#like why do i feel like im floating through the clouds

[karinasbaby]

YOUR THEMEEEEEE

GIGGLING AND BLUSSHINGGGGG I LOVE YOUUUUU ☹️☹️☹️☹️

[bluriki]

christmas special one ❄ snowy nights ﹫ lhs

ꪆৎ — on a snowy night with you, heeseung decides to confess how much love he has for you ; pair best friend!heeseung x fem!reader ; genre fluff , f2l

your heart beats uncontrollably. being this close to heeseung shouldn't make you feel this nervous but it does. he shouldn't make you feel like your floating on clouds but he does. he makes you feel all things best friends shouldn't make you feel.

1 ) helps you bring in groceries , you're hearts a fluttering mess 2 ) says the most random joke , you're laughing genuinely 3 ) he's staring at you , fire is on your cheeks

so now, you're in each others arms, slow dancing in the snow. it was heeseungs idea, saying it would be so fun to play and dance in the snow. the sun had gone down but the snowflakes were still falling.

soft music was playing from heeseung's phone as you swayed back and forth. you accidentally stepped on his foot causing him to groan. "sorry! i-i'm not good at dancing." you apologized quickly, feeling embarrassed.

"it's okay." you looked up with a smile on your face but the smile got wiped right off when you realized how close you really were to heeseung. his eyes never left yours as he held you close.

"you're really pretty." he whispered softly. your heart pounded in your chest. so hard you though it was gonna come out. but of course you tried playing it cool. "thanks but i already knew that."

heeseung snickered. "did you?" you nodded, trying to mask all the emotions that are flying around in your heart. "did you know you're loved?" you tilted your head in confusion. loved? well yeah, you know you were loved but what was he getting too?

"did you know i love you?" heeseung whispered as if he just wanted you to hear. your heart pounded once again, but this time you were sure he heard it.

"did you know how much i've dreamt of being by your side all day, everyday? did you know that i wanted to put a mistletoe on my door frame so when you come over i could steal a peck? you're lucky sunghoon convinced me not to."

"did you know why i arranged to dance with you while it snow? answer is because im romantic —"

he winked causing you to blush.

"but it's also because i love you. literally more than anyone could imagine. more than sunghoon could imagine and believe me he hears about it all the time. sometimes at 3 am. but that's because you're on my mind every single day, hour, minute, second. i love you so much it hurts that i cant confess to you, but it looks like it just did."

you were speechless. you didn't know what to say. it was like he read your mind because you had felt everything he felt. possibly even more.

"i love you too." you whispered. your mind was a mess. no words could really describe you how your felt this very moment, but one thing was for sure, you love heeseung too.

"i really do." you add on. you were still in his arms, looking as fragile as ever. so many things you wanted to say but only three words could really describe how your felt. "i love you."

heeseungs smiled. his eyes sparkled in the night as you told him you felt the same. your confession wasnt as great at his but it was perfect to him. more perfect than he could ever imagine.

"you know, i ran this scene through my mindso many times but it's way better than i thought."

you giggle and lean closer to his chest. "i'm glad you confessed first." he smiled and held you closer. the chill of the night fell in and it was time to go home.

"do me a favor and put that mistletoe up when you get home." you whispered against his shoulder. heeseung laughed, kissing your cheek softly.

🎬 노트 && . special thanks to yena ( @in2fly ) for giving me this idea when i was stuck!! i love you saur much!!

🧷 perm tl && . send ask or comment to be added

📋 series tl && . @in2fly @reader69sviewpoint @nhularin

[echantedtoon]

Ocean Deep Ch15 Mers And Ladies P2

(Warnings: Mentioning of Yn's wounds and getting stabbed, blood mention, kidnapping mentions, etc. 

This was the emotional turmoil I warned you about.

Also important info: Mermaid partners will play chase when courting. Why? Because I said so and it's cute.)

taglist: @six-eyed-samurai @lavenderdrxp @jjamsbangtan @camilo-uwu @hopefulworld1

@shadyd3ar @amypop122 @azuredragonstrike

@mimisweetz @chaoticoperatorduckhairdo @staarflowerr @aleee-386 @summrwalkr

@nicora04

Remember if you want to be added to the tag list lemme know.

The wounds that cut the deepest were never physically.

Even as warm flesh met in a timid embrace. Lips molding in desperation and ferocity. Molding and meshing together as if this were their last moments on earth.

The sounds of weeping was never a good sign but oh- Oh how beautiful those cries were as he buried himself into the sweet honey taste of the glossy lips. The cries like a beautiful lullaby finally lulling his heart- No. His very soul to ease at last. A little hug going through the chest and shushing the throbbing pain like a wee babe trilling out. Loud sobs echoed throughout the destruction of the night. Passing over waves and bouncing off floating shreds of wood planks. 

The warmth of the water feeling nothing but cold. 

Sounds. Noises. Tones. Pitches. Frequencies.  He knew them all.

So why did it take him so long to realize that the only one sobbing here was him? Why didn't he notice the way he was letting his eyes talk for him? Why didn't he feel the way he had placed himself against her flesh? Forehead to collar bone. Hands and arms tightly clutching onto the pale wet flesh as the eyes shown down brightest in the moonlight.

"Tengen... What have you done?"

Stung. Worse than a manta Ray's jab. Still stinging. 

Sobbing. Crying. No stopping the tears that caught the moonlight. Like little stars twinkling down his face and joining the sparkling of the waves. 

Worlds collided and evaporated. Taking all rational thoughts with it. Pleas of echoing lingering self resentment clouding judgement, pride be damned.

"Dont leave me again don't leave again!! Please I beg of you do not leave me again! I can't lose you!"

Lungs burnt in panic beyond comprehension. He couldn't think clearly. He felt like he was burning in a fire while also frozen so numb in ice he lost all feeling. Sobbing wracking the heavy frame as it clung onto the smaller form like a lifeline. If he let go he would tumble and spiral out of control with nothing to stop him. Nothing to cushion his fall. 

"I have nothing else. I don't want to lose this. I can't lose you all again! PLEASE! You're the only good thing I have!!"

They were the only thing he could love. He didn't want to lose the light that had finally arrived back into his heart. They must hate him. Hate, hate, HATE HIM for everything he put them through. Everything he let happen. He was worthless. Unworthy. Useless. Horrible.

"I only wanted you safe! I swear...I'm sorry. Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry! Forgive me. Please don't leave me!"

Please don't leave him. Please don't hate him. Please let him make up for everything. As long as they stayed. 

"I LOVE YOU! I love you, I love you, I love you so much you don't understand!"

Stay. Please. Say they'll stay now. Please don't let his mind be playing tricks on him. Please don't let him wake up and find out this was nothing but a sick nightmare to mock him for his sins. 

"I promise I'll be better! I'm sorry I'm sorry! I'll be a better husband I swear! Just don't go! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

'Im sorry.' A mantra repeated like a prayer over and over in his broken voice. Broken up into pieces like shattered glass in chokes and sobbing. 

"Tengen..."

He wasn't even aware of who he had grabbed in the un-clarity. He just remembers two hands, so tiny but much stronger than his broken miserable body all together, grabbing the glistening sides of his head. Weakened by the force of a thousand failures. He didn't want to let her go. He had enough clarity to realize that whoever she was wasn't Kyojuro. He sobbed. He's sobbing he hadn't stopped. He couldn't stop. Not even when sweet lips met his swallowing up the next sob that dropped from his throat. Scooping it up and turning it into muffled chokes and whines. It's been so long. Too long since he felt a loving touch.

A most intimate touch only shared by lovers. 

One he didn't deserve. Shouldn't be given. Yet he accepted like a drowning man desperate for a taste of the sweet oxygen. 

All that could be heard was the muffled chokes. Like he was trying to gasp for that air but his throat was clogged beyond saving. He couldn't stop. The dam had burst and there was nothing to save himself. The screams from the past still echoed. Haunting him back to the visions of them disappearing and unable to do anything. So helpless. So worthless. 

Unworthy. 

He couldn't stop the choke that forced him to pry himself away from the saving grace that was her embrace. A hiccup, messy and loud, not helping his feelings. Eyes stinging in fear for what he'll see. Afraid it'll be nothing but air and he had just been imagining the whole thing. Gone insane with grief or worse- It'll be nothing but a desperate dream by a man who's failures costed him everything. Coasted them all everything!

Through the staining tears-

Through the haze-

In the dark-

Lit up by nothing but the moonlight-

Barely visible-

Blue eyes shown up at him big and bright.

"O-Oh my God..Oh my go-ha-haaad. Suma! SUMA!!"

Blue eyes, MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ANY SAPPHIRE, and a face more welcome than his own father was there. 

She was here.

She was ok.

SHE WAS ALIVE!

Her name felt like a holy prayer for the tongue. He couldn't stop the voice from yelling despite the closeness. If the voice hurt her ears she didn't show. Only proceeding to tear up with tears more meaningful than any other time than she's ever cried before.

"No, Tengen. D-Don't cry! If you start t-t-then I'm go-gonnaaa- Ahhahahaaaaaa!!" Beautiful. Her crying was always beautiful but now it was more beautiful than any dammed song or instrument in the world. 

He choked again. He couldn't say anything but choke on his own stupid breathing as she wailed and hung onto his face. Someone joined them. The most beautiful gold orbs ever that was more valuable to him than all the gold in the world. 

"Ma..Mak-k-"

He couldn't finish. Both literally as the chokes claimed him and because he was not worthy to say her name let alone be in her presence. Gold and Sapphire. Sobbing and tearing up. He felt his flesh burn in shame and guilt as multiple arms surrounded his weak failure of a body, keeping him aloft as he lost himself once more sobbing uncontrollably and feeling a fist smashed into his heart only to creep up through his skin and clench around his throat from the inside as a perfect little Ruby joined the Gold and Sapphire. A gutteral, and absolutely pathetic noise left him. Somehow sounding more pathetic by how tight the fist clutched his throat. He tried to talk. He wanted to declare his apologies for his sins so badly-

"Tengen." A soft small hand pushed the quivering bottom lip back up to meet the upper even more quivering lip. "Baby, don't. It's alright now. Shh."

Choking. Hiccuping as the arms wrapped around him fully. Tightly and making sure to NOT let him go. To NOT let him leave. They were saying 'youre ours and you're going to stay right here whether you like it or not.'  He couldn't break away even if he wanted to. 

"You're alright. You're ok now. We got you."

He held on tightly. All one, two, three of them were here. Safe. Alive. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't his mind playing cruel games! Rocking back and forth and burying himself into their warmth. So soft. Smelt of fresh air and flowers. Beautiful. They were his. He was theirs. And he wanted nothing more than to allow them to reclaim him and keep him eternally. 

"Tengen?"

Time froze still. His rocking ceased. The waters fell deathly silent once again. And then puffy, bloodshot red eyes snapped on a swivel towards the one who frowned at him with fiery eyes.

"You...WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?!" A voice, loud and very on edge reverberated throughout the night. Puffing with unrestrained nights of stressful sleep and rising paranoia from the mind. 

"I understand you must be very angry with me-" 

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE FELT!!" Kyojuro said nothing in defense in the brief silence after the declaration. A full minute of angry gasping and heaving. Edging closer to falling over the hold their wives had on him. A shaking hand raised accusingly and rightfully so. "HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I FELT?! YOU WERE ALL I HAD LEFT AND YOU DECIDED TO DO WHAT I EXPLICITLY TOLD YOU NOT TO DO! YOU LEFT ME ALONE AND I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO PROCESS THIS!!..." The choking returned. Voice loosing whatever bitter bite the tongue tasted and devolving into nothing but sobs. "Dammit, Kyo...Do you know what you made me think?! W-What I felt when you left me?!.."

Whatever might've been said was lost. A warm cheek pressing into his shaking hand had him choking on whatever he might've said next. Red eyes, sorrowful, guilty, regretful, and on the verge of collapsing into tears too gazed hard into his.

"I'm so sorry, my love."

"DON'T YOU DO THAT AGAIN!! DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!! DO YOU HEAR ME!? YOU COULD'VE DIED! YOU COULD'VE DIED A-AND I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN KNOWN!! I SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE!! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME W-WHO'D-.."

He couldn't finish. It should've been him from the very beginning to take their fate. At least then he would've done what he should've done as a good husband. There was a pure moment of relieving bliss surrounded by warmth and love. Crying too yes but he didn't care for him or how he looked in that moment..

Until the smell of thick copper finally registered in his nose.

B L O O D

Bloodshot eyes shot back open. No. NO. EVERYTHING WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OK NOW!! SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT! The blinking eyes shot around the abyssal horrid darkness searching for the source quickly and panicked-

Until they fell upon Kyojuro. 

And the red splattering his body. The red staining his hands and arms. 

AND THE UNCONSCIOUS HUMAN THAT SLUMPED AGAINST HIS CHEST.

There was nothing but silent stares until the others in mixed reactions found out quickly the reason for his sudden stoic face. 

"W h a t  t h e  f u c k  i s  t h i s?"

Kyojuro for once looked almost panicked. "Tengen, we can explain." He choked out quickly under the intensity of the face he gave her.

"I think I'd like that actually." A hand, still shaking uncontrollably, pointed at the way Kyojuro's hand bunched up and tightly held the pretty yellow fabric of a once nice dress stained by red. Most likely the source of the blood the Kyojuro was trying to prevent from leaking out. "Why the hell are you holding that human?!" 

"Tengen, I promise we will explain everything to you but right now she needs attention! We must get her to the doctors now!"

A sneer. "Leave her on the beach! Someone will find her or she'll wake up and go home herself!"

"We can't just abandon her! She's wounded!" His husband's look was panicked. Extremely afraid. "LOOK FOR YOURSELF!" As if to convince him, he turned to nudge up the obvious bleeding gash in the unconscious woman. "She won't make it if we don't do something."

Tengen said nothing. Nothing but stare at the pitiful and weak girl in his arms....He admitted Kyojuro was right. The wound wasn't deep and the bleeding wasn't bad but she'd most likely not survive the night if left to herself or perhaps a wild creature would be attracted to the blood and easy prey. She was more pitiful than the man who threatened them.

He knew that man's face. 

His voice.

He was the one who mocked him from the shoreline and thrived on his pain when his cursed bloodline stole his lovers from him. 

He was not going to survive to do it again.

However...

He didn't recognize this woman. He leaned forward giving a deep inhale. He smelt blood obviously, and salt and water on her drenched body. Some cotton from her fabric, and then finally her own unique scent. One whiff and he was able to conclude that she was never any of the people that he took out or who wronged him before. A total stranger. A third smell got him confused.

There was a plethora of all kinds of different smells on her body. Blood, salt, water, cotton- But also the faint scent of flowers, and other plants, and strangely enough the scents of his lovers. Mostly Makio on her arms and hands and Kyojuro as he held her, but there was also softer traces of both Suma and Hinatsuru too.

....How odd.

However he fully stopped. The scent of THAT MAN was there too. On one place. Under the blood and Kyojuro's hand desperately trying to save her. Did-..

Was he responsible for this?

"Tengen, please."

"....Press down on the wound tightly. It's a long trip and if she's going to make it then she'll need all the blood she can keep in her body." 

He hoped he didn't regret this kindness.

"WHAT?!"

You stared at Tengen as he continued to casually stare at you before shrugging again. You sputtered opening and closing your mouth before shaking your head and just looking out again at the blue horizon. Still no signs of land anywhere. This-..It-

"T-There's gotta be some kind of mistake." You looked back to him wet hair clinging to your face and shoulders. "Did you say that I'm on an island?"

His smile widened. "THE biggest out of the three I own!" He huffed proudly before a single finger pointed up. "I own the entire west beach where you first came from. It became mine after I drove all those humans away and claimed it for myself. I also own these three islands off it and at least five miles of ocean in all directions you see! It's a perfectly plentiful hunting ground for my pod and partners!" He hummed again and rubbed his chin. "In fact- Kyojuro's family just moved into the coral reef connected to my second island. Kyo wanted a safer place for his little brother to grow up and technically they're my in-laws-" He lit up perfectly happy again. "So my home is their home!"

"How the heck did you even manage to build a house on the beach when you can't walk on land?!" That's what confused you most.

"Oh that? Eh. This island used to be inhabited by people who fished like your town did." He waved a hand disregarding anything in concern with a bored look. "The guy who had this place before me ran them out and then I ran HIM out. I guess a few houses are still standing up."

Ok. Kinda creepy to know that you were really staying in what Used to be someone's house but that really the main concern here. Your main concern was why three girls who ended up disappearing, one girl who was Said to be carried off by a Naga, and a girl who was supposedly drowned two towns over were all stuck in a house way out in the middle of no where!

"Tengen." He hummed again glancing boredly at you from examining those sharp strangely Mitch matched claws of his. You hesitated a second before gesturing to the way you had walked from. "Why are those girls on your island?"

"Oh! Well besides this island being the biggest, there's a few houses left standing they can live in, it has a fresh water source for drinking, plenty of food-"

"That's not what I meant." Your waving hands caused him to pause in his island bragging again. "I meant WHY are they here?"....He blankly stared at you. "Why are they on your island and not home?"

He blinked. "They are home. What are you talking about?"

You wanted to facepalm yourself. "No. Why aren't they with their families?" He opened his mouth- "Their human families, Tengen!" You frowned harder.  "Everyone's been worried sick about them since they disappeared last year!" Your stomach felt tied in knots remembering the way you've seen Mr. and Mrs. Kocho cry over loosing all three of their children in one day. 

Tengen stared at you silently before he just shrugged making you gawk to the nonchalant reaction to the situation. "I dunno really. It's not my business."

"What do you mean? They're living on YOUR island aren't they?!"

He stretched his arms placing them behind his head. "I mean yeah. Can't exactly make them live in the water with their puny lungs." Your eyes narrowed but he wasn't affected by this. "*sigh* Look. They're not my mates so I have no say in their relationships other than letting them stay where they won't get killed."

Wait... Relationships? He must've seen the expression your puzzled face was making because he groaned again before rolling his eyes.

"My pod mates. They're the ones who brought 'em here. Look. I dunno about humans where you come from, but here we don't really stick our noses into others' relationships."

"Wait. What do you mean that they were brought here?"

He shrugs with his arms still behind his head. "Just as I said. That Akaza fellow traded me a whole chest of jewels just to let that suck girl live here. Uh.. What's-Her-Name. Koko? Yuki? Something like that." He looked off to the side seemingly bored again. "She kept getting sick so Giyuu and Sanemi thought it'd be a good idea to kidnap some doctors but then they stayed- Then my problem started. Obanai said he'd go look for em on land!" He tutteted and made a sour frown. "But instead of being back my women, he ends up bringing back a pink haired girl who wound up beating my ass in a suplex!"

"*SNORT!*"

His head snapped to you narrow eyed and frowning as you turned away covering your face. "And what the hell is so funny?!"

What was so funny was the mental image of a petite woman like Mitsuri beating the scales of a giant merman supposedly strong enough to sink ships whole. But you only shook your head despite the smile on your face.

"N-Nothing. Nothing at all," you said between giggles at his obvious frown.

"It's not funny!" He shouted before quickly lowering his arms to ..Cross them and-

"Are you pouting like a child?" Some kind of sputtering noise escaped his throat making you laugh harder than before and his face turned red out of embarrassment.

"I am not pouting! Tengen Uzui does not pout like a pint sized minnow! You got that?!" Despite his annoyed face and look you couldn't help but end up laughing more, hugging your sides and trying not to jostle the hurt shoulder. "I MEAN IT! STOP! STOP YOUR LAUGHING!! IM THE MOST FLASHY AND TERRIFYING SEA CREATURE OF THE WEST SEAS!! IF I WANTED TO, I COULD SCARE YOU SO BAD YOU COULDN'T EVEN TAKE A BATH WITHOUT BEING SCARED OF ME!"

You wheezed for air not being able to breath. "Y-Yes. T-Tengen U-Uzui. *Snort* Lord of pouts A-And god of- Hahaha! Blushing-"

"I'M NOT INTO YOU!!" He sounded..panicked almost. His face a sudden ten shades redder. And he squawked out half stuttering. "LET'S GET THAT STRAIGHT! I MIGHT BE GRATEFUL BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE SEDUCING ME! GET REAL! IF ANYTHING YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN AWE OF ME!!"

"Aw. You came all the way here to seduce me?", you teased not taking him seriously at all. 

"I-... THAT'S NOT-"

"Or do you want a 'medical kiss' too?" You teased again. Feeling a little better that you can get back at him in some way after all you went through. "I think I can arrange that.~"

Tengen absolutely froze solid. Big lashes on sparkling f/c orbs batting up at him as the soft face leaned in closer. The water droplets against her skin shown in the sunlight like a thousand tiny diamonds clung onto her. Her nightgown clinging to her showing off her figure as soft hands reached out to grabbed his burning cheeks. He couldn't move. Couldn't speak as she inched forever closer. Beautiful orbs going half lidded before closing and warm breath ghosting over him. His face reddened to a shade that rivaled that of an apple, he leaned forward enough to kiss your lips, eyes slowly closing as well- Before her head changed direction and she completely leaned away startling him into opening his as. Blinking as she stood in in giggles. 

"Consider that payback for your teasing. Now.."

 You walked away from his frozen form stopping halfway back down the rock to cross your arms and look around. There was the matter with getting off this island...Maybe the old town here, or what was left of it, had a leftover row boat or something. Or maybe Tengen or one of your friends could give you a ride back to shore? If not you were sure you could make a raft out of-

GROWL- 

You jumped at the sound of sudden rumbling. What THE- What was that? The skies were still clear so not thunder. Was that your stomach? You know you didn't have breakfast yet but you didn't think you were THAT hungry.

"So..THAT'S  how you want to initiate courtship huh?~ How flashy.~"

What?

You looked behind you but froze as you met wine red eyes. His pupils quickly switching between completely dialated and completely all black and round. His mouth in a playful EAGER smirk that nearly split his face. His body was in a pounce position similar to a cat's. Speaking of cat's his shoulders rolled like a cat about to pounce on prey. Face still blushing a mad red.

"Two can play at this game, Little Gem.~"

You squealed out as a large merman suddenly and without warning pounced towards you-

Scrraaaaappe. Scrraaaaappe. 

The soft sounds of a bristled broom swept across the floors and outside of the home. Sending the dust and dirt flying outside into the air in a small cloud of dust before it disappated into thin air. The waves softly rolling off the sand in rolls as the wind gently blew through. Sending pretty long black hair into her face. Her gentle voice giggled as it tickled her skin and she brushed it away-

"Kanae!" 

Pink eyes blinked-

"KANAE!"

Pretty pink eyes turned towards the source of the one calling out to her. A white head of hair bobbing amongst the water. The face of bloodshot black pupils scars staring intensely at her form in the doorway before-

The face stretched an unsure smile across his face as if he wasn't sure how to smile showing off nothing but fangs. A splash sending droplets over himself sounded off as a hand pushed into the air. In his grasp sparkled pretty strings of pearls and gem necklaces. 

"Look! I traded one of Uzui's girls for them! They're f-for you! Aren't they beautiful?!," he called desperately.

...A sad frown settled on her features as she turned- 

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!! L-LOOK!! I-I got something for your little sister too! Kanao  likes butterflies right?!" He desperately fumbled as she watched with the same sad, silence she always gave him. Shaking claws desperately picking out a small oddly shaped greenish gem. "Look! This kinda looks like one! I have six little brothers and sisters so I know how you must feel about them! I-I can be good to your family too! LOOK!!' The oddly shaped thing was held up with a frown from him. "Just-... Please don't ignore me anymore. I-I can give you anything you want! Just name whatever the hell you want and I'll get the dam thing!"

She didn't respond. Only looking back forward, and slowly walking back through the doorway. His heart felt like it broke into a million pieces as the noise of the door once again closing echoed in his mind. 

"Rejected again, Shinazugawa?"

A growl echoed over the waves before dangerously slit eyes snapped in the direction of the voice. "Fuck off, Obanai!"

Above the shore and gliding across the dry beach was a much longer but less powerful sea snake. The seemingly endless coils from where he had been wrapped up, sunbathing no doubt, uncoiled just enough to allow his torso to raise and look at him. 

He looked unfazed by his friend's anger as usual. "You think you would've learnt by now. That girl is never going to acknowledge you."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, VENOM BREATH!! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE MAKING ANY PROGRESS WITH YOUR PINK HAIRED CUPID ARE YA?!"

A hiss in place of a growl left narrowed slit eyes. "That'ssss none of your business."

"THEN DON'T GO POKING YOUR FANGED FACE INTO MINE!!"

"It'sss hard not too when you're so loud it wakes up fish all the way in fucking Antarctica!"

"Yeah?!" He pointed out a hand still clutching precious jewels. "At least I'm not as shitting as Lonerfish when it comes to-" He looked over and choked on his words. "OH WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Said snake turned and both comically felt their eyes bug out at the sight before them. A familiar looking blue and black tailed merman sat there looking bored out of his mind and silent as usual which wasn't really out of the ordinary. But what WAS our of the ordinary was the smiling lavender eyed woman squishing his cheeks over and over again as he did nothing to stop her from doing so. He seemed entirely unfazed by any of her poking and prodding of him. Until she said something to him...He mouthed something back which must've been the right thing to say because the girl smiled closed eyed and pleased with herself.

....

They both continued to stare.

"...Well...This day can't get any worse I suppose."

Obanai had spoken too soon.

A BLOOD CURDLING SHRIEK FILLED THE AIR!! 

Both men looked towards the left. Giyuu looked up startled and the girl snapped around startled. ..And all of them watched as a woman drenched to the bone and holding up the end of her nightgown running down the beach with a lovestruck koi tailed merman behind her.

"YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO MOVE THIS FAST ON LAND?!"

You voice was cut short when Uzui somehow used his arms to leap in front of you and skid to a stop making sand fly as he slid to a stop. You stopped nearly tripping over forward as he stared at you with such an intense look that was like a man falling in love after a hundred years of loneliness. Somewhere behind you a door slammed open hearing the screams, pink eyes blinked widely.

"What the hell has gotten into you people?!," you squealed out as he gave a sound between a deep chuckle and a loud purr. 

His muscles tensed as he smiled wider and again his shoulders did that rolling motion. "I did say I was flashier than anyone else didn't I?~"

He leapt. You squealed. And a moment later you found yourself wrapped up in big burly arms. Pulled against a rippled chest and looked up into the wine red eyes of a playfully blushing merman. 

He smiled brightly at his catch giving a pleased growl that had you freezing. Before he puckered his lips and leaned forward to kiss you-

"TENGEN UZUI!!" He paused still puckered, blinked, and looked over his shoulder at an angry pinked eyed woman. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Just a minute there-"

You opened your mouth only to freeze as a head of white hair snapped back to you and suddenly there was a warmth upon your lips-

[withgreatpowercomesmyfuckingdick]

Hi! Imma do something rare and actually make content, but its 11 at night and i just had a brain worm

for those of you that don’t know, i work at an accounting office. we do taxes. it is tax season. and now im thinking abt how AGSZC does taxes and what their papers are like and im inflicting it on the rest of you even if its gibberish

Angeal: A godsend. Keeps his forms in order and filed properly, calculates everything else himself like a good man. Papers honestly aren’t too bad, maybe 10-12 just because of his career/insurance plus his doubtless donations to charity, but aside from that. straightforward and done at his kitchen table

Genesis: A fucking NIGHTMARE. no doubt pays someone else to do it. and for fucks sake, i know he invests. constantly and consistently and probably in anything he thinks stands the slightest chance against shinra on the market. his 1099-B is a mess and definitely Not Totaled, so his is the bullshit you have to insert one. investment. at. a time. He’s the type that keeps fucking calling too, I can just tell. but, aside from the 1099-B, he’s probably got simple stuff as well. probably several 1099-INTs from several different bank accounts, maybe a couple 1098s floating around from vacation houses or some shit.

Sephiroth: Does his own. In ridiculously early. Makes almost no personal purchases so hardly has anything to pay. I can’t imagine not having a last name or not knowing his birthday doesn’t end up a legal problem somehow, so he likely has to walk directly into a damn tax office to say hey this is me and this is my shit no, someone isn’t stealing my identity. has one singular document and it’s his W-2. Which is. Fucking astronomical. Like, the number doesn’t even look right. His paycheck as a SOLDIER isn’t taxed, so he doesn’t really get much back on his refund. The only first without a healthcare /insurance form because why tf would Sephiroth have healthcare? What’s he gonna do, get sick?

not getting into how doing his own taxes was definitely a fight between him and Hojo at some point and ended up getting hashed out in a board room. Hojo didn’t like him having the autonomy of filing for himself instead of being claimed ad Hojo’s ‘dependent’. Sephiroth deadass threatened to go to court abt it. The President told Hojo to suck it up so they didn’t have to deal with scandal, Hojo wouldn’t tell Seph his birthday to be difficult, and here we are

Zack: Panicking. Late. Doesn’t know if his forms came in the mail, doesn’t know where he put them most of the time. Scrambles around for a fuck ton of receipts, ultimately has to request Shinra send him his shit again. DEFINITELY pays someone else to do it. W-2, 1095-A, 1099-C(s)(he has several debts i can feel it i love him but he screams bad financial decisions), probably some shit for his bike too. He customs it so I can see him listing some parts he buys for it as work expenses. Jokingly puts some money he gave aerith for flowers and what he spent to make her wagon as donations to charity and it actually goes through because the church is still considered a legal entity. Definitely has to pay late fees.

Cloud: Pays Tifa to do it. Filing for both of them is a nightmare cause all their shit burnt in Nibelheim, so once Edge gets right with the WRO they have to do all their paperwork from scratch and get reassigned SSNs. He genuinely has a fuckton of paperwork from doing the Strife Delivery Service. Luckily, only ‘employee’ he has is Tifa, and even then she doesn’t do things regularly aside from pick up the phone. Doesn’t make his business an LLC until he’s literally forced to due to his number of clients and someone trying to sue him for damages. 1099-NEC for TIfa for sure, then once he’s an LLC, some yearly maintenance to keep legal. Mileage and gas expenses go CRAZY on his self employment form, I fucking bet. I bet Cloud’s handwriting is shit tho. Tifa’s at her desk counting up his gains and losses for fucking ages because his fives look too similar to sixes. Eventually she wrangles him into installing some shit on his phone that counts it up, if only to cure her headache. Funnily enough, he does get veteran benefits from what’s left of Shinra’s shit, reparations of sorts, but he doesn’t keep it. All goes to charity, so that ends up in the books too.

alright, that was unnecessarily in depth and way longer than i planned. good night LMAO

[eywa-eveng]

ɪɪɪ. sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ɴᴏɴᴇ

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ – ᴊᴀᴋᴇ sᴜʟʟʏ, sᴜʟʟʏ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ X ᶠᴱᴹ ᴹᴱᵀᴷᴬᵞᴵᴺᴬ ᴿᴱᴬᴰᴱᴿ

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ – 16.2k

ɢᴇɴʀᴇ – angst

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs – widower!Jake, war, gore, major character death

ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ’s ɴᴏᴛᴇ – Part three is finally here! Only one part left and then this short series will be officially finished! Also, this installment follows closely to the plot of the movie.

ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪ – ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪɪ – ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪᴠ

ᴛᴀɢ ʟɪsᴛ – @eywas-heir @fanboyluvr @amiets2 @neteyamforlife @itscheybaby @sunrays404 @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @eternallyvenus @bobojojoba69 @behindthearcane @elegantkidfansoul @goldenmoonbeam @ladylovegood-69 @slutforsmut4ever @myheartfollower @pinkiemme @arminsgfloll @wtf-why-do-i-gotta-do-this @onlyreadz @sovereignsylvia @scc7514 @ghost-lantern @calums-betch @nao-cchi @a—1–1–3 @crazy4books1 @meladollsims

Wind blows through the great arches of the Cove, lifting misting clouds of warm water that sparkle in the pale light rising from beneath the waves. The breeze is filled with the comforting scents of home; of lush sea grass and the tang of the ocean as gusts of air whistle like flying arrows across the open water. The waves crashing against the shore below add to the melody like the beat of a drum as the wind whispers a soft song through the balmy air. The floating islands stand guard, shadows passing overhead like clouds to offer relief from the warmth of the afternoon sun. It’s peaceful here in the Cove of the Ancestors, tranquil as still water as you work. 

The climb had been arduous, your palms sore and legs burning from the climb. The ground feels like a salve as the cool dirt rushes like water over your hands as you carefully dig up plants. Collecting these greenish gray roots are the last of your chores for the day. They’re a necessity for some healing tonics and Ronal has nearly depleted her supply with the new wave of hunters looking to prove their worth so soon after their rites have been passed. It is expected. They are still young, still eager to prove their strength and worth as one of The People. But hunting is not all that is needed in the clan. Some will be better suited to other tasks. Weaving nets, repairing the marui, teaching the younglings the ways of the clan. Some will become healers and free divers. It is what you’re suited to even after so many years of training to hunt and fish. Now, you tuck the last of the knotted roots into the satchel on your hip and dust the dirt from your hands. The climb up the winding vines hanging from the spono alusìng may have been strenuous but getting down is always your favorite part. A few steps back, a deep breath, and then you’re sprinting to the edge of the island. 

Those few moments in the air feel infinite as the wind whips around you, running through your hair and across your skin like weightless touches as the water below draws closer. There’s a moment of darkness as you close your eyes against the impact and then a burst of light as the water slows your descent, the tide keeping you from sinking. Pale purple light plays across your skin, the fronds of the Ranteng Utralti tracing against you as you swim towards the surface. The light fades as you return to the village, purple fading to yellow as the afternoon deepens to evening. The terraces are emptying and hunters are beginning to return from beyond the reef as you pull yourself onto the path in front of your marui. Ronal’s voice greets you, a sharp, wordless yip you recognize as a call for your presence. 

She isn’t happy when you join her, the marui already crowded with guests as the children stand in the shadow of their tsahìk and olo’eyktan. There’s a grave energy filling the home, a disturbance that only grows as your eyes pass over Lo’ak and the rest. A chill trickles down your spine as you hand Ronal what you’ve collected. She sets it to the side with little regard, her green eyes filled with an anger that flows deeper than petty squabbles between children. Before you can speak she grabs your arm with enough strength to make your ears bow back in submission. 

“What have you been teaching your children?” She’s seething, words coming from between clenched teeth as she bares her fangs at you. Your lip twitches, prepared to draw back in your own show of displeasure. There is an accusation shining in her eyes, words harsher than she cares to share in the presence of others. Before she was tsahìk she was your elder sister and it’s clear in her fierce expression that she’d rather dispense with formalities and speak her anger freely. Instead she tosses your arm away with a hissing sigh, returning to her pacing before whirling to face the children once more. 

They’re standing with their heads bowed, ears pulled back and tails hanging limp between their legs as Ronal’s green gaze draws over each of them like a stinging nettle. Finally she settles on her daughter. Tsireya already looks close to tears, eyes clouded thick with regret and unshed tears. Her tanhì flicker with a faint anxious light, seemingly keeping time with what must be her thundering heartbeat. It’s an expression you’ve known in your younger years at the hands of Ronal. She expects so much of those she teaches, and even more when they are her family. Tsireya is in line to be tsakarem, she’s meant to reflect Eywa’s grace. And whatever she’s done has gone against the Great Mother’s teachings. 

“You allowed this! You allowed him to bond with the outcast!” Ronal snaps. 

“Payakan?” The word leaves your lips before you can stop it. Barely a whisper but your sister hears it. The flames of her anger are turned on you in an instant, catching quickly and burning away at your pride as she scolds you as if you’re a child. A hiss rolls off your tongue with little consideration, teeth bared at Ronal as your tail begins to sway in tense waves. Your sister isn’t perturbed by the display of aggression. Neither of you will go beyond these small shows of hostility. 

“Yes, Payakan!” Ronal snaps. “Your son has bonded with him. And they allowed it to happen!” She doesn’t name which of your children has made this misstep but a place in your heart knows it was Lo’ak even before Ronal’s eyes settle on him. He doesn’t look nearly as remorseful as you’d expect. There’s an air of annoyance and agitation in his idle movement, but there isn’t a sense of guilt in his lowered gaze and sagging shoulders. 

“Lo’ak, what have you done? You should’ve known better.” His head raises when you say his name, defiance bright as starlight in his yellow eyes. 

“You are the son of a great warrior and this is how you act? You have been taught better than this.” Tonowari says just as Jake makes his way to the marui. Jake’s eased expression immediately falls to shadows, his brows drawing low and his jaw tightening as he hears the olo’eyktan’s words. 

“Payakan saved my life, nawmtu. You don’t know him.” Lo’ak’s words only serve to sow further discord as he speaks against Tonowari. Tsireya murmurs his name, shaking her head to discourage his attitude. There is still more he wants to say, insolence still clear on his face as he lifts his chin but holds his tongue. Tonowari does the same, nodding at Lo’ak’s disrespect. 

“Sit.” He says evenly. Threads of anger slowly pulling at his tone. At last, Lo’ak bows his head as Tonowari stoops to his level but the olo’eyktan is not mollified. “Sit down!” He shouts until all the children are seated. Tsireya falls to her knees like a stone through water while the other boys remain tense. Tonowari’s voice is strong enough to buckle even your knees but Ronal catches you by the elbow before you can kneel at her mate’s side. She might have laid the fault for this at your feet–blaming your poor teaching–but she won’t let you bow to Tonowari’s anger in this way. She shakes her head when you look at her. Despite her initial anger, this isn’t your lesson to learn. 

Tonowari dissipates his anger with a harsh exhale before speaking again. 

“Hear my words, boy. These are lessons you’ve learned before when the tulkun returned, but it seems you do not remember. The tulkun forbid killing, yet Payakan has gone against this. He has returned to the ways of the days of the First Songs; taking lives. We follow the way of our brothers and sisters. Payakan is a killer, so he is outcast. To all.”

“No. I’m sorry, nawmtu, but you’re wrong.”

“Lo’ak!” You snap before he can say more. “You speak to olo’eyktan.” His eyes settle on you for a brief moment before his mouth opens again. 

“I know–”

“That’s enough!” Jake snaps. His silence lasts a few beats longer, long enough for Tsireya to try to dissuade him with another shake of her head. He seems to consider her before raising his head once more. 

“I know what I know.” He finishes. Ronal drops your arm, clicking her tongue at your son before turning away from all of you. This new bond has upset the great balance and it will be a burden to the tsahìk before anyone else. Though it weighs just as heavily on your shoulders, perhaps more. Lo’ak is your child. His teaching is your responsibility. And yet here is a clear mark of your failure to teach him your ways. 

“That’s enough.” Jake growls, looming over Lo’ak like a pouncing animal. At last, Lo’ak surrenders. “I’ll deal with him.” Tonowari nods, watching Jake pull Lo’ak away from the marui. The rest of the children scatter, glad to be free of their leaders’ anger. 

“Go,” Ronal dismisses you as well. “You’ve worked hard today.” Those are her words of consolation. Not an apology but a stone to step over this conflict. This storm will not pass as easily as fighting between the children, but what’s done is done. A bond with a spirit brother can only be undone by death. This decision; Lo’ak and Payakan will have to live with it for the rest of their lives. 

It’s in your nature to soothe and nurture, a childhood spent healing and convening with the Great Mother has instilled a caring nature within you. Even with anger sitting heavy as stones in your chest you want to go to Lo’ak, to ease his thoughts. Jake will surely have torn into him like an akula for his disrespect towards Tonowari, and while his words will be harsh they aren’t undeserved. Some things you simply cannot turn a blind eye to. He has gone against the way of the Metkayina in a way no one has in recent memory. It is expected that the tsahìk approves the bonding between spirit siblings. For Lo’ak to disregard tradition, to bond with an outcast no less, is a great show of disrespect. And yet you want to understand why he did it. You linger just beyond the path of the Sully marui where Jake’s voice has carried. His words are muffled but anger is evident in his tone. After a while, Lo’ak storms out. When Jake doesn’t follow to drag him back inside you decide it is your time to make a gentler attempt at reproach. 

Lo’ak knows you’re following him. Your shadow is lengthening in pinkish purple light of the coming eclipse and casting across his back as your feet find the prints he’s already left in the sand. Every Na’vi is taught to hunt from a young age and his ears twitch towards the soft pattering of your footfalls even as he refuses to stop. When he is finally tired of running he turns to look at you. His face is no longer set in stony defiance. Instead the harsh lines have fallen away to something soft and vulnerable. He looks nearly close to tears, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth. He isn’t sad, but there is a sort of frustration that can only be released through angry tears. Like a bowl spilling over, Lo’ak’s overabundance of clashing emotions has nowhere to pour but outwards. 

“They hate me.” His voice breaks over the words. “They hate me, Sa’nok.” Your heart squeezes. 

“Shameful. Outcast. That’s all I’ll ever be to anyone.” When his head falls you lift it with a gentle hand under his chin. “I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. Payakan is my friend, I swear. Please, Sa’nok, you have to believe me. You have to believe me.” He clings to your arm as if you’re the only thing keeping him from being washed out with the tide. It isn’t sadness tinging his voice but an unrestrained desperation. Ronal denied him. Tonowari denied him. Jake denied him. Even Tsireya told him to hold his tongue. None of them would hear him, none of them would See him. But you See. So much. 

“Lo’ak. Ma’itan. I believe you.” You take his hands in yours and draw him to sit in the sand. “Just tell me what happened. Everything.” And he does. He tells you of how Payakan saved him when Ao’nung abandoned him beyond the reef, of how he visited him nearly every day between his chores and lessons, of how he knew they were meant to be spirit brothers after seeing the bond between The People and the returning tulkun. 

“Those men died, but it wasn’t Payakan who killed them. He rallied the men to fight back against the demon ship after they attacked him and his family. He watched his mother die. He was upset and scared. It wasn’t his intention to get anyone killed.” A long breath leaves your lungs as if you’ve surfaced after a long dive, releasing the tension in your chest before you speak. 

“By the tulkun way he is a killer. We did not decide this, but it is the way of our brothers and sisters. Payakan must bear the weight of those lives lost. I will tell Tonowari the truth of it, but it will not change his mind. This path we follow isn’t for us to decide. Only a tulkun can remove the stain Payakan carries.” 

“But it isn’t fair. He knows what he did was wrong!” 

“I know, but it is the way.” You send him off with a promise to talk to his father. Jake is alone when you arrive, your skin still damp from wading in the ocean to wash away the sand. Tension is clear in the harsh lines of his muscles as he sharpens a spear, stone against stone tossing sparks of light between his hands. There are many things on his mind. Dark and heavy, looming just out of sight. This is just another weight upon his shoulders. 

“Ma Jake,” he doesn’t look up from his work at the sound of your voice. Instead he grows more tense, knuckles paling as his grip tightens on the stone in his fist. His ears pull back in a show of irritation but you won’t be ignored. “Jake, this is very hard for them. This is a new place with new traditions. They are learning. It will take time. Everything does not always come easily.” 

“I know.” His tone is thick with authority, dripping with the voice of an olo’eyktan. It’s final. He wants this to be done with. But if he was olo’eyktan you would be his tsahìk. It is what you trained for. It is what all your lessons have taught you to be. In this you are equals. His voice can’t intimidate you when you both stand on equal footing. Jake is no longer olo’eyktan. He’s left that life behind in the forest. And you will never be tsahìk. But you are mated, still. Equals. 

“Lo’ak tries to live up to your expectations. It is very hard for him.”

“I know.” His tone has shifted to something more pliable. He’s less assured. “You are very hard on him.” He stops sharpening the blade at last, eyes swirling with a mixture of denial and acceptance. He sets his work aside and reaches for you. Your hands meet. Hot and cold. His warmed with anger and yours cooled by the ocean. There is so much fire inside him. He’s left war behind but the war hasn’t left him. 

“I do everything I can to protect them,” Jake laments, “and Lo’ak still goes against my word at every turn. Fighting with Ao’nung, going beyond the reef. And now he’s gone and done this. The rest I expect. He’s never been good at following rules. But this–he’s brought shame to this family. Ronal was already hesitant about letting us stay. If you hadn’t spoken on our behalf we probably would’ve been turned away come morning. Now Lo’ak has disregarded a sacred tradition. One that Ronal presides over.”

“It isn’t just Lo’ak’s choice. He bonded with Payakan because he allowed tsaheylu to be made. A bond between a Na’vi and tulkun is as sacred as the one you share with your ikran. You must be chosen for a bond to be made and Payakan chose Lo’ak. He didn’t follow tradition but this is one of his rites passed. Ronal knows this just as well as I do. It isn’t perfect but I’m proud of him. He is becoming one with the clan. That is what you wanted isn’t it?” At last Jake sighs and the last of his fire burns out, body relaxing its rigid posture. His fingers have cooled or perhaps yours have gained some warmth as he toys with them between his own. Five fingers playing across your four. 

“I was worried.” He says after a moment. “I thought that if we couldn’t make it here–if we had to leave–I’d lose you. I’d lose this home. I’d lose everything all over again.” 

“Ma Jake.” Your hands pull away from his to hold his face in your palms. His brows are pulled tight and you kiss away the tension formed between them. “Where you go I follow. If you leave, so do I.” He’s already shaking his head before you can finish.

“I don’t want it to come to that. This is your home. The look on the kids’ faces when we had to leave the forest gutted me. I want this to be our home. But I don’t know how much longer this can last.” Neither of you mention that this small piece of happiness has already begun to slip through your fingers like sand. Lo’ak and Payakan are a welcomed distraction from the storm looming over the horizon, to the south where humans are beginning to attack villages. Tonowari has given the order to keep Jake hidden, but the peace his words have made is tenuous at best. How long until the sawtute bring their war to Awa’atlu if sister islands in the atolls are already being attacked? 

Still the days go on. Tonowari continues to bring hushed reports of what is happening just beyond the reaches of the village. It’s all you can do to share the burden of this knowledge with your sister, with your mate. The guilt tears at Jake’s heart each time he hears of more homes being burned and animals being needlessly killed, but just as you do he tucks it all away to keep the cloud of ignorance hanging over the childrens’ heads. But, sooner or later, gathering clouds bring rain. 

“These things happen.” Neteyam stiffens under your hands at the reassuring words, muscles tensing before he slowly eases himself. He’s embarrassed if the purple tinge of his cheeks and low draw of his ears are anything to go by. He’d come trailing into the marui holding his bleeding arm and promising that it couldn’t be as bad as it seemed given the blood dripping through the seams of his fingers. He keeps his gazes pointedly out of sight, lashes lowered to hide what you might find there, but his tanhì still keeps a stuttering glow beneath your fingers as you smooth a soothing balm over the newly made stitches of his arm. The jagged welt is short but cut deep, the mark of an irritated tsurak. These wounds are common in the clan, nearly everyone receives one during their training. It will heal and fade with time but perhaps quicker than Neteyam’s pride. 

“Skimwings are not easily mastered. It will take time before your chosen mount fully accepts you as its rider. These bonds aren’t as easily made as those with ikran and ilu. Ilu are docile and easily soothed. Tsurak are fierce creatures meant for hunting in open water, and they do not choose their riders as ikran do. It is good that they are vicious. With time their attitude will soften towards you. Until then, you must take care to stay away from their sharp bits.” It’s meant to be teasing but Neteyam shrugs from under your hands. You sigh. 

“Neteyam.” His head turns towards your voice but his eyes don’t rise to meet yours until you say his name again. He is embarrassed and disappointed. It is expected to fail before you succeed but it doesn’t seem like your son will allow himself such grace. As with everything else, he must uphold the highest standards lest it reflect badly on his family. So much of his life has been molded by the expectations of others. As the eldest son of Toruk Makto, and the older brother to a spitfire like Lo’ak who is so prone to making mistakes. It was clear from your first meeting that Neteyam tries his hardest to be like his father, and to make up for what others might say about his brother. But he is still young, still learning. 

“It’s alright. No one is expecting you to ride a tsurak with the ease of a hunter on your first attempt.”

“Sempul did.” You tuck a stray braid behind his drooping ear, stifling a laugh. 

“Your sempul has ridden greater things than a skimwing and even he took a few attempts before he could mount properly. I watched him. Even when I was training, I got scars of my own. It is the way of things. Mistakes mean you are learning.” 

“But I shouldn’t make mistakes.” He grumbles. “I should be better.”

“And you will be, ma’itan, with time. Now go. You’ll miss the rest of your lessons and be more upset with yourself come eclipse.” He still hasn’t fully shaken the weight of disappointment from his shoulders but Neteyam stands with a dull nod. His whole body sags beneath the weight of this failure to meet his own expectations. His tail is limp between his legs as he trails out of the marui. You’re only alone for a moment. Just long enough to turn the fish over the fire before Jake comes ducking in. 

“Neteyam was hurt?” He asks. 

“He is your son.” You sigh, setting aside the fish you’ve already wrapped in leaves. “He has learned to ride an ilu and now he is learning to mount a skimwing. He learns as quickly as the wind, but a storm can’t blow on forever.” 

“Did you talk to him?” He asks, finding his place beside you. You feel his hand find its way into your hair, twisting the dark waves over his fingers as he watches you cook. Neteyam isn’t usually so stubborn but he takes his responsibilities as the eldest son of a legendary warrior all too seriously. Never mind that Toruk Makto has only emerged five times since the times of the First Songs with Jake being the sixth. He needn’t be so insistent on being the strongest, the fastest, the absolute best. It is like the newly made warriors of the clan boasting their strength as if to prove their place among the People. Learning with a swiftness isn’t necessary especially when he is still adapting to life in a new place. 

“I told him these things take time, but he won’t hear my words. A tree does not grow overnight, but he seems to think he must make miracles happen to live up to you.” Jake’s ears fall back against his head, brows frowned as he mulls over your words. It is the truth. 

Jake is a miracle walking among the Na’vi. An uniltìrantokx that became one of the People. He came from a star. Lo’ak had shown it to you once. Pointing at a distant dot of light in the deep blue sky like a pearl at the bottom of the ocean. It seems so impossible to travel through the skies as if it were the ocean but you’ve seen what the sawtute can do. Their metal, their light. It is all so strange. Frightening. They take and take. More than what is needed. From the ground beneath their feet, they twist and distort until it is something unrecognizable as earth; as their home. There’s a sharp pang in your chest as you remember the feeling of Eywa crying out as the Omatikaya’s Kelutral fell to the humans’ greedy hands. Jake said that their mother was dead, that the Earth had nothing more to give, but they wanted more. They wanted to do that here. Perhaps Neteyam is right to want to be like his father. This war isn’t over. The attacks on neighboring islands have proven that. 

Another sigh leaves him and you can’t help but count the seconds it takes for the heaving breath to pass. 

“I wish he could’ve seen what I was like before. They wouldn’t believe the mistakes I made to become what I am today.” 

“I would.” You tease, letting the moment of tension pass. “I’d believe you fell out of every tree you tried to climb and missed every mark you tried to shoot. Like a baby.” 

“Kawngtu,” he says, mirthfully bearing his teeth, “I should show you all I have learned. You should know I am not a child.” Your ears grow hot at his words, cheeks warming as your freckles flicker to life as bumps like plucked flesh prickles down your arms. His tone is unmistakable. Low and warm with a teasing drawl but you won’t entertain his obvious advances. Even as his tail traces over the exposed skin of your back, drawing around your waist in a flirtatious display of affection, you ignore him in favor of continuing your cooking. Night is slowly approaching and the children will be hungry after their lessons and chores. Still acting childishly as always, Jake continues to pluck at your nerves like the string of a musical bow. You swipe at him when he gets in your way, whipping him with your tail when he won’t be moved quickly enough for your liking. His current disposition is favorable compared to how somber he’s been as of late. 

It’s regrettable that the two of you weren’t able to bask in the sweetness of a newly made bond. It is expected that the days following the first tsaheylu between mates is filled with only happiness. A break from responsibilities as a new spiritual thread is woven between two souls. But the Great Mother did not seem to think your bond needed moments of leisure to be made strong. Instead there have only been these few gentle moments stolen between the growing worries that seem to draw nearer with each passing day. Even this small moment is broken as a shadow passes through the soft light of the disappearing sun, tall and commanding as Tonowari arrives with a heavy look of resentment rising like a wave in his blue eyes. It’s a look you’ve come to recognize well in the weeks since the first sawtute found their way to Awa’atlu’s distant atolls. So far from the lush green corner of the Pandoran jungle where the humans first set their covetous sights, yet not free from their treacherous hands. 

“Tskano’a.” He says. Another village just like yours touched by those hands of destruction. “No one died. They were expecting an attack. Most of the marui survived their burning. But they are drawing nearer, Jakesully. I give you my word that no one will tell them where you are, but this is all I can do.” 

It’s what he always says. Tonowari is patient and kind. A worthy olo’eyktan. The protector of peace above all else. The safety of the clan means more to him than the destruction of these demons. To attack would mean to wage war and war would mean shattering the peaceful life he has built for his people. Yet it doesn’t seem as though the sawtute want to give him a choice. 

“The boy is still with them.” The human boy. Spider. That is what Jake called him. A friend of the children since childhood. He was brought up in the ways of the Omatikaya, as close as the clan would allow, and now he has betrayed his people by serving the sawtute. His life matters to your children and so you are glad to know he lives, but he is still human. A plague upon Pandora. 

“They’ll be here soon.” It is the truth you feel inside you, sounding as clear as your heartbeat as the Great Mother breathes the words into your spirit. Always listening. It is a tsahìk’s purpose. And these words you’ve heard countless times. Softly, like the whispers of the wind. But now they rush like blood in your ears.

It is the undeniable truth as plain as Naranawm’s blue eye in the sky. The humans are coming and they’ll be here soon. Even if they have to burn every village to the ground. The men look at you with fire in their eyes. A passion burns within them both; a need to protect. Now more than ever. Tonowari only nods at your grave words before departing. Jake ducks back inside but you remain just outside, feeling the warmth disappear from the air as the burning orange of the sun fades to the bluish darkness of night. The children will be returning soon but you can’t shake the cold hands of fear from your body. They linger over your heart and tie knots in your stomach, staving off any thoughts of joining your family for dinner. This family that you’ve only just become a part of. 

“We need to do something.” Jake ignores your words, crouching down to continue cutting fruit as you’d been before Tonowari’s visit. There’s an irritated strength in each slice of the knife, scoring the slab of wood as he goes. “Jake, they are looking for you. We need to trap them. Kill them. Before these demons destroy anything else.” The knife is set down with a troubled growl. 

“I know.” He seethes. “But we have to be smart. It isn’t just us that could get hurt if we attack.” You want to say more but Tuk comes skipping inside talking about a crab she saw today and the conversation is abandoned as the two of you try to rebuild the facade of safety around your children. But it begins to crumble each time your eyes meet. Bright yellow haunted with what’s to come clash with your gaze as a nauseating sort of anticipation fills you. Like waiting for a nightmare to begin. 

The feeling never seems to pass. 

Rain kisses against your skin in a warm spray. Not heavy enough to stir the waves, just enough to turn the sky to a dreary gray. Your feet sink into the damp sand as Jake leads you to where Ronal and Tonowari are waiting. A hunting party returned with news of an injured tulkun, but as soon as your eyes meet your sister’s, the air seems to shift. The wind feels sharper, the rain colder, and you shiver at the uncertainty in her eyes. Tonowari speaks but you can hardly hear him, his voice is like the crashing of waves after you’ve already dove beneath them, warbled and forgotten as you and Ronal share in your own silent conversation. She is your sister and that bond binds you close, but the lessons of your childhood have brought you even closer. The men speak with words as you open yourself to the Great Mother’s silent voice. She’s there in the wind, in the rain, in the sound of the waves. 

Panic settles over you as you feel loss echoing through the air. Ronal must feel it too as she cuts her husband short to usher your small party into the ocean. Your tsurak croaks as you make tsaheylu, the feeling of fear that has settled in your chest echoing through the bond. It only grows more unsettling when Tonowari finally lands, the rest of you drawing in close behind. The orange spread of the tsurak’s wings are the only color over the bleak waters, drawn to darkness by the storm. Except for another spot of orange, brighter and uninterrupted by any pattern. It is startlingly out of place. Like a fire burning on the waves. Sawtute. Just as their light is strange and wrong–too bright–this color is greatly misplaced in the gathered pod of tulkun. One is unmoving among them, only shifting with the crest and fall of the water. Not injured. Dead. 

Hì’ikran have already gathered, their small shadows swooping overhead and sharp cries cutting through the deep bellows of the mourning tulkun. The tiny banshees are already nipping at the tulkun as you move in closer. For a moment, you accept this as the way of things. There is balance in everything, even death. The hì’ikran must eat and here there is food. But your heart rejects the thought as soon as you are close enough to truly see the tulkun. Ronal makes a small, wounded noise just as your heart turns cold in your chest. The thumping beat of it stills to chilled silence as you lose yourself for a moment. Just long enough to fall from your skimwing. Your mount screeches as you plunge into the dark water, surfacing with a sputtering cry as you swim towards the tulkun. 

Ronal is already there, hands pressed desperately against the unmoving creature. A feeling of hopelessness crashes over you like a heavy wave, threatening to drag you beneath its unmovable weight as your eyes flit wildly across Roa’s body. Those bright orange wings keep her above the water, embedded in her thick skin. Blood seeps in tepid rivers from the places the metal stabbed through her body. The hooks don’t move as you pull at them until your palms burn where the metal begins to wear against your skin. You fall back into the water, thrown off of her by the force of your own strength. A wordless shriek tears from your throat as you swipe at one of the bloated bags with your knife. It tears open and Roa sags, one of her fins beginning to sink. Her son, still tucked beneath it, begins vanishing as well. 

He doesn’t look at you when you touch him, trying to pull him from under his mother’s unmoving body. He doesn’t offer those same shy clicks he’d given when you met him last. It rends a strangled sound from you. Wordless but understood as Ronal looks at you and the calf. She’s sitting on Roa’s forefin as she’s done so many times before. But the tulkun doesn’t greet her, doesn’t scold her son for his bashfulness. She simply floats, bloated eyes rolled towards the sky. Shot through with blood and unseeing as Ronal presses her forehead against her spirit sister. Despite the sudden cold of the rain and water there’s a warmth spreading through your body. A dangerous swirl of anger and grief, sadness and fear that is like a whirlpool in your chest, sucking away any clear thoughts. All you can see is Roa and her son. Dead. And your sister’s despair as she reaches for you through the water. Her hand shakes in yours but her grip is tight as if she will never let it go. Tears mingle with the rain as they drip down your cheeks. Everything feels too close and far away all at once. Like the ocean has disappeared and swallowed you whole. 

“Her name is Roa.” Tonowari says at last, head bowed towards Jake. His tone is clipped with suppressed emotion though you can see it in his eyes. The sorrow, the stifled rage. He sets his lip in a harsh line and looks towards the horizon. 

“She was my spirit sister.” Ronal’s voice is a watery croak. “She was the composer of songs. Much revered. We would sing together.” 

“She waited many breeding cycles to have this calf.” You sob. He was so small, so young. He had many years ahead of him, a spirit brother to bond with, calves of his own to have. And yet it’s all been washed away in a moment. “The clan was so happy for her.” 

“What is this, Tonowari?” Ronal turns to her mate, hand still tight around yours. “What is this?” She shrieks. The olo’eyktan bows his head in the face of his wife’s grief. Death is a heavy burden for anyone to bear but a tsahìk feels things with a strength beyond that of the People. A tsahìk feels all. And Roa was not simply a bonded member of the clan, but her spirit sister. This pain has bowed her over like a flower in the wind, petals fallen and stem broken. You feel it, as well, the deep, aching pain that refuses to pass. 

“What have they done?” You shout, turning to Jake. The anger swelling in your chest has turned the plea to an accusation. It is the wrong place to rest your anger but there is no one else in sight for you to blame. He flinches and lowers his gaze but doesn’t move to comfort you. It reminds you how different you truly are. The ocean is deep and full of dangers. Jake has to cling to his tsurak to keep afloat. You’ve taught him well but not well enough to survive in the open oceans without an animal to guide him. A dark, ugly feeling rises like poison in your chest; regret. For allowing him to stay and cast this dark shadow. 

The thought is there only for an instant before shock douses your wrath, snuffing it out before it can consume you in an inescapable blaze. It wasn’t Jake that killed Roa. It wasn’t your mate that brought you this pain. And even though you haven’t said anything out loud, for once you’re afraid that someone can see what is in your eyes because Jake urges his tsurak forward, out of your sight. It only causes your heart to sink lower in your chest. Ronal releases you with some hesitancy as you pull away from her hold to follow Jake. You watch his back as he bows under the shadow of Roa’s fin. He doesn’t go further than her side, eyes tracing over her body. He reaches for you as you swim to his side, pulling you into his arms. 

There’s a comforting strength in his arms. 

“My girl,” he says softly, the human words flowing off his tongue as he pulls you on to his mount. “I’m so sorry.” 

“The sea gives and the sea takes.” It’s all you can say, words pounding in your head like a drum. It blocks out all else. The sea gives and the sea takes. Water connects all things. Life to death, darkness to light. These words are your way of life. As familiar as your own name. There’s comfort in their truth. Water cannot flow on forever and it’s here that Roa’s river empties into the vastness of the ocean to join the memories of her ancestors. They will sing her songs, remember her voice. She will never be truly gone. And yet it feels as though every trace of her will slip between your fingers the moment you turn your back to her. Tears still cloud your vision as you look at her prone body. There are more orange bags beneath her fins and a strange light like a white flame flickering over her back. A huge barb stands out against her dark scales, the needle plunged deep into her back. 

“Ma Jake.” It is something alien. Something human. Bright red and flashing as it is. There’s a soft sound emanating from it like a bird’s chirp. 

“Shit.” Jake curses. Always in English. He carefully climbs onto Roa’s back and you watch as his fingers dance over the strange object until it falls dark and silent. He pulls it from the space between her scales. You shrink away when he brings it for you to see, wholly uninteresting in being so close to their strange tools. 

“It’s a tracker.” He says as Tonowari rounds Roa’s body. His eyes trail over her before settling on the metal thing in Jake’s hand. You leave them to talk over what the tracker could mean. They’ve moved on from this but you’ll stay if only for a few moments longer. This will be the last time you see Roa and you want to remember it for a little while longer. 

It’s quiet as you sink beneath the waves, skin coming to life with dots of pale light as you swim beneath Roa’s shadow. Your fingers trace against her skin, finding the shapes of her tattoos across her pale underbelly. They tell a story of her life. Each mark etched into her skin like the bead of a songcord. Ronal is there as well, staring at the tattoos. Her eyes hold steady on the twin flowers blooming from a single vine. The same ink that trails along Veyan’s side. Both tulkun had gotten the tattoos to commemorate their bond with you and Ronal. You wonder if Veyan felt Roa’s death as the two of you had. If she is somewhere mourning the loss of a sister. 

«We must lay her to rest.» Ronal nods, neither of you mentioning that she will hardly be given the traditional funeral rites. She’ll be sunk here in the open water. Far from the tulkun resting grounds. The water is deep and dark. No anemones bright as sunlight dance in the gentle current below. Still Ronal unsheathes her blade and nods for you to do the same. The orange wings fold in on themselves, spewing out air as Roa begins to sink. Her son falls beside her and the two of you follow them down as far as you dare, watching their silhouettes disappear into the deep. There’s a burst of light when they finally land, stirring up stray flashes of syuratan. The tulkun begin to sing their bellowing mourning song. It rings through your head, echoing through the journey back to shore. Heavy and sorrowful as they sing about their sister. The clan will mourn too. 

The rain falls heavier as Tonowari calls the village to order in the central marui. There’s a restless sort of energy flowing like lapping waves through the crowd as Ronal pulls you to stand beside her and Tonowari. 

“My spirit sister and her baby have been murdered by the sky people!” Hushed sounds of anguish rush through the air, mournful yipping and defensive hisses. 

“This war has come to us. We knew about the hunting of our tulkun people, but it was over the horizon. Far away. Now, it is here!” Tonowari’s voice booms through the marui, crashing like thunder over the People as he declares war on the sawtute. Others join in his show of aggression, teeth and tongues bared in fierce war faces. Upset turns to aggression as growls ripple through the crowd, spears thumping and eyes flashing with a need for retribution. Jake’s eyes pass over the crowd with a look of distress.

“The sky people don’t think like us. They don’t care about the great balance.” He tries to reason. 

“We do not answer to sky people!” A hunter shouts. Jake’s nose scrunches in distaste, a shadow casting over his eyes as his brows furrow. 

“They’re not going to stop. This is only the beginning. You have to tell your tulkun to leave. Tell them to go far away!” 

“Leave?” You hiss. How could he say such a thing? The tulkun are part of the clan. To tell them to leave would be to sever the bond that has held strong for so many generations. 

“You live among us and you learned nothing!” Ronal shouts. Others second her words, the shows of aggression only spreading further. Half of the crowd has shifted their weight into a lower stance, preparing for a fight that will soon be on the horizon. 

“No! Hear my words! If you fight they will destroy you. They will destroy everything that you love!” Jake points to Ronal, still heavy with child, but his eyes linger on you. There’s sincerity there. A hope that this battle will not come to pass. You hiss at him, baring your fangs. He may be your mate but you cannot stand beside him in this. Roa and her child must be avenged. No more villages will be burned. No more lives will be lost. Ronal’s hand covers her stomach, face falling from anger to disbelief. Her child has not even taken their first breath and Jake dares to threaten them with the violence of these demons. 

“Hear my words!” Jake shouts over the uproar but no one will heed his warnings. The time for peace has passed. An unbounded tulkun being lost could be ignored, but this was a bonded member of the Metkayina. The spirit sister of the tsahìk. Her death will not be forgotten and the clan will not be deterred. No matter who he turns to, no one will listen to Jake. He may have been olo’eyktan once but his voice holds no weight here. Not when it is so plainly clear that he does not understand your way of life. You thought that you had taught him well. That he was becoming one with the clan. But it’s clear that you had been wrong in your assumption. His eyes are pleading as he looks to you, begging your word to second his. When you don’t raise your voice to support him he hisses indignantly and snatches the strange tracker from Neteyam’s hand, cursing in English. A hush falls over the crowd as he raises it above his head, everyone falling still at the sight of the alien object. An arm pulls you away from Jake as he climbs up next to Tonowari, Ronal keeping you close at her side as her other hand holds her mate’s arm. 

“You tell the tulkun that if they’re hit by one of these they’re marked for death. Call for me I’ll silence it. Saving their lives, that’s all that matters. Right? Saving your family.” He says, eyes landing on you and your sister. His words seem to soothe the People. Everyone lingers in the silence, unsure if this moment of peace will last. Tonowari turns to the two of you but you look away from him. The anger you felt when you first saw Roa’s body is beginning to creep up again, embers turning to a blazing flame. You want to fight. It is what is right after losing a member of the clan in such a brutal way. But Jake knows things that the rest of you don’t. If he says that a war with the sky people will only bring death, you’re inclined to believe him. If Toruk Makto isn’t certain of victory, then perhaps the battle should not be fought at all. Ronal shifts next to you before an unspoken decision passes between her and Tonowari. 

“Tell the tulkun.” His word is final and yet no one moves. 

“Go.” Ronal says and the tension releases at last. “Go!” The People begin to disperse and Jake goes with them. 

“Jake.” He doesn’t turn even as you follow his retreating back. “Ma Jake.” He stops only when you run in front of him, blocking his path forward with your hands flat against his chest. He frowns at you, jaw clenched tight as his yellow eyes spear you in place. He’s angry. But so are you. 

“I will not stand and do nothing!” His hand grips your wrist and pulls you away from the marui still crowded with people. He doesn’t speak until the two of you are in the privacy of his home, the children still missing in all the chaos. 

“Jake!” His grip isn’t tight and is easily broken when you wrench your arm free of him. He doesn’t let you go further than a few steps before he’s clinging to you again, hands holding your shoulders to keep your eyes steady on him. 

“Ma muntxate,” he says slowly, “listen to me now.” His tone is that of a scolding parent and you feel your lip twitch, wanting to hiss at him once more. His lips press against yours before you can. It’s a grounding sort of intimacy. Soft and searching as each of you pour your feelings into each other. Your anger and grief mingles with his caution and fear. 

“Listen to me. Humans have been hunting tulkun for a long time. This is the first time they’ve ever been so blatant about it, leaving Roa the way they did. They’re not hunting tulkun. That was a show of power. They’re hunting me. And if we fight back it will lead them right to us. I can’t let that happen. Just trust me on this, okay?” He tucks a limp strand of hair behind your drooping ear, fingers caressing your cheeks still damp with rain and tears. 

“So we must sit and do nothing?” It’s unthinkable. Roa and her child have been lost and he is asking you to stay idle as their murderers kill more tulkun. How long until Veyan is lost? Until Tsireya’s spirit sister is attacked. The tulkun will be thinning like harvested roots until there are none left. Then what will happen to the Great Mother’s balance? It isn’t the way of things and you won’t stand by as Eywa mourns the untimely death of another of her children felled by the sky people. 

“Look, I’ve got nothing. But this will protect the People. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me. If we fight, Na’vi will die.”

“And if we don’t, tulkun will die. Needlessly. A life lost at war is a sacrifice for the People. One that every warrior is willing to make. One that I am willing to make.” Jake winces at your words. “I’m sorry, Jake, but it is the truth. I am Metkayina. We fight to protect our brothers and sisters. This is the way. I thought you had learned that by now. How can you say you will not fight? You’re Toruk Makto.” So few have emerged since the First Songs, and only in times of great sorrow. He is a warrior of legend and yet here he sits, refusing to fight as if the mantle can so easily be removed. His name will be woven into songs for generations to come. What will they say of this battle? That he stood aside and let the sawtute terrorize the atolls that gave his family solace in their time of need?

“I told Ronal and Tonowari; I’m done with war. I did not lie about that. I came here for a life of peace.” 

“And is that peace not worth fighting to protect when it is threatened? Ma Jake, the Great Mother chose you for something. She has protected and guided you. Do not let her efforts be in vain.” He moves to say something but his brow twitches as the small object in his ear buzzes to life. His hand reaches for yours as he listens to the low noises. 

“Lo’ak?” He asks, pressing his fingers against his neck where an unbeaded choker sits above the necklace you recently made for him. More quiet humming follows until he asks, “Who’s with you?” Another beat of silence, then, “You get to cover and you do not engage. All right? You hear me? Do not engage. We’re coming.”

“Ma Jake, what is wrong?” He’s already moving, pulling you out of the marui. 

“The kids are in danger. Ao’nung and Tsireya are with them.” You look around at the people passing, calling warriors to your side as you rush to Ronal and Tonowari. 

“Is Rotxo with them?” You ask, not seeing his cropped hair as you pass by his family’s marui. 

“He said it was all of them. Come on!” Ronal and Tonowari look relatively peaceful despite the day’s events. Your sister cutting fruit and Tonowari repairing a net as the group you’ve gathered comes running up the path to their home, whooping out war cries that gain their attention. Ronal is on her feet in an instant, knife still in hand.

“The kids are under attack. They’re defending a tulkun. It’s your kids too!” 

“The demon ship?” Tonowari asks. 

“Yes! Hurry up, we have to move!” Jake leaves you to your own, nearly abandoned marui, returning with weapons of his own. Your spear feels strange in your hands after years of disuse. Hunting has never been something you were suited to but this weapon had become an extension of your body as you blossomed into adulthood. Years of learning the clan’s traditions have given you the strength to wield it but it has never felt as heavy as it does now with anger running in your veins like burning rivers of fire. Whatever peace you’d quieted your mind to was shattered the moment your family was put in danger and the rage rolls through you like thunder. There’s a restlessness in your body like you’re filled with a roiling tide, hands shaking as you grip tight to your weapons until your knuckles pale and your body stills to the lethal stillness of a proper Metkayina warrior. Jake returns just as you duck back into the passing storm. The sky has begun to lighten as the reef fills with the clan and their mounts all screeching out deafening war cries, weapons poised to attack. 

“Come here,” Jake stops you before you can rush past him. His hand linger on your skin after he puts a matching choker around your neck, fingers pushing back your hair as he puts that strange ornament in your ear. 

“Press here when you want to talk.” He says, leading your fingers to the two pads of the necklace. “I’ll be able to hear you wherever you are. Lo’ak has one, too. If we’re apart, hold here and I’ll hear you.” He holds your gaze for a beat longer, speaking without words. He’s afraid. He’s angry. The man before you is no longer just Jakesully. He is truly Toruk Makto. 

“Come. We must hurry.” You push past him to call for your tsurak. These demons have trampled their way across Pandora and arrived so near to your home. And now they’ve threatened your childrens’ lives. The lives of your niece and nephew. After killing Ronal’s spirit sister. A need to avenge laces through your body like bolts of white lightning, sharp, bitter, and burning as you add your own shrieking cries to the din. You ride at the head of the party, beside your sister with Jake and Tonowari at your flanks. 

It isn’t long to Three Brothers Rocks, the towering stone fingers appear over the horizon with the demon ship beneath their shadow. It is larger than any human invention you’ve ever seen, like a metal island floating in the waves. It is too far to see every detail but your eyes catch the unfocused shapes of humans skittering across the ship like bugs, their faces covered in those familiar shells. It wouldn’t take much to break it, to fill their lungs with the air of your planet. So much of Pandora is hostile even to natives and yet they think they can tame her. Soon they will learn. Some lessons must be taught more than once. 

“They’ve got our kids.” Jake says. “Your daughter. Tuk. Lo’ak.” Tonowari growls, voice scorched with hostility. Ronal’s hiss is nearly a whimper, nearly identical to your own. 

“Jake,” a voice crackles to life in your ear, sounding far off and nothing like Lo’ak’s. You press the strange piece of metal closer to your ear as the voice continues. They’re speaking English and you haven’t learned nearly enough from Jake and the children to fully grasp what’s being said. Only a few stray words are recognized. 

“What is he saying?” You ask, eyes flitting desperately between Jake and the ship. Whoever it is means to harm your family. That much you know even without understanding every word. Everyone’s eyes fall to Jake. 

“Hold here.” He says at last. 

“They are killers of tulkun.” Tonowari stops him before he can go further. “They must die. Here. Today.” These murderers must restore the great balance with their own blood. A thousand of their lives are less valued here than one of a single tulkun. The killing of even one was a declaration of war. No more lives will fall to their greed. Not if you can kill them where they stand. 

“It’s me that they want. That’s what all this has been about. Let me do this.”

“You brought this upon us!” Ronal bites out. Her gaze flickers between you and your mate as if unsure of who her anger should scorch first. It was you that spoke for him when she wanted to deny his family sanctuary. This could have been avoided had you held your tongue. But whatever happens, this is the path you’ve chosen to walk. It seems Jake has accepted his fate as well. 

“It’s me that has to do this.” The voice returns but none of his words make sense. Jake’s voice echoes in your ear as he answers, English flowing easily from his tongue. He gives you a parting glance before leading his tsurak forward. 

“Jake!” Ronal stops you from following with her spear across your stomach. 

“You stay. He has brought this storm over our heads. Let him be the one to quell it.” Your sister says. Her eyes hold flecks of sympathy but it is overshadowed by her need to protect. She is tsahìk. Eywa has chosen her to keep peace and balance. Jake’s life may be enough to free your children and turn the sawtute away from the Metkayina atolls. It is a sacrifice she is willing to make for peace. 

“Ronal.” You can’t watch your mate give himself over to those demons just as much as you can’t watch your clan fall to their hands. It feels as though your soul is tearing in two. A tsakarem protects her people, protects the great balance. But a mate protects their muntxatu. You grip her spear, ready to push it aside and defy her once more just as something breaks through the waves up ahead. A tulkun rises from the water, crashing down over the demon ship with a ferocious bellow. Payakan. 

The bugs begin to scatter aboard their ship and a screeching war cry tears from your lips, calling the rest of the clan to join. It calls the humans’ attention and they turn their eyes to the clan closing in on them. Teeth bared and weapons raised. 

Their guns are loud. It sounds like a hail of heavy rainfall as they turn their guns on you but they’re nearly silent beneath the water as you urge your tsurak to dive. Their tiny metal arrows hiss through the water in cloudy streams, too slow to do harm even as so many fall around you. It’s as if they’re coming from all sides as the shadows of their smaller boats pass overhead, lit by the red bursts of light that follow each fire of their guns. They’re easy to see and hard to lose. Hunting animals is harder than spotting a human with a gun. You rise from the water as another ship draws in close. One of them shouts as you arc overhead, a pained yowl leaving their lips as your spear tears through their chest. If they were alive when you dove back into the water they’ll die soon enough as you kick their limp body off of your blade. One life has been avenged. Still more to reap. 

The sounds of death fill the air as the ocean is stained with more blood but it hardly brings relief. It is the same as the sound of a wounded animal. A death with a purpose. It is what you remind yourself as their empty eyes gaze up at you before their life is snuffed out. It is for a greater purpose. One they could never understand. The great balance is something these demons could never grasp. Some learn. They haven’t. This is the way. And it is good. 

A hunter strives for clean kills. Needless suffering is not needed to kill a prey. The humans make mercy simple as their soft bodies burst like dropped fruit under your blade, crystal spearhead cleaving through their bodies wherever you strike. They cry out in warbled shouts for only a moment before falling silent. “Please” is a word you recognize but pay no heed to. The tulkun that they murdered surely begged for their lives as well. Your tsurak lets out a shrieking cry as you breach over another boat, its teeth tearing into whatever comes between its jaws. 

Neteyam’s wound pales in comparison to the deep fissures your mount carves out of the human, their skin turning to ribbons in the animal’s sharp teeth. But he isn’t dead. You flinch back as he swings a knife at you, the blade small enough for a child. It feels strange to touch him as you catch his wrist when he swings again. You hadn’t touched Max, hadn’t touched any human. The feeling is strange and new. His body is oddly pliant, soft enough for you to feel his bones shift beneath your fingers as your grip on his wrist tightens until he drops his blade. His eyes are blank of any inner glow–his soul hidden or absent completely–but his face curls in terror as his weapon falls. 

“Txopu rä’ä si, vrrteptsyìp.” He begins to cry, tears shining in his eyes as you yip and plunge your tsurak back into the water. He isn’t dead but he is close enough as blood streaks your mount’s maw. Streams of red fill the water as the clan makes quick work of the humans in the smaller boats, yet they still move with no guide. A burst of heat singes across your skin as an empty boat crashes into a stone outcropping in a cloud of flaming smoke, the metal crumpling like a teylu shell as it folds itself around the black stone. Dark clouds rise from the water where other boats have caught fire, some still carrying screaming sawtute. You watch a hunter rise from the water to meet them as they crawl out of the flames, spear tearing through two at a time before the third is met with his knife. 

Their numbers are becoming fewer, but so are yours as riders are shot from their mounts under the endless downpours of their metal rain. A shout leaps from your lungs as one grazes your arm, hardly enough to truly harm you but it feels like a burning stone has passed over your skin. The ocean stings against the shallow wound as you dive out of danger. The pain is hardly more than a dull prickling but others aren’t as lucky as bodies float around you. Brave warriors lost so that this battle can be won. Each of them will be mourned in turn but not now. You blink away the heat of the tears threatening to rise behind your eyelids and focus on the war still raging just over your head. 

The thin shafts of your spear arrows bend under your tight grip as your eyes find another boat floating overhead. The metal husk is caught in flames as the humans abroad rush to put out the fire. It will be of no use as one of your spear tears through their bodies. Their heads barely turned to the sound of your war cry before screams of their own join yours as blood bursts from their pierced chests. More dead but you may be joining them as a third appears, gun in hand. Your tsurak rears back, catching the shots in its chest. The pain echoes through tsaheylu, carving a burning ache between your ribs as your mount’s jaw closes around the human’s head in a final act of retribution. It rears back with a muffled screech, tossing the three of you out of the flaming boat. You’re only thrown as far as a stone outcropping as tsaheylu breaks and your tswin is freed from the bond. The stony shore scrapes at your skin but you roll to your knees with the momentum. Without your skimwing you’re stranded in the middle of a battle with only a few spear arrows in hand and your knife on your hip. 

The dark stone hardly conceals your vibrant body and you slink back into the water, still keeping close to shore. Smoke fills the air with thick, grayish clouds that blot out the sky and everything has taken on the flickering color of flames. Most of the metal boats are destroyed or empty, a few unmoving bodies still aboard. The demon ship is in flames as well and the humans are scattering to smaller boats. They’re leaving. Abandoning their ship and this war that they’ve called upon themselves. Their shouts echo across the open water but from this distance you could never hope to understand their words. You hope they are laments of defeat and promises of renouncing their attempted claim on Pandora. To continue will only bring them more death at your peoples’ hands. Because more lives have been lost than just tulkun. Their fingers spread across Eywa’eveng like poisonous roots, digging deep and stripping all that they touch. Leaving would be best.

Your head falls back against the rocks behind you, eyes facing the hazy sky. It is nearly eclipse. Soon the battlefield will fall into a blue-lit night. Your eyes will not be burdened by the darkness but humans aren’t so lucky. They should leave, you think tiredly. Return to that distant star in the night sky. Your body aches and your heart hurts. You can’t imagine what more pain they’ll bring if they stay. There’s blood on your hand as you lift it from the water, patches of red that the ocean couldn’t wash away. Your hand trembles as you stare at it, trying to decide if the blood is yours or another’s. It hardly matters as you press your bloody fingers to your throat like Jake showed you. 

“Jake.” Half of you expects your only answer to be silence. Or that unknown voice that stole Lo’ak’s necklace. 

“I hear you.” His voice sings through you. He’s alive. 

“My tsurak is dead. I’ve lost my spear.” Your voice sounds tired even to your own ears. Low and gruff as you inhale another breath of smoky air. Exertion burns in your legs and your tail feels bruised as you keep yourself afloat. The moment of stillness has brought you back to yourself, steadied your mind enough to feel your body. No longer numbed by the instinct to fight, the aches and pains of battle slowly make themselves known until even the tips of your ears are throbbing. But now isn’t the time for pain. There will be time to nurse your wounds once the battle is won. 

“Where are you?” Jake asks, his voice pitching with panic. You move to answer only to stop short as a large shadow swoops overhead. You sink beneath the surface as an ikran flies through the clouds of smoke, a figure hanging in its claws. Their words are muffled beneath the water but you recognize the sound of your daughter’s voice. Jake calls your name, it rings in your ear but you don’t answer. Your spear arrows are tossed ashore as you fill your lungs with acrid air before diving after the banshee. As quick as you are in the water, you’re not nearly as fast as the ikran and you watch from a short distance as Kiri is dropped aboard the demon ship. You rise to take a breath, eyes desperately searching for a way in that isn’t through the throng of demon warriors still leaving the burning ship. A flash of blue catches your eye as two bright silhouettes board the ship, crouching low as they move further inside. Tuk and Tsireya. Now you have two more reasons to board the demons’ ship. 

This metal does not burn when you press your palms against it like it had in your vision at the Ranteng Utralti. Instead it reminds you of stones cooled in the shadows as you leave wet footprints in your wake. Even as the humans disappear the ship has not fallen silent. It groans and shrieks out in a monotonous trill as a red light winks in and out of the flooding rooms. Soon the ocean will swallow it whole and whoever’s left will sink with it. You don’t intend for this place to be your resting place. The humans make it easy as you slink through the underbelly of their ship. Shadows pass over you inattentively. A child has more sense than these demons. Even the uniltìrantokx do not seem to know how to use their bodies. Their ears don’t move toward the muted sound of your footsteps, their nose doesn’t scent the smell of blood clinging to your skin. 

They all simply meander, guns poised loose and useless as you slink past, careful of the debris scattered across the floor. Your silence is unnecessary as the warriors stir up enough noise to cover each of your footsteps. Their voices twitter like birds as they mill around with little regard to your shape moving through the shadows just beyond their sight. Their voices echo through the metal walls along with that shrieking noise. It keeps time like a drum as your eyes search for the children in every space you pass. There are so few people still aboard that their voices stand out in the din of the sinking ship. Soft and frantic rather than loud and self-assured. You move towards the sound of their voices like a stalking nantang, your fingertips pressing into the floor as you move on all fours. Your hand finds a broken piece of the ship. Thin and hollowed, the ends broken to jagged points. It’s not nearly long enough to mimic a spear but the shape and weight of it offers some reassurance as you emerge from the shadows, keen on getting the girls off this demon ship. 

Tsireya and Tuk are crouched next to Kiri, trying to cut her free. You wait for the next beat of the ship’s shrieking before letting out a sharp yip. Kiri’s ear twitches towards the sound. You match another shriek with your own, your voice ringing out in time with the strange noise. Tuk jumps, eyes looking around as she hears your voice echo through the air. 

“It’s Sa’nu!” She says quietly. Kiri nods, shifting restlessly as Tsireya’s knife makes little progress on her bindings. 

“Cut it here.” Kiri corrects her, holding out the thin orange material as best she can. All their heads are bowed low, watching the bindings begin to give. You move towards them slowly, only stopping as more humans and uniltìrantokx come into view. You leap from the large metal box you’d been crouched upon, bringing your makeshift spear down hard on a warrior’s head. It makes a sickening cracking sound as blood rushes to the surface of their cropped hair. You swing again and their mask shatters, blood bursting from their crumpled nose. He gasps for air and you watch as Pandora poisons his lungs before moving on to the next. An uniltìrantokx raises their gun and you duck away from the hail of their fire to the sound of Tuk calling for you. A voice follows hers. One that is vaguely familiar. The same voice that has buzzed in your ear before the battle began. 

I want her, you recognize the words if only barely. Alive. The guns fall silent. You dare to glance towards the girls only to see an uniltìrantokx grab Tsireya’s wrist and toss her off a ledge. The breath stills in your lungs as you pray to not hear the horrible sound of your niece’s body landing far below. Instead there’s a splash. He’s tossed her overboard. Thrown her to safety. The voice speaks again and you hear one of your girls hiss. 

“Are you a Sully?” The voice shouts in broken Na’vi. A child is more eloquent and you don’t deign to answer. You aren’t called Sully. It isn’t your family name. But Jake has told you that human traditions are different. You would not be called mates on Earth. You’d be married and he’d give you his name. But you are not on Earth and he is no longer human. Such things mean nothing here. 

“Demon!” You shout back. “Release my children.” It’s doubtful that he understands Na’vi any more than you understand his Earth language, but you won’t embarrass yourself as he has by struggling to string words together. 

“You are a Sully.” He says with a mirthful tone. His next words seem to be directed towards the people around him and you tense for another rain of gunfire. Instead there’s the echoing thud of their heavy foot-coverings against the creaking metal floor as they seem to close in. The sounds are muted but your ears have learned to recognize even the smallest noises. Even the faintest snap of a twig in the forest could mean death if you aren’t an attentive hunter. It has never been your strongest suit but as the smell of their sweat begins to fill your nose as your ears twitch towards each new footfall you realize your weakest trait is still stronger than whatever they’re capable of. At least you hope it is. When the first warrior rounds the bend towards you you’re poised and waiting. His legs buckle as you sweep them from beneath him with a swift kick. He lands with a shout, his gun jumping from his hand. You kick it further from his reach as you round on the next target. A human warrior. Easier to deal with. He’s learned from the last human warrior you took down and ducks when you swing towards his head with your metal spear. You swing again, lower than he can duck and slash open the thick armor over his chest. It spills out white fibers that float like pollen in the air. 

The uniltìrantokx–their leader it would seem–barks another order and more of his warriors descend upon you like a cloud blocking out the sun. There are a few more wounds inflicted by your hand before you’re disarmed, someone’s arms hooked beneath yours with their hands clasped behind your head. You feel their knitted fingers digging into your skull, pressing against your tswin.  A hiss falls from your lips as he catches your thrashing tail between his legs when you manage to swing your hips and knock back a human that moved too close. The pain is a dull ache that thrums at the base of your spine but it doesn’t stop you from kicking as you’re dragged from your secluded corner into the full light of the fading sun. Eclipse is approaching fast and the warm light spills across the sinking ship, all of its metal innards limned in firelight. The uniltìrantokx that has you in his grip laughs as you thrash in his arms, flexing his arms to tighten his hold on you. You feel like a freshly caught fish dangling in a fisherman’s net. A snarl finds your lips to mask the shame as the leader of this war band approaches you with the saunter of a seasoned warrior despite his young appearance. He shouldn’t be so assured as he leans down to meet your gaze. 

“You are Jake’s woman, yes? Mate?” He asks. Whoever this man is, he knows Jake. Your mate never spoke of the war that he won all those years ago. The songs only praise Jake. He is Toruk Makto. A dreamwalker that became one of the People. But this man carrying himself as if he is a true Na’vi, wearing the skin of your people, must have been a part of the story he’s never told. From the time before the songs begin. He asks again, slower, as if you’re a child needing time to understand. As if he isn’t the one speaking like a baby. 

“Yes.” You bite out in English. That word you know. 

He huffs out a dry chuckle, “Good.” The smile that finds his lips is nothing short of predatory, his fangs catching the flashing light of the ship. He stands back to his full height and nods to the man still holding you back from attacking this uniltìrantokx with teeth and claws. The warrior at your back drags you to the ledge where Kiri and Tuk are bound and kicks at the back of your knees. You’re expecting it and your knees buckle but you don’t fall. He kicks again, harder this time, and you go down with a shout. But he doesn’t bind you as he did the children. Instead their strange orange binding is lashed to your upper arm, luckily leaving your injured arm free. You tug against the restraint as he ties you to the ship and the material bites into your skin. If you pull hard enough you’ll bleed where the edges dig into the rippling shapes decorating your arm. Tuk is quick to move towards you, tucking her body as close to your chest as her bound arms will allow. Kiri moves closer behind until she’s leaning against your back as you hug Tuk to your chest. 

“Sa’nok, your knife.” Kiri whispers. The warriors are inattentive, talking amongst themselves as if you’re of no threat to them. They hadn’t even bothered to disarm you or even search for any weapons. Perhaps they expect your comparatively sparse coverings to be incapable of concealing anything. And yet they’ve missed the knife still sheathed behind you, hidden beneath the thick waves of your damp hair. With a free arm and a weapon you could break free of your bindings but how quick would these demons fall upon you and your daughters. You only managed to fight against them for a few moments, injuring only a few before you were caught. Perhaps you could free Tuk and Kiri but they seem to think they need the three of you. Need people tied to Jake. 

“Not yet.” You try to keep the exhaustion from your voice as you squint against a sudden burst of light as eclipse closes in. A blue glow overtakes the last dregs of the amber glow of the sun and your skin flickers to life. The humans seem to draw in closer to each other, weary of the night even as the ship is still filled with false torchlight. Only their leader still stands alone. He guards the empty space between you and his warriors as you keep close to your children. His footfalls don’t have the same weight to them as he paces barefoot across the groaning metal. The pool behind you is steadily filling with water. The ship is sinking and if you don’t move soon it will take you and your girls with it. Your fingers twitch, eager to grab your blade, only stopped when the leader begins to speak again. Half of his words are lost to you but some are caught with the small knowledge you’ve collected. 

“I’ve got your daughters.” He sounds proud, taunting. “I’ve got your woman.” You hiss but keep still as the warriors turn towards the sound of your protest. They don’t look so worried now. The woman among them, arms covered in colorful tattoos, chuckles. She pushes out her bottom lip like a disgruntled child, mocking you. You bare your fangs with a snarl and she returns the gesture, though her hiss is hardly intimidating. Kiri snorts softly beside you, equally as unimpressed with these false-bodied warriors. The lead uniltìrantokx keeps up his taunting but your focus stays on the female warrior as her tail curls playfully behind her. She’s enjoying this. 

“You will never be one of the People.” You mutter. She snorts at that. Her jovial disposition disturbs you. You’ve taken many lives today but you took pleasure in none of it. It is the same as hunting. These kills were a necessity. This dreamwalker seems content to cause harm for her pleasure. You can See it in her eyes. Human eyes are empty. But she isn’t entirely human anymore. It’s barely a flicker of light but you catch the thread of amusement and it curls in your stomach like acid. Demons. All of them. She only looks away when one of them barks out some clipped words and they all begin to move in step, perching with their guns raised as they wait for something. No, someone. Their lively mood drops into a somber silence as they lie in wait for Jake. Even the humans know to fear Toruk Makto. 

Their leader’s mood hasn’t shifted. He still sounds so assured as his voice hums in your ear. He hasn’t moved out of your line of sight as the others have and he’s gone back to pacing as they wait. He says something you don’t quite understand but Tuk and Kiri do. Your youngest looks up at you with eyes full of fear. Whatever he’s said has scared her. She looks under your arm towards the rapidly rising water that’s slowly filling the room below, overtaking the limits of the pool. Her breathing picks up as she shifts anxiously. You draw her head against your chest, letting her listen to the steady beat of your heart only for it to stutter as you hear his next words. 

“Your boy didn’t have to die.” It’s hardly understood but it settles like stones in your heart. 

Your boy, he said. Die. Your eyes cut towards him, ears drawn tight to your skull as the words echo in your head. Your boy. Die. One of your sons has died. Neteyam is dead. Lo’ak is dead. Your son is dead. Your boy is dead. 

Your breaths begin to come in huffs like a chuffing pale as you breathe deep through your nose. It does little to soothe your anger but it’s all you can hear. Your labored breath and your heated blood rushing through your ears. Your heart beat thuds steadily like the beat of a drum. Keeping time as you draw your knife from behind your back. The crystal blade cuts through your bindings with ease. You’re free. The man is still talking, eyes looking towards the horizon as he taunts your mate. His voice is still in your ear but you can hardly hear anything outside of yourself. It’s only the sound of your breath, the beat of your heart. There are no thoughts in your head and yet your body moves. You feel yourself taking staggering steps towards the uniltìrantokx, your knife gripped tight in hand. Heat drips down your cheeks as your vision swirls. The man before you wavers as tears cloud your vision, his back still towards you. He doesn’t hear your footsteps, doesn’t feel the waves of rage cresting over him as your shadow flickers across his back. You raise your blade to strike only to be swept off your feet and tossed away from him. 

For a moment, you’re weightless. Then your body is met with the floor. Pain throbs through your back as scraps of the ship dig into your spine. The space above you swoops and dives like a bird before settling as your vision steadies with a dull throb thrumming in the back of your head. But the pain hardly touches you. It feels like when you fell from a tree as a child. The air is punched from your lungs and you roll to your knees with heaving breaths. Whatever that was has thrown you into a lower area of the ship. Your fingers sift through blood and those same crystal shards from your vision as you push yourself upright, stumbling only slightly. The tiny chips dig into the soles of your feet as you retrace your steps to get back to your daughters. Too much has been lost. You can’t lose anything else. Not today. You find your knife and then a lost spear as you move through the ship. It’s sized to someone taller than you but it will do fine as you follow the shadows moving through the smoke and fire. 

They no longer look like people. Even the uniltìrantokx begin to lose shape in your eyes, becoming faceless entities. Empty and spiritless. Abominations. Demons. Disgusting mockeries of your People meant to be killed without mercy. You will show them none. The ground is hot beneath your feet, metal finally beginning to burn after another fire burst to life. It’s startled the last threads of the human plague and you’ll use their fear against them. 

The clouds of smoke and dimmed light hides you in plain sight. A spine is separated, ribs shattered, as your spear cleaves through the back of an uniltìrantokx. They shout, spewing out blood. It splatters across your face like warm rain as you heave the spear over your head, tossing their body off of your blade. The rest of the bugs are scattering under the light of the flaming rain. Another bursts open as you leap from the darkness. One end of the spear kills one and with a twirl the other end tears through another. The little ones are easier to kill even as they point their guns at you. You swing up and open one of them from groin to face, shattering their mask before pushing them aside to find something else to kill. A shadow moves behind you but they don’t feel faceless. You know their presence. Another hail of gunfire illuminates the silhouette in bursts of reddish light. He only glances at you for a second before throwing a spear of his own at you. You duck with a hiss as it flies past you, landing with a wet thud as it finds the stomach of another uniltìrantokx just behind you. His hands close around the shaft, fingers knotted tight as he tries to pull it out before going limp. When you turn, whoever threw the spear is already gone. Something tugs at your heart and the haze settled over your mind shifts for only a moment before snapping back into place as guns fire forehead. 

Arrows would be better. Would keep you further from the touch of these demons, but the spear is all you have. You swing with vengeful shouts that grate in your throat, burning as smoke fills your lungs. Three more. They turn to the sound of your landing. Tiny things. Easily killed. One. Two. Three. The third gets stuck on your spear, his hands blood-slicked hands clawing at the wood as your foot presses into his stomach. He won’t be moved. Your knife finds his throat to silence his screams. A mercy he shouldn’t be afforded. One moves behind you, crawling as he clutches the wound you’ve cleaved through his side. It’s leaking rivers of blood so thick that survival will be impossible and yet you can’t stop yourself from leaping onto his back. His frail body gives way under your weight and you finish him with your blade in his back. Puncturing through his lungs as you would an animal. That is all these things are. Invasive animals. A scourge needing to be held at bay. 

A hand meets your shoulder and you hardly move as they try to pull you away from the body still trapped beneath you. When you turn the force of it throws them aside. Another tawtute. Another vrrtep. You hiss, or perhaps you scream. It may be both as your knife tears through their soft body. Once. Twice. Again and again until your hand is wet with their blood. Their eyes are empty of anything as you scream. How dare they touch you. Touch your son. Your planet. You shriek and it shatters through the air like a crash of thunder. Everything has gone still. The air crackles with the sound of fire, embers still falling through the darkness as the ship groans lowly. Metal. Dead earth. Everything around you is dead. And yet it is not enough. Your eyes drag through the darkness, looking for any sign of life. There’s no direction to your footsteps as you stagger through the water and blood splatters underfoot but you find your spear, still stuck in the collapsed human. You set your weight on his stomach and his blood rushes between your toes as you wrench the weapon from his prone body. It tears free with a crack, the blue crystal blade hanging loose and useless where the shaft has snapped in the middle. It hits the ground with a dull ring as you let it slip from your fingers. Knife still in hand you stagger through the darkness in search of… something. Your mind has gone blank. As clouded as the smoke swirling around you. You follow the sound of voices. Eyes fixed ahead. Half of the ship has been lost to the water and it feels like the gentlest kiss as you wade towards the figures still wavering in your eyes. Your mind begins to steady as your senses return. 

You can smell blood and the ocean. Feel the waves against your skin. Hear the words being spoken. 

“–don’t hurt her!” Your eyes find the figure of a small human. Blue streaks across his pale skin, most of it exposed save for the tewng he is wearing. There are beads in his loc’d hair. A strange mix of human and Na’vi as the pack on his back hisses minutely as he speaks. The beads of his armband shift as you grab him with enough force that he spins to face you. 

“Vrrteptsyìp!” You snarl at him. His brown eyes widen as he stares up at you. Your fingers tighten around your knife as you raise it to strike only to stop as he keeps his eyes on you. Fear. It’s as clear as Naranawm shining overhead. He’s afraid. And you can see it in his eyes. You can See it. 

“What trick is this?” You hiss, the point of your blade biting into his neck. A trail of blood blooms and falls, streaking through the blue stripes that mark his body like war paint. 

“Sa’nok, don’t kill him! Please, don’t kill him.” Kiri begs. The uniltìrantokx holding her beneath his knife says something. His eyes fixed on you. They’re empty. But his tone sounds shaken. As if he is forcing himself to stay calm and flippant as he has been. But his eyes don’t move from you or the tawtute still in your grasp. With a curious tilt of your head you drag your knife away from his neck, not lifting from his skin as you poise it at his chest. The uniltìrantokx shifts in a way he probably does recognize. This body is not his own. It was stolen. But you know. A tsakarem Sees all. His tail moves, curling nervously behind him as his jaw flickers. There’s a threat in his bared teeth. And it’s one you recognize. Because it’s mirrored in your own face as you watch his knife draw blood from your daughter’s skin. Whoever this little human is, he’s important to the uniltìrantokx. You hiss again and feel the breathing system on the boy’s back stutter as he heaves an uneven breath. Your blade slashes across his chest with the gentlest pressure, just enough to break his skin. 

“I cut.” You string together those two words in accented English. Kiri has asked you not to kill him, and you won’t. He is probably the Spider she’s spoken so fondly of. For your daughter, his life will not end by your hand. But this demon doesn’t know that. You raise your knife over your head with a shriek, staring into the child’s terrified gaze as you wonder how a piece of Pandora has found its way inside a human. The threat is enough and the uniltìrantokx drops his blade, tossing Kiri towards Jake. You’re gentler with the human as you release your bruising grip. Kiri stumbles to her feet as Jake leads her and Kiri towards where you stand. You’re still a bit hazy, still unsteady as grief floods your chest, and your feet don’t move even in the face of victory. The uniltìrantokx says something that you don’t understand but the word “death” is met with a snarl as you bare your fangs at him. 

A hand finds your arm. Small and gentle as they pull you towards the water. 

“Sa’nu, come on. Please. Sa’nu!” Tuk says quietly, clinging to your side.

“Sa’nok!” Kiri pleads as you finally realize the battle is over. Your children are free. The humans are dead. You can leave this place. Jake says your name evenly, still crouched in front of you. He hasn’t accepted this victory either. 

“Get them out of here.” It’s an order. Spoken with the voice of a legendary warrior. Your feet begin to move. The water sings to life with pale blue syuratan as you all slip off the sunken edge of the demon ship. The last demon is still talking, knife poised for a fight. And Jake hasn’t moved. Kiri warily calls for him, but her words go unheeded as Jake lunges at the uniltìrantokx.

“Jake!” You cry out for your mate but your attention is called away by the sound of something bursting. Fire fills the water, arcing towards the ship in lashing tongues of orange light. 

“Get back to the ship. Swim. Now.” The ship is finally succumbing to the ocean, spewing out dark liquid as the fires aboard eat through the last of its integrity. Water rushes up with you as you and the children clamber back onto the ship. Tuk clings to your hand as her small legs buckle in the push of the waves. She screams as she loses her footing and falls deeper into the ship as a waterfall forms at the edge of an opening. There isn’t a thought in your mind as you dive in after her. No thoughts as you push her ahead of yourself. She shouts at you to open things, heavy swinging pieces of the wall that come open as you pull. Until they don’t. You tug at another place where a shape is cut into the wall, a handle jutting out for you to pull. But the ocean presses in as you pull out and the wall seals itself before you can push Tuk through the small opening. 

“There’s no way out!” She screams, round eyes searching frantically for any place to go, but the light is beginning to wane. Winking in and out until it begins to dim like a dying fire. 

“Sa’nu, I’m scared.” She whimpers. 

“It is alright. Stay close to me.” You pull her closer, fingers weaving through her braids as she buries her face in your neck. The water rises around you as the darkness closes in. You pray for the Great Mother’s mercy. To save you and your daughter. And then only your daughter. Just Tuk, you beg within your heart. Please, save ma Tuktirey. For a moment there is nothing. No shift within your heart as there usually is when the Great Mother breathes her will into you. There’s nothing but darkness until a dot of yellow light appears. And then another and another, like stars as seeds of the Ranteng Utralti fill the water with warm light. A dark figure swims among them, rising to meet you as you hold out your hand. 

“Kiri!” Tuk leans into her touch as her free hand finds her cheek. 

“Everything is going to be alright, tsmuke. Follow me.” The yellow light guides the way through the flooded ship as you follow behind your daughters. The open ocean is a blessed sight as you follow the starlight to the surface. It isn’t the longest breath you’ve taken but the anxiety twisting in your chest nearly punches the air from your lungs and you take in gasping breaths as you swim towards the shape of a tulkun floating nearby. Payakan. Jake and Lo’ak cling to one of his fins, beckoning the three of you closer. 

“Come. Come here.” Lo’ak pants, holding his hand out towards Kiri. Their five fingered hands intertwine as Kiri pulls Tuk closer to her. Lo’ak is alive. He is alive and safe and breathing. Tears burn anew in your eyes. Neteyam is dead. Your son is dead. It emptied your head of all other thoughts, empties your heart of all other feelings. You go still in the water, barely kicking your feet as the thought washes over you. Perhaps you begin to sink but Jake pulls you towards him before your head dips back into the water. His arm wraps tight around you until even the water can’t reach the space between you.

“Thank you, Great Mother.” You whisper it again and again until you aren’t sure if you’re saying it aloud or in your heart. Thank you. 

ɴᴀ’ᴠɪ ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴs

Nawmtu – great person (honorific)

Spono alusìng – floating island (speculative)

Hì’ikran – dorado verde, small ikran (speculative)

Kawngtu – bad person, “bad guy”

Naranawm – Polyphemus, the planet Pandora orbits

Syuratan – bioluminescence

Taronway – hunt songs

Muntxatu – mate

Txopu rä'ä si, vrrteptsyìp. – don’t be afraid, little demon

Teylu – a grub, similar to a jumbo shrimp

Tswin – neural braid

Vrrtep – demon

Tewng – loincloth

Tawtute, Sawtute – sky person, sky people

Ranteng Utralti – Spirit Tree

’Itan – son

[ohbo-ohno]

a place that feels eerily familiar to you, like you knew it in a dream + price !! 🫶

congrats on so many sillies following you!!!

1k game here

this one was kinda hard to think of something for but i hope you like it! also thank you ily <3 i love my sillies

2.2k of john price x single mom reader. this is kinda labyrinth inspired, except i've never see labyrinth so we're going on vibes alone. no smut! this is another one with very little of the character requested, but im gonna get better about not doing that i promise <3

You're gobsmacked as you stare at the scene in front of you.

The walls are painted almost aggressively bright, with rainbows crisscrossing over each other in every direction, random bursts of white you think are meant to be clouds. The colors make you squint a little, you didn't even know paint could be that bright.

It's almost painful to look at. It's also... familiar. You're not sure why, but it is.

You shake off the odd sense of déjà vu, refocusing on your goal.

"Alice?" You call out again, cupping your hands around your mouth and shouting as loudly as you can. "Alice, baby, where are you? Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

It's hard not to fall to your knees and just give up. The only thing keeping you standing is the memory of your sweet baby girl in that man's arms. Her little cherubic face tucked into his neck, tiny body dwarfed by his massive form...

You force a full breath into your lungs, then another, then another. You won't be able to help Alice if you can't keep your head.

"Alright, think," you whisper to yourself, taking another moment to scan the room. "If I were a piece of shit baby-stealer, where would I keep a perfect angel?"

Nothing responds.

The room is definitely meant for a child, but scaled up to your size. The door you'd come in through has disappeared, leaving you stuck in this weird rainbow nightmare.

There's a bed against one wall - not really a bed so much as a stack of no less than six mattress one on top of the other, all with the same purple bedsheets. They nearly reach the ceiling, and on the very top your sure you can see several stuffed animals.

There are bookshelves against one wall, floating shelves styled after unicorns where the books rest along their backs and the unicorns themselves stick out from the wall. It's horrendously impractical - all you can think about is how much dusting they would need, how dangerous they could be if they fell on top of someone.

The floor is a nice hardwood with a large plush rug in the center, stylized to look like a white cat curled up in a little ball.

The room is spotless. Nothing is out of place, there's not a spec of dust anywhere to be seen, and nothing is stained. You wish your own daughter's room was this clean, but three year old's are a very messy species.

This room is clearly meant for a kid, but you can tell it's never been used. No child could keep a white rug so clean.

You sit on the floor in front of the purple bed and try to collect your thoughts, eying the room around you.

The man - John Price, he'd said around a cigar - had been clear about your task. Find your way out of the labyrinth in twenty-four hours, and you'll be reunited with your baby.

Of course the jackass had neglected to mention it's a magical labyrinth. Of course he hadn't told you that the maze would literally reconstruct itself right in front of your eyes.

This room had appeared practically out of thin air too, which is why you suspect that no one's ever been here but you. The whole place has an air of cleanliness that leaves your skin crawling.

The walls though... there's something so familiar about them.

It hits you a few moments later.

You'd had a coloring book as a little girl that was rainbow themed - each page featured a rainbow in a different setting, or a different shape, or an animal with rainbow patterns, things of that nature. Your favorite page had been the one without any design but rainbows, arches crisscrossing over each other in every direction. You spent hours painstakingly coloring it properly, despite the fact that it was nearly impossible to tell where the top of the rainbow was in certain places.

You'd begged your mother to paint your room like that, promised her that you'd help, that you'd never complain about your chores again, all typical little kid stuff. Your mother had refused, and you'd forgotten all about it by breakfast the next day.

That pattern from the coloring book is the same one decorating the walls, complete with the incorrect colors in certain places. That's where you remember it from.

And... and that bed. Mattress stacked on top of one another, purple bedsheets. It's just like an old copy of The Princess and the Pea your father brought home one day. You had been so entranced with the idea of a bed so tall that you'd never even cared about the end of the story. You vividly remember begging for a tall bed like the princess had, and you'd gotten it - you slept in a loft bed for most of your teen years.

It's clear from there what's going on. The unicorn shelves are plucked from your memory too, originating from a years long obsession with the mythical creatures. The rug, now that you think about it, matches one your kindergarten teacher had. The whole room is filled with things that you thought would be great in a bedroom as a little girl.

So.... how do you get out?

There's no door, no windows, no attic, nothing. Just a sealed rainbow box.

You skim your memory as quickly as possible, trying to imagine any sort of escape route you might've wanted. When you were little, you'd gone through a phase of wanting to live in a tower like Rapunzel, but that had a window. You also tried to run away once, becoming very enamored with the idea of living in a tent. You'd wanted to live in a treehouse for a bit, and that....

Oh. That's it.

You'd wanted to live in a treehouse, and your father jokes that you would roll right out of the hatch when you were asleep. You'd proudly said nuh-uh and told him how you'd drag the mattress over the hatch every night.

You glance over your shoulders at the six mattress stacked on top of each other and sigh.

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

It takes a while, but you finally manage to shove the last mattress away from it's spot.

Not only is there a trapdoor beneath it, there's one singular pea.

You'd laugh if you were any less exhausted.

You leave the rainbow room all but destroyed - the stuffed animals had gone flying and knocked off the books, and the floor is almost completely covered by mattress - but you're far too excited about your small win to worry about cleaning up.

You climb down the ladder in a tiny, enclosed space, breathing slowly to keep yourself from hyperventilating. It's almost pitch-black and you can't fight off the image of the walls shifting around you, deciding you're not supposed to be here and.....

You breathe a sigh of relief when your feet hit the floor.

Your first instinct is to call out for your daughter again, hope that she hears and cries out for you, but this room - dark and undecorated - is dead silent. The kind of silent that feels wrong to break. So you inch forward towards the only door you can make out along the wall.

Your hand shakes as you push it open, tense as you reveal....

A nursery.

A nursery with your baby in it, your little girl all curled up in a crib that she's a bit too old for. She's wearing something different than what you had her in, but she's real and she's safe.

You step froward on instinct, standing at the side of the crib. Just as you're reaching in to grab her and run, a voice speaks up from behind you.

"What are you doing?"

You jolt, spinning around and pressing your back in front of where your baby sleeps.

It's the man again. He can barely fit through the doorway (literally ducks) and he's broad enough to nearly block it. He's almost cartoonishly large, with tree trunk thighs and arms, a soft padding around his body that makes him look both terrifying and nice to hug.

His beard twitches as he frowns at you, thick eyebrows dipping low over his eyes.

"You're not supposed to be here."

You shake your head a little, getting your racing heart under control. "You said if I could find Alice in twenty-four hours I could go home."

He shakes his head slowly, stepping further into the room. The door disappears behind him. "No, I said find your way out of the labyrinth and you could keep her."

Against your own will, you feel tears start to sting in your eyes. "But..."

"How did you get here?" He asks again, shifting back a bit. His face softens just slightly, but that isn't saying much.

"I found a door," you say. "Under the mattresses."

He hums. "You remembered, then."

Now it's your turn to look confused. "Of course I did. It was my dream as a child."

His head tilts to the side as he takes a few steps forward. "You would be shocked how many parents have forgotten their own dreams. It's pathetic," he spits.

You try to push a little further back as he comes within reaching distance, but you have nowhere else to go.

"Pathetic?"

"Yes. How are you supposed to fulfil your child's dreams if you can't remember your own?"

"But... but not all dreams are meant to come true."

He scowls at you, leaning a little further forward. "Really? You don't remember how devastated you were when you didn't get that treehouse? Or the rainbow walls? You cried for hours, I saw it in your memories. Why would you want to put your daughter through that?"

That's... invasive, but you try to move past it. "But my dreams weren't always good for me. I couldn't sleep in the treehouse, what if something went wrong? There could've been a storm, or someone in the woods, or I could've gotten too scared to go inside - any number of things. And I would've been bored of the walls by the weekend, of course my mother didn't spend days painting them just for me to be over it before I even said thank you."

He hums a bit, bringing a hand up to stroke his chin. "You would deny your daughter's dreams because you don't want to create them, then?"

You scowl at that, holding yourself back from poking a finger into his chest. "Are you calling me lazy? How dare you! You know, I work two jobs to take care of that little girl all by myself since her daddy's a deadbeat, I work myself to the bone making sure she can eat, and you call me lazy for not painting the walls the colors she wants?"

He latches onto the wrong part of the sentence. "Her father's not in the picture?"

You glare at him. "That's what you got from that?"

He seems to be stuck in deep contemplation, taking another step forward so your chests nearly brush and you're forced to stare up at him.

"So, it's not for a lack of love, then?"

"What? Of course not. If I could, I'd give Alice everything she could ever want and more. But that's not how the real world works."

"It's how the labyrinth works."

"Excuse me?"

He gestures broadly to the nursery. "The labyrinth is kind to her inhabitants. She gives them everything they desire, because it's easy for her."

You've never been more confused in your life. "Okay? Good for her, then."

You get the feeling he's reached a conclusion that you can't even see in the distance as he nods to himself, leaning to the side a bit to glance at Alice. You fight down the urge to leap over the crib and cover her body with yours.

"Then you will stay here."

That jerks you back to reality. "Wait- what?"

"You will stay in the labyrinth, where she can provide for... what did you call her? Alice? Yes, Alice. You and Alice will be taken care of here."

"But-" you splutter. "But I found her! You said I had to find her!"

He shoots you a slightly exasperated look. "No, as I said before, you had to find your way out. You didn't. And look at that, time's up." A timer appears in the air in front of him, ticking down to zero. "Now you and little Alice are mine. It's been a little empty around here recently, it won't be the worst thing to have company for a bit."

You feel heat rush to your face. "No! Let us go, you can't keep me here on a technicality!"

He smiles - a real smile, brightening up his eyes - and surprises you by cupping your cheek with one big paw.

"Oh my dear, it's my labyrinth, I can do whatever I want in it. And it's not a technicality, though I could keep you based on several of those too."

You fume as you glare up at him, hands curled into fists. "I'll find my way out. You can't keep us here."

He chuckles, patting your cheek once before stepping away. "Oh, yes, I think you'll be fun to keep around for a while, darling. Try your best to escape, if you'd like. I don't think I'll mind finding you lost a few more times."

[marchsfreakshow]

Poems - The Speck [James Patrick March]

Drabble //fluffy to all hells

Part 4 to add to the Poems collection. Find the other parts in my masterlist. <3

Yet another poem to add to your collection, and your confidence is through the roof with this poem. You just hoped James felt the same.

Your perspective!

⊹˚.⋆ ₊꒷ᘏᘏ︶ଓ︶꒷꒦⊹˚ᗢ₊꒷︶ଓ︶꒷

I was vigorously typing when James appeared back in our room, blood still dripping down his face and clothes. "Darling!" He smiled. It made me jump a little as I looked away from the bright screen.

"Hello." My head cocked to the side slightly as I stared at him. "Not had time to clean up yet mister?" I giggle, putting my laptop down and walking towards the man. He shook his head as he pulled me close. Occasionally, i felt the small drips of blood on my own clothes while we hugged. Not like I cared, I was writing a poem, finally, to get published in a poem competition in the newspaper. Maybe some recognition to the garbles of words I call poems.

"Not yet my dear. Sally told me your news before I could do anything else." A small grin appeared on his face.

"I'm working on the poem right now."

"Can I read it darling?" I nodded in response. "I'll read it out loud yes?"

He started to read the words on the screen outloud as I watched him.

"The speck. It appears again. The white little cloud, floating in my eye. I itch for it. My eye burns. My brain is in love. My heart hurts." Hearing him say the poem outloud made me feel slightly embarrassed, but I just gulped and kept re-reading the poem while James spoke it.

"Oh why must I be so divided? This speck. Why is it important? This piece of dust, that is still in my vision, has no reason to leave. But I blink. And you disappear again. Maybe you'll disappear again. Maybe my brain will fall. Fall to my heart. Bye bye speck. You're nothing special. You're a white cloud."

The meaning of the poem never hit me, until James read it. Thinking about people before James, and how they didn't mean much. He smiled once he finished the poem, and looked from the laptop to my own eyes. The dead stare. Was it a good or bad stare? Whelp "Yeah..?" I asked quietly.

As soon as i spoke, he held me again, bringing me as close as he possibly could be. I took this as a guess that it was a good poem. "You're going to win. And change the world." He whispered to me. It felt like I was frozen as we hugged. Affirmations were never my strong-suit, past and present. Constantly getting put down for what i wrote all the time shattered me.

Despite the negativity that lived in my head, i smiled and kissed James' bloody face. "Thank you James. I really appreciate the positivity."

"You're perfectly wonderous my sweet bird, i have full confidence you will win this competition." He kissed my hand, what a gentleman, and let me go so i headed back to my laptop.

Sighing, i typed, refined and re-read the poem about a million times before it was sent off. A breath of relief let itself out of my mouth, and i shut the laptop, laying down. "Im so proud of you my dear."

⊹˚.⋆ ₊꒷ᘏᘏ︶ଓ︶꒷꒦⊹˚ᗢ₊꒷︶ଓ︶꒷

[fenharel-archived]

saskia i haven't read that game informer dav article yet (i will) but i NEED to hear about your mixed emotions 👀

looking at the spoilers we got objectively i think it all sounds very cool and exciting (besides of the gameplay stuff. they can talk about how cool their 3 ability combos are all they want they won't face me, lol). i love that i guessed right with who the evanuris are. i love that we get to hang out in solas' house AGAIN. the little snippet about seeing how isolated and alone he lived there is So sad 😭. i love that it's almost confirmed that he'll take up some advisor role for rook, even if he's kinda forced too lol (its giving johnny in ur head vibes a little bit, no? ooh i bet the haters are going to love this. 💖) love love love the little mention that there seems to be much more reactivity in terms of ur race and background then what im used to from prior dragon age games (no more morrigan explaining lavellan elven lore??? yes please!!!!!!). or that the magic seems to be more present in this game than in the previous titles, something i was 100% waiting for!!!!! ("imagine spires of crystal twining through the branches, palaces floating among the clouds" plLSSSS!!!!!!!)

buuuut. this is where the mixed emotions comes in. pls. dont click on read more if ya'll have normal and sane opinions on trespasser and the veil. i dont wanna embarrass myself and i dont wanna annoy anyone, lol.

sooo uh. idk how to say this without sounding absolutely bonkers but. i used to say that i dont know how i'll be able to stand a new protagonist who will be against solas. i had 10 years to make peace with that. and i thought i did, but since the gameplay reveal and now the new spoilers i....... i.... "rook stopped the ritual and trapped solas in the fade" legit makes me want to throw rotten tomatoes at them. like i KNOW. I KNEW. what was gonna happen. NOTHING so far has surprised me. so i legit cannot tell ya why im being so irrational rn but its the truth, lol. 💀

im not exicted by any of the actual cool implications we got with ~advisor solas whispering in ur head~ spoilers because i legit wanted him to do whatever he wanted to do. i do not want to stop him and i want him to succeed with everything always. KNOWING that was not gonna happen so idk man. idk what to tell ya ksjdfhsjkdhfsjkhf

i think that a level one noob is able to stop 9+ year cooked up plan with the help of a rock like its nothing isnt helping because it feels like cheap disney writing to me. but everything i just said prior still stands. i AM being irrational. BUT I WANT TO BE EXCITED. LIKE IM NOT LYING WHEN I TELL YOU I KNOW THIS ALL SOUNDS FUN. MAYBE THIS IS CONFIRMATION THAT HE'LL SURVIVE THIS GAME TOO. AT THE END OF THE DAY THAT LITERALLY ALL I CARE ABOUT. BUT ARGHHHHHH i will now try to manifest the cool headcanons im seeing. i will manfiest them. i will become sane and normal about this and be excited. i will be SO excited and i will make a rook i like. this is my mission now

[lilyfraci]

Merman Kokushibou x Fem! Reader (PART 2)

PART2 IS HERE👑

You can't feel anything and you felt like you were floating on clouds 9. Blood drooling down to your temple. What happened? Where are the sailors? Are they okay? Where are they? Is max okay?

I dont remember…

"Don't forget me… And I won't forget you either… "

Huh? A voice? It sounds so different but i know its clearly a guy type. Who is it? It sounds like a melody to my ears.

You tried to process everything even in this unconscious state, trying to connect all of your cells back together.

"I would forever stare into your enchanting eyes… So beautiful.. Just like you… "

This is so heavenly to listen such a soft song, but am i dreaming? If not… Then who is it?

You feel yourself finally getting consciousness as you groaned a little, alerting the person who was singing. You pry yur eyes open slowly but your vision are still blurry and your head starts to get a headache making you even groan louder and louder by any seconds.

Suddenly you hear someone screaming, its man's voice and you recognize it. It was the knights and to mention, you hear a loud splash.

"She's alive! The princess is alive! Alert the king!"

👑

"I got myself weak again. " "… " "I wanna be yours, and you'll be mine. "

👑

Everything was going smoothly, birds singing and a sun was pretty bright outside making the flowers bloom beautifully. An unconscious princess was laying down to her bed, comfortably and peacefully.

You woke up with a headache and a bandage on your head. The sunlight illuminate the room brightly making you squint your eyes and groan in tiredness. Yur body felt weak and a little bit of in pain.

"W-what happened..?" You groaned before rubbing the temple of your head.

You hear your door slowly opening as you turn your head to it and saw your dad peeking his head and was shocked to see you fully awake as he immediately rushes at you with a grateful and a guilt expression and held both of your hands.

"My daughter!! You're awake! Dear god… Thank you! Im glad that you made it out alive.. " He spoke with such happiness and tears running down to his cheeks before looking down.

"I'm so sorry, my daughter… I'm so sorry that this happened to you because of me! If this stupid of mine didn't existed then you would be fine and good! I felt so bad for what you've gone through… "

He looked down as he sobs quietly, trying to gulp down his breakdown.

Your face went soft as you smiled before putting a hand on your father's head and patting it.

"I'm fine dad…. And i already forgave you, please don't ever feel ashamed of it." You said gracefully.

And that, both you and your father hugged, enjoying this moment together.

👑

The ocean was always so beautiful and bright, as if it was a second version of heaven. But deep inside, there was dark and evil under it and it's true,

The ocean can be both good and bad.

. . .

"You know… That human will never ever loved you back! Just look at yourself!"

"Shut your mouth, ugly eyes. You're annoying me. "

"Awhh!! Why are you both always so cold and mean to-"

"That doesn't matter to you, if i loved her then do not interfere because you're not apart of this."

"Oh… Is that so? Besides… Don't you think humans are all the same? Imagine if she sees your eyes! Would she be terrified?"

"Ugh, im leaving. This is just a waste of time. "

HII!! IM BACK! SORRY IF THIS WAS SHORT BUT TRUST ME, I'LL WORK EVEN MORE FASTER AND HARDER FOR YOU GUYS!!

PART 3 is in progress 👑

[linkdedruid]

READER WEARING LIVIOS CLOTHES RAAGAGAGAGGSSJJSJSMKSSBJSJSJS IM SO NORMAL

Obviously. looks at the other requests Completely normal...

Livio's voice floats through the half-open door to your room. "Hey, have you seen my-" They stop mid-sentence as they see you sitting cross-legged on your bed with reference books, textbooks, and printed reports littering the surface. You're hunched over your laptop, eyebrows furrowed in heavy concentration, as you work on your thesis. The very sweater they were just about to ask if you'd seen is falling off your shoulder.

You look good in that color, they realize. Not only that, but the way you look up at them with your glasses slipped low on your nose has their heart thudding and their cheeks warming. You give them a sheepish look, glancing down at the cloud-soft sweater you borrowed.

"Sorry, I should've asked first." You apologize, sitting up and rolling your shoulders.

"N-no, it's okay. It, uh, it looks good on you." They stammer slightly, picking at the chipped nail polish on their thumbnail.

Looks good is an understatement. Livio's pretty sure you've never looked better than you do now, wearing their clothes so casually. They've never been more thankful for their own broad shoulders than when you move to extricate yourself from the research nest you've built yourself and the wide neck collar slips just off your shoulder. Just the small glimpse of skin revealed in the motion has them feeling weak. It's not even suggestive, so why do they feel like they're about to burst into flame.

"Really?" You ask, looking up at them, as you nudge the bottom of your glasses frames to scoot them back onto the bridge of your nose.

"Y-yeah, you can keep it...if you want." They offer. Normally they don't let anyone borrow their clothes. Not after having grown up in the orphanage with very little to call their own. So, why are they doing so now? What is it about you that makes them want to give you anything and everything you could ever want.

"Thank you, Liv!" You chirp, a wide grin spreading across your face and making their heart skip and stutter in its rhythm. It's only made worse (or better, really) when you throw your arms around his waist in further display of your gratitude.

Oh, they're done for...

[yesimadeanotherblogfuckoff]

GO S2 OPENING ANALYSIS PT 1 (also Potential GO spoilers idk)

I haven't really seen anyone go in depth on the opening for season two yet so I'm making to this to point out all the things i spotted and some theories this is SUPER LONG POST SO BE WARNED

Crowley crawls up while Aziraphale floats down which is fitting but there's also storm clouds in the distance so there might be a scene after the flood or it's a sign of impending doom

right after crowley and aziraphale go through that dark tunnel Gabriel(?) can be spotted with that infamous box

they're in the middle of a scorched village and crowley sets goats on fire which pretty much confirms that they are somehow going to be involved with the story of Job if not directly involved

here we have that Gabriel statue from the trailer and a gravestone with "EVERYDAY" written on it, the reoccurring song that somehow related to the mystery

here's another gravestone with something written on it, this was the best photo i could get and i tried lightening it but i can't figure out what it says so if anyone has any ideas feel free to share

gravestone with jane austen on it, this author has been referenced quite a bit from the info we have about s2 so far and is on the cover for the episode "The Ball" so looking forward to that

"HERE LIES THE FORMER SHELL OF BEELZLEBUB" so i guess that's Neil's explanation for them having a different actor? Beelzebub molted? gross but very creative

also im pretty sure that bottom one says "Here Lies ADAM" as in antichrist Adam? oh man i hope he isn't dead he was such a sweet kid

there's a guillotine in the far back during their walk through hell hope that isn't foreshadowing anything 0-0

they also have this office on a pillar above the fiery pit of hell which i find very funny but this could also maybe be related to Shax? where she used to work maybe??

a sign for an underground train station so i guess we'll be expecting a train station scene of some kind?

the group walks through this gate with "GENTS" at the top no idea what that implys but i'll put it here anyways

there's a "WINGS FOR VICTORY" sign on the side of this bus which is a reference to British saving campaigns during WWII so confirms more WWII era stuff with aziraphale and crowley

there is this poster for STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN and my first thought was the LED ZEPPLIN song but actually it's a reference this 1946 movie

in which a British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl

so thats INTERESTING and COOL and totally doesn't imply ANYTHING about aziraphale and crowley's relationship or (potentially) maggie and nina's

but there is also a Zeppelin (it looks more like a blimp but whatever) and later on they go into a theater which looks very similar to the album cover for Stairway to Heaven

so I'm not gonna rule it out

there's a poster that says "THE FABULOUS LADIES OF CAMELOT" which is probably the group name of the show girls we saw in the trailer it says they are performing at the Windmill Theatre in London which is real and very famous for its Windmill girls who performed as nude living statues

i think this box is part of that saw a person in half trick and i can't wait to see Aziraphale attempt this trick and miserably fail like he always does, lot of laughs for sure

here's aziraphale on stage in his magician's outfit from the trailer but crowley is there as well so maybe he's his assistant? if so thats super funny and explains why crowley is not a fan of his magic act later on

very cute moment of crowley and aziraphale twirling around each other in the stars (this could be a nod to that moment that people spoiled for the first two episodes will know what im talking about )

this bridge they're walking on could potentially be the Humber Bridge near Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England (?)

or just a random ass bridge lol i do love to theorize tho

this airplane has "THY KINGDOM AIRWAYS" on its side very funny gag

these cotton candy hearts appear to be raining from the sky which im not sure what that implies but this season is focusing more on romance so it fits (also crowley and azira sitting together on the roof cute <3)

here we have maggie's record shop and nina's cafe right next to each other with record banners on the street, maybe a promotional party for the store? there's also a jukebox with records stacked in front of it. there's a promotional image of aziraphale holding everyday on vinyl (that i can't find sorry) so maybe he's gonna use this jukebox to play it?

i believe this is Gabriel(?) holding the package and going down an elevator from Heaven so he wasn't lying about needing to deliver something to Aziraphale something must've happened to him on his way over

one of the group is holding a sign for the "The 2nd Coming" as in the second coming of Jesus Christ?

A bar called The Dirty Donkey, new location for aziraphale and crowley to dine at? there's a smaller sign there but it's impossible to read HOWEVER

it looks like a holy figure standing in front of the opening of a cave, maybe an angel? considering the clothing maybe Jesus Christ?

I'm at my limit for photos so I will continue this in my next post!

(edit: here's the link for pt 2)

[coquettedragoon]

do you have any favourite design work, just in general? your mecha work has always struck me (as someone obsessed with that kind of thing), but the dreamlike feeling of the semi-abstracted backgrounds is incredible

im gonna make this a bit long and also gonna introduce the 'good asks' tag for asks i spend a long time writing an answer for so its not lost to time

a huge inspo for my sense of design, wildly enough, was space patrol lulucos backgrounds. i cant find a better shot in google images of the way it renders space, but the screentone clouds really stuck with me and influenced how i use it heavily. i was really obsessed w the collage like bgs in particular and v singular color grading

gunbuster and diebuster are hugely influential, in different ways. im obsessed with the palettes in diebuster.. everything about the lilac stems from the exelion in gunbuster, the zephyrantes took its root entirely from the idea of a warship so large it has a train network and painted skies inside of it etc... the oppressive mech cockpits are heavily drawn from gunbusters. the nerv stuff in eva is also a big source of inspo.

a huge impact on how i approached backgrounds for coquette was tsukihimes, the singular blue color is why i only use a v limited palette for coquettes backgrounds... where i got started with planning coquettes bgs was the thought of using the same filtered approach but to simple 3d instead of photos. i ended up good at 3d so it never was simple though

hidamari sketch is maybe my fav work on the planet, and its a huge part of why im obsessed with screentone... my attention to detail with the living spaces of characters comes from it and the detail it gives to every characters room in the apartments, and how they each use the same floorplan differently. its visually stunning top to bottom in a way that only comes through when you watch it imo.. the use of photos etc has stuck with me forever, it rly is a show using 20000 art styles at once and rly gave me a lot of thought on treating direction as collage of styles you like

heartcatch precure is one of my favs ever, especially visually... i love how far it leans into like being very digital looking and uses color so strongly to convey a mood.. i remember being immediately struck by how it uses this sickly green color for the world/sky during the fights etc to build unease. i love how high contrast it is, i definitely drew a lot from its stark orange and black backgrounds for doing the duchy stuff

a lot of movies definitely stick with me visually, but its easier for me to think in terms of 2d/3d... the mishima movie (lmao) has directly influenced my bg art heavily, especially when i use these kind of overhead diorama esque shots

in terms of how i do 3d and shade it etc... a lot of is heavily inspired by the use of 3d in the code geass ovas (lmao), noone watched this ever so none of its documented but this AMV has quite a lot of it. the harsh shading in the scene around 00:20 is what influenced me using that style in the ch3 opening animation... the snappy fast violent animation is kind of my ideal for how i wanna animate mechs

i think a lot of how i design things is through trial and error, but theres a lot consciously floating thru my head around what kind of look id like to achieve... i dont actually plan much, ever. i animate with no storyboards, write without an outline, only do one sketch before settling on any designs, and mess around w colors for a scene until its done

[sleepy159]

everlasting stars

summary: The stress of the akidemiya got to Layla, eveything became to much and she just needed a way to release. a/n: suprise im not dead!!!! this is short (508 words) bc im in a writing slump but its ok!! ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :

The door slammed shut behind Layla, gray rings floating into the air as she sat down on the toilet in the stall. she stared down at her white leggings as she willed herself to cry. She just wanted to feel anything besides the oh so familiar tugging and pulling feeling, the ugly feeling of her stomach twisting into knots, butterflies rising in the worst way possible. She wanted to cry but nothing was left, she didnt even know who she was, why she was here, or how many papers she had yet to do. Layla curled her fingers into her hands as the weight of the razor in her pocket became to heavy, she pictured it sitting there, waiting, taunting her. 'No, no, no, no, no, no' the thought repeated in her head. Her throat swelled, and her fingers ached to hold the blade, to make imprints in her fingers from how tight she had been holding it, to watch the blood bubble, to stretch her skin while she waited for that sweet sight. Why was it so easy to do this but not stay clean? why was she such a failure?

Laylas hand pulled the razor from its pocket. She stared at it for a long moment, her left sleeve tugged up to show the plump pale skin, she wanted to cut through it, like a fruit. She wanted the murky red to pour out like a to ripe orange. Layla pressed the side of the razor that was stained with blood onto the top of her arm, the good side. 'Archons im such a pathetic person i cant even do it on my wrist.' was the last thought she had before her mind went numb. She dragged it, the sickeningly sweet pain of it enrapturing her. Beads of blood appeared, her hand pulled down near the cut to let more spill out.

That same razor had done this so many times, times she didnt care to count. Layla mapped out a place where she would fill it out with cuts and set to work. It barely hurt anymore, she just wished it did. She pulled the razor back into its corrective spot and stared at the blood before pulling her sleeve over it, cringing at the feeling of the cloth absorbing. Layla opened the door to the stall, and walked, her footsteps making golden triangles cloud her vision. she stared at herself in the mirror, her grimy skin, bloodshot eyes, eyebags dark as the coffee she drank. She wondered if she was even real, if anything was real.

The distant chatter of her peers swiped at her mind and she adjusted her hair, picked the gunk out of her eyes and walked out into the hallway. There was so many colors, everywhere. Layla had learned to let the colors, shapes, images, and sounds slip into a raindrop in the back of her mind though it barely helped. She sat down in the too hard seat in her classroom and closed her eyes. Just another useless day.

[thegongoozlerreacts]

Sky: Children of the Light - Season of Revival

HELLO I JUST LOGGED INTO SKY TO DO MY DAILIES N THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT REMINDED ME OF SEASON OF REVIVAL BEING OUT

and i was like 'oh cool new season!' aND THEN A PORTAL JUST RISES OUT OF THE SEA ???? CRAZY

spoilers for everything under the cut

im excited for the new season but im mostly excited for the new shoes cosmetics >:)))))

anyways time to go through the new portal

ok in a completely new area

ooh the symbol glowing underneath where my character appeared?? so cool

giant ominous building looming over me, an island surrounded by a sea of clouds

super aesthetic

oh a spirit memory stature thing

fascinating, the statue reveals a child(?) spirit

they seem to recognize the red candle we used to light the statue

time to follow them into the ominous building

ahh they needed the candle to open the door

'??? | A hidden refuge, lost to time' bro :(( why did that hit me in the feels

the fact that it doesnt even really have a name, and the season guide's reaction to seeing it :(( i feel so bad

i guess the season will revolve around 'reviving' the area ?? like restoring it back to its original glory

'Hopeful Steward' aww bro thats so cute

ok time for the first quest

AWW MY SKYKID HOLDING THEIR HAND OUT TO HOPEFUL STEWARD <333

ok theres a place im supposed to go but first i want to explore

theres a little waterfall area, a fountain(??) in the center, and those manta shrine things (like the ones in daylight prairie)

ooh theres like little houses/rooms built into the side of the hills there's rubble blocking the entrances to them tho oof

ok time to actually continue on w the quest

another spirit statue

hey isnt that a past spirit guide ?!??! also aww theyre friends w the Hopeful Steward

going into a house now

oh no its overrun with the darkness plants :(( STOP THIS IS SO SAD

its ok dont worry i have the power of arson time to burn all these plants bwahahha

nice i burned away all the darkness and now the spirit is showing me a floating chair OOH IF I SIT ON THE CHAIR I HAVE ACCESS TO THE HAIR COSMETICS

ohhhh he's like a hairstylist omg thats so cool

oh hey the atmosphere's a little brighter outside and !! theres a pink plant growing outside the hairstylist's barbershop(??)!! cool

ooh and theres a flag too signifying that its like a barbershop

OOOH THE WINDOWS ARE LIT UP NOW NICE

alright, thats all for the 1st quest of Season of Revival!! im excited for the rest of the quests and how the place is gonna look at the end of the season!

ohoho whats this?? theres another open door on the side of the left hill

the sign next to it bears this season's symbol time to go in!!

ooh its like a dressing room kinda?? theres cosmetics on mannequins and like,, theyre all very dramatic names that basically mean the same thing of being a remnant of a lost village but its all said in different ways and im laughing at it

the cosmetics look REALLY nice tho time to browse im definitely aiming for the shoe cosmetic (the free one LOL) ooh and also the origami boat hat, so cute!!

alright, i think thats all for now

i'll post about this again when the next quest arrives, byebye!!

[ashesh2ashes]

screaming begging crying, anything

help. i need help. my friends dont get it they cant give it Its miserable im going through hell Im reaching for whoever can pull me up Im reaching into open air Im reaching into dark water Nothing is there. This is misery

IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL MYSELF I want to just stop hurting, i want to stop hurting i want to stop hurting i want to make it go away i want to feel normal why the fuck cant i just feel normal Im not doing well. getoutofmyheadidontwantyouhereanymoreidontneedyouanymoreiwanttobefreefromthispleasegodjustletmeout. She stares at me I trapped her under the water Inches from the surface Shes drowning Her air is meager gasps

I stare under the lake. She needs help. She's going through hell. Floating right under the surface. A plume of blood clouds around her Hundreds of scars peel open like flowers in bloom

The lake is red The woman is dying The hope is dead Im tired of trying

She reaches her hand out to me. I hold it out and find only rope. Follow these threads. Follow her thoughts. Follow his will. My thoughts will follow into your dreams...

[jiminsass-istant]

Hello talking about boycott anon here,

i will stay anon longer, i dont want to be doxxed (with the climate and how army is moving rn it is very high probability).

sorry if this is going to be messy and all aroung the place. Hopefully it is gonna make at least some sense to you.

Not sure if you know what fanon means in fanfiction community, but it is when fans think of something/someone and fandom accepts it as the truth that happened even when it was not specifically said in the original media. this is rn i feel like. like i believed in the fanon version of bts, that army (the waters i was floating aroung at least) was presenting bts to be. someone who is believed to have their morals, to hold their ground, to care about the world.

so right now my fanon version of bts is meeting the (maybe) more real version of bts and it hurts. but that is on me letting my perception being clouded by other people views.

.

I as person with zero soft power and audience, i can scream into the void about how it is against humanity what is happening right now outside... And nothing happens. On other hand people with enormous influence are sitting it out and nothing happens...only them being used as puppets of consumerism to be able to sell out everything (the bt21 /possible/ collab with mcsht made me laugh ngl, it was not a good laugh tho...)

But at least i dont see them later doing docu ala Miss Americana about the heavy burden of power and responsibility.

In the end what as i individual think of them is not really important on the macro scale, but on my microscale letting go of the fanon version and see what they present themselves as without the interpretation of people loving and believing in them, it is freeing -> to view them as plain and simple entertainment to be consumed and moved on without any real life impact.

.

And the reason why i was more disappointed in them than every other idol working with zionists, endorsing things on boycott etc. Cuz the others were for me the mindless consumption entertainment which never had the inclination to be more than being consumed (ie i never thought of them as being pro humanity, only pro income 🤣), which may be shitty on my end to held someone on higher standard than their peers when in the end all kpop/entertainment is pro income. (As music for healing does not exists anymore).

Ps with how mr scrotum braun is moving at this point, im curious what is it is gonna take for american hybe to be put on the bds list...

Ps 2 greetings to skewed!anon

Ps3 if im still alive and around when they announce the world tour and israhell is gonna be one of the stops, im going to have aneurysm from bitter laughing...

I'm so glad you're back! This is gonna be lengthy..

Thanks for explaining what fanon means and now I get it too- what you mean. We perceive them through the way the fandom presents them. Through YT videos and tweets that praise them for each little thing, for their struggle story (which is true, but also a great way to market them).

As these perfect individuals with high morals (and they sure might be! Not negating that possibility). But like Yoongi said - everyone thinks they have the perfect sense of morality and justice. And it applies to armies as well as internet community.

We, as people have always been caught up between politics, been engaged in wars, been victims or have been enablers without much control over it. The genocide in Palestine is the first case ( esp. after october last year) wherein there has been such a widespread awareness - at least among netizens. Even the Ukraine war wasn't this talked about. And this news was bound to affect fandoms at some point.

The root cause has always been politics. And who decides which politicians are in power? Us. The people who select the leaders. Why does Israhel has immense power and is backed by the US? Because that's the kind of leaders they chose. If there are people who need to speak up, it's the local communities, the voters, the changemakers. I appreciate the road rallies and protests across the world to support the Palestinian cause.

Unfortunately, most of the discourses on the internet are useless. Unless the internet is used to gather people, form local communities, gather donors for the cause, all other debate is useless. The BDS list boycott would be so much more effective if it was done on the ground. Imagine a local area boycotting mcd. The franchise would be shutdown- people would hear about it in the nearby areas and get curious.

But what happens when 2000 people from different cities of the world 'like' a post asking for boycott of mcd? Nothing. What happens when a post cancelling a kpop idol over McD gets 10k likes? Umm.. nothing. And this would still be fine if this energy translated to local awareness. But is that happening? I live in a big city and people here still go to starbcks, order mcd, burger king etc etc. All educated folks, all with access to the internet.

Companies will always be pro-income. That's why the only way to get them to divest is to affect their income. Start by shutting down their stores one by one. In my country, if you speak against israhell, some people might jump you or call you crazy because they are straight up islamophobes. That's why all i can do is quietly boycott.

If Hybe makes it to bds list.. I'll say goodbye to being a hard-core army. I'll still enjoy their songs and performances (from official channels) but i won't invest my time and money anymore.

That's why..(coming to your point now lol), it's best to see them as musicians only. Just musicians. What are we even gonna achieve by harassing an active duty soldier? SOLDIER!! A job that they are forced to do, btw. They are not saviours of humanity and they never will be. Their UNICEF campaign was also *business*. Literally to promote their album and massive tour. Yes they cared for the cause, but it was not for funsies or their main goal. It was for longevity as artists. Them donating to BLM was also caring for the cause because it was a massive movement at that time. If they were not in military, i believe they would have even donated to the Palestinian victims if other celebrities were also donating.

Israhell as world tour stop.. wouldn't that be 'love myself' ( as a genocide supporter) to another level? Lol. That would suck so bad..if that happens. But then again..it SHOULDN'T suck so bad because why attach your happiness to the moralities of businessmen?

What Palestine is facing right now is the collective result of Islamophobia propagated by the US around the world for years. Through their news, by calling them terrorists, by inciting other countries, by supporting genocides. This is the result of being complicit. And this goes to all people around the world. You should have chosen your leaders wisely. The reason Israhell is so powerful is because countries have been investing in it, in return for defence resources exchange, using the excuse of "donation to israhell victims of hamas terrorism".

Anyway.. *sigh*

You can DM me, you won't be doxxed chill. Upto you of course.

And I hope you stay happy and healthy:)