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ragingbookdragon · 3 years ago

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Panthera Felidae et Celeritas

Barry Allen x Meta!Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 2K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: Gonna make a second part...sometime...later...Enjoy! -Thorne

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The meta-human was fast. And while he wasn’t as fast as Barry, he’d managed to snap the speedster’s femur with a well-placed kick. Barry went down, holding his leg whilst he grit his teeth and shoved his bone back into place so it’d heal; Hal landed beside him, ready to pick up the slack and protect his best friend.

Striding towards them, the meta had a sick grin on his face as he ribbed, “I’m going to use your spine as a toothpick, Lantern.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Hal shot back, baring his teeth as he raised his arm, ready to form a construct when a hulking figure of orange, black, and white fur darted from around the corner of a building, sprinting right up to the meta.

It reared onto its hind legs, one big front paw swiping down harshly at the meta, connecting to the middle of its back, and both Hal and Barry watched the man’s eyes widen in first a look of shock, the next of pain as a sickening crack sent the meta to the ground, upper body spazzing as their lower body stilled.

“I can’t feel my back!” he screamed in agony and the beast bent down, its face next to the man’s and opened its mouth, snarling fiercely, flashing long, razor sharp canines. The meta whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut and the beast took one last look at him before turning its golden eyes onto Barry and Hal.

They stared back with equal mixtures of fear, but the beast chuffed and turned tail, bounding away as quickly as it had come.

“What the fuck just happened?” Hal asked.

Barry shook his head, blue eyes wide as he said, “I have no idea…but I think there’s a tiger loose in Central City.”

***

There were big cat sightings all over Central City—cheetahs, cougars, jaguars, leopards, snow leopards, ligers, lions, tigers; someone even said they saw a saber tooth tiger, which Barry highly doubted, but sure enough when he’d gotten to the scene and tested the DNA, it linked to a few scientific discoveries and genomes closely relating to the extinct beast.

He’d half a mind to bring the League in on the discoveries, but the animals weren’t killing people, and he was still reeling on how to explain to his team that there were animals running around that weren’t even native to the US, nor having populations in the state. Oddly enough though, the animals were never seen in the same place at the same time. Each sighting was on a different night with a different big cat, telling Barry that this had to be some type of trainer releasing the cats on particular times.

He spent almost an hour, well a human hour, not a speedster hour, triangulating territory across Central City before he finally found a common location inside the sightings—an old amusement park that had been shut down a few years before, waiting on renovations when someone would finally buy it.

So, what did Barry do? What Barry did best—he went alone to see which kitty cat he could find first.

***

The entire park was eerie, dark and creaking, rusted metal and cracked plastic everywhere. It almost made him think of those post-apocalyptic video games. Still though, he quelled his fears, though they boiled in his stomach, and hopped over the barriers, quietly walking the silent park.

Every noise had the hair on the back of his neck rising, turning in circles to look behind him at whatever it was, and at one point, he briefly considered calling for Superman—nothing gave you nerves of steel like the Man of Steel.

Shaking his head, he reaffirmed his own abilities. He could do this. He was fast enough to escape danger, he just had to sense it coming.

The sound of nails on metal echoed in Barry’s ears and he shivered, peeking around the corner of an abandoned booth to see a sleek black jaguar scratching at a metal door until it shoved open, and it slipped inside.

His brows furrowed and he looked around before quickly following it, slipping inside the doorway. It led down a further hall and into a tunnel, and with the large metal pistons and wheels in the walls, he assumed it was the underneath of an out of order roller coaster.

Glancing down, he saw paw prints in the dusty ground that obviously hadn’t been disturbed in a couple decades. Barry frowned and continued down the hallway, coming around a corner.

The second he turned it, he ran smack dab into something, and he gasped, immediately shoving out. Whatever had run into him went to the ground with a pained grunt and he blinked in the darkness, looking down, surprise bleeding through him as a woman’s face cleared in the darkness.

Barry had so many thoughts running through his head, but their safety overrode it and he bent down, hauling her up as he whispered harshly, “Never mind what you’re doing here, we have to leave now.”

“What?” she hissed back, letting him tug her down the hallway. “Who are you!”

“My name is Barry. I work at CCPD.” He glanced back at her, well, over her shoulder. “There’s a big cat somewhere down here and we need to get away. If my calculations are right, there are more around.”

“Wait, you know?” she questioned, feet skidding to a halt and Barry looked back at her.

“What do you mean? That the big cats are hiding around here?” she nodded, and he tipped his head. “Yeah. I figured it out with the police scans and public sightings.”

Her jaw started to go slack, and he tugged her again. “C’mon, we have to get out of here before that panther comes back.”

“It’s a jaguar.”

He stopped. “What?”

She pulled her wrist out of his grip. “It’s a black jaguar not a panther.”

Barry cocked a brow. “How do you know?”

“I…” she seemed hesitant, diverting her gaze. “I can’t tell you right now.” She hurried past him. “But you don’t have to worry. There are no cats here.”

“But my calculations—”

“Are wrong, Blake. There are no cats here.”

“It’s Barry,” he retorted. “Barry.”

“Whatever your name is,” she scowled, pushing the door open so they could both get out.

As they did, he pulled out his phone and shone the flashlight upwards so he could see her features. “Who are you?”

She blinked. “It’s not important.”

“It is. If you know about the big cats roaming the city and hurting people, then I need to know.”

Her face pinched. “They’re not hurting people. They’re helping.”

Barry recalled the meta-human incident—the meta’s spine had been broken in one swipe of that tiger’s paw. “Breaking spines and other important body parts isn’t helping people.”

“It’s not like I’m eating the criminals!” she shouted, then slapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide and Barry gaped at her.

“What did you just say?”

She shook her head. “Nothing! I didn’t say anything!”

“No, you said something alright. It sounded like you said you weren’t eating the criminals.” He leaned closer. “Who are you and what do you know about the cats?”

For a moment, she merely gazed at him, then she let out a heavy sigh, shoulders drooping as she resigned herself. “Alright…I’ll talk.” She exhaled. “My name is (Y/N) (L/N). I’m a part-timer at the STAR Labs research facility. A few months ago…I was helping one of the scientists identify a common DNA strand found in the Panthera family and how it would react if spliced together in a new animal when—”

She trailed off, unsure of herself and Barry encouraged, “When?”

(Y/N) sighed again. “I don’t know. There was a mistake with the experiment. Some kind of electromagnetic shock that caused an entire building outage.”

“What else?” he questioned, and she shrugged.

“When we went inside after the power was back on, the test subject was deceased. Doctor Lesia asked me to clean up and I did, but I must’ve gotten contaminated somehow. Maybe through an open wound? I don’t know.”

She inhaled, meeting Barry’s blue eyes. “The DNA sequencing experiment didn’t fail though.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked curiously and she looked towards the door.

“Give me a moment.” As she walked back inside, she quickly stuck her head out and said, “Don’t be alarmed and don’t run, okay?”

He was wary of that and after a few moments, he heard scratching at the door and the door handle bent down, then the door pulled open, and the black jaguar bounded out.

Barry was quick to step back with a sharp, “Shit!” but the cat didn’t do anything, it merely sat down and looked at him; he took a closer look, eyes widening and he breathed, “Oh my God…it resequenced your DNA.”

She nodded, making a low growling noise, then disappeared back inside, only to reappear herself once more. “I’ve been able to transform into any cat whose DNA sequence belongs to the Panthera family.” (Y/N) shook her head. “I have to transform at least once a day, or it’ll happen without my control, and I can’t risk it happening at my job or out in public. So, I come here and transform, then run around Central City.”

“And fight crime,” he surmised, and she tipped her head side to side.

“It didn’t start out like that, honest. I realized I had all this energy pent up and running and scouring seemed to get it out.” (Y/N) blinked. “The first time I ever fought ‘crime’ was when I stopped a meta human from attacking Flash and Green Lantern.”

Barry stared at her. “You broke the meta-human’s spine.”

She winced. “I…didn’t realize I’d hit him with that much strength…but it was that or risk him hurting another hero and I didn’t want that to happen.” (Y/N) looked at him. “Please…please don’t tell anybody you know this. I’ll stop, just please don’t tell anyone. If you do, who knows what government science squad will come after me and kidnap me.”

Her face was the picture of pure terror and she reached out, grabbing Barry’s jacket, tears welling in her eyes as she begged again, “Please Barry, don’t tell anyone.”

Barry took her hands, squeezing them gently. “I won’t. I promise.”

She blinked tearfully and asked, “You won’t?”

“No, I won’t tell.” He smiled at her and fiddled with the ring on his hand, showing her the lightning symbol on it. “Not after I owe you for saving me and Green Lantern.”

(Y/N) eyes widened, and she gaped at the ring, then at his face. “You—you’re him…the Flash.”

He nodded. “Yeah.” Barry sighed, looking around, seeing the moon high in the sky. “Look, it’s late right now. Why don’t we both go home for the night and meet up sometime later?”

“To do what?” she questioned, and he met her eyes.

“Well, I doubt we’ll be able to undo the resequencing of your DNA. There’s no telling how damaging it could be to you if we try.” He thought for a moment, then decided, “So how about this, we meet up, and we’ll see about training you.”

(Y/N)’s face pinched. “But I’m not a speedster?”

“True, but technically you’re like me. You’re a meta-human now.” Barry smiled, wide and toothy. “And if there’s one thing I know how to do—it’s help meta-humans control their powers.”

She searched his gaze for a few moments, then she nodded. “Alright…that seems like a fair plan.” (Y/N) held out her hand and Barry took it, shaking it firmly. “Glad to be apart of the team, Flash.”

“Glad to have you, er…” his brows furrowed. “Do you have a name yet?”

(Y/N) pursed her lips in thought, then her face lit up and she replied, “Panthera.” Barry snorted and she flushed. “I know…I’m a nerd.”

He shook his head. “So am I.”

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capricornus-rex · 4 years ago

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In the Face of Fear (5 - End)

Cal Kestis x Reader

Requested by @stellar-trinity

Summary: Kashyyyk has its own charms and surprises, but what if one of those said surprises rear its ugly, unpleasant head right in front of you in the form of a spider that’s the size of a boulder?

Tags: Arachnophobia, Wyyyschokk, Matriarch Wyyyschokk, Kashyyyk, Arachnophobic! Reader

Also in AO3

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 | Previous: Part 4 | Masterlist

5 of 5

You landed on the soil with a cat-like posture and lightness. You and Cal—though still immobilized—watched the spider rub its face, soothing itself from the pain of your kicking. Once relieved, the spider locked all of its eyes solely on you.

“I think you’ve made it angrier,” Cal attempted to lean closer to your earshot.

“Yeah, well, I did cut her leg off. And kicked in the face. So yeah, I guess you can say I pissed her off!”

Before the Wyyyschokk could skitter back to a closer distance, you threw your lightsaber to its direction, searing the top of its hind abdomen and came bouncing back at you. If this abomination could speak, she would definitely have said something along the lines of “I am tired of dealing with you two children!”

Those words, albeit not exact, echoed in your mind—as if the Wyyyschokk had communicated withyou. But you can’t afford a moment to reflect.

It was time to fight.

“Okay,” you huffed, psyching yourself up. “You can do this...”

The Wyyyschokk screeched at you. You squeeze your hilt with both hands.

“Probably,” you shrug a shoulder during your short pep talk with yourself.

The Wyyyschokk close din on you this time, it probably remembered you amputating it—recognizing the color of your lightsaber as well—and got more aggressive in its approach. It wasn’t the slighest bit intimidated by a stick of light that you swing around, and so it proceeded to crawl towards you.

You dared not to run, even if that’s your initial impulse whenever you’re head-to-head with your own phobia. You planted the soles of your boots to the soil—balanced and erect in your erect. When the Matriarch Wyyyschokk was close enough, you swung your saber the other way, completely removing the other leg she had used in holding Cal. Her once-pointed foot was nothing more than a limb with a charred stub. The Matriarch looked at her leg stump, the pain and the anger boiled altogether into one drum-busting wail—rattling her entire body and the cavern, possibly alerting her spawns.

Covering your ears did so little in muffling out the noise, both you and Cal winced until the spider stopped screaming.

Cal continued to wriggle his way out of the cocoon, but to no avail; meanwhile, you try your best to fight off the Wyyyschokk. You transitioned from aimless swinging to more calculated attacks—although basic strikes, as they were—and evasive maneuvers. One of the objectives was to not get impaled by her other intact legs with ends as sharp as spearheads. With your size versus the Matriarch’s, you’re capable of avoiding her wide-ranged attacks and parrying the lunges. The hide of the creature’s rotund abdomen was surprisingly tougher, your slashes could only singe the shell, but not totally maim or subdue it—that’s when you realized you have to drive your saber through its weak spot: the exposed flesh on the peak of its abdomen.

She’s too fast! You observed in your mind. The only way to solve that is to completely cut off all of her limbs—you’ve taken out two of eight so far, you’ve six more to go.

There was a burst of energy seething within you, it’s probably from the adrenaline; whatever its origin, you made use of it to your advantage. The Matriarch can still attack you like normal, though her pair of leg stumps do less damage than before when they were still whole. Elusively sliding to its side before it could turn around to face you, a violent push hurtled it against the wall, bringing the Matriarch lying on her side and her grotesque feet scrambling to stand herself up; being just one second behind, you come sprinting forward with the glistening beam of light primed for a stab. A clean sweeping cut to the right severed the last joints of the Wyyyschokk’s legs, your heels sprang up from the ground and sparks flew when your lightsaber met with the spider’s tough hide.

Tearing through the prismatic, shimmering shell of its rump, there was a bit of a struggle; though, with the Wyyyschokk disoriented and physically handicapped on one side, it afforded you some time to really deal some damage. Never mind the ear-drilling howls, you supported the pommel with the base of your hand when there was resistance coming from the Matriarch. You wager a guess that you’re driving deep into the organs while the set of stumps of her left-side slap and whip at your back.

Whne the clawing had become more violent, you withdrew from the beast. Both Jedi and the little droid, BD-1, watched the spider scramble back to its feet—it now stood slanted, her menacing gait was now a thing of the past as it was reduced to a humiliating hobble unfit for something named a Matriarch. Though, it was fueled by a primal rage of killing its prey to do itself some justice.

“This has got to be the most persistent spider I’ve seen!” you commented to Cal.

“Yeah, just to get back at you for chopping her legs!”

“Fair point,” you shrugged sarcastically. “Which makes me hate it back even more!”

You sprang back towards it, the burst of power remained undying. The Matriarch rears back an inch and the sorry remnants of her front limbs are lifted from the ground—you know this move, thus you retaliated with a successful parry. The spider was quick to follow up another attack, but you were quicker—parroting a particular move of Cal’s: a direct kick right after doding the next attack. You swerved to your left—the side where the last of this great Wyyyschokk’s limbs remain intact—and executed the kick to disorient it for a brief second. A move that required one to move in the blink of an eye.

You followed it up with a duo of hard, heavy slashes that severed the left side of its body—the sternum, the abdomen—but it quickly shifted to face you, until the Matriarch attempted to redo the same attack that you parried, only this time, it won’t take a single parry to deter her. You felt the animal’s confidence of sorts that it’ll finally kill you along with Cal, reinforced by the same primitive rage that fuels its persistence, and you determined it to be its undoing.

Lunge. And then a parry.

This exchange of assault happened thrice. The third parry was the strongest, injuring the outer set of mandibles. With the Matriarch fazed after the third, you hopped on to her head like a stepping stone until you hover on the peak of its abdomen. The tip of the lightsaber aligns with the center of the fleshy, claw-shaped dermis and plunged it. You found it easier to penetrate the top than the side. Of course, the Wyyyschokk thrashed violently, you held onto your hilt as tight as you could and buckled your knees to plant your feet against its shell.

“Damn...” Cal muttered in awe as he watched, almost not minding the cocoon.

The movement became slower and more sluggish, the Wyyyschokk has depleted its energy on its dying throes, though you still held onto the hilt with the blade driven deep through the creature’s shell. In half a second, the Matriarch Wyyyschokk’s body finishes into a heavy thud on the earth, you joined the drop, your knuckles were swelling white as bone from the tightness of your grip, and then returned to its color when you confirmed your quarry to be unmoving. The Matriarch’s remaining limbs clenched and scraped the earth until she finally gave up and loosed all tension in her body. A weak squeal escapes her mouth for the last time.

Silence for ten seconds past. Either Jedi anticipated something, but hoped that it was finally over. Cal squirmed around in his silken straitjacket.

“Umm... [Y/N]?”

“Oh...” you huffed. Your hand searched for the saber still stuck into the spider’s exoshell. It took some effort to tug it out, when you did, a vile mixture of cauterized bits of entrails and sparks spurted out of the orifice. You then dragged your knees to Cal’s direction, the tip of your saber hovered an inch above the mud; you knelt at a considerable distance from Cal—the heavy load on your entire body, pounded to exhaustion as the adrenaline wore off, felt relieving. You then founded the strength to hold your saber to eye level and carefully cut through the cocoon.

“Alright, now hold still,” your weak voice was almost a whisper.

“Gently now,” Cal whimpered.

You overlooked the evident doubt in his voice knowing full well you’ve been battered by the fight, “It’s fine, I can still hold it up properly.”

Cal could feel the heat coming from the end of your saber, but he can also feel the cocoon loosening up on his shoulders, and then to his neck; much later, there’s finally some wiggle room for his arms, you worked your way in cutting it downward until his kicked the cocoon’s flaps open. He rolled over and threw the rest of the shell off of his back.

“It’s almost like you hatched out of it,” you joked.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” retaliated the redhead as he dusted off the grass and dirt from his sleeves. His sarcastic tone mellowed and shifted into a warm, affirming tone, “Hey...”

Sensing the abrupt change of tone, you looked to him, wordlessly prompting him to continue.

He plants his hand on the top of your head, fingers slightly digging into your hair and rubbed lightly. “You did great back there.”

You let out one big sigh. Your foreheads touch.

“You did it, [Y/N],” Cal said this twice, whispering proudly to you as he squeezes your hand. He sneaks a kiss on your forehead and helped each other back up on your feet.

“Come on, before the kids find out their mom is dead,” you blurted.

Speak of the devil. Both of you had to move fast as neither of you can deny that the collective skittering and hissing of the lesser Wyyyschokks are starting to get a little louder—what seemed to start as faint noises lurking amongst the rock eolved into a menacing buzz that frightened even the little BD-1.

“T-Trill!”

“BD’s picking up a lot of thermal signatures in here all of a sudden!” Cal translated.

“Well, I’m not waiting to find out what they are in person!”

Gathering his strength, Cal punched the wall with the brass claws, starting with his right hand. When he got a feel that it’ll hold, he looked over his shoulder.

“Hold onto me.”

there was no time for argument. At the corner of your eye, you could see the moss-green of the Wyyyschokk’s body popping out of the shadows. You drape your arms around Cal and he begins scaling the rock wall. You lock your legs against his hips, and quietly promised you’d literally get off of his back when you’re at a considerable distance from the ledge.

You peeked down and Cal has brought the two of you pretty far up now, the collective hissing in the shadows have taken shape into a cluster of the lesser Wyyyschokks gathering round the carcass of their mother. Their fangs twitch as they touch the dead shell of the Matriarch, the feelers in their mandibles alert them that there isn’t anymore a sign of life within her—their sad curiosity morphed into a seething rage akin to their mother’s, rooted by their grief as a whole pack.

“Um, Cal? I think they’ve figured it out!”

“Figured what out?”

“That we killed their mom,”

“Hey, that’s all on you!”

The redhead attempted to pick up the pace, not letting the pressure get to him. You briefed Cal on your plan, so when he got to the top end of the wall, he drove the claws deeper and planted the tips of his boots for traction.

He peeked over his shoulder, looking down, and seeing that the Wyyyschokks scamper from the dead Matriarch to the base of the wall. His heart rate spikes.

“Any moment now, [Y/N]!”

“I’m working on it, hon!” you grunted.

Your free hand flicked the cover of the small switch that’ll send a wire flying from your right-hand gauntlet. Once done, you extend your right arm, fist facing forward, and then a hooked cord shoots right out of the narrow runway of the gadget. The tiny spines on the hook dug into ledge’s adjacent wall. With his free hand, Cal takes the loose end of the cord out of the gauntlet’s small hatch—revealing a toothed anchor—and stabs the rock wall with it. A few good, resistant tugs confirmed that the anchor’s been secured.

“Alright, it’s good to go,” reported Cal.

You scrambled for the pouch on your utility harness and produced a zipline slider. You literally got off Cal’s back, hooked the slider over the cord, and traversed the air—hanging about twenty feet above the ground with a colony of vengeful spiders below. Shortly after, BD-1 hopped over the cord, his forked feet clicked and transformed into the same fashion of a zipline slider—then Cal held onto the little droid and joined you on the ledge.

A few of the spiders have already climbed to a certain height of the wall, others have cut through the line and circled to reach the top end, a handful have crossed the gap by deliberately passing by the rock wall and towards you. Before any of them could examine the anchor—let alone, realize that it’s there—you twisted a thin knob on the hook-end. The anchor whipped and whistled, startling the spiders near it, and snapped as it conjoins itself with the hook. Cal watched with a child-like wonderment.

“That’s pretty nifty!”

“I know, I should make one for you some time!”

Once the hook and anchor mechanism had reduced into the size of a metal pod, you returned it to its small hatch on your gauntlet and prepared for a second shot—this time, as a climbing line from the ledge to the oculus.

You’re reminded of the disadvantage on your end, “I can’t zipline upwards. I’m gonna have to borrow BD.”

“Bee-bee-chirp!” the droid was happy to help and didn’t spare a second in hopping onto the cord.

Before you could even hold onto little BD-1, a single Wyyyschokk clung onto the rock above your heads and greeted you with its maws, strung with saliva and bile. It didn’t wait any longer for either of you to react, but the pointy end of Cal’s lightsaber beamed through the roof of its mouth and then through its skull. He thumbed on the switch while his weapon was still near its mouth, the rod of light vanished cleanly, scrolling downward into the emitter.

The Force lent him enough strength to carry and toss the Wyyyschokk off the ledge, but a few would soon follow.

“Uhh, [Y/N]...”

“I know, I know! I see them!”

That courage you had on the ground against the Matriarch Wyyyschokk seemed to have died with her. Your phobia was returning in each passing minute her legion of spawn cover nearly half of the wall. Your initial grip on BD was unstable, it took you a brief minute to adjust your grip that’ll reassure you won’t fall along the way.

Clamping your fingers tight around BD’s feet, the droid’s rotors went to work and delivered you from point to point. As soon as BD’s feet touched the end of the string, you buckled your legs and sprang upward, directly out of the oculus. You knelt by the rim of the hole and witnessed the spiders miss Cal by a hair. He leaped straight out, the three of you regrouped but it doesn’t stop there—one problem after another, the spiders were gaining and they’re already treading the cord.

“Step away!”

You cut the cord with your saber, the cord twanged and whipped as it lost all the tension from the anchor and hook. The spiders that were walking on it went down with it. A few have failed in attempting to make the impossible jump and fell from a higher drop.

“Here, help me!” Cal scrambled up to his feet and then faced his entire body towards a boulder.

Immediately getting the idea, you stood up and channeled the Force; gathering strength to lift the boulder alongside Cal. Together, the rock rose from the ground, leaving an indent on its former place since time immemorial, and—fitting like a glove—clogs up the cavern’s oculus from the surface, severing the leg joint of a juvenile Wyyyschokk in the process.

The amputated leg wildly twitched, hopped, and writhed by your feet, which you jerked back out of startled disgust. The two of your watched it until it finally curled and went limp. Finally, you and Cal can afford the breather that you so desperately wanted and needed.

“Come on, we have to get back to base,” you nudge at his shoulder.

“Yeah...” he exhaled. “Yeah, let’s.”

You chuckle at his lazy bum. Your arms couold not take up his weight as you take his one hand with both of yours. He initiated to stand up when you landed on your bottom after trying to tug at him, the roles reversed, and you distanced yourself from the clogged hole of the underground cavern.

Cal clicked the button of his comlink.

“Sierra Unit, do you copy?”

A couple more impatient clicks on the gadget and he was answered with static. BD-1 tried to help by popping out his tiny satellite out of the top plating of his head, the little dish spins at a speed while the droid’s owner continues his desperate attempt.

The device finally beeped, an ecstatic male voice answers.

“Hey now, I thought for sure you were goners in that Wyyyschokk pit!”

A grin stretched across Cal’s freckled face. A huge relief befell him when his shoulders voluntarily relaxed. You shared the same sentiment, except you hid your desperation for a response on the other end of the comlink.

“Is it too early for a pick-up?” chortled Cal.

“Not at all! Just send us your coordinates and we’ll be right over... Over!”

After the transmission, you were drawn to the crashing sound of water, thus you followed it; you walk up to the more open area of the forest—finding yourselves on the side of a river, at the edge was a waterfall. The scenic view at the ridge was breathtaking. Fresh, crisp air welcome itself into your lungs, the loose fringes of your hiar whipped at the torrential wind from such an altitude, and the mist of the water tickled your cheeks and neck.

This was a wholly new area to both of you.

“Cal, over here!”

The redhead approached where you stood. He, too, was astounded by the view. Treetops and mountains that were greener than his emerald irses, and a sky that was so vast and blue; the Shyyyo Bird made an appearance, gliding over the treelines. The spray of the rapids at his left-hand side landed on his freckles and fogged BD-1’s optical lens. He realizes that there’s so much that everyone—except the Wookiees—hasn’t touched yet: Imperial or otherwise.

Not long after appreciating the view, a gray speck dotted the sky in your north, at the edge of the waterfall. Squinting through the horizon with your hand over your brow, the gray speck in the sky takes on size. The rotors of a retrofitted LAAT gunship mingle quite well with the roaring rapids—faintly, at first, until it got louder as they got nearer. A foot soldier peeked out of the doorless side of the ship and waved his free arm at you. As a response, you ignite your saber and wave it in the same manner as the soldier.

Just when you thought you were saved—the spiders have made a team effort in pushing out the boulder used to block off their exit. The thumping sound of the rock caused both Jedi to swing around and watch as the Wyyyschokks spring out of the hole. The foot soldier saw the quick transition from your glad expressions to an impatient, anxious one.

“Hurry, drop down the ladder!”

“Come on! They’re coming!”

Confused, the foot soldier was partially panicking and taking his time—unsure of the sudden mood change. He scrambled inside the ship looking for the rope ladder while the vessel lowered itself slowly. Alternating between the soldier in the ship and the rock being moved by the spiders in a collective effort, Cal locked eyes with one lesser Wyyyschokk while you clawed the air—pleading the soldier to kick down the ladder.

“HURRY!!” you cried.

The ladder was still untangling itself in mid-air when you clumsily caught a rung.

“Cal, come on!”

You manually straightened out the rope ladder and started climbing, Cal followed suit. The foot soldier shouted at the pilot to bring them up while the two Jedi were still clinging onto some rungs. The juvenile Wyyyschokks never got close to your heels; by the time they’ve completely gotten out of their den, the LAAT gunship has already carried you. The creatures curse the wind and the metal bird for refraining them from avenging their mother.

Again, you catch your breaths while the foot soldier checked on both of you.

“You’re alright, you two. You’re safe now,” he reassured. “What happened down there anyway?”

Cal nodded sideways, pointing to you, “Believe it or not: [Y/N] here killed the Matriarch.”

The soldier’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped altogether, “No way?”

The Jedi boy countered, bemusingly, “Way.”

“I don’t believe it. Well, that’s a story to tell around the campfire back at base!”

All you could do was smile. You were exhausted. There was nothing to say, but you appreciate the affirmation. The least you could do right now, after facing your fear all caged inside a rock, is reward yourself with rest.

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starfirette · 4 years ago

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Every Which Way: Chapter Eight

The Way To Redemption

⇢a/n: I hope this chapter can bring some light to everyone during this difficult time. This was difficult to write, so please let me know if something doesn’t make sense/sounds fragmented. It’s quite possible some paragraphs seem forced in! please leave your thoughts in the replies :) I love you all!!!!

⇢ masterlist | previous chapter | inbox | >>NEXT CHAPTER<<

⇢Din Djarren x Reader/The Mandalorian x Reader: angst | wordcount: 4, 453

⇢ Featuring, Wendi, Ryder, Paz, Gold, Lando, and Boba (JFC)

🏷 @woterezwhet @talesfromtheguild @poupoupoupoupou @multifandom-fiasco @fandomqueen74 @fifiyau105 @shayna-winchester @mserynlarsen

To whomever it may concern, the transmission started. This is Lando Calrissian, the Baron Administrator on Cloud City. Following the disappearance of several men, as well as the Bounty Hunter I employed, I have come across a gunship marked from the Pre-Empire reign. The ship is empty but it is clearly missing its passengers. After careful investigation, I have chosen to relay this transmission to the last person or peoples in contact with the pilot.

The hand that grabbed out in the darkness pressed over your mouth.

You jerk awake, stirring in fear under your thin quilt.

“Ssh,”the intruder coaxed. Your eyes darted frantically, straining to see past the darkness. Past the sparks of light the dance is the slender face of Vidia.

You sat up, your loose hair in a messy whirl over your shoulders.

“Why are you not in your own bed?” You tiredly implore. Your good friend’s face did not wrench in a frown nor a grin like you would have expected. It chilled your blood when you realized she bore not a shred of emotion in her eyes or her ebony face.

She held your hands close to her, her grip like that of ten men. You couldn’t start to understand the painful silence that knit between you two.

“What’s wrong?” You asked.

Her lips parted with a small tremor in her chin. Her words wouldn’t ever quite leave your mind after that night, but you had no way of knowing that at that very moment.

“You’re going to leave me?” you whispered.

Vidia’s hands gripped your hands tightly. Her eyes that glistened under the soft torch light filled with a strange kind of sorrow, as if she were parting from her own child.

“I’ll come back for you. So soon. It’s a promise.”

And then she left your side, as quietly as she’d come.

Bursting awake felt like being overwhelmed by all your senses at once. The medicinal burn of alcohol flooded your nose, stinging your nostrils; the touch of the air burned your skin as if you were too close to the flame of a campfire. Your ears pulse and ache at the flat, shrieking bell that rings without stop.

The bitter taste of your dry tongue floods your mouth as you salivate under the pressure of your panicked awakening. As for your sight,you see nothing but the bright blur of colors, as though you’d squeezed your eyes shut to see distant galaxies much like a child would.

Part of you wanted to call out for help. Your chin quivered as your mouth contorted; the muscles of your jaw clenched as you were unable to form any words. It seemed that, for this time after waking, you could not remember how to speak. You made panicked sounds a bit like a baby would before you could quite recall your verbal skills.

Your pathetic sqwacking for help got answered by the strong, leather bound hands of a stranger squeezing your shoulders.

You couldn’t remember much from before your sleep but that you’d been in serious danger.

You called for your husband as you flailed against the gripping hands, whose strength matched ten hundred men. Amidst the panic, you feel the sorrow that blossomed through your chest like blood on cloth. Upon the thought of your husband, you remembered just what happened. The fuzzy memories fit together like pieces of broken glass. You couldn’t fit them together on your own. You had the hazy image of Din’s hands laid across yours, helping you to guide the glass whole.

“It’s alright,” the light voice commanded. You could vaguely remember hearing this voice once before.

You moan in despair as you recognize Paz, his warmth seeping through his leather gloves as he clutched your hand.

“Bring me to him,” you begged; you knew the answer would not be in your favor.

And yet, when Paz said the words, you could not help but break into a fissure of panic and tears. The aching in your limbs felt as it’d pour way into your bones. The crying only made the pain worse, as it wrung a tension headache across your forehead.

Din is gone. He is lost, nowhere to be found.

You were rescued after three months of being missing. However, as the covert did not have the exact tools to wake you immediately, you were kept asleep for four long months, feeling nothing, witnessing nothing; not even the replay of your memories. No dreams. Nothing to reflect. You could call it a wonderful nap, but it didn’t feel wonderful waking up.

You wished you could go back to that in between state, void of worry and grief until Din had returned.

Oh, how you are praying for his return.

Your vision failed to come back to you after some long minutes of Paz walking you through breathing exercises. The crying had exhausted you, as well as triggered a set of hiccups.

Paz and another Mandalorian, who did not speak, helped you move from the medical table onto a soft bed.

“How did you find me?” you ask, your voice hoarse. Paz is so close to your side, his presence never wavering. “Din had a tracking beacon on his ship. It led us to you.”

Yes, that’s right. He had insisted you wear a tracker.

“Where are we?” you ask.

“The hospital of the covert,” Paz responds faithfully. “You’ll see again, soon. It’ll take time to walk, and for the aching to go away. You’re in the process of recovering. You could think of it like an illness.”

“I do not care about my health,” you croaked. “I want my husband.”

How badly you want him. Burrowing your head in the crook of his warm neck would ease your body’s pain. The weight of his arm around you would ease your mind and heart.

Without him, you feel so helpless.

Guilt tries to pull you into the ground, as if your stomach held a heavy anchor of guilt and it plunged to the center of Nevarro.

How had you been alright, and not Din? How had you been separated?

Worse, had he been killed after you went into hibernation?

Tortured? Hurt? Even one hand laid on him sent you into a frenzy of anger.

Wanting to cry, your face pulled up so all the muscles hurt, but you could not summon the tears to fall.

Paz’s hand came to rest on top of yours. “It’ll be alright.”

You tried to pretend Paz’s hand was Din’s; but even the leather felt different. “How did you find me?” you asked.

“We found a tracking beacon on the Crest. We spent months looking for you, negotiating terms to get you back.” Paz’s hand squeezed yours, as if he meant to be comforting; it did not feel that way. “You have to tell us,” Paz’s voice urged. “Tell us who is responsible.”

Your blood boiled as you thought long and hard about it. You tried your best to recall the finer details. The green armor and the dark features of your captor is clear as day, but his name is impossible to remember. You felt nauseous as you thought. “I don’t know,” you whimpered out. “He was a Mandalorian...but he didn’t follow the rules. He was cruel. He threatened to kill us both. He was working with Lord Vader.”

“What was his name?” This came from Wendi, who had been soundless til now. You didn’t know she was here.

“I can’t remember,” you whispered.

Wendi gritted a sound of anguish. “There are several Mandalorians in league with Vader,” she proclaimed. “There’s no way we could keep track of those, let alone those who have been in and out of Bespin in the past year. Isn’t there anything else?”

“No,” you muttered. “There’s absolutely nothing.”

One month later

The bed just didn’t feel right without Din by your side.

The endless stretch of soft blankets felt suffocating and cold, as if it were a contraption meant to confine you from anything comforting. There came a time when you couldn’t bring yourself to cry again, as you had done often since the awakening; this such time visited you in the middle of the night, nine months after you had been captured on Bespin. Din’s face is so clear in your mind that you find it impossible to believe such time has passed. Nine months; you could be nearing the end of a pregnancy by now; but instead you had spent these days as an oversized bookend, gathering dust in the back of a warehouse. You’d been left alone, left for practically death, embedded into a block of carbonite.

In nine months you could have achieved so much at Din’s side. Aside from a child, there could have been epic adventures; your first fights. The purchase of a real home somewhere out in the vast universe you’d been so naively eager to explore.

You haven’t a clue what happened to Din after you’d been frozen. A part of you wants to hope that he is alive and well and surviving somewhere in the world. But you know deep down that it’s more likely that he is dead. He might have died just moments after you were put into hibernation. Or perhaps he’d survived a while before meeting a lonely surmise.

You long to see his face. You’ve got no photos or drawings of him; only the rendering of his face in your mind may satisfy the craving for his dark features and brown, brown hair.

You move upright to feel for the knob of the bedside lantern. Your fingers touched the dial, then turned it.

The soft light rose like a beast coming to its hind legs, the flames expanding a long shadow across the wall. You moved off the mattress to the little wardrobe. You’d become seized with the urge to be close to Din, now more than ever. You sift through each folded garment. You feel so suffocated to be parted from your husband.

Your heart is thumping so hard that the pulse is in your ears and in your fingers.

Your fingers close around the fabric instantly when you feel it underneath all the unused clothes.

The jacket is in your hands. The worn, soft brown leather jacket. You could press it to your face and smell Din’s natural perfume. The faded smell of beskar and soap cleared your mind. A moment of tranquil exhaustion had washed over you. Sinking down to rest on your knees, you tucked the leather jacket close around you.

You couldn’t sleep for a long time; instead, you sat on the floor of your bedroom, cradling the leather jacket as if it actually was Din.

Hours seemed to pass. You couldn’t do much but stare at every grain in the walls.

The brown leather jacket, soft and worn, is just as comforting as it had been when Din first gave it to you. He’d cared enough to give this jacket to you eleven months ago. Like you did then, you pulled the leather over your shoulders. Pushing your arms into the sleeves, you furled closer into the cape of fabric. The smell of his soa lingered along the insides of the collar. It hurt to smell him so close to you, so close that you could trick your brain into thinking he’s right beside you.

The sensation had you wide awake. Sleep could not and would not come to grant you the peace of mind. Still dressed in your night clothes, but wrapped up in Din’s jacket, you padded across the little bedroom to the door.

You could see the chair which housed your helmet. Din’s helmet should be beside it. He should be laying in the bed, half awake, mumbling for you to come back and keep him warm.

The halls of the covert aren’t totally empty. Light lined the walls from the mounted torches. A few Mandalorians lingered around, sitting at the leisure tables and playing board games. Probably too anxious to sleep.

There isn’t any moment where the entire covert is asleep all at once. Paz and Ryder, as well as another handful of their friends, guard the tunnels during the night. No one could risk an ambush.

You wandered into the gathering hall. The main table of food is lit with candles, for those who want a midnight snack. No one else is there.

You swiped a piece of cheese out of the basket piled high. Sinking your teeth into the rich block, you took a seat. One hand hovered over a lit candle, your finger swiping across the tip of the flame daringly as you tested the limits.

You heard the clacking footsteps down the hall minutes before they even came into the gathering hall. You tilted your head back so see Paz, standing tall in his blue armor.

“What are you doing awake?” he asked in a voice so soft you almost couldn’t hear him.

“I couldn’t sleep,” you tell him. “Morning already?”

“Close to it,” Paz said. “The sun will be up in an hour.”

“I see.”

Another day had come and gone; you’re just as lonely as you were the day before, and the day before that. You lost your appetite, setting the cheese down in a cloth napkin to wrap it up and save for later.

“How are you?”

Paz’s voice came again as he watched you carefully from his place just paces away. You gritted your teeth at the question. You’ve come to hate these words.

“I’m the same as I have been all this time,” you tell him. “And I will be until my husband is back at my side.”

His armor shifted uncomfortably, the weight of his beskar moving from left hip to right. “Y/n…”

You grimmaced hearing his voice say your name. You’d heard this particular term, with that particular tone, more times than you could count.

“Please, don’t say anything,” you stopped him before he could continue. “I already know what you’re going to say. For once, I’d like to hear the truth. Don’t give me false hope. Just say what you’re thinking.”

He seemed stunned by your words. His hands hovered in the air awkwardly as he debated doing as you’d asked.

“Please?” you asked him. Your voice cracked so badly that it had alerted you to your own crying.

Paz looked down to his feet. His helmet must have weighed down on his neck.

“Spit it out,” you urged him. You couldn’t help but feel bitter and angry. Paz didn’t deserve the attitude you were giving him, but you were unable to stop it.

“It should have been me.” Paz’s words didn’t make sense at first. “It was meant to be me. And if it had been, none of this would have happened.”

“What do you mean?” you croaked out.

“You and I were meant to marry. Not Din. It was for Clan Viszla. But Din couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else being with you. He forced his way by your side. If I had married you instead, you wouldn’t have been hurt. I wouldn’t have let it happen.”

The world felt like it was colliding with another planet. Your stomach flipped around so violently you felt like you’d puke all over yourself. You hadn’t expected to hear such a confession. You’d rather hoped it would be something useful; something real, something motivational, like how you’d have to eventually move on from grief to go and seek vengeance for your missing husband. Instead, you’d gotten the worst piece of news possible.

You lurched to your feet. “How could you say this to me?” you shouted. “How could you tell me such a selfish, selfish truth? Do you have any idea how much I need you right now? You’re my only friend, and yet all you can do is hurt me.”

He took a heavy stride, his hands reaching out for you. You tried to perry out of his reach, but he grabbed you by the shoulders roughly.

“You asked for the truth. I only gave it. I’m not saying this to hurt you. I’m saying this because I feel guilty. Something inside of me is convinced that this is my fault. Do not ever think I resent Din. I’ve known him the greater length of my life. Since he was a child, and I an adolescent, we trained and learned together.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” you sobbed out. “It doesn’t.”

“I know,” Paz murmured.

You clung against Paz’s armor, tucking your head against his chest plate as you cried against the beskar. It was not comfortable, but it felt wonderful. You’d almost forgotten how comforting physical contact can be.

This did not last long. As soon as you’d become fond of the feeling of being held, you were doused with extreme guilt. You wrenched out of Paz’s strong arms, your feet practically missing the floor.

“I have to sleep,” you sniffed, using the back of your hand to wipe your tears. “I have to think. I have to remember.”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Paz assured you.

“It’s easy for you to say that when you aren’t missing your greatest love,” you chastised him, your voice still thick with crying. “I just want to be alone for a while.”

There wasn’t anything Paz could think of to say that could possibly stop you. He nodded, his head just barely inclining, as he stepped out of your path.

You hurried back into your bedroom, not stopping to look past anyone that lingered in the tunnels.

You shut your door and switched the locks into place. You shimmied out of your jacket, setting the leather piece on Din’s side of the bed.

It has been too long that you’ve spent sitting around and moping. Everyday that passes could cost Din his life; you’re determined to find him.

Even with this determination, you’re still at a roadblock. Would thinking harder and longer really solve much of anything?

Every thought and memory is a jumble of total nothingness. There’s not much you can make sense of.

Digging through the drawers in your room, you searched for something you could write with. A spare parchment journal and inkpen had been gathering dust for some time under the bed. The pages are empty and worn, as it had waited all its life to be used.

Your dominant hand began to ache as you held the pen to the parchment. You have no writing calluses, nor any proper amount of practice; even so, you’d have to struggle through it.

You started with writing the first details. Where you’d been going and why. You had to walk back through your memories several times to ensure you could remember every little detail. Cloud city. It had been a bounty on the run from his own debts. Din had mentioned how scarily empty the city’s landing pad was when you returned there to pick up the reward.

He was open to the idea that the city was operating under Imperialites, even if it wasn’t being advertised. But what next? You waited on the ship, soon following Din after he’d relayed his desperate message.

You remember running through the narrow halls, dodging stormtroopers on every side before you had reunited with him.

And then what?

You couldn’t recall. It’d been a grieving hour that resulted in the worst outcome. But that’s all you can remember.

You had your three pages of grueling details written in strained font. The blots of the ink stained through the pages where you rested your pen as you took a beat to remember.

You tossed the journal and pen aside. You’d given up––for now.

You’d have to sleep if you wanted to remember anything else useful enough for your search.

You curled into the bed, underneath the quilts. You tugged the leather jacket into your arms.

The gap in your brain is troubling. It’s one hour out of several you can’t remember; it’s ironic.

Burying your face against the fabric, you could practically feel every part of Din. His warmth; his rough hands. Even the stubble he had been letting grow in.

Life would continue to carry on without him. You know this. Now more than ever.

Of course you know that he could be dead. He could have died mere seconds after your freezing.

All you truly want is to put the gnawing mystery to rest. If he’s dead, you’d want to put his soul at peace and live the rest of your days in memoriam of your love.

A knock rapped at the door. You rubbed your pricking tears into the pillow, leaving behind stains like raindrops, before you slowly moved to answer.

Beyond the door was Ryder.

You couldn’t contain your surprise. You’d definitely not become close with Ryder after waking up from your sleep. At least that didn’t change.

“Good morning,” you hazard. His crimson helmet stared directly into your eyes. Robotically, he held out his arm. A folded parchment envelope was forced into your hands. “I will see you at dinner,” Ryder said sternly before he left.

You watched him jerk down the hallway.

“Curious,” you murmured. He became a blot of red in the distance. You shut your door behind you as you returned to lay in your bed.

A few words scrawled on the outside of the envelope in an elegant script. You took a moment to piece the words together, sounding them out audibly to yourself. “Mar...mare...marriage vows.”

You tore into the envelope.

Din Djarren’s name is scrawled at the top; his own script isn’t as elegant, but it is neat and legible. Each letter has a crooked slant, and his ‘I’s are done up with small horizontal slashes rather than dots.

My vow, the letter reads…

My vow is to never leave her.

To always satisfy her.

To never give her grief.

To keep her warm, or cool her down.

To tenderly nurse her to health during times of illness.

To devote my life to her safety.

To give her the strongest of children.

My eternal promise to Y/n Djarren is, and always will be, to stand loyally at her side. No time of darkness could waver my devotion to her. It has been my greatest pride so save her from Aniri and watch her turn into the strongest, bravest woman I’ve known.

My vow is to love her.

It took a long time for you to complete the page. When you did, you read and re-read it, over and over until you had the entire damn thing memorized.

You had always wondered what he wrote on that night. Where you had only written the simplest of vows, he had thought of every single possible promise he could make. It hurt you so terribly to read these vows, now, and know that he’s gone in the world.

You wiped your eyes with the inside of your wrist. After carefully folding up your letter, you slipped it into the pocket of the leather jacket. You returned to your rest, hiding beneath the blankets with your face burrowed into the leather.

You are comforted to know that Din had at least fulfilled all of his promises. He had died with you loving him and being as equally loved. If there’s anything you want to do, it would be to somehow let him know that you’re safe. You worry that he died feeling guilty and scared for your safety.

Drifting off into a soft lull of sleep, Din’s face danced on the backs of your eyelids.

Once tumbled into the dreamland, you found yourself on a cliff’s edge with Vidia.

She held your hand, still wearing her rags. Her face is void of makeup. Her nose and cheekbones glisten gold under the sunshine that warms her night skin. She’s beautiful as you remembered. It wasn’t a wonder why she’d been chosen to wear the makeup. Her eyes that twinkled with mischief turned to you. Her hair, loose curls in the wind, became brushed behind her ear when she asked you, “Why so sad?”

You cast her a glance. “I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever cared about,” you told her. “Both you, and my husband.”

Vidia Thorpe laughed. “You care for so much more than me and your old brute of a man. I wish I could meet him someday.”

“I wish you could, too,” you muttered. “You never will.”

“Why?” she asks. “Because I’m dead?” Her pink lips puckered as she laughed loudly, almost doubling over herself.

“Because he’s dead, too,” you say.

“Oh, Annie,” Vidia sighed. “Your husband isn’t dead. He’s just lost.”

“Then how can I find him?” you gasped out. “I can’t even remember.”

“Yes, you can,” Vidia promised. She smiled sweetly, as though she knows something you don’t. “I miss you very much,” she tells you. “You’ve truly grown into a dandy woman.”

“Dandy?” you repeated.

“Yes, Annie,” Vidia grinned. “Dandy.”

She extended her arms towards you, pulling you in for a hug. She pressed a kiss to the top of your hair before saying goodbye and walking towards the edge of the cliff.

You reached after her, your heart catching in your throat as you tried to warn her to watch out for the drop off.

She kept walking.

Walking across the clouds, into the sunshine.

The kiss she had placed over your head planted a seed of the memory. Its roots grow down into the center of your mind. The hazy images played in the sky; the green Mandalorian’s dark, handsome face is cast transparent beneath the sun’s rays. His voice speaks in the distance.

“Tell me your name,” the Mandalorian urges, “or I’ll kill your lover.”

“Vidia,” you spit out. “Vidia Thorpe.”

You felt guilty for using your late best friend’s name this way, but it was the only possible thing you could say to avoid inflicting harm onto Din.

“Intersting,” the Mandalorian mulls. “I’ve never heard of Clan Thorpe. You must be a foundling.”

You couldn’t calculate what to say to that. Recalling every single rule and tradition you’d been taught, you did your very best to withstand the Mandalorian’s intterogation.

“Who took you in?”

“Shut up,” Din shouted.

“I asked you a question, Vidia,” the Mandalorian repeated. “Which clan rescued you? Can’t you see that I mean you no harm? We both have sworn the same creed, as you can clearly see. We share the same armor. I guess I’ve been a bit rude, however. My apologies. I am Boba Fett, the first and only heir of Jango. I am pleased to make your aqquaintence.”

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megalodont · 4 years ago

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mdzswomen’s Women Appreciation Weeks: Favourite Ship

read it here or on ao3 ^^

The town doctor, whose name Nie Mingjue hadn’t bothered to learn, was considerably less limp-wristed and fastidious than the rest of the townies he had met. When he realised his only broodmare was foaling breech he’d reluctantly called for her; with a cow he’d just let nature take its course and if the mother died he’d cut the calf out and have beef for dinner and that would be that. But the horse was good stock and he couldn’t afford another until the end of the season. How was he supposed to drive five hundred head with only one horse?

The woman had arrived in good time, wearing practical twill and an apron. She’d taken one look at the beast lying on its side and removed the straight pins holding her shortgown closed, leaving her in just her skirt and stays. She threw the garment over the stable railing and rolled the sleeves of her chemise as high as they’d go. Nie Mingjue found himself admiring her practicality.

“I’d prefer not to get kicked,” she told Nie Mingjue, before kneeling behind the prone mare. He didn’t appreciate being ordered around on his own ranch, but he jerked his head at his younger brother—who was looking distinctly squeamish—and took his place by the horse’s rear end. Nie Huaisang swallowed and nodded, squeezing into the stall to sweet talk the beast and offer her whatever treats he’d been unsubtly hiding in the pockets of his fancy coat.

He couldn’t see much from where he crouched, hands resting on the horse’s top leg so she couldn’t kick the tiny woman, but he found himself very glad his brother was at the other end of the stall when the doctor stuck both her hands right into his favourite horse. Her face was set with determined concentration as she did... something, one sticky hand coming to rest on the boards beside his head as she turned her whole body to get one arm even deeper…. in there. An alarming quantity of reddish fluid suddenly gushed from the beast, soaking into the hay. Strings of blood and mucus smeared the shoulder of her white chemise, and Nie Mingjue gave in to the urge to wrinkle his nose.

With a grunt of effort she dug her heels into the floor and pulled. Slowly, sweat beading on her forehead, she managed to pull out a pair of hooves.

Back hooves.

“Okay,” she panted, trying to wipe her sweaty forehead on her shoulder. She stood and backed up. “Now you.”

Nie Mingjue bit back a wince and came around to kneel where she had been, the straw unpleasantly damp beneath him. His hands felt suddenly enormous on the foal’s delicate ankles, but he got a good grip and, at the doctor’s instruction, began to pull. Nothing much happened.

“Come on, what good is it being the same size as a horse yourself if you can’t put your back into anything? Pull!” She commanded. Nie Mingjue growled and leaned into it, eventually working his way up until he was pulling with all his strength. He felt like he was going to tear the legs right off the little creature, and the mare had begun to bellow as she tried to push. The doctor reached in to guide it out.

The foal came inch by inch, and then all at once. Nie Mingjue found himself falling on his ass when the baby’s hind quarters finally slipped free.

“Okay, she can do the rest,” the doctor said. Even as she spoke the rest of the foal’s body was slithering out onto the stable floor.

“Lord almighty,” Nie Huaisang said faintly. “Is it over?” Nie Mingjue snorted at the sight of him, sweaty and pale like he was the one who had just delivered a baby.

“It’s over,” the doctor told him, busy clearing the mucus from the foal’s mouth and nose with a handful of straw. “You can come see it, if you want.”

“I’m good. I’m actually going to go outside for a second I think, yep—” And he was gone.

“Bit squeamish for a cattle rancher,” the doctor commented, getting to her feet.

“More like a cattle rancher’s dandy brother,” Nie Mingjue huffed. He led the doctor around the side of the stable to the water pump so they could both wash up. He was just retying the red kerchief around his neck when he heard his brother scream.

To her credit the doctor jerked in surprise and hurried towards the sound. Nie Mingjue followed, though he was not overly alarmed; Nie Huaisang screamed when bugs crossed his path or dirt got on his fine trousers.

This was not one of those situations.

When Nie Mingjue rounded the corner he almost froze in horror at the sight of his brother, hands in the air, being faced down by six gun-toting bandits. He recognised the faces of several from wanted posters he’d seen in town. As soon as he and the doctor emerged several pistols were turned on them as well.

“Hand’s where I can see ‘em!” The leader of the band shouted. Nie Mingjue obliged, chest filling with a boiling rage.

The doctor raised her hands as well, but fearlessly crossed the short distance between Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang, hardly paying any attention to the pack of outlaws at all.

“Are you alright?” She demanded of Nie Huaisang.

“Of course I’m not alright!” He wailed. “They’re pointing guns at us!”

“Are you injured, ” she snapped.

“Yes! I was so startled when they jumped out I almost fell! Look at my hand, it’s bleeding! And it got all over my sleeve!” His brother had the uncanny ability to be both whiny and fearful at once. If anything had happened to him Nie Mingjue didn’t know what he would have done.

“You two, go search them for shit we can sell,” the leader said.

“You know the deal,” one of the outlaws responded sharply. He was a greasy man, wearing much better boots than the rest of his companions.

“Yeah, yeah.” The leader rolled his eyes.

Nie Mingjue growled as a bandit rifled through his clothes with dirty fingers, gun pressed to his chest. His hands were shaking with the temptation to pull his own gun, hidden in his waistband, and shoot as many of the bastards as he could before they got him. A choked gasp snapped his head to the side, and he saw the other bandit digging the muzzle of his pistol cruelly into the underside of Nie Huaisang’s jaw.

The next thing Nie Mingjue knew his ears were ringing with the sound of a gunshot, the bandit frisking him dead on the ground.

“ Get down!” The doctor shouted, busy shoving Nie Huaisang behind a wagon in the corner of his vision. Thanking Heaven the doctor had had the sense to remove his brother from the line of fire Nie Mingjue threw himself behind a barrel of feed and weathered the first round of bullets as the outlaws opened fire. He tilted his head to peek around the edge, moving back almost before he could register the locations of the men. Heart pounding with adrenaline he shot to his feet long enough to take aim, picking a man off before ducking back down, chest heaving. He glanced over at where the other two were taking shelter, knowing he’d feel guilty for putting them in danger once everything was over—only to see the doctor, feet planted, hands steady as she wielded Nie Huaisang’s own pistol. Nie Mingjue insisted he carry it in case of situations such as these, but his brother refused to even practice shooting cans with him so he shouldn’t have been surprised he didn’t take it out to defend himself.

The doctor, for her part, held it with total comfort, and as he watched she took out two men, ducking smoothly back behind the wagon as bullets hit the dust where she’d been. He couldn’t believe the tiny woman was holding her own in a gunfight mere moments after unflinchingly pulling a horse from its mother.

“What the hell are you daydreaming about over there?” She screamed over the din, face streaked with dirt, eyes blazing. For a moment the hot rage in his chest flickered into a different kind of burn.

“Who the fuck is that woman? She just shot Billy and Snaketooth Al!”

“I don’t give a fuck who she is, just finish them off already!” Shouted the leader.

Another round of bullets assailed Nie Mingjue’s flimsy hiding place. One finally punched all the way through, a stream of grain pouring out onto his dust-caked boots. He threw another look to where Nie Huaisang crouched with his arms over his head. The doctor met his eyes, and they didn’t have to speak a word. The doctor raised three fingers.

Then two.

Then one.

The pair stepped out in perfect unison, guns blazing. Nie Mingjue grunted as a bullet struck him in the shoulder, but he didn’t let it stop him shooting the no good outlaw who’d wounded him right between the eyes.

He stood, staring, panting down at where the dead men lay under the blazing noontide sun.

“Is—is it over?” Nie Huaisang asked for the second time that hour.

“It’s over,” the doctor replied once again. She tossed his gun in his direction and marched over to where Nie Mingjue was still standing, staring at her.

“Where—uh, where did you learn to shoot like that?”

“My little brother is the best marksman in the county,” she said primly. “Take of your shirt.”

He frowned. “What?”

“Shirt off. I need to look at that wound.”

“It only grazed me,” he groused, annoyance starting to overtake his admiration.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said causticly. “I forgot bullet grazes were the only type of wound impervious to infection. Off. Now.”

He glared down—way down—at her, but she didn’t back off, only narrowing her eyes.

“Tch.” He tucked his gun back into his belt and tugged off his bandana. He pulled his loose shirt over his head and balled it in his fist, plonking himself down on the bullet riddled feed barrel so she had some hope of reaching his wound. She leaned very close to inspect it.

“Didn’t hit anything vital. It’ll heal a lot better if you get stitches, but I didn’t bring my equipment. You will need to clean it though. I assume you have bandages and antiseptic?”

Nie Mingjue wordlessly raised his shirt. She closed her eyes as if she were in pain. “And something to clean it with…?”

Placing the shirt on his leg he dug in his trouser pocket, coming up with his flask. She stared at it for a long moment, and then took it. She unscrewed the cap and took a deep swallow. Nie Mingjue felt his eyebrows rise, and they stayed up there when she wiped her mouth without coughing. His brother couldn’t even smell the stuff without his eyes beginning to water.

“You’ll want some of this too,” she said, and he dutifulled took a swallow, carefully not thinking about how the doctor’s mouth had been there moments before. She took the flask back and wasted no time pouring whiskey into his bulletwound. He manfully refrained from hissing in pain.

“Da-ge?”

“Just a scratch, didi,” he assured his brother.

“Is he going to be okay?” He asked the doctor as she tore strips from her apron.

“If he comes with me back to town to let me fix him up properly, he’ll be fine. If he just lets it fester and dies of sepsis? Less so.”

Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes, but the sting of the woman binding his wound prevented him from replying.

“Who the hell were those men, though?” Nie Huaisang wondered, looking down at one. “Bandits don’t normally hit out here in the middle of the day, there’s way better pickings on the roads leading into town.”

“That’s because they weren’t bandits,” the doctor said grimly, not looking up from her work.

“Huh?”

“What do you mean by that?” Nie Mingjue demanded.

“Whoever they were they were hired to come here,” she said, tying off the makeshift dressing.

“What! By who?”

She looked up at him. “By the Wens.”

“Those dogs?!” Nie Mingjue roared. “I won’t sell them my land for mining so they decide to have me killed ?!”

“Why do you think that?” Nie Huaisang asked intently, searching the doctor's expression.

“That’s Wen Chao,” the doctor said, pointing to one of the bodies. “Wen Ruohan’s son.”

Nie Mingjue looked at the body of the chubby man in surprise, but he didn’t miss the way his brother’s eyes narrowed.

“How do you know?” Nie Huaisang demanded.

The doctor looked between them, and seemed to make a decision. She squared her shoulders.

“Because he’s my cousin.”

Nie Mingjue snapped around, staring at the tiny woman he’d come to so admire over the last hour. She hiked her chin, staring right back. Her? One of those slimy bastards?!

His furious roar was loud enough to frighten the cows.

“What in tarnation?!”

#mdzswomen #mdzs #the untamed #nie mingjue #wen qing #rated m #for gun violence #blood #and uh #graphic horse birth #idk you guys #paris writes #mdzs fic

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arovolutionary · 5 years ago

Text

Wandering Spirit

A few people seemed interested in reading my first attempt at an epic poem, so here’s the finished thing!

I think it subverted a few romantic tropes nicely, and all the (good) characters (fae and human) are aro in my mind. I hope you enjoy reading it - I’m pretty proud of it honestly. The title’s not great (or definite), but I’m bad at titles so... yeah.

Warning: it’s very long, and uses old fashioned English since it’s inspired by some of my favourite folk ballads (kudos if you can guess the main inspiration). I’m also British, which will affect how it reads and how words are spelled.

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The night was long, the road was dark Wet leaves bore the moon’s soft light Young Ellen rode with a warrior’s heart; A serpent’s grace; a lion’s might

E'er the wandering spirit was she For she’d heard here dwelled a faerie gay Might set her from her duties free “That I may travel the world, away”

‘Twas with that thought she came unto A twisted house: abandoned, torn Yet a sign of life - it lay in view Full line of linen of the window born

A fog rolled in, and silence drew All sound was gone from in the night Thoughts, it seemed, were muffled too When a figure leapt before Elinor’s sight

It landed softly on the ground - A lithe young cat; then bigger still Until as a bear it turned around It’s eyes were heavy, anger filled

From its mouth a voice did roar: Sound shook the air with every word “How come you to my front door?! As none should be - am I not feared?”

Boldly then young Ellen moved; From her turning horse did lithely spring “Fear not, by me you are not loathed- I met one for whom you like to sing”

“He told me an exchange to make: for they would have me married be - to one whom I ne'r love nor like, but you might be one to help me flee”

The bear stepped back; it lifted high 'Til on it’s own hind quarters held And 'tween two breaths he gave a sigh Him now a man: the bear dispelled

His face it was as oaken bark His hair like weeping willow worn 'Pon his bare body was a mark Like bow and arrow, tightly drawn

He turned around, and linen grasped Then about his naked body wrapped The clothing that in his hands was clasped; Which held there then, though 'twas not strapped

“You know my Jack?” He asked of her “Then to me a friend you’ll surely be But why is he not with you here? It’s him who I would like to see.”

His voice rang out as if a song: It hung and danced the air between To fall then gently, ears upon, Warmer than the sun at e'en

She stepped up quick, her eyes were kind As she from her pocket took A letter writ in Jack’s own hand And gave it o'er for him to look

His face grew fond as he did read 'Til suddenly aloud did say “I’d like to help you as you plead, But my magic doesn’t work that way”

“I can’t control the whims of men Who would ask you to be wed Unless your task is grimmer then: I’ll call on them and leave them dead”

She asked of him a different aid And he was happy to comply But that a quest by her be made - He had to ask, and she would try

From his chest the bow he pulled And like a shadow so it formed 'Til it could manifest as told: A solid weapon of body born

She took the wondrous bow in hand As he explained, with care, her part She was to find the faerie king - To force an arrow through his heart

There were no arrows with the bow, And before she could but breathe her thought He reached behind him, moving slow And from his back a quiver brought

“This bow of mine is strong and true; The arrows made from mine own heart And when the arrow pierces through My heart, through his, will play its part”

“You should not afear his wrath Although his skill is mighty large If you eat nought along your path His power wanes; your strength will charge”

It’s then her fingers to her lips, As she aloud did whistle high, To her side her horse came thus And she mounted up, away to ride

Bow at her back, it led the way 'Twas as the faerie by her side And there was nought led her astray As through the woods a tower spied

Before the tower was a town: Its dwellings there were strange and quaint There was a feast spread out around, And at her heart clawed hunger, want

The bow it sang, and Ellen joined - As so she went, the food untouched Then past the town to tower moved: Her fortitude remained unmatched

She at the tower’s base did stand And from her travelling pack she took Some rope, as woven by her hand To an arrow tied, and up did look

The building there was tall, and dark Yet sunlight bounced upon the stone The rising light behind her back It framed her shape - through black hair shone

The bow she raised, the arrow drew Pulled tight and strong before she loosed And through the air the arrow flew Like a dragonfly, the window chased

It whirled and spun through the air Until its destination found It turned and lodged in firmly there: Rope hung and swayed above the ground

Then Ellen in her hands did hold The rope that danced before her face It was forcefully, with courage bold She tugged it thrice; it held its place

“Wait here, my friend” she bid her horse As she upon the tower stepped Began her climb with barest pause- In hand the rope was tightly gripped

Hand and foot were moved with ease; She made her way, 'til with a start A bird did fly out from the trees: It dived at her, her hands to part

Then suddenly, without a sound The bow did stretch from on her back It spread and curved 'til all around, The bird’s own clawing reach did break

The bird repelled, she did resume Shaded by the shielding force 'Twas soon she climbed into a room More comfortable than her own house

All around were colours bright Blinding 'gainst the darker stone She noticed then, within her sight A forlorn figure: curled; alone

“That’s my brother’s bow you bear. Have you come to set me free? I feared that he had left me here, It being so long since him I’ve seen.”

Her voice it murmured, barely reached To fall upon young Ellen’s ears Yet a familiar pattern to her speech, It brought Elinor’s eyes to tears

For where the brother’s voice was warm, Hers it strained, retreated, fell She found she reached out with her arms, And this young woman within them, held.

A cautious moment passed, then two. Leaning back, she spoke betwixt “Your brother’s quest led me to you: I slay the king; my life to fix”

Searching hands then found her bow; A smile to the face was brought “Come quick, the king lies down below But first to beat him - here’s a thought.”

“A curse 'pon me, in prison high That I should ne'er my powers see But if we go where the spell doth lie, From the binds I might be freed”

The bow was drawn; the door was struck It splintered, cracked and fell with ease Through they stepped, and down did look- A dreary light; an upwards breeze

The sister turned; Ellen followed - As fast as go could she Step by step, as foot allowed Until a darkened room they see

There was a light, all in the centre: The smallest glow, bathed in black “This place is such I cannot enter, You must venture for my sake”

So striding forward, Ellen went The darkness seemed to engulf she The air was heavy, burned and bent It twisted all that she did feel

Until the glowing light did reach her body barely brought her breath but then she moved - the glow to breach and with her blade she broke it. Swift.

From the ruined glow erupted out A spectral shape, then winding through Until the doorway it did meet; Unto the sister, shadow flew.

It entered there upon her brow, Painted 'cross her unmarred head And from that point a shape did grow Till her form into the air it bled

It coalesced 'fore Ellen’s eyes Gathered to a new known shape And there it jumped, began to fly Above her head; an owl grey

“Come, let us go” she called out then, Landing soft on Ellen’s arm But she had barely spoken, when:

A sound did ring out loud and clear; A voice that set their hearts to fear; A discordant hum drew ever near; An echo that did lock them here- 'Til sudden did the king appear.

Him past the door - in anger flew, Then from his thigh a hammer drew The room he lit and travelled through As the space about, around them grew It spread and swelled, 'til they could view…

A quiet clearing laid with dew.

The king he shifted in the space - All as a dragon he did roar And Ellen then her legs did brace As dragon’s breath, it blew a storm

Upon his breath these words were found: “Mey, my jewel! How could you leave? I gave finer things from world around! What must I do to win your love?”

As the words slipped from his tongue Boldly then she did proclaim “I am Mey, and you’re undone - For from your lips I take my name!”

And she has changed, upon the field To a hawthorn: razor sharp And to his scaled body leaped Drove her branches, wrapped him up

The dragon changed beneath her binds, And Ellen now in anger flew She in her hand the bow did find: Against the string an arrow drew

The dragon - now a serpent large - It slipped away, and fangs did bare With strange speed the snake did charge To Ellen’s arm, it fastened there

Then Mey became a lion fierce She pounced upon the biting thing And from the teeth that held in place The viper tore: split mouth and fang

The bow then changed all in her grip It twisted, wrapped her arm around An arrow then, as sword did flow From palm, prepared to strike him down

'Tween Mey’s teeth the snake did shrink 'Til he fell to ground beneath And raised again; as man did smirk Naught but blood where had lain teeth

Then his feet began to swell His skin did stretch, his bones did too His lips they curled; the blood it fell - Hit the grass, to stain the dew

Then Mey she grew, and matched for size And strange enough, did Ellen too 'Til all of them as giants rise And none of them the ground could view

The fight then shook the very air - As giants struck, blow for blow, Until but two were standing there And the King he fell to ground below

He fell so slow that it did seem That time had given up its work Until he landed, as a dream And from the fall the world did quake

Panting, bleeding they did crouch And shrunk unto their normal size Until so close that they could touch The whites around the giant’s eyes

They walked on him, to his chest As the king did bellows make Holding the bow, now as it was She offered it, for Mey to take

But Mey, away the bow did turn - Says “You cannot this offer give, For the faerie king is only slain By a mortal with a faerie gift”

Then Ellen, passion in her eyes Did turn unto his beating breast And held the bow; drawn and poised Pulled tighter still, then arrow leased

From the wound dug in his heart, A sound like thunderstorm did draw The arrow where the skin did part, Changed to block the gaping maw

Still the clouds fell all around, And like a hurricane, wind flew They held on tight until they found No corpse beneath - they fell below

On the ground young Ellen mazed As all about - the walls they came Then in the tower found she laid, Where they’d started, once again

'Twas with a sigh of bending wood, The arrow to her quiver went It passed her arm, wet with blood And as it did the wound did mend

Looking up, to Mey’s own face She noticed then that it had changed Where human 'guise had been in place Now features like her brother’s shaped

“Now come, you stranger, tell your name; For you know mine, and I not yours As I my life do owe to thee, Though my brother was your cause”

“You may call me Elinor, But your life I do not need - It seems we had a common goal: From love’s cruel clutches to be freed”

Then to a bird Mey did shift- Of a size to let young Ellen ride And joyously held them aloft 'Til down below her horse they spied

She mounted up, and rode for home While Mey, as wolf, ran by her side Upon the twisted house they came Saw the cat, with Jack beside

And there as these two friends did speak A smile broke out on wolfish face For Mey into a run did break: On her two feet approached the place

“Fearn!” She cried - to her he leapt, Changing quick from cat to man Before her then Fearn almost wept Lips spread wide by glowing grin

He threw her clothing from the line, Wrapped some more about his waist Then to each of them did turn And for each introductions made

Mirth and joy around them grew: It filled the air, and in them welled The siblings - reunited, now Stood by two friends, their wants fulfilled

One final task before them lay 'Twas of Fearn for Ellen’s wish As such his hand upon her placed Whereupon her skin did shift

She felt a buzzing through her bones And there in place did shake and lift 'Til in another form she rose Now as a lively horse most swift

She danced and sprung in great delight Changed her form again, again Until as a human bright Once more did she appear to them

“And of your other wish” Said he, “That much was done 'fore you returned, When I felt you slay the king, for me - Had gold and jewels sent to your home”

Elinor felt her word at ease Since all her problems, they were solved She would - to wealth - ne'er wedded be Yet family would not want for gold

And though the prince could her confine, She would ne'er as captive lie For she would make the world her home: Content to swim, to bound, or fly.

E'er the wandering spirit was she, For she visited a faerie gay Who set her from her duties free And now she travels the world.

Away.

#aro writing #aro characters #aromanticism #aromantic #writblr #constructive criticism welcome

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sabraeal · 5 years ago

Text

Neither the Hunter nor the Quarry

Fae AU | Previous

Obiyuki AU Bingo Magic AU

The taste of honey sits cloying on this tongue, sour as it ages. Obi spits, eager to be rid of it.

The wind catches, and he’s hardly had the chance to relish its absence before the spittle is thrown back at his feet. He can’t help but huff out a laugh, bemused. Most masters never thought about the skies of their domains save for their color and the spires they could thrust through them, but this Izana, prince of the daoine sidhe -- it seemed there was no angle that missed his omnipotent gaze.

Obi lifts a leg, surveying the damage. Ah, and he’d just polished those boots this morning. Lucky thing that he had no more good impressions left to make.

With the ease of habit, he pulls the shadows to him. Like a quilt sewn with fog, they settle softly against his skin, more comforting to him than a mother’s touch. The crisp bite of autumn’s chill floods his senses, driving out the last of that sickly taste. That bit with the trees was an old magick, learned with trickery and made his own, but even still, it leaves a rank tang in his mouth.

Some fey take to magic like this -- aes sidhe, for one, born liars the moment they were brought into being, silver tongues dripping with honey as they spoke -- but sweet nothings has never been his way. He worked best with masks and mirrors, with sharp blades and deep shade. To put himself into the sun’s full view -- it had been uncomfortable, to say the least. Like a shoe worn a size too small.

Still, it served him well for this, as little as he liked it. Surprisingly potent, for such a little thing.

He takes in a breath and coughs. Not so surprising, really. This whole place stank of charm and glamour, each gust buffeting more of that sweet scent against him.

He lets out a huff, cozening himself between crenelations. That girl should thank him for this; no matter how fair of face these aes sidhe are -- and rumor had that these princes had that gift in spades -- they were not men. It was not so long ago, not to any of these fey, that mortals were prey. To more than were apt to admit it, they still were. It had been foolish of her to forget.

At least now whatever thrall they have over her would fade, and maybe one day she would find herself wandering out of this mound, back to the world of men.

Whatever still is left for her then.

The wind blows hard through the spires, and Obi tucks his nose beneath his scarf to ward off the chill. In the mortal realm, the land would stretch out before him like patches on a quilt, but here the laws that bind man’s reality are only passing acquaintances with those of the knowe. Despite the simulacrum of the sun burning brightly above the master’s palace, a light fog settles outside its gate, obscuring the road out to the city, only the tops of the ancient pines piercing through its cover. From the ground it would be merely another nice day in Wistal, overseen by their lord, but from above, well --

It seems His Highness Izana knows better than any that enemies may come from anywhere, even above.

Obi lets loose a sigh, rubbing gloved palms over his thighs, bracing his feet beneath him. Now with that unpleasant business concluded, he could go--

It stings him in his chest, a hard buzz that makes his teeth jitter and grind. He looses his footing -- him! -- and it’s only reflex that saves him, his hands sweeping out to brace.

He gives a hard pant, confused. That isn’t the choke collar of his geasa, but instead a whip’s lash --

His spell. Someone has broken his spell.

Obi scans the ground with a bird’s eyes. That fog might cover the lands outside the palace, but his quarry would be inside now, content with their cunning. The prince maybe -- the second one, the one who started this mess -- or one of his aides -- the daoine sidhe one, not the dog. How they had known so soon, he cannot even hazard a guess, but --

A flicker of red catches at the corner of his vision, like a cardinal through the bush.

Not just someone broke his spell -- she did. That little mortal girl. Unbelievable.

His lips quirk, amused. He underestimated her. Looks like he’ll have to discourage her the old fashioned way.

He draws the shadows tight around him, not like a blanket, but like a shroud. This time he would be careful -- he more than anyone should have known what a mortal might be capable of when he lingers so steadily at the threshold.

Cunning though she may be to so deftly untangle such a working, there’s no mage alive that can ignore a spell-breaking, She knows it too; she’s off like a shot through the arcades, disappearing behind liana and lingerer alike. Even with his sharp eyes, he catches mere glimpses of her, hair roan as hind’s rump, disappearing into the brush.

He takes bow into hand, mouth curling into a grin. Hind she may be, but he is the hunter, and though this misstep may have spooked her, he won’t make another. His arrows are heart-seekers, all.

The shadows shudder as he leaps to the next parapet, and then to another. It is harder with the way the sun shines overhead, burning away the shade, giving him little purchase where he lands. Still, he’s more than just a few tricks in a bag, more than just what magicks he could steal -- he’s skilled too, naturally agile. The shadows are a help, but his body alone is no hindrance.

It’s not hard to stalk her flight; unlike a hind, she takes the most direct route to safety, bounding past servants and sentinels alike, barely avoiding a tragic brush with the aes sidhe that populate this court. The guards may reach out to hold her, but she’s swift, dodging limbs as a deer does underbrush.

Ah, that’s the issue, working with amateurs -- never quite as good at their jobs as the situation needs. Still, he grins.

She may be fleet-footed, but oh, she is not the fastest one here.

Obi flies from shadow to shadow at a breathless pace, the world blurring around him as he fixes on his goal. There is only one way to deal with quarry in flight -- cut off their route of escape.

He hurls himself to a balcony, one that affords him an uninterrupted view of the tower that leads to the a youngest highness’s apartments. In this world, she has but one sure ally -- an elaborate, yet romantic, form of suicide in a place like this.

He grins. She’ll find that out soon enough.

A shaft of ash catches under his palm; his cache here is limited, but he only needs a single shot. Oak and elm and alder might fly true, but ash is the only wood that would hold what needed doing. His fingers pass over the shaft, the scent of copper and acrid smoke curling up from his working. He holds it up to the false light, assessing.

Perfect. Even a master would be hard-pressed to do better.

Red flashes again, that tempting glimpse of hind in flight, and he nocks the arrow, the strength of his whole chest pulling bowstring back to its limit. Ebon-black feathers graze his cheek; an unwelcome caress, an unwelcome memory.

He looses.

It strikes home. He grins to see her chest stutter, to see the way her jaw hangs slack. Her hands tremble as she reaches out, her touch so ginger -- but the runes flash on the shaft, and she flinches at the sting --

Right before she rips the arrow right out of the wall.

“What?” he breathes, soaked in disbelief. It’s not possible --

She takes a staggering step, her face rucked up in concentration, and then another, and another, until she’s moving at a run, sprinting up the tower steps.

“She’s not stopping,” he wonders, and for once, he laughs, even as the backlash leaves him breathless. He should have known; a girl like that doesn’t fear anything, not even death.

His lips peel back in a grin as he hunches over, bow and civility abandoned. It’s been so long since he’s had a proper chase.

He no longer keeps his distance, jumping from parapet to parapet -- no, this is personal now, and he flings himself down to the balconies, to the trees. Her hair is bright so close, like a fox-tail, a tease he can’t resist. He catches the sweet apple scene of her magic on the air, and, ah, how that makes his blood run hot beneath the too-delicate shroud of his skin.

Mortal lords train their hounds for this, to flush out the vixen and herd her in, to catch her but never give the killing bite --

But Obi is no lord’s dog.

Knives slide between fingers like claws, and his stomach surges with pleasure, the victory of a kill well done singing through his veins.

“Looks like you’re headed home, young lady,” he purrs, “one way or another.”

He pulls back his arm, tension coiled in every bone --

And she stares straight at him.

It’s enough to give him pause, but he only has a moment to wonder at the lack of fear on her face, at the annoyance --

And then she rips the shadows from him, like a bandage from a wound.

By shadow and shade, no one’s ever done that before.

She knows it too; as much as he goggles at her, she does the same in return. He’s struck by her, by the spray of freckles across her pale skin and the vivid green of her eyes, like the sun viewed through a leaf. She’s so small this close, even smaller than he suspected, but even so --

“Shirayuki!”

She jumps, whirling to face that shout, arrow tucked neatly behind her back. Obi jumps too, dragging at the shadows to shroud himself, to be invisible as the youngest highness nears, face the very picture of concern.

“Zen!” she gasps, voice as clear as a bell, sweet as a song, and --

And now is the time for his hasty escape. The prince complicates this whole competition far too much.

With a grin, he leaps to a shaded column, feet dangling over the balustrade. There will be time yet to finish this game.

After all, it’s only just getting interesting.

#obiyukibingo2019 #obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #Between the Night and Morrow #fae au #my fic #ans #finally I'm getting to flesh out some of this beginning matter #eventually there is going to be a couple of far earlier pieces coming up #BUT this is when Obi appears #so this seemed like a good opportunity to do this retelling #and amuse myself with the dropping of many hints #:3

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pops-and-kids · 6 years ago

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Hello! Below is a little something I wrote for Lil Red! It’s angst filled, so be warned of that! I plan to do one of these a month, but they wont always be this long or heavy as this one. If you’d like to see more of these please tell me! These will be tagged Redfics, with Lil’ Red either being the main character or the main topic. Please enjoy! (^-^)/

Red scuttled around the halls quickly, her blue and gold eyes blown wide in fear. A bunch of bad men attack the ship again today, but this time they brought friends. Haruta was supposed to take her and hide, but they suddenly lurched forward and tossed her, sending her tumble all over the floor. When she looked back up at them they were clutching their shoulder and told her to run for the bedrooms. The sound of yelling and boomsticks frightened her to her very core. Even Pop-pop was yelling! He never yelled! Red whimpered as she ran down the long hall, now lost on the ship. To her everything looked the same, and her nose was just filled with that icky smell of iron, sea salt, and the grey powder Izou and Curiel stuffed in their boomsticks. Her ears were full of the sounds of everyones yells of anger and pain, sending chills down her tricolour patched coat. She was scared, she wanted Fossa or Pop-pop to hold her! The rocking of the ship under her paws didn’t help, the sea and sky were just as upset as her as storm clouds started swirling above and harsh waves started snapping at the sides of the whale boat.

Her small paws barely made any sound over the fighting, but her heart sounded like it had gotten into her head and was thumping loud in her already straining ears. She looked at the doors next to her, but none of them had the bedroom plates on them. She only recognized Haruta and Kingdews big boy room, where all the weird whirring and beeping machines were with the talking snails. She skidded to a halt and made a helpless jump for the door lever, though it was in vain. All the door levers on the ship were too high for her small body, even if she jumped with her just jump! Red slid down the door, her claws leaving marks on the wood as her eyes filled with tears. Haruta and Kingdew were back on the deck, and she’d get yelled at if she went out there while the adults all yelled at one another. A strong wind crashed into the ship, making it lean to the side and filling her nose with more of that awful iron smell. She didn’t like it at all, but the all-better room and Jirus rooms always smelled of it. The deck did too days after a fight, but today it was really strong.

Suddenly a loud boom shook her entire body and knocked the air out of her, leaving her gasping. Screams were all she heard over the ringing in her ears, the wailing of the wind going through her. Her eyes were full of little stars as she opened them, but all that she was greeted with was splintered wood of the once intact hallway and the fire eating at the whale boat. The whale boat wasn’t supposed to be on fire! Ace wouldn’t set the whale boat on fire! Red fall back onto the floor, jumping up onto her six paws as the ship rocked scarily again. The ocean was really upset now, banging into all the ships around into the whale boat. The wind was howling and tearing at the big sails too, threatening to jab holes in them. She gulped and started running down the hall again, away from the yelling and fire, far away.

“Unf!” While she was looking back at the massive hole in the side of the whale boat she had bumped into something! Or someone.

Suddenly large hands grabs her hard, causing her to yelp in pain as she was yanked up off the ground so quickly and with her legs crushed together painfully. She blinked and looked forward, meeting green eyes. They weren’t happy eyes like Thatchs, but deep and scary. They didn’t have the love and affection he did, but more like a Shaleback eyeing a new meal: her.

“And what the fuck are you?” The man asked, a creepy smile twisted on his face. She didn’t like that smile. Red shrunk back a bit, a whimper escaping her mouth.

The man gripped her even tighter, tears of pain and fear stinging at the corners of her eyes as he looked her over. Red felt a rush of peircing ice go through her veins, and her eyes widened in shock as she remembered what Auntie Ta’Vari had told her.

“If a human corners you, kick them as hard as you can! In the stomach, in the knees, in the throat, anywhere you reach!”

“Aren’t you that thing the marines were freaking out about some time back? Some sort of beast?” The man continued talking, ignoring the glossed over look in the faerie dragons eyes.

With a few deep breaths Red gathered all her strength and raised her hind paws, sending them jabbing into his chest! He gasped and hunched over a bit, but his hands gripped even tighter to Reds horror, making her screech in pain.

“Heheh...feisty little shit...” His one hand let her go for just a second--only to regain grip. Around her neck. “Aint ya?” Red’s eyes went wide as she began to squirm in earnest now.

The man laughed as he slowly crushed her throat his his hand, her thrashing becoming more and more panicked as she got less and less air. All she got loose was one of her front legs, but at the cost of being able to breathe freely. She craned her neck and made eye contact with him, stopping the fighting and merely trembling in his hands.

“I wonder how much your pelt would sell for.” The man smirked.

What did he mean? Did he want her fur? Why did he want it? He couldn’t have it! Izou loved to brush it! Fossa spent a lot of time washing oil out of it! Everyone loved how soft it was, especially Pop-pop! HE COULDN’T HAVE IT!!!

Red bared her teeth like Papa taught her, eyes focusing on nothing but the bad man in front of her. In a split second her one free paw flexed, curved claws unsheathing from their cute and furry toes. She opened her mouth and her paw shot forward.

“NO!!” Her paw went towards his face. Directly into his eye.

His face was blank as her claws went into his open eye, red splattered out and over her paw as they dug in deep. In a single second he roared in pain and let go of Red, letting her fall to the floor. Red gasped for air as she stumbled to her paws and looked at the man. He stumbled back, screaming curse words not even fossa had used before, red iron oozing from between his fingers as he clutched at his eye. The little faerie dragon was frozen on the spot, fear and horror gluing her to the floor.

The bad man looked at her, his other eye filled with rage. That scared her even more.

“YOU LITTLE RAT!!! I’LL SKIN YOU ALIVE!!!” He screamed and yanked out his sword, charging at her.

Red could only stare with wide eyes as the glint of his sword caught the light, it’s aura filled with spite and blood lust.

“GET THE FUCK--” Sword met flaming sword, Fossa’s yell of rage filled Red’s ears as she stared at the swords inches away from her face.

The bad man stumbled back and Fossa went forward. He raised his swords and in a quick motion--

“RED!!”

He brought them down just as large hands scooped her up, covering her eyes and ears. But it was too late. She had saw the swords dig into the man’s flesh, she had seen the red iron gushing from his body, she had heard the start of his scream.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! He didn’t hurt you, did he?!” Dewey cuddled her so tenderly, keeping her pressed against his chest protectively as she shook and let out a sob. She loved Pop-pop, and Marco, and Ace, and Thatchy, and Jojo, and Vista, and Menny, and Mossy, and Namur, and Dewey, and Haruta, and Atmos, and Jiru, and Fossa, and Izou. They fed her and kept her safe, gave her lots of love and naps.

But she missed Mommy and Papa.

#Redfic #Lil' Red #OC #angst #Whitebeard pirates #Fossa #Kingdew #((Red has her own nicknames for all the commanders))#((Please let me know if you'd like to see more of these!))

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agentkatie · 6 years ago

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That sarcasm prompt list you just posted is possibly one of my favourite things ever. You're right - SO MANY of them remind me of your Shepard. I like this one: “You didn’t get in trouble for lying. You got in trouble for lying badly.” It sounds like something Cullen would say to Shepard after she'd been caught.

Hello! I’m a terrible writer who reblogs loads of prompt memes and doesn’t answer them! BUT I worked on a lot of them for NaNoWriMo, so here we go; not Cullen to Shepard, but Shepard to mini Shepards :D

Shepard had never expected motherhood to be easy. She’d expected to be lost, and useless, and full of terrible advice for her offspring, and she had been all of those things in her time; yet she’d had Cullen beside her throughout, the unflinching constant in her sea of fear and inadequacy, and with him there she’d started to believe she wasn’t such a terrible mother after all. Indeed, as time had ticked on she’d actually started to think she was quite good — that was, until the twins hit their fifth birthdays, and they started conspiring together.

To give them their credit, they were far better behaved than Shepard’s twin brothers had ever been; they’d run circles around her parents, causing havoc with dune buggies and air rifles as Shepard had trailed closely behind them. But her two definitely took more after her than their father; whilst Cassie spent her time drawing and singing and generally being the golden child, and David was too preoccupied with playing in dirt to cause any real trouble, the twins had a certain mischief about them which could only have been inherited from Shepard. And, all in all, it had been mostly harmless; the odd kitchen raid, an occasional wild animal loose in their home, and their frequent make-believe duels with dragons, were all simple enough to deal with.

But in hindsight, she should have hidden the scissors better.

“Girls.”

They looked as though butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths as they sat opposite her across the kitchen table; they merely smiled sweetly, Rory proudly displaying the new gap in her to row of teeth. As though they were completely blind to the pile of blonde curls on the table, and their little sister’s newly-shorn head.

“Which one of you would like to explain what’s happened to your sister’s hair?”

They exchanged a look with each other before nodding, and it was times like this Shepard was convinced they were able to read each other’s minds; it was Nova who spoke, always the first to jump in, unflinching in eye contact as she stared her mother down. “She wanted a haircut.”

“Is that really the story you’re going with here?”

“She asked us,” Nova maintained. “She wanted to play salon.”

“Alright, now you’re not just in trouble for lying; you’re also in trouble for lying badly.” Shepard took another look at Cassie, content but dishevelled in her lap, and she almost wanted to cry at the haphazard chop of her once-beautiful golden hair. “And for scalping your sister, obviously. But I’m particularly disappointed in the fact you seem to think I’m dumb enough to believe anyone would choose to look like this.”

“She wanted a haircut!” Rory cried out now, as if somehow Shepard was being the unreasonable one; with a deep breath she resisted being drawn into a shouting match, instead attempting to focus on fact.

“Cassie, did you ask for a haircut?”

“No,” she told her honestly - because of course she was honest, she was an angel, unlike her hellish sisters, “but I like new hair.”

“Oh, you’re far too good and pure,” Shepard lamented, pressing a kiss against her ravaged curls. “I can’t ever allow you out into the real world. As for you two - you’re not allowed to play outside for two weeks.”

“It’s not fair!” Rory yelped, sticking to their story despite their cover being blown. “She wanted a haircut!”

“It’s perfectly fair, seeing as you’ve just shown you can’t be trusted out of my eyesight,” Shepard maintained, ignoring the way Nova’s eyes were starting to fog with tears. “You should just be grateful it’s me and not your dad dealing with you; he’s going to lose his sh—stuff when he gets back from Denerim and sees this one looking like she got hit in the head with a weed-whacker!”

“Mama, please!” Nova sobbed. “We’re sorry!”

Every instinct in Shepard urged her to give in, to relent against those tearful puppy-dog eyes and gather up all three of her daughters in her arms; it took every ounce of her strength to instead remain firm and commit to the punishment she’d dealt out. “Go to your rooms, the both of you, and think about how you could have seriously hurt her!”

Nova wailed even as she obeyed her mother’s command; she practically fell out of her seat, dragging her feet miserably as she made her way out of the room. “Rory,” Shepard warned, focused on the more self-righteous twin now; with an indignant screech she too pushed away from the kitchen table, stomping heavily after her sister. “And don’t ever go near the scissors again!” she called after them, gritting her teeth at the furious slamming of their bedroom door.

She turned her attention to her youngest daughter again, humming placidly in her lap; she pressed another kiss to her forehead before, with a heavy heart, pulling the scissors from her pocket and setting about correcting as much of the twins’ carnage as she could. “Poor baby,” she muttered as yet more golden curls fell to the floor. “You look even more like your father now.”

- - -

Cullen’s trip to Denerim - for some pointless meeting on land boundaries which Shepard had rock-paper-scissored her way out of attending - was due to last no more than a week, and during that time Shepard strongly considered making a deal with a demon to get Cassie’s hair to grow back quicker; partly because Cullen would be insufferable when he got back and saw what had happened, but mainly because she couldn’t stand looking at her. She spent a day and a half trying to knit a hat for her, only to denounce the craft in a fit of rage after her thousandth dropped stitch; after that she tried accessorising with scarves, which could have worked if only Cassie could stop chewing them. In the end, she resigned herself to her daughter’s new crop cut, and to her sure-to-be unbearable husband.

He arrived home earlier than planned, as he usually did; she could never be certain whether that was because he couldn’t bear to be apart from them, or that he merely used his family as an excuse to escape boring meetings. Still, as she greeted him at the front porch he seemed tired but happy, the warm embrace with which he met her briefly pushing all thoughts of hair disasters from her mind.

“Hello,” he muttered against her temple as he kissed her. “I’ve missed you.”

“Hello,” she replied, smiling against his chest. “I’ve missed the dog.”

Calenhad barked in approval, pushing up onto his hind legs and throwing his entire weight onto Shepard; she staggered but remained standing under the Mabari’s best attempt at a hug, and Cullen quickly extricated their infant son from her arms. “And hello to you, too,” he said to David, kissing him on the crown of his head. “Where are my girls?”

She’d been hoping to stave off that particular subject for a little longer, aiming to distract him with a game of chess or a debate on Fereldan politics or by just taking her clothes off, but clearly that wasn’t going to work; she sighed, fussing over their dog for a precious moment further before resigning herself to her fate. “Nova and Rory are sulking, and Cassie… well, I can’t let you see Cassie for six to eight weeks.”

Cullen tensed, his entire attention focused on her despite the way his son pulled at his ear. “Why? What’s happened?”

“She’s been the victim of a vicious hairdressing attack.” Cullen relaxed again, the worry in his expression quickly shifting to relief — and then, predictably, smugness, because nothing so rebellious ever would have happened on his watch. “It was awful, Cullen. There were curls everywhere.”

“The twins?”

“Who else?”

As if on cue, Cassie and her new atrocious hairstyle appeared at the doorway, grinning broadly at her father. “Daddy!” she exclaimed, running outside and launching herself at him; he caught her deftly with one arm, holding both children tightly against his chest as he smirked at Shepard.

“Excellent job of parenting this week, my love.”

“Mama says we match,” Cassie told him, still completely oblivious to how tragic that fact was as she pulled on one of Cullen’s curls.

“I didn’t say that was a good thing,” Shepard grumbled.

“It is good.”

Shepard narrowed her eyes at her daughter, her ambivalence towards her scalping - and the twins’ continued protests of innocence - suddenly revealing a truth she’d never considered; because Cassie, sweet baby angel Cassie, was the best behaved of the lot, and if she’d now taken to mischief there was no hope for any of them. “Cassie, you told me you didn’t ask for this.”

“I didn’t.”

“Cassiopeia Shepard-Rutherford; are you lying to me?”

“No!” she exclaimed, looking thoroughly guilty as she avoided her parents’ eyes. “I— Nova wanted to play, I didn’t know! Daddy, I’m sorry!”

Turning to her father for allegiance was an act of pure manipulation, but for once it didn’t work; standing firm in a united front against deception, Cullen put her down on the floor, shooting her a disapproving look even as her lower lip wobbled. “Cassie — go to your room, and think about why lying is wrong.”

She nodded meekly before trailing back inside the house, her little whimpers equal parts pathetic and heartrending; Shepard groaned, rubbing her forehead with one hand before turning towards her husband again. “Great. All that’s left is for him to start smoking,” she grumbled, indicating to David.

“We can always have another, and try to get it right.”

She knew her husband too well by this point to believe that was simply a joke; she arched an eyebrow at him, intent on shutting him down before the idea had properly laid its roots in his mind. “Cullen; if we haven’t mastered it by four, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen.”

“But—”

“No.”

“A pity,” he sighed sadly, jostling his son in his arms, and it was clear from his look of disappointment just where his daughters had inherited their puppy-dog eyes from. “I suppose we’ll just have to make do with the ones we have.”

With a final firm shake of her head at his forlorn pout, they returned to their home — and later that night, after Cassie had apologised for lying and she had apologised to the twins, she mused that the ones they had weren’t all that bad. In fact, she thought, as she watched her husband doze in his armchair, with their son asleep on his chest, the ones they had were probably perfect.

So long as they were asleep.

[Fic Masterpost]

#cullen rutherford #commander shepard #dragon age #mass effect #cullen x shepard #my writing #prompts #mollie shepard #this is a lot of fluff #and i am updating properly SOON I PROMISE #nelsynoo

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cherokeegal1975 · 5 years ago

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Unexpected Cargo, Ch. 2

Refuge Little Girl landed tiredly next to him on the steep sandy grade a few yards away from the cave entrance. Goldie leapt off of her withers and onto Johnny's back as he lay prone with his forehead pressed against his left forearm, trying not to vomit as the cramp subsided. "Get up!" Goldie squeaked urgently in his ear as Little Girl pushed him with her wet muzzle, dampened with tears of fear and worry, soaking the cloth of his robes as she started to cry again. "They are too far away to see us, but I can still hear their noisy engines coming our way." Johnny shifted and Goldie jumped off his back. He tried to breathe as slowly and deeply as he could. He had already retched up everything in his stomach several miles back. The next time, a couple of miles later, he only got the dry heaves. As his queasy stomach began to settle, he made it to his hands and knees when he felt a warm and sensual ball of electric heat formed in his lower abdomen. It spread rapidly in a matter of seconds to every part of his being, causing him to shudder uncontrollably while it held him in its thrall. Just as abruptly the sensation had come, it vanished and he felt better. No upset stomach and no bad cramps. The whole experience lasted only a moment and Johnny was finally able to stagger to his feet unassisted. Somehow he knew the sudden attacks were over and that he would be fine now. Little Girl shape shifted back into her human child form so she could fit more easily through the cave's opening and swung the satchel over one bare slender shoulder. As it was often her custom, she went nude (since clothes could not change with her), finding clothes unnatural, impractical and confining. Generally, the only time she put on clothes was when they went to town, which Johnny insisted on for her own safety. Goldie went into the cave ahead of them, eager to be inside before the sandstorm she knew was coming in about an hour's time. It was another survival adaptation that made desert rats such useful companions to those who had them. Johnny entered the cave himself behind Little Girl's slight frame. He had to duck and squeeze through the crack in the rock, snagging his robes and his loose pants before he could make it through. Once inside, the passage opened up immediately to a spacious room with a small crack in the ceiling that let in daylight and could serve as a smoke hole should anyone need to build a fire. He paused only a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dimness of the cave, then walked straight back to where Little Girl and Goldie crouched at the edge of a small spring in the stone floor. With a sigh of relief, he knelt between them, pulled back his sleeves and reached out with his hands to the gently rippling surface of the life sustaining water. He glimpsed his dim wavering reflection in the pool before he cupped his hands to fill them with water and drank, reliving his parched throat. He resisted the urge to gulp it down as a precaution against upsetting his stomach again. The stubble on his face was prickling his hands as he drank and he thought he needed a shave. He hadn't managed one since the day before yesterday. Johnny was dusky skinned with fine and sharp angles in his features, high cheekbones, fine black brows, high arched nose, big liquid black eyes with long black eyelashes and full masculine lips. He was handsome, even charming when he tried. His hair was covered with head dress made of a reddish brown cloth that was held in place with a woven black head band. Under it his shining black hair was long enough to fall all the way to his feet. He kept it bound in a tight bun at the base of his skull most of the time to keep it out of the way. It was considered to be a sign of strength and masculinity for a man to never cut his hair, a tradition he had adopted soon after joining his tribe as a boy. His body was long, lean and hard muscled. His long fingered hands were strong and callused from years of rough work. He could never get fat, what he didn't work off, the desert sun seemed to sear away. Little Girl in her human form was similarly lean and hard muscled. Her skin was golden brown and her nearly waist length wavy and curly auburn hair glistened with golden highlights. Her eyes were large with chocolate brown irises, fine brows, full pinkish lips and the general cast of her facial features was rounded, angelically perfect and amazingly gorgeous. In her dragon form she was also quite beautiful. Elongated triangular head with powerful jaws, almost raptor beak shaped lips and dog like teeth with the upper canine elongated just enough for the tips to protrude slightly. Powerfully muscled all over, with a horse like neck, lizard ears, large cat eyes the color of topaz with hints of light emerald green in the centers. Each eye was protected by a single thick and smooth bony brow ridge. Her hard scales, smooth as a serpent's, were a deep goldenrod color that blended well with the hues of the desert. Most dragons have snake-scoot like armor plates that run from just under their chin all the way down to just past the base of their tails. However, Little Girl's kind didn't have that particular feature; she was just smooth scales all over. An unusual feature of her species is that the females have a marsupial like pouch to carry their eggs and young. Her powerful hind limbs were slightly longer than her forelimbs, the better to jump into the sky. Another feature unique to her species was the reddish brown feathered eagle wings and soft fur like feather mane that ran all the way from the top of her head to her withers that stood straight up. Along the top of her tail she had a similar strip of feathers from the base to its tip. Both were the same color as her hair in human form, only in her true form, the golden highlights were iridescent metallic gold colored patterns. Little Girl's feet closely resembled monkey paws with sharp curved dark brown claws with rough scales on the bottoms that gave her better grip for climbing. Her forepaws were every bit as nimble as a human's hands. Her head, wings and feet looked slightly too big for her. Her head was just a bit more rounded and softer in appearance than the adult dragon's. As she aged to maturity her features would harden into a fiercer countenance and her body parts would look less ill proportioned. And Goldie? Well, she just looked like a big healthy and slightly plump rat the size of a small domestic cat. Her shining fur was her most unusual feature, even for her kind. It was a golden, streaked here and there with copper and bronze without being metallic in hue. The bare skin on her tail, slightly enlarged ears, feet and nose were brownish with pink undertones. She had another unusual feature for a rat, her forepaws were actually hands. She was quite lovely in her own way. Her black beady eyes, the way she moved and interacted with her environment, belied her high intelligence. Desert rats were magical creatures with talents for food and water detection, weather sense, teleportation and human speech, though not all bothered to learn to speak a human language of any kind, preferring their own rat language. The exception to this was the companion rats living with some of the nomadic tribes of the deep Red Sands Desert. Constant close contact with humans, who treated them with kindness, respect and spoiled them rotten made them want to be more helpful and communicative with their human friends. They were tough and well adapted to their desert environment. They could go for days without water just by getting moisture from the plants and animals they ate. They were amazingly good swimmers and had a special magic that prevented them from drowning. They could remain immersed in water for days by using their magic to form an air bubble over their noses and mouths that constantly replenished itself from the oxygen in the water. This saved them from drowning in the lowlands when it sometimes flooded during the rainy season, as they could accidently be swept away in the torrential waters that nearly always originated in the distant mountains to the east. This magical talent also enabled them to hunt for small aquatic cave creatures like blind fish, small cave shrimp and salamanders. Another odd trait of her kind was their extreme longevity. Normal mundane rats averaged about two years in their life span, desert rats could live eighty or more years. They were not as prolific since they didn't need to be. They mated as often as they wished any time of the year, but females only became fertile once every three years. When they did have litters, they often did it in a big way, having as many as fifteen pups at a time. The odd family trio took their time drinking from the spring until they finally got their fill. "Ahhh," Johnny sighed after dabbing his hands and mouth dry on his sleeves. He sat back on his heels as his two family members finished drinking. They were all exhausted and in need of food and rest. Johnny wondered what was in the satchel Little Girl had been carrying for so long through the sky. He hoped she had at least managed to steal some food from the camp because he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. He was pleased to note that his current gastric discomfort was mere hunger and not the bad cramps and nausea head been enduring the past week. He was feeling better and better by the moment in spite of being so tired. "What's in the bag?" Johnny asked Little Girl as she too sat back on her heels, facing him as she did so. She wrapped her small arms around her legs and leaned her chin onto her knees. She looked up at him with those big liquid eyes and answered with a regretful sigh, "Not much. Just the royal seal in its box, a few ration bars and some tubers I managed to dig up a few miles back. I was looking for the charmed mirror grandmother gave you, but I think I found it smashed with the other things the guards broke. One of the men almost saw me and Goldie wanted me to hurry up. So I hid and started singing so she could help you." Johnny smiled at Little Girl's thoughtfulness and practicality. "You and Goldie did alright, baby girl. Though I would not have been upset if you left the royal seal behind. Just this once I wouldn't have minded not being able to fulfill my contract with Princess Elena. That seal is more trouble than it's worth." "You're not mad?" Little Girl said as she stared at him with wide eyes. She looked surprised and half pleading for him not to be angry with her. "No, not this time," Johnny said affectionately as he reached out and tucked a loose strand of her silken hair behind her right ear. Then he waved an admonishing finger at both of them and added with a gentle smile, "Just don't make disobeying me a habit. I would rather you two stayed safe." "It was my idea to come back after dark," Goldie said stubbornly. "If she hadn't come with me I would have done what I could alone." Johnny smiled and stroked Goldie's head with love and gratitude. "Thanks both of you, I don't know when I could have escaped if you had not come back for me." Johnny stood and retrieved the dark brown satchel and passed out the sweet potato like tubers the purple berry thorn bushes grew and the three ration bars between them. As they ate, Johnny tried to think of what to do next through the increasing sleepiness that was slowly dragging him down. After a few moments he could think of nothing else but to go back home to his family. He'd been putting it off, fearing the royal guards would follow him even there, but now he saw no better option. Johnny could hear the increasingly strong wind howling outside through the cave entrance and the small crack in the ceiling. He looked up and saw the flying sand that was rapidly dimming what little of the morning light that managed to filter its way through the crack. Good, their pursuers won't be able to hunt them in this weather. "Goldie, I need to get a message to Mom," Johnny asked, as his rat nibbled on a piece of ration bar. He didn't have much hope that Goldie would make it to his mother's tent just now. Storms could interfere with certain spells, especially when a big electrical charge was built up in the atmosphere. Teleportation was just one of those spells that were affected negatively by fouled weather. Goldie regarded him thoughtfully over her piece of ration bar with her beady black eyes. Then she tilted her head back and stood up on her hind legs, looking up and through the crack in the ceiling. Long whiskers twitching, she tested the air with all her senses, detecting things only she could with her magic. Then she dropped back down to her heels and looked at him. "Can't do it. I promise to go when the storm passes. It will blow itself out in a few hours. What is your message?" "I need you to bring us home. My sand ship has been captured and vandalized by Prince Richard's guards and they are still hunting us. We are hiding in the Crack in the Rock Spring Cave." Johnny paused to think of anything else to tell his mother. Then he thought better of it, best to keep the message short and tell her everything when she found them. "That should do for now." "I can remember that," Goldie nodded and then resumed nibbling on her bit of ration bar. They tried to make themselves comfortable as possible on the cool and uneven cave floor to get some sleep and wait out the storm. Little Girl stretched out next to him in her full dragon form, hugging him and flipping a huge wing over him like a blanket. Goldie snuggled under Little Girl's wing and made herself comfortable on Johnny's belly. Little Girl and Goldie were soon fast asleep, but in spite of his exhaustion he found it difficult to fall asleep himself. His mind refused to stop working. How has his life turned out so right and so wrong at the same time?

(This book can be bought on Amazon either as a paper back book or as a Kindle. Just type in Unexpected Cargo by Meriah Smith and it will pop right up.)

#mpreg #hetrosexualmpreg #fiction #story #chapter #novel

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keichanz · 6 years ago

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You Rescued Me: Chapter 2

For some reason, tumblr is bunching italicized words together after I paste it onto here from Word, so if you happen to spot one, lemme know. I tried to catch and fix them all, but I can’t be sure.

A note about Inuyasha: When I first started this story, I had a very clear image of how I wanted this AU’s version of Inuyasha to be; I wanted him to be rough and gruff, but someone who exudes a quiet strength that Kagome is easily able to recognize. He’s someone who’s used to hard work, getting his hands dirty, and yeah he’s seen some shit, but you’ll learn about that later. I wanted an element of mystery, but someone still approachable. I wanted to go for a “I’m lonely, but I don’t want to be” sort of vibe and I hope I managed to pull that off. See where I’m going with this? Lol.

Yes, he does smoke in this story. I apologize if you don’t like that, but it’s part of the image I wanted to portray, and you’ll learn why he does in a later chapter. I suppose in short I wanted a rough ‘n’ tumble type, but gentle when it truly matters. On the outside, he looks mean, and scary and unapproachable. On the inside though, he’s a big softie who likes to protect those weaker than him, loves his niece, is a closet comedian, and has a secret love affair with bacon. So don’t worry; I still kept some aspects of the dogboy we all know and love. I wouldn’t change him completely, of course! :)

I really hope how I portray him doesn’t dissuade some people form reading, because even though I did say I hate this fic (okay so that was a boldfaced lie lmao) I am really, really proud of how this story turned out, and I’ve been working on this for literal months now.

If it turns out that my Inuyasha is not your cup of tea, that’s fine. But I do hope you’ll give him a chance. :)

The interior design/decor of Inuyasha’s house was loosely inspired by the Bartlett ranch house in the show Heartland. (I love that show and I’m addicted to it ;adjfa;dfahdfal)

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Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10 || Chapter 11 || Chapter 12 || Chapter 13 || Chapter 14 || Chapter 15 || Epilogue

The ten-minute ride to his house was quiet and uneventful but he didn’t care, and he suspected his guest didn’t either. She had her head leaned against the door and her eyes closed as the wind caressed her face and played with the stands of ebony hair that hung down and for the first time Inuyasha wondered how old she was. Now that he was closer, he could deduce she couldn’t be much older than him, perhaps a few years younger, even. The stress of the night, however, made her look much older and abruptly he found himself wanting to deck the motherfucker who had put those bruises on her. How dare he hurt such a beautiful, fragile creature? Women were supposed to be treasured, cherished, and protected, not used for fucking punching bags. Without them, literally nobody would be alive on this godforsaken planet and he had the fucking balls to—

Abruptly Inuyasha realized he was growling and instantly he cut the sound off with guilty wince, flicking his eyes over to the woman beside him. She was staring at him in alarm, her eyes wide and he couldn’t help but notice how she’d shrunk against the door in an effort to put some distance between them.

Aw, shit. He’d gone and done the one thing he vowed that he wouldn’t do and now he felt like absolute shit. “Sorry,” he muttered and focused ahead once again, his hands tight on the wheel. “It wasn’t…” He cleared his throat. “That wasn’t because of you. I was just—” He stopped himself before he could finish and clamped his jaw shut, not sure it would be a good idea to admit what he’d been thinking and bring up horrible memories for her.

But then, taking him by surprise, she gradually relaxed again and gave him an expectant look, head tilted curiously to the side, so he obliged her. Slanting her a cautious look, he flicked his finished cigarette out the window and rumbled, “I was just thinking how about much I’d like to deck the asshole that did that to you.”

Surprise flared in her eyes as her hand came up to flutter over the bruise on her jaw and over her neck. Then her eyes dimmed, she turned away and Inuyasha mentally cursed.

Clenching his jaw in anger aimed at himself, Inuyasha flicked his blinker on and hung a right onto a considerably smoother road. A minute later he slowed down and turned left into his dirt driveway that led up a slight incline to his two-story ranch house. He’d bought it solely because he had no neighbors for miles and it was isolated and set back from the road, even though there was minimal traffic this far out in the country.

As he pulled up to the wraparound front porch, Jaxson lifted his head and started wagging his tail from his location sprawled on the porch before the steps. He heard a soft gasp as he put the truck in park and cut the engine and a glance told him his impromptu houseguest had spotted the large dog and the look of delight that lit her face had him briefly spellbound.

Then Jax released a happy bark and whatever trance Inuyasha had been in was broken. Glad that his dog wouldn’t pose as a problem for the skittish woman, Inuyasha opened his door and hopped out, not really surprised when she lingered in the cab and simply stared out the window as he made his way over to greet the wolf-like canine.

Despite his size, Jaxson still acted like a puppy whenever he came home and he was all excited energy, tail whipping back and forth ferociously, standing up on his hind legs as he knelt down and then barraging his face with a thousand licks of hi, dad. Inuyasha took it all without complaint, rubbing his sides vigorously and scratching the pointed ears similar to his own. He slid his gaze to the side, looked into the cab of his truck and as if that was what she was waiting for, his guest finally exited and made her way slowly over to them.

Excited at the opportunity to make a new friend, Jaxson predictably left his side and trotted on over to her, all happy panting, wagging tail and lolling tongue as he nudged her hand with his big nose for pets. She made a soft sound in the back of her throat and knelt down to give the big dog some lovins.

Watching from the porch, Inuyasha saw her smile for the first time and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. Her caramel eyes, before looking so dim and lifeless, were bright with amusement and affection as Jax licked her face and the sound of her soft laughter was the sweetest melody.

Realizing he was staring, Inuyasha shook himself out of it and brushed past the pair to retrieve her bag from the floor of the cab. He frowned at how light it was but didn’t comment as he shut the door and went to crouch beside them, extending his hand to scratch behind the dog’s ears. Jax gave his hand a lick then continued snuffling and nosing his new friend, eager for more attention. “This is Jaxson,” he murmured and said dog’s ears perked up at the sound of his name. “He’s a big fluffy idiot, has a habit of stealing my bacon when I’m not looking, and likes to pester Rain until she gets sick of it and chases him around.” He gave his dog a pointed stare.

Jax barked at him and wagged his tail.

While Inuyasha just looked deadpan, his female guest giggled again and softly asked, “Rain?”

A little startled to hear her voice for the first time, Inuyasha blinked and stared at her but recovered quickly. He shook his head and rumbled, “Tomorrow.” He didn’t think she was up for a tour at the moment, not when she looked dead on her feet and like she could sleep for the next week. He stood up, slung the strap of her bag over his shoulder and offered her a hand without thinking. Before he could retract it, though, she surprised him for what seemed like the nth time that night and grabbed it without hesitation and instinctively he hauled her up with no effort at all.

Jax darted ahead of them and zoomed up the stairs to wait at the door and she spoke up again. “What breed is he?”

Inuyasha decided that he liked her voice and doubly liked the fact that she was feeling comfortable enough to talk to him. “Native American Indian,” he replied and opened the front door, stepping into the open mudroom that led directly into his kitchen as Jaxson zoomed off to god knows where. The soft glow coming from the stove light he’d left on provided just enough illumination for her to see by as he ushered her in then closed the door behind her. Then he paused, shot her a speculative look, and with deliberate movements Inuyasha slid the deadbolt home and twisted the lock on the knob.

The look she gave him spoke volumes of her gratitude and he nodded in reply. Jax took that moment to come skidding back into the kitchen with one of his well-loved toys in his mouth and promptly sat down in the middle of the kitchen floor, placing his toy right between his paws before tilting his head and looking the very picture of A Good Boy.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered. With the dim lighting from the stove, she could make out the gray and white shades with some scattered brown of his long fur and it was truly striking just how much the canine resembled that of his wilder ancestor.

Inuyasha snorted. “Yeah, you wouldn’t be saying that after seeing how much he goddamn sheds,” he muttered more to himself than her but judging by the badly stifled snicker, she’d heard anyway.

His dog started using the “look at me, I’m cute” card and used to his dog’s shenanigans, he ignored him and focused his attention back on his lovely houseguest. While clearly still recovering from this nightmare of a night, she was a bit more relaxed now as she glanced curiously around his home, however that could be because of the bone-deep weariness he sensed in her, all of the stress starting to really take its toll and he didn’t even need his nose to tell him she was completely exhausted.

Still, before he took her upstairs, he needed to make sure she was taken care of in all aspects. “Hungry? Anything to drink?”

She shook her head, hesitated, then shook it again and avoided his eyes.

Inuyasha studied her silently for a moment then nodded. “Alright.” Despite her answer, though, he still ventured over to the fridge, grabbed a bottled water and took a few sips for himself before gesturing for her to follow and crossed the hardwood floor into the living room. Tomorrow he’d show her around, that is if she wanted, but for now he figured it’d be best if he showed her where she’d be sleeping. The shuffle of soft moccasins told him she was right behind so he hung a left and headed for the stairs, nearly getting knocked over by Jaxson as he bounded ahead of them and raced down the hall.

He gave her the guest bedroom that was right next to his. “Make yourself at home,” he said as he went forward and flicked on the lamp on the nightstand. Jax zipped in and jumped onto the bed. “I wasn’t talking to you, Fluff,” he deadpanned as the canine circled a few times in his nightly routine for sleep and was rewarded by a quite laugh and his dog’s soft whuff.

Shaking his head, he deposited her bag on the bed and discreetly set the bottle of water on the nightstand. “Bathroom’s right across the hall. Feel free to take a shower, or whatever. If you get hungry, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, I don’t care.”

Inuyasha watched as she sank down onto the bed and a second later Jaxson’s head plopped down onto her thigh. Her smile was small and tired but genuine as she stroked the dog’s head fondly and Inuyasha wondered when the hell his dog had become such a ladies man. Er, dog. The only other person he could think of that he’d taken to so quickly was his mother. Not that he was complaining, of course; if Jax’s company eased even a fraction of her distress, he supposed he could deal with his loyal companion of eight years forgetting that he existed.

He inwardly snorted then said, “Jax,” and knelt down as without hesitation the large dog hopped down and loped over to him. Scratching behind his pointed ears and around his neck, Inuyasha told his dog, “Keep an eye on her for me, alright? I’m counting on you to protect her.”

Jaxson blinked at him and then leaned forward to lick his chin.

A ghost of a smile twitched at the corners of his lips. “Good boy,” Inuyasha murmured and with a final scratch to his dog’s chin, he stood up. Jaxson returned to the bed and made himself comfortable, stretching out with a gusty sigh and going still.

Inuyasha turned amber eyes her way and locked with caramel depths. He opened his mouth, closed it, and sighed. “Goodnight,” he murmured and turned to leave.

“W-wait? …Please.”

Inuyasha stopped and turned back around, his face blank, but not unfriendly as he gazed expectantly at her with his hands in his pockets.

She was staring at him and biting down on her lip, looking a little uncertain and once more surprising himself, Inuyasha waited patiently for whatever she had to say. But it wasn’t long at all until she seemed to steel herself and hesitantly ask, “…What’s your name?”

Inuyasha considered her quietly with no change in his expression before answering simply, “Inuyasha.”

She fell quiet and although Inuyasha was curious, he didn’t ask for her name in return. He figured she’d tell him in her own time, when she was ready to stop being anonymous.

“Inuyasha,” she murmured so quietly he almost didn’t hear her and his ears trained forward under his hat to catch her soft voice. When she locked eyes with him again, they were wide, misty and the breath caught in his throat at the utter trust he found swimming in those cinnamon depths. “Thank you.” The smile she offered him wavered as she tried to keep her emotions in check and just like that Inuyasha’s emotionless façade cracked.

His face softened and honeyed eyes grew warm as he gazed at her then with a sigh, Inuyasha took off his hat and ran a hand through his short choppy hair, amazed at this little slip of a woman’s strength. “If you need anything,” he began, voice a little gruff but no less sincere, “I’m right next door.”

Inuyasha didn’t say anything more than that but he didn’t need to; his lovely guest nodded, closed her eyes as her shoulders started to shake and he took that as his cue to leave. The door closed with a soft click and Inuyasha forced himself to walk away as the sound of muffled sobs reached his ears and went straight to his aching heart.

Kagome woke up to a dry mouth, a pounding head, and the sound of somebody snoring softly beside her.

It was the last one that caused Kagome to jolt upright with a choked cry and scramble off the bed as fast as she could, nearly tumbling to the floor in her haste to get away. She spun around and threw her hands up without thinking, prepared to defend herself—

Only to be met with the lazy stare of a large and familiar furry dog that was lying comfortably on her bed. He blinked at her before stretching his jaw in a wide, tongue-curling yawn and that was when Kagome remembered where she was and what had happened last night.

The relief was so great she sank to the floor, her legs unable to support her and she closed her eyes as a soft whimper escaped her mouth. She pressed a hand to lips and took a shuddering breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, and then nearly screamed again when something cold nudged her cheek. Her eyes flew open to find her bedmate sitting in front of her and giving her the equivalent of a doggy smile, tongue lolling and tail wagging back and forth.

Kagome issued a watery laugh and wrapped her arms around the gray and white dog, burying her face in his soft fur. “Thank you, Jax,” she whispered, recalling how he’d patiently let her cry into his neck last night and basically use him as her own personal snuggle buddy. She received a fond lick on her cheek in response and she gave another husky chuckle before leaning back and kissing his snout. “Good boy.”

Evidently recognizing those two words, Jax tossed his head and danced around, wagging his tail and giving a few soft barks before suddenly freezing and staring at her raptly, as if waiting for more praise.

Kagome laughed genuinely that time and framed his doggy face in her hands. “Such a good boy!”

A loud, pleased bark echoed off the walls and Kagome watched in amusement as Jaxson spun around in circles before abruptly taking off faster than a bullet, zooming out of her room through the cracked door and disappearing down the stairs.

Shaking her head, but not without a smile, Kagome wiped at her damp eyes then heaved herself back onto the bed. Unfortunately the movement reminded her of the pounding headache currently ricocheting in her skull and she winced, bringing a hand up to rub her forehead. Wrinkling her nose at the cotton-like texture in her mouth, Kagome cracked her eyes open and peered around the room. “Ugh, what I wouldn’t give for some—”

Kagome froze as her gaze landed on the nightstand beside the bed and stupidly her eyes began to water. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she reached out and grabbed the little white container that sat innocently beside a bottle of water and a trembling smile slowly curved her lips. Blinking rapidly as her vision grew blurry, Kagome gave a shaky sigh and thought about how strange it was that a complete stranger had given her more kindness in compassion within the first hour of knowing him than her boyfriend—ex-boyfriend had in all of the four years she’d been with him.

Thinking of that wretched man who had caused her to end up in this predicament and most likely being the source of her current headache brought another deluge of tears and she huffed in annoyance, quickly dashing her hand across her eyes. Dammit, she’d cried enough over that worthless piece of trash! He didn’t deserve her tears, he didn’t deserve anything from her anymore and Kagome resolved to put him out of her mind, at least for now.

Sniffling, Kagome shook out two capsules of the Ibuprofen Inuyasha had, at some time this morning, put there for her to find and washed them down with a swig of the bottled water he’d also left for her. She smiled, wondering if he really was that perceptive or if he was just plain sneaky.

Deciding it didn’t matter either way because she was grateful all the same, Kagome ended up drinking half the bottle, not even realizing she was so thirsty, before setting it down with a sigh of satisfaction. She glanced out the window, wishing she still had her phone so she could check the time, but she hadn’t wanted to bring it with her when she left since it was under his name and she didn’t want anything that belonged to him. By the amount of sunlight she could see, Kagome judged it to still be early morning, perhaps 8 am at the latest.

Scowling once she realized her thoughts had turned back to him again, Kagome shook her head and stood up, thinking a shower sounded positively divine right about now. She retrieved her toiletry bag from her duffel and peeked out into the hallway, not at all surprised to find her host’s bedroom door wide open and empty. For some reason she’d suspected him to be an early riser, and it looked like she was right.

Crossing the hallway and entering the bathroom, she set her bag on the sink and turned on the water in the shower, getting it nice and hot before shucking her clothes. But then she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and she gasped, her eyes going wide as she leaned forward and lifted a shaking hand to her face.

God, she hadn’t realized… Seeing her reflection for the first time since Naraku had struck her, Kagome was taken aback at how terrible the bruise looked. It had turned an angry dark bluish-purple overnight that spread from the left side of her jaw to under her chin; no wonder she had a headache and it hurt to talk! Her astonished eyes flickered down to her neck and she winced at the circle of discolored flesh, shuddering as she recalled the feeling of his hand squeezing the breath right out of her lungs. Well, that explained the sore throat.

Kagome braced her hands on the sink and took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes, forcefully pushing those thoughts from her head. She had to stop thinking about it, about him. He was poisonous, toxic to her health, mentally and physically, and she’d be damned before she ever let him get to her again. She couldn’t believe it had taken Naraku actually hitting her for her to wise up and leave, but now that she had, she didn’t regret it. Their relationship had been going steadily downhill for the last two years and now things have come to a head, and she couldn’t be more satisfied with her decision to leave.

It took a moment, but she was able to regain her bearings and she stepped under the hot spray of the shower, washing away the proverbial dirt, her ex’s violent touch, and everything bad that had happened last night. As the water sluiced down the drain, she pretended that all of the negative memories attached to last night went with it, leaving her with a sense of cleanliness that was wholly refreshing.

Twenty minutes later and donned in comfortable shorts and a forest green t-shirt, Kagome was feeling much more like herself as she wandered down the stairs in moccasin-clad feet. Since she hadn’t been able to last night partly because she’d been tired but mostly because it had been too dark, she paused to admire the décor of the living area. The walls reminded her of a log cabin and the floor was polished hardwood, covered with a large oriental area rug in shades of dark reds and gold. An old fashioned fireplace took up the far wall, the brick mantel giving the room a rustic, charming look that made Kagome want to curl up on the comfy looking couch and snooze the day away. His entertainment center was top notch – of course – and the large bay windows provided a gorgeous view of open field and blue sky.

Inuyasha definitely has good taste, Kagome thought as she ventured into the kitchen and she had to smile upon spotting what was on the small two-seater table. Her heart gave a curious little flutter as she picked up a piece of toast and munched into it, eyeing the rest of the meal of eggs, bacon and sausage. While everything looked delicious, Kagome didn’t think her stomach would be up for it and she nearly whimpered as her eyes landed on the fresh pot of coffee sitting on the counter.

“Screw it,” she muttered a second later, snatched the empty mug on the table and marched over to pour herself a nice hot cup o’ joe. “Mmm,” Kagome sighed as she lifted it to her lips and took that first blessed sip; it was the perfect temperature.

From somewhere outside she heard Jaxson bark followed by a man’s deep timbre and without even thinking about it Kagome found herself crossing the kitchen, entering the little mudroom then with her coffee in hand, she exited the house into the pleasantly warm July morning. She spotted him instantly over by the fence that started at the barn and extended outward, using the hose to wash out some buckets and he was talking in low tones to Jax, who was trying to eat the water from the hose, and to the absolutely gorgeous creature that kept lipping at his hair and hat.

Kagome’s eyes lit up with delight and smiling, she descended the few steps and meandered her way over to him, clutching her coffee with both hands. He looked damn fine in a pair of torn jeans and a white t-shirt that showed off the spectacular muscles in his arms, and she couldn’t help but notice he hadn’t bothered to shave this morning, his jaw still darkened attractively with stubble and she very suddenly wanted to run her fingers over the roughness. He was wearing the worn hat again from last night and she suspected he used it to keep the sun out of his eyes more than a fashion statement.

And the dust out of those adorable ears of his, she thought and had to bite her lip to stifle the giggle that welled up.

Inuyasha heard her before he saw her and after giving the black feed bucket one last rinse, he set it down and then slipped the open ended hose, still dispensing cold water, into the large water trough on the other side of the fence. Rain snorted and tried to grab his hat again but he thwarted her with an irritated grumble and gently shoved her long nose away.

“She’s beautiful,” Kagome remarked as she came to a stop beside him and reached out to stroke her palm down Rain’s soft muzzle to the even softer nose. The Paint horse nickered and happily accepted the attention for a few seconds before stretching her neck out and snuffling at the new person in curiosity. Kagome’s smile widened and she stroked that strong neck, marveling at the softness.

“She’s a pain in the ass,” Inuyasha returned but the way he slipped his hand under the brown and white mane to give a few fond scratches belied the careless words.

She laughed and his heart felt lighter. “What’s her name?”

“Rain,” he replied and leaned back against the fence, crossing his arms and keeping an eye on the water trough; he didn’t want it to overflow. “She belongs to my niece.” Giving her a quick once over, the damp hair pulled into a thick braid hanging over her shoulder and the subtle scent of cherry blossoms suggested she’d taken a shower and Inuyasha had to consciously resist the urge to inhale her scent deeply, glad that he detected no fear or exhaustion.

He didn’t elaborate any further but when she failed to hide the flash of disappointment that crossed her face before she looked away, Inuyasha grimaced and mentally cursed himself. He’d never been much of a conversationalist, never really seeing the need to waste energy on needless chatter. Besides, he wasn’t really good with the whole talking thing and living alone with nothing but animals for company hadn’t given him much practice in that aspect.

But staring at her now, he couldn’t ignore the guilt that swept through him and abruptly he felt like an ass for denying her the simple pleasure of idle chatter. It wasn’t like talking really required that much effort, and he didn’t want to make her feel like she was a burden after the nightmare she’d been through, or like she was an annoyance. On the contrary, Inuyasha liked having her around, which was strange because he also liked his solitude, but he didn’t dwell on it too long. If she was looking for a distraction to keep her from thinking about previous events, he’d do his best to oblige and in the meantime try not to be…well, himself and offend her somehow.

Mind made up, Inuyasha cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him, and explained, “Rin’s eleven years old, started asking for a pony at about five years, then for her birthday last year her dad finally caved, but with a few stipulations.” He rolled his eyes. “Since she obviously couldn’t keep a damn horse where they live in town, my bastard of a brother pretty must just showed up here with the animal one day, told me it was staying here, no asking involved, then fucking left with no other explanation.” He scowled but Kagome knew it wasn’t directed at her. “He’s such an asshole sometimes I can’t even believe we’re related. If it weren’t for Rin I wouldn’t want anything to do with him.” He snorted, and then growled when Rain shoved her nose next to his face and started nibbling his hair. He swatted her away and the horse snorted in annoyance, stomping her hoof.

“Yeah, yeah, back atcha, ya pissy mare.”

Kagome bit her lip to stifle her giggles. “So…Rin and Rain, huh?”

Inuyasha sighed and rolled his eyes again. “She likes to go around and say ‘I need some R and R time.’”

“That’s adorable,” Kagome remarked and hid her smile behind her coffee mug as she took another sip.

“It’s annoying.”

“I take it she’s watched Spirit a couple of times.”

He snorted at the under-exaggeration.

While Kagome tired not to choke on her coffee as she snickered, Inuyasha shook his head and fought a smile of his own. It was nice to see her looking happy; it was a completely welcome change from last night’s frightened disposition. “Anyway, it was a damn good thing who ever owned this place last apparently had a barn animal because it already had a stall. I just had to spruce it up a bit.” He paused. “After making Sess pay for the supplies.”

“So, you take care of her?”

“No.”

She gazed at him expectantly, clearly waiting for more on the subject, and he inwardly kicked himself for already forgetting his silent vow. Hadn’t he just decided to not be an ass and not be his usual antisocial self for five goddamn minutes? “Rin comes by every morning before school to feed and turn her out, then after school she’ll show up to clean the barn a bit – her payment for boarding her here – feed her again around 5 pm, and if she has the time, take her for a ride. A lot of the time the brat skips mucking her stall, so I’m stuck doing it, but it gives me something to do, so.” He shrugged.

Kagome nodded and watched the brown and white creature as she lowered her head and investigated the water hose filling up the trough. “It’s very nice of you to keep her here for Rin.”

Inuyasha shrugged again. “S’not a big deal. Not like there’s no room for her, and Sess pays for all her expenses. Besides,” he said as Rain nudged his head with her nose and he let out soft sigh as patted her shoulder. “She’s sorta grown on me, and I’m pretty sure Miss Attitude here is attached to me, too.” And as if to prove that point, Rain made a few soft grunting noises and laid her head on his shoulder with a big gusty sigh.

Kagome could completely relate to that. Even after knowing him for only a handful of hours, she was growing attached to him too, and it was a little alarming at how much that didn’t bother her. It should have had warning bells going off in her head, she should be running for the hills at the mere implication that there could be something deeper going on here, but the thing of it was, Kagome didn’t feel threatened at all. Despite being a man of few words, Inuyasha was…easy to talk to. And maybe it was because he didn’t talk much that she was so comfortable around him, but whatever the reason, Kagome felt safe, fully able to relax for the first time in a very long time and she was reluctant to give that up.

The Paint mare suddenly lifted her head and snorted in agitation, shaking her mane once and flicking her tail. Inuyasha frowned but the playful growl he heard next answered his silent question and he rolled his eyes. Jax had crawled through the fence and was currently doing his most favorite pastime of provoking the poor horse, running around her legs and nosing under her belly.

Kagome giggled behind her coffee mug. “I see what you meant now when you said he likes to pester her.”

Inuyasha stared at his dog like he was a lost cause. “He probably ain’t ever gonna stop, either, because Rain never hurts him. The most she’ll ever do is shove him down with a rough head-butt and chase him around, but Jax loves it because he thinks she’s playing with him. And in a way, she sorta is. Despite what it looks like, they’re best buds.”

Rain snorted again and pranced around before backing up and nudging Jax’s side with her big nose. The dog released a few excited, playful growls and zipped underneath her again and then the chase was on, Rain swinging her big body around and taking off after him.

Kagome watched them go with a fond smile and would have been content to stand there all morning in companionable silence with him, but then Inuyasha cleared his throat and she glanced over at him curiously. She wasn’t prepared to be met with intense amber eyes gazing at her and her heart skipped a beat in her chest as a soft flush stole across her cheeks.

He studied her quietly for a moment, the brim of his cap shadowing his eyes but she could still feel the way they bore into her own. “How you feeling?” he finally asked, his voice a low rumble that caused a not-so-unpleasant shiver to crawl along her spine.

Regathering her scattered wits, Kagome sucked in a breath and gave him a smile. “I’m…much better today, thank you.”

He visibly relaxed and gave a short nod, relieved. Then quiet reigned once again and so he didn’t feel so awkward just standing there silently, Inuyasha strode the few paces over to the side of the barn and twisted the knob to cut off the water. He started rolling the hose back up, thinking he still needed to get some hay down from the loft—

“Kagome.”

Inuyasha snapped his head up and stared at her in open surprise.

She blushed and ducked her head. “My name is Kagome. I’m…sorry I never told you last night. I guess I just…” She trailed off and fiddled with the lukewarm mug of coffee in her hands, staring down into the dark liquid.

“Don’t.”

Kagome blinked and lifted her gaze back to his. “Huh?”

He wasn’t looking at her as he coiled the hose with practiced ease, hooking the length under his elbow and winding it around. “Don’t be sorry for not telling me. After the hell you went through, you deserved a little anonymity.” He slid the neat coil of hose off his arm and draped it over the metal hook.

Kagome’s eyes widened slightly and then a smile slowly curved her mouth. “I…suppose you’re right. I never really thought of it that way.”

“Hard to think about much of anything after—” Abruptly he cut himself off and shot her a slightly panicked look.

Her smile turned sad and she shook her head. “Yeah. I suppose I had more than enough reason to be distracted.”

Relieved he apparently hadn’t fucked up by saying the wrong thing, Inuyasha nodded. Now that the subject was breeched, however, he was reminded of the phone call he’d made earlier. “I called the nearest tow company this morning,” he started. “Gave them the location of your car, and they told me they’d have a truck out there within the next hour or so. That was”—he checked the time on his phone—“just about an hour ago, actually, so I should be getting a call back soon.”

Kagome wondered why the good news didn’t lift her spirits. “I see,” she said and stared down into her now cold coffee. “I guess…I’ll be out of your hair soon, then.” A pang went through her chest and though she tried to tell herself she didn’t understand it, Kagome knew why she was suddenly feeling so…empty.

For some reason those words elicited an achy hollow feeling in the middle of his chest and Inuyasha absently rubbed the spot, suspecting why he suddenly felt thus, but refusing to admit it, even to himself.

Falling quiet, Kagome watched him walk back over and stack up the buckets he washed out earlier. Her smile faded and a tight knot of anxiety formed in her chest. Inuyasha had been nothing but considerate toward her, unbelievably patient, had even opened up his home to her, and here she was not even having the decency to be honest with him. She’d wanted to repay him for all of his kindness somehow, and she supposed she could start with telling him everything that had happened. He deserved nothing less after what he’d done for her.

“Inuyasha,” she started but when she looked up she couldn’t find him anywhere. She frowned and opened her mouth to call for him again, but a nearby “In here” had her walking forward and ducking into the barn through the open side door. Kagome paused because she still couldn’t see him, but then suddenly a bale of hay dropped heavily a few feet in front of her and she jumped in surprise with a quiet gasp. Her half-demon host followed shortly thereafter and landed with a grunt beside the bale. It took Kagome a moment to realize he’d jumped from the loft and not from the rafters.

“That’s handy,” she commented in amusement and thought she saw Inuyasha’s lip kick upward briefly.

“Keh.” He slipped his fingers beneath the twine and heaved it up with little effort before carrying it over to Rain’s stall.

Kagome stared. Weren’t hay bales supposed to be super heavy? He was carrying it like it weighed nothing! “Color me impressed,” she muttered to herself and this time she missed the slight upturn of Inuyasha’s mouth.

“Did you need something, Kagome?” he asked abruptly and then immediately hoped that hadn’t come across as impatient or annoyed. His ears flattened beneath his hat and he cursed himself. Damn, but his people skills sucked. With a little more force than was necessary he yanked a muck rake from the wall and wheeled over a muck bucket.

It must have sounded normal to her, however, because she didn’t look offended, but she did suddenly look…ashamed? Inuyasha frowned and stopped before he entered Rain’s stall. Leaning the rake against the door, he turned to face her fully and leaned back against stall door, hands in his pockets. He wanted to tell her she didn’t need to be ashamed of anything, but waited to see what she would say first.

Seeing that she had his undivided attention, Kagome sucked in a breath and looked him right in his startling amber eyes. “I…owe you an explanation,” she began but Inuyasha was already shaking his head before she could finish.

“You don’t owe me anything, Kagome,” Inuyasha tried to tell her but she wasn’t having it.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I do. You’ve already done so much for me in just the short amount of time I’ve known you, Inuyasha, and the only way I can think to repay you is with complete honesty. I need to tell you…what happened. And I’m not doing this because I feel obligated, or pressured, or anything like that. I want you to know because you deserve the truth after sticking your neck out for me.”

Inuyasha wanted to point out that those two punks hadn’t even been the slightest bit of threat to him but he stayed quiet and waited, allowing her to explain. And despite himself, he was curious, even though he had a feeling he’d end up getting pissed from hearing about how some asshole had purposely hit an innocent woman.

“Before I get to all of that, though, I want to apologize for my behavior last night,” she began and stared down into the dark contents of her coffee mug as she gathered her thoughts. “I wasn’t…myself, and it was like I was…I don’t know, looking at myself from someone else’s point of view, or something. I was there, but not. And I—”

“No.”

Kagome started at his vehement interjection and her mouth parted slightly.

Golden eyes, swimming with something Kagome couldn’t quite identify, burned into her own brown depths so intently she felt her heart stutter in her chest. “Don’t you ever apologize, to me, or anybody else for acting the way you did. What happened wasn’t your fault and I’m pretty damn sure anyone would have acted strangely or different after getting fucking punched in the face from somebody you thought you could trust. So there ain’t nothing to apologize for, you understand me?” He crossed his arms and stared her down, daring her to object and Kagome felt a curious fluttering in her stomach at his passionate reasoning.

And then stupidly she felt like crying because it felt so good to have someone stand up for her and defend her honor. Or something like that. Whatever, Kagome was just so grateful to have met this man, suddenly feeling foolish to have ever doubted or mistrusted him.

Despite her best efforts, her eyes welled up with tears and through blurry vision she watched Inuyasha’s face twist into an expression of panic, his eyes going wide and his entire body tensing. “Aw, shit, no don’t—I didn’t mean—”

“He’s never hit me before,” Kagome admitted, her voice soft and Inuyasha snapped his jaw shut. “For the entire four years we were together, Naraku hadn’t even hinted that he wanted to hurt me, or hit me. He wasn’t even verbally abusive, he wasn’t…he didn’t drink, or have anger issues or anything like that. But…” She hesitated, then sighed and laid it all down. “For the past two years, our relationship had been…well, it wasn’t like it used to be. More fights over stupid things, we hardly showed affection for one another anymore, barely even talked…it was just going downhill.

“I’ve never once felt threatened, though,” she continued. “Or scared, or doubtful. Nothing extreme ever happened to make me want to leave, so this…” She vaguely gestured to her face and Inuyasha forced himself to take in the mottled flesh, feeling familiar anger boil in his gut. “This came out of nowhere. We were getting ready for bed, and he…well, he wanted sex, and I didn’t. So I said no, he got pissed and—” She shrugged. “Maybe it was drugs but I can’t be sure. I mean he had been acting a little strangely the night before, sort of zoning out at odd times, snapping at me for absolutely no reason, and spending an abnormally long time in the bathroom but it was nothing too extreme to make me immediately start thinking, ‘oh my god it’s drugs,’ but I didn’t stick around to ask because I didn’t care. I just knew I needed to leave.

“But anyway,” she continued and lifted a hand to swipe at her eyes, sniffling once. “Right after it happened, Naraku started apologizing, telling me he didn’t know what came over him, it’ll never happen again, you know, all that bullshit. But it was all just noise to me. I walked away and started packing a bag because I’d always told myself that if something like that ever happened to me, I would leave. I didn’t want to be one of those girls who stayed with their abusive boyfriends because if he did it once, he’ll do it again. So I packed, and he kept talking to me, trying to get me to stop, but I ignored him. He didn’t like that so he threw my bag across the room, grabbed me by the throat and shoved me against the wall.” She frowned as her hand came up to flutter her fingertips across the bruised flesh of her neck. “That was when I got scared because he was…he was squeezing and I couldn’t breathe and I remember…God, I remember—”

She cut herself off with a choked sound and Inuyasha had to physically stop himself from wrapping her up in his arms and begging her to stop because this was obviously too hard for her. But he dug his claws to his palms and clenched his jaw so hard it ached. After a moment she composed herself and continued, her voice thick with emotion, “I remember his face…it was terrifying. He—he terrified me. He was a completely different person then, someone I didn’t recognize and I just kept thinking I had to get out of there. Then, like a spell had been lifted or something, his face suddenly cleared and he let go. He looked…horrified at himself but I didn’t stick around to see what would happen next. I grabbed what I’d managed to pack, put on the closest pair of shoes, grabbed my keys, and ran.”

Kagome took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I didn’t have any place in mind to go. I just…drove. My family lives hours away out of town, my best friend’s shacked up with some guy she met and not answering her phone…I had nowhere to go. And then my car broke down on that back road, those two guys showed up, and if you hadn’t stopped and scared them off—”

“But I did,” Inuyasha cut her off that time and she gasped, her eyes shooting open and locking with his. “And I’d do it again.” Keeping his gaze on hers, he lifted a hand and tenderly wiped away a wayward tear from her cheek with a sweep of his clawed thumb, the urge to touch her too great to ignore.

Kagome released a strangled sound that was half sob, half gasp and grabbed his hand with one of hers, holding on tightly as more tears leaked out of her eyes and streaked down her cheeks.

Inuyasha let her hold his hand for however long she wanted, wishing he could do more, because the sight of her like this was killing him. The temptation to beat the fucker who hurt her into a bloody pulp came back with a vengeance and the growl that erupted from his throat promised all kinds of pain if this no good piece of shit named Naraku ever showed his face to him. He didn’t listen to the little voice in his head telling him that he never would because she was leaving, and instead focused on the young woman before him, his growl turning into a soothing rumble in his chest while his other hand rose to very carefully brush his fingers across the bruise on her jaw.

Caramel-colored eyes fluttered open at the whisper-soft touch and she read the question in those twin pools of sunset yellow. Getting a hold of herself, but not releasing his hand, Kagome mustered up a smile for him and let out a shaky sigh, nodding once.

Though small, he could tell her smile was genuine and he nodded back, his expression softening and without thinking he stroked her cheek. A soft flush colored the skin and his mouth kicked up into a half-grin, both relieved that she hadn’t shied away from his touch, knowing that the last man to touch her hadn’t been so gentle, and extremely gratified that he could make her blush.

Kagome sighed, leaned into his touch, and Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, anything, but before he could utter a single word the shrill sound of his cell phone ringing pierced the silence between them and the moment was gone.

Inuyasha’s hand dropped and Kagome hastily scrubbed at her cheeks and eyes to rid of the damning evidence as, not without a grumble of annoyance, he fished the mobile out of his pocket and checked the screen.

Sniffling one last time, Kagome lifted her gaze just as Inuyasha accepted the call and held the device up to his face. “Yeah?”

He listened for a minute, and then his eyebrows popped up into the fringe of his bangs before they dipped into a puzzled frown. “What?” He sounded bemused and Kagome’s own brows furrowed slightly. Who was he talking to? “Yeah, I’m positive.” Pause. “Are you sure? Nothing’s there?” Whoever was on the other line must have answered in the affirmative because Inuyasha’s expression darkened and a growl erupted from his throat. “Shit. Yeah, alright. No, I believe you.” There was another pause, and then his eyes cut to hers. “Don’t worry about it. Thanks, Hachi.” He hung up, stared at his phone with that frown still in place, and then pocketed it again with a sigh.

Beyond curious now about that peculiar exchange, Kagome ventured, “Inuyasha? What was that all about? Is everything okay?”

Inuyasha stared hard at her for a moment and then revealed, “That was Hachi. He owns Tanuki’s Towing.”

A wave of foreboding washed over Kagome and she stiffened. “Did-did he…”

“Your car is gone, Kagome.”

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#you rescued me #chapter 2 #inuyasha #kagome #inukag #keizfanfiction #fanfiction

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classlesstulip · 6 years ago

Link

Just realized that I never posted a link here (either that, or it got ate by the Great Tumblr Tiddy Ban of 2018.) I’m not only including a link to the posting on my AO3 account but also posting it here below the cut. Enjoy!

Time Out

Lucio was not having a good day.

He had slept in to his usual noon. He would have slept in longer, if Mercedes and Melchior hadn’t decided that the best way to wake up their Daddy was to jump onto a very sensitive body part.

(It’s not their fault, they just wanted their morning cuddles.)

Then, he took his morning (afternoon) bath, just to learn one of the bath attendants had dropped his usual oil mix. After bathing in his second-favorite mixture, he found out that his sweet little pups had chewed through eight (EIGHT!) pairs of his boots.

(No, he cannot just get replacements. Ever since Drakar and Iriq got into that trade tiff, the pigment used by the designer to paint the bottoms of his boots is wrong. Candy Apple Red is not a good match for his Scarlet wardrobe!)

Next, after changing his outfit four times, was his breakfast. The Winegirl was sick, and her replacement was not nearly as fetching. Then, Noddy’s owl Chicken (or Chakra, or Chipotle or whatever the damned thing is called) decided that his hair would make for a wonderful nest.

After that shitshow, he went to pay his lovely Valerius a visit. Just to have the door slammed in his face. After getting a full glass of wine dashed in it. And yelled at. For no reason.

So here he is, having changed for a fifth time, and stomping his way down the hall.

(He Did Not like this coat. The color clashed horribly with his prosthetic. Either the coat goes, or he does!)

In the back of his mind, he vaguely recalled Noddy telling him that a representative from the Citadel was going to be in. Something about setting up a Vesuvian Chapter?

His trademark smirk appeared. Members of such a prestigious guild are well-known for their combat prowess in a number of disciplines. He’ll need to see about getting a duel. That will certainly put him in a better mood.

***

One quick stop to the Armory later, and Lucio was strutting his way to the Court Wing. If he remembers correctly, Noddy usually hosts merchant meetings on the Western Porch, overlooking the Hedge Maze.

Midway down the hallway running the length of the Wing, two white blurs dashed passed. The sound of excited yipping clued him in that the perps were his pups, but they bypassed him completely.

(He was quite miffed: anytime they see him, they are overcome with the Wiggles and are not satisfied until pet. He’s NEVER been bypassed!)

Walking thru the open door they dashed into, Lucio could see why they were so excited. His beautiful Noddy was sat, radiant as always. Across the tea table from her was a massive gentleman. Sitting, Lucio thinks he would be as tall (if not taller!) than the Scourge. He was relatively broad, but was built more for speed than strength. He was clad in the leather armor of a Journeyman Citadel member, the supple material clinging lovingly to a sculpted figure.

He gave the stranger a long once-over as he approached them, noting the blades and accoutrements. As he got closer, he could see just how well fitted the leather was.

(If he wins the duel, he will take great glee in peeling that thick material off a struggling, muscular body. He may be able to get Noddy to join!)

Once a few feet away, both turned to look as him. Briefly meeting his wife’s eyes and throwing a saucy smirk her way, he turned fully to their guest.

“So, you are the representative from the Citadel? I am Count Lucio.” He held out his hand to shake, pointedly ignoring the sigh and eye roll he got from Noddy.

Their guest spent a few moments evaluating him, a blank look on his face. The moments stretched into a full minute. Lucio kept his hand out, seeing the gesture (or lack thereof) for what it is: a power play. One that he intended to win. Noddy and Valerius say he has no patience, but this is untrue. He has plenty of it, he just doesn’t waste it on unnecessary things.

(He will allow that what he thinks should require patience and what those two think are different. Not his fault that he has his priorities in order and they don’t.)

His eyebrow flicked when his generous gesture was met with a sniff. His eye twitched when he was turned away from. His jaw clenched when their guest dismissed him utterly.

“As we were discussing, m’lady, the Citadel is looking to have a fully operational Hall in approximately five years. However, we ack-”

“How DARE you dismiss me in such a manner! Did you not hear me introduce myself? I am the Count Lucio of Vesuvia! Who do you think you are, to act in such an uncouth manner!”

Lucio was furious. One does not treat a man of his station in such a way. Even the ill-mannered peasants had more respect for him, and most couldn’t tell the difference between a dinner and a salad fork!

(Well, neither could he. But it’s the principle of the matter!)

He made to step further into their space. He could hear the dainty *clink* of Noddy setting down her teacup. Before he could complete his step, the guest abruptly stood up.

Lucio’s earlier estimate of the man was correct. Only a few inches shorter than the Scourge, and not nearly as broad. His build would be described as being ‘athletic’ over bulky, but he still had quite a bit of power to his frame. He was stunningly attractive. High cheekbones, a long sculpted nose, and large hooded eyes. Lucio’s eyes traveled his face, also taking note of the wide, generous mouth and the strong chin. He looked young, at most 25. A thick thatch of obsidian curls was pulled away from his face in a long braid. Lucio would be lying to himself if he said that he didn’t want to pin this guy. However, he makes it a point to only lay with brats, NOT disrespectful degenerates.

The tension was broken by the sound of scrabbling claws and happy yips. Trotting up the porch steps with a big stick held in between their jaws was a set of large dogs. Hanging from the stick in the center were his sighthounds, their smaller, juvenile frames wriggling in glee. Their hind legs were scrambling, entire backsides a blur from how fast their tails were going. Lucio could hear their happy yips, even as muffled by the stick as they were.

“Hey Mazel, Tov! You girls having fun?” The representative bent over, a large smile on his face as he vigorously rubbed the larger dogs heads. He devolved into ‘doggie talk’ as he rubbed, voice pitched high.

Looking closer, Lucio realized that this was a set of Principia Standing Hounds. Originally a wolf hybrid, these dogs were later crossbred with the Ovcharka Bear Dogs. Now, a fully grown specimen weighed more than most adult men, and stood taller on hind legs than an average adult woman. Thanks to their heritage, their coat wasn’t as long as a Bear Dog, and their legs were quite long.

Most had a mottled coloring, but the ones used by their war-bands had a very distinct pattern. The back was a black or deep brown, with their bellies, inner legs, and faces being a pale cream or white. They are called ‘Standing Hounds’ for the sole fact that they have a propensity for standing on their hind legs. Get a group of them standing, and any Principia can blend in with them.

(Ever since he was a child, he wanted one. Alas, Mama could never get her hands on one, as no self-respecting Principia would dare give one up.)

Both of these dogs had that coveted coloring. This man went from being a nuisance to a Big Deal. If he plays his cards right, he may be able to get a pup.

He stepped back, opening his mouth to start schmoozing.

“As I was saying, Countess, the Hall will be fully operational in about five years. The only issue is that some things that we’ll need are currently illegal in Vesuvia. As you can see, this presents a problem to what services we would be able to offer.” With one last rub to shaggy ears, the rep sat down. He lent over to give some belly rubs to Lucio’s own puppers before picking up his cup.

“Then we will give a special dispensation to allow the Citadel to buy and import the necessary items. After all, it wouldn’t do for you to function on a sub-par level.”

Both Noddy and the rep turned to face him. Noddy was giving him That Look, and the rep had raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

(He has no idea why Noddy is looking at him like that: he knows she also wants a piece of that. The rep on the other hand doesn’t know what he’s missing, but will soon be educated.)

Lucio pasted on his most handsome and charming grin. He shifted his stance a bit, putting most of his weight on his right foot, popping out his hip a bit. A minute twitch of his shoulders resettled his cloak. For the final touch, he flexed his chest and cocked his head, arms crossed.

“We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot.” He pointedly ignored the very unlady-like snort that emerged from Noddy. “Let’s start over: Welcome to Vesuvia! I am Count Lucio.” After this proclamation, he tossed his hair a bit, knowing that his spun locks were very eye-catching. “After you finish up with my Lady Wife, why not join me in further discussion in my quarters?”

He felt rightfully smug when the stranger raised both of his sharp brows at the offer. Even more so when he rested a chin upon a coiled fist, giving Lucio a slow once-over.

Looks like they’ll be doing more than discussing in his quarters tonight. Check and mate Noddy!

***

He sat pouting on his armchair, a snifter of brandy loosely clutched in his hand. His pups had curled at his feet, snuggled together after a long day of play with the two new dogs.

Nadia sat across from him, a smirk of glee on her lips. She didn’t even have the decency to hid it behind her wine glass.

“…I don’t like you right now,” he grumbled. Her smirk only got larger. He sat for a few moments more, glaring at the unlit fireplace. His brows furrowed more the longer he looked.

“At the rate you’re going, one would think that you were trying to light a flame from will alone.”

“Hmph.”

Nadia rolled her eyes. “Please, you cannot still be put off from the fact that your blatant invitation for sex was shrugged off.”

“Yes. Yes I am. I’m gorgeous. I’m charming. I have great battle prowess. AND! I’m quite humble.”

He most certainly did not appreciate the uncultured noise that emerged from his captive audience. He can be humble, dammit!

Noddy put down her wine glass, picking up the bottle on the side table to refill it. For a few moments, the only sounds to be heard were the gentle *glugs* of the wine and the soft breathing of the dogs.

“So,” she continued. “Did you ever think that he might not like dick?”

“Noddy! Such language!”

“Pfftt! As though you haven’t said worse as I worked your bratty ass over.”

“Be that as it may! Have you seen his hair? No heterosexual man can be bothered to keep such long hair looking so nice.”

“Oh, please. If you hadn’t gone off to pout after he rebuffed your advances, you would have learned that he’s a warlord. An undefeated one, going from the length of his curls and young appearance.”

Lucio would normally concede the point at this time. Noddy had a much firmer grasp of the other nations and their customs. He just refuses to believe that a fine specimen such as their guest doesn’t like a bit of man meat.

Absolutely! Refuses!

***

He should be crowing in victory. He was looking at undeniable proof that Mr. Citadel craved man-flesh! Lucio is just pissed that he doesn’t want his man-flesh.

(Preferably down his throat or in his backside.)

Leaning on the wall further down the hall, was Mr. Citadel. He was resting on his right shoulder, legs crossed at the ankles. He was facing away from Lucio, and had his hair free. The red ensemble he was wearing looked to be made from Drakarian silk, and was loose. It looked very similar to an Atreian toga, but not as thick or bulky. Nice and slinky, with slits going high up the hips.

(Drakarian silk was renowned for its lightness and drape. Lucio’s mouth started watering, seeing how the sheer fabric overlay strong muscles. It was so light, he bets you could get a nice shot of dick shadow/print thru the materials.)

He was talking to another person, one only a few inches shorter. Judging from the voice, another male. The uniform they were wearing was one that the Palace doctors and researchers wore.

He clenched his jaw as he saw their guest lift a hand, gently running the backs of long fingers over pale cheeks. He may have chipped a tooth when those same fingers buried themselves in thick auburn hair. He wanted to punch something when the shorter male gave a light laugh.

Before he could get closer, they disengaged. The doctor walked passed the other, a rosy blush on his cheeks and small smile on his lips.

One that disappeared quickly at the glare Lucio gave him. Picking up speed, the doctor turned the corner, leaving Lucio’s sight.

(Normally Lucio would be all over that. That uniform can’t hide those long legs completely. However, he had a more important piece of ass to nail.)

“You there.” He brandished a finger. “Your name. I want it.” So he knows what to growl as he cum’s later.

Mr. Citadel turned, proving Lucio’s theory about the fabric right. After appreciating the view, he met dark eyes squarely. “Unfortunately, I never received it yesterday.”

“The name’s Tiberius Principia.”

Well, there goes his hopes of getting a pup.

Lucio came to a stop next to the newly named Tiberius. Even with his heels, he still had to crane his neck.

“I must say, you and that other fellow seemed awfully familiar for this being your first visit to Vesuvia.” He got a feral grin for his question. One that made a delightful tingle run down his spine, and a fire light in his groin.

“Why my dear Count. Is that… jealousy I hear?” Tiberius snorted. “We met briefly a few years ago, during the Battle of Thunder Gorge. He was the medic that sewed my leg back together. Just wanted him to know that his fine stitch-work let me heal without a scar.”

That was the same battle that lost Lucio his arm. If he had had that medic…

“I must say, just where was this injury?”

He got a lusty baring of teeth, and a devious grin. Before Lucio could press on, Tiberius moved to the side the front split of the toga, high up and just under his groin. His hand ended up resting just over where his cock would rest, and turned his leg out.

Lucio wouldn’t complain about have such a nice view. Alas, he had no idea where the scar would be. He lifted a brow, a smirk caressing his lips.

“Ah, while I do not deny your claims, I cannot fathom just where such a dastardly scar would reside! Could you, perchance, point it out for me?”

(Oh yeah, Lucio. Get that ass, boy! He won’t be sleeping alone tonight!)

Thoughts of muscular legs thrown wide dancing about his head, Lucio was shocked back to reality when the hand holding the material aside started running up and down a smooth and toned inner thigh.

Once Tiberius knew he had Lucio’s attention, he pulled back his hand, letting the fabric fall. He didn’t miss seeing the pout he got for it. “I’ve promised the good doctor an…opportunity to get an up close look of the sight. If he wants to replicate the results, multiple examinations may be required.”

And with that remark and a jaunty wink, Tiberius turned and strode away, sandaled feet making nary a sound. This left Lucio alone to stir in his lusty thoughts, now more determined than ever to get that man into his bed.

(The view he was blessed with as Tiberius walked away made him feel marginally better.)

***

For the next week, Lucio did his best to make good to his word. He had a simple goal. And one would think that a simple goal needed only simple steps, completed in a simple manner.

That would be a fucking lie. It was anything but simple.

Tiberius was in constant meetings with his Noddy. Normally he had no compunction about interrupting them, but lately she started getting That Look every time he did. And, when he did catch Tiberius, he was on his way for another meeting with some official or other.

Normally he wouldn’t care so much. However, Valerius was still in a huff, and he didn’t want to get laughed out of Noddy’s quarters again.

He really needed to get laid. It’s been a week. His molars are floating!

(He is pointedly ignoring the fact that he was being obnoxious in his constant presence in regards to Tiberius.)

Lucio’s nasty attitude was not only obvious, but had set the entire Palace on edge. More so than usual when he is in one of his moods. The servants (such good, attentive servants) were going mad trying to contain him. Every meal consisted of his favorites: snacks and treats were readily available. His usual drinks were on tap, regardless of time of day.

Unfortunately, nothing helped. Even being presented his usual favorite…pets hadn’t brightened his day. He has sucked and fucked like a champion every night (and most days), but he still had a large ball of dissatisfaction burning a hole in his belly.

And all because some two-bit warlord from the Umbral mountains wouldn’t bend over!

(The only bright part was managing to corner that red headed doctor. Let’s see Tiberius try and tap that, knowing Lucio got there first!)

At the end of his rope, he stormed down the hall, making his way to Noddy’s bedchamber. She may not have anything to add, but sometimes spewing his innermost thoughts in her presence helps him think.

His heels clicked as he walked, trying to somewhat organize what was currently floating about in his head. He passed two giggling serving girls, hands to their mouths to smother their mirth.

(Hmmmm…smother…)

Approaching her door, he kicked it open. “NODDY! I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE!”

No one can say he doesn’t know how to make an entrance. One can say that he doesn’t do astonishment very well.

Early in their marriage, Lucio and Nadia came to an agreement: sleep with who you will, but no. children. At least, no children with other people. And so far, it has worked well. Lucio is having fun plowing any and all, and he knows Noddy has had her flings. They still diddle each other, of course.

(Shivers still travel down his spine every time he remembers their last get-together.)

It still doesn’t mean he can’t be shocked. He called dibs!

“Noddy! How can you betray me so? You know I called it first!”

Lucio, while still shocked that his breathtaking Noddy got the jump on Tiberius first, will be honest and admit that they made a striking picture. They must have been out riding before, well, riding.

His Noddy’s suit was a mess, wrinkled and folded. The jacket and inner layers were completely undone, allowing her well-formed breast to bounce freely. Her riding pants and boots were off entirely, giving Tiberius’s cock easy access to her wet folds. They were sat in one overstuffed chair, Noddy on her knees with her thighs working to move her up and down the thick cock buried within her.

She was moaning loudly, Tiberius having wrapped his lips around one dark nipple. Lucio could see Tiberius’s large hands cupping her firm backside, helping her move. Upon a particularly loud suck, Nadia started trembling, her hands clawing on bare, muscular shoulders. A few more bounces atop the dick she sat on and she came with a sweet sigh. A loud, rolling growl accompanied her sounds, the hips below her pummeling up before grinding hard as a load was deposited inside her. The large hands on her ass pushed and pulled her a bit more, helping Tiberius draw out his orgasm.

Each grind caused an already sensitive Nadia to twitch, giving out a hitching sound. Eventually, Tiberius stopped, sucking his swollen lips to the fluttering pulse-point in the elegant neck below him.

“…really, Noddy? You can’t even be bothered to share?”

Both individuals tensed, before Nadia twisted around glaring. “Are we seriously having this conversation now, Lucio? Tch. It’s not my fault that your lack of personality kept you out of another’s bed.”

Tiberius snickered at Lucio’s offended ‘Noddy!’. He leaned back, enjoying the show. He grinned, not failing to notice that Lucio’s eyes were glued to his bare chest the entire time.

Lucio stood there, mouth agape and his hands hanging. “Nu-uh!” He pouted. He’s a delight, dammit!

“Really, Lucio?” Nadia arched a shapely brow. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? For thou hast no class.”

Tiberius hissed, a look of ‘oooooh, no’ crossing his face.

“I’ll have you know, dearest Wife, that quite a few in this Palace enjoy my presence! Both inside and out of the bedroom! Look at Valerius! He has such high standards, and I exceed them all!”

“Valerius is so drunk, he mistakes your cock for a bottle neck. Hence why he’s always eager to get on his knees.”

“And what of that stable boy? Hmmmmm? I never would have thought you needed additional ‘riding’ lessons?”

“Well, Lucio. You know what they say: a rider is only as good as their mount.”

Damn, Tiberius winced in sympathy. Way to kick a man when he’s down, Nadia.

“I grow tired of this insult match!” Lucio leaned on a leg, one arm crossed. He made to look at the clawed tips of his prosthetic, inspecting them for dirt. As nonchalant as he portrayed himself, he couldn’t hide the blush on his face or his reddened ears.

“Then by all means, leave us.”

With a dramatic swish of his cape, the beleaguered Count left.

***

A few days later found our Princely Playboy in one of the smaller courtyards, playing fetch with his pups. It was late in the evening, and the sun was setting. Dinner had ended not even an hour previous.

It was important to tucker-out the dogs, otherwise they would do their best to lick him awake (or worse) during the night. While he loves his dogs and would forgive them anything, he loves his sleep more.

(He throbs in remembered pain. One night after he acquired them, he learned the hard way how important it was to have them expend all their energy. They now know that Daddy does not keep the fetch stick in bed.)

After a few more tosses, he could see the drooping ears and low tails. He dropped to his knees, lavishing them with praise and pets.

Lucio walked up the steps into his quarters, debating what to do next. He grinned as he watched the pups try leaping onto the foot of his bed, paws unable to gain traction on the slick sheets. The young animals failed multiple times, causing him to snicker. It was only when they started whimpering that he helped. He bent over, each arm scooping up a dog. As he deposited them, he got a few doggy kisses. They settled down, curling upon each other before grooming themselves. He took a few moments to brush a few errant dog hairs off his coat.

Lucio turned out of his bedchamber, heading out to his sitting room. After he finished shutting the door, a loud and resounding CRACK! was heard. An instant later, something wrapped around his ankle, before tugging sharply. As his leg flew up, he fell backwards. He slapped his arms back, trying to absorb more of the impact of his fall to the floor and prevent his head from slamming into it.

Simultaneously, he rolled onto the side of his caught leg, swinging the free leg as a counterweight to his now being dragged. As he was pulled, Lucio dug his claw deep into the plush rug, creating long furrows. He tried to reach down with his other hand and unwrap his ankle. An extra sharp tug jerked him, and the dragging sped up. Teeth clenched, he looked up. His eyes widened when he saw his would-be assassin was Tiberius.

A Tiberius that had a wide, predatory grin on his face. Wrapped around his hands was the lead and handle to a long, thin whip. After another tug, he started pulling in the lead faster.

Knowing a challenge when he saw one, Lucio threw the other a bloodthirsty smirk. Cantilevering his free leg, he twisted to the other side. He flung both hands out, grabbing a heavy table leg. He jerked to a stop, hissing as the force from his actions pulled at the muscles under his arms. Biceps burning, he tried to pull himself over the table leg.

He let out another hiss, ankle burning as the lead pulled tighter. He stopped pulling, instead curling his free leg up. After ensuring he had a good grip, he reached his hand down, fingers twitching. If he’s fast enough…

Curling his hand, he pulled. A thin dagger was always kept in each boot, the sheath designed to allow a quick-draw. He slashed thru the taught leather, the stranglehold on his ankle releasing almost immediately. Not wanting to give Tiberius a chance to pounce, Lucio rolled, seeking cover behind the table proper.

Once sure of his cover, he grabbed the other dagger, prosthetic fingers fumbling slightly with their lack of fine dexterity. Each dagger now grasped firmly, he stood in a hunch, leaving only his head and shoulders above table level. Tiberius stood on the other side, also with daggers drawn.

Taking a chance, Lucio hurled himself over the table, using a chair to clear the tabletop. His hand shot out, twisting the blade for a backhand-strike. It met metal, screeching. He kicked out his opposite leg, aiming a kick to an unprotected armpit. A muscular arm locked around his thigh mid kick, before Tiberius spun hard.

Lucio’s stomach dropped at the force, before he was completely airborne. After a few moments of flying backwards thru the air, he landed on a couch. Using the energy of his bounce, he flipped himself over the back, just missing a singing blade. He danced backwards, fists up high. Lucio had just enough time to readjust his dagger grip before Tiberius met him again, this time going low for a kidney shot. Lucio brought both daggers down and then up in an x-formation, catching the others blade. Giving a hard and fast twist, he wrenched, sending the caught blade flying.

Tiberius made a fist, swinging down to hit a grinning mouth. Lucio moved out of the way, but not fast enough. Instead of getting the full force of a haymaker, he got clipped on the chin. His teeth snapped together, just missing clipping his tongue. He could feel skin split and saw stars.

(Tiberius was no Scourge, but he still hit with the power of a horse.)

Backing up and shaking his head, Lucio aimed a kick at an unprotected knee. He was foiled when Tiberius jumped, swinging up his legs to plant both feet in Lucio’s chest. The dual-kick landed, knocking the wind from Lucio. He landed on the floor, skidding.

Once coming to a stop on his back, he twisted to the side. Tiberius had jumped high, legs pulled up tight before shooting out in a jackknife as he landed in Lucio’s previous position. If his feet had connected, he would have collapsed the Counts chest.

Scrambling to his feet and disarmed, Lucio was grinning like a loon. It had been so long since he had an actual fight for his life. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the burn of battle, the heart-thumping adrenaline. He was breathing hard, eyes wide and fixed on his opponent.

Glancing around, Lucio spotted an overstuffed cushion. Ducking, he grabbed it. Tearing thru the fabric with his claw, he threw it at his opponents face. Using the billowing feathers as a distraction, he ran in, hooking his natural arm in a lariat. He used the momentum of his swing to ride up on a strong back, wrapping his legs around a thick set of hips.

Going to put Tiberius into a choke-hold, he grasped his hooked wrist. Before he could complete the motion, a large hand reached back, grabbing him by the scruff of his jacket. One hard yank later, and he was airborne once again.

Crash landing on a table, Lucio spun himself off. If he had been a few seconds too late, he would have paid dearly. As it was, he got a front row seat to a gloved fist punching thru solid oak.

Using the opportunity presented by a stuck Tiberius, Lucio swung his fist. He connected a kidney shot, relishing in the hard gasp he wrought. He next swung his clawed fist, but Tiberius moved to the side. Claw skidding uselessly along thick leather armor, Lucio hooked an ankle, trying to tug his opponent off balance. He nearly succeeded, had Tiberius not planted his free hand on the ruined table and flipped himself over it. In order to escape being ensnared by long legs, Lucio ducked out of the way.

Swinging his arms back and forth a few times, he brought his clenched fist up high. He turned sideways, trying to minimize his profile and thus target area. He widened his stance a bit more, before settling into a light crouch.

Tiberius did something similar, tossing his remaining blade to the side. Both predators stood, evaluating each other for a few moments before exploding into movement once again. Lucio came in low, leading with his natural arm. He faked a punch, instead wrapping his arms around a hard torso. He twisted to the right hard, trying to pivot the other. What should have been a throw, devolved into an awkward hug. Lucio had grossly underestimated how much the other weighed.

(If a 400 pound man decides he doesn’t want to be moved, he will not be moved, Newtonian physics be damned.)

Long arms wrapped around Lucio’s own waist, before he was ripped up and away. His vision spun, before refocusing on a quickly ascending ceiling. Before he could make sense on just why the ceiling was doing that, his back met a muscled front, followed by his upper back being slammed into the floor as Tiberius executed a textbook suplex.

Stunned, Lucio wilted. While trying to relearn how to breath, Tiberius took the chance to tie up his opponent. Pulling a length of cord from his belt, Tiberius got to work. In short order, he had the salacious Count tied up in a series of shibari knots.

Lucio had his arms bound in a box position behind his back, the length leading down to his hips. His legs were arraigned in a frog-tie, with the final length of cord traveling up his front to spiderweb over and around his shoulders, a loop going over the back of his neck. This forced him into a crouched position, balanced on his knees and upper chest/shoulders, face smashed to the side in the plush rug. The length of cord that tied his legs split at the apex of his presented ass, pulling tight over his trousers and framing his bulging arousal.

(Lucio was in heaven. Only his Noddy could ever fight him into submission. If he doesn’t get fucked hard, he’ll commit murder.)

“Well,” he breathed, chest heaving. “You have me where you want me. Aren’t you going to enjoy your spoils?” He moaned like the slut he is when a large and heavy hand slapped over a cheek.

“Keep your pants on *snort*. We’ll be joined shortly.” After finishing that sentence, a single knock was heard, before the door opened. Lucio could hear soft footsteps, along with the sounds of creaking canvas.

“I see you already have him in position. Tell me, was he his usual bratty self?”

“Ohhh Noddy!” The glee contained in that statement was palpable.

“Well, he certainly needs a spanking. Little bitch needs to learn his place.”

Lucio wiggled his hips, anticipation high in his blood. He could hear the heavy tread of boots walking away, stopping momentarily before returning. As they stopped, he could hear the *thunk* of something being set down. This was followed by a zipper being undone, and then a series of lighter *thunks*.

He moaned as hands returned to his buttocks, massaging. He moaned louder as he got a few swats, one hand rubbing down his clothed cleft to firmly cup and massage his cock and balls before being removed.

“Hey! Come back! What do you thi- oooohhh! ~”

Lucio was very familiar with the delightful sting of a riding crop. Noddy was a master of its use. Normally, the pain was much sharper, but the fine cloth of his trousers dulled the sensation somewhat. At each blow, he let out a loud groan, loving the feeling of being vulnerable at the behest of a superior predator. Each smack of the crop caused him to squirt out a little more precum. Soon, his smalls were clinging wetly to his groin.

Eventually, Nadia came to a stop. Breathing a bit heavier than normal, she adjusted her robe. Walking to stand beside Lucio, she lifted a heeled foot. Placing the balls of her foot firmly on his hip, Nadia gave a hard push. Lucio tilted, landing with a loud *whump*. Cocking her head, she looked over her husband before giving a decisive nod. “Tiberius, would you kindly move him to the couch?”

Tiberius strode over, fingers hooking into the ropes between the arms and the hips. Tugging hard, he lifted the bound Count easily, giving a little swing. He savored the hitch in Lucio’s breath as he did so. “Anywhere in particular?”

“Hm, on his knees, facing the back. Be sure to put a folded towel down, he likes to bite things, and I don’t need teeth marks embedded in the wood trim.”

Tiberius did as told, tossing some of the decorative cushions aside. He growled when Lucio started wriggling in earnest, trying to be difficult. Fisting golden locks, Tiberius yanked his head back.

“If you want to get dicked, stop moving and do as you’re told. Nadia and I have no problem leaving you like this all night.” After a few token grumbles and a pout, Lucio did as told.

“Thank you, Tiberius. Although, we seem to have a problem: he’s still clothed. Your knotwork is superb and I would hate for it to be undone just so we can strip him. It must have also taken considerable effort to properly bind his prosthetic…”

“Easily solved, m’lady.”

Lucio jolted when large hands slapped onto abused cheeks, before dragging to his hips. Strong fingers dug into his trouser waistband before giving a hard jerk. He groaned as he heard and felt the finely woven material part like butter under a hot knife.

The trousers parted down the center seam, a few sharp tugs helping. Once the rip reached the front, a large palm rubbed harshly against his still-clothed cock as they went to unbutton the pants. Moments after, Lucio gasped as those same fingers roughly slid between his underwear and his perineum, hooking into a fist and ripping the crotch out. A few hard smacks followed, pulling lusty grunts from his chest.

Behind him, Lucio could hear the sounds of shifting fabric along with the distinct metallic sound of buckles. He tried to cant his head back, but a fist to his hair stopped him. Pulling his head up, Lucio could see a disapproving topless Tiberius looking down on him. After shaking his head, Tiberius shoved a flat pillow under Lucio’s face before forcibly planting his blushing mug.

Lucio shook his head, trying to get comfortable. He opened his mouth, about to make a comment about keeping him waiting when a heavy weight planted itself on the small of his back. He wriggled his fingers, trying to feel what was on him. He got more smacks to his already flaming cheeks, before the same hands grasped and pulled them wide, exposing his hole for the room to see.

“Furniture is to be seen, not heard,” a deep voice growled out from above him. Lucio blushed hard, now realizing Tiberius was using him as a fucking chair. He wiggled his hips, biting his lips hard. His cock became harder, being used in such a degrading way doing so much for him.

Lucio, being who he is, just had to push the envelope. “Fuck yeah, sit on me Daddy.” He added a few more squirming motions, moaning when he could feel the underside of an erection get rubbed at the crest of his ass.

“AH!” For his impertinent actions, Lucio got a double-handed spank, before those same hands started soothing him. He let out several enthusiastic moans as thick oil-covered fingers ran up and down his cleft before one was shoved in fully without ceremony. The hand holding his cheeks spread traveled down, cupping his full sac roughly. Hard and heavy massage on just this side of pain followed.

The rough pumping of the finger buried deep within him, while nice, was not enough. Lucio wanted his legs quivering, breath hitching, and to be unable to keep his head up. He opened his mouth to start bitching when a second thick finger joined the fray, causing his eyes to roll back and to moan like a pro.

“That’s right, bitch. Don’t think I didn’t see you try to mouth off.” A third finger was shoved in, the pain and pleasure from the action causing Lucio’s cock to give a hard twitch. After a few pumps and brushes against his prostate, he came in a great gush, shouting. As he pulsed, he could feel long delicate fingers wrap around his cock, pumping hard and fast, fingers catching on his piercings. Soon, he was bucking hard into Nadia’s fist, the slippery cum from his release helping in her motions.

“Na-, Noddy!” Long after his release finished, she kept pumping him. It quickly became painful, his hips shaking as he moved into overstimulated territory. The piercing directly under his head received the most attention, each brush on it pulling whines from deep within his chest.

“Now look at what you did, Lucio. The servants won’t be able to get the stains out. How shameful.”

“I have to agree with you on that one, Nadia. And to think, for all of his bragging, he came quicker than a boy having his first tumble in the stable.”

Lucio flushed deep, the curl of humiliation dug deep into his belly. He licked his lips a few times, before opening his mouth.

“I, I- oh FUCK!” Before he could finish his sentence, the head of something thick and blunt pushed in. As it moved deeper, he could feel it flex and bulge oddly. The final clue that he got was the feel of a leather harness butting up against abused ass.

“There. That should keep him from doing more than just talking.”

His Noddy had brought out her strap-on, and was using his favorite attachment. While not too long, it was a tapered ball-dildo. The widest ball was at the base, with four other bulbs going up the length. Each bulb as it pushed in caused him to buck hard with a groan. By the time she had come to a complete stop, fully seated, he was a shaking mess.

“Pardon me, m’lady.”

Lucio could feel hands move below him, along with a length of something satiny. Moments later, he could feel something wind and twist around his semi-erect cock, from head to base. It was threaded delicately between his hardware before moving down, then being tied off. He could feel the ends of what had to be a ribbon brush his inner thighs.

“What a lovely gift. Thank you, Tiberius. The bow is a fine touch.”

After a bit of shifting, Lucio could feel his Noddy curl her elegant fingers into the ropes folding his ankles to his thighs. After pushing him back and forth gently a few times, she got to business. Each hard pull pushed the tip of her strap hard against Lucio’s sweet spot, wet and obscene sounds of the insertion and withdrawal of the toy providing a backing track. He groaned hard at each thrust, at times trying to wiggle his hips for more prostate stimulation.

Soon after, Tiberius started flexing his own hips back and forth. Using his perched position to his advantage, his rolling motions helped Nadia in her thrusting.

Lucio was a panting, growling mess. Being speared upon Nadia was always an experience, but being used as a fucking seat by Tiberius, feeling the flexing of his strong thighs and muscular ass propel him onto Noddy’s shaft was something altogether new. Soon, Tiberius’s motions set the pace. While hard, it was neither slow nor fast.

Soft, wet sounds soon became apparent, along with moist panting. A few moans could be heard as well, as Tiberius and Nadia attacked each others lips and mouths. A fight for domination of the kisses soon followed, with Tiberius tangling his fingers in Nadia’s loose hair. His rolling motions soon picked up speed, forcing a mewling Lucio onto Nadia’s shaft faster and harder. At the apex of each roll, Tiberius ground, trying to give more stimulation to his still-trapped erection.

Eventually, the thrusting and rolling became hard and fast enough to cause the couch to start walking across the rug. Lucio had bitten hard and deep into the pillow his face rested on, the fabric doing little to muffle his moans. On particularly hard thrusts, he let out an ecstatic shout.

Nadia was nearing the end of her endurance, growling lowly she upped her pace. The rubbing of her strapped dildo against her wet clit was finally getting to her. Her thrusting was becoming sloppy and unhinged, her hips losing pace. Ripping her lips from Tiberius’s, she let out a low cry, grinding her pelvis against Lucio’s red-hot cheeks. After a few more sloppy grinds, she stilled.

Slowly, she pulled out one bulb at a time. On quivering legs, she walked backwards, sitting heavily on the edge of a destroyed table. She leaned back, a shaking hand slowly undoing her harness buckles, pushing the leather contraption down. It met the floor with a heavy thunk, the high tinny-sound of the buckles jingling lightly. She debated pushing her robe off fully, but decided it was too much effort.

While Nadia was settling, Tiberius decided it was his turn. Dismounting a shaking and unfulfilled Lucio’s back, he rounded on the Count. Unlacing the high waist of his leather trousers, he pushed them down to the tops of his thighs. Reaching to the side, he picked up a discarded bottle of oil. Pouring a liberal amount over his swollen dick, he slicked up before slamming home.

“Hurgk!” Lucio was not expecting the harsh mounting, nor the fast and hard pace. After flying wide, his eyes drooped, back bowing low. Biting his lip hard, he moaned loud and low before popping his hips. He spread his knees, trying to get the thick dick now claiming his sloppy ass home to slide in deeper. Each hard thrust fucked a grunt out from his chest. A hand fisted in his hair, pulling harshly. The other curled in the knots surrounding his bound arms. He could feel a booted foot plant itself in the cushions of the couch seat, forcing cock deeper into his ruined hole.

“Fu~uu~uck…” each bounce that forced him up and down a hot shaft caused Lucio’s neglected cock to throb. “Oh shi~it! Fuck! Hard~er…!”

“Look at this cockslut, Nadia. Does he always beg so nicely?” Despite the calm tone, Tiberius was breathy from his hard work. He gave a particularly hard thrust, making sure to grind hard against an abused prostate. He sighed in pleasure to the wail he got in return, before returning to his initial pace.

“When you peg him right, he mewls like a bitch in heat. Numerous times he’s dropped to his hands and knees, ass up and begging for it when I bring out the crop.”

Lucio groaned at hearing Tiberius’s chuckle. Listening to Noddy air their dirty laundry caused him to clench, Tiberius bucking hard into him. The loud and sloppy squelching sounds of his used hole were becoming more frequent, and his heavy cock was dangling low, unable to expend its load.

After a few more thrust, Tiberius hooked his hands around Lucio’s chest, lifting him. Spinning, he sat, pulling a dazed Lucio down hard upon his dick. This pulled a moan from the other. Lucio was made to bounce hard and high, the hips now below him giving him no choice. Hands tangled at his hips, using the knotted material as handles in his lusty endeavor.

Eyes rolling, Lucio’s back bowed backwards at the new depths of his dicking. His cock slapped against his flexing abs, straining against the ribbon keeping him from completion.

“Just…fucking nut me already!” Lucio got a meaty smack to his cock and balls for his attitude, pulling a startled shout from him. He growled as the shirt and jacket he was still bound in was grabbed just under her collar. Pulling down, the buttons popped off, leaving a torn and warped mess. Lucio’s newly revealed nipples were grabbed and twisted hard, forcing his head to loll and eyes to cross.

He could feel soft hands smooth over his thighs, moving the torn pieces of his trousers away before pulling up his ruined underwear. A loose fist curled around him, give a few half-hearted strokes to a now painful erection. The hands currently at his hips moved, molding to his inner thighs before forcing them wide.

After a few short moments, He could feel why: the flap tip of a crop was being gently smacked on his cocks underside, in the area between cock and ball. It alternated between soft and gentle and firm with a snap. Regardless of what level of force was used, each time the crop met his flesh pulled a full-body jerk from him. Every jerk squeezed a trembling moan from the man currently buried balls-deep in his ass, and soon Tiberius’s thrust also became sloppy.

“Look at you, poor man. You look like your having a hard time.” The crop trailed up to a sensitive head, before delivering a hard flick to a metal bar. Lucio could hear gentle footsteps, unknowing of when he had closed his eyes. He could smell musk, before Nadia’s fingers grabbed his hair and forced his head back. Slick lips dragged over his chin, before a wet cunt made its home on his panting mouth. He cracked watery eyes open, seeing a smirking Nadia gazing down as him. “Be a good boy, and suck.”

After blinking, Lucio did as he was told. Curling his tongue and keeping eye contact, he pulled it up from between wet lips to swirl it around a swollen clit. Flattening his tongue, he laid it over her entrance before laving it up and down in broad strokes. Each upward pull brought it closer and closer to her clitoris, eventually covering it. He shook his head like a dog with a stick, before sucking his lips around it. After a few hard sucks, he returned back down. He lightly dipped his tongue into her core a few times, before returning to the flat licking he did earlier.

Nadia stood above him on quivering legs, hips rotating slowly. They twitched on particularly hard flicks of his tongue, releasing a little extra juice as she did so. Soon, one of her hands traveled up to play with her breasts, the other going back down to the locks trapped between her legs. Once secure, she started grinding hard against a talented mouth, reveling in the wet slurps of a talented pussy-eater. Soon, lips and tongue were working her clit over exclusively, moving quick.

Her second orgasm was quick and sudden, pulling a pleasured scream from her throat. Both of her hands locked in Lucio’s hair, pulling and tugging him every which where. During the whole event, his mouth kept moving and his tongue kept dancing. He moaned at the thick gush she produced, shaking at the combined sensation of her slick traveling down his chin and the pounding his ass was taking.

As she dismounted from his face, she lent down, pulling the bow at the base of his cock loose. Instantly, his dick started spewing cum, thick streams going up his stomach and chest. The thick pumping hand that wrapped around him pulled loud and lusty yells from his chest. Each spasm caused him to get tight around the dick still beating into him, and he could soon feel a throbbing shaft shooting thick and heavy warmth deep inside him.

“Oh FUCK yes! Fucking hell…”

After a long and hard orgasm, Lucio sagged, only being kept somewhat upright by his binds. The hand around his shaft had slowed its pumping, the large cum-covered palm moving to cover and massage his spent sac. The gentle squeezing caused Lucio to make full-body twitches, breath hitching loudly each time.

“Ple-, please stop! No more.”

The hand stopped. Looking to his side, Lucio could see Nadia slouching bonelessly on her side, her hand curled around the wrists of Tiberius’s cum-covered hand. Her lips were sucking each digit clean, savoring the emission like a fine dessert. Her eyes cracked open, focusing on his. Once sure she had his attention, she added more tongue to her show, licking a broad swath up the palm she held captive. At the apex, where palm and finger met, she sucked one slick digit into her mouth, plush lips locking tightly.

Lucio moaned at the show, trying to lean in and participate. His bindings kept him in place, pulling a whine of denial from high in his chest. After feeling some scrambling behind his back, there was a jerk, then his bonds slacking.

Before he could make do on his desire to lock lips with Noddy’s cum-covered ones, his face was forcibly turned in the opposite direction. A thick tongue forced itself between his lips, pulling a gasp from him. Soon, his tongue was engaged in lazy brushes and passes with another one, lips locked. He could feel the hand on his jaw move up, fingers digging into his hair. The kisses soon became open-mouthed and sloppy, both tongues licking up the leftover wet from Nadia. Someone moved Lucio’s legs from their folds, settling him into a more natural sitting position.

The motions reminded Lucio that he still sat on dick, the movements causing the buried shaft to reawaken. He raised his hands to brush along the face attached to his, being mindful of his claw. He panted into Tiberius’s mouth, feeling the minute flexing of the hips below him.

Lucio would normally be up for another round, but being worked so hard by two demanding tops would exhaust anyone. He whined, unable to verbalize his issues.

(One would never be able to get Lucio to admit that he also wasn’t as young as he used to be. A few years ago, he would have been saying ‘Next!’. Now though…)

“Don’t worry. Just lay back and think of Vesuvia.”

Before he could retort, Nadia had thrown her hips over his messy lap, sliding down a half-erect shaft. She curled her arms around the shoulders behind Lucio, burying his face in her breasts before grinding slowly. It was only the work of a few minutes before an overstimulated Lucio pushed up and in her, moaning softly as he released. He sat panting as she sat back, fingers lazily playing with her clitoris before he could feel her clench around him.

Lucio could feel Tiberius shift a bit, before large hands curled under the blonds thighs. Showing great strength, Tiberius pulled, raising Lucio’s thighs up whilst Nadia still sat on his cock.

Holding two people up, even just slightly was hard work, so Tiberius had to be quick. Planting his feet firmly on the floor, he worked his hips and abs. Minute thrusts and grinding were all he needed, Lucio doing his best to flex and help Tiberius to a final orgasm.

“Ummmmm…just…ohhhh that’s it…”

After a few more shallow thrusts into a clenched hole, Tiberius came with a purr. He let go of the thighs in his grasps abruptly, grunting loudly as the ass around him planted firmly into his lap.

They lay in a panting pile, unable to do more than quiver and tremble.

“So,” Tiberius panted. “Do I get that Writ of Royal Patronage now?” A clawed thumbs up was his answer, along with a breathy chuckle.

#the arcana #count lucio #nadia satrinava #tiberius principia #apprentice #fic: time out

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ask-de-writer · 7 years ago

Text

NORE’S CHOICE : Origin of the Rom: MLP Fan Fiction : (Part 4 of 10)

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

Return to NORE’S CHOICE

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

NORE’S CHOICE

Part ONE of the Origins of the Rom

ORIGIN OF THE ROM SERIES in reading order. (will be completed as the stories are posted in linked form)

Part One : NORE’S CHOICE, which starts HERE

Part Two : WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA! which starts HERE

Part Three : FAIR AND UN-FAIR, which starts HERE

Part Four : ON THE ROADS OF EQUESTRIA, which starts HERE

Part Five : THE FIRST ROM HEARTHWARMING, which starts HERE

Part Six : SANDO’S LAKE, which starts HERE

Part Seven : A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ROM, which starts HERE

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

29000 words

Cover art by @wind-the-mama-cat

Writing begun 08/09/15

TUMBLR EXEMPTION

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~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

I put away the Orb of the Ages in its hidden place in time itself. Now there was nothing left to betray old Marchhare. I slept until somewhat before the dawn.

I pulled out of the abandoned farmstead and onto the Red Branch path. I eyed the ruts, assorted muddy spots, stray sticks that could nail a wheel’s spokes and wondered again why the locals and the engineers put up with this mess as the way to get to so important a project as the Red Branch Dam.

Chuckling to myself at my own witticism, I 'hauled ass’ up the way, passing the dam itself. I noted that it was nearly done. Only a little left at the north end. That, and needing to settle for almost a year to let its own mass pack it more solidly before risking the massive load of water that it was going to hold back. Water from it should open up an enormous amount of new farm land for feeding a hungry nation.

Past the dam, there was no real road at all. That made going difficult indeed. I thanked the mother of Celestia and Luna that I’d done it twice before this. Made it easier to pick my way through the thickets.

I appreciated the shade and coolness under the giant old trees here. These, I knew, were some of the biggest, oldest trees in Equestria. It took me two whole days, pulling some at night, too, to reach the divide.

From that vantage point, I could see through some of the much smaller trees of this side of the Sunset Range. Out there was bare rock, gravel, sand and clays. I could see the shimmer of the heat on the surface of the desert.

Celestia’s Anvil. Arguably the hottest driest desert on the world and it was what I had to go into. No profit this time.

I shook my head and muttered, “Lives are more important than gold.” I pulled forward and onto the downgrade. It was slow, tricky work to get that heavy cart load down safely to where the canyon floor widened out to a meadow with a spring flowing into a small pool, similar to several others that I’d passed.

What made this spring special was simple. It was the last water before the desert. I filled up all the water casks lining the sides of my wagon, easily increasing the load by a half. No help for it though. Not if I was going to try saving those horses.

And I was. I leaned into it and pulled.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Another utterly merciless day was paling the eastern sky, heralding a cloudless dawn. Nore woke and lifted her head to see about her. Rom was up. Maina and Phapa were up. Sando was up. She stirred and got her legs under her. Getting to her hooves was not as easy. Her left hind leg was still giving her trouble since the fall in that well. The tumble out on that loose gravel slope had not helped it.

To Nore’s surprise, it was Sando who helped her to her feet.

Sando offered, “If you will accept my help, Nore, I can show the others how to make you a harness that will support your leg. You will have to have support, though. I will do that while my strength lasts. If you will have me do it.”

She gave him a skeptical glance. “You seem far different from the Sando that we left behind.”

“I hope that I am. I understand, now that it is likely too late, how bad I was.” He shook his head, ears drooping. “If there is any way at all to make it up to all of you, I want to do it. I do not want to die reviled and hated.”

Nore’s eyes softened. “If you can show the others how to do that harness, Sando, I will let you support me. My leg hurts.”

Rom nodded to the others. Sarel brought up the rope. Sando began, “We need two loops about me here. Hard knot them so that the knots won’t slip …”

It took only a little time. Nore, with her limp, setting the pace, they started to struggle up the canyon to the slide that Sando found the day before.

Hooves slipped as gravel slithered away from under them. Sometimes it seemed that it took three strides up to gain one. Those were the good times. Frustrating efforts finally got them all to the top. The sun was not yet over the horizon of bleak stone and bare clay. They set out while the relative cool still prevailed.

If not for the same sun that was killing them, they could have lost their way entirely.

Rom observed, “The Dayhorse is leading us to the place where she wants us to die.” Drawing a big breath and letting it out slowly, he added, “Best not to disappoint her, I guess.”

They struggled on. Nore looked up at Sando in puzzlement. “Why would it matter if you were reviled or in comfort when you die, Sando? Is not dying simply an end? An end to suffering or an end to pleasure, but only that, an end?”

Rom turned an ear to hear Sando’s reply. So did most of the band, actually. Sando’s reply surprised them all.

“That is a very fatalistic view, Nore. If life is simply a space between not being and not being, then why struggle at all?

“Everything that lives strives to live on. An injured spider in the ruin of a web will still try to make another web and live on. So it is with us, too. Ask yourself why? Why struggle to live on if there is an end to struggles and pain within your easy reach. All that you have to do is give up.”

Nore did think deeply as she plodded along, making the best pace that she could. She realized suddenly that she was the injured spider, but, expecting to die herself, she was setting as swift a pace as she could, in the hope that the others would survive.

“Do you know what lies beyond this world, when we die, Sando?”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

I came out of the canyon from the Sunset Range and began to follow my old tracks. Not a road by any stretch. Just the way with fewest traps for the unwary. My previous path avoided the sand and stuck to gravel and clay surfaces.

The wheels groaned and fought me, conspiring with the desert surface to hold back the wagon. I shook my head at the unforgiving gravels and baked clays, “I swear it was easier when I was not trying to save some poor horses.”

The harness bit harder through my sweat, as if to make up for the bugs that had, ages ago, abandoned Celestia’s Anvil. I muttered, “I don’t blame them, either! This is no place for a self respecting bug.”

I dragged and pulled anyway. “They are going to die if I don’t. They might die anyway, but at least I will have tried!”

The sun slammed down harder, I was sure. The Anvil was well named.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Sando thought over Nore’s question carefully and returned one of his own. “What do you think is there, Nore?”

“I don’t know. Until it started looking like I may find out soon, I really did not care.”

Sando nodded. “That is the way of most, Nore. I feel that there is a place that will reward us for the way that we use the Gift of Life. If we give it up or throw it away, well, I don’t know what might await us.

“If it is reward for carrying on and doing our best to the end of our lives, it must be a reward suited to horses like us.

“That would be a pleasant, lake of pure water that never fails. There would be trees that both shade us from the sun and heat of the day, and have good fruits that they bear in all seasons. There must be fine grass that grows always in plenty and soft, comfortable, safe places to sleep.”

“It sounds lovely, Sando. I wonder if there will be a Master there? The idea of having no Master frightens me. It is the worst part of this whole horrible time. We are cast out. We have no Master.” She shuddered to dry sobs and leaned a little harder on the harness of ropes. Sando, understanding too well what she felt, made no complaint, but bore her up more strongly.

The other mares of the trekking band did overhear. Dappled Sarel whispered to brown Phapa, “I never really thought about it before. My mother used to tell me tales of the Night Horse’s Garden of Dreams but even when I was small, I didn’t really believe them.

“What Sando just said actually made some sense. I need to think about it.”

Malit overheard and agreed, “Funny, isn’t it? We are out here, like to die, and along comes this amazing thought from somehorse that I would never have looked to say anything sensible.”

Rom nodded too. “I see some shade there by that rock outcrop. It won’t last but I want the rest of you to wait there. I will be looking ahead for a better shade to wait out the day.”

Sando said, “No, Rom. That should be my task. You are our leader. You are vital to the rest if they are to live at all. Let me scout the way.” He paused and then added, “Please.”

They watched Sando work his way up a hill to the south east of them. As he was scanning the route from his vantage point, Nore noticed how gaunt he was. Looking about, she sadly noticed that they all were. Shaking her head, she muttered, “Starvation does that.”

It was not long before Sando returned, his steps dragging. His sides heaving, he reported, “I found us a better place. The hill there, becomes a scarp facing south. There is one of these twisty canyons in it. We can have good shade for the rest of the day in there. Come, I will show you the way.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

The Orb was showing me the best way to reach the band of lost and cast off slaves. I grumbled at some of it. Wagons need ground that is sound enough that wheels do not sink too deeply into it and free enough of obstructions like big stones and heavy brush to allow passage.

As I detoured yet again through the desert night, I groused, “A straight way, please, Dear Luna!”

No answer but the return grumble of wheels on the small gravel that the wind left behind when it blew away the good soil. It was five days of grueling labor. I was pulling the last one in daylight. Time was running out.

The worst place that I was aware of was just past. No shade at all. I suspect that if I could die, I would have, back there.

The real chance for trouble lay not far ahead. Another narrow canyon led out of the side of a ridge of the same ghastly mix of hard clay and small lumpy stones that was such a nightmare to pull the wagon over. Up in there were the seven that I had come to try saving.

My big donkey ears could hear a little of their conversation. One that sounded to be the filly said, “Sando, I don’t think I can go further. My leg is healed. I can’t stand now at all. Tell me again of the Lake.”

A big soft voice answered her, “It has all good things for us. The best of browse to eat. Fruits born at all seasons from trees and bushes that give shade in perfect measure for us.

“A thing that I did forget to mention though. There are instruments there to play for music and dancing. We can dance, sing and play music whenever we wish.”

The filly’s voice answered, “I wish that the Master had not kept our lyres, flutes and drums. I want to hear music again before I go to the Lake.”

The one named Sando was replying, “We all do, Nore … I hear something out on the desert!! I am going to go see what it is!”

I made a show of passing to the south of where they were sheltering from the sun but where they had to see or hear me going by.

The big stallion came out of their shaded hideaway at the sound of my cart passing. He called out in a weak voice, “Sir! If you are this deep into the Anvil, you must have some water! Can you spare a tiny bit? We have a filly near to death.

“It is my fault that we are here. Save her, if none of the rest of us, please?”

I paused in heaving against the harness to move the cart across the heat shimmering stones of the desert floor. The gaze that I turned to him showed me a gaunt horse, fat gone, ribs standing out plainly, gut narrowed by starvation and thirst.

“I do have some water. How many of you are there? Have you any means to pay me for my water?”

His head had lifted until I mentioned payment. His neck drooped. The tips of his scraggly mane trailing in the dust. “There are seven of us. Two stallions, four mares and the filly. I fear that there will soon be none. We have no means to pay you.”

“Are you the band’s leader?”

“No, good donkey, Rom is our leader. He is wise. We are back in that steep sided canyon. There is shade there, at least.”

Curiously, I asked, “You called me Sir and good donkey. Why would you say that?”

He gave me a truly puzzled look. “You are Sir because you have not the headstall and bit of a slave. You are free. I said good donkey because I hoped that a respectable trader like yourself might help us to save our filly, Nore Bel Morin.”

I nodded. “I will shelter the balance of the day with you, if I am welcome to do so. I will spare some water for your filly.

“You must help me to find a safe way for my cart to get to where you are waiting the evening.”

“Sir, I shall. You will be welcome among us if you can aid Nore at all.”

True to his word, he helped me to get the cart safely to the canyon floor. It was not easy but we managed it.

I was greeted by Rom Ina Callin, the leader of the band. “Free Sir, would it be possible for you to spare anything at all for us? Nore is in the most desperate need. If you cannot help the rest of us, of your mercy, help her.”

I made a pretense of checking the filly out. I already knew, through the Orb, what her condition was like. The filly, Nore, was pretty bad off indeed. She was still conscious, able to swallow and speak though.

She gave me a trusting stare and asked, “Are you my guide to the Lake? Am I going to die?”

I replied, “Not yet, Nore. Perhaps later. Much later indeed, I hope. For now, I have some water and some grain. We will grind the grain into the water to give you both the drink and the nourishment that you need.”

Going to my cart, I saw that, though famished and thirsting near to death, none had touched it. I opened a chest of the grain and, true to my promise, ground a ration of it with water from a cask. One of the mares, a sorrel named Malit Ba Molin, took the ration and carefully fed Nore. She stole no bite for herself.

I nodded as I thought to myself. “These are indeed worth saving. They are the finest horses that I have ever seen. Better than almost any ponies, too.”

I beckoned both Rom and Sando over to me. In some perplexity, I asked, “What did Nore mean by 'guide to the Lake?’ Is it some sort of custom that I have not seen before?”

Sando hung his head and replied, “I spun her a tale to answer her question. She asked what lies beyond death here in this deadly desert.

“The others heard me too. It seems that she is clinging to that tale. I told her and the others that a paradise awaited us but not if we gave up. It is a wonderful Lake of pure water surrounded by the finest meadows of the best browse a horse could hope for. There is shade from the sun provided by trees that bear always the best and tastiest fruits. There we are free and labor only as we wish it, and not at the order of a Master.

“She seems to think that you are our guide to that better place.”

I nodded at that. “I see. I have only a few questions.

“Rom, do you know where you are in the Anvil of Celestia and do you know where you are going?”

Rom shook his head. “We were cast out and, at the end, driven into the desert. We had heard of you successfully crossing the Anvil and had no other hope but to reach the place that you came from. Beyond that, we know nothing of where we are or are going. I will not simply give up and die. I am doing the best that I can to save any of us at all.”

“I see. It is true that I am a merchant. It is also true that I have a heart. Life outweighs profit. I have tested you, though it may not have been obvious.

“I simply left the wagon with its supplies where you could all see it. None of you, though starving and suffering thirst, made any move to take any of the load.”

I sighed heavily, “I will forgo this trip’s profits to save you all if I can. Tadast’s Wells is the nearest Gyptian town and it is seven days of hard wagon pulling from here. My supplies cannot get you there.”

Sando hung his head and said, “We came from there. We were driven into the desert because we found a well with water and through my foolishness the watch found it out. They will get a handsome reward for it. To keep from sharing the reward, they will kill us.”

I shook my head sadly, “Such greed should not be. I can try to get you all back to my land. It will be a very close thing. Some may die before we get there. I hope not. It is five days from here, at least that is how long it took me to get here. I do not know how well the supplies will last.

“My land is a place called Equestria. There are ponies living there. They are smaller than you Gyptian horses. They come in three sorts. There are ones called Earth ponies. They are like you but smaller and stouter of build.

“Another sort are called Unicorns. They have a shortish horn in their forehead just above the eyes. They can do magics with that horn. Things can be lifted, held and moved by the power of their thoughts alone. Like the Earth Ponies, they are not large.

“The third sort are called Pegassi. They have wings and can fly. They are able to move clouds and bring controlled rains.

“All three sorts have many pastel colors for their coats and manes.

“I do not know how they will welcome you, but getting you to Equestria is the best that I can do for you.”

Rom nodded gratefully. “We will take our chances with your Equestrians. You mentioned using your caravan’s load of food and water for the trip?”

I said sourly, “My hope for a profit, yes. I said it before. Lives are more important than profit.”

Rom pointed out, “The food and water are still yours. Will you see to the rationing of them? We are all terribly hungry. I fear for fairness if any of us do it.”

I was about to answer when I felt a small muzzle touch my shoulder. It was Nore. She was staggering, but up. She spoke softly, “Sir Guide to the Lake, thank you. The mares said I should not be up yet but I wanted to say that.”

I put a hoof around her shoulders to steady her as I told her, “I hope that the Lake is far away for you. Live long. Be happy. Let Paradise come in its own good time.

“I need to distribute rations for these fine horses in Rom’s band. Will you help me?”

She gave me an adoring look and said, “I would be honored to help you, Sir.”

Malit, the sorrel mare who fed Nore, organized the others into a line to get both food and water. Sando and Rom had a disagreement about their place in the line. They both wanted to be last.

Sando whinnied, “It is my fault that we are here at all! I should be last to get food or water!”

Rom retorted, “It was my decision to let you back with us. As leader, it is my duty to see all others taken care of first! That is the burden of the leader.”

Nore, helping me to break open a wrapped bale of clover top hay, saw the argument and called out, “Let the Master decide! Marchhare is the only one of us who is a freeborn! The supplies are his!”

The others all stopped cold and turned expectant heads to me. I hope never to see that expression on the face of any horse or pony again. They had agreed instantly with Nore and were giving themselves to me. As slaves to a Master. Me.

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rioswriting-blog · 6 years ago

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Draven Barratta the Animal of Luskan

(This is set in The Forgotten Realms on the Sword Coast and is a lead-in for my character in our D&D campaign)

My love

I am writing this to you in one of the rare moments of clarity I find. As I am sure you may have noticed they are becoming fewer and further between. I fear that my mind will continue to degrade until such time as I am unrecognizable from the man I once was. I am writing this that if one day I am to complete my great hunt and pass onto the next world you will be able to read and perhaps understand why at the end I was the mindless beast that I had become. I do not have many memories of my life before I was a gladiator, before the change. I know I was once human, at least I think I was. My parents were not the best parents, they were abusive and I suffered greatly during my time with them. They saw that I had everything I need but I spent most of my time with them in fear, huddled in the corner, like a scared helpless animal, or a pathetic abused pup. I wonder my dear, have you ever seen an abused animal backed into a corner? Some say snakes will not bite unless you back one into a corner or a helpless dog will become all the more ferocious like the wolf when abused for too long. Such is what happened to me, one day enough had become enough, the stick can only be used so long without the carrot being needed. I lashed out with all the might I could manage, I am not proud of what I did, I struck my father once, twice, thrice and on the fourth such time, he stopped struggling. While my mother survived my rage she held no pity for me, she loved my father dearly and was deeply saddened by his death. She fled to tell the city guard of my actions leading to the chain of events that sees us in our position we are at today. I hold no blame for her for this, blinded by grief as she was. She held no love for me but loved my father more than life itself, I do not know if I would do the same in her position so I will not judge her. I was sent to a gladiator school for my crimes, trained to die for the enjoyment of others. The training was brutal, days and nights I would spend getting stronger, tougher. My days became the same I would wake up, train, eat and in the evening's spa against the other gladiators. These sparring fights were brutal, if we win we got better quality food then the gruel they fed us normally. Have you ever seen caged starving animals fight over scraps of food? It is not a pleasant site the stronger get stronger while the weaker get smart or die. I was one of the weaker ones in those early days, I remember many nights sitting awake my belly rumbling for food but not being able to sate my hunger. It was on one such night two ten days out from my scheduled debut fight against some unnamed Gladiator from the sword coast. I was expected to lose the fight, thrown to the wolves so the speak and I was scared. I remember that night sitting awake on the walls that surrounded the school when I first saw it, a bull, its long horns sticking out from the long grass that surrounded the school. I do not know what came over me, maybe it was malnutrition maybe it was a calling from Baphomet, I decided to hunt it. I stalked the beast and had it cornered surprised when it stood on its hind legs right in front of me, I was shocked, I had never seen a Minotaur before little own one that I would one day learn to be a Shaman. The Minotaur did something to me which marked me, a strange mark down the side of my body as it fled into the plains. Disappointed at returning marked and empty handed I bedded down for the night weary of what was to come. The first thing you feel the day of a fight is dread, a nervous energy that does not shift, it sits in your gut like a lead weight slowing you down, The same feeling will follow you whether it is your first fight as a weakling human or your one-hundredth fight as the beast. That day was the worst though, I was pitted against a sadist who seemed to take pleasure in how slow and painful he could kill me. I still remember clearly as if it were yesterday, the pain of his sword lancing down my back. The fight seemed to drag on for hours as he slowly picked apart my weak body. I remember him standing over me, the fear I had felt when my father stood over me returned as did a singular sound, a hunting horn from a great distance. I could tell by my opponents face he did not hear it. The horn sounded again, this time loud enough to cause pain, blackness consumed my vision and what I saw in front of me I will remember till the day I pass. I was not aware at the time, how could I have been? What stood in front of my vision was Baphomet the Demon Lord. His voice was so terrible I still hear whispers of it in my mind to this day. It said to me that it would teach me how to hunt, give me the power to kill, grant me a release from the fear I felt my entire life allowing me to instill it in others. I accepted. What happened next I was unsure of my memory became murky, I remember my body being wracked with pain, like a fire raging through my body, I remember my senses sharpening, I remember the feeling if rough horns pushing through my skin out of my skull. I opened my eyes, my skin once a tanned colour had become ash white, I had taken on fiendish features, my fingers were claws and I had a tail I did not before. In my hands, I held a strange weapon I had never held before, a Greatsword with bone-like wicked looking spikes sticking out of the hilt. This sword I later named the endless hunt which as you know I carry to this day. The transformation must have shocked my opponent for he stood before my new form slack-jawed, his arms hanging by his side his sword hanging loosely from his hand. Turning on his heels he ran terrified of my new appearance. My senses sharpened almost as if his running triggered something in me, something more bestial, my vision almost narrowed till I could no longer see anyone other then my prey, my hearing was muted as only his footfalls registered in my ears. I chased him down surprised by my own quickness catching him easily, I reached up around his throat and lifted him off the ground, I was much stronger than I ever thought possible, pulling him close to my face I looked him in the eyes and was shocked to see my appearance reflected in his eyes. Gone was the boy scared of the world, replaced with a snarling monster two huge horns jutting forward from the monsters brow and tusks jutting up from his mouth. Lifting the Endless Hunt light as a feather with my new found strength I drove it up through his chest, the hot splattering of his blood raining down across my arm giving me an almost copper taste in my mouth as if I could taste the blood on the air. That first kill will always stick in my memory, the day my life changed, gone was the scared boy, the abused pup frightened of a much larger world. In his place was the beast, that day I took the name Draven Barratta which you know me by now. That night after the thrill of battle had worn off was the first night I felt the urge. It starts as an itch you see, deep in my skull which over the next few nights grows to almost physical pain as my senses expand. Picture your skin being so sensitive even the brush of cloth against it is enough to send lances of fire through your veins, or your hearing so sharp that a footfall is enough to wake you, your sense of taste becomes so sharp that even the cooks preparing a carcase for cooking is enough to send your mouth watering with uncontrolled hunger as the copper taste of blood will not leave your mouth. My trainer and I tried many ways to stop this urge, or to at least lessen the effects of it, we drugged me to the stage where I couldn’t function but still, the urge persisted. I found drinking helped lessen the effects but it did not completely remove them, the only way to remove the effects of the calling is to chase, to hunt and to kill, to instil in those the fear that I had instilled into me as a child. I am not proud of the beast that I become during this, but I am glad for the guidance I find in you during the worst of these moments. This cycle continued on for months and months, I would suffer in training camps from the urge. Beating my training partners did nothing to quench this urge in me for I was forbidden to spill their blood or to taste of their flesh. My only reprieve came from my scheduled appearances in the arena where I was allowed to unleash my fullest potential on those put against me. I quickly became a crowd favourite, the roar of the crowd and the urge pushing me to braver and braver displays of fighting prowess. This was my life for many moons until that day we met. I remember that day well, it had been near two weeks since my last hunt and I was deep inside of the urge not even the calming voice of my trainer was able to cut through the cloudiness of my mind. He had kept me chained and weighed down with great balls of lead to stop me from tearing him or another student apart. I remember vaguely him saying something about me fighting one of my own kind and that you were well known. I did not care at the time, it was finally a time to end my suffering at the hands of Baphomet if even for a short time. I remember I was dragged into the arena my sword appearing in my hand as it had a will of its own, the roar of the crowd matching that of me as the chains were finally released. I saw you standing there across from me, what a pitiful sight I must has been to you, a snivelling mess of a creature compared to your grace and elegance. I remember looking into the porcelain mask you wore, the confusion and beauty of its design driving me to greater anger. I thought our fight was to be an easy one for me I charged in trying to end you quickly the Endless hunt becoming a blur in my hand as our dance increased in intensity. You seemed to move like the wind constantly changing direction driving my anger to new heights. What a sight we would have made the two of us, so evenly matched, trapped in an endless dance where the first to misstep would be their last. You pushed me to a new level of the urge that day, the frustration at not being able to hit you and your refusal to run angered me, your constant cuts against my flesh, too weak or off center stung but caused no damage driving me into a further frenzy, then it happened. The first misstep in the dance was yours, the slight shift in your left boot in the sand giving away your next strike, I reacted faster than I ever have before launching a flurry of attacks at your mask finally forcing you to match my strength for strength, a contest much more in my favour. I knocked off your mask and finally saw your face. I know not what I saw under the mask for the next few moments are lost to me in the sea of my memories, I remember a feeling of cold dread as my body refused to respond to my commands as your eyes overtook my mind cutting through Baphomet’s urge. It was at that moment I had all the clarity I needed the peace of your gaze settling my mind. I still hold to my story in saying that you cheated me that day with your next attack, but I do so in jest. I ended up somehow on my arse in the sands of the arena you standing over me blades at my throat. I know not why you spared me that day but I am glad you did I felt a strong connection to you and once I was granted my freedom from the arena I was glad you let me accompany you on your journey. I am glad you seem to understand the urges I go through and are often to calm me out of the urge or at least provide me with someone to hunt when you are unable to. I know not why you are heading towards this Yawning Portal tavern in this Waterdeep. I do not know that if in my mindless ramblings if I have mentioned why I want to head there, but it is said that Baphomet lives at the end of a great maze, and I for one cannot think of a greater maze then that which lies underneath the Yawning Portal. I intend to hunt the Demon Prince himself strike him from my mind and free me from my urges. I feel the itch starting to return as we travel in this wagon towards Waterdeep. I look at you sitting across from me in the back of this wagon, your mask still in place the mark still left in there from when the Endless Hunt caught you and I smile. I do not remember your face, but I hope that one day I will be able to see it and remember it once more. But for now I must end this letter and hunt, not the higher races but I feel a doe may suffice for today. I hope this letter provides you with some clarity as to why I am who I am. Thank you, for everything, yours trulyDraven Barratta the Animal of Luskan.

#dungeons and dragons #writing

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ecofinisher · 4 years ago

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¡Vamos a España! - Chap 18

Chapter 18

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442912/chapters/74254542

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13819897/18/Vamos-a-Espa%C3%B1a

https://www.wattpad.com/1042485216-%C2%A1vamos-a-espa%C3%B1a-chapter-18

At night Orm was sleeping on the hammock and on the other side stood Gerda looking out of the window to the airfield their airship was parked near a few civilian dirigibles. Gerda sighed and walked along the cabin to look through the other window hoping to see her brother or her friend.

„Are you awake, Orm?“ Gerda asked looking at the troll, which furrowed his eyebrows and turned his face away from the girl. Gerda moved to Orm and placed her hand on the shoulder to slowly wake him up. „Orm, are you awake?“

„Hu….what?“ Orm spoke opening his eyes confused from the sudden interruption of his sleep.

„Kai and Alfida didn‘t come back yet and there‘s a strong wind out there. Do you think something happened to them?“ Gerda asked while Orm scratched his neck.

„They should be heading back, don‘t worry,“ Orm said trying to calm his friend down. „That store Kai encountered from above is by feet far away. They could take longer than we assume,“

„Yes I know, but with this wind, something could also have happened to them and I‘m feeling a little unsure about this,“

„Let‘s give it 10 or 15 minutes. If until then they don‘t show up, we better go out and check for them,“ The brown troll suggested looking at Gerda gaze out of the window again seeing nothing but the airfield and landscape.

„You know what? I can‘t stay here any longer. I‘m going out and see if I can find them anywhere,“ Gerda mentioned holding her legs and arms wide to transform. „I will be back,“ Gerda announced and opened the door to leave the cabin, feeling the wind blow against her back making her smile knowing that she wouldn‘t need to fly against the wind. Gerda took off and flew out of the airfield, then observed the landscape and went down to be near the ground, while checking her surroundings. Gerda came on her way on a road, then stopped and looked at three signs each leading to a different location as the third one led her back to the airfield.

The wind began to blew strong causing pressure on Gerda‘s wings to throw her up in the air.

„Woah!“ Gerda blurted in surprise, but she had let the wind guide her and she flew with it and turned around again, trying to fight against the wind by flapping down to follow the road leading to the east side. „Woah, woah, woah….:“ Complained Gerda at the wind, which still blew toward her direction, then she landed on the ground as the wind was still active pushing her away. Several seconds later the wind strength had sunk, at the moment as it had lowered down for the girl, she immediately began to beat with her wings taking off to watch over the road to approach a small forested avenue, which Gerda passed under it hasting up to cross before the wind would eventually push her away. Farther at the end of the road see saw houses and she recognized someone with a light flickering, which got Gerda‘s interest. Gerda got closer to the light, then recognized Alfida holding the candlelight in the light jar, and beneath her stood Kai fixing the handle of the paper bag under the light of the girlfriend. Gerda smiled happy at their sight, then landed on the ground and ran towards the two and Alfida spotted her, getting surprised at the girl‘s appearance.

„Gerda? What are you doing here?“ Alfida asked smiling at the appearance of her friend.

„I was getting worried with the wind and wanted to see, if you two were okay or if something had happend,“

„Everything is okay so far. The wind sometimes pushed us in the wrong direction and we stopped a few times because it was better that way,“ Explained the raven-haired girl. „Flying for you isn‘t that easy either, right?“

„It‘s harder, trust me,“ Gerda responded making Alfida grin.

„Did Orm stay back?“ Questioned Kai earning a nod from his sister.

„Yeah, but he knows I left and would check out in 15 minutes if none of us show up,“ Explained Gerda earning a nod from the raven-haired couple.

„You two didn‘t need to do that. Mostly you while you‘re in this transformation, People could see you and make problems,“

„No one saw me so far, I made sure no one sees me, I swear,“ Assured the blonde, making the couple nod. „Come give me your hands, I‘ll take you with me,“ Offered the dragon-themed wizard and grabbed Alfida and Kai by their arms, taking off carefully and flew forward slowly to make together with her friends hovering with them over the road.

After midday in Alicante, the troll cubs were on the beach they were on Saturday back with Rollan alone. Rollan had left the cubs to play together on the stone pile as he went to get to a store to buy something. More people were present on their beach, but Rollan made sure they were distanced from the civilians to avoid them to see the trolls from the near. Leonid was hopping from stone to stone behind his older brother Ivan, which was a few rocks away from him and the blonde jumped against the brother to tag him, but he missed and landed on his belly making the brother laugh. The middle brother, which passed under beneath the brothers stopped and looked further to spot Rollan racing towards the triplets, then he waved at Rollan.

„Boys, boys, I‘ve bought us this handball here. What do you think about we play a few games with it?“ Rollan offered watching the cubs' exchange looks, then ran down at the sand to meet with the Spaniard. „Good idea, hein?“ Rollan commented and got down on his knees. „This is actually a handball, but I believe you three are too small at the moment for handball…..or is that volleyball, which you have to use your arms?“ Rollan asked himself. „Nevermind I think handball is okay, you only use your hands,“ Rollan commented. „Or we try to play soccer, which you use your feet, which idea do you like the most?“ Rollan questioned watching the cubs look at each other, then up at Rollan with no response. „Then we just do both, let‘s start with handball, but first I need to make for us a goal. That is the place, where we score for us,“ Rollan said placing the ball on the ground, then he ran at the stone wall and tried to look for loose ones and picked one up and carried it down placing it a few centimeters away from the pile and went back to pick out another one to place it distant enough from the other mark for the goal.

„So, that‘s the goal and now follow me and I use my shoes to mark our start position,“ Rollan mentioned walking along the beach, then took off his shoes and left them on the sand about a mile away from the goal.

„Okay, we‘re four, so we can easily be a fair team….more or less,“ Rollan commented then went down on his knees and gave Leonid the ball. „Okay we two have to run with the ball and pass it to each other and one of us has to try to throw the ball into the goal there to make a point. Your brothers will try to steal us the ball to do the same and we follow them and try to steal the ball away from them to make a point for ourselves,“

The trolls nodded, then Ivan stole the ball away from Leonid and ran along with his younger brother shrieking Leonid, which looked up at Rollan, which smirked and along with the light-brown cub raced behind the dark-toned siblings. Rollan jumped above the cubs and blocked them the way and the two older cubs looked at each other wondering, what they should do, then Leonid showed up trying to take away the ball and while the triplets were distracted Rollan slowly reached his hand into the cubs to take away the ball shrieking the rivals, which jumped behind the raven-haired boy pushing him down on the ground to fall down with the ball. „Hey! That‘s a foul,“ Rollan complained then Ivan tried to take the ball away from the boy and the younger brother got up on the back of the human.

„You two are giving me a better idea. I alone play against you three, what do you say?“ Rollan suggested, then Leonid jumped on Ivan to take the ball away and both growled at each other as they couldn‘t take the ball away from the other. Rollan chuckled afterward he moved the ball up while raising up both of the cubs and they dropped on their butt and watched Rollan throw the ball into the marked girl making Leonid applaud.

„Tada!“ Rollan announced then Ivan packed Rollan on his head trying to squeeze the teenager making him groan. „Hey! That‘s not legal,“

The cubs laughed, then heard a squeaking and saw Luta come along with a small apple in her mouth and stopped by the males on her hind legs.

„Where have you been?“ Rollan asked watching Luta drop the apple on the ground and push it towards the triplets. „Where did you find that apple?“ Rollan asked, then Luta climbed up on Rollan‘s shoulder and pointed at a garden with trees earning a nod from the raven-haired boy. „I‘m not sure who's house that is next to the trees. Some people don‘t like it when you take fruits from trees,“ Rollan mentioned, then Luta got down on the sand to check out the ball Rollan brought and sniffed on it. „Hey want to join the cubs playing handball against me?“ Rollan offered, then she shook her head and observed the oldest cub split with Leonid the apple, and Ivan grabbed the ball and handed it out to Rollan. Rollan smiled and got up running slow, so Ivan could pursue him without much effort for his legs. Rollan dropped the ball at the goal, then watched Ivan grab the ball and walk back to the others. Rollan figured out a better way to play with the cubs, then went down on his knees and began to move forward on them going behind the dark-brown cub. The cub tried to run faster on the sand but ended up tripping and Rollan placed his hands under the troll‘s arms to tickle him, making it laugh. The troll babbled ordering Rollan to stop, then the siblings ran at Rollan to tickle him on the sides of his belly causing Rollan to laugh and get down on his back, then all cubs got on his belly to prevent him to get up, so they were able to tickle him more. „No, stop it, please!“ Rollan complained while the trolls were amused at his suffering.

Luta watched the cubs play on Rollan and giggled, therefore she looked along the beach at the number of people having fun and noticed a person sneak past families looking into the bags of people, which had it unwatched by them. Luta noticed it was suspicious and jumped at Rollan and pushed him on his bangs, squeaking and pointed at the beach to show the man slowly taking out from a bag a small money purse.

„I can‘t. I‘m under attack,“ Rollan warned unable to notice, what Luta meant, then she jumped against Rollan‘s stomach causing him to sit up in pain due to the girl‘s bounce towards him. „Ouch! Careful!“ Rollan warned, then Luta jumped at his shoulder pointing at the man getting his hands on another purse of a woman, making Rollan drop his mouth in shock.

„He‘s stealing,“ Rollan commented, then Luta pointed at the man and nodded with a serious expression earning a nod from Rollan, which grabbed Luta and handed her out to the cubs and picked up his shoes to put them on and ran toward the beach.

„Un ladrón!“ Shouted Rollan loud getting the man‘s attention, which didn‘t hear, what Rollan said and he got pushed on his arm by the woman, causing him shock and he threw the stolen pocket against the woman and ran away heading toward a railway located near the beach and Rollan made his way toward the rail, where the thief was heading to.

Rollan made it to the railway and pursued the thief over the stones of the path, noticing them to be slightly inaccurate sizes and he moved his head at the thief, which didn‘t seem less bothered with the issue. The two reached together the bridge, continuing their way on the rail and the thief stopped in the middle of the bridge to take a stone and threw it against Rollan hitting him on his knee preventing him to move further.

„Hey!“ Rollan shouted watching annoyed the man move on while picking up a couple of more stones. Rollan growled and continued his pursuit, then observed the criminal moving aside at the stone-made platform along the bridge continuing his escape there. Rollan watched the man race, then the man began to throw rocks against Rollan, then Rollan moved aside to dodge them, afterward, the criminal looked behind to be aware of Rollan‘s whereabouts and be able to aim toward him. Rollan managed to dodge a couple of more stones, then he made it to jump at the platform to keep the pursuit of the criminal.

„Is that everything you got?“ Rollan asked watching another stone fly toward him shrieking the boy, which jumped up at the railing and he placed his hands on it to prevent himself from losing the equilibrium. The guard student observed the thief run with empty hands, then he returned to the platform to follow the thief to the end of the bridge, where the thief jumped and hang himself behind a carriage, which trotted the way down to the port. Rollan growled and tried to run behind the vehicle seeing the villain smirk at the boy. „Hey rider! There‘s a thief behind your horse!“ Shouted Rollan, then the rider looked back in confusion to see Rollan running and he stopped the horse, making the criminal frown and get down of the carriage, then he climbed on the front pushing the rider off and whipped hard with the leash causing the horses to depart faster leaving the rider back, which got helped up by Rollan.

„ Perdóneme. He stole people's money at the beach,“ Rollan warned looking at the man escaping with the horse. „I‘ll get your horses back,“ Rollan mentioned running behind the horses, which were far away from the boy. Rollan continued to run effortlessly behind the thief, then smiled relieved as the man had run against another carriage and abandoned the horses, which lied on the ground and were about to get assisted by workers from the port. Rollan observed the man head across a roundabout to the entrance to the platform, which led to the boats and Rollan noticed at the roundabout open gates, which led around a small market warehouse to the same position as the thief was going to and Rollan made his way up there crossing the gates passing over a road, where a few carriages were stopped for future charges of wares.

Rollan spotted the man going up on a wooden bridge, where all the boats were tied up and the boy heading toward the bridge whistled to call the thief‘s attention, which noticed Rollan and made his way on the bridge making Rollan roll his eyes. The Spaniard was about to move at the next corner and in front of him appeared two horses pulling a carriage shrieking Rollan, which threw himself down on the ground to slide under the horse on his butt looking up at the carriage to see a fisher look down at Rollan surprised. Rollan got up and looked at the man running above the bridge, then Rollan leaped at the boat, then jumped from boat to boat trying to keep up with the criminal. Rollan moved after the 5th boat to the bridge to continue the pursuit and near a corner, which led to the left side, Rollan got off the bridge to jump over the boats, and during one jump he shrieks noticing a ship getting out of the parking spot and Rollan crashes against the small cabin of a boat, where a fisher was about to get out and noticed Rollan there.

„ Que pasa, chico?“ The fisher asked, then saw the thief stop to look at Rollan with a peal of laughter. Rollan got up from the ground, then glared at the thief, which made his way back on the bridge and Rollan got out of the ship to get behind the thief, then at the end of the bridge showed up a guard watching the thief come along afterward the thief stopped as he recognized the uniformed guard and turned around to see Rollan come back. The thief had an idea, then ran toward the guard, which held his sword against the thief.

„No, no, no. You don‘t understand. This crazy boy has been hunting me the entire time for money, but I don‘t have any money and he didn‘t want to listen to me and tried to hunt me down,“ The thief told making Rollan frown annoyed at the thief‘s comment.

„This is not the truth Sir. I saw him stealing money from the people there at San Gabriel and I wanted to stop him and followed him until here,“ Rollan explained tired, then lifted his finger up. „Uno momento,“ Rollan asked to inhale and exhale from his run. „Wow, what a run,“

„ Chico, this what you‘ve done isn‘t a play. You could have hurt people or hurt yourself. Leave this to the professionals,“ The guard warned making Rollan shake his head.

„You don‘t understand this, sir. I‘m one of you,“ Rollan commented tired from the running, and got down on his knees. „You know lieutenant Roberto?“ Asked Rollan, then the guard whistled and looked back at the police carriage, that was parked near the warehouse and the lieutenant, which is responsible for the education at the academy of Rollan looked at his work pal and looked at Rollan, then made his way up at the bridge.

„What is going on?“ Roberto asked, then looked at Rollan. „Hey you‘re that boy at the academy, right?“

„Sir…...I‘ve been following this thief from San Gabriel up to here by feet. I‘ve run over the railway, I ran over the entire road up here and jumped over these boats just to catch this guy…….Aye Santa Maria……,“

„Maybe I should have thrown you some stones at your heard, tonto“ The thief commented making the first guard place his hand questioningly under his chin.

„Why would a regular citizen throw stones at another citizen, without a reason?“ The guard asked making the thief curse under his breath as he revealed one of his bad deeds.

„If you‘re not sure about who of us the real thief is, check the pockets,“ Rollan suggested putting his hands inside his pockets to reveal both of his to be empty, but a few coins falling out on the ground. The thief rolled his eyes and took out from both pockets about five different, small purses earning a nod from the guard.

„You‘re under arrest, Mr,“ The guard announced watching the thief put his hands behind his back, so the man could handcuff him.

„I believe major of the chaos here were mainly caused by our perpetrator here and with more professionalism, this could have been avoided…...but Señor Rollan…..Roberto said placing his hand on the boy‘s shoulder, then walked him out of the bridge, followed by his partner, which led the criminal out of there and several citizens, which were around the port looking at Rollan coming down with the others. In the middle of the crowd was Enrico together with Ernesto helping a man, which was putting up on top of the carriage a filled net with fishes on it and he looked along with the teens at the four to see Rollan, the thief, and the two guards leading the thief out, which made the man on the carriage shake his head at the sight and Enrico recognized Rollan and stepped further to check it out.

„Ernesto look it‘s Rollan,“ Enrico warned and Ernesto looked at the boy, which was looking at Roberto. „Rollan, what have you done this time?“ Enrico asked jokingly calling Rollan‘s attention, then Roberto smacked Rollan on his back.

„One week has passed at our guard education academy and this young man here Rollan, one of my students already showed off the skills he learned at the school right here around us to catch this pickpocket here. In the following months, you will see soon more competent guards defending our country from crimes just like he did. I assume that not everyone has paid attention to you. I wish I had seen that but from what I heard from the others here, you seemed to have done a super pursuit,“ Roberto commented making Rollan smile.

„ Gracias, Señor Roberto,“ Rollan thanked saluting at the lieutenant, which saluted back at the teenager.

„Rollan could never stop a criminal back when pirates used to rob our city,“ Enrico noticed earning a nod from the man above the ship, while Ernesto stood there listening to his friend, which looked back at his friend, which nodded agreeing with the friend.

„Also how is everyone sure Rollan did that?“ Questioned Ernesto, then another man showed up with a box with fish bait in it.

„I was walking away and spotted the man in the red shirt run behind this criminal up there on the bridge all over here to catch him. I came back to see what would happen and as we see he made it,“ The man explained making Enrico furrow his eyebrows uninterested at the man‘s comment.

„Don‘t worry, mi hijo. You‘ll get there too with the time. Just like you promised me,“ The man on the carriage said making Enrico nod, which looked at Ernesto, that was a little shocked with the man‘s comment.

„Stop looking and get back to work!“ Ordered Enrico walking across the road to get to a fisher boat to pick up another bag while Ernesto looked at Rollan get accompanied to the carriage of the police.

„When King Esteban hears about this he will be happy,“ Roberto announced earning a nod from Rollan.

„I did what I found right,“ Rollan commented. „Mostly I want to help our people here around,“

„You did well, right people?“ The lieutenant asked looking at the citizens, which approached Rollan to give him applause making him grin abashed at the positive feedback. Roberto placed his hand on Rollan‘s shoulder to pet it, then saw Rollan roll his eyes up at the lieutenant. „Too bad there aren‘t many girls around your age here. With that face and heroism you would get them all bowing down at your feet,“ Roberto commented making Rollan chuckle.

„I have already a girlfriend Sir and there‘s no one else I could rather be with, than with her,“ Rollan commented earning a nod from the lieutenant. Rollan looked back across the ocean back at the beach, where he came from to see the trolls follow Luta to the bridge from above the stone hill, then Rollan turned around to make his way back to the cubs, then someone nudged him on his arm and he looked back to see Ernesto standing there.

„Sorry I have to go back to my cousins,“ Rollan commented earning a nod from the brunette boy.

„It‘s okay, look…….I just wanted to tell you, that what you did was really cool and that for me you‘re not an idiot. You‘re actually pretty decent,“

„Uh thank you,“

„I know it sounds weird, but don‘t take everything Enrico says serious. He and his father are in a….complicated phase and sometimes Enrico feels bad and can‘t let out his anger on his father so he either does it to me or now you,“ „But your friend Enrico always did that ever since,“

„Yes he did, but that problem has already existed there. It just got worse with the time and just remember that. Ignore every comment he makes towards you,“

„Okay, but wouldn‘t a talk with someone help him better?“ Rollan asked making the brunette shrug his shoulders.

„He doesn‘t want to talk to anyone about it besides me,“

„Okay, I keep that in mind. Thanks,“ Rollan responded making Ernesto nod. „Look I will have to go, see you tomorrow,“ Rollan said leaving the brunette Spaniard back, which watched Rollan leave and shrieked as he heard a man shout his name.

Rollan meets up with the cubs at the street beneath the bridge, which received the tall boy with a long hug, then he sat down on the ground with them on his lap and helped Luta up on his shoulder, and began to tell the cubs, what happened so the cubs had glued their eyes on Rollan to listen to his story. Amused by Rollan‘s story, he recounted the story at the cubs again, then thanked the weasel Luta for her observation, which led Rollan to gain more confidence and interest in continuing his formation without more hesitation,

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