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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 4 years ago

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Book Four: War (Gladiolus x Reader) Chapter One

A/n: Welcome to the final book in the Four Horsemen series! It has taken way too long and I apologize! As in the other books, your hair color is predetermined based off which Horseman you pose as, but feel free to change it! Enough chatter from me. Let's get right into the story! Love you all!!! ••••••••••••••••••••

Prompto stared wide-eyed at the wanted poster of Deadeye that was on display at Wiz Chocobo Post. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat when Noctis told him they'd be hunting down the deadly behemoth. "You seriously think we can take this thing down?"

Noctis shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

"Dude!" The blonde whined at his best friend's nonchalant attitude toward the deadly situation.

"Hey, you wanna ride the chocobos? Then we've got no choice."

"Noct is correct," Ignis spoke up as he and Gladio walked over to join the two younger boys. "In order for us to gain access to the chocobos, we must execute this beast."

"Enough chitchat. Let's get moving," Gladio stated. "You've got enough items, right, Your Highness?"

The ravenette rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah..."

The royal retinue left the chocobo outpost and headed to where Deadeye's den was located-the Nebulawood. It wasn't far from Wiz Chocobo Post as it was a five-minute hike from the outpost. Before they could even locate the entrance to the Nebulawood, they could hear the sound of trees snapping and slamming against the ground.

Finding the entrance to the Nebulawood, the four exceeded caution as they could hear even more trees falling in the distance. Eventually, they stumbled upon a narrow passageway they could crawl through.

Gladio grabbed Noctis and yanked him back before he could enter the crawlspace. Offering to go first, the shield proceeded to enter the crawlspace and lead the way. Noctis, Prompto, and Ignis followed after him, keeping their voices down when hearing a menacing growl.

Halfway through the crawlspace, the boys spotted Deadeye. The large behemoth stalked past them, failing to notice their presence. However, the beast's nose scrunched up as it smelt an unfamiliar scent. It immediately turned around and crept toward the crawlspace.

Seeing this, Gladio stopped Noctis just in time. Deadeye shoves its snout into an opening and roars. When seeing its sharp teeth, the shield noticed a round, red object lodged between two of them.

Suddenly, the royal retinues' attention was drawn to the behemoth when a sword came out of nowhere and plunged into the side of its neck. Deadeye cried out, yanking its snout out of the hole.

"What the...?" Noctis murmured, eyes glued to the sword.

"Hurry up," Gladio hissed.

The four made it out of the crawlspace and were greeted by the sound of Deadeye's thunderous roar. Alongside the beast, they heard someone yell at the top of their lungs. The group froze after realizing it was human.

"Who'd be crazy enough to come here by themselves?" Prompto asked.

"Perhaps the person who wounded the behemoth," Ignis said.

"We're gonna help them, right?"

"If we get to them before they become behemoth bait," Gladio stated.

Following the sounds of battle, the group made their way through the area of the Nebulawood that was shrouded with a heavy fog.

After pausing through the dense fog and managing to locate Deadeye's den, they climbed over a fence and stared at the ruins before looking toward the battle unfolding down below.

A young woman with fiery red locks and (e/c) eyes wielded a sword with a crimson blade. Her attire was strange and out of place.

(A/n: I imagined the outfit without the ears on the hood and the mask. And before I forget... I DO NOT OWN ANY IMAGES USED IN THIS STORY! Please go support the original artists if you like their work.)

She nimbly dodged the behemoth's attacks before leaping forward and striking. Her blade sliced off Deadeye's other horn and destroyed its other eye. Swinging its claws around blindly, the behemoth tried to strike the girl. When its claw got close enough, she sidestepped and swung her sword upward, slicing off a couple of its toes.

Seeing the appendages fall to the ground, Prompto backed away from the ledge. "So, uh... We gonna help her?"

Gladio crossed his arms as he continued to watch the fight. "Looks like she can handle this herself."

"Yeah, but..."

"Nah, it's fine," Noctis replied, his eyes glued to the battle. He watched the girl swing her blade, but his eyes widen in shock when she exchanges her blade for a javelin. He saw the familiar crystal-like shards that engulfed her weapons when they switched. Unlike his, they were a bright crimson. He blinked in bewilderment. "Did you guys just see that?"

"Quite so," Ignis answered.

"Wait, is she a member of the crownsguard?" Prompto asked.

"No way," Gladio responded. "I'm pretty sure we'd remember a firecracker like her if she was."

"Then what's with the shards?"

"I am curious as well," the advisor spoke up.

All of a sudden, the girl's javelin was set ablaze. She charged toward Deadeye, ducking under his flailing claws and eyeing its chest. She jammed the blazing javelin into the behemoth's chest, discharging the flame. The fire consumed its body, frying it to a crisp. Yanking the javelin out of Deadeye's chest, she dispelled it with a heavy sigh before stepping back to prevent from being crushed by the corpse.

Seeing it was finally dead, the redhead kicked the behemoth's head. "Dammit... Where is it?" Her attention was drawn to the royal retinue when they hopped down from the cliff and joined her. She watched them with a glare, keeping her distance and remaining silent.

"You lookin' for something?" Gladio asked, shattering the silence.

"You really think I'm going to tell you?" She scoffed.

"Let me guess: it's red and round." Her eyes widen, which made him smirk. "Looks like I hit the nail on the head. It's stuck between its teeth."

The redhead turned her attention back to the carcass of the behemoth and walked over to its mouth. Summoning a crimson-bladed dagger, she examined Deadeye's mouth and found what she'd been looking for. "About damn time." Using the dagger, she picked the orb out from the beast's teeth and wiped it off with a disgusted look. "Of course it's covered in slobber..."

Dispelling the dagger, she grabbed Noctis' attention. "Hey, where did you-?"

"Sorry, can't talk," she interrupted him. "I'm a busy person." She sauntered off, her hips swaying as she did so.

"Hey!" The prince shouted. "Wait a minute!"

"Aaand she's gone," Prompto sighed. "What do we do now?"

"Return to Wiz. We must inform him of the behemoth's downfall," Ignis replied.

"We're not gonna take the award money, are we?"

The strategist shook his head. "No."

"After all, we weren't the ones to kill Deadeye," Gladio added. "Let's get goin'." The four left the ruins and headed back to Wiz Chocobo Post.

Back at the chocobo outpost, Noctis told Wiz of Deadeye's death. The old man tried to give him the reward for slaying the beast, but he refused.

Before Wiz could ask why, a familiar redhead made another appearance. "Just take the money. I wasn't planning on using it."

Noctis turned around in disbelief. "You're really not going to take it?"

"That's what I was implying," she groaned. "Hurry up and take it or I'll give it to someone else."

"Okay..." Noctis told Wiz of his decision and took the gil from the man. When he spun back around, he saw the redhead was gone. "Dammit..."

From across the chocobo ranch, Gladio had watched the exchange between Noctis and the mysterious girl. He watched her walk away and decided to follow her a little ways down the road. He called out to her, happy it made her stop. "You just gonna walk away?"

The redhead crossed her arms with a scowl as she faced him. "You just gonna follow me if I do?"

The shield held up his hand in defense. "Take it easy, firecracker."

"Do not call me that," she hissed.

He smirked. "Feisty."

She clenched her fist. "You're pissing me off. I'm pretty sure you've somewhere else to be. Y'know, a place called Lestallum? Or are those big muscles to make up for how small your brain is?"

Gladio wasn't fazed by the insult, but he was flabbergasted at what she said. "How'd you know that?"

Now it was her turn to smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know, Gladiolus Amicitia."

Without another word, she walked away. Gladio watched her as she vanished down the road and out of sight. Still in shock, he returned to his friends and they rode away from the chocobo ranch.

<------------<<<<<

The next day, the royal retinue arrived in Lestallum. Ignis parked the car and everyone headed to the main thoroughfare. Gladio received a call from Iris, letting him know she was staying at the Leville. Deciding to not keep her waiting, they headed to the hotel.

When reaching the courtyard outside the Leville, the ground begins shaking. The four boys brace themselves to prevent from falling. "Whoa, do you feel that?" Noctis questioned.

"You mean the earthquake?" Gladio inquired.

Suddenly, Noctis grabs his head and winces. Images of Titan flash through his mind. After a moment, the visions abate and Noctis shakes his head. He wasn't worried about what he saw.

Gladio noticed the boy's discomfort and asked, "What's wrong?"

"My head just started throbbing," the raven-haired boy answered.

Prompto glanced at his best friend with concern. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Continuing forth, the group enter the Leville. They stand in the lobby and wait for a couple minutes. When Iris comes trotting down the stair, she smiled at her older brother. "Gladdy!"

"Iris," Gladio called out to his sister.

She then casted her smile toward the others. "Look at you guys, holding your own out there."

"What can I say? You look good," Prompto complimented her.

"All things considered. You guys are staying here, right?"

"That's the plan," Ignis said.

"When you have time, we have catching up to do," Gladio stated.

"I've got time now. Come on up!" Iris cheered.

The four boys follow Iris upstairs. They enter one of the rooms with a young boy and an old man inside. Gladio recognizes them and called out, "Jared and Talcott! Is it good to see you."

"Prince Noctis! Iris is safe with me!" Talcott proclaimed confidently.

"Please excuse my grandson. He has yet to learn his manners," Jared apologized.

Noctis smirked at the young boy. "I like it."

"Your Highness is very kind, but we shan't impose. A very good night to you, Your Highness."

Jared and Talcott leave the room and Iris closes the door behind them. She and the boys then all take a seat. Noctis was the first to speak up. "So Iris, what was it like inside the Crown City?"

She frowned. "Not pretty. The Citadel took a beating. But a lot of outlying neighborhoods made it through in one piece."

"The empire had tactical targets in mind," Ignis stated.

"We wouldn't have made it out if it wasn't for (Y/n)."

Noctis' brows furrowed together in confusion. "Who's (Y/n)?"

"I'm not really sure myself. She showed up just before the empire attacked and escorted us out of the city," Iris answered. "We owe her our lives."

"(Y/n)..." Ignis murmured the name.

Noctis looked toward his advisor. "What's up, Specs?"

"I believe I've heard such a name from his late Majesty."

"Really?"

"Though I am uncertain."

Gladio looked back at his sister. "Think we could meet this (Y/n)?"

"Definitely!" Iris flew to her feet. "She should be somewhere near the outlook. Follow me!" She acted as the royal retinues' guide, escorting them out of the hotel and to the outlook.

Arriving at their destination, they saw only one person. They had a hood pulled over their head. Iris recognizes the person and shouted, "(Y/n)!"

The person turned in their direction, pulling down their hood and revealing fiery locks. Prompto's mouth fell agape. "No way..."

Iris looked over at the blonde. "You know her?"

"Not personally, no," Noctis responded.

The mysterious girl, now known as (Y/n), smirked. "Well, well, I didn't expect to see you four again so soon."

"Neither did we, firecracker," Gladio chortled, grinning.

The girl's smirk morphed into a scowl. "Do you want me to kick your ass? Because I will."

Iris glanced between her brother and the redhead. "How do you all know each other?"

"We somewhat met yesterday at the chocobo ranch," Prompto responded.

(Y/n) tore her gaze from the shield and glanced up at the sky. "It's getting late. I'm heading out."

"You tryin' to make another quick exit like you did yesterday?" The brute asked.

"For your information, I've got important things to do. That behemoth yesterday was a minor setback. If you're so eager to talk to me, I'll be back in the morning."

The five watch her leave. Prompto made a comment once she was gone. "She's, uh...interesting."

"I'll say," Gladio chuckled.

"Anyway," Iris chimed in. "You guys are probably tired from the drive. Why don't you take a day to relax?"

"A long nap does sound nice," Noctis confesses.

"When does it not to you?" The shield retorts.

The boy waves him off before heading back to the Leville with Prompto, Ignis, and Iris. Gladio glances in the direction (Y/n) walked before following the others.

<------------<<<<<

The next morning, Noctis went on a tour with Iris while Prompto and Ignis went shopping. Gladio, who'd been itching to talk to (Y/n), searched for the redhead. He wandered around Lestallum for a little while until he found the girl where they talked yesterday-the outlook. She was sitting on the stone railing, gazing down at the scarlet orb in her palm. Her head shot up when hearing him approach. "I swear to the Astrals, if you call me that ridiculous nickname I'll toss you off the nearest bridge."

Gladio, even though he'd only known her for two days, was starting to enjoy her fiery attitude. "As much as I would love to, I'm here to thank you and not piss you off."

"Oh?" She hummed in curiosity. "What do you want to thank me for?"

"For saving Iris, Talcott, and Jared."

"It was only coincidental," she muttered.

"Still, you saved 'em. So, thanks," he said. "Why were you in the city anyway?"

She looked away. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

She arched a brow. "Excuse me?"

Galdio repeated himself. "Try me."

A sigh fell from her lips. "My sisters and I were summoned by your late King to help with evacuation."

Of course, this made the brute even more confused. "Really? His Majesty thought four sisters could evacuate the entire city?"

"I haven't gotten to the last part," she groaned. "Are you familiar with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?"

"Yeah." Gladio couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't tell me you and these sisters you're talkin' about are the Four Horsemen. They're just a scary story to tell kids to freak 'em out."

(Y/n) pinched the bridge of her nose. "I told you you wouldn't believe me. What was even the point in trying to tell you? You mortals don't even know the real story of the Four Horsemen..." She hopped off the railing and walked past Gladio.

Before she was out of reach, the shield grabbed her wrist and stopped her from leaving. "I'll admit, I don't believe you. Think you could do somethin' that'll convince me?"

"Like what? Summon my horse, vanish in a puff of smoke, stab myself, burn something?"

"Uh..."

The redhead stared into his amber eyes. "You think I'm crazy. To be honest, I didn't expect much." She yanked her arm out of his grasp. "Why did I even think I could try?"

"Fine, I'll bite. Let's say you and your sisters are the Four Horsemen. What did you mean by mortals don't even know the real story?" Gladio asked.

"You wanna bear the truth? Fine."

***

Four souls were pulled from the four corners of Hell, gifted with abilities no human, god, nor daemon could comprehend. Each soul was given one of four aliases that accompanied their powers-War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. Now dubbed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by the Daemon King, Aeshema, they were sent to a world between the living and the dead known as the Inner Sanctum-a domain where the Four Horsemen would reside and keep order of the monsters who relish to break the seal preventing them from entering the world of the living and quenching their bloodlust.

With the seal preventing the monsters from escaping to the land of the living shattered, the Horsemen were tasked with traveling to the bustling world to hunt down the monsters that escaped and kill them before humans fell victim to their bloodlust. Once each Horseman slew their share of the monsters, they would be granted passage back to the Inner Sanctum.

Once the Four Horsemen reached the gateway and entered the portal, they arrived in the land of the living. Famine, Death, Pestilence, and War went their separate ways and disguised themselves as humans in order to walk among the living and hunt down the monsters incognito without startling the lives around them.

***

Gladio stated at (Y/n) in disbelief. The redhead rolled her eyes. "You wanted the true tale, you got it. I'm a warrior, not a storyteller."

"Isn't it missing details?" He asked.

"Well, yeah. It's still in the making. That's why it kinda sounds incomplete." Even though she knew he didn't believe her, she went into deeper detail. "In order for me to return to the Inner Sanctum, I must slay a pack of bunyips and a dullahan that escaped. In order to complete my mission, I can't dawdle around here and perform tricks like a dog just to try and convince you I'm a Horseman. Besides, I don't care if you believe me or don't. It doesn't change my mission. Have fun escorting His Highness to Altissia." (Y/n), once again, gave Gladio the cold shoulder and left.

#final fantasy xv x reader #ffxv x reader #ffxv #final fantasy xv #gladiolus x reader #gladio x reader

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general-rusty · 5 years ago

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Hazbin AU Swap

Alastor the host to hell's 6th most popular radio station, out got of him apartment to see the ruins from his balcony. He clears his throat and started to sing.

Chasing Happiness ♪ At the end of the journey there's happiness ♪ ♪ And to find it, how often I’ve tried ♪ ♪ But my life is a race ♪ ♪ Just a wild goose chase ♪ ♪ And my hopes, they were just a lie♪ ♪ Why have I always been a failure ♪ ♪ What could the reason be ♪ ♪ I wonder if the world's to blame ♪ ♪ I wonder if it could be me ♪ ♪ I'm always looking for hope♪ ♪ searching them with my tears♪ ♪ My schemes are just like all my dreams ♪ ♪ Ending every year♪ ♪ Some fellows look and find the sunshine ♪ ♪ I always look and find the rain ♪ ♪ Some fellows make a winning sometime ♪ ♪ I never even make the game ♪ ♪ Believe me ♪ ♪ I'm always looking for hope♪ ♪ Waiting to find the happiness♪ ♪ In vain ♪

In the streets of Hell

A Demon falls from the sky and lands on the ground. "Oh, I’m alive. I’m alive!" He said

A motorcycle runs him over and stop to drop off a leatherjacket wearing Niffty. "Heh. Thanks for the fun time, hot stuff." A male raccoon demon said.

"Yeah, yeah, listen. Keep this discreet, hear me? I can’t let it get out I’m offering my services to creeps on the street. It was a quick cash grab, ya got it?" Niffty said

The Raccoon scoffs, "Whatever you say, slut!" He laughs

"Ouch, ooh, such an insult! Let me know when you come up with something creative to call me you sack of poorly packaged horse shit. Tell the mrs' I said hi. Schnookums." Niffty quipped

The motorcycle rides off

Niffty brush the dust off of herself. A hooded demon grab the cash out of Niffty's hand "Yoink!"

"Hey!" Niffty shouted

"Up yours, midget!" The hooded demon shouted. A rock falls onto the hooded demon.

Niffty gasps, "Oh my god! My money! Dang it!" She shouted

Up on Ms Cherri's ship.

"HAHAHA! THOSE WEAK SINNERS WONT DARE TOUCH MY TERRITORY OF DESTRUCTION! A WISE DECISION, THE POWER OF MY EXPLOSIVES ARE UNMATCHED! NOW ONE, ONE COULD COMPARE TO THE LIKENESS OF I!" Ms Cherri laughed. Cherri now wears a ugly red pantsuit.

"Gee, that is pretty good, boss!" One of Cherri's cherryboi yuppie minions said

"Yeah! You really showed them what for!" another Cherryboi said

"I loved it when you blow them up them with your grenade launcher." said a Cherryboi

"I wish she’d shoot me with her grenade launcher." cried a Cherryboi

Another Cherryboy pat his Cherrybrother's back.

"IN A FEW DAYS ILL DESTROY THE ENTIRE EAST SIDE OF THE PENTAGRAM! HELL WILL BE RUINED! AND EVERY ONE WILL FEAR THE NAME OF MS. CH-" Ms Cherri yelled.

"SSSLUT!" A wise guy shouted.

"DAFUQ!? WHO SAID THAT! WHAT DID YOU SAID SHITTY EXCUSE FOR A FRUIT!? SPEAK THE FUCK UP!" Cherri threatened.

A explosive egg bot was YEETED through the windshield and explodes in front of everyone.

Pentious now in patches and his top hat is a now flat cap, jumps through the hole in the windshield, "You looking for a fight, filthy whore? why won't you take your little whore house nonsense of my territory before I sssmasssh it." a support beam falls on to a cherryboi. "more..." Pentious threatened.

"OH YOU WANNA GO GRANDPA!? I HOPE YOU LIKE GUNPOWDER BECAUSE THAT'S ALL YOU WILL GET!" Cherri shouted while her Cherrybois surround Pentious.

The morning report. Two demons were at the desk. A oppressive suited man with white combed to the side hair and a gasmask for a face. And a frail white blonde woman with red eyes. "Good afternoon! I’m Tommy Trench." Tommy announced.

"And I’m Kate Killjoy. Chaos at a pentagram city today as a turf war is raging on the east side. Between notable Queen pin Ms Cherri Bomb and self-proclaimed wise guy Pentious." Kate reported.

"That’s right Kate! After the recent extermination, many areas are now up for grabs! Demons all over Hell are already duking it out to gain new territory!" Tommy reported.

"Those two seem to really be going at it, huh?" Kate repiled.

"Looks like they’re fighting tooth and nail for that hot spot!" Tommy pulls a tooth and nail out of the mug, place them on the desk, and smash them with his fist.

"And I’d sure love to get my hot spot nailed by him." Kate giggles.

Tommy chuckles, "You sure are a big pussy whore, Kate. Or should I say-" Tommy pours coffee onto Kate's crotch -Burnt Pussy."

"Not again!" Kate cried. Kate curled up in pain.

"Coming up next, we have an exclusive interview with the host of Hell’s 6th most popular radio, who’s here to discuss his brand-new passion project! All that and more, after the break!" Tommy crushes the mug. "Suck it up you little bi-"

Backstage.

Alastor now a lot more tender and tweak like, and Husk which is wearing a withered red and black leisure suit. "Okay. You remember what to say?" Husk ask.

Alastor took a deep breath. "Okay! Let’s do this!"

"Look at me, and I’ll mouth it to you." Husk said.

"Come on, Husker! I know all of the currant slang terms! I just feel like we need to- I don’t know, make things sound more glamour and darb-" Alastor gasp, "Oh! What if I-"

"-sing a song about it?" Husk said.

Alastor chuckles, "You knew I was gonna say that."

"Because you're like a book. But please don’t fucking sing. This is serious." Husk stated

"Well you know, I’m better at expressing myself and my goals through song! It's my job after all." Alastor said.

"But this isn’t like the radio, Al." Husk

"Okay I’ll just have to resort to my impeccable improve skills." Alastor said with a southern bell accent.

Now with Tommy Trench.

Alastor walks up to Tommy. "Hi! I’m Alastor." holds out his hand.

"Tommy Trench." Tommy drops the cigarette and stomps on it. "I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but that's a horseshit lie. You can put that away." Alastor pulls his hand back. "I don’t touch the mixes. I have standards."

"Yeah? How’s uh- how’s that working out for ya?" Alastor asked while a support beam falls down onto a crewman. "Can someone help me!" the crewman screamed in pain.

"Look, my time is money, so I’ll keep this short. We’re not here because we wanted you here, you’re here because Rodney couldn’t make it for his dating show."

Alastor looked past Tommy's shoulder to see Kate rolling her eyes.

"You might be some radio bigshot, but that doesn’t mean shit to me. I’m too rich and too influential to give a flying fuck about what some tux-wearing F list radio host wants to advertise." Tommy got into Alastor's face.

"But I-" Alastor stuttered.

"-So don’t get funny with me buddy, or I will fucking end you." Tommy threatened.

"And we’re live!" A crewman shouted.

Tommy ran back to his seat and Alastor walks to his seat. "Welcome back! So, Alex-" Alastor interrupts, "It’s Alastor."

"Whatever. Tell us about this new passion project you’ve been insistently pestering our news station about!" Tommy grips the handgun in his jacket.

Alastor clears his throat, "As most of you know, I have been here in Hell since 1933, and if you remember life wasn't easy back then, but as you can see life is a lot worse here than it was there. I always tried to see the good in everything around me. Hell is my home, and you are my people. We-" Tommy shoots a bug with that handgun. Blood splashes onto Alastor's face. "We just went through another extermination. We lost so many souls, and it breaks my heart to see my people being slaughtered every year. No one is even given a chance! I can’t stand idly by while the place I live is subjected to such violence! So, I’ve been thinking. Isn’t there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through… redemption? Well I think yes. So that’s what this project aims to achieve! Ladies and gentlemen, I’m opening the first of its kind! A hotel that rehabilitates sinners!" Alastor announce.

...

"Y’know? ‘Cause hotels are for people passing through… temporarily."

In a dive bar in the hick part of hell. A bear demon laughes, "Is this guy for real? He thinks, you hear what this city boy thinks? he-' short laugh "-Oh, he’s nuts."

The camera man spoke up. "Stupid nig-"

Husk uppercuts the camera man.

"Look, every single one of you has something good deep down inside. I know you do. Maybe I’m not getting through to you." Alastor said

Husk sighs "Oh no."

Alastor snaps his fingers to bring his jazz band in.

♪ We have a dream ♪ ♪ We wish to tell ♪ ♪ And it’s just ball ♪ ♪ ‘Cause you’re one of a kind ♪ ♪ A charming demon belle! ♪ ♪ Now let’s give these burning fools a place to dwell ♪ ♪ (Take it, boys!) ♪ ♪ (Boo!) ♪ ♪ Inside of every demon is a cause ♪ ♪ We’ll dress ‘em up and give them a smile! ♪ ♪ (With a smile!) ♪ ♪ And we’ll chlorinate this cesspool ♪ ♪ With some old redemption flair ♪ ♪ And show these guys some proper class and style! ♪ ♪ (What’s in style?) ♪ ♪ (Oh!) ♪ ♪ Here below the ground ♪ ♪ I’m sure your plan is sound! ♪ ♪ They’ll spend a little time ♪ ♪ Down at this Happy Ho-- ♪

Random demon: "Shut the fuck up! That is shit!"

Everyone laughs uncontrollably.

"What in the nine circles makes you think a single denizen of Hell would give two shits about becoming a better person? You have no proof that this little experiment even works! You want people to be good just… because?" Tommy and Kate laughs.

"Well, we have a patron already who believes in our cause, and she’s shown incredible progress!" Alastor shouted

"Oh? And who might that be?" Tommy asked.

"Oh, just someone named… Niffty." Alastor replied.

"The porn star?" Kate asked.

Tommy slowly turns around pointing that handgun at Kate. "You fucking would, Kate." Tommy turns back around. "In any case, that’s not even an accomplishment. I’m sure you can get that hooker to do anything with enough booger sugar and lube."

"Oh, I beg to differ. She’s been behaved, clean, and out of trouble for 2 weeks now." Alastor replied.

"Breaking news!" Shouted a crewman

Tommy pushed Alastor away. "We are receiving word that a new player has entered the ongoing turf war! Let’s go to the live feed!"

Shows Niffty kicking Cherryboi ass.

"Di Mi!." Alastor whispered.

"Dee Me indeed! It looks like the one who just joined the battle is none other than-" gasp "-porn actress Niffty! What a juicy coincidence! You must feel really stupid right now." Tommy said

Tommy and Kate laugh. "Ratings!"

Alastor gasped, "Don’t look at this!" He tried to hid the window on the greenscreen.

"Well, it sure looks like your little project is dead on arrival. Tell us, how does it feel to be such a total failure?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah? Well- how does it feel that I got your pen, huh? Dick?!" Alastor shouted.

Tommy went silent.

Alastor nervously laughs, "Sorry." Put the pen back.

Kate runs away while Tommy got the flamethrower

Back in the streets

"Hey thanks for the backup, Niffts!" Pentious shouted.

"You kiddin'? This is the best action I've seen in ages!" Niffty replied.

Pentious throws a egg bomb. "Where have you been anyways? I thought you died or something."

"Oh I wish! I've been staying at this dirty hotel on the other side of town. Some guys let me stay rent free if I play nice His words, not mine. These assholes are no fun! I’ve been clean for two weeks!" Niffty answered.

"Holy crap." Pentious replied.

"Well, sorta clean. As clean as you can get with a shitload of Bolivian marching powder." Niffty replied.

Cherri whips and ties Niffty up in a vine.

"Oh, harder mommy!" Niffty moaned.

Cherri gasp, "Daughter?!"

Niffty raise the brow in a "Da fuck?" way.

"You douches have no style! In war, the side remembered is the side with the most style." Cherri pop her collar up.

"Or the side that ain’t 6 feet under." Pentious replied.

"Speaking of style, what's up with the colors, it's red this and red that. Is it that time of the month?" Pentious quipped.

"Oh, well, that’s none of your goddamn business, now is it?" Cherri shouted.

"Oh yeah we're not suppose to talk about that." Niffty quipped.

"I’m going to blow you to bits!" Cherri threatened.

"Hm! Kinky!" Niffty quipped.

"Oh, not like that! creep!" Cherri replied.

Cherriyboi shoots at Niffty with a vine net gun.

"Not so cocky now, are we?" Cherri threatened.

"Y’know, you really gotta watch what comes out of your mouth. I’ve been making these sex jokes the whole-" Cherri pulls out a smg "-TIME! And it’s obvious ya ain’t catchin’ on-" Niffty kicks Cherri, takes her gun and shoots at the Cherryboi. "-I mean, it’s just SAD!

"So think you’re gonna get in a lot of trouble for this?" Pentious asked.

"Eh, what’s one little brawl gonna cause?" Niffty asked.

Back in the newsroom.

Alastor and Tommy are going at it fisticuffs, while the flamethrower is blowing fire to the right of the desk.

Kate runs into view of the camera while on fire. "Why won’t anyone help me?!" She screams.

Back in the streets. "Glad ya haven’t changed. You know you’re my favorite gal to party with!" Pentious shouted.

"You know it, you slimy snake. You ready to finish this?" Niffty asked.

"Hell yeah, baby." Pentious answered.

Niffty, Pentious, Ms Cherri, CherryBois, Alastor, Tommy, and Kate yelling in a 4 screen split.

In the Limo driving to the hotel Niffty was playing with the window

Husk carving a wooden steak and giving Niffty the death stare.

Niffty looks up to Husk, "What?"

"What? What?! What were you fucking doing?!" Husk shouted.

Niffty sighs, "Look I owed my snake buddy a solid! Isn’t that a “redeeming quality"? Helping pals with stuff?" Niffty shouted.

"Not with turf wars that result in genocide!" Husk shouted.

"Eh, you win some, you lose a few hundred, plus didn't you caused a Genocide." Niffty snickers.

Husk throws the wooden steak at Niffty which pierced throw the window.

"Aw come on, I had to! My credibility was on the line-" Niffty sighs "-I mean, what kind of reputation would I have if people found out I was trying to go clean? It just throws out my entire persona."

"Your credibility? What about the hotel? Your little stunt made us look like fucking clowns!" Husk shouted.

"No no no, hon. Clowns are funny! I made you look… uh, sad! And pathetic! Like an orphan, with no arms, or legs… Uh… oh, with progeria! Great! Now I’m bummed thinking about it! This thing have any liquor?" Niffty asked.

"Can you please just try to take this seriously?" Husk asked.

"Fine, I’ll try, just don’t bitch to your mother while you're fucking her." Niffty quipped.

"What was that you trying to be?" Husk got up and pulled out his knife.

"Whatever pisses you off the most. Is there seriously no liquor in here?!" Niffty shouted.

"I’m gonna kill her." Husk sat back down.

"Too late, hon. Wait, would that make me double dead? And where exactly do I go, to double Hell? Sorry, you’re stuck with me, bitch. Get used to it." Niffty laughs.

"Fucking bitch!" Husk mumbled.

"Listen, who cares if some jagoffs got hurt? Most of them are ugly freaks. Look around! Got a bunch of fuckin’ harlequin babies down here." Niffty said.

"You’re one to talk." Husk quipped.

"Hey! This body is flawless! Everyone wants some of me, and I’ve got the creepy fan letters to prove it!" Niffty pulls out a letter with stains.

"That was really not swell y’know, Niffty" Alastor said.

"Not Sweel?! After that trainwreck, there is no way anyone is gonna wanna stay at the hotel. All thanks to you and your selfish bullshit!" Husk shouted.

"Does that mean I don’t have a free room anymore?" Niffty asked.

Husk pulls the knife out again.

"Ah, well, shucks." Niffty snaps.

"Hey, come on, we don’t know if things are over yet. Try to relax, Husker. It’ll be okay!" Alastor reassured.

At the Happy Hotel

The three open the door. Husk sat down on to the couch to look at his hands, his mind goes back to the war.

Niffty went to the fridge to get a beer. "It’s probably a good idea to get some actual food in this place. Y’know, to feed all the wayward souls ya got in here." Niffty laughed, but then it became nervous laughter, and then she just stops.

Alastor went out to talk to his boss. "Hey Boss. Um, I know I keep calling, and you must want that kale paid back. But um, the interview isn't sitting pretty and... I don’t know if I’m going to make a difference. I don’t know what I’m doing. I could really use some advice, Boss. I think you're right about me. A-anyway, I’ll stop talking before this gets long." Alastor went back in.

A knock to the tune of Come On Eileen was on the door.

Alastor opens the door to see Charlie in her demon form.

"Hell-"

Alastor slams the door, and then open it again to see if he just saw that.

-o."

Alastor slams the door again. "Hey Husker?

"What?!" Husk asked.

"The Musical Demon is at the door!" Alastor nervously answered.

"Holy shit what?!" Husk drops the knife.

"Uh, who?" Niffty asked

"What should I do?" Alastor asked.

"Well, don’t let that bitch in!" Husk shouted

Alastor slowly opens the door.

"May I speak now?" Charlie asked.

"You may-" Alastor said.

"Charlie, pleasure to be meeting you, sweetheart, quite a pleasure. Excuse my visit, but I saw your riot on news and I just couldn’t resist. What a performance! Why, I haven’t been that entertained since the Great White show of 2003. Ah so many bodies." Charlie introduced

"Stop right there!" Husk pointed a M16 at Charlie. "I know your game. And I’m not gonna let you hurt anyone here, you spunky, quirky, musical harlot!" Husk threatened.

Charlie laughs slightly, "Hon, if I wanted to hurt anyone here... I would have done so already...." spooky demonic stuff pops up and then goes away. "No, I’m here because I want to help!"

"Say what now?" Alastor asked.

"Help!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Um, you want to help?" Alastor asked.

"With this ridiculous thing you’re trying to do! This hotel! I want to help you run it." Charlie exclaimed.

"Uh… why?" Alastor asked.

Charlie laughs, "Why does anyone do anything? Sheer, absolute boredom! I’ve lacked inspiration for decades! My work became mundane, lacking focus, aimless! I’ve come to crave a new form of entertainment!"

"Does getting into a fist fight with a upstage reporter count as entertainment?" Alastor asked.

Charlie laughs, "Absolutely, it's reality. After all, the world is a stage! And the stage is a world of entertainment!"

"So, does this mean that you think it’s possible to rehabilitate a demon?" Alastor asked.

Charlie laughs, "Ha no. That’s wacky nonsense! Redemption, oh the non-existent humanity! Nononono, I don’t think there’s anything left that could save such loathsome sinners! The chance given was the life they lived before; the punishment is this! There is no undoing what is done!"

"So then, why do you want to help me if you don’t believe in my cause?" Alastor asked.

"Consider it an investment in ongoing entertainment for myself! I want to watch the scum of the world struggle to climb up the hill of betterment! Only to repeatedly trip and tumble down to the fiery pit of failure." Charlie stated.

"Right?" Alastor nervously asked.

"Yes indeedy! I see big things coming your way, and who better to help than I…" Charlie exclaimed.

With Husk and Niffty.

"Ah, so uh, what’s the deal with Smiles over there?" Niffty asked.

"Wait, you’ve never heard of her before? You’ve been here longer than me!" Husk shouted.

"Only for a decade." Niffty replied.

"The Musical Demon, one of the most powerful fuckers Hell has ever seen?" Husk stated.

"Eh, not big on politics." Niffty answered.

"Some fuckin' time ago, Charlie was let out of Lucifer's castle she rampaged the fuck out of everything and then she started podcasting her carnage through fucking songs people started calling her, the music demon.. That kind of raw power had never been harnessed by a mortal soul before. Strange song and dense numbers would play on the radio paired with terrifying screams and cries for help. She'd force victims to join in and those who wouldn't or couldn't got the worst of it. Sinners started calling her the Musical Demon. (How fucking original!) Many have speculated what unimaginable force enabled her to rival our world’s most ancient and destructive evils. But one thing’s for sure: She’s an unpredictable source of danger, a wicked spirit of mystery, and a violent monster of chaos the likes of which we can’t risk getting involved with unless we want to end up erased." Husk annoyingly exclaims.

"Bash ears much?" Niffty silently laughs, "She looks like a cinnamon roll princess!"

"Well, I don’t trust her!" Husk spat.

"To be fair, do you trust anyone?" Niffty asked. "Anyone."

Husk went to Alastor.

"Al, man, listen to me. You can’t believe this girl! She isn’t just a happy face! She’s a dealmaker, pure evil! She's Lucifer's daughter! She can’t be redeemed! And is most likely looking for a way to destroy everything we’re trying to do. And we don't want that." Husk stated.

"I know she’s bad, and I know she probably doesn’t wanna change, but the whole point of this is to give people a chance! To have faith things will be better! How can I turn someone away? I can’t. It goes against everything I’m trying to do. Everything I believe in. I would be like them back then. Just trust me. I can take care of myself." Alastor stated.

"Alastor, whatever you do, do not make a deal with him!" Shouted.

"Don’t worry, I picked up one thing from them. “Ya don’t take shit from rich folk!” Okay, so… Charlotte. You’re sketchy, and you clearly see what I’m trying to do here is a joke. But I don’t. I think everyone deserves a chance to prove they can be better. So, I’m taking your offer to help. On the condition that there be no tricks or voodoo strings attached." Alastor nervously said.

"So it’s a deal then?" Charlie asked.

Alastor takes a gulp before he shakes her burning hot hands. Her hand burns Alastor's hand like a hot stove. Alastor cries in pain.

Charlie let go of Alastor hand and went to Husk.

Alastor went to the fridge to get something to cool his hand.

"Smile, my boy! You know you’re never fully dressed without one!" Charlie stated. "So where is your hotel staff?" She asked.

"Uh, well…" Alastor points to Husk and Niffty with his good hand.

Husk growls.

"Oh ho ho ho, you’re going to need more than that." Charlie stated.

"And what can you do you quirky cutie?" Charlie asked Niffty.

"I can finger you to heaven." Niffty replied.

"Maybe not..." Charlie said.

"Your loss." Niffty stated.

"Well this just won’t do! I suppose I can cash in a few favors to liven things up!" Charlie snaps, which cleans the fireplace and light up a fire in it. Charlie then pulled out a tall and dark demon from the fireplace. Charlie then shake it a little to get rid of the soot which reveals our white and pink Spider Boi Angel Dust.

"This tall friend is Angel!" Charlie said.

"Hello, my name is angel, it been along time since I saw any guy... IS ANYONE HERE GAY!? sorry, that was rude... OH MY! this place is disgusting, it really need the fabulous touch, which is weird cause I'm sure at least one of you is gay..." Angel went all around the room with his 6 arms cleaning and remodeling everything.

Charlie snaps again.

A gray female demon was at a bar talking to a male demon, "Okay that will be $50 for a hand- wohhhhhh" All kinds of demonic shit goes around Vaggie "¿Que demonios?" Vaggie notices Charlie, "YOU!"

"Veggie sweat heart glad you could make it!" Charlie exclaims and then hugs

"Don't you veggie me! I was working!" Vaggie pushed Charlie away.

"Good to see you to!" Charlie laughed

"What do you want?" Vaggie asked.

"Well sweaty I'm doing some charity work and I took it upon my self to volunteer your Service!" Charlie answered.

"Are you joking!?" Vaggie asked.

"No, I don't think so! I thought you could be the new face of this fine establishment!" Charlie points to a pole. "With your fine smile and "past experience" this job was made for you!" Charlie stated.

"IM AINT DOING NO CHAIRTY WORK DO I LOOK LIKE SOME KIND OF A FUCKING JOKE!?" Vaggie shouted.

"Maybe, but don't worry,I can make it more rewarding, if you wish." Charlie projects all of the cute good times they had back then.

"What!? you can think you can buy me with a wink and some good memories!? Well you can!" Vaggie got up to the stage

"Hey hey, heyheyhey! NO! No pole dancing we're meant to be a place that discourages sin! Not some kind of… casino, brothel, man-cave-" Husk ranted.

Niffty jumps on Husk. "Shut up! Shut! Up! We are keeping this." Niffty pointed to Vaggie. "Hey." Niffty flirted to Vaggie

"¡Vete a la mierda!" Vaggie said.

"Sounds sexy." Niffty flirted.

Alastor went up the the stage, "Hello there my scantily dressed friend! Welcome to this fine or at least with your help soon to be fine hotel!" Alastor introduced himself.

"I lost the ability to love years ago, so unless you got cash you're not worth my time." Vaggie stated.

"So, what do you think?" Charlie asked.

"This is the Bees Knees!" Alastor bellowed.

"It’s… fine." Husk stated.

Charlie went in for a hug with Alastor and Husk, "This is going to be very fun!" Charlie clears her throat and push Husk away. ♪ You have a dream ♪ ♪ You wish to tell ♪ ♪ And it’s just laughable ♪ ♪ But hey sir, what the hell! ♪ ♪ ‘Cause you’re one of a kind ♪ ♪ A charming pal! ♪ ♪ Now let’s give these burning fools a place to dwell ♪ ♪ Inside of every demon is a waste ♪ ♪ But we’ll dress ‘em up for now with just a smile! ♪ ♪ And we’ll chlorinate this cesspool ♪ ♪ With some old redemption flair ♪ ♪ And show these simpletons some proper class and style! ♪ ♪ Here below the ground ♪ ♪ I’m sure your plan is sound! ♪ ♪ They’ll spend a little time ♪ ♪ Down at this Hazbin Ho-- ♪

A explosion outside blast the door off and hit Angel.

Everyone walked out to see what was happening

"Ha! Well well well, look who it is harboring the musical freak! We meet yet again, Charlie!" Cherri shouted.

"Do I know you?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, yes you do! And this time, I have the element of- surprise!" Cherri maniacal laughs "I’m so evil!"

Charlie snaps to bring up her goat goons to destroy the ship.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa whoa!" Cherri started to scream as the goats started to destroy her ship and murder her Cherrybois.

Two of the goats grab Cherri and threw her at the wall. "Oh, that hurt!" Cherri screams.

The Goats took control of the ship and pilot it into the cracks where they came from.

The ship explodes when it got into the crack.

"Well I’m starved! Who wants some cake? My father once showed me a wonderful recipe for cake! In fact, they named it after him! You could say the kick was right out of Hell! Yes sir, this is the start of some real changes down here!" Charlie laughes

"The show starts! Now... Stay tuned." Charlie snaps changing the sign from, "Happy." to "Hazbin."

#hazbinhotel #hazbin hotel #hazbin #hazbin charlie #hazbin angel dust #hazbin niffty #hazbin sir pentious #hazbin alastor #hazbin husk #hazbin cherri bomb #hazbin characters #hazbin katie killjoy #hazbin tom trench

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spiderparkerpeterman · 5 years ago

Text

headache

i typed this out after downing a coffee, forgetting i'm very sensitive to caffeine, forgot to save but then my laptop restarted for an update? so now i'm here four hours later bc i gave up on life, not so hopped up on caffeine but with a major headache and also it's 1am. enjoy!

content: stark!reader, fluff n cuddles, peter being a good boyfriend (tm)

warnings: lapslock, i've had to write this twice so i'm angry, post-endgame and yes this follows canon i'm sorry, feels, all the feels, angst and consequences of death, Tension

word count: probably less than my original draft (1528 words)

the jet ride back to the newly rebuilt avengers compound was quiet. the mission the reformed avengers had just been on was successful, an infiltration of a loose hydra camp, but there was a big hole in the team that had become apparent as soon as the mission had begun that left everyone in a tense silence.

missions were going to be very, very difficult now. teamwork-wise and mentally. emotionally. it had been, what, a year or so since your dad had... well, anyway. it seemed like such a long time ago- it was a long time ago- but you had been itching to go back out and do avenger-y things for months. leave it up to the starks to distract themselves from grief and pain by working their asses off. you had been tinkering, toying with your dad's old ideas, doing some minor patrolling stuff for a year, and god was it not enough to keep you distracted.

but then you had actually taken on the mission and then everyone noticed that there were a few missing links that almost cost the team the victory. your dad had been a rock, a point of leadership, an active brain on the team. capsicle had been someone steady, brave, always willing to take on the hard jobs. and nat- nat- she'd take out a room full of men three times her size with ease and still have breath to keep going until every last man was down. sparklefingers was off in space with a rodent, a robot, and a lovesick asshole; that marvel lady had disappeared as soon as she could; the wizard was back at his boys' club; robin hood had officially retired, even leaving his bow behind for the rustic life; and orange slices had said something about "making up for lost time" with his daughter, leaving only you, captain birdman, edgy amnesiac, smart hulk and a handful of ironsuits you'd created over your little break, to regroup and do the mission.

and peter, of course. you could never forget about peter. especially not when he was sitting next to you, your hand in his, jaw clenched, staring at his lap.

the poor kid. you knew your dad was also kind of his dad, the only father figure he'd had since ben. the kid kept losing father figures- probably some kind of curse, you had reasoned with yourself, because this was getting out of hand. you had been by his side when he decided to return to spider-man-ing, a month or two after your dad had... yup. done that thing. he had been by your side when you went into your dad's lab in his lakehouse for the first time since the incident, some four months later. you had his back after the whole mysterio-then-court scenario. he had your back when you had your first major panic attack because you realised that you just couldn't cope. you had each other's backs, you had for three, well, technically eight years now. since just after peter had been taken on by your dad to beat some sense into the others in germany.

coming back from the blip was weird. the entire situation was weird. you had been blipped, dusted, gone, worried and confused about your father being on a giant donut in space with peter, and then you had come back five years later lying on your dusty, unused-for-five-years bed, then the compound was blown to smithereens, you were saved by your suit that you still had on after helping keep the wizard safe, discovered your dad had moved out to the country and had also had another kid- who you loved to bits, of course you did- and also your dad had invented time travel.

and then he was gone, forever.

so yeah. massive hole in the team, everyone was quiet, peter looked like he was going to throw up, you were trying not to cry.

you realised peter was looking at you, and you had been staring at him for a little too long. he squeezed your hand, his eyebrows raised slightly. he looked like a kicked puppy, and oh god, your heart hurt.

"sorry," you mumbled, looking away. sam raised his head but averted his eyes when you accidentally made eye contact. you felt a headache coming on- all this stress about the mission and hole-in-the-team stuff was not good for your physical, emotional or mental health. you rested your head on peter's shoulder, feeling his head rest on yours in return. you closed your eyes, tuning out the sound of the quinjet, just focusing on your breath and peter's soft circles that he was rubbing into your hand.

at some point, you drifted off because you awoke to peter gently nudging your shoulder, the quinjet landing. you blinked blearily at him.

"you okay?" he asked, cupping your cheek. you closed your eyes again and leant into his hand.

"headache," you mumbled, turning your face into his hand and kissing it a light kiss. "i'll be okay."

as soon as you stood up to get out of the quinjet though, a wave of nausea washed over you, forcing you to sit back down.

"or not."

peter rushed to pull you up gently, wrapping an arm around your shoulder as he held both of your bags in his other hand. he helped you out of the quinjet, into the compound and up to your room.

exhausted and sore, your head pounding like nothing else, you collapsed on your bed, absentmindedly taking off your wrist cuffs with your nanosuit in them, kicking off your shoes. peter puttered around, putting his bag down then your bag down then taking off his webshooters, shoes and jacket, pacing the room looking at you worriedly.

"do you need anything? like- like aspirin or water or juice or music? i head whale noises can help with a headache and-"

"peter," you mumbled.

"- but i haven't had a headache since i got my powers so i kind of don't know what to do and-"

"peter," you said, a little louder.

"- i think i should get you some aspirin, yeah, and i'll close the curtains, and-"

"peter!" you called, regretting it as your head pounded particularly hard. peter stopped pacing, and looked at you. "stop pacing, you're giving me motion sickness. and please- just keep it down, i just need quiet okay? you can go get what you want, some aspirin would be nice, and a gatorade too. but please calm down. it's just a headache, i'm tense and stressed. it'll go away soon."

peter nodded and rushed out of the room. you lay on your back with a small groan, staring up at the plain white ceiling of your room. before the compound had been destroyed, you'd put glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling of your bedroom with your dad, and you could look up and stare at the fake constellation stories you had made, giggling with your dad. now the ceiling was empty, strange, unfamiliar. everything was- you had lost almost everything that night. your eyes burned with tears, which you wiped away, keeping your hand over your eyes, fighting the need to throw up.

a few minutes later, you heard your door swing open as peter reentered. you took your hand away from your face and looked at him, balancing two boxes of aspirin and four bottles of gatorade in different colours. he smiled at you gently as he put the stuff on your bedside table.

"let's get you sitting up, yeah?" he whispered, the look in his eyes oh so tender. he sat behind you, resting your back and head on his side so you didn't have to move too much and took out two small aspirin tablets. "i didn't know which colour gatorade you wanted so i got you all of them."

"i'll have the red one, thanks," you replied, taking the tablets and then the gatorade that peter opened, swallowing the pills with a large mouthful of the drink.

you sighed and moved so that you were lying in his lap and looked up at him. you giggled.

"what?" he asked, and you raised a hand to poke at his jaw.

"how do you not even have a double chin from this angle?" you pouted, "it's not fair."

"spiders," he replied, "they tend to do that to you."

you giggled again and sighed again, closing your eyes.

"i should go," peter whispered, raising your head so he could slip away from under you. "you want quiet, yeah?"

"i never said i didn't want you in here," you muttered. "i'm in pain, comfort me."

peter grinned and obliged, maneuvering you so you were lying under your blankets then slipping in next to you. he lay your head on his chest and wrapped an arm behind your neck so you were secure. you rolled onto your side, an ear to his heart. his heartbeat was so steady, as usual.

"i love you, and want you to know that you did great today," peter mumbled, stroking your hair.

"love you too. you also did really well. thanks for having my back."

"any time."

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ask-the-phan-site · 4 years ago

Text

The Vain Emperor of the Track

>It’s time.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.

This has been a long time waitin’. I can’t wait!

Same here. He’ll pay for what he’s done.

Playing with two people’s hearts like that is unforgivable. It’s time for him to face the fist of justice!

Then we’re off! Let the race begin!

>Mona becomes our van.

Let’s race!

Here we go!

>With that, we go on our way to take Trey Sterling’s heart.

>The penthouse overlooking the track is were very special guest to the school usually stay. This time, Sterling Sterling and his son, Trey, were staying here. They were trying to remain as calm as they can after receiving our calling card this morning.

I’m sure the police are doing whatever they can to get to the bottom of this. Don’t worry, son.

I’m sure, Dad. I’m not that worried... Although, these Phantom Thieves are quite tenacious... Especially the one called Crow.

Mr. Sterling: Now, now, things will be fine. Right now, you should get some sleep. We’ve got a lot to do later on. Good night.

Trey: Good night.

>Mr. Sterling goes off to his room while Trey stayed in the study. Everything was quite... Until...

?????: Good, we don’t want Daddy getting in the way.

Trey: !

>A red wave passes over. When it was done, the study had been replaced with a podium, a place where the Roman Emperor would sit in the Colosseum. Outside, the the track of the Colosseum of Vanity was roaring with excitement... And Trey had been replaced with his Shadow.

Shadow Trey: You have arrived.

You bet we did! And we’re here to win!

Shadow Trey: I’d like to see you try.

Believe us. We will.

Shadow Trey: Very well. To the track!

>With that, Shadow Trey leaves.

Okay, so we all remember the plan, right?

While Trey’s Shadow is distracted by his race with Zack, Joker, Panther, Queen, Crow, Wolf, Speed, X, Slice, and Dice, we will sneak the Treasure away before anyone notices. That’s pretty much it.

Lucy: Exactly.

Carmen: Good to hear. I still wish Player could be here. Or at least have contact with him.

Sorry, Red, but in the Metaverse, the only hacker you have is yours truly.

And we’re all happy that you’re here, Oracle.

We’re all counting on you.

Good luck today, Oracle.

Oracle: Thanks, you guys.

Me, Oracle, Connor, Chim-Chim, and Lucy will be in the pits over the radio.

I will join you as well. If anything happens to Joker, I want to be able to help.

Joker: Thank you, Fox. Wish us luck.

Then let’s get to it! Are we ready?

Everyone: Ready!

*Chirp*

>With that, we go our separate ways. Me, Fox, Panther, Queen, Crow, Wolf, Slice, Dice, Speed, X, Zack, Oracle, Lucy, Conor, Chim-Chim, and Ivy go to the track while Mona, Skull, Noir, Violet, Sophie, and Carmen go to retrieve the Treasure.

>Out on the track...

Oracle: Okay, Lucy, Conor, and Chim-Chim prepped the Mach 6, the Shooting Star, and Duel Aces and Ivy prepped Lydia (Zack’s car). So I did some tuning of my own.

Really? I can’t wait to see it.

>Just then, a large trailer was being pulled up to us... by a small car.

Hi, everyone! It’s been a while!

Panther: (happy) Jose, it’s good to see you again.

Zack: (confused) You know this kid?

Queen: Yes, he’s a friend of us.

Oracle: With a little technical know-how and the power of cognition, I managed to fix up some vehicles just for you. I didn’t want to store them in the garages here out of fear someone would sabotage them and they can’t really exist outside the Metaverse, so I asked Lavenza if I can store them in the Velvet Room. I also asked Jose to bring them here.

Jose: They look pretty good. Not as good as my ride, but still, nice machines.

>We go to the back of the trailer and Oracle opens them. Inside are four cars. One car had an Arsene-like design, the second had a Carmen-like design, the third had a Robin Hood-like design, and the fourth had a Valjean-like design.

WOW! These look so cool, Oracle!

Oracle: (smirking) That’s not all. Each of your cars also has a special feature. Joker, your car, Phantom Flyer, has a grappling hook with wires strong enough to pull the car or other things. Conor even helped me with laser sawblades. Use with care.

>I get in the Phantom Flyer. I drive it to the front of Jose’s car and fire the grappling hook at it. With ease, I manage to pull both Jose’s car and the trailer a decent 10 feet. Then, I activate the laser sawblades and Jose takes out a cinderblock. He moves it towards the sawblades and the block is cut with ease.

This is awesome, Oracle.

Oracle: Panther, your car, Flaming Kitty, has the same cloaking technology the Mach 6 and the Shooting Star have. But aside from that, it can also change its appearance to look like anything. Even other cars. It also has flamethrowers.

>Panther drives the car out. When she activates the cloaking technology, it becomes invisible. Then, it reappears as the Mach 6, then the Shooting Star, and then as Lydia before changing back. Next, she activates the flamethrowers which perfected roasted some marshmallows Jose just happened to have.

I wish I could show my mom! She would love this!

Oracle: Crow, your car, Freedom’s Strike, has the same camouflage technology like Panther’s. It can also shoot arrows and lasers and it also has sawblades both steel and laser.

>Crow drives the car out. It shot a few arrows and lasers into a target Jose set up. Then, Crow activates the laser sawblades and cuts a cinderblock. Then, the car changes its Robin Hood-like design to a Loki-like design. Then, steel sawblades come out and cuts the target in half.

(changing the car back to its original design) Quite amazing, Oracle. You know me all too well...

A little too well for my taste.

Yeesh, I think all that time you spent undercover really messed you up.

Either that or the connection made between you and the target.

Oracle: Now, Wolf, your car, Howling Silver, is built like a tank and is virtually indestructible. Even a wrecking ball can’t destroy it. And it has sonic canons for blasting your way through just about anything.

>Wolf drives his car out. Jose brought out his hammer and gave the car a good hard whack. But the car was just fine. Then, Wolf fires a sonic blast which shatters a stack of glass jars Jose set up.

Wolf: (excited) Sweet! I’m so going to talk to my superiors about making something like this in the real world.

Oracle: Good luck. I want to make cars for the others, but I’ll think about it after they finish their lessons.

Wolf: Probably good.

Dice: Hold on, Queen’s racing, too. How come she doesn’t have a car?

Queen: I’ve decided I’m just going to ride Agnes. She’s the closest to being a car.

Lucy: Is that even allowed?

Queen: There’s no rule against it.

Lucy: Fair enough.

>We take our cars to the track and we ready ourselves.

Racer Shadow: Yo, babe! Where’s your car?

It’s right here.

>Queen goes Third Tier.

Queen: PERSONA!

>Queen got on Agnes as Shadow Trey came on the track with his golden car.

Shadow Trey: Friends, Bostonians, countrymen, lend me your ears! Today will make the day that the Racer Family is finally put in their place! And I take down the legendary Phantom Thieves of Hearts! After this race, no one will ever question again who is the greatest person to ever live! Now, let us begin!

Announcer: Now watch as our most glorious emperor, Trey Sterling, goes up against the soon to be disgraced Racer Family and the Phantom Thieves!

>Shadow Trey comes to us.

Shadow Trey: Hope you’re ready to lose. That’s all you’ll ever be good for.

Speed: We’ll see about that.

Zack: You bet. I won’t lose to you this time.

Announcer: All drivers to your cars, please! All drivers to your!

Shadow Trey: (pointing and clicking) Later, Big Z.

>Zack was trying to hold back his rage as Trey’s Shadow left.

Ivy: Don’t let him get to you, bro. Remember what happened last time.

Zack: R- Right. That was the old Zack. The new Zack is way more cool under presser.

>Ivy left to join Oracle, Fox, Lucy, Conor, and Chim-Chim... I could tell Zack was still mad.

Joker: Are you alright?

Zack: It’s just... Ever since we were kids, Trey has always gotta do me up. Be better than me. And he does it with his old man’s money and then rubs it in my face especially. Why’s he gotta be like that?

Joker: I suppose we’ll know once we take his Treasure.

Zack: Still, I just can’t stand it. He’s worst than havin’ to eat fish.

>I know how you feel. >>You're the better person.

Zack: Come again?

Joker: Trey thinks he can buy his way into victory, but that’s not the same as having real talent. There are some things that even money can’t solve. And I speak from experience. Shido thought that because of his position, he could get away with anything, and look where that got him. The same thing will most likely happen to Trey.

Zack: You really think that?

I do. So to me, aside from Skull, that makes us brothers.

Zack: That’s... That’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard. Hey, does that make Ivy like your sister, too?

Ivy: (who heard us and came over with Fox) We’re a package deal. You get one of us, you get both of us. Just remember that we ain’t leavin’ Carmen.

Joker: Don’t worry, you’re not going anywhere from her.

Zack: ... (smiling) Thanks, Joker. I owe you one.

Joker: Think nothing of it.

Zack: No really, you gotta let us thank you in some way. How ‘bout this, you change Trey’s heart, I might teach how to drive not just cars, but other stuff, too. How does that sound?

Joker: Well, if Mona where here, he’d say that would come in handy.

Fox: I agree. You never know when we might need to escape in just a car. You’ve already shown to be good on a motorcycle and you’re so close to passing your diver’s test with help from your father, I think it wouldn’t hurt to try other things.

>I think about it. I would be helpful to learn how to operate other forms of transportation.

Alright, you’re on.

Ivy: Then we have a deal.

Zack: You bet.

>Me and Zack do a fist bump together.

I am thou, thou art I… Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Shine Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…

Confidant: Zack & Ivy

Arcana: Shine (This Arcana is made up for this Confidant.)

Rank: 1

Ability: The Getaway Driver

Zack and Ivy will teach you better driving skills to use in the Metaverse.

Announcer: Last warning: All drivers to your cars, please! All drivers to your cars!

Joker: (putting the mask back on) Ready?

Zack: Ready as we’ll ever be.

>So, we get in our cars and Fox and Ivy rejoin the others.

Ready... Set... GO!!!

>And we’re off!

>Meanwhile, with the other at the podium, they were searching for the Treasure.

Skull: It’s gotta be here somewhere. We all sat that light thing right here.

Mona: He must have hidden it knowing someone would take it while he’s racing.

Sophie: I can sense it, too.

Carmen: I wish Oracle could have stayed with us.

Noir: I’m sure if we look harder, we can find it. Just think, where would someone as narcissistic as Trey would hide something that he believes gives him power?

Mona: My guess is somewhere really obvious. Someplace where he just can’t help but show it off to everyone.

Carmen: Maybe that?

>Carmen was pointing to some Shadows that were carrying something covered by a gold tarp.

Cognitive Being 1: There’s the prize for the winner of the race!

Cognitive Being 2: I sure wish I could enter to win it, but no one can beat the emperor. No one.

Cognitive Being 3: Still, whoever wins that... Oh, who am I kidding? Emperor Trey’s got this race in the bag!

I guess that’s it.

Violet: How are we going to get it? There are too many eyes watching.

Carmen: I think I can help with that. Oracle did a tune up to my tools. They should help us.

>Carmen pressed something on her coat and she turns invisible.

Noir: (taking out a small potion bottle) Panther gave us this camouflage potion. It should last us long enough to grab the Treasure and get out.

Carmen: Sounds simple enough... What’s the catch?

Straight to the point, huh?

Noir: Well, we might still have to fight a few Shadows along the way. Including the Palace Ruler. It’s usually unavoidable. So be ready.

Carmen: Thanks, I will.

Then here we go!

>Noir sprinkles the potion on herself and the others and they are hidden from view. They and Carmen go to take the Treasure.

>Meanwhile, back on the track, the race was raging on. A Shadow nearly rams me to the side, but luckily, I dodged it.

Oracle’s Voice: Be careful, Joker. I think Trey’s Shadow payed those guys to take you guys out.

Joker: No doubt. They don’t look like they’re going to let us leave this race with our lives.

Speed: Dad said and Uncle Rex used to deal with stuff like this all the time. I think we can make it through.

Ivy’s Voice: Just try not to do anything reckless.

Lucy’s Voice: Good luck with that. If there’s one thing you should know about Speed and X, “reckless” is their middle name.

Speed: Actually, my middle name is Daisuke.

Ivy’s Voice: Seriously?

X: Well Dad said it was either that or Pops.

Queen: Better watch it, we got one coming!

>A Shadow comes up to me. It transforms.

Bring it! Persona!

Tutorial

You have just entered a Race Battle.

If you have seen Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, this battle is similar to the battles there.

When you attack a Shadow, it gets knocked backwards. When its HP goes to 0, it will be defeated. However, if you get attacked, you will be the one knocked backwards. If your HP goes to 0, it is game over.

>Garuda attacks with Garudyne. Luckily, I dodge it. Arsene uses One-shot Kill. Garuda is knocked back and loses a lot of HP due to his weakness to Gunfire. Garuda drives (or flies or whatever he’s doing in this race) back up and attacks me, sending me back a bit. I drive back up and Arsene uses One-shot Kill again. Then, I attack with my own gun. He is knocked back good. Garuda tries again to attack me, but I dodge it. Arsene uses One-shot Kill again and Garuda is gone.

Joker: That was close.

>Then, I notice Flaming Kitty driving up.

Tutorial

When one of your teammates is in view, you can pass the baton to them.

During this time, the one who passed the baton will have time to regain HP and SP.

>I pass the baton to Panther.

Panther: Okay, it’s my turn now! Persona!

>A Shadow come up to her and transforms.

>The Oni tries to attack Panther, but she dodges it. Carmen uses Agilao. The Oni uses Snap. Panther is sent back a bit. Carmen uses Marin Karin and the Oni is Brainwashed. Oni does not act. Panther then uses the car’s flamethrower. It had a Burning effect. After snapping out of it, Oni attacks Panther with Giant Slice. It was a critical hit and Panther is knocked backwards. Thankfully, she recovered and Carmen used Diarama. The Oni tries to use Giant Slice on Panther again, but she dodges it. Carmen then uses Marin Karin again and Oni is once again Brainwashed. The Oni slows down. Then, Carmen uses Agidyne and the Oni is gone.

Panther: Yes! That’s cool!

>Queen passes ahead of Panther and she passes the baton to her.

Panther: Good luck!

Queen: Thanks.

>A Shadow comes up and transforms.

>The Shiki-Ouji uses Psio. Queen is weak to it and it really knocks her back. She recovers and drives onwards. Agnes uses Freidyne. The Shiki-Ouji is knocked way back. Queen takes this as an opportunity and uses Freidyne again. The Shiki-Ouji grives back up again and uses Double Snap. It was a critical hit and Queen is knocked back. Fortunately, she recovers quickly. Agnes then uses Diarahan. Shiki-Ouji uses Psio, but Queen dodges it. Agnes then uses Freidyne and Shiki-Ouji knocked backwards. Queen decides to go bigger and Agnes uses Atomic Flare. The Shiki-Ouji drives up again, but is real weak. Shiki-Ouji uses Taunt, but it didn’t work. Agnes uses Atomic Flare again and the Shiki-Ouji is gone.

Queen: So glad you’re on our side, Agnes.

>Queen spots Crow in Freedom’s Strike. Queen passes the baton to him.

Crow: My turn!

>A Shadow drives up to him and transforms.

Crow: My skills exceed yours! Persona!

>Throne uses Makougaon. Fortunately, Crow resisted. Robin Hood uses Eigaon. Throne is knocked back. Throne tries to attack Crow, but he dodges it. Robin Hood tries to use Mamudoon, but it misses. Throne uses Makougaon. Crow resists again. Robin Hood uses Eigaon. Throne is knocked back. Then, Robin Hood uses Megaton Raid. Throne moves back up again and Throne attacks. This time, it was a critical hit and Crow is thrown back. Crow drives up again and Robin Hood uses Eigaon. Throne is knocked back. Then, Robin Hood uses Megidola. Throne drives up again and uses Makougaon. Crow resists again. Robin Hood uses Eigaon, but Throne dodges it with Evade Curse. Throne hesitates. Robin Hood uses Mamudoon. Throne is knocked back. Then, Robin Hood uses Megidola. Throne drives back up again and attacks. Robin Hood uses Megaton Raid, but Throne dodges it. Throne attacks again and it is a critical hit. Throne attacks. Crow manages to regain the lead.

Crow: Very well. It seems that Instant Kill didn’t do much... I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way.

PERSONA!

>Freedom’s Strike also changes. Loki uses Eigaon. It was super effective and throws Throne backwards. Then, Loki uses Laevanteinn. The now weakened Throne drives back up again and tries to use Makougaon. However, Crow dodges it with Evade Bless. Loki uses Eigaon again and Throne was gone.

Good. And not a moment too soon.

>Crow sees Wolf driving Howling Silver. Crow passes the baton just has changes back from Black Mask Mode.

Crow: (in cool down) We’re almost there. Keeping going!

Wolf: Rodger!

>Another Shadow drives up and transforms.

Wolf: So you’re the last one between us, Sterling, and the lead. Alright, bring it on! Persona!

>Baal uses Charge. Valjean uses Heat Riser. Baal uses Ayamur. It was a critical hit and Wolf was knocked backed. Baal just hesitated. Wolf drives back up and Valjean uses One-shot Kill. Baal uses Panta Rhei. Valjean uses Trible Down. Baal uses Panta Rhei again. Valjean uses One-shot Kill. It was a critical hit and Baal is knocked way back. Valjean then uses Megidola. Baal recovers and uses Revolution. Valjean uses Agneyastra. It was a critical hit and forces Baal way back. Valjean then uses Megidolaon. Baal drives back up and uses Ayamur. It was a critical hit and Wolf is forced back. Baal then uses Panta Rhei. Wolf manages to drive back up with little HP. Valjean uses Heat Riser. Baal tries to use Ayamur again, but Wolf dodges it. Valjean uses Megidolaon and Baal is gone.

Wolf: Yes!

Oracle’s Voice: Great work, you guys! All that’s left is Trey’s Shadow.

Wolf: Right!

Joker: Let’s hope the others are doing great with the Treasure.

>Back with Carmen and the others, they managed to get close to the Treasure.

Carmen: (looking under the tarp) This looks like a job for the laser cutter.

>Carmen cuts open a hole big enough for her and the others to get in. They go inside.

Carmen: Got it.

Mona: This is the Treasure alright.

Sophie: It certainly has that vibe.

>They sneak away until they were in the clear. The Treasure was a shiny golden racing trophy.

What a surprise.

Skull: And I thought Kamoshida was bad. This just takes the cake.

>Carmen then takes a closer look at the trophy...

Carmen: (surprised) I see, that explains it.

Skull: What’s up, Red?

Carmen: Something real interesting.

>Back on the track, I managed to catch up to Wolf thanks to Slice, Dice, Speed, X, and Zack.

Wolf: Good luck to you all.

Joker: Thanks.

Slice: Me and Dice will take care of things in the rare.

>Me, Speed, X, and Zack drive up to Trey’s Shadow.

Shadow Trey: Well, look who finally decided to show up. I knew hiring those idiots wouldn’t help.

X: Goes to show you that good help is hard to find.

Shadow Trey: Fine, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Speed: X and I will take care of Trey if he tries anything. Joker, Zack, think you can handle it?

Zack: You bet. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Ivy’s Voice: Just try to focus. This isn’t like all the races we’re use to.

Joker: Don’t worry, he won’t be alone this time.

Zack: Thanks, Joker. Let’s do it!

>I nod... and go Third Tier.

Joker: PERSONA!

>Shadow Trey tries to use Brain Shake on me, but I dodge it. Raoul uses Concentrate. Shadow Trey uses Psiodyne. Raoul uses Phantom Show which puts Shadow Trey to Sleep.

Joker: Now’s your chance! Attack!

Speed: Here I come!

>I fling the Mach 6 forward with the Phantom Flyer’s grappling hook. Then, Speed attacks with his car’s laser sawblades. Speed drives back into position. Shadow Trey uses Taunt. I fall under Rage. I attack Shadow Trey with my car’s laser sawblades. Shadow Trey uses Psiodyne. It was a technical hit. I snap out of it and Raoul uses Eigaon. Shadow Trey tries to use Terror Claw, but I dodge it. I equipped Raoul with the One-shot Kill Skill Card and he uses One-shot Kill. It was a critical hit.

Joker: We get another one! Go!

X: This is for Annalise!

>I fling the Shooting Star forward and X rams Shadow Trey’s car, sending it back a bit. X moves back into position. Shadow Trey uses Brain Shake. Fortunately, I wasn’t Brainwashed. Raoul uses Concentrate. Shadow Trey uses Marin Karin. It didn’t work. Raoul uses Eigaon. It took a lot of Shadow Trey’s HP. Shadow Trey uses Sukukaja. Raoul uses One-shot Kill, but Shadow Trey dodges it. Shadow Trey then uses Marin Karin and I become Brainwashed. I nearly attack Speed. Shadow Trey uses Psiodyne. It was a technical hit. I snap out of it and Raoul uses Concentrate. Shadow Trey tries to use Brain Shake, but I dodge it. Raoul uses Phantom Show and it puts Shadow Trey to Sleep.

Joker: Get ready for another one! Just one more after this!

Zack: Here I go!

>I fling Lydia forward and Zack attacks Shadow Trey, sending him further back. Zack moves back into position.

Shadow Trey: (now really angry) I’m not done yet! Let me show you what happens when you cross me! I release upon you the deadly sin of vanity! You have no means of escape, human! The fraudulence of mankind shall bring forth ruin!

>Shadow Trey uses Distorted Vanity. Raoul uses Concentrate again. Shadow Trey uses Psiodyne. I’m knocked back a lot. Shadow trey then uses Skull Cracker. Fortunately, I didn’t get Confused. Raoul uses Phantom Show and Shadow Trey is Asleep again.

Joker: Now to finish this race!

>I give the final blow.

>After that, Shadow Trey was now back behind us. Then, I notice something.

Zack! Look!

>Zack was way ahead of us. He was in first place.

Ivy’s Voice: Go for it, bro! Go for it!

Zack: This is for you, sis! And everyone in Southie!

>Then, in a zoom... it was over. Zack crossed the finish line and won the race.

Cognition 1: (in disbelief) No way! Emperor Trey actually lost!?

Cognition 2: They must have cheated somehow.

Cognition 3: Actually, now that I think about it, doesn’t Emperor Trey do the same thing?

Cognition 4: Hey, you’re right! He paid those racers to kill those other racers!

Cognition 5: We’ve been supporting a cheater this whole time!

Cognitive Spectators: (outraged) Trey Sterling is a crook! A SPOILED LITTLE BRAT!

>Later at victory lane, Shadow Trey comes to us weakly.

Shadow Trey: It’s... It’s not possible... I should have won... I always win...

Wolf: Only because you paid those racers to lose with your father’s money. That’s not how you gain victory.

Shadow Trey: But, it’s my victory. I’m a proud son of Boston. I’m Boston Proud. Even the trophy says so.

??????: Does it really?

>Carmen and the others come to us with the trophy. She showed us the plaque at the bottom. Engraved on it was Trey’s name, but above it was another name that was chiseled out. I could definitely make out Zack’s first name, but his last name was completely unreadable.

Shadow Trey: The trophy? My trophy.

Carmen: I don’t think so. You clearly didn’t earn this. It was Zack’s.

>Shadow Trey looked like he was ready to attack one of us, but instead, he just drops to his knees and begins sobbing. We weren’t sure how to react... Then Zack comes over to Shadow Trey. He comes down to him.

Zack: (actually sympathetic towards his nemesis) Just... Why? Why do ya do this? Especially towards me and my sister?

Shadow Trey: (looking to him) ... You... You really want to know?

>Zack nods.

Shadow Trey: Look at you. You appear to be such an amateur, but the truth is... You were the better racer. You did a lot of things that were better than me. Compared to you, I was the real amateur. This was something even my father knew. He just wanted to see me happy. So, he decided to do whatever it took to make me happy. To make sure that I get what I want. From that very day at kindergarten, I convinced myself that my father and his money were the only way to get it. I love my father. He is a great man. If anyone could help me get my way, it’s him.

Noir: But that’s not how it works. There are somethings that you have to earn for yourself.

Shadow Trey: And make myself look like a fool? Like him? (points to Zack) Never. In this world, you take what you want the first chance you get. That’s why I’ve been so hard on Zack and Ivy. Because I didn’t want anyone to think that any way, despite our backgrounds... we would be the same. But we’re not. We... are rivals.

Zack: (shocked) ...

Speed: So you’re saying all this time, you and Zack could have been friends?

Shadow Trey: Maybe that’s another reason why I’ve always looked down on you. So that whenever you lose to me, you would realize that the only way to beat me was to befriend me. Though I wouldn’t be caught dead associating with someone from lower class, I could have changed all that.

Zack: But... We coulda been friends without all that.

Shadow Trey: !

Zack: Well, I don’t know. I’m still processin’ this. But bein’ so high and mighty around me and Ivy wouldn’t have made us friends. Just bein’ a good sport and welcomin’ anyone who shares the dream.

Shadow Trey: ...

Zack: I know you just wanted to be the best so that everyone would like you, but it never really hurts to show everyone who the real Trey Sterling is. You don’t need to hide behind your daddy’s wealth and power. You’ve got somethin’ that he could never get with his money.

Shadow Trey: ... What is that?

Zack: ... Beats me. It ain’t my life that needs fixin’. (offers his hand) So get up. Try to find just what you really can do.

Shadow Trey: ...

Joker: Listen to him. He may not look like a goofball, but he’s a wise goofball.

Carmen: He’s cares about others besides himself. I guess that includes you.

Shadow Trey: ...

Joker: It’s like we were saying...

You can’t buy talent or friendship. You ear it.

>Shadow Trey just sat silent for a bit. He thought of what we said... Then, he takes Zack’s hand and is pulled up.

Shadow Trey: I’m sorry. I now know that what I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have treated you so terribly. And I also shouldn’t have played Bobby or Annalise. I don’t deserve either of them.

X: (whispering) That’s for sure.

Shadow Trey: For a while, I’ve always wanted to be as famous as my former idol, August Gaunt, as well loved by everyone as my old pen pal from Arizona, and a popular as... You, Akechi.

What!?

Shadow Trey: Yes, I know who you are. I suppose the me in the real world knows, too, but hasn’t fully figured it out yet. And even if he has, I doubt he’s going to say anything. Even he wouldn’t believe it. After all... It came to him in a dream. As did Augusts and his pen pal.

Crow: Then you know that my popularity as what you think.

Shadow Trey: I think so. I guess popularity, fame, and being well loved are very different things.

Carmen: You just have to find a way to connect them in a good way. Start with doing something that will get you well loved. For starters, apologizing to those two hearts you played... And maybe donate to a good charity.

Skull: Like the B.O.M.G.T.M. Foundation.

Crow: Or the Worldwide Engineering Brigade.

Shadow Trey: Yeah, I think those would be good starts.

>With that, Shadow Trey returns to his true self and we take our own leave as the Palace vanishes.

>To be concluded...

#phantom thieves of hearts #heist

1 note · View note

thenovelartist · 6 years ago

Text

Falling for the Dork, set 6

<<Previous set Next set>>

18. In the Rain

The rainy season had begun once again, meaning that Marinette was unprepared for the first big downpour of the season. And this time, so was Adrien.

“Okay,” he said, looking at the downpour. “I have an extra hoodie in my locker. I’ll grab that for you, and then we make a mad dash to your house.”

“There’s no better option, is there?”

“Not really.”

“Okay.”

Together, they walked to Adrien’s locker, where he pulled out a black hoodie with a bright, neon green paw on it. He scrunched the fabric up in his hands so he could easily pull it over her head. She slid her arms in the overlong sleeves, and Adrien flipped the hood up over her head before giving the pigtails that stuck out of it an affectionate tug.

She blushed bright red.

They then made their way to the front of the school again, only to pause as they stared out at the rain.

“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“One, two, three!”

They took off like a shot, running as fast as they could and, blessedly, not getting stopped at the crosswalk.

By the time they made to the safety of Marinette’s house, the hoodies were drenched and their pants were soaked as well. But they were laughing as they stepped into the entryway of Marinette’s house.

They took off their soggy sneakers, then got out of the hoodies that were almost wet enough to be wrung out. Their shirts were mostly fine, but their pants were another story.

“I think I still have those pants I designed for you,” Marinette said. “I’ll grab those for you, and we can toss our clothes in the dryer.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They trekked up the stairs to Marinette’s room, where she did find the pants from a previous design competition that would fit Adrien. She sent him into the bathroom to change while she quickly changed in her room, putting on a pair of fuzzy pajama bottoms and a fully dry shirt.

Adrien knocked on the door. “You changed?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, opening the door

To reveal a shirtless Adrien.

“Seems like my shirt got wet, too,” he said with a shy grin. “Could you throw it in the dryer, too?”

Marinette was trying not to stare at his bare chest. “Um, yeah, totally.”

She quickly took his clothes, then made her escape from the stupidly handsome shirtless boy she had a crush on.

Though she wasn’t a fan of drying everything together, the clothes could stand it this once. After taking a breath to steady herself, she marched back up the stairs. It’s okay. There’s nothing special about seeing Adrien shirtless. It’s all fine.

Except it wasn’t because all the lies she told herself went straight out the window at the sight of shirtless Adrien in her room.

She dug through her clothes, tossing an oversized shirt at him. “Put this on, dork,” she said.

“What? You don’t like all this?” he teased, shooting her an exaggerated flirty smile while he flexed his arms.

Marinette had to swallow as she watched the muscles in his back and arms tighten.

Slowly, Adrien’s expression faded as he turned towards her, his brows knit together in confusion.

“You look good.” The words came tumbling out of Marinette’s mouth before she could even think to stop them.

Outside, lightning flashed, and thunder rolled shortly after. Marinette felt herself blush bright red as Adrien looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m gonna go get snacks,” she said. “And then some Ultimate Mecha Strike three?”

He nodded, but still didn’t look at her. “That sounds good.”

“Okay.” It took everything Marinette had to not run from the room. And then once she was out of the room, not to scream.

19. Akumatized

They were in their last year of schooling, meaning that it was time to start applying to universities. Adrien had a handful he applied to and would be happy with any of them. But for Marinette, with her love of fashion, wanted a spot in the top fashion school of Paris. And considering she wanted to go to the best fashion school in Paris, there would be a lot of competition.

“And what if I don’t make the cut and then I’ll never be able to live out my dreams as a fashion designer.”

Which meant Marinette was beside herself with nerves and making up ridiculously dismal conclusions.

“You won’t have to worry about that,” Adrien said, a plan hatching in his mind, “because you see, I’ll be your secret weapon.”

Marinette took that the complete wrong way and looked horrified. “No! I do not want to use your connections—”

“No no no,” he dismissed. “Not in that way. You see, I myself have a foolproof plan for getting you in.”

She paused, looking a little lost. “And just what would that be?”

“You see, Marinette. I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m actually have secret superpowers.”

The very corner of Marinette’s mouth twitched upwards. “Superpowers?”

He nodded, trying and failing to keep the smile off his face. “I have an army of butterflies that I can use to transform people into my personal minons.”

Her smile was growing. “Oh really?”

“Yes,” he said. “I send them out into the world and when they land on people’s shoulders, they become my minions. If you don’t get in, I’ll be angry for you, meaning all the minions I create will be evil minions.”

Marinette was biting her lip at this point, desperately trying not to laugh.

“With my army of minions, I will march down to the admissions office and tell them they better accept you or I will use my evil army to destroy the entire school meaning that—guess what?—it won’t be the most prestigious fashion university in Paris anymore.”

Now, her face was in her hands, her shoulders shaking. He could hear her quiet giggles, and he felt like a winner.

“Then, I will go to the new most prestigious fashion university in Paris and I will march my army to their admission office and say they better accept you and by that point, they will, because my evil powers will have been exposed for the world to see and no one will turn me down. That will be my evil plan to get you into that university.”

Gradually, Marinette’s laughter subsided to the point she dropped her hands from her face and looked at him with a beaming smile and cheeks pink from laughter. “You. Are such a dork.”

He grinned. “Feel better?”

“Much,” she said, stepping close to wrap his arms around his torso in a hug. “Thank you, Adrien.”

He couldn’t resist cocooning her in his arms. “You’re welcome.”

20. Hamster

There was a carnival in town, meaning rides and games and such. Marinette and Adrien couldn’t help but want to check it out. Originally, they were a group of four, but Nino and Alya split soon after their arrival, leaving Marinette and Adrien to their own devices.

Which they really didn’t mind.

After going on a few rides and getting some snacks, they found themselves wandering around the games. Adrien couldn’t help but notice how her eye caught on a jumbo plush hamster. He knew she wanted a live one. Frankly, he did, too. Preferably with her.

“Come on,” he said, leading her over to the game. “Let’s try for it.”

It was a game of “knockout.” They each got 5 balls and had to knockout as many clowns as they could. Marinette managed three. Adrien got all five.

“See? You’re my lucky charm,” Adrien said with a grin.

She giggled. “You’re such a dork.”

They each got to pick out a prize. Marinette pointed to the black cat while Adrien grabbed the jumbo stuffed hamster. “For you, my lady,” he said, presenting it to her with a smile.

She beamed, her cheeks coloring red. “And for you,” she said, handing over the cat.

“You should keep it,” he said, “and think of this kitty cat every time you see it.”

“That’s what the hamster is for,” she said, squeezing it tight. “Take this one, because I want you to remember me every time you see it.”

How could he resist that?

He named it Plagg, and it took up a permanent residence on his bed because, true to her intentions, it did remind him of her every time he saw it.

21. Nightmare

School was over. They had graduated, and university was right around the corner. Meaning that they were all going off to different universities and starting the beginning of their adult lives.

Even though he’d known it for months, the realization slammed full force into Adrien right after graduation as he was saying good-bye to all his school friends. But it wasn’t until midnight that night that he realized that ‘friends’ meant Marinette, too.

And in his panic in the night, his heart racing and mind whirring, he thought that it was nothing short of a living nightmare.

First thing in the morning, Adrien headed over to Marinette’s house. It was early, and he knew Marinette wasn’t exactly a morning person, bus to his surprised, she answered, immediately turning excited at the sight of him. “Adrien! What are you doing here? I thought you were busy today.”

“I was,” he said. “But I’m kinda ditching my fencing class today because I really want to talk to you.”

Her expression fell, turning serious. She let him inside, and they quickly headed up the stairs to her room.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” she asked, sitting down on her chair.

Adrien collapsed on her chaise. “Remember how… yesterday, we were saying good-bye to everyone? Realizing we were all going our own ways?”

She nodded.

“I just…” He sighed, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Out of all our classmates, I’m most terrified saying good-bye to you.”

She frowned, her brow knitting together in confusion. “Adrien, you don’t have to say good-bye to me. We’re staying close, remember? I’ll always be around.”

“But what if you aren’t?” he challenged. “What if we drift apart? What if you’re busy with your school and I’m busy with mine and we don’t stay in contact and—”

“Hey, hey.” Marinette had stood from his seat to grab hold of his cheeks. She gave him a soft smile that calmed his racing heart. “That’s not gonna happen. Even if we have to put each other specifically into our schedules, we’ll find time to stay together.”

He sighed. “I don’t think… you fully understand, Marinette.” He reached up to grab her wrists. “That… That I’m worried I’ll lose you.”

“You won’t lose me,” she quietly replied, her head slowly getting closer to his.

“No,” he said. “Not that kind of lose.”

“Then what kind of lose are you talking about.”

“The kind where you live your life and I’m not there every step of the way.”

A long silence slipped between them.

“Marinette,” he said, moving his hands from her wrists to cradle her cheeks. “I’m sorry I never told you this sooner, but… it took me a while to realize that losing you in that way really isn’t okay with me. I really, really like you. And… I want nothing more than for you to be mine.”

Her breathing was coming in short, shallow bursts, and her cheeks were bright pink. Just as Adrien grew worried he’d overstepped his bounds, her eyes grew glassy and a smile stretched across her cheeks. “You have feelings for me?” she whispered as if not believing it.

He nodded. “For a while now,” he admitted.

If it was possible, her smile grew larger. “You have feelings for me.”

“Yeah,” he said, his own smile growing. “I do. And… And I can only hope that you have feelings for me.”

She sniffed. “You’re such an idiot.”

The words caught him off guard.

“Yeah,” she said. “Because… I’ve been in love with you for years.”

Those words hit him like a bat to the chest, knocking the air out of him and leaving him stunned. “Wh… really?”

Her smile widened, and with it came a tear.

He was quick to wipe it away with his thumb. “Really?” he asked, not sure he believed it. “You like me?”

Marinette nodded.

And that was all the confirmation he needed to yank her down against him, cocooning her up into his arms and pressing his face into her hair. “You like me.”

“I do,” she said shifting in his lap. “Since when did you like me?”

“I’d say it probably started when Juleka’s older brother came to town.”

“Luka?”

“And I hated how you were spending time with him.”

Slowly, Marinette pushed away from him so she could look him in the eyes. “Kitty?” she said, smile on her face. “Were you jealous?”

He growled, glancing away from her.

She giggled, her hands finding his cheeks again to pull his attention back to her. “You liked me since then?”

“That was the beginning of it, yeah,” he confessed. “Ever since then, seeing you with other guys… I just… and the thought of losing you…”

She settled back against his chest, her arms looping around his torso and holding him tight. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”

He clung to her like a lifeline. “Marinette,” he began. “I really… I love you, and I don’t want to let you go. I don’t want to lose you. I want to pursue more with you. Will… will you be my girlfriend?”

Her arms tightened. “Adrien,” she said. “Nothing in the world would make me happier.”

“And we can’t let college pull us apart,” he insisted, heart fluttering nervously at the thought.

She hummed. “The love of my life just confessed his love for me. If you think I’m not going to fight tooth-and-nail for you, then you don’t know me very well.”

#miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #adrienette april 2019 #adrienette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #the confession you've all been waiting for #fluff #romance

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brittle-bone-gabe · 5 years ago

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The Forgotten: Chapter One: Act One

Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen, Chapter Sixteen, Chapter Seventeen, Chapter Eighteen, Chapter Nineteen, Chapter Twenty, Epilogue

Summary: Barry Berkman couldn't remember much of his childhood; he knew he used to live in Derry, Maine, but that was about it, besides being taken by his "Uncle Fuches" at age 16 to move to Cleveland, Ohio. Eddie Kaspbrak moved from Derry, Maine to LA, becoming a police officer, surprisingly enough. Normally things were quiet for the most part, besides the occasional drug busts, but it's when someone named Barry Block enters his line of sight as a possible suspect for the recent string of murders he has to push the feeling of remembrance to investigate. Pairing: Adult Reddie (Richie x Eddie) Or, technically, Barry x Eddie Read on AO3: Here Word Count: 2665

It was a Monday afternoon when LAPD Officer, Eddie Kaspbrak, was sitting at his desk in the precinct, bored out of his mind. Yeah, he loved his job here in LA, it was certainly a different area than Derry, Maine, his hometown, but it grew on him quickly. The normal quiet life he had in Maine that he left when he was twenty-one-years-old was replaced with heavy traffic, an amount of homicides like you wouldn't believe, and for some reason your shoes were always sticky the moment you step out of your house. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss his friends back at home, the Losers Club. It had been years since they’ve seen each other, either everyone was too busy or Eddie couldn’t get ahold of anyone, so it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying. Well, the five that were left, nobody had any idea what happened to Richie; one day he just… disappeared without saying anything. Maybe that was the true reason Eddie wanted to be a cop; he wanted to help people, he wanted to help find people who were missing, and he was damn good at his job.

Eddie jumped in surprise out of his thoughts when the phone on his desk started to ring. Normally that phone didn’t go off unless there was an emergency, or someone wasn’t available… or if nobody wanted to work in general. A sudden burst of anxiety plunged its way into Eddie’s chest as he reached out to grab the phone. Normally he didn’t have any issues answering the phone, but this phone was scary for obvious reasons.

“LAPD, this is Kaspbrak,” he answered, fidgeting with the pen that was sitting on his desk. He called it his fidget pen because he didn’t actually use it to write anything. Detective Mae had given it to him so he would stop drumming on the desk with his fingers when he became anxious.

“Officer Kaspbrak, there were reports of gunshots at 9913 Cambridge rd. There are no available officers at the moment, are you able to check it out?” Dispatch had asked him.

Eddie narrowed his eyes. “Is it that there aren’t any available officers, or they don’t want to do it?” He finally asked.

There was a silence on the other end of the line. “Okay, but hear them out.” Eddie snorted. “So you know how the reptile show is in town?”

“I got it, I got it, I got it,” Eddie said quickly, “I’ll go check it out.”

When Eddie hung up the phone he looked at the blurry picture from the lipstick cam that Detective Janice Moss clung to as if her life depended on it. Eddie had tacked it next to his computer at his cubicle, he always used it as a reference point whenever there were reports of gunshot or murder since he knew that this guy is still out there somewhere going on a killing spree. It wasn’t fair the woman who trained him, making him a better officer and pushing him out of his shell, was murdered for what seemed like no reason. Eddie felt as though he owed it to Janice to catch this bastard; then the case would finally be put to rest and hopefully the other shit going on around here would stop. He would be a liar if he said he didn’t try everything he could to try to enhance the image to at least make out the face, or at least some of the features.

God, first they lost Janice then they lost Detective John Loach, which, in all fairness, was something about him and the guy that stole his wife? Eddie still wasn’t sure on those details, something about them being in a supermarket and the two men ended up killing each other. He knew that Loach had been torn up over his wife, since Eddie was the one who had to sit through all the many boring stories about how he bought a… what was it? A Quinceañera shop for his wife? Even after that she left him for another man and divorced him. It was a wild ride of a story, and in all honesty Eddie couldn’t keep up with the details of it all. He just remembered a few days before Loach got killed he was very secretive, jumpy, and acting out of it more than usual; so it had to have been a planned thing, right? Well, at least they knew what happened to Loach, they still had no clue where Janice was or what happened.

Eddie got on his old Dell computer, printing out a copy of the lipstick cam picture, he didn’t like taking the one he had pinned up as that was Janice’s personal copy and he felt as though that was the only thing he had left of her. Yeah, he understood there was no fuckin’ face on the damn thing, but he did remember Janice telling him that he would reconize the person in the picture if they were standing in front of him. Eddie slapped the printer after his computer gave him an error saying Printer Not Found. Which was bullshit… Eddie was looking right at the printer! It was right there! He was grumbling to himself as he made sure all the cords were plugged in properly before trying again, finally printing… slowly….

He rubbed his face, hunched over his desk while waiting for the picture to print while mumbling to himself, obviously lost in thought. Mumbling about how he was going to catch this son of a bitch, that he would get the info of where Janice was at (hopefully still alive), and that this whole thing would finally be over. Eddie was telling himself this, but he noted how unconfident he sounded, which made him sigh heavily.

“What’cha doin’?” Detective Mae asked loudly when standing outside Eddie’s cubicle.

Eddie jumped, whipping around to see the brown haired woman looking at him with a smile on her face. She always did that. Whenever he was thinking aloud or trying to get something done, she was always there. It was almost on cue. Every. Single. Time.

“Oh, I’m…” Eddie trailed off, picking up the picture from his printer, “on my way to investigate some reported gunshots.”

“Mhm...” Detective Mae trailed off, taking the picture from Eddie’s hands, “Kaspbrak, why do you always think this guy is involved?” She asked, holding the picture up to him.

Eddie bit his lip, thinking of a good answer. Because he didn’t want to let this go? Because he wanted to find out what happened to Janice? Because he wanted to make sure that nobody else gets hurt because of this asshole?

“I just think he’s involved,” Eddie finally answered, avoiding eye contact as he took the picture back from the detective.

“The case has been closed, Kaspbrak. You know that, right?”

“Wrongfully closed,” he snapped on accident, looking up at Detective Mae who looked confused at his sudden aggressiveness. Totally out of character for Eddie. “I’m sorry, I… I gotta go.”

He tried squeezing past her, but she managed to grab his arm before he could get too far.

“Do you need any help?”

Eddie’s eyes went wide, avoiding eye contact with her. She always tried to make some kind of physical contact with him somehow. It always made him uncomfortable, something about… someone else touching him with their dirty hands made him sick.

“Uh, no…” he said, rolling his arm so she’d let go, “no, I think I got this under control.”

He finally moved past her, going outside to where his police cruiser was sitting. He had inherited Janice’s old cruiser after his got destroyed in an accident. Eddie made sure that it was always in perfect condition; went through the car wash once a week, no trash, no scratches, no nothing. He remembered when he first joined the force, Janice made it a point to show off how her cruiser was the one in the best shape and she intended to keep it that way.

Eddie missed his best friend.

-----

The sun blinded Barry Berkman for a good few seconds the moment he stepped outside the house he had just broken into via the sliding glass door. First accomplishment: he killed the guy he was ordered to by Fuches. Now… he had to figure out how the hell he was going to escape. The wired fence was way too high for Barry to climb, there weren’t any fencing around the sides of the house, but he didn’t want to risk that way since the guy fired a couple of rounds and the police were surely on their way now.

There was blood all over the front of Barry’s black hoodie, thankfully none of it was his; he had his hood pulled up just in case. A small itch landed on Barry’s face, when he reached up to scratch it he could feel his fingertips were now wet; great, he had this assholes blood on his face too. Nice. Totally nice.

Barry peered around the corner of the house, debating if he wanted to take the chance of trying to escape through the front of the house and cut through the neighbors yard. It could theoretically work as long as nobody saw him. Barry was hyping himself up to do exactly that… until a police cruiser pulled up to the scene with its lights flashing. Well, fuck. Barry backed off a little, but still being able to see the police officer walk around behind his car, his pistol in his hands as he walked up to the front door of the house.

Breathing heavily, Barry pressed his back against the house siding, not sure what to do now. Were more officers coming? Were there more than that one officer in the police cruiser? Now that the red, white, and blue lights were flashing it would surely attract some attention to what was happening. Letting out the breath he was holding, Barry took out the ski mask that he was holding in his hoodie pocket, putting it over his head before dropping the hood.

When he turned back around to the sliding glass door, Barry noticed that there was a security camera pointed down at him, the red light blinking, indication that it was, in fact, recording. Fuck. He didn’t see that there earlier. Fuches didn’t tell him that this asshole had cameras around his house. Barry glanced inside the house, not seeing the police officer in his sights. Perfect. He pulled out his pistol with a suppressor, shooting it down.

Barry’s heart started to pound against his chest, normally he wasn’t so anxious during these jobs, but he didn’t want to have to kill another cop. That just wasn’t his thing to do. They were just doing their jobs, like he was doing his. He took a deep breath as he silently opened the sliding door. You will not kill another cop. You will not kill another cop. You will- He kept thinking to himself over and over as he was crouched down, moving over to the wall in the kitchen that held the staircase, pressing his back up against it, making sure his breathing was steady. He peeked around the corner of the small wall he was hiding behind to see the cop, his arms were crossed holding his pistol in one hand with a flashlight in the other so he could navigate this dark house.

“LAPD!” The officer had called throughout the house, causing Barry to worry that he may have seen him.

The officer slowly backed out of the kitchen, not seeing anything and moved to the living room that was on the opposite side of the staircase. The footsteps that were once so heavy and close were now starting to slowly fade away, as the officer was checking every single corner of the living room. The only thing Kaspbrak could find were traces of blood and an obvious sign of a struggle. Although, he couldn’t find the body anywhere, he even checked the living rooms closet, where he would’ve assumed someone would put a body, but it was only filled with coats and shoes.

Taking a silent, yet deep breath, Barry moved out from his spot behind the wall. He was still crouched as he moved towards the front door, stopping every so often to listen for any footsteps. From what he could tell the officer was still in the living room and therefore should be free to escape without any hassle. Just in case, Barry peeked through the railing into the living room, the officer had his back to him as he was looking behind furniture now. Great, this was perfect. With the door still slightly opened still it would be easy for Barry to slip out.

The absolute second Barry was about to reach the door he accidentally stepped on an old, creaky floorboard. Barry’s eyes went wide as he whipped his head around to see the officer looking at him, his gun pointed at him.

“Stand up! Put your hands up!” The officer yelled, walking over to Barry with the gun still pointed at him.

Now seeing the officers face up close sent Barry into a slight state of confusion. Did he know him from somewhere? Maybe he just had one of those faces that looked familiar to everyone, but that reasoning didn’t set right with Barry. No, he’s seen him before, he just couldn’t place where. Barry glanced at the man's uniform, on the left side it was printed as: E. Kaspbrak.

Barry slowly stood up, taller than the officer with his hands raised like he was told to do.

“Take off the mask,” Officer Kaspbrak told him in a somewhat calm tone.

“Look, man, this is a huge-”

“Take it off!” Officer Kaspbrak shouted, indicating that he was ready to shoot him.

With a sigh, Barry began to reach up with his left hand, acting as if he was going to remove the ski mask, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Not while he was trying to turn his life around. Not while he knew that this was going to be the last ever job that he was going to do for Fuches. He had a life now, he had friends, he had a purpose. He wasn’t going to let it get ripped away from him so easily.

While Officer Kaspbrak was distracted on seeing the mans face, he didn’t even notice Barry’s right hand going for the gun he still had on him. He quickly reached for it, even before Officer Kaspbrak could react, he pointed the gun down to the floor, shooting the officer in the foot.

Eddie let out a scream, dropping his own gun before collapsing to the floor, holding his foot.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, man, I really am,” Barry kept apologizing, kicking Officer Kaspbrak’s gun across the room so he couldn’t shoot him while his back was turned. “I did it so I didn’t have to hurt you… worse… than that,” he added quickly, his hand on the doorknob. “Put… put some ice on that, you’ll be fine,” he said before leaving the house, closing the door behind him.

Groaning, Eddie grabbed his radio. “It’s Officer Kaspbrak, I’ve been fuckin’ shot. Suspect is about 6-”

There was a sound of static on the other end of the radio before another man spoke. “Uhh, Kaspbrak? Is this important because the guys and I are in the middle of holding a turtle at the reptile show-”

“I got fuckin’ shot, you assholes!”

He dropped the radio, staring up at the ceiling, feeling the blood coming from his foot fill his sock and shoe. It felt like the world was spinning at an unreasonable speed, causing Eddie to throw up from the shock of it all. It wasn’t long before he closed his eyes, passing out.

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v01d-ch1ld · 6 years ago

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The Bright White Light, The Cool Night Breeze

Jason stood on a Gotham roof, slouched over on himself with his helmet at his feet. He needs a cigarette. There are no words for the pain in his chest or the screams of torment in his head. She’s gone. Never to return again. He knows it. No one lives long in the capture of the Joker. That was a lesson of hard experience. He could still feel the pain of his ribs breaking as the crowbar came down on his prone weak form. He can hear the clown laughing and his pained screams. All just par for the course at this point. His whole life has been loss from the beginning. He should be used to it by now…and yet, there is nothing he could do. The last time he felt this bad was when Tim fell victim to the Joker’s schemes. That was a dark day and he was in Metropolis. When he heard about it second hand from Barbra, he almost lost his mind. Replacement or not, he still cared for the kid. Bruce forbade him to come home until it was resolved, and he was forced to obey due to the simultaneous drain of funds due to Oracle.

Honestly, the sinking feeling in his chest that had been there since his resurrection was not helping the churning of his stomach as those memories rushed through his head. He took out a cigarette from his jacket and lit it with easily practiced motions. There were only two ways to deal with his stress right now: kill or smoke. He chose the one that wouldn’t result in Bruce beating the shit out of him again. The only comfort that he had was the fact that Dick wasn’t doing much better than he was at the moment. Dick had searched for about a month before he nearly had a mental breakdown. Bruce sent him back to Bludhaven and told the police not to let him back into Gotham for fear of Nightwing going on a Red Hood style rampage. Jason, on the other hand, is still searching but he is finding it harder and harder to put on his helmet every day. Just another connection to that bastard. No one can keep track of the Joker for long. He keeps switching locations and covering his tracks.

They all loved her, but Jason most of all. He loved her like it was his last lifeline. There were no words for how he felt for her and there never would be. She was the reason that he managed to endure Bruce, depression, and psychotic tendencies. She made him want to keep fighting. If she dies…Gotham’s rogues will die with her, he vows, saving Joker for last and to hell with what Bruce may say. Exhaling smoke he rolls his shoulders back and looks out into the bleak Gotham night.

Across town, in an abandoned club Rebecca was practicing some moves on a pole. Catwoman was trying to gauge her flexibility. As she arched her back around the pole she pulled her left leg over her head and used her ankle to grip the pole for balance, her shorts riding up to see the barest shadow of her underwear. Usually she would have minded, but lately, something has possessed her to be more rebellious. Maybe it was the drugs, but more likely it was because it pissed the Joker off to see others ogling his daughter. Her hands slid down the pole as she spun around it upside down. Her arms had bruises and scabs all over them, but she didn’t care; it wasn’t like pain actually affected her anymore. Her nerve endings were so fried she was surprised she still recognized pressure on her skin. She couldn’t feel cold or pain, only pleasure or heat. She didn’t suppose that this was a foul existence. She swung herself off the pole. She was bored. She had been learning 3 different fighting styles, how to use guns, knives, blunt force weapons, and her custom daggers and now all she was working on was parkour. She wanted blood. Blood could slake the awful gnawing on the inside of her brain. It felt prickly and uncomfortable, like a numb burning sensation.

“You have good balance, kid.” Catwoman purred from the chaise she was perched on. Rebecca tutted like a certain demon spawn. She cartwheeled off stage and vaulted herself onto a table and stretched. She tore the stitches on her exposed stomach in the process. If there was one good thing about this arrangement is that she had developed beautiful abs. She felt something running across her skin and saw the blood. Taking a finger, she scooped some into her hands and licked them clean. Jumping off the table she went to get the first aid kit and her auntie Ivy.

The halls were barely lit. Her eyes were becoming far more sensitive to light as of late and she threw temper tantrums until they finally turned the lights down. She strutted down the halls knowing damn well that if anyone touched her, she would give them hell and then her father would give them death. Skipping down the polished concrete halls, she ran her nails along the walls making a nice scratching sound. As she skipped she started to sing. Nonsense snippets of songs that made no sense combined the way that she did.

When she got to the private rooms, she went to the door that she knew was serving as Ivy’s boudoir. Not bothering to knock, Rebecca walked inside and flopped on her sitting flower. She was the only one other than Harley that Pamela would let into her room and because of this, she got a sitting flower. Ivy was typing on a laptop very quickly.

“I thought you were practicing with that hussy. What brings you here, Rosebud?” Ivy still hadn’t looked up.

“One of the gifts daddy gave me started bleeding because I ripped my stitches.” Rebecca’s voice had changed too. Her throat was raw after the last time Joker took her into the lab rooms. After she stopped bleeding and foaming at the mouth, her voice sounded deeper and raspier, yet at the same time, she was capable of vocal mimicry to a terrifying degree, even able to produce a facsimile of male vocal tones. She was currently mimicking Harley to emphasize the sarcasm. Ivy looked up and saw the blood running sluggishly out of her stitches. Sighing and grabbing the first aid kit, she moved Rebecca’s flower closer to her own.

“How did you manage to rip them? This is the third time this week!” Ivy huffed as she began to sanitize the needle.

“I was practicing parkour. Daddy wants me to be as good as the wonder brats.” Rebecca said, speaking normally. She rolled her green, lightly glowing eyes. The chemicals that she and her father’s DNA were bathed in created the sick looking radioactive green. Looking into Ivy’s nearly turquoise eyes, she smirked, “I have to admit though, it brings back memories of when I used to take gymnastics.”

“I’m going to give you your next dose while you’re here. It should help.” Ivy said while cutting the ruined stitches out of her side. Rebecca nodded. The enhancement drugs were different from the chemicals which were different from the psychosis-inducing drugs that she has been getting from her father. They were to make her joints more tensile, her bones denser, her muscles stronger, her agility improved and enhance her healing factor by a small fraction. It would help her heal faster and without scarring. The serum was derived from her blood sample, Ivy’s plants and some of the multitude of supplies that Joker had stolen from Star Labs, Wayne Tech, and Lex Corp. over the years. Ivy and Victor had been slaving over the stuff for about two weeks before it was done. But boy, did it hit the spot. She was able to actually function after lab days when her body was pushed past the limits of physiology.

As soon as Ivy finished the stitches, she went to one of the tables in her room and grabbed a hypodermic needle. She hooked up the drip and plunged the IV into her arm. Rebecca leaned back and sighed in her flower, the sensation of the serum hitting her veins was nearly euphoric. It was tingly and relaxing yet energizing all at the same time. The world was temporarily okay. She knew that the serum had CBD in it to keep her calm and not rip the needle out, but she wouldn’t have taken it out anyway, it felt too good.

Her long green-black hair flowed over the petals of the purple flower that she had taken to using as a bed. She understood why Ivy liked to sleep on them, they were really comfortable. This particular flower smelled divine and mixed with the sensation of the serum had her in a semi-conscious state. She gave a dizzy smile with her black lips and giggled. Ivy looked down at her and gave her a sad smile, which soon went back to her normal expressionless countenance. She flipped her hair and went back to her flower and continues to work on her laptop.

Rebecca listened to her keystrokes absently and she began to think. She was losing memories. She knew it. It was an undeniable fact that with all the chemicals that there was bound to be some damage to her neural synapses. So, she worked hard to remember her old life. One that she knew was out of her reach forever now, but still full of happy memories. She remembered boys. Two of them were older than her. One of them she considered like her brother, the other was associated with something intense but undiscovered, new, powerful. The other two were younger and she thought of them as little brothers. She cared for them deeply and even though they both had issues conveying their emotions, she knew they cared about her. Then there was a cold presence in her head. A man. He was intimidation and cool rage. Terrifying was the word she would use to describe him.

“You’re wrong, they don’t care about you. If they did they would have come for you by now.” It was back. That voice.

It usually came while she was recovering from labs. That intrusive voice in her head. It gave her migraines of unbearable caliber. It confused memories and destroyed long-held convictions. It rearranged her personality and made her angry. Angry that she had lost control and was losing more every day. It created doubt. Doubt kills in this business. And above all, she wanted to at least live through this because in her eyes that meant she won.

Next: http://deepdarkvoidchild.tumblr.com/post/179315515577/if-bitterness-is-my-cancer-fire-is-my-cure

tags: @nxttime @dcuniversefanatic @dcdweeb @ravennightingaleandavatempus

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forestwater87 · 7 years ago

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Camp Camp Secret Santa 2017

Happy Holidays to @conky-in-action! It was so much fun to participate in this year’s @campcamp-secretsanta, and I hope you enjoy this little fic!

(Credit for the brilliant Christmas tree idea goes to @hopefullypessimistic84, who helped me out of a serious rut, writing-wise.)

“For Christ’s sake, let me g --”

“Your scarf is dragging, Max! Just -- stop -- for a second --”

“It’s a thousand degrees!”

Gwen glanced up from her phone, abandoning the “I’m here” text she’d been about to send David. She’d been worrying about how she would be able to find them in the crush of people thronging the train station, but of course she should’ve realized they wouldn’t be hard to find. “Guys?” she called, pocketing her phone and tightening her grip on her bag.

David’s head popped up over the crowd -- a second’s flash of a robin’s egg blue pompom bouncing into the air -- and then he was pushing through the throng, nearly tripping over his own feet and several others’ before stumbling to a halt in front of her. “Gwen!” he cried, flinging one arm around her with the other awkwardly held out behind him. “It’s so good to see you! Max!” His body twisted in the direction of his outstretched arm, gently tugging Max forward. “Look who’s here!”

Max rolled his eyes, shuffling his feet but letting himself be drawn into the hug by David’s mittened hand in his. “So? She’s here all the time.”

David had cajoled his young houseguest into full winter gear this month, Gwen noticed; last time it had been a constant battle of shed clothing and loud arguments. And judging by the way Max’s scarf was only loosely draped around his neck, both ends soaked and filthy and threatening to trip him with every step, it was a fight David had only barely won. She resisted the urge to kneel down as he approached, knowing it’d only make his mood more sour. “Nice to see you too, asshole.”

David frowned, but Max’s eyes flicked up to meet hers, and she could’ve sworn she saw the ghost of a smirk cross his face for a second.

“Come on, guys, it’s Christmas! We’ve never all been together for Christmas like this! Isn’t that special?”

“Maybe if you stopped shoving holiday bullshit down our throats,” Max muttered, yanking his hand free and shoving them in his coat pockets.

She glanced over at David, watching the sunshine in his face fight with worry and plain sullen disappointment. They’d talked about Max’s increasing bad mood as Christmas drew closer, over text and phone and Facebook and email (and even the occasional concerned snap; she was pretty sure he would’ve sent his fears of being a good guardian by carrier pigeon if he’d known how). She was of the opinion that Max was a kid and kids were assholes, but David was convinced there was something deeper going on.

Judging by the frustration that drew his eyebrows together and thinned his lips, he hadn’t hunted down that “something” just yet.

Gwen bumped his shoulder with her own. “You okay, David?”

He started, shaking his head with a small laugh. The lines on his face smoothed away and he fixed her with a bright smile. “Of course I am!” he replied, picking up her bag and slinging it over his shoulder. “I have my favorite people in the world with me --”

“I can take that, you don’t have to carry it --”

“-- and it’s the best time of the year! Besides summer, of course!” Ignoring her halfhearted protests, he stared Max down until the boy sighed and accepted his proffered hand -- then extended the stare to Gwen, who was familiar enough with this routine to snag Max’s other hand -- then led the way off the train platform. “I’ve never been happier!”

“Has he been like this the whole time?” she asked Max quietly, letting David bounce along without noticing they weren’t listening.

Max glared up at her from under his hat; bright red with a white puffball on the end, it perched on his curls like a big floppy pancake. (She wondered idly if he or David had made it, and which of them was the better knitter by now.) “What the fuck do you think?”

Gwen was a little proud of herself for not taking his irritation personally. Besides, David’s behavior was a bit more worrying at the moment. He’d always been a bit manic, but . . . “How’re you holding up?”

He shrugged as well as he could, considering both his hands were captive. “Fine, I guess? I don’t --”

“Okay, gang!” David cut in, “let me go get the car so you don’t have to walk through the snow! Wait right here! Don’t go anywhere!”

They both watched him bound away, nearly slipping on a section of poorly-salted ice before catching himself and running to the parking lot. Finally Max said, “Listen, I get this ‘how are you feeling?’ shit from him all the time. Can you give it a rest for a couple days?”

“I meant, how are you doing with him? I . . . know he can be kinda hard to take.”

Max glanced over at her, face scrunching in surprise. “Oh,” he said. “I mean, he’s okay I guess. Could be worse.”

Biting the inside of her cheek, Gwen looked out at the traffic, feigning disinterest. “I can’t believe you haven’t killed him yet over this ‘festive cheer’ stuff. I would’ve.”

“No, seriously, he’s fine.” He scuffed at the salty sidewalk. “It’s nice not being the only house without Christmas lights. At least he gives a shit.”

His voice was quiet, shy but also prickly with defensiveness, and she decided she’d pushed hard enough. “Can’t wait to get to see the place. Knowing him, you’d probably notice it from orbit.”

Max snorted. “We got letters from the neighbors threatening to call the cops because they couldn’t sleep. Took all weekend to convince David to take some of the lights down.” He smirked up at her with the see-what-I’m-dealing-with? expression that’d become their primary mode of communication over the past few months, and the tension between them dissolved.

As David’s beaten-up car rumbled to a stop in front of them -- spraying everyone waiting at the curb with slush -- she ducked into the front seat with a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment.

Satisfaction, because she might not have used her degree much since graduation, but she could still pull a mean reverse psychology when she had to.

Disappointment, because it seemed like maybe there was something deeper than general kid dickishness going on here.

And Max of all kids didn’t need another reason to wake up scowling.

“So how should we start?” David clapped his hands between his knees and leaned forward so far he nearly tipped his chair over. His leg was bouncing hard enough to make the furniture shake. “We need a tree, or we can bake cookies -- ooh, or we can make a big Christmas dinner -- or go to the movies -- what about ice skating?” Sitting up straight, he covered his mouth with both hands. “There’s so much to do! I’m so excited!”

Max groaned, but didn’t look up from his phone. Gwen was inclined to agree -- after the train ride up here she wanted nothing more than to collapse on the couch and not move for at least five hours -- but she saw the way David’s hair was sticking up a bit too much (a symptom of combing his fingers through it obsessively) and the slightly manic glint to his smile. After years of working together in unnecessarily stressful situations, too many of them involving grenades, she was pretty familiar with his “I’m hanging onto the end of my rope with my fingernails” look. So she scraped a bit more enthusiasm from deep in her stomach and said, “I mean, this place looks basically perfect, but it’s a little weird without a tree. And it’d be nice to get outside while it’s still light.”

Max’s head shot up, a look resembling betrayal flashing across his face. Then he shrugged and glanced back down at his phone. “Whatever. I mean it’s not like we don’t have enough decorations.”

“But a tree is the most important one!” David sprang to his feet, taking Gwen’s hands and tugging her up as well. “What a great idea, Gwen!”

“Why don’t you guys already have a tree?” she asked quietly as he held the door open for her, Max stomping ahead with his hood pulled over his face and his hands in his pockets.

He frowned, his gaze miles away and his face lined with worry. “The last couple months have been . . . hard. He was so happy on Halloween, and I thought things were looking up, but . . .” David sighed, running a gloved hand through his hair and wincing at the way his fringe crackled with static and clung to his forehead. “I just don’t know anymore.”

“Maybe you’re too close to it?” she suggested, and his eyes finally snapped to hers. “I mean, I know he’s a little shit, but he seems a lot better than he was in August. And it’s a hell of an improvement over Thanksgiving, right?”

“I guess so,” he said, shaking his head with a small chuckle. They’d invited Gwen down for the holiday that year, and she’d made the mistake of thinking the two of them and David’s mother would be less hectic than her own family. The evening had ended with Max sulking on the roof after having thrown the entire turkey at David’s head -- David’s mom, working with middle schoolers for a living, had been the only one able to eventually coax him in out of the cold -- and his legal guardian crying on the living-room floor surrounded by destroyed poultry while Gwen tried to scrub gravy out of the carpet and occasionally brought him napkins. (She wasn’t great at comforting people, and had been immeasurably relieved when the others had returned from the roof, so she could snag Max for cleanup duty and leave the emotional support to David’s mom.) From what she could tell, things had been much smoother since then. “Maybe I’m expecting too much of him.”

“Yeah, probably,” she said with a snort, then cringed at the hurt look on his face. “I mean, he’s . . . like, no amount of love is going to stop him from being an asshole. That’s kinda how he is. I know you think I’m too hard on him --” she added quickly as he opened his mouth; he obediently shut it and looked down. “-- but you can’t explain away his entire personality with ‘his parents are fuckups,’ David. Some of that is just how he is, and he has to know you’re gonna like him anyway. I mean . . . right? You know?”

She stuttered to a halt, suddenly aware of how long she’d been talking. Christ, she hadn’t given a speech like that since Nurf’s day back at camp. But that time she’d been asked how to make Nurf open up, instead of just spouting her unwanted opinions at a struggling father.

She opened her mouth to apologize, because David certainly didn’t need two jerks in his life and it wasn’t like she really knew the situation anyway and they were barely even friends, really -- but before she could she was smacked in the face with a blue pom-pom, inhaling wool in the split second before David’s arms tightened around her hard enough to cut off her ability to breathe at all.

“Thank you, Gwen,” he mumbled into her shoulder, his voice muffled by the puffy coat he’d insisted she put on (because hers was apparently not good enough). “You always know what to say.”

That . . . seemed like a generous interpretation -- she would’ve gone with “you always put your foot in your mouth” -- but she wasn’t going to complain. Her mobility was limited somewhat by the dense down jacket, but she managed to hook an arm around his skinny frame and awkwardly pat his back. “Hey,” she began, then realized she didn’t know how to finish that and just let it dangle in the air: “Heyyy . . .”

David laughed quietly, turning his head toward her so he could breathe more easily. “Hi.”

He didn’t let go, and after a couple moments she said, “Max doesn’t hug much, huh?”

“How could you tell?”

She rolled her eyes. “Call it a hunch.” She let him cling like that for another few seconds -- she hadn’t been hugged in a while either, and she had to admit it was kinda nice -- then shrugged him off. “Come on, moron. He’s probably freezing to death out there.”

His eyes widened in alarm, looking much more teal than green thanks to the blue wool hat that framed his face. “Golly, you’re right! Let’s go!” He snagged her hand without thinking, turning and rushing down the hall with the pom-poms dangling from his hat’s ear-flaps trailing behind him (and nearly hitting her, again, with each step).

“Slow down, David!” she shouted, but the irritation in her voice was entirely fake.

She’d tolerate a lot, she was slowly learning, to keep a smile on that idiot’s face.

“What kind of tree do you want, Max?” After almost an hour of trying and failing to get Max to show any sort of enthusiasm, David’s cheer was definitely strained. He kept opening and closing his hands, like he was trying to keep the blood circulating in the cold weather . . . or like he was trying very very hard not to let them clench into fists.

Max didn’t look up from his phone, deftly bystepping a gooey-eyed couple. “I dunno. Maybe a fake one, so we don’t kill a perfectly healthy tree for no good reason.”

“But . . .” David trailed off, closing his eyes and opening his mittened hands again. His nostrils flared slightly as he took a deep, calming breath, then said, “Well, buddy, it would’ve been good to know that before we got here! But since we’re already in out here surrounded by all this beautiful nature --” he gestured grandly at the neat rows of trees that spread out like the spokes of a wheel from where they were standing -- “why don’t we bring some of it home, what do you say?”

Max just shrugged, smirked at something on his phone, and kept walking. His small boots cut through the powdery snow without really picking up off the ground, leaving two lines that trailed behind him as he wandered through the lot.

David took another deep breath -- she was starting to wonder if that was doing him any good -- and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I forgot how he gets when we have company,” he finally muttered to Gwen, most of the golly-gee! quality of his voice gone. “It’s like he needs to prove he’s still . . .”

“Satan?” she offered helpfully.

“Difficult,” he finished, and for a moment they watched the mop of black hair weave through the trees. “But it’s okay! We’ll just have to help him.”

“Help him what --” She was interrupted by a wheeze as he grabbed her hand and tugged her forward, plowing through the snow at a half-jog that sprayed glittering white over everyone they ran past.

“Max, Max! What about that one?”

“Still don’t care.”

They were getting along better, Gwen thought, watching David attempt to rescue the trailing ends of Max’s scarf and wrap them around their supremely disinterested owner. The tension between them felt brittler, always on the verge of crackling and falling away; when Max told his guardian to go to hell, it lacked the bite of sincerity.

She wouldn’t call their dynamic playful, and David certainly didn’t seem amused by his attitude, but it was . . . softer, somehow. Like the malice was a little less genuine, and the underlying affection a little closer to the surface.

Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t a little shitstain. And she was getting cold.

“David, they’re literally all the exact same, so just pick one and --”

“What about that one?” she interrupted, pointing at a tree at the very corner of the lot. It was thin and brown, a carpet of shed needles lying in a circle around its base. It listed to one side, the tip drooping toward the ground like a sad dog.

David frowned, his eyes narrowing. “Gwen, I don’t think --”

“Trust me,” she hissed, stepping close enough to whisper and taking his elbow. Making sure Max wasn’t looking, she pinched his upper arm for good measure (not that he could feel it through his absurdly thick wool coat).

He frowned, but laid one hand overtop hers, stepping closer to the tree. “Well, it does have personality,” he began doubtfully. Then something lit up behind his eyes and he beamed. “It’s so unique!”

Max looked up, his eyes widening incredulously as Gwen tugged away from David’s arm and walked around the zombie tree in a large circle. She deliberately ignored him. “It’ll probably be pretty cheap, so maybe we could get a couple of ‘em.”

“What a great idea! Let’s go see if there are any others like this!”

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

They both turned to Max, Gwen biting the inside of her cheek to keep her expression neutral.

“You’re not seriously thinking of bringing that thing into our house, right? It’s probably got termites or something!”

“I don’t think termites are around much in winter --” she began, but Max cut her off with an exasperated scoff.

“Thirty-fucking-thousand trees here, and you had to pick out the worst one!”

David put his hands on his hips, cocking his head to the side and giving Max a stern look. “It’s cost-effective! And every tree deserves a home!”

“Jesus, what is it with you and always wanting shit no one . . . else does.” His voice dropped and so did his eyes. He scuffed his toe through the fluffy snow, kicking up a mist of sparkles.

David and Gwen’s eyes met, and she nodded with a weak shrug.

They’d found “something.”

“Listen.” Max broke them out of a silence that had crossed into “uncomfortable” territory. He still wasn’t looking at them, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stood on tiptoe and tried to peer around at the entire lot. “If you guys wanna turn our house into the Island of Misfit Trees, whatever, I don’t care. But if Neil and Nikki are coming over, I want one that doesn’t look like it needs somebody to pull the plug. I figured even you guys would be smart enough to pick out a Christmas tree, but apparently none of those useless degrees of Gwen’s were in common sense . . .” Continuing to mutter to himself, Max began prowling around the lot again, but this time when he pulled out his phone, it was to several pictures of various trees before . . . well, she wasn’t going to look over his shoulder, but the upward twitch of his lips made her think she was texting his best friends.

They lagged behind, letting him scurry from one tree to another -- pausing at a prospect, snapping a photo, and then turning his attention to his phone screen. “Not bad,” she said, bending down to pick up one of Max’s knitted gloves (which he’d tossed in frustration after a few fruitless attempts to take photographs with them on). “He’s involved, at least.”

“That was a good idea, Gwen!” David rocked back on his heels, smiling as he watched Max continue the tree hunt. “Now, can you keep an eye on him while I . . .”

She glanced over and he was pulling an axe from behind his back; like his ever-handy guitar, she wondered where on earth he’d kept it. “Wait, are you seriously gonna cut down that piece of garbage?”

“The more I think about it, the more I like it! Maybe just one, but . . .” His voice softened, like he was self-conscious. “I mean, every tree does deserve a home, right?”

She rolled her eyes, but as he knocked down the tree -- it only took one swing of his axe, and the sound was like cracking knuckles; she refused to be impressed -- she couldn’t help thinking about what Max had said. “What is it with you and losers, anyway?” He glanced up at her with a puzzled frown, hoisting the dying tree over one shoulder, and she added, “like you just seem to . . . collect lame shit no one cares about. Like Camp Campbell, and Max and me --”

“Well for starters I’d never call Camp Campbell lame,” David chided. “And neither are you and Max! He’s not a dying tree, he’s . . . a sapling! He’s full of potential and just needs some guidance and growth!” Looking absurdly proud of this analogy, he followed the twin lines of shuffling footsteps and Max’s loud voice (apparently the tree selection process had progressed beyond texts and he needed real-time feedback).

Gwen hurried to keep up, nearly tripping in the thickening snow. “I think this girl and I have a lot in common,” she teased, gently patting their tree and wincing as a small cascade of dead needles crackled to the ground. “Old, dried-up, practically dead . . .”

“That’s not fair.”

She snorted. “True. At least someone wants this thing.”

“I’m serious, Gwen.” His voice was earnest, painfully so, and they’d both sort of awkwardly stumbled to a halt as he hooked his axe onto his belt and fumbled for her hand. “You’re green and you don’t even know it.”

It was embarrassing, his sincerity, so she shrugged his hand away and gave him a self-conscious laugh. “Come on, CBFL. Let’s go find your camper.”

The rest of the evening went smoother. Max, having decided they couldn’t be trusted with any aesthetic decisions, had forced David to house the “ugly tree” in the kitchen and took over decorating the monstrously huge fir he’d picked out. Unfortunately, his height made it difficult to reach more than half of the tree, so he’d constructed a series of shaky towers out of chairs, couch cushions, and wishes. Gwen curled up on the couch with a mug of eggnog, watching him scramble from one platform to another.

David probably wouldn’t be happy that she was letting Max do something so dangerous, but hell, she wasn’t his mother. Besides, she knew enough first and second aid that she could deal with it if the kid split his head open.

Until that happened, she wasn’t planning on moving a muscle.

David came bouncing out of the kitchen, his arms loaded down with food. “I didn’t have much time to prepare something really special, but we have -- Max! That’s dangerous!” (Gwen carefully avoided the glare she could feel being shot at her from his direction. “Why didn’t you ask one of us to lift you?”

“Touch me and die, Camp Man.”

She set her drink on the table and stretched out along the couch.

Once you got used to it, their arguing made a hell of a lullaby.

#campcamp #camp camp #dadvid #gwenvid #cc max #cc david #cc gwen #man is this . . . not good #but it's long #so yay?#forestwriting #campcamp secret santa #cc secret santa

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formerprincess · 7 years ago

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A tale written with fangs and claws || Chapter 21

Chapters: 21/? Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken Additional Tags: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Dunbar Pack, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Werewolf Theo Raeken, Alpha Theo Raeken, Canon-Typical Violence, Smut, Mates, Liam and Theo are mates Series: Part 1 of Morning Dew Pack

Liam confesses why he's really afraid to tell Scott about his new status, the pack talks about the possibilities their lives could take, there's mythology involved, Ever is messing around with her magic, the usual stuff for the core pack.

The core pack had gathered in the garden of the pack house, around the fire pit on the patio and they just talked. They all appreciated times like that and even if it was Winter, the fire gave enough warmth and they were wrapped in warm blankets, so it was quite cozy. In addition to the blankets, they all had hot chocolate as a drink which gave the whole thing an additional tasty note. “Liam, how did you feel when you got asked to become an Alpha. It’s a big step but how did you experience it?” Tim asked and the other Betas made questioning sounds, indicating they were also interested in hearing this.

Liam swallowed the sip he had taken from his chocolate and made a humming sound. “I was shocked, no lie. I didn’t see that coming. We just wanted to spend a weekend at the lake, relax, have a good time. And then we meet a werewolf couple and their pack and Byron taught me the philosophy of the Morning Dew pack of working with your wolf instead of against him and yes, they mentioned that Byron didn’t have a successor but never would I have thought about Byron asking me.” He then admitted.

Theo chuckled. “Liam was completely overwhelmed and even refused at first.” He told the Betas, while he played with the hair in the back of Liam’s neck. Liam purred at the soft contact but sighed and nodded. “I did.” “Because you were scared?” Ever asked in her usual empathic way. Liam nodded and leaned into Theo’s touch. “I didn’t plan on becoming an Alpha around that time, I didn’t see myself as an Alpha and I didn’t think I was good enough to actually be an Alpha.” “But you are awesome as Alpha!” Tim said and the others agreed. Liam blushed softly. “I didn’t know that back then, Timmy. I was scared I would fuck up and people would die because of me. Don’t forget, I was just a Beta and okay with it. And then Byron comes and asks if I want to take over such a large pack. That was way too much for the moment. I really was sure I would be a bad Alpha.”

“What made you change your mind?” Maya asked. Liam looked over at Theo, smiled, and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek. “My chimera here for one and then my own inner wolf as well.” He said. “Your inner wolf?” Sadie asked. “Yeah, I had this weird dream where I woke up to a movement in the bedroom and when I followed it, it led me to the meeting point on top of the hill. When I finally got there, my wolf stood in front of me and even if he didn’t talk, I got what he tried to tell me.” “So our inner wolves can contact us in our dreams?” Mike asked and raised an eyebrow. “I had no idea they could do it until it happened to me, Mikey.” “Huh. Okay.” Mike made a thoughtful face.

“The wolf on your tattoo, is that your inner wolf?” Nolan inquired and Liam looked down at his arms even though the tattoo was currently hidden by his sleeve. “You have to ask Theo that, he drew it. I always thought of it as my wolf, yeah.” “I...Yeah. Your dream about your wolf actually inspired me to draw this.” Theo confirmed and Liam beamed at him. Theo smiled back and they kissed again. Liam snuggled closer to Theo and into the blanket and grinned.

“Fun fact, I didn’t even think about adding more wolves to my pack or even establish a core pack but suddenly Maya showed up and asked for help. That’s basically what set it into motion.” “I came because even though you were a stranger, you cared about me when I almost fainted. And when I knew who you were, I thought you could really help me. I was right. As usual.” Maya said and chuckled at the end. “Why did you almost faint?” Sadie asked. Maya ducked her head. “I had certain ways to make sure my wolf would not break through during full moons. That included starving myself and just drinking kale juice. Only that way my wolf was weak enough and I could keep it in check.” “She also broke every possible bone in her body to make sure she didn’t shift. Until Liam forced her wolf out.” Theo added and they all stared at Maya in shock. Maya shrugged. “I was afraid of my wolf. Who knew what it could do if I allowed it again. I broke my aunt’s arm once, I didn’t want it to hurt more people.”

“She.” Tim said softly. Maya cocked an eyebrow. “Huh?” “It’s something I noticed for a while now. When Liam talks about his wolf, he either says his wolf or he. When we talk about them, it’s either it or our wolf. Like it is some sort of undefined thing. I didn’t want to insult you or your wolf, Maya, course not. If you feel like you wolf is male or genderfluid, I’m sorry for assuming. But I just noticed those pronouns.” “Are you seriously gendering our werewolf side right now?” Mike asked flabbergasted and Tim turned beet red. He awkwardly scratched his cheek. “Yeah?” “Tim isn’t that wrong. It’s stated in the Alpha journal that it was common for a while to give your wolf a name in order to see them as a friend and work with them. The tradition mostly died down after a while, but some werewolves still do it to this day.” Liam shared his knowledge with his pack.

“Yeah, speaking off working with the wolf, how exactly does this work?” Sadie asked. Her logical side was very curious about that one. “Because I finally got control over the wolf and I am determined to keep it under control.” “I thought so too until Byron showed me how the pack does it. It’s simply by focusing on nature around you, paying some kind of tribute to your animalistic side, and in return, the wolf doesn’t overpower you but actually works with you. It’s mutual respect. I followed his instructions and I can tell you, I became faster, I smelt better, I heard better.” “You sound like the wolf from Red Riding Hood.” Ever teased and Liam grinned. “It really worked!” “It even worked for me and I’m just a chimera.” Theo chimed in. “It is an experience different than anything else I ever had. Overwhelming but also pretty impressive.”

“Since I got turned I had been afraid of my wolf and saw him as a monster, something I needed to lock away and keep on a leash, but since Byron showed me their technique I feel like I have a better grip on my wolf. I can stay better in control because I am an Alpha now and this is needed. Doesn’t mean the wolf stays under control all the time, but it’s easier with mutual respect. He can actually help me and this is probably the greatest discovery I made this year.” Liam spoke.

He sipped his hot chocolate and considered it. “This year is one of those years were the most happened to me. If you don’t count the constant threats in Beacon Hills, the last time my life changed so drastically was when we graduated and moved to Seattle. And even that was not as radical as this year.” “But you’re happy, right? This year ends on a good note for you?!” Maya asked her Alpha and Liam nodded. “Yeah, I am happy. Though I can’t lie I would feel even better when I finally talked to Scott but for now, I am happy.” “You don’t think you will have time to talk to him this year and end it on a really good note?” Theo inquired and stroke through Liam’s hair. Liam shook his head. “No. December will be stressful with preparations for Christmas and since I invited mom and dad here, I don’t think Scott and I will meet before next year. It’s okay. Have to work with it.”

Liam continued drinking his hot chocolate and for a little while they group fell silent, everybody lost in their thoughts.

“Liam, why are you so afraid to tell Scott you became an Alpha? Do you really think he would not understand? When he left Beacon Hills, you basically took over and became the Alpha of the puppy pack and he was cool with it.” Nolan suddenly asked and everybody looked up again and stared at Liam.

The young Alpha finished his hot chocolate and swallowed slowly before he set his cup on the table next to his chair. “That’s different, I didn’t really take over, I just represented Scott and he always came back.” Liam tilted his head softly and looked into the flames. “Scott is a great person and he has always been like an older brother to me so a part of me knows there is a chance he will be proud of me for becoming an Alpha, finding and founding my own pack, and will help with words and deeds. But another part of me remembers when it was the first lacrosse game against Devenford Prep after my transfer and I walked over to Brett and my other former teammates and I really tried to apologize and be a good sportsman but Brett shot me down, claiming they didn’t forget what I did to my coach’s car and they would destroy me on the field. I was already stressed enough, I just had been bitten shortly before, and I got angry. My claws dug into my palm and I felt the blood drip and then Scott and Stiles pulled me away, right into the shower. It was when I came clean about my IED and I sat there, clothes completely drenched, and I will always remember Stiles’ words. He told Scott: You gave powers to a walking time bomb. When Theo met me and Stiles properly for the first time, he said ‘Why do I get the feeling this kid’s tougher than he looks?’ to which Stiles replied with ‘Only if we let him off his leash.’. The whole time the pack protected me and treated me like their little brother, their Baby Beta. And I loved them for caring about me but at the same time, it also felt trammeling, restraining. It was one of the reasons I decided for Seattle because it meant I could get away and finally be my own person. Just Liam and not Liam, the Baby Beta.” Liam blinked and then he continued with a shaky breath. “It’s not really Scott’s reaction or the pack’s reaction I’m afraid of but what this reaction would proof. That they only see me as a time bomb, somebody who needs to be restained. A time bomb who now has Alpha powers. And I’m not sure I could handle that.”

This had been one of the most real things he ever said and the pack stayed silent after he finished. Nobody really knew how to answer to this at first but then Ever tried. “I don’t know Scott or your old pack personally, but if they really still only see you as the Baby Beta, they are dumb. From what I heard about them, they don’t seem dumb, so I think everything will turn out fine.” She smiled optimistically. “And if they do we kick their asses. Nobody is mean to our Alpha!” Sadie explained and Maya nodded along with that while Liam laughed. “Thank you, guys.” “No, thank you for being so honest with us. That takes a lot of bravery to be so open. One of the things that make you a good Alpha.” Nolan praised. Liam blushed. “Guys, I’m not as great as you always make it sound.” “No, but you’re working on yourself and you admit when you’re wrong or struggling. Exactly what a good Alpha should do.” Maya said. “Especially given you didn’t plan on becoming an Alpha, you’re really good at this stuff. I couldn’t do that.” Tim backed Maya up.

Liam smiled to himself. “I’m pretty sure all of you could be great Alphas one day.” He told his Betas. “Really?” Tim looked doubtful and Liam nodded. “Really. It may take some time but you have good hearts and you care about your pack. Two very perfect requirements for being a good Alpha.” “But wouldn’t that mean we have to leave the pack?” Tim frowned. “Not necessarily. There was once an Alpha pack, a pack just consisting of Alphas, lead by the strongest of them, Deucalion. So, a pack can hold several Alphas if the Alpha allows it and the other Alphas submit.” Theo put in his own two cents.

Mike leaned back in his chair and watched the night sky. “Imagine all of us being Alphas. The new Alpha pack. Wouldn’t that be nifty?” “You did not say nifty.” Sadie mocked him and he rolled his eyes. Maya grabbed her neck and softly shook her. “Stop that, blondie!” She jokingly scolded Sadie. “Yeah, Athena, listen to Artemis.” Liam said with a chuckle. Ever and Nolan raised her heads. “What was that?” They asked at the same time and now everybody stared at Liam again. Liam had not expected this reaction and looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment before he frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that?” “You just called them Athena and Artemis, didn’t you notice?” Theo asked with a soft laugh. “Where did that came from?”

“Oh.” Liam shrugged. “Well, you know I love history and mythology, especially the Greek one, and sometimes I tend to assign nicknames to people when they show a strong resemblance to some characters from the myths. Over the time I got names for anybody. Sadie is clearly Athena. She is beautiful and graceful but she also is the goddess of wisdom, intelligence, courage, mathematics, and strength; and at the same time, she’s the goddess of military strategy. She’s a fighter and a brilliant woman, just like Sadie who’s the strongest Beta and at the same time has an IQ from...how many was it?” “169.” Sadie said with a shrug as if it was nothing. It probably was to her.

“And Maya is obviously Artemis, the wild, untamed goddess who does as she pleases even if people tell her she’s dressing not ladylike enough or should not voice her opinion so loudly. Who doesn’t see any use in jumping through hoops for anybody and that’s what makes her so authentical. Artemis is also the goddess of the hunt, and you, Maya, you’re a predator, wolf or not. Sharp reflexes and nobody should mess with you.”

“That is so incredibly sweet and so fitting.” Ever stated. Her eyes gleamed with excitement. “Do you have one for all of us?” Liam nodded. “Uhm, yeah, actually.” When he saw his Betas curious looks, he was pretty sure they would not let him go without hearing their nicknames and so he stretched his legs. “Tim’s nickname is Minos. Minos was a king of Crete and is said to be famous for his laws and the success of said laws. All citizens were treated the same way and he was so fair, he later became one of the three judges of the dead in the underworld. I actually read this story lately and he immediately reminded me of you, Tim, because you are goofy and shy but you’re also the fairest person I ever met.” Tim smiled shyly. “Thanks, Lee.” “Just the truth, Timmy.” Liam said with a laugh.

“What’s mine?” Mike wanted to know and Liam didn’t even need to stop and think. “Kratos. There are several stories about his heritage so depending on which you rather want to believe he’s either the god of strength and power or he’s one of Zeus’ primary enforcers. You’re the strongest Beta after Sadie and you would always protect your pack.” He explained and Mike obviously was immensely proud of how his Alpha saw him because he smiled happily.

“Mason’ is Coeus because Coeus is the Titan of inquisitive minds and intellect- Mason knows about that nickname, by the way. So does Corey who shares quite some traits with Hermes. Both can cross borders and move swiftly between the worlds, are cunning and quick acting. I’m pretty sure Corey cried when I called him that the first time.” Liam hummed. “Anyway, maybe it’s strange but it brings two things I love together. History/mythology and my family.”

“Mine! Tell me mine!” Nolan excitedly called out, going so far to jump in his chair. His pack laughed but Nolan didn’t care. “This is so cool. What’s mine?” “Simple. Ever heard of Lelantos?” Nolan shook his head. “Lelantos was one of the younger titans and is said to be the god of air. He could move unseen and they assign him hunter’s skill at stalking prey. After you learned how to use the crossbow your aim is always accurate and you may be human but it is impressive how quiet you can move. I only hear you because of my enhanced hearing most of the time.” “God, yes!” Sadie said. “You gave me almost a heart attack yesterday when you suddenly stood next to me in the kitchen. You need a bell around your neck or whatever to alert someone to your presence.” Nolan snickered. “I like that I can surprise you.” “Surprising and giving people heart attacks are two very different things.” Sadie scolded softly and he just gave her a shit-eating grin. She flipped him off and laughed.

“Can I guess mine?” Ever asked and when Liam nodded, she scrunched her nose in deep thought. “Persephone? Because I like nature?” Liam shook his head. “Hecate. And not because she was the goddess of witchcraft. She was also the goddess of the night, magic, the moon. She appears in quite some myths and always had a leading part or helped the leading hero or heroin. What I like the most about her is that she is sometimes featured in hunting boots and a short skirt, just like Artemis, showing she is not only beautiful, but she has power on her own and is not afraid to go for a hunt herself. Cause you, my favorite witch, are exactly that. A fierce huntress with magic powers.”

“Isn’t he the sweetest?” Ever cooed and Liam blushed. “Those were just my thoughts.” “They are awesome, Liam, really. I never had a nickname like that before and I love it.” Maya said happily. The other Betas agreed and then latched in yet another topic to discuss. They sat there for a while longer until they finally called it a night and ventured into their bedrooms.

“That was a nice evening, don’t you agree?” Liam asked while he changed into his pajama pants and his plain dark blue longsleeve shirt. It was cold, freezing, especially during the night, and even a werewolf could not sleep in a t-shirt anymore. Not even one who had the pleasure of sharing a bed with Theo Raeken. “Hm.” Theo said while he changed into his own pajama pants and white longsleeve. He didn’t add anything else and Liam frowned slightly and decided to try again. “I think evenings like these are important for the pack bond. Having nice times together.” Theo only made a vague sound this time, back still facing Liam, and Liam stepped closer. “Hey, you okay?” He inquired and put a hand on Theo’s waist while pressing against his mate’s back. Theo stiffened and then he suddenly turned around and looked at Liam.

“Why didn’t I get a nickname?” He asked and even though his voice was quiet he sounded pissed and irritated. His eyes had this stormy look inside them, a dead giveaway he was hurt and angry. Liam’s heart clenched painfully. “You said you had one for anybody but you didn’t tell me mine. I’m your Beta too, just because we’re mated doesn’t mean you can forget me.”

Theo pushed himself away from Liam and walked in the middle of the room, right in front of the bed. “Or do you simply don’t care enough to assign one to me?” He asked and now he sounded less angry but more hurt. It broke Liam’s heart. “Hey, no!” He stepped to Theo and gripped the front of his shirt. “I have one for you too, of course. You just didn’t ask and I assumed you didn’t want to know in front of the others.” “Oh really? What is it?” Theo seemed to not buy Liam’s words which stung a bit but Liam decided to swallow his hurt pride and feelings this time. He smiled softly instead. “Yours was the first one I thought of. It’s Hades.”

But if Liam had thought this would mollify Theo, he had been sorely mistaken. The chimera’s lips pursed and he nodded slowly. “Hades.” He repeated flatly. “Because I crawled back from the underground or because I’m evil?” In hindsight, Liam should have thought about that. He should have thought about the possibilities that Theo made those kinds of association but truth is, Liam didn’t even think about said associations. It had been so clear to him that Theo was Hades for the reasons Liam had in his mind, he didn’t even think about the negative connotations.

His grip on Theo’s shirt fell and he grabbed Theo’s elbows instead. “No! Not because of those things!” He yelped and his grip tightened. Theo raised an eyebrow and got an impatient look on his face. Liam internally insulted himself for being such an inconsiderate asshole!

“The myth of Hades and Persephone has always been my favorite myth. Because it is so much more than you think it is at first sight and the older I get the more I can appreciate it. Persephone was a beautiful wood nymph but Hades fell in love with her because he saw so much more than just the pretty little nymph. He saw a woman who would not accept anything thrown her way when it wasn’t what she wanted and Persephone went with him to the underworld because she knew there was more to Hades than the evil god of the underworld. She went willingly with him and she became the queen of the underworld, just like Hades imagined her to be. And while all the other gods fucked up, he stayed faithful to his wife and she assigned the punishments for the souls. You are my Hades because you always saw more of me than just the Beta with anger issues. And I know there was something more and something entirely else than the image everyone has of you. None of the reasons you mentioned were crucial for my choice but I should have thought how wrong you could understand it. I am sorry.”

He had talked without taking a breath and when he ended Liam actually gasped for air. His heart was thundering in his chest while he looked at Theo and hoped his mate would forgive him. Theo looked completely shocked by the revelation but then he closed his eyes and groaned. “I’m an idiot.” He muttered while scrubbing both hands over his face. Liam chuckled. “But you’re my idiot.” Theo opened his eyes again and leaned his forehead against Liam’s. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t be. I wasn’t as innocent either.” Liam replied with a smile and Theo kissed him, slow and loving. Liam wrapped both arms around Theo’s waist and just kissed him back. He was happy they sorted it out and Theo was happy again.

Liam tugged at Theo’s sleeve. “Come on, bed, baby.” He said softly and Theo kissed him one last time before he let go of Liam in favor of climbing into bed. Liam did the same and when he pulled Theo into his arms, Theo followed willingly. They curled under the blankets and Theo stretched to press a soft kiss on Liam’s jaw. “I love you. Good night, Lee. And thank you.”

Liam smiled and cuddled closer to Theo. “I love you too. I just told you what I felt.” He closed his eyes and hid his face against Theo’s neck, inhaled his boyfriend’s rich scent. Theo stroke over his arm and then kept his hand there.Thus they fell asleep.

****** Liam walked down the stairs to the kitchen the next morning and yawned softly. In the kitchen, Ever and Maya were already at the table, preparing everything for breakfast. “We thought a pack breakfast would be nice.” Maya explained when she spotted Liam and he smiled. “I planned on surprising Theo with breakfast in bed but that’s also a great idea. Is anybody else still asleep?” “Mike is awake or rather he’s walking around, out of bed. He didn’t have coffee yet.”

“Who didn’t have coffee yet?” Theo asked when he walked into the kitchen. He yawned and went straight to the coffee maker. Only when he had filled a mug with coffee and sipped on it, he was able to kiss Liam lovingly. Liam chuckled. Theo without coffee was simply not possible. “Good Morning to you too, Hades.” He greeted cheerfully and Theo smirked. “Hades?” Ever and Maya asked at the same time and Theo took one more sip before he explained why Liam decided on that name for him. Just when he did the rest of the pack stepped into the kitchen and at the end, everyone cooed which caused Liam to snort into the orange juice he had poured himself.

“You know, this would make you Persephone, Liam, which is actually pretty fitting, now that I think about it.” Sadie said while they all sat down at the table. “Liam? As Persephone?” Nolan asked and looked at the young Alpha. “I don’t see that. Ares, yes, but Persephone? Nah!” “Yes. Persephone was beautiful and Liam is beautiful too. Just look at the icy blue eyes and the cute smile he has. Don’t blush, honey, we’re just observing! And if you see Liam you immediately think of puppy but then bam! he gets totally into fighting mode and kicks your ass and takes names, just like Persephone did. And their mates just smile and watch proudly before joining the fight as well.” The blonde Beta explained her theory and if Liam had blushed before he was now beet red. Theo looked at his mate, then he threw his head back and laughed loudly. “She is not wrong.” He said after he finally got a grip on himself after a while. Liam only blushed harder. He really was out of his comfort zone when people complimented him like that and he had no idea what to answer or how to react.

In desperate need of a distraction, he drank his orange juice and then spotted the mail next to Mike. “Oh, anything interesting in there?” Mike shrugged and put his toast on the plate before he grabbed the mail and sorted through it. “Flyers, ads, I’m pretty sure this is a very early Christmas card but I’m not sure, and...” He groaned. “What?” Sadie asked and Mike held out a white square envelope with a red frame and his name and address in golden letters printed on it. “My parents and I have this deal that I go to one stupid gala to show the society I’m not in prison yet or whatever. The annual Christmas Gala held by Mrs. Edwards in New York City. A night full of disgusting food, people I don’t like - including my parents - and boring music. But my parents insist I participate.” He groaned again and stuffed his face with his toast. “When is it?” “December 18th.” Mike mumbled through his mouth full of food. “Can’t you take someone with you?” Theo suggested and Mike looked at him like Theo just solved all mysteries in the world. He wanted to say something but Tim stopped him. “Swallow first, talk then!”

Mike followed his best friend’s command and chewed his food before swallowing. “That’s a great idea. Who wants to come with me?” “Tim!” Ever, Liam, Nolan, Sadie, and Maya said at the same time which made Theo laugh again and Tim squeak. “No! I’m not made for galas. I don’t know how to behave or which cutlery to use when it comes to dinner! Take Sadie, she loves ball gowns!” “But I don’t like Mike’s parents or their opinions. You should go with him because you’re calmer and you can keep him from doing something he will regret.” Mike twisted the invitation between his fingers. “I’m only allowed to take one person with me, so Tim, please.” “Can’t you take Theo?” Tim whined. “Hah, not a chance!” The second Alpha called out. “That’s a best friend’s duty, Tim-Tim.” Tim groaned. “Okay, fine. But you have to tell me if I’m acting stupid or do something silly, okay?”

Mike smiled. “Deal.” The best friends high-fived and Mike put the envelope aside. “But seriously, though, I’m only allowed to take one person with me to the gala but all of you are coming with us to New York, right?” “I always wanted to go to New York!” Maya all but screamed and she tugged at Liam’s sleeve. “Say yes! Please, say yes!” Theo joined her from the other side. “New York, I have never been to New York before. Let us go!” “You’re scaring me!” Liam muttered and gently freed himself from her. “Why do I always have to decide such things?” “You’re the Alpha!” The whole pack chorused and laughed. Liam jumped in his seat. “Okay, fine. A weekend in New York? Count me in.” “YES!” Maya cheered and spread both arms in victory. She knocked over Liam’s juice but right now she was too happy to care. Liam watched his juice drip to the floor, watched her, and then he started laughing.

****** Liam, Maya, and Tim were in the living room, playing video games, or rather Maya commented on what Liam and Tim played when the door opened and Sadie sashayed in. She stepped next to the couch, crossed the arms in front of her chest and the look on her face waved between gleeful and amused. The Alpha glanced at her. “Do I want to know why you’re smiling like that?” “Timmy!” She said in a honeyed voice. “The gala is very elegant. Do you have a suit to wear?” Tim stopped dead in his tracks and Liam was afraid he even stopped breathing for a second. Then he slowly looked at Sadie. “I have a suit my mom once brought me for my graduation. That should fit.” “Oh no! You’re not attending this gala in a crappy suit! No pack mate of mine will go into public like that. But that's what I thought. So come on, we’re going shopping.” She grabbed Tim by his arm and dragged him out of the room. Maya took his place. “Guess I’ll play with you then, Liam.” “Oh no, you two are coming with us. It’s always good to have other opinions!" Sadie called out and Liam and Maya shared a look. Both sighed but arguing with Sadie was a losing battle, they both were aware of that, and so they got up and followed.

The drive to the store Sadie had picked out was filled with Sadie talking about the newest trends. She was in her element and already in full shopping mode. Liam himself wasn’t the biggest shopper so he felt out of place, especially when they entered the first boutique. The interior was completely white, with crystal chandeliers on the ceiling, and suits and dresses neatly on hangers all around the clothes racks. Maya next to him tensed just like Liam, especially when a saleswoman strode towards them and Liam wondered if there was a size lower than size zero, because this woman way skinnier than a size zero. Sadie and her launched into a talk and Sadie explained what they were looking for. “I can pretend to suffer from a ruptured appendix to get us out here.” Maya whispered and Liam chuckled. “Let’”s stay for a while. See how happy Sadie looks. She really enjoys that.” Liam didn’t know at this point, he would soon regret those words.

Because Liam had severely underestimated Sadie’s persistence when it came to shopping. Liam and Maya sat on two white chairs and watched Tim try on suit after suit after suit. Tim himself had completely given up arguing with Sadie and just let her bring suits to him. Sadie herself was darting through the whole store, chatting with the saleswoman and picking all kinds of suits from the racks.

“Two and a half hours! We’re already here for two and a half hours.” Maya muttered after she checked her watch. “And no end in sight. Poor Timmy.” “Don’t say this too loudly, otherwise she decides to get you some new dresses.” Liam joked. “I’m not wearing dresses, especially not those dresses. Look how big they are, I would look like a fluffy pompom. I’m not a woman for this.” Liam looked at his first female Beta, how Maya looked around and had this lost look on her face. “You know you are beautiful, right? Even if you rarely wear makeup and never dresses. You are one of the most beautiful women I know.” “Not as beautiful as Ever or Sadie.” “Bullshit. All three of you have your own unique style but you all are beautiful. They are not more beautiful than you, you are not less beautiful than them.” She tugged a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled weakly. “Thank you, Liam.” “Anytime.” The nineteen-year-old told her with a smile of his own.

Tim emerged from the dressing room once more, this time in a navy blue suit and Sadie squealed with delight. “You look amazing!” She said happily and clapped her hands. This time, Liam had to agree. Tim looked good, not disguised. “How do you feel, Tim?” He asked and the Beta looked at his reflection. “Good.” He finally set. “This feels better than the others. I’d like that one.” “I knew I was that good.” Sadie was immensely proud of herself. Maya grinned but rolled her eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“I could pick out a dress for you too.” The blonde Beta offered the black haired one and Maya grimaced. The saleswoman gave Maya a once-over. “I don’t think we have dresses for somebody like her.” She said disparagingly. Maya wasn’t their usual client.

Sadie raised both eyebrows and glanced at the saleswoman, gave her a judging once over. “You mean for one of the most beautiful women ever?” Her glance wandered through the boutique. “You’re right, those dresses really don’t do her justice. We should go somewhere else. But we take the suit for Timothy. Unless you feel too aloof to ring our purchase.” She made a dismissive gesture with her hand and the saleswoman clicked her tongue but marched towards the cash register. followed by Sadie, and Tim left to dress in his clothes again and emerge the dressing room for good a few minutes later. Maya blinked.

“What just happened?”

“The saleswoman insulted you and Sadie called you beautiful and insulted her right back for you.” Liam summed it up while he and his two Betas followed Sadie to the cash register. Maya blinked again.

“Uhm. I’m not used to people defending me like this. I’m used to defending myself.”

“In this pack, we defend each other.” Sadie had been in hearing range and now answered instead of Liam. She looked over her shoulder. “And I just told the truth.” She grabbed the shopping bag holding Tim’s new suit and spun around on her heel. She marched out of the boutique like the queen she was and the others followed. Liam grinned. Having his Betas defend each other made him as Alpha incredibly proud.

****** "Wake up, wake up, wake up! Everybody wake up!” Ever was pounding on every single bedroom door and woke up the whole pack. Slowly everyone left their rooms and gathered in the hallway to see what this ruckus was about. “When I went to bed it was November, did I sleep that long that it’s already Christmas morning?” Maya asked and stifled her yawn. “It’s December 1st!” Ever exclaimed. “What are you? The automatical announcement of time?” Mike asked. “Guys, we can finally open the first doors to the Advent calendars Liam made us!” Ever didn’t let her pack mates grumpiness stop her excitement. “It is seven o’clock on a Saturday.” Theo stated. “We can open them the whole day, no need to wake us!” “You don’t have to open the calendars all together.” Liam said. It was touching Ever felt the need to wake everyone up but they all deserved sleep as well. “You made all this for us, this is the least we can do!” Ever said and then stormed down the stairs. “I’m going to kill her.” Mike said. “Who is with me?” “I’ll hold her.” Sadie offered. “And I’ll help you hide the body.” Theo joined before turning around and padding back into his bedroom to crawl back into bed. The others did the same and Liam intended to go back to bed too but then he decided against it and followed Ever into the kitchen.

Ever hovered in front of her calendar and had already searched out the first “door”. “Go ahead, open it.” Liam said and stepped closer. He had tried to fill every box or sack with something related to the Beta the calendar belonged to and he hoped they all would like what they got in their doors every day. Ever opened the little sack slowly and fished out the little golden charm of a howling wolf. “I know you’re having this charm bracelet but you were missing a wolf.” Liam explained and Ever hugged him tightly. “This is beautiful, thank you so much. I’ll put it on my bracelet right now.” And she stormed up the stairs to get her bracelet.

When she returned, she sat at the kitchen island and added the wolf to her bracelet before slipping the bracelet on. “It is truly beautiful.Thank you again.” She happily played with the little wolf and Liam sat next to her. He was happy she loved her first gift so much.He looked at the general Advent calendar on the wall. “We’ll open that when everyone’s awake.” “I can wake them.” Ever offered with a laugh. “Nah, no need to. I like having you in my pack and don’t want the rest of the Betas to murder you. You got pretty excited about those calendars, huh?”

“The last time I had a calendar was when I was a kid and I love the idea. You put so much thought into everything pack related.” “I’m just trying to make sure you all feel loved and welcome. Sometimes I worry I focus too much on one of you and neglect the others.” “You don’t neglect anybody, but even if you do we are all young adults, Liam, we all can say: Hey, Alpha, you could pay a little more attention to me or I need your help with something.” Liam knew she was right but he would probably always worry about things like this. It was how he was. He cared.

Her sleeve had ridden up and when Liam glanced at it, he saw a bruise on her arm. With a frown, he gently took hold of her arm. “Hey, what happened?” The bruise was already fading, colors being yellow and light green, but he was still worried. Ever rubbed her arm. “I tried a new potion and it blew up in my face. I fell back and hit my arm on the table, nothing bad.” “You need to be careful.” Liam knew she had a tendency to blow things up when she was mixing herbs. More than once they had heard explosions coming from Ever’s room and Nolan had even gone so far to leave a small fire extinguisher next to her desk for particularly bad cases. “I know but I really thought I had it down this time. Then I got frustrated and tried something else than potions. That didn’t work either but hey, I’m trying.”

“What were you trying to do?” Liam inquired. He had no idea about magic but maybe he could help a bit, even if it was just bringing her the ingredients she needed. “I’m working with mountain ash.” Ever explained. “Theo and Corey actually brought me onto this. They can pass a mountain ash barrier and since mountain ash is a magical loaded material, I’m using it for a way to discharge and recharge it how I want it. Basically, make it a barrier we all can cross but others can’t or completely unloading it so you can pass it too without having to break the barrier. That would be useful in a fight when the enemy thinks they have this barrier none of you can cross.”

“Okay, wait a moment and let me repeat that. You’re trying to change the attribute of mountain ash in a way that when a mountain ash barrier is there, you either completely discharge it and just make it some ash on the ground so we can walk over it without a problem.” Ever nodded. “And in the next step, you want to recharge the mountain ash to protect the pack but not let other supernaturals pass it.” Ever nodded again. Liam whistled. “That is a lot, Ever. I’m sure you will succeed if it is possible, but it’s still a big ass project.” “I know but I’m making some progress I think. Want to help me? I need a supernatural to test if you can cross the barrier.” Liam nodded. He had said he wanted to help her so he would stand by his word. And so Ever went to grab her mountain ash while Liam waited for her in the living room.

Ever walked back in, the jar with the ash cradled in her arm. “Okay, just stand there, okay? I will put a circle of mountain ash around you and then try to enchant the ash. I’ll make the circle big enough so you don’t feel too caged.” Liam nodded, even though his wolf grew anxious. Mountain ash wasn’t fun to be around but he trusted Ever. Now she grabbed the ash and threw it in the air. It formed a perfect circle around Liam and he immediately felt caged. The circle was big enough for him to move but he still knew he couldn’t go anywhere. “You okay?” Ever inquired and Liam smiled weakly. “Can’t say being surrounded by mountain ash is my favorite past time but I trust you.”

The young witch nodded and raised both hands. Narrowing her eyes on the mountain ash surrounding Liam, she concentrated and waved her hands slowly. Liam held his breath and watched the ash close. Nothing happened for several minutes and he smelled her frustration but then a dim blue light made the ash glow for a second. Ever looked at him. “Think it worked?” “Only one way to find out.” Liam said and reached out to try and pass the barrier. Ever did the same but right before they almost touched, something like a flash went off and both were pushed away by the force, flying to the ground. Liam hissed when his back painfully collided with the floor and then he raised his head to check on Ever.

Nolan stood in the doorframe and sipped tea. “That looked funny. What are you doing?” He asked and Ever glanced at him from where she landed on the floor as well. “I tried to discharge the mountain ash. It obviously didn’t work.” She complained and bobbed up. “Something happened, we both saw the glim and something also pushed ou away so there was energy there. You’re just starting this, if you continue to work on it you will manage it in the future.” Liam gave her a pep talk and she smiled softly. “Uhm, could you break the barrier? I’d like to go out.” The young Alpha then asked and she hurried to break the barrier. Liam had to admit, this felt better.

“You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” He asked Ever and she shook her head. “I’m fine, Alpha. Thanks for helping.” “Good. And now I need a coffee.” Liam squeezed her shoulder in a supportive manner and then brushed past her to walk into the kitchen. He grabbed his favorite mug and filled it with the freshly brewed liquid (thanks to Nolan). While he sipped on it, he checked the fridge, only to realize they needed grocery shopping. A pack full of wolves ate a lot! He made a list which things he needed.

After a while, h wandered back into the living room. “You need to come grocery shopping with me.” He stated but got no reply. Ever was curled in one of the settles, Nolan on the couch, and both were asleep again. Liam chuckled. It was still early and he decided to let them sleep, just like the rest of the pack. He could do the shopping alone. So he sneaked upstairs and into his and Theo’s bedroom. The twenty-two-year-old was on his side of the bed but facing Liam’s side and one arm outstretched as if he wanted to wrap his arm around Liam. It was the same arm he wore his bracelet on and the early morning sun was casting shadows on the leather. The blanket was barely covering Theo’ hips and Liam pulled it higher so Theo would not run cold. Theo didn’t even move and Liam knew it testified how safe Theo felt. He usually was very cautious and reacted to the slightest movement, but here in the pack house, he felt so safe he could sleep without a hitch. Liam let him sleep and quickly got dressed before leaving the room again. He took the car keys and then he got into Theo’s truck and drove towards the store.

Liam had always liked early morning shopping. The stores weren’t crowded and you could take your time without feeling rushed. He grabbed a shopping cart and pushed it through the aisles, loading them with various items. Which suddenly reminded him, he needed to do his Christmas shopping as well. With a whole pack, he really pondered how they should go the whole gift thing. Maybe a Secret Santa? Otherwise, it would be quite massive to buy gifts for everyone. He needed to discuss this with his pack.

Liam yawned a bit while he pushed his cart further through the store. It was quiet in the store, something Liam enjoyed immensely and he was able to get everything quite fast. He had just gathered some milk cartons and pushed his cart further down the aisles of fridges when he caught a movement in his reflection of the fridge glass doors. It almost had looked as if a large dog walked right next to Liam and he stopped abruptly. No, not a large dog, a wolf. His brain automatically corrected. Liam took a few steps back and turned towards the glass but now it was only him, his normal human reflection. His heart was still thrumming wildly in his chest from the shock he had gotten. “I’m getting paranoid.” Liam muttered and ran a hand through his hair before he turned around and pushed his cart further. He resolutely ignored his reflection even though he didn’t saw the wolf or whatever the hell that had been again. Maybe it had been just bad lightning or he was too tired but he wasn’t keen on finding out what exactly that had been. No, now he just paid for his groceries and then loaded the truck before he drove home again.

When he came back the house was silent and Liam tried not to make too much noise while he carried the bags inside and stowed the groceries away. When he was done, he made his way upstairs and into their bedroom. Theo was still asleep and Liam grabbed the Alpha journal and sat down in one of the window seats. The early Winter sun was slowly warming up the place and Liam liked sitting and reading there, so he flipped the journal open and started reading.

“Scott will never trust me again...I ruined everything....” Liam heard the murmurs and spun around. He stood in a dark and empty room. Nothing was there except him and he heard those voices. The first one had been his and he knew he had uttered those words after he tried to kill Scott in the library, “I can’t be a monster...” Liam spun around again when his broken voice came from another corner but nobody was there. “Hello?” He called out, trying to make sense of all this. “Scott will think I’m a monster...” Sounded up again and Liam looked around. It was his voice but it sounded distorted and like an echo. “You’re a werewolf. Like me.“ “He doesn’t have to pretend. Unlike us who everyone hates.” The voices were coming faster and from various directions now. “We never give up, especially if it’s someone innocent.” “Scott, I’m sorry...” Liam spun around again and again, trying to make sense of anything. But he still stayed alone with the voices around him. “But it still hurts, though.” “We lost everything.”

Liam gasped when she woke up, awoken by a soft shake of his shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay.” Theo stood in front of Liam and worriedly looked at his boyfriend. Seemed like Liam had fallen asleep in the window seat andTheo had slowly woken up from this very strange dream of his. “What’s wrong, Liam? Did you had a nightmare?” Liam frowned and rubbed his eyes. “No. More like a very strange dream.” Theo kneeled down. “Want to talk about it?” Liam shook his head. “No. It didn’t make sense at all. Don’t worry.” He looked around. The room was a bit brighter than before. “How long have I been out?” “Don’t know. When I woke up, you were already sleeping. Could have come to bed, you know? I missed cuddling with you.” Theo smiled softly and Liam smiled back and kissed him. “Breakfast?” He mumbled then. “The Betas are already preparing it.” Theo replied and pulled Liam to his feet. “You’re really okay? You know, you can talk to me if you’re not.” Liam took Theo’s face in his hands and smiled. “Hey, look at me. I am fine. If that changes, you will be the first to know. We’re bonded, Theo, you will feel it and I will tell you. Okay?” Theo nodded. “Okay.” He said and pulled Liam into yet another kiss. Liam wrapped his arms around his mate. he was really lucky to have such an awesome and caring mate. And he had an amazing pack, so the thing this morning was probably just an optical illusion and his dream meant simply that he was anxious about his talk with Scott or whatever. Liam simply decided on this interpretation now and followed Theo downstairs.

Their Betas were mingling in the kitchen and Sadie was currently praising the nail polish she had been received in her first box of her Advent calendar. Tim, who Liam had learned sometimes helped at the retirement home and had this very sweet elderly man who loved to play pairs, enjoyed the new game of Pelmanism. Nolan was happily munching the Belgian chocolate Liam had filled his first sack with. Maya smelled the tea Liam had given her. “Smells delicious.” She praised when Liam walked past her. The Alpha smiled, happy that his Betas enjoyed their gifts so much.

Mike had laughed loudly when he received a USB flash drive in form of a hamburger. “This is great. And looks yummy. Thank you, Liam.”

A chorus of thanks yous echoed through the room and Theo kissed Liam’s cheek and then stepped to his advent calendar to look for the first door to open. When he found it he slowly untied the little black sack and fished inside. He pulled out a travel-sized cologne. “It’s the one you saw in the store the other day but you weren’t so sure if you really liked the scent for a long time so I thought you could try this.” Liam explained and Theo beamed at him. “Great, thank you, Lee.” And to underline his gratitude, he kissed Liam lovingly.

“And who opens the first door of the general Advent Calendar now?” Nolan inquired behind them. Liam leaned against Theo. “Ever. She was so excited, so why not her.” “Me, really?” Ever looked surprised but happy and when everyone nodded, she got up and walked over to grab the first sack. Upon opening it, she brought a bag of filled chocolates to light. “Those are my favorites!” She explained. “Thanks, big brother!” “Anytime.” Liam said with a soft smile and leaned against Theo.

I still can't believe this story already has 21 chapters. I know I already said this but I am beyond thrilled. This is so great :D <3 Liam has nicknames for his Betas, yes. It's one of the strongest headcanons I have and I really did some research to find the ones I found the perfect fit. Christmas is coming closer but before that, we have New York which will great for the pack and for us to watch^^

#thiam #A tale written with fangs and claws #alpha!liam #My writing #Morning Dew Pack series

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kiss-my-freckle · 5 years ago

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The focus to Agnes leads me to believe the woman’s granddaughter died, and that's why she and her daughter are estranged. I know I’ve said this before, but I thought to put all the dialogues in one post.

Little Red Riding Hood AKA The False Grandmother.

Dialogues specific to this woman’s arc. Protecting the grandchildren.

Agnes: Raymond’s granddaughter

Liz: I was supposed to meet with Scottie tonight and figure out a transition plan for me to bring Agnes home. The only reason I’m not with her is because I thought figuring out who you really were would put her in harm’s way. Now I know it won’t. But in trying to find out if you were the devil, I learned my mother was. That tape they played at your trial? She destroyed my father. She’s the reason he ran. I shot him, but she’s responsible for his death. Red: Your mother can’t hurt you. Liz: Because she’s dead? The Russians don’t seem to think so. When Ressler was trying to help me find out who you were, he went looking for her and was confronted by the KGB about what he found out. What if I bring Agnes back and they’re right - and she’s alive and she finds us? And she’s more of a threat to Agnes than you ever were?

Red: Bring Agnes home, Elizabeth. Liz: If there’s any risk - Red: There isn’t. Bring her home. Liz: Thank you.

Ilya: And she believed him? Red: She did. So much so that she’s decided it’s safe to bring her daughter home.

Red: I want this done before Masha’s daughter comes home.

Liz: Are they all bad? Aram: Bad? No. Just, uh - not good enough to be Agnes’ nanny.

Cooper: Agent Keen? Liz: I brought Agnes home thinking my mother wasn’t a threat. Now I’m not sure.

Ressler: Look, Keen - you did the right thing by bringing Agnes home. Liz: But if she isn’t who I thought she was, if she’s a threat - Ressler: Then we’ll deal with it.

Cooper: How’s Agnes? Liz: Uh - amazing. She’s sweetly oblivious to the guards you have sitting outside our apartment to protect her.

Ressler: You deserve to know. Liz: Yeah, but I don’t need to. I’m happy. I’ve got Agnes back. I’m not gonna risk that to hunt for answers about a woman I’ve never really known. It isn’t worth it.

Liz: I’m expecting a call. Red: A personal one, I hope. I’m sure it’s been difficult since Tom. But you have Agnes now. You should be looking forward, not back.You deserve a bigger life.

Liz: Agnes said she saw a dead body in the park the other day. Aram: Oh, my God. That - That must have been terrifying. Liz: Yeah. She was pretty shaken up.

Cooper: Three operatives, a dead body, and Agnes. I wish I believed that could be a coincidence.

Liz: What Agnes said, there was a dead body in the park. There were men with guns. They were there for her. To hurt her. Woman: Are you sure? Why? Who were they? Liz: I can’t explain everything. I just need someone I trust to look after her until I get home. Woman: Of course I’ll do it. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Liz: I’m sorry to pull you out of a meeting. Woman: It’s okay. We’re almost done. Liz: Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Woman: I’m happy to do it. And don’t worry. She’ll be safe with me. I’m a lot tougher than I look.

Liz: How’s Agnes? Woman: Out like a light. After what you told me on the phone, I needed something to steady my nerves. The men in the park. Tell me about them. Liz: I’ll tell you in a minute. I just want to check in on her first.

Agnes: Why didn’t she say goodbye? Woman: You were sleeping, sweetie, and she had an emergency at work, but she asked me to give you a big hug and tell you how much she loves you.

Liz: Where’s Agnes? Woman: I took her to Shelly’s for a sleepover. I told her something came up and you had to go to work. Woman: See for yourself. Liz: Hi, Beth. It’s me. Can I talk to Agnes for a sec? Woman: I would never hurt her.

Cooper: Agnes. Where is she? Liz: Uh, at a friend’s. Why? Cooper: There was an altercation in your apartment. The woman from Paris, she lives across the hall from you.

Red: It’s over. Liz: What is? Red: The woman. Aram told me she’d been living in your building, feigning kindness, watching Agnes. But it’s over. She’s dead. Liz: What? How? Red: Gunned down in the street less than an hour ago. Liz: How do you know? Red: I saw it happen. Two heavily armed assets. They took her body because they came for a bounty. She’s dead. Liz: She is. Red: Elizabeth, go get Agnes. Take her home.

Masha: Dom’s granddaughter

Young Dom: I’m worried they’ll find Masha, try and leverage her. Young Ilya: Look, Dom, I - I can’t help you. Young Dom: You made a promise! To Katarina. You told her you would look after Masha if anything happened to her.

Young Dom: He’ll never stop. And instead of protecting my granddaughter, we’ve put a target on her back. Young Ilya: Oh, stop using the child as an excuse! This was about you, Dom. Young Dom: This was about Masha!

Woman: He lied to you to hide the truth, that he tried to assassinate his own daughter. Liz: Why would he do that? Woman: Because if the people hunting me saw me die, then the person he really cared about would be safe. Liz: You’re his child. Who could he care about more than you?No. That can’t be true. Woman: I’m a mortal threat to you, a mother whose very existence puts her daughter’s life at risk. Liz: My grandfather tried to kill you to protect me.

Liz: I met my mother. I know you didn’t want me to. But I did. She told me you lied to me about who Reddington really is. I don’t understand why you did that, or why you’d try to have her killed to protect me. You tried to kill your own child. What kind of person would do something like that? I can’t figure it out. But maybe she can. Maybe she can find out everything you’re trying to hide from me.

The Woman’s granddaughter

Red: I - I can’t give you what you want. Woman: What I want - is my family back. No one can give me that back. Least of all - you.

Woman: I moved here to be closer to my daughter. We’re estranged, but - I’m hoping to get closer to her.

Woman: You remind me of my granddaughter.

Woman: I miss having children.

Woman: She’s an angel. Liz: How did it happen? You becoming estranged from your daughter. Woman: All that matters now is that I want to make amends. Liz: I was estranged from my mother. I would hope that she would want to make amends with me, too. Woman: I’m sure she does. Liz: Well I hope it happens. Woman: For a long time, I didn’t think that would ever happen. Now I’m beginning to think it will.

Woman: Looks like you found yourself a nanny. Liz: Which is a huge relief. I mean, it’s impossible to find someone great. Woman: Mm. I wouldn’t know. Liz: Have you reached out to her yet - to your daughter? Woman: I haven’t worked up the courage up yet. Liz: You should just do it. Woman: I put her through some dark times.

Back to Agnes: Little Red Riding Hood

The very moral of the story falls within Agnes' own dialogues. The concept of innocence. To Kill A Mockingbird. Twice, using Atticus for their characters. Little Red Riding Hood falls within that same concept. To kill a mockingbird means to destroy innocence, much like the Wicked Wolf. Agnes' first taste - her view of the dead man in the park.

Agnes: Mommy, who’s that funny-looking man?

Agnes: You’re pretty.

Same basic concept in their 4x17 pre-pilot scene.

Kate: Raymond, stop. The instant you walk through that door, the damage will be done. You’ll destroy her innocence, everything we’ve been fighting to preserve. You’ll never undo it.

As well as Raymond's scene with Isabella Stone.

Red: I didn’t kill your husband. I helped him walk away from everything he loved to protect you and your innocence. Ironic.

That’s why some versions end happily, while others end horrifically. To a child, the evil stranger is the funny-looking man, while the nice stranger is the pretty woman. Their innocence doesn't see the truth of the dangers in this world. They have yet to understand that people wear masks. That evil exists within attractive, charming, kind people. Best not to make friends with that pretty woman across the hall. She just might take a bite out of you. Liz’s naiveté. That which Tom spoke to in Gaia’s episode. She’ll believe this woman is her mother because she wants her to be.

Woman: Well, hello, young lady. Agnes: Thank you for the books. Woman: You’re very welcome. Agnes: Would you like to read one to me? Woman: Oh, well, I’d love that. Would you like me to?

Woman: “Once upon a time, there lived a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was extremely fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more.”

Woman: “The poor child did not know of the danger she was in.”

Woman: “‘Grandmother, what big ears you have.’ ‘All the better to hear you with, my child, ‘ replied the wolf.”

Woman: “‘Grandmother, what big teeth you have.’ ‘All the better to eat you with,’ replied the wolf. And, saying these words, the Wicked Wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood and ate her all up.”

The Debt Collector. Granddaughter for granddaughter. That’s why I believe the woman would hit Agnes, and why they’re throwing so much focus on her. Why Red would want this done before she came home.

#Rederina #dialogues

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theimpaviscaravan-blog · 8 years ago

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Caomhan

Plague

Introducing Sorneith's worst thief, Caomhan

Though his lack of grace hinders him from stealing anything of worth, it makes for hilarious tales around the campfire. How else would they know that the Matriarch of clan Atrox does, in fact, store prisoners in their familiar pit. Basel still gleefully recounts his release, Hooded Dodo dragging behind angrily as it gnawed on his tail, after being forgotten down there for two weeks. Or how many clans throughout the Scarred Wastelands have a tendency to try to feed dragons found stealing to the Retchers encircling the Wyrmwound. The Impavi are all too familiar with the well trodden paths leading to that particularly deadly location, having tracked many a failed mark as they dragged their poor Wildclaw to meet his demise.

That's not to say Caomhan is completely useless. Due to how often he gets caught, or failing to reach his target all together, he has gained some skill in sweet talking those who catch him. Though not a master in coercion, his silver tongue has saved him from many more trips to the glowing pool at the heart of the Wasteland. His young age and innocent face has lead many maternally inclined dragons to take pity on him and those who care little for appearances can be swayed or distracted by a well spun story or magic trick.

Needless to say, outings with the rest of the travelers had by this point become a bit of a hassle, seeing as the other Impavi felt the need to constantly keep one eye on him at all times. Not the safest way to travel for sure, considering the dangers that lurk not only in the Wasteland, but in many other regions as well. Far too many times has it brought them face to face with fiercely aggressive Overcharged Silverbeasts and savage Chimeras.

After much deliberation, and a terrifyingly close call with a Malevolent Spirit, it was decided that a solitary journey across Sorneith might do Caomhan some good. How else to improve not only his skills, but to gain useful knowledge that could benefit the clan.

Leaving the winding tunnels that the Impavi call home would come to be the most difficult thing Caomhan had ever done, but the rewards would surely outweigh the risks........ right?

Light

So... I'm not entirely sure what I just saw. It's been a rough week to say the least. I've seen plenty of things in my lifetime, but this was still enough to surprise me...

I was just wandering around, hunting for my next meal when these two giant ridgebacks come out of nowhere, their dark scales blending in with the shadows. Next thing I knew I was being dragged back to their "camp" and set in the center of their place. There were tents everywhere, arranged in a circle with all doors facing center. Little by little the clan members began nosing their way out of their tents to peer at me. As their numbers continued steadily growing I became increasingly nervous, but straightened myself out as a white skydancer emerged from the crowd. Judging by the way that all the other dragons parted around her, avoiding even a brush of her red wing tips, I assumed she was the leader and stepped forth.

"I'm Caomhan," I stated, giving her a nod of greeting. "I was just passing through and grabbing a bite to eat-"

"A bite," the skydancer interrupted in a soft but hardly comforting voice, "of prey in our territory. Surely you had seen the signs warning intruders not to steal our precious resources."

Okay, so yeah, I had seen the signs posted around. They had all said things like 'keep out' or 'no hunting', but I had figured that, with how old the signs were, no one was still guarding the place. It looked abandoned.

"No, I didn't see the signs. Why?" The female shook her head. She seemed to be debating something, but I was confident I could talk my way out of it.

"I'm locking you up," she said. Not what I had been expecting. "I will contact our leader. She will decide what to do with you." More dragons were joining us, all looking far more intimidating than me. This may be a good time to back down, save some smart words for later. They led me to a tent that looked sturdier than the rest and send me inside, closing and locking a wiring door behind me. Two guards remained, although they wouldn't answer me when I tried to talk to them.

I remained in this cell for a few days. Apparently, from the little I caught when the female skydancer walked by - Lexa, as I now know - the leader of their group had been contacted. Seems as though this clan was bigger than they had looked. The clan kept me fed, but wouldn't tell me what was going on.

A few days later, when I was sitting in the corner of the den doodling in the dirt with my claw, I heard flapping noises. It sounded as though a lot of dragons were landing not too far away. I peered out the door, seeing a variety of dragons landing in the center of the clearing. Lexa trotted out to greet them. I spotted a massive guardian and ridgeback with scales black as night standing side by side. They must be the ones Lexa was approaching... Suddenly one of the guards shifted, blocking my view of what was happening and despite my complaints, he refused to move.

A few hours later the group had dispersed into the dens, most of them following Lexa into what I assumed was her den. While they were gone, I spotted a tiny black shape fluttering nearby. At first I had assumed it was some strange butterfly native to Light territory, but then I realized - it was a fae! "Psst!" She didn't seem to notice, so I repeated myself. "Psssst!" The little creature turned, then fluttered closer to me.

"I shouldn't be talking to you..." the small fae said. Now that she was closer I could see her better. She was black, but had strange blue streaks all over her.

"It's only bad if you get caught," I stated with a wink. She smirked and seemed to brighten a little bit. "Hey, do you have any idea what's going on in there?" I wanted to know what was going on and if it concerned me, but the moment I said that her face darkened. "Hey, there, what's wrong?"

"T-They're debating what to do with you," the small fae stated. "You shouldn't have come here. They don't want anyone knowing the location of the Melohn. They can't let you leave..." She looked up at my face, concern growing on hers. "I.... I have to go."

"Wait!" I cried out, but it was too late. She was already fluttering away, leaving me to think about my predicament. So this was the cult I had heard about. A bunch of dragons intent on destroying the deities that ran our world and created us. They were notorious for being fierce, brutal fighters who rarely took prisoners after a battle... Not good. Since I was left alone in my den, I began to plot a method of escape...

The next day, when the little black fae flew by, I asked her to come over to me again. "What is it you want?" she inquired, clearly uncomfortable with being around me.

"Oh, I just want to chat. Is that so bad?" She shrugged, so I continued. "It's so dull staying locked up in this cage all the time with no one to talk to. Think you could keep me company for a little while?" She hesitated, so I flashed her my best smile - it never failed me before, and didn't fail me then. The little fae nodded.

We chatted for a while. Conversation flowed easily between us. I found out that her name is Occulus and she is the adopted daughter of Trine, leader of the cult. I asked if the guardian or ridgeback was Trine, but she laughed, explaining that Trine was a tiny black fae. The two dragons I had seen were her guards. Switching topics, we chatted for a while and before I knew it, a darkness had settled over camp.

"I'd better get back," Occulus said, although she was clearly hesitant to do so. "But I enjoyed talking with you. Maybe... Maybe we could chat again tomorrow?"

I smiled and nodded my head. "Of course." With an excited grin, the little fae fluttered off into the darkness, leaving me on my own for the night.

At the crack of dawn I felt small claws pushing at my face. "Wake up," the critter whispered. "Come on, you've got to wake up!" I sat up, nearly knocking the creature over. I looked around and saw it was Occulus. "They're going to kill you," she whispered urgently. I glanced up at the guards, but they didn't seem to suspect anything. "I ripped a hole in the back of the tent. You can get out that way. Keep running west and you'll hit one of the other territories. Don't stop - they'll be looking for you. And stay on the ground or our patrols will spot you." I nodded, rising to my feet and squeezing out of the crack she had made. "Oh, and cross a few rivers. Trine often rides her wolf familiar and he's got a good nose. And Caomhan... Good luck." With that I nodded, flashing her another grin.

"I'll be okay," I stated, then darted into the trees, fleeing this clan and promising myself I'd never come back.

Arcane

I had left the realm of the Lightbringer in a rush with a grin on my face, but I was hopelessly unsure of where to go next. So I ran in search of adventure, traveling until my legs would take me no further. It was clarifying: the wind in my face, the ground underneath my claws; it helped me think. Not that there was much to think about, but it made me think of home at the very least.

When I stopped, it took me a moment to realize where I was, and that was just it, I didn't know where I was. I pulled out my crude map and turned it every which way and looked all over the place for some sort of landmark. Nothing, nada. The mountain I saw not too far ahead was not on my map, or at the very least on my map it wasn't surrounded by pink crystal and starwood bushes. Wherever I had stumbled, it was obviously somewhere under the Arcanist's influence, but where? It was then that I heard a roar behind me and I turned just in time to see a rather large Imperial charging right at me. I yelped and tried to run out of the way, but the Imperial caught me by surprise and pinned me against a tree.

"What are you doing here?" He growled at me, "There are no trespassers allowed here." Well that makes two places so far I've been that haven't allowed trespassers.

"What makes you think I'm trespassing? There are no signs, nothing, so how am I supposed to know the rules if you don't put them forth?" I had stumped the Imperial and I took the moment to flee , running right past him. He was several meters away before he heard the Imperial shout at him to stop. A big lumbering beast like him must not be fast on his feet! However, I got barely more than 5 more feet before I bumped into another body.

The Spiral growled at me and swung out with his tail, but stopped himself when he saw the Imperial catching up, looking past me he spoke to the blue Imperial, "Step off Rael. You can't go hurting innocent dragons can you? Obviously, since he can enter here, he is one of us." The Spiral spoke in such a cheery tone it sounded almost fake, but either Rael didn't comment on it or he believed it.

"I guess you are right, Darke," spoke the Imperial, "it is probably best that we take this troublemaker to Clya."

"No! I mean, you shouldn't take him immediately, he has traveled a long way and deserves some rest. He can sleep in my lair tonight, if he wants to that is." I do have to admit that I was tired, and told them as such, but I was scared to spend the night with this evil looking stranger. And it was definitely getting late. I've gotten out of scrapes and scraps before, so what could go wrong?

"I wouldn't mind to have some time to rest, I would love to take you up on your offer, Darke was it? Lead the way!" The Spiral smiled, which looked creepy under his hood in the low light.

"Excellent, follow me. Rael, I suggest you go home and not speak of this endeavor to Clya. We wouldn't want her to know about yet another one of your failures, would we?" The Imperial, Rael, looked both ashamed and like he was about to rip Darke's throat out, but rather than respond he just walked away from us up north. "Now now, follow me."

We walked for a while in silence, but before night fell we reached den carved into a mountain side. "You can rest here tonight, there should be some extra bedding in one of the rooms."

I couldn't take it any longer, I had to ask, "Where is here exactly?"

"Here? Well this is my den." Dark replied, almost sarcastically.

"Not here as in this place, but here, this world. It is on no map and there are no recordings of it anywhere. Why are there so few other dragons? Who is Clya?" Questions spilled out of my mouth and began rolling off of my tongue in quick succession. Darke flashed that eerie grin again.

"Why don't you come inside and we'll talk by candle light?" Darke led me inside and with a wave of his claws the entire room was lit up by candles, "An impressive trick, no?" Darke draped himself over what looked like a pile of linens and fabrics piled up, "So to answer your questions, you have found Clan Meridon, residing within the realm of Meridon. We are on no maps, but we are allied and aligned with the Arcanist which results in the landscape you see." I sat down as Darke continued talking, intrigued by his story. "There are no recordings of this place in any historical text as this place is considered a myth, just like the Lyrens. The Lyrens live here, as you might know Lyrens are extremely powerful and can take the shape of any dragon or change their appearance as they please, and only those with Lyren blood can enter this place. Although there are some exceptions like yourself and me."

"Then how did you get in here?" I asked, hanging onto every word that came out of the Spiral's mouth. Darke pulled back his hood, revealing a scarred face decorated with red and purple tattoos.

"I am on a mission. The Lyrens are an evil race. They kill and disguise themselves as others to manipulate them. They abuse their power and plan to take down the deities. Clya, the leader, is horribly corrupt and mad with power that she will banish her own children so that they don't overpower her. Her mate, Kozane, is just as bad. I am on a mission to eradicate the corrupt race and I can only assume that you must be on a similar mission because you were able to enter through my ward." I was uneasy, I didn't know what I had just gotten myself into, but I didn't like it. I had no idea who Darke or Clya really were so I had no clue if this mysterious figure was telling me the truth. I figured for my own safety that I should play along.

"I am on a mission, similar to that you could say," I started, unsure of how to continue, "a mission from Plague, but I would rather not say what it is until I am sure I have allies here."

"Of course, I do hope that we can become allies. I can see in your eyes that you thirst for something, and I would love to know what that desire is." Little did he know, I thought, that thirst was wanderlust. "I believe that we should rest now, we can discuss our plans in the morning." With a wave of his hand, just like before, Darke put out all of the candles.

It was pitch black in the room, but my eyes had already started to adjust. There was a small table in the room covered with papers; after almost an hour of waiting, Darke had fallen asleep and I stashed as many papers as possible in my bag. I would leave in the morning after a well-deserved rest and I planned to never return, unless I could figure out from these papers what was really going on here.

Nature

I made quick progress through the Arcanist's domain; heading to the coastline and, for once, keeping my head low. I didn't plan on running into anymore strange cults. It was at the very Northern point of the Starfall Coast, under the shadow of Night, that I came across it. Moored in the cove stood a small, rugged brig; silhouetted black against the rock's edge. Deep in my gut, I knew I should turn and leave - but what is life without a little adventure? They say curiosity killed the cat, but luckily I'm a dragon.

The shadows worked in my favour, allowing me to sneak my way right up to the hull. The ship itself was entrenched in darkness - perhaps it too wished to remain hidden. Looking up I noted the chipped paint on the hull, The Dirge Rat. The hand was scrawling and barely eligible. With baited breath, I made my way on board. To my relief, the deck was empty; time to investigate below - that is where pirates keep their treasure, right? It didn't take long to find a rusted chest - and spring the lock. Treasure. Gems. To be honest I couldn't belief my luck! That was until the floor lurched beneath me. Oh no. It was moving; I was stuck on a pirate ship. Actually, I was stuck on a pirate ship with two clawfuls of their treasure. Swiftly I found a secluded corner. The only way I stood a chance of leaving this situation in one piece was by waiting till the ship docked again.

Thud

A loud thud outside jolted me awake. A few blinks and I remembered where I was. Time to put plan escape-pirates-alive into action. I had just reached the steps to the deck when I turned; the remaining treasure in the chest beckoning me again. With a groan I swiftly turned - grabbing another bunch of gems.

"Well. Look what we 'ave 'ere."

Slowly I turned, pasting a grin on my face. The fact my claws still clutched treasure and jewels made my surrender seem a little hollow. A tundra and a wildclaw stood before me; the tundra wore an amused smirk, however the wildclaw looked like she would tear me in two where I stood. Noticing my unease, the tundra gave his compadre a side glance, "Easy Tamerlane, we'd better show 'im to Scrim first. We need more fodder to lure out the Maren." I gulped. Tamerlane - the wildclaw - made no attempt to relax, however disappeared above deck. The tundra looked back at me, "Follow me - and I'd leave the rest their if I were you." I obeyed.

Above deck sat a large tundra, clearly Captain of the vessel. Tamerlane stood by his shoulder, still looking as miserable. He regarded me, then began to speak, "I see you've met Tamerlane and my first mate, Riddick. What's your name?" "Caomhan." The tundra had an no-nonsense aura to him, my honeyed words would get nowhere. "I am Scrimshaw. Captain of The Dirge Rat - do you know what we do to thieves on this vessel?" He gave me no time to reply, "We throw them to the Maren!"

Before I could react or say another word a very bureaucratic looking a Skydancer emerged from the gangplank, "Cut the charade Scrimshaw, we all know your bark is worse than your bite - another stowaway I see. Well, have you given all your stolen items back?" I paused, "Yes." The Skydancer eyeballed me, "And do you plan on stealing anything else during your stay?" I hesitated, which caused the Skydancer to raise an eyebrow, "No." That seemed like the correct answer. The Skydancer turned and set off down the gangplank, "All well and good. Follow me this way." As I began to follow him I heard Riddick groan, "Damn Rune, always ruinin' ar' fun..."

Following Rune, I actually got chance to take in my surroundings. The Viridian Labyrinth; the prominent green foliage was evident. Birdsong filled the sky overhead. We left the riverside quickly, wandering past crude huts. Though a few bushes and trees, the forest opened out into a large clearing. A few huts were constructed around the outer edge. A campfire blazed in the middle. Rune turned to me, "You are welcome to stay as long as you see fit. We can provide food and shelter if you need it." Before I had chance to say thank you, Rune was already rushing off. For a moment, I found myself confused. Not five minutes ago I was on the verge of becoming seafood... and now I was being treated to fine hospitality? Then again, why was I questioning it! I spent the night trading campfire stories for food from the locals.

I stayed late into the night bantering with Shadow, a well-travelled skydancer who had also found himself in his fair share of...compromising situations. The night would have been perfect; had I not felt Tamerlane's gaze boring a hole in my back. Eventually, in the early hours of the morning, I was alone. Time to leave. I almost felt bad leaving the Clan that had showed me such hospitality. As I passed off the Clan territory I grinned, flipping a small silver pocket watch with my claws. Somehow I'd managed to keep it hidden from the pirates. A thief I certainly was.

Water

I thought it best to get as far away as possible from the pirates, lest they figure out what I'd taken and come after me. I detoured through my homeland, but stayed away from my clan. I wasn't ready to return home yet, but I didn't want to risk another encounter with the dreaded Melohn either.

It wasn't long before I had left the scarred wasteland behind and arrived at the Windswept Plateau. The Winds buffeted me about viciously, and I became terrifyingly aware of how close I was to the rocky cliff face.

I told myself not to look, but I couldn't help but peek down below at the Sea. Mid gulp, a strong gust of wind caused me to lose my balance and I went tumbling over the edge.

I must have blacked out, because when I came to next I was surrounded by three dragons.

It took me a moment to realize that the gibberish flying out of the the blue spiral's mouth was actually a dramatic recount of how I came to be in their lair.

"You were falling through the sky - are you all right anyways? - anyway you were falling through the sky just as Stitches - that's this lovable fluff right here you see - anyway just as he was leaving the lair - and are you sure you're alright, you don't seem to be keeping up with me - anyway, he was coming out and he saw you and being the quick thinker he is - that's a lie, he's actually quite slow most of the time but when he sees someone in trouble, anywa-" she stopped after one quick glance from the emerald skydancer.

"Hali, I am sure the reason he doesn't seem to be keeping up is because you're talking so fast that even I am having trouble keeping up," she said, before turning her piercing gaze on me. "What is your name, Stranger?"

I told her, glancing around. I seemed to be in some sort of network of caves, light filtering down through holes in the way and a warm breeze coming from somewhere further off. A few emerald hatchlings were watching me with intent curiosity, but they were soon herded off by another dragon.

"If it's alright with you, I'd love to stay a while, if you'll have me?" I asked. There seemed to be very little funny business around here, and I was glad of it. They seemed friendly enough, and friendly people were almost always easier to con, surely.

The skydancer, Meliae and leader of the clan as I soon learned, didn't take long to decide, and I was welcomed into Clan Aequorentis. As it turned out, they were often saving other dragons from the winds of the plateau, and often had travelers come and stay. Their clan was nestled between the fierce Sea of a Thousand Currents and the howling Windswept Plateau, but they were under the Tidelord's domain. The entrance to their cave was through a lengthy swim from the sea, through a tunnel that opened up into the main cave.

That night I recounted my travelling tales to the clan, captivating my audience, and listened to the tales of the other travelers. As it got later, the tales began to wane, before a mysterious imperial came and sat beside me.

"I know what you are," she said, shuffling a deck of cards in her claws, "And I don't much appreciate you taking advantage of the clan's kindness like this."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do. I warn you, to take advantage of their hospitality and steal from them, fate will condemn you."

"I admit, I was a thief once, but my travels have taught me the errors of my way," I said, with my most charming voice. These old dears were suckers for the bad boys turned good types, and I knew just how to make them think that.

She pulled a card out from her deck, and lay it down. "Just what I thought," she murmured, "The seven of swords. You deceive those around you. Be careful, my young one. The Wheel of Fortune is always turning, and you might be feeling on top of it now, but soon you will find yourself at the low."

I attempted to shrug off the old bats words that night as I went to sleep, but to no avail. Instead I wandered around the lair, scouting out any marvelous trinkets I could steal. I was drawn to one, in particular, a marvelous blue pendant. Perhaps I could sell it for a pretty penny, or use it woo some floozy with significantly greater treasure. Sure that everyone was asleep, I pocketed it swiftly, before wandering some more.

I could hear voices ahead of me, and I ducked behind a rock - or perhaps a sleeping snapper, it was hard to tell in the dark - and listened quietly. They seemed to be having a disagreement, and I listened carefully.

"We ought to strike soon," a voice hissed, "Meliae is unfit to lead the clan. Look at all those strays she's letting in."

"I agree, my sweet, but everyone still adores her. We must think of a way to get them to turn their backs on her," another voice chimed in.

"I say we just kill her and be done with it. And kill any that disagree with us," the first voice said. "Did you see that riff raff she let in today?"

I tried to contain my resentment at being called riff raff, and snuck off as carefully and quietly as I could. I gathered my things, and tip toed quietly to where the emerald skydancer slept with her partner. I woke her, and told her of what I had heard. It seemed unkind to leave without telling her, even if I was stealing from them.

She nodded, and thanked me, and was bid me safe travels, and told me I was always welcome to visit again.

At the entrance to the cave the mysterious imperial from before sat. "You've done a good deed today, so I will overlook that pendant of mine poking out of your pocket," she said, before disappearing off into the dark of the cave.

Wind

Still high on the success of my most recent visit, I decided to brave the winds of the Windswept Plateau once more, but this time from the gentler slopes of the Zephyr Steppes.

I took a detour south to the Ashfall Wastes before doubling back north into the Windsinger's domain. The breezes here were a far cry from the howling gales of the Reedcleft. Little animals frolicked among the hills, and the grass itself seemed to sing with the wind. I encountered a few clans out and about, but many of them were small and new, not worth the effort of buttering up.

Soon, dark clouds began to move over the sun. The sky darkened, and the dragons around me packed up to return home. In the distance, I saw a great bamboo forest. Strangely enough, many of them skirted it, like they were avoiding it. Of course, I took that as a cue to explore.

Thunder crashed high overhead, and warm rain filtered through the bamboo cover to drip onto my pelt. In this darkness, I could only shield my eyes with one talon as I pressed forward, looking for a den, a hollow, anything.

Lightning flashed bright white, and in the afterimage, I saw a dragon-shaped shadow dart just out of sight.

Ominous, but probably just a passing traveller?

I pressed on, but when I turned my head, there were bright yellow lights floating through the darkness.

My foot caught on a root under the leaf litter. I shook it loose, and when I looked up again, there was a Skydancer standing not one foot in front of me.

"Who are you?" she asked, at once soft-spoken and firm. As she spoke, a few floating candles glided up to illuminate the space between us. Well, that explained that.

"Just another traveller," I said, indicating my road-worn clothes.

"Liar. No one just 'passes through' this forest. Who sent you? Was it a Fae in a blue birdskin?"

"Birdskin? Never seen anything like it. If you could just point out the nearest place I could shelter from the rain, I'll be in and out before you even--"

"That's exactly what Levante's spy would say. Get out, and don't follow me." She extinguished her candles with a wave of her talon and vanished into the darkness.

So with that warm welcome, I decided to take the most logical course of action and follow her.

It was quite an adventure trekking through the bamboo forest, avoiding fallen shoots and hidden slopes. But soon came a dip in the land, and a sprawling village of bamboo huts laid out before me.

It was still raining, but through the curtain of water I saw a few Skydancer-shaped figures moving about, obviously eager to get out of the cold.

That's when I felt talons grasp my shoulder.

"I don't believe I was expecting any visitors today."

This Skydancer practically glowed with Arcane magic. Her demeanor was kindly, but guarded, like a mother hen investigating some strange new creature.

"That's the spy." The Skydancer from the forest emerged from my other side. "Cirrus, let's put a disorient spell on him and kick him out."

"Let the stranger explain himself," Cirrus said, though she didn't relax her grip on my shoulder.

"Sure, of course. Where to begin...I'm Caomhan Ar Sobek, ravishing thief and witted gentleman. I'm travelling the world, you see, and just happened to stumble upon your fine clan. If you would be so kind as to spare food and a bed for a night, I'll happily be on my way south."

"He's telling the truth," Cirrus said, releasing her grip. "Rather embellished, but truth nonetheless. Come along. I won't let it be said that the Skyline Clan is anything but welcoming."

As they escorted me down to the little village of huts, Cirrus, who turned out to be the leader of the Clan of the Endless Skyline, gave me a quick summary about their history. "You see, dear, we don't take too kindly to unexpected visitors, because every stranger may be a spy of Caer Ventus. They're a militaristic clan, whose leader would wish nothing short of razing our clan to the ground. Yes, we do take visitors, as Ararauna here often does..." The Light dragon sniffed and floated her candles forward to light the path. "But only if they've made prior arrangements through one of our clanmates."

They put me up in one of the smaller huts; though there was hardly room for more than a bed, it was obvious that it was well-lived in, probably by other travelling dragons. The patter of rain on the bamboo roof lulled me to sleep, and by the time I woke up the next day, the storm had lifted, leaving behind a dew-laden late morning.

Ararauna greeted me at the door. "Oh, the mysterious stranger awakens. See, Cirrus told me to scrounge something for you, but, you know, all-Skydancer clan. Here's some weird stuff that Baldwin gave me the other day." She handed me a plate and brisk-walked off:

Long story short, it was chewy, but decently meat-tasting.

While no one was paying attention, I decided to wander around the camp. The clan was out and about, eating breakfast, grooming each other, or preparing to fly out. In one corner was a small flower garden, where an older, very pink Skydancer with actual plants on her back tended the crops.

But of more interest to me was the black tulip corsage that was laying on a nearby table:

"Lovely craftsmanship," I said, strolling up to her.

She smiled a grandmotherly smile, waved her talon, and Arcane magic wrapped around a flower, causing it to instantly bloom. "It is, isn't it? Cirrus taught me how to preserve them, so they'd always stay pretty. Then we turn them into corsages for our female clanmates to wear." She showed me her own: A delicate sakura flower tied around her wrist.

"That's amazing," I said, and I truly meant it as I pocketed the corsage on the table.

A little more wandering later, I ran into Cirrus, who had a bundle of supplies in her talons.

"A cloak, fur-wraps, and wristguard," she explained, passing it to me. "Two days' worth of Soylent Red. And all waterproof in case of more dreadful weather."

"You're too kind," I told her.

"Can the same be said for you?" Her expression didn't change, but an icy bucket of guilt dumped over me nonetheless.

She held out her talon, and the pocket where I'd stuffed the corsage glowed. "You know, Providence was just about to forge a bracelet for you, as is customary for males, but I see you've taken a liking to that corsage. Keep it, as a reminder of our clan's hospitality."

I followed the clan's patrol guards out of the territory, where they pointed me south, towards the Southern Icefields.

I donned my new clothes and set off for more adventure.

Shadow

I was walking in a dark forest, i could just see in front of myself. Looking around i could see some 4 eyes looking at him, then 2 of them jumped to me. I started to run but I felt something hit my head and all i saw was black..

I awoke to see a Fae dragon looking at him, the Fae smiled at him then said "It's time to meet the leader"

The Fae took me to the leader Sandstorm and the deputy Greenteeth, Sandstorm said to the Fae "Thank you Gunborg you can go hunting now" I looked at the two dragons looking at him "My name is Caomhan and where are we?" The Green dragon smirked "you are in Shadow home of the tricksters"

I gasped my mind started spinning, I have been told that Shadow killed without thought and were the worst tribe there was.... I said in a small whisper "Are you going to kill me?"

Sandstorm grinned "We are not what everyone have been told about we are a kind tribe but you don't want to get our bad side" Greenteeth stepped beside him and told him "Let's get you fed then we can send you home"

I was eating some meat when Greenteeth came up with two dragons beside him, "This is Aquatic and Redeyes they will take you to the border."

I looked around I could just see the two dragons taking him out for the forest he did not understand how shadow could see.

Now he had feeling that he was being fallowed but as he looked he saw nothing

Then he was hit on the head and blacked out again

I awoke to see Redeyes and Aquatic in front of me in ropes I guessed that I had ropes on me too I asked the 2 mirrors "What has happened?" Aquatic assured saying that they were captured by a gang of rouges, I felt faint was this the dragons in the stories?

A dragons with scars came in with 2 other Wildclaws with scars "take them and kill them" he said to the 2 dragons

I was took to a small area with no trees, as I was going in i saw some moving in the bushes, the two male Wildclaws saw it too because i saw them look to the bush too, One of the Wildclaws said to the other "it's nothing let's get on with it and get it over with.

I closed his eyes waiting for the dragon to kill him and then i heard a battle cry and opened my eyes to see Greenteeth, Sandstorm and a 2 others jump at the Wildclaws, And the Fae that I first saw came to me, Aquatic and Redeyes, the Fae said to me "Let's go the others will be fine" I started to run after but he felt his back go on fire, One of the Wildclaws had jumped on me and started to claw me, I fell down and the Wildclaw started to claw my neck and belly till Redeyes jumped on him and started to bite him till the Wildclaw ran away with the other one I started to get up but I could not, I fell down and blacked out in pain.

I woke up to see Gunborg tending my wounds "What happened?" I asked. The Fae smiled at me and said "You been wounded very badly on the neck and on the belly and it's getting infected" "Oh" I said in a small sigh "When am I better?" "You should be better in two weeks or three" I then ate and went back to sleep

3 weeks later

I grinned, today I was to leave and keep adventuring, I was here three weeks and had lots of fun and had almost wanted to stay Sandstorm had gave me supplies and was taking me to the border

himself as I was walking I said "I'll miss you guys.... lots" Sandstorm replied "You will come visit us again right?" "I will try" I said saying good-bye as I got to the border

As I walked I thought for my new friends hoping that I will seen them again.........

Ice

At last, I had made it to The Southern Icefield where survival was deemed a struggle by many. The Frigid Floes would be the hardest I would have to deal with as most of the Ice clans dwell amongst Snowsquall Tundra.

The wind whipped around me rapidly as my plague-bound eyes admired the glacial structures that surrounded the area standing strong before me. What appeared to be a castle stopped me in my tracks and I tried to look in closer. Curiosity confirmed, it is definitely a castle! A castle made of... ice? I wondered if any dragon were to live there, and so I stepped forward with hope.

Upon entering the seemingly abandoned castle, I drew in a frigid breath and sucked the cold air into my wide lungs. Funny enough, it burnt. The feeling could only be described as more intense than the heat I may encounter in The Ashfall Waste, but let's not assume things. As these thoughts distracted me from my initial task, I suddenly heard echoing tip-taps against the hardened ground and surrounding walls. I snapped my head around to discover a Nocturne running towards me upon the ceiling, and finally dropping to my frightening talons. She regained her ability to speak in seconds and without leaving me to let any words escape from my dry throat to explain my appearance here, she whispers rather desperately, "you mustn't be here!" She pauses, averting her eyes so that they were looking into mine, "he mustn't see you."

She urged me forward and within a minute, I was outside of the castle as before, although in a different location. She pushed me forward, which I found to be rather irritating, and we appeared in a small den underneath the several layers of snow that lay atop. Within the den were two other dragons, specifically an older-looking Sydancer and a days-old hatchling.

Remaining naive about the situation, I turned to the Nocturne from before and set my mouth free, spewing out the most words I could register within approximately thirty seconds. "Who are you?", "where are we?", "what are we doing?", "what is this?", "who are they?" She smiled, acknowledging my confusion and spoke, quietly, "I apologise for the confusion I seemed to have caused... we are here for your own benefits", she paused, her breath hitching, "and for ours." "You're safe, so fear not. We cannot let him find out you are here, the king." Suddenly, I was less confused and now majorly concerned. Was I to die here?

Rapid shuffling could be heard in the snow upon us, and the Nocturne, who introduced herself as 'Wisp' stilled, and I followed. Rough sniffing and snarling was aroused and little pieces of snow fell atop my muzzle, causing an irritable itch to my nostrils. I couldn't hold it in... and I accidentally sneezed. Loudly, too. Whoops?

"Wisp, we are obliged to order you let us in so we can complete our rounds for today. Will you submit?" Wisp flinched at the harsh tone produced by an assumingly much larger dragon outside, and she dropped her head obediently, stepping from the den's entrance to reveal two armoured dragons: a large Imperial (called it), and a smaller Spiral.

"We apologise for the sudden visit, although you do know how our king is-" the Spiral stopped in her informal apology and froze, staring into my eyes with her glassy Ice-bound ones. A look of disappointment was shown in both the Spiral's and Wisp's glazed over eyes. The Imperial stepped forward, approaching me in a way I could only assume was to intimidate me. He cleared his throat, before speaking in a professional, although primal tone, "as a royal guard of the Glacial Union, I, Aviur, will be taking you as prisoner." Here we go again. I sighed and complied anyway, stepping forward to close the distance between us. What was the point in fighting when I know for sure I will find a way out in the end? I grinned internally, hiding my sheer excitement.

"Come now, Blyzwin! We must deal with this disease immediately." Disease? How original. The Spiral now known as Blyzwin whispered a quick apology to Wisp, turning to Aviur and I. We exited the den and I was pushed into the castle again. During our trip, I decided to let my eyes wander around a little. This was a castle, so perhaps there would be some extremely valuable items laying around. My eyes widened at the stray jewels and diamonds scattered across the frozen floor, until we came to a stop and I was pushed to the ground in a harsh manner. The sudden action made me cry out in surprise, and Aviur growled, pointing his guarded head towards a large cage. It appeared empty... and cold. I didn't notice the door opening until I was pushed inside, the door crashing back into its original place and creating a loud echo within the frigid castle. The guards began to leave, Blyzwin shooting me a sympathetic glance before they were out of my site.

I sighed, resting my head against the freezing bars and thinking to myself. How long was I going to be here? How would I get out? Hmm, I suppose I should start planning before the king arrives, if he arrives at all. I wasn't necessarily virgin to this sort of thing as I had experienced it before in previous regions, but it wasn't exactly something I enjoyed either. A loud clatter intruded my planning, and I looked around surprised. More clatters could be heard seconds later and I shivered, the cold becoming even colder on my shoulders. A small, broken giggle erupted from the darker end of the cage I stood within, causing me to still completely. Slowly, a large shadow began to emerge from the shadows, the shape of an Imperial coming into my view. A reek entered my sensitive nostrils and I cringed, my eyes beginning to water. The Imperial (called it, again!), rested against the bars in a position you could only assume is extremely uncomfortable. Bandages hung off her broken wings and bloodied tail messily, the reek emerging from the rotting roses that rest amongst half of her being. Her crazed eyes locked into mine, and she formed a disturbing, crooked smile.

Her long tail whipped around the cage heavily, resting itself on one of my exposed cheeks. I froze, and she spoke up, quietly, "it's been a while since I've had visitors... perhaps too long." She shifted her eyes so that they were trained on the outside of our shared cell, and her smile seemed to have faded. "I'm not particularly fond of the lack of manners, young man. SPEAK!" Her drastic change in tone caused me to physically flinch, and I grinned up at her nervously, deciding to introduce myself before matters could become worse. "I am Caomhan, and you are?" This seemed to please her as her smile returned, wider than before. "It is such a pleasure to meet you, Caomhan. I am Malice, the most beautiful Imperial in Sornieth!" I chuckled quietly. She was quite the character.

Malice decided to wrap one of her large wings around my smaller frame, restraining me to her. She purred, lovingly, and used a single talon to stroke the feathers that lay atop my head. This made me struggle uncomfortably, and she glared with a snarl. I stopped. Moments later, a low growl could be heard from outside of the cage, and both Malice's and I's ears perked up in interest. Suddenly, something charges up against the cage and created a loud 'clang', causing Malice to lose her grip on me and spread her wings in distress. My widened eyes are met with cold, icy ones that hid beneath a wolf pelt, causing me to stumble back in surprise. The Tundra the pelt belonged to growled again, and attempted to bite at Malice from outside of the cell, succeeding in latching onto a small portion of her spread wing.

The door to the cell swung open, and whilst the guards were distracted with Malice and this odd, wolf coat-wearing character, I took this chance to flee quickly. Although my plan was to pick up a few of those bits and pieces of gems and treasure lying around, I knew that I had to keep running as the guards could be on my tail at any second. And I was right, as out of the corner of my eye, I could see Aviur charging towards me. I practically jumped once I had reached the end of the corridor, and fled to the snow outside. The large, heavy doors slammed behind me and I let out a heavy sigh, trying to catch my breath.

A strange Tundra appeared before me further out into the snowy plains, staring, observing. I decided to pass him anyway, stopping when he extended his front leg out in front of me. I watched it, and he opened his claws to reveal an item that closely resembled a weapon. As I took it from him, he nodded before walking back to the castle at his own pace. I grinned, ready to set off on my next journey.

Fire

One of the difficulties traversing the Southern Icefields is the weather. No matter how many layers I have on the Icewarden's chill seeps through my bones. I needed a change in temperature and headed for the Ashfall Waste. I looked at my map of Sorienth and groaned remembering the Southern Icefield was separated from Sorienth's mainland. I had already traveled far from the castle of ice, and looking around all I could see were with tufts of vegetation protruding from the endless blanket of snow. I shivered. A cold wind whipped across the plains throwing a clawful of snow in my face. Once it died down, I opened my eyes and let out a frustrated hiss. The cursed wind had ripped the map from clawtips! I could easily purchase another map from a local market, but that map in particular held sentimental value. I sighed again. I knew if I continued heading east I'd be able to reach the edge of the Icefields, and potentially find a dragon who could ferry me across the ocean. My wings were too stiff from the cold and hunger constantly gnawed my belly. I was too weak to fly in any case...but I continued walking. Pushing against the sharp winds and trudging through the cursed snow. At some point I began to tire. My body felt numb and I struggled to breathe. My movements were sluggish and I just wanted to collapse.

But I knew if I did, it might be the end of me. My mind was fuzzy, and all I could think was going home.

"I'm so tired," I murmured wearily, collapsing into a drift. I closed my eyes, breathing in the cold, unfamiliar air.

...

I woke in darkness, feeling pressed against a very warm body. I breathed in faint smells of ash and firewood wondering where I could be. Suddenly Something began to move under me and a huge wing unfurled above me, blocking the elements, and also revealing an enormous orange guardian covered with purple scales. Little fires danced around its body seemingly immune against the Icefield's harsh winds.

The guardian's head turned to face me; soft, but fiery orange eyes glowing with warmth stared down at me. It rumbled,"You're awake. I was worried you might av' frozen to death out 'ere."

I stammered,"Th-thank you. Who might you be?" The guardian replied in a good natured tone," Kindle. And yourself?"

I said," Caomhan. I-" then was cut off by a sharp rumble from my belly.

"I've something that'll remedy that," said Kindle. She put a slab of roasted meat in front of me. My mouth began to salivate.

"Go ahead an' eat it." I gladly devoured the offer, not wasting a morsel. After downing the last bit I looked at Kindle and said," thank you for everything."

"No trouble at all. But what's a thing like you doin' all alone out in the 'arsh weather?"

"I've been traveling to visit all territories of Sorienth. I've been traversing the Southern Icefields for awhile now and decided it was time to move somewhere warmer. Ideally the Ashfall Waste. But I underestimated my supplies and ended up losing my map along the way...and then passed out." Kindle nodded.

"Good thing I found you. And if you're headin' out the Ashfall Waste I can take you there. I'll carry you cause you're in no condition to fly." I began to protest, but Kindle took me in her claws.

"You can whine all you want, but it's better if you take it easy," she said. I felt the cold wind again and shivered. I couldn't wait to get to the Ashfall Waste.

...

A green mirror clad in nice attire was waiting for us when we landed in the Ashfall Waste. The Flamewarden's territory wasn't as desolate as I'd thought; there was plenty of flora and fauna in the surrounding area. The ground itself covered in a dark, black soil which was warm to the touch.

"That's Bardell, my mate," Kindle rumbled happily. I mentally chuckled looking at the mirror's small physique compared to Kindle's. Love comes in all shapes in sizes I suppose.

The mirror piqued," So you're back I see and with a companion."

"I'm Caomhan," I said noting Bardell's river royalist tail rings. Perhaps I could snatch them for myself later I mused.

"Where you headed Caomhan," Bardell asked.

"Er, nowhere in particular. Just wanted to travel around and get a good look at the Ashfall Waste's that's all," I replied, still eyeing the tail rings.

Kindle rumbled,"Well me and Bardell have places to be, and you're more than welcome to join us." I nodded a thanks.

"I think I'll be able to do fine on my own," I replied. "If you could point me in the direction of the nearest trading post I think I'll be able swipe, erm not really swipe, but purchase a map of sorts."

"A map you say?" said Bardell. "I think I have one if you'd like it. I found it on the ground a few hours ago." The mirror drew a familiar looking piece of parchment from his pockets. I happily clasped his claws into mine exclaiming,"Why thank you! I was afraid I'd lost it."

Bardell smiled,"Strange thing how fate works eh?" I nodded. "Well good luck and be careful of the surrounding area." The three of us departed, and turning away I looked down at the gleaming treasures I held in my claws; the mirror's tail rings were gently clasped in my claws. I then dashed across Flamecaller's blackened earth wondering what was in store for next.

Lightning

The Ashfall Wastes was, quite conveniently, located right beside the rumbling deserts of the Shifting Expanse. As soon as I exited the reaches of the Fire domain, I took in a deep breath and heaved a heavy sigh, refreshing my lungs from the ashy air of my previous endeavor. The Lightning domain, it's skies crackling with seemingly constant lightning, lay before me, tempting me. Ah, the home of the overbearing Stormcatcher, the entity of thunder and lightning itself. I wonder what valuables lie within those jutting spires...

I slowly made my way through the Highland Scrub, trekking easily on the smooth sand, though it's dryness tugged at my throat. I began to scan the area, searching for signs of a river, or any body of water at all, so that I could be rid of my quite unpleasant thirst. To my luck, I found a small river that slid through the sandy plain, and I greedily lapped at it's surface. The heat here was nothing like the Ashfall Wastes, but it still threatened to burn my hide, it was a desert, after all.

Little to my knowledge, a presence hid quietly behind a group of rocks, that is, until I caught it's deadly, magenta eyes. I stopped mid-drink, staying completely still, my nerves itching tensely. I knew those eyes. They were wildclaw eyes, as bright as day, and as cold and fierce as can be.

I swallowed slowly, glancing around for my best option at escape. To my dismay, nothing but miles of desert surrounded me, and surely I couldn't out run a native...especially another wildclaw, for that matter. I didn't have much of an opportunity to think that through, for as I looked back at those rocks, the ferocious eyes now clearly belonging to a sleek, and obsidian-colored female. Did I mention that particular female was now raging towards me with claws outstretched?

I yelped awkwardly in surprise and turned to run, the vicious wildclaw's screams getting louder as she swiftly gained on me, and the very moment I shot a glance behind me, I pummeled into a rather solid force, causing me to crash into the desert sand face-first. I coughed and spat out the sand in disgust, all the while flailing on the ground quite pathetically, if I may add. A few moments later I had properly cleared my eyes and mouth of the sand and looked up to see a pair of deep, shadowy eyes staring down at me. Another pair of equally deadly wildclaw eyes.

I gulped, frozen in place. "H-Hi there..." I feebly spoke, and I glanced behind me to see the female from earlier, glaring down at me, her growls very evident in her huffed breaths.

"What are you doing around here, peasant?" The female spoke, her gaze never ceasing to burn with fury. However, though her voice was equally as fierce, it was smooth, and rather alluring.

"Valiona, he seems to just be a passerby, he doesn't look fit to even lift a claw towards another, I don't believe he is worth our time." I flinched at the deep horror of the other's voice, it seemed to boom in my mind, though it was calm, and very emotionless. The shadowy-eyed owner of this voice was a male, and he seemed to be decently close to "Valiona", seeing the female instantly dropped her ferocity.

"Fine," Valiona hissed through her razor-sharp fangs. "but it is protocol to deal with anyone that enters the Expanse unaccounted for." She looked down at me boredly, her gaze extremely disapproving. "No matter how useless they are..." With that, she turned and calmly headed back the way she charged from.

I sighed, a bit shakily I might note, for my nerves calmed ever so slightly now that she wasn't in my immediate vicinity, until I remembered her friend behind me. "I uh...she's...she's quite the feisty one." I said awkwardly, trying to hide my uneasiness, and I even added my charming wink as I nudged the leg of the towering male above me. Bad idea.

He growled softly, and in a single movement, he dove his head down and clasped his jaws around the nape of my neck, yanking me harshly to my feet. Okay, perhaps I deserved that.

"Walk." Spoke the male, who now threw me forward, releasing my neck. I nearly stumbled back to the ground, but I caught myself, just barely, and decided it was best to obey my newfound superiors.

We trekked the warm desert sand for a few miles now, neither of my "escorts" saying a word. I took this opportunity to get a good look of my betters, starting with Valiona ahead of me. I casually eyed her figure, noting her dark, obsidian scales were blotched with even darker, crackling pattern. I then noticed, not knowing how I missed it before, a severe and bright coloring of orange and pink, looking like fire throughout her skin. Were they scars? Whatever they were, they were brilliantly colored and gave her an even more alluring look.

My thoughts were interrupted as my captive behind me nudged me forward a good length, nearly knocking me over once more. I glanced behind me, getting a good look of him, as good as I'd get in my current situation. His scales were a violet color, and gleamed like a crystalline coating, and he had the same dark pattern as Valiona did. They must've been related, they looked very alike, except for their difference in eye color, and the fact that Valiona was blazing with those "scars", as I now decided to call them. I also took note of their spiked, deadly-looking armor that they shared, along with their gleaming purple talons.

I interrupted my own thoughts this time, as I focused now on our current location, and our possible destination. Before us lay the crackling spires of the Lightning Farm, but before I could get a good look at it, I was rushed into a cave-like tunnel, and my surroundings became dark. "Where are we...?" I asked softly, but got no reply. I soon found out when we reemerged into the light of day, and I gaped at my new sight.

We were in a massive ravine, towering slopes of rock and mountain all around us. Large spires covered the above ridges, and lightning surged through them, creating a soft and oddly pleasant hum. "Wow...is this your home?" I breathed in awe, not expecting a response of course.

"Be quiet, whelp. Don't make me change your mind about keeping you alive." Snapped back Valiona, and she flashed me those fierce eyes once more, and I couldn't help but mirror back my famous grin. Another bad idea.

"You think this is amusing?!" She roared, turning fully and literally launching herself at me, pinning me down with her full force, her wings flared and her tail thrashing. "I could eliminate you with a single blow if I desired!! And you choose to laugh at me?!" Her voice echoed through my being, and probably throughout the whole ravine. I honestly was quite impressed with her stature, despite my quivering in fear.

"Valiona, darling, do take care to our guest...you don't want to break another one..." I looked up, after hearing this light and friendly voice, to see a quite elderly-looking guardian. Her scales were the color of the deepest depths of the ocean, she seemed to swell with the very might of Water, despite her frail and weathered build.

Valiona hissed and reluctantly released me, storming off somewhere I wasn't sure of. The guardian smiled down at me and helped me up with her large claws. "I apologize for her...she's always quite...judgmental of strangers." She then slowly looked at the other wildclaw who brought me here. "Theralion, dear, will you arrange a place for this young lad...? He surely must be wary from his travels..."

"Ah, so that's your name, my mysterious captive." I smiled coyly at Theralion, trying to stir some sort of amusement in him, but his gaze never faltered. That blank, cold stare, one I'll never forget. All he did was bow his head at the elder guardian, and walked right past me, as if I were no longer there.

"My name is Orchidna, what shall I call you, young one...?"

I turn my head back to my savior-from-doom-times-two and offered her my famous, charming smile "Caomhan, madam ! I am a seasoned adventurer and cunning thief, I have travelled far and wide across all of Sornieth to strike my claim at fortune and exploration!" I then bowed gracefully, which made the old bat cackle quietly.

"My, a thief with manners! How quaint...welcome to my clan, and my home. Do excuse those two...they're a vicious bunch, but valued members of my family nonetheless. We are the Clan of Severed Lightning, we have thrived here for many years within the Expanse..." Orchidna slowly turned, her massive wings folding neatly along her abyssal-colored figure. "Come, Caomhan, allow me to introduce you to my more...friendly clanmates."

I nodded enthusiastically, eager to meet someone who wouldn't try to kill me for once, and I followed the ancient dragon as she made her way across the light sand. The ravine they dwelled in was massive, and probably very well protected and hidden from others. It seemed to form a labyrinth through the land, endless in length as I looked as far as my eyes could reach without seeing an opening. I shivered, imagining what could hide deep within...or what dragons could have been lost there.

"Here, we live in peace from our neighbors, hidden from the sun's scorching rays..." Orchidna's pace was rather slow, and I was confused as to why such a watery being has lived so long in a place like this. She seemed to have read my mind. "If you are wondering why I have lived here so long...I can merely answer you with the fact that I am actually a Lightning-born dragon, despite my cursed and sunken look." She sighed deeply, and I decided not to ask any further.

We neared a cluster of well-carved dens in the mountainside, and another wildlcaw emerged from one, his scales dark and blackened with the pale look of butterfly patterns. His armor was similar to Valiona and Theralion's, but red in color, and he wear a silky red scarf, along with a shimmering red banner draped across his wings.Great, another one.

"Orchidna ! You know you shouldn't be out and about midday like this, it's far too warm for your weak bones..." The male stopped, and glared at me with his gleaming red eyes. "Who's this?"

"Oh, Duskwood ! This is...Caomhan, yes?" I nodded slowly as she continued. "This is Caomhan, and he is a famed traveler and thief!" Orchidna smiled widely, her grand-motherly gaze looking between me and 'Duskwood'.

"Hmph. A thief, huh?" Duskwood glared at me once more, his eyes seeming to grip my very soul. "Thieves are traitorous monst-" He was interrupted as another wildlcaw darted out from the same den, his figure white with bright red wings and fancy drapes of white silk.

"Hi there ! I'm Thalassian ! It's a pleasure to meet you, stranger !" The wildclaw took my hands and shook them excitedly. "You can call me Thal !" Thalassian released my claws and handed me a red-colored lei of flowers. "I love flowers...and-"

Duskwood immediately put himself between me and Thal, his tail thrashing lightly. "Thal, this thief does not deserve an inch of kindness, don't offer him anything." His tone was harsh, but he wasn't necessarily angry with his white-scaled comrade. Thalassian drooped his tail and wings, and gave me a sorrowful look before turning and slowly walking back to the den.

Duskwood looked back at me, and then to Orchidna. "Be cautious, matriarch, he reeks of bad intentions..."

With that, he turned and walked off, and I grunted in amusement. "Are all your clan mates violent wildclaws?" I asked the guardian, who I now verified as the clan's leader.

"Ah, no, my warriors are quite the tough ones...they're bred to fight and it's all they know, they're just keen on protecting what's important to them. Having a family...and a charge to live for...that, is the greatest prize." Orchidna offered me her wise smile once more and I considered her words, feeling inspired by them, and being reminded of my homesickness. "You may rest for the night, or as long as you need, but I advise for you to only take with you your lesson here, and nothing more." Her latter note was a bit dire, her tone turning serious, before she left me there on my lonesome in the center of the ravine.

I sighed, must everyone point out my flaws? My need for change? Was this journey more than just for exploration...but for learning? I laughed to myself, shaking my head. That was silly, I don't need changing. I glanced around me and noticed an empty dwelling behind me, and I ducked my head and entered the dark cave.

The smooth, stone floor was cool to the touch, and very refreshing compared to the harsh outside heat. I slowly lowered myself against the ground, laying out and sighing tiredly. My body was sore, weathered, and lacking of nutrients. Pulling myself towards a conveniently-placed pool of crystalline water, I begun to drink to my fill, until I heard a soft shuffling from deeper within the cave. My eyes scanned the darkness as I made out a small coatl making her way towards me. Swallowing my water slowly, I gave her a soft smile, trying to hide my I'm-slightly-freaked-out-look. "Uh, hi there...I'm sorry to intrude, I just ne-"

She interrupted me with a soft hum, smiling kindly as she waddled closer to me with a handful of herbs. She pressed a few of the plants against my small wounds, and I hissed softly, but I then felt very calmed and relieved. "Oh, that's wonderful...thank you." I smiled and she hummed again; I assumed she was acknowledging my thanks. She then handed me a small pouch of herbs, and I took it happily.The coatl disappeared back within the darkness of the cave, and I settled myself back down against the floor, finding sleep easily.

I woke up with a start, lightning had just crackled above the ravine, causing the stone walls to rumble and vibrate. I was terrified, standing my ground with my crown and wings flared, but I calmed as I remembered where I was. Sighing, I gathered my things and slowly exited the cave to the moonlit center of the Clan of Severed Lightning. Dragons were bustling all over now, as the moon hung high in the sky alongside the glimmering stars.

A few nocturnes were dancing happily in unison, magical lights and fires whirling all around them. Various coatls were gathered close together, grooming each other's feathers with their serpentine tongues, and even a few imperials were lounging in the scene. This clan was truly alive at nightfall, probably because it was too arid and hot in the day to leave the comfort of the cool dens. I smiled to myself. Family. Home life. It was wonderful, and I had begun to miss it even more the longer I was away.

My delight ceased when my eyes met those same gleaming, fierce Arcane-bound orbs. Valiona was glaring at me and I felt my spine freeze over. Luckily, this fear was interrupted when a very blue and glowing skydancer presented herself before me. "Hello there ! Caomhan is your name, yes?" I smiled charmingly. "It is, and my dear lady, what might I call you?"

"Her name is Astranar." A deep, and frightening voice answered, belonging to a very ominous and hooded imperial. "I heard about you, little thief. You best make your leave here before that word gets around to the wrong dragons..." He bared his grievous fangs at me, growling softly. "Oh, Stratholme, do leave him be ! He's only passing through." Astranar giggled and smiled at me joyfully, handing me a familiar crimson-colored lei. "Here, take this with you. Thalassian made it, he makes a lei for everyone he meets! He was too shy to come back and try again, Duskwood probably wouldn't have let him, anyways." She smiled and placed it around my neck, giggling once more. "It matches your eyes ! Oh Strathy doesn't he look lovely?!"

The imperial grunted, unamused, looking at me like he was going to throw me across the ravine. Astranar leaped up to Stratholme's shoulder, draping herself over his figure as she waved at me happily. The two left me be shortly after, and I looked down at the lovely-smelling lei that now adorned my neck. Despite my initial and intense coming here, this visit was wonderfully stayed. I sighed in content, securing my new herb pouch to my side and making my way out of the ravine from a nearby slope.

As I left, I felt a chill in the desert air, and I only heard the faint sounds of the clan behind me, and nothing else. Alone again, I set out into the night, remembering the words of the ancient guardian. I truly only left here stealing the very lessons I was taught, and that gave me a funny, fuzzy feeling in my core. Shrugging it off, I wandered through the quiet desert, seeking my next adventure.

Earth

Earth was the only territory I hadn't hit yet so I thought, why not go for the full set and make it something really to brag about? Dragonhome, after all, was known to have some fancy tombs lying around. The living put up such a fuss about having their possessions liberated. Maybe the dead would be different. Easy would be nice for once, right?

...Except. Oh, yeah. There wasn't any easy way to get from Lightning to Earth, was there? Briefly, I thought back to every other territory I had covered. Flying over Plague meant flying over a place that was actually friendly but the thought of doing that also felt awfully like giving up, even for a moment. No point in going over Fire. I wanted to nope nope nope Light so badly but it was either going over that slither of Light territory and into Shadow or taking on the entirety of Water. The problem was that Shadow sucked, too. Seriously, screw Shadow. I met some great folks there, sure, but I also almost died and I think I still need a bit of time to get over that.

I changed my mind pretty quickly after considering that. I'd take Fire over Light and Shadow any day. As a plus, Wind was one of the few places that didn't want to kill me, too! But dang it, that meant I was going to have to pass through Plague. Ah well. There were far worse things than having to swing by spitting distance of home. At the very least, I could find a place to stash my loot so far. It wasn't the heaviest trove I'd had to carry but I was going to Earth. You know, Earth. Rocks. Gold. Gems. Heavy things. If I couldn't steal at least half my weight in treasure, then I'd probably have to die of embarrassment. I want to be a good thief, after all! Not that guy who keeps getting caught and put into cells, nope, that's definitely not me at all. Must be an identical twin or something, I swear I have at least a dozen of them.

In any case, I went back home, dropped off the loot, and then slipped right back out so nobody knew a thing. Boring stuff compared to everything else I'd done recently. At least I wasn't fleeing under fear of death again.

So there it was! Dragonhome! The, er, home to the Pillar of the World! That really brown region that was -really, really brown. Yeah, I wasn't that impressed at first. It was a bit of a dump, actually, and I'm glad I don't have to live there.

The very first thing I learned about the place is that there is nothing there. No, honestly, where was everybody? First I tried to be stealthy and find someplace worth robbing. Then I lost the stealthy and just tried to find anything remotely of interest. I found rocks, mountains, mountains made out of rocks, and rocks on mountains. Before I caved and decided just to lug some of these useless rocks home, though, I spied my first sign of life in the area. A big red ridgeback appeared against the drab, boring mountainside and at that point, I was so glad to see another dragon that I just about up and sprinted after her. I've got to admit, though, she was much faster than I was and I almost lost her among the mountains anyways. I would like to say right here that I wan as doing a great job of not obviously following her. I was obeying all the rules: don't get too close, keep in the blind spots, et cetera. Act like you're not doing anything wrong at all. Keep one eye on the target and another eye on everything else. Remember that last part. I did it. I swear.

When she finally dropped by this rare patch of green, I didn't even get the chance to catch up with her. Some dragon who had come up next to me out of literally nowhere to scare the life out of me said, "You are following my daughter. Why?"

I froze immediately because I knew that voice. That voice was the last thing hundreds of charming rogues such as myself heard before meeting their god. It was the voice of an overprotective father who knew exactly what was going on and was about to disappear a problem over a steep cliff into a nearby chasm.

The voice of an overprotective father who also had brought along his mate to watch him torture the latest threat to one of their precious offspring. A lesser dragon would have bolted or broken down in panic. Luckily, I am neither. Instead, I did my best to beam at him so brightly that it hurt my face. "Actually, I was just going to ask for directions but I'd guess you'd know best so this is so much better!" Were those- yep, he had tons of scars. Some of them were so bad that I thought they were wrappings at first. I swallowed my fear; that's how they knew to get you, you know. I'd learned that from earlier.

The lady with him was a ridgeback so it really went without saying that she was about four times my height and could have squashed me like a bug. Honestly, I tried to pretend that she wasn't there, since she seemed to be pretending I wasn't there either. I couldn't see her eyes and she wasn't making even the slightest bit of sound. She was obviously that other ridgeback's mother, though. Their genes and colors were about the same. She didn't seem to hate me at first glance, so I took that as a tiny win.

The skydancer looked right at me. "What are you looking for?" There was only the barest amount of inflection in his voice. Creepy.

"I'm just looking for a place to stay," I said honestly. "It's the first time I've ever been to Dragonhome. I was hoping to find something interesting."

"You're a tourist," he said after a long moment.

"Well, yeah." It was more or less correct, right?

He glanced at the ridgeback. She went right on ahead of him so I think we all knew who was the boss in that relationship.

"Our clan is undergoing some changes in security measures," he told me. "Moreover, you don't look to be a scholar so I doubt it would be of much interest to you anyways. You are free, however, to spend however long you need at our outpost. It's just over that mountain."

"Sounds great! Just lead on." But also, wow! That was almost painless! Shame about not actually seeing the clan's lair, though. I bet there would have been tons of stuff just lying around for the taking. On the other hand, yikes, what if every other dragon there was a war veteran sitting on his laurels? It would have probably been exciting, at least.

The outpost was, well. It wasn't much to speak of, just a mostly empty cave with some crates and tables around. The company was much more interesting, a real mixed bunch: one of those funny looking bogsneaks, two skydancers, three imperials, one of the tiniest nocturnes I'd ever seen, and a ridgeback, plus that family of three. "Antares, who have you brought us this time?" The bogsneak asked the skydancer by my side.

"Just a traveler passing through," I said. "Nice to meet you."

Antares grunted. "Lost tourist."

"If you say so," the bogsneak said with a snort. "Haven't heard that one before. Going to be staying long?"

"Well, if that's what you want," I said, deciding to start laying on the charm. I mean, fine. She was in a full set of armor and carrying a cleaver but she also definitely seemed to have a sense of humor and that could only be a good thing.

"Depends if you're any good at stabbing things and not bleeding all over the place." She went back to talking to Antares. "Bryon's got the location of a necropolis that needs to be cleared out. If it's that bad, we'll have to call in for an exorcism. If it's not, we're supposed to smash all the undead we can find. The place wasn't a problem, apparently, until some group of treasure hunters set off the traps and ran. If he" -she meant me- "isn't gone by tomorrow, you're going to have to play babysitter until either we get back or he leaves."

"I've been in my fair share of fights before," I ventured. Sure, ran away from most of them but I was still technically there. Also, finally! Necropolis, tombs, graves, treasure. They seemed to be pretty skilled in breaking and entering so I should be able to snatch a thing or two. Or three or four.

She looked me over. "Got any magic?"

"Just a tiny bit," I said. Slight of hand, check.

"Weapons?"

"I prefer to improvise." Also true.

She sighed. I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes, too, but it was hard to tell. "Cordelia, get the kid a knife he can actually hold. We'll see what we can do with him."

I needed to help my case some more. "I'm really good at not bleeding all over the place," I said earnestly. "There's not enough blood in your body to fill a teacup," Cordelia said dryly. She did give me a perfectly nice dagger, though. "All right, we'll be leaving at dawn so let's just make sure you know how to stab to death stuff that's already dead."

Spoilers: it involved lots of learning how to carve the flesh off of dead people and breaking bones. The last part was a bit harder, seeing as almost everybody in that party was several times my size and were therefore way better at naturally knowing how to do that.

Because I maybe had a bit of a death wish, I asked her how I was doing.

In a tone of infinite boredom, Cordelia said, "Kid, I have seen hatchlings with better martial skills than you." Ouch. "When in doubt, just light it on fire. You can do that, can't you?"

Just for that burn, I went ahead and stole a pair of gloves and stockings while nobody was looking. They looked pretty thick and nonbreakable so I was sure they were good for something beyond just sitting there and being pretty. The next morning we were off, having left the family of three behind to do their flower picking or whatever. And then -there really wasn't much to say, actually. We flew for a very long time and then we stopped and hunted a bit so we wouldn't starve. Then back to flying. Hunting. Sleeping. Flying. Cordelia roped her friends into "training the new kid up so he'd be useful" despite the fact that I'm pretty sure I was older than most of them. It was during one of those ground times that I learned something very important - namely that one of these dragons A) had seen me steal on that first night, B) didn't care I was stealing from them, but C) was insulted by how I was stealing from them. "You're really not that great at making sure people aren't watching you," Sincere told me. Who had named him anyways? Did they know he was going to end up looking like a gangster? "You also didn't look twice at the stuff that was actually valuable. Good job on getting something that was but I saw that look on your face -you just went for the first thing you saw, I bet."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, because I was a self-respecting thief and that's what we did. I did let him tell about how to tell the difference between the really good stuff and their low-quality knock-offs, though, because that was just good sense.

When we actually got to the necropolis, I was the last one to know. The place was literally a hole in a ground and the moment we got in, it was scarily dark, with the sound of things moving in the distance.

The group's second in command, the pyromancer, set up the torch. And suddenly, we could see everything. More specifically, we could see a giant city of bones that were steadily coming to life. The corridor that we were staring down? Yeah, that was the throat of a massive imperial, far bigger than any of the three in our group.

The bogsneak Kindra, our fearless leader, didn't even hesitate. With a shout, she was immediately swinging her weapon down to that thing's empty belly, with the rest of the group close behind. I didn't really know what I was doing but I did know I didn't want to die in that monster's jaws so down the throat I went.

There was, apparently, a method for how they handled these situations once there was a bit of breathing room. First, they let their imperials fighters crash into everything and try to break it. Next, they let their sole mage, their third imperial, try to crush some bones with earth magic. The last part was where the rest of us came in, just dividing and ganging up on the smaller undead that kept trying to swarm the imperials. That's how I understood it, anyways. Just to be sure, I always kept next to somebody who seemed like they knew what they were doing. Never hurt to be safe, after all.

As we went deeper in, though, I still managed to get separated from the rest of the group when we all dodged this maze of thorns that suddenly appeared. Kindra called for everybody to start setting the place on fire. I saw the tiny nocturne dart above it all to try and find the mage responsible. I'm fantastic with finding things, however, so I naturally found them first.

"Two stories up, ugly fossil face to my left!" I called out. Which, okay, yeah. It got everybody`s attention.

Thorns whipped down on me in a frenzy and I leaped away, slashing randomly at stuff with my dagger. "Help would be great, by the way -ow!" The next thing I knew, my claws were empty and something really itchy in the painful way was spreading across my wings. I cursed a bit, just so the others knew I was still alive and not really impressed. The stuff started tearing at my arms and legs so I began to just punch it since I didn't have a weapon anymore. When I got the chance, I dove into a nearby room for some temporary shelter. Clawing the stuff off of my arms and legs, I remembered that stuff I had stolen earlier. Since it couldn't hurt anymore than not wearing it, I put them on and was relieved to see that I could start no-selling the thorns a bit. Since there wasn't much else I could do -not even run away!- I took some bones out of the walls and chucked them at the enemy mage above. I didn't think I'd ever been prouder than the moment when I actually nailed them in the head with somebody's femur.

Duck, throw, rinse, repeat. I did a lot of that for the rest of the fighting. It looked like the others were having the time of their lives, though. Somebody out there was actually laughing, the crazy old tundra.

I jumped back as something crashed through the ceiling, burning and screeching. Just out of reflex, I kicked it hard into the wall to get it away. Abruptly, it fell silent and so did everything else. Holy snap, I'd actually killed the mage! Before anybody else got there, I honored the proud tradition of killers everywhere and looted the body before everything of value could burn up. I had just managed to hide my prize as the others came stumbling in.

"Did you really just kill it?" Cordelia asked. Was it really that hard to believe?

"Of course!" I said, mostly managing not to be indignant because, wow! I actually did it! "Looks like it's one of those spells that only has one anchor," our mage said, peering at the corpse. "Whoever that was, destroying their body broke the rest of the enchantments around here. It should all be quiet now. Pity that the crown was incinerated, though. I would have liked to study it."

To that, I said absolutely nothing.

Cordelia looked at me suspiciously. "Hey, aren't those-"

I blinked guilelessly and raised my arms. "Oh, you mean the gloves? Sincere gave them to me earlier." Hey, if he hadn't reported me earlier, then he just as well did. "I hope you don't want them back seeing as, you know." They were kind of thorny now, and I wasn't entirely sure I could get them or the stockings off without a bit of work. "Kindra says to split up and comb over the area for any strays," an imperial said, nicely breaking into our conversation. She, in turn, was distracted by Bryon arguing that, no, there wouldn't be any strays, hadn't she just heard him? But blah blah paranoia and what about other independent blah blah magic.

I slipped away because, well, you heard the boss lady! With a prize already stowed in my pockets, I was motivated to find more valuables to bring home. Quickly, I made sure I was the first to reach where I had originally seen the mage shooting spells at us. Just next to it was a room with an opened stone casket, a shelf of dusty books, and a few chests lined up on the opposite wall. The casket was obviously empty and I wasn't going to waste time on paper so to the chests I went.

I took a little of the chests I could get open, a handful of yellow jewels here, a banner there, and a collar to match the crown. When that was all nicely hidden away, I shouted for the rest to come on up and see to the leftovers. All in all, though, I was feeling pretty good, even though it killed me that I couldn't have just taken all of the jewels in that one chest. From what I heard from Bryon and Seshat, the books were worth something but it sounded like they were obscure and boring and hard to sell. I guess that's just what scholarly types liked to fight about, though.

I was ready to bolt after that. I'd gotten what I'd come for, after all, and even if I didn't have my weight in gold, I did have a pretty awesome story to tell. Just up and leaving, apparently, wasn't what one did around these dragons. So I helped them with removing all of the valuables we had found -which was a lot, actually, so I lifted a few more jewels until I could practically feel my pockets bulging. Nobody seemed to notice, except Sincere who smirked at me annoyingly. I stayed with those dragons for one more night before hightailing it out of Dragonhome. They were an alright bunch and even all came out to give me a goodbye but Earth is one of the strangest places I've ever been and I can't really say I'm sorry that it's gone.

Plague Returned

Home at long last

Weary from his travels, the young Wildclaw was relieved to see the faint glow from within the brambles as he made his way to the entrance of his home. The cheer that arose when he entered the main all was deafening, and only grew louder when they noticed the curious outfit and bulging sack he carried behind him.

The rest of the evening was spent retelling the adventures he has been on. Many of the Impavi were disbelieving of his claims of secret cults and shape shifters all out the destroy the Deities, beautiful Faes who defy their mothers, how he helped save a clan leader from an assassination attempt and clans of nothing but Skydancers with beautiful flowers that they can preserve forever. As the tales went on and on, more dragons cried out that he should save the fairytales for Brastias.

That is......

Until he dumped his satchel out.

None could deny the magic radiating off the items he carried. A perfectly preserved corsage, an eerily glowing pendant and papers describing the Lyrens and their plot. Not to mention the thorns still wrapped around the flowing outfit he wore, tightening each time one of them would tug at them.

As the days went on, Caomhan proved just how much his time had changed him. Though his thievery was still sub-par, the reckless guile he carried when his would-be marks turned on him was far from the same attitude from before his travels. Laughing and dancing around his opponents in battle, a feat he never would have managed before, he'd gleefully shout taunts and mock their efforts. And, as is common amongst the Impavi, he spent much of his free time boasting,

'Why fear a sword when I was once cuddled by a rotting, rose covered Imperial.'

'You call that slinging spells? I've fought mages, er, a mage, far more proficient!'

'It's fine, Kasios, from my time on the infamous Dirge Rat, I've learned much of their language. Allow me to speak to the pirates.'

Needless to say, not all of his comments were proven correct...

To say the least, Sorneith carries more secrets than any of them had even imagined and Caomhan believes he's only scratched the surface of what lies beyond their caravan.

Murmurs begin between the Impavi, 'what else is out there?' they wonder.

There's only on way to find out.

#impavi #wildclaw #flightrising #flight rising #traveling dragon #caomhan

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megscommonplacebook · 6 years ago

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Abby Wambach: Barnard Commencement 2018

Here is the transcript:

Abby Wambach, Remarks as Delivered

Greetings to President Beilock, Barnard faculty, trustees, and honorees: Katherine Johnson, Anna Quindlen, and Rhea Suh.

And to each of the 619 bad-ass women of the Barnard graduating class of 2018: Congratulations!

Doesn’t it feel like the second you figure anything out in life, it ends and you’re forced to start all over again?

Experts call these times of life “transitions.” I call them terrifying.

I went through a terrifying transition recently when I retired from soccer.

The world tries to distract us from our fear during these transitions by creating fancy ceremonies for us. This graduation is your fancy ceremony. Mine was the ESPYs, a nationally televised sports award show. I had to get dressed up for that just like you got dressed up for this, but they sent me a really expensive fancy stylist. It doesn’t look like you all got one. Sorry about that.

So it went like this: ESPN called and told me they were going to honor me with their inaugural icon award. I was humbled, of course, to be regarded as an icon. Did I mention that I’m an icon?

I received my award along with two other incredible athletes: basketball’s Kobe Bryant and football’s Peyton Manning. We all stood on stage together and watched highlights of our careers with the cameras rolling and the fans cheering—and I looked around and had a moment of awe. I felt so grateful to be there—included in the company of Kobe and Peyton. I had a momentary feeling of having arrived: like we women had finally made it.

Then the applause ended and it was time for the three of us to exit stage left. And as I watched those men walk off the stage, it dawned on me that the three of us were stepping away into very different futures.

Each of us, Kobe, Peyton and I—we made the same sacrifices, we shed the same amount of blood sweat and tears, we’d left it all on the field for decades with the same ferocity, talent and commitment—but our retirements wouldn’t be the same at all. Because Kobe and Peyton walked away from their careers with something I didn’t have: enormous bank accounts. Because of that they had something else I didn’t have: freedom. Their hustling days were over; mine were just beginning.

Later that night, back in my hotel room, I laid in bed and thought: this isn’t just about me, and this isn’t just about soccer.

We talk a lot about the pay gap. We talk about how we U.S. women overall still earn only 80 cents on the dollar compared to men, and black women make only 63 cents, while Latinas make 54 cents. What we need to talk about more is the aggregate and compounding effects of the pay gap on women’s lives. Over time, the pay gap means women are able to invest less and save less so they have to work longer. When we talk about what the pay gap costs us, let's be clear. It costs us our very lives.

And it hit me that I’d spent most of my time during my career the same way I'd spent my time on that ESPYs stage. Just feeling grateful. Grateful to be one of the only women to have a seat at the table. I was so grateful to receive any respect at all for myself that I often missed opportunities to demand equality for all of us.

But as you know, women of Barnard—CHANGE. IS. HERE.

Women have learned that we can be grateful for what we have while also demanding what we deserve.

Like all little girls, I was taught to be grateful. I was taught to keep my head down, stay on the path, and get my job done. I was freaking Little Red Riding Hood.

You know the fairy tale: It’s just one iteration of the warning stories girls are told the world over. Little Red Riding Hood heads off through the woods and is given strict instructions: Stay on the path. Don’t talk to anybody. Keep your head down hidden underneath your Handmaid’s Tale cape.

And she does… at first. But then she dares to get a little curious and she ventures off the path. That’s of course when she encounters the Big Bad Wolf and all hell breaks loose. The message is clear: Don’t be curious, don’t make trouble, don’t say too much or BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

I stayed on the path out of fear, not of being eaten by a wolf, but of being cut, being benched, losing my paycheck.

If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing it would be this:

“Abby, you were never Little Red Riding Hood; you were always the wolf.”

So when I was entrusted with the honor of speaking here today, I decided that the most important thing for me to say to you is this:

BARNARD WOMEN—CLASS OF 2018—WE. ARE. THE. WOLVES.

In 1995, around the year of your birth, wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone National Park after being absent for seventy years.

In those years, the number of deer had skyrocketed because they were unchallenged, alone at the top of the food chain. They grazed away and reduced the vegetation, so much that the river banks were eroding.

Once the wolves arrived, they thinned out the deer through hunting. But more significantly, their presence changed the behavior of the deer. Wisely, the deer started avoiding the valleys, and the vegetation in those places regenerated. Trees quintupled in just six years. Birds and beavers started moving in. The river dams the beavers built provided habitats for otters and ducks and fish. The animal ecosystem regenerated. But that wasn’t all. The rivers actually changed as well. The plant regeneration stabilized the river banks so they stopped collapsing. The rivers steadied—all because of the wolves’ presence.

See what happened here?

The wolves, who were feared as a threat to the system, turned out to be its salvation.

Barnard women, are you picking up what I’m laying down here?

Women are feared as a threat to our system—and we will also be our society’s salvation.

Our landscape is overrun with archaic ways of thinking about women, about people of color, about the “other,” about the rich and the poor, about the the powerful and the powerless—and these ways of thinking are destroying us.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We will not Little Red Riding Hood our way through life. We will unite our pack, storm the valley together and change the whole bloody system.

Throughout my life, my pack has been my team.

Teams need a unifying structure, and the best way to create one collective heartbeat is to establish rules for your team to live by. It doesn’t matter what specific page you’re all on, just as long as you’re all on the same one.

Here are four rules I’ve used to unite my pack and lead them to gold.

Rule One: MAKE FAILURE YOUR FUEL

Here’s something the best athletes understand, but seems like a hard concept for non-athletes to grasp. Non-athletes don’t know what to do with the gift of failure. So they hide it, pretend it never happened, reject it outright—and they end up wasting it.

Listen: Failure is not something to be ashamed of, it's something to be POWERED by. Failure is the highest octane fuel your life can run on. You gotta learn to make failure your fuel.

When I was on the Youth National Team, only dreaming of playing alongside Mia Hamm. You know her? Good. I had the opportunity to visit the National Team’s locker room. The thing that struck me most wasn’t my heroes' grass-stained cleats or their names and numbers hanging above their lockers—it was a picture. It was a picture that someone had taped next to the door so that It would be the last thing every player saw before she headed out to the training pitch.

You might guess it was a picture of their last big win, of them standing on a podium accepting gold medals—but it wasn’t. It was a picture of their longtime rival—the Norwegian national team—celebrating after having just beaten the USA in the 1995 World Cup.

In that locker room, I learned that in order to become my very best—on the pitch and off—I’d need to spend my life letting the feelings and lessons of failure transform into my power. Failure is fuel. Fuel is power.

Women, listen to me. We must embrace failure as our fuel instead of accepting it as our destruction.

As Michelle Obama recently said: "I wish that girls could fail as well as men do and be okay. Because let me tell you watching men fail up—it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to see men blow it and win. And we hold ourselves to these crazy, crazy standards."

Wolf Pack: Fail up. Blow it, and win.

Rule Two: LEAD FROM THE BENCH

Imagine this: You’ve scored more goals than any human being on the planet—female or male. You’ve co-captained and led Team USA in almost every category for the past decade. And you and your coach sit down and decide together that you won’t be a starter in your last World Cup for Team USA.

So… that sucked.

You’ll feel benched sometimes, too. You’ll be passed over for the promotion, taken off the project—you might even find yourself holding a baby instead of a briefcase—watching your colleagues “get ahead.”

Here’s what’s important. You are allowed to be disappointed when it feels like life’s benched you. What you aren’t allowed to do is miss your opportunity to lead from the bench.

During that last World Cup, my teammates told me that my presence, my support, my vocal and relentless belief in them from the bench is what gave them the confidence they needed to win us that championship.

If you’re not a leader on the bench, don’t call yourself a leader on the field. You’re either a leader everywhere or nowhere.

And by the way: the fiercest leading I’ve ever seen has been done between mother and child. Parenting is no bench. It just might be the big game.

Wolf Pack: Wherever you’re put, lead from there.

Rule Three: CHAMPION EACH OTHER

During every 90-minute soccer match there are a few magical moments when the ball actually hits the back of the net and a goal is scored. When this happens, it means that everything has come together perfectly—the perfect pass, the perfectly timed run, every player in the right place at exactly the right time: all of this culminating in a moment in which one player scores that goal.

What happens next on the field is what transforms a bunch of individual women into a team. Teammates from all over the field rush toward the goal scorer. It appears that we’re celebrating her: but what we’re REALLY celebrating is every player, every coach, every practice, every sprint, every doubt, and every failure that this one single goal represents.

You will not always be the goal scorer. And when you are not—you better be rushing toward her.

Women must champion each other. This can be difficult for us. Women have been pitted against each other since the beginning of time for that one seat at the table. Scarcity has been planted inside of us and among us. This scarcity is not our fault. But it is our problem. And it is within our power to create abundance for women where scarcity used to live.

As you go out into the world: Amplify each others’ voices. Demand seats for women, people of color and all marginalized people at every table where decisions are made. Call out each other’s wins and just like we do on the field: claim the success of one woman, as a collective success for all women.

Joy. Success. Power. These are not pies where a bigger slice for her means a smaller slice for you. These are infinite. In any revolution, the way to make something true starts with believing it is. Let’s claim infinite joy, success, and power—together.

Wolf Pack: Her Victory is your Victory. Celebrate it.

Rule Four: DEMAND THE BALL

When I was a teenager, I was lucky enough to play with one of my heroes, Michelle Akers. She needed a place to train since there was not yet a women’s professional league. Michelle was tall like I am, built like I’d be built, and the most courageous soccer player I’d ever seen play. She personified every one of my dreams.

We were playing a small sided scrimmage—5 against 5. We were eighteen-year-olds and she was—Michelle Akers—a chiseled, thirty-year-old powerhouse. For the first three quarters of the game, she was taking it easy on us, coaching us, teaching us about spacing, timing and the tactics of the game.

By the fourth quarter, she realized that because of all of this coaching, her team was losing by three goals. In that moment, a light switched on inside of her.

She ran back to her own goalkeeper, stood one yard away from her, and screamed:

GIVE. ME. THE. EFFING. BALL.

And the goalkeeper gave her the effing ball.

And she took that ball and she dribbled through our entire effing team and she scored.

Now this game was winner’s keepers, so if you scored you got the ball back. So, as soon as Michelle scored, she ran back to her goalie, stood a yard away from her and screamed:

GIVE ME THE BALL.

The keeper did. And again she dribbled though us and scored. And then she did it again. And she took her team to victory.

Michelle Akers knew what her team needed from her at every moment of that game.

Don't forget that until the fourth quarter, leadership had required Michelle to help, support, and teach, but eventually leadership called her to demand the ball.

Women. At this moment in history leadership is calling us to say:

GIVE ME THE EFFING BALL.

GIVE ME THE EFFING JOB.

GIVE ME THE SAME PAY THAT THE GUY NEXT TO ME GETS.

GIVE ME THE PROMOTION.

GIVE ME THE MICROPHONE.

GIVE ME THE OVAL OFFICE.

GIVE ME THE RESPECT I’VE EARNED AND GIVE IT TO MY WOLF PACK TOO.

In closing, I want to leave you with the most important thing I’ve learned since leaving soccer.

When I retired, my sponsor Gatorade surprised me at a meeting with the plan for my send-off commercial. The message was this: Forget Me.

They’d nailed it. They knew I wanted my legacy to be ensuring the future success of the sport I’d dedicated my life to. If my name were forgotten, that would mean that the women who came behind me were breaking records, winning championships and pushing the game to new heights. When I shot that commercial I cried.

A year later, I found myself coaching my ten-year old daughter’s soccer team. I’d coached them all the way to the championship. (#Humblebrag.) One day I was warming the team up, doing a little shooting drill. I was telling them a story about when I retired. And one of those little girls looked up at me and said: “So what did you retire from?” And I looked down at her and I said, “SOCCER.” And she said, “Oh. Who did you play for?” And I said, “THE. UNITED. STATES. OF. AMERICA.” And she said, “Oh. Does that mean you know Alex Morgan?”

Be careful what you wish for, Barnard. They forgot me.

But that’s okay. Being forgotten in my retirement didn’t scare me. What scared me was losing the identity the game gave me. I defined myself as Abby Wambach, soccer player—the one who showed up and gave 100 percent to my team and fought alongside my wolf pack to make a better future for the next generation.

Without soccer who would I be?

A few months after retirement, I began creating my new life. I met Glennon and our three children and I became a wife, a mother, a business owner and an activist.

And you know who I am now? I’m still the same Abby. I still show up and give 100 percent—now to my new pack—and I still fight every day to make a better future for the next generation.

You see, soccer didn’t make me who I was. I brought who I was to soccer, and I get to bring who I am wherever I go. And guess what? So do you.

As you leave here today and everyday going forward: Don’t just ask yourself, “What do I want to do?” Ask yourself: “WHO do I want to be?” Because the most important thing I've learned is that what you do will never define you. Who you are always will.

And who you are—Barnard women—are the wolves.

Surrounding you today is your wolf pack. Look around.

Don’t lose each other.

Leave these sacred grounds united, storm the valleys together, and be our salvation.

0 notes

wtfwid-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Olympian Abby Wambach’s Barnard College Graduation Speech Transcript

Greetings to President Beilock, Barnard faculty, trustees, and honorees: Katherine Johnson, Anna Quindlen, and Rhea Suh.

And to each of the 619 bad-ass women of the Barnard graduating class of 2018: Congratulations!

Doesn’t it feel like the second you figure anything out in life, it ends and you’re forced to start all over again?

Experts call these times of life “transitions.” I call them terrifying.

I went through a terrifying transition recently when I retired from soccer.

So it went like this: ESPN called and told me they were going to honor me with their inaugural icon award. I was humbled, of course, to be regarded as an icon. Did I mention that I’m an icon?

Later that night, back in my hotel room, I laid in bed and thought: this isn’t just about me, and this isn’t just about soccer.

But as you know, women of Barnard—CHANGE. IS. HERE.

Women have learned that we can be grateful for what we have while also demanding what we deserve.

Like all little girls, I was taught to be grateful. I was taught to keep my head down, stay on the path, and get my job done. I was freaking Little Red Riding Hood.

I stayed on the path out of fear, not of being eaten by a wolf, but of being cut, being benched, losing my paycheck.

If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing it would be this:

“Abby, you were never Little Red Riding Hood; you were always the wolf.”

So when I was entrusted with the honor of speaking here today, I decided that the most important thing for me to say to you is this:

BARNARD WOMEN—CLASS OF 2018—WE. ARE. THE. WOLVES.

In 1995, around the year of your birth, wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone National Park after being absent for seventy years.

See what happened here?

The wolves, who were feared as a threat to the system, turned out to be its salvation.

Barnard women, are you picking up what I’m laying down here?

Women are feared as a threat to our system—and we will also be our society’s salvation.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We will not Little Red Riding Hood our way through life. We will unite our pack, storm the valley together and change the whole bloody system.

Throughout my life, my pack has been my team.

Here are four rules I’ve used to unite my pack and lead them to gold.

Rule One: MAKE FAILURE YOUR FUEL

Listen: Failure is not something to be ashamed of, it's something to be POWERED by. Failure is the highest octane fuel your life can run on. You gotta learn to make failure your fuel.

Women, listen to me. We must embrace failure as our fuel instead of accepting it as our destruction.

Wolf Pack: Fail up. Blow it, and win.

Rule Two: LEAD FROM THE BENCH

So… that sucked.

Here’s what’s important. You are allowed to be disappointed when it feels like life’s benched you. What you aren’t allowed to do is miss your opportunity to lead from the bench.

If you’re not a leader on the bench, don’t call yourself a leader on the field. You’re either a leader everywhere or nowhere.

And by the way: the fiercest leading I’ve ever seen has been done between mother and child. Parenting is no bench. It just might be the big game.

Wolf Pack: Wherever you’re put, lead from there.

Rule Three: CHAMPION EACH OTHER

You will not always be the goal scorer. And when you are not—you better be rushing toward her.

Wolf Pack: Her Victory is your Victory. Celebrate it.

Rule Four: DEMAND THE BALL

By the fourth quarter, she realized that because of all of this coaching, her team was losing by three goals. In that moment, a light switched on inside of her.

She ran back to her own goalkeeper, stood one yard away from her, and screamed:

GIVE. ME. THE. EFFING. BALL.

And the goalkeeper gave her the effing ball.

And she took that ball and she dribbled through our entire effing team and she scored.

Now this game was winner’s keepers, so if you scored you got the ball back. So, as soon as Michelle scored, she ran back to her goalie, stood a yard away from her and screamed:

GIVE ME THE BALL.

The keeper did. And again she dribbled though us and scored. And then she did it again. And she took her team to victory.

Michelle Akers knew what her team needed from her at every moment of that game.

Don't forget that until the fourth quarter, leadership had required Michelle to help, support, and teach, but eventually leadership called her to demand the ball.

Women. At this moment in history leadership is calling us to say:

GIVE ME THE EFFING BALL.

GIVE ME THE EFFING JOB.

GIVE ME THE SAME PAY THAT THE GUY NEXT TO ME GETS.

GIVE ME THE PROMOTION.

GIVE ME THE MICROPHONE.

GIVE ME THE OVAL OFFICE.

GIVE ME THE RESPECT I’VE EARNED AND GIVE IT TO MY WOLF PACK TOO.

In closing, I want to leave you with the most important thing I’ve learned since leaving soccer.

When I retired, my sponsor Gatorade surprised me at a meeting with the plan for my send-off commercial. The message was this: Forget Me.

Be careful what you wish for, Barnard. They forgot me.

Without soccer who would I be?

A few months after retirement, I began creating my new life. I met Glennon and our three children and I became a wife, a mother, a business owner and an activist.

And you know who I am now? I’m still the same Abby. I still show up and give 100 percent—now to my new pack—and I still fight every day to make a better future for the next generation.

You see, soccer didn’t make me who I was. I brought who I was to soccer, and I get to bring who I am wherever I go. And guess what? So do you.

And who you are—Barnard women—are the wolves.

Surrounding you today is your wolf pack. Look around.

Don’t lose each other.

Leave these sacred grounds united, storm the valleys together, and be our salvation.

#inspirational #olympian #abby wambach #soccer #female #athlete #speech #graduation #barnard college #2018

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fictionchronicler-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Villain Moms!

Destroying Children’s Happiness Since Ancient Greece

NOTE: None of the illustrations or gifs belong to me.

Let's take two fairy tales, shall we? Seems innocent enough. We'll do Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. Both about kids in the woods who meet strangers who intend on eating them. Great fare for kids, right? Bruno Bettleheim did this in his book The Uses of Enchantment, but I'm going to make his point shorter—what is the best part of Little Red Riding Hood?

“When she gets in there and confuses her granny with a wolf in drag.”

Crude, but correct. Everyone LOVES the “what big teeth you have” reveal. There is an element of fun to the Wolf. He's enjoyable...as he's preying on a small child. Kids lean forward and start smiling when Red enters the house and isn't quite sure of what she's seeing. It's naughty fun that ultimately gets punished anyway, so why not indulge a little?

Now, what is the best part of Hansel and Gretel?

“........when Gretel shoves the Witch into the oven?”

“Of all the days I lent my gun to the witch two forests over.”

Yeah, kids cheer when the Witch meets her demise. Meeting her is not fun; it's scary. The kids realizing the stranger with candy is luring them into a trap isn't fun; Hansel's shoved in a cage to be fattened up while Gretel is freakin' enslaved! Look at the painting, for goodness sake! The candy exterior looks more and more like human heads as you get closer to the Witch! Human heads!

“What's your point? You've told us over and over again fairy tales are darker than people think.”

Yes, but what's the real difference between the villains here? The Wolf uses trickery and seduction (of a kind) to get what he wants, but we find him charming and fun to the point that a small part of us wants him to win. The Witch uses trickery and seduction (of a gluttonous kind) to get what she wants and we are relieved when the old lady is burned alive in her own oven. I submit to you my thesis—women are scarier than men, and therefore, the scariest woman of all is your mother.

Fiction is full of horrible parents, fathers and mothers, but there is something about the latter that truly makes us afraid rather than thrilled. Why?

DISCLAIMER: There will be spoilers.

Pioneers of Evil

Medea: I’ve been working on this one-liner all day! (clears throat) Now YOU clean up that mess!

In the Greek play Medea, the eponymous character is a witch from a far-off land who helped Jason and the Argonauts obtain the Golden Fleece. It was a Happily Ever After moment when she left her crazy family and went off with a hero right up there with Theseus and Perseus. The playwright Euripides, though, decided there wasn't enough angst and fan-fictioned a sequel where Jason leaves Medea to marry a princess. Medea's idea of punishing Jason? Killing their two sons. Heinous, yes, but she's portrayed as a tragic figure, kind of like a female King Lear.

There is an assumption that parents are predisposed to love their children above all else, but sadly, this just isn't true. In 70% of cases where a child is killed by one of his/her parents, it's the mother. Neglect was the main type of abuse in 66% of cases involving a female caregiver vs. 36% of cases involving a male caregiver. However, it's important to note that women still spend way more time with kids than men do, and when a man is charged with violence against a child, it's very likely the woman in the household is charged, too, not to mention that in cases of murder/suicides in the same household, males are the perpetrators 90% of the time.

Depressing subject matter today.

So is there a precedent for bad moms getting more attention than bad dads? Well, in classic literature, right before the Trojan War started, the Greek king Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to the gods in hopes they would give him fair winds on the way to Troy. His wife, Clytemnestra, was understandably outraged, and when her husband came home from war, she and her lover killed him. But Clytemnestra is remembered not for being an avenging mother, but for being a cheating wife and a scheming queen who is pursued by Orestes in another play to avenge his father's death. Ah, Greek mythology—the only soap opera people will think you're smart for following.

“Can't you talk about something a little lighter?”

Okay. Let's talk about Snow White.

“Shit.”

“I thought they kept you around to keep this place clean?”

In the first edition of the Brothers Grimm collection, the Evil Queen is Snow White's mother, not a stepmother. Jealous of her daughter's youth and beauty, she takes her out to pick flowers and abandons her there. From that point on, the tale is all about the Queen having the determination of the Terminator in that she tries to kill Snow with a really tightly laced corset, a poisoned comb, and then a poisoned apple. This queen also didn't have a magic mirror, but talks with the sun itself about who the fairest is, and suns don't lie. The Grimms censored the peasant stories they collected, though, and decided by the next edition that it would be “better” if this was a stepmother going after Snow White and she outsourced the first murder attempt to a Huntsman who would ultimately chicken out.

We'll get to stepmothers later, but isn't it telling that we remember the female fairy tale villains more than the male ones? The stories in the Grimms' Children's and Household Tales have more than their fair share of bad dads, ones who gamble with their daughters' lives (and sometimes their souls), ones who are so financially irresponsible their sons are left with no inheritance, ones who imprison their kids in towers, and even ones that want to bed their own daughter. But we remember the scary moms the most.

“Who's telling these stories???”

Well, moms. And grandmas. The Grimms didn't invent these stories; women did, peasant women who had a ton of work to do and had to 1.) make sure their kids didn't go into the woods, and 2.) make sure their kids appreciated them so they would do what they were told and, again, wouldn't go into the woods. In this time, mothers dying was common. Dads remarrying was common. These stories where a mother is absent sent a subtle message to the listeners that a woman's life was hard. Elderly women were valued even less because they were past childbearing years, so all those stories where a seemingly inconsequential old beggar woman turns out to be a powerful fairy or benevolent fairy godmother? Self-promotion. When kids are running for their lives in the woods and find a gingerbread house in the middle of nowhere, maybe the kid listening to the story starts to feel a little sorry for these kids, huh? These poor, abandoned little idiots who didn't have a mother to tell them this is definitely not a good idea, huh?

So we definitely pay more attention to the evil mothers because they terrify us and moms know and exploit this. Hmm.

When Stepmothers Ruin Lives

Eat your heart out, Maleficent.

Beetlejuice, Labyrinth, Enchanted, Sleepy Hollow, The Parent Trap, Double Indemnity, The Ramayana, and even The Tale of Genji, the world's oldest surviving book, all have evil stepmothers in them. The oldest ballads from England are crawling with them, and the Hansel and Gretel story actually has one, the woodcutter's wife (sometimes the biological mother) whose idea of saving money is to leave the kids to die in the woods.

By far, the most famous wicked stepmother would have to be Cinderella's, in every incarnation of the story. The Disney version makes it a point to tell us that the father has died, leaving a very young Cinderella in the care of a woman whose “true nature was revealed—cold, cruel, and bitterly jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty.” But many versions don't tell us the father's fate; he's just that unimportant to this story about one woman oppressing another.

No matter what personality your main character has or what they go through, most protagonists have to strike out on their own and become independent, self-actualized people, and it's a lot easier to do that if there isn't much tying them to home and childhood. As fairy tales moved up the social ladder into the salons, so did the role of a stepmother. A peasant man might remarry for love, and a stepmother's role would be to continue having children and raise the ones that are already there. So whether they loved her or hated her, the stepmother was a big part of the kids' lives. An aristocratic stepmother, however, might spend more time as a wife and being the lady of the house than being a nurturer, so it would be easier for the kids to hate her and see her as something a little more demonic. In “The Juniper Tree,” the stepmother straight-up DECAPITATES her stepson and pins the blame on her own daughter. The Russian fairy tale “Vasilissa the Beautiful” has a girl in such dreadful Cinderella circumstances that she is sent by her stepmother to Baba Yaga, an old Russian bogeyman sort. The tale “Brother and Sister” has siblings fleeing their abusive witch of a stepmother who turns the boy into a deer and almost succeeds in killing the sister.

Do stepmothers have it out for their stepchildren? As of 2011, 4 out of 10 Americans have at least one step-relative. However, stepfathers are more likely to be violent toward the kids than stepmothers. Kids are more likely to be killed by non-family members than by their stepmothers. The most common “motives” for these adults killing their children are anger/revenge (40%) and substance abuse (36%), which seems to indicate that these are heat-of-the-moment crimes of passion rather than some calculating sociopath moving in and eliminating the kids so they can have Dad all to themselves or something like that. The supposed “Cinderella Effect,” which claimed that children with a step-relative were about 40 times more likely to be murdered, has a lot of attributing factors and there may have been some biases with the studies.

“Are the toys further down in the chest, Stepmother? To the side of this painted target?”

So it seems that a relatively non-violent member of a family is singled out, creating a disproportionate number of stories where the stepmother is almost always the bad guy, but the stepfather only sometimes is. Well, this does kind of make sense. The stories, while dark, were cautionary tales to be told to children, and children usually spend more time with their mothers/stepmothers/grandmothers than the male members of the family, so yeah, spending the day with the crazy woman trying to kill them would be scarier than spending an hour in the evening with the crazy guy who only might want to kill them.

When the Bad Moms Run Amok

Literature was racking up the evil mother/stepmother points, reveling in evil, scary women who were charged with looking after children. Jane Eyre starts the book out living with her aunt who verbally and physically abuses her, but spoils her two biological daughters. James of Giant Peach fame lives with two evil aunts. Harry Potter's mother figure is abusive and neglectful to him, as is Fanny Price's guardian, and even Shakespeare has gotten in on the act with Tamora in Titus Andronicus.

In most of these stories, we see the mother from the perspective of a child. Neil Gaiman's Coraline is one of the most blatant examples and one of the most realistic ones. In his story, neither Coraline nor her mother are perfect. Coraline has bratty tendencies, and her mother can be distant and overworked. Mrs. Jones in the film doesn't smile all that much, can be a bit snarky, and since she's in a neck brace after a car accident, she's not always in that great a mood.

She's a bit short with her daughter, but she is doing her best, and the movie (gentler with the characters than the book) implies that it isn't always this way, just when her parents are approaching deadlines. However, this deadline is right at the time they have moved, so Coraline feels especially uprooted. Without going into too many details, Coraline discovers a world parallel to hers where she has “Other Mother,” a mother who is consistently sweet, pleasant, cooks for her, plays games with her, and gives her whatever she wants.

She has chickens for hands! Run for your lives!

Those of you who are genre-savvy may be able to see where this is going, but Coraline has a unique distinction of being a story that frightens adults more than kids. Adults often find its imagery and story details disturbing, but it strikes a nerve with younger readers/viewers and everyone gets creeped out. Win-win.

But Coraline also has issues with her father, who is also overworked. Charlie Jones may be a little friendlier than his wife, but Gaiman describes him as one of those dads who thinks by embarrassing their kids that he's being cool and the voice actor describes him as a guy who would swerve to avoid slipping on a banana peel only to fall into a manhole. A bit bumbling, doesn't cook all that well, and is apparently so busy he can't even shave. But Other Father, well.......without giving anything away, Other Mother is the one you need to watch out for.

Many mothers feel that they do less than their own mothers did, many stay-at-home mothers feeling pressure to be good mothers because they feel that's all they have to contribute, going so far as to feel guilty for asking their husbands for help with chores. Most men today, on the other hand, feel they do more than their fathers did, and don't have the same intensity of inadequacy feelings that mothers do. The amount of negative emotions women feel increases after they have children, especially in the years when the children are under 3. It's all very selective, too. When you ask a mom if she likes spending time with her kids, she says yes, remembering fun activities like playing at a park with them or reading books to them. But when asked to recall their day, the moms remember all the time spent getting the kids to do this or that, breaking up the fights, yelling to get things done, and disciplining when the children disobey.

“All this sounds normal.”

It is. But we're conditioned to feel that it isn't.

To be absolutely fair, Barbara Billingsley said she wore pearls to hide a shadow created by the hollow of her neck, and her high heels were to appear taller than the actors playing her sons as they grew older. And who WOULDN’T want what’s in this pitcher?

Leave it to Beaver's June Cleaver is usually held up as the ideal mother, up at the crack of dawn making a hot breakfast for her family every day, vacuuming and doing dishes in pearls, and having a house so spotless it looked like a prop man came in and cleaned between scenes. However, she was often snarky and witty, told her sexist boys that girls have just as much ambition as boys do, and was always wise to Eddie Haskell. Her relationship with Ward is also more nuanced than pop culture believes. The two of them traded good-natured barbs, discussed parenting like partners, and when she deferred to him for disciplinary actions, it was usually so she would look like the nicer parent.

But unfortunately, the show was about creating an image. What people took away was that this woman didn't have interesting story lines like her kids did, and she wasn't as prominent an authority figure in their lives as their father was. The house WAS spotless all the time, whether the prop man did it or not. She WAS up early doing chores in fancy dresses and made it look easy, and we're taught at a young age that these chores are supposed to be fun. I'm all for making work fun and kids learning young that work has to get done whether you like it or not, but you don't see toy washing machines marketed toward little boys all that much. We are bombarded with images of moms doing housework HAPPILY and all conflicts with kids being resolved QUICKLY and rather PAINLESSLY.

Today's mother get bombarded with images of super, idealistic parenting, too. The internet and social media have photos of DIY projects that create more storage in kids' rooms, art and cooking projects you can do with your kids for cheap-but-meaningful quality time. We are one click away from looking at summarized studies that tell you how much screen time your kids should have, how much time outdoors they should spend (but with sunscreen, anti-bacterial wipes, and bottled water handy at ALL times), what you should and shouldn't say when a pet or Grandma dies, etc. When in the past, moms had their moms and the occasional parenting book, we have advice EVERYWHERE, so the pressure to succeed is heightened, but the definition of success has expanded. What do you mean your kid isn't an athletic, musically inclined, chess expert who reads Proust and is in the above-average math class and spends Saturdays volunteering at a soup kitchen? Don't you want them to have high self-esteem?

Bad Moms Make Better Protagonists

We tend to forget Scarlett O’Hara is a mom.

I know, right? How did we forget that?

We usually find stories where characters don't get along more interesting than ones where they do. In the book, Scarlett has three kids by three different fathers—Wade by Charles Hamilton, Ella by Frank Kennedy, and Bonnie by Rhett. And she's terrible to all of them. Not because she has postpartum depression or anything like that. She's just not interested in them. Wade is so neglected it's easy to forget he's in the book at all, and Ella may or may not be a victim of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as all we're really told about her is that she's ugly. Bonnie's rather doted upon, but Rhett spoils her rotten, perhaps to compensate. Anyway, they suffer for their bad parenting when Bonnie dies and Scarlett is pretty distraught. Not anywhere near Rhett's suicidal level, but distraught. Like a grieving mother would be. The movie probably thought Scarlett would be more sympathetic if Bonnie was her only child, what with that Hays Code demanding bad behavior be punished, and bad mothering is bad behavior.

It's even easier to forget that Daisy Buchannon from The Great Gatsby and Emma Bovary from Madame Bovary are mothers because they're just so inattentive. Their kids just don't show up on their radar.

Alfred Hitchcock managed to create a protagonist/antagonist out of a mother that was already dead when he directed Psycho. No small feat. There are previous films where his characters had severe mother issues like Strangers on a Train, and even Cary Grant's mom in North by Northwest is kind of awful (and only like 6 years older than him), but Psycho brought mommy issues to the forefront in the form of Norman Bates, a mild-mannered, sweet guy who has the burden of caring for an invalid mother and a dying motel business all by himself.

Norman: Ignore the eerie mist and creepy house on the hill. I ate the last guest, so I'm too full to eat you! Ha ha, this is a joke I have made. Welcome to the Bates Motel!

I may be the only critical movie watcher who likes the psychologist's summing up scene near the end of the movie. Most find it stops the movie dead and takes away from the atmosphere, but I don't think it's that bad. For one, it clarifies that the Mother personality Norman has is kind of his own problem. Yeah, it's hinted that Mother was pretty bad, but all we have to go on is Norman's perspective. The psychologist says that while Norman was jealous and clingy of his mother, he also believed she was jealous of him. That's why “she” kills women he takes sexual interest in. It shuts down the idea that Mother was a complete monster and Norman was a nice guy. That's only partly true. It also differentiates between one of Norman's personalities being female and your garden variety transvestite, making it a point to say that Norman is not getting any sexual kicks out of wearing his mother's clothes, and that the men who do aren't typically violent or dangerous in any way. The real Mother may have been abusive and a master manipulator (“I'm not even going to swat that fly”), but Norman's perception of her that hasn't changed since he was a child makes her larger than life, an almost supernatural villain whose sole purpose is to make life difficult for her son.

Never mind the fact that Norman himself killed her because she had a boyfriend.

The bad mother isn't usually just a part of back story. She is usually an active player in the present-time plot of a story. Margaret White in Carrie, for example, is sort of responsible for the entire plot as it's implied that Carrie wouldn't have developed her powers if she hadn't suffered her mother's abuse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12wHDwNXBL0 --Behold, the day Carrie got her first period.

Religious maniacs as villains weren't anything new when Stephen King wrote the story, and I'll be very quick to point out that King doesn't seem to put that much thought into his characters (an alcoholic from Maine who has problems! Genius!), but Margaret is one of his better crafted ones, and director Brian DePalma knew exactly how to make the most of the late Piper Laurie's acting abilities. We meet her as a reasonably pretty, pleasant woman except that it's the 70s and she's wearing something that looks more like a witch's cape. She has scenes where she does neutral-to-positive things with Carrie like share a piece of cake with her, and she seems protective of her in not wanting her to go to the prom....only shouting that everyone will laugh at her and calling her breasts “dirty pillows” may not be the best way to go about things. I'm not going to lie: her very vivid and explicit death at the end is very satisfying.

It's the blatant disregard for their children's mental health as well as physical that makes for some top-notch villains, like Eleanor Iselin from The Manchurian Candidate who is totally okay with her son being a brainwashed assassin and seems to harbor incestuous feelings for him.

“Tell me more about my randy younger days!”

Even sitcoms cash in on this frequently, softening the bad mother only to the point where she is slightly smothering. The overbearing mother can be both a villainous and sympathetic role to play, which is probably very rewarding for a talented actress. Take Doris Roberts' portrayal of Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond, a woman who has an obvious favorite child, has no sense of boundaries with either of her kids, constantly fights with her husband, and belittles her daughter-in-law whenever she gets the chance. But she can be surprisingly sympathetic, as the show explores when she has to deal with one son having a dangerous job, a history of an insensitive husband, and just the overall sorrows motherhood brings.

The Ultimate Scare Factor

Poor Joan just couldn’t NOT be insane ever.

In 1978, Christina Crawford wrote a tell-all about her adoptive mother, famed actress Joan Crawford...and almost single-handedly destroyed her reputation. Some found it to be revenge since Christina Crawford was cut out of her mother's will, whereas others believe every word of it. Bob Hope, Cesar Romero, Barbara Stanwyck, and even Crawford's first husband say they never saw anything that would lead them to believe the events in the tell-all were true, but Helen Hayes, June Allyson, Betty Hutton, and Christina's brother Christopher all have said they'd witnessed abusive behaviors. The movie based on the book, Mommy Dearest, is now seen as an unintentional comedy due to Faye Dunaway's performance, but Joan Crawford (and Faye Dunaway) were never looked at the same way again.

It may seem obvious now that a celebrity in the 50s wouldn't be all that he/she seemed, but this was the first expose of this kind, and it was considered pretty shocking. Here it is half a century later and the likes of Andrea Yates and Casey Anthony are household names. It still shocks us when a mother is bad to the point of murder. And it should.

That's why mothers as villains are more terrifying than fathers as villains—it's more shocking.

Motherhood is still romanticized and yet heavily scrutinized, which means moms have to walk a very thin line. A 2014 study looked at 125 articles by mental health professionals in scholarly journals and found that mothers were blamed for 72 different kinds of problems in their children, everything from bed-wetting to schizophrenia. People point out that women are still more likely to take kids to doctors and therapists more than men, so it's easier to blame the mother when something is wrong. You have a face. Most parenting books recommend mothers limit their time with their children to avoid smothering them and/or forgetting about their individual needs, but dads are encouraged to spend as much time as possible with their kids.

The result of this is that stressed mothers tend to withdraw even more from their children. We don't want to be the crazy murderous moms in fiction, so we avoid that. But let's learn from these bad moms. Were there common factors?

“Mental illness = Villainy.”

Well......yes. Film especially sees mental illness as its own villain cornucopia. But another one may be lack of a support system. Carrie's mother is all alone and seems to have a bad history with Carrie's father. Scarlett has a lot of people in her social circle, but she ends up being stuck taking care of most of them, and even the person at Tara she was closest to, Melanie, has a skewed idea of motherhood, believing every woman wants a baby and that babies make things better. On that note, a lot of men complain about the lack of paternity leave they receive when their children are born. I've talked about the difficulties women have, but that doesn't mean men have none. They are pressured to be breadwinners and spend more and more time with this new kid so they will be a better dad than their dad was.

Hell, even Mother Bates had no resources, the psychologist telling us that for years she and Norman lived like there was no one else in the world but the two of them. Maybe moms who are overprotective to the point of smothering have abandonment issues. Maybe moms who engage more in substance abuse than Dr. Seuss (I was wondering if I could fit that in somehow) are intensely overwhelmed. Maybe stressed-out moms who yell all the time don't have other adults to talk to and only have Pinterest to compare themselves to.

The good news is that a strong support system and a clear idea of what is normal can help. In virtually every article I looked up for this thing, the professionals made it clear that they've never met a perfect parent, mother or father. And it's pretty futile to try to be one even though you want to be.

Fiction is also finally looking at mothers as interesting characters in their own right, not automatically assigning them roles as either cipher or villain. All three of Once Upon a Time's female leads are mothers, Sarah Connor of Terminator fame has both positive and negative traits, and Modern Family's Claire and Gloria get to be as much a part of the comedy as the rest of their family. Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables finds a stern but devoted adoptive mother in Marilla Cuthbert. All these women have something going on other than just being a mom, whether they stay home or work or whether they are of our time or part of another world.

Harry Potter does find a mother figure in Molly Weasley, a witch with seven kids and a husband who apparently gets paid to figure out what a rubber duckie is when he could just go find some Muggles and talk to them like they're people. Anyway, she was just kind of that background snuggly character you knew your protagonist could cry to when things got tough, but when she took out Bellatrix Lestrange, there was some controversy. “How can a housewife beat a Deatheater?” The stereotype that mothers are meek, passive, soft, uninteresting women living vicariously through their children was prevalent. But Molly kicked Voldemort's Number 2's ass just the same, and we all owe her a parade for that. The way she holds the chaotic Weasley brood together is commendable enough, but when she told Sirius Black that Harry was like a son to her, all our hearts melted.

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