#she will often turn towards them and open her mouth and flare her fins

[rxttenfish]

while aaravi remains firmly within "yeah miranda has a difficult personality and isn't very easy to get along with + has many rough edges which are slowly being worked on but still going to be an issue" after having been very much so within the camp that miranda is a Vexing Bitch upon first contact/getting to know her, she DOES go from "miranda is unpredictable and dangerous as a merfolk and large macropredator and her emotions are inscrutable and random" to "merfolk aren't very hard to understand or predict and it's very easy to stay on the safe side if you keep basic rules in mind and don't freak out the second something unexpected happens"

[rosiehunterwolf]

For the Romping and the Roaring- Part 1

Here is my submission for Day 1 of @serpentfever's Inhuman Event!

Link to read on ffn.net

This is part 1 of the story, and the rest of the parts will be posted, one each day, for the rest of the event. Because of the length of this, full story is under the cut. I've provided a little preview of the story below:

Preview

Perhaps the most strange looking thing about the scene, though, was the small boy perched on the badger’s back. Small black horns pertruded from a head of fluffy blond hair, and long, pointed, velvety black ears wiggled eagerly. Short, splayed fingers gripped the badger’s shoulders, and his small, webbed wings proved quite the contrast from Zane’s feathered ones. Perhaps the most noticeable of all, however, was the long black tail that waved behind him, curved fins flaring out at the end of it. And the delighted trills coming from his mouth were definitely anything but human.

Well, maybe it was strange-looking to anyone else. But for Kai, it was just an ordinary day.

Prompts Used: Panic, Hiding

Word Count: 10,082

Rating: T

Trigger Warnings: Imprisonment, Dehumanization, Mentions of Murder

Part 1

“Wake up, sleepyhead!”

Kai groaned, blinking awake. His sister grinned down at him, her arms dangling in his face from where she was hanging, her spotted tail wrapped tightly around one of the structural beams.

“Go away,” he mumbled, tossing a pillow in her face. “It’s too early.”

“It’s ten am.”

“So? It’s not like there’s anything to do around here, I might as well get my beauty rest.”

“Goodness knows you need it, with that dreaded mane of yours.”

He tossed another pillow at her face, which turned out to be a mistake, because now he was out of pillows.

“Why do you always have so much energy? Don’t you ever sleep?”

She shrugged. “I like to sleep in the afternoons. I guess it’s a leopard thing? They’re nocturnal, you know.”

“I know, Nya. I’ve had a half-leopard as a sister for sixteen years, don’t you think I would know that by now?”

“Debatable.”

“I’ll ignore that comment if you let me sleep for a little more.”

“Have you forgotten what day it is?” Nya chirped, beginning to swing back and forth. “Today Dr. Borg is letting us take Lloyd into the city!”

Kai sat bolt upright. “That’s today?”

“Yes, fish-brain! You should see him, he’s so excited.”

Kai scrambled out of bed, startling Nya and making her fall into the bed with a yelp. He shook his head, letting his mane cascade around his face and down his back. Huffing as half of it fell into his eyes, he wrestled it into a ponytail- part of it, anyway- and walked over to the door, Nya bounding after him. The other four beds in the room were already empty.

Opening the door revealed the same thing it always did. Another room- this one much larger than the last one, but a closed-off room nonetheless- stretched around them. There were a few other doors that led to bathrooms, a room with skylights (made with reinforced glass, of course, so no one could break it, even if they had superstrength) so they could soak in the natural light from time to time, and just some rooms with various activities- paints, notebooks, computers, puzzles, TVs, and all the books and video games they could ever want, or if they just needed some alone time away from the others for a bit.

But none of that changed the fact that the door on the far side of the room was always firmly locked.

In the kitchen, Zane was whipping up a bowl of pancake batter. Tawny-colored wings unfurled from his back, stretching freely now that he didn’t have to hide them. The feathered tufts behind his ears twitched as a loud shriek sounded out from the other side of the room.

Kai turned, a purr rumbling in his throat as he caught sight of the large badger lumbering across the room. A small yellow labrador raced after him, barking excitedly.

Perhaps the most strange looking thing about the scene, though, was the small boy perched on the badger’s back. Small black horns pertruded from a head of fluffy blond hair, and long, pointed, velvety black ears wiggled eagerly. Short, splayed fingers gripped the badger’s shoulders, and his small, webbed wings proved quite the contrast from Zane’s feathered ones. Perhaps the most noticeable of all, however, was the long black tail that waved behind him, curved fins flaring out at the end of it. And the delighted trills coming from his mouth were definitely anything but human.

Kai’s tail thrashed fondly. Well, maybe it was strange-looking to anyone else. But to him, it was just an ordinary day.

Almost.

“Lloyd, you’re here already!” Kai called, hurrying over. The small boy brightened- even more so than he already was- at the sight of him, and leapt into his arms. Kai stroked him gently, and Lloyd purred softly, his long tail thwacking against his leg.

The badger blinked at him, shaking his head, and, in a flash of light, he was gone, a young man sitting on the floor in his place. His curly black hair, with a white stripe down the middle, nearly hid the small black ears poking out. Round glasses framed his dark eyes as he grinned up at Kai, his fangs glinting. The lab jumped into his lap, and the man scratched behind his ears. With a flash, the lab turned back into a teenager, his auburn curls falling into his freckled face.

“Augh, Jay! Get off of me, you lump!” He shoved his friend off of his lap, sending him tumbling.

“Hey, Cole, you could’ve asked nicely,” Jay whimpered, even though his golden tail was wagging, and his ears were perked.

“Yeah, well next time, don’t transform back when you’re in my lap! Having a small dog sitting on me is one thing, a lanky teenager is another.”

“Stop acting like you’re so superior! You’re only four years older than me, barely out of teenagehood yourself!”

“I’m not acting like I’m superior! I’m just telling you not to sit on top of me!”

“Whatever,” Jay grumbled.

“Hey, guys,” Kai snorted.

“Mornin’ Kai,” Jay grinned. “Have a nice lie-in?”

Cole groaned, shaking his head, and Kai shot Jay a glare.

“You shut up with your damn puns, puppy boy.”

“Jeez, apparently someone’s had his pride hurt.”

“I swear, one more lion pun-”

“Fine, fine! I know when my witty quips aren’t wanted.”

Jay,” Cole sighed, “they’re never wanted. Anyways, you ready for today, Kai?”

“You bet! They brought Lloyd in early, today, huh?”

“Dr. Borg wants us to get him ready and make sure he’s behaving well before we leave.”

Kai raised an eyebrow. “And romping around giving him badger rides and riling him up is a good way to do that?”

“Aw, come on, Kai, he’ll be fine. Besides,” his voice lowered as he went on, “he deserves to have a little fun while he’s here.”

Kai instinctively tightened his grip on Lloyd. None of them knew what happened to Lloyd when their caretakers took him away at night, apart from the fact that Dr. Borg insisted he was perfectly safe, but, at the very least, he was alone, and sometimes, Kai, with his heightened sense of hearing, could hear him whimpering through the walls. Lloyd hated being alone, and Kai didn’t understand why he couldn’t just stay with them all the time.

But, like most things, Dr. Borg just kept them in the dark about it.

Not that he was being ungrateful- Dr. Borg had kept them alive.

Issac Borg, son of Cyrus Borg, had taken over his father’s company when he had died, and, as head scientist at Borg Tower, had made it his mission to help the few living hybrids left- Kai and his friends. Dr. Borg had told them stories of how the human world rejected anything that was different from them- that they feared those with different blood such as Kai and his friends, saw them as “monsters,” and would seek them out and kill them if they ever found out their secret.

But Dr. Borg didn’t think the same way as the rest of the world. He wanted to protect them, to let them thrive and grow strong. So, he took them in and helped keep them hidden. He had given them work to do, too, not normal work, but things that only they could do. Dr. Borg told them how the world wanted everyone to be the same, and to hide what made them unique, but he said that they should be able to play to their strengths. Their trainers helped them learn how to fight, and to use their unique skills to an advantage. At this point, Kai had a repertoire of fighting skills he was eager to bring to fruition, but it seemed like the time never came to use them.

They did get to use their skills in other ways, though. Jay often went out in the streets in his dog form, his quick and cunning nature allowing him to be a natural pickpocket, with the ultimate disguise. Zane’s flight abilities allowed him to scope out Ninjago City, and keep Borg posted on the government’s actions. Nya’s agility skills let her slip around nearly undetected, which kept them out of a lot of fights. Kai’s hearing allowed him to eavesdrop for information, and Cole’s strength and digging skills could break through a lot of walls and barriers.

Except for the ones of their room.

For as much as he loved Borg- he was the closest thing to a father that any of them had- he couldn’t help but feel a bit like a prisoner, trapped up in here. He just wished Borg would trust them more.

Kai was eighteen now. He was old enough to keep himself and the younger ones out of trouble.

Which Borg is depending on me to do today, he reminded himself. The others had gotten the hang of how to behave outside of the tower by now, but Lloyd was still so young and often needed reminding. And it was no secret the little oni, dragon, and human tribrid was especially clingy with Kai. It was his job to keep him under control and on his best behavior.

I can do this. I will prove to Borg how trustworthy I am.

“Pancakes are ready!”

His thoughts were interrupted as Zane chirped at them from the kitchen. Lloyd’s warm, comfortable weight vanished from his arms as he leaped to the ground and scurried towards the kitchen island on all fours, climbing up the barstool to perch on top. He clicked and chirred brightly at Zane, his red eyes glinting hungrily, and the falcon hybrid bit back a grin at his expression.

“Use your words, Lloyd.”

Lloyd’s expression dimmed slightly, and Kai frowned. Lloyd’s reluctance to use human words was probably what worried him the most about integrating him into society. But Zane had been practicing with him ever since he could crawl, and if anyone could get him to speak, it was Zane.

“Can I have pancakes? Please?”

“Yes, Lloyd, you may.”

Zane slid two chocolate chip pancakes onto his plate. The sweet scent of the pastry drifted over to them, and Kai felt his mouth water. Jay, Cole, Kai, and Nya bounded over to the island as well as Zane served them the food. Jay jumped up and dashed towards the cupboard, grabbing out a container of rainbow-colored sprinkles.

Lloyd’s eyes practically glowed as he grappled for them. Jay laughed, and sprinkled a handful onto his pancakes. Lloyd chirred delightedly and hurriedly began to devour his breakfast.

“Jay, don’t give him more sugar. He’s going to be impossible when we go into the city.”

“You’re the one watching him, not me,” Jay chirped.

Kai put his head in his hands, sighing.

“It’s okay,” Zane assured him. “A little milk can go a long way to calm him down. Here Lloyd,” he pushed a sippy cup of milk towards him, “drink some of this.”

Lloyd worked on the milk as the rest of them ate, and, by the time they were all finished, he was looking a lot less feral. Zane was a lifesaver.

Nya glanced at the clock. “It’s almost time to go. We should start getting ready.”

They walked over to the closet where they kept all their gear. The large, loose sweaters allowed them a place to tuck in their tails, and, for Zane, his wings as well. As Kai helped his friend to adjust his coat to properly hide all the feathers, Nya pulled the sleeves of hers longer down her arms, hiding the light rosette spotting there. She had been able to pass it off as a tattoo before, but they really didn’t want to take any chances, especially not with Lloyd along this time.

Cole began to help Lloyd with his jacket, but the young boy swatted his hands away. “I can do it.”

“You sure, bud? It can be tricky-”

“I do it. I do the buttons.” His ears twitched as he ran his fingers over the smooth objects.

While Lloyd worked on the jacket, the rest of them shoved hats over their heads, Kai, with some difficulty, getting his over his mane, but when they turned back to Lloyd, now sporting his lopsided-buttoned jacket, there was evidently a large issue, and it wasn’t Lloyd’s button job.

“What are we going to do about his tail,” Jay asked. “The rest of us have the self control to hold ours under our coats for the time period, but he’s four, he’s not gonna be able to do that.”

“And it’s so long,” Nya pointed out. “I remember having a lot more trouble with my tail than any of you guys did, and Lloyd’s less than half my size!”

“Didn’t we used to tie it up when you were younger?” Kai asked.

“What?” “Here,” Kai pulled a scarf out of the closet. “C’mere, Lloyd.”

The child bounded over to him, and Kai picked up his tail in his hands, examining it. “Hmm. Flexible enough.” Folding it back on itself a few times, Kai used the scarf to tie it up firmly, and then pulled the coat down over it. “That should hold for quite a while.”

Lloyd bared his teeth at him, and Kai winced. “Sorry, I know it’s not the most comfortable thing, bud, but we got to do it, okay?”

Lloyd started to grab for his tail, but his small arms couldn’t reach it. Kai stopped him, nonetheless. “Hey, bud, don’t. I’m not kidding, okay?”

Lloyd huffed dramatically, before pacing towards the door.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Lloyd glanced back, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of the small hat Kai was holding in his hands. He squwaked loudly, trying to scramble past him, but Kai swooped him up in his grip. Lloyd hissed and struggled, although his body was trembling with the familiar vibrations Kai recognized as playfulness. This was a game to him.

“Lloyd,” Kai growled through gritted teeth, tightening his grip on the squirming bundle, “Just put on the hat. It’s not the end of the world.”

“No!”

Well, that was one word he knew quite clearly.

Kai jammed the hat onto his head, but Lloyd quickly shook it off and jumped away, scrambling under the couch to hide, his red eyes glowing eerily in the darkness, his pupils narrowed into thin slits.

“Lloyd,” Kai said, letting an authoritative tone slip into his voice- which wasn’t something to be messed with, when you were part lion. “This is not an option. Either you wear the hat and behave, or we don’t go out at all.”

Lloyd’s eyes blinked, and after only a second, he was scurrying back out and reluctantly letting Kai pull the hat onto his head.

And not a moment too soon- Kai’s ears twitched as he caught the sound of movement behind the big, blocked door. His head whipped towards it, and the others quickly picked up on him, revving their gazes towards the door, too. After a few moments, they began to hear it, too. Jay cocked his head anxiously, Zane adjusted his coat, Cole pushed his glasses further up his nose, and Nya narrowed her eyes, grabbing Lloyd’s hand.

The door slowly swung open- Kai had to resist the urge to dash out- and revealed four of their caretakers- Liam, Noah, Rahn, and Kelsey. Kai let out his breath, slowly.

“Are you ready to leave, children?” One of them, Liam, asked. His gaze flitted between each of them, scanning them carefully. He stopped on Lloyd, his eyes narrowing, but if he had a problem, he didn’t voice it. “You look wonderfully human. A job well done, and not an easy one, I’m sure.”

“Yes, but appearances are only the beginning,” Kelsey pointed out. “You must make sure you are all on your best behavior, especially the muta- Lloyd. You all have learned a lot from your human behavior lessons, have you not?”

They nodded, and Kai added, “Is Dr. Borg not going to see us off today?”

“He’s a very busy person, Kai,” Rahn reminded him. “You children are lucky that he makes as much time for you as he does.”

Kai dipped his head, falling silent.

“Don’t worry, he’ll probably check in with you when you’re back,” Noah assured. “For now, we can escort you. Are you ready?”

Yelps and purrs responded him, and Noah shot them a sharp glance. Kai felt his ears droop shamefully as he responded, in sync with the others, “Yes, sir.”

“Then let’s go.” Noah beckoned for Cole to follow him, who was closely followed by Jay, then Zane. Kai and Nya went last, Lloyd bounding between them. His eyes were both bright and wary.

Rahn cleared his throat as they passed, and Nya bent down to Lloyd, whispering, “Two feet, bud.”

Lloyd grumbled, but obliged, taking his hands off the ground and standing up on just his feet instead. His steps were a little wobbly, so Nya and Kai each grabbed a hand. That made him look a little less grumpy about the situation, at least.

The caretakers led them down the floors of Borg Tower, and for the first time in weeks, Kai saw people, more than just doctors and scientists and caretakers, at least. Employers at Borg, but these ones weren’t the higher up, didn’t know their secret. Wary glances were shot at them, but it was probably just because they were wondering what a bunch of kids were doing in Borg Tower, not because they were secretly a bunch of weird monster mutants that had to hide everything about them because no one trusted them and people wanted to hurt them, and they just wanted to be normal kids-

The point was, it was nice to be looked at like a kid, for once.

And then, there were windows, and then-

They were outside.

The little skylight in their room couldn’t bring justice to this. Sunlight streamed around them, bright and cheery and welcoming, and the crisp autumn air tickled his cheeks. There were people everywhere, not Borg employees, but just regular people, talking and laughing with each other. No one was staring at him, conversing in hushed whispers, or telling him off for smiling too much and showing off his fangs. There weren’t any trainers scolding him, or doctors whisking him off to yet another appointment, and most of all, there weren’t any walls.

Kai felt like he wanted to cry. It wasn’t his first time out, Dr. Borg let them out every so often, but…

It had been way too long.

Although he knew that, however bad it was for him, it was worse for Lloyd. While they got to go out every month or so, Lloyd only rarely got cleared to come with them, and he had only been allowed to at all about a year ago. Dr. Borg said it was because he was too young, although Kai swore that he could remember him and the others going out more often when they had been Lloyd’s age, with adult supervision, of course.

Sure enough, Lloyd’s eyes were as wide as saucers as he gazed around, taking everything in in that quiet, attentive way of his.

“Excited, Lloydster?” Kai asked him. “Wanna go to the mall?”

Borg had given them a fairly sizable chunk of money- after all, being the owner of the city’s largest science organization didn’t exactly leave him with empty pockets- to spend as they pleased (as long as it wasn’t anything too outrageous, and their bags and pockets were to be searched before they reentered the tower,) so they went shopping at the mall. Lloyd obviously wasn’t so enthralled with Macy’s, Barnes & Noble, or Hot Topic, so the ninja took turns with Lloyd while the others went shopping. When Kai was with him, he spent a lot of time going up and down the escalator. Kai was worried the behavior might be unusual among humans and draw attention to them, and although they got a few odd looks, after a little while a little girl named Raina started running up and down the escalator with him. Kai had frantically apologized to her mother, but she just laughed, telling him “kids will be kids!” Kai had allowed himself to give her a tentative smile, and had been reluctant when he had to leave with Lloyd. The woman, Jessica, had given Kai her number if Lloyd ever wanted to get together.

Kai didn’t have the heart to tell her it could never happen.

After they finished shopping, the group stopped for lunch in the food court, then headed to the park and chatted while Lloyd ran around.

The afternoon was peaceful and cool, and it was all too soon when he got the call telling them it was time to go back.

“Hey Lloyd, time to go, bud.”

The look that flitted across Lloyd’s face made his heart break. “Can we… can we come back tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so, bud. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.”

“We can watch a movie when we get home, bubs. You wanna do that?” There was a shake in Nya’s voice as she spoke, and he knew she hated this as much as he did.

“Can we watch… the one with dinosaurs?”

“We can watch whatever you want, bubs.”

The walk back to Borg Tower was grim and quiet. The silence was only broken when Lloyd pointed at the fountain in the town square, as they were walking past.

“Look!” he called, leaning over the side to peer in. “There’s so many shiny things in there!”

“People throw their coins in fountains,” Zane told him.

“Why? I use my coins to buy a lollipop,” Lloyd giggled.

Kai crouched down next to him. “They say that if you throw a coin in the fountain, you can make a wish.”

Lloyd’s eyes were wide. “A wish? Like what?”

“I don’t know. Anything you want, I guess.”

Nya crouched down on the other side of him, slipping a penny from out of her purse. “You want to make a wish, bean?”

“Yeah.” Lloyd took the coin and closed his eyes. He was silent for a moment, before tossing it in. They watched it sink, down, down, down, until it hit the bottom.

On the way home, Jay spoke up. “What did you wish for, bud?”

Lloyd was quiet for a moment.

“If I tell you, it won’t come true.”

---

After their caretakers looked through their bags, they brought the group up to the room. The walk was a quiet one. The unasked question in all of their minds hung on the air- they wanted to ask if Lloyd could stay the night, just this once. The boy had been eerily quiet since the fountain, not even protesting when he had been searched, and Nya was holding him gently in her arms now. He wasn’t asleep, but his eyes stared off into the distance, his mind obviously elsewhere.

Dr. Borg himself met them at their door. “My children! How was your day out? Were you on your best behaviour?”

“You already know,” Nya muttered.

Borg frowned. “What was that, dear?”

“Nothing.”

Kai cocked his head at her, and she gave a tiny shake of her head, her glare telling him, not now.

He stared her right back, the message clear. We’ll talk later.

“It was good, Dr. Borg, but we were just wondering- would it be okay if Lloyd stayed the night with us? He’s pretty tired, and it would just be for one night-”

“Zane, I’m sorry, but Lloyd has a very important doctor’s appointment tonight-”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kai caught Lloyd stiffen, gripping tighter to Nya’s shoulder. A low growl sounded in her throat, and she brought her hands up protectively around him.

“Another doctor, Borg?” Kai snapped. “That’s the third one this week. Is there something wrong with him? Something you’re not telling us?”

“Of course not! Kai, calm yourself. What reason do I have to hide Lloyd’s medical records from you? Nothing is wrong, we just want to do some more testing. As you know, we give you all frequent checkups so that our doctors may learn more about you and your bodies. Lloyd is even more unique than any of you, so unfortunately, that just means more appointments.”

“He’s not a test subject,” Nya growled, “He’s family.”

“I never said he was! He is just as much family to me as he is to you!” Borg’s voice softened. “Nya, I know you are protective, but I am doing this for Lloyd. Knowing his body better will help us to help him better in the future, if he is to ever get sick or something.”

Nya wilted. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I know you mean well. Now, c’mon, Lloyd, it’s time to go.”

Lloyd wailed as Borg’s assistant tried to pull him away from Nya, and he clung to her as firmly as his fingers would allow, which, for someone of his genetics, was pretty tight. Eventually, Kai had to step in.

“Lloyd, please. Let go. We’re just trying to help you.”

Lloyd released Nya’s shoulder slowly, but his eyes were round and hurt as he gazed at Kai. He tried not to flinch. Lloyd didn’t understand that this was for his own good.

Kai didn’t really understand it, either.

The group filed into their room- the door locking with a sharp click behind them- and the others wandered off to do their own things. Jay flipped through the TV channels, not settling on anything for more than ten seconds, and Cole and Zane worked on a puzzle, although their progress was slow, and their heart didn’t seem to really be into it.

Kai, however, made no time for pointless hobbies, and headed over to Nya.

“We need to talk.”

“I agree. But not in here.” She pointed towards the bedroom door. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”

He followed her in, closing the door behind him, before heading to sit next to her on her bed. “What’s so important that the others can’t hear?”

“It’s not that they can’t hear it. It’s just… I don’t know if they’ll want to. I don’t know how everyone’s going to take it, and I think it’s best to not tell everyone all at once.”

“What?! Nya, you’re killing me, just tell me what’s going on!”

“Someone was following me.”

Kai froze. “What?”

“If I’m right, someone was following all of us.”

“You mean in the city today? Like, a stalker or someone?”

“More like a Borg employee.”

“...What?”

“They’re spying on us, Kai, don’t you see? Dr. Borg sent some of our caretakers out to monitor us today. It’s their own fault, really. If they hadn’t trained me to use my detection skills to their full potential, I never would’ve noticed them.”

“But why? What have we done to break Dr. Borg’s trust? We’ve done this before and never got caught, why would today be any different?

Nya narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t be dense, Kai. He’s been doing it since day one. We’ve just never noticed before.”

Kai was beginning to feel very uncomfortable with the turn this conversation was taking. “How do you know that? Do you have proof?”

“Proof!” Nya stood up suddenly, her eyes blazing so fiercely that Kai flinched back. “What about any given day over the last sixteen years of my life, or the eighteen of yours! We’re prisoners here, Kai. One day a month outside of the tower doesn’t change that, especially when we’re being monitored even then.”

“Nya, don’t get like this again. Dr. Borg saved our lives-”

“From what? He tells us that people want to kill us, but do we have any reason to believe that’s true? What if he’s lying? How do you know he’s not just using us?”

“Dr. Borg is the closest thing I have to family! I trust him. With people like that, you just know.”

Nya’s ears pinned back, her voice wavering. “What happened to this family? True family is always there for you. Jay, Cole, Zane, Lloyd… me… we’ve all done more for you than that old fool ever has.”

Kai flinched, immediately regretting his words. “Wait, Nya, I didn’t mean- of course you’re my family, I’m sorry-” he snatched for her wrist as she began to walk away, but she easily dodged. She turned to look at him, her eyes sad.

“I know you are. You don’t want to hurt anyone- you’re just doing what you think is right, and I get that. But come talk to me again when you’re ready to reconsider.”

---

The next day, Kai had fighting training with one of his trainers. She seemed to be working him especially hard, but he only worked harder, and when he stopped for a rest, it took a moment to calm the adrenaline rippling through his veins. He had always been much stronger than the average human, but… usually it wasn’t so hard to control.

Dr. Borg showed up later in the lesson to pull him aside. “Kai. Your trainer tells me you are doing well. This pleases me. You are growing stronger.”

“I’m trying my best, sir.”

“Good. I expect nothing less. You’re eighteen now, Kai. Officially into adulthood. Soon, you will enter into a noble line of work I have to offer you. Now is no time to hold back. In fact- and keep this between you and me, if you will- I think you have the greatest potential of all your peers. What beast is greater than the lion? They don’t call it the king of the jungle for no reason. Your strength will be unmatched.”

Kai felt like he was supposed to be pleased by that, but something about the words just felt wrong.

“Sir,” he interrupted, feeling the sudden need to ask something, “What… why do I need to learn to fight like this? Who will I be fighting?” “If all goes well, no one. But this is necessary to defend yourself. Like I have told you since you were a cub, the rest of the world wants to hunt you down. You deserve a way to fight for your life and honor- and for the… weaker members of your team, don’t you?”

Kai nodded. “Of course. I was just wondering… is that all it’s for? Self-defence? Nothing more?”

Borg narrowed his eyes, but nodded slowly. “You will only have to do what must be done.”

“…Alright. Thank you, sir.” “And Kai?”

“Yes?” “If Nya’s been putting ideas in your head again, don’t listen to her. I know she means well, but she’s going through that natural ‘teenage rebellion’ stage right now, and isn’t thinking straight. Just take my word for it, alright?”

“O-okay. Have a good evening, sir.”

“Train hard!”

As Kai trodded back to the room that evening, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Borg had said. His words had been so vague. And he had been so quick to accuse Nya! Did he mean what he said, or was Nya right?

Did Borg want to use him for something more?

He still didn’t know what to believe, but one thing he knew was that he didn’t like the way that his sister had immediately been blamed. She had always been the most reluctant to listen to Borg, the most upset about their situation, but he wasn’t going to let Borg do anything to her, if that’s where this was heading.

His thoughts were interrupted as the floor suddenly heaved beneath him, and Kai was knocked to his feet. He barely bit back a scream, his breath coming in shallow pants.

What was it? An earthquake? He had never felt an earthquake before. Oh gosh. Should he be doing something? Was he going to die?!

But as quickly as it happened, it was over, and Kai got to his feet, breathless. After he was sure the floor wasn’t going to collapse beneath him, he set off towards the room in a dead sprint.

“Guys,” he gasped, “Did you feel that?”

Jay glanced up from his phone. “Like, that weird tremor thing, you mean?”

“Tremor? It was way worse than a tremor, the ground, like, bounced beneath me!” He gave a demonstration of this with his hands, but the others just blinked at him, unimpressed. “What?”

Cole shrugged. “I dunno, maybe you were just closer to the source or something. It didn’t seem that bad to us.”

“Do earthquakes even have sources?”

“First of all,” Zane said, “they do, and second, Ninjago City doesn’t get earthquakes. The geographic location makes it literally impossible.”

“But you can’t tell me that was nothing.” His voice wavered, and he caught Nya frown.

“You serious about this, bro?”

“I dunno, it’s just…” he put his head in his hands. “I don’t know what happened. It frickin’ scared me.”

Nya rested a hand on his shoulder, at his side now. “Hey, everything’s okay now. You’re safe here.”

“I know.”

“Do you want me to call Borg? I’m sure he can tell us what’s going on.”

“Thanks.”

Nya dialed, and they waited for Borg to answer. He didn’t pick up until the last ring, which was unusual for him. When his voice did come through, it was harried and distracted.

“What is it, Nya?”

“Dr. Borg, Kai was just coming back from training and he felt this weird… earthquake-type-tremor thing. We were just worried. Is everything alright?”

“Oh? Ah, yes, don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe-'' there was some muffled yelling in the background, and the phone went quiet for a minute. “There’s nothing to worry about, we’ve got it under control-”

“But what was it?”

“We’re… uh, still investigating. Maybe some sort of malfunction in the machinery, or radiation leak or something.”

“Radiation?”

“I assure you dear, it’s fine, we’ve got a whole crew on top of it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m kind of in the middle of something-”

“What about Lloyd?” Kai asked, leaning over to speak into the phone. “Is he okay?”

“Lloyd… Lloyd’s fine.”

“Can we see him?”

“No,” Borg said quickly. “...he’s seeing people right now. Will be for a while, probably, so don’t even ask.”

By this time, the others had joined them at the phone too, and they all looked at each other at that. “Seeing people?” Nya asked. “What kind of people?”

“Just… double-checking his safety. For… the radiation.”

“Was he close to it?” Nya gasped. “I thought you said he was safe!”

“He is! It’s just a precaution-”

“Then when can we see him?”

“Nya, I told you, not now!” Another muffled shout interrupted him. “I have a lot bigger fish to fry right now, this conversation will have to continue later.” And, with that, he abruptly hung up.

“What was that,” Nya spat.

“If that was your attempt to make me feel better, it failed miserably.”

“I didn’t know he was going to be like that, did I? Ugh, Borg always is so vague, but this- this is a whole new level!”

“We need to find out more,” Zane said. “Borg isn’t giving us clear answers. We need another way to find out information.”

“Luckily for us,” Cole added, “It seems that in all the commotion, they never sent a caretaker down to lock the door after Kai returned.”

The others froze, staring at each other. Slowly, they turned their gazes to the door.

Cole was right. It was still open.

Kai immediately felt his heart begin to race. He didn’t know how to react. This had never happened before.

Zane was the first to snap out of the shock and into action. “Borg is a careful man. It won’t be long before he realizes we have free reign of the place. If we’re going to do something, we need to act quickly.”

“I say we escape,” Nya hissed. “This might never happen again. Kai’s the only one who knows this, but I saw Borg employees following us yesterday. He’s always watching. This could be our only chance to get out of here!”

There were a few uneasy looks at that. “Nya,” Zane warned, “Borg may be secretive, but he’s not a bad person. He’s protecting us.”

“Yeah, and what about the police?” Jay whimpered, his tail between his legs. “Borg told us they would kill us just for being different.”

Nya’s tail lashed. “You all are hopeless! The old fool’s got you all wrapped around his little finger! Can’t you see we’re prisoners here? I’d rather take my chances with the police.”

“Nya,” Cole said firmly, squeezing Jay’s hand, “You’re making Jay nervous.”

“I’m sorry, Jay, but it’s the truth. You’re seventeen now, it’s about time you start hearing it.”

Jay’s ears quivered. “It’s okay, Cole, she’s right.”

Cole grunted. “If we’re doing this, I won’t let no police lay a finger on you.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“I dunno. I’ve never really felt comfortable with Borg. But we’re also safe here. I want to protect you guys. I don’t know if freedom is worth the risk.”

“Well, we don’t have time to think about it. Zane’s right- if we have to act, we act now. I’m going- come or don’t.”

“Nya, come back,” Cole growled. “We’re a family. Whatever we do, we do together. I don’t want us splitting up.”

“Then do the right thing and come with me.”

The tension crackled between the two for a moment, until Cole ducked his head. “Nya-”

“Kai, you’ll come with me, won’t you?”

Four pairs of eyes turned towards him. Kai’s tail twitched, and he tried desperately to still it.

“I… I don’t know what I want to do, Nya. But I’m not leaving without Lloyd.”

Guilt flashed in her eyes. “I… I didn’t mean… of course I would never leave without him, I just didn’t even think… we can go get him, right?”

“Do you know where he is?”

Nya’s tail drooped. “Then what do we do?”

“Zane’s right- what we need is more information. Running away isn’t the answer.”

“Kai- can you just think about it-”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” he roared. “I’ve spent eighteen long years locked away in this room- don’t you think I want to leave, too? But this is about more than just me- this is about us. I have a family to protect, Nya, and this is the best way to keep them safe.”

Nya cringed back from him- something any sane person would do when a lion- or a half lion- was yelling in your face. He didn’t like to use it on his family often, but when he did, it was the quickest way to silence a room. Everyone knew you didn’t mess with a lion’s roar.

“So what are you going to do instead?” Jay asked quietly, after a moment.

“I’m going to go find Borg and listen in on what he’s doing.” Turning to his sister, he added, “Nya? Will you come with me? Your stealth will be useful.”

“You still want me?”

“Don’t be like that, Nya- I’m just doing what’s best for us. You get that, don’t you?”

“I guess.”

“So you’re not coming?”

“No, I’ll come. I’m just still upset with you, that’s all.”

Kai sighed as she whisked out the door past him. “You guys keep a lookout, alright? I’ll have my phone on silent so we don’t get caught, but I’ll be able to feel it vibrate, so shoot me a text if something happens, alright?”

“Good luck,” Zane nodded.

“Hurry back!” Jay called as Kai slipped into the hallway.

He bounded a little ways to catch up with Nya. They walked in silence for a little while until they made it back to Kai’s training room, where he had felt the tremor.

“Smell anything?” Nya asked.

“Jay’s the best tracker, but I think I can pick up Borg’s scent coming from that way.” He pointed a finger down the right hallway.

“Think?” “I don’t know. There’s a lot of foot traffic coming from that way as well.”

“Surely that’s a good sign. If there was some sort of catastrophe, a lot of people would have gone to help.”

“Yeah, but it’s strange. It mostly smells like caretakers and trainers. I would’ve thought Borg would’ve wanted more mechanics and doctors if there was a malfunction.”

“Unless he was trying to keep this a secret.”

Kai shot her a look, and she ducked his gaze. “Sorry.”

Kai shook his head, turning back towards the trail, letting Nya slink down the hallways ahead of him, checking that the coast was clear before he followed. He pointed her in the directions that the scent led, until, at last, it led to a door.

“Borg’s office?” Nya questioned. “His scent will be here all the time. Are you sure that he’s here now, or is it just leftover residue?”

Kai opened his mouth to respond, but froze when he caught the sound of footsteps. “Hide!” he hissed to Nya, and the two of them dove into an empty lab room and pulled the door shut, just as two pairs of footsteps rounded the corner. They came to a halt outside the office door, and Kai held his breath.

“What do you mean you can’t control him, that’s your job!” Borg’s voice, sharp and angry. The rooms in this part of the building were soundproofed, but Kai’s hearing could still detect their voices when he pushed his ear to the door. Nya hovered beside him anxiously, watching his face for signs.

“Sir, we’re doing everything we can, but we’ve never worked with a specimen like this before.”

“Borg,” he whispered to Nya, “and a researcher.”

“Tell me you at least have him contained?”

“He’s chained and isolated right now, sir. And under guard.”

“Did you tell him that we’d punish the others if he stepped out of line?”

“Yes, sir. He’s young, and seems to have some literacy issues, so we’re not sure if he got the entire message, but we believe we got the basic point across.”

“Good,” Borg sighed. “Hopefully that will be enough to stop him from trying anything like this again.”

“Sir, surely you’re not just going to let him stay. People could’ve died today!”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Borg snapped. “Seven of my best researchers have been hospitalized, and now the damn police are on our back and I could get sued. I could lose millions, you know that? And to make things worse, the kids called me and are trying to see him. They suspect something’s wrong.”

Kai’s blood was roaring in his ears. Was he hearing this right?

Nya put a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong? What did they say?”

He shook his head, gesturing at her to be quiet. “They think Lloyd was the one responsible for the accident. People were hurt. Borg might get sued.”

“Would it really be such a bad thing to let him see them, sir? He obviously is very on edge about the testing and sampling. Seeing the others might put him at ease.”

“They’re already suspicious, and I can’t help but feel I’m losing my grip on them. They’re teenagers, I knew they’d rebel at some point, but… I don’t want to risk him telling them anything. Now that he has power over us, I’m not sure what good the threats will do.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

Borg sighed, slow and tired. “I had hoped it would never come to this, but… I think we bit off more than we could chew with this one. And he’s only four, it will only get worse as he ages. I don’t think we will ever be able to put a handle on him. I had hope, after such great success with the others, but… it just didn’t work out. Breeding oni and dragon and trying to contain it was always going to be a bad idea.”

“Are you sure, sir? There’s no going back if you decide to go through with it.”

“I’ve thought about it for a while now, and today’s accident has only solidified my suspicions. We will still be fine. The others have amazing amounts of strength, speed, stealth, and heightened senses. We can be well-equipped without him.”

“Alright. We will begin making preparations first thing, sir.”

“Make sure you keep the body so we can continue to study it. I want him euthanized first thing in the morning. The longer we wait, the more of a window we give him to act up again.”

No. No, no, no, no, no. Kai squeezed his eyes shut, slumping against the door as the door to Borg’s office was clicked shut. This couldn’t be happening, it was just some sort of sick dream, Borg would never do this-

“Kai, Kai please, answer me!”

He opened his eyes to see Nya shaking him gently.

“You were right,” he croaked, “we have to go.”

“Kai, what’s wrong, what did you hear, you’re scaring me.”

Kai stumbled to his feet, and Nya grabbed his arm as he trembled. There was no time to sit around and mope. Lloyd’s life was on the line.

“Nya, we have to go-” he reached for the doorknob and began to twist it.

“Wait, are you sure they’re gone, we can’t get caught-”

“I’m sure, we have to hurry-”

Nya skidded in front of him. “Kai, tell me what’s going on. I need to know what happend. I can help!”

“There’s no time, Nya,” he gasped, half in tears by this point. “I’ll tell you later. I’m going after Lloyd. You go and get the others. Meet me near that little diner at the edge of the city. The one we went to for your birthday last year, you know the one? We’re leaving. Now.”

“Wait, you mean you changed your mind?”

“No. I told you that I was going to do whatever it took to keep you guys safe. Before, that meant staying here. Now, it means leaving. It is the circumstance that has changed, not me.”

Nya gazed at him, tears glazing her eyes. “I wish you would tell me more.”

“I still need time to process. I’m sorry.”

“I get it. Just stay safe, okay?” She kissed him softly on the cheek, and then, she was gone.

Kai didn’t waste any time, and set right off on the researcher’s trail. Eventually, it led him to a small, closed off wing, where she had then taken a right, but Kai was more interested in the room on the left.

Two guards, armed with guns, stood attentive at it. Kai shifted into a lion, and, trying to remember stalking lessons from Nya, crept along the hallway. If they spotted him before he was within pouncing distance, he was done for. They wouldn’t hesitate with the guns, he was sure.

Luckily, Nya was an amazing teacher, and as one guard fell to the ground with a smack, the other one turned sharply, raising his gun, but Kai was already pouncing, knocking him out.

Shifting back into himself, he grabbed the keys from the guard’s pocket, and unlocked the door.

Inside, the lights were dim. Kai wished he had Nya’s night vision right about now.

When his eyes finally adjusted, Kai choked back a gasp. Lloyd was lying on the floor, chains bolted around his wrists, ankles, and tail. Metal clamps pulled back his wings, and a muzzle had been tied over his mouth.

“Oh my gosh, Lloyd-” Kai dropped to his side, trying not to look at the boy’s face. Blinking back tears- emotion was something they didn’t have time for right now- Kai ripped through the chains and pulled off the muzzle and clamps. Lloyd whimpered, looking up at him with watery red eyes, and reached for him, cooing softly. Kai scooped the boy into his arms, accidentally pulling back his shirt as he did so, and revealing a long, raw, red scar along his side. Kai quickly pulled the shirt back down, looking away, and planted a kiss on his forehead. Bolting to his feet, he took off down the hall, towards the back door.

After only a minute of running, an alarm began to flash, and Kai swore under his breath, praying that the others were already out.

After what felt like far too long, he spotted the door. As he sprinted for it, he heard someone yell out behind him, but it was too late. He was already out the door.

He didn’t stop though. He wasn’t stupid enough to think they would give up chase so easily. Heading down some of the back alleys, he ran in a crisscross of crazy patterns, taking a way which was five times longer and more complicated than necessary, but he wasn’t risking the chance of being caught, or worse, leading the Borg employees back to Nya and the others.

When he began to feel a little safer, he stopped for a rest behind a dumpster. Setting Lloyd down, he checked his phone and saw he had twenty-seven missed calls from Borg.

Shoot, he can probably track this. Cursing under his breath, he tossed the phone in the dumpster. He didn’t like being phoneless, but it was a thousand times better than the alternative.

Lloyd’s stomach growled loudly, and Kai glanced down at him. The boy looked smaller than ever, his red eyes wide and scared. Kai crouched down, pulling his trembling form close, and the two just sat there for a moment, silent. Kai breathed in Lloyd’s comforting scent.

I almost lost this. Forever.

Kai wiped at his eyes. But he hadn’t. And they weren’t safe yet. They had to keep moving, and get as far away from that phone as possible.

But first, he had to find the poor kid something to eat. He looked half-dead on his feet, and Kai felt a surge of anger as he realized that Borg probably hadn’t been feeding him well.

Jumping into the dumpster, Kai scrounged around until he was able to find half of a cheeseburger and a stale bag of pretzels. Not the most sanitary, but it would have to do.

“Here, bud, you want these?” He handed the food to Lloyd, and either the boy was really, really hungry, or his animal instincts were just kicking in, because he scarfed down the food without any reservation about the fact that Kai had literally dumpster dove for it.

As Lloyd finished the food, licking the wrapper, he spoke for the first time since Kai had found him chained up that evening.

“Am I in trouble?” His voice wavered, tears pricking his eyes. “Did I do a bad thing?”

“Honey, no, it’s not your fault,” Kai whispered, pulling him close. “You didn’t mean to do it. Your powers are too strong for your own good. But you’ll learn to control them eventually, I promise.”

“People are hurt,” he whispered. “I’m the reason we had to go.”

“You just opened my eyes to what Borg was doing to you. To his true intentions. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Lloyd looked at him. “He told me he would kill you.”

Kai bit his lip, and Lloyd broke down crying in his lap. Kai curled his arms protectively around him.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I let you go through that all these years and didn’t notice something was wrong.”

Lloyd buried his face in Kai’s shirt. “I just want to be normal.”

---

Lloyd fell asleep soon after that, and Kai carried him towards the meeting place. The walk was long, about two hours, but with every moment that passed, Kai was more and more grateful that he had picked somewhere far away. He was exhausted, and if Borg’s associates found him now, he was in no position to fight back.

It felt like heaven when he finally spotted the little diner in the distance, with its gleaming lights offering a cheery glow to the foreboding dusk. Reluctantly shaking Lloyd awake, he took off his hat and coat and helped Lloyd put them on to carefully mask his monster features. Since Kai hadn’t had time to grab extra, he fluffed up his hair extra (something he hadn’t ever thought he’d do, it was fluffy enough as-is) to cover his ears, and tucked his tail into his pants.

The little bell on the diner door rang cheerily as they pushed their way in. At this time of night, the diner was empty, as expected- but there was one booth in the corner where four people were sitting, eating what looked to be pancakes and bacon. They looked up sharply as the bell rung, and Nya stood up abruptly, meeting his eye.

“Kai,” she cried, running over to him as tears sprung in her eyes. “Oh my goodness, oh my spots, oh my goodness.” She threw her arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder as he squeezed her just as tightly back. “You’re alive, thank the stars you’re alive, I thought I had lost you for good.”

“I’m just as relieved to see you guys,” Kai breathed, walking over to the booth. Although it was only intended to seat four, his friends squished over to make room for him, and he scooped Lloyd onto his lap.

“Kai, what took you so long, you had me worried out of my mind,” Nya muttered, stopping to take a breath and sip from her coffee. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“Sorry, we got a little held up. We got caught escaping, and were followed. I spent a good hour, at least, trying to throw them. I wasn’t going to risk leading them anywhere.”

“You could’ve at least texted me, letting me know you were alright. Why didn’t you answer any of my calls?”

“I ditched my phone. Speaking of which, you guys probably should too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Borg had a way to track these things.”

“Get rid of our phones?” Jay whimpered. “How are we going to communicate if there’s an emergency?”

“Would you rather us get caught?” Kai snapped. “We can just buy some of those burner phones from the store.”

“Kai, I think you owe us an explanation,” Cole growled. “We’re tired, hungry, scared, and don’t know why we’re here. Nya told us you overheard Borg saying something, but wouldn’t tell her what he said, and just said to run. Are you going to give us any more than that?”

“I’m sorry, but I was just so scared, and there was no time…” He took a shaky breath, drawing an arm around Lloyd and pulling him closer. In a whisper, he admitted, “Borg was going to kill Lloyd.”

The table lapsed into a stunned silence. Even Nya, who had always been heavily critical and suspicious of Borg, looked shocked and horrified.

“When?” Zane asked faintly.

“Tomorrow morning.”

Cole paled about ten shades, Jay looked like he was going to faint, and Zane just stared as if he didn’t believe what he was hearing.

“One more day,” Nya whispered. “One more day and we would’ve lost him.”

“Don’t remind me,” Kai told her, his breath hitching as he tried to focus on the weight on his lap- warm, gentle, and alive. He was here. He had saved him.

“I don’t understand,” Jay whined. “Why would he do such a thing? I mean, I know we all had our suspicions, but… kill him? Really? What changed?”

“Remember all those ‘doctor’s visits?’ Apparently they’re some sort of testing, or sampling, or something. Show them the scar, Lloyd.”

The boy looked up at him hesitantly, before slowly pulling up his jacket and shirt to reveal the long scar Kai had seen earlier. Four sharp intakes of breath sounded as it came into view.

“Oh, Lloyd, honey,” Nya whispered.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what they were doing at our doctor’s appointments, too, but for some reason they are really obsessed with Lloyd. Something about his lineage, I guess… but it was too much for him. He…”

Kai glanced at Lloyd, who was nibbling at the bacon Cole had slipped him. He didn’t seem too invested in the conversation, but he still kept his voice low.

“That tremor we felt? Apparently, Lloyd caused it. People were injured, and… the police came to investigate… Borg was furious. He decided Lloyd had caused more trouble than he was worth. Lloyd was chained and muzzled when I found him, and I… I couldn’t… I wouldn’t deny it any longer. Borg doesn’t care about us. He never has. He’s just using us.”

Silence gripped the table as his friends stared at him. Jay wiped at his eyes, which were bright and wet.

“What do we do now, Kai?” Nya asked, her voice barely audible.

“What do we do? We survive. You got some money, I hope?”

“We’ve been stashing it. Any time Borg gave us money on an outing that we didn’t use, we kept it. We brought everything we could find. And a few valuable items as well. We can sell them if we need to. Hopefully this will last us a while, if we stick to the necessities.”

“Good. Because we’re going to need every penny we can get. I have no idea how long we’ll have to be out here.”

“As long as Borg is hunting us, nowhere is safe,” Cole warned. “He’s got amasses of people at his disposal. I don’t know where we’re going to go that he can’t reach.”

“I know a place.”

---

“Are w-we al-almost there, K-k-kai,” Nya hissed, her teeth chattering. “I’m freezing.”

“We’re here.”

Jay stopped beside him. “An old warehouse?” “Hey, I remember this place,” Cole said, stepping up beside him. Lloyd was fast asleep in his arms- he had been out cold before they had even left the diner, and when Kai had tried to carry him, Cole had told him off, saying he had already done more than his fair share for the night, and that he ought to give someone else a turn before he keeled over from exhaustion. Kai was grateful for the gesture, although they still had needed to walk another hour to get to his destination.

“When we were younger, Cole and I used to take a bus down here sometimes on our days out to play around in this abandoned warehouse.” Jay raised his eyebrow, and Cole laughed. “When you’re a twelve year old boy, those kinds of things sound a lot cooler than they actually are. Still, I’m grateful you thought of it now. Who would’ve thought, when everyone else failed us, it’s the old warehouse that held through.”

“It’s nothing special,” Kai said as they tramped inside, “but it’s sheltered, it’s sturdy, and, most important of all, it’s unsuspecting. I doubt Borg would ever think to look here.”

“It’s perfect, Kai,” Nya sniffed, “Thank you.”

“I don’t know why you’re thanking me,” Kai sighed, lowering himself onto the ground and wincing at the ache in his back. “I was the one who kept trying to convince you that the child-murdering psychopath actually cared about us.”

“It’s not your fault, Kai. Borg tricked all of us. If it weren’t for your jump into action, we’d have lost our baby brother.”

“I just can’t stop thinking,” he whimpered, squeezing Nya’s hand tighter, and watching Lloyd from where Cole cradled him across the room, stroking him gently, “what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten there in time, or if I had decided to stay back in our room.”

“You can’t spend time dwelling on the past, Kai. You didn’t do those things, and everything worked out- well, as best as we could ask for, at least. You have to have more faith in yourself. We’re scared and confused, and we’re looking to you. I know that’s not fair, that you’re struggling just as much as any of us, but it’s the way things are. We need someone strong, like you, to keep us going.”

“I want to protect you guys, and keep you safe, more than anything else in the world. But I’m lost. I don’t know what to do, and I can’t do this alone.”

“Oh, Kai. No one would ever ask you to do anything alone. Whatever happens next, we’re all right here.”

[dzamie-oc]

Smaugust 20 - Death

Toothless takes Hiccup to visit his parents. It's not what Hiccup expected. (1915 words)

cw: spoilers for HTTYD 2

Toothless perched on the edge of a cliff, overseeing a long fall towards the wide, open ocean. Hiccup laid on the night fury's back, staring up at the night sky. The dragon's tail swished back and forth, quietly playing a game with the viking's prosthetic leg, each catching and releasing the other in a tiny game of tag. It was a time of quiet thought. Toothless was thinking mostly about fish. Big ones, little ones, raw and cooked, wriggling in his mouth and dangling lifelessly from a human's hook. He silently wondered if whales were fish, or if they were too big. Perhaps all that differentiates a dragon from a large fish is a breath weapon. Toothless imagined fish flying through the sky, where he would dart down and snap them up.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was not thinking about fish. He was thinking about Toothless, and Stoick the Vast, and Valka. "Hey, Toothless, I just realized: you've met both of my parents now." The thin viking chuckled. "I can't say I ever expected that to happen... any time before it actually did. Do dragons keep track of their parents?"

The night fury made an inquisitive sound, then quickly bobbed his head, nodding a confirmation. He wondered if fish had parents, and if it was better to eat a parent fish or a child fish. Maybe a distraught child fish would make itself easier to catch after Toothless ate its parents. Maybe the reverse was true. Or, the night fury considered, a fish might grow angry and flop ferociously at him in the wake of his piscematricide. An imaginary fish slapped him in the face; an imaginary version of Toothless ate it for its insolence, and also because it was tasty.

Toothless realized Hiccup was talking again, and decided to stop thinking about fish. For now. Probably.

"...so, it would be cool to meet your parents. I mean, if they're not dead. That would be, uh, awkward." Toothless's rider lost confidence and spoke more quietly as he kept speaking. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen any other night furies, actually. I hope you're not the last of..."

Toothless snorted and rose to his feet, jostling his human off. He flicked his tailfin open and wiggled his body, inviting Hiccup to mount up and fly. He had something to show the human. He trusted him more than enough.

The human in question, however, kept talking, mostly stammering as he continue to try to apologize for what might have been a slight but almost certainly wasn't, and several other silly human things. Toothless rolled his eyes, growled for attention, and wiggled again. It was time for Hiccup to be quiet and get on his dragon. And fortunately, Hiccup did just that. Toothless crouched as soon as he felt Hiccup's foot and fake foot slide into place at the controls of his tailfin, then leapt into the air and plummeted off the cliff.

Hiccup couldn't see so well in the dark, so Toothless pulled up early; as he not only expected, but knew in his heart would happen, Hiccup snapped open the fake fin as soon as the black-scaled dragon began to pull up, leaving them shooting off over the water, between a sea of stars and a sea of fish.

They approached the forest of rocky pillars, and Toothless built up the fire and magic within him. The dragon pulled his teeth in to avoid them getting hit, and a ball of superheated gas shot from between his lips, a shock of lightning on its tail. It zoomed into the cluster of stone, burst in a purple, white, and blue explosion, and sent several small sparks of lightning crackling and crawling around and through the pillars. Toothless watched as the lights all but disippated, then approached and vocalized a few noises, their signal for "let me fly." The dragon felt his human's feet disengage from the tailfin mechanism, and he flew silently into the darkened maze of stone. It was a familiar, yet unused pattern. With just the moon and the stars shedding light, the night fury was nearly invisible as he banked left around a few rocks, circled one, dove and rose through an invisible pattern of flight. The dragon landed on a pillar of stone and leapt off it, then ran down another before flaring his wings and zooming through a shallow slalom.

At last, Toothless soared back up, spiraling up around a towering spire of rock to shed speed. He burbled another signal to his rider, and felt the comfort of his partner ready for backup, to once more fly WITH him rather than merely ON him. And, all set, Toothless flapped leisurely out of the maze of stone, directly towards an island that he was certain Hiccup had never seen before.

The island was lit with torches that did not burn, and the weather was pleasant, even in the cool night. Toothless landed in a run, slowing to a trot as he neared the familiar - to him, at least - stone and wood buildings. Hiccup shifted to untether himself and dismount, but Toothless raised his wings up to either side. It wouldn't physically stop Hiccup, but he hoped it would let him know to stay on the night fury. As the brown-haired viking settled back into position on his back, Toothless relaxed and gave a low, approving warble as he walked along the island, headed towards a large house partway up. As he neared it, the night fury opened his mouth and shrieked a greeting. He stopped in front of the large front doors and patiently waited until they opened. Once inside, he let his wings droop, and Hiccup slid off his back, walking side-by-side with Toothless.

From a doorway ahead, a woman peered into the hallway, then smiled warmly when she saw Toothless. "Oh, hello dear," she said, stepping out and opening her arms for a hug, "it's been so long. You should visit more often!" She wore what Toothless remembered her often wearing - a loose, elegant, black shirt with a ribcage done in faint, light blue, and a pair of pants in the same style, long enough to cover even her feet, but never seeming to trip her up. Toothless leaned his head and neck into her as they embraced, the woman's bracelets of bone a stark contrast against both her clothing and his scales. "Your father is off brewing a storm for some big contract he has, otherwise he'd be here to see you too. Oh, and who's this?"

Hiccup was still busy staring, utterly bewildered, between Toothless and this strange woman, when she turned towards him. "You didn't tell me you got a boyfriend!" she said; Toothless hissed and grumbled, and she laughed. "I'm only playing, dear. I suppose I should be thankful one of my children thinks to introduce me to his friends outside of professional matters."

Hiccup awkwardly waved his hand, then offered it out to shake. "Uh, hi. I'm Hiccup. So, you're Toothless's... mother?"

"Oh, is that what he's going by now?" She looked over at her son, who moaned and brought his wings tightly against himself, trying to shrink away from sight. "And yes, though you can just call me Death." Hiccup jolted back, though he immediately looked more sheepish over his reaction than scared of the woman. Toothless rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what joke his mom was about to make. "Oh, don't you worry, Hiccup, I'm off the clock. The only thing I'm interested in killing right now is the stew I've been heating up." Yep, there it was. "Anyway, come in, come in. I'll get some bowls out for you both; I'm sure there's nothing like some fresh mutton stew after a flight, and I always make far too much for just me."

As they made their way into the dining room and to the table, Toothless watched as his viking's gaze went from him, to his mom, then back to him, doing that little thing with his mouth whenever he thought really hard. After a few seconds, he saw him mouth a few words, then his face went slack with shock. "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself..." he mumbled.

Death returned with three bowls of stew - Toothless's being the widest and shallowest, with a nice, big piece of meat in the middle - and quirked an eybrow at Hiccup. "What's this about my boy being unholy?" she asked.

The viking blanched. "No, not that - he's amazing, trust me, saved my life more times than I can count - it's just, there's this book of dragons we had- have, I guess, but that was only in the old version-" he rambled. Toothless watched calmly after bolting down his meat, keeping his eyes on his rider while he lapped at his stew. "-and most dragons, they had these ratings and descriptions, like 'speed four, strength two, breath seven, extremely dangerous, kill on sight.' But for night furies-" Toothless flicked his focus to his mom, catching a glimmer of satisfaction at the phrase "kill on sight."

"-almost never seen, and certainly never captured - until me - so it was just 'speed unknown, size unknown, never engage; hide and pray it doesn't find you.' And the description it gave was 'the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself,' that was all I knew on it - on him - before I started learning about him from, well, him." Hiccup finally took a break to breathe and try some stew, then finished his thought, "anyway, so that's why I said that. I certainly don't think there's anything unholy about him. In fact, he's sort of the reason Snotlout isn't chief, and I-"

Toothless and Hiccup froze as the night fury and his rider considered the unsaid word, "chief," and the weight behind how Toothless granted Hiccup that title. They and their friends - the riders, for Hiccup, and the Berkian dragons, for Toothless - had spent such a long time trying to help them work through their guilt and sorrow of that event. And, luckily, their efforts had borne fruit. They soon calmed back down, although Toothless found himself much more interested in his lamb stew.

If there could be one saving grace of that moment, it was that both boys figured that they wouldn't have to explain their silence. Death, of all people, would know. "Well," she said, to break the silence and change the topic, "I'm glad my son has found such a 'very good friend.' One he felt was important enough to convince him to visit his mother after so many years."

It worked; Toothless moaned a complaint while Hiccup chuckled awkwardly. "Ah, that's partly my fault. He hasn't exactly had a natural tailfin for a while now, it was lost when he crashed in my net." Toothless helpfully raised the tip of his tail to show off the mismatched fins.

"Ah. Well." Death took a sip from her cup. "All's well that ends well, I suppose. Perhaps it's a good thing your father isn't home; he can be very protective of our scaly son."

Hiccup took another spoonful of stew, then looked back at Death. "Wait, if you're Death, and Toothless is of... does that mean that his dad, who'd be upset at me, is-"

Death smiled. "Lightning, yes. I believe you might know him as... what's that moniker, Thor?"

The viking's eyes unfocused. "Good to know. Now, if you'll please excuse me."

Hiccup fainted.

[shardclan]

“I thought humans were just a myth…” Rebis mused. “No offense to you, of course.”

Ashlesha smiled absently and continued to flip through the latest in a pile of books he had taken from the library. “None taken. Our history rose and fell millennia before yours ever began.”

“Many millennia,” Arcanus rumbled. “Which makes it that much harder to believe you are what you say you are now.”

“That’s not really my problem, is it?”

“It is if you insist on remaining at Imperator Invigilavi’s side.”

“You’re welcome try and move me.” The words were spoken mildly, as matter-of-fact as if he’d commented on the weather. He glanced up over the edge of his book. “I don’t recommend it though.”

Invigilavi clenched his jaw, and shot Arcanus what he hoped was a placating look. “It’s fine.”

“It is no such thing,” said Arcanus. “And I believe you’ll find the Lady Judge agrees.”

Azricai raised a brow, but remained relaxed in her chair rubbing at the unfamiliar grooves of her new cane. She had listened to Lavi’s account of meeting Ashlesha while gently trying to feel him out, but he was beyond her. She could sense a density of presence that seemed impossible for a being so small, but his mind and heart were not on the right frequency for her to hear.

“You would believe wrong,” she said finally. “If the Imperator received a premonition, it would have only come from a witch. And an ally who can locate and identify the released spirits of the circle is indispensable.”

“The willingness to quietly yield for witch business has led us astray in the past,” Arcanus stressed. “They do not know each other’s affairs, if they do they don’t necessarily meddle, and there is no assurance of benevolent cause.”

Rebis glanced between the members of her inner court and the desperate face of her brother Imperator. His strange affinity for Lavi aside, Ashlesha didn’t give her any particular feelings of ill will. She was personally inclined to side with Azricai, but she had all of the clan to consider.

“Kiele was appointed as Coven Intermediary for this reason,” she said. “We will conduct an inquiry.”

“And in the mean time?”

“He…” Her fins fluttered. She made the effort to hold her head high. “He should be subject to the same probationary period as any other.”

“And what does that mean for me?” asked Ashlesha.

“It means you will be detained away from Aphaster proper,” Arcanus explained. “Until such time as you are cleared.”

“And away from Lavi as well?”

“If dozens of millennia of sleep did not harm you, you should be able to bear a few days mild inconvenience.”

Ashlesha ignored the mild jab and paused thoughtfully on a page. It was covered in detailed notes surrounding a meticulous sketch of some old relief believed to be of proto-beastclans. It had been a long time since he had seen account so lovingly taken, and so incredibly wrong.

He slammed the book shut and smiled up at Arcanus with barely contained irritation. “You know, I was rudely awakened by an asshole astral with delusions of grandeur at the end of a chain of events set in place by the  on your throne, and yet I have kindly offered my help in correcting your mistakes with only the price of Lavi’s companionship. I’m being very good to you, and you’re kind of shitting on my good graces, and it’s really starting to piss me off.”

Rebis clenched her fists, but her frills drooped. She had suffered dozens of little glances, especially from those who knew the last queen, that more or less implied what Ashlesha had dared to say aloud. Plenty of things came to her mind, but she stared at him in silence. She couldn’t think of a response that wouldn’t sound childish. All she could do was hold out her hand to stay both Rubranova and Arcanus, who were bristling to defend her.

“Don’t… He’s right.”

“Like hell!” Lavi snarled. He stood and loomed over Ashlesha, his blood rushing. His normally mild temper was nearly overcome by the urge to slam Ashlesha’s frail body into the floor. He spoke slowly, fighting with ever word to control the white hot flare in his chest. “This is my Home, that is my Sister, and I am Imperator. If you claim to be with me, you will show her and all members of this court their proper respect, which includes following its laws. If that’s too much for you, leave.”

Ashlesha peered at Lavi, his eyes wide and uncertain. “You would pursue the astrals without me?”

“I had every intention to do it without you before you appeared. I don’t need you.”

“But what about the word of your witch?” Ashlesha pressed frantically. “You would ignore it?”

“They temper my decisions; they do not make them for me.”

In the brief disbelieving silence, the only sound was Invigilavi’s tail lashing at the floor. Ashesha’s confusion gave way to a flash of desperate fear. He seemed on the verge of shouting, but he quietly hung his head.

“Fine,” he muttered.

“Fine what?”

“Fine, I’ll do the stupid probation.”

“And your queen?”

Ashlesha grimaced. He had barely cared for the figures in power in his time. Even at Lavi’s request, he wasn’t in a hurry to swear anything to a queen whose age compared to his had to be measured in decimals and who nearly cried because he had–maybe just a bit rashly–essentially called her a baby.

“Alright, alright!” he yielded. “But I have a request first.”

“I’m not feeling especially giving with you right now.”

“I noticed.” He plucked absently at his hair, his eyes softening with contrition even as he looked anywhere but at Lavi. “I’m sorry. I’ll do as you ask, I promise.” It was only then he turned his eyes up. “Please…?”

Lavi wavered. Not because he felt pity, but because Ashlesha’s gaze was so innocently seeking both his forgiveness and his permission despite his tantrum only moments ago. Something about it left Lavi itchy and unsettled. There was something so familiar and yet so alien about the man, and it wasn’t clear whether it was his personality or his humanity that made him that way.

“What do you want?,” he sighed.

“It’s technically two things,” Ashlesha admitted sheepishly. “I’d like to meet the witch who told you that you’d meet me.”

Lavi looked to Rebis, who in turn looked to Arcanus and Azricai. “Is that a realistic request? I understood Faded was…atypical even by witch standards.”

“They are,” both answered in tense unison. Azricai continued: “But if they feel they should be present, they will come.”

“And the second request?” Lavi asked.

“That.” Ashlesha pointed to a shiny chain of onyx draped around Lavi’s massive shoulders. It was the only piece of genuine finery he wore. “Can I have it?”

Lavi reflexively covered the black chain. “This was a gift!”

“From who? …Someone you like?”

“What? No! It’s a favor from Bramble Step.”

Ashlesha squinted. “That place with the whores? Well…you’re a young man…dragon, I suppose… Really, often enough to have a favor though…”

“Lavi just give it to him,” Rebis blurted, blushing furiously under her veil.  "I don’t want to hear this!“

Ashlesha smiled smugly and held out his hand. "We have to obey our queen, right~?”

Invigilavi clenched his eyes and ran a hand from his horns to his beard. “I will be wanting it back. Undamaged.”

“Oh of course. It’s not like I’ll need it anymore once I’m with you again.” He gratefully closed his hands around it, swirling a finger tenderly against the smooth pearl clasps. “And whatever it is, its important to you. I wouldn’t ever let it come to harm.”

“I hope you’ll take a similar attitude toward the people important to me.”

Ashlesha glanced aside to the other inhabitants of the hall as though he had entirely forgotten they were there, and was well on his way to forgetting they existed. He looked back at Lavi, and made a tight, crooked smile. “I promise…to try.”

The warm alabaster, plentiful light, and extremely comfortable bed almost let Ashlesha forget he was imprisoned. The aggressive hum of a dozen wards, not so much. But he obediently sat on his bed, content to close his eyes and run his fingers along the spool of onyx and its dotting of pearls. There was no thought in his mind of Kiele, who had come and gone, or of Omen, who had peered at him–and into him and through him–and had seen something which she curiously chose not to mention.

A familiar presence stirred him and he opened his eyes. “I should have known.”

Faded stepped into the light, in a humble glamour that they had never once used among the clan. Their pelt still covered their head and obscured whatever they might have looked like beneath. Their voice was as crypt-cold as ever, but there was an edge to it where the usual sweet sing-song was. “You should have, yes. But you always were lacking in critical thinking skills.”

“Oh, don’t be so unfair. How was I to know that  'Faded’ was you? I believe what they were calling you back then was… what was it again…The Speaker? All that recognition… Becoming a major part of history must have blitzed you out of existence for a while.”

“Perhaps… But you slept through all of the Third Age and so far into the Fourth that the gods are growing restless and starting to tamper again. All that time, and you still only know me by one name I wore briefly in the Second Age? ” Their already wide mouth spread into a toothy, face-splitting grin and they giggled icily. “Idiot.”

“That’s quite a mouthful. I happen to think Speaker is the perfect name for you.” Ashlesha smirked up from under his long lashes. “Since you can’t actually do anything to me except talk my ear off.”

The smiles of the two were as different as the sun and moon, and between them the wards cracked and melted, wailing as they were crushed into nothingness between the two vast entities.

“You really don’t have two thoughts to rub together for warmth, do you?” Faded sighed. “You went to sleep because you hated your nature and you got wrapped up with fair folk and couldn’t bear it. Are you ready to take on dragons too?”

Ashlesha’s smile cracked. “I won’t. I don’t have to. I’m not compatible with them–they’re dragons. And even if not, I’m only interested in Lavi. Not like I can knock him up.”

“Mmhm… Despite it all, you have my pity. A restless existence who will never come to me… So I leave a bit of advice, for the child who is rich in knowledge and poor in imagination.” Faded began to withdraw, vanishing from the feet up like a mirage dissipating. “You should give some thought to why your form is male, and why you cling to the boy the way you do.”

“And you should go back to your graveyard and mind your goddamn business.”

Faded’s laugh echoed, though they were no longer there. “Idiot.”

@boyonetta

[vesperlionheart]

UnDeR- the-MirRroR

An old monster!Saku prompt I found! Just in time for MerMay, too.  Thank @thefreckledone and her Mermay prompts

The metal of the railings was cool against her forehead as Sakura leaned her face down and starred at the waters passing by underneath her feet. She sat on the edge of the yacht with her feet free to dangle as the rest of the people her own age laughed and moved about the deck. It was so close to twilight in the summer and the air was heavy with more than just expectation. The humidity had girls stripping down to the strings of their bikini’s and laughing at the boys until they followed suit and made it a swim party where no one touched the water.  

Hinata’s family owned the lake, just like the yacht and half the town, but the superstitions and folk stories of the lake belonged to no man. No one would go swimming in the lake until they passed over the sunken town from the early 1900’s that was evacuated and flooded to make a dam later on in the decade. It had been a case of the government coming in and playing the ‘imminent domain’ card so they could use the lands for their own hush hush work. Or at leas they could until funds dried up in the mid 90’s.

The story was ridiculously famous among the youth with good reason. Local gossip flared and died in popularity, but the stories of the ghosts of the town of Mizu and the things ‘let’ into the waters would always be a hot button in a town of folks who had lived and died around the lake. Households spanning more than three generations would swear up and down that there was something wrong with the lake; weather that meant ghosts or lake monsters, almost everyone believed it was safer to avoid.

One of the girls squealed when a boy came up behind her and faked a move that made it look like he was going to throw her over. The rest of her friends slapped him away with giggles and friendly jokes. No one seemed too honestly freaked about going over, but Sakura knew they would all wait until they passed over the old dam walls before swimming. During the Monsoon season it was easy to pass over the wall, but when the water level went down, the walls seemed to rise up. Last year there had been a drought so bad the steeple’s point on the old church was visible, like a saber standing out of the water pointing to the sky.

“Where’s your sexy bikini?” a chuckling voice asked from over her shoulder. Sakura looked back to see Kiba holding out a bottle of sunscreen. He smiled wide when their eyes met and shook the bottle. “Need me to rub you down?”

Sakura made an effort to show how she rolled her eyes at his offer. “I have a spray, thank you, and I already applied before we left.” She turned around, facing the waters once more and leaking her back turned towards him. “But thanks for the offer. See if Ino needs help.”

“You’re not hanging out with us anymore,” Kiba pouted, crouching down alongside her.

Sakura just kept staring out across the lake, trying to see the outlines of the places they never bothered to tear down before the flood. When Kiba fidgeted she sighed. “Sorry, I’ve only been back a month. You’ve known each other since diapers. What’s seven childhood years in the face of that?”  

When it looked like Kiba was going to open his mouth and say something in kindness that wasn’t necessarily true, she resolved to cut him off with another fake laugh. “Oh don’t make a face. I’m just tired. Finals, you know?”

Kiba grinned and it was an easy sort of grin. “Yeah, but who cares about those. I think you’re the only one.”

“Junior year is just as important as senior year. Collages look at those grades too.”

Kiba laughed again and said something about, ‘ah, that’s why we all love you,’ before standing up again with his sunscreen still in his hands. “You’re so driven. Don’t you think you need to relax and live life a little bit more. School is done, we don’t have to be back in classes for another two months. Enjoy!”

“I will,” she lied with an easy smile. “I just want to watch the water a little more. I’ve not seen it like this in years.”

Kiba frowned, good mood deflating a bit. “Ah, it’s in poor tastes that Neji is making us cross this section of the lake just because he doesn’t want to look like the rest of his superstitious family. I don’t like it, but it’s the safest place to shoot off fireworks.”

Sakura’s brows furrowed in confusion. “But it’s pretty to look at, like you can still see the roads and stuff,” Sakura hummed, eyes trained on the water. 

There were plenty of long shadows, but not enough to make it hard to see. Every so often she’d spot a sparkling tail fin or school of fish gliding through what was left of the roofless houses and buildings. It was a destruction of sorts, but to Sakura it was still beautiful.

“Yeah, well take your good long look, we’re nearly out of it now, and none too soon. I plan on putting these babies to good use,” Kiba joked, turning his back to the waters and flexing his arms so every line of his stood out in tanned detail. He grinned and Sakura rolled her eyes at his bravado.

He might have stayed longer, but one of the girls called out to him with an encouraging woo hoo, and the young boy was off like a puppy, eager to please. Sakura recognized most of the kids along the railing, they had all been friends back in grade school, but when she had turned seven her parents had packed up and traded in the small old town for the big city. Sakura had been able to adapt easily enough, but coming back to the old town of Konohagakure was a different story. It didn’t help that she was coming back with just her mother. Dad had died a year ago leaving the women of the family to move in wither her maternal grandfather. No one else would take in such a broken woman.

A shrill cheer broke Sakura off from her thoughts and she looked up to see the dam walls. Neji eased their speed as they passed over the lowest point of the wall, the broken bit. The waters were high enough that no one had to be worried about scraping the bottom against cement. Still, it was neat to watch.

As soon as they were over, one of the girls ran to the tip and threw both her legs over. Someone yelled at her, but she hung by her friends until Neji cut the engine and let their vessel glide through the calmer waters. Sakura blinked at the sight, not at all surprised to see it was Inoi who drew the most eyes.

“Damn impatient woman,” the Nara boy grumbled, taking his time to undo the buttons to his loose cotton top. From beside him Choji chuckled in understanding.

Sakura tried to remember the two boys as anything other than Ino’s close family friends, but it was hard. Shikamaru Nara had little personality outside of his extreme laziness, or if there was a personality there, Sakura couldn’t see it yet. Choji, on the other hand, was shy and kind around his friends. With Sakura he was still gruff, but not as gruff as he was with those who he didn’t know anything about at all.

The girl on the end dropped off with a squeal and a splash. Seconds later a few of her friends joined in, screaming and hollering all the way down. The loudest was a boy named Rock Lee who Sakura tried her best to avoid once she recognized how lively and upfront he could be. He didn’t think anything about it when he hugged people or shook their hands or touched their shoulders because he was a boy built out of innocence. He was kind and polite and passionate about things like working out and exercise, but he was still a boy and she still didn’t like it when people touched her anymore.

About half the group was in the water now, with the other half pulling out food and drinks to serve now that they had stopped. Hinata tried her best to make everything nice looking, and Sakura could see the small girl was fretting about every little detail  when it was obvious no one was going to care by this point. For an heiress, she wasn’t very confident in anything.

“Here,” Sakura said, taking a stack of napkins. She laid them out and then showed Hinata how she used her fist to flare them out in a decorative way before dropping a polished stone weight on the top to keep them from flying. “Anything else I can help you with?”

“Our cousin needs a girlfriend, you interested?” Hanabi asked, poking out from behind her elder sister. The younger girl’s smile was impish and wide.

Hinata blustered and Sakura mentally exhaled before faking another laugh. “I’ll get the plastic forks then. Let me know if the table needs any more help.”

Sakura took her time in the cabin’s kitchen pulling out all the things that had been specifically packed for the trip. Plastic forks, decorations, bowls, dry snacks, and in the very back was a stash of Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey. She put everything but the booze out, hoping it had been a mistake.

It took a few trips, but when she came back out from throwing the empty chip bags away she nearly ran into a solid wall of skin and jerked sharply backwards to avoid running into Naruto. He saw who she was at once and the way his eyes lit up was easy to catch.

“Sakura, I should have known you would be the smart one who put out the food!”

“He-hello Naruto,” Sakura said after a swallow. He was almost as touchy feely as Lee and just as just as loud, if not more so. Also, before she had moved away, Naruto had been her best friend along with Sasuke Uchiha-the boy no one talked about. With few others being able to stand the hyper active blond, the pair had been joined at the hit until her last day. It didn’t help that Naruto still had a little crush on her.  

“Did you see me jump? I got a bigger wave than Rock Lee. Ha, you should have seen his face. He’s exhausted himself trying to keep up with this.” Naruto flexed comically.

“Somehow I doubt that is even possible,” a new voice interrupted. Naruto scowled when Sakura looked back over her shoulder to see Neji Hyuga carrying out a bowl of fruit jello. As stoic as he was, Neji had been close to Rock Lee and defended the overactive boy whenever he was being put down by others. Naturally, Naruto thought Neji was an ass.

Neji looked cooly past Naruto’s shoulder and then glanced sideways at Sakura before addressing Naruto again. “Where is he, anyway?”

Naruto shrugged, grin growing. “He was looking for Sakura, so I told him she’s somewhere in the water.”

“But I never went swimming,” Sakura said, watching as Naruto’s grin grew wider. Neji scowled.

“Yeah, I know that, but I don’t think he did.”

“You’re dishonest in the most frustrating ways,” Neji bit out before moving pass to put his food on the table and head towards the railing.

Naruto rolled his eyes before watching him go. Once he was almost out of sight, Naruto grabbed Sakura’s elbow, making her jerk. He didn’t notice, but took the chance to drag her away, back into the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Sakura hissed.

“Neji’s family always has some booze stored away somewhere. We should find it.”

“Why?”

Naruto laughed. “To make sure it’s still good.”

“You’re going to get into trouble one day,” Sakura sighed, reaching up and running a hand through his wet hair, making it stick up. He stilled, looking up at her from where he crouched with eyes as blue as the lake around them. It was enough to make her remember how he had been a child with her, and forget how they were past all that now. She pulled her hand away and looked back at the cabin they were inside, ignoring the way he still looked at her.

“Yeah, but you’ll be able to save me from it, right? You’re not going away again.” He didn’t say it like it was a question, he said it like a wish.

“Where would I go like this?” Sakura asked around a yawn. Outside it was getting dim. Soon there would be fireworks.

“I’m tired of my favorite people leaving me, is all.”

Sakura looked over at Naruto again and understood what he didn’t say. No one talked about Sasuke, and she hadn’t asked, but she knew his leaving wasn’t a clean sort of leaving. Sasuke left something bitter in the memory of all his friends and now was her chance to find out what. Naruto would tell her, he probably wanted to.

Sakura almost opened her mouth to ask him for it, when she remembered how little she liked people knowing about her and where she’s been.

“How about we skip the Jack. I’ll go swimming with you instead.”

Naruto’s grin was bright enough to make something in her heart hurt. The pair approached the railing on one side of the ship just as a couple of swimmers were climbing up the opposite side. Naruto saw Rock Lee and cursed, making a dive for the water’s surface. He had reached for her, to drag her along with him, but Sakura weaved out of reach and dove in on her own, making her hands a cutting point that divided the waters in front of her.

The lake was crystal and cool all around her, and Sakura found her body moving all on its own as lack swim memories  came back to her. She cut through the water and glided with ease, a little too in love with the feel.

When she looked back Naruto and Lee were water wrestling. The waves around them were foaming and loud, even with the muffled acoustics. Kiba was close, swimming closer to the boys with Neji trailing in his waves.  

Sakura peaked for air and then dove back down, turning towards the end of the dam they had passed over earlier. No one swam past it, but Sakura had been a bit too fascinated with what she saw to follow their example. She had to peak for air once more before swimming over the submerged dam that separated one side of the lake from the other.

Sakura took a lungful of air from the surface and then bent into the waters again, pumping her legs to force her body down to the deep parts of the lake that had once been streets between houses. She could still see the stone outlines of where foundations were set from some of the most damaged buildings. Following the road she swam bast structures that were more intact than others. Some still even had doors hanging on crusted over hinges.

She swam up for air once more but then came back down, swimming past the steeple of an old church. She circled the bell tower, not surprised to find it void of the bell it had been suited for.

Sakura swam close enough to touch the church, feeling the wood as old as history beneath her fingers. With a kick she swam through an open window and out a hole in the side of the church. She laced through again, delighting in the sensation before having to swim up for more air.

She moved to kick up just as something caught on her ankle. She choked on a mouthful of lake water as she cried out in surprise. Water bubbled around her as her moves turned frantic. She caught sight of a fin and something silver and scaled. Her heart burned in fear, knowing she was the intruder in something else’s habitat.

Sakura kicked frantically and felt whatever was around her ankle slacken. It was enough for her to propel herself through another window and kick up off the sill up, up, up, up towards the glassy surface of the lake. She reached and the water broke as she came up, lungs gasping for air.

She didn’t stop. As soon as she could, she kicked off and swam with all the speed fear fed her, until she was over the dam’s wall and back in sight of the yacht.

The boys weren’t fighting anymore, but Naruto had Kiba on his shoulders while Rock Lee lifted Neji up to wrestle Kiba into the water. Ino and several others cheered from the railing, but no one seemed to have missed her.

All the better for her to not suffer the embarrassment of someone’s chastising.

Sakura turned around in the water and glanced back as far as she could see, into the ruins of the sunken town. It had been fun to explore and exciting to see. Her fear was still fresh enough to taste, but something else warmed her heart.

Maybe she had imagined it. She probably just got caught on some weed and saw a fish in her panic. She had over reacted after hearing the other kids talk about superstitions and curses.

‘The people who refused to leave were drowned when the dam was put in. Dozens died and were turned into watery ghosts who drown anyone who dares invade their home.’

“Silly,” Sakura said outloud to herself.

She turned and headed back to the party, pumping strong arms without fear or knowing what watched her leave. She didn’t look back, and she didn’t see the silvery body or wide, wounded eyes that watched her go.

[allorana]

Bruising Waters Pt. 4

Oue fearless leader’s turn to see Lance, and all the final pieces of the puzzle that is Lance falls into place.

Link to AO3 (for full fic directly)  Part 1 Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5

Lance absentmindedly hummed one of his mother’s favorite lullabies as he looked over his fins.  He was giddy at the opportunity to be taking care of himself again.  Lance had always prided himself on his impeccable fins and scales.  His mamá had always said that their blue rivaled the depths of the ocean itself.  He noticed with some satisfaction that some of the fluorescent blue was starting to come back into his fins and scales.  The fins along his spine and on his head by his ears were trimmed of their worst bits, and despite the sickly white color, were on their way to being fully healed.  Lance preened at the sight.  He was impressed.  Coran really knew his stuff.

He looked up as the door opened for the third time that day, grinning.  “Hey, fearless leader!  Welcome to my humble prison!”

Shiro smiled as he strode over to the tank.  “Finally.  Allura mentioned you were up.  I’ve been trying to catch you awake for days now.”

Lance grinned.  “Well, I’m a man in high demand, Shiro.”  He winked,  “But, it seems my receptionist has made an exception in my schedule.”

Shiro chuckled, “I don’t think Allura would be pleased to hear you call her that.”

Lance grimaced.  “Yeah, okay, maybe don’t tell her I said that.”

Shiro laughed, leaning his arms on the edge of Lance’s tank.  He smiled softly.  “How are you feeling, buddy?”

Lance smiled up at his leader,  “Much better!  Coran says I’ll be fit to leave and stay in my own room in another day.  Allura also said that I’ll probably be able to rejoin team training and bonding exercises by next week.  Hmm, on second thought, I should tell her I’m still not feeling well.  Might need more time to heal.”

Shiro snorted.  “Sorry, Lance but I don’t think you’re getting out of training that easily.”

Lance shrugged, stretching his arms up and over his head as he arched his back, sighing deeply and contently at the sensation.  “Dang.”  He relaxed back down.  “Guess it’s back to team bonding exercises and flying Blue for me.”  He smiled wistfully.  Lance had missed Blue a lot.  She’d spoken with him a few times, but was mostly content to let him rest and be with his friends.

Shiro couldn’t help the guilt that tugged at his heart as he took in Lance’s longing expression and the faded color of his fins and scales.  Despite a week of careful aid, they were still cracked and haggard in places.  If only he’d noticed something was different about Lance sooner and confronted him.  They might have gotten him to open up about his heritage, and then they could have avoided this whole ordeal.  Lance should never have suffered like that.  Shiro should have-

“Oh no, don’t you start too.  I’ve already been through this with Coran and practically everyone else.  Stop blaming yourself.”  Lance fixed his hero and leader with a stern glare, hands on his hips.

Shiro spluttered, slipping slightly against the edges of the tank.  He quickly righted himself.  “What- what are you-?”

Lance sighed and fixed him with a pointed look.  “Look Shiro, the blame game?  I’m an expert.  I always notice when you and Hunk and the others are starting on it.  You do it more than anyone else.”

Shiro rubbed the back of his head, frowning.  “I, I didn’t realize anyone-”

“Noticed?”  Lance raised an eyebrow.  “Shiro we always notice.  Because we care about you.  So, please, don’t beat yourself up over it, okay?”  He pleaded fervently, begging Shiro to understand what he was trying to say.

Shiro blinked at Lance a few times.  A slow, soft smile spread over his face.  He sighed warmly, reaching over to gently ruffle Lance’s hair.  Shiro had been pretty tactile with Lance recently; ruffling his hair or knocking against his shoulder playfully after a good training session.  He’d even given him a bear hug on occasion and put him and Keith in separate headlocks during more than one of their arguments.  Honestly, Lance loved it.  Shiro reminded him so much of his older brothers.  “I thought I was supposed to be the one comforting you,” Shiro chuckled.

“We’re taking turns.”  Lance said matter-of-factly.  “This hour is mine, and next can be yours.  I think Hunk has booked the rest of the evening though, he likes to hog the worrying time.  He can be pretty selfish like that, but we’re working on it,” He smirked.

Shiro leaned his head back and laughed heartily.  “Okay, kiddo.”  He cuffed the back of Lance’s head and Lance squawked, rubbing the spot indignantly.  “We’ll try to do it your way.”

Lance grinned broadly.  “Ooh, my way.  I do like the sound of that.  I should get sick more often.”

Shiro chuckled, “Don’t even think about it, Lance.  You gave us quite the scare there.”

Shiro pulled himself up straight and drew his hands back to his sides.  “There is something important I wanted to ask you about, though.”

Lance sighed. “Everyone wants to talk to me.  It’s been one serious conversation after another.”

Shiro smiled sympathetically, “I know, buddy.  It won’t take long.  I wanted to know, is there anything you need from us?”

Lance blinked rapidly up at him.  “Uhh...”

Shiro continued, “It’s just, this kind of thing is so dangerous.  I don’t want to take the chance that anything like this could happen again in the future, not when we could prevent it.  We could have prevented this if we’d just made the environment here at the castle safe for you.”  Lance sat up abruptly, opening his mouth to counter, but Shiro lifted his hand, effectively cutting Lance off.  “You didn’t feel safe enough to tell us about your heritage or your biology, Lance.  That should never have happened.  You should never have to feel afraid to be who you are, or to tell us anything.  For that, I am deeply sorry.”

Lance squirmed, eyes dropping to where his hands lay clasped in his lap.  “It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you guys.  It’s just that- Shiro you saw how the Garrison treated you when you crashed landed back on Earth!”  Lance stared imploringly at Shiro, voice urgent.  “All my life I’ve been taught to hide it so that people who would- who would take us away or, or hurt us wouldn’t find out.  Iverson was willing to sedate you and hold you captive, at least until he had all the information he wanted!  Information you probably couldn’t have given him with your scrambled memory.  And you were a decorated officer with high credentials, an impressive history with the Garrison, and fully human!  Imagine… Imagine what they would have done to me.  To my family-”  Lance choked.

Shiro’s chest ached at Lance’s words.  Wide-eyed and speechless, he reached out a hand to Lance’s shoulder, steady and comforting.

He leaned into Shiro’s touch and took in a sharp breath, composing himself.  “I know what they’d have done, Shiro.  I know what people do to us when they find out.”

Shiro’s brow furrowed, “What do you mean, Lance-”

“Lance!”

“Hooray, you’re awake!  Allura and Coran said you would be!”

Lance flinched, fins flaring out and standing on end as the door swept open and the other paladins came trooping in, calling out to him.  He shook his head, settling his fins and grinned back.  Hunk skipped up to him, pulling him into a crushing hug.  Lance’s breath whooshed out at Hunk’s tight grip.  He laughed, squeezing back.  Pidge and Keith trailed behind Hunk, smiling at him.  Allura and Coran strolled up and stood next to Shiro.

“Apologies, Lance.  But, once they all found out you were awake they ran here as fast as they could!”  Coran beamed at Lance, hands clasped behind his back.

“Thanks, Coran.”  He said sincerely, smiling up at the older altean from within Hunk’s embrace.  He bit his lip and glanced up at Shiro out of the corner of his eye.

Shiro smiled kindly, “We can talk some other time if you want.”

Pidge’s leaned in, eyes flickering back and forth between them rapidly.  “What do you mean?”

“Oh, were we interrupting something?  Sorry, Shiro.”  Hunk frowned lightly, pulling away from the hug.

Lance shook his head.  “Nah, buddy.  You weren’t interrupting anything.  In fact, maybe it would be good for everyone to hear this.  We could hold a Q&A Seminar,” He joked.

Keith shrugged and wandered away to pull some more chairs over.  Hunk glanced between Shiro and Lance, then went to go help Keith.  Allura and Coran looked confused.  Allura leaned over, “What’s a Q&A Seminar?”

Pidge pushed her glasses up, “It stands for Question and Answer.  Basically, we ask Lance any questions we still have, and he gives us an answer if he can.”  She touched the rim of her glasses, leaning towards Lance curiously, “Though, what could have brought this on, I don’t know.”

Lance just smiled placatingly at her, something melancholy behind his eyes.  “I’ll explain in a moment, Pidge.”

Lance waited until everyone had settled around him, then began.  “So, I know you guys have a lot of questions, and I’ve already answered a lot.”  He flashed a smirk in Pidge’s direction who just raised an eyebrow and shrugged.  “But, I know a lot of you are wondering why I kept, this” he gestured to himself, his long tail sparkling serenely in the overhead lights, “a secret.”

The other paladins leaned forward, varying degrees of curiosity on their faces.

“Well, a lot of it is obvious.  Like I told Shiro before you all came in, if the Garrison had found out, we likely would have been taken and separated.  They would have run experiments to figure out what exactly we were.  Coming out as anything less than human, it would’ve just made them treat us like there was nothing human in us to begin with.  We would be nothing more than animals, fascinating and unnatural creatures to them.”  Keith shuddered, pulling his knees to his chest as Lance spoke, his own gaze distant.  Shiro shot Keith a concerned look and placed a comforting hand on his knee.

“My parents were always careful when talking to us about our heritage.  The two main family rules were ‘Never tell a soul’, and ‘Never let yourselves be seen’.  We always took them to heart, especially my older siblings.  They knew firsthand; I wasn’t old enough.  They knew If we were ever found out… mom told us we could be taken away from the pod and-”  Lance flinched, shuddering as he closed his eyes, knuckles white from where he was clenching his hands into tight fists.  His tail curled up and his fins hardened, flaring around him protectively.  Hunk leaned over the tank instantly, gripping Lance’s hands in his own shaking ones, rubbing soothing circles against their backs, mindful of the claws.  Pidge, Allura, and Coran all looked slightly sick.  Lance took a deep, shuddering breath, “We’d probably have been… de-scaled.”

Shiro stilled, shoulders tensing, and hand gripping Keith’s knee tightly.  Keith’s head shot up and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Lance shook violently, a couple of tears squeezing past his tightly shut eyes as he held onto Hunk’s hand like a lifeline.  “Regrowing scales is a slow process.  It’s messy, and painful.  Losing one is difficult to do and excruciating.  To have them forcibly removed...” Lance choked back sobs, curling in on himself.

The tips of Lance’s fins flicked distressfully at the paladins, curling tensely then flicking back out, as if begging for them.  They all moved as one, knocking over chairs in their haste to surround Lance and bumping into each other.  Soothing hands came down around Lance, shaking and kind.  Shiro and Hunk leaned over and as one, lifted a hiccuping Lance out of the tank.  Keith grabbed a blanket, soaking it in the water as they lowered Lance to the ground in their midst.  He tossed the dripping blanket over Lance’s tail and they all curled up around him, pulling him into their midst.

They murmured soothingly to him, cradling and touching every part of him that they could.  Tender hands lay against his arms, tangled in his hair, and resting on the blanket over his tail.  He was sandwiched between Hunk and Shiro, Allura and Coran at his back while Pidge and Keith curled up around him on either side in front.

“You don’t have to continue, Lance.”  Allura’s eyes glazed with pain as she watched her weeping paladin.

He shook his head, breathing deeply to calm the sobs wracking his body.

Shiro frowned, concern emanating from him.  “Lance, please it’s okay.  I shouldn’t have brought this up, really, it’s okay if you don’t want to-”

Lance choked again, this time on what they realized was laughter, bubbling its way up alongside the sobs.  “There -hic- you go again.  Pl-playing that stupid self-blame game.  I t-told you to kn-knock it o-off.”

Hunk chuckled wetly, pulling Lance more firmly against him.  Shiro’s hand pressed harder against his hair, firm and steadying.

“I’m -hic- sorry.  My grandparents wouldn’t give us exact details, but, we all knew they had stories of friends and family members who’d -hic-.  I just, I never even got to know her.  I wasn’t even born yet when it happened; my mom was just pregnant with me.”

The paladin’s stilled, and they felt their blood run cold.  Keith shook, feeling as if ice had been dumped into his veins.

“What- what do you mean, Lance?”  Allura asked tentatively.

Lance opened his eyes, slowly.  They were glazed over as he stared unseeing past them.  “My pod was discovered a little before I was born.  My immediate family was visiting my mom’s sister and her family.  A bunch of my aunts and uncles had gathered to celebrate the news that my mom was going to have another kid.  But, but one of my younger cousins swam away from the pod too far and was spotted by some fishermen.  They tried to catch her, and my family scattered.  The adults and older siblings racing for the younglings as my aunt and a few of my cousins-- her siblings-- tried to get to her in time.  My cousins managed to get her free and escape, but, but my aunt, my mom’s sister.  She got caught by the fishermen!”  Lance was wailing now, shaking and trembling, tail twisting and jerking against the ground with each convulsion.  They pressed in further.  Some of Lance’s fins reached out child-like fingers, shaking as they wrapped around random wrists, ankles, and limbs of his teammates, clinging desperately to them.

“Two of my uncles and a couple of cousins, led by my father, managed to sneak on board later that night to get her back, but those beasts had already taken some of her scales.  Broken scales can heal, but they bleed so much.  She’d bled out before my father and the rest of the rescue party could get to her.  Too busy celebrating their catch,” Lance spat, snarling and sharp teeth bared, “to care about the life their carelessness had just taken away from us.”

His fins flared out menacingly as he snarled, but as quickly as it had come, the fight drained back out of him.  Lance drooped back into their arms, hunched smaller and looking bone tired.  They’d never seen him so subdued.  It didn’t sit well with Keith or Shiro, seeing Lance like that.  Shiro rested his head against Lance’s, tucking the young paladin under his chin and pulling him down to his chest, as if he could protect him from all the evils in their world.  Keith just slid his hand down Lance’s arm to take his hand and intertwined their fingers, solid and comforting.  Pidge and Hunk looked horrified at Lance’s story.  Hunk enveloped enveloped every part of Lance that wasn’t already connected to another member of the team in a bruising hug.  Pidge burrowed herself further into Lance.  His fins flared and twitched slightly at the motion.  Lance detangled his arm from where it was trapped between himself and Hunk and reached for her, stroking her hair; his eyes less distant.

“We’re not going to let anything happen to you, Lance.” She whispered, curling up into the crook of his tail.

Allura murmured in agreement, eyes a touch too bright as she stroked his head and fins, eliciting a warm hum from Lance at the motion.  “I’m so sorry your family went through that, asteráki.”

“Yes, I am sorry for your loss.”  Coran’s face pinched, eyes as glossy as the rest of the paladins.

Lance just lay still, eyes closed and holding on to the warm feeling of home and family that encompassed him.  “It was a long time ago,” He whispered at last.

Keith hummed, “Just because it was a long time ago, doesn’t mean that it means nothing now.  It’s okay to let your past hurt sometimes.  Just know that there are always people you can go to when it hurts, who love you and are here for you.”

Lance laughed lightly, head still pressed between Hunk’s and Shiro’s chests. “That’s actually pretty good advice, Mullet.  Looks like Shiro’s ‘wise space dad’ schtick is rubbing off on you.  Before you know it, you’ll be just like him.  Scary.”  He laughed, wet but warm.  “But, you know, the two of you could do with taking your own advice more often.  We’re here for you too.  I just, I wanted to tell you because I need you, all of you, to know that none of this is your fault.  It was a crappy circumstance, but honestly?  I’m grateful for how it turned out.  I was scared, and I think I don’t know if I’ll ever overcome that fear completely.  But I trust you all.  I like our bonding moments; they’ve been nice.”

Shiro smiled softly down at Lance, squeezing him briefly.  “We trust you too, Lance.  Thank you.  I think we could all do with some more bonding moments.”

Lance shifted, sitting up a little more and the others shifted with him, allowing him to move and stretch a little.  “Maybe with less crying and trauma though.  Preferably some fun ones in between the intense ones, okay?  Like, we should take turns spilling our guts then holding these therapy sessions, ‘cause that’s probably good.  Mamá always said not to bottle things up.  But, intermixed with the fun.  That’s important.”

Hunk chuckled, “Yeah, buddy.  I second that.  How about we start with family dinner.  If Coran says you’re well enough to join us at the table, then we’ll head there.  Otherwise, we can just hang out in the Medbay tonight.”

Lance rubbed his neck sheepishly, “I kind of want to stay in the water for a little longer, if that’s okay.”  Allura and Coran exchanged looks behind him, their faces splitting into identical grins.

“Of course, Lance!”  Allura cheered brightly.  “In fact, Coran and I think we have a way of helping with that.”

Lance looped his arms over Shiro’s shoulders as he and Hunk bent to lift him back onto his bed in the tank.  He squinted at her and Coran.  “What do you mean?”

Coran rocked back and forth on his feet, wagging a finger at Lance, “Ahh, ahh, young paladin!  You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Pidge jumped up and sped off.  “I’ll go get the blankets and pillows so we can make a fort!”

Hunk grinned, “I’ll go prepare some food.  I think I’ve got some good spices, so I could try to whip up some cuban dishes.”

Shiro smiled, “Why don’t we have a movie night?  I’m sure Allura could find a way to project from Pidge’s laptop.  If she’s anything like Matt, I know she’s got a few hundred movies downloaded on there from, umm, questionable sources.

Lance snickered and Keith smirked.  Allura and Coran just look confused, but intrigued.  Lance sat back as they began questioning Shiro on what he meant by ‘questionable sources’ as well as asking about various Earth movies.

When Pidge and Hunk returned they all piled near Lance’s tank and settled down.  Coran had managed to whip out a projector so they were able to display the movie on the wall across from them.  Laughing, chatting, and eating Hunk’s food while Pidge and Lance threw popcorn at the villains popcorn at the villains, Lance couldn’t stop smiling.  He missed his pod back on Earth, but his friends here; they were his family too.  Lance’s heart swelled as he watched them, head leaning against Hunk’s arm as it draped lazily in the tank.  He couldn’t wait to take them home to meet his family.  Only when he had both of his families together again and safe, would Lance feel completely at home.  But for now?  He grinned.  This, right here, was good.

[2whatcom-blog]

Daddy Day Care Underwater

I first encountered a male jawfish with a mouth stuffed with eggs in 2010 whereas diving in Wakatobi Nationwide Park, in Indonesia, whereas doing impartial undergraduate analysis. His big eyes have been nearly comical, and his overflowing jaw jogged my memory of a three-year-old that had simply stuffed a complete piece of birthday cake in his mouth. The sight gave me phantom TMJ ache, and I keep in mind loosening my chunk on my regulator to do some jaw stretches. I snapped a photograph and went on my means, not realizing how particular (and uncommon) the encounter was. I had labored as a divemaster in Zanzibar, so I had a good quantity of expertise finding hard-to-find organisms. Nonetheless, it could be years earlier than I discovered one other mouthbrooding male fish. Regardless of that have, I didnít know a lot about mouthbrooding fish till a serious snowstorm hit Colorado proper earlier than a scientific convention in New Orleans. My lab mate, who research them, was trapped in a number of ft of snow with a cancelled flight, unable to make it out. For some inexplicable purpose, I volunteered to offer her presentation for her. Iíd watched her apply discuss earlier than I left, however that was the extent of my data on the topic. Iím a marine biologist, however I research disco clams and donít concentrate on something that truly has a spine. The Q&A apart (ìagain, this isn't truly my researchÖî), the presentation went fairly wellóand in the end re-ignited my curiosity on this distinctive group of animals. Trying to find mouthbrooding fish is like an underwater treasure huntóexcept that you just donít have a map, and there are many fish with out eggs to distract you alongside the best way. I've gone whole journeys with out discovering a mouthbrooding male; itís the last word letdown. If youíre fortunate sufficient to search out one, nevertheless, thatís when the actual problem begins. Mouthbrooding males are extraordinarily cautious of predators (and by extension, underwater photographers) and make use of a type of ìwhack-a-moleî protection, retreating shortly into their burrow in the event that they sense incoming hazard. Getting the shot requires hovering immobile as near the substrate as doable till the fish ultimately decides that you're not, actually, there to eat his youngsters. Mouthbrooding male fish are actually the last word stay-at-home dads. ìPaternal buccal incubationî could also be a mouthful, however so is carrying each single one among your infants inside your mouth. Relying on the species, paternity go away lasts wherever from every week (jawfish) to a month (cardinalfish), whereas dad goes on an involuntary starvation strike. Because the eggsí guardian, he should aerate them and take away waste and fouled eggs to maintain them wholesome. To perform this, he periodically spits all of the eggs out after which shortly sucks them again in. Think about throwing your child within the air and catching them on the best way down, besides that youíre throwing 400 of them without delay. For some dads, the ìhoney-doî record doesnít cease after incubation. When the eggs hatch (which additionally happens inside their mouth, thus defending the eggs from predators), these dads proceed to deal with the newly-hatched fry inside their mouths for an additional a number of weeks. All new dad and mom would in all probability agree that moments of peace and quiet assist preserve sanity with a new child, however on this case, the dad actually can not escape the children, even to go to the toilet. Moreover, if the fry are unruly, he couldnít yell at them even when he had a voice as a result of, wellóhis mouth is full. Yellowhead jawfish will be the final piscine actual property tycoons. They've his-and-hers burrows, with the femaleís not more than a pair ft away in order that she will be able to control him. In addition they excavate a 3rd burrow, which acts as a type of honeymoon suite. The couple turn out to be fairly aggressive if one other fish tries to construct too near their property line. Getting a photograph of the eggs is a fragile steadiness; slowly shifting your digicam shut sufficient whereas concurrently making certain the male doesnít assume your digicam is planning to interrupt floor subsequent door. Earlier than mouthbrooding males are chosen as appropriate day care facilities, there needs to be an open home. To showcase their would-be nursery, male jawfish courtroom females by swimming in a collection of swoops, arching their backs and flaring their fins. For the finale, they get very near her and easily open their mouth as vast as they'll. If the feminine deems the mouth suitably sizable, they turn out to be mates. Mick Jagger, for instance, would haven't any bother courting a feminine, have been he a yellowhead jawfish. To not be outdone, Banggai cardinalfish have a flowery dance of their very own. On this case the feminine makes the strikes, isolating the male of her alternative. Her choice relies on physique dimension: the larger the male, the larger the mouth; the larger the mouth, the higher the mate. As soon as she will get him alone, she does some vigorous trembling, then breaks out her dance strikes: the ìrushî and the ìtwitch.î She retains dancing till the male indicators his receptiveness, which as you will have guessed, is finished by opening his mouth. Nature clearly has confidence within the would possibly of Mr. Mother, as male mouthbrooding has advanced independently in a number of households of fish. Of the eight such households, three consist solely of paternal mouthbrooders: jawfish, cardinalfish, and sea catfish. Snakeheads, arowanas and gouramis embrace a mix of female and male mouthbrooders. Cichlids are sometimes maternal mouthbrooders, with a couple of paternal mouthbrooders, and a few biparental mouthbrooding (which additionally happens in some Bagrid catfish). Mouthbrooding in cichlids has taken an interesting evolutionary flip. If you happen to assume itís dangerous elevating your personal children inside your mouth, think about elevating the neighborís children, too. The subject of my impromptu substitute convention presentation, this happens when feminine cichlids are parasitized by feminine cuckoo catfish. The catfish lays her personal eggs alongside the cichlidís, and never realizing the distinction between the 2, the cichlid mouthbroods each units of eggs. The worst half about elevating this neighborís eggs is that when her children hatch first, they eat your whole children. Parental care in cichlids is complicated; all species present parental take care of each eggs and larvaeósome till the fry are months previous. Some exhibit communal parental care, the place a number of monogamous pairs take care of combined teams of fry. Even the youngsters from earlier spawns often assist shield the newborns. For cichlids, it actually does take a village (or relatively, a faculty).† I lately returned from a dive journey to Cozumel, the place my Easter egg hunt for mouthbrooding males got here up empty. I did discover the endemic ìsplendid toadfish,î a blue-striped bottom-dweller with a really fancy hipster beard and yellow-tipped fins; it was one among many reminders that there are numerous weirdly great creatures to jot down about within the sea. On daily basis on the boat, with a view to determine which internet sites to go to, the divemasters would ask us a query: ìDo you wish to see marine life, or do you wish to see wholesome coral?îóas if the 2 at the moment are mutually unique. A number of guides famous how drastically issues have modified prior to now three years, with sponges, delicate corals and excessive numbers of animals disappearing from the reefs, together with the overgrowth of algae. Like all marine life, local weather change and ocean acidification threaten the well being of mouthbrooding fish. Just like turtles, many fish exhibit temperature-dependent intercourse dedication. Larger temperatures lead to skewed intercourse ratios, which places stress on the inhabitants. Ocean acidification is very detrimental to larvae, as research present survival charges of eggs underneath heightened CO2 ranges (1,000 ppm) lower by a mean of 70 p.c. Mouthbrooding fish take extraordinary measures to guard their eggs from pure threats. We as people ought to take extraordinary measures to minimize their want for defense towards man-made ones. The creator want to acknowledge Julie Byle of the College of Colorado for her suggestions on this piece. 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[quis-on-flightrising]

I have just finished what I think must be the longest lore thing I’ve ever done. It’s almost 3k word count.

It’s full of feelings. I made myself sad.

If anyone was wondering what has become of Kimer’s fortune-telling service...

(Edit: I just realized that to someone who doesn’t know them, this thing starts out sounding like it’s about cheating. *facepalm* I DIDN’T INTEND THAT.)

Arlandria flitted from tree to tree with careful, silent movements, keeping the blue flash of sunlight on Kimer's bright wings just barely in view up ahead. She hated that it had come to this. 

There was a pathetic feeling to secretly following your husband, sneaking and hiding behind massive tree trunks and using the sounds of wind and the calls of wild animals to cover the sounds of your own movement. There was no better option at this point. If he was doing what they accused him of, better that she should be the one to catch him in it. She wished it was harder for her to believe that the claims were true. Part of her, numb, distant corner of her thoughts, realized that she wasn't trying to figure out some other, more innocent thing he could be sneaking away to do, wasn't wondering if he really was just off for a walk in the safer parts of the Labyrinth like he claimed. Instead she was thinking about how to say goodbye. For just a moment she felt a pang of sadness before the numbness spread to that thought, too. Eventually he stopped near the moss covered stump of a fallen tree. He shrugged off his traveling clothes, the bland outfit they had found for him when they went into hiding with the Wild Orchard clan, and packed it way in a hollow part of the stump; instead he changed into what was obviously a performance outfit. Wispy cloak, hood pulled up over his head, a string of shining beads to trail along the length of his tail. The gossamer thin, moth-eaten-for-effect material that stood up around his neck in a dramatic collar looked like it had been repurposed from her own old performing cloak. Son of a, she thought. A sting of anger jabbed at her, sharp as a wasp bite. He made a new performing character without me. Safely transformed into whatever phony identity he was going by now, Kimer moved on- runestone bag hanging heavy at his waist- and Arlandria followed. It was enough proof for her, but it wouldn't be enough to make him feel really cornered into facing reality unless she walked up on him in the middle of the performance or after he was finished. They stopped again at a wide, open place near a beautifully still pool of water. (Of course; he always did like to play up the whole 'Water is the element of prophecy' bit.) He walked over to the water and stared down into it with a heavy sigh. As the minute stretched on, Kimer not moving from looking down at his reflection, Arlandria's heart twisted and seemed to skip into her throat for a beat- was this it? Was he finally pausing to look himself over, think about his choices, realize what a mess he was making of their lives? A low surge of Water magic hummed at the edges of her Fae senses for a moment, trickling into the pool and staying there, present but sleeping like a cat curled up in the sun. A breeze through the clearing carried the marshy scent of brine up to her hiding place in the trees. Arlandria's fins all fell back flat against her neck as she rolled her eyes up to the sky. Really? He'd used his magic to turn the little pond into seawater, just for the atmosphere effect of reminding the client of the ocean? So sorry and too bad for any of the fish or frogs or other things living in that pond. She wanted to smack him for doing something so unnecessary and selfish… and she wished that there wasn't one stray thought in the back of her mind that quietly admired how clever he was to think of it, even if it was wrong. That admiration of his creative thinking was what that had led her to this life, back when it had been the only thought in her head. It was no more than a whisper now. Even though the whole point of this stealth trip had been to catch Kimer in the act, Arlandria was almost bored as she watched what she already knew would happen. The client who had agreed to meet him here, an icy blue Tundra with their fur shaved back short to help them survive the heat of the Labyrinth, showed up and sat down at the side of the salt pond, a respectful distance away from Kimer. They asked a question, and Kimer launched smoothly off into his routine, graceful as a swan sliding into a lake. He'd even had a new drawstring bag made for the runes so it would be big enough for his hands to fit into, since she wasn't there to use her magic to gracefully pull the tiles out for him. Arlandria considered sending a poke of her Arcane energy over there to push the first stone out of his fingers and, bloop, into the pond, easy as poking it with a finger; but she sighed and let it play out, keeping her 'hands' to herself. After a long while, her muscles starting to grow stiff from stillness, the Tundra seemed satisfied with the 'mystical' advice they had received. They paid Kimer, the two of them bowed respectfully to each other, and the Tundra turned and left the way they had come. Kimer stayed still for a long while to make sure they weren't going to return. That had always been a fear of his, that he would let his character drop and a customer would come back to clarify something, catching him as himself and ruining the illusion. After several minutes of sitting and seeming to peer mysteriously into the pond he must have decided he felt safe again, because he let the magic fade from the water and turned towards home. She knew how this would go as clearly as if she had already watched it happen. He would go change his clothing back into the incognito garments the Orchard had given him to wear, given him as a gift to hide his markings and color from anyone who might recognize him from what was supposed to have been his old life. Hang around for a while, maybe go take a walk in some nice safe part of the Labyrinth and let himself be seen by a passerby there to reinforce the story he'd told before going out as at least partly true, then eventually wander home to her. Change of plans, my dearest. Even the voice of her own inner thoughts had gone flat. She dropped from her tree and glided down, keeping pace alongside him for a moment before landing. He startled at first, probably mistaking her for an annoyed bird swooping at him, but the light catching on her wings was unmistakeable. He staggered to a stop, his mouth opening as if he was about to say something but then flicking into a crookedly apologetic grin instead. "Hello my love." She stared up at him with tired eyes. "Why are you doing this. Let's skip past any pretense that I didn't just completely catch you in the act of lying to me, lying to all those decent people who've agreed to take us in, and get straight to why." He sighed and shrugged out of the tall collar of his costume, shooting a dirty look at the trees all around. "I'm suffocating out here, Ari. Everything is so dense- closed in and weighing down and stifling. Everyone is broken up from each other by all these trees and roots and hedges. I need the road! The flow of people, like the current of a river! Here it's just walls, green walls everywhere." "Green walls that we have to hide because you lied to everyone for so long that we're not safe out in the open any more." "Me! I lied to people! Excuse me, you were there too, every step of the way, every flourish to draw in the clients, you helped. You can't throw it on me like a muddy overcoat now, as if I'm dirty and your hands are clean." "I thought you would outgrow it!" She was shouting now too, although it was more in a Fae's way of body language than tone, her wings flared in agitation. "I thought eventually, when you saw how dangerous it was getting, when you saw how you were risking hurting people with your advice, you would find some other way to get your crowds!" "Oh, 'hurt people with my advice,' really. You want to punish me because people are gullible? They can choose to do or not do whatever they please. If they're going to take the word of some peddler they just met at the market instead of their own common sense, that's hardly my-" "You did everything you could to be more than 'some peddler they just met' to every one of those customers. The stones, the things you always said about Water being 'the element of prophecy'-" "Shouted out into the public market, a hawker's sales pitch, from a cloud of cheap incense and decked out with costume jewelry!" "You did everything you could to make it look and sound real to them! If you just wanted to be some kind of fun carnival game that people laughed off as soon as they went home, you could have been. That is not what you do." A sneer of disgust twisted his face, and for a heartbeat Arlandria almost recoiled from the ugly flare of anger sparkling behind it. "You want me to be some two-copper-bit clown, playing with shiny pebbles in the dirt to entertain children and lovesick teenagers who want to know who they're going to fall in love with and how many children they'll have." "I want you to get your crowds and your respect in a way that doesn't lead to people ruining their lives and then coming after you for it. I want to sleep peacefully at night instead of worrying that someone is going to be searching for you with a knife in their hand because they did what you told them to do and it turned out a disaster. Don't you want that too?" "We had that already. I'm sorry you were losing sleep over worrying for our sakes, I really am. I'm sorry. But we were doing fine. We kept on the move. We watched our trails. We changed our appearance often enough. I know we both felt anxious from time to time, but lots of people get a little twitchy in the dark of night when the campfire shadows are long. It was just nerves. We were fine." "There were rumors of people looking for a Pearlcatcher and a Fae travelling together with cart like ours. Some of them even described our eye colors specifically." "And when we heard those rumors, we moved on from those places right away and nothing ever came of them!" He gestured with one hand in the direction that would lead them back to the Wild Orchard's territory. "Can you really say we're safer now? Living there? On top of a magic laced bomb waiting to blow, surrounded by hungry spirits and possessed machines and wild beasts trying to break through the borders every other day?" "We only had to come here because it was the only place that would take us in! And even that was on the condition of you swearing off the old business. Add one more set of people to the list you've lied to now- a bunch of dragons who were charitable enough to give a second chance to a pair of liars on the run. Which, by the way, is another door slamming shut in our faces, since I'm sure they'll be furious about us leading our troubles right to their door like you've been doing." For the first time in all their years together Arlandria saw him actually freeze with true, undisguised shock. Eyes wide, tongue stilled, no witty answer easily rolling out. "You're going to go report me to them?" She shook her head wearily. "No. Eleven help me, even after all this, if it was up to me I would let you get away with it. But it's not. I didn't catch you- one of their scouts did, yesterday. The clan's leadership thought it would be better to tell me and let me talk to you first before they decide what to do." Kimer shifted uneasily from foot to foot, pearl clutched tightly against his chest. "I guess it's just as well that I hate it there, then, since they probably wouldn't take kindly to me coming back to say goodbye." "They would give you one more chance." The words prickled like dust sticking to the sides of Arlandria's throat. This wasn't how she had wanted it to go, but how else could it have gone? She knew what his answer was going to be, but she still had to say it, still had to make the offer. "They told me they could work out some kind of enchantment to set off an alarm when you're being deceitful, so you really wouldn't be able to do this any more. If you're willing to do that, at least for a while, they would trust us one more time and let us stay." "Never. Ari, I'm not going to put on some kind of magic collar so a bunch of angry strangers can control what I say. That's disgusting." His voice was getting softer and softer. She nodded sadly, not looking at him. He knew too. "You're not even going to lie to me and tell me that if we leave together it'll be different this time. Give me some nice story about how we'll find something else to do with our lives, or a different clan to hide behind." "I've never lied to you. I'm not going to start now." No, she thought distantly. Laughed off the things I'm afraid of, shrugged off the things I worry about, put my hopes for us at the back of the line every time- but never lied to me. I'll give you that at least. Her head felt almost too heavy to lift as she looked back up at him. His eyes were apologetic, but clear. No hesitation. No regret. Had her presence at his side really meant so little, that he could go through with this without even a tear? "I'm sorry Ari. I don't know what else to say. I love you. If you ever want to come back out on the road with me I would be so happy. But I can't. I can't live the way you want me to." "I know." She fluttered up next to him one last time, gave him a peck on his nose. "Keep the enchanted bracelet they lent you. Maybe it will help warn you about other kinds of danger besides the ones they made it for." "What? You're encouraging me to steal now, after all this talk about moral behavior?" He gave her a crooked smile, inviting her to laugh, but she only sniffed and flicked her frills at him. "Oh stop it. Just… try to keep yourself safe. Please." "I will. You do the same. Love you, Ari." "Love you too." There were a dozen other things she wanted to shout at him- that he was an idiot for being so stubborn, for being so selfish, for letting her believe for all those years that things might be different some day. That he could be so much more than this and he was wasting it all. But she had said enough, and anything else would just make the goodbye more bitter. He dipped his head slowly in a low bow to her, turned in the direction that would lead him most quickly out onto a major road, and walked away. Arlandria waited until she couldn't hear his footsteps through the underbrush any longer, leaving only the wild sounds of birds and distant running water to fill the warm air. He was gone. Really gone. For the first time in years, she was alone. She had been ready for this, had known this would probably be the end when she'd set out to follow him hours ago, but she still felt almost dizzy. As though she had just lost a limb and still wanted to lean her weight on where it should have been. Where will the music in my life come from now? The adventure, the laughter, the sense of pride? She would have to find it again, somewhere. Surely it was out there. Her only happiness in the world couldn't be tied up in the drawstring bag of a liar and a cheat, rattling along mixed in with his counterfeit rune stones, could it? She let herself sit there and be still for a while, until she felt her thoughts were settled enough to watch where she was going. Then she turned and began the long flight back to the Orchard.

[shipsandimagines-svu]

Sonny Carisi x Reader (I)

Request: Sonny x Reader. They’ve just had a baby and things are going really well but then Y/N’s name comes up in an investigation as a potential victim. How will Sonny react?

Warnings: Mentions of Reader being sexually assaulted

Word Count: 1,716

           Sonny Carisi was content with his life. He hated how busy he was with his job, but he was always satisfied to put another scumbag away where they couldn’t hurt anyone else. And more than anything, he was happy with his home life. He had a beautiful wife, Y/n, and a new daughter, Y/d/n. He’d taken a week off work to help Y/n with Y/d/n, and was returning to work today.

“Fin, Rollins. Glad to see that the place didn’t fall apart without me.” Rollins laughed. “It came close, but we managed to scrape by. How’s Y/n and Y/d/n?” Sonny nodded. “They’re both good. I’ve got pictures if anyone’s interested.” He pulled out his phone. “Maybe if there’s time later, Sonny. For now, we just caught a case,” Olivia said.

            The young woman was lying in a hospital bed, her face towards the wall. Rollins knocked lightly on the door before walking in with Carisi. “Hey, are you Alice?” The young woman turned her head to face the two of them, and nodded. “I’m Amanda, and this is Sonny. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay with you.” “No.” She shook her head. “No, it’s not okay.” Amanda frowned, but looked sympathetic. “Honey, I know this isn’t easy –” Alice shook her head again. “No, you don’t. Get out. Both of you, get the hell out of here.”

           “That went well,” Amanda said. Sonny huffed. “Yeah, well…. Hopefully she’ll come around at some point.” Amanda nodded. “She better.”

           The two of them went to Barba’s office and met up with Fin and Olivia there. “Do we have any leads,” Barba asked the partners as they walked in. “No, and our vic isn’t talking, either,” Amanda said. “What do we know about the men in her life,” she asked. “She’s got a husband,” Fin replied. “Low-life, but never accused of any kind of abuse.” “Dig,” Barba said. “If it’s there, someone will know about it.”

            “Hey, baby.” You stood on your toes and kissed your husband’s cheek. “How was your first day back at work?” He shrugged. “Stressful. We’ve got this girl who got beat up pretty badly and assaulted, but she won’t admit to who did it. We think her husband, so we’re going through his history now to find anyone else he may have done this to. How was your day? How was Y/d/n?” You smiled. “She was good. She slept a lot. Ate every couple of hours.” Sonny nodded. “You were able to get around okay? You weren’t in too much pain?” You nodded. “I was okay, baby. Sit down, I’ll throw some of that lasagna you made last week in the microwave.”

            At the opening of the business day, the squad was sitting in Barba’s office. “So, who can we contact that has been in association with this man?” Rollins pulled out a sheet of paper. “Well, there’s not much to go on. He started dating this woman – Alice – in high school. Had one girlfriend before her. Apparently they were pretty serious. They talked about getting married, but her parents thought they were too serious for high schoolers so they broke up instead.” “What’s her name?” “Uh….” Amanda looked at the sheet again. “What’s wrong,” Carisi asked, looking over her shoulder.

           “You’re home early,” you said, giving your husband a peck on the cheek. “Look at you, out for a week, home on time yesterday, home for lunch today…. You are home for lunch, right?” Sonny was being quiet, and avoiding looking at your face. “Sonny?” “Is the baby asleep?” “Um…yeah, but she should be waking up soon to be fed.” He nodded. “We have somewhere we need to go.”

           Sonny, Y/n, and Y/d/n ended up at Barba’s office. “What’s – what’s wrong? Sonny, have you been getting threats?” Everyone’s eyes were on you, except for your husband’s. “Sonny….” You didn’t want to fight in front of his co-workers, but could he not at least look at you? “No, Sonny hasn’t been getting threats,” Olivia said. “Actually, we wanted to talk to you. Your name came up in an investigation.” “Mine? But….” Barba opened a case file, even though he’d memorized the names in it. “Alice Williamson has been sexually assaulted and beaten. We’re thinking it’s her husband, Matthew Williamson.” He looked up from his file. “Does that name mean anything to you?” You stood there, frozen; your mind still repeating only the words Sonny knows, Sonny knows, Sonny knows. When you were silent, Sonny spoke for the first time. “Do you know him?” “Yes,” you whispered. He turned to look at you. “Did he ever hurt you?” You pulled the baby closer to you, and she started to quietly whimper. Sonny instinctively held his arms out for her, and you handed her over. “Yes.” You were so quiet that no one could hear you. “I’m sorry?” You nodded. “Matthew. I know him. He – he dated me in high school for, like, a year and he – he –” “He raped you.” Sonny was looking straight at you. “Yes.”

           You didn’t remember how you ended up in the bathroom. You heard the door open and turned to see who it was. “Olivia. I’m fine.” “You’re crying.” You shook your head. “He – he must be so mad.” The door opened again, and you heard a familiar voice. “Everyone decent?” Panic momentarily flared up in you again, but you nodded, and Olivia called out to Carisi that yes, everyone was decent.

           You heard the door shut, and saw that you and Carisi were alone in the restroom. “Sonny…I, um –” But you didn’t know how to finish the sentence, so you simply let your voice trail off. “You what?” And you still didn’t know how to answer. “I just…I didn’t want you to know.” That much was true. “Why not?” You just shook your head, wiping at your eyes. You still thought about him and it sometimes, but not as often as you used to…but you found that every time it crossed your mind, it felt immediate. Scary. Dark. And so you kept busy. You moved as far away from your old hometown as you could, all the way to New York City. You settled down with a good man, had a baby. You worked a good job, and did some housewife tasks, too. You stayed as far away from thinking about it as you possibly could. You never told your husband, you didn’t see the point. You were fine. At least, that’s what you told yourself. You opened your mouth to try to explain yourself to him, but all that came out was a small sob. The anger in Sonny’s eyes completely disappeared, and he held out his arms for you. You took a tentative step towards him, but shut your eyes when he put his hand on your forearm. “I’m sorry,” you managed. He pulled his hand back. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. Let’s sit down, okay?” You sat on the floor, and Sonny crouched down, a few feet from you. “Hey, it’s okay.” You shook your head, keeping your eyes on your husband’s hand. “You don’t want to get…him on you,” you said, in a shaky voice. Sonny frowned. “I won’t, doll. You can come here. You don’t have to, though. You can stay right there if you want.” You looked at him, and let him hold you. “Sonny, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” you sobbed into his shirt. “Doll,” he murmured, stroking your hair. “It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m right here, and I’m not goin’ anywhere, okay, doll?”

           It took you a few minutes, but you calmed down. You gently pulled back from your husband, wiping dried tears and streaks of mascara off of your cheeks. You stood up, facing a mirror, trying to clean the rest of the streaked makeup off of your cheeks. Sonny stood up, and wetted a paper towel. “Here ya go.” You took it, wiping the mascara from your cheeks and taking a dry paper towel to dry your cheeks off. “Thanks, Sonny.”

           You turned and faced your husband. “I’m sorry.” Sonny looked at you. He nodded. “I know.” “I, um…I didn’t tell you ‘cause I, uh…I just wanted to avoid it.” Sonny looked sympathetic – you figured that he must have heard this story a hundred times before. “We can talk about it later, if you want.” “No.” You shook your head. “I wanna talk now.” “You sure, doll?” “I’m sure!” You took a deep breath. “I’m sure.” There was a brief pause. “What do you want to know?”

           Sonny paused. “Sonny.” He bit his lip and looked away. “Sonny,” you repeated, a little more insistently. “Do you not trust me, doll?” You laughed, but in a watery way. “Of course I trust you.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” “I wanted to avoid it.” “Did you ever think about it?” You looked away, sniffling a little. “Some.” Your voice cracked. He nodded. “Why didn’t you come to me?” You shrugged. “I just…I mean…you hear this story at least twice a day. You told me, the first time you told me you loved me, that I was light. I wanted to be something you wanted to come to, not…not just more work.” He looked at you. “You’re not work.” You laughed again, blinking. “Am I not?” “No.” He was quiet, just looking at you, and you just looked back. “You’re not goin’ anywhere?” “No.” You nodded. “Thank you,” you whispered. “Hey, look at me, doll. I told you for better or for worse, and I meant that. I’m here. No matter what. I’m not sayin’ we’re done talking about this, but we don’t have to talk about it all right now, okay?”

            A few minutes later, still sniffling slightly, Sonny led you back to Barba’s office. He stopped right outside the door. “You sure about this, doll?” You nodded, and squeezed his hand. You walked in with your husband. “You okay?” Rollins sounded sympathetic, and you felt everyone’s eyes on you: Amanda, Olivia, Fin, and Barba. It felt overwhelming, but Sonny gently put his hand on your back. You took a deep breath, and looked at the lawyer. “What do you need to know, Mr. Barba?”