#she feels much better when she finds Ingo and he finally understands what happened

[waywardstation]

PHIONE AKARI!

A lot of people have commented on the phione that Akari is holding in this post, so I thought I’d share some of these sketches that I’d been holding onto! (It is why I drew her holding one in the first place haha)

Ever since I came up with this fic concept for this, I’ve had this thought on my mind. I’m suprised there’s not a PLA fic about manaphy yet, where it swaps bodies between people and Pokémon. There’s a lot of potential there!

The concept initially had Akari turn into a buizel, but I thought a phione would fit better; its head ribbon reminds me of the back of Akari’s hairstyle!

Just like in the linked fic concept, Akari would have to make her way back from the coastlands to Jubilife somehow, and try to get Ingo to understand that she is now a phione, and needs his help getting her body back.

I’d like to write this as a fic at some point, it’s been in my head for a while!

[ghostypetrainer]

giratina’s deal AU, but after Emmet is revived, he’s sent back to Unova since he was never meant to fall into the rift in the first place. He wakes up on the Multi-Line train with no sign of Ingo anywhere... and yet, he can’t shake the feeling that Ingo is somewhere nearby. He stumbles out of the train and tells the Depot Agents what he thinks happened- that he blacked out and suddenly, Ingo was missing.

(meanwhile, Ingo wakes up in Hisui, and finds himself transformed into an Alpha Zoroark, and Emmet nowhere in sight. He believes that Giratina fulfilled his end of the bargain and perhaps sent his brother home. That is very sad, but it is better that Emmet is somewhere safe. He will just... have to try and adapt, he supposes.)

Meanwhile in Unova, Emmet keeps noticing irregularities about himself. He keeps reaching for things unconsciously with his non-dominant hand, and then there’s Chandelure’s strange reaction to him... he knows something isn’t right. Something more than just Ingo being missing. But it’s not until he sees Elesa staring at him with a really intense look that he finally connects the last dot. He asks what she’s looking at and...

“It’s just... I thought Ingo was the one with the scar on the back of his neck?”

Emmet pauses. Feels the back of his neck. Sure enough, there’s the scar Ingo got when he fell out of a tree when they were kids. That... shouldn’t be there. That verrry much shouldn’t be there.

oh, he slowly realizes, though he does not understand yet how or why- no wonder Ingo’s always felt so close despite being missing. He’s in Ingo’s body.

(meanwhile, a 15 year old girl falls to Hisui and is taken in by the Pearl Clan. she’s quickly selected to become the Warden of their newest noble- Lord Zoroark.)

[sningo-prompts]

Same anon as earlier! with how crowded the area seems to be, it sounds like it's more likely that emmet might be able to catch up to whoever this person is. I've tried running through large crowds before and even if you were pushing everyone out of the way, I'm sure it would still slow you down a bit.

I think Emmet would be able to catch up as well!! He works there and i feel people would step aside for the subway boss. Plus i think hes used to the crowds and navigating them. Plus he knows the station better than anyone else so theres no where they could hide. So with this in mind lets have Emmet catch up!!

Emmet gives chase almost right away. Maybe some station staff join in to help him. They dont have to know what happened but they do know to trust their boss and if he says stop that person then stop they person they shall. So some of the staff catch our kidnapper. They are restraining the person when Emmet walks up full on boss mode. Hes just radiating murder vibes. The kidnapper is struggling like crazy but Emmet just decks them right in the face, out if the staffs hold. When they fall to the ground the master ball slips from their grasp and rolls right to Emmet.

He gently picks it up and sends Ingo out. Ingo is just looks around quite confused. Then it dawns on him when he sees the master ball in Emmets hand. Slowly Emmet kneels down and Pulls Ingo into a tight hug. They both think it might be over for Ingo to get his body back to normal. Ingo is just numb as Emmet hugs him. His mind is racing a mile a minute about what this could mean. Slowly tears start to pool in his eyes till they fall over. Once they start he clings to Emmets shirt letting it all out. He believes hes stuck like this. Never to walk side by side his brother. Never to speak to his brother. Never to do anything like he could again. Its pretty heavy for him. Emmet is just there holding his trembling brother. He knows why Ingo feared this. He too was worried about it thats why he didnt push for Ingo to be captured by him. The moment Ingo starts sobbing Emmet softly follows suit. Maybe not as intense as Ingo but hes weeping at the loss of his brothers full return. Sure he has Ingo back but he feels bad that Ingo will never be whole again.

The staff know at this point that Ingo is that sneasel. They too are sad for their bosses. After giving the brothers a moment they try to lead them out of the public area. Emmet carries Ingo and numbly follows the staff. Someone escorted them home and i think they both just numbly sit there. Someone on the staff called Elesa telling her what happened and asks her to keep and eye on them. So when she shows up the next day to no one answer the door she lets herself in to find Emmet just sitting there like a zombie looking st the ceiling. His smile has finally fallen. Wheres Ingo then? After some searching she finds him in his room, which is a mess, completely trashed. Meanwhile Ingo is sitting in his closet curled up in his old subway coat.

She calls out to him softly but he doesnt respond. She calls a few more times till finally he slowly raises his head to meet her gaze. His eyes are empty, he looks so broken. She kneels down and pulls him into a soft hug. He doesnt return it just pulls the coat closer. She scoops him up and takes him to the living room with Emmet. She places Ingo next to Emmet on the couch and sets to making them something to eat. She knows what she has to do because shes done it before when Ingo first disappeared. All she can do is try to pick up the pieces and figure out what happened.

She probably had to call the station to figure out whats upset them. She knows what the boys thought about Ingo being captured so she understands why they’re upset but its not over yet. Shes just gotta get the to see that. Motivating Emmet is much easier than Ingo thats for sure. Ingo is having his identity crisis all over again. But the boys are gonna be ok they just dont know it.

After a while Emmet suggested that he recapture Ingo to make sure no one uses a pokeball to steal him and Ingo is probably still a little numb so he agrees. Now Emmet keeps a close eye on Ingos pokeball though he never recalls Ingo unless its an emergency. Idk what kinda ball they use tbh maybe Elesa convinced them to use something fancy though nothing too over the top. This doesnt stop Ingo from returning human btw. It has literally no effect i wanna say but it was just a big worry for them.

Sorry this took so long i have a youtube open and it was very distracting. Plus my cat is fighting me because i was ignoring her to type this.

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Resist': New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out!

"Resist"

"I need to resist...I need to resist..."

Chapter Summary: Yirina is trying to struggle at her best against what's Bellamy & Sarah are doing to her in that cell, the need for resistance has never been higher for her since Verdansk...

Link of the Picrew here!

To read it on AO3, click here!

Words : +3100

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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Only you...this is the only song that I could hear right now as I was trying to struggle with the links they put around my legs & wrists but they were strong, the same as what happened in Verdansk. My left eye was hurting me at my highest point, feeling the injection they did to it and that was the biggest pain that I could feel, this was the only thing right now along with the ropes tying me up on that chair in the dark, in the middle of the room, that song in my ears and impossible to cry for help...that grey tape over my mouth...

That song was keeping me awake, avoiding me to close my eyes and try to no think about that situation and it was surely something that Sarah, Beck, Bellamy & Lukas wanted to do with me: making me suffer more & more until I broke down at their demands and for that, they got no better way...but to reenact what the CIA did to me...what Stitch did to me in Verdansk and they were doing it...either to finish what Stitch couldn't do...or just as a mean of torture...for their fun until I crack...but I need to stop it...

But nothing was going to help me here, no one was coming and Zasha...I don't know what's happening to them at the moment but...I'm fearing the worst and each time I was thinking of it, it was stressful, adding this to the pain I'm having. The only thing that could give me a hint of the time passing was...when the light was going on and the same people were coming inside the cell, repeating the same procedure with me: holding my head still...before Sarah came with her needle to inject it inside my left eye, adding more pain than before to that eye before going away and leaving me alone with that song in my ears...

The more time was passing, the more my body was willing to give up, my hands almost not responding when I was trying to move them, the ropes blocking them to do that and forcing them to stay with their palms on the armrests. Then, as I was giving my best to not give up control and stay up even if I wanted to sleep, the light goes on again, making me scared on the inside...it was going to be...the fifth injection that was going to make at me...five hours...and I will add one soon...as the door got open...

"Fuck..." I was surprised to see with what my left eye could see with the other one, Lukas himself accompanied by Beck and I was able to hear them despite the song in my ears, going lower than before. "What are they doing with her?" He demanded, entering inside the cell with his friend wearing a big black leather jacket.

"Scheisse...Nicht was Gutes, Lukas [Shit...not something good, Lukas,]" Beck replied in german, his eyes looking over me and sounding a bit worried. "Was genau machen Bellamy & Sarah mit ihr? [What exactly are Bellamy & Sarah doing with her?]" He added.

"Glaubst du, sie leidet darunter? [Do you think she's suffering from it?]" Lukas asked, joining into speaking german to Beck as I was trying to keep my eyes open at them.

"What do you think? Of course," Beck told him, his hands moving around my head to remove the earsets of my right wrist. "Just look at her, Lukas, she's hurt," He admitted before I could start to feel the rope around my left wrist going off, my eyes going wide as Beck was untying me.

"Ingo, what are you doing?" Lukas questioned him in a surprised and not-so-happy voice. "You're doing this after what she did to us? To Stone?"

"Lukas!" Beck said in a harsh tone, stopping as he turn his head to look at Lukas. "Maybe she did this but...she isn't deserving it at all," He confessed, a look on his face meaning it. "Imagine that it was you on that chair, would you like it?" He asked him, me trying to understand what's going between the two. "I'm maybe hating her for what she did but I've got a heart,"

"Ingo, she...she killed Stone," Lukas insisted, his right hand pointing at me

"I know but I can't let her suffer that, not after what I learned," Beck implied as for me, I was trying to keep a normal breath, feeling my heart beating a bit faster than usual. "Forgiveness, Lukas, forgiveness," He muttered, Lukas, looking down at his feet before he sniffs and then, moving at me to get the rope of my right wrist away. "Thank you, Lukas,"

"I'm not doing this for her but for you, Ingo," Lukas admitted in a raised voice, moving to untie my legs along with Beck before the latter finally decided to get the grey tape off my lips, my mouth finally feeling free...

"Thanks...thanks..." I chuckled, my voice sounding very low and very thirsty and even if my hands were free, there was like no strength in them to move...including my legs...

"Come on, help me to get her off that chair," Beck ordered, wrapping his arms around my left armpit before Lukas joined him, wrapping his own arms around me, the two getting me up from the chair and moving me behind. "There, should be better than this chair," Beck suggested as I could feel my back against the wall before the two put me down on the ground, finding myself back at the same spot before I was put on that chair.

"Ingo, we shouldn't do this," Lukas said after the two let go of me, my head looking down with my hands over my chest, just seeing from my view their feet. "If Bellamy & Sarah are seeing us..."

"No, I don't give a fuck about what they're saying," Beck cut him in straight in his words. "We're not monsters and if they saw us, I'll take the responsibility," He declared in a clear voice before I could see him kneel in front of me. "They didn't even tell her that she was here, preferring to make her suffer for their own good," He added, seemingly talking to someone but my mind was too much confused to know who it was.

"I thought that they told her," Lukas sounded confused at what Beck as a hand came into my vision, getting under my chin to get my head up, my eyes drifting to see Beck in front of me.

"See what they did? She's looking bad," Beck commented, checking me before he turns his head around back at Lukas. "Give me some water, she's thirsty," He demanded, Lukas immediately complying and getting outside the cell quickly, leaving me with Beck.

"Thank...thank you..." I whispered, keeping a lower voice.

"No need, just doing what's better," He told me in a normal voice, his hand staying below my chin to keep my head up. "I should hate you like Lukas but no,"

"Why...why not...hate me?" I demanded, trying to find my words and also to form a sentence without taking a breath.

"Forgiveness," He replied in a low voice before I could briefly see Lukas coming back inside the cell with a bottle in his hands.

"Here," Lukas handed over the bottle to Beck, staying up as Beck take it in his left hand.

"Here, drink some," He moved the bottle towards me, my lips slowly opening as Beck made me drink the water from the bottle at a slow pace, Lukas looking at me with crossed arms. "Should be good," Beck said, removing the bottleneck from my lips.

"Thanks..." I muttered, trying to form a smile with my lips at them but then, I could see Beck's eyes focused on my left eye.

"Oh, Scheisse," He cursed, his right hand moving near my eyes for a better look. "It's not looking great...almost infected," He commented before he look down at his black leather jacket. "Scheisse, it needs to be properly healed," He then removed his hands off me to get his jacket off him.

"What's...happening?" I asked him as he was taking things from his jacket.

"Your eye isn't looking great to see," He responded, gathering the few sorts of bandages that he was having around his vest.

"And I thought that you were wearing a dickey," Lukas scoffed like that, looking at Beck on the ground.

"Lukas, no time to laugh, help me or get out!" Beck ordered in a harsh tone in his voice before Lukas let out a sigh from his mouth, proceeding to kneel down along with Beck next to me. "Good, hold her head, I will apply some bandages and maybe they will stop injecting her with that thing," He suggested, Lukas, complying with his order to get my head still while Beck was wrapping a part of my

head with his bandages, covering a part of my face and dividing my vision...

"What the fuck are you two doing?" I then heard a loud voice inside the cell that frightened me as Beck & Lukas suddenly stop in their moves to look in the direction of the door, seeing Bellamy with Sarah...holding a handcuffed Zasha, still in their uniform and with stitches on their face, tape covering their mouth. "Who told you that you could be here?" He demanded.

"We wanted to see how she was, that was it," Beck replied in a normal voice, standing up aside to let me see Bellamy entering with Sarah.

"That's none of your business," Sarah commented, keeping Zasha in front of her as she got inside too. "That's mine & Bellamy's business to do the necessary with her," She added.

"Maybe but..."

"There's not but, Lukas," Sarah cut Lukas straight in his words with a bad tone before she decides to throw on the ground Zasha who lands at least one meter from me at my right. "From now on, Krypto will be staying with her and her...she will stay on that chair," She told them, not even looking at how Zasha was when they landed.

"Sorry but I'm protesting to this," Beck decided to make a stand, me trying to move towards Zasha to see if they were okay...completely avoiding to listen to the others...

"Zed..." I muttered, handing over my hand to them in a slow move, their eyes looking at me with a shock.

"MMhmm...mmhmm..." They tried to say through the tape as they managed to slide towards me on the ground, allowing me to get their mouth to my reach and trying to get it off, them moving their head on the side to get it off...

"Hey, what do you think you're..." Bellamy's voice suddenly spoke up in our direction as he was going to come to us until he was stopped...by Beck who put his hand above his chest to stop him.

"Not anymore, Bellamy," Beck told him in a clear voice, keeping his hand on him. "Hurting them for fun, I'm not tolerating it here," He continued as I could see from my right eye, Bellamy's face in anger.

"Who do you think you are, Beck?" Bellamy demanded, his voice according to his face as Zasha & I were staying silent at seeing Beck like this...taking our defenses... "Should I..."

"Yeah, yeah, we know, you're the boss's son, we can't put a hand on you but not here," Beck interrupted him, his voice meaning it as the others were also silent at this. "So, you're leaving the two alone until we can transfer them away in two days after your mission,"

"Sorry, but who are you?" Sarah decides to step in, crossing her arms and looking at Beck. "You're under our orders so cut it out and leave Bellamy alone," She ordered to Beck, exchanging glares with him but Beck was insisting on it and...

"Shit," I then muttered in a low voice as my head was starting to hurt me slower but becoming more strong as the seconds were passing, feeling my left eye in those bandages stinging by a lot, struggling to close down with my right one.

"Yi-...Yirina?" Zasha whispered, sounding worried as I could move my left hand on the side of my head.

"I....resist...resist..." I talked to myself, my eyes rolling the room and seeing everyone's eyes looking at me before suddenly, under the pressure of that headache & my eyes hurting, I fell myself falling on the ground on my right side, my eyes shutting down completely as I could hear only muffled voices close to me...

I need to resist...I need to resist...

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

Zasha Smirnov & Yirina Portnova apartment

Kennington, London

At the same time

Portnova was tired and for the first time since she got herself installed in London, she was feeling so lonely without having Zasha with her and she wanted to know where they are now but she couldn't afford to work all night in a building that wasn't even secured to talk freely and she came back to the apartment to get some sleep...but she came back alone because Park insisted to stay at work and Portnova couldn't bring her into the reason that she needed rest, finding Yirina & Zasha was her priority now even if she has to forbid herself to sleep.

As she was sitting on the couch, taking a sip of her coffee, Zasha's favorite one, she's been wondering why she wasn't turning on the TV, maybe because she wasn't in the mood for it and maybe because that she needs to stay at home a little before going back at Century House to work with Park but she wasn't alone, the little Beans stayed next to her on the couch, surely wondering where was Zasha but the only thing that Portnova could do was to pet her with a little smile, saying that they will come back soon.

Then, knocks at the door went to break the silence that was inside the apartment, Portnova putting down her cup of coffee to reach the door and open it, revealing Park whose eyes were looking very tired as if she never sleep...

"Park," Portnova offered a recomforting smile at Park who couldn't even reciprocate it now.

"Portnova," Park whispered as the former let her enter the apartment. "Hi, Beans," She waved at the cat that got up on the backrest of the couch.

"You're looking tired, you should get to rest," Portnova suggested as she was locking the front door behind Park.

"I know but no," Park refused, shaking her head before she decides to head out to the kitchen without saying anything else to Portnova who was looking bad at seeing her friend like this, following her to the kitchen.

"Any news?" Portnova demanded as Park was taking out a white cup from a dresser above the sink.

"Nothing concrete," Park replied, focused on her things as she moves to the coffee machine, not giving a look at Portnova who was staying in the path between the kitchen and the living room. "The SAS are making their own search parties, the MI5 is moving on the case and me...I'm freaking out," She added, starting the coffee machine after getting the cup under it, the sound of it breaking the conversation for a few moments before it was done. "I'm freaking out," She repeated in a lower voice, taking the cup in her right hand and leaning against the counter.

"I'm sorry, Park," Portnova apologized even if she wasn't at fault, no one was at fault here.

"No, I'm the one to be sorry," Park exclaimed, taking a sip of her coffee as she was looking in front of her, blank stare. "It's my fault if it happened,"

"No, it's not, Park,"

"It's not about this," Park corrected, turning her head around at Portnova who was a bit confused. "It's not about that mission but...about what I did," She added, knowing well inside of her that she was hating herself about the subject. "It's my fault if Yirina got brainwashed, I'm the one that suggests to Adler to use MK-Ultra on her," She declared after taking a deep breath and removing her eyes from Portnova, fearing her reaction even if she knew about it.

The silence was the only thing that Portnova could do to respond to Park's remark, she was a bit troubled to hear that again, wondering why on earth that type of thing could exist but learning that her friend Yirina fell in love with the person that participated to brainwash her, it should have made her angry...but it wasn't because Park is different, she couldn't bring herself to be angry against a person that is very kind to her...no, she wasn't going to do that in her life...

"Every day, I'm still hating myself bit by bit to say that I did this to her, you understand?" Park broke up the little silence between the two, her eyes looking at the coffee inside her cup. "If only I could change things, I will do it," She affirmed, drinking in one move the remains of the coffee inside before putting the cup down behind her. "I hate myself, Portnova,"

"But I don't hate you, Park," Portnova told her, biting a part of her lips. "I can't be angry at you, I can't," She admitted, removing herself from the door frame to take a step inside the kitchen. "I've got to admit that...I never saw Yirina this happy in her life before," She commented, giving a little smile to Park that could do it but by a little.

"Really?" Park demanded and Portnova offers her a nod to this.

"You gave her something that she never got for real...someone that really cares about her," Portnova confirmed, sounding very positive.

"And Freya?" Park asked about that, a feeling of disturb crossing her body to say that name.

"She was dangerous and still is, she was very...assertive towards Yirina at some time and me & Zasha...were the one that was allowing her to feel better," Portnova affirmed, giving Park a few details about a part of Yirina's life to her. "You're giving her protection...and love, she needs that," She snorted, a smile forming on her face again. "If I didn't meet her, I wouldn't have met my Zasha,"

"You're right," Park whispered, the smile forming on her face thanks to Portnova before he went away, the thoughts of finding Yirina & Zasha coming back. "Bloody hell...and now, they're not here," She looked around the kitchen, thinking that Yirina could come in here but no. "I think I'm done here, I'm going back at Century House,"

"You need to rest, let me go to your place, Park," Portnova proposed but Park shakes her head as she walks to get out of the kitchen, already fitted to go back outside.

"No, I need to be working on it, I need to find them for us," Park confirmed as she was arriving near the front door, starting to unlock it as Portnova left the keys in the lock. "You're coming?" She proposed to Portnova, looking at her.

"Let me get my jacket in my room," She responded, raising her finger up before she turns around to move inside the apartment, letting Park alone near the door for the moment...

But instead of waiting, Park decided to get back inside the bedroom that she was using with Yirina, having thought about something that she wanted to see...something that could help...Yirina's personal diary was on her nightstand and even if she was knowing everything about Yirina's recovered memories, she wanted to see them again...and again, so she decides to take it with her, putting it inside her jacket before getting out and joining Portnova that was going out of her room, prepared to leave with her black leather jacket and her red scarf...

She needed some comfort and that diary could really help her...

[drabbledragon]

Memories Chapter 2

Here’s the second chapter to Marin (Script-the-Skeleton)’s Discord prompt! It’s been some time since the first chapter appeared but thank you all so much for waiting. If you haven’t read the first chapter to this fic, please make sure to do so using the links listed below.

Summary: Upon bringing Time to the Shrine of Resurrection, there were just a few consequences that went unforeseen.

Warnings: Some violence and depressing themes.

Chapters: 1 2

Chapter 2:

This couldn’t be Hyrule - this could not be Hyrule. 

Time had woken up in a strange chamber with no recollection of how he got there and as soon as he took one step outside, he was met with the sight of a destroyed and desolate land that stretched farther than the eye can see. His breath immediately caught in his throat and his single good eye widened in disbelief before he broke into a mad dash down the towering cliff. 

Where was the large open field? Where were the towering cliffs that harbored narrow passageways or the bunches of trees that stood out against the bright green grass? What were these large corpses of machinery that stuck out of the ground like misshapen statues and stood eerily against the dark sky? None of this even looked remotely similar to the Hyrule he grew up in and what made it all much worse was the absence of any sign of life. A sudden anger overtook him: Ganondorf must have something to do with this, he reasoned. He mentally chided himself for not getting any answers from the two boys back at the chamber; they didn’t look like the typical monsters he would encounter but the way they were wary and cautious of him gave Time enough of a reason to be suspicious. But once he saw that Navi and the Master Sword were gone, his mind was made up: he was taken prisoner by the Gerudo man in an attempt to stop him from saving Hyrule. He wasn’t sure about the series of events that led up to his current predicament but he forced his confusion to the back of his mind and willed himself to focus on the task at hand.

He needed to find Princess Zelda and make sure she was okay - that the Kingdom of Hyrule was still in one piece and that he wasn’t too late.

The stone rubble around him started to increase and spill over the muddy dirt path he had been traversing, making his messy strides a little more calculated and slower. His panic and fear began to grow as noticed the remnants of destroyed houses surrounding him, broken beds and overturned tables and chairs littering the ground everywhere he looked. It wasn’t until he saw a broken wooden sign with faint letters on it and the remains of a paddock did he finally come to a stop. 

A pit formed in the bottom of his stomach. This was … Lon Lon Ranch. He took hesitant steps past the sign and through the remains of the farm, morbidly observing his surroundings. Everything was either completely destroyed or was very close to being so: the tall buildings that once towered over him as a child were reduced to massive piles of rotting wood and the sturdy fences were decaying with age. When he paced towards the paddock, he found nothing but large puddles of water and overturned troughs; none of the ranch hands were there and neither were any of the horses and judging by the length of the overgrown grass, no one’s been there in ages. 

They’re inside, he hastily reasoned, it’s raining so they must be inside. He hurriedly stumbled towards where Talon’s house used to be and his heart immediately dropped when he found that the bright and bustling household was now a mess of broken wooden beams and stray Cucco feathers. The entirety of the upstairs portion had caved in a long time ago and shattered mirrors and broken beds were strewn haphazardly around the barn like macabre decorations. There was no sign of life anywhere: no Talon sleeping in the corner, no Malon humming as she took care of the animals, and no Ingo to complain about the workload. The once - lively farm had become cold and abandoned and Time felt completely and utterly alone. He caught sight of a broken dresser in the corner not too far away from him and from one of the rotting drawers, he could see a small yellowing paper; he slowly reached for it, numbly noticing that his hands were violently shaking, and whatever color remained in his face drained out once he read the faint writing. On that piece of paper were the faint notes of a song he knew too well - a song that Malon would cherish until the day she died: Epona’s Song.

“Malon!” Time called out in a desperate attempt to get an answer. His voice was shaky and panicked and when he didn’t get an answer, his breaths started to pick up in a fearful hysteria. “ Malon!” He tried again and whipped his head around in every direction in hope of catching a glimpse of Malon running towards him with a bright smile on her face or getting ready to chide him for scaring the animals that he had somehow missed; instead, he was only met with the sound of heavy rain. “ Talon!” He was louder this time, rivaling the sound of thunder that cracked above him. “ Ingo! Somebody, answer me, please!”

Nothing - he was met with nothing. His breath caught in his throat and he could feel hot tears start to form in the corners of his eyes. No… no, this wasn’t happening! Malon and the others were alright! They must have gone on a delivery trip or maybe they were at Castle Town or maybe they just decided to build a new ranch or something! He knows how much Malon likes to spend her free time away from the ranch so she has to be somewhere safe - and Ingo probably destroyed the ranch somehow so he’s out trying to scrounge up the money to rebuild it. No matter how far - fetched the explanation seemed to be, Time would accept it as a possibility because he absolutely refused to believe that everyone he once knew was dead.

Suddenly, as if Hylia herself decided to grant him a sliver of hope, the sky lit up with a large bolt of lightning and briefly illuminated his surroundings. Just for a second, he caught a glimpse of a large tower that stood off in the distance, its shape easily distinguishing it as a place he was well - acquainted with. Hyrule Castle, Time’s mind helpfully supplied and a surge of relief mixed with hope filled his entire being. He broke into a sprint without a second thought, hoping that when he got there, he would find Princess Zelda, Malon, and everyone else safe and sound. However, after a few steps, he was abruptly stopped by a giant mechanical leg digging itself into his path.

Time stumbled back and gazed at the machine before him. He observed as its metal body was suddenly illuminated with a pinkish color and its glowing blue eye seemed to settle on him before emitting a high - pitched beeping; when a red dot projected itself onto his chest, his instincts finally kicked in and he quickly dodged just as a bright laser promptly followed. He grunted as the force of the explosion propelled him to the side and sent his vision swimming before his sight settled on the charred grass and smoke that replaced the spot he had stood at just a few seconds ago. The hero swallowed thickly; if he was just a millisecond too late, he would surely be dead. At the sound of another stream of warning beeps, Time hastily stumbled to his feet and avoided another beam of energy that followed soon after. 

He concluded that staying in one spot was definitely not the solution to his current predicament. He tried running in different patterns, choosing to briefly disappear behind trees and overgrown underbrush to try to throw off the machine but no matter what he did, the constant thumping of claws digging into the ground consistently sounded around him. He didn't know what to do - he's never even seen this thing before and it was already hellbent on burning him alive. From what he could deduce, the machine was covered in a protective metal coating that no makeshift weapon could easily damage and to top it all off, this thing appeared to be highly intelligent, making outsmarting it nearly impossible. As for himself, he had little to no armor and nothing to defend himself with: no sword, no shield, no magic, just this mysterious slate from the - oh. 

Time hurriedly unclipped the device from his side and held it up to have a better look at it: displayed on its illuminated screen were lines upon lines of strange Hylian characters followed by pictures of what looked to be various weapons. The text, although appearing somewhat similar, was not the Hylian he knew and any attempt at trying to decipher it proved to be fruitless - a mutilated version of the language the enemy uses, he sneered - however, from the pictures alone, he could guess that this device was some kind of weapon storage. He mindlessly tapped on the screen, praying to Hylia that this thing had some kind of magnet or tracker or something to bring him whatever weapon he had pressed on; however, he was completely awestruck when a heavy sword suddenly materialized out of thin air and placed itself in his empty hand. He momentarily paused, taking a few seconds to admire the worn yet sturdy sword and how it weighed heavily in his grip, his body supplying him with an odd sense of familiarity that his mind could not understand. 

With renewed vigor, Time sharply turned to meet the machine as it peered down at him, the high - pitched beeping already piercing through the pounding of the rain. He gripped the sword strongly with both hands and positioned himself to attack with a half - formed plan in mind, knowing full - well that if he missed his chance, this would surely be the end of him. As the sound had finally reached its peak, the hero hastily rolled underneath one of the machine’s arms and swung the sword upwards, successfully severing one of its appendages. A triumphant smirk appeared on his lips as he watched the machine stumble above him, its arms flailing to regain purchase on the ground. Caught up in his own success, Time wasn’t able to avoid the machine’s arm as it swung wildly in the air and connected with his chest, forcing him to the ground once again and causing the slate to unclip from his waist and tumble to the ground; his eyes briefly caught sight of the device before the machine’s claw crushed it and the ground underneath it.

Judging by how the machine’s exterior light seemed to flicker and brighten to a lighter shade of pink, Time could only assume that it had become angrier. He dodged just in time as a metal arm lurched forward to grab at him, its moves noticeably faster than before. He grimaced; guess he had to step up his game, too. As the machine swiveled around to aim at him again, he tightened his grip on the sword and ran towards it, slicing another arm off with a jagged slash. He watched as it briefly struggled again, and in the back of his mind, he silently marveled at how well his attacks worked - how each muscle, despite the strain, moved with incredible speed and accuracy that only a seasoned swordsman would have. Although his strength was only a product of his small adventure around Hyrule, he felt that he has had decades of training, and he planned to use every ounce of that strength to his advantage. So the next few minutes became a pattern of wait, dodge, and attack for Time like some sort of morbid game. The machine would regain its footing, attempt to attack, only for the hero to dodge at the last second and strike it with an immense amount of power. 

At the sound of stuttering gears and the final flickering of its light, the machine finally fell deeply into the ground, its appearance no better than a glorified rock. Time briefly regarded the enemy with a look of pure exhilaration and marvel before snapping his attention to the dark silhouette of Hyrule Castle. He began his trek forward, sword gripped tightly in his hand as he trudged through the pouring rain, hoping to Hylia that he wasn’t too late.

__________________________________________________________

It only took Wild a minute or two to find Twilight. When he caught sight of a dark form leaning heavily against a tree, the Hero of the Wild came to a stuttering halt, slowing his pace as he approached the lone figure; once he got a full sight of his mentor, he sucked in a quick breath upon realizing how bad of a state the other was in.

Twilight was leaning heavily against a dying tree, nails digging into the bark in a desperate attempt to keep himself standing. His eyes were screwed tight as he took in shallow struggling gasps and the closer that Wild got to him, the more he noticed how the dark circles around the other’s eyes stood out startlingly against his ashen skin. Wild worried his lip as he saw that his mentor made no move to even acknowledge his presence, knowing that whatever energy Twilight had left was all spent on trying to keep himself conscious. 

“Twili -”

“Not goin’ back.”

He was stunned into silence as Twilight glared at him through dull, half - lidded eyes that held a surprising amount of defiance. His words were slowed and barely above a whisper but his tone alone held a warning as if daring Wild to try and stop him. 

The younger tried again, his voice coming out stronger. “ Twilight, you’re pushing yourself too hard; one more step and you’re gonna fall face - first into the mud and pass out.” And despite the clear point that Wild had, Twilight vaguely shook his head.

“Not leavin’ without th’Old Man.”

“Then I’ll help you find him.” His reply was final and as if to prove his point, he held a firm hand out to his mentor, regarding the other with a serious look.

Twilight stared at the offer and if the situation wasn’t so dire, he would’ve laughed. Here he was, being as reckless and impulsive as Wild and his protege had come to finally knock some sense into him. Suddenly, all those concerned voices from all the other Links rung loudly in his head and he couldn’t help the sense of shame that pierced through his worried thoughts; they had all been trying to help him these past few days and he had shrugged off every little remark like they would hinder Time’s recovery. He had been too brash - too anxious - and he had truly messed up this time. 

The Hero of Twilight grasped the other’s hand tightly, not missing the way the other’s facade dropped into utter relief. He allowed himself to be hoisted up by the strong grip and allowed his protege to maneuver his own arm onto the other’s shoulder as support. He tried not to let Wild carry too much of his own weight but he was so weak and fatigued that any attempt to stay standing on his own was quickly drowned out by the rain pelting down on him. If the added weight bothered his protege, he didn’t let Twilight know - instead, he chose to stare straight ahead at what little of the fog he could see through and carefully moved forward. 

They trudged slowly through the muddied earth. Every small step Wild would take, Twilight would take in turn, falling in stride with the other. It was strange to see Wild so patient; usually, he would be the one to push his mentor to move faster whenever they were out scouting or foraging but now he was silent and moved at a calculated pace, sliding his gaze every so often to check on Twilight and how he was faring. It was endearing, really; Twilight felt that some of his fortitude was finally starting to rub off on his protege. 

His steps faltered when he felt Wild suddenly stop and tense. When he looked ahead, he felt his heart come to a stop: just a few meters in front of them stood a towering Guardian.

Twilight instinctively reached behind him for his sword and he mentally cursed himself as soon as he realized that he had left the shrine without so much as bringing a weapon. Before any words could leave his mouth, Wild was quick to cut him off. 

“It’s dead.”

He looked at his protege with silent confusion. That thing wasn’t dead; it was standing right before them! But as he looked at the hunk of metal once again, he felt the pounding in his chest slow as he noticed the absence of purple and blue lights. The two heroes stood silently for a few more moments, waiting for the machine to suddenly spring to life and catch them off guard but it never came. 

Wild inched forward with his apprehensive mentor in tow and knocked harshly on the remnants of the machine. He stared curiously at the Guardian’s single eye and waited, expecting some sort of reaction to occur, but he was only greeted with the sound of raindrops beating against its metal exterior. A triumphant smirk crossed his face.  

“It’s dead.” He repeated again. “ Someone managed to take it out.”

Twilight’s shoulders eased a little. He shifted closer to get a better look at the broken machine, noting how its pristine metal surface was littered with deep scratches and how some of the wiring had been severed. The scrapes along the body were long and thick and some of the attacks had managed to pierce through the metal and to its circuitry. Whoever had managed to take down this Guardian was a seasoned fighter and was certainly someone that was not to be taken lightly.

“Is that my … Sheikah Slate …?”

Twilight shifted his gaze over to where Wild stared dumbfounded at his device - or what remained of it. It was crushed into pieces, the eye that stood out so prominently with its orange glow now reduced to chunks of metal.

“So the Old Man was here …” His protege sounded with an irked expression to match. Under his breath, Twilight could hear the other go on about how some woman in Akkala was going to kill him once she found out about this. 

A sudden idea dawned on Twilight. Without so much as a second thought, he released his hold on his protege and shifted into his Twili form, wincing as the transformation took a great toll on him. He opened his eyes to a sharpened world where he could see, hear, and smell thousands of new things he hadn’t before and the addition seemed to overwhelm his senses. With a silent shake of his head, he moved to the remnants of the Sheikah Slate and gently prodded his nose at it, ignoring the questioning gaze he got from Wild. Woven between the metallic smell was the faint scent of pine and farm: Time’s scent. He picked his head up, gazing as a path of lingering air started to appear in his peripheral, quivering around and beckoning Twilight to follow; his plan had worked and now he and Wild had a solid lead as to where Time was. The Twili let out a sharp bark to catch the other’s attention before bolting to where the trail led.

His surroundings started to blur as he picked up speed with newfound energy. The pelting rain did nothing to deter him as his paws pounded steadily on the ground, following the faint scent as if it were a lifeline. Damp grass had turned into broken pieces of cobblestone and Twilight was suddenly aware of the thumps Wild’s boots made with each step; it slightly eased his frazzled mind to know that despite how thoughtless or abrupt his own actions were, his protege followed and supported him without protest. A crack of lightning illuminated the sky and Twilight had caught a glimpse of a large crumbling castle before him. As soon as he lept through the open doors, he started to make frantic zigzags as he entered and left each room without heed, catching the scent dulling and sharpening with each turn. He knew he was close - the scent was almost overwhelming to his senses and he could feel his heartbeat pick up in anticipation the closer he got to Time. He didn’t have a plan nor was he mentally prepared to face the man he had killed but nothing mattered more to him right now than making sure that his mentor was still alive. He shifted into his Hylian form as he reached the final set of double doors and pushed past them with all his might, causing the wood to slam forcefully against the concrete walls and echo through the chamber. He froze as he caught sight of a lone figure standing motionless at a destroyed throne.

“Ti - Link,” Twilight corrected himself between gasps of air. “ we’re not here to hurt you; we just want to help.” The figure before him stiffened at the name and the slack grip on his Biggoron Sword became tighter. The room was silent save for the pattering rain outside.

“Where is she … where is Princess Zelda …?”

Once the Hero of Twilight heard his mentor’s voice, his heart seemed to shatter. His voice sounded too small - too frail - to belong to such a renowned and courageous hero; instead, it sounded like it belonged to a scared little child. When Time didn’t get an answer, he turned agonizingly slow to the two boys behind him and it was then did they see his pale complexion and the haunted look in his eye; his very gaze alone told them that he had seen the very worst of what the world had to offer. This is not the cool and collected leader that brought them all together nor was it the hostile man Twilight and Wild had met at the Shrine of Resurrection - this was a man who had lost everything and everyone.

The man asked once again in that broken voice: he asked where the Princess of Hyrule was and the rancher Talon and his daughter Malon and the ranch - hand Ingo and all of Castle Town and Twilight couldn’t find the courage to tell him the truth. The strong resolve and determination he had felt just a few seconds ago was replaced with hesitation and the words seemed to die on his tongue. How could he tell a man so horrified - let alone his ancestor - that they were long dead - lost under Ganon’s inevitable rule? He startled when Wild stepped forward.

“They’re not here; they’re in a different Hy-"

“Stop it.” Time’s fragile voice grew firm with each word. “ Enough with these lies. There’s no ‘different Hyrule’, there’s no multiple Chosen Heroes, there’s no coming back to life - none of what you say is real!” An assertive step forward and there was no hiding the lividness in his tone. “ There are monsters lurking around every corner, giant machines roaming the land ready to kill anything in sight, Hyrule Castle is completely destroyed, there is not a single living soul in these rooms, and you want me to believe that Princess Zelda is alive and well? That Ganondorf hasn’t taken over Hyrule and killed everyone in it just to show his power?” His breath caught in his throat and his voice became barely audible. “ … I’m too late, aren’t I? Princess Zelda is dead. I’ve failed her. I’ve failed all of Hyrule.”

Wild fell into a stunned silence. All the emotional pain and mental torment Time had been facing reminded him so much of how he felt when he first left the Shrine of Resurrection. The never - ending dread, anxiety, and insecurity he felt on every part of the journey had managed to manifest itself into their leader, providing a reflection to Wild of himself and of all the fears he had. He knew exactly what Time felt like, and his pent - up emotions were getting in the way of his logical reasoning.

Whether it was because of his protege’s silent anguish or his mentor’s hopelessness, something caused Twilight to lose what remained of his composure. All the stress he had accumulated these past three days seemed to pour out in a frustrated shout. “ Time, listen to us: nobody’s dead, your Zelda’s safe, and me and Wild are not the bad guys here. Just let us take you back so we can help.”

“You and Ganondorf took everything away from me and you still want me to follow you? Isn’t all of Hyrule enough?”

“We have nothing to do with Ganondorf; we’re all Chosen Heroes just like you. I know it doesn’t make sense right now but you have to trust us on this.”

“And why should I? You took the Master Sword, my fairy, everyone I’ve ever known - what reason do I have to trust you? Do you want to imprison me for another number of years? Make me swear allegiance to Ganondorf? Wreck more havoc on Hyrule?” Pure fury replaced his distraught expression. “ What more do you need? You’ve already conquered the land so there’s nothing more to take!”

“I told you, we’re here to help. This is Wild’s Hyrule and its been like this for decades - you already saved your own Hyrule before but your memories are so messed up that you can’t even remember that. We’re your friends -  family even - and we just want to help you.”

“How long are you going to keep hiding behind those lies?”

“Until you believe us.”

Blinded by his own irritation, Twilight didn’t notice the way Time tightened his grip on the sword or the way his muscles tensed in preparation for an attack. The weapon moved in such a quick and calculated arc that Twilight didn’t even have the time to raise his arms up in defense before the strike would inevitably hit; but just as the sword was about to connect with his head, he heard a distinct thunk that seemed to reverberate from all around him. He opened his eyes to see his mentor’s bewildered face behind a transparent orange wall - one of Wild’s abilities, he recognized. He glanced behind him to see Wild standing slightly hunched over and staring at the unfolding scene, tears glistening his eyes but a determined look on his face.

You okay? He slowly signed. 

Twilight couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face. He gave his protege a quick nod before he turned back to Time and watched the shield disappear around him.

“We’re not gonna hurt you, Link; we just want to talk.”

His plea was met with an angry snarl and another thunk as the sword swung again and collided with Wild’s makeshift shield.

The swings kept coming one after another, each hit gradually increasing with force; however, the weapon always connected with Daruk’s Protection and never once landed a hit on its intended targets. The shield would appear mid - swing, take the blow, disappear for a few seconds for Twilight to get in a word or two before appearing once again, the pattern seemingly unbreakable.

Twilight winced at the sound of a particularly hard collision. The Old Man’s getting angry, he noted, and judging by the way his mentor regarded him with so much hatred and disgust, he wasn’t going to let up anytime soon. Sure, Twilight could keep trying to talk to him but Time was so engrossed in his devastation that he wouldn’t even pause to consider his words - right now, he just wanted some form of temporary retribution. The shield flickered as soon as the sword smashed against it again and Twilight knew that it wouldn’t be long until Wild couldn’t muster up the energy to defend them anymore.

He grunted as an elbow suddenly connected with his ribcage and sent him tumbling to the ground. He barely registered the vague shout from Wild before a surprised cry sounded throughout the air followed by several thuds. He snapped his eyes open just in time to see his mentor towering over his protege, Biggoron Sword poised to strike down. 

Twilight’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened at the scene and he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu as he witnessed one of his teammates seconds away from death.

He couldn’t let this happen again.

Without a second thought, Twilight shifted into his Twili form and bounded across the room. He completely disregarded the burning sensation in his ribs and the overall ache from his body as he sprinted towards Wild, finally coming to stand protectively over him and face Time with tensed muscles and baring teeth. He let out a sharp bark as the sword began its descent downward, a futile attempt to stop the inevitable attack. 

Yet it did. All of Time’s movement abruptly stopped as the sound rang out and the sword that was ready to strike seemed to pause in midair. His face switched from utter outrage to a neutral expression and the gaze from his single eye grew cloudy and distant as if he had mentally left the battle;  he was frozen in time - his body a realistic statue among the rubble that surrounded them. The notion had completely caught Twilight off - guard, causing him to release a confused whine in response.

“I think he’s … remembering something.” Wild whispered breathlessly and the Twili suddenly realized how Time’s facial expression matched the same blank expression his protege wore whenever a memory would resurface. They waited with bated breath as the air grew thick with apprehension, never once taking their eyes away from their mentor.

In a matter of seconds, the light returned back to Time’s eye and he refocused on the present. He took one look at the wolf ahead of him and his eyes seemed to light up with startling recognition. 

“Pup?”

All the tension left Twilight’s body at the sound of the nickname. He mindlessly shifted back into his Hylian form, looking up to meet Time’s gaze with a disbelieving stare, his mouth open in a silent question of ‘how’?

Realization seemed to strike the eldest then and he let the sword fall from his grasp and clatter onto the ground, his expression morphing into horror as if he had just became aware of what he was about to do. He hastily took a few unsteady steps back.

“Pup, I… - Was I about to -?” He cut himself off, too disturbed by the thought to even voice it. His protege, on the other hand, gingerly rose to his feet and regarded him with a hopeful look. 

“You remember me.” The rush of adrenaline slowly started to seep away into growing relief. Despite how shocked his mentor looked, he couldn’t help the warm smile that spread across his lips. “ Old Man, you remember me.”

Time took a moment to take in his protege’s appearance: dark bruises stood out across his paling complexion, he looked slightly thinner than usual, and there were rips in his clothes that revealed small scratches with dried blood; in other words, he looked like he’d been through Hell and back and Time hoped to Hylia that he wasn’t the reason why.

“Those marks on your skin...”

As if suddenly aware of his appearance, Twilight quickly moved to smooth down the fabric of his tunic as if that alone would remedy the issue. “ Huh? No, no - these were from a battle a few days ago with some Lizalfos. I mean, yeah, we were struggling and a few of us got beaten up pretty bad and if it wasn’t for you, I -.” He hesitated, briefly reliving the memory and feeling his mouth go dry. “ If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead.” 

The other’s brows furrowed in morbid concern. “ I … don’t recall…”

Twilight gently shook his head as if waving the subject away, silently noting how exhaustion seemed to settle over him like a blanket. The adrenaline from the battle had finally worn off and those days he spent worrying over his mentor finally seemed to catch up to him all at once. He would explain the situation to him at another day when he didn’t feel like two seconds away from collapsing. For now, he would relish in the fact that he finally got the old Time back. 

“Glad to know you’re okay, Old Man.” Wild remarked as he picked himself off the ground and started to dust himself off. 

Time’s confusion was suddenly replaced with alarm once he caught sight of the boy with scars and in one fluid motion, he stooped down to grab his discarded sword and point it directly to the stranger’s neck. Before he could make another move, Twilight hurriedly stepped between them and hurriedly moved the tip of the blade to the side.

“Hey! He’s a friend!”

Although not convinced, Time lowered his sword regardless, trusting that his protege was correct in his judgement. He silently observed as the stranger let out a small breath before meeting his eyes with a serious yet guilty expression. 

“I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense but Twi’s right: I’m Wild, and I’ve been travelling with you these past couple of months. You’re probably have a lot of holes in your memory - trust me, I know that feeling -” A small grimace as the boy before Time looked to the side with an unknown emotion in his eyes. “ but I promise they’ll all come back to you eventually. You’ll get frustrated and annoyed when things seem familiar but don’t at the same time but that’s okay; you’ll just have to get used to it. What matters now is that you got a memory back, and it can only go uphill from there.”

The other’s explanation seemed strange and, quite frankly, sounded a little foreboding but Time nodded anyways; if Twilight trusted this boy, then he would trust him as well regardless of his initial impression of him. He looked to see Twilight taking a step towards the doors.

“C’mon, let’s get you back home.” He called out, hand motioning for him to follow, and this time, Time did without hesitation.

[mrneighbourlove]

Filling the Emptiness: Ch 5. Coming Together

“Ms. Ingo. Please take a seat.”

Sunny Ingo had been waiting a while now outside on a bench. Her father had gone inside and made his case to their benefactors that she was not only ideal, but the perfect person to take on the mantle and responsibility of running Lon Lon Milk incorporated. Sunny groomed herself and dedicated her life to running the ranch effectively.

Leere’s family looked into her background, and the King and Queen themselves made recommendations for her. Sunny felt so grateful, but also a huge amount of weight on her shoulders for this meeting to go well. She wore a formal dress, but nothing like the royals had. It was more casual, but the material it was made of would speak for how rich her family was. She also straightened her hair and applied makeup as well as darkener to her eyebrows to look more appealing to the men. Sunny didn’t mind flaunting wealth on rare occasions. She and her family poured their full will and strength into their business to become so successful.

Entering the conference hall, Sunny gave a bow to the various men and woman who were seated. “Good afternoon everyone.”

“Good afternoon Ms. Ingo. Please take a seat.” Sunny did as she was told, finding a seat at a table. Her financial supporters sat in a half circle in front of her, taking notes the second she walked through the door. It seemed that they were judging her before she even spoke a word. The man directly in front of her had a curly mustache, and a big red bowtie. “I’m sure you’re anxious about today.”

“Not at all Mr. Burnaby.” Sunny’s thick accent pushed to battle against his own. It would be a battle of carefully chosen words, and having to never show a hint of weakness.

“Ah, well that’s good. Because we have very important matters to go over.”

“Quite, quite.” Another man, with a rounder belly, a white mustache took a sip of Lon Lon milk. “Did you make this?”

Sunny gave a smile, and a jolly chuckle. “I did. Along with the rest of my family. We follow the mantra of working smart and hard. That way everyone is happy with the best quality product ready to be distributed.”

One of the woman, Lorleidian, on the council gave a nod of approval. “A very great way of thinking Ms. Ingo. Can you tell us any changes you’d make if you were promoted to leading your families business? It is very Hylian oriented as I’ve noticed.”

“Well, it’s true that it’s a Hylian born business. Hard to keep up with everyone else Mamm. Kids rather see dragons and all the exotic critters Princess Orana gathers than horses or farm animals nowadays. And to be honest, Lorleidians are amazing at fishing and suppling other labour to the work economy. That said, I want to make something clear. I won’t pass up any work from other folks if they are looking for a modest living though. When I lead, I want to inspire everyone to work as a team. We help each other grow. I’d love to expand our product to the far reaches of Hyrule if we can maximize our work force.”

That answer seemed to register with the woman, and, with a quiet and slow nod, she made notes in her ledger. The council took a minute to talk silently amongst themselves, shooting glances back at Sunny as they came to their own conclusions. The lead man cleared his throat, speaking once more. “Ms. Ingo. We understand that you are a family business. Your father inherited the business from his father. Which your grandfather inherited it from his mother. Now, we understand that all of your siblings are married. Some even have kids.”

“That’s correct.”

“We also understand that you have a select taste in lovers that would make it difficult to continue your family line.” The man gave Sunny a deep look in the eyes that made her uncomfortable. “I’m sure someone as dedicated as you could fix that issue. Correct Ms. Ingo?”

Sunny was a little miffed, her brow giving a slight furl, but she kept her smile bright. “I can have you all rest assured, that I will find a way to continue the family line.”

The councilman stroked his mustache, thinking over her words. “We have your character references, as well as your work history regarding your efficiency. We’ll talk over our choice on the matter. Give us five minutes Ms. Ingo. Please stay where you are.”

The rancher watched as the council men and woman stood up and walked to another room to privately discuss their vote. She took a few deep breathes and thought back to her family for comfort. Her mother in particular brought her peace…

“Moma! Can I look at the telescope?”

A woman with hair as dark as space smiled down to her daughter. She named all her children after the entities of the grand beauty of the galaxy. Her first child had hair as bright as the sun. Her little Sunny. Lifting her daughter up on her lap, Phoebe tipped the telescope for her daughter to peer through. “What do you see Sunny?”

“I see stars! I love stars!”

“Stars are amazing my dear. It’s why I named you after the most important one.”

“The sun! It feeds everyone life! Its how Papa is able to run the business!”

“That’s right. But our galaxy is filled with so many wonders. Look over here.” Sunny’s mother adjusted the telescope, and showed off a few constellations to her daughter. “That’s the chariot of Apollo. And over here. The fire of Din. Some say the gods reward the best of humanity with new constellations in the sky.”

“Really?! What else is up there?”

“Well my dear, I was going to save this for tomorrow… but what the heck. You know how the crown prince and that beautiful water princess are getting married?”

“Yes! I saw glimpse of them while at the market with Papa! They look so happy!”

“Well, they’re going to be blessed by one of the crowning jewels of nature itself for their wedding tomorrow. Look at the moon Sunny. You noticed how its been slowly been growing bigger?”

“Yes? Is it gonna fall onto the Earth?”

Phoebe gave a lighthearted laugh at that. “No, no my dear. I certainly hope not. What’s happening, is that an event called an Solar Eclipse is about to take place. The moon travels directly in front of the sun, and for a small window of time, it will block it out, plunging the world in a small period of darkness.”

“That sounds scary!”

“It’ll be beautiful. I promise. It’s a day that you won’t forget. You’ll see such amazing sights.”

“Ok.” Young Sunny felt a little better at her mother’s encouragement. “Maybe we can get a meteor shower too!”

Her mother gave a giggle, bouncing her daughter on her knee. “Perhaps we might. May even be lucky for a small comet or meteorite to land in Hyrule. The really small ones are good luck if you collect them.”

“But the big ones go boom!”

“Yes they do. So let’s hope we can avoid that~” Phoebe set her daughter down and took her hand. “Now come along. You have a goodnight’s rest to attend. Let’s not keep your siblings waiting for a bed night story.”

“But I don’t want to go to bed.”

“Silly girl. When we go to sleep, that’s when we dream. And dreams lead use amongst the stars…”

That was the last good memory Sunny had of her mother. The day the sun went out, so did her mother. Sunny shook her head, dispelling the bad thoughts from creeping in on what came after. She wouldn’t let the bad end ruin everything good before hand and she couldn’t afford to cry right now. Those softer times of her mother and her astronomy made her feel safe and happy in her mind.

When the council returned, she sat straight, but relaxed thanks to her internal meditation. The man with the mustache took the lead speaking once more. “Ms. Ingo. I won’t waste anymore of your time. The board has made its vote. We are 9-7 in your favour. Some aren’t convinced, but I’m sure you can change their minds. When your father is ready, he may officially hand over the title of C.E.O to you. Congratulations Ms. Ingo.”

Sunny stood up, trying to not let the excitement get to her. She felt disturbed that, most likely, without the help of the royals, she probably wouldn’t have the job she worked so hard for. The rancher shook each and every one of their hands. “Thank you so much. I’ll prove I’m right for the job. You can be rest assured in your continued support of Lon Lon Ranch.”

“I’m sure our investments will be rewarded.”

Sunny left the board meeting, and ran to her family waiting for her. Her brothers and sisters had worn their best clothing for coming anywhere near the castle. She let relief wash over her seeing them all here. “I did it. I got the job.”

Her siblings and father cheered, rushing to greet her. “Yes! I know you would!”

“You got the iron will to do so!”

“That’s our Sunny. Always burning bright.”

Her father gave her a pat on the back, his wrinkles smoothing out as he smiled. “You’ve done well Sunny. How I wish your mother was here.”

“I was actually thinking about her. Maybe she’s a shooting star giving us luck now.”

From the end of the hall, Leere was running around the corner, having been given word that Sunny had finished her meeting. Seeing her family, she felt some anxiety creep up on her. What if she didn’t live up to expectations? Wearing a simple dress, she gave Sunny’s family a wave as she approached. “Hello everyone.”

Sunny turned to Leere, taking her hands and planting a kiss on her. “I did it. I’m going to be the C.E.O of the Lon Lon Milk Corporation.”

Leere’s face bloomed into ecstatic happiness, and she kissed Sunny back again. “I’m so proud of you. You’re going to be fantastic.”

Her family eyed the couple, finally getting a look at them together, and eying Leere up on what kind of woman she was. Sunny put an arm around Leere’s waist and turned her towards them. “I’d like you all to meet my girlfriend. Princess Leere.”

Leere gave a polite bow of the head. “Just Leere is fine if that makes you comfortable.”

Galaxia was the only one to not be overly cheerful, or build the façade of being kind to every royal she met. She wanted a straight answer, so she’d be straight in her tone. “So, Leere. You and my sister love each other?”

Leere looked Galaxia in the eye. The woman was about as tall as her sister. But her hair was black as the night. She had two tattoos on her neck. One of the Sun and one of the Moon. She sort of reminded Leere of her brother Ralnor in a way. They both had an aura about them that told others they couldn’t be budged. “Yes. I cherish her dearly.”

“You’ve only met recently.”

“Funny how love works, doesn’t it. It gives you life.”

Sunny was about to stand up for Leere, when Galaxia gave a smirk. “Very good answer. Just keep her happy and we’ll get along fine.”

Her sister extended a handshake to Leere, and Sunny was relieved when her lover took it. Leere liked the fire of this woman. “Of course. Didn’t get your name.”

“Galaxia Ingo.”

“Leere Dragmire.”

Sunny introduced the rest of her siblings, happy that Galaxia seemed to approve. “These are my brothers, Apollo and Cosmo. And this is my youngest sister, Luna.”

Luna gave a polite hand shake to Leere. “I’ve seen your preform. You’re really good on stage.”

“Why thank you.”

Sunny rubbed Leere’s hand. “Would you like to come back to our place to have dinner and celebrate?”

Leere looked to the family, who nodded to encourage her. “I’d be honoured.”

Sunny’s smile burned brightly, and she gave Leere another kiss. “Great! Let’s go get you to change to something more comfortable.” The Rancher snapped a finger to her family before her brothers could make a cheeky comment. “We’ll just be ten minutes.”

But that didn’t stop them anyways. “Wow Apollo. Just in ten minutes?”

“Well, they don’t call it a quickie for nothing.”

Sunny rolled her eyes at them. “Get ya families you silly men.”

Leere and Sunny walked hand in hand back to Leere’s bedroom. Sunny’s siblings looked to their father to get his opinion. He simply shrugged at them. “I’m too old to complain. If she makes Sunny happy, who are we to argue?”

“What about the whole ‘family generation’ thing?”

“I’m sure that they’ll figure it out Galaxia. Let’s head home. We’ll have steaks tonight.”

~

Leere pulled Sunny into her bedroom, giving her another deep kiss. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m glad that my families future is secured and we can keep moving forward in the business. Thank you for helping me dear.”

“I wanted to help the woman I love.” Leere pressed another soft kiss to Sunny’s lips.

Sunny held Leere’s shoulders firmly as they kissed lovingly. With a smile, she let go, heading to Leere’s bathroom. “Imma get my makeup off. Feels tacky and sticky. You get changed now.”

“Sure thing.” After Sunny disappeared, Leere was in the middle of getting changed when she heard her roof tile slide open. She nearly gave a loud yelp of surprise when she saw an old friend stopping by.

“Bonegrinder senses that you’ve been awfully happy lately. Must be because you’re finally in the sunshine.”

Leere squinted at him, something very specific bugging her about his wording. Like a buzzer, the realization rang off loudly in her head. Bonegrinder was always a cheeky being, and with him able to see into the future, he spoke in cryptic messages sometimes. It dawned on her that he knew long ago that she’d be together with Sunny. “YOU CHEEKY ASS!”

Sunny yelled from behind the bathroom door. “Everything ok?”

Crap. Leere didn’t want to spring someone like Bonegrinder or any of the Hive on Sunny without plenty of preparation. “Nothing Sunny! I’m just talking with a friend quickly who needed some advice.”

“Okay!”

“Bonegrinder told you didn’t he? He said that you’d find your sunshine.” The Anagari took a finger to play with one of Leere’s locks of hair. “The twins miss your company you know.”

“I’m sure that they’ll have to understand I’m taken now.”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“Bonegrinder. You and the rest of the Hive don’t interfere in Lon Lon Ranch’s business, do you?”

“Ah! Bonegrinder loves eating their cows! So succulent and pristine in its flavour.”

“Do you mean buying cut steaks?”

“Why would Bonegrinder by small steaks when he can swallow whole cows?”

Leere grabbed his hand and gave it a light smack. “Enough of that. I won’t tolerate you stealing her cattle in the middle of the night. You can’t do that anymore. You want steak, you buy it like everyone else.”

Bonegrinder gave light pout of the brow, a small chuckle leaving his lips. “Every well. No more whole cows in the middle of the night.”

“I mean it. Or I’ll come down to the underground and give you such a thrashing.”

“Hehehehe, this old snake would love to see you do so~” Bonegrinder gave Leere a light pat on the head. “Will be sure to mark the calendar for your big day. Take care of yourself little porcelain doll.”

Leere wasn’t sure if Bonegrinder was dropping another prediction on her, but before she could say anything, Sunny opened the door, giving the old snake enough time to slither away with a giggle to himself.

“How’d things with your friend go?”

“Good. They, uh, went good.” Leere noticed Sunny’s brows were blonde again, and her hair a little more tussled. “You look natural.”

“Isn’t the line that you look beautiful?” Sunny, with the tilt of her head, eyed Leere with a grin.

“You always look beautiful, makeup or not.”

“See, it’s lines like that that make ya irresistible.” The Rancher took hold of Leere, hugging her close to her chest. Leere purred as she rest her head against her. Sunny took note that Leere hadn’t gotten changed. “What’s taking you so long?”

Leere smiled, knowing the perfect excuse. “I wanted you to watch as I got undressed.”

“Well that’s just playing dirty.”

“I know. You’ll have to get back me later~”

Sunny gave Leere’s bottom a spank for making her have to wait. “Keep making comments like that, and I’ll hogtie you to the bed.”

“Well, wouldn’t want to make your family wait now, would we.”

“No. Which makes you shaking that white bum in my face really hard to resist.”

Leere quit teasing her lover for now, and got changed into her causal attire. A simple shirt and long Hylian skirt. Lastly, because she saw Bonegrinder, she put his scale necklace around her neck. “All done.”

Sunny tilted her head towards the necklace. “That’s really pretty. Where did you get it from.”

“A friend of mine… Actually, same friend you just missed.”

“Oh. Is he one of them Lizalfos people?”

Leere shook her head. “No. Big snake man.”

“You’re friends with a big snake man?”

“Yeah. It’s a long story.”

“Well, we got a long walk and ride back to the ranch. I’d love to hear it.”

Leere felt Sunny’s smile penetrate her soul, and she felt so happy to have someone who just wanted to listen to her. Even though she couldn’t divulge the full details, she could tell her the story in some form. “Years ago, I was a party animal and an active archaeologist. I found this crypt one day that were full of monsters. However, they weren’t monstrous per say.”

“You mean how people could call Moblins monsters, but many won’t hurt a fly? That’s just rumours?”

“Exactly.” Though the Hive could and have hurt people before, some had soft layers underneath their shells if you got close enough to look properly. “They had so many characteristics that made them human. At this time, I just lost a friend of mine. I felt that everyone around me died because they associated themselves with me. So here I find these monsters bigger than the average person, and more durable too. I thought I found the perfect friends.”

“So what happened?”

Leere gave Sunny a light pat as they left the front gate and headed to the stables to reach their horses. “Well, first I had sex with twins. Reeeeeeally kinky twins.”

Sunny raised her eyebrow, than let out a chuckle. “Oh boy. Sounds like a handful.”

“Two pairs for both my hands if you know what I mean. A handful indeed.” Leere stuck her tongue out and briefly allowed herself to be immature by cupping the air with her hands. That got a strong laugh out of Sunny. Giving a sigh, Leere’s memory of first meeting the Hive grew a little more melancholy. “Down there, I also discovered an old temple. I saw things from my future that terrified me. A brief glimpse of all of time. My time. I felt so scared. Had this dread about my own life. So I talked my snake friend into having sex with me. Only male I’ve ever willingly been with. I regret that because I think I only did it because I felt like my life was one big void that needed to be filled. So I tried everything. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and even a little self pain.”

Sunny squeezed Leere’s hand as she watched her lover stare off into the distance. “No one goes through that and comes out to where you are without change.”

“You’re absolutely right about that. I was ready to slowly kill myself if my brother Ralnor did search me out. He told me how my family worried that every time I left, I might never return. Because I always held a darkness in my heart. Most of the time I left, I’d always return scarred by some terror I had to defeat. My friend in the crypt realized this too, and he convinced me to leave with my brother. Afterwards, I checked myself in for rehab and counselling to deal with all my grief and pain. One of the best decisions of my life.”

Sunny was a little surprised. She knew that Leere held a darkness in her heart. It was a little intense to know how deep things got with her, but she was happy knowing Leere pulled herself out of that place. “What you did was very healthy.”

“One cannot help others, until they help themselves. This world is full of those that are full of pain. They often lash out, or hurt themselves, and they tell themselves that its justified. No more. That no longer applies to me. I see the force I am capable of being, and I hold my pain tight, but I will no longer let it bleed me or others.”

Sunny nodded fondly towards Leere, and held her hand. “Golly. You’re a smart woman Leere. And you’re right. When people are in pain, they do often think about how they can lash out to feel better. To quell that aching heart they feel.”

Leere stopped Sunny from getting on the horse. “You speak from experience.”

“I told you once before my mother died during the Solar Eclipse. I felt… so empty that day. That when the Sun went out, and the fire came crashing from the sky like a meteorite storm, I lost my own light for a while. I didn’t know how to deal with that pain at first. I didn’t know where to put it. But I looked around me and I saw I wasn’t the only one in pain. My whole family was going through sadness and hurt. And so were so many other survivors who felt the pain that I felt. So instead of throwing my anger out towards others, everyone decided to come together. If we were going to be hurting, we wouldn’t hurt alone. We’d have understanding and love to come together.” Sunny wiped her face of tiny tears forming, giving a light smile to Leere. “Thinking about her even now gets me emotional. I wish she was here. But I’m sure she’s smiling down now as one of them stars in the night.”

Leere squeezed Sunny’s hand, her heart going out to her. “The spirits of loved ones, regardless if they are in the same plane as us, will always look out for us. I’m sure your mother is looking after you all the time.”

Sunny wiped her tears once more as she pulled Leere in for a tender hug. “Thank you Leere. For opening up and being supportive.”

“And thank you as well.”

Leere stood on her tippy toes to kiss Sunny, and both gave each other another tight hug before releasing. The princess walked to her horse and had to use a step ladder to get on top easily. Rinku made it look so easy. Sunny was a natural as she hopped on her stead. “You ok there?”

“Yep. I’m lucky Blackbolt knows how to stay still.”

Sunny laughed at that. “Without that step ladder, you reckon you’d triple your time getting on that horse?”

“Bah, don’t patronize me missy. I might be small, but I think I know how to handle a horse.”

Each woman smiled at each other, and with a flick of the reigns, they rode off to the ranch, side by side.

https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/183811908896/filling-the-emptiness-ch-4-in-love Previous Ch. 

https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/184658907816/filling-the-emptiness-ch-6-big-changes Next Ch. 

[greentrickster]

@someoddmix  #i LOVE when crack is treated seriously! #it is a delight! #OOHH I HADNT CONSIDERED MELLI’S CONCERNS #WHOOPS #it’s fine my dude you can turn this around! #teaching moment! #i can just imagine laventon and rei being absolute cinammon rolls #all excited about learning from melli and thanking melli so genuinely #and melli just sighs (internally) defeated #might as well go along with it #he’s stuck with them now #melli sure is having a time #bet he was thinking getting back home would calm things down for him #new hideous baby to take care of and people to inform about what happened #but smooth sailing after that #and then uhhhhhh that didnt happen XD #and he blames (misses) Ingo

Yeah, Melli has a lot on his plate! XD XD XD Fortunately it’s not happening all at once - everything that’s mentioned so far has taken place over the course of about an nine-month period, with the voltorb egg being right near the end! (I’m dropping a rough chronological order of events under a read-more, since it’s long).

But yeah, Melli absolutely thought it would be easier to go home for him than it was for Ingo, because Melli has his memories and is going home a relatively safe way, knows what’s going on, and is choosing to return. Why would it be hard?

...it’s never fun getting culture shock when returning to a culture you grew up in. His social interactions are a little off in general, he primarily learned how to friend in the future, so while he’s much better at it now, he’s still a little odd compared to everyone else, he’s in great shape but still feeling pretty soft going back to a much more demanding living environment after eight months of a much quieter lifestyle, there are modern amenities that he misses (like conditioner and hot showers). He’ll get used to everything again, he has no choice to do otherwise, but it’s an experience, and one those around him except his pokemon have no way to properly understand.

It’s one of the big reasons he still complains at Ingo - none of this would have happened to him if Ingo hadn’t come, hadn’t become Lady Sneasler’s Warden, hadn’t accidentally dragged Melli with him when he went home-!!! It’s an easy, familiar pattern to fall into, during a time when a lot of things are feeling very unfamiliar.

After the initial weird warden conversation, though, Melli does eventually confess to Adaman (and let’s say Mai’s there, too, she knows both of them, honorary big sis gets to help!) that he actually really does miss Ingo a lot. He tells them more about what happened in the future, how he got to be kind of friends with his one-time fellow warden, the other people he made friends with, and how it’s... honestly kind of lonely without them here. Even though he’s surrounded by people he’s known all his life. Even though he’s finally getting the respect and attention he wanted, and is finally able to help Adaman like he’d dreamed as a kid. Isn’t that silly? Isn’t that sinful, to be so ungrateful for the gift of being returned to his correct time and place by Lords Dialga and Palkia...?

Melli gets a lot of hugs that night, and makes inadvertent progress furthering repairs some old friendships. The next day he feels a lot better for having gotten all this off his chest with people who know him, and spends most of the day in the Diamond Clan settlement just helping out, with some quick trips to Mount Coronet to tend his warden duties (Crobat is MVP for helping Melli keep in touch with all these new and old people in his life). It’s a good day.

A week later he has a brand-new sneasel egg and a whole new set of concerns (thanks Warden Idacea), but he is also kind of low-key excited at the idea and potential this holds for him. Everyone talks about inter-clan unity - for him it feels more like a gift from an esteemed rival. ;)

Melli arrives back,

He adjusts for a few weeks

Golbat evolves into Crobat

Laventon probably asks about how Melli can ride her and they bond over Toxel a little

Adaman finds out that Melli could have returned at any point in time,

they have their fight

Melli hangs out in his Mount Coronet camp for at least a month and bonds with the Galaxy Team some more and carves a little wooden Ingo pokeshi because he’s feeling lonely and misses Ingo and his other new friends from the future

(Idacea becomes Lady Sneasler’s new Warden in this time and she and Melli meet; it’s relatively civil, which is super impressive for Melli)

 Melli and Adaman reconcile

Melli feels better and gifts the Ingo pokeshi to Lady Sneasler

it starts becoming more evident to people that Melli has grown a lot since he got home (but the extra socialization means that he starts getting his weird warden reputation)

Melli’s relationship with the Galaxy Team continues to go well and he makes his request they do a study on the torches in the cave

Melli and Idacea meet on and off and are getting along reasonably well professional working relationship

I don’t wanna be the weird one, I miss Ingo!!! TT^TT

he’s been home for maybe five months

No seriously, Melli misses Ingo conversation

It’s sneaslet season and Melli is a father twice over now,

He gets commended for encouraging inter-clan unity

Melli plans vengeance and declares he’s rivals with the entire Pearl Clan and starts hanging out at the training grounds more often to battle out his feelings (+10 friendship with Galaxy Team)

A month passes, Laventon gets to watch sneaslet hatch (+100 friendship with Laventon)

Another month passes and it’s voltorb egg season - turnabout is fair play!

Two days later Melli becomes a teacher once more because Idacea knows Nothing and like heck Melli’s risking the clan wars (or losing the respect Adaman’s starting to give him) over this nonsense-!!!

Another month and Melli finally finds that alpha eevee and enacts his revenge on Adaman

So it’s not all happening at once, he is having some adjustment time, but it’s still a lot to handle, and experiences like this can take years to fully integrate into yourself and recover from.

Would Idacea be an electric type trainer then? Since Melli gave her a voltorb egg from Lord Electrode after he got his Sneasel egg from her noble I'd assume she'd have to be at least a little familiar with electric type Pokemon. Who else is on her team, if you know?

Uhhhhh…

(sprints to Bulbapedia and the Arceus info) (research research research) Oooookay, so, seems like Melli and Gaeric are the only two wardens who actually specialize in a specific type of pokemon (poison and ice respectively), so I don’t think specialization is that common yet for trainers. I’m gonna assume it’s generally a ‘go with what you can get’ sort of era.

So Idacea doesn’t specialize in any particular type of pokemon either. Before she received her voltorb egg, she already had a Heracross and, hmmm… I think a Gible. That feels like a pair that suits her straightforward but trouble-prone self!

She knew almost nothing about electric-type pokemon before she got her voltorb egg, which Melli high-key didn’t realize, since he knows all about poison types and Ingo just… knew stuff. About pokemon. All the time. He couldn’t explain how he knew it, but he knew his stuff. So while Melli had to talk to Idacea a bit about what to expect and how to care for sneaslets, Idacea needed a full-on course about how to care for voltorbs, even friendly Hisuian ones.

Guess who just tricked himself into more situations where he has to bond with people he doesn’t necessarily want to again? ;D

Thanks for the ask!

[doedipus]

LP D&D: The Road to Neverwinter

I’m not sure how much JP does this with the other players characters, but there have been a couple times where he’s taken Connie’s backstory and ran with it. I don’t have a huge problem with it, but I guess if Connie starts seeming a bit mary-sue-ish whenever her backstory comes up, it probably has more to do with JP’s tastes in narrative than mine. In our current place in the campaign, we’re probably going to start running into Coy’s backstory soon, so it’ll be interesting to see if it ends up being a touch grandiose as well.

Content under the break.

Zerander has never flown before, and is having a panic attack

Lucas reminds the group that they forgot some stuff in the city

The group decides to just have Lucas use sending to contact Liza

She’s to give the rubies to Greg

As they fly north, the weather picks up and the gang starts frosting up

Coy gestures to Graham to fly higher

Graham refuses to comply

Connie attempts to clean/melt the frost off the broom with prestidigitation

Lupe barely manages to shake off the ice

The wind is strong, and nearly knocks the gang out of the sky

Escrima is knocked off of Lupe, but Zerander catches him

“I FEEL ONE WITH THE WIND”

Graham slides off the fly, but catches a leg

They land safely

Lucas and Connie land in a dignified manner

Thankfully, Connie remembered to buy winter coats

Zerander can make out a light source in the distance

It’s an inn!

Graham uses divine sense to check for holy or unholy creatures, but finds none

They knock on the door, but nobody answers

They try and open the door, but it won’t budge

Graham goes to the window

A dwarf is there, telling him to bash the door

No, but better this time!

They bash the door open

The innkeeper tells the gang to store Lupe in the stable

He points out a rope leading into the blizzard

Zerander follows it, dragging the gang behind him

He uses a crowbar to force open the door

Innkeeper asks Connie to help close the door for some fucking reason 

Somehow, they manage

Connie, Graham, and Coy crowd against the fireplace

Lucas, Zerander, and Lucas try to set up a tiny hut in the stable

Zerander tries to tie Lupe down on the far end of the barn

Escrima puts the muzzle back on her

He kisses her five times

Zerander decides to go back to the main inn

Lucas grabs a sack of flour as a pillow and sleeps in the hut

Escrima cuddles with Lupe

Are wyverns warm blooded? I think they’re warm blooded

RAW says they’re warm blooded. How convenient!

Zerander gets lost trying to find the inn

He has to try to bash the door back open

NOW HAMMER IT BACK CLOSED

HAMMER IT GOOD

He hammers it p. Good

PVP occurs!

A fey mood overtakes Zerander, and he sticks a frozen finger in Graham’s ear

Graham tries to retaliate, but misses

“Why would you do that?”

Zerander felt it was the only reasonable course of action

The innkeeper introduces himself

His name is Bruennor

He’s a prospector

There’s also a human, and an elf

The human is reading a book

Graham tries to see what it is, but can’t

Graham wanders over and tries to read over his shoulder

The human’s name is Perrin Korsta

He’s reading a history book. Nerd!

He’s a chauffeur for the elf

Zerander asks who the elf is

Perrin doesn’t know much about him

Apparently, there was another passenger, but she’s asleep now

The elf drinks heavily

Maybe he’s one of Viper’s friends

The gang is hungry and tired

Say, what’s the name of this joint?

It’s the blue sky haberdashery

The owner’s gone missing in the blizzard

Something bangs at the door

Zerander pries the door open

A woman enters, followed by a man in handcuffs

Zerander closes the door like a champ

The woman introduces herself as paladin

The man is a prisoner to be executed in Neverwinter

A rapist and murderer, apparently

He denies this fervently

Graham tries a lie detector spell on the monk

Somehow, it fails, and half the gang believes him

Here’s the bounty paper, jeez!

WANTED: SALVATORE MARIUS, DEAD OR ALIVE

Zerander ties to convince her to let the gang deliver him

...but she’s a paladin, and a paladin that likes money, at that

Then he tries to convince her to kill him herself

But she’s big on JUSTICE and BEING A COOL GUY

Zerander tries to out-paladin the paladin

JUUUUUUUSTIIIIIIIIIICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

HOOOOOONOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Oh, and 20kgp

Paladin lets him make a copy of the document

Graham decides he wants to get laid

So, uh, live around here often?

She’s about 45, and has a boob plate

And a srs bsns cougar

“Things happen”

They’re quite loud

The noises wake Escrima up, and he wanders towards their source

He wanders off into the blizzard

After over a mile, he finally turns around and wanders back

He manages to make it back inside

Coy sneaks towards the noise

She likes to watch?

She enters the room

There’s a lot of action going on that JP’s not gonna describe

Coy takes psychic damage

She tries to steal the bounty document

She takes more psychic damage

Can fingers even do that?

Coy gives the papers to Zerander

He hides it in his pecs/cleavage

Coy drinks a lot and passes out

Zerander goes to check on Lucas

He pitches the plan to Lucas

Lucas isn’t having it

Zerander goes to sleep in the stable

Escrima tries to proselytize to Connie

Perrin asks Escrima about mother

At some point, Graham had time to have a dream

Some things were crawling around in the room

When he wakes up, the paladin is full of holes, and he’s covered in blood

On closer inspection, the holes are stab wounds

He exits his room

The prisoner is still bound

Salvatore screams that there’s been a murder

The guests convene in the main hall

Coy comes to

One of her daggers is bloody

Graham notices this

The dorf accuses the gang of killing the paladin for the reward

Coy protests

Graham tries to use zone of truth again, but the others claim it would be biased

Escrima tries to detect thoughts on the dorf

He’s kind of afraid, and wants the gang out of the inn

A small boy is chased out of town

He changes into a small girl, returns to town, and kills his family

Escrima demands that nobody leave, lest they get sliced and/or diced

Graham accuses the other travellers of murdering the paladin

The NPCs reveal themselves to be changelings

The changelings say that the prisoner was assuming the form of a criminal when the paladin captured them

They set up a trap for the paladin and prisoner, but the gang wandered in and complicated things

His name is IBAISBSHABDKFA

Coy loots the paladin’s body

Graham tries to fill Lucas in on the night’s events

she was an older lady but not that old and she wanted to see under my armor and then she did and when i woke up she was dead and coys dagger was bloody but it was the changelings but they're good guys and...

Lucas recasts his tiny hut

Connie wants to know why they were impersonating a criminal

They knew he was important, but not why

They went to Lucern in disguise and got picked up by the paladin

Lupe is hungry, and eats the horses

Very, very messily

Horse viscera fly all throughout the stable

Lucas tries to polymorph her before she eats the rest of the horses

But Lupe is too hungry to be manipulated like that

Lucas uses phantasmal force to occupy her instead

Graham makes a snow angel

It’s okay

There’s some food in the hall, and the gang eats breakfast

The gang decides to use the horses to travel the rest of the way

They reach neverwinter

Caravans bustle about by the gates

Steam rises off of a river running through the city

A large portion of the city has been destroyed in the spellplague wars

It’s famous for inventors and mechanical technology. They are ambivalent towards magic

There’s also the main temple of Oghma

The most civilized city?????

The water in the river runs very hot, keeping the climate hospitable

The lord used to be an adventurer like us, but then he took an arrow to the knee

Watchu doin with your wyvern?

Escrima approaches a guard with Lupe, and tries to persuade him to let the wyvern in

But it fails, of course

He goes to store her in the ruined quarter

He then removes her saddle and muzzle, and tells her to go roam free 

“Escrima starts going through puberty”

“Mom hasn’t been talking to me, she doesn’t understand!”

Lucas asks about selling the horses

Connie is approached by her cousin Aleister the sidler

She is nonplussed when she realizes who he is

He leads the gang through the mess of caravans to meet with the rest of her family

They’re Vistani

All of the caravans in front of the gates are here for the wake

Graham is confused. Is this Catarina?

No, seriously. What about Catarina?

Aren’t you a lady there?

Who’s Heidi?

 //Connie’s run through a lot of names over the years. “Adelheid” is the one her parents gave her.

After much jubilation, Connie’s mother Ida offers to get the party’s fortunes read

Fortunes are private! No metagaming! //To this day, nobody’s talked in or out of character about what they saw. 

Escrima breathes heavily

The futuuuureeeeeee

Heidi and her mother pay their respects at the pyre

The procession takes turns dropping their torches on the pyre

The fire cycles through the full spectrum of color

The music swells to deafening levels

The pyre explodes into sparks and is no more

Ida pulls Heidi aside to tell her origin story

Heidi was born in sigil

So was her brother

Anderson? 

No, ya dingus

At some point, the gods nearly entered sigil, and much destruction happened

Ida and Ingo were only able to rescue one of the two of them

The brother wasn’t a planetouched

Some demons were trying to track down their mother for... reasons...

Ingo left her some “things”

A key to a portal in sigil

Think of family by a wall near the hive

Watchu doin, Coy?

Eatin’ hot wings

The secret’s in the tomatoes, you know

Some Vistani beckon Graham over, and demand he remove his shirt

A Vistani man forcibly removes his shirt

Dude, nice tits

He tries to leave, but there’s too many boobs around to leave

Lucas goes for a flight on the broom

He does some blue angels shit

Heidi has a good heart to heart with her sister

Her sister got married to their cousin

Heidi talks about her crush on Graham, and Lou encourages her

Lou looted some liquor from their father. It’s some strong stuff, and they both pass out after a few glasses

Everyone gets totally wasted and passes out

Lucas drinks a suspicious beverage, and his brain goes to Elysium

The next morning, the Vistani have vanished, in a giant cloud of fog

The gang finds a horse trainer

He only wants to pay 150gp/horse

Graham knows enough about horses to know that’s bull

The merchant moves to 275gp/horse

He directs the gang towards the Merry Hunter inn for information

The gang wanders around the market

They reach Hides ‘n’ Stuff for a stable

The shopkeeper is a halfling

Lucas takes the opportunity to practice his halfling

This gets him a slight discount

It’s gonna be ready in 2 days

Coy visits a weapons shop for kicks

Apparently werewolves are common as mosquitoes in the north, and everything has silver in it

Coy sells the bucket of silver for 250gp

Lucas wanders into a magic shop

“Himo Fezin’s Scrolls, Scrolls, Scrolls”

Himo is a little stuck up

Lucas offers to write scrolls for a commission

Coy goes to a potion shop

She gets a greater health potion, some mistakes, a smoke bomb, and some sort of anti-werewolf silver slather

The gang goes looking for the inn horse man was talking about

It has a bath house! Amazing!

Dude, ovens!

They ask the Witha, the inkeeper, about William Teller

Apparently, he’s staying at the inn

Witha goes to get him

He’s confused about his guests

He’s also very hung over

They move to Teller’s room

They all sit on his bed

Escrima sits on Graham’s lap

They look like two little brown eggs from an aerial view //They both shave their heads

Graham produces the map

Teller begins scribbling on the map

Apparently it’s gonna take a few hours

Lucas visits the grand temple of Oghma

A well-dressed cleric comes over to talk to him

Apparently they know who Lucas is, and what Eva’s situation is

It poses a lot of questions to the order

Lucas walks into the light

He has a vision of flying over Neverwinter

Oghma appears to him

She asks him what he knows about current events

Proskur was entirely Gandalf’s fault

Eva was supposed to go there to stop him

Yeenoghu is coming back, and threatens the entirety of planescape

Lucas asks about the fortune he received from other Eva //The one related to Connie, not the one trapped in Lucas’ head

Apparently it’s not 100% reliable, but possible to change

He returns to reality

His clothes are smouldering

The cleric reminds him that talking to the divine is rare and important

The cleric wants a copy of The Complete Adventures of Lucas Valeroyant and also a copy of his spellbook

Including the bits with Greg! Fujoshi across the planes get nosebleeds!

Lucas gets a pretty swanky talisman of Oghma from the cleric

Teller says he’s done, and the results are deeply disturbing

END