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tallteenturtle · 7 months ago

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Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor

I fell down a bit of a heraldry rabbit hole recently and decided to spend several hours compiling info about the Penvellyn family off the wiki and then used online heraldry resources to analyze their individual coat of arms. Did the game devs intend the shields to be interpreted this way? Probably not. But if I dont over-analyze 20 year old childrens computer games what else am I going to do with my life??

Here are all the people whose portraits hang in the great hall along with info we learn about them from Jane (and occasionally Nigel), their coat of arms, and my amateur interpretation of the symbolism.

Randulf ( - 1401)

“Randulf the Red, so named for his bright red hair, was considered a hero at the Battle of Poitiers. For his heroism, King Edward III awarded him with the lands in the region called "Penvellyn". That's how we got our name.”

Randulf's coat of arms says "IN HOC SIGNO" which translates to "in this sign (you will conquer)"

Comet; unknown in heraldry but refers to the family treasure

Red; Military might, warrior.

(putting the rest under the cut to save you much scrolling)

Odo (1354 – 1404)

“Yeah, he isn't very exciting, really. Liked farming and cows. His son Milo is much more interesting.”

“Those Manuscripts are very old and brittle. They date back to the 14th century. Odo Penvellyn collected most of them. His father Randulf and son Milo were rather more interested in military victories than in book collecting.”

Odo's coat of arms says "PROSPERITAS" which translates to "success".

Milo (1376 – 1423)

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

Deer/hart; One who will not fight unless provoked, peace and harmony

“Milo inherited not only his grandfather's red hair but his military prowess. Milo was instrumental in the Siege of Caen and was awarded even more lands by Henry V.”

Milo's coat of arms says "VICTUM INVIDEO SILENTE" which translates to "the conquered shall envy the dead".

Hugo (1401 – 1466)

Comet; unknown in heraldry

Red; Military might, warrior

Teardrop; “One who has endured torrents”

“Um, he had a lot of kids, and his dates were 1401 to 1466.”

Hugo's coat of arms says "CITO FIT QUOD DEI VOLUNT" which translates to "what the gods want happens soon".

Albert (1427 – 1508)

Bee; Industrious, diligent

Acorn; Antiquity, strength

Red; Military might, warrior

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

“He was very mysterious and the people of Blackmoor were afraid of him because he knew all these scientific things. No one knows much about him, though.”

Albert's coat of arms says "TIMENDI CAUSA EST NESCIRE" which translates to "ignorance is the cause of fear".

Edmund (1447 – 1499)

Book (open); Manifestation, knowledge

Blue; Truth, loyalty

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

“He was into cows. He did a lot of breeding of cows and sheep and got some kind of award from the King.”

Edmund's coat of arms says "UT SEMENTUM FECERIS ITA METES" which translates to "As you sow, so shall you reap".

Charles (1478 – 1553)

Hawk (Falcon): One who does not rest until objective achieved, purpose, goal-oriented

Red; Military might, warrior

Blue; Truth, loyalty

"Ooh, ooh - Charles was a very famous judge and wrote very important books on law. But his boy, Garrett, drowned when he was really young.”

Charles's coat of arms says "MINIMA MAXIMA SUNT" which translates to "The smallest things are the most important".

Thomas (1526 – 1584)

Rainbow; Good times after bad

Moon; Serene power over the mundane

Sun; Creativity and enlightenment

Blue; Truth, loyalty

“He was Charles's grandson and wrote a lot of poetry. He also had 3 wives: Catherine, Anne, and Mary. But not like at the same time. They died and he just remarried.”

Thomas's coat of arms says "AGE PRO VIRIBUS" which translates to "in all that you do, do your best".

James (1560 – 1650)

Eagle (2 heads); Joining 2 strong forces

Purple; Nobility and justice

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

T is presumably for Thomas, no heraldic meaning

“He never married but one day, when he was very old, a baby was found on the doorstep to the manor. He took her in and raised her as his own. That was Elinor.”

James's coat of arms says "ARS LONGA" which translates to "art lives long" (from the phrase, ars longa vita brevis - art is long, life is short).

Elinor (1626 – 1650)

Maltese cross; Blessings, protection

Red; Military might, warrior

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

Blue; Truth, loyalty

Purple; Nobility and justice

“Just that she was burned as a witch but it wasn't true and her father, James, died when he saw her die and then the family fled to France. I don't want to talk about this.”

Elinor's coat of arms says "AUDACES FORTUNA IUVAT" which translates to "fortune favors the bold".

Corbin (1670 – 1741)

Lion rampant; Courage, integrity, strength

Red; Military might, warrior

Purple; Nobility and justice

“Uh…I dunno. He doesn't have a coat of arms in the Great Hall because he didn't live here; wasn't even a British subject. That's all I know.”

Corbin's coat of arms says "NUNQUAM DEDISCEO" which translates to "never forget".

This shield is notably absent from the great hall, and also is the only one to feature decoration on the outside of the shield.

Sun; Fountain of life, intelligence, innovation, creativity, enlightenment

Wheat; Faithful

Vines/Ivy; Strong and lasting friendship, academia

Philippe (1689 – 1777)

“He made a fortune in the New World and bought back most of the lands that were confiscated by Cromwell.”

Philippe's coat of arms says "NOVUS MUNDUS" which translates to "a new world".

Penelope (1714 – 1783)

Fleur de Lis; Symbol of France

Purple; Nobility and justice

Blue; Truth, loyalty

“I don't know very much about her, except that she was very loved by practically everyone in England, and there were a million poems written about her.”

“Those are mainly Penelope Penvellyn's collections of French novels. She was a patron to a raft of artists, and her salon was quite popular. She was quite the libertine, even kept her maiden name after her marriage.”

Penelope's coat of arms says "PULCHRITUDO IN OMNIA" which translates to "there is beauty in all things".

Martha (1739 – 1791)

Pegasus; Poetic genius and inspiration

Fleur de lis; Symbol of France

Lion rampant; Courage and integrity

Wheel; fortune, cycle of life

Purple; Nobility and justice

Red; Military might, warrior

“She was completely daft - she'd wear really bizarre outfits and she was one of the first women to ride on a steam train.” (This is particularly impressive as the steam train did not exist until 10 years after her death. Oops!)

Martha's coat of arms says "SINE SCIENTIA ARS NIHIL EST" which translates to "without understanding, art is nothing".

Brigitte (1759 – 1833)

Unicorn; Extreme courage, virtue, strength.

Teardrop symbolism; “One who has endured torrents” gold means generosity or elevation of the mind.

The gear and atom are not traditional heraldic symbols but can represent progress and science.

Red; Military might, warrior

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

Blue; Truth, loyalty

Purple; Nobility and justice

“She never married and was bonkers for astronomy; she adopted her sister's son, Richard, who later got killed at Waterloo."

Brigitte's coat of arms says "LUDI SINE GAUDIO LUDI NON SUNT" which translates to "sport without fun is not sport."

"Brigitte with her eyes so bright, looks toward heaven at midnight on the longest night of year, that's the one she holds most dear. 'Starry friends,' she's often heard to say, 'how I wish that I could make you stay.' She knows though they can't remain, time will bring them 'round again."

Only shield to have white decorations on the colored background

Star; Divine quality from above

Dove; Loving constancy and peace

Compass; Direction

Purple; Nobility and justice

Richard (1787 – 1815)

“He died in Waterloo fighting against Napoleon.”

Richard's coat of arms says "SI SIC OMNES" which translates to "if only this could last forever".

Edward (1809 – 1904)

Banner down center shield (the Pale); Military or defensive strength

Star; Divine quality from above. The specific star (nautical star) is not traditional heraldry but symbolizes finding way home.

Red; Military might, warrior

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

Purple; Nobility and justice

“He was a big explorer and went all over the world. He wasn't very close with his son, who was also an explorer. They'd only see each other by chance in weird remote places like Samarkand or Walla Walla.”

Edward's coat of arms says "BIS VIVAT QUI BON VIVAT" which translates to "Whoever lives well lives twice".

Knight (especially on horseback); The soul guiding the body; man’s journey through life

Lightning Bolt: Swiftness and power; spiritual enlightenment.

Unicorn; Extreme courage, virtue, strength.

I dont know what the warrior with the spear and sword means

Scepter; Emblem of Justice

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

Blue; Truth, loyalty

William (1833 – 1901)

“He was an explorer, just like his father. He was kind of a whiner, so I heard.”

William's coat of arms says "DIES PERDIDI" which translates to "another day wasted".

John (1873 – 1954)

Bend Sinister (the band across the shield); Sometimes used to indicate illegitimacy. If that is the meaning here that would be very interesting and explain why he wasnt close with his father

Red; Military might, warrior

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

“He was this huge naturalist and did a lot of exploration in the Amazon. I think there's a plant named after him. Or maybe a monkey; I forget.”

John's coat of arms says "PER AURES AD ANIMUM" which translates to "through the ears to the spirit".

Malachi (1894 – 1972)

Parrot and mouth not traditional symbols but probably represent interest in wildlife and linguistics.

Green; Hope, joy, loyalty

Blue; Truth, loyalty

“He was a doctor of medicine and did a lot of research on icky skin diseases.”

Malachi's coat of arms says "NUMEN LUMEN" which translates to "divine light is my guide".

Alan (1923 – 1993)

Sun; Fountain of life, intelligence, innovation, creativity, enlightenment

Purple; Nobility and justice

“He was my grandfather but I didn't know him because he died when I was little. I guess he was nice.”

Alan's coat of arms says "PURGAMENTUM EXIT" which translates to "garbage out" (referencing part of a programmers' saying "garbage in, garbage out").

Serpent; Wisdom

Red; Military might, warrior

#nancy drew #curse of blackmoor manor #nancy drew: curse of blackmoor manor #nancy drew PC games #her interactive #Penvellyn family #heraldry #fandom deep dive #nancy drew games #her interactive games #this is very niche content and i will not apologize #blackmoor manor spoilers

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cohlecosa · 4 months ago

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a hart is a male red (rust-colored?) deer over five years old.

it was seen as the most prestigious animal to hunt in medieval times

and was typically sought out by a bloodhound.

scent hounds then tracked the hart

until cornering it.

#rustmarty #webweaving #cohlehart #i offhandedly heard this the other day and this concept really stuck with me.#it ties in so well with the deer imagery that's littered throughout the show. and slots in nicely with rust and marty's dynamic #anyway #kinda nervous to post this but let's see what happens #my posts #meta

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bonefall · 8 months ago

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looking at the nutrition guide posts again, and you say that the clans' territories are bigger than one might think.... how big do you imagine they might be? the book maps always make them seem smaller than they probably actually are due to art scaling

There is no way to give a perfect number, because productivity of land depends a lot more on what's on it rather than raw size. An old-growth oak forest will have more squirrels in an acre than a sitka spruce plantation will in miles.

But this is an aerial photo of Peng Chau island, which is a landform notable for being almost EXACTLY 1 square kilometer.

That's 10 million square feet, for those of us burdened by imperial, and 247 acres, for... farmers idk. Or, 100 hecatares for those who are aware that most UK nature reserves measure their land in hecs.

(does this seem big? it's not. this is merely two 18-hole golf courses. or maybe we should destroy all golf courses. who knows :P)

According to the John Muir Trust, which researches red deer density and conversation, 1 square kilometer can sustainably support 5 red deer; more deer than that and they will begin to damage the environment. Britain is so ecologically devastated that the deer density is more like 10 to 1, but this is what apex predators like boars, lynxes, and wolves are SUPPOSED to be for.

(Remember: the ratio of 5:1 is still an average. The TYPE of land is going to matter A LOT MORE than the raw size.)

So if you're asking me, who has ruled that the White Hart/Forest Territory has an entire herd of red deer which hunters come to shoot at, I'd say the area was at least 3 square kilometers. Enough for a sustainable herd of 15 deer.

(But I imagine the Windovers sometimes toss hay out at them, to sustain a pretty sizeable herd. The map names the WindClan territory the "Windover Moor" so I imagine they actually own the majority of the area. I also write the entire White Hart being MUCH larger than the minimum 3 sKM, more like 10 sKM counting all the territories put together. BUT I don't think about it too much-- I just know it's not a tiny little backyard area.)

(Also Sanctuary Lake is even larger.)

#Clan culture #Apparently some people think I named the White Hart and Sanctuary Lake! I actually didn't!!#Those are canon names #I would have made a much better name for Sanctuary Lake lmao #British people will name a pond Scumdiddle Pip and call it a day #Like im just saying. ''Sanctuary'' Lake belongs in NEW york not OLD york.#It sounds like an american lake

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sleepiestdreamer · 1 month ago

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Masc/neu cryptid deer themed ID pack :

Names —

Red , Fang , Myst , Stare , Spotlight , Dear , Fae , Faun , Antler , Blood , Hide , Scatter , Snap , Stick , Stalk , Cry , Cryptid , Unknown , Rabid , Grimm , Abyss , Shifter , Dire , Roscoe , Oisín , Stag , Derby , Buck , Watcher , Hart .

Pronouns —

Blood/bleeds , Cryp/cryptid , Beast/beasts , Creature/creatures , Deer/deers , Watch/watches , Look/looks , Thing/things , Stare/stares , Faun/fauns , That/thats , Shift/shifts , Doe/eyes , Ant/antler , Void/voids , Shadow/shadows , Danger/dangerous , Stalk/stalking .

Titles —

The cryptic deer , The beast deer , [prn] who is a cryptid in deer form , [prn] who may be a deer...? , The unknown deer , The deer lookalike , [prn] who watches from the shadows , [prn] who is a cryptid deer , The shadowed deer , The mysterious buck .

Genders —

Deerboy , Deerthing , Weriddeeric , Floradeeric , Dxxric , Notdeeric , Deerskullskeletic , Deerheadlightsgender , Deerwolfteethix , Cryptidgender , Anomalyic , Crypticutie , Foretidian , Boycreature .

#❦ dreambee requests #endos dni #requested #id pack #id packs #deer id pack #cryptid id pack #cryptid deer id pack #names #pronouns #titles #genders

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nyeigneous · 2 years ago

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Hart Siebert 哈特·塞伯特

Age: 42 年龄：四十二岁

Birth: 21/07/1896 生日：一八九六年七月二��一日

Height: 182cm 身高：一百八十二厘米

Build: Brawny 体型：健壮

Appearance:

Hart has bright olive-green eyes, a high nose, brown messy curly hair, thick beard. Most of the time he looks serious and sullen.

His hands are very large, rough and powerful, covered with a cocoon.

Hart doesn't care much about dressing. He usually wears a rough fur coat, leather shin guards, and a red scarf to cover the huge scar on his neck,

明亮的橄榄绿色眼睛，高鼻梁，有着浓密的棕色卷发和连鬓胡子。大部分时间看起来都很严肃而阴沉。

双手非常大，粗糙有力，覆盖着一层茧子。

哈特不是很在意着装。通常他穿着粗糙的毛皮外套，兽皮绑腿，以及一条挡住脖子上的巨大伤疤的红色围巾。

Personality:

Hart is a serious and silent man, with a great sense of responsibility.

Many people think he is a simple and clumsy honest man when they look at him working without any words. In fact, Hart is very careful. He just rarely talks about his ideas, because they are usually very complex and negative.

He is not good at dealing with people and is often confused by social etiquette because he lives alone for a long time and separates from society, so most think he is a freak who only knows how to deal with animals.

Hart has no regular education and had difficulty reading and writing. But he knows clearly what is good and right because he has experienced bad and dark things.

Generally speaking, Hart is not a person easy to get along with, people just need some time to understand his kind nature.

哈特是一个严肃并且沉默的人，有着很强的责任心。

很多人看着他一声不哼闷头干活儿的样子都以为他是个简单而笨拙的老实人，其实哈特很细心，他只是很少谈及自己的想法，因为这些想法通常都非常复杂并且消极。

他长期独居，脱离社会，不是很擅长处理人情世故，社交礼仪通常会让他感到困惑，所以很多人都觉得他是个只会跟动物打交道的怪人。

哈特没有受过常规的教育，读书和写字都有困难。但是他经历过不好的事情，正因为如此，他才知道什么是好的和对的。

总体来说哈特并不是个容易相处的人，人们需要花点时间才能了解他的善良的本性。

Weapons and skills:

Short Magazine Lee-Enfield, hatchet

Hart is good at using guns and cold weapons, which makes him an efficient and professional hunter. His strong build even allows him to deal with large and dangerous animals on his own. 李恩菲尔德步枪，短斧。

哈特擅��枪械和冷兵器的使用，这令他成为了一个高效而专业的猎人。他的健壮体格足以让他独自应对大型的危险猎物。

宝贵之物：李恩菲尔德步枪（妻子送给他的）

恐惧之物：他总是梦到妻子站在无边无尽的驯鹿群中，任凭他怎么叫喊都没有回应，跟随着鹿角沾满鲜血的鹿群走向远方（每到锯鹿茸的季节，驯鹿的头上都血粼粼的，这个画面给哈特留下了很深的印象）。

Important people: late wife Tantoo Schweig Precious things: Lee-Enfield (Tantoo gave it to him)

Fear: He always dreams that his wife stands in the endless herd of reindeer. No matter how he shouts, she does not respond, following the deer with blood antlers to the distance.

重要的人：他已故的妻子Tantoo Schweig

宝贵之物：李恩菲尔德步枪（妻子送给他的）

Other：

In his spare time, he plays harmonica and makes wood carvings;

Can play a little banjo; 他空闲的时候会吹口琴，做木雕，会一点班卓琴；

Excessive drinking; 有酗酒问题；

When he is in a bad mood, he says nothing; 心情不好的时候会一言不发；

His eyelashes are long. 睫毛很长。

History:

黄石的童年 The childhood in Yellow Stone

哈特的祖先是十九世纪初期来到加拿大北部做皮料生意的俄罗斯移民。

Hart's ancestors are Russian immigrants who came to northern Canada to do fur business in the early 19th century.

哈特出生于黄石的普通护林员的家庭，但是由于他暴虐的父亲，他有着一个不幸福的童年

Hart is born into a family of a ranger in Yellowstone, he has an unfortunate childhood because of his tyrannical father.

1908年，哈特十二岁，父亲又一次因为醉酒而对他的母亲施暴，不堪忍受的哈特拿起父亲的猎枪射穿了他的喉咙，惊慌失措的母亲试图治疗他的伤口，但无济于事。草草埋葬父亲后，母亲带着哈特去镇上寻找他的亲生父亲，一个风流倜傥的治安官。但是这个男人非但没有接纳母子俩，还粗暴地将他们赶走。哈特不忍心看到母亲卑微的样子，决定要靠自己的力量照顾好两个人。

In 1908, Hart is 12 years old, his father beats his mother up again when he is drunk. Hart takes his father's shotgun and shoots him in the throat. His panicked mother tries to treat his wound but to no avail.

After burying his father, his mother takes Hart to town to find his real father, a dashing sheriff. But instead of accepting them, the man violently drove them away. Hart could not bear to see her mother humble look, decides to rely on his ability to take care of them two.

威廉姆斯先生Mr. Williams

哈特与母亲一起东躲西藏了很多年，才在阿拉斯加的一处僻静村落定居。但是由于长期遭受家暴，和男人的抛弃，母亲的精神和身体健康都非常糟糕，终日以泪洗面，年幼的哈特被迫担任起养家糊口的重任。为了肉类食物，哈特决定学习打猎，并且找到镇上的武器铺老板兼职猎人的威廉姆斯先生（62岁）那里学习枪械技巧。而这个勤奋而颇具天赋的男孩很快引起了这个独居怪老头的兴趣。

Hart and his mother hide together for many years before settling down in a secluded village in Alaska. At that time, his mother’s mental and physical health is very bad because of the long-term domestic violence, and the abandonment of man.

Young Hart is forced into the role of breadwinner. For meat, Hart decides to learn to hunt and goes to the town's arms shop owner, Mr. Williams (62 years old), who is a part-time hunter too, to learn firearms skills. The industrious and talented boy soon carries the interest of the strange old man.

威廉姆斯先生曾经参加过南北战争，炮弹的碎片夺走了他的一只眼睛和一条手臂，但是也并未影响他精湛的枪械技巧。他为人颇具军人风格，不苟言笑，勇敢而富有责任心，但是同时又心思缜密，这些都深深影响了哈特。同时，无妻无子的威廉姆斯年事已高，自然而然得认Hart作为自己的徒弟和助理，两人合作无间，成了当地小有名气的猎人组合。

Mr. Williams fought in the Civil War, and shrapnel from a shell took his an eye and an arm, but it did not affect his skill as a shooter. He is a military man, unsmiling, brave and responsible, but also thoughtful, which deeply influences Hart.

At that time, Williams recognizes Hart as his apprentice and assistant because he has no wife and no children. These two people cooperate well, becomes a local famous hunter combination.

冰封的河Frozen River

哈特十七岁那年，一只来自育空的狩猎队伍邀请师徒两人加入其中，但是因为哈特母亲的身体状况急速恶化，哈特只能拒绝了这份差使，专心照顾母亲。但是在来年的春天，他的母亲最终还是选择了自杀。

When Hart is 17, a hunting party from the Yukon invites Williams and Hart to join them. Hart turns down the offer because his mother's health deteriorates rapidly. In the following spring, she still committed suicide.

母亲的自杀对于母子俩都是一个解脱。因为她的歇斯底里，哈特长期生活在巨大的心理压力之下，甚至在七岁那年险些被发作的母亲掐死在梦中。但是他的责任感让他尽其所能照顾好母亲的饮食起居，并且体谅安慰她的情绪。然而，当他远远看到母亲走向正在冰封的河面时，他犹豫了很久，并没有去救她。这个选择令哈特自责了很多年，一度怀疑自己是不是像父亲一样也是个邪恶并且有暴力倾向的人。有很长一段时间，哈特不愿意跟别人交流，也拒绝进一步发展关系。

Mother's suicide is a relief for both of them.

Hart lives under great psychological pressure for a long time because of his mother's hysteria. When he is seven years old, he is almost strangled in a dream by her.

But Hart's sense of responsibility makes him do his best to take care of his mother's daily life, and sympathize with and comfort her mood. However, that day when he sees his mother walking towards the frozen river from a distance, he hesitates and doesn't save her. This choice makes Hart blame himself for many years.

He doubts whether he is an evil and violent man like his father. For a long time, Hart is unwilling to communicate with others and refuses to any further relationships.

母亲去世后，哈特变卖了所有的家当，跟着威廉姆斯先生告别了家乡，踏上了前往加拿大的旅程。年轻的哈特精湛的射击技巧和枪械维护技能很快得到了团队的认可，在队伍里也有了一席之地。在旅行的第五个年头，威廉姆斯先生因故去世，至此以后哈特就要一个人面对这个世界了。

After his mother died, Hart sells all his possessions and follows Mr. Williams on his journey to Canada. The young Hart's excellent shooting and gun maintenance skills are quickly earning him a place on the team. Five years into the trip, Mr. Williams died, and Hart is left to face the world alone.

Tantoo

哈特27岁那年，认识了他生命中最重要的人，他的妻子Tantoo Schweig 坦图·施维克。她是白人和北美土著的混血，职业是狩猎向导和训犬师。Tantoo的热情和勇敢令哈特吃惊，因为在此之前，他只接触过像母亲那样卑微而痛苦的女性。

When Hart is 27, he meets the most important person in his life, his wife Tantoo Schweig. She is a mixed blood of white and Indian, her occupation is hunting guide and dog trainer. Tantoo's enthusiasm and courage surprise Hart because he has only meet humble and painful women like his mother before.

完��不懂得人际交往的哈特在Tantoo面前总是笨手笨脚，甚至非常自卑。然而Tantoo透过哈特粗糙而沉默的外表看到了他的善良本性，包容了他的过去，并且接受了他的追求。两人一起旅行了一年后决定结婚。他们回到Tantoo在阿拉斯加的老家，开始经营驯鹿牧场。

Hart, who doesn't understand interpersonal communication at all, is always clumsy in front of Tantoo. However, Tantoo sees Hart's kind nature through Hart's rough and silent appearance, she understands his past and accepts his pursuit. After traveling together for a year, the two decide to get married. They return to Tantoo's hometown in Alaska and begin to run a reindeer ranch.

熊和驯鹿Bear and reindeer

婚后的第三年，哈特的妻子连同她腹中的孩子一起死于一场��外。驯鹿群受到棕熊的惊扰开始失控狂奔，为了控制鹿群，哈特的妻子坠下山崖，而哈特也被棕熊袭击，在他的脖子留下了几乎令他丧命的巨大的伤口。

The third year after marriage, pregnant Tantoo dies in an accident. The reindeer herd is disturbed by the bear and begins to run wildly. Tantoo falls off the cliff when trying to control the deer herd. Hart is attacked by the bear. The bear leaves huge wounds on Hart's neck that almost kill him.

妻子的死几乎令哈特崩溃，他离开阿拉斯加地区，开始守林人的工作。酗酒和独自一人的生活几乎令他变成了那个他最痛恨的父亲的样子，像一头藏在森林里的怪兽，毫无怜悯之心地击退所有闯入者，以及报复性地杀死棕熊。然而这样并没有令他感觉更好受一点。

Hart almost collapsed when his wife died. He leaves Alaska and begins to work as a ranger.

Drinking and living alone makes him the father he hates most - like a monster hiding in the forest, fighting off all intruders without mercy and killing bears in revenge. However, it doesn't make him feel better.

禁止狩猎No Hunting

1932年，哈特（36岁）遇到了加什（39岁）。这名阴险狡诈而疯癫的英国人是狩猎小队的一员，额头上有一条非常显眼的伤疤，嘴里永远都叼着一根烟。当时，这只小队正试图捕捉哈特的管辖区域内的头狼。

In 1932, Hart (36) meets Garth (39). This insidious, cunning and crazy Englishman is a member of a hunting team. He has a very prominent scar on his forehead and always has a cigarette in his mouth. At that time, the team is hunting gray wolves in Hart's jurisdiction.

两人的第一次相遇就是一场恶战。哈特打伤了他们队伍中的两名成员，将他们逼出了林区。但是加什却只身一人回来用霰弹枪偷袭了他。从那之后，几乎每隔几天，加什就要挑衅一下哈特，试探他的耐心的底线。虽然哈特擅长射击和搏斗，但是在偷袭和反侦察方面，加什似乎技高一筹，这几乎令哈特防不胜防。

The first time they meet is a fierce battle.

Hart wounds two members of their team and drives them out of the forest. But Garth comes back alone and attacks him with his shotgun.

Since then, almost every few days, Garth challenges Hart and tests the bottom line of his patience. Although Hart is good at shooting and fighting, Garth seems to be better at sneak attacks and anti reconnaissance, which makes Hart almost impossible to predict Garth's actions.

But to be honest, the battle that Garth starts saves Hart. In order to fight better, he has to quit drinking, take in enough nutrition to support high-intensity activities, and keep focused and vigilant for a long time, which also makes his mind clearer and his mood more stable.

On the contrary, the crazy and reckless self-destruction-style attack that has been adopted by Garth is quickly consuming his energy.

但是实话说，加什挑起的这场战斗拯救了哈特。为了更好地战斗，他不得不戒酒，摄入足够的营养来支撑高强度的活动，长期保持专注和警惕也让他的头脑更加清楚，情绪更稳定。相反，对面加什一直采用的疯狂而不计后果的自毁式的攻击则在很快地消耗这个偷猎者的精力。

没有结局的结局No ending

这场荒诞的对决几乎持续了半年。在一个初雪之日，哈特终于将加什逼到绝路，用来复枪指着他，问他为什么要这样做。而加什只是简单地回答说因为他想死。哈特想起了自己的母亲，当时的她掐着他的脖子又哭又笑，说她想死。

哈特收起了枪，转身离开了。

The absurd duel lasts almost half a year. On a snowy day, Hart finally forces Garth to a dead end, points a gun at him, and asks him why he does it. Garth simply replies that he wants to die.

This makes Hart thinks of his mother. That day when he is a little boy, she pinches his neck, cries and laughs, and says she wants to die.

Hart puts away his gun and turns away.

于是这场危险的游戏悄然无声的结束了。冬天到来，大雪将所有发生过的一切都掩埋了。加什则像被按下了什么开关一样，完全停止了攻击和挑衅，只是时不时出现在哈特的篝火旁，但是没有带枪。哈特产生了一种错觉，他觉得自己像是原始人，而加什则是人类历史上第一只被驯服的狼。

The dangerous game ends quietly. When winter comes, the heavy snow buries everything that has happened.

Garth stops the attack and provocation as if he has been pressed a switch on his body. He just appears by Hart's campfire from time to time, but he doesn't carry a gun. Hart has an illusion that he feels like a primitive man, and Garth is the first domesticated wolf in human history. 哈特对这个有着 “育空疯狗”外号的男人有所耳闻。他以他那不可理喻的反社会性格和独一无二的博物学知识在猎人的社交圈里非常有名，只要有他出现的地方，就必定伴随着口角和争斗；无论是谁，跟他合作必定要承担极大的心理压力和风险。

但是哈特对这些传闻都不感兴趣。以他照顾过母亲的经验，他知道加什一定是经历过什么很严重的事情才变成这样的。但是他也没有兴趣知道。

Hart has heard of this man with the nickname "Yukon mad dog". With his unreasonable antisocial character and unique natural history knowledge, he is very famous in the hunter's social circle. As long as there is a place where he appears, it must be accompanied by quarrels and fights; Whoever cooperates with him must bear great psychological pressure and risk.

But Hart is not interested in these rumors. With his experience of taking care of his mother, he knows that Garth must have experienced something very serious to become like this. But he is not interested in knowing.

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aigle-suisse · 10 months ago

Video

Strutting his stuff par Jan Rose Via Flickr : Red deer stag @ De Hoge Veluwe National Park

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patataatomica5 · 9 months ago

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Fear and hunger headcanons and possible plot for a future fanfic part 2 :p

AGAIN TW JUST IN CASE GORE, SA, VIOLENCE OR DEATH IS MENTIONED

Life outside the dungeon yayyy :D

If you can't remember or didn't read the last part the people in the group are Ragnvaldr, Cahara, The Girl and Moonless.

(Go on and read PART 1 if you didn't)

+The way our group ran at the speed of light outside

+At first the sun hurt their eyes, their vision had to assimilate again that there is not just darkness and light coming from a torch.

+The way back to Rondon was a bit long, maybe stopping and properly resting was 2-3 days walking. (It was an old prison, so I guess it had to be away from the population, and also look at all the things hidden beneath)

+ One of the first things they did was finding a river and trying to get rid of the horrible smell that the dungeon left on them, not only sweat, but rotting blood and dirt and all kinds of strange liquids the monsters might have stained them with.

+ After that Rag hunted a deer and fed them fresh roasted meat that didn't make them question how long that food has been sitting there or if it was going to make them nauseous.

+ Moonless chewed on the leftover bones and was given raw meat too.

+ On the way they discarded all the items that weren't useful anymore. Why would they want a dirty rag? They can get clean ones in the city now.

+ Once they arrived they rented a couple of rooms in an inn with whatever money they had left and proceeded to find merchants, colleccionists and rich people who would pay a lot of money for all those weird coins, jewelry and amulets.

+ Cahara didn't keep any of the treasures he found, just gave Ragnvaldr the Cube of the Depths as "it was stolen from your homeland", but he declined for the moment, just until he had somewhere stable to stay.

+ When Cahara had the money he needed, he went straight to the Red Light District, to the familiar brothel her wife was trapped in. As usual, some girls from other brothels tried to take him inside to "just rest and drink something".

+ Before entering he remebered all the times he snuck through her window just to spend time with her. One time he had to hide in the closet because the Madame made a surprise visit to talk to Celeste.

+ With his hart pounding on his chest, he entered inside, and demanded to talk with the Madame.

+ He just dropped the bag full of silver and golden coins to her feet and just said "I want to buy the freedom of Celeste".

+All the girls present backed away and started murmuring while a couple of them ran upstairs to ssearch for her. The elder lady that owned the place was in shock, as Celeste was one of the most expensive girls she owned.

+ After counting the money, she could only let her free, and gave her a couple of hours to pick up her things before going.

+ Cahara told her to only take what meant something to her and was necessary, as he would buy her all the expensive dresses she wanted.

+ The mercenary left the dungeon without looking back, and so did Celeste with the brothel.

+ After that he introduced her to the Girl, Rag and Moonless. She was shocked at what the story they lived in the dungeons, but it was too much and too long to explain, some things she will find out with time.

+ In Cahara's absence, Rag tried to brush the little girl's hair, but it was too matted, it looked like a bird's nest. Maybe it was never brushed before.

+ Celeste cut her hair quite short, sadly it was too tangled :(

+ The girl was a bit sad, but the woman promised it would grow back in no time and even prettier than before. She also cut Cahara's hair so "it would grow back healthier" and gave Rag a trim too.

+ It's also a way of ending that short but hard era and the begining of their new lives outside misery ;)

+ The (old) mercenary started constructing a mansion not too far from Rondon and, gave his bestie Ragnvaldr a house (with at least 5 giant bedrooms) nearby his mansion-to-be.

+ The three of them came to the conclusion that the girl would stay with Celeste and Cahara, as Rag wanted to become a monster hunter and kind of a mercenary to help other people live better, with the condition that he will drop by and visit them every few days.

+ Moonless came along Rag and he began to train more people to beat the darkness and what hid behind the shadows forming a group and later a clan. (also some of them are survivors from Oldegard's dissaster)

+ The Girl has a colorful bedroom full of plushies and toys and dolls. She became a bit spoiled (Celeste and the baby too), because Cahara gave his new family everything they wanted on the spot.

+ And the most important, she had the warmth and the love of a father and a mother and a baby brother :")

+ Also a great teacher that taught her how to read, history, math... And how to speak too! Both husband and wife had to be patient with that. She grew up to be a beautyful and clever woman.

+ Sadly not everything is good, the (old) mercenary often had nightmares with the dungeon or with Nilvan telling him that he lied, he tricked her, and he will pay for it. He will pay the price of not having a good night sleep in probably for ever. (Not being able to sleep was kind of beneficial in a way, because he could let Celeste sleep and he would take care of the baby)

Part 3?????

Also don't be afraid to tell me if something it's wrong, English is not my first language.

#fear and hunger #cahara of the south #cahara fear and hunger #ragnvaldr fear and hunger #the girl fear and hunger #celeste fear and hunger #headcanons #fanfiction #f&h #f&h fanfic #f&h headcanon #ml's

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edgessunflower · 8 months ago

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Mountain getaway

Pairing: Buddy Matthews x Fem reader x Julia Hart

Description: You and your partners take a trip to the mountains for a romantic trip

Julia smiles when she sees you asleep in the front seat while Buddy drives to the mountains for your trip together for the next few weeks away from wrestling and training. You wake up as buddy carries you inside smiling when you see the inside of the cabin and the woods through the window all of you eating and having a lazy night in waking up and hiking the trails together stopping for lunch at a small park absolutely loving the peace and quiet serene of the forests and wilderness walking the rest of the biggest trail before heading back to the cabin groaning at buddy massaging the back of your legs before each of you shower watching buddy drawing the scene right outside the bedroom while julia bird watched on the front porch making a stew which was very delicious before all of you turned in for the night going out the next morning picking berries being mindful of their colors knowing that red ones usually were toxic depending on how bright they were coming back with blue, black, and red currant berries use half to make a juice while the others were used for breakfast saving the rest for the next two weeks of staying in the woods going with julia later in the day to collect leaves since the season was changing. After coming back all of you have a small campfire not too far away roasting some deer meat from a few hunters you found on the trails then s'mores having fun sharing a few sips of tequila and taking pictures together agreeing to come back later in the year or the next year as the two of you spend the last two nights re exploring all the trails and woods taking many pictures before slowly packing and leaving definitely recommending your friends go up there or go with the three of you the next time which ended up being a roster trip which everyone enjoyed having frequent trips two or three times to the woods out of a year and each time it was more wonderful than the last.

#julia hart #buddy matthews x reader #aew #aew x reader #buddy matthews #julia hart x reader #julia hart x reader x buddy matthews #buddy matthews x reader x julia hart

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alenseress · 2 years ago

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Dushan lore (3/?)

I do plan on making more lore art and more text because he's my ultimate way of every artblock, but here are some silly facts until next time

Him and Blackwall bond in Skyhold specifically because he hangs around the stables INSANE amount of time. So much that Bonny Sims (the merchant) starts thinking he's hitting on her. All that because he forms a weirdly codependent mind fuse with the red hart the inquisition acquires. He names him Radish and Cole often remarks that Radish and Dushan are pretty alike. Noone's sure in what way exactly because he sure isn't talking about the redheadness

Him and Krem, surprisingly, aren't that close, mostly keeping it friendly-professional because Krem isn't exactly fond of Dorian, but he is close with Dalish

Viv is his divine but he lets the inquisition go

He gives up nobility after Trespasser as much as he can while being long-distance married to Dorian. He kisses his husband on the nose and moves to Highlands after passing the Trevelyan land to a relative and making cheeky diplomatic arrangements with some neutral nobles in Dorian's Tevinter lineage. Starts a deer farm there while still being an occasional menace. Both Cole and Sera visit him there

Remember Chief Movran? With the goats? Sent to Tevinter? Yeah, Dushan spends big chunks of winters in Tevinter and they link up. Funky guys being funky together

He has a badass wooden arm prosthetic made by Dagna and Harritt and Dalish in collaboration. Parting gift

#dai dushan

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triskhellion · 1 year ago

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Second Chance Strays

Rated: Explicit (8.4K)

Relationship: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Larem the red deer, unnamed Julia Baccari

Tags: Magical Stiles Stilinski, Alpha Derek Hale, Alternate Universe, Dead Sheriff Stilinski, Graphic Violence, Getting Together, First Kiss, Virgin Stiles Stilinski, Fuck or Die, Claiming, Various Explicit Sex Acts, Knotting, Mating Bites, Mating Bonds, Wilderness Survival, Happy Ending, POV Stiles Stilinski

Mead Moons prompts: 21, Becomes, Buck, Claiming, Hay, Herbs, & Mead. @sterek-and-stuff-events

Sterek Weekly prompt: Explore (also Healthy & Family.)

When Stiles found the wolf injured and unconscious in the snow he sighed heavily, but dragged the unusually large animal onto his sled over the snorted objections of his hoof-stamping hart.

“Don’t worry, Larem, I won’t let it eat you,” he said, scratching around a soon to be shed antler and trying to soothe his sole companion of the past 3 years.

Cutting his foraging short, he secured the unfortunate creature and returned to his solitary hut hidden deep in the forest to take a closer look. Male, with thick, black fur and seeming a healthy weight for his size. That was a good sign. The fact that the wolf had been doing okay before whatever befell him recently gave him a better chance of survival. Stiles had magic yes, but his healing abilities were fairly modest and generally more helping things along than performing outright miracles.

After some minor debate he moved the wolf inside. There wasn’t much for the animal to destroy should he wake and it’d get him out of the elements for now. That way his body could focus on healing and not expending as much energy for warmth, especially with the increase in breath rate he now noticed.

Lighting a fire was an easy task for Stiles’ magic and he went out to boil some water in his smallest pot to cleanse the wounds — the wolf’s right front leg had obviously been caught in a trap, but he’d somehow managed to get out of it — and gathered comfrey, yarrow, chamomile, and calendula from his supply of healing herbs in the meantime.

As he was taught by his mother years before, Stiles used a mortar and pestle to grind them roughly, adding garlic and honey to form a paste. He brought in the hot water and soaked clean cloths to wipe away any debris before applying the poultice and covering it with a strip of fabric. The wolf twitched and whimpered, but remained unconscious.

Stiles put his hands on the now heaving sides of his patient and concentrated, finding something that felt dark and gave the impression of bitterness — a poison? — and began to draw it out. It was hard, but several minutes later he seemed to have gotten it all and the labored breathing eased. He used his power to press the noxious matter into a tiny ball and sealed it pine resin before tossing into the fire.

That done, he filled most of his mid-sized pot with water, salting it, and set it over the flame to make a warming broth with bones from some of his meals over the last few days, which he’d wrapped and buried under the snow. (One didn’t waste anything out here.) He could spare a couple handfuls of grouse as well from his larder out back and still had an ample supply of dock seed flour to make a heartier soup. Stiles took out a large bowl’s worth for the canine and then added onion, garlic, sage, and thyme to the rest.

When he returned he was quite surprised, but not utterly shocked to find a naked man on the floor where the wolf had been. He hadn’t seen such beings in person before, but had heard of them. Stiles put the bowl down on the table and peered at him curiously, noting how his wounds seemed to be gone now and how he looked just like any other man. Well, perhaps not any other man, he was very attractive indeed.

Said man awoke soon after, easing back into consciousness at first and then sitting up quickly, no doubt alarmed by the strange surroundings and possible danger. He whipped around toward Stiles, eyes turning from some pale color to a brilliant red, and growled warily.

Stiles huffed and crossed his arms. He knew he should probably be more understanding of whatever his guest had been through, but he’d been alone a long time (aside from dear Larem, pun absolutely intended) and now here he was being threatened in his own home after rescuing the sorry shifter. His own eyes flashed silver and the warning noise cut off immediately. The man awkwardly tried to both curl in on himself and bare his neck at the same time, releasing a short whine before trying to speak.

He croaked and cleared his throat a few times as if from long disuse and then hoarsely said, “I’m sorry, Magus, please forgive me. Please don’t kill me.”

Stiles sighed. So the wolf had heard of his kind too. Magical beings who too often strayed to the dark side and could cause untold harm in their greed and entitlement or simple desire for cruelty.

It wasn’t the majority of them, but any occurrence was too often when as powerful as they could be. In the past couple decades it seemed to be as high as 1 in 8, at least to some degree of malfeasance, and many a decent mage had been hurt or killed in the process of defending against them. A pang of grief ran through Stiles as he thought of his parents; his mother died when he was 9 protecting him and other children from a mad wizard and his father when he was 17, just 3 and a half years ago, ambushed while doing his lawman’s rounds in the city of Beacon. Both had taken their assailants down with them, but it was little consolation.

“I didn’t go through the trouble of saving your wolfy ass to kill you now,” he quipped, walking back toward the table. “It’s nothing exciting, but there’s food if you’d like and water to drink and wash up.”

“Thank you, Magus.”

“Stiles.”

“Pardon, but what’s a “stiles?”

“Me,” he responded, looking through the pile of clean clothes in the corner.

“Sorry, Master Stil—“

“Just call me Stiles and stop apologizing. Now, what’s your name?”

“Derek.”

“Here you go, Derek.”

Stiles threw his loosest shirt and pair of trousers at him and went back out to the fire with the bowl. A minute later the shifter peeked around the corner and then cautiously approached him as he added the soup back to the pot and added more herbs and aromatics.

“I didn’t realize you were a shifter so I took your portion out before the onions and garlic and such,” he explained. Once he figured the flavors had melded nicely he filled the large bowl again and handed it to the stranger, serving his own meal from the cookpot and then gesturing to sit down beside him on the bench. Once he began eating Derek did as well, drinking from the bowl.

“I’d give you a spoon, but I’ve somehow managed to misplace or ruin the others and I haven’t bothered to make more yet since it’s just me that uses them.”

“It’s no trouble. I’m used to eating with my hands or in wolf shape anyway. Thank you for the food. And for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome.”

They continued to eat in silence until the sound of snorting and hooves drew their attention. Stiles looked at the wolf-man and pointed at the 5.5 year old red deer.

“That’s Larem. He’s my friend and helper so don’t eat him.”

Derek started rolling his eyes and then froze after remembering who he was sitting next to. Stiles looked up to the heavens and sighed. The shifter swallowed.

“I-I won’t. I wouldn’t have either. He clearly belongs to someone.”

“Good. ”

And so began their companionship. Derek didn’t seem in a rush to go anywhere and Stiles told him that he could stick around if he wanted. He soon built his own little hut a couple hundred feet away on the opposite side of the greenhouse. It was nice having someone to talk to who could answer back and while the wolf certainly had an appetite the amount of game in Stiles' stores increased significantly and he more than came out ahead.

Grouse and wild turkey, rabbit and boar. He told Derek that he wouldn’t begrudge him hunting deer too as long as he did it, and the initial butchering, well away. Stiles taught Derek about dock seed, mallow, the roots and greens of daisies, lambsquarters, and tree sap for sweetening and the wolf brought back crabapples, elderberries, and teaberries that he’d found during his ranging, fashioning a bag to wear in wolf form.

As winter turned to spring they shared more and more of their stories in bits and pieces, Stiles speaking of his parents and his old life in Beacon and Derek telling of his lost pack. Apparently, he had a sister somewhere, but both had assumed the other was dead after they were attacked years ago by Hunters. He eventually learned that she survived and left the area, but could no longer feel her. His uncle came out of a long lasting unresponsive state, but was mad and killed his other sister, leading to Derek having to put him down and becoming an alpha.

This only happened a handful of months ago and he’d spent his time as a wolf ever since until Stiles found him. He’d been hiding from regular hunters when he stumbled into the trap, which had been set by the other kind and soaked in a wolfsbane solution that prevented his usual healing abilities. Derek shifted back to human form just long enough to remove it and then ran far away despite the pain until he passed out from exhaustion and the effects of the poison.

He borrowed from Stiles' haphazard stack of books one at a time — he’d limited himself to 3 dozen when he left Beacon, a mix of fiction and survival/wilderness guides — and built him an actual book shelf. Stiles played minor pranks on him from time to time and played the mandola for him regularly after dinner. One evening when it rained and he’d done his music inside he could’ve sworn that Derek was going to kiss him when he walked the departing werewolf to the door. There was a charged pause, eyes roaming over faces to lips and then back to meet again, but the moment passed with only an awkward smile and a quiet farewell.

Stiles hadn’t much considered the prospect of romance and/or sex with the shifter until then both being completely out of the habit of such things and worried about the possible fallout. He had been texting with Heather about their upcoming first date — his first date, period — flirting and making plans for weekend when he got the news that his father had been killed. Needless to say, it was cancelled along with every other plan he had as he first withdrew into himself and then from society altogether. That had been the entirety of his romantic endeavors and while he masturbated like a typical young man he tried not to dwell on things he didn't, couldn't have.

Then Derek showed up and it also became a matter of not wanting to risk scaring off his only human (-ish) friend or, in the beginning, concerns about taking advantage when the werewolf was still a bit afraid of him. So he just hadn't really let himself go there. But that night Stiles desperately stroked himself while imagining green eyes staring into his as large hands explored him all over. A swarthy, muscular body on top of him and the short beard — which he loaned his scissors to keep trimmed — rubbing against his skin.

He hadn’t actually gotten a proper look at Derek’s cock, but he did his best to imagine it thrusting into him as well, adding two and then three fingers (as much as he could at that angle) to bring himself to completion. After that night Stiles noticed occasional glances and there were little touches here and there, but nothing more came of it, both likely afraid to make the first move. And then one day everything changed.

It was a beautiful afternoon in May and Stiles had decided to leave Larem to rest and enjoy some hay with apples and acorns, setting off to take a nice long walk and go foraging alone instead while Derek was out hunting. He was exploring in a direction where he’d seldom gone, happily picking wild garlic in a small clearing he’d come across, when all of a sudden something made all the hairs on his arm stand up. Danger. Eyes wide he threw himself on the ground and rolled just as a burst of magic hit the spot where he’d been standing.

Fucking darachs. He’d thought he left all of this behind, but apparently even the middle of fucking nowhere wasn’t far enough. Stiles returned fire with his own power, feinting and then hitting the long-haired brunette square in the chest with a what he called a "pain loop," causing her to scream in agony and fury.

He lashed out again with a stunning spell, but she managed to dodge it and all too soon interrupted the paroxysms from his previous strike, eyes glowing milky white as she threw something in sickly shades of green and brown at him. A perversion of earth magic.

Stiles was able to twist away in time and then he was running, weaving between the trees as soon as he reached the edge of the clearing. Not for the first time he bemoaned the fact that he was too young to learn killing spells from his mother, who was loath to know such things, but understood their necessity. He tried to put some distance between them so he could face the dark druid on his own terms, perhaps ambush her on ground of his choosing if he was lucky.

Unfortunately, he was still a ways off from his usual stomping grounds and unbeknownst to him a large tree had fallen and blocked the other end of the fairly short, but narrow path he vaguely remembered from a previous time that he’d come this way. Cursing, he went back and hoped to emerge in time to try another route, but the darach met him on the way out.

He was at the ready so he got off another pain loop even as he was finally hit with whatever foul magic she was dealing out. Stiles gasped as a chill took hold of him and he felt noticeably weaker than he had just moments before. He hit her with the stunning spell as well this time, but he could tell it wasn’t nearly as strong as it should be as he staggered too slowly towards her.

Stiles was planning to kill her the old-fashioned way, with his sufficient enough all-purpose knife, but another wave of weakness went through him and he fell to his knees perhaps 5 or so yards away. Wearing a smirk on her objectively pretty, but...twisted, oblong face the darach rose to her feet, stretching languidly like she just woke refreshed from a nice nap. With horror he realized that that was more or less the case and that it was his power and life-force being siphoned to her benefit.

She didn’t speak, but stood there watching him like a cat not quite ready to pounce again on the mouse she’d been toying with, drawing out her amusement. A flash of darkness fast approaching caught his eye beyond her and he pretended to have a fit in order to keep her attention. I really hope I’m not just seeing things, he thought. Hurry.

“Why are you doing this?” he shouted. The woman rolled her now normal looking light colored eyes and huffed.

“Power, what else?” she replied in a tone that said he was very stupid indeed.

No, what was stupid was wasting time gloating and not paying attention to your surroundings or checking for reinforcements when dealing with an enemy. Stiles ranted about less than mediocre practitioners trying to make themselves feel special with stolen power, but always being the same pathetic losers at heart, punctuating his words by slapping his hands on the ground and rustling the leaves and twigs there. The darach’s face grew dark and she clenched her fists, clearly over his continued existence. Just as she was about to step forward he bared his teeth in a bloodthirsty grin.

“Go to hell,” he said, and then the massive, red eyed, black wolf was there, leaping to clamp his jaws around the back and right side of her neck. Stiles took great pleasure in the utter shock on her face, lastly only a second or two before Derek brought her to the ground and tore her throat out the moment he regained leverage. As her blood sprayed and splattered a rather impressive distance he felt the effects of her spell slow and breathed a sigh of relief.

Unsteadily, he got up and stumbled toward where Derek was still savaging what was now a tattered corpse.

“I think you got her, dude,” he snickered, feeling not a shred of remorse for the death that just occurred. Who knows how many people she’d hurt or killed before attacking him?

The wolf shook the body one final time and then dropped it, fangs gleaming red like his eyes, before shifting into a naked, blood smeared Derek. Stiles swallowed. That should not be as hot as it was. Apparently that post-battle feral lust thing in stories was real. Derek’s nostrils flared and he made a pleased growling noise, his cock twitching and starting to harden in interest. Oh my god. Stiles was torn between remaining there, frozen, and closing the last few paces between them when his legs suddenly buckled.

“Stiles,” Derek cried, rushing forward to keep him from slumping all the way over.

It took a minute to clear his head and he then realized that while the darach’s draining spell had indeed slowed considerably, it hadn’t stopped even with her death. Like she’d also tied it off somewhere and didn’t only anchor it to herself. What the fuck?!

“Draining spell, need to go home now,” he rushed out. Moments later he was lifted into strong arms and cradled against Derek’s chest as the beta-shifted wolf ran much faster than Stiles’ own feet could ever take him. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his diminished well of magic, using it to counteract the spell. It bought him time, but as he was expending more power than he could replenish in his current state doing so only amounted to dying more slowly than he was before. Maybe distance from the casting and using his herbs to restore and amplify his power could make the difference.

He was too weary to stand when they got back so Derek put him down on his bed and tried to find the right jars of plant matter using his descriptions. Stiles had lived alone for so long and had never thought to label what he clearly knew on sight. After trying to figure out which of three nearly identical containers of dried leaves was a particular ingredient a frustrated Derek simply picked him up again and had him point at the right items. The wolf prepared them according to his instructions and he swallowed the resulting tea in between words of focus and intention.

Stiles felt some vitality return, but even after seven mugs of the frankly disgusting stuff over the next hour or so he could tell that it wouldn’t be enough to give him the strength necessary to break the spell. Fuck. He was now at least able to brew the tea himself and continued drinking two to three mugs of it an hour for several hours, pissing like a racehorse in between trying to think of something, anything, else, but he was quickly running out of a couple of the rarer herbs.

There was only so much of the infusion he could consume before it stopped being effective and before both the amount of liquid and the ingredients themselves became toxic anyway. Fuck. As the smallest containers emptied the tension evident in Derek’s body increased, the clenching of his jaw more pronounced and the muscles of his back tighter still. The pants-only shifter alternated between pacing inside the small dwelling, trying to sit quietly, and going outside to check the immediate perimeter for any additional danger.

When Stiles was down to his last mug and half of tea he finally resigned himself to the inevitable. He was going to die by the hand of an evil caster just like his parents. And just like with them, it didn’t matter that the darach had been thoroughly neutralized, though that did at least bring him some satisfaction.

All that hiding and isolation and it had been for nothing in the end. Stiles laughed bitterly. It wasn’t fair. He was only 21, his birthday just the previous month though he hadn’t bothered to mention it. Stiles hadn’t even gotten the chance to see if the whatever between him and Derek eventually went anywhere. It was dark out now and he had seen his last sunrise.

Around three-quarters of an hour later, maybe 10 minutes after taking that final sip, he turned to the silent, intently watching werewolf with a wry smile.

“Promise that you’ll look after Larem for me.” Derek made a wounded noise and he felt a sweet, sad warmth for his friend. Stiles was very sorry to leave him like this, but he was glad to have met him. To have cared for him and know that he had been cared for too. “And promise that you’ll do what you need to do to both survive and not go feral. Find yourself a pack,” he added sternly.

Derek exhaled forcefully and an expression of grim determination came over his face.

“There’s a way…I might be able to save you.”

Stiles gave him the mother of all exasperated looks, throwing up his hands.

“And you didn’t think to mention this earlier because…?”

“I’d have to claim you,” Derek replied, sounding somewhat uncomfortable, but moving closer to him.

“Claim me?” Stiles asked, puzzled.

Like pledging fealty in a ritual or something? Or did the wolf mean giving him the turning Bite? Perhaps he wasn’t aware that it didn’t work on magic users, either doing nothing or killing them.

“Mate you.”

Ohhh.

Oh.

Oh my god.

“Wha—Seriously?!” he blurted out, incredulously. Seriously?!, he echoed internally.

Derek looked like he’d swallowed something sour and was probably about to explain that he was certainly not just trying to have his way with a dying man and how very dare, but Stiles lifted an arm — already feeling heavier again, fuck, this spell was a bitch — and put two fingers to the shifter’s lips before letting it fall again.

“I believe you, Derek. That’s exactly the kind of thing required for binding magic, which I gather this shifter mating stuff is. Blood or bone or, um, essence, and all that kind of thing or some combination thereof. I swear the Universe is a huge perv. It’s just…wow, not at all what I was expecting to hear right now." The werewolf looked at him with fondness and concern. Stiles took a deep breath. “Yeah, you can…you can do that.”

It wasn’t only the increasing weakness that had him trembling when he made his way from the table over to the bed, Derek hovering behind him. He turned and dropped to sit on the mattress, looking up at the older man.

“Kiss me?” he pleaded, wanting to make sure he got to know what it was like and to do some part of this in order.

Derek smiled and caressed his cheek with a knuckle before sliding it under his chin to tip his head up, bending down to press their lips together. Stiles made a soft sound and opened his mouth to allow Derek’s tongue inside after it swept across his lower lip. A minute or so of exploration and deepening kisses later he felt out of breath and drew back, panting but grinning shakily.

He lifted his arms as well as he could and the shifter quickly helped him undress, pulling off his shirt and then gently pushing him back and drawing his pants and underwear down and then off along with his socks. And then there he was — flushed, hard, and lying bare — as hungry red eyes raked over his body.

“Beautiful,” the wolf murmured before removing his own pants and freeing the erection that had been straining against it. Stiles’ eyes widened at seeing Derek fully hard. That was going to go inside him? He might’ve whimpered or maybe his scent was tinged with nervousness or fear because Derek paused to run those large hands along his sides (it felt even better than he’d imagined) and told him that it would be okay before guiding him over onto his belly.

With no hesitation the wolf parted his cheeks and started licking over his hole, circling or pushing at the muscle every few passes. No one had ever touched him sexually much less there — hell, he hadn’t been touched at all in years by another person until the recent brief brushes from Derek — and Stiles was overwhelmed by both the physical sensation and his emotional reaction. The shifter reached up to rub his back and then took hold of ass with both hands once more, soon working his tongue inside. Stiles moaned in pleasure, but then another sudden chill reminded him of the situation.

“Uh, as amazing as this is, you kinda gotta hurry it up, dude,” he got out between breaths. The wolf gave him another long lick before lifting his head and growling in frustration.

“I wanted to take my time with you if this ever happened. You deserve so much better than…” Derek trailed off and Stiles could feel that he was shaking his head.

“I appreciate that big guy and I promise that if this works you can, um, do that as long as you want another time.” Derek snorted.

“I’ll hold you to that. Do you have any—“

“In that cabinet. The tall, thin bottle,” Stiles cut in, jerking his head in its direction. He’d placed a simple preservation spell on it to keep the things inside lasting several times longer than they normally would. The wolf returned with the container of a clear gel, a curious look on his face. “Aloe vera,” he explained. “I brought some plants with me from…before. It grows in the greenhouse. Good for minor burns and injuries and, er, quite viscous and slippery.”

Heeding the need for urgency, Derek immediately gathered some on his fingers and applied it to his entrance and Stiles tensed at its coolness. He made himself relax again, allowing a thick finger to slip inside.

“More,” he gasped, rubbing himself against the bed. “I’ve…used fingers before.”

“I know,” Derek rumbled, pushing a second digit inside. “I’ve heard you.”

Stiles could feel himself turn bright red, which was really rather silly in his current position, but he couldn’t help being somewhat mortified. How many times over the past several weeks, since the kiss that wasn’t, had he brought himself off whispering the wolf’s name?

Derek chuckled and leaned down to kiss his left shoulder blade before going to nibble at his earlobe.

“I almost came to you a few times, my wolf going wild at how you clearly wanted us,” he whispered into Stiles’ ear, making him shiver. “But I figured you had your reasons and fantasy doesn’t always equal what one would actually do.”

“Didn’t want to scare you off…pressure you,” he said, panting.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” Derek replied huskily. “And as for pressure…”

The shifter got a bit more of the lubricant and added a third finger, stretching him wider than his own slender ones ever had. Reaching deeper than he could from those awkward angles.

“Derek!” Stiles cried out when he massaged that special spot within him.

“One more,” the wolf crooned, pumping faster and spreading his fingers. “Go ahead and come. I want you nice and relaxed for my knot.” Stiles clenched involuntarily at the thought. Right, werewolf. An alpha werewolf. He felt Derek’s pinky enter him and it burned some. “You’re doing so well.”

Propped up a bit on his elbows Stiles rocked his hips, fucking himself back onto Derek’s hand and then forward to rub his dick on the mattress beneath him, moaning. On some of the forward thrusts he ground down in a circular motion for maximum friction. He was so close. Stiles heard the shifter spit and then a hand was sneaking under him to grasp his shaft. He whined, moving faster between the two palms and then he was coming, spasming around the appendages continuing to piston into him.

Mere moments into the afterglow yet another wave of cold and weakness wracked through him and he cried out again, this time in fear, as his upper chest, shoulders, and face hit the mattress. Stiles managed to turn his head to the side.

“Please hurry!”

“Okay, okay,” the wolf soothed, withdrawing fingers from his still clenching hole and shoving a pillow beneath him before shaking more globs of gel out to coat himself. The slick sounds made him flush in anticipation. He felt Derek get into position and the press of his cock against his rim. “Deep breath.”

Stiles did as instructed, bearing down and gasping as the groaning wolf pushed into him steadily until he was all the way in, filling him.

“Fuck, you’re tight,” Derek hissed, pausing only a few seconds before grabbing him by the waist and beginning to thrust.

“First..time,” he said breathlessly, eyelids fluttering. It felt so good even lying there like a lump on a log, a doll for the werewolf to fuck. Derek growled again, a pleased sound, and Stiles grinned. “Oh, you like hearing that, big guy?”

“Yes,” the shifter answered before mouthing at the back of his neck and then down to his shoulder, fucking him harder. Faster. Stiles really hoped he survived so that he could actually participate next time, but if he was still going to die, well, what a way to go!

“Going to knot you, bite you,” Derek warned a few minutes later.

His cock made a valiant effort, but it was still too soon to harden again. Then the second part of that statement sunk in it and he tensed with worry.

“Not that kind of Bite,” Derek added hastily. “Mating bite. It won’t hurt you.” Stiles sighed in relief. “Well, you know, it’ll probably hurt ‘cause teeth, but—“

“I know what you meant,” he replied with a soft chuckle before gasping again. Stiles could feel the shifter’s cock swelling, spreading him even wider than his palm had. Derek groaned, thrusting in sharp jerks, and draped over him. The pressure was continuing to grow and he whimpered, sensitive, as pleasure teetered on the edge of pain. Then the knot locked inside him and Derek began to howl. Stiles intentionally squeezed around him.

Sharp fangs clamped down between his neck and shoulder and he wailed, overwhelmed as new senses and amplified or mirrored sensations crashed into him. He was stuffed full and enveloped by a tight, hot passage milking him all at once. Power coursed through him, a renewed vigor flooding his veins and refilling his nearly empty well.

When it got to the point of overflowing he looked within and severed the muddy, leeching connection. Stiles made sure to locate and tear out all of its remnants as well, his now red-tinged silver magic immediately rushing in to heal the resultant damage. When he returned to the outside world he was hard again, Derek grinding his still pulsing knot against his prostate, continuing to come with teeth embedded in his flesh.

“It’s done,” he whispered just before a second mind-blowing, mind-melding, orgasm swept through him and he proceeded to pass the fuck out.

When Stiles came to he being was cradled in Derek’s arms and sitting sideways across his lap, the shifter upright on his bed with his back against the wall. As the last images of some truly strange and spectacular dreams slipped away, he yawned and stretched languidly. He was not only alive, but felt good. Stiles wiggled to look into the green eyes of the very awake werewolf.

“Thank you,” he said earnestly, choking up. Derek nodded and swallowed thickly himself, taking one of Stiles’ hands in both of his and kissing it.

He noted that he was wearing his light robe and had obviously been cleaned up as he wasn’t sticky or anything after their activities. Stiles blushed at the memory and received a light squeeze on the ass, causing him to make a squeaky sound and redden more.

“So I guess I belong to you now, huh?” he said a few minutes later, curious and a bit uncertain, but not displeased with the situation. The part of him that was stubborn and contrary and so very independent grumbled a bit, but the rest of him was okay with the idea. He didn’t think the wolf would abuse whatever power he now held over him.

“No,” Derek replied, eyes crinkling at the corners. ”We belong to each other.”

“Oh, like family?”

“Yes, family. Mates. Pack.”

Stiles more than liked the sound of that just as he more than liked the werewolf. He was content to remain resting where he was for a while longer despite his not only returned, but increased strength — he’d have to give his new capabilities a whirl later — but felt a bit self-conscious as Derek continued to watch him intently with a serious, vulnerable expression. Gratitude. Reverence. Wonder, the new connection in his mind supplied. How cool was that?

“What?” he finally asked, kissing the wolf’s nose as a strong hand caressed his back. “You look like you’re the one who almost died.”

He said it teasingly, but Derek froze momentarily and then remained suspiciously silent. Stiles’ stomach dropped as his mind sharpened, rising from its nice, floaty haze.

“Derek?” The shifter eventually met his searching eyes. “What would’ve happened to you if I’d died?”

“That close to the formation of the bond? I would’ve followed you,” he answered quietly

Several emotions rushed through him, one after the other, before combining to make him a teary mess. Shock and gratitude for his choice. Anger and sorrow and guilt at the thought of Derek dying with him. For him. Elation that he mattered that much. Stiles swatted the wolf’s shoulder and then pulled him in for a kiss. He was bursting with the desire to express the depth of his feelings, but what came out was something else.

“As soon as I get up I’m sucking your dick, you idiot!” he exclaimed, scowling.

“Uh…is that supposed to be a threat or…?”

Stiles tried to smack him again, but Derek grabbed his hand, laughing.

“I just hate the idea of you risking your life like that. Knowing you could’ve died for me.”

Derek shrugged.

“You saved me. And more than that, you gave me a reason to live. An existence that's about more than mere survival. Kept me from starting to go feral and having to make a choice about that with only three shitty options.” The older man blushed and looked away. “You mean a lot to me. Make me happy, which I no longer thought possible.”

Stiles felt stunned. He also recalled a conversation from a while back about the basics of being a werewolf.

“Am I your anchor?" he asked tentatively. Derek gave him an unimpressed look.

“Obviously.”

"You know, I liked it better when you were all 'Magus this' and 'Master that,'” he glared, crossing his arms.

"No you don't," the shifter replied matter-of-factly.

Stiles groaned in annoyance and Derek smirked. He flopped out of the werewolf’s lap and onto his stomach on the bed, resting his head on his stacked forearms and hiding his face. Moments later he felt a hand petting him on the back of the head before lightly squeezing his neck. Arousal flashed through him and he wiggled a bit, making an embarrassing little noise.

The hand then ran up and down his back and the wolf rumbled possessively, which made Stiles giggle a bit. It wasn't like there was anyone around to witness much less warrant such displays. Their only other companion was a deer and an apparently very straight one at that based on his antics during the last few rutting seasons.

Fingers went back to his neck again, stroking over his bite mark, and Stiles moaned even louder this time.

"Is that an invitation, mate?” Derek asked with a growl in his voice.

“Yes, mate,” he replied, feeling a thrill at saying the word for the first time. He repeated his intention of sucking Derek off, but the stubborn werewolf said he’d made a prior promise. Before long Stiles was a writhing, begging mess and the werewolf was only satisfied once he came untouched from being eaten out alone.

He finally got his mouth on Derek’s cock once he recovered, having him sit up against the wall again, and did his best to get back at him. Stiles experimented with varying maneuvers of his tongue, lips, and hands and after learning some of what the responsive wolf liked most he gleefully teased him until the alpha’s hand shot out to hold his head in place, claws scraping lightly against his scalp. Stiles moaned at the action, his own cock leaking against his belly. Pausing to scent the air and receiving a jerky, eager nod, Derek began to thrust upward into his willing mouth until hot cum was coating his tongue and sliding down his throat.

Interesting, he thought, licking his lips afterward. It was no honey or tree sap, but definitely better than the godforsaken tea he’d been chugging yesterday. He fully intended to acquire a taste for it.

The mated pair spent their days much as they did before, but with the addition of regularly sparring and practicing finding or sneaking up on each other under a wide range of conditions. Not wanting to be at a disadvantage again, Stiles also worked on creating his own offensive spells and was able to make some actually effective defensive charms with his new abilities.

And then there was the sex, of course. The quick and dirty fucking and marathon lovemaking sessions and everything in between. Yeah, okay, so there were some major changes, but the plants in the greenhouse still needed tending and the seeds and nuts still needed grinding for flour and the clothes still needed washing, you know?

They built a larger home for the both of them, referred to as the Den, while maintaining their individual huts for those times when they needed space or simply wanted to work on something without disturbing the other. They also built a cob oven outside so they could bake crackers and dense, crumbly breads and granola from the dock seed, acorns, etc, instead of mostly using them to bulk up soups and stews, as breading, or to make a kind of gruel.

Larem finally got used to Derek even in his wolf form, the two of them actually cuddling together on occasion.

“I’m a disgrace to wolves,” the shifter muttered after the first time it happened.

“A very adorable disgrace,” Stiles said, attempting to console him before bursting into giggles.

“Just don’t befriend any boars or game birds,” Derek growled, glaring and wagging a finger.

Summer slid into autumn and when Stiles came across a huge beehive nestled inside a tree trunk he was over the moon. Sap was just fine, but the converted nectar was on a whole other level and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with most of his bounty. After returning with the necessary supplies he smoked the bees out and used his power to keep any stragglers from reaching him, taking care to make sure the hive remained habitable and the queen unharmed. Stiles collected nearly 25 pounds of honey, leaving more than enough for the bees to get through the winter.

Over the years he’d tried fermenting various things, sometimes doing so unintentionally as well, with a wide range of results. He kept about a third of the honey for sweetening and the rest he used to make a handful of different one gallon batches of mead. The glass containers were left to gather wild yeast, stoppered with airlocks, and then placed in a warm, dark place to do their thing with periodic tending.

Derek told him that he had no idea what day it was or even what month it was for sure, but that fall always reminded him of his family who’d made a big deal of the harvest celebrations between the equinox and the following full moon. Stiles had stopped paying attention to dates too for the most part, but was in the habit of marking a daily tally and so had the means of figuring it out if he so cared to. He later informed his wolf that it was September 27th.

Derek mentioned some other meaningful days from his past, including his birthday, which was on Christmas Day. Curious, his mate then asked when his birthday was and Stiles told him that it was April 8th, a couple months after they first met and a month or so before they got together. Derek frowned and said that he wish he’d known.

“Well my half birthday is coming up soon,” he replied, grinning.

Derek rolled his eyes, but prepared Stiles’ favorite meal for the event — roasted garlic and rosemary wild boar with honeyed parsnips — and worshipped his body all night, knotting him twice.

By the time Derek Day came around (Christmas was hard for both of them, especially Stiles, but Derek’s birthday they could do) most of the mead had been racked and was either aging or in secondary fermentation based on the alcohol content he was going for or the resiliency of the yeast. The rest they had already drank young.

All of it served its basic purpose of getting him tipsy (or more) and was drinkable at the least, but the blackberry melomel and the meadowsweet and dandelion petal metheglin were truly delicious. He gave a couple bottles of each to Derek as the first part of his 26th birthday gift. The wolf might not be able to get drunk, which Stiles vowed to remedy that one day, but he could enjoy the complex beverages all the same, sweet and semi-sweet respectively.

The second part of his gift was a rich cake-like dessert made with acorn flour, water, honey, boar grease, the last of the duck eggs from his new and improved preservation cooler, vanilla leaf, lavender, and salt, and baked in the cob oven. The third part was simply his mouth and ass, Stiles wearing a bow and everything. (Two bows actually, one around his neck and the other around his waist, made from berry-dyed woven foliage and scraps of fabric.)

On New Years Day he hitched the sled up to Larem once more to go exploring, but this time a massive black wolf trotted along side or ranged ahead to circle back around protectively. Another 5 weeks would mark a year since that fateful afternoon when his tiny world of two began to become a fuller, happier three. Brought him a companion who became a true friend and then even more. A mate.

They stopped to eat lunch near an unfamiliar river — he marked its location on his map and made a note to return and try fishing when it was warmer — and Derek shifted back, pulling on the thick, winter clothing Stiles had packed for him. He unfolded a small metal tripod with a hook and set his small cookpot on it, filling it with the leftovers of last night’s 3 meat and mushroom stew before placing kindling and dry chunks of wood underneath it to start a fire.

They sat on the sled and when their meal was bubbling nicely Stiles took some hay from a side bag, tossing it and a handful of acorns to the buck, and then ladled the stew into bowls. Two cups for him and three for the always hungrier wolf. They now had 10 fine spoons thanks to Derek’s superior wood-carving skills: the ladle, 3 other cooking/serving spoons, and 3 pairs for eating in different sizes. Afterwards he brought out an apple for each of them as well.

Derek watched as Larem happily munched on his and then turned to Stiles with a raised eyebrow.

“You know, you never did tell me exactly how you ended up with him.”

“Huh, I guess not,” Stiles muttered, thinking back as the shifter took a bite of fruit. “I found him a few months after I came out here, around the end of fall four years ago. He would’ve been around 2 1/2 then and one of his back legs had gotten broken somehow. I don’t know whether he was still with his mother’s herd or with a young bachelor’s group until then and got left behind or if he’d been already going solo, but at any rate, he was alone and leaning against a tree. Larem was able to move around, but it was doubtful that he could cover enough ground to feed himself properly, especially with winter coming, and he definitely couldn’t flee from any predators.”

Derek grunted in acknowledgment, tearing a huge chunk out of his apple.

“I considered eating him of course, but he was just so defenseless and looked at me with his big, curious eyes — he’d probably never seen a human before — and I just couldn’t do it. Besides I was lonely and rather bored and figured he might be a good project whether just in the short term or something ongoing.

“I had a ton of apples from some trees I harvested a few weeks before and had brought several with me, so I threw him a couple before approaching. He seemed fairly trusting or at least hungry enough to override his fear and while he focused on a third one in my hand I got close and used my magic to make him unconscious so I could work on his leg. I set the bone as best I could and was able to speed the healing along just enough for it to hold if he bore weight on it. When he woke up he seemed pretty confused, but snapped out of it once I gave him the apple.”

Stiles looked over to see Larem eyeing the red and green fruit he was currently holding and chuckled. He took out his knife and cut half of it into slices, tossing one to the buck.

“I got him to follow me home like this, giving him pieces of another three apples and eating one myself. Thankfully it wasn’t too far away. I had some hay and other dried plant stuff meant for mulch and more apples of course, so he hung around.

“I brought rope with me when I moved out here as well; it took two long, slow and heavy trips before I had everything I wanted and where we live is a good ways further than my original shelter at the time. I can make bark cordage now, but frankly the synthetic stuff is stronger so it’s good that I had it. Anyway, I fashioned a harness and lead from some of it and decided I would keep him unless he truly seemed unhappy. I thought I might be able to train him to carry bags or drag stuff for me and, well, the rest” — he finished with a dramatic flourish — “is history!”

Derek appeared suitably impressed with him and he smiled, throwing the rest of the slices to Larem.

“I’m pretty sure he kept me from going crazy too,” he added, biting into the remaining half apple. Derek gave him a look that said he wasn’t too sure about that and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“And then you found me,” his mate said, eyes still sparkling with amusement.

“Mmhmm,” Stiles hummed, nodding before swallowing his mouthful. “Three second chance strays: human, werewolf, and hart. Well, Larem was too young be a proper hart then, but he’s one now.” He gestured to the 6.5 year old buck. “It’s a much cooler term for you, right?”

Larem looked at him blankly and then snorted, turning and lying down on the patch of snow free ground under a tree now that food time was over. Derek laughed, leaning over to kiss him, and they fell back onto the sled. It was too cold to want to get naked out here, but he let his his knees fall open so that the alpha could lie between them and he could wrap his legs around him. They made out for a while, kissing and rubbing against each other through their layers.

Stiles didn’t know what the future held; whether they would just stay out here until death did them part or if they would venture back to civilization at some point either to stay or just occasionally to procure the stuff they really couldn’t get in the wild. Things made from metal and books and certain spices and medicines. Other company perhaps, strange as it now seemed.

Soft fabrics, at least for undergarments, when their clothes eventually wore down completely and couldn’t be patched or sewn together into more shirts or pants or briefs with other usable scraps. He could make thread from nettles and other plant fibers, but it was very labor intensive to do garments from scratch, not to mention, well, scratchy. All leather all the time would be a bit much as well, especially in the warmer months, but Derek could certainly rock the look and took to making it from his larger kills.

What Stiles did know is that they’d all saved each other and that he’d follow his mate anywhere. Based on the glint in the werewolf’s now red-ringed eyes and the love and arousal coursing down his bond that meant straight back to the Den to roll around naked. They hastily repacked their things and hitched the sled up to the annoyed deer, promising him additional, rarer goodies upon their return for interrupting his nap.

“Let’s go home!” he cried, getting into position and signaling for Larem to move. A loud, sustained howl was let loose just ahead and Stiles grinned into the cold air rushing by with a heart full of warmth.

Larem. About to lose his antlers, sick of your shit.

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