#she had three cubs at the start of last year but lost them one by one over the summer 😭

[cultivating-wildflowers]

901 looks really good for this early in the season! (from Katmai's Brooks Lodge fb page)

[chthonic-mommy]

Imagine a Good Ending for Karlach

Larian hire me right now.

also my English is weak but I’m trying so please be kind I can’t REMAIN SILENT ANYMORE. it was a 3am unfiltered stream of consciousness written in language which isn’t my native.

So, the final battle. Karlach overheats. I don’t care how are they going to get rid of anything else - that’s not the topic. Then Tav (maybe with Gale’s help) uses extreme ice spell on Karlach, a few seconds before the end. This won’t let her die - but won’t let her live either. Tav just couldn’t tolerate the thought of Karlach dying. The battle ends. Everything’s over. Everyone is alive. But there is Tav - with swollen eyes, feeling like her own heart’s gonna explode instead of Karlach’s engine. And then there is The Body. Tav holds her head close to her chest, crying, but Karlach’s cold now, too cold. Gale tries to go talk with her, but both Astarion and Lae’zel ask him not to. Tav is overwhelmed and incredibly protective over The Body. She is a short and weak bard, but she will not let anyone touch Karlach, she’ll protect her like a mother lioness protects her cub.

She’ll take The Body home with her. Cold, with an ice crust on that place where soft light was coming from.

A year passed. Tav stayed in Baldurs Gate. Karlach’s dream was to help tiefling children who lost their parents. Karlach told Tav “All children should have proper housing. I didn’t have any opportunities when I was a child myself. It didn’t turn out good.”

So Tav opened a home school. She wasn’t as good with children as Karlach was, but she originated from aristocratic family, so she, as a woman of great knowledge, became a teacher for tiefling kids. They were stubborn at first and didn’t attend classes, but by time they started to listen. They began to help Tav with the garden, so they could eat stuff they grew together afterwards. Mattis remembered what Karlach told him - it’s easier to avoid battle and come out as winner out of any situation if you have a way with words. Mol was the last to stop leading her illegal lifestyle, influenced by others.

Tav taught them proper writing, counting, helped them with better clothing. She couldn’t give them everything - money won’t last forever. But she tried - tiefling kids had breakfast and dinner, they had a place to sleep, they were learning something.

Tav was numb. She stopped crying - work and children who needed her, all of that made her tougher. She was weak physically before - Karlach was always there for her to help. She remained weak, but could hardly afford that weakness now.

Three years have passed. Tav searched. Karlach’s body remained the same. There was a way to melt her heart, but she’ll die right after, Tav needed a way to melt her engine without damage, and a way to make it work. Gale told her one day “You need to move on, Tav, those children need you.” Tav answered him “She wanted to live more than any of us did. I’ll rip my own heart out, if needed. Help me or leave me alone.” She and Gale stopped talking for a year. Than he returned to her with loads of books and an apology.

Astarion didn’t like the whole idea of home school at first, but he still was coming to Tav as frequent as he could. He taught kids personal boundaries, cuz Tav didn’t want to be touched, so Astarion taught children that before a hug you need to ask first. Astarion never left Tav’s side, he supported her in her dream to bring Karlach back. He missed his barbarian friend too.

Five years have passed. Lae’zel and Shadowheart came to Tav’s place and brought their hatched gith child with them. Lae’zel also brought githyanki medicine, Shadowheart brought her prayers. Gale and Astarion came, bringing a fire artifact they’ve been searching for during the last year. Halsin and Will came, bringing their magic. Dammon was there as well. The whole group have got together again because everyone knew - if today’s stuff won’t work out, Tav will lose her life purpose. She needed their support.

It was the dark and cold night. Tav was nearly as cold as Karlach, tearless and calm. Gale started to dissolve the spell, the engine began to melt. Halsin was trying to support Karlach’s health, at least till the engine starts. And then everything went wrong. The engine started to heat like crazy, burning Karlach from inside, Dammon took his blacksmith tools and started to repair the engine right there. Tav took the fire artifact and put it into the engine. It burned through her gloves, it burned her hands heavily. Dammon took a step back.

Karlach’s body twisted in pain, she started to cough. She threw up. She coughed again, there was a black smoke, the smell of charcoal and burned flesh.

Everyone stood still, until Astarion ran for Karlach and hugged her tight.

“Damn, Fangs, I’m gonna vomit again…”

He looked nervous, his eyes twitched just like he was going to start crying, but he buried himself into that hug even more. Lae’zel came to them too, swearing, but hugged them with all her strength. Then was Halsin and his bear-like hugs. And Gale - who already started crying. Shadowheart and Will stood aside politely.

Karlach coughed uncontrollably, suffering from pain, laughed, not quite understanding what happened. For her it was just a moment - like she slept for a while. But everyone was different then she remembered. Gale had more wrinkles, Astarion never hugged her like this before, and Tav… looked like a pale imitation of herself. She stood silent, watching the hugs happening. Like she wasn’t there at all.

Everyone moved away, leaving Karlach sitting on the floor, still coughing but not that bad. Tav stayed on her place. She was afraid to believe it.

“Love…” Karlach started, and Tav whimpered, her heart skipped a beat. “…What’s with your hands? Did I burn you?”

Tav came closer, with tears dropping on the floor, breathing fast, looking like she’s gonna either have an anxiety attack or faint.

“Tav?” That’s was enough for her to burst out crying. She rushed into Karlach’s arms, crying like a baby, shivering.

Karlach’s started to kiss Tav’s face, trying to calm her down, caressed her hair. She worried so much and her engine was still unstable - it started heating again. Tav kissed her lips and felt them burning, like it was their first kiss.

“We need to stop, Tav, something’s wrong.”

“I’ll never stop! Karlach I missed you so fucking much! You were here, your body, cold and silent, I could touch you but there was no YOU in there! For five fucking years! I’ll rather burn myself than hold back now.”

Karlach looked at her in shock.

“Five years? How… How did you?..”

“I needed you to live. I did what I could.”

“That’s why your hands are burned?”

“That’s a small price.”

Karlach pulled her close, while her engine calmed down a little.

“And you waited for me for five years…unable to reach me… just like I waited to touch you… when we just met… it’s all crazy.”

“I was afraid I’d lose you. I’d die too.”

“Love…”

“Don’t tell me anything. It’s easy to get used to good things. When you lose them - you may never recover.”

Karlach kissed her again, kissed her burned lips, kissed her forehead, kissed the tears traces on her cheeks.

“We’ll talk about it later… I’m here, love, I’m here…”

That was the first night after the final battle which they spent happy, together. Tav was crying over and over, snuggling to Karlach and holding her hand tight, like she’ll disappear at any moment.

The next morning Karlach found out about kids. Most kids who she remembered were nearly young adults now. Mol and Mattis came early to help Tav with her house chores and ran to Karlach’s arms like they were her own kids.

“Karlach, we thought you dead!”

“Yeah, we thought mama Tav lied to us so we wouldn’t be sad about you!”

And Karlach hugged them close, but then pushed away to ask a question.

“Mama Tav?”

“Yeah, everyone calls her mom, it’s easier to explain and to remember.”

“She adopted EVERY child here?”

“Not really, but we’re still hers, I guess. She helped us all this years.”

They told Karlach about their jobs, about little ones who came when Karlach was already “away”. When little ones, those who stayed at Tav’s place, woke up, they rushed to see what’s happening and why this place is so crowded.

Mol said: “Listen here, little bastards, THAT’S Karlach we told you stories about! She finally came back!”

And then there were lots of “wow”, “she’s as tall as I thought!”, “the light from her chest is real, see?” and “are you mama Tav’s wife? she wouldn’t tell us”. Karlach was delighted.

She got to meet Lae’zel’s and Shadowheart’s baby gith, and couldn’t get enough of him.

She and Tav made use of every free minute to speak. Tav started to bloom like she used to - colors came back to her. They kissed again and again to the point when Astarion started to joke dirty about putting Karlach back to sleep.

When Karlach asked Dammon, how’s her engine, he told her he doesn’t know how long will it last. They didn’t know anything at all.

Lae’zel always asked Tav before, why does she read so much, isn’t she already one of the smartest women in Faerun?

Tav always answered that the main point of learning is that you never stop. Science has no answers, you learn and then you understand that you know nothing and then you learn again. And that’s an endless path, you’re never stagnated. Lae’zel was fascinated by that.

Tav answered Karlach’s question about her engine just as expected.

“If it breaks, we’ll find a way to heal you again. And again. That’s the never-ending path of knowledge…”

“Knew you’ll say that.”

“So why did you ask then?”

“Just wanted to hear it aloud. It’s strange to know… that now I’m finally free. What should I do, Tav?”

“You can start at helping me with our homeschooled gang. I’m slowly getting burnt out. Mal and Mattis are helpful, but I can’t trust them with everything and they don’t have to be here all the time.”

“Understood…” Karlach stopped thinking about her future after Dammon for the first time told her that her engine can’t be entirely fixed. She couldn’t imagine someone going this far to bring her back. But Tav did it.

Karlach was free. Finally free of Avernus, free of her past, nearly free of death (Tav made her believe in that). She was surrounded by children and her friends were all here to welcome her back. Tav was here - with her hands and lips burned and painful, but refusing to leave her no matter what. Sweet Tav, who seemed so little in comparison to Karlach. Her savior.

“Gods,” Karlach smiled bright. ”Love, it feels so good to be alive.”

[tonkinese-lion]

Oh, Little Lion Cub, Of My Blood

"The Rook and the Lion" - Part 1

Warnings: Kidnapping, minor violence, Victor Rookwood (a warning in itself)

Attempting to write again after many years, and wanted to do so for my baby Gryffindor OC Victoria Everleigh Adler, as well as Rookwood who was criminally underused in the game. Let's see what happens when he crosses paths with an anxious, little lion cub and comes to a realization. I’m not a native English speaker but I hope you still enjoy it. ✨🦁

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

Victoria was running, that's all she could think about. Both her legs and throat were burning, and her red house-fanatic robes and lion stamped scarf were both tossing about behind her. Her heart shaped locket was swinging violently from side to side, while her long hair blowing in the wind was completely dishevelled and almost coming undone in the back. But she couldn't care less. Not with the dark wizards and Ashwinders right on her heels.

And him. Rookwood. The bloody bastard. Of course, he had to be there too.

As soon as she had caught sight of him in Hogsmeade, loitering by the entrance at the bridge, she turned tail and ran back in the opposite direction. In her hurry she forgot to put her hood on, and an Ashwinder had unfortunately recognized her face and by her robes and quickly alerted his comrades and Rookwood himself. Suddenly Victoria found herself running faster than she ever had to in her life.

"Why does it always have to be me?" she muttered to herself.

If only she had been accompanied by Professor Fig... or by a certain Slytherin like she had been last week. She'd take on a troll again any day over this.

-------

1 week earlier

They had deliberately sent that troll after her. Ranrok AND Rookwood. A distraction. All so that Rookwood could get to her.

Victoria got lost in thought, butterbeer in hand, the sweet taste of still lingering in her mouth, as she sat with Sebastian in The Three Broomsticks.

"Glad to see you two escaped injury." Sirona said warmly, the relief evident in her voice.

"Thanks to this one. Single-handedly took down a troll!" Sebastian exclaimed, a smile on his face as he observed her.

She smiled shyly and fiddled with the heart locket hanging around her neck in embarrassment. Her cheeks were probably similar in colour to that of a tomato at this point. She wasn't used to praise. She certainly never received any at the orphanage.

But she found she quite liked the feeling.

"Is that so? Well done." Sirona said as she threw Victoria a friendly smile.

She blushed while looking down, not knowing what to do with herself. She thanked Sirona for the beverage and took a big gulp, while only half listening to the conversation. God, this stuff was heavenly, she thought distractedly. Reminded her of sweets she had growing up.

"Something's not right. The only brutes we usually have to deal with are-"

Suddenly behind her, Victoria heard the door slam open. She nearly choked on her beer, the sound startling her.

"Was that Lodgok I saw leaving just now."

Victoria froze at the sound of that voice, breath getting stuck in her lungs. He had found them. She looked up at Sebastian, her panic probably evident in her eyes. Sebastian returned a reassuring but uncertain half-smile her way, clearly not unaffected either.

"Sirona will have our backs." he muttered quietly, trying his best to reassure her.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you, Theophilus."

"Come now. No need for theatrics." the voice drawled.

She could feel her hands starting to shake as they held onto her beverage for dear life.

"I'm only here for this one anyway." he continued, the rumbling voice taunting her.

Victoria knew the snake was speaking directly to her. Challenging her. She wiped the dread of her face as best she could and slowly turned, getting of her seat. As her eyes locked onto his, she felt herself shudder with how intensely the man was focusing on her, practically as if the two of them were the only ones present in the room. Not even the troll had managed to make her this uncomfortable.

"My friend is enjoying a well-earned butterbeer." Sirona said with an impassivity that didn't match the situation.

How in the world was Sirona able to keep completely calm?!

"I only want a quick word." Rookwood’s steely gaze was dead set on Victoria, nonchalantly waving her away, while waltzing his way over.

Victoria seized up at the motion. Her hand instantly went to her newly acquired wand and pointed it towards him. Everyone else did the same. She could still feel the anxiety and adrenaline from fighting the troll earlier, as her heartbeat became rapid again.

Sebastian pushed her behind himself in a protective manner, his wand too now firmly pointing towards the two brutes.

Right, Sebastian was here with her, she reminded herself. Everyone in The Three Broomsticks, in fact, had their wands pointing towards the unwelcome guests. AND she was also able to get through the whole bank heist and Ranrok with Professor Fig in one piece.

Everything was going to be fine.

"I said, my friend is busy." Sirona stood her ground. Firmly.

He scoffed, loudly, looking about the room. "One would think you'd all had enough bloodshed for one day."

His cold calculating grey-blue eyes once again settled themselves onto Victoria. This time, however, she stood her ground and mirrored his own glare. His eyes narrowed, suddenly, as they found something of interest.

"Where did you get that?" Rookwood suddenly snapped at her, voice dangerously low, while, rather rudely, pointing at her.

Her face scrunched up in confusion. What?

She looked down and realized what he was referring to - The golden heart shaped locket she always wore. She protectively wrapped her hand around the piece of jewellery.

"I do not believe that to be any of your business" she coldly replied with her head held high.

The motion did not go unnoticed by him, as he eyed the way her hand entwined around it. Rookwood weighted his options, but was aware of how severely outnumbered he was. Not today. Harlow beside him was getting impatient.

He sparred her another glance, eyes narrowing while contemplating her, as if seizing her up.

I didn't make sense. Why would her heart locket possibly be of any interest to Rookwood of all people? The locket that was the last reminder she had of... her.

No one dared to move. She, too, didn't dare moving a muscle, except, she couldn't stop the palpable sneer appearing on her face, while waiting for him to make his move. He returned a Cheshire grin her way as he and his right-hand man were exiting. His look told her everything she needed to know.

This isn't over.

Arms wide in an exaggerating, animated manner, he added smugly:

"Can't drink butterbeer forever."

The remaining taste of butterbeer turned sour on Victoria's tongue.

-------

She needed to find a Floo Flame and quickly. She wasn't familiar enough with Hogsmeade yet to remember where to find them all.

She quickly slipped into a small alley, and hid behind a building, almost stumbling over her legs in the process, while pressing her back against the wall.

She hoped no one saw her. As she desperately tried calming her out of control breathing, Victoria heard shouting and the indicatory sounds of someone running by.

Good, they didn't see her. She had to admit though, wearing a Hogwarts robe with a giant Gryffindor lion on the back, it was certainly not one of her best ideas. No more wearing school robes in Hogsmeade.

As she scanned the building behind her, she realized she was at the back entry to Gladrags Wizardwear. That meant Hogsmeade Square and a Floo Flame was just around the corner. If she could make it to the Floo Flame right across from Honeydukes in the Square, then she would be within the safety of Hogwarts again. She was supposed to meet with Professor Fig later today too.

Victoria put her face into her hands and took a deep unsteady breath. How had her life turned upside down so quickly?

She had been so excited when she received her letter to attend Hogwarts, so very excited when Professor Fig came to personally pick her up, the two of them so close already despite only having practiced her magic with him for a couple of months.

The prospect of finally leaving that cursed place of a nightmare called an orphanage behind, of going on at adventure and using magic. Magic. For the first time in a long time, she had felt hopeful.

Oh, how quickly that illusion shattered. On her first day it was the dragon attack, last week the troll attack and now she was the prime target of a bunch of no-do-good witches and wizards.

Lovely, just what she needed.

She almost missed the orphanage. Almost.

It seems as if Rookwood had been waiting for an opportunity to catch her on her own. And she waltzed right into his hands.

She checked to see if the coast was clear. No Ashwinders. No Rookwood insight.

Now was her chance.

She ran as fast as her legs would allow her, first around the corner and then straight forward along the square. She almost tumbled into a passer-by and apologized profusely about 10 times, then passed the statue of Hengist of Woodcroft and rounded the corner with the tree until...

She let out an audible gasp. No no no-

Standing right beside the Floo Flame, patiently waiting with hands behind his back, was the one person she had hoped not to see. She immediately raised her wand.

"Now, now my dear, calm down. No need for that." Victor Rookwood drawled deeply; hand held up as if trying calm a scared animal. He must have anticipated she was going to use the Floo Flames. Blast it.

He was grinning, madly, like cat finally having caught the mouse in the trap, walking ever so slowly towards her. For every step he took towards Victoria, she took a step back. He was enjoying it, the panic on her face.

"I'm afraid you're all on your own out here. Just a little lion cub all alone, away from her pack. Hmm, some might argue it makes the cub very easy prey, wouldn't you agree?" he spoke, his trademark Cheshire grin back on his face, with preying eyes surveying her so intently, like was she his next meal.

Victoria felt her breathing pick-up, while both of her hands were clutching her wand to the point of her knuckles turning white. He could attack any second.

Basic spells were certainly not going to help her. Where was that strange, ancient magic she used on the troll? Victoria felt her breathing was now, borderline, on the verge of becoming a full-blown panic attack, the running she did earlier not having done her any favours.

Almost, as if on cue, he reached out for her with his wand with intent to cast.

In her panic she felt something strange happening inside her. Like a flash, quickly speeding past him, she dashed in a ball of light. She stumbled for a second after. What in the world was that?! How did she...

The Floo Flame!

While steadying herself she didn't waste any time thinking further about what just happened and made a run for the emerald flame. Finally, back to Hogwarts.

She suddenly heard a loud whoosh behind her. Wait no-

"AHHH" she suddenly let out a scream as her scarf and hood were forcefully pulled back swiftly, her along with it. The bastard had dissaperated right behind her. What a cheater.

"Oh no you don't little lion" she heard the giveaway chuckle of Rookwood. With her back against his front, a pair of arms surrounded her from both sides, one around her middle and arms, the other holding a wand to her neck, keeping most of her completely immobile.

"You most certainly are full of surprises, aren't you, my dear?" he chuckled right behind her. She did not need to see his face to know he was probably smiling like a madman.

Immobile or not, wand to her neck or not, it didn't stop her from going absolutely berserk in her panic. The adrenaline providing her with a new-found energy, she kicked her legs in every direction, trying to free herself from her assailant.

"LET GO OF ME, YOU CONNIVING COCKROACH, YOU BAS-"

Distracted in her own struggle, she suddenly almost fell to her feet as the arms surrounding her had abruptly let go, only to spin her around, now face to face, and swiftly seizing both her thin wrists in his, in a crushing and almost painful hold.

Before she could even think about using the wand still in her hand, he beat her to it, putting so much pressure onto her wrist to the point of her having to let go of it. Victoria couldn't stop the whimper that escaped her.

She heard the clatter of her wand falling to the ground beside her.

"Tsk, tsk, language, my dear. Now, let's try this again, shall we? Where did you acquire that locket of yours from, hmm?" he demanded, the smug bastard observing, with great amusement, her fruitless attempts at freeing herself.

She finally looked up at him, starring right into his eyes, her panic completely forgotten. She felt something else inside her growing. Now she was getting furious.

"I already told you. None of your bloody business" she fumed through gritted teeth.

She attempted again to pull herself away from his steel grasp, but to not avail.

"Oh, believe me little lion..." he said through gritted teeth, and then brought them both face to face, "...it IS my business." His tone had shifted, the finality in voice clear. He wanted an answer.

Both of them were then alerted to footsteps.

"Rookwood, let Miss Adler go this very instant." a feminine voice rang out, the anger clear in the owners shouting. Officer Singer stood not too far from him on his left, wand pointed directly at his side. other onlookers had joined from a distance too, probably curious about the commotion going on.

Rookwood immediately stilled, the glare he had momentarily given Officer Singer at her interruption turning from annoyance into disbelief. His gaze resuming its place onto Victoria instantly.

"Adler?" he faltered quietly, blue eyes searching her face for something she couldn't quite comprehend.

"I said to let her go! She's just a student." Officer Singer kept persisting. Why wasn't she stopping him?! Rookwood could dissaperate along with her at any second!

It seemed for a moment his hold had, unknowingly to him, faltered just a bit, but it was reason enough for Victoria to resume her thrashing and take matters into her own hands.

In one big motion she tugged with all she her might, freeing one of her arms, and tried concentrating. Due to her struggling Rookwood was also brought out of his reverie.

Victoria thought back hard to the time where she and Sebastian clashed with the troll. The ancient magic; it had happened so naturally back then. She had sensed something strange happening inside her due to Sebastian being in danger, and cast her spell like was it the most normal thing. Only now, she was in danger.

She felt it growing inside her again. Victoria cheered internally, and with one efficient move of her hand, a flash of light happened and Rookwood was sent flying backwards, rolling a small distance away from her, groaning as he did so.

However, in the process of that she too ended up tumbling down backwards in the process. And wouldn't it just be her luck that the rest of Rookwood’s goons showed up at that moment.

Victoria hastily retrieved her wand, but it was, once again, too late. Before she had any chance to make her move, they had her, as well as Officer Singer, surrounded from all sides with wands directed towards them both.

Now what was she supposed to do?

Rookwood, having just pulled himself of the ground, carefully brushing the dust of himself, did not seem particularly angry at the display of magic she used on him. Compared to before he almost seemed... hesitant to engage her now.

"Well then, I believe this concludes our quarrel for now, wouldn't you agree?" he shrugged. The hidden warning in his words didn't go unnoticed by her. He wanted her to give up. Or else...

Well, if he wasn't going to kill her for this now, then she had no doubt he would later. This was Rookwood after all. She found it did not matter then, and she might as well go down fighting. She was dead either way.

She raised her wand again, but before she ever got to open her mouth, she was struck by something from behind.

She never felt her body meet the ground before everything went black.

Oh, bugger.

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

Oh, the juicy drama is about to begin. Rookwood seems to have realized something. What could it possibly be? *wink wink*👀

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know if you want more. I'd love to write a continuation of this ✌🦁

For a bit of context, my OC Victoria Everleigh Adler has anxiety (if that wasn't obvious yet), grew up at an orphanage most her life after losing her mother and sister, and has trouble believing in herself as well as her abilities. I just thought to myself ‘what if the protagonist had anxiety’, and thus Victoria was born lol.

Anyway, I thought it'd be interesting to have someone a bit shyer, introverted and reserved compared to the protagonist of the game. Victoria will come out of her shell eventually. ✨

[arecomicsevengood]

Matt Wagner’s GRENDEL

Late last year I got the urge to read a great deal more of Matt Wagner’s Grendel comics than I had before, basically precipitated by two things. One, a few that I had read were really good. The first Batman/Grendel crossover is surprisingly dense, balancing a great deal of characters and plot threads by having them run in parallel. A two part story that ran in issues 16 and 17 of the Comico series, initially brought to my attention by Frank Santoro talking them up, is maybe even better. Two, it has recently struck me that many of the creator-owned comics Dark Horse was publishing in the nineties were seemingly under-read or under-appreciated: The Frank Miller/Dave Gibbons Martha Washington series being maybe the most prominent example of a comic by major creators that’s basically never discussed. It is very easy to be an “art comics” reader and never think about Hellboy and Concrete, even if you’re the type that checks out older superhero comics fairly regularly. If you like Alan Moore or any of the British comics writers who worked extensively at Vertigo or 2000 AD, you might have avoided the works from the publisher that spent the nineties being associated with licensed comics. This also would’ve entailed missing a lot of manga, but people were proud of their ignorance of that world of comics too.

If you have never read Grendel, or are only peripherally aware of it, the main thing you should know is how weird it is. It begins with a short miniseries about a guy named Hunter Rose who’s a brilliant criminal mastermind who dresses up in a mask and calls himself Grendel. This original three-issue miniseries is from 1983 and has never been reprinted, and is basically dismissed by its author.

The ongoing Grendel series that started coming out a few years later begins with a lady, Christine Spar, who has written a book about Grendel, the criminal mastermind who adopted her mom. Through the course of the first year of the series, she begins dressing up in the mask and running afoul of the police. It slowly becomes apparent that Grendel is not so much a mask, a character one plays, but a demonic spirit of aggression that possesses people, destroying them, but in the process bolstering its own myth and therefore increasing in power. There is an omnibus called Devil’s Legacy which follows several people as they become possessed by this spirit. I am pretty sure the last few issues in this story leap hundreds of years into the future.

That said, I’m not certain what the omnibus editions contain because I tracked down older printings of the story. Comico went bankrupt after printing forty issues of Grendel, and while Matt Wagner owned the character and was able to continue the story at Dark Horse, the original color film was lost, and the recolored versions of the first twelve issues of the series in particular looked egregious to me, based on the scans I had seen online, compared to the very eighties, sorta Patrick Nagel, style of the flat coloring that seemed to match the work of the artists, the Pander Brothers. I assume the Devil’s Legacy omnibus contains recolored versions of the first 23 issues of the Comico issues.

Mireault recolors the story, drawn by Matt Wagner, from issues 16 and 17 I found so appealing. The initial color palette is extremely limited, and some people writing into the letter column complained. It is extremely cool to see the editor Diana Schutz explain that the style is influenced by the work of Chantal Montellier and Alex Varenne. One thing that’s fascinating about the comic to me is how much it is in dialogue with the larger world of comics, although perhaps not in ways that would’ve been apparent at the time: Joe Matt colors issues, Seth (circa Mister X) writes in, Wagner was doing cover paintings for First Comics’ Lone Wolf And Cub reprints after Miller left. It doesn’t feel so hermetically sealed within a self-flattering world as the way comics often do now.

By issue 24, the series takes place in the far future, and I found this chunk of the series a bit of a slog, due in the part to the art of John K. Snyder, which is extremely not my thing. Also, it’s science-fiction story taking place hundreds of years in the future that is actually about the era in which it is written, and its timescale for complete societal collapse seems way off. It’s also largely about religious corruption, but within a fictional world where the Catholic Church holds a vast amount of sway, this seems like an extremely dated concern at this point in time. Also, and I should’ve mentioned this earlier, one of the major ongoing plot threads in Grendel, that nonetheless doesn’t come up all the time, is the presence of vampires.

Wagner continues to experiment as a writer and as a storyteller. The last chunk of the Comico storyline is drawn entirely by Tim Sale, but with each issue split into two different storytelling approaches. One relays a vast amount of exposition with illustration meant to inspired by Japanese woodcuts, the other is more traditional comics about vampires. I like Tim Sale’s work, and it’s nice to see it in a context other than those blockbuster Jeph Loeb collaborations. In keeping with the book’s sense of the wider world of comics, the choices of artistic collaborators, often near the start of their careers, is pretty interesting.

That becomes more pronounced once the series enters the nineties, and Wagner starts having other people write miniseries under the Grendel Tales banner. Ho Che Anderson, Teddy Kristiansen, and Paul Grist all draw chunks. I love Paul Grist’s work, and even if the story (written by Steve Seagle) is not as good as the work he would write for himself, it looks good with Bernie Mireault providing painted color, and there seems to be enough of an understanding of how cartooning works to know that he should letter the comic as well.

The letter columns remain interesting, both in terms of who writes in (Chris Pitzer, future founder of Adhouse Books) and in the addition of recommended reading from Wagner and Schutz: We get recommendations for The Batman Adventures by Kelley Puckett and Mike Parobeck, Paul Pope’s The Ballad Of Doctor Richardson, David Lapham’s Stray Bullets, Acme Novelty Library, Jason Lutes’ Jar Of Fools, Joe Sacco’s Palestine. Schutz says that Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett would make a good Grendel comic.

And the whole Dark Horse run commences with Pat McEown drawing a ten-issue series called Grendel: War Child, with initial covers by Simon Bisley. This is a chunk that is fairly easy to read, action-movie in its beats and approach to an issue. At this point in the story, the far futre, the Grendel of the title is a robot, running across the planet. This is the last thing Wagner writes before the Grendel Tales series begins in earnest. McEown would write and draw Grendel Tales: Homecoming, with coloring and lettering by Dave Cooper. Dave Cooper’s Weasel series would later host McEown’s short story “No Escape,” but McEown mostly works as a storyboard artist, although his graphic novel Hair Shirt was released in 2010 to some acclaim. I haven’t read it, but do think he made a strong Grendel artist.

Grendel, like Hellboy, attracted very strong artists to work with an artist they admire, and nowhere is this more clear than in a series of anthologies published using a black, white, and red color scheme. The red, in most cases, adds very little, but basically every mainstream-ish comics artist whose work I appreciate pops up for a turn. John Paul Leon, Cliff Chiang, Kelley Jones, Duncan Fegredo, Guy Davis kick in an eight-pager. All of this work is collected now in Grendel Omnibus Volume One: Hunter Rose, filled with retellings and fleshing out of the character’s initial iteration now left to languish. There is also a lengthy miniseries, Behold The Devil, from 2008, drawn by Matt Wagner collected within that volume. This story concerns Hunter Rose performing an exorcism to confront the creature that possesses him, and seeing a glimpse of the future -- all of the stories and volumes I’ve outlined above -- in a piece that feels like it’s maybe stolen from the conclusion of From Hell.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that Grendel Tales also brought the Croatian creators Darko Macan and Edvin Biukovic to American comics, with Biukovic lettering his work for maximum impact. This story was widely acclaimed, garnered its creators Eisner awards and work on other properties. I would need to check the exact timing, but this might’ve been what led Macan to work with his countryman Igor Kordey on American comics as well. This also might’ve been the first Grendel comic I read, having been talked-up as self-contained, but the mythos is vast and I am due for a reread of it.

After War Child (and a series of back-up stories by Matt Wagner that ran in Grendel Tales) there was a prose novel, Past Prime, written by Greg Rucka, that continues to move the timeline forward, that I believe is collected in the fourth Omnibus volume. There was also just recently a series called Devil’s Odyssey Wagner wrote and drew and had his son color, that is now in a separate hardcover volume. I haven’t read either of these, nor have I read Wagner’s recent stories where the Hunter Rose Grendel meets The Shadow.

The comic is far too inconsistent to be considered a masterpiece, and also too vast for casual engagement. I am writing this post in part because it feels insane that I read it at all, despite most of it being very good. It’s a genre work too challenging to be appreciated as straight-forward fun. It is, like The Maxx, both confusing from an adult perspective but likely life-changing to a teen. (One letter comes from a kid who says he started reading it at nine and is thirteen now and wishes the comic didn’t have a label that said “Not For Children” on it because some retailers won’t sell it to him: That kid rules, but I also really like the “not for children” label.) There is a small drawing of Grendel in the CF sketchbook Sediment and it is easy to see him vibing on the comic: When considered in the abstract, it is plainly very cool.

[ohpollenpowder]

So first on the block is Tarsicia! So here is what she looked like as of Personal Story! Didn't have her Olmakhan horns at the time, so these are the horns she had then. I tried to use skins that we had at the time, didn't bother doing that with colors though. On to the information!!!

She's a run-away cub from a Flame Legion outpost, doesn't hide her origin either, so she had a slightly more difficult time in the fahrar—the Blood Legion took her in at Blood Keep. Sargeim Ghostweld took care of her wounds—countless times—and eventually, she started giving back as good as she got. She got an addition to her reputation as being a Flame Legion cub, she was a bit of a pyromaniac herself. All unintentional, mind, when she got highly emotional, her Guardian flames would burst forth and take little heed in sparing her target.

Ended up at the Black Citadel to further her lessons as a Guardian, to try and get some control over her emotional state as well. At this time, her point of view of the world was very black-and-white; not so much in the good-vs-evil sense—though that is in there somewhere—but in the traditional Charr vs Humans and the Three Legions vs Flame. Think…kind of like a Paladin?

Got Rytlock's attention in the same way as story—the fight with Duke Barradin's ghost; the Ghost warband lost fewer members than the majority that was lost in story, however. Vuddat Ghosthammer, Ovidus Ghostreave, Zilol Ghostblade and Dolabella Ghostsoul were the ones she had the most interactions with. Out of the four, she got along best with the old and grumpy Ovidus, a Warrior and their Legionnaire.

The fight with the Duke left Ovidus gravely injured, so much so that he was "forced" to retire—he wouldn't spread it around, but he was ready to retire anyway. He chose Tarsicia as his replacement; Vuddat almost instantly challenged her for the role, to the death as his honor dictated. He was five years her senior, more experienced, and Ovidus' second-in-command at the time, so he had thought he was a shoo-in. Rytlock oversaw the fight, Tarsicia fought him to the point where Vuddat surrendered, and because of her morals (and not wanting to lose more bandmates), she turned her back on him to head to the side of the ring. He—of course—attacked her back and her Guardian flames completely engulfed him.

If we're being honest, the first time Tarsicia met the others in Lion's Arch, she was very skeptical—more so at old bridges being mended. But she also didn't care for any of them at first glance, very "judging the book by the cover" of her. Izar and Oiba were both very aloof, keeping to themselves. Nilo and Emrys were already talking up a storm with one another. And Nicoletta seemed to be a mixture of both.

She met Nicoletta again when they met up with their mentor—a group mentorship under Forgal. They found out after his death that Forgal had requested the both of them despite the fact it would double his workload. Nicoletta, she found, was actually shy and a bookworm but chose the Vigil to help her assertiveness and confidence. Tarsicia took her under her wing for that bit.

The dungeons were how she slowly got to know the others, though she did end up getting to know Nilo more quickly; twins, she found, were often attached at the hip. Nilo was the more confident/loud twin, but he had the problem of being overly confident as well. (Hint to his missing hand.) Izar, as it was, just held himself back out of fear of further abandonment. Raven eventually convinced him to try. Emrys and she bonded over professions, believe it or not, seeing as he was endlessly curious about her Guardian abilities. Oiba was the last she got to know—another shy sort—seeing as she mostly socialized with her pets when her nose wasn't buried in her research. But one of the things she was researching—and Tarsicia agreed to help with—is Guardian flames and how do they choose what they burn.

Claw Island was…hard. At least leaving it was. Izar and Emrys both had to hold her back as their mentors pulled the doors shut behind them. She wanted to go back and fight with them, not leave them. Still, she recognized their courage and sacrifice. Nicoletta often used the excuse that she was sad and needed comfort to curl up in Tarsicia's paws, but they both knew that it was Tarsicia that needed the comfort.

Trahearne… She had some misgivings of. He was a Necromancer, why couldn't he have done more in Orr. But when she saw the chaos of a fully-stocked, "natural" Risen environment, she quickly understood the magnitude of their sheer numbers. Still, it took until the cleansing for her to have true respect for him.

Zhaitan felt like a sigh of relief once the Elder Dragon fell, like they had been given more time. (lol) This was the first push of magic that hit them, and it affected them all like a terrible cold after the fight. Tarsicia was left with an awareness of her friends'—they're friends at this point, not yet a guild—locations and general state of mind. Helpful, but she didn't reveal this until Heart of Thorns when they got separated. As time went on—and more magic was absorbed—she's been able to add connections.

But that's jumping in time! So we'll stop with the ending of Personal Story for now. More details will be added in here and there, of course, once we have everyone to the end we'll start again and go on with Living World Season One stuff!

[heynikkiyousofine]

Inuyasha Bingo Bonanza 2022

Home Is Where the Pack Is

read on ao3

Boisterous laughter filled the clearing, smiling faces lit up by the fire, as drinks and food were passed around. Even though the sun had set hours ago, summer was in full swing, the sound of cicadas humming in the distance. Hogs and deer were roasting above the flames, the tender meat ready to fall off the bone, while giant jugs of sake left them feeling warm and fuzzy. It’s the perfect night for a celebration.

Blue eyes glanced around at his tribe, the wolves chomping on bones and many of the demons joked with each other as two packs joined together. At the head of their den sat Koga and Ayame, Prince and Princess of the Eastern Ookami. As he sat next to his brother Hakkaku, Ginta finally felt whole.

“Hey Hak, can you believe we are finally celebrating those lovebirds' mating ceremony? I mean, three years ago, we were following Koga around as he hunted down Naraku, avenging our brothers’ deaths.”

“I know!” Hakkuku shoveled another bite of hog in his mouth, wiping the juice dripping down his chin before letting out a belch, “Who knew we would be back here, sitting with our pack after all the shit that went down?”

“Remember that time we ran into Inuyasha’s scary brother?” He shivered, the flash of Sesshoamru’s icy glare appearing across his mind.

“Dude, I know! I thought he was gonna kill us!”

“But did you hear that Kagome married Inuyasha? She came back after being gone for so long.”

“Our sister got mated?! That’s so great for them, we should go visit sometime.” Hakkaku waved the leg in the air as a couple of their brothers fought over some dead carcass nearby. Taking a swig of whatever the next jug they were passing around, Ginta nodded, agreeing. I wonder what it would have been like if Kagome had mated Koga? Then she would truly be our sister, but anyone could see how much she loved the hanyou. Except for the two of them, of course.

“I still can’t believe that she and Inuyasha took out Naraku the way they did. I mean, I know they were powerful, but that demon was walking hell.” Standing up, Ginta held up the pigskin as everyone quieted.

“As we are celebrating our Prince Koga’s mating to the beautiful Ayame, I want to also remember our fallen brothers. Naraku and his incarnations were responsible for the slaughter of our family, but they have been avenged. Tonight, when we laugh with each other, we should always remember the ones before us, the ones who gave their lives so we could have ours. ” He finished his speech, his words echoing around him.

“That was the sweetest thing ever.” Ayame wiped a lone tear, while Koga stood, holding his own hand up for silence as thunderous applause surrounded them.

“Ginta is correct. Over the last few years, we have lost the people we cared most about, we have helped defeat the darkest evil that has ever walked this earth, and for finding the one we will spend the next lifetime with.” He smiled, sliding his hand in Ayame’s outstretched one. “I couldn’t have done it without the two I’ve known since we were cubs, the two I’m proud to call my brothers.”

He knew the tears were coming, but wasn’t prepared for the waterfall of emotions that this night would bring, especially as his twin leapt up and hugged him with his own outburst. Everyone cheered and clapped louder, passing around more food and drinks as the night went on. Just as Koga and Ayame were about to head inside to start trying for cubs of their own, he pulled them aside, a light blush on his cheeks.

“I know I’m not one to get emotional and shit, but seriously, I wouldn’t have made it through the last decade without the two of you.” He smiled, his fangs glinting in the fading moonlight.

“We would follow you to the ends of the earth if we had to.” Hakkaku slung his arm over Ginta’s shoulders, his body heavy.

“We’re brothers.” Ginta shrugged, refusing to become a bundle of tangled emotions for the second time that night, “Wherever you are is home.”

“Ya know, the next celebration will be one of your mating ceremonies.” Koga bursted into laughter, running toward the cave’s entrance, a spark in his eyes. “Though I don’t know who would mind sharing with the other, but I’ll be front and center, cheering ya on.”

tag list

@blairex ; @mamabearcat ; @enchantedink-ag ; @splendentgoddess ; @mandirox89 ; @sailorlolo ; @mustardyellowsunshine ; @hny-moroha ; @knittingknots ; @yukinon-writes ; @clearwillow ; @keichanz ; @serial-doubters-club ; @malditamigs ; @zelink-inukag ; @shinidamachu ; @bonny2323 ; @banksdelivers ; @that-one-nerdy-gal ; @sarahk21 ; @dchelyst ; @anisaanisa ; @lavendertwilight89 ; @otaku-108 ; @sailorbabydoll92 ; @inukagbot ; @queerkagome ; @bluehawaiicat ; @chit-a-to ; @liz8080 ; @lightmidnight ; @shikonstar ; @soliska ; @feudalconnection ; @inu-mothership

[the-iceni-bitch]

A Birthday Gift

Pairing: Nomad!Steve x fem-Reader

Word Count: 5665 (I know, I know)

Summary:  The nomad crew have been holed up with you for months and tensions are high. Nat, being an unrepentant pot stirrer, decides to arrange a pleasant birthday surprise for you.

Warnings: Explicit language, explicit sexual content, explicit descriptions of consensual violence, SMUT! PORN! 18+!

A/N: Hello my fellow hoes and sluts! My birthday is today and it has me in some kind of mood, so I hunkered down and blasted out this fic. @stargazingfangirl18​‘s lovely Tree Trimming fic has my holes quivering for some hot Nomad sex, so please sit back and enjoy my birthday present to all of you!

You had always hated your birthday.

Fortunately, Nat was completely willing to take your mind off it with a good sparring match. The snow was falling heavy outside of the large windows on the side of the gym, but the minor exertion was keeping you pleasantly warm. You’d been on the mat for almost an hour, but you still couldn’t seem to get your mind to focus.

Of course, it didn’t help when Rogers came in, glowering, to work the bags, giving you a wary look before he settled into his routine.

Nat and the rest of the team had been with you for almost 3 months now. When she had called you after the events in Berlin, to arrange a potential safehouse for her and her compatriots, you of course offered to have them join you at your isolated lodge on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. You were as off the grid as they come, and with the help of your Wakandan friends, still able to provide the modern creature comforts you were sure they had become accustomed to at the Avengers compound.

You had missed Nat, after all. It had been almost 7 years since you last saw her, but the grin she gave you when they landed in the early Autumn made it seem like she’d never left. You got to know everyone else over the months as well. Sam and you bonded quickly after you introduced him to Aquavit and spent the next 2 days helping him slowly move back to solid foods. Vision of course took everything that happened in stride, and while you couldn’t say you were friends, you had developed a mutual respect for each other. Wanda took longer to warm up (understandable after everything she had been through) but when you told her about the time you had spent in Sokovia, she quickly came out of her shell, and the two of you would often stay up through the night reminiscing about your homes. Even Barnes had softened once he got a look at your weapons room and you took it out to the Fjord to test out some next gen tech Shuri had sent you.

The only problem was Rogers.

No matter what you tried, it seemed that every time you got near him his hackles went up. You could feel him watching you constantly, and whenever you met his gaze, he would simply clench his jaw and stalk off like a cat.

“He’s just overprotective.” Nat always said. “He’s a big papa bear protecting his cubs. He’ll warm up.”

You snapped back to the present as Vis and Wanda wandered into the gym chatting idly. She had convinced him to join her out in the snow for a brisk hike, and was now laughing lightly as she brushed a dusting of soft flakes off his shoulders. Bucky was working his way down from the weights level, patting his neck dry with a towel. You heard the pounding on the bags stop, and glanced over to see Rogers unwrapping his hands as he stared at you, but this time he didn’t break eye contact when you met his gaze.

Those deep blue eyes disarmed you, and you lost your concentration for a split second. Nat seized her opportunity and crawled up your back, wrapping he legs around your neck and shoulders to try to get you into a submissive position. You tried to regain your composure, but your instincts kicked in for just a moment, and when you drove yourself back into the mat to break her hold, you landed quite a bit harder than you intended and thought you heard a snap as she gasped out in pain.

“Shit, Nat you good?” You scrambled onto your knees and looked at your friend with concern. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Rogers striding over, jaw clenched and brow furrowed. Vis and Wanda stopped their conversation to glance over and Bucky moved quickly to intercept his best friend with a hand on his chest.

Nat broke the tension with a laugh, and everyone in the room relaxed. “God, Y/N, guess you’re still an aggro bitch. I though I might’ve had you for once.”

“Jesus, Nat. I’m sorry, lemme grab you some ice. Anything broken?”

“Don’t think so, just a bruised ego. Look at you, you haven’t even broken a sweat.”

You tossed a pack to her from the freezer, along with her typical post spar electrolyte drink. She gave you a wink as she pressed the pack to her ribs, and you could only shake your head at her.

“Steve, you wanna take over for me?” She said to the large man who was now leaning against one of the windows, only half listening as Barnes tried to distract him, while glaring at you.

You both snapped your heads around to stare at her and started protesting over each other while she grinned back and forth between you.

“That’s probably not a great idea…”

“Don’t want to hurt her…”

“Oh my god, you two are ridiculous. Y/N, you obviously still have to work out your birthday issues, and Steve, you’ve been complaining for the past 3 weeks that me and Buck are getting too predictable.”

“Y/N, it’s your birthday? We should bake you a cake!” Wanda exclaimed, always the little ray of sunshine.

“That’s ok Wand, please don’t.”

“Should we perhaps sing?” Vision was now adding his two cents to the discussion.

“No singing. Thank you, so much, for that, Nat.”

“She’s right Rogers, you’ve been looking pretty bored during our sessions, change of pace might be good for you.”

While you were eternally grateful to Bucky for getting the topic off of your birthday, you really didn’t think Rogers was going to go for this.

“Fine, we’ll give it a shot.”

You looked at him with surprise, but gave a shrug and nodded. You definitely still needed something to take your mind off the day. You loved Nat, but always felt the need to hold back during your sessions, and it might be nice to take the safety off.

Nat looked like the cat that ate the canary for some unknown reason, as she giggled and clapped her hands before setting down onto one of the stools to observe. Bucky looked relieved as he leaned back against the wall, chugging the contents of his water bottle. Wanda and Vis went back to their flirty conversation, content to let you two do your own thing.

You unzipped your hoody and threw it to the side, stretching your neck and bouncing on the balls of your feet to loosen up. Rogers looked you over, eyes lingering over your tattoos that you realized he’d never seen since most of them were easily covered by a long sleeve shirt. He pulled his own sweatshirt over his head, and you had a hard time not taking a second to appreciate just how good his torso looked in a simple grey tee.

“Jesus, you two, just get to it.”

The look you shot Nat was pure poison. You weren’t sure what her game was, but you’d be sure to break out the vodka later tonight and get it out of her.

You squared up with the captain, keeping a loose stance on the balls of your feet while he brought up his fists and shrugged his shoulders.

His first strike seemed sluggish, and you slapped it aside easily, frowning at him. He shuffled forward, throwing a few more jabs that you also dodged. Was he holding back on you?

The next few shots he tried to take all but confirmed it; he was pulling his punches. You ducked around them easily, starting to get frustrated. You stepped inside his reach and delivered three quick strikes to his abdomen, followed by an open-handed push to the center of his chest, causing him to take two steps backwards.

His eyes narrowed at you. He was just hoping to get Nat and Buck off his back. Nat had been trying to get him to interact with you for months, but there was something about you that set off warning bells in his head. He trusted Nat and Nat trusted you, which should have been good enough, but he couldn’t get over the thought that there was something dangerous about you that he couldn’t figure out. He’d hoped that a quick spar would appease Nat and get whatever was bugging him about you out of his system, but he had expected you to be on Nat’s level of physicality. The contemptuous way you slapped his blows aside, and the way you got under his guard fast, only made him more wary.

You saw him adjust his stance and tucked in his arms, and gave him a small smirk as you stepped back and raised your fists again.

He moved forward quickly this time, throwing a quick combo of punches aimed at your head and torso and trying to get his arms around you for a hold. You still dodged his strikes easily and when he tried to put you in a hold, you delivered a swift knee to the juncture of his waist on his left side, dancing back again.

His long hair had fallen into is eyes at this point, and when he straightened back up, the look of appraisal he gave was laced with frustration.

Your breathing was still even and relaxed, and Nat had been right, you hadn’t broken a sweat at all in the past 45 minutes. You loosely rolled one tattooed shoulder and gave him a grin, practically begging him to try again.

He clenched his jaw and rushed you. You kept dodging his blows or batting them aside but when he brought his foot around suddenly you moved a little too slow and felt it glance off your cheekbone. He took advantage of your brief surprise and moved behind you whip fast, wrapping one arm around your neck as he braced the other around your right shoulder and he tried to force you to the ground. You sprung your legs off the mat, raising them above your waist before swinging them back down as you got your left hand behind his head and grabbed the back of his tee, then used your momentum to fling him over your shoulders and toss him 15 feet across the room.

He shot up fast and turned back to with a look of complete shock on his face as he crouched into a protective stance. He stared at you like that for a beat before clenching his jaw and straightening up, rolling his head to right.

You followed his line of sight, perplexed. Bucky had jolted off of the wall and looked ready for a fight, flicking his gaze between you and Rogers. Wanda was staring at you with surprise, but was still relaxed. Vis looked at everyone around the room in confusion, trying to understand where the sudden tension had come from. The only person who seemed unfazed by what happened was Nat, all doe eyed innocence as she sipped her drink, not making eye contact with you or Rogers.

Poor Sam chose this moment to wander in. “Hey, Y/N, I heard it’s your b-day. You ready for me to drink you under… What happened?”

“Fuck’s sake Nat, you didn’t tell them.” You hissed at her.

“It didn’t really seem important, Y/N. Besides, it’s your secret.”

“Not a secret Nat. Jesus.”

“Someone want to tell me what the fuck I missed?” Sam was still flicking his gaze around the room, trying to figure out what was happening.

“Y/N just threw Steve across the room like a ragdoll.” Bucky said.

“Oh, word? Interesting.” Sam said.

“Someone want to explain this situation to me, slowly?” Rogers was looking murderously between you and Nat, and you honestly could have killed her yourself.

“Oh, did everyone not know about Y/N’s brain implants?”

All of you looked at Vision when he piped up, and he got a grin on his face like he had just solved an especially difficult puzzle.

“Baby, I think it’s safe to say only you and Nat knew.” Wanda whispered to him.

“But wasn’t that why we came here? Y/N has been hiding from multiple governments for years and her expertise has been very helpful in shielding us from both the United Nations and Stark industries.”

“Yeah, honey, just assume that you’re the only one who knows what you’re talking about.” Wanda said exasperatedly.

“Oh, well then, Y/N was part of an experimental program run by HYDRA under the guise of SHIELD during the 1990s where adolescents received brain implants designed by Dr. Emil Zola to increase sensory perception, decrease pain receptors, and specifically, maximize the efficiency of fast twitch muscle fibers via the phosphagen system, allowing use of these muscles for longer periods of time without negative effects. This was of course after multiple failed trials with a new super soldier serum.

“The program’s graduates were deployed at the beginning of the second Gulf War, purportedly to hunt terrorists, but were also used as HYDRA’s own assassination squad in the eastern hemisphere. The program was discontinued at the end of 2007 and it was thought that all the graduates were culled, but Y/N simply disappeared on mission at the Wakandan border. I admit, I was a bit surprised when she greeted us as she’s presumed dead by most intelligence agencies, but I thought her history was the reason we chose this location. Did I miss anything?” Vis looked at you with genuine interest.

“No that’s pretty much it, thanks.” You said flatly, running a hand over your face.

“See, not that big of a deal.” Nat shrugged.

“Well, Vis and I are going to head to bed.” Wanda chirped up, looking nervously between you, Nat, and the two super soldiers who were now staring at you again. She ushered Vision out of the room quickly and shushed him as he tried to ask if he had done something wrong.

“You really didn’t think this is something I might have wanted to know Nat?” Steve had now turned his attention back to your friend, murder written all over his face.

“No, Steve. Like I said, this is Y/N’s business and it changes literally nothing about how much I trust her. I can’t help it that you got your panties in a bunch over some perceived threat when I told you over and over again that I would willingly put my life in her hands in any situation.”

“You should have told them Nat.” You shook your head at her. She was still playing some sort of game, you could tell, but you didn’t know what.

“Ok, fine, I’m sorry. I just didn’t think you wanted the drama, or to have Barnes look at you like some little lost lamb.”

“Aw geez, Buck, stop looking at me like that or I’m going to punch you. I’m fine.”

“Ahm, sorry.” Bucky’s look of overwhelming sympathy would have been heartbreaking if it had been directed at anybody but you, and you really couldn’t handle that right now. “I’m here to talk if you ever need it.”

“Thanks, Barnes.”

“Besides, you and Steve are both in desperate need of a good fuck, and I thought an impromptu discovery like this would give you the push you need.”

And there it was.

“Well, I’m going to have to make it a rain check on those birthday drinks Y/N, look at the time, it’s… 6 PM. Let’s go Barnes.” Sam was now looking everywhere except at you and Rogers as he did his best to drag Bucky, who was doubled over crying with laughter, out of the gym.

You and Steve glared at Nat as she just sat there grinning, looking overly pleased with herself. A flush was creeping up Rogers neck as his fists tightened and loosened. You could see his jaw clenching under his beard and the tendons on his neck stand out in a look of absolute fury.

“You are such a meddling bitch, Romanoff.” You growled at her. Sure, it had been a while, but you were plenty capable of taking care of yourself, which you had told her after she plied you with three bottles of good Russian vodka.

“Yep.” She hopped off her stool and tossed her ice pack into the freezer. “I’m gonna leave you two to it. Talk, fight, fuck, do something. Your sexual tension is bringing down the vibe.”

She easily dodged the kettle bell you lobbed at her head with a laugh as she scurried out of the gym, closing the door behind her.

After about a minute of uncomfortable silence, you and Rogers turned back to each other. His face was no longer bright red as he looked at you, but you noticed something new in his gaze. His pupils were dilated as he peered at you through the hair that had fallen into his eyes. His breathing was deeper as he stepped closer and looked down at you. You were quite a bit taller than Nat, but still only came up to his eyes. He had moved his gaze to your chest, which was rising and falling in a slightly faster rhythm as he took you in, before moving it to your lips, then back up to your eyes.

“Wanna talk?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“Fight?”

“OK.”

You both took several steps back, retreating to your corners. Some unspoken agreement passed between you and Steve ripped off his t-shirt and sweatpants, until he was down to only his boxer briefs. You removed your sweats as well until you stood there in your sports bra and boy shorts. Neither of you examined whether you were doing this to increase your range of motion or for some other, hungrier reason.

You gazed at each other for a beat, drinking each other in. Steve rolled his broad shoulders and neck, bending from side to side briefly as you watched the muscles in his abdomen tighten and relax as he stretched. You reached your arms over your head before folding yourself over to wrap your arms around the backs of your thighs, twisting yourself to loosen your back muscles and feeling his eyes on you the whole time.

After straightening back up, you each gave each other a swift nod then rushed forward wordlessly.

You managed to gain the upper hand first when you vaulted over him as he dove at you, wrapping one arm around his throat as you carried your momentum and brought him to the ground, coiling your legs around his torso like a snake and stretching his right arm out with yours, pinning it in place.

He reached his left arm over his shoulder and punched you in the face.

You let go of him with a grunt and rolled up quickly, but he was able to get behind you and grabbed your left wrist with his right hand, hauling you over his shoulder while his left arm wrapped around your thigh and he drove you backwards into the mat, knocking the air out of your lungs before rolling over to try to pin you.

You got one leg between the two of you and drove your foot into the center of his chest, sending him flying across the room to crash into the free weights. You didn’t give him a chance to recover before charging back into him driving a fist into first his ribs, then his hip and causing him to buckle over before you wrapped one knee around his chest and rolled forward, slamming him into the ground so hard the floor cracked as you went to straddle him.

He caught your knee and carried you into a kneeling position before throwing you into the sandbags with enough force to knock one loose. You landed heavily and grabbed a kettle bell, whipping at him. He barely dodged it as he covered his head and it glanced off his forearm, giving you enough time to rush forward.

He caught you in the center of the mat and twisted you over him until you were pinned; one of your wrists in each of his hands above your head, legs wrapped around your thighs forcing them apart as he pressed his whole body weight into you.

You stopped struggling finally and stared up at him. You both were breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Steve’s hair was falling into his eyes, which were now lust blown as he stared at your lips. You could feel the muscles in his torso twitching against you as he held you in place.

He suddenly released your wrists without a word, and brought one hand behind your head to pull your mouth to his hungrily. His tongue ran along your lower lip and you opened yourself up to him, sighing into his mouth.

His other hand worked its way down your back as his legs loosened their hold on yours and he pressed your hips into his. You felt him start to grind his hardened cock into your mound and let out a low moan. He growled into your lips before releasing your head and started to kiss and bite his way down your neck, drawing soft whimpers from you as he did.

When he reached the tops of your breasts he pulled away from you suddenly to skim one hand up your abdomen before hooking three fingers under the edge of your sports bra and slowly drawing it over your head, eyes boring into yours as he did so. Once his obstacle had been removed, he nuzzled his face into the valley between your tits before gently sucking a bruise there as his beard scratched against your skin. He then moved his mouth to first your right nipple, then your left; rolling them between his teeth and tongue as you pressed your chest further into his face with a gasp.

He continued his downward journey, dipping his tongue into your navel before he reached the top of your shorts. He slowly drew them down your thighs and off until you were laying underneath him, fully bare and wanton, your cunt clenching around nothing as he stared up at you, resting his chin on your lower abdomen as his eyes asked you a silent question and you nodded, almost imperceptibly.

He drew your knees over his shoulders and pulled you down until his beard was flush against your mound. He nuzzled into the soft hair there before kissing the inside of your thighs slowly, his beard scratching the soft skin there as he gently ran the edge of his teeth up to your juncture then back down at an agonizingly slow pace. When you felt him breathe against your entrance, you wrapped one hand in his hair and moaned, and when his tongue found your clit you screamed and arched your back into him.

His tongue slowly circled your clit as he brought up his right hand and brushed his pointer and middle fingers through your arousal slowly, before inserting one finger into your pussy at a deliciously slow pace. You felt him smile against you as you moaned, wrapping your thighs around his neck as he moved in and out, curling his finger against that soft, spongy spot over and over again before adding another finger.

His tongue had stopped drawing it’s slow circles and was now pressing and releasing against you at faster intervals, causing your breath to hitch in your chest as you writhed against his face. He held a third finger at the edge of your entrance and when you pressed yourself into it, he inserted it into your canal, stretching you so good you let out a thin whine. He shook his head back and forth quickly but gently, adding a brand new sensation before he began to suck on your clit.

All the breath rushed out of you at once as you brought your second hand to press his head further into you. His fingers were fucking into you fast now and you felt the tension in your abdomen building as he alternated between sucking and licking at the small bundle of nerves. When he finally latched on, at the same time he curled all three fingers against your g-spot, you came apart around him, screaming his name as your thighs wrapped around his head like a vise as every muscle in your back tightened, thrusting your torso off the mat violently before you sank back down, relaxing as Steve helped you ride it out.

His name was the first thing either of you had said in almost 15 minutes, and he didn’t want to break the silence now. He was afraid if either of you spoke, you’d break the spell that seemed to have settled over you. Instead of saying anything, he gently pulled you down until you were straddling his waist, then nuzzled his face into the juncture between your neck and shoulder before resting his forehead on yours and staring into your eyes.

You looked back at him, blinking slowly as you moved your hands down to his hips and slipping your fingers under the edge of his boxer briefs. You slipped them over his hips slowly, and you felt his legs shifting in between yours as he moved himself to help you remove them, never breaking eye contact with you. You matched each other’s breathing as he shifted his hips and lined himself up at your entrance, his eyes giving you a pleading look. You shifted your hips closer to him, and he slowly breached you with his tip, closing his eyes as he did so and letting out a low moan from the back of his throat. He started thrusting into you slowly, trying not to collapse on top of you as he held himself back.

You brought your face up to his and slowly kissed him, gently drawing your tongue along the outside of his lips. The hand you didn’t have buried in his hair moved to his lower back and pressed him into you further, and you softly whispered against his mouth “Please…”

He let out a feral growl and settled his full weight on top of you as his hands moved from their supportive positions. One moved underneath you to hold you against him as he fucked into you fast, the other buried itself in your hair as he wrenched your head back and ran his teeth over your throat, nipping at the small hollow at its base. His hand on your back tilted your hips so each drive of his brought him flush against your clit, and you started breathlessly whimpering as he drove into you at a punishing speed.

Your second orgasm came almost without warning. You felt yourself flutter around him one moment when he suddenly tilted your hips just right and you were seeing stars, your body spasming as an uncontrollable wave of pleasure crashed over you repeatedly.

Steve still wasn’t finished though. He gave you a kiss like a starving man before pulling out of you suddenly. You groaned at the loss before he flipped you over fast and slammed back into you, causing you to let out a cry as his tip kissed your cervix.

He maneuvered you into the position he wanted quickly; one knee hooked over his leg and brought up close to your side with your other leg stretched behind you. He brought one arm underneath you to wrap a massive hand around your throat while the other tangled itself in your hair and drew your head back enough for him to kiss you hard, shoving his tongue down your throat as he continued to drive into you.

You had another orgasm almost immediately. Your pussy was fluttering and clenching like crazy as your body almost vibrated with pleasure. Steve still wasn’t slowing down and you were having so much trouble catching your breath you were worried you were going to pass out. You couldn’t stop driving your hips back into him though, matching his pace and feeling the tension in your core begin to gather again. You rolled your eyes back in your head and let out a thin whimper as you moved a hand between your thighs, trying to gain some sort of control over your own pleasure before your brain short-circuited.

Steve ripped your fingers from your throbbing clit with a growl and replaced them with his own, drawing harsh circles around the overstimulated bundle as you gasped and whimpered. He moved the hand he had at your throat to cup your chin, and tugged at your bottom lip with his thumb. You opened your mouth to gently nip at the rough pad as you felt his hips start to stutter, and he when he bit into your shoulder harshly you let out a scream and came apart violently, shaking underneath him uncontrollably.

His own release was right behind yours, and you felt his hot spend coating your insides as you fluttered around him and he wordlessly roared into your ear. He collapsed on top of you, burying his face in your neck and breathing deeply as he moved his hand from your face to softly cup your breast, lazily rolling one nipple in between his fingers and you came down from your respective highs.

You felt him softening inside you as you started to untangle yourselves. He slowly pulled out and you let out a small sigh at the loss of him. You heard him groan as he caught the sight of his cum slowly leaking out of your swollen cunt, and he left a slow trail of kisses down your spine before gently turning you over.

You wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and pulled your face up to his, kissing him deeply as your other hand trailed through the hair on his chest before coming to rest on his abdomen. He rested his forehead against yours again as you both got your breathing under control, before he broke out in an absolutely sinful grin.

You both started laughing then, the previous tension completely broken as you buried your face in his neck and he held you close to him, shaking with laughter.

“Oh my god, I really did need a good fuck.” You said breathlessly, tears leaking down your cheeks.

“Yeah, well I’d say we shouldn’t give Nat the satisfaction of knowing she’s right but I doubt she wasn’t listening in this whole time.”

“Jesus, of course she was. She’ll never stop meddling now.”

He grunted in agreement before giving you a brief kiss to the top of your head, then you separated yourselves to stumble around and locate your clothes.

The gym was an absolute wreck. Aside from the crack in the floor, the weight racks had fallen over in a domino effect after you had kicked Steve into one and two of the sandbags were leaking everywhere.

You were both covered in bruises from the sparring session and the stiffness you always felt after overexertion seemed to have multiplied tenfold as you struggled to pull your sweats back on, groaning at how tight your muscles were. Steve seemed to be feeling it as well as he let out a hiss through his teeth when he pulled his sweatshirt back over his head.

Once you were both dressed, he stalked over to you like a cat and wrapped his arms around your waist and pulling you in for one more kiss.

“Guess we should go face the rest of them.” He said, resigned.

You groaned as he dragged you out of the gym, hand in hand, to endure what you were sure was going to be a chorus of cat calls and innuendos, but when the two of you arrived in the living area, it was just Nat curled up on the sofa, giving the two of you a satisfied smirk.

“Where is everyone?” You asked her, looking around to see if maybe they had moved into the kitchen.

Nat threw back her head and laughed. “Oh they all ran out into the snow once you two really got started. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look as embarrassed as Bucky did in my entire life. He forgot his shoes.” She was crying with laughter.

“Outside, Nat, it’s freezing out there!” The sun had already gone down with how late in the year it was and once that happened, the temperature would drop severely.

“I told them but they couldn’t handle it. Bunch of prudes.”

“Yeah, while you sat here and listened, you pervert.” You and Steve started pulling on boots and coats to head out after them.

“I’m the pervert! While you two had the world’s loudest fuckfest less than 20 feet away from the rest of your housemates, hey!” You had thrown her coat at her face and she caught it to shrug around her shoulders. “They probably had to go out five miles before they weren’t able to hear you.”

Steve growled at her as he ripped the front door open and headed out with you on his heels.

“Oh, you’re welcome by the way! It sure would be nice to get some appreciation for your birthday gift, Y/N… shit.”

Steve had lobbed a snowball the size of a golden retriever at her that she barely dodged at the last minute, cursing under her breath.

Steve wrapped an arm around you as you headed out into the fields to find your poor housemates and apologize, nuzzling himself into your hair with a grin. “Happy birthday.” He murmured to you, giving you a quick kiss before ruining the moment by bellowing “Barnes, get your dumbass back here, you forgot your boots!”

You grinned at him, looking up at the sky where the borealis had started and thinking that maybe birthdays weren’t so bad after all.

[translations-by-aiimee]

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chapter 21

Original Title:  二哈和他的白猫师尊

Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 21 - This Venerable One Will Tell You a Story (Part 3)

Yao Qianjin had quite a temperament. When she got back, she didn't even think about eating and went straight to pestering her father to inquire about Chen Bohuan. Although Chen Bohuan was already married, it was done behind closed doors. Who knew about it? Even when their marriage had been arranged, the town never knew about their relationship.

So Yao Qianjin learned that the eldest Chen son "wasn't married yet."

The county magistrate made several inquiries and found that Xiao Chen was capable, gentle-tempered, and his familial situation was good, so he sent someone to talk to the Chen family about the marriage.

Mr. Chen was filled with regret. They politely told the county magistrate they would think about it first. They closed the door and the two old people immediately started to quarrel.

Mr. Chen said: "Look what you've done! The poor scholar died early and his daughter should have mourned him for three years. If you hadn't been in such a hurry for them to get married, our son wouldn't have to regret it now! Look at what happened!"

Madam Chen was also anxious: "You're blaming me? Weren't you the one who wanted to arrange the marriage in the first place? Now there's a better option: the daughter of the county magistrate! Can. . . can Luo Xianxian compare to that?"

The two elders closed the door and quarrelled until they were red in the face. At the end of the quarrel, they were exhausted and panting across the table from each other.

Mr. Chen asked: "What should we do? Should we call back the magistrate?"

Madam Chen said: ". . . We can't do that. Our family is relying on Yao Qianjin's money."

Mr. Chen said angrily: "Then will the daughter of the Yao family be a concubine? Will she? Our son already has somebody, how can we add another? Look at how in love they are!"

". . ." Madam Chen didn't say anything for a while. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she murmured, "If you think about Luo Xianxian and our son, except for our family, no one knows about them. . ."

After a few moments of silence, Mr. Chen was shocked when he suddenly understood his wife's intentions.

He was trembling, half from panic, half from anger.

"You - you mean. . ."

"If no one knows about it, it doesn't count as a real marriage." Madam Chen said. "Let's try to find a way to get rid of her. We can do whatever it takes. All the surrounding villages think he's unmarried. Do you remember how she stole oranges from us as a child? As long as we all stick to that story, no one would believe her word over ours!"

Mr. Chen strode to the door, confirmed that the door was closed tightly, and hurriedly rushed over. The two people who had been arguing like two chickens in a cockfight were nestled together again, quietly lowering their voices, and discussed.

Mr. Chen said: "This method of you, I'm afraid it won't work."

"What's wrong?"

"Our son won't agree. He's had a crush on Luo Xianxian his whole life. Why would he agree to drive her away for someone else?"

Madam Chen thought for a while. She patted her husband's hand and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

After a while, Madam Chen suddenly became seriously ill. It was a strange illness. The doctor couldn't explain the reason, but she just would have fits all day and talked nonsense, saying she was possessed by a ghost.

Mr. Chen was terrified so he asked a Daoist priest to come. He carried a whisk on his back and said that there was something negative in the Chen family directed at Madam Chen. If it wasn't resolved, Madam Chen wouldn't make it to the new year.

Chen Bohuan, who was the most filial, anxiously asked: "What attacked my mother?"

The Daoist priest pretended to be mysterious and hesitated for a while. He said it was a "beauty who couldn't see the light of day."

Everyone in the room froze. The Chen family's sons all turned to look at Luo Xianxian standing on the side.

Luo Xianxian also froze.

She has been told many times when she was a child that her life is cursed. She brought tragedy with her. As soon as she was born, she killed her mother, then her brother, and later her father.

Now, she was being accused again, saying that she was going to kill her mother-in-law.

The Chen family was petrified. The sons took turns telling her to leave the Chen family. Besides, no one outside the family knew that she was married and had an innocent reputation. They would give her some money and let her find another good family.

Luo Xianxian was anxious and afraid. She was really worried that she was killing Madam Chen and she couldn't control her tears.

Chen Bohuan was heartbroken. As he watched his mother grow weaker, he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He didn't want to leave Luo Xianxian, but he couldn't bear to watch his mother suffer. She had lost so much weight in such a short amount of time.

The brothers of the Chen family quit trying to be civil. One day, while their elder brother was away, they sought out their sister-in-law. Luo Xianxian was mixing butterfly fragrant powder in the greenhouse. They rushed up and knocked over her utensils. The fragrant powder fell on her. The pungent aroma seemed to instantly seep into her bones and she couldn't wash it off.

The brothers surrounded her and talked about the most important duties, such as "a woman's virtue", how a wife and daughter should be humble, parents should be respected but Luo Xianxian was very tough. Although timid, she was very stubborn. She cried and said she didn't want to leave, begging them to think of another way.

The second son of the Chen family was impatient so he went up and slapped her. He said: "You're going to kill our mother, you cursed bitch. If there was another way, would your father have died? Would your mother have died? Would your brother be dead or alive?"

As soon as he beat her, the rest of them rushed up, punching and kicking Luo Xianxian, shouting things like "get out", "vermin" and "quick fuck".

These sons had the same idea as their mother. In fact, they had known about their mother's idea for a long time. At this time, taking advantage of their elder brother's absence, they worked together to expel Luo Xianxian from the house. They threatened that if she dared to come back, they would beat her every day. She didn't have a family anyways. If she was beaten to death, no one would care.

It was a snowy night. Luo Xianxian was thrown into the snow covered in bruises and one of the embroidered shoes on her feet had fallen off.

She slowly crawled forward, a muffled choked sob escaping her lips, like the low howl of a dying cub.

It was late at night. Few people would be outside on such a snowy day. She crawled through the vast world, not knowing where she was going, not knowing where else she could go.

The Chen brothers were right.

She had no family; no father, no brother. No one to stand up for her, no one to take her in.

There was nowhere she could go in this white, awe-inspiring world.

Her bones were weak, and she was wearing thin clothes when she was thrown out, so her legs and feet quickly became numb and useless.

Crawling all the way to the outskirts of the city, she came to the earth temple where the Master of Ceremonies Ghost was enshrined. She curled up in the temple to hide from the snow. Her lips were blue and frozen, and her heart felt even colder.

Looking up at the clay statue with gorgeous red makeup, she couldn't stop the tears rolling down her face. It made her think of the rules of the Lower Cultivation World, and how a married couple should have a master of ceremonies to witness it.

At that time, all she had was a red flower hairpin, a beautiful smile and Chen Bohuan kneeling next to her.

Was this closed-door marriage all a big dream? That day, the beauty in the brass mirror was picturesque. Was it just a greedy joy that she had concocted deep in her mind?

She knelt in front of the Master of Ceremonies Ghost, dragging her increasingly heavier and cold body. She bowed three times, crying and laughing.

"Married as husband and wife. No doubt about their love. Rejoice. . . in this. . . tonight. . ."

She started to feel dizzy and her vision was getting blurry.

A thin layer of moonlight seemed to sprinkle in front of her eyes. In the small courtyard from her past, she cried and said: "I didn't steal. I didn't steal. I didn't steal the oranges."

However, three men make a tiger* and everyone was terrified. No one would believe her side of the story.

*(T/N: 三人成虎 - means that the more someone repeats something absurd, the more likely people are to believe it)

To this day, she knew that even if she ran up to every person she saw and screamed that she was Chen Bohuan's wife, no one would believe her. She was still the same little girl as back then, stuck behind the mud wall with no one to share her grievances with.

Nothing had changed.

But there was still that person, looking over the wall, holding a white steamed bun, stuffed into her palm, saying: "If you're hungry, eat a steamed bun to curb your hunger."

Now. . . that person. . . where was he. . .

When he came back and couldn't find her, would he be worried, or would he secretly breathe a sigh of relief because his mother would be safe from her?

Luo Xianxian curled up in the earth temple, eyes dripping with gradually drying tears, and whispered: "Madam Master of Ceremonies, I want to be with him. I'm his wife. . . When we came to the temple, we didn't have a master of ceremonies with us. You're a Master of Ceremonies Ghost. You can't control the living, but I. . . You're the only one I can talk to. . . and I can tell you. . ."

She whimpered in a broken voice, the last sound coming out of her throat: "I didn't lie. . ."

I didn't lie.

The heavy snow was silent, and the long night was quiet.

The next day, the townspeople who passed by the earth temple on the outskirts of the city found Luo Xianxian's cold body.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

[bokettochild]

Hmmm if you need ideas I always love cultural difference shenanigans so maybe Twilight and Hyrule or Warriors and Hyrule having jarringly different cultures?

I didn't really touch on cultures much, since I'm still learning a lot about the games in general, but here's three boys discussing the educational systems of their respective provinces!

(Asks are open still, if anyone wants a story, feel free to request it! I will try my best! (Crossovers aren't off the table, but I can't promise I'll write them))

From Ordon to Catalia

“So, you’re telling me,” Warriors states disbelievingly. “That you, the Hero of Hyrule, couldn’t even speak Hylian until mere months before you saved the kingdom?”

The traveler nods, a faint flush dusting over his browned cheeks at Warriors’ question.

Twilight shakes his head, a smile on his face. “Who’da thunk it? Chin up traveler, I didn’t even live in Hyrule when I saved it.”

“What?” Warriors turns to him, royal blue flickering with disbelief as he stares from one country hero to the other. “Seriously? Both of you?”

“Well,” Hyrule tugs at one of his curls, eyes glistening with mischief as he speaks. “I mean, Legend saved like, four other countries, and he wasn’t from any of them.”

“But the first country he saved was Hyrule.” Warriors asserts. “And at least he was sent to the other places or something, unlike you two.” The captain stares from one to the other. “Traveling through the kingdom and just happening to run into the Royal Nursemaid?” He turns to Twilight, disbelief still written clear on his face. “And chasing monsters, if I recall correctly. What the heck, guys?”

He can’t help but take a bit of pity on Warriors, the captain has only ever been outside of his Hyrule’s main areas when time traveling, and the poor man clearly has little to no familiarity with the provinces and kingdoms beyond his own home, save for whatever rich and stuffy nobles talk about when royalty from the other kingdoms comes to visit. But even so, Wars lacks the faintest clue of the world outside of Hyrule’s borders, and that's just a little bit sad.

He leans back on the bed that he and Hyrule are sharing, it’s been a few weeks since they were last at an inn and he fully intends on enjoying the plush beds while they can, even if it is a bit too soft for his own comfort. “We could tell you more about them, if you like?”

At his side, Hyrule nods, smile bright if not a bit wistful. “I’m always willing to share about my home.”

Warriors hesitates, caught between disbelief and curiosity.

“I don’t think even Legend has been to Catalia.” Hyrule muses, but Twilight sees the sparkle in Hyrule’s eyes, he’s tempting the captain in a way the both of them know is sure to work.

“That so?” Warriors muses. “Well, I suppose so. Although,” He turns a cynical eye to Twilight. “I’m not sure how much I actually want to know about farm life.”

“Your loss, city boy.” He scoffs in response, a wolfish smile pulling at his features.

It’s nice, he thinks as he leans back further, letting Hyrule pull his thoughts together and Warriors shake off the surprise of their previous words, to just sit and talk with his brothers. Time and Legend have roomed with Wild so he doesn’t have to worry about the Cub making trouble without him there to watch him, and for the first time in a long tie he can just sit down and talk with his other brothers. He doesn’t know why Time let Four assign rooms like this, but he isn’t complaining if the others aren’t.

“Well, what would you like to hear about?”

Warriors frowns, staring at Hyrule for a moment as the Traveler flushes darker under his curls. Maybe the healer wasn’t as ready to talk as he first thought. “How about, your family, what sort of people are they?”

Hyrule stares at the captain disbelievingly for a moment. “You’ve met my mom, remember? And I don’t really remember much of my dad, he went missing when I was a kid.”

“Oh,” Warriors flushes, a strained smile taking over his features. “Right.”

Hyrule giggles softly. “I’m not mad, Cap, just surprised that you forgot. Although to be fair, not many people probably think about it since I look like a Hylian.”

“Yeah, about that, how does that work?”

“Hylian father, I look more like him in this form. We may be from Catalia, but he was there entirely because he was fleeing the destruction of Hyrule. He met my mom in the Aver Forests, where she’d been wandering for the last few years. Great fairies can leave their pools if they so choose, but they do so rarely. Unfortunately, mom had too because of the increase of monsters in Hyrule.”

“What is the Aver Forest?”

“The biggest, lushest forest in all of Catalia!” Hyrule spread his arms wide as if to indicate how big it truly was. “I’m pretty sure it’s just the other side of the lost woods in my time, since it’s so close to the border. It nothing like Hyrule, but it is, was, home.”

“So, did yer ma follow you to Hyrule?”

“Not exactly.” The traveler replies with a small frown. “She came after Hyrule was made safer again. I can’t exactly leave the country freely anymore, so she came to see me. It’s a good thing too, since getting potions is far more difficult than just bathing in her pool.”

“Are potions really that expensive in your time?” Warriors asks, concern flecking his gentle gaze.

“It’s not about the price,” Hyrule frowns. “It’s more that most people don’t know how to brew them, and finding a person who can is difficult.”

“Ah, supply and demand.”

“Pardon, what?” The traveler looks up to the captain in confusion.

“Supply and demand, you know,” Wars states like it’s common knowledge. “When lots of people want something but only a few people can provide it? It’s the reason shops can get away with charging so much for things.”

Both country heroes stare at him.

“Have neither of you ever heard of it?” The captain blinks at them, leaning forwards on his bed. “How is that possible?”

“Not all provinces have a school, Wars.” He replies, chuckling softly at the surprise on Warriors’ face. “For farming communities we focus on animals and plants, don’t need no fancy education to plow a field.”

Hyrule stares between the two of them. “Alright, this might be a Hylian word I haven’t learned yet, but what is a scewl?”

“A what?” Warriors echoes, turning to face the traveler.

“A scewl?”

“A school?” Twilight translates, brow furrowed until the Hero of Hyrule nods in confirmation, after which he relaxes again. “It's a place people go to learn to read and write, and to count and do equations.”

“And here I thought there weren’t any in Ordon?” Warriors teases lightly.

“Get off it, Cap’. We don’t have schools, but we do have books, I know how to read and if I can learn more than I will.”

“Ah, self-taught?”

“Mostly.” He shrugs. “Hylian’s real different from Ordon-Standard, even if they’re essentially the same.”

“That makes no sense.” The captain deadpans, staring at him blankly.

“I mean, even though they have a lot in common, the way people speak and pronounce things, the vernacular and what not, is quite different that Hyrule proper.”

Hyrule blinks at the two of them owlishly. “What are equations?”

A glance is shared between them. “Math.” Warriors answers. “You know, adding, subtraction, multiplication and division?”

The traveler raises a brow, but he's shrinking in on himself in the way he does when he gets nervous. “What are those? Multipulycation and division?”

Warriors stares cautiously at the traveler, gaze gentle but concerned. “Hyrule, do you not know how to do math?”

“Do you know how to count?” Twilight tries instead.

“Of course!”

“Can you combine numbers?”

“That’s counting, but with bigger numbers.”

“Can you subtract it again?”

“Yes.” Hyrule answers slowly.

“Can you multiply?”

The traveler stares at Warriors nervously. “I just told you I don’t know what that is.”

The captain, bless his heart, looks genuinely hurt. “Good grief, what sort of mentor is Legend? Not making sure you know basic multiplication?”

And Hyrule flushes, but his brows furrow as he pushes himself straight, always defensive of his mentor. “He didn’t know, and he’s a great mentor! He’s been showing me how to grow trees!”

“Legend knows forestry?” The captain starts.

“He has an orchard.” Twilight reminds him, light laughter bubbling in his chest at the understanding that crosses Warriors’ face at the words.

“Right.” The captain turns to Hyrule. “How about this, Legend can teach whatever it is he teaches you, but when he’s done with that for the day, you come find me? Math is a wonderful thing, even if it is a tad complex, and it'd be a shame to let you go without knowing it.”

Betrayal makes itself known as Twilight pulls away from the two. “You like math?”

Horror blooms on Warriors’ delicate features. “You don’t?”

“Arithmetic is the bane of my existence and if I didn’t need to know how to count rupees, I would willingly forget it.” Twilight spits out.

“It’s wonderful!” Warriors defends. “Everything makes sense and has a logical explanation! You can count on it having an answer every time.”

One dark brow raises as midnight blue stare back at the captain, unimpressed. “Except when it doesn’t. Except when you have to graph equations but you can’t because they don’t have answers. Except when there’s two missing numbers and nothing fits in together, except when the numbers decide to become letters and you have to spit up the alphabet along with your equations.”

“How much math do you know?” Warriors raises a brow.

“Too much.” He isn’t even ashamed of the shudder that makes his pelt tickle against his cheeks. “Wild is a literal genius at it, and I can’t even number how many time he's decided to use it to explain some hare-brained scheme. Trajectory and angles and-” He shivers again. “No thank you. It’s like he ate a math textbook and just keeps spitting it back up, every time he wants to do something dumb.”

The captain whistles lowly, royal blue eyes sparkling. “You mean he has theories and reasoning behind all that? Dang!”

The glare shot the captain’s way is nothing short of threatening. “Do not encourage him, or so help me, Wars. I can hardly contain him some days as is, he doesn’t need someone else egging him on.”

“Oh, trust me,” Gloved hands raise in a non-threatening motion. “I just want to pic his brain, maybe he can help me tutor the traveler here.”

And Twilight almost asks him not too, almost begs that the captain not, before realization hits. “You know, that is actually a good idea.” He smirks. “I’m surprised.”

The deadpan look he receives is well worth it. “You wound me.”

“Were your skin not so delicate, I wouldn’t.” He returns, smile stretching wider. “But that aside, if Wild is busy tutoring Hyrule, he won’t be off blowing things up, and if Hyrule gets a better education out of it that's even better.”

“I’ll ask him about it.” Hyrule answers, eyes lighting up in a way that looks innocent, but considering the kid is Legend’s descendant there’s a very good chance that it isn’t fully. “Maybe he can teach me some tricks while he’s at it.”

“No!” The voices ring at once, but it’s already too late, Hyrule is tapping his chin and muttering low under his breath as a wide smile stretches over his face.

“What have you started.” Twilight whispers, horrified.

“I’m sorry.” Warriors returns, just as grim. “I won’t tell Legend if you don’t.”

[oceanera12]

Linked Darkness

Four wanted to scream. All four of him.

So. Apparently something called “Dark Link” was behind their meeting or something or other. He was the one infecting monsters. And he looked like a Link. Most everyone didn’t even flinch at this revelation. If anything, most people were angry and threw their nearest weapon at the time in the general direction of the creepy red-eyed guy.

Dark Link just laughed, all evil like and made some comment about how they’d have to do better than that to catch him.

And then he ran off into a cave.

And everyone chased after him, sans Four. He was a little busy trying to keep his four selves from murdering something because for a brief second they had all thought...

Never mind what they had thought. This “Dark Link” gave a bad name for all shadows and by Hylia, they would not let that stand. And so they dashed, a bit late, after the group.

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

Warriors was hitting his sword against a stone wall, when Four finally found the group. Blue had to admire the angry yelling that was also being shouted. Legend and Time were panting from exhaustion from something and it seemed like they had all determined to leave Warriors alone. For now.

Time nodded at Four, “I was about to send someone to look for you.”

“Sorry,” Four shuffled, “Dink caught me off guard.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Dink?”

Vio smirked. It had been his idea for the name. It was every bit demeaning as that cursed shade deserved. Red had clapped politely for the name but Blue had expressed how proud he was of Vio for such an idea. Green had to be the “normal” person but he wanted to pat Vio on the back and determined to let Vio be heard by the other Links more often.

“I am not calling him Dark Link. It sounds wrong on so many different levels,” Four replied. “Dink is short, easy to remember, and gives him the right amount of respect. Which is none.”

No one spoke for a moment. Warriors began to laugh, soft and low. His sword stopped hitting the stone and he sank to his knees. Wind took a very hesitant step away from the Captain. “Guys, I think he’s lost it.”

Warriors turned around and rested against the stone wall. His laughter turned into a chuckle and he shook his head. “Four... don’t ever change.”

Vio frowned, puzzled. Green forced a stiff nod. Red bristled with pride at the compliment. Blue just rolled his eyes.

Twilight sat down in front of Warriors, “You okay?”

“Yeah... sorry. Dark is a touchy subject with me.” Warriors shrugged. “He taught me a very valuable lesson.”

Time nodded slowly, “I believe he taught all of us something.”

“I haven’t met him... at least, I don’t think I have.” Wild said.

“Consider yourself lucky, cub,” Twilight sighed loudly.

“We should get moving,” Time finally said. “Dark Link--

“Dink!”

“--is long gone.”

A chilly wind suddenly blew through the cavern, chilling every hero to the bone. “Be careful what you wish for...”

And that was when everything went black.

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

“Four!”

“Present,” Four grumbled into the darkness. “I think Dink decided a cave in was the best way to kill us.” At least he hadn’t crushed anyone... or even tried to. Four was worried about that last part.

Wild’s Sheikah slate was currently the only source of light, but he was working on getting some torches out.

“Only two,” Four had told him. “We need the oxygen as much as the light.”

“You been in a cave in before?”

“No, but I read about it.”

Vio was in charge at the moment. They had all determined the cool, calculating, smartie pants was the best bet at the moment.

Fire sparked and suddenly the cavern lit up a few feet. The torch was passed to Time, who held it aloft to get a look at everyone. No one appeared injured and satisfied with the well being of the group, he turned to the far wall. “We need to find a way out.”

“Great...” Legend grumbled.

The second torch flared to life, illuminating the group enough to see Legend’s displeasure. Wild shrugged, giving the second torch to Twilight. He fiddled with his slate for a moment. The eye on the front suddenly illuminated so brightly that Four shut his eyes for a second. “Wild! A little warning next time!”

“Sorry!” Wild turned the light outward. “This was something my Zelda figured out shortly before our journey. She called it a portable light or something.”

And with that, the group set out on their trek. The cave system was relatively safe, compared to other caves the various Links had gone into over the years. A few keese here, one wizzrobe there but nothing out of the ordinary. They were not even enhanced, which was definitely weird. Alarm bells were ringing through Four’s mind and all four of him were on the highest alert. 

They finally found the exit door after two hours of wandering into dead ends. And that was when Legend began to curse. Loudly.

“Language,” Time scolded.

“Don’t!” Legend hissed. “You don’t even know why I'm cursing.”

Siy asked, “Why are you cursing?”

“Because I know where we are. And we are not getting out.”

Dink’s cold laughter echoed through the cavern and everyone drew their swords, standing back to back to each other. “Enjoy your suffering heroes...”

Four bit back a few choice words. “Legend, where are we?”

“An old prison of some ancient tribe of something or other, I don’t remember. But here’s the thing: the tribe were traitors to Hyrule. They got a kick out of taking loyal citizens and soldiers and tossing them into this prison to fight and eventually die. The only way to open the door is to have the blood of a traitor of Hyrule.” Legend cursed again. “I’m many things, but a traitor isn’t one of them.”

Four felt Warriors stiffen to his right and heard Time utter his own curse under his breath.

Wind spoke up, a bit hesitant, “There’s another way out, right?”

Legend shook his head. “I have chased after traitors to this prison. They used it as a hideout. I searched for weeks for another entrance. Nothing I tried did anything. And I tried everything from magic to brute force.”

“But didn’t Dink cave us in?” Wild asked. “That was another exit!”

Legend shook his head. “I don’t think it was a cave in. I think he shut the door. Do you remember a large crash of rocks?”

No one spoke as Dink laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Well, that certainly put a damper on the situation. 

Four looked about the room, glaring into the darkness, “Shut up, Dink, I’m trying to think!” He put his sword away and marched forward.

Dink stopped, probably from the shock of the name. Or maybe he just wanted to watch Four pace back and forth. When nothing happened to kill Four, the rest of the group relaxed (mostly) and began to run through options of how to get out.

Four had a different kind of debate. This one took entirely in his head.

Green was hesitant to start. Vio just sighed. “We have a way out.”

“But do we?” Green argued back. “No one knows about the whole ‘split situation’ and I don’t feel like now is a good time to show that off. And even if we were, you were not an actual traitor, Vio.”

“If I recall, you all called me such,” Vio argued back. “And I did nothing to deny the fact. And I did a few things that would be considered treason to many people.”

“But you were faking it!” Red yelled back. “You were not a traitor.”

“For once, Red, I need you to think I was,” Vio would have glared at his brothers. “It is our only way out of the cave.”

“We can find another way!”

“Blue, you have been awfully quiet. Something on your mind?” Green asked.

There was a pause. Then, “We can’t throw Vio under the horse.”

“... Aw, Blue does care,” Red sighed.

Vio growled back, “Now is not the time to be sentimental. This is our way out.” Vio paused. “It would be best to split. The group will see you as heroes and me as the traitor.”

“We are not just going to let you take the name traitor in this group!” Blue practically shouted.

“WELL ,YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE!” Vio roared back. He paused, collecting his thoughts. “It is fine. For once, being a traitor is turning out to be a good thing.”

No one spoke for a moment. Green then hesitantly asked, “Would it work if we did not split?”

“Why would we do it as Four?” Vio huffed. “No need for the group to hate all of us.”

“Would it work?” Green pressed.

Vio sighed, “It most likely would. We are one as Four. All our blood is the same.”

There was silence.

“No.” Vio growled.

“All in favor?” Gree asked. He, Red, and Blue chimed in. “All opposed?”

“I can handle this by myself!” Vio protested.

Red spoke up, soft and slow. “But you don’t have too. We do this together, or not at all.”

“They will see all of you as traitors. They will not see you as a hero.”

“You’re a hero too, Vio. You’re our brother and we stick together. Got it?” Blue demanded.

Vio was quiet for a moment. “It is illogical and sentimental and will be detrimental to the entire group.”

Green sighed, wishing for the ability to hug all three of his brothers. “But it won’t be to you.”

Silence.

“We love you, Vio,” Red said softly. “You did what you thought was best and it hurt you. And you were alone. You are not alone anymore.”

“... I still believe it to be a poor decision. But very well.”

“Alright,” Green sighed. “How are we going to do this?”

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

Four had been quietly pacing for over an hour. Warriors watched him out of the corner of his eye that entire time.

Most everyone had settled down. Dark Link had left them alone again, thank Hylia. The group had been listing off various actions that they considered “treasonous” or ideas on how to get through the cave. All of them had been shot down, one after another. The familiar feelings of despair had settled over the group.

Four stopped pacing.

Warriors looked over at him. He caught the blacksmith’s eye. For a brief second, he could have sworn it flashed purple, but then it turned back to it’s usual green color. Warriors blinked, but shook the situation aside. “Any ideas, Four? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

He really hoped their smallest warrior would have a better plan then throwing remote bombs at the door.

Four didn’t respond. He tore his eyes away from the group, looking down at his belt. A small dagger was produced and Four marched over to the door.

Time sighed loudly, “Four, we already tried that.”

And they had. Warriors had been ever slightly relieved that his blood hadn’t done anything.

Four ignored the group, making a shallow cut on his hand. The smallest bit of blood oozed out of his hand and Four pressed it against the door.

Nothing happened.

“See?” Time said. “We’ll need-”

The door suddenly flared red. The writing glowed of pure malice and the old magic hummed. The air felt “wrong” and Warriors found himself gripping his sword hilt as the door opened.

No one moved for what felt like a century.

The sun had set at some point while they had been in the prison. Four was illuminated by the night light outside.   His back was turned to the entire group. He was looking down at the blood on his hand, but Warriors was unable to see his face.

Four finally turned around. He appeared very nervous, but he squared his shoulders and stood as tall as he could. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He closed it, paused, then tried again. Nothing. Finally, the words came. They were cold, calculating, and felt hollow. “There was a moment in my adventure where I found it necessary to pledge loyalty to a dark lord, who was trying to overthrow Hyrule. Many people in my life, including my family, branded me a traitor of Hyrule. I turned against him in the end, but I did still do it.” He paused. “There were some... actions I had to take to ensure Vatti believed I was on his side. I do regret that I had to do them but I stand by my decision.”

No one moved.

Four shifted uncomfortably. “Think of it this way: if I hadn’t done it, then we’d all be trapped in here for eternity. So... yeah.” He turned on his heel and marched out of the cave, calling behind him, “You might want to move. I don’t know how long that door will stay open.”

There was another pause and then a mad dash for their supplies and for the door. It shut behind them with a grinding sound, leaving the prison dark and cold.

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

No one had spoken since they left the prison. Camp had been set up in silence, Wild had cooked without his cheerful humming, and no one was looking at Four.

Four tried to ignore it. He knew what he was doing. Vio was yelling at the others for being idiots and not allowing him to take the full force of eight heroes disapproval, but they paid him no mind.

This had been for Vio. Not for them.

It was Wind who broke the silence, with a question “What kind of actions?”

Everyone looked at him, clearly confused. Wind gestured vaguely at Four, “You said you took actions to ensure what’s his name thought you were on your side. What kind of actions?”

Four thought for a moment. “Mostly the passing along of information. Battle formations, dates and times of when and where Vatti’s enemies would be, etc.”

“So...” Warriors said slowly. “You were a spy.”

“Of sorts,” Four shrugged. “I also had to appear to try and kill some of my... comrades. I failed, obviously, but it looked real enough that they believed I actually turned against them.”

Warriors didn’t reply to that.

Time cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. He turned to Four, “It was very brave of you to admit that to us.”

Four shrugged, “I did not see another option out of there. It was the logical decision.” He paused. “I am unsure if Dink knew about my past or if he was just as shocked as all of you. I would like to think the latter.”

“Wait,” Hyrule raised a hand. “Wouldn’t Dink know about it if you know him?”

“Uh...” Four paused again. He was quiet for sometime. “I don’t know him.”

“But you have had some experience with something similar?” Time asked. “You did not like Dark Link. That hatred did not come from nothing.”

“... I told you that there were reasons I had to swear allegiance to Vatti,” Four wrung his hands, avoiding eye contact. “It is... complicated but the short version is there was someone who was like Dink. I called him Shadow because he... well, he came out of my shadow.” Four appeared lost in memory then snapped back. “Shadow was loyal to Vatti, but he would often seek me out to simply... talk. I found myself confiding in him and he in me. Being the hero was very... difficult on my mind. It was good to have a friend. 

“It was Shadow who asked me to join him and Vatti. I refused, at first. But the more time we talked the more... human, Shadow felt. It is hard to explain but I wanted him to be free of Vatti. To have a life of his own. So I told him I would help him.” Four looked into the fire for a moment. “He took my betrayal to Vatti... very hard. But something must have gotten through to him because he shattered the Dark Mirror, which was Vatti’s source of power. It was also... Shadow’s life force.”

Someone gasped softly. Four didn’t look up. “He gave his life for mine. Even after... I hurt him.” He paused, “I killed my own Shadow.”

No one spoke again for some time. The fire sputtered and turned from a roar to a crackle. Wild pulled a log from somewhere and placed it on the fire. The light caught and everyone watched the log slowly wither away.Another log was added some time later.

Warrior let out a heavy sigh, “You’re really something, Four.”

Four titled his head to the side. “I know.”

“That’s not... Four, your shadow turned away from the darkness it came from.” Warriors smiled bitterly. “Mine never spoke and killed many good men. It was born of my own pride and overconfidence. Yours was born...”

“I had to pull the Four sword to rescue Zelda. It was going to release Vatti, but I couldn’t let her die. When I pulled it, Vatti stole my Shadow.”

“Well, no wonder it turned to the light,” Warriors shook his head. “No matter what anyone tells you Four, you’re amazing.”

That was... not what Four had been expecting. “I’m a traitor.”

“Maybe,” Warriors conceded, “But I don’t think any of us ever gave our own darkness a chance to change-- or even had a chance to try. You are a hero in my book. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Four bent his head, hiding the tears pricking his eyes. Vio’s voice was shaky, but it carried. “I... you... what?”

Warriors moved across the clearing and pulled the smallest hero into a hug. “Four... don’t ever change.”

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

This got way to long way too quickly but eh. I woke up this morning with this idea and put off homework for almost three hours to write it so now I need to go work on that. Thanks brain. Thanks for nothing.

Warriors was the one who needed convincing. Everyone else can just accept Four’s actions with his explanation. Warriors is the one who needs the explanation and I will die on Warriors and Four being friends. I just love their dynamics with one another.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

A heavenly reunion pt. 2; Queen x reader

*Author's note*

And here's the last part of our last chapter of the Rock Angel series.

First of all I just wanna thank ALL OF YOU for your support. This was the FIRST fic I wrote that got me into the Queen/BoRhap fandom and (much like my Bad Wolf series) "Set it all free" was just gonna be a one-time oneshot. But YOU, the people on tumblr inspired me to make this into a series, so thanks to you guys for your lovely support of this series, cause without you, I don't know if I would've continued on after a few chapters till it might've caught up with "Set it all free". But thank you all, you guys are BEYOND AWESOME and I love each and every one of you.

Until the next update :)

ALSO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC CHOICES BELOW. CAUSE THIS PART IS A HEART-PULLER/TEAR-JERKER.

*Final ROCK ANGEL taglist (sniffles sadly)*

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@simonedk

@sparkleslightlyy

@starswin

@onebigfangirlworld

@labessieisallama

@naturalswifty89

@5sos-wdw

@isabella-bby

@ssa-sadboi

@bohemiansweede

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queensdivas

@queendeakyy

@queen-paladin

@geek-and-proud

@wormzteef

____________________________________________________________

"(Y/n), (y/n)." I felt someone shake my arm gently trying to wake me up. I looked up and I turned to see Brian sitting by my bedside.

"What Bri?" I tiredly groaned.

"Come downstairs with me, there's someone else the guys and I want you to meet."

"Do I have to get dressed?"

"I think you'll be just fine love. C'mon." He helped me get up and wrapped an arm around my shoulders guiding me down the stairs since I was still bloody tired.

We soon arrived in the piano room right where I had first met David and Elton. The first thing I notice was the other three queens all grinning at me, like they were keeping something from me but wanted to tell me.

"What's going on here?" I asked wearily.

"Darling, as I'm sure Brian told you, we have some people we'd like you to meet." Freddie spoke up.

"Guys if it's any of the singers that have long passed before my time, I think I met them all last night at the concert."

"Well these two are artists you haven't met." He finished for me. At this point I was confused. It was then Roger spoke up.

"It took us several meetings with the 'Big man' himself, to allow you to meet these two who have been waiting an eternity to see you again."

"Again?" I asked. They all smiled widely at each other and that's when Deacy opened up the slide in door and two figures came walking in.

PLAY VIDEO

Two figures I had not seen, in a very, very, very long time. The man looked to be in his mid-30's with shoulder length (h/c) and (e/c) eyes, he was semi built not overly muscular but not quite twig-like thin. The woman was around her early 30's if not late 20's the youngest being 28 with midback (h/c) and bright (e/c).

"Again." The man said. I was gaping, my body froze and I felt like collapsing there crying hysterically.

For standing there before me were none other than my parents.

"We've been waiting a long time for you (Y/n)," my mum started off.

"It's been far too long but now you're finally here." I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes began to fill with tears as I choked out.

"After all this time you two were both here just waiting for me to finally arrive just so that I can fall to the ground and cry hysterically. Dreaming of the day when I—I would try to figure out what to say to you both when I would see you if I ever saw you. And now it—it's finally happening. You two standing before me....." as I spoke, both my parents slowly walked toward me with soft eyes. "And I can't even......I just can't believe it. You two are actually here?"

"Yes my darling little cub, every day for your whole life." My mum said as she cupped my face in her hands. Tears of happiness glistened in her eyes as she praised me through a lump in her throat, "And we are so, so proud of you." I looked down but she still kept hold of my face.

"Oh mummy, daddy!" My mum immediately hugged me as tight as she could as we both wept. I nuzzled my face into her chest as she held onto me so tightly while stroking through my hair.

*3rd Person POV*

As they watched the two women hug each other, Freddie and Deacy who stood side by side each other couldn't help but have their hands over their hearts at such a moment. They all have heard the stories of her parents and whatever photos she had saved back home, so they knew what her parents looked like.

But now finally seeing (Y/n) reunite with the parents she had lost at such a young age, forced to being verbally abused by her aunt and uncle it was just heartwarming yet heartbreaking to see this touching and well-earned reunion.

After being tightly embraced and kissed beyond oblivion by her mum, (Y/n) felt a hand at her shoulder and saw it was her dad. He smiled and allowed his tears to fall as he embraced his daughter.

Roger and Brian, being the father figures for her down on earth were all smiles and teary eyed at seeing their surrogate daughter finally reunited with her real father once more. They had the privilege to help protect her in her young adult life, but they knew they'd never compare to the actual love this man had for his little girl.

(F/n) cupped his daughter's face gently in his strong, calloused hands and wiped away his daughter's tears before giving her a kiss on the nose, like he's done in the past. A move that Brian never knew her own father did, but was honored to have given (Y/n) a piece of affection that her real father had done.

By the end of it all, (Y/n) ended up sandwiches between her parents by the end as they were now on their knees. Her head buried into her father's chest as his arms were wrapped around her back while her mum rested her head against her daughter's and had her arms wrapped around her daughter's waist. (F/n) looked up at the four band members and said gratefully.

"Thank you." The four queens nodded and Deacy said.

"We'll give you three some privacy."

"No, please stay!" (Y/n) whimpered out. "I want my whole family here right now." At hearing that statement, who were the boys to deny their Rock Angel. With acceptance from the parents, the four men all got in on the group hug.

(Y/n) once more surrounded by the people that had loved her the most.

With some major convincing as well to bring her parents here to the 'Rock heaven' Queen and the Rock Angel had here, they also managed to move a quiet little cottage just up the road for (f/n) and (m/n) to live in.

When (y/n) and the boys went to visit the house, (y/n) was amazed to see that it looked exactly like her childhood home before she was forced into the hell house of her aunt and uncle. It was all the same, the tan wallpaper, the curtains, the bookshelves, the little TV, everything.

*My POV*

Wow, my parents and my boys together. I can't believe how lucky I am. Now my heaven really is the best of both worlds. And I never want to be away from it again.

We were all gathered around the dinner table for some well deserved breakfast. My mum was cooking in the kitchen with Deacy helping her out while me, my dad and Brian were setting up the table and as for Fred, Roger and my dad were out talking in the backyard.

"Breakfast is ready!" my mum called out from the window. Her and Deacy began bringing in the dishes and even Brian helped out with some of the biscuits.

"Mhm, mum this is so good. Just as I remembered breakfast being." As I took a bite of my pancakes.

"I'm glad you still love it dear. I was worried I had prepared it wrong."

"Nonsense, your cooking is superb (m/n) darling!" Freddie proclaimed.

"That's what I've always told you love." My dad said.

"You're just saying that because I was the cook of the family. Poor man can't even boil an egg without setting it on fire."

"Well that's one thing you and Rog have in common." Deacy teased.

"I got better didn't I?"

"Ten years later, the guy tried to poison us one time during our Japan tour." Brian spoke up.

"You know what Brian?" Roger started as Brian gave him a mocking look.

"Alright boys enough. No fighting at the table!" My mum scolded.

"Sorry Mrs. (l/n)." they both said. Even though they were technically older than my mum, she still had them on their toes. My mum maybe a sweetheart but I guess I inherited my fierceness from her. Screw with her and she blows up and attacks like a lioness.

"Anyways I can't tell you how proud we were of your performance last night (y/n)."

"You both saw the concert?"

"Of course. The Heaven rock and roll concert is open to everyone in heaven that has passed on. So long as you have a love for music and respect the artists that go up there, anyone is welcome to watch. And you were amazing up there love." My dad said.

"Taught her everything she knows, poor dear completely changed after I helped her gain some confidence to own the stage." Freddie said as he playfully ruffled my hair.

"Oh don't we know it, she was always such a shy girl." Mum said.

"Mum." I groaned out.

"In fact, wait right here." She stood up and went over to the bookshelf and pulled out a familiar red album book.

"Oh my god." I muttered.

"Now I have seen that you boys have been neglected in seeing your beloved Rock Angel in her childhood years."

"Mum, mum no!" I begged her. She then turned to Roger and said his name with a wide smile. "Mum, mum please don't!" It soon turned into an all breakout of me trying to take the album away before anyone could reach it, while my mum and the guys were all saying yes.

My mum and I were having a bit of tussle with her trying to give the album to Roger and me trying to stop it. But Roger soon intervened and grabbed the book and it was then I was screwed. I let out a groan and tapped out.

"Okay that's it, goodbye. I'm outta here."

"Oh no you don't, come back here dear." I was pulled back by Fred who kept me in his lap as the album was opened and the guys all either pulled pictures out from the album or passed the book along. My parents each explaining what either photo meant or how old I was in the picture.

Freddie had the picture of me petting a goat and riding a pony. He fawned over the pictures and flipped it over to see that those pictures were from my 5th birthday at petting zoo that was located on a farm about 20 miles away from our house.

"She always wanted to be a ballerina when she was 3 years old." My mum explained as Deacy soon turned a picture over to show me a picture of 3 year old me in a princess tiara and ballerina outfit and tutu. Giving me that pouty face of his almost as if saying 'look at you baby sister.'

"That girl never took that leotard and tutu off for a straight week. Even slept in it every night." I buried my face into my hands as I heard the boys laugh.

Oh god this was embarrassing!

This is why I never wanted the boys to see this album but I should've known that if my parents were in heaven, they'd have this album with them.

I don't know how long the torture was but I was relieved when it finally ended. Of course the boys kept fawning of just how adorable I was and why I kept the fact that I was such a cute child from them this long.

"Alright you all done now?" I asked impatiently as I finally stood up from Fred's lap.

"Oh come off it love, do you have any idea how long we have waited to see these pictures?" Brian stated.

"Too damn long. Now I've got eternal blackmailing against you sister dear." Deacy tormented as he came over to me and got me in a headlock and gave me a noogie.

"Mum! Deacy's trying to blackmail me!" I whined out.

"Tattletale." He grumbled.

"Now, now Deacy don't go blackmailing my daughter." My mum stated firmly as she and Brian began cleaning up the now finished breakfast plates and pans.

"Sorry Mrs. (L/n)." Deacy said. But Roger stood up and whispered something in Deacy's ear and I could see the mischief in both their eyes as they shook hands with each other.

God I only knew trouble was going to come from this, whatever it was that they had planned.

As the day went on, we were back at Garden Lodge studios merely relaxing under the warm sun out in the gardens. I was sitting with Brian and Freddie going over our next concert game plan for tonight's show.

Occasionally I was petting either Bucky or Freddie's two cats Oscar and Romeo who were lying right side by side with Bucky. While Roger and Deacy were playing frisbee with Sammy.

"Something troubling you darling?" asked Freddie. I turned toward him and Brian who were both looking at me concerned.

"I guess."

"You guess?" questioned Brian.

"This may sound silly but....how do you check in on the family and friends you've left behind?"

"You miss Jack and the kids, don't you?" Freddie said. I looked down solemnly.

"It was just so painful for them to see me as I was in my final years. I—just want to make sure they're all okay, especially Jack." They nodded and that's when Freddie said.

"There is a way. Come with me darling." He stood up and helped me onto my feet and we walked back to the house.

We were up in the basement studio and said as he stood in front of the window separating the booth and the lounge area with the controls.

"If at any time we need to see the ones we love, the way to them is through the thing we love. Touch the glass and it'll show your heart's desire." I looked at him like he was crazy but he just nodded telling me to do it. I placed my hand on the glass and said.

"I'd like to see my husband and children, please." Soon the glass shined a light and soon an image of Jack came up.

He was lying in what looked like a hospital bed and I saw our four kids surrounding him, looking like they were about to break down crying.

"Jack." I muttered sadly. "Is he....."

"I don't know darling. He may or he may not. We cannot determine that. All we can do is watch. It pains me because I had to live it so many times seeing you, the lads, David, Elton and my family pass on."

"But he promised me he'd watch out for them after I was gone."

"Guess he couldn't live without the love of his life." The image then disappeared leaving me feel empty and heartbroken. "Oh (y/n)." he softly cooed before I felt his arms wrap around me and I buried my face into his chest as I softly wept.

By around supper time we were back at my parent's place all getting ready to sit down and eat. I was sitting between my dad and Roger while in front of me was Deacy.

I was currently piddling around with my mashed potatoes suddenly not having an appetite after what I had just witnessed.

"Everything okay love?" I heard Roger say.

"Hmm." I hummed.

"Use your words baby girl, now c'mon what's going on?" asked my dad.

"I—I guess I'm not in the mood for potatoes."

"I've got a nice apple pie cooling in the kitchen." Suggested my mum.

"No thanks mum." I set my fork down and sighed solemnly as I leaned against my chair. Before any other questions could be asked we heard the doorbell ring. I felt Rog gently tuck a strand of hair behind my ear before standing up giving me a gentle peck on the top of my head and heading towards the door.

I felt my dad wrap his arm around me allowing me to lean against him.

"Hey (y/n)." I heard Roger say. I looked up at my dad and he told me to go on before kissing the top of my head just like Rog did and I walked from the kitchen over to the front hallway. "Someone's here to see you." He stepped aside and standing there was Jack.

He looked about the exact age when I first met him. The short sandy blonde hair, same outfit, and those same gentle greenish-blue eyes that made my knees grow week.

"Hey (y/n)." I walked right up to him and didn't say a word. "I—god I didn't expect to be here like this but.....look at you. It's like you hadn't aged a day. I—" I gave him a firm slap across the face. He looked at me in shock and I snapped.

"I thought you promised to take care of our kids! The grandkids!"

"I'm sorry but I....when I told you on the day we sailed to Capri for our honeymoon that I would die rather than live a lifetime without you, I literally meant it. I did try to be strong but the stress of the press of them bringing you up. Hounding our children and grandchildren just....." I cut him off by cupping his face and kissing him.

He was stunned for a moment but he relaxed as I felt his arms wrap around my waist and he deepened the kiss. I felt him pick me up and spin me around along the front porch before finally setting me down.

"I've missed you." I whispered.

"I've missed you. I've missed you soo much." I could just see the pain in his eyes. He wasn't just meaning after my death. Since he's had to suffer for 3 years due to my dementia making my mind deteriorate, making me forget him most days or who our kids were. He cupped the side of my face and captured my lips once more.

"So this is the young boy who stole my little girl's heart in the end?" we were forced to separate as not only my parents but the rest of Queen now stood by the front door entrance. Jack looked at my mum and dad wide eyed and said.

"Are—are those two....."

"Jack darling, there are two very special people you haven't met yet. I'd like you to meet my mother (m/n) and father (f/n). Mum, dad this is Jack." Mum was the first one to walk up to Jack with a warm smile.

"So this is the famous Jack Kline. Let me get a good look at you," she placed her hands on his shoulders forcing him to separate from me just a bit as she observed him. She nodded and said with a warm smile, "I'm glad I can finally say this to you in person (Y/n), you definitely picked yourself a handsome young man."

"Thanks mum."

"Thank you Mrs.—"

"Please Jack we're family. Call me mum." She said as she gently cupped the side of his face. He smiled and said.

"Okay.....mom." She hugged him and even though he was at first shocked, he gladly embraced my mum back.

After their embrace he came back towards me and he whispered in my ear, "You look so much like her."

"That's what the guys have been saying all day." I whispered back.

"So glad to see you here with us Jack darling." Freddie said.

"Freddie!" Jack said happily as the two of them hugged each other. Freddie kissed both of my husband's cheeks and said.

"You've done good Jack dear. I've been watching you along with that beautiful wife of yours. And thank you for naming your last baby after me."

"It was really (y/n)'s idea. I just agreed to it. It—felt right at the time."

"Well I appreciate it nonetheless." Jack then turned to Brian who smiled at my husband and the two of them embraced each other as Brian also ruffled my husband's hair.

"Good to see you again Jack."

"And you too Brian. It wasn't the same without you. I still never got the chance to beat you at Scrabble."

"And you never will." Brian bragged.

"It's true my dear, even I have yet to beat him once again, you bastard!" Freddie pipped in. When Jack finally turned towards Deacy, I thought he was going to just breakdown.

"Jack."

"Deacy, I—is it......"

"Who else did you expect, John Lennon?" Jack softly choked out a laugh before Deacy brought him into a hug. I couldn't help but awe at the sweet reunion.

I knew Jack had waited so long to be reunited with his brother, his mentor and dearest friend.

He blamed himself after Deacy's death thinking had he been there for him more, he could've somehow prevented him from dying, even when I assured him that there wasn't anything he nor I could do.

So this was his closure, and I was happy to see that he got it.

After they separated from each other, Deacy playfully ruffed Jack's hair much like Brian did in that typical 'big brother' kind of way.

"I'm sorry. If I—had I know I could've....."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault okay Jack. Listen to me, okay? None of it was your doing. You understand that?" he nodded and embraced Deacy once more.

"I missed you Deacy."

"And I missed you too, my little protegee." It was then the only person he had yet to meet face to face was my dad.

My dad approached him and eyed him up and down as well as circled around him a few times like a lion circling its prey before going for the kill.

"I have seen everything that's happened with my little girl." He told him straight forward.

"E-everything?" Jack choked out nervously.

"Oh yes, everything. But if I had to say out of any guy that tried to win my baby girl's hand. I'm glad it was you son." It seemed to ease Jack's nervousness that was until, "and I was thankful to have another set of eyes looking after my little girl the way I would see fit of the situation, don't you agree Roger?"

"Indeed (f/n)." Roger stated smugly as the two of them clasped hands with each other.

"Dad!" I whined out which made both my real and surrogate fathers chuckle. "But we don't need to worry about this one. He's a good chap."

"Alright enough with the interrogation. Now that we have an extra guest, let's adjust the table and get him some good quality food." I smiled and we all returned back inside for a good meal and some long catching up and family bonding.

Now I won't deny it but I refuse to state that Jack finally got his wish of seeing all of my baby pictures and of course the guys wanted another look at them along with Jack as both my parents told every embarrassing story they could remember from when I was 2 till before the crash.

About a month later the theme for this coming concert was a 'cover performance'. Each artist got the chance to do an entire set based off of their own cover versions of different artists songs. The boys and I got to do songs from Bowie, Elvis, and the Beatles and right now we were gonna take things down a notch.

Brian and I stood by the piano, me sitting on top of it and he sitting at the benches.

"Right first of all we'd like to thank you all once again for coming to see us, it's really been a blast. This next song was written by the wonderful, talented and legend Diana Ross. This song was written for an animated film that hit number 1 in Japan. This is 'If we hold on together'." Brian then began playing the piano and he looked right up at me as he began the song first.

PLAY VIDEO

I joined in on the second bridge staring right back at him before the two of us joined in together in a beautiful duet. His high range angelic voice and my mellow but soft alto voice blended like a beautiful concoction.

*Brian*

Don't lose your way With each passing day You've come so far Don't throw it away

Live believing Dreams are for weaving Wonders are waiting to start *Me*

Live your story Faith, hope and glory Hold to the truth in your heart

*Both*

If we hold on together I know our dreams will never die Dreams see us through to forever The clouds roll by For you and I

Bri and I touched forehead with each other smiling lovingly at each other. The spotlight shined once again but this time on Roger as he lead the next verse gently beating on the drums before being accompanied by Freddie's voice.

*Roger*

Souls in the wind Must learn how to bend Seek out a star Hold on to the end Valley, mountain There is a fountain Washes our tears all away Waves are swaying Somebody is praying Please let us come home to stay

*Roger and Freddie*

If we hold on together I know our dreams will never die Dreams see us through to forever As clouds roll by For you and I

Freddie soon took over for a brief solo, his powerful voice moving the crowd before Rog and Bri joined in. Showing off the three voices that helped make most of the Queen songs as powerful as they were.

*Freddie*

When we are out there in the dark We'll dream about the sun *Freddie, Brian and Roger*

In the dark we'll feel the light Warm our hearts, everyone

Much like Deacy always did whenever they performed Liar, he came right up beside me up close to my mic and the two of us sung together the brief duet before the other three members joined in. And I couldn't help but wrap my arm around my big brother as the two of us sang, and I even felt his arm go around my waist as out heads touched each other's lovingly.

But as we reached the final part of the song, Freddie and Roger joined Brian, Deacy and I at the piano. The five of us coming back together as a family as our voices sung in perfect harmony.

*Me and Deacy*

If we hold on together I know our dreams will never die *All*

Dreams see us through to forever As high as souls can fly The clouds roll by For you and I

We all looked at each other before finally embracing each other in a loving group hug. I patted Roger and Deacy's backs rubbing them as the crowd roared with applause and if anyone had no heart, I'm betting everyone was probably crying, just like we all were at this very moment.

"I love you guys." I said to them into my microphone.

(A/N GO TO 1:37)

The five of us were gathered at the top of a cliffside hill right by the old oak tree with a swing set that once was near my childhood home back on Earth. We all were sat along the edge of small cliff just looking out toward the sky, speaking not a word just enjoying the company of just being together.

As the sun began to rise, the guys all looked down at me and I looked up at them. All four of them just smiling lovingly down at me. Brian pulled me up onto his lap resting his chin on my head, giving it a kiss, Roger rested his head against my left shoulder wrapped his arm around me as he nuzzled against my head kissing my cheek or temple every now and then, I soon felt two different pressures on my lap.

I looked down to see Freddie and Deacy laying head to head of each other on my lap. I stroked through their hairs and down their faces and I felt each of them kiss either my palm or the back of my hand. While they each lifted up a hand to caress my face or wipe away a hidden happy tear that wanted to escape.

This is how I wanted every post-concert performance, every day, every eternity to be like. Here with the four boys that weren't just rockstars to me, but family.

If there was anything I had to say about all of this; if you had told me to describe my life in three simple words, I would always tell you this.

Best. Internship. Ever.

[grantiskeith]

Baby Wolf Cub (Davidxreader) Part 2

I don't know about anyone else, but this stopped being about ASMR a long time ago. Redacted's storytelling ability and world-building skills are fantastic. I would 100% read a book if he wrote one.

Here is part 2 of the first fic I have ever written.

Words: 1.8k

Warnings: dad vibes, blood, gunshot

"Hello?" I picked up my ringing phone "what! Who is this!" David picked his head off the floor, ears perking up. The little pup yawned and stretched against David's fur.

"Where? Tonight?" Click. 11:14 pm. David shifted back into his human self which prompted the sleeping cub into a sleeping baby with its butt in the air. "What's going on?"

I dialed another number without answering him."Milo, hey I need you to come over. It's an emergency. No, no one's hurt but we need your help. Yeah, thanks"

Click. "They followed me from Chicago, they want the kid back." I walked to the little one one and bent over to pick him up. David stuck his hand out in front of mine.

"Don't touch him, let him sleep. Shifting takes magic and doing it as often as he is would be exhausting for a full grown adult. He'll figure it out, but he needs sleep. Now what the hell are you talking about? Who called? Stop! don't put your jacket on"

"I don't know who, all I know is that there's a lead on the corner of South and Maple and I'm going to figure out what's going on." I did put my jacket down but only to grab a light blanket off the couch and draped it over the baby's legs.

"Angel, that's too dangerous, they could be vampires or murderers or..."

"They're most likely kidnappers, which is why we need to stop them"

"Listen to yourself! You're not Sherlock Holmes, you're not Batman"

Angel put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes, "you're just a fragile human and you need to stay here and be safe."

"It's not your job to protect me"

"Actually it is. As soon as you became my mate you became part of the pack. As the Alpha and your mate it is my duty to take care of you" he backed up from me and rubbed his hands over his face. "I love you Angel! I would give my life for you without question"

"I would never ask you to!" I said that a little louder than I should and the baby turned over before it started crying. I went over to pick him up but David got to him first and subtly bounced him on his hip.

"Why are you putting something so special to me in harm's way? You are a fucking danger to yourself and the more you get involved in these messes the more likely you are to put me and my pack in the line of fucking fire. There are things about the magic world that you don't understand and there are more threats than you can see. Let's ignore that call and just take this trouble maker to the department."

I put my head down to the floor. It was late and I was tired. Almost a half tempting offer. But there was a mystery to be solved here and possibly a larger crime.

"Sitting in bed and watching tv does not help anyone," I told him. "I am the mate of one of the most influential wolf pack's alpha. You know I'm tough or else you know I wouldn't last long. I was made of something durable and built for being more than a fucking house wife!"

David put the baby on the couch and laid the blanket out next to him. Carefully, he wrapped the little one up into a burrito and scooped him up to cradle him.

"Before you go and get your life sucked out by a damn shade or something. Throw a cup of milk in the microwave for a few seconds" David said, sitting down on the couch.

"Uh sure" I said. "I am not a complete dumbass, I know I shouldn't go alone. If you won't come and back me up then I will ask Milo." I handed him a lukewarm glass. "How did you get so good with infants anyway?"

Silence from David. I hate it when he just shuts down. He propped the baby up against his chest and titled the cup up until the little one could drink.

"Instinct, basic life skills, common fucking sense. All things you don't possess, clearly" he put the cup down on the table. And took a deep breath. "My dad… he would make me help out new moms in the pack. He used to say I needed to spend time with women since my mom wasn't around. It was a way of helping the pack feel more like a family"

I sat down next to him. Coat on, shoes on, ready to jump out the door.

"Angel, I have lost so damn much. Just from life already being as fucking dangerous as it is. If something happened to you... I just... I don't know what I would do... I fucking..."

I cut him off, "I know. I love you too. Unmistakable fact of life. I love you."

A knock at the door, "hey guys it's me." I got up and opened it to Milo's anxious face, "What's wrong, that's the emer.. Holy shit! is that yours" Milo stared in disbelief.

"Yes, it is, in the 48 hours I was gone I went and had a werewolf baby and now you're the designated sitter so we can go make another one" I was monotone in my sarcasm. I stepped out the door, "you coming Davey?"

David carefully slipped the baby into Milo's arms, "support the head and neck here," I heard him say. "Yeah, remember when we used to do this with Ginny's baby a few years back?"

He grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair and followed me "of course I'm coming you dumbass." He yelled down the hall at me, "Oh Milo, if he starts whimpering just shift and lay with him, he's docile. There's warm milk on the table and more in the fridge if he's crying. He didn't mind the couch but feel free to lay him on the bed"

"Let's go!" I yelled to David down the hallway.

"What the fuck is going on" was the last thing I heard Milo say before David shut the door.

South and Maple was a quiet intersection, although most are at the ungodly hour of 2am. Surrounded by three or four story buildings with alleyways and parked cars. There was no shortage of places to hide or spy down on the intersection. David and I stepped onto an alley between two buildings to discuss a plan. Unfortunately we didn't get the time.

"Where is he?"

We both turned to a tall lanky woman at the end of the alley. She was dressed in a pantsuit, real realtor vibes. Two men ran around the corner and took their place behind her. David growled but I put my hand out in front of him, "hold back" I whispered.

"Who are you and what do you want? Where are the parents?" I yelled down the alley.

"Where? Honey probably at the bottom of the the lake considering the rocks tied to their ankles"

David started growling again but I told him again to wait. This conversation was not violent yet.

"You stole that baby!" I accused

"Baby?" She laughed, "that was not a baby, what you have hidden somewhere is a freak circus animal that many are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for."

"You bitch!" I yelled

"I have bids lined up" the men besides her both shifted in werewolves which prompted David to do the same. The sudden magic and chaos of growling and barking filled the air. David was significantly larger than the other two but he was outnumbered. There was a mix of growling, barking, and biting. I was bewildered that I didn't even hear the shot. The lady whistled and both the other wolves ran to join her. They walked around the corner.

David shook himself off and ran to follow. Water fell down the side of my leg. Water? I looked up trying to find a leaking gutter or rain. No rain. I looked down and saw a red stain on the side of my shirt growing. I balled up a chunk of shirt and held it against my side.

"Davey'' my voice cracked. "Davey!" I couldn't get it to be as loud as I needed. My left ear started ringing loudly. My head was full of sawdust and my vision became the static of an old tv. I felt a hand over my own behind me. Fuck, Davey. Where did he come from?

"Can you ..." was all I heard before I felt my knees give out. David picked me up bridal style and ran to the end of the alleyway. I heard the car door open and the next thing I saw was the ceiling over the back seat. David climbed in the back with me and shut and locked the door.

"Just.. drive" fuck, talking hurt.

"Classic triage Angel, stabilize then transport." He tried to move my hand away from the wet spot I was holding.

"It doesn't hurt that bad! Just drive" I was using whatever I had left to keep him away.

"That's cause you're going into shock" he grabbed my denim jacket from the front seat, "hey, Angel look at me. I'm going to lift your hand up just for a second and put your jacket under it ok?"

I winced and nodded. It actually didn't hurt that bad. I couldn't feel anything and everything had a vague cold numbness. He drapped his leather jacket over my shoulders.

I took a deep and painful breath. I closed my eyes for a moment but then I felt David snapping his hand over my face. When did he get in the front seat? When did he start driving.

"Hey! Keep your eyes open"

"I'm fine, I'm ok. I just blinked"

"You're pale. Are you nauseous?" David put his eyes back on the road, "if we go back to the apartment they'll follow us and find the kid" he said, "but if we go to a human hospital they'll ask too many questions. So we're going to.. Hey Angel! Open your eyes and keep holding that jacket down. We're going to Milo's mother's place. She'll be ready for us. Angel! Are you listening to me? Asher and Milo have the baby. Christan is leading the pack to hunt down that woman."

I was barely making out the words. Davey was the alpha for a reason, that's the only thing I understood. Cool under pressure, rallying the troops, delegating orders. I nodded, at least I think I did. "I love you" were the words that I tried to get out of my mouth. I felt the engine of the car rev louder.

[herpronuonsarefemslash]

You Like the Taste of Danger (It Shines Like Sugar on Your Lips) - Teaser

The first chapter of a sequel to Bioweapons and Beef Stew, with Aethyta needing to help her Little Wing, Liara having a lot on her plate right now, and Lex Luthor not measuring up to Aria T'Loak.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/61784814

-----

Benezia hurt Liara. 

Three words, three fucking words, and a hundred and eleven years of hurt were just gone and she was out of the Terminus like a vorcha with a missile up its ass, burning favors that had been ripening for centuries to get her customs file spritzed and wiped down, get back into the Republic’s good graces, and get on a ship to where her girls–at least one of them–needed her. 

If she ever had had trouble sleeping or keeping food down, it was literally a thousand years ago, because her life gets pretty pyjackfucking clear around fifteen, when her brain started making memories on the regular and she became aware of how fucking horny and embarrassing her parents were. 

Aethyta knows she’s done some shit that’s three relay jumps past wrong. And she’s never lost a night’s sleep over it. Perks of being a heartless bitch. 

Slept like a malyk cub until she had to contend with the idea of Benezia doing something that hurt Liara and someone thinking the situation had gotten so Lucen-fucked terrible that the cautionary example of the matriarch stage ought to be involved.

-----

The doctors assigned to Benezia’s case scare the scales off her: Neurologists, psychiatrists, bioticists…a whole list of things together add up to ‘what if the steadiest matriarch on Thessia lost her Goddess-blessed mind’. The one next to her is Dr. Nerya D’Vaes, multidisciplinary something Liara or Nezzy would know, but she doesn’t. She’s always been a dark-alleys asari, not a nicely-decorated classroom asari. Those weren’t the kind of smarts she brought to the table. Whatever their last names were, Nezzy was slumming. They both got off on it. 

Nezzy wrote her once or twice, complaining about Liara in ways carefully crafted to make Aethyta proud of the kid–like that wasn’t a fucking given, she’s Nezzy’s–and one of them mentioned Liara trying to work out exactly how little sleep she could get away with before the House Doctor got on her case. 

Nerya’s jumpier than a salarian on stims, her eyes flicking from display to display, scrolling though her datapad faster than she can read, flincing, and scrolling back. 

Aethyta suspects that this four-century-old brat has been this anxious and flighty since she was Liara’s age. 

“It’s an honor,” she mumbles, bouncing her knee so hard that Aethyta just slaps a stasis around the joint to stop her. “Benezia’s a remarkable speci-person…I mean, not that…It’s not like I want to study her in a lab! Astonishing what happens in matriarch’s brains…minds, it’s hard to call what happens in there just electricity and chemicals…I just hope I can help her.” 

“Yeah, kid. Me too.”

-----

I have now seen forty humans in chunky spacesuits go through a coming-aboard ceremony that would give the Turian Primarch a hard-on, Aethyta thinks. Cross that off the list. 

A blonde human–maybe human, she’s not sure what parts they have and that jumpsuit is not quite doing the job of hiding a bulge–is doing her part for sanitation by just floating over the deck. Floating, even though the ship has gravity. Every sense Aethyta has except sight and sound is telling her the world tilts towards the kid–mass, gravity, potential for energy–and when she stretches her senses out, sending energy through the kid to see what’s so weird about her, it’s like trying to focus her biotics on a goddamned black hole.  A four armed robo-something is hovering next to her on some sort of mass effect field, waving politely with it’s right arms. 

And now whatever she is, I’ve met one of those. Cross it off the list, too. 

It’s time to act like a grownup. “Fuck.”

-----

The door chimes and opens. 

“Liara?” 

She spins her chair away from her mother’s bed and looks over the newcomer. She could not possibly be anything but a matriarch by her height but she’s lean–almost serpentine–compared to the usual curves of that life stage. Like Shepard’s, her gait is measured, her stance seemingly rigidly upright. But there are bends, flexes, the wound-spring movements, the ever-readiness of a body and mind habituated to the role of predator. Were she not a few inches taller than Benezia, Liara would think her slimness and physicality that of a clanless huntress, not the highborn matriarch, a member of the Thirty, no less, that her birthmark says she must be. She could disappear wholly behind Benezia’s silhouette.

-----

“Can I help you?” 

The newcomer coughs. It’s a rough gesture; far rougher than her lovely mehir-berry red and ‘matriarch black’ gown and Liara has to wonder why this matriarch appears. The asari standing behind her is a doctor, clearly, and the others, bodyguards. 

“It’s easier to explain in a conversational meld,” she huffs. “There’s…background.” 

The roll of her eyes invokes a fleeting resemblance to Shepard and the strange beauty of detachment: Of being the most dangerous, or powerful, or beautiful presence in the room merely by refusing to acknowledge the universe’s say in the matter. 

“Very well.”

-----

Rain…laughter…attention presidium residents, simulated weather failure, please take shelter…shivering bodies…“Let’s get you warm”…the shower meant to raise their bodies to a safe temperature becomes more… meld black eyes, her mothers…meld black eyes, this stranger’s…morning…faint bruises peppering Benezia’s midsection…a dreamleaf cigarette? she used to smoke?…rolling over in the sheets to tip it into the ashtray… breakfast in bed…meeting up again for lunch…biotics lighting the room like the core of a sun when powerful bodies peak together…a pillow to the face and a soft shove out the door with a foot, casting a glance over a shoulder at smeared makeup and a smirk that says Hurry up and come back to me.

Rage and hurt, incandescent, inescapable as a black hole and destructive…she kept the bracelet…she kept the bracelet…she always has reasons…Goddess, let me still mean something to her…a kaleidoscope of liquor glasses and bars of decreasing standards…a four-eyed head walking into a crosshairs and then vanishing in a spray of ruined metal and flesh…rolling off the ledge behind the cover of the rooftop and thinking of rolling into Benezia’s arms…dreamleaf cigarette, Her brand, least I can do, warp-sensitive match flickering cobalt blue with actual fire, not warpfire…tip cherry red as she puffs, walking down a dirty alleyway.

“Well, then, give me your wisdom, Matriarch. I seem to recall that you getting me like this is how we got her.”…both of them laughing like drunk maidens at that…“Can’t keep treating her like a baby bird, Nezzy. She’s gonna raise a storm with those little wings…”

-----

Emotion from both sides slices the meld like a knife.

“Hey, hey, hey…” The matriarch rubs circles on Liara’s back as sore lungs fight to pull in enough air, reeling from the weight of nearly two centuries of love and grief and pride compressed into flashes that took less than an hour. 

“Little Wing. That’s yours, not hers. She didn’t always call me that. But one day, she never called me anything else. Ainthar.” 

The matriarch pulls her closer, tucks her crest under her chin, and rocks back and forth. 

“Funny, only time I did it this way around was you, kid. I carried your half-sisters,” she jokes. “More work.”

-----

Aria learned a long time ago not to go for…what did that one idiot call them?…style points when it comes to dealing with threats to her organization. She rules the Terminus because she fights like a thug, but plans like a commando. When an enemy is broken to nothing but ragged breath and bruised flesh, she may play with her food. Not before.

That’s what makes this so delicious. She has not quite deduced their endgame–if these short-lived morons had one–but she’s ensured they’re no threat. 

Even on Omega, a fast fever followed by a whole station full of people retching at the smell? Granted, the aroma was always a weak point in civic life here. Quarian, turian, drell and human females growing cocks? Half of her asari dancers unable to stop begging for it, the other half whimpering in pain in their apartments, only to emerge black-eyed, ravenous, with dripping azures and the fronds of their crowns thicker, longer, and beyond fierce? Followed by a week of rutting each other against every surface? 

Strange few weeks, even by Omega’s standards. She did have to multitask and work through her own pain–the effects on the sex organs of an asari her age were even more pronounced–and then work through a parade of sniffling, shaking playmates who couldn’t function without a fuck at the start of their shift.

“Lex Luthor…” Aria hums. “Wealthy man. Clever enough, for someone your age. Clever for a child.” 

He screams into the gag. Ego. Ego is always the weakness of his kind. His lackeys mean nothing to him. The life of his little mistress here means nothing, even if she would be clever and more fearsome than him in the long run, if removed from his shadow. He can build and understand and do, and do it younger than those around him, so he doesn’t value experience. 

She crooks a finger and pulls the gag off with her biotics. 

“What were you doing here?”

[crispyjenkins]

Chosen-One!Obi-Wan x Jango where Jaster finds Obi-Wan after he’s lost(somehow lmfao,, idk maybe connecting ships like a connecting flight?) on his was to bandomeer and adopted by a haat’mando’ade advisor of Jasters?

(this would have been out on monday except i rewrote it twice T◡T this is by far the best version i already have a few haat mando’ade Obis so i gave this one a twist (ゝω·) thank you for the prompt, anon! i started planning this one as soon as it came in, i’m so happy to finally be able to get to it (ノ*´◡`) i hope you like it!  i am now inordinately attached to the idea of a wookiee raising obi, and wanted to do so much more with chalmun but it did not work out by rewrite three. someday, friend (๑o﹏o๑)

  When Obi-Wan meets the Mand’alor on Bandomeer, wearing his failures like funeral garb, Jaster calls him Haar Gaanla. The Chosen.

  Obi-Wan never makes it to the Agricorp outpost, he doesn’t even make it out of the spaceport; the moment he steps off the transport from the Temple, the Force all but takes over his feet, humming in happiness as it leads Obi-Wan further and further into the port, until it pulls him to a stop in front of a Nova Courier starship.

  A Mandalorian without a helmet turns around from stocking his cargo hold, and knows from one look that there’s something not quite right about Obi-Wan, that the way the opalescent Force ripples around him is not the way it surrounds others. 

  “Haar Gaanla,” the man says, as the Force whispers Mand’alor, as Obi-Wan says,

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Jaster lets him sleep in his bunk the whole way to Concord Dawn.

-

  When Obi-Wan meets the Journeyman Protector Chalmun, the Wookiee stepping out of his terracotta dugout home on a farmstead that looks like it’s drowning in blooming behot, he calls Obi-Wan Haar Gaanla. The Chosen.

  Obi-Wan smiles around his missing tooth, and calls him buir.

-

  The prophecy of The Chosen One is not specific to the Jedi, Chalmun has heard it all over the galaxy from as many peoples as he has bowcasters — which is to say, a lot. Mandalore has had their own prophecy from as far back as the Taung, and Obi-Wan doesn’t know what that means for him, somehow raised a Jedi first, but Mando’ad now.

  His first night as Chalmun’s foundling, he tells Obi-Wan the story of the Wookiee warrior that carried her people into the trees and showed them the sky, before giving them her bones to build the first treehouse. Her name, Otwiyaddirm, came to mean freedom, choice, and has a variation in all Wookiee tongues. 

  Chalmun tells him more stories like that while he teaches him how to farm and how to grow, how to care for the behot leaves that are their main income, but also the root vegetables planted at the bushes’ base. Master Tyvokka spoke Shyriiwook when Obi-Wan was in the Temple, but Obi-Wan’s crèchemaster was one of his apprentices, and she taught their whole clan Xaczik instead, partly just to piss her old master off.

  Obi-Wan knows the Force likes to mess with him, lead him to believe one thing before spinning him 540º to another answer entirely, so he knows there is very little in his life that the Force does not have a hand in; that Chalmun speaks Xaczik rather than the far more common Shyriiwook? Well, it’s not as if Obi-Wan is surprised.

  Before Jaster, Obi-Wan had only interacted with one Force user that was not a Jedi, a Zebraki woman that had come to study the architecture of the Coruscant Temple. Obi-Wan had snuck out of bed and was on the run from Master Oraruu when the Zabrak had found him and crouched in front of him — she called him Uifri with a sort of fond awe, and walked him back to the crèche with an impossibly gentle hand in his. Knight Kolar told him later that the closest word in Basic is Chosen.

  Master Plo had called him ‘a lantern in the Force’ when he first brought Obi-Wan to the temple, and the description stuck far into his initiate days. Quinlan would tease him about it, saying he ran a few degrees hotter than other humans, because to Quinlan, he was warmth more than light.

  So Obi-Wan isn’t unused to epithets and comparisons and whispered names in languages he doesn't speak, but he doesn’t know what to do with himself when his new buir starts to affectionately call him Otwiyaddirm, just as often as he calls him cub.

  It certainly confuses Jaster’s foundling the first few times the Mand’alor checks in on Obi-Wan and brings Jango along, who despite being a few years older than Obi-Wan and Haat Mando’ad to boot, can’t pronounce Obi-Wan’s Xaczik name and instead just calls him Nau’ika. Little Light. 

  Even after Jango learns Obi-Wan has a name in Basic, the nickname stays, because though his midichlorian count is lower than even Jaster’s, Jango can still see his light in the Force. Mando’a doesn’t have a word for the sorts of open-flame lanterns Master Plo had referred to, but Jaster says he thinks Nau’ika suits them just fine. 

-

  “Can you feel it?”

  Jango looks up from the stone wash basin outside by the greenhouse, where Jaster had assigned the two of them to wash tubers for thirdmeal, but he finds Obi-Wan resolutely focussed on the blue tuber he’s scrubbing. He’s rolled the sleeves of his red linen shirt up past his elbows, arms toned from working the farmstead, and Jango has half a mind to be amused by Montross’ insistence that Journeyman Protectors and their clans simply can’t compete with Supercommandos — Montross has obviously never seen the size of the sacks of behot leaves Obi-Wan and Chalmun regularly sling from the barn to their speeder.

  “Feel what?” Jango asks, while Obi-Wan works at a particularly stubborn spot of dirt with his reed scrubber. 

  Obi-Wan doesn’t answer immediately, but his expression is relaxed and thoughtful, so Jango doesn’t press, just waits quietly at his side. He had grown in leaps and bounds under Chalmun’s careful rearing, strong and smart and kind, and he looks almost nothing like the tiny Jedi imp that Jango had met six years before. 

  His hair is redder now, baked under Concord Dawn’s blue sun until it’s almost copper in the summers. Farmer-tanned skin is spattered with freckles and blemishes where he had been pale as a wampa in a snowdrift when Chalmun had first taken him in; Arla had been like that, too, and something in Jango aches.

  “Me.”

  Jango blinks, quickly returning to his own scrubbing when he realises he had been staring. “You? Oh, you mean the light thing?” Obi-Wan nods once. “Of course I can, everyone above Force-null can.”

  His relaxed expression tightens, lips pressed thin as the water in the basin moves preternaturally. “Everyone keeps saying that,” he says softly, “even the other Sensies here think I’m special.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  Obi-Wan shrugs, pushing his hair out of his face with the back of his wrist; it still leaves water running down his forehead, and Jango’s brain short circuits, just a little. “I don’t know. The Jedi certainly didn’t think so.”

  “And we’re supposed to care what those shabuire think?” Jango scoffs. “They must be even better at sticking their heads in the ground than I thought, if even the children couldn’t feel you.”

  “Wouldn’t they have wanted me if they did?”

  Ah, well, perhaps Jango should have expected this.

  He can count the number of times Obi-Wan has talked about his time in the Temple on one hand, despite Jaster checking in on him every few months for the last six years. He’s said that his destiny was not with the Jedi in this iteration of the universe, that he knows the Force had not led him astray, and Jango knows he’s genuinely happy here with Chalmun and the Mando’ade, but he also understands that line of thought.

  “Would you go back to them if they asked?”

  Obi-Wan finally looks at him, wide-eyed. “What? Of course not.”

  “Then does it matter knowing what they thought back then, when you don’t care what they think now?” Jango takes the tuber from Obi-Wan’s hand and drops it in the drying basket with the rest, before pulling the stone stopper from the bottom of the basin to drain the water into a pipe that would take it to the reprocessing tank to be reused in watering the fields. “I’m Haat’ad, Nau’ika: I know droidshit about the Force and Force users, and even less about this prophecy nonsense our buire seem to think is important.” He hefts the basket onto his hip and waits for Obi-Wan to hang the scrubbers over the side of the basin to lead them back to the dugout house; he kicks open the door and holds it with his foot for Obi-Wan to duck past him. “I just know you don’t feel like anything else in the galaxy, that people will always want to take advantage of that power, and that you are far safer all the way out here than in the Core.”

  Their conversation falls off as they remove their shoes to join Jaster and Chalmun in the kitchen, and though Obi-Wan doesn’t bring it up again that night –or any time after– Jango knows he thinks about it still.

-

  When Jango’s starcruiser drops out of the sky over Concord Dawn, crashing into the behot fields and cutting a furrow of flying dirt and flowers right across the farmstead, Obi-Wan is already calling on the Force, oily-black and opalescent and warm, to drag Jango from the wreckage. Obi-Wan wraps it heavy around the both of them, as he kneels in bloody, screaming mud with Jango’s head on his shoulder, as he holds his hand heavy, warm, oil-slick against Jango’s throat until his dead pulse jumps underneath his palm. 

-

Mand’alor —  “Sole ruler”, contended ruler of Mandalore. Haar Gaanla — “The Chosen”, fan creation for a Mandalorian Chosen One myth behot — an herb with a citrus taste and mildly stimulating properties, most often infused into shig, a Mandalorian beverage used similarly to caf buir/e — “parent/s”, gender neutral  Haat Mando’ad/e — lit. “true children of Mandalore”, True Mandalorians (slang shortened to Haat'ad/e)  Nau’ika — “Little light”, nickname for this specific Obi, which becomes new Mando’a slang for open-flame lanterns shabuir/e — an extreme insult, mostly accepted in fandom to be an insult of an individual’s ability to parent (from buir), which is an intrinsic part of Mandalorian psyche and identity  Uifri — “Chosen”, Zabraki (found with this translator) Otwiyaddirm — name meaning “Choice”, “Freedom”, Xaczik (made by combining names with this generator; myth is my own)

*my understanding is that blue suns supporting planet life is impossible, but i raise you: rule of cool. and does concord dawn even have a blue sun in disney or legends canon? i dunno, but you can’t stop me*

[bakubitch-minusultra]

Not Alone: Chapter Eleven

-> an apocalyptic series with bnha characters but without quirks because im the writer and i can do whatever the fuck i want :P new character unlocked

-> Word Count: 2.1k

-> Warnings: none(?)

-> Taglist: @5sosfckss @laudthingcat @zphilophobiaz

The sun set as they reached the top of a hill she never climbed. It was in the opposite mountain range from where she had been and she was nervous of it. She didn’t know what lied on the other side. Her feet hurt and she was tired.

He layed a bunch of bows on the ground and gave Y/n a very appealing look. It made her stomach hurt.

She walked to where he had chosen to sleep and smiled at it. There were branches on the ground which made a mat for sleeping. He had chosen a huge tree with great bows to protect them in case it rained. He was like her father, more than she expected him to be. Not that she ever expected to meet him.

“They think you’re dead.”

He put the last bow down and sat on it. He took the jacket he had brought with him and put it down, patting it for Y/n to sit beside him. Her steps hurt her feet now that they had stopped walking. She dropped onto the ground beside him and watched his eyes sparkle as darkness took over the night sky. She tucked her bow and quiver next to her, always close.

“I was taken to the work farms. We were hiding in this old house like your farmhouse. I wasn’t smart like you though. I never thought about bunkers or having a few different houses and traveling between them. I was an idiot. Anyway they came. I hid Mina and Kirishima and let them take me.”

His face was stoic. She wanted him to kiss her again. She started to wonder if he was going to.

“How did you get away from the farms?”

“I met some people while I was there. Doctors who were forced to work the breeder camps and other scientists. They convinced me I needed to start a revolution from the outside. I escaped with some of him.” He shook his head, as if his thoughts entertained him and brushed his hand through his hair again. He looked at Y/n and smiled, “You know a good spot to clean up around here?”

She shook her head, “Never been here before. You’re starting a revolution?”

He nodded, “The camp we were just at is one of our peace camps. It’s like a retreat. The children and young and old stay there. We have people coming and going constantly. Didn’t you notice how easily you were welcomed?”

“I guess. I just thought that’s what people were like when they live in a camp like that. Aside from the machine gun escort that is.”

He laughed again. She liked the sound of it but it reminded her of Kirishima.

“Well that was a big wolf Y/n. How’d you end up with him?”

“His mother gave birth and must’ve gotten sick shortly after. Hades was waiting for me at the door of the cabin one day. He was tiny then. I could hear his brothers and sisters in the woods. I found the mother dead and half eaten surrounded by the other cubs who were weak and sick. It was awful. I shot them and burned them. It’s the closest the infection ever got to my cabin. He was immune anyway so that’s helpful.”

“He’s immune? Naturally? Maybe he never ate any of the mom.”

Y/n shook her head, “Nah, she wasn’t the only sick thing Hades has eaten. He likes the infected.”

He grimaced, “That’s disgusting. Disgusting and lucky all at the same time.”

“It is.”

“What do you know about the start of the infection?”

Y/n shrugged, “People got sick and some died but others lived and went a little crazy.”

His eyes looked dark as his expression lost its humor and the sun set completely. “No Y/n, people didn’t just get sick. The infection was spread on purpose. Everything that’s happened has been a plan all along.”

“That can’t be true.”

“I wish it weren’t. There was something called the United Nations. They did all of this.”

Y/n felt sick, “They were evil?”

“Not evil, just detached. The world was running out of resources and everyone was constantly putting a hand out to them and asking for aid and food and money. The UN had been warning us forever about global warming and the ice melting and the ocean becoming acidic. Anyway in 2012 all of Greenland's ice and snow melted in a week. The earth started to enter a drought. We thought it was a cyclical event but it wasn’t. It was man made. We had pushed it too far. The same time all this was happening, a conference was held in Rio about the environment. Canada, the US and China pretty much pulled out and admitted they had no intention of slowing their pollution to the recommended level. It would be too hard on their economies. That was the final straw. Apparently the UN had a backup plan for a worst-case scenario such as that. They had a plague. It had a vaccine, which made it easy to spread and then control. The problem was it mutated. They spread the virus at the same time they had bombs placed deep in the ocean along the Japanese coastline. They bombed the shelf and pretty much wiped Japan off the face of the earth and made the west coast of North America a target for huge tidal waves.”

It felt like a movie to Y/n. It didn’t feel real. It felt like the ramblings of her father, before.

“How could you know all this?”

“The work farms. I met people who had been part of the initial plan. The plan was to reset everything. Instead the UN decided they wanted to start humanity over but set it up to succeed this time. The breeder farms were built where only the fit and healthy were allowed to reproduce."

She shivered just imagining it.

Bakugo laughed, “It isn’t what you think. I know what everyone thinks happens but it’s not. The girls only breed every three years and only up to three times. The pregnancy isn’t the result of rape, it’s done using science. The baby is made in a lab and then inserted into the woman’s womb.” Y/n gagged and Bakugo laughed. “The religious had the same reaction. The UN never mentioned this plan to anyone but the very high ups. It never went well.”

“The girls are still taken against their will and made to make babies against their will.”

She saw his head nod in the dark, “Yup and the babies are not God’s children to the Christians. Anyway the UN runs the military but again, they sit in their closed office and plan using numbers and facts and data. They don’t leave it to see what the world looks like or how corrupt the military is. They’ve built six cities world wide from the ashes and rubble of previous cities. They plan on cleaning every inch of the world.

Y/n’s head was spinning, “What about the borderlands?”

“They can’t use anymore bombs without affecting the weather and pollution again, so the plan stands at leaving us to our own devices until they have this part of the world cleaned up. Then they’ll come round us up.”

“Why?”

“They want the diseases and illnesses bred out. They won’t allow those people to live and breed.”

“Oh my god it’s like a nightmare.”

“It is. On that note, we need sleep. You sleep first and I’ll keep watch.”

“That’s some bedtime story.” She liked Kirishima’s better. He laughed and Y/n watched his silhouette in the dark for a moment. He didn’t lean in to kiss her. He was watching the hill they climbed. “How long have they been breeding science babies?”

His outline turned to her and she saw the shine of his eyes in the dark,”A long time.”

“Are the babies different than the rest of us?”

“Yeah.”

The broken branches led them to a camp in a valley on the opposite side of the mountain where her farmhouse sat. The size of the camp was disturbing. Bakugo smiled as he saw it and walked directly up to the man holding the gun amid the trees.

“Halt.”

“Oi dunce face!” Bakugo shouted.

The gunman smiled, “No shit, Bakugo you’re alive. I heard they caught you.”

Bakugo laughed, “They think they did. Is Monoma still in charge?”

The man Bakugo called dunce face pointed to the camp, “He’s still in the smallest tent, you know what he’s like. Still paranoid they’ll bomb us.”

Bakugo laughed and pointed towards Y/n, “This is my friend Y/n.” She felt hurt when he called her his friend. She didn’t know why but the word stung.

“I’m Denki,” He put a hand out and Y/n noticed he had a nice smile. She met his golden eyes and smiled back, “Nice to meet you.” His eyes flickered to Bakugo and an even bigger smile crossed his lips, “So where’d ya two meet?”

She looked at Bakugo.

“She walked up to the mountain retreat the other day with a huge wolf for a pet and an unruly teenager.”

Denki’s eyes grew wide, “You have a wolf?”

She nodded. She wanted to find Mina and Kirishima. She didn’t understand why Bakugo wasn’t busting inside to see them. She felt herself fidget in place,

“Well I’m gonna go see Monoma and see what’s new on this side of the hill.”

They walked toward the camp as the sound of birds squawking filled the forest. The gunmen lower their weapons as they hear the sound and they walk past them. The camp opened as the forest spread thin. It looked like the camp they were at before except that everyone was wearing a firearm or knife. At one point Y/n swore she saw a sword. There were no children here.

“Bakguo! You’re alive!”

A girl with long blonde hair and cut off shorts ran and jumped into his arms. Y/n’s heart stopped as she watched the girl kiss his lips. The lips that only just kissed Y/n the day before. She felt heat radiating from her cheeks. She heard about men who weren’t tied down in romance novels and felt sick thinking that she had fallen for one. All the years of reading the novels and judging the ladies who seemed strong and smart and then fell for a jerk. Reality hurts. She wanted Kirishima and Mina and her cabin and Hades and Jirou. She wanted to let the world kill itself and hide up in the mountains. She never wanted to kiss Bakugo again. She couldn’t believe she was so reckless.

“Camie what the hell. You know me better than that,” He twirled her around and looked sheepishly at Y/n, “This is Y/n.” Y.n nodded and gripped her bow.

Camie beamed at her, “Wow nice find Bakugo, He save you from the farms too?”

Y/n raised an eyebrow, “I don’t need a hero.”

Camie looked at Bakugo, who was staring at Y/n. Y/n walked past him and started to look around. If he didn’t want to find his friends then that’s his problem. Y/n would be damned if she would let them live another moment without the knowledge that their asshole of a friend was alive and well.

“You pissed at me?” Y/n didn’t turn and continued along, eyes desperately searching the crowds of people.

“Bakugo.” He shook hands with a very tanned man with the whitest smile Y/n had ever seen. People continued to greet him, but she couldn’t hear them anymore. She saw what she was looking for. She saw a tall guy limping with shaggy red hair. She broke into a run and dived into his arms when she was close enough to him.

As she made contact he turned. His face was exactly as she remembered it. He had her in his arms before she could speak a word.

“Y/n oh my god. Y/n it’s you. Holy shit I thought they got you.” He was planting kisses everywhere across her face.

“Where’s Mina?”

Kirishima’s kisses stopped but his grip on her face was still strong, “They took her.” Y/n felt her heart drop and wanted to collapse into his arms and sub.

“Shitty hair.”

Kirishima dropped to his knees in front of Y/n. His hands left her face and fell onto the tops of his knees.

“Bakugo? Bakugo is that you?”

Bakugo rushed at him and lifted him up. He pulled him into his embrace. The friend’s hug was fierce but all she heard was the sentence ‘they took her’ repeating in her mind.

Kirishima looked back at her, “You found him?”

Y/n shook his head, she had no words. They hug and cry and laugh but she was stunned. Finally able to speak, she muttered, “Where’d they take her?”

Their reunion no longer meant anything to Y/n.

[nordleuchten]

Hi ! Facts about the Lafayette couple. Thanks.

Hello Anon,

well, well, the La Fayette couple, Adrienne and Gilbert  - where to even begin with these two? Their marriage was arranged and arranged marriages were very common for the time and people of their position. A family with wealth, a title and influence was keen on preserving all of this – and tried to add to it by trying to arranging marriages with families who as well had at least one of these things. A truly popular combination was a family with a great name/title that had fallen on hard times and a very rich family without too great a name. Now, La Fayette and Adrienne were lucky in so far as that they really loved each other. Their marriage was far more than pure convenience. Still, not everything was picture perfect. La Fayette had different mistresses and although he loved Adrienne, I always feel like it took him quite some time to realise just how wonderful Adrienne truly was, how loyal and devoted. It was not entirely uncommon that a man and a women in an arranged marriage barely know each other prior to their marriage. That again was different with La Fayette and Adrienne. La Fayette actually lived with his future in-laws together in their house prior to the marriage. Behind the scenes everything had already been sorted out, but the bride and the groom were still none the wiser (although La Fayette was told before Adrienne was told). Partly responsible for this living-arrangement was Adrienne’s mother, the Duchess d’Ayen. She was the metaphorical lioness protecting her cubs. She was fiercely protective of her daughters and thought that Adrienne was still way too young. So La Fayette moved in with them, they had some time to get to know each other and to mature a bit. La Fayette also won over the Duchess, who was a bit skeptical at first.

When La Fayette and Adrienne finally married, she was fourteen and he was sixteen. Their marriage contract stated that they should continue to live with Adrienne’s family and that their marriage was not be consumed for some time. This rule again was included due to the input of the Duchess – who still thought her daughter way too young for any martial endeavours. Regardless of that, Adrienne became pregnant with the couples first child during this proposed period – the popular opinion is, that La Fayette after some time simply wanted to be with Adrienne and sneaked into her room (something that he supposedly confessed to later in life). Whatever happened, they both seemed quite happy.

When La Fayette departed for America, Adrienne was completely clueless, she said that herself but there is also circumstancel evidence to support her statement. She had a young and sickly daughter to look after, a daughter that would die a few months later when La Fayette was still in America. She furthermore was pregnant with their second child and Paris was on fire with rumours. Newspapers printed rumours about La Fayette’s death on the field or something similar every other day and she often had no possibility of hearing from her husbands for months and months (before La Fayette’s first return to France they had not heard from one another for roughly eight months). The news of the death of their oldest child Henriette reached La Fayette so late that he send Adrienne many letters asking about Henriette, asking if she was well, long after Henriette was deceased. But despite all of it, Adrienne put up a brave face in public and never complaint. In general, whether she agreed with her husband or nor, weather she liked what he did or not, she never criticised him in public, never embarrassed or questioned him in front of others.

After the conclusion of the war in America La Fayette and Adrienne together with their children moved into their own home. They were, for people of their time and status, very engaged parents. They started hosting their “American Dinners” on Mondays and Adrienne was also included in La Fayette’s “Plantation-Project”. La Fayette kept a lively correspondence with George Washington but Adrienne also exchanged letters with Washington. There is one lovely, humours account by Washington in a letter to La Fayette dated September 30, 1779:

“(...) But at present must pray your patience a while longer, till I can make a tender of my most respectful compliments to the Marchioness. Tell her (if you have not made a mistake, & offered your own love instead of hers to me) that I have a heart susceptable of the tenderest passion, & that it is already so strongly impressed with the most favourable ideas of her, that she must be cautious of putting loves torch to it; as you must be in fanning the flame. But here again methinks I hear you say, I am not apprehensive of danger—My wife is young—you are growing old & the atlantic is between you—All this is true, but know my good friend that no distance can keep anxious lovers long asunder, and that the Wonders of former ages may be revived in this—But alas! will you not remark that amidst all the wonders recorded in holy writ no instance can be produced where a young Woman from real inclination has prefered an old Man—This is so much against me that I shall not be able I fear to contest the prize with you—yet, under the encouragement you have given me I shall enter the list for so inestimable a jewell.”

This is just such a funny, carefree, teasing letter between the three of them. Its adorable. But these carefree times soon came to an end with the onset of the French Revolution (you could argue that the Revolution had already begun long prior to 1789 but in that year it rapidly gained speed).

La Fayette entangled himself in the political and military matters of the day and when everything started to go down the hill (from his perspective at least) he tried to fled to America and got caught before he even could reach a harbour. Adrienne and the children stayed behind in France. Now, it had became some sort of custom that the women of (aristocrat) man who fled France during the Revolution “divorced” her husbands. (“Divorce” because these divorces were often not real civil divorces in accordance with the law but more a sort of public separation from their “treacherous and anti-republican” husbands that could get these women a passport and/or out of prison. It also opened them the opportunity to marry again later in life.) Somebody proposed a divorce to Adrienne and she was absolutely repelled by the idea. She had married La Fayette for better and for worse and she would not, not under any circumstance divorce her husband. Period. In fact, she started signing all her papers with “la femme de Lafayette”, “the wife of Lafayette”. After and eventful and fearful time, Adrienne was eventually released from her prison in France. She gathered her two daughters (her son was safe in America with his tutor) and went to Austria were La Fayette was still imprisoned in Olmütz. She had some family connections to the court in Vienna and eventually obtained the permission of sharing her husbands imprisonment. Although accounts vary, all accounts agree that Olmütz was a true hell-hole. Adrienne and her children were treated better than La Fayette  - but the treatment was still not good. Soon Adrienne became ill and the prison doctor could not really do anything. Adrienne was told that she was free to go, leave this place behind, find a good doctor, settle down somewhere more comfortable. Nobody wanted to see her suffer or even die. The only stipulation, if she would leave now she was not allowed to ever return – and with that Adrienne stayed and suffered and hasted her death because she would not leave her husband behind. In my opinion her sacrifice at that moment made La Fayette understand just how incredible his wife was. He never forgot what she endured for him and her actions probably lead their relationship to unknown heights.

After they were eventually all released from prison they settled first in Danish-Holstein and then in the Netherlands before returning to France. Adrienne managed to regain a lot of the property that they had previously lost during the Revolution. Although she was successful in that regard, her health (and beauty) was forever ruined. Despite all that she took great joy in seeing her children marry and becoming a grandmother. When Adrienne died on December 24, 1807 La Fayette was absolutely shattered. He wrote a very, very long and very, very sad letter to a friend, retelling Adrienne’s last days and expressing his grieve:

“As yet you have always found me stronger than circumstances, but now this event is stronger than me. Never shall I recover from it. During the thirty - four years of an union in which her tenderness, her goodness, the elevation of her mind, charmed, adorned, honoured my life, I felt myself so used to all that she was to me, that I could not distinguish it from my own existence. She was fourteen, and I was sixteen, when her heart amalgamated itself with everything that could interest me. I knew I loved her, I knew I needed her, but it is only now that I can distinguish what life which I had thought was to have been entirely devoted to worldly matters. (...)”

The letter is really long but so worth the read if you are interested. Really! It is such an honest, open, affectionate and reflected statement of their relationship. Adrienne’s last words were “Je suis toute à vous” (I am all yours) and La Fayette had these words inscribed on a miniature of Adrienne that he constantly had upon his person. Here is an account of the portrait from Jules Germain Cloquets book “Recollections of the Private Life of General Lafayette, etc”:

“In his children he cherished the memory of their mother, (Mademoiselle de Noailles,) whom he had loved most tenderly, and whose name he never mentioned but with visible emotion. One day during his last illness, I surprised him kissing her portrait, which he always wore suspended to his neck in a small gold medallion. Around the portrait were the words, “Je suis à vous ,” and on the back was engraved this short and touching inscription, “ Je vous fus donc une douce compagne: eh bien ! benissez moi .” I have since been informed that regularly every morning Lafayette ordered Bastien [his valet] to leave the room, in which he shut himself up, and taking the portrait in both hands, looked at it earnestly, pressed it to his lips, and remained silently contemplating it for about a quarter of an hour. Nothing was more disagreeable to him than to be disturbed during this daily homage to the memory of his virtuous partner.”

I hope you have/had an awesome day!