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lexrius · 5 years ago

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The Wolf

AN: This is the first fic in the Dragon’s Mate series. Series needs a new name though as I re-do the fic.

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I sat in my office as I began writing my report for our last investigation. I played with my quill as I finished the report with a sigh. I looked back to the letters that were delivered to me days prior from me getting back to the office. One from my mom telling me about her and dad’s latest adventures; Chiara with her updates about her life and Talbott finally proposing and even one from Ben who has been very quiet these last few years. I looked at the photo from our sixth year. Everyone was happy, playing in the snow, and even some stolen kisses underneath the mistletoe. The memories flooded back to me like a stab in the heart. Penny and Bea’s falling out. Mine and Barnaby’s break up. Finding R and my brother. Rowan….. I sighed and thought back to my happier memories.

Charlie and I’s first date. Rowan and I getting excited for Quidditch. Winning the Quidditch Cup. I sighed as I look at those letters and looked back five years ago when we entered our last year at Hogwarts. The smiles and tears we all had. The heartfelt goodbyes. Everyone going their own ways. I had chosen to become an auror; getting a job in America. Separated from my home, my friends, and my love. I looked at the pile of letters and smiled at the most recent one. My Barn Owl, Athena, preened her feathers as she settled on my desk. My eyes scanned the letter with a light smile.

My dearest Viper,

I know that was pretty sappy, but you know I’m not very good at writing love letters. How have you been? It’s been a couple of months since any of us had heard from you. Here at the sanctuary we received a new little one! He’s a beautiful ridge-back we named Gary. We’re thinking of pairing him with Norberta. Anyway back to the point of this letter; Dad got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup! Ron and Ginny invited Harry and Hermione and I was wondering if you would like to join us?

Answer soon.

Love, Charlie

A slam next to me jolted me from my thoughts. I looked over to see my partner slouch down into her chair,”Girl you and I need a vacation! Ramsey has been working our tails off since late December.” Her golden brown eyes focused towards me. She gave me a hearty smile and pointed to the doors,”Let’s clock out early and head to the bar! Drinks on me tonight.” I laughed and nodded,”Alright let me grab my jacket.” I grabbed my letters and jacket and we clocked out. We said goodbye to the receptionist and out into the streets of New York. We made our way to the Thundering Brew; Queen’s Under Pressure playing through the speakers. Drew the goblin was cleaning glasses when he saw us walk in,”Well there’s my two favorite customers!” His Boston accent was thick as he greeted us,”Quetta Woods; you are looking as beautiful as ever.” He flirted. Quetta rolled her eyes and sat at the bar. He then looked at me,”And the Wolf is here as well. Tell me love; what can I get you today?”

“Pear Dazzle.” He then looked over to Quetta,”Fire Whiskey as usual.” He nodded and started making the drinks. Quetta leaned against the bar and looked at me,”Soooo how’s dragon boy doing?” I laughed at her nickname for Charlie,”He’s doing good…..” I stayed silent thinking about his letter. Quetta knew something was up and crossed her arms,”Alright. What did he do?”

“What? Nothing….It’s just…He invited me to go to the Quidditch World Cup with him and his family. I haven’t seen him in years-what if he doesn’t like me anymore or-” Quetta slapped me upside the head. She gave me her ‘Are you serious right now?’ look. I sunk back in my chair and pouted,”You really think he would think that? Girl; he kept a long distance relationship with you! Anyone who has eyes can see that that man loves you.” I smiled and grabbed my drink that Drew had placed in front of me. Quetta raised her glass to me,”A toast to young love and the best damn team in America!” I raised my glass in cheers and slammed down the drink.

After a few drinks I went home to rest for the night.

I sighed as the heat slipped into my living room. I had been stationed in Arizona upon my request to study the Thunderbirds on my downtime. I looked at Galeo who was setting up his nest with the new gold artifacts that Jacob found. I looked outside and watched the cars drive along the road.

I pop behind my door caught my attention. I pulled my wand out and was preparing to fight. A knock came to my door. I looked through the peep hole and saw that it was my boss,”Detective Rogers? It’s midnight; what are you doing here?!” I asked him after opening up the door. He took his fedora off and placed it on my coffee table,”I just heard Intel from the Ministry of Magic’s auror office. Winchester heard rumors going around that the Death Eaters are rallying up for something big.” He placed a case folder down which I looked over real fast,”We think there might be an appearance at the Quidditch World Cup. I’m sending you to get some Intel there since you requested a vacation for it.” He smiled at me. I rolled my eyes and scoffed,”My how generous of you to send me on vacation and make me work at the same time.” I said sarcastically. He pulled one more case file out,”There’s another reason we’re sending you there. A person of interest so to speak.”

I looked at the case file and saw the red haired woman who I had been tracking for years now. Rakepick’s picture looked at me and smirked. Fire boiled in the pits of my stomach as I read the case file. Rogers handed me the full case file,”Are you in?” I looked at him with a smile,”Is that really a question?”

——

I nearly puked as the Portkey stopped. I regained my composure and made my way to the Leaky Cauldron. I signed in to a room and collapsed on the bed. I couldn’t sleep with the worry that my friends were in danger again. I tossed and turned in my sleep dreaming about everyone who has died. Dragging me down into the pits of Hell. There I see her face. Rakepick sitting in her chair twirling her wand in anticipation. She looked over to me with a snarky look,”Well look who the cat dragged in. Viper Akela; my old apprentice.” My breathe hitched as she turned her chair. At the bottom laid Rowan. I raised my wand but couldn’t say the words. She did the same and succeeded. I woke with a start from the nightmare.

I stared at the clock in the room.

4:30

I stretched and packed my bags to go to the Area where the Quidditch World cup was taking place. I apparated with no issue and showed the ticket man my ticket and tipped the man nicely. I stopped and turned towards him,”Excuse me sure. I’m supposed to meet with the Weasley’s; where exactly will I find them?” The no-mag looked at me confused before returning to his list. He pointed in the direction and told me what area they would be in. I thanked him and made my way to the tent grounds. I settled my tent on the ground and started setting it up. I sighed and relaxed inside the tent while looking over my case files. My thoughts interrupted when a few outside voices got closer.

“Did the others beat us here dad?” I heard what sounded like Fred outside the tent. I smiled and closed the files and made my way to the entrance,”No; someone took our spot! I will have a very nasty talk to about this nonsense!” I heard Mr. Weasley sounding furious. I laughed and walked out of the tent. Mr. Weasley had his arms crossed and was glaring at me,”May I ask why you are in-” HE stopped and looked at me in surprise,”Merlins beard. If it isn’t miss Viper Akela!” I laughed and hugged him,”It’s good to see you again Mr. Weasley! Sorry for the scare. If you don’t mind I’ll be staying next to you guys on the grounds.” He nodded and with a hearty laugh he pat my shoulder,”All swell my dear.”

I looked over to the group of excited red heads who then rushed up and gave me hugs. I looked at Fred and George in shock,”How the hell did you get that tall!?” Both Fred and George laughed and leaned on me,”We got the good genes!” I pushed them off and looked to Ginny and Ron who were very grown up,”Well now has it really been that long?” Ginny smiled brightly,”You have to tell us about your adventures in America! Charlie never tells us anything.” I laughed and shook my head,”Most of my job I can’t tell and you know that.” She shrugged and went to go help her dad with their tent. I finally turned to Ron and his friends. Ron looked at his friends then back at me,”Guys let me introduce you to one of Charlie’s coolest friends! Viper Akela. Viper these are my mates Hermione and Harry!”

I held out my hand to the two teens. Hermione beemed and took my hand with a huge grin,”It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Hermione Granger.” I felt a pang in my heart as she reminded me of Rowan. I then looked to Harry,”I’m guessing your the famous Harry Potter?” The dark haired boy nodded. I shook his hand,”From one cursed child to another; it’s nice to meet you.” HE smiled and gave me a firm handshake. We made our way into the tents waiting for the boys to arrive. It was nice getting to know Harry and Hermione and hearing all of their crazy tales. I looked at Harry and smiled,”Charlie told me your the new Griffindor seeker?” Harry nodded,”Yeah since my first year. Did you play quidditch too Viper?”

I raised my eyebrow at him and laughed,”Kid your looking at one of Hufflepuff’s best chaser. I ended up beating Griffindor my last year.” Harry leaned closer discussing about our quidditch games. It wasn’t until Charlie and Bill came stumbling in laughing with Percy close behind rolling his eyes. Bill and Percy froze when they saw me. Charlie stopped laughing and turned to see me. I smiled at him lightly,”Hi love.” He looked at me dumbfounded and then rushed over and embraced me. He smiled brightly as he kissed m cheek,”I thought you weren’t going to make it?!” I laughed as we pulled apart. I shrugged and looked at the other two Weasley brothers,”I convinced my boss to let me go.” I went over to Bill and gave him a hug then to Percy with a handshake,”It’s so good to see you all again.”

We had sat down and begun talking about life and how everything has been. Soon everyone was getting ready for the game. I dressed in green for Ireland and we made our way to the Colosseum. On the way I spotted John Winchester and his three kids heading to the arena as well. I placed my hand on Charlie’s soldier,”I’ll be back. Old mentor I want to go say hi to.” Charlie nodded and followed his family up the Colosseum. I made my way to the older man with a quick stride. I walked in front of him and held out my hand,”John Winchester! Nice to meet you!” I smiled. He looked at me strangely,”My name is Viper Akela. You are a legend in America!” He then realized that I was the American Auror he was going to meet.

“Ah Akela! Rogers told me all about you. Dean why don’t you find our seats; I’ll meet you guys there.” The oldest nodded and began walking with his siblings to the games. John glared at me,”I’ve been on the lookout. You could’ve blown my cover.”

I shook my head and glanced around,”Are the rumors true?” He sighed and shook his head,”I’ve been in touch with the others and there has been no talk of an attack.” I shifted on my feet. I looked back at the Colosseum,”Okay. I’ll keep in touch; if I see anything you’ll be the first to know.” He nodded and we went our separate ways. I found the Weasley’s seats and we watched the game with excitement and joy. Soon we were back at the tents. Most of us celebrated the victory of the Irish while everyone who was cheering for the Bulgarians laughed and made fun of us. Which we rallied back which made Ron the target for our teasing. We all stopped as we heard commotions outside. Mr. Weasley went outside to investigate while we went back to our celebrating. All of a sudden another sound of commotion was heard,”Well the Irish sure know how to get their party on eh?” George laughed. Our laughter died when Mr. Weasley came rushing back in,”How bad are the Irish partying and where can we join?” Fred asked with a chuckle.

“It’s not the Irish.” He sounded out of breath. My heart sunk. Were the rumors right? “We need to leave now.” We rushed out of the tents and heard the panicked screams. I looked over and in horror I witnessed death eaters levitating people in the air and over burning tents. I spotted John helping evacuate the area with other aurors. I looked back at the Weasleys with worry. Charlie clung to my arm as I started to drift towards the chaos. I looked at him with a loving look,”I’ll be fine love.” He nodded and let me go. I made my way towards John and started helping as many people as we could while getting closer to the death eaters.

WE started to run towards them as the crowds cleared. They noticed us and started to apparate out. One in particular saw me and uncovered her face. With red hair and lips Patricia Rakepick smugly looked at me and motioned towards me for a fight. I felt the blood in my body began to boil as I rushed after her.

“Stupify!” I casted. She blocked with ease. I shot more stun spells at her. She blocked each one with ease until I got her with a difindo spell. She glared at me before apparating away,”NO!” I cried out as she got away. I got to the spot she was standing at and noticed an address on the ground. I looked at it with a glare,”Is this where you’ve been hiding?” I asked myself. John whistled over to me,”We got some noise over in that direction. We’re going to apparate there on the count of 3.” He told me and the other aurors who showed up. We counted to three and landed around three people,”Now! Stupify!” I fired a stunning spell. I looked and saw that it was Harry, Ron and Hermione. I stopped and waved everyone to stop. It wasn’t until Charlie, Bill and Mr. Weasley ran in the middle screaming for us to stop,”That’s my son!” He embraced the kids. Crouch stepped forward and questioned the kids. I stepped back and sighed. Crouch then looked in my direction,”Did any of you at least catch someone?!” We all looked away; he already knew the answer,”Tch then what was the point of bringing help?”

Harry stepped forward and told Crouch that there was a man further east of their current position. I began walking with the rest of the aurors until Crouch pulled me aside,”I think we have had enough of your help Akela. I’ll be seeing you in my-” A hand on his shoulder stopped him mid sentence. John glared at Crouch,”Let the kid go Bartey.” Crouch sighed and followed John towards the area where Harry last saw the strange man. I felt the eyes at the back of my head. I turned and looked at the Weasleys. Charlie looked away in disbelief,”Charlie-”

“You only came for work.” He whispered. My voice caught my throat,”I wanted to come for a vacation and to hang out with all of you, but-” I swallowed the other words that would’ve come out of my mouth. Charlie just shrugged and shook his head,”Had to go catch the bad guy right?”

I snapped my head up and glared at him,”I’m after Rakepick you prat!” With that I saw his and Bill’s shocked face before I apparated back to the Leaky Cauldron. I checked into my room and locked the door behind me. I grabbed the address from my pocket and glared down at it. Grabbing my wand and auror gear; I left and apparated to the location.

———

I walked down the street and found the apartment. I let out a shaky breath as I made my way inside. I used the Disillusionment charm and made my way around the apartment. There I spotted a man sleeping on the couch and a ton of alcohol bottles. In the corner I spotted a creature scurrying on the table. An old looking niffler was polishing a gold watch. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It was Rakepick’s niffler Sickleworth. His eyes landed on me and instantly he started to scurry away. I grabbed the little bugger not before he knocked over a pot. The man jolted awake and pointed his wand towards me,”Revelio!” My charm wore off and I pointed my wand at him Petrificus totalus!” His body froze and fell backwards. I cradled old Sickleworth in my arms,”Hey buddy. Don’t you remember me?” He sniffed me and started to get excited. I set him down and went around the apartment. Nothing out of the ordinary. I went back to our mystery guy and tied him up. Once my spell wore off he spat at me,”Who are you?!” He screamed. Luckily I put a silent charm on the apartment. I pointed my wand to his temple and glared at him,”Where is Rakepick?”

He grew silent until I casted difindo on his leg. He screamed in pain. He glared at me,”Screw you bitch.” I casted the difindo spell again against his toes this time which caused him to wail in agony. I then placed my wand on his little friend causing him to go into panic mode,”Okay okay okay!” He gasped out,”Look I’m just her kneazle and niffler breeder. I take of Sickleworth when she is on important jobs.”

“I didn’t ask about you! I want to know where she is this second!” I pushed harder on his jewels.

“It’s a secret bar in Germany!” He cried out. I smiled and pulled a pen and paper out,”Name and address.”

He glanced over to his bag. I grabbed it and rummaged through it. I found a coin with a rose embroidered on it. I put it in my pocket. I went towards the window and pressed my wand against my neck. I gave the address of the apartment and casted my patronus out of the window,”I’m on a lead. Don’t come find me.” I casted the petrifying curse on the crook and apparated out. I transfigured my hair to look short and dark red and made my eyes a deeper blue. I even gave myself a mole and a scar.

I walked around Germany for hours trying to find the location until I stumbled upon a rose garden. I walked in and took the coin out. Two men came up behind me and pulled their wands out,”I’m a new member. Invited by a breeder of Kneezles and Nifflers.” Both looked at me then walked ahead of me before knocking on a hidden entrance. I walked in and the bar was loud and full of sketchy wizards and witches. I went up to the bar. I looked around and caught the attention of what I can assume is the leader. She sat next to me and ordered fire whiskey,”Can I get you a drink new comer?”

I smiled and handed her my money,”Surprise me.” She gave me an approved smile and ordered the dragon blood shot followed by a thing of water. I’ve done dragon blood shots before with my friends when Jae snuck it in. It was the worst drink of my entire life, but I was prepared for the taste. I grabbed the shot and took it as fast as I could. My throat burned as the slush went down. My eyes watered as I sucked in a breath of fresh air. I slammed the glass down and looked at her with a nod,”Now that was a bloody kick!” She looked at me with a surprise look.

“I like you. So it was Luke that sent you here?” It clicked in my mind that I had never learned the breeder’s name,”That’s his name? Never cared to learn it. My style is more like his partners. Oh what was her name again? Ahh Patricia Rocket? No that’s not it-”

“Rakepick.” The womans eyes grew weary. I snapped my finger and pointed to her,”That’s the one! Damn good woman she is.” I nearly threw up those words. The woman leans in and motions for the back,”Let’s talk in private. We have much to discuss.” I looked at her questionably, but followed her with my wand hidden in my jacket sleeve within my palm. Once we were behind closed doors she sat down on one of the red couches in the room. She motioned for me to sit in the couch in front of her. She placed her wand in the middle of the table,”So we can trust one another.” I hesitantly put my wand on the table.

She leaned back and crossed her legs,”Your an auror.” She spoke up. My attention flicked from her face to my wand. Before I could open my mouth she held her hand up,”My father is one and I could tell you were one by a mile away. However; I like you. You’re here for Rakepick?”

I nodded and looked up at her,”I’m only here for her. Apologies are in order however; I seemed to have gotten your breeder arrested.” She looked at me annoyed, but I held my finger up,”What do you do to those animals?” She looked up at me blatantly,”We use them for some of our schemes and that’s it. But we do take care of them highly.” She whistled and a brown and black niffler ran across her shoulders and curled into her lap. I leaned back with a sigh,”What can you tell me about Rakepick?”

She made a small noise and wagged her finger at me,”What can you give me in return for this information?”

I leaned forward,”What do you want?”

She thought for a moment then held up two of her fingers,”Two things. A new niffler breeder. A nicer one would be nice. Alec was not taking good care of the mothers. The other thing is; I want to know why you are after Rakepick.”

I looked at my hands and sighed,”If I can find you a nice breeder. You must pay what they say and dress nicely for pick up. Or they won’t give you any.” She nodded in compliance,”Of course. I will let my men know. Now about Rakepick?”

I glanced at her and asked her a simple question.”What are your rules as a bad guy?”

She snickered at the word bad guy,”No kids. I like kids too much no matter how annoying some can be. Too innocent. Animal cruelty is a no no as well. And take from the rich and give to the poor.” I laughed at that and shook my head,”Let me guess you’re Robin Hood?”

“Robin Mercier and you are?” I looked at her and shook my head. She sighed and looked up at me,”I will keep our meeting a secret. I don’t like Rakepick either and there are others that come that I will willingly give to you as well.” I sighed and looked at the door behind us,”Viper. That’s all I’m giving you.” She smiled and leaned back,”Why are you hunting Rakepick? She steal from you?”

I looked at her dead in the eye,”When I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts; she killed my best friend who was a sister to me.” She looked down and shook her head,”And the niffler breeder?”

“That would be me. I am a certified breeder for the auror office and curse breaker offices.” Robin laughed and held out her hand,”Well then, I just wanted to see how serious you were. Now that I see; I’m not interested in nifflers anymore. We got another breeder for us. Rakepick has been traveling around Europe. If she was in England then most likely she will be going to Scottland. Your best bet is that she will be near Hogsmede. I nodded and grabbed my wand,”Then I will take my leave. I like the drinks you have. I might be back for a drink or two.” I smiled at Robin who nodded and grabbed her own wand.

“Of course. I’ll be expecting you to come by when this is all over.” She spoke quietly. I nodded and apparated out.

———

I made my way to the Ministry's auror office. I looked around and spotted a flow of pink hair in the distance talking to another auror. Tonks turned and saw me. She instantly ended her conversation and ran up to me,”Watcher Viper!” She tackled me with a hug. The other auror walked up and I instantly noticed it was Talbott. I smiled wholeheartedly at my friends,”You both look so good! How have you all been?”

Tonks looked at me in shock,”Blimey Viper; five years in America and you have already lost your accent?!” I laughed and poked her shoulder,”You do realize that you made fun of this very same accent when we entered Hogwarts? This is my normal accent.” She laughed and slapped my arm,”I know that! I’ve been bloody good! Working under Madeye was the best! Cranky old man, but a good teacher.”

I then looked at Talbott,”And how are you and Chiara doing?” He blushed and then pulled a ring out. Both Tonks and I had wide smiles as we congratulated him,”I’ll be asking her tonight. Enough about us; how are you fairing?” He asked quietly. My smile grew forced as I thought of Rakepick and the events of the Quidditch games and Charlie.

“I’ve been better.” I spoke quietly. Just then the door swung open and John had walked in with Kingsly Shacklebolt next to him,”Akela, Tonks, Winger; office for briefing now.” I looked at them with confusion. We followed the aurors inside the briefing office. They closed the door and put up a silent charm on the room making sure no one could hear us.

“Akela; what have you found?” John looked to me. I shifted on my feet,”I found Rakepick. My Intel told me she is in Scottland. Most likely outside of Hogsmead village.” Both Tonks and Talbott looked at me in shock,”You finally tracked her down?” Tonks’s question rang in my ears. I nodded and looked at John and Kingsly. Kingsly sat forward,”Talbott. I want you to scout the area and find her. Follow her the best you can and figure out what she’s planning. We know she isn’t a death eater; so why was she at the Quidditch games?”

I stood up and glared at the man in front of me,”Let me. I’ve been tracking her for years and I’m going-”

“Sit down!” John ordered. I sat while biting my tongue,”Now; we need to find out what she is up to. Is R back? We don’t know. Akela I’m sending you to Hogwarts for extra protection. The Tri-Wizard Tournaments are going to be held there and you will serve under Madeye.” I sighed and nodded,”Understand sir.”

———

I walked into Hogwarts with Crouch and other law enforcement officers and others from the Department of Games and Sports. The Professors were waiting in the great hall. Crouch and Dumbledor went over the rules of the tournament and then explained how classes will go for the teachers. I sighed of boredom until Professor Flitwick accidentally stepped on my foot,”Oops my bad-” He stopped and adjusted his glasses,”Miss Akela? Is that really you?!” He held out his hand. I smiled and shook it,”It has been a while Professor. I hope the students have been treating you well.” He chuckled and patted my hand,”Always. Though those Weasley boys sure do get creative with those spells of theirs.”

I laughed and shook my head. Crouch introduced everyone who was working under him. He then made it to me,”And here we have Miss Viper Akela. She’ll be joining my law enforcement team for extra protection from the auror office from America.” I smiled at everyone and nodded,”It’s good to be back.” We were then briefed to guard the doors after the students got to the Great Hall. After the introduction of the two schools I walked out with Crouch and stood at his side as he explained the rules. After a small ruckus with the students dinner was served and we began leaving. Crouch turned to me and looked to Madeye,“I want you to remain here because of what happened at the games. Stay low and quiet.” I nodded and stayed behind. After the dinner feast I found Professor Sprout and let her know what happened.

She nodded and walked me to Dumbledor’s office. She talked about all of the quirks she missed from my friends and I. I laughed,”I still can’t believe you still made me Prefect and Head Girl.” Professor Sprout patted my back,”Even though you were troublesome; you did follow most of the rules and you were one of our best tutors.” I blushed and made our way up the stairs. We had good laughs and then we made it to Dumbledor’s office. I said my goodbye to her and made my way into the Headmaster’s office. Professor Dumbledor looked up and smiled at me,”Miss Akela. How has your work in America been?”

I smiled and sat down in the chair in front of his desk,”It has been great! Thank you for the reference Professor. I wanted to let you know that Crouch wants me to remain here low and quiet.” I explained. He nodded and gave me permission to do so. To which I walked out and used my animegus form to wander the halls at night. This went on for a couple of days. I had been pacing around the hall and noticed someone walking in the hall. I paced towards them until they turned and shot a petrifying spell at me. I collapsed and watched as he covered his already shadowed face and then proceeded to shove me in Snapes ingredients closet. With one kick to the face I blacked out.

———

I woke up to Snape shaking me. I noticed I was covered in blood and my face hurt like hell,”Wha-” I snapped my attention and stood up,”We need to stop the tournament. It was rigged!” Before I could step out Snape pulled me aside,”The names were already pulled. An extra came out. We’ve had no choice but to follow the rules. A little late on letting us know Akela.” I glared at him and pointed to my condition,”Tried to stop your rigger last night! If you haven’t noticed; I’m a bit on the beat up side.”

He sighed and then held out his wand at my face,”Episky.” My nose snapped back into place with me crying out in pain. I glared at him before regaining my posture,”What are we going to do?” He sighed and looked down the hall,”Just keep your head down and keep a lookout.” I nodded and left. I walked around the school and even spotted Fred and George taking money for what looked like bets for the tournament.

Over the next few weeks I did my rounds. I kept my guard up as I went around the hall. I spotted a small child getting bullied by some older students. I took some papers that I had and smacked the older students across the head. They ran off and I helped the younger student up and telling him to tell his head of house. I looked at the Black and Gold of his uniform and thought back to Merula and I’s constant fights. I snapped out of it when Madeye pulled me to the side. I eyed him as he looked around,”They’re escorting the dragons for the first task here tonight and we need extra hands with security.”

I looked at him with confusion,”I don’t think I’m needed Madeye.”

He grunted and shrugged,”Orders are orders.” I sighed and nodded,”Alright. Where and when?”

By night I made my way through the forbidden forest towards the destination where the dragons were being held. I noticed Hagrid in the distance and something caught my eyes. With being a wolf animegus I can see invisibility cloaks and spells. I noticed a shimmer behind Hagrid and moved forward. I noticed Hagrid was talking with Charlie and the minute he saw me he got nervous,”Viper! What are ye doing here?” I stretched as the chilled Scottish air caused my arms to stiffen,”Madeye sent me here for extra security.”

I glanced at Charlie who smiled over to me. I felt my heart race a little seeing his warm smile again. I watched as Charlie spoke about the dragons. I noticed a welsh green in the distance. Another next to it was a chinese fireball and then a swedish short snout. The one that caught my eye was the hungarian horntail,”Ain’t the horntail a beauty? Nasty dragon, but a beauty at that.”

I remembered back in my fifth year,”Yeah I remember. Still have that scar on my hip from the one we fought in our fifth year.” I heard shrubs rustle in the distance and looked back. I saw an eagle watching me in the distance.

Talbott.

I walked up to Charlie and gave him a small kiss,”I have to go.” He smiled at me and nodded. I made my way further into the forest. I watched him shift into himself and he fixed his clothes,”Been a while Viper; have you been well?”

I rolled my eyes,”I’m playing bodyguard in a school instead of going after the woman who killed my best friend and gave me hell for over three years!” I crossed my arms waiting for him to give me the news.

He sighed and slipped me a paper,”We found her. It’s time we go arrest her. Meet me here tomorrow and we’ll take a portkey to Italy. We’ll be meeting Winchester, Tonks and Kingsly there to make the arrest.” He smiled lightly. I felt the weight that had piled on to my chest lift. I walked up and hugged him as tears began to find their way down my face,”Thank you.”

We pulled away and he looked at me with a kind smile,”For Rowan.” He then shifted to his animegus form and flew off. I sighed and walked back to the castle.

On my way there I saw the shimmer of an invisibility cloak walk by me. I quickly hurried off and shifted. I slowly followed it until I blocked the entrance to the school. I growled deeply at the invisible person who staggered backwards. I rushed forward and tackled the person. I saw them raise heir wand. Before they could say a spell; I shifted and aimed my wand at them,”Expelliarmus!” I caught the wand and instantly recognized it as Harry’s wand.

I sighed and put my wand down,”Come on out Harry.” Harry took the invisibility cloak off and looked down at the ground knowing he was caught red handed,”You know you weren’t supposed to see those dragons.” I handed his wand back to him,”At least tell Cedric and the others so they also have a fighting chance.”

His eyes met mine and nodded,”Fluer already knows. And Karkaroff will probably tell Krum; I’ll tell Cedric.” I nodded and smiled at him. I had forgotten that Cedric was the one that had been chosen. I got a good look at Harry and noticed that he looked horrible,”Follow me Potter.”

He followed me to the courtyard and I motioned for him to sit down,”This challenge has been putting a strain on you hasn’t it?” He nodded and I leaned back against the fountain. I sighed and looked at Gryffindor tower,”Ron will get over it. Best Friends always do.” I placed my hand on his shoulder,”Trust me when I say that you need to let your friends help you. You can’t keep them away for long. They always find a way back into your life.” I chuckled. Harry smiled to and got up,”Thanks Viper.”

“Hey from one cursed kid to another.” I winked at him. I stood up and began making my way back to my room.

“Hey Viper.” I turned and saw Harry putting his cloak back on,”I think you should take your advise as well. Ron said Charlie was getting very worried about you.” My heart hurt as he disappeared from normal sight. I nodded and turned around,”Thanks Harry; I needed that reminder.”

———

I met Talbott in the forest. He stood by the Black Lake; observing the sunrise in the distance. I stood next to him observing the peaceful air,”Let me know when you and Kiara are free. I think it would be nice to go out for butterbeer with everyone again.” I told him. He smiled sweetly at me before nodding in agreement,”Set the date and we’ll be there.” I smiled as we held on to the portkey.

We stopped and I turned and up came my breakfast behind a bush. Talbott gave me an awkward pat on the back,”God I hate portkeys.” I said wiping my mouth.

I followed him to the safe house where I spotted John and Tonks playing poker. Tonks’ eyes lit up at the sight of me. She threw down her cards and jumped into my arms. I laughed and hugged her back. John smiled at me then took his money and set out a map,”We learned that she has a trade going on in a black market district that the Italian Ministry has been eyeing for a while. We will be working with them to take down Rakepick.” I looked over the map. Of course there was a secret entrance in the Colosseum.

“I think Tonks and I can corner her here.” I pointed to the spot,”Tonks and I can change our appearance and follow her.” Kingsly nodded and drew a circle near a cliff side,”Get her here. We’ll put barriers up so she can’t apparate.”

We planned everything to the Tee and waited for nightfall.

Tonks and I made our hair darker and our clothes dark as well. We moved throughout the market with silence as we spotted her fire like hair. She spotted us and walked faster away from us. We caught up and got her to the cliff side. She went to apparate before realizing she was blocked. I changed my appearance back to normal and lifted my wand at her.

She chuckled and waved me off,”It’s been a long time Akela; how is my little prodigy doing?” I felt rage in my chest as I thought about what my next move would be. Tonks kept her wand raised as well,”You’re surrounded Rakepick; you are under arrest.”

Rakepick turned and saw John, Kingsly and three Italian ministry aurors. She looked around in anger and aimed a wandless spell towards the others. John used a shield spell but the others were knocked back. Everyone fired stun spells towards her which she deflected with ease. She fired a bombarda spell at the ground causing the cliff to crumble down.

We fell down with rocks and rubble tumbling with us. Tonks, John and I grabbed Rakepick before she apparated. We fell on to a grassy plain. I was dazed and noticed Rakepick aiming her wand at Tonks. I had horrible flashbacks to the green flash from my sixth year.

I charge forward as fast as I could and heard her start the spell. I shifted and plunged my fangs into her arm. She screamed in pain and looked at me in shock. Tonks shook her head and paled at the look of a three foot wolf clinging to the arm of a witch. She tried to pry my jaws open which gave John enough time to stun her in the back.

She fell to the ground. She took hold of my head and slammed me into a nearby rock. Tonks used the laceration spell and slammed the bitch away from me. I shifted back in pain as my head was bleeding bad. John helped me sit up against a wall while the other aurors were called.

Rakepick was now glaring daggers at me. To which I spat in her direction,”Get ready to rot in hell bitch.” Before she could say anything; Tonks did a hex or curse that made her mouth disappear,”That’ll shut her up.” She laughed and then sat next to me.

“Animegus huh?”

“Yep.” I answered.

She looked at me with curiosity,”Who else knows?”

“Charlie, Chiara, Talbott and Harry. Obviously now you and John as well.” I winced as she helped heal the wound.

I watched as she was escorted to Askaban.

After getting patched up; Tonks led me away and handed me some Italian Ice. I laughed and took it. The weight was finally gone and I felt very relaxed. I saw the thestrals pulling the jail cart. I sighed and closed my eyes letting the sun soak into my skin.

“So are you staying in Europe? Or are you going back to America?” I looked at Tonks with uncertainty. I shrugged,”I think I’m going to take a well deserved vacation.”

Tonks gave me an all knowing look,”I think its time you go on a long awaited date with Mr. Dragon Tamer! He has been-” I took her Italian ice and shoved it in her mouth. She laughed as she rubbed her teeth,”That was dirty!”

I laughed and looked into the distance.

She was right.

I think it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie.

———

The Romania air chilled me to the bone.

How was it colder than the UK?!

I went up to the front office to the sanctuary and was met by a friendly smile,”Buna dimineat doamna! Cum te pot ajuta azi?” I smiled as I had little to no idea what he just said. He saw my look and smiled sweetly,”American?”

“Irish American actually.” I laughed nervously. He held out his hand,”Ari David.”

“Viper Akela.” I took his hand and he instantly lit up at the sound of my name,”Charlie’s imaginary girl?! It’s about time we met you.” He laughed. I felt my face light up like a Christmas tree. He came around and called for someone in the back. A man poked his head out of the back office with his face stuffed,”I’m going to show our guest here around. Watch the desk while I’m gone?”

The man nodded and wheeled out of the office. Ari walked me through the gates and I could instantly here the dragons in the distance. Ari showed me the hatchery and even the smaller breeds of dragons. He laughed at my amazed look,”Ever been to a sanctuary before?” He asked. I nodded and looked at the fossil they had in their study center,”Thunderbird sanctuary in Arizona. I go there on my free time to spend time with the creatures.”

Ari was grinning ear to ear,”My grandfather helped Newt Schamander free one from Egypt. Said it was one of the most majestic creatures he had ever laid eyes on.” He then spoke in Hebrew which I roughly translated to ‘God bless that old man.’

Soon we made it to the village nearby the sanctuary,”Charlie’s home is the small house near the forest. Kind of rustic looking. Mailbox has his name on it.” I thanked the man and went into the village. I smiled at the children playing in the streets. Older couples who were tending to their gardens. My heart pounded when I saw the familiar red haired, freckle covered man I had come to see. His blue eyes landed on me.

The conversation he was having with the man standing in front of him suddenly stopped. The man looked over his shoulder and to me,”You lost miss?” I smiled and nodded eyeing Charlie,”Yeah. I’m looking for a stubborn red head covered in freckles and burn scars who I haven’t had a proper date with since Hogwarts.”

The man looked at Charlie with shock,”Asta este Viper?! Băiete, nu ai retinut descrierea.” I saw Charlie’s face turn into a near shade of his hair color. The man bid him farewell and walked to what I thought was his home. Charlie didn’t waist a second before pulling me into a hug.

For what seemed like centuries I hugged him back. Tears poured down my eyes as I apologized. He brought me into his house and made some tea,”What made you finally visit?” He asked me.

“Tonks convinced me. Charlie…we did it.” He looked at me confused,”We got Rakepick.” His eyes softened and clasped his hand to mine. His eyes pleaded to me as he spoke the question on his mind since I showed up,”Does this mean I have my Viper back?”

I nodded and sobbed my heart out,”I’m so sorry.” He pulled me closer as just buried myself in his chest.

The remainder of the day was us talking and me cooking us some dinner.

By night, warmed by his body, I had the best sleep of my entire life.

———

The next few months of vacation were amazing. I helped around the sanctuary as an extra healer on hand or even security. I knew Crouch was going to order me back to Hogwarts once my vacation was over with, but at the moment I didn’t care.

Soon enough it was my last day in Romania. I woke to feel Charlie’s fingers tracing my thunderbird tattoo on my shoulder. I groaned as I stretched my stiff body. Charlie planted a kiss on my lips which lingered for a solid minute before he whispered a morning to me.

I sighed and got out of bed. I packed my items and made my way to the portkey with Charlie in tow. He pulled me into a kiss,”I’ll miss you.” He told me. His blue eyes begged me not to go,”I’ll be here for summer.” I kissed his cheek and then grabbed the portkey.

I arrived back at Hogwarts just in time for the second challenge.

———

Crouch gave me orders to be at the ready to dive after the champions who needed the help. After the champions jumped into the black lake I sat by waiting for anyone who needed to be saved. We noticed Fleur’s Vermillious charm shot up. Me and another person jumped in and swam towards the direction of the charm cast.

I noticed her being pulled down from what looked to be grindylow dragging her down. I stunned the grindylow and me and the other person pulled her up. Fleur was panicking and gagging out water. The other person who I found out was a healer. He made sure there wasn’t any bad wounds before wrapping her up in a warm towel.

Her friends were warming her up and she was looking frantically around for someone,”Where eeze Gabrielle? Where eeze my sister!?” I looked around in panic, but Madeye motioned for me to walk over to him.

“Her sister was used as the prize. She will be safely pulled out of the lake by the end of the hour.” He whispered to me. I looked at him in shock then realised I hadn’t seen Hermione nor Ron at all today. Soon Cedric emerged from the water with a girl I didn’t recognize, then Krum with Hermione. We helped them up and I watched out for Harry and Ron. I was asked to help warm up Hermione when Harry, Ron and Gabrielle resurfaced. Fleur kissed Harry and Ron and thanked them.

Hermione tensed up when she saw that.

After helping the Champions and their rescued friends and family I made my way to Crouch who looked like he had seen a ghost. I placed my hand on his shoulder causing him to jump,”You alright Crouch?” He cleared his throat and nodded before walking away.

———

It was now near he end of the school year and the champions were getting ready for their final trial. I had been helping Snape try and find the culprit behind his missing ingredients which we later learned was to make polyjuice potion. I made my way down the hall where I ran into Cedric. I smiled and waved at him,”Diggory!” Cedric looked oer to me and a huge smile appeared on his face,”Viper!” I noticed he was had gotten taller. I laughed and hugged my old shadow,”How are you doing? I heard you made it as Hufflepuff’s new seeker.”

He laughed and continued walking with me,”Yeah I ended up getting the seeker position after you left.” I smiled and remembered when he started joining Charlie and I’s quidditch games with our friends. He was a good seeker.

“That’s great! I’m rooting for you. Hufflepuff for the win!” I bumped my fist against his. He laughed and was then waved down by a ravenclaw girl,”I gotta go. It was nice seeing you again!”

I made my way down towards the Hufflepuff entrance and placed my hand on the barrels. I remember teaching the first years the code to enter.

Sneaking my radio from home so all the hufflepuffs had something to listen. When it was time for bed we brought it to the rooms and jammed out to the rock stations.

Using my Walkman to listen to my music when I was out for walks or doing homework by myself.

Rowan scolding me for failing my History of Magic test…again.

Chiara and I sneaking out every full moon with Talbott in tow.

Sneaking Charlie in the room for some…alone time.

Winning the Quidditch cup my last year.

I hated myself now.

What had I become?

I became an enraged animal wanting revenge for all the wrong doings that had happened to my friends.

Helga Hufflepuff would be ashamed of me.

I felt a soft hand on my shoulder,”The hat never makes a mistake dear. You were a true hufflepuff and our founder would have loved you.” Sprout’s voice caused my heart to swell. I breathed in and let out a shaky breath.

“Didn’t mean for that to come out loud, but thank you.” She then took her wand and smacked the top of my head with it. I winced in pain and looked at her in disbelief,”Ow! What was that for?!”

“The past hurts. What will you do with it?” She then tried to hit me again but I moved to the side which caused her to miss. She laughed and I began to laugh with her,”Yeah yeah. Learn from it. Thank you Professor.” She pulled me into a hug and then got very excited,”The third challenge will begin soon! Will you be cheering Cedric and Harry on?”

I smiled and chuckled lightly,”I’ll try and make it, but I have to do the rounds tonight.” She nodded in understanding and wished me a goodnight.

I walked around the entirety of the Hogwarts school when I stumbled upon two of Harry’s friends sneaking around. I cleared my throat and both froze,”The last challenge is happening right now. I know Harry will want his friends there to support him.” I looked at both with a scolding stare. Then smiled,”I’ll let you guys off with a warning.” I winked at them and wandered away. The girl ran up to me,”Something isn’t right with Professor Moody!”

I stopped and looked at her with all seriousness,”What do you mean?” The boy and girl looked at each other then back to me,”We think he’s been stealing ingredients to make a potion. And he’s been very shifty lately.”

Suddenly it clicked into place.

Polyjuice potion.

“Get to the arena and stay with your friends. I’ll inform the teachers.” I got up and apparated the kids and I to the maze. They made it to Hermione and Ron who were watching and waiting in excitement. I found the teachers and explained the situation. Snape who was now furious apparated back to get a truth potion.

Just then a loud pop was heard and Harry was now on the ground with Cedric. Cheers were heard as Hogwarts had won the Tri-Wizard-

My heart dropped when I spotted it.

Cedric’s unblinking eyes.

Cold and gone.

I heard Fleur scream as she was the first to notice. Tears welled in my eyes as everyone stoped and stared in shock. Professor Sprout broke down and burrowed her head into my shoulder. I looked up and saw Madeye dragging Harry away,”He’s got Harry.” I whispered. The teachers heard and prepared for a fight. Snape had arrived back and we made our way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. After barging in Snape and I held down Madeye while Harry stood near McGonagall.

After revealing Barty Crouch Jr. and him telling us that he murdered his father; we helped the real Madeye out of the enchanted chest. The old auror patted my back with a pained nod. I smiled and took it as a thank you.

———

The funeral was tough.

It was another friend gone.

I felt a hand clasp my shoulder and saw a glove hand me a note.

Meet me in my office. We have much to discuss.

-Dumbledor

I looked around and spotted the two kids from before. I walked over to them. The fourth year boy looked at me with worry,”You both helped us a lot. Thank you…uhh”

“Rey Winchester.”

“Neville Longbottom.”

I smiled at them before nodding,”Thank you Rey and Neville. You both were brave in following that man. I’ll inform McGonagall and ask her to give you both points for this.” Both smiled but sadness was in those eyes. I made my way to the Headmaster’s office and was joined by both McGonagall and Sprout. Once we were up there I spotted not only all the teachers, but Talbott, Tonks, Bill, Merula and Madeye.

I looked to Dumbledor for an explanation.

“What I am about to ask all of you is to be kept secret. And I must know that you will all do any task that I give you. Do you understand.” I nodded and so did the others.

“Years ago when the first war was going on; I had created a secret organization called the Order of the Phoenix. I plan to rebirth that Order again.” He then looked at everyone in the room,”All who were apart of it before step aside. All who have never heard of it or were apart of it line up in front of me.” The Professors moved to the side along with Madeye and it was just Talbott, Tonks, Bill and Merula standing in front of him.

“Talbott Winger; you are a great auror and a hidden animegus. I’ll need you to keep your eyes and ears open all over the United Kingdoms.” Talbott nodded in understanding. Next he turned to Tonks,”Nymphadora Tonks; like Mr. Winger you are an exceptional auror. You will be positioned with Kingsly, Madeye and Winchester. Keep an eye out for spies amongst the ministry.”

Tonks beamed at Dumbledor,”Of course, but for future references. Don’t call me Nymphadora. Tonks will do just fine.” Dumbledor chuckled and nodded. He then turned to Bill,”I have already talked to your brother who will be keeping communications and recruiting for the Order in Romania. However; I need you here. Curse breakers may come in handy especially now. I have already informed Gringotts about you and they are happy to have you.”

Bill nodded but stayed silent. Dumbledor then turned to Merula,”Miss Snyde; I want you recruiting in Egypt.” She smiled and crossed her arms,”As long as I don’t get a desk job that is fine by me.”

And finally he turned to me,”I need one more person here at Hogwarts. However; the Ministry is appointing one of their own as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. If I remember correctly you were one of the top of your class in Care for Magical Creatures correct?”

“Yes Professor, but didn’t Kettleburn retire and Hagrid took his post?” I asked him.

“Hagrid will be leaving his post for another mission. I’m asking you to join our staff Miss Akela. It would mean a lot.” I looked over to the staff of Professors. Then to my friends,”Well…Professor Akela does have a nice ring to it.” Dumbledor smiled,”Then its settled. You are all dismissed; Allister; perhaps you can get Akela situated with the auror’s office in America since she won’t be working there anymore.” We nodded and left the office.

Madeye and I took a portkey to America. It was nice to be back in New York and I will miss my home in Arizona. Quetta was doing paperwork when I approached my desk. She stopped and ran up to hug me,”I heard you were leaving us?!” She asked in disbelief.

“Yes I am, but I’ll give you my address so we can still talk. Who knows; I may appear for a drink every now and then.” I laughed. She teared up with a smile and hugged me tighter,”You are the best damn partner I have ever had! I’ll miss you!” I smiled and hugged her closer,”I’ll miss you too.”

After packing up my office and all my personal files and objects I turned my badge over to Ramsey who stamped Retired to it,”Keep it. So you can be reminded of your times with us.” I smiled warmhearted by his words. Soon the entire auror office came by and wished me well.

After that we traveled to the school where I had begun to organize my office then care for the animals. Madeye left me to that work and he went back to the auror offices.

I had an unexpected visitor who taught me how to charm a briefcase to store magical creatures in. I thanked Mr. Scammander and left for my parents home in Dublin. I stayed with them until I found a home in Hogsmead village. I brought my niffler Galleo, my Irish Wolfhound Artair and my Granian Storm with me to the new house.

I found the door wide open and saw Charlie waiting inside with a smile on his face. I placed down the suitcase and closed the door before crashing into him. I looked at him with a smirk,”You are mine all summer.” He laughed and kissed the crook of my neck,”Funny. Because I’m here to kidnap you.” He whispered.

Soon summer started and also began a new adventure for me starting with the love of my life.

---------

AN: I’m so happy this fic is done. It took me so long to do this fic.

#hogwarts mystery #charlie weasley #john winchester #takes place in harry's fourth year #harry potter and the goblet of fire #i finished this at two in the morning #jacob's sibling #charlie weasley x reader #harry potter #rey winchester #neville longbottom #bill weasley #ginny weasley #george weasley #ron weasley #weasley family

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the-melting-world · 4 years ago

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How about some good times with Asra in his Oasis? He must have all sorts of magic at his fingertips there to make things more fun and interesting 👀 Like perhaps some temperature/texture manipulation? Hmm?

Soooo this was actually a collaboration with @apprenticealec ! Make sure to show her some love. Our apprentices had a lot of fun celebrating Asra’s birthday in his tropical oasis ....

*Not quite a lemon, but still on the acidic side! Enjoy!!!

****

When Alec and Kipling asked Asra what he wanted to do for his birthday, they were both surprised to see him shrug and say, “I just want to spend time with you two.”

Alec laughed, slinging one arm over his shoulder and the other around Kipling’s waist. “Love, all we do is spend time together.”

“Isn’t there anything special you want? Somewhere we could go?” Kipling asked, holding Asra’s hands in hers.

Asra thought for a moment, pursing his lips. “I don’t think we’ve all been to my Gate together before. Why don’t we go there?”

Kipling’s brown eyes met Alec’s blue ones as they exchanged a secret, not-so-innocent smile. Then Alec joined hands with Kipling with Asra’s at the center. “Let’s go!”

Once they reached the magical realm, and felt the soft ground of Asra’s oasis under their feet, the three of them raced each other over to the pools, kicking up water in all directions. Shrieks of laughter echoed through the air around them as they abandoned their clothes. Soon enough, they were all soaking wet.

“Asra, let’s play a game!” Kipling said, wrapping her arms around his hips. She let her lips fall into a small pout and Alec mirrored her, standing on Asra’s other side and holding onto his bicep.

Asra laughed, turning to press quick kisses to both of their foreheads. “What did you have in mind?”

“What about Marco Polo?” Alec suggested.

“Hm, really?” Asra raised an eyebrow, studying the two of them closely.

Kipling nodded, dark hair bouncing around her face. “Yeah! Please?”

A fond smile spreading across his face, Asra went to respond, but Alec interrupted him with a finger to his lips.

“Don’t you want to know what your prize is if you catch both of us?”

Asra’s eyes glinted in the light, and he quirked his mouth up slyly. “Oh, I didn’t know there’d be a prize. Go on.”

Kipling shot Alec a look and cleared her throat. “I thought we weren’t going to tell!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Alec laughed, stepping away from the other two, deeper into the water. “She’s right, Asra. I guess you’ll just have to find out. If you win, that is.” Slowly she sunk down until her head was the only thing floating above the water, her long hair fanned out behind her.

Asra rolled his eyes and sighed, but his grin never faded. Kipling snuck a kiss to his cheek before running into the water after Alec, giggling. “Okay, now, no peeking!” she called.

“And no using magic to find us either,” Alec added, giving him a pointed look.

Asra said with affected innocence, “You really think I would do that?”

“Yes, you would!” they chimed.

With a chuckle, Asra closed his eyes and stepped further into the pool. Once they were sure he wasn’t peeking from under his white eyelashes, the women seperated, careful not to disturb the water around them.

“Marco!”

“Polo!”

Asra cocked his head towards Kipling, who squealed when he lunged for her, just missing her hand. Alec covered her mouth to hide her laugh, but Asra still heard her, and turned his attention her way.

“Marco!”

“Polo!”

It was Alec’s turn to jump back, and taking a deep breath, she swam under him, between his legs. His fingers just missed her hair, and she joined Kipling on the far side of the pool, the two of them trying and failing to be quiet.

“Marco!”

“Polo!”

Alec and Kipling held their breath, and this time, Asra moved slowly, straining his ears to catch the sounds of their voices. As the cool water flowed around him, he had an idea. Heat poured from his fingertips as he ran them through the water, and suddenly the pool transformed into a hot spring, steam rising into the air.

“Oh!” Kipling couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her lips, and Asra used that moment to strike, a cheeky grin on his face as his hands reached out and grabbed – nothing.

Their voices came from behind him. Somehow they were just as far away as before. Pouting, Asra tried again. “You two are really making me work for this surprise, aren’t you? Marco!”

“Polo!”

Asra resisted the strong urge to try to find them with his magic, and instead let the temperature of the pool drop, sucking all of the heat back into his hands. Both Alec and Kipling gasped this time, but one was far closer. This time, Asra threw both arms out and was able to latch onto one giggling, squirming Kipling, who laughed as he pulled her to his chest.

“Got one!”

“That wasn’t fair!” She cried, and Asra opened his eyes slightly to look at her, hair wet and clinging to her face.

“You never said I couldn’t use magic at all,” he teased, and she sighed, shaking her head. Turning his attention back to their lover waiting in the pool, Asra closed his eyes again. “Marco!”

“Polo!” Alec answered, and both Asra and Kipling could hear her teeth chattering from across the water.

Asra tapped his chin, smirking. He let the water around him and Kipling heat back up, and heard Alec whine, aching for the warm water.

“Oh, doesn’t the water just feel so good over here, Kipling?”

“Definitely! So warm.” Kipling laughed, watching Alec’s eyebrows furrow together, stubbornness keeping her away.

Asra stretched one hand out towards where he thought Alec was. He smiled. “Aren’t you cold, Alec?”

“Sh-shut up!” She pouted, cold, wet hair draped over her shoulders. She didn’t want to give in, but it looked so relaxing, and her fingers were starting to feel numb.

“Hm, suit yourself then,” Asra said, pulling his hand back, but he felt the water shift around him, and knew that Alec was right in front of him.

He reached out slowly, and once he felt his fingers graze Alec’s wrist, grabbed her and pulled her into the warmer waters. She instantly melted against him, wrapping her cold arms around his waist.

“Traitor,” she said, giving Kipling a half-hearted glare.

She shrugged. “Guilty.” Then she smiled and snaked one arm around Alec and the other around Asra. Once they had all sufficiently warmed up, Asra looked between them, raising an eyebrow. “So, about that prize?”

Kipling and Alec shared a look. “Close your eyes!” Kipling said, and Asra pouted.

“Again?”

“Trust us,” Alec said, tightening her grip on his waist.

With a hum of agreement Asra let his eyes slide shut, keeping one hand on each of his lovers’ backs. Alec glanced at Kipling, and when she nodded, they both leaned forward to kiss a corner of Asra’s mouth, their lips meeting in the middle. He sighed happily, digging his fingers into their skin, pulling them closer.

Alec left Kipling to pepper kisses across Asra’s face as she moved slightly lower, pressing soft kisses to his neck and shoulder. Asra started kissing Kipling back, cupping her chin to keep her still, while his other hand traveled up Alec’s back to bury in her hair.

When they all finally pulled away from each other, their eyes were hazy, and Alec laughed, leaning to kiss Kipling’s cheek.

Asra arched a pale eyebrow at them both. “Why are we stopping all of a sudden?”

Kipling stifled a giggle. “Maybe we can continue this somewhere we can get more comfortable?”

Asra’s hands coasted down their backs, past their waists. “Oh yeah? Did you have a certain place in mind?”

Alec tapped her chin. “Oh, I bet we can come up with something interesting.”

#asra #happy birthday asra #alec the apprentice #kipling the apprentice #asra babe #alec babe #kipling babe #kip of cups #🍵

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joracalltrise · 5 years ago

Text

I’ve fallen in love with the 7th season of the Clone Wars, but in the same time this season… disappointed me so much. Do you, guys, feel the same? Or are you fully satisfied?

I warn you, that I’m going to more or less skip the good things and get to the bad things – not because I’m a complaining person, but because I believe a lot of people have already listed all positives about the last episode and season 7 in general (especially <url> www.gffa.tumblr.com </url> – dude, I really love your blog!), so me talking about the things I had loved in the latest season, would be… repeating what other people have already said.

I think we all (or most of us) agree, that the 7th Season was totally amazing, if not THE BEST season of the Clone Wars. We got that clear? Okay, now let’s get to the “buts”.

1. Not enough episodes

I’ll sound a bit whiny here, but… I really don’t get it, why couldn’t we get full 20 episodes for the Final Season of the Clone Wars. Or even more than 20. Maybe there are people in Disney, who are smarter than me, and they know the answer to that question, but STILL… if Star Wars is such a good brand, why not making more of the Clone Wars?

Of course, there are also advantages of producing only 12 episodes.

The whole season feels more like a movie than a TV series. Or, rather – like three movies. Instead of “small stories” we were given three solid Arcs, which are very smoothly connected to each other. That’s a good thing. It’s not the same case as “the Legend of Korra”, where 12 episodes would give us a feeling of an enormous pacing.

BUT. Because I was given only 12 episodes, I got to miss some of my favorite characters.

2. Lack of some important characters

We didn’t see Dooku in the last season the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We didn’t see Grievous in the last season of the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We didn’t see Ventress in the last season of the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We BARELY saw Obi-Wan (sniff! sniff!) – poor guy got some bigger scenes only in “Good friends not forgotten” and “Phantom Apprentice”. And some short (but really good) lines in “An unfinished business”.

Padme got ONE scene (one that confirms, that Anakin is, in fact, blind, since he didn’t comment on her baby bump).

Now, someone would roll their eyes and say – yeeeeaaaah, but Dooku, Grievous, Obi-Wan and Padme got PLENTY of TV time in the Revenge of the Sith, duh! If you want more of them, just watch RoTs, again. Okay, I agree, but… that was the whole point of me watching the Clone Wars. I liked it so much, because prequel trilogy was not enough for me. I wanted MORE of my favorite characters. What’s wrong with that?

And what about Ventress? She was supposed to have such a great Arc with Quinlan Vos!

Than brings us to the next case…

3. Abandoned and Non-existing Arcs

Utapau Arc… oh, I’m NEVER gonna forgive them for Utapau Arc!

I believe it was actually the best Arc in the Clone Wars. I’ve watched those unfinished episodes sooo many times, and they have brought me more joy than ANY full-fledged episodes. So many good moments in those episodes!

So much of Obi-Wan and Anakin dynamics (I’m sorry, Ahsoka fans, but no matter how much Felloni and Co will try to persuade me otherwise, OBI-WAN is a Jedi who has the closest relationship with Anakin, NOT Ahsoka. Quarrel, if you like, but that’s how I feel, sorry).

Anakin interacting with animals (outrageous, cute and absolutely beautiful).

Anakin’s great plan “ups, I’ve fallen asleep… ah, no, it was my plan from the beginning!”

Scorpion creature playing with Anakin’s lightsaber, and Anakin killing the creature “by accident”.

And FINALLY two best moments:

“Awww, got yourself captured again, Old Man?” (I’ll NEVER get tired of Anakin calling Obi-Wan “old man”, okay?”

And Obi-Wan merrily waving to Grievous, when he and Anakin escape with the cristal.

Ventress and Quinlan Arc – even if they didn’t follow a comic, they could have made an amazing Arc out of this.

Small Padme Arc? Like… how she was dealing with her pregnancy, while working for the Senate? Anything? Pretty please?

Some Arc involving Ayala Secura or Kit Fisto or Ki Adi Mundi or Plo Koon – just to say goodbye to those characters before Order 66? By the way, it’s kind of weird, Ahsoka didn’t think or talk about Plo Koon even a little bit, during the WHOLE season. That’s the disadvantage of having only 12 episodes, yup!

The last Padawan Arc aka Caleb Dume turning into Kanan Jarrus Arc aka One of my biggest disappointments for the last season. Why… WHY they didn’t do it?! The trailer gave me soooo muuuch hope! I really, REALLY wanted to see Kanan interacting with Depa and the Clones. Yes, I know, comics and stuff, but comics is not TV, and I love watching my favorite characters with nice soundtrack and great voice actors and everything. R.I.P. my expectations for Caleb Dume’s Arc in Clone Wars… sniff sniff!

Of course, there’s more, but those are the ones that come to my mind firsts.

4. Ahsoka’s character in this last season

Now, let’s talk about the character who got the most of the TV time in the whole season (if not the whole series).

Ahsoka’s greatest fans will probably get angry at me, but I’m still gonna say this. Not because I dislike Ahsoka, because I DO like her, and I think she’s an amazing character. Actually, before I start throwing my “accusations”, I’ll say some nice things about Ahsoka, so that you know I’m not trying to be mean here.

What Ahsoka did in the 7th season, can be mostly explained by her young age. She’s clearly at the rebel stage, she’s got through some really awful experiences (getting accused of treason, when you’re INNOCENT can really leave someone pretty shaken up, I think we all agree), and before Martez Sisters Arc for the first time in her life she was really, really ALONE.

Also, we all know that Ahsoka will be more mature in Rebels. It kind of makes sense, that you need to become an angry and proud teenager first, before you become an experienced and charismatic leader.

BUT, even knowing that, I’m really annoyed at Ahsoka after the last season. I’ve liked her during all 5 seasons of the Clone Wars, she was one of my favorite characters, but after season 7, she really got on my nerves. And honestly? I’m starting to think, it wasn’t even her fault. Maybe it was just the Clone Wars creators turning her into to some sort of… agenda? Using her to prove something? About the whole Jedi Order, maybe? Or about Anakin?

But, anyway, to the point…

Ahsoka’s actions in season 7 basically resulted in three groups of fans.

Group Number One (that’s NOT me) – people who started to think Ahsoka is some sort of saint, the only good (ex) Jedi in the rotten Order, the very best person, and oh, if only other Jedi could act like her, then maybe nothing bad will happen. And, oh, Obi-Wan and the rest Council sitters could REALLY learn from this amazing woman!

Group Number Two (that’s me) – people rising an eyebrow to Ahsoka’s behavior and being slightly annoyed at her.

Group Number Three (I don’t know who’s there, but there are some people) – people hating Ahsoka, getting really angry at her for acting the way she acted, and also blaming her for not using her knowledge about Sidious wanting to make Anakin his apprentice.

Who’s right? Maybe no one? Maybe partly everyone? I don’t know, so I’ll just proceed to explain my own subjective point of view.

I’ve already said some things about Ahsoka in this post:

<url> https://joracalltrise.tumblr.com/post/615743227991031809/ahsoka-versus-obi-wan-where-did-that-even-come </url>

I’m going to say more, but it’ll be much shorter.

What I disliked about Ahsoka most in the latest season was the fact, that she wanted to have a cookie and eat the cookie and she started to lecture people smarter and more experienced than her how to do their job.

Let’s start with the first one, by looking into Ahsoka’s particular words and actions. So…

She doesn’t want to be a Jedi, but she wants Republic to support her actions (siege of Mandalore) and let her participate in important Jedi-only discussions (Mace Windu talk). Kind of like some Brexit supporters, don’t you think? “Let’s leave the EU, but let’s keep all the privileges of the country belonging to the EU, because we are so smart, we deserve it and that’s it”. Oh, come on! You either leave of not – make up your mind, Ahsoka (Britain could, so why can’t you?).

She wants Anakin and Obi-Wan to help her but she doesn’t want to ASK them nicely and try a little bit to act like a person asking for help. She just expects them to agree, because they… what? Owe her? Owe her WHAT? Not supporting her ENOUGH, when she was accused (let me remind you: Obi-Wan sided with Ahsoka during Council meeting, and Anakin was litteraly running around Coruscant to prove his Padawan’s innocence)?

Her being angry about Anakin and Obi-Wan choosing Coruscant over Mandalore – I’m not even commenting that, because I’m tired of talking about it. But I’ll add just one more thing here – did it occur to anyone that Trace and Rafa are still on Coruscant, when Coruscant is attacked? What a great friendship you have formed, Ahsoka! Not even a single worry about whether or not your new friends will be in danger? But wait, they don’t need you, cause people in Mandalore need you more. Cool (sorry about the sarcasm, guys, but I couldn’t resist).

And now, the second thing.

If you want to change some huge organization, especially one like a Jedi Order, the best way to do it, is from the inside. Qui-Gon Jinn was like no other Jedi, and he was probably tempted to leave, but he chose to stay, and his presence benefited the Order in many many ways! He didn’t really change the Jedi – died before he could – but there was a chance. Perhaps Anakin could have changed the Jedi, had he not turned to the dark side? I think he would! Maybe, if he would mature even more (although, in Clone Wars he matured A LOT – look at the “Old friends not forgotten” episode) and join the Council a bit later, when the time was right… just imagine it! The Jedi Code hasn’t ALWAYS forbidden marriages and love. The Order could have come back to its old ways. Good thing, stuff like fanfiction exists ;)

But anyway, coming back to Ahsoka. If you LEAVE an organization, and then you start lecturing its members about morality and choices, it’s kind of obvious, they won’t take you seriously. And yeah, I fully support Obi-Wan’s statement “but Ahsoka is no longer a part of the Republic Military”, and I totally agree with Mace calling her “a citizen”. It’s all about Ahsoka wanting to keep and wanting to eat at the same time. What she wanted in the final season, basically, is doing all the good things she remember doing in the Order (helping people selflessly, supporting friends), but without having to deal with difficult (but necessary) things (like making difficult choices and dealing with consequences, duty versus emotion, all of this so called “playing politics”, etcetera). It’s like wanting to have a pet, but leaving all the problems – going to the vet, curing the animal, when it’s sick, maybe even making the decision of “putting a friend to a sleep” to keep it from suffering – to somebody else. Do you get, what I mean?

And before I leave the poor girl alone, I have one more thing to add.

I don’t like making Ahsoka “another Rey”.

Strong female characters are very much needed in the popculture. I’m a girl too, so I understand. But, for Force’s sake, don’t upgrade somebody’s skills ex-machina!

Okay, fine, they’ve made Rey a Force prodigy because she’s *********’s granddaughter and apparently she was already good in martial arts before she has left Jakku. Some people like that. I don’t. I prefer an actual skill development instead of sudden skills upgrage.

But Ahsoka didn’t held a lightsaber for a long time, and first time she grabs her new pair, she becomes a one person machine. I wouldn’t say it makes me particularly upset, because it was nice to watch. But it DID disturbed me. And I couldn’t help the feeling, that canon was a bit shifted to match Ashoka fan’s expectations.

The canon got me used to the fact, that Star Wars strongest prequel fighters were Yoda, Palpie, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace, Dooku and Maul. I might have forgotten someone, but you get my point, right? Experienced and adult fighters, whose skills are logical and earned. Actually, I think that Ahsoka from Rebels fits that group as well.

I repeat it – Ahsoka FROM REBELS!

In Rebels she’s an adult and she’s got plenty of time to hone both her Force and lightsaber skills.

I’m not saying, I’m hating her fighting like a pro with Mandalorians and Maul. I repeat it - It WAS nice to watch. I’m just not buying it.

Like I’m not buying some other things.

5. Lack of logic (especially in Martez Arc)

It’s not a big fault, actually. We get plenty of those in pop culture shows. It gives us a lot of room for “How It Should Have Ended” videos ;)

But, seeeriiouslyyy…

Ahsoka using the Force right and left in the Martez Arc, while Rafa and Trace don’t notice A THING… are they deaf and blind, or something?

Is Anakin blind as well? Does he REALLY not notice Padme’s baby bump? Was he too busy’s with his wife’s beautiful eyes, or what?

And – AGAIN! – Ahsoka grabing Maul’s ship with the Force. Since when grabing a (MOVING) ship with the Force became a canonical skill of anyone other than Yoda (or maybe Palpatine)? No, wait, even Palpie and Yoda didn’t grab a MOVIG ship. Why Anakin and Obi-Wan couldn’t Force grab Dooku’s ship, when he was escaping Naboo? There were TWO of them, for Force’s sake, and one of them was the Forcedamn Chosen One! Why couldn’t they? Oh, wait, I know! Because it was BEFORE “The Rise of Skywalker”. In THAT movie Forcegrabing the ships became a canonical skill, especially for prodigical women loved by the audience (again – sorry about the sarcasm, guys). As a woman who used to train martial arts for YEARS, I’d like female protagonists to actually LEARN their super skills, before they use them. Okay?

But, well, Star Wars suddenly canonizing new amazing skills after years is a material for a different article.

And, like I said, it’s really not that big of a deal. The Clone Wars were still amazing and enjoyable to watch – especially the newest season.

Besides, well, I can’t get what I want all the time, right? Felloni and Co had to CHOOSE, whom they want to make happiest, and they’ve chosen Ahsoka’s fans. I don’t blame them. Maybe they’ll choose my preferences next ;) One can always hope, right?

Conclusions?

Yeah, I think that’s all I have to say about the newest season. And I repeat – once again – that in spite all this complaining, I really loved that season. And I loved reading about other people’s opinions about it. May the Force be with us all!

Thank you for reading this long, looong post!

If anyone’s up to the discussion, feel free to contact me.

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lookatthestarrynight · 5 years ago

Text

Laughter is the Best Medicine - Chapter Three

Poe Dameron/Doctor!OFC: Poe Dameron has joined the Resistance at the request of General Leia Organa, and he’s finally arrived on the Echo of Hope, the Resistance’s floating base of operations. While on board, he meets the Medical Director of the Resistance and... falls in love? We’ll see.

I’ve also posted this on AO3. Check my masterlist to see what I write for. Please only like, don’t reblog. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!

No warnings. :) 1787 words.

After Dameron left the med-bay – a thing many of the nurses, doctors, and myself were glad to see happen – I went back to regular life on the Echo of Hope. No more running around tracking down a runaway pilot, no more hair pulling over missed meds and potentially pulled stitches (which had happened on his last escapade – and he didn’t try again after that). None of that. Instead, I was back to waffling over paperwork and monitoring physicals on most days, and a surgery or two on other days. For a good few weeks, nothing seemed to be happening, and then the General announced we’d be moving permanently into the Resistance’s planetary base: D’Qar.

And then all my good routines and restful nights went out the airlock. Again. Luckily, though, the task of getting the med-bay on D’Qar operational was a priority, so in the matter of a week I was moved into my new quarters – a pinch larger and a whole lot warmer than the one I’d had on the Echo of Hope – down the hall from the med-bay, and all of the offices, patient rooms, and surgery rooms were up-and-running. Now, beyond my regular obligations to the med-bay and the Command Center, I had a bit of free time on my hands – there were fewer dangerous missions off-world right now because so many people were being devoted to moving and security.

And with that free time, I made myself a whole new temporary schedule (at this point, it was temporary schedule number three of many). I’d wake up in the mornings, get ready, get breakfast, and stick my head in the med-bay to see if they needed anything. Then, I’d wander off the base – with my commlink in hand, just in case someone dropped a heavy box on their foot or something idiotic like that – and explore the forests that surrounded the base. I’d come back for lunch, although I’ve forgotten to do that once or twice already, and then I spend the rest of my day in the med-bay helping with existing patients and any new arrivals. Then: dinner with Ilia, Shana, and my newest acquaintance, a mechanic named Nira. And then back to the med-bay, to my office, to file paperwork in the holonetwork and send notes to the Command Center. There had been a few days already where’d I’d been dragged from my newfound temporary routine to attend meetings in the Command Center. In these lovely, but terribly boring, meetings, I often found myself next to Poe Dameron at the big roundtable – which he found to be incredibly entertaining. In fact, the first time I was called to a meeting and he realized who his table buddy was, he’d slung his arm around my shoulder and loudly announced:

“Well, I’m glad I get to be next to my favorite Medical Director – she saved my life after all!”

To which I’d snorted and haughtily replied: “And I’m sure I could just as easily un-save it, too, Commander.” The Command Center had gotten a rather big laugh out of Dameron’s feigned betrayal – wherein he yanked his arm off of me, spun me to face him, and opened and closed his mouth in surprise and then said “Well, I never—!” (which made everyone laugh just a bit harder).

I didn’t mind going to meetings, but it was nice when I could leave the meeting and run off into the forest for what I viewed as a much-needed break. There was a little path that led from the tarmac of the landing zones and hangar to a little stream and clearing that was quiet and devoid of any real activity. I’d taken to bringing my holopad and a snack from the cafeteria with me as week two of the Resistance relocation wore on.

Today, I’d had another one of those lovely Command Center meetings, and the instant it was over, I’d made straight for my hideaway, but Dameron caught up to me on my way through the hangar.

“Hey! Hera!”

I stopped, frowning, and turned towards him, “Yeah?”

He walked the last few feet between us and stopped a bit before me, “Where are you—” he paused, catching his breath, “Where are you rushing off to?”

“I’m ‘rushing’, as you say, down that path right over there,” I said, gesturing vaguely to the tree line, “And – am I mistaken in seeing that the ‘Resistance’s Best Pilot’ is out of breath?”

He made a face. “You walk fast, okay? And one of the Admirals wanted to have a word with me – Stavon, the one who talks agonizingly slow – so I had to run to catch up with you. That’s beside the point though – that forest could be dangerous; you don’t know what’s in there!”

“I’m not dead yet, and I’ve been going down there the whole week,” I reached up a hand to shush him, “And before you say anything, I’m well-versed in the art of self-defense, alright? No need to worry.”

“I can’t help but worry about you, Hera.”

I stared at him. “I’m going to take that as a compliment, I think.” I whirled around and continued towards the path, stopping a few meters from the tree line and turning back to Poe, “You want to join me? Then you can see for yourself that I am in no danger whatsoever.”

Poe gave me a funny look, glanced back at the hangar, shrugged, and caught up to me. For the first half of the walk, he was very quiet, but once we reached what I estimated to be the half-way point – about five minutes in – he piped up:

“So, where are we going, exactly?”

“There’s a little clearing with a stream down this path. I’ve been, uh, coming here for the last week or so, just to clear my head in the mornings.”

He nodded, swinging his arms a little exaggeratedly for a moment.

“I think you’ll like it… it can be our little secret.” I said, glancing up at him.

“Our little secret, eh? That sounds like a lot more than just a little clearing to me,” he teased, smiling.

I flushed, “Not – not that. You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

I stopped and looked at him. “Oh, come on. You know what I meant, Dameron.”

He laughed, looping his arm around my shoulders and guiding us further down the path. “I know what you meant; I was just teasing.”

I huffed. “Nearly gave me a heart-attack, thinking I’d have to, like, talk my way out of that one.”

He grinned. “I’m a little smarter than you give me credit for, I think.”

“Yeah… you probably are.”

It was then that we came upon the clearing and Poe stepped away from me, slowly spinning around as he took it all in, amazed.

“Pretty great, huh?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest with a smile.

He turned back to me, his eyes shimmering with that look again. “Yeah, pretty great.”

Quietly, I walked to the edge of the stream and sat down on one of the larger rocks, and Poe joined me a few seconds later. We sat in silence for a while, taking in the beauty of the clearing, and then my commlink ruined it by beeping. Loudly.

I groaned and pulled it out of my pocket. “Director Nova speaking?”

“Director, we’re gonna need you to swing by the med-bay… some idiot dropped a box of munitions on his foot… it’s not looking too good.”

I sighed, dejectedly looking at the stream trickling by my feet. “I’ll be there in 10.”

“Thank you, Director. We’ll be waiting.” I clicked off the call and shoved my commlink back in my pocket, standing up.

I turned to Poe. “Well, duty calls. You gonna stay here?”

“Uhhh, yeah. I’ll embrace the calm a little longer before I get called back,” he said with a small smile.

I nodded. “See you around then, Poe.”

“Same to you, Hera.”

By the time I headed to the cafeteria that evening, I was exhausted. The munitions box incident had turned out to be quiet a lot worse than I expected, and it had taken me two hours and the assistance of three medical droids and an apprentice doctor to effectively reorganize a smashed foot and invest in some artificial regrowth on the parts that were far past recovery. It had occurred to me in the middle of the surgery that – even though I had been proclaimed to be the best doctor in the galaxy by the General – I could probably be even better if I had the might of the First Order supporting me… but I couldn’t stand for that.

The cafeteria was already in the swing of things when I walked in and Shana caught up to me the instant she saw me, walking with me to the line.

“Soooo, where did you go after the command meeting? Ojo told me he had to call you on the commlink to find you!”

“I, uh, went to the forest for a bit of peace and quiet.”

“Alone?”

“Yeah… isn’t that the meaning of peace and quiet? You do it alone?”

Shana stared at me. “Not always, H. And besides – you weren’t alone – a little birdie told me they saw you go down there with the Commander.”

I groaned, turning to her fully. “Which one? There’s more than one.”

“Which birdie? Or which Commander?”

I gave her a pointed look, stepping forward in the line.

She grinned. “Okay – The Commander, Commander Dameron.”

I nodded. “Right, well, your little spy must’ve been seeing things, because I wasn’t –”

It was in that moment that my plans of getting out of this conversation, or indeed of never hearing about it again, went right out of the airlock – Poe arrived, looped his arm around my shoulders, and knocked me a little off balance, righting me immediately afterwards by pulling me further into him.

“How’d the munitions box injury go, Doc?”

I huffed. “Terribly. It went terribly.”

“I’m sorry to hear it, then,” he pulled his arm off of me, turning to better face me, “You wanna join me and some of the other pilots for dinner?”

Over his shoulder, I could see Shana silently laughing and mouthing Do it! “Uh, sure, I guess, yeah. Might as well.”

“Sweet. I’ll introduce you to the squadrons – I think you’re gonna love Jessika and Karé. And Snap.” His eyes twinkled as he backed away, heading back to the boisterous table of pilots – something told me I’d be even more tired by the time I left.

Shana giggled as he walked away. “Something you want to tell me there, Doc?”

“Oh, kriff off.”

#poe dameron fanfiction #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x you #poe dameron #star wars fanfiction

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ayz0 · 6 years ago

Photo

holy crap these are soooo much better than my old 2015 designs

Currently imagining a Warrior Cats arc 1 role swap AU where Greypaw ("Fluffy") is the kittypet and Firepaw is the Clan-born cat.

Other changes in the AU:

Firepaw's family are Clanborn too

Princess ("Leafpaw") leaves the Clan before their Warrior ceremony, and becomes a kittypet, then having Cloudkit, so that arc continues as it is in canon --Jake met Nutmeg/"Seedpelt" (Fire's mom) within the Clans

Willow is a rogue, having Darkstripe first with Tawnyspots. She gave Darkkit to his father, as she was certain a Clan wouldn't take her in. Tawnyspots brought the kit into ThunderClan with a story of 'finding a lost kit'. Willow then became a kittypet when pregnant with Greykit

(btw, I saw that Greystripe's father is now just "unknown" on the official family trees, so I feel that him having an unknown kittypet father works out, here. It used to be Patchpelt, but since he's been removed now, it works if Willow isn't related to Patchpelt whatsoever either. It’s not like Willowpelt or Patchpelt ever played a huge role in books where they were growing up - Spottedleaf and Redtail were the focused-on siblings out of the four. I think in the books Willow and Patch are never even mentioned as being siblings? Thus, Willow gets to not be a part of the family anymore lol since it doesn’t change anything important there)

Into The Wild events

"Fluffy" grew up with Willow's stories of his older half-brother, whom he thought very brave and lucky, and heroic, for living in the wild. So, he sought to do the same in Into The Wild, and met Firepaw. Willow ended up coming with him, not wanting to lose another son this time.

Willow and Fluffy enter ThunderClan together, and Willow feels that a certain dark, striped cat looks very familiar... Tawnyspots had died at this point, and had told Darkstripe of his origins before he'd passed. Darkstripe, resentful at his heritage, is the one to fight Fluffy.

During the fight, Willow realizes that Darkstripe is indeed her son. Fluffy beats Darkstripe similarly to how Rusty beats Longtail in canon (it isn't Longtail in this scenario as I feel he is more Firepaw's rival), he becomes Greypaw

Wanting to stay with her sons, Willow pleads to become a part of the Clan as well, and is hesitantly accepted. She becomes Willowpelt, and similarly to how Firepaw was mentored by Bluestar, Tigerclaw, & Lionheart, Willowpelt is taught by Darkstripe (begrudgingly) & Whitestorm

At this current time, Lionheart is Firepaw's mentor, and thus while Willowpelt is educated by following along with Darkstripe & Dustpaw, and Whitestorm & Sandpaw, Greypaw is educated alongside Lionheart & Firepaw and Tigerclaw & Ravenpaw. similar to canon here.

During this time, Willowpelt manages to mend her relationship with her son Darkstripe slightly, but he still resents her past and her actions. Willowpelt also grows close to Whitestorm at this point, and he later becomes her mate to sire Sorrelkit, Rainkit, Sootkit - as in canon.

After a time of temporary mentorship, Greypaw is then eventually officially apprenticed to Bluestar, as Firepaw was in canon. Greypaw is probably going to one day be Greystar in this AU, if he's truly role-swapping with Firepaw. Lol

Fire and Ice & Forest of Secrets events

Still debating whether the Silverstream romance happens with Greystripe, or not. I think it still would. But then he’d truly go and pull a Bluestar and give up his kits to RiverClan to become deputy, and only Fireheart knows of all this. Silverstream remains alive during the birth, as she stays in the RiverClan camp instead of seeking out Greystripe like in the books - thus she was able to get medical attention as soon as her labour began.

Greystripe does not join RiverClan here, as the Wiki states “To avoid a battle, Graystripe brings Stormkit and Featherkit to RiverClan and decides to stay with them since they are the only living connections he has to Silverstream.“ Since Silverstream is still alive, they simply continue their secret meetings, and although he wishes to be with his family, he does not gain the desire to join RiverClan.

However, she did still suffer heavy blood loss and anemia, and was not able to fully recover and only got worse over time - especially considering that she still sneaks off with her kits to go see Greystripe in secret, instead of resting - so she does still die later on, before the kits are apprenticed.

Before she passes, Silverstream wishes for the kits to join their father in ThunderClan, as they’ll have no remaining kin in RiverClan after her passing. As her final action, she attempts to sneak out one last time to take them to Greystripe, but is far too weak due to anemia complications. Her best friend Mistyfoot finds her outside of the camp, as she was keeping a closer eye on her weakening friend. Silverstream tells Mistyfoot of who Featherkit & Stormkit’s father is, and is determined for her final action to be passing them on to their father. Mistyfoot believes the kits belong with RiverClan, but wants to honour her dying friend’s wish, and helps to get them all to the border.

Greystripe had been at Sunningrocks at the time, worried about the decreasing condition of his mate, plus he hadn’t been seeing her as often, and commonly waited near the area in case she arrived. The scene of her death is in the same place ad plays out similarly to Silverstream’s death in canon, with the exceptions that their kits and Mistyfoot are present, and it’s not a birth scene lol. Greystripe still panics and Fireheart fetches Cinderpaw (who is still med-apprentice, as Fireheart was still the one to suspect Tigerclaw, and Tigerclaw still tried to trap and kill him, causing Cinderpaw’s accident), with Tigerclaw in tow. Silverstream is too far-gone, however, and passes away with her kits and mate next to her.

Thus, Stormkit & Featherkit join ThunderClan, and Silverstream still passes away and is buried at the same area that she does in-canon. (and Cinderpaw is still traumatized the same way because she couldn’t help the dying cat)

Mistyfoot accompanies the group back to ThunderClan to ensure the kit’s safety on the way. Greystripe is devastated by the loss, and doesn’t keep it a secret anymore that he is a dad, and he dotes on his kits just, SO much, same as in canon haha. Anyway, ThunderClan finds out, obviously, about Grey’s half-clan babs, and Bluestar is initially furious (because oops, somebody made the same mistake she did! and omg, it was her own apprentice!!!) but Mistyfoot defends Silverstream’s family and tells Bluestar off for being so harsh while they’re grieving a loss. She says that TC should be grateful that ThunderClan is gaining two amazing cats, and they’re only here because of her best friend’s dying wish, and that she’d whisk them back to RC if they weren’t appreciated here. Bluestar then softens up at her (secret!!!) daughter’s words.

After Mistyfoot leaves and returns to RC, Bluestar enters the nursery where Greystripe and Fireheart are with the kits. (oh dude that sounds like Fire’s their second dad? i’m gonna do it. make em dads make em GAY parents and fire totally adopts storm & feather and grey has his bf to help him thru this extremely tough time UNLIKE IN CANON WHERE HE WAS ALL ALONE TO GRIEVE WTF ERINS) Anyway, Bluestar still explains the same as in canon how she’s mistyfoot and stonefur’s mother, etc, except in this version Fireheart isn’t the only one she tells, Greystripe now knows as well.

Fireheart & Greystripe are stretching their legs and taking a break from the nursery, with Fireheart’s apprentice Cloudpaw in-tow. The shit with Tigerclaw still goes down, but this time it’s Greystripe who saves Bluestar’s life (Fireheart heads straight for the nursery and guards Featherkit & Stormkit in this AU, so it’s Greystripe who sees Tigerclaw heading into Bluestar’s den) and she makes him deputy for multiple reasons - she sees her missed chances in him and wants him to have the full, happy life that she didn’t get the chance to. and she trusts him as much as she does Fireheart in this AU since Grey didn’t turn traitor in this one (and i mean he was her apprentice too so they’re pretty close!)

Rising Storm, A Dangerous Path events

Pretty standard role-swap AU from here as far as Greystripe and Fireheart are concerned, other than the fact that Fire is still Cloud’s mentor, that didn’t swap at all lol.

Fireheart isn’t stretched as thin as Greystripe is the deputy, leaving him more time for Cloudpaw’s training. Cloudpaw doesn’t behave as difficult as he does in canon about doing kittypet things. He’s still a lil shit though

Greystripe is healing quite nicely from Silverstream’s passing, as he is in his own familiar clan, has his children and his best friend BOYFRIEND with him, and has his deputy duties to thoroughly distract him and keep him on his feet. Bluestar is still degrading mentally, the same as in-canon, so he worries about her as well

Fireheart is still the one to find out about Tigerclaw and the dog pack, and their attack, and he is still the one to try and rescue Bluestar and be with her at her death along with Stonefur and Mistyfoot. Greystripe is with his kits at the time of evacuation, leading the Clan to safety as well

(This is such a cool contrast btw!!! omg cause the wiki says “After his leader's death, Fireheart looks at Graystripe. The dark gray tom dips his head in the deepest respect, and Fireheart is horrified because he realizes he is now the leader of ThunderClan, and has lost the easy friendship he shared with Graystripe.” and GOD my AU is like, holy shit, the exact opposite with their relationship. they are closer than ever! this is cool as hell)

The Darkest Hour events

Greystripe becomes Greystar. Mysteriously, he is not granted a 9th life, as the cat destined to give him that life is not present. He has no time to be confused, however, as the ceremony is still interrupted by a prophecy, as it is in-canon.

Whitestorm is still the one appointed deputy

Greystar is extremely conflicted and disappointed in his kin when he is forced to exile Darkstripe. Happens similar to canon, but it’s Greystar instead of Firestar of course

Not entirely sure yet what brings the gang over to RiverClan to save Misty & Stone from being executed. Also not sure if Stone is still going to be killed like in canon, or if I’ll let him live in this version.... I’ll figure it out tho

After Whitestorm dies, Fireheart is obviously appointed as Greystar’s deputy

Firestarheart’s Quest events

When Willowpelt dies in the beginning of the book, Greystar is obviously devastated, and has even more reason to stay with his remaining family during this time - hence, I did not swap his role with Fireheart’s role for this book’s journey.

Fireheart & Sandstorm still journey together to restore SkyClan

They become very good friends on the quest and do indeed still become mates and have Leafkit & Squirrelkit (Greystar sees them as much as family as he could! Cats are basically one big family community after all. Besides, with Fire and Grey’s relaxed and extremely close relationship, I don’t think that Grey would feel threatened or jealous over Sandstorm at all! So Fireheart can totally be Greystar’s bf as well as Sandstorm’s husband at the same time :D)

#role swap #au #alternate universe #warrior cats #firepaw greypaw #warriors #thunderclan

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yukiwrites · 7 years ago

Text

Morgan, Blending In

Thank you so much for commissioning me again, @xpegasusuniverse! I’m really glad with this one came out, so I hope you like it! :D

Summary: Morgan managed to follow her brother Owain to Valla and, under the alias of Linfan, now tries to blend in with the people of that strange and new world on her own Morgan-like way!

Commission info HERE and HERE!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

After Morgan, now Linfan, was accepted in Corrin's army, not much apart from fighting happened -- or rather, could happen. That place called Valla was crawling with enemies, to the point that even the people keeping watch at night had to be armed to the teeth since they would most certainly fight a battle or two before the sun came up.

That upside-down world was vast and hard to travel -- they had to make sure they stepped on the right bridges after the area had been scouted by flying units. It seemed like their guide, some Anthony fellow, wasn't very well liked amongst the entirety of the army, so Morgan's arriving right after Anthony’s made things a bit complicated to her side, or at least they should be.

"COMBINED..." She took a deep breath, holding her Thoron tome with one hand, the other one pointing to the sky.

"SIBLING ATTACK!" Odin yelled at the same time Linfan did, they tomes' magical powers swirling around them before exploding at the group of enemies right ahead. "YEAH! That was soo cool, Linfan!"

"Heehee, that was actually fun, Brother!" The siblings shared a high-five. "And since this place is crawling with those things, we can try out a lot of different magic!"

Odin had to hold his cursed hand in an extravagant gesture. "Yess! That's what I'm talking about! This is the place where we can truly use our full powers!"

"With my trusty Thoron, no enemy shall be left standing!" Linfan winked, doing a side peace sign over one eye. Odin almost shed a tear of pride. Finally... finally someone who understood and enjoyed his antics!

"... Don't you guys feel any shame?" Selena approached, her battle stance completely drained up due to second-hand embarrassment. "This isn't a joke, you know! They're here to kill us!"

"You wound me, silver-tongued maiden! This is serious business, I'll have you know! Isn't that right, Lin-"

Linfan giggled, "why don't you try it too, Selena? It's so silly, it's fun!"

"LINFAN!" Odin fell on his knees. "Betrayed... by my own blood..."

"Hah! I knew Linfan wouldn't let me down like that." Selena nodded, putting one hand by her hip.

From their posts, Corrin and Leo observed the interchange, both of them smiling at differing scales. "It's really lively out there, isn't it?" Corrin commented after felling the last enemy at their premises.

Leo sneered. "Humph. It's like we got another Odin; I got my work cut out for me."

The dragon prince scratched the back of his head. "Haha, I'm sorry for dumping her on you, Leo. But I thought that since she's Odin's sister, making both of them be deployed side by side would be better for her to fit in faster..."

"Please, don't apologize for that, Brother." Leo dismissed Corrin's worry with an uninterested wave of hand. "She is... a bit too eager for my tastes, but I AM used to having the most eager one, after all." He bobbed his head. "Besides, her talent for magic is real. So much that even by looking at her from this far I can still feel her inane power, waiting to explode. Very intriguing."

Corrin smiled. He knew how much his little brother loved to talk about magic, AND how competitive he was. He would probably push himself harder so as not to 'lose' to Linfan. "Just don't overdo it, okay?" He let out part of his thoughts, making Leo raise one eyebrow.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, um, why don't you go talk to her, then? This can be a great opportunity to make new friends!"

"Hah, hear yourself, Brother." Leo scoffed, urging his horse to move. "I'm simply interested in her potential for combat, not in to suddenly invite her to our inner circle. Come, let's rendezvous with Camilla." He extended his hand to Corrin, who promptly took it so as to mount on the horse.

"Alright, but I still think that you two would get along if you wanted!"

"Yeah, yeah."

At the same time, Linfan, Odin and Selena arrived at the camp after clearing out their position. For the past few days, Laslow has been deployed far from Linfan, surely Xander's way of saying he didn't trust her yet.

At the entrance, Linfan unconspiscously looked at all sides, squinting as though she wanted to see something invisible. "Do you think he's here now?"

"Yikes," Selena shivered, "are you looking for ghosts or something? Aren't the invisible enemies we fight everyday enough?"

Without missing a beat, Linfan looked at the other side. "No, I mean the guy who likes masks Lord Corrin told us about."

"Oh." Both Selena and Odin cleared their throats, ever aware that the ninja could be anywhere around them at any moment. "If you keep being indiscreet like that, he'll stick around even longer!" The mercenary said, slapping her friend's back.

Linfan's eyes sparkled. "Will he?! Maybe this time he'll actually fall into one of my traps!"

Odin snorted. "You never even got Father to fall for them, Linfan!"

The apprentice tactician puffed her cheeks. "Well, YOU did."

Selena pointed and laughed as Odin retorted. "I was indulging my own blood, a-alright? The sacred vow of heroes always tells us to be kind to our kin!"

Morgan put one hand over her chin, her eyes wide in thought. "Will I have to marry him, then...?"

"WHAT? NO!" Both mage and mercenary yelled, slapping her shoulders. "Mor-Linfan, we need to play nice here, you understand? Stop digging these stupid pitfalls!"

"B-b-b-b-but," her voice trembled as Selena aggressively shook her, "but what if I dig deep enough that I can see the sky from below? I need to find out!"

"Linfan!" Odin exclaimed, making both women shut up in shock, the random passerby also staring unbelieving. "Don't do anything reckless, please..." He held her hand. "I won't bear if anything happens to you."

Feeling a bit guilty but also nostalgic, Linfan smiled. "That brings back memories, heehee." She brought Odin's hand to her face. "Sorry for worrying you, Brother; but it's going to be okay! This time, I won't bang a tome on my head or walk around looking up instead of down. I just want to catch him!"

"Aaand we're back at where we started." Selena groaned. "Listen here, Linfan..." She pulled her friend as they walked, leaving Odin behind.

He didn't follow out of pure shock, since Morgan had spoke not only of a new memory they made, but of an older memory of when they were children: She had the habit of looking up to the birds and clouds when she was very small, to she always hit her nose on trees, posts and walls, to the point of Owain needing to hold her hand at all times whenever they walked.

The feeling from way back then flourished inside his heart, making a relaxed smile sprout on his lips. She remembered more each day, and also learned more and more about their lives in this new world.

She would be fine. Sure, not without supervision, but would be fine nonetheless.

The sun took a lot longer than usual to set in that strange world since the sky was upward and downward as well, which only made it even more interesting! What would happen if Morgan started digging a pitfall during the sunset over her head while it was still bright under her feet? Would she be able to catch a glimpse of the blue sky all the while having the stars shining on her head? She simply had to find out!

And no, watching the sunset at the edge of an island did not cross Morgan's mind, nor would it: She was so focused on digging during dusk that she lost track of time. Although it was still clear out, she had dug so deep she leaned on the wall to catch a breather.

It was then that she looked up. "Oh, wow, that's my new record! Someone's REALLY gonna hurt themselves if they fall. Look at the sky wayyy up there, just a tiny round bit." A few moments of rest later, she placed one closed hand over her open palm. "Oh! I'm stuck!"

Laughing, Morgan slid down the wall to sit on the wet earth. "Heeheehaha! That's a first! I didn't know this island was so deep, whoops!" After calming down her giggles, she took a deep breath. "Welp, let's come up with a plan to get out of here! I won't disappoint you, Father!"

Morgan looked on her person for something that could help her up: her levin sword, her Thoron tome, a carving knife, a few samples of masks she always kept on a pouch and the shovel she was using to dig. "Aw, if I had brought a wind tome instead, I could fly myself out of this hole." She crossed her legs, looking at the items in front of her, trying to come up with a connection. "Father, I barely started and I already failed you... how can an aspiring tactician NOT walk around with a rope? This will haunt me to the grave!"

More worried about her lack of preparation than her own situation, Morgan kept thinking by herself, as the sky darkened and the temperature dropped. She didn't notice the time pass by, mind, since she was too busy thinking of what her father would do if he were in her shoes. Faraway whispers could be heard from above a long time later, breaking her concentration.

"Look, Sakura! The sky is soooo bright because of all the stars!" Princess Elise twirled around herself, pulling the shy hoshidan princess with her so they could watch the stars under that big tree over the hill.

"N-not even in Hoshido did they shine so brightly," Sakura commented, huffing to accompany the eager princess. By her own nature, Sakura always walked looking down -- in contrast with Elise, who always looked up -- so she noticed a big enough hole to swallow them both approaching at a fast pace as Elise happily dragged her. "P-Princess Elise, watch out!" She pulled her friend back with all she had, making both of them roll away from the hole.

"Wah- Oof!" Elise fell on the grass right beside the enormous hole that was simply there in front of the tree they were going to watch the stars under. "Whoaa! We could've really hurt ourselves there! Thank you so much, Sakura!"

The hoshidan princess sat up, patting the dirt out of her white clothes. "O-of course... I'm glad you're alright, Elise."

"Weh? Is someone up there? Heeey!" Both princesses heard a voice from below.

"KYAA!" Sakura shrieked, hugging Elise with everything she had. "G-g-g-ghosts?!"

"Whoa!" Elise laughed, bending towards the hole. "Ghosts? From this hole? Helloooo?"

"Oh, there really was someone!" Morgan got up, fastening her sword and tome back at her belt. "You're Lady Elise, right? I can barely make out your face since it's so dark, haha!" She opened her hand, channeling the thunder from her tome to her fingers, lighting the hole she was in. "Do you happen to have a wind tome with you? I'm a bit stuck in here!"

"O-oh, so it was a real person..." Sakura breathed out in relief. "A-are you okay? You fell down from such height..."

"Oh, no, I dug this! Impressive, isn't it?"

"Oh, wow!" Elise put one hand over her mouth, her hair dangling beside her face as she popped her head into the hole. "You did all this? Amazing! But what's this 'wind' tome you speak of? I never heard of it!"

"Oh, so they don't have wind tomes in this world? Whoops..." Linfan bit her tongue with a smile, thanking the heavens that her brother wasn't there to scold her.

"What was that? I didn't catch it!" Elise yelled, lying down at the edge.

"Um, if you don't have it, then it's okay! Do you happen to have a rope or something? I think I can work with that!"

"D-don't you think we should get help, Elise? We shouldn't be having such a leisure talk while she's in such predicament!" Sakura gripped at her friend's sleeve, worried about the new girl.

"Oh, yeah! Wait here, Linfan! We'll call for help!" Elise sat up.

"Oh, no, no, no! Please, no!" Linfan laughed nervously. "If my brother and friends find out, I'll be in deep trouble! I need to get out of this on my own."

"B-but what can we do? I don't think both of us can pull you out by ourselves..."

"Oof, yeah, I can barely flex without getting tired." Elise concurred, feeling sympathetic to Linfan since she, too, didn't like getting in trouble with her siblings. "Maybe if I call my brother? Leo's super good with magic; he can think of a way to get you out of there!"

"L-Lord Leo? Oh no, if he finds out, so will my brother!"

Elise deflated. "Oh, yeah..."

"U-um, maybe my sister Hinoka can help? She's strong, so she'll be able to pull you out in no time!"

Linfan put her free hand on her chin in thought. "Hmm... And she's hoshidan, right? There's no need for her to be a snitch to the nohrians..."

"I-I don't know about 'being a snitch', but Big Sister Hinoka is responsible and strong! I'll bring her here!" Sakura got up too fast for her own legs to follow, her feet wobbling as they tried to get a proper foothold.

They found none, as she was too close to the hole. Elise widened her eyes and yelled a "watch out!!" as Sakura felt the ground slip away from her.

Morgan closed her eyes, scooting to the side to give Sakura room to fall, but she never did. When she looked up, the princess was safe on a ninja's arms.

"Hah... For how long will you two keep this up?" Saizo groaned, putting his princess on the ground. "I won't stand idly if you endanger Lady Sakura any more than this."

"S-Saizo!" Sakura managed to let out her voice. "T-thank you, thank you, thank you so much..." She trembled as Elise breathed out in relief.

"Pheew! That was a close one! Thanks a bunch, Saizo!"

The ninja glared at the nohrian princess, then downwards to the foreigner. "How long do you plan on staying there, woman?"

"Oh no! MASK! IT'S THE WRONG TYPE!!" Linfan yelled, the sparkle on her hand getting out of control and spiraling upwards before flashing out. "I thought it'd be covering the eyes, not the mouth!"

The ninja sighed deeply, getting tired of watching that girl run around in her own little world and staying stuck inside a pitfall for hours.

"P-please, help her out of there, Saizo..." Sakura grasped at his scarf.

Once again did the ninja sigh and, faster than the eye could see, he jumped into the hole, surprising all three princesses. He landed soundlessly besides Linfan, grabbed her by her waist and jumped out.

"Oh, wow, that was easy." Morgan blurted out, grabbing Saizo's scarf as he pulled away from her. "Wait! You're him, right? The Saizo fellow? Lemme take a look at your mask!"

"Unhand me, woman!" Saizo pulled his own scarf back as Linfan studied his face with scrutiny.

"Oh, that sounded familiar, heehee," she giggled, remembering Lon'qu from her world. "But that's not it! Lemme just do this..." with her free hand, she grabbed one of the masks she had made previously and stuck it on Saizo's face. "Aw, I got the size wrong!"

Saizo flicked the mask away, managing to whisk himself out of Linfan's hold. "Do not do this again, girl, lest my blade finds itself in your gut by accident." He said and disappeared into a curtain of smoke.

"So he really was watching..." Linfan crouched to get her mask back, deep in thought. "Guess I'll have to relearn how to make them, huh? Now, to cover the mouth instead!"

"Wow, did you make this yourself, Linfan?" Elise picked one mask up -- since Linfan's pouch wasn't properly tied due to the surprise, it fell down when Saizo pulled away from her. "This is so pretty! What kind of paint is that?"

"Oh, there's one here, too..." Sakura picked one that looked like a fox. "So cute!"

"Do you like it? You can have it! I need to make bigger ones to fit Saizo..." She smiled, gathering the remaining dozen so as to tie them back on her pouch. "I can teach you to make it, if you want? With three heads, we can come up with more designs than me alone!"

"Really? You'll teach me?!" Elise trotted to Linfan's side, the foreign girl only one head taller than the nohrian princess. "I'm very good with my hands if I may say so myself! I love to make flower necklaces and crowns!"

"I-I don't like handling knives, but if it's only to carve, then..." Sakura shyly wore the fox mask, her cheeks flushed under it.

Elise and Linfan laughed. "It really does suit you! You really should keep it, after all." The apprentice tactician said. "C'mon, I'll teach you two right away! Let's get back to my tent for some light!"

Both princesses giggled, taking Linfan's extended hands. Their older brothers had advised them to steer clear of that girl, but she looked like such a fun person to be around! They surely would get along well from then on!

#morgan #owain #odin #selena #fire emblem fates #my writings #Yuki's Commissions #saizo #hope you like it!

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devoraakss · 7 years ago

Note

How about this: Vampire!Julian trying to seduce and/or drink blood from a kind but painfully oblivious MC.

soooo this got really out of hand and it doesn’t exactly fit the request because I couldn’t really think of anything that fit it exactly? but I’m pretty satisfied with it tbh. I hope you like it!!! I have a vampire kink sorry

Julian had been watching them for a while. They were easy to follow, and with the rainy months rolling in he had been able to walk unhindered by the daylight. There was only one problem.

With their ever vigilant mentor watching over them, he would never be able to get them alone. So he waited. He watched from the shadows, stalking his prey. Of course it wasn’t easy to blend in, but he was hard to focus on, to truly see. A creature of the night was never meant to walk the daylight hours, and he used that to his advantage.

They were a mystery, even to the other people of this ocean side city. They were kind, but firm. They never took advantage of others, even if it would prove advantageous to them. He learned that the townspeople cared very deeply for this witch. When they ventured to the palace he didn’t dare follow, he stewed in the shadows for days, watching the shop with sharp eyes. Perhaps he should reconsider his target…

He couldn’t deny that there was a certain… interest, he had for them. He was familiar with their mentor, the vampire and the magician had crossed paths on more than one occasion, and they did not part on friendly terms. He would not be surprised if Asra already knew he was watching.

Julian had not been to this city in years, it felt like centuries to him but he knew it wasn’t. He still had a price on his head after all. Perhaps that was why the countess desired the presence of this… witch at her palace. The apprentice had not been around then, for the scandal, and he briefly wondered if it was this fact that drew him to their doorstep.

Or maybe it was the fact that he was hurt. Tangling with the palace guards will do that you know, especially when you are unarmed. Clutching his wounded side, he runs down the street as blood soaks into the cobblestone…

He follows his intuition, a dark hunger twisting in his stomach as his strength wanes. A ravens cry makes him turn down a dark alley blending with the shadows as more guards run down the street, towards the massacre he left in his wake. He doesn’t stick around to hear the cries of terror.

Before he recognizes where he is, he is knocking insistently against a worn wooden door. When it opens he is… not entirely surprised when the apprentice answers the door. Of course he would find himself at their door. What an… interesting way to meet with them.

“Doctor Jules?” A name he hasn’t heard in years falls from their lips but he can’t be surprised.

He isn’t entirely sure what they say after that, and when they pull him to his feet towards the shop he hisses, a sharper pain shooting through his body. “c-can’t…” He hisses, barely putting a coherent sentence together. “need…” He can’t speak anymore, blood flowing down his shirt, soaking through the white linen.

“I won’t let you bleed out on my doorstep, come in.” Their voice is like music to his ears and he nearly sighs in relief.

The pain in his head eases and he practically falls into the shop, leaning on the apprentice as they help him inside. He isn’t sure where they put him but its soft and dark and perfect. The hunger in his veins roars in his ears as he feels their heart beat, the warmth of their skin that he so… so desperately missed. He can smell their blood, clashing with the smell of incense and myrrh.

“Doctor Devorak what happened? The countess is looking for you if she–"

He hushes them, shaking his head. "J-Julian… call me Julian.” He murmurs, if this goes the way he thinks it will they will definitely be on a first name basis. Their words are hesitant, but kind nonetheless. “Alright. Julian. What happened?"

"Guards. ” he chokes out, chuckling weakly. “shouldn’t tangle with them when I’m unarmed.” The strength of the hunger returns tenfold and he curls in on himself, clawing at soft bedsheets. He can feel their panic, and they hover over him with worry in their eyes. “What’s wrong? What can I do to help?"

His next words are shaken, gasped out between ragged breaths. It is taking everything he has inside him to keep from losing control. "blood… need… b-blood…” He gasps again as the pain in his side worsens. He sees the realization dawn over them, it takes all but a few seconds before their eyes widen and they gasp in shock.

“They said you were… changed… but–” they stop speaking when he groans in pain. “so, so how do we do this? I-I don’t – I’ve never–"

Julian only beckons them closer, red gaze glowing in the dim light of the room. "Just… come here…"

"o-okay…” They say, coming closer… he grabs their wrist, pulling them to him as he sinks his fangs into their neck. He hears them gasp, fingers curling in his shirt she he pulls them closer. The hunger wanes as he drinks, it physically pains him to pulls away but he doesn’t want to kill them. He’s panting against their skin, the wound in his side stitching itself closed. The tantalizing aroma of their blood fills his nostrils, and gods does he want more but he forces himself away. They collapse onto the bed beside him, breathing thick and heavy. Julian can feel the magic in them, it leaves a delightful little tingle at the back of his throat. He can feel his strength returning, but he will still need to rest.

“Thank you…” He murmurs, sleep clouding his mind. He sees them stand, pressing a hand to their neck. “your welcome."

It’s the last thing he hears before he falls unconscious.

#vampire!julian #Julian devorak #the arcana #Julian x mc #my writing #gods I rly like vampires and have zero self control sorry #Halloween fic

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pageturnersblog · 5 years ago

Text

We are excited to be one of today’s stops on The Summer Set by Aimee Agresti Blog Tour. Thanks to Graydon House Books for the review copy and including us on this tour.

The Summer Set is a fun “beach” read. It reminds me a lot of the rom-com movies of the recent past like Leap Year and When in Rome. Charlie, our dashing staring lady, has a storied past and as you read on, is just fun, someone you’d want to call your best friend. She’s obviously a little broken, and has some things to work on, but her journey is one I’m along for the ride on.

The story follows her to a summer theatre festival where she performed at early in her career, and it’s now run by her ex, Nick, who directed her breakout theatre performance at this very festival and later, movie. She is part of the professional company doing three Shakespeare plays throughout the summer. The professional company is also joined by some younger apprentices, learning the different crafts of theatre. I love that two of the apprentices also get POV moments in the story, mirroring Nick and Charlie. This what a little confusing to follow at first (probably because of the eARC formatting), but once I really got into the story, it was fun to see the big moments from the point of view of our younger, soon to be stars.

Also, if you are wondering why Aimee’s name sounds so familiar to YA readers, her first book was ILLUMINATE, the first book in the Gilded Wings Trilogy.

Thank you Graydon House Books for the provide author Q&A with Aimee.

Q: Please give your elevator pitch for The Summer Set.

A: Gladly! THE SUMMER SET is a romp about a former Hollywood It Girl—Charlie Savoy—who flamed out, left the film world and now is almost 40 and back at the summer Shakespeare theater where she got her start as a teen….and where her ex is the artistic director. Drama and hijinks ensue! But it’s really a universal story about old flames, old friends, old rivals and second acts: having the courage to shake up your life!

Q: Which came first: the characters or plot line?

A: They sort of arrived together! This idea has been with me for a long time: I always had Charlie, my main character, and this sense of wanting her to be embarking on a “second act.” I wanted to tell the story of a bold, wild child kind of star who flamed out early and had to start over and figure out what she truly wanted. I always knew this character would be the type who seemed confident to anyone watching but was actually much more vulnerable deep down. Someone who’s acting as much offstage as onstage!

Q: Why do you love Charlie and why should readers root for her?

A: I really loved writing this character: she’s impulsive and aggressive and tough and uncontrollable. But all of her bravado is covering up how out of place she feels, how nervous she is to be back in the theater world after feeling like she failed in her film career. Anyone who has ever tried to act like they had it all together while actually being unsure on the inside (which I think is all of us, right?!) will understand Charlie and feel she’s a kindred spirit.

Q: We can see from your bio that you have written extensively about entertainment topics. Have you ever been involved in theatre yourself? If so, in which capacities? If not, what fascinates you about the theatre world?

A: As anyone who saw me as Miss Jones in Sherwood High School’s 1994 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying would know: I am that drama geek who loves theater as much as humanly possible while having no actual talent. ;) I was lucky enough to grow up in a small town with a fantastic theater—the Olney Theatre in Olney, MD—and I volunteered there (offstage!) all through high school. It was an amazing place because the actors were incredible, they were New York-based, and they would come and actually live together at a residence on the theater property. I’ve always had an overactive imagination so I remember wondering what went on there: which ones were friends, which ones weren’t, was anyone hooking up?! I was fascinated. That experience hanging around there definitely sowed the very early seeds of this novel!

Q: Obviously you've interacted with many celebrities. Who were the most fascinating to talk to?

A: Oooh, there were so many fun ones: George Clooney is my all-time favorite (he’s EVERYONE’S favorite!) because he’s just a supernice guy and is that type who seems to always be having a great time. Some more of my favorites who also had that same warm spirit and were so much fun to chat with: Sarah Jessica Parker, Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Hugh Grant, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the list goes on!

Q: If you could star in a movie or Broadway show, which one would you choose and why?

A: HA! OMG, I love this question! Since THE SUMMER SET is set at a summer theater, I’ll choose Broadway! Wow, there are just. So. Many! I would love to be Angelica in Hamilton and Mimi in Rent and Roxie in Chicago! I assure you I would be absolutely TERRIBLE in all of these roles but it would be tons of fun!

Q: What was your last 5 star read?

A: I just re-read a favorite--THE LOST VINTAGE by the wonderful Ann Mah! It’s an absolute gem of a novel about love, secrets and drama in French wine country. Beautiful writing, fantastic storytelling and it also satisfies the wanderlust we’re all feeling these days.

Q: What is one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?

A: Oh wow, I feel like even five books in, I’m still learning! But I think one thing I never would’ve expected before I published my first novel is that every time a book comes out you feel that HUGE excitement but also that little rush of nerves, like: “OMG this thing that, for years, only lived in my head and on my laptop is now out there!!! Aaaah!” Or maybe that’s just me? ;)

Q: What inspired you to become a writer?

A: A love of reading! My mom is a librarian so I grew up reading everything in sight and I’ve just always loved escaping into books. I went to journalism school and worked in magazines, which I absolutely adored, but I always dreamed of writing novels, so I feel incredibly lucky to get to do this!

Q: What was your journey to get your first book published?

A: Great question! My first novel was ILLUMINATE, the first of my YA Gilded Wings Trilogy. I tend to write the book I most want to read at any given time and I got lucky that when I was in the mood for YA, so were a lot of other people, so that worked out! But I actually wrote another book BEFORE that one—it was a totally different vibe and not YA--that just didn’t hit things right, for whatever reason. I always say that publishing--the fiction world especially--is like falling in love and you need the right person to read the right manuscript on the right day and have the right connection to it in order to get published. I feel very lucky every time a book gets published!

Q: Let’s talk about your writing, what is your writing process like? Do you follow an outline or do you just see where the story leads you?

A: I’m a major outliner! I need to have everything mapped out. I need to know this journey has a destination. I admire writers who can let things unfold as they go—how freeing that must be!—but I’m a planner, it gives me comfort. Although, there are plenty of twists that only present themselves when you’re in the middle of writing so I do always let myself deviate from my outline too, great stuff comes out of that!

Q: Do you share your work along the way or wait until it is complete to have others read?

A: My sister is my beta reader and she is amazing! Sometimes I’ll give her the book as I’m writing it, as I did with THE SUMMER SET, and other times I’ll wait until it’s all finished (like with my previous novel, CAMPAIGN WIDOWS), it mostly depends on how tight the deadline is! She’s incredible and I’m so grateful for her close eye and the time she spends doing this for me. Since she enjoys the same books/films/stories/genres as I do, I know that if there’s something in my novel that isn’t working for her then it’s not going to work for any reader! She’s the best! If you’re reading this: Hi, sis!

Q: What inspired you to write The Summer Set?

A: I’ve always loved the film/TV/theater/music universe. I started out writing for entertainment magazines—Us Weekly, Premiere—and those jobs were incredible and offered me this amazing glimpse into that celebrity world with all of its ups and downs and drama and excitement. I’m an arts girl so I think there’s something magical about the way a great show, whether on stage or screen, can transport you or connect with you or seem to understand you. And I think the people who are able to bring those stories to life are fascinating!

Q: What projects are you currently working on?

A: I’m (slooooowly) at work on the next novel! It’s in those early stages but it’s an idea I’ve had for a long time so I’m excited! Wish me luck!!

Q: What’s your favorite genre?

A: Oooh, that’s tough! I actually will read anything and everything! For me, it just depends on the story. I’m always on board for great writing and the kind of storytelling that keeps me hooked and turning pages!

Q: Who is your favorite author?

A: I could never choose just one! I grew up on the classics (Austen, the Brontes, Hemingway, Salinger, on and on!) and I adore them so much and revisit them often like checking in on old friends! As for contemporary authors, I love Tom Perrotta, Nick Hornby, Emma Straub, Dave Eggers, Elizabeth Gilbert, to name a few! There are so many that I love and admire!

Q: What are your top 3 favorite books of all time

A: Oh man, this is REALLY tough because there are just soooo many. But I’ll go with these:

--Pride and Prejudice: I could read this every day! I’m completely Jane Austen-obsessed so I actually feel that way about all of her books. Even now, I’m thinking: should I choose Emma?! Or Persuasion?! How do you choose?!

--The Catcher in the Rye: I love everything Salinger. But Holden Caulfield was my first literary crush!

--A Moveable Feast: I also love everything Hemingway but I’ll go with this one because I’m pretty sure I belong in Paris in the ‘20s. (Aside from my very bad French.)

Q: How do you decide what kind of journey you want your characters to go on?

A: That’s a fantastic, huge question! Those first flashes I always have of a novel are of the main character in some sort of inner turmoil. So I tend to know the reason I’m going to be telling their story in the first place, but figuring out how to show it all and get from point A to B to C, takes a lot of mapping out!

Q: Would you ever write YA fantasy novels again?

A: I love this question! Absolutely, if the right story sparked! I had so much fun writing the Gilded Wings Trilogy, I miss those characters and still think of them and what adventures they might still be having! And I do miss writing magic and superpowers, it was always exciting to get to dream up those elements. So, you never know, I might just have to get back to that! ;)

THE SUMMER SET

Author: Aimee Agresti

Publication Date: May 12, 2020

Publisher: Graydon House Books

Buy Links:

Harlequin

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

Social Links:

Author Website

Twitter: @AimeeAgresti

Instagram: @aimeeagresti

Facebook: @AimeeAgrestiAuthor

Goodreads

#book review #summer romance #rom com #beach read #summer reading #Summer Reads #theatre #theater fan #theatre fan #theater #theater festivals #aimee agresti

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hisquccn · 7 years ago

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Spoils of War pt 6

Soooo here is Chapter 6 of what was supposed to be a one-shot. I feel like I might start winding this down soon since I didn’t want to make it long, and if I do make things too long I end up losing my muse for them. We’ll see how it goes.

Chapters 1/2/3/4/5 AO3 Entry

Summary: The prince used to love his gifts from his knights as they conquered new lands, until he realized the blood that was spilled for each new object. As he grew unhappy with material possessions, the knights resorted to bringing him less willing spoils of battle. He has to put an end to their capturing of innocent people… Hopefully his new prize, a blonde with a temper larger than his kingdom, can help him set the country free…

Roy was still in shock when he headed to the great hall. She'd accepted his proposal. Riza would be his advisor in all things to do with the kingdom. The only stipulation was that spreading her father's research came first. He understood immediately. He had a meeting set the next day with the highest scholars and most well known physicians in the city. Their apprentices sat at their sides, quietly listening to the woman's explaination along with their teachers, waiting for their opinions to be made for them.

The prince slipped in quietly, listening to the words fall from the woman's lips with grace, despite the scrutiny that came from the eyes of her audience.

“You expect us to burn the living to keep them from dying.” A bearded man spoke first. Roy recognized him as the doctor living in the castle while treating his father. He was a well respected man, but he was stern in his practice. “They'd wish they were dead in that sort of pain.”

The blonde never lost her calm. Riza simply shook her head. “There's a certain amount of pain a human body can stand, then it goes into a state of shock and--”

“I'm aware of the body's own defences.” He interrupted. “People die from burns, miss Hawkeye. They don't live with their help.”

“If you'll just read over the research. The subject studied still lives. They are able to resume a normal life thanks to the bleeding being stopped.”

“This subject,” it was a slightly younger man who spoke this time. Balding with a slight lazy eye, though his good eye was looking down at the papers in front of him instead of at the woman before him. “I'm aware that they lived. But these wounds could have been sewn. He chose to burn them close simply to test his theory. It was cruel. The other subjects were animals, which he removed limbs from just to burn the stubs. Your father was truly a dark man, Miss Hawkeye.”

“My father was a well respected scholar much like the rest of you.”

“Your father--”

“He hurt animals and healed them. But just as the notes show, those animals were as good as dead from infection due to the wounds in those limbs. He did not simply chop up living creatures to suit his research.” She corrected, brows narrowed. The fire in her voice began to take over the room as Roy soaked it in. It was that adament form that knew he'd made the right decision.

“And this human subject? Why did he choose to burn them instead of sew them? Surely the scars--”

“They are the cost of living. The test subject was aware of the risks and the pain. They subjected to the treatment when asked.”

“And what pain did they feel? Were you there? Do you know?” A large woman leaned forward in her seat. She seemed to be the most interested in the group on how the studies went. She'd listened carefully to each word spoken. “How was the poor subject able to stand it?”

Riza took a breath before speaking. “They screamed around the wooden spoon they were given to bite down on. But the bleeding stopped quickly. The scarring was intense. The pain was moreso, but they lived. They were bleeding too quickly for stitches to have been possible. ”

“They were still at risk for infection after this new technique, weren't they?”

“Any wound is at risk for infection. But cleaning a closed wound over time is much safer than trying to suture such a large wound in such a short time as to save the subjects life. You are all aware how quickly someone can die from blood loss. How many patients have you lost? How many could have been saved by going through this technique. Yes there will be lots of pain, and it will have to be cleaned well, but they will live.”

The room was silent for a few moments. Riza stood confidently in the center of them all, awaiting their next statement. Finally, the bearded man, the King's doctor, spoke. “This wouldn't be a first resort. Or even a second.”

“No sir. This would be only for dire situations.”

He nodded slowly. “I think I'd like to look over this more. Perhaps my own research would be in order. I hope you understand. I can't simply trust a dead man's notes. I need to see this for myself.” She nodded before he continued. “I think this could be a valuable practice, even if not used often. Hunting wounds are common in court. War wounds are common on the field. We've lost many due to sutures not being enough. Tournequets, too, are only so effective.”

“I thank you for your consideration, sir.” Her shoulders were back, but a breath left her chest she seemed to have been holding the whole time.

“And I thank you for your information.” He replied. “I'll keep these copies, if you don't mind. We'll have them bound for the records. You have the originals.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you, Miss Hawkeye. I will continue this discussion with the others. Thank you for your time and for your father's work. He was once a well respected scholar, you are right. Though you must understand our hesitation.”

“I do. Thank you.” She bowed her head politely, picking up her own copies before thanking the others for their time as well. Roy watched her leave, stepping out behind her as quietly as he'd entered. She didn't even seem to notice him standing near the door when she passed.

“You did well.”

She didn't jump at his sudden comment, but turned to him. “It wasn't the easiest thing to explain. I'm not my father and I'm not a doctor. I just hope his notes speak better than I did.”

He chuckled softly. “Don't be down on yourself. You spoke wonderfully. That confidence is what we need in this court, after all, Miss Riza.”

Habitually, her hand went to push her bangs from her face, a deep breath entering her lungs. “I hope you can still say that after you've officially assigned me to your side.”

“Lady Hawkeye will be just as reliable as Miss Riza. I'm sure of it. I trust you.”

“That could be dangerous, you know. Trusting a village girl with a bad attitude.”

He laughed again. “I'm sure. I hope you'll advise me against it in the future. Though if you poison me, I'm sure I wasn't a suitable leader for this country. You will be so close as to get that chance. Though I don't believe it will come to that as long as I don't go astray.”

Her eyes widened. “You could have me killed by even suggesting I could do that.”

“I don't want you to let a corrupt man sit on that throne. I want you to want the best for this country. I told you, I trust you. I trust you to help me lead the kingdom, and if I stop being the prince, or the king this country needs, I expect you to do something about it.” He made sure to keep her attention as he spoke, eyes locked to hers. Every word was an oath. “Do you still want the position?”

Riza never looked away. His dark eyes and his firm words kept her still. At his question, she nodded. A firm expression on her face, “I do. But don't get confused. I will advise, but you will lead.” She told him. “You will lead this country, and I'll follow you wherever that path may lead.”

He smiled at that. Her affirmation was all he needed, and he knew he'd never have to ask again. “May I join you for dinner?”

She took a deep breath, the fire in her eyes clouded for a brief moment. “Yes. There's something I wanted to tell you. So I'd like that.”

His mind wandered throughout his lessons. He'd lost almost each fencing match, thinking about what she could want to tell him. In private, no less. It wouldn't be some girlish confession of love, he knew. It wasn't in her to do such a thing. He wouldn't even know how to respond to it. She was right in the idea that he barely knew her. It didn't stop the pounding in his chest to know that, nevertheless, but even so, she was to be his advisor. Being also his lover was not an option.

Her past with him, the alleged affair they shared years before, while he slept on a couch at night and she kept her distance. Few knew how well played an act it was. That alone would be hard to erase once he'd announced her, but he'd find a way. As long as their 'affair' was over, he could find a way to make it right.

He stepped to her door, a tray in hand as he knocked. No one questioned the prince's urge to carry the two meals himself anymore. Riza said nothing as she opened the door, motioning him to come inside. He stepped again to the familiar cafe table, setting the tray down quietly. “You had something to tell me?” He was right to the point, curiosity throbbing in his mind like a migraine.

“It's not really dinner conversation. If you wanted to wait until afterward...” She offered. It was an unspoken request for time.

He nodded, lifting the lid from their meals. “Then dinner first.” He smiled, assisting her to her seat politely, pushing the chair in behind her. “They have already decided on studying further into your father's research. They will be testing it in a future hunt.”

“I'm glad.” Her voice was quiet. Neither of them spoke afterwards. The only sound breaking the air in the room was the moving of silverware. Her food moved back and forth, but little left her plate.

Roy finally spoke up, his stomach seemingly smaller from the foreign tension between them. “Miss Riza? What is it you wanted to tell me?”

She stopped moving, setting down her fork before looking up at him. “I was the human subject.” She said it simply enough, never beating around the bush. “For my father's research, I was the test subject for his burn technique.”

His blood ran cold. The screams she described before, biting down on wood, scarring... Riza was describing herself. “You... you chose that instead of stitches?”

“I chose the entirety of the experiment...he presented the option to me. To help him with his final test as he requested.”

Dark eyes narrowed. “He asked you that... the entirety of the experiment. Riza.” there was no title added, but his voice was firm. She never let her eyes wander from his as he continued. “What was the cause of the wound he treated?”

“A scalpal.” She swallowed thickly. “The wound was created cleanly to prevent infection...”

Roy stood quickly, looking down to her. “He cut you open to burn you closed?” His voice was hard. “He made you--”

“He asked me. I consented.”

“He shouldn't have even asked you.” He growled. “What father asks that of his only child?”

She was quiet at that. Her chair slid backwards as she stood. “They are going to ask about the scarring. When you go hunting, when your men go to war... I want you to know how the injuries look.” She told him, for once, her eyes avoided his. “I want to show you the last test. I trust you will tell no one who you saw this from.”

His heart shook. He wasn't sure he was ready to see it, but he didn't want to let her down. The anger in him was washed away by pity. “Don't.” She told him, pulling him from his thoughts. “Don't look at me like a wounded pet, please. I chose this.”

The prince nodded, taking another breath. “Okay.” He trusted her with his life, and with his throne. Returning that trust... he couldn't deny her that.

Roy knew that seeing it would hurt him. He knew he'd hate her father more than he ever had for defacing her back the way he had after getting her back home. She chose to return to him after he sold her. She chose to care for him. And she chose to accept his offer. He was the only parent she had, and she was willing to do anything for him, until his last days. He fought the pity he felt inside, with the hatred that burned inside him.

As she turned away from him, untying her robe, his heart lurched. He wasn't ready. He knew he wasn't. He knew she wasn't. However, they both bared through it. She lowered the sleeves of her robe to her waist, using one hand to hold the robe from falling further, and the other to cover her front after pulling her hair over her shoulder.

There was a line running diagonally from her right shoulder blade, to the top of her left hip. The deep scar was broken through the middle, an ugly red scar blotched across her spine. The burn covered all but a few inches on either end of the cut across her back.

She shivered at the cold in the room, waiting for anything to break the silence as she stood. Several moments passed, Roy standing in awe at the woman before him. She'd withstood so much pain... he'd never been more awestruck by her. Her will was stronger than any he'd ever witnessed, and she bore her back to him, trusting him with the image before him.

Riza had dressed before speaking again. “I told you not to look at me with pity.” She told him.

“I don't pity you. I respect your decisions and I can't do that with pity.” He told her. “I'm angry with him. I hate what he did to you. No matter the respect I have for his research. No matter how valuable this... this sacrifice was... I hate him for it.” She was silent once more before he continued. “But you, Riza... I'm amazed by you.”

#spoils of war fanfiction #royai fanfiction #royai #roy x riza #fma fanfiction

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stuckinthekookiejar · 8 years ago

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Spring Day pt. 4

Pt. 1 || Pt. 2 || Pt. 3 || Pt. 4 || Pt. 5

Jimin x Reader ft. Taehyung

Series Genre: Angst/Fluff

Series Summary: You knew that married life with an idol would be challenging. You just didn’t know that it would be this challenging.

Word Count: 2763

A/N: I really wanted to upload this as soon as I finished it which means lots and lots of errors ahead! I will go through and edit it later.

A hurried kiss found its way upon your forehead as you saw Jimin out the door, “Be careful, Jiminie!”

“I will, and you be careful on your flight.” You were the apprentice of a well known photographer and later that evening, you were to leave to go to Japan on a business trip for a couple days, “And don’t forget to tell Jong Soo I said hi.”

“Of course. I’ll leave dinner for you on the table, make sure to heat it up okay?”

“I’m not 5, Y/N-ah.” He gave you another kiss, this time booping your nose.

“You’re not, but you are to me. Now go, you’re gonna miss the bus.” Jimin scrambled to find the time on his watch to check the time. You were right. He was going to miss the bus.

“Oh, shit...see you next week yeobo!” For one last time, he planted a quick peck on you lips and ran out the door.

The bus ride to BigHit was relatively short, only lasting for a little more than 15 minutes. With an ear piercing screech, the metal behemoth came to a full stop and the packed bus soon became empty. As Jimin stepped outside, he no longer heard the soft crunch of the white snow beneath his feet. What once was the dead of winter, was now the blissful breeze of spring.

The doors to BigHit swung open and he strided through the lobby and up the stairs to Studio A where he’d been spending most of his time. From down the hall he could hear the squeaky sounds of shoes scraping the wooden floors, and once he reached the door he was greeted by a huge smile and a bear hug.

“Jimin-ah!” Jimin almost stumbled back, dropping his bag in the process, as the younger engulfed him in his embrace,

Jimin giggled, his eye smile rising, as he tried to wiggle out of his hugger’s arms, “It’s...nice...to see...you...too...” Jimin struggled to get the words out since air was practically being squeezed out of his lungs, Yah, I can’t breathe Tae.”

Taehyung finally freed Jimin from his grasp after a few moments and the elder of two gasped for air.

When Jimin first joined BigHit as a trainee, he had to admit that was quite intimidated. The rest of the trainees had been already been training for a couple years while he was the only newbie at the time. One day, a few days into his traineehood, a fun little dance battle had broken out during break time and all his seniors egged him on eagerly wanting to see what the new kid could do. With a little hesitation, Jimin stepped into the middle of the dance floor and free styled along to the beat of the music. His short performance earned him approving claps and howling cheers. As he made his way back to the side of the room, Jimin felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and he turned to see a quite charming boxy smile.

Jimin knew exactly who he was: Kim Taehyung. He was the same age as him, only a couple months younger, and he was practically friends with every single trainee in the company. Taehyung was super impressed by Jimin’s dance moves and so he decided to approach the newcomer. He was gonna introduce himself eventually, probably in the bathroom, but Jimin’s dance moves were just so great that he had to befriend him. Soon enough, Taehyung asked for Jimin to help him out with dancing. The younger was friends with all the trainees, but with Jimin he felt extremely close.

That was how Taehyung and Jimin met, and that was how Taehyung and Jimin became practically inseparable.

“Jimin-ah,” Taehyung pulled the elder to the side, “Today we get the results of monthly testing!”

Jimin, along with all the other trainees, dreaded the words monthly testing. Over the past 3 months he had been at the company, it seemed like fewer and fewer trainees remained after being filtered out through the tests. The search for the final member of the new boy group BigHit was planning on debuting was on and so every month the tests seemed to get more rigorous and more high in standards.

Taehyung was beaming with optimistic smiles while Jimin took a seat on the floor stretching as a cold sweat started to bead down his temple,

“Oh don’t sweat it, Jimin-ah. I’m sure you passed.” Taehyung crouched on the ground and placed his hands on Jimin’s back helping him stretch forward to touch his toes,

“Well that’s easy for you to say...you’re already cast into Bangtan...”

“And that’s why you’re gonna pass! If I made it into the group, then you’ll surely pass this month’s test and next month’s test and all the other tests you’ll take until you get into Bangtan!” Jimin turned around to see Taehyung’s clenched fist and passionate expression. The younger practically had tears well in his eyes as he dove towards the elder and wrapped him in another hug, “We’ll both make music together...and dance together...and win together...I promise!”

Jimin, who blinked wildly surprised at Taehyung’s sudden outburst, chuckled, “Why are you crying, pabo? I’m the one who should be worrying. Now, why don’t you go where you’re supposed to be...my practice starts soon.”

Taehyung unraveled his arms and pouted as he got up. The vocal and dance coaches entered the room prompting all the trainees to get up and greet them...that was also Taehyung’s cue to leave.

Ever since he got cast, he was to practice with the other five members separately in order to start preparing for their eventual debut.

Taehyung the first to enter the empty dance studio, which wasn’t surprising at all. Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok were probably in a meeting with Bang PD and Jin had to take the subway to BigHit since he lived separately from the boys. Not only that, but Jungkook was away in America. Taehyung was alone and utterly bored.

Luckily just as Taehyung plopped onto the ground, a pair of footsteps came in and a face appeared in his vision,

“Taehyung-ah, what are you doing?”

“Jin-hyungie!” The younger shot up and hugged the elder’s leg, “I’m soooo boooooored.”

“Tae...you’ve only been in here for five minutes...”

“But that’s five minutes of doing nothing...”

“If you’re bored then why don’t you start stretching?” Jin managed to free his leg from the pouty Taehyung,

“What’s the point...I can’t even touch my toes.” He reached forward demonstrating his lack of flexibility

An evil look glinted in Jin’s eyes, “I can help out with that.” He approached the younger and pushed his hands on his back forcing him to bend forward toward his toes,

“HYUNG!” The younger winced in pain while the elder laughed at him, but soon enough Jin released the pressure we putting on Taehyung’s back,

“See, you can touch your toes.” Jin sat down next to the younger and started stretch himself, “So I hear that monthly test results are coming out today.”

“Yeah...I really hope Jimin-ah passes.”

“Park Jimin? You talk about that kid a lot, don’t you?”

“I can’t help it! Jimin-ah is just so...adorable! And if he continues to pass then he can join our group too! And then we’ll have the final line-up and then you and Jimin-ah can move into the dorms with the rest of us!”

“Yah...let’s worry about me moving into the dorms when the time comes. I’m currently enjoying living at home right now.”

Jin bringing up living with his family suddenly made Taehyung remember something...he remembered that day when he saw Jimin and some girl who he called ‘yeobo’.

“Hyung?”

“Yeah?”

“The company...they let you live at home because you’re living with your family right?”

“Yeah...that and because it makes sense since I already live in Seoul. I don’t need to dorm.”

“And you’re living with just you’re family?”

“Of course, who else would I live with?”

“Your wife?” If Jin had been drinking water, he surely would have spit it out in a heart beat,

“WHAT? WHAT WIFE?”

“Calm down, hyung...it’s just a...hypothetical question.”

“Well first off, I don’t think the company would allow for any such relationship. Sure, the contract doesn’t exactly state any sort of dating ban, but it’s an unspoken rule to not date let alone get married.”

“Oh...okay....”

“Why? Don’t tell me you have a wife.”

“No! Of course, I don’t! I was just curious...that’s all...”

Jin and Taehyung continued to get ready for practice, but Taehyung couldn’t concentrate. He could clearly remember Jimin calling that girl yeobo and he could clearly remember Jimin tell her that he’d see her back home...

Taehyung never asked about Jimin’s residential circumstances, and he was never curious about them...until now. He was nosy. He wanted to know who Jimin was talking to that day. He wanted to know everything.

But he didn’t want to pry.... Then he got an idea.

Once practice was over, he bid his hyungs goodbye and took off to meet his friend.

The end of the day had come and the results were probably posted on the bulletin board out in the hall by now. Jimin’s hands were shaking, his breath was heavy, and sweat claimed his entire body. He was nervous. He wanted to pass. He wanted to progress forward. And hopefully, he wanted to become a part of Bangtan with Taehyung and the other members.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the door where he saw Taehyung standing,

“Hey, Tae. You finished your practice?”

“Oh yeah...” Jimin noticed that the younger looked a bit distant, as if something was weighing down his mind,

“Is something up? You seem kinda lost.”

“What? It’s nothing...I guess practice stressed me out today.” Taehyung shook his head, smiled, then proceeded to violently fling his arm around Jimin’s shoulders, “So, the results should be posted by now! Let’s go!”

“T-Taehyung wait...I don’t think I’m...” With a smirk Taehyung pulled the weary Jimin down the hall to where the dreaded sheet of paper was located. A small crowd had gathered around the bulletin board blocking the view of the list of the names of those who passed. Taehyung, being the taller of the two, stood on his toes while Jimin stood hunched beside him. His palms were sweaty, his foot rapidly tapped at the ground in apprehension...

What if his name wasn’t on the list? What if he didn’t make it? What if his idol career ended before it even began? ...What if he failed? ...What if he disappointed you?

All these thoughts whirled in his mind...he even began to think that he never wanted to see the list. His feet began to move by themselves as Jimin slowly backed away from the crowd, but before he could turn around and escape Taehyung engulfed Jimin in yet another hug. The air was being squeezed from his lungs as Taehyung jumped up and down with Jimin in his arms,

“YOU DID IT JIMIN! YOU DID IT! YOU PASSED!”

“I...I did? Are you sure?” Jimin wiggled out his grasp to look into Taehyung’s eyes to make sure the taller wasn’t lying, but before he could see anything, he was whisked into the air. A firm grip on the smaller’s waist kept him hoisted so that he could see above all the other heads. Sure enough, Jimin saw his name smack dab in the middle of the list, “OH MY GOD I PASSED!”

Jimin felt his feet touch the ground as Taehyung lowered him onto the ground. Although the taller huffed, out of breath, he continued to smile and jump in excitement, “Yah, Jimin-ah! We gotta celebrate!”

“Celebrate? What you wanna do? Go grab some tteokbokki?”

“Noooo, we always do that...why don’t we hang out or something?”

“Oh, okay. I can go over to your dorms and we can...”

“Noooo, not my dorms! The hyungs don’t really like it when I bring over company...they say my friends and I roughhouse too much...I mean we don’t really...” Taehyung tried to forget that one time when he and his friend broke an entire door and made a hole in the wall trying to race each other to the kitchen for the last bowl of ramen...Namjoon never let him bring his friends over ever again, “What if we hang out at your place?”

“M-M-My place?”

“Yeah. It’s close by isn’t it?”

“Erm...I don’t think that’s a good idea...”

“What? Why not?"

“Um....I don’t think that my apartment’s clean....”

“Oh, a little mess isn’t gonna make me judge you, Jimin.”

“But...”

“Pleeeeease, Jimin! Pretty pleeeeease!” Jimin sighed. Taehyung’s pout and puppy dog eyes were getting to him,

“Fine...but let me check on something first...” He pulled out his phone and sent out a quick text to you:

[Jimin]: Y/N-ah, when are you leaving again?

[Y/N]: I left already. I’m in a taxi to the airport.

[Jimin]: Ok, just checking. Be careful on the flight! And don’t talk to random strangers. And be sure to always have your phone. And never walk outside alone by yourself especially at night.

[Y/N]: Awww is my baby worrying about me???

[Jimin]: I’m not a baby!!! ....But I am worrying about you...so be careful, okay? Give me a call when you land. Love you.

[Y/N]: Love you too! ...my wittle baby hehehhe

“Jimin-ah, what’s got you smiling so widely?” Taehyung came up behind Jimin trying to catch a glimpse at the smaller’s phone.

“Oh it’s...nothing! Uh.... Since the post office is on the way I was checking if a package got delivered in the mail....it didn’t..so yeah...” He chuckled, hoping that Taehyung would buy into his excuse.

“Hm...Okaaaay...anyway, let’s go!"

The metal key fumbled in Jimin’s shaky hand as he reached for the door. With the turn of the key, the door unlocked and creaked open. Jimin peeked in, hoping that you didn’t leave your shoes out. When he saw that the entrance way was clear from any trace of you, he sighed full of relief.

“Come in!” Jimin stepped aside to let Taehyung enter first.

Luckily for Jimin, he didn’t have to worry about wedding photos hanging on the walls. That was mostly because you didn’t have any wedding photos since your marriage was only done civilly. Despite the fact that you yourself was an aspiring photography, you two hadn’t had the time to take any wedding pictures. Jimin really wanted to take some, but right now he was relieved that he didn’t have any.

The place was larger than Taehyung had thought it was going to be. He expected one of those crampt one room apartments, but instead he was met with a pretty well sized home that could be fit for a couple.

“Woah...this whole place...it’s your’s?”

“Yeah, why? Something wrong?”

“No...it’s just that it seems big for only a single person. Do you have a roomate or something?”

“Hehe...something like that...um...why don’t you have a seat on the couch? I kinda want to change out of these clothes.” Jimin tossed Taehyung the television remote as the younger plopped down onto the couch, “Feel free to watch something. I’ll be back quick.”

Jimin disappeared down the small hall and into what Taehyung assumed to be the bedroom. Once the door shut, Taehyung rose to his feet and began to explore.

“Tsk, ‘I don’t think my apartment’s clean’ my ass.” The place was nearly spotless as if it were cleaned only hours ago.

As he roamed the rest of the home, the scent of something traveled up Taehyung’s nostrils...the smell made his stomach growl wildly. The scent trail lead him to the kitchen where he found an entire meal on the table. Taehyung grabbed one of the slices of gimbap and tossed it in his mouth. He scanned the rest of the feast, but then noticed a small post-it note placed next to the various plates,

“Jiminie, I’ll see you next week and don’t you dare skip meals while I’m gone! Love you!!

❤ Y/N”

The message caused Taehyung’s brows to furrow in confusion

...Who was Y/N? And why did this Y/N sign off with a heart?

Just as he began to question the note, as the front door creaked open a voice and a pair of footsteps beamed throughout the apartment,

“Jiminie? Have you seen my passport? I think I left it...”

Taehyung froze as he watched you round the corner into the kitchen,

“Um...who are you?” The two of you questioned simultaneously as the gimbap in Taehyung’s mouth fell out messily onto the floor.

Gif not mine, creds to the owner

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wiickeddkidd · 7 years ago

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Little background info on me: I was a student at a four year university. I was studying sociology, with a minor in psych. Those careers seemed difficult to get into so I considered a job at a funeral home (basically for experience with grieving families). Growing up, my father was a mortician’s apprentice. I remember as a child I was fucking terrified of my father’s job but also interested. I knew I was conceived in the mortuary’s apartment. I loved telling my friends that and that my dad ‘embalmed’ people for a living and watching their spooked impressions and thinking that I was soooo cool for having a dad that brave. I didn’t even understand what embalming was lol. “Uh, yeah he pumps chemicals into dead people to keep them fresh for a lot longer.” I remember in high school finally asking my dad if I was allowed to ask him questions about it. I was afraid he might be experiencing some PTSD from the job, because how can someone not? But he explained his job, the good and the bad. He was never sad looking back at his past career (he’s now a teacher at a high school and at times misses it). I used to think there was no way someone could have a job like this and NOT be forever haunted by the experiences of death. I even remember driving by a hotel in our home town and him telling the vague story of him picking someone up who had shot himself in the bathtub. I thought, “What a sick job? Who can do that and still lead a positive life?” But my dad sure did!

I remember thinking about doing that job. I thought, “What will my family and friends think if I pursue this job?” Everyone I mentioned it to thought, “YAAA sophie that’s fucking weird but someone has to do it, why not you?” So. I applied. Got the job. Pursued it. And finally began the job.

My first day actually on the job was kinda bullshit. I started on halloween, so that felt fitting. We passed out pizza to kids outside our garage where we held decedents in a fridge. After everyone left, a few of my new coworkers gave me a tour. They showed me the funeral home from the inside out. We climbed on the roof covered in dead ivy, and I felt on top of the world. They took me back to the garage with the fridge that held every body we had (0-15 decedents). The night before there was a pretty brutal car wreck. A coworker unlocked the fridge and was interested in seeing who and what we were dealing with. She looked at me and asked if I had ever seen a dead body. I explained that I had seen grandparents at funerals but that was the extent of it (So no. The answer should’ve been no. I’ve seen prettied up and embalmed dead bodies, not a real dead body). She began opening the bag of one of the car wreck victims. I decided to also take a little peek. I saw the weirdest thing ever at that point. I looked right into the eyes of a dead man who had died of a head on collision. All I remember was seeing his eyes wide the fuck open. He looked through me. He was all scratched up. It was pretty fucking gnarly. The next couple days I was required to come in from 3-5 to do online training as well as follow a coworker around for tours and little bits of info. The next time I saw that man’s body, it was post autopsy. He was cut open all the way through his chest. It was alarming. I’ve seen gore online and in movies, but seeing a body post autopsy is the strangest experience. It was very moving. His story had just been told. There was nothing that could really explain what caused his death as well as his passenger besides a sleepy driver crossing over a line they shouldn’t have. It hurt my heart, as a fellow driver, that one little tiny mistake can end so many important lives. But, what can you do? This was literally just a small intro into what I had gotten myself into.

#funeral #funeral home #mortuary #death #dying #car wreck #gore #suicide

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gaiabamman · 8 years ago

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Get “Linked”, a sci-fi political romance with fantasy elements, here (Kindle, paperback and Audible!)

Summary: Nala is a riotous liberal. When she discovers that she is Cursoi, gifted individuals that form a military caste, she infiltrates them with the goal to kill newly elected President Crash, a hateful bigot. Unexpectedly, she falls in love with fellow soldier Drama, whose skill is empathy. Nala, who was raised human, struggles with Cursoi culture, where “merging” (similar to human intercourse) is very common and non exclusive. Things precipitate when Nala “links” with gorgeous and conservative Lethal, the killer of their Cursoi unit. “Linking” means that the two, who hate each other’s guts, share their consciousness and feelings. Nala inevitably learns about Lethal’s dark past and Lethal learns about Nala’s fears and secrets. It does not help that Lethal is Drama’s sworn enemy. Nala, who has a science background, starts researching Cursoi with the pretext of making them stronger, when in fact she is looking for weaknesses to attack them from the inside out. Interestingly, Lethal takes some s*it about the fact that he won’t merge with men (what’s wrong with him?! Why the discrimination?).

Currently, Nala is facing her first mission after linking, which took a lot of adjusting. As a Cursoi, she is compelled to follow orders and right now she has to kill a sniper attempting at the president’s life. Will she? Also both Nala and Lethal have not been “merging” since when they linked, and the situation is becoming unsustainable for both of them.

Warning: mild language, some explicit content.

By the way, the trees on the cover are pyramidal neurons. GEEK OUT!

Nala! Lethal says in my head. Nala, we have to! You’re blocking me!

Lethal and I stop the sniper’s heart, and I almost pass out. I cannot believe we just killed a man. I cannot believe I could have disobeyed after all. Lethal’s bewilderment echoes within me, resonating with the implications of the discovery. Yet, for now, I’m choking with the guilt for the man I killed.

Vulture makes the corpse disappear. Zera removes him from anyone’s memory. I cling to Lethal’s inner shield, to his wall. I need it. I can’t deal with this. Lethal shifts and his elbow touches mine. Serenity invades me, and for the first time maybe ever, I am grateful to have Lethal at my side.

Nala, we just followed orders, he says.

I just followed orders, I repeat, like a mantra. I just followed orders, but I didn’t have to. Did I?

President Crash says, “The first month of my office has been an absolute success. The Few passed unanimously the Religious Freedom Act. This should settle the haters who called me a racist. I respect everyone.”

The crowd claps. I hold back a smirk at the people flipping Crash off as a sign of love and respect. You get what you sow, I guess.

Drama says, “Disturbance, a fight is starting.”

Emo says, “Sedated.”

I add, “Kid got crushed. Healed.”

Zera says, “Removed. He won’t even remember.”

President Crash says, “Also, we finished the budget, and will be able to save 300 billion Uni on what was projected by the previous president.”

Whoa. Maybe he does know what he’s doing.

“Also, we are cranking down on illegal immigrants, just like I promised. I will make it impossible for Saturnites to come to Earth, unless they’re needed. You put your trust in the right man, and remember! The end justifies the means!”

When he walks away, waving, the crowd is still roaring.

Ghost says, “President secured. Dime, take us home.”

This time, I do feel like I’m going back home.

That night there’s a lot of Libre. Apprentices look like devils in the light of the lanterns. The crickets scream in my pounding head. A number of Apprentices come to hit on me, or to ask questions about what’s going on between Lethal and me and linking in general. I don’t even reply. I barely register the chatter around me, or Zera rubbing herself against Lethal three seats down. He evades most questions, focusing on a more physical type of interaction.

No matter how much Libre I down, the guy I killed keeps dropping dead in front of me. Did he have a family? He must have known he was gonna die for nothing. What a waste of life. At my hand.

“Rogue, you’re quiet tonight,” Min says, sitting across the table from me, and I don’t even answer, downing more Libre, and wishing him away. After I ignore him, he starts talking to Kino. Lethal’s hand is now around Echo. I can feel Zera in his lap, her sweet perfume sickens me. He must hate it too.

Drama is missing, and so is Emo. I think about Lethal’s stubborn refusal to merge with men, the pitiful encounter with Drama. Is he merging with Emo? I do get it, though, Lethal. With everything that happened to you, I get it.

You’re drunk, he says.

But I get it. I can feel Lethal’s anger as he squeezes Echo’s butt a little too tight. She smiles, biting his shoulder. Gross.

Lethal says in my head, Funny how it never occurred to you to merge with a woman, because I certainly wouldn’t object to that. The realization hits me like a dunk in the cold springs. And you weren’t even raped, Rogue. People just have preferences, get over yourself.

I reply, I don’t care about merging, now! How can you not care about the guy we killed?

He says, You’re just too weak to admit you’re wrong.

He closes his eyes and thinks of his first kill, the Master who abused him, and every kill that followed. Each one was painful and guilt ridden, till they all blurred in his self-hatred.

He says, have another round of Libre, Rogue, you’re such a role model.

Drama appears at the edge of the darkness, with Emo, laughing and pushing each other around. They sit and start drinking, chatting with everyone. Then Drama’s eyes find us.

I say in my head, Drama is watching us.

I don’t give a bonk.

Clearly. Like I said, I get it—

Shut the bonk up, Rogue! You don’t!

Zera jumps off Lethal’s lap, startled, and then leans her head on Drama’s shoulder. It breaks my heart a little more.

Lethal cannot shut me up. I know we shouldn’t talk in each other’s head so much, but it’s pretty easy to keep our consciousnesses apart, when we’re fighting and doing things the other never would. Yet, I do understand how after being abused by his Master, he’d rather be in control of merging. I’m not surprised he’s not into men. Even with women, he’s always on top.

Lethal growls, Get out of my head! And I’m into no one. No one can even bear to talk to me.

I can see why. My snarky, drunk remark hurts him. I didn’t mean it, Lethal.

Oh, go bonk yourself! Or is that too dirty for your frigid ass?

The only reason Lethal does nothing about Zera kissing Drama’s neck is that he enjoys how much that’s hurting me.

He continues, So ready to judge me, but you’re the Cursoi freak, Rogue. And your hero, here, with his hand in Zera’s pants? He’d rather merge with humans. Ain’t that strange?

I’m holding back the tears. I guess.

He’d merge with anyone but you, in fact.

Because you won’t let us, jerk!

Lethal glares at me, furious, because that was a low blow, and because we are all freaks, in our own way. It’s easy to gang up against someone, and I’d rather shoot that get shot.

The sniper dying comes back to mind.

Lethal’s anger makes so much sense. Damn, I thought I was lonely. I’m sorry, Lethal.

What did you just say?

I’m sorry, Lethal. You’re right.

Are you now? Well, bonk you, Rogue. He turns away, and I clearly see Zera throwing a hopeful look his way. I guess she likes it rough.

I hold back the tears and my mind is taken up again by images of the sniper dropping dead before he even had a chance to pull out his termin-aid, the crowd forgetting him within seconds.

I try to stand up and stumble. I’m not even sure what I’m trying to do. I see myself like in a holo-show, walking toward Lethal, and putting a hand on his shoulder. He flinches when the golden light surrounds us. He jerks away from my hand, still angry, but then turns to look at my face and scoots to make room for me on the bench at his side.

By the time Lethal and I stumble back to our place late at night, I’m wasted. The Libre I drank is fogging up his brain too. We haven’t spoken anymore, but strangely, he came home with me.

“You would have slept in the park, if I’d let you,” he slurs, shaking his head to clear it.

“How gentleman-man-ly of you, hic!”

He rolls his eyes. We stop in front of our hot springs, considering the skipping stones.

He leans heavily over my shoulder, and I bask in the warmth and happiness his touch brings us.

He says, “You smell soooo good.”

I giggle, because I know he means it.

“Of course I mean it, Dumb. You pick your hair products. Ergo you like them. Ergo I like them. Also, I haven’t merged in a month and anything smells better than Zera’s perfume.” I laugh. Crickets sing. Hoot the Owl does her thing.

“You named the owl?” he asks. I hiccup. “That’s… cute?” he slurs. He has never said that word before.

I sigh. I like drunk Lethal a bit too much, but I’m pretty sure it’s the Libre. “It was better when you were a meathead,” I say.

“It wasn’t. I wasn’t.”

“Less approachable?” I garble.

“It wasn’t.”

We decide to attempt the skipping stones, his arm still around my neck. We don’t even make the first one. He misses it all together, and I slip.

SPLASH!

In the gurgling of the water in my ears, I heal his head as it’s cracking against the rock bed, then I realize the ankle I twisted when I slipped feels already okay. I emerge, coughing up water.

“I did that,” Lethal says. He’s sitting in the hot water, beside me, his wet tunic clinging to his wide shoulders, wet hair covering his face and bewildered eyes. “I. Did. That,” he repeats, his pride filling my chest, because it’s the first time he’s healed someone rather than killing them.

“Next time, do yourself first,” I chide.

“That sounds mergy, and you healed me first too,” he says.

“Your head was cracking open!”

The words die in my throat when I realize he’s breathing faster, his eyes fixed on the wet fabric clinging to my breasts.

I jump out of the water, fighting his arousal. “You’re drunk,” I say.

“No, you’re drunk,” he whispers, right behind me. Either I’m really drunk, or he’s really nimble. Or both.

I ignore him and stumble to the stair, up and up and around, all the way to the nest, slipping on the last step because of my wet shoes.

Lethal catches me, and warmth spreads through me.

“Maybe you should leave,” I whisper.

“How?” he asks, amused. “And you don’t mean it.”

I feel ashamed of my needs and I want to push Lethal away. I say, “This is where I made love with Drama. I can’t deal with you, Lethal.”

“You can’t deal with yourself, Nala. You touched yourself in that very same nest and didn’t think about it twice. How would this be different?”

“It’s not merging for me, okay?” I step away from him, and I already miss him.

“Nala, you are Cursoi. I know you didn’t know that growing up, but you’re doing to yourself the same thing I did to myself all these years.”

“Sleeping with half the capital?”

“You know what I mean.”

Rejecting yourself.

He turns and leaves, and I ache to feel complete, but I also ache to find the strength to keep lying to myself.

During the following days, I still keep repeating to myself that I just followed orders, and I ignore Lethal’s pity-filled looks. I feel hopeless, my soul crushed with that of the man we killed.

The other Cursoi struggle to adjust to our new situation. Lethal and I can’t stand any of our respective friends. It’s been five days since we resumed our Cursoi routine, merging aside, and the other Apprentices kind of gave up on the idea of merging with us or getting any information about linking. To be honest I feel like anyone barely stands us anymore.

During universal geo, Ghost asks, “What’s the temperature shift on Mercury from night to day?”

I reply, bored, “About sixhundred celsius due to its closeness to the sun, its lack of atmosphere, and slow spinning. It goes from -173 ºC to 427 ºC, which is why Mercury, or Merc, is often used in figures of speech to signify hell.”

Browser rolls his eyes, and Echo even murmurs something that sounds like gibberish imitating my tone. Lethal shuts them all up with a murderous look.

At the end of class we walk to the lab, where we now spend the majority of our time. After our little demonstration on Ghost’s bladder, it became apparent we need training in keeping our sanity much more than manipulating the human body.

Awkward choice of words.

I glare at Lethal and his stupid comments, trying to focus on the data flashing on the holo-charts. The truth is that I can’t avoid pining for Drama every time I see him.

Get over yourself. You merged once, Lethal says, full of spite.

It was more special than anything you’ve ever had. Silence. I can only feel Lethal’s pain.

“Focus,” Lethal says, pointing at the new data.

I try.

Ghost shows up in the lab at the end of the day. Lethal and I are sitting close to each other, staring at the monitors. I realize that once again we are touching, the golden light only we can see like a safety blanket between us.

Lethal stands, and I already miss him. “Ghost,” he says.

“Lethal, Rogue.” He nods, then adds, “You two look terrible. Have you merged since… nevermind. I’m sure you’ll have the sense to figure it out.” We both look away. I am well aware that Lethal is burning, because so am I, but if I dealt with not merging for years, he can survive a few weeks.

Bonk you, he says.

You wish.

“So, found anything?” Ghost asks.

Lethal waves to the left, where a holo-chart shows a 3D rendition of human plasma cells, which produce antibodies. He says, “We figured out how skills develop—”

Ghost jumps to his feet. “Could you imprint skills at will?”

Lethal and I shake our heads.

I say, “It’s similar to V(D)J recombination, the process that allows humans to have an endless array of antibodies to fight any possible disease.”

“Okay?”

Lethal adds, “Except that skill recombination happens in the brain. At birth, each Cursoi has the potential of developing one of many skills. The skill is selected at puberty.”

“How?” Ghost asks, tilting his head and squinting.

“The recombination happens in cells we named pro-neurons.” I say, “When kids use them, they activate like normal neurons, but the effects are minimal, because there is only one pro-neuron per skill type. We found a huge number of them in the brainscans of Cursoi toddlers, but none after puberty.”

“They die?” Ghost asks.

I nod. “Except the one type that is selected. If one kid engages in an activity he or she enjoys, like healing for me, their dopamine level goes up. The pro-neuron’s activation in concomitance with the spike in dopamine and the peak of sex hormones characteristic of puberty causes that specific pro-neuron to replicate, very much like memory cells in the immune system. These new, all identical neurons colonize a big chunk of the temporal lobe in the brain cortex and make the skill possible.”

Ghost is trying very hard not to stare at Lethal, but his thoughts are obvious. How the Merc did Lethal enjoy crushing internal organs as a kid? Most Cursoi skills are not strictly weapon-like, hence Lethal’s nickname. Most are fun and can be used in a strategical way, like Browser’s or Kino’s, or Emo’s.

Ghost says, “When your master died… it was no accident. Was it?” His face is very white.

Lethal says nothing, and I feel all the guilt and the triumph that still wrestle in his heart at the memory, but mostly the pain, the humiliation.

Ghost continues, “Did he hurt you?”

Lethal stands up abruptly. “The report is over, Sir.” He adds in my head, Time to get drunk, Dumb, and I can’t shake the feeling he’s on a mission to do something really stupid tonight.

#writing #write #writerblr #writerlr #booklr #sci-fi #sci-fi fix #serialized fiction #serialized novel #sci-fi romance #political sci-fi #trump the trump #steamy sci-fi #read #reading #book #books #booknerd #lgbtq

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