#so he traded the safety of cal's family instead

[animatedjen]

Well look what you've done, you dumb bastard. You fell for it.

[capricornus-rex]

Old Friend, New Family (2)

Requested by: Anon | Prompt:

Hey I was wondering if you’d take a prompt where the reader is an ex-padawan who’s master died pretty early on in order 66, and was instead saved by a clone that removed his inhibitor chip. Then maybe they get separated, and years later when the reader is a crew member on the Mantis, they come across the clone again? How would the crew, especially Cal and Cere, react to meeting a friendly ex-soldier clone who’s close with the reader? Could you make it full of angst then fluff? Love your writing!

Tags: Defected! Clone Trooper, Jedi Survivor! Reader, Order 66 Survivor

Also posted in AO3

Previous: Part 1 | Next: Part 3 | Masterlist

2 of ?

The Kel Dor master used the Force to open the door and at least five Clone Troopers clustered together at the door, blocking your only exit out of the room, and it’s only the two of you against them. Taking cover from their fire behind the office desk, banking their shots was the only possibly strategy if you want to get out of the office and to the Starfighters.

Mere minutes ago, you were guarding against blaster fire from droids… and now you’re trading them with your own clones—the men who you thought were your most trusted allies.

This can’t be happening! What went wrong?!

The distress in your mind was loud enough for Master Karos to take notice.

With your backs pressed against the desk for cover, Master Karos could only afford a few seconds to tell you a compressed version of his plan within less than twenty words.

“Padawan, listen to me very carefully. The clones have betrayed us. The Starfighters—we have to get to the Starfighters. It’s our only way of escape!”

“I don’t understand what’s happening. Why are they trying to kill us all of a sudden!?”

“The Council must have an answer for this. In the meantime, we have to get out of this palace and get to the landing pad. We have to get rid of those at the door. Ready?”

You nodded and followed your master’s lead. It appears some of them hugged the wall and blindly fired from where they hid. The last Clone Trooper standing in your way of the exit fell lifeless to the ground.

“The exit’s open! Go, [y/n]!” the Kel Dor bellowed.

You leaped over the pile of bodies that blocked the door from ever closing. The corridor is seemingly empty, but you’re half-anticipating that there would be more. Master Karos clutched your shoulder and bent down so his eyes are level to yours.

“Stay close to me. Keep running and don’t look back. Understand?”

You were stuck between catching your breath while fighting back sobs as you’re scared and confused all at the same time. The only reply he got from you is a nod, but it was an answer nonetheless. He stole a moment to look at you—suddenly, he remembered that small, bright-eyed child in the Temple and he stroked the back of your head before standing up.

Perhaps, this is the first time you saw him genuinely smile past his protective mask—and apparently the last.

“Now, [y/n]… Run!”

Keeping up with your master’s running pace, the clone troopers came from all sides of the halls. There was no need for close combat, though you had to deflect their blasts in quick succession—some ricocheted against the walls, others met its mark on the clone troopers’ bodies.

“Almost there, [y/n]—keep running!”

The more you both ran, the little you did in protecting yourselves from the clones in using your weapons, it was more evading their fire when it was only two of three of them—you only whipped out your saber when there was more of them waiting for you to show up in the next turn.

In bigger groups, Zal Karos would simply incapacitate the clones with his Force push and shut the door by destroying the panel. Later on, you ended up running ahead of him while he covers you from the flank. You went ahead in the next turn, but you were too eager to escape that you didn’t look the other way.

“I found the child!” the clone shouted and pulled the trigger on you.

Your last-minute deflect was flimsy, resulting to the projectile grazing the corner of your shoulder. The next shot was better and you returned fire to the clone trooper who injured you before continuing on.

“Master, I see the landing pad!”

“Good, [y/n], come on!”

By the time you got to the entrance of the landing pad, the clone troopers at your tail have increased in numbers. Master Karos could only hold them off enough for you to reach your objective. You’ve returned to the scene of the carnage from the siege that transpired mere minutes ago, but you and your master have been outnumbered by the clone troopers closing in on you from behind.

“Nowhere to run.” One of the clones snarled with a sinister persistence.

Indeed, it seems that there is nowhere to run. The Jedi Master saw only one last possibility for survival—and he wasn’t in it. However, he knew that perfectly well, and he made peace with that just now.

“[y/n], my Padawan, whatever happens… Survive!”

“What…?!”

The clones raised their rifles in full unison and their fingers curled against the triggers; a second’s notice was all he can afford but it was all Master Karos needs—he lifted you high up with the Force, he tossed you away to a distance far from the circle of clone troopers that surrounded you. From where you lie, you could barely see him over the clones’ shoulders that stood in the way, with your limited view you can see that he continued to fight even when it was a dozen to one.

The beams of the projectiles illuminated the circle of troopers and then you watched his body falter and jerk for every shot he took. You saw Zal Karos’s body fall flat to the floor but the clones continued to fire at him.

He fell down with his face turned to you, even with such a long distance, you can tell that your eyes meet.

“NOOO!!!” you screeched.

There was nothing you can do about him now.

SURVIVE, [Y/N]!

You heard his voice in your head, and that was enough to snap you back to your senses. Seeing that you were back outside in the city proper, you sought for a place to hide, stealing some detonators from fallen clones’ utility belts along the way for extra protection.

In the distance, the troopers exchange questions and orders.

“Where’s the little one!?”

“I don’t know, she can’t be far ahead!”

“Sweep the area! She can’t do much against us!”

You slipped into the wreckage of a LAAT gunship and hid in the cockpit for an indefinite time, despite its destruction, your size was enough for you to keep yourself out of sight. You curled into a ball, hugged your knees as you wept for this disaster and for your chaos. An ocean of questions flooded your little mind as the trauma slowly devoured your willpower.

Is it over?

Am I going to die here?

Please, anybody… help.

In a time that felt like days have passed, the thunders of war seemed to have ceased. You crawled out of your hiding spot and attempted to return to the scene where you saw Master Karos for the final time.

Master, did you die because of me? Because you had to save me? Did you really think I was helpless or useless or both?

Your feet dragged through the body-strewn streets of the city, careful not to step on any of the fallen clones’ bodies, you looked around and saw their lifeless eyes peeking through the broken portions of their helmets—you felt a chill crawl down your already-weak spine—but continued on.

Eventually, you found Master Karos’s body left to rot in front of the city gates. The dust has settled on his robes as he remained in the last position you saw him. You knelt down and gently rolled him over with the remaining strength you have in your body right now. His skin has paled, his head bobbed to your direction, and knowing that there is nothing you can do anymore, you clutched his cold, dead hands and hunched over his body to weep.

“It’s over…” you sobbed. “We lost… I’m sorry, Master.”

The wind has picked up, the inferno crackled from the distance, and you remained there with your master on the ground; you stayed there until you could regain enough strength to bury him. It’s the only honor you can bestow to him. Even though you’re stricken with grief, you can sense someone approaching you; you feigned, pretending that you don’t anticipate the stranger coming to you, the click of the safety prompted your ear to twitch.

What good can fighting do, anyway? I’m as good as dead.

You slowly raised your arms while still hunched over your master’s body.

“Oh, hey… Kid, are you okay?”

You’re startled by the compassion of the voice behind you—it was obviously a clone’s voice. Slowly lowering your hands and then glancing over your shoulder, you were correct when it was a clone but he didn’t behave hostile and trigger-happy like the others. The first thing you noticed is the motif of a horned creature with fangs painted above his helmet’s visor—from that, you knew which clone this was.

“Strig?”

He took off his helmet and revealed his face, confirming his identity—his head was shaven but growth had begun to show, a faint stubble traced his jaw and ended with a goatee, and the same motif was tattooed on one side of his head.

He was cautious with how he approached you, knowing that you’re obviously terrified with what transpired mere hours ago. He noticed the way you scoot closer to your master.

“Are you hurt?” he asked you again.

He slowly reached for your jaw, but you avoided him, apparently there was a cut that you must’ve gotten when Master Karos tossed you out of the line of fire; and then his hand hovered to your shoulder, pointing to where the blaster graze is.

Your fingers absentmindedly tapping the wound with the dried blood. “Are you going to kill me now?”

The clone’s eyebrows furrowed together, “No, why would I do that?”

“Because everyone else tried to.”

The clone sighed, seeming to be in the same page of confusion as you are—the only difference is that he has a better inkling about the manslaughter that happened hours ago. The seemingly-defected clone offered you his hand and helped you back up on your feet.

“Strig… what’s happened? Why did the clones tried to kill us?”

“That’s… look, it’s a bit complicated, [y/n],”

“Believe me, I’ve seen more complicated things to understand,”

Strig sighed when he knew you’re going to persist for answers. He sidetracked you on offering to help you bury Master Karos’s body.

“That was what you’re planning to do, right?”

“Yeah, I just… I was just too weak to move.”

“Okay, kid, let me give you a hand.”

The clone helped in digging the hole, in the meantime, you tore off the pauldron bearing the insignia of the Jedi Order, and then used the Force to gently put Master Karos along with his lightsaber in his final resting place. The pauldron acted as a marker.

“I’m sorry if it’s not much, Master. And I’m sorry that I wasn’t strong enough to save you. Still, I hope you find peace—for you are now one with the Force.” You prayed on your knees.

After your prayer, Strig helped you again on your feet, “Come on, kid. There’s nothing left for us here. But you don’t have to be alone anymore, you know. I got your back—as long as you promise you have mine!”

[maluminspace]

Genre: Fluff

Pairings: Calum Hood/Michael Clifford

Word Count: 1.8k

Requested: by @myfalsedevotion​

Ravenclaw Calum, Gryffindor Michael, helping someone who's feelings are hurt, and the Astronomy Tower or the owlry :3 

Trigger Warnings: strong language, bullying

A/N: You all know I love writing a bit of Angst about my boys! I hope you enjoy this, Vicky <3

***

The wintery, late afternoon sunlight gave the owlery an especially sleepy feel as Calum bounded into the large, cavernous room. His cheeks were flushed from running and he almost slipped on the straw-covered floor in his haste to catch up with his boyfriend. “Michael…” He called, his voice betraying just how deeply concerned he was. “Please don’t freeze me out, sweetheart.”

A few of the birds ruffled their feathers angrily at the disruption that the arrival of the two fifth years had caused to their afternoon naps.

“Just leave me alone, Calum!” Michael sobbed, his voice echoing around the empty space as he leaned on the ledge of one of the glassless windows lining the lower level of the cylindrical stone walls. He was staring out across the school grounds, his Gryffindor robes billowing out around him in the cold draft sweeping through the building.

The Ravenclaw boy sighed sadly as he traipsed across floor. “I’m not leaving you, Mikey.” He stated stubbornly. “I need you to tell me what happened. Luke said that some Slytherin pricks upset you.”

Unfortunately, the values that used to be so prominent within Slytherin families during the wizarding wars, lingered on in some of their children and grandchildren. Sometimes, Calum wondered if those horrid ‘pure bloods are superior’ views would ever really die out. It made him immensely sad to think about, because some of his very favourite people at Hogwarts were muggle born or had at least one muggle parent. In fact, his very favourite person in the entire world was muggle born and he refused to let his precious Michael get bullied over such out-dated nonsense. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Michael sniffed, wrapping his arms around himself as if to protect himself from the chill or some other invisible discomfort as his shoulders slumped. “Please just let me be by myself for a bit, will you?”

Just as Calum stopped to consider his boyfriend’s request, his beautiful tawny owl, Greta, glided past him to perch on the stone ledge next to Michael. The Gryffindor boy stroked the bird gently with the back of his fingers. “Sending your owl to watch over me isn’t leaving me alone, Cal.” He sighed, although his fondness for the bird and her owner was undeniable.

“I didn’t tell her to fly over there.” Calum shrugged, cautiously taking a step closer to the slightly older boy. “She just loves you… She hates it when your sad.”

Calum had never really understood quite why Michael always came all the way up to the owlery when he was upset. The slightly older boy was utterly terrified of heights, yet he chose one of the tallest buildings in the castle grounds to seek refuge in. It was also quite a work out getting up all of the stairs, not that he’d ever consider that as a reason not to follow his boyfriend to what he clearly believed to be his safe place. No matter how strange that choice may appear to be.

A tiny watery chuckle escaped Michael as he wrapped his gold and burgundy Gryffindor scarf tighter around his neck. “She’s a good friend.” He admitted, “I don’t have that many of them.”

“You’ll always have me…” Calum smiled gently, continuing his slow and tentative steps towards his boyfriend.

Michael stubbornly kept his gaze fixed ahead, refusing to spare calum even the smallest glance. “I don’t know why you even want to be with me, Cal. I’m just a…”

“Hey.” Calum interrupted, knowing all-too-well that his boyfriend was likely about to say something disparaging about himself. “You’re perfect, sweetheart, how many times do I have to tell you that before you believe me?”

Finally turning to face the Ravenclaw, Michael wiped away the fresh tears that had started to fall from his pretty green eyes. “You’re the only one who thinks that, everyone else hates me because I’m a dork, or because I’m not into quidditch or because I’m your boyfriend or because I’m a ‘mudblood’” His voice trembled on the last word as he buried his face in his hands. 

Anger built up inside Calum much faster and hotter than ever before. “Who fucking called you that?” He asked, trying hard to keep his voice steady. “That’s disgusting, Mike, I’ll hex the fuckers into oblivion I swear…” His sentence trailed off as Michael’s renewed sobs cut through his furious rant. 

“I just want to leave!” The dramatic sentence bursting from the Gryffindor like a bolt from the blue. 

Calum froze, trying to process the weight of what his boyfriend had just said. Michael turned back to face the school grounds, tears still glistening on his flushed cheeks. The slightly younger boy took a moment to recover as he reached out to place a hand on Michael’s shoulder. “You want to leave Hogwarts?” He asked thickly over the lump rising in his throat. 

Nodding silently, Michael started to absently pet Greta again, running the back of his fingers over the soft light brown feathers of the back. 

“Can we at least talk about how I might be able to help?” Calum tried, tentatively moving closer to his boyfriend so that he could wrap an arm around him. “You never talk to me when shit like this happens. You never talk to anyone”

Michael sniffed at the Ravenclaw’s words. “People already hate me, Calum. Getting you to stand up for me isn’t going to improve their opinions of me at all.”

Wrapping his arms fully around Michael’s waist and resting his head on the blonde’s shoulder, Calum sighed sadly. “But you’re such a talented wizard, Mike… You’re on course to get an ‘outstanding’ in every O.W.L exam you’re going to take. Very few people have managed that, sweetheart, your talents shouldn’t be wasted.”

Michael leaned back into Calum’s hold, still stroking Greta gently. “Maybe I could get transferred to a different school?”

“You could…” Calum frowned. “But then I’d have to come with you, because any school, even Hogwarts, would be completely shit without you.”

A tiny laugh escaped Michael as he twisted slightly to look at the Ravenclaw boy. “And people say I’m the clingy one?” 

Calum feigned offence at  the allegation that he was clingy but tightened his hold around Michael to keep as close as possible. “I just love being with you, sweetheart.” He smiled softly, “I’m terrible at herbology but it’s my favourite class because I get to be with you.”

Michael relaxed a little against the taller boy, allowing the ghost of a smile to curl his lips. “You’re not terrible at anything. You’re a perfect Ravenclaw, Cal; achieving high grades in every one of your classes, you’re the king of extracurricular activities, a celebrated seeker that’s tipped to be the next captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team, you’re popular amongst all of your classmates and one of the most fancied boys in the whole school. No wonder people think you’re wasted on me.”

Gently turning Michael around to face him, Calum painted a determined expression on his face. “Don’t talk like that, Michael. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I don’t even want to think what my life would be like without you in it.”

“Don’t I drag you down, though?” The Gryffindor asked, his voice quiet and a little nervous. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to run up here after me every time someone’s mean to me?”

“Fuck ��easier’” Calum scoffed, stroking his thumbs over Michael’s shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “The only thing I want is for you to come to me instead of the fucking owls when you’re upset.”

Michael’s bottom lip trembled slightly as he tried to hold back more tears. “But you don’t need my shit disrupting your life…”

“You’re not a disruption, Michael, you’re a fucking angle and if protecting you means that I have to miss wizarding chess club or spend a little less time on my charms homework, then I’ll happily make those sacrifices. You and your safety are way more important than any of that.”

Smiling a bit brighter, Michael curled into Calum’s chest, nestling his head beneath the taller boy’s chin. “I love you, Calum” He muttered. “I just wish I was a bit more like you.” Before Calum could voice his disapprovement, Greta let out an angry hoot of her own before clacking her beak irritably. Michael giggled into the Ravenclaw’s robes. “I don’t think Greta likes the idea of me being more like you. Are you sure she’s your owl?” 

“I think she hates the idea of you not being who you are.” Calum confirmed, stroking Michael’s hair tenderly. “You’re a pretty perfect version of yourself already”

Michael scoffed. “Not according to everyone else. Apparently I don’t belong here. ‘Mudbloods’ should be taught somewhere else, Hogwarts should only be for purebloods according to Hermivis Fotter and Bradley Grangman...”

“Those two trolls, need a fucking punch in their stupid faces!” Calum growled angrily. “I can’t believe they’d say that to you.”

“Really?” Michael questioned, a note of mild surprise in his tone. “They say shit like that every single day.”

Pulling back to look Michael in the eye, Calum searched his boyfriend’s face carefully. “Why don’t you talk to me, sweetheart? I could get those two off your back with one well-aimed pus-squirting hex. I’ve been dying to use that on someone, to be honest.”

Michael’s face softened as he chuckled quietly. “As much as I’d love to see that, the last thing I want is for you to get detention for the rest of the term. Who would I spend my afternoons trading Chocolate Frog cards with and eating Crystallised Pineapple with if you were stuck in a teacher’s office writing lines or cleaning potion bottles?”

Smirking slightly Calum placed a brief kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “Does that mean you’re going to stay at Hogwarts? You’re not going to leave for some fancy new school in Europe or something?” He asked hopefully.

Michael nodded, a somewhat exasperated sigh escaping him. “I couldn’t leave you here to take over my title as the best gobstones player this school has ever seen, can I?”

The Ravenclaw kissed his boyfriend again, trying to pour very ounce of love he could into the small gesture. “That’s my baby.” He grinned, “I’ll go to your head of house with you to report Fotter and Grangman whenever you’re ready, yeah? Until then, I can kiss you until you care a lot less about what they say. Deal?”

Michael rolled his eyes fondly before pecking a kiss to the end of Calum’s nose and ruffling his jet-black curls. “You’ll use any excuse to kiss me…”

Calum nodded proudly, accepting that claim. “Can you blame me? You’re very kissable!”

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[mrneighbourlove]

Queen of the Red Sea: Beyond the Sea and Oceans

Gulper Bay was one of the biggest hotspots for pirate activity. A true wonderland for pirates, with trade able to be achieved in safety. Well, for the most part.

A bar fight broke out in good fun, a man flying across the floor. Landing at a Gerudo’s feet, he only saw a foot smack him in the face. The young woman laughed, and the bar gained a hardy laugh with her.

Captain Adda was the chieftain of the greatest band of Gerudo Pirates, hailing from the Great Bay of Termina. She was here today to let her crew enjoy a fun night after finding a huge cache of ancient jewels by fluke. Her real objective was a much greater treasure found in this sea. “Drinks for the man who can kick THAT guy’s ass!”

The poor large man got tackled by a bunch of other drunk men. Adda loved causing chaos here and there. Gerudo Pirates were getting drunk, trying to find suitable mates for the night. Wasn’t hard, as Gerudo were known to be exotic and rare, and the hormones of a man could easily be swayed. Adda kept away from any drink, at least for the moment. She wanted to be sober when she found her Voe.

Her first mate, a woman in big iron knuckle armour groaned in annoyance. “I hate this place. It stinks like piss.”

“Could be your attitude towards having fun. I’m ordering you to relax.”

“It’s my job to keep you safe Captain.”

“No Scarlet. Your job is one of three things. Find a guy to put a baby into you, find a buyer for all the loot we acquired, or three, get out of that heavy suit and get wasted on all the liquor here. Now go. You’re a buzzkill around me.”

Her bodyguard sighed and left her Captain to her own devices.

Captain Corsaire was in Gulper Bay to sell most of the loot he robbed from one of Danjur's cargo ships. After selling what he could, the pirate captain would then take the money and give it to his crew's family members and others in the kingdom who needed it more than he did. True, he did keep some for ship repairs and ammo, basic necessities as well, but most of the time, he kept very little for himself. His crew all knew his mission and were perfectly fine with being on the giving end instead of the receiving. After all, he had pulled all of them out of horrible situations and saw Corsaire as family. Tonight, he was treating his men to delicious tavern food, a game of darts, and a pint or two of the best beer of the seas.

"Cap'n," Rat approached Corsaire with some money earned by gambling on darts. Mojo and Juju never lost a game at darts, and to this day, still held their record. "You think we could use this to buy Seer some new boots? The ones he has are looking a little worn."

"Anyone else need anything?" Corsaire asked his quartermaster. "I think we've already stocked the kitchen."

"Acrobat's crutches have seen better days."

"All right, get him some new ones."

"We still have plenty leftover. Could buy your sisters something nice?"

"Nah, save it for the orphanage down the road." Corsaire took a sip of his drink. "Annie and Bonnie would rather have new seeds for their garden, I know how they are."

Adda noticed the freak with four arms first. That got her attention of the crew, lead by a scruffy looking rogue. Perhaps she’d test him out. Walking over she sat beside them with a devilish smile. “Hello boys. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.”

"I don't reckon I've a-seen you either, miss." Rat was the utmost gentleman to women, even if that particular woman was a pirate. "Enjoying the bar?"

Pockets caught Adda staring and promptly blushed, turning his attention to Acrobat and insisting on a game of pool. The rigger saw his friend's problem, and entertained the notion of playing pool. Acrobat was painfully shy with women, considering he had four arms instead of the usual two. That, and he was a giant of a man, not many were bigger than him.

Corsaire, however, was not interested in Adda's playful nature and continued to write down the divisions of the loot in his small notebook.

“Thank you.” Adda didn’t like that Corsaire ignored her, so she decided to be a little playful. Turning her attention to Rat she tipped her hat. “You the Captain here? Look like a Captain. Tall, muscular, getting the deck scrubber to write out your notes.”

"No, Corsaire is the captain, I's the quartermaster."

"I don't need any of my brothers to write for me, especially considering that Seer cannot see." Corsaire did not even look up from his notebook. He nibbled at the end of his pen, thinking for a moment. If half the proceeds went to the orphanage, then he could take the other half and divide it between his men and their families with enough leftover for everything needed on the ship.

"The captain is a-little busy right now." Rat tried to turn Adda's attention somewhere else, knowing he hated to be bothered while running the numbers.

“What was your latest score?” Adda said, her gaze back on Corsaire.

"None of your business." Corsaire still ignored her. "Please leave, you're annoying me."

"Ah! Cap'n just wants to finish his a-work," Rat knew when his captain was starting to get in a bad mood. "You can talk to him a-later, hear the story of the kraken, and have drinks all a-round."

"Pretty lady no bother de captain when doing the numbers," Mojo told Adda as he tossed another dart into the bullseye. "He needs to think."

"And cal-cu-late." Juju had a thick accent just like his brother.

Adda raised an eyebrow at the brothers. Their accents were annoying. She looked back at Corsaire, her amusement starting to waver.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have come to a bar if you wanted to behave like a nerd and get your homework done. You have problems with doing numbers? Need the other kids to settle down so you can be a good boy? And a Kraken? You think killing some calamari is impressive to a lady?”

"I have problems doing numbers when a bitch with a mouth won't leave me alone when I'm clearly not interested in the booty she's so desperately trying to get me to fuck." Corsaire had lost his cool and shoved his notebook in his pocket. Standing from the table, he headed for the exit. "I'll be on the ship when you boys are done having a good time. Make sure you help Seer back to the docks."

"Oh sweet goddess of the seas," Rat took in a deep inhale. "Miss, I'll show you a-good time in the captain's absence, let me take you to the bar and buy you-a drink."

Adda glared at Corsaire now, more aware of the pistols at her side. She didn’t often let people insult her to her face sober. “I see you have a black spot on you. You lose any of your brothers in taking down a Kraken? Hear any of their bones crack and give a nice loud pop? That why you in a bad mood? Or you just a naturally born pussy with a splintered peg up your ugly ass.” She gave a chuckle, but it lacked any real humor in it. “And is sex the only thing you can naturally conclude? You’d be honoured to have sex with me, bitch. I suppose I’d have to find someone else to assist me in securing a legendary treasure.” Adda looked at Acrobat, giving a teasing smirk. “I think Mr. Goro here has a bigger brain than you on how to be smart around a lady who can carve and staple your face to a mast.”

The rest of the crew heard her mouth and instantly frowned. No one liked it when Corsaire was mocked about the kraken incident. Mojo and Juju stopped their game of darts as Acrobat and Pockets halted the shooting of pool. Seer, who was being seen to by Bomba, both looked up from their food. Rat, who had tried to be a gentleman before, was now angry. It was clearly seen on his face.

"Cap'n is a good man."

"More than you will evah be."

"Saved us, we his brothers!"

"And I-I-I'm not a G-G-Goro."

"Yeah, lady, don't call him names, it's bad enough you're staring."

"Cap'n only fucks a proper lady," Bomba zipped by Adda with a look up and down, and then turned his nose up. "Not one that smells of ass."

"Can we get out of here before someone gets killed?" Seer was dragged along beside Bomba, the blind man able to get around on his own, but it was difficult in small spaces with people.

Adda was surprised, a rarity for her. She looked over the crew that boldly spoke up to her. Akin to a shark, her eyes were still, like a doll’s eyes, the devil’s eyes. Her mind contemplated if this was an insult she would punish, or a joke that she could find enjoyable.

Looking these misfits over, and hearing Mojo’s accent again, she laughed. Her laugh echoed a young cockiness found only in Gerudo, and a dash of dark insanity, not unlike Ganondorf. Like a joke only she found was funny. “You are all an interesting bunch. Here.” She put a sack of extra jewels on the table and started to walk away. “Sorry for intruding on you and your merry men. Enjoy the entertainment around here. You’ve peeked my interest. I’ll be keeping a close eye on you. Or maybe I’ll just kill you.”

"Damn, Cap'n, she's a crazy bitch." Bomba whispered to Corsaire. "Why didn't ya just knock her lights out with dat arm of yours?"

"Because a whore like that isn't worth it." Corsaire gestured for his men to follow him out of the bar, leaving a generous tip for the barmaid. "She wanted to start something and I wasn't going to let her get the best of me."

"What should we a-do with the jewels?" Rat asked.

"Give them to the barmaid. She has three mouths to feed and her husband ran out on her." Corsaire instructed his quartermaster. "She could use it."

"Shall we get the sails ready, cap'n?" Acrobat inquired as he hobbled along with his crutches. "Go tonight?"

"No, we still have business tomorrow. Let's get some rest and I'll take first watch."

"As you say, cap'n."

Adda sat down, getting her first drink of the night. “What a mother fucker...”

Scarlet walked towards her, eyeing the crew as they left. “You want me to take care of them?”

“What? No, no.”

“But they insulted you!”

“People insult me all the time. I’m the Queen bitch of the seven seas....” She took a solemn drink at that.

Scarlet felt enraged. “I’m gonna knock his fucking teeth out.”

Adda shook her head. “Don’t. A crew of misfits isn’t worth the trouble. I think I’ll just forget about them. Need to focus on finding a dummy crew to help us with our main objective. We didn’t travel across the world to pick random fights with some losers.”

Scarlet ignored her, stomping over in her huge armour right up to Corsaire’s face. “Hey, you!”

"Cap'n doesn't want to be bothered right a-now, thank you." Rat stood in the armored woman's way. "Leave him alone, and go back to your leader, miss."

"She sounds really heavy." Seer noticed the clanking of metal. "What in the seven seas is she wearing?"

"It's a b-b-big suit of ar-armor." Pockets told the man. "Like someth-thing you'd see at a c-castle."

"She gave you her time you assholes. She's the Chieftain of the last great Gerudo tribe left. Show some respect to her. She deserved her spot at the top, fought for it fairly. AND she smells wonderful, unlike you, you tiny bandana wearing, ugly tanned grease ball." Stabbing her words carefully, she turned and gave a low growl like a panther towards Bomba on that last comment. Adda rolled her eyes and continued her drink. Scarlet liked to be her hype-woman, whether she wanted it or not. "So, when my Captain gives you a proposition for business, sex, or whatever the hell else she wants, you can at least give her your time to listen."

Adda touched her own Bandana under her hat. Scarlet wasn't the most observant, or smartest. She turned her attention to the bar fight she instigated, still raging on.

"Cap'n Corsaire doesn't have to give anyone his time." Bomba huffed, puffing up his chest like a turkey. The teenager wasn't the brightest of the bunch and was pulled back by Rat. "I'll have you know, you metal lunk, that no one gets respect just because of some damn title and a nice pair of titties!"

"She does have big boobies." Mojo muttered to his brother.

"Aye, dat she does." Juju nodded.

Rat tossed Bomba over his shoulder before the kid got his head knocked off his shoulders.

"Listen, lassie, we don't want any trouble." Rat was trying to be the peacemaker, but it was proving to be a difficult task. "Kindly go back to ye boss, and leave us be. I'm saying this politely, because you a-know nothing of the cap'n."

Using his crutches, Acrobat nudged at her leg and pushed aside.

"Come on guys, the women have ruined the buzz at this bar." He hobbled down the steps with Pockets following after him. "Some ruin it for the rest of us, I swear."

"You were doing... doing g-g-g-ood at pool this t-time!" Pockets agreed as he helped his friend with the stairs. "Some p-p-people like her and the other... other lady are just... m-mean!"

"If your boss wants a man, there's a brothel that way." Seer pointed down the wrong street.

"Other way, Seer."

"That direction, excuse me."

All the while, Corsaire was groaning internally, just wanting to be left alone.

If Scarlet wasn’t pissed before, the blind man did it for her now. No one, no one, made a comment about their crew and a brothel under any circumstance. The Iron Knuckle gave the blind man a sucker punch to the face. “You calling us prostitutes?! You’re fucking dead!”

Adda looked over, watching her first mate grab Bomba up high over her head to throw at Rat. “Oh fucking hell…”

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, HE'S BLIND!!!" Corsaire jumped into action as Rat caught Bomba and set the teenager on his feet. Seer was out cold from the punch, his nose spurting blood. Pockets grabbed the downed cook and kept Acrobat behind him. Mojo and Juju drew their pistols and were ready to shoot. Before Scarlet could throw a punch at Rat for being distracted with Bomba, Corsaire caught one of the Iron Knuckles' fists with his metal arm, the clang echoing through the bar. "I don't know what your problem is, or your damn boss', but you do not hit Seer!!! You can hit me as much as you like, but you don't attack my brother who cannot see!" With that, he swung with his free hand, catching her in the jaw. "I'll fucking kill you if you touch him again. You won't hurt him, no one will ever hurt him again, he's suffered enough!"

"He wasn't insinuating anything, you stupid bitch!" Bomba hollered. "He was just giving directions, all women go to find male prostitutes around here!"

"Cap'n, calm down!" Seer exclaimed as he groaned, holding his nose. Pockets managed to shake him awake. "I'm okay!"

"We're leaving. Now." Corsaire ordered his men. "Let's find Seer a doctor."

"Cap'n, I'm okay---"

"Doctor. No bickering."

"... fine."

With that, the crew headed into town in search of a healer.

Scarlet grabbed Rat by the shirt, throwing him to the side. With a growl she put her helmet on. “I gave you a handicap. My mistake. You insulted my sister again and again. I’m going to collect a cup of blood from you for every insult you threw.” She measured a litre with her hands. The ironed giant threw a heavy swing at the old gladiator.

"Damn it, woman, what is your problem?!" Rat caught the swing and stopped Scarlet's movements. "Leave us alone!"

Mojo and Juju had had enough of this ignorance. While Rat caught the swing, Mojo let off one bullet, nicking Scarlet's head to get her attention, the helmet ringing like crazy, while Juju scraped her hand with a bullet. "Look, they miss... on purpose, lady. The next one will be in your head."

"I'll ask only once more or I'll give my men permission to take you down." Corsaire glared at Scarlet as he held Seer around the shoulders. "Leave us alone."

���Go to fucking-“ A shot rang out from Adda’s gun, ricocheting off Scarlets armour, the bullet going past Corsaire’s nose. Adda clicked the second shot ready to go in a instant. “Scarlet! What did I say!”

“But, Captain, they-“ A second shot ran off, into the one exposed part of her armour around her thigh. Scarlet cried out as she dropped down. “I don’t want to hear another goddamn ‘but’ out of you. I told you to leave them alone. You disobeyed an order and got into a fight, where you most likely would have gotten killed. But worse, you damaged my authority by disobeying me. You showed others that you don’t respect my leadership.”

Scarlet was crying now from all the pain, as well as disappointing Adda. “N-no Captain. I’m sorry. I just wanted to make them understand.”

“Understand what? That our crew goes around beating the shit out of cute blind men? What’s next, deaf elderly?”

“T-they insulted you.”

Adda shakes her head. “And it’s my call if I want to tear all four arms off the stuttering man or make a skin carpet out of the albino. You do not act out of term. Now I have to deal with the ‘code’, on why a gun fight broke out on ‘neutral ground’. Maybe even get exiled from this particular port. And that’s on you.”

“A-are you going to kill me?”

Adda tapped her gun. It was just her, Scarlet, and Corsaire’s crew watching. “No. Not today. But don’t you ever disobey me again. Now pick yourself up, apologize, stop sobbing, go find yourself a medic, and go back to the ship.”

Scarlet nodded, saying sorry over and over to each crew member. As she hobbled off, Adda twirled her gun back into her holster. “Apologies for your blind Voe’s injury. We can talk about his medical bill in the morning. See you around....”

As the two woman left, Adda sighed. “What the hell were you thinking girl?”

“I’m sorry Captain…”

“It’s ok. Let’s get you patched up…”

The crew felt their adrenaline drop as the Gerudo walked off. Bomba expressed the feeling in the air perfectly.

“What the HELL just happened here?”

~

It was an eventful night to say the least. After taking Seer to the doctor, where it was confirmed that he had a broken nose, the crew returned to the ship. After seeing Seer to bed to rest and recover, the rest of the men agreed to get some sleep while the captain took first watch. It was the first night in port in weeks, and the crew were more than ready to rest. As the men retired to their beds, Corsaire sat on the ledge while playing his harmonica. It was a quiet night and the stars were absolutely stunning. He blew a note or two and then leaned back against the rigging. Sighing, the captain traced the constellations with his fingers as he hummed.

"Dark and dangerous, deep and low,

Whispers of a treasure trove,

The sea witch and her serpent show,

To drag you to hell below.

Krakens, maelstroms, the witch's sea,

Hear my cry, hear my plea,

Water spirit of my dreams,

Take me home, on the blue wave's gleam."

Adda felt an odd sense of guilt. She should of approached finding help more directly. But pirates, let alone her, don’t ask for help outright. They need to be smart, manipulative. But in doing so she might have caused more trouble than she wanted. After calming Scarlet down from her wounds and knowing the rest of her crew were settled for the night, she asked around and took some bottles with her as she walked down the docks. The stars were indeed beautiful, and she needed some fresh air. Hearing the harmonica as she approached, she chuckled. Of course, the gruff rogue was a musician. She started to swagger up to the draw bridge to Corsaire’s deck.

"Oh fucking hell, no." Corsaire saw Adda trying to walk up the draw bridge and promptly jumped off the rigging onto the wobbly plank. The board bounced from his added weight and he had his hand on his pistol. He was ready for a fight if there was going to be one. "There ain't no way in the water spirit's good name that I'm letting the likes of you on me ship!" He glared at Adda. "Seer already has a broken nose, I ain't letting anyone else of me mates get hurt because someone doesn't like to be ignored." The captain always had his crew's interest at heart. "What do you want? I have half a mind to give you a broken nose, but I don't start fights with ladies unless I have to."

Adda steadied herself on the board, a little wobbly from a head start of drinking. She was a heavy weight, but if she wasn’t careful, she could fall into the water. “I came here to offer you a drink. I asked around and was told you’re a man of fine rum. Until I was told you’d rather enjoy whisky. So I brought both. As my way of saying sorry for the unnecessary trouble I brought. Think of this as wanting to restart a first impression.” She took out two thick bottles, a rum and whisky in each hand.

"...?" Corsaire was a little taken aback. He was not expecting this brash woman to come with drinks, much less offer an apology of sorts. Maybe someone knocked her silly or she was drunk. He was not sure what to think. "While I appreciate the offer of alcohol, I won't drink when I'm on watch. My brothers count on me." The captain declined the drink and then said, "However, that doesn't mean I cannot enjoy it later. If it doesn't offend your senses, I'll keep my whisky for a more appropriate time."

“Is the password ‘please’ for me to come aboard?” She said as she wiggled both bottles.

"Me ship's a jealous mistress, lass." Corsaire then gestured to the docks. "She's not called the Sea Witch for nothing. You think I want to risk her wrath?"

“Awwww, she can’t fit in another woman? Never know, she might like it~” Adda toned it down a little. “I’m not gonna hurt any of your brothers. Both them and my girls should be able to rest easy tonight. Now can I come aboard?”

"No." Corsaire was not buying into her attempt at flirting. When she asked again to come aboard, this time more serious, he crossed his arms, debating for a moment. Finally, he relented, begrudgingly, simply because she brought a peace offering. Snatching the whisky, he said, "On deck only."

“Got it. Want to pull up the bridge? Can help you relax more.” Adda walked up around the deck, feeling the wood below her. “Any story behind this Sea Witch? It see a dreaded battle? Acquired from a deal with an actual sea witch?”

"Nay, I leave it in case we need to exit in a hurry. Can't jump overboard with Seer, he cannot see where to swim, and Acrobat can't swim due to his legs." Corsaire did not have any chairs on deck so he simply pulled up a barrel for Adda to sit upon for the time being. "I built this ship with my quartermaster after my run-in with“...I’m sorry about making that crack at you. I was pissed that I hadn’t gained your attention. I know my own grievances about sea monsters....” Adda sat down and popped open the rum for the two of them. the kraken. Named her after the dreaded sea witch that took down me mentors."

“I’m sorry about making that crack at you. I was pissed that I hadn’t gained your attention. I know my own grievances about sea monsters.” Adda sat down and popped open the rum for the two of them.

"Some believe the story and others don't. It's not up to me whether the landlubbers think the Kraken is real or not." Corsaire took a spot on the opposite barrel. "I know it's real and I know better now than to ever mess with one of its kind again."

“I’d believe your tale if you’d believe mine. Why’d you fight a Kraken anyways? Was there a woman, a treasure, glory...or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

"Treasure and greed, lassie." Corsaire was honest, he saw no reason to lie. "Took me first crew to its lair, thought the story was a bunch of hogwash. Rat was the only sensible one to stay away. Took one of the lifeboats off the ship and stayed outside the cave." He chuckled halfheartedly. "That's the only time he ever disobeyed me. I lost me crew, lost me arm, but I blew that son of a bitch to kingdom come."

“So you actually killed your monster. Admirable. You feed the squidy some firepower?” Adda had a laugh, pouring them two drinks.

"Nah, it actually was devouring the first ship I stole." Corsaire shook his head at the drink, knowing he was on duty. "Several boxes of gunpowder fell into its mouth. I shot the box before it could eat me."

“Good thinking. Shame about your crew. They die quickly though?”

"Some drowned, some were crushed, and others were eaten." Corsaire shuddered to think about it. "Didn't really know the men, just said they could have whatever they could carry if we succeeded in finding the treasure. Rat rowed me back to land before I died and bargained for me this arm." He pulled off his glove, showing his metal fingers and wriggled them. "Some islander magic”, he said. “Lor-Lee-Li something... found it in a market and bought it for me."

“That’s the arm you threatened to punch me with hon?” Adda examined it, trailing her fingers down his mechanical bicep. “Nice craftsmanship.”

"It's not for sale, if that's what you're going to ask next." Corsaire snorted as she touched the metal, not able to sense her touch with the fake limb. "All I know is Rat said it was elemental magic from some island. Won't melt, won't break, just needs a good cleaning here and there." He put his glove back on his hand. "Banthorarium I think it was called."

“Don’t want to buy it. Now, my brave little Captain, it’s my turn to tell a story.” Adda stood up, taking another drink. “You ever hear of the infamous narrow trench?”

"Aye, I have. Sirens be there." Corsaire nodded.

“To us Gerudo, the charms of a siren are lost on us. But that is not the danger that concerned me was there. In this trench, in order to pass through, you must negotiate a narrow strait. Let me ask you a question Captain. Given the option, would you take a route that would chance either complete survival or complete destruction of you, your ship and crew, or take a choice to willingly sacrifice a member of your crew, but guarantee the rest of you and the surviving crew safe passage?”

"My crew, me mates, are my brothers." Corsaire told Adda as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the other barrels. "They'd lay down their lives for me and I'd do the same for them. I'd never willingly sacrifice one. We'd take the risk; all together alive or die together."

“HA! So you’d take the choice I didn’t make.” Adda looked back at the stars. “When I first became Captain, I took my crew on a large expedition, stealing from some rich snobs. They sent a navy after us, so I decided to take a quick shortcut to avoid capture. I was previously told of the story of Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla was a six headed sea monster who would eat members of ships that passed by. Charybdis was an even fiercer entity, who used hurricanes and whirlpools to swallow whole ships. On the left side of the ship we saw the storms. On the right, calmer waters. I took the crew through the right path. Like hell was I going to take us through the storm. Yes, I had a chance for all of us to survive, but we might have all died as well. Besides...” Adda took her sword out and made fancy sword play. “We were badass Gerudo warriors! The deadliest female crew of pirates to ever live! We could take down a monster of the physical flesh.” She stabbed her sword into her sheath, shrugging her shoulders. “Oh how wrong I was. Scylla shot forth from the water’s depths. It had this terrifying appearance. I could make out what was once human, I think. It was so uncanny. It shot forward, eating two crew members immediately. It just kept chewing them, slowly. The screams....god those screams.” Adda took another swig of her rum. “We fired enough cannon fire at the other heads and used our might to stay alive, but they just wouldn’t die. That was when the monster started attacking my ship, pushing it towards the left part of the straight towards Charybdis. It wouldn’t be denied it’s meal. So.... I made a choice. I shot four of my members in the feet and back. Scylla accepted the offering and ate them. With all six of her heads fed, she let us through. I had to make a sacrifice, right on the spot at such a young age.” Adda relaxed onto the barrel again. “Now, whenever I have to go through there again, I make sure I have the right sacrifices. I don’t want to sacrifice my sisters ever again.”

"Captains make mistakes and we pay for it then or later. It will always haunt us." Corsaire knew that at the time, Adda did what she felt she had to do to ensure the  survival of the majority of her crew. "Once, I might have made the choice you did if I ended up like my mentors. They started out on a good path... but by the end were lying, kidnapping, murdering rapists." He recalled the faces of the captain brothers, Azir and Hizir. "My own brother fell under their impression and he, too, lost his life by the sea witch along with our mentors. Perhaps if I had simply dragged my brother off their ship, he'd still be with me... or not. I'll never know for sure." He shrugged slightly, and then added, "But what I do know is no captain is perfect. I've made plenty of mistakes, mistakes that cost me and my crew. Yet, through the maelstroms of it all, they've stuck with me. I couldn't ask for a better band of brothers."

“You think you’re a good man? Above your mentors? Me? Or any other pirate?” Adda asked in a good tongue and cheek, philosophical way.

"No." Corsaire answered honestly as he fixed his tilted hat. "But I try to be the good man my crew thinks I am."

“That’s cute. You’re cute.” Adda sat her drink down. “I saw that you gave the jewels I presented to you to that single barmaid. That’s very....charitable. Why do you do it? And please don’t tell me it was out of the good of your heart. Everyone has an ulterior motive....you like her?”

"Dahlia has three kids, young ones with mouths to feed." Corsaire told Adda, having seen the little ones in the bar before when the babysitter dropped them off for the barmaid. "I know what it is like to be hungry, and no, Dahlia doesn't interest me in that way. Her focus is her children, the way it should be." He explained to Adda. "True, I could have used the jewels for my ship's necessities, or I could have spent it for Seer's nose. Yet, the money had needs elsewhere and I have the ability to pickpocket, raid, or steal whenever I please. Miss Dahlia does not."

“Ha. Never said if you like her you devil.” Adda took her hat off, followed by taking Corsaire’s off with a quick snag. Her long beautiful red hair flowed in the wind. Taking a breath of the sea she smiled at the Voe. “The sea is calming, isn’t it. I got another peace offering for your crew, if you’re interested.”

"I admire her, but romantic interest? No." Corsaire knew the woman would not shut up until he answered. "If it's more alcohol, I'm sure they'll oblige."

“I’m not flirting myself when I say this, but when’s the last time you or your men have had sex?”

"That... is something I actually do not keep track of with my men." Corsaire snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "As for myself, it's usually the last time we're in port."

“This would be to make up for the fighting and have you not make any report against me. But I could persuade my crew to mingle with your crew. Nice environment, safety, few drinks here and there. Some of my own crew has been blue balled, even tonight.” She gave a chuckle. “Go really easy on the shy guys in your crew. Give them a night they wouldn’t forget. Hell, they could even pick out who they’d like. Just don’t make any comments about whores, prostitution or brothels, and it could be a fun time for all. How’s that sound?”

"Pfffffttt..." Corsaire had to hold back a laugh at her phrasing, knowing it was rough to have a declination of intercourse. "Pockets and Seer are the two most shy men on ship, but Pockets is the shiest man on the planet, I swear, he turns red if a lady holds his hand!"

“How much you bet he’d faint in one of my girls’ arms as they carried him off to bed~” Adda stifled a loud laugh she wanted to get out of her system.

"Oh, there's no need to bet, he fainted when a lady kissed his cheek for carrying her groceries!" Corsaire tried to keep his snickers to a minimum. "He's got a pure heart, that's for sure."

“Then you won’t object to the offer.” Adda put on his hat. Turned out to be a very good fit.

"Object to..." Corsaire paused his words as the lady adjusted his hat. Why did the women always go for his hat? Was it a secret kink among the girls or something? He cleared his throat, deciding to play dumb. "What offer?"

Adda walked around him, trailing a finger under his chin. “The type where after we undress you of your clothing and have our fun, we get to keep a trinket or cloth to remember you by.” She gave a hardy grin, feeling the rim of his hat and ready to move if he grabbed for it. “Think I’d keep your hat. Add a peacock feather to it!”

"You have a very descriptive definition of fun." Corsaire chuckled as she tried to tempt him and then stood. "And I'd sooner let you keep me treasure," He placed his hands on her hips, one running up her back, getting closer, lips almost touching. "then keep me hat." With a quick tip of his fingers, he flipped the hat off her head onto his.

Adda allowed him to lay his hands on her. They were firm. "I could settle for that too. I like this look...." One hand held him by the belt, the other firmly holding his back.

"Though... my crew, they get a touch lonely too, you know." Corsaire nearly jolted when she squeezed his ass. "We could always arrange for somewhere more so... suited for nightly activities."

"I know a proper quiet hotel on this island. I can get us all some nice quarters. Or just settle for staying on my ship~" She grinned as his face crumbled for a moment at her squeeze. She reached down and squeezed the front of his pants too. "You know, usually I challenge men to a sword fight, cut their pants down and make them submit. All I had to do was walk onto your ship and you were mine!"

Corsaire was not exactly a fan of submitting to a woman he did not know. For all he knew, this could be a trick to slit his throat after the deed was done. He had heard of some women seducing men, then killing the poor sap, and taking off with all the money. He was about to nicely decline the offer of meeting on a turf she knew when he heard footsteps coming up from the cabins.

"Captain?" It was Seer. What was he doing up this late? "I sense someone else on the boat."

Adda was like a cat when it came to having sex with men. When she was hungry, she'd consume as many as she could. If they were especially tasty looking they were hers. The Captain liked to play with them before digging in as well. People were consumables to her. Be it for money, sex, or just an able body to use. And seeing the blind man come up, she gave a smile, wrapping an arm around Corsiare's shoulder, standing side by side with him. "Hello there dear. Seer was it? Glad to see you up and about after that little scuffle earlier evening."

"...? Wait... you're the lady from earlier this evening. The one that smells like brimstone and metal." Seer wondered why Corsaire allowed her on the ship. “What was going on? ... I'd prefer not to be punched again."

"No, no, the lady is just here for an apology." Corsaire quickly told Seer, taking this chance to turn from Adda and check on his crew member. "You should be resting."

"I was... until I sensed her."

"I'm here for your whole crew my man. By next week I won't even be in this particular ocean. Felt wrong not to give you and the rest of your brothers a.... proper apology." She slowly trailed a finger down his open upper chest. "Corsaire, why don't you wake the crew. It's not even midnight yet."

"Um... whole crew?" Seer repeated her words, not understanding what she meant until that finger traced down his chest. His white skin turned bright red in the cheeks. Usually women were not so forward with him unless she had a kink of some kind. "M'am, you know, that's mighty kind of you, but I'm sure a nice lady like yourself has a more suitable bed... partner..."

"Seer, are you seriously being shy when the lady is interested in you?" Corsaire knew the man was a touch shy, but then again, he always was very tipsy when he ended up in bed with another lady. "Just say hello before you go straight for the boobs, okay?"

"I did not---!!!"

"You were tipsy that one time and told a lady she had a fantastic pair of tits. I thought you were going to get slapped but she actually liked that."

"Depends on the woman." Adda trailed a finger down the side of Seer's cheek. "You were right Corsaire, he is a shy one. Give me a moment with him while you get the rest of your boys?"

"I think they'll definitely take you up on your offer." Corsaire laughed the way Seer kept turning so red. "Now, be nice to Seer. He's not normally one to flirt with ladies until he's had a few."

"Captain!!!" Seer protested. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm helping you get laid, I'll be back in a second... or minutes..."

Watching Corsaire go below deck, Adda gave a chuckle. "You seem like a nice kid. How old are you?" The poor man felt himself be pulled waist to waist with the tall Gerudo Captain. She wasn't a massive giant like some of her tribe, but at just over six feet, she was peak to most average men. Luckily, Seer matched her in height.

"Um... I really don't know?" Seer answered honestly with a sheepish grin as she pulled him close. "I think I'm around maybe twenty-two... or twenty-three. Maybe older, maybe younger, I'm not sure."

"Twenty-Five myself. I think you're cute. Sorry my best friend punched you in the face. I heard the blind have the rest of their senses heightened." Her hands held his sides for support as she leaned in to give him a deep kiss. Her lips were like strawberries, her breathe fresh and savoury.

Seer was nearly at full attention from that deep kiss. Other senses being heightened, Adda was definitely right about that. Perhaps he was a little too eager when turned on, simply picking Adda up underneath her ass and feeling that glorious backside.

Adda had the booty and the rack to bring heaven to any man. She lathered her tongue with him, pulling away for the tease. "So tell me, how did THAT feel~"

"I'm not sure I have the proper words for it, but I think I'm going to settle with amazing for right now." Seer said breathlessly. "I'd like for it to happen again."

"Alright. You want to wait for your brothers to wake up or do you want to get out of here now~?" Adda tugged at his belt, a Cheshire grin on her face.

"You know I can't see, right?" Seer liked to use a little jest here and there. "You'll definitely have to 'lead' the way."

"Then let's go~" Adda held his hand down to the docks and whistled for her ride. A gerudo on a mechanical skid boat steered in. It was made of Termina technology. Simple for quick on the shore transport, and easily attachable to the main ship. "Easy steps honey."

Once in the boat Adda sat him down, taking her own seat beside him. "Hold onto me tight, ok~"

"Oh sweet Water Spirit..." Seer nearly cursed under his breath as the boat moved so suddenly. The noise was rattling in his ears and he felt a little uneasy by all the metal. He was used to Corsaire's ship. The cook gripped Adda a little tightly.

Adda saw Corsaire getting up onto the deck again, waving him goodbye. “Too slow~ Meet you at my ship! You can’t miss it!”

Giving a laugh she held the nervous cook back.

Once the boat slowed, Seer felt like he could breathe much easier. His senses were not being rattled. Corsaire and the rest of the crew would be along soon enough. Though he was not exactly sure what this captain saw in him.

The small speedboat pulled up to its destination. Her ship was unlike many in this ocean. It was large, made of metal, yet floated with grace. It was painted to look like black charcoal wood, and the sails had a magical shimmer to them. Her flag was an old Gerudo symbol, forgotten to even her. To Adda, it looked cool and held significance that marked it as her own. As the small speed boat was pulled up to the side of the ship, Adda stepped onto the large open deck, and her crew cheered.

“Captain! You did it!”

“Others coming?”

“Ooooo, he looks cute~”

“That the guy Scarlet punched? Poor lad.”

“Can we share him?”

Adda waved both her hands downwards to silence them. “Ey! The other boys should be on their way. This handsome fellow is mine though. So is their Captain if he has the balls to challenge me. Come on Mr. Cook. I’ll walk you up to my quarters.”

There were so many women, too many women. Seer gulped down his nervousness as the women pawed at him, feeling their touchy feely hands. He nearly jumped out of his skin as one groped his backside. What fresh hell had Adda brought him into now? Thankfully, the captain told the rest of the women to back off as she led him to her quarters.

“You don’t get off on drugs do you?”

"No! No drugs!" Seer reacted negatively to the mention of any substance. He shook his head insistently. "No drugs, or I go."

Adda squeezed his hand. “Good.  Means that I don’t have to worry about some junkie not wanting to focus on me or trying anything stupid.” Adda opened the door to her quarters for Seer. First room was an office, with trophies all over the walls. Second room was her bedroom. The bed was a King Sized mattress with the softest sheets and blankets Seer had ever felt when she sat him down. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

"8 steps... from the door to this room and... 10 steps to the bed." Seer counted as a habit. He knew every inch of Corsaire's ship, and this was foreign territory. Once Seer felt the sheets, his hands carefully smoothed the material before sitting on the mattress. "You know, I'm not usually the pick of the litter, if you know what I mean." His head turned in her direction.

“You mentioned that. You got self-esteem issues?”

"Not really, I don't mind being blind." Seer admitted. "I'm just curious as to why."

“I can tell when a man doesn’t want it. Your Captain was chivalrous, but it seemed he wasn’t into me. His loss....and your gain.”

"All the men have their particular tastes." Seer told Adda. "You, however, I think will be all right because... you smell nice."

A knock came at her door, Scarlet’s nervous voice calling out. “Captain. The rest of the men arrived.”

“Ey! Seer. Wait right here. Just want to settle your brothers in.”

Adda walked to the quarter deck, a lot of the Gerudo woman eyeing Corsaire and his men. “Hello boys. Welcome aboard!”

Once the men were on the ship, Corsaire had to admit it was a nice setup.

Hard drinks, fine wines, and other fruity beverages had been set up. Adda shook Corsaire’s hand. “Your lad’s waiting on me, so let’s make this quick. No one does anything stupid, like kleptomania. Besides, you don’t want to steal from a band of thieves. Two, play nice, and we’ll treat you nice~”

"Pirates stealing from other pirates sounds like a bad story." Corsaire told Adda with a small smirk. "We'll keep this civil."

“Good.” She gave his side a tap, and spun around to address the crews of both crew. “Alright ladies! You wanna have fun!?”

“YEAH!!!” The cry echoed the night. Adda dramatically spun to the men, snapping her fingers with a pose. She had a flare for the dramatic. “What about you Gentlemen!?”

They gave a hell yes right back. This was certainly going to be an interesting night. All the men seemed eager to get to know and romance the ladies before finding a potential bedmate.

Adda pointed to Rat, giving Scarlet a big smack on the ass. Her first mate yelped, blushing red in the face. “What about you two? Maybe take some time making up for earlier tonight?”

“C-captain? You don’t need to-“

“Phhhhhh I insist. It will be good for you Scarlet.”

Scarlet was dumbstruck, slowly turning to Rat. “H-hi....sorry for picking a fight.”

"...? Me?" Rat pointed to himself when Adda suggested he hook up with Scarlet. "I'm very a-flattered, but tis the ladies' job to chose her partner."

"Pfffttt," Corsaire tried to keep from laughing at Rat's surprised face. "Just go with it for once, Rat."

Adda pushed Scarlet towards Rat, and the two of them started to slowly talk. Adda winked to Corsaire. “I’d offer a room, but I get the feeling you’re not into Queens when you see one~”

"All men have certain preferences, Adda, you can't fault me for that." Corsaire chuckled half-heartedly. "I think your girls and my crew will have a good time."

“Well, one day you’re gonna kick yourself in the ass for not being with a beautiful Gerudo when you find one. And with how the population is, you might never get the chance again. Have fun regardless. There’s an empty room you can stay in. That is unless you change your mind~”

Adda pulled him close for a quick teasing peck on the lips, walking back to her bedroom.

Her crew was having the time of their lives with Corsaire’s crew. The men were so charming, some even funny. With poor timid Pockets, a group took their time coaxing him into a good time. But now it was Adda’s turn to enjoy her chosen prey. Taking off her clothes, she smiled down at Seer. It was a damn shame he couldn’t see anything. Took the fun out of an exotic and slow strip tease, but she supposed it couldn’t be helped. “I hope I didn’t tease you too long with the wait.”

"No," Seer was feeling the embroidery on the sheets. He had never learned to read or write, but could recognize certain letters from his years with Corsaire. Brail books were rare, and the few that he had on the ship were the courtesy of his captain trying to teach him how to read. This language, however, he did not know. "What does it say?"

“It means Power. For the Gerudo, Power became synonymous with the Gerudo King of Hyrule, Ganondorf. The tribes of Termina have luckily never met him, because I imagine if we did, we’d be challenged, and either wiped out, or forced to obey him. Being Captain means I am the Chieftain of the Terminia Gerudo Pirate Clan. So as far as I am concerned, I am the Queen to my people just as he was King. I am Power itself.”

She gripped his shirt, and with a solid pull, tore it in two with a loud rip of the fabric. Men usually loved this move or were terrified by it. Regardless, it got Adda off. What held Adda’s interest, was that she was intrigued by Seer being invested in her culture, as little as he could be though.

"Whoa!" Seer was certainly surprised by her simply ripping open his shirt. That was not a move he expected. Though she was a pushy woman and got what she wanted from the sound of it. He was not as buff as some of the other men like Rat or Pockets, but still possessed a good amount of lean muscle.

“Scarlet’s punches are like kitten swipes compared to me. It’s all about how you apply yourself. Now, let’s get the rest so you can match me~” With a purr, Adda took down his pants. Eyeing him over now, he was a very pretty sight. His white skin, coupled with a slimmer body and beautiful dark hair made him an ideal candidate for the pirate. “You want me to describe myself to you? I promise it’s all truth~”

"I'll take your word for it, but I wouldn't want to test it to find out." Seer jested in good humor at Adda's statement. He had been punched once today and that was plenty enough in his book. "Why describe when I can just feel?" His hands carefully found her warm skin. Though his fingers did not go down to her backside, rather up to her face. His calloused fingers gently traced over her jawbone and around her features, feeling the area around her nose and her soft lips. One finger twirled around a lock of her hair, feeling the silky texture. "Warm... and soft."

Adda was expecting him to get touchy as she leaned closer, but she was taken aback by him slowly exploring her face and hair. “Why are you feeling up there?”

"I want to 'see' how you look." Seer explained to the captain. "A female's anatomy is pretty much the same with just a variance in size... but the face, that's the true treasure." The blind man's fingers then slowly left her face. "I can picture what you look like in my mind with my hands. I can sense what you're like by how you smell, the sound of your walk, how words flow from your mouth, the grin with your laugh... it's not too hard to know you're beautiful despite not being able to see."

Adda’s bravado and spunk was gone for a moment in time. In her place was a young woman completely moved by Seer’s words. Her faced softened, and her eyes grew with wonder. How long had it been since someone had spoken to her that way? Too long, too long indeed. Coming back to reality, she held him close. “Trust me when I say this. I think I really like you Seer.” With a deep kiss, the Gerudo woman straddled him, followed by the most passionate night of the man’s life.

~

The night had been glorious for all the men onboard. Gerudo woman came in a variety of charms, and excelled at their beauty. Sleeping with Rat, Scarlet was happy being cozy in the giant mans arms, having never been with someone so big before, and in more ways than one.

The man who had the most fulfilling night though was undeniably Seer. He experienced sober love making like never before. Adda was fiery, tight, and gave him everything a man could want in a passionate night. They had to have kept going even as everyone else went to bed. Filthy with sweat and other nightly coatings, Adda was the first to wake.

Seer had proven quite capable in bed and, in the privacy of her own quarters, she allowed herself to stew on his kindness. It was rare, and something she forgot existed. In this kill or be killed world, it would no doubt get him killed, but she thought it was sweet nonetheless. Her naked body felt so sensitive, even now as she brushed against him. “You beautiful Voe... maybe I can talk to your Captain about you staying on my ship....”

Adda was shocked by herself at muttering such words. He was good, in so many ways, but she wasn’t going to so easily give up her heart for any Voe.

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness," Seer was laying there with his eyes closed, still not wanting to move from the bed. He was comfortable, warm, and these sheets were a slice of heaven. Not to mention, he was not quite ready to leave the company of the beautiful captain. "Though I cannot leave Captain Corsaire, not after all he's done for me. I think you are very lovely, Adda, yet I am not ready to leave just yet. I hope you understand."

Adda was glad he couldn’t see her flare up in embarrassment. “You... weren’t supposed to hear that.”

"I'm blind, Adda, not deaf. Or have you forgotten from having your mind blown last night?" Seer grinned, only teasing in good humor. "... I think I can even hear your face turning red from all the blood rushing to your cheeks."

“Oh shut up.” She crawled on top, giving him a deep kiss. For an extra tease she rubbed her body against him. “I was the best damn experience you ever had~”

His white skin was stained red from multiple love bites, and his hips bruised from the more physical aspects of the night. Adda was incredibly proud of the canvas she painted.

"Love making, yes. Wrestling? I think Rat might have you beat on that." Seer snickered as Adda's warm body pressed against his own. "There is something to be said about all those nips you gave me. I think you definitely hold the record for that, my lady."

“Good.” Her hand trailed his shaft when she heard a knock at her door. With a grin, she held his hand to get one more touch of her perfect breasts. “Mmmm, stay here.”

Getting up, she quickly put on the bare clothing she needed with some baggy pants, a bra, and her hat. Opening the door, she smiled at Corsaire. She hoped he would be jealous. “Ey Cap. Here to check in on your lad?”

"I'm alive, Captain." Seer said from the bed with a chuckle. "She didn't kill me."

"Well, I'm glad you're all fine and dandy, my boy, but we need to head out." Corsaire leaned against the door frame. "We have a Danjuran cargo ship heading along our route."

"I understand, Captain."

Adda quirked an eyebrow. Maybe now she could get what she wanted when they first met. “What if I can offer something better?”

"I'm not into a threesome with another man if that's what you're suggesting." Corsaire teased lightly.

The Gerudo captain chuckled, a more serious tone flexing from her voice. Games were over now for her. “How’d you like treasure more valuable than gold or jewels.”

"I'm listening."

Adda went to get fully changed, teasing Covarog with her naked body as she got herself into fresh clothing. “You see my sails there Corsaire?”

"I see the carpet matches the drapes."

"Captain, please!" Seer was feeling around trying to find his own clothes and accidently picked up one of Adda's bras. Clearing his throat, he folded the underwear neatly before placing it on her bed and continuing to search. "Be serious for once."

“You can keep it if you’d like~”

Adda gave him one of her shirts as well and patted Seer, fuelling his shy embarrassment.

Now clothed, the Captain walked onto the main deck. “Up above you are one of fives magical sets known as the Swift Sail. You can’t burn or tear it, and it will sail perfectly in any direction, no matter the air resistance. In my travels I’ve discovered two other sets. Both of which I’ve promptly locked up and dropped into the sea. Rather not have anyone else have the advantage I have.” She turned to Corsaire with another dramatic spin. “However, a ship I’ve been tracking for a while has the fourth set. You help me raid this ship, and along with splitting the rest of the jewels in half, I will allow you to keep the Swift Sail for yourself.”

"Hrm... sounds a little too good to be true.” Corsaire crossed his arms. "How do I know you'll not betray me? I'm not known to work with other pirates because I've been double crossed before."

“Because on this ship that we’ll attack, there’s a much bigger prize that I desire. I can’t achieve my goal without another crew to help me pincer in my target.”

Adda took her gun, firing a bullet to not only wake her crew, but demonstrate that the sail could not be torn. “It’s like the saying goes. There’s honour amongst thieves. I can guarantee they hold the full set. I can guarantee the rest of the treasure they hold can make your crew very happy men. So trust me.”

"Hrm... what do you think, Seer?"

"Me, Captain?"

"You're the one that spent the night with her, what do you think?" Corsaire asked the cook. He knew about Seer's ability to 'read' people, to sense their thoughts, whether it was honest intentions or not. "Should I trust her?"

"Well... she was kind to me, Captain. Her words are sincere, from what I sense." Seer spoke as he finished putting on his clothes, but was having trouble with the shirt. Button up shirts were his worst enemy. He was off by one button. "If she was going to betray you, I would detect more malice. I do not sense any."

"... very well." Corsaire trusted his crewmate. "If Seer thinks you're good... then I suppose you are."

“Good. Very good.”

Adda was so close to achieving her dominance of the sea.

~

It took a day’s travel, both crews working with each other in sequence. Their target was an imperial ship of some rich nation. The ship was small, but very fast. Adda was right when she said her ship couldn’t catch it on its own, but with Corsaire’s help, the two ships trapped their quarry at the mouth of a river. That was when the bloodbath commenced. Adda was ruthless, her cannon fire crippling the lower decks of the ship, forcing it to beach itself. She used mortar fire to take care of any who dared flee onto the land. Her boarding party swept aboard and Adda showed off her terrifying power with a blade. With great laughter and snark, she duelled her way forward. Corsaire witnessed her exchange blows with the enemy captain, the man cursing the pirates to his dying breath. It was obvious that Adda was toying with him. When she was finally bored, she pulled out her revolver in the middle of the sword duel and shot her opponent in the knee cap. As the man screamed she took his suffering in with a deep breath, and silenced him with another shot to the head. Soon enough a number of men had surrendered, being round up on the main deck. Adda took extreme satisfaction from her work as a pirate. After finishing her afterglow of the victory, she signalled Corsaire to come aboard.

Adda was ruthless, that was for sure. If at all possible, he tried to avoid killing, but it seemed Adda and her crew rather enjoyed it. Once on board, Corsaire made sure that he took only a few men, leaving the rest on his ship. Rat and Pockets were beside of him, while the rest stayed on board the Sea Witch. Once Adda had her treasure, then he would go his separate way.

"You find it?"

“Give me a moment.” Adda eyed the men that were still alive. “Hmm. You’re cute. Ladies take him, and five others. You know what to do with the rest.”

They gave their Captain a nod, and put six men onto the Gerudo ship. The other were dragged over to the edge of their ship, having their necks slit and thrown into the river. Crocodiles tore into the corpses as they fell in.

Kicking down the treasury door, Adda pointed out the treasure she wanted Scarlet to divide. The first mate started counting the treasure boxes, finding a large massive rolled up sail. With a smile, she handed it to Rat. To tell the truth, she was forming a crush. “Here you go Mousa.”

"Thank you, lassie." Rat took the sail as Pockets started to load the divided treasure onto the Sea Witch. "And I's a ratty... not a mousa." He winked at her. "Not meek like a mousa either. Then again, you know that."

"Is it necessary to kill everyone?" Corsaire felt his hairs stand up on his neck when the women so casually killed the men and fed them to crocodiles. "Or is this not to leave any loose ends?"

“Lack of loose ends. Those six will make a good distraction for Scylla when we return to home waters. You aren’t worried, are you?” Adda cracked a smile, sneaking malice in it to purposely make Corsaire feel a little fear to her. Discovering a silver box, it held the engraving of ancient text, and three golden triangles. Creaking it open, Adda took hold of a very light silver baton. With a single light swing, the wind blew softly. “It actually exists....”

"You know, you could always sail around Scylla." Corsaire mentioned and tried to keep a straight face. He was not malicious at heart unless the situation called for it. What Adda did was her business. "I have no reason to worry as long as you uphold your end of the bargain. You have what you want, and I have one of the sails. Give me the rest and we'll be even."

"Captain!" Seer called from the Sea Witch. "You and Lady Adda better hurry. We have a Danjuran navy ship on our tails!"

“You only need the current sail for its magic to work. God knows what power could happen if you got all five. And by the sound of it, we don’t have the time.” Adda power walked to her ship. “Scarlet, do we have the inscription for whirlpools?”

“Yes Captain!”

“Excellent. I can buy us some time for goodbyes and an escape Corsaire.”

"The legend says I need all of them." Corsaire knew how pirates were, so he had to be sneaky. As Seer called about the Danjuran ship, he knew the navy would be close soon enough. After all, he used to be an officer for the royal Danjuran navy. He knew all the ins and outs of their routes, how the ships worked, and the weaponry. Hopping back on his ship, the captain signaled for the men to ready the sails. Grinning, the captain removed the board connecting the Sea Witch to the one he and Adda chased. With the wind in their favor, the sails unfurled and lurched it forward. "Though it won't be too hard to find where you've hid them."

“You can have my sails when you find the fifth set!” Adda ran to her ship, her crew setting out. Taking the scroll Scarlet unrolled for her, Adda followed the directions carefully. It was time to see if this Wind Waker worked. She made a flurry of flics left to right, once up, twice down, finishing by pointing at the navy ship. Storm clouds poured over the target, and the sea itself swirled. A massive whirlpool started to rock the boat, anchoring it in a circle as it spun around. Adda gave out a triumphant laugh. “It worked? IT WORKED!!! I have the greatest weapon a pirate could ever dream of!!! HahaHAHAHA!!! YES!!!”

The two ships momentarily sailed together as they left the navy behind. Adda walked to the edge of her ship with a swagger. “Well, boys, I suppose this is goodbye!”

"Just wait until I come for your sail." Corsaire said in good humor as he signaled for his men to head in the direction of Gulper Bay. "See you soon, captain of the Gerudos!"

Seer was at the end of the ship and although he could not see Adda, he waved goodbye with a soft smile.

“I guess you’ll have to visit. Give a year or two after I’ve finished making myself Queen of the Sea. Gerudo woman are the best damn pirates you’ll ever meet!”

Scarlet took her helmet off and waved to Rat. “I’ll think of baby names just in case!”

Adda turned to her with a look of confusion. “What?”

Scarlet whispered to herself in embarrassment. “I didn’t buy any pills or condoms. Something might happen...”

“Christ girl....”

Shaking her head at her first mate, Adda turned her attention and winked at Corsaire. “Normally I’d consider you a ‘loose end’.... but that cook of yours is too damn adorable to disappoint~ Don’t tell any Gerudo men about us, and you can visit anytime!”

Seer normally did not think about ever having contact with a woman with such bravado as Adda, but perhaps, one day soon... he'd see her again.

With that, both ships sailed in different directions, new adventures and danger awaiting them. (Christmas gift to the beautiful Lorraine of @figmentforms. Captain Adda is technically a creation of Lor that we made together in our spare time. I’m proud to play and bring Adda to life in this crossover with @ridersoftheapocalypse in her first introduction to the extended universe. Art is done by the fabulous @s-kinnaly. Reblogs and comments appreciated! Happy Christmas Eve! See you tomorrow for one more gift!)

[eweniversal]

Erai'hym Character and Race Guide

Kotaphira Havanne - Derhanish (half Elfirrin)

Named after the founder of the city Maerise in the country Derhan. From the hold called Whitepeak, she is on a quest to establish herself as an important member of the Derhanish knights based on her own merit and not inheritance. Nicknames include Phira, Grapes, and Twobits.

Ayler Havanne - Derhanish (human)

Half brother to Kotaphira Havanne, intent on proving himself through his own means, no matter the cost. Also from Whitepeak, served in the same squadron as his half sister Kotaphira. Nicknames include Lyre, Clouds, and Threebits.

Laranen Relt - Jenyae

A wandering merchant and showman, she is native to the volcanic jungles of Firastrous. Having met many and important people, she has picked up many valuable pieces of artifacts- and information.

Sir Bicroy - Derhanish (human)

From Whitepeak, he leads the squadron called Ninebits. From this squadron come Kotaphira and Ayler Havanne.

Kotaphira Arculum - Derhanish (half Elfirrin)

Founder of the free city Maerise in the wartorn country of Derhan, Kotaphira is perhaps the oldest member of their society. Still sitting on the council, she advises most of the important ongoings and oversees the military higher-ups. Through her influence, she has conducted many peace treaties, talks, and negotiations- even if half of them were for her own gain.

Mind riddled with constant anxiety and chatter from an unknown relic's influence, she struggles with making sound decisions and formulated opinions based on self interest instead of as seeing the larger picture. Despite having many children over the years (Taskell, Samund, Perine, Baloren, Aress, Jaesin, and Maeldrid) she is not known for her close knit familial ties. Titles include Lady Doe, Madame Kota, and Dragon Queller.

Rinlear Moban - Derhanish (human undead)

Once called brother to Kotaphira Arculum, the two were raised together in the small logging town Daelen, west of Derhan in the mountains. Dreaming of a peaceful and academic future, he established a university called “The College” nearby to encourage magical teachings to all, as a safe haven for whoever was fleeing any sort of persecution.

In the Battle of Laves, he almost lost his life protecting his best friends. A wicked and strange necromancer from the country Arc'hilde captured him and did extensive experimentation on him, attempting to create a sort of vial to hold magical essences of others. It backfired, and Rinlear became a consumer of magical essences instead- which caused his body to rot but still be held together.

Echertai Omos - Derhanish (human)

Lover to Kotaphira Arculum in her younger years and best friend to Rinlear, the three had worked together to bring their dream of a free and welcoming country to fruition. He established trade routes, invitations from other countries at the threat of war, and set up holds around the country of Derhan to ensure safety to the civilians. During the Battle of Laves, he sacrificed himself to save Kotaphira, having followed her own self serving orders at the risk of destroying the newly founded city of Maerise at the hands of Arc’hilde.

Taskell Omos - Derhanish (quarter Elfirrin)

Son to Kotaphira Arculum and Echertai Omos, Taskell is 200 years old and has long since grown past a serious and ‘old’ demeanor, despite his reputation for having once been a sour a cynical man. Having taken up parkour in the past 50 years, he is well adept at scaling, climbing, and leaping. Having served in the military and tried his hand at sitting on the council, he’s given that up to be more of a snoop; sneaking around and learning everyone’s secrets to spread rumors for fun. An all around easy going guy and jokester/prankster, he enjoys his time learning and messing with others. Titles and nicknames include: Sir Brightsword, Kellman, and Quidnunc.

Samund Miras - Derhanish (quarter Elfirrin)

Younger half-brother (Kotaphira Arculum being his mother as well) to Taskell by about 70 years, Samund is studious and somber. Having recently been assigned to the city council for public finance, he takes his job seriously, though gives the other council members a hard time in reminding them the costs of things.

He and Taskell aren’t on the best of terms, but they tolerate each other at dinner functions and other public meetings. After the death of their younger half-sister Perine, the two brothers drifted apart and never fully healed the chasm between them. Titles and nicknames include: Sir Hardoc, Miramira (by Taskell only), and Councilman Miras.

Kemryn Sebuho - Derhanish (half Elfirrin)

One of the youngest and brightest of her magical class, Kemryn is in her 8th year at the College. Studying to hone her magical ability of creating wards and channeling magics like water, she has become quite adept in her studying and has caught the eye of Kotaphira Arculum to work directly under her. Kemryn and her sisters (Ia’wori and Sadinah) can use their magical abilities together to create vessels to trap newly released souls (golems basically, but refined). Level headed and quirky, she is still a bit naive but very much open about her ideas on others. Titles and nicknames include: Lady Wardsmith, Lady Pink, and Bunny.

Steirtorim Brighteyes - Derhanish (Trocblood)

A mix of Derhanish human and trocoblin, Steirtorim has a muddled skin color the blend of green and brown. Short tusks protrude from his lower teeth out of his mouth, and his nose is shorter than the average human’s. Because of the commonality of trocbloods now in Maerise (within the past seventy years or so) he’s just now adjusting fully to feeling on more equal grounds to others such as furmen and the Derhanish natives. After the Treaty of Ulpustur, he was assigned to the royal Maerisian Knights, and over the years became captain, serving directly under Kotaphira Arculum. His loyalty and honesty knows no bounds, but this serves as a weakness. Titles and nicknames include: Captain, Sir Changorim, and Steir.

Verusk Alondale - Arc’hildean (Night Elfirrin)

Advisor and brother-in-law to King Selreth of Maerise, Verusk has been working over the past several decades to keep his personal sanity in tact. Lady Kotaphira has irritated him to no end, but he still respects her due to her abilities and serving on the council under him. Verusk is not clueless when it comes to most other’s ongoings and tries to be steps ahead at all times, but he’s not perfect in his attempts. His nephew (Prince Jonvis) is the only one who has caught on to his secret intentions, and seems to be the only one able to keep up or even be steps ahead of him, despite the boy’s much younger age. Titles include: Advisor Alondale, Sir Husk, and Verdant Shadow.

King Selreth - Derhanish (human)

After the Treaty of Ulpustur, Selreth returned with Verusk, Verusk’s sister (Aneela), Steirtorim, and Kotaphira Arculum where he was crowned king by the previous one. Since then, he married (Aneela), and has run the city- and country- to the best of his abilities. A family oriented man, he places his family above the city, much to Kotaphira Arculum’s frustration (and advantage). He is hard headed and logic driven, but he still listens to Kotaphira’s advice given her age, wisdom, and experience with the city. Titles include: Sire, Sir Trell, and Stonenose (by Steirtorim only).

Princess Mylla - Derhanish (half Elfirrin)

Younger sister to (prince Jonvis), she is stubborn and loud. Allowed to do as she pleases, she never had proper restrictions in her upbringing and was quite spoiled. Still, she was loved by all for her beauty and gracefulness, revered almost as a mascot by the Maerisian populace. Her magical ability allows her to absorb any magic aimed at her and return it to the spellcaster, making her ideal to fight in a mage’s battle. However, she has no desire to join the military or College, much more comfortable at parties and balls so she may receive more praise by others. Titles and nicknames include: Princess, Madame Frou, and Sponge (by Jonvis only).

The Boar's Head - (unknown)

Leader of the Thieves’ Guild, The Boar’s Head keeps hidden from everyone, including the guild’s own members. No one knows the age or race of The Boar’s Head, except that they might be a woman. Rumors state ‘she’ is older than the city itself, having lived in caves with ‘her’ pet boar that used to exist underground, and has infiltrated the city after it’s construction to steal from those who had killed her boar. Kotaphira Arculum is the only person from aboveground The Boar’s Head chooses to interact with.

---

Races:

Human: Derhanish human 'natives’ are dark skinned- they migrated many generations ago from the low deserts of Lutria. Light skinned humans are typically from the country of Arc'hilde. The native humans to the country Firastrous resemble real world Native Americans and South Americans.

Edirthean: From the magical forest called Edirthe (ee dirth ee) come 12 magical tribes of Edite (ee die tee), their powers granted by the love elemental, Loffine. Protectors of the magical well in the center, they keep a precious balance within the forest, but are constantly at war with the trocoblins. They resemble real world mix of Pacific Islanders and Pakistani.

Elfirrin: From Lutria, descendents of the light elemental Leada, natural magic wielders. Elfirrin blood cannot mix with Vessifer or Trocbloods. Lifespan is typically 800 years. Tall, limber, and sharp features set them apart from typical humanoids. Pointed ears make them easily recognizable as Elfirrin.

Sun Elfirrin: Born during the day, they have skin tones that range from yellow/tan to black, hair colors that range from pastels to white, and they cannot venture out at night for long periods of time.

Night Elfirrin: Born at night, they have dark colored hair, and pale skin. They are not restricted to the day time, making them ideal assassins.

Moon Elfirrin: Previously Sun Elves that were transformed by exposure to the light of the moon called Herac'ine (hee rak ine).

Half Elifirrin: Still magically inclined, but their hair color is typically vibrant in hue. Lifespan is halved.

Quarter Elfirrin: Softer hue color for hair, and only slight magical abilities. Lifespan is about 250 years.

Furmen/scalemen/feathermen: From the northern reaches of Ai'ltiem down to the hot sandy deserts of Lutria, to northwest of Derhan, they are tribal and territorial. Bipedal and larger than the average human, each tribe imbues physical traits of animals. They are unable to breed with any other humanoid or race but their own. They are not magically inclined.

Trocoblin: Descendents of the dark elemental Derdia's nightbeasts, these creatures resemble a mix of trolls, orcs, and goblins. Not altogether intelligent, they do have a verbal form of communication. Any magics a troc or Trocblood might have is crude and raw, but not strong.

Trocblood/ trocmutt: A trocblood is any person of trocoblin ancestry. “Trocmutt” is a racial slur. Their skin is tougher than a typical humanoid’s, their intelligence much higher than a trocoblin’s, and they seem to be much more susceptible to magics than any other race or race blend.

Jenyae: Though descendents of the fire elemental Firastra, they are also bound by earthen magics. Limbs are typically transparent, while skin color ranges from yellow to red to green. They are magically inclined and have wish granting abilities (based on the laws of equality), though are known to be clever tricksters who put on colorful, entertaining shows.

Vessifer: From the frozen reaches of Ironmarsh, they are the descendents of the dark elemental Derdia, they were created as a natural enemy to Elfirrin. The Vessifer curse does not dilute if one has a non-Vessifer parent. You either have the curse or you don't (if you don't, then neither parent was Vessifer). The curse activates when under extreme mental or emotional strain, and the Vessifer are very emotional creatures. Normal form is similar to humans, but severely attractive, while their cursed form is of hellish nightmares and individualized based on the person.

Heraghine: From the Vessifer and the love elemental Loffine come a line of special healers that balance the Vessifer's emotional states out. Called the Heraghine (hee ra ine), one is born to a generation. She is always wise, insightful, and has the ability to enter in to the minds of her patients to help quell their suffering. Her method of healing is by encouraging the mind to work on it's own instead of as an invasive force. Some Heraghine are granted a special ability of foresight, though this can greatly affect her mental stability depending on how strong the foresight is.

Aethestian: Descendents of the wind elemental Aerie, these people carry an avian gene, though most lay dormant. In those that are active, they have what resemble wings but they are usually small and pathetic, though greatly revered and decorated. Aethestians resemble real world Asians.

Phaerie: Short creatures that resemble a mix of human and moth or human and plant. Native to the jungles around Arc'hilde, they are simple minded but have a high magical inclination.

Piksie: Tiny beings that emit a magical glow, they are native to the magical forest called Edirthe. Historically they are known for being the cause of wars and the ends of them.

Ulpustur Dragon: From the Ulpustur mountain range in the far Western region of Ironmarsh, the Ulpustur dragons are very large, old, and intelligent beings who study magic, philosophy, and the arts. Despite their cultured ways, they still rely heavily on instincts and the laws of nature. Through extensive magical studies, elder dragons are able to take on crude humanoid forms, but none are perfect.

Cave Dragon: Much smaller than the Ulpustur Dragon, Cave Dragons are seen typically as annoying pests, dwelling within the cave homes of the Ulpustur Dragons.

Akooakae: From the ocean that surround the Eastern parts of the country Arc'hilde come the Akooakae, half humanoid, half sea creatures who emerged in recent times. Worshipping the water elemental Akooa, these beings rely on each other and a female leader to act on their behalf. Matriarchal and vindictive, they are sly creatures but ever curious. 

[friday12econlive]

Adopting a pet during pandemic

Fang, Yi

Economics 20A

Professor Branch

SID: 15066136

Prior to COVID

Prior to the pandemic, I would take the Flex bus home from school (Irvine to LA) every weekend. Within the short 2 days, I would grab dessert with my older brother at least once and we would take turns paying. We live near Cal State LA, which is close to Pasadena and Alhambra, so we went all over the place. The costs of doing this activity were:

Cost of food, approximately $10 - $30 each time

Cost of traveling, ranging from 10 - 60 minutes round trip each time

Cost of ordering and waiting, ranging from 10 - 20 minutes each time

Meanwhile, the benefits were:

Spending quality time with my brother, which is valuable because we only started bonding because of food a few years back

Eating dessert, which I love! 

Going to different places (I’ve never been to any of these places before my brother took me)

Trying new snacks (boba, Chinese dessert, American dessert) → figuring out what I like and don’t like

Laying them out like this shows the benefits are greater than the costs, hence we were both satisfied with spending money and eating out even though we didn’t make a lot of money then. 

During COVID

Because of the pandemic and having to move home in March last year, my brother and I haven’t been able to continue this tradition until recently. When the lockdown began, our whole family was stuck at home and time was passing by really slow. All the costs that we would have spent grabbing dessert were saved up for a few months. While this is a good thing financially, my brother and I didn’t get to spend much time together privately. With parents at home and me adapting to virtual schooling, it was difficult to manage. 

When August came around, my brother and I were planning to adopt a dog to bring some joy to our family after being stuck home for so long. Our family loved dogs, but our parents were unopen to the idea of taking care of one. I didn’t give much thought to actually adopting a dog since I knew it wouldn’t happen. When he came home a month later with a husky, everyone in the family was shocked. We were worried about the responsibility and also angry about the miscommunication (no communication). 

Going back to the 1st and 2nd Principles of Economics: People face trade-offs and Opportunity Costs, the trade-off my brother had with adopting a dog was having to train and take care of her instead of gaming and sleeping like he had been doing. Luckily, I didn’t have to face any trade-offs until now. With the gym opening again and the lockdown stopping, my brother was beginning to go out every night now. When he’s not home, I have to take care of the dog instead of binge-watching dramas. In both cases, the main opportunity cost of adopting this dog is time for ourselves. To break it down further, the costs include:

Time to walk the dog morning and night (1 hour each)

Take dog everywhere → no privacy and a liability

Money for dog food

Money for toys 

Of course, all of these are worth it when the dog became the “glue” that pieced together our family again and spending time with her makes our day better. 

This scenario led me to think about the supply and demand curve of adopting a pet as well as its elasticity during this pandemic. Prior to COVID, the curve probably looked like this:

The supply and demand curves met at the equilibrium due to the invisible hand. Pets were more of a luxury then, so like Principle 4 said, people respond to incentives. The higher the price, the lower the quantity, and vice versa. In fact, because they are a luxury, the demand curve is elastic because we don’t need them to survive. 

During the pandemic, however, I think the graph would look more like this:

Since everyone was on lockdown, the loneliness was enlarged and the value of pets enlarged as well. More people would prefer to have pets to accompany them at home. Especially for college students or recent graduates, COVID caused detrimental damages to their mental health, hence having a pet might relieve them from feeling stressed. Hence, the demand curve would shift to the right, increasing the quantity demanded and the price. Of course, adoption costs $0, so the quantity demanded would also increase as a result of this shift. 

In a way, the luxury of having a pet changed to a need for some people due to all the negative stress building up from the pandemic. But, this would not last long because there are still a lot of other costs that go into raising a pet, as mentioned above in my situation. Therefore, pets are still luxurious for the most part. 

After the Pandemic

When the pandemic is over, the supply and demand curve would most likely return to their original form because we would be allowed to go places and pursue our goals under safety guidelines. This will force us to dedicate more time for ourselves and less time for pets. 

[cutsliceddiced]

New top story from Time: West Coast Farmers Had A Hellish Summer. It Might Not Be An Aberration.

Larry Tristano is looking out over what used to be his lush 13-acre farm in Santa Rosa, California. Less than a month ago, the fields were full, and he and his small team at Triple T Farm were harvesting cherry tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and squash.

Now, there’s nothing but burnt ground. On Sept. 27, two raging Northern California wildfires, the Glass and Shady fires, converged, rapidly burning thousands of acres. The family homes on the property—where he and two more generations of his family lived—were burnt into ash; so were the barns, tools, livestock, an SUV and more. “After the fires in Paradise, I drove through and said, ‘I feel so sorry for these people.’ But you’ll never know how anybody feels until you’ve gone through it,” Tristano says, choking back tears. “It’s just horrible.”

Up and down the West Coast, farmers are reeling from a hellish summer of consecutive and overlapping crises. First, COVID-19 spread across the country, endangering the lives of farmworkers who were deemed as essential and devastating the restaurant market. Record-breaking hot stretches, which made this August the hottest one on record in California, burnt crops and decreased yields. Then a new wave of fires descended across the forests and hills, displacing workers, demolishing homes and blanketing regions with stifling smoke. “We’re trying to put the best food on the table and it’s been very, very rough,” Tristano says.

While some might chalk up these events to a series of freakish aberrations, there are signs that none of these crises will disappear anytime soon. Climate change is facilitating record-breaking heat spells; fires are raging every season in part due to poor forest management; many employers are resigned to COVID-19 lingering through the start of next year’s planting season. Once a land of bounty, the Golden State has turned into an unrelenting minefield of obstacles that have exposed the many flaws of an entire ecosystem.

As West Coast farmers and farmworkers start thinking about long-term solutions, they are often stumped. “We’re focusing on ‘How I get through today,’ but this might be what California looks like every August and September,” says Lorraine Walker, who runs Eatwell Farms in Dixon, California. “I have spoken with a few farmers and asked them, ‘What are you planning? Everyone’s response is, ‘We don’t really know.'”

Jenna Schoenefeld—The New York Times/ReduxA volunteer with GleanSLO organizes strawberries in a bin at a farm in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on June 4, 2020. Before the pandemic, GleanSLO volunteers typically gleaned from backyard fruit trees—now they visit farms.

COVID-19’s “Rollercoaster Ride”

The agricultural output of the West Coast is massive. California’s Central Valley grows a staggering quarter of the nation’s food and 40% of its fruits, nuts and other table foods. Oregon raked in $238 million in 2019 from wine, while Washington produces 65% of the nation’s fresh apples. If you buy a piece of produce from your typical American supermarket, there’s a good chance it came from a West Coast farm.

But the state of farms in the United States was precarious even before COVID-19 struck earlier this year and plunged the nation into a recession. In 2019, the number of farms filing for bankruptcy increased 24% from the previous year, while the U.S. farm debt grew to $425 billion. Foreign competition, trade wars, regulations and unpredictable weather made life hard on farmers. In California, massive wildfires ripped through expanses of fields that grow wine grapes, tomatoes and other goods.

COVID-19 added a new chaotic layer of unpredictability. “It’s been a rollercoaster ride, from panic buying to loss of demand to the food service business disappearing,” says Joe Pezzini, the president and CEO of Ocean Mist Farms, which is based in Castroville, Calif. “Every day’s been a new challenge.” Some farms took a huge hit from the loss of critical buyers like restaurants and school systems; others were buoyed by the increased interest in home cooking with fresh produce. The decreased price of many crops hit some farmers hard; others were able to float through thanks to government loans. As farmers realized they had excess supply, they dumped milk, slaughtered livestock and smashed eggs.

Regardless of COVID’s impact on a farm’s bottom line, the workforce bore the brunt of the risk. There are 400,000 agricultural workers in California, a population that was deemed essential during the pandemic. Researchers and advocates estimate between 60% and 75% of them are undocumented, and a majority are Latinos. Their typical lack of unionization and the constant fear of deportation have long made them vulnerable to workplace coercion. “The inequities that COVID-19 has highlighted, they existed pre-COVID,” Estella Cisneros, the legal director of the Agricultural Worker Program at California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., says. “There’s a lot of pressure on farmworkers to continue working, and a lot of fear of retaliation.”

This year, Cisneros says that her office has fielded many complaints from California farmworkers who say their employers are not taking proactive steps to protect them or are simply ignoring Cal/OSHA regulations about protective equipment. “Some workers said that instead of being given masks, they were given something that much more resembled hairnets,” she says.

Many of the farmworkers that the CRLA assists are part of an aging population, have preexisting conditions like heart disease and diabetes, and have little access to healthcare or job alternatives. Harrowing statistics have confirmed how vulnerable Latino populations are to the virus: In California, they represent 61.1% of COVID-19 cases and 48.6% of deaths, despite making up only 38.9% of the population. “It’s highlighted how at the mercy these workers are at the hands of people who are not the workers themselves,” Cisneros says.

In Oregon, Reyna Lopez, the executive director of the farmworker union PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste), says that a quarter of farmworkers polled in a member phone survey said they hadn’t seen any improvements in safety measures being taken by employers. “We’ve also heard that enforcement of the rules isn’t good—and when there is a complaint, people aren’t seeing it getting investigated,” she says.

Lopez and Cisneros are both fighting for the extensions of OSHA regulations related to COVID-19 in their states. They worry that the virus will continue to spread through vulnerable communities if workers are kept in packed labor housing units and sent out into the fields and processing plants in unsafe conditions, especially once the season picks back up next spring. “We have to be ready for May, when we’ll see lots of people coming for the harvest,” Lopez says. “This year, that’s when we saw a lot of outbreaks.”

Brian L. Frank—The New York Times/ReduxWorkers pick corn in the pre-dawn hours to avoid the heat of the day in California’s San Joaquin Valley on Aug. 21, 2020.

A Record-Breaking Heat Wave

Some farm owners have viciously complained about regulations like a rising minimum wage and water restrictions, saying they are squeezing their already meager margin of profit. “The costs are becoming so exorbitant, you’re seeing a lot of ground be idle or sold to other growers,” says Bruce Blodgett, the executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation. “People seem to forget we compete in a world marketplace that doesn’t have the labor or regulatory costs we do. Farmers are saying, ‘I’ve had enough, I can’t compete.’”

While Blodgett and others fight a battle over regulation, they’re also getting hammered by increasingly chaotic weather systems. Blodgett says that heavy rains during cherry harvest season in May slashed the potential cherry revenue in half. Then a record-breaking scorching summer set in, threatening both the crops and the ability of farmworkers to work in the face of heat exhaustion. In August, nearly 14,000 lightning strikes hit California over a 72-hour period. In early September, L.A. County hit an unprecedented 121 degrees.

Some 300 miles north of Los Angeles on the central coast of California lies Taylor Farms, which produces salads and vegetable kits and racks up billions a year in total sales. For the last two decades, Taylor Farms’ crops have thrived in the moderate climate of Salinas, where the coastal breeze and fog suppress summer temperatures and allow leafy greens to thrive.

But this year, record high temperatures hit Salinas once again, forcing Taylor Farms into a work schedule they’ve never tried before: complete night shifts, with workers reporting at midnight and working through 6 or 7 in the morning. “We kept people as cool as we could. At the same time, it was an awful rough six weeks for everybody who’s in this business,” Mark Borman, the president of Taylor Farms California, says. Despite the change, Borman says the company has lost about 23% of its projected yield over the last four weeks due to the heat wave.

Ocean Mist Farms, which specializes in artichokes and brussels sprouts and operates in the same area, was similarly impacted. “Lettuce gets burn on it, and there may be a supply issue coming up for Thanksgiving,” Pezzini, the CEO and president, says. “You have to salvage what you can.”

Bigger companies like Taylor Farms and Ocean Mist have some flexibility to deal with climate change: they can simply alter or move their operations. Pezzini hopes to move his artichokes and brussels sprouts closer to the coast where it’s cooler, and has been using drip irrigation in order to combat the water drought plaguing the state. Borman is looking at his options outside the state entirely. “Today, we grow more and more lettuce in Central Mexico. We’re growing more in Colorado,” he says. “We want to diversify our growing regions, so as things continue to change, we’ll have the right development from a seed perspective and have some flexibility.”

But smaller farmers aren’t afforded the same adaptability. Walker, at Eatwell Farms, says her tomato crop was “beyond disappointing” this year due to the combination of an extremely hot August followed by weeks of smoke blocking the sun. She says she might plant her tomatoes earlier in the season when it’s cooler—but that would impact the planting of her winter crops before it. “We don’t have much wiggle room,” she says.

Courtesy Kendra KimbrauskasThe view from Shimanek Bridge Farm near Scio, Ore., when wildfires swept through the area in September.

“The Sun Didn’t Rise”

While rising temperatures threaten livelihoods, they mostly don’t threaten actual lives. But the fires that follow the heat waves do. Over five million acres have burned in California, Oregon and Washington combined during what has been the most active fire year ever on the West Coast. Experts say that climate change, lightning strikes and poor forest management have combined to provide the kindling for infernos that have killed over thirty people and destroyed thousands of buildings.

Kendra Kimbrauskas, the co-owner Shimanek Bridge Farm near Scio, Oregon, had previously not thought much about the risk of fires when in September, she woke up to a strange sight. “The sun didn’t rise. It was black like it was midnight,” she recalls. “The ash was falling, and it looked like it was in the middle of winter, with snowflakes in your headlights. At like 11 a.m., the sun finally came through and turned everything a really eerie red—like blood red.”

Kimbrauskas hooked up her horse trailer and headed to the county fairgrounds, where she stayed for almost a week. While her farm was ultimately untouched by the fires, many were not—and she dove into a community rescue effort to save the many animals that had been left behind. She ended up using her truck and a trailer to transport abandoned animals to the Linn County Expo Center, where a noisy scene was developing. “We’re talking hundreds of farms, thousands of animals,” she says. “It was like Noah’s Ark, with any animal you can imagine that people were scrambling to get out of danger: horses, sheep, bunnies, ducks, geese, alpacas.”

Kimbrauskas says she has committed to regenerative farming practices that will hopefully lead to more fire-resilient farms. But this experience has shown her how even the best preventative measures may not be enough. “We also have to be prepared to just leave,” she says. “If we don’t have a plan, we may lose our lives.”

Amanda Lucier—The New York Times/Redux Julio Hernandez cuts the hair of his brother, Alvaro Hernandez, at a farm that opened space to people displaced by wildfires in Central Point, Ore., on Sept. 26, 2020. The Almeda Fire leveled some of the only affordable housing for the immigrants who work the fields, kitchens and construction sites of southern Oregon.

Lopez, of PCUN, said that many farmworkers in areas adjacent to evacuation zones were still told to go back to work and endure hazardous air quality. “It’s really important for people to understand there were thousands of outdoor farmworkers still out there working while this was still happening,” she says. “We spoke to a farmworker, Manuel, who said that during the peak of the wildfires, he was feeling nauseated, had a headache, and his body was hurting. He’s still not feeling 100%.”

Many more lost their homes. In Phoenix, Ore., about 200 miles south of Scio, a wildfire ripped through a predominantly Latino community, destroying nearly 1,000 housing units, most of them mobile homes and RV parks. Many members of the community are agricultural workers who toil at the area’s food processing plants and wineries, and have nowhere to turn. “In less than five minutes, everything was gone,” Phoenix resident Jairo Gomez told the Washington Post.

Larry Tristano, in Santa Rosa, suffered the same fate. He himself was in Wyoming when the fire rolled through—but his family was still in their Santa Rosa house and scrambled to get out when they learned of the evacuation order. “My wife grabbed our parents’ wedding pictures, her mother’s scrapbooks, personal things, clothes, our dogs, and that was it,” he says.

Two days later, Tristano returned to nothing. “The only thing that survived was one greenhouse and the tractor. Everything else is gone,” he says. In response, he started doing the only thing he knows how to do: farming the land. “We got a generator. We hooked up the well. Our vegetable crops did survive, and we’re actually back at the market on a limited supply. We’re not going to let this beat us.” Over two weeks, over $29,000 has been raised on GoFundMe for the farm’s workers and its recovery.

Jessica Christian—The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty ImagesGround scorched by the Glass Fire leads to an untouched vineyard along Silverado Trail in Calistoga, Calif., on Sept. 29, 2020.

While Tristano is plowing ahead, there are many signs that the triple crisis for West Coast farmers is far from over. In Washington, the apple crop will be up to 10% smaller than expected due to wildfires and extreme windstorms battering orchards. Economic recovery has been slow, and COVID-19 could very well be lingering when many farm workers return in full force to plant seeds in the spring, threatening their health and slowing down schedules. And federal assistance has been underwhelming: while President Trump has spearheaded record farm subsidies, most of the money has flowed to Southern states and big farms, a nonpartisan watchdog agency found.

Borman, of Taylor Farms, says these compounding issues could affect the consumer through higher prices or a decreased selection. Restaurants may start building their menus around less perishable greens, like cabbage or iceberg lettuce, to protect against volatility. He expects some farmers to move out of the region to greener pastures, “whether that be into central Mexico or even further south into South America.”

As far as how West Coast farmers are adapting to these looming struggles, Borman doesn’t have an answer. “It was a really tricky year. There’s a lot of uncertainty, but I don’t know if there’s a lot of strategy coming out of it yet,” he says. “Honestly, everybody’s a little shell-shocked right now.”

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[neverendinghorizon]

{CAL} Jack’s past for everyone that wants to read it!

The Galanardals

What started out as a small family of High Elfs, quickly grew into one of the richest families within the region of Argerhills. They quickly rose through their ranks with their mastery of enchanting and potion creation. Of course, very quickly they realised that they stood out due to not only their name, but their extreme level of skills in their arts.

Due to this, the earliest members of the Galanardals changed their name to make try and make them “blend in with human society” and drew back into some of the deeper woods on the continent. With that, the elven line of Highbridge finally came to be.

His Childhood

To Vorock and Lailin, Vilax’s birth was both a shock and a slight joy. Thinking that she was no longer able to bare children, to be given another child was a blessing. He was of course the middle out of 5 children, a younger brother and sister following in his wake.

As a baby, he would often be caught crying if he was left alone for too long. He would also found playing with his innate magic ability, unlike his siblings. Often his parents would watch with pride as this young child could make albeit minor illusions with little effort on his behalf.

But as he grew older, this changed.

His Adolescence

Growing up, that touch of magic seemed to almost fade from Vilax, as if he rejected that magic its self. And to a degree, he did. His father was constantly comparing him to his elder siblings, complaining on how his progress was slowing with each day. Eventually it just seemed like his mind shifted from this to the way of the shadow, the way of a Rouge.

The moment his hands first gripped a dagger, his mind felt at ease. Unlike the rest of his siblings, weapons training was his favourite part of his teaching. Rapiers, daggers and bows. All of these seemed to almost call to his hands, responding with precision the moment he called back.

This angered his father to end, and worried his mother to death. This was not the path of a trader, or even of a proud elven man. This was the path of a robber, or even worse, a killer. In an attempt to get him out of this line of behaviour, he was taken out on a trading mission to expand the family’s business options. As he was lifted into the cart with his sister, his mother and father taking positions in the cart in front of them, Vilax did not know that he would never see his home again.

The Fall

Not everyone had forgotten the Highbridge’s past, the power, money and influence that their older generations had created for the newer ones. Along their way to the capital of Argerhills, there was a smaller town by the name of Luxindale. The people there had been planning for a day when they finally left the safety of their estate, and to finally get revenge on the elves that had ruined the trade of their ancestors so long ago now.  

And so they struck when they had camped for the night. Drugged their guards, and struck down the Highbridge family that had travelled there. The young Vilax, waking up from his sleepy state, walked out for some water and found blood and flame to greet him. With no chance to fight back for himself, a blade cut along his eye and then sunk into his abdomen. In that moment, Vilax met death for the first time in his life, and this would not be the last.  

Re-birth

His eyes opened to pain all over his body. Not really understand the circumstances he had awoken in, until he reached down to the weight on his lower body. His little sister, dying as she sent the last of her energy through to him through divine magic. She had always been on the path to becoming an incredible cleric, but had wasted it all on him. Anger. Fear. Pain. Hate. All of this was all he had left as she breathed her final breath ontop of his form, instantly standing up and moving away from her. There was nothing left for him to go back to, he could not even remember how to get back home.

He was well and truly alone for the first time in his life. This just left him with one course of action to take… revenge on those who had torn all of this away from him. And so he worked, worked until he had enough money for formal training. Those who refused were instead intimated by this boy, who’s eyes had nothing but pain and anguish to stare back with.

Time passed, and with time came skill. An assassin was born form his broken remains, one who wielded his blades just as well as his proficiency in lock picking, stealth and lies. From this came a time where he was paid to aid a group of warlocks, in the process he was not only paid but given knowledge of the language of Abyssal. From this, and some well used clothing, he wore the identity of an undead sent by demons to purge this world of those who were unworthy, who could be swayed for a price. This earned him the title the Undead Assassin.

Finally, the time for his revenge came, oh did he relish in it. Slaughtering everyone who had defied and harmed his family, until finally he faced down a family who had just watched their father die. The youngest child ran to their form, tears streaming down their face, crying for them to stop…

and then it hit him.

He was just like them.

He allowed the guard to take him away in chains, realising that he deserved nothing better. The prison life suited him for a while, year after year of rotting away there thinking of what he had become… until finally the riot began.

Officers were slaughtered, men much worse then him ran amok, leaving him to just walk out of his cell and into the city outside.

From Vilax to Jack

When outside, he realised what these men were doing. Killing, slaughtering, pillaging… they were monsters. And so the empty shell of a man made his effort, killing those prisoners who dared to harm others. Eventually, even he was surrounded by the guards, being called the mastermind behind the whole thing due to those who had grown up despising this man.

One had seen his actions, and defended him. Defended him so much that when he ran, this brave guard held them off for him.

As the elf ran he let out a shout, “What’s your name?!“

”…Jack.“

And so it was that Vilax Galanardal was dead, and Jack Highbridge lived.

[stogutrosenberry]

Latest data on working conditions in global supply chains, September 2017 edition

The whole world is one global supply chain. Brand name companies like Nike, Apple, Hasbro, and dozens of apparel companies do not actually make the consumer products they sell. Instead they hire contract manufacturers in the developing world to produce their goods, and these contractors have sub-contractors, and sub-sub-contractors, all the way down to industrial homework in workers’ homes. Global supply chains start with processing the products’ raw materials, manufacturing parts and the finished product, and then transportation to the consumer.

How can a conscientious consumer or occupational health professional keep track of working conditions and workers’ rights in global supply chains? There is a comprehensive “one stop” way, and then multi-stop methods for the more ambitious.

For one-stop shopping, sign up for weekly notifications from the UK’s “Business & Human Rights Resource Centre”. The staff of this non-profit organization in London scours the internet every day for the latest reports from companies, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on all aspects of global business. Their concise weekly update provides the headlines for what has been released that week, and also the response of the corporations whose operations are the subject of the reports.

Not all the companies respond to the Resource Centre’s invitation to comment, but the most publicity-conscious corporations often do, providing a richer understanding of impact of global supply chains and the varied efforts to improve working conditions.

In general, there are four sources of information about working conditions and the efforts to implement corrective actions in these supply chains: news media reports; factory reports from NGOs, factory reports from “multi-stakeholder initiatives” (MSIs); and reports from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments of the transnational corporations themselves.

I have assembled a selection of the key reports and articles from these four sources for the period of June to September 2017. Some of my favorites this quarter are:

The International Labor Organization’s report on the 40+ million people caught in modern slavery;

A Fordham University law professor’s critique of corporate social responsibility;

The Guardian (here) and New York Times articles on illegal and abusive conditions in Ivanka Trump’s shoe factories in China (here, here); and

The Baptist World Aid (Australia) computer simulation game on “who makes my clothes?”

A more ambitious, and time-consuming, way to stay informed is to sign up for the weekly or monthly notices from the following types of organizations:

Labor rights organizations, such as the Clean Clothes Campaign and Good Electronics

Multi-stakeholder initiatives, such as the Ethical Trading Initiative and Fashion Revolution

Corporate social responsibility organizations and industry associations, such as Electronics Industry Citizen Coalition

If one has an interest in supply chains that involve a particular area of the world, then these organizations’ web sites can be visited regularly for news from Asia, Africa and the Americas.

If one has a particular industry in mind then these organizations’ web sites can be followed, including apparel, electronics and toys, although some these organizations focus more than just one industry’s supply chain.

Dozens of labor, human rights, and environmental groups are monitoring and investigating global supply chains. Every week they issue detailed and first-hand reports from the factory floors and communities that make up global supply chains. They want consumers and advocates to have this information. They want this information to inform decision making and public policy. They want it to influence the reputation of transnational corporations. They want it to improve the lives of millions of workers, their families and communities around the world.

So dive in! Use the knowledge to make a difference!

Garrett Brown is a certified industrial hygienist who worked for Cal/OSHA for 20 years as a field Compliance Safety and Health Officer and then served as Special Assistant to the Chief of the Division before retiring in 2014.  He has also been the volunteer Coordinator of the Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network since 1993 and has coordinated projects in Bangladesh, Central America, China, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Mexico and Vietnam. 

    Article source:Science Blogs