#side: carnelian

[cordsfortfrontier]

How it feels like:

-Carnelian

[cordsfortfrontier]

(Sideblog art share, reee)

-Carnelian

Bad Ending

So me and Ani cooked up a bad ending for Eclipse TML AU

[animalpetcel]

I love how Carnelian Blood made me re-fulfill my promise to return to the DL fandom (I left bc I had more passionate interest at the time and wasn't interested in Chaos Lineage but if it got new characters I told myself I'd return) and it's like stepping into a time capsule

things, for better or worse, have no changed

[fishnapple]

What new skill should you learn

This is a general reading meant for multiple people. Take only what resonates and leave out the rest.

Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find the reading resonated with you, leave a comment, I’d love to know 🎐

About me | Masterpost Book a reading with me - KO-FI (→ personal reading)

CARNELIAN

The most prominent one that I get is public speaking skills. Your usual way of speaking might not get you enough attention when you are in front of a crowd or talking to a large audience, even online one. May be your voice is too soft or sounds quite young or bubbly, or you don't like to share too much about yourself, your opinions. It can make you seem more approachable, but in situations that you need to assert yourself, to be taken seriously, then it can become a disadvantage. And when you are in those situations, you might over compensate by being defensive or rigid, trying to assert yourself more than necessary.

You need to develop a firmer tone, and the words you say, your body language should also convey a sense of authority. But it's not a battle for power and domination, you just need to make yourself more visible, to make your energy more solid and grounded. This will help you in situations that require exchanging ideas in a large group, delivering your message to many people, rallying, persuading, teaching, or simply telling a story.

Research more about social skills in a group setting, observe the people that you feel are popular or well respected, observe their body language, their posture, their tones in different kinds of conversations, their choices of words, their silence, etc. This may sound mechanical but if you treat this skill just like math or painting, instead of thinking that social skill is something innate, you will see that with appropriate observations and enough practice, you can achieve a certain level of proficiency. This will open more opportunities for you and raise your confidence.

CLEAR QUARTZ

The stone of Pluto, South node and North node, all are "standing up", they are trying to make a statement (each side of the crystal is very narrow, it can fall over with just a gust of wind, I normally couldn't replicate the same position). The theme is about changing the old and embracing a new mindset. I think it has to do with how you take care of your appearance, your style.

Right now, you seem to be staying in the safe zone when it comes to styling yourself, making yourself more beautiful. This might be due to restrictions in early childhood, traditional values, what society deems appropriate or trendy. You might not want to focus too much on appearance because it seems superficial or vain, or takes too much of your time and energy.

But doing so will rope you the chance to express yourself more truthfully. Beautify yourself not because of how you will be perceived, but because it's a way to show love for yourself. You look into a mirror, you feel happy, you want to compliment yourself, you feel that silly stray strand of hair is adorable, not thinking about how will everyone say, how you are not like someone.

So the advice for you here is to be more adventurous in styling, expand your knowledge about fashion and styling, explore yourself more , give yourself the freedom to experiment more, to rebel more. Creating a unique image, a "public persona" is not just for some celebrities, everyone can benefit from that. Because behind that seemingly surface action, is the journey of discovering your deeper self. As within so without.

The theme of transformation is also applied to learning new languages. The languages should be totally different from your mother tongue, giving you more chance to connect with people from various parts of the world.

OBSIDIAN

The phrase "navigating the world" appeared in my mind. I got several meanings from this. One is in the literal sense as driving a vehicle, going around, navigating the roads, so learning to drive a new kind of vehicle might be the skill you should learn, or even learn to swim or row a boat. There are lots of movements, travelling and moving around. You should be more active in the physical sense. But this is not really about exercise or going to the gym, it's about moving your body, being in various places, experiencing different things. Your life in this period needs lots of expansion and movements. You might feel that you don't have enough resources or energy to go on trips, or you're simply someone who doesn't like travelling. But it will make your life stagnant. Travelling might not seem like a skill, but it is, all the planning, packing, preparation and the ability to adapt to the new place, all or these take skills.

Another one is navigating the complicated social construct. Maybe you feel it's hard to connect to people, there might be walls and the feeling of solitude and not fitting in, that there is something fundamentally different about you. The people that you managed to get closer to (it's likely that they approached you first) will stay close to you for a long time, you have no trouble maintaining a connection. The trouble lies in initiating or forming the connection. There might be an ego here that doesn't want to show their vulnerable side. Silly jokes and banters might seem childish to you. But learning to have fun in a social setting is much more rewarding than you think. Allow yourself to be a child, learn how to tell a story. Debating skills might also be worthwhile for you to learn, learn how to state your opinions clearly and defend your stance.

This group is strangely hard to read, I feel a certain resistance. You might feel that your personality isn't suitable for these kinds of things or you think it would take too much effort and work. You also don't want to imitate what other people are doing. Another reason might be that you haven't figured out what you like to do yet. But that's okay, everything takes time, trials and errors are normal, don't give up on the first try.

TIGER'S EYE

This one is an anti-consumerism movement. You might want to learn how to mend and sew clothes. And not just learn for yourself, but later will you spread the awareness to everyone, or even open workshops related to this.

Running after trends, constantly being bombarded by ads about shiny things that we don't actually need. Basic clothes with good quality cost too much while trendy ones don't last for more than a year. Maybe it's time for you to take matters in your own hands. Learning how to sew clothes might take time and effort, and sometimes, the cost is not small either. But you will be more free to explore styles that you like, create things that you're actually comfortable in. Not many people can proudly display their achievements like someone who makes their own clothes. This is also a great activity to relieve stress and help you practice being patient, especially if you're someone who is quick to get irritated or not very meticulous. It can soften your energy more and make it more focused.

Another way to practice is martial art or self-defense. You have lots of energy that needs to be channelled into various activities, those that keep your body busy.

You might also want to research more about the traditional spiritual and occult practices of your culture, or some traditional crafts in your family, learning about the legacy of our ancestors. There will be surprising knowledge hidden in them that you didn't notice before. You could feel resistant or disagree with many traditional teachings but don't disregard them completely. We can always learn something new from the old and the new always contain the old.

LABRADORITE

This is something that you feel out of your depth and uncomfortable doing, or something that you like but want to keep it a secret, for fear of judgement or obstruction.

I heard dancing and singing. But there's a feeling of gatekeeping. Some people consider these kinds of activities only for those who are gifted and have the resources to pursue them. These skills are put on a pedestal that stops people from approaching them in a more casual way.

Why should you learn these skills? It's to let your inner child be free and out into the open. It's also a way to learn how to control your body, discipline it so it can flow freely, it helps you connect more with your sensuality. Our body is an instrument of life, capable of many miracles, you won't know it unless you let it interact and move with the world around it.

There are various genres for you to explore, but I see traditional instruments or movements combined with modern ones.

Nurturing life such as gardening is another skill you should learn. It helps you be more in sync with nature, you will need to observe the natural cycle of life, to care for each individual and to form a bond with them. If you don't have the space or resources for gardening, maybe try to study more about nature, subjects about biology and chemistry, the ecosystem of forests, oceans, deserts etc. You will be more appreciative of the nature world.

CITRINE

Your energy right now seems to be rigid and doesn't flow properly. There's stress about your health, it's hard to relax, you don't feel comfortable in your body. Maybe you've been too busy lately, your mind is overloaded and your movement is restricted. So you need to learn something that can help you destress, loosen up the hard restrictions around you, and connect more with a softer, more gentle energy. You could call it your feminine energy, regardless of your gender. The feminine energy is within all of us, in your case, it's more hidden. Your loving, more nurturing side could be considered as weaknesses by the people around you. Or, on the contrary, those traits are expected of you forcefully, to the point that your own interpretation of them are buried deep within, you haven't had a chance to actually understand and connect with it.

I think meditation or any form of practice that can quiet the mind and put you in the flow will be good for you. Making art could be one form of it, yoga, intuitive dancing, Qigong, roller skating. Slow, mindful movements or wild, frantic ones just like a child running around, all the while maintaining your balance. You can temporarily forget about yourself, your worries, your responsibilities for a while with these kinds of activities.

Learning to play an instrument can also achieve the same kind of effects. A flute or a lyre.

You should be around children more, learn how to take care of them, how to teach them. Working, being with children can have a totally different energy and requires a different set of skills. I think you would make a great teacher because you have a very protective energy that children would feel safe around you. And in turn, they help you soften up and bring out your compassionate side more.

[jjackdawed]

The Jade Winglet

you are welcome to use my designs as long as you credit me :)

design notes:

Moon is a dark almost greenish black color, and has a silver almost diamond shape on her nose and chest. Hatching under two full moons, she has a teardrop on the back corners of her eyes as a mark of her mind reading abilities, and a smaller front teardrop as a mark of a seer. She is remarkably large for her age, a trait she got from her father, but is still one of the smaller members of her winglet.

Not much about Winter's design. He is stocky, has clusters of darker scales on his face, a darker nose, and is remarkably shiny even by IceWing standards. He continues to wear the earring from Qibli, claiming he doesn't trust Darkstalker's magic to be entirely gone without it, when in reality he secretly likes the connection to Qibli and his winglet.

Peril is very large for a SkyWing, and is the tallest of the winglet. Shes very muscular and her scales are abnormally bright and shiny in comparison to the other tribes. She is almost iredescent in the sun and practically glows. She has VERY large, unblinking eyes that are a startling shade of blue (an eye color already uncommon in the Sky Kingdom) and is known for intensely staring people down without meaning to do so. Despite being firescales she is covered in small scars from brief nicks in battle before her opponents perished.

Turtle is very short and stocky in build, and is the shortest of the winglet as he carries himself very low to the ground. Hes very freckled and alongside the golden armband he wears gold stud earrings. His horns are twisted and almost silvery, a trait he shares with every animus dragon. He bares a striking resemblance to his ancestor Fathom, however he is shorter and stockier than he was.

Qibli is lanky and awkward in appearance, with long legs and a thin, gangly body. He is unkempt in appearence, with crooked teeth and freckles and scars covering his body from his rough up bringing in The Scorpion Den (the scar from Cobra being the two slashes on the front of his nose) and is surprisingly tall, taller even than Winter, but because of their differences in posture (Winter's being perfect to a T and making himself appear much larger than he is and Qibli's being nonexistent) he appears much smaller than he really is. Like all SandWing’s, he has a darker patch under his eyes to help with seeing in intense sunlight.

Umber looks very similar to Clay in appearance, with hazel eyes and warm scales. Unlike Clay, Umber is significantly smaller and thinner in frame and is covered in large freckles. He has a lighter patch on his chest, his ears are long and hang down, he has a long scar on his snout and neck, and his right horn has a blunted tip from the battles he fought in the war.

Like Umber Carnelian shares many scars from the battles she fought in the war, most notably being the chunk missing from her left ear and the several long slashes across her face. I like to think that had Carnelian lived longer and Umber remained in the winglet the two of them would’ve become close friends, and eventually Carnelian would’ve become protective of the other dragonets in her winglet.

I struggled getting Kinkajou’s colors right; i wanted to make her bright and include her iconic pink/yellow scales, but i wanted to make her less neon and have more believable tones down hues. I also wanted to include some orange and reds to show her more fiery side.

[lavenderspence]

an enduring, mighty warrior | S.R.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader  |  Word Count: 2.6K

Content warning: fluff, pregnant reader, mention of past death

Summary: you and spencer settle on a sentimental name for you baby

A/N: well hello, long time no see (literally i haven’t posted in over a month) and this is also the first thing i’ve finished in over a month. but i absolutely adore this, and i hope you do too. let me know if you figured out baby reid’s name before you finished reading.

masterlist

The drop in temperature was a usual occurrence for the tenth month of the year. Just when fall was slowly starting to reach its peak, almost in full swing, the all-Hallow’s Eve lovers were slowly putting up their decorations and getting ready to welcome the holiday. 

Despite the bite in the air, the sun was high up in the sky and gently warmed your skin. You inhaled, taking in the crisp autumn scent. Fresh and earthy, the smell of the fallen and slightly decaying leaves reached you on the third floor of the apartment you shared with your boyfriend, and so did the enchanting view.

Streets and sidewalks alike were covered in an abundance of colorful leaves - from scarlet and burgundy to amber, carnelian, and gamboge yellow. Browns, like feuille morte and chocolate, and the softest shades of gold sprinkled in between. Trees, their crowns a beautiful array of hues in varying stages of change.

And as you looked on over the balcony banisher, you couldn’t help but feel like you were surrounded by pure magic - not just the scenic beauty, but the feel, the essence of the season itself. It was so peaceful and quiet at times, with a certain stillness present in the air. Was the world even awake, or was it just in a state of contentment?

That’s how Spencer found you a couple of minutes later - in a state of peacefulness as you took in the scene before you, curled up on the small nook you and your boyfriend had put together on your balcony. 

He pushed open the door, carrying a steaming cup of tea in each hand and a thick, colorful book under his arm. He passed you one of the cups and settled next to you, pulling a blanket across your lap. 

His long fingers pushed a piece of hair away from your face before he pulled you towards him and laid a soft kiss on the side of your head. As you cradled your cup, taking in the rich aroma of the tea he’d prepared for you, he reached over and cradled your bump, running his thumb around in different shapes.

It was rare to spend a whole day together in the comfort of your home. With a job where the wellbeing of people sat heavily on the team’s shoulders, where Spencer’s knowledge, his brain, and he himself was needed, you could sometimes go days without seeing each other. That had been the case when you’d started dating.

But you’d made it work - you’d managed to find a way to communicate clearly whenever the hardships of his job had gotten the best of you. A way that had allowed your relationship to build on a stable foundation of trust, love, and mutual understanding.

Late-night phone calls, separated by miles of land. Impromptu dates, minutes, and hours spent in each other’s presence, savoring what little time you had together. Declarations of love, small touches, and gentle talk - a relationship you’d only ever read about in books. 

But that’s exactly what it felt like to love him, to be loved by him - a love full of memories of waking up to the other’s warmth, savoring the feeling of them in your arms, their lips stealing the breath from your lungs - a fairytale love story you couldn’t wait to tell your kids about.

“Soon.” A little voice in your head chimed in to remind you. Very soon, you’d have a little someone to tell the story to. You’d hold a little precious someone, born out of the love you shared, a combination of your favorite things about the other. 

In your periphery, you watched as Spencer pulled the book into his lap. “A baby names book?” you asked, eyeing the cover - a colorful blend of blues and pinks, yellows and greens. 

He smiled your way before he wrapped his arm around you and pulled you into his side. As you settled against him, you felt the pads of his fingers gently run over your bump again.

Ever since he’d taken hold of that stick and seen with his own eyes the future that awaited you some nine months later - the possibility, the reality of a family he’d longed for years to have - he'd started expressing his love for both you and your child with the smallest of touches and the gentlest of voices. 

A run of his fingers against your stomach, even when the roundness of the life you’d created together had yet to make an appearance. Gently holding onto the barely there bump a few weeks later when it had finally appeared. Talking in a soft, hushed voice to your baby boy every time he could - telling him about his day, the boring paperwork, or that new pastry shop you’d tried out together, and the sweets you’d loved.

He’d taken on being a father fabulously, even though he was technically still a dad-to-be. Even though he hadn’t had the faintest idea of what a dad should be, hadn’t been blessed with the experience of having a man like himself as a father, he’d jumped headfirst and hadn’t looked back. 

He’d read books, he’d searched the internet, and he’d talked with Will and Aaron for hours on end. He’d tried to prepare; he’d tried to show he’d be the father that he never got to have.

And even when the reality of the lack of a paternal figure in his life caught up with him, he’d taken it in stride. Just like with everything else in your relationship, you’d had an open conversation where he’d been able to share with you his biggest anxieties and fears. 

You’d reminded him of how involved he was already, how ecstatic and curious he was to learn everything possible, and how he knew so much already. How he’d far surpassed the man his father was and how there was no place for comparison between them. You’d calm his mind and praise his character - in your eyes, he was already the greatest man and father ever.

“He still doesn’t have a name.” He responded as he cracked open the book. 

“There’s still time.” You muttered as you ran your fingers up his arm, gently scratching at the skin. He gave you a funny look and shook his head before he flipped the pages. You knew he loved being prepared beforehand, especially when it came to your little one. 

Spencer had started buying him little things early on, even before you knew he was a “he” - plushies, blankets, socks, and small adorable shoes. He’d gotten him a variety of books; he’d even learned some of them by heart by now. 

The nursery had long ago been painted and put together, with the help of the abundance of aunts and uncles and a grandpa, waiting for the little ones’ arrival. 

But the one thing he still didn’t have was a name. And not for lack of trying to pick one. You’d thumbed through books, you’d browsed the internet, and you’d even asked Penelope to put together a list of names for you, yet you could never settle on one. 

“Okay, what have we got?” You mumbled, lacing your fingers together as they settled comfortably one over the other on your bump. 

“Noah? It’s Hebrew, and it means 'rest’ or even ‘peaceful’.” He suggested, turning to see what you thought about it. You could see on his face he wasn’t really into it, and neither were you. It was a beautiful name, but it didn’t feel like that was the right name for you. You simply shook your head and watched as he flipped a few more pages.

“How about Luca? It means ‘bringer of light’.”

“It’s also Italian if I’m not mistaken, and Rossi’s going to love that.” He’d even suggested a few Italian names the last few months, but none had stuck.

“Do you love it though?” You shook your head in response. He continued flipping the pages of the book as you sipped your tea. 

“Avery? It’s unisex, and it’s British.” You mulled it over, kind of liking the sound of it.

“Avery Reid, it’s not that bad. What does it mean though?” You asked

“Ruler of elves.” He mumbled, scratching at his brow.

“Absolutely not!” You started laughing as you shook your head. “We’re not naming him ‘ruler of elves’. Spencer, there’s a possibility he’s going to be born around Christmas anyway; we’re not putting our son through that.” You watched as he flashed you a cute little smile and shook his head at you.

He continued flipping the pages of the book, suggesting names and sharing their meaning and origin - Miles, Owen, Aspen, Wesley, and many more - but none of them seemed to fit. None screamed, baby Reid. 

You observed Spencer carefully as he flipped the pages, eyes running slower than they usually did. He looked overly preoccupied, borderline fixated on picking a name for your son, and not for the first time. It almost felt like he intentionally focused on any and all possibility, sans the one, or maybe even the few he held close to his heart. 

And you could see, you could tell he had a few ideas on his mind, but for whatever reason, he didn’t share them. It’s like a part of him was holding back, fighting with himself about the possibility of naming your child that. 

Deep down, a part of you knew what he was wrestling with - so you decided to spare him from having to voice it. 

“How about Gideon?” You whispered, and his head perked up instantly. His eyes and his whole face softened at your suggestion - a suggestion that was actually his own. He closed the book and turned to face you fully.

“Really?” His voice was small, the emotion evident underneath his soft timber. You watched as his eyes watered just a little, shining in the gentle sunlight. You never got to meet the infamous Jason Gideon, but you’ve heard the stories. You knew what he’d done for Spencer, how he’d taken him under his wing, and how he’d protected and cared about him in his own way. 

You remembered how hard he’d taken the heartbreak that settled upon the team last January. The many nights he’d woke up in cold sweat, unable to take a breath, as the scene played on a loop in his head - a body sprawled underneath a white sheet on the wooden flooring of a cabin meant to shield its owner from the horrors of his old job. Bathed in a cozy light, with the record player that had stopped playing a tune long ago and the unfinished chess game, your boyfriend had tried to play for weeks on end but been unable to. 

The many late-night tears he’d shed in the crook of your neck, the hiccups that had followed, and the gentle shushing of your voice trying to calm him down, trying to be his anchor. 

It was evident, without having met him, the monumental impact Jason Gideon had had on the person Spencer was today. There was no question about it; you were certain that if he wanted to honor the man who’s taken the role of a father figure when he hadn’t had one, you’d give him that. You’d want him to have it; you’d want him to wake up every day and be reminded of how far he’d made it and the person who’d made sure he had.

“Yes, really.” 

Before you knew it, he had pulled you into his arms and wrapped them around your body as much as your bump would allow. “Thank you.” He breathed into your neck on a shaky exhale. You turned and pressed a kiss against his head as you started gently running your fingers in his hair, playing with the curls. 

You stayed like that for a little while longer before he pulled you into the softest kiss. A kiss meant to express both his gratitude and love and the everpresent awe you left him in. A kiss, where both your emotions ran high - where he was coming down from the reminder of the past, and both of you were looking forward to the quick approaching future. 

“He still needs a second name.” You whispered against his lips when he pulled back. You watched as his whole face changed for just a second, as if a lightbulb went off in his head. “What?” You asked.

He shook his head before he pecked your lips again. “Nothing.” 

“Come on,” You pushed his hair back a little, “I could see the gears in your brain shifting just by the look on your face. Did you have a suggestion?” You rubbed your thumb against his forehead. 

He shook his head again. “It’s nothing. I want you to give him a name too.” 

“I already did, Spence. You can give him his second name if you let me name our future daughter.” You joked and watched as his entire face lit up at the mention of another child, a girl. You knew he’d be an amazing father to your son, you were certain, but a part of you couldn’t help but also imagine an early morning with a little girl whose pigtails he tied as she told him about her dreams. He nodded with a smile.

“What’s the name?” 

“Remember when I got shot in the neck two years ago?” You nodded as he started playing with your fingers. “I had this distinct memory - I was bleeding out, losing consciousness, and I guess Alex slipped and called me by another name. That night, when she dropped me off, the night she quit the BAU, I asked her about it.” He finally looked up and met your eyes.

“She had a son, Ethan. He passed away when he was nine - they told her it was neurological, but there’s never been a name for it. All these years, and she still doesn’t know, she never got an answer to the one question that impacted her life the most.” He shook his head at the injustice of the world. 

Even with the knowledge of the over 26 thousand diseases present in the world and the many more that have yet to be discovered, he couldn’t help but feel her pain, now more than ever when he was about to become a parent himself. 

Despite the fact that you never got to meet one of Spencer’s paternal figures, you got to meet his work mom - that’s what Alex was to him in your mind. You knew, deep down, that’s the way he saw her too. 

Even though he grew up with a loving mother in the form of Diana, you knew he missed on monumental things with her - talking about his first love, dates, his feelings, and sometimes even his future. 

But Alex had been there when he’d started loving you - she’d heard about your dates, and she’d listened as he gushed on and on about you and the future he wished to build with you. As a woman, whose marriage had withstanded some of the toughest battles, she’d offered her advice too. 

You knew she loved him like he was her own and loved you just as much.

“So, Ethan Gideon?” You asked softly, already in love with the name. It was perfect - it honored the person who shaped the person Spencer was today, who started him on this journey, that would later allow him to meet you. And the person who witnessed the start of the love between you both. 

And turns out, you weren’t the only one on board with the name - a series of strong kicks followed the moment you uttered his name out loud for the first time. 

You laughed as you grabbed your boyfriend’s hand, following the kicks together. 

“Ethan Gideon Reid.” He whispered before he pulled you in for another kiss. 

did you figure out the name?🥹

Comments & reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[thatshowthingstarted]

Scarab Bracelet of Tutankhamun,

New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, reign of Tutankhamun, ca. 1332-1323 BC. 

The scarab bracelet of Tutankhamun is considered a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian jewelry. The rigid gold bracelet is composed of two semicircles joined together by a hinge on one side and a clasp on the other. The central plaque bears a cloisonné scarab inlaid with lapis lazuli.

The scarab, symbol of the morning sun, rebirth and protection in ancient Egyptian culture, was the most popular motif used in jewelry. The small circumference of this bracelet suggests that it was made for King Tutankhamun when he was a child.

The bracelet itself is also inlaid with carnelian, lapis lazuli, and colored glass. It was found in the cartouche shaped box that contained several other objects, including the fine pair of earrings which also seem to have been personal possessions.

In ancient Egypt, scarab bracelets were a popular form of jewelry. The scarab beetle held great significance in Egyptian culture, symbolizing rebirth and protection.

These bracelets were often made of precious materials such as gold or semi-precious stones, and they featured a scarab beetle motif. The scarab beetle was believed to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits.

Scarab bracelets were worn by both men and women and were considered a fashionable accessory as well as a symbol of religious and spiritual beliefs.

The Egyptians adopted the scarab (Ateuchus sacer) as a symbol of the sun god, because they were familiar with the sight of the beetle rolling a ball of dung on the ground and this action suggested to them that the invisible power that rolled the sun daily across the sky could be represented pictorially as a scarab.

From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 62360

[okkotsuus]

"YOU'RE AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE DAY I LOST YOU" (katsuki b.) !

features: katsuki bakugo

contents: fantasy au. angst. hurt/comfort/more hurt. mutual pining. barabrian!katsuki. fem!reader. childhood friends to lovers to strangers to lovers again. kidnapping. grief. crying. implied panic attack. major character death. no beta we die like men. 3.9k

notes: i've been yearning desperately to make bakugo say stoick's famous line from httyd2 (my second favorite movie)... if there's interest i'm considering continuing this into the canon verse with it being these two 'reincarnated'.

tagging: @saexy (for enabling and encouraging me in killing off characters) & @meristryker (for enabling me in the gc like a real one)

never in all his life did the great katsuki bakugo think that he would ever love someone enough that he could die. watching the loving smiles of his parents, the gentle caress of his father's hand to soothe his mother's unbridled anger: it made his stomach churn.

yet, at the tender age of seven, while on a trip to a nearby village to discuss the war shifting on the horizon, he finds himself absolutely smitten by their chieftain's daughter. wide e/c eyes peeking out from behind her mother's leg, hands clutching onto the hem of the long skirt.

katsuki finds himself enamoured in that instance, seeing sweet you, looking at the boy with such curious eyes. he stomps over to you: temper even fiery in his youth. his hand grabs onto yours as he hauls you out from behind the safety of your mother.

under the dim candlelight of the meeting room, flickering flames cast dancing rays across your skin. his chubby little face is scrunched into a scowl, tugging you out of the room and into the courtyard with a tenderness that betrayed his expression.

"i'm katsuki and you better not forget it!" his pitchy voice calls, still dragging you behind him. he looks over his shoulder, soft red eyes narrowed in what was an attempt to be intimidating.

but when he sees the relaxing of your eyelids, falling slightly in contentment, with a warm smile that rivals any feeling of victory: the mask of indifference slips in a blink of an eye. red dusts over the slops of his face, baby-fat painted the same carnelian as his eyes. his small hand grips tighter onto yours, as if he never would let you go.

your chubby little face stretches as your smile widens into a toothy grin, eyes crinkling at the corners. "got it, katsuki, i'm y/n!" he swears your voice is just like the lullaby his mother would hum while rocking him to sleep, bringing a rush of warmth through his chest.

that day, katsuki bakugou falls terribly in love with y/n l/n.

the two of you are deemed inseparable, hands always connecting like opposing poles of a magnet. pinkies intertwined stronger than any woven cloth. it's as pure and innocent as it can be.

if one were to see y/n, then it was irrevocably certain that katsuki was a few steps away. it sends rumors spiralling through the lands that there will be a union between the bakugo barbaricum and l/n dynasty. you're only eight when there's an attempt made for your hand.

the thought of two families as powerful as you and katsuki's joining was a fearful thing to many. it spelled doom for many weaker civilizations, those who had dug their own graves with their actions.

your family, blessed be you to have been born to loving parents in a world such as this, easily rejects the many proposals. the l/n dynasty is in a state of power where they are not forced to fend for their village: allowing you this freedom.

running through the streets of his stronghold, chasing each other for the sake of some game that was the farthest thing from either of your minds. katsuki feels whole when you are at his side. the world doesn't seem so ugly, he doesn't feel so angry, everything sings the hymns of the heavens.

he can't pull his ruby eyes off of your form by the age of fifteen. the katsuki you had known, baby-faced with a slight stutter, has began to fill out into a man. his shoulders broaden and begin to carry thick cords of muscle. the chubbiness of his cheeks begins to give rise to sharper angles. his whiny voice is pushed aside by a more gravelly tone. he shoots up like a sprout, hunching over slightly in faces that used to fit him so easily.

but he isn't the only one who is growing into his frame. your shoulders soften at the corners, collarbones visible with every slight movement. your baby fat begins to settle and collect on your hips, rounding them. those toothy grins of yours become framed by pretty lips, always looking soft as a pillow. clothes that used to drape over your like a sheet now feel tighter in certain places, stretching over curves that popped up overnight.

the two of you don't know what to do with yourselves, stolen looks when the other isn't looking. you still hook pinkies, but the touch sends flares of heat running up the back of your neck. it's like you were just meeting each other for the first time all over again.

katsuki feels like a damn sap with the way his heart thunders under his skin: threatening to burst out. he's too taken to notice the heat that was rising to your face whenever he was around, the way your hands nervously would grip onto the swaying fabric of your skirt. too blind to see that you were just as infatuated with him as he was with you.

hurried words, lingering touches, sneaking glances, the two of you had every hint of love right in front of your faces. yet, there's a hesitance that lingers in the back of young minds: afraid that falling in love would end up with no one catching them.

unsurprisingly, katsuki is the one who jumps first. it's a quiet night, the moon is high in the sky. his breath puffs out in front of him like smoke, winter beginning to show herself once more.

you looked too beautiful under the soft azure glow that the celestial sky casts upon you, he simply couldn't bear another moment without you known how much his very soul ached for you.

on the eve of his sixteenth birthday he whispers the words like a prayer, voice softened and gentle for once in his life. "y/n... you plague my every waking thought, i cannot let my heart beat any longer without it being yours."

e/c eyes widen as your head snaps to him, lips parting in shock. katsuki beats you to it, rough palms (once baby-soft) cupping your cheek with a tenderness he was unaware he possessed.

the stars illuminate the sunkissed slopes of his cheekbones, showing the fine lashes that fan out over his eyes. katsuki was ethereal, in every sense of the word, it catches your breath in a hitch. your mind stumbles through everything you could say right now, desperately trying to find the perfect response.

but when the pads of his thumbs drag over the apples of your cheeks, leaving a buzz in the wake of his touch, all rational thought leaves as you allow words to flow like a stream. "i have loved you longer than i have known you, katsuki." your voice is hushed, only filling the small space between the two of you: like a secret that only he and you would ever know.

it sends a trill up your spine when his eyes visibly soften, his face had been growing more and more sharp by the day but only when he was with you did the curve of his cheeks soften. he turns back into a boy around you, as you turn back into a girl when held so gently between his hands.

katsuki surges forwards, nose clumsily knocking against yours, teeth colliding with your own. he's inexperienced, never having kissed a girl, much less even though of kissing anyone but you. you both are a mess, giggling softly through messy pecks smearing over each other's faces. it feels like you're both those giddy kids once more, chasing the other through the cobbled streets of your village. he makes your heart sing.

it was even harder to be apart from him now, hands fully clasped together as you walk through the streets of either of your hometowns. yet, no one is surprised. neither of your parents nor his even bat an eye when you announce the courtship at a family dinner.

love is as natural as breathing for you and katsuki. inherently you have always known exactly what the other needs. he knows just how much you like the wildflowers that grow en-route between your homes. you know just how much he likes when you rise on your tiptoes and press a kiss against the corner of his lips.

it's young and dumb, a rush of big emotions and smiles that stretch your cheeks so far they ache. once you both are eighteen, katsuki turns the courtship into a betrothal. an elegant gold ring, with a garnet slotted right in the center, it sits pretty on your ring finger. his band is thicker, small e/c gemstones scattered along the surface. when in battle he loops it through a chain around his neck: pressing a kiss to the ring before charging forwards.

the world has known y/n l/n and katsuki bakugo have been in love for nearly twelve years, official for three, and betrothed for one. the bakugo barbaricum and the l/n dynasty have began making their plans to unify upon the wedding. it sparks a wave of unease in the badlands.

all it takes is an emissary sent from the dark forest for your world to crumble into shambles. a demon who seems to be the land's scourge reincarnated, hand that turn all to ash, pillages your beloved village. he comes in tow with a mimic and a fire mage. destruction rains as you are brought to the center as their singular demand is you.

your eyes lock with the demon's red eyes, a color that had made you feel so safe until now. the hair on the nape of your neck stands pin-straight as his hand extended towards you: palm up.

a flurry of emotions rush through you like a burst dam, memories of katsuki at the forefront. you want to be selfish, to damn him and his band of criminals to hell, to fight back despite the gravity of the situation. but he is bringing terror upon the people you swore to protect with your life.

so, you step forwards, soft hand sliding into his own. never had a rough palm felt like daggers against your skin, never had you so violently despised the way carmine shines in the light of blue flames.

to save your people, your family, the home you have known your entire life: you go. swept away in black mist. the last thing you see of that place is the bakugo horde rushing towards the gates, your eyes lock with katsuki's before the void claims you.

katsuki lets out a guttural scream as her charges head first into the miasma, falling onto the ground as the last wisp flows just through his fingers. his fist slams against the ground, hands gasping at the dirt you had just been on. he allows himself to cry in front of someone other than you, a wail echoing through the ruins of your village.

that day, you disappear off the face of the realm. no matter how many search parties are sent into the dark forests in the badlands, they all return empty-handed (if they return at all). katsuki keep his ring around his neck, so it beats against his bare chest with every movement: like a reminder of how it felt when his heart actually beat .

scars wind around his arms, around his biceps, over his forearms, across his shoulders. his face is hardened, permanent frown on the lips you used to kiss so tenderly. he's angrier than ever, fuse short as his attention span.

he is a shell of the man he had been, going through the motions of survival but never truly being alive.

this persists for a grueling two years. for seven-hundred and thirty days. for seventeen-thousand five-hundred twenty hours. he is separated from the only person that has ever felt like home, the woman he has loved longer than he knew how to read.

he masks it behind his ego, boisterous laugh to hide the ringing in is ears that hadn't been able to stop. he's more violent the field, less forgiving when in training with kirishima. the explosions that thunder from his palms produce a blackened smoke that lingers and settles in his lungs like a fog.

yearning hits him late at night when he lays alone in bed, a bed that you had once shared with him. silent tears pour, running down the sides of katsuki's face as he stares blankly up at the ceiling. his breath feels short as his chest heaves to get air in. the man's mind is clouded with the look on your face as those bastards took you. he can still remember every single little twitch of your expression when you finally saw him. he remembers the way your breath hitched. he remembers the tears that began to pool at the corners of your eyes.

but, most of all, he remembers not seeing you: for what feels like the first time in his life.

katsuki cannot recall when he finally fell asleep, or if he ever even truly did. his dreams are plagued with you anyways, so the line between memory and dream is thin as a tightrope.

he has a dream that he makes it in time to save you and wakes up alone. that one sticks with him for months, hanging over him like a shadow. if he was only a minute sooner, a stride faster, reacted quicker. maybe you would be in his arms right now instead of gods know where.

relief comes in a rumor that circles in a tavern that a woman with h/c hair and e/c eyes was spotted wondering through the dark forest. katsuki doesn't hesitate, he makes no effort to send out a scout party. he rides at dawn, horse hooves beating against the grass in a frenzied gallop as he makes his way into the badlands.

none of the rouges or thieves hope to stand a chance with him, the smart ones don't even try. he vanquishes the less fortunate with a single swing of his cutlass. the man doesn't stop to rest, only to water his horse and allow it to graze while he catches a brief nap.

his horse comes to a stop right outside the dark forests, whinnying in rejection to enter. katsuki doesn't blame the poor thing, this was the kind of place people went with no intention to come back from. he dismounts, not tying his horse off: it would return with a whistle.

the forest is eerie, yawning opening that is reminiscent of a gaping mouth. but he didn't fear. because at this point, he'd rather not come back if it meant he wasn't coming back with you.

footfalls crunching against leaves and sticks echo through the dim lit treeline. the canopy is so thick that it completely obscures the bright sunlight katsuki has just been under: the perfect place for criminals to hide. the trees creak and groan, as if the land itself was breathing and living.

only when he hears the snap of a twig does he stop, his head snaps around, a flash of h/c darting just out of the corner of his visions. the man's heart stops as he stumbles to pursue, not minding the whipping of low handing branches against his face. not when he could see you darting through the underbrush.

he finally sees you in the full when you run into a path dead-ended by brambles. it's really you. y/n, his y/n.

but you look over your shoulder with such a forlorn look it makes his heart ache in his chest. you don't believe that it's really him. "toga, this isn't funny, it's cruel to keep making me see him." your voice is rougher than he remembered, as if your throat had been worn. it makes his fists clench at his sides.

the mimic had been wearing his face, just to torment you?

just the thought of it sends a rage burning deep in his chest. he has no way of knowing what you have been through. katsuki couldn't protect you: like he always feared he would fail to do.

his steps toward you are hesitant, ruby red eyes softening the second he sees your face. his heart is pounding out of his ribs, it makes him wonder if you can hear it.

a rough hand reaches up to roughly tug the chain that held his engagement band around his neck, the links snapping and clattering to the ground. he doesn't even look at it. with a gentleness, he holds out the ring to you.

your eyes dart back between the metal and him, hands tentatively reaching for it. the thundering race of your heartbeat is all you can hear. your hands, once soft, now rough as his bush against his own as you roll the ring between your fingers.

katsuki's heart breaks when he feels the callouses on your fingertips. he lowers slowly to his knees in front of you, tears fighting their way to prick at the corners of his eyes. he looks up at you like you are the light in the world, a goddess before him. in a way, you are, because he had prayed to every deity to hold you again, even if it was only once more.

"you're as beautiful as the day i lost you." his words come out in a rasp. thick emotion coursing through his chest; nearly choking him.

he watched your eyes widen, tears pooling as you too crash onto the ground. your arms wrap tight around his neck, face pressed side-by-side with his own. strong arms encircle your waist in an instant, pressing you closer with an urgency.

"katsuki... oh gods, katsuki..." you don't even know what to say, just repeating his name like a desperate prayer. your cheeks are wet and your chest aches but you don't care, because he's finally here.

lips clash desperately, just as messy as the kiss the two of you first shared five years ago. it's a mess of teeth and tongue as your fingers tangle into ash-blonde hair, his hands finding the back of your head and your hip. he sucks the breath out of you, as if wanting to absorb you into his being.

and you'd let him if he asked.

carmine eyes search for e/c, his hands cupping your cheeks as he pulls back to study your face. it's like you never left. your eyes are tired, there's some grime on your cheeks, a soft scar above your eyebrow that you've had since you were thirteen.

the softest smile spreads on his face, forehead pressing against yours as his lashes flutter shut. katsuki lets out a deep sigh, one he had been holding for nearly two years now.

warmth blooms in your chest as everything finally settles back into place like puzzle pieces. your hearts beat in sync, you draw breath when he exhales, everything is right in the world once more.

but your heart skips a beat as your eyes open to see that cursed white hair with horns peeking out from below it. tomura shigaraki. a wicked smirk on his lips as he's leaned back against a tree, simply watching.

your hands grip tighter onto the back of the shawl draping over katsuki's shoulders, breathing turning shaky and ragged.

no. no. no. they couldn't take this from you. not again. not after how hard you fought to escape the league just at the fleeting chance of being able to see the man you love. this had to be some cruel joke, right? a trick of the light, maybe...

even you aren't naive enough to believe that, your eyes close as you lean against katsuki, head burying into the crook of his neck. your fiddle with his hands to slip the ring back onto it's rightful place on his third finger. a part of you had already resigned to being ripped away again.

after two years with the demon, you learned firsthand what shigaraki was capable of. and you were not going to allow katsuki to find it out as well.

your legs shook as you stood, a weak smile given at your lover's confused look. "i'll always love you, 'suki, you know that." his eyes widen as his head nods, brows furrowing.

"then let me keep you safe."

carnelian irises widen in realization as his head turns to look back, growl ripping from his chest at the sight of the scourge of the realm's protege. his hands immediately reach for the hilt of his sword, explosions popping in his palms.

but you're already beginning to approach. katsuki seizes you in one arm, hauling you away like the day you first met. he runs through the forest with you: knowing that shigaraki would not allow the both of you to leave.

he bounds over winding tree roots, holding you steady and tight against his chest. the impending sense of doom begins to crawl up the back of his neck, but he needs you to be safe.

with you in his arm, he stumbles out of the forest, shrill whistle leaving his lips as the sound of hooves grows closer. with ease he sets you up on the saddle, but he does not join. you realize immediately what is about to happen. "katsuki-"

"no. it's my turn to keep you safe, y/n. i've always loved you, and i always will. in every life i will find you, and in every life, i will protect you." his words bring tears to your eyes as you desperately stake your head, sobs bubbling past your lips.

shigaraki creeps out of the forest and he delivers a harsh smack to the horse's haunches, sending it galloping away. within a second later a hand is reaching through katsuki's chest, mocking laugh against his ear.

"how heroic. i'll make sure you die slow, barbarian."

never in all his life did the great katsuki bakugo think that he would ever love someone enough that he could die.

that was until he lay on the edge of the forest floor, lifeblood leaking from the gaping hole in the center of the chest. but he wasn't anguished: because he died for you, the only person who he would ever love.

okkotsuus 24

[otterspaceastrology]

Pick a Card Reading + MoodBoard

How does your Future Spouse see you?

Disclaimers

Readings are for entertainment purposes, so please take with a grain of salt and enjoy!

When I talk about masculine and feminine, I am talking about energy so that can apply to any gender or identity.

When picking a pile, use your intuition, close your eyes, relax and think of the question and then open your eyes and let it be drawn naturally to a pile, repeat as many times as you need to know it’s your pile. Of course you can do it any way you want that’s just my preferred method!

Now on to the Readings!

Pile 1

Fiery Go Getter

8 of Wands, 2 of Pentacles, The Chariot

2nd House, Mercury, Gemini

Bold, Funny, Experimental

Crystal- Aragonite

Pile One your future spouse sees you as someone with a ton of options, but once you set your heart on something you go right for it! They think you’re the type of person to try everything before making an opinion but this has make your intuition laser focused so you always make the right decision for yourself, they truly admire you and your way of life and the fact that even with all that fiery determination, you still always make them laugh!

Pile 2

Balanced Little Star

The Fool, Page of Pentacles, The Emperor

6th House, Uranus, Gemini

Popular, Kind, Talkative

Crystal- Astrophyllite

Pile Two your future spouse sees you as truly unique! You’re a great teacher, but you know that you will never know everything and so you’re always open to learning, making you extremely balanced in their eyes! They love the way that people light up when you talk and the kindness that you spread to everyone in your presence! They could honestly admire you from afar for quite a while or even while you’re dating they just love staring at you! You’re the only star in their eyes!

Pile 3

Fearless Fireball

Page of Pentacles, Knight of Wands, The Moon

Neptune, 3rd House, Capricorn

Warm, Spontaneous, Leader

Crystal- Carnelian

Pile Three you are extremely feisty and your future spouse can’t get enough of it! They see you as this spitfire that can tackle anything in life but especially at work but then when you come home and start relaxing with them this warm, cozy and soft side of you comes out, they love how you can truly let your guards down with them so they can truly see you in your full glory!

Thank you so much for reading my pick a card I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did making it!🥰✨

Collages are made by me on Pinterest, but I own none of the photos.

[blueau-niverse]

if you want to see pages early, check out my patreon here: www.patreon.com/DyoComics

_

Transcript

1-2: Nora is speaking off-screen, the panel is a side view of Greg and Pearl about to go in, stopping because Nora has drawn their attention. Leads to a bird's eye view of the group and the area. Nora: uh… Actually is it ok if you guys wait out here?

3-4: Greg and Pearl take a beat to look at Nora, then each other, like they’re confirming this is happening, and both look a little surprised.

5: Both turn their head back toward Nora before responding. Greg: We can do that. Pearl: Are you sure?

6: Nora lets Amber go for the first time in a while, Amber turning slightly to look at her as she’s being let go. Nora: Yeah.

7: Nora: I'm an adult, I should be FINE, right? Nora gives a thumbs up, looking less than confident.

8: Nora: And if I’m not, you can just follow the sounds of hyperventilating to find me! Nora walks into the doorway Carnelian following. She says forcibly laughing, clearly trying to make a joke of some sort. Silver Pearl is not going inside and looks bewildered and concerned over the behavior.

9: Pearl and Greg look concerned; the joke did not land.

10: Carnelian gesturing Nora walked by the stairs

12: Close up as Nora and Carnelian walk past the Blue Diamond mural.

13: Nora looks up at the mural of her mother.

14: Nora turns her head away looking more determined then before.

15: Shows the entryway to where they are going, but the light shining out is too bright to see anything just yet.

[cordsfortfrontier]

Impulse drawing of my (in-source) Brother and Sister-In-Law

I am borrowing @the-writing-artist's AWWD design for William's Lyoko form cuz honestly, it matches Laura's design by Ani perfectly

And it reminded me of Aven and Edda, which i mentioned a couple of times already

-Carnelian

[yanoverload]

𝕐𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖! 𝕊𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕤

This time, the portrait is at the end of the post, and you will see why!

The story is based on a magic fictional world, much like those in villainess isekai manhwas. 

I promise I don't hate any church ok. I only used words related to real life as a way to make it understandable.

Also you thought Dae-Ho was cuckoo? HAH THIS GUY IS SO MUCH WORSE.

Also I'll post a drawing of "Anneliese" later for you guys to imagine her.

ℍ𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕝 "𝔸𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕖" 𝕊𝕔𝕙ä𝕗𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟜 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝟙𝟟𝟟 𝕔𝕞 (𝕠𝕣 𝟝’𝟠 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕥)

🌟 As much as it likes to deny, the high church knew they had enemies. 

🌟 They were far and between, but they refused to leave until the current administration of said holy empire was destroyed.

🌟 That was at least, the current plan of the biggest assassination guild known on the six empires, also known as Tartaros. 

🌟 And they had the perfect guy for the job. 

🌟 Codename Carnelian, actually named Himmel, was the orphaned son of two well known alchemists at older times.

🌟 Said alchemists were killed by the church in the hunt for what they were currently called: defectives.

🌟 To seem merciful and holy, the children of the holy criminals were spared, but kept in church facilities that the unfortunate that live there call "detention center".

🌟 Alchemists aren't hard to identify, for their eyes look like that of the most refined jewels, said to be able to see the nature and essence of all elements on earth.

🌟 That was why, the only way Himmel managed to escape was learning glamour magic, disguising as a common nun.

🌟 Now, not only with that card in his hands, as well as years of studying the ins and outs of the institution, he was picked for the master plan.

🌟 Infiltrate the church, steal the love the worshippers have for it, and kill the high priest.

And oh, how Himmel drooled thinking about the day. 

🌟 Oh right, he's not Himmel for the time being. He's "Anneliese" the beloved and revered saintess.

🌟 It took a while to get the recognition, he admits, but how easy it is to fool everyone with a sweet and fragile looking persona.

🌟 What he didn't anticipate at the time however, was the plan the high priest had for him.

🌟 How genius it would be, to make the saintess betrothed to the ruler of the second biggest empire in their world.

🌟 The emperor/empress was the biggest stone in the church's shoes, as one of the only that didn't impose their religion on their people.

🌟 So their political move was to throw the saintess as a pawn and a spy in said empire.

🌟 That put a bit of a slow down to the Tartaros' plan.

🌟 What also slowed down their plan was Himmel's feelings.

🌟 He was taught to love no one. But even when he showed up in your own palace, you treated the saintess, someone you should hate and wish to throw to the wolves, with utmost respect and care, like a fragile doll.

🌟 And how was he supposed to not care for you when you hated the church just as much as he did?

🌟 Maybe being an empress wasn't so bad! He just had to seduce you, and after the downfall of the church, you would keep him by your side.

🌟 He didn't expect you to come back from your hunting trip so soon though.

🌟 So now, as you enter the meeting room expecting to meet certain higher ups and some kissasses of the high priest, you instead find a blonde shirtless man, covered in blood, corpses littered at his feet.

🌟 Not being the empress/emperor for nothing, you reach for your sword, but your keen eyes notice something.

🌟 A burn scar that looks like the Callisto star, the brightest in the sky, right at the back of the man's throat.

🌟 The same Saintess Anneliese has.

🌟 Burn marks being the one impossible thing to remove with spells.

🌟 The man looks at you with euphoria and obsession in his eyes.

"My love, you're back earlier than I expected. Did you know these bastards were secretly planning a coup? But don't worry, I took care of them."

🌟 In the state of shock at your discovery, you barely notice his arms slinging at your shoulders, close to you like one would to a lover.

🌟 But Anneliese or whatever this freak decides to go by, is not a lover in your eyes. They are like a Venus flytrap, seductive persona trying to swallow you whole.

🌟 He whispers in your ear.

"Let me be your executioner, and I shall turn you into god."

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 71]

<< First | < Previous | Next >

AO3 Link

-

Nia, Tobias, and Junie join Carnelian in his search for Yveltal, and learn a bit more about aura in the process thanks to a very unwilling helper.

-

“All right, Samir, extend your leg for me. Gently now.”

The skiddo follows Eira’s instructions, their displeased expression just on the edge of a pout.

“C’mon, Samir,” Junie says, lifting her head from where she’s digging face-first into her breakfast. “Think of it this way—you get to stay here all warm and toasty while we go freeze our butts off!”

“More importantly,” Nia says, “You can rest and focus on healing up. And help Eira keep an eye on Fidel!”

Samir still doesn’t look happy about being left behind for today’s excursion, but they seem to have accepted that Nia and Tobias—not to mention Eira—aren’t going to let them put any strain on their injured leg. The skiddo will just have to deal with staying put for a day.

Nia moves her empty plate off her lap and wipes her face clean of stray crumbs. They’d been given a fresh loaf of hot, berry-laden bread for breakfast, and Nia had devoured two thick slices in record time. The meal had reminded her of muffins made by her mom, and the only thing that had slowed her down at all was the bittersweet lump of nostalgia in her throat.

Nia pushes aside memories of early mornings laughing over breakfast and gets up to distract herself.

First she goes to Fidel’s side, crouching to peer at the zoroark’s sleeping face. Eira had already checked on him when she first arrived, and the froslass had seemed pleased by what she’d found—she’d even said Fidel might wake up later today.

Nia tucks the blankets a bit closer around the zoroark, then straightens up to look around. Tobias and Junie are taking their time finishing their own meal, distracted by conversation as Eira re-wraps Samir’s leg. And Carnelian already left a little while ago to discuss his plans for the day with the Matriarch, and he has yet to return.

Since they have a bit of time to idle, Nia takes the chance to wander around the cabin, winding through the towers of books Carnelian has stacked around the room. The sableye gave her permission to flip through any that caught her eye, so she skims their spines until one does, then carefully pulls it free.

It’s titled World’s Blessings: Evolution Stones. Nia flips through it, slowing down when she spots a beautiful illustration showing a variety of colorful stones. The pretty blue and gold one under her thumb almost looks like it has a lightning bolt inside of it, and it’s fittingly labeled as a “thunder stone.” That name tickles Nia’s memory, and once she flips to the following page and sees an illustration of a familiar evolutionary line, she realizes why.

Right! Pikachu evolves into raichu with a thunder stone. And apparently the climate and location where one is used decides whether or not the raichu is a psychic variant, like Hazel, or a plain electric type. Fascinating! Does it happen immediately when they touch it? Can they stop the evolution process? Surely they can, right?

Nia flips eagerly through the next few pages, wishing she had the spare time to read through everything it discusses—especially the speculative reasoning behind why the stones work the way they do, the specific Pokemon they affect, and so on.

The book focuses next on the water stone and its information, and then the fire stone. Nia doesn’t pause until a striking illustration catches her eye, making her heart jump.

The growlithe evolutionary line lies in front of her. She recognizes the first evolution from when Asher transformed into a growlithe, all the way back at the human convention in Ghatha. But her eyes are drawn instead to the much larger evolution beside it.

An arcanine. Just like Sulien, the leader of the outlaws who killed Tobias’ family, and almost Tobias as well. She doesn’t know the details that Tobias and Dismas were privy to during their talk in Kaleido’s prison, but she knows enough to piece the night together. However, she’s never had a visual to put to the species name before.

She traces the arcanine’s form with her eyes, focusing on its sharp teeth and giant paws. Her fur prickles. Nia can only imagine how small a young charmander would be compared to such a beast: like a toddler next to a tiger. Her stomach churns.

“Nia!” Tobias calls.

Nia slams the book shut and spins to face him and Junie across the room. “Y-Yeah?”

They’re both standing and stretching, though Tobias gives her an odd look. “Uh. You ready?”

Nia hurries to join them. “A-Aren’t we waiting for Carnelian?”

“He likely got held up by the Matriarch,” Eira says, amused, as she closes her bag. “He’s too polite to cut her off when she starts chatting. You’ll get an earlier start if you go find him yourselves.”

“Will do,” Tobias says. He pulls on his snow cloak, then reaches up as if to adjust a satchel strap on his shoulder, before realizing nothing is there.

Nia stifles a laugh as she pulls on her own coat. “Maybe someone in the village has a spare bag? Or we could always buy one and restock our items here in the village.”

“Kanan should have all the supplies you need,” Eira says. “Just take a left from here and follow the path to the maroon building with the inventory sign out front.”

Nia nods, logging that info into her memory as she helps Junie shrug on her own little snowcoat and vest. It’s only once Nia looks around to make sure that they’re not forgetting anything that she realizes Samir looks…very lost, lying in their blankets with their leg propped up and watching everyone leave with something nervous in their eyes.

Oh, right. They’re going to be stuck here all day, probably ruminating over the fact that they aren’t with the rest of the team, helping.

“Uh, Samir, do you want some books to read while we’re gone?” Nia offers.

Samir doesn’t exactly look thrilled by the idea, but they do shrug.

“Okay! Any preferences?” Nia bends to look at the titles in the nearest stack, skimming through names. “Most of them are about, um. Rocks. But…”

Samir gives her a dry look, as if to say, Just pick one.

Nia still tries to find some titles that look interesting, including one about earth and stone-related myths and legends.

Then, finally, they’re out the door and stepping into frigid cold air. It’s like a slap to the face, chasing away any lingering sleepiness in Nia’s head. She shakes out her fur and hops on her feet to warm up.

Eira closes the door behind her with one last call to Samir that she’ll be back to check on them in a few hours. Then the froslass points Tobias to the item shop before leaving with a cheery wave, leaving Nia, Tobias, and Junie standing outside the guest lodgings.

Even in the shade of the valley, the snow around them feels bright, especially framed by the early morning sky overhead. Nia blinks to adjust, and shifts Junie’s weight on her shoulder. “Right! To the shop, then?”

Tobias nods and leads the way. The morning is calm as they weave through the village, watching the townsfolk start their day as the sun peeks over the valley and makes the snow sparkle. Nia plays with the cold air, releasing puffs of breath to form steam and imagining what it would be like to have fire breath like Tobias.

“Hey, I’ve been wondering,” Junie says, idly. “Since we lost our bag, that means we lost our money too, right? How’re we gonna buy anything?”

Nia stops. A few feet ahead, Tobias stumbles mid-step before falling still as well.

On Nia’s shoulder, Junie looks back and forth between them, snrrking a laugh. “Neither of you thought of that?”

Tobias spins around, face bright red as he points at Junie. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?!”

“I didn’t think I had to!” Junie answers with equal volume. “I thought it was obvious and you had some kind of plan!”

If possible, Tobias’ face grows even more flushed. It would be hilarious if Nia wasn’t feeling just as embarrassed.

She groans and plants her face in her hands. “We are so stupid. How are we gonna buy anything if we don’t have any money!?”

“I think something can be arranged.”

Nia jumps and looks up at the wry voice, even more embarrassed to find the Matriarch approaching them, Carnelian skittering along behind her.

“Good morning, you three,” the Matriarch says, clearly enjoying their mortification.

Nia thinks Tobias is literally steaming with embarrassment as he mumbles a greeting in return.

“Good morning,” Nia says with a sheepish smile, making sure to meet Carnelian’s gemstone eyes as well. “Um. Guess you heard about our little problem?”

The matriarch laughs. “The whole village heard you!”

She moves her clawed hands atop one another to rest her weight on—oh. For the first time, Nia notices that the weavile is using a cane today. One that’s seemingly made of pure ice, its crystallized facets gleaming in the morning sun.

Huh. Nia supposes she is on the older side. Still, something about that—about a mobility aid paired with a ‘mon from the sneasel line—makes her wonder if the Matriarch might have some ideas to help Ezra’s recovery, back at the guild. She doesn’t know if anything can be done in this world for a Pokemon missing an entire arm, but…

“Don’t fret,” the Matriarch says, breaking Nia from her thoughts. “Since you’re working in the interests of the village, I’m more than willing to part with a bag and a few items to make sure your party is properly prepared.”

Nia slumps with relief. “Thank you so much. We didn’t even think about losing our money.”

“Some of us did,” Junie points out.

The Matriarch laughs. “Can’t blame you, after your journey here. Carnelian, could you run to Kanan’s place and grab a bag and some supplies? Food for lunch, too.”

The sableye behind the weavile jolts. “O-Of course! I’ll, um. Be right back.”

The sableye darts off before anyone can get a word in, so the Matriarch calls after him, “Meet us at the entrance to the mountain! We’ve got a brat to pick up on the way.”

Carnelian nods before continuing on. Nia startles as the Matriarch turns and hobbles off in the opposite direction, clearly expecting them to follow. After a quick exchange of looks with Tobias and Junie, they hurry after the weavile.

“’A brat to pick up?’” Tobias quotes.

“Soren,” the Matriarch says. “He’ll be accompanying you on your dig today.”

Tobias’ face wrinkles up like he took a bite of something sour, and Junie groans, “Not him!”

Nia is…torn. On one hand, she certainly hadn’t enjoyed how blunt the lucario was in his aura use yesterday. But on the other hand, she hadn’t sensed any bad intent from him, either. It was like…the mindset of a doctor cutting into a patient. Clinical. No-nonsense. Efficient.

She still would’ve appreciated a gentler touch.

Still, Nia can’t help feeling a bit excited, too. Soren isn’t likely to be forthcoming about…anything, really. But he’s still a lucario who clearly knows his way around aura. Maybe she can get him to share some tips or something!

“Couldn’t we have literally anyone else?” Junie grumbles, her feathers fluffing out from the edges of her snow gear.

“You could,” the Matriarch admits as she leads them around the edge of the village. The rocky, snowy incline of the valley and some hardy pine trees rise up on their other side. “But I’m hoping you’ll rub off on him a bit, Riolu.”

Nia blinks at the weavile’s back. “Me?”

“So we have to deal with a jerk because you’re hoping Nia will make Soren nice?” Tobias growls.

“It worked for you,” Junie teases.

Tobias looks genuinely offended by that remark. Nia tries not to laugh.

“Soren is never going to be nice,” the Matriarch snorts. “But if he stays so rigid, he’s going to snap himself in two one day. Can’t have that.”

So he’s…tense? Uptight? Nia doesn’t know how she’s supposed to help with that. She looks at Tobias and Junie, but they seem equally unsure.

Before they can ask the weavile to elaborate, Nia’s attention is stolen away by a new sight. Camped outside the village in a snowy clearing and hemmed in by pine trees is the lucario settlement. Their homes are simple but impressive igloos built from blocks of ice. Nia remembers someone—Avery, maybe—mentioning that the packs are a nomadic people, and Nia wonders if that’s why they choose to live in temporary homes like this.

Or, Nia thinks, eyeing the few lucario already out and about, Maybe they just aren’t bothered by the cold. Their pelts do look thicker than hers. Is that an evolutionary thing, or something built up from living in such frigid temperatures?

“The pack chooses to live outside of the village,” the Matriarch explains. “They say the cold strengthens their minds and bodies.”

Oh. Or that.

“Hardcore,” Junie whispers.

It’s surreal, seeing an entire group of Pokemon so similar to Nia and yet so different. They’re all easily twice her height if not taller, with a more lithe build and varying shades of blue fur, but otherwise the resemblance is striking. From the way Tobias and Junie glance back and forth between Nia and the pack of strangers, she imagines they’re thinking the same thing.

The lucario chat openly with one another, their expressions warm and comfortable. One lucario says something to another, and both of them laugh, loud in the still morning air as steam billows between them. They’re so…lively.

Which means it’s just Soren who’s like, uh. That.

As Nia watches the lucario interact, a second thought itches at her brain, spurred on by the way one of the lucario reacts after spotting her, their smile faltering into something…somber. Sad, almost.

Nia wonders why she has yet to see a single riolu among the pack.

Before she can ask the Matriarch about it, her attention is grabbed yet again by a lucario exiting the largest igloo, his expression as cold as his surroundings and his icy eyes familiar. Soren. The pack leader’s son marches in their direction, seemingly unsurprised by their arrival.

Nia notes how the other lucario straighten up and quiet down as Soren marches by. Like…co-workers hushing a rowdy conversation so they don’t get in trouble with their strict boss.

Wait, no. That’s not quite right. That would imply a sense of fear, or at least dislike, but the way the lucario look at Soren is brimming with…respect. Admiration, even. There’s a distance there, but Nia gets the sense that the way they straighten their postures isn’t to avoid a scolding, but instead to make Soren proud of them.

Huh. So is their relationship more like…a king and his loyal subjects? Or his knights, maybe?

“Oh, here we go,” Junie mutters.

Soren bows to the Matriarch as soon as he reaches them. “Good morning, Matriarch.”

The Matriarch inclines her head in return. “Good morning, Soren. I see your father convinced you to join us today?”

“Yes, Matriarch,” Soren grits out. His gaze flicks over the rest of them, lingering on Nia. While his expression doesn’t visibly make his displeasure known, Nia can still feel it radiating off of him in waves.

“Off we go, then!” the Matriarch chirps, ignoring the awkward atmosphere. She turns and leads them away, and Soren follows immediately in her footsteps.

Nia, Tobias, and Junie exchange an uncertain look before trailing after them.

The weavile leads their group past the village and onto a small trail in the snow, bordered on either side by boulders and scraggly trees. The slow incline leads up the side of the valley, towards the looming presence of the mountaintop.

When they reach the yawning mouth of a cave—or a tunnel, more likely—Nia sees that someone is already waiting for them.

“Carnelian!” She calls, waving.

The sableye perks up at her voice, and waves back with a woven bag in hand.

At the sableye’s side is a big lump of brown…hair? It has a pack tied around it, a small lantern hooked to the strap, and for a long moment, Nia wonders what in the world she’s looking at. Well, until the hair moves, turning to reveal long, floppy ears, a pair of short tusks, and a pink nose. A Pokemon! Some kind of…pig, maybe? A boar?

“’Morning, Nouf,” the Matriarch calls as they approach. “Thanks as always for helping out.”

Right, the Matriarch mentioned another Pokemon yesterday.

“What kind of Pokemon is that?” Nia whispers to Tobias.

“Piloswine, I think,” Tobias answers.

Soren’s ear twitches, and he casts a cold glance over his shoulder. When he faces forward again, Junie sticks her tongue out at his back.

“We already had a tunnel through the mountain,” the Matriarch says, turning to Nia and the others. “But with Carnelian going off-route to follow the crystals to their source, Nouf here has been helping him dig.”

Nouf rumbles, which Nia takes as some sort of greeting. She gives a tentative smile and a little wave in return.

“These two will still be doing the digging,” the Matriarch explains. “But I would like you four to join as protection as we get closer to the source. If something goes wrong, it wouldn’t do for these two to get in trouble without backup.”

“Do you expect something to go wrong?” Tobias asks, crossing his arms.

“No,” the Matriarch says. “But you can never be too careful. Cave-ins, mystery dungeons, and Yveltal himself are all risks at the moment, with how unstable the world is.”

“T-The crystals themselves aren’t harmful, though,” Carnelian assures, bringing up a worry Nia didn’t even think to have. The sableye steps forward to hold out the woven bag, and Nia realizes this must be the supplies that the Matriarch told him to grab. Nia takes it with a word of thanks. “I b-believe they’re just, um…energy run-off, from Yveltal’s cocoon.”

“So you’re pretty sure they are coming from Yveltal,” Tobias says, taking the bag from Nia to peer inside.

Carnelian nods. “I-I am. I’ve never seen anything like this crystal before, and the c-closest I could find were Dark Gems. A-And since Yveltal is a dark type…”

“It’s strong evidence that we’re on the right track,” Nia guesses.

Carnelian beams. “Correct!”

“Go on, then,” the Matriarch urges, almost playfully. “I want you all back before dusk, or we’ll send a search party in after you. You have your supplies, yes?”

Nouf makes another snuffle that Nia takes as agreement. Tobias nods, slinging their new pack over his shoulders—good, he must be satisfied with the contents, then. This bag is more like a backpack than their old one, and it rests easily against his spine.

“W-We’ll be careful, ma’am!” Carnelian says with a little bow.

Then he turns and leads the way into the cave, his semi-translucent form vanishing in the shade. Nouf shuffles in next, the lantern on her back clanking and swaying with each short step. Soren follows, and Nia and the others bring up the rear.

Inside the tunnel, darkness smothers them almost immediately. There’s no wind or sunlight here, and the air is bitingly cold.

Tobias’ tail flame and Nouf’s small lantern are the only sources of light, barely illuminating the stony tunnel around them. Carnelian leads without hesitation, though, looking strangely confident as the rest of them grow more cautious with their footing. His night vision at work, Nia supposes.

As they walk, Nia slowly adjusts to the environment, to the stillness in the air and the quiet echoing of their footsteps. The darkness doesn’t offer much in the way of sightseeing, and Carnelian and Nouf seem focused on their task, so…

Nia’s eyes drift to Soren’s back. She clears her throat. “Hey, Soren?”

The lucario flicks an ear.

“How long has your pack been here at the village?”

“Two months,” the lucario answers.

Silence falls.

“So…you all come here for the winter, then?” Nia asks, trying to sound polite. “I would’ve thought you’d go somewhere warmer.”

Soren grunts unhelpfully.

Another silence.

Tobias gives Nia a look that says, Give it up. He’s a lost cause.

Nia ignores it. “Um…where do you all go the rest of the year?”

“We travel.”

On Nia’s shoulder, Junie faceplants and mumbles, “Kill me.”

“I can’t imagine what that would be like,” Nia says. “It looked like there were pretty many of you, right? I didn’t see any riolu, though.”

Soren finally looks at her, though it’s more of a glare than anything. His aura spikes with emotion. “We have no riolu.”

Nia recoils. The resulting silence feels heavier this time.

The ground beneath them gently slopes down as they go deeper into the mountain. Nia alternates between looking at Soren and keeping track of her own feet.

“U-Um, what do you mean?” Nia finally asks, her voice small.

Soren takes a visible breath, his shoulders rising and falling. “Is this information relevant to your mission?”

“Well, n-no, but—”

“Then I have no reason to explain further.”

Nia gapes at his back. “Well, I mean…I am a riolu. So I think that makes it a little relevant to me?”

Soren scoffs. “You are a human in a riolu’s pelt. You are not one of us.”

Nia winces, struck in the chest by a surprising amount of hurt. Technically Soren isn’t wrong, and Nia has made it a point in the past for others to recognize her as human, but…something about Soren’s dismissiveness still feels awful. Like after all the work Nia has put into figuring out this body, she’ll still never be enough to fill it properly.

“Hey, there’s no need to be rude!” Junie says.

“You are the same, Rookidee. Your words mean nothing here.”

Junie makes an outraged noise.

“Then let my words mean something,” Tobias growls, his tail flame growing brighter. Carnelian, at the head of the pack, glances back nervously. “Whether these two were humans or not shouldn’t matter. Right now, they’re just as much a Pokemon as you and me.”

“You can’t see their souls,” Soren dismisses, still infuriatingly calm. Still not looking at them. “They are different.”

“I’ve never noticed a difference between human and Pokemon souls,” Nia protests.

“Not a surprise.”

Okay, he is officially getting under Nia’s skin. Her aura bristles in response. “And what does that mean?”

“Yeah, Nia’s great with her aura!” Junie says. “And it actually feels nice when she does a reading, unlike when you do it!”

Soren’s tail flicks. “I highly doubt any aura reading is actually taking place. It takes years for riolu to grasp such a skill.”

“Well, I’m not a riolu, am I?” Nia snarks. She shoves Soren’s aura with her own, like siblings annoying each other across the middle seat of a car.

To Nia’s surprise, Soren stumbles. He whips his head around to stare at her with wide eyes. Nia stops to glare at him, but it takes Carnelian and Nouf a few more steps to realize the others aren’t following.

“You should not be able to do that,” Soren says, low.

“And yet I am,” Nia counters. “Are you ready to talk to me like an actual person yet?”

Soren narrows his eyes. Then, Nia feels his aura prod at hers, cautious and testing. Nia can sense that he’s trying to get a read on her, on her strength, and so she pushes back, until the two of them are in a proverbial aura wrestling match. Vaguely, Nia registers the blue glow of her aura surrounding herself, the appendages on either side of her face lifting. Soren’s eyes flash a deeper blue as well.

Nia wishes her aura weren’t so exhausted from their trip up the mountainside. Her reserves are still low after holding back that avalanche yesterday.

In what feels like hours but couldn’t be longer than a couple of seconds, Soren finally manages to pin Nia’s aura. He holds it there for a few long moments—just long enough for the lucario’s victory to be indisputable.

Nia releases her aura, panting, and glares at Soren. She really wishes she could’ve overpowered him, but she supposes that isn’t realistic, given his evolution and the years of practice he has on her.

Still, Nia thinks the little squabble accomplished something. The lucario’s expression is wary as he stares down at her, lacking the dismissive condescension from before. Like he’s actually seeing her as a riolu.

Or as a threat.

Tobias, who had stepped closer to Nia, meets her eyes with a frown. “You okay? What did he do?”

“I started it,” Nia admits.

“U-Um,” Carnelian squeaks, drawing everyone’s attention. The sableye flinches as all eyes land on him. “S-Sorry to interrupt, but we should really keep moving if we want to make progress today…”

All at once, Nia’s stubborn defiance melts away, replaced by guilt. “Oh. Of course. Sorry, Carnelian.”

Carnelian glances between them, as if unsure they’ll actually follow, before nodding and leading the way again. Nia follows, Junie on her shoulder and Tobias at her side, and after a moment Nia hears Soren trail behind them.

As they continue their journey, Nia takes a few deep breaths of chilly cave air to cool her irritation. She doesn’t even look back at Soren as they walk, instead keeping her eyes on the faintly lit path ahead of them.

At least until Soren speaks up, minutes later. “Where did you learn to use your aura?”

For a moment, Nia is tempted to be as childish as the lucario and refuse to answer. But she wants information, not a fight, so she says, “Our mentor, Val. She’s a medicham.”

Soren doesn’t respond, but Nia can feel his gaze heavy on her back.

“She helped me understand the basics, and I got some tips from my friend Avery, too—a kirlia. Otherwise, it’s just been me…figuring it out as I go.”

Soren is quiet for a long moment. “And I assume you have not been in this world long.”

“Um,” Nia says, glancing at Tobias. “Four or five months, maybe?”

Nia can’t see Soren, but she can feel his aura jolt with surprise. Then it sours, turning to disbelief instead. Ugh.

“Read my aura,” Soren says. “Like the rookidee claims you did for her.”

Junie spins around on Nia’s shoulder to face Soren. “At least say please! God. Maybe commanding someone to do something is how things work in your pack, but Nia doesn’t have to do what you say!”

Nia glances back, and swallows a laugh at the stunned expression on the lucario’s face. She wonders if he’s ever been talked to like that before.

“A ‘please’ wouldn’t hurt,” Nia teases.

Soren gives Nia a dry look. But then, after an agonizingly long stalemate, he glances away and mumbles, “Fine. Please.”

“There we go!” Nia falls back a step to walk next to Soren, and Tobias wordlessly follows on her other side. “Tobias, could you hold my hand to make sure I don’t trip?”

Tobias mumbles an assent and takes Nia’s hand, his fingers warm around hers.

Satisfied, Nia closes her eyes and reaches out with her aura to find Soren’s, making a connection between the two of them. She skims over the deep, ocean-blue surface of his soul with the intent to dive in, dipping her proverbial fingers into the waters to test the temperature.

She’s not all that surprised to find resistance where others usually invite her in with open arms. Soren is wound tight, less a flexible ocean and more…a block of ice. Or maybe a dense blue sapphire, the edges of him cut sharp and clean.

There’s something at his aura’s core, something bright, but Nia can hardly see it through the stone’s hardened layers. She supposes she could dig her claws into him like a pickaxe, and break him apart to see what’s inside.

But she’s not Soren.

Instead, Nia tries to coax the aura open gently, tries to cushion the sapphire in the bowl of her palms and polish it—melt it—with a warm breath and a soft touch. She can feel a bit of Soren’s cautious defense slough away, and the facets clear for the briefest moment to show her a peek at who he is at his core.

Soren is…someone carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. A young adult, barely more than a child himself, who was raised from birth with his future duties in mind. While other children played in the snow drifts and dirt, he was placed on a pedestal, his personality chipped away one flaw at a time and sculpted to fit his role as a perfect crowned jewel.

It’s…sad, actually, that Nia can’t find evidence of much else, at first. What kind of upbringing did Soren have, that his entire being is shaped more into the role of a leader than it is a person with their own thoughts and feelings?

But there has to be more. She knows there has to be more.

Nia tries to squash any of her emotions that could be interpreted as pity, knowing the lucario would pick up on it in an instant, and instead tries to project a sense of…open curiosity. Not towards Soren the leader’s son and future leader of the pack, but towards Soren the person.

Nia holds the gem of his soul up to the light, and tries to see through it to the pieces of him hidden underneath that polished exterior.

Finally, at just the right angle, she catches a glimpse of someone different. Someone…painfully tired. Tired, and lonely, and uncertain of how well he can lead his pack when they all know what’s coming. He loves his people fiercely, but he doesn’t know how to comfort them because he was never taught comfort and—

Soren’s aura yanks away from Nia, and Nia lets him go willingly.

When Nia opens her eyes, Soren is stopped in place with an unreadable expression, staring at her. Nia stops as well, offering him a judgement-free tilt of her head.

For a long moment, nothing is said. Ahead of them, Carnelian stops once more to look back. “U-Um…”

Soren wordlessly resumes walking, moving past Carnelian and leading their group forward himself.

Nia follows, taking a breath and trying to decide how she feels about what she just saw. While knowing a fraction of what Soren went through still doesn’t excuse his harsh demeanor, she’s also swamped by an overwhelming wave of sympathy for the lucario.

She can’t imagine being raised for one purpose and one purpose only, and never being allowed to stray from it. Even worse, Soren was forced into a role that he was destined to fail. He’s lived his entire life with the burden of leading his pack through a dying world and knowing he won’t succeed.

How do you even handle that sort of pressure? That sort of hopelessness?

She felt firsthand how isolating it must’ve been.

Nia shakes out her fur to rid herself of the feeling. Junie and Tobias blessedly don’t ask Nia what happened, though they keep glancing between Nia and Soren as if that could give them answers. Instead, their group falls silent again, following Soren and Carnelian deeper and deeper into the tunnels and closer to the heart of the mountain.

Eventually, they leave the wide path they’d  been following to go down a smaller side-tunnel. From the rich scent of soil and the rough ground underfoot, Nia guesses that this one must’ve been dug more recently.

It’s only here, as Nia starts paying attention to their surroundings again, that she notices the flash of firelight reflecting off of something shiny in the cave wall.

Oh. It’s a small, faceted stone, black as night and barely visible in the low light. As they walk past it and the angle changes, Nia catches a hint of red at the stone’s core.

More and more of the stones start to litter the walls and even the ground, sometimes as clusters and sometimes in a dappling pattern, almost like scales. Nia thinks her eyes are playing tricks on her at first, but no—as they go deeper, a faint purpley-red glow emanates from them, like glow-in-the-dark stars.

“Carnelian, are those..?”

Carnelian glances back, then grins. “Yes! These are the strange stones the village noticed. Beautiful, aren’t they? They begin to glow the farther down we go and—I suspect—the closer we get to their source. They’re quite tasty, too.”

Nia almost trips. “Tasty?!”

Carnelian gives a nervous laugh. “V-Very! You know that sableye eat gemstones and minerals, yes?”

“Y-Yeah, but how did you know that these were safe to eat?”

For the first time, Nouf speaks up, the piloswine’s voice low. “He didn’t.”

“Carnelian!”

“I couldn’t resist!” Carnelian protests. “They’re so beautiful! I just had to know how they tasted!”

Nia laughs, caught off-guard. “Well, I guess it didn’t hurt you, so…what do they taste like?”

Tobias snorts a laugh of his own, glancing fondly at Nia.

What?! She’s curious!

“Like haban berries,” Carnelian sighs. “Strong and crisp.”

“Well, now I’ve gotta try a haban berry,” Junie says. “Hey, Carnelian. What’re your absolute favorite rocks to eat?”

“Oh, how could I choose? I’m particularly fond of dusk stones, but a cold ice stone is perfect on a hot day. And grated sun stones are a lovely seasoning on a good soup or curry!”

“Sun stones, huh?” Tobias muses. “We found those sometimes where I grew up. My sister always said they looked like candy. Nearly broke her tooth on one once.”

Nia glances at Tobias, her heart squeezing at the wistful, amused look on his face. He doesn’t talk about his sister often.

“I wouldn’t say they taste like candy,” Carnelian chuckles. “They have a warm and earthy flavor to them. I much prefer them to the bitterness of moon stones, though.”

“Ooh, what’s the nastiest stone you’ve ever eaten?” Junie asks.

Carnelian answers all of their questions about the flavors of various stones, seemingly delighted by their interest, until they finally reach their destination. The tunnel in front of them abruptly ends in a cave wall, littered with those strange, lightly glowing stones.

“Here we are,” Carnelian says. “Nouf and I will handle the digging, so just keep an eye out for any disturbances.”

“Are you sure?” Nia asks with a frown. “It feels kind of…rude, not to help.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Carnelian says, “But—"

“You will only slow us down,” Nouf says.

“Y-Yeah, that’s, um. True.”

Nia’s brows raise, and she steps back, gesturing with a hand. “Then by all means!”

Carnelian says something to Nouf, who snuffles an answer, before the two of them start digging right into the wall. Nia’s impressed by how easily Carnelian’s claws carve out the rock and soil, scooping it behind him in a pile as easily as a dog digging into sand. Nouf, a step behind, doesn’t hesitate to shove the soil away from Carnelian and pack it into the walls with her short tusks.

Wow. Looks like they do have it covered.

Soren crosses his arms and leans against the wall, watching the two ‘mon work.

Unsure of what else to do, Nia and Tobias find their own spots to sit down across from the lucario. Nia presses against Tobias’ side, enjoying his warmth in the cold air, and Junie settles into the dip of Nia’s lap.

Nia and Tobias joke about how much easier their own cave-in cleanup would’ve been with Carnelian and Nouf on their side, before telling Junie the full story of that tumultuous mission with Andyn’s team beneath the guild.

Eventually, though, their story is done and conversation lulls. The only sound is that of Carnelian and Nouf shifting rock and soil aside.

At least until Soren speaks up. “Why do you fight against the will of the world?”

Nia looks up, startled to find the lucario staring straight at her, and even more surprised that he’s starting a conversation at all. “W-What?”

“You know that Xerneas will likely reject your plans,” Soren explains. “The fact that we feel the effects of the dimensional break even now only reinforces that it is destined to happen. And yet you and the Matriarch still foolishly wish to wake her anyways. Why?”

Nia frowns. “Well…we know it’s a long shot. But it’s the best plan we have if we don’t want this world to end, right?”

“Wishing something were not so does not mean it isn’t meant to happen.”

“How would you even know if something is meant to happen?” Junie challenges. “Giratina doesn’t seem to think it should!”

“He did say that the other legendaries were in a panic when Arceus went dormant,” Nia agrees. “So maybe this isn’t actually the will of the world, but more like…an accident?”

Soren’s mouth twists with doubt.

Tobias flicks his tail, throwing shadows across the cave wall. “Even if it is ‘meant to happen,’ who says we have to just accept that?”

Soren narrows his eyes at Tobias. “It is our duty to listen to the world’s will and follow its lead. Fighting against it won’t achieve anything.”

“Well, I don’t think the world should get to decide that,” Junie says.

“And who are you to decide in its stead?”

“Why not us?” Nia asks, the words genuine. “When I look at the aura in the world, it doesn’t feel like we’re any less important than it is. It feels more like we’re all separate, but…connected, too. Like the different parts of an ecosystem. Or the threads in a tapestry.”

Soren looks at Nia sharply. For a moment, she thinks it’s just because of the way they’re challenging his worldview, until he repeats her words back to her. “When you ‘look at the aura in the world?’”

Tobias and Junie turn curious eyes onto Nia as well, and her ears slope back as she realizes she never actually told them about her most recent discovery.

She gives an embarrassed laugh. “Oh! I, um, realized recently that I can see the aura in the environment, too. Not just in Pokemon, but in plants and the earth and stuff. How it all connects. Which seems kind of obvious in hindsight, but I was never really looking for it before and it’s a lot more faint than our aura is, like background noise or something that you just get used to. So I, uh…”

Nia’s rambling trails off once she notices Soren’s intense expression. “Um. Is that…not allowed?”

“It…is,” Soren says, sounding like the words are being physically dragged out of him. “But typically, only lucario can manage it. Riolu rarely develop their aura enough to do so before evolution.”

Nia isn’t sure how to react to that. A mix of embarrassment and pride washes over her as Tobias gives her an impressed look and Junie wolf-whistles.

Just to make sure that Nia isn’t wrong and that the world’s aura is indeed what she’s seeing, she takes a moment to double-check, placing a hand against the rocky soil to send her aura out in a pulse.

It's definitely more difficult here, where she’s not surrounded by the life energy of the Haven’s forest, but…

There. Thin threads of aura making up the world around her. She doesn’t know if the human world—her world—would look like this too, but this world is filled with life energy, with aura, down to its core. Down to its very atoms. She can see its structure, the fabric of reality that they need to keep from tearing.

Once again, Nia feels the strange, unsettling sensation that this is something she shouldn’t be handling. Like being given an open flame in a paper house.

“I…think that’s what I’m seeing?” Nia says. “In the Lexym Tree the pathways were much clearer, spread out like veins or…rivers, maybe. I could see them and follow them really easily. Here, the aura is more faint. But it’s still there.”

As if to prove it, Nia sends a bit of her aura down one of the pathways to brush against Soren’s foot. It takes more effort on her part than it would have somewhere lush like the Haven, but it’s doable.

The lucario’s jaw tightens.

Tobias blinks at Nia, bewildered. “How long have you been able to do that?”

“I only thought about it after Will suggested it,” Nia says. She looks at Soren again. “The only place I’ve seen the world’s aura broken was in a mystery dungeon. I’m guessing you knew that already, though.”

For a long moment, Soren seems reluctant to respond, before admitting, “Yes. Aura ties this world together. The increasing number of mystery dungeons are…wounds, of a sort. Areas of the dimensional barrier where the aura has grown thin and frayed. Holes in that tapestry, as you put it.”

“But mystery dungeons fade after a while,” Tobias says. “Does that mean those wounds close themselves up?”

Soren shakes his head. “Not entirely. Each time reality’s fabric is torn and stitched together again, its binding is loosened. Weakened. Until eventually…”

“It unravels completely,” Nia whispers.

Soren nods.

“Wait, that’s what mystery dungeons are?” Junie asks, looking between all of them. “Then why do Pokemon go crazy if they’re caught in one while it’s forming?”

Once more, all eyes turn to Soren. He scowls.

“This actually is sort of relevant to our mission,” Nia points out. “So the Matriarch would probably want you to tell us, right?”

Soren gives Nia an irritated look, clearly hating the way the Matriarch’s authority is being leveraged against him. “…We are influenced heavily by the world around us. Exposure to sudden instability in the world’s aura is enough to drive a Pokemon temporarily mad. Only moves that stabilize and block that bleed of life energy can protect someone’s mind until the dungeon starts to close the wound itself.”

Like the moves protect and misty terrain, Nia realizes. That’s how they avoided going feral during the formation of that mystery dungeon with the Aqua Jet’s crew. A wide-eyed glance at Tobias shows that he’s thinking the same thing.

“So if that’s the case, then Giratina is right,” Nia says. “The pre-emptive break in the dimensional border—those threads being torn apart in the future—is behind everything going wrong in the world, right?”

“Giratina’s words…do have some sense to them,” Soren admits. “The world’s decline has been accelerating rapidly. It makes sense that one final rip through loose, frayed strings could cause enough damage to be permanent, and catastrophic enough to be felt through time.”

No one seems to know how to answer that. Carnelian and Nouf, caught up in their digging—and making impressive headway—likely can’t even hear their discussion.

Down here in the cold and darkness, it feels like they’re the only people in the world. Nia shivers.

“If Xerneas is willing to help,” Nia says, soft. “Will she even be able to fix something so…dire?”

Soren sighs. “If Xerneas were to agree to help, she should be able to reinforce the barrier enough to change the current path of its break, yes. And theoretically, the world should be able to stabilize itself well enough afterwards.”

Nia swallows. “But…you don’t think she’ll want to help us.”

“I do not think she will interfere if this is how the world is meant to end,” Soren says, neatly side-stepping a definitive yes or no.

Another pause, as Nia tries to fathom just…letting an entire world and countless lives die when you have the power to stop it.

“So if the aura of the world and the auras of Pokemon are connected,” Tobias says, catching Nia’s attention. “Is that why Pokemon can’t evolve anymore?”

Oh, Nia hadn’t even thought about that.

Soren gives Tobias a dull look, staying silent.

“It has to be, right?” Nia says. “It all started around the same time. Maybe Pokemon auras are fraying, too..?”

“But that should cause some kind of obvious health defect, right?” Tobias asks with a frown. “From what I can tell, nothing is different aside from evolution being stopped.”

“Evolution is not possible without enough stable energy in the environment to support it,” Soren says, surprising them both. Though when Nia looks, she thinks she catches a hint of annoyance on his face. Ah, so he’s the kind of person who can’t stand others being misinformed.

Noted.

“And since the world’s aura is fraying, already stretched thin just trying to hold itself together,” Tobias says, trailing off.

Soren nods. “The surplus of aura the world used to offer us Pokemon, allowing us the necessary burst of energy to change form, is now gone, bleeding from the frayed border at too constant a rate to replenish. The network of aura in the environment is too unstable to sustain growth, and our bodies can sense that. We are offered only enough energy for us to survive and use our moves, nothing more. Evolution is not considered a high priority without a stable enough world to support our new forms, even if that means the extinction of entire species.”

Soren’s tone dips into something…different, for those last few words. Something bitter, and angry. So unlike the obedient resignation he’s shown so far. Nia eyes the way he glares at the ground, his arms crossed.

“Extinction?” Nia presses, gently.

Soren’s face twitches, and Nia imagines him berating himself for the slip. She expects him to close himself off again, but instead he looks at her with a furrowed brow.

“…I suppose you should be informed, on the off chance that we survive long enough for it to matter.”

Nia blinks, unsure of how to take that preface.

“Certain Pokemon can only have children after evolving. With evolution stopped, those species are at risk of going extinct entirely.“

Oh. That is…not what Nia was expecting.

“Riolu and lucario are one such species. With evolution impossible, we would die out within a generation,” Soren says. He barks a sharp, biting laugh, making Nia jump. “Not that it matters either way, I suppose. Not when we can see the energy of the world dying around us. It would be cruel to introduce new life to the world when it’s doomed from the start, so we have not had a riolu—a child—in our ranks for over a decade.”

For the first time, Nia thinks she can see a glimpse of Soren the person rather than Soren the future head of the pack. He’s still acting as a leader, but this bitterness doesn’t feel like duty. This feels like frustration on a personal level, frustration borne from love rather than obligation.

Nia thinks about what she felt when reading his aura. The exhaustion, the expectations and hopelessness, and how despite it all Soren’s first priority was still leading his pack well. Comforting them. It’s obvious to Nia that he places their well-being above…everything, really.

Which means he’s not as resigned to this fate as he’d like any of them to believe. He can’t be.

“That’s…incredibly sad,” Nia murmurs.

She thinks about that leavanny they met during the bug swarm’s migration. About how she worried for her kids’ fate, stuck as sewaddle their whole lives.

Soren nods, looking at Nia with something almost resembling sympathy. “You could never have children of your own without evolving. Not by blood, at least.” 

Nia’s face heats, and she lifts her hands to wave them frantically in front of her. “O-Oh! No, that’s, um. Fine, actually. Even if I was interested in having kids one day, I’m not staying in this world once the barrier is fixed. I already have a family waiting for me in the human world.”

For a long moment, Soren doesn’t respond. His eyes narrow.

“W-What?”

“What will you do if you cannot return to the human world?”

Nia stares at Soren, uncomprehending. The chill in the air suddenly feels sharper than before, cutting through her coat and fur and burrowing into her skin.

“There has to be a way,” Nia says, slowly. “I…came here from the human world.”

“Your soul did,” Soren agrees. “But souls do not simply wander.”

Nia’s mouth goes dry. She feels like her stomach has been punched through her lungs. She struggles to take a calming breath, then another, and wills her voice to stay steady. “W-What does that mean?”

Soren is silent for a few long seconds. Too long. “I am not at liberty to say.”

What is that supposed to mean? The fear in Nia’s gut curdles into anger.

“I will find a way home,” Nia says, her voice rising, arguing despite the fact that Soren gave her nothing to fight. Her hands clench around the edge of her coat.

Just because Soren and Giratina think it’s impossible doesn’t mean it is. Soren was wrong about her aura control, after all. And if they’re already going to do the impossible and save the world from falling apart, then there has to be a way to find her way back home, too. Will said he’d find a way, and she believes him.

Junie looks up at Nia, her face uncertain. At Nia’s side, Tobias looks away, watching Carnelian and Nouf’s work.

Soren doesn’t answer, simply staring her down in the low light, his eyes like chips of ice.

Nia takes a deep breath, frantically searching for another topic to focus on. “Y-You said earlier that only lucario can see the world’s aura like I can. Does that mean you can do it too?”

Soren doesn’t answer for a few long moments, and Nia is terrified that he won’t. That he’ll just let her float in her fears. But finally, he relents.

“I can.”

“Can you tell me more about how to use it?” Nia asks, aware that she sounds just a bit too desperate. She can’t handle Junie’s concerned expression, so she gathers the bird into her arms. “I-It’s kind of…intimidating, to me. But I could see it being helpful, for searching and stuff! Like how your pack found us on the mountainside.”

Soren still seems reluctant to share what he probably sees as pack secrets, but Nia thinks his resolve is slowly crumbling. He just needs a final push.

“Please?” Nia asks, softly. “If we can save the world, maybe this information will help us do it. And you clearly don’t want your pack to die, will of the world or not.”

Soren closes his eyes with a heavy breath, and for a moment Nia thinks she said the wrong thing. But then—

“The world’s aura offers helpful pathways for searching, yes, but they have other uses as well. Most importantly, as lines for communication and energy transfer.”

Nia leans back, thinking. Searching for someone she understands, and even communication makes sense. It’s like what she did for Tobias, intentionally projecting her thoughts and feelings to assure him during his aura reading. Just…instead of using her own energy to keep that aura connection stable, she could use the established aura of the world, right? Send her energy down a specific path like a boat on a waterway.

But considering how much control she has, and how that connection stabilizes and goes both ways, Nia supposes it’d be more accurate to think of it like…a transmission on a wire, maybe. Two phones connected over miles of distance. It would explain how Soren has been communicating silently with the Matriarch and his pack this whole time.

But…

“Energy transfer?” Nia asks.

Soren nods. “We are all made up of life energy, after all. Once you connect to your target, it is possible to transfer aura between vessels. That’s how healing moves work, sending energy from one Pokemon to another to replenish their strength.”

“And that loss of life energy doesn’t…hurt the sender?” Nia asks, unsure. “Like, long-term?”

“No more than using a move would. A loss of aura isn’t permanent, unless there is a constant leak counterbalancing that regeneration, like in the case of the world’s border. Otherwise, it will replenish with simple time and rest.”

“Is that how it works for moves that use the power of the environment?” Tobias asks, brow furrowed. “Like…hidden power, or surf. They use energy from the environment to form the attack, right?”

Soren glances at Tobias, looking even more reluctant to answer his questions than Nia’s.

Junie groans, finally fed up. “Dude! They aren’t gonna backstab your pack or anything if you tell ‘em how aura works! They just like learning stuff ‘cause they’re big ol’ nerds!”

…Well, that’s one way to put it.

Tobias gives the rookidee an unimpressed look, and Junie fluffs herself up with a huff. Nia laughs and strokes a hand over the little bird’s back to calm her down, grateful as always to have her here in all of her Junie-ness during such stressful moments.

To Nia’s surprise, Soren seems to have been disarmed by the silly outburst as well. He only sighs before holding out a paw, palm up. There, a ball of his aura forms, the color of a roiling sea.

“You are correct. Pokemon, the world—we are all connected, and while there must be intent behind the transfer of energy for it to function correctly, it can be done. In the case of such moves, the transfer can occur without any understanding of aura at all.”

“And that’s what we’re hoping Xerneas will do?” Nia asks. “Transfer enough energy into the barrier so it can withstand whatever is destined to rip through it? Or at least wake up in time to fix it right after it happens?"

Tobias frowns, watching Soren snuff out his aura. “Where would Xerneas even get that much energy, though? If the world’s aura is already falling apart and there’s not enough life energy to go around…”

“Xerneas has been building energy as she sleeps, in preparation to counterbalance Yveltal’s awakening,” Soren says, sounding almost thoughtful. “As such, she should, theoretically, have enough energy amassed to reinforce the dimensional border with the aura from her own body.”

“But if all energy is connected,” Junie says. “That means Xerneas would be connected to the dimensional border already, right? Why doesn’t her energy just…go ahead and fill those gaps even if she’s asleep?”

“Everything is connected,” Soren agrees, “But that does not mean that energy always goes where it is needed—simply that the pathways exist. Sometimes distribution of aura must be consciously directed.”

Right. It’s like…the electricity wired up to a house. Sure, the power might be right there in the walls, but it’s not going to charge up a dying electronic unless you plug that electronic into an outlet and give the energy a specific direction to go.

“So the life energies of Pokemon and the world can plug into each other,” Nia muses. “But they’re also…separate, in a way. Which is why we haven’t seen regular Pokemon falling dormant or anything.”

Soren nods. “Only the legends are directly tied into the threads of the universe. The rest of us are simply contained within it.”

Huh. Nia tilts her head back against the cold rock wall while she mulls that over.

So as long as they can find enough energy outside of the fabric of the world itself, Xerneas should be able to reinforce the barrier before…whatever is supposed to break it gets the chance to do so. Or at least be able to stitch it closed after the break, as long as they’re ready for it.

Now they just have to, y’know. Find Xerneas and convince her to help. Even if Soren is confident that she won’t.

What will they do if she refuses?

Nia shakes her head. She can’t just sit here and dwell on that thought in the dark. No use worrying endlessly over something she can’t do anything about right now.

She looks around for a distraction, automatically seeking out Tobias first. He has his own head tilted back, brow furrowed in thought, and Nia’s eyes trail down to his neck, covered as always by his scarf. She hasn’t seen him scratch at it once today, so hopefully that means the cream Eira gave him is working.

Her eyes trail next to Junie, who is still cuddled up in Nia’s lap and unusually quiet as she thinks.

Finally, Nia looks at Soren, who is standing across the tunnel with his eyes closed.

Everyone else seems content to stew in their thoughts, but Nia doesn’t think she should let her anxious mind have full reign at the moment. So she goes to her usual method of distraction and takes to practicing her aura, forming it as a baton and seeing how long she can keep it tangible as she flips it around her fingers. She occasionally loses hold of it and launches it across the floor to dissipate in a flash of blue light.

Soren watches her antics with his usual serious expression. Nia thinks she can feel his aura hovering nearby, as if watching her, but she tries to ignore the feeling and focuses on strengthening her aura, one trick at a time.

Nia considers trying out some of the things Soren mentioned before—communicating with her aura over a distance, or even transferring energy, but…

Well, quite frankly, her aura is still weak from their trip up the mountains and stopping the avalanche. She’s curious, but she also really doesn’t want to exhaust herself when they’ll be stuck down here for who knows how long.

“Come,” Soren says, pushing off the wall. Nia loses her concentration and fumbles the baton so it bonks her on the head. “They are moving on.”

Nia rubs her head as she turns, surprised to see that the lucario is right. Carnelian and Nouf are making impressive headway into the dirt, already yards deeper than before and nearly out of sight as they dig around a bend in the tunnel.

Nia and the others get up to follow, and her rear is already sore from sitting on the cold, hard ground.

It’s gonna be a long day.

—————————————————————————————————

Nia loses track of time quickly underground, and wishes not for the first time that they had a watch. Hours pass—interrupted only by a quick lunch—before Carnelian and Nouf finally call it quits, the two of them clearly exhausted. The sableye seems pleased with the progress they’ve made today, but Nouf…well. It’s hard to know what Nouf’s thinking.

Carnelian leads them out of the mountain and back into the outside world, and Nia is surprised to find the sun dipping into a late afternoon. She’s not sure if she thought it’d be later in the day, or earlier. Time gets weird underground.

Either way, she blinks hard against the bright shine of the sun reflecting off the snow, and relishes the feeling of cold wind ruffling her fur and warm sun on her face. The air of the cave had felt dead and still by comparison.

Soren parts from their group almost immediately, sparing them a nod before heading back to where the pack is camped out. Junie blows a raspberry at his back, but Nia is actually a little sad to see him go.

Soren still isn’t…friendly, by any means. But he did share some information with them, and Nia has a bit of a better idea of how he ticks. She’s more comfortable in his presence after being around him all day, at the very least.

Carnelian leads the rest of them back towards the guest lodgings, telling them excitedly about what supper will be tonight and how Nico, the delibird who brought them their meals last night, has started keeping gemstones on hand to grate up and sprinkle into Carnelian’s food so he can enjoy the delibird’s cooking and get nutrients all at once.

Nia smiles and interjects with questions at the right times, delighted to see the little ghost flourishing and really making a home for himself here. As they walk into the village, her eyes wander, taking in the townsfolk going about their business now that it’s daytime.

August had stressed that the mountain town was wary of outsiders, and their welcome from Soren and the Matriarch had proved that. While the townsfolk haven’t been hostile by any means—Eira and Nico are outright friendly—the other townsfolk eye them with more wariness than they received in larger cities like Ghatha or Kaleido. This feels more like Shivergleam, like a small, isolated community where everyone knows everyone and anyone outside of that loop is considered an outsider.

The village is friendlier than Nia was expecting, though. As they pass by the light blue dinosaur Nia noticed the night before and what looks like a penguin with an ice cube for a head, the two ‘mon call to Carnelian with a cheery greeting. Nia wonders how much of their relatively positive reception is thanks to them having Carnelian’s favor. She has no doubt that’s why Eira is so open with them, but it seems like the little ghost has won over the rest of the other villagers as well in the few weeks since he’s been here. Not that Nia can blame them—Carnelian is a sweetheart.

Nia is distracted from her thoughts as they pass by what looks like…a sandslash? But instead of the sandy brown she’s used to, this one is a light blue, its spines crystalline and icy.

More importantly, the sled it’s pulling, topped high with lumber, is tipping over as one of its runners catches on a rock. The sandslash squeaks as it’s yanked back with it.

Nia uses quick attack to dart forward and catch the tipping tower of wood, pushing it back into place with a grunt.

The sandslash, lying on her back in the snow, blinks up at Nia, surprised.

“Are you all right?” Nia asks.

Junie, who had managed somehowto cling to Nia’s shoulder during her quick attack, pecks a stray piece of wood back into place. “This is a lot of lumber for one ‘mon to handle!”

The sandslash comes back to herself, rolling to her feet as her short ears pin to her skull. “O-Oh. Um. Yes. I’m fine. Thank you.”

The sandslash bows to Nia and Junie and hurries off without another word, the lumber sled trundling along behind her.

Nia frowns at the Pokémon’s retreat. They didn’t, like…offend her or something, did they?

“Don’t worry,” Carnelian says, sidling up beside Nia. “I-I think she was just embarrassed. She’s the quiet sort. Usually her son is with her and he does most of the talking.”

Nia still feels unsure, and glances around at the feeling of eyes on them. A few of the townsfolk are indeed watching Nia and Junie, though Nia can’t tell how they felt about that little exchange from their neutral expressions and murmured conversations.

Carnelian starts talking again with a bit of forced cheer, leading them back towards the guest lodgings, so Nia tries to put the incident out of mind as she and the others follow the little ghost type.

When they walk inside the guest lodgings, Nia perks up at a welcome sight.

“Fidel!”

The zoroark is awake, sitting up in his nest with a quilt around his shoulders. Samir is lying next to him, the two of them peering down at two open books. They look up as the group enters.

“You’re okay!” Junie says. She flutters over to perch on Samir’s blanketed back and gives Fidel a quick once-over.

“How’re you feeling?” Nia asks, hurrying over as well.

The zoroark’s eyes are heavy and his mane is a mess, but he manages a tired smile. “Hello, you two. Good to see you’re all unharmed.”

“Well, most of us,” Junie says, tugging playfully at one of the leaves wreathing Samir’s neck.

Samir rolls their eyes. As if to prove something, they stand up—on all four legs. They give a little trot around the open space surrounding their beds.

“You’re healed!” Nia says, tail wagging. She’ll never get over how quickly Pokemon recover. It’s incredible.

Junie, riding atop Samir’s back, laughs. “Okay, dude, we get it! Stop showing off. Man, Eira really knows her stuff, huh?”

“That she does,” Fidel says, watching with a smile as Samir settles back down. Tobias gestures for the skiddo to extend their leg so he can take a curious look at the injury, still wrapped up in bandages. “She used some kind of poultice made with a ground-up root, and Samir was up and about in hours.”

“And you?” Tobias asks. He looks up at Fidel.

“Still not great,” Fidel admits. “Very sore. But I’m alive, and I hear that I have you all to thank for that. So thank you.”

The zoroark says that last sentence seriously, making purposeful eye contact with each of them. Nia can imagine he’s probably thinking of Asher, of what would’ve happened if he hadn’t made it back home to his son.

Nia swallows a lump in her throat. “Of course. We wouldn’t leave you behind. I’m just…I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you in the first place.”

Fidel shakes his head. “No no, none of that. You have to keep yourselves safe before you can help anyone else. And you came back for me. That means more than you think, even if the father in me wants to scold you all for endangering yourselves to do so.”

“Aww, you’re such a softie!” Junie says, fluttering up to perch atop Fidel’s fluffy head. “Literally and metaphorically.”

“So did Eira give you two the all-clear?” Tobias asks, glancing between the two injured ‘mon.

Samir nods with a satisfied look on their face.

Fidel grimaces. “Afraid I’m on bed rest for at least another day. Apologies that I can’t be of more help.”

Junie snorts. “You’re not missing much. We literally just sat in a cave all day while Carnelian and Nouf dug a hole.”

“She’s not wrong,” Nia laughs.

“I think we can manage on our own,” Tobias agrees with a smirk. “We’re supposedly there to guard the diggers in case they stumble across Yveltal or there’s a cave-in or something, but I think the Matriarch just wanted to stick Soren in a hole with someone and make him socialize.”

Fidel rumbles a quiet laugh. “You don’t sound very fond of this Soren fellow.”

“Right, you haven’t met him yet,” Nia realizes.

“Lucky duck,” Junie grumbles.

While the rookidee starts telling Fidel about Soren in very unkind terms, making Tobias snort, Nia flops back into their nest and closes her eyes, fatigued after the long day of aura training and tense conversation.

They haven’t found Yveltal yet, but maybe tomorrow will be more fruitful.

[flawseer]

Jade Mountain Academy students

#7 - Rainwing chapter

Ah yes, the Rainwings, a.k.a. "the ones where my friends will disown me if I get them wrong". I ended up making some changes here; particularly with Coconut, who is depicted as green in the graphic novels but described as lavender in the books. I tried to do something with elements from both. This had a bit of a knock-on effect on Siamang, because having two purples in the set seemed a bit lame for a group that's supposed to be really vibrant and colorful, so I went a bit off-script there. This is the result; I hope it is palatable.

Also, that makes 36. 36 dragons.

Kinkajou

Tribe - Rainwing

Winglet - Jade

Color - Saffron yellow and pink (resting color)

Relatives - none on site

Clawmate(s) - Moonwatcher (Nightwing), Carnelian (Skywing)

Favorite subject - "All of them"

Least fav. subject - did not disclose

Physical characteristics - kinked horns; triangular patterns along neck, torso, and tail; venom scars on right wing membrane; small size, slight build

Other characteristics - very energetic; good work ethic; has signed up for every extracurricular activity available (commendable, but maybe monitor, encourage proper rest); currently displays no immediate signs of post-traumatic stress, but continue monitoring on suggestion of Queen Glory (make aware of counseling options)

Tamarin

Tribe - Rainwing

Winglet - Gold

Color - Cobalt blue and yellow (resting color)

Relatives - none on site

Clawmate(s) - Onyx (Sandwing)

Favorite subject - Anatomy

Least fav. subject - Literacy

Physical characteristics - light, oval-shaped patterns along neck, torso, tail, and limbs; medium to heavy scarring along ventral neck and torso; hatched blind, eyes are a milky blue; smallish size, plump

Other characteristics - good work ethic; inclined towards care of plants; appears capable of navigating premises by herself, has requested not to be offered aid unsolicited; has suggested a class/seminar about medicinal plants

Boto

Tribe - Rainwing

Winglet - Silver

Color - Lime green and light gray (resting color)

Relatives - none on site

Clawmate(s) - Changbai (Icewing), Thrush (Skywing)

Favorite subject - Homeroom

Least fav. subject - Anatomy

Physical characteristics - splotchy patterns along neck, torso, tail, and limbs; freckles; average size, average build

Other characteristics - appears to have integrated well; average work ethic; no particular issues to report

Coconut

Tribe - Rainwing

Winglet - Copper

Color - Lavender and green (resting color)

Relatives - none on site

Clawmate(s) - Marsh (Mudwing)

Favorite subject - Cultural Exchange

Least fav. subject - Exercise

Physical characteristics - circular patterns along neck, torso, tail, and limbs; smallish size, plump

Other characteristics - tends to forget about assignments often; falls asleep in class and hallway; appears to have trouble acclimatizing to academy life and school rules (currently in counseling, consider pulling from student body if behavior cannot be improved)

Siamang

Tribe - Rainwing

Winglet - Quartz

Color - Autumn leaves (resting color)

Relatives - none on site

Clawmate(s) - Arid (Sandwing), Garnet (Skywing)

Favorite subject - Cultural Exchange

Least fav. subject - Science

Physical characteristics - long, bent horns; dark patch on ventral side of neck; semi-circular patterns along neck, torso, tail, and limbs; small horn-like thorns protruding from center of forehead; tall size, slight frame

Other characteristics - mellow, seems to get along with most dragons; interested in locally available fruit; appears to enjoy experimenting with fruit juice to create drinks (encourage, make space available, but also monitor)

[fishnapple]

Channelled message: The moment they fall in love with you

(lover/partner/future spouse)

This is a general reading meant for multiple people. Take only what resonates and leave out the rest.

Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find the reading resonated with you, leave a comment, I’d love to know 🎐

About me | Masterpost

Book a reading with me - KO-FI (Read this post : personal reading)

1. Carnelian

I have to admit that I look like a human being but sometimes I feel like an oyster. I wish I could have their shell, hiding myself behind a sturdy, protective barrier that no one can touch me. I would feel invincible in my weakness, in the darkness that my shell provided, taking a peek only now and then. You must be getting tired of this hide and seek game that I subjected you to, to be an unwilling gamer.

But even then, you excelled at that game, just like in everything you do. How did you beat the game? You ignored the rules, of course. You didn't let me hide, and what is there to be sought if there was no hiding.

You were a magician, transformed the most dire thing into the most hopeful thing. A magician with an X-ray machine, you peered into my inner most thoughts and feelings without opening my shell.

I felt scared and rage at first, who are you to dare to do that to me? I flipped out, of course, natural reaction of someone who had been in hiding for who knows how long. I got angry, I shouted, I cried, I held my breath, and I looked at you, begging you to stop seeing me, knowing me, accepting me. I must look like a clown to you back then.

But you just smiled. A triumphant smile, the smile that someone has after searching for something for so long and finally found it. I could feel you saying this to me: "I'm not an oyster and I'm not the kind to fall in love with an oyster, stop role-playing and sit with me side by side."

And that was how I turned into a proper human and learnt to love properly. Before, it felt like I was a story teller, someone looking from afar, at a safe distance, through the telescope, peered into life. I saw myself being with you, but I didn't really know the me who was being with you, how did they feel. And you reached out your hand, pulled the telescope aside, let me become the one that I had been watching all along and let me feel what they had felt.

I want to confess, sometimes I couldn't shake this dissociated feeling about everything. Sometimes, it feels like I was dangling between two worlds. But I have something new with me, a hope, a faith, that you would be there for me at that time, pull me back to you or accompany me in whatever that world I'm in.

Note: The moment your person falls in love with you would be when they feel seen by you, for all their light and darkness, the beautiful and the ugly parts of them. They're scared of this feeling, it makes them vulnerable. You unmask them, make them come out of their shell and be their real self, no more hiding. The way you do it is gentle and considerate, but the feeling they have will be devastating. They probably are someone who is more detached and isn't too involved with everything for fear of getting hurt. But after falling in love with you, even though the feeling of detachment about the world sometimes still lingers but they will also have the faith that there's someone who can see and understand them, who they can just be and come closer.

2. Aventurine

Sometimes, I feel like a bottle floating in this vast ocean of life. People around me, they seem to float right past me. If I could find a companion, then they would just stay for a fleeting moment and then ready to move on, leaving me behind to swim alone again. It never occurred to me that I might have looked at the wrong place.

Call me childish or sentimental, but whenever I looked at you, I felt like Ariel, the little mermaid, hiding behind the rocks to sneak a glance at the prince. You seemed so sure, so fine, so stable, so fixed, so opposite of me.

While I needed to hold on to something to keep me in one place and safe, you were just there, magnificent like the sun, without a care of the world. My soul was transfixed.

Many came to me with their offers, but their light paled in comparison to you, the true light. They were like the moon while you were the sun, and even though I'm a coward, I still dare to be ambitious and aim for the sun. It's like a moth to a flame.

Your smiles were and still are the warmest. They made the cold creature in me surrender and crawled out of the dark to actually stand in the light before you. Was it a kind of reverence? I dare not to use such a heavy word. And I dared not to impose my heavy feelings on you.

The moment I saw your light, I had already become speechless. I wanted to tell you many things, the good, the bad, the silly but I couldn't find the words. And that was fine, really. I found love in the silence of our existence together.

You taught me that life was not just about constantly swimming and floating but it can also be about being still and taking in all the things around us, and taking out all the things inside us. To lay them out on a table and let the other pick what they like, making a trade. You keep something of mine, and I keep something of yours.

Note: Before meeting you, falling in love with you, this person just floated through life with several superficial connections that, at the end of the day, made them feel even more lonely than before. There is a feeling of being lost in the dark, forever grasping for something. Then the moment they see you, your composure, your stillness and your stability will draw them in, probably a moment where you will display a sense of responsibility and confidence, being there for them, being their rock. They will feel a sense of finally being able to rest, to stand still and enjoy life.

Their temperament and yours are probably opposite of each other. Opposite attracts.

The moment they fall in love will also be the moment they put you on a pedestal, a fixed place for them to look up to. And at the same time, they will want to fuse with you, to possess some of your traits while you are taking in their influences. The feeling, the desire for belonging will be the spark that ignite their love for you.

3. Agate

You want me to tell you the moment that I fell in love with you? Can I be greedy and tell you many moments instead?

I don't have a love switch in me that can switch on and off suddenly. The concept of love at first sight perplexed me.

To me, loving you feels like the spread of the ink, the water that flows slowly, the trail that we keep walking on. I felt like a piece of paper with a corner touched by the tip of your pen absentmindedly. The ink just spread slowly, but everywhere, until the piece of paper turned completely into your colour. A natural progression, the inevitable.

We debated, we laughed, we played, we dreamed, we ran, we feared. All of those moments, together, made the ink soaked deeper and deeper still, forming indelible marks on me.

I had put a lot of thoughts into this subject, believe me, about why did I fall in love with you and I had no answer, to this day still don't. I'm afraid, actually, to find the answer. What if the moment I put a definition to it, the moment the answer materialise in my head, it becomes a checklist? If the things in that checklist become untrue, will I just fall out of love with you? I'm scared of my mind sometimes, it kills the magic. Yes, I believe in magic. Even if I know that the magic trick in the show is all about the sleight of hand, but in some corners of my heart, I still believe in the real magic of the act. A part of me refuses to see the logic, the reality. Let me dream a little and don't ask me to define the indefinable, that is our love. Let things stay inexplicable sometimes.

Note: This person refused to define any moment as the moment they fell in love with you. It's a gradual progress for them. Everything you guys did together is another drop of ink (their word) making the love deeper.

They couldn't tell the beginning of it, and they are afraid of thinking about it, actually. It makes them dread the possible ending.

To this person, love is a journey, stretched through the span of their life, there is no start point nor an end point. They are highly rational and in their head a lot. Notice that they used the word "think" and "head". But they are aware that a part of them, their heart, yearn for something magical, the inexplicable and they want their love to be that way, to escape the scrutiny of their head, to leave out the logic.

4. Citrine

I had a belief that life is supposed to be an endless journey. We constantly have to keep moving, never stop. Whatever we are doing, whoever we are meeting, one day, they will all go away, leaving us, alone, on our journey. And I had been living with that belief for a very long time. Until you.

Being with you made me question if it was really necessary to be always on the move, to be alone on my journey. Yes, it's necessary to be always on the move, but it's not necessary to be alone. Just like a ship, they stop, the passengers step out, new passengers step in, and the ship goes on. But the captain and the crews won't change, they are together with the ship. And I wanted you to be the captain of my ship.

Changes are good, but having someone going along with you through all of those changes is even better, or best. I moved a lot, I travelled a lot, constantly seeking, constantly reaching. It wore my soul down. Some days, I just arrived home then threw myself on the bed, exhausted, trying to sleep to save the energy for the next day. It went on and on, the motion. I had all these experiences, all these wonderful stories along my travels that I didn't know whom to share with. I didn't have someone to hold me when I felt shaken, to whisper that everything would be okay. Until you.

Maybe the path I need to travel wasn't just to some faraway places but also to you all along. For the first time, I wanted to hang on dearly to something, someone, to you and to our relationship. To have a real home, to see myself so connected to you that the thought of leaving would be immediately banished out of my mind, to imagine myself being a parent to our children. I contemplated all of these and I saw all of these in my mind, clear as day.

Note: Before being in a relationship with you, this person had been travelling alone, constantly on the move, never had concrete, long-lasting connections with anyone. Could be due to their job and environment that they had to move a lot. It made them exhausted and didn't have enough energy for anything else.

But by meeting you, being in a relationship with you, their belief has changed. They want a companion, someone whom they can commit to and build a stable life with. Even with all the travelling, they can still feel the sense of being anchored. That's when this person falls in love with you. Now they have someone whom they can offer their love, their stories to, whom they can imagine a future home life with, who can hold them close without holding them down.

5. Labradorite

I have always yearned to be a part of a romantic fairy tale since I was a kid. Keep this a secret for me, okay? I dream of the two characters meeting at the most fateful moment, going through many hardships, longing for each other, and finally, at the end of the tale, pulling each other into an eternal kiss. And guess what, I actually have that with you! Minus the ending part and eternal kiss, we don't end, and an eternal kiss will make us out of breath. But you get the gist of it.

The first time you had to go away, I thought I would be fine, it's not like you went away forever, it was just a trip. And then, with each day, I found myself growing more restless. Constantly asking in my head, "Hey, where are you now? What are you doing?" Talking with you through the phone wasn't enough, I wished we had a telepathic line constantly connected to each other. Oh wait, maybe we do, I even saw you in my dreams.

And then you came back. That moment when I saw you, I felt something bursting inside me, like a balloon kept getting bigger and bigger inside me, pressed and stretched my outside taut. It hit me like lightning, I was a tree rooted in one place and lightning just strike down. I burst open and revealed my thumping heart inside. Was I overreacting?

I wished the place that you and I met on that day were our home so that I could play the longing character and finally welcome their lover home. Your familiar face is the face I want to see whenever I open the door. Your laughter is the one I want to hear whenever I say something funny (in my mind) or ridiculous. And your embrace is the one I want to be in whenever I realise I have someone by my side.

Note: This person might develops feeling for you for a long time but won't realise it themselves. Until you have to go away someday, it won't be a true separation. Might just be a business trip or some long vacation.

Your absence will make them feel a longing for you that they can't really explain because the situation won't be dire and serious, just a normal, temporary separation.

When they finally get to see you, all those longing feelings will come bursting out, and that's when they will realise they love you. You guys will actually do many things that they fantasise about when they were a kid. It will feel like a truly magical thing for them.

6. Amethyst

Ah yes, we can always tell our children and our grandchildren how we felt in love at a party, making them jealous of our boldness. Now I'm getting ahead of myself.

What better way to celebrate than to have someone with you to share the joy with. You're always like that to me. Whatever joy I have, whatever joy you have, we've never failed to share it with each other. And I'm honoured.

My wish had finally come true. I have achieved many of my ambitions. I can confidently say that I had been working hard and I earned it.

And that's when I saw you. I can also confidently say that you looked stunning at that party. You looked happy and I could feel that somehow our happiness was on a similar wavelength.

I have to admit, the afterglow feeling of my success made me a lot more bold and optimistic than normal. If it was the past me, I would probably have swept the attraction under many layers of insecurities and nervousness. Trying to convince myself that it was just a delusion.

But here I was. I dared to look for love. I mean, I had achieved success in different areas, there's no way I couldn't be successful in love, right? Logical, you can't argue with that (of course you will)

Deep inside me, I probably had felt that love would be the biggest achievement I could get. And I was willing to set out again, to put my effort into achieving that dream, with you.

Note: This group is strangely short. This is a person that hides a lot of their thought to themselves and they find expressing what they feel through words is difficult. They are more actions oriented. Prefer to set out milestones and goals to achieve. They consider everything good in their life is their achievement.

You guys probably meet at a celebration party, maybe you won't be there to attend the party but just coincidentally in the same space, maybe a restaurant, an open space.

They will have achieved some big milestones that make them proud and more confident, they put in their effort and now they can reap the reward.

The feeling of joy will be heightened. And amidst that celebration, they will see you and fall in love, very likely a love at first sight situation. And they will believe that they can achieve happiness with you.

[heizlut]

Hallo! I am very new to tumblr, so please excuse any mistakes i may make qwq

I really enjoyed your Venti and Kaeya story(ies)! Could you do something similar for Lyney with the addition of a breeking kink? He doesnt have cat ears or a tail like his sister- instead, the feline side of him shows through his obsessive need to breed :x

jshdhdhd i’ve been thinking about this like crazy and i’m so glad we got to clarify a few details over messages before i wrote this! again, welcome to tumblr! i’m so glad you stumbled across my page🫶🏼 (was also totally inspired by the yaoi when writing this lmfao)

Jinx

cw: breeding kink, textured feline tongue, hypnosis, rope-play, mentions of pregnancy

tags: sub fem!reader, dom!lyney with recessive feline traits, mostly proofread

a/n: here's a lil translation for the pet names- "mon chaton"= my kitten; "mon cherie"= my beloved; "bonne fille"= good girl; “ma bonne fille”= my good girl

nsfw under the cut

m!list here

જ⁀➴✧:･.˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.・જ⁀➴✧:

Ever since becoming his girlfriend, Lyney found he had a particular jinx; all because one evening he fucked you so hard backstage before his performance, filling you so full of his sticky cum, and his show ended up being the greatest one yet. The next performance, he wanted to test out his little theory; fucking his cock into your tight cunt til his cum was leaking out and dripping down your thighs. Lyney had yet another show stopping performance.

When he told you his theory, you had simply laughed, “Seems like you just want to relieve some pre-show nerves. I doubt it’s some type of jinx, my love.” The cute little pout on Lyney’s face made it hard to take him seriously. You give him a kiss on the cheek, “I don’t mind this little routine though. If it means getting fucked so full of you before a show, I’ll do it.”

Tonight was a performance that Lyney knew he couldn’t fuck up. It was meant to be another show stopper with prominent Fontaine guests in the audience. You made your way to his dressing room as you usually did. Lyney was seated at his vanity touching up his hair when he saw your reflection behind him in the mirror. The corners of his lips curl upwards, “There she is~”

You smirk in response, “I have something special for you tonight…Master Lyney~” Lyney turned his body in his chair to face you as you begin to undo the buttons of your dress. The soft material slips off your body, revealing a red lacy lingerie set with a black garter belt that matched his. Lyney’s lips part, taking in every inch of you with his violet eyes. Lyney almost wanted to curse his innate feline genes for almost pouncing on you right then and there. The way you looked right now and using that title he'd teased you with before was almost too much for him to bear. He wanted to be able to take his time with you, or at least as much time as he could before he had to make his way to the stage.

Lyney gets up from his seat, sauntering over to you with a sultry look in his eyes. His fingers reach out, tracing the lacy edges of your lingerie, "Look at my sweet girl dressed so provocatively... Wearing my extra garter belt no less." He runs his finger under one of the straps and pulls it back and releases, letting it lightly slap back against your skin. Your breath catches in your throat as he does so. Arousal pooling against the thin fabric of your panties when he leans in, his lips grazing yours as he speaks in a low tone, "I have something special for you too, mon chaton~" Lyney backs away from you, the lingering touch from his lips sets you ablaze with desire.

Lyney digs through his pocket and pulls out a carnelian pendulum with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Be a sweetheart for me and keep your eyes on crystal, yes?" You draw your bottom lip between your teeth and nod, fixing your gaze on the pendulum. Your eyes follow the swinging pendulum as Lyney begins to speak, "Relax your mind and your body... Focus on the sound of my voice..." He continues on as you feel your mind go blank. He smirks at your dazed expression, now having you fully under.

He softly caressed your cheek, running the pad of his thumb across your soft lips, "Be a good girl and get the purple rope, yes?" All you can do is nod and follow his instructions. Lyney's cock twitches as he watches you bring back the rope he requested. He takes it from you hands and moves behind you, his lips against your ear, "Arms behind your back, mon cherie~" Of course, you comply. His voice filling your mind like a sweet melody that was only meant for you alone. A tingling sensation pricks at your skin as the ropes loop through your arms just tight enough for you to be forced to stay in that position, unable to touch him.

Lyney's fingers trace your skin as he moves to the front of you, admiring how gorgeous you looked. He takes hold of the straps of your pretty bra between his digits, using his pyro vision to carefully singe them just enough to let a piece of them burn away. The straps fall loose to your back and he singes the front connecting the cups. Your perky breasts are left exposed to his lustful gaze as the bra makes a soft noise when it lands on the dressing room floor. You squirm a little in your spot as the need between your legs begins to consume you. Your eyes stuck on his violet ones that burn with deep desire, "Be still, mon chaton."

Your lips part as you let a soft moan slip when Lyney cups your breasts in his nimble hands. He squeezes and massages them, mesmerized by the way the plushness squishes between his fingers. He lowers himself and leans forward taking one pebbled nipple into his mouth; his rough feline tongue flicking and swirling around it. Your body tries to fight against the hypnosis, desperate to tangle your fingers in his hair as his rough tongue does its work on your body.

Leaving your breasts sore and swollen, Lyney kisses down your body softly til he's eye level with your clothed cunt. His eyes flit up to your face, pleased to see you looking so needy. He taps your thigh twice, "Spread out so I can enjoy my pre-performance meal." You comply, taking a small step to the side to give him more room. Lyney smirks, "Bonne fille..." He places his hands on your thighs and licks a stripe through your thin panties. He lets out a broken groan at the scent and taste of you as your arousal soaked the material. Lyney tugs at the panties until they rip and glide down, now hanging loosely around one ankle.

Your moans fill the small dressing room as he dives in between your folds, lapping up your juices with his rough tongue. His grip tightens on your thighs as you shake with pleasure; his tongue relentless against your sensitive clit. White hot pleasure courses through you as you cum on his tongue, making him snarl as he overstimulates you, unable to get enough of your taste. "Please, Master Lyney~!" you cry out, feeling as though your legs are about to give out from underneath you. The title you give him and the way you taste and smell kicks his feline instincts into full gear. Lyney needed to breed you.

Lyney straightens up and tugs you by your garter belt to his vanity. He bends you slightly and tangles his fingers in your hair, pulling your head up to look at the reflection of you both in his mirror. "Oh, mon chaton... See the way you look right now? I simply can't resist~", he chuckles as you whimper when you're forced to look at how dazed and desperate you are for him. He undoes his pants, tugging them down just enough for his twitching cock to bob free against your ass.

Lyney's hands travel down your curves and to your round ass, giving your cheeks a light squeeze. He spreads them apart, giving himself a better view of your leaky pussy. He moves his hips, letting his fat pink tip rub against your cunt and gather your arousal. Lyney stills himself, his tip pushed against your wet entrance as he leans over, locking eyes with you in the reflection, "Keep your eyes on us." Unable to do anything other than what he says, your eyes widen as a pretty cry leaves your lips as he pushes himself inside of you.

His fingers dig into the fat of your hips as he fucks into you deep and hard. Lyney completely loses it when he sees your eyes flutter and drool slips from the corner of your mouth as you keep your eyes on the lewd display. His pace becomes harsh as the tip of his thick cock bullies your insides over and over, "Need to breed you nice and full... Need to see your cute stomach swell with my children- Fuck, mon amour...-" His hips stutter when he sees the white ring of cum that had formed at the base of his cock. Lyney lets out a breathy chuckle, running his fingers though his hair, “Creaming around my cock? You must really want me to breed you, huh”

You’re so fucked out the only way you can respond is by moaning over and over. You looked angelic and so fucking slutty that when your eyes crossed in pleasure and your tits bounced in time with his thrusts, Lyney releases a whiny moan. With a final thrust, his hot cum floods your fluttering pussy. His cock throbs as he regains his senses, groaning as he pulls out and his cum begins to leak from your cunt.

As much as the sight of his cum leaking from you filled his ego, Lyney needed it to take. Quickly grabbing a silicone prop, he pushes it inside your pussy with a curved smile, "You shouldn't let my seed go to waste. We need to keep you stuffed full 'til my cum takes..." Your eyes meet his devious ones in the vanity mirror, still looking for more. A sudden knock on the door causes Lyney to snap from his thoughts as Lynette's voice sounds from the other side, "Lyney, it's time."

"I'll be there in a moment!", he calls back and then lets out a sigh. His gaze returning to your dazed one. Your were still under his hypnosis... Lyney's voice is saccharine when he speaks his next words, "Sit still at my vanity and don't even think about covering up or fucking yourself on the prop that's keeping my cum in you." A sly smile forms on his lips when you let out a small whimper when you sit, making the silicone prop push deeper inside of you. Lyney presses a slow kiss to your lips and smiles, "Ma bonne fille..." He readjusts his clothes and fixes his hair one last time before heading out for his grand performance,

And what a performance it was. A standing ovation, thrown flowers covering the stage, and raving reviews from the prominent figures of Fontaine; all thanks to you. Lyney walks back to his dressing room and his lips curl up when his gaze lands on your shaking, restrained body still sat as his vanity as your own arousal had pooled in the chair. You were his lucky charm, his special jinx; and oh how he would reward you for being so perfect.... Breeding you time and time again.

જ⁀➴✧:･.˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.・જ⁀➴✧:

a/n: i turned myself on just writing this lol also plz if you’ve read the yaoi i referenced, let’s be friends lmao