#old man yells at orb

[oldschoolfrp]

In my day we didn’t yell at each other on the Internet, we had our orbs for that (Wallace Miller, The Forest Lords of Dihad, an adventure by Richard Meyer for The Fantasy Trip in The Land Beyond the Mountains, “published by Gamelords Ltd under an exclusive license by Metagaming,” 1982)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

No time to play. You are being sent away.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[cappucosmico]

not to sound insane but like I Knew i KNEW dragon needed a new brother like i coild Smell it on him that he just needs to be in a pair at minimum. look at them‼️‼️‼️

[izzabela]

Omg I just got a wholesome idea! Reader is from another timeline, and in her timeline, she's lui Kang's daughter. She somehow finds herself in the timeline where lui kang is a god and the keeper of time. Some time passed, and while reader and lui kang were talking about how to return her to her own timeline, she accidentally called him 'dad' in front of the others. Can you write this as a scenario or a one-shot?

Feel free to ignore if it sounds lame to you 😅

Pops - Liu Kang & fem!reader

in which you call Liu Kang "dad" in front of his allies and friends

a/n: liu kang would absolutely be a girl dad, a bit of an airhead too

ship[s]: NONE, reader is probably around 16

warning(s): post-kanon, except the Lin Kuei are still together, mk9-10-11 references (i'm cherry picking)

[i can take all three of them, and not in a fight either]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You're cornered against the stone wall as you hold your hands up in surrender. You're disheveled, scared, and a little bit pissed at the fact you had a multitude of weapons pointed at you.

"Take her arms!" Bi Han yells for his brothers to apprehend you. They take your wrists roughly, bending them behind your back as you're kicked to your knees.

"Lord Liu Kang will know what to do with you, woman," he spits out.

"Oh no, put me out of my misery~~" you reply sassily. Bi Han presses the flat edge on your neck, but not without the high-pitched noise of a war cry and fire.

Fire dragons in red and blue appear from above, and they crash into the ground, not burning anything surprisingly. While the others are shocked, you smile happily.

"Enough! What is the meaning of this?!" Liu Kang cries out.

You get up, but the weapons still remain pointed at you as you try to close in on Liu Kang. He notices you, waving his champions to put their weapons down. You press your clothes down and introduce yourself.

You also explain that you're here from another timeline, and that you were just plucked out from your day.

"Another timeline incident..." Liu Kang mutters to himself. You nod, but you put your hand over your heart.

"I'm not a threat though, I promise! I barely got a hold of my fire powers..." you say sadly, forming a pitiful fire orb in your hands before it sputters and dissipates.

Johnny nudges Kenshi's shoulder, "Don'tcha think she looks a lot like..." Kenhsi looks at him with an incredulous look. Even with his eyes gouged out, he still remains as expressive as a man could be.

Liu Kang contemplates for a split second, before his signature smile is back on as he moves to the side to show you around.

"I will evaluate your claims later, but I sense no ill intent as of now. I will have my champions escort you around as I see your origins," Liu Kang smiles.

You nod, bowing before being led out by Johnny and Kenshi in the front, and Kung Lao and Raiden in the back. You skip happily, head on a swivel as you take in your surroundings.

Everything is similar for the most part, except the wood is reinforced and constantly renovated. The stone paths were more lined up, and there were definitely more trees too. Maple trees were a staple around the temple, but he planted cherry blossoms for you and your mother.

"Do you still act, Mr. Johnny?" you ask him, and Johnny turns around with an offended look. Kung Lao and Raiden are laughing like hyenas in the back as you try to understand why.

"I am not that old!" he cries. "But I do act still. I direct too! What do I do in your world?" he asks. "I bet I'm still just as awesome there as I am here~"

You inform them of their alternates in your timeline. How Johnny works for the government, how Kenshi is a deadbeat dad to Takeda (he was skeeved out knowing his cousin was his son), and how Raiden used to be god.

"What about me? Am I still awesome?" You giggle at Kung Lao.

"Yes you are, Lao. Though, you remain a bachelor compared to the rest of dad's friends..." you mutter the last couple of sentences.

"What did you say?" Raiden asks.

You arrive to your dorm room and turn around to give them a bright smile before retiring for the day.

"Thank you guys so much! You misters are so funny," you smile softly as you twiddle your fingers.

"Sometimes dad talks about the good ol' days, and I'd like to think you guys were what dad had..." You shrug and enter your room, closing the door before anyone else could say something.

"Is she one of... our kids?" Kung Lao asks before Raiden sigh.

"She kind of looks like Kuai Liang, or Bi Han..." his fingers tap his chin. "She has the nose and brows..."

Kenshi pinches his nose-bridge, "Did she not insinuate that Lord Liu Kang is her father?"

As the three men bicker, Johnny shakes his head in disappointment.

"You guys have not seen enough BBC documentaries and reality t.v. about deadbeat dads."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been a couple of weeks since you became stranded in this timeline, but you were enjoying it.

You've been getting spoiled by all of your dad's(?) champions: Kung Lao taking you to eat at Madam Bo's, Raiden letting you meet and train with his sister (so you had a friend), Johnny gifting you expensive movie memorabilia, and Kenshi always accompanying you (he became an uncle-figure).

However, your joyful days with them came to an end when they were sent on missions across and around the realms. You couldn't spend a minute with them due to the lengths of their missions, and when they came back, they were exhausted (reasonably so).

Who you ran into next was Geras, surprisingly. He never comes out from the hourglass, but the fact he was here meant a new friend to talk to.

In all honesty, Geras was here to meet with Liu Kang, but a monk had told him he was gone for some extracurricular purposes. So, he wanders aimlessly around the academy.

"Hi Mr. Geras!" you greet cheerily, accompanied with a wave. Geras nods, a small smile on his face as his glowing eyes crease slightly.

"Good morning to you, young lady," he greets kindly. "Do you have an agenda today?" You shake your head.

"No. All the uncles are out, and I have not yet seen dad since my arrival," you hang your head a little low in disappointment.

Geras's brow quirks in a bit of shock, but it's not surprising. He could see the resemblance from the moment you manifested in the temple. You had his strong brows, nose, and his fire powers.

It also didn't surprise him that the champions were trying to figure out if you were his creator's daughter or not.

"Do you wish to call him 'father'?" Geras asks as you both walk. The breeze was light, and the temperature was perfect.

You tilt your head, thinking a bit, "I mean... I'm not sure? I'm afraid that something will happen in this timeline if I say something..."

Geras chuckles, "You had spoken to the champions already, but I sense no apparent changes."

Your eyes light up, and you jump a bit in joy as you begin to talk your ear off to Geras about life in your timeline. Normally, he'd do his best to leave the conversation, but this was a different circumstance.

Geras enjoys hearing your casual adventures with Cassie, Jacqui, and Kung Jin when you guys hang out. He enjoys your little rants about your training, and how hard your father pushes you to master his pyromancy.

And he especially enjoys hearing that, in another world, Liu Kang has the happiness he yearned for.

"Although, you're not around much back at home..." you say. "You're... not as good as you are here..."

Geras has seen multiple timelines, but never has he ever thought of one where his life turned out like that.

"It's nice though! Maybe one day, I'll meet you," you reply optimistically.

Geras nods, not replying at the thought that he doesn't serve Liu Kang.

You continue talking to Geras until he goes back to the temple to meet with Liu Kang.

"Would you like to meet him now?" he offers, but you decline.

"Maybe another time, he seems busy in this world," you reply, and Geras bows before walking away an into the room where Liu Kang awaits him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's officially been two months since your unprecedented stop in this timeline where Liu Kang isn't your father.

You spend equal time with both Geras and the champions, but even they get busy.

Your champion uncles spoil you with gifts still, but it's a bit harder to see them due to the sheer amount of missions they were sent on.

Geras, too, became busier. The last visit he had in Earthrealm, he had said he and Liu Kang found a way to send you home, but they needed to be sure.

In response, you had been trying to spend more time with your newfound family here.

But who said family's can't expand? Expand and include the grandmaster and second-in-command's of the Lin Kuei.

Bi Han, Tomas, and Kuai Liang sat outside the planning room, similar to way back when during the timeline convergence. However, Liu Kang was taking a little longer than usual.

You didn't mean to be in the waiting room, but you had mindlessly wandered in there after training. Maybe it was out of habit to see Geras or your uncles.

Maybe it was in the hope you'd see your dad.

Instead, you're greeted with the men that cornered you that day. Though, with all due respect, it was in fairness of fear for another timeline insurgence.

Bi Han leans on the pillar that stands behind the chair. Kuai Liang and Tomas are seated on the seat itself, though Kuai Liang sits abnormally and on the arm rest.

You try to step away, but the creaky old wood alerted them of your presence. It was inevitable they'd see you now.

"Reveal yourself to us," Bi Han commands, his voice rough as he and his brothers are in ready form.

You carefully make yourself visible, chuckling nervously as you wave rather shakily.

"Remember me?" you ask, and the three of them soften and relax.

"It is just you," Tomas breathes in relief. "And of course, who could forget the girl we so harshly treated?"

The three men get up to bow, deep ninety degree angles as you frantically force them to stand upright again.

"P-please! Please get up, all is well! You're just doing your job..." you try and convince them.

Finally, they get up and go back to their comfortable positions. It's definitely... awkward. After all, they were the ones to hold you down like that.

But, compared to your world, it was nice seeing them all together again. You smile to yourself as you watch Tomas and Kuai Liang talk about trivial clan matters, and Bi Han just hums quietly agrees.

Kuai Liang notices your smile first," Why do you smile, young one?"

You catch yourself and put on a neutral face, but Kuai Liang's little frown breaks you, and you concede to tell him.

"It's just nice to see you three together again," you admit. "Back at home, the clans are all messed up..."

"How do you mean?" Bi Han eggs you on.

You begin to explain how Bi Han and Tomas became hideous creatures of dark sorcery. How Tomas became a horrid demon who plagues on the dreams of others.

You tell them about how Bi Han becomes a corpse-slave for evil as a reaper of sorts- killing anyone his master desired.

And you tell Kuai Liang about how he misses his brothers every day. How your version of him often visited your home to just talk. And how your version of him dealt with death.

"I don't remember when I saw you all happy, but I know back in the day you three were on top of the world!" you say excitedly as you recall all the stories and marvels the Lin Kuei of your timeline.

Somehow, time had passed to the point you had grown tired. You sat in between Tomas and Kuai Liang, but Bi Han had moved closer and sat on the edge of the back rest.

Your eyes grew weary, and you blink the little tired tears away as you stretch.

"The little bird needs her nest," Bi Han says softly, patting your head as you lean into Tomas's shoulder.

"I only have pictures of you three as a baby," you shared as you began to rest on Tomas's shoulder. "Dad says that was the last time you guys were nice to each other..."

Tomas raises a brow, "Dad? You don't mean-"

You yawn one final time, before adding on.

"Please be nice to each other... if I cannot have my uncles there, at least another version of me can..."

You fall right asleep, softly breathing as Tomas holds your head and Kuai Liang adjusts your legs to go over his lap. Bi Han takes his outermost layer and uses it as a blanket.

"She does look similar to Lord Liu Kang," Kuai Liang agrees quietly. "It is her nose."

You nuzzle deeper into Tomas's neck, feeling the light rhythm of his heart beat and using it to sleep.

The men continue talking about you, but it falls on deaf ears as you dream of your home again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I have found a way to return you home," Liu Kang announces unceremoniously.

You ate breakfast with Tomas and Bi Han on your left and right sides, while Kuai Liang sat across from you. However, the warm food felt cold and damp in your throat at the news.

You still had not told him who you were, and now you were going to leave after three months. As much as you were ready for this moment, the fact it's now hurts.

"When you finish your meal, please pack all of your things. I will meet you at the portal entrance," Liu Kang bows, then takes his swift leave.

Tomas looks to you, pouting, "Must you leave so soon?" You can't help but hug him.

"It's okay uncle, I have the gifts you gave me!" you reassure him, and Kuai Liang pats your head.

Just as the champions have spoiled you, so have the leaders of the Lin Kuei. They gave you food, little toys they picked up from the village, and some clothes made from the most expensive fabrics. It's been hard to try and fitting everything in your bag, but you didn't want to go home leaving your stuff.

"Do you wish us to accompany you?" Bi Han asks softly, and you nod happily as you stuff some food in your mouth.

Finishing up, you pile your plates up and head to your room. On your way, you run into the champions.

"Hey hey, youngin'!" Johnny greets you. "Why the entourage?"

You wave, "Liu Kang found a way home for me! The uncles will help me get my things."

Kung Lao crosses his arms, "And they are also... uncles?" Kenshi stares at them hard (well, "stare" is being used loosely).

You smile and pat Kung Lao's arm, "It's okay guys. I forgave them!"

Raiden shakes his head, "We must be timely everyone, she's heading home today."

You smile, but this time it doesn't really reach your eyes this time. Still, you make the most of it by indulging in Kung Lao and Johnny's antics, Bi Han and Kenshi's bickering, and every interaction between your little timeline family.

"Do you have everything?" Kuai Liang checks up on you, patting your little bag on the sides to fit everything. You nod, and he ruffles your head again.

"Make sure to take care of those figures," Johnny shimmies through the crowd. "That's one of one- only available through Cage-Con."

You shake your head, rolling your eyes playfully. Still, they help you out with any lingering bags as they escort you to the portal area. As you walk, though, the high energy levels you were bringing began to droop low.

Stepping foot on the wood, your sadness is evident as Liu Kang stands in front of you.

"Why so sad, little one?" he asks, and you wipe your eyes messily.

"I'm gonna miss everyone... It was so fun here..." you sigh, and Liu Kang's hand rests on your shoulder.

"Memories come in many forms," he gestures to your full bag of gifts and memorabilia. "And I do not doubt that you will have any things to look back upon."

You nod, "Still, I am ready to go home." Liu Kang begins to open the portal, and he can sense your nervousness.

"It's going to be so weird coming home, knowing there's a world where everyone is happy..." You look at Liu Kang one final time, before dropping all of your things and giving him a hug.

"Promise me you'll be happy dad, please promise me you'll be happy," you plea with him, tears falling on his linen shirt.

As your uncles are at a still with your revelation, Liu Kang just holds you, rubbing your back up and down as he tries to soothe your cries. You hold onto his shoulders, and Liu Kang sinks to his knees with you as you cry.

"As long as you can be happy in your world, I will be just fine," Liu Kang whispers softly.

Liu Kang gently brings you back to your feet, adjusting the bags you'll be carrying home with you. You stop in front of each of your uncles, hugging them and giving them the last of your affections before walking through the portal.

"I love you all very much!" and once you're in, the portal closes.

While Liu Kang lets the clamor of his close friends and allies fall in the background, something about how they didn't realize you were his kid at all, Liu Kang smiles as the sun sets, the though that his simple moments with the woman he loves is indeed possible

[sanemislittledemon]

Hello! I was reading your work and I thought they were pretty interesting! Also, I was wondering if you could do one with Gyomei and the reader where they're a bit suicidal?? It's okay if you don't do these kinds of requests and I completely understand! Looking forward to more of your works!

Omg of course! I love the big old cuddly bear Gyomei! Also if you ever want to talk my message are open okay? I hope you are doing well 🌸

It’s short but I hope you like it🌸

Gyomei x Suicidal!reader

There’s a small spoiler of Gyomeis past! 

Y/N groans as they open their eyes, the sun is already high in the sky, shinning in and ruining their peaceful sleep. Y/N looks over to the other futon and relaxes when they realize that Gyomei isn’t there ‘today is the hashira meeting’ they sign to themself. Waking up was always the worst, it’s been getting harder to pull themself out of bed, everyday the dread of waking up setting in.

It’s hard to date someone like Gyomei, people talk and judge you for being with someone as strong as the stone hashira. He was amazing in every way possible but Y/N stubbornly kept this side of them away from their partner. Sitting up sighing as they pulled themself together enough to get out of the futon to go to the bath room. Gyomeis been on missions or with his student, Genya so he hasn’t been home. they haven’t been out of bed along enough to bathe. hell they wouldn’t has eaten if it wasn’t for Genya occasionally cooking while Gyomei was away. Y/N warms the water before they started to strip off their clothing, running hands down their body as disgust fills their heart.

‘Why does he love me’

Sighing they began to clean themself then getting into the wash tub, the only part that makes this whole process seem worth it to just sit in here until the water turns cold.

Tears fell from their eyes when the thoughts came through the fog

‘you don’t deserve him’ ‘worthless’

‘You’re weak’ ‘you’re ugly’

Y/N grip their head in their hands pulling on their hair making their scalp burn while hot tears stream down their redden cheeks. “shut up!” Y/N screams

Jumping up they run out to quickly dry off and dress before running out of the stone estate barefoot “Hey! Y/N what’s wrong?” They hear a voice yell in the distance but not caring to stop they keep going through the woods. Rocks tear into their feet as they run faster until they come to an abrupt halt at a cliff and waterfall, Gyomeis training ground but he’s at the hashira meeting so he wouldn’t come to their rescue even if he wanted too. Sitting on the edge, more tears falling from their eyes. 

“I’m sorry my love” they say before sliding off the edge, closing their eyes and waiting for the impact of their sweet release but the feeling was cut short when they felt abnormally muscular arms wrap around them. Eyes shooting open they were greeted with a very distraught Gyomei, tears flowing freely from his while orbs. He holds them tightly against his chest has he lands firmly on the ground, gyomei holds them firmly but didn’t say a word as he begins to walk back through the woods.

Guilt taking its hold the only thing they could ask is “how?” Silence fills the heavy air between them before he finally spoke “Genya was worried so he interrupted the meeting. He is being effectively chewed out by Shinazugawa right now, the next time you see him you should apologize” Gyomei explained

Tears well up again and they buries their head in Gyomeis muscular chest as they apologizes repeatedly “please Gyomei I’m sorry! Please don’t leave me!” They cry

Gyomei abruptly stops walking “why in the world would I leave you?” He asks as his voice breaks

“I don’t deserve you and then I go and cause all this trouble for everyone!” Y/N screams into his chest but abruptly stops when they feel something wet drop onto their head, looking up at the man they realize he was crying. It wasn’t unusual to see the stone hashira cry but this felt different, it felt real and the guilt again took hold making their stomach turn. 

“you are the most important thing to me” he started before taking a deep breath and continuing “you are important and you are loved. I regret not sensing this sooner. I apologize” Gyomei starts walking

It didn’t take long before they were walking into stone estate, Gyomei takes them to their bed room before gently dropping Y/N on his futon “I’ll go get something to clean you up” he says before walking out and leaving them alone.

But that was short lived as he quickly came back “let me see” he joked as he lifted Y/N’s feet to clean off the dirt and blood before applying medicine and wrapping them up.

Gyomei was silent for a moment before he spoke again “I promise we will get through this together. You are not alone and I will protect you from everything”

Gyomeis voice breaks as he spoke “I failed to protect those children long ago but I promise I won’t let anything happen to you”

Y/N throws their arms around Gyomeis large frame “I’m sorry Gyomei. I promise to tell you my feelings from not on” they cry

“I love you”

“I love you too”

Gyomei lays them both back on the futon, he puts Y/N on his solid chest as he runs his hands across their back, in comfortable silence they both drifted off to sleep in each others arms. 

The next morning Y/N wakes up still on Gyomeis chest when they look up he was already awake “morning my love” he smiles at them, getting off of him she replies “morning Gyomei”

“how are you feeling? “

Y/N thinks for a moment before replaying “a little drained, but I’m all right and starving! “

Gyomei laughed “then let’s go get you something to eat” 

Hand in hand they walk through the estate talking about everything that’s been going on the days they were apart when the two reach the kitchen Genya was already there cooking a meal for the three of them “Genya!” Y/N runs up to him and wraps their arms around him making the man tense up unsure what to do but Y/N quickly pulls away “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you. I heard you were reprimanded by your older brother. Are you okay? “ Y/N asks looking over him for wounds but Genya nods “ aniki won’t seriously hurt me but I’m just glad you are okay” Genya replies and Y/N nods happily and jokes “we are just like a family” Genya blushes deeply and Gyomei let out a deep laugh “don’t let Shinazuawa hear you say that. I’ll never hear the end of it” Gyomei says. 

Gyomei smiles ‘a family, I think I like the sound of that’ he thinks before walking over to the other two, pulling Y/N to his side and patting Genya head “let’s eat” he says making them smile.

[sleepybbie]

KOI NO YOKAN | nagi x reader

summary: koi no yokan - the sudden knowledge upon meeting someone that the two of you are destined to fall in love. nagi still remembers the day he met you and the day he fell in love with you.

nagi seishiro x fem!reader

notes: from nagi’s pov! h/c - hair color, h/l - hair length, e/c - eye color, f/n - friend’s name <33

a/n: aaahh i love this man sm ! ૮꒰ྀི⊃´ ꒳ `⊂ྀི꒱ა

nagi still remembers the day he first saw you.

it was during one of his football practices at school. his good friend, reo and his other teammates were practicing as usual on the field, the soccer ball being kicked around—same old, same old. it was a hassle to have practices after school when he could just be at home at the moment, play video games all day and have the most relaxing naps alone at his home.

well now that his life had changed after he met the ambitious mikage son, nagi knew he couldn’t go back to that boring lifestyle he used to have anymore.

“nagi over here, over here…!” he hears reo yell from the side. today’s practice was a 5 on 5 match at hakuho high’s soccer club. nagi nonchalantly yet swiftly kicked the ball towards reo without any second thought in his head except of going home early after today’s game. when reo caught the ball, the purple haired boy ran towards the goal, confusing the enemy side with his small dribbling tricks to attempt to distract them, and passed it to a nearby teammate.

nagi almost let out a loud grunt when that same teammate that reo passed to, kicked the ball so high it went out of the field in full speed. “it’s out! someone catch it before it hits somebody!” someone beside reo yelled. reo looked over at nagi and shouted, “nagi quick! get it!”

what a pain…

his legs now running with speed, nagi’s eyes glued to the floating ball failed to notice people standing in his direction. including a group of friends who were now running out of the way. the ball was now heading towards someone..he picked up the pace a little.

“y/n watch out!” a call of somebody’s name echoed into his ears before nagi jumped up high and caught the ball within seconds with his feet. thank goodness he got it just in time, or else it would’ve already hit the person in front of him. the moment he stopped the ball, it was if he managed to stop time, too. nagi’s grey orbs scanning down to see a face just right below him.

a girl

her eyes were looking back at him, filled with surprise and amazement. his white bangs flowed along with the rhythm of the cold wind that hit his face, he could see her properly from his vision. h/c h/l hair, her eyes were a hue of e/c pupils. at that same split second, the earth created a collision between two people for their first meeting, much more different than fate walking pass by—like a painter touching a skin of a canvas for the first time in order to create a masterpiece.

the ball stopped, and nagi swiftly landed on the ground, trying to push himself as much as possible to not hit the girl on his way. kicking the ball back up, nagi kicks the ball back into the field and watches as reo takes it and slammed the ball towards the goal, earning another point for their team. 3-0, it was slightly unfair. there were yells from that same area—saying how that pass was even possible. though, mostly everyone knows hakuho high’s crazy soccer duo.

nagi places both of his hands on his hip, letting out a sigh before he faces the person standing behind him. she’s still there, looking scared of what just happened. “uhmm…” he began, “are you alright?”

she winces. odd..he was at least twice the times taller than her figure. although he knows that there were other girls shorter than her in this school, she was just one of them. “oh…! uhh, yes i’m ok. t-thank you for saving me..” she says, giving nagi a short bow. a shy type of student? she seems to stutter easily upon talking. nagi raises a brow, a little perplexed, “it’s not much of a big deal, anyways…i wouldn’t really call that saving..”

the girl blinks her eyes twice and she chuckles, seeming unbothered of what just happened. she had a nice smile, warm and stitched beautiful across her kind expression. he changed his mind, was this girl the calm type? she’s certainly showing no concern of the trouble his teammate made (and he had to stop it for him). thinking about someone’s facial expression is such a bother, why is he even thinking of it?

“i’m honest. if it weren’t for you i would’ve got hit. so, thank you so much,” she says, quite in a soft tone. maybe she was the soft-hearted type..? she looks studious. she’s probably smart, too. at this point, nagi feels like he’s already judging a person based on their looks, but he couldn’t help it.

“eh..like i said, ‘s not much of a big de—

“y/n! ugh, thank goodness you’re ok!” the sentences were cut off soon when the person who was with her (who is probably her friend) ran straight to her side, concerned expressions on her face as her hands clutch onto her shoulders, shaking them.

“i-i’m fine, f/n..! i didn’t get hit i swear..!”

“i know but still…!” her friend looked over to nagi’s direction, and the snowy haired boy knew he was going to get an earful by this random chick who was defending her best friend. maybe if he just sneaked off, then he’ll be safe..? “hey nagi, could you and your team kindly stop kicking the ball so hard?? you guys could’ve hit someone, y’know?!” she began, and nagi immediately discarded his short plan. yeah, he’s used to this by now.

“oi are you listening?!”

‘ugh, so noisy, what a hassle..and how does this girl even know my name? do i know her?’

“ahh..! f/n! i’m sorry, sorry. about my teammate kicking the ball out of the field,” well about time his savior arrived. nagi watches as reo appeared out from behind and nervously raised both of his hands up as a stop gesture to back the girl named f/n up away from the sleepy genius. f/n scoffs, “reo…hey, it would be appreciated if you tell your team to calm down with the ball or else it would’ve hit y/n right here. if it weren’t for this guy then i’d be seeing her at the infirmary room.”

this girl is so loud, nagi thinks. compared to the girl he just saved from the soccer ball. f/n mentioned her name is…y/n? huh..

“i’m really sorry again. i’ll tell that to them. i’m sorry, too, y/n. i hope it didn’t scare you much.”

“like i said, it’s ok…! you don’t need to apologize, reo. i’m fine, see?”

oh, his friend knows y/n, too.

“reo, you know them?” nagi questions. reo looked over at nagi and raises his brow, looking puzzled. f/n had an offended look over her face while y/n just giggled. did he say anything wrong? he’s sure he asked him right.

“nagi…these two are our classmates..”

nagi blinks. “oh…really?”

“the hell do you mean, really?!” f/n shouts at him, obviously pissed. maybe he should stop sleeping in class all the time…or sneak off during recess to play..? yet again, reo is always finding ways to look for him at break hours.

reo sighs as he rolled his eyes. “calm down…he’s always like this. c’mon nagi, let’s go back to practice. we got another match next week.”

“mm..”

“you better keep your word, reo..! let’s go, y/n,” f/n uttered to the purple haired male, reo waves off as a response while nagi still stood there. f/n calmly took y/n’s hand and walked off the opposite direction, dragging her along.

“ah..! bye nagi…! thank you once again..!” y/n waves to him, with a smile. and then the two friends left.

nagi was a little surprised. it was the first time a girl said goodbye like that to him…exception of his other female relatives and his mom. a classmate of his.

nothing else to say, he raises his hand up, waving back. “bye..?” his voice was soft, only he could hear it, as if there was a lump trapped between his throat.

that was strange

he remembers the first time he had a long chat with you.

it was when reo held a study group for the upcoming exams their school was having. everyone knew how smart the mikage’s son is, so they immediately asked him if he could help them with tutoring. who was he to say no?

however, reo wanted to drag nagi along as well for the group study session. nagi at first, declined; saying it was too much of a bother to even study for an exam (even if it was an upcoming long test) and that he was far too tired to come with them (not to mention a whole group of students he doesn’t know is coming, too). it took the lazy male awhile to just say ‘yes’ to the rich boy after what seemed like an hour of endless pleading for him to tag along. the only reason why nagi decided to, is because reo made a solution of doing the study session at a huge cafe that was nearby an arcade shop.

once the group was ready to stroll, nagi stayed far behind from them as mostly every student talked to reo while walking towards the cafe, he just walked, being occupied by his phone.

“oh! reo, f/n said that they’ll follow by. what cafe are we going to, again? gotta tell her so she’ll know where we’re studying.”

“oh, just the cafe 20 minutes near our school beside the arcade store. tell her and she’ll know.”

oh shit…nagi remembers her. the girl that gave him the stink eye when the soccer ball almost hit…

‘what was her name again…?’ nagi’s thoughts began to sink in wonder. oh right…her name is y/n. it’s been a long time since nagi last saw her. so y/n’s friend was coming by to the study group…great, looks like god wasn’t on his side today. he’s a 100% sure she’ll be irritated if she saw him there at the same table.

when the group entered the cafe, reo easily booked them a large table where all could sit beside one another without any problems. everyone cheered for him. nagi wasn’t able to sit besides reo since it seems like he was seated between two girls who were calling over for his attention, asking how this formula works or how to solve this problem in the most ear screeching voice nagi could ever hear. maths was hell, and reo was a master of all subjects in their class.

it was around 1:58pm when their group studying began. nagi barely paid any attention to what reo was tutoring to them. he’s silently playing on his phone that was well hidden under the desk, while his classmates focused on their books in hand. when he finds reo to be distracted with the tutoring, nagi decided to pretend to excuse himself to go to the bathroom; when he’s really planning to visit the arcade next door instead. the snowy haired male wasn’t interested in the study anyways.

he finds himself going outside the cafe and hurriedly rushed to the arcade door, where at first enter was a glance of neon lights and game-like explosions blasting from the inside. nagi’s eyes sparkled from the sight of one of his favorite games at one of the arcade stalls nearby, he had enough quarters with him, maybe playing a few rounds wouldn’t hurt.

the thing that was a pain, is that there were many players on line. as in many. the game had its reasons of why it was going popular today, and nagi knew that very well.

‘such a hassle…there’s so many people in line…better if i exchange a few quarters first just in case..’ he thoughts to himself as he heads towards to one of the employers in the arcade arena. the aisle was surrounded by a lot of people possibly his age, and some half of them were loving couples who were comfortable enough to flirt with one another in public. displaying affection in areas like this is enough to make nagi sick.

next to him were crane machines (and players throwing slight tantrums when the stuffed animal went back down), ticket counters, and racing car games. his eyes darted everywhere, trying to look for a few exchanges for his whole dollar yen until he spotted a figure in front of one of the crane machines.

h/l h/c hair..a short figure…and the reflection of the glass from the crane game.

ah

oh..!

it was her

her hands were manoeuvring over the crane’s handle, focusing on what stuffed animal she plans to get. however, the stuffed bunny fell back down to where it came from, and he hears y/n groan in dismay. nagi finds himself watching her attempt to get the stuffed bunny for at least two more rounds. although, in those two rounds, the poor girl still wasn’t able to get the stuffed toy she wanted. her pout made her look like a toddler. nagi had no idea how long he was gazing at y/n till he failed to notice she was already turning around and saw him. she jumped in surprise.

“ah..! n-nagi-san..?! is that you??”

“oh…hey,” was all he replied, very casually. y/n’s face shifted into a look of puzzlement, holding her school bag tight in her palms as she tilted her head, “what are you doing here? i thought you were part of reo’s study group..”

“eh..got bored. decided to drop by here instead. what’re you doing here?”

she giggles. “aha, you’re…very blunt and straightforward about it. i’m here because f/n-chan is part of the study group..isn’t reo going to be angry if he finds out you’re here..?”

he shrugs, “don’t know. but i know reo, so i trust he won’t. i think..” he thinks. he’s been playing with the purple haired boy for almost 4 months now, and his talent being used as an instrument for soccer and for his and reo’s dream to bring home the world cup…nagi just wishes he would know how to study expressions more. but now…reo wasn’t with him, instead there’s this girl (who is his classmate at school), looking over at him with a curious stare.

“don’t worry. i’ll talk to him out of this if he did.”

“ah…ok, i see..”

“by the way, are you having trouble getting that plush bunny at the crane machine?”

“eh..?? so you’ve noticed..”

“ ‘ts easy. don’t know why you have such a hard time..”

“i-i’m not an expert..!”

“mm..then, i’ll give it a try..”

“you will..??”

“mm..”

nagi wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into him when he decided to take over the controller of the crane machine, however he did know is that he easily won the bunny plushie for y/n, who gave him the most softest and widest smile he has ever seen. reo had beamed at him like that before, in fact he was the first one who had ever shown nagi appreciation and like towards the boring genius. but, something about how y/n did seemed…a little odd.

“that was amazing..! you did it with no hesitation..!”

“like i said, ‘ts easy..all you have to do is find the right angle and press the button to grab it.”

“how are you able to find the perfect angle so easily though?? nagi-san you must have sharp eyes.”

“you ask a lot of questions..”

“ah! sorry!”

and the next thing he knew, he was sitting next to her at one of the dining tables, licking on an ice cream while y/n continued to talk a lot about her interests. in return, nagi told her about him and reo, and at first y/n mistaken the two of them as a couple due to how close they were. the only reply nagi gave was ‘cringe.’

“i’m not interested in getting into a relationship…sounds like a drag to always have quality time with them just because you like them..”

“though, not quality time is always required in a relationship, nagi-san. there are other languages in love, too…i heard..”

“is that so? well that’s even more of a bother…”

having such a conversation like this with a girl…nagi has no idea what was coming to him.

he didn’t know how long they started talking to one another. all he knew, was that he helped her win a stuffed animal in some boring crane machine, and she followed him when he began to play the game he waited for, and watched him beat every player lined up, then, the two of them went to a dining table at the side and ordered ice cream. however, their convo with one another was cut short when f/n bursted inside the arcade along with reo, and spotted the two of them together eating. reo had this fizzled expression on his look, his face having questions of what the two of them were doing together, while f/n was surprised her best friend was with someone like nagi.

“oh! nagi-san, before we part, do you have line?”

nagi felt his shoulders weigh down a bit. “line id? uhh…yeah.”

“let’s exchange ids…is it ok? i…i wanna keep talking to you.”

head empty, nagi wasn’t sure what to reply for that while her best friend seems to be staring at him intensely.

“mm…sure.”

well, at least it was you who made the first move…nagi thinks to himself.

weird

he will never forget the day…in which the day he fell in love with you.

the news of the blue lock staff members giving the bllk-11 team the order of having a vacation after defeating the u20 team brought excitement over to nagi’s head. he missed his home, ahh he also missed his cactus, he misses his warm bed and…

‘ah…why am i thinking of y/n again..?’

once he got all his stuff back, nagi made the decision of jumping on his mattress and take a nap when he’s back home. he was fetched home by one of the blue lock buses, he bid farewell to the friends he made along the way during the (hellish) soccer project, and by the time he reaches his door, nagi was happy to find choki back all healthy on his window still.

probably ba-ya was the one who returned choki. he did leave it on her hands after all. then again…he remembered what he told reo back during their match alongside isagi and barou. nagi couldn’t help but give out a small sigh once he looked over choki.

‘such a drag…thinking too much is a hassle..’

he left his stuff on the ground before jumping on his bed and bringing out his phone. the weather was nice…comfortable even. the perfect weather where he can do nothing but sleep the entire day away.

if that’s the case…why is he suddenly looking for y/n’s contact number?

when the other line rung, he can hear her picking up the phone, her breath shaky on the side.

“y/n?”

“ah..! nagi-san, sorry if i picked up late!”

“eh..? that was a quick pick up than i expected, y’know..?” she… still sounded the same. during the match with u20, he could actually see her at one of the stalls of the audience along with her friends. he wanted to wave hi, nagi wanted to talk to her even like before after the game. he just didn’t know he only had the courage now to make a call. come to think of it, why did he even call her on the first place?

“ehe…sorry, i was cleaning my room. ah.! also, congrats on your team’s win. i’m so happy for you and reo!”

he frowns. “mm, thanks..”

“how is he by the way? i was texting him after the game but…he’s not responding. is he alright?”

nagi thinks of himself as someone who would just cast everything away aside so that it wouldn’t be a problem for him (or as he’d like to call it, be more of a bother to him). so, he’s so confused on why he’s telling y/n everything of what happened to him at blue lock, what happened between him and reo, and the rush he felt during the progress of becoming the world’s best striker. he was letting all of his feelings out…to nobody but y/n.

y/n listens attentively, humming on every detail he said. giving feedback of what she thinks…comforting him on the other side of the phone.

what nagi didn’t know the most, of why his heart was beating so fast right now.

more…he wanted to talk to her more..

he didn’t even realize it began to rain outside his window. the snowy haired male didn’t realize either he was talking to her for so long. nagi isn’t a chatty person, everyone knows his stoic and unbothered behaviour, however when it came to y/n..he just doesn’t know what’s going on with himself anymore.

nagi feels warm.

“nagi-san…are you ok?” y/n’s voice was soft, like a whisper. she sounded concerned, worried. nagi’s eyes dropped to the cushion of his bed, staring at his socks—feeling the rain patter hard on the window next to him, and his grey eyes painted with a natural dull cover.

“yeah..” is all he replied. “..m just feeling a bit tired. that’s all.”

“i see…i’m glad you called. i was also planning to call you. i just decided to tidy up around first before doing so, yet i didn’t expect you’d call me first..aha..” y/n says, letting out a soft giggle. nagi could hear her adjust her phone, the sound of soft pillows rummaging on the other side. she was probably laying down on her bed right now as it rained.

“you know…after your game against the u-20 team…i wanted to see you.”

just like the moment when reo looked up to him and his boring demeanor, when he first made the scoring goal against the u-20, when he managed to trick rin itoshi back at blue lock…nagi felt like his heart beating ten times faster now. the world pauses for a second, he couldn’t hear the rain outside anymore, only the sound of his heartbeat echoing through. the feeling of warmth that he felt when talking to her…it seemed to be increasing so much he feels the tip of his ears turning red.

this is a new feeling to him. not like any soccer match or anything involved with reo and his other friends, no. all of this fuzzy emotions building up inside of his stomach…all new. there was silence over the phone.

“u-umm..sorry, that was a strange thing to say, isn’t it?”

nagi fixed his posture a little, pulling a pillow close to his chest. “nah…well, maybe a bit. it isn’t much of a bother though.”

badump

“oh really..? well i’m glad then! i thought i might’ve said something awkward…sorry, you were just silent for a moment there i thought you were feeling odd about what i said.”

badump

he hugs the pillow tighter. “no.. ‘s fine..i was just surprised you wanted to talk and see someone like me. you and reo are weird.”

badump

“e-eh? only? i’m really sorry then!”

badump..

“but really though, i really hope you and reo get along again soon. you two are so well known in our school..! popular even, i overhear the girls in the bathroom that you two are amazing that you guys brought a powerhouse school down!”

stupid fucking heart..why do you keep beating so fast? you’re just talking to a girl.

the rain fell a little fainter, although the melodies of his heart didn’t seem to stop whenever y/n continued to talk on the phone. his bangs covered his eyes, only listening to her soothing tone of her sweet voice. she sounded pretty…so fucking pretty.

“hey..” nagi suddenly cuts her off. this strange sensation rubbing through his chest. y/n obliged, and immediately went quiet. “hm?”

“i think i like you.”

maybe he was the strange one after all.

[ponder-the-orb]

Just as you are

Pairing: Fem Tav/Gale

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Fluff and angst

Word count: 5K

Summary:

It’s the quieter moments that are the worst. When Waterdeep itself sleeps in peaceful reverie and the pain yells for attention, he can hear the ticking of that clock. There’s such fleeting time to make something of himself again - now free of the expectation of his peers or his goddess, just himself.

He runs a hand down his face, a cold smile tugging at his lips.

It’s just another push to his own folly if saving the world from illithid invasion somehow doesn’t feel like enough anymore. ***

Even with the orb gone the pain still lingers, reminding Gale of everything he left behind before he became its exhausted caretaker.

Read on AO3 or below

Gale was never one to believe in destiny. He’d always thought that chalking love or success up to a predestined path was the jealous man’s excuse. It scrubbed away the effort he’d so carefully put into his own choices, as if even his hardest work was merely window dressing for a play long since written. There’s order to life and death. Even magic has its causes, precise manipulations of the weave needed to bring wonders anew- things his hands had been trained to do for as long he can remember.

Right now however, it all feels so irrelevant. Alone atop the sinews of the Netherbrain’s stem, he can’t fathom a word that tastes right other than destiny. 

The landscape writhes with a mess of tendons and grey matter, the air thick and cloying with each of his measured breaths. The sky aches an angry red, smoking like one he’d witnessed while crashing through the hells those weeks ago. 

He smirks. It’s funny how that handful of days feels like a lifetime and how much his plans had pivoted since then. He’s no longer waiting for some kind soul to pull him free and humour his mistakes. 

He cradles the knife pressed to his chest like an old comfort. What he’d give for another handful. Just a few more precious hours to feel parchment in his hands and grass under his boots. Perhaps just one more conversation. He isn’t sure if he can even recall the last words he spoke before heaving himself up here. He likes to think a few of his turns of phrase will linger in happier anecdotes, maybe even sung in the ballads of this journey amongst drinks and firelight.

It’s a warm thought, but one he knows not to dwell on. In a few seconds it will all be gone, he’ll be gone. His debt finally repaid.

The fire between his ribs flashes harder with each passing second like the magic itself knows the cage holding it back is ready to break. He had always wondered what it might look like when it was unleashed. He’d seen various ends in his dreams, ranging from screaming maelstroms to near silent puffs of magic swallowing everything in its wake. 

However it looks, he only hopes those he’d spirited to safety could find some comfort in it. One last gale to end it all.

The orb brightens as he quietly exhales, allowing himself one final prayer before he presses down.

“When your sky dims, I’ll be there. Waiting.”

He winces. He waits. And his hands just won’t move any further.

He looks down and his own wide eyes stare back in the reflection of the unmoving blade. He tries again but the tip stops as it touches skin. He squeezes the handle until his palms burn raw but the knife stays where it is, shaking and misty with sweat. 

A louder explosion ripples through the sky in front of him and an army of nautaloids blink in existence around the brain.

Something jagged lodges in his throat as he watches. He can’t do it. Time has run out and his body won’t let him do it. The blasts around him fade into a muffled thrum as white hot panic melts into his hands. 

It was supposed to be easy, like resetting a bone or pulling a splinter. One flash of pain and then the world will be free of both the invasion and the apocalypse still pulsing inside of him. He can see the logic and his promise, but both sit so quietly in his mind compared to another thought. The one now screaming like a hurricane between his ears.

Why do I have to die?

It’s such a petulant question. Six words against the fate of the world. But six words that are growing in strength with each passing second. Six words hammering over and over in his thoughts until he can feel his heartbeat mimicking that hard hot rhythm.

His thoughts scatter like rats from sunlight. Yes, his borrowed time should have run dry months ago but does that mean he has to be content with his fate? To let go with a smile and misguided pride?

His muscles seize and shake as he thinks. His breaths come faster, more desperate as his blurry reflection loses colour. The fear he’d kept so tightly boarded behind his resolve has no trouble working its way free now. It floods through his veins and tugs at the threads of his plan until they unspool. He almost drops the knife as his promise dissolves and he sees the void he’s already plunged one foot into.

His surroundings blur into a bruise-coloured mess.

Gale tries to swallow. This isn’t right. He’d always wanted to end it on his own terms and save the people he loves. What is he if not bound to honour that? 

His hands finally still, a realisation blooming like a chilled breath under his skin.

These aren’t his own terms. They never were. It’s a death warrant painted the colour of salvation. The easiest way for Mystra to rid herself of two problems at once and he’d been all too ready to march to the gallows.  

Fingers suddenly clamp over his with biting pressure. He tries to jerk back but they hold him firm, the touch ghostly familiar. The face of his goddess meets his as he looks up. Her eyes, once lit by the glow of the weave itself, now watch him coldly like shards of glass. 

He stops pulling, pinned under her dispassionate gaze. He searches for any hint of gratitude or grace, one suggestion that this act will actually mean something.

He twists his hand to touch hers. It’s a caress once so familiar to both of them, one final plea as he leans forward. 

“Please.”

She stays silent and pushes the knife in with one sharp thrust. 

The reaction is immediate. The flood of Netherese magic seeps out and scorches through him with blinding pressure. He staggers back as she presses the knife to the hilt, the pain finally roaring to life and eclipsing everything in a supernova of heat and magic.

~

The dream swims away all too slowly as he jolts awake. It catches around his eyes and in his throat, drawing down to a familiar throbbing ache in his chest. He throws one hand against it in a crude shield, the other blindly reaching out to grab something, anything to quell the hunger. His fingers slam into a bedside table and he hears a few things softly roll to the floor in the dark.

The dark. 

He looks at his hand. There’s no glow under his palm and his skin is clean of those swirling purple lines. He rubs his smarting fingers, trying to steady his thoughts as the remnants of that nightmare swim away.

The orb is gone. He’s safe. He’s home.

The bedroom in his tower is blue and still, near silent save for the rain washing against window panes and his own stuttered breathing. He runs his hand down his face, wiping away the sheen of sweat that’s beaded there. The pain flares as he moves, pulsing bluntly like he’s being kicked apart from the inside out. He doubles over and fists the bedsheet. It hasn’t been this bad in a while, dashing away his fragile hope that these bouts would disappear with enough time and rest. 

He waits for this wave to pass, silently grateful that at least he’s at home this time. Stumbling in the street is not a good look for any respected wizard and he’s forever grateful that Tav had quick enough reflexes to grab him before he ended up with a face full of cobblestones.

He looks over, glad that his little outburst hadn’t disturbed her. She’d rolled to the very edge of the mattress and buried herself in ninety per cent of the blanket, her face a relaxed curve. His hand hovers over her visible sliver of shoulder for a few moments but he pulls away, folding it back against his chest and slipping out of the room.

He scrubs himself with water hot enough to melt glass and lies on the washroom floor until the pain settles into a more familiar rhythm. In and out. In and out. Sometimes he pictures it as a light flashing or a warning signal, ‘catastrophe incoming.’ 

He closes his eyes, reminding himself. The wound isn’t real. Not really. He’d seen that orb crushed between divine hands as easily as an eggshell - his final time standing before his goddess. She’d called it her forgiveness for relinquishing the Crown of Karsus into her care.

Forgiveness. He scoffs towards the ceiling. The word tastes sour now. It was something so easy for her to give and yet it took every fibre of his being to earn. The years may have passed but the memories are still there- forever eating at him like the orb’s phantom hunger in his chest. How many nights had he lost to begging after she’d cast him away? Praying until his knees were raw and his throat arid - sure that if he hurt enough, pleaded enough, that if his devotion was painful enough she’d finally appear again. And yet his heavens remained silent. Only when he felt the first flicker of happiness after a year of solitude did the road to that forgiveness have a form, one not even granted to him by her own lips.

Oblivion. 

He almost hates himself for truly believing at one point that it was a fair trade.

He lies until the exhaustion feels a little less heavy in his bones before padding up to the balcony of his library. The sea beyond is wine-dark, the boats dancing in a maddening pattern in the harbour. It almost feels like an echo of the ache behind his sternum. Tara’s usual spot on the bench is vacant, but he’s not so cruel as to wake her from whichever corner she’s made her bed for these colder nights.

He rotates between several spells as he sits: fire, ice, rot, light. They all flutter between his palms with ease, the balcony a shifting glow of different colours as he repeats the pattern again and again and again. It’s a new habit. The familiar motions are a small reminder that he’s still in control, even if his body might try to tell him otherwise. 

He dismisses the embers in his hand and leans back against the cool stone wall. It doesn’t help.

Before, it had been easier. It turns out world-ending catastrophes are a fairly good distraction. He may have spent his nights sleeping on dirt and staring at the sky wondering if these were his last few hours alive, but he had a purpose -  a goal, a use. Save the world or die trying… so here he is now- the next chapter sitting squarely in front of him, wide and unwritten. It’s not as if he expected to pick up exactly where he left off before he became the orb’s exhausted warden. That time is forever lost and there’s no use trying to reach back to such heights. Ink cannot unsoak itself from parchment, rain cannot fall back uphill during the storm.

Except they could. He could make it so if he wanted. What were the laws of nature if not to be bent and remoulded under an archmage’s fingertips? 

His chest cramps again and he digs his fingers into the bench until he’s sure they’ve bruised. 

The mess of his old work still sits like a dusty museum exhibit in his study. He’d stopped trying to sort through it all a few weeks back, when the frustration started to crease deeper than the lines growing on his face. He recognises his own hand but it almost hurts to read now, like relearning another language. The words are clunky on his tongue - not quite useless but not enough anymore. If he stares too long he can feel that great chasm where his talent was once devoured even more acutely- some great maw open and waiting.

It’s the quieter moments that are the worst. When Waterdeep itself sleeps in peaceful reverie and the pain yells for attention, he can hear the ticking of that clock. There’s such fleeting time to make something of himself again - now free of the expectation of his peers or his goddess, just himself. 

He runs a hand down his face, a cold smile tugging at his lips.

It’s just another push to his own folly if saving the world from illithid invasion somehow doesn’t feel like enough anymore.

“It’s hurting again, isn’t it?”

His thoughts stop wandering as he turns towards the voice. Tav stands in the doorway, her posture drooping with sleep. She’d forgone their blanket for a smaller robe, but it’s doing little to hide the shivers wracking her body. Her eyes furrow with an old concern as they drift to his chest then back to his face. 

He swallows a pang of guilt as she shivers again. “I’m afraid so.” He lights one of the table lanterns with a snap of his fingers, casting the whole balcony a soft orange. “Did I wake you?”

“No but you should have,” she murmurs, wrapping her arms more tightly around herself. 

The shadows under her eyes are deeper than his own, a testament to her nights spent looking for an answer to this.

“I thought at least one of us deserved some unbroken rest.” He means it. Any hack with a necromancy tome can fix a body, living or dead. The brain is an entirely different matter. He’d seen other wizards claw themselves to madness trying to unwind their own minds looking for knowledge or memories hidden in those dark corners. She shouldn’t need to follow in those footsteps.

“Do you want to go back inside?” She asks, taking a step forward.

He shakes his head and brushes the spot next to him. “Come. Sit with me for a while.”

The tension bleeds from his torso as little as she curls against him, her hand resting over his chest with a familiar weight. He gently guides it over the space where it hurts the most-  half on the man, half on the mistake.

“You know what I was thinking about?” she says as she settles, her bottom lip soft against his shoulder.

“Tell me.”

“Dame Aylin snapping that wizard’s spine over her leg like a twig.”

“Lorroaken?”

She nods. “That’s the one.”

Of all the horrors they’d witnessed during their turbulent adventure, he knows that image will be permanently stained into his memory- how the violence of that wizard’s own making had come back to break him with a full, sickening crunch. 

“Any particular reason you’ve been dwelling on such violent memories this evening?” He asks, stroking a tangled piece of her hair.

Her gaze drifts to some random spot across the sea. “I was just wondering if I’m damned because I didn’t feel any shock when that happened. All I could think was how he completely deserved it. It was almost… funny in  a way.” 

When he doesn’t immediately respond she drops her face to her knees. “I know. It sounds awful. Gods, what does that even say about me?”

He puts his hand on the back of her head in a clumsy attempt to stop her own thoughts from spinning out as spectacularly as his had been.“Well if his ego was that self-inflated it was going to come crashing down around him eventually. Nothing good ever came from mortals trying to push themselves into the divine without thinking- consequences be damned. No matter how good their intentions.”

The parallel between that fool and himself isn’t subtle. She looks up as he says it, a tiny crease knit between her brows. “You know that’s not what I’m getting at.”

“I know. But I am. And if you think you’re damned then I am too. Because he did deserve it. If not by Aylin’s hand then someone’s.” Who that someone may have been for himself is something Gale had spent countless hours considering. Mostly he wondered if his own fall would have been so visceral and pathetic.

She holds his look for a long moment before resting her head back against his shoulder. “He had such a weasley face too. Almost exceedingly punchable.” 

He huffs out his first genuine laugh of the night. A small thing, but warm. “I would have to agree.”

She reaches out and laces his free hand with hers. “You made your choice, Gale. A good one.”

“With some help if I recall correctly.” He presses her palm flatter against his chest, his thumb brushing the crest of her knuckles. It’s one of a few things they’d tried over the past few weeks that seems to help, the pressure easing the worst bite of the pain. 

He twists to kiss the crown of her head, her eyelids fluttering at the soft touch.

“Do you ever regret surrendering all that power?” She asks as he pulls away.

He looks down, a little taken aback. “That’s quite the question.”

“I know,” she answers, her eyes focussed back out to the horizon. “But, do you?”

“Do you think that I do?”

“No. I mean, perhaps a little? Not that I think you’re upset about it but…” She leans away, waving her hands as if trying to pluck the right words from thin air. He sits back and waits for her to collect her thoughts, an eyebrow raised. 

“It’s not that I think you’d rather have made that choice, but it would be impossible for you not to wonder. And I really don’t think it makes you a bad person if you do.” She gulps air like a drowning woman as she finishes, avoiding his eyes. There’s a splinter of uncertainty in her voice, something taking this question beyond the hypothetical. 

He takes her hand again, making sure to softly enunciate every word of his answer. “No, I don’t regret it.”

“That’s it?” Her frown deepens when he nods. “Gale. You have never given me a one sentence answer to anything and I think this probably deserves one.” She tucks her knees under herself and turns towards him fully. “I need to know that’s not why it’s hurting.”

Ah. Now he understands. Pain born of unquelled ambition is not an unfair assumption of him, he thinks. He’d even spent a few nights considering it as well, but one reason quickly presented itself as to why it couldn’t possibly be the case. 

He tilts her chin up with his thumb. Her eyes shine in the candlelight, as deep as an ocean but there’s nothing hidden in those sweet depths. What he’d give to lose himself in that tenderness right now, a reminder that for as much as he doesn’t want her to- he’s worth being worried for.

“That is not the reason. Trust me,” he starts, gently closing his hands over her shoulders. “Yes, I have considered it a few times and that’s all too mortal of me to admit. However, not once have I thought that choosing Godly power would have brought me more than I have right now. I could talk until dawn about why surrendering the crown was the right choice, waxing poetic about the greater good and whatnot- but in the end there’s only one reason that really matters. It’s the same reason I didn’t heed Mystra’s command at Moonrise.” He leans down so each word brushes warm and sure against her skin. “It’s because you asked me to.”

Of course he wonders what would have happened had she not been there, about just how far his certainty could have taken him. When the crown sat in his hands he could feel the pull- a future draped in gold and silver as the true incarnation of the Karsite weave. He’d seen it for both of them too as gods side by side. Untouchable and beyond. 

And all she’d had to do was say please. Such a simple thing and yet it managed to dismantle all the ambition that had taken root so deep inside him. 

She keeps her head pressed to his for a long comfortable second before the hands on his chest loop around his neck to pull him closer.

“Sometimes I forget that my words mean more to you than that of a goddess,” she whispers against his temple, the taut curve of her spine relaxing under his touch.

He smiles. “I don’t have regrets. Not anymore. I fear when we met, that’s all I was- just a mess of poor choices stitched together with whatever vestiges of my magic hadn’t been eaten away. And even then you saw me as so much more. There was never going to be another choice.” 

He leans back, feeling his grin sharpen slightly as he caresses the tip of her ear. “And whether you see yourself as divine or not, you know I’m all too happy to get on my knees for you.”

He chases her answering blush with his mouth, following that pink spill to her forehead.

She playfully pushes him away as he kisses her nose, brushing a few escaped strands of hair back behind her ears. “So, what exactly is troubling you then? And don’t say nothing.” She pokes the crease between his eyebrows. “I can see it’s something other than the pain.”

He exhales and presses her hand back to his chest.

“I don’t think I know who I am anymore,” he confesses quietly.

The words hang in the air. It feels like such a trivial thing to say out loud but each word presses heavily on his tongue, sour and shameful.

She doesn’t say anything in response. The tell me is written plainly in her eyes and the hands softly brushing his skin.

“It’s strange,” he continues slowly. “After everything, I didn’t think that the bravado of Gale of Waterdeep would be something I missed, but the journey to find who I am now I’ve done away with him is proving harder than I expected.” 

He remembers when that first became his designation- when wizards from near and far knew the power of Mystra’s chosen. It came with pride and definitely a dash of arrogance but also tight boiling pressure. Year on year, he’d plan and write and cast, finding new ways to live up to that station. There’s a lightness now the expectations of those titles are gone, but maybe too much- like he could just disappear into the air.

Tav brushes her chin. “Well we can workshop some new ideas if you like. The Netherbrain Slayer. Or how about Master of the Worm.” She chuckles and spreads her fingers like she’s throwing the names into the air. “I’ve got a lot more.”

“I’m not sure I’d call those a marked improvement, love. Nor could I take all the credit for that victory.” He strokes her cheek, wincing as his chest seizes. “I know my previous title was a touch pompous but it’s who I was for some of my highest achievements… and my lowest moments I suppose. But it’s who I was when I met you. Finding something to replace that, or even having the need to replace it is a lot to think on.” He’s sure that if he has something else then perhaps he can finally wrap up that name and put it away. Something to prove that he's more than his renown, something other than Mystra’s discarded plaything.

“How about professor?” She offers.

He shrugs. The offer from Blackstaff Academy still rests atop his desk, the parchment curling further in on itself each day he ignores it. “I’m still considering it, though I’m not sure I can imagine myself a teacher.”

“You taught me.”

He smiles and tucks her closer. “That I did.”

That lesson in the weave feels like a lifetime ago. He can still see it if he closes his eyes- how for a brief few minutes, the sins of his previous desires weighed a little lighter. Having real, mortal hands so close and tentative to his own was a new kind of warmth, something bright and yellow that had only burned hotter when she’d used that magic to show him exactly what she’d wanted. That image had stayed with him for days afterwards: her hands in his hair, her body against his, kissing him gently and then with a fervour he wasn't sure he’d ever felt.

It’s the first night in a year he’d considered whether the risk of an explosion was worth following a feeling. A feeling that burrowed its way so thoroughly into his heart he can still feel it there, soft and red and eternal.

She presses her lips to his cheek. “And you really seemed to like it when I called you that last night, sir.” It’s her turn to chase the heat that blooms over his face, twisting her body over his until she’s sitting squarely in his lap.

Something stronger sets in her expression as the moment cools. She cups his face, pinning his gaze down with hers. “I need you to listen to me very carefully, Gale Dekarios,” she says. Her words are gentle but he knows a tidal wave could form behind her and he still wouldn’t be able to look away. 

“You know that I loved who you were. But that doesn’t change the fact that I also love who you are now. Neither of us are going to be the same person next week or a year from now or after whatever our next adventure may be. That’s just life. That’s mortality.” She guides his hand over her breast until he can feel her heart thrumming under his palm. “You’ll always have the whole of my heart, so it’ll be my privilege to know every version of you that comes to pass, even if you don’t know who that will be. And in the meantime- just be Gale. This Gale. Right in front of me.” She leans forward and presses her forehead to his, her fingers a warm cradle for his own. “Because he’s everything.”

She kisses him again as she finishes. It’s a gentle press, but she lightly parts her lips until he can almost feel her drawing out all the doubt in his mind and whispering it away. He winds his arms around her middle and tugs her until they’re flush together, letting himself drink in the comfort of her nearness. 

“Just Gale,” he murmurs as they pull apart with swollen lips and slightly hazy eyes. “Well if you’re already so enamoured with him, then I can certainly work with that.”

He strokes the length of her hand, turning it carefully between them like she’s holding his beating heart in her palm. He smiles again, thinking there could be no one better as its caretaker. 

It’s still a new feeling to have someone know him so intimately, body and mind. Even without the tadpole’s influence he’d shown her those deeper corners, the things he adores and the pains he wants to forget. And she didn’t wait to open for him, baring the things she so freely shows the world and those that will only ever be for him: the scent of her hair in the morning, the taste of her skin, the deep flush of her pleasure as she arches underneath him- each a gift. So he won’t stop giving in return. Giving and giving and giving as there will never be repayment enough for the way she looks at him. It’s a devotion worthy of the divine but as a man. As someone who’s more than just the sum of his talents or his mistakes. 

His gaze stops on the jagged scar by her mouth, a souvenir from the Netherbrain’s last desperate effort to stay alive.

He rubs his chest as he remembers. He didn’t have to fight it alone, even when he’d offered the orb up as the best course of action. Once he’d thought it a privilege to have someone to die for. How quickly that had changed when he was gifted something so much better. Someone to wake for, rest for, enjoy every sip of a glass of wine for. Someone to grab him by the shoulders, call him a fool and yell at him to live. 

“Perhaps one day I’ll discover what exactly I did to deserve you,” he whispers, his voice thick and raw with feeling.

She ducks down and kisses his chest, lingering against the spot where orb’s mark once rested. “You didn’t have to earn the right to love me, you know,” she murmurs, kissing there again before working her way up his neck and back to his lips.

Gale knows that he most certainly did but he’ll keep that thought to himself for now.

The ache flashes again, quieter this time. His hands dig into her waist a little harder. “Will you stay with me?” 

She shifts off of his lap and rests more comfortably against him, her head pillowed on his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere until you do.”

They sit until the pain finally subsides and dawn spreads like a pink veil above the sea. Once upon a time he’d thought he’d never see this view again, only to be conjured while lost in the grips of the shadow curse. 

He looks down at Tav, now fast asleep in an awkward bundle against his arm. He’d never thought he could show her either but she’d given him the strength to try and so much more. Hope. Hope enough to defy the words of his goddess and choose her, choose life, choose a happiness he hadn’t felt worthy of in a year.

He murmurs the same assent against her hair as he rouses her from her daze, ready to return them both to bed.

“You’re enough. This is enough. Always.”

***

I cannot believe this took me a month to edit. This may be the the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written.

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook: Velvet Love 🔞

The things he says never match the smile he's got on his lips.

Tags/Warnings: Yandere AU, Idol!Jungkook, graphic description of gore (briefly), twisted kook, description of mental insanity

Length: Short

Belongs to: Velvet Heart (but can be read as a standalone)

!! Disclaimer: I do not believe Jeon Jungkook to be like this, God no. This is pure fiction and meant to be seen as nothing but entertainment. Thank you.

♥━━━━━━━━━━━♡━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

"Alright how long will it be?" Jungkook asks as everyone gets ready for the shoot. "I really need to be home by 6 tonight, latest, or I might have to murder someone this time." He chuckles, voice light as he taps away on his phone, the stylist's hands stuttering a bit as everyone glances away uncomfortably from the idol. "What? Am I not getting an answer?" He asks innocently, looking around.

"I-we can't tell yet how long it'll take." The director says. "But we'll try and get it done as quickly as we can." He hurries out at the eye contact Jungkook holds with the man, dark orbs unmoving as they focus on the older man silently.

Before the singer smiles.

"No problem, I just don't wanna go home so late again." He shrugs, slumping down into his seat a little.

He's in a good mood today. That's not the norm- no one can really ever tell what kind of emotions go through him each day. While he used to be like this almost all the time back when he was younger, something had changed these days. Now, no one can tell if the words he says are to be taken as a joke, or as a threat.

Sometimes, like today, it feels like nothing's wrong again. As if the old Jungkook had returned, wiping away all the scary and unnerving changes that happened over the course of the last few years away, turning those things into nothing but a bad dream.

The shooting is fun. Everyone's light hearted again. The air feels easy.

"You think the challenge will be easy for you?" A staff member asks Jungkook in the back of the car as they all play a game of hide and seek in a way. He's supposed to find the rest of the members with small cues and nothing else. He chuckles.

"Easy." He laughs. "I'm good at games like these. No one gets away from me." He chuckles, and again, the mood shifts for a second.

He smiles. He's teasing, joking- probably. But no one is able to not hear any underlying implications He might be putting into his words.

So when the shooting ends, and its barely 5, Jungkook grins brightly as he leaves to go home.

And only then does anybody dare to breathe freely again.

♥━━━━━━━━━━━♡━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

"Do you think he'd ever..." Jimin mumbles, sitting with the rest of the band backstage as they eat something, Jungkook not attending as usual. He's almost always rushing home to you right after his schedule, never staying behind for longer than necessary as if he'd run out of oxygen to breathe if he was to be apart from your presence for too long. "..I- you know what I mean, right?" Jimin says quietly, and Namjoon sighs.

"I'd like to believe he wouldn't." Hoseok says lowly. "I want to.. believe he wouldn't do that." He says, but he's not believing it.

But he, as well as others, have seen what Jungkook is capable of.

He choked Taehyung before, to the point of the singer's face turning blue. Jungkook doesn't shout, doesn't yell, never seems to voice out his anger, but rather acts on it instead. He breaks furniture, smashes holes into walls, but his favorite is always to hurt. He does it with such a calm nature that it's truly unnerving to see.

It eliminates any way of truly telling if he's ever joking or honest when he tells one of his more twisted jokes.

"But I think we're all aware that he's very much capable of it." Namjoon says with a lot more control than the others. "No one's ever safe around him. You've heard how he talks; at this point, I believe every word he tells about violence." He explains. He knows Jimin is worried for you- after all, he's the only one who ever had any true interaction with you- he knows the singer feels for your safety, wants to somehow get you out of your situation.

But he also needs to remember that if Jungkook ever found out about this, he'd probably be a dead man.

"Dont you think we should do something then?" Jimin says, just like Namjoon had expected.

"The only thing you can do is not think about it." Seokjin offers soberly. "Then it'll hurt less."

♥━━━━━━━━━━━♡━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

You're beginning to try and speak more, and Jungkook worries it might become a problem at some point.

He can't have you babble about what goes on behind closed doors to others after all- what if you tell someone your address by accident, or how he's bought you a collar with a tracking device just to check where you go each day?

Of course, technically, he doesn't need it. You never leave the house after all, because you're just a good girl like that- and because the stories he tells you have made you afraid enough to never dare set foot beyond the apartment door ever. He doesn't ever make his stories too gruesome- mainly because he knows it'll make you a little too clingy, so he always depicts himself as the immortal God that cannot be harmed by any of the things he makes up. But you can be killed. You're mortal. A bag of flesh, ready to be devoured by the beasts that roam the streets outside of the safety of these walls.

You need him to survive. And he needs you to believe that.

He enjoys that you don't speak much. The noises you make and the gestures you've created to communicate are nothing shy of adorable to him after all, and any progress at proper human communication would ruin that feature of you for him. He doesn't want that- you're perfect just like this, like a pet, simply existing for him only, surviving because he wants you to.

You're alive because he allows it.

"I'll be home the entire week baby." He hums to you on his chest. "They've kept me hostage for way too much recently. I'll be with you for the entire week, I promise." He says, and you just smile, mesmerized by whatever he's saying. "You've got no idea what I'm telling you, stupid little thing?" He chuckles, and you smile as well, happily receiving his affection.

He loves it like this.

And he'll do everything and anything to keep it this way.

♥━━━━━━━━━━━♡━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

Would he ever kill? Truly take a life so it never returns?

He doesn't know. He's never been pushed to that degree to find out if he's capable of it. But he knows, he sometimes gets the somewhat of an urge - if not himself, then his brain rather comes up with sick and twisted thoughts of you.

His mind starts to bend memories of you into shapes unfamiliar, his hands no longer holding yours but rather bending you over his thigh until your spine cracks and breaks in half.

He gets scared of these thoughts. It's like they're not his.

He becomes fearful whenever he dreams of your chest split open by his own hands, fingers tracing each of your exposed ribs while he can't see anything but red. He knows you'd been broken before, mentally at least. Would he end up being the one to break you physically?

Maybe it's his fear of possibly losing you.

He makes love to you painfully slowly, carefully, and yet he sometimes can't help himself but to make you up as his. Never to the degree of inflicting true damage, but just to show his own actions are still under control.

He's a rabid animal, a pet once loved but now sick and deseased, truly on the verge of wasting away.

And no one around him wants to admit it.

Not while there's still traces of the old him inside.

♥━━━━━━━━━━━♡━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

[theaceace]

Though Roderick and his followers didn't realise it at the time, the magic in the circle and the glass orb meant that the only people who could see Dream were the ones that were there when he was summoned, so as far as the guards are concerned they're guarding an empty glass sphere that a delusional old man thinks holds something. And then of course, Hob gets hired as a guard and it's dealer's choice if Dream has realised by then that no one but Burgess and his Order can see him.

But then because Hob is sort of aware that magic and esoteric things do exist, he sees Burgess (sr or jr) talking to the globe and is like, huh. Maybe there is something in there. But maybe it's a demon like the rumours say and I shouldn't let it out. But Hob starts talking to Dream anyway while the other guard takes longer and longer smoke breaks.

Whichever Burgess is around at the time realises that there must be something about this guard, because the next time he comes down to yell/bargain/threaten, Dream has moved. He's hidden his face, there are handprints against the glass, and the dreamlord's shoulders are shaking.

It doesn't take him long to figure out the pattern - that this only happens around Robert, for whatever reason, and the man himself has no notion of what's in the circle - and eventually he sends the guards out so that he can tell Dream exactly what he'll do to this Robert if Dream doesn't comply. That he may not understand what it is about this one man that compels one of the Endless so, when he has been so unaffected by everything else but the death of his familiar, but that doesn't matter. He will find out, and he will leverage it, however he needs to.

He turns and leaves, and basically I want Hob to wander back in none the wiser and settle into his chair and his usual routine of talking all moony eyed about his stranger, while Dream is roaring his fear and fury and beating his fists bloody against the glass

[wandering-winchesters]

His Hands

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 931

Summary: The thoughts the reader has about Dean's Hands.

Trigger Warnings: None

Requested: No.

A/N: I honestly couldn't tell you where this came from and it might be awful. It was just a combination of thoughts that I had to get onto paper. Please let me know what you think :) x

Masterlist

Since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by hands. I remember a time when I would stare at the wrinkles in my grandmother's hands and imagine the life that they had endured. The stories they could tell if given the chance. She hated her hands, they were old, wrinkly, brittle and aged. A combination of words that she would use to describe her dislike for the hands that had served her for her eighty plus years. I took notice of my father's hands, the rough calluses that reflected the physical toll that his work had on him. My mother's hands, the softness in which they would brush over my skin. Any person that I met, at some point in time I would notice their hands. How they carried themselves, the motions they carried out with their hands. 

Which is why it caught me off guard the first time I had felt Dean’s hands on my skin. The first time I met him, I had watched him strangle a demon with his bare hands, not a move meant to kill it, only an attempt to satisfy Dean’s anger.

The green eyed hunters eyes were locked with the black orbs of the demons. A grin plastered across the demons face as Dean gripped tighter around his throat. I could see the rage emanating off of Dean as Sam muttered the words to the exorcism. I watched as Dean’s face contorted into one of utter fury, a yell leaving his parted lips. He only released his grip on the body, when the black plume of smoke rushed from the body shrieking as it was sent back to hell. 

I had nearly crawled inside of my skin as Dean turned his attention from the Demon that had been before him, to myself. I hadn't realized that I had pulled myself into the corner, cowered and done my best to make myself as small as possible before the two Winchester brothers. Another wave of fear had crashed over me as Dean's eyes locked with mine. I watched as he raised his bruised and battered hands in a mock surrender, his knuckles bloody and split open. They had to hurt, but they didn't seem to bother him at this moment.

At that time, I didn't know Dean from anyone on the street. My whole world had been turned upside down in a matter of hours. I had been taken from my apartment in the middle of the night by the man that turned out to be a supernatural. He had gotten into every corner of my brain, places that I didn't even know existed. Brought every thought filled with self hatred and doubt to the forefront of my mind. That was before the two men that stood before me, had burst into the room. A fact that the demon disliked, his attention immediately focusing on the two of them instead of myself. They argued back and forth, their words spit at the other like bullets from a gun. I couldn't really tell you what they said, even to this day it is all a blur within my mind.

Dean's eyes had locked with mine, soothing words of reassurance leaving his lips. He could tell I was poised to bolt, a deer in the headlights of terror. He kept his hands where I could see them and slowly approached me. He had crouched down next to me and extended one of his hands, offering it to me to help me to my feet. I took it and was caught off guard by the gentleness that he responded with. The calluses on his fingers brushed against the inside of my wrists as he pulled me to my feet. His grip on me had been firm but unmistakably gentle, almost soft. His hands were no longer an extension to the violence that I had seen moments earlier, now they were a source of comfort.

--

Since that first night, I had learned even more about what makes Dean the man that he is. I understood the anger that allowed him to strangle that Demon the first night we met. I had watched as he used his hands for the overall good of mankind. I saw desperation in his motions as he worked to patch up the many wounds and injuries that I acquired. Felt the gentleness leaching through his fingertips when he brushed away the stray hair that hindered my sight.

The first time he held me as I cried, his hands holding my body so tight against him it was all consuming. The need that flowed through him when he climbed into my bed for the first time, tugging me into his chest for comfort. Whether it was comfort for him or myself, neither of us would ever admit.

I had felt his grief through his grip on my body, late one night, as he clung to me. When the world had gone dark and silent, his choked sobs the only noise that fell upon our ears. A side of Dean that very few people would ever see, a side that Dean considered weak.

I experienced the feeling of love in a whole new way the first time his thumb brushed my cheek. One of his hands cupping my jaw, while the other pulled me by my waist into his embrace.

I have always been able to tell a lot about people by their hands, yet I never expected to find myself in love with a man whose hands were capable of giving me the world.

Tag List: @roseblue373@hobby27@jc-winchester

[revalition]

OCT 23 - REACTION SPEED The quickest to react. An untouchable man.

reaction speed!!! I found a screenshot of my skill cabinet from my first playthrough and I never gave this guy a single point. with motorics of 1. so I literally only heard from him when he was failing :) poor guy. He is wonderful though!!

what I *did* get was failing to catch the keys and them hitting harry in the eye. "Straight in the old eye-orb. In *the lookin' ball*!" has wormed its way into my vocabulary, right alongside *Quelle fuckin' surprise* from perception -- someday I'm going to say it out loud to someone by accident and it will be very weird :)

Also (pushes him at encyclopedia) thinking of those sneakers that give +1 reaction speed and -1 encyclopedia -- too fast for facts. go my whirlwind, attack

ok as always quotes under the cut!

reaction speeeed quotes

he takes on the role of like... volition 2.0. my precious guy. He yells at you to wait 30 times. that's double 2nd place! (though we haven't counted everyone yet -- but we're only missing 5)

REACTIONSPEED STOPS THE TRAIN SO YOU CAN GET OFF that is the variable name!! legendary difficulty. reaction speed ily

formidable check! he is fasttt he is doing his best

final dream :((( I think he is genuinely upset but this comes across as *so* passive aggressive lol

my silly guy

his little "there, you really showed her" is the only time he heals morale hgkhj dude NO

big one, but this reaction speed failure is *so* funny. it kills me that after a point RS stops bothering to even tell you it's not working.

we always love wonderful detective reaction speed of course, but the important part of this is how incredibly *early* in the game you can hear your name. This is talking to Klaasje as soon as you leave your room for the first time! Quite a lot of instances of the skills calling you by name have a check for if you've heard your name yet (and they will call you detective usually if not) so this was interesting.

alternatively, volition failing to stop reaction speed's need for questions!

also what's wrong with him :)

you tell harry, sweetie

look at my adhd son :)))

mheheheh also reaction speed confirmed compromised

swooshing around!!

reaction speed *not* wanting to go as fast as possible for once lol

hghkg

difficulty 16 godly reaction speed check!

love this, love that he knows that it's *right*

bad reaction speed :( also included the extremely sad inland line

lieutenant insights!

reaction speed no!

he's so eager hgsgk. he won't be tricked twice though!

thank you reaction speed, we really. needed you to say that.

:(

hilarious list of "something else"s you can think about. this game's dialogue, man...

look at them all nerding out over the pinball!!

ok that's 30. reaction speed my beloved.

[j-eryewrites]

Endure and Survive

Chapter Five of " A Sinner's Redemption"

Previous | Next

SERIES MASTER LIST | MAIN MASTER LIST

Word Count: 14.4k

Warnings: Canon typical violence, Infected, descriptions of gore and violence, death, character deaths, suicide and mentions of suicidal ideation, the pieces finally click, LOTS of angst and little comfort, guns and other weapons (let me know if I mentioned anything)

Author's Note: I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday season! I was planning on this chapter to be around 10k but it ended up being 14k (I got a little carried away hehe) Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading it! Feel free to leave comments and reblog! I love hearing your thoughts. Thanks for your support!!

Sleep had come easy to Piper. It was a foreign feeling as peace swept over her mind and body. And for the first time since she was twelve, Piper dreamed. The dream wasn’t unique; She sat on a porch watching the sun go down, taking a rainbow of colors with it. Hues of pink and orange flooded her view, and for once in her life, she felt alive. Of course, it wouldn’t be a dream if she was alone, so sitting next to her was Ellie. Her younger sister was bright, and her skin glowed under the departing sun. It was her and Ellie. Ellie and Piper.

Piper leaned into her sister’s shoulder, and a smile formed on Ellie’s face. She was reading her joke book. Ellie always had it with her. Piper peered at the pages and snickered when she found a horrible joke. Then, another figure sat down next to her. Piper was puzzled as she turned to her right. Joel. It was Joel. Joel was in her dream. Whatever confusion Piper felt washed away at the sight of him. She felt oddly at home. Dazed, she looked at Joel, Ellie, and the sunset. It felt unnatural not to have adrenaline pumping through her veins or her mind and heart running a million miles per second. She wasn’t on guard. She wasn’t FEDRA’s child soldier. She was just Piper, and next to her was just Joel and Ellie. They were happy, but what disturbed Piper the most wasn’t that she was delighted; she felt like she had found a home. This was her dream. Joel, Ellie, and her are safe, happy, and together at home.

But dreams do not last forever; before she knew it, the steel walls around her mind built up again. Her thoughts turned back to themes of violence and survival. She woke up and joined the war once more.

“Piper,” Ellie whispered when she saw her sister wake up. If it hadn’t been for Ellie’s hands holding Piper’s shoulders, the young teen would have collided with her sister.

“Ellie? What’s…” Piper followed Ellie’s worried gaze to a man standing behind her.

Forcing Ellie’s hands off her, Piper sat up and faced the man. He raised his gun and warned her not to make any sudden movements, or he’d shoot. Piper’s eyes grew cold as her instincts kicked in. The man, whoever he was, was nervous. His hands shook as he directed the gun at Piper. In any other scenario, she’d attack him then and there. However, there was another in the room. A kid, whom Piper thought to be about six or seven years old, held a gun at Joel.

“Els, wake up, Joel,” Piper calmly said as her eyes never left the gun before her. Her chin slowly jutted up as a sign of her cautiousness.

“Joel, wake up,” Ellie said. He lay sleeping. “Joel.” No response. “Joel!” Ellie yelled and grabbed onto the man’s jacket, shaking him awake. It was then Joel finally began to stir.

“Joel,” Ellie’s lips parted in relief as she saw the old man rise. Joel blinked his eyes slowly, with the fog of sleep still on his mind. Once his dark orbs landed on the silver metallic shine of a gun, his muscles tensed.

“Eyes on me,” the man said to Joel. “Eyes on me. You don't have to worry about what to say. We don't wanna hurt you. We wanna help you.”

Joel raised a brow at the man, and Piper held back a scoff. He wet his lips as he awaited the young man’s following words.

“Okay. Okay, um… I don't know what the next step is with something like this, but if I lower my gun… we didn't hurt you… so you don't hurt us… right?” The man’s gun lowered slightly.

“That's right,” Joel said. The words left his mouth too soon to convey genuity.

“That's a weird fսck¡n' tone, man,” the man with the gun said. His hands began to clam up, and his knuckles turned three shades lighter. If they gripped the pistol even tighter, Ellie was sure that lights where the man’s knuckles were would illuminate the room.

A gasp left Ellie’s mouth when the gun inched closer to Piper’s temple. Her sister, however, didn’t flinch. “That's just the way he sounds. He has an asshоlе voice. Joel, tell him he's okay,” Ellie begged.

Joel glanced at Piper and Ellie and then back at the man. “Everything is great.”

“Dude,” Ellie hissed with desperation.

The man’s movements were becoming more frantic, and Piper knew they’d probably all be dead if she didn't pounce. “Fսck! Okay… listen… I'm gonna trust you,” the gun lowered to his side, and Piper’s shoulders relaxed. ”Yes. But if either of you guys try anything…” he raised the gun again, alerting Piper. “Yeah? Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Ellie nodded.

Briefly, Piper peered over at Joel. Her eyes communicated her distrust in the situation; however, Joel’s warm eyes gave her a sense of ease. They would see where this went, and if things went wrong, they’d fight.

“Can I sit up?” Joel asked. His eyes darted between the older guy and the kid.

“Yeah. Slow. Get up slow,” the man instructed Joel before looking at the kid beside him.

“Who are you?” was the next question Joel asked.

“My name's Henry,” he introduced before pointing to the younger kid beside him. “That's my brother, Sam. I'm the most wanted man in Kansas City. Although right now…” Henry’s eyes scanned the three of them. “My guess is you're running a close second.”

Joel’s brow tensed. It was a subtle change that only Piper and Ellie picked up on. To Henry and Sam, he was still the man glaring at them.

“So…” Henry muttered, “truce?” Henry held out his hand as if Joel was going to shake it. Joel did no such thing. Instead, Joel’s posture tensed as Henry’s dark hand waved in front of Joel. Henry’s lips drew into a tight line before directing his hand at Piper. He got no response from her. However, Ellie stood up and grabbed Henry’s hand, agreeing on a truce for her two stubborn guardians.

“Truce,” Ellie mumbled before plopping back down and reaching into her bag to cover up the shaking in her knees. In the next moment, her hands were full of food. She tossed some to Henry and Sam.

“Where'd you get these?” Henry asked. His mouth began to water at the sight of the stale sandwich.

“From Bill,” Ellie replied, digging into her sandwich. “He's dead.” Feeling Piper's irked stare, Ellie rolled her eyes as she shoved a sandwich into Piper’s hand. The older teen’s stomach rumbled, betraying her cold stature. Reluctantly, Piper began to eat, slowly cueing Joel to partake in the meal.

Once they were all eating, Sam turned to his brother. His little hands twirled and waved, fingers bending and straightening to create symbols. Henry’s eyes followed his brother’s movements as everyone’s confusion grew.

“He says thank you,” Henry translated. He nodded as he gazed down at the food. “I'm guessing you don't have much, so… this means a lot,” he smiled.

Ellie grew curious, looking at the younger boy. His hand movements only intrigued her. It appeared to be a secret language. Her mind began to whirl with thoughts on creating her secret language with Piper and how cool it would be to torment Joel. “How old is he?” Ellie asked.

Henry placed down his sandwich and created some hand movements to communicate with Sam. The young boy nodded and replied. “He's eight,” Henry noted.

“Cool,” Ellie beamed as her eyes squinted, trying to interpret the language. “I'm Ellie!” She watched as Henry relayed the information back to Sam, trying to copy the signs subtly. Still, they were over before she could move her fingers in the correct position. Sighing in defeat, Ellie peered over at her sister.

The muscles in Piper’s jaw clenched so tight that Ellie thought she could throw a piece of coal between her teeth and find a diamond in five minutes. Quickly nudging her sister, Ellie saw Piper’s jaw unclench as her older sister flashed her a look of annoyance.

“You gonna introduce yourself?” Ellie asked, placing all her body weight on Piper’s side, nearly knocking the teen over.

Piper’s arm ached from the sudden force, and it took everything in her not to wince at the recent pain from the bullet’s trace on her arm. Quickly, Piper angled her shoulder to shove Ellie's offer before sending her another look that said she wasn’t planning on saying anything soon. Ellie huffed, the sound mixing a laugh and a sigh of disappointment.

“That’s Piper. My sister,” Ellie said, pointing to Piper. Piper whipped her head to Ellie. The tension in her jaw returned, and her eyes burned with the offense of being betrayed by her sister. Her internal vow of silence broke.

“Ellie!” Piper hissed.

“What? That’s your name unless you want to go by Annie Reaction,” Ellie replied.

“Fucking hell,” Piper cursed. “Of course you–”

“Jesus, you two stop it,” Joel grumbled. The girls grew silent. Meanwhile, Henry felt a wave of awkwardness grow between the group. Being a witness to the scolding of others was always strange, and he was unsure if he should disappear or contribute to the conversation.

“I'm Joel.” Joel scrunched up the wrapper holding his food and shoved it back into his backpack. He linked his fingers together and placed his gaze on Henry and Sam. “Look, you ate, we didn't kill each other; let's call this a win-win and move on.”

Henry’s face paled. Piper wanted to scoff at the young man. He had no clue how to deal with situations like this. “Well, I'm betting…,” Henry said, gathering his thoughts. “…That y'all came up here to get a view of the city and plan a way out. And when the sun's up, I'll show you one.”

Joel leaned back. His dark eyes scanned Henry’s for any sense of a lie. He found none in the young man’s honest demeanor. He glanced over to Piper, who had come to the same conclusion. Henry was right. They needed to escape the death trap of a city, and he just offered them their salvation.

꧁_____꧂

“Welcome to Killa City,” Henry announced as his arms parted to the panoramic view of the city that the building provided.

The view was not much compared to the sights Piper had already seen. It was a city. Buildings were crumbling and rotting underneath the strain of time and neglect. Dust was everywhere, placing the city in a tinted haze. As the young teen’s eyes scanned the view, she saw what had drawn Joel’s attention: the center of black in the middle of the city. The center was even worse if the rest of Kansas City had seemed barren. It was torched, leaving everything a charcoal-like color—a midnight graveyard. The sight made Piper shudder.

Joel was grateful he didn’t have to crane his neck to look outside the window. His back, neck, and other muscles were stiff and sore. They refused to move properly. It was another sign Joel was getting old. He let Piper fall asleep on his shoulder as they were sitting guard, and now his body was paying the consequences. Not that Joel minded providing a stable shoulder for the young teen to rest her head on, even if she was adamant about staying awake with him. The thought of Piper’s stubbornness almost made Joel chuckle if it weren’t for the scorched center of the city.

“No FEDRA,” Joel muttered. The view of the city did little to ease the knot of nerves growing in the pit of his stomach. These were the people they were hiding from, who set the Kansas City QZ ablaze. Who knows what else these bastards did and are capable of?

Henry nodded as he spotted what Joel was eyeing. It was the old QZ, burned to the ground. “Not as of ten days ago, no,” Henry confirmed.

There was a shuffling behind the two men as Piper leaned back onto the table in what was supposed to be a conference room. “We always heard KC FEDRA was…,” Piper began. Her voice was soft and almost indecipherable from the noises caused by Ellie and Sam.

“Monsters? Savages?” Henry finished. His wide eyes glanced back at Piper as he answered her. His dark pools reflected the horror and fires that set ablaze ten days ago, and she forced herself to look away. “Yeah, you heard right. Raped and tortured and murdered people for 20 years. And you know what happens when you do that to people? The moment they get a chance, they do it right back to you.”

“But you're not FEDRA,” Joel noted as he looked Henry up and down. Joel knew what FEDRA looked like, and Henry, well, he was in no way the FEDRA image.

Henry’s eyes glanced down, and his shoulders slightly caved in as if making himself physically smaller would help lessen the blow of his following words. “No…,” Henry shook his head, “worse. I'm a collaborator.”

Piper and Joel’s eyes widened at Henry’s confession.

“I don't work with rats,” Joel spat. His brows were furrowed, and eyes narrowed in on Henry.

Upon hearing Joel’s words, Piper felt her stomach churn. Her feet stepped back from the conversation as her arms defensively crossed over her torso. Joel didn’t know she was one of them, that she was FEDRA and had been for years. Suppose he was this pissed off at Henry working with them; who knows what he would do to her. She gulped, and her eyes blinked rapidly as she turned away from Joel, an action that did not go unnoticed by the man.

“Yeah, you fսck¡ng do. Today you do… 'cause I live here and you don't,” Henry hissed. “That's how I followed you here. I know this city, and that's how I'm gonna help you get out.”

A vein bulged in the middle of Joel’s forehead, deepening his wrinkles. “Why help us?” Joel asked.

“I saw what you did… the way you killed those men,” Henry mumbled. His voice was quiet as if he didn’t want the kids to overhear him. “Now, I know where to go, but I don't know how to make it through alive, not if it's just me and Sam.” Henry glanced behind to look at his brother, who was smiling as Ellie scribbled on his scratch pad.

“You seem capable enough,” Joel noted. “You're armed.”

Henry’s body shook in disagreement. “You're wrong and wrong. Never killed anyone. And pointing an unloaded gun at you was the closest I've ever come to being violent.” He let out a nervous chuckle at his admission. “So that's the deal. I show the way… you clear the way.”

Suddenly, a burst of light laughter filled the arm, drawing the attention of Joel, Henry, and Piper. It was Ellie and Sam. They were in a fit of giggles at something one of them had said. Henry’s anxious expression gave way to a soft smile. The creases on Joel’s face relaxed, and Piper’s arms unfolded themselves, resting at her sides.

“Haven't heard that in a long time,” Henry muttered. Piper nodded. It had been a while since Ellie had laughed like that. How long had it been since she laughed like that? Yeah, she played along with Ellie’s antics, resulting in a giggle here or there, but it was a real laugh where her chest tightened because she could no longer breathe. A real laugh where her eyes watered, and the sound no longer became aesthetically pleasing to the ear. If it was a laugh like that, then Piper hadn’t laughed in a long time. She thought back to last night. Joel had almost made her laugh like that. Piper’s chest clammed up on her heart and lungs, making it hard to breathe. She was getting weak. She was letting Joel in.

“So how are we gettin' out?” Joel questioned, his reluctance destroyed by the children’s laughter.

Knocking on the table, Henry got Sam’s attention, and with a few signs, a paper and crayon were placed in front of the three of them. “Highways…,” Henry took the crayon and began to sketch on the paper. “Downtown. Us. This whole area belongs to Kathleen.” He pointed out each area.

“She's in charge?” Joel asked.

Henry nodded. There was a fear in his eyes when he mentioned Kathleen. “Leader of the resistance. You can see the way highways bound us. They got people posted all around the inside perimeter. If we get close, we get caught. No question. So how do we get across?”

As Henry explained, Joel glanced over to Piper. She was oddly quiet. Yes, Ellie was the more vocal and talkative of them, but even so, Piper would chime in and comment here or there. Now, it appeared as if Piper wasn’t even breathing.

Again, Henry pounded on the table. The vibrations reached Sam. Some more signs were exchanged, and then Sam began to write. Joel tilted his head like a dog trying to understand the English language. The scribbling stopped, and Sam held up his pad. “Tunnels,” it wrote. Ellie peered over Sam’s shoulder to look at the answer.

“Boom.” Henry made an explosion with his hands to emphasize his point.

Joel’s confusion only grew. “Kansas City has a subway?”

“No,” Henry elaborated, “but they have maintenance tunnels. There's a bunch of buildings all put up by the same developers. And they share these tunnels, including… a bank building here.” His finger pointed to a square on his drawing, representing a nearby building. “So we enter the tunnels here… travel underground, and pop up here. Westside North. Residential. There's an embankment on the other side of the houses. We head down, a pedestrian bridge over the river… free as a bird.” He smiled and peered up at Joel and Piper.

“You're right. It's a great plan,” Joel agreed, and Henry’s smile grew. “So, what do you need me for?” The smile was gone.

Sighing, Henry began to tap the tabletop with his fingers. “You noticed anything strange about this city? I mean, other than the strange sh¡t you've already seen?”

Piper broke her silence. “No Infected.”

“Oh, there's Infected,” Henry explained. Joel and Piper realized that they didn’t like where this answer was going. “Just not on the surface. FEDRA drove them underground 15 years ago and never let them come back up. It's the only good thing those fascist mοthеrfսckеrs ever did.”

“So you want us going into a tunnel full of Infected?” Piper was already shaking her head at the idea.

“Everyone thinks it's full of Infected, including Kathleen,” Henry said. “Which means that we're not going to be running into any of her people. But you see, what I know is… it's empty.”

“You've been down there?” Joel interrogated. He was with Piper on this. They’d have better chances of taking the alive humans than a horde of Infected underground.

“…No,” Henry hesitantly said, “but the FEDRA guy I worked with told me that it's clean, completely clean. They cleared it out. All of it.”

“When?” Piper asked.

“Like… three years ago,” Henry replied.

Piper scoffed, and Joel began to step away from Henry. “Three years ago is a long time,” Joel noted.

“Okay, maybe,” Henry yelped, reaching out to the two of them to hold their attention. “There's one or two, but you handle it.”

“What if there's more?” Joel asked.

“Or one of those blind ones that sees like a bat?” Ellie interjected from the other end of the room where she and Sam sat.

Henry’s eyes widened with shock. “Wait, you… you ran into a Clicker?”

“Two of 'em,” Piper muttered. The mention of the clickers made the bite mark on her arm burn. She raised a hand to soothe the phantom pain.

Henry’s shoulders rolled back. “And you're still alive. You see? You're the right people. If it gets bad down there, we turn around and run back out the same way we came.”

“Oh, that's your great plan?” Joel sarcastically said.

“No,” Henry spat. “That's my dicey-as-fuck plan. But as far as I can tell… it's our only shot.”

A dull thud came from the table. Sam had his fist on the wood, waiting for their attention. He waved his hands around as Henry’s eyes carefully observed. “They're saying they're going to help us escape,” Henry said as he signed back to Sam. Ellie smiled at Henry’s words and playfully nudged Sam’s shoulder, asking him to continue their conversation via the scratchboard.

“You’re gonna help us, right?” Henry said, lowering his hands and praying that his words reached Joel.

“Joel?” Piper whispered, waiting for his answer. She knew Henry was all they had right now, and she couldn’t say no. Not when Ellie had a friend. Not when Ellie was smiling and laughing like she did before Riley died, before all this shit that has happened to them. This was how Ellie was supposed to be, not that Piper had her Ellie back; she was determined to keep it that way. Joel’s brown eyes looked down at Piper. Her eyes glowed with an eagerness that tugged at Joel’s heart. He knew he couldn’t say no, just like he couldn’t brush Piper off his shoulder the night before. As Joel agreed to the dicey-as-fuck plan, he couldn’t help but feel like a tiny sliver of the man he was before the Outbreak returned.

꧁_____꧂

They were running again. With the addition of two bodies, the group darted between garbage containers and squeezed between alleys, ducking low whenever necessary. The old bank building wasn’t far from where they had sought shelter before, but not far; it still seemed like a lifetime away as Kathleen’s men scoured the street, hunting them down.

It had felt like years had passed by the time they all had reached the bank. The interior of the building did little to conceal the five fugitives. Windows that were untainted by the dust allowed crystal clear visibility both ways, boxed in on the ground floor. Piper’s stomach hurled at the thought of being vulnerable from all sides. Her eyes twirled around frantically, looking for some possible escape for cover. Ellie clenched her hands, burying her nails into her palms. Piper’s worried expression only added to her own. Ellie trusted Piper’s gut instincts more than anything in the world, and if Piper was on guard, then something was not right.

“We need to get outta sight,” Joel harshly muttered to Henry. He sensed the girl’s unease. It was a mutual feeling.

“Uh… I,” Henry turned around, scanning the open floor. “I-I think it's this way.” His long legs quickly led the others to a set of stairs. Once the windows were exchanged for solid concrete walls, Piper felt slightly more at ease.

They descended the stairs. Their hurried footsteps clambered over each other, creating a loud noise. A large steel door with “Exit” written on it appeared. Henry was the one who pushed the door open, revealing a parking garage. A cool air hit the group, sending shivers down their bodies from the temperature change.

“Jesus, it’s cold,” Ellie shivered.

Piper glanced towards her sister before quickly shrugging off her jacket and handing it to Ellie. “Take it,” Piper insisted, and Ellie did. Piper wasn’t cold. She couldn’t be when her heart was running a million miles, pumping adrenaline into her veins.

“This should be it,” Henry announced as they approached another steel door. The labeling on this door was too faded to read. “You ready?” Henry asked Joel.

Joel’s unwavering eyes scanned the door in front of them. “Girl’s,” this caught Piper and Ellie’s attention. “Get your guns out,” Joel instructed them.

They didn’t need to be told twice to retrieve the weapons and flashlights. Henry eyed the guns but decided not to give them a second glance as he reached for the door handle and swung it open. Joel entered first. His flashlight and gun were in hand as he scanned the area. Next were Piper and Ellie with their respective guns and lights. There was nothing except water dripping as the droplets echoed throughout the tunnel.

“You see? It's empty! The plan is good,” Henry cheered.

Ellie, Piper, and Joel all winced at Henry’s volume. “Shh,” they all hissed at Henry, and his face faltered.

"The plan is good? We've been down here two seconds. We don't know anything,” Joel spat.

Henry bit the inside of his cheek. The tunnels were clear; anyone could see that. “Your dad's a pessimist,” he whispered to Piper and Ellie.

“He's not my dad,” they instantly replied.

“I'm not their dad,” Joel said simultaneously. They all glared at Henry for even suggesting such a thing. Henry’s eyes widened as he raised his hands, suggesting his regret in implying anything. “Just point your lights forward… and be ready to run,” he told the group.

Slowly, Joel turned around to face the long tunnel ahead of them. He waited for a few more moments. His mind was ready for sudden movements and the sounds of screeches and clicks. Nothing came, so he took a step forward and then another. The rest of the group followed behind him.

When Henry mentioned tunnels, Ellie thought there would be many twists, turns, and dead ends, like the mazes and labyrinths she had read about in some of her comics. However, these tunnels were straight and covered with many different pipes. “Tunnels” wasn’t even the right word; he should have said tunnel because there had only been one so far. There were no turns, dead ends, or monsters in the middle of the maze. Ellie was glad about the no monsters part. She could live without seeing another infected for the rest of her life. The no turns or dead ends were a buzzkill. Only so long could one walk straight before they started to think they were crazy. Luckily, she wasn’t the only one who thought so. Sam had been writing to her. They conversed via the scratchboard and imagined what it would be like if the tunnels were like those in the comics. The two talked about the rats that occasionally scurry between their feet or the few turns the tunnel now had. Ellie noted how much broader the tunnel was getting. The ceilings grew up a few feet, and she was sure they all could walk side by side with how far apart the walls were.

Soon, Joel’s pace began to slow, bringing the pace of everyone else behind him to a halt. There was another turn in the tunnel. This time, it led to a tiny hallway that, if Ellie reached out her arms, she could be touching both sides. It was darker than the rest of the tunnel and made her and Sam forget about the latest topic of debate on the scratchboard. The tunnel continued like before, but the claustrophobic enclosure gave way to a vast opening. The group stilled and stared. Something had caught their attention.

“Whoa,” Ellie gasped as she flashed her light around to look at the walls. They were covered in drawings of rainbows, flowers, children playing, and there was even a castle. The colors illuminated underneath the flashlights’ glow.

“Does anyone else think this is fucking creepy?” Piper whispered to the group. Something about the vibrant colors and the plastered smiling faces drawn onto the wall by children unnerved her. She grimaced as goosebumps formed on her arms, and she now regretted giving Ellie her jacket.

Sam was amazed at the bright colors and art. It reminded him of the pictures he made with Henry on the walls of their confined make-shift home a few days ago. In front of Sam was the door to the castle. He smiled and reached out a hand to open it.

“No,” Joel quietly said as he shook his head and pulled Sam away before taking his place and opening the door. Together, they all winced as a bright light blinded their view. There was light in this underground bunker.

One by one, the group scattered about the room. The walls had the same sort of drawings present in the tunnel before. Buckets of toys and books were lined up against the walls. On the far end of the room was a large drawing of a goal with the word “GOAL” written in all caps. On the other end was a kitchen filled with pots and pans.

“I heard about places like this,” Joel commented. “People went underground after Outbreak Day. Built settlements.”

Piper’s eyes caught sight of a giant whiteboard on one of the walls. Pieces of paper with children's drawings were taped alongside the “house rules.” Her dark eyes read down the list, her mood souring. It felt like she was invading a grave and was not welcome.

“What happened to them?” Ellie asked.

Piper peered closer at one of the pictures on the whiteboard labeled “our protectors.”

“Maybe they didn't follow the rules, and they all got infected,” Joel replied.

“Mm,” Ellie hummed before dropping her sack on the ground and picking up a toy car. She whirled it around the air and then dropped it on the table before Sam. They shared a mutual smile.

Suddenly, Sam reached the ground and picked up a worn copy of a comic. He began to flip through the pictures before Ellie burst with excitement.

“No way! I love these,” she exclaimed. Sam just nodded his head and smiled. Realizing her mistake, Ellie shook her hands in the air as if she was writing on paper. Sam understood and handed her his scratchboard. “I have issues… four, five, six, 11,” she wrote.

Sam replied with the issues he had.

“Ah. So cool,” Ellie replied. Leaning close to Sam, she slowly said, "To the edge of the universe…and back. Endure and survive." It was the signature catchphrase from the comics. Sam’s brow furrowed as he tried to read the young girl's lips. Gradually he started to sign along, understanding what she was trying to say.

“Endure,” Ellie muttered as she copied Sam’s sign for the word. “Survive. Endure. Survive.” Ellie was now doing the signs as Sam had taught her. “fսck yeah, man!” She raised her hand to give Sam a high-five. Once their hands collided, they giggled.

“Hey, keep it down. We're not out yet,” Joel reprimanded the young teen.

Ellie rolled her head back in disappointment. “Ah, c'mon. Can we just rest here for a while? There's, like, actually sh¡t to do here.”

“Wouldn't be so bad to wait the light out a bit,” Henry commented. Safer in shadows when we pop back out on the other side.”

Ellie’s eager eyes glanced over to Joel, who bit his lip. He looked over to Piper, who couldn’t care less if they stayed a while, before shrugging his shoulders and finding a comfortable place to sit down.

“Yes!” Ellie cheered before dragging Sam along to the painted soccer goal to play some ball. The two passed the ball between each other as a warm-up until they were ready to start playing. Ellie began to shoot into the goal. With one swift kick, the ball went into the goal.

“Let’s go! Come on! Yeah!” Ellie raised her hands triumphantly in the air. “Come on. Pass it back,” she motioned to Sam.

A few feet away sat Joel and Henry. They were situated around what Joel thought to be the meal table. He watched as Ellie and Sam passed the ball back and forth. It reminded him of…No, he wouldn’t let himself remember. Instead, he turned his sights toward Piper. It took him a moment to find her, but she was in one of the far corners of the room. Her back leaned against the wall as her eyes followed the ball as it was passed back and forth. Joel saw Piper grow smaller at the sounds of her sister’s laughter. Her lips drew into a tight line. She looked confused and uncomfortable as her eyes withdrew from Ellie and Sam. Piper looked at the shelves filled with books; her brows furrowed as her eyes glanced over the titles and authors of each book. Joel couldn’t help but think that Piper should be playing with Ellie and Sam. Yes, she was older than them, but Piper was still a kid. Kids loved to have fun, and soccer was fun. Especially the way Ellie and Sam seemed to be playing it. Yet Piper sat with her legs drawn into her chest, trying to, well, Joel wasn’t quite sure what she was trying to do. All he knew was that she wanted no part in the play.

A soft chuckle came from beside Joel. It was Henry. From the corner of his eye, he saw Henry smiling as his brother played.

“If you were collaboratin' to take care of him, I… I shouldn't have said what I said. I don't know your situation. And I'm not sayin' they should let it go, but…,'' Joel began his attempt at apologizing.

“Ah, that was awesome!” Ellie beamed as Sam made his own goal on the post.

Joel’s eye flitted back to Henry. “all things considered, seems kinda cruel…To send a whole army after you for that.”

“You know, I wasn't, uh… exactly telling you the truth before…,” Henry confessed, causing Joel to raise his brow. “About me not killing someone. There was a man, a great man. You know, he was never afraid… never selfish… and he was always forgiving. Have you ever met someone like that? Kinda man you'd follow anywhere. I mean, I wanted to. Well… I would've. Yeah, but, uh, Sam, he, uh… he got sick. Leukemia.”

Joel’s eyes glanced towards the ground as he felt his heart hurt.

“Yeah, anyway, um… there was one drսg that worked, and, whoa… big shock… there wasn't much left of it, and it belonged to FEDRA. And if I wanted some… it was gonna take something big. So I gave them something big. That one great man. The leader of the resistance movement in Kansas City. And Kathleen's brother,” Henry said. He cautiously looked over to Joel. “Yeah, so, you still think they should take it easy on me? Or am I the bad guy?” Joel shrugged as he thought of an answer. “I don't know what you're waitin' on, man. The answer's easy. I am the bad guy because I did a bad guy thing. But you get it, though. You might not be their father… but you were someone's.” Joel’s jaw clenched at Henry’s words. “See, I could tell,” Henry muttered.

A loud, playful roar erupted from Ellie’s mouth as she chased Sam around the room. The game of soccer was forgotten. The two of them darted past Joel and Henry, and as the wind from the children’s speed blew past them, Joel’s reflective daze was broken.

“We've waited long enough,” Joel muttered, snatching his flashlight and gun as he stood up.

꧁_____꧂

Ellie was trying her darndest not to laugh, but with how Piper’s sleeping face twitched as she dragged the felt tip marker across it, Ellie couldn’t help but giggle. Come on, it was peak comedy for the eight-year-old. Her masterpiece was almost done. All she needed to do was draw on the final touches. Then Piper’s nose scrunched. Her head jostled, ruining Ellie’s perfect line as Piper’s movement dragged the marker across her face. Ellie quickly pulled the marker back from Piper’s face as her sister raised a hand to wipe away the midday nap from her face.

“Els?” Piper groaned as she arose from her slumber.

Quickly stuffing the marker in her pocket, Ellie smiled innocently at her sister. “Good afternoon, shithead.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Ellie, what did I say about swear words…”

“Only use them when necessary,” she sighed.

“Good.” Piper sat up and glanced back at Ellie. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Piper asked quizzically.

Ellie’s face faltered as she tried to cover up her smug smile. “Looking at you like what?”

“Like…like you’ve–what did you do?” Piper’s brow raised, and her eyes grew serious.

A red tint appeared on Ellie’s face as she scooted back and began to reach for the bunk bed railing to help her stand up. “Nothing. I swear on my fucking life.”

“Ellie,” Piper said, disappointed.

“What, you not believing me is a good reason to swear,” Ellie noted.

Piper rolled her eyes. “Sure,” she smiled.

“See, I told you that–”

“Ah ha!” Piper exclaimed as she snatched the marker hidden in Ellie’s pocket.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Ellie cried out as she tried to grab her marker from her sister’s hands.

Waving the marker in the air, Piper smirked. “What exactly were you doing with this marker?”

“Uh…drawing. Duh,” Ellie said. It wasn’t a lie so that Piper would believe her. Ellie hated how Piper could always tell when she was lying. She was trying to get better at it. Riley was even helping her here and there, giving her pointers. Which all worked on the FEDRA teachers, but still, not one had worked on Piper. She was just too good. Ellie couldn’t believe it. Piper was eleven and reading her like she was a book. It wasn’t fair.

“…Okay,” Piper sighed. “I believe you.”

Ellie smiled. Half-truths may be the way to go with Piper.

“What were you drawing?” Piper asked.

Ellie’s face fell. She was screwed. “Um…something. It’s a surprise.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What?! I’m serious. I’ve been working really hard on it,” Ellie whined. She had been. Piper had been asleep for about an hour, giving Ellie ample time to plan her artistic masterpiece. About twenty minutes of the hour were dedicated to putting her idea to work. Twenty minutes was a long time. It was far more time than she had ever put into a work of art.

Piper raised her brow, and her eyes were full of skepticism. “You serious?” Ellie frantically nodded, and Piper sighed. “Alright, but you’ve got to show it to me when you’re done. ‘Kay?”

“Totally,” Ellie snickered.

There was something in the way Ellie stood in front of her with her hands fiddling with her shirt that tipped Piper the wrong way, but she chose to believe Ellie, giving her the benefit of the doubt. “Well, we’ve got to get to the dining hall,” Piper said, shrugging the sleep off and pulling on her shoes. They were worn to the sole, and the heel would have fallen off by now if it weren’t for the duct tape holding it together. She’d have to get new shoes soon. Maybe Levi would have some for her, Piper thought.

Feeling tiny static hairs at the back of her neck, Piper headed for the mirror to fix her bedhead. Ellie saw her sister’s trajectory and darted to the door of their room. It flung open with not much force, and Ellie entered the hallway. “Race you there, Pipes!”

Piper chuckled at Ellie’s antics. It only fired her will to beat Ellie to the dining hall. Hurriedly, she glanced in the mirror. She froze. Her hair was fine. It was hardly amiss. That was not what was wrong. Looking in the mirror, Piper saw Ellie’s masterpiece. All over her face were little squiggles and drawings. Some were hearts and stars, and even a mustache tinted bright pink. The cherry on top was the crooked lettering that spelled “Dummy.”

By the time the two girls showed up in the dining hall, they both were adorning the loving title of “dummy” on their foreheads.

꧁_____꧂

A chilly night air blew over the group as they emerged from the tunnels. Henry was right, there were no infected. Joel eyed the young man as he smugly led the group through the neighborhood.

“Do you know where we are?” Joel questioned. He eyed the abandoned homes. Their windows held the ghosts of a time before the outbreak. They stared as he walked along the once clean paved streets and litter-free sidewalks. His spine pricked as the eyes of the past washed over him.

“Yep. The other side.” Henry looked back at Joel and slightly snorted. “No. No one is here. No one's gonna be here because…,” Henry turned humbly and triumphantly shrugged his shoulders. “My plan worked.”

“So much goddamn talkin',” Joel groaned.

“I'm just saying I delivered. Make this right, go down the street, embankment behind the last house, and we're out,” Henry said.

They were almost out. Ellie softly smiled and peered to her side where Sam strolled. They were almost out, and she’d have to say goodbye to her new friend. Biting her lip, she thought of an idea; maybe she didn’t have to say goodbye. “So we cross the river, and then what? Where ya gonna go?” Ellie asked.

“Don't know yet,” Henry replied.

“Well, we're goin' to Wyoming.” Joel glared at her. Piper just sighed and rubbed her arm. The pain had returned, and she worried it was infected.

“What?” She defended, “It's a huge state. It can fit two more people.”

“Yeah,” Henry solemnly nodded. He glanced at Joel in understanding. He didn’t want a few extra people, and Henry wouldn’t force the older man. He didn’t think he’d get far since their deal was just getting out of the city. “Maybe we just call this a success and say our fond farewells.”

Ellie frowned. “No, he'll change his mind. Trust me. This is how it goes.” She cleared her throat and patted her chest with a fist, preparing her vocal cords to speak lower, and in a deep voice, she said, “He's like, "No, Ellie. Never, ever, ever happening. And then I'm like, "I'm gonna ask you a million more times." And he's like–

A shot fires near them. A dust kicked up, and the group ducked down low. Piper gasped, grabbing the roots of her hair.

“Move, move! Go!” Joel ordered as more shots were fired. Quickly, the group huddled behind a rusted car.

“The fսck is that comin' from?” Henry hissed.

“Shut up,” Joel spat as he peeked over the car's hood. His eyes narrowed. The dark wasn’t making it easier to see where the shots fired. A spot of bright light flashed from the upper window of a home. A bullet shattered a window in the car.

“fսck. Let's move. Let's go,” Henry whispered before he grabbed Sam’s hand and began to run the way they had come.

“What are you doin'?!” Joel yelled.

“Gettin' the fսck outta here!” Henry replied. A shot fired in front of them. “Oh sh¡t, oh sh¡t!” Darting back to the safety of the car, Henry turned to Joel. “What do we do?”

Piper nodded her head, wanting to hear what the plan was. Her gun felt heavy in her hand. She could do that. She could find the guy and shoot him. She could hunt him down. She never missed.

“All right,” Joel breathed. He shuffled around and solved his pistol into its holder on his side. “Stay here.” He crouched down low and shifted his weight forward.

“What?” Piper and Ellie blurted.

“If you don't move, he's not gonna hit you,” Joel explained. The girls were shaking their heads. “I'm gonna go around, try to get in the house through the back, and then I'll take him out.”

“But if you go out there, he's gonna kill you,” Ellie pleaded.

“Joel, I can do it. I’m smaller and–”

“No. I’m going.” He saw the fear in the girl’s eyes. Piper’s dark eyes concealed it better, but Joel knew. “Look, it's dark, and he has sh¡t aim. Nobody's gonna kill me.” He tried his best to reassure them.

“Then he's gonna kill us,” Ellie whispered.

Joel’s chest tightened. “Do you trust me?”

The girls shared a nervous glance. Ellie reluctantly nodded. Piper bit her lip and scowled. Her nose and eyebrows scrunched together as if it pained her to say yes, but she did. In her softest voice, she said yes.

꧁_____꧂

Joel was breathing hard as the shot kept on coming. Each wisp of air as the bullets hailed down only made his heart beat faster. It was his luck that the street was littered with cars, each big enough to cover his body. However, if luck had been on Joel’s side, then someone wouldn’t have shot at them in the first place. He knew no infection in the tunnels was too good to be true. Something had to go wrong eventually, and it just happened to be right before they reached freedom from this hell hole of a city.

It was like a dance how Joel maneuvered between the cars and the occasional mailbox along the side of the street. Each time he ducked, he was one step closer to the house, to the window where the culprit was shooting from. It was the last house on the cul de sac, standing tall and brown in the dark of the night. At least, Joel was pretty sure that the house was a shade of brown, but he could be wrong. He was convinced that this whole neighborhood must have been something to see in the days before the outbreak, but now it was a war zone. Now, someone was using the home to shoot at him and the girls.

At a certain point, the shooter had stopped. Joel wasn’t sure why, but they had. Joel hoped that it was because of a lack of bullets, but his fears came true when he heard the gasps of the girls, Sam and Henry. The shooter was targeting them. He had to hurry. As he darted between the bushes and trees on the lawn of the brown house, he caught sight of the bridge. Water rushed underneath it, echoing a calming symphony of nature. They had to cross the bridge, and then they’d be free. Joel could get to Wyoming; the girls could go with the fireflies. Everything would be alright. Except now that Joel thought of it, his stomach churned.

He broke into the back of the house and climbed the stairs. Joel’s gun was raised close to his torso as he checked his corners before proceeding. He had to get this right. He had to save them, to protect them. Another shot was fired, and Joel’s heart lurched out from his throat. Joel held his breath while creeping towards the room at the end of the hall. Brushing the door to the side, he aimed his gun at the man sitting in the chair by the window.

“Put the gun down, slide it over to me, and then stay up here for another hour,” Joel calmly said; however, nothing about him was calm. “That's all you have to do.” The man turned around and peered up at Joel. His shaking old hands changed grip on the gun as he turned around to look at the intruder. “Please don't do it. Please,” Joel begged. But the man did not listen. Another shot rang out in the air. Joel’s hand ached as he lowered the gun from the slumped-over body.

Suddenly, a static noise pierced Joel’s ears. “Anthony? Anthony? Anthony, hold them where they are. We're almost there.”

Joel’s eyes widened. “Fսck.” He clambered to the window and stuck his head out, and with a guttural desperate cry, he yelled to the girls. “RUN!”

꧁_____꧂

Ellie’s fingers fiddled with Pipers. Her smaller digits weaved around her older sisters. Each movement brought a sense of control to the young girls. They didn’t dare think about the silence after that last shot. They didn’t dare get their hopes up.

Piper’s ears twitched as she peeked out from behind the car. Joel was in the window where the shooter once was. She couldn’t help but beam at the sight, but soon her smile faltered. His arms were waving frantically at them, and he was shouting something.

“What’s he saying?” Ellie wondered as she stood next to Piper. Henry and Sam soon stood up as well. Each of them was confused at the sight until the final piece of the puzzle was placed: the sound of the revving of cars. They froze as Joel’s words now clicked.

“RUN!” He screamed.

Panic coursed through their bodies as they stood there, the ground now rumbling and the horrific roaring sound pounding in their ears. Then they ran.

“Go! Go, go, go, go!” Henry shouted as the group darted from behind the car and towards the house, towards Joel. Soon, their shadows stood tall in front of them. The light behind them grew brighter. Ellie cried out in fear as she turned around with her gun in hand to shoot. She hadn’t expected the car to be so close. She couldn’t see anything, yet her legs kept running. She raised her gun and shot. It missed. She fired the weapon until it was empty. The car was closer. She was going to get run over. Another shot rang out, and the car swerved off the road into one of the wooden houses on the side. Whipping her head around, she saw Joel in the window with a rifle. He had made that shot. He had protected them.

“Ellie!” Piper gasped as she ran back for her sister in the chaos of the crash. Ellie hadn’t even realized her legs had given out. “You okay?”

Ellie’s head nodded in a jagged motion before her lungs could produce enough air for a singular word. “Yeah.” With confirmation, Piper dragged Ellie over to where Henry and Sam hid. The four of them ducked down behind a nearby car as the street was illuminated from headlights.

“He's up there,” A voice said. “Fսck.” The voice was close. Too close for Piper’s comfort. She clenched her eyes shut and squeezed her gun. Her hands were shaking. “Two and two! Around the back, take him out!” The voice instructed. Her eyes shot open as she glanced at the house to Joel. The marching footsteps of the people faded as they approached the house at the end of the street. Piper bit her tongue until she tasted blood. Joel could handle himself. He had to.

“Dead end, Henry. Gonna step on out? Save us some time?” It was a female voice. Ellie hated to admit it almost sounded comforting, like a mother. “No? That's all right. Doesn't matter.”

Henry glanced at Sam, Ellie, and Piper. He could do it. He had to save his brother and the others. Henry’s eyes met Pipers. She shook her head at him, and he only smiled.

“I'll come out! Just let the kids go!” Henry yelled from behind the car.

“No. Sorry,” Henry’s face paled. “The girls are with the man who killed Bryan. And Sam… Well, Sam's with you.”

Henry shook his head. “You don't understand, Kathleen!”

“But I do,” the woman named Kathleen smiled. Piper could hear the chilling grin in the woman’s voice. “I know why you did what you did. But did you ever stop to think that maybe he was supposed to die?”

“He's just a fսck¡ng kid!” Henry pleaded.

“Well, kids die, Henry. They die all the time,” Kathleen said. “You think the whole world revolves around him? That he's worth… everything?” Piper looked over at Ellie. “Well, this is what happens when you fսck with fate.”

“Get ready to take him and run,” Henry whispered to Ellie and Piper. Ellie shook her head. “Yes. Do it.” His eyes turned to Piper. She couldn’t bear to look at him. They were the same. They’d do anything for their little siblings, so Piper agreed. She grabbed Ellie’s hand and then Sam’s, who looked confused as his brother stood up and out of the cover of the car.

“It's time, Henry,” Kathleen said.

“Enough! Okay.” Henry had stepped out and raised his hands. With teary eyes, he looked up at Kathleen. The burning home behind her framed her as she raised her gun at Henry.

“It ends the way it ends,” She whispered. Her finger cocked back and then hovered over the trigger.

There was a crash, and dust fell over the mass. The burning house collapsed, and the ground had caved in. Wood, tires, and the car had fallen in with as the fire crackled around. A colossal explosion fired up into the air, and all fell silent. Everyone froze as a deep rumbling came from the earth below them. Piper thought it was an earthquake for a moment, but the noise told her better. It was growling. An unearthly snarl escaped the pits of the ground. After all, it’s where they were buried—the infected.

All at once, wave after wave, they climbed out of the hole. The monsters screeched as they ran to the nearest human. They were fueled by a desire to kill and to spread. A rainstorm of bullets fired as fear overcame Kathleen’s men. All thoughts of killing a group of five were forgotten. The only drive was to survive.

Screams of “No!” fell from people’s mouths as Infected leaped upon them, tearing out their throats and opening their jaws to feast on their flesh.

“Run 'em down! Run 'em down!” A voice commanded, and cars began to drive down the street, taking out groups of infected.

꧁_____꧂

From the safety of the brown home, Joel watched as hell came thundering down on the street below him. The fires spread from home to home, painting the scene as a sight from hell itself as people were carved open by the hands and teeth of the Infected. Raising the gun, he peered into the scope. His eyes moved around until he had found them. Henry had run back to the cover of the car, grabbing Sam’s hand tightly. Next to them were his girls, Piper and Ellie. He would keep them safe. They would get back to him. They would cross that bridge. Cocking the gun, he fired. The bullet lodged into the head of an Infected, who jumped on top of the car, reaching for the group.

Henry and Sam ran away from the vehicle. Piper and Ellie ran the other way. Joel followed his girl’s movements and took out each predator. No matter how they grabbed, leaped, and screeched, he would never let them touch the girls. The first few shots had startled the girls, but with a quick, grateful glance up at him, they knew who their protector was. His gun followed the girls as they ducked behind cars and raced away from the bloodied mouths of the infected. His gun kept firing, taking out the monsters, until one shot was met with silence. The barrel was empty.

Joel’s shaking hands dug around for another cartridge, for more bullets. His eyes tore away from the window to re-arm the gun. When he looked back, Piper had shoved Ellie towards a van as an Infected pounced on the girl. It knocked her to the ground and growled. Its head whipped around to the younger and prepared to jump when its body fell limp. Joel held his breath, and it only returned when Piper shoved the monstrous body off of her. She was alive. The girls exchanged some words before Piper pushed Ellie into the van. The younger girl makes it in. Joel kept firing, giving Piper more time to seek shelter when she stopped. There was a roar that shook the whole street. A towering blob of infected snarled as it stomped towards the van, towards Ellie and Piper. Joel fired at the thing, and the infected howled each time the bullets hit.

Suddenly, Piper was gone. Joel scoured the crowd to find her. The light of the fire blinded him. Muffled shots were fired, and he whirled around to find it. Piper was luring the thing away from Ellie. He watched as she opened her mouth to scream at it before shooting it once more. Its pace picked up as it charged. Joel cocked the gun once more, but it was empty. He cried out as he watched Piper scurry away. Her body was hidden from view behind two cars. It was too late. The infected raised its arms up high and roared as they came down. ꧁_____꧂

“Hurry and get in!” Piper hissed.

Ellie whined. As if she didn’t already know what was awaiting them outside the van.

“I’m trying!”

“Ellie!” Piper glanced behind herself and froze. “Ellie,” Her tone hardened.

“I’m in! Piper, come on, let’s go–”

“I can’t.”

Ellie’s brows pinched together. “What do you mean?” There it was, that sickening roar. It made Ellie shiver. As she peered through the muddied glass of the van, she gasped, although the sound was more like a scream.

“Piper!”

Her older sister glanced back at her. Piper’s dark brown eyes were glossed over as she flashed a shaking smile. “Ellie,” Piper whispered. “I need you to–”

“No!”

“Ellie! I need you to hide. Stay low and quiet. Joel will–”

“Fuck Joel,” Ellie hissed. “You’re my sister. Remember? Me and you till the end.”

Piper bit her lip and cast her eyes downward. Her hand was still holding Ellie’s, although at this point, it was more like Ellie clung to her sister.

“Yea, me and you. So you’ve gotta keep goin’. I’ll live on with you. Just get out of here.”

Ellie was crying now. “No, Piper, no!” But it was no use. Piper had yanked her hand away from Ellie. Her sister’s screams challenged the Infected as her shots drew it away. Away from Ellie. “PIPER!!” Ellie cried as her eyes trailed her sister’s movements.

Piper’s sights were on the monster. The firelight illuminated the tears on her dirtied face like stars in the night sky. Ellie banged at the van window, slowly moving her body to keep her sights on Piper. The monster roared at Piper, and Ellie shrieked as Piper’s back hit two cars. The trucks caged Piper in, leaving her no room for escape as the Infected hunted her.

The Infected was mere feet from Piper. She had nowhere to run. Ellie wailed and screamed as she banged against the van. Piper’s name kept falling from her bloodied lips. As the monster raised its arms, Ellie watched Piper turn her head to the side. Their eyes met in a weak attempt to say goodbye. After that, Ellie could only hear the never-ending screams and sobs that were squeezed out of her lungs.

It was these cries for her dead sister that drew in a hunter. The tiny Infected clicked and screeched as its ears attuned for fear were lured in. Ellie gasped as the monster’s body twisted like a spider. The van rattled with the newest edition. That little huff of air sealed her fate, and the Infected lunged. Ellie cried out in terror as the infected struggled to climb over the mountain of seats to reach her. In the front of the car, Ellie used her legs to kick open the passenger side door of the van. With one powerful kick, the door swung open. Ellie fell out of the van and slammed the door behind her. The Infected shrieked, and its claw-like nails scratched at the window.

From behind her, a familiar voice yelped. “Get it off!” Henry yelled as his legs frantically kicked a snarling Infected away. Sam was beside whimpering as a second Infected was reaching for him. Ellie wiped away her tears and scrambled over to the monsters. Her pocket knife was in her hand as she stabbed the infected, grabbing Henry. A shot rang out as Joel took care of the one attacking Sam. Her hands reached out to take hold of Sam’s and Henry’s before pulling them up when all she wanted to do was crumble to the ground and cry.

“Thanks,” Henry said. “Hey, where’s Piper–”

“Gone,” Ellie said. Henry’s eyes filled with pity, but Ellie didn’t want his pity. An Infected screamed and jumped towards them before Joel shot it down. “Come on, come on!” Ellie waved her hands for Henry and Sam to follow. “Go, go!” She yelled as they made their way to the house at the end of the street.

Joe stood outside on the lawn. His gun was aimed to shoot any approaching Infected. Upon seeing Joel, Ellie let go of Henry and Sam’s hand and ran to him. His somber eyes only made her cry as she clung to his coat. Henry and Sam stilled at the sight. Joel lowered his gun and patted Ellie’s head. His words wouldn’t do anything for her. He knew that. His eyes met Henry and Sam, who shared the same solemn look.

“Stop!” A sheer voice cried out. The group whirled around and found Kathleen. Her gun was raised and aimed towards Henry. Joel’s grip on Ellie tightened. Kathleen chuckled. “You think you’ll get awa–”

Blood spattered on their faces as a bullet lodged in Kathleen’s head. The woman’s body fell limp, collapsing to the ground in a pile of sprinkling blood. Behind the deceased stood a trembling figure. Blood, ash, and dirt covered their body from head to toe, almost making them unrecognizable. Their dark eyes glistened as the weapon lowered to their side.

“Pipes?” Ellie whispered.

꧁_____꧂

It was black. Piper’s mind was constantly replaying her last few moments. Her desperate goodbye to Ellie as she ran away, shooting at the monster. Each shot hit. She’d never miss, not when it counted. She only wished Ellie could get away, that Joel would protect her.

Piper was expecting death to hurt a lot more. She had seen how the monster after her had torn off a man’s head before doing the same to the rest of his body, but nothing came.

The terrors that were occurring on the street still reached her ears. The pleading screams of men and women as they were scratched open, the infected’s hand burrowing into them. Gunshots firing in a feeble attempt to save oneself. But what she heard the most was heavy breathing. It was her own. She was still breathing.

Unclenching her body, she opened her eyes. She covered her mouth to stifle the gasp that tried to flee. The infected stood before her. The two cars trapping her were demolished by the brutal force of the Infected. It stood before her; its fleshy chest heaved as it looked down. Piper was scrunched into a tight ball as she stared at the monster before her. It was watching her–the mushrooms, where eyes should be, followed her movement. She gulped. It stood still, waiting for something. A shaking breath left her lungs, and the Infected leaned down low. The potent smell of death and decay flew into Piper’s face as it snarled. She pushed herself as far as she could into the bent-up cars behind her. Her eyes widened to the size of boulders as it opened its mouth. Its teeth were rotten and covered in blood, and its throat opened up enough for her to see the tiny spiral of fungus climb out of its mouth. The thing was reaching for her. She cried out and crawled out from under the Infected. It made no motion to stop her.

Swiftly, Piper rolled underneath one of the cars and watched the Infected roar again before its thundering feet chased a new victim. As quickly as she sought shelter under the car, she rolled out. Pushing herself off the ground, she observed the horrors before her. Infected screeched and preyed after the people. Fires raged on, burning the neighborhood to the ground.

A burning sweat made Piper’s tangled hair stick to her neck and head. Her shirt was torn and bloody, and her knuckles, elbows, and knees were bloodied and tainted with bits of gravel. Choking on her breath, her feet began to move. Piper’s eyes scanned the terrors for any sight of Ellie, Joel, Henry, or Sam. An ear-splitting screech impaled her ears; Piper jumped back to find an Infected. It stared at her before turning the other way. More monster screams, and rasps were cut short as the Infected fled from the stumbling girl. She watched as these things parted the seas of torching fire, death, and rot.

She watched as hell fell down on the people who were bent on killing them. The Infected ripping them apart. She passed by men who cried out for her to save them as the monsters feasted on them. Their skin squelched as decaying teeth bit down. In her daze, Piper’s feet knocked away a pistol. The handle and barrel were drenched in blood and chunks of human flesh. Reaching down, she picked it up and wiped away the gore. The reddish handle glowed in the firelight as she caught a look at her tainted reflection in the handle. Blood trickled down her nose and mouth. Her skin was scraped, bleeding, and covered in dirt. Her eyes were cold and lifeless as her freckles disappeared under the dark of the night. Looking in the handle, she couldn’t figure out what she saw, but it wasn’t her–it wasn’t Piper.

“Go, go!” Ellie screamed. Piper’s eyes whipped around, searching for her sister. Ellie was alive. Ellie. Piper found them at the house. Henry, Sam, Joel, and Ellie. They were all there. They were safe. The weakness in her legs vanished as she ran. The sight of them was all she needed to keep going. Her family. Joel and Ellie. Her home.

꧁_____꧂

The adrenaline depleted from Joel’s system as he leaned back on the wall of the motel room. It was the least smelly of the ones on the first floor, and the carpet wasn’t as moldy as the others. The room would do for the night.

From the side room, Ellie's voice was heard as she read the comic book to Sam. "Pew. Pew. As the Raven 01 approaches the red planet.” Ellie’s finger traced the words, letting Sam know where she was. Their eyes scanned the pages of the comic book, inhaling the magical world within its pages.

Henry glanced down at his food and decided he should save the rest for later. Wrapping it up, he sighed. “You think they'll be okay?”

Joel’s ears perked up. “Yeah, I think…,” his eyes trailed off to peer into the room. “…it's easier when you're a kid anyway. You don't have anybody else relying on you. That's the hard part,” Joel said.

His words conjured up thoughts of Piper. She had it hard. She was still a kid and had to go through everything with Ellie clinging to her hand. The teen in question had been silent the entire journey to the motel, and before anyone could ask the burning question of her survival, she excused herself to go find some mattresses for them to sleep on. She mumbled something about not wanting to sleep on the sketchy green carpet.

“Well,” Henry chimed in, “I guess we're doing a good job then. Piper too.” Joel nodded. “What's that comic book say?”

"Endure and survive,” Joel repeated from memory.

"Endure and survive?” Henry cocked his brow. “That sh¡t's redundant,” he laughed.

“Yeah, it's-it's not great,” Joel agreed, and for a brief moment, a faint smile appeared on his face.

“No, it’s not, “ Henry said.

As an uncertain silence fell between the two men, Joel observed Sam and Ellie. They looked content. Two kids doing what kids do best. His heart swelled at the sight. This is how it should be, thought Joel. His dark eyes lit up with an idea. “Look, I don't know exactly how I'm gettin' to Wyoming. I'm probably walkin'. But… you know,” Joel muttered. “If you want to.”

Henry bit his lip to stop the smile from spreading. “Yeah. Yeah. Um… Yeah, I think it'd be nice for Sam to have a friend.” He nodded his head in a feverish manner to hide his excitement. “I'll tell him in the morning. New day, new start.”

Joel nodded along. It was a good idea that would be the best for the girls.

Standing up from his seat on a wooden chair that was much too stiff for his liking, Henry pointed to the room. “I’m gonna go check on them.”

“Hm?” Joel’s eyes followed Henry’s direction. “Yeah, I should–I should check on Piper. See where she’s at on the mattress situation.” Grunting, Joel pushed himself off the floor and left the room in search of Piper. Meanwhile, Henry turned back to his brother and Ellie.

"Bingo! Should we knock?” Ellie read before turning to the next page of the comic book.

“Hey,” he muttered as he knocked on the door. Ellie tapped Sam’s shoulder to let him know his brother was there. “You need sleep,” he said and signed at the same time.

Sam sighed before rolling over on the bed and tucking his legs in tight. The pink plaid blanket did little to ease the discomfort from the decades-old mattress. It smelt of things that Sam had never smelt before, but he knew he didn’t want to smell them again.

Seeing Sam tucked in for bed, Henry turned to Ellie. “You should–”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ellie said. “I’m going.” She closed the comic book and placed it on the side table. Then, lying down on the bed, Ellie settled in for bed. Satisfied with the situation, Henry softly closed the door and left Ellie and Sam to sleep.

꧁_____꧂

The night air had gotten chillier the moment Joel had stepped outside. He wished he brought his jacket, but checking on Piper was a greater need. A slight tremor spread from his fingertips to the rest of his body, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed. Everything hurt, and Joel had to raise a hand to the wall to stop himself from crashing into it. Oxygen seemed to flee his lungs all because of her. Piper. The girl he thought died. He had seen it. She had been cornered with nowhere to run. The bloater was after her, and it was out for blood. He saw the cars crumple up as if they were soda cans under the force of the creature’s arms. Wincing as his breath came back to him, he heard a shuffling in a nearby room.

The room was only two rooms over from where they were, but it was still too far for Joel’s comfort. Stepping forward, his hand pushed the door open with a creak. Immediately, his eyes caught sight of the dim light of a flashlight.

“Kid?” Joel called out. He entered the room and glanced around. It was like the room they were staying in, except the ceiling had more water damage and mold. “Kid?” He repeated after hearing no response.

“ Room 4 has two mattresses in decent condition,” Piper muttered. Joel turned to find her unpacking her bag and laying out her sleeping bag. “You could drag ‘em over.”

Joel felt that same tense feeling enter his body from before as he saw her settle her things. “Kid.”

Fluffing up one of the pillows on the bed, Piper ignored Joel. Her face was still like that of a statue. Her eyes were cold and hard. Joel was sure if he reached out his hands to freeze.

“Kid, what are you doing?” Joel asked.

Piper scoffed. “What does it look like I’m doing? And I’m not a kid.” She still hadn’t looked at him.

His arm reached out, and his hand felt like it burned as he latched onto her shoulder, pulling her away to face him. “Look, I know what happened must have been–”

“Terrifying? Yeah, you could say that.” Piper bit the inside of her cheek. Her dark eyes still refused to look at Joel.

Joel held his tongue. He wasn’t sure what to say as his eyes took in Piper’s disheveled state. She looked awful, and it hurt him more than he’d like to say. “Hey, I’m trying here,” finally, she peered up at him. Her eyes glossed over. “Just…how did you–I saw that bloater–,” Joel whispered for fear she’d blow away if he spoke any louder.

“So that’s what they’re called.”

“I thought you died, kid,” Joel confessed. His eyes watered over, and his grip on her shoulder tightened.

Piper’s eyes briefly widened before she turned away, brushing Joel’s hand off her. “Wish I did,” she muttered.

“No,” Joel shook his head. “don’t say that. You don’t get to say that.”

Piper’s face tensed, and every line became visible. Her eyebrows clenched together so that they became one as the pain in her broken soul was revealed. “Then what do I get to say, Joel?! That I’m a monster! That the Infected treated me like their own! That they didn’t touch me! That they can’t! It’s because I’m like them. I’m a monster. I’m infected–”

Joel’s brows raised in confusion. “No, you’re immune. Just like Ellie.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Piper spat. “I’m nothing like Ellie. The infected still go after her. They will always go after her, trying to rip her apart, but me…? They just walk by as if I don’t exist. I’m one of them, Joel. It all makes sense. They were all after Ellie.” She tucked her arms close to her torso as she stepped away from Joel, putting too much distance between them.

“You got bit in the museum. You–”

“It was trying to bite Ellie, and my arm got in the way. Not that it mattered,” Piper explained. “I’m a monster.” Her eyes glanced down at the scarred bite mark from that day.

“No,” Joel said. He reached out to her. “You’re Piper.”

“And Piper’s a monster!” Piper sobbed. Her whole body shook as shaky breaths entered her lungs, fueling her pain.

“Kid, let's get back to the group. Ellie’s–” Joel tried to reason.

“No!” She yelled. “I’m not going anywhere near them, Joel! What if I….” Her voice grew soft and vulnerable. “What if I kill them? You said it yourself. I could still turn. Doesn’t matter if it’s days, months, or years. I could– I could go after Ellie. I could.”

Joel took a step closer to her, and Piper took one more back. Determined to keep distance. “You’re immune, kid. You’re immune, and even if you turned, you’d never hurt Ellie. I know it.”

“Bullshit,” Piper cursed as her back hit the wall of the room. Her knees crumbled underneath her, and her legs smashed against the floor.

“It’s not,” Joel comforted. “Come, kid. Let’s go.”

“I’m staying here,” Piper hissed.

“It’s not safe,” Joel pleaded.

“I’m not safe. I don’t feel safe in this skin.” She began to pick and pull at her skin. The wounds from earlier opened up, and fresh blood began to taint her skin once more. “I don’t feel safe around you or Ellie,” She choked on her sobs. “I–I should’ve died. I was supposed to die. I–”

Joel leaped forward and encased Piper in his arms. She tried to fight him. Her body twitched under his hold before the attempt to free herself stilled. “Shhh, I’ve got you,” he whispered into her hair.

Slowly, her trembling hands wrapped around his arm. “I’m so tired,” she breathed.

“Sleep,” Joel said as he lifted Piper off the floor. “I’ll watch over you and make sure nothing happens.” With an arm under her legs and another supporting her back, Joel carried her out of the room.

“If something does happen?” Piper whispered. “Will you shoot me?” Joel’s throat constricted. “Joel?”

Examining the girl in his arms, Joel’s eyes held a mix of fear and sadness. He’s been here before. His memory proved to be too powerful. Pulling Piper closer, Joel sighed, “Just go to sleep, kid.”

Piper was too tired to push the subject further. It would be something unspoken between the two. Joel prayed it would stay that way, for he knew his answer. If she had asked him that question in Boston, he’d have no issue with her request. But they weren’t Boston anymore. Joel wasn’t who he was in that city. He was someone else, someone familiar. It was as if he had discovered a pair of clothes from his past and decided to give them a try once more just to see if they fit. As he held the teen in his arms, it was no surprise that it did. Those clothes would always fit so long as Joel was willing to wear them. As for Piper’s request, he could never. He would never.

꧁_____꧂

Ellie couldn’t help but smile as Henry closed the door. He let them keep the light on. Everyone knows you’ve got to turn the light out when you leave a room where kids are supposed to be sleeping. Snatching the comic book from off the table, Ellie tapped Sam on the leg. He whirled around, eyes wide, until he saw her waving the book at him. He smiled and sat up, scooting to the edge of the bed to see better. Ellie cracked open the comic book and held the pages open so that Sam could see. Her thin finger traced the word bubbles as she softly read them. Her face was animated as if she was a part of the story herself.

"I don't see any weird movements. "Stiff? Negative. Damage here in Sector 153. Stella, can you hear me? I read you. Okay, from here…” Ellie read.

Raising his pointer finger up, Ellie paused and placed the comic book down. Sam reached to his side and pulled out the scratchboard. His small hand took the pencil and began to write.

“Are you ever scared?” he asked.

Ellie read his message and grabbed the board to write her reply. “Do I not look scared?”

Sam shook his head. "Never."

Ellie’s eyes fell, and she picked up the scratchboard. “I'm scared all the time…,” she wrote.

Sam scoffed. Ellie softly smirked and continued to write.

“… of scorpions!” She flashed the scratchboard, and Sam and Sam raised a brow, unamused.

She erased her message before writing her truest fear. “I’m scared of ending up alone,” she wrote. Her eyes began to water as she thought of today’s events. Sniffling, she wiped away a tear. She’d almost lost Piper, and she’d already lost so many others: Her mother, Riley, and Tess. Who else was going to be added to that list? Maybe Sam? Joel? Henry? Piper? “What about you?” Ellie wrote.

Sam took the board in his hands and slowly wrote his response. “If you turn into a monster, is it still you inside?” He asked.

Ellie’s brows furrowed in confusion, but her confusion faded as Sam raised the hem of his pant leg. The light highlighted the bloody bite wound. Tiny veins reached out from the injury, but Ellie knew better. Those weren’t veins. It was the fungus. She saw Sam’s expression falter, and without thinking, she pulled back her sleeve. She stuck her arm up to the light, and Sam gasped. She had a mark just like him.

“My blood… is medicine,” Ellie wrote on the board before showing it to Sam. He tilted his head. Quickly, Ellie fetched her knife out from her bag and cut her hand open. Sam raised his hands up in protest, but Ellie ignored them. Carefully placing her bleeding hand on his wound, she mixed her blood with his. Sam winced as her finger dug into the bite. But as quickly as it happened, it was over. Sam’s pants returned to cover his wound as Ellie bandaged her hand up.

“Stay awake with me,” Sam wrote.

“I promise,” Ellie replied.

Raising up his hands, Sam signed the word “Promise.”

Ellie followed suit. Her fingers mirrored Sam’s as she said, “Promise.”

With the promise to each other, Sam and Ellie hugged. Their bodies rocked back and forth to bring a sense of comfort. Ellie held onto Sam tightly. She wouldn’t lose him. Her blood was the cure. It had saved Piper after she got bit, so it had to work on Sam. It had to.

It wasn’t long before the light of day broke through the window of the motel room. Ellie jolted awake as the sun’s beams fell on her face. She groaned and rubbed the sleep from her eye. Looking on the bed next to hers, she found Sam. He was sitting up, looking out the window. The morning sun had painted a picturesque scene outside. The sky was a grayish blue, and the grass was a deep green. Ellie was glad to see green again instead of steel-gray buildings and dust.

“Hey,” she called out to Sam. Once the words left her mouth, she smiled, realizing her mistake. Shuffling, she got out of the bed and walked towards the young boy. He was humming a song she hadn’t heard before. She wondered how he even knew what he was humming but figured she could just ask him. Reaching out her hand, she tapped on his shoulder.

Sam whipped around. His eyes were dead as they scanned Ellie. Immediately, he raised a hand to scratch her. His mouth opened and snarled. Ellie screamed as he pounced on her and knocked her to the ground. The force broke down the door, landing them in the other room.

Ellie struggled to keep her hands up to keep Sam’s gnashing teeth away from her. Her whimpers and cries reached the ears of Joel, Henry, and Piper as they were shaken awake. Immediately, Joel and Henry reached for the gun lying between them. It was closer to Joel, but Henry was faster. Jumping to his feet, Henry aimed the gun at Joel and then at Piper as they tried to approach Ellie and Sam.

“Nope, nope, nope,” Henry discouraged.

“Joel! Piper! Joel!” Ellie pleaded. Sam’s deadly eyes bore into hers. Her friend was gone. She had failed him.

There was a deafening bang, and Sam dropped to the floor. A pool of blood spilled from the young boy’s head, turning the sickly green carpet a scarlet red. Henry gasped, and Ellie screamed. Piper’s body could no longer hold her up, and she fell to the floor. A permanent expression of shock was carved onto her face. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t–

“Ellie,” Joel whispered. “Are you okay?” He held his hands by his head as Henry’s gun trailed his motions.

Ellie peeled her gaze away from Sam’s dead body to look at Joel and Piper. Silent sobs fell from her lips as a flood of raging tears trickled down her cheeks.

Henry stepped back, pulling Joel’s attention. The young man’s body was eerily calm as his eyes conjured up a storm. The seas of Henry’s dark eyes crashed and shook.

“Easy, easy, easy,” Joel muttered. He took a step towards Henry, who had brought the gun to him. “Henry, gimme the gun.”

“What did I do?” Henry sobbed.

“Shh,” Joel soothed.

“What did I do? What-what-what did I do?” He looked back at his younger brother. Where there was once a bright smile now sat a gaping hole where the bullet had entered. Sam was dead, and Henry had pulled the trigger. “Sam?”

“Henry, gimme the gun. Gimme the gun. Gimme the gun, Henry.” Joel was begging now. “Gimme the gun.”

Henry did no such thing. Slowly, his steady hand brought the cool metal of the gun’s barrel to his head. His desperate eyes met Piper’s. It was only a brief glance, but it was enough for Piper to understand. In the storm of Henry’s eyes, Piper saw the girl in the abandoned mall. She saw the young girl tear into her own flesh, begging the dead monster to have bitten her instead. She saw the gun that had a bullet promised for her brain if Ellie was taken by the fungus. She looked at Henry and understood. Closing her eyes, she knew. Moments later, she felt the warm droplets of blood on her face and the bang of a gun. Her arm was burning now. The very arm where her teeth had dug into her flesh months before. It was scalding as Henry’s body fell to the floor. The very floor where his brother met his demise seconds before.

“Oh God,” Joel gasped. A prayer or a cry of shock, none of them knew.

A few hours. That’s all it took to dig the graves of Henry and Sam. They laid to rest in fields behind the motel. Piper had found some sticks to make gravestones with. Sticking them on the ground, she silently turned back to the motel to retrieve her things. She had said her goodbye, so there was no use sticking around, no need for tears, and no need for mourning. Ellie had followed suit, grabbing her and Joel’s things. The girls returned to find Joel patting down the soil. Heaven forbid if any animals got into the grave and made a dinner of the bodies of the people they could have called friends.

Dropping Joel’s jacket and bag at his side, Ellie placed down her bag. In her hand, she held Sam’s scratchboard. She crouched down at his grave and picked up the pencil, writing one last message before placing it down. Picking up her backpack, she threw it over her shoulder and turned to Joel.

“Which way's west?” Ellie asked Joel. The wind had started to pick up, and the pleasant weather from before had started to turn sour. It was going to rain soon.

Joel’s eyes squinted, and he looked around before nodding in the direction. His lungs were still trying to recover after digging the graves.

After getting her answer, Ellie started to walk, leaving Sam and Henry behind. Piper followed. The girls walked side by side, together but feeling forever alone. Joel wasn’t following them.

“Let's go,” Ellie hollered back to Joel. He removed his gaze from Sam’s grave to look up at the girls. They stood waiting for him to move on. They didn’t have time to waste. After all, a storm was coming.

Joel shrugged on his jacket and backpack before taking one last glance at the graves. The message Ellie had written would forever be burned into his brain.

“I’m sorry.” ꧁______꧂

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꧁______꧂

[lvrcpid]

DEPENDABLE - adventures with tuk!..gone wrong

cw // blood?? tuk crying cause she hurt her sister :(

the sun rose upon the horizon bringing in a new day. ney’ite rolled over on side to find her younger sister, tuk , wide eyed and looking at her sister with wonder in her eyes. today was the day ney’ite promised to take tuk on another adventure, this time, further into the forest. “tuk..go back to sleep, i told you later hm?” ney’ite pushed herself up and laid her little sister back down, getting up and grabbing her bow and arrow, it was her turn to hunt AGAIN. ney’ite rolled her eyes before walking out into the bright sunlight, her yellow orbs glistening in the light. with a sigh ney’ite made her way down to the sea, successfully avoiding the sharp branches of the trees and bushes. 

“ite think fast!” neteyam threw an orange at his sister, frowning and letting out a quick “awh man!” when she caught it. “teyam, you do this every morning. got anymore tricks up your sleeve?” she flashed a grin before finishing up her breakfast, tuk waiting behind her like an excited puppy. “going somewhere?” a deep voice called from beside her. it was dad. “oh hey dad, i’m taking tuk out to teach her how to shoot a bow.” jake raised an eyebrow before shaking his head “absolutely not” ney’ite felt a pang of dissatisfaction. he always said no when it came to tuk. “daddy pleaseeeeeeee i promise i’ll be good right ite!?” tuk turned around to face her sister who gave a quick nod. “we will be fine. swear to eywa” ney’ite smiled at her father. with a sigh jake shooed them off “be safe. i’ll be there to come and get you all if you’re not back by eclipse.” tuk grabbed her sisters hand and pulled her outside, beginning their journey.

“ney’! do you think i’m gonna hit a fish my first try?” tuk said, holding her sisters hand tightly. “i’m not sure tuk, if you do i’ll do something special for you” ney’ite smiled and pointed to a pond. “there’s fish there, wanna go try ?” tuk eagerly took the bow and arrow from her sister and got into the position she was taught. tuk had just pulled the bow back when she heard a twig snap. just then tuk stood up straight and let go of the bow by accident, the bow bouncing from the tree and landing in another target, ney’ites shoulder. “fuck!” ney’ite let out, stumbling away from tuk , gripping onto her bleeding shoulder, it was lodged in there and hurt like hell. “ite im sorry!!” tuk yelled, the 8 year old immediately busting into tears. ney’ite felt herself getting dizzy but quickly stumbled over to her sister . “hey h-hey it’s okay it was an accident okay? i’m not mad.” she comforted the little girl before grabbing the bows and her arrow and most importantly, tuks hand.  

the pair lugged back to their home before lo’ak let out an “oh shit! i’ll go get mom and dad!” he ran past the pair while ney’ite turned to her little sister “tuk turn around” she turned the little girl around before pulling the bow out, slowly and agonizingly. ney’ite let out a blood curdling scream before tossing the bow on the ground. tuks crying only got louder as their parents burst into their home. neytiri shouting for kiri as jake quickly rushed over to his eldest while lo’ak grabbed tuk, attempting to comfort her. “hey dad..” ney’ite let out a tired laugh “at least it wasn’t tuk right?” she said before passing out. 

ney’ite shot up in a cold sweat and quickly hissed before looking at her shoulder. kiri must’ve patched her up. bless her heart. “you’re awake!” tuk jumped on her sister and hugged her. “i’m sooooo so soooo sorry” tuk nuzzled her sister before smiling up at her “oh tuk it’s okay, i’m not mad” ney’ite smiled before seeing her mom walk over to her. “hi ma” “ney’ite..how are you feeling?” she got down to her level and felt her forehead “im okay ma, just glad to be alive-“ “yeah cause if you would’ve died i would’ve brought you back to kill you again!” kiri came into view with a smile on her face “ahh im so scared” the family let out a big laugh and thanked eywa that ney’ite was safe and well. 

[psychiatricwarfare]

Hello Hello I'm your friendly neighbourhood ghost and I am a collector of spooky tales, folklore, Urban legends, cryptids and spooky experiences and I was wondering if y'all want to share y'all favorite one??

Thank you and I hope y'all are having a blast

hello!! we absolutely would love to share!! we love a good spooky/strange story, and altho you only asked for one, we can't choose one favourite soo heres a few under the cut.. :3c

first we'll give ya a spooky one! it takes place shortly after i was born, barely talking yet, our childhood room had a closet that was connected to the attic. apparently only my dad went into the attic cus my mom & sister were too scared and we were an infant. but whenever my dad went into the attic, the windows would be open and he'd have to close them. then he'd go yell at our mom asking why she kept opening the windows, but she didnt. cus she was scared of the attic. so one day they were arguing about this in front of me & my dad said smth like "well then who's opening the windows, huh?".

& apparently (according to our parents) we point up at the ceiling to the attic and said "man". so ofc our parents were like huh?? so we did it again & ofc my parents were like 'oh shit we're haunted'. but the ghost wasnt actually like.. doing anything other than opening the windows so my dad just kept closing them and everyone kinda left him (the ghost man) alone.

then, out of nowhere, when we were like 3 years old ish, we would just start screaming and crying in the middle of the night. full-on hysterics about "the man in the attic". so our grandma flew in to come bless the house with sage (we assume) and free the spirit peacefully and respectfully. the only thing we actually remember from this whole story is her walking around the attic burning something and repeating stuff. we're told she also made my dad do it with her, not sure why she chose him tho tbh. anyways everythings been fine after that and ever since then whenever smth weird happened in the house we'd be like "welp, i guess the man's back"

second story isnt super spooky but it is weird. this one starts when we were maybe 4 or 5? we were at a paranormal sites tour on vacation, i know how this sounds but stick with us here, the tour guide said to take 2 pictures because you might not get the ghost in the first picture, but you might get it in the second. now im prettyy sure this is actually something to do with the flash and lens flares but, my mom, sister & i still did it and sure enough my sister got the pictures with & without a little orb! how fun! we save the pictures to a flash drive or something to look at for years to come.

years pass and we're all looking at the pictures (as we'd done many times before) and we get to the pictures from that tour and were like 'oh we should show dad' so my sister calls my dad in so he can see the two pictures, one with the orb and one without it. except this time when we're looking at them, neither one has an orb. and we sit there dumbstruck because we'd looked at them so many times and there was always an orb in the second picture. we still dunno how it just disappeared.. our dad was just sitting there like ".... 😑😐🤨 what are you showing me?" as the rest of us went through the 5 stages of grief trying to accept that the one time we thought to show him our ghostie picture, it stops existing :(

last one's gonna be our fav cryptid!! theyre called the fresno nightcrawlers!!!! theyre super cute little dudes that were originally sighted in fresno, california (as per their name) but they usually show up in the US :3 they also showed up once in poland they usually appear in twos, one bigger one and one smaller one, but not always. they're very cute lil guys just look at them

theyre grey/white creatures with long legs with no arms or torsos, if you look closely, their knee bends where a human shin would be, so that rules out a person in a costume because their legs are too long with far too low knees to be a human. theyre known to be small (4'11/1.5m), but one sighting claims it was 7ft/2m~. perhaps the smaller ones seen are children?? from the footage we've seen, the smaller ones never seem to be sighted without a taller one. however, the taller ones have been sighted alone.

look at how cute this lil guy is!! this is from the first ever sighting of them, definitely check out the video we linked to watch it walk around

the person who posted it also embossed the video to prove there are no wires or anything, and in the screenshot above you can kinda see the lil guy and eyes potentially?? theyre kinda hard to see so we raised the contrast n such

some people think theyre puppets with strings and have tried to recreate them, which does seem to be incredibly difficult. the wiki (linked above) has the documentary where somebody tries to debunk them along with all the sightings & hoaxes. theyre funky lil dudes and since it harms nobody and affects nothing, we choose to believe theyre real :3

[the-delta-42]

Remember

Remember

“Don’t look away,” Growled Ganondorf, “you-”

“You don’t remember.” Said the Hylian, Link, frowning at Ganondorf.

“What?” Sneered Ganondorf, livid at being interrupted.

“You don’t remember.” Repeated Link, sighing with the Sages staring at him in confusion, “We’ve been through this time and time and time again. Since the dawn of the world and across the timelines. We know each other, more than you think.”

“I don’t know what your blathering about.” Snarled Ganondorf, as Link quietly pulled a spring from a Zonai capsule.

Link sighed, “Okay, let’s see what you do remember, because I don’t want to fight someone who doesn’t know why he’s the biggest prick in the world.”

Ganondorf went to grab his sword, when the ‘sword of legend’ flashed.

“Calm down, Fi, we’re still going to kill him.” Dismissed Link, frowning at Ganondorf, “You’re still going to die, do you remember being stabbed in the head by a child in green?”

Ganondorf stared at Link, getting another sigh, “Obviously not, how about nearly being disembowelled by an angsty looking wolf?”

Ganondorf just unsheathed his sword.

“Alright, how about drawing your sword from your servant’s chest and vanishing into another plane?” Said Link, drawing the Master Sword.

Ganondorf froze, suddenly finding himself in a throne room launching an orb of energy at a young man in green, while a princess hung in a pink crystal suspended above them. He then felt a searing pain in his chest, the man in green looked different, vastly different, but he could tell it was the same person.

“You’re starting to remember,” Mused Link, readying for the impending battle, “good.”

Ganondorf felt himself getting up from the ground, the man in green different once again, glaring up at him. He glanced at his hand, freezing at the sight of a triangle on the back of it. He shook his head and snarled at Link, “Get out of my head, you welp!”

Link dodged the swing, parrying the blade away from him.

Ganondorf was at the top of a castle, water pouring down around him, fighting two children, a princess aiming a bow at him, while a boy in green launched himself into the hair and ramming his sword in his forehead.

Ganondorf yelled, throwing himself at Link and the Sages.

R

“Link?” Asked Riju, looking at him as they examined Ganondorf’s lifeless body, “Two questions, how did he turn back? I thought the dragon-ifying thing was permanent, and what were you talking about back there?”

“Just some old history Rij.” Dismissed Link, looking at the back of Ganondorf’s right hand, “Things between him and I just span more than one lifetime.”

Zelda prodded Ganondorf’s eye with a stick.

“Zel, I’m waving his hand around, I’m sure he’s dead.” Protested Link, as he accidentally nudged the hilt of a broken sword. Ganondorf’s body twitched, getting a scream from some of the assembled crowd and an arrow to the eye from Tulin.

“For the love of Din, he’s already dead!” Groaned Link, as Tulin looked at him.

“He twitched.”

“He twi- Of course he twitched,” Yelled Link, grabbing the hilt of the broken sword, “He’s got a sword embedded in his nervous system!”

Ganondorf’s body twitched with each movement of the sword.

[baldurs-gape]

i see what you did. 'these are my sins but im not to blame' hehe

I was so hoping someone would see that and think it funny. Nonnie, you are officially my new favourite person XD You know what? I fancy keeping with the spicier side of things today. So we'll have some misuse of magic, I'm sure Mystra wouldn't approve.

Weave Your Magic

There was that glow again from Gale's tent. Honestly, the amount of time the man spent mooning over that goddess of his was pitiful. Astarion had half a mind to sneak up and scare the crap out of Gale just to start teaching him to associate conjuring up Mystra's image with fear. That would get him to stop. It was worth a shop because Astarion was really starting to struggle with ignoring the soft blue light spilling from the tent next door.

On light feet, he crossed to the flap of Gale's tent and waited a moment, making sure he hadn't been detected. Once certain, Astarion was already grinning to himself. This was too easy.

"Yargh!" He growl-yelled as he pounced into the tent and Gale let out a shriek. The blue form in his palm blipped out of existence before Mystra's head was there again. But Astarion was sure it wasn't Mystra before his scare, it looked nothing like a human head. How curious.

"Don't you know it's a very bad idea so scare a wizard with a ticking time bomb in his chest?" Gale was already lecturing him, hand pressed to his chest to calm his wildly beating heart. It was nice to hear it galloping so fast, Astarion wasn't going to lie. "Not to mention how discorteous it is to be so loud at such a late hour of the night. What if you or your actions woke the others?"

Still smirking, Astarion looked at his nails smugly. Almost idly he said, "Then I guess they'd be grouchy with you for screaming so loudly. It's not my fault you can't control yourself."

"I think you'll find my self-control is second to none, thank you."

Eyes flitting up, Astarion's smile turned dirty. "Is that so?"

Flushing, Gale pursed his lips. "I'm not falling for your cheap jokes. Now, was there anything you were actually wanting from me?"

"No. Just keep the light show down, some of us nocturnal types actually enjoy the dark."

No more light leaked from the tent that night and Astarion was almost a little disappointed. Part of him had hoped Gale would be a petty little shit just because he could be. Alas, it seemed that not everyone liked being as contrary as Astarion did. Shame.

However, a couple of nights late there was the glow again, much fainter, as though something was trying to block out the light. Sneaking closer, Astarion's ears popped uncomfortably and he realised he walked through a dampening bubble that not quite hugged Gale's tent. Interesting. Very interesting.

Peering in, Astarion was ready to jump and scare Gale again but the sound caught in his throat. Sure, Gale was standing there as usual but in his palm wasn't the projection of Mystra, it was...actually, Astarion had no clue quite what it was but it sure looked phallic and fun. He watched as Gale murmured with a gesture and the shape curved a little, thickened up at the top. Astarion couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"Mystra have a bit of a facelift?"

Gasping, Gale turned to look at him, eyes wide. The projection in his palm morphed into Mystra's bust. Flustered, Gale looked at it then back at Astarion.

"No?"

"You're a terrible liar." Not waiting for permission, Astarion stepped into the tent and gestured at the blue glow. "Just what were you up to?"

The flush that had started in Gale's cheeks spread rapidly down the exposed sliver of his chest, colouring the mark of the orb as it went.

"Nothing!" As is Astarion believed that. He stayed silent until Gale filled it, "I mean, it's personal. Nothing for you to get invovled with."

"Yet it looks like I'm already invovled." The words were a soft purr as Astarion sidled closer. This was almost laughably easy. "Won't you indulge my curiosity? It looked fascinating. And not something any old wizard could do."

He saw the moment Gale gave in, the desire to share knowledge and prove his genius greater than his discomfort.

"I've been working on refining the melding of two spells. Conjuration, which you've already seen-" here Gale gestured at the glowing spell in his palm, "-and Mage Hand. Together they have quite the potent promise. Similar to Spirit Weapon but more malleable and responsive. It's not an avenue of magic that's been really explored, probably because it doesn't have much of a public audience. Without support there isn't much research that goes into it. Really it's just been me, tweaking it since my Blackstaff days."

"You're making a magical dildo."

Mouth forming silently around outraged words, Gale tried to refute it. However Astarion knew he was right and he crossed his arms over his chest, ready to hear all the denials and arguments. He could see Gale formulating them, almost loud in the silence. In the end, Gale held up one finger and all but growled, "It is so much more than just a magical dildo."

"Let's see it then." Delight was difficult to disguise, especially when Astarion was so intrigued yet also bubbling with emotions. He hadn't thought Gale would be so easy to crack.

The blue glowing changed form once again and there was the dildo. It had a gentle curve which Astarion had seen already, as well as the swollen and that no doubt felt quite nice when pushed over sensitive bundles of nerves. What was a little more surprising was the thickness at the end, gradual and definitely more girthy than most dicks. It also rounded off into something rather aesthetically pleasing but most definitely not the kind of thing Astarion would be willing to put anywhere it could get lost.

"That doesn't look very safe." At Gale's confused look he shrugged. "Don't you want a flared base? Could get, you know-" he whistled and made an upwards motion with two of his fingers to indicate disappearing up.

For a moment Gale stared at him. Actually stared like he was the biggest idiot on earth. It wasn't something Astarion appreciated.

"Just saying. It's not fun getting it out be it reaching in or needing to be cut open to get it."

A flick of the wrist and the dildo was gone. Another flick and it was back. Gone. Back. Gone. Back.

"Alright! You've made your point." Magic. Of course it was as easy as that. Fucking wizards and their easy ways out.

"I wouldn't have made it such a shape if it wasn't safe. Took a while to perfect the gesture to transfer from dismissing Mage Hand to this."

Eyes narrowing, Astarion looked at Gale. "Did you lose a Mage Hand in yourself on purpose?"

"Technically it's not lost if you know where it is."

Ridiculous. Rather than chase the thought of Gale spending a whole night doing whatever it was he did with the Mage Had, Astarion chose to focus on the dildo. Aside from the curve and thickness it also had bumps and ridges, even a few smaller tentacles like a catfish's whiskers that wafted in the air though there was no breeze. It was all very pretty to be honest.

"So, is it as good as it looks?"

"I think so."

All those nights of the blue glow, Gale's griping about his excellent self-control, it was all starting to make sense. After all, he had to have great skill to keep up the dildo, the dampening spell and holding back his own noises at once, all while in the throes of an orgasm. Impressive. Astarion tipped his head to the side.

"What's your process?"

"Lube-"

"No! I meant for designing. How do you decide what it looks like?"

"Oh!" Gale flushed again, just when his usual colour was starting to return. "I see an idea or a shape in nature or art and try to recreate it if I think it would feel nice."

Astarion hummed, eyes back on the dildo. "I'd do it the other way so to speak. Stick it in and figure out what feels nice. Pull it out then try to make it pretty."

The way Gale stared at him suggested it was a whole new world his eyes had just been opened to. Nodding, he licked his lips, mind obviously already elsewhere. It was time to capitalise on it.

"Just think, it's in you, already pressing so nicely into you. But as you push it out it would feel so much better if it was a smidge bigger. The ridges stretching your rim before it goes slended again, all while the tip is just growing and growing, filling you so good." Astarion leaned in, breath ghosting over Gale's neck. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Make it vibrate. Think you could keep quiet then? Keep your focus and control?"

"No." The word was a broken whisper of need.

"Then teach me some of the spells. I want to watch you."

"Yes."

"Now?"

A scroll was thrust at Astarion and he laughed. This was going to be an excellent night.