#shout out to the person who said to give her a warrior emblem

[demonsteapot]

happy (belated) new year everyone!! i knew i had to do something special...

(i was trying to get this done yesterday but it kinda went overboard lol)

<3

[ravioxhilda]

Hello everyone! I have written a version of the Champions’ Ballad but with a Miphvali twist. I hope you enjoy this version of the Champions’ Ballad!

Today was a day of celebration, a day of hope for all of Hyrule as those who had been chosen to defend the kingdom against Calamity Ganon would be gathering to be honored by the King himself.

He had summoned the four Chosen Ones to officially appoint them not only as the Champions of Hyrule but also publicly recognize them as the pilots of the four Divine Beasts.

It was a show of triumph and that even against their greatest enemy, they would prevail and win the war.

At least, that’s what was written in the summons that the Royal Messengers had delivered to Revali, Mipha, Urbosa, and Daruk all across the land.

Mipha, Urbosa, and Daruk had accepted the summons graciously and immediately began making preparations to travel to Central Hyrule for the inauguration ceremony.

Revali, however, had rolled his eyes and dismissed the Messenger with a halfhearted promise he would attend.

Which was true, he would attend, though he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be presented and paraded like a trophy in front of so many, especially to a King who he barely felt loyalty to, and when he could be training instead.

Nevertheless, Revali had soon finished packing what sparse materials he would need for traveling to survive this short trip, triple-checked there were enough arrows in his quiver, and flew off from his peaceful home in the mountains towards Central Hyrule, with a small group of Rito Warriors in tow to represent the village alongside him.

It had taken only about half the day for Revali to reach Hyrule Castle with only a few breaks from flying to eat to regain energy while resting his wings.

The area around it was mainly flat open plains with some forests, as well as scattered Hylian settlements and stables.

However, the roads that snaked throughout the entirety of the region were packed with travelers, either on foot or by cart, though Revali felt he would be ill just by the sheer amount of people there were.

He could also see those from other races arriving as well as he approached Hyrule Castle.

Gorons were rolling in from the direction of Death Mountain and Eldin, with Daruk in the lead standing out with his rather large beard and boisterous laughter.

The Gerudo arrived on horseback from what Revali could assume was the direction of the desert, Urbosa riding in front, the spokes of her golden headdress sparkling in the sun, signifying her position as Chief of the Gerudo.

Finally, there were the Zora, arriving from the waters of the rivers surrounding Central Hyrule, and even though Revali had sharp eyesight, he could still barely make out Mipha standing tall, her elaborate jewelry shining in the sunlight as she led her people to Hyrule Castle.

It had seemed that the other three had been chosen and invited to the Castle as well, though it did not surprise Revali in the least. He had suspected for some time now that the King would do something to honor them as Pilots of the Divine Beasts, but this whole gathering was certainly over the top from what he could tell.

Mipha looked above from where she was walking to see Revali and a small group of Rito following behind them, though she could recognize him anywhere with his navy blue plumage. It stood out quite nicely from the more muted browns of his countrymen against the clear pale blue sky.

She thought back to her home, Zora’s Domain, where her father and younger brother had decided to stay behind to keep watch over the Domain, instead sending along a small entourage of Zora to accompany her to Hyrule Castle.

How she missed Sidon’s chubby red cheeks and the way he wandered about, his head-tail that was much too long for his small body trailing behind him.

She giggled at the thought of her little brother trying to figure out where she had gone, as she had come to find out that whenever she was away he ran around the Domain asking anyone who would listen where his big sister had gone.

Of course, any Zora would listen to their baby Prince, even if he hadn’t been royalty, and would stall him long enough so that a Guard could come to retrieve him and take him back to King Dorephan.

While it pained Mipha to be away from home for so long so often, it was necessary to ensure the safety of her people by working together with the Pilots to drive back Calamity Ganon’s forces, though her true duty had yet to be fulfilled.

“Good afternoon, Princess.”

Mipha looked up to see that Revali and the Rito accompanying him had landed next to the Zora marching in place and joined in with them.

Revali fell into step beside her, his armor reflecting the sunlight much like Mipha’s jewelry was, though her jewelry sent little beams of light across the grass.

“Oh, Revali, how lovely to see you again! I trust that your journey went well?” Mipha asked, and Revali shrugged nonchalantly as though journeying halfway across the kingdom was a breeze for him.

She supposed it most likely was a breeze for him, as he could fly through the sky instead of traveling by foot like the Gerudo or the Gorons had done.

“Oh, it was quite uneventful, nothing much occurred besides perhaps being shot at by a few Bokoblins, but nothing major.” He said airily, though the way his tone sounded so confident meant that Mipha couldn’t help but believe him.

“That is wonderful! We luckily did not have many problems either, though the amount of monsters we have had attack the Domain is becoming quite worrisome. I do hope my people will be alright whilst I’m here.”

The atmosphere suddenly felt quite gloomy, though Revali could understand her worry. He had believed Rito Village was under attack once again when they had first met, after all.

“Have some faith in your warriors, Princess. I am sure they will protect your home well. That is why they were chosen, correct?” He asked, and Mipha nodded, though it did little to ease her worry.

“I will try. I can only hope the Princess will allow us to return home for a few days before we are sent out on our next mission.” She said wistfully, and Revali could sense that she missed being home very much, which he could relate to. He was never home much to begin with, but leaving his Flight Range hurt every time he did so.

The two continued to walk in silence after that, the only sounds were the murmurs of conversation between the Zora and the Rito amongst themselves, and the march of their feet against the ground.

They soon arrived at the metal gates of Hyrule Castle, the sunlight reflecting off the glass and iron that made up the two large doors.

Two guards stood at attention, though by the looks of it they were low-ranking as they wore the standard Royal Knight armor.

Mipha couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. The armor was made from heavy yet defensive metals and the helmets they wore were much too large to the point where they could not see very well or move around as nimbly as they should have been able to.

Revali felt much the same way, though based on what the Princess had told them, these guards were meant more for charging through enemy ranks with brute force than actual strategic combat, so their armor was much appropriate than what the King’s Personal Guards wore.

“Halt! State your names and titles!” The taller of the two guards ordered, causing Mipha and Revali to glance at each other before Mipha politely cleared her throat.

“I am Lady Mipha of the Zora, a member of the Zora Royal Family and Pilot of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta.” She said confidently, giving Revali the feeling that she had gone through this process many times before, though he straightened his back and puffed out his chest proudly.

“I am Master Revali of the Rito, Chief Commander of the Rito Guard and Pilot of the Divine Beast Vah Medoh.” He declared, causing Mipha to giggle daintily as she pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle it, though the guards just seemed confused, but shrugged it off as they saluted to the both of them.

“Welcome to Hyrule Castle, Lady Mipha and Master Revali! Her Majesty is awaiting your arrival in the Sanctum! Open the gates!” The taller guard shouted, and the large metal doors began to slowly open in front of the two, revealing the long, winding stone path in front of them that led to the Castle.

Both the Zora and the Rito glanced at one another as Mipha and Revali began their trek up the stone pathway, and all of them were quite relieved that the large structure of Hyrule Castle blocked the majority of the sunlight that fell upon Central Hyrule.

After a long while, the group finally made out to the Sanctum, all tired out from the long walk, though Revali was also slightly irritated.

At the entrance, Zelda could be seen standing with Link, Urbosa, and Daruk, all having arrived sometime before, though Mipha and Revali noticed the different clothing on all of them.

They had, of course, seen Zelda in her Royal Gown before, as she wore it most days when in the castle. However, the other three had entirely different outfits.

In place of Urbosa’s traditional Chief skirt, she wore a blue skirt with the Vah Naboris emblem, with two decorated belts crossed over one another at the waist, the cloth fastened by a golden clasp with the Gerudo emblem. She had taken off her headdress as well.

One of Daruk’s chains that had crossed over his body was replaced with a blue scarf with Vah Rudania emblazoned on the cloth with white trim at the borders.

Link’s outfit had changed the most drastically, completely abandoning his Hylian Knight armor in favor of beige pants, brown boots, and a blue tunic that matched with Urbosa’s and Daruk’s scarves, and Zelda held two more blue pieces of cloth in her hands.

“Oh, Revali, Mipha, I am so glad you have made it! I apologize for the long walk up here, Urbosa and Daruk were complaining about the same thing when they arrived just a few minutes before. Will you be alright?” She asked, and though Revali wanted to snap at her, her concerned look and the shadows beneath her eyes calmed him down. It wasn’t her fault her home was so large.

“It was no fault of yours, Princess. I would have flown here but I do not trust your guards enough to not blow us out of the sky. Now, what is with all of this blue clothing?” He asked, Zelda breaking into a grim as she held out a scarf to both Mipha and Revali.

“I discovered in ancient texts about the Pilots of the Divine Beasts from 10,000 years that they wore something that signified their bond with their Divine Beast and with one another. As we all serve together for the good of our kingdom, I created these four scarves and Link’s tunic for you all to wear. Perhaps you can wear it for the ceremony?”

The two took their scarves, though Mipha smiled happily when she noticed the Vah Ruta emblem displayed on the cloth, the fabric feeling quite fine in her hands.

“It is lovely, Princess. Thank you. I suppose it is a good thing I decided to wear my special occasion jewelry instead of my royal jewelry. It will go quite nicely with the blue.” She said, fingering the tassels hanging around her neck and sash around her body.

Revali turned the scarf over to see Vah Medoh pictured, a small smile on his face when seeing his trusted mechanical companion. It was as if he could hear its call from Tabantha.

“I agree. You clearly put much effort into this, and I shall wear it proudly. Thank you.”

Everyone looked at him with a surprised look, though he didn’t notice as he examined the scarf more closely.

“Princess, would it be possible for us to change somewhere? I would feel a bit uncomfortable taking off my jewelry and sash in front of all of you.” Mipha asked suddenly, though everyone had to resist the urge to tell her she was basically naked all of the time anyway, though to a Zora it was more practical to be adorned with jewelry than actual clothing.

“Oh, um, you can change behind the pillar over there. No one should be able to see you.” Zelda said as she gestured to the aforementioned pillar. Mipha nodded her thanks and darted behind the stone, careful that she was out of sight.

“Well, I never would have expected to see the both of you showing up together. Did something happen?”

Revali glanced over to see Urbosa smirking at him, her arms crossed under her chest as she looked at him knowingly, giving off an aura of...smugness? That was all he could tell.

“We happened to arrive at the same time to the path before the gate. How did you and Daruk get past us? You were both arriving at the same time we were.” He asked, and Urbosa shrugged.

“Guess you’ll never find out. However, I think you should put on your scarf before the rest of the kingdom arrives, don’t you think?”

Revali grumbled as he wrapped the scarf around his neck, though something he realized was that it was a bit shorter than his beige one, and the Medoh Emblem was positioned in such a way that a more intricate way of wearing the scarf was needed.

Tying a knot would not be difficult under normal circumstances, but as he was tying the knot with a cloth around his neck without a mirror, he couldn’t quite see what he was doing.

“Princess, could you explain why you decided not to give us these garments until we arrived?” He demanded, glaring pointedly at Zelda who could only smile sympathetically in response.

“I apologize, I did not realize that tying your scarf around your neck may have given you a bit of trouble. Perhaps you could allow someone to tie it for you, just this once?” She suggested, but before Revali could respond he heard the soft pad of someone’s feet behind him and turned to see Mipha walking out from behind the pillar she had changed behind.

Suddenly, it felt as if it had become quite difficult for Revali to breathe when he saw Mipha wearing her scarf for the first time.

Her blue scarf had been tied around the front of her torso, held up by a sapphire brooch, the other half of the blue fabric draping over her shoulder against her back. The silver collar around her neck had three small teardrop gems hanging from it, with a second longer one sitting below it, crossing just over her chest.

Her silver belt was still adorned with the same jewels, though her head jewelry had changed so the small gem that once lay on her forehead was gone.

Revali had learned from spending time around Zelda, Mipha, and Urbosa that women who were held in high esteem, such as royalty or as a chief chosen to use a headpiece with a gem inlaid where the wearer’s forehead would be, though why he did not know.

“Uh, Revali? You okay?”

He snapped back to reality to see everyone staring at him worriedly. Well, everyone except Urbosa, who just smiled at him with that oh so infuriating smug expression.

“I’m fine, stop staring at me.” He snapped, everyone turning away except for Mipha, as she reached out to gently take ahold of the scarf around his neck.

“Here, allow me.”

She then began to tie the scarf into a simple knot, though on the outside it looked quite intricate, simple but beautiful.

Her webbed fingers brushed against the metal of his breastplate as she worked, everyone staring at her in wonder while Revali was doing his best not to explode from the close contact. Close contact from her of all people.

“There, that should do it. What do you think?” Mipha asked, stepping back to admire her handiwork, taking all of Revali’s willpower to not pull her back towards him.

“What is wrong with me? I am having such strange thoughts about her, and for what?” He thought to himself, though realizing Mipha was still waiting for a response, he decided to place that train of thought on hold for now.

“It looks wonderful. Thank you, Princess.” He said with a small smile, causing Mipha to beam with pride, the most adorable thing Revali had ever seen.

“It was no problem, Revali. I am glad I was able to assist with your predicament.”

Mipha then went to speak with Zelda about something, presumably where to place her sash that she was holding in her hands to not distract from the ceremony.

“You okay, Revali?”

Revali felt a rather large hand land on his shoulder, as well the low, gravelly voice of its owner, meaning that it was Daruk.

Sure enough, when he turned around to see who it was, it was indeed his Goron teammate, a rather concerned look on his face as Revali grumbled.

“I’m fine. Honestly, why must you all assume I’m not alright for when I don’t speak for an extended moment?”

“Because you are always talking about something. When you’re silent, that’s usually a red flag.”

The two looked up to see that Urbosa had joined them, standing beside Daruk as she left Mipha, Link, and Zelda to speak to one another instead.

“Ugh, what do you want? And I don’t talk all the time.” He grumbled, Urbosa laughing heartily as she placed a hand on her hip, her expression turning serious.

“I’m here because it is quite obvious there is something going on between you and Mipha, and as I am trying to keep the peace of the group so we don’t stress out the princess, you’re going to need to tell me what exactly it is.” She said calmly, making Revali feel as if a parental figure was talking down to him, which he did not appreciate.

“You do not need to speak to me like I am a child, I am fine. Nothing is going on between Mipha and me, I barely know her!” Revali yelled, glaring at Urbosa, though she merely shrugged as she received a questioning look from Zelda, as well as a gesture towards the Sanctum.

“Perhaps we can continue this conversation at a later time. The ceremony is due to start soon, let us head into the Sanctum.”

Urbosa and Daruk walked to join the others, leaving Revali alone as he reluctantly followed them into the rather extravagant chamber.

The Sanctum of Hyrule Castle was where the King and Queen of Hyrule, or rather the King and Princess as the Queen had been gone for over a decade, would make their public appearances with the rest of the kingdom.

The room was circular, with two staircases alongside the back wall that to the King and Queen’s Thrones, where King Rhoam could be seen standing. Lush red carpeting lined the floor, and where there wasn’t carpet was carved stone that matched those that made up the walls, with banners hanging that displayed the Royal Family insignia, the Triforce.

Windows scattered around the chamber allowed in sunlight, though if there hadn’t been a few lanterns to illuminate the room, the Sanctum would have been much darker.

The Zora, Gerudo, Rito, Gorons, and Hylians that had all accompanied each Champion were gathered at the different angles of the room, each leader holding a banner displaying each of their respective emblems.

Revali took his place at the front of the Rito, glancing over to see Mipha hurriedly walking towards her fellow Zora, and he couldn’t help but think that the sunlight reflecting off her jewelry made her look extra beautiful.

“Get ahold of yourself, you’re not here to drool over a Zora whom you barely know.” He thought, though his attention snapped back to the front when King Rhoam cleared his throat, a bit too loud to be on accident. He began what sounded quite obviously to be a prepared speech, though Revali had come to expect that of Hylian royalty. Only Zelda seemed to put true heart into what she had to say.

“Welcome warriors! I’d like to thank you for joining me here today, and for your bravery in accepting this...fateful task. I officially appoint you Hyrule’s Champions, and bestow upon you this sacred garb. That blue is a symbol of the royal family, one that has been passed down for countless generations. Those garments you now wear were all crafted by my daughter, Zelda.”

King Rhoam paused for a moment, his once sweeping gaze landing squarely on his daughter standing in the middle of the Sanctum. Anyone who could see her could notice how nervous she was, the way her fists were slightly clenched as well her almost shaking form. However, she managed a nod in response, remembering the rule of any royal: Do not speak to the king during an address to the public.

“Zelda, I trust you with the task only a daughter of the Royal Family can fulfill. Lead our Champions, Princess. And together, protect our kingdom from the threat of Calamity Ganon!” The King proclaimed, spreading his arms wide as he finished his decree.

Almost everyone in the room cheered, Daruk included, while the rest of the Champions clapped politely and Zelda breathed a large sigh of relief.

She had done it. She had made it through the ceremony without a hitch, she could almost jump in excitement, though she knew a stern look would be directed at her if she had done so.

The Champions surrounded her as King Rhoam left the Sanctum, as well as all of the representatives for each Champion, until the only people who were left were the six of them.

“Well, I’d say that went well, don’t you think, Urbosa?” Daruk asked, and the Gerudo nodded as she patted Zelda on the back, a proud smile upon her face.

“Yes, you did splendid, Little Bird. I’m so proud of you.” Urbosa said to the Princess, and Zelda smiled, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at the five of them surrounding her.

“No, thank you! It is because of the five of you that Hyrule stands a chance against the greatest threat our kingdom has ever seen, I truly will never be able to thank you enough. Come, I have somewhere to show you.” She said, gesturing for everyone to follow, though Revali lingered for a moment.

“Princess, I may have to return home soon, training and preparations must be done to ensure we will succeed in our battle against Ganon, as you have mentioned before. Perhaps I should go-“

“No, you are not going anywhere.”

Revali looked to see Urbosa glaring at him with a stern expression before it turned to a smile shortly after, though he could sense the malice behind her gaze.

“You wouldn’t want to disrespect our princess after she has graciously invited us here to honor us, would you? There could be dire consequences if you were to do so.” She said sweetly, her hand crackling with the slightest bit of lightning, a thinly veiled threat.

Revali gulped. He had been on the receiving end of Urbosa’s lightning once before, and the experience had been so painful that Mipha immediately had to heal him, her face contorted with worry as she desperately held him close to soothe the white-hot pain coursing through his veins, though he had appreciated being held by her, if even just for a moment.

He groaned before following to join the group, Urbosa giving him a satisfied smile before walking side by side with Zelda, leaving him alone in the back.

Mipha glanced back worriedly at him, trying her best to be discreet, though it didn’t take Revali long to see Mipha’s amber eyes gazing directly at his, causing him to be caught off guard, enough to almost jump.

Why was she staring at him like that? It was so intense, he wondered if she was truly worried about him. He felt slightly guilty for seemingly making her worry, though why she would even be worried in the first place was beyond him.

Mipha noticed him staring at her, causing her to squeak and quickly turn back around, her cheeks warming a little at being caught.

“Why am I so embarrassed? I was simply checking on him from afar, that’s not against the law, is it? Perhaps it’s rude to stare at someone from afar in Rito culture. So much I do not know about him, but how I desire to learn more.” She thought, clasping her hands together in an effort to calm down.

“Alright, here we are.”

The Champions had arrived a little ways from the Sanctum at a gazebo of some sort, just below the tower that housed Zelda’s study.

“Welcome to the Gazebo! I discovered this place not too long ago, the view of Hyrule and the Castle is simply beautiful, it will give you all a chance to rest for a moment before you depart.” She said, and Revali could have flown off if he didn’t know Urbosa would strike him out of the sky.

“Hellooooo, everyone! We’re here!”

Revali groaned. This day was just getting better and better.

Purah and Robbie had arrived from the Royal Ancient Tech Lab a little ways from Hyrule Castle across the Breach of Demise, a now usually monster-infested area, though it appeared the two scientists had made it through unscathed.

“Purah? Robbie? What are you two doing here for?” Zelda asked, and Purah waved her off just as quickly as she pointed towards the Sanctum.

“The King summoned us here to see our progress on the Guardians, though it seems he failed to tell us that the inauguration was today! I mean, that’s why you’re all dressed so nicely, right?” Purah asked, moving her hand around towards the five of them, each time landing on the respective blue garment they were wearing.

Revali had a slight hunch that the King didn’t tell them the inauguration ceremony was earlier that day on purpose. Robbie and Purah were Hyrule’s most respected scientists, that was certain, but their antics tended to get a bit out of hand at times.

However, he did not say anything. He quite liked Robbie and Purah, they didn’t constantly antagonize him as Urbosa did, and his feelings towards them weren’t as...complicated as they were towards Mipha.

Complicated? Was that he was referring to them as? Oh, how he desperately wished he could see inside her head, to see what she truly thought of him. Though, now that he thought about it, it most likely wasn’t any good. He had been quite rude to her friends, his allies, and for what? To impress her? To impress himself?

He could have snorted if he hadn’t noticed Mipha was staring at him once again, but not with worry. It almost seemed like...curiosity?

“Revali?” She asked, Revali not even noticing that Mipha had stepped closer towards him until she was directly in front of him, close enough to touch, but far enough away to not encroach on his space.

“Ah, Mipha. What brings you over here?” He asked, and Mipha giggled as she pointed at Zelda, who now held the Sheikah Slate conveniently received from Purah before she and Robbie rushed off to meet with the King.

“The Princess has the Sheikah Slate in her possession, I’ve noticed that you’ve seemed rather fascinated by it, so I thought you may want to take a closer look.” She said, taking ahold of his wing and gently pulling him after her.

If it had been anyone else, Revali would have batted them away and slunk off to a corner. If it had been anyone else, he would have screamed at them to let him go.

But it was Mipha, and while he did not particularly like being pulled closer to the others, the feeling of her small hand gripping onto his wing felt almost comforting, so he allowed it to slide, just this once.

Zelda was marveling at the Sheikah Slate in awe, though she looked up when she heard the click of talons and the soft pad of someone’s feet to see Mipha and Revali standing in front of her.

“Oh Revali, Mipha, is there something I can help you with?” Zelda asked, and Mipha pointed towards the stone tablet in the princess’s hands.

“Actually, we were wondering if we could examine the Sheikah Slate a little more closely. We don’t have much technology from the ancient civilization except for our Divine Beasts, after all.” Mipha asked, Zelda nodding as she handed the Sheikah Slate to Revali.

The relic was quite small in Revali’s hands, allowing him to hold it between two of his fingers as he examined it.

“Hmph. This is the Sheikah Slate, eh? Doesn’t seem to do much to me.” He remarked, and Zelda sighed.

“It is, though apparently there are more uses for it than we originally thought. Sadly, we’ve yet to decipher all of its secrets.” She said with what sounded like disappointment as Revali handed the Sheikah Slate to Mipha, her barely just catching the artifact in her own hands.

Urbosa leaned down towards Mipha, placing a hand on her hips as an idea popped into her head.

“The princess showed me something strange recently. Somehow it can create true to life images!” She said with a smile, causing Mipha to stare down in wonder at the stone tablet in her hands.

“Oh wow, I would love to see it.”

Mipha turned to see Link and Daruk chatting quite animatedly about something, or rather, Daruk talking about something while Link silently listens.

Mipha had always appreciated that about him, or at least that’s what she could appreciate about him now. When he was younger, he would always talk to her so eagerly about whatever was on his mind without a second thought, whether it be someone he had just bested in a duel or a fascinating bug he had found.

How she missed his childlike wonder, now replaced with a stoic demeanor and no want to draw attention to himself. It was saddening to see her dear friend be so burdened by whatever was on his mind.

That desperation to bring him back to her drove her to almost propose to him, even going so far as to create Zora Armor to seal the engagement, but something in her had told her not to.

That something, she soon later realized, was her curiosity about a specific Rito, namely Revali. He had managed to capture her attention more so than even Link could, though for what reason, she did not know.

Now, she wasn’t quite sure what to think, so the Zora Armor lay abandoned in her room, tucked out of sight until she could sort out things in her mind.

However, an idea popped into her mind, something she had been wanting to suggest that the Champions do for quite a long time, but did not from fear it would take up too much and resources. This was the perfect opportunity.

“Um, Princess, may I ask a special favor of you?” Mipha said, and Zelda looked at her with confusion.

“Of course, what is it?” She asked, and Mipha held out the Sheikah Slate towards Zelda.

“Could we...perhaps take a picture together with the Sheikah Slate? It would be a good way to commemorate us all becoming Champions!” She said, and Zelda took ahold of the Sheikah Slate once again, her mouth widening into a smile as she nodded in agreement, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“That is a wonderful idea, Mipha! Here, you should all gather by the water to take the photo, and I shall take the photo.” She said, feeling a hand clap on her shoulder to see Purah and Robbie returning from their rendezvous with King Rhoam.

“Nonsense, Princess! I can handle the picture taking, you’re a part of this team as well! Go have fun!”

Purah then pushed her towards the other Champions, or more specifically Link, who caught her with ease in his arms and helped her stand upright once again.

Purah then tapped at the Sheikah Slate until the Camera Rune activated, Robbie standing behind her to make sure she activated it correctly.

“Uh, I think you were supposed to do this...”

“Shush, I know what I’m doing. Ah, there we go!”

Instead of the Sheikah symbol glowing on the screen, it was the five Champions and Zelda instead. Purah smiled in satisfaction as she moved back just a bit to get the framing better, bumping into Robbie in the process.

“Oops, you okay?” She asked, looking at him with the slightest bit of concern, and Robbie was glad that his oversized goggles covered most of the blush that crept onto his face as he nodded hurriedly.

“Yeah, just take the picture.” He mumbled, though Purah only shrugged as she turned back around towards them.

“Alright, this spot should work nicely. Keep your eyes on the Sheikah Slate, everyone!” She called out, as everyone settled into a sort of pose.

Daruk towered over the rest of the group, enough to where Purah couldn’t get him into the frame even if she leaned back far enough, almost falling directly into Robbie once again.

“Um, Daruk, could you crouch down a bit? You’re as big as Death Mountain!” Purah asked, causing Daruk to look around in confusion before realizing how much he towered over the others, so he crouched down just a bit to fit into the frame.

“What’s with the glum face, Princess, gimme a big smile!”

Zelda felt a hand on her shoulder to see Urbosa smiling down at her with such affection. She sighed with sadness, how she missed seeing that expression from her father, or even her mother for that matter.

“I-I apologize. I was not aware I was pulling such a sour expression.” She mumbled, and Urbosa laughed in response.

“It is quite alright, Little Bird. I would be surprised if you weren’t at least a little tired from today’s excitement. I promise that you will be able to rest after we are done, and I will personally speak to the King if he is against it.” She said, and Zelda nodded, a soft smile now upon her face as she turned back towards the viewfinder of the Sheikah Slate.

Revali sighed. Surely it didn’t usually take this long to take one simple picture, did it? He had seen Zelda use the Camera feature a few times before, and it had only taken a few seconds. This was ridiculous.

“Revali, move your tail closer to the group!” Purah yelled, and while Revali was tempted to just ignore her, he didn’t want to look bad in front of Mipha, or worse, be shocked by Urbosa.

“Ugh, fine.” He groaned, ignoring the smug look on Daruk’s face as he shifted closer slightly to Urbosa, wishing he had to move closer to anyone besides her. Being within arm’s reach was never a good thing for her.

“Mipha, you look so tense! Deep breaths, okay?”

“R-right!”

Was something the matter with Mipha? Revali peered around everyone to see her taking in a few deep breaths at Purah’s suggestion, and Revali couldn’t help what happened next.

He smiled. Not a smirk, not a smug look, but a soft smile, a sincere one.

It had been quite a while since he had smiled sincerely about anything, but how could he not? Mipha was positively adorable, her little antics and mannerisms made her look nothing but charming in Revali’s eyes. He felt nothing could ruin it for him until he heard a voice.

“Stay just like that!”

He snapped his head back towards Purah and Robbie, immediately reverting to a frown, hiding any evidence of a smile at all, though the two scientists smirked at one another knowingly.

“Here we go! Smile! Click snap!”

As Purah’s signature phrase left her mouth, Revali felt a rough large hand push him closer towards the others, much too close, and way too forceful.

So forceful that he fell backward onto the ground with everyone else stumbling as he felt someone land on him.

The person who had landed was small, that was for sure, and Revali instinctively felt for who it was, feeling not hair like almost everyone else had but smooth...scales.

“Oh, goddess above!” He thought as he looked to see red, but not like blood. No, it was a head fin, and it shifted upwards until Mipha was staring straight into Revali’s eyes.

Her hands gripped onto his arms in an attempt to steady herself, though she looked just as shocked as he was as she quickly scrambled off of him, her face beginning to turn red.

“Oh my goodness, Revali, I’m so sorry! Are you hurt?” Mipha asked in a panic, hurriedly searching for any signs of a scrape or cut on his body, before she felt two hands grip her shoulders, Revali staring at her with a smirk.

“I’m fine, Princess. You needn’t worry so much, being pushed to the ground is the least of my worries, though I would like to know why someone thought it was a good idea.” He said pointedly as he glared directly at Daruk, who was helping Urbosa to her feet.

“Oh come on, you all looked so tense! I was trying to lighten the mood a little bit, this is a celebration, after all! Besides, how angry can you really get, I was doing you a favor!”

Revali could have exploded with fury at that moment if it was physically possible, and if it wasn’t for the fact he was holding Mipha in his arms, he would have attempted to punch Daruk.

“Don’t ever do that again, I don’t need your help, especially when it involved possibly injuring someone! Mipha could have been hurt if she hadn’t fallen on me!” He yelled, and Urbosa laughed, flipping her hair over her shoulder in an attempt to make it look presentable once again.

“Oh please, you would have caught Mipha even if it meant breaking your arm, she would’ve been fine. Now, why don’t you go get up before Purah and Robbie have any more material to use as blackmail?”

Revali looked over to see Purah happily snapping away, Robbie and her snickering as several clicks were heard in the sudden silence.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Delete those pictures!” Revali yelled, getting up from where he kneeling to chase after Robbie and Purah who had begun running in circles around the Gazebo.

“Not a chance, bird boy! I’ve been dying for something like this to happen!” She said excitedly, laughing as Revali tried and failed to catch her.

Mipha watched them in wonder, the feeling of Revali holding her in his arms still imprinted on her skin as Zelda knelt next to her.

“Mipha, are you alright? You haven’t said a word this entire time!” She asked, and Mipha began to laugh, a genuine laugh to the point where she forgot to hide her teeth, the serrated edges in full view.

Everyone was quite bewildered as Mipha stood, wiping a tear from her eye as she watched Revali continue to chase Purah around the gazebo.

“I am just wonderful, Princess.”

[sunnylildragun]

Yellow and Purple... And Purple... And Purple

This is for the second day of the Bumbleby Week! Meeting the parents! Hope you guys enjoy it ^-^

Yang didn't know why she was this nervous. She had seen Kali and Ghira in various other occasions. That time when Haven almost fell. That time in Vacuo, when they and Blake reunited. That time they were planning on the final battle against Salem. That time they were celebrating the Grimm lady's defeat. Hell, they had even talked and laughed together.

This was the first time the four of them were going to have dinner together, though. Yang was not a fellow warrior, she was their daughter's girlfriend. She felt like there was a whole new weight there. Not that she thought they would kick her out of their lives and shout at her, but she did want to make a good impression on them as a person. More than just as that, but also as the person who wanted to spend the rest of her days with Blake.

"Tie or no tie?" She asked her girlfriend, who was sitting in their bed. Blake was wearing a long violet slitted dress and black high heels. Her short black hair was free, looking silky and beautiful as ever. Her yellow eyes contrasted with her clothes, and were as striking as ever. She looked gorgeous.

"Yang, I already told you. Whatever you decide will be okay with them. My parents love you already, you don't have to try to impress them." Blake answered, smiling softly at Yang. The blonde was dressed in brown leather shoes, dark jeans, a yellow button up and a purple vest. The shirt's sleeves were rolled up, showing both her forearms as she held the black bow tie with her right hand. Her hair was up in a ponytail, exposing the tattoo she had gotten with Blake's emblem on the right side of her neck. It matched Blake's own of Yang's emblem, which was in the left side of her neck.

"But... I don't know if it's overdressing to put it, or if it'd be too informal." Yang sighed, looking at the piece of clothing in her hand. Blake got up, going to the other's side. She kissed Yang's tattoo, and then the blonde's jaw. Then, she pulled away a bit and took the tie from her girlfriend's hand, wrapping it around her neck. With that, she pulled Yang to her, using the cloth. She kissed Yang on the lips, surprising her.

After a few seconds, Yang put her hands on the other's waist and pulled Blake's body flush to her. The faunus bit the brawler's lower lip and then licked it, making the taller girl moan lightly. Blake, as the tease she is, pulled away and left Yang wishing for more. The two looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, and the raven haired smiled at her partner.

"You look perfect to me, sunshine."

"Uh... then I guess it's settled, huh?" Yang said, a bit dreamy.

"It is." Blake chuckled. "Let's go?"

"Let's!"

-+-

As they entered the restaurant, they immediately spotted Kali and Ghira sat in a four chairs table by the window. The place was not that big; it was a cozy and beautiful pizza place that Blake and Yang had found after they moved back to Vale. They loved going there, and when Kali called telling them she and Ghira would spend some time in the city, the girls knew where they would take Blake's parents first. They didn't offer for the pair to stay in their apartment because it didn't have much room, though, so the older pair stayed at a hotel.

Blake and Yang walked to the table, and were met with opened arms. Ghira hugged Yang, while Kali held their daughter before they switched.

"Yang, sweetie, you look terrific!"

"T-thanks, Mrs. Belladonna! You look amazing yourself."

"Oh, please drop the formalities. We're already past that."

"Sure thing, ma'am. I mean, Kali."

"I think your girlfriend is nervous, Blake." Ghira commented to his daughter, grinning at his wife and at Yang.

"You had to see her earlier. She was about to explode."

"Was not!" Yang protested, as they sat in their chairs. "I just wanted to look good."

"As if that would take much effort." Blake smirked, nudging Yang's arm. Ghira served them some of the wine he had ordered before the girls arrived. "You're very good looking already."

"Uh... ehehe... yeah, I am."

"Her confidence in her looks matches Ghira's when we were your age." Kali smiled at them.

"It runs in the muscles club!" Ghira exclaimed, flexing. His biceps were designed by his black blazer, and were visibly enormous.

"Yeah!" Yang grinned back, flexing as well. "These guns can kill with how they look!"

"What are yours named? Mine are Mogli and Baloo."

"Mine are Nemeia and Lerna!"

"Now, now. You can bond over your 'guns' later." Kali said, smirking at them as Blake glared at some girl who was staring at Yang. "How have you two been doing here in Vale?"

"Oh, it's been great! I got a job at Beacon to teach combat to the students there. Kids are great, and I'm glad to be a part of their learning experience." Yang smiled at the image of her students. "Funny how I always saw myself running the world at twenty five, and now I'm stuck in Vale, teaching a bunch of kiddos."

"Life does have a lot of surprises for us in its course. We can either learn from them, and embrace the changes that come, or keep running and be stubborn." Ghira shared his wisdom. "I'm glad you were able to find something that, while surprising to you, makes you happy."

"So am I." Kali smiled at her daughter's girlfriend. "You deserve to be happy, Yang. You both do."

"Well, I'm not the celebrity here, though! Blake's the youngest senator ever elected in Vale, and is the first faunus to ever achieve that here!" Yang said, taking the attention off herself.

"It's not that big of a deal, Yang. And 'celebrity' is a bit of a reach. I'm at the service of the people of Vale. And I have a duty with the faunus and the Faunus Rights cause, which includes conciliating their interests to whatever is good to the rest of the people, combat prejudice, and make sure that the rallies don't become anything harmful to either of the parties." Blake explained.

"Well... you're also a famous writer now, so I still stand with celebrity." Yang teased.

"Famous writer?" Kali raised an eyebrow. "And why haven't your works reached Menagerie yet? The disrespect..."

"Um... i-it's nothing much yet, mom. I'm still, uh, starting here, in Vale before I get big."

"She writes smut and doesn't want it to get to you guys." Yang blurted out.

"Yang!" Blake shouted at her girlfriend, ears down and face color a bright shade of red. "That was one scene in one book. Why can't you let it go already?!"

Yang was laughing out loud, hands on her belly. Ghira and Kali were shocked for a few moments, before joining Yang in her laughter. "It always g-gets to her!" Yang managed to say as laughter dimmed to wheezing breaths.

"Oh my goodness." Kali wiped her tears of laughter away. "Blake, why didn't you just tell us already?"

"I-I... it's just... you're my parents, and... ugh!" Blake hid her face in her hands. "This is so embarrassing."

"C'mon, baby..." Yang put her left hand on Blake's exposed back, making the young woman shiver a bit. "It's not like they're mad."

"Yeah." Ghira agreed. "As much as I don't like to admit it, you're a grown woman now, Blake. If you write those... um... things, it's not a problem. You're free to do what you please with your writing."

"I agree with your father." Kali smiled at her. "And I would actually enjoy reading your books. Knowing you, they must be great."

"Oh, they are!" Yang's voice showed a lot of excitement. "I've beta read them all, and Blake is a great writer. She puts a lot of effort in them, and it shows that she practiced and read a lot to get where she is now. She's very hardworking, and deserves all the attention and praise her readers can give."

The eyes of Blake's parents shone in emotion. They were glad to see someone who talked about their daughter with such emotion, such affection. Yang was clearly in love with Blake, and every little movement showed it. There was no way in this world they would be able to hate this girl.

"I like her." Ghira said, pointing at Yang with a smile. "I like her a lot."

"You've been saying that ever since the moment you saw her back in Haven." Kali smiled.

"At least I got it right. Blake likes her too."

"Well, she liked Sun when they first arrived in Kuo Kuana."

"Kali, she glared at him more than I did."

"I glared at you a lot too."

"You stared at me with affection, Kali. Like, heart eyes and all."

"We're not debating this right now, are we?" Blake questioned through clenched teeth. "Sun was a friend, I already told you that."

"Blake," Yang put a hand on her girlfriend's arm, smiling at her. "We all know you crushed at him at some point. No need to get angry."

"I crushed on him, yeah. But I love you."

"I know, I know." Yang pecked Blake's cheek. "Just teasing, love."

Blake gave her a small smile, and gave Yang's lips a small kiss. Kali awed and Ghira smiled softly at their small display of affection, remembering their young years. They knew how it felt, being young and in love.

The night passed by smoothly, and they ate pizza together and laughed a lot. They were all enveloped by a pleasant atmosphere, feeling good in each other's presence. Yang's worries seemed very dumb to her by the time their dinner was over. Blake was right, Ghira and Kali already loved her. It was easy to be in their company, just like it was easy to be in Blake's. She could see many similarities between her girlfriend and her parents, and it was endearing.

"Well... this was a great night." Ghira said after giving both the young women a tight hug.

"The greatest." Kali smiled at them. "Now answer me, when's the wedding?"

"W-wedding?" Yang asked.

"Yeah." Ghira answered. "It's a generations old tradition in Menagerie. When one's girlfriend or boyfriend is introduced to their parents, they must get married. That is, if their intentions are good."

"Oh, um..." the blonde felt cornered.

"Yeah, Yang. If you wish to keep dating me, you must propose."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know of that. I... uh... I don't have a proposal ring with me right now, b-but I'll get one once my payment is out this month! I meant no disrespect, I-"

She was cut off by laughter, and looked at the three faunus in front of her, confused. The three seemed to be having the time of their life. Did she say something funny? Did she sound too desperate? Why in the world were they laughing so hard at her?

"She... she actually fell for it!" Ghira's laughter was the loudest, deepest sound Yang had ever heard coming from him, beating even his loud roar.

"W-what...?" Yang let out, voice shaky in confusion, and she barely caught Blake as her girlfriend hugged her, giggling.

"Oh, Yang, you're too pure for this world..."

"I still don't get it. Is the marriage thing true or not?"

"Of course not, dear." Kali smiled at her. "Your time to marry is for the two of you to decide."

"Geez..." Yang sighed, a bit of relief. "I do propose some times while talking to myself, but I wasn't ready for the real thing all of sudden."

The four of them laughed a bit more, enjoying the aftermath of the prank. They said their goodbyes, and the black and yellow duo got in Blake's car, and headed home.

"See? It wasn't all that bad, was it?" Blake asked when they stopped in a red light.

"Not at all! Your parents are lovely. I really liked getting to meet them outside of a battle planning occasion." Yang smiled, and pecked Blake's cheek just before the light turned green. "About the proposal, though... do you really, y'know, think about it?"

Blake tuned a left before answering. "I mean... we do live together already. A marriage would be making it official, right?" Blake's response was a bit nervous.

"Yeah..."

"Yang?" Blake looked at Blake briefly. "You okay?"

"It's just... I promised myself I would only marry someone I was sure that would be with me for the rest of our days. That wouldn't leave when we had a child, or... or die all of sudden. It's... kind of a big deal to me." Yang rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't wanna do it unless you're not completely ready, though. I know you're the person I want to go into afterlife with, but I don't want you to feel pressured into marrying now."

"I..." Yang's confession made Blake's heart swell with affection. "Just a few more years. I don't really feel ready right now."

"Okay. Whenever you're ready. I don't think I'm ready yet, either."

Blake smiled at her girlfriend and reached her hand to give Yang's thigh a small squeeze, before wrapping it back around the steering wheel. Then, they kept talking about other subjects, such as random moments of the night. The two of them were glad they talked about the marriage item, and were grateful that Ghira and Kali brought it up. The dinner was such a nice encounter, one they would have in their memories for a long time.

[seanait]

@fire-emblem-drabbles

I know it’s extremely late but here’s a Secret Santa present for @hopusbopus . I don’t have much to say but I do hope you’ll like it. Happy New Year, dear lady! Enjoy!

P.S. I hope it won’t feel too rushed and I also hope you don’t mind that this is a FEH reality;;

When the Summoner offered Ephraim a sparring session and presented to him a warrior priestess who wielded a sword the prince of Renais thought that the training would end fast and that, perhaps, the Summoner had underestimated him. A bit.

When it came down to the action itself, however, Ephraim was proven wrong. “The warrior priestess” wasn’t just an empty title - where a sword couldn’t reach, magic would. Even though he managed to hold his opponent at the length of his spear most of the time, Celica’s spells would still pose a threat if Ephraim wasn’t agile enough to dodge it. He had to admit that a couple of times it wasn’t that easy.

“Give it your fullest, Ephraim!” the Summoner shouted enthusiastically. She, on the other hand, was most certainly smiling, enjoying the results of her brilliant idea and Ephraim couldn’t help but grin himself - he was always up to a challenge and meeting worthy opponents. If his dear Summoner could present him both at the same time he couldn’t possibly ask for more.

“No need to tell me that, Summoner. Just wait and see!”

Just wait and see.

Ephraim wasn’t joking when he said those words. Dodging another magic spell and jumping away to create more space for his maneuvres he steadied his lance. Deep breath. A mere second to get into the position - and Ephraim took off really fast so that the Summoner had to blink a few times to see what happened.

Clashing sounds of metal hitting metal were her answer - prince of Renais went to the full offense not giving a chance for Celica to use her magic. It was nothing like a war dance one could read about in a storybook, only fierce, brash assaults from the spearman countered by the confident techniques of the warrior priestess. And yet her refined, almost brilliant performance wasn’t enough. The priestess had landed on earth.

“Seems like I’m no match for you Ephraim”, she hurriedly stood up, smiling shyly. As much as Celica didn’t like fighting she didn’t like to be on the losing side, either.

“Huh? But you are! It wasn’t easy to beat you, Celica. I even had to try my hardest not to give you a minute to cast any spells!” Still grinning, Ephraim offered a hand for a shake.

Celica didn’t wait to accept it. “You are an extremely capable fighter, Prince Ephraim. Thank you for this training.”

“Thank you. I practice every day to keep it that way”, Ephraim probably would’ve told more as he wanted if it wasn’t for the Summoner coming up to their side. Somehow, she always managed to become his focus of attention the moment she came near. “I’ll be happy to spar with you again sometime, Celica!”

“And I’ll be happy to chat with you one day”, Celica didn’t bother to raise her voice as the prince stormed off to the Summoners side. After all, she had her own person waiting for her to come.

“Did you see that, Summoner?” Clearly pleased with himself Ephraim looked at the Summoner sitting beside him. Was she happy as well that the training went well? 

Before giving him a response she let out a quiet sigh. 

“Brash assault could be a good strategy for you, Ephraim - but not for your people. Sometimes you seem to just forget about your defenses and this -” not waiting for the prince to understand where this was leading to she poked him in some parts of his body. A few moments later Ephraim let out a short hiss. It seemed he didn’t even know he had bruises. 

“This leads you to have injuries you may not even notice”, the Summoner smiled, then, a little more kind than before, “I think it’s the same with the country and its people. And so, today the lesson is this: you will go the right path and be the excellent king as long as you do not forget about what you’re defending. Your life is a thing that has to be included to this list.” 

Prince laughed softly. “Thank you, my friend. I can’t promise that I will stick to that advice but I’ll definitely try.” 

“I’ll take you at your word, Ephraim.” 

For the moment it was quiet. Sometimes they needed silence to step between them - especially when the talk, they knew that for sure, would become awkward.

“.. Hey, Eph.“

“Mhm?“

“Do you have a wish for a New Year?“

Ephraim blinked several times. A wish?

“I do“, he grinned, “in fact, I want to stay by your side as long as I can and learn a lot of your useful lessons.”

A smirk was his answer, “You do know you don’t tell a wish you want to come true, don’t you?”

“And I don’t tell wishes a cannot make come true.”

“Just like fights?”

“Yes. And what do you wish for, Summoner?”

There wasn’t a single word once again. Just a cold winter wind and a starry sky.

“... I wish that we head into the castle before we are late“, the Summoner stood up a bit lazily, turning to face the prince with another smile of hers.

“That’s not fair, you know.“

“I know. But I’m pretty sure you’ll learn about my wish pretty soon.“

After all, just like Ephraim didn’t make wishes that he couldn’t grant himself Summoner didn’t want to hope for a miracle to grant her wish, either. 

And to make it reality she would make the first step.

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 19: He’s a Late Blume-er

Part 18

Welcome back to FEIV! You may recall last week we killed Ishtore, a man with amazing lightning magic and truly astounding (not GOOD, but astounding) hair. He will be missed. I mean, not by me, but someone will miss him.  I mean, not his girlfriend, she also died, but…. Look, it’s a whole thing. The key is that we took his castle, and nobody is gonna be happy about it.

(See? No happiness.)

Bramsel: Men, this is our chance! Jabarro, send in your brigade! Hit them hard while their backs are turned! Leave no survivors!      

Jabarro: At once, sir!

Lene: Don’t you get it? He’s just using your loyalty to treat you like a weapon! I… I hate him so much!  

Ares: Lene… no, that isn’t…

Lene: Okay, fine! Whatever! Go with him, if you love him so much! It’s your life to waste, after all! But you can just go forget we ever met!

Ares: Lene…

(In her defense, judging by last week we can safely assume she’s worked out Ares is the only thing keeping her from getting locked up in Bramsel’s rape dungeon.)

(Yeah, here it comes. And meanwhile, at the other evil castle…)

Blume: I want you to show these rebel pigs just what the empire can do!  

One of those Three Names he Just Said: Yes, Milord. Leave it to us.  

A Second One: We will never let you down, milord.

The Third: The rebels shall be destroyed quickly, cleanly, efficiently, and utterly. Excuse us, milord.

(All three of them are identical except for eye color and the game never says which is which until they’re on the field, so.  NO clue.)

Blume: Hmmm. Everything depends on you.

(You may recall Tinni as being mentioned by a village two weeks ago, wherein they said she was much nicer than her family and the best person ever and definitely recruitable. And if Blume is her uncle, that means Taillte is her mom.  Arthur will want to have a chat with this one!)

Blume: Hmph. One would think I could expect more gratitude from someone I raised out of the goodness of my heart after her mother died. Or have you forgotten my many kindnesses?

(Ass.)

Tinni: No, uncle…

Blume: Good. Now get moving! Remember, these rebels are responsible for murdering my dear son Ishtore, and his true love Liza! Avenging them is your mission, Tinni!

Banba: We will be the ones to claim Seliph’s head as a trophy this day. We mustn’t be beaten by Tinni’s unit.  

Tinni: I… don’t know what to do anymore. Oh, mother… what would you do…?

She would probably shout a lot, if I remember her right.  Now, our phase begins and…

(Dammit, everyone needs to shut up!)

Lene: I see right through you! The moment Ares is out of sight you think it’s okay to act all tough again, you vile louse! Don’t even think about coming any closer. I don’t need Ares around to stop you!

Bramsel: Of all the nerve! You little wench!  Throw her in the dungeon! You’ll have plenty of time to think about what you’ve done there!

Lene: No! Ah… Ares…

Jabarro: Oh well. I guess it’s all in the past. You’re gonna forget ‘er sooner or later.

Ares: I beg your pardon? What exactly are you trying to say, Jabarro?

Jabarro: Heh… oh, nothing. Well, ‘cept that I bet Bramsel’s right about to…

(Oooooh, that was the wrong answer.)

Ares: T-this can’t be… Jabarro! How could you know his foul intent, yet let your tongue lie still?!

Jabarro: You can’t worry ‘bout the fairer sex, Ares. Have your fun with ‘em, but never stick around for when their lives come crashing down…

Ares: How dare you?! And to think you held my trust for so long… I must return to Darna! Lene needs me!

Jabarro: Nah, that ain’t gonna happen, see. Nobody, and I mean nobody, blows off my orders and turns tail on my watch! Not even you, kid.

Ares: … I’ve come far in your company, Jabarro, but our association ends now. If anyone wishes to stop me, Mystletainn will eagerly welcome your necks!

Jabarro: Grr… I’ll show you your place, whelp!

And with that, Ares reveals what sets him apart from his dad: he puts his personal morals above his oaths to jerks! Or he just really digs dancers, one of the two. Either way, he is now on the team!

And here’s our new BFF.  Ares is an overall phenomenal unit; like Shanan he joins up with his Holy Weapon and can therefore wreck most of the enemies on the map, but unlike Shanan he actually has pretty solid growths and will likely be a much tougher unit by the end of the game than he is now. Better still, he has a horse and comes with three great combat skills, Pursuit, Adept, and Vantage. TL;DR, we need to get this man to an Arena. For now, though, I run him south toward the rest of the army to meet his new friends.  

Now then. We have three armies to deal with. One moving south at us, following Ares. One moving west at us, with Tinni and the Three Stooges.  And one moving north to try and make one more shot at conquering Leonster.  Time to split the army. First, Fee is going to head toward Leonster, she can fly so she’ll beat the enemy there. She has an armorslayer sword and the enemy is all armor knights, she can hold the castle.  

Second, to the east, there’s two swordsmen blocking us off from getting Leif, Finn, and Nanna to the rest of the army.  Let’s move them. 

 … Finn. For shame.  But at least you can promote now. I am going to send him off to our home castle ASAP. Going north to help Ares I send Oifey, Lana, Dermott, Shanan, Ulster, Johan, Patty, and Seliph since he needs to take the castle to save Lene.  Going east are Leif and Nanna, as they’re already there, and backing them up will be Julia, Larcei, Lester, and Arthur, who is needed to recruit Tinni.  I can’t see any reason this won’t work off the top of my head, but… I mean. Fire Emblem.  

End turn!

Only one person could reach us, so this was a boring enemy phase. Next one will be much more… active. For now, though, let’s try to purge some of the northern enemy. 

Well. This didn’t go badly, but not great either, barring Lana finally getting an Aideen-tier level. I just didn’t kill off as many as I’d been hoping to, and the enemy phase will be pretty dicey.  I think I’ll have Finn stick around to help this group, rather than letting Lana warp him back to promote right away.  

End turn.  This will be…. Fun.

… *sigh* Well, I knew something could go wrong, but I didn’t see it being everyone dogpiling Johan of all people. Well, nice to be surprised, I suppose.

Reset.  

This is becoming a pattern. I do something interesting, die, and have to go back to boring old ‘sit at the edge of their range and bait them out’.  I know it works, but really.

Not bad at all! They tried to dogpile Ares this time, and like I said: he’s pretty badass. Probably would have died if Jabarro had taken a shot at him, but since it was specifically Jabarro’s range we were staying away from, we pulled through just fine. Now, to the eastern front.  

… That was just sad, Leif.

Okay, our turn.  First thing to do is clear out Jabarro’s unit. The man himself is a giant pain, packing both a Silver Sword and a Skill Ring to leave him obnoxiously accurate. Let’s send in some heavy hitters to roll him down.  

And Shanan gets the skill ring, which he absolutely does not need. He does need money, however, so selling that later will be a nice source of income for him to keep Balmung nice and shiny.  And from here, it’s really just a nice, normal purge.  

And hey, Ares can chat with Seliph.  I wasn’t planning to do it right now, but they ended up next to each other, so why not.

Ares: They call me the black knight, Ares. Perhaps you would recognize me better, however, as the son of Eldigan.  

Seliph: What?! It cannot be… you don’t mean the legendary Lord Eldigan of Nordion, do you?!

Ares: The very same! I am the son of Eldigan the Lionheart, the man your father killed in cold blood! My noble mother, the Lady Grainne, died wracked with grief and rage at Sigurd! It is high time you knew my family’s pain!

(Weeeeeeren’t you an infant at the time, bro? How do you know?)

Seliph: That’s… I don’t understand. As I was told, your father and mine were the closest of friends. As tragic as their end was, I don’t believe our fathers would ever have begrudged each other.

Ares: That’s impossible… Sigurd was my father’s mortal foe! This… this is all I’ve known my entire life…

Seliph: Please listen, Ares. Would you consider traveling with my army? I know we can resolve this misunderstanding, if we just give it some time. I hold the late Lord Eldigan in the utmost respect, just as my own father did. Please, understand this.

(I don’t respect him very much, if that helps.)

Ares: Seliph… very well. I can stay my hand for now. However, be warned. Should I learn that even a single word of your claim is false, your life is forfeit in your father’s place. Do I make myself clear, Seliph?

Seliph: if that happens, then do as you must. Ares… I wish you could know just how ecstatic our fathers would be to know we’ve met at last. If only it had been under better circumstances…

Neat. Now, where were we? Oh right, IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR.

*snerk* I like how it took three people together to bring down the first Mage Sister, and Arthur alone completely wrecked the second.  Anyway, I have him and Julia blocking off the enemy; as long as Tinni doesn’t fuck this up and try to kill her invincible brother, I think we’re in a good place.

…

She’s gonna, huh.

*sigh* End turn.

Okay. So far so good. But there’s still one more…

Julia, I know you hunger for blood, but please don’t kill this one.

Tinni you magnificent bitch, dodging on a 93% hit chance. I love you.

Our turn, and I start it with Arthur:

Arthur: Really?! Then you’re Tinni! Oh, I’ve finally found you!

Tinni: Er… who are you?

Arthur: Here, maybe this will clear it up. This pendant is exactly the same as yours, and I’ve had it my whole life.

Tinni: Y-you’re right, but… what are you saying?

Arthur: See, years ago, my mother was a warrior in Sigurd’s army, and after the war she fled to Silesse with her children. When I was little, my mother and my newborn sister disappeared… I was left behind with nothing but this pendant. I only recently learned what happened. It was King Blume of Alster. He abducted them. He took my family from me. The rumors all said Mother had died awhile ago, but they also said my sister is still alive. That’s you, Tinni! I’ve finally found you after all these years! I came all this way just to see you again…

Tinni: I… I never even knew Blume did that to Mother… it makes sense, though. I can’t remember much of her, but I know I never saw her smile or laugh. You’re… my brother… ohhh… sniff…

Arthur: Would you play down your arms and join our army, Tinni? We’ve still got so much to talk about.

Tinni: Mm. Thank you, brother. I never did want to fight…

And that’s that. Let’s take a look at our new recruit:

And there’s Tinni! She gets a lot of flak because she’s hard to build super-well, but honestly I like her. She’s also hard to make bad; she doesn’t have Pursuit, but neither did Taillte and she did just fine. I suspect the people who don’t like Tinni are mainly the people who didn’t really like her mother either; I know she has a pretty wide selection of the fandom who view her as too poorly-built to use and she should be left childless. But unlike most of these chuckleheads, Tinni actually has a character arc, and for me that’s enough to bring her along. And you know, it’s not like she’s bad at combat. Wrath, Adept, and Critical are all fine skills, and while she won’t have growths as good as her crazy brother’s, she’s still got two different Holy Bloods.  In my experience, she’s gonna get on just fine.    

………………………

And then, I don’t know, either I forgot to save or my file got corrupted and I lost the last two turns. I… I was very sad. So I had to re-do them, and since that many shots would make the update unbearably long, I will summarize:  Ares got half the levels (people kept ignoring him to go after Ulster this time?) but he was able to kill his old boss and get the Skill Ring, Patty got a very good level thanks to Dermott leaving some half-dead dudes behind, and Julia almost murdered Tinni.   But, on the plus side, Finn finally got warped home to promote.  

*whistle* Take a look at that 25 Strength. That much power and a Brave weapon basically sets him up for the rest of the game, because he is gonna hit like a runaway freight train. Might have to be careful on defense, he’s only above-average in Speed and Defense and has no resistance worth mentioning, but as an offensive unit he’ll be a monster.  Let’s test him out in the arena while we’re here, he won’t be needed on the battlefield again for this map.

Finn: Seven wins, gained no levels. He might be a bit overpowered.  

Okay! End turn, this is going pretty well barring the occasional horrible glitch that I hate.  

…. Well, other than that. I underestimated how quickly they’d get to Leonster and… *cough* may have forgotten to move Fee once or twice, so I think the enemy will be taking the castle after all. It’s not a big deal, they’re really expected to, but I’m still a little annoyed this is happening because I didn’t think.  Ah, well, it will just be a quick detour to liberate it after Seliph finishes up at Darna. I have him head toward it, his army pausing at the edge of the defenders’ movement range (see, I can learn) and have the eastern group start moving up toward Leonster. Fee pauses in a position to challenge one or two of the armors, hopefully the whole group will turn to chase her and she can run up to the castle and hide inside.  End turn!

Jerks. You know, it’s kind of unfair that any of them can take a castle, but we can only have Seliph do it.  

God, you are just like your mother.

To the north, Darna’s defense line doesn’t take the bait. They must not move until attacked. Well.

Their loss. At our other army, I have Fee take out one armor unit:

And then run away, hiding out over the ocean to her west to avoid any other counter attacks.  She hasn’t got much health left, so she needs to avoid any damage until I can get Nanna or Julia up there to help her out. They’re on their way, so this will be turning around shortly.  End turn; no enemies are close enough to take a swing at us, so it goes immediately back to our player phase.  

Fantastic. Darna will fall on our next turn, and shortly after that the other team should be running into the unit who took Leonster. Fee probably won’t even die.  End turn! Once again, nothing on the enemy phase; they’re moving toward us, but they’re on the slow side.  On our turn, Julia patches up Fee to gain a level.

Hehehe. I’m legit impressed by how well her speed is doing, it tends to be a lower growth.  The rest of their unit parks on the local villages to await the incoming storm o’ units.  

Now then, Darna. First, clear the last defender:

 Bramsel is a general, despite appearances, and stat-wise he isn’t super impressive. His one and only real trick is that he’s packing a Horseslayer weapon, so cavalry had better be sure they’re gonna take him down if they take a swing at him.  He’s got no defense against distance attacks, but, like a doofus, I sent all the mages to the other army.  So, uh, Oifey… wanna try that javelin?

Bramsel: Darna is my city! Mine! Nobody will ever take it from me!

Well, it’s a start. Not sure this will work, but… Seliph, wanna give it a shot?

FUCKING PAVISE. Okay, so Darna will fall next turn.  End turn. Ya jackass game.

And that’s Bramsel. Our turn begins, and Seliph takes the castle.  

Lewyn: It was the last free land in Jugdral. In battle after battle, the overwhelming might of the Loptyr Empire had devastated the resistance. Ultimately, the last of the resistance soldiers barricaded themselves within Darna’s walls. Battered and wounded, they were nonetheless determined to fight to the bitter end. But then, suddenly, there was a miracle… from the heavens descended twelve gods, who bestowed upon twelve young warriors miraculous weapons and immense power. Thus were born the Twelve Crusaders, the heroes who led the resistance to victory.

Seliph: That was the legendary Miracle of Darna, yes?

Lewyn: The very same. And even as we speak, Seliph, another miracle is dawning. Just as the resurrection of Loptyr looms on the horizon, so too are the Crusaders themselves arising in our world once more…

Seliph: I beg your pardon?

Lewyn: Heh… don’t worry Seliph. You’ll understand soon enough.

(Well. Seliph may not have a ton in common with his father, but he clearly has Sigurd-tier obliviousness.)  

And of course he can’t rescue Lene because Seliph is standing in the way. Ironic, really; we could save Lene, our dancer, if we had a dancer to move Seliph. That’s Fire Emblem Philosophy 101, kids.  In any case, Lana starts warping people back to Melgen so they can have a shorter walk to rejoin the remaining action; Shanan goes first and Lana levels up.

Then, while he’s at a friendly castle, Best Prince takes the opportunity to run the Arena.

Shanan: Seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Speed, +1 Defense.

*sniff* I may cry. He’s doing much better than I’d expect from him, I tell you that much.

Now, to deal with the Leonster enemies, who are (finally) in range.

… Am I being trolled? Nanna? Are you trolling me? Because you’re doing the same fucking thing Ethlyn did.  You aren’t her child, Nanna. Leif is. If Leif didn’t get any magic ever I could understand it.  That’s genetics. But you’re just the same damn class!  I hate you.  

End turn.  Bitterly end turn.

…. Bitterness increasing.

*sigh* 25% chance to hit and she took it right on the jaw. Fire Emblem, ladies and gents!

Let’s… try this again. This time, let’s go mainly for the commander and try to take away their Leadership Stars, see if that works out better.

… Welcome to the team, Ethlyn 2. 

*sigh* Well, better. Nobody is dead, anyway.  Lana warps Seliph back to Melgen so he can start the long trek over to take some castles for us, and Ares goes into Darna to rescue his gal.

Lene: Ares…

Ares: Oh! Is everything okay, Lene?!

Lene: N-no… it’s not… but someone from the liberation army rescued me… and… I knew you’d come, Ares…

Ares: Lene… I beg your forgiveness… I was a fool! I should have heeded you…

Lene: It’s okay… after all, you’re here now…

Ares: I swear to you, I’ll never let this happen again.  

Lene: And I swear I’ll try to keep my big mouth to myself from now on! Don’t ever leave me again, Ares…

… Dark! Anyway, Lene has no signed up, and as you might have guessed she is Sylvia and Claude’s daughter. And like her mother before her, her stats and all that junk are irrelevant so I don’t need to waste time showing it! She’s a dancer so she’s amazing and will be very, very useful to the army in any situation. And unlike Sylvia, we can actually use her from day one because it doesn’t matter if she gets married.  Go team!

Oh, and speaking of the team, time to finish that actual ‘war’ thing.

Not bad at all, barring the fact Arthur has apparently decided he’s done with Perfect Levels. And with that, the map is basically over. The only enemy units remaining are Blume himself and the three generals in front of his castle. So it’s time, I think, to have assorted folks and units do stuff. I sell Seliph’s Brave Sword so I can pass it around, and have anyone who hasn’t finished the Arena take a shot at it.

Patty: Up to seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill, +1 Strength, +2 Luck, +1 Defense

Julia: Up to seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +1 Defense, +1 Resistance

Ares: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Strength, +1 Speed, +2 Luck, +2 Defense

Nanna: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Strength, +2 Speed, +1 Magic,, +1 Defense, +2 Luck, +1 Resistance

Leif: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Skill, +2 Strength, +1 Speed, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Tinni: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Skill, +3 Speed, +1 Magic, +3 Luck, +1 Resistance

Also, Lana gains some levels from zapping people around:

And some conversations happen.

(“Ugh. More of the commonfolk. Oifey, where is my peasant-beating stick?!”)

Lene: I’m Lene, the Dancer!

Seliph: Y… you’re Lene?

Lene: Ooooh? Mister Seliph, is this the first time you’ve ever seen a dancer?

Seliph: Y-yes, miss…

Lene: Hee hee… that’s adorable!

(And it ends there. Lene knows what she wants in life, and it is to laugh at dorks.)

(

... Picture here an image of Leif introducing himself to Seliph. No such image exists because I’m a doofus.)

Leif: My parents both died in the Battle of Belhalla’s prelude… they were felled by a Thracian ambush. My homeland, Leonster, soon founds itself in the clutches of an Imperial occupation, and fell under the reign of its Duke Blume. If not for my knight, Finn, I wouldn’t be here today. He raised me in hiding in nearby villages, and we awaited the day Leonster would rise again.  We thought that day had finally come, but…

Seliph: … We both took to the battlefield around the same time, did we not? By now practically all of Jugdral knows of King Blume’s brutality. I sorely wish my army had arrived soon enough to properly aid you. You have my deepest apologies, Prince Leif.

Leif: No, Lord Seliph. I’m the one who should be apologizing. Our failure was squarely my fault.  However, this isn’t over yet. I am the son of Quan, a man worthy of being dubbed a Knight of Nova. I refuse to shame his legacy, and so I’ll live on. I’ll fight on, no matter the cost. To that end, Lord Seliph, my comrades and I would like to join your army.  I may not have much of an army left, but what I do have is yours. May we serve you well in restoring honor to Grannvale.  

Seliph: Thank you, Prince Leif.  Often have I heard it said that our fathers were inseparable friends, bound together to the bitter end in both life and death.  Not to mention your mother, Queen Ethlyn, is also my aunt…

(“Oh yeah, we’re literally cousins, forgot for a bit!”)

Seliph: Both of your parents gave their lives to support my father’s cause. Prince Leif, you have my deepest, most heartfelt apologies for their sacrifice.

Leif: Thank you, but that isn’t necessary. I’m proud of my parents, and have the utmost respect for Lord Sigurd. The only hatred I bear is for the true villains, Emperor Arvis and King Travant!

(Holy crap, Leif is logically blaming the people actually at fault? Are we sure he’s an anime teenager?)

Seliph: As do I. Prince Leif, in the name of our late fathers’ last wishes, I seek to restore peace and light to all of Jugdral. Please, join me in my cause!

Leif: Yes, milord! You have my blade as your own!

Dermott: Perfect! I’m your brother, Dermott!

(“Excuse me? I was always told my brother’s name was Diarm-“ “YUP, DERMOTT, THAT’S ME.”)

Nanna: What?! What… are you talking about…?

Dermott: I didn’t know until recently, either. King Lewyn told me everything.   In the war seventeen years ago, I was with the kids who fled to Isaach. But you were born after our mother went to Leonster.

Nanna: You… you’re my brother? Then where’s Mother now?!

Dermott: Er… ‘Where’s Mother’?  What are you getting at here, Nanna?

Nanna: I haven’t seen her in so long… when I was around three years old, she left us and traveled alone to Isaach, to try and find you. She never came back. I’ve waited to see her again for years…

Dermott: She did? But… but I never saw her…!

Nanna: You… didn’t? Then where is she…

Dermott: The Yied Desert… it’s a treacherous place. Very few lone travelers survive it…

Nanna: … No! Oh, mother…

(And Nanna gains +1 Luck from that, because… tragedy… builds character…?)

Tinni: I am Tinni… Arthur’s sister…

Seliph: Ah, of course. I’ve been told your story, Tinni.

Tinni: Um… I’m sorry!

Seliph: You’ve nothing to apologize for, Tinni. With the likes of King Blume for an uncle, I completely understand. You had no choice.

Tinni: Are… are you forgiving me, sir?

Seliph: Certainly! There’s no question that you’re not our enemy, and it would be an honor to have you with us.

Tinni: Wow… you’re everything the stories say you are! I wish we could’ve met sooner…

Seliph: Heh… thank you. Listen, Tinni… I know fighting your own family is a painful prospect, so please, don’t force yourself if you’re at all uncomfortable.

Tinni: Sir…

He actually means that literally.  Tinni vs. Blume is very painful to her, in a very literal, physical way.  He’ll kick her ass.  

All right. Now that we’ve gotten that all done, and Seliph has gone up to retake Leonster, the rest of the army turns to Blume.  He’s guarded by three generals, all of whom have Silver Blades and Steel Bows, so there isn’t a safe range to hit them from. But that’s nothing new. The real problem is Blume himself.

Yeah. Yeah. You remember Mjolnir, I hope, from when Reptor made our lives hell with it.  Well, Blume takes after dear old dad.  He can’t double attack with it, his only ability is Pavise, but he’s still very fast and hits very hard. And to make matters worse he has a droppable Silver Blade, so ideally we want someone who can use swords to bring him down. Realistically that means ‘Shanan or Ares’ because another Holy Weapon is your best shot at doing it without dying.    

So first things first, let’s move the guards.

Geez, these guys are beefy. That was to kill one of them.  Ulster, can you do better?

… Sorrrrrrta? He didn’t get hit in return, at least. But I also can’t get anyone else in position to support him, so he’s probably gonna get pounded in the face next turn.  Speaking of next turn, end turn!

CALLED IT!

Okay. Our turn, and there’s only one general left. Let’s clear that fucker out before we do anything else.

Ugh. I should point out that this is not actually the land of the Omni-Generals; Blume has four leadership stars and he buffs his troops up considerably. I take a few turns here to rest up, heal up, and send Shanan to liberate the remaining villages because he’s desperately short on cash.  Julia levels from healing:

You might have noticed she didn’t gain a point of magic? She’s already hit the cap. Can’t go higher until she promotes. I love my princess. <3

Now. Blume. He has conversations with three different characters, two of whom should not be allowed anywhere near him.  Since I love you guys, and I’m willing to use save states to cheese for story content, here they are.

(Frankly, I’m just amazed she hit him.)

Blume: Hmph! A likely retort, but only one of us will die this day, and it shall not be me!

(Well, he wasn’t wrong.)

Blume: Gah… impudent whelp! Just try me!

*whistle* Well. It was a close thing, but he clearly tried real good. It was caught at a bad moment, but that last shot was a crit that left Blume with only 13HP. And Ares is in range!  

Yeah, we’re not done with this jackass just yet.  Still, for the moment, Ares has a backup sword to use so he doesn’t burn through his Mystletainn all the time, and that’s all I asked for. Shanan spends the next few turns getting paid:

(Well. Only one now.)

Info Master: Ishtar’s ruling over Manster right now, and Ishtore’s posted at Fort Melgen, both doing Blume’s dirty work. Unlike their folks, they’re fine youths. You’ll be sure to face ‘em sooner or later… be on your guard, stranger.

(“They’re great kids! But, you know, they definitely will try to kill you.”)

Why Is He Smiling: His rule’s been one tragedy after another… Just when we thought he couldn’t get any worse, now he’s just letting those child hunts happen! We can’t take this anymore…

And with that, nothing else to do on this map, so let’s call it a day. Seliph, do the honors!

Lewyn: Eh, these sorts of things can’t be helped. After all, the war’s only just beginning.  

Seliph: And yet, the citizens are already all so eager to support us! I’ve seldom seen such joy…

Lewyn: For the first time, they’ve got hope for a future free from the Empire’s abuse.  YOU are the people’s last hope, Seliph, but the worst of the war still lies ahead.  

Seliph: Mm. And yet, I’ve so much incredible talent fighting by my side! With such amazing men and women with me, I know no challenge will be too great!

(I kind of morbidly wonder what he says if you let everyone die except him at this point.)

Lewyn: Yeah… you’ll all do just fine, Seliph.

 *whew* Well. Thank you for being chill about this for once, Lewyn.  I enjoy you more when you aren’t bitching at me.  Now then, see you all next week when… *shudder*

When Blume calls in… … … …

Her.

Resets: 24. It’s all downhill from here, folks.

Part 20

[imagine-loki]

A Warrior’s Life

TITLE: A Warrior’s Life

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Ninety-Two

AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Viking Loki coming to your village, raiding, and pillaging, before deciding there is something about you that intrigues him and deciding to take you back to Asgard with him. There, you are forced to learn a new life and language, and though you hate what has happened to you, you learn that Loki is not as bad as you think.

RATING: Mature

Heimdall stood on the dock of Svartalfheim, terrified as to why there was a boat, not of Svartal design but of Midgardian, docked there. When he walked towards the people, they seemed slightly concerned. He kept his weapon readied, but did not draw it, speaking in Aesir to the others in his group to keep themselves ready for anything. He was somewhat uneasy when a few men came forward, causing him to pause for a moment before noticing the sound of a horse coming towards them. When he saw the person riding the horse, he chuckled to himself.

‘You look worried Heimdall.’ Nafi smiled back at him.

‘How can one boy grow so greatly in a year?’ Heimdall smiled back.

Nafi dismounted and walked over, Heimdall embracing him immediately. ‘I am not sure. What news of home? How long did the visitors last?’

‘They killed those living in the port to the North, but their first dwelling they met on their way South, was your old one.’

Nafi barked a laugh. ‘Going by the fact you are not tiptoeing around the fact they got there, I assume my parents made short work of them.’

‘Your mother, and your siblings.’ Nafi frowned. ‘Vali killed one, Danu...well she did not give death instantly, shall we say, though her means were as intended.’

‘Meaning what?’

‘Your sister shot bows at her attacker, her twin infected them with cattle faeces, he was dying when I left, he will be dead by now. Your mother, even in her state, annihilated the rest.’

‘“Her state” What state?’ Nafi became worried.

‘Our land was attacked, not just by Midgardians, but by illness, every home has been hit.’

‘Father!’

‘Your father is well.’

‘But…’

‘He was not at the homestead when they attacked, he was in the village.’ Heimdall stated.

‘So…who? Not grandmother?’

‘No, the disease did not reach your dwelling, when it came, your family made sure to remain there and not be susceptible.’

‘But you said every home was hit.’

‘It is a long story.’ Heimdall stated, ‘And I am afraid it is not a good one, per se.’ He swallowed.

‘You have…’

‘All but my daughter.’ Heimdall stated.

‘I am so sorry.’

‘It was not your doing, and as such, not your place to apologise. The Gods have their reasons, whatever they are.’

‘Please, come, you must be hungry.’ Nafi indicated for Heimdall to follow him. He turned to one of the men that had paused in front of Heimdall and spoke in Svartal. ‘Tell His Majesty that there is a convoy from Asgard, verified by me.’ The man bowed and left, the others making room for them to pass. ‘Forgive their behaviour, they are still unsure after the last people to come here.’

‘What happened?’

‘They came, acting as though they were allies, yet you could see in their faces, they were of the opinion they were better than all here. Then they told Ásvaldr of their plans, especially for Asgard, and the “bitch that sold out to them”. They said this with me in the room.’

‘What occurred?’

‘Ásvaldr had them disarmed and tied, it was then he revealed who I was, and the alliance with Asgard. We got them all.’

‘I hamper you took the one to speak ill of your mother.’

‘For not holding his tongue, he lost that first.’ Nafi spat. ‘None shall ever speak ill of her in my presence. A better mother, a more loving mother, I ask for one better to be found, but I know it is not possible.’

‘Indeed.’ Heimdall agreed. ‘It is why I left Brienne with her, I knew she would be safest there.’

‘An intelligent choice.’

‘And why she is promised to your brother.’ Nafi paused and looked at him. ‘Kushtrim.’

Nafi thought for a moment before nodding, emulating the same face Loki made in such times. ‘Good, though he has some maturing to do.’

‘He has changed of late.’ Heimdall informed him. ‘He was struck with the illness but survived, he came out of it far more mature than you would expect a boy his age to be.’

Nafi frowned, not sure what to make of all Heimdall was telling him. They were met by Áslvaldr outside his home, the Svartal royal welcoming them as he had before, before bringing them in to tend to their hunger and thirst, as well as discuss the issue with Midgard and their warriors.

When Heimdall was able to tell them of what occurred on Vanaheim, with Maebh and Loki fleeing for their lives, Nafi was worried, but his concerns quickly placated when he reminded himself that they had made it back to Asgard. When he was told of his parents' injuries, he shook his head, making a comment that the Gods could not stop them. But when Heimdall mentioned what met them on their return to Asgard, there was silence.

‘The deaths were too many to count after a while. Your cousin Helga passed swiftly, Modi and Thodin fled to your homestead before they got ill, Thor, somehow did not catch it, but as she was tending to Helga, Sif did.’

‘Is she…?’

‘No, she made it through, tending to your brother as she did.’

‘Did many pull through?’

‘One to every ten that died it would seem. Kushtrim, Sif, Brienne and I all did, thank the Gods, but not all were so lucky.’ Heimdall inhaled for a moment. ‘I fear I must tell you Nafi, your youngest brother, he did not survive it.’

Anna gasped and held onto Nafi’s hand as he stared blankly back at Heimdall. ‘He fought the illness valiantly, but he was too young, Brienne was the youngest to catch it and survive.’

‘My family….’ Nafi stated, his voice shaking.

‘Your grandmother wept, as did your sister. Your mother...Maebh became inhuman after.’

‘How…?’

‘Her mind seemed to leave her body for a time until the warriors came. From what I have heard since it was only as one went to kill her, did she seem to realise life was still occurring around her. She had become unrecognisable.’

‘And now?’

‘You have heard to never anger a mother wolf, your mother, she slaughtered them all, she decimated several men in the space of seconds when they held swords to your siblings' throats. She is, what I would imagine the Goddess of Mothers to be.’

‘So she is better?’

‘Yes, she is readying for whatever they have planned next, so is tending to herself again.’

‘And Father?’

‘Only angered he got to kill three and not more.’

‘What do they expect to come now?’

‘I am not sure, your mother had their heads and manhoods barrelled and sent to Vanaheim with the message that anymore that arrive will be shown less mercy.’

‘How could they possibly be shown any less?’ Ásvaldr asked, scared of the response.

‘She probably cut the most of them off after she beheaded them, the next time she will more likely do it the other way around.’ Nafi explained.

‘Are you alright?’ Anna looked at him. ‘About your brother?’

‘Grandfather will care for him now, I am saddened he is gone, but I feel more for Mother, it will hit her hardest. That is two of us she has said goodbye to in a year.’

‘Less, the illness is gone with over a season now, he was halfway through it. She has enough to concern her now. I am not sure if it is my place to tell you, but before the Spring is over, you will have another sibling.’

Nafi gave him a bemused look. ‘When I joked with Father regarding replacing me, I was jesting! Not seeking to give him actual advice!’

‘I think it was taken literally.’ Heimdall chuckled.

‘Clearly.’ He shook his head. ‘If Mother is bearing, how is she going to fare if there is an attack?’

‘I am uncertain, all I know is Princess Maebh has only gotten through the numerous hardships of her life because she is the most ingenuitive and terrifying being I have yet to encounter, she will continue to give counsel for now.’

‘Norns have mercy on those who would anger that woman. I have seen the result of her work before, she does not suffer those who would harm her. I am grateful she was not here the time Loki was injured. It would have been a bloodbath.’ Ásvaldr shuddered. It was universally agreed, Maebh was by far the most terrifying and deadly creature to be met by any present.

* The boat arrived on the shores of Vanaheim, those that got it there having left it to drift in from a mile out to see, jumping back onto an Aesir boat and waiting from a safe distance to see that it stayed its course.

The area they let the Midgardian boat come to shore was one that was allied to that realm, the area of which Loki, Meabh and their grouping had to pass through to get home safely. The men on the shore close by looked at the boat in this distance as well as the one that was now against the shore. They knew it to be Aesir, but the Midgardian vessel, clearly abandoned next to them worried them slightly. The sound of the small waves lapping against the wood of the hull causing them to worry as to what was the point in bringing back the boat, also, they knew there had been four boats to leave, leaving them to worry as to why this one alone returned.

One man stepped forward towards the boat. Though there was an ominous feeling to it, he did not think there was any immediate danger and went onto the boat, noting the stench of something dead on it. When he found a barrel from which the smell was being emitted, he lifted the material over it and his eyes went wide. He ran and fled the boat shouting. In the barrel, were the heads and other appendages Maebh had sworn to sent.

When the highest man in the locality came to the boat, he knew what to expect from the barrel by way of body parts, what he was not prepared for was the pendant amongst them, one that had been taken from a castle in Midgard over half a decade before and placed in with them. The emblem for the royal family of Ulaidh, it was clear what it meant, the warrior daughter of Aodh, the past King of Ulaidh, was sending her warning, she was as deadly as they heard, and she was waiting.

Seriously, this is so what I would have imagined for Heimdall, so perfect for him.

[nomadstevergxrs]

The Girl in the Pond Pt. 2 (Bones: Marvel AU)

Characters  in this chapter: Steve Rogers, Female Reader, Wanda Maximoff, Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Natasha Romanoff, Original Male Character

Warnings: Language, More talks about a dead body, Slight violence.

Pairings: None. (Eventual Steve Rogers x Reader)

Summary: You are a forensic anthropologist working for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. when you and your team get recruited by the FBI to aid one of their top field agents, Special Agent Steve Rogers. Together, along with  your colleagues/friends you put faces on the voiceless and throw the bad guys where they belong.

Author’s Note: So this is my first Marvel AU series and I’m quite nervous on how this is going to turn out. The series is going to be based on the TV show Bones and since the show is 12 seasons long I’m just going to base the series on some of my favorite episodes including the series finale coming out in the upcoming weeks. I only hope I do it justice. I want to thank @mrs-squirrel-chester​ for convincing me into writing this and for not only being as awesome beta but because she also made this kick-ass edit above.

“What's the context of the find?” you asked Agent Rogers as you both walked down the grassy hill, reading the names on the rows of white marble headstones. “Routine landscaping,” Steve replied, looking down at his notepad. “Dropped a load in the local pond, one of the workmen thought he saw something.” You recognized the emblem on the side of the black windowless van that was parked a few yards away from the pond; it was the Smithsonian Medico-Legal Lab emblem. The passenger door opened and a young man hopped out; duffle bag in one hand and a camera in the other.

Recognizing him immediately, you waved him over. “Hi Peter.”

Peter greeted you with a hug, ““This eco-warrior look works for you. Very action oriented.”

“Thanks.” you replied, looking down at your outfit. “Agent Rogers, you remember my assistant Peter Parker?”

“Of course,” Agent Rogers answered, sticking out his right hand. “Great to see you again kid.”

“How was Guatemala? Dig up lots of massacred victims? Learn a thing or two about machete strikes?” Peter asked you, completely ignoring Steve, who made a face at Peter’s rude gesture.

You cleared your throat and Peter quickly realized his mistake. “Sorry,” he muttered, taking Agent Rogers’ hand to give it a firm shake. “Good to see you again Agent.”  

“Hey Pete, I need water samples and temperature readings from the pond,” you ordered.

“Right away doc.”  He spun on his heel, quickly turning the other way, leaving you alone with Agent Rogers.

“Kid’s got no sense of discretion. Typical Squint…” Steve said, as they reached the river bank.

“Squint?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah you know, when cops get stuck, we bring in people like you. You know? Squints. You know, you squint at things,” Steve explained with a shit-eating grin. “Like this,” he demonstrated for you.

“Oh, you mean people with very high IQ's and basic reasoning skills?” You gave him a smart-ass answer.

His smile dropped, giving you a look as if he had just tucked his tail between his legs. “Yeah.”

“So what exactly am I supposed to be squinting at?” you asked, staring at a monitor while standing in the middle of a small boat, along with Agent Rogers, in the middle of the pond.

Steve dropped a camera attached to a cable into the pond. “Oh, you know, it’s like pornography,” Steve said as he continued to lower the camera. “You'll know it when you see it.”

“Like you would know,” you snarked, shooting your partner a wink.

His cheeks flushed pink. “Shut up Bones.”

You chuckled to yourself then turned your head to look back at the screen where you saw what looked to be a skeleton wrapped around in wire.

“Oh yeah, this is a crime scene,” you called out to Steve. “Call in the divers and bring the body up to land,” you ordered.

After thirty minutes of locating the body and a quick change, you were finally able to examine the remains while Peter leaned over to snap some photos. Kneeling down you pulled on some rubber gloves, grabbed a tool from your bag, and started removing some of the algae and wire that was attached.

“Remains are wrapped in four-milled, flat poly-construction sheeting,” you announced to Peter, who then crouched down on the opposite side of you.

“PVC coated chicken wire,” Peter responded as he helped you pull it away from the body.

“It’s weighted.” you added, looking up at Peter. “That's why the body didn't surface during decomposition.” There was a small bone fragment, which you held up to the magnifying glass. “The skeleton is complete but the skull is in fragments.”

Suddenly you felt Steve’s presence behind you. “What can you tell me?”

“Not much,” you answered, not looking at him. “She was a young woman, probably between 18 and 22, approximately 5'3", race unknown, delicate features.”

“That's all?” He asked in disbelief, crouching down next to you.

“Well, she was a tennis player,” you responded coolly.

Steve scratched the back of his neck. “How do you get a tennis player out of… well that?” he asked, referring to the muck that covered the remains.

Peter jumped in with an answer, “Epiphyses fusion gives age.” He pointed at one of the legs. “Pelvic bone shape gives sex of the victim.”

“Bursitis in the shoulder,” you pointed at the left arm. “Somebody this young, must be an athletic injury.”

“Okay?” Steve asked still not getting what you and Peter were talking about. “When did she die?”

“Ehhh…” both you and Peter replied, still not looking at the agent.

“Ehhh?” he mocked. “What do you mean Eh?”

Peter rolled his eyes, then got up, facing Agent Rogers. “It means wait until our bug and slime guy takes a look,” he said.

“Collect silt, 3 meters radius, to a depth of 10 cm,” you ordered Peter to do as you pulled the zipper on your baggy bodysuit and yanked it down, revealing your white long sleeve t-shirt and dark wash jeans. “Your FBI forensics team can take the plastic and the chicken wire, we'll take the rest.”

Walking up the stairs, heading into your office, you noticed your boss, Natasha Romanoff, leaving your office.

“Dr. Romanoff!” you shouted as you jogged over to the petite redhead in front of you.

“Dr. Y/L/N? How was Guatemala?” she asked, not that she cared. She was trying to divert the situation.

“You know, Dr. Romanoff, I wish you wouldn't just give me to the FBI,” you said as you walked along with her, not letting her change the subject.

“As a federally funded institution,” Natasha started as you both went down the stairs. “The Smithsonian must seize every opportunity to prove our worth to our friends in Congress. Which means, I loan you out as I see fit, especially to federal agencies.”

You rolled your eyes at your boss. “'Loan out' implies property Dr. Romanoff,” you responded. “And the FBI will never respect me as property.”

“I do not view you as property Dr. Y/L/N,” Natasha stopped you. “You are one of the Smithsonian's most valuable assets.”

“An asset is, by definition, property.” The two of you heard Peter say from behind.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “What's the rule Mr. Parker?”

“You only converse with PhD's,” Peter deadpanned. “You realize I am half way through two Doctorates? Two halves make a whole, so mathematically speaking…”

Natasha turned around and cut off Peter, “Go polish a bone Mr. Parker!”

“Hey Stark, find anything good on our body here?” You asked, swiping your ID card against the lock near the lab’s entrance.

After pulling a lab coat over your shoulders, you grabbed a pair of rubber gloves and joined your colleague Tony.

“The pond is not only warm and teeming with microbes, which accelerated decomposition, but it houses black carp and koi which fed on the body,” he answered while still looking over the body.

Walking up the steps into the lab, Wanda almost choked on the smell of rotting flesh. “Oh god!  Can I, as the only normal person in this room, say, Ew?”

“Can you determine how long ago the victim died?” you inquired.

“Well, given by three larval stages of trichoptera, chironimidae…” Tony replied before you cut him off.

“In English, Stark.”

Tony sighed, all enthusiasm gone. “The body was in the pond one winter and two summers.”

“So spring before last,” you easily calculated, muttering to yourself as you turned back and looked at the monitor.

“You really think I'm Robert?” Tony asked out of the blue after a long pause.

“What?” you looked at Wanda in confusion.

“The book, sweetie,” Wanda answered.

You let out a dry chuckle and shook your head. “No, No, No. You're not in the book.”

“Well sure he is! We all are…” Peter cut in.

“No, none of you are in the book. Those are fictitious characters based on....”

“I found some small bone fragments in the silt,” Tony interrupted you mid sentence, motioning everyone to take a look at the monitor as he moved the magnifying glass over to the victim’s ribcage.

“Dr. Stark, can you determine the kind of bones found in the silt?” you asked.

“Given the size of the bone fragments, I’d say Rana Temporaria,” Tony answered.

“So frog bones?”

He nodded. “Also found some tiny gold links, those from a fine chain…”

“Just to clarify..” Peter announced. “I'm not a virgin. Nowhere near in fact.”

Tony snorted, trying to contain his laughter to which Wanda elbowed him in the arm.

“Oh my god, can you guys just ignore the fucking book and focus on your jobs?” you shouted exasperatedly.

“Who you captured perfectly, is Rogers. Buttoned down, but buckets of sexual confidence which, uhhh, I for one would love to tap.” Wanda let out a little smirk which made you roll your eyes at her.

“Wand, you’re not helping,” you muttered.

“Oh come on!” She walked over, grabbing you by the shoulders. “Like you wouldn’t tap that?” She giggled, which made your cheeks flush in embarrassment.

“It’s not polite to discuss ‘ass tapping’ in front of a soaker,” Peter breathed in irritation.

“And yet, you wanted to announce to everyone that you’re not a virgin,” Tony argued back.

“Okay everyone shut up and ignore the book!” you yelled at your colleagues. “Peter, remove the remaining tissue, I'll debreed the skull fragments myself, reassemble it so Wanda can put a face on our victim. And Stark, can you analyze the paper found in the victim’s hand?”

“Good. I prefer holographs, they don't stink,” Wanda answered, referring to the decomposing body.

“Sure thing, Dr. Y/L/N,” Both Tony and Peter said as the three headed out of the lab, before you pulled Peter back by the shoulder.

“Listen Pete, I don't like those terms for human remains, ya know; soaker, crispy critter stuff like that?” You whispered.

He hung his head low as if he was being scolded, his hands fidgeting with his royal blue lab coat.” Sorry, Dr. Y/N,” he replied.

“Hey no, I’m not mad at you Peter.” You let out a sigh. “I’m just saying that when we’re in the middle of an investigation, it’s better to just say victim and not weird nicknames alright?” You patted his back and asked, “Now go clean the bones alright?”

He let out a weak smile. “Sure thing doc.”

“So,” Steve’s superior, Director Nick Fury pondered as he sat at his desk across from Steve. “You guaranteed a squint a field role in an active murder investigation, Agent Rogers. Is that correct?”

Steve nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Huh, that’s funny,” the director replied, scratching his chin. “I thought you said she wouldn’t work with you anymore?”

Steve shifted in his seat before answering, “Well, the last case we worked she provided a description of the murder weapon and the murderer, but I didn't give her much credence.”

“And why is that?” Director Fury asked.

“Because she did it by looking at the victim's autopsy x-rays,” Steve answered.

The director snorted at Steve’s comment. “Well I wouldn't give it much credence either.”

“Turns out she was right on both,” Steve answered. “Plus the pond victim, Y/F/N gave me the victim’s age, sex, and favorite sport,” he praised with confidence.

The director chuckled, leaning closer to Steve.“Which is?”

“Tennis.”

Fury leaned back in awe. “She’s good.”

“Oh, she's amazing,” Steve answered proudly.  “If the only way I can get her back to my side is to bring her out in the field, I'm willing to let her.”

The room fell quiet. Director Fury looked pensive for a moment, debating on whether or not he should grant permission as Steve shifted uncomfortably in his chair, wringing his hands together due to nerves.

“Fine.” Director Fury finally announced. “You can take her out in the field, but ultimately, she is your responsibility.”

Steve practically leapt from his chair, took a hold of the director’s hand, and shook it. “Thank you sir.”

Hearing a strange noise in your house, you scrambled out of your bed and crouched underneath, pulling out an aluminum bat. You were slowly tip-toeing down the hallway when suddenly, a dark figure walked through the bead curtains. Within the blink of an eye, you swung your bat hard, connecting with glass and smashing it, sending the person tumbling down on the floor amidst a sea of glass shards.

You stood over and almost swung when suddenly you heard a familiar voice stopping you, “Y/N, wait!”

“Julian?” You cried, surprised to find your ex-boyfriend in your house. You extended your right arm and he took it, lifting himself up off the floor.

“It's not rational for you to choose the first day I'm back to reclaim your television.” You sighed as you took a seat on your lounge chair.

Julian sat down on the chair opposite you. “While you were away, I thought a lot about why we broke up,” he replied nervously.

“We fought all the time and don't like each other anymore,” you answered bluntly.

“We fought because you are emotionally distant and cold,” Julian retorted as he got up from his chair and sauntered over to your chair, sitting dangerously close to you. “But sexually speaking, I think you'll agree tha-”

You immediately cut him off, “You didn't come for your TV, you timed this for a booty call!” You pushed him off the couch with a pissed off groan. “You’re a fuckin’ pig you know that.”

“Oh come on!” Julian got up and ran behind you. “Your intimacy issues are probably due to being orphaned so young.”

“Ughh... I hate psychology and you're just horny.” You rolled your eyes painfully hard at your ex.

“Y/N, honey, do you really want to spend the rest of your life alone?” he asked, a shit-eating smirk plastered across his face.

However, it didn’t last long as you slapped him hard across the cheek. “Get out Julian,” you growled as you pushed him out of the house.

Clutching the left side of his cheek, he asked, “So what, we split the cost of the TV?”

“Go fuck yourself,” you spat, slamming the door his face and stomped back into the living room where you threw yourself back on the lounge chair with a soft thud. You grabbed a cushion and buried your face, screaming into it.

The next day, Wanda, Steve, and you gathered around at a squared table in Wanda’s office, along with Peter and Tony.

“Does Rogers know how this works?” you asked with a hint of sarcasm in your voice and Steve shot you a dirty look.

“This computer program, which Tony and I designed, patent pending, accepts a full array of digital input, processes it, and then projects it as a three dimensional holographic image,” Wanda said as she tapped away on her tablet. A holographic skeleton popped up a moment later. “I call it FRIDAY.”

“You get that?” you asked Steve sarcastically.

“Sure thing, doll,” he replied with a smirk. Being the smart ass he was, he added, “Even the patent pending part.”

“Get a room you two,” Wanda teased, to which both you and Steve rolled your eyes.

“Anywho… Y/L/N reassembled the skull and applied tissue markers,” Wanda said as she continued to tap on her tablet.

As Wanda added the markers to the skull, you explained to everyone in the room how you managed to pull it off, “Her skull was badly damaged, but racial indicators, cheekbone dimensions, nasal arch, occipital measurements suggest African American.”

“And.... We have our victim,” Wanda announced as a full upper body photograph appears in hologram form.

“Whoa…” Steve whispered as he put his hand through the hologram and wiggled his fingers. “Have to admit, that's pretty cool.”

You slapped Steve’s hand away from the hologram. “Hey Wand, can you rerun the program substituting caucasian values?” you asked.

The image altered slightly as Wanda entered the information into her tablet. “Does she look familiar to anyone?” you asked everyone in the room.

Confused, Tony, Peter, Steve, and Wanda looked at each other, then shook their heads no.

“Split the difference, mixed race,” you told Wanda.

“Lenny Kravitz or Vanessa Williams?” she asked, head cocked to the side.

“Hmmm…” you thought for a moment before making a decision, “Vanessa Williams.”

Wanda added in more features and the image changed again. Steve was taken back by the final result. “Oh no,” he breathed, a hand resting on his hip.

“Anyone recognize her?” you asked the group once more.

“Not me,” Peter replied.

“Wait, is that who I think it is?” asked Wanda as she placed her tablet down on the table beside her.

“The girl who had the affair with the Senator?” Asked Tony.

“Her name is Cleo Louise Eller,” Steve said softly. “Only daughter to Ted and Sharon Eller. Last seen approximately 9pm, April 6, 2016 leaving the Cardio Deluxe Gym on K Street, she didn't even make it to her car.”

You turned to Steve. “Pretty good memory,” you acknowledged.

“Yeah, well, it's my job to find her,” he answered, not looking at you.

“Well, in that case, congratulations on your success.” Tony stuck his hand out for Steve to shake.

Steve shook his head in dismay, “This isn't exactly the way I wanted it to end.” He turned on his heel and headed towards the door. He stopped and towards you and your group “I need this kept quiet.”

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[dailyofficereadings]

Daily Office Readings July 30, 2020

Psalm 70-71

Psalm 70

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. Of David, for the memorial offering.

1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me! 2 Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire to hurt me. 3 Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!” turn back because of their shame.

4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” 5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!

Psalm 71

Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help

1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress,[a] to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. 5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

7 I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long. 9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent. 10 For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together. 11 They say, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.”

12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! 13 Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace. 14 But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. 15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge. 16 I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.[b] Your power 19 and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens.

You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again.

22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. 23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued. 24 All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.

Footnotes:

Psalm 71:3 Gk Compare 31.3: Heb to come continually you have commanded

Psalm 71:18 Gk Compare Syr: Heb to a generation, to all that come

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 74

Psalm 74

Plea for Help in Time of National Humiliation

A Maskil of Asaph.

1 O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage. Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell. 3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.

4 Your foes have roared within your holy place; they set up their emblems there. 5 At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes.[a] 6 And then, with hatchets and hammers, they smashed all its carved work. 7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated the dwelling place of your name, bringing it to the ground. 8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9 We do not see our emblems; there is no longer any prophet, and there is no one among us who knows how long. 10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? 11 Why do you hold back your hand; why do you keep your hand in[b] your bosom?

12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the earth. 13 You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food[c] for the creatures of the wilderness. 15 You cut openings for springs and torrents; you dried up ever-flowing streams. 16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the luminaries[d] and the sun. 17 You have fixed all the bounds of the earth; you made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles your name. 19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals; do not forget the life of your poor forever.

20 Have regard for your[e] covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence. 21 Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. 22 Rise up, O God, plead your cause; remember how the impious scoff at you all day long. 23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.

Footnotes:

Psalm 74:5 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain

Psalm 74:11 Cn: Heb do you consume your right hand from

Psalm 74:14 Heb food for the people

Psalm 74:16 Or moon; Heb light

Psalm 74:20 Gk Syr: Heb the

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Judges 4:4-23

4 At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. 7 I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,[a] that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. 15 And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic[b] before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, 16 while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

17 Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. 22 Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

23 So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.

Footnotes:

Judges 4:11 Heb from the Kain

Judges 4:15 Heb adds to the sword; compare verse 16

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Acts 1:15-26

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers[a] (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16 “Friends,[b] the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong,[c] he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms,

‘Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it’;

and

‘Let another take his position of overseer.’

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place[d] in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Footnotes:

Acts 1:15 Gk brothers

Acts 1:16 Gk Men, brothers

Acts 1:18 Or swelling up

Acts 1:25 Other ancient authorities read the share

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Matthew 27:55-66

55 Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[a] of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”[b] 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Footnotes:

Matthew 27:65 Or Take a guard

Matthew 27:65 Gk you know how

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[dailyofficereadings]

Daily Office Readings August 02, 2018

Psalm 70-71

Psalm 70

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. Of David, for the memorial offering.

1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me! 2 Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire to hurt me. 3 Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!” turn back because of their shame.

4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” 5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!

Psalm 71

Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help

1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress,[a] to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. 5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

7 I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long. 9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent. 10 For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together. 11 They say, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.”

12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! 13 Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace. 14 But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. 15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge. 16 I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.[b] Your power 19 and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens.

You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again.

22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. 23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued. 24 All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.

Footnotes:

Psalm 71:3 Gk Compare 31.3: Heb to come continually you have commanded

Psalm 71:18 Gk Compare Syr: Heb to a generation, to all that come

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 74

Psalm 74

Plea for Help in Time of National Humiliation

A Maskil of Asaph.

1 O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage. Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell. 3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.

4 Your foes have roared within your holy place; they set up their emblems there. 5 At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes.[a] 6 And then, with hatchets and hammers, they smashed all its carved work. 7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated the dwelling place of your name, bringing it to the ground. 8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9 We do not see our emblems; there is no longer any prophet, and there is no one among us who knows how long. 10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? 11 Why do you hold back your hand; why do you keep your hand in[b] your bosom?

12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the earth. 13 You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food[c] for the creatures of the wilderness. 15 You cut openings for springs and torrents; you dried up ever-flowing streams. 16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the luminaries[d] and the sun. 17 You have fixed all the bounds of the earth; you made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles your name. 19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals; do not forget the life of your poor forever.

20 Have regard for your[e] covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence. 21 Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. 22 Rise up, O God, plead your cause; remember how the impious scoff at you all day long. 23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.

Footnotes:

Psalm 74:5 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain

Psalm 74:11 Cn: Heb do you consume your right hand from

Psalm 74:14 Heb food for the people

Psalm 74:16 Or moon; Heb light

Psalm 74:20 Gk Syr: Heb the

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Judges 4:4-23

4 At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. 7 I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,[a] that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. 15 And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic[b] before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, 16 while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

17 Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. 22 Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

23 So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.

Footnotes:

Judges 4:11 Heb from the Kain

Judges 4:15 Heb adds to the sword; compare verse 16

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Acts 1:15-26

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers[a] (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16 “Friends,[b] the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong,[c] he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms,

‘Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it’;

and

‘Let another take his position of overseer.’

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place[d] in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Footnotes:

Acts 1:15 Gk brothers

Acts 1:16 Gk Men, brothers

Acts 1:18 Or swelling up

Acts 1:25 Other ancient authorities read the share

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Matthew 27:55-66

55 Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[a] of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”[b] 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Footnotes:

Matthew 27:65 Or Take a guard

Matthew 27:65 Gk you know how

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.