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gideonaceleigh · 5 years ago

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Camp NaNoWriMo Week 3

Weekly Round Up!!

Word Count: 53,864/10,000 broke 50k what’s upppp

Average Words per Day: 2,564

That’s nearly 30k this week?? I’m mostly building off of what was already written but it still counts okay??

I have also come up with a working title! PROTOTYPE (I’m not completely sold but it’s definitely something to build off of)

~Day 15 ~ Day 16 ~ Day 17 ~ Day 18 ~ Day 19 ~ Day 20 ~ Day 21~

Tag List: @oscarfuckingwilde @minnowf @dove-actually @dahladahlabills

I’m posting a (much) longer excerpt of a chapter I worked on because #fakegirlfriends Caris (approx. 5,300 words)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“This is insane,” hisses Talis, for the fifth time that day.

“I know,” says Iris, also for the fifth time that day.

“By insane I mean suicidal.”

“I appreciate the good vibes you’re sending my way.”

“You know I’m always here for you,” Talis nods sagely.

The tablet is propped back up on its stand on the table under the window so Talis can see the whole room and be a part of the group as Iris and Cat prepare for the gala. They aren’t going to be able to bring much with them. Cat bought a, very tiny, purse while they were hunting for appropriate black-tie attire, but it’s built more for fashion than practicality and therefore barely large enough for them to stuff their ID’s and forged invitation to Claire Bennet plus one, in.

M’Lell didn’t send Iris many documents, but what little they did is chock full of relevant information. Iris spent the morning memorizing the positions of the events security detail and planned watch routes while transferring the documents that sketch out the floor plan of the building to the chip in her arm for ease of access. She feels as prepared for this job as one can be, considering the circumstances, and counts herself lucky not to be going in entirely blind.

While waiting for the taxi Iris gives herself a final look over in the mirror, gently dabbing at her shimmering eyeshadow and lipstick.

Pleased with the outcome she turns to Talis. “What do you think?”

“Very classy. And inconspicuous.”

“Just what I was going for.”

“I know.”

Iris glares at her. “If you know so much then tell me this: where exactly will Ahn have the device?”

Talis disappears from the screen to be replaced by swirling purple mist and black letters slowly pushing through. ‘Try again later’ it reads.

Iris doesn’t bother replying, simply slams the tablet screen down, waits for Talis’ muffled cursing, and shoves it in her purse.

“We ready to go then?” says Cat, emerging from the bathroom. She’s gone with a similar color scheme to Iris’ dress, black with silver accents, though she’s chosen a pair of slacks and suit jacket over a silver button up shirt. Her makeup is more involved than Iris’ however, choosing a bolder red lipstick and dramatic winged eyeliner.

“Whenever you are,” says Iris, admiring her style.

The taxi is waiting for them outside the hotel and whisks them away through the night, passing twinkling streetlamps and bright shop windows. With proper rest the trip through town goes significantly smoother for Iris and she’s able to step out of the cab without the same feeling of nausea. She readjusts the hem of her dress that comes to rest halfway down her thigh, while Cat steps out beside her and takes a minute to process their surroundings.

Ambassador Ahn’s gala is being host at the Galactic Institute of Art and Science, and it is huge. Not big, not large, not giant, but monumentally huge. It takes up an entire block at the center of the city and containes nearly 400 floors. The first ten or so levels are dedicated to hospitality: restaurants, café’s, ballrooms, meetings rooms, etc.; all decorated welcomingly and designed for comfort.

The rest of the floors are split by subject, with art centered rooms on the lower levels, and science higher up. The floors are designed for efficiency and to keep visitor’s attention on the displays. The displays are brought in from planets all over the galaxy and represents the creativity, ingenuity, and genius of a hundred-separate species. Nothing in the known universe could ever come close to comparing to the sheer size and quality of these exhibits.

Not that Iris is going to get much of a chance to look around. In fact, if she’s lucky, she won’t have to look far at all. She’s hoping for a fast entrance and an even faster exit, as long as the universe decides to work in her favor for once.

The night is warm, it’s early summer, but she can’t help a shiver and the goose bumps that form along her arms as she passes between the rose gardens lining the path in front of the museum. She and Cat join the small throng of people making their way up the bone white, marble steps.

They fall into line together and Iris feels Cat jump in surprise when she takes her hand with no warning. Cat looks from their now linked hands, and back at Iris who looks determinedly ahead.

“What?” she starts to ask, but Iris interrupts her.

“We’ll be less obvious like this.”

“Oh,” says Cat. “That’s fair. I usually work alone, and I have to say having a so called partner in crime is a completely different ballpark.”

Iris spares her a smile. “You’ll get used to it in no time. You might even find you like having a partner to help you out,” she says and winks at Cat.

Iris turns her focus on the security guard they’re now in front of. Cat presents the invitation, and both of their ID’s are scrutinized in great detail, but they’re waved through with no problems. A second guard checks Cat’s bags and scans them, taking an extra close look at Iris’ tablet. The machine beeps at Cat and she’s called out of the line, but the harried looking guard waves her through almost before a feeble excuse about jewelry passes her lips.

Annoyance flirts through Iris’ brain. Cat is obviously hiding something in her jacket she didn’t warn Iris about. Cat refuses to meet her eye as they walk the final few feet and into the main foyer. Iris shakes off her annoyance, it isn’t fair of her to expect Cat to tell her everything when they barely know each other and chooses to focus on the room in front of her.

During normal day to day operations the lobby is an impressive site. There’s a mural of the galaxy with every star and planet painted in excruciating detail. On the floor is a mosaic of the more immediate solar system done with the same unbelievable attention to detail. There are shades of green and blue Iris has never seen artificially replicated so perfectly before.

The lobby is divided into twelve sections marked off by pillars made with the same marble as the stairs outside. The room is bathed in a soft yellow light that mimics the tone and movement of thousands of candles everywhere. There are a hundred tables arranged orderly around the room with white tablecloths and silver center pieces. The overall effect is ethereal and mystical. Talis would have loved it if she could see it, but Iris can’t risk being found out, not this early in the night.

“Wow,” says Iris.

“I know,” says Cat.

“Ma’am?” An attendant grabs her attention. “What is your name?”

“Claire Bennet,” she says after a short pause. She’s been caught off guard and hopes he doesn’t notice the hesitation.

Like a professional he ignores her near fatal blunder with nothing more than a quirked eyebrow and checks their logs. “If you’ll follow me, ladies, I’ll escort you to your table.”

“Thank you,” says Iris. She smiles and rests her hand in the crook of Cat’s elbow.

He leads them across the hall to one of the back tables half hidden in shadow. The positioning suits Iris just fine, she has full view of the hall, is seated next to the less important guests that don’t draw much attention and is partially hidden herself.

She sits back in her seat, sips at the wine the attendant pours for her, and watches as the rest of the guests mingle and get settled. Species of every shape, size, and color wander around the lobby oh-ing and ah-ing over the decorations. Their table gradually fills but they are ignored, and they neglect their neighbors.

Cat sits in the seat next to her, but she leaves her drink untouched. While Iris scouts out their surroundings, she scours through the program the attendant leaves them.

“No mention of the prototype here,” she says, too low for any of their neighbors to hear.

“Not much of a surprise there. We’ll stay here until everything gets going. Just follow my lead.”

“You got it, boss.”

Iris rolls her eyes at the over exaggerated deference.

Soon enough the lights dim, and an expectant hush falls over the crowd. A stage lifts from the floor near the opposite side of the hall and a spotlight illuminates a polished wood podium. Ambassador Kimiko Ahn is known the galaxy over as a woman who likes to put on a show, and tonight she doesn’t disappoint.

Anticipation begins to mount to a soundtrack of classical music gradually growing louder and more urgent until the audience is on their feet. It isn’t until the song hits the pinnacle of its score and the crowd, as a collective, feels about to burst that Ahn steps gravely under the light.

Immediately a thunderous round of applause erupts. Iris clamps her hands over her ears in a fruitless attempt to muffle the overwhelming noise and notices Cat follow her lead out of the corner of her eye. Ahn, on the other hand, preens under the concentrated attention of so many people and seems to absorb some of that energy into herself.

“Thank you. Thank you, everybody,” she says after a few minutes and gestures for the audience to quiet down. They follow her direction and settle down, eager for the speech she’ll open the gala with.

“I appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to come to my little get together here tonight.” She pauses in a very obviously rehearsed manner for the bit of laughter that receives to pass. Two screens are lowered next to her, one on either side of the stage for those in the very back, like Iris and Cat, to get the full Ambassador Kimiko Ahn charm effect. This means that Iris can see the nauseatingly self-congratulatory smile Ahn flashes the audience while she magnanimously waits for the laughter to die down.

“Now, I won’t take up much of your time. I’m sure you’re all eager to get through dinner and start exploring my personal collection. Just a few announcements. This floor is free for you to roam, there are over a dozen different displays for you to peruse through and I hope you enjoy them all.

You will have limited access to the second floor where I have a few more interactive activities for you all to play around with, including a rediscovered holographic game we found in the ruins of Allorn. If you don’t mind me say it is very retro, and much fun. And of course, the bar will be open for the duration of the night.

I won’t monopolize your time further tonight, but please feel free to ask me any questions you may have throughout the night. I could talk for an eternity about everything you will see on display tonight. Again, thank you so much for coming out tonight and I hope you enjoy yourself.”

The stage goes dark and Ambassador Ahn is lost to shadow. A miniature army of waiters come swarming from the edges of the room and descend on the guests with trays of food. The attentive mood that had overtaken the crowd snaps, and is replaced by the sounds of conversation, laughter, and clinking cutlery that now ring out across the room.

While everyone else relaxes and turns their attention to dinner Iris goes on full alert and prepares to make her escape to somewhere a little less populated, but with a lot more security.

There’s a dark hall practically directly behind her. A quick glance around her shows everyone in the immediate vicinity preoccupied with food and conversation. She taps Cat on the arm who in turn grasps her purse close to her person. They slip down the shadowy hall and hide around the first corner.

Iris pulls out her tablet from one of the roomy pockets in her dress and thumbs on the flashlight. She lights up her left forearm and touches the swirly, flower tattoo. She watches as the ink swirls against her skin and forms into the rough outline of the buildings floor plans.

The map shows them on the east side of the facility and in the hall leading to an area generally reserved for employee use, which means it will be largely abandoned during a private function, and has halls leading to all sections of the first floor while avoiding the main floors. She’s reasonably certain she knows where Ahn would stash the device, at least generally, if she brought it with her. The problem being it’s on the complete opposite side of the museum and she’ll have to sneak past the kitchens to get there.

Iris flicks the light off and presses herself against the wall, pulling Cat along with her, when she hears the low murmur of voices and hurried footsteps coming towards her. Iris watches a light bob up and down as the intruders make their way towards them. There’s no way they won’t be noticed. They’re still close enough to the banquet they can easily feign ignorance and claim they got lost on their way to find a restroom.

But if they do that, they’ll probably insist of walking them back to the main room. They need another guise, another reason why they need to be here. Some excuse of privacy they’re likely to empathize with and be willing to overlook their voyeur into a restricted area.

They grow closer, Iris is able to pick out a few words from their conversation such as ‘happy’ and ‘dessert’ and figure they’re part of the serving staff. That doesn’t stop her heart from racing at the idea of being caught.

The glow of the intruder’s light is about to hit them and Iris panics, jumping on the first idea that pops in her stressed mind.

She grabs Cat by her jacket lapels, pushes her up against the wall, stands on her very tippy toes, and presses her lips against hers.

Iris can feel Cat, understandably tense up at first. She is surprised, however, by how quickly she relaxes under Iris’ grip and begins to return the kiss, bending her knees to make them more level with one another.

It almost makes Iris forget why they started this in the first point. It doesn’t last long.

“What have we got here?” asks a voice behind them.

Iris whips around, immediately covering her eyes with a hand to protect them from the bright light shining right at them.

“The parties back that way you know,” says the second party, obviously struggling to push back her giggles.

“I didn’t think anyone was down here,” Iris says, not having to fake the shaking in her voice. “We,” she pauses to look at Cat and grab her hand, “were just looking for a bit of privacy.”

“We can see that,” says the first person. “We’ll pretend we didn’t see you if you promise to rejoin the gala soon. And under no circumstances go further down the hallway. We got a deal?” he asks.

“Of course, thank you so much. I appreciate your discretion here.”

“Don’t mention it,” says the woman. “And don’t have too much fun.” She winks at them.

Iris sighs in relief as they disappeared down the hall. She taps the light back on, this time on a lower setting, and sets off down the hall with Cat in tow.

“What? You’re just going to do that and act like nothing happened?” accuses Cat, tension clear in her voice.

“I told you, acting like a couple makes us a lot less conspicuous.”

“You’re a lot wilder than anyone ever gives you credit for, Iris.” Something close to admiration lacing her tone and replacing the tension.

“I ran off with the son of my families arch-nemesis for two years. What part of that doesn’t scream ‘wild’ to you?”

“Fair enough. Where are we going anyways?” asks Cat.

“We need to get to the other side of the buildings. Unfortunately, is seems the best route there is going to take us straight passed the kitchen.”

“That doesn’t seem like the best plan.”

“It’ll be fine. Like I said, just follow my lead and be quiet,” says Iris. They come to an intersection and she carefully pokes her head out and check that there’s no one there.

“I don’t think being quiet is going to get us passed the kitchen.” Cat rushes after Iris as she jogs through the intersection.

“Thanks, Cat. I’ll figure out a way passed it once I get a look at it.”

“Planning on the fly. I love it.”

“I can’t tell if you’re mocking me or not. I’m going to go with you’re being sincere and ignore any evidence to the contrary.”

Iris pretends she doesn’t hear Cat’s responding chuckle as they resume their trek to the west side of the building. The hallways are pleasantly deserted, it seems almost too easy and she can’t help but feel like they’re walking straight into a trap. Even if they are there’s not much more for her to do but march into the lion’s den, head held high.

Iris and Cat are a few halls down from the kitchens before she starts to notice any signs of life in these side paths. Iris can hear the busy sounds of clinking pots and escaping steam, along with the scent of spices wafting over her.

She waves Cat closer to the wall and inches forward a few more inches until she hovers around a corner where she can observe the kitchen without being seen for a few minutes while she tries to come up with a plan to get passed.

There isn’t much going on this side of the kitchen as there is at the second door closer to the lobby, but every once in a while one of the cooking assistances bustles around fetching some pot or other for the chef. Iris begins to brace herself to grab Cat and make a mad dash by the kitchen door when one of the event’s security guards decides to make a grand appearance.

This guard isn’t from the same group keeping keen eyes on the guests. This one comes from Ahn’s personal contingent composed largely of Walyer’s. A species of large, green specimens with thick, scale like skin, and anything from two to six horns framing their faces making their large eyes, which already take up nearly half of their faces as is, seem even larger.

The bottom half of their face is occupied by a small mouth with lips that are eternally held open by large, yellowing fangs. Walyer’s often find themselves employed as personal security and prison transports due to their intimidating features and ability to exert brute force. Iris has never met a Wayler who stands less that nine feet tall and isn’t too broad to fit through standard doorways.

This Wayler is particularly intimidating. They’re nearly eleven feet tall with two giant guns strapped to its back, a belt of vicious looking knives around its waist, and a vest of grenades and other explosive weapons attached.

Iris swore she felt her heart seize and a wave of dizziness wash over, she feels herself start to hyperventilate.

“Well fuck,” she says, and immediately clamps a hand over her mouth as she inches back to where she left Cat. Luckily the Wayler doesn’t seem to hear her. She grabs Cat and scurries down the hall to hide behind a large potted plant, crouching down as low as she can. A few seconds of clearing her mind and taking deep, calming breathes and she is back in the moment. She slowly loosens her death grip on Cat’s arm and cautiously peeks around the plant back the way she’s come.

“What the hell, Iris?” Cat finally asks, now that Iris doesn’t appear on the verge of bolting out of this galaxy.

Iris peeks around the plant and finds there’s no sign of the Wayler so she relaxes, slumping with her back against the wall, and rests her head in her hands.

“Wayler,” she says.

Cat swears. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“I very much wish that were so,” says Iris, not lifting her head.

“Okay,” says Cat. She sits down next to Iris and thrums her fingers against her leg. “Okay, we need to leave. We can go back to the hotel and work on a new plan. We have time, and this is officially too dangerous.”

“I thought I was the one in charge here? Can’t you just,” Iris waves her hands around, “just siren it or whatever?”

“Oh, come on. First of all, that is so not how that works. And secondly, you don’t actually plan on going through with this?”

Iris raises an eyebrow at her and shrugs her shoulders, already inching forward again.

“Wow. I didn’t believe them, but you really are full hardy aren’t you?”

Iris ignores this as she resumes her earlier spot at the corner peeking into the kitchen, Cat sliding along behind her trying to stick close.

“You know there’s another reason Zerich chose me to come with you. It’s because no one else wanted to be dragged along on your desperate bid for freedom. Your reputation precedes you,” says Cat, hissing the last part under her breath.

Iris rolls her eyes. “You’re exaggerating. There’s nothing desperate about this. I’m just eager for it to be over.”

“Either way, you’re willing to get us killed.”

“You don’t have to babysit me you know. You are free to go back to the hotel. I know you can track my tablet so it’s not like I’m going to disappear if I get back out,” says Iris. She’s growing increasingly annoyed at the delay, she could have gotten passed the kitchen and on her way in the amount of time they’ve spent bickering.

“And miss the fun?” Iris is surprised by the sudden smile on her face. “Not for anything. I’m ready for an Iris brand adventure.” Cat pulls a compact pistol from her inside jacket pocket and gestures to the kitchen with it. “Lead the way, I’m right behind you.”

“I don’t understand you.” Iris shakes her head, happy in the fact that even though Cat kept its existence from her it’s coming in handy now.

“Good.”

“Right.” She motions for Cat to be quiet and strains her ears, searching for any sound or sign of movement. Hearing nothing, she ducks her head out for a quick look. Seeing nothing, she takes a deep breath and looks to Cat.

“It’s not that far,” whispers Iris.

“Make a run for it?”

“It’s worth a shot.”

Iris rolls her shoulders, sends out a plea for success to the universe, and nods to Cat. Cat nods back, and they throw themselves down the hall. They bound passed the kitchen door in a few, sprawling strides, until they reach the shadows of the next hall where they can’t be seen.

Iris slips at the last minutes and ends up scrapping her knee and ripping her leggings in the process. Cat partially catches her and pushes her up against the wall and they freeze, breathing heavily and listening again for any indication they’ve been discovered. Hearing nothing again, they relax, and take stock of the position they’ve found themselves in. Eye to eye, face to face, so close they can feel each other breath and uncomfortably reminiscent of their earlier farce.

The two quickly push apart, breaking eye contact, and take a moment to compose themselves and catch their breath.

There’s no sign of the Wayler. While they’re large, they’re deceptively quiet. Iris can only hope it went through the kitchen and out the other side.

Taking advantage of this quiet moment Iris studies the map on her arm. She waits for it to update and reorient itself to her new position. The situation is getting too nerve wracking for her taste and she’s hoping to find a new route to their destination.

Preferably one unreachable by Wayler’s.

There’s a room in the west wing where the museum catalogs and cleans their items. Some of these items get left in the room for days, so the room is heavily protected and seems the best place to keep something valuable holed up for a night.

She moves the map around, trying to find a new angle, as if that will make a secret route magically appear. Which is exactly what happens. She zooms in to try and get a closer look at their current location and a hidden lower layer of the map appears, revealing a series of vents she didn’t notice before traveling right over where she needs to be. She dances in place as a silent victory cheer.

“What did you find?” asks Cat.

Iris looks up and flashes her light along the hall looking for the entrance to the vent and there, just a few feet to her left on the ceiling, is a grill just big enough for her to squeeze through. Though that assumes she’ll be able to reach that high and force it open in the first place.

She smiles.

“Slight change of plans. I hope you’re not claustrophobic.”

“Not particularly.”

“Good, because I am,” says Iris.

Before she’s able to psych herself up and find a way to get into the vent she hears footsteps. She hurriedly turns off her light and contorts herself into a small, formless blob against the wall until they pass. They have the good fortune of being in a hall that has the lights turned off and easily go unseen.

Light back on she places herself under the vent and slides her hand as far up the wall as she can and finds that, even on her tiptoes, her fingertips are barely able to graze the bottom of the grate guarding the vent.

“Oh, that is cute,” says Cat with a giggle.

“Shut up,” says Iris. “If you don’t have anything productive to add to the conversation then leave me alone. It’s not like you’re much better off.”

“No. But this might help,” she says hauling over a bench Iris overlooked.

Iris stares at it for a few minutes, annoyed at herself for not seeing it first.

“Be my guest.” She moves to the side to give Cat room to position the bench and step up on it.

It’s only about knee high, and doesn’t seem particularly sturdy, but it gives her the extra boost needed making it the best, if only, option she has.

Iris lifts the tablet up until it lights up the entrance to the vent, so Cat is able to get a better look at it as she clambers onto the table. She takes a moment to find her center of gravity, then digs her fingernails between the metal grate and the wall and yanks.

A shower of plaster pours down, sounding like raindrops hitting the ground as they fall to the floor. Covered in a smattering of dust Cat muffles a cough in the crook of her elbow. She crouches down on the table and passes the grate to Iris, who in turn hands her the tablet-turned-flashlight, and gently leans the grate against the legs of the bench on the floor.

This finished, Cat squints up into the dark vent with reluctance.

“It’s disgusting,” she says.

“Would you rather risk running into the Waylor again?”

Cat sighs but doesn’t respond. Iris watches as she grasps the edges of the vent opening, experimentally jumps up and down testing the vents durability, and heaves herself up and in. She wedges her elbows in, hooks a knee over the edge, and pulls herself forwards. The vent’s only a few inches wider than her shoulders and it takes her a few seconds of calculated wiggling to get fully inside.

Iris leaves her alone as she lays on her stomach, gasping for breath, and feels grateful that she wasn’t the one to go in first. She’s also grateful she’s had the foresight to wear a dress with a flexible skirt and practical flats.

“You doing okay in there?” she asks after what seems like an appropriate amount of time passed.

“I am absolutely fantastic. I love having spiders for dinner,” Cat says. Her voice is muffled and has an odd echo to it, like she’s speaking into a tin can. Which she essentially is, all things considered.

“Your sacrifice for the greater good has been noted. You about ready to keep going?”

“Why did I go first when you’re the one with the map anyways?”

Iris rolls her eyes. “I loaded the map on the tablet too. Just follow the purple line I laid out; it’ll be fine.”

“You say that now, but I’m not certain you’re going to be feeling that way once you’re in here, Miss Claustrophobic.”

“Yes, thank you. I’m trying not to think about it so how about you scoot up a bit and let me get this over with already?”

Cat moves forward another foot, giving Iris just enough room to haul herself in. She places her hands on the vent and pushes herself up until the top half of her is lying down. Her feet scramble under her, trying to find something to gain purchase on. She should have made an actual plan here before jumping in. She doesn’t find anything to brace her feet against, but there are a few crevices along the wall she’s able to dig her fingers into and pull herself the rest of the way in with.

She stays where she is, resting her head on her arms for a few minutes trying to steady her breathing. She can feel her heart beginning to race and just the thought of looking up and seeing nothing, but grey walls makes her nauseous.

“Oh my god,” she says. She can feel her chest begin to constrict as panic sets in.

“Don’t worry, it gets better.” Iris can feel the vibrations of her voice through the vent.

“What, are there scorpions up ahead or something?”

“No, I actually mean it. It opens up quite a bit just up ahead.”

“If you’re fucking with me, I will cry. Forewarning.”

“Get up here, Iris.”

Iris groans, but she finally lifts her head, doing everything in her power to focus solely on Cat ahead of her.

Cat is right, the vent opens up considerably just a short distance away. Iris crawls her way forward until she’s able to sit up next to Cat.

“This map is stupid,” says Cat.

“Be nice to my map.”

“I’m sorry map,” says Cat.

“Thank you. What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s rather bare bones don’t you think? How am I supposed to figure out where the hell we are?”

“Let me see it,” says Iris, yanking it from Cat’s grasp when she holds it out behind her.

“Rude, but okay.”

Iris reorients the map until it’s zoomed in on their location and a purple line tracing their path through the maze of vents appears.

“Do you want it back, or do you want me to navigate for you?” Iris holds the tablet out to Cat.

“I think I can handle from here. It’s not like there are a lot of actual direction changes or something,” says Cat. “You ready to go again?”

Iris rubs at her face, trying to pull all the cobwebs from her face. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” She hopes the map M’Lell gave her is accurate, it has been up to now, because the idea of being trapped up here makes her breath catch in her throat. She forces that train of thought out of her mind and focuses on the task at hand. Namely not dying.

#writblr #amwriting #camp nano #camp nano roundup #wip silver #silver: excerpt #silver: caris

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spacedimentio · 6 years ago

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Save the Light Impressions

I recently became interested in what Hessonite’s deal was and since it’ll be a long time before I’ll be able to get the game, I decided to just watch a cutscene compilation (this one, if it matters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy5tOb3gzLY). Dunno why I’m taking down all my reactions, just cause it’s fun I guess. Enjoy

RIP Car Wash

What even is the prism? It's not a gem, right? But it's clearly got conscious thought, even Hessonite talks to it like a person

haha Greg called her a glittery space lady, accurate

it's a little OOC that Greg wanted to come along. at least he's having fun tho. aww, steven's so proud of him :D

actually, what's Hessonite even doing. Why didn't she fuck off back to space once she found the prism

yeah that's totally not a triforce with six arms or anything. it's not the diamond authority symbol either i don't think, the triangles in that all meet in the middle

Mayor of Bummertown

I would have named the boss Dave, zero hesitation

"Our prism is in another castle!" i love you steb

oh no, bad memory time at Bismuth's forge :( I hope she'll be playable in the next one (i would scream forever if there was a playable diamond)

did Steven really just answer the phone with Myello? Oh IT'S PERI. Aaaand we're learning about RPG mechanics. Meta.

frozen donuts are a thing?! :o

it's her. the square. she seems to be almost identical to how our peridot used to be, so i wonder what the difference in personality is. Aside from her favorite insult being pebble instead of clod

ah yes, ye old tennis match

man i love that you can form fusions in this game

oh lord, i don't wanna imagine what chaos would happen with two peridots. also Greg is taking ice damage during the cutscene, help him

oh no, they're meeting. of course the first thing Squaridot says is "WHY ARE YOU NAKED" (and they obvs flipped her sprite cause the gem's her other eye now)

hey look, new insults for my list of gem related curse words

weird, angry mirror indeed. imagine what they could do if they were friends!

oh RIP. why do you get to choose who murders Squaridot. I hope for more multi-peridot action in the future

wait, what machine did you rip that off of and when

i already knew Peri was playable but it's still cool. i love how she flutters her feet when she jumps! i wonder who the DLC character is going to be (lapis, probably. Bismuth would be metal, though)

"Clod-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named" oh my god i love you

"Whatchu talkin' bout Peri" the best, they're the best

Oh so wow, Hessonite is THE Hessonite, huh. Real famous. If she came out as a Crystal Gem, it would sure cause a stir

Yeah I was also wondering why she's sticking around instead of just leaving? and she is kind of leaving her troops scattered all over the place with no rhyme or reason

these are great names. The Great and Terrible Spikey McSpikeball! of course the guy playing picked the most boring one

i love how Peridot just fucking yeets her tablet to attack

sugilite tiny!

you know, i was gonna get this game anyway at some point, but it's nice to know that it's the kind of rpg i like, one where you can participate in the attacking and blocking process.

how dare you switch out peridot for pearl. you know what, next game i hope you can be everyone all the time cause there's too many good characters to pick from

whatchu doing up here pizza lady

yeah they just...all ran right in front of her directly in her line of vision and she didn't see them somehow

oh the prism is resisting. it really took Steven's words to heart last game

Hess my dear, is this prism your only friend (oh my god that's totally it isn't it)

is the wiki sure she can't teleport cause holy fuck is she fast

"Gugh, Peridot, this is just like when we tried to hunt you down. But worse...cause, y'know, she's actually threatening." rude

huh. i don't remember the pyramid temple blowing up and leaving debris, i thought the whole thing disintegrated cause it was a construct of the gem it was housing. looking at screenshots of Serious Steven it definitely did explode

are they really trying to tell me there was a pyramid under the pyramid and no one noticed

call it the Spooky Basement! call it the Spooky Basement! you disappoint me, player, although Secret Temple of Secrets isn't so bad

*steven rolls cheerfully through a skeleton and then everyone jumps down a big hole* um

yo there's a mural of Rose fighting some light warriors! that's rad as shit!

*gets to the hallway with the torches that turn on as you go by* gee i sure wish i could watch this with sound, but alas i am recovering from ear fatigue and it would be a bad idea.

oh my god he reset her preferences no wonder she's pissed XD

HOLY FUCKING CHRIST RIP AMETHYST AND PERIDOT GODDAMN AND GARNET TOO PIZZA LADY STRONK

wow she really is a genuine threat, she forced Rose and Pearl to give ground back in the day

oh no you did not just say that Pearl should come with you. fuck her up, P!

also i just realized that she is really tall. like 10 feet tall at least

aw no fair you can't just flashbang them all you dink

oh it's sapphire. wait has connie even met ruby and sapphire in the show? did we not get to see it?!

where the fuck even are you guys, i could swear that connie and greg fell off the platform into the abyss

wait, they don't have new forms, did they even regenerate? i don't think connie was out cold for that long. did they even poof? i saw colored clouds of dust but no gemstones. i mean, i know this is a game and all but it's also canon so ???

and peridot is breaking the fourth wall by commenting how you can't force her to sit at home at the moment

ancient thingamajig. wow is thingamajig a real word, my spellcheck is not yelling at me about it

yeah connie! kick her ass for me!

since when are gems into riddles. i wonder if anyone has made much headway into translating the written gem language yet, last i heard they hadn't made much progress. apparently only Steven Sugar knows what all the symbols mean

wait steven was watching connie and greg's parties running around that whole time? i guess even the game never leaves steven's POV. where even is he, in the prism realm? oh, the place was turning pink for a minute until he went towards the sparkly thing

steven is always accessing memories isn't he. at least these aren't his mom's this time

you might be getting sick of her steve but i'm sure not!

from far away it really looks like she's chillin' with a martini glass and i was about to scream

corruption beam :(

was he just like passed out on the floor somewhere hallucinating

aww, he picks up the light steven exp by hugging it :o

"Just feeling a little...light headed." i...puns?

the Light Warrior is the final boss of the first game right? ...i should have probably watched a video about that one first

oh i just had a thought! if they make a third one then we get to have Rainbow 2.0 and Sunstone and Obsidian in it! :D

woah, trippy. tbh steven's connection to the prism is kind of strange. i wanna know exactly where that thing came from and why it's so deeply connected to him now. did Hessonite have visions like this when it was hers?

yeah that's... if a place is connected by warp pad, wouldn't it be easy to find by just warping randomly? unless separate warp networks are a thing but still, you'd just have to sneak onto a CG warp pad and go. ....how do warps even work, they can go through roofs and stuff and there's like this whole other dimension with all the warps like stars in the background and ???

how does the forge even do an upgrade with no Bismuth. maybe i should stop trying to fit this into canon details

what makes you think Hessonite could see you? is this some Voldemort Harry Potter connection shit. is that actually how she found the forge, this game ain't explain much

oh that's...that's a big oof. bismuth was working on a huge-ass statue of Rose before they got into their argument

"i saw her again" what no you didn't, that was just a white screen with a text box

"Beats me how any of this whacky prism stuff works!" ...i feel called out

why does that bigger spaceship look like a funky piece of headwear to me

well, at least it's closer than the moon

oh what, Lion didn't come with you? didn't you need multiple roar warps to get to space last time, just above the earth still seems kind of far, also how did he know the coordinates of the ship, he could have easily sent them all into the void

?! and then he's there?!? already asleep? how???????

aww what you're going to tease me with a citrine guard but not let me see her?

freaky. strangely organic looking technology is nothing new but i don't think i've seen stuff oozing through it before

"Look at you, acting as though you have the moral high ground!" *shakes fist angrily* She's like Emerald, but better! I can't

i guess he did kind of steal it, but it was more like finders keepers really

whuh has the prism always been able to talk?

"a Prism" oh no are there more? probably

woah that's a big boy. What the heck does Spectral Conclusion mean. and the prism is inside it instead of it being a separate creation, interesting

aww, it's looking at itself in confusion. Steven reaches out to it with his words, as he does

the prism isn't really...doing a lot of attacking (cause the player is picking the right choices probably). oh nevermind, it has a hugely damaging rainbow cannon

/r/murderedbywords, except in a good way

"Destroy Steven!" huh since when does she know his name? she could have gotten it from several places, really

oh oh oh! it's pizza time! standing in the middle of them is probably not the best idea, but look at her, she's exuding confidence!

wait wait wait, when the player used a healing move, did i just see an option to heal the prism? or at least, it's health bar showed up. is it gonna help later?

can i have like, a full sprite sheet for Hessonite please and thanks

if this was in the show, steven would be dead from that hit

aaand Steven did two points of damage with his shield bash, she ain't even flinch

pearl what are you doing

wow, she also only did a few points of damage

is Hess like, super tough. i love how much of a threat she is, cause most Homeworld gems we've seen aren't all that scary

oh! oh! you can heal the prism! that's probably how you damage her cause you'd be here forever chipping away otherwise

HOLY FUCK, SHE JUST DID 270 POINTS OF DAMAGE, THAT'S LITERALLY ALL OF SUGILITE'S HEALTH. I know the wiki says that attack does massive damage but jeezus!

so far the prism hasn't done anything, they're just chipping away at her slowly

oh, so gems do poof in this game. i guess we're just ignoring new forms because it wouldn't make sense in the timeline if we didn't

huh, does pearl inflict burns in this game? oh and she shoots fireballs, guess that answers my question.

it's kind of sad that the status is doing more damage than everyone else combined

whuh, she just attacked the prism! RUDE.

stop beating up the prism you degenerate! i guess i shouldn't be shocked

hey, Garnet and Amethyst are alive again. ah finally, some damage now that Garnet's lowered her defense

A-Amethyst, you're facing the wrong way. i wish Hess had targeted her with her big attack, then i could have made an "oh no she has airpods in" joke

oh, but the player formed Smoky, so she's not even aiming at anyone in particular anymore lol. she went for Pearl tho, fuckin' eviscerated

is this battle normally this long, it's been almost 10 minutes

this battle would probably be much harder if she didn't waste her turn being a bitch and attacking the prism. gee, and you wonder why it doesn't want to listen to you after encountering steven's kindness. i wonder...what would happen if you let the prism's HP get to zero? it would take a long ass time but...now i really wanna know but i doubt there’s any videos about it!

garnet's rocket fist did damage to the prism cause Hess is standing next to it. c-can you attack the prism, is that how you get the bad ending??

man, they haven't even had to heal because she's just beaten up on that poor thing for the past 10 turns. i mean, really, she could easily murder all of them in a heartbeat if she wanted

ok finally, she is defeato. I'd feel more sad for you if you didn't abuse your subordinates (definitely has detracted from my liking of her, i won't be too hard on her for it though because Homeworld is bad like that and she doesn't know better). at least you’re good at eating your humble pie without complaint

oh, i guess you get to choose your ending? it's kind of weird that it's not like, influenced by your game choices. cause technically like this it's your choice, not the prism's choice. so what was with the prism having health then. was it just to show how awful Hessonite is to it?

also, i can't look at light Steven without thinking of Pink!Steven and hhhhh

"You're a wise creature, aren't you?" Yes, yes he is *nods sagely* I hope you come back someday to learn more from him

You're pretty adaptive, huh Hess? of course, if you've been having these thoughts and feelings for thousands of years you're probably not too shaken up by the realization that they're true. That’s actually pretty great of you to want to figure yourself out.

ha, so Garnet didn't let her leave like the wiki made it sound like, she just yeeted away, and good luck catching anyone who can move at 5 million miles per hour

the gems are running in place in the next scene and Amethyst is backwards again. connie is also facing the wrong way. ...this game's a bit jank, isn't it :P not that i mind, a little jank is fun!

Peridot breaking the fourth wall with her Are Pee Gee again. I wonder which one it is. Golf Quest Mini?

do you get anything for 100 percenting this? oh, i guess there's achievements. no bonus content tho?

Lapis: I think I could use a break.

i for one would like to know what book the prism was reading. also, it's back to not talking again.

AWW YIS! We goin' out for pizza tonight bois!

The gems finally get to stop running in place in the corner

aaww, it's a beach scene reminiscent of the opening. kind of weird that greg is the only one animated but still cute

also someone's last name is Gooch and i feel bad for them

alright now to google Hessonite's VO... Christine Baranski. Are-Are we just hiring broadway singers for everyone now? not only would I die if Hessonite made an appearance in season 6, my soul would reach the farthest realms of space if she sang a song on top of that.

well, that's a wrap! time to jot down all of Hess's dialogue for later reference! It’s a crime that there’s so few fanfics about her, she actually has a lot of potential!

#steven universe #save the light #hessonite #su #reaction #liveblog

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freereignastarwarsstory · 6 years ago

Text

Chapter 10: Tiss’sharl

Disclaimer: We (@zazabelle and @draksisreborn) own nothing but our OCs. Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm and Disney. Please review and enjoy this latest installment.

Rating: T

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Vis sat crossed legged as she stared out into the stars from the copilot seat, her heavy bag of tricks still cradled on her lap while her long trench coat flowed onto the ground. She’d been sitting like this for some time now, and as to what was going through her head only the Force knew.

Getting out of the atmosphere had been… a rough experience to say the least, and getting on the ship was even harder, but at the sight of the stars Vis’ panicked breathing had paced out to a quiet existence.

Nek had insisted that she sit up front where she could see everything. He’d said that he used to get flight sick but sitting up front had helped tremendously. And Chol had insisted afterward that if Vis did get flight sick then Nek was cleaning it up.

Luckily that hadn’t occurred much to Nek’s relief and Vis’.

Also in the cockpit stood Soron, Cenden, and Lerti. Nek had gone off once they left the atmosphere to make whatever food they had stored up and BX was probably off in his room re-organizing anything that had moved during takeoff.

“There’s… Just so many stars. I remember them now, I missed them.” Vis breathed.

“They are pretty beautiful.” Chol agreed with a little smile.

“I have to warn you all… And I’m not sure how to explain it, but a lot of new paths have opened up and branched out in between all these stars. My guide’s trying to warn me of a lot of things but there’s just… so much.” Vis explained as she leaned closer to the window.

“That’s what meditating is for.” Cenden remarked.

“I know I just...” She stopped and turned her head towards the right, looking off in another direction of the infinite ink. Her freckles were shifting between a hue a minute. “I like feeling all the paths, the branches and where they connect. Seeing other people through them and how they connect to me and what my guide thinks of them. I have so much to write down.”

Soron smiled, “Well we’ll get a room set up for you so you can unpack.” He said as the three turned to leave Vis with Chol before adding, “You’ll be rooming with Lerti.”

“She’ll be what!?” Lerti burst out as Soron finished, the captain leading her and Cenden out of the room, obviously expecting the reaction.

“We don’t have anymore rooms that aren’t closets or BX’s room which isn’t much of a difference.” Soron pointed out.

“Why can’t she can’t just lay on the floor in one of your rooms!?”

“Lerti, we’re all guys.”

“So what, we have morals now!?”

“We have enough morals to know that she’s bunking with you and that’s an order.” Soron finished. Cenden stood behind him, looking somewhat amused.

Lerti rolled her eyes, “Great. You decide to adopt a kid and now I have to take care of it.”

The Mandalorian warrior turned to walk to her room, probably to stash anything she didn’t want her soon to be roommate to find and or mess with.

Soron turned to Cenden who he noticed was still looking very pleased with himself before the captain added, “So when does training begin?”

Cenden, caught off guard, opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, obviously wanting to argue but not sure how anymore after going toe to toe with him only a few days earlier.

“No answer? Well I’ll answer that for you. Training starts tomorrow as soon as we get back from our little detour in Tiss’sharl. We’re running low on fuel so we’ll be taking a slow pace through hyperspace and will arrive on the planet in at least 24 hours, that should give you plenty of time to come up with a lesson plan.” With that, the captain returned to the cockpit, the door closing once again behind him, leaving Cenden to his thoughts.

The man ran his hands over his face as he leaned up against the wall.

“Truly and honestly I’m asking you, what have I gotten myself into?” Cenden whispered in his mind and into the space around him.

From within the cockpit, the girl turned in her seat as she felt the tug of his thought, though she couldn’t hear what he said, she knew what he felt. Her brow crinkled as she tried to decipher in between all the crossing paths now before them, where his thoughts would lead him.

“I don’t know Cenden. I don’t know where we are either.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bang!

“Ughhh.” Lerti groaned from her bunk.

Whatever kind of sleep she’d been having up until that point was interrupted at the sound of something hitting against the walls.

Bang! Thump!

“What the heck?” Lerti finally forced her eyes open, rubbing her hands against her temples. “Vis? Is that you making that noise?” She said irritably as she turned to face the makeshift bedroll.

Only Vis wasn't there.

“What?” Lerti muttered, groggily standing up. “Vis?” Lerti called.

“Find the straggler and secure the area. On the double.” A garbled and muffled voice echoed through the hallway.

Lerti shook her head in disbelief, she had to be imagining this. “There she is! Get her!” The voice yelled again as heavy boots resounded faintly.

“...no. NO!” Lerti hissed as she grabbed one of her blaster pistols.

Rushing through the door, still in her sleepwear, Lerti had managed to pull her pants on over and throw her helmet on to face whoever had boarded the ship. Running across the hall she checked both directions for the boarders as she banged on the door.

“Soron get up now! We’ve been boarded and Vis is out there!”

Seconds later the door flew open as Soron, shirtless and clutching his blaster rifle in his hands, emerged. “Where?”

“I heard them coming from that way, I heard two but there’s probably more.”

“I’ll get Vis, you go get Cenden and BX and meet me there.” Soron barked as he took off down the hall.

“We found her boss, she’s in there.” Soron heard a garbled but surprisingly light voice.

“No! They cut me off, I’m surrounded!” Vis’ telltale voice sent a spike of fear through Soron as he pushed himself faster down the hall.

‘How had anyone managed to board without us knowing? What did they want?’ Soron thought as he turned the corner and almost ran right into Cenden and Lerti.

“I already heard the noise,” Cenden explained as he cocked his gun. “Lets get zem.”

The three moved stealthily down the corridor and prepared to attack. Whoever they were, they were gathered in one of the ship’s open spaces where the crew kept extra supplies, including weapons. The perfect place for intruders to culminate.

Heavy footsteps began at a run towards their hiding place from around the corner.

The three nodded.

With a yell they jumped out and formed a wall of bodies and blasters.

Vis yelled too as she ran with thump into the solid form of Lerti and fell to the ground. The girl was wearing Soron’s helmet that he’d left lying around, which muffled her normally high pitched and fast paced voice. Despite that, she sounded as if she had managed to make her voice surprisingly deep for her person.

“VIS!?” Lerti yelled. “We could have SHOT you!”

The three looked around the room and realized it was empty…

Vis got up off the ground and slowly lifted up the helmet, a smirk could be seen before the covering was even fully removed,

The girl looked Soron, Cenden, and Lerti up and down, “Hhheeeyyy guys? Nice… Pajamas?”

Cenden snarled. It was true, the crew members (just like Lerti), had all thrown on whatever pieces of armor or clothing items they could could manage before grabbing a gun.

“What in the galaxy are you doing!?”Lerti demanded.

“I’m playing a game with my guide! It’s pretty fun!”

“We thought someone had boarded the ship!” Lerti exasperated.

“Wow… Was my acting that good?” Vis replied.

Cenden and Lerti gave a simultaneous eye roll and turned to leave the room, Cenden adding, “Play quieter next time!”

Soron, who was now simply amused by the whole situation, called out to the two, “MIGHT AS WELL STAY UP! WE’RE LANDING ON TISS’SHARL IN AN HOUR!”

When no reply was met, Soron and Vis looked at each other and shrugged. With that, Vis gave Soron his helmet back with a laugh and she turned to run after Cenden.

From a ways down the hallway Cenden and Lerti rounded a corner to find Nek weilding a wrench. He was still in his work clothes but it was obvious by his demeanor that he’d just woken up.

“Whas goin’ on? Are we under attack?” Nek slurred from beneath his goggles.

Cenden shoved past him, “No. The ‘attack’ is over. It was a false alarm and your timing is terrible.”

Nek removed his goggles just as Vis rounded the corner.

“Hi Nek! I scared everyone this morning! Is there morning in space…?” Vis followed after Cenden, the last part spoken seeming to be more to herself but at the same volume as if she was still talking to Nek.

Lerti was just ahead of the the Jedi and the girl when BX now rounded the corner carrying his blade. “Is it time to fight?”

“NO.” Lerti and Cenden let out at the same time, both of them shoving past the complacent machine.

“Oh. Maybe next time then.” BX continued walking with his blade down the hall, nodding at Vis as she sped walked to keep up with Cenden.

“Hey! Cenden!” She reached forward to poke him.

“What do you want?” He says with anger tinted in his voice as he turns to face his follower.

Vis stopped in her tracks, blinking a bit in confusion at the man’s outburst. Cenden turned and began his walk again, moving briskly towards his room. Vis moved and trotted alongside him.

“Next time we get the chance, do you want to play with me?”

“No.”

“Is it ‘cause I scared you? Because I’m sorry I didn’t know I was being loud and sometimes all the little threads and paths get tangled up in my head and it’s just easier to work them out…”

The two reach Cenden’s room. He opens the door and makes it halfway into the still darkened quarters before turning to answer.

“Stop talking, and no.”

With that he stepped into his room, door sliding to a close. Vis stands on the other side of the door, frustration and confusion again rising to the surface of her gut.

“What are you even saying no to!?” She gave her final word before turning to walk back to Lerti’s room.

Afterall, there were a lot of paths to go through today.

Vis walked through the long halls, staring at her hands as she watched the Force weave in and out of them like fog in the trees.

‘We’re going to another planet. I’m on a ship. There’ll be other people! Other places like I’ve read about! I’ll need to bring all of my journals in case I need to write something down… Maybe I’ll wear three shirts, just in case.’ Vis thought as she organized the enormous list forming in her mind.

Walking into Lerti’s room she caught the Mandalorian warrior slipping on her last piece of red and gray armor over her form fitting clothes.

The warrior somewhat ignored the kid as she watched her start rifling through her sack of a million seemingly useless trinkets and objects. Lerti raised an eyebrow as she saw Vis pull out holocrons, scrolls, but also bits of rocks, flowers, gear parts, even a single shoe.

“It’s probably none of my business,” Lerti began, “But what did your family do for a living again?”

“They were scavengers! They even let me help them find stuff sometimes! Why do you ask?” Vis asked as she threw another pebble aside from her bag.

“No reason.” Lerti said as she watched Vis begin to shove random items into her large coat pockets. She also noticed now that the girl was wearing gun holsters that looked ancient. Inside the holsters, there was nothing but more random parts, screwdrivers, ancient credits from the days of the Republic, and what looked to be a heart-shaped leaf tinted with purple.

She wanted to question what in the galaxy Vis was planning on doing with all of that stuff besides get weighed to the ground and jingle as she walked, but the thought of her getting pickpocketed of the items was enough to make her feel better after the incident Vis caused this morning. She imagined the disappointed face of grubby pickpockets nabbing nothing but worthless credits off her, and with that last thought, Lerti smiled and headed out the door to prepare for landing on Tiss’sharl.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The ship landed on one of dozens of landing pads, numerous workers milling around it. Though the port city was small by the standards of Tiss’sharl, it still bustled with the almost maniac energy of a trade world. The crew descended down the ladder, Chol immediately breaking off to talk with a tan colored Tiss’shar about necessary landing fees and regulations.

“Alright everyone,” Soron began, addressing the crew assembled behind him, “this planet is Mid Rim, which means its safer than the usual dives we visit. But under no circumstances will you let your guard down, run into the wrong Tiss’shar and this place will quickly become as bad as Nar Shadda. Understood?” The crew nodded.

“Good. Now, Nek and myself will try to find any jobs around here and see if we can start assembling supplies from the data table. BX, you help Chol with refueling and guarding the ship.” Soron paused as Chol’s voice rose in anger at the saurian attendant, allowing a string of choice words to slip past his lips. Luckily Lerti slapped her hands over Vis’ ears, who for her part just looked confused. “And try to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.” Soron finished.

“Roger roger.” BX said before loping off towards the pilot.

Cenden’s whole body seemed to tense up as he watch the droid make his leave.

Still watching BX’s back Cenden spoke, “I’m hoping I’m not going on anymore odd jobs again? Last time you sent me on my own I got shot at. Multiple times.” He deadpanned.

“That’s why you won’t be alone. You and Lerti will be outfitting our newest member.” Soron replied, gesturing to the girl. Cenden’s jaw threatened to drop.

Vis’ eyes were dazzling at the glistening buildings in the distance, her freckles shifting in and out of yellow, to red, to purple, and back again. The girl’s fingernails seemed stuck to her teeth as she pulled at the skin on her nails, a nervous habit they hadn’t seen exhibited until now.

“What?!” Cenden and Lerti both shout out in unison. Sighing Soron walked close, leaning into the two of them to whisper.

“The both of you are really starting to get on my nerves. Look, we found this kid, she’s with us now, and I’m calling the shots. And the shot I’m calling is that I don’t want her to get shot. So I need the two of you to work together on this, and buy the kid some armor. That’s all I’m asking of you. I don’t care where you get it from, but our line of work is dangerous.”

“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before adopting a kid.” Lerti muttered under her breath.

Soron suddenly yanked at Lerti’s ear, “Well it feels like I’ve adopted three. We are in a delicate situation right now, and until we can fully comprehend what we’re wrapped up in, I need my crew to work together. And I mean my whole crew.”

“Fine. But the cost isn't coming out of my cut.” Lerti finished with a turn as she headed over to where Vis was still standing.

Soron turned back to the Jedi, his voice dropped so low that only Cenden could hear it. “And you, I’m sick of your attitude. Whatever it is between you and Vis you need to work it out. Immediately. Am I understood Sondron?”

“Fine.” Cenden sighed in defeat.

“Good. Now then, let's get moving.”

Cenden moved in to join his assigned group. He watched as Lerti slapped Vis’ hand out of her mouth but she moved with her other hand to continue to gnaw away at her fingernails, almost subconsciously.

“Kid quit doing that.” Lerti asserted.

“Until I get some supplies for a vaccination, if you keep doing zhat you will probably be contracting 30 different kinds of diseases and we just got here.” Cenden, their honorary physician, stated nonchalantly.

At this, Vis’ hands shot away from her teeth, “I’m sorry… I just haven’t seen so many… and there’s so many moving things. And it’s so loud. There’s so many connections and paths… they’re moving…”

“Hate to break it to you, but this is just the landing pad. And the city’s going to be a lot busier. This place is a trade city.” Lerti described.

“Oh my guide… I’m going to explode. There’s too many paths guys. I can’t hear. I need them to be quiet!” Vis took a step back towards the ship.

Cenden and Lerti gave each other a look as if to say “should we just leave her behind?” But in a glance they both sighed simultaneously also in an effortless manner of communication saying “Soron would kill us if we ditched her to buy her own armor.”

“...Alright. Vis?” Cenden’s mouth twitched, looking for the right words before he sighed, “Would you like your first Jedi lesson?” He almost mumbled.

Vis’ entire person seemed to perk up, “Really!?” Her freckles shifted to a vibrant pink.

“Yes, but keep it down.”

“Oh! Yeah! Sorry.” Vis’ voice dropped to a loud whisper.

“When you’re around this many people you have to learn to focus not on every little path, but the biggest and most present connections. Focus on the people around you, not so much what they’re saying but sense what they’re thinking and every path will be open to you based on what you’re looking for.” Cenden finished. Vis stood silent the whole time listening intently to every word as if she was trying to record her first lesson.

“Focus! I think I’d read about that in one of the holocron lessons but I didn’t pay much attention to it! Rookie mistake.” She took a breath, “Let’s go!”

She shifted from foot to foot for a second, almost testing which one she should start to walk with and decided on the left. With a shrug from the two older members to their trio. They started off.

Making it into the city with Vis became somewhat of an interesting challenge. Cenden and Lerti made it onto a transport ship packed with every sort of face and species, and Vis’ personality seemed to shift with every change of her freckles. Either quiet and overwhelmed, or excitable and jittery-curious.

As she watched Vis buzz around the transport ship, Lerti had to admit that Vis would probably make a pretty good pickpocket if they weren’t here to legally purchase things. The Mandalorian almost had a heart attack she she saw Vis take a vibrantly colored badge off of a particularly burly looking Wookie’s belt. The girl put it back no problem, but received some suspicious side glances from other passengers who noticed the feat.

“Vis. Please just sit down. Practice focusing or whatever Cenden told you to do.” Lerti hissed over to the girl.

Vis nodded and squished in between Cenden and Lerti in the transport seat suddenly jolting Cenden from a nap Lerti wasn’t aware he was taking with his eyes wide open. Vis took a breath and closed her eyes.

The rest of the trip went completely uneventful accept when they were nearing their destination and Vis’ eye suddenly shot open and she braced herself against the seat yelling, “Watch out!”

With that the transport suddenly jolted to a near stop and everyone in the transport kept moving with the ship. After righting themselves from what seemed to be a near impact, Lerti noticed Cenden had braced himself before hand as well.

“Thanks for the warning.” Lerti sneered.

Cenden shrugged and Vis smiled, “You’re welcome.”

“What was that all about?” Lerti asked as the transport doors opened and they rose to exit. The vehicle didn’t come equipped with windows, so the Mandalorian guessed the two had known because of their ‘Jedi senses.’

“I don’t know.” Vis said as they shuffled out in the crowd, “It felt like something just came speeding in front of the transport.”

“That’s exactly zhat happened.” Cenden explained as he pointed to an Imperial transport that was now stationed just in front of the transport they were on.

Cenden took Vis’ shoulders and lead them away before the transport even had a chance to open. “New deployment. Let’s avoid them as much as possible. We don’t have any identification for her.”

“Who are they?” Vis said a little too loudly.

“Quiet.” Cenden commanded, exiting the crowd. “The Empire. This planet is very much Imperial controlled but we’ll get what we need here. I know I told you to focus earlier, but please, I am begging you to remember that the Empire does not like the Force or the Jedi, so please don’t draw attention to us.”

“Ah yes, like we won’t be drawing any attention to ourselves walking around with a human mood ring.” Lerti exasperated.

“Half-human.” Vis corrected.

“Let’s just get moving and find a place to buy some decent armor already.” Cenden asserted before he took a glance around.

The city rose up in huge monuments above the jungle terrain surrounding the city. The air was abuzz with the sounds of the city coupled with the mingle of thousands of bodies all going one direction after the other. Mixing this with the humid atmosphere, Tiss’sharl wasn’t exactly the vacation destination of the galaxy, but relaxation was never this planet’s forte. Even in the days of the Republic, trade was all that mattered to this planet, and although the politic world of the Tiss’shar has a long running history of violence and assassination, one thing could and would always be agreed on, you integrate with the strongest ally, trade continues, the planet continues to prosper.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to the older Jedi that Tiss’sharl had integrated with the Empire as quickly as they did, it was just such a strange thing to see the planet he’d visited so many years ago for power cell supply runs so very changed.

As the three had walked through the bustling city, Lerti had been the only one truly paying attention to their surroundings as Cenden seemed to gaze through the buildings around him, far off. Vis, on the other hand, had her eyes darting around at a rapid pace. She had continuous stopped or absent-mindedly wandered off several times to which either adults would yell or snap. Eventually, Lerti just made her hold onto the side of her gun holster.

After an hour of wandering and shoving through the crowds, Lerti managed to spot a shop tht might serve as for the purpose they were sent out to fulfill.

“Hey, ya there old man?” Lerti waved an armored hand in front of Cenden’s face as he snapped from his musings.

“Who are you calling old?” Cenden replied.

“Whatever. Just get in here, I think this place has what we need.” The Mandalorian jerked her thumb behind her, where a respectable looking shop stood with a neon sign reading “Yax’s Fine Armor Emporium.” He followed Lerti and a wide-eyed Vis into the shop. Several stands displayed sets of armor, ranging from heavy clothes and jackets to heavy suits that looked like they were built for Wookiees. Behind the counter sat grey colored Tiss’shar, lazily smoking a metal pipe. As an electronic chime sinks led their arrival his yellow eyes shot up.

“Ah, potential customers!” He exclaimed, taking the pipe out of his mouth and holding it between two claws. “I am the honorable Yax-Tez- Shel, but to you I am simply Yax. How may I be of service to you today?”

“We need armor for zhis one.” Cenden said, gesturing to Vis.

Vis’ hand shot up into a vibrantly colored wave. From where Cenden stood, he could sense her mind reaching out to the Tiss’shar shopkeep. He didn’t want to alert her to his own presence in the connection, but he could sense her connecting him to her own being, and then to the armor around her… It seemed she was examining her choices in the most convoluted way Cenden could imagine.

“Hmm, armor for one so young…” The saurian muttered, taking a long drag before exhaling the smoky vapor.

“We live in the Outer Rim.” Lerti explained.

“Ah, it does not matter to me. I shall see what I have in her size.” With that he disappeared inside back door behind the counter.

“Guys! These are so awesome!” Vis could barely contain her excitement, her freckles turning bright green as she started darting from rack to rack.

“Let’s see if he’s as reputable as he claims to be first.” Lerti interrupted, tapping her foot impatiently. “I’m getting a bad vibe from him.”

“Vhat do you mean?” Cenden asked before the Tiss’shar reemerged, carrying a shiny new set of armor.

Vis whispered to Cenden as she dragged her finger along some expensive looking helmets, “Lerti right. This guy’s connections are only to the most expensive pieces… There aren’t many in here that I actually need though.”

“Don’t be picky.” Cenden snapped, “You’re lucky we’re even getting you any armor. Ve’ll haggle wit’ him until we get what we need.”

“Excuse me potential customers! May I direct your attention to these fine pieces?” Yax waved his scaled claws over small, Vis-sized, armor pieces, he’d laid out on the table.

Lerti leaned back from a moment, mumbling, “Just let me do the talking.” she finished turning with devilish confidence towards the clerk as she strode over to the counter.

“You really think we’d be interested in these cheap excuses for armor? What do you take us for…?”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

My attention quickly wandered from Lerti’s haggle.

As interesting as it was (not really), my guide was pulling me in a different direction back into the store. I could already tell we probably wouldn’t find what we were looking for here, but at least we weren’t on the streets anymore.

It was a terrifying mix of thoughts and possibility out there. I remember bigger cities from when I was younger and not stranded on jungle moon, but we had always steered clear of ginormous places like this. And now here I was, in the belly of the beast. Every turn of my feet mattered to the outcomes, and the twittering of thousands of connections… like flocks of birds back at the temple, but with free will and consciousnesses and… Ah! It was too much! It was worse than being in space!

‘I just have to focus like Cenden said… I can do this.’ Taking a breath, I closed my eyes as I took a couple of steps forward through the store. ‘Focus on the armor… We’re looking for armor my guide. What armor am I looking for?’

My mind bounced from chest plate, to helmet, to shin guards around the room, before suddenly the connection bounced off a gauntlet like lightning and shot outside.

My eyes shot open as I ran over to the window. Outside and walking past the store, two people clad in all white and black identical armor strode by.

“Whhoooaaaa… Twins.” I breathed as I watched them walk past. The Force hovered near them as I acknowledged the two, “Well… That is some nice armor… I wonder where they got it from?”

From at the window I turned and yelled back to Cenden and Lerti who were now having a heated discussion with the clerk, “Hey guys!!! What about those guys’ armor!? It’s pretty nice?” I said as I pressed my finger to the window.

“Not now kid.” Lerti waved my voice away with a flick of her hand, neither of them even turned around.

And the connection was getting away.

Giving a shrug and pulling the door open, I dove back into the open system of the city and started swimming through the yarn bundles of connections as I glanced around, searching for where the people in twin’s armor went. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted them catch attention to something in an alleyway nearby and the two ducked into it.

So I followed, jumping into a sprint to catch up.

“HEY GUYS! WAIT UP!” I called out to them as I made my way through the crowd and towards the shaded alleyway where the twins in white had disappeared.

Swinging the corner, I called out again, “HEY! WAIT!”

A blaster clicked.

I fell backwards on my butt in silent shock as one of the twins in white commanded, “FREEZE!”

My eyes bounced around the alleyway in panic as I nodded. Now staring down the barrel of a blaster only meters away from my face.

‘What did I do!? I must’ve startled them. Maybe they’re just jumpy like Cenden.’ I thought as I slowly stood up off the ground.

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you guys!” I put my hands up and let my trench coat sleeves fall back to my elbows.

The two frowny-faced visors of the twins’ helmet looked at each other, probably in confusion.

“I just wanted to say I like your guy’s armor a lot! I’m in the market to buy some and your’s are very nice. Are you guys twins?” I said as I took a step forward.

One of the two dropped their blaster, “What? No.”

“Oh! Sorry, I just assumed because you guys have the same exact armor.”

“We’re Imperial Stormtroopers. This is standard issue patrol armor. Just because we look the same on the outside doesn’t mean we’re the same underneath.”

I cocked my head, “Ooooooo! I like that! I read a lot and that’s a great line… Have you ever considered being a poet?”

At this, the second twin pressed her gun further forward, “Watch my six, she might be trying to distract us! She might be with the rebel scum that painted that tag!” In response, the first of the twins, again raised his blaster.

Looking over his shoulder, I saw a brightly painted orange bird painted on the wall… It was really beautiful, they seemed to think it meant something dangerous. “I didn’t draw that but… I like the color scheme?” I didn’t know what to say at this point.

“Alright freckles. That’s it. Search her.” The second twin nodded for the first to move in. My freckles shifted into the same orange as the graffiti bird.

“Turn around.”

“Ok.”

I stood somewhat stunned as the Stormtrooper, the minion of the evil Empire that I almost forgot existed, was searching through my pockets. ‘Do I run? Do I fight? Oh my guide what do I do!?’

“She’s not carrying any weapons, just a lot of junk. Might be a pickpocket.” The searcher informed his partner.

“Actually, a lot of them are mementos. My mom’s favorite trinkets before she… passed away few years ago.” I explained to the trooper as he stood.

“Sorry to hear that.” The first Stormtrooper said coldly.

By this time the second stormtrooper had walked up to flank me.

‘You know what.’ I took a breath, ‘This isn’t the first time I’ve met people at gunpoint! These are just more Soron’s and Cenden’s! They’re just people! My guide showed me over here so let’s work with this.’

I smiled a bit and wrapped my arms around my back, twisting back and forth letting my trench coat swish on the ground. At the same time, also letting the Force wash over the two. The second, more paranoid one, had something swirling at the top of her mind.

“Do… Do you have a mom?” I took a guess.

Even under her helmet, she looked a bit shocked, “What’s it to you?”

“I don’t know. Just making conversation. I thought you guys looked nice even under the helmets.”

‘Too sentimental? It’ll have to do.’

She paused for a moment, seeming to watch my face. “My mom passed away about a month ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that also…”

Suddenly the first trooper piped up, “Wait. Your mom died and you didn’t tell me!?”

“Hey you’ve been busy with your own family, you don’t need to be worrying about my family stuff!”

“Just ‘cause I’m busy doesn’t mean that I don’t care!”

I decided to pipe in, “Communication is important, not that I’m very good at it… Oh! Almost forgot!” My hand shot out towards them, “I’m Vis! Nice to meet you both!”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“No, that discount will not be enough!” Lerti and the shopkeeper had been arguing for some time now. “It has to be at least 60% for that trash to be considered valuable!”

“You dare?” Yax hissed.

“I do!” Lerti barked back. “This stuff is worse than what the Imps wear!”

“It seems that for someone of your culture you have poor knowledge of armor. Maybe you weren't worthy of being taught the way of the warrior.” Yax’s eyes narrowed and a triumphant smirk stretched across his face, while Cenden’s own eyes went wide at the Tiss’shar’s statement.

“How...how dare you!” Lerti yelled, stomping until her face was inches from Yax’s. Cenden turned away for a second, his eyes suddenly growing wide as he looked about the store. A quiet groan escaped his lips.

“Lerti.”

“Not now Cenden.”

“Lerti!”

“WHAT?!” Lerti yelled.

“Where’s Vis?” Cenden asked. Lerti’s anger dissipated as she hastily looked around the shop.

“I thought you were watching her!” Lerti exclaimed.

“I’m not her babysitter!”

“YOU SORT OF ARE!”

Composing herself the Mandalorian sighed. “Alright, let’s find where the kid ran off to.” Shooting one last dirty look to Yax she sped off into the busy streets, the Jedi not far behind.

“Vis! VIS!” They both yelled, trying to spot the half-human girl.

The two both spun about the busy streets in confusion. How long had she been gone? Why did she leave?

Lerti now searched her memory and realized she had heard the sound of the door chime activate about 10 minutes ago, but she hadn’t paid much attention to it then. She’d been too far into her “bargaining.”

“Soron’s gonna kill us…” Lerti muttered under her breath as she continued to search the crowds.

“He won’t have to know if we find her. Let’s just think for a moment. Why would she run off?”

“She said something about someone having nice armor?”

“I remember that. If she followed them there’s a good chance she’s either being kidnapped or mugged by now.”

“Oh shut up!” Lerti looked ready to punch him.

“I was being sarcastic. She can’t have gotten far, and if she was following something she sensed…” Cenden suddenly got an idea and sighed in frustration. “I told her not to use the Force.” Cenden started muttering to himself as he began walking out of the crowd and over back towards the armor shop. “But no. She couldn’t keep to herself for a day. Just one day. Some padawan.” Cenden continued under his breath as he leaned up against the wall.

“What are you muttering about?” Lerti said in a fed up tone.

“Just, be on the look out for me for a moment. I think I can find her.” Cenden said as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

His mind reached out through the Force. Skimming over the surface of the energy, like running your hand over the surface of the water, he could sense everything moving and alive in the crowd, causing ripples with every thought and decision made. Then he dove down deeper, beneath the surface, and looked beneath the surface at the people swimming about beneath it. In cities like this, you find a lot of Force-sensitives who are completely unaware of their connection. Looking through the “water”, he could sense the blurry image of someone willingly walking beneath the surface, and it wasn’t that far away from where he and Lerti were standing… Two other figures stood with her, but on the surface, her effect washing over them.

“Gotcha…” Cenden said as pulled himself out of it, safely above on the surface.

Opening his eyes, he looked over about a block away towards an alleyway not too far off, Vis’ connection still attached to his being, he pointed. “She’s down that alleyway, she’s with two other people.”

Lerti eyed where he was pointing with a confused look. “Jedi stuff?”

“Jedi stuff.” Cenden nodded and they walked off towards the alley, following her trail.

Cenden rounded the corner before quickly pushing him and Lerti back around the corner in panic.

“Stormtroopers.” Cenden said.

“What!?”

“Stormtroopers. Vis is with two troopers.”

“We have to get her out of there. She doesn’t have identification papers. I’ll go high, you go low and cause a distraction if you need to while I take them out from the rooftops.” Lerti devised the plan and Cenden nodded.

Lerti began grabbing some parts out of her pockets, connecting and fixing them into one of her pistols, quickly becoming a short range rifle.

“What where did you get those from?” Cenden asked.

“Just go get Vis away from those bucketheads, I’ll cover you. Remember, try to smooth talk.” Lerti commanded as she boosted herself up onto a window sill and began her climb to the roof.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I wasn’t exactly lying before when I said communication wasn’t my strongest skill, after all, I’d been alone so long and the only person I ever really needed to talk to could read my mind. But as the Force and I spoke with these two, I sensed the balance in our thoughts, even if the words I spoke weren’t on topic they were still something the two wanted to hear. In each thought lay another underlying meaning, another purpose for which something was being said. Every off topic represented another desire… another parallel. And from there, it seemed as if these minions and I could get along just fine.

“So all those trinkets you have in your pocket you saved from your family? Why those pieces?” The male Stormtrooper questioned as I’d taken out the pan pipes after the topic of music had come up.

“They just… felt like the right ones to take with me.” I shrugged.

‘I want to tell them… Cenden said not to though… I’ll be sneaky about it if you don’t want to be introduced?’ I thought to my guide.

The Force gave a nod and settled with us in the conversation.

The four of us stood near the center of the alley way, the female Stormtrooper leaned up against the wall and the male standing near, his blaster lazily slung in one hand. I’d asked them if they needed to get back to work, but they had told me they get 15 minute breaks on patrols as long as they’re stationed somewhere observational for crime. I had decided to stay with them.

I looked over at female trooper, “I’m sorry again about your mom.”

“It’s alright. It’s funny, I’m not sure why we’re standing here talking like a bunch of saps when we,” She motioned to her partner, “Are supposed to be doing our jobs. I just don’t see the point in it anymore. The only reason I took this job was to help pay medical bills, but now that she’s gone, it’s sort of pointless.”

‘Looking for words. Looking for words… Found some words!’

“Doing something for a cause without a purpose is pretty sad I’d say.”

The male trooper now spoke up, “Heh. If you wanna talk about doing something without a purpose, then it’s pretty fitting we’re standing in a Rebel tagged junction. I mean, what do they hope to gain by overthrowing the Empire? A new republic? Anarchy?”

“Rebellion tagged? What’s that mean? Is that what that marking is?”

“You don’t know about the Rebellion? Seriously? Have you been living under a rock?” The woman now interjected.

I laughed, “Sort of! I have a lot of reading material without a lot of updates on the data.”

“Well, let me just tell you then kid. I don’t know where you came from or where you're going, but you won’t get much farther without hearing about some of these organizations exploits against the Empire. Supply run bombings. Blockade jumping. Theft. Murder. You name it and they’ve done it. I’ve heard some of the boys saying it’s the Jedi’s revenge, especially with those two I heard about in the Outer Rim and this other guy named Luke…”

An angry accent suddenly cut across the alley way.

“Vis! Where have you been!? We’ve been looking all over for you!” I watched as Cenden suddenly loomed between me and the troopers, “Sorry, officers, my… niece, wanders off quite often. Come on, let’s go!” He began to usher me away from the two somewhat confused troopers.

“Wait! No! They were just about to tell me about a Jed-” Before the word could escape my mouth, Cenden roughly grabbed my arm and began to drag me by it, “Ouch! Stop that!”

“Sir! I’m going to have to ask you to unhand her and lets see some identification!” The female trooper commanded.

Cenden free hand clicked, revealing his blaster now aimed at the trooper.

The two troopers now aimed their weapons. Everyone’s hearts were suddenly racing.

“Wait, wait, wait!” I held up my hands and walked in between the three. I looked over at the troopers, “It’s ok! He’s ok! My uncle just has… Clone Wars, PTSD?” I smiled over at them and then at Cenden. “No one needs to shoot anyone. I just wandered off while we were armor shopping for me!”

There was a pause before Cenden quickly put his blaster down, and I saw the strangest smile go across his face. “I’m s-so sorry officers. It’s a nervous twitch at this point, I was at war f-for a long time.”

I almost gasped with delight. Cenden was playing pretend.

The two troopers looked over at each other still pointed and ready. The first trooper motioned with her blaster towards the tagging on the wall, “Have an alibi for where you and the girl where about 25 parsecs ago? This “mural” isn’t finished, come back to finish the job?”

“N-no, we didn’t make that, nor do we know anyone who did. We were at the armor shop down the street for the past half hour, who can ask the s-shopkeeper if you like?” Cenden continued to stutter, seemingly nervous.

Again, the two troopers looked at eachother, but this time they gave a nod and lowered their weapons. “Alright, we’ll let you off with a warning, we should have you arrested for pulling a gun on two officers of the law, but we have better things to be doing. Let’s see some identification.”

“O-oh ok. Of course.” Cenden pulled holo device out of his pocket and presented the image to the troopers.

“Cenden Sondron. Male. Homeworld: Ambria. Huh, never been. Is it nice where you’re from?”

“Can’t say I’ve been back in a while.” Cenden said, his voice somewhat returning for a moment to it’s gruff state.

“Right, and the girl?”

“I-I’m so sorry, her aunt would be the one to be carrying that with her. She’s back at the ship sadly, so,” Cenden glanced over at me before he waved his hand in front of their faces. “You don’t need to see her identification.”

I felt the Force suddenly pulsed and smothered their minds. It felt disgusting to me, like a hiccup in their thoughts as they went limp before regaining consciousness; only for such a brief moment it was almost unseeable.

“We… Don’t need to see her identification.” The both said in unison.

“Alright, thank you.” Cenden grumbled with a dignified turn on his heels, “Vis, let’s go.”

I waited in place for a moment, they still felt hazy inside. Reaching out my hands, I took one of each of their own hands and shook them.

“It was so nice to meet you both.” With that the clouds suddenly snapped back into place and they looked around, aware again. “What were your names again?” I asked the two as they became suddenly aware of me shaking their hands.

“Uuuhhh, um, right. I’m Lyel and this is my partner Niu. You were Vis… Right?” The female trooper named Lyel answered, coming out of the dream.

“That’s right! And it was really nice running into you guys… We have to keep looking for armor now but I still do really like the theme of yours. Even if they’re all identical on the outside.”

Lyel laughed as she bent her head a bit to remove her helmet, revealing the soft, slanted eyes and straight black hair underneath, “So you’re looking for armor? We might have a suggestion.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“So then if I reroute the system from the ship through a cable in the original data table I should be able to sync the systems to the new one… And that’s considering if the original system is coming from the temple and if it’s not I’ll have to have a back-up…”

Soron watched Nek muttering to himself as they sat on the slowly emptying and refilling transport waiting for their next stop. The Devaronian had the goggles he normally wore for detailed repair placed over his eyes as he buried his face in the blue prints he’d drawn up for the installed data table.

From the corner of the page, Soron could also make out a long, long list of material. Half of the parts he’d never even heard of, and for a moment wondered if the engineer truly knew how to build this thing.

‘Regardless of if he knows what he’s doing, this is going to cost us a fortune… And we don’t truly know what the pay off will be. Beebs better have some decent work for us next time we see her.’ Soron thought as a pang of anxiety shot his stomach. ‘What are we doing? Why do I care? I’m just going to blindly listen to some child we found and a weird dream I had probably based on severe head injury?’

Doubt began to caress his mind and Soron ran a hand over his face and snout almost in an effort to brush it off.

“Something on your mind?” Nek said, not even looking up from his blueprint.

“Just… general panic considering our money situation and disposition.”

Nek now looked over, his slanted yellow eyes made fish bowled under his work goggles. “Is this about the crystal screening on the list? I can try and find another brand I just don’t want cracking from any outside impacts…”

“No, no. We’re getting what you need. It’s just, don’t you find any of this a little odd?”

“Captain, all of this is odd to me. But what about this is odd to you?”

Soron thought for a moment and tried to put it into words. Lowering his voice a bit, he leaned in, “I am a full grown adult whose lifelong career had been much less than legal. I run a crew of individuals willing to work outside any law there is under often the direction of a crime boss and now we’re here on a posher than average trading planet under the direction of a force we can’t see and a child. Doesn’t this feel like a wild goose chase at all to you?”

Nek was silent for a long while before shrugging, hesitantly looking now over his blueprints with an air of fear. “I don’t know… It feels like a real adventure. Although we kind of go on adventures a lot. But this was what you wanted right? Hiring Cenden into the crew, looking for that holocron, finding that temple… This was the answers you were looking for right?”

Soron folded his arms across his body, “I don’t know what I was looking for. And I still don’t know what I’m looking for. But I started this operation, I made a promise, I intend to finish this work.”

“...What promise?”

Soron looked over, a little shocked he’d let something slip. The transport rocked a little as the doors closed and the ship again took off speeding. Soron sighed.

“This isn’t exactly how I intended telling a bit of this story considering how long this crew has been together… Actually I think only Chol knows about this so maybe be a bit discrete about what I’m going to tell you?”

Nek nodded.

Soron’s leaned in again, “Now you’re all well aware this, but I’m considered an outcast of my clan on my home planet for numerous reasons. Doesn’t mean I can’t go back to that planet… A world’s a big place. But, I’m looking for someone out here.”

“Girlfriend?” Nek suddenly jumped in.

“No. But I appreciate the participation.” There was a pause, “I’m looking for my younger sister.”

“Is she banished too?”

“No, not technically. She’s just… a long time ago I went back home and… she was gone. And I know I take credit for being the ‘leader’, for wanting to find artifacts and knowledge that will give the universe some meaning. But it all started with her. She was…” Soron stopped himself and looked around, “She was like Cenden and Vis.”

Nek gasped with a hissed whisper, “Really!?”

“Yes really. When we were younger, the Jedi” Soron mouthed, “Actually came to take her into their instruction. Unfortunately for us, our clan has a strict, stupid, and closed minded policy, much like the rest of my species. Nobody comes in and nobody leaves our world. So despite her talents, she was left without a teacher. But she had this beautiful way at looking at the galaxy and I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t a realist, but one of the most hopeful realists I’d ever known. She always said… there was some bigger picture to the galaxy that most couldn’t understand. Not just the light side and the dark side. Not just good versus evil. It was a reality beyond heroics, that the galaxy just is. Together, we made journeys off world. That’s how we met Chol actually. He smuggled us out of one of the only trading ports on our planets numerous times and together we searched for artifacts, Jedi knowledge,” He mouthed again, “Anything we could find for her to keep learning. And the last time I saw her, in a conversation only important in hindsight, I promised I wouldn’t stop searching for answers. I wanted to learn as much as she did at this point, we were, unstoppable.”

“Why didn’t she just go to Coruscant?”

“What?”

“If you guys had snuck out, why didn’t she go and join the Jedi council then?” Nek also mouthing the forbidden word.

“I asked her the same thing, multiple times actually. She always said she was too old now, but I could always tell there was something she wasn’t telling me… Or maybe something she couldn’t explain. It seems it might’ve been for the best for her to be on the outside in the end.”

“Might’ve been?” Nek questioned.

“To be honest, when she disappeared, I assumed she might’ve gone and joined them finally. She had been doing a lot of research, meditating, all that stuff. I thought maybe in my temporary absence she finally just abandoned her feelings and left. But then… the Clone Wars ended how it did… If she is truly alive she’s not with them.”

“Where could she be then?”

“She could be anywhere. But I assumed continuing her work, following the trail of knowledge and artifacts, I figured if I’ve found it she probably has too. In all honesty, I’m doing this for myself as much as for her. I want to understand the Force like she did, this whole galaxy is so pointless. There has to be more.”

Nek shrugged, “Well that’s why I joined. Regardless of who came up with the idea, I like the idea of finding purpose. Whether it’s adventure, or a truth just to us, or a truth just common to life, I’d like to learn what it is. And considering what you’ve just said, and the strange path we’ve found ourselves on, I’d say this is anything but a waste of time.” He said as he motioned with his blueprints.

Soron nodded and smiled before leaning back in his seat, “Well that’s reassuring when you put it like that… It’s funny, Vis actually reminds me so much of her. Their abilities are different, but they’re both so lively and curious. I hope those three are getting along okay on their ‘mission’.”

#Free Reign: A Star Wars Story #Free Reign #Free Reign Chapter 10 #star wars #star wars fanfiction #Tiss'sharl #Chapter 10 #draksisreborn #zazabelle #fanfiction #vis #force #writing

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isakthedragon · 7 years ago

Text

Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Croaked Ships

The Set Up:

Sonic, narrating: “Blaze, Silver, and Marine warned us of where the next villain appeared, and he was attempting to take control of the Sol dimension.”

Sly, narrating: “And just as appropriate, Sir Raleigh was the criminal handling the occupation here. Figures he’d try to take over the seafaring world here like the pirate he thinks he is. He was born to a rich family, but loved stealing other people’s riches. Last we dealt with him, he tried using a storm machine to churn the seas to stop ships.”

Sonic, narrating: “And it looks like he’s doing it again here, since when we arrived, there was storm clouds as far as the eye could see. We better find him, and stop him before he does irreversible damage here.”

-----

Zone Layout: The gang has unfortunately landed on the other side of the island Raleigh has docked his ship at, so they’ll have to pass through a Sol island jungle to get to his ship. Then it’s a trip on and in Raleigh’s gigantic pirate ship to find the frog himself. Perhaps Raleigh is hiding his storm generator on board as well?

Enemies:

Robot Walrus (Mallet): These angry metal walruses smack the hammer down to crush you. Carries/drops 15-17 coins and has a 10% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Robot Walrus (Welder): If they aren’t working on fixing metal, they’ll turn their torches on you and burn you. Carries/drops 15-17 coins and has a 10% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Robot Walrus (Shuriken thrower): These robot walruses toss metal starfishes like shurikens to smack you away. Carries/drops 19-21 coins and has a 25% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Robot Squid: Robotic copies of Raleigh’s flashlight carrying squids. They still squirt globs of oil at you that make you slippery when they spot you. Carries/drops 19-24 coins and has a 50% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Aquis: Flying robot seahorses that also shoot globs of oil to make slippery floors or make you slippery. Drops 19 rings when smashed.

Stormmister: It’s similar to Eggman’s earlier Toximister, but this one dispenses storm clouds that if touched, will attempt to strike you with a lightning bolt. You need to be moving to miss it. Drops 21 rings when smashed.

Treasures:

From Guards:

Lump of Bronze: Worth 90 coins and 45 rings.

Lump of Silver: Worth 110 coins and 55 rings.

Lump of Gold: Worth 130 coins and 65 rings.

From Pedestals:

Platinum Ship in a Bottle: Found near to the river in Act 1. Worth 2150 coins and 1075 rings.

Water Jewel: Hiding on the top deck in Act 2. Worth 2250 rings and 1125 rings.

‘Jeweled Scepter’: In plain sight in Clockwerk’s room, grab it before destroying the bird. Worth 2350 rings and 1175 rings.

The coins have the Sol emeralds as the design on them.

-----

Stormy Seas Zone Act 1: Dimitri and Silver take on the first leg of finding Sir Raleigh, which is actually getting onto his ship that is docked on the other side of the jungle island they are on. The player will use Dimitri’s swimming abilities and Silver’s psychokinesis to traverse the dense jungle, avoiding the enemies along the way. Silver’s psychokinesis will need to be used to either block or destroy spotlights so you won’t get shot at.

*At the start.*

Silver: “* Sigh* I wish we were coming back home under better circumstances. Seeing our world under this storm is saddening.”

Dimitri: “Hey, don’t worry, bro. You’re with the Cooper gang. We’ll put the bizness back to what it was before, you dig?”

Silver: “I dig… I think.”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “Just be careful through the jungle, guys. I’m pretty sure Raleigh’s set up plenty of traps to catch us in.”

---

Stormy Seas Zone Act 2: Carmelita and Blaze sneak their way onto the top deck, and listen in on Sir Raleigh as he hops around and talks about his plans. The player must stay out of his sight, or it’ll have to be done again. Soon, he’ll go a deck down, so it should get a bit easier to hide behind things. The main focus of his talking is of his storm generator, which happens to be another Clockwerk bird.

*At the start*

Carmelita: “We’ve boarded Raleigh’s ship, so we better look for him…”

Blaze: “Maybe we could entice him out with a cannon blast or 2?”

Carmelita: “That would work, less searching for us.”

*Some cannon blasts and hiding later, Raleigh comes to the top deck to inspect.*

Sir Raleigh: “Hey! Quiet down up here! I’m busy trying to figure out our new ship course for this place!”

A guard: “Sorry, someone fired the cannons out”

Sir Raleigh: “Cannons don’t fire by themselves! Find the person who did it!” *He turns around and starts hopping.*

Blaze: “Phew, that was close.”

Carmelita: “Yeah, but we better follow him.”

*After a bit.*

Sir Raleigh: “I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about this place, but now that I see it for myself, it’s quite perfect for me. So much sea to see, so many islands to raid and plunder. Surely a pirate’s life here.”

Blaze: “Not if I can help it, you stupid frog…”

Carmelita: “We’ll nail him, just wait…”

*Later, a deck below.*

Guard: “Remind me why we are also sitting around for now?”

Sir Raleigh: “We’re waiting for our Storm Clockwerk below to turn the whole Sol Dimension stormy, so we can easily plunder this world.”

Guard: “I thought that raccoon who got you last time killed him, twice.”

Sir Raleigh: “He did, but that Eggman fellow somehow figured out how to build copies of him, and now we can control one as we wish! He’s better as a loyal servant than as an annoying leader anyway.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Huh? That’s strange…”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “It is?”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “I don’t remember him ever talking about Clockwerk copies, at least, not offering one to me. Now that I think about it, he did send me out quickly…”

Tails, over the binocucom: “He probably didn’t want you squealing any information to us. He’s really putting the hammer down on leaking information.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Jeez… I really was just a pawn…”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “It’s okay… you’re with us now, that’s what matters.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Yeah… I’m going to see what I can do about hacking the Clockwerk Owls while you guys smash them. Maybe I can figure out what’s going on.”

---

Stormy Seas Zone Act 3: Panda King and Marine head down to the lower decks and find the Storm Clockwerk up and running and creating electrical storms in the seas. The player can use Panda King’s fireworks to just use fireworks to blast apart the bird to pieces, while Marine plugs up leaks that may appear from the falling pieces and explosions. Then, it’s just a trip to the captain’s room to confront Sir Raleigh.

*At the start, on the sight of Clockwerk.*

Marine: “Argh, mateys! We’ve spotted the blight of a bird! It’d be working electrical conduits to the top o’ the ship and discharging into the atmosphere!”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “Thus, supercharging the air above and producing storms! Good job, guys.”

Panda King: “I assume you want me to use my fireworks to smash the bird to pieces?”

Tails, over the binocucom: “You got it! We better hurry, before it creates a storm too powerful to stop!”

Panda King: “Excellent. Prepare, fake Clockwerk, to become nothing but dust!”

*Upon destruction*

Panda King: “The bird… it is gone now.”

Marine: “Yar, let’s make haste to find the captain’s room!”

*While looking for the captain’s room.*

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Hmmm… interesting. Something left when it blew up.”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “Can you determine what it is?”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Hard to say… it’s not a simple electrical reading… I can at least say, based upon designs you guys made of the original Clockwerk, it seemed to come from where… the ‘hate chip’ was located.”

Sly, over the binocucom: “It’s been a long while since we’ve heard about that thing…”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “I can say there is no hate chip though, from the wreckage you guys made, nor does it seem to be there anyway… Maybe Eggman attached something there to work it from far away?”

Tails, over the binocucom: “It’s not familiar to me. Eggman has dabbled in the supernatural though, if that is any help. I mean, he’s built a few bases on haunted grounds.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Hmmm…”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “So have a few of our villains, kind of a normal thing actually. We got laws limiting the use of supernatural things for evil uses.”

---

Stormy Seas Zone Act 4 (BOSS): Sly and Sonic enter his swamped Captain’s room to deal with the annoying frog…

Sir Raleigh: “Well, well, if it isn’t the lost raccoon and an annoying pincushion Eggman warned me about. You sure have been making a mess of my ship, haven’t you?”

Sly: “Only enough to stop you from pirating this world.”

Sonic: “Wait, this little frog is a nasty villain? He looks like he’s going to break into a dance. You know ‘Hello, my baby, hello, my honey, hello my ragtime gal’ ? ”

Sir Raleigh, sounding quite pissed: “Grrr… I was told by Eggman you’d be annoying, but that’s really low. I am not related to Michigan J. Frog at all!! Just because they create a cartoon that stars a frog that’s all happy and dances does not mean all of us are like that!”

Sonic: “I don’t know… you do got the top hat, and you’re old enough to need a cane. Look! He’s even got a record player in the back!”

Sir Raleigh: “Shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP!!! I was just going to crush you, but now you’ve made it really personal, hedgehog!!! DIE!!!”

Boss: Sir Raleigh

Sir Raleigh fights like before, hopping around and trying to smack you with his tongue, or attempting to belly slam you on the lily pads. And like before, wait until he deflates to attack him, though watch out for the tongue still. If he was easy the first time around, this is going to be a walk in the park.

*When defeated*

Sir Raleigh: “Noooo… lost again… Why did pirating get so hard?”

-----

The Getaway:

Sonic, narating: “Soon after Sir Raleigh’s defeat, the storm clouds faded away, and the seas became calm once more. The Sol dimension was safe again, much to Silver’s, Blaze’s and Marine’s excitement. We couldn’t stay for long, since we had to drop Sir Raleigh off back at INTERPOL and return to our world again. I wonder where our journey is heading next...”

Next Time: There’s a tiger on the prowl in the cold jungle in Bamboo Blitz Zone.

#Isakthedragon's fanfiction #Super Sonic Thieves #Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 13 #SST #SST: Chapter 13 #Time for some high sea hijinks #So of course that means Sir Raleigh is involved. :P

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cyberkevvideo · 5 years ago

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Throne of Night - Speculated Level Build for Book 5

This is something entirely new for me to try out. When I was going down the list of pictures for Book 5, I came to realize that there’s lots of pictures don’t have much in the way of encounters, or are wide open for speculation. I’ll get into it more when the time comes, but for now I thought it’d be fun to take a blank map and go “what if?” with it. Looking at various pictures, I’m sure I’m way of basis, and there’s a completely different reason for the machine to exist, but for now this is just for fun. As such, there’s no actual builds, just shorthand thoughts and class theories.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the entry.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus

I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who wishes to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so.

Finally, before I get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

When I learned of the “capture ship”, I started to wonder what exactly that meant. Was it the ship that took people (namely drow) prisoner and transported them to the aboleth city where they’d be changed to skum or similar tainted creatures? It definitely seemed like a possibility. So instead of getting sleep like a normal person, I jotted down some stuff and here we are.

At some point during Book 5, while the PCs are on their boat traversing the rivers, they happen upon a device that’s named a “lure”. Whether it is currently working or not, is unknown, but right behind that, is the capture ship.

The lure seems like a wondrous item that probably mimics rainbow pattern, luring a fascinated creature towards the submarine, causing them to eventually be captured.

For how it’s built, I would estimate that it’s an activation item that goes off with alarm when a living creature is so many feet within it, possibly 40 feet. For the typical creature, the will save is going to be nearly impossible for them to make. Personally, I’d make this a heightened widened rainbow pattern that’s CL 15th for an 8th level spell, making the Will save DC 22. Depending on how well built the party is, that could difficult for your typical fighter, and rainbow pattern isn’t an enchantment, but an illusion.

No matter how the PCs manage to get in, there’s a map for the GM.

While I’m glad such a map exists, as someone who has to draw out the maps for players, I hate when the legend says “1 square = 10 feet.” It’s so annoying. At least all the important areas are squares or rectangles.

This is where I take a bunch of liberties for how things might go. How so? I have no art to back up the hypothesis I’m about to lay out. I think I might have one piece of art that takes place at this location, maybe two???, but there’s no way I can 100% guarantee that’s actually the case.

I said in a previous entry that this sub is likely what gets the PCs to the underwater aboleth city that they’re to finish the module. As such, for them to get there, either then Engineering area section or the Command area might have the coordinates already programmed in it for the PCs to just hit the “Start” button, and away they go. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

A question I was asked was how do you get the Lovecraftian creatures that appear in Book 6, make sense? It’s not like Books 1-4 had a lead up in some way that warned of a star spawn final boss. At some point the PCs will come across a monolith and some fossils of an aboleth, so their existence isn’t that big of a surprise come Book 5. The other things though? They’re harder to accept. So, you do what makes sense. Introduce a gateway encounter. And in this regard, I’m suggesting a deep one with an unholy symbol that the PCs will have never seen before, let along possibly read about in any kind of religious text. At this stage in the game, it’d probably be a DC 30 just to get hints.

Below, are what the party will be facing off against over the course of this level. And no, I didn’t stat them out, but I did give a breakdown, and even tried to find builds that at least started them off. Not all of them have that though. I’m probably way off basis, so I didn’t feel it was necessary, but if a GM liked what’s presented, they could quickly finish what I already started. As for “The Great Destroyer”, it’s Cthulhu. It’s a title I used to describe where the star spawn originated from as well. It’s all about bringing it back around.

Ceratioidi fighter (two-weapon warrior) 9/psychic (faith discipline) 6 - CR 16 --Deity: The Great Destroyer

Deep one cleric of the Great Destroyer 16 - CR 17 --Domains: madness, void (dark tapestry) --is the offspring of the star spawn --PC wealth (inherent bonus to all stats)

Skum sentries x6 (inquisitor [imprisonment inquisition] 8/ranger [guide] 4) - CR 13 each --Combat style: two-handed weapon --Favored terrain: water

Skum engineers x8 (expert 2/fighter 8) - CR 11 each

Skum cleric of the Great Destroyer 13 - CR 14

Chuul sentinel x2 (barbarian [invulnerable rager] 8) - CR 15

Skum sorcerer (aberrant bloodline) 14 (add selective metamagic rod) - CR 15

Water elemental construct (powering vessel) - CR 13

As for prisoners, I thought 10 would be sufficient. Maybe 8 drow and 2 duergar. They would all be fatigued and possibly suffering from a deep corruption. If anyone’s read, the “From Shore to Sea” module, you know that there’s skum and aboleth influence happening all throughout. If you didn’t, I apologize for the spoilers, but purposely kept out the details. At any rate, SPOILERS... as the game progresses, the PCs are slowly transformed, as if they were in an aboleth’s muck. This is called a warping effect, that thankfully can be slowed down by successful Fortitude saves. However, if you fail, you suffer from a minor, moderate, and finally a major taint. Things as minor as one’s skin becomes sweaty and clammy, to it becoming more slimy like mucus (granting a bonus on Escape Artist checks), to it finally cracking painfully unless it’s kept wet or submerged for a day, otherwise they’re staggered until they do so. And that was just their skin. There were still taints for blood, head, limbs, lungs, and organs. Essentially, you slowly are transformed into a creature that looks like a hybrid between a skum and deep one.

Getting into it, when the PCs first arrive in Area 1, they’ll notice that one exit is locked while the second is twisting open, and letting in their first encounter. This the first set of guards; a chuul sentinel and two skum sentries, for an EL 17 fight. Depending on how things go, back up might be called in, making the fight more difficult. Maybe even impossible. Note that at this point in the story, encounters need to be between CR 16 and 18 for it to be considered a challenge for the party. You could go up to CR 19, but at that point you’re taking a chance of it being lethal.

For the encounters, I’m assuming that everyone is moving around as they please. The exceptions would be the deep one, who’s pretty much guaranteed to be in the Command Level, and the construct which would be strictly located in its area. Everyone else could be anywhere, but I’ll still list where they likely would be.

For the most part, the skum sentries will be moving around the Prison Level and the second chuul sentinel will be chilling in Area 15. At any point they are attacked, they’ll blow a whistle to notify the others, who’ll be there in 2d3 rounds to aid in battle. Because the hallways are only 10 feet wide, they aren’t worried about being overwhelmed, and will use the terrain to their advantage if PCs have the ability to fire into melee. By that, I mean not all of the cells are locked. The empty ones certainly aren’t, and it wouldn’t take much to dip into another room to avoid a shot or two.

While the skum engineers will most likely all be in the Engineering section, once they hear the whistle get blown, they’ll move to the Prison Level and help out their comrades.

The water elemental construct was just added for fun, and not much of a threat, considering most constructs can’t be advanced like other monsters. It’s in Area 7 of the Command Level, and I have it set up that it’s what’s powering the entire sub. It doesn’t have to though. An elder water elemental could do it too. Might be difficult to wrangle one, and summons only last so long.

Not entirely sure why Area 3 of the Engineering Level is blown up to show the details, but that’s where I’d put the skum sorcerer and make that his alchemist lab. If the whistle’s blown, he won’t go right away. He’ll buff himself for a couple of rounds before heading out.

This leaves the ceratioidi, skum cleric, and deep one cleric. All three would start off on the Command Level, with the deep one in Area 8, the skum in Area 5 (turn it into an unholy shrine area), and ceratioidi in Area 1, about to head down to 1st level to check in with the engineers.

If, for whatever reason, the PCs happen to get captured, any magic users would be placed in Area 9 of the Prison Level. It looks like there’s runes of some kind that might block magical casting.

With regards to magic items on board, everyone has to eat, so a cauldron of plenty would make the most sense. It feeds upward of 36 people a day. This would be in addition to any hunting the skum might do, or any fishing that could happen. The clerics can also memorize create food and drink as spells, or have scrolls on hand, on the off chance they begin to run out of food. At the same time, a more powerful version of the sustaining spoon could also exist on board, allowing all 10 prisoners to eat the cardboard gruel for nourishment.

Area 3 of the Command Level would be where I’d place the cauldron, as well as any gear that was removed from prisoners.

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

And that, is the quick breakdown of what I’d do with this map for Book 5. I’m sure I’m barking up the wrong tree though. Still, it’s fun to consider. As for the other rooms, I can’t find a good version of the map to really see what’s all in the rooms, but those prison cells would definitely get some use.

Hope you enjoyed the journey down this rabbit hole.

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just-got7-things · 7 years ago

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The Note

Yoongi x Reader

Genre: Fluff with a tiny bit of angst

Summary: Yoongi has to leave early in the morning and instead of waking you up to say goodbye, he leaves you a note.

Yoongi hates to leave so early in the morning. Not because of the ungodly hour of 4 am but the fact that he can’t tell you goodbye. Well he could but he knew you had a long day ahead of you and you could use all the sleep you could get. He knew you would be mad for him leaving without telling you but he can’t seem to make himself take you out of your peaceful slumber. He feels like an asshole already having to leave you yet again but if he woke you up, that feeling would just get worse. Instead he leaves a carefully placed note on the nightstand that you will see as soon as you open your eyes. Besides, you can call him when you wake up like you usually do when he’s away.

~~~~~

The screeching calls of the alarm clock rouse you from your little slice of heaven called sleep. You don’t dare open your eyes yet because you could feel the sun’s warmth on your skin and you didn’t feel like being blinded just yet. You flop your arm around the nightstand until you find the annoying machine and hit the off button. You wish you could sleep for another hour but you have two meetings this morning that you could not be late for. You turn over to find the other side of the bed cold. Your eyes pop before the memory of Yoongi telling you about the trip. Why did he not wake you up when he left though? He always did. Even with your grumpy curses he still said goodbye.

You pout and reluctantly get out of bed. Looking at the clock, you notice that you don’t have very much time to slack off and your usual morning call to Yoongi would have to wait until your break. You hop in the shower and start washing your body allowing the warm water to loosen up your muscles while you mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead. Quickly, you dry off and get dressed into the outfit you had chosen for the day. Good thing you usually pick out what you wear the night before because there is not a minute to spare as you rush to put on your makeup and style your hair. You run through the house grabbing your purse and jacket as you make your way out the door. Locking it behind you, a little wave of sadness washes over you because you didn’t get to say goodbye to Yoongi before he left. You shake your head to get rid of the thought and start making your way to work.

The meetings drag on as you listen to your peers mostly complain about the new merger that is about to take place. You usually would add some opinions of your own into the mix but today you just didn’t feel like adding onto the complaints. You were mostly there to listen to the financial reports anyway and see how things might look in the next quarter. With the meetings lasting longer than expected, you don’t have time for a break today. You could just imagine the emails that were piling up in your inbox and the stack of work being left on your desk. Even though you were extremely busy, every now and then the thought of Yoongi would pop into your head leaving you a bitter taste in your mouth. Not only were you sad about this morning, but with the routine that you had grown accustomed to being disturbed you were starting to get agitated as well. He not only affected your morning but he was affecting your work as well. You let a dry chuckle escape from your mouth as you thought about how much Yoongi had significance over your day. You usually laughed at the girls who made their man the center of their lives but now you realized you were starting to become one of them. Nope. This can’t happen. You gave yourself one minute to think but eventually put everything Yoongi related into a box and pushed him as far back into your brain as you could. You had work to do and thinking about him was getting nothing done. You took a deep breath before jumping into your long day. Alright. Time to get to work.

~~~~

This is strange. She should have already called by now. She must be having a really busy day. Yoongi sat at the airport waiting for the car to come pick him and the other members up. He wasn’t particularly worried that you haven’t called him because he understands busy days, he just really wants to know whether or not you saw his note. Surely she would have seen it. It was right in front of her face. She is a wild sleeper though…The thought of you sleeping made him smile. You weren’t the tamest when you slept and Yoongi always had to be prepared to get an arm in the face or an elbow in the back. He knew you couldn’t help it which is how he kept himself from completely kicking you out of bed but sometimes he had some rough nights. Yoongi stares at his phone debating whether or not he should text you to see how your day was going. He wanted to talk to you but he didn’t want to distract you during work. Before he could type out a message, the car pulls up in front of the group and the body guards swarm around them creating a barricade for them to hurry into the car before it was swamped with fans. He decides that it’s best to leave you be and let you get as much work done as possible.

~~~

As the day passes, you make pretty good progress through your work even though your mind keeps drifting to the asshole named Min Yoongi. You wanted to think of anything except him but your mind just wouldn’t let you. First, he didn’t say goodbye this morning and now he hasn’t even texted or called you to see how your day was going? They were selfish thoughts but you didn’t care anymore. You were his girlfriend and you wanted him to show a little affection every now and then. Just a simple text from him asking if you had eaten yet would suffice but noooo Mr. Tough Guy Min Yoongi didn’t do those kinds of things. You mentally stick your tongue out at the picture you had of him on your desk. At least the day was almost over and you could go home and finally relax. You began to shut down everything in your office and pack up for the day when one of your coworkers stops by and asks if you want to come get some drinks with them. You decline the offer and start heading home.

You unlock the door and walk into your apartment immediately feeling the stress of the day melt off your shoulders. The irritation is still there but eventually you’ll get over that. Eventually. The first thing you do is change into your pajamas so that you would be comfortable. Next, you head into the kitchen to start dinner. You end up making something simple since Yoongi wasn’t there. There he was again, popping into our mind not letting you fully be at ease. Not only were the events of the day making you irritated but being at home without Yoongi made you lonely as well. Still no text or call from him. You want to at least know how his day was going but you don’t want to distract him so you decide to just leave him be.

You eat dinner and retreat to the bedroom so you could work on some things for the morning. Yoongi never approved of either of you bringing work into the bedroom since you both seemed to be workaholics but he wasn’t there and you knew that you would be falling asleep soon. You sit down on the bed and turn to get your laptop from the shelf beside your bed when you notice a folded piece of paper on the floor. Squinting at the piece of paper in confusion you pick it up and see that it has Yoongi’s handwriting. This couldn’t be something he has been working on because he would never be as careless as to leave it on the floor so you could read it. You turn it over and see your name written in the black ink. You slowly open the note and begin reading.

Y/N,

Another day I have to leave you. Another day I have to go without your beautiful smile. My love may not always be spoken but know that it is there. It is there in the wind that rustles the leaves and it is there in the rays that warm your skin. I hate to leave you again. When I leave, I feel like my whole world is without it’s sun. I did not wake you this time because I did not want to see the sadness that fills your eyes when the goodbye leaves your beautiful mouth. What I would give to see you every minute of every day for the rest of my life. The love I have for you is as endless as the stars in the sky. Please stay well my love and know that I am with you always as you are with me. Thank you for becoming my one and only. My treasure.

Yoongi

Before you realize it, tears begin to fall down your face and your hands cannot reach fast enough for your phone. You have to call him. You have to hear his voice. Even though you can’t see with the amount of tears in your eyes, you successfully dial his number and wait for him to answer. After a few rings, he finally picks up.

“Hey babe, how was your day?”

“Yoongi, you asshole!” You cry into the phone.

“What happened? What did I do?”

“You wrote me this damn note and now I’m crying because you’re the sweetest boyfriend anyone could have!”

“Awww baby, don’t cry. I meant for that note to make you happy.” You could hear him chuckle a little as he soothed you.

“Don’t baby me! How dare you write that note and then just leave! How am I going to kiss you when you’re all the way across the world?” You’ve stopped crying but the emotions are still there.

“I’ll be home in couple days. You can kiss me all you want when I get back.” You could hear the smile in his voice just by the way he talked. He must have been by himself because he never would say that in front of anyone.

“You better be prepared. I’m not in the mood for any games.”

You and Yoongi continue to talk on the phone talking about both of your days, how that annoying intern is always kissing up to the boss and getting in your way and how Jin keeps going at it with his dad jokes just to annoy him. After about an hour and a half, you hear Yoongi yawn which causes you to yawn in return.

“We should both get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day for both of us.” Yoongi’s voice is starting to get groggy and you’re already almost asleep just listening to it.

“I know. Talk tomorrow?”

“Of course, baby girl.”

“Okay. Goodnight. Love you. Sweet dreams.” You don’t want to let him go but you know he is right. You both need sleep for the next day.

“Goodnight. Sweet dreams. I love you too.”

You hang up the phone and put it on the charger as you head into the bathroom to brush your teeth. After washing up, you climb back into bed and set your alarm. Before you’re able to get comfortable, you hear your phone go off on the nightstand. You turn it over and there is a text from Yoongi.

Come meet me in my dreams.

#bts #bts fluff #bangtan boys #bts suga #suga fluff #min suga #yoongi fluff #min yoongi #suga angst #yoongi angst #min yoongi fluff #how come i can write this in like an hour #but yet i cant write a reaction in like 2 days #i just dont understand #i want a min yoongi

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