#mountain lion will just kill you and you won’t even see it coming

[fluorescentbrains]

see one half of the conversation is the gender issues but the other half is me being annoyed that people don’t know anything about animals. you can also get your shit rocked by a deer or a turkey btw in case you think i don’t have a healthy level of caution towards wild animals. it’s deer > turkey > fox > bear > wolf > strange man > moose > mountain lion for me. obviously this is very northeastern US centric. i did run into a lone coyote once when i was in california and it spooked me a little but it left me alone

[poseidonsdaughterthesiren]

The Daughter of Poseidon: Chapter Eight

Della didn’t want to leave Leo, it reminds her too much of her first quest when Percy and Annabeth had to leave her and Grover with Aries. Although Della is sure that like that quest it would be fine.

As they climb the icy staircase, Zethes stays behind them, his blade drawn. The guy may look like a Village People reject, but there was nothing funny about his sword. Della figures one hit from that thing and she’ll have a Narnia: The Witch, The Lion, and The Wardrobe moment.

Then there’s their tour guide, the ice princess. Here and there she’ll turn her head at Jason and give a smile, but there was no warmth in her expression. She looks him up and down like he is a new exciting specimen.

If these are Boreas’s kids, Della isn’t sure they want to meet Dad. She remembers Annabeth told her Boreas was the easy-going wind god. Which is code for, he won’t try to kill you on the spot.

Warmth engulfs her hand. Della glances down to see Jason’s hand in her own. She gives him a reassuring smile.

“Hey,” she squeezes his hand. “It’ll be fine. Just a talk.”

Jason smiles back at her.

Gods, he’s gorgeous.

Suddenly Jason’s hand felt cold, burning cold. He let go, and their fingers were smoking with frost.

“Warmth is not a good idea,” the Ice Princess says, “Especially when I am your best chance of staying alive.

Piper shoots them a look. She keeps her face neutral, but her eyes give it all away. Hurt.

Della sighs and attempts to rub the frost off her hand. She knows that look all too well.

Zethes pokes Jason in the back, and they follow the Princess down the massive hallway.

Freezing winds blew back and forth. If they weren’t frozen, the tapestries on the wall would’ve followed the rhythm.

Della’s cheeks were starting to burn from how cold they were. Jason looks more nervous than before. Della wants to grab his hand again, but her fingers still haven’t recovered from the first attempt.

“Wonder Boy,” I whisper, “You still with me?”

“Yeah…yeah, sorry.”

At the end of the hallway, the trio finds themselves in front of a set of oaken doors engraved with a map of the world. In each corner was a man’s bearded face blowing wind. All the guys were winter, blowing ice and snow all around the world.

The Ice Princess turns. Her brown eyes glitter with excitement as though she was about to open a Christmas present.

“This is the throne room,” she says, “Be on your best behavior Jason Grace. My father can be…chilly. I will translate for you and try to encourage him to hear you out. I do hope he spares you. We could have so much fun.”

Della narrows her eyes. Something is off. If Boreas needs a translator…how could they trust Elsa here to speak on their behalf? She opens her mouth–

“Um, okay,” Jason says, “We’re just here for a talk. We’ll be leaving right afterward.”

She smiles. “Ah, I love heroes so blissfully ignorant.”

Della reaches for Leda. She sees Piper has her dagger close as well.

“Well, how about you enlighten us,” Piper says, “You say you are going to translate for us. We don’t even know your name.”

The girl sniffs in distaste. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t recognize me. Even in ancient Greek times, the Greeks did not know me well. Their island homes were too warm, too far from my domain. I am Khione, daughter of Boreas, Goddess of Snow.”

She stirs the air with her finger creating a flurry of snow around her.

“Now come,” says Khione. The doors blow open, and a cool blue light filters out of the room. “Hopefully, you survive your talk.”

If the entry hall had been cold, the throne room was a meat locker. Mist hung in the air. Along the walls purple tapestries depict snowy forests, barren mountains, and glaciers. High above, ribbons of light–the Aurora Borealis pulses along the ceiling.

Della shivers at the violent change in temperature. Her breath pans out like hot steam.

All around them stood life-sized sculptures–all in different eras of armor. Some wore Greek, others Medevil, and the most unsettling were the ones in modern camoflague They all were frozen with their weapons locked and loaded.

Why would they have military sculptures–

Jason tries to move between two Greek spearmen, and they all move with alarming speed, joints cracking and spraying icicles as they cross their javelins to block their path.

Della pulls Jason back by his collar and places a hand to keep Piper in place.

“What the–”

From the far end of the hall, a man’s voice rings out, he sounds…French. Due to the mist, Della doesn’t see him. Whatever he said the ice guards uncrossed their javelins.

“It’s fine,” Khione says, “My father ordered them not to kill you yet.”

Yet, the keyword in that sentence.

“Super,” Jason mutters.

The trio shuffle closer to each other.

“Keep moving Jason Junior,” Zethes says. He prods him in the back with his sword.

“Please don’t call me that.”

“My father is not a patient man,” Zethes warns, “And the beautiful Piper, sadly, is losing her magic hairdo very fast. Perhaps later I can lend her something from my wide assortment of hair products.”

“Thanks,” Piper grumbles.

They move through the mist. Suddenly, the mist parts and reveals a man on a throne made of ice. A sturdy man in a white suit and purple wings smiles at their arrival.

“Bienvenu,” the King says, “Je suis Boread le Roid. Et vous?”

Khione opens her mouth to speak when Piper steps forward.

“Votre Majesté,” Piper says, “he suis Piper McLean. Est c’est Della fille de Poseidon, and et Jason fil de Zeus.”

The King smiles with pleasant surprise. “Vous parlez francias? Trés bien!”

“Piper, you speak French?” Jason and Dell ask at the same time.

“No. Why?” Piper frowns.

“You just did,” Della tells her.

“I did?”

The king says something else in French.

Piper nods, “Oui, Vorte Majesté”

The king laughs and claps his hands, obviously delighted. He says a few more things and then motions to his daughter as if shooing a bird.

Khione looks miffed. “The king says–”

“He says I’m the daughter of Aphrodite,” Piper interjects, “So naturally I can speak French, which is the language of love. I had no idea. His majesty says Khione won’t have to translate now.”

Thank the gods.

Behind them, Zethes snorts. Khione sends him a death glare and takes a step back.

The king sizes up Jason, who decides to bow.

“Your Majesty, I am Jason Grace. Thank you, for umm, not killing us. May I ask why does a Greek God speak French?”

Piper has another exchange with the king.

“He speaks the language of his host country,” Piper says, “He says all gods do this. Most gods speak English, as they now reside in the United States, but Boreas was never welcomed in their realm. These days he likes Quebec, so he likes to speak French.”

Boreas says something else, and Piper turns pale.

“The king says…he says–”

“Allow me,” Khione says, “My father says he has orders to kill you. Did I not mention that earlier?”

Della tenses. She glances at Jason who moves closer to her and Piper just as tense.

The king looks pleased with himself and his proclamation.

“Kill us? Why?” Jason asks.

“Because,” the king says, in heavily accented English, “my lord Aeolus has commanded it.”

Boreas rose from his throne. He furls his wings back and approaches them.

Khione and Zethes bow. Della, Jason, and Piper follow their example.

“I shall deign to speak your language,” Boreas says, as Piper McLean has honored me in mine. Toujours. I have always held a fondness for the children of Aphrodite. And I must say, a daughter of Poseidon is a rare sight indeed. At least, a human one. As for you, Jason Grace, my master would not expect me to kill a son of Zeus…at least without hearing him out first.”

Della does not like the odds of this possible fight. Sure, she could handle most of the guards and Zethes with Jason’s help. Khione would be a problem as well. Goddess of snow also meant the ability of ice…ice is water so it’d be somewhat fair. Even if they got through them they’d still have to fight a god.

“Aeolus is the master of the winds, right?” Jason asks. “Why would he want us dead?”

“You are demigods,” Boreas says as if that explains everything. “Aeolus’ job is to maintain the winds, and demigods have always caused him headaches. They ask him for favors. They unleash the winds and cause chaos,” Boreas pauses. He looks directly at Della. “The final insult was last summer the battle with Typhon last summer.”

Della tenses. She tries to forget about Mount St. Helens as much as she can. That was the first time Della and Percy’s powers forged together properly and they released a Titan.

Boreas waves his hand and a sheet of ice like a flat-screen TV appears in the air. Images of a battle flicker across the screen–a giant wrapped in storm clouds wading across a river toward the Manhatten skyline. Tiny glowing figures–the gods–swarm around him like angry wasps, pounding the monster with lightning and fire. Finally, the river erupts in a massive whirlpool and the smoky form sank beneath the waves.

“The storm giant, Typhon,” Boreas explains. “The gods defeated him, eons ago, he did not die quietly. His death released a host of storm spirits–wild winds that answered to no one. It was Aeolus’s job to track them all down and imprison them in his fortress. The other gods–they did not help. They didn’t even apologize for the inconvenience. It took Aeolus centuries to track them all down, and that naturally irritated him. Then last summer when he was defeated–”

“And his death released another wave of venti,” Jason guesses. “Which made Aeolus even angrier.”

“C’est vrai,” Boreas agrees.

“But Your Majesty,” Piper says, “the gods had no choice but to battle Typhon, or else Olympus would have been destroyed. Why punish–”

“Because it was demigods who released him,” Della interrupts.

Boreas looks at her, “And one of them stands before me.”

Jason and Piper’s heads snap towards Della.

She looks down at her feet. Damn, her past actions were kicking her in the ass right now.

“Aeolus cannot take his anger out on the gods,” Boreas shrugs, “They are his bosses, and very powerful. So he gets even with their heroes from the war. He’d be very pleased to see your demise, Adella Jackson. He gave the orders that any demigods who ask for help are to be,” Boreas waves his hands dramatically, “destroyed.”

“That seems extreme,” Jason says. “I’m sure Della didn’t mean to unleash Typhon. Please don’t destroy us. Once you hear about our quest–”

“Yes Aeolus mentioned mentioned a son of Zeus would seek my aid and if this should happen I should listen before terminating you–as you might–how did he put it? Make our lives more interesting. I am only obligated to listen. After that, I am free to pass judgment how I see fit. But I will listen first. Khione wishes this also. It may be that we will not kill you.”

Della sighs a little in relief. There’s a catch she knows it.

“Great. Thanks,” Jason says.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Boreas says, “There are many ways you could make our lives interesting. Sometimes we keep demigods for our amusement, as you can see.”

He gestures to the frozen guards in the room.

Della sighs, some demigods met a fate worse than death. This was one of those fates.

Piper makes a strangled noise,“You mean–they’re all demigods? Frozen demigods? They’re alive?”

“An interesting question,” Boreas conceded as though he’s never really thought about it. “They do not move unless they're obeying my orders. The rest of the time, they are frozen in place. Unless they were to melt, I suppose, which would be very messy.”

Khione steps up behind Jason and caresses the back of his neck. “My father gives me such lovely presents,” she murmurs in his ear. Della wants to cut her to pieces with her sword. “Join our court. Perhaps I’ll let your friends go.”

“What?” Zethes booms, “If Khione gets to keep the boy, I should get to keep the girls. Khione always gets more presents!”

“Now children,” Boreas says sternly, “Our guests will think you are spoiled! Besides, you moved too fast. We have not even heard the demigod’s story yet. Then we will decide what to do with them. Please, Jason Grace, entertain us.”

Khione purs and strokes the back of Jason’s neck again. Suddenly electricity sparks against his skin. There’s a loud pop, and Khione flies backward, skidding on the floor.

Della smiles amused that she doesn’t need to make Khione fish food.

Zethes laughs, “That is good! I’m glad you did that, even though I have to kill you now.”

Khione looks stunned. When she got her bearings back the air around her began to swirl in a micro-blizzard. “You dare–”

“Stop,” Jason orders. “You’re not going to kill us. And you’re not going to keep us either. We’re on a quest for the Queen of the Gods herself, so unless you want Hera busting down your doors, you are going to let us go.”

He sounds more confident than he probably feels. Something Della is sure he has experience in. Sound braver than you are. The first lesson every demigod learns. And it did the trick. Khione’s blizzard swirls to a stop, and Zethes lowers his sword. They look uncertainly at their father.

“Hmmm,” Boreas says. His eyes twinkle, but Della is not sure if he’s actually amused or pissed off. “A son of Zeus favored by Hera? This is definitely a first. Tell us your story.”

Jason hesitates, he opens his mouth but doesn’t speak. He did not expect to make it this far.

Della jumps in, “Your Majesty.”

All eyes are on her.

Della cursties before the wind god. She tells Boreas the entire story. From her missing brother to the venti in the Grand Canyon, to the prophecy. Jason and Piper gape at her story-telling skills. She is calm and collected for a woman whose life is on the line. This wasn’t her first rodeo.

“All we ask for is guidance,” Della concludes, “The storm spirits that attacked Jason and Piper, are working for an evil mistress. If we find them maybe, just maybe we can find Hera.”

Boreas strokes his beard. Outside the windows night had fallen, and the only light came from the Aurora Borealis above casting the room in shades of red and blue.

“You had no idea what you unleashed that day did you girl? Boreas asks. His eyes bore into Della.

“No,” Della sighs, “My brother and I had no idea what the repercussions of that day would bring.”

“I see,” Boreas says, “I do know of these spirits. I know where they are kept, and the prisoner they took.”

“You mean Coach Hedge?” Jason asks, “He’s alive?”

Boreas waves aside the question, “For now. But the one who controls the storm winds…it is madness to oppose her. You’d be better off staying as statues.”

“Hera’s in trouble,” Jason says, “In three days she’s going to be–I don't know consumed, destroyed, something. And a giant will rise.”

“Yes,” Boreas agrees. He sends an angry look to his daughter. “Many horrible things are awakening. Even my children do not tell me the news they should be. The great stirring of monsters began with Kronos–your father Zeus foolishly believed it would end when the Titans were defeated. But just as it was before, so it is now. The final battle is yet to come, and the one who will wake is more terrible than any Titan. Storm spirits–this is only the beginning. The earth has more horrors to yield up. When monsters no longer stay in Tarturus and souls confined to Hades…Olympus has good reason to fear.”

What does he mean just as it was before? They were repeating history…

Khione off to the side is smiling widely like this was her definition of fun.

“So you’ll help us?” Jason asks.

“I did not say that,” Boreas scowls.

“Please, Your Majesty,” Piper says. Her voice has that..richness again..so… compelling..a true blessing of Aphrodite. “If you tell us where the storm spirits are, we can capture them and bring them to Aeolus. You’d get to look good in front of your boss. Aeolus may pardon us and future demigods. We could even rescue Gleeson Hedge, everyone wins.”

“She’s pretty,” Zethes mumbles, “I mean, she’s right.”

“Father don’t listen to her,” Khione says, “She’s a child of Aphrodite. She dares to charmspeak a god? Freeze her now!”

Charmspeak? Oh…yeah, a rare gift from Aphrodite.

Boreas considers it. Jason reaches into his pocket for his coin. Della hesitates as she reaches for Leda.

The movement caught Boreas’ eye. “What is on your forearm demigod?”

Reluctantly Jason shows the god his arm.

The god’s eyes actually widen. Khione hisses like a snake and slithers away.

Then Boreas does something very unexpected, an icicle cracks from the ceiling right next to his throne. The god’s form begins to flicker. His beard disappeared. He grew taller and thinner, and he’d changed into a Roman toga, lined with purple. He wore a frosty laurel wreath, and a gladius–a Roman sword like Jason’s hung at his side.

“Aquilion,” Jason says.

The god inclines his head. “You recognize better in this form, yes? And yet you say you came from Camp Halfblood?”

Jason shifts his feet. “Umm…yes, Your Majesty.”

“And Hera sent you there…” the god’s eyes glitter with mirth. “I understand now. Oh, she plays a dangerous game. Bold, but dangerous! No wonder Olympus is closed. They must be trembling at the gamble she has taken.”

Gamble…that’s what Circe called Della. She called her Hera’s gamble.

“Jason,” Piper says nervously. She moves closer to Jason and Della. “Why did Boreas change form? The toga…the wreath. What’s going on?”

“It’s his Roman form,” Jason says. “But what’s going on…I have no clue.”

Aquilion laughs. “I’m sure you don’t this should be interesting to watch.”

“Does this mean you’ll let us go?” Piper asks.

“My Dear,” the god says, “There is no need for me to kill you. If Hera’s plan fails, and I do believe it shall, you’ll tear each other apart for me. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods ever again.”

Suddenly it felt like the room had gone down at least twenty degrees. Something else wrong was happening, something far bigger than Boreas letting them go or not.

“I don’t suppose you could explain?” Della asks. Though she’s starting to piece some of this together.

“Oh, perish the thought! It is not for I to interfere with Hera’s plan. No wonder she took the boy’s memory,” He laughs. He’s having a wondrous time imagining demigods tearing each other to shreds. “You know, I have a reputation as the helpful wind god. Unlike my brethren, I’ve been known to fall in love with mortals. Why my sons Zethes and Calais started as demigods–”

“Which explains why they are idiots,” Khione grumbles.

“Stop it!” Zethes bites. “Just because you were born a full goddess–”

“Both of you freeze,” Boreas says. He’d switched back to his Greek form.

Just like that the two siblings froze.

“Now as I was saying, I have a good reputation. It is rare that Boreas plays an important role in the affairs of the gods. I sit here at my palace, at the edge of civilization, and so rarely have amusements. Why even that fool Notus, the South Wind, gets spring break in Cancún. What do I get? A winter festival with naked Qúebécios in the snow!”

“I like the winter festival,” Zethes mutters.

“My point is,” Boreas snaps, “is I have not had the chance to be the center. Oh, yes, I will let you go on this quest. You will find the storm spirits in the Windy City–Chicago of course–”

“Father!” Khione protests.

Boreas ignores her. “If you capture the storm spirits, you may be able to gain entrance to the court of Aeolus. If by some miracle you succeed, be sure to tell him you captured the winds on my orders.”

“Of course Your Majesty,” Della says, “we’d be honored to comply.”

Boreas smiles at Della.

“So Chicago is where we’ll find the lady who’s controlling the winds? She’s the one who trapped Hera?” Jason asks.

“Ah, those are two different questions, Son of Jupiter,” Boreas says.

Jupiter…hmmm interesting

“The one who controls the winds,” Boreas says, “yes, you will find her in Chicago. But she is only a servant–a servant who is very likely to kill you. If you succeed against her and take the winds, then you may go to Aeolus. Only he has knowledge of all the winds of the Earth. All secrets come to his fortress eventually. If anyone can tell you where Hera is imprisoned it’s Aeolus. As for you’ll meet when you finally find Hera’s cage–trust me you’ll wish I froze you.”

“Father,” Khione protests, “You can’t just let them–”

“I can do what I like,” Boreas booms, “I am still the master here, aren’t I?”

The look he gives her it is clear there is an unspoken argument. Khione’s eyes flash with anger, she clenches her teeth.

“As you wish father.”

“Now go, demigods,” Boreas says, “before I change my mind. Zehtes escort them out safely.”

They all bow as the God of the North Wind dissolves into the mist.

⬳

Back in the entry hall, Cal and Leo stand waiting for them. Leo appears cold but unharmed. He’s even cleaned up, his clothes look newly washed as though he’d used the hotel’s valet service. Festus was once again in dragon form.

As Khione leads them down the stairs, Della notices Leo’s eyes follow the goddess. Leo starts combing his hair back with his hands. Della rolls her eyes. Boys.

At the bottom step, Khione turns to glare at Piper and Della who stand side by side. “You may have fooled my father girls, but not me. We are not done. And you, Jason Grace, I will see you as a statue in the throne room soon enough.”

“Boreas is right,” Jason says, “You are a spoiled brat. See you around, ice princess.”

Khione’s eyes flash pure white. She’s about to respond when–

“Enough you two,” Della says, “We need to go. Now.”

Khione forms ice in her hands which turns into water freezing her hands. Khione startles and looks up at Della.

Jason and Piper stare in amazement as Khione storms upstairs.

“Did you just–” Piper laughs.

“Manipulate water? Yeah, Daughter of Poseidon remember?” Della laughs.

“Be careful she never forgets an insult,” Zethes warns.

“Bad sister,” Cal agrees.

Leo looks devastated. “What happened up there? You made her mad? Is she mad at me too? Guys, that was my prom date!”

“We’ll explain later,” Piper says. The Daughter of Aphrodite looks at Jason.

Della had an idea of what happened in the throne room with Boreas shifting forms. If she was right how had they not known about all this sooner? Is this what Chiron swore on the River of Styx for?

The fact that Jason had been sent to camp amused him, and Boreas/Aquilion had not let them leave out of kindness. No, cruel amusement danced through his eyes like he’d placed a bet on a dogfight.

If Hera’s plan fails, and I do believe it shall, you’ll tear each other apart for me. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods ever again.

Jason looks away from Piper. He’s got that look similar to when Della took him to Chiron. The look of I shouldn’t be here.

“Yeah,” he says, “we’ll explain later.”

“Be careful pretty girls,” Zethes warns, “The winds between here and Chicago are bad-tempered. Many other evil things are stirring. I’m sorry you will not be staying. You would make lovely ice statues, in which I could check my reflection.”

“Thanks,” Piper says, “But I’d sooner play hockey with Cal.”

“Hockey?” Cal’s eyes lit up.

“She’s joking,” Della says, “Those storm spirits aren’t the worst of our problems are they?”

“Oh no,” Zethes says, “Something else. Something worse.”

‘Of course it is.”

“Can you tell me?” Piper tries.

The purple-winged Boreads shook their heads. The hangar opened onto a freezing starry night sky. Festus stomps his feet anxious to fly out of there.

“Thanks anyways,” Della says.

“Aeolus knows what is worse Adella Jackson,” Zethes says darkly, “Good luck.”

If Della didn’t know better she’s say he cared about the fates they may meet. If she had to guess empathy from when he was a demigod.

Cal pats Leo on the shoulder. “Don’t get destroyed.” The longest sentence by far. “Next time hockey. Pizza.”

“Aww, see Leo this wasn’t so bad you made a friend!” Della laughs.

“Shut up Katara!”

“Come on you guys,” Jason says, “Let’s go to Chicago and not get destroyed.” 

[echoe-back-from-the-void]

Supernatural x Twilight~ Pt.2

(Jasper multi shot)

(I’m sorry for the gif. But this is just so funny to me to write. I’m poisoning you with horrible fanfiction.)

| 1 | two | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

I drove down the road to the hospital and staked the place out. Sneaking inside to steal Dr Cullens schedule. He won’t be getting off for another hour so I waited in his car for him to leave. I waited laying down in the back of the car for him to get off. When he opened the door I held my machete to his neck.

“Vampire.”

“Are you the one my children are worried about.” The doctor asks calmly.

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t associate with fangers. How many are in your nest?”

“Just myself, my wife and children.”

I snort, “fangs don’t have kids. You’re Just monsters that run on blood and hunger.”

“We don’t. We’re different.” I press the blade closer. “We don’t feed off humans. We eat animals. See.” He nods his head to the mirror. His eyes shine a bright golden color. “Our coven are not killers. We hunt the woods. Boar, deer, mountain lion, one of my sons likes bear.” He appeals calmly.

I think it’s the calmness that throws me off. The certainty and softness in the way he speaks. Love for his children and wife. I Slip my thumb along the base of the blade and even as the blood pearls he doesn’t react. I nod and pull my blade back to me. “Must be a good enough vampire to be a doctor.” I concede before opening the door and leaving his vehicle. I hear the window opening behind me and turn my head.

“Will you come after me again?” The doctor asks.

“Not if I don’t have to and I don’t want to.” I run my hand over my face. “I don’t kill unless it threatens human lives or my family.”

I see him nod his head before he backs out of the parking lot and leaves down the stretch of road. Most likely driving home to his nest to inform his wife and then their kids.

I shake my head and scuff my boot. Dean would call me a softie. Technically I should kill the entire coven. They threaten Bella’s life, time and time again in the future. If they become a threat then I will kill them, no different than a case.

I go back to the motel I continued to stay at, reapplying seals and sigils that would prevent any supernatural entry. This is the last straw, I’ll leave in the morning.

Time skip ~~

Due to reasons, which I suspect are foul play, I was again stopped by Chief Swan and escorted back to the school. I figured that I would play along and as soon as he leaves, book it out of this place.

Unfortunately due to what I’ve coined as hunters luck, I was then mobbed by Angela, Jessica and Bella. Like a stampede I was herded into the school and into my classes.

I could feel a ‘Cullen stare’ in every class and it set off every instinct to fight. Durning lunch their stare was increased tenfold and while I was not outwardly affected. Mentally I was a tiger pacing a cage. Ready to rip and tear my way out.

I grit my teeth and angrily bowed my head over my tightly clasped fists. I had lasted this long, I was glad I chose to sit by myself because of what I did next.

Looking around the lunchroom for wayward glances I bent my head down and began praying.

"Castiel, Angel of the lord, Angel of Thursday's and travel. Please get me the fuck out of here or give me guidance." I whispered into my balled fists that were clenched so tightly they turned white. I gave it a minute before I shook my hands and clasped them again. "Gabriel, Lucifer. Or whatever Angel who's got the radio on, I'm calling in a favor. Please!" I said in agitation. I waited for something happen but nothing did. No lightning, ringing bells or shattered glass. “I swear if I make it out of this shit show alive…” I didn’t finish my sentence because Jasper hale turned to me.

His face said confusion while the rest of him was tensed. Chuck, if he didn’t look pretty when he’s confused—I shook my head before glaring and standing to leave. I left the lunchroom and could feel as I was being followed. Under my breath I whispered. “Follow me, and I’ll expose you as what you are. I have nowhere else to run.”

The person continued to follow me but with more slack. I nodded to myself before climbing up to the roof. I knew that just because I was on a roof didn’t mean they couldn’t get me. But that is where I stayed for the remainder of the day. There was a constant feeling of being watched but I ignored it in favor of planning.

I withdrew some knives and the gun I had strapped to myself and began to sharpen and inspect every piece. It was all I could do to keep myself still.

This felt like any regular hunt but more electric. Adrenaline running fast enough to make my heart explode while being so calm I could plan seven different outcomes on a dime. When the bell rang I took that as signal to leave. I easily jumped off the roof and landed into a barrel roll before dusting myself off and making my way to my stolen vehicle. I tried starting the vehicle and was unsurprised when It didn’t start.

Bella came running over to see, “hey is everything alright? Do you need a ride?”

I put on my best easy going smile. “It’s alright. I just gotta Pop the hood and fix it. Happens all the time.” I lied easily.

I pretended to work on my car for the next thirty minutes while cars continued to clear out of the parking lot until it was only me and the Cullens.

I chuffed before turning around and leaning against my car. The short pixie, Alice and Edwardo began to walk toward me from their cars. I rolled my eyes and tilted my head mockingly. “My place or yours?”

Alice seemed to brush off the sarcasm and smiled blindingly. “Wed love for you to join us at our house so we can clear everything up.”

I reached behind me and scratched my head. “Rather not. See I told your coven leader that I would leave you alone. As long as you aren’t a threat to humans or my family. That sounded like a threat, pixie stix” I held the machete infront of me so they would stop their approach. “I’m obviously not being rescued so you know what, I don’t give two helleva shits what you do. I want out this town. Give me back my radiator cap.” I said waving the blade nonchalant.

“Emmet.” Edwardo said and soon the tall one had broken my machete. I looked between the broken blade and the lumbering giant before snarling.

“You son of a bitch!” I growled out, I could feel my adreniline spike before I lunged for him. Grappling him to the ground as we began to fight. I punched his torso while grabbing his arm and pulling him so he would roll over my back. I felt something crack in his arm and I held my foot over his throat when he was laying flat on the ground. The fight stalled before he pushed my foot off and we began to fight again. He picked me up and threw me. I stoped my fall by landing on all fours. Before I could lunge for him again I was held back by another pair of arms. I looked behind me to glance short golden hair.

“Let me go cowboy!” I growled while struggling. I could feel him falter before holding me tighter.

“Our family just wants to talk, Ma’am.” He responded in a unused voice, Texan accent thick.

“Yeah right, heard that shit before! I don’t care what you fuckers do to this town!” My adrenaline began to falter and I sank in his arms. “I just wanna go home. This game isn’t funny anymore.” I whined.

I was then led into a car with cowboy, emmet and Rosalie. I sat with my head back in the seat as I just drifted in my depression. We got to their home in under two minutes which didn’t surprise me at the speed they drove.

Jasper held my arm as he led me into the house where I was greeted by a smiling auburn woman. “Hello, I’m their mother Esme.”

Not outwardly responding I bowed my head lightly in greeting. I was led further into the house to a living room and asked to sit. I didn’t fight, I had lost all fight. I sat on the couch with my legs apart while I sank back and let my head rest over the back so I could examine the ceiling.

“Would you like anything to eat or drink?” Esme asked politely.

“Nothing against your hospitality but no thank you.” I said monotonously.

I did not talk no matter how they tried to coerce me. They don’t seem the type for torture and so I waited for their maker. Strangely, the cowboy, Jasper. Continued to sit beside me.

Everyone jumped to attention listening to the sound of the Good Doctor’s car and then the clinking as he unlocked the front door and then entered the living room.

I rolled my head to face forward and leaned over my knees to address him. “Good evening doctor Drac.” I said sarcastically.

“I really prefer Carlisle.” He said smoothly.

“I really don’t care. Due to interference I’m still stuck here. I could’ve been gone by morning but someone sent a Smokey after me.”

“I wanted to talk to you again.”

“I didn’t.”

“My family and I want to make it clear we are not a threat to humans. We can coexist peacefully.”

I waved my hand for him to stop. “Look Nosferatu, I don’t care. I’ve let fangers go before. There was a woman, Lenore, her coven fed on cows blood. We let her and her coven leave.” Under my breath I mumbled, “tried to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rosalie asked venomously.

“Was another hunter. Had it out for all fangs, kidnapped her and tempted her with blood. At first she was bloodthirsty before she began to reject it. Fucker killed her anyway, nothing me or my brothers could’ve done.”

“Are these the same brothers you call everyday before school? Sam and Dean?” Alice spoke up.

I jumped up ready to fight her when jaspers arm came across my midsection and pulled me down again.

“She meant no offense.” He said softly when he had me seated again. Calmness began to blanket me in a way that made me angry.

“Don’t patronize me, cowboy.” I said heatedly.

“Earlier you said you didn’t want to play this game anymore? What game?” Edwardo asked taking my attention away from Jasper.

I chuffed before turning to the coven leader, “got any whiskey?”

“Aren’t you…”

“I’m 22, yeah, I look 16 going on 17. I just went with it when the cop picked me up. Wasn’t gonna waste my fake IDs on some Smokey.” I said cutting him off. In a flash he was back with a glass of whiskey. I kindly accepted it before throwing it back without pause. “Better than any dive bar.” I rolled my neck as I felt it kicking in. A sudden feeling of trust and family began to bleed into the blanket calmness. I turn to the person in question. “Don’t toy with my emotions, I know what your doing.”

I turned back to the doctor. “Want the beginning beginning or just cliff notes?”

“The beginning please.”

“I was born in a family of two hunters, in a world unlike your own. Monsters roam the earth, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, djinn, wendigos, skin walkers.” I paused.

“I wasn’t raised like the other kids, most hunters have a kid and wanna settle down, leave that life. Bout as easy as leaving the mafia. My parents didn’t want to settle down. I was raised from the age of four to carry a gun with silver shells and rock salt rounds, a blade and holy water. I had exorcisms and monster research for bedtime stories. I killed my first ghost at five.” I said proudly. “Like I said the life was hard to leave but having a kid with you just makes you a bigger target. They died in a werewolf attack around 8 and I went on to bounce around with other hunters until I started going solo around 14. Nothing to big, I looked pretty young so I couldn’t really do the whole, ‘I’m a cop, tell me everything’. Just went and killed things, helping people. Met the Winchesters after Dean got out of hell. Went for sellin his soul for Sammy. I’d join them on a couple hunts and met some of their big Bads.” I smiled widely. “Some of em didn’t like me too much. Crowley, the king of hell, oooh we have fun. Shot me in the shoulder, got em back some.”

“There was Gabriel, of course at the time he was under witness protection as Loki. He likes games, made us relive the same day over and over and over again while dean died over and over. A real Groundhog Day. Then put us all in a rolling commercial. Archangel’s got juice to create separate realities and stuff. But I think we’re on truce with him.”

“Archangel, hell? Like the hell?” Carlisle asked in confusion.

“H-e-double hockey stix, doc. All real, never been of course. And the angels are real too, great bag of dicks with wings, cept Cas. Castiel pulled dean out of the pit, of course that started the apocalypse; but semantics ya know. Then there was Lucifer rising.”

“You called out to him and them in the cafeteria?” Alice asked.

“I’m tired of their games. I want to go home. I want out of this warped reality! I want—my brothers.” I said defeatedly. “We were on a ghoul hunt, nasty bitches, and we had just finished and were walking to baby, my brothers car, when I’m no longer with them. I’m on the road outside your town and I just keep walking. I call every number! And I get nothing! I thought I was just on the other side of the country. I tell myself; they’ll come for me. And if this is some kidnapping then I can wait to find my captor, I can play along. My brothers will come find me.” I end softly.

“If it was Crowley, he’d have come to gloat by now or play cards at least. If it was Loki there would be more candy and mischief. That leaves dear old Satan. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s held me captive.”

“Why do you keep saying that? Held you captive. Your not captive. Your.” Edward asked.

“Your missing the best part, edweird, this is a prison world. You all are characters from a book series geared toward young adults. The love story of Edward and Bella.” I say laughingly before sobering up. “Never read the damn books, was too busy. Dean saw the movies because some chick made him watch it.” I snorted. “Didn’t realize I was even in the book until you stopped Bella’s car. I was so pissed! Me in some pansy ass vampire romance novel. Fucking shoot me.” I snarled the last sentence. I looked disapprovingly at the empty glass and regretted shooting it back. “Can I have more?”

Esme looked disapprovingly but Carlisle did refill my glass. I tipped it toward the matriarch. “I promise you I’m not getting sloshed off two glasses, no matter how old it is.” I sipped the glass in appreciation.

“You called us fangs, and fangers?” Jasper said from beside me. His family continually watched him when he would move or shift. Wincing when he had pulled me back down earlier.

“Ya know, fangers, vampires?” I put my fingers over my mouth in mock fangs. “Fangs.”

He showed no outward reaction so I leaned over and lifted the corner of his lip. I blinked in confusion, when I lifted higher and did it see the cavity where the teeth extended from. “Say ah and hold this.” I handed him my whiskey and put my finger further in his mouth, poking and prodding for fangs. I pulled back in disbelief. “Seriously?! What kind of vampire hadn’t got fangs?! That’s inconvenient as all hell! So what you just slurpy the vein?” I fell back into the couch and gazing at the ceiling and grumbled. “I fucking hate twilight.”

I turn to the doctor, he had a tense expression and was watching Jasper out the corner of his eyes. “What?”

“It’s Just, Jasper is the newest to our diet and—“

“You think he’ll attack me?” I snorted. “I’d put cowboy on his ass.”

“She could, Carlisle.” Emmet said before shows casing his arm that had spiderwebbing cracks running through it. “She can crack us.”

“Wicked.” I said nonchalantly.

“Not wicked, you shouldn’t be able to do that!” Rosalie argued. “We should kill her and be done with it.”

“Come at me grease monkey.” I threatened.

Again Jasper distracted me by handing me back my glass and trying to calm me with his ability. I began to explain myself “In my world, you don’t crack, the only way to kill a fang is to behead them, preferably with a machete. You broke my machete so I said fuck it and started fighting. Not first time I’ve been out of options.” I sipped the drink again. “No matter what happens on a hunt, you don’t give up until the monster is dead. Too many good hunters get caught and killed by the things we hunt. It’s a cycle. As many hunters die, new hunters are born. Some because they seen the things that go bump and others who just want answers.”

Alice perked up and flounced toward me making me tense. “You said your brother had watched the movies. So that means you know what happens next.”

“I know you got some royalty, I’d compare that to the alpha vampire. I know Bella and edweird get together, married, have a kid. Something is going down with the natives, you got beef with them. There’s a war, two actually. One against newborns and another against the royals, but dean said It was a premonition and then there was no war.” I rubbed my forehead. “I didn’t pay attention he would just keep talking about the chick and her—” I shook my head and leaned back “never mind.”

“We aren’t real?” Jasper asked in confusion.

“You are, that’s the wonder of the multiverse theory. Every story is another world, with its own rules. Your reality is as real as mine. This isn’t some fever dream, I really am in another reality, it’s not impossible, told you that archangel’s have the juice for things like that.” I swirled the liquid in the glass as I thought over my next words. “I’ve been here a month, I laid low, I stayed put. I prayed for fuck sake. If I make it out of here I’m gonna shoot chuck, that’d be nice.”

“Chuck?”

“God. Ya know big G.” I snorted and took a deep gulp of the amber liquid that tasted like honey. “God is a disappoint, if any of you were praying when you were alive, then you were wasting breath.” I chuckled to myself as I held my hand over my mouth to muffle my amusement. “God left after the first ‘pocalypse, couldn’t stand the fighting. God’s been absent since the beginning.” I said sardonically.

“You’ve met god?” Edward said with extreme skepticism.

“Met him? We thought he was a fucking prophet!! He was masquerading as a man named Chuck Shurly while he wrote books about my brothers. Dean was pissed when he found out that every little thing they did was being written for the masses. Their blood shed and pain were broadcast and mocked! My brothers ain’t perfect but for someone to write down their darkest moments like that—” I ran my hand over my face. “Chuck is lucky to have his head.” I said darkly.

“Your world, do you know how to get back?” Carlisle asked.

“I might. Go back to the source. Look for markings or any disturbances.” I looked outside the numerous windows to find it was already dark. “That can wait for tomorrow. For now I just wanna go back to my motel and watch reruns of M*A*S*H while I paint my tonsils.” I stood up and tipped back the last of my drink before setting it on the table and approaching Rosalie. “I’d like my radiator cap back?” I said holding out my hand.

“How do you know I took it?” She sneered.

“I know a grease monkey when I see em.” I answered and then the cap was back in my hand. “Thanks.”

“Will you be leaving town?” Jasper asked as he sped to my side.

“Don’t see how I can. I see you as much as you see me. We are at an impasse. Your coven is not a threat to me and I’m not a threat to you. But you wouldn’t let me leave even if I wanted too. I say I’ll keep your secret but you have no reason to trust me.”

“So, you will be staying?” Jasper asked again.

“For the time being. Cmon cowboy, you’re driving me back to my car.” I said pulling his collar as I walked.

“That might not be the best idea. Jasper—” Carlisle began.

“I’m fine.” Jasper added quickly and his hand hovered behind me, not quite touching as he led me out the door.

His hand never came in contact with my back even as he led me to the car and opened my door. Soon we were barreling down the dirt road and back to the school.

I had my hand on the door and he was already opening it from the other side. “Charming.” I said sarcastically. “I always knew Chivalry was dead.” I joked and he quirked a smile.

I walked to my car and popped the hood and began to maneuver the cap back on. I had expected him to excuse himself and leave but he didn’t. He stood beside my hood as he watched me work with rapt attention. “It’s Not like it’ll blow up.” I said raising my eyebrow at his strange behavior.

“You know what your doing.” He explained.

“Course I do. Dean would have a fit if my car wasn’t in tip too shape. Keeps his the same too, he drives a 1967 Chevy Impala. Badest car ever. When I first joined em he would show me how to tune up a car because he wanted me to get my own. Found a Chevrolet chevelle and he helped me fix it up till it was road ready. Sammy doesn’t like old cars as much, so Dean was always happy to show me how to fix them and make them new again. It was—is my favorite memory of my brothers.” I paused before backing up. “Move your hands.” Was the only warning I gave the vampire before I shut the hood.

I walked to the driver door and started the engine with a smile. “She may be stolen but that’s no excuse to neglect her.” I turned to the cowboy who had continued to keep me company. I pondered the actions he took today and recently. While I did feel an attraction to the honey haired male I did not feel ambition to per-sue such novelty. I closed my driver side door and he walked closer to my open window to talk more.

“Could I accompany you to your lodgings?” He asked with a near pout.

“Lodgings? Cowboy I’m going to a bar before I go home. Unless you want to buy my whiskey, go home.” I said thinking he would back down.

Instead he chose to flash to my passenger side and open the door. “You vampires are unbelievable.” I muttered before putting the truck in gear.

[christian-perspectives]

Trust The Lord, For He Still Rules

I trust in the Lord for protection. Psalm 11:1 Has a trusted friend ever given you good advice, but it just didn't feel right to you? In Psalm 11, David received that type of advice, probably from a close advisor. We don't have a clear historical setting of the event David faced in this Psalm. But he followed up his comment in this verse by repeating the advice he had received. So why do you say to me, "Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety! Psalm 11:1 I'm sure this advisor gave him sound advice, but it just didn't sit well with David. Even in his youth, he chose to face danger instead of running from it. Look at what he told King Saul. But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 1 Samuel 17:34-35 Young David wanted to convince Saul to let him go up against Goliath. When Goliath saw the Israelites send a boy out, laughing, he vowed to kill him. But David didn't face the giant alone. David replied to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 1 Samuel 17:45

Our Enemies Prepare for Battle

In the second verse, David acknowledged the wickedness of his enemies and their preparations for battle. He also revealed their battle plan. The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right. Psalm 11:2 In plain words, he told us that wicked people will try to destroy the righteous. David, however, repeatedly put his total trust in God, as we can see in these other Psalms. - End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God. God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. Psalm 7:9-10 - You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have erased their names forever. Psalm 9:5 - The wicked think, "God isn't watching us! He has closed his eyes and won't even see what we do!" Arise, O Lord! Punish the wicked, O God! Do not ignore the helpless! Psalm 10:11-12 - Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. Psalm 97:11 The wicked one still hunts the children of God. He still shoots his arrows from the shadows; yes, the shadows called sin. But like David, we too, can keep our trust in the Lord. David faced his enemies and fought them with swords and spears. He often overtook them or sent them on the run. Unlike him, we fight an unseen enemy. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

Don't Fear the Enemy, Trust the Lord

The shadows our enemy hides in are called deceit and deception. And trying to fight him on your own only spells disaster. The Lord provides His armor for our use when we trust Him. A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11 As we continue to examine Psalm 11, we come to a pivotal verse not only for David but also for us. But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. Psalm 11:4 Someone once said, "Has it occurred to you that nothing ever occurs to God?" We can trust Him and know that the Lord sees everything we do and everything done to us. When something happens to you, good or bad, God doesn't say, "I'm sorry, I didn't see that." No! He closely watches everything about everyone. That includes you! In his first epistle, Peter told us to give all our worries and cares to God. In other words, trust Him because the Lord cares about you. Continuing in Psalm 11, look what else David said. In verse 5, he says, "The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked." Then, he divided the two groups, describing how the Lord felt about them. First, he mentioned the wicked. He hates those who love violence. He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds. Psalm 11:5-6 I wouldn't want to fill the shoes of anyone in that type of love/hate relationship, especially with those consequences. They sound somewhat like eternal hell. Finally, he talks about the virtuous.

The Lord Loves Justice

For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face. Psalm 11:7 Let's define the word virtuous. The dictionary says that a virtuous person conforms to moral and ethical principles. One person defined it like this; "Virtuous is "good" with a halo." Even though it differed from ours in many ways, David's life also had many similarities. David had enemies; we have an enemy. Wicked people surrounded him; they surround us, too. David might have been tempted to run, but like him, where would we run to? David knew how to trust the Lord. We too, can put our total trust in the Lord as well. Lord, we trust you because you closely watch over our every move. As you rule from your throne, thank you for protecting us from the wicked one. Check out these related posts about putting your trust in the Lord. - When Out of Your Comfort Zone, Trust God - How to Trust God in Difficult Circumstances - Put Your Trust In The Lord - Trust In The Lord, He Will Never Fail You - Don't Worry About Tomorrow - How To Trust God When You've Had Enough Read the full article

[talkingattumble]

Where I live it’s mostly coyotes and mountain lions as the predators to look out for. And I’d say mountain lion. With coyotes, with a pack they can (and mostly will) be deadly but at least you can climb a tree, lock yourself in a house, that kinda stuff. And if it’s a single coyote just bang trash lids together, don’t get close to it, that kinda stuff. But mountain lions. Just say your goodbyes. They usually don’t bother humans, but if you get too much into their territory or too beer to their cubs. You can not outrun it. You CAN not outrun it. No matter how fast you think you are. Not to mention, they are masters at camouflage and moving carefully so chances are you won’t even see it until it’s too late. And chances are it’ll kill you with one bite to the neck. Done. No fight. It can climb, too. Crazy fast. Sure, there are ways to prevent an attack, like staying low and quiet, and never turning your back, slowly backing away). But when it is already attacking, chances are you will not have the time or strength to do anything. Sure people say “throw things at it! Use something to shield yourself!” But I don’t know if you’ll even have time to grab a rock when 200 pounds of muscle and teeth is running towards you at 45 miles per hour.

However, it’s extremely rare to be attacked by a mountain lion. So I guess that lowers the danger.

Bears also seem pretty dangerous but I can’t really comment on them because I don’t live TOO near them (they live in my state, just not really near where I live) and I’ve only seen a wild bear in person once. But I will say, at least you can see a bear coming. Also there’s an 86% chance of surviving a bear attack, but only a 39% chance of surviving a mountain lion attack (because apparently bears usually don’t attack humans to kill).

Oh and disclaimer because I know there’s always someone who will misinterpret this kind of stuff: mountain lions are not evil! They are not bad! They don’t have any sense of morals and literally cant be morally corrupt. Same goes for coyotes. Do not use this as a reason or excuse to hate mountain lions or coyotes. Do not use this as proof or evidence that mountain lions are bad.

A BEAR ATE MY BEST HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER.

Rude.

[fandom-puff]

Family, Duty, Honour (p2)

Pairing: Tyrion Lannister x reader

Warnings: pregnancy/pregnancy symptoms including vomiting, prejudice towards dwarfism (discussion as to whether Tyrion and YN’s child will inherit his dwarfism; not a widely accepted condition in Westeros), childbirth, details of the death of Joanna Lannister (dying in childbirth/traumatic birth), reference to miscarriage

(Part 1)

Gif creds to owner

“Pardon me, Milord,”

Both Tywin and Tyrion turned around to see a young girl, one of your handmaidens, hurrying towards them, remembering a clumsy curtsey in her haste.

“Speak,” Lord Tywin said sternly, and the girl paled briefly before turning instead to his son.

“It’s Lady YN,” she said, and Tyrion instantly stood up straighter, even more on edge. “She’s… sick, my Lord. Can’t keep anything in her stomach, and just now she fainted,”

“Where is she?” Tyrion asked urgently.

“Her bedchamber, Milord. We got a squire to help her back into bed,”

As Tyrion made to hurry after the girl, Tywin’s hand rested firmly on his shoulder. “I will send the maester. He will prove whether or not you have done your duty to this family,”

***

“YN, my dear, can you hear me?”

Slowly, your heavy eyelids slid open, and you turned your head to the source of the noise. Smiling weakly, you squeezed your husband of two month’s hand.

“Are you alright, my lady wife,” he asked you gently, brushing his lips over your knuckles.

“I’m fine. I just got a little dizzy. Must have stood up too quickly,” you said gently, but you did not soothe Tyrion’s worry.

“Your handmaiden said you’ve been ill?” He prompted, and your cheeks heated slightly.

“It’s probably just… my women’s troubles,” you said quietly, still unused to talking about such delicate matters with anyone other than an old septa.

“Or lack thereof, lady Lannister?” The maester spoke up from the end of your bed and you frowned, about to say there really was no need for all this fuss. “The maids say your linen has been clean since your wedding night,”

Clean linen.

Those two words instantly reminded you of when Cousin Cat came to stay at Riverrun with her brooding husband. She had stayed for over a month, and halfway through her stay, you heard gossip of clean linen as you wandered the corridors of your home. Later on that year, she had birthed another child for Ned Stark.

“Does that mean…” you began.

The wisened maester smiled at your bewilderment. “Potentially. If my Lord and Lady are agreeable, I would like to examine lady Lannister to be certain,”

Tyrion smiled gently and kissed your hand once more. “I will give you some privacy, my dear,” he said, and once you nodded, he left the room to bang on the door to his father’s office.

***

“Have you put a babe in her belly?”

Tyrion rolled his eyes at his father’s callousness. “She is being examined as we speak,”

“Good,” Tywin said, hardly looking up from his paperwork. “You’d best hope she is with child and not ill. There aren’t many noble families willing to pawn off a daughter to us,” Tywin sighed and gestured to the chair opposite his desk. “Sit,” he said. “You clearly have something more to say,”

Tyrion was silent for a moment. “I do not want to lose her. She is young. Too young for… this,”

“She is only a few years younger than you. And besides, that didn’t stop you consummating the marriage, did it?”

If anything went on in Casterly rock, Tywin Lannister certainly knew about it within a day.

“No, it didn’t,” Tyrion said. You were nineteen after all, and you had consummated your marriage out of duty to your families.

The night-time visits, on the other hand…

“I’m scared that a baby will… that it will kill her,” Tyrion blurted out, and he could have sworn he saw some semblance of sympathy flash through his father’s eyes. “I am scared that my child will be too much like me. That it will rip her in two and kill her. That it won’t even live in her womb. That it will suffer. That… that she will suffer,”

Tywin stared long and hard at his youngest son, his bastard in all but name as far as he was concerned and sighed. “So am I,” was all he said, before gesturing to the door. And as he left the office, Tyrion knew that Tywin did not care for your suffering, for his suffering, or even for the child’s suffering. He cared only that his legacy remained.

***

Casterly Rock was alive with gossip.

No matter which corridor you walked down, people would stare, both openly and discretely at your belly, which barely showed thanks to the layers you wore (Tyrion insisted you wrapped up warm whenever you walked through the gardens, lest you catch a chill). You could not go a day without the maester inquiring about your general health, and when your swollen ankles were brought to your husband’s attention, he had the cobblers fashion you a pair of comfortable, yet fashionable flat shoes.

***

You were laying in your husband’s bed one night on the sixth moon of your pregnancy, a hand resting on your bump. “Leave the books, husband, and come to bed. I need you to tell your child to stop kicking me so we can all go to sleep. He seems to only listen to you,” Tyrion looked up from his books and sighed, shutting them over and coming to bed, his hand resting over yours. “You’ve gained a sudden interest in midwifery, I see,” you teased, but when he did not smile at your jest, you frowned. “What’s bothering you, husband?” You said gently.

“I…” Tyrion fumbled for the words, his eyes firmly on your belly. “I am frightened, YN,” he said quietly. “That the baby will… will have… will be a little too much like me.”

Of course. You cursed yourself for not even thinking that this could be plaguing your husband. You clasped Tyrion’s hand in yours. “Tyrion… even if the baby is born a dwarf, we will not treat him the way your father treated you,” you insisted, drawing small circles on the back of his hands.

“But what if it kills you like I killed my mother,” your heart ached for him, and you tipped his chin up to face you.

“Then you must promise me to love this child regardless,”

Tyrion’s heart ached. Neither of you had wanted this marriage, yet in the few short months you had been wed he had become fond of you, affectionate. He wanted to protect you from the horrors of a kingdom still reeling from the Rebellion that saw the end of the Mad King. He wanted to see you happy and comfortable and healthy. He would spend all of the gold in Casterly Rock to ensure your safety, despite the fact that your marriage was merely one of strategy arranged by his father and your uncle. You were still his wife, the most precious thing in his life.

But over the past nine months, he could do nothing to alleviate your discomfort. He could only hold back your hair and rub your back as you vomited, the only thing you could seemingly keep in your stomach was dried bread. When you could manage dining anywhere but your chambers, he ordered for the things that turned your stomach to be kept well away. When your legs and feet ached, he could only rub them in hopes of soothing the throbbing. When the baby kicked like mad at night, he rubbed your swollen belly so that you could rest, if only for a few moments at a time.

He watched as the veritable mountain that was your bump sapped you of your energy, and he knew there was nothing he could do to restore it.

And when the time came for you to birth the child, he knew his heart would ache even more as you laboured for hours in agony, with him unable to do anything to take the pain away.

***

You went into labour at night, your sharp gasp of pain as you heaved yourself out of bed waking your husband.

“My dear, are you alright?” He asked urgently, not groggy despite the fact he had been snoring like a boar just thirty seconds prior. As he lit a candle, he saw you grasping onto one of the bedposts, lips pressed together, suppressing your groan. “I will be back in a moment, YN, okay? I’m going to get help,”

“Hurry,”

True to his word, Tyrion returned a few moments later with a few sleepy maids and a septa, who laid fresh linen over the bed and began to send for boiling water. The maester was hot on their heels, scrambling to loop his chains over his neck, before shooing Tyrion and the maids out of the room.

Your groans and cries of pain permeated the walls of your bedchamber and down the hallways of Casterly Rock, and by sunrise, coins were being exchanged on the outcome of your labour. The smallfolk crowded near the walls of the castle, eager to call out prayers in hopes that the rich old lions felt generous after the birth.

Tyrion paced just outside of the room you were in, and every time a maid went in with fresh, boiled water and clean linen or came out with bloodstained cloths and empty bowls, he asked urgently how you were doing, but no one gave him an answer.

The septa left the birthing room, walking straight past the father of your child to… the grandfather. They talked in quick, hushed voices, that could not be heard over your pained cries, but Tyrion caught the two of them looking over their shoulder at him several times.

As the septa went back into the birthing room, Tywin walked over to Tyrion. He seemed to be in no apparent rush, his steps stately. Tyrion resisted the urge to scream at his father, to curse him for tormenting him while you laboured.

“When you were brought into the world,” he began, voice level and low, so Tyrion had to strain to hear what he was saying. “You were born, for lack of a better term, arse first. But then your shoulders got stuck inside the womb, and when you finally emerged, you dragged half of your mother’s womb out with you,”

Both men paled. Not only were they weak stomached when it came to the secretive world of a birthing chamber, but Tywin was plagued with memories from twenty or so years before, and Tyrion was plagued with guilt for killing his mother when he was a newborn, and fear that his child would do the same to you.

Tywin continued. “But the Septa has reported that the child is being born head first, as it should,” Tyrion nodded slowly. Tywin was about to continue when the door opened again.

“Pardon, Milords,” a maid carrying an armful of bloodied linen said. “Lady YN has asked for Lord Tyrion to… support her. The maester has permitted it, so long as Milord stays at the top end of the bed,”

Tyrion was frozen for a moment.

“Go,” Tywin said lowly, giving his son a small shove. “Your lady wife needs you now,”

Tyrion looked over his shoulder, and he was sure he could see a small glimmer of… sympathy in his father’s eye. Kindness even. And it was this look, paired with the shift in the way you screamed that had him running into the birthing chamber.

“Tyrion!” You sobbed, one hand reaching for him, the other reaching above you to grasp at the headboard. One of your trusted hand maids, who you had brought with you from Riverrun was at your other side, pressing a cool cloth to your forehead. Tyrion hurried to your other side, just in time for the maester to tell you to push, and the child was at last parted with your body.

All was silent for a tense few moments, until sharp cries filled the room. You could hear the cheering from the corridors.

“A boy, my lady,” the maester called out, and you sobbed for joy. “A healthy son. A little on the delicate side-”

“Is he-”

“No. He is not like you, my Lord. I delivered you and your siblings, and your son is exactly the size your brother was when he was born,”

“Can I hold him?” You whispered, your arms reaching out.

“Of course, my lady. He is your son,”

The child was handed to you, nuzzled against the bare skin of your breasts, his little cries soon petering out to soft snuffles of sleep. The maester left to deliver the good news to the Lord of Casterly Rock, but your world consisted only of Tyrion and your son.

“He’s perfect,” he said, letting out a relieved laugh. “And he’s going to tower over me when he’s a man grown,” You gave a laugh, happy tears streaming down your cheeks as you rested your head on his shoulder. Tyrion pressed his lips to your temple. “You wonderful, wonderful woman, I love you,” he murmured. “I swear to you on the old gods and the new that I will protect you and my son from all harm,”

You rubbed your son’s back gently, not wanted to disturb his sleep and you looked up to your husband. “Thank you,” you whispered. Tyrion, my Lord husband. My love,”

Tags: @sociallyawkward-princess @lazyotakujen @janelongxox @honeyofthegods @lxoxtxtxi @fullmoonshadowwrites

[wicked-storybrooke]

Alice Jones/Curious Archer/Knightrook Musical Theatre Playlist

So, @fairytalepsuedonym​​​​ has been making some really wonderful song analyses in regards to how they relate to Knightrook. Y’all should check them out! It reminded me that for a long time I’ve been wanting to make an Alice Jones musical theatre playlist (because I’m a musical nerd). I thought I’d share with y’all and add some of my thoughts on how each song pertains to her and her loved ones’ story! Some songs fit more loosely than others. But yeah, it’s just a bit of angsty fun! Enjoy, if this is your thing! I may add to it in the future.

Here’s the full playlist!

Alice Jones

Once Upon A December- Anastasia: Tilly’s memories of her life as Alice coming back to her

Home- Beauty and the Beast: Alice accepting the tower as her home

Charming- Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812: Drizella seducing/manipulating Alice in Wonderland

Into the Unknown- Frozen 2: Alice contemplating whether to take seize her opportunity to escape and struggling with her mental health as her power grows.

Show Yourself- Frozen 2: Alice realising that the power to escape was within her all along

Monster- Frozen the Musical: Tilly after the Baker has been killed

Let it Out- The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: The duality of Alice and Tilly. Alice’s true memories and personality trying to come to the the surface, initially confusing and horrifying Tilly

Lifeboat- Heathers the Musical: Tilly lamenting the fact that she is unaccepted by everyone

Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)- Heathers the Musical (suicide mention tw): Alice defeating Gothel

Stay With Me- Into the Woods: Gothel trying to convince Tilly to join her coven

Out There- The Hunchback of Notre Dame the Musical: Alice imagining what life is like outside her tower once her father has left

My Lullaby- The Lion King 2: Gothel trying to recruit Tilly to her cause

I Miss the Mountains- Next to Normal: Tilly contemplating life without her pills

In My Own Little Corner- Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella 1997: Alice alone in her tower, left with nothing but her imagination

The Mirror-Blue Night- Spring Awakening (Deaf West): No one understanding what goes on in Alice/Tilly’s head

Those You’ve Known- Spring Awakening (Deaf West): Tilly off her pills and Alice’s persona and memories slipping in, painfully reminding her that Wish Hook and Robin are lost to her as hallucinations of them try to reassure her

To Have A Home- AVPS: Alice/Tilly finally feeling at home in the world after all she’s been through

Coolest Girl- AVPS: Alice/Tilly believing in herself

No Way- AVPS: The heroes vs Gothel

Do You Want to Play?- Black Friday: Gothel taunting Alice in the tower in her nightmares or otherwise playing mind games

What if Tommorow Comes- Black Friday: Tilly knowing that everyone is wearing masks and having memories that no one else understands

Finishing the Hat- Sunday in the Park With George: Alice watching the world outside her tower as she can do nothing but paint, beginning to feel that it was inevitable her father would leave her or otherwise still feeling like she’s seperated from the world even after she’s escaped and feeling like Robin won’t stick by her because she sees the world so differently

Mother Knows Best (Reprise)- Tangled: Gothel/Eloise taunting Alice/Tilly about Margot

The Starry Night- Starry The Musical: How Tilly/Alice sees the world

On The Verge- Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown: Tilly/Alice having a breakdown

Invisible- Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown: Tilly feeling invisible. And lamenting the loss of the father in her false memories and what happened in her past

Down the Hole- Alice By Heart: Alice in Wonderland

Chillin’ the Regrets- Alice By Heart: Alice calmly drowning in her regrets in Wonderland perhaps under the influence of the catterpillar’s smoke

The Key is - Alice By Heart: Alice realising the key to escaping the tower was in her all along and resfusing to let the hope of finding her Papa go

Manage Your Flamingo - Alice By Heart: Alice chilling with the bizzare inhabitants of Wonderland

Sick To Death of Alice-ness - Alice By Heart: The way the world treats Tilly/Alice and the way she sees herself at those points in her life. Her also imagining that even her Papa/Rogers wouldn’t want her near them.

Another Room in Your Head- Alice By Heart: Alice saying goodbye to her loved ones before the curse

Isn't It A Trial? - Alice By Heart: Alice getting older in her tower, trying to hold onto the good parts of her childhood, feeling further and further away from ever escaping

Do You Think We Think You’re Alice?- Alice By Heart: Headcanon that Alice inadvertently conjured Wonderland into existence with her magic while in her tower and the figures in her imagination taking an antagonistic life of their own

I’ve Shrunk Enough- Alice By Heart: Alice/Tilly fighting back against the world that’s bee cruel to her, especially against Gothel/Eloise

Winter Blooms- Alice By Heart: Alice choosing to see the glass half full

The Web I Spin for You- Nightmare Time: Gothel haunting and using Alice, especially to enact her spell.

Knightrook

Pierre- Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812: Wish Hook after he's seperated from Alice

The Duel- Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812: Wish Hook’s life spiralling out of control after losing Alice and reminising about the dual that led to the seperation

Dust and Ashes- Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812: Wish Hook after being seperated from Alice, deciding to resume searching for a cure.

You Gotta Die Sometime- Falsettos: Wish Hook coming to terms with the fact that being in Alice’s presence is slowly killing him and feeling like he’s been dealt an unfair hand when it comes to just wanting to be with his daughter

The Next Right Thing- Frozen 2: Alice immediately after her father is banished from the tower

Not Your Seed- The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: Wish Hook hallucinating about what Alice will become with the potential influence of Gothel now that he’s been banished from her

Ten Duel Commandments- Hamilton: It’s the ‘Knightfall’ duel!

Dear Theodosia- Hamilton: Wish Hook looking upon his baby daughter

No More- Into the Woods: Wish Hook giving up

I Dreamed a Dance/There’s A World- Next To Normal (suicide mention tw): Wish Hook hallucinating that Alice is there with him before Ariel saves his life

Missing You- AVPM: Alice and Killian missing each other from a distance

If I Believed- Twisted: Wish Hook thinking that Alice is dead but believing in his heart that she is alive

If I Fail You- Black Friday: Wish Hook’s fear of failing Alice again

Lost Without You- The Trail to Oregon!: Alice missing her dad as she searches the realms for a cure

On the Threshold of Eternity- Starry the Musical: Alice and Wish Hook alone and falling apart without each other

Before the Breakdown- We Are the Tigers: Wish Hook’s addiction

West of Words- Alice By Heart: Alice and her father’s imagination in the tower

Still- Alice By Heart: Killian and Alice’s limited time together after she escapes or the version of him her imagination conjures after he’s banishing reminding her that he can’t stay forever.

Brillig Braelig- Alice By Heart: Fighting against the fear and guilt of her fathers cursed condition

Some Things Fall Away- Alice By Heart: Alice coming to terms with losing her father

Your Shell of Grief- Alice By Heart: Alice being taken over by grief after being seperated from her father

Afternoon- Alice By Heart: Wish Hook and Alice saying goodbye

Curious Archer

No One Else-  Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812: Alice in love with Alice

For The First Time in Forever- Frozen: Robin/Margot trying to get through to Alice/Tilly on a bad day

Dangerous to Dream- Frozen the Musical: Tilly feeling that she has to hide her mental health struggles from Margot

Fight for Me- Heathers the Musical: Alice thinking about Robin fighting for her against the troll hunting mob

I Won't Say Im in Love- Hercules: Robin denying her feelings for Alice during the events of ‘The Girl in The Tower’

Perfect for You- Next to Normal: Margot telling Tilly she loves her for the first time

Hey #2- Next to Normal: Tilly pushing Margot away because she’s not ready for her to see her bad days

Why Stay/A Promise- Next to Normal: Tilly/Alice and Margot/Robin on a bad day

Hey #3/Perfect for You (Reprise) - Next to Normal: Alice scared about her future with Robin and fearing she might become her mother after she defeats her

I Am the One (Reprise)- Next to Normal: Wish Hook trying to block out all thoughts of Alice because it’s too painful but being reminded what she means to him by a hallucination of her

Something I Can’t See- Next to Normal (Cut Song): Margot struggling with Tilly’s bad days and not being able to understand the root of them

All That’s Known- Spring Awakening (Deaf West): Robin refusing to conform to the expectations of the people of Storybrooke

The Word of Your Body- Spring Awakening (Deaf West): Robin/Margot and Alice/Tilly wanting intimacy with each other

Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind- Spring Awakening (Deaf West): Tilly/Alice having a bad day and Margot/Robin attempting to calm her but failing

Totally F*cked- Spring Awakening- Spring Awakening (Deaf West): Robin getting caught for stealing Emma’s car or just being rebelious

Not Alone- AVPM: Robin/Margot reassuring Alice/Tilly

Even Though- MAMD: Robin realising her feelings for Alice

If You Knew- Lizzie the Musical: Either Robin/Margot or Alice/Tilly thinking about the other

Will You Stay?- Lizzie the Musical: Just CA being tender

As Long As You’re Mine- Wicked: Curious Archer saying their goodbyes before the curse

For Good- Wicked: Curious Archer saying their goodbyes before the curse

Those Long Eyes - Alice By Heart: Curious Archer falling in love. These lyrics make perfect sense to Alice.

[armaans]

baashirdayne​:

.

“Of course not.” Bash looked at him as if he was growing another head and then looked back down at the papers on his desk, his fingers moving over the words. It wasn’t his desk any longer. Much of the furniture here would stay and he would not long to see it again. He was not attached the items or Sunspear herself. What held him here let him go and while the pain wasn’t fleeting he knew the pain would linger. At first he intended to go straight to Alayim but he needed to pack his things in Sunspear and with the type of man he was, he needed to be there to see everything done before he made his great departure. 

He would not be coming back here, not unless there was something required of him that he could send his brother to handle.

“My brother is a man of High Hermitage, a man of the mountains. He has no place in Starfall. His harshness doesn’t fit and I won’t have it in my halls.” Bash looked up and with a hint of uncertainty he exhaled. “My sister will be sitting in my place with the guidance of mother while I am away. In that time…mother will work on finding a wife for my brother and sister in Hermitage.” There was a change. All knew of his harsh words when his parents denied hiss dreams and set them on fire. He didn’t need to explain why. It hurt too much to think about the why. Why didn’t matter to him.

“My sister is smart. She has been here with mother while I’ve been in Sunspear and this will be her last time doing such duties. When I return from Alayim I will be going to Starfall where I will needed to do everything possible to finally marry because I am Starfall.” He was Starfall. He had to remember that, it was important to share everything with the other man, the man who knew everything about him and knew his secrets. The darkest acts of his life. And he didn’t feel strange nor did he feel that he couldn’t trust the other, if anything such an act made him realize that if everyone else in this world turned on him, Armaan would be there. Armaan knew the ugly side of Dawn, knew the foaming rage of desperate sons, witnessed it with his own eyes.

“It will be the hardest fight of my life I believe.” He looked at the other man and then looked back down over the letter for Myriam when he finished he tightly rolled the scroll and wrapped twine around the center for he wouldn’t send these words until he was on the sea if he sent them at all and for now they would be a distraction. If he continued to read them over and over then he would find himself lacking resolve, desiring to go back on his words.

Don’t hate me for what I must do. As long as you offer me the same.

It wasn’t possible for them to truly hate each other. It was anger. So much anger and pain, frustration. And it just built and built until even the greatest feeling of love felt like a curse. There was no more dancing in Starfall.

“What brings you, brother? Did you come to see me off?”

꙰

there was a wicked sense of similarity between the lord of yronwood and the lord of starfall, only they were coloured in different hues and shades that made one burn vivid red, and the other a chilling constant cold. whilst armaan was the continuous heat of the red mountains, of the flames themselves, baashir dayne remained as still and cold as the hilt of dawn itself, brought to the lands of starfall by the gods or whoever else toyed with them by dangling them like strings from the clouds above. 

the topic of alayim had been one in which the men had clashed clearly, considering the bloodroyal had refused to send any troops across the narrow sea for the sake of defending a holy city that would never consider their way of worship as correct.

the dornish were as near to heathens as the north and those cursed pirates prior to the lions and the rose burying them rather than letting them drown at sea; for what reason did the dornish have to die for such a cause?

"yes, go and risk getting yourself killed for the sake of those who would look upon you and spit at your feet." the man spoke, his voice entirely abrasive; he should have watched his tone in the way he spoke to one of his closest companions, but all who knew armaan yronwood knew that patience and understanding were matters that were far beyond his abilities. “heathen, they’ll call you. as though you are a dirty stark.”

he were a volcano, constantly simmering beneath the surface, ready to brust and erupt: and whilst the sword of the morning felt like the most chilling of all humans under their scorching sun, there had only been once where he saw the lengths it could go. the raging roam of dawn, and the daynes; islands were isolated, meaning things could easily be lost in translation, easily made up to be something they truly were not. he remembered the sight of the crimson spilling, and the sound of blood gurgling up the throat of he who he never thought would come to such an end. but what else did they expect when they had made such a weapon of a boy? 

what was left for them to be, but a weapon?

"you are starfall?" the man repeated, looking at him as though he were growing three heads, using the exact same tone baashir used almost moments ago. it would be comical, if either of the men realised they literally sounded like one another. the bloodroyal of yronwood had been incredibly tense these last few days, contemplating on matters and whispers they'd heard from across the border. the disappearance of the green brat prince. he knew not where he could be, or with who, or if he were even alive, but the thought unsettled him. essos was a vast place, where one could buy whatever they needed to become what they wanted. a devil's playground. 

"what the fuck are you on about, baashir? if you are starfall, then go to starfall. stay in dorne, rather than wasting your time in some place that means less than donkey shit to the realm. we both know nothing will happen to you."

[hellodarjeeling]

For A Few Dollars More Novelization Notes

• Mortimer’s eyes are “so light a brown that they could almost be called sorrel”

• Now they’re described as “tawny” like a mountain lion’s eyes

• Manco memorizes the faces of his bounties

• Nino brought Indio’s favorite horse when springing him from jail (so sweet)

• While looking at Indio’s wanted poster, Manco calls him “sweetheart” and “you beautiful, beautiful beast”

• He also refers to him “baby” (no I am not making this up)

• Mortimer’s bag spills during the attempted hotel eviction, sending shirts and underwear flying. Manco offers to help gather them

• We hear Mortimer’s third reason for suggesting a partnership 👀

• Mortimer opens his watch and gets lost in his memories. Manco leaves, closing the door “very softly behind him”

• Manco has to meet Indio alone because as he says he’s “the one who has the date with Indio—just me personally”

• Mortimer is extra sassy in the book, lol

• Question: when’s the best time to flirt with your partner? Answer: while tied up in a barn after getting your shit kicked by a gang of outlaws

• Presented without context: “Grab hold and grit your teeth. This won’t be pleasant but it will only be for a moment.”

• Indio referring to himself in the third person is giving me strong Miette vibes. You DOUBT Indio? You think he has overlooked something in making his plans? Oh! Oh! Jail for Nino! Jail for Nino for One Thousand Years!!!!

• Nino is obviously in love with Indio

• That Bible Mortimer carries around? Hollowed out and home to a pair of pearl-handled derringers

• Almost every other word out of Mortimer’s mouth is some pet name for Manco (my boy, lad, son)

• Manco also carries a little derringer, sewn into the fringe of his poncho

• Mortimer’s sister and brother-in-law were killed on their wedding night :(

• “You sure you can take it anyhow?” No comment

• Real talk, I bought this specifically to see if it explained how Manco managed to take Mortimer’s watch. This is what we’re given: “Up in your room this morning you got a little too careless, Colonel, and I got a little too curious. I had to try to figure out what the business with the watch was all about.” Make of that what you will

• The watches were made in Switzerland. Mortimer bought his first and his sister was so taken by it that he had another made as a wedding present (heartbreaking)

• After Indio dies, both Manco and Mortimer collect the fallen into the wagon. Teamwork babey!

• Somehow Manco asking after their partnership sounds even more pitiful in the book. He’s so sad guys

• But! Mortimer said maybe he’ll come visit that little spread upcountry and they can “talk about forming some sort of a new one.” (The fanfics write themselves)

• HE APOLOGIZED FOR TAKING THE WATCH

• Manco asks after the “lovely face” inside the watch lid and haltingly says he could see a trace of family resemblance. Bruh

• Manco takes one last look to watch the Colonel’s figure grow tiny in the distance… and then 👏 snags 👏 that 👏 money 👏 honey

Overall this was a quick, entertaining read (my edition was published in 1977 and smells amazing!) Joe Millard did a fantastic job capturing the atmosphere of the movie and the extra characterizations were great. (Let me know if you have questions about the novelization. I’m more than happy to share snippets)

[marvelatthetwilight]

Tell me your secret

Part one: The Secret

Part two: The Secret’s Out

Part three: Secrets and Lies

Part four: Sick of Secrets

Part five: The Last Secret

“Carlisle, you need to see this.” Edward calls out of the door.

Carlisle appears and glances between the three of you, his eyes settling on you, holding a blood bag in your hand, the others scattered on the floor, your face covered in blood.

“How are you feeling Y/N?” His eyes softening as he can sense some pain in you.

“I feel fine. Demetri however...” you trail off and look up at Demetri, who is still rubbing his hand.

“Carlisle, Y/N appears to have a power.” He walks towards you, holding out his hand. “Y/N do you think you could do it again?”

You focus on his hand and reach out your own towards him, but when they touch, nothing happens.

Edward and Demetri exchange looks, both frowning.

“I think she may need some motivation. Edward, I need you to attack me.” Demetri states, a smirk pulling at his lips, and you begin to panic. At what would be lightning speed if you were human, Edward moves towards Demetri, but you rush out of the bed towards him, faster than him in your newborn state. Before you know it your hand is on Edward’s arm and then he is on the floor.

“Fascinating.” Carlisle laughs as he claps your victory.

Edward huffs as he pulls himself up off the floor. “For you maybe. It’s not quite so fascinating when it happens to you.”

“It’s like Kate’s gift?” Carlisle asks, referring to one of their Denali cousins who can radiate electricity around her body, giving an electric shock with her touch.

“Not quite, but similar. It’s a much sharper feeling, like a bolt of lightning flashing through you.” Edward replies, having felt both gifts now first hand. The two of them then begin discussing your gift and how they can help you control it, as you wonder about this Kate, intrigued that they know someone who can possibly help you with this strange power.

Demetri appears by your side, pulling you toward him, taking in your scent. “Oh how I’ve missed you.” He whispers, and a small shiver runs down your spine. His voice and his scent are more intoxicating to you now, and the mere thought of Demetri standing this close to you warms your body.

“But I don’t smell like me anymore surely?” You ask, worried that just as your feelings have intensified, that Demetri’s will have faded now you are no longer human.

“You smell better.” He reassures you, and you frown. He turns you so you are facing him, and he cups your face with one hand. “We are mated, soul mates, yes?” You nod. “As a human, I was drawn to your scent as you are to mine, but also to your blood, which often made our...closeness more difficult. Now, I am still drawn to your scent, but I can your scent is like...an antidote, to anything and everything. Does that make sense my love?”

You reach up to hook your arms around his neck and give him a soft kiss on his lips. “It makes perfect sense. Also helps me understand what I’m feeling right now. Being this close to you, I feel so calm, my throat doesn’t burn as much.” Demetri smiles at this. “It’s our bond my darling, we will have that effect on each other.”

He pulls you into a hug and you rest your head on his chest, before looking over to where Edward and Carlisle are standing, the latter now on the phone.

“Thank you for your help Eleazar, we will see you soon.” Carlisle says as he hangs up the phone and turns to face you all.

“Eleazar and Kate are coming to see us, to help Y/N N work out her gift. I’m going to let Esme know, we will go and hunt before they arrive. Edward, Demetri, do you think you can help Y/N hunt, she will need all her strength to practise her power.” Carlisle asks as he turns to Edward, who nods.

“Hunt? You mean like animals?” A worried look as formed on your face as you realise what you need to do.

Demetri scrunches his face in disgust. “I believe so my love, but it is up to you. Whatever you wish to do, I will do too.”

You think carefully. Whilst the thought of human blood as you salivating at the mouth, the thought of killing someone makes your stomach tie up in knots. Animal blood sounds disgusting, but killing an animal versus killing a human sounds far more palatable.

“Demetri, let’s go hunt some animals” Demetri visibly grimaces at this, but quickly changes his expression to a smile and gestures for you to lead the way.

“I am so impressed with your hunting skills today my love.” Demetri states as you return through the Cullen front door. He puts an arm around your waist and gives you a quick squeeze.

“Mountain lions aren’t as fast as I thought they would be. I’m sorry you weren’t able to catch much Demetri, you must be starving.” You look up at him, a glint of teasing in your voice, waiting for him to take the bait. He laughs, knowing exactly what you are trying to achieve, but the competitor in him won’t let it go.

“I just don’t understand. I’m one of the best hunters in Volterra and THE best tracker in the world. How can I not hunt a deer.” He throws his arms to his side and his frustration is evident on his face.

“You could’ve shared my elk, there was plenty to spare.” You take his hand and smile sweetly.

“Hmmph. Yes well, I wanted something of my own.”

Your conversation is cut short by Carlisle.

“Eleazar and Kate are nearly here, should we go outside to practise?” He motions for you to follow him back out the front door.

“Carlisle dear friend, it’s nice to see you when your life is not in imminent danger.” Eleazar greets his friend with open arms and they laugh together.

“Eleazar, Kate, it’s so wonderful to see you both again. Thank you for coming to help Y/N. Y/N...” Carlisle holds his arm out to you and you make your way to his side, suddenly anxious.

“Y/N this is Eleazar and Kate, both dear friends to our coven, cousins if you will from Denali.” You smile at the dark haired man you now know to be Eleazar, you vaguely recognise him from the meeting with the Volturi, although there were so many visitors in those weeks that the faces became blurry. However, Kate you remember. You remember the pain on her face at seeing her sister destroyed, her screams of pain and anguish etched in your mind.

“It’s so nice to meet you both.” You nod at both of them, and Eleazar holds out a hand in greeting. You offer him your hand and he clasps it with both his hands, looking deeply into your eyes. “You are very powerful Y/N, I can feel the energy running through your hands.”

Your eyes widen in surprise. “Oh” is the only sound you can form.

“What do you mean by very powerful?” Demetri asks.

“Allow Kate to demonstrate.” Eleazar gestures for Kate to step forward, and she holds her hand out to Demetri. He hesitantly reaches out to touch her hand.

“Arghhh” he screams and falls to the floor.

A growl slips through your lips and suddenly a crackling noise leaves your fingers, then Kate is also on the floor groaning.

“Did you know that was going to happen?” Kate growls at Eleazar.

“I had my suspicions. Like I said VERY powerful.”

“What happened?” You ask them both.

“Y/N, Kate’s power is limited to someone touching her. It started in her hands, and then she worked hard to have it be her whole body if needed.” Eleazar explains.

You nod, now remembering the meeting with the Volturi and how Kate’s power affected Garrett when he tried to hold her back.

“However...” Eleazar continues, “your power is not limited to touch. You are able to inflict this from a distance. As demonstrated by that.” He gestures to Kate who is massaging at her temples trying to dissipate the pain in her head before standing up.

“What we need to work on is being able to use this power without your mate being injured as an incentive.” Carlisle suggests, looking to Eleazar.

“I second that!” Demetri announces from beside you, laughing.

“Sorry” you apologise as you look up and him, he shakes his head and places a kiss to your head.

Eleazar nods. “I would also be interested to see what sort of distance her powers work from.”

You all put together a plan, the training beginning immediately. Demetri joins in, having trained hundreds of new guards in Volterra in basic fighting skills, and feeling anxious that your gift will make you a target.

Whilst you are practising your gift on Emmett with the help of Kate, Demetri pulls Carlisle to the side.

“We have to keep this from the Volturi. They CANNOT find out about her gift. Aro will stop at nothing to have her.” Demetri whispers.

Carlisle nods. “I know. I had the same thought. I have asked Alice to watch the Volturi carefully, so if they find out, we will know.”

After a week of training Emmett begins to grow tired of always losing to your power, deciding to go hunt with Rosalie and rest, so Jasper volunteers to help.

You’ve moved the training to a field, and begin with Jasper standing a few feet in front of you.

“Come and get me newborn”

Jasper winces in pain but doesn’t drop to the floor like you were expecting. You frown and try again, but he takes a few steps back.

“Try again Y/N” Eleazar prompts. “Think about what we said, visualise it.”

You take a deep but unnecessary breath and focus on your fingers, you imagine the power, your power sparking out of them towards Jasper. Then you focus on Jasper, his eyes hardened, goading you to attack him. He drops on the floor to his knees, wincing in pain, but not writhing in pain like he would if you touched him or if you had thought Demetri was in danger.

“I can’t do it.” You huff, arms dropping to your sides.

Demetri rushes to stand in front of you, he holds a hand on side of you holding onto your arms and gently shakes you. “You. Can. Do. Anything” he stares into your eyes, willing you to see yourself the way that he sees you. “I love you Y/N, I believe in you” then he kisses you quickly “show him what you can do” he whispers as he moves out of your way.

This time Jasper increases the distance even further, now standing a few hundred yards away.

You fix him with your glare, and again think of the power leaving your fingers, sparks reaching across the clearing to Jasper. I love you rings out in your head and you force your hands forward, willing your power to reach the distance. Almost immediately Jasper is on the floor, his body twitching from the electrical jolts circulating through his body. You bring your hands back and let them hang by your side, and after a couple of minutes Jasper slowly returns to a standing position, clearly exhausted.

“Wow” he mutters.

“She is pretty wow isn’t she?” Demetri smirks as he returns to your side. “Told you” he whispers.

On their last day Eleazar calls the whole Cullen house to the clearing for a final demonstration of what you have learnt.

“Jasper has given us some pretty high expectations considering the state he returned home in. If he could sleep I think he would have been comatose for days” Rosalie announces, giving you a small thumbs up of support.

“Who would like to be a volunteer?” Kate asks the crowd gathered before them.

“Why don’t we do a real test? Three of us?” Jasper suggests.

You visibly gulp at the idea, but Eleazar nods, clapping his hands together. “Excellent idea!”

You are forward and look out at the vampires standing a few hundred yards in front of you; Edward, Emmett and Jasper.

Closing your eyes to focus, your fingers dance in anticipation, small sparks flutter between them until you open your eyes, darting between the three figures. Taking one final, deep breath, you reach your hands forward. Emmett and Edward look cocky, neither of them expecting you to be able to target the three of them at once, Jasper looks anxious, the pain from your previous encounter coming back to him.

The three of them drop to their knees simultaneously, Jasper falling to his side twitching, Edward’s face twitching in pain before falling backwards, then Emmett, falling forward flat on his face.

The sound of cheering from behind you brings you out of your trance and you do a small bow before you are enveloped into a Demetri hug.

“I’m so proud of you.” He whispers in your ear before kissing you deeply.

The vampire group are so focused on their friend and her gift that they do not notice the stranger in the shadows. The stranger who recognised the figures before him. The missing Volturi tracker, the mind reader and the one who can see the future. Even better than all of those though, the newborn with the extraordinarily powerful gift.

Aro will love her. He thinks to himself before rushing away through the trees, his gift hiding him on his journey until he reaches the doors of Volterra.

“Tell me your secret” Aro demands, holding his hand out to the stranger who claims to bring valuable information.

He holds the stranger’s hand in his own and his eyes widen in glee as he sifts through his thoughts.

“Brothers, we are going on a trip”.

Taglist:

@volturidoll13 @fatiguing-thoughts @clearwater-hoe @teampaul @wallwriterstuff @like-rain-or-confetti @moviequeen51 @awesomebooklover17 @cncogirl18 @raindancer2004 @officialfictionalwreck @megzdoodle @slasher-sweetie @evakipara @reclusive-chicken-nugget @icarusinstatic @holl2712 @fanfictionillustration

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What do you think would happen if one of the Cullens realized they might also be "in love" with Bella during Twilight along side Ed. Mates be damned (not like their marriages are gonna last anyway), and everyone's on the table (just 1 love rival, not at the same time buuuuut could you imagine the chaos? *cough*). The usual Bella eaten/killed by Eddy boi is def on the table obvie, but like do you think there's a chance he might concede to one of his family (or just any other alternatives)? -Sw

Oh boy.

Why I Don’t Think This Is a Possibility

That said, I have to caveat that I don’t think this is a very likely path (sorry, I cannot resist).

It’s true I don’t think any of the Cullen relationships will last in the long term, but I also don’t think they’re inclined to cheat on one another or fall apart at a moment’s notice. They’ve made it this long, several decades, but more, none of them realizes anything is lacking from their respective relationship. 

Carlisle and Esme are very devoted to one another and don’t realize they have fundamentally conflicting values. Jasper and Alice think they fulfil each other’s needs and don’t realize that they share nothing in common. Rosalie and Emmett’s is the healthiest relationship in the house but don’t see their major issues (Emmett doesn’t really support or understand Rosalie and Rosalie loves Emmett mostly for his love of her).

My point being, none of them are going to realize it’s not working out anytime soon. They’re going to need a catalyst, and per the end of Twilight, one is coming. Either a confrontation with the Volturi occurs, Renesmee decides to leave, the Cullen lifestyle changes, or things with Bella go awry. It can be any number of things, and it will happen given time, but at the start of Twilight we haven’t hit that point yet.

There’s also the fact that of the Cullens, only Edward would do this nonsense, and even for him it takes Bella’s delicious blood to grab his attention. When she was an ordinary human, he was not interested in the slightest, not even in her gift.

Each of the Cullens (Sans Alice and Esme) is completely baffled by Edward’s emotional whiplash and attachment to this human girl he doesn’t even know. Bella only becomes a vague concept to them when she enters as a serious fixture in Edward’s life, but even then, they really don’t know what to think.

No one in the family will do what Edward did in Twilight. Look at this girl they don’t even know and say “Ah, yes, I’m in love.” 

Now, that out of the way, let’s play ball.

Alice

This actually will work out shockingly well if only because I suspect Alice will come up with the pragmatic solution of “sharing”.

First, Alice is by far the closest Cullen member to Edward. He holds her in high esteem, feels a strong sense of kinship with her, actually confides in her, and sees her as a very close friend. Edward looks up to Carlisle and adores Esme, but it’s not the same.

If Alice sees herself as getting together with Bella I don’t think she’d see this as mutually exclusive to Edward having Bella. Alice cares deeply for Edward’s happiness, far more than she does Bella’s general existence, and I think the idea of entering a joint marriage with Edward and Bella would be very appealing to her.

She’d have to ease Edward into it, of course, as he’d balk at the very idea of it, but I think he’d see it as a strengthening of his and Alice’s relationship as well as having the wonderful Bella. Better yet, Alice can be physical with Bella while Edward can go compose music about their love.

As it is this... This is kind of what happens in canon.

Alice tells Edward that not only is he in love with Bella, but that Bella is going to be her best friend, so he better not muck it up. She has to ease him into the idea of being in love with Bella throughout the first part of Twilight. Then, when the relationship is solidified, Alice is right there introducing herself as Bella’s new BFF. Bella’s friendship with Alice throughout the series is extremely homoerotic and I imagine it remains so after Breaking Dawn.

Edward is very pleased that Bella counts Alice as her best friend, Alice being far and away his favorite sibling and the one he approves of Bella spending time with (generally, when she’s not foiling his schemes). 

I don’t think Alice and Bella will ever have sex, per se, but I imagine they remain quite physical with each other and Edward looks on with approval thinking to himself that this is how all female friendships should be.

And if Jasper has the nagging suspicion his wife is cheating on him then he’s not functioning quite well enough to put it into words just yet.

Carlisle

Edward would lose his mind.

First, Edward is very into Carlisle, and for all he insists his feelings are filial they sound remarkably romantic. I’d drop a quote, but it’s pretty much every time Edward thinks of Carlisle in Midnight Sun. More than that, Carlisle is the man Edward aspires to be, someone he sees as profoundly more good than he could ever hope to be.

Edward projects a very similar personality onto Bella herself.

So, I imagine if Carlisle sits Edward down and says, “Actually, Edward, I have fallen in love with this Bella” Edward feels very conflicting things all at once.

On the one hand, this means Esme/Carlisle is collapsing. Edward personally brought those two together and adores the idea of their relationship. Their relationship is what he hopes his and Bella’s will look like and is to him the married ideal of a perfect Mother and a perfect Father.

Carlisle/Esme alone falling apart would give him a complete existential crisis. That’s not allowed to happen. 

And then that Carlisle wants Bella Swan for himself?! Edward would be faced with the immediate,horrifying, thought that for all Carlisle is a vampire he would be the perfect man for saint like Bella. Carlisle and Bella deserve one another, would be perfect together, and Edward should not begrudge them that.

On the other hand, Edward himself is in love with Bella, and while he thought he could nobly leave her, now he has to nobly stand to the side and watch as Carlsile and her marry. It’d be a very romantic and tragic thing to do, but there’s leaving Bella to her human life, and then watching her up front for the rest of eternity while bitterly hiding his feelings.

More, Carlisle will turn her. If Bella is his true love, then there’s no question of that. Edward’s seen where this goes with Emmett. He will destroy Bella Swan to be with her forever, and Edward will have to live with the shell of Bella Swan staring back at him, fucking his father, forever.

I imagine Edward desperately pretends to concede to Carlisle, to be happy for the pair of them, but as things progress and Bella’s permanent position in the family looks more and more likely, he loses his mind. He’ll snap and there is no telling what he might do.

My money’s on him mercy killing Bella while she’s still human behind Carlisle’s back. He’s sobbing while he does it, but he just can’t let Bella be tarnished by vampirism, and now he will carry this tragic, terrible, secret for the rest of time.

Whether Carlisle was going to turn her or not is up to debate. Given he turned none after Emmett, I think he learned his lesson from Rosalie and would be more than willing to let Bella go, even if he loves her, should it mean he would not force something she does not want and does not understand upon her.

That said, I think he’d never tell Edward his feelings for Bella, as that would ruin Edward’s fledgling relationship with the girl. This is Edward’s first brush with love and seems to be the only romantic love he’ll ever have. Edward has been so miserable for so long that Carlisle would easily give up his own happiness for Edward.

So, more likely, Twilight would happen anyway and Carlisle would spend the entire time being utterly miserable and pretending he’s perfectly fine. LOOK HOW HAPPY HE IS, ESME.

Emmett

Edward tattles to Rosalie immediately.

He loves Emmett, but he knows Emmett can’t possibly be serious about this, and more, fundamentally doesn’t understand how wonderful and amazing Bella is. He wants to turn her into a vampire, clearly, Emmett doesn’t know what’s best for the girl.

More, a man who would so easily break his marriage vows (even to Rosalie), does not deserve Bella Swan.

Edward watches Rosalie and Emmett’s marriage utterly disintegrate with a juice box filled with mountain lion blood and swoops in on Bella while Emmett is thoroughly distracted. Edward then gaslights Bella into believing Emmett is dangerous and despises her, making Emmett the new and improved Jasper.

Esme

Esme would never tell Edward or likely even realize her feelings for Bella herself. If she did though, she would give up the possibility of a future with Bella Swan in a heartbeat for Edward’s happiness, which means everything to her.

Esme will have no regrets, won’t even smile sadly at Bella, because she has Carlsile as her consolation prize and she gets to see the joy in both Bell and Edward’s faces which is far more important than having Bella to herself.

Esme would live vicariously through Bella and Edward’s relationship as well as the very existence of Renesmee.

Like Alice, this is one of those things that’s pretty much canon. I won’t say anything for Esme’s feelings, it’s more that Esme ships Bella with Edward (and mostly because Edward himself comes to obsess over her), but she does seem to vicariously get her joy through their nuclear family within the Cullen family.

Esme is a very strange person.

Jasper

Edward would attempt to murder Jasper or at least severely injure him. Jasper would be the ultimate threat to Bella, not even a man unworthy of her but not a man at all, and exactly what Edward needs to protect Bella against.

Alice tries to stop the fight, to no avail, and Edward will ultimately lose (despite all his confidence). I imagine Jasper doesn’t kill him, but tears apart his limbs, and uses Edward’s lack of mobility to kidnap and then turn Bella.

Bella has no idea what’s happening and the next thing she knows she’s a vampire and Jasper is telling her they have to leave the area (as he must now leave the coven).

Edward tries to track them down for the rest of eternity. He will get vengeance upon Jasper and save Bella this terrible demonic existence forced upon her. Of course, he ends up lost in Rio.

Rosalie

Edward would tell her that her feelings cannot possibly be real. Bella is a woman. More, Rosalie is unworthy of Bella in every possible regard, even more so than Edward himself.

Basically, Edward would lay into Rosalie in a way that he never has before with all of his venom. He will do everything he can to sabotage Bella’s opinion of Rosalie before Rosalie can even get a word in edgewise. He is successful at it due to Bella’s perilously low self esteem (much the reason he was successful with this endeavor in canon).

Rosalie and Edward get in a vicious fight and I imagine Rosalie eventually confronts Bella, making an opportunity to do so, and both warns her away from Edward, tells her everything, and offers to turn her despite Rosalie’s own mixed experiences.

Rosalie and Edward probably then fight and it quickly turns into something that’s very serious. If Edward wins, he murders Rosalie in the heat of the moment, and then leaves the coven in horror over what Carlisle must think of him now. If Rosalie wins... I don’t think she will, she cares for Edward far too much and would never truly be able to aim to kill or maim.

Edward disappears, drowning in his self hatred, and returns to find Bella Swan at some later date unable to resist the call of her scent. Depending where she is in her life, he likely murders her human husband if she has one and dvours her, as Alice prophesied so long ago.

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AGOT: Eddard XII (Chapter 45)

Someday, when Sansa was grown, he would have to tell her how she had made it all come clear for him.

:(

+.+

Some wolves found it first, and left His Grace scarcely more than a hoof and a horn.

More sigils trading blows. I’d prefer a dead mountain lion, but I won’t be picky.

Serious question, how do we know it was the white hart if nothing was left but a hoof and a horn?...

...how do we know there was a white hart at all?

✨ it’s a conspiracy ✨

+.+

For a brief moment Ned considered telling him all of it, but there was something in Littlefinger's japes that irked him. The man was too clever by half, a mocking smile never far from his lips.

(...)

Aside from his own retainers, there was scarcely a man in this city he trusted. Littlefinger had concealed Catelyn and helped Ned in his inquiries, yet his haste to save his own skin when Jaime and his swords had come out of the rain still rankled.

How are you on the fence? I’m going crazy.

+.+

Ned could not let that happen again. The realm could not withstand a second mad king, another dance of blood and vengeance. He must find some way to save the children.    

Hey, can someone check if Daenerys has the next chapter?

+.+

Robert could be merciful. Ser Barristan was scarcely the only man he had pardoned. Grand Maester Pycelle, Varys the Spider, Lord Balon Greyjoy; each had been counted an enemy to Robert once, and each had been welcomed into friendship and allowed to retain honors and office for a pledge of fealty.

This list is hilarious. Not that I’m suggesting men don’t deserve mercy during war, but he probably should have just killed them.

They have the traitor’s blood!

+.+

With Jory dead and Alyn gone, Fat Tom had command of his household guard. The thought filled Ned with vague disquiet. Tomard was a solid man; affable, loyal, tireless, capable in a limited way, but he was near fifty, and even in his youth he had never been energetic. Perhaps Ned should not have been so quick to send off half his guard, and all his best swords among them.    

+.+

The heart tree was an oak, brown and faceless, yet Ned Stark still felt the presence of his gods.

Can Bran see through these? Do we know?

+.+

"If you truly believed that, you would never have come." Ned touched her cheek gently. "Has he done this before?"    

"Once or twice." She shied away from his hand.

Keep your hands to yourself, please.

+.+

"Your brother?" Ned said. "Or your lover?"    

I love that he naturally assumed the father was Jaime. Can’t possibly be anyone else stationed in King’s Landing.

Fine, I’ll give him credit. Good job, Ned.

Edit: Never mind, Jaime was in the North and one of the few that didn’t go on the hunt when Bran fell. No credit! Too simple!

+.+

Her eyes burned, green fire in the dusk, like the lioness that was her sigil.

Green fire!

+.+

"Honor," she spat. "How dare you play the noble lord with me! What do you take me for? You've a bastard of your own, I've seen him. Who was the mother, I wonder? Some Dornish peasant you raped while her holdfast burned? A whore? Or was it the grieving sister, the Lady Ashara? She threw herself into the sea, I'm told. Why was that? For the brother you slew, or the child you stole? Tell me, my honorable Lord Eddard, how are you any different from Robert, or me, or Jaime?"    

Does anyone in this story own a calendar or know basic arithmetic? How long do these people think Ned was in Dorne?

Pretty sure he couldn’t teleport across the continent to a hostile kingdom at the beginning of the rebellion, guys.

+.+

"For a start," said Ned, "I do not kill children. You would do well to listen, my lady. I shall say this only once. When the king returns from his hunt, I intend to lay the truth before him. You must be gone by then. You and your children, all three, and not to Casterly Rock. If I were you, I should take ship for the Free Cities, or even farther, to the Summer Isles or the Port of Ibben. As far as the winds blow."    

You’ve said and done a lot of stupid things Ned Stark, but this warning is your dumbest move yet.

+.+

"I have made more mistakes than you can possibly imagine," Ned said, "but that was not one of them."         

"Oh, but it was, my lord," Cersei insisted. "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."    

Cersei Lannister, you’re a little too confident for a woman relying on a boar, who has been told her golden children will have golden shrouds.

Ned Stark, you’re a little too confident for a man who has been told of a plot to kill the king.

(Title drop!)

Final thoughts:

Cersei owned up to everything, but she didn’t confess to killing Jon Arryn. Of course Ned didn’t notice, because he’s Ned Stark.

-> return to menu <-

[comprised-of-magpies]

Some safety & survival tips

This isn’t something that I’d normally post, but with college starting I thought I’d share some tips I’ve gathered over the years for staying safe (edit: I was informed a lot of these are basic knowledge, but I’ll share anyway because you never know)

if a room in your house randomly smells like fish, check the outlets, melted plastic often gives off a fish odor and unchecked could start an electrical fire

don’t swerve for deer and risk you or your car, hit it, with the proof of hitting it insurance can help cover the damage (edit: sorry, I don’t mean to encourage killing an animal, and I know the deer can do some hefty damage, this is just if your options are swerving full speed into a ditch/other car, or hitting the deer, the deer might be a better option. obv if you think you’ll be fine swerving out of the way, do that)

speaking of ^, if you see a deer on the road and it runs off in time, keep going slow and stay on the lookout, there’s more often than not more than just one deer and you never know if it’ll jump into the road

however, swerve for a moose, you’re going to hit the legs and then you have 1500 lbs coming thru your windshield

if you’re in a dark, unfamiliar area, keep the keys handy, for one the key itself can easily be used as a weapon, two if you set off a car alarm it might grab someone’s attention if you’re in danger, or at least deter someone threatening you

try not to be wearing heels if you know you’ll be in the situation above. first of all, everyone knows it’s hard to run in heels, so an opportunist will likely target someone that won’t as easily get away. secondly, it just hurts to run in them. I was out past 10pm walking several blocks to where I parked my car and noticed two guys tailing me, and while my heels were thick and only about 4-5 inches, running a block to my car in sheer terror left my ankles beyond sore the next day, and I can only imagine how catastrophic it would’ve been if my foot got caught in a hole or if my ankle twisted.

if the water retreats quickly and farther than normal, pack it up and run, that’s a sign of an oncoming tsunami

stranded in the cold? don’t stop moving. shaking and shivering is good, that’s the body’s way of trying to stay warm, if you suddenly stop shivering, it means your body has given up and you’re past the point of it being able to warm itself. don’t let someone take their clothes off either in the cold. this sounds weird and obvious, but when you’re exposed to hypothermia-inducing conditions for so long, your nerves get fried, and you start thinking you’re boiling alive and don’t contain rational thought anymore

if you haven’t eaten or drank anything for a period of a couple days, pace yourself when food/water is available. If you consume too much immediately after starving, that’s a massive shock to your system. When concentration camp survivors were freed, they were given too much food for their malnourished bodies to process, and that’s fatal.

if vomit/poop is like black tar or coffee grounds, see a doctor, that’s a sign of internal bleeding (obv periods for girls are different, if menstrual blood is like coffee grounds there’s a good chance it’s just really, really old blood, but it’s still a good idea to check in with a doctor)

a lot of predators (I know at least mountain lions/cougars) are deterred from attacking if they see your face/eyes

if you’re hitting the gas pedal, and the tachometer is moving, and the car is not, you’re hydroplaning. Your first instinct is to hit the brakes. DON’T HIT THE BRAKES. Your best bet is to ride it out, gradually slow down, try and let other cars know what’s going on, pull over and calm down.

car windows are strongest in the middle, aim for the edges or corners

911 should work anywhere (even other countries), SIM card or not, for free, so don’t waste time scrambling for change at a pay phone

if you’re in a pool and the water tastes metallic, get out, there’s an electrical short in the water

a seriously upset stomach is another sign of a heart attack

if you’re getting manhandled into a van, don’t fight fair. fight to get away as soon as possible. elbow or palm to nose, heel to toe, thumbs or elbows to eyes, knee to groin, strike the ears, nails to throat, do whatever you can and make as much noise as possible. don’t get taken to a secondary location

don’t punch the face, punch the throat. no matter how weak you are, a fist to the windpipe is enough to stun anyone

the flesh on the underside of the arm is fragile. try pinching it, it hurts right? even lightly? pinch someone there hard, and PULL. you can tear out muscle fiber and tendons doing that, and it’ll hurt. a lot.

if you think you’re in danger, call someone, or even just pretend to call someone, and then make plans, loudly. even fake plans work, just make them soon. if someone is following you, knowing that you’ll be expected somewhere/your absence will be immediately noticed is sometimes enough to ward off the very unfriendly folk.

it’s worth it to keep pepper spray, I accidentally indirectly caught myself with it when testing to make sure it works, and the smell alone made me tear up. I was coughing and blowing my nose for several hours after, so imagine spraying it in someone’s eyes, the intended use.

it’s worth shining a light in the backseat of your car, especially if you left it unlocked. the previously mentioned unfriendly folk have used the method of laying in the back waiting for you to enter the vehicle, so a couple seconds to check can’t hurt.

keep valuable looking items away from windows, this hopefully lessens the chance a burglar will choose your house

be wary of a big truck or van parked next to your driver side door, that’s also a kidnapping tactic. It’s worth it to get in on the other side—lock the doors immediately—and crawl over

be wary of someone stopping you and asking you for directions, if you’ve seen a dog, etc, as opportunists prey on your inclination to be helpful (obv it’s not bad to want to help people, but don’t be afraid to say “no, sorry” and keep moving, this is how Ted Bundy lured in his victims)

if someone grabs you, drop your body weight. rag doll, go limp. the attacker will likely have to adjust his grip. If they manage to keep ahold of you, don’t try and pry away their hands, try and grab their thumbs and BEND

if you’re aware you’re having a heart attack, force yourself to cough, that’ll keep the heart pumping

You’re better off screaming “FIRE!” than “HELP!”, as people often don’t want to get involved, which is sad and frustrating but true, but a fire involves everyone around you

if you’re struggling to light a (gas) stove, and it’s making the clicking noise but there’s no flame, wait for awhile because now there’s gas in the air that depending on how many times you tried to light the stove, wouldn’t be a good idea to light

when giving cpr: dominant over nondominant, to the center of the chest between the nipples. it helps to hum Staying Alive, as the tempo aligns with the cpr treatment. don’t stop if you hear/feel a rib crack, bones mend, a stopped heart doesn’t

tip from firefighters: search rooms with the back of your hand. if you think a room is on fire, feel the metal door handle with the back of your hand, that way if it’s hot you burn the back and don’t reduce your ability to grip things. this also prevent grabbing ahold of an electrical outlet with a current in it, the electricity invading your body will contract your muscles making you unable to actually let go of the outlet

Keep adding your own please! This is a very short list, and you can never know too much on safety precautions

[tg-headcanons]

Ok how do ghoul do around animals? Specifically pets; are their ghouls who work with animals or ride horses? If so what are differences?

Ooo this is a good one, ghouls and animals!

For the most part, ghouls get along well with them. They can be helpful for everyday tasks, fun to hang out with, or companions that couldn’t turn on them even if they wanted to.

For the most part they’re kept for the same reason humans do, because they love them. Many have trouble trusting people for obvious reasons, but they can always go home and cuddle their little dude.

Lots of ghouls who are going with the “blend in with humans” survival strategy sometimes but groceries so anyone who comes to their house or sees them shopping won’t be suspicious. It’s a big waste, so many of them get pets to feed it to. Ghoul pets live like royalty, dogs and cats get fresh meat and eggs, rodents and birds have all the fancy nuts, seeds, and greens they could want, everything from kittens to iguanas feast like kings. The ones with room sometimes get pigs since they’ll eat anything, they can even mix human organs they find nasty into the slop and know that their neighbors will have no desire to dig through the nastiness

Animals sometimes react to ghouls differently. You know how sometimes pets will be oddly friendly or aggressive to someone? Well ghouls smell pretty different than humans and have the body language of an apex predator. Dogs and cats may recognize body language in them that they have in common and be affectionate, or shy away in fear of a much bigger carnivore. Rabbits and gerbils would run and hide from the distinct smell of blood that clings to them. Crows have been known to follow groups of ghouls because sometimes the undesirable organs are left behind or tossed to them

There is a lot they have in common with some animals. They purr like cats, they greet friends with playful challenges like dogs, they sleep and cuddle a lot like plenty. Lots of animals like ghoul owners for being able to communicate with them on their level

Ghouls make amazing employees in anything involving animals, not just because of their ability to bond with animals easier than they can with ever untrustworthy people, but because of their physical advantages. Groomers who never get bites or scratches and always hold the animals in place without struggle, animal control who can pick up rabid raccoons and feral cats without a mark on them, even wildlife rehab workers, vets, and hell, even nature photographers. They don’t get injured often and if they do, they survive it. They can outclass most animals in terms of strength and stamina. In dire situations, they have kagune to grab them with.

Farming is an especially good profession for them. Plenty have rural ranches not just to avoid humans and have the space to let their kagune out outside, but because they can make a good living that way. For some reason humans love anything with the words “hand raised” and “artisanal” on it so it pays well enough, and they can handle the animals without much help. Farm animals are scared of them at first, they smell like blood and move like predators, but after awhile of Not Getting Killed they warm up to The Food Giver. Horses are the same, and plenty of those Pay For A Day stables are run by them. Really they’re good with any farm animals since they can literally just lift them if they’re becoming a problem

Horse riding is a bit of a challenge for them. The horses are usually threatened by them and they’re often 20-30 lbs heavier than humans their same size. If they do ride horses, they need larger ones that have been able to warm up to them

Many ghouls don’t have much chance of living with humans, so they just say fuck it and go in the woods. There’s less prey and even less companionship, but animals can be kind. Often, they grow attached to some, and gods help whoever threatens them. Theres stories of hunting trips ending in massacres after someone shot the wrong deer, land in Australia thats impossible to develop because something is slaughtering anyone who tries to build there due to some attachment to the platypuses that live there, even a completely blind Tiger in sundarbans inexplicably dressed in a shirt that’s somehow been surviving happily for seven years and anyone who tries to kill her disappears. There’s even rumors of a ghoul in Namibia who’s been wrestling rhinos and elephants to clip their tusks to make them less of a target for poachers, even living among them and surviving off the corpses of the those stupid enough to attack them. The CCG is trying very hard to bury some photos of them, they fear people will sympathize with ghouls too much if they see the pictures of them riding on the elephants or holding their trunks with his rinkaku

Lots of people with dangerous exotic pets are ghouls. They can’t get hurt by them like humans can, so why not adopt a mountain lion? Sadly many are bought illegally because rich people are the worst, but many just go the route of taking in ones who are cool with it, or steal them from those assholes who bought them. The devil apes robbed a shitty zoo for fun once and they’ve had Crankshaft and Handbag the ring-tailed lemurs for four years now

[maxineswritingcenter]

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 6

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

To say that I was doing well after I left Derek’s house would be a lie. I really don’t understand why it hurts so much. We barely knew each other outside of a few encounters. Was it just me that felt the aching in my chest? I want to believe that he felt the same thing, but that seemed selfish. That I wanted him to miss me. That I dreamed of him showing up at my window and begging to see me. But that wouldn’t be real, that was a fantasy. Derek would never act like that. That was just my fantasy. 

I promised Stiles I wouldn’t get romantically involved with Derek, but it was more painful than I have ever imagined. 

-

I sat in Coach Finstock’s office while the school day went on. Relacing the netting on the crosses that were used in case any of the players broke their own. The repetitive movements were mind numbing so it was probably for the best. I could zone out and not think about Derek. 

Tonight was parent teacher conferences for some students who weren’t doing well academically, both Scott and Stiles were a part of that list. But who could blame them? One of them was a werewolf and the other was friends with the aforementioned werewolf. The weeks seemed to run together, it didn’t even feel like autumn yet, but we were halfway to winter. 

I had stayed away like I promised. The only times I even heard about Derek was from what Scott told Stiles. They were both planning on finding the alpha and taking him down together. That would be good for him. Good for both of them. I have been feeling so many emotions since then. A lot of anxiety and anger. But they never felt like my own. I sighed and rested my eyes for a minute, the repeated movements slowing my brain down enough to sleep on Coach’s desk. 

The man in front of me was badly burned, one side of his face was pink and muddled, much of his hair was burned on that side. 

“I need your help.” Derek’s voice echoed, “If you can hear me, I need you to give me a sign. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything. Just… Just something to point me in the right direction, okay?” The man, his Uncle Peter, stayed in the same position. 

He sighed, “Someone killed Laura. Your niece, Laura? Whoever he is, he’s an Alpha now… but he’s one without a pack, which means he’s not as strong. I can take him. But, I have to find him first.” Still no response. 

“Look, if you know something, just give me a sign. Is it one of us? Did someone else make it out of the fire?” 

Still getting no response, he became agitated, “Just give me anything! Blink! Raise a finger! Anything!” He growled, reaching for the man, “SAY SOMETHING”!

“Hey.” I jolted at the sound of Finstock’s voice. He stood in the doorway of his office. 

“You alright, kid?” He asked, his eyes went from my face to the crosse that I was aggressively fixing the net on. What was that? Was I… seeing what Derek was seeing? No, that was impossible. Insane even. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” I went back to relacing, tugging the knots taut and reaching for a lighter to burn the ends of the string so they wouldn’t unravel. 

“Do I need to kick his ass?” He asked, his large eyes looking a little more crazy than usual. He was trying to seem threatening, but I wasn’t threatened by his booming voice and looks anymore. He was alluding to someone not treating me right but it couldn’t be further from the truth. 

I chuckled a little, “No. It’s not his fault. He’s going through a lot right now.” I stood up and placed the crosse in the spare locker with the rest of them, “Besides, I probably shouldn’t be dating considering the last guy I was dating murdered my parents and tried to murder me.” The humor was dark, but what a way to cope. 

“Any news on that guy?” He stood up straight, walking to his desk. 

“Nope. I think he skipped town. He’s the feds' problem now.” 

“Does Stiles want to be a doctor?” He changed the subject, he was looking at a paper in his hand. 

“Uh… Not that I know of.” I shrugged. 

“Because he wrote a detailed history of male circumcision on his economics test.”

-

I got out late, well past the time the student teacher meetings were over. Filing records, grading a couple things for Finstock and ordering more pearls for the upcoming games since we were running low. These days really run together, especially when you’re trying to forget most of the year that happens. 

Speaking of happening, was I really seeing the same thing Derek could? It didn’t make sense. They were just random dreams. Like the one the other day where Derek was speaking to this woman about how she didn’t kill his sister. That was just a dream. But… Why could I feel sadness? Sadness, guilt and pain.

I got home, seeing that Stiles’ Jeep was nowhere in sight meaning that he was off to do more werewolf nonsense with Scott. I trusted Scott to keep him safe, but that didn’t mean I wanted Stiles running around where there was an alpha on the loose. 

That night I made dinner, ate, saved two plates for Uncle Noah and Stiles and sat in the living room. They were running a story on another body that had been found. A bus driver killed in an animal attack. They were calling it a mountain lion. A mountain lion was more likely than a werewolf normally. But here we are. Officially werewolf capital of the world. I turned off the TV and laid back on the cushions, closing my eyes. Maybe a couch nap would relax me a little, it would kill my back in the morning, but I would be able to tell when Stiles came home. 

Scott and Stiles were walking towards me across the school lawn, playfully pushing each other. 

“I’m gonna kill both of you.” Derek’s voice said, “What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?” He was frustrated and angry, but also a little scared. Finding the alpha is what he needed to do, at the same time though, this person got the jump on Laura. 

“Sorry…I didn’t know it would be that loud…” Scott said sheepishly. 

“Yeah, it was loud… And it was awesome!” Stiles cheered. 

“Shut up.” Derek barked.

“Don’t be such a sour wolf.” Stiles mocked. 

“What’d you do with him?” Scott asked, looking around me. 

“What?” Derek asked, I turned to see an empty backseat, “I didn’t do anything…” I saw Scott and Stiles’ eyes widen as pain exploded through my back. Blood gushed from my mouth as I was lifted up. I was coughing and choking on my own blood. Pain and fear were running through me, my heart pumping so quickly causing more and more blood to gush from my mouth. The last thing I saw was the world rushing by me as I was thrown towards the school wall. 

I woke up before I made impact. My heart was racing and my back ached. I reached behind myself awkwardly. The only thing I felt was the raised bumpy scar from my stab wound. So it was just a dream, but it felt so real. So…Was it real? Did I just experience Derek…

I looked up at the clock and saw it was well into the early morning. I got up and made my way upstairs, Stiles’ door was slightly open and there was still light inside. I just went in, panic already starting to build in my chest. Stiles was sitting at his computer, he turned and looked up. He looked like he had a long night. 

“Stiles, is…” I swallowed thickly, “Is Derek d-…Dead?” My lip was trembling. He opened his mouth to answer then closed it.  He avoided my eyes. 

“I really don’t know.” He explained what happened at the school that night. How the alpha attacked them and chased them around the school and that when they got out, Derek’s body was gone. 

“I don’t know if he crawled off somewhere or if the alpha dragged him away before the cops showed up. But I’m pretty sure I won’t have to go back to school until Monday. We tried to blow the alpha up. And we also kinda blamed Derek for it.” 

I shook my head and chuckled, “Nice. Throwing a dead man under the bus, after all he’s done for me.” 

“It wasn’t my idea!” He shouted in a hushed tone, “We thought he was dead for sure. But now I don’t know. Besides, we couldn’t give up the big secret to a hunter’s daughter, a dick, and Lydia who has been through enough already.” I nodded and left the room. He called after me but I couldn’t be in the room anymore. Just… they could have blamed anyone. A rabid animal even, but they were blaming Derek. I closed the door and leaned against it, slowly sliding down until I met the floor. My chest felt tight and I wanted to cry. I had cried so much lately I didn’t know if I could. My emotions were running so high and it was so confusing? Why was everything so different? 

-

It was Monday morning and tonight was another full moon, meaning Scott was jumpy and could turn at any moment. The night before they had gone off to “hang” but Stiles was really bad at hiding the alcohol he had taken to get drunk with Scott. 

I was eating cereal at the kitchen table when Stiles came down. He was groaning and definitely hungover. 

“Booze doesn’t pay, does it?” I smiled. 

“You’re more chipper than usual.” He grimaced a bit, holding his head. 

“Not chipper, just really good at fakin’ it.” I went in for another spoonful. He looked away, hearing Uncle Noah coming through the kitchen on his phone. 

“We are watching his family’s house. Maybe he’ll wind up there?” Uncle Noah looked up, seeing Stiles, “Give me a second.”

“Don’t you have a test to get to?” He asked. 

“What’s going on? Did you find Derek yet?” Stiles asked, more pep in his voice. 

“I’m working on it. You go take your test.” He said firmly. 

“All right, Dad, listen to me-” Stiles stood up.

“Go!” He shouted, I had never heard him shout before. 

“This is really important! You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight.”

“Stiles, I’m always careful.”

“Dad, you’ve never dealt with this kind of thing before, okay? At least, not like this.”

“I know. Which is why I brought in people who have. State detective. Go take your test.” Stiles grumbled but grabbed his book bag and left the house. Uncle Noah sighed and went back to his phone call as he followed Stiles out the door. 

-

Later on in the day, Stiles texted me. He probably shouldn’t be, especially with his test. 

STILES: Scott had a panic attack about Allison. He said he might kill someone.

I sighed, my thumbs dancing over the phone screen. 

(Y/N): Then we’ll chain him up so he can’t get out. I’ll pick up some chains at the hardware store.

-

After a stop at the hardware store, I got to the lacrosse fields where Coach Finstock was looking over a list. 

“How’s the pink-eye epidemic?” I asked. He rolled his eyes. 

“Real good, half of my players had to go on the bench. Goddammit, Greenberg.” I looked over the list. 

“Who’s Bilinski?” I squinted at his sloppy writing. 

“That one.” He pointed his pen towards Stiles. 

“You put Stiles on the first line?” I smiled, perhaps my subtle hints had worked. 

“Yeah, and we made McCall co-captain.” 

I blew air out of my mouth, “I’m sure Jackson shit a brick.” 

He shook his head, “Yeah, he’s not taking it well.”  I shrugged and made my way over to the bench where Scott and Stiles were in the middle of a conversation. I didn’t join, just listened in. 

“Yeah, she likes you. She’s totally into you.” Scott smirked. Stiles grinned, clearly excited. The She in this scenario could be none other than Lydia Martin. But there was something about Scott’s tone that threw me off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lydia making her way to her seat in the bleachers, pulling out a compact mirror and fixing her lipstick. I didn’t want to believe that Scott would do that to his friend, but the facts were pointing towards it. 

Practice seemed to be going well, that is until Scott got pushed over during a practice run. I could practically feel his anger from across the field. 

“All right, you’re up, big boy! Let’s go!” Coach called. Scott retaliated this by knocking into another player, and sending him hard on his back. I winced, intaking a breath through my teeth. 

“That’s it, McCall! That’s the spirit! You earn it! Earn it, McCall!” Coach grinned. Maybe this is why we had so many players on the bench. Coach could see victory when Scott played. It was Stiles' turn on the offensive against Scott. With the full moon so close, I don’t think their friendship would do Stiles any favors, he shoved Stiles away just as hard and fast as the other player. Each time he got a goal. The next player, Danny, also was a victim of werewolf rage since Scott hit him in the face, sending him to the ground. I grabbed Coach’s whistle and blew it, calling for the play to pause. 

I jogged up to Danny and knelt down, some other players surrounded as well. 

“Danny, can you hear me?” He nodded slowly, holding his bleeding nose. I stood up, “Take him to the bench guys.” I walked back over to Stiles and Scott. 

“Everybody likes Danny. Now everybody’s gonna hate you.” 

“I don’t care.” Scott said smugly. Stiles shook his head and went back to the benches. 

“What the hell is your problem? You make co-captain and it goes to your head.” I shoved his shoulder. He breathed out, his eyes glowed yellow 

“You don’t want to mess with me right now.” 

I narrowed my eyes, “Is that a threat?” He smirked, his eyes going up and down my body. 

“It could be.” I looked at him in disgust. 

“First Lydia and now me? You’re a really shitty friend, Scott.” I made my way back to Stiles who was staring back at the bleachers. Jackson and Lydia were talking. 

“He did it.” He whispered. I squeezed his arm lightly. It was going to be a long night.

-

That night, Stiles and I went to the McCall’s house to get prepared for the full moon. Stiles carried a duffle bag to the best of his ability, even though it had the steel chains  and locks I had bought. One of the only reasons I came was so if I needed to I could get him out quickly. The other was because I didn’t know how he would react to the situation with Lydia. Stiles unlocked the door and went inside. Did Mrs. McCall know he had a key?“

Scott?” We heard her call. Mrs. McCall turned the corner and saw us in the hallway. She was in her scrubs, probably going in for a late night shift.

“Stiles.”

“And (Y/N).” I waved.

“Ah.” Her eyes went to Stiles' hand, she pointed, “Key.”

“Oh, yeah, I had one made.” Well, that answers that question. 

“That doesn’t surprise me. It scares me, but it doesn’t surprise me” And then, like a buffoon, Stiles dropped the duffel bag with a heavy thud. 

“What is that?”

“Uh, school project.” He lied. Mrs. McCall, who either believed the lie or just wanted to change the subject, asked: “He’s okay, right?” 

“Who, Scott? Yeah, totally.” Stiles lied.

“He just doesn’t talk to me, not much anymore. Not like he used to.” She said somberly. I could only imagine that’s how my mom felt when I went into high school and into a phase where parents were uncool. 

“Well, he had a bit of a rough week.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Yeah. Um, okay. Uh, be careful tonight.” 

“You, too.”

“Full moon.” She looked out the window. Stiles and I stiffened. 

“What?”

“There’s a full moon tonight. You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nutjobs.” 

“Oh.” He breathed out, both of our shoulders dropped.

“Yeah…” She said awkwardly. 

“Right…”

“You know, it’s, um, actually where they came up with the word "lunatic.”

-

We opened the door to Scott’s room. Stiles dropped the duffel and turned on the lights. We both jumped when we saw Scott sitting in his computer chair. 

“Oh my god.” I put a hand on my chest, trying to catch my breath. 

“Dude, you scared the hell out of us. Your mom said you weren’t home.”

“I came in through the window.” he said blankly. Stiles and I shared a glance. 

“Okay, um, let’s get this set up.” Stiles bent down to get into the duffel bag that was near the radiator, “(Y/N) got the heavy duty stuff.” I kept my distance from Scott, staying right by the door, ready to grab Stiles and book it. 

“I’m fine,” Scott said, causing us both to stare, “I’m just gonna lock the door and turn in early.” We all knew a door wouldn’t stop him, he had other plans in mind. 

“Are you sure?” Stiles asked, “Cause you got this kinda serial killer look goin’ on in your eyes. I’m hopin’ it’s the full moon taking effect cause it’s starting to freak me out.” 

“I’m fine.” Scott repeated, “You should both go home.” 

“Alright, we’ll leave.” He stood up then stopped, clearly trying to put his back up plan into motion, ‘Well would you at least look in the bag and see what we bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don’t.”

“Just in case you’re feeling a little anxious.” I smiled. Scott got up and walked to the duffel bag. He bent down and pulled out the thick, metal chains. 

“You’re thinking I would put these on? Chain me up like a dog?” He snarled and dropped the chains. 

“Actually, no.” Stiles quickly pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and slapped him on Scott’s wrist, chaining him to the heater. I grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him away when Scott lunged. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Scott growled. 

“Protecting you from yourself.” Stiles sighed and glared, “And giving you payback. For making out with Lydia.” And there it was. Maybe I should have checked the bag for other items he bought. He went downstairs, leaving me and Scott in the bedroom. 

“(Y/N), uncuff me!” He struggled. 

I shook my head, “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I don’t have the key.” 

He lunged and growled, causing me to jump. I looked away, embarrassed that I was showing him that I was afraid. But I was afraid. I’ve known this kid practically his entire life and he was turning into a completely different and dangerous person. 

“You like that? Hmm?” He hummed suggestively. I shook my head, talking to him was probably going to just make things worse. Thankfully, Stiles had come back…with a dog bowl.

“I brought you some water.” He said, pouring water from a bottle into the bowl and setting it down in front of Scott.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU” Scott roared and threw the bowl at Stiles.

“Stiles…” I whispered. The situation was getting dangerous. 

“You kissed her, Scott! Okay? You kissed Lydia. And that’s my…The one girl that I have-'' Stiles shook his head, “You know, for the past three hours, I’ve been thinking it’s probably just the full moon, you know? He doesn’t even know what he’s doing and tomorrow he’ll be back to normal. He probably won’t even remember what a complete dumbass he’s been. A son of a bitch. A frickin’ unbelievable piece of crap friend.”

“She kissed me.” Scott interrupted. 

“What?” Stiles looked so betrayed. 

Scott grinned menacingly, “I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me.” Stiles glared and walked out of the room, I followed behind. 

“She had her hands all over me, she would have done anything I wanted! ANYTHING!” Scott’s voice rang through the house. Stiles paced back and forth outside the door. 

“Stiles?” Scott called through the door, “Please let me out. It’s the full moon, I swear! You know I wouldn’t do any of this on purpose. Stiles, let me out. This is starting to hurt. You said it, Stiles, it’s the full moon. It’s Allison breaking up with me. It’s not just a break, she broke up with me. It’s killing me! I’m feeling hopeless. Just let me out.” Stiles paused, looking towards the door. I looked him in the eye, shaking my head. 

“He’s just trying to make you feel bad.” 

Stiles nodded, “I can’t.” He called. 

“No! No no no!” Scott shouted, followed by screaming. And then silence. Stiles opened the door, Scott was gone. Only broken handcuffs remained. I grabbed a set of chains and started going downstairs. 

“Stiles, stay here.” 

“(Y/N)!” He called, grabbing my arm before I went out the door. 

“Stay put.” I glared, shutting the door behind me. Scott was a sweet kid normally. But if I needed to keep Stiles safe and if that meant knocking out a couple of his teeth then I would. I went around back to his window and followed the path of broken grass into the woods. I gripped onto the chains tightly, ready to swing if I needed to. My plan had been to knock him out and chain him to a tree. Not sure how well that would work though. 

I stopped in a clearing, having lost the trail. Behind me a twig snapped. I’ve always been an act first, ask questions later in these situations. I swung the chain, cracking Scott across the face. My eyes widened at the state of him. Like Derek, he had coarse hair growing down his cheeks, the bridge of his nose was scrunched up and appeared more animal like, his brow bone protruded. His jawline though? Still weird. 

Scott’s head had swung to the side with the chain, he looked back slowly, and glared as he spit blood onto the ground. The scrape on his cheek healed almost immediately. 

Ha ha, I’m in danger.

“Scott.” I said cautiously, taking a slow step back, “You know me. I’m your friend.” He wasn’t moving closer, but he also hadn’t stopped looking at me with his glowing yellow eyes like I was food. 

“So, uh, you blow off your steam. Do some running, clear your head, that good stuff. And I will see you tomorrow. Okay?” I smiled nervously, he didn’t answer, “Okay.” Now it was time to run since I had gotten myself a decent head start. I turned and ran, hearing a roar and footsteps behind me. I threw the chains back over my head, hoping to trip him or hit him in the head. That didn’t seem to do much since he didn’t slow down. 

All at once I was body slammed to the ground and turned on my back. Scott was sitting on top of me, leaning down he roared loudly in my face. His large pointed canines shone in the moonlight. 

I screamed, shoving and kicking at him, “SCOTT! SCOTT PLEASE!” He thrusted a clawed hand down towards my chest that I barely caught. He seemed slightly confused, but pushed down. I whined, using everything I had keeping his sharp claws from my chest. I couldn’t even breathe.

“Scott, please don’t hurt me.” I begged through my teeth. He roared again, raising his other arm to strike when something flashed across my vision. Whatever it was, it knocked Scott off of me. I gasped for air, my lungs and  muscles were screaming at me. The two began to fight, growling and snarling. I sat up, scrambling to get out of the direction of the brawl. I couldn’t see much in the dark since the clouds had covered the moon, but whoever it was got Scott on the ground, roaring down at him. The other stood up straight just as the moon’s light peaked through. And there stood Derek Hale - tall, proud, and very much alive.

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

Read part 7 here!

Oh boy, who could have seen that coming? Anyone who’s seen season 1, that’s who. 

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[hirikka]

twisted thrice about the tree

For @mikkeneko! Written for @thewitchersecretsanta

Rating: G Relationship: Geralt/Jaskier Summary: Jaskier finds Ciri just after a sorcerer from Nilfgaard has cursed Geralt—together they need to find a way to break the curse. 

on AO3

Jaskier had been doing his best to avoid danger. It was a new thing for him, and he didn’t think he was a huge fan. He felt that he had to give it a fair shake, after his near-crippling incident with Reince—which had been particularly galling, as he hadn’t even sung any of the White Wolf cycle in months, but that was not the point. The point is that he is avoiding danger, so he should absolutely not run into the dark woods towards the sound of an explosion.

His legs do not seem to have gotten that memo. He curses under his breath but keeps running. It doesn’t take him long to find the source of the explosion—an area of flattened trees that stretched into the distance. Jaskier stops at the edge and thinks very hard about turning around. Until he sees a dragon lift off the ground from just over a ridge and take off into the sky with a flash of silver wings. The dragon circles high above and lets out an earth-shaking roar. A high pitched scream comes from over the hill and Jaskier runs in that direction. He crests the hill just in time to see a portal flash open—there is a man in Nilfgaardian armor holding the arm of a child, pulling them towards the portal. The dragon roars again and Jaskier feels a sudden chill as the creature's shadow blocks out the sun. He has only a moment to act so he springs forward and whispers a blessing on his dagger before he throws it. It flies straight and true—striking the Nilfgaardian in an eye. The man stumbles, releases his grip on the child, and falls. The portal blinks out as he lands. For a moment the clearing is silent. Then the dragon lets out a high keening noise and flaps upwards, the winds buffeting Jaskier and whipping up debris from the destroyed trees. 

“No! Wait!” he hears the child scream.

When the dust settles enough that Jaskier can see again, the dragon is gone. A single silver scale lies by Jaskier’s feet. He picks it up and then moves down the slope towards the child. They’ve fallen to their knees in the dirt.

“Are you injured?” Jaskier asks when he is close enough. The child startles to her feet at his approach, watching him with wary green eyes. 

“No,” she answers after a moment. 

“Good,” Jaskier says. He moves over to the soldier to retrieve his dagger. “Are you traveling alone?” He can’t see any sign of other people—but the destruction around makes it impossible to tell for sure. 

The girl hesitates. “I wasn’t.”

“Did he…” Jaskier trails off pointing at the soldier, hoping his point is clear. 

The girl nods, a little tentative.

“I’m sorry,” Jaskier says. She’s not the first orphan he’s seen in the first few months of the war, and she’s unlikely to be the last. “I would be happy to help you to wherever you were heading.” He can see the suspicion in her gaze at his offer. “My name is Jaskier.” He hopes that she’ll recognize the name at least, a famous bard will hopefully feel like a safer traveling companion than a strange man.

The girl’s eyes widen. “The bard? You traveled with”—she hesitates for a moment—“with the White Wolf?”

Jaskier is about to respond when he spots a flash of silver on the ground near their feet. He kneels to pick it up and it feels as though his heart stutters to a stop. It’s a wolf witcher medallion—the chain has been snapped but the sight is so familiar and it hums softly under his touch. He looks at the girl, she’s gone tense and still in front of him. “Yes, I traveled with the White Wolf,” he says. “What happened here?”

The girl gulps, glancing towards the sorcerer. “He cursed Geralt. He wanted to separate us, make it so Geralt wouldn’t be able to protect me.”

“Oh,” Jaskier gasps. “You’re Cirilla!”

“Ciri,” the girl corrects. “Or Fiona in public.”

Jaskier thinks of the silver scale in his pocket. “And he turned Geralt into a dragon?”

Ciri nods. “I don’t think he knew me, after he transformed, it didn’t seem… didn’t seem like him.”

Jaskier hums, considering what he knows about transformation magic. Wonders exactly how different the reality is from the songs. “Well, we ought to start by figuring out where he would have gone. Where were you heading?”

“The coast.”

Jaskier blinks. “The coast? Why?”

“He didn’t say exactly,” Ciri admits. 

“I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me.” Jaskier sighs. “But I’m not sure if he would have carried on that way, or if he would have gone somewhere familiar…” he trails off, trying to think of any reason he could avoid going to the one person who might know where he was. Unfortunately— “I know someone who should be able to track him for us.”

Ciri brightens. “Who?”

“Yennefer.” 

**

“I don’t want to get involved in whatever scheme you’ve gotten tangled up in.” Yennefer doesn’t even bother looking up from her book.

“Oh well, Ciri, let's go. We’ll have to see if there’s someone else who can help us.” Jaskier says.

Yennefer looks up at that, narrowing her eyes at Jaskier and Ciri. “Why do you have a child?” The disdain in her tone made Ciri press closer to Jaskier. “Nobody in their right mind would trust you with a child.”

Jaskier scoffs. “Please, I’m perfectly responsible.”

Yennefer just raises an eyebrow. 

“Alright, fine.” Jaskier huffs. “You’re correct in a way, her true guardian is very much not in his right mind. That’s why we’re here.” 

Yennefer sighs and then stands. “Alright, you better come in and sit down. I have a feeling I’m going to need a drink.” 

As she leads them into her apartment behind the shop, Ciri tugs on Jaskier’s sleeve. “Will she be able to help us?”

“Of course, poppet,” Jaskier assures her. “She might not be my biggest fan, but she won’t turn you away.”

“Alright, explain,” Yennefer says. “And keep it simple, please, bard.”

“Right. Simple.” Jaskier has heard that before, fine, if she wants just the bare bones of the story: “Geralt’s been cursed into a dragon and we need to find him.” 

Yennefer takes a moment to process that. She takes a long sip of her wine. “Why?”

“Why was he cursed, or why do we need to find him?” Jaskier asks. “Although, I suppose it's the same answer either way. This is Cirilla, Geralt’s child surprise.”

Yen’s eyes widen. “His child surprise is the lion cub of Cintra?”

“Yes, so you can see why he didn’t exactly feel like he could snatch her away at any time, the lioness was a bit touchy about the whole thing.” Jaskier’s voice is cool, remembering the words he had overheard on the mountain. 

“He was cursed because he was trying to protect me.” Ciri cuts in. Her hand is clenched around the wolf medallion. “I need to help him.”

Yen turns her attention to the girl and softens. “I can create a tracking spell for you.” Ciri lets out a relieved breath but Yen continues. “That will be the easy part. Once you find him you’ll need to find a way to break the curse.”

“I have one of his scales,” Jaskier says. “Would that help in figuring out the details of the curse? How to break it?”

Yen nods, reaching out a hand. Jaskier reluctantly passes the silver scale to her. “The tracking spell will take a few hours to prepare, and I’ll need some time with this to see what I can find out. You can stay here for the night, I have a spare room.”

“Thank you, Yennefer,” Jaskier says, hoping she’ll sense how sincere he is.

She gives a curt nod before pointing down a hall. “And take a bath before you track any more filth into my house.”

**

“I have good news and bad news,” Yennefer announces over breakfast. “Geralt’s not far, you should be able to reach him in three days on horseback.” She pauses. “I’m not sure how to undo the curse. It’s a mess, they mucked something up rather badly and now it’s too twisted up to have an easy cure.”

“Fuck.” Jaskier and Ciri say at the same time.

Yen glances between them with a bemused look. “It’s not hopeless. The curse got twisted, you’ll need to remind him who he is first.”

“How?” Jaskier asks.

Yennefer gives him a pointed look. “You know him better than anyone, Jaskier, you’ll have to figure that out.” She softens slightly. “Three things. There’s a reason the tales always call for three things, three tasks. There’s a real magic there—three things that remind him who he is and then—” 

“Then?” Jaskier prompts.

“Then, you should be able to break the curse,” Yennefer says. Jaskier can sense there is more to it than she’s saying. 

“What if we choose the wrong things?” Ciri asks.

Yennefer frowns. “I’m not sure—you might be able to try again but it could also cause the spell to warp again. I wish I could give you a clearer answer.”

“You’ve given us enough,” Jaskier says, hoping to reassure Ciri even as he starts running through ideas, trying to figure out what options they have. “Ciri, can you go and get Roach ready?” Jaskier asks. Ciri gives him a look that makes it very clear she knows exactly what he’s trying to do but she does head outside. Once she’s gone, Jaskier turns to Yennefer. “Alright, what’s the rest of it?”

Yennefer sighs. “If the curse didn’t break when the caster was killed… then the only sure way to break it is the, well, traditional method.”

“Traditional method?” Jaskier asks. He has a feeling he knows what that is, but he needs to hear her say it. 

“True love,” Yennefer says, as if it is such a simple thing.

Jaskier stares at her. “Will you—?”

Yennefer shakes her head. “The bond created by the djinn warped whatever Geralt and I have—could have had. I care for him, and I know he cares for me—but it’s not true in the way it would need to be to break the curse.”

Jaskier sighs. “Does true love have to go both ways?”

Yennefer gives him a look that, in another person, he might have mistaken for sympathy. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Jaskier nods in thanks and moves towards the door.

“Jaskier—” Yennefer calls. “Try to do it before the season changes or it may be too late.”

Jaskier grimaces—there are so many ways for this to go wrong and such a narrow path to save Geralt. “Thank you, Yennefer.”

“Good luck.” Yennefer says.

Jaskier steps outside and prepares to save his witcher.

**

“What are the three things?” Ciri asks once they’ve set out. Yennefer had given them a map, Geralt’s location marked with ink she had infused with a piece of the scale so that it would track Geralt if he moved. He is currently on a stretch of coast between Gors Velen and Oxenfurt—the cliffs of the area mean that it is mostly unpopulated which hopefully means they won’t have to contend with any dragon hunters.

Jaskier considers. “I’m guessing that just his swords and medallion won’t be enough for this. The medallion is certainly one of the things, though.” He runs his hand absently along Roach’s neck. “Unfortunately, he was never a big fan of sharing so I’m not completely sure what else we can use.”

“What about a song?” Ciri suggests. “One of the ones you wrote for him?”

Jaskier glances up at the princess—she looks so hopeful and he hates that he has to admit that he is probably not actually well-suited to help with this. She doesn’t have anyone else to turn to. “He wasn’t a fan of my music, to tell the truth.”

Ciri gives him a skeptical look. “He used to hum them, sometimes, when he was trying to help me sleep. He never sang the words but I recognized the tunes.”

“He did?” Jaskier can’t hide his surprise. 

“Yes,” Ciri says, as if it should have been obvious. “He talked about you, about how you helped him.”

Jaskier snorts.

“I’m serious!” Ciri says with a huff. “You were the only person besides his brothers he ever really talked about.” She has an intense look. “I know you’ll be able to figure out what we need to bring him back.”

“Ah, well.” Jaskier is at a loss for words. He wishes he had as much faith that his knowledge of Geralt would be enough.  “I’ll certainly do my best.”

**

“A song, the medallion…” He taps his quill against the page, trying to think. “Ciri, I think you might be the last thing we need.”

“What?”

“Material possessions have never been that important to him,” Jaskier says. “His medallion is a symbol of his profession, his purpose. The song to remind him that he’s more than the monster people claim he is, and you—you’re his destiny. His future.”

Ciri tilts her head. “Really? It's been such a short time… are you sure it wouldn’t be his swords?”

“No,” Jaskier says, he’s as certain that she is part of this as she is that his song will help. “The swords are just tools, he’s lost them before. Gotten replacements. They’re important to him, certainly, but not, I think, in the same way that you are.”

Ciri ducks her head to hide a pleased smile and Jaskier hopes to all the gods that he is right. That they both are. They’ll reach the coast and Geralt tomorrow and he needs this to work. Jaskier lets out a long breath as he watches the dragon disappear from sight. Tries to calm the racing of his heart. He’s so desperate for this to work, so scared that it won’t. He makes sure he is steady enough to pretend at confidence before he returns to where Ciri is waiting a little way back from the cliff edge.

**

They can smell the salt in the air long before they see the ocean. As Jaskier had suspected, the area the dragon has led them too is at least a day's walk from any villages. Remote enough that nobody is likely to stumble upon him. Of course, if he’s spotted in the air that’s another matter, but hopefully they’ll have Geralt cured before anyone decides to muster up another dragon hunting expedition. The cliffside they approach is empty except for a single great hawthorn tree. The dragon is resting underneath the tree. Jaskier stops their approach to study him. His scales are the color of a stormy sky, silver and grey with tinges of blue and black. He has several horns on his head but is otherwise sleek and sinuous.

He lifts his head and fixes them with a piercing look. His eyes are still golden but they seem so much colder than Geralt’s. “You shouldn’t be here.” The dragon rumbles.

“Geralt!” Ciri cries, taking a step towards the dragon but he lifts his head higher and bares his fangs. 

The dragon’s tail lashes—the end seems almost feathered and it stirs up a cold wind as it moves. “Leave this place.” 

Jaskier places his hand on Ciri’s shoulder and stares at the dragon’s huge golden eyes. “We need you to come back to yourself, Geralt.” He thanks his years of vocal training for allowing him to keep his voice steady.

The dragon says nothing. 

Jaskier squeezes Ciri’s shoulder. “Wait here,” he whispers as he takes Geralt’s medallion out of his pocket and slowly walks towards the dragon. In response, the dragon bares his fangs. 

Jaskier stands before the dragon and holds out the medallion. “Here is your medallion, the symbol of your trade, your life. While you wear it, you shall always have your purpose.” 

The dragon extends his head towards Jaskier cautiously. “If you touch me, tail or fin, I swear my medallion your death shall be.” The dragon’s words are said in an almost song-like chant—it’s an odd touch, but the whole spell is odd. With the dragon this close, Jaskier can sense the magic; it feels ancient and he wonders exactly what the Nilfgaardians thought they were doing. 

Jaskier places the medallion on the ground and steps back with his hand raised to show that he will not touch the dragon. He watches the dragon extend one clawed foot to pull the medallion in close, holding it close to his face. He is still for a long moment before he launches himself up into the air and over the edge of the cliff. 

“Is he leaving?” Ciri asks, rushing to stand by Jaskier’s side.

“Hunting perhaps,” Jaskier suggests. “I imagine we’re meant to come back tomorrow, and the day after—three days and three items.”

Ciri makes a face. “Why does magic have to be so complicated?”

Jaskier huffs a laugh. “I’ve often wondered the same thing. Come on, let's see if we can find a decent spot to set up camp. 

**

They had set up camp in a copse of trees far enough back from the cliff edge that the wind was not quite so biting. They eat a quick breakfast and then head back towards the hawthorn tree. When they arrive, Geralt has not returned. Ciri, needing something to burn off her nervous energy, starts running through her training drills. She practices with a sword that Geralt must have had made for her—it is finely made, well balanced, and she is clearly comfortable with it. 

Jaskier watches for a while before he settles down with his lute, trying to figure out what song might work to bring Geralt back. It’s a daunting task whe he’s still not entirely sure that one of his songs will even help, but they hadn’t been able to come up with any better ideas, so he’ll have to hope that destiny is on their side. 

The sun is high in the sky when they hear the rushing sound of the dragon’s wings. They watch as it lands lightly on the edge of the cliff, water slides off his scales, sparkling in the sunlight. He coils himself around the tree. He regards them with clear interest. The medallion hangs around his neck.

“You’ve come again.” The dragon observes. “To offer another trinket?”

“Ah, not an item this time but a song!” Jaskier says, walking as close to the dragon as he dares before he adjusts his lute. “The medallion was to remind you that you are a witcher,” Jaskier explains. “The reason you walk the path. The song is to show you how important that is, how despite the difficulties, you remain good. A hero.”

The dragon rumbles something that sounds vaguely like disagreement.

“You can’t argue that you aren’t a hero when you don’t remember who you are.” Jaskier snaps. He’s had this fight enough times with Geralt when he does know himself.

The dragon snorts but he doesn’t protest beyond that. He lays his head on the ground gestures for Jaskier to proceed with a flick of his tail. 

Jaskier takes a deep breath and starts to play the familiar notes of ‘The stars above the path’. It is not quite as popular as ‘toss a coin’ but it has more truth to it, written after Jaskier and Geralt had traveled together for almost a decade. Geralt is still heroic, of course, but the story is more complex—not meant to merely please a crowd at a tavern. Jaskier had tried to show the truth of Geralt—his compassion and bravery, his humanity. It’s the closest to a love song that Jaskier has ever written so obviously about Geralt, not that the witcher noticed.

 The dragon seems intrigued at least, his focus never wavering from Jaskier as he sings, and by the final chorus his tail is twitching in time with the music. When the song ends the dragon moves slightly closer. 

“He is your friend? Geralt?”

“He is,” Jaskier says easily. It has been almost two years since he had left Geralt in the Kestrel Mountains, but he still considers the witcher his friend. 

“Then I hope your plan works.” The dragon says before he takes off, flying out over the open water.

**

The third day dawns blustery and cool, the scent of frost in the air reminding them they do not have much time left. Jaskier tries to keep himself calm and steady, he can see how frightened Ciri is and doesn’t want to do anything that might make it worse.

They still don’t know exactly what will happen if they have chosen wrong and they are not able to restore Geralt to himself, but Jaskier cannot imagine they will be allowed a second chance. He fears that the dragon will turn on them, but cannot do more than pray that if that happens he will be strong enough to hold it off long enough for Ciri to flee. 

They wait in silence for the dragon to return—watching as he crests the cliffside and curls through the air above them. He spirals down until he is once again on the cliffside facing them, the long line of his body looped around the tree. 

“Ready?” Jaskier asks, rising to his feet and offering Ciri a hand up.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Ciri asks.

“Then we go back to Yennefer and see if she has any other ideas,” Jaskier says, hoping that will reassure Ciri.

Ciri doesn’t look convinced but she lifts her chin, shifting to stand at her full height. “Let’s go.”

Jaskier nods and together they walk towards the dragon. The dragon watches, tail twitching like a cat preparing to spring.

“You’ve returned.” The dragon rumbles. “What will you try today?”

Jaskier takes a deep breath. “Today, your destiny”—he steps back and Ciri steps forward to take his place—”Cirilla, your daughter.”

“Daughter?” The dragon rumbles the question, eyes narrowed.

“Fate brought us together,” Ciri says, voice fierce and determined. “You swore that we would always find each other, that you wouldn’t leave me!”

The dragon moves his head closer and Jaskier holds his breath.

“Geralt, I need you. Your destiny is more than this.” Ciri says.

The dragon withdraws rapidly, coiling tighter on himself until the tree within his coils creaks a protest. “Destiny is cruel, child.”

Jaskier steps closer, placing a hand on Ciri’s trembling shoulder. “Destiny may have taken much from you, Geralt, but it has given you a gift. A chance for happiness. To have a family.” He takes a deep breath. “Would you abandon your child the way you were abandoned? Do not let this curse turn you into a monster.”

“I am a monster.” the dragon growls.

“You aren’t,” Jaskier says. “You are a witcher, a hero, a protector, a father. You are so much more than they say you are. More than you think you are.”

The dragon darts forward until he is so close to Jaskier that his breath ruffles the bard’s clothing. Jaskier stands still, resisting the urge to push Ciri behind him as the dragon examines them. His golden eyes seem different, warmer than they had before and Jaskier holds his breath—hardly daring to hope.

“You are so sure?” the dragon asks. “Even after the Kestrel Mountains?”

Jaskier sucks in a breath, if the dragon can reference past events then perhaps Geralt’s mind is becoming his own again. “Even after that,” Jaskier says. “Anger doesn’t make you a monster.”

“I hurt you.” the dragon says.

“You did.” Jaskier agrees. “That doesn’t change who you are. You are still a good man, Geralt. You’ve made mistakes but that doesn’t make you a monster. It makes you human.”

The dragon, Geralt, gives a slow blink. He doesn’t speak but he doesn’t move away either. 

“What now?” Ciri whispers.

Jaskier gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile. “Classic curse-breaking,” he says. “The traditional ways always work best. Hopefully.” He takes a step closer to the dragon who is still not moving—just watching with an intense focus.

“Gods, please let this work,” Jaskier whispers, and then he leans in and presses a kiss to the dragon’s snout. 

For a long breathless moment, absolutely nothing happens. Then everything goes white.

**

Jaskier comes back to awareness slowly. His ears are ringing. He feels a small hand holding his own. With a great deal of effort, he opens his eyes, blinking away bright white spots. For a moment he is staring up at the empty sky and then Geralt is there, warm golden eyes scanning his face. Jaskier reaches his free hand up and touches the loose hair falling around Geralt’s face.

“It worked.” Jaskier hears himself say, voice breathless and awed. He touches Geralt’s cheek and marvels at the way Geralt presses into his hand.

“It did.” Geralt agrees. “Thank you, Jaskier.”

“Oh, well. It was no trouble.” Jaskier lies cheerfully. He’s not certain how to act, how to deal with the fact that Geralt is his true love. “I ju—”

The rest of what he was going to say is silenced and then forgotten completely as Geralt leans in and kisses him. It is soft, gentle and so tender Jaskier almost wants to scream. After a long moment, Geralt pulls back, just slightly, so that he can press his forehead against Jaskier’s.

“I missed you.” Geralt says.

“Oh,” Jaskier murmurs, at a loss for words. Any anger he felt fades away in the face of Geralt’s little smile. He looks radiant with happiness. 

“Um. I hate to interrupt,” Ciri says. “But we should probably find somewhere to spend the night?”

Geralt moves away with a great deal of reluctance. He rises fluidly to his feet, looking no worse for his time as a dragon. He reaches out a hand to Jaskier and pulls him to his feet. He doesn’t drop Jaskier’s hand. 

“What now?” Jaskier asks, trying not to appear as nervous as he feels. 

“We’ll find a place to camp tonight.” Geralt says. “And then… would you come with us?”

“What?” Jaskier asks. “Where?”

“We’re going to Kaer Morhen for the winter. Will you come?” Geralt actually looks nervous as if the answer isn’t blatantly obvious.

“Geralt,” Jaskier says softly. “I’d follow you anywhere. All you had to do was ask.”

“Hm.” Geralt’s mouth tilts into a tiny smile. “Good.”