#thats what happens in battles like this. in wars with armies. she should know

[mettywiththenotes]

"He'll come back to us."

[tiny-stack-of-knights]

Morpho Knight is finally here! Wahoo!!! Now I can ramble about her and finish up the general notes I have for the Galactic Crisis AU….

sorry this took me almost a year to finally get done……

If you want more context, refer to Galacta and Kirby’s old refs! I’m gonna briefly summarise the setting here in case you don’t feel like reading all that because boy howdy is it a lot…and thats the super condensed version. Anyway!

To recap.

-The AU takes place during the time of the Ancients. There are two factions of ancients who used to be one group, but split into two factions: the Halcandrans and Jambandrans.

-More specifically, this AU takes place during a sort of cold war between the two factions. The Halcandrans are building new technologies to possibly use in war such as Novas, while the Jambandrans are creating magical items like the Master Crown to possibly use in this hypothetical war.

-One of the main reasons for this arms race is because of a series of mysterious disasters that each side blames the other for.

I think that’s the main gist of the setting….so let me go onto Morpho’s story…this should hopefully explain a lot more of what was happening in Galacta and Kirby’s references.

-So here’s the big reveal that’ll add a lot of context to the story….Morpho’s a reaper!

Why exactly? Well

-Before her death, Morpho was an insanely powerful knight. She was ferocious and feared by her enemies and revered by her followers. She was a force of massive destruction and she loved it.

-She lived a life of glory before her untimely demise…since she was so powerful, she was immediately enlisted in the army of Reapers.

-For some context (I’m still working out how they work so this may be a little vague) the Reapers in this AU are a collection of souls who were powerful warriors in life. They work to maintain balance in between the living and the dead, and to harvest souls who will then be appropriately placed. The Reapers themselves are like the army of the dead.

-Well, the Reapers existed pretty normally for a bit, just harvesting who they had to and not interfering with the living. That was, however, until fears of a massive galactic war started when the Ancients divided into two factions.

-Cue the start of the mysterious disasters. These disasters were actually the work of the Reapers, who were harvesting more souls than were being given to them by the living in preparation for this massive war, in which they would need more workers to help sort the massive amount of souls that could be lost in this war.

-This is, quite obviously, insanely hypocritical. But the organization behind the Reapers is….well…we may come back to this later while I develop them more but just know that this organization is pretty damn corrupt.

-Back to Morpho specifically. Since she had a reputation for being so brutal and ruthless in her living days, the powers behind the Reapers thought she would be perfect for their new job of harvesting souls before they were supposed to be sent into the afterlife.

-And so, that’s what she did. However, instead of living a life of glory like before, Morpho was horrified by what she saw, and what she was forced to do. When she was alive, she fought great battle that always had a purpose. But this, she understood as mindless slaughter. And then that made her seriously reflect on her previous life….cue an existential crisis.

-Her first mission was to a small village on Halcandra….and if you’ve kept up with the lore, you may very well know what happens from here….

-This was Galacta Knight’s village….he returns from his knighting ceremony just in time to see Morpho shocked and horrified at what she had just done.

-This is where the two start to bond…Morpho feels immensely guilty after Galacta breaks down in front of her, and she comforts him.

-I just. Want to point out how similar their situations were….both of them were recently appointed to a new position, and soon after experienced a major crisis of faith. They’re able to seriously connect and bond through this, which is why they both latch onto each other so quickly.

-Morpho explains that she’s a Reaper and had to take the souls of the people here after a “natural disaster” wiped out the village. Before she’s whisked away back into the underworld, she tells Galacta Knight where her next assignment is supposed to be, and to meet her there.

-If you remember from Galacta’s old ref sheet, this is why the two are forced to meet at the sites of tragedies. Morpho intentionally asks to reap Jambandran souls so that Galacta won’t be so upset.

-After seeing this rising star in the Halcandran army at the sites of the mysterious disasters, the Jambandrans begin to suspect that Galacta is some sort of super weapon, and is the cause of disasters.

-Oh, I should mention here that Reapers ARE NOT SUPPOSED to interact with the living! Morpho can disguise herself as butterflies to avoid detection. Also she can summon her butterfly swords from the underworld and they appear through a flock of glowing butterflies….which is also how she manifests and disappears….I just thought that would be fun to mention….

-Anyway! This fear of Galacta Knight leads to a retaliation from the Jambandrans in the form of the Jamba Heart. Halcandran intelligence learns of this Jambandran super weapon, and, unaware of their perception of Galacta (who, at this point has risen the ranks to Halcandra’s most respected knight), send him and a crew of knights to seal the Jamba Heart. Things do not go well.

-Galacta’s entire squad is wiped out, which summons Morpho (she always keeps an eye on Galacta from the underworld….). She holds off the Jambandran troops defending the heart while Galacta is thrust right into it…

-After making contact with the Jambe Heart and manifesting Kirby (see Kirby’s ref for more elaboration on this), the heart is sealed, Morpho is called back to the underworld, and Galacta inadvertently starts a war.

Here’s where things get nuts.

-Halcandra sending Galacta Knight, the supposed super weapon against Jambandra, to take down the Jamba Heart, was seen as a declaration of war. The Halcandrans blame Galacta Knight for the start of the war, and send troops to find him. Morpho is able to warn him of this before she is suddenly called back to the underworld.

-Morpho’s interference with the living world is suddenly uncovered, as she was not assigned to reap the souls of those who died in the Jamba Heart incident.

-Before she can be placed in like. Hell jail. She flees from the underworld to be with Galacta Knight.

-So. Now the two of them and their strange….child…. are on the run from Halcandra, Jambandra, and the forces of the Underworld.

-Somehow, they manage to escape detection for about 2 years.

-During these 2 years, Galacta’s possession from the Jamba Heart worsens despite Kirby’s influence.

-A brief note about Galacta’s possession, since its still based on his wish for a peaceful universe and for a family, it twists this into an obsession with protecting them, which sometimes manifests in the slaughtering of those after the trio.

-Morpho and Galacta know that something is happening to him (I mean…his eyes literally change color of course something is wrong with him), so they sneak around Jambandran ruins to try and glean any information about the Jamba Heart.

-Eventually, Galacta’s rampages get too much for Morpho and she has to take a break for a bit. It’s really hard for her to see her husband going down an even worst path than the one she had in her life, and the one she immensely regrets.

-Unfortunately. Now that she’s away from Galacta and Kirby, Morpho is ambushed by Reapers and dragged back into the underworld. Her contact with the living world is severely cut off.

-Morpho’s smart, so from the beginning she thought of a backup plan in case this happened. Remember the side note about how she can turn into butterflies? As well as how she keeps an eye on Galacta? She does this through butterflies…so she can still kind of keep an eye on him through her butterflies.

-Anyway. Galacta is too far gone to be able to even think of this, and assumes Morpho completely abandoned him. This is what causes him to finally break.

-Galacta starts a rampage, sometimes even forgetting about Kirby because he’s so desperate to somehow get Morpho back. In his mind, he thinks he can ’summon’ Morpho back if he kills enough people.

-This, however, never works, as Morpho is in hell prison.

-Anyway. Now that Galacta starts leaving Kirby to go on his crusades, his possession only grows stronger. He doesn’t care about staying hidden anymore, so, obviously, both sides of the still raging war are desperate to take him prisoner.

-They’re no match for Galacta, so instead, they go for Kirby.

-Well, once Galacta notices that his child his missing, he goes absolutely ballistic. He knows they took him back to Halcandra, because he knows they’re setting up a trap for him.

-Enter the Galactic Crisis. Galacta destroys Halcandra in a fit of rage and retrieving Kirby again.

-Once back in Kirby’s presence, Galacta has a brief moment of lucidity and realizes what he’s done, and allows himself to be imprisoned by the remaining Ancients.

-I’d like to point out that Galacta destroying an entire planet had MASSIVE repercussions for both sides of the war. At this point, the war had been raging on for 2 years and was nearing a close, as Jambandra had invaded Halcandra. So when galacta wiped out the planet, he wiped out most of the Ancients.

-This sent the underworld into complete chaos, and in this chaos Morpho managed to escape.

-After this crisis event, the Reapers were disbanded, and the underworld was sent into a shambling mess. Because of this, Morpho lost some of her powers, and still had to restrict her presence in the living world to butterflies.

-Anyway. Since she was still keeping tabs on Galacta, she saw what he did and was absolutely destroyed. From this point on, she vowed to find a way to get her husband back from whatever was possessing him, and to give their child a better life than either of them had.

-Galacta was sealed and removed from time by the remaining Ancients, who eventually died out/integrated into other societies, as they were left a broken, scattered mess.

-Back to Kirby and how he gets to the future…well, the Ancients didn’t just seal Galacta knight….they sealed Kirby away too.

-From here on out, Morpho rummages through the ruins of civilization to find a way to unseal her child, and cure Galacta.

-It takes. A long ass time. For her to unseal Kirby.

-I don’t have too many specifics on how she manages to do this, however I imagine she found a way to repair and use a broken Nova from the war.

-I would also like to reiterate that Morpho can rarely exist as her humanoid form, she has to be butterflies most of the time since now that the underworld is also a broken mess, it’s hard to get back into the world of the living.

-When Morpho retrieves Kirby, she takes him to a safe place and watches over him as the signature red butterflies.

-Since it took Morpho so long to get Kirby back, the world has changed drastically. Now, Galacta Knight is only a legend, a cautionary tale told to aspiring warriors. And sometimes, she’s even brought up in those legends, which gives her more of a reason to refrain from using her humanoid form so as not to be recognised.

-Furhtermore, any races that were a part of the Ancients are few and far between. Which, as I’m sure you can guess from Galacta Knight, means that the legion of puff knights in the ancient armies were largely wiped out in the Galactic Crisis. What I’m trying to say here is that puffballs and wizards like Hyness are really rare now. And really, evidence and knowledge of the Ancients is very rare as well.

-Well…this leads us to a certain bat winged knight who I will discuss later….since I’m redoing is reference too! So stay tuned (:

I hope this massive lore dump was worth the wait….if you actually read all of this thank you for helping me indulge in my AU! I have way too much lore for this…like. Believe it or not this is me trying to condense things.

Anyway…thank you all for your continued support and interest in this AU! I’ve got a few things planned that I hope you all will enjoy (:

[valeriethepussycats]

Inside Out

Chapter 1

Pairing- Loki x Reader

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics. Flashbacks are in bold.

“Long before the birth of light there was darkness, and from that darkness, came the Dark Elves. Millennia ago, the most ruthless of their kind, Malekith, sought to transform our universe back into one of eternal night”

Malekith is looking up at the Convergence

“Such evil was possible through the power of the Aether, an ancient force of infinite destruction.”

The Aether.

“The noble armies of Asgard, led by my father, King Bor, waged a mighty war against these creatures.”

The Dark Elves and Asgardians fighting.

Kurse walks up to Malekith. “Malekith! Asgard's forces are upon us.”

The Bifrost opens, and bor steps out with Asgardian reinforcements.

“Send the Kursed.” Malekith told Kurse.

Some soldiers crush objects in their hands and become giant hulk-like creatures. Malekith looks up at the Convergence again.

“As the Nine Worlds converged above him, Malekith could at last unleash the Aether...”

Malekith and Kurse walk up to the Aether.

However, the Bifrost opens and Asgardian warriors attack Malekith, whom he kills. The Bifrost disappears, just as Malekith tries to get the Aether, but it is no longer there.

“But Asgard ripped the weapon from his grasp. Without it, the Dark Elves fell. With the battle all but lost, Malekith sacrificed his own people in a desperate attempt to lay waste to Asgard's army.”

Malekith watches as his forces are slaughtered. “Their deaths will mean our survival. This war is far from over.” He and Kurse get onto his ship and escape without notice, while destroying the other ships in the process.

The ships kill some of the Asgardians.

“Malekith was vanquished, and the Aether was no more. Or so we were led to believe.”

“Sire, the Aether. Shall we destroy it?”

“If only we could. But its power is too great. Bury it deep. Somewhere no one

will ever find it.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Earth, New York City

Wow! A lot has happened in the past couple of years for Y/n. She met an Alien/God, saved New York from an alien invasion, found out she has a soulmate who caused said invasion, and last but not least finding Gambit. Even though these last years had its up and downs. Y/n hadn’t been this happy in a long time, and spending time with Gambit is the cause of that. Spending time with him just make everything better it makes her miss Loki less (even though she didn’t get to spend that much time him). Now She was now walking down the street with Gambit eating ice cream in the middle of November.

“You met my mother. How that happened?” Y/n said taking a spoon full of her ice cream.

“The good professor wanted information on you.” Gambit answered.

“Charles Xavier knew about me and my where abounds this entire time.” Y/n said with an eye roll. “Apparently him and my father have an understanding with each other.”

“Your mother...she didn’t know you existed.” Gambit stated.

Of course she didn’t Charles fucked with her mind too what a big surprise

“Well that still doesn’t change the fact that she abandon me.” She said in a dry tone.

“You gave me a chance....you trusted me to protect you and I couldn’t.” Gambit said with a sad grimace.

Y/n to turns and looks at Gambit. “You did your best. You didn’t abandon me. Ya you could’ve call to let me know you weren’t dead but I wasn’t your responsibility. Those people were after her, and she didn’t want to get caught so she left me behind.” Y/n stated. “You gave me to my father so I could be safe so I wouldn’t be used by The Thieves Guild like you was. You protective me. You’ll always be my hero.....no matter what you say.”

Y/n turns away from Gambit and started to walk away. As she approaches the cross walk she hears a voice being broadcasted in her mind.

Please no!

“Someone is in trouble.” Y/n claimed.

“What?” Gambit mumbled.

Where are you

Oh my god

Where are you

In the alleyway behind the Barbecue Restaurants just off Main Street

Y/n takes off running to Ray’s bbq leaving Gambit in her dust. When she arrives in the alleyway and doesn’t see anyone.

Hello are you here

“Thank you for coming.”

Y/n turns around and see five Einherjar Guards. “Ummmm.Hello.”

“We are the Einherjar Guards of Asgard and our king wishes to speak with you on the behalf of Prince Loki Odinson.”

“What?”

“The king would like-“

“No no I get that but why.” Y/n said to herself.

Gambit catches up to Y/n and see her with a group of guards. “Petit? What’s happening.”

“I’m being summoned by the king of Asgard.” Y/n said with a small smile.

“A king!! The king of Asgard.” Gambit finished with a gaping jaw.

I get to go to Asgard!

“Look I have no problem coming but I’m kind of in the middle of something.” Y/n voiced.

“This is important the fate of Prince Loki rest in your hands.” Einherjar Guard said not trying to be pushy.

“Fate.....I thought Loki would have been went to trial.” Y/n turns and looks at Gambit.

“l..l hav-“

“No...no it’s find go I know how important he is to you.” Gambit said with a smile.

“But just find your way back Ya.”

Y/n is about to walks over to them when a thought runs though her mind. “How about you come with me?”

“Invitation is only for you.” Einherjar Guard chimed in.

“I see that but I’m just a mere mortal I wouldn’t be comfortable being on a world without someone who can relate to me.” Y/n said artfully. “Would you want to be on a world all by yourself?”

Einherjar Guards look at each other in confusion

“Or someone is going to have to tell the king that they could get a mere mortal to comply.” Y/n said with a smirk.

“He can come but he will be watched.” Einherjar Guard agreed.

“You heard em lets go.” Y/n said as she pulls Gambit and they stand next to the guards.

“Uhhh. What’s happening??” Gambit said with a curious tone.

“Heimdall open the Bi-Frost!” Einherjar Guard shouted.

“This is going to be fun!!” Y/n said In a giggling way.

Gambit looks over at her and could see the excitement in Y/n’s eyes. “What is about-“

Suddenly Bifrost opens! A portal surrounds them In an instant, they're gone.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Upon emerge from the Bifrost, Y/n and Gambit looks around at the Observatory.

“Woo-hoo...let’s do that again.” Y/n proclaimed.

“No I’m gonna need a bucket.” Gambit grunted.

“Y/n L. Munroe and....Remy E. LeBeau I am Heimdall The gatekeeper of Asgard.” Heimdall announced.

“Hi....” Gambit and Y/n said in-sink.

“You are a friend of Thor. He has told me much about you.”

“I wish I can say the same.” Y/n said with a smile.

“If you follow the guards they will lead you to the Castle.”

“Thanks.” Gambit said walks with the guard.

“Heimdall...I was hoping I could come back here.”

“What for?” Heimdall asked.

“Well I would love to hear all your stories, being able to see everything in the universe....thats kind of wicked.” Y/n answered.

“Of course you can.”

Y/n smiles at Heimdall then catches up Gambit and whispered. “Do you think I look ok to meet a king.” Y/n was wearing a Navy blue crewneck cable knit with some light blue jeans and white air force 1.

“Petit, you look fine don’t worry about it.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Throne Room

Loki is in chains, as he gets brought to Odin.

“Loki.” Frigga said in a began.

“Hello, mother. Have I made you proud?” Loki asked

“Please, don't make this worse.” Frigga said with a calm voice.

“Define worse.” Loki said in a casual tone.

“Enough! I will speak to the prisoner alone.” Odin proclaimed.

With one last look Frigga walks out the throne Room.

Loki looks up at Odin and laughs. “I really don't see what all the fuss is about.”

“Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go there is war, ruin and death.” Odin voiced.

“I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you.” Loki expressed with a shrugged.

“We are not gods. We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do.” Odin specified.

“Give or take 5000 years.” Loki sarcastically remarked.

Odin: “All this because Loki desires a throne.” Odin put forth.

“It is my birthright.” Loki voiced.

“Your birthright was to die!!!....” Odin shouted. “.....As a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in you would not be here now to hate me.”

“If I am for the axe, then for mercy's sake, just swing it. It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just ... I don't love them.” Loki said perpetually tired voice.

Odin tap the Gungnir on the ground and the doors open. Loki looks back back at the doors to see who could possibly coming in.

“Are we to wait on Thor?” Loki questioned.

“No Thor has nothing to do with this......” Odin started. “This is about someone else. That you are not worthy of.”

Wow this place looks so amazing

“Do you still want the Axe?” Odin wondered.

Loki looks over at Odin with wide eye then turns around and see Robin she looks just as he remembered her. Breathtaking.

“Loki!!” Y/n called out.

Loki can tell she’s happy to see him, she had a broad grin on her face despite him being in chains. “Y/n.” Loki said with darted a suspicious glance at Odin. “What is the meaning of this!?

When Y/n reached Loki she stands next to him and looks up at Odin.

Should I bow

You Bow to no one

Y/n looks over at Loki with a quizzical smile and all she gets back is a coy smile.

She turns back to Odin smiling to herself.

“I brought Y/n here to say goodbye to you.” Odin said in A calm voice.

“Goodbye..why would I need to say goodbye.....is he getting-“ Y/n said in rapid blinking and shaking her head ‘no’.

“You brought Y/n here to spite me......how do you even-“ Loki fumed.

“Frigga told me a long time ago, when you was just a boy.” Odin explained. “And Frigga is the only reason you are still alive and you will never see her again. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeons.”

“I thought he was going to die.” Y/n said like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, but then a relief is quickly replaced by anguish. “If you were going to do this then why do you bring me here? You should’ve left me on earth, instead of bringing me here when you’re just going to but him in the dungeons for the rest of his life.”

My life

Loki looks over at Y/n with knitted brows. “Y/n....”

“I know what Loki did on earth is unforgivable but-“ Y/n started.

“Did he or did he not kill someone close to you?” Odin asked.

“Yes he did and I kick his ass and my father brought him back.” Y/n answered.

“Your father.” Loki looks over at Y/n with his brows pulled together in a frown.

“Ant....Boot.” Y/n said teasing Loki softly.

“Oh.” Loki said with a blank stare and a paled face.

“Does he deserves punishment or not ?” Odin chimed in.

“Yes but-“

“Then it’s decided-“

“No. No. This can’t be the last time I’ll see him.”

Loki looks over at Y/n and see that black veins slowly starting to appear on the side of her neck.

Y/n, what is the matter

Nothing, I’m fine

“Let me have two weeks with him here on Asgard.” Y/n said not wanting to sound pushy.

“Giving you two weeks with Loki would give him happiness-“

“I’ll be in the dungeons with him.” Y/n said meaning the words more seriously than they sounded.

“You would do that.....” Odin said in curious tone. “.....for Loki?”

“Yes I would.” Y/n said firm persistence.

“Hmm.” With tap of the Gungnir, the doors open.

As the Einherjar Guards come in the throne room and takes Loki and they struggle to get him to leave.

“And what of Thor? You'll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?” Loki said with a rigid expression.

“Thor must strife to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the nine realms and then, yes. He will be king. “ Odin answered.

Loki looks at Odin and then Y/n as he gets drag away, then Odin looks over at Y/n.

“You can have your two weeks.” Odin announced. “You do not have to be in the dungeons with him.”

Y/n turns her head quickly to look at Odin. “What? why would you just-“

“Do you not want it?” Odin snapped.

Yes..yes I do thank you.” Y/n said sincerely.

“Frigga” Odin calls out for his wife.

Frigga walks into the throne. “Well if it isn’t Y/n Munroe, l am Frigga Queen of Asgard.”

Y/n turns around and see the Queen of Asgard. “Hello.”

Wow she is so beautiful

Frigga approached and took Y/n’s hand in hers and looks at her with a sweet smile. “We have so much to talk about.” Frigga said as she led Y/n away out.

“You are even more beautiful then I thought.” Frigga said with a voice soft with affection.

“No you are.” Y/n said with out missing a beat.

Frigga laughs. “Is this Midgard attire.” Frigga said with one hand spin Y/n around to see her full outfit.

“Oh yes it is.”

“It’s lovely your practically glowing like the morning sun my dear.” Frigga said with a smile.

“Thank you.” Y/n said returning he smile.

“Come dear there’s much we must do.”

Meanwhile Loki watches Frigga and Y/n walking and talking, unaware of the horrors that were occurring several stories below his feet.

“I can’t remember the last time Loki or Thor brought a friend home to meet us,” Frigga said to Y/n . “When a young man brings a young woman home to meet his parents…” Frigga began, implying a possible marriage between Y/n and Loki.

“Technically, I think we have only known each other for a month.” Y/n said, surprised to be having this conversation so soon.

“And if it were three million years, would that change how you feel?” Frigga asked.

Y/n thought on this.

It wouldn’t change one thing.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

“Beautiful golden sunlight shined down through the lush, vibrant forests of Vanaheim. Unlike Svartalfheim, the realm of Vanaheim was much more pleasant an environment. It was home to beautiful lakes and mountains, with vast fields of green spread out as far as the eye could see. But today, it was filled with danger and destruction.

The people of Vanaheim—known throughout the Nine Realms as the Vanir—raced through the forests as fast as they could. They were being chased by the Marauders, a race of space pirates—brutal invaders who were armed to the teeth and out for blood. Their sole purpose in life was to take what was not theirs, and destroy anything—and anyone—that stood in their way.

A frightened Vanir woman ran for her life but stumbled, falling down a riverbank just as a Marauder fired a massive fireball. It streaked above her head, impacting a nearby tree and causing it to burst into flames. As the woman regained her footing, she was confronted by a towering Marauder. He raised his razor-sharp ax, ready to strike, when suddenly a steel mace smashed the villain in the face, knocking him down, and knocking him out.

“Standing over the frightened woman was her savior—Hogun the Grim, of the famous Warriors Three. Hogun did not wait for a thank you, nor did he want one. The Marauders were running rampant across his home world, and Hogun was determined to stop them.

As more Vanir ran to safety, Hogun stood his ground—the only barrier between the fierce oncoming Marauders and the peaceful Vanir. The Asgardian warrior gripped his mace tightly and steeled himself, ready for what just might be the last battle of his life. With a skull-shattering roar, the Marauders charged, determined to crush Hogun and the rest of the Vanir people.

The lead Marauder raised his broadsword and swung, but his blade was deflected by another sword—the sword belonging to Fandral the Dashing, the second member of the mighty Warriors Three! Fandral, still handsome as ever despite the battle, rode through the charging Marauders on his white horse, knocking down one intruder after another until he was able to make his way to Hogun, flashing a smile the entire way.

“Do we have a plan?” Fandral asked his fellow Warrior as he flipped the lead Marauder off his horse and tossed.

“We stand and fight!” Hogun the Grim yelled.

Fandral rolled his eyes at his friend’s single-minded determination to fight. Then a loud Boom, Boom, Boom echoed throughout the trees. Fandral, Hogun, and the rest of the Vanir stopped in their tracks and turned their attention toward the deafening noise. It was coming from beyond the woods, and whatever was making the noise was big. Very big. The ground shook and trees fell with each sound as the unseen threat got closer and closer.

The Vanir did not follow Hogun’s orders to stay and fight, but instead quickly retreated into the woods. The idea also crossed Fandral’s mind.

“Have you considered ‘turn and run’?” Fandral asked, but Hogun only frowned in response. Then the grim warrior looked up and over the tree line and began to back away as well. Finding a Marauder’s horse without its rider, Hogun swung up into the saddle and galloped away. Fandral was close behind as explosions rang out throughout the woods. There would be time enough to fight later.

The two warriors quickly rode their horses into a clearing where the Marauders were fighting with a few of Asgard’s elite guards, the Einherjar, who had come to help the Vanir. Hogun and Fandral stopped before one of their Asgardian compatriots, the strong and beautiful Lady Sif, who was just as brave and tough as the Warriors Three.

Sif was on horseback, locked in furious battle with a dozen or so Marauders. Sif spun her bladed spear high over her head, taking down several of the barbarians, then split the spear in two, forming a magnificent blade for each hand.

Sif fought with fierce determination against the horde, but despite her resolve, she was gravely outnumbered. With all her might, she flipped off of her horse and delivered a powerful kick to one of the Marauders, sending him flying back past the third member of the Warriors Three, Volstagg the Voluminous.

“Volstagg—on your left!” Sif cried.

Without missing a beat, Volstagg swung his battle-ax at his attacker, striking him down with one fell swoop. And when another Marauder tried to attack him with a club, the voluminous one merely took the hit, then turned, broke the club in two, and backhanded the Marauder, sending him flying through the air. But all of this nonstop battling was beginning to take its toll on the excessively large warrior. Now out of breath, Volstagg made his way to a giant pile of timber where he could take a momentary break.

“What are you doing?” Sif yelled. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Here they were in a heated battle with villains known for decimating anything in their path, and one of the legendary Warriors Three was taking a breather.

“Giving them a moment…to regroup…only fair…” Volstagg said between long, labored breaths.

But no sooner did Volstagg stop to catch his breath than another horde of Marauders set their sights on the large warrior. They ran at him with their weapons drawn, but Volstagg merely kicked out the timber, causing it to collapse on and crush the approaching horde.

Volstagg gave himself a congratulatory grin, but it was short-lived, for just as he did, he was slashed across the back by a Marauder. He wasn’t as unstoppable or impenetrable as he thought. Nearby, Lady Sif wasn’t faring too much better. She was surrounded, and a Marauder from across the battlefield was aiming his crossbow at her head.

Just as the snickering Marauder was about to squeeze the trigger, a huge thunderclap echoed throughout the land, and with a bright, blinding light, the Bifrost—the way in which Asgardians traveled between the realms—fired down from the heavens into the center of the battlefield—and directly on top of the Marauder with the crossbow. Lady Sif raised her arm to shield her eyes from the spectacular blinding light and was just barely able to make out two Einherjar on horseback bursting from the glowing white column and charging into battle.

One of the Marauders used this commotion to sneak up behind Volstagg. He raised his sword high above his head, preparing to strike down the warrior, when a whizzing sound echoed from within the Bifrost. As the light died down and the smoke began to clear, the sound intensified. Suddenly, an object rocketed out of the Bifrost, sliced across the battlefield at supersonic speed, and slammed into its target: the Marauder who was about to strike down Volstagg.

The Marauder flew through the air and kept on flying. And flying. Volstagg turned, and upon investigation made out the object that had saved his life. It was the most famous weapon in all the Nine Realms. It was Mjolnir.”

The powerful hammer, which was forged in the heart of a dying star and used by only he who is worthy, hovered in midair before speeding back across the battlefield to the hand of its wielder—the mighty Thor!

Thor, Prince of Asgard and son of Odin Allfather, emerged from the light of the Bifrost looking battle-worn but still majestic, and the sight of him instantly gave the Warriors Three, the Einherjar, and the Vanir a renewed sense of hope. Now that Thor was here, they were sure to defeat the Marauders. But Lady Sif felt that she didn’t need Thor’s help to win the day.

“Shouldn’t you be battling trolls in Nornheim?” Sif said with a scowl.

“I ran out of trolls,” Thor said with a charming smile. “Heimdall said these Marauders were giving you trouble,” he added.

“I have this completely under control,” Sif retorted.

Thor surveyed the battlefield. “Is that why everything is on fire?”

“You think you can do better?” Sif challenged with a smile.

“It would be a challenge to do worse,” Thor said dryly before being surprise-attacked by two extra-big and extra-tough Marauders. Sif rolled her eyes in response, then joined her friend in battle.

Soon, Thor and Sif were joined by Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg. As the battle raged on, Thor used Mjolnir to take out multiple Marauders at once. And when one Marauder thought he might be able to seize the hammer by grabbing on to it, the hammer simply pulled the invader through the air, right to Thor’s waiting fist.

Thor, Lady Sif, and the Warriors Three fought bravely against the menacing Marauders, each one helping their fellow Asgardians. When one Marauder shot an arrow at Thor’s head, Sif jumped into the air and raised her shield to block the attack. And when another fired a rocket launcher–like device, Thor valiantly deflected the blast with his mighty hammer, the impact from which knocked them all to the ground—hard.

“As the Asgardians got back to their feet, they heard the same Boom, Boom, Boom sound that Fandral and Hogun had heard earlier. Whatever it was that was making that sound was much closer now. And the Marauders were getting ready for it. They parted the battlefield to make way, and the heroes looked up over the tree line and finally saw the cause of the sound.”

“A giant Kronan stone monster, made entirely of rock and standing fifteen feet tall, loomed before Thor and the Warriors Three. He held a massive metal club and looked down upon the Asgardians with contempt. The monster was about to crush their bones into dust.

“All yours,” Sif said to Thor as she and the Warriors Three began to back away. The Marauders cheered. This was the fight they had been waiting for! Surely nothing could stop their stone man, not even the Mighty Thor. The rock monster smashed his club into the ground and let out a thunderous roar, signaling the start of the battle.”

“I accept your surrender,” Thor said, but the monster only raised its club higher, preparing to strike. But Thor was ready. Holding Mjolnir by the strap, Thor began to spin his hammer. It spun faster and faster and faster until it was nothing but a blur and Thor was rocketed off the ground in flight. The monster roared again as Thor, flying with his arm outstretched and all the might of Mjolnir in front of him, launched himself directly at the great beast. There was a deafening Choom as the hammer connected with the creature, then a blinding explosion. The Marauders looked up in disbelief and their cheering stopped. Chunks of rock rained from the sky as the monster’s feet stumbled backward, disconnected from its body, which no longer existed. The upper half of the stone man had been completely obliterated by Thor.

“The Son of Odin gripped Mjolnir tightly and turned with a scowl toward the rest of the Marauders. Almost in union, the remaining Marauders dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. The battle was over.

“Next time we should just start with the big one,” Fandral said with a smile.”

[roguestarsailor]

impressions of six of crows

***spoiler ishh, not plot spoilers but just character interactions throughout the book***

note: I have not read shadow and bone and this is the first book i’m reading in this series so i have no prior knowledge of who these people are or what happened prior to this!!

I adore all these characters in the book! I love how seamlessly everything flowed and its glorious to read. The names were all confusing to me so I had to constantly refer back to the map and the Ice court layout to fully understand everything. I think there were points where I didn’t fully understand the impact because I didn’t read the other books. Talk of the Second army was confusing for me, but I just pushed through. I just love the dynamic of this group and I really really hope they are ok. Please don’t die. Will this author do this to my sensitive heart?? idkk?? 

the heist was so fun and honestly, i dont think the ice court was that well protected haha. it felt like they had so much time to do so many things but it just might be how the story is told. i love stories of trickery and heist and this one did a really good job. I love the backstories getting interwoven together and the plot twists were lovely. I was stressed for kaz though and i was nervous he will “run out of tricks” but it ended up fine. its strange because he is sooo young and hes battling these seasoned professionals and hes gotta navigate this fucked up world. they all have to navigate this fucked up world and i can’t imagine the stress of always looking behind you but also looking at the next 10 steps and then plotting additional scenarios to live. wow. anyways this i was great 10/10!!

Notable scenes include:

“Jesper!”

I’m going to kill that little idiot. “What do you want?” he shouted down.

“Close your eyes!”

“You can’t kiss me from down there, Wylan.”

I LOVE THEM ALREADY! JESPER AND WYLAN IS SO CUTE

“Pull your shirt up over your mouth,” [Jesper] told Wylan.

“What?”

“Stop being dense. You’re cuter when you’re smart.”

Wylan’s cheeks went pink. He scowled and pulled his collar up.

“Discipline. Routine. Does it mean nothing to you? Djel, I can’t wait to have a bed to myself again.”

“Right,” said Nina. “I can feel just how much you hate sleeping next to me. I feel it every morning.”

Matthais flushed bright scarlet. “Why do you have to say things like that?”

“Because I like it when you turn red.”

“It’s disgusting. You don’t need to make everything lewd.”

...

“Despite her fatigue, she trotted ahead of him. “That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t want to like a Grisha. You’re scared that if you laugh at my jokes or answer my questions, you might start thinking I’m human. Would that be so terrible?”

“I do like you.”

“What was that?”

“I do like you,” he said angrily.

She’d beamed, feeling a well of pleasure erupt through her, “Now, really, was that so bad?”

“Yes!” he roared.

“Why?”

“Because you’re horrible. You’re loud and lewd and...treacherous.  Brum warned us that Grisha could be charming.”

“Oh, I see. I’m the wicked Grisha seductress. I have beguiled you with my Grisha wiles!”

She poked him in the chest.

YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I FUCKEN LOVE THESE BICKERING IDIOTS. but also nina means so much to me. its so fucken refreshing to see a character who is overweight and can carry herself with so much sass and confidence (because thats what 17 year old me would have wished to be able to channel)!! i love that shes so flirty and especially to someone as stoic as matthais is cute af!! even the author wrote about how much she loves nina: “I probably identify most with Nina. She’s spent her whole life being told she’s too big, too loud, too much--and that’s basically me. I just wish I had Nina’ confidence at seventeen.” she has the kind of sass and big dick energy that comes w having to prove yourself and being shamed and i think thats why she has a special place in my heart!! maybe i’ll go in on my love for nina in another post but ugh i love her

“When we get back to Ketterdam, I’m taking my share, and I’m leaving the Dregs.”

He looked away. “You should. You were always too good for the Barrel.”

It was time to go. “Saints’ speed, Kaz.”

Kaz snagged her wrist. “Inej.” His gloved thumb moved over her pulse, tracing the top of the feather tattoo. “If we don’t make it out, I want you to know...”

She waited.

...

She reached up and touched his cheek...this was the first time she had touched him skin to skin, without the barrier of gloves or coat or shirtsleeves. She let her hand cup his cheek. His skin was cool and damp from the rain. He stayed still but she saw a tremor pass through him as if he were waging a war with himself.

“If we don’t survive this night, I will die unafraid, Kaz. Can you say the same?”

His eyes were nearly black, the pupils dilated. She could see it took every last bit of his terrible will for him to remain still beneath her touch. And yet, he did not pull away. She knew it was the best he could offer. It was not enough.”

NO I LOVE THEM TOO! KAZ1!!! DO SOMETHING!!! BUT ALSO FUCKEN GOOD FOR YOU INEJ YOU FUCKEN KNOW WHAT YOU DESERVE AND IF HE AINT GIVING 100 U DONT WANT IT I LOVE HER TOO

Inej turned to go. Kaz seized her hand, keeping it on the railing. He didn’t look at her. “Stay,” he said, his voice rough stone. “Stay in Ketterdam. Stay with me.”

She looked down at his gloved hand clutching hers. Everything in her wanted to say yes, but she would not settle for so little, not after all she’d been through. “What would be the point?”

He took a breath. “I want you to stay. I want you to...I want you.”

“You want me.” She turned the words over. Gently, she squeezed his hand. “And how will you have me, Kaz?”

He looked at her then, eyes fierce, mouth set. It was the face he wore when he was fighting.

“How will you have me?” she repeated. “Fully clothed, gloves on, your head turned away so our lips can never touch?”

He released her hand, his shoulders bunching, his gaze angry and ashamed as he turned his face to the sea.

Maybe it was because his back was to her that she could finally speak the words. “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.”

Speak, she begged silently. Give me a reason to stay. For all his selfishness and cruelty, Kaz was still the boy who had saved her. She wanted to believe he was worth saving, too.

ITERATE AGAIN, INEJ DONT WANT 90 PERCENT OR 99 PERCENT SHE WANTS 100 OR NOTHING WOW. i mean my shipping heart says NOOO buT shes right. kaz gotta figure out his shit and then share that vulnerability w her and maybe they can be truly together. UGH BUT THIS SCENE my god

Van Eck taunting Wylan and shitting on him for not being able to read was disgusting and i will fight him. I WILL PROTECT WYLAN WITH MY HEART! HES TRYING HIS BEST AND WORKING WITH WHAT HES GOT AND HE SAVED THEM ALL SO MANY TIMES. GET THIS PEDO OUT OF HERE FUCK THIS GUY

“That’s why you disappeared during the journey,” said Jesper. “You weren’t helping Matthais care for Nina. You were hiding.”

“I didn’t hide.”

“You...how many times was it you standing beside me on the deck at night when I thought it was Kuwei?”

“Every time.”

pekka rolllins. wow. what a man. i expect great things to happen between kaz and him. i truly did think kaz killed him back in the ice court lol but im glad he saw the grand plan and waited it out. hes a man of patience. i can respect that.

[4res]

Understanding The Body Of Ares: The Art of Form, 4

What Does a "Warrior" Look Like?

_ _ _ _ _

Buddhist Monk Dipa Ma Barua abides by what she calls the "Warrior Principals" which are:

If you cannot walk, then crawl to your goal.

Do not let loss, sadness, fear, or anxiety deter you.

Focus your mind, and let meditation never leave you.

Be fierce, with all the love in your heart.

Never forget that everything is impermanent.

Let go of thinking. Your mind is all stories.

Remember your power. It is only beliefs that limit you.

Whenever you get a chance, be still inside.

Sit like a mountain.

There is no "problem". Only your thinking creates a problem.

Abide as thought-free awareness.

Practice now. Do not imagine there will be time later.

Go further.

Never give up the Dharma.

Even when you are dying, let your last breath be a bow to the Buddha.

Since the faces of our Warriors aren't always covered in armor.. I felt an intense urge to talk about War in the Spirit, What do our Warriors really look like?

whether you stand ready to assault the "enemy" or challenge your own beliefs, a Warrior is known by their stance. a true Warrior is never certain of their "rightness" or of their safety in their own beliefs - they know to engage at all is to be constantly aware.

if you think youve already won, i pray for and pity you, for the battle has only just started

when we move our attention to different types of "War" like War of E-Motion, War of Body, or in this case War of Spirit, the faces of our armor-clad imaginings take much different shapes. suddenly our best front-liners wear robes, or sit naked - and how does this change our battlefield?

you cannot assault Spirit. there is nothing to achieve. nothing to win. what we are at war with, then, are the forces of interference in our lives - what keeps us from Gods/Spirit

and when that is our battlefield (our beliefs, our ideas, our thoughts, our assumptions, our defense mechanisms), and our "enemy" (ourselves) uses every trick in the book - even our weapons change

Wars of Spirit are the hardest, because we dont expect to see "ourselves" on the other side, pushing against us. we spend a lot of time anticipating the problem being someone else, or the problem to be outside us entirely.. but the truth is, not only do we struggle, but we struggle against "ourselves" and the army of our own misconceptions and judgements about.. everything. our own Ego

it would be like declaring war in a mirror

know that while this battle isnt winnable, it is meant to start at Birth and end at Death. meaning that this battle is one of constant energy, and a constant awareness we need to do better by our own lives and the lives of others

in the mirrior of strife we learn ourselves, and with careful study, begin to understand that we fight our false selves in the same way you would wrestle a small child for the choke hazard in their hand. our stance should be in the understanding that we cannot let the destructive habits of Ego/False Self in

to be alive at all is to engage in this battle within yourself

and to navigate this battlefield, and encounter the traps and pitfalls of our own Spiritual Path - we realize the most liberating thing of all - we cant win

there is no one TO win

if you begin this conflict thinking "i must win against the forces of myself" you lose immediately, and will always lose

but when you realize this conflict is a dance with Gods, you will never fight a day in your life

so whether you are promised "Great Esteem" at the hands of the Gods, or lay waiting to be given what you are owed - i suggest you start figuring your way out of that trap as quickly as you can

the true dangers of taking on the awareness of this fight, is doing so in Righteousness. you cant fight the whole time thinking you are winning, and thats the joke

who is winning? why? why do you think you are victorious in any situation? why do you think winning can happen? what is this fight to you then, truly?

---

here i would like to say that the words of this entry were completely channeled, and i give my thanks, my praise, my love and my body to Ares for helping me understand the question i asked

as i move forward on my own journey i must answer this myself, and figure out what my stance is in my own life.. Gods i thank you! Mars i thank you!

[ganondoodle]

demise backstory (summary)

I didnt actually plan on wrtiting a summary of demises backstory (that i came up with, idk if its any good) but im realizing how long it will take me to draw it all, especially with job related things getting in the way all the time, so i guess im gonna post a badly summarised version of it right here right now, some things might change but thats always the case with my writing, nothings set in stone.

(please be aware that im not the best writer and didnt put much effort into this, it got longer than i thought but well meh :V ignore the typos, i wrote this at 1 am ;O; )

I didnt proof read anything, so this is a mess, anyway here goes nothin:

As far as i know, there have been multiple cases of hyrule having some sort of alternate mirror version of itself or just an alternate world somehow somewhere, so my personal idea about this is that demise WAS what hylia is for hyrule, a deity of protection. thats also where the whole inverted triforce symbols come from in my design for him, im not saying its lorule, but its definitely inspired by it to some degree. so they also had a triforce (here simply called "relics"), but it was split into the three pieces, for each of the three main nations/countries one, originally it was split like this as a way of sharing it equally AND to keep it safe, since if someone was to want the whole thing, theyd have to fight three different giant nations for it, which was thought as being pretty impossible.

as i said before, demise (might not have always been his name idk) was their deity of protection, he was there to keep the peace, to prevent the three countries from going after the relics themselves, tho he was always a cocky bastard he wasnt as destructive and hateful as he is now, back then he was still the servant of their gods after all. for a long long time he was successful at keeping everything as it was supposed to be, but of course, it cant go well forever, i dont have all the details yet but basically, those three nations started war after war, he was able to keep it from escalating for quite some time  but at some point, the people found out that if they destroyed his statues (just like hylias in canon) to prevent anyone from praying to him, he wouldnt know, at least, not immediately (my idea was that the statues are a sort of communication link to whatever their god was, so in ancient hyrule, if you prayed to one of hylias statues, and asked for her protection/help, she would know instantly and show up within seconds) 

alot of battles were fought without demise hearing anything about it, until someone found a statue that wasnt fully destroyed. when demise showed up however, the person had already died as they were wounded when fleeing from the battlefield. wondering how this all came to be he went to look for where that person came from, since if there was actual big trouble he should have known about it much sooner.  

he must have missed the biggest battle his world had ever seen, given the sheer size of it .. and the amount of corpses scattered all over it.

this only happened because of the greed of the people in power for the rest of the relics, which promised power, more power than they already had, plus who wouldnt want to know what happen if the relics were combined again, given how they've been seperated since the beginning. 

Fueled by anger and grief over how many people had lost their lives without him even KNOWING that a war of this size was happening, demise tried to ask the gods as to what he was supposed to do, how could he stop these needlessly cruel wars over something so small ? but the gods were silent. 

so he had to decide on his own, what was the best thing to do ? after careful consideration he couldnt think of anything else but to destroy the relics, after all, he could touch or use them himself as means to prevent him, as an already powerful deity, from falling for that greed for power, just like the inhabitants of his world did now.

the first one was the easiest, they didnt know his plan and let him wander their sacred halls with no second thought .. until he raised his sword once he stood in front of that cursed relic that led only to bloodshed and death. of course the news started to spread that their protector had apparently turned against them, some thought it was because they destroyed his statues, others because they thought he feared they would be more powerful than him once they gathered all the relics. on his way to destroy the second one he was met with resistance, but nothing he couldnt get through. the third one was a fight of an army against one deity. demise won, but not without killing some of the people he swore to protect .. and the only reason he was doing this, was for their own good.

after the deed was done, instead of everything getting better, it was getting worse. the people were more united than ever. against him that is. and the world fell apart. the oceans started to shrink, the winds would blow more harshly with each passing day, plants would wither away as if robbed of life before it began. demise was never overly beloved by anyone even back in the beginnings, but he could deal with them hating and resenting him, as long as they wouldnt go to war against each other, he was happy, more or less. what he couldnt handle was watching as his world started to die a slow and agozing death, right before his eyes, without him being able to do anything against it. and the gods stayed silent.

was it because he destroyed the relics ? were the gods mad at him for going against their orders and deemed it appropriate to punish him by having to watch the people suffer ?or was it that the gods that were bored of playing with this world and moved on to the next ?

he would never know the answer. 

the world died slowly over hundreds of years of painful suffering, desperately trying to to stay alive. even then the last remaining survivors knew him only as the destroyer of their world, responsible for their suffering. his former self wiped from memory, and only hate remained. 

after the last mortal died, the last tree withered and the oceans were gone. there was nothing left to guard, nothing left but the ruins of the past and the painful reminder of how this all came to be. the question of why it had to happen, was never answered, as the gods abandoned him and his world a long time ago.

in a fit of rage he sought to destroy the last temples, the once sacred places which inscriptions have long faded away and the place he once called his home, where he used to speak to his gods before they fell into this agonizing silence and as he drove his sword through the sculpted stones which once housed their voices, it split into two . ..

..and through the cracks blew a wind carrying the scent of a world that was still alive.

[daisyxbuckley]

O’Death//Calliope Kane Book 2

Disclaimer: Look yall. You should know by now, sometimes you will get 2 chapters at the same time and sometimes you’ll get one every three months from me. So enjoy lol

Description: The Grounders have been defeated. The people on the Ark have landed safely….so where is the rest of The 100? Calliope and her friends must work in a race against time to save everyone..no matter the cost.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Calliope, I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but that was such a reckless move. You have no idea if he’s going to make it or if they will believe him if he does.” Kane was pacing back and forth in the council room as Callie stood without emotion, looking at the wall in front of her. She knew her dad was pissed, she could feel it radiating off him in waves, but she didn’t care. Bellamy was at risk and Callie would do whatever she needed to do to protect him. Finally realizing that her father had stopped yelling, the redhead broke from her thoughts and looked at him. “You realize that this isn’t about what you want right? This is about the good of our people.” 

“The good of our people rest on Bellamy’s shoulders. If he doesn’t make it then we all die.” Callie said as she fought to keep her voice neutral. “What I did was make them look the other way until he could get to where we needed him to be.” 

“I don’t care why you did it, I care that you did it without consulting me.” Kane yelled as he stepped closer to his daughter. “You are NOT in charge here anymore.” 

“And i’m also not a child anymore, yet you still treat me like one!” Callie finally let go of her anger. She was pissed that her father of all people, was still treating her like she had no clue what she was doing. “We survived for MONTHS down here by ourselves. We did what we needed to do. And then you guys arrive and act like we haven’t done a damn thing but we have..” Callie moved so her father started to back up. She knew that he had never seen her like this, but maybe it was time he did so he would let her grow up. “I am almost 20 years old. I know what i am doing, and what i was doing was for the good of our people. If we keep Bellamy alive, then we all live.” 

Kane wasn’t able to respond to his daughter as the door opened to find Abby standing there. The two broke eye contact to look at her as she cleared her throat. “Callie, Clarke needs you in the radio bay.” She said quietly. Callie didn’t even spare a look at her father as she turned on her heel and brushed passed Abby. The older woman watched the redhead walk down the hall before turning to her father. 

“She’s gonna get herself killed one day.” Kane said as he groaned, a hand rubbing his eyes. “And she doesn’t realize it.” 

“She does...but Callie is very much the type of person that doesn’t care.” Abby said moving over and putting a hand on the mans shoulder. “She has grown into a spectacular woman, Marcus. You and her mother made sure of that. But you need to understand that she would do whatever she needed to do to protect her friends.” Abby didn’t need Kane to say the worry that he was going through. She felt it with Clarke, as she was the exact same way. “Maybe it’s time we step back and let them do what they’ve been doing all this time.” Hearing the man grunt, Abby hid a smile as she rubbed his back. “Come on. Let’s go try and help the girls.” 

*********

Callie was still trying to come down from the fight with her dad when she reached Raven’s work area. The only thing that calmed her down was hearing a voice...his voice. 

"I don't know. We tried to follow them, but they went to a classified level. Maya borrowed the schematics of the vent system from her boss, and I'm still trying to find a way in."

Callie ran towards his voice and noticed Clarke’s panicked look as she handed the mic to the older girl. 

“Bell? Is everything okay?” She asked quickly. Callie knew they didn’t have much time as the second they realized Bellamy was in there he was as good as dead if he didn’t do what they needed him to. 

“Hey Red. Yeah, everything is fine. Maya is just getting me a different route.” His voice seemed calm but Callie knew that he was nervous. 

“I think I found a different route, here is that radio and earpiece Raven needed.” Maya’s voice came across the radio and the two girls looked over at Raven who shrugged. 

“I’m making him mobile.” 

“Bell, you HAVE to save them. We’ve already lost too many people...we don’t need to lose anymore.” Callie said quickly. Looking at the time she noticed Clarke trying to wrap it up. “I gotta go, but check back in two hours okay?” 

“I will Cal. But you be safe too..I don’t need anything happening to you out there.” 

Before she could say anything else, the radio cut off and the three girls were alone in the room with their thoughts again. Before any of them could say anything, Kane was coming into the room and Clarke stood up. 

“Clarke, it’s time to go to Tondoc.” He said, his eyes never going to rest on his daughter. He knew that they wouldn’t be able to talk about this calmly until things were less tense, but that didn’t help her at all. 

“I’m not going.” She said quickly. Standing up she went to walk out the door when Callie grabbed her arm. 

“Clarke, you have to. You have a meeting with Lexa...she trusts you.” She said quietly. 

“Callie, you and I both know that I can’t go with our friends still in that mountain. They are in trouble and I’m not leaving them till I know they are okay.” Clarke said as she looked over at Kane. “Lexa knows and respects you as well. She will be more than willing to talk to you.”

“Clarke, the whole point of being a leader is when to choose what battles you want to fight.” Kane said. He knew why she was so upset, but she needed to focus on the bigger picture. 

“And I also need to know when to Delegate. You and Callie will both go to Tondoc.” 

“Maybe your mother should go.” Kane said slowly as his eyes shifted to his daughter finally. Callie didn’t miss the fact that it took him almost the entire conversation to actually look at her. 

“She is still Chancellor and she's needed here.” Clarke said, shaking her head. “Please, just do this for me.” 

The two of them were silent for a few more minutes before Kane sighed and nodded his head. “Fine. But you have to promise me that you will go as well once you hear back from Bellamy.” Clarke nodded and headed out of the room while Callie watched her walk out. Abby walked in and watched her daughter leave as Kane looked back at the redhead. “Callie, be ready to leave in twenty minutes.”

 All Callie did was nod and go back to the radio with Raven as her father left the room with Abby. “You and your dad really got into it, didn’t you.” Raven hardly spoke to Callie after what happened with Finn. Honestly the girl didn’t blame her, but she was a little surprised that the first conversation that they would have was about her father. 

“He seems to think that I shouldn’t be making the choices that I am making.” Callie said carefully. “That i’m being reckless.” 

“Callie...you have done some stupid shit since i’ve known you...but you have also been the most level headed out of all of us.” Raven said quietly. “You’re not being reckless, you’re just trying to keep everyone alive.” 

Callie honestly had no clue how to respond to what the other girl said. So she didn’t. Putting her hand on Raven’s shoulder, she squeezed it before heading out of the room herself. Running into Clarke, the two girls shared a quiet moment before everything was about to erupt. 

“If you hear from him...don’t tell him where i’m at. I don’t want him worrying about me or his sister when he needs to focus on this.” Callie said carefully. She didn’t need to elaborate. Clarke knew. 

“Cal...if something happens.” Clarke said slowly 

“Nothing is going to happen. We are going to Tondoc, we are going to get help and we are going to get our people out of that damn mountain.” Callie said as she squeezed Clarke’s hand. “I have to go meet my dad. I’ll see you soon.” 

Clarke watched the redhead hurry off down the halls till she was out of site. The pit in the bottom of her stomach wasn’t going away and the girl hoped that this wouldn’t be the last time she would see her friend. Walking back into the radio room, she heard Raven on the radio with Bellamy again. 

“I’m at the intersection, which way?” His voice was hurried as he had been running. Trying to avoid the guards while also getting the help from Maya had been difficult but the sooner all of this was over, the sooner they would have their friends back. 

“You just passed the filtration system. So you’re close Bellamy.” Raven’s voice crackled through the earpiece as Bellamy tried not to roll his eyes. 

“Can you be more specific?” 

Before anyone could answer that question, they heard it. The high pitched whine of a drill cutting through the silence. The screams coming from the recipient who the extraction was being done to. “Nevermind, found it.” He said as he crept closer. 

“Bellamy...is that a drill?” Ravens voice was quiet and distorted and Bellamy instinctively nodded before he remembered she wasn’t with him. 

“Yeah…”

“It’s a bone marrow extraction.” Clarkes voice sounded horrified and the man knew that if she was here her face would match his own. Bellamy watched the doctor stand next to a man in front of a table with another man on it. 

“Are you ready for the last treatment you will ever need?” The doctor asked. 

“You have no idea how ready I am.” 

“Thats Emerson. I see he made it back on time.” Clarke’s voice was almost bitter, but she kept quiet as the men kept talking. 

“Did she say anything about the army?” Cage asked as he looked down at the other man 

“No sir. She did say that she was coming for us...and that she would let our people live if we let the others go.” Emerson said quickly. “I’m sorry I failed sir.” 

“No, it’s fine. We will finish the job tonight.” Cage said rubbing his chin. “Apparently there is a war council tonight in one of the villages. All the leaders will be there. We have the missiles. With that hiting them, they wont have the forces to continue to fight us.” 

Clarkes eyes went wide as she looked at Raven. “Bellamy, you need to get in there and disable the fog now.” She quickly muted the radio and paced for a second. 

“Did Kane or Callie take a radio?” She asked the shocked girl next to her. 

“No. The only open channel is this one and we need it for Bellamy.” Raven said. “Clarke..what are we going to do? 

“Clarke, hey where is Callie? And Octavia was in Tondoc when I left-” Bellamy’s hurried voice came back over the radio as the blonde grabbed it. 

“They are fine. They are currently helping with other things though.” She said quickly. “Let me focus on warning the leaders. You focus on getting us in.” 

“I will. Be safe.” He said quickly before the radio cut out. 

“Why did you just lie to him?” Raven asked as Clarke started out of the room. 

“He can’t be distracted. Two of the most important people in his life are currently in danger and we need him focused on the task at hand. If I leave now, I can reach Tondoc in time.” She said quickly before heading out. 

“Hey. Don’t get blown up!” Raven yelled. 

***************

The journey to Tondoc was quiet. Callie refused to look at her father and he barely glanced at her. She knew that with everything coming up they needed to have a discussion, but both of them were too stubborn to say anything. Eventually the torches of the village filled their visions and Callie was met with a smiling Octavia. “It’s about time you got here. I didn’t think you were coming though.” 

“Clarke has some things to take care of so she sent us in her place for now.” Callie said, giving the shorter girl a squeeze. Seeing Indra’s stoic face, Callie nodded. “It’s good to see you again Indra.” 

The older woman just nodded as she motioned towards the tent Lexa was in. “She’s waiting for you.” 

Looking over at her father, he nodded as she followed Indra into the tent. Lexa’s eyes showed surprise for a split second before her face morphed into a small smile. “Calliope. It’s good to see you again. I wasn’t expecting you though.”

“Clarke had some loose ends to tie up back at camp. She sent me here just so we can get started.” As Callie spoke, she heard the tent open and the blonde hurried through. 

“Well, Clarke of the sky people has finally honored us with her presence.” Lexa said with a grin. 

“I am so sorry i’m late commander. But we need to talk.” 

The look on Clarke’s face was enough to set off alarm bells in Callie’s head. “Clarke..what’s going on?”

“There is a missile coming this way. They are launching it any minute.” Clarke said quickly. The joking demeanor that Lexa had was gone as the words came out of the blondes mouth. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, we need to start evacuating now.” Clarke said looking at Callie.

“No.” The tone was clear from Lexa and the two girls looked at her with mouths agape. 

“Lexa..we have to tell everyone. What’s the point of having an inside man if we can’t save these people.” Callie said  “We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“Is the acid fog disabled? Do we have our army inside the walls free? Then Bellamy’s job is not done.” Lexa said. Her face had a soft look on it as she knew this was hard for the others. “If we evacuate, they will know there is an imposter in their mist. Then we will lose.” 

“Lexa..I provoked them.” Callie said quickly. “They wouldn’t do this if I didn’t.” She knew that what she did was stupid, but she didn’t think that this would be the outcome. “Lexa please…”

“Sometimes we must concede a battle to win the war.” Lexa said quietly. She knew that neither of the girls could understand why she was choosing to do what needed to be done, but hopefully in time they would. 

“Let’s tell the clan leaders then. Help them get out and meet up at a point in the woods.” Clarke said quickly 

“And then how many more people will we tell? Where will we draw the line?” Lexa asked. The frustration on all three of their faces was evident as they tried to work a solution out. “"It is our only choice, and you both know it. You could have warned everyone up there, but you didn't. You said nothing, not even to your own people. This is war. People die. You both showed true strength today.” Lexa said as the other girls looked at each other.  “Don't let emotions stop you now. It's time to go.”

*********

Bellamy crept along the hallway to where his destination laid. He knew that he needed to hurry up and get the acid fog disabled, but it was proving harder and harder. When he heard the familiar crackle in his ear, he sighed. 

“Talk to me.” Raven’s voice said. “Tell me what you see.

“Close your eyes and imagine a bottomless pit.” He said as he quickly looked around and headed off down another hallway. “That’s what this is. How much father?” 

“According to Dante’s instructions, you’re almost there.” Raven said as she looked at the makeshift map in front of her. 

“What about Clarke? Was she able to get to Tondoc in time?” Bellamy asked quickly as he slipped through a door. 

“She should have. But it’s Clarke, she will get it done.” She said chewing on a pencil. “Now just focus on getting your ass to where you need to go and leave your sister and girlfriend to us.” The second she said it though, Raven knew she fucked up. 

“Wait..Callie and O are in Tondoc? I thought you said they were back at the base?” Bellamy said quickly as he stopped. “Raven, why would you guys lie to me?”

“Because we needed you focused, Bellamy. And we still do. They are going to be fine, but you need to move or all of this will be for nothing.” She said quickly as she sent a silent prayer to the universe. 

“Fine.” Was all he said before the radio clicked off.

********

Callie and Clarke stood in Lexa’s tent as they debated what to do. “I’m not leaving without my dad and Octavia.” Callie said. “No way in hell.” 

“Calliope, if we don’t leave now, then all of us will be dead.” Lexa said quickly. “And in what way will that be helpful at all.” 

Callie shook her head. “No. Take Clarke and get out of here. I’ll get my dad and Octavia.” She said as she started towards the tent opening. 

“Callie, no. If something happens to you-” Clarke cut herself off as she grabbed the older girls arm. 

“If something happened to me...make sure Bellamy knows there’s nothing he could of done.” She said before slipping back out. Using the light of the bonfire and torches, Callie spotted her father pretty quickly talking to Indra.

“Dad.” She yelled as she ran over to him. “Dad, we need to go now.” Looking around, Callie looked at the woman next to her father. “Have you seen Octavia?” She asked quickly. Indra shook her head as she stared at the redhead with a wondering look. 

“She went out with one of the scouting parties. What is going on, young one?” Callie really didn’t want to lie to the older woman. She hated the thought, but if Lexa wanted her to know then she would have found a way to tell her. “Callie, where is the Commander?” 

“They left...Clarke and Lexa left.” Callie said quietly. “There is a missile heading this way. And Clarke came here to warn people, but Lexa said that it would ruin the plan in the long run.” Callie saw the look of horror from her dads face and tried to ignore it. “We need to get out of here.” 

“Callie you need t-” Whatever Kane was about to say to his daughter was cut off as it seemed like all the sound in the forest was wiped out and everyone was lifted off their feet almost at the same time. Callie felt her feet leave the earth and felt her body fly back before it impacted with a tree and she fell to the floor. The earth spun as she tried to figure out what the hell had just happened, and chaos erupted all around. The entire village was on fire and the ringing in her ears was so loud that it was like someone had set off an alarm inside her brain. Feeling herself be lifted up, her fathers face swam in and out of her vision as Callie looked around at all the destruction that was caused. All the bodies of people that she knew, dead and staring vacantly at the sky. The stars were covered by all the smoke that was rising from the ground. 

She felt the hands on her as her vision tried to settle. Looking into Clarke’s eyes, Callie tried to find her footing and realized that her father was nowhere near where he was standing a minute ago. “Clarke...my dad. I don’t know where he is.” 

“My mom is here. But we need to go NOW.” Clarke said as she led the redhead away from the town and towards where Lexa was. “We need to get to the spotter who aimed the missile.” She said as Lexa looked at Callie with a worried look. 

“Clarke, if he’s the spotter then he’s here to make sure we are dead.” Lexa said. “If he knows we are alive.” She looked down at Callie trying to catch her breath against a tree. “And she is in no shape to go anywhere.” 

“He won't know. I’m going to kill him. Callie, you need to stay here and help the wounded...i’ll be back as soon as I can.” Clarke said as she headed into the woods. 

*****************************************************************************************************

Callie watched the two girls head into the dark woods and turned her attention back to the village. The damage was insane as she watched people run around and try to find loved ones that were buried under the rubble. Once her mind cleared, Callie realized that her father was nowhere to be found and panicked. 

“Dad!” She yelled as she ran through the smoke and fire. Feeling hands grab her, Callie looked into Niyko’s worried face. “Niyko. Have you seen my dad?!” Her voice was horse from all the smoke and the damage to her body but Callie was more alert than ever. 

“No, but you need to rest. You’re bleeding as well.” He said motioning to her forehead. The cut above her eyebrow stung as she realized she would probably need to get stitches later. 

“No, I don’t have time. I need to find my dad.” She said looking around. Hearing her name, Callie looked over and saw Abby running towards her. Once the woman reached her, she made sure the girl was okay. 

“Abby, my dad was standing right next to me when the missile hit.” She said loudly. The ringing in her ears made it hard to know if she was yelling because of the noise or because she couldn’t hear a damn thing. 

“Callie, I will find him. I need you to get back to Camp and get help. Can you do that.” Abby asked as she tried to keep her voice calm. She noticed the girl not paying attention and raised her voice to get her to look. “Callie, please. If you can go get what I need to help people here, then we can save more people.” 

Nodding, Callie took one look at Abby and bolted towards the woods that led to camp. She knew that she needed to get help, but her mind was also on if her father was alive or not. Callie felt like she had been running forever when she finally saw the lights of camp. James met her outside and the redhead just collapsed into his arms. 

“Callie, what the hell happened?” He said as some of the others in the camp made their way around her. “We saw the light and heard the boom from here.” 

“A missile. Mt Weather sent a missal.” She said quietly. “We need help for the wounded.” She looked up at some of the other people around as they ran and got what they needed. “We need to go back.” 

“Callie, you need to get patched up first. You’re bleeding really bad.” James said as he moved her hair out of her eyes. The front matted in blood and covered in soot and smoke. Her skin was paler than usual as the blood loss took a toll on her.

“No. Just put a band aid on me and let’s go.” Callie said as she saw Jackson run over and quickly bend down to her. 

“Callie, you’re gonna need stitches.” He said as he put gauze to her wound and taped it down. 

“I know, but now isn’t the time. We have to go now.” She said as James helped her up. “There are more people who need help right now.” 

James shook his head and tightened his grip on her body as he looked at the others running around, seeing Jackson as he ran over. “Callie needs stitches, but you need to go and help Abby. Take a few people and get supplies to the wounded.” He said as he reached down and scooped the girl next to him up. 

“James, stop.” Callie said trying to fight her way out of his arms. “I promise i’m okay.” She knew that she wasn’t very convincing and Callie eventually gave up fighting and let James take her to get patched up. 

“Cal, you can go help when I know that you’re going to be okay.” He said as he headed towards med bay. Entering the room, he sat her down on the bed as he looked around for things he would need. 

“James, you’re great at a lot of things, but stitching me up is not one of them.” The redhead said as she put a cloth to her forehead. The fabric was getting soaked and the girl knew she needed to take care of it and let James help her. Moving back over to stand between her legs, James moved the cloth and checked the wound before getting the needle and thread ready to stitch. 

“It might not look as good as when you do it, but at least you wont be bleeding everywhere anymore.” He said with a slight grin. “You ready? We don’t have time for pain meds right now.” 

“Yeah, just get it done and over with.” Callie said, closing her eyes. Hissing as his hand touched the wound and pinched it together, the redhead held back a scream of pain as she felt the needle pierce her skin to sew the gash shut. After what felt like hours, James finally stood back and applied a bandage over it to keep it from infection and touched her arm. 

“Hey, you’re good to go.” He said as he watched her open her eyes. Moving a strand of hair from her face, James stood there as his hands went to rest on Callie’s upper thighs. “You gonna be okay?” He asked as she looked down. 

“Yeah, I will be once we get everyone out of that mountain.” She said as she jumped down from the bed. “I need to check on Raven, then we are going to go.” Callie didn’t wait for James to respond before she was running down the hallway to where Raven was. Busting into the room, Callie saw Raven at the radio and tried to ignore the look of worry she was given when the brunette saw her. 

“Cal, what the hell!? Are you guys alright?” She asked as she quickly got up and walked over. Waving her away, Callie walked over to the radio. 

“I’m fine. Has he checked in?” Callie asked as she sat down. Raven shook her head. “No...but he’s due to.” 

As if on queue, Bellamy’s voice rang through the room. 

“Raven, are you there?” 

“Bell, it’s Callie.” She said as she grabbed the mic “Octavia and I are safe. Please tell me that you are as well.” 

“Cal? Thank god, why did you lie to me? I told you to stay at camp so you were safe.” Callie could hear the worry in Bellamy’s voice as he tried to keep quiet. 

“Because I didn’t need you to worry. I needed you to focus. Now are you almost to the fog chambers?” 

“I’m working on it.” Bellamy said quickly. “Somethings wrong...my card isn’t working.” 

Callie and Raven locked eyes as James entered the room. Both girls knew what it could mean with his card not working, but neither of them wanted to admit it. “Bell..what's going on?” 

“Give me a minute. I need to figure something out.” And with that the connection cut out again. Pushing back, Callie stood up quickly. “Raven, you and Wick need to help him. I need to go find Clarke and help with what I can there.” Raven nodded as she went off to find the other man, leaving Callie and James alone. 

“I’m going with you.” He said quietly. Callie shook her head with a sad smile. 

“I need you here, to help in case we don’t make it back. I need to know there is someone here we can trust.” She said quietly, looking at the floor. Feeling his hand take hers, Callie finally looked up into his ice blue eyes. 

“Callie, you can’t sacrifice yourself for him….he wouldn’t want you to.” James said softly as his hand moved to her cheek. “You can stay here and be safe.” 

“James...I love him. And I know he would go through hell and back to make sure that I made it out of there alive as well.” She said as she moved his hand. “‘I’m sorry.” And with that, Callie pushed past the man in front of her and sprinted towards the mountain. 

*******************

It felt like her lungs were on fire before Callie finally saw some of the people Lexa had brought to fight. Thankfully they recognized her and pointed her to where their leader was, Callie just hoped that she wasn’t too late. The whole time her mind was focused on Bellamy and everything that could have happened to him as he was stuck inside that mountain. Seeing Clarke’s blonde hair, Callie pushed on till she got to the other two girls. 

“Callie!” Clarke yelled. “Thank god.” She said as they hugged. Stepping back, Callie nodded to Lexa who looked a little unnerved but hid it well. 

“I think Bellamy has been discovered. His card didn’t work anymore and the only way for that to happen would be if he was caught.” Callie said as she tried to catch her breath. Before either of them could say anything, one of the grounders ran up to Lexa excitedly saying that they saw the signal. 

“He made it.” Callie whispered. The pit in the bottom of her stomach was finally gone as she heard Lexa give the order to sound the horn to proceed. Noticing Octavia, Callie ran over to her. “O, thank god you’re okay.” She said quickly but was taken aback by the look on the girls face. 

“You knew. You knew about the missile and you and Clarke were going to just let us take our chances.” Octavia spat at the older girl. 

“O..please. I was coming to find you when it hit. We were told not to say anything BECAUSE Lexa told us not to. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you though. I couldn’t let that happen.” Callie pleaded. She didn’t want the younger Blake mad at her too, but it seemed like it was heading in that direction. 

Before Octavia could say anything, Clarke came running up. “Octavia. You’re not going to the mines with Indra. It’s too dangerous and I need to keep you safe.” 

“Fuck you Clarke. I’m so tired of you and trying to keep me safe. I can take care of myself and obviously Indra thinks so too.” 

“O, Bellamy would be devastated if anything happened to you. We just want you to stay alive.” Callie said quickly, hoping to stop a fight before it started. 

“Worry about yourself Callie.” Octavia said before she turned and walked off. The older girls watched her for a second before Callie turned to the blonde. 

“Come on...we have a job to do.” 

[bloededhoine]

okay i saw this trend going around and decided to give it a try: making my sister vibe check the witcher characters!

warning: she's really mean

machacho (what the fuck kind of name is that?)

buff. everyone knows it bc he enters a room by groaning loudly and complaining about “wow it’s so hard to bench press 500 lbs like wow i wish i could just do like 110 and get a workout but im so buff I can’t smh”. lowkey hated by everyone but still gets the ladies. 100% would ditch you in the morning and then forget he fucked you and try to hit on you in two months if you had different hair. alcohol. 1/10 sorry (you should be you bitch that's my husband)

henrietta

gives off super bitch energy. but not always a bitch. also she loves that her reputation is that she’s a bitch. but a serious badass. could kill you. if you fucked her and like ran out in the morning she’d find u and cut ur dick off (accurate). but also can be a pussy ngl (you are what you eat ig). she’s like either a bitchy simp or an independent badass. no in between. 4/10 (why 4/10 that's so low what the fuck?)

josh

john paul jones is his style inspiration (???). wack. broods for fun. if he’s brooding don’t interrupt. can’t deal with emotions. like seriously dude plz go to therapy (true). but he’d rather die than admit he needs help emotionally. thinks he wants a girlfriend and when he gets one he bolts immediately bc commitment issues. then lowkey feels bad and wonders why it keeps happening. see again: go to therapy 6/10

brad

really good at commanding armies. really bad at emotions. he’s great at winning wars but still can’t grasp that human life is...ahem...valuable. like would be confused why ppl were mad if he sent all his soldiers to their death if they ended up winning the battle (ok of everyone on this list he looks LEAST like a soldier whatttttt). 3/10

broderick

acts tough. lowkey a softie but doesn’t know how to be. emotionally stunted. thinks peak flirting is like punching women (JAJSJDJD). loves playing mario kart and would 100% destroy the console if he lost. absolutely loves beer. like beer is his best friend (beer and dandelion). not great with money. but again, he really does want to be nice he just legit has no clue how. also his friends aren’t exactly helpful in that department (his friends are idiots so yeah). 6/10

triss lite (THATS SO FUCKING RUDE)

mean but tough. like super tough. could cut you. drinks misogynist’s tears for breakfast. absolutely hates the patriarchy. not great on racism tho (???). gets into trouble bc she sometimes forgets that she doesn’t need to be mean around people who like aren’t misogynists. like will sometimes say really mean shit to her friends and then they get hurt. cannot apologize. like cannot. 5/10

joker (i mean... yeah)

dumb. and annoying. like he pisses me off. i don’t like him. not like a mean person just fucking annoying. like bro shut up. would not think sexism, homophobia or racism exist. not because he’s a sexist, homophobe, or racist. but bc he’s just really dumb. 2/10 (finally some good fucking analysis)

angie

feminist icon. but lowkey a man hater. it’s iconic tho we forgive it. would rather die than be in a relationship with a man. does not know fear. 100% carries ninja stars wherever she goes and is freakishly good at wielding them (it do be kinda canon tho). her fav pastime is going to bars and getting guys to buy her drinks. then when they go to talk to her she throws the drink in their faces. intimidating with good reason 8/10

stupid face (THATS UNCALLED FOR WHAT THE FUCK)

cannot bathe. does not know hygiene. super powerful tho. but like when u enter his castle it just smells so fuckin bad (what??). people are scared of him but they shouldn’t be. he’s a pussy. cannot command an army at all (yeah). literally would cry if someone tried to fight him 0/10

chad

loves frats. like thinks they’re the cornerstones of America. 100% thinks spain is the same thing as mexico. ceo of “I can’t be misogynistic my girlfriend is a woman”. but doesn’t have a girlfriend. just one night stands. would def has a note on his phone ranking the girls he sleeps with and doesn’t refer to them by name. just like “long legs, c cup 6/10” (EXCUSE YOU HE DRINKS HIS RESPECT WOMEN JUICE BY THE GALLON). got the scar bc he tried to be an asshole to angie (GOT THE SCAR CAUSE HIS DAUGHTER IS KINDA A DEMON). -1000/10

hit the 10 image limit but let me know if you want more!

[theholyyuunoaduck]

Reasons why i hate mikaela hyakuya

@gurensangel @chaoticgaymess sorry i know you wanted me to repost your post but its easier just starting my own and making my own hashtag so incase anyone else asks me about this i can just look for the hashtag and send them this

Mikaela is honestly one of those characters i desperately and i mean desperatly tried to love i mean his kid self was so so easy to love and want to protect and hell i cried a shit ton for him and his past his problems everything but the reality is mikaela is a toxic person and here im going to be explaining everything as clearly as i can though im sure that everyone has heard most of these arguments i also have some most people wouldnt even consider

Why is mikaela toxic? Well simply said when you have one person and only one then its obviously going to be an underlying mental health issue now you could say other characters are similar to mikaela within that regard like every other vampire but heres the thing we dont get to see much of the other vampires so im more or less apathetic to those vampires and their actions however in accordance to mikaela we have watched his actions since day one and his chemistry with the rest of the cast of owari no seraph what grinds my gears isnt the fact that mikaela acts with violence and distrust towards everyone but the actions that the rest of the cast have taken towards mikaela and his inability to react differently towards those same exact characters aka shinoa squad

Shinoa squad has never once treated mikaela with prejiduce with agendas or anything of ill will since day one the fact that shinoa basically is the cause of death of many of her comrads during the nagoya arc where mikaela attacks the jida troop (and yes it is a troop considering that after reading pannel after pannel theres upwards to 20 soldiers who the majority of which are equiped with standard blades unlike the protagonists you know basically cannon fodder) but my problem is the fact that in that chapter shinoa instigated their betrayal to save mikaela from the rest of the troops shinoa's life was threatned straight after acknowledging that this could be the last she ever layed eyes on yuichiro by letting mikaela escape with him first threatened by a random soldier and then right after rika inoue and by her superior narumi makoto and shinoa the fucking chad she is just took all the punishment because she knows damn well that it is her fault her comrads died because of her distraction to allow mikaela to escape eating away the precious time guren baught his soldiers to run away and escape and how does mikaela respond? He tells yuu to abandon them it doesnt take a genius to say that betrayal especially to the hiragi family is met with death even if mikaela doesnt understand the rules and regulations of human law i doubt vampire law is much different meaning he knows damn well shinoa could lose her life for betraying the army for his sake and not just shinoa but her entire squad

I already know what youll say "but but mikas a vampire he has no emotions" bullshit absolute pure fucking bullshit of an argument considering the fact yoichis mention of the word family/freinds was cause for pause for mikaela and not just mikaela look at ferid look at crowley theyre all so vibrant and brimming with personality and emotion and i am damn well sure no one disagrees this could just be kagami's writing and forgetting about this plotpoint

The fact that despite this mikaela is a manipulative fucker we all know yuu is a dumbass no one can deny this the fact that mikaela is willing to point his sword towards yuichiro and threaten him his so called beloved speaks volumes about mikaelas ego his straight up ego thinking that he's the only one that could be right after all mikaelas the wisest of the bunch right i mean after all everyone of his other decisions was followed through with outstanding results anyone? Anyone? Thats right not once has the squad or especially yuichiro listend to mikaela and do to that fact everyone is alive and kicking examples? (This is also an example of manipulative mika) Mika: Yuu abandon shinoa because if she's as great as you say us sticking around will only cause her trouble you cannot tell me that isnt mikaela trying to twist yuu's feelings for his family to abandon them because had they listened to mikaela shinoa would have been impaled by the chains kureto produced to awaken the seraph of the end

And almost right after that same situation upon mahiru injuring yuu awakening abadon mikaela high tails and runs away carrying yuu and we actually see a pannel of shinoa squad scrambling for saftey straight up abandoning them again and going so far as to yell that he is yuu's only family despite all the other shit

Alright so lets play into the whole mika doesnt have feelings dont you think that having no feelings would make your sense of judgement all the better? And if so with all the evidence and actions of shinoa squad why in Gods blue earth would he basically act like an actual dick towards shinoa who saved his life risked her life for him as if shinoa is the sole reason yuu is in the prediciment of being possessed by yuu?? Isnt that the least bit infuriating??

On next of we shouldnt listen to mikaela in the same arc again mikaela suggests lets leave shinoa squad to face off against crowley AND FERID with this bullshit of "theyre after us theyll just ignore them" i mean are you kidding me? Ferid the man youve been with for 5 years is going to not have the time of his life killing a bunch of teenagers for the simple fact that if yuu is running away and leaving them.they must not be important to him therefore easy pickings for him

Lets not trust guren after all he's just using you he doesnt care the man loves that boy like as if he was his son and you can argue against me with this some time later but alright lets give mika the benifit of the doubt so obviously in mikas infinit wisdom his set course of action is killing him infront of yuichiro??? Really??? In front of him?? Killing his father infront of yuu man that just speaks volumes about how mikaeala only cares about the feeling he gets with yuu rather than carring about yuu as a person

Imo mika cares about how yuu makes him feel rather than who yuichiro is what do i mean by this? Its simple mika doesnt give a damn what makes yuu happy hell mika would cage yuu up if it ment keeping him safe and alive but is that really living? Its cruelty if i adopt a dog feed it and give it water but never play with it and isolate it thats basically animal cruelty

Anyway back to mika trying to kill guren just right there yuu begs mika to stop and grabs his arm pulling him back and what does mika do? What does he do? He lops off yuu's arm the one that was holding mikaela back from attacking what makes this scene even worse is i had so much hope for mikaeala because the last battle they won mikaela said the thoight of losing his.comrads made him dizzy what happened to him not having feelings? I lived loved loved that statement i imagined uncle mika to yuus kids being the best man to yuus wedding begging to be the one to make the wedding cake so so so so so many au's based off those little words and right after removing yuu's limb from him kimizuki and yoichi step up for guren weapons drawn and mikaela threatens them?!?!?! I mean honestly how fucking hypocritical can you be how big is his fucking ego???

Ill end it with this point because i have work in the morning i Still have another 20 bullet points i want to add but im starting to think i have artheritistis in my hand because my fingers hurt so much but anyway my point being mikaelas character contradicts yui's in an unhealthy way while yuu's character trait is to run towards danger to be a hero mikas is to run from danger its basically a tug of war and the thing is the story so far has actually turned out well for the cast running into danger for yuu made the 6th angels trumpet to grow silent destroying all of the four horsemen monsters and letting humanity take a huge step towards rebuilding but had it been mika's way theyd have run right out of that building never to see it again my point is if someone pulls and runs towards something and another character ties a rope to them and runs the other direction that tension will cause nothing but problems instead of running forward with the protagonist in order to keep them safe and actually contribute into the success of the mission

Also like the hashtags say this is only part 1 because as i said i have to sleep and my hand is killing me i should have done this earlier when i had more energy in order to bring along all the sources like the chapter and page where you can find these exact moments along with photos of said arguments/bullet points

[elusianknight]

Do you have any headcanons for Cyril?

It’s been awhile since I was super into fe3h, BUT

I think my most prominent ideas about him come from the idea that archery is probably one of the first thing he picks for himself. I left off in the middle of the GD route but I’m assuming archery must be at least kind of common in Almyra, right? Even if 15yo Cyril isn’t willing to admit it to himself, maybe that’s why he finds himself interested in archery. 

Since the game drops the ball with Cyril like they do with so many others, I think his blatant hatred of Almyra is ridiculous (not to mention his whole backstory just... is bullshit imo like not that he’s lying, but it’s lazy on part of the writers... they said he’s a war orphan who hates Almyra because they didn’t want to write about or come up with or research another culture). So as opposed to his writing in the game, I think over the timeskip, while Rhea’s influence is absent, he starts doing things for himself. It starts with him learning the bow, learning how to ride a wyvern (I MEAN COME ON THAT SHIT IS PROBABLY SO HARD AND ALSO SCARY???) and then maybe he learns other things from Shamir too, like woodcarving or survival skills. He’s such a good kid, I hate that Rhea gets a pass for treating him like SHIIIIIT because well, I love Catherine, but she’s a grown ass woman who has kinda dug the hole for herself of being willfully ignorant of Rhea and the church’s failings/cruel tendencies... but Cyril is a kid who Rhea has basically groomed and indoctrinated.

So I would like him, over the course of the timeskip or after it (especially in GD route) to find some comfort with his Almyran roots. Like, maybe he looks into their archery styles, or something like that. I feel like he might mistake Shamir’s flippant attitude toward her own country for hatred (which is also because Intsys is lazy and doesn’t want to write anything substantial about Dagda, just like with Brigid, Almyra, and Duscur) but she does return there with Catherine in their ending. I think they would bond over having complex relationships with their homelands. Even Catherine to an extent, with her being a supposed traitor of Faerghus. UGH THIS IS WHY THEY”RE THE BEST FAMILY OK

I’m sorry these really aren’t headcanons. You just got me thinking about them all again. I love Cyril a lot. Baby boy. He fucking shreds things in my GD playthrough alongside Lysithea. Baby power couple.

Speaking of which. I LOVE THEIR SUPPORT CHAIN SO MUCH OKAY!

I love Edelys but when it’s not CF give me that Cysithea or give me death dude. No I do not see their ending I do not care canon is fake and trash anyway.

It honestly makes me think that Rhea just wanted him as a tool (which is kinda obvious the way she seems to enjoy blind devotion to her) because she was content to let him work himself to the bone and... not even give him a place to sleep??????????????????????????????????????????????????? The kid literally sleeps wherever he keels over at the end of the day and doesn’t even have a room but Rhea pats herself on the back for taking child slaves I mean rescuing orphans. And everyone else is like yeah, this is fine. I mean I guess House Goneril also literally has child slaves so the Fodlan people are just like yeah, whatever. Goddddddd I hate the writing in this game, ANYWAY

Where I was going with that was, if she saw this great potential in Cyril and truly wanted to give him a position of remotely important status someday (a knight, an advisor, a teacher, a professor, whatever, something above a servant!) she probably would have had someone teach him to read. BECAUSE YOU KNOW, THEY LIVE AT A FUCKING SCHOOL LMAO. 

So when he is embarrassed about it, when Lysithea offers to teach him... it reads to me as another thing that he wants for himself. Sure, it can help him help Rhea more... but he gets his own enjoyment out of it too! It’s not just about helping Rhea, or spending time with Lysithea, (the latter of which is so much more healthy jfc these poor kids) but Cyril finding something FOR HIMSELF is so important to me okay. Archery, reading... I think if the people who wrote fe3h had braincells, these would be mere steps on the path to Cyril breaking apart from Rhea and realizing that she isn’t all that she seems. Cyril takes plenty of fe3h’s characters to task and he doesn’t hold back. I think when the curtain’s pulled back on Rhea he would give her a fucking earful and be really disgusted at her manipulative nature. I want front row seats with popcorn. And also to give him a hug. Speaking of that!

I think he has a lot to talk about with Catherine too.

They were both saved by Rhea, right, in slightly different scenarios (obviously Catherine’s feelings toward Rhea are tinged with romantic feelings toward her too, while Cyril sees her as more of a mother figure). But they both idolize her and I feel like Catherine is a picture of Cyril’s future in that way--she’s willing to do anything for Rhea (except die, as she says in her Shamir supports, but I feel that this is almost a malleable aspect of her character considering uh. She will stick by Rhea’s side in CF and go against her own morals and values and participate in a battle she knows she’s gonna lose). But the point is, Catherine is loyal to the point of self destructive tendencies. And that’s the path Cyril is heading down in 3h, where he goes to battle to fight for her even though he’s a novice (moreso than the students being formally trained even if they are similar in age) and probably would be better like. Hiding somewhere with other civilians.  Shamir is the first person in both of their lives to significantly challenge their perspective on Rhea simply because she doesn’t see what the big deal is. Catherine setting her hometown ON FIRE and throwing herself at Edelgard’s army is where Cyril can (and does) end up too... and MAN THATS DEPRESSING but I think they should have been able to defect--I think they should be able to support with Shamir and even each other, to question things like Lonato’s death (like damn Catherine... you killed his son too.... who was your friend................ that would be a good jumping off point for a “hey wait this is kinda fucked up” conversation) and come to the conclusion that hey, maybe Rhea ISNT always right and maybe there IS something wrong here. Even if they aren’t willing to fight AGAINST her, I think they should have the capacity for being recruited post timeskip (you know... battlefield recruitments... the things that happen in FE games... sigh). I mean yes, this is basically what my fic is about, with them slowly questioning thanks to Shamir’s influence through the course of the war. 

It’s 2am and I’m rambling all over the place, but I hope you got some enjoyment out of it. Stan Cyril Fire Emblem. Cathmir and Cyril is a wonderful family and Shamir can help her wife and son heal from their traumatic indoctrination by the scary dragon lady and her wacko church. 

I’m assuming you’re the person who read my fic and messaged me about it, but if you’re not, here ya go.  Please read til chapter 2, chapter 1 isn’t as good but 2 slaps. I promise.

[wisteriafield]

Had a thought again, the saying "yesterdays heroes are tomorrows enemies" which was a sentiment about how tons of tankies back in the cold war would dispose of their muscle to remove the risk of being upended themselves after they did the dirty work or any other possible dissidents

But suddenly i thought of an original gundam story that could use that phrase in multiple contexts as a tagline for its story

I was thinking about how colonization and loss of collective identity create nationalist movements and 0079 paralleling that with Japan, i feel a similar thing happened with Vietnam

During WWII the US trained vietnamese soldiers to harass Japanese troops stationed in Vietnam and the people who volunteered (like ho chi minh) saw it as an opportunity to try to vouch for their peoples independence after being a french colony, but after the war the US treated vietnam like property to be returned to the french because that was their terms to agreeing to join NATO, which greatly angered them and caused them to be disillusioned with the us and became radicalized

Its often told that despite leading a movement, minh would eventually be cast aside from his own peers for their own ambitions once he became too old.

Notes about this series

Main character is a girl, with tan skin closer to how southeast asians look

The earth-a-like would be referred to as "the central planet" as earth federation is parallel to the US, the moniker refers to the US's spotlight in world politics as well as their own self absorption

The planet to parallel Vietnam is a dense two layered canopy jungle planet called Verdia because im brainstorming right now, and is a colony of the central planet

The first episode shows disturbing normalized things in the girls life as she runs an errand like carrying water; she memorized the location of land mines on the road as well as being completely unfazed by the sounds of battle nearby and constant bombing runs of mobile suits dropping bombs or burning trees in the upper layer canopy for better visibility, because the 2nd layer obscures even mobile suit vision by being just as tall as them. Shes heard stories of bombs that were dropped but didnt explode and how some of her friends died by getting too close to them out of curiosity and then suddenly exploding and knows to steer clear of ordinance even if it looks already used

Most of the central planet soldiers are around her age too, one night in her village she has an uncomfortable encounter with two of them wandering, obviously inebriated or on something else, and has to fight them off and steals one of their mobile suits and has to kill them to survive. The stress of having her idealized perception of central planet soldiers that was shown to her and being forced to kill to narrowly avoid sexual violence and death causes her to physically break down in the cockpit once the fight is over.

She is eventually found by a guerilla bloc that opposes the central planet and works with them, her uncanny survival ability owed to her understanding of the ecosystem (such as using firmer trees to make harder turns than MSes normally can) as well as the instinct shown in the beginning thats kept her alive up to this point. While she has a mass produced grunt suit (eventually customized), the gundam of the story itself is piloted by who would be her rival

Her rival embodies the idealization of Lyndon B Johnson’s “Hearts and Minds” program. A conscientious, compassionate soldier who truly wants to do good by the native population of the Verdians, but has misinformed convictions of what he’s been told the enemy is due to a lack of perspective. Disciplined to a fault, his rigid but noble nature clashes with those under his command, leading to a fragging attempt later on. He allows a private journalist to shadow him, with his naivety thinking that he can be a positive and benevolent force among his peers.

His MS is the only with beam tech, in particular there is an anecdote of one of his men wish he’d just use the beam saber to cleave down the jungle so they can get a better visual, reminding him in a time of which he did exactly that, which caused a mudslide that decimated a nearby village. The rest use machetes and ballistic weapons

The central planet has plenty of enemies beyond their reach, some of which fund the guerillas on this planet, but to avoid stretching the span of the plot this wouldn’t be too heavily focused on.

By virtue of a proxy war, the central planet has trained locals who believe in their cause to fight their own kind, in order to minimize casualties of their own

While they skirmish a few times before, a major turning point in the middle of the story is a parallel to the My Lai Massacre, his men organizing bombing runs and sortieing their MSes behind his back on a village due to their frustrations, betrayed expectations of wanting to go hunting for enemies rather than protecting and supplying locals, fueled by distrust and xenophobia for Verdians. The girl and the rival decide summarily that they have to work together, fighting together at first, and then she leaves the rest to him so she can try and protect some civilians, taking some children into the cockpit with her. Though she tries her best, many still die needlessly, causing her to cry uncontrollably clutching her head and pulling at her hair. The children make themselves small and hold each other, like walking in on a parent in a moment of emotional weakness they know they should not be looking at. The event ends with them having a tense and uneasy but mutual respect for one another.

The rival becomes disgusted beyond reconcile and deserts, realizing he could never have disciplined by example nor led by virtue, and that the attitude the central army has towards verdians is fundamentally wrong to its core (in which he recalls his CO who resembles General McArthur speak of verdians as savages whose natural state is chaos and evil)

The girl begins to doubt her place among the guerillas as they yearn to “reclaim” a national identity which they have not been able to call themselves true Verdians having been colonized by multiple nations with deeply vested interest in their resources, or being used as a staging point to reach the central planet. The movement for freedom begins to turn into a call to establish superiority by a show of strength, boldly planning to make a move to annex the capitol to prove it.

In the end of the story, rather than fight a battle trying to beat the central army, she needs to deliver the recorded proof of atrocities that took place on verdia to the journalist that the central army tried so hard to bury, in a 3 way battle between her, the central army, and her former allies she no longer wishes to associate with in the destruction waged in the capitol city during a mass evacuation effort, scenes mirror the infamous images of people clinging to helicopters taking off as they fill the helipad

The central forces eventually leave due to political backlash, but the planet is a smoking crater, cities ruined, millions of her own people dead, and despite her efforts, her own fellow verdians would later be consumed by propaganda from the central planet and defend their actions despite everything she did by the time she becomes an old woman coping with her trauma

The rival is publicly awarded by his government for heroism for his intervention during the massacre, but in private is court martialed and dishonorably discharged, while government officials lament the plummeting of their outside image while alluding to the Domino Effect.

[fuckallthegood0nesweretaken]

The Dove and Her Hound - CH. TwentyTwo

Title: Winterfell

Words: 1,561

Warnings: Implied sexual content (no actual smut), swearing

Taglist:  @tonbluemchen @affection-rabbit @art-flirt @10morgan10 @thatting @iwontdance-dontaskme

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

Sandor Masterlist

Game of Thrones Masterlist

Masterlist

~~~~~~~

“If we have the Dothraki ride hard on the King’s Road, they’ll arrive at Winterfell within the fortnight,” Jon said.

 “And the Unsullied?” Dany asked.

 “We can sail with them to White Harbor, meet the Dothraki here on the King’s Road, then ride together to Winterfell.”

 “Perhaps you should fly to Winterfell, your grace,” Jorah said. “You have many enemies in the North. Thousands fell fighting your father. All it takes is one angry man with a crossbow.”

“It’s your decision, your grace,” you said. “But if we’re going to be allies, the North has to see us as allies.”

 “I agree. If we sail to White Harbor together, it sends a better message,” Jon said. The Dragon Queen started at the war map.

 “I’ve not come to conquer the North. I’m coming to save the North.” Daenerys looked at Jorah. “We sail together.”

 ---

 You and Sandor had packed everything up and were walking down to the boats. You were to ride with Jon and Daenerys to White Harbor then to ride to Winterfell with the whole army. It was going to be a long journey, but you’d finally be home again.

 It was basically an uneventful trip and you got to Winterfell with no trouble. Your morning sickness from the baby had come and gone and you were starting to show. Your old clothes hadn’t fit you for a while now, and Daenerys had gotten you new ones until you arrived at Winterfell. You rode next to your love and kept your eyes straight ahead. Jon and Daenerys were riding the dragons and you could see everyone look on, fear and wonder in their eyes.

 Once you had gotten into the castle, you took Sandor to your room. Thankfully, it had been untouched with everything that had happened. Sandor put down your packs and walked over to you.

 “So this was your room. It’s cozy,” he said.

 “It is, isn’t it?” He put his arms around your middle and let out a hum.

 “I was thinking that we could but the cradle right next to the bed. My mother always had us close to her when we were babes and I would like to do the same.”

 “Anything you want, I will do.”

 “Then let’s get married.”

 “Now?” Sandor asked.

 “Now. I can get the maester and we can go to the Godswood here and finally be husband and wife.” Without warning, Sandor kissed you like his life depended on it.

 “Yes. Let’s get married.”

 ---

 It hadn’t taken long for you to find the maester and soon you were in the Godswood, Sandor standing next to you. You didn’t wear a fancy wedding dress and Sandor wasn’t all dressed up either, but you didn’t care. All that mattered was that you were getting married to the love of your life.

 The ceremony didn’t take long and before you knew it, you were having your first kiss as husband and wife. You didn’t need a witness for the marriage, all you needed was Sandor. After the kiss, Sandor picked you up bridal style and whisked you away to your room. You giggled the entire way and only stopped once he kissed you lovingly.

 “I love you,” you said against his lips.

 “I love you too. Now, shall we consummate this marriage?” You laughed and pulled him down for another kiss.

 “I would love to.”

 ---

 You were asleep on your bed, the furs only covering your bottom half. Sandor was up and getting dressed to go down to the armory. He didn’t want to leave you, but Jon had already knocked on the door, telling him he needed to go. With one last kiss to your forehead, he pulled the furs up to your shoulders. You stirred slightly in your sleep but didn’t wake.

 “I’ll be back soon, Dove,” he said as he left the room.

 Sandor walked through the halls of Winterfell, only getting lost once. When he made it to the courtyard, he found his way to the armory easily. He got there and saw Gendry working.

 “It’s not easy making a blade this big out of Dragonglass,” Gendry said. He handed the axe to Sandor.

 “You’re saying you’re good at it?”

 “I’m saying it’s a tricky material to work with.”

 “You know who makes weapons for the Wildlings? Cripples and cocksuckers. Which one are you?”

 “Leave him be,” Arya said from behind him. Sandor turned at the sound of her voice and looked at her like he’d seen a ghost.

 “Heard you were here,” he said. “You left me to die.”

 “I robbed you first.”

 “You’re a cold bitch, aren’t you? Guess that’s why you’re still alive.” Sandor took one last look at her. “I have to leave now. I’ve been gone from my wife for far too long.”

 “Wife?”

 “I’ve married your sister. And she’s carrying my babe.” He left Arya standing there, flabbergasted.

 ---

 You had woken up while Sandor was gone. You didn’t think much of it and started to get dressed in clothes that would actually fit you. Sansa had gotten some of your mothers’ old clothes and you were grateful. Now you could walk about the castle without being self-conscious. Right when you were about to open the door, Sandor opened it for you.

 “I was hopin’ you’d still be asleep when I came back,” he said.

 “Sorry to disappoint. Where did you go?”

 “Your brother called me down to the armory to get my weapon. I saw Arya down there.”

 “And what did she have to say?”

 “Nothing really. We just called each other names.”

 “You can’t keep doing that,” you said with a laugh. “You’re technically family now.”

 “Aye, don’t remind me.”

 “Sandor!” You swatted his arm and he chuckled.

 “I jest,” he said, grabbing onto your waist and bringing you close to him. “But only a little.”

 You let out a laugh again. The two of you kissed sweetly until you broke it.

 “I would love to stay here and kiss you forever, but I have yet to see my youngest sister. I will be back later.” You gave him one last kiss then walked to the door. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

 ---

 You walked leisurely through the halls of your home until you came upon the library. You were trying to find Arya, but she was nowhere to be found. So you decided to take a break and walk around the castle. Memories were flooding your head from looking around the library and you didn’t notice that someone was in the room with you.

 “You’re looking well,” Arya said as she stepped from the shadows.

 “Seven Hells!” You yelped, covering your beating heart. “Don’t scare me like that!”

 “I’m sorry,” Arya said with a laugh. You joined her and when you were finished laughing, she jumped into your arms, being careful of your baby bump.

 “I’ve missed you,” you whispered into her hair.

 “I’ve missed you too.” You could feel the tears prickling in your eyes and you pulled away from Arya.

 “Have you any exciting tales to tell?”

 “A few. But probably not as many as you,” Arya said, gesturing to your bump. You blushed and waved her off.

 “You should know how this happens by now. If not, go ask the maester.”

 Arya laughed. “How far along are you?”

 “Seven months, I think.”

 “Do you hope for a boy or a girl?”

 “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m just happy that it’s going well. No complications have happened so far.”

 “That’s good. And I also hear that you’re married now.”

 “I am. And I think you know to who.”

 “I do. He told me two hours ago,” Arya said. You sighed.

 “He has a big mouth. I wanted to tell you myself.”

 “That he does. He doesn’t know what to keep to himself,” she said, a smile on her face. “I’m happy that you’re here and that you’re alive.”

 “Me too.” You took her hand. A silence enveloped the two of you and you stood.

 “My husband is probably wondering where I am. I should go ease his worries.”

 “I have to go check on the armory. Gendry is making me a custom weapon. I’ll see you at supper?”

 “Of course, love. See you at supper.” You kissed the top of her head and she walked out the door. With a sigh, you shook your head. She was all grown up, and you could tell that she had seen things that no one her age should have seen.

 Rubbing your baby bump absentmindedly, your thoughts drifted to the war ahead of you. You knew that Sandor was going to fight and that he wasn’t going to let you anywhere near the battle. You shook yourself out of that as soon as those thoughts entered you head. You didn’t want to think about that right now. It would cause you too much stress and your baby didn’t need that. So you walked out of the library and made it to your room. You entered and saw Sandor sitting in a chair, sharpening his weapons. Once he saw you, he set them down and opened his arms. You sat down in his lap and stayed there, no words were said. He rubbed your belly gently and held onto you tightly.

 Yes, this was all you needed.

[icefrozendeadlyqueen]

Embodiment of a Goddess: Prologue

A/N: It might just be a one time thing. It was hard to write I couldn’t decided where my mind was taking this. I am incapable of following the show in ways. This pop up in my head, and I couldn’t stop writing it.

I don’t own the viking show or its characters. I do own mine

idk Viking Language Google told me:

Að unna means love. 

if you know plz let me know, I appreciated Thank you

enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~

"You lied to that boy, sister", (y/n) locks the door once both of the Perovina sisters were in. The daughters of the Godesses people whisper among themselves as they go in crowds and out. (y/n) glances around her sister's chambers when she claim in front of the crowd the truth Ashla is Hvitserk's other half perfectly align with the prophecy she sees in her mind. (y/n) wears a fine silk (f/c) dress with adorning accessories gifted to her by her husband. Long and horrendous years that we have lived not knowing if we gotten to our destination that century or achieve the path we were given. 

Ashla & (y/n) always together... that was the idea of the gods for us. (y/n) can know the desire future of the beholder with no regards on reality. You can bend the future to your bidding with or without re-precautions... you have never suffer any or because the gods fear darkness that you have at your disposal. You are the delighted representation of light in all types or forms. This world has proper our mission is true, we have done enough and given everything to become what we are now. The journey here to find Kattegat was not easy; however, we prevail in what we do best create hell-firing WAR.

"You know as well as I that you are Hvitserk's future for all of these not to be in vein. You have to marry him not King Umpa of the Legion", (y/n) extend her arms about sketching a map of all the steps we have taken through the vile obstacles that the gods would give us just to fuck with us. Heart tightens making hard for you to not scream at the skies for the stubbornness of your sister here, "It's meant to be", She whispers under her breath trying to atone for the pain she cause Hvitserk. Ashla wears a blood red cloak tender flickers of light emit from the piece of clothing moving about as if alive. (y/n) catches sight the darkness pilling at the hem of her sister's dress. Ashla wore a black dress (y/n) has no idea how can she turn dark everything touching her body of the finest fabrics Hvitserk could find. (y/n) remembers that day by the markets Hvitserk searches fabrics for a dress to be made for Ashla, "There is a bet at stakes (y/n). Ashla told me that if I can somehow make a dress keep its color while she wears it at the next feast! She'll dance with me for as long as my heart desires", His lips press together staring from thick to soft fabrics not sure what would do. He knew that such task was impossible to achieve in his heart he knew thus still he tried to make it a reality. In Hvitserk's shared chambers with your sister, Ashla darkness among men, (y/n) has this whole plan to convince Ashla that this is madness.

"He told you? so it was you that help Hvitserk win huh?", (y/n) glances up lips curl into a genuine smile from your sisters lips. A sense of helpless washes over you when you stare into her eyes it comes with looking into darkness, "You know having share thoughts its extremely annoying", (y/n) claims knowing very well it isn't. You and Ashla are more connected than your husband and you would ever become, "Bridge fell?, Cave Bandits?, Dragon?, Saxxon army? and so on and so forth. I may be arrogant after all who better to protect you than darkness huh? Your Ragnarsson's husband? A human? ha! Cute", Ashla goes on about set reasons to avoid centering to the matter at hand, Hvitserk. You know from the way she caress Hvitserk's objects all around a sense of peace rushes in the room when Ashla's eyes soften barely showing the blood she is so hungry for all the time. War its what keeps her going, she says. War is all she needs, she continues. Love is not something she wants, liar is what she is. 

It was it a time matter a jump or life ending you have no idea what was first. No one ever interrupt us discussing matters for Kattegat's future that's what we used to tell Ragnar and he had no reason not to believed us. We have won wars for him prosper Kattegat to levels they can't wrapped their minds around. Vikings are still afloat on top of the world by the era we are in they should have died long ago. It's our duties as Goddesses to keep that from happening. It was sacred, we said. After this we would part ways going to our respective Ragnarssons; however, fate laugh in our faces. I have already knew what was coming if I let my sisters even inch closer to the window she will escape my judgement as usual. 

"I appreciate you, sisters", (y/n) starts stopping the raging monsters that's Ashla from continuing the rampage of her trying to evade love, "I am not discarding that I need you just as much as you need me", Ashla's black shadows Holt their movement watching Ashla do the same. She gulps saliva hearing (y/n) words trying to reason with her, "I don't know why don't you accept, Hvitserk. He has given you care and acceptance more than anyone in Kattegat had. Ragnar and Aslaug took a liking to me; however, Lagertha took a liking to you". (y/n) a satisfactory grin writes in your lips. Ashla breath for the first time since 2 weeks ago when you dare her to stop breathing to see how long a Goddess can go without air. Her shadows rejoice at the name of their war mentor a human, Ashla would have laugh, she would to anyone else not to Lagertha. 

"You unhitched swine. W-why! you!", Ashla swing around ready to throw her darkness at me in a playful manner to get me back for breaking her solemn walk. It was the only person that would work among us sisters, "Hvitserk", Ashla breath out her eyes flying from (y/n) to his green ones. You glance at your right stand one of Ragnar's oldest son, Hvitserk. (y/n) lets go of the breath you were holding happy that now everything might get fix, "Ashla". Hvitserk breaths out, he blinks a couple of times before taking a step forward towards her. Ashla's hand shake a bit of an anxious habit she is well known for, but no one is brave enough to tell her. (y/n) knows thats a sign that Hvitserk's presence is affecting her. Hvitserk stops looking around localizing every single shadow of hers. They have a tendency to frighten the living hell out of him, "I told you, they won't attack you...  (y/n) and you might be the only people they tolerate". Ashla blurts softly as if scared to raise her voice afraid of what might come out. They keep eye contact ignoring your presence all together, "Hvitserk and Lagertha". (y/n) corrects Ashla slight mistake.

"We need to talk", Hvitserk takes a step towards her. His hands closer to his chest though spread about hoping to get close enough to bring her into him.

"No good conversation comes out 'we need to talk' spit it out!", Ashla raises her voice a bit trying not to shout. Shouting only leads to them fighting, and she wants to enjoy this a little longer.

"We don't always see each other eye to eye. (y/n) and you have help my family keep on living for all these years with nothing in return. You given me a muse, and a reason to go into battle knowing well I'll always come out alive... my brothers don't have what I have. Sigurd has (y/n) and I can confirm I have you", Ashla got lost in his voice the way his lips move distracting her awareness. His eyes on hers is all a girl can wish for the reassurance that loneliness is long forgotten. She takes deep breath walking the couple steps towards him. She locks her arms around his back while he does the same to her, "Speak to me. I am begging you. Why? Have I fail you in anyway? Do you wish to marry me? Is that why every King or Earl thinks they stand a chance?". Hvitserk goes on to this feast trying to find an explanation for what happen. King Umpa of the Legion proclaim to Kattegat that he wants Ashla hand in marriage at the feast. The royal family's smiles left as Ashla said yes instead of no. Everyone who knows the relationship between Hvitserk and Ashla stare horrified at Ashla confirmation.

"Is it not your wish to have the greatest army of the world, Að unna? Ragnar's army are equal to none. Sigurd has (y/n) who can see our greatest and worst future. I have you, but you have no army that you can brag about. I want to give you that. I want to give you everything", Ashla takes a breathing letting her words free in the pages of destiny. A black tear runs down Ashla's cheeks showcasing the truth in her words. (y/n) has never seen her sister shed a tear not even really weep. You wait to see if she laughs at the end of her words but she never even grins. Hvitserk lets go off her tender embrace bringing his rough hand to cup her cheeks with tears on his own eyes, "I have you, Ashla. I don't need an army when I have you. You are darkness for the rest of the world, but for me you are my redemption. You make breathing a blessing not a curse. You make living paradise not hell without you in my life I would have gone mad". Hvitserk closest the gape between their lips sealing their future from now on till the ends of times.

[xxxgrianeatsendermitesxxx]

Glass tower, paper crown.

A glass tower stood tall in the centre of the dark forest, dwarfing all the trees in comparison. Inside the very top of the tower sat a prince, a legendary prince lost to time. He sat by the window and stared out at the storm outside as the clouds swirled from the tip of the tower roof, lightning sparking around it. He'd been sat like that for centuries, never moving, constantly taking what was rumoured to be his last breath. Many brave heroes attempted to rescue him as his crown was fabled to give power over a civilization, some aimed to win his hand whilst some merely to snatch the crown from his head. Cleo Dwrdraig was once of the latter, she and her pirate crew had stormed the tower and she'd even reached the tower itself. She'd put her hand on the door separating her from the crown she so craved when she found it to be locked. Those are her only memories of that place, or the only ones she'll tell you anyway. She's retired from the pirate life now, an undead bar keep running [insert the name of Cleo's ship here] which is her old ship run aground. She's the go to mentor for any hero aiming to take on the towers many dangers and even brave the dragons keep, she'll give advice on how to get to that little wooden door but no one ever seems to make it quite as far as she did.

The king had heard of this magic crown of legend and after hearing how close he had been to losing his throne, he soon outlawed any hero who embarked on this quest. He made it par to treason for his peoples saftey, how could they trust some genocidal stranger to rule them successfully? He didn't think they could, so he outlawed it and truly feared the day that the prince would be rescued. He did however think that if he had the crown himself then he would be even more successful in protecting his loyal subjects. So without alerting his subject, he sent criminals sentenced to death to attempt to fetch the crown for him as a way to escape their execution. Most died trying but he didn't mind, they were due for an execution anyway. That's how he found himself in the presence of a killer, a thief, a saboteur and a treasonous hero.

"Gentlemen." The king began, pacing before them with his hand behind his back. "All four of you have been sentenced to death but I fear that the gallows is too kind a death for you men, I wish to have you preform a favour for me. Maybe then I will rethink your sentence." The hero looked up at him, his red arcana eye glowed in interest. "What sort of favour milord?" He intrigued with a small tilt of the head, clearly slightly concerned. The king smiled and sat down in the throne for a moment. "Oh don't worry doctor, this is a favour you'll enjoy. You four are to retrieve the crown from the glass tower, it will be safer under my protection. I fear what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands so you lot are going to put my fears to rest and go and get it for me. Understand?" The four nodded, in varying degrees of willingness. The doctor had a small smirk resting on his face while the assassin frowned in disapproval, the thief looked hesitant but sort of excited and the poor saboteur looked like he was about to cry. The king went on to explain what weapons they would be given and how to use them, he gave them their equipment and supplies then sent them on their way. He hoped that they would succeeded but he knew that he was probably just sending them to their graves.

They'd been given a day and the training field to get used to their weapons so they would be ready for their quest and currently the thief was sparring with the doctor and the sound of crystals clashing against hard steel could be heard. The saboteur sat on the grass and fiddled with his own arcana tool in order to figure out how to use it to heal his new partners I'm crime. He was Captain Mumbo Jumbo, previously a captain in the kings army before he was found to have rigged a weapon to explode, he was of a level head and a nervous disposition. It was this nervous disposition that caused him to squeak in surprise when the assassin sat down next to him, having finished his target practice. The assassin was only known to the public as '85' but no one knew what the numbers meant but the swede introduced himself as Iskall. It was the first word he said whme he sat down. "Iskall, I'm Iskall, who are you?" Mumbo looked at him with a smiled and a nod. "Captain Mumbo Oliver Jumbo, it's a pleasure to be working with you Iskall." He smiled and put out a hand for the swede to shake, surprised when Iskall started laughing and gave him a high five. "Ex Captain you mean?" Mumbo rolled his eyes and chuckled, nodding in amusement. "I suppose you're right there, the king did rebuke my title when I was sentenced to death." He pondered for a second before adding. "Although if we succeed then I will get to keep my title so I suppose we're both right in a way." Iskall chuckled at that, nodding and sharpening his rapier. "Well then Captain, how about we spar?"

Mumbo nodded and stood, unsheathing his longsword and readying his stance. Iskall chuckled and leaped up, also preparing his stance. "Why'd you feel the need to carry such a hefty weapon then Captain? Any reasons?" Mumbo chuckled and rolled his eyes at the assassin, showing off his marvelous weapon. "Her name is Celestial Crimson, Celest for short and she's seen war and been in many more battles then any of your weapons ever have. Show her some respect." The swede burst into laughter as he lunged forward with his rapier, grinning as Mumbo parried it with ease. "You army types are so odd dude, why'd you guys name your weapons? Thats just weird." Mumbo chuckled and swiped at Iskall, manoeuvering the blade light it was as light as air. "Says the man with the glowing eye!" He called back as he dodged another lunge from Iskall, who was impressed with the brits prowess, Mumbo was clearly a huge loss for the army. The man wasn't the best at sparring, Iskall beat him three different ways, but it was clear he was an expert at tanking. A clear asset to the team and it was obvious why Mumbo had been picked for this task. The other two finished sparring and they switched partners, the thief was equally as good of a tank as the captain but could also beat him in spar easily. The doctor had his work cut out keeping Iskall down using mêlée weapons but could crush him easily with the assistance of his arcane magik.

They took a break for a lunch, sitting down on the grass with some meat pie as they talked and got to know each other. "So Captain, what /did/ you do to get sentenced to death?" Mumbo sighed at the doctors question and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well I caused a arcana weapon to explode and it...well it killed three soldiers." He chuckled nervously and changed that subject. "These are awfully nice pies, I always loved the royal cooks food." They all nodded, a little jealous that Mumbo had gotten the chance to try that so often. Then they started talking about their quest and how to begin, the doctor told then of the undead barmaid who had gotten further then anyone else. They all agreed that they should go to her for advice on how to tackle this mission, maybe she could even tag along. They went over what each member of the party should do and all agreed that the Captain should stick to being support even if he had fought in a war previously. The doctor deemed himself the leader and none of them could really argue with that as Ren was decreed group guard dog and Iskall showed off his incredible ice based arcana and the slime-like acid of his own design that would make a valuable asset to the group. They sorted out their roles and once their allotted time was over, they set out to see this barmaid the doctor had mentioned.

[paladin-andric]

Blackheart, Chapter 31: A Final Respite

It had been quite some time. Deep in the heart of the Citadel, things had changed considerably.

A while ago, the survivors had evacuated to the countryside. Before they did so, Basilrin was sent to bring word of the situation to the surrounding lands, in hopes of summoning the forces needed to push to the Blackheart.

The portal was said to be in the very center of the city. To get there, all they needed to do was take the main road. Only problem was the demons. Their corrupted thralls swarmed the main streets en-masse. It was why they had spent their time creeping down alleyways and side streets.

Soon...soon, the time for skulking would come to an end. Soon, the army would begin their assault.

Alexander ran the blade of his sword over a whetstone, looking it over carefully. He had forgone wearing his armor, seeing as it had been a few days since Basilrin’s return.

It was quite the wonder, seeing not only his return, but the arrival of the Lady Protector herself, Gira. The Black Dragon, as she was called, arguably the most important figure in all of Geralthin. She had been there for the entirety of its history, after all.

She and Basilrin had assured them that the army was indeed on its way. Already a few of those towns and villages nearby had arrived, a few guards and citizens armed with the bare essentials now joining them in the Citadel.

It was a good start, but they had to await the mass of royal forces before they could dare start their push.

Gira was another one. Now they had three dragons. That was three beasts of legend to rain destruction on their foes. Alexander could only imagine how marvelous that kind of support would be for the army.

All in all, things were looking quite hopeful. With a force like this assembled, pushing through the city really seemed more than a mere pipe dream.

All they had to do was cause a gap, if only for a moment, in the demons’ defenses. Then Alexander could slip through, enter the Blackheart, and destroy whatever artifact was anchoring the portal to their world.

“Hey.”

The knight turned to see Wurie walking up to him. The wolfman took a seat on the ground beside the knight, flashing him a nervous smile.

“Hey captain. What’s the matter?”

Wurie looked off into the distance as Alexander continued sharpening his blade. “I just...can hardly believe it, you know? That we’re so close.”

“It won’t be long now,” the knight answered.

“It’s been quite the journey.”

Alexander smiled. “Yeah. I think we’ve all learned things from this.”

“Really? I feel like you’ve been the one teaching ME here, sir knight!”

The man shook his head and sighed. “You should know better than that, Wurie.”

The wolfman frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Captain, when I first came here...I must admit that I didn’t feel the same way about you and the others then I do now.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Well...I was raised surrounded by other humans. Not once had I even laid eyes upon another species, aside from Stilich, the doctor.”

“Stilich?”

“One of the shellbacks,” Alexander admitted, “Father hired him to take care of us...but that was the extent of my knowledge. He was one of a kind as far as I was concerned. When I joined the army, I was deployed at the northern border. There, was my first experience with the wolves...with your people, Wurie.”

The captain grimaced. “Not, uh...not a good impression,” he whispered, his voice reflecting pain.

“That’s an understatement. I thought your people were animals, barbarians, monsters...I had a similar view for many of the peoples of Geralthin. In truth, the edict didn’t rattle me as much as it probably should have...it meeting Sigvin to change my mind about a “universal evil”. Even then I thought he was the exception, but now...I see I was quite mistaken.”

“Sigvin?” Wurie’s brows furrowed. “Alexander, you said...Sigvin?”

“Yeah. We commissioned him as pathfinder, during one of our expeditions into tribal territory. We chatted at the camp. Told me all sorts of stories about him and his people. Really helped me understand the wolfmen more than I did.”

Wurie’s eyes were a near sliver now.

“What? What’s with that funny look?”

“Alexander...was...was Sigvin a bard?”

The knight was caught off guard by that one. “He...mentioned he wanted to become one...how on earth did you know that? Wurie, have you met him?”

The captain gave Alexander a serious look. “...follow me.”

He paused only to put his whetstone away and sheathe his sword before he hurried after Wurie. The implications behind this left only one possibility…

Turning past another group of tents, Wurie called out to a figure facing a firepit. “Sigvin!”

The person turned around, sitting on a small wooden stump. In a rather puffy, fanciful striped and dyed suit, was a familiar face. Sure, the clothes, quilled hat, and lute was a far cry to the rags he was wearing all those years ago, but Alexander recognized him all the same.

“Sigvin...you’ve got a friend here.”

The unarmored knight stepped forward, eyes widening. It wasn’t just a shared name. It was him. It was really him.

“Sigvin…?”

The wolfman bard frowned. “Err, I’m sorry. You might be…?”

“It’s me, remember?! It’s Alexander! From the war up north? The Pureclaws!”

The bard’s face scrunched up as he tried to recall those memories. In a moment, his eyes shot open. “A-Alexander?!”

“Yeah! It’s me!”

The wolfman jumped up excitedly and put his lute down. “Hoo boy...Alexander! How have you been, friend?!”

The knight laughed as Sigvin grabbed and shook his hand wildly. “Ah, you know! Pretty busy. How the hell did you end up all the way down here?!”

“I TOLD you I was gonna move to Geralthin! I even went to college! All was going according to plan when, uh...this all happened.”

“Right...you were kicked off with the rest of the exiled.”

“Mmhm. I must say, I saw you here before, but I never imagined the man under the armor would be you!”

Alexander shrugged. “Well, here I am regardless! God I can’t believe we’ve been so close all this time!”

“I’ve been...unable to be of much help,” Sigvin admitted with a sheepish smile. “I, uh...I’ve been hiding back here. Thinking, mostly.”

“Well, why didn’t you leave with the other citizens?”

“Because he wants to help!” Wurie said with a grin, “Isn’t that right, Sigvin?”

“Yessir!”

The knight tapped his foot, looking worried. “Ah, but...what are you planning on doing, than? Not joining the front line, I’d hope!”

“Oh goodness no. I’ve never been a warrior, you know that! I AM a bard, though. My music does more than you might expect. I hope to rally and inspire the real warriors when we attack!”

“You really have become what you’ve always wanted, huh?”

“That’s right!” Sigvin said with a grin, “My dreams are...well, they WERE coming true...but hopefully! Hopefully, after all this, I can finally get back on track!”

Wurie nodded. “You will. We’ll see to that, won’t we, Alexander!”

“Yes...we will. I must say Wurie, it’s good to see you looking up like this. You, uh...weren’t in high spirits, the last few times we spoke.”

“What can you do?” the captain asked with a shrug. “I’ve been seeing and hearing some awful things. It takes its toll, but...it’s almost over. We’re so close. If there’s a time to believe, it’s right now.”

Alexander smiled. Despite everything, even the most mournful seemed full of hope now.

“Hope is a powerful thing to have. We’ll see this through Wurie, I swear.”

The trio sat around the firepit, Alexander looking back at Sigvin. “So...got any songs planned for all of this?”

The bard smiled. “Ah, well I’ve got a few popular tunes, but generally I let the music take me where it goes.” His smile quickly turned into a frown. “I do have...one song in the works though. An...ode to your friend, Alexander. The red dragon. Hopefully, my song will travel across the land once this is over, and all will sing of his sacrifice. I figured such an individual deserves nothing less.”

Alexander’s face scrunched up. “Ah. I see...I’m sure he’d be proud.”

Sigvin nodded sadly. “Yeah. I think he would.”

…

“Hey…”

The holy man didn’t look up as he continued reflecting over the words of the scripture. “Yes?”

“I, uh...I’m going to go with them, you know!”

Andric frowned. The paladin opened his eyes and turned his gaze to Senci, visage firm.

“I would strongly advise against that.”

The kobold looked hurt by that. “Oh, come on, master! They’re counting on me to help them!”

“And I’m counting on you to make it through this in one piece.”

“I’ll make it through just fine! I can do it, you know I can! I was trained by the best, after all.”

“Senci…”

“I’ve make it this far, haven’t I?!”

Andric turned around, shifting from kneeling into a sitting position. The pair were inside a tent, taking stock of their inventory and preparing for the final battle.

“I just don’t want anything to happen. I heard about your little stint in the medical tent, you know.”

“But master-”

“What if that happens again?”

“Master Andric…”

“You nearly died, Senci! I cannot abide by this! If I were to let you leave my sight, you could-”

Something snapped inside of Senci, if only for a moment. For the first time since he could remember, he snapped at his mentor.

“I’m not a damned child anymore!”

Andric’s brows raised at the kobold’s shrill yell. He couldn’t remember the man ever being stricken silent like this, but these were exceptional circumstances.

The young warrior felt immense shame and regret almost immediately. He could feel the heat well up in his face and fear creep over him as he looked at his stunned father figure.

“I...I’m sorry…”

The paladin grimaced as he looked the other warrior over. The small lizard shifted uncomfortably, head lowered and eyes full of guilt. Like he was about to be lectured.

Andric sighed. “It’s...fine. I understand. I know this is important to you. I just...I came all this way to make sure you were alright, you know? If something happened, I…”

The man’s lips pursed. “...I don’t know what I’d do. Over a decade, Senci. For twelve years, I’ve been making sure you were okay. For twelve years, schooling and training you...”

“I...I know,” Senci said quietly, “B-but, master...you...you have to let me try! I’m a grown up now!”

Andric shot the kobold a guilty grin and scratched his beard. “Well, actually, you’re still a year away from being an adult at the moment…”

“T-that’s close enough!” Senci insisted. “Listen...I...I’m thankful for everything, really, I am. I’m so lucky I have you to train me...but eventually, you have to put that training to the test! Master...you must let me loose on our enemies! You’ve prepared me for this moment, and I must follow through now! I can’t be useless in this battle, I can’t let everyone down! I HAVE to help!”

Andric frowned and closed his eyes, reflecting on the kobold’s words. Eventually, he opened his eyes and moved forward, wrapping his arms around the young warrior.

“Senci...I know. I know I can’t stop you from doing this...and I understand how much this means to you. You can go.”

Smiling with wide eyes, Senci returned the hug, Andric patting him on the shoulder.

“I won’t let you down. I promise.”

“The only way you could do that, Senci, is if you didn’t come back...so make sure you do, alright?”

Senci grinned wide. “Yes sir!”

…

Razorwing pulled back on his bow, getting a feel for the tension. He sat on the ground beside the tent he had been staying in, his supplies laid out around him.

After this brief test of his bowstring, it seemed like all was in order. He had brought a few extra with him just in case it snapped, but there didn’t seem to be many issues. He’d been using this one for about a year, but he was very fussy about maintenance, so everything still worked as intended.

“Is that the great hero Razorwing, playing around with an unloaded bow?”

The bird turned his head towards the source. Of course, there was no mistaking that voice, despite the additional cheer it seemed to be carrying today.

“You work with crossbows. You know full well the need to test and maintain.”

The human sat down beside him. Despite the mask, his eyes made his amusement clear.

“Obviously. I’m messing with you, dope.”

The koutu shot him a cocky grin. “You sure? You know, if you don’t know about weapon upkeep, I could teach you.”

“Yeah yeah, alright, ya dumb bird.” A light punch to the shoulder made the hero chuckle.

Paul took out one of his own crossbows and looked it over. It was a fair bit smaller than the ones the armies used, seeing as this was made with the ability to hold and fire with one hand. Still, it had enough force behind it, and the bolts were large enough to still be deadly. The downside was that without the heft of the larger models, punching through armor proved...problematic.

Not that this was generally a problem for Paul. As a bounty hunter, he generally worked to end combat before it began. He’d become a good enough shot and a quiet enough sneak to hit targets in their weak spots, while they were unexpecting.

“Hard to believe it’s almost over huh?” the human mused.

“Yes...quite remarkable. We’ve come quite a far way, we have.” Razorwing put his bow down and grabbed his quiver, beginning to examine his arrows.

“It’s been rough. The close scrapes, the demons...listening to you blabber on about nonsense,” Paul said with a laugh.

“Oh? You got pretty mad when I stopped ‘blabbering’ though, didn’t you?”

The bounty hunter looked away as the koutu grinned like mad. “Well...you know how it is...the silence in this hellhole is maddening. Any voice is a relief...no matter how dumb what they’re saying is.”

The archer raised a brow. “Oh ho! I see! So what you’re saying is I’m just a voice to you, huh? Just a distraction? Just something any other person could have been?”

“T-that’s not what I meant!”

The hero put a winged arm around the human’s shoulders. Shooting him a grin, he leaned in. “Don’t worry! I’m just...what was it you said? ‘Messing with you, dope’?”

Paul groaned, which drew another laugh from Razorwing.

“Seriously, though. You and I, friend...we’ll go far, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean by that?” with the birdman’s wing still wrapped around him, he looked over questioningly.

“You remember how well we worked in the streets. How long we spent without the luxury of a team, or any support. Just the two of us, against the demons. The scouting we did for each other...we make a perfect duo, don’t you think?”

Paul looked away, sighing. “We, uh...you’re right, but...I don’t know.”

“Aw, come on, pal! No one can beat a team like us!”

“I know,” Paul admitted, “We make an excellent team. Still...I don’t know if I’ll...be doing this in the future.”

Razorwing frowned. “Huh? What’s...what’s that mean?”

“Look. You’re a famous hero. You fight monsters, and lead parades, and have songs sung of you...and I’m a shadow. No one besides you knows my identity. I stalk the shadows. I slit the throats of thieves and killers. I hide from the fame that comes with the work I do. I’ve built a reputation as an ender of lives...despite no one knowing who I am.”

The hero gave him a funny look. “You’re saying we’re incompatible?”

“Well, that’s one part of it-”

He was cut short by Razorwing squeezing him, tightening his arm’s grip around the man.

“Come on, Crux! We’ve been through enough to know that’s nonsense!”

Paul’s eyes narrowed. “Argh. You wanna let me breathe, bird?”

“Very well.” Razorwing let go of him, the pair sitting beside one another once more.

“Hah. Well, besides that...I have an identity to keep concealed. We were able to do that AND work together because, well...we’re in a fog-covered city cut off from the outside world. If we started working together once this is over...I fear your renown, and the attention you draw would...make my secret impossible to keep.”

It seemed to finally dawn on the hero, now. His gaze softened, turning into a saddened, wincing visage.

“Ah. I...I see. You...we can’t...be friends anymore.”

There was a lengthy, uncomfortable pause. Both of them had their heads down, unable to look the other in the eye.

Paul’s voice caught Razorwing off guard.

“You know...you’re the only friend I’ve ever had.”

The archer blinked, eye widening. “Paul…?”

“I, uh...I made an effort to keep my distance from everyone...just so something like this wouldn’t happen.”

The human looked over at Razorwing. The koutu’s head hung low, looking defeated.

“I...there must be something we can do…”

Paul crossed his arms, his weapons checking long forgotten. “Is there...some place you go to all the time? I don’t know if I could leave a paper trail to keep in touch, but if we happened to be around the same places…”

Razorwing smirked. “I’m all over the place. The parades and plays and, well, you know.”

“Of course.”

“Well, my estate’s always open to you. Hey, maybe you could come over sometime and meet Eignach!” “Eignach…?”

The koutu looked surprised. “Oh, I didn’t tell you? We’re...together.” There was a short pause before Razorwing continued hurriedly. “Err, that’s uh, why I wanted to tell you, by the way, that I’m spoken for. I didn’t mean to...hit on you. I-I don’t drink, so, uhh...I wasn’t thinking clearly. My apologies.”

“Don’t worry about it...lightweight.” Paul was grinning. The way the fabric around his mouth was stretching gave it away.

“Well EXCUSE me for practicing a bit of clean living!” the hero laughed and shook his head. “Well, at any rate, we’ve been together for...not too long. We were just friends at first. Poor fellow was expelled from the kingdom during the exile. He grew up in Geralthin. He may be one of my people in body, but culturally, he was a human. Our homeland was alien and frightening to him. I took him in, seeing as he lost his home and...the rest is history.”

“A bird frightened of his own flock…” Paul pulled out his dagger and inspected it for any nicks and scratches.

“I suppose! He’s adapted well, though. You know he was a fan of mine? He was absolutely starstruck when we met. Even fainted and everything!”

“Everyone has a hero to look up to, I guess. You happened to be his.”

“That’s right.”

Razorwing turned to look at the human, still running his hand along his dagger.

“Hey, Paul?”

“Yeah?”

There was a brief moment of hesitation. “Whatever happens out there...we’re a team, alright? I’ve got your back.”

Paul lowered his dagger, turning to look at the archer. His eyes ran over the other man, taking him in.

“And I’ve got yours.” He held a gloved hand out to the koutu, who took it without hesitation. The pair shook.

“Domnall...it’s been a pleasure. Let’s cast these beasts back to the deepest pits of hell.”

Razorwing radiated confidence as he sat up straight. “Hah! The armies of hell themselves will learn to fear our names!”

Paul nodded, a smirk etched in his mask. “That’s what I like to hear. Let’s you and I give em’ something to call hell...bird.”

…

“Looks like everything’s ready.”

“Just about.”

The man and woman were sitting inside a small tent, just the two of them and their supplies. The man was sitting idle, while the woman was chewing on a piece of jerky. He looked at her with a near unreadable expression.

“Hungry?” she asked in between bites. He shook his head.

“Not a fan of jerky?”

He shook his head again. “I don’t care what I eat, Leianna. I’m just not hungry right now.”

The cleric shrugged, still chewing. “Suit yourself.” Taking another bite, she looked off to the side in thought. “Man, all they’ve got left around here is cheese and jerky.”

“Not much else can last months without spoiling,” Lexius noted.

“Hey, I’m not complaining. Food’s food, and cheese and jerky are damn fine.”

Lexius sighed. The priest looked sullen and out of it. Leianna noticed this, and gave him a questioning look.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just...I wish I could have...been of more use.”

“How so?”

The man held his hands out. “I...I was poor support on the field. I’m an awful combatant. I spent half my time here bedridden. I failed to come prepared. I...I even...Leianna, if I had been with you when we split into two groups...perhaps Basilrin’s brother and Tourthun would be-”

“Hey. Monk boy.” Leianna gave him a firm glare, as if chastising him. “Listen to me, you fool. You came here of your own volition. You waltzed into a hellhole full of the darkest beings the world can offer with scrappy armor, a chipped iron blade and a tiny wooden shield. You never trained for combat. You healed a goddamned DRAGON, Lexius.”

He was about to respond, but Leianna put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “You kicked ass out here. No one expected some guy from a church to make it this far, but here you are.”

The priest lowered his head and laughed. Leianna raised a brow. “Err...Lexius?”

“Heh...yeah, I guess you’re right. No use in feeling sorry for myself. I did what I could. That’s...all you can really do.”

“Hey, that’s the spirit!” Leianna grinned and patted him on the shoulder. “Look, I’ve got plenty of things I wish I’d done differently too, but there’s no turning back the clock. You live with what you do, and you do the best you can.”

Lexius looked up at the cleric hopefully. “Sister Leianna...could you join me in prayer?”

The woman shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” She shoved the rest of the jerky in her mouth, chewing loudly as she rushed to finish her meal.

Lexius took out his cross, from under his armor. The small, wooden symbol appeared hand-carved by him, if its quality was any indication.

Leianna wiped her mouth and took out her own, pulling it from a pouch. The handheld crosses were more good luck charms than anything, not blessed or magical in any way. It was a simple reminder of God, carried on each church member’s person to serve as a constant source of hope and faith.

Lexius bowed his head, cross clutched underneath his hand and held onto by both hands. Leianna followed the gesture.

“Through God and the intercession of Saint Martin, we stand firm against the work of the enemy,” Lexius said, his voice low and clear.

“We thought we may have died and been sent to the underworld for our transgressions, for we are surrounded by grinning faces of demons,” Leianna continued. The pair continued to alternate between each line.

“Even in death, even in the underworld, despite our true odds, we will never waver. Such is the burden of the faithful.”

Lexius’ eyes were squeezed tight as he brought the prayer to a close. “Guide us now, for we do the bidding of the Lord, our God. Allow us to fulfill our duty, no matter the cost. No matter the cost…”

“Amen.”

Despite having reached the end, Lexius did not rise as Leianna had.

“No matter the cost…”

The cleric looked at the priest with a notable degree of concern. “Lexius…?”

“No matter the cost…”

…

“This catastrophe was man-made! I’ve seen it for myself!” Charles stood among a group of humans, the first few militiamen who had answered the call. Several of them, in their light uniforms of cloth and wielding simple weapons, leered at him in disdain.

Though Alexander and the others had been through enough with the magician to trust him, but as he had always been told, the common folk saw him as little more than a monstrous chimera.

“What the hell do you know?!” one of the levies shouted, eliciting cries of agreement throughout the crowd.

“I recovered documents from the college! One of the wizards said himself that he did it!”

“Oh yeah?! Where’s your proof?”

Charles frowned. “I gave them to my friend, the professor. He left with the rest of the citizens in the evacuation.”

“How awfully convenient,” one of the men mused. A few voice called out in agreement once more.

“Whatever!” the dragonoid cried, throwing his hands up, “I don’t care if you believe me or not! The truth will come out on its own!”

“Yeah right. I bet YOU did it!”

“M-me?!” Charles reeled back, “Why would I do that?!”

“It’s in your blood!” Cheers erupted through the crowd at those words, the magician clutching at his shoulders defensively.

“T-that’s not true. I make my own path...my origins do not determine my future…”

“Yeah, right! Say, if you’re one of them...I wonder if you’ve got any secrets you’re hiding…?”

A few men stepped forward, their stances clearly hostile. Their eyes glinted with malicious intent, and their grin were anything but friendly.

“W-what’s this?!” Charles shouted, shaken. He backed up, nervous about where this was going.

“Why are you wearing that?” one of the men asked, reaching out for his wizard hat. Though he grabbed it, Charles threw his arm away, clutching onto the hat possessively.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch my things! They aren’t yours!”

The man smirked. “Are you hiding something under there, beast?”

Their approach quickened, even as the dragonoid began backpedaling.

“L-leave me alone! Stop it!”

“Show us what you’re hiding!” Several shouts rang out through the Citadel. Some from the mob of soldiers, some from citizens around the camp that saw what was happening.

Charles, focused on the approaching men, failed to notice a rock behind him. His foot slipped as he tripped over it, falling to the ground on his back. He sat up, and just as it looked like the mob was about to descend on him…

“That’s ENOUGH!”

Blinking, the fallen dragonoid looked over to the source of the bellowing voice. Sure enough, the knight was stomping over, though not in his armor. Still, he had his sword on his hip, and looked suitably authoritative enough anyway. Behind him, a few others followed, most notably Wurie.

“Causing trouble, are we?”

The knight’s demeanor seemed to shake the mob of levies out of it, many quickly backing away from Charles.

“W-we were just-”

“Harassing the people you were sent to help? Yeah, I noticed. What’s next? Gonna mug a few of the wolves? Attack the birds?”

“No,” a single voice answered meekly. The knight scowled at the group.

“Which one of you imbeciles is in command here?” He demanded. A lone soldier answered.

“Captain Howard, sir. He’s outside.”

Alexander stepped forward and grabbed the man by the neck, pulling him close. The others gasped, but didn’t interfere.

“Tell your captain to get his men under control,” he growled, voice dripping with venomous hostility, “NOW.”

“Y-yessir,” he squeaked, stumbling backwards as Alexander released him.

“Crawl on out of here, all of you. You’re not welcome.”

As the group turned to leave back through the sewers, the knight called out one last time.

“If I catch you attacking any more citizens, you’ll be hanging from his majesty’s gallows for treason!”

As the group fled, Alexander turned to Charles, still sitting on the ground. He quickly extended a hand. “You all right?”

“I-I think so.” the magician grabbed the man’s hand, letting himself be pulled to his feet with a grunt.

“Ah...thank you, Alexander.”

“Don’t worry about it. The nerve…!”

Charles smiled as he dusted himself off. “I’m thankful to have friends in such affluent stations…”

The knight grimaced. “I don’t like throwing my weight around, but in these situations I hardly have a choice.”

“What in the world was that?” Wurie asked, “They were like...common rabble! Like the thugs whose fights I had to break up back in the day!”

“That’s what happens with the army,” Alexander noted. He frowned as he looked over to the exit, hands on his hips.

“These aren’t elite soldiers of the king. These aren’t contractors or professionals. These are levies, militia and common folk. They don’t have the discipline a lifer has. Force them to stay on duty without an enemy to fight, and eventually they’ll starting picking their own fights.”

Wurie tilted his head. “Sounds like you’ve dealt with this before.”

“Comes with the territory. Command enough armies and you know the best and worst of it inside and out.”

“Still...unacceptable,” muttered Wurie. He looked deeply wounded by the proceedings.

“Captain? You okay?”

The wolfman shook his head. “It’s...nothing. Just remembering the exile.”

“Similar treatment?”

“Very.”

Alexander crossed his arms. “Things are going to change around here. I don’t know how, but they will.”

Wurie smiled despite himself. “I...appreciate the optimism. I would say I don’t believe it but...I already said that about you saving our people. I fear I’d be eating my words yet again if I said such a thing!”

The knight shrugged, a small smile at the corner of his lips. “Guess we’ll just have to see, huh? So how about…”

A shadow taking up the entire middle of the camp cause him to trail off. While the twilight wasn’t much, it was noticeable now that it was gone.

He barely had a moment to look up before a green dragon dropped down the hole and into the Citadel. Basilrin.

“They are here! The king’s men are here!”

There was a lengthy silence as the crowd looked at one another. A few citizens walked over at the dragon’s call, including the others that had been journeying together with Alexander all this time.

Looking back, the knight gave them a nod. At last, the end was here. Alexander closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“It’s time.”

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[carmineclock]

Dead Man Blues

Doc Scratch 4:28 PM

Its been an hour or so since your big meeting with the others, hopefully things have cooled down somewhat since then. You'd like to think you kept it quite calm and tasteful, despite your overall annoyance. Most of this time you spent updating your journal. You really have to do something about all these journals, its not safe to keep so many. And yet... With a sigh you set your pen aside. Time to do yet more damage control. You still think theres a chance you can get through to Trace, though perhaps you might be as bad as Clover in taht regard. Hoping is one thing, some men just dont change. Still, you make your way down to the holding cells. Perhaps your chat with Trace just needed a more dire backdrop. A broken arm and a cold concrete room with metal bars could be just what the Doctor ordered. Hoo hoo.

Trace 9:01 PM

Dire backdrop is an understatement. Your arm is long swollen, wrapped carefully in your shirt to give it some stability. You know a bit of first aid, but that is surprisingly difficult when it's your own arm and the only means you got available are what you have on your person. The new wound on your chest is just as aching, red and bloody with a hint of gold. You may have managed to pass out for a few hours, but you could hardly call that sleep, especially with that nightmare. Her body, stabbed and strung up - not Aradia's, but Nepeta's. A message to the one closest to her - Fin, angryy setting fire to your very self. The images linger, even long after you finally come to. And then the nightmare after you wake up - Snowman and how she dragged Fin in for your mutual punishment. How she used your wedding rings to violently erase the tattoo on your chest marking your love and relationships. When Scratch enters, you're wide awake, as much as you loathe it. Your mind still feels foggy and worlds away, definitely not prepared for a talk with him.

Doc Scratch 2:28 AM

You study him as you walk in, taking note of the remnants of Snowmans lesson. As graceful as she is deadly, as always. The gold makes a nice addition in your opinion. You take a chair from the nearby table and move it to in front of the bars in silence. After you moment you sit backwards with your arms resting over the back of the chair sit down normally, like a gentleman. This isnt an interrogation, or a call for confession, its just a conversation. "So, lets have it out, Trace. Whats this Droog business really all about. Dont you realize what youve cost yourself?"

Trace 9:51 AM

It never not feels like an interrogation with Scratch. You look up and watch him as he gets comfortable, then stare off to the side when he speaks. The muscles in your jaw tense, and when you reply, your hoarse and cracking voice clearly shows your exhaustion and pain. "Sir.. Do we really need to do this now? I'm not exactly the best for a talk right now and I'm really not too keen on netting me another scar for mouthing off..." Of course, you're aware he wouldn't have it any other time then when you're broken and at your wit's end.

Doc Scratch 11:27 AM

"If you're worried about your mouth, then I suggest you keep a civil tongue. I'm not concerned, though. Theres a kind of freeing honesty that cement walls and metal bars bring that can be found nowhere else. At this point, I would rather you speak freely, its just us now." Just the two of you. Man to man, or whatever Trace can be considered. Its an interesting thought, his classification may change as his DNA did. You'll have to look into that later. For now, your eyes are solely on him. His broken body, his pain. "Tell me true, Trace. I want to hear it. All of it. I wont punish you for speaking truthfully when asked. Its lies I hate the most."

Trace 3:03 PM

You give him a sour smile. You'll believe it when you see it. "What this is about, you really gotta ask?" Feels like you already talked plenty enough about this, and you doubt you got anything else to say that could placate him. Only plenty of frustration that has built up over everything, and you're way too tired to filter your words. Lets see who of the two of you is going to regret that more. "I.. am sorry that any of this ever reflected back on you, Nepeta or any of the Felt. It should never have been anything but personal. Which, I realize...  there's not really a personal in this outfit, is there?" you begin, actually honestly. "This... it was nothing more than a brawl between two guys heated up on a little too much emotion. But then this bastard.. abducted Nepeta, tortured and abused her, and then me. Cause he was pissed he got decked in the face. And he kept going, provoking us again and again, paralyzing her, seducing another, hurting us, as a whole, again and again. How could you expect me to do just nothing? You've been sending a signal, to them and to us, that they can just pick members of this very house off the street and do with us what they want." You try to sit up properly to face him better, wincing from the pain shooting through your arm again. "How has this not been a war yet for fuck's sake? How come Snowman can take the god damn white queen hostage, but we sit idle when the Crew come to pick us apart bit by bit? How come Snowman can take the god damn white queen hostage, but we sit idle when the Crew come to pick us apart, bit by bit?"

Doc Scratch 6:17 PM

You sit in silence, letting him say what hes going to say. You dont blame him for his views, and if anything, this lashing out may prove beneficial to you. No matter what happens from now on, Droog will have the reminder in the back of his mind. Certainly he wont forget it. Idly, you pull at the edge of your gloves, nodding every so often through his heated speech. Well, hes partially right on certain fronts. It really should have been war by now, whether you wanted it to be or not. The crew have gotten bolder and bolder, could it be your fault? Through inaction, have you allowed the crew more purchase on this slippery slope than you'd intended? "To start off, I'll answer your question. The reason it has not been war yet is because we did not have the numbers to win a war." You let out a silent sigh. "In truth, I'd hoped to collect our full set before provoking the Crew into an all out battle. I dont know how many wars you've seen, Trace, but I've seen enough to know that as much as you and all the others may want to go to war, young men that you are, we are not in a favored position for it. The Crew will always have the love of the common people, they built this city, and those that reside here are their kin. They have the better defenses, and most importantly, they have magic. True magic, the likes of which I cant begin to match." You pause to stand, arms folded behind your back as you pace, speaking more to the open air than to Trace now.

"Snowman is an army in her own right, its folly to compare anything or anyone to her. This little brawl you've had with Diamonds, its beyond reason and a waste of resources besides. If you were provoked into action, then you're a fool, because thats what Diamonds wanted from you. But more than that, you've allowed him to take the higher ground. The city is going to bleed now, I'll see to that, but you've allowed Diamonds to make it personal. And a man on a revenge mission doesnt care for the ruin he causes. I did not take what I've taken of this city for the last fourty years just to see it burned by some self righteous bastard in an Armani tuxedo." Another sigh, louder this time. You rub your temple, pausing in your pacing to look back at him. "Provoking. Abusing. Hurting us. All of us. You're right on that front. What one of us suffers, we all suffer. It was my mistake. I took this for play, the usual violence between men at odds, petty revenge for the sake of sleeping better." “But no, this has gotten well and truly out of hand. And its too late to go back. You’ve signed us up for a a war we were not prepared for, against an enemy whose eyes you’ve spit in, and now you say it should have been sooner. Hmph. Maybe you’re right. I dont hear the heckling of those underneath me, but it would only make sense that you do. So, then, its to be war. Do you have any plans for this war you’ve longed for, Trace? Any soldiers for the army? Connections to supplies and trades? Or did you expect that all you had to do was start it, and that I would finish it?”

Trace 8:05 PM

Well, obviously, you don't have any of these. You didn't plan for a war, let alone prepare for it. This was a selfish and careless act of revenge and he knows that. You're slowly starting to realize that you feel more bewildered about Nepeta's reaction than the prospect of war. This life has already been hell and you're tired of playing along. How little you care about Scratch's achievements and goals. Still, that is not an answer to give your boss and, unfortunately, owner. You close your eyes and think. The least you owe the others is to try  And if you've doomed all of you to die and burn, maybe you can at least rip a big hole into the crew. "..How much longer is he gonna have the favor of the common people if he's burning them? If he lashes out without remose and care, use it against them. With fires burning purple, it's not hard to besmirch their name. You have sucked the people dry under threat of violence and torture if they don't pay up. If you lack manpower, offer then alternatives. The crew is torching Felt warehouses. If it's supplies we lack, take theirs. We may be lacking time to prepare, but so do they. It's not too late to gain the upper hand."

Doc Scratch 1:40 PM

You stand and listen as he rattles off his ideas. Theyre not all without merit, but theyre naive, blunt, though its something you've come to expect. How could he possibly have known what he was getting himself, and the rest of the Felt, into. "Hes not burning them, he's burning us. True, it was careless, but Droog wont stay careless. Hes distraught over his daughters death, but he wont stay that way forever. He has as at least as much of a tactical mind as I do, he was built for war." You run a hand over your head, eyes closed in thought, trying not to imagine plumes of purple smoke eating their way through the Felt manor. Purple and green clash too much, it would be hideous. "I have ways of retaking the people, though its not the dregs of society that I'm worried about. All  I need is a shiny coin and a loaf of bread to win their loyalty back. We need to spread out. We need bases of operation throughout the city, safe places that arent glaring green mansions on a hilltop. If the Crew want war, we have to play their game." Yes, this is sounding more like a plan every passing second. You almost get carried away, before remembering where you are. This is no time to get caught up in nostalgia. "You know, it would be much easier planning if we had our trackers back. You and Fin have skills that will be of paramount importance coming very soon. Yet, I hesitate to bring you into the fold. Why should I trust that you can stay your hand? That your loyalty to this organization will trump your lust for revenge? You've proven the exact opposite is the case. Give me a reason why I shouldn't just let you sit down here and rot until the war is over with."

Trace 7:47 PM

Hey, can't blame you for trying, considering your situation. The night in here didn't exactly allow you to do your homework. Neither does it help with the next question. You look at him, tired as you are, trying to muster up the energy to defend yourself. Can't say you're, heh, dying to prove your loyalty to him, but wasting away down here in this cell doesn't seem like a solution either. "I... can't live without this organization. And neither can those that I care about. I know that my actions didn't exactly show it, but I want to do what I can to help it succeed and keep us all safe where possible." You'd like to assure him that your thirst for revenge is well-quenched - and for now it is. But should anything happen to Nepeta and Fin in this war you've apparently summoned, things could get ugly really fast. You won't tell him that. He's probably well aware. You'd like to not have to come to that though. "You gave the reason yourself. We're good at what we can do, and without us, this is gonna be much harder to deal with. Sure, it's a risk for you, but I'd be the one out there, risking my neck. It's my blood they're after. I'm not expecting your trust. I'm sure if you send me out there again, you'll be keeping a close eye on me, until I'll maybe have proven myself someday. Not sure what else I can give you besides my word, and I don't think that's much worth to you right now."

Doc Scratch 1:35 PM

"Hmm, its true enough." You sit back down, leaning back as you think. If you were a lesser man, you might consider handing him over to the crew and suing for peace. That would only be a short term fix, though, and probably cause more problems than itd solve. Not to mention youre loathe to lose one piece of the set. "In truth, Trace, I dont blame you for your actions. Not fully. Droog brought his suffering upon himself. We're just lucky he was good enough to burn all the  evidence." "At the very least you'll be going back to work soon, though as far away from Fin as possible. Perhaps Crowbar can take up the handle of your keeper. I cant have a mad dog running around doling out a childs version of vigilante justice." "For now, though, youll enjoy these accommodations. Im just having your room prepared."

Trace 1:48 PM

You should probably feel relieved at that response, could have gone much worse, after all. But the feeling of anxiety and dread keeps lingering. "I guess that's only fair." You lean back as well, which sends another pain shooting through your arm. A quiet hiss escapes you. Cursed thing. "Before you leave.. with all due respect, not trying to tell you what to do, but I don't think you'd find having me lose my arm or my life to an infection practical..."

Doc Scratch 1:55 PM

You were aleady on your way out when he makes his request. Now you pause, and turn slightly. "Does it hurt? Good. Its supposed to. Someone will be down soon to tend to it. Think on your mistakes, and how you can do better in the future." With that, you take your leave, closing and locking the door behind you.