#the demons told me to go out into the forest and look for the signs

[nightingale-prompts]

Danny lives in a horror movie-DC x DP prompt

Based on my favorite book series "tales from the gas station"

Its not everyday a mission requires the league to travel to middle America in to obtain a highly cursed artifact but it certainly today.

Locating the Seal of Silent Ashes was a task usually given to Justice League Dark but Constantine was currently busy. So that meant it was left to the poster boys to get this done. They dressed in civilian attire to investigate the last location of the seal starting with the first building on the edge of town. A small dusty gas station near the wood.

The inside had an awful smell, like death and cleaning fluid. The lights gave off a greenish-blue tint. Rats could be seen out of the corner of your eyes. Most of the chip were offbrand and crappy.

Behind the counter was the teenage boy chewing gum. He looked up at the group before going back to reading his book. He had clearly seen better days but didn't show signs of caring about the state of his hair or bags under his eyes. He drank coffee.

The air felt off.

"Hey kiddo, do you mind giving us directions?" Clark started.

The kid narrowed his eyes as he popped his gum.

"You're not from here. That or you're from that cult in the woods. Listen I'm not joining. Seriously cosmic nihilism and fatalism sounds doomed. Hey wait-" the teen checked his notes " No, the cult killed themselves in that mass suicide 2 weeks ago. I forgot."

The teen didn't say anything else as he went back to his book.

The horrified look of the adults shared was almost hilarious. At least to the teen if he looked up.

"Oh, and stay out of the woods. I don't want the police to come back and ask about who saw you last. Seriously if whatever is in there tears you apart I won't feel bad. I put those signs out forever ago and if I get one more girl covered in blood running in here screaming about her dead friends I'll get a headache." The teen shrugged turning the page.

"What do you mean?! Why would-?! Who's killing people?!" Barry asked frantically as Bruce serched for more reports of missing people in the area.

"I don't know. Why would I know? If you want to go in the cursed forest go ahead. I mean that's how they all die. It isn't my job to stop you. My job is to sit here and watch this store." The teen huffed in annoyance.

Before anymore questions were asked the signal of the radio was disrupted and a demonic howl screeched through the radio.

"God damnit. That cunt is back. Stay here." The teen growled as he grabbed his bat from under the counter and walked out the back door. "String bean! Get off the fucking roof you bastard! You know that radio is all I have here!"

A chattering laugh like a death rattle was heard and the sound of 2 sets of feet was heard on the roof then they lept down.

"Come here so I can beat you to death!" The teen ran around the building towards the front of the gas station chasing-what the fuck is that!

It was like a human that was twisted to crabwalk on all fours backwards. Its face was contorted into a black stretched out smile with no teeth. It had no eyes just black sockets. All its limbs were stretched out to an extra meter in length. It was a skinwalker of some kind with chalk-white skin. It was skittering away from the teen who was swinging his batat its head.

"Stop running! I told you before what would happen if I found you fucking with me again!" The boy meant it as he finally landed a hit and began wacking it over and over it.

The skin walker screeched and tried to run for its life but couldn't.

After reducing the monster into a black puddle the black-stained teen came back inside to sit back down not paying anymore to the monster blood he was covered in.

"Sorry about that. Most of the freaks around here have learned to stay away from this place. That one is new and he doesn't listen. You'd think they'd learn but Sting Bean thinks he can torment me. Petty bastard." The teen sighed "anyways are going to buy anything or are you going to waste what oxygen we get in here with this shitty ventilation.

Diana couldn't help but admire the boldness of the boy. He had no hesitation or fear against the beasts of this area even if was crude.

"Does Constantine have a cousin or something? Just a more angry one" Hall whispered to Hal.

[ajthecrocodile]

Triangle? Tri-ANGEL!! The love triangle!!

It’s William Bill B. “Dream Demon” King Lucipher Cipher Pines!!! Holay schmolay!!!

You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you…

i love you bill. i owe you everything. why does my body have so many mysterious bruises and my eye is bleeding

[onskepa]

hi i was wondering if you could write something for tsu’tey? so to set the scene it’s jake and fem avatar’s iknimaya and this is when jake is first taming his ikran and fem avatar (that tsu’tey had to train like neytiri trained jake) gets really concerned for her friend who has been through the same things as her (in reference to getting found by neytiri and then being taken to the na’vi village and having to be trained) and tsu’tey gets jealous because he’s slowly grown feelings for the avatar reader as he’s taught her

(and i’m actually so excited bc i saw you write for Sylwanin and Mo’at and now i have so many ideas for stories but i’ll refrain for the time being, also hope you’re doing well since getting over your sickness! <3)

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!! MY FIRST TSU'TEY REQUEST!! THANK YOU SO MUCH SWEET~!! OH HOW I WANTED SOMEONE TO REQUEST FOR HIM!! MY SWEET HUBBY!!! HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS ONE~!!

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

Ningay

Of all things to happen to tsu'tey, he can bare it all. Hunting, gathering, teaching, fighting, being a warrior. Tolerate pathetic whiney skxawng. He can handle it all. But teaching a sky demon the ways of his people? His already thin patience, will be hair thin.

He and neytiri were given the task to teach jake sully and his dream walker friend. Stranded and lost in the forest, those two were found by him and neytiri. Given a sign by Eywa, mo'at had allowed them to learn the ways of their clan and go through their iknimaya.

At first, while neytiri was reluctant, tsu'tey was highly against it. But of course, what the tsahik says it goes. So neytiri was assigned to train jake, while tsu'tey was assigned to train the demon who he never cared to remember the name of.

"wrong....wrong ...wrong again! even a child can hold a bow better than you!" tsu'tey bullied criticized the sky demon. The false na'vi in front of him inwardly sighed, [don't say anything don't say anything don't say anything].

Tsu'tey smirks knowing the demon cant talk back, she doesn't even think of saying anything knowing anything can go wrong in her way. "AGAIN!" he would say after each failed attempt to shoot a proper arrow.

If he is forced to train the demon, might as well get some fun out of it. "At least tell me where I am in the wrong, yelling 'wrong' wont help me get better" the demon says. He merely scoffs and shakes his head. "I have told you again and again, but your little demon brain cant seem to grasp! What is the point to show you if you don't listen? Demons like you never do!".

"Well at least show me the correct way otherwise, we would be out here for hours" the demon says, slight irritation in her voice. Inwardly sighing, tsu'tey grabs her arms and corrects her position. His face close to her, taking in her natural scent. For a demon...she doesn't smell all that terrible.

The sky demon has gotten better, doing good in a well paste. All achievements, small victories, and accomplishments, the sky demon celebrates them. However, she doesn't celebrate it alone. The sky demon shares her excitement with jake sully.

Why him? Yes they go through the same trials and errors but it is tsu'tey that guides her! If there is anyone the sky demon should share her happiness is should be with him! Not the skxawng! But alas, seems the sky demon only has interest in jake sully. It brings bitter taste to tsu'tey's mouth for some reason.

"jake please be careful and try not to die!" the sky demon screamed after jake sully. It was time for the both of them to tame an ikran, and it was jake who is to tame one first.

Tsu'tey was expecting a good laugh, to see jake sully fail miserably. He could use a good joke. He and others of his training group gathered to see jake sully making his way towards the untamed ikrans.

Looking over, the mighty warrior sees the sky demon holding herself in comfort. Tsu'tey walks over to her, close, nearly their arms touching. "He will succeed....right?" the demon asks in worry, her eyes never looking away from jake. He wont die. Why must she keep looking at him when tsu'tey is right there beside her?

"If he doesn't make a foolish move, he will pass" tsu'tey replies, huffing a bit. The demon should be more worried about herself. In a fit of a show, jake managed to tame his ikran with not so much of blood or injuring himself. Taking his first flight with his newly tamed ikran.

Now it was the demons turn.

Taking a deep breathe, the demon went ahead to the other group of ikrans. "Remember what you have to do!" tsu'tey shouted after. Nodding in fear, the demon hissed at the ikrans, until one took at her challenge.

The demon screeched as she does her best to tie the mouth of the ikran with pale light coloring. But the ikran was slightly more aggressive than jake's. Tossing the demon back against the rocky walls. "I will tame you!" the demon said with determination in her voice. Launching back at the ikran, tsu'tey would secretly admit he was impressed. The demon isnt letting down with a fight.

As days pass, and both dreamwalkers were succeeding in their iknimaya, tsu'tey was no fool in how neytiri sees jake. He sees how she looks at him in a new light. Yet would play it off. But tsu'tey is no fool. He knows, neytiri knows deep in her heart. She is growing deep affections for jake sully.

Tus'tey isn't mad. True they were arranged to be mated but if neytiri feels a connection to jake, who is he to step in the way. Besides, he soon begins to feel for the other sky demon....

Every time he and the sky demon are together, he feels more at free, more loose, more...himself. With the little demon, he smiles more, makes jokes and coitizes less. Overall, he is more at peace.

"you know it tsu'tey, you know it as much as I do" neytiri spoke to him one day. Tsu'tey knows exactly what she is talking about. "I know....but the question is....can it be possible" he questions. Can it be? Can they love the sky demons truly?

"after the iknimaya....they should know" neytiri says. It wasn't a question nor was it a thought. It was confirmation. And tsu'tey agrees. While he may not understand these new found feelings for the female sky demon, its best to confess now. Before either jake sully or someone else speaks from their heart.

Their iknimaya is complete. Both sky demons are now part of the people. Omaticaya. And tonight, the whole clan celebrate their new brother and sister. But in the midst of it all, tsu'tey sees neytiri taking jake away from the crowd. That was his cue.

Gathering all the courage he can withhold, he seeks the female sky demon. It wasn't hard, she was the center of attention. Something tsu'tey isn't fond of. She has to share her attention to everyone, everyone that wasn't him. Quickly he grabs her arm and takes her away from the celebration and somewhere more quiet and private. A field of night flowers that the sky demon has come to love. Her favorite place.

"Thank you for taking me away from them...I am not so used to that amount of attention" the demon laughs nervously. She stares at the vast field of the night flowers, admiring their beauty. And tsu'tey does the same, rather, for a different type of beauty.

"I saw jake leave with neytiri. I wonder where they are going....perhaps somewhere like where we are....Jake is a man who can get easily lost I wouldn't be surprised if he loses neytiri somewhere in the forest" she releases a light giggle. He would have join in had it not being the mention of jake sully. It is always jake sully in her mind. It bothers tsu'tey greatly.

Slowly he moves closer, almost touching at the shoulders, taking in her sweet scent. A lovely smell pleasing to his nose. "Jake is a fine warrior....and so are you" he comment, the demon looks up at him with joy in her eyes. "Yes, it is thanks to you I have come this far...truly tsu'tey, I appreciate everything you have done for me"...there it goes. The pounding of his heart beat, ringing in his ears. The rush of joy and pride flow throughout his body.

"I merely did what I was tasked to do...but you are a good student. Better than others I admit to say. Now I await to see what you can do with everything I showed you" he says with care and genuine clarity. The sky demon giggles lightly, her sounds send shivers down his spine like never before.

The girl smiles brightly, seeming to be pleased with his words. Good. That is a good sign. Teasing him to follow, she leads him further into the fields.

Together, side by side they admire the beauty of the night. The glowing flowers gently swaying from the breeze. "Tsu'tey...there is something I have been meaning to tell you" the demon says in a low whispers but he managed to hear it. Shifting a bit he looks down at her, "what is it?". Anticipation is all he feels at the moment.

"I don't know when it began but......whenever I am with you.....I feel things and......I know it cant be good. While I am now Omaticaya...I don't think it can be with..." her sentence trails off. No no this isn't what he wanted!

Getting near her face, speaking with a soft voice he says "What if you could? What if...we can?" tsu'tey looked at her with strong hope, hope that she may reciprocate what he feels. The demon-no, calling her a demon now sounds more insulting, she is anything but a demon.

This beautiful woman in front him stands still, hesitation in her golden eyes. Gently grabbing her oddly five fingered hands into his. A small smile creeped up to her sweet lips. Oh how her beautiful smile brings warmth into his heart.

She takes a deep breath and says "does this mean you understand...?" she asks. Tsu'tey nods a bit too desperate. "I do...I have began to feel certain ways for you and if we give it a chance, explore where it can go" he offers. He is willing to do almost anything for this woman. As moments pass, he is getting more certain what he is feeling for her. Yes, he knows now.

The sweet girl laughed a bit and looks at him directly in the eyes, "then....can we" she asks a bit hesitantly. Smirking a bit, he says "we can ma'ningay" tsu'tey wraps his arms around her waist, and her arms around his neck, both getting closer, eyes closed and their lips meet to a passionate kiss.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand that is all for this one! Sorry this took me a long time! had to rewrite this so many times! But I hope you all like it! until next time! see ya!

Ningay = truly

[marymary-diva17]

always be one of the people

Neytiri family x reader x tsut'ey + Jake sully and others

All children are a blessing to the great mother as she saw, all children born on pandora as one of her children. So what happens when a child comes from the skies, a child that doesn't look like anyone else around here. Will she been seen as child of eywa and one of the many people on Pandora or will se been see outsider and the demons that will come to destroyer the planet she will call home.

mo'at " ......" moa's was walking through the forest as she was falling some wood spirts, she had left her home today when the came to her soon stealing her attention.

mo'at " where are you leading me great mother where" mo'at ears soon went up when she heard a babies cries, and as a mother herself her mother mood had kicked in and followed the cries. She soon stopped running once the cries die down and she saw Thanator stand a bit away from blue thing. That blue thing was a navi baby mo'at got her blade out and walked towards the creature, she will not leave the child defenseless.

mo'at " huh" the Thanator soon noticed mo'at as the wood spirts soon came, and soon enough the Thanator had taken off. mo'at race to the child to see it had the blood of the sky people.

mo'at " hello little one wow you are special" mo'at was looking at the child who reach out hand that was not like everyone else, she had five finger and hair on her face. mo'at was looking at the baby as she soon smile and laugh. The wood spirts had landed on the baby forehead making eywa see this as sign.

mo'at " come you will be with my family I will take you in as my daughter as raise you as my own" when mo'at had return with the odd looking baby, it had gained the whole clan attention as no one saw a baby like that until her. Due to mo'at being the tshaik she had the last saying after she told everyone the child, had been blessed by eywa there was no going against her.

Many years later

Y/n “ ………” you are laying in your bed fast asleep, in your family mauri pod. Soon enough the sunlight had hit your face, and you soon got up from your bed. 

Y/n “ another day to see what the great mother has to offer” you soon got ready for the day and soon left the home, after grabbing some fruit. You had some plans of exploring the forest along with study the sky people aka humans that came many years ago. There was a major obstacle in your way well three obstacles that stopped you. 

???? “ where are you going my daughter”

y/n " good morning mother"

mo'at " morning my daughter you have still not answered my question"

y/n" I'm going out exploring motor and to understand the humans a bit more"

mo'at " you know your father, neytiri, and tsu'tey will hate that idea"

y/n " yes I know but I feel like there something calling to me"

mo'at " I know my child I know"

y/n " I know sneaking off is bad but if dad caught me he will not be happy, and if neytiri caught me she would tag along and try to stop me for going anywhere she deems unsafe"

mo'at " what about tsu'tey"

y/n " he sill do anything in his power to make sure I don't go I love him dearly, but there are times when he do overprotective and I know I will not win a fight against him"

mo'at " they all love you dearly child in their own ways but I understand, go now I will come up with some excuse to them have some fun and follow the will of the great mother" you had smiled towards you mom and hugged her before you ran off with a bright smile on your face. You were wondering around the forest having a time of your life. While wondering your had gather some stuff for yourself and your mother as well.

y/n " huh" you were done doing some gather when you saw some wood spirts foaling near you, making you laugh and smile as you reach out your hand to them.

y/n " It seems like I have been blessed by the great mother or she sending me a sign"

???? " maybe a sign that your shouldn't be wondering off alone during times like this" you soon got spooked when you heard a voice you knew so well, you soon turn away to see tsu'tey standing there.

y/n " oh tsu'tey what are you doing out here did you make sure to have breakfast, before you started your day I hate when you miss meals"

tsu'tey " I hate it when you sneak off without telling others where you are going"

y/n " I don't know what you mean I'm no longer a child I can stay out longer when I wish"

tsu'tey " yes you are no longer a child and member of the clan but you are my future mate, and ma y/n I can worry about you" tsu'tey was now standing near you and soon looked at you.

tsu'tey " what the matter ma y/n"

y/n " are you sure you wish to be with me"

tsu'tey " you are my first love and will always have my heart, there is no one else I rather be with ma yawne"

y/n " are you sure what if our children come looking out like me, will you still love me and them"

tsu'tey " I will love them no matter what our children will be wonderful and blessing and I will love them no matter what happens" you soon laugh and kissed tsu'tey check making the warrior smile.

y/n " you are my warrior"

tsu'tey " you are my heart"

y/n " your warriors are waiting for you don't keep them waiting" tsu'tey soon noticed his students waiting for him, tsu'tey soon kissed your forehead.

tsu'tey " I will see you later tonight at dinner and we can talk more"

y/n " yes my love goodbye" tsu'tey and his warriors soon took off leaving you there, as you went back to herb collecting. You soon made your way back home when you soon ran into your father.

eyuthan " there you are my daughter I was wondering where you ran off today"

y/n " hello father"

eyuthan " so tell me my daughter what are you up to"

y/n " trying to see what the great mother has planned for me, but it seems like I have yet to get answers"

eyutahn " you will get answers soon daughter no need to rush" eyuthan smiles at his daughter making you smile back at him, he soon place comforting hands on your shoulder.

eyuthan " you will always be my daughter and one of the people, no matter what anyone else has to say you are the child of eywa"

y/n " thank you father"

neytiri " sister there you are come on you are with me today ... will it be fine if I take her father"

eyuthan " yes you both can go now I will see you all later on" you and your sister soon walked off together, you were hoping that this happens will last forever for you and your loved ones. Not to your knowledge that some of the things you held so dear will soon be ripped away from you, and that life will never be the same ever again for you.

[zoandreez]

the stars keep on calling my name, pt 1: ikran flying ⋆·˚ ༘ *

pairing: sully reader x ao'nung

summary: after spending your time in the awa'altu clan with the metkayina children, you've feel a bit homesick and decide to run back to what you know. a suprise comes to you when a special visitor wants to tag along. how long can he survive on an ikran?

word count: 798, a short one

warnings: if ur an avatar nerd, this doesn't really make sense plot-wise. sorry. (i don't care.)

a/n: sorry for taking 8 n a half months to make something but i got a few things for yall.. i hope. and yes i know this fic is kind of unrealistic but aren't they all? emd.

you were sick.

not literally, god no. you'd rather the sky people take your life now than show sign of weakness on this godforsaken water park. you hated it here.

your disdain for this place ran deep. you’ve endured nearly a year at awa’altu, long after the war had ended. don’t get me wrong, the clan's hospitality was great. you cherished the friendships formed over the year and were awestruck by the ocean's beauty. however, your heart longed for home.

the forest.

the trees you grew up with, and the familiar vines and cliffs you've climbed your entire life. and just suddenly, without warning, your father uprooted us all and relocated us to a barren land of wet sand and peculiar fish. and of course, you understood why we were doing this. you didnt want to hurt your clan by staying with your omaticayan family, and with the sky people haunting you, it seemed more than likely that staying with tonowari, ronal, and the rest of the metkayina was your best option. but still, it hurt. so,

you were leaving.

you finally mustered up the courage to sneak out of your marui that was wonderfully woven by the women of the clan, just for you and your family. it was late, so you didnt have to worry about your family seeing you as you continued to walk past the other pods.

lo'ak knew about your plan. tuk cried the night prior, but your feathered kisses to her forehead and promises to come back for her seemed to soothe her. kiri was upset that you didn't take her with you. neteyam would have told mom and dad, so he's oblivious to it all.

the stars glimmered in the night, making your bioluminescence shimmer in a way that made you look beautiful. as your feet left marks through the sand, your stride was confident. it was a way he had never seen before.

ao’nung.

you and ao’nung never had the best relationship, especially with you being from a foreign clan and even having the slightest bit of demon blood, even though it didnt show through your three fingers. he despised you and your family. except,

he couldnt get your beauty out of your head. he never could, and yet now, it was even worse.

striding down the wet sand, you could almost feel it turn into the mud and grass you would feel if you were back home. you could smell the mist, although it didn’t have a particular scent. it just smelled.. home-y. you took your ikran by its queue, the same way you would tug on a vine while climbing a tree, and hoisted yourself on before making the bond.

you had to feel the agitation in your ikran before you noticed ao'nung pathetically attempting to crawl onto her tail. she began to screech and flail her tail around before you protested.

"wait!" you whisper-yelled as he almost went flying into the ocean.

"where do you think you're going??" ao'nung said in a mocking tone. he was teasing you, but you weren't kidding this time.

"i'm leaving."

a moment of silence rolled over. ao'nung's face contorted in a way you'd never seen before. surely he'd run to tell your dad. but then.. his lips curled on his face. was he.. trying to smile? regardless, it wasn't a good look for him. after a while of you blankly staring back at him, he stopped.

"you're serious?"

"yes." you said before you turned away, shifted your posture, and your ikran stretched its wings. you leaned forward before the first flap into the air lifted you to home. the wings lifted..

"wait!" he shouted over your ikran's rustles.

"what?" you said agitated. now that the idea was taking place you couldn't wait to leave.

"take me with you."

now it was your turn to laugh. it was also your turn to ask if he was serious. and you still didn't believe him as he half-ass climed his way up onto your ikran.

"ao'nung, get off. i'm leaving."

"no."

"..suit yourself," you muttered. fly as reckless as you can, knock him off. your inner thoughts amused your ikran as she flew off as steep as she could.

ao'nungs screams could have been heard throughout the whole kingdom, if they weren't thousands of feet in the air. he held on to you as hard as possible as your ikran made short stops, dives, and spins you didn't even know she could do. your hair flew behind you into his face, so every now and then the putters of him spitting out a few lost strands made you laugh. eventually you told her to settle down.

out of breath, a smug ao'nung commented, "are you done trying to get me to fall off now?"

"yeah," you giggled through his sighs.

my short apology

... my bad cuz

[dilatorywriting]

Monster Mayhem: Little Red Rapscallion

Gender Neutral Reader x Jack Howl Word Count: 3.7k

Summary: 'Dear Evil, Overlord, Patron. Please stop sicking your demon guard dog on me. I'm only trying to help. Kind Regards, Little Red Ridinghood'

A/N: Thank you so much to @insideous-beez for the brain rot, which became brain fertilizer, and eventually a functional story; This one is a bit darker than the other installments due to the Warlock/Evil Deity goodness, so there is a bit more horror here!

[PART 1]

Your grandmother had always told you to mind your manners when it came to the creatures who made the forest their home.

Or, well. That was a lie. Many lies, really. If you wanted to be nitpicky.

Firstly, the old crone who lived deep within the borough of the cursed trees wasn’t actually your grandmother. At least, not in the biological sense that seemed to matter most within your little, provincial, town. She was just a kindly, wrinkled, turnip of a woman who found you wandering the mudflats one day and decided she liked your spunk and general lack of self-awareness. She patted your head, served you strange, bubbling, teas laced with sweet magics, and always returned you to your fretful parents by sundown. And so, she was Grandma. Even if calling her that aloud made your parents go nearly green and had the local shopkeepers crossing themselves and spritzing you with Holy Water.

Secondly, Grandma had never told you to keep to your manners. Usually, she encouraged the opposite. (‘Why not curse them, huh?’ she’d complain loudly. ‘They’re thieving bastards, the lot of them.’ ‘Grandma,’ you’d sigh. ‘The street cleaners are just doing their job. They didn’t mean to steal your dead racoons.’) The idea of her demanding you act ‘proper’ and ‘kind’ was damn near laughable. But what she did enforce upon you with all the firmness of a world-weary teacher was the concept of not fucking with that which ought not be fucked with.

And the sprawling, Shaftland Forest was not to be fucked with.

It had always been a great, creeping, thing. The trees would groan and whisper as you passed, and when their sharp branches tangled in your cloak like grasping fingers, it never felt like an accident. The animals that lived beneath those trees were even stranger—wild, large, beasts with glinting eyes and an arcane mysticism about them that left icicles in their tracks even on summer days, or tangled the undergrowth into something that moved.

The people of your village did not enter the Shaftland Forests. They put up signs, and wards, and spun cautionary tales to every traveler who dared step even a single foot into their teeny, terrified, homestead.

You visited regularly. Because you were half-stupid at least, and because Grandma lived in those woods. And while she’d cautioned you about treating her habitat with care, she’d promised ages ago that so long as you were sweet to the forest, it would forever be sweet on you too.

‘There is a great power in these trees,’ she’d hum to you, as she stirred a simmering pot that looked to be filled with the blood of… something you probably shouldn’t think too hard about. ‘You would have been a lovely gift for it, you know.’ She laughed under her breath. It didn’t sound like a joke. ‘But you were too precious to ruin like that. So he decided we ought to keep you.’

You had no idea who ‘he’ was supposed to be, but you always made sure to shower the forest with compliments. As thanks for not using you as whatever being a, uhm, lovely gift entailed. ‘Oh what nice leaves you have,’ you told many a tree. ‘And what large petals have bloomed today,’ to all the flowers. You’d always been safe in these woods—sheltered beneath a bubble of golden affection and the soft scents of the richest perfumes. The forest always welcomed you with open branches and the coo of creaking bark.

Which is why the twisty field of black thorns blocking your usual pathway gave you pause.

You reached out a finger and prodded one of the sharp points. It bit into your skin with the clear intention of drawing blood, before swaying away at the last moment to twine loosely around your wrist.

Huh. How peculiar.

“May I pass?” you asked the thorns.

The shivering web of ebony tightened along the path and you frowned.

“May I pass, please?” you tried again.

The briar patch seemed to heave with a gusty, angry, sigh. You were about to reach forward and try your luck one more time when a deep, rumbling, snarl curled out from the shadows beyond. Out of the sea of roiling darkness and dainty thorns strode a great, white, wolf. It bared its teeth at you in an expression that was entirely unpleasant.

Immediately you held up your hands in placation and took a wide step backwards. The wolf just kept growling at you like you’d murdered its entire family or something else equally egregious. It skulked forward soundlessly, ears pinned flat.

“My apologies,” you said, dipping your chin in a gentle bow. “I didn’t mean to overstep. I’m just trying to use this path to—”

The wolf lunged at you with a near roar, and you just barely managed to roll out of the way with a shriek. The thing landed hard in the dirt where you’d just been not a moment prior, and it swung its great, fanged, maw in your direction.

“Apologies, old one,” you tried again, just as Grandma had taught you. “But I really just—”

The wolf snapped, nearly taking off your fingers, and you folded over like a turtle that had been upended on its back—rolling around helplessly with your limbs flailing wildly as you went. The sharp crack of your head against the ground left your brain rattling around like dried beans in a can, and you could taste the copper sting where you’d bitten down into your tongue. The failed cartwheel had set you back a solid fifteen feet from the wood’s edge, and the wolf huffed at you—a stupidly pointed ‘stay away’ if you’d ever seen one. It glared at you with glowing, golden, eyes for a long moment before melting back into the shadows.

You spat out the cocktail of mud and blood pooling along your tongue, and wiped angrily at your sore chin. The forest had never denied you before. So maybe it wasn’t your lovely, lonely, trees that were sending you away. Maybe it was just this stupid wolf. Maybe the beast was trying to make a stand—to usurp the role of whatever spirit had ruled over this dark land for so long now. You grumbled and made your way back to your feet. It was fine. Your forest was strong. It would never lose to such a stupidly fluffy opponent. You’d just have to try again tomorrow.

The next day you armed yourself with a small arsenal of goodies. Daggers, ropes, armloads of talismans, and kindling, and rations. You hoisted your bow across your back and carefully plucked at the soft fletching of the arrows. The feathers buzzed beneath your fingers, and after a moment of uneasy hesitance, you cautiously replaced the weapon where it hung over your bed. Grandma had never liked the idea of you carrying weapons in the forest (‘it invites troublemakers’ she’d warned), but if something really had gone wrong in her woods, then it was better to worry about asking forgiveness than permission. And surely you could argue for a dagger. The bow… With its weighted arcana and strange, dissonant, strength felt like something dangerous.  

So you apologized to the rippling thorns before cutting them back with swift, precise, strokes of your blade and starting down that familiar path to Grandma’s cottage.

You made it about fifty yards before one of your talismans began to ping worryingly. The tingling thrum along your side was just enough of a warning to keep you from being mauled outright.

The White Wolf lunged from between the trees and you skittered out of the way of its attack. For such a huge creature, it was so silent. And its gleaming, downy, coat should have more than given away its position in the gloom. There must have been some kind of magic to it—something old, and ancient, that let the beast slip through the darkness unseen.

The Wolf situated itself firmly in the center of the path, hackles raised and shoulders hunched like it was readying itself to pounce.

“I need to get through,” you told it, firm, and raised one of the Protective talismans. After a heavy moment you scowled and bit out, “Please.”

The Wolf snarled and propelled itself forward. It latched its overlarge teeth in the fabric of your red cloak and quickly began to drag you to the ground. You frantically flailed about, and just managed to avoid those glinting fangs enough to thrust the talisman up into the beast’s ribs with a heavy smack. The charm lit with a brilliant, amethyst, gleam and sparks shot through the air. You let out a triumphant, ‘ah HA!’ And then all that magic fizzled out like a dying candle. You gaped in horror as the ‘one hundred percent foolproof, don’t you worry about that child’ Protective talisman fluttered to the ground like a discarded bit of newspaper.

“Oh, shit,” you croaked, as your cloak was shredded between the wolf’s canines with a horribly shrill wriiiiiip.

You sprinted like a bat out of Hell, tearing through the undergrowth and only just managing to collapse beyond the border of the tree line before the wolf could snap its jaws around your ankles. You curled your limbs protectively up beneath you, and watched through a veil of cold sweat as it paced along the foliage—leaving no tracks in its wake.

Fine, you thought bitterly. Two can play at this game.

The next morning you walked North, beyond the only safe paths you knew. Carefully, you began to scuttle your way up the nearest, gnarled, tree. The bark groaned and rattled beneath your fingers, as if disquieted. But there were no trails of white fur yet darting about the underbrush, so you offered the tree a hasty apology before climbing higher.

From there, it was only a matter of cautiously hopping from branch to branch. Normally when you’d tried ridiculous feats of stupidity like this in the past, the trees seemed more than eager to help you along—practically reaching out with their branches to catch you in their willowy, wooden, fingers. But they seemed stiff today, testy. The leaves themselves seemed to complain as you went, and you shushed them as politely as you could.  

There was a sharp bark from beneath you, and you looked down to see the Wolf circling your perch in a frantic, pacing, dance.  

“Hello!” you beamed, perfectly, poisonously, pleasant. “Nice to see you too!”

The Wolf sneered, lips curling up into a tight, tense, bow over its fangs.

You leaned forward, keeping a hand securely looped into your roost.

“Aww,” you cooed. “Is it too hard to climb up here with those big, fluffy, paws?” you mocked, wiggling your own fingers contentedly. “Bet someone really wishes they had opposable thumbs, huh?”

And then, like you were being smited by God Himself, the branch beneath your feet cracked clean in half, and you plummeted to the ground bellow with a harrowing screech. Naturally, you landed right at the wolf’s aforementioned stupid, fluffy, paws. Its great head lowered, and you could feel the heat of its breath as it growled into your face.

With a pathetic little ‘eep!’, the talisman tucked into the back of your boot burst into life and you flickered like a janky illusion. You stumbled to your feet a dozen or so yards away, fighting the urge to double over and barf. Slipping through planes was unpleasant at the best of times, let alone when under actual fucking duress.

The Wolf blinked its wide, golden, eyes at the empty space beneath its paws, and then whipped its head in your direction like a blood hound. You pushed yourself upright with the help of the very tree who had betrayed you so thoroughly, and began your hasty retreat.

You crashed through a curtain of thorns and out into the open with a gasp.

You rolled forward like the world’s most inelegant acrobat and came to a skidding halt in the dirt. You sat up with an achy cough, dislodging muck, and rocks, and leaves from your windpipe.

The Wolf prowled behind you—its glare a set of golden pinpricks in the gloom.

“What is your problem?!” you wailed.

The wolf tossed its head, like rolling its eyes wouldn’t have been enough. And snapped at you with another one of those pissy, bitten off, growls.  

“You know what?” you seethed, swinging back onto your knees to jab a finger at it accusatorily. “Fuck you!”

The thing had the absolute gall to snort at you before turning to return to its ceaseless patrol.

By the time you hauled yourself back to your family home, you must have looked an absolute mess. No one bothered to stop you when you practically clawed your way up the stairs and into your small bedroom. Though to be fair, no one really bothered to stop you for anything anymore. Not since an old women with too much spare time and not nearly enough light in her eyes had decided that you were a child to be treasured.

You grabbed your bow off the wall and slung it over your back. The sleek, silvery, wood hummed beneath your fingers. It had been a gift, one whose very existence you stalwartly refused to question. The weapon was finer than anything that could have come from your village’s blacksmith, or honestly probably any human craftsman. It was weightless. It was too heavy. It sang in your hands. It was not a token to be bestowed lightly. But… Well. Whoever it had belonged to before, it was yours now.

And you were going to shoot that goddamn Wolf right in the ass.

On the fourth day of your apparent banishment from the Shaftland Forest, you stormed those woods like a would-be conqueror. The silver bow keened beneath your palms, and you held a thin, spiked, arrow knocked and at the ready. Your nemesis found you in no time at all, and you bared your teeth at the stupid, fucking, mutt before it had the chance.

“One last time,” you said, drawing your bow as tight as you could. “Let me pass, beast. Or I will go through you.”

The wolf’s hackles were raised, but the snarl had slipped off its face. It dug its claws into the dirt, and you watched something like surprise work its way across the thing’s regal features. Its golden glare flickered from you, to the bow, and back again, like it couldn’t quite believe what it was seeing.

“I have business in these woods,” you demanded. And then, petulantly—because you just wanted to know that your stupid, devil worshipping, turnip of a grandmother was okay, and you were so fucking fed up with this garbage—you stomped at the ground and shouted, “And I was here first! So scram, you overgrown Pomeranian!”

The Wolf’s ears drooped, and something like a tremor worked its way down its spine. But then the thing was shaking its giant head like it was surfacing from beneath a pool of water, and it straightened its posture with a rumbling growl.

“Fine,” you snapped, and unleased the first arrow. It whizzed past your fingertips with a thready, shrill, fwoom faster than you could track. The booming force of it shocked you enough to have you shooting wide, and you watched that pin-thin arrow hit a tree trunk and sink all the way through to the other side.

The Wolf rushed forward when you went to reload, fur standing on end like you’d run it through with a bolt of lightning. It tackled you bodily to the ground with a yelp, and you wheezed as the air was knocked out of your lungs in one, fell, swoop. The bow tumbled out of your hands and you scrabbled for it wildly. And then the beast lunged for the bright red of your hood, as it seemed so keen to do in each of your past scuffles. But maybe it was done playing with you. Or maybe it just wasn’t expecting you to flail around so terribly. Because its garish fangs bore down past the soft, billowy, fabric of your cloak and tore straight into the meat of your arm instead.

You gasped and weren’t entirely able to swallow down the sharp shriek of pain that bubbled up and out of your throat. The wolf reared back in shock, its mouth stained red. It immediately ducked back in close, and then away, and then in again. Like it wasn’t sure what to do. The stalwart resolve from earlier was gone—replaced entirely by a bumbling sort of panic that had your head swimming more than the blood loss.

You tucked your arm in close, feeling the tattered remains of shredded fabric curling beneath new, warm, wetness. The Wolf cautiously nosed forward, but when you flinched it reared back like you’d struck it. The beast stepped pointedly away, and then began to pace frantically back and forth. Occasionally it would stop, like it was going to move in close again. But then its pointy ears would press stiff and flat atop its head and it would skulk away all over again.

Whatever, you seethed silently, jerkily ruffling through your bag for some of the Healing talismans you knew were tucked away at the bottom. If the monster felt some kind of weird guilt for taking a chomp out of you when it’d already been doings its damndest to maul you for the past four days straight, that was its problem.

It was taking you longer to unearth the talismans than you would have liked, and your hand was really starting to shake in earnest. The Wolf whined high and miserable in its throat, and you rationally decided that it would be a terrible, petty, idea to waste what little composure you had left just to tell it to fuck right off.

The horrid mess of crimson had begun to seep its way along your skin—dripping down your wrist to plop against the damp, mossy, earth with an echoing plip plip plip that was not unlike the fall of slow, fat, spring rain. The air around you seemed to grow heavier with it—the trees swaying at their roots and the dark, shriveled, flowers straining against their stems to get a taste. The Wolf’s golden gaze flicked around the grove cautiously, and you watched its black nose twitch in obvious discomfort. You swore you could see hands—dozens, hundreds of inky appendages reaching out from the shadows. Fingers twisting up into claws like they meant to grab onto you and dig in, never letting go. The Wolf settled itself at your back like a brick wall, snarling doggedly at the wispy talons. The beast was so large it practically enveloped the entirety of you, and you had to fight the delirious, dizzy, urge to lean back into its impractically soft fur.

“Hey! Are you alright over there?”

Both you and the Wolf jolted in surprise as a group of adventurers plowed their way through the trees. The Wolf’s already distressed expression twisted into something nearly manic and it roared—putting all those ferocious teeth on display.

“Woah!” one of them yelped, crashing to a halt and dragging their friends to a stop beside them. “What the fuck?!”

The others all looked equally startled, hands settling heavily on their weapons. And while right now Mister Wolfy wasn’t outright nomming on you or your limbs, there was a still a steady stream of blood trailing from the wound near your shoulder—a set of very obvious teeth marks sitting stark and red against the rest of you.

“We heard a scream,” another spoke up. Then, pointedly raising the sharp edge of his sword, asked, “Is this your companion, Ranger?”

‘Ranger?’ you blinked, confused, before remembering the bow still sitting in the dirt by your feet. Before you could respond, the Wolf lurched forward over your shoulder. It didn’t leave you—didn’t stray from its steadfast position at your hind—but it pushed its gaping, angry, maw as close to the group as it could. The trio reeled back as the monster snapped, and snarled, and nearly vibrated out of its skin with rage. But… no. Something wasn’t quite right. As viciously angry as all that harsh barking sounded, there was something very, very disquieting about it. Something strained, something afraid.

The one with his sword raised stepped forward, the others moved to follow. And then they were gone.

You blinked, shocked silly. There had been people there—not a second before. You were sure of it. What the fuck was happening?—

And then there was a discordant scream from somewhere deeper in the woods. Distant, but close. Like there were arcane tricks distorting the way of the world. Keeping you separate from the horrible, grinding, shrieking noises while… whatever was happening carried on—not a dozen yards away. Cloaked in shadows and rotten, violet, petals like how a parent might gently close a curtain around a child’s bed at night.  You watched in half-awe, half-horror as seeping, purple, miasma leached from the trees and into the air. It chased the intruders with vicious intent. You could feel the sharp, dark, heat of it prickling along your skin, but when that swirl of near-black enchantments made its way to you, it slipped past you like smoke—leaving only a faint trace of awful, coppery, perfume against your clothes.  

“Why couldn’t you just stay away?” a deep, miserable, voice echoed in your head, and you jerked around in shock to see the Wolf staring at you with heavy, gold eyes.

“Did… Are you…” you trailed off, swallowing. Not sure how to even begin asking what you wanted to ask.

The Wolf sighed, bone deep and weary.

“I tried so hard to keep everyone away,” its voice rumbled in the back of your mind. “Why did you have to be so stubborn?”

“This is my forest, too,” you said after a long moment, fingers digging into the dusty material of your pants. “What’s wrong with it? What happened?”

The Wolf stared at you, quiet and considering. And then it lumbered to its feet with a defeated sort of slouch.

“Come, then, Little Red One,” it huffed, and swished its tail against your back. “I’ll show you.”

.

.

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TAG LIST [CLOSED]

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[sergeantsporks]

Writing Request!

Hunter gets adopted by direwolves.

Sorry.

Hunter plucked a twig out of his hair. “No—you’re fine. I should have known better than to take a new palisman for a flight right away. Stupid of me to think I was experienced enough it wouldn’t be a problem, huh?”

He’d seen enough palisman awakenings to know that what Dell called their “teething power” was unpredictable, and they weren’t used to flight right away. He’d given the advice countless times—give them a second to figure out flight themselves before you hop on the staff. He’d also watched his advice be immediately ignored by countless young witches who wanted nothing more than to share first flight with their palisman, and had done the exact same thing he just had, shooting off erratically into the sky and crash-landing.

Despite the crash, despite the long trench he and his new palisman had left in the forest, Hunter’s body buzzed with excitement, with exhilaration. She’d woken up—and she was beautiful. He reached up to touch Waffles’ face, half expecting this whole thing to be a dream. But she was real and solid underneath his fingers, and he couldn’t help but let out a whoop of happiness.

He was answered with a mournful howl.

Hunter shut his mouth, falling instantly into survival mode. He teleported to the top of a tree, crouching silently in the branches and waiting, watching the forest carefully. A minute ticked by. Then two. He might as well have been part of the tree; he didn’t move a muscle. The howling didn’t start again, but Hunter’s ears twitched, picking up a pained yip, and snuffles. He leapt carefully to the next tree, barely shaking the branch when he landed. Then to the next, and the next, until finally, he found the source of the howling and snuffling. A direwolf pup crouched in the forest, one of its six legs caught in a steel trap.

Hunter’s breath caught in his throat. Seeing a direwolf pup in the wild was rare—mostly because the packs guarded their young jealously, and the majority of those who did stumble upon a wild direwolf pup were quickly ripped to shreds.

But this one didn’t seem to have the rest of its pack. It snuffled and whined, alone in the trap. Hunter watched for a few more minutes, waiting to see if the rest of the pack would give itself away. When the forest showed no signs of movement, he leapt down, landing softly on the ground and approaching the pup slowly.

“Shshsh, I’m not going to hurt you,” he murmured, “I’m here to help.”

It was startling how similar direwolves looked to the pictures he’d seen of human realm wolves. He supposed that was where one or the other had gotten its name. Aside from the extra set of legs, and the tusk-like fangs that curved from its lower jaw, this pup could have jumped right off of his T-shirt.

Hunter examined the trap. It was a fairly simple model—he poked the trap demon in the eye, and it let go, glaring at him. Hunter gently lifted the pup out of the trap, glaring right back at the trap. It was small, far too small to catch a full-sized direwolf. Either the trap had been meant for something else, or poachers were after the pups for exotic pets.

Heavy teeth sank into Hunter’s arm, but the puppy didn’t have the bite force to actually break skin. Hunter lifted his arm up to look the dangling pup in the eye. “Stop that,” he commanded the puppy sternly, “I can’t bandage your leg if you’re chewing on my arm.”

To his surprise, the pup let go. Hunter rummaged through his apron pockets, pulling out a pair of heavy gloves he used to handle some of the more clawed palisman. He mentally kicked himself for not using them earlier, but better late than never. He didn’t have bandages with him, but his polishing cloth was better than nothing. He tied it swiftly around the pup’s injured leg, just the right tightness to stem the bleeding. As thanks, the pup bit him again, with no effect on his gloves. This time, it was easier to shake off.

“You’re welcome,” he told it grouchily, “Go find your pack.”

Waffles trilled a warning, and too late, Hunter realized he’d let his guard down. Eyes glittered in the trees, and a low growl hummed through the air.

Hunter dropped the pup like a hot potato and jumped to his feet. A quick spin told him that the direwolves had him surrounded, but they hadn’t pounced yet.

The pup, he realized. They were giving him space and judging whether or not they could rescue the little creature. How long would that hold, though? What was more important to a direwolf? Pup safety, or revenge? No research had been carried out successfully. Due to the ripping-into-shreds tendency.

Hunter made a choice that was either absolutely brilliant or the last thing he would ever do in his life. Before the wolves could make their decision, he scooped the direwolf pup up and threw it towards one side of the circle.

The startled yelp and the look on the pup’s face as it flew through the air was so comical Hunter would have laughed if he wasn’t so worried he was about to get mauled. But his gamble paid off—the entire pack lunged towards the pup to make sure it was alright, for the moment forgetting about the interloper in their midst. That one moment was all Hunter needed. He bolted, teleporting away to give himself extra time.

Fly? Waffles chirped. Hunter shook his head. He’d love to—and most times, it would be the best option. But he could feel the magical energy still bursting out of Waffles at the seams, and he couldn’t risk another crash, not right now with direwolves on his heels.

The pack recovered from their surprise and Hunter heard their howls tear through the trees. He ran faster, vaulting over rocks and fallen trunks, occasionally teleporting again when he could feel their steps thrumming in the ground and hear their panting behind him.

Snap

Hunter’s momentum kept him moving forward so fast he didn’t even realize for a second what had happened until he was abruptly yanked to a stop, and his left leg exploded in a riot of tearing pain. Hunter crashed into the ground, but he barely felt the impact. The direwolves howled again—no—wait—that was his voice, screaming.

Hunter’s breath seized up in his chest. The ground turned into a blur. His leg throbbed. Direwolf teeth snapped closer and closer.

Ding

A sound like a pealing bell rang softly through the trees, and a haze of golden light tumbled around Hunter, just as the first direwolf closed the distance. The creature thudded heavily into the golden bubble that surrounded Hunter, its claws scrabbling uselessly at the surface.

His staff floated in front of him, wings outstretched. The golden light cast strange shadows, concealing any color of the bird, and Hunter squinted, his head spinning.

“Flapjack?” he murmured. He knew, somewhere in his gut, that he was wrong. But it felt so familiar—so right.

“Safe,” Waffles chirped, and just like that, the spell was broken. Flapjack was gone. But the palisman he did have—his brave, beautiful, loyal palisman—was still there, protecting him. “Keep safe.”

Hunter dug his fingers into the dirt, taking deep breaths and steeling himself to look down.

Another trap demon had locked its jaws around his leg. The thick steel had bit straight through his boots, and already blood oozed out around its teeth.

Hunter’s stomach heaved, and he tasted bile.

Can’t breathe, he thought dizzily, and laid down flat on his back. Just breathe, breathe, breathe. He pulled up a handful of dirt, pouring it slowly onto his forehead. The steady pressure of the falling soil dragged him back down into his own body, and he took a deep breath, repeating with another handful of soil. Outside, the direwolves settled, pacing around the golden bubble. But inside the shield, inside, Hunter felt the stillness of the forest seep into his bones. If he died here, the forest would move on. It was strangely comforting

Hunter sat up, moving slowly and carefully to avoid moving his leg and setting off a fresh round of tearing. Still, every second felt like knives stabbing further into the wound. With a clear mind, Hunter could see that the wounds hadn’t actually bled that much—the jaws, for all the damage they were doing, prevented the blood from exiting the wound.

He was out of bandage substitutes. As long as Waffles could keep the shield up, he’d be safe from the direwolves. And as long as the trap demon remained lodged in his leg, he wouldn’t bleed too badly. Trying to leave now was certain death. But he couldn’t stay here forever.

It almost felt wrong to summon his penstagram scroll, like he was breaking the forest’s calm. But, he argued to himself, all creatures had a way to communicate distress to their fellow animals. This was simply his howl.

Still, he kept his messages short. One to Eberwolf, and another to Viney. He trusted them to tell anyone else who needed to know. Then, the call completed, he sat and waited. Only a few direwolves remained pacing. The others laid a little ways away, playing with their pups and leaving the hunt to their fellows.

Hunter watched the remaining hunters. They watched back. And slowly, one by one, they drifted off. Only one stayed. It laid down, but kept its amber eyes fixed on him. Hunter met its stare. Neither of them broke eye contact. Somehow, Hunter was certain that if he did, the wolf would call its pack, and they’d attack the shield until Waffles couldn’t hold them back any longer. Finally, the direwolf yawned, rested its head on its paws, and closed its eyes. Hunter breathed a long sigh of relief.

The respite didn’t last long. The golden light around him flickered, and Waffles chirped an apology. The direwolves perked up. The shield flickered again, then went out entirely.

One

Two

Three

Hunter’s heart beat a quick tempo in his chest, but he didn’t dare move. If he ran, he was prey, and he wouldn’t stay out of their reach this time. Waffles fell to his hands in staff form, ready to fight.

The direwolf closest lifted its head again, slowly rising to its feet. It took a few steps closer to Hunter, unconcerned. It sniffed the trap around Hunter’s leg first, its lips peeling back in a snarl of disdain. Then, its nose came inches from Hunter’s dirt-streaked face. It snorted, sending a blast of hot air in Hunter’s face.

Then it laid back down.

The rest of the pack followed its lead, sniffing Hunter’s face, then settling in a big pile around him. One of them started to lick Hunter’s injured leg, but stopped when Hunter yelped, his stomach heaving again. He dug his hand back into the ground, settling his breathing back down. He had to stay a calm part of the forest. Otherwise… he didn’t want to start to think what they’d do to him.

Despite the danger literally surrounding him, Hunter couldn’t help but lean back, resting against one of the direwolves’ flank. The steady rise and fall of its breathing slowly lulled him into an easy sleep.

Waffle’s chirp woke him. The sun had risen, dappling the forest floor with light. And sitting in a circle of happy direwolves was Eberwolf, who seemed completely unconcerned with the massive creatures, despite the fact that he held their injured pup in his lap.

“Good sleep?” Eber signed, letting the pup go.

Hunter sat up. His head pounded, and his mouth felt drier than the Titan’s palm. He couldn’t feel the trap around his leg anymore—in a panic, he sat straight up, dislodging a puppy that had curled up on his chest. But to his surprise, the reason he couldn’t feel the trap was because the trap was gone, and his leg had been wrapped in clean bandages.

Eber chuckled. “V-I-N-E-Y. You slept. Took all her magic to keep from being torn.” His face split into a proud grin. “Not like me. Not like you.”

“Mrgh?” Hunter managed. The puppy he’d dislodged crawled back up to him, someone discontentedly. Hunter scratched its ears to placate it. “What happened?”

“Part of the pack now.” Eber howled, as if to emphasize the point, and the rest of the pack howled with him. And strangely, Hunter felt a deep pull in his chest, too, a call to open his lungs and heart and howl with them.

Eber grinned again. “Helped a pup. Didn’t back down. Showed good defense. Earned respect. And trust. Very good.”

“Oh,” Hunter responded faintly. The fact that he’d even survived the night surrounded by a direwolf pack made his head spin. But still, a glimmer of pride shone underneath that. Not many people could say they’d befriended a direwolf pack—especially not one with pups.

“Very good,” Eber repeated, “Now? Time to go home.”

Hunter felt a twinge of sadness at the idea of leaving the forest behind, but the feeling was quickly overwhelmed by a wave of relief. “Yes, please.”

[smolskxawng]

New life - Chapter 5

<- chapter 4, chapter 6 ->

Pairing: Aged up!Neteyam x Fem!Reader

Summary: After being faced with another life or death situation, you end up deciding to follow the Sullys on their journey to the Metkayina’s region. As you and Neteyam get progressively closer, you wonder if you’re starting to see him in a different way.

Note: Neteyam is aged up on this one☝️as well as the reader☝️

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Extra note: (y/n)’s addiction to M&M’s makes a comeback on this chapter 😶‍🌫️ lmao I’m sorry I just had to

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I quietly follow Neteyam through the woods while he tracks his parent’s footsteps

He looks back quickly from time to time, checking if I’m still behind him

It starts raining, slowing us down, the atmosphere is dense. If I didn’t have Neteyam with me, finding my way around the forest would be almost impossible

After walking for a while, we start to hear voices

“….Demon! I will kill you as many times as I have to” A woman yells

Neytiri

We found them

I can see her now, she’s a bit far from us, hiding behind a tree

There’s a few human and avatar soldiers around, circling the perimeter

Neteyam stops in front of me, raising his hand as if telling me to stop as well, he looks into my eyes and points, first to where his mothers stands, then to the side, like he wants me to cover her side view while he stays directly across from her

I nod at him. Before I can go, he suddenly grabs my arm, making me turn back to look at him inquisitively

“Be. Careful.” He mouths, his eyes staring intensely into mine

I swallow hard. Looking back into his eyes, I nod, mouthing a “You too” back at him

He lets go of me slowly, and I swiftly walk to where he told me to

When I finally stop, I have a clear view of Neytiri’s side

And….

Shit

An avatar soldier, a human with a Na’vi replica, pointing his gun directly at her

She doesn’t seem to see him

My eyes widen, I try to pick an arrow as fast as I can

Right as I’m about to aim and shoot, another arrow beats me to it, getting the soldier from the back

Neteyam shot him!

Another soldier suddenly appears, loading his gun and pointing it in Neteyam’s direction

My eyes widen, my heartbeat fastening, I have to do something and I have to do it now

Having only a day of training, I know there’s a possibility I’ll miss. So I breath in deeply, trying to remember everything Neteyam taught me, quickly aiming my arrow at the man, screaming as loud as I can “Neteyam! Duck!”

The man screams “Na’vi”

I shoot at him, the arrow zooming in his direction, I was aiming at his the head, but it ends up hitting his arm instead

He still fires the gun, missing Neteyam because of my arrow’s impact, making the gun he was holding shoot a row of bullets to the side before falling from his hold

Still, Jake pushes Neteyam to the ground as the gun goes off

“Go Go Go” Jake urges, dragging Neteyam with him behind a tree

“You okay? You okay boy?” Jake inquires urgently

Neteyam agrees, making a motion of moving from his hiding spot to look in my direction

Jake holds him in place by his arm “Okay. With me. Ready? Ready?” He asks Neteyam

“Yes sir” he answers firmly

Jake then presses his fingers to his neck, quickly speaking into our communication mechanism “(Y/n), still with us?!”

“Y-yes!! I’m here!!” I say into the earpiece. I’m currently laying on the ground, having thrown myself down as soon as the shooting started

Neteyam let’s out a breath of relief as his father quickly yells “Good. Be ready to run on my sign”

He suddenly gets out of his hiding spot, shooting at two soldiers who stood close to us

After bringing them down, he screams “Move!”

I quickly get up, running as fast as I can into the woods

——————————————————

I’m alone now, separated from the rest of the group, running through the thick forest. Trusting my hearing to somehow guide me away from danger

I run for what feels like hours, legs burning, heart almost bursting out of my chest

I hope everyone’s alright

As I approach some massive tree roots, I start to hear voices

I slow down, scared, breathing heavily, trying to focus on the noise

“…ou hurt? Are you hurt?!!” Someone urges from behind the giant tree roots

It’s Jake!!

——————————————————

“(Y/n)” Neteyam breathes out, his eyes frantically scanning the perimeter, “Where’s (y/n)?” he anxiously presses his fingers to his neck, about to call me on our earpiece, starting to move to run back into the forest

But I beat him to it

“(Y/n)!!” Tuk screams as I jump over a big fallen tree branch to finally meet up with them

Everyone’s eyes snap on my direction, Jake immediately asking if I’m hurt

“I-I’m alright, I’m okay” I manage to breath out, my lungs burning from the run

Suddenly, two hands grab me by the arms “(Y/n)”

Neteyam says as he starts to scan my body for any possible injuries “Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?” He stops his eyes on mine, looking intensely at me, his tone urgent, gaze full of concern

“Oh my god” I breath out

“They tried to shoot you!! Oh my god Neteyam” I say, starting to fuss over him, circling him while touching his arms and back, looking for any serious wounds

Or any bullet wounds

“Hey, I’m okay, it’s alright, they didn’t get me” he holds me in place by my arms

“You saved me, again” he says softly, looking into my eyes

Before we can say anything else, strong white lights emerge from the sky, illuminating the forest

It’s a huge airship, getting progressively close to the ground, probably coming to fetch the soldiers

We all look up, Neteyam puts a protective arm in front of me as we see a bunch of avatar soldiers getting dragged up towards the sky by ropes with hooks on them, tied to the airship

As it distances itself from the land, I hear Jake saying

“…..Okay. We’re clear, everyone okay?” He breathes out, his tone urgent

“Mom!” Tuk screams, running into Neytiri’s arms, starting to cry

It’s finally over

Jake slowly pulls Neteyam and Lo’ak into a tight hug

Hands on my knees, I let out a huge breath of relief, tears swelling on the corners of my eyes after all of the adrenaline and fear

Jake looks over at where I stand for a while. Slowly, he stretches one arm in my direction, as if inviting me into the hug

My breath hitches, a few tears dropping from my eyes as I enter his embrace

Neteyam puts an arm around me as soon as I appear beside him, pulling me in tightly

“Oh thank you great mother! Thank you” Neytiri screams as she hugs Kiri and Tuk, breathing heavily

As we slowly pull back from Jake’s embrace, Neteyam’s hand lingers on my lower back for a bit

Lo’ak looks around, confused, before suddenly asking about Spider

“They took him” Kiri cries out, tears already spilling from her eyes “They took him”

Jake hugs her tight, telling her that Spider will be alright

“He’s as tough kid” he tells her

We look around amongst ourselves in shock, worried for him

This can’t be good

——————————————————

Back in the village, Jake and Neytiri are currently inside of their hut, arguing about what’s the right decision to make after the recent events

Me and the Sully kids lay quietly next to their place, trying to hear whatever we can about the conversation, hoping to figure out what’s going to happen next

“….he’s targeting our family” we hear Jake say

I clench my jaw

Quaritch

So he’s the one responsible for what happened back at the forest

“You cannot ask this!” Neytiri pleads “The children. Everything they’ve ever known, the forest. This is our home” she yells

Ask what? What’s Jake thinking about doing?

“He had our children, he had them under his knife” Jake whispers firmly

I look at where Tuk is now currently laying on the ground, spying on her parent’s conversation

She could’ve had died today, I think, they could’ve taken her

This is can’t happen again

I focus back on the conversation

“….You’re Toruk Makto” Neytiri yells

“This will protect the people” Jake yells back

“Quaritch has Spider, that kid knows everything” He urges

“He knows our whole operation, he can lead them right in here” he finishes

We look around amongst ourselves, my eyes resting on Kiri

On the past few days, I’ve noticed Kiri and Spider’s strong bond, their friendship and care for each other is always really evident

Too evident… maybe there’s something more going on between them

I slowly put a hand on her arm, she seems out of it, like her mind is anywhere else but here

Jake still pleads with Neytiri, telling her that if the people harbor us, they’ll die

He proceeds to admit to having no plan, affirming that what he can do is protect this family, his family

I have to put my ear on their tent’s side to catch his next phrase

“But I know one thing” He whispers softly “Wherever we go, this family is our fortress”

I back away from the tent slowly, a million thoughts running through my head, are they… are they leaving?

Jake pushes the fabric that covers the entrance of his hut abruptly, making us jump and try to act as natural as possible, hoping he doesn’t notice we were spying

Of course he does

His gazes focuses on me

“(Y/n)” he starts with a serious expression, “I need to have a word with you”

——————————————————

I follow Jake into my hut, where he sits down, gesturing for me to do the same

I sit across from him, anxious

“(Y/n)…. we’re leaving” he says, his eyes sorrowful

My suspicions were right

He goes on to explain the whole situation, telling me that they were doing this for the sake of their people, that it’s the only way to make sure no one gets hurt, or worse

“Quaritch isn’t giving up until he finds us, so we’ll be disappearing”He says “Moving south to the Metkayina’s region”

The sea people, I think, one of my favorite tribes, I used to spend hours on end reading every bit of information available about them

“But” I start hesitantly “You’re the olo’eyktan-“

“I’ve already chosen a successor” he interrupts me, his voice firm and his gaze stern

He sighs

“It’s the best decision for our people and for ourselves” he finishes

I nod slowly, understanding. It’s the only way to protect both his family and his tribe at the same time

“You can stay” he continues “It’s our family he’s after. You could stay with the omaticaya if you wish, with Norm” he finishes, mentioning the only person I have left from my past

I look down, thinking. I could stay, help Norm around the lab, have a good, tranquil life

But… it’s not that simple anymore, i think, I promised to help against the humans, against Quaritch. Even if he’s only after the Sullys, I can’t abandon them

I… care for them, I realize. They already occupy a special place in my heart. They were the first people to approach me with kindness and care since I escaped the human base

Especially their oldest son

I can’t leave them

Besides, I think, who’s going to save Neteyam when he needs it? I smile to myself recalling the last two times I ended up saving his life

I look at Jake, who’s staring back at me, waiting for an answer

“If you’ll have me…I wish to go as well” I tell him

“You do?” He raises both of his eyebrows “You…. do understand there’s a possibility we aren’t coming back”

I smile “I know. I promised to help didn’t I? If anything happens, you’ll need someone who has intel on the humans, on Quaritch. I promise I’ll be useful”

He huffs out a laugh, shaking his head “You know” he starts “You really do remind me of Grace” he stares at me for a while, a soft look in his eyes

I look at him, surprised, a smile forming on my lips “Thank you”

“Well then” he continues “Get ready, we leave tomorrow”

——————————————————

Jake then goes after Neytiri, both of them calling their kids in to tell them the news

I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like for them. My home is in the past, it doesn’t really exist anymore, I’m still struggling to find somewhere else, some other people to cling on to

But the Sullys, they’ve lived their whole lives here, their future lies here too

I can’t help but to feel sad for them

——————————————————

No one could really sleep after Jake’s news, so that brings us to the current moment, where me and the Sully children sit around a small bonfire next to my hut

Their faces are melancholic, some tear streaked, still absorbing the news

They’re leaving home

“This fucking sucks” Lo’ak says, his eyes locked onto the fire

“Language” kiri sighs out, proceeding to lay down on the ground, staring at the stars

“I don’t want to go….” Tuk cries out softly, hand rubbing her eyes, seems like she’s holding her tears in

“C’mere” Neteyam tells her, he picks her up, sitting her on his lap, softly rubbing her back

“It won’t be that bad” he tells her softly “We’re going near the sea, there’s all sorts of beautiful creatures in it, right (y/n)?” His gaze shifts to me

I’ve told Neteyam about my interest on the Metkayina before, having studied their culture to its core

“That’s right!!” I try to smile reassuringly at Tuk “There’s huuuge whales too, they’re called Tulkuns!!”

As my gaze shifts to Neteyam, I notice he’s trying his hardest to cheer Tuk up. But his eyes are sorrowful, distant

“Grandma Mo’at would love them…” Tuk says, her eyes watering again

Me and Neteyam share a look, his jaw locked. Their grandmother is staying, she’s the tsahik, the people can’t do without her

It’s inevitable, there’s no way around it, they’re really leaving

I look at them, their sad expressions making my heart ache

“Okay” I suddenly say, standing up “Come with me everyone, I’ve got something to show you”

——————————————————

After some hard convincing and a whole lot of it’ll be good I promises, I currently have the Sully kids inside my hut, sitting down in a circle. Their faces confused and skeptical

I reach inside a woven basket in the corner of my room, taking out the only thing I brought with me when I escaped the human base: a backpack with some essentials

When I first escaped, it contained a few provisions, a flask of water and two personal items

Now, it only had the latter, which were my mini cassette player and a bag of M&M’s

Time to blow some minds

——————————————————

“Alright, now on the count of three, we all eat it. Don’t just swallow it, chew it slowly and feel the flavor” I say

I’m now sitting amongst them on the ground, cross legged between Neteyam and Kiri

We all have at least two M&M’s in hand, everyone waiting for my sign to eat them

Tuk looks excited, wanting to try “the little colorful balls”, as she calls the M&M’s, already.

Lo’ak looks at me skeptically, while Kiri points out there’s a tiny “m” written on each one of them

“What did you say these were again?” Neteyam asks, amused, raising an eyebrow in my direction

“Happiness in a little sphere” I grin at him, “Chocolate” I finish

“Oh so that’s what this is?” Lo’ak asks, “The lab crew talks about craving this stuff all the time. This better be good (y/n)” he smirks in my direction

I smile at him, looking at the candy in my hand. It’s weird to think that this is probably the last piece of chocolate I’ll ever have

I’m not human anymore, I think. Now that I’m with the na’vi, shipments from Earth don’t reach us like they used to, since the humans that were allowed to stay on Pandora are considered part of the tribe, the ties between us and planet Earth were cut short

My gaze becomes a little distant, eyes on the candy on my hand, memories from a life that doesn’t exist anymore flashing through my mind

“It’ll be good” Neteyam says, snapping me out of my thoughts

I look at him, he’s staring at me encouragingly, a bit of concern on his eyes

“She promised it’ll be good” he continues “So if it isn’t, she’ll have to come up with something better” he finishes, a playful look in his eyes

I laugh softly “Trust me, you won’t need anything else after trying these”

“Can I eat mine now?” Tuk says, excited, patience running low

I grin at her “Okay. On the count of three” I say “One, two… three”

We all simultaneously put the candy into our mouths

My smile is immediate, the familiar flavor bringing me good memories, I really love these

The chain of reactions in front of me is hilarious to say the least

First, Lo’ak squints his eyes, slowly chewing the candy. Then, his eyebrows raise and his pupils dilate, a small smile playing on his lips, “Oh wow” he mutters

Kiri only eats one of the two M&M’s I initially gave her, eyeing the other skeptically while she chews. A slow smile spreads through her face, getting progressively bigger. She looks at me beaming, showing me the M&M she didn’t eat “Does each one taste different since they have different colors?”

Tuk finishes her’s in a matter of seconds, instantly opening both her hands in front of me “Can I please have some more??” She pleads, eyes sparkling

Neteyam’s the only one who I can’t really figure out if approved the candy or not. He has his brows furrowed, chewing his candy slowly

I laugh “No kiri, and of course Tuk!!” I answer the girl’s questions, turning the bag of M&M’s on Tuk’s hand. Her eyes widen at how much more I just gave her

While Lo’ak tries to steal some from Tuk’s hand, getting harshly scolded from her, I turn my attention to Neteyam

“So?… what do you think?” I ask him hesitantly

He finally finishes chewing, looking into my eyes “honestly….I kind of hate it”

“W-what? Really?” I ask him, my tone urgent and disappointed

He nods, pursing his lips, staring at me

My face falls

Then, his face slowly morphs into a grin, finally breaking into a loud laugh

“Of course not” his laughter dies down a bit “I love it actually” his eyes have a playful glint on them “And I need more, immediately” He finishes, smirking, opening his hand for me to pour more

I’m trying hard to make an angry face at him, but the smile on my lips betrays me

I scoff “Sorry, but you just lost your candy privileges” I turn to Lo’ak and Kiri “Want some more you guys?”

Neteyam laughs again, “Come on (y/n), I’m sorry!” He pokes my sides with his hand softly

I suddenly shriek, letting out a quick laugh, eyes widening, I’m really ticklish there

Shit

Neteyam’s smirk slowly widens

“Please don’t, please” I plead

He doesn’t even hesitate, poking both of my sides fast and hard

I laugh loudly, small tears swelling on the corners of my eyes, dropping the bag of M&M’s I was holding to try and get away from his torture

“Can I get some M&M’s now (y/n)?” he asks, laughing while continuing to tickle me

“Y-yes just please- stop!” I manage to blurt out mid laugh

“What? Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that” he grins, continuing his torture on my sides

This little bitch

“I’ll give you the whole bag if you want to, just please stop!!” I breath out, still laughing

He slowly stops, his smile wide “Well thank you (y/n), since you offered it, I’ll be having the whole thing” he says, his laughter finally dying down as well

I turn to look for the M&M’s bag, having dropped it earlier when he attacked me

The bag is now on Lo’ak’s hands, who’s staring at both me and Neteyam, wide eyed, eyebrows raised

He’s sharing the candy with Kiri, who chews slowly while also watching us, a wide smile on her lips

My cheeks redden immediately, I try to look anywhere but back at them

Neteyam’s ears are bright red, redder than I’ve ever seen them. He clears his throat

“Why’d you stop? Do it again!!” Tuk exclaims to Neteyam. Her hands are still full of the M&M’s I gave her before, her tongue multicolored from the candy

——————————————————

It’s late now, I can hear the soft rustle of the trees from outside of the hut as I lay on my hammock, trying to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow’s voyage to the Metkayina’s region

I smile softly, remembering the Sully’s goodbyes before leaving my hut for the night

—————FLASHBACK——————

“Sleep well (y/n)!! I’ll be coming back for more of that stuff” Lo’ak says, pointing at the now empty bag of M&M’s, hand on my shoulder as he wishes me goodnight

“Thank you for the delicious little colored thingies (y/n)!! Sleep well” Kiri says, giving me a side hug as she leaves

“(Y/n)!!!!” Tuk exclaims, hugging me tight by my legs “I loved the chocolate!!!! thank you so so so so so much!!!!!” She excitedly says, jumping in place while still holding me

My eyes widen, I hug her back tightly, laughing

Oops, I think, looks like I ended up giving someone a sugar rush

She suddenly dashes after Lo’ak and Kiri

“That’ll be hard to explain” Neteyam says, laughing. He’s the last one to leave my hut

We see Tuk jump on Lo’ak’s back, almost tackling him to the ground

I laugh “Don’t worry, it’ll pass soon, I think” I say

We laugh, Neteyam now stands in front of me at the entrance of my hut

“(Y/n)” He starts, smiling softly at me “Thank you… truly. They really needed that. Today wasn’t easy, and tomorrow will probably be even harder, but you gave them a little something to smile about, and for that I am very grateful”

I look back into his eyes, there’s a lot of emotion in them, I find myself getting a bit lost inside his gaze

I slowly smile at him “That was nothing! It was the least I could do after everything you all have done for me” I tell him

“But…How about you? Did it cheer you up too?” I ask him

His smile falters just a little, his eyes widening a bit “Me?” he asks, “I don’t- I’m not-“

“It’s okay” I interrupt him, “We don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to. But I’ve noticed you always try to be strong for both your parents and your siblings, especially Tuk” I smile at him

“It’s really admirable, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be sad as well” I continue “It’s your home too, you’re allowed to feel bad about leaving it” I finish

I stare at him, he seems at a loss for words. We stay in silence for a bit

He swallows hard, jaw tense, staring intensely into my eyes

Suddenly breathing out, he says “You’re a really observant person (y/n)” his voice falters a bit, a small smile growing on his lips

My cheeks heat up a bit. I smile awkwardly at him “You’re one to talk!! You always seem to get me out of uncomfortable situations”

“And you seem to always save me from life or death ones” he smiles wider at me, a playful glint on his eyes

I laugh loudly at that, my eyes crinkling “Just accept the compliment Neteyam!!”

He laughs as well, his eyes never leaving mine, he slowly uses two of his fingers to grab mine, softly saying “Thank you (y/n)”

My cheeks redden again, I swallow hard, squeezing his fingers back softly “Y-you’re welcome”

He smiles “If you ever need to talk, or anything at all, I’m always here yeah? Just call for me and I’ll be there” he says

“Right back at you, mighty warrior” I say the last part in a lower, softer tone, unlike the teasing one i’ve used on him until now

——END OF THE FLASHBACK——

My stomach churns as I recall the interaction with Neteyam, a smile involuntarily coming to my lips. I rest my forearm above my eyes

Why am I feeling like this??

——————————————————

<- chapter 6 is out now :)

SooooOooOoO, (y/n) is going with the Sullys to the Metkayina’s. Anything could happen over there Ig 🤷‍♀️

Chapter 6 coming soon!! Ty SO much for the support everyone 🥹💞

Tag list: @holysaladapricothero @mahalkomarvel @a-blog-name-2003 @crazy4books1 @camilo-uwu @isazelhmann @mynameisjuno @milktealvrr @myheartfollower @bakugouswaif

[iceprincessviviane]

Chapter 3 - New in the town.

Heritage series.

Pairing: poly!BTS (Demons) x Female!Shy!Skinny!Chosen!Reader

Type: dark romance, horror au, soulmate au, ploy relationship, slowburn, yandere.

Warnings: Horror themes, some religion themes (mostly demonic), gore, blood, dreams, manipulation, witchcraft, magic themes, death (side characters), mentionings of forced marriage, mentioning about past, loss, yandere, obsessive, possessive, swearing, low self-esteem,dealing with grief, sugestive content and silly jokes created by me. (If there is more to add let me know.)

Previous chapter. Next chapter.

Summary: new town, new peopple. Accomodating might be hard, but small steps should be enough. As long as there is not any problems, everything is good.

Author's note: this chapter also might be longer because of town's description. I hope the introduction of members won't be too cheesy and cringe 😌 English isn't my first language so sorry for any mistakes.

MINORS DNI

Y/N woke up without any alarm's help. The night was peacefuly, she even dreamt about the forest around the city, for the next three day, she didn't have to log in the work, so had all time to figured out things with mansion. After doing a morning routine and eating yet again sandwiches, she got a text from Jungkook, he'll show up with a man who can rent her a car. Y/N went outside since it was pretty warm, got a closer look to an old tree and through gate to separted garden, then opened main gate. Not even five minutes went by, when two pick ups parked, from first got out Jungkook, now in baggy clothes and free failing hair, from second man in his mid fifties with a cigarette and hat.

"Good morning miss." He shook her hand.

"Good morning, nice to meet you." She said with little smile.

"So Jungkook told me you looking for a car to rent. It happens that this one is sitting at garage for like two months and I don't need it, but well it's quite a big one."

Y/N glanced at blue, goodlooking pick up. It clearly looked like not used, because there wasn't a personal stuff.

"I just need something to be able to get to the town down below and back here." She explained honestly.

"Oh, so it's perfect it's nice and reliabe car, just my brother left it, because he's abroad."

Man proceed to show her all the papers, confirming that it's well treated car and it won't just let her down.

"I think it's what I am looking for. What's the price of the rent?" She asked really convinced.

"We can summed up things right before your leaving, I don't want to take too much since you'll be just using it in town." Man said honestly.

Jungkook was observing their conversation quietly. His car was bigger and was black. He leaned on it's door and crossed his arms.

"Okay, I will fill it if it'll be necessary and maybe you have someone to confirm about the bills?" Y/N suggested little clueless.

"Yea they know me at gas station, so they'll know that you are renting my car." Man smiled.

Y/N signed the contract and they have exchanged the hand shake. Jungkook showed his bunny smile.

"Thanks Jungkook."

"It's okay buddy, get in the car I'll drive you to the town." He said and opened door for a man.

"I'll be also going there but a little later. Gotta buy some groceries etc." She said honestly.

"Sure, there shouldn't be a lot of people that early. Call me if you'll need something." Jungkook flashed her bunny smile and entered the pick up.

They drove away and Y/N came back into mansion. She grabbed bag with wallet, remembering to have her driving license, along with some plastic bags to carry groceries and list. After closing each window and door she opened earlier, than main gate, everything was ready to set off. Drive to town wasn't long, she even parked right under supermarket, nice it wouldn't be problem to pack it. There were also shopping carts so another advantage. Inside were a lot of aisles filled with everything, than further ones with fridges, fruits and vegetables, general food, meat and even with clothes, AGD and supplies. It was perfect, Y/N needed everythig at once. First she went with food, buying everything with long expiration date, some fresh fruits and vegetables, some meat to freeze and left for then. A lot of drinks like juice, water, tea and some coca cola. She equiped herself with a lot of clearing tools, bags for vaccuming, pair of gloves and trash bags. Then went bathroom and kitchen supplies. Her cart was almost full, when she was checking what left and turned out Y/N forgot transparent foil. She was about to reach for it, don't know who thought that placing it on higher shelf was a good idea, unfortunately she tripped and fell straight into a stranger, which was also buying something. He let go of book holding under an arm to catch her and helped stand straight.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I'm clumsy." She apologized looking up.

Her eyes met chocolote ones with glasses and concerned face. He was way more taller than she, thick arms and silver hair. Y/N breathed heavily in, second handsome man she met in span of two days. Except that he wore crisp, neat shirt with rolled sleeves and ubuttoned a little. Trousers were from fine, checked material and leather, elegant shoes.

"Eveything all right, you good Miss?"

"Yes, yes." She released breath shakily. "Your book!"

She crouched down to pick it up. She took it carefuly and glanced at title, small gasp left her lips and small smile appeard on them.

"Dante Alighieri Divine Comedy?" Y/N asked looking at stranger suprisingly.

He smiled back and nodded. "Yes, it's occupying lately my mind." He took it from her. "Did you read it?"

"Yes, around year ago and I liked it a lot."

"I'm on Prugatory. Still have a to read it and then Paradise."

He glanced at her cart full of different things and his smile widened showing the cutest diamples she has ever seen.

"Are you that newcomer?"

"Oh... yes, it's me." She said meekly. "The news are spreading fast here I see."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Namjoon." He gave her his hand.

"Y/N L/N. I'm really sorry." She grabbed and he shook it firmly.

"It's okay, you wouldn't want to know how many times I've dropped it in the past." He scrated his nape and giggled nervously. "How's your residence here so far?"

"Ugh I've arrived here yesterday, I just checked the mansion and everything is working but I'm missing basic supplies."

"It's that one on a hill right?" Namjoon asked tilting his head slighty to left.

"Yes."

"It's a beautiful one. I'm living in another one, which is closer to town, but still in the woods."

"Oh really, you are owning it?" She asked with surprise.

"Yes, I like to nap there and sometimes inspire myself." He nodded pushing his glasses back on the nose.

Y/N could swear that this made her knees weak. She hid her heating cheeks and shuffled with cart a little.

"So are you an artist?"

Deep laugh filled the silence and smirk showed up on Namjoon's lips. He narrowed his gaze a little and looked at her from toes to head.

"No, I'm a businessman, but I do enjoy literature and art."

Y/N nodded shying away from his gaze. Who would think that such man is going to stay here? But he had right, the views and scennery were stunning, so maybe taking a break from work here worked very efficient.

"Isn't it a lethal combination?"

"Tell me." In his eyes flashed sparkle of approval.

"I think it is." A little smile appeard on her lips.

"It was nice to meet you, but I need to go. If you would want to we can grab a coffee or tea sometime." Namjoon suggested softly.

"It would be really nice."

They exchanged phone numbers and Y/N tried to hide small, plesant smile and heated cheeks. How lucky was she? Meeting another handsome and nice man during such situation? Truly strange. She paid, then left the shop with cart and put everything in car. A lot of things had to be in fridge, so it was necessary to come back to mansion. After putting everything in place and make some orders Y/N again got in the car - this time to drive around and meet the area. The main square and road was easy, but gas station was a little bit further, when the road was going into another direction. In the forest were a lot of different paths, some were just porches into forest entrances, with wooden railings, parking spots and atmospheric bowers. When she got into another one there was small, woden cabin between few trees. Y/N parked that anyone could pass through and took off, the air was fresh and full of spine smell. Silence was only but by birds and she felt warm sunshine kissing her skin. Suddenly an elder woman appeard, also with groceries obviously going to cabin direction. She looker like granny and was visibly struggling with holding the items. Unfortunately the plastic bag has given up and all things rolled into ground. She gasped and Y/N immediately rushed to aid her.

"Please let me help."

She crouched down to pick up food first to prevent dirtying it. She used her spare bag from a purse and put those in, the focused on rest.

"Do you live here ma'am?" She asked pointing at cabin.

"Yes my dear, thank you for help." Elder give her geniue smile.

"It's nothing."

They both reached cabin older woman opened the door revealing small and cozy living room with an table, couch, chairs and plush armchair on which was lying small, black as night cat with emerald green eyes. It rose head when women appeard and observed them carefuly. Room was shared with open kitchen which was filled with cupboards, stove, countertops under a walls and small fridge. Y/N put everything on a countertop.

"Is it everything? Do you need anything more?"

"Yes sweetie, thank you a lot." Grandma said and sat on the chair to take a breath.

Cat jumped off the armchair, stretched out and walked to owner, rubbing it's whole body against her legs. She smiled and petted it's head affecionate. Y/N smiled at sight, but in no time white cat with black spots in whole body appeard and meowed softly.

"Do you have a catfood here? I can set it up, since you have to nap ma'am."

"It should be in the bag."

There was a bowls under a wall, so she filled them with food which was bought. Three more cats showed up and black one abandoned owner to eat.

"Oh there's a lot of them." Y/N smiled.

"Mostly they are stray, but I feed them since this forest is dangerous."

"Oh I heard about the wolfs."

"You are the newcomer right love?"

"Yes it's me Y/N L/N" she introduced herself and nodded respectfuly.

"You can call me Annise, looks like Emerald started to already like you."

They both looked down and saw the black cat rubbing it's body against her legs, with tail high standing.

"Can I pet it?"

Grandma nodder and Y/N crouched and ran her fingers through cat's smooth fur. It purred softly then meowed and looked at her with big, green eyes.

"It's beautiful."

"Yeah, Emerald is a one handsome boy."

"Do you have a phone ma'am? I can help you a little when I'm free, you live pretty far from main part of the city."

"I have it, thank you but I don't want to bother you sweetie. I heard rumors that you are here for an important thing." Elder woman stated with shy tone.

"Well yes, but it seems it'll take a time and now don't even started so I can be helpful."

Grandma smiled and they exchange phone numbers. She also suggested Y/N to stay a while, when she prepared tea and took out a cookies from a shelf. Emerald jumped on her lap, when she sat at the table, she explained briefly how the case with mansion is going and described how it looks for now.

"You a brave girl coming here all alone." Annise summed up with respect.

"I kinda had no choice, but when officials issued everything, it wasn't that scary. The manor is very big and I admit that it's overwhelming, but I hope everything be all right and I wanna take care of it in a sake of my late aunt."

"Yes, but also living now deep in the forest for a town girl might be uncomfortable." Grandma looked up at her.

"For now I'm trying not to complain but nature here looks beautiful."

"Just be careful and watch out about a weather."

Y/N nodded and the conversation went for a while. After an noon she excused herself and thanked for a cookies. She had to come back and eat a dinner, also wanted to look after a mansion a little. Emerald didn't took off his shining eyes of her, till the door closed. Cat looked at his owner.

"Gosh she's lovely..." Annise stated with sad sigh.

"We have to start act immediately." Emerald growled a little and stretched again.

"Yes... the necklace won't be enough."

}*{

When Y/N came back to the mansion, it was late noon and she could feel her stomach growling. After preparing something ready to eat, which she bought in the shop, the tour around the mansion begin once more, but now she chose locked garden. The gate creaked loudly when she opened it with rosary key and looked inside. The stone path was cleared and grass actualy was cut and neat. It was a little strange, but maybe some gardener was sent here before her arrival. Y/N went deeper, where the trees starter and dry fountain can be found. Some birds were chirped and warm sun went out of the clouds shining at sunclock. It felt unreal, like she got transported into another time and world. Good thing that garden was cleared, Y/N had zero experience with such plants and places, maybe it would need water later, those flowerbeds looked like someone would have to care about them. Something took her attention. On one of the bush branches was hanging a stick tangled with feathers and grass, she frowned a little, touching it carefuly. Was it some of children making? Some sort of bird thing? She decided to left it, when she recalled that indeed there were a nightingale living around the manor.

Y/N left the garden, it didn't need any clearing now so she decided next is a library. It was huge room with second floor, both filled with tall bookshelfes, another fireplace with cozy couch anr armchair, the windows were going through backyard, very back part of the garden. Whole library was dusty to the second floor were leading circling stairs and it was in fact a balcony, with more bookshelfes and a place wiqth desk and chair in the back, near big window. There were also sculptures and paintings, probably everything needed to be write down and inspected. Some books appeard to be very old, some were having even wooden covers. This place will definitely need some vaccuming and clearing. She came back to master bedroom, when already was an laptop and some of her things put in the order. It came out that mayor emailed her - the government started to look for an specialist and in the attachment was a list of all things which needed to be catalogued and written down. There were thousands... Y/N sighed and send it to her phone, maybe she'll find time for that. After some nap she went to close main gate, evening just started and she probably won't go anywhere, she also checked the garden, but an surprise waited for her under main door. Cat with intense grey fur and mix of yellow and green eyes waited for her and meow when she came into it's sight.

"How did you got here?" Y/N asked and animal just rubbed it's body against her legs.

It also allowed to pet it's head gently and reached a paw towards her. Girl's heart just melted and cat was allowed inside the mansion. Suprisingly it sat in the middle of big space looked around and them started to follow her upstairs. Inside her room, started clearing whole body, when Y/N was thinking what to do with him. It might be one of Annise's cat or another stray - so she couldn't let him outside on that time, if the area is really that dangerous. She had a fresh piece of fish, so she put it on a plate and filled wide bowl with water. Cat accepted it after cleaning himself. It was avarage size, for sure adult and actualy an handsome gentleman. When she briefly looked at list sent by mayor - it was so long, because there was a sections filled with books, second most wide was furniture one. After some time, the night overtook the world, the moon peeked into bedroom and Y/N decided to go to sleep. After fast shower she went into a bed and cat decided to curled near her legs which caused her heart to melt again. The shadow shapes seemed like stretching towards canopy bed, but all jumped into cat's shadow caused it to be more darker, only when it opened eyes. Nothing else dared to enter bedroom this night.

Taglist:

@hadesnewpersephone @lalavione1309

[waterless-witch]

Of Knights and Demons

Chapter 1

TW: Rape/Non-con in following chapters, Dark themes, forced marriages, violence and swearing. MINORS DNI OR I WILL BLOCK YOU

This is my first ever fic so please be nice to me, I’ve also got it posted on A03 under the same name in case anybody would like to read it there.

You are the sole daughter of Byakuya Kuchiki, the sole heir to a noble family. Your father has broken from tradition with his refusal to marry you off against your wishes, instead wishing for you to find a husband of your own choosing. After years of arguing with not only your own family, but the other lords of your court all seems well. That is until a once thought dead knight returns with an army to take your home.

Souske Aizen, a man you once found kindness in has demanded that the two of you are to be wed, with your father still missing along with most of the guards you’re left with few options but to comply and hope that aid comes before anything can be set. How will you stop a man like Aizen from destroying your home and the people you care about? And who are these strange people with bone masks on their face?

You watched red hair blow in the breeze as you were led deeper and deeper into the forest that surrounded your home. Renji had come to collect you quickly after the attack began on your home, the bulk of our knights and soldiers had been sent to deal with border skirmishes days ago, your father among them. He had promised he would not be gone long and not to worry that it was all being taken care of. What he didn’t know was that there were already more enemies surrounding your home, waiting until the bulk had been deployed before they began their attack.

You had been shoved into your bedchambers before you could comprehend what was happening, the sound of steel against steel rang out along with the screams of battle. The battle couldn’t have been raging for more than twenty minutes before Renji had busted into your room, blood running down the right side of his face as he panted and told you it was time to leave. Now. He would not hear any arguments you’d offered about wait for help or being able to win. After a moment he signed and grabbed your hand, leading you through the empty halls and into the gardens at the rear of the manor. You asked why the two of you were not headed for the stables, to which he told you that more than likely they were already there waiting for people with the same thought.

Once you were at the edge of the gardens you heard the ear piercing screams of women coming from the house. You whipped around on instinct, both Renji and yourself pausing, both of you heard your breath. You couldn’t see anything from where you stood but you could certainly hear it. Screams and pleas echoed as the sounds of boots spread out throughout the manor. As the sounds of boots against flooring got closer Renji grabbed your hand again and began to run. You followed behind him blindly as you stumbled through the forest, no telling how long you’d been running but it felt like an eternity before he let the two of you slow into a fast paced walk. Your hair was damp with sweat and your chest heaved. Once you had finally caught your breath you asked, “Where are we going?”

Renji didn’t bother to look back at you, simply answering “Away from that.” Sounding harsher than you’d ever heard him before. He had trained under your father, rare considering he didn’t come from any noble family, instead he’d come from an impoverished village a dozen or so hours to the south. He had always been very loyal to your father, more than likely he felt indebted to him. Your father had hand picked him from the line up of new soldiers to come train under him. He’d been knighted less than six months ago taking the place of one of the knights who had gone missing during a mission. You had a few nights laying in bed and thinking of what had happened to the three knights who had disappeared, they were all skilled and from what you understood the mission itself hadn’t been a particularly difficult one to complete. You wondered what was happening now was related, if perhaps whoever was attack your home where the same people that killed those knights.

It was a strange thing to be thinking about right now, perhaps it was easier than thinking about what was going on back at your home to people that you knew well, to your friends, to the people who you cared for. Instead your mind was running circles around three men who you hardly knew. You didn’t know much about Gin, he was a silver haired man with an untrustworthy looking smile, he’d never given a reason for this though, just a strange feeling, like it was almost too kind, in an off putting way. The second was a man named Tosen, you knew a bit more about him but only because he was some kind of miracle. He was born blind but had somehow become a skilled swordsman. He was the focus of a lot of rumors when he’d first been knighted, from ones saying that he wasn’t truly blind because they couldn’t believe he could be that skilled, to rumors about him wanting vengeance for his dead wife. You personally had never really cared for the gossip but it didn’t stop it from circulating. Finally the last man had been named Aizen, him you’d known a bit better, he was a kind man with a warm smile to match it. He’d often come to talk with your father about matters around the kingdom, when he did he always made a point to greet you and have a conversation with you. The two of you were not friends by any means of the words but you were a bit more friendly than acquaintances.

In fact, you’d been quite sad when he didn’t return. Your father tried to soothe you, telling you that perhaps he wasn’t dead but instead caught up with something or being held somewhere. While he had only been trying too help, it had made you feel much worse. You knew he was a smart and strong man, Aizen had made it to being a knight afterall, but the idea of him being held and possibly tortured wasn’t something that’d made you feel better.

Renji slowed as the two of you came to a small river, as you came to the edge of the bank he fully stopped, clearly contemplating how to cross. While the previous week had been the warmest in a while spring had still not yet fully begun, meaning that the water would be ice cold. “We’ll head downstream and try to find a bridge or someplace thin enough to cross. It’ll be better for us to put the river between us and them.” Renji explained. You nodded in response and continued to follow his lead. Together you two walk downstream for a few hours before coming across a towhead in the water. At the widest part it looked around twenty feet at each side away from the bank, luckily the water didn’t seem too deep, it came to your mid calf at most. You slowed as Renji kept walking downstream.

“Shouldn’t we cross here?” You asked, “With the sun setting I don’t think we’ll find another place to do this safely.” You continued to express.

He turned around to face you with knit brows, “It’ll be cold.” He simply said while looking at you. “And you're not dressed for the cold, especially if I drag you through water.” You looked down at your dress, it was long sleeved and a beautiful shade of deep forest green but he was right, it wasn’t made for the cold and you hadn’t had the time to get anything on your way out much less warmer clothes. You thought for a moment, not wanting to stay on this side of the river, surely whoever had invaded your home had begun searching the surrounding areas and you were sure you didn’t want to be captured by them.

“I’ll be fine,” you argued, Renji said your name in a warning but you interrupted him. “Once we cross we can get deeper into the forest and set up camp before dark, we can light a small fire and I’ll be fine I promise.” He considered what you’d said for a long moment before sighing and begrudgingly agreeing. He made his way down the steep river bank first before offering his hand to you to help you down.

You took his hand and made your own way down, the second your feet fell into the water you gasped, the water being much colder than you expected. Your hand tightened in his and he gave a small chuckle, “I told you.” He said as he began pulling you to the towhead, once you’d made it to the small bit of land you could feel your shoes squishing in the cold mud and the cloth of both your shoes and dress holding the cold to you. You made you way back into the water on the other side of the towhead, the bank was higher than the other side so Renji had to lift you while you used a tree rot to pull yourself the rest of the way up.

The two of you kept on your trek, every so often Renji would look back at you with a worried look on his face, every time he did so you will yourself to stop shivering and to give him a reassuring smile even though you don’t think your legs had ever been so cold. The sun was barely above the horizon when Renji stopped the two of you and made a fire, you sat with your legs close to it as the heat dried your clothing and shoes and helped to calm your shivers, though not completely stopping them. You looked over to Renji and he looked completely exhausted, he had heavy bags under his eyes and the hand he had resting on his sword hung completely limp. He clearly needed sleep especially if he was supposed to be navigating the two of you to safety. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I can stay awake and alert you if I hear anything strange.” You offered.

He looked up at you and shook his head, “Not a chance, you sleep I’ll stay awake.” He said in that same stern tone you’d heard all day.

“No,” you countered. “How are you supposed to get us out of here if your exhausted and sleep deprived?” You answered back just as sterenly.

He took in a sigh and started to answer back to you before being interrupted, “I don’t think he’ll be taking either one of you much further.” A voice said from behind you. The hairs on the back of your neck rose and you were on your feet in a split second. Renji had reacted much quicker and had drawn his sword and pulled you behind himself. “Now, now, put it down.” The man said, stepping forward. He was tall, freakishly so, and thin with long black hair that fell to his shoulder, an eye patch hung over one of his eyes and he wore a simple black leather tunic with pants that matched, “I’d hate to get in a fight and end up hitting your pretty little lady there.” He said with a smug grin. Renji kept his sword up and didn’t say a word, you took a step back, eyes darting between the two of them. You were at a complete loss for what to do, never have been in a situation like this. “Fine, have it your way!” He yelled before taking a step towards Renji and raising his own sword. The smirk he held turned into a wolvish smile.

“Nnoitra wait!” A second voice rang out stopping the man in his tracks. A second man with blue hair like you’d never seen before stepped into the light cast by your fire. On his face sat a mask that looked like it was made of bone with sharp teeth, he wore an identical outfit with his partner. His eyes fell on you and looked you up and down slowly, in a predatory way. Eventually his eyes met yours and held them as you took yet another step back. He cocked his head and asked “What’s your name?” While still holding your gaze.

You didn’t answer, “Her name is none of your concern.” Renji answered through grit teeth. The man's eyes flicked to Renji for just a second before looking back at you. “Regardless, I think she’s the one he wants, she matches the description perfectly. I don’t think we’d be rewarded well if she was hurt in this little squabble.” He explained. The other man, Nnoitra, lowered his own weapon.

“Okay well then how do you recommend we take them in then, if you’re so smart?” He questioned angrily, his smile falling completely and being replaced with an agitated glare.

The blue haired man signed, “You get him and I’ll get the girl, remember they want as many of them as possible back alive.” He sneered back before moving towards you.

“Run!” Renji shouted to you before moving to strike the blue haired man moving towards you, only to be stopped by Nnoitra’s blade. You turned on your heels and made your way towards the forest. You could feel your adrenaline pumping through your veins and you ran as you heard the sound of steel on steel. You ran blindly in the dark woods, getting caught on tree limbs and roots but desperately trying to get away. You couldn’t hear anything behind you but you didn’t chance a look back to make sure. Through the mood light you cloud see a clearing coming up ahead of you. You had no idea where you were but you did remember something about there being some outposts around the forest edge. You ran as fast as your legs could carry you towards the clearing praying that maybe there would be soldiers or even just people from your own kingdom there. Someone to help you. Someone to help Renji.

Just as you were at the tree line something wrapped itself around you waist, and pulled you back, knocking the air from your lungs as your back collided with something hard. You realized it must have been the blue haired man and started struggling to get out of his grasp. His other hand grabbed you by the neck, not choking you but with enough force for it to be a treat. “Stop fighting, while this little game of cat and mouse has been fun, if we don’t get back to your little friend I can’t guarantee that Nnoitra won’t kill him.” You stopped struggling, your chest heaving, trying to think of some way out of this. Before your mind could come up with anything he spun you around before lifting you over his shoulder, hands holding just above your knees, forcing you to bend over his shoulder.

You yelped as he lifted you up. “I can walk!” You shouted and resumed your struggle in an attempt to force him to put you down. No matter how you shook or kicked at him or threw your fists into his back he would not let you go.

“I’m sure you can but this is faster,” he said as he started walking you back towards your makeshift camp. “Plus this way makes sure you can’t run off again.” You kept struggling and hurled curses at the man carrying you, he gave a light chuckle at your efforts before he spoke again, “Y’know you shouldn’t struggle this much, some men like the fight and that’d leave you in a pretty hard spot if ya catch my drift.” He said putting emphasis on the word hard. Your eyes widened and you completely stopped moving. He gave a barking laugh. “There we go, that's more like it.” He said.

He continued walking and you began seeing the faint orange glow on the backs of trees as you got closer and closer to your camp. Your mind began reeling as you realized that you couldn’t hear the sound of sword fighting anymore. Had that man killed Renji? Were you alone out here with these two strange men? You felt like you were gonna be sick as you heard a grunt, followed by another one. Then you heard what sounded like flesh hitting flesh. The blue haired man finally put you down and spun you around keeping a firm hand on your shoulder to keep you from moving. In front of you Nnoitra had Renji pinned to the ground, swords flung to the side and both of them bloody as he continuously punched him. You gasped loudly, eyes clouding up, the sound pulled Nnoitra’s attention from Renji to you and gave a smirk through bloody teeth. “Took you longer than I expected Grimmjow.” He said as he straightened out, still sat atop Renji.

The blue haired man, Grimmjow, simply shrugged, “She was faster than I thought.” You couldn’t take your eyes off Renji, both his eyes had been blackened and swollen, his lower lip busted upon, bruises and cuts marred every part of him and blood seemed to be thrown everywhere. Nnoitra was also clearly injured but no half as bad, a large cut ran up his face towards his uncovered eye but stopped just before it reached the eye itself. He also had a number of smaller cuts and bruises but nothing that he particularly needed to be immediately concerned with. “You have to carry him back to the horses if he can’t walk.” Grimmjow said not at all concerned about Renjis injuries.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He said getting up off Renji, he kicked at him telling him to get up and when he didn’t Nnoitra pulled Renji’s arm, forcing him up and pushed him towards the way they had come. “Fucking move!” He said as he harshly pushed him, “You don’t want us to leave you out here to die and ride off with your pretty little friend do you?” Nnoitra said snuggly causing Renji to glare at him the best he could with his swollen face.

Behind you Grimmjow gently nudges you forward in a silent command to follow. Your feet drag along the ground as your mind tries to come up with what they meant about looking for you specifically. You weren’t important or the head of your family or anything that could be useful to whoever it was that they served. Anxiety builds in your chest making it hard to breath, your breaths become quicker and shorter as you try to think of every worst case scenario of what would be waiting for you or if these men were even telling the truth and weren’t about to kill you or worse. Maybe they were just screwing around with you two for fun like a cat batting at a mouse before it eats it. Or maybe they would take you back and you would be publicly executed. Your heart pumped so hard it hurt in your chest and even though the night was freezing cold you could feel yourself begin to sweat.

“Stop freaking out,” Grimmjow whispered close to your ear, you jerked your head to try to look at him or perhaps put some distance between the two of you, you didn’t know. His hand grabbed the top of your head and kept you looking straight as he continued, “If I’m right about who you are none of us are allowed to hurt you. Do what you're told, play your role and you and your friend will come out of this relatively okay.” He kept his voice low almost as if he didn’t want his colleague to hear him.

As the four of you made it back to the river Grimmjow again spun you around like you were a rag doll and flung you back over his shoulder, Nnoitra and Renji trudged through the cold water first and stopped once they got up the bank, Renji stumbling a few times due to his injuries. Grimmjow followed and as he got close to the bank he moved you so you could climb up with stepping a foot into the frigid water, “If she tries to run again do I get to hunt her down?” Nnoitra asked with a wolf-like grin returning to his face. Grimmjow didn’t bother responding to him as he climbed up himself, instead just rolling his eyes and clicking his tongue in disapproval. Grimmjow placed his hand back on your shoulder and pushed you past the other two.

Another twenty minutes past before you found yourself in front of three horses. They were not from your home stables, they wore an all black saddle and nothing that could mark where they had come from but each of them also had strange bone like carving on their faces just as Grimmjow did. Grimmjow removed his hand from you and turned around to look at Renji, “Are you going to live long enough to ride back?” He asked in an uncaring tone. You looked at Renji for the first time since you’d crossed the river and could clearly see that he was worse than you originally thought, he had paled a considerable amount, he stood hunched over and his chest heaved with every breath he took.

“I’ll make it back fine.” Renji answered in a horsed tone. Nnoitra laughed manically and pointed towards one of the horses and told Renji to climb up. Renji gave himself a moment to try to catch his breath before steeling himself and making his way to the horse, he slowly and heavily made his way onto the back of the animal looking like he could pass out at any moment. Nnoitra made a snide comment that you didn’t quite hear as you stared at Renji in deep concern. You didn’t know if he could truly make it back, you watched blood drip from him onto the ground below, your eyes locked with his, “I will make it back with you.” He swore to you.

You opened your mouth to say something back but where stopped when Grimmjow again spun you to face him. Your eyes met with his for just a second before he grabbed you by the waist and picked you up again. You were tired of being treated like a rag doll, and Renji yelled something at Grimmjow clearly sharing your displeasure about your treatment. He ignored both of you and placed you on one of the other horses before climbing behind you and picking up the reins, trapping you between the animal and himself with his arms on either side of you. Nnoitra tied Renji’s horse to the last one before mounting it himself and leading you back through the woods towards your home.

You had no idea what awaited you back home, Grimmjow had said something about how they wanted as many of your people back alive as possible but that didn’t seem like it meant much as you looked at Renji’s broken and bleeding form. Your mind wandered to your father. Did he know what had happened? Was he already dead? Had these people killed them first before finding you? They seemed like they knew who you were but your father was a quiet and solemn man you couldn’t imagine him speaking of you to an enemy in any way much less one that would put you on their radar.

Once you got closer to your home Grimmjow slowed your horse a bit allowing the two of you to lag behind Nnoitra and Renji a bit. “Once we get there don’t fight him, do whatever he wants and be quite about it. He’s a cruel man but he doesn’t seem to want to hurt you more than he has too. Just be quiet and good and you should be fine.” Grimmjow whispered in your ear lowly, he was close enough that you could feel the bone mask on the side of his face lightly graze against you. This time you knew better than to turn around to face him, thinking of the last time when he held you in place.

Instead you simply asked, “Who?” Grimmjow just laughed hotly into your ear before rising back up. Clearly he was set on ignoring your question which only served to aggravate you. It felt like every time he spoke to you he raised more questions than he answered. Which you thought, perhaps was on purpose, he was just messing with you, never really being done with the game of cat and mouse you’d started in the forest when you’d run from him.

Soon you found yourself riding down the Main Street that your manor lied on. As you got closer and closer to your home you could see the large white wooden doors had been kicked in and a number of windows had been shattered. Blood ran down the entry steps and while you couldn’t see inside you were sure there was much more carnage there. As you approached you didn’t turn towards your own home, instead heading straight to High Lord Yamamoto’s home. While your family manor and the ones of the other noble families lied in ruin and blood the High Lords manor stood completely untouched. It looked as prestigious as ever, completely out of place when looking at its surroundings. As you rode to the front of the manor three men opened the huge rounded dark wood door.

You felt yourself stiffen as you immediately recognized the man in the middle who was walking down to greet you. He wore a similar outfit to your captors but it was decorated with much more glamor, a small cape hung from his shoulder and a sword hung from a finely decorated holster from his hip. He wore his hair different than you’d ever seen it before, instead of letting it hang loosely in its natural shape it had been slicked back. Behind him and his accomplices followed two more people with strange bone masks on their faces.

But they were not your concern. You barely spared them a look as your eyes locked with eyes of mahogany. He smiled brightly at you as if there was nothing wrong in the world. “Hello my dear, I hope your travel was not too harsh on you.” Aizen beamed at you as he came up beside the horse you were currently riding on.

[asinfullangel]

30 Double…

“Let’s make things fun. What was done may or could happen again…”

A new halloween has arrived and this curious satyr from the local forest was ready to enjoy it like a regular human would. He read up on the human holidays, found and spent cash on a costume to add onto his appearance to look like an illustrated satyr from human mythology. He may be starting his trick-or-treating just a little early, but he knew the smell of magic in the air and so far he can smell demons all over the place (though still haven’t worked on pinpointing where they are.)

Nick was not going alone this year around no matter how much he wanted to try again. This year he will be traveling around with his wolf. Luckily with some hair dye and sewing he looks more like a monster wolf doll. You know a full size beastly wolf can’t go walking around on the street so one makeshift custom will have to do otherwise if someone starts poking around he gets a filling treat. So the opposite duo were out with Nick leading the way and Wolfe following behind with a slightly annoyed expression written on his face.

“Do you really need to be around all of these humans? You made me look like a cat’s toy and these glass button glasses are just a joke.” The wolf may be feeling odd with dye and some clothing on while his happy goat was skipping along to house after house with more candy each visit. “Won’t you relax your guard a little. Maybe spook a few of the older kids or teenagers (I think that is what they are called).” Looks like nothing could go wrong with this night and I, the creator, is going to fix this.

The creator pulls out a withered spell book, dusting off the withered part to reveal its clean and true appearances. Flipping through the pages to find the spell he desires to add into this world, finding the spell before adding in the ingredients he spoke next. “A drop of creativity and a drop of madness. One blank record with a dash of ink from an inkwell. Lastly, a piece from the interest target with a sprinkle of the current season.” I added two strings of fur belonging to Nick & Wolfe then added some candy corn since it is halloween. “Now… I call forth a new entry to the faith I have my sights set on this time of day. Hear as I say bring a twist unlike my mind had conjured before nor within my forgotten dreams. Add shock, fright, spooks and so on till the sun rises to bring in the new day.” The spell flew out of the cauldron and around the creator before slipping into the intended reality to add a little more to this halloween night…

A strong wind blew through the streets that sent chills up people’s spines, causing parents to bring home their children early and spooked teens back home included. Nick stood his ground while Wolfe took an attack stand in preparing for anything to come… Nothing appeared before them at that moment, but a fog was creeping in and moved as if something hid within. Nick felt a hand grab his ankles and then drag him underneath the fog. Wolfe faced the same actions… Yet, kids, teens and parents were back outside their houses right after as if nothing scared them into their homes before. Nick reappeared on the outscaret of a seaside town which was celebrating halloween and Wolfe appeared in a markstreet though the scent to the place told him enough that there was danger all around him…

Time for the story to begin then. Nick on his end took up the opportunity to enjoy the night by himself and goes about exploring this town for any treats. He skipped into town to see a variety of sea monster and mythical beast costumes all around the place with the scent of sea salted treats to entice the goat to get some. House to house and his candy bag grew more in size. He smiles happily while nibbling on his treats, the night still young so where else could he travel to? He did see a place that looked almost like a home to him and then began to walk over in hope of a treat (though passing by a sign saying M.City beachside. Strange, where did I hear that name from?)

Closing in on the building by the sea to see “Levi’s shops of mystical goods & sea relics,” written above on a sign. Entering the shop to catch a strong scent of magic all over from the items lining the shelves. He couldn’t see the shop owner yet, but could sense something with more power close by and it was moving towards him… “And who is this I see? A new face entering my shop of mystery. Welcome and have a look around, little goatee.” Nick hopped back from the sudden welcoming voice by the owner. “Call me Levi, the owner of this little seaside shop of trinkets.” His smile looked friendly to Nick while his own body kept the flight instincts on high alert. As for Levi’s looks he did dress up for halloween as a sea witch that pairs nicely with his milk chocolate-like skin color (pulling it off quite well to still look sexy) and his eyes remind him of moonlight reflecting off of water. “T-Thanks and what a nice shop you have here. So many things and stuff to pick from.” Now a bit of sweat is traveling down his cheek. His body can sense the danger he is in and it’s all because of Levi. “I do pick each of these out myself, but you seem new to seeing such items. Could I be of assistance in helping you find an item that’ll fit your desires?” Offering his hand out towards Nick which made him blush, Levi’s action and tone of voice charming his feelings in a way he wished Wolfe could do for him. Nick felt invited to take him on his offer, but still knew that he shouldn’t when the magic from Levi sensed odd and two faced. “I’m sorry, but I just stopped in to find out what this place was. I have a friend waiting on me so I shouldn’t really keep them waiting.” Nick, using this false excuse to leave the shop, felt a hand grab his shoulder gently once his back was turned then see a business card offered to him between two of Levi’s fingers. “At least remember to come on by again. I’m sure I can find you something helpful or entertaining like a way to train that wolf of yours with a mere sound as an example.” Nick took the card with a nervous laugh then carefully left the shop and as far as he could from the place…

On Wolfe’s end he took up the sneaking approach and moved along the rooftops to observe this market street. He didn’t know much about understanding magic though had a fine knowledge of beasts to avoid along with demons he learned from his hunting years. As for why bring this up was that he can pick up on these creatures though he only sees oddly dressed humans walking about. Their attire did hint that he could have ended up in Japan, but the air and environment here didn’t quite add onto that hint…

“I can’t believe someone set up a spirit market in town,” said a man dressed as an umbrella yokai. “Strange that this whole street was kept under wrap,” came from his buddy dressed as a spider. “Come on, I heard someone came dressed as a demon. I think they are offering up free handjobs.” Well, that was bold of an offer to speak of in public and Wolfe was quite disgusted by such the idea… And decided to follow in case Nick was somewhere close be. “(That goat better not be doing something stupid or idiotic again).”

After some traveling he stopped outside of a stall that led into a sign-less building while someone running the stall took notice of Wolfe. “Yo, welcome to meet the 7 deadly sins stall. Care to meet one of these deadly hot fellas while the night is still alive, fur ball.” Wolfe growls from the nickname given, but smells a scent that he hopes could be Nick’s. “So, does the wolf have a name or will fur ball be the last name ever heard from you after taking a step inside~” Wolfe ignores the imp dressed man while saying, “It’s Conner,” then into the building he goes… The place looked decorated like a 3 stars haunted house however when he came across 7 doors, each one either had an odd smell or something creeping out underneath the doorway, the feeling he had felt like he was about to face a monster behind every doorway. Yet Conner smells Nick’s scent coming behind the doors label, “lust,” &, “gluttony.” He checks behind the Lust door first to see a demon-dress man chatting with a man he heard chatting early. The men dress topless with purple markings along his arms, hips while one more markings the bottom of his abs & cured back horns matching the colors in a darker shade. His tail looks realistic in its swaying motions as the demon spoke to the umbrella-dress man. “Call me Valentino darling and welcome to my little room of lust. How could I be at your service and remember you’ll have to pay whenever I’m ready to collect.” Conner pulled out of the door to look behind the gluttony door to see a table, a black inky man eating and the other buddy from earlier happily rubbing this man’s tummy. “Lubric, please don’t stop eating. You have some much more to eat and have the room to pack everything away.” Conner was losing interest and still had his nose sniffing for Nick till after just a moment pulling out of the door to peer right back inside when he heard some odd sounds. Looking back inside to see this Lubric cleaning his lips with a napkin while messy plates littered the table & floor around it. The man that was rubbing Lubric’s tummy was missing while his costume lay on the ground in pieces.

Conner backs out & away from the room, but is surprised as he is held behind his neck, lifting off the ground like a puppy. “Yo, Lubric, you have a shy puppy cutie waiting in front of your room. Think I could keep this one? I’m sure he’ll be such an obedient pet for me if someone wants a milk bone as a reward~” Valentino caught Conner and held him by the neck with ease. Conner, already being affected by his touch, felt shy & enjoyed being held though fear was rising when he saw a man squirming inside of Valentino’s balls and cock oozing cum. “Come on Valentino, he was waiting in front of my door so he’s my snack. I’m sure you’ll get another snack soon.” Lubric got up from his set now with a squirming stomach on display to view, walking over to grab Conner from his Valentino… (time to switch back to Nick) Nick was still enjoying his night though he was soon left to be among the few that are pushing onward in the night. Some adults just went about their night as a fog rolled in… Then came a voice that echoed around Nick and other men. Sound enchanting and alluring that his body moves on his own deeper into the fog. Others followed towards a building obscured in the mist… Nick was about to be the first to walk inside this building if it wasn’t for a crab snipping towards his ankles, snapping him out of the trances to hop away from this crab. He stepped aside as another enchanted man walked in as the first of many others and zombie-walked into the place. He slowly creeps inside to get hit by the familiar scent of magic that shoots fear all the way down his spine… “Welcome back little goatee~ Did your friend of yours forget to show up? Or did someone lie just to get some air from me.” Levi's voice rang in his ears and felt like it was clawing at his nerves. “Now why would a new visitor be so scared of me? I thought I was doing such a charming job at winning over your attention~” Once more his body moved on his own inside the shop, passing the shelves and went behind the checkout counter (catching a glimpse of discarded costumes on the floor with the scent of saliva radiating off) to stand in a brewing room made for a witch. “At least stay for a while and enjoy a freshly made treat as thanks for stopping by.” Levi reveals himself walking out for an adjective room to this one and offers a goat shaped cookie, Nick’s hand reaches out to grab then feed himself the cookie. Nick enjoyed the sweetness of this treat, but could see more goat cookies floating over to him from where Levi had entered. “It is rare for a forest creature like yourself to wander so far to the sea. I should prepare such a rare treat for myself properly. One stuffed goat full of sweets will taste wonders for me.” Nick is forced to eat any of the floating treats that awaited to inter and Nick within his head fear how the losing chance of escape for him.

Two living creatures from the forest and now ended up in two different places, facing their own problems that may or may not keep them wherever they are for a long while (for good). Stay tuned is all that I can say.

(Can’t forget the credit, the demon of lust and gluttony belong to Gigifabulous while the beachside witch belongs to mrbolo)

[i-will-cry-you-a-river]

Previous

Day 5 of @sangyaoweek

Nie Mingjue

The creatures, ghosts, whatever entities Nie Huaisang couldn't identify attacked them relentlessly. They grew more aggressive with each passing moment, which was seriously bad news for the two in defense. Exhausted from the situation with the saber spirits, they were both struggling to fend off the claws and demonic energies.

“If I survive this, I will never forget to train ever again,” Nie Huaisang hissed through his teeth, swinging his battle fan to divert an attack. A quick look at his companion showed that Meng Yao was in a similar state; his usually put-together look was nowhere to be found. Despite their best efforts, the enemies’ overwhelming strength was beginning to take its toll. Their movements became sluggish, their breathing became labored, and their limbs were shaking from overextension.

All in all, they were fucked.

“We can't keep this up,” Meng Yao panted, his eyes darting around for any sign of escape. His lovely brain was trying to find a way out of the situation, but Nie Huaisang knew the only way they could survive was to go back to the castle, but it also had its own perils, so they were basically between the rock and the hard place.

Except-

“Oh, shit,” Nie Huaisang murmured, as his brother, followed by a group of Nie cultivators, charged into the battle. It wasn't like he was not thankful for the sudden help - but did it have to be Nie Mingjue?! To add insult to injury, it only took a few swift, decisive strikes to cut down the ghosts (demons? Monsters? Nie Mingjue would definitely know, but Nie Huaisang would not ask him. That would lead to even more punishment.), who were unable to withstand Baxia’s full force. There wasn't even any need for the other cultivators - Nie Mingjue has always been a force to reckon with.

Just one more thing to add to the long list of qualities Nie Huaisang did not have.

Even Meng Yao seemed to be enamored with the Clan Leader, which, fair, but-

It didn't mean Nie Huaisang liked that. Meng Yao was his friend. His companion. His-

Anyways

What made him stumble and struggle, exhausting him beyond belief, took Nie Mingjue not even a blink of an eye to take care of. Story of Nie Huaisang’s life.

“Huaisang!” Nie Mingjue’s eyes widened as he took in who he had saved, then rushed to his side. Warmth filled the younger man's chest. Even after what he had done, his brother's first reaction was relief and worry. “Are you alright?”

Struggling to even stand, now that the ghost(ly things) were defeated, his legs gave up, and fell to the ground, sending a weak smile towards his da-ge. “Of course! We are completely fine - we were just about to kill those things!”

The look on Nie Mingjue's face told him everything. Nie Huaisang sighed, letting a helpless look appear on his face. “Thank you, da-ge. It is great to see you,” he admitted.

Fondness and maybe even love were in the Clan Leader’s eyes, but as soon as those emotions appeared, they were quickly followed by the always-present anger.

Mingjue strode towards his younger brother, his face a mixture of worry and anger. "Nie Huaisang!" He shouted, his voice echoing through the dark forest, making Meng Yao jump in fright, as he was the only one amongst the present people who never had the luck to hear the mighty roar of the Nie Clan Leader. "What were you thinking, running off like that?"

Nie Huaisang, sighed, trying to catch his breath, and met his brother's gaze with defiance. Sure, he wanted to go home, but this situation right there showed how right he was! He was NOT Nie Mingjue. He was not a good heir, and he was never going to be as much of a warrior as his brother was. It was impossible!

"I was tired of being suffocated, Da-ge! You and the clan demanded so much from me, and I needed to breathe! I'm not like you!” He yelled in helpless frustration. His brother was never going to understand him, because he was Nie Mingjue. He was perfect, he had always been perfect! And that's amazing, his brother has always been his favorite person, but when others wanted him to become this perfect god-like person, who was a formidable opponent in the battleground, had a mind for strategy, and was a righteous cultivator who always knew what was right and what was wrong…

Nie Mingjue's eyes blazed with familiar frustration, echoing his own. "You think running away solves anything? You have responsibilities! Do you know how worried I was?"

Responsibilities! Always the responsibilities!

"Responsibilities?!" Nie Huaisang snapped back, his voice rising. "All you care about is to form me into a mini you! You never consider what I want!"

Their voices clashed, each accusation and yell adding fuel to the fire. Nie Huaisang knew his brother loved him, and he adored his brother back, but the two of them were completely different people, and Nie Mingjue couldn't understand that. Nie Huaisang had his own strengths and weaknesses, but Nie Mingjue didn’t see that. He never saw that!

The tension between them was palpable, and the other cultivators stood back, giving the brothers space to vent their emotions. Just like usual.

"Do you think I enjoy being the one in charge?" Nie Mingjue's voice softened, a hint of vulnerability breaking through his anger. "It's not easy. But it is my, your - our heritage. I just want to protect you, Huaisang, to give and teach you everything you need in the future. I need you to take things seriously because one day, it will all be on your shoulders."

Nie Huaisang's defiance began to crumble. He didn't get why he had to be the heir, but… if there was one thing this adventure taught him was that he might have been just as stubbornly defiant as Nie Mingjue was pushy. He sighed, and said, "I know, Dage. But I can't live in your shadow forever. I need to find my own way. I can't be Nie Mingjue when I'm Nie Huaisang.”

They both paused, the raw honesty of their words hanging in the air. It felt as if Nie Huaisang had been in his third battle that day, that it was his most perilous one yet. But slowly, very slowly, the anger seemed to ebb away, replaced by understanding. Nie Huaisang hoped that maybe they finally found a common ground, that maybe from then on they could not just yell at each other, but communicate with each other.

Nie Mingjue sighed, placing a heavy, yet surprisingly gentle hand on his brother's shoulder. "I understand, Huaisang. I’ll give you more freedom, but you must promise me you'll take your responsibilities seriously."

Nie Huaisang nodded, tears glistening in his eyes. He never would have thought that they could compromise, but… It felt freeing. More freeing than lazing around all day, more freeing than running away. "I promise, Da-ge. I'll come back home and do my best. I just needed you to see me for who I am and not demand to become you."

Nie Mingjue’s usually stern expression softened, and surprising Nie Huaisang, he pulled the younger brother up into a fierce embrace. "I love you, didi. I’m so glad you’re safe."

Nie Huaisang melted. There was no better way to express how he felt at that moment. His bones, his insides, his brain - everything melted.

“I love you too,” he whispered, gripping Nie Mingjue’s robes as if he was afraid of waking up and realizing it was only a dream.

But as they pulled away from each other, Nie Mingjue was still there, his eyes were still soft when he looked at him, and Nie Huaisang felt he could finally breathe.

Suddenly, Nie Huaisang realized that not only their clan members were the witnesses of their show, but Meng Yao as well, which- awkward. He turned towards the other young man, but before he could say sorry, Nie Mingjue preluded him.

“Thank you for looking after my silly brother,” he said, bowing his head towards the wide-eyed young man.

“No, no, this one did not-!” He stammered, trying to bow in front of the Nie Clan Leader.

“But you did!” Nie Huaisang interjected. “Da-ge, this is Meng Yao. He helped me so much! He is the best companion I could have ever wished for. He was the reason we could get out of-” the young man narrowed his eyes, “Don't think we won't talk about what's in there,” he nodded towards the Ancestral Halls. “Not now. But you can't keep me in the dark anymore.”

Nie Mingjue looked like he was in pain, but nodded his head. Turning back to Meng Yao, his expression softened. "Meng Yao, I cannot thank you enough for looking after my brother."

Meng Yao shook his head, trying to downplay his role. As if he wasn't one of the reasons Nie Huaisang got up in the mornings. As if his presence didn't fill him with happiness. "There's no need for thanks. I did what anyone would have done."

"No," Nie Mingjue insisted, his voice firm but kind. "You’ve done more. You helped my didi. The Nie Clan owes you a debt of gratitude. How can I repay you?"

Meng Yao hesitated, glancing at Nie Huaisang. He didn't want to. In fact, he hated it, because now that Nie Huaisang decided to go back home, Lanling was so far away, and he wanted to keep Meng Yao for himself, but… He had been selfish enough. If there was anything he could do to help Meng Yao with his dreams - he would do it, even if it caused him pain.

He nodded encouragingly. "Meng Yao has somewhere he needs to go," he interjected helpfully. "He wants to go to Lanling."

Meng Yao swallowed, his hands trembling slightly. Outside of the anger about Nie Huaisang being a runaway heir, and the frantic fear and exhaustion during their fight with the saber spirits, that was the most emotional Nie Huaisang had seen him. It must have been something difficult he hid.

"I... I am Meng Yao, the bastard son of Jin Guangshan. All I want is to belong to my family, to be acknowledged."

Oh.

Oooh.

Yeah. That's a difficult secret for sure.

Nie Huaisang squinted. He couldn't see it. Meng Yao was obviously prettier and much, much better than that walking bag of STDs.

Meng Yao didn't belong to Lanling. He should go to the Unclean Realm with them.

But before he could say anything that would most likely lead to an argument, Nie Mingjue nodded. "It won’t be easy. But as you have proven yourself, helped Nie Huaisang and the Nie Clan, I will help you.”

Meng Yao's eyes widened with hope. "Thank you, Clan Leader Nie. I will do anything to prove my worth.”

Nie Mingjue sighed, "We will help you. You’ve earned that much."

It hurt Nie Huaisang - but there was nothing he could do. Meng Yao wanted his family, to be recognized. He could do nothing against his wishes. His companion would never forgive him. So, following his brother, he sent a shaky smile towards Meng Yao.

“But if you need anything else, just let me know, okay? I know the Jins are rich, and everything, but don't forget me, okay? If there's anything I can do to help you, just reach out to me,” Nie Huaisang added.

Meng Yao nodded hesitantly, then followed Nie Mingjue. As Nie Zonghui always had Nie Huaisang's saber with him, he could travel alone, but Meng Yao had to ride with Nie Mingjue. Nie Huaisang didn't feel resentful about it. Nope. He did not want to take care of Meng Yao, he did not wish his cultivation was better than what it was so he could be trusted with carrying someone else with him. No. Of course not.

The group of Nie cultivators moved swiftly through the air, their destination: Lanling. But first, they had to find a safer place to camp, so the two dead-tired young men could rest.

Next

[clxckwork-sun-n-moon]

"How long did you think you could hide that?" or "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."  for so cries the wolf au!

Also BITE BITE BITES YOU /POS

BITING U BITING U EEEEEEEE THANK U

(cw injury)

---

Your flashlight carved a beam of moonlight over the forest floor, turning leaves and pine-needles into lizards and hedgehogs. Every rustle made you hesitate, every crack of a twig made you pause and swing the light around, scouting out your surroundings. One time the light reflected into the pupils of a deer, who promptly bolted from its sleeping patch while you instinctively tensed up.

A slow cold crept up the back of your neck as you progressed. The shadows stretched around you, a trespasser in these woods so late at night. Familiar trees mocked you with alien surroundings. Your palms were sweating against the flashlight and staff you carried. Another crack had you turning quickly, only to see nothing.

Alone still.

But the cold remained. It crawled up your scalp, the lurking sensation of being watched. Your breath came out too fast, no matter how you controlled it. As you swallowed, the cold abruptly dropped down your neck and into your sweater.

Letting out a shrill yelp, you hopped away, swinging your flashlight up into Eclipse’s face. He reeled, batting at the light, and promptly tumbled from his ethereal wire to splat into the forest floor.

“You asshole,” you spluttered, pulling free the unfortunate frog that had been left to wriggle down your back.

“Worth it,” Eclipse croaked with a grin.

“Fuck you.”

“Language.”

“Seriously, Clip. We’re working tonight. I told Monty that it was fine for it just to be us two, do you want me to call him in?” You folded your arms as Eclipse’s shoulders ducked in, the threat of being admonished by the older demon sitting heavily on them as they pouted. Reasonably chided, Eclipse shrank back down to your level, although it was less to look at you and more to look beyond you. Seeing from your perspective. It didn’t always work but they liked to do it anyway, and it helped you feel more secure as you turned back around to examine the forest around you both.

There had been two actual reports of campsites being hassled in the middle of the night, and one very strongly resurging rumour about an entity with glowing red eyes being seen in the woods at night. If there was one thing to get cryptid hunters rattling in your direction at speed, it was the possibility of a mothman lurking around campers, and you were going to make sure whatever it was either got the better idea of swooping tents or got a large metal stick to the nose.

Whatever the response, you were certainly not going without an entourage and you had plenty of volunteers these days (although Sun and Moon enjoyed being outdoors but rathered that they didn’t get so directly involved in your business - being fixed from scratch once was enough). So tonight, it was Eclipse.

“You’ll probably want to go back up,” you explained to him. “If it is a mothman, they tend to be up in the trees a lot. You could get the jump on them by being up higher.”

“While leaving you rather vulnerable here on the floor if it’s not a mothman,” Eclipse replied.

“I’m fine. I’m hardy, I have the big stick, and I can call for you if I need to,” you said, giving him your best winning smile. They scrunched up their face, all four eyes squinting down at you before poking you on the nose.

“Cheeky,” they grumbled, before reaching overhead and swinging backwards up into the canopy. It never failed to unsettle you, the way he could ascend without any sign of the wire that carried him. But he called it a wire, so you would call it that too.

You were, however, already missing him. Logically you knew he was close by, but unable to see them? Your heart was already pawing at your chest like a sad cat. The forest didn’t give you a reprieve either, only an empty darkness.

Quietly you walked. If it had been silent before, it was a void now. 

The forest was holding its breath. 

Two feathery forms made a heavy impact right next to you on the path, nearly jolting the flashlight out of your hand. Scrabbling with the light, you reattached it to your backpack strap and flipped the staff over in your hand. Eclipse rolled across the dirt ground, the winged entity crouched on top of him with a wide maw open and showing off rows of teeth that would probably make Eclipse jealous. Massive moth wings with red crescent moons flickered in the light coming off your chest now, folding back as the mothman briefly turned to face you down. Massive red eyes gleamed and reflected back the light, the dark blue face cut through by a swathe of silver. He hissed low and deep at your face.

“Look, please get off my boy and let’s talk,” you said quietly. One hand raised in a calming motion, although that just earned you another warning hiss. “You’ve been causing a fair amount of trouble and-”

“Trespasser,” the voice rolled in your direction, sending cold up your back in a very unpleasant not-frog way. 

“My woods, asshole,” you blurted back, holding the staff more upright. So much for talking this through. The mothman crouched low, preparing to spring for you and your light, only to receive two large feet directly into his chest as Eclipse rolled back upright. The two tumbled over each other, exchanging snaps of teeth and flailing curved claws to each other's faces and chests. Trying to separate them out into individual blurs of purple and blue was nearly impossible.

Gritting your teeth, you struck through regardless. Swinging the staff around and over to smack into the chin of the mothman.

“Get - off - my - boy!” you grunted as you drove the mothman back with each concussive swing. Harried backwards, he swiped for you instead, only to have the strike blocked by Eclipse’s hand pushing him down.

“Two on one is cheating!” the mothman snarled.

“Buddy, you picked this - ” You weren’t able to get much further as the mothman kicked his feet out at your chest, the massive fuzzy paws tipped in hooked talons that hooked into your jacket. A weightless swing lurched your stomach sideways before weightlessness swung you true as the mothman launched into the air, carrying you both into the sky. Eclipse’s voice shouted out your name from the forest floor, a panicked shout fading out of earshot far too quickly. Flipping the staff around in your hand, you jabbed up into the joint of the wing best in view. The mothman screeched back down, insulted by your attempt to fight back. Up became around, everything rotating head over heel as a third body slammed into the pair of you. Suddenly it was all about trying to keep yourself from being clawed apart by the entities sandwiching you.

One of Eclipse’s feet kicked into the staff, braced across your chest, abruptly knocking the last bits of air from your lungs. The mothman grunted, flailing across the sky, and your vision blurred hard as wood impacted hard into your back.

Pain screamed up the side of your hip, Your fingers scrabbled around, one hand desperately trying to find something to cling onto as your feet attempted to find a nearby branch for you to slide down onto. It was…far. Several splinters managed to bunch up your shirt and prickle up your waist before you found something sturdy enough to balance on, staff in one hand and cut palm pressed against the tree.

As quickly as the fight had started, it had passed. Leaning against the tree trunk, you held your breath to try and listen out for any sound of the two clashing cryptids. 

Silence. The trees creaked around you, pine needles and leaves rustling.

Slowly you slotted the fire staff back into its packing, slinging it over onto your back. With the light of the flashlight still barely flickering and holding onto your backpack, you had some way to navigate your way down the tree. Every possible swish or rustle that could be a returning mothman had your head snapping around attentively, light swinging wide and illuminating the empty neighbouring trees. 

Then the light reflected back from large amber eyes and you had to hold back an aggressive shout.

“Careful,” Eclipse growled out, easily clambering into the boughs of your tree, the branches embracing them as they in turn embraced you.

“Sorry,” you replied. It was so easy to fold yourself into Eclipse’s chest, your hands finding purchase among the feathers. Black smudges stained your palms, mixing with the red. “Is he gone?”

“Mmm, flew away. Probably not coming back.” Okay, that wasn’t too bad. “You were very…protective, back there.” Eclipse’s arms tucked under your legs, easily lifting you into a secure grip.The trees began to ascend around the pair of you, pirouetting and sliding from branch to branch.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” you said softly. “I much rather be able to talk these things through. But he was aggressive and - “

“He bit me several times. I think the returning blows were well deserved on his part,” Eclipse grunted. “Plus - “ Their smile nuzzled into the back of your neck, promptly earning a round of ticklish giggles from you. “ - it’s cute to see you being protective.”

“Oh?”

“My boy.” His hands gripped you tighter. “Am I rubbing off on you, sweet pup?”

“Pfft, I was always protective of you. Even when you were being a dick,” you replied with a soft laugh. The fondness cut through the pain still ebbing through your back and waist, and you allowed yourself to remain folded into Eclipse’s arms until finally their feet touched back to solid ground.

Surprise jolted you as you spotted the lights of the cabin ahead through the trees.

“You took us back?” you blurted out from confusion.

“Mothman gone. Job done. Why bother walking?” he replied, even now still carrying you towards the cabin. You gave a small wiggle, unwilling to go through the lack of dignity of being carried (again) into your home, only for the pain in your waist to flare aggressively. Breath stolen from your lungs, you gasped and curled inwards. For a brief few seconds the world was only you, pain, and the walls of feathers around you.

Eclipse’s murmur roused your attention. He’d been still for a while, you realised that now.

“You’re hurt,” he rumbled.

“I’m fine,” you lied. “Put me down, I can walk back.”

They did the opposite. Instead their hands tightened around you, pressure on the mote of pain that made you writhe and dig your fingernails into his chest. Eclipse hissed in return, buckling just a moment, as you both entered the front door light.

“You two have seen worse days.”

Montague and Moon both looked over the pair of you, one disappointed and one concerned. Eclipse quietly lowered you to the ground, where Moon took your dizzy hands and ushered you inside.

“It honestly looks worse than it is,” you told Montague. “We’ve had way worse scrapes and cuts from an aggressive mothman.”

“You have a hole in your side.”

Before you could question what Moon was talking about, he pressed his palm against your waist and pain flared again, causing you to cower away from the touch. Turning his palm up, Moon showed the blood smears to your face.

Ah.

Before your knees could decide whether or not to give out, Eclipse’s hands were cupping under your legs again, not fully lifting you up but cradling you carefully as they manoeuvred you over to one of the new taller dining stools. Moon was already going for the first aid kit, Montague huffing as he nosed at the injury.

“How long did you think you could hide that?” he asked sharply.

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know it was there?” you replied just as bluntly, swinging bats at each other. Montague’s ears flattened, before he licked his nose and laid his head on your thigh with a low sigh. You apologised in kind, rubbing carefully at one of his ears.

Eclipse settled on the floor next to you - one hand on your back, another on your shoulder, and two on your hips. The palms steadied you as Moon lifted up your jumper, your backpack having been removed way before the door and discarded shortly after. You braced for the needle sting of the septic wipe, but it still made you jolt when the cold damp fabric came into contact with the bloodied hole. Eclipse’s hands promptly flexed, holding you still.

“What happened?” Moon asked softly.

“Found the mothman. He was kind of an asshole, and started fighting us,” you explained through gritted teeth. “Tossed me into a tree.”

“Could have been a branch impaled you then,” Montague murmured.

“Nothing like a little impalement to end out the night then.” Eclipse’s low warning rolled over your spine, their face pressed into the side opposite to Moon. Reaching awkwardly around, you placed your hand against his shoulder, and his hand found yours in turn. The night wasn’t quite over yet.

[eyeopeningarchivist]

Statement of Aldo Carnaigie

Concerning: His trip to the American northeast.

Statement taken: 18th May, 2022

Transcription by: Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist, Magnus Inst. London (1818)

Statement begins....

America is big. Really properly big. There’s a lot of just empty forest land that nobody’s even been through. Well, not anyone who made it out again. I didn’t even think about it until I agreed to be part of a group trip and had already booked my flight and everything. The night we got to Montpelier, our rooms weren’t ready so we went and sat in the drinks area of the hotel. They were playing a film on Netflix called The Ritual. I looked it up. Turns out it’s a book by Adam Nevill about a group of hikers who get lost in the woods in Sweden and they start getting picked off by a... demon or monster or something... Not exactly what I’d like to watch when I’m about to do something very similar.

I didn’t sleep much that night, kept thinking of the “what if’s,” y’know? What if there’s something out there that starts attacking us? Supernatural or not, I’d hate to get snatched up by something without a trace. It was never really a fear of mine until I was laying there. I guess the overthinking can really get to you. The next morning I got up and apparently I looked okay because our trip went ahead as planned. We packed up what we would need, got directed to the trailhead, checked in with our GPS systems, and off we went. I knew as soon as we started off that we were being followed by something but everyone else just told me I’d been affected too much by the film and that I was being stupid. I tried to brush it off as paranoia but I was so uncomfortable that I felt sick.

About six miles in, Freddie took a bad step and twisted his ankle, making him slightly more useless than he usually was. Andy wrapped it as well as he could but the light was fading and we had to set up camp soon or we’d be screwed. We went off trail a little ways and set up our tents and things, Freddie getting tasked with starting a small fire which he completely failed to make. That night was worse than the previous one, most of us getting pretty much no sleep even though we were already shagged out. We sat there and waited until sunrise, then we packed everything up again and started back out. Andy took up the task of trying to get Freddie back to the trailhead since he was the one with the most experience in helping other hikers who were injured (Africa trip, long story) so we went on without them.

We were a couple more miles in before the trail just kinda disappeared into trees. We wanted to go back but, when we tried to turn around and go back the way we’d come, the trail wasn’t there either. It was nowhere. Great. We decided to just pick a direction that was opposite of where we thought we’d been facing and went with it. I kept looking around for signs of life but there wasn’t even so much as a scratch in the dirt. It started getting dark again as we could see a campfire up ahead so we pushed onward until we got to it. Tents circled it and the fire burned strong but there was absolutely no one there. No boot prints in the fairly soft dirt, not food tins, just tents and a fire. We took turns keeping watch that night. I don’t know when I fell asleep but Rani was sitting by the fire when I did. When I woke up he was gone. He’d left all of his things and bailed. We tried to find him but we knew we shouldn’t split up just in case he was taken by an animal.

We finally gave up and started walking again, hoping he’d be waiting for us back with Andy and Freddie. By this time we were starting to run low on supplies and were already coming up with a ration plan for the rest. We lost two more before night fell again, Max and Barry. No idea when they broke away but at one point they were just... gone... The last three of us were myself, Cameron, and Toby. Cameron ran off into the woods, saying he could hear what sounded like Andy yelling from the trees. Toby and I tried to tell him there was nothing but he was gone. We watched him go. He just sort of melted into the trees. Toby and I kept going until we thought night should be falling but it seemed to be getting brighter instead of darker.

Toby stopped and grabbed my arm, pointing off to the right. I looked and thought for sure I was going to throw up. There was a staircase sitting in the middle of the woods. The carpet was white with a sort of floral pattern woven into it. The wood around it was painted a cool gray and it even had a bannister along one side. We looked at each other, then Toby went over to the stairs, looking back at me with an exhausted sort of smile before he started to climb the stairs, getting to the very top and then vanishing. He didn’t fall, he didn’t jump. There was no sound or anything. He was just suddenly not there anymore. I was alone in this fucked up forest. I turned away from the stairs and saw a clear, sandy path through the trees. I followed it and found myself out of the woods and back at the trailhead. No Freddie, no Andy, no anyone. The rangers asked how my hike had been and I just stared at them.

“What you mean ‘how was it?’” I’d said. “I went in with seven other blokes and you askin’ how it was?” They just looked at me with these fake pleasant looks on their faces. I called the police as soon as I got back to the lodge, giving them as much information as I could including the GPS codes since we’d all made sure they were on everyone’s person as well as back at the room. They never found the others. Not even a trace. I talked to one of the search-and-rescue guys a little while after they’d quit looking and, as soon as I’d mentioned the stairs, he’d gone real quiet. He looked around before he kinda whispered to me.

“We don’t talk about the stairs. It’s better that way.” I said the hell it was and he shook his head quickly. “No really, we’re not supposed to even acknowledge them. They’re the creepiest thing, man. People go missing and we run into them and we know it’s gonna be a shit show. We’ve lost more trails because some newbie decided to mess with the stairs than I care to think about. It can get you fired so fast...” He didn’t say anything for the rest of the night. I’ve never gone on another trip like that and I never will. Not in America or anywhere else.

Statement Ends...

Notes:

Search and rescue horror stories have been a staple of American camping trips for decades. It’s entirely possible that this individual, Mr. Carneigie, had read or listened to some of those before his trip and it added to his hysteria. This statement also bears a striking resemblance to the book “The Ritual” by Adam Neville, though without the worship of goat-headed nordic gods and, well, not in Sweden. After attempting to contact Mr. Carnaigie for a followup interview but it seems he disappeared a few weeks after he came to see us. He has no family to contact, his lease lapsed, and his job hasn’t heard from him since before the trip. It’s unfortunate but it’s not the first time something like this has happened. There’s not even a record of him at interpol, he simply vanished.

The most I can say is this: Wherever Aldo Carnaigie has found himself, I hope he’s doing alright... I seriously doubt it, but I hope he is. As for what happened to his friends, people go missing in the American northeast all the time. The woods are vast and full of predators and there is every possibility that they will truly never be found. Supernatural or not, it is most unfortunate and it is one of the many reasons I despise camping holidays...

End recording.

[ultramagicalternate]

ULTRAMagic Chaos Chapter 2

Previous | First | Next

Master Post

“And that’s my story,” Tusk said as the three passed a series of rock formations.

Mizuki was utterly amazed by Tusk’s history. “Well then… that uh, kind of makes my story pale in comparison.”

Razor kicked a stone off of the dirt road. “No it doesn’t. My father always told me that no matter how great or whimsical, woes are woes.”

“Agreed,” Tusk replied. “Spill the beans, lass. What’s your story?”

Lass? Did he just call her lass? Normally Mizuki would have given both of them a piece of her mind, but she did not as the two were growing on her. “I was pursuing a terrible and vile demon lord that had been plaguing my family and home land for generations. He fled into The Unlight after a fierce battle with my father and I went after him. Sadly I lost track of him and wandered for a long time. I came to the Realm of Chaos hoping I could get a lead on him.”

Tusk stopped to pick up a sign that had fallen down on the road. “Well I hate to rain on your parade, but that demon lord is either dead or lost to the sands of time, if you’ve been at it for long enough.”

Mizuki gave Tusk the weirdest look, indicating that she was wondering if he even knew what he was talking about. “Are you sure about that?”

He nodded. “You go around picking fights long enough in the Unlight and you’ll eventually bite off more than you can chew.”

Razor noticed that Mizuki was not pleased. “Hey, don’t worry, Mizuki. I’ll help you track him down when we’re done. Scully noses are some of the best in The Unending Forest. And if he’s dead, we’ll find his corpse for closure.”

The oni was a proud warrior, but even she had to admit that was sweet. “Thank you, Razor. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Curiously, how did you achieve your ULTRAMagic?” Tusk inquired.

Mizuki straightened out her mask and cleared her throat. “Well I started training with a woman named Gratiana Arlotti…”

“And she wasn’t with some sleeze named Milosh?”

“No?”

Tusk nodded, as if confirming something. “Alright, continue.”

That was strange. “Anyways, after she taught me what I know about combat now, I went off and began finding soul fragments left and right. The rest came naturally.”

“That’s awesome,” Razor congratulated. “Mine were a mix of asking my friends and finding them out in the forest.”

Tusk appeared to be pondering something. “If you met Gratiana before Milosh, then your demon lord is long gone, Mizuki. I’m sure of it.”

“Well if you’re so insistent about it, just how long ago was my meeting with Lady Arlotti then?”

“Lady?” Tusk laughed. “She didn’t tell you she was a harlot, did she? Anyways, that was a long time ago, possibly before I was born and I’m 32. We’re looking at at least 40 years ago.”

“Wait, how!? I saw Lady Arlotti a year ago!”

“Well that’s nonlinear time for you. Be careful if you’re coming from a realm based in linear time. You could easily leave one moment only to come back a hundred years later by complete accident.”

Razor nodded in support of Tusk. “He’s got a point, Mizuki.”

She took a second to ease her nerves. It did not work. “Okay, FINE! I’ll just go with you on your quest then!”

Tusk approached her calmly. “Easy, Mizuki. Let’s get to Droomopolis where you’ll be able to rest and get your bearings. Then we’ll figure out what to do. Sounds cool?”

Mizuki wanted to stay angry and protest, but she could not. She could tell Tusk had been through a lot in life and that he had her best interests in mind. “Alright…”

“Don’t worry, Mizuki, it’ll all work out. Say, if your demon lord is dead, do you want to join the ULTRAMagic Guild?”

“The ULTRAMagic Guild?” she questioned.

“Yes. Blood is getting together a bunch of mages like us to help keep the Unlight safe. I’ll be out and about, but I’ll be sure to send any ULTRAMagic mages I find his way.”

That sounded quite inviting. “And Blood-Wraith will be the leader of this guild?”

“Well a leader. Deimos is going to track down Tiberius Skull and Alexia Lavoie to also lead the guild.”

“Hey, Tusk?” Razor jumped in. “Can I join too?”

“Well of course you can!” Tusk cried. “Jeez, kid, what did you think I was going to do after this is all said and done? Send you to babysit my niece?”

Razor chuckled. “Sorry, stupid question.”

Tusk then noticed another sign post that was slightly off. Specifically it was pointing in the wrong direction. It shone in the afternoon sunlight once corrected, despite the metal being quite aged and rusted. The two could see Tusk getting excited.

“In the Realm of Chaos, you want your signs to be pointing in the right direction” the treeman eagerly pointed out. “Now come on, Droomopolis ain’t too far away.”

The trio picked up the pace as they passed by more hills and rock formations. As they traveled further, things became more civilized looking. The only strange thing was that any structure they passed by at a certain point looked techno-organic, but even that did not fully capture the nuances of the aesthetic in question. Regardless, the excitement was building as they passed by occasional houses along the countryside.

Passing by a great set of ruins full of floating platforms, the group noticed something was off. They could hear the sounds of clashes and fighting. Quietly climbing the outer wall, they peered inwards while being as silent as possible. At the center of a giant, stone arena were what looked like a demon and a dragon fighting someone.

“Any thoughts, Tusk?” Razor asked in a hushed tone as they hid amongst the large rubble.

“Hmm… The demon in the black and red jester clothes is most likely a devil. The Dragon? He’s a jabberwock, no two ways about it.”

“A jabberwock?” Mizuki was incredibly weirded out by the creature.

“They’re semi-bipedal, flat faced dragons” Tusk answered. “Native to the Realm of Chaos, they’re not common, but certainly powerful. Now as for the guy in the grisly, red armor? I want to see if they confirm my suspicions.”

Over at the fight, the devil was unleashing a flurry of slashes from his dual blades with his enemy doing his best to dodge them. “Well you’re awfully nimble today, Karnage!”

“Mayhem, jump!” the jabberwock called out. Once he had a clear shot, he unleashed a torrent of plasma at Karnage.

The warrior created a shield made of a gruesome, red mass to block the blast. He then noticed Mayhem spinning down towards him in a buzzsaw motion, enveloped in blue and gold flames. “Ha, clever, but not good enough!” Karnage snarled.

Karnage leapt up, rearing his fist towards Mayhem. The devil noticed the attack, but could not respond to it effectively. To combat this, the jabberwock took off, flying in between the two. He caught Mayhem on his back and smacked Karnage to the ground with a swift flick of his tail. The sound of their foe hitting the arena floor was satisfying.

“Thanks for the save, Dragutin!” Mayhem said as he regained his bearings.

“Don’t mention it. I honestly thought we had him that time.”

Karnage was picking himself up as Dragutin landed and let Mayhem down. “Well played…” Karnage growled, clearly tainted by the venom of his anger.

“Uh oh, I think the general is angry” Mayhem taunted as he and Dragutin walked over.

“Bold of you to be out here, Karnage!” Dragutin pointed out. “Discordant War won’t save you if the Arbiters find out what you’re doing.”

“You are arrogant to assume I come here aimlessly, wyrmling…” Karnage could tell that he had offended Dragutin and smiled. “And even if the Arbiters come after me, they’ll just go after that blowhard Wulfric, making my work all the more easier.”

Mayhem pointed a blade at Karnage. “Then if he shall fall, I’ll take his place and kick you into the nearest pit!”

Karnage glared at him with utmost malice. “Petulant little whelp. You won’t be laughing when I get my hands on ULTRAMagic…” he then noticed some rustling at the upper levels of the arena. A maniacal grin stretched across his face. “How intriguing…” Karnage then sank into a rumbling, screaming vortex and vanished from the arena.

Mayhem sighed and put his blades away. “Sometimes I really wish Discordant War would just toss him into a pit of fiery spikes…”

Dragutin readied his leathery wings. “I must concur, Mayhem. Come, we need to tell Ealdhelm about this.”

“What about our audience over there?”

���Leave them be. If they’re heading towards Droomopolis, we’ll surely meet them there.”

“Alright then” Mayhem said as he hopped up on Dragutin’s back. “See you guys in the city!” He called out as they took off.

Once the two were gone, Tusk stuck his head up to see if the coast was clear. “Alright, we’re good,” he said as he sat down on a large brick.

“What was that, Tusk?” Razor wondered as he and Mizuki came out of their hiding spots.

“No doubt about it; that was General Karnage, Wulfric’s champion. He’s always up to no good, even back when I was training with the Arbiters.”

“Do we have any idea on what he wants? Given that he mentioned ULTRAMagic…”

“No idea, or at least, no idea at the moment.” Tusk looked incredibly concerned.

“Well surely the Arbiters can handle him, right?” Mizuki tried to reassure him.

Tusk shifted on his brick. “Yes, but it is the fact that he’s plotting in the first place that has me worried. It’s never a good sign when he’s up to something. His mere existence is never a good sign in the first place.” The treeman groaned and stood up. “I wish Cynneberht was here. He studies these kinds of tactics and whatnot.” He then led Razor and Mizuki back to the road.

Cutting the sight-seeing, Tusk and his companions quickly made their way to Droomopolis. The towering, imposing city was truly a sight to behold. All of it was made of a strange, techno-organic metal that seemed to be alive. Impossible towers were surrounded by great walls that kept the city safe from the unpredictability of the Realm of Chaos. Inside the walls it was a fairly normal city. It had all the hallmarks of the realm, but also a degree of structure and order to it. An eclectic collection of people from all walks of life were going about their daily lives and minding their own business.

Tusk was overwhelmed with happy nostalgia as he pointed out the sights and locations to Razor and Mizuki. Despite Mizuki having been on a quest to avenge her people, Tusk’s joy was infectious. She could not help but smile under her mask. Razor was amazed by the city regardless of the reason they were there. It was awe inspiring and he wanted to explore every inch of the city so he could see all that was possible. Upon walking past a food cart, someone called out to Tusk.

“Well I’ll be damned, Tusk Willfort!” The man had four arms, well kept hair, and appeared to be running a hot dog stand.

“Mr. Lyon, good to see you again! What’s all this? Did the restaurant not take off?”

“Things got a little delayed, so this is a side gig I’m on just to have a little extra spending money here and there” he replied as he began preparing some food. “I’ll concede that I got kind of hooked on this. You've been away for so long. What brings you back on this fine day?”

“Well to put it simply, Ealdhelm needs help and I’ve been sitting on my roots for too long. Oh, Mr. Lyon, these are my traveling buddies, Razor and Mizuki. Razor is Magnus’ son that I’m mentoring at the moment and Mizuki is a warrior we picked up on the road.”

After an exchange of greetings, Mr. Lyon handed each of them a hot dog. “On the house, guys. Welcome back, Tusk” he said as the two shook hands.

“Great to be back.”

“Thanks, Mr. Lyon” said Razor. “I’ll be sure to come around later and buy something.”

“Itadakimasu, Mr. Lyon,” Mizuki thanked as they walked away.

“He’s nice. I like him,” Razor stated in between bites of his food.

Tusk nodded. “Hank has always been a great people-person. Super polite and welcoming, he knows how to treat you and win you over as a regular customer. I’m shocked he hasn’t gotten his diner fully off the ground yet.”

“Some things take time,” Mizuki replied. “A lake isn’t formed in a day.”

“So where are we heading next, Tusk?” Razor inquired.

He finished his hot dog, wiped his face, and threw his trash in a garbage can. “City Hall. I have no doubt that the Arbiters are there. Ooh, I can’t wait to see Ealdhelm and the others again!”

Next: Chapter 2

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)

Jabberwocky © 1871 Lewis Caroll

[babyminty]

Cg Giyuu/Little Sanemi

It was the third day of the second week that two Hashira had been in this small, slightly rundown village. They were called there because there was supposedly a demon there, but they had yet to even find a trace that there had been. Sanemi was starting to get restless, and he had been stuck between headspaces for quite a while.

Giyuu had gone out into the village to see if there was any sign a demon had been there during the night whilst they had not been paying attention. He re-entered the room they were staying in, startling Sanemi slightly. "There's still no sign of the demon, and we might be needed elsewhere, so we will be leaving." Giyuu announced, starting to pack up his things.

Sanemi just sat there watching him, now fully regressed. Giyuu noticed how he was just sitting there and turned to look at him. "You not going to pack up?" He asked. Sanemi just continued to stare at him, eyes glistening with a childlike innocence. Giyuu caught on quickly, realizing that the other was currently regressed.

"Hey, little guy." He said, walking up to Sanemi. "We're gonna go back home today, so let me help you pack your things." Giyuu told him whilst Sanemi just stared at him, quietly babbling to himself. Giyuu chuckled and packed both his and Sanemi's stuff up. Once he had finished, he picked Sanemi up and left the village they had been staying in, walking in the direction of their estates.

They had to walk through a forest, but it was okay because it was nowhere close to nightfall, and there were lots of gaps in the trees that let in sunlight. Giyuu knew that there was a stream that cut through the path they were taking, but it was narrow enough to be able to jump over it with no problems if Sanemi didn't feel like playing around in it first.

Once they reached the stream, Sanemi turned around in Giyuu's arms to see where the sound of water was coming from, letting out a dramatic gasp when he saw the stream, and started wiggling around in Giyuu's arms, asking to be placed on the ground. Once Giyuu placed him beside the stream, he moved so he was sitting in it and started to splash around.

At some point, he had started to splash Giyuu, who wore an overly dramatic surprised expression, and started to lightly splash Sanemi back, which cased the little to giggle. Once Sanemi had tired himself out and had started shivering, they continued the walk back to their estates.

Giyuu decided to take Sanemi back to his estate because it was much closer, and he didn't want Sanemi to get sick from being wet and cold. After about five minutes, they had reached Giyuu's estate. Once inside, Giyuu set about running Sanemi a warm bath and getting him some warm clothes to make sure Sanemi didn't get sick.