#t: lupi

[zegalba]

Fiorucci's instantly recognizable logo is this Victorian-style image of two angels, which was designed by Italo Lupi in 1970.

[whispence]

i don’t know why i sat down and decided “i’m gonna make them autumn themed colour schemes” but…

here we are.

[hauntedwitch04]

I'm so excited

Remus Lupin x reader

Words: about 4.0k words

Warnings: smut, possessive!Remus, swearing, not proofreaded (sorry it's really late, and I'm starting to imagine things :) )

Author’s note: Hi loves! I'm so so so so so sorry, but life it's really kinking me in the ass and seems like uni likes to do the same, so I hope to write some more during this break. Let me know if you liked this one, your witch Becky

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KINKTOBER ...........-..........KINKTOBER TAGLIST 2023

DAY 11: Breeding (tbt maybe isn't that much breeding, but I let myself get carried away by Remus Fucking Lupin)

Title of the one shot (and song in it): I'm so excited by The pointer sisters

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Remus could swear that he had never hated you as much as he did at that moment.

You and young Lupin had never been big fans of each other, as you both competed to be your year's brightest witch and wizard, but for some time the hungry little wolf in him had begun to see more than just a rival of wits in you: prey.

Each time he could not help but dwell on your hair, your smile (unfortunately never directed at him), your wonderful and magnetic eyes, and then wander over aspects that made his thoughts less pure. At night he dreamed of being able to touch your breasts, his most secret and darkest desire, being able to kiss, taste and bite them, almost putting his signature on you, so that everyone, even that idiot Ravenclaw of your year knew that no one but him could touch you; or he dreamed of leaving a trail of kisses from your belly down to your belly, to your thighs, which he imagined were so soft and sweet, until a scream from Sirius woke him up in the morning, telling him he was late, again. Sometimes in the dullest classes he marveled at imagining what it would be like to come inside you, to possess you in such a primitive, animal way; to see his cum dripping from your pussy as his fingers brought it back inside you, into your womb, where it belonged according to him.

Part of Remus knew that he had no right to impose himself on you in that possessive way, but somehow the wolf inside him disagreed, having decided that you were by far the most captivating and attractive prey he had ever seen.

Despite everything, however, young Lupin had always managed to make sure that he did not give in to his instincts, well at least until this evening.

The Hufflepuffs had decided to throw another party, to take the pressure off the young students in this exam-filled period, and of course his friends had decided that Remus absolutely had to attend to tell them "to relax a bit," but Sirius, as they were getting ready to arrive at the place where the party was being held, had looked at Remus and raising his eyebrows in an endearing way, with the look of someone who knows more than he should, had said that he knew for a fact that you would be at the party. Remus had never wanted to punch him as much as he did at that exact moment, but the thought that had grafted itself into him of you, dancing in the middle of a dance floor, not in the usual clothes he saw you in class in, but freer and more yourself, had been enough to make him close his mouth in fear that an involuntary moan would escape his lips.

But his imagination had not even come close to reality.

He had been sitting in an armchair for two hours now, stiff and panting, while next to him two are making out as if he were not next to them, but Remus cares nothing about what is happening next to him, the only thing he can focus on is you.

Right now you've climbed on top of one of the tables in the center of the room with your friend, and you're dancing one attached to the other, moving your pelvis in time to the music. You are wearing a simple black T-shirt with a V-neckline, ending just above your belly button and highlighting your breasts, which made young Lupin say a long string of swear words when he first saw you when he entered the room, hoping that like a spell they might change what you are wearing into cute, soft pajamas with Christmas puppets, or make the painful erection he was feeling go away. A simple skirt, on the other hand, moved in time with your hips, showing off your legs, neither too much nor too little. It was shocking to Remus how on an occasion like this you had managed to maintain the same elegance and class you show in class when you get into an argument with him about who is right, in fact he almost seemed to see the same stubbornness and confidence in your eyes at this moment as you downed another sip of your drink, which you had managed not to spill despite everything despite continuing to move.

"If you take a picture of her, you'll be able to look at it again tonight you know, when you can't help but-" Sirius whispers in his ear, waking Remus from the trance-like state he had fallen into.

"We get it Padfoot, you don't need to go on." James stops him, as he gets a glimpse of the young wolf from behind their friend's back.

Remus rolls his eyes, only to look in his hands at the drink that he has now finished, and without saying anything to his friends he turns and goes to the table where the bottles of alcohol are.

He pauses for a moment to look at which of the proposed spirits is the strongest, to make sure that he also forgets his name, as well as the sinful thoughts your body brings him.

However, everything changes in a matter of seconds.

The young wolf has finally identified what he wants to drink when a body pulls up, still moving in time to the music. Remus turns to glare evilly at anyone who has bumped into him at such an unhappy and difficult time in his life, when he sees the culmination of all his problems: you.

He can't help but look at you enraptured even more than before, now with the possibility of being able to notice up close all the details that had eluded him a few minutes ago; besides given the difference in height, now your V-neckline offers him a view of your breasts unseen before, so much so that he has to restrain himself from running into the nearest bathroom and throwing cold water on his face, and more.

Your hair reflects the moonlight, which comes from a nearby window, and at that moment Remus realizes a truth that had escaped him just before: in three days it would be a full moon.

Not understanding how something so important could have slipped his mind, he realizes that all last week he had been too busy cursing your name or moaning it at night to realize that the moon was changing night after night.

You are the only thing he can now understand and think about, and this terrifies him, but at the same time makes him feel good.

Coming to her senses, she realizes that caught up in the rhythm of the music and the alcohol you practically danced on him. Lupin feeling a presence in his pants becoming more and more obvious and the wolf inside him getting louder and louder, decides that he cannot stay a second longer in this room, so he hurries out of the Hufflepuff common room, to find himself thus in the corridors. He begins to run, not going too far, but far enough to still hear the background music, thinking he is alone, when he hears footsteps.

Remus turns and sees you, leaning forward trying to regain the breath you had lost in running after him. Again the sight of your cleavage is enough to make him say a sequence of swear words under his breath as you pull yourself up and look at him.

"What are you doing here?" Remus asks, in an almost mean tone, yet unable to hide a note of longing as he tries to send you away by being rude to you.

"Your friends looked pretty bad to me, and they asked me to see if you were okay when you ran away from the party." You reply in the same acid tone he had used, before bursting out laughing. "What an idiot I am. I thought that at least this time if I showed you kindness, you would see that I'm not a bitch like you like to paint me."

"Why do you care so much that I think so highly of you?" He asks, intrigued, as he mentally slaps himself for the question he just asked.

"Because you are a person that everyone esteems and appreciates, and it is an honor to be appreciated by you in this damn school, and I never understood what I did to deserve the treatment I get from you. Do you really hate me for a couple of assignments and lessons? Are you really that arrogant?" You ask as you take a step toward him, but the sight of you so angry and panting with your hair messed up is enough to make him go wild, imagining you in the same condition, but this time because of him in a different way: under him and panting from his kisses as he makes you cry out in pleasure with his member. Remus takes a step back to catch his breath as he tries with all his might not to jump on you, and to banish his thoughts with images of pink-bearded Dumbledore dancing to a Christmas song. You, however, misinterpret that step backward, and respond with another step forward toward him.

"What more do I have to do than that Lupin? I'm laying myself bare before you, what more do I have to do Remus? Tell me."

Upon hearing his name fall from your fleshy lips, a short-circuit occurs in Remus's brain, who, no longer able to have control over his body, pounces on you like a predator who manages to finally get his fangs on his prey.

You initially don't know how to react when you feel his mouth on yours, but after a few seconds you return the kiss with equal passion. Your hands go into his brown hair, pulling it, while at the same time you press his face even harder against yours. Instead, his hands travel the way from your hips to your butt to your thighs, where with a nimble move Remus pulls you up as if you weighed nothing, while your back collides with the cold stone wall, enough to make you moan into the boy's mouth.

So you stay endless minutes kissing, in that lost hallway, while underneath the music seems to give you the tempo with which your tongues must move.

Then Remus pauses, trying to catch his breath, leaning his forehead against yours, still trying to keep at bay the wolf inside him that was clawing at the door to get out.

"You're still in time to run away baby. If you don't leave now, I don't know if I can guarantee that I can stop another time." Remus whispers a few inches from your lips as you too catch your breath. You look at him confused, not understanding why he sees what you were doing, or what you might soon be doing, as a terrible thing you would like to run away from instead of something you have been running toward for years.

And instead of answering him, she starts humming the song that had just started at the party.

"Tonight's the night we're gonna make it happen-" Whispers kissing his forehead. "-tonight we'll put all other things aside-" You continue kissing his eyes. "-give in this time and show me some affection-" You sing as you kiss his cheeks, hearing him moan, almost as if it is a pain what you are doing, even though you know for sure from the erection pressing against your belly that it is not. "-We're goin' for those pleasures in the night.-" You say finally kissing him on the lips, lightly brushing against his before continuing to sing. "-I want to love you, feel you, wrap myself around you, I want to squeeze you, please you, I just can't get enough, and if you move real slow, I'll let it go-" now, however, it is he who begins his attack with slow kisses from your ear to your mouth, not even touching it though before moving down to your neck.

"-I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control and I think I like it, I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it, and I know, I know, I know, I know I want you." You finish singing the refrain panting as he finishes leaving marks all the way down your neck to the hollow, leaving almost his mark, wanting everyone to know who was lucky enough to have you in his arms and on his lips.

"Do you still have doubts Lupin, or should I go back to my room and do for myself what you haven't given me yet? Or maybe I could go back to the party and find someone, maybe Sirius-" You try to provoke him, but your words die in your throat as one of his hands tightens around your neck.

"Don't ever try to mention another guy's name at the moment I'm about to fuck you, or next time not only will I leave all these bites on your neck but I'll also put a nice collar on you." He states in a hard, confident voice, enough to make you tremble, as you feel a warm sensation creating in your lower abdomen. "You'd like that wouldn't you, baby? A nice collar that tells everyone where you belong?" He continues, realizing that he has touched the right keys.

You gasp and search within yourself for the strength to respond to him.

"Lupin, I swear if-" You try to say, but you can't finish.

"Oh my baby, are we off to a bad start? What's my name?" He interrupts you, tightening his grip on your neck a little more.

"Remus, please Remus I need you."

"What do you need baby?" He asks, as with a sly grin he watches you wiggle under his gaze, as if your body is on fire.

"I need you to fuck me. Now. There's a broom cupboard nearby, no one ever comes by here." You propose in hopes of soon alleviating the feeling of longing you feel.

"And here I thought all you did was keep your pretty little nose in the books all the time." He taunts you, as always with your legs wrapped around his waist and one arm wrapped behind your back and the other on your neck, he leads you toward the place you suggested just now.

"And now I find out that instead you are nothing but a little whore, ready to get fucked in the broom closet. Don't worry baby, I'll prove to you that once again I'm better at it than you are."

"Oh yeah and how?" You manage to say, once the door to the cramped little room, capable of holding only the two of you standing, is closed behind you. Dust gets into your nostrils, and you don't even want to think about how many bugs there must be on these walls, but the only thing you care about now is the man between your legs, and what he might do.

"You'll learn to recite my name better than any spell they've ever taught you, and I know for a fact that you'll appreciate its result much more, I'd say it's nothing short of ecstatic." He replies, before venturing back to your lips to devour you as if it were his last meal on earth, and he hadn't eaten in weeks.

You feel his warm hands settle on your breasts, and then reach to the edge of the T-shirt you are wearing and slip it off, leaving before his eyes a view of your chest, covered only by your bra.

"Merlin, how I love your boobs." Remus confesses, before moving on to leave open-mouthed kisses and bites on all the skin he finds available, then quickly and surely removing your bra in less time than you realize.

Now that your hair is uncovered and in contact with the cold night air, it stiffens, and the young wolf is not slow to take one between his lips and tease the other with his hand, until your hands are violently embedded in his hair and your moans grow louder and louder.

"Please, Remus, I need more." You beg him in a whisper, so you feel one of his hands rest on your hip, while the other descends to your panties, and his mouth continues to torture your right hair, with the constancy with which he wants to prove he is better than you in class. He lowers one of your legs by resting it on the floor, so that access to his coveted treasure is easier. His hand grazes your pussy from above your panties, sending a shiver down your entire back as you gasp through your lips, resting your head on his shoulder.

With a gentle gesture he moves his fingers between your panties and the most sensitive and delicate spot on your body, making you gasp.

"God baby, I didn't think you were so wet." He comments, making you blush. "Didn't you want more baby? I swear I won't stop until you beg me to stop." He whispers in your ear, pulling away from your nipple for a moment, then attaching the other one, leaving the one from before wet from his saliva to the night breeze, thus making you shiver with pleasure again and getting you even wetter.

One of his long, slender fingers enters you, teasing you, before adding a second. He moves his fingers with agility and confidence, like those of a musician performing his favorite piece that he has been playing for years now. He touches inside you in all the right places, making you moan with pleasure.

That delicious torture goes on for minutes that seem like hours.

Your lips are on the verge of splitting from how much you are biting them, when you feel coming like a wave the orgasm to which your gestures are leading you.

"Remus I'm going to-"

"Cum." He says simply, looking you fixedly in the eyes, from his full height. You stare gazing at those wonderful chocolate-colored crystal orbs, illuminated by the gentle moonlight filtering through the cracks in the door, when you can no longer stop the inevitable in the face of his oh-so-dry command. You reach the pinnacle of pleasure, and it is as if for a moment you can touch the sky with your finger. Your soul goes out of your body for a moment, until you open your eyes again, gasping and he looks at you with a satisfied look.

"And that's just the beginning baby, you still have to come on my cock." He comments, as with a lightning-fast gesture he unbuckles his underpants and pulls down his panties, just enough to make his member come out. You remain mute staring at his cock for a moment, noting its size: it wasn't the first time you had fucked someone, but none of the guys could match Remus, that was for sure.

"See anything you like baby?" He asks you sarcastically, as you feel your pussy getting even wetter than it already is.

"Maybe, but you still have a promise to keep so you'd better get to work." You retort, before being silenced by his lips. With his hands he directs his cock toward your entrance, then puts it all the way inside you without warning, leaving you breathless with your back pressed against the door. You feel him inside you in places you didn't even think he could reach, as he stays still to give you a minimum of time to adjust to his size.

"Oh baby, don't worry, I'm a man of my word. You will walk out of here that I will have branded you with my cum from inside, so that everyone will know for sure that you are mine." He whispers in your ear before starting to move. He comes almost completely out of you, leaving only the tip in, then comes back in with a dry, sure thump a couple of times, to start moving faster and faster and harder. Part of you wonders if he really means what he said about coming inside you to place his ownership over you, and at the very thought you can't help but tighten the walls of your pussy around him.

"Do you like the idea? Of having my cum inside you dripping down your thighs, letting everyone know you're mine?" He says and you can't help but gasp, the pleasure clouding your mind. "Shit, I can already picture you all proud and strutting walking down the school hallways, no panties on, while everyone stares at you and in your lap all my cum. Who knows maybe I could even get you pregnant." Remus continues, as you moan his name louder and louder, hearing what he says. The young wolf can swear that by now the beast inside him has become uncontainable, the only thing he can think about is coming inside you and making sure you have her pups, to bite you and let everyone know you are uniquely hers, in such an animal way that he is surprised you are not fucking in the woods, just like two wild creatures, since you have now become that: pleasure-seeking animals to survive.

"Remus, come inside me. I'm close to coming again, please." You beg him, after a few minutes have passed in silence, too busy fucking each other to talk.

"First you baby then I will make sure you can have my puppies, however, first you have to squeeze that beautiful pussy you have around my cock. Come for me baby."

And at those words you can't help but come one more time. Your head becomes light, as if floating, as your vision darkens. Your pussy squeezes hard and in rhythm with Remus's cock, which stimulated by your orgasm goes to meet his, letting all his seed pour into you in long, powerful spurts.

You remain still and connected for a few minutes before Remus begins to laugh. You look at him confused and tired, ready for yet another joke from him at you and even more personal teasing after such an intimate moment, when he leaves you a light kiss on your cheek and asks, "Do you really think I would ever be able to hate you, I was convinced you couldn't stand even the sight of me."

Smile in turn as you look at him, before you also speak.

"Well apparently neither of them is as smart in the end as they think they are I would say."

Bonus (I think I definitely have a problem with bonuses)

Sirius looks at his friend, sitting next to him on the settee, as he sees you re-enter holding Remus's hand at the party, now decidedly calmer than an hour and a half ago, when both of you had left without a trace and without telling anyone where you were going. The two of you approach the liquor table, laughing and joking as you look into each other's eyes, with a smile that says a lot about your nocturnal activities in the hallways, though only to those who are able to pick up on the signs.

Sirius and James seeing that exchange look at each other and jumping to their feet scream in unison:

"He did it!" Turning many loving couples around, including their friend and you, watching them confusedly do a dance of joy between bodies of boys asleep from exhaustion and alcohol, not knowing that this night would be the end of you, as they would forever use it against you as an argument in every speech to prove that two such smart people can be, by far, the dumbest.

TAGLIST

@digitalhearts @yomomsgf @samanddeansannoyingsis @minkiles @forsiriussake @thedogisontopofyhecarmom @estrellademiel @ash04w3 @shitidksstuff @ohemgeewhat @mysteriouslydeafeningwerewolf @kidsaproblem @that1nerd20 @the-house-of-rose-and-ember @hi-my-name-is-riley @morganalatina21 @nightfiress @shodowbane09 @theyluvtrinity21 @harleycao @starsval @shhdontlookk @titinkaaa @sapphire118 @xbugsyx @newtdumbledoorstarksoot @holb32 @afcnds @deanwinchestersgirl87 @aunicornmademedoit @AlohaStitch0626 @biahz1

[grimeerie]

CELLBIT'S GAME,ENIGMA OF FEAR HAS JUST LANCHED THE FREE DEMO!

ENIGMA OF FEAR'S DEMO HAS JUST ARRIVED ON STEAM! It's available both in English and Spanish! The full game will be coming out 28 of November,so i'll be talking a little about the game on this post (if any non-Ordem fan could reblog this and help spread the word,i would deeply appreciate it! Please help these brazilian projects become more known!!!!) SOME DISCLAIMERS HERE!!! : The demo is still facing a lot of bugs and other optimization issues,however Cellbit and Dumativa have confirmed they're working to fix all these issues,and they also listen to fan feedback in their discord! WARNINGS!!: There are moments with flashing white lights later in game,as well as sudden changing camera angles.

So you may be wondering: "Do i need to watch Ordem Paranormal in order to play this game?" and the answer is : No! Cellbit confirmed this game can be enjoyed even if you never watched Ordem! There will be many dialogues explaining the world and characters,especially by Samuel and Agatha! There may be a few references then and there,but that will not take your enjoyment or prevent you from understanding the story! Though if anyone does not know what Ordem Paranormal,here's a brief explanation:

What is Ordem Paranormal?

Ordem Paranormal is a survival horror,mystery TTRPG,created by youtuber/streamer Cellbit,the main campaign takes place in Brazil,where the organization Ordo Realitas help fight the threat of the Paranormal on our world.It's first season was livestreamed on 29 of February,2020,and now the main campaign has 4 seasons,and 3 spin-offs! Those who follow the QSMP may know the Quarentena spinoff,where some QSMP youtubers/streamers joined as players!

For those non-brazilians who wish to get into Ordem,the first and second season are fully translated,and as of now, the EP 6 and EP 7 of the third season,Desconjuração has come out! (Everyone please give a big warm thanks to our dear team Equipe T for their wonderful translations! They've worked very hard to help bring Ordem to outside knowledge!) NOW with that done,let's talk about the game!

What is Enigma of Fear?

Enigma of Fear is a mystery and investigation horror game,mixing 3D graphics and pixel art,developed by Dumativa and Cellbit.

You play as Mia,a paranormal detective searching for her missing father Sir Verissimo,the leader of the Ordo Realitas,a secret organization of paranormal investigators.

After dissapearing leaving only a letter,you find a lead to where he went,and along with your precious dog buddy Lupi,and other agents Agatha and Samuel,you all go to the Perimeter,a place that doesn't exist. In this game you will be able to :

1 - Explore a open-world map,with five different regions

2 - Solve many challenging mysteries with a variety of enigmas involving immersive documents,recorders,special locks with unique logic,echos of the past,etc.

3-An immersive inspection and investigation system that will make you feel like a real detective analyzing complex clues to tie together the secrets of the story! 4-Interact with NPCs: Talk to Samuel and Agatha on saferoom's radios to discover clues and information! You can also hug Lupi while in a saferoom! Isn't that just sweet? ❤️

Hope i managed to interest you to give this beauty a chance! Remember,the God of Fear is watching.

[yzeltia]

FFXIVwrite2024 18. Hackneyed

Featuring: @scrollsfromarebornrealm Weird West AU Characters: Themis, Rrahnald Chai (U'rahn Nuhn), Fordola Lupis Expansion: Endwalker Rating: T Summary: Rrahn arrives at the total honesty part of his relationship well before Themis. Notes:

“In the same fleeting moment thou shall live, die, and know.”

Themis closed his tome and looked out into the sparse congregation only having a handful of the elder townsfolk in attendance along with Claudien Hephaistos in front nodding reverently along and Rrahn staring dreamily at him with Fordola beside him at the back. He felt the side of his mouth twitch, wanting to smile; however, kept his even composure. “Now, let us bow our heads and give thanks to the Mother and Father,” he said, closing his eyes and lowering his head.

The room fell into quiet murmurs and shifting, many going to their knees, Fordola among them. Rrahn squirmed a bit then joined his friend, settling beside her before leaning over. “What are you wishing for?”

“Wish!? What do you mean-,” Fordola balked before shaking her head and pushing Rrah’s head to face downward, “I’m wishing for you to have some damn sense. Be quiet and sit still if you’re not going to pray.”

“Okay,” Rrahn mumbled, putting his hands together to stare at the floor. “Dear Zodiark and Hydaelyn. It’s me, Rrahn. Please take good care of my family and friends. Also, I would really like a new repeating muzzleloader. Thank you.”

Fordola scoffed then jabbed him in the side before she got back up into her seat. Themis seeing the congregation start to rise, leaned over his pulpit. “Go forth and walk in the light of the Mother and be protected by the shadows of the Father. I hope to see you all this coming sabbath.”

People began to make their way out of their rows, some coming up to shake Themis’s hands and others taking their leave to their homes until only Rrahn remained, smiling at him in his earnest way. He felt his heart flutter, a feeling he’d not felt since he was, well Rrahn’s age. Realizing this, the feeling turned into guilt, having yet to approach the subject of his past with his budding paramour.

Wandering down the aisle, he moved to sit next to Rrahn, the other patiently waiting for him. His hand gently laid over the other’s giving it a small squeeze as he looked up at the dark blue tapestries with white and violet inlay. “How did you like the sermon?”

“Ah, well. It was okay,” Rrahn said, squeezing Themis’s hand back as he sat up to free his tail to wrap about the other’s waist.

Themis blinked, surprised at the other’s lukewarm reception compared to his usual clumsy attempts at flattery. “Only okay? Did you find something wanting?”

“Well. It’s kinda dark and dreary in here and you’re talking about hope and stuff. The townsfolk say it’s kinda spooky here so if you open up a few windows and let the light in. Oh! And then I’d be able to see your handsome face more,” Rrahn explained, scooting his thigh against Themis’s.

“Well, there’s a certain-” Themis started before Rrahn perked up.

“Oh! And you need better songs. They’re all so sad,” Rrahn continued.

“The, ancient, sacred hymns?”

“Yeah Yeah! Those are real downers! You gotta get everyone super excited to be here! Maybe get a whole chorus that can rile up the crowd for you! Put a spin on them!”

Themis stared quietly at Rrahn as he looked eagerly back at him. “You don’t perhaps think the tonality is to be soothed by the Mother’s love and the Father’s sacrifice?” he asked.

“Yeah, but you can be excited about those things too, right?”

A sigh escaped Themis, conflicted as to whether he should feel a bit insulted by the other’s criticism of his life’s passion or happy the other felt close enough to him that he could be so honest with him. The latter was winning out, though that didn’t come with the pangs of guilt.

“Ah. So um…we’re all alone now and more modestly dressed. Do you think we could maybe exchange a few smoochies,” Rrahn asked, waggling his eyebrows as he drew. 

Themis recoiled, standing up while untangling the tail around him.

Rrahn fell forward, catching himself in the pew before looking up at Themis as he held himself. What’s wrrrong?”

 “I think you might benefit from the chapel’s intended use instead. Quiet, self-reflection,” Themis said before moving to start blowing dark flamed candles around the room.

“There’s no mirrors in here though,” Rrahn said, watching Themis pause, hang his head, then return to what he was doing.

[the-asylum-show]

AWOOOOOGA.. THAT ORPHEUS SPRITE IS.. 😘

I KNOW WHAT U ARE… CAN YOU BE NORMAL. FOR 1 SECOND!!!! (/lh/t/j)

- Lupi

[dhampiravidi]

Lupi qui possit mutare

Jayn woke up and tossed the covers off of her, feeling a little sweaty due to the dream she'd just had. She glanced over at the digital clock, which told her that it was still sometime in the middle of the night. With a sigh, the daughter of Aquilon decided to get up. She did her usual routine, then packed a decent backpack with supplies. It was much easier to do all of that from the New Rome convenience store (open 24 hours!) than to try and haggle for things at individual prices elsewhere. Within a half hour, she was ready for her quest. She just needed to find her partner.

The god of healing, music, and wolves walked into the small clearing where the werewolf was toasting marshmallows. He didn't like being in Camp Jupiter. The Romans had accepted Apollo into their pantheon, but they'd never adopted him. So he wouldn't be long--not as long as he'd been in a certain person's dreams. "Ave [Hail], Caspian," he said, smiling despite himself, "How are the marshmallows coming out?" Apollo came into the firelight, revealing that he was in his usual form of a handsome blond in his twenties. The only "Roman" feature he wore was a purple camp t-shirt.

@luposcainus

[stringilamiamano]

Mi hanno buttato in mezzo ai lupi e n so asciut t sfriggiat

perché ci sta un solo alfa

[fictional-character-whore]

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY - Lydia Lupis had lived a terrible 14 years of life. She went to a school full of drug dealing thieves and gangs, lived in a shitty neighbourhood, had parents that didn't even give a shit about her to come home and a brother that treated her like absolute trash. The only half decent thing in her life was a stupid camp - Camp Rim of the World. Her brother Conrad gad a job there but instead of actually doing it, he just snogged any girl he could find, leaving Lydia to do his job for him. Lydia was never that much of a social person and usually spent most of her time at the camp either working or in her own cabin reading. Lydia expected these school holidays to be the same as every other, but what she didn't know was that these holidays were going to change her life. Aliens were taking over planet earth and after following three kids into the woods and meeting a strange boy, the fate of the world somehow rest in their hands. With her new found friends will they be able to save the world before humanity becomes extinct and will a curtain strange boy steal Lydia's heart or smash it into a million pieces?

WARNINGS - i wrote this story years ago so i can’t remember exactly what’s in this but let me know if i miss anything! swearing, mentions of abuse, mentions of parental neglect, mild violence and threatenings, use of weapons, blood?, mega freaking cringe read at your own risk lol

"Put down the gun Grizzly Queen and surrender yourself! If you do that, than we might let you live!"

The others held their hands up above their heads in surrender, dropping their helmets to the ground and as they had turned around to see who was behind them. When they realised that is was a military captain that had threatened my life, they stood in complete and utter shock.

"Woah, woah, woah! You can't kill her!" Dariush shouted bewildered.

"Yes we can kid. This young lady here is one of the most wanted gang leaders of LA," The military captain told him.

Shit, I guess the cat's out of the bag now.

The military and the FBI had been looking for me, my gang and my enemy gangs for years. A few years ago before I had even gotten into high school, the FBI had gotten intel from someone that my school was run by gangs and drug dealers and they've been searching for us for years. But they were all pretty trash at their jobs and we were much smarter than them so we managed to stay hidden and they've never found us. Well not until now at least.

They were mainly after the gang leaders but we were all very protective of our leaders. So every time they got a lead on our whereabouts or who our leader was, we made sure that when they came hunting for them, we would make sure that they would never catch them. We gave them false leads, we moved around every few day, never staying at one place for too long, we hid our leaders or chose new temporary ones, we even killed the soldiers and FBI agents if it came down to it even if we didn't want to. But we made sure that our leaders were safe and never in serious danger of our enemies, but right now didn't look too promising.

"That doesn't mean you can kill her!" Gabriel shouted.

"Guys just shut up. You're making it worse," I whispered to them, "let me handle this."

I straightened my posture to look taller and more powerful, "Do you really think that I'm just going to surrender myself to you this easily?!" I shouted to the captain with a smirk.

"I know you will," he stated confidently, "because if you won't, I don't think you want your little gang friends to see a bullet go through their leader's head," he threatened.

"Wait, we're no-" Dariush started but I silenced him, "Just go with it," I whispered to him.

"What makes you think I care about these kids?" I said giving him my full attention, "They aren't a part of my gang, I don't give two shits if they get eaten by aliens or not," I heard the others gasp at my words.

I didn't mean what I said but it was the only way to get them safe, but it hurt to know that the others were looking at me like they were, thinking that I had just betrayed and used them so I could stay alive. But this is how it needed to be if I was going to get us all out of this alive.

"Is that so?" the captain asked me and after a moment of consideration he signalled for the others to come over to their side, "Get over here kids. She's dangerous."

"That's an understatement," I said.

The others all walked over to the military soldiers, giving me sad and betrayed glances as they walked past me, but I just ignored them because if they were soft enough they would forgive me when I explain the situation to them later.

Once the others were put on a bus away from any harm, the real stuff started, "So are we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?" I asked the military soldiers.

"You will surrender yourself and come with us to be executed," The military captain replied.

I sighed, "Guess it's the hard way."

I pulled the trigger and shot the captain, ducking as the military soldiers started shooting at me. I ran forward and shot two soldiers to my right while grabbing another gun from my arm holster and shooting three on my left. I rolled forward towards a large pile of a broken building that had fallen onto the street and ducked down behind it, I quickly grabbed a grenade from my bag and threw it over at the soldiers, hearing their cries to take cover as it exploded and killed presumably four soldiers. I then stood up and shot another seven soldiers, ran on top of the broken building and jumped off doing a back flip and shooting five soldiers and reloading both my guns before landing back on the ground.

"Come and get me mother fuckers!" I screamed at them and ran down a street to my right, hearing their boots slam on the concrete as they ran and the sound of their guns endlessly shooting at me. I turned down another street to my right and ran into a levelled car park. As I run up levels I occasionally shoot at the soldiers and duck behind cars for cover of speeding bullets. When I reach the third level I leaned over the railing and shot a few soldiers, almost getting shot in the process. I ran up another five levels, sweat ran down my entire body and the pain in my stomach was worsening with every step I took but pure willpower was the only thing keeping myself moving.

When I reached the top level of the car park I heard more explosions, the sound of screeching aliens as they ran around killing soldiers that were shooting desperately to try and save themselves from getting killed. I stopped and frantically looked out over the edge of the building to try and find the others location. When I finally spotted them I saw that they were running out of the bus that had been basically blown up and were frantically running around, trying to get away from the chaos and evil aliens.

"Shit," I swore and turned around when I heard the soldiers boots run up the ramp to my current car park level.

I looked out over the edge again and saw an alien jet flying downwards towards the street below me. It gave me an idea.

I quickly ran to the other side of the car park level and sprinted back to the edge, the soldiers shooting at me while doing so as they emerged from the level below. I got to the edge and jumped as far as I could screaming, "Holy Fuck!"

The alien jet was inches from me and as I fell my feet landed on the jet's wing and I quickly sprinted the rest of the length to the other wing as fast as I could, hoping that I didn't get myself killed. When I reached the end of the jet's wing I jumped crashing into a glass window of another building. I landed and did a commando roll onto the floor before getting to my feet and running back to the window looking at the soldiers that were standing at the edge of the car park building across from me. They stood there in awestruck shock at what I had done and as I panted heavily catching my breath, I put both hands up towards them, pointing the finger on both hands and yelling, "You'll never catch me you fucking cunts!"

I saw the soldiers copy my gesture and run back into the car park to run down and help their fellow soldiers in the fight. I then looked down at the street and saw that the others were turning down into an alleyway a few buildings down from me, heading away from the battle. They wouldn't get far before I caught up to them so I turned and ran further into the building and looked for some stairs to climb down. I got to a stairwell and jumped over the railings and sprinted down steps, getting closer and closer to the ground level going as fast as I could to get to them as quickly as I could. When I reached the last level I slammed open the building doors and continued to run towards the others on the street.

My head was aching, my lungs were burning, my stomach was in utter agony, and adrenaline was pumping though my veins. My legs were moving as fast as they could, weaving through trash on the streets and alleyways, my arms were swinging as I ran, occasionally shooting at stray soldiers or aliens. Even with my body going into exhaustion, my mind stayed wide awake, processing the situation and staying fully alert to my surroundings, but there was only one thought that ran through my head.

Find them.

I knew that I would be able to find them, quite easily in fact, but I was also scared that I wouldn't. I had to find them, because if I didn't, than my mind would cripple up and by heart would deflate. They were the closest thing I had to actually friends and I couldn't let that go. I just couldn't. Even though I said those things before, I didn't mean it, I just needed to get them to safety, and even though I fight with them all the time, they were petty fights that didn't even matter, but that's what you do with the people you're friends with right? You get along with each other and you fight with each other, but you always forgive each other because in the end you all know that you can't bare to stay mad at them. It's like that saying some people say, 'Forgive and Forget.'

Forgive and forget.

God, I hope they do because if they don't, I have no idea what I'll do.

As I ran past the alleyway that the others had gone into I could hear muffled shouts and screams from another alley further down the street. I was close.

I began to run even faster, making all the physical and mental feelings inside me grow to the extent were I was about to pass out, but I willed myself to keep going, because these kids were the only chance of happiness that I could possibly have and if I didn't have them, than I didn't have a chance at happiness.

I turned down the alleyway and heard their screaming get louder and clearer, and when I came out the other side I saw them running into another alleyway on the other side of the road. With the last of my energy I sprinted over to the alleyway and ran through it just as they were exiting it.

Just as I was about to call out to them and stop but I tripped on a broken piece of concrete that I hadn't seen, and stumbled past them, losing my balance and falling face first onto the road, making the others scream in fright at my sudden appearance.

"Lydia!" They all yell in unison once they realise that it was me.

Groaning I quickly get up and turn to face them, "Guys we need to keep moving, they're gonna catch us if we stop," I turn to start running again but stopped when Alex spoke.

"Why should we listen to you?"

"What?" I ask, already knowing where this is going.

"You said that you didn't care about us, so why should we listen to you?" Alex said.

"Look guys I'll explain everything once we get further away from here- just- please. Come on," I said begging them to wait until we were safe to stop and talk.

"You promise to tell us?" Alex said.

"I promise," You say looking straight into his eyes.

After a moment of consideration, they all start running towards me. I let out a relieved sigh and started running again, pain coursing through my entire body, but still forcing myself to keep on moving. As we all ran in a fear filled silence, thoughts and emotions were taking over my mind, making fear and nervousness fill my insides creating a nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach.

How the fuck was I going to tell them about what happened back there without revealing my entire life to them?! This was fucking ridiculous! I should have just run off without them when I had the fucking chance! But no, my brain and heart are ganging up on me with my emotions, making me feel stupid feelings that I never wanted, making everything more difficult that it needed to be.

Maybe I should have just let that military prick shoot me. If they shot me than they wouldn't have gotten any information about my gang because I'd be dead, but if I did die than the others would have been scarred for life, and I didn't want that to happen to them. But maybe it was because deep down I had this feeling that surfaced to my chest every now and then, that dug away at my chest, leaving a massive hole that had nothing to fill it with other than emotions and feelings. Feelings that made me want to end it all because throughout my childhood it has been growing because there hasn't been anything good about my life. The only thing in my life has been fear, sadness, pain, violence, responsibility and emptiness. Well there hasn't been anything else until the last few hours of my life.

These kids had all but managed to break down thousands of my walls that had been built throughout years and years of practice. I don't even understand how they managed to do it but they did, and I was partially greatful for it.

>*< >*< >*< Time Skip >*< >*< >*<

We had been running for what seemed like hours before we stopped. We had run down streets, highways, alleyways, dirt roads and now we were standing on a road next to a train yard and some old buildings.

It had gotten dark quickly, the sky was tinted pink and purple from the orange and yellows that the aliens had previously poisoned the sky with. From the position of the sun I would guess that was maybe five o'clock or something, so we didn't have much time before it became completely dark and I didn't want to wait around to see what kind of horrid alien creatures were waiting for us.

As we stopped in the middle of the deserted road and breathed heavily to gain back our breath that we had lost, we finally started talking.

"Oh shit!" Dariush said completely out of breath, "I told you that was a stupid idea. You idiots almost got me killed! I don't even want to be at summer camp. I should be in Cabo taking jelly shots from someone's ass cheeks!"

"Yeah, well at least you had somewhere else to go instead that stupid camp," I said in between breaths.

"What? You homeless or something?" Dariush asks me.

"Ha! I fucking wish," I say shutting him up.

"What do you think these things are after?" ZhenZhen asked the group.

"Food maybe," Alex responded, "It's possible their planet when dry and came to raid ours."

"What gives you that idea?" Dariush asks with a little less breathing in between each word.

"Nothing," Alex said, "It's the most common invasion movie plot."

"Maybe they're here to mind mates," ZhenZhen guessed, "That would explain the erotic rendezvous with Dariush earlier."

"If that's the case, Dariush ain't a single virgin anymore," I said slowly lowering myself to the ground and laying my exhausted body down on the cold road.

"First of all, I had sex before I told you guys that. And second, we do not speak of that incident," Dariush said to me.

"Whatever," I said closing my eyes and focused on my breathing and pain filled body.

"Let's just head North okay? To the desert," Dariush said, "get as far away from those things as we can get, alright?"

"There is no away from those things," ZhenZhen said.

"Besides, we'd be giving up humanities only hope at not going to extinction if we run away," I said opening my eyes again and looking up at Dariush, "Do you really want us to go extinct because you were too much of a coward to save us Dariush?"

Dariush didn't answer, he just looked down at his dirt shoes in shame, mumbling something to himself.

"Lydia and ZhenZhen are right," Alex said, "the only way we are going to survive is if we get this key to Dr Fielding.. It's what that soldier was gonna do."

"He died," Dariush stated, "And not just because Lydia shot him, but because an alien ship blew him up!"

"In my defense, he was going to kill me if I didn't kill him first," I said.

"Well he died anyway!" Dariush shouted at me but I was too tired to even give a fuck to glare at him, "Okay, look. If a bunch of badass marines can't get that key forty feet away without getting deep fried, what makes you think that we can get it forty miles?"

"We have to," Alex said standing up straight.

"What?" Dariush murmured as he turned to face Alex.

"It's on us now," Alex said, letting a short silence fill the air.

"Well, we're not going anywhere until we get some food," ZhenZhen said, "maybe even some sleep if we can."

"And I really need to stitch up my side again and probably do something with my face," I say gesturing to the half of my face that had been left on the road back in the city.

"Alright, alright fine," Dariush said and looked over to Gabriel, "What's up with Chico?"

We all suddenly looked over at Gabriel, only just realising that he hadn't spoken a single word throughout the whole conversation. I looked up at him and my heart almost broke in two at the sight I saw.

He was silently crying, his eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks were flushed and stained with tear tracks. He was looking out at the buildings further from the train yard with sadness and longing in his eyes and I couldn't help but wonder if this place had something to do with all the lies he's told us.

I sat up and touched his leg getting his attention, "Hey, what's wrong?"

He looked out over the buildings again and sniffled, "This is my street," He said, emotion lacing his voice.

"Great!" Alex yelled happily relieved, but not quite understanding that Gabriel was upset about something, "Can we go in your house?"

"It's my house but.." He sniffles again and sighs sadly and shaking his head slightly, "it's not my home... I haven't been totally honest with you guys..."

Everyone was looking at him now with sadness, compassion and confusion in their eyes as they waited for him to elaborate on the information that he just told them. Being the heartless monster I was, I personally was kind of excited because I'm hoping that he's gonna spill the beans on why he's told us so many lies, but I also was very concerned and worried about what I was going to hear next.

"I was in the mountains because.. I was in juvie.. and I escaped," he said looking at all of us, "So even if my mum is here.. she's not gonna wanna see me."

My heart instantly broke at his words and as we all fell silent, I shakily stood up and wrapped my arms around him, embracing him in a comforting hug. He didn't react instantly but after a second he slowly placed his arms around my waste and quietly cried into my shoulder. I rubbed gentle soothing circles into his back, trying as hard as I could to comfort him but probably failing miserably because when it comes to emotions I wasn't very good with them.

But it must have been working because he started to calm down. When he pulled away I gave him a small smile and rubbed his arm a little more. He smiled back a little and wiped the tears off his face.

"Come on man," Dariush said as ZhenZhen came and put a hand on his back and led him forward, which for some reason made anger burn inside me, but I brushed it off and followed them.

I walked behind the others as they all comforted Gabriel, observing and taking in our surroundings, looking for any signs of aliens, military soldiers or any other kind of dangerous threat. I was suddenly brought out of my observations when I heard the group laugh, I frowned and walked a little slower while crossing my arms, trying my best to block out the emotions rising inside of me. But then I saw something that really pissed me off.

ZhenZhen still had her hand on Gabriel's back.

My blood began to boil with anger and I scowled at the sight, clenching my jaw and curling my hands into tight fists. Why the fuck is she still touching him?! He doesn't need to be touched by her! Only I should be able to touch him!

I halted to a stop as I processed what my brain had just said to me. What the actual fuck is wrong with me?! Why would I think something like that! and more importantly, why the fuck am I getting angry at something so fucking stupid and pathetic as ZhenZhen being a good friend to Gabriel?! I mean it was ZhenZhen and she legit had her hand on his back for comfort, honestly, what the actual fuck is wrong with me?!

Before I could slap myself in the face for being a stupid idiot someone called out my name, "Lydia!"

I snapped my head upwards and saw that the others had stopped a few metres away and were calling out to me.

"You okay?" Dariush asked me.

I looked over at him and faked a smile, "Just peachy!" I say and start walking again.

As we all started walking again, I couldn't help but notice that ZhenZhen still had her fucking hand on Gabriel's back and I started mumbling curses and insults about ZhenZhen touching Gabriel and how I was being a stupid bitch.

We walked for another ten minutes and Gabriel led us through some old buildings and towards a large motel like building. It had a thick white concrete walls and was in the shape of a square and when we walked though the open gateway there was a large open grassed area with clothes lines lining a small and uneven brick pathway that went from one side of the clearing to the other. Each clothes line had white or pastel coloured bed sheets hanging on every single row, blowing in the windy air.

When we got a quarter of the way onto the pathway, a bright light shone down on us and the sound of an aircraft flew high in the sky above us. We all panicked and scrambled to hide under the white bed sheets. Once the aircraft had gone a safe distance away from us we quickly gathered back onto the pathway and panicked more.

"What was that?!" ZhenZhen shouted.

"Run!" Alex screamed.

"Where do we go?!" Dariush yelled.

"Follow me!" Gabriel shouted to us and we all ran after him down the rest of the brick path.

We ran along the edge of the buildings and running to one of the doors on the ground level. Gabriel opened the door to reveal a small apartment with furniture and rubbish thrown everywhere.

"Man we need to get my man Jacobi up in here," Dariush said when everyone had come inside.

"It's looters," Gabriel and I said in unison but I didn't bother looking back at him, I was too busy scanning the apartment.

I walked slowly around the apartment, taking in every detail. There was a small round table with four chairs and a small glass bowl of fruit sitting on top of it positioned to the left of the door, with a bookshelf full of ornaments, plants, photo frames and books sitting on its shelves against the wall to the right of the door. There were picture frames of paintings and photos hung up everywhere on all the walls, a small lounge room with a two seater couch with floral patterns covering the surface that sat against the left wall on there furthest side of an open doorway, and a matching recliner that had been tipped backward by the looters on the opposite wall. There was a small wooden coffee table in front of the couch with an empty bowl sitting on top and a brick fireplace sitting on the opposite wall facing the couch. There were plants in pots scattered around the rooms on stands and besides from all the rubbish and chaos that the looters had caused, it was a nice place. Small and comfortable, just how I liked.

"Alright, lets find something to eat," Dariush said and walked into the room on the left which was the kitchen, mumbling expensive sounding foods to himself as he raided the cupboards.

ZhenZhen went walking through a door on the right wall which I assumed was the bedrooms and maybe a bathroom. Alex and Gabriel stood in the main room looking around while I walked over to a window that was behind the small table near the door. I pulled aside the ripped curtains a looked out at the dark sky and grassed area, scanning for any signs of the aliens or military, only looking back to the others when Dariush came out of the kitchen with his arms full of food.

"Lets eat bitches," Dariush said.

They went to the middle of the main room and cleared away some of the rubbish on the floor so that they could sit down and eat. They sat in a circle, ZhenZhen, Alex, Dariush, and Gabriel, I sat at the table by the window with my medical box out, stitching up my side.

"You should come sit down here with us Lydia," Alex said to me, braking my concentration and accidentally making me stab myself with the needle.

I hissed and pulled out the needle, looking back to Alex, "I'll come over when I finish fixing my destroyed body," I smiled and went back to stitching up my wound. The others sighed and continued to eat.

It turns out that the technique of using just one long piece of suture to stitch up my wound was a shit idea. The knots had broken and it had slid through my skin while I was running, so I had to take it out and start all over again, but this time I was more exhausted, weak and dizzy from the major amount of blood I've lost, so I had to concentrate really hard to get it right.

I managed to get seven stitches in my wound before putting the bandages on and when I put away all the stuff for my stomach I grabbed out a few clean wipes and some band aids and bandages, but the only thing that I didn't have was a mirror.

I turned back to the group who were eating and talking quietly to each other and was about to ask Gabriel if he had a mirror when another aircraft flew over the building, sending a bright light through the window and onto me. I quickly ducked under the table to try and hide from the light. After a few more seconds the aircraft and it's search light had disappeared, and I came back out from under the table to see the others looking at me.

"Uhh.. Gabriel, do you have a mirror that I could use to fix my face," I say awkwardly.

"Yeah.. there's one in the bathroom. Go through the kitchen and there's a door next to the fridge," He said and took a bite of a sandwich.

"Thanks," I then follow his instructions and head into the kitchen, walked to the door and opened it to see a very small bathroom. There was a small shower in the furthest right corner and a sink and mirror opposite it, there was also another door next to the shower which was probably where the toilet was.

I closed the door and walked over in front of the sink and looked into the mirror at myself. Damn...

I look like shit.

My face was a ghostly pale white with sweat still running down my face, I had dark rings under my eyes and there was dust and dirt covering my whole face. My hair was a knotty mess and my right cheek and nose, was covered in red blood. My whole cheek and the top of my nose had a large chunk of flesh scrapped away and there were tiny rocks scattered within my cheek. The blood was slowly dripping down my face and down my neck where I saw that my clothes were covered in dust again.

"Well shit..." I mumbled to myself.

There wasn't much that I could do to my face accept clean it, get all the rocks out and maybe try and put a bandage on it but looking at the size of it I don't think I have a bandage big enough to cover the whole thing.

I sighed and grabbed a wipe and gently began dabbing at my tender face, wiping away the blood and dirt from the exposed flesh. Once I had wiped away most of the blood and dirt from my face I examined my skin. There were still tiny rocks wedged into the scrapped flesh and the scrape on my cheek was mainly on my lower cheek bone, it was way too big to put a bandage on but I could fit a band aid on my nose. I didn't bring any tweezers so I opened a small draw that I noticed was attached to the bottom of the sink and rummaged through its contents to try and find some, just when I was about to give up I saw a glint of silver metal at the very back of the draw and pulled out a small pair of tweezers. I then looked back at myself in the mirror and began carefully pulling the rocks out of my face. When I finished I grabbed a band aid from the supplies that I brought with me to the bathroom and carefully placed it on my nose.

Looking back at myself in the mirror I stared at myself. I was such an ugly person, an ugly looking person with an ugly personality. How did I let everything get this far? Why did I not just run away from my family when I had the chance to? I could have given myself a chance at a better childhood instead of becoming an outlawed gang leader and murderer. I could have lived a happier life with no horrible feelings inside me, eating away at my insides. I could have been a better person.

But I'm not, and I have to deal with the choices I've made and just get through this stage of my life until I either get killed or kill myself, because either option seemed to be a likely possibility right now.

I sighed and grabbed all my stuff, walked out of the bathroom. When I walked into the kitchen I could hear a whispered conversation between the others and being the curious cat that I am I stopped at the kitchen door way and listened to their conversation.

"If you say that I like her one more time I swear to god I will stab you in the throat!" Gabriel whisper shouted to someone in the group, most likely Dariush.

"You gonna stab me with the knife that your crush gave you, are you?" Dariush whispered.

"I don't have a crush on her!" Gabriel whisper shouted.

"Prove it then," Alex whispered.

"Prove what?" Gabriel whispered.

"That you don't like her," Alex whispered.

"And how do you want me to do that?" Gabriel asked.

"The next time she gets upset or something, don't comfort her," Dariush said.

"Sure, whatever," Gabriel replied.

I smirked, this was going to be fun.

I walked around the corner and went over to the table with the rest of my stuff still on it, pretending that I hadn't heard their conversation. I put the medical stuff back into the box and then but the box back into my bag. Just to be a teasing bitch, I then grabbed my guns that I had used earlier today from the holsters and reloaded them, placing them back to the holsters once I finished. I then turned around and walked over to the group who were eating in silence and side glancing at me every time they thought I wasn't looking.

I sat down in between Gabriel and ZhenZhen, feeling Gabriel tense up at my movements. I sat cross legged and looked down at the food that was on the floor. There was bread, peanut butter, butter, jam, mustard and a few other things that they used to make sandwiches. I grabbed to slices of bread and a butter knife, sticking it into the butter and spreading it on the bread, then sticking it into the peanut butter and spreading it on both slices before putting them together to make a peanut better sandwich. I took a large bite out of it and looked up at the others.

"So.. what's the tea?" I ask them.

They all look around at each other and start giggling. I laugh with them and take another bite out of my sandwich.

"Hey, how did you even end up in jail?" Dariush asked Gabriel, making everyone go quiet and look at Gabriel.

"My dad left.. when I was about ten," he started, "You know, I got a job as a bag boy at a grocery store my mum worked at, to you know.. help her with money. One time she steps away, and I took over the cash register..." He pauses and shakes his head a bit clearly a bit uncomfortable sharing this story, "I was helping a customer, and uh, he started to accuse me of stealing from him.. I guess I gave him the wrong change..." He paused again, seeming to be gathering a bit of courage to tell us the next bit, "I get numbers, like, muddled in my head sometimes, unless I see them written down. But he didn't believe me. And um.. I just... I lost it. So I decked him, and broke his nose. Mum got fired and.. they sent me away. She never came around to visit me once.."

I didn't know how to feel about this. A part of me wanted to feel sympathy for him and comfort him like a normal person would do but there was a bigger part of me, the part that I have grown to be, that made me pity him. I mean sure it was sad but it was nothing compared to what I've been through and I hate how I'm comparing myself to him because I know that it's a selfish but it was just the way I was and how I was taught to be.

So I just looked down and took another bite of my sandwich.

"You can't choose your family," ZhenZhen said, drawing everyone's attention to her, "But you can always make a new one."

I snickered at her words and almost spat out my mouthful of sandwich. The others looked at me like I was a fucking idiot and it just made me laugh even more, "That was the most stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

I started laughing more, holding my wound to lessen the pain that was coursing through me every time I laughed, "It makes no sense! You basically just said the same thing twice!"

"Well forgive me for trying to comfort him," ZhenZhen said crossing her arms clearly offended that I had made fun of her 'words of wisdom'.

"Why don't you tell us about why the military was going to kill you?" Alex said changing the subject.

I froze. I stopped laughing and stared at the ground, my expression turning grim. I looked around at everyone in the group hoping that they would change their minds about asking me about my past.

"Do you really want to know? Because once I tell you, there's a good chance that you'll think I'm worse than the aliens after," I ask them desperately.

"Tell us," ZhenZhen ordered me.

I sighed and threw my sandwich on the ground and looked down at my hands, "I didn't mean to hurt you guys with what I said when I was talking to that military soldier, I just had to get you guys out of the way so you wouldn't get hurt. You see.. That soldier wasn't lieing when he said that I was one of the most wanted gang leaders of LA.. My jacket," I said turning around and showing them the logo, "It's my gang jacket. The Grizzly Ghouls.. and they call me their grizzly queen, so that's why my bike had it painted on the side and the soldier referred to me as the Grizzle Queen... I've been hiding from the military and FBI for months, maybe years now and today was the closest that they've gotten to catching me. When they saw that you guys were with me they thought that you were a part of my gang and they would have killed you if you were so I.. I couldn't bear the thought that you guys would have been killed because of me and my past, so that's why I had to say those things about you.. and I'm sorry," I said looking around at each of their faces waiting for them to speak.

"What about that guy in the police station?" Alex asked me.

"He was.. he was a senior at my high school which is where my gang is from, including two other both equally dangerous gangs. Lou was a disgusting piece of shit that molestered the children at my school. He tricked almost every kid into thinking that he was their friend, getting so close to us that we shared some of the darkest shit with him. But he was never as friendly as he seemed to be... once you were within range of him he targeted you until he got what he wanted. And he did.. every single day... He raped and beat basically every single person at my school, every single day.. and you could always tell who he had done it to.. by they way they walked or their appearances or just by being in their presence. It was horrible... and when I was new to school, he got me too. I was his friend for maybe a month or two before... before he did it... One day after a gang trial that all the newbies have to do.. I was walking out of the school gates when he came up behind me and- and got me to follow him back into the school... He took me to the boys locker rooms and pushed me up against the lockers.. trapping me... An-and that when he raped me," tears started to fall down my face and I looked down at my hands that had curled into fists.

I sniffed, wiping away the tears from my face, "That piece of shit got what he deserved. And when I beat and eventually killed that motherfucker in that police station, it felt good to finally get revenge on him, and not just for me but for all the kids he raped and beat and killed... I don't regret it at all..."

When no one made an sign of moving or speaking I stood up and walked over to the door, "I'm going to do a perimeter check. I'll be back," I then walked out the door.

I walked out to the grassed area and sat down in the middle of it, laying down on my back and looking up at the stars in the poisoned sky.

"You fucking idiot," I whispered to myself, finally letting myself completely break down.

I sobbed loudly to myself, letting everything out, all the bottled up emotions and feelings that have been eating my from the inside out. All the loneliness and longing, all the pain and distraught, all the sadness and self hatred, all the anger and regret. I let all of it out until they were all gone and the only thing that I could feel was emptiness. And once the tears stopped running down my disgusting and sore face, I lay there with half closed eyelids and stared beyond the sky, deep in thought.

They hate you now. I thought

They're so disgusted by you that they don't give a rats ass that you're in pain.

They don't care about how much you've longed for the compassion and care that you've needed so badly.

You'll wake up in the morning and find that they're all gone.

That they've left you to rot from self hatred.

That they've left you to die.

You should do them a favour and jus-

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps walking across the grass towards me. I turned my head to my left and saw that it was Gabriel. I looked back up to the sky as he came and lay down beside me, also looking up at the sky.

After a moment of silence I couldn't bare it anymore, "Do you ever wish you could just start over again?"

"...sometimes..." He responded, "But even if I did.. it wouldn't change anything..."

"Why?"

"Because everything happens for a reason and even if we went back and tried to change the past, it wouldn't stop what happened, it would just change how it happened... We can't change the past, we can only live in the present."

I sighed as another silence filled the air.

"I don't think I can do this anymore..." I whispered.

"You don't think you can do what anymore?" He asks.

"Live.." I respond as I begin to cry again, "The only thing that has been given to me by living is pain and sadness... I don't want to be sad anymore.. I don't want to feel pain anymore.."

"You don't have to," Gabriel said, "Once this is all over, we can run away. We can run away from everything and live better lives."

"But.. but I can't.." I sob, "my gang needs me.. When I went into hiding, everything when to hell, there was nothing keeping them all at peace... I was the only thing keeping them at peace.. and I left them."

"You were trying to protect yourself. There is nothing wrong with that."

"There is when you're a monster like me."

"You're not a monster Lydia. You're just a girl that's had a crappy childhood. There's nothing wrong with wanting a break from all the chaos and to have a normal life for once."

"I wish i could have gone back and just run away from that place," I sighed.

"Well if you did, I wouldn't have met you" Gabriel spoke again turning his head to look at me.

I turned my head to look at him. His eyes were sparkling in the faintly coloured sky light, his hair a complete mess, the freckles on his face standing out more than usual and his lips looked softer than ever. He was completely perfect, but he wouldn't want someone as broken and ugly as me.

A stray tear fell from my eye and it rolled down my cheek to the grass, "W-what's so special about a broken girl like me?"

He turned on his side, grabbed my left hand and placed his other hand gently on my face, wiping away another tear and putting a strand of my messy hair behind my ear. He looked into my teary eyes and leaned in a little more, "Everything..."

He leaned in further and I met him half way. Our lips connected in a soft, slow kiss, our lips moving perfectly against one another and as I brought my other hand up and cupped his face we both pulled away for air. As we breathed softly, both looking into each others half closed eyes, it suddenly felt as if that hole in my chest was almost gone, like that one kiss had filled it back up and it felt so good because for once in my life I felt something other than sadness or despair.

I felt happiness.

I smiled and leaned again, making this kiss a little more passionate and deep. I put my hand into his hair and rolled onto my side to make it easier for him to kiss me. It felt as if fireworks were going off and the more I deepened the kiss the more they seemed to explode. Just when I was about to deepen the kiss a little more, someone cleared their throat, startling us to a stop.

We both looked over to see that Dariush, ZhenZhen and Alex were all standing at the edge of the grassed area near the apartment door that we were staying in. Dariush and ZhenZhen were smirking at us and Alex looking like he was going to throw up.

"If you love birds are finished snogging on the ground, could you come back inside so we can organise where we are all sleeping?" Dariush said crossing his arms.

"Y-you guys aren't going to make me leave?" I ask with a shaky voice.

"No, you were trying to protect us, I think we can forgive you for that," Alex said.

"Besides Gabriel wouldn't let us kick you out," Dariush added with a smirk making Gabriel's face flush red.

"Thanks," I said smiling and standing up.

I looked down at Gabriel who was blushing like crazy, and held a hand out for him to take. He looked up at me smiling and accepted my hand, I pulled him to his feet and we all walked back inside. Gabriel didn't let go of my hand, but I didn't mind, it felt good to have him around.

When we walked into the bedroom and saw that there was only two single beds, the boys all froze and looked at each other. I rolled my eyes knowing what they are thinking but not wanting to make too big of a deal about it, "I'll sleep on the couch."

I went to turn around and walk back to the couch when the boys started protesting.

"No, no, no, no, no!" they all shouted pushing me back into the room.

"Well, ZhenZhen and I are going to get changed," I say and walk towards a door on the other side of the room, "Sort it out yourselves."

I walk in with ZhenZhen and close the door, immediately hearing chatter between the three of them through the thin walls. I chuckled and looked at ZhenZhen who was changing into some red onesie thing.

"Are you going to get changed?" ZhenZhen asked me and I almost burst out laughing again.

"If you think for one second that I'm going to wear one of those, than you've got another thing coming," I said chuckling.

"So you're just going to sleep in your clothes?"

"I'd much rather sleep in this than that horrid thing."

"Okay, whatever."

I waited for ZhenZhen to get fully changed before asking her about the boys, "So.. do you think we should let at least let one of them share a bed with us or should we be bitches and make them all sleep on the couch or floor?"

"I think we should either share a bed ourselves, let two of them have the other and one of them sleep on the couch, or we can let one of them share a bed with us," she said.

"Hmm, okay. So if we let one of them sleep with us, would you pick Alex?" I ask crossing my arms over my chest, ginning.

"W-what?! N-no! No!" She said flustered.

"Oh okay so you won't mind if he sleeps with me?" I ask raising an eyebrow and ginning wider.

"No! I-I mean, I don't care! He can sleep with whoever he wants. I don't care," She said looking out the small window in the room and also crossing her arms.

"So we agree to let one of them share a bed with us?" I ask her smirking.

"Sure, whatever," She says and I open the door for her to walk out of the room.

When we walk out the boys instantly stop talking and look at us. I smile and pinch ZhenZhen's arm signalling to her that she had to tell them the little plan.

"One of you can sleep in a bed with each of us, the extra can sleep on the couch," she said, jumping over the first bed and climbing onto the second, closing her eyes and waiting for the boys to leave. I smile and sit cross legged at the head of the first bed as the boys race for the other room, frantically talking about what ZhenZhen had just said.

I chuckled as I listened in on their conversation, looking over at ZhenZhen, "They think that you meant that one of them could have sex with us," I said and burst out laughing.

"That's gross," she said not moving from her position on the bed.

"You won't be saying it's gross when you have someone's dick up your ass," I said and laugh harder as she fake gagged.

Suddenly the door opened the boys walked out and when I saw them I started laughing even harder than before, "H-holy Shit! Haha! You guys look utterly ridiculous!"

"Whatever," Dariush mumbled and walked out of the room to the couch.

Alex slowly starts making his way over to the second bed where ZhenZhen lay. I watch him lay down next to her and nervously fidget with the rubix cube in his hands before ZhenZhen grabbed one of his hands and pulled it down to lay on the bed in between them, whispering something that made him smile like a school girl who just got told that her crush liked her back.

Smooth, real smooth.

"Um, can I get in the bed?" Gabriel murmured from next to me.

I turned my head to face him, his face was red and he was rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

I scowled at him and said, "No."

His facial expression turned sad and I just laughed, "Get in."

I moved over to the edge of the bed and let him get comfy on the other side, I then shuffled closer to him, tangling our legs and bringing my back into contact with his broad chest. I grabbed his hands from behind and put them around my waste and to my chest.

"Good night Gabriel," I whispered.

He smiled back and hugged me closer to him, "Good night Lydia."

I then closed my eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 2 - CHAPTER 3 - CHAPTER 4 - CHAPTER 5 - CHAPTER 6 

[idontknowanametouse]

[ID: many drawings of the characters Mia and Lupi from the videogame Enigma do Medo/Enigma of Fear. Mia is a 20 years old woman with white skin, brown eyes and dark ginger hair on a ponytail. She wears dark blue pants, yellow sneakers, a white t-shirt and a black jacket with yellow details in it. Lupi is a half husky half vira-lata dog of medium size, with white and brown fur.

From top left to bottom right, the drawings are:

Mia and Lupi posing for a picture, Lupi is sitting down and Mia is on her knees, she has her hand above Lupi's head doing a peace sign. There is text: "The daughter of Order's leader" "Mia - 22 y/o, an agent of Ordo Realitas" "Lupi - Mia's best friend and fellow agent"

Mia as a child holding Lupi as a puppy on a picture. She wears a large light green t-shirt and her hair is short. There is text: "pic on the back of Verissimo's driver's licence" "(actually in game)".

Mia holding Lupi and hugging him.

Mia is speaking at someone and she looks happy. The person asks: "is Verissimo there?" Mia answers: "No, I finally convinced him to go sleep!!!" There is text: "Her father tends to overwork himself..."

Mia is standing sideways, looking worried and holding a lantern. Lupi is by her side, looking scared. There is text: "Mia and Lupi are searching for Mia's father, Mr. Verissimo, who is currently missing"

Mia is standing behind Lupi with her face not visible while Arthur, another character, pets Lupi. He has white skin, brown beard and short hair and three long scars through his face. He wears a dark overcoat, pants and boots. Both him and Lupi seem very happy. There is text: "Lupi is a very good boy and friendly with other agents" There is text pointing at Arthur: "Not a stranger"

Mia and Lupi run away from a blood zombie, a creature of the game. It looks like a very bloody and fleshy-like corpse with a wide mouth and big, sharp teeth. Both Mia and Lupi seem scared. There is text: "But he is not the bravest..."

Lupi is in front of a person whose upper body half is not visible standing there. He looks scared. There is text pointing at the person: "a stranger"

Mia is sitting on the ground, holding her head and with a panicking expression, a few tears leaving her eyes. There is text: "Mia has monophobia, an irrational fear of being alone"

In a continuation of the last drawing, Lupi licks her cheek, to which she reacts by calming down a little and smiling at him. There is text: "But Lupi is always there for her"

trying to convince you to play enigma of fear through fanart

[dsandrvk]

Wednesday, September 25 - Sea days

We've had a busy three days (yes, three - since we repeated Tuesday, September 24, due to the date line), and it's been a lot of fun. We started off getting up around 5:15 on the morning of September 24 the first, as we off-loaded some Fijian officials in Tonga, and spent about an hour there. It was quite a set of small and one larger Islands and we saw lots of birds flying near the only village we could see. The islands all appeared to have vertical cliffs, and we saw only one area below the village where one could land and get ashore. Later, we saw a few beaches as we went around the main island, but they, too, were cut off from the rest of the island by cliffs. We did see one humpback whale dive just off our starboard side as we left our position. This area also had several whale watching boats out already at 6:30 AM - we have heard that they do "swim with sharks" tours, also. Surprisingly, with only one small village visible (there were others up on top of the island, along with an "airport", we had cellular service. Can we count Tonga as a new country if we have "Welcome to Tonga" as a text from T- Mobile?

We also had another round of "Baggo", which is the Seabourn version of Cornhole. Lupi has made it a bit more interesting by adding as an option getting the bag into the golden trash can, worth 100 points, while the highest on the board is just 40 points. He also sits there with his face exposed while we make our attempts, and deducts 100 points if we hit his face. Best shot was one that bounced off the wall, landed on top of his head and then fell into the trash can.

One afternoon there was a "fun fair" with each department hosting a table with a competition. Some were like "find our current location on a paper chart", but some involved knot tying (the expedition team), or pillowcase stuffing (our housekeepers who had fun switching genders for their participation). The doctor had a body cutout and pictures with puns to put in the right place, such as a picture of a hand reaching and an apple, which was "Adam's apple", and a plate of red beans, which were kidneys. And of course there was beer pong.

In addition to the talks given by our expedition team, today they also presented a small skit about a Polynesian lad wanting to build a canoe, which gave them a chance to explain something in a more humorous and fun way, especially since we have come to know the team so well, and could laugh at their dramatization. I also think they loved putting on Polynesian shirts, rather than their usual work polo shirts. And building a canoe does seem to be quite complex, since everything seems to have to be timed to various full moons. Not something you can do in a week or even a month.

Our bears also visited the bridge during open bridge hours and were drafted into being lookouts. Nothing to see except for the occasional flying fish or Booby.

The last two pictures are of our gang having a more informal dinner with the future cruise consultant, who one couple has known since he was a waiter. The other is a big birthday celebration in the dining room for three of the guys who have September birthdays, including Russ. Since our executive chef is Indian, we arranged an Indian feast, and it was completely over the top! The first picture is just the appetizer round, although it would have been fine as a meal, with three kinds of chicken on the skewers, and spicy noodles, etc. But following that, we had plate after plate of goodness - shrimp and scallops on scallop shells, tagine lamb, tikki marsala chicken, black cod, spicy tofu, cauliflower nuggets and onion patties, naan, chapatis and poppadoms, and some things I'm forgetting. After all this there were three cakes, as well as Indian desserts. This was all last night, and I'm still not hungry. Although we couldn't eat all of it (by a long stretch), we knew it wasn't going to go to waste, since the leftovers were going to be a special treat for the staff. And the whole thing was an incredible treat for us.

We have made some truly wonderful friends on this journey, and all but two of us at the table are continuing on to Chile, but we will miss our Aussie friends. Most of us are on the same trivia team, and we have been very successful because we all have different areas of expertise, but also trust one another. It's been great.

We have one more sea day before we arrive in Papeete, and say goodbye to some and hello to new folks (and crew - we are also losing some of our favorites, but are happy for them to be going home to family or off on an adventure). We still have one more leg ahead of us, and a lot of special, unique places to visit. There will be more when we get to French Polynesia.

[helmetkeeper]

Hello! I'm looking for some masculine name ideas for a Sniper-kin ; if you want to experiment with making it earth/forest/canine themed that'd be really swag

hello!! wasn’t too sure about how masc some of these names feel, but i hope you find something you like regardless!

there's not as much as i normally end up doing, but it's still quite the list so i put them under the cut 👍.

acacia

acacius

ace

ackley

acorn

affie

alaska

alfie

alpine

arbor

arc

archer

archie

arctic

aries

arthur

artus

ash

asher

ashford

ashton

aster

atlas

august

augustin(e)

augustus

avens

avery

bandit

baron

basil

bass

basset

bay

bear

beaumont

beck

beetle

ben

bengal

benji

benny

bentley

benton

berry

birch

birk

blackjack

blaze

blue

blume

bo, boe

bolt

bone

boomer

borage

border

boxer

bracker

bracket

bramble

briar

brick

brin

brock

bryce

bryn

buck

bud

bull

burr

bush

busher

bushie, bushy

butch

buzz

caelum, caylum

callum

cane, kane

canid

canine

canyon

cas

casey

caspian

cedar

cerberus

charcoal

charlie

cheddar

chen

chez

chow

cider

ciel

cinder

citrine

citron

citrus

clay

clement

cliff

cloud

coal

coast

cobalt

cobolt

cocoa

collie

colt

columbine

columbo

columbus

conan

cooper

copper

cove

coy

coyote

crane

crimson

crispin

crow

curry

cyan

cypress

dagwood

dak

dakota, dakoda

dale

dane

dante

darrah

darren

darrow

david

dawson

deacon

dean

declan

den

denis, denys

deniz

denver

derry

dhole

digger

dill

dingo

dipper

douglas

drake

duff(y)

duke

dulce

dune

dusk

dust

dustin

dusty

dutch

dutchen

east

eden

elvis

elwood

emerald

emerson

emery

everest

everett

evergreen

falcon

fallon

fang

farley

fennec

fennel

fergus

fews

fin, finn

finch

finley, finnley

fir

firth

fish

fisher

flax

flint

florence

florent

flynn

ford

forest

forester

frank

frankie

franklin

fraser, frazier, frasier, frazer

frost

gale(n)

gardner

gene

genesis

ginger

goldie

grain

grey, gray

grove(s)

hades

harvest

hawk(e)

hazel

heath

hercules

hive

holland

hound

hugo

hum

hummer

hunt

hunter

huntie, hunty

jack

jackal

jackie, jacky

jason

jasper

jay

jett

joey

jove

july

june

juniper

juno

jupiter

kai

kale

kestrel

kip

kippy, kippie

koa

koi

lake

lark

leo

loch

locust

lodge

lotis

lotus

lucky

lumen

lupin(e)

lupis

mace

magnus

mane(d)

mango

march

marley

marlow

marsh

marshal(l)

matchbox

maverick

max

meek

meer

merlin

mickey

mint(y)

mob(y)

moose

morgan

morris

moses

moss

mossy, mossie

nash

nasher

nicholas

noble

norman

north

nox

oak

oakie

odie

odin

oleander

olive(r)

olivier

ollie

oto

otter

otto

ottoman

packet(t)

pear

percival

percy

perry

perseus

picard

pickle

pine

pongo

prairie

prince

red, redd

reed, reid

ren

rhodes

rhody

ridge

rock(e)

rocky, rockie

roman

ronat

rook

root

rory

rover

rudy

rune

russel

salmon

samsun, samson

scruff

scruffy, scruffie

silver

silvester

skylark

smokey

sol

solei(l)

solomon

sorrel

south

spade

sparrow

spot

spruce

stag

sterling

stone

sun

sunray

talon

tawny

terran

terro

terry, terrie

theo

thistle

thor

thyme

titan

toms

trip

tunnel

turtle

velvet

vulp

vulpes

wade

wane

warbler

wax

waxer

weaver

wells

west

whistler

winston

wolf(e)

wood

woodrow

woodson

woody, woodie

york

zeus

[gaetaniu]

Una ricerca fa maggiore chiarezza sulla storia di accrezione di EX Lupi

Un team internazionale di astronomi ha studiato EX Lupi, una giovane stella T-Tauri nella costellazione di Lupus e un archetipo di stelle EXor. Lo studio, presentato in un articolo pubblicato il 23 agosto sul server di pre-print arXiv, ha fornito importanti indicazioni sulla storia di accrezione di questa stella. Situata a circa 514 anni luce di distanza, EX Lupi è una stella variabile con una…

[spacenutspod]

An international team of astronomers has investigated EX Lupi—a young T-Tauri star in the constellation of Lupus and an archetype of EXor stars. The study, presented in a paper published August 23 on the pre-print server arXiv, provided important insights into the accretion history of this star.

[hriminal]

Kradezeovci još jednom dobivaju prekršajnu prijavu za nasilje, uz pomoć korumpirane policije i pravosuđa.

Možda jednog dana netko lupi Plenkovićevu ženu, pa da vidimo hoće li završtiti samo s prekršajnom prijavom.

[yzeltia]

FFXIVwrite2024 13. Butte

Featuring: Weird West AU - Desertwalkers by @scrollsfromarebornrealm Characters: Zellita (Y'zel Tia), Fordola Lupis, The Professor(Claudien) Expansion: Endwalker (Characters and Concepts) Rating: T Summary: Fordola briefly talks about her past. Notes:

Fordola looked over her shoulder as Zellita steered his horse around some rocks, The Professor following along. The sun bore down on her, making her almost regret not joining the boys in the waters of the quarry. Zellita catching up to her, she huffed lightly. “If we go east of  here we might find some respite from the sun east of Quetzal's Wing,” she said, gesturing to the convex butte a few hundred yalms away.

Zellita nodded lightly, letting Fordola guide him to the lee of the towering mountain. Once there, they dismounted from their horses and stretched their legs, enjoying the reprieve from the heat. “Was there a reason you decided to accompany me instead of joining your friends today? Rrahnald seemed to be in high spirits about his planned outing,” Y’zel asked as he fed his horse an apple.

“They’re off to a watering hole and my idea of a good time doesn’t involve being surrounded by friends when they have dumb-sticks out,” she said curtly. “And Rrahn said someone would come help out Claudien look for whatever he’s after out here today. I didn’t have anything better to do. Speaking of which, why didn’t he come out with us?”

Zellita let out a small laugh at Fordola’s response before looking at The Professor, the golden-haired wolf beating his tail slowly on the ground as he looked out into the desert. “Claudien is a bit sensitive to the heat lately. Perhaps it was the sudden humidity from the storms,” Zellita lied.

“Well it doesn’t do a lot of good for us to be searchin’ for this auracite or whatever it is without him here to help us look. How sure is he that there’s any even out here?” Fordola asked.

“The Professor has a nose for it. He’ll sniff it out if we get close,” Zellita assured her while reaching down to pet the wolf, getting a grunt out of him. “It is rather beautiful out here.”

“My father thought so…,” Fordola said, furrowing her brow as she watched a cactus in the distance, making sure it didn’t move. 

“Thought? Is he no longer with us?” Y’zel asked.

Fordola shook her head. “No. I live with Arenvald’s folks. When we caught the sights of our eastern interlopers, he was too trusting and sought a means to welcome them to a reluctant Stonewood. When they found no ground with the townsfolk, the people he was trying to help, turned on him and put a bullet in him, leaving him for dead,” she said briskly. 

Zellita frowned. “I had no idea. The Garleans shadow seems evermore a shroud of death,” he said, getting a small lick on the back of his hand by The Professor. He gave the wolf a weak smile then pet his ears while Fordola avoided his gaze.

“It’s in the past,” Fordola said dismissively. “Come. We’ve been here long enough. Let’s get back to rock hunting.”