always be sober.” you cannot keep it in any longer.

“That’s… a tall order here.” Yes, of course, the place is far too shitty for that.

“I gathered.”

“Come, now. Don’t be upset about the scar.” You’re upset about the pain that could have been avoided if the damn guy just didn’t drink his ass off in the middle of the day. “…Want me to kiss it better?”

You’re so far up your mind –filled with thoughts of being a dead weight on the team on top of your dead classmates because of Viego— you don’t even hear her. Your head is pounding from the pressure the memory causes you, a killer mix with the effect of the painkillers you’ve been on, all evening.

“I’ll be fine, thanks.” you reply, your voice hoarse and alien to your own ears.

…

You and Fortune talk a bit more on the two days you’re out of commission.

You learn a few things about her, like the fact you have a common interest in psychology. Like the fact you shouldn’t ever ask about her past or her family, unless you want her to close up tighter than a clam, at the speed of lightning. In the meantime, if it feels like she may be throwing more smirks your way than when she talks to anyone else, you blame that on your wishful thinking.

That woman is way out of your league.

It is one in the night and everyone on the ship is either well asleep or completely passed out from booze. You wake up from a nightmare, then fully register the way the ship is swaying from the angry waves. The resulting nausea has you completely losing the desire to fall back into the land of dreams.

You thought you’d be the only one awake when you walked up to the deck, yet you quickly realize that’s not the case when the sound of heels approaches from behind. You already know it’s her. The night breeze does a wonderful job of carrying her perfume straight to your nose. As if she wasn’t already fatally attractive without it.

You keep your eyes on the waves, so dark blue they look black.

“Oh, this is a surprise. Such a romantic soul, admiring the sea in the dead of night.” she says. The slight –sexy as fuck— slur to her words must have something to do with the bottle of whiskey in her hand.

“Yeah, my thoughts are not that deep.” you chuckle. “More like ‘fuck this constant motion under my feet’.”

She gives a small, airy exhale that could pass as a laugh, leaning on the railing next to you. Kind of close, too. “Ah and here I thought Sentinels didn’t swear.” she says. “And that they don’t drink. Unless you care to prove me wrong there, too.”

She takes a swing of the bottle and passes it to you. The smart part of your brain tells you it is a bad, bad idea. The rest of you is seduced by the promise of the buzz and the challenge in her eyes.

Well. Since you’re not really getting anywhere closer to where her lips are in anything other than your very private fantasies, you think may just take the chance for an indirect kiss that’s presented.

The gulp you take from the bottle –you intended a sip but the fucking ship moves so much— burns a trail down your throat and past your insides. You almost cough. How heavy is this thing?

“Ahem. So.” you begin. “What’s keeping you out late?”

“I have great company.” At first you think she means you, then you realize it’s the bottle that’s lucky. Hah, fell right into that one. “And… my cabin is very cold tonight.”

It’s really chilly, yeah, but it’s not that bad, you think. Maybe the two of you are just used to different climates, though. “I’m… sorry to hear that.” you reply.

“Well. Guess I should head in or it will never warm up by itself.” she says.

You nod and bid her goodnight, turning your eyes back to the inky waves. But then you feel her weight softly crash into your back, ample chest pressing against you, one of her hands on your waist and the other on the railing next to yours for support. Her lips are right by your ear, so close you feel them brush against the shell as she says:

“Oops.”

Then she’s gone, taking her extremely sexy perfume with her, while your stomach drops to the sea and sinks right to the very bottom. It takes a few moments to realize you’re still holding the railing so tightly your fingers have gone white.

What the…

You go back to bed trying not to think about whatever that was.

The next day, you have no idea why she’s not speaking to you at all, or why she doesn’t even look at you when she addresses the Sentinels, none-too-pleased with your progress.

…

When one of the crewmates tell you the captain has summoned you, you do a double take and ask if she really means you. Fortune has been in a weird mood towards you since that night, to say the least.

You are mentally braced for the worst when you enter her cabin. You’re already tired from fighting mist wraiths all morning and you don’t think you can handle whatever it is that’s going on with her at the moment.

Scratch that. You’re sure you can’t when she gets up from her seat, walking almost in a circle around you, like a shark. You lean back against the wooden surface of her desk, waiting. Cautious.

“Have I not been clear enough, all these days?” she asks, as if wondering out loud.

“Um…. excuse me?” you question back. Has the mist gotten to her? It has been known to cause strange behavior after prolonged exposure.

She’s at the door now, facing you without really looking at you and it makes you feel trapped. Your one escape is blocked. “You’re not from around here, so I thought it was best not to be… Bilgewater-forward.” she says. “On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve been that subtle?”

“…I’m. I’m not…sure I follow.” you speak, quietly.

“Do you really have no idea or are you just trying to be polite?” She finally looks into your eyes.

You shake your head ‘no’.

She licks her lips. “What, was I supposed to give you a formal letter inviting you to my cabin for sex the other night?” Your jaw, you think, hits the floor and shatters. Your whole body shivers and goes rigid. “If you don’t want to, just say it so I won’t wait around for nothing.”

You… don’t know what words are at the moment. The ground has disappeared and you’re a falling mess. It is the worst case of freezing on the spot you’ve ever experienced.

“That’s not… that’s not… the case.” you manage to say.

“Good to know.” she nods, casually, then strides up to you and grabs the front of your high-collared Sentinel jacket, bringing you lip-to-lip. “Is this clear enough for you?” she breathes against you.

It’s more than clear enough when her plump lips seal over yours, tasting of sweet-flavored lipstick and alcohol and sea-salt. In fact, it is clear like a nuclear bomb going off on the back of your head.

The heat wave burns down your stomach violently and it only gets worse when she pushes her tongue into your mouth, licking over yours, her hips practically straddling you with how tightly fitted you stand. Every movement of her mouth or her body echoes all the way down yours.

It’s beyond anything you could have ever conjured in your head, having her angle your chin however she wants it while her hips slowly rock against you. It’s almost too hard and too fast and too good –and you get too close.

But then—

A knock comes on the door.

“Captain?” someone asks from the outside and it’s both a blessing and a dark curse.

Sarah tries to catch her breath, every exhale tickling your ear. “One moment.” she calls over her shoulder, sounding every bit the captain she is, as if the past minutes where you were literally dry humping each other didn’t happen.

She pulls back from you with a satisfied little smirk at how wrecked you no doubt look, pulling your outfit straight. Her thumb wipes off the smudge of her lipstick on the corner of your mouth, then she goes to a nearby mirror to reapply hers.

When she walks back over to you, your knees shake at just the sight of her. You don’t know how you’ll ever calm down from this. Safe to say she’s ruined every kiss you’ve ever had or will have.

“My bedroom will be open to you tonight. Consider this your formal letter, yes?” her long fingers brush over your jawline, as she stalks back to her seat.

“Come in.” she calls, poker face on, sounding bored.

You make your escape as tactical –and dignified— as possible and don’t look back until you’re practically off the ship.

…

To say you are distracted for the rest of the hours until night completely settles over Bilgewater is an understatement. Your head is in the clouds and you have no idea what’s going on around you. The whole world could catch fire and all you’ll be thinking about is Fortune, Fortune, Fortune…

“What’s got you so quiet tonight, little Sentinel?” Riven asks.

Only the best damn kiss of your entire life. Plus the fact you’re living a dream and you don’t want to wake up. “Maybe I’m just trying to imitate Vayne. From now on you’ll hear my voice only when we kill stuff.”

“Ha, ha.” Vayne comments in typical Vayne style from her seat, hunched over her weapon and making calibrations.

“All I’ll say is, be careful.” the Noxian lowers her voice a bit, the words kept between the two of you.

“Of what?” you play dumb.

“Just in general.”

You don’t know what Riven suspects but you can’t really bring yourself to care. You’ve been through a lot these past months. You deserve to feel something good once in a while. Your love life is none of their business unless it interferes with their business, which it won’t because you’re sure this won’t mean anything beyond Fortune’s bedroom.

You wait until everyone on the ship is asleep and take a liquid courage boost to sneak to the captain’s cabin.

…

One knock. That is all your knuckles manage, one contact with the door, until it swings open and a familiar hand grabs at the front of your outfit, pulling you in.

You’re pressed back against it as soon as it shuts, crimson lips hot on yours before you can even think to say anything. Gods, is she always so insistent?You could melt into a wet puddle on the floor from the way she presses into you alone. This woman knows exactly what she wants and how to take it.

Somewhere in the back of your head you hear the sound of a lock turning.

“Took you long enough.” she whispers when you break apart.

Once again, whatever you were about to say is cut off by her tugging on the high collar of your jacket. She either has a thing for it or for pulling you around in general, you think. No complains, whatever the case.

“Won’t you give me the tour around, first?” you ask, playing coy only thanks to the drink you’ve had. Otherwise, you’d be your usual self; a mess.

“Oh, sure.” she says as she shoves you into her bedroom, illuminated by a single candle. “Wardrobe, guns, bed.”

Well. It still feels like the best tour you’ve ever had when she walks you back until you’re falling on her very comfortable mattress, with her perched above you like a predator. She gives you a little smirk as she straddles your thigh and sits up, undoing the taut buttons on her shirt, painfully slow.

Oh… It would be very awkward if you died from a heart attack now, yet it feels like you’re on the verge of one.

“Nothing smart to say now, Sentinel?” The confidence comes with her looks, you’re sure. She knows she’s hot as fuck.

You shake your head, speechless, eyes travelling from her toned midriff to her perfect chest, to her hypnotic eyes and the sensual way her hair spills like a red waterfall across her shoulders. This is a dream, it’s not real life, but don’t wake me up ever…

Fortune leans back down, taking your chin in two fingers as she studies your flushed face. You don’t know what she’s looking for, but something in her visage softens a fraction.

“If it’s too much at any point, tell me.”

“If I can talk, I will.” you say, mesmerized by the way her eyes look under the dim light.

Your next liplock is a little less rushed than your previous ones. She takes her time exploring your mouth and you gradually get bolder with where you touch her, fingers grazing up her sides to her stomach, to the underside of her bra.

Her lips leave yours only to burn a trail down the corner of your mouth, across your jawline and to your neck. Deft fingers undo the clasps and pull down the zipper of your white jacket, guiding it past your shoulders without taking it completely off. She definitely has a thing for it. You’d comment on that, too, if you could think about anything other than how good she smells.

Clothes come off while she sucks on your neck, teeth pressing against you just shy of leaving marks. When both of you are down to your underwear and breathing heavy, her fingers caressing dangerously low on your waistline, her lips come near your ear.

“So… I want to make you beg, but I can’t help but feel like I’m already corrupting you a lot.”

Corrupt away. you want to tell her.

“Does that turn you on?” you whisper in her ear and feel her response with how her hips press down harder onto yours.

“Yes.” That breathless admission becomes your undoing.

You get lost in her lips after it and the sensation of her fingers on you –inyou— working you up towards what could be simultaneously your ruin and your salvation. You touch her in turn, filling the room with both your moans and gasps, until that glorious peak of white-hot pleasure where the whole world comes to a stop for a few moments.

There is a time limit to your time together, now and generally, you are aware. But you allow yourselves a few quiet moments together as you lay there with the excuse of catching your breath, even if you already have.

Tough game you’re playing here. The smarter part of your brain says. It’s all too easy to get addicted to having her atop you like this. The better the dream, the more bitter the wakeup.

When Fortune lifts herself off you to slide under her heavy covers, you register the chill of night. You dress almost sluggishly, your body so very exhausted from the activities of the whole day.

Kissing her goodnight is almost an urge you fight under control, not wanting to make her uncomfortable if this was all she wanted out of your dalliance.

“Well, my bunk is calling.” you turn around to tell her, trying not to blush when you see her with her elbow resting on her pillow, cheek cutely pressed on her fist, watching you like a languid cat.

“Hate to watch you leave but I love to watch you go.” she smirks at you.

You roll your eyes. “Goodnight, beautiful.”

…

It is after a long damn day of fighting that you get to finally sit down and enjoy a meal and drinks.

The crew was cold and distrustful towards you at first, but they seem to have opened up more over the course of weeks –especially today, after you secured them a chest filled with gold coins left behind by wealthy people who were running from the wraiths. From the corner of your eye, you subtly watch Sarah Fortune interact with her men, hoping it’s not obvious how badly into her you are.

“So…” Riven begins from the chair next to you and you know that’s not going to be good.

“What?” You face her, playing cool.

“I’m sure you don’t need me to say that she’s bad for you… but I will, anyway.” You give Riven a blank stare that absolutely doesn’t fool her. Shit.

“Like how do you even know.” You finally break.

“It wasn’t obvious since day one there was something there?” Yeah, maybe to everyone except you.

“Wait.” Hold on a second. “Does everyone know?”

“I think everyone except Diana has pretty much figured it out.” That certainly explains the looks Lucian has been giving you all day. Double shit.

“What? The thing between Fortune and Rookie, here?” Diana asks from behind you.

Triple—

“Scratch that. Everyone knows.” Riven tells you. “And we all agree. She’s bad for you.” You hate the emphasis on that. “As in the worst.”

“I getit, Riven, thank you.” You shake your hand in her face while the other covers yours.

“I mean I know ruthless, player redheads who can and will absolutely murder you without a second thought are, like, a kink of yours—”

You don’t think your face gets any redder than this. “What—” you nearly choke on air. “That –how do you figure that out? That’s not even true.”

“Dude. When Katarina Du Couteau was brought into our conversation you nearly gasped and fangirled for the next hour.”

“I just heard a lot about one of our biggest Demacian enemies and wanted to know if it was all true!” you defend yourself.

“You asked me if she’s as hot as rumor has it, not about her war achievements.” Riven laughs.

“And you didn’t answer! Well, is she or isn’t she?” you ask. For… scientific purposes.

“I’m not going to answer that!” Riven lifts her hands up.

“She is.” Graves says as he slides into the seat next to you, drink in hand.

“Thank you!” You pat him on the shoulder.

“We should totally have her join the Sentinels.” he adds.

“Hah!” A vein pops at Riven’s temple. “And the answer will be something along the lines of ‘bold of you to assume I give a single fuck about the world’.” comes the imitation.

“Whoa, that’s exactly how she sounds like.” Graves says.

You’re glad the conversation has shifted away from you, at least.

From the opposite side of the room, you feel a familiar pair of eyes on you, yet they’re averted the second you raise yours to meet them.

…

They may know about your one-time thing with Fortune and heavily scrutinize it, but they still send you in now that they need to ask for more from the captain. With that, your teammates lose every right to comment on what you do and don’t do with her.

“We’ll get you the coin from that ship –well, Graves will, since they already hate him—and you help us out here. Deal?” you ask her.

There. You can be a professional and negotiate terms with the most beautiful woman in the world, who you also happened to have had mindblowing sex with, without constantly looking at her lips.

“Deal, but…” she begins. “You’re sitting all the way over there… why?”

So much for keeping your mind out of the gutter. “Um.” You lick your lips, unsure of what to say, while she smirks slow, like the cat that got the canary.

“Come here.” A pat on her desk, right in front of her chair.

Against your better judgement, you walk around the furniture and lean there, really, really close to her, especially when she stands, towering over you in her heels. You can tell she likes it, too.

“Don’t look at me like that, we leave in ten minutes.” you say. It doesn’t even phase her.

Her fingers move to the zipper of your jacket and although you should stop her, you don’t. “Really?” she leans closer, closer still, until her tantalizing mouth is a hair’s breadth from yours.

“…really. Nine, now.” you waver.

“Guess we have to be fast, then.”

She lightly pushes you onto her desk and starts undoing your belt buckles. The thought of what you’re about to do alone could make you come on the spot. It’s not just the thought that’s threatening to do that, when you feel her cool fingers slide right where you need them.

“You’re going to ditch me for your little Sentinel friends, who don’t like me?” she asks in your ear.

Oh, Gods…

“Ah, I like you enough for all of us, Fortune.” your lips move against her jawline as you speak. A little further down and you can feel how quick her pulse is. You wouldn’t have guessed, with how composed she looks fingering you on her desk.

“Sarah.” she holds your chin with two fingers as she says it, like a secret between you. “Call me Sarah when you come.”

You do.

…

It becomes a nightly thing after that, your visits in her bedroom.

She’s insatiable and she makes everything bothering you go away for those precious hours. But. The more you see of her, you cannot help but feel like something’s very wrong with Sarah.

Underneath the visage of the ruthless captain, the queen who can just reach out and take anything she wants, you see… cracks. She doesn’t sleep well. She drinks. You’re pretty sure you’re another distraction –coping mechanism?— although it doesn’t bother you. She’s the same for you, isn’t she?

It’s not like you have feelings for her.

…Right?

No, no that would be terrible. You definitely don’t. You are allowed to love the way her fingers are running lazy circles on your thigh right now without any sort of complicated emotions involved.

“You should quit while you’re ahead.” she tells you, half muffled into her pillow, stark black against the red of her hair.

This or the Sentinel war? You wonder.

“You have little cuts everywhere. They don’t even have time to disappear before new ones open on top of them.” she moves the back of her pointer to the biggest visible line near your knee, then up your arm, until her hand rests on the crook of your neck. “Leave the others to deal with the mist. It’s not your problem.”

“The world’s problem is my problem. Guess where I lived and what region fell to Viego first.”

You refrain from telling her how many people close to you met his blade before that. How many of the classmates you ate and trained with for four years you had to see skewered by him, on his insane quest for his ‘love’. You don’t want to sour your time together with your burdens. Your pain, your nightmares, are your own to deal with.

“If you keep going you’ll fall to him first.” she counters. “You’ll die protecting one of those idiots in your group or some random civilian.”

“Thanks, Miss Fortune-teller.” you say, a tad irked at her blatant disregard for anyone who isn’t herself.

“I don’t have to be one to tell.” she gives you a sad smile. “It’s always the good ones that die. It’s always the monsters that win.”

You can’t help but wonder…

What made you this way?

…

You see now why emotions are considered a distraction on the battlefield. Even as you kill monsters, all you think about is her.

Come to think of it…

You’ve never seen her smile for real. What you’re looking for is a far cry from those smirks she throws around to bring people to their knees, or the sardonic ones she levels Lucian with. Even those she offers you behind closed doors have a shadow underneath them. It makes you wonder about what would make her happy enough to give a genuine smile.

When you happen across a shipwreck filled with valuables, you think this may be it. The Sentinels take what they need and agree to give the rest to Fortune to stay on her good graces.

Her whole ship lights up with the joy of riches. The crew is ecstatic. Laughter and cheers fill the deck.

And yet.

Her glee is pretend, just for the sake of her men. Her eyes are hollow.

When she eventually retreats to her cabin, you follow her and knock on her door. “It’s always open for you~” she calls from the inside, already in the company of a whiskey bottle.

You turn the key behind you, then lean forward with your hands on her desk, staring at her.

“Why this serious, sexy?” she asks. “Need me to help loosen you up a bit?”

“You need to part with the fetter, Sarah.” you state. “It affects you in ways you won’t notice or understand but it always does.”

“Ah, part with it so you and your crew of misfits can steal it from me? Hmm… no.” she chuckles.

“I care more about what it does to you than the fetter itself right now.” you try again. Only to fail again.

“That’s sweet, but I don’t trust you.” Talk about words being sharper than knives, sometimes. “Don’t take it personally; I don’t trust anyone.”

“What a joyful life this must be.” you bite back.

“Coin is joy for me, sweetheart.” she leans back in her plush chair, taking another swing from the bottle.

“You didn’t seem very happy to me, back there.”

She gives you a look and finally sets the whiskey down. “Come here. I’ll tell you a little secret about me.” she says, a tad more serious than before.

Cautiously, you step around the desk until you’re in front of her seat. Her hand shoots up like a bullet, then, taking hold of your jacket and dragging you down until the two of you are eye-level.

“You know what would really make me happy right now?” You feel her leg move up the inside of yours, deliciously slow, as she speaks… until she hooks her calf behind your knee and makes your weight fall onto it. “For you to shut up about fetters and concerns and go down on me.”

Fuck.

Deep down, to a small part of you not ruled by your hormones, you know using sex to avoid any sort of deeper conversation between you is unhealthy. You know an arrangement where there’s no trust is unhealthy.

Then again, the circumstances that brought you together are anything but healthy.

And what sort of pretty flower can burst forth, really, from a corrupted seed?

…

When you return from your mist-slaying, late in the evening, the crew is uneasy.

“Don’t bother the cap’n right now.” One of the men says. “She ain’t havin’ the best o’ days.”

You later find out that they had a run-in with an enemy fleet. That the Reaver King has resurfaced and is looking to claim Bilgewater for himself. Major shit is about to go down, the bounty hunters tell you and you do not want to be outsiders caught in the middle when it finally hits the fan.

You give Sarah her space until the need to check up on her becomes overwhelming.

One knock on the door. “Leave.” she hisses from within the office like a tensed cat. Another knock. “You have ten seconds before I put a bullet through your skull!”

“Can’t imagine I’ll be very attractive then.” you reply.

The door swings open; her eyes are the epitome of a raging storm. You’ve never seen her like this, so hateful and distressed… and it hurts to witness. “My ‘leave’ applies to everyone. You, included.”

“Cool.” you nod at her. Pause. “So… can I come in now?”

Sarah throws her hands up in exasperation, pivoting with an angry, whispered ‘whatever’. She paces across her cabin, an agitated lion one step away from pouncing. Her hands run through her fiery hair as though they cannot keep still.

“You need to leave Bilgewater asap and never come back.” You don’t know if she’s talking to you or thinking out loud. “You need to go. With or without the rest of them, I don’t care, just go!”

“What’s… gotten into you?” you dare ask.

“He’s back. He always comes back, no matter how many times I sink the bastard. It’s like he cannot die. He just won’t die!” her voice is raw with her rage. “You Sentinels fight the darkness but you don’t kill evil. Evil will still be here –rooted here— even if you win.”

You open your mouth but can’t find anything to say.

“I have to win my own war. I will be victorious no matter the cost, no matter the bloodshed.” Sarah goes on. “But I need to know that you won’t be here. Do you understand?!”

You just look at her, sad and frozen, trying to understand. There’s nothing you can say to ease what’s hurting her and nothing you can do. You’ve seen this wretched thing eat away at her every day since the moment you met. It’s too deeply engraved in her heart for you to hope to change it; and it has little to do with the fetter in her possession.

Sarah crosses the room in two large strides and grabs your biceps. She looks like she’s ready to throw you off her ship herself…

Until.

She pulls you into her arms, instead.

Tight, like she’s afraid you’ll be gone the moment she lets go, she holds you close. Her head is tucked into your shoulder, her nails press hard into your back. You slowly bring your hands up to encircle her waist in return.

“I’ve lost everything. He took everything from me. I won’t give him the chance to take you away, as well.” she says.

Oh. you think. She cares about you, after all.

If only that was a good thing for either of you.

…

You feel it, when the moment comes.

Maybe you’ve always felt it and just didn’t want to admit it.

When Sarah stands in front of Viego offering the lot of you up along with the fetter in exchange for his ruined power, you know the agony you feel, like a blade splitting you down the middle, is your own doing. There is nobody but yourself to blame for it. The others warned you. Your own instinct warned you.

You didn’t listen.

You wanted to trust her. Maybe even to love her.

But her hatred runs deeper than whatever measly thing you were to her.

As the mist shrouds Fortune and turns her red hair luminescent blonde, as it eats away at her colors until they’re all black and sickly green, until the eyes you knew turn cold and unfeeling, you feel something in you crack. Maybe it’s your faith. Maybe it’s your heart.

There’s a lesson to take from this, you’re sure, despite how your emotions choke you. Right now, though, you focus on avoiding her bullets and having your teammates’ backs in the rain of chaos that follows.

You end up deep in the water, bleeding, defeated. You and the other Sentinels have never been crushed by your losses, but it will take some time to pick up your pieces and continue onward until the end of your war.

You allow yourself one scream muffled in the dark sea.

When you swim to the shore and pull your body out of the mud, you are silent.

“Are you okay? I know that was harder for you than it was for us.” Riven lays a hand on your shoulder.

“I’m fine. I’ll let it hurt after we get Viego.”

For now, you can’t afford taking the pain of a broken heart with you on the battlefield.

Sarah. You later think. Now I understand why hurricanes are named after people.

#miss fortune #sarah fortune #miss fortune x oc #miss fortune x reader #sentinels of light spoilers #league of legends #fanfiction #creative writing #riven

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