#not to mention she stole the captain who nearly killed her's identity to do it

[miralines]

I think it's important to keep in mind how absolutely outrageous General White declaring she's going to kill Cole and then doing it is. This guy has ruled for two thousand years and as far as anyone knows is immortal. Snow survived a massacre and a bombing in short order, did the already impossible thing of pumping the Anderson's oxygen manually for three days straight, passed out, and the moment she woke up looked Doctor Lorenzo in the eye and said, "I'm going to kill God."

[loominggaia]

New Fanfic by Anon: New York

Anon just submitted a new fanfic! This one had me on the edge of my seat, check it out:

“Seeing the post on the freelance good guys getting isekia’d I thought I’d drop this short little fanfic idea. On night Evan is on patrol with Lukus, Alaine and Elska doing their usual rounds when they hear a odd sound? Suddenly a giant, ethereally white vehicle comes barreling towards them at high speed! They attempt to run but not before Evan gets struck, having had no time to react. They stare in horror as the white machine sends evan flying and hitting the ground with a sickeningly loud thud.

The crew is mortified at having seen Evan getting ran over, seeing his unconscious body on the ground. Just before they can help the machine responsible backs up and opens its doors, Evans lifeless body starts floating into the back of the vehicle. The crew latch’s onto him and pulls hard, trying to resist the trucks hold and save their captain and close friend. Despite their best efforts the truck pulls him in, latching it’s doors shut with elska pounding furiously trying to break them down.

The vehicle speeds off with Evan as it’s prisoner. The three try to chase it down but with no avail, elska being the only one able to keep up. With great fury the centauress runs down the evil machine, determined to tear the ethereal contraption apart with her bare hands to save Evan. But as she’s gaining ground the machine speeds up, faster and faster until a portal forms in front of it and in a blinding flash of light the machine, with Evan inside, disappears without a trace.

Evan wakes up in a hospital bed, feeling groggy and not knowing where he is or where that weird beeping sound is coming from? He’s greeted by a human nurse, happy to see him awake. He figures he’s in zareen judging by the room and the weird medical tech attached to him but has no idea how he got their? only remembering getting struck by a unknown machine and blacking out. The nurse ask his name and goes to get the doctor so they may access the new patients condition.

The doctor comes in, another human. He ask Evan his name and tells him about their finds. He’s alright though has an alarming number of scars across his body, seemingly a heart deformity that recovered and other peculiarities but is overall fine and has no obvious signs of injury. The doctor then gets to what he’s really interested in, wondering who this strange man is that was found on the side of the road by passerby’s unconscious, in medieval armor with no wallet, phone, id or anything?

The doctor interrogated Evan heavily? Wanting to know where he came from, why he was on the side of the road? how he lost his leg and obtained so many scars? why he was dressed in medieval armor? Why he has no identification on him? Etc…? Evan answers each question honesty, really wanting to know how he got their himself. As he tells them about his crew and the freelance good guys but dodges the question on his leg, not wanting to reveal his status as a lycanthrope unless absolutely necessary.

The more he talks the more worried the doctor and nurse become, exchanging looks to each other that gets Evan concerned as well. He gets a massive shock to find out he’s not in zareen but some strange place called “American”, specifically New York. The doctor writes down that the patient is delirious; believing that mermaids, centaurs and dragons exist and believes he’s in some non existent country yet claims to be from another unknown country called “Evangline”. He was gonna a rough case.

On the Gaia side, Alaine and Lukus are freaking out as Elska tells them that the evil machine that stole Evan got away by teleporting. Returning to the hollow they break the news of Evans kidnapping to everyone’s shock and horror. Issac, Jeimos and a grieving, furious Zeffer joins them on the hunt for Evan. Guessing that the magic vehicle was of zareenite origin they gear up to travel to zareen to demand answers, leaving the rest of the crew behind to continue their duties until they return.

Evan finds himself still in the hospital, still confused as why he’s being held their? The doctors believing he’s suffered a serious brain damage or mental illness due to his “delusions”. The only answer they can come up with. Trying everything they can the hospital attempt to do background checks on Evan Atlas but continue to come up with nothing, wanting to confirm his identity and contact some family or close friends. Evan picks up rather quick that’s he’s not leaving anytime soon.

He also gets the sinking suspicion that something is seriously wrong. Everyone he’s seen so far is human and everyone acts like he’s crazy when he talks about his crew, job and adventures. The truth comes when doctors alongside immigration officers interrogate him and ask him to point out where this “Zareen” and “Evangline” are on a map. He’s absolutely confused as he doesn’t recognize anywhere on the map nor the language it’s written in, realizing that whatever happened to him he’s not on Gaia.

The rescue crew makes it zareen and immediate start searching for any sighs of who took evan. After a great search, causing a scene and nearly being arrested afew times their search turns up fruitless. However on their journey they meet a deranged looking dworf who’s heard their story and claims to know some information on the mysterious truck that stole Evan. They obviously don’t trust the crazy dworf but hear him out anyway, anything being better then their fruitless attempts so far.

The dworf divulges all he knows about the magic truck that stole their friend. Telling them it’s a mysterious supernatural, dimension hopping vehicle that that runs people over to deliver them to other worlds. He calls it Truck-Kun and shows them grainy photos and numerous testimonies and stories of humans who claim to be from another world being brought to Gaia. While sounding mad, Lukus, Alaine and Elska having witnessed truck-kun in action believe him with how it matches their encounter.

Multiple testimonies from these humans claim to be from a place called “Earth”, mentioning Japan a lot but some others places like America, Russia and so on. Jeimois with Zeffers help prepare one hell of a teleportation spell to take the crew to this earth place, hoping that’s where truck-kun took Evan. Jeimois has little faith in the spell, not knowing where earth is, the power requirement, and the extremely high probability of the spell failing and killing them all but goes through with it.

Having acquired enough magic ingredients and a big enough supply of magic crystals through “questionable means” Jeimos cast the spell. The rescue team is sent flying through the void between worlds at highly velocity in the portal, them all blacking out. When they come too their all thankfully still alive if abit groggy from the trip. They wake up in a field, looking out to see a massive city scape, the likes of which trump any they’ve seen before, that city being New York City.

Evan finds more trouble in his non consensual stay in the hospital as he’s transferred to the psychiatric ward for further evaluation. It isn’t any better when he finds out the full moon is coming and terrified of what he may do divulges the fact he’s a werewolf, trying to protect the staff and any other potential victim. This alarms his doctors as they believe his delusions are worse then they feared and they push off Evan panicked fears by telling him “werewolves aren’t real”.”

TO BE CONTINUED…? Thank you for this, I really enjoyed it! I’m impressed with your understanding of the LG characters and lore! I wish you weren’t on Anon so I could credit you properly. If you guys want to read more fanfics, I’ve been posting them under the ‘fanfic’ tag.

[purelyfiction]

Title: The Return of A Royal

Summary: Din's found the bounty - and sure, he should be happy about that. Yet there is a lingering disgruntlement, the anger and annoyance ringing through him. Despite it all, he demands an explanation, and Mari knows she has to give him one. After clearing any uncertainties, the two are greeted with uninvited visitors. They leave no trace of the intruders, and move to care for the aftermath that was left. Once it's handled the two can figure out what plans are suitable and what move they can make next.

Word Count: 3,996 (longest one yet!)

TW: injury, canon related violence, use of needles, needle mention, (medical) drug use, semi-nudity

Chapter 5: Truth To Light

There's something running through Din's veins at her answer. It's not blood, not anger - maybe rage. The woman had been full of deceit from the minute she stepped into his life and now he's beyond certain that all he wants is her out of it. Yet here he sits, Child in his lap as the woman tries to give him some form of an explanation that he's unwilling to hear. "What other lies do you have? Hmm? Is there even a Jedi?" The question makes her tongue go dry. It's not a lie. 

However, he'd already sought out her help. She'd gave a disgruntled answer - something about needing to get him to the seeing stone. Which he did. It got both of them nearly killed, and Moff Gideon got away, which was half the reason they were here, hiding out from stormtroopers that had invaded oh so easily. "Well?" Din's voice enters the cockpit with such sharpness, Mari can only look at him. There's an anger bubbling in her. He's got some audacity coming in, acting like she was ruining his job. To be fair, she kind of is. But within reason.

One he seems to not want to hear.

"There is. But you already know her. I wanted you to get me back here, let me get out of your grasp before I told you where she was. So... there's no way to help you until a Jedi finds Grogu." She admits, looking to the familiar floor of her craft. Din lets the kid down, moving to wander about the ship, Mari praying he doesn't get himself into any trouble. His shoulders straighten and he's looming over her. She can hear his breath and tenses up as his voice comes back in, much angrier and much louder.

"So you step into business that isn't yours, try to exploit me and run off before giving me information that you promised me."  His voice is hard, and Mari wouldn't be lying if there wasn't a chill from sheer fear and terror  that he instilled. Maybe that's why he'd let the kid go galloping off. "And continued to lie about your identity, full well knowing I was searching for you, and lead us into the very jackasses we're trying to avoid? You call yourself a bounty hunter?"

She felt so small. So much like her father had as a young child, reminding her that there was a world that would take advantage of her and her power, and to never trust anyone. Mari has to push it all down, standing up to try to even out the distance between the two of them, hot tears starting to burn in her eyes.

"You don't want lies? Fine!  Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Mari Wescro, my parents locked me away with their servants and staff before my first birthday because they were terrified of me. I barely knew my mother, but she wrote to me frequently, she would send gifts, and keep the only thread of love from my parents alive. I read books for hours to entertain myself because I was never around children. My best friend was my nurse, and even then at the end of the day, I never felt truly cared for. So, when I was pulled from my bed, in the middle of the night, bound and thrown into a steel encased room in nothing but a nightgown at the age of 19, I knew I had to survive. It was the only way I would ever see any inch of the galaxy. I spent three weeks with stormtroopers who wanted to get their hands on me, a creepy old man who was ready to train me to do his bidding, only to find out my father traded me. He let them in. In exchange for materials to continue fighting the war that was killing our country. When I heard that, I knew my father would never lay a single hand on me ever again. I fought my way out of that death trap, stole myself a TIE fighter and navigated to the nearest planet. I cut my hair, and found the easiest way to get credits without being tied down, risking the possibility that my power hungry father would find me again. So I'm sorry that I lied about my identity when I heard someone was looking for me. That my father was searching for me to go back to his ways, exploiting the one thing I try to hide from the galaxy." Her chest is falling and rising rapidly after the monologue ends. Mari takes a breath, looking at the emotionless face of metal in front of her, tears falling, hastily moving to wipe them away. Maker, she wanted to be able to see his face right now. To see if there was surprise, empathy, hell, the slightest bit of guilt for her. Her face seemingly burned as she tries to stop the tears before they broke her even further.

As a child she'd spent so many moments calming the flow of tears that fell any time she felt dread, loneliness - the sheer emptiness that had filled her all those years. "When you walked in the cantina, I knew I couldn't fight you. I would not be able to escape, outrun or hide from you. Your reputation shows that. So, I had to hide in plain sight. If there is one thing that comes from this, I ask that we part ways, I hide away, I change my name and we never cross paths again."

Mari looks at the other, nearly wanting to scream. It was like talking to a brick wall, no response, no movement, no evidence there was even a person in her midst. A coo comes from the doorway, another hand moving to wipe at her eyes. Grogu expresses concern to her, and she shakes it off. "I'm fine.  Just, a lot of bad stuff in my head." She mutters, giving him a small smile before Din finally gives some form of reaction to what had insinuated.

"'You ." A hand moves as he speaks, only to fall again. A noise comes from the modulator, something she assumes is his attempt to find the right words. "You were hiding you. You were running. The whole time you've been on the run." He slowly sits back down in the chair he'd rested in earlier, a hand moving under his helmet, resting his chin there. "How long have you been... doing this."

"15 years. Not once had I heard from my father. Kriff's sake, I thought he was dead. I have no idea what he would want with me now." She offers, sitting in her own chair, the captains chair. "So, I apologize. I... I didn't know if I could trust you. Hoth, I still don't know." At this, Din looks to her, his gaze steady.

"I'm not finishing the job." Mari lets out a snort looking down to the Child for a moment.

"Well there's one relief. If it's not you, it's them." She runs her hands over her face, pressing her fingers to her eyes to put slight pressure on them.

"Come with us." A deep modulated voice, Mari pulls her hands from her face.

"You're kidding. I've heard the bounty they've got on you and green dude. Moff's really out for you both. He finds the both of us, and he's rich." Din can't help the smirk on his face, even though there was no evidence of it outside the helmet.

"Well then we don't let him find us." She gives a small smile. That smile is shook from her the minute a blaster shot comes from the front shield of the ship, ricocheting through the metal interior. She dives towards the kid, Din standing upright, blaster in hand as she shields the youngest. Her efforts are needed, as she feels a burning sensation in her bicep, doing her best to keep her cry quiet under all the gunfire. Once the blast diminishes, she's standing, grabbing her own blaster in her non-dominant hand, the two of them shooting rounds through the now busted shield of her freighter. So much for running out of here. Luckily, there'd not been many of them, and the silence falls on the port again, leaving Mari to sit back to the floor, a hand grabbing at her arm. The burn was far worse that she'd anticipated, but she knew that there'd be no way Grogu would've been able to take the hit. When her weight hits the floor, the Mandalorian's head moves to see her, kneeling down to take her elbow carefully in his hand to push the arm up so he can see the injury. "Let me see it." He reassures her, a slight hiss coming from her as he moves.

For the second time that day, the two are so close to one another, the distance being less than a blaster's length. "I'll be fine. We just need to get," another hiss as the lightest touch of Din's finger brushes over it, "stop that." She snarls, the male looking to her face.

"Is there any supplies on here?" He asks, slowly standing up, starting out to the hull of the ship.

"Yeah. They're in the captain's cabin." She gives the directions to the area, the other following them with heavy footsteps. Getting to the compartment she speaks of, he opens it, only to find a sheet of gauze, and the weakest painkiller most markets carry. He takes them regardless, moving back to the cockpit and joining her on the floor again. "I'm sorry it's not much." She offers, only for Din's hands to carefully move to the upper sleeve of the arm, ripping the rest of the fabric from the newly developed hole, so the whole sleeve moves off her arm, giving him better access to care for the wound.

"I have more supplies on my craft. We just need to get you there." He rationalizes, hands carefully moving to start the roll of gauze over the broken skin. His hands seem to move so painfully slow, Mari's mind slipping to where it'd been last night. The touch wasn't nearly the same, since his fingers were still gloved, but they held the same diligent and thought out actions, planned and executed so carefully, as if not to startle either of them, or make the wound worse. The two sit in the quiet, a hum coming from somewhere on the ship. Mari's keen to find the source only to hear the slightest crackle that indicates it's origin. It's coming from him. The hardened piece of steel that sits in front of her is humming. She finds such innocence in the noise, seemingly some form of a lullaby, one that might've been a tool to help get the Child to sleep each night. Or perhaps from his own childhood, somewhere deep in his memory. There's so much unknown about her caretaker at her side, yet he suddenly seems to know everything about her. She'd laid it out there for him to see. He'd received a glimpse last night before she stormed off to her room.

A satisfying snap comes from her right, Mando's ripped the gauze to shorten the bandage and tuck the tail in gently. "That'll work 'til we can get better care for it. The ship'll have to stay here for repairs." He notes, pushing a hand through the shatters of glass on the floor surrounding them.

"So what do we do now?" Mari's voice is light, as though this day hadn't brought tears and a gruesome injury. There's a much different attitude around her and Din seems unsure. Maybe because she's broken down a wall, she doesn't have to feel so guarded? Perhaps. Despite that, he stands, offering her a hand to help her to her feet.

"We find a Jedi."

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

Back on the Razor Crest, the three of them settle into hyperspace, Mari putting the child down for a nap before shutting the door to the cot's containment, just as the shielded man comes from the cockpit. "Let's see what we can do about your arm." He offers, moving to a cabinet on the far side of the room. Mari sits down not too far from him, leaning against a crate and watching his movements. He's got careful hands digging through the supply cabinet - in search of something specific. Mari's not too worried, merely giving him a gaze as he pauses, something in his hand with a grunt. "I must've used the last kit I had." He retorts, closing the cabinet, a box in hand despite his words.

"Kit?" She asks, watching as he approaches softly, kneeling down and setting the box in her lap. Mari lifts it softly, only to read the Aurebesh inscribed in the casing. Once she recognizes it, she's nearly throwing the box at his head, almost squirming away from him. "Hoth no. I'll take death before I take that. You can trust me there. I might've lied up until now but I swear to keep the truth if you don't use that."

Din gives a groan, picking the box containing the e-bacta syringe up from it's position on the floor where she pushed it away from her. "Fine. Don't come crying to me when you're still in pain hours from now." He gets up and moves back to the cabinet, Mari's face following him.

"I'll be fine. It doesn't even hurt right now." She offers, getting up, using her good arm to get up as to not disturb the other one. She's back to her feet when a distorted chuckle leaves him. "What are you laughing at over there?" She asks, looking to him as he turns, something of a makeshift sling in his hands.

"There's a numbing agent on it right now. It was what you had left in your medic cabinet." He offers, gently taking her elbow once again, carefully slipping her arm into the fabric, the woman watching his movements as she listens to him. "So, I'm gonna give you about 20 minutes before you're begging for it."

Mari's face can't help but flush at his words, looking up to him with a surprised face. She decides to give a retort, might as well take the risk and get the awkwardness out of the way now, right? "I'm afraid if you want me to beg, you're gonna have to work harder than that." With that, she gives a nod, a silent thank you, before moving to the cot door. "I'm gonna have a lie down, I'll come up when I'm awake." As she opens the door, she takes a glance to him, having not moved from where he stood, simply watching her. Mari slinks into the cot's room - the only bedroom Din had to him.

As soon as the metal door has shut Din is shuffling from his spot to the refresher, shutting the door and quickly pulling the helmet from his head. The metal falls to the floor with a clank his hands leaning into the sink in front of him as he takes a few breaths. He's trying his best to get the words to stop repeating over and over, but he can't.  He's pulling his gloves from his hands, moving to splash cold water on his skin, cooling down before standing upright. It's here that he forgets the walls are sheets of mental - meaning they're pretty thin. So the warping sound of metal shakes him, looking to the wall it's coming from. The wall that divides the refresher to the cot container. He suddenly hears the other's voice.

"Mando? You good? I heard a noise." Her voice in filled with slight concern for the other, which leaves Din feeling rather... calm. The idea of someone else showing concern to him, versus him looking at what others were doing - concerning himself with their wellbeing. It was brief, but it was nice to be thought of. He clears his throat, turning slightly to where the wall was.

"I'm fine. Helmet fell off the sink." He gives a quiet huff as Mari's response comes to him.

"Okay, talk to you in the morning?" She offers, the other giving a snicker.

"Goodnight, Mari."

He's been in the cockpit for a few hours now, not any more than two or three before the door to the pit swishes open, making him turn in his seat to look at the woman. She stands in the doorway, eyes red, hair disheveled, her one arm nursing her other. She was shaking a little bit. Din's breath leaves him gently, almost in sound of adoration. "Did someone's meds wear off?" He retorts, hidden smirk on his lips. Mari can nearly hear it in his voice, holding up a hand.

"I'm in a lot of pain. Can you just help me." This surprises him. Sure, he's not known her very long, but its the first time she's seemed so... out of it. Succinct and to the point of the matter. The Mandalorian gives a nod, standing up and making his way to the ladder. He navigates easily, watching Mari struggle to not move her arm, whimpers coming every so often as she slowly climbs back down the ladder. She nearly slips, making Din move to catch her waist in his hands. He tightens his grip to make sure she won't fall before speaking.

"Let go. I've got you." Its so soft, Mari is surprised he's even said it. She does so, letting go with the one arm that was keeping her upright. He then carries her from the well of the ladder, carefully setting her on her own two feet before retrieving the medical gurney from the wall. It releases slowly, and he turns to her. He waits for her to decide if she can get up herself, but brown eyes look to him, a quiet confirmation that she can't do it herself. Din returns a silent nod, hands moving back to her waist, lifting her up onto the cushioned surface. One hand stays put, the other moving to reach to the cabinet retrieving the medication that she'd declined earlier. As it's in his hand, he looks to her. "I'm not going to administer all of it, but it will probably be enough to knock you out for a while." He offers as fingers open the box. Mari speaks up, voice soft.

"Do you mind if I change then? This.. isn't that comfortable." Her words remind him that she's in the same shirt from earlier, blood dried and missing a sleeve. Mari suddenly curses before shaking her head. "Nevermind, I-I didn't grab clothes from my ship." She speaks, only for Din to take a turn.

"I have extra shirts. They won't fit you... but it's probably better than what you're in." He lets the item in his hands gently fall, and she gives a slow nod.

"If you don't mind. That would be.. nice." He gives a nod, turning to cross the ship to where he kept the small pieces that formed his wardrobe. He's quick to find a dark undershirt, shutting the drawer and turning to find Mari struggling to get the shirt off without moving her arm - inciting more pain.

"Hey, easy there." His feet move rather quickly to her, setting the fabric down beside her. "Let me help." Mari looks at him, her heart picking up a little. She knows she shouldn't but... the hotel room - they were in the dark. She couldn't see him and she's certain that he probably hadn't seen much of her in the pitch black room. His hand is gripping the fabric at her waist, only for Mari's to cover his. He looks to her, waiting for her to explain herself, and she does.

"Don't... judge." This girl was really confusing him now. Why now? Is it because they're in the middle of a fluorescent spotlight above them, a feature of the medical bay, something more than necessary in most instances. Din only gives a nod, starting to lift the fabric again, Mari moving ever so slightly to help him, the male being very careful to not disturb the gauze on her right bicep. Once the material's gone, he can't help but take a small look. He's not sure why she had picked the words she had, as there wasn't anything.. out of place. If anything, he'd be rather complemental if she'd asked. Though, he then sees the potential flaw she might've been concerned with. Slight bruises litter along her upper torso, along her collarbones and around the peeking skin of her hips in their waistband. His brain connects the dots, and he's moving his hand to her chin. He tilts it slightly, enough to see the mark that was still rather inflamed from their run-in the day prior.

"I did this?" He asks, hand retreating as quickly as it had come, Mari hoping that he'd not heard the slight hitch in her breath that had occured when his hand moved to hold her chin still.

"I-... yeah. I said don't judge," She reminds him, only for Din to speak up.

"Why would I judge? It's not like you did that." He defends, only before picking up the shirt once again. He's sliding the gap in the shirt over her head, finally seeing the exhaustion in her features. She'd clearly not slept, and her expressions were barely there. Like her body was doing the bare minimum to show any exertion.

"I, guess I didn't want you to feel bad? I've had worse." She points out. Din gives a nod, continuing with pulling the fabric over each limb carefully, not wanting to harm her anymore than she was already hurting. When it's finally on, the two seem to let out a breath.

"I was doing my job. I won't feel guilty about that." His answer finally comes after what seems to be the longest gap in time. His hands are back on the e-bacta shot, prepping it as Mari seemingly shifts.  He looks to her briefly, slowly lifting a corner of the overly large t-shirt from her abdomen. "Hold this." He offers, her obediently doing so. He preps the spot before moving to administer it, the woman leaning away from him as the needle approaches. He stands upright, medical device retreating. "Mari. You asked me to." He hates to bring it up, seeing as she was seemingly miserable to even consider it, after her reaction from earlier.

"I know, I know." She takes a breath, keeping her head forward and closing her eyes. She tells herself not to move, but the pinch of the needle never comes. Instead, a large hand wrapped in leather finds its way in between her fingers, holding onto her rather tightly.

"Squeeze my hand." He encourages her, starting to count down so she can prepare - and she does. The tiny knuckles of her fingers start to turn white as he completes the procedure. When he's done, Mari opens her eyes softly, looking to him as he cleans back up, moving across the room to the cot's room to grab the blanket from there. He flings it over his shoulder, coming back to her and helping her lay down. "Is it working yet?" He asks, trying to gauge how close to sleep she was.

"Mmmm, I think... I think so..." She feels so relaxed, so calm, and for once in a few weeks so safe. She can feel the gentle softness of the blanket fall over her. A muttered  'goodnight, Mari' coming from the Mandalorian as she slowly begins to inhale the most wonderful smell. The smell is something of clean mint and beautiful lavender, with a robustness of.. pine? She's not sure, but whatever it is, it's very pleasant. And it helps lul her into the pain-free and most comfortable sleep she's had in a while.

[ghostcatsso]

Alright I’m ready for a Justin saving druid meeting

Hey, Lisa, we gonna go to the druid meeting? No? Fripp and the druids are too busy for something as trivial as saving a guy’s life? Wow.

Okay, okay, it sounds like Fripp is getting lost in...timey wimey stuff I guess? I’m not surprised he’s not doing well. He was speaking in quite the riddles when I last saw him.

Linda showed up and we talked more about wanting to save Anne but we can’t do that without the druids’ and Fripp’s help, but we may be able to go ahead and save Justin. He may not want to be saved, but Dark Core will very likely kill him now that they’ve decided he’s not useful.

We need Alex, though! We can’t just make plans and run off on a mission without our fourth soul rider!

Lisa sent me to go ask around about a ride to the oil rig while we wait for Alex to show up.

Asked this guy who usually gives me a ride, but no dice. There’s not nearly enough room for four horses on his little boat.

I went to ask the captain but he’s nowhere to be found. I had to ask several identical seamen where he is, but finally one told me he’s out sailing.

We don’t have time to lose, so I started asking around if anyone else would take us there, but they all said the weather this time of year is too stormy and dangerous for sailing.

This guy said he might if he had one of those giant barges the Dark Core use, but how would he get one of those? It’s not like he can just sneak on one lol....unless?

I went back to Linda and Lisa to see if Alex has shown up yet and tell them the bad news that nobody is willing to take us, though I think I have an idea

Alex wasn’t there, yet, but they did seem very excited to steal a barge. Linda also said she had a vision that the world would end if I don’t take ChanceHunter with me on this mission. Whoa, chill Linda, Chance goes with me on all my missions. No need to be so dramatic.

We decided to split up to look for Alex. There’s no way she’d ever forgive us if we stole a barge without her. Linda looked around the observation points, Lisa looked in valedale, and I was sent to Marley’s since Alex mentioned going there with her mom.

Yep, found her. She was giving her mom a riding lesson.

I caught her up on everything she missed and she said she’s just gonna finish up with her mom and then she’ll meet us at the Moorland beach

Welp, Alex isn’t here yet. Lisa suggested we do some recon while we wait for her, so I went sneaking around to see how easy it’ll be to sneak on board the barge

Yikes that’s a lot of guards. This is gonna be much harder than last time.

Oh good Alex finally decided to join us.

We agree there’s no way we’ll be able to sneak past the guards, there’s too many. Linda said she remembers there’s a spell that will make you look like somebody else, but she doesn’t know how to do it. We’ll have to ask Mrs Holdsworth for help

Mrs Holdworth agrees to help, but of course she doesn’t have all the ingredients, so we’ll have to go fetch them for her. At least there’s enough of us I only need to get one ingredient this time. The other soul riders will get the rest.

I was assigned going to the witch’s swamp and getting water with the reflection of a will-o-wisp in it. Weird. Linda told me to not look at the wisps themselves, since they’ll draw me into the swampy water.

So of course that’s the first thing I did. Guess what I’m alive still, and I got the magic wisp water

Potions all done, time to test it out

chug chug chug

we just have to concentrate on who we want to turn in to and boom there we are

Alex accidentally thought of Justin tho lol

The potion works. Mrs Holdworth also gave us some sleeping bombs as a plan B and we were on our way

So the plan is we all turn ourselves into Dark Core goons, Lisa and I will talk to the guard and distract him, while Alex and Linda will sneak on board the barge and act like they belong there. We’re to act like we’re taking our horses to be turned into dark horses, just like I did to Chance that one time.

um why did i put the bottle halfway in my face when i drank the potion

i guess it works either way

I told the guard I was on special orders to bring these horses to Headquarters and Linda and Alex ran past us as I answered his questions. Unfortunately the guard was just too suspicious and he saw through our disguises.

They all freaked out and put up a barrier and started running at us, but Lisa was quick and she threw some sleep bombs at them

Good thing those work. Love that this guy has his head in the sand lol

More guards were coming and I had to fend them off by throwing more sleep bombs while Alex and Linda struggled with the controls to the barge. Turns out they don’t know how to drive a barge

you would think it would be easier because there’s four of them :P

throwing potions at the guards was fun tho

eventually they figured out the controls, but we decided there’s no way Lisa and I could get on the barge without some guards getting on too, so we told them we’d meet them at Fort Pinta and they left us there on the dock

That’s when Lisa and I ran out of sleep bombs. Ruh roh. Time to scatter!

We ran in opposite directions. Good thing we got our horses, there’s no way the guards could chase us down.

We met up at the docks at Fort Pinta

Lisa said Linda texted her that they’re being chased by another barge and it might be a while before they can shake them off and come get us. Guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow.