#prompt: dawntrail

[iron-sparrow]

DAWNTRAIL

There is a world that was meant for our eyes to see To the ends of the earth, would you follow me? ♫

[flourish-of-steel]

12th Sun - Sweaty Wet

[gatheredfates]

—Sometimes, in a gilded cage, hope is heaven-sent.

(Count)Down to Dawntrail [HW].

[littleredborb]

Hi everyone! Feel free to join us create art to celebrate the upcoming Dawntrail expansion in FFXIV! #trailingway

Me and my friends in IG will be drawing our WoLs using the prompts each week!

[ariaofsasha]

(Count)Down to Dawntrail: Shadowbringers

It was by sheer chance that Shura Kuroyanagi became a Knight of the Fae - but she has fulfilled that role in earnest, protecting her branch, the King of the Fae, Feo Ul, from any potential threats to Il Mheg.

...Even if, some days, those potential threats are something like "the leafmen need trimming" or "there's a bunch of phooka hanging out by Mithai Glorianda" or "BEAVERS."

[fantasmagoriam]

First day in Gridania

[yurezmiup]

(Count)Down To Dawntrail: Day 1 - A Realm Reborn It's time to write a new story.

[eidingate]

Countdown to Dawntrail: Starting Job

Silence. It was eerie to fire her weapon without the dramatic crack that normally resounded from a gunshot. A killing blow should surely be announced.

Having thrown her gun in the ocean, Eidin had to start over with something different. It took her an embarrassingly long time to adjust to the feel of a bow.

[fresa-schnee]

Prompt 2: Respite in War

Valei belongs to @shard628

[wolpromptaday]

‪#WOLpromptAday‬

‪March 21, 2024‬

What is the most beautiful thing your WOL has ever seen? Was it a Place, Person, Action? Why is it beautiful to them? Do they reflect on it often? Was it an awe inspiring experience or did it make their heart race? ‬

[fheythfully]

I've been wanting to get back into writing more regularly, and to work on getting my skill in it back on track after failing to write (some years not at all) for almost five years now. Since I am doing NG+, I am considering challenging myself to doing a 30 prompt challenge for each game I do, using random prompt sets I find online. But that is... a lot of writing.

Should I do it? September ffxiv writes was a lot of fun but I also felt relieved when it ended, lol.

[iron-sparrow]

Has your journey been good?Has it been worthwhile?

We will find our way.

feat. @ahollowgrave, @hazelkjt, @this-is-ris & @nolanel-corbeaux

Final Fantasy XIV certainly isn't my first MMO, and I've been alive enough decades to be way too jaded about everything. Yet here I am, crafting these images of my friends (virtual representations of them) and feeling all kinds of ways the entire time.

I met Hazel and began raiding with him back in Shadowbringers. That's actually when I met Nolanel, too; I initiated our friendship when I messaged him privately for Paladin advice. He was the only other Paladin player I knew at the time, and I wanted to become a better raider.

We got along almost instantly.

In Endwalker, Hazel and I ran a second static to clear for Nol and some other friends. This is when we met Ris, who was recommended to us as a DPS by someone in our main static. She grew on us immediately, and I eagerly roped everyone into the RP-GPOSE-tumblr pipeline. Sorry, not sorry.

Come Dawntrail, Ris will be running her own static while Hazel and I go back to our main group, with Nol coming along as a fresh DPS. We've already made plans to reconvene after Savage, though, to get our DSR clear together.

I hope, too, that Pigeon will keep listening to our bullshit. She mentioned once that no matter how many times she watches us prog, she still has no idea what the fuck the mechanics are. Still sticks around though, giving us moral support (and watching us play with cursed objects in Phasmophobia). So there, in those images, is Odette greeting our tired asses after raid and asking us how it all went.

Fuck. It's been a real fun time.

I've really loved getting to know all of you. I really look forward to traumatizing developing our OCs more in Dawntrail together.

(Oh, and a very special thank you to @thefreelanceangel for the beautiful divider. Seriously, she's amazing and super talented.)

[jdtrashman]

Countdown To Dawntrail Week 1: Scions

(my second entry into @voidsentprinces' Countdown To Dawntrail prompt series)

M'itnu Carnagie had been sitting in this diner for hours, and the staff were beginning to get suspicious. She was on her fourth cup of coffee, the caffeine not helping her nerves in the slightest. Just as a waitress was about to make her way over to her table - most likely to demand that she leave - she was stopped by a newcomer. A blonde Highlander woman in a mask, who ordered herself some coffee before sitting down across from M'itnu.

"Hi there," the woman said in a voice so saccharinely chipper, M'itnu half-expected birds to flutter out from behind her. "My name is Yda, I'm so happy you could make it!"

"I got here like two hours before you," M'itnu replied.

"Yeah well, it's not my fault! I saw this adorable puppy on the way."

"And that took two hours???"

"You obviously are not getting how cute this dog was, I had to appreciate it."

M'itnu rubbed her temples before going to stand. "Look, I gotta get to the guild-"

Yda stopped her with a hand on hers. "Woah, sorry sorry, please sit. I promise this won't take long." M'itnu let out an exasperated sigh before sitting back down. "Now then, do you still have the letter we sent you?"

M'itnu pulled the letter out from her pocket and handed it to Yda. The letter had arrived in her mail last night, with no return address, and the only clue as to the sender's identity being a pair of initials on the back of the envelope: M. W. The letter told her of a new job opportunity, as well as an explanation for the strange visions that had been plaguing her since before she came to Eorzea. The latter was what brought her to this table, and what kept her dealing with this masked weirdo. "What do you want from me?" she asked.

"Exactly what the letter says we want," Yda replied. "We want to give you a job, and on top of our generous payment, we also can help you understand what's been going on with you lately."

"Uh huh," M'itnu replied with narrowed eyes. "And the catch?"

"No catch!" Yda responded. "It's simple merc work, no different than what you've been doing."

M'itnu scanned the woman's face for any sign of deception. A tactic one learns when working in Ul'Dah as an Ala Mhigan. This city was obsessed with fucking over her people in any and every way it could. However, the mask made doing this hard. She couldn't even see what color her eyes were, let alone if those eyes were holding deceit behind them.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a bunch of drunken brass blades came in. M'itnu, unfortunately, recognized one of them. Even more unfortunate, the recognition was mutual. "Hey...hey I know you!" he shouted in a slurred, uneven voice. "Yeah, you tha' fuckin gladiata bint. Cost me half my, halvva, half my - whatsit, paycheck! Yeah! Cost me halfa my paycheck wit that fight a'yours!"

M'itnu didn't respond, just went back to her coffee. In this town, it never paid to be a tough girl when you were Ala Mhigan. "I'm sorry," said Yda, unfazed by the man, even as he put his hands on the table. "I'm currently talking to miss Carnagie, could you come back later?" she flashed him the sweetest smile she could. He didn't think much of it.

"I think you, I think you had best get on, ma'am. I got some words for lil miss tough bitch here." his friends gathered behind him to back up the threat.

"Look, I'll call you later," said M'itnu. "Just get going."

Yda thought it over for a moment before shrugging. "Alright. If you're sure." With that, Yda brushed off her shorts and got up to leave, the men parting for her.

But just as she was about to reach the door. "Yeah go on, ya Ala Mhigan bitch." Yda stopped. "yeah, you think the lighter skin and the pretty blonde hair takes the stink offa ya? Now go on, 'fore we change our minds."

M'Itnu watched Yda through the crowd of Brass Blades. In a moment, everything about her demeanor changed. And Yda locked the doors. "Actually, I think I will be staying. I've had an awful week, and I need...an outlet." the voice. It was different, if ever so slightly. The cadence rougher, the voice lower. Like Yda had gone away, and someone else had come out. She turned as the Brass Blades drunkenly sauntered over to her. "So, are we going to stand around, or are we doing this?"

There were six of them, and one of her. But just looking at her posture, M'itnu knew that she was not the one trapped in a room with them. They were trapped with her. The first man swung his armored fist at her face. A sickening crunch, followed by a shriek of horror, as the gauntlet crumpled like a soup can against her cheek, crushing the fist inside to a dripping, disgusting mess of bones, blood and pain. Yda remained unmoved. "My turn yet?" she asked. The second man came at the back of her neck with his sword. She ducked her head at the last moment, sending the sword instead into the arm of a third man. Yda swung her head back up, caving in the nose of the second man. As he fell back, she tore his sword out of the third man's arm, and stabbed it clean through the first man's leg, pinning him where he was as he screamed anew.

Yda pulled a pair of steel knuckles from her pockets and swung, unhinging the jaw of the third man. Thrusting back her elbow, she took the wind out of the fourth man's sails. She then used the momentum to swing her foot into the liver of the fifth man, nimbly dodging the sixth man's swing in the process.

As the fifth man crumpled in pain, Yda knocked the sword out of number six's hands and, using a series of precise strikes, sent him falling over paralyzed.

Number five looked up at Yda as the pain began to subside. Yda glared at him through her mask and growled, "koşmak." The Ala Mhigan word for run. He did just that, throwing himself through the window to run screaming down the street.

Yda sat back down across from the slack jawed M'itnu, placing her bloody knuckle dusters on the table. "Man I needed that!" She exclaimed. She then turned to the waitress and promised to pay for any damages.

Joining up with this girl might be a bad idea, it occurred to M'itnu. It may bring...unwanted attention onto herself. But after a display like that?

"I'm in."

[hqmillioncorn]

Greet the dawn with me!

"UM  okay so me, pancake and cinnamon were having dinner when babycorn knocked on the door to our room??   Hey hair was down by the way . She asked if she and cherrypit could sleep in our room for tonight? I said yes faster than i could feel nervous about it. Babycorn told me thanks and told me she would be right back with cherry and airy.  Then i turned around and pancake and cinnamon were both giving me thumbs ups. Pancake went to go get some of the  expensive  extra snacks out so we could eat them . and i am now very nervous waiting for babycorn to come back im hiding under the covers writing in my diary."

Lalapril 4/28 with @windupnamazu's Butter, Pancake and Cinnamon

babycorn cant sleep and decides to go out for a nice walk :) then to visit someone! its a busy night

Tomorrow was the day.

The day she was going to meet with Hildibrand once again. Because of course he needed her help! And of course she was going to help him! She would do anything for him cause Hildibrand was so cool and smart and amaaaaazing! 

Then one day soon Hildibrand would finally propose to her and they would get married and live happily ever after! Forever and ever!

…Or at least that’s what Babycorn used to dream of happening. 

After the whole ‘Mandervillian’ thing she was having a few second thoughts about the whole thing. On the day they all learned about it, Babycorn was frozen to her chair for about an hour or two. Then she was frozen staring out of a window. 

Some of it might had been because of the concussion she received earlier but most of it was the shock of the whole thing.

It sort of opened her eyes about her feelings. Did she really want to marry Hildibrand? Something about learning he was a terrifying alien had caused her feelings to immediately stagnate. Not that Babycorn was an expert in love or anything but it just didn’t feel right. 

She knew what falling in love felt like. Right? 

This whole conundrum was weighing on Babycorn’s mind just enough to keep her awake at night. Staring up at the ceiling wasn’t doing anything to help her either. Though it was fun occasionally seeing Cherrypit run back and forth, screaming his head off about something.

No matter what was bothering her, at least she could be happy that Cherrypit was safe. It was far nicer to be worried about issues of love than not knowing if her brother was going to be okay. 

“Get back here little man!” A very angry Airy flew by with paint drawn all over her face. It seemed like a certain someone decided to a napping Airy’s face as a free canvas to practice his artistic skills on. “I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done!!” For Airy, making someone pay usually meant trying her hardest to hit you. 

Sadly her little cookie fairy fists could only hit someone so hard. Which is to say, not hard at all.

Babycorn watched as Cherrypit and Airy went back and forth, over and over. Despite that she had told them earlier it was bedtime and they needed to get some sleep for tomorrow they were still very much awake. Old habits die hard, she supposed.

As noisy as they were, Babycorn was glad for it. She had spent far too many quiet nights by herself by now. 

Babycorn sighed, turning over in her bed again for what felt like the hundredth time that night. 

This time Cherrypit noticed the long sigh his sister had made. “Bebe?” He jumped right over a flabbergasted Airy by bouncing off her head. A handy trick he learned the last time they had helped Hildibrand out. “OW?!” Airy, hunched over, looked back to see Cherrypit crawling onto Babycorn’s bed as he lightly began to pat her shoulder to get her attention. 

“Bebe! Bebe!” Cherrypit laid his head down on Babycorn’s arm. “Bebe okay?” 

Babycorn couldn’t help but laugh a little. She sat up and grabbed Cherrypit in a hug. “I’m fine! Don’t worry! Just having a little bit of trouble getting to sleep.” 

“Sleep? How you gonna sleep?” Cherrypit asked. He reached a claw over to one of the bed’s pillows and started to chew on it. 

“I wish I knew.” 

At this point Airy had enough of being ignored. She flew her marker-covered face over to where both siblings were sitting and flew above them. “So you can’t sleep hmm…” A little bit of her magic dust was falling on both siblings. Sadly for Babycorn the dust had no instant sleeping properties to them.

Though it did make Cherrypit do a cute little sneeze. Babycorn grabbed part of her blanket and wiped Cherrypit’s nose with it. 

“What if I hit you over the head with a really big stick?!” Airy asked while mimicking the movement of her hitting Babycorn over the head with something. It looked like she was enjoying the hypothetical act of doing that a little too much. 

Babycorn grabbed Cherrypit and scooted away from where Airy was floating. “No thank you!!” One concussion a year was good enough for her. That being said, her record was currently ten a year but that still didn’t mean she would let Airy attack her with a huge stick. 

“Well that’s all I got.” Airy shrugged and flew off somewhere to presumably clean her face. 

Which left Babycorn and Cherrypit by themselves to figure things out.

Babycorn watched as her brother babbled a bunch of baby talk to himself. Something about how he was gonna bite a big piece of bread tomorrow? It sounded yummy. Babycorn wondered if there was bread for him to share with her.

While Cherrypit talked away into the night, she turned her head to see if she could see outside the window. 

It was dark out and a small part of her was expecting the face of a ghost to press itself up against the window. It just felt like her luck was bad enough for something like that to happen.

“Brr…” Babycorn shivered. 

Cherrypit grabbed the blanket Babycorn used before and threw it on Babycorn. “No more cold!” He assured her. Babycorn moved the blanket to where it was just covering her head. “Thanks Cherry!” Not that she was actually cold but it was still nice. 

Cherrypit smiled back at her and crawled right off the bed. The toys he was playing with before on the floor had caught his eye again. From the looks of it he wasn’t going to be tired anytime soon.  Which left Babycorn with more time to see if she could somehow force herself to sleep.

Then, Babycorn’s attention fell to the door. 

As soon as it did she bounced off the bed, put on her pair of slippers and adjusted her pajamas. At the same time Airy happened to reappear, now with a much cleaner face free of swirls and stars. “What are you doing now?” She was still wiping her face dry with a towel. 

Babycorn walked closer to the door and opened it. “I’m going outside for a little bit!” 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Airy asked, “Won’t it be bad if you and Cherry get separated or something?” 

Babycorn shook her head. “Nah. That doesn’t happen anymore! Rember’?” While it wasn’t entirely true that there weren’t any side effects to getting too far away from Cherrypit, it was true that Cherrypit didn’t drop dead and take over her body anymore. Thankfully. “Besides–I’m not going anywhere too far! Just getting some air!”

Airy couldn't help but wonder if that phrase was something that Babycorn heard someone say once. That would make sense, she just knew that if Babycorn hadn’t she would think it meant flying off or whatever. “Don’t you at least wanna take Cherry with you?” 

Babycorn looked down at her brother. He was still busy playing with his toys. Re-enacting what looked like a pretty dramatic scenario featuring two people slap fighting on top of a giant cannon. “It’s okay! Besides, it looks like he’s having fun playing.” She would hate to interrupt whatever story he was telling. “I’ll be back really soon I promise!”

Airy knew that if Tilika were here she would probably try her hardest to convince Babycorn not to go roaming outside in Radz-at-Han by herself. Tilika practically drilled it in all of their head's that Babycorn needed to be accompanied by someone at all times while they stayed here.

Which Airy thought was ridiculous but agreeing got Tilika to shut up so she just said Sure. 

It wasn’t often that the perfect opportunity presented itself. What better way to start a reign of evil than breaking a few rules? Cause that was totally what Airy was still after! Uh-huh! Yup! Yup! “Alright! Take all the time you need!” Airy cheerfully sang, waving her goodbye. 

It caught Babycorn a little off guard. “O-Okay!” Babycorn opened the door and stepped outside. “Keep Airy safe! Okay Cherry?” 

Cherrypit gave her a little salute as Babycorn closed the door behind her and walked away. 

It was a little cold outside. 

Or at least colder than Babycorn had expected. As she climbed up the steps of Paksa's path she looked up at the sky above her. It was pretty cloudy. Looking at the clouds moving made her feel kind of dizzy. 

Eventually she made it to the top. The dodos that were usually running around were gone, probably sleeping in their really comfy dodo beds. Which was a shame. Babycorn had really wanted to wave hello. “Goodnight…!” Babycorn whispered in the direction she hoped the dodos would be. With any luck they heard her and wished her a goodnight too, even though she couldn’t hear them either. 

It was a little quiet. Which was nice, but it made Babycorn sort of curious. 

Normally it was rare for her to have a chance to walk around her without at least one person beside her. Usually that person was Tilika and she always made sure they never spent more time outside than they needed to. 

Now here she was–walking around Radz-at-Han at night all by herself. 

At first Babycorn didn’t mind it, since it was always nice to have someone around. But lately, she was starting to get a little worried. Was there something she didn’t know? Of course there was. Babycorn hadn’t wanted to ever think about it but every time she visited there was always a feeling in the back of her mind that there was something missing.

Something that she should know, but just didn’t. 

Babycorn sat down on the grass, taking a fistful of it and sticking it in her mouth. As she chewed she stared straight ahead and tried to reach towards the part in her memories that she could feel was cut off. But no matter how close she thought she was to reaching what she thought she was missing, she always came up short. 

…That was weird. Usually by now Babycorn would be having some sort of piercing headachOh there it was!! Right on time!!

Babycorn gripped the sides of her head and held in a cry of discomfort. Fearing that if anyone heard her out here they would tattle on her and she would get in big trouble. 

Then just like that. It was all gone. 

Babycorn looked around, there were no people around. She looked down, her cozy pajama pants were stained green alongside her hands. There was a big patch of dirt where she had taken her midnight snack from. The grass needed more salt. 

None of this was helping her feel any sleepier than before. It just created more worrying thoughts in her head! What was she worried about? Why couldn't her head just decide?!

Babycorn stumbled to her feet. She was still a little out of it. The missing parts of her memories were busy trying to fill themselves out. In her stupor Babycorn’s instincts managed to take over, as her body decided to run towards the direction of someone she knew could help with her with whatever problem she had.

Then before she knew it, she was already knocking on their door.

The thought she was knocking on the wrong person’s door never even crossed her mind. It should be noted that Babycorn was not very smart.

It should also be noted that this was not the first time something like this had happened. 

Somewhere in Radz-at-Han Butter, Pancake and Cinnamon were busy having their own interesting night. 

Pancake and Cinnamon were very busy testing out the local cuisine by ordering as many different drinks as they could and rating them on a scale of one to ten. As their entire budget was being covered they went ahead and ordered to their heart's content. 

Surely Lunya Lanya herself would be very proud of them.

Butter, meanwhile, was busy writing in his diary. 

In a way he was in the same boat as Babycorn. He was restless about tomorrow. So much so that he couldn’t stop thinking about it. On the other hand his reason was a bit different than why Babycorn couldn’t get herself to sleep. 

He couldn’t help but think about what if tomorrow was the day Hildibrand finally opened his eyes and realized that Babycorn was in love with him. Then he would sweep Babycorn off her feet and they would ride off into the sunset. 

Would Butter be happy for Babycorn? Yeah, of course. 

And would Butter wish a thousand deaths upon Hildibrand at the same time? Well no duh. 

The same sort of worries had spiraled around his head the last time they all went to help Hildibrand. His biggest fear was that if he didn’t tell Babycorn his true feelings before it was too late, then he would never get the chance to. 

Butter groaned and let his head fall flat onto his diary. “I love Babycorn…” He mumbled to himself. With his face buried in his book however, it came out very muffled and no one could possibly understand what he had said. 

No one, except maybe his dear sister. “Does that mean you’re finally gonna ask her out tomorrow?” Pancake chimed in. 

Butter lifted his head up ever so slightly and gently pushed Pancake away. 

Pancake crossed her arms and leaned herself against the wall. “Come on Butter! Time's-a-ticking and I’m not getting any younger!!” 

“What does your age have to do with anything???”

“Everything! Cause I’m gonna die of old age before you tell Babycorn anything!!” 

Before their conversation could continue, a knock at the door interrupted them. “I got it!!” Pancake yelled, running to get it. No one was exactly racing her to get it but the important thing is that she won either way. When Pancake opened the door she saw–nothing. “Huh?” Then she looked down and saw Babycorn! Her pants were stained green and she looked a little tired.

“Hi Pancake! Sorry if I woke you guys up! I was just wondering if I could ask about something?” Babycorn nervously smiled, rocking back and forth. 

Pancake was going to answer in a completely normal way but stopped herself. She smirked, a plan brewing in her head. “Oh yeah no problem!” She turned back and cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “BUTTER!!! YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS AT THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!”  

She hummed to herself as she heard the telltale signs of Butter scrambling himself off the bed and running towards her. “I’ll let you two talk it out!” Pancake happily bounced herself off the door and back into the room just in time for Butter to reach her.  

“Hey Butts!” Babycorn smiled. Like usual she didn’t notice the nervous smile on Butter’s face.

“H-Hey Babycorn!!” Butter honestly didn’t know where to start. A million thoughts were zipping around his head at once. It was probably better to clear up any misconceptions before anything. “D-Don’t listen to Pancake! I didn’t call you my girlfriend! I-I mean not that I wouldn’t want to-! I mean who said that?! I’m just-”

Thankfully for Butter, Babycorn interrupted him before he could say anything else that would turn his face even redder than it already was. “But I’m a girl!”

Butter looked at her, blinking just a little too fast. “Y-Yeah!” 

“And I’m your friend…?” Babycorn’s eyes began to water. “R-Right…?!”

“Of course! Of course you are!!” 

“Then I’m your girl friend!!” 

Butter decided to give up. Not only because this type of talk had already happened countless times before but also because the way Babycorn was smiling at him was so cute he was feeling his knees turn to jelly in real time. “So? What did y-you wanna ask us?” Butter struggled to ask. 

For a few seconds Butter regretted asking, because as soon as he did, Babycorn’s smile disappeared. “I was just wondering if…” She tapped her fingers together nervously, looking away. “Could me and Cherry and Airy sleep with you guys tonight? If it’s not a lot of trouble?” 

“Yeah! It’s no trouble!” Butter immediately answered. Even Pancake and Cinnamon were caught off guard by how quickly he answered and they weren’t the only ones. 

“Huh? Really?” Babycorn was a little surprised. She had planned out a whole explanation in her head and everything. It would be a waste not to explain herself, if only just a little bit. “It’s just…I’ve been having trouble sleeping and I just thought maybe it would be easier to sleep if I…” Babycorn trailed off. 

“If you were?” Butter asked.  

“...If I felt safe. You know?” 

That’s not to say Babycorn didn’t feel safe around Cherrypit or Airy, but if anything happened to her she wanted to make sure someone else could protect them if she couldn’t. “I just feel safe when I’m around you Butts!” She smiled, holding her hands together. 

Butter couldn’t blush any harder. “I-I’m glad-!” Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you, he wanted to say. In the end, he ultimately just let Babycorn know she could come over anytime she wanted to. “We’ll be here all night! We’re not going anywhere!” He assured her. 

“Great!” Babycorn turned and began her run back to her room but not before turning back one more time and shouting back, “Don’t worry I’ll bring all the blankets and pillows we need! And me and Cherry can sleep on the floor! Airy brings her own bed!” With that out of the way Babycorn ran off again.

Butter waved at her until she was out of view. A lovestruck smile on his face. 

True to her word Babycorn had arrived with almost a mountain of blankets and pillows balanced on her head and some of them on Cherrypit’s head too. Airy was dragging a small doll bed behind her. 

Judging from the scowl on her face she was much less happier about this arrangement than Babycorn and Cherrypit were.

Her attitude took a turn for the positive when it turned out that Cinnamon had some extra sweets to share with her sister as they gossiped all about Babycorn and Butter respectively.

Cinnamon had a lot of the usual to say but Airy had some new juicy gossip of her own…

Meanwhile both Starsinger siblings had easily inserted themselves into Pancake’s drink judgment bracket. There were plenty of smoothies to go around and even then she could just order some more from the allowance Tsuna gave her earlier. Butter had joined in too, deciding right off the bat that the first pineapple smoothie he tried was the best. 

It had felt a lot like this had turned into an impromptu sleepover rather than a way to help Babycorn get to sleep. 

Though as the night went on–the more tired everyone began to get.

Cherrypit was the first to fall asleep. Wrapped in Babycorn’s arms in the middle of a triple triad match between Babycorn and Butter. Which Butter ended up winning by default because Babycorn had ended up eating half of one of her cards by accident. 

Next was Pancake, who swore up and down the room that she was only going to close her eyes for a minute or two as she got comfy on her bed. Even as she was talking Butter was shaking his head, knowing his sister much too well. He ended up being right. As soon as Pancake’s head hit the pillow she was out like a light. 

That left just Babycorn and Butter awake. Alongside their fairy companions. 

Both of them decided to go ahead and start setting up the numerous blankets that Babycorn brought with her. There were so many of them that piling them up was just as good as bringing a whole other bed into the room.

Or at least, to Babycorn it did. “Come on Cherry…” Babycorn whispered, gently picking her brother up and carrying him onto their makeshift bed. 

After she covered him in a warm blanket she took a seat on the floor, letting out a sigh. She was more tired now, that was true, but there was still some worry left in her about tomorrow. 

Babycorn looked over to see what Butter was doing. He had just finished checking up on Pancake and had gone over to his own bed. Weirdly enough Babycorn noticed him looking at her then he would look surprised and look away really fast. She poked her own nose. Did she have something on her face again? 

Eventually Butter got off his bed and walked over to the window, a book in his hands. Butter took the book and slipped it under some extra pillows. He was really hoping no one would notice what he was doing. Especially not Babycorn. 

“What are ya doing Butts?” Babycorn just happened to ask. She was standing up on her tippy-toes to see if she could get a better view of what he was doing.

In a panic, Butter was caught entirely off guard. “Just hiding my diary!” WHY DID I SAY THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Oh! Cool!” She had no idea what a diary was. 

Butter hid his diary as fast as he could and rushed back as fast as he could. But before he could even get close enough to hide under the covers–Babycorn called out to him.

“Hey Butter? Can I ask you a question?” 

“Yeah!” Butter answered, turning to look at her. “What’s up?

Babycorn took a deep breath. She sat down on the floor, clutching a pillow tightly. “Do you think Hildibrand loves me?” 

Butter froze. For a second he even stopped breathing completely. He turned around to look at Babycorn. His eyes met hers. It was like staring into a warm summer day, he couldn’t help but be drawn in. Butter walked up to Babycorn and knelt down in front of her. As much as he didn’t want to think about Hildibrand he knew there was only one answer to the question. 

“I think…” Butter struggled to speak. “I think he would be crazy not to be in love with you.” 

Babycorn was stunned. “Do you really think so?!” 

“Y-Yeah!!” Butter smiled, gritting his teeth. “No. Doubt. About. It.” 

“I see…” She noticed that Butter looked really happy to be telling her that. Of course he would be, he was like one of her bestie best friends. Just all her other friends! Because of that she didn’t have the heart to tell him how she really felt. 

If Hildibrand proposed to her tomorrow, well, she had no idea how she was going to react. 

“Hey Butts? You’re coming to help tomorrow right?”

As much as Butter wished that he didn’t have to go through another whole day or more of seeing Babycorn making googly eyes at Hildibrand, of course he was going to help. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything! Ahahaha…” 

That was a relief! “I’m glad you’re coming with!” It just wouldn’t be as fun without Butter and everyone else around! As long as he was around then maybe Babycorn wouldn’t have to spend another four hours sitting on a chair scared out of her mind about aliens.

Why, oh why, was marriage and love just so complicated? She bemoaned. 

Why couldn’t everything be as easy as eating worms from the wet ground?

As dawn broke through, Cinnamon and Airy giggled quietly to themselves. 

Airy poked her head out from behind a fort of blankets they had created to hide themselves behind just in case anyone woke up and interrupted their secret plan. “I literally can’t believe this.” A part of her wanted to just fly in and kick them awake but Cinnamon managed to convince her to hold back the violence. Using nothing but a delicious cookie, 

The (self-proclaimed) more artistic of the sisters was furiously drawing as fast as she could. “Have they moved at all yet?” Cinnamon cried out. 

“Nope. Still the same as last BAJILLION times you asked.” 

“Okay! Good!” Cinnamon continued to draw as fast as she could. “Just a little bit more…!” As soon as she was finished with it she would go ahead and place it inside of Butter’s diary, right on the newest page so it could be the first thing he would see when he opened it back up. 

She had to be quick, because any second now either Babycorn or Butter would wake up and ruin her reference. It was hard for her to draw any faster. Small as she was, drawing for her meant almost carrying a pencil across a page.

But it would all be worth it when she finished. 

Cinnamon needed Butter to know that they had fallen asleep sitting next to each other. Babycorn resting her head on his shoulder and holding their hands together. 

A smile on their faces.

[thefreelanceangel]

Mistake and Wound!

"...all she said was that she needed to say goodbye to a couple of people before heading to the New World."

"Something about leaving a memento behind for two people she loved? I don't know, Michael, I can't read Meli's mind. She looked the same as always. Yes, that means mopey."

"I'm sure we can ask how she's feeling when she comes back."

mistake: What's the worst mistake your OC ever made? What led to them making it? Have they been able to fix it? How have they moved on? / wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

Meli feels her life as a Warrior of Light is just... a series of mistakes. Grave mistakes that lead to other people paying the cost. Every friend hurt is another failure on her part, another cut that digs in just... a little too deeply to ever really heal.

She managed it for quite a while, years even. Despite watching the man she loved die, Meli bit down on her pain, embraced her own darkness and forged ahead. Ignoring the gaping emptiness inside her that she'd felt briefly filled, she did what needed to be done.

And then she fell in love again.

Only this time, his death came at her hands.

A necessary evil. She grieved it. Continued grieving silently while celebrating victories with those who fought at her side. Racing from one crisis to another doesn't leave anyone much time to brood over the past.

Until the hurt is torn open again, ripped wide and scoured raw, by facing the long ago echo of what her soul, fragmented as it was, had been missing for centuries. Meli's heart broke beyond repair at that point, and when she finally trudged to the ends of the universe to save what was left...

She woke, alive, after that last battle with her own dark reflection, and wished desperately that she'd never opened her eyes. And yet, even then... Another crisis. Another battle. Another rush of adrenaline to stave off the crumbling weakness hollowing her out from within.

Meli needed those frantic moments to keep herself going. Not the heady joy of combat or exploration, not the burning flicker of hope that she nourished in others, but the pressure of an encroaching deadline, of a deadly trap about to be sprung.

Without them... All she could do was return the pearl earrings she'd treasured to the two men who'd made them meaningful. To the memory of her soul's ancient love, and to the grave of her living self's lost love.

And then seek solace in one last rush.

[flusterfluff]

I've really been enjoying playing a character with an extremely rigid moral code and rich internal life that seems like an an absolute chaotic dumbass on the surface.

She's not smart by any means, and gets in trouble for things she doesn't do, but my little blueberry actually has a fairly strong sense of justice and her biggest flaw is just that she's nowhere near as good at talking to people as she thinks she is, so people end up accusing her of things she either didn't do or didn't mean to do almost constantly.