#the forest is just a giant fidget toy for me

[thedisablednaturalist]

RELEASING THE VAPORS!!

feat. Stump puffballs (Apioperdon pyriforme)

Transcript: "Ready?" Person begins squishing mushrooms with end of crutch which causes them to release a green cloud of spores. "It's farting" they giggle. The camera zooms in. "Squish squish". They continue to squish the mushrooms. " "Oh no my!" They say, getting cut off by their own laughing. "You're getting covered!" They say to the person holding the camera.

[redorich]

What if Tommy and a few other Hermits went to the Dream SMP to take care of some business (aka Dreamon + small family reunion for Tommy) and they see Tommy hug these two PvP gods as a ghost floats around them saying, “oh Tommy! You’ve been gone so long! Where did you go?” And seeming quite happy as well. The hermits get to see just how fucked this place is. Tommy told them Techno is by far the richest person on the server yet he only has one stack of diamond blocks. Not a single shulker box to be seen. Phil tells them The End is Off Limits. They get to see the main hub of this world is less impressive than a single of their big builds. They see fighting in the streets. From the other side of walls they hear people threatening eachother. They get to see and experience the comparative hell that Tommy cane from -🐍

Scar’s the one that gets to go first. He and Grian jockey for the privilege, but in the end Scar is the mayor of Hermitcraft, which means he gets to visit the Dream SMP first. (Grian pouts for days.)

Scar wears his very nice mayor sash, and irons his trousers, and keeps his armor in his inventory so that everyone can see his nice apparel. He smiles, and opens his eyes to what is basically a pit. The ground is more creeper-hole than actual ground, and there are mishmash walls all around him. His smile falters.

<Dream> Oh shit hes at spawn

<Technoblade> dream forgot to change visitor spawn, worst admin ever

<Dream> Shut up

Tubbo hit the ground too hard

<Technoblade> TUBBO IS GONE CRABRAVE

<ItsFundy> canon death

<Tubbo> NO

“Hey there,” Tubbo says from behind Scar. The mayor yelps, whirling around and nearly falling on his face.

“Sorry to scare you,” Tubbo laughs, “but how about I show you around? After I get my stuff back, that is.”

“Y-yeah,” Scar says, visibly perturbed. Tubbo leads him through a hole in the wall just large enough for them to go through one at a time, then through a small patch of forest. (Do these people seriously not even have a way out of spawn, or a path from spawn to the important locations?)

Dream catches up to Tubbo and Scar right as the town comes into view. They meet up at a patch of ruined land, on which two identical Nether portals are sat.

“Welcome to the Dream SMP,” Dream says with a gesture toward the slightly-broken oak slab path stretching out from the portal. “Sorry I’m late, I had to take care of some business.”

“Business?” Scar asks despite himself.

Dream fidgets with the handle of his axe sheepishly. “Yeah. I sent some of the troublemakers on a wild goose chase several thousand blocks away from here. Hopefully, they shouldn’t bother you.”

“That’s great and all, but I kind of need to get my stuff back,” Tubbo cuts in before Scar has a chance to question Dream.

“Sure, it was near Tommy’s old house, right? Why not show Scar the Prime Path while you’re at it?”

Tubbo smiles, and takes Scar’s hand in his. “Great idea. Come on, Scar!”

Scar allows himself to be pulled along, dodging holes in the “Prime Path” as he does so.

“That way’s Eret’s Gay Castle-- you can’t grief it, it’s homophobic,” Tubbo explains, “and up ahead’s Church Prime.”

It’s not much of a church, Scar thinks, given the giant floating poster that’s been left to peel away. Bits of the poster have even been torn off and stolen, leaving only the item frame behind. Still, he knows better than to say rude things about someone else’s religion, even if the state of disrepair... No. He won’t say anything.

Various depictions of anti-Technoblade propaganda still up. They’re so, so ugly. Further along the path there’s a tower that actually isn’t hideous, so it was probably made by-- Eret, was it? The same guy who made the Gay Castle? A stray chicken clucks while Scar tears his eyes away from the Walmart which has magma for floors, and the Targay, and the cobblestone framework of what Tubbo claims is a Denny’s which was used once for roleplay and then promptly abandoned.

Tommy’s old house can best be described as “open air”, to put it politely. At least there’s a fence..? But as Tubbo picks up his items and the two set off for L’Manberg, politely ignoring the giant Gogy posters, they hear a scuffle up ahead.

“Let go of my fucking hair!” George shrieks.

“Not until you give me back my potato,” Sapnap responds. The two grown men are fighting like children in the middle of the Prime Path in broad daylight, pulling each other’s hair and slap-fighting but at least-- no, never mind, they’ve got their weapons out now.

George shrieks at the top of his lungs when one of Sapnap’s swings gets too close. “It’s rotted anyway, why the hell do you want it?!”

“Because it’s mine,” Sapnap insists. He finally bonks George on the head hard enough to kill him, then scoops the rotten potato out of George’s belongings. His hand toys with a flint and steel, but he eventually seems to decide not to burn George’s items for the offense of stealing his potato.

“Oh, hi there!” Sapnap says once he spots them. He waves.

Scar hesitantly waves back. He’s beginning to think that perhaps he should have worn his armor after all. He watches in morbid fascination as Sapnap takes a bite of his rotten potato. Sapnap’s face drains of all color; he immediately leaps off a cliff to go be sick in a valley away from prying eyes. George’s things are left on the ground.

“Y’know, I think I left the oven on,” Scar says slowly. Tubbo looks at him with sad, pitiful eyes, as if to say, do you see what I have to deal with?

“Would you like to go back to Hermitcraft and try again another day?”

Attempting to affect nonchalance and failing miserably at it, Scar waves his hand rapidly. “Actually, Grian really wanted to come see your server, so-- maybe I’ll send him. I’m real busy with, uh, mayor stuff.”

Tubbo nods, pretending to buy the excuse. “I’ll have Dream send you back.”

“Thank you,” Scar says fervently.

[shera-dnd]

So ya girl failed miserably at taking part in the frostbyte week when she promised to, so to compensate I'm joining ROSEBIRD WEEK! And of course I'm starting with the freaking angst, because this little fic is for day 3: Gried/Regret

Hope y'all enjoy it.

Of all her journeys in these past couple of years, Ruby Rose found the trek back to Patch to be the most difficult stretch. Not because she was being hunted, not because the weather was foul, not because she got lost. But because of where she was going, and why.

She was returning to the place where her journey began, that lonely gravestone overlooking the forests below, and for once the journey was peaceful. There had been no accidents, no attacks, only a quiet and all too lonely trek through the woods...just so she could say goodbye to her mom.

So when she stepped out of the treeline, she was surprised to find that she wasn’t the only one there; perched atop her mother’s grave was a single black bird with red eyes. It looked at her curiously, but made no motion to leave.

Ruby was slow and cautious in her approach, not wanting to provoke the bird. Thankfully it did not seem to mind her much, only caring to give the most minimal of glances in her direction once she had stepped close to the gravestone.

“Hey there, little guy,” she tried to greet it, to no response, “are you here to talk to her too?”

The bird cawed at her, but did not move.

“It’s just that...I was expecting to do this alone,” no response. Okay, guess she’s gonna have to do this with some extra company then.

She sighed and slumped to her knees, but tried to keep a positive attitude. A skill that she had more than mastered after these past few years.

“I guess I could use some company,” she commented casually, “so…did you know her?”

The raven looked at her funny, but did not respond.

“I guess not,” Ruby shrugged, “well, she was my mom, and she was the best mom anyone could ask for. She was sweet, and kind, and brave. She would bake us cookies, and then go fight giant monsters,” she couldn’t help but smile as those old memories came back to her, “she was incredible.”

Until other memories came flooding too.

“Even when bad people tried to take her away, even when they tried to make her as bad as them…even then she kept fighting. She fought because she wanted to make the world a safer place,” she could still hear that voice, completely distorted, but still hers, “for me, for Yang...for all of us.”

Fingernails dug into her palms, and her eyes burned with tears she refused to shed. She was just talking about her. She hadn’t even said what she needed to say, she couldn’t start crying now.

She hadn’t realized that the bird was staring at her now, studying her intently as if it could understand every word she had said.

“I…I think you’d like her,” she spoke to the raven, trying to bring back some levity.

The bird seemed to finally have realized it was intruding - or more realistically just grew bored of her - and flew away, cawing a couple of times on its way out. Leaving Ruby alone with her mother.

A hand traced over the engravings on the stone. The symbol of a rose, her mother’s emblem, and also her own. Under it was her name, Summer Rose, and the words “Thus Kindly I Scatter”. Ruby had read those words to exhaustion, ran her hand over those engravings until she worried she might cause them to fade away, she had come to this grave to speak to her mother more times than she could have counted.

She knew her mother hadn’t been buried under that stone, she knew her body had never been recovered, but she could never have dreamed of what had happened to her, even in her worst nightmares. But even though her body wasn’t there, that single stone still brought her comfort, and she still came here for a reason.

“Hey, mom, it’s been a while,” she greeted, voice weak, “a lot happened since we last talked. Been to Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, even outside space and time for a while,” she forced herself to chuckle at that one, “we met some new people, some good, some bad...most good, and we even made some friends too.”

Her hand shifted and she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

“I’m a huntress now, thought you’d like to know that. I also learned about the maidens, and the relics...and Salem. I know you probably didn’t want me to get involved in any of this, but once I knew what was at stake I couldn’t just sit back and let others suffer,” she tried to breathe, tried to center herself and calm down a little, but her breath was shaky, “I guess you would know how that feels...that’s why you kept going on missions, right? You couldn’t just sit back and let it happen.”

“I hope…,” no that wasn’t the right word, “...I think you’d be proud of us, mom.”

She hadn’t noticed when the tears had started, but she could feel them now, rolling down her cheeks and landing on the stone below. She also hadn’t noticed that the bird had returned.

“I know…I know you’re not really here. I know your body is out there, getting toyed with by Salem,” she flinched at the terrible memories that assaulted her, of her mother’s eyes staring from inside a beast’s maw, “but that thing isn’t you. My mom died trying to make the world a better place, she died protecting her family. My mom…” her hands were shaking, her vision was blurry and she sobbed, “my mom isn’t a monster! No matter what Salem does.”

Behind her stood the raven, large and menacing with her red armor, and a sword hanging from her side, though her posture was far from threatening. Tears that she had refused to shed for years now streamed uncontrollably down her face. One hand covered her mouth, trying to muffle any sobs that might try to escape it, and the other reached for the girl before her, quivering barely an inch above her shoulder.

She wanted to comfort her, show her that she wasn’t alone, but she couldn’t, not after all those horrible things she had done.

“I...I have to say goodbye now, mom,” Ruby continued, wiping her tears on the back of her sleeves, “for good. We’re going to fight Salem soon, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back, but I promise that no matter what happens…,” trembling hands clenched into fists, and her voice found the strength it had lost, “we won’t let her win! We’ll put your body to rest, and we’ll stop her no matter what! I know how powerful she is, but I also know that we can stop her, that we can make the world a safer place. And then...and then your sacrifice won’t have been in vain!”

The wind blew through her hair, the trees rustled behind her, Ruby sniffled, but there was no response. She knew there wouldn’t be any, but the silence was still heavy on her. It dragged on and on, allowing her fears and anxieties to return, to begin to dig away at what little confidence she had left. But before she was allowed to crumble again, the raven spoke.

“You sound just like her.”

Ruby had heard those words before, spoken by that same voice. Though the first time it had been stained by disdain and mockery, now it shook and trembled under the weight of soul crushing regret.

This time it sounded like grief.

She turned around to see her, to look the raven in the eye, but she was already gone, leaving behind only the silence, and a single black feather, slowly falling to the tear stained ground.

[unmaskedagain]

Marinette: Mother of Superboy

This fic is NOT RELATED TO ANY OTHER FIC. It’s just this random idea I just had, okay? It will not go anywhere. Don’t kill me for who the pairing is OKAY. It was random thought. Honest

Marinette didn’t know how she found him. She had been taking pictures of potential fashion shoot locations for her new line, not too far away from Metropolis when she heard crying.

She went searching and deep in the nearby forest she found a little boy, not older than two, with black hair and blue eyes, and her heart just melted. He was naked and had big tears streaming down his face.

And then her head nearly melted when the baby started floating.

Marinette bundled him up in her coat and noticed the bracelet; project Kr on his wrist and symbol for Cadmus.

Anger surged through and within seconds, the bracelet was destroyed. She had heard about Cadmus and the vendetta that had against Alien visitors. And there was no doubt that that was what the little boy wasp Alien.

And now, Marinette’s son.

She named him Connor Adrien Dupain-Cheng, after her friend, brother, and partner, who had tragically died in battle against the villain Hawkmoth when they were still just kids. They had emerged victorious, Hawkmoth never rises again, but Marinette would never forget the cost.

A beautiful green-eyed boy whose smile outshined the sun.

Gabriel Agreste upon hearing of Chat Noir’s true identity and his death, after his conviction, would later kill himself in prison. He finally reunited his family as he’d always wished for.

Marinette had left Paris behind her forever after graduation and gone on to New York. Her friends had turned their backs on her during the Lila situation. It only after Marinette left, that she heard the truth had been exposed and that her old classmates were trying to get in contact with her. But she never looked back.

Instead, in the eight years, she had been in New York, she had created a successful and famous fashion line called MDC. Everyone who was anyone wanted to be in one of custom designs. Her name was in light. She was rich. She was famous. She had connections.

Enough connections that making Connor look like he was biologically hers wouldn’t be a problem. In addition, her last two years Marinette hadn’t been the spotlight much. It wouldn’t be hard to fool people.

Three weeks later, world-renowned fashion designed introduced the world to her son; a sweet, giggling, baby who she had hidden from the public as of protectiveness. The media bought it. Marinette was known sweetheart and known for her overprotective nature regarding her family.

Connor was still having a hard time controlling his powers so Marinette never took him in public. They even lived in a secluded area outside the city, no one around for a mile. Instead, she posted frequent pictures and videos on Instagram of her darling baby boy.

It wasn’t long before he became the light of the world. She even created a baby and toddler clothing line inspired about him and other kids who liked to get messy. Because he did.

Connor loved to create chaos; whether it was with paint, sand, or mud. If it could splat, splatter, stain, or make a loud noise, he loved it.

Marinette had been a mother for almost two years, when her longtime friend and now publicist, got a hold of her and said it was time for an interview. She’d been out of the spotlight for too long. People were getting curious, desperate to know more. Desperate people should NOT be taken lightly.

So the Mom agreed.

Chloe promised to send a reporter Marinette could trust; one who knew how to do a good puff piece.

When Clark Kent rang her doorbell, Marinette felt something she hadn’t since for early years of schooling; she wanted to kill Chloe.

It wasn’t that Clark was a bad reporter. He was great. And Marinette knew she could trust him. The issue was that the reason that she knew she could trust him was that she dated him not long before she got really famous. They had been together for quite some time, they’d gone on a break. Each had gotten too busy with their lives and need time apart. Three months, she heard Clark was dead, gone to his funeral. And then not long after that, he was declared alive again. He never contacted her. She never contacted him. Just nursed a broken heart of the first man she ever saw a future with.

“Hey Marinette,” Clark gave her a shy smile. “You look great.”

           Marinette stood in a beautiful fifties-style white dress with red polka dots. She raised an eyebrow, “You look alive.”

           He sighed. Yeah, he knew she’d be pissed. He had kept meaning to contact her, call her just to let her know he was alright, just to hear her voice. But things, villains, life kept getting in the way. And he never did. It had been a little over five years since they had been together since he’d seen her.

           Marinette led Clark to the living room where Connor sat on his playmat. She’d promised him a giant chocolate mint cupcake if he behaved, and more importantly, didn’t use his powers in front of the reporter.

“So that’s him? Connor?” Clark stated with a smile. “He looks just like you.”

           Connor looked up from his toy truck at the sound of his name and gave the adults a happy grin.

           Marinette nodded with a happy sigh because everyone always assumed Connor got his dark hair and blue eyes from her.

           The interview went well. Clark asked how she was juggling being a famous designer and a single mom, about her newest collection, if Connor would be going to public school or private, her funniest kid story. It was great

           Clark suddenly got a funny look on his face, “What about his dad? Who’s he?”

           Marinette blinked. The father of Connor was on a list of do not ask questions.

“Why do you ask?”

           Clark pointed his pen next to her, “Because he’s floating.”

           And sure enough, her sweet baby boy was twirling in the air. Marinette was stunned. She tried to come up with something to say; anything that would explain why her kid could fly. But before she could…

“I’m the father, aren’t ?” Clark asked, a sad expression on his face. “You thought I was dead when you found out you were going to be a mom.”

           It was clear now that Clark really looked at the kid. Connor looked just like him; scarily so.  A few key differences; the cheekbones, the slighter figure. They even smelled alike, though he smelled more like Marinette then him. It was a wonder it took so long for him to see it.

           Marinette straightens up and narrowed her eyes at the man. She always had a few suspicions about Clark but could never prove anything. In the end, it never seemed important. She loved him.  “And why does my kid having powers automatically make yours?”

           Clark stood up and spun around. A moment later, Superman stood in front of her. Suddenly, Connor spun around really fast too, laughing the entire time. Clark, Superman, just laughed along too. Connor flew to the man of steel, and Clark took him in his arms and hugged him close.

           Marinette couldn’t deny it. The resemblance was too uncanny. Connor was Clark’s son. Which brought up a whole of questions.

           Superman gave her a wary smile, “I should have told you.” He said. “I wanted to.

“Connor is my son,” Marinette suddenly growled, leaving no room for argument. “No one will take him from me.”

“I would never!” Clark cried. “I’d never take him from you, Marinette. You’re his mom.” He looked down at his feet. “I just want to be apart of his life too.”

           Marinette nodded, “You say that now…” Clark opened his mouth to interrupt but Marinette raised a hand. “I have some things to tell you. And when I’m done, if you still feel the same. I will let you be Connor’s dad. I will let you tell the entire world Clark Kent is Connor’s dad. But first, you need to sit down.”

           Clark transformed back into his suit and tie and sat down as instructed.

“First let me say, I am Connor’s mother,” Marinette stated. “I will always be Connor’s mother.” Then she told Clark about how she found Connor in the woods one day and how he became her son. After some testing, she discovered he was half-human and half-something else but that didn’t change how much she loved him

           Clark could listen to the story; only becoming a little disappointed that Connor was his and Marinette’s biological son. But the tale sounded so similar to how his own parents found him that Clark couldn’t help but smile by the end of it.

           When Marinette was finished, Clark hugged the little boy closer, “Tomorrow, the Daily planet will read about famous Fashion designer Marinette and star reporter Clark Kent’s son Connor Dupain-Cheng-Kent and the family they have…I just have to tell my mom first.”

“And your dad,” Marinette giggled, having already met Martha and dealt with her non-subtle hints about grandbabies.

           Clark waved it off, “Him too.”

           Clark stayed for the next few hours, to play with Connor and talk more with Marinette. When Connor went to sleep, the two discussed his Superhero identity… and hers.

“Ladybug?” Clark asked after Marinette had transformed. “Really?”

“Oh like Superman’s a better man.”

           When Clark went to leave, he had to fight every urge he had anot to kiss Marinette, his one-time, the mother of his child, goodnight. He waited at the front door, fidgeting with his tie.

           Marinette rolled her eyes; it was their first date all over again. She jumped forward and kissed him on the cheek, “Goodnight.”

           He blushed and readied himself to fly off. But before he did, Clark gave Marinette a sheepish, don’t kill me, smile, “Oh, and Batman’s going to drop by once he hears this.” And then he flew off… Like a coward.

           Marinette just glared at the sky.

[erekiosuncreativeideas]

Being Human - Chapter 16

<= Chapter 15

Summary : Snatcher learns something that is definitely not a good thing. Also available on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/24826561/chapters/68121814

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sorry for the late posting ! I have a bit of a writer block, and I tried toi delay my chapters as much as possible until I couldn't anymore (the 17th chapter isn't finished so it'll force me to write it eventually), sorry about that ! I hope you're still interested in this story despite my lack of recent activity.

I hope you'll like this chapter !

Of course, the “Oh The Humanity” AU belongs to @doodledrawsthings​​ !

Happy reading !

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Chapter 16 - “So, what are you doing here?”

Out of all the people who could have come out of this hallway, Moonjumper was perhaps the less surprising one to Snatcher. Obviously, the fear of seeing Her had engulfed him since the moment the alarm went off, but now, he felt a huge wave of relief hitting him. The man knew very well this was absolutely stupid for him to think She would be able to come onto the ship uninvited… But still.

His posture relaxed once he realized he wasn’t in danger. This was maybe the first time he was truly happy to see Moonjumper, but compared to Vanessa, this wasn’t really difficult. However… Why was he here? Did something happen with Her…?

The living corpse’s face lit up as his eyes fell on Snatcher and the bow-wearing kid next to him. He had his hands clasped together, his face shifting from worry to relief as he saw them:

-“Oh hello! There you are!” he greeted the two, floating a bit closer, while the bow-wearing child approached him too, her smile wide. Her annoyed expression had been quickly replaced by a happy one, an excited one even, as if she hadn’t seen the guy for weeks when, in fact, it had only been two days.

-“Moonjumper!” she greeted him back, stopping just in front of him, her posture clear of how glad she was to see him. The feeling seemed to be mutual as he gave her a warm smile, just as happy to see her. The other’s eyes soon drifted higher to meet Snatcher’s, and the corpse’s warm expression fell a bit. Well, this wasn’t quite surprising, considering how sour their relationship was. In all honesty, who wouldn’t be put off by seeing their dead, rotten body floating right before them, stolen by an unknown spirit? Not a lot of people.

-“Good morning,” said Snatcher simply, the gears in his mind turning more and more. Was this a simple visit of courtesy or… Was there more to it? The former ghost couldn’t help but think of the worst-case scenario. But could this be possible…? It had only been a few days!

Yet, Vanessa was unpredictable and much cleverer than what she let people think. She wasn’t just a Queen that had gone crazy with jealousy and control… No, no… She was far more intelligent and cruel that one would think. And Snatcher knew that from experience. Furthermore, the man couldn’t help but think of Moonjumper’s worried face as the latter had entered the room… He had a bad feeling, he hated that, but that feeling was definitely there, eating him little by little.

Something had happened.

His thoughts were soon cut short as Moonjumper started to talk again, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence that had followed Snatcher’s greeting:

“I- uh, seem to have triggered some sort of alarm…?” wondered the ghost with confusion and nervousness: “Is… Is this normal?”

The former spirit couldn’t blame the other, that loud thing had surprised him too quite a lot. Just the same, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was something that happened on a regular basis or not. Given how annoyed the little girl had been instead of surprised or startled like he had been, he supposed the former was most likely.

-“Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” added Snatcher with a perplexed frown, tilting his head slightly.

The little girl winced as she glanced away, probably remembering quite a lot of situations revolving about said alarm. When she did start to explain, her features showed some hints of irritation.

-“Well… It’s something that Hat and I built in the spaceship in case of… Incidents.”

-“‘Incidents’?” repeated Snatcher, even more confused and, perhaps, a bit nervous now. What did she mean by that…? Apparently, Moonjumper’s face showed the same signs of worry he was expressing, if not more. Both of their stances were now tensed, waiting anxiously for the child to continue her explanation. At their insistence, she seemed a little uncomfortable, as if she didn’t know how to explain something to them in a way that wouldn’t worry them even more.

Well, this was not a success.

-“Hum… I mean, Space is a dangerous place, you know?” she tried to clarify: “And there are many, many life forms out there, not all being super nice so… It’s better to be prepared, right? Just in case. So Hat and I decided to install that alarm, but…” She paused, looking elsewhere as she kept going, more annoyed: “So far, it has only been a bother, and we never had any problems. But… You never know, right?”

Okay, so if Snatcher was nervous before, now he was just scared. What kind of horrific creatures would cause the need for such a system? Space was not his forte, never had been actually, but now the idea of stargazing through the window just made him terribly ill at ease. Who knew what he’d happen to see in this endless black void…?

Yeah no, he didn’t want to think about that.

As the bow-wearing kid looked back at them, she seemed to notice their change of behaviour and expression and raised her hands quickly:

-“B-but it’s fine!” she soon added with a forced smile: “It doesn’t happen really ofte-”

-“It has happened before?!” interrupted Moonjumper, with a panicked and horrified look in his eyes. Well, then again, Snatcher couldn’t blame him. The simple thought of an unknown creature possibly infiltrating the ship… It made him shiver. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about with Vanessa!

-“No! I mean, yes, but-!” the child was starting to grow a little frustrated and she eventually covered her face with both of her hands, rubbing it as she was maybe thinking of a way to calm the two. Eventually, she sighed and tried to smile again, though it didn’t reassure Snatcher very much: “Your solar system is safe,” she informed them calmly: “You don’t need to be afraid, for real. I mean, otherwise your planet would have probably been invaded by some giant eldritch horrors by now, or-”

The little girl closed her lips shut and tight as she realized she was only making things worse. Giant eldritch horrors? Normally, that wouldn’t scare Snatcher, but being in his fragile and weak human body made him reconsider a lot of things, and this was one of them. With so many risks of dying and not even being sure to come back as a ghost afterwards, he just couldn’t allow himself to be reckless... Especially with the time limit looming over them, this sword of Damocles looming over their head. He had to be there if Vanessa happened to do something, whether it was as a powerful spirit… Or as a weak and pathetic human being.

He needed to be there.

Right in front of them, the bow-wearing kid was fidgeting uncomfortably, a wince clearly visible on her face as a heavy and awkward silence settled in the room. Well, now it was much too late to try to reassure any of them, especially Moonjumper, whose face said enough about the whole ordeal. Quite soon, the little girl found herself unable to do anything else than to flee the conversation:

-“Uuuh, you know what, I’ll, uh…” she stuttered, gesturing to the engine room: “I’ll tell Hat you’re here, so, hm… Have fun you two!” And, without waiting for them to protest or even reply, the bow-wearing child dashed to the door and disappeared into the hallway, leaving two very confused and nervous spirits on their own.

-“What. The heck,” let out Snatcher, frowning even more, his eyes fixed on the now closed door.

-“I, uh… I’m starting to fear for these children’s safety,” murmured Moonjumper, just as shocked as him.

-“You don’t say,” answered the former ghost flatly. That wasn’t really surprising, considering all the kind of trouble the kids were used to put themselves into. Plus, Subcon was kind of a death trap in itself, and yet the little girls kept visiting no matter how many time they had almost got killed. However, if there was anything to be worried about, this wasn’t the kids’ safety (Ha!) but his.

Eventually, the former spirit turned back to Moonjumper, his mind realizing the golden opportunity he had for being alone with the living corpse. Without the kids being around them, Snatcher could ask about the state of Subcon Forest without having Moonjumper worrying about upsetting the children.

-“So, what are you doing here?” he asked, straight to the point. There was no use in delaying the inevitable and if there was something he had to know about… Well, it was better now than later. With Vanessa able to freeze his entire kingdom again, it was better to be careful.

Just like he had expected, Moonjumper was taken aback by his straightforward attitude, making him fidget just like the bow-wearing kid earlier. This sight was more than enough to tell Snatcher that, yes, there was indeed something bothering Moonjumper, and most likely something linked to their biggest problem at the moment: Vanessa. And yet, the corpse glanced away, biting his lips as if he was trying to find a way to tell him what was happening without upsetting him too much.

But the silence on its own was more than enough to make him upset.

-“Okay,” Snatcher pinched his nose, feeling a weight settling in his stomach. Gods, what was he going to learn… His legs were starting to shake a bit and the man felt like his muscles freezing from the tension and apprehension. If he had to know something, it was now or never: “What’s happening? I know you’re not here just to say ‘hi’, especially since it’s only been a couple of days. So what’s wrong?”

Snatcher didn’t have the strength to play the questioner type too long. Dealing with this body was already quite a lot on his mind, so if he had to get more worries over his unfortunately weak shoulders…

-“It’s…” Moonjumper started, looking much more worried than when he had first appeared in the room. Had he been trying to hide it as long as there was a kid in the room? “It’s your fires. They’re starting to die down already.”

Snatcher frowned again, more and more confused.

-“My… Fires? What do you-” but then, he closed his mouth. His fires. The ones he had lit up to protect Subcon Forest from his ex’s magic, the ones that were the only thing heating up the area enough to keep it warm and safe from Vanessa. The only barrier against this unnatural and terrifying cold that had killed so many people… Including him.

Those fires were dying down.

The former ghost’s face paled up as soon as this thought materialized in his mind, hitting him violently as he was forced to understand what it meant. What it all meant for him, for his forest… And for his minions. If those fires ever went out, then there wouldn’t be anything to protect Subcon from the terrible cold and ice coming from the manor, but this wasn’t the worst, no, oh no.

Vanessa would feel that there were no resistance against her magic anymore. This couldn’t happen, this just couldn’t happen, ever.

-“Snatcher...! Snatcher!” Moonjumper tried to call him back to reality, but Snatcher was too lost in his own horrifying thoughts. How could this already be happening? Those fires shouldn’t die down so soon! Sure, he had predicted this would happen, considering they originated from his powers and, thus, depended on them to remain active and warm. Now that the man was in a human body with none of his magical abilities left, he didn’t have any power source to maintain them. It didn’t take him long to put two and two together: this would be what would make Vanessa understand that the Forest wasn’t as well protected as before. However, he had expected this to happen much, much later. Not now. They hadn’t found anything to reverse the situation yet…!

Oh Gods. He was hyperventilating again. His body was now trembling like a leaf and he only realized he was hugging himself. A loud, very loud ringing noise was echoing in his brain, making him unable to distinguish any other sound. What? Why…?

Why was he so scared…?

He was forced out of his thoughts as he felt two hands on his shoulders, shaking him back and forth to bring him back to the present. He heard his name being called, though it was muffled by that deafening ringing noise. What would he do if Vanessa came before they found any solution? How was he going to protect his kingdom in this weak, stupid and pathetic meat sack of a body? The Queen wouldn’t give them any chance to fight back, especially if she was free to use his powers at their full potential in the Forest…

What was she going to do if she saw him like that again…? That thought alone made his stomach turn strongly, giving him the urge to throw up. No, no, no, no, he couldn’t go through that again, he couldn’t, she wouldn’t let him die this time, she would do her best to keep him alive, locked up for him to never, never escape again-

The pressure on his shoulders disappeared eventually… Only to reappear somewhere else, on his cheeks, forcing him to look up. There, he could see Moonjumper’s panicked face.

-“Snatcher!” the latter yelled, forcing him out of his trance. It was only then that the former spirit managed to glance around him, pulling himself together little by little. He was still in the ship. He was still safe.

His eyes went back on Moonjumper’s, the other letting go of his face now that he was able to think coherently again. As soon as he was free again, Snatcher stepped away: his breath was quick and heavy, his heart was pounding inside of his chest, his eyes were stinging… He reached out to rub his eyes, but as soon as his fingers touched them… He could feel them wet.

Did he really… Did he really start to cry…? In front of Moonjumper out of all people?! This could only be a joke. As fast as he could, he tried to dry them up, not wanting anyone to see him in that state, and especially not the spirit who had stolen his past life. No, absolutely not, not happening in a million years!

-“I’m… I’m sorry,” apologized Moonjumper, his expression no more afraid but guilty instead. His eyes were fixed on him, staring at him with what Snatcher identified as pity, as compassion. Gods, he would always hate being looked at this way. This made him feel even more pitiful than he already was in a state like this. But the other started to talk again, catching his attention again: “I should have been more tactful…”

But this apology wasn’t changing anything. It wasn’t changing the current situation, it wouldn’t keep Vanessa away. Those were just words. And words would never, never save them from a crazy Ice Queen starved for a twisted and inhuman love.

-“How much…” Snatcher could feel a lump in his throat, almost preventing him from talking. He still managed to get the words out, though his voice sounded much too broken for his liking: “How much have they died down?” he decided to ask. Maybe he had been panicking over nothing, perhaps the situation wasn’t as bad as it seemed! After all, he had always been quite powerful, it would make sense that his powers would persist even after him becoming human again!

… Right?

His eyes were staring at Moonjumper, awaiting the other’s answer with an unbearable impatience. He was hoping to see some kind of reassurance, something to make him feel better, anything other than the worst-case scenario he had started to picture since the very beginning of this problem. But the corpse wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t wearing the face of someone intending to comfort him, no…

Moonjumper seemed as terrified as he was himself.

-“Almost… Almost halfway,” answered the corpse with a paler face than the one he already had, his hands trembling as he fidgeted in the air.

As soon as the words came to Snatcher ears, he felt like he had just received a bucket of freezing water over his shoulders. Halfway…? No, no, this couldn’t be, this was too soon, way too soon! The man had thought it would take at least a week for that to happen! How could this be?!

-“No,” he breathed out, stepping away once more. He couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it! Those fires were their only hope of keeping Vanessa away and oblivious of the situation! And those same fires were dying down?! “No, no, no, that’s not true,” he kept going, his voice becoming more and more distressed as he was glancing everywhere randomly: “You’re wrong, it’s not possible, they’re not-”

-“They are,” insisted Moonjumper with a troubled voice, not giving him the time to finish: “I thought just like you at first, I… I didn’t want to believe it either… But they’re already getting weaker. I… I checked, multiple times.”

This wasn’t good, this really wasn’t good… Snatcher felt like the world around him was collapsing around him. Their barrier against that crazy monster was weakening, it was weakening and they wouldn’t be able to fight her like this. But the worst question was yet to come, the most terrible and the most terrifying one that Snatcher wanted to avoid thinking about at all cost. But he didn’t have the choice anymore.

-“Do you…” The words got stuck in his throat, his breath becoming heavier and heavier as he struggled to talk again, fighting against the dread that was settling over him: “Do you think she noticed anything yet?”

If Vanessa had noticed anything… Then that would only announce a terrible danger. It wouldn’t take her long to understand that the Forest was soon unprotected… And that she would have the perfect opportunity to strike.

-“I don’t… I don’t know,” answered Moonjumper trustfully as he glanced elsewhere, visibly just as scared as he was: “I haven’t felt anything different coming from the manor yet, so I would guess not, but-”

However, the corpse was cut short in his reply by a high pitched voice that was very, very familiar to the two spirits.

-“What are you two talking about?”

The duo turned in the direction of the voice… Only to find the two little girls, standing up in front of the door leading to the engine room, a confused and worried expression painted on their faces. Both were glancing at them repeatedly, looking for an answer to their question, any answer. But the fear on their faces were already more than a good indicator of what was happening. Soon, their own faces crumpled as they started to understand.

No matter what they had to do to reverse this whole situation… Then they’d have to speed up the process, as much as possible.

Snatcher would not let Vanessa freeze the entire forest again.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Hehehehehe another cliffhanger, woohooo- Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter ! See you in the next one !

=> Chapter 17

[dramaplustautology]

Tied to a Name

So I hit a kind of depressive (???) episode in the middle of the night and I can’t get back to sleep, so I expended all that energy on some writing. This is another mq(sort of)!Ty thing where I was trying to think of what her personal mech would be like, came up with messy stuff, so I wrote up a short story and better ideas emerged. 

I’ll make a list of the mech’s features and other notes sometime later, but for now I gotta get up in oof less than three hours, lmao.

Summary: Ty has a strange feeling about the conference she’s going to crash, and decides to bring AI Aegis to her long untouched primary Mech.

“Remember, you can eject any time you want.”

As the mech’s optics came online, the AI’s targeting system focused on the lone lifeform standing on the floor of a vast and empty hanger.

Ty’s heartrate was high despite her calm voice, hands dug into her pockets to keep them from shaking.

Aegis could tell as though he were standing right in front of her, alive and overdosing on adrenaline.

“Why is it automatically locking on to you?” Aegis asked, becoming more distressed as a multitude of interlocking systems became active over the presence of a single human.

The hanger’s lights, still bright despite years left to collect dust, made the mech’s pure white armor blinding. With its plating and silver detail, the towering monster could hide itself in the ranks of the King’s Guard. The one unnerving feature was that it identified Ty and let its weapons cool.

“Did this used to be a police mech? It has riot control gear,” Aegis’ words sparked with static. “Long Range Audio Device, like any other, but has levels that cause severe pain, damage nervous systems…causes hallucinations?”

He made the mistake of directing the optics up, and the radar picked up the lifeforms in the city above them through hundreds of meters of dirt and concrete. The targeting system was asking him to the confirm the elimination of all enemies within range.

“Other mechs can detect humans and other life, but I’ve never seen one that immediately sees them as enemies.” The longer the AI remained tied to the mech, the more distressed he became. “Ty, I need a straight answer.”

“One day,” She headed to the ladder leading up to the landing by the mech’s helmet. “For now, I’m going to guess that either you’ve never heard of the Slugwraths, or they weren’t always so awful. My dad’s stuff was kind of like that, then DeeDee wanted me to have his ugly dad’s stuff too. Tyrant tech; different paint, same pain.”

“I’m not some pauper, and I want you to know that. Besides, what am I supposed to do if you won’t settle for only relying on me?”

“I have access to burrowing explosives,” The AI’s tone hardened. “These were made to seek and destroy civilian bunkers.”

“And that was when my mom was in a hurry,” Ty said, trying to reach over two rusted rungs. “If you dig deeper, you’ll find acid, fire, medieval toys. Artillery will do a better job faster, but when you want to send a message, it has to be ugly.”

Not that the artillery wasn’t good at devastating steel and flesh alike. Ty remembered playing in the grass while her mother had the mech kneeling under the canopy of a forest with trees made for giants. She was looking for bugs when the mechs arms were converted into a rifle.

Her mother aimed at the sky and shot lightning into the clouds. Farther away, where the giants lived, the clouds rained light until the forest was made for no one.

“How primitive,” The last person to repair the mech had noted. He focused on that instead of how the mech had three jaws. “But with that fool vacating the throne, and leaving his armory free, we could do so much better.”

“Ty?” Aegis gently called to her, noticing she was dangling from the edge of the landing by her prosthetic arm, staring into space.

She stayed there, tilting her head at her mech’s.

“This is my primary,” She swung her legs back and forth as a form of fidgeting. “I know it better than my own body.”

“Did you—” Aegis cut himself off, remembering that he had asked Ty for straight answers.

“I call it the War Criminal for a reason,” Ty said, resting her hand on her hip. “Sure doesn’t look like it now, with that fresh pearly paint.”

This time, disregarding the fear of taking such a repulsive weapon into his control, Aegis gained the nerve to turn the head of the mech to gaze at his friend.

“When being paramilitary was still a thing, my mom rode it until bullets and heat ate it down to its metal bones. Then, they built it back up, bigger and scarier. Rinse and repeat, until I began sitting in the pilot seat when I turned thirteen. It’s easier to use than a tricycle.”

Aegis didn’t know about that. Even if a seasoned pilot familiarized themselves with the complicated controls, the sensory overload from processing enough information to successfully empty a planet could melt eyeballs.

“But I did stop coming back, and not for a good reason, I’m sorry.” Ty lost grip on the teetering structure, and the mech’s hand out, deftly catching in its black palm. “Thanks for the catch!”

“Uh, you’re welcome?” He replied, wondering if he should tell Ty that the mech acted on its own.

“And would you look at that. It hasn’t seen sun in months and can still move like it took an oil bath,” Ty got on her knees and felt the joints of the mech’s thumb. “Doc used it to test his gear but he didn’t treat it badly. Too bad he didn’t get rid of the flaws.”

“Flaws?” Aegis noticed the self-scan, running over its organic features.

“I didn’t notice it myself until it was too late,” Ty said, drumming her steel limb’s fingers on her reflection in the metal. “Not that I could tell until it was too late.”

She waited for Aegis to yell at her.

“What? You thought I’d stuff it in a corner just cause I’d be riding a stained mech to class?”

“I trust you,” Aegis walked the mech forward, noting how light it was despite its grand height. Long range combat came secondary to close fights under the shadows of towers, and weaving through crowded streets. “The tech works better on Shadowscythe hoards and protecting cities under fire.”

It didn’t register immediately, but Aegis’ kindness made Ty giggle, and the mech’s readings told him that she had stopped shivering.

“The last technician would hate you,” She sat down, crossing her legs. “Not its intended purpose,” Ty used a mocking deep tone, draping her arms over her knees. “I try, as if that makes it any better.”

He didn’t have to think deeply to reply.

“No one belongs on the lonely side of the river, watching the stars pass them by,” Aegis said, recalling a story from Ty’s home planet. “The condemned might get stuck there, or were unlucky enough to be forced there, but there’s always a way back.”

“Huh, you remembered,” Ty kept grinning but it wasn’t in her eyes. “Well, it’s a cute fairy tale.”

“I-I suppose.” Aegis nodded the mech’s head, and the sight made Ty laugh.

“With you inside, it actually looks like a hero. With me, ughhh,” She groaned, remembering a particularly embarrassing loss. “There’s this stupid kick. The moment damage to the mech reaches a certain level, it jumps to the next galaxy over.”

Amazed, Aegis located an energy store reserved solely for jettisoning the mech as far as possible from the current conflict. Any attempt to bypass the automatic command to do so needed authorization from a bio-imprint.  

“I’m thinking it was to save assets. My mom’s boss had it installed when she started using it,” Ty’s mouth twisted, hearing the Meatbag jeer at her for being a coward. “Doc could have taken it out when he was making his upgrades but he actually made it harder to get rid of. Guess he did always hate me. I wonder if DeeDee hated me too.”

Having a hunch at where to begin with Ty’s tangent, Aegis found a place with the mech’s identification.

“The records are telling me the mech was initially referred to with a number, but it’s clashing with its current designation.”

“Yeah, DeeDee changed it when he made me change the paint,” Ty shrugged. “I thought it was just a funny name until Doc told me that it fit me. It’s probably an insult.”

“You never looked it up?”

“No,” She admitted, pushing the curiosity aside. “I’m fine with knowing nothing about Vega.”

[lilacsolanum]

Animorphs October: Found Family

Set around a year after the war. Read on AO3.

I’m way cooler than all the other hawks in the forest, and it’s not just because of the whole sentience thing. What was way more important was my phone.

It wasn’t a phone as much as it was a very small, very light, very tight thought-speak capable device that people could call when needed. Cassie sort of forced it on me. I didn’t really want it at first, but she’s kept her promise to never give anyone but Loren the number. I always keep it on my ankle, and it zips into z-space like a morphing suit.

It’d gone off twice today, which was really weird. I mean, if only two people ever contact you, then it’s pretty wild when they do so at the same time. I called Cassie back, but got her answering machine. She was probably busy. I called Loren, and she answered right away.

“Tobias!” she said, bright and happy. Loren was always really quiet and reserved back in the Valley, but now that she’s sort of found her footing, she’d gotten a lot more confident. I guess she had been really twisted inside because of the way her family treated her when she lost her memory, and she didn’t have a ton of friends. Now she had more understanding of why her memory was lost, and had a community. All the parents had gotten pretty close in the Hork Bajir Valley, I guess. They kept in contact more than the Animorphs. Sometimes she even went out into the city with Eva, even if she found anything but farmland really overwhelming. I understood that more than anyone.

Loren was really changing. I felt proud of her, in a weird, distant sort of way. I mean, it’s not like I had any part in it, but I was just really glad she was using her friends for support and getting better. It’s more than I can do.

<Hi, Loren,> I said. The phone could understand my thought-speak. It was some Andalite tech that humans weren’t supposed to have yet, but Cassie had pulled some strings. I wonder if Ax helped her. I hope Ax is happy. I think about him a lot, but I don’t really contact him or anything. He’s back on Andalite now, and a Prince at that. He’d achieved all his dreams. I’d just bring him down.

“Happy birthday!” she said. I blinked and ruffled my feathers, even if she couldn’t see.

<Uh,> I said. <Thanks.>

That explained why I’d gotten two phone calls in one day. The passage of time had gotten a little skewed for me these days. I sort of wish it hadn’t. I hate it when people remember my birthday, and would have liked to have been more prepared. I feel like I have to pretend to be excited about it, put on a face to make others feel comfortable. In reality, I had no attachment to my birthday. It was just another day. It pretty much went unnoticed by my aunt and uncle, unless my aunt was dating someone and wanted to show off how great a parent she was. Honestly, those birthdays were the worst ones.

“Are you close to my place?” asked Loren.

I thought about it. I flew around a lot, sort of doing my own version of a post-high school road trip, except it was a sky trip and also I never graduated from high school. I was in southern California, though. I could be at Loren’s in a few hours or so.

I thought about lying, but before I could finish the thought, I found myself saying, <Yeah, I’ll be there around eight, maybe.>

---

I was there at 7:46, according to Loren’s microwave clock. I’d morphed human, of course. I never felt really comfortable being a hawk around Loren. It seemed sort of disrespectful, like, she’d carried me in her body for nine whole months and then what did I go ahead and do? I become bird boy. It sort of felt like wearing an itchy sweater grandma knitted for you so she wouldn’t be offended, except, you know. Way worse, and also super, super weird.

That didn’t mean I felt really comfortable as a human at all. I felt heavy and slimy and my mouth kept filling up with nervous saliva, which was disgusting. It was so foreign to me. My cheeks were just flooding with recycled fluid for no reason! I wanted to spit it out on the ground and get it all out of me, like I could empty myself of all the complicated hot chemicals that run inside my human body. I know my hawk form is complicated and gross to some, but they just don’t get it. It’s not at all like being human. I was all excess and hormones and adrenaline and I wanted none of it.

I sat very still on Loren’s couch. She’d given me a glass of milk, which was the only good thing about visiting Loren. I shivered with the taste of it. It was creamy and slightly sweet and cold. I sipped at it slowly, imagining it was cooling off my burning human body.

Loren had left the room. I shifted nervously, clutching the milk between my hands like it was a lifeline. Eventually, she returned with a giant cardboard box filled with brightly wrapped presents. I’m sure my face was as blank as always, but I felt a tensing in my shoulders where the ghost of my wings lay.

“What is that?” I said, feeling my body run into a really wired fear mode. I ignored it. One good thing about not really connecting to a human body is that you didn’t have to deal head on with all the dumb stuff it did.

“Your presents!” she said, smiling broadly and gesturing toward the box.

I blinked. “I don’t need any presents,” I said. Some voice in my head reminded me that that wasn’t the right response. Loren probably was looking for some sort of excitement or appreciative noise. But what I said was true, and it’s how I felt, and sometimes that’s the thing that comes out of my mouth first.

She didn’t seem to mind. “I figured you’d say that, but I thought it would be fun just to open them. Here --”

She thrust a package out to me. It was weirdly shaped. Flat, but bulging out in the middle. I took it gingerly, then stared at it.

“Open it!” urged Loren, her eyes dancing with mischief.

I started to move it around in my hands, then stopped. I looked up at Loren. “Do I have to rip it open?”

Loren blinked, her cheerful expression seeming to falter a little. “What? What do you mean?”

I shrugged. I think I was blushing a little. “I really don’t like the sound wrapping paper makes when it’s torn, and I. I sort of think it hurts? The whole thing sort of rubs me the wrong way, I guess. So I like to open up gifts by pulling apart at the tape.” I also got a really weird satisfaction rush from seeing a completely whole piece of wrapping paper, but this was all already so weird, and I felt that’d confession would be a step too far. “My au- uh, Brandi, she hated when I did that. She said it took so long, and that I should just rip it.” She also said I was making up that it hurt, but that seemed like another thing I shouldn’t say to Loren.

“My goodness, Tobias, no! Open it up however you like!” said Loren, her voice going all high like she was shocked. I felt bad for bringing up my aunt. She always got upset when I said anything about her. I quickly started to peel off the tape, opening the package as fast as I could.

When I took the wrapping paper off, I saw a pacifier.

I had so little idea of how to react that I actually had a reaction. My mouth dropped, just a little. “I, um. Are you -- is this, like, like you’re pregnant? So you’re telling me I’m going to be a big brother with this pacifier?”

Loren burst out laughing. I was still really confused, but her laugh soothed me, just a little. She didn’t always laugh back in the Valley, so when she did it, I felt really comforted. Like, if Loren can go through all that she went through and still laugh, then maybe things aren’t so terrible.

“No, not at all. Good guess, though. Alright, here’s my plan,” she said, sounding really proud, like Cassie did when an animal they thought wouldn’t make it finally got released back into the wild. “You and I didn’t get to grow up together. Right?”

“Yeah,” I said. I shifted a little, yearning for a feather to preen. I don’t remember how to fidget in my human body anymore.

“So that means I missed nineteen birthdays,” said Loren.

“Uh,” I said. “I guess.”

“So I got you nineteen presents,” she said. “One for every year I missed.”

I didn’t react. It’s not just because I’m bad at reacting, it’s because I just went completely blank. It was like every brain function I have just sort of stopped and stood in awe of this woman, and the fact that she actually cared anything about me.

She paused, searching my face. “I know you don’t really want even a normal present, nevermind, like, a pacifier. I’m going to donate all this stuff when we’re done. I just thought it’d be a good memory.” Then she dug into the big box again. She pulled out another present and thrust it at me. “Here,” she said. “This is for your second birthday.”

Somehow, I ended up with the present in my hand. Somehow, I opened it. My human self, as terrible as it is, had completely taken over. My fingers deftly pulled at the wrapping paper. I did like fingers. Fingers were really good. I wish I could have wings and fingers at the same time.

I pulled out some sort of plastic ring with rotating primary colors. I looked up at Loren. “What is this?” I asked.

“A teething ring,” she said. “I went shopping for a lot of the early stuff with Eva. She said two years teethe, which is why they’re notorious monsters. They’re all in terrible pain. They get stuff to chew on for when the pain is too great. Well, Eva said two is a little old for that sort of teething ring, but, you know. Close enough.”

“Oh,” I said. That’s all I could say. I was still in emotional stasis, still more concerned about my fingers than I was the objects in front of me. “Um. Next one?”

Year three was this cool little pop up tent I would have loved as a kid. Year four was a set of those really big Legos. Year five was crayons, because I would have started kindergarten, and they were name brand and everything. The set even had one of those crayon sharpeners in the back. I always wanted one of those. Year six was a toy dinosaur. Loren told me she’d done her research, and knew I had a major dinosaur phase. She’d probably talked to Cassie. I just asked for the next present.

That’s all I could do. Open the presents, set aside the perfect rectangle of paper, and then set aside the gift. I didn’t have enough voice to say thank you. I couldn’t tell Loren how much I loved the crayons.

Year seven was a Jenga set. Loren had got it because Eva told her Jake and Marco used to love Jenga. She said she wanted to play it with me. The idea of playing a game where a tower would suddenly and loudly crash made me feel tense, but maybe it would have been fun with Loren. Year eight was a rock polisher. That was really nice. Year nine was a bike. An actual bike. She brought it in from the hallway. Some lucky kid was going to love that thing when she donated it. I didn’t tell her I never learned how to ride a bike. It’d just make her upset.

Year ten was this sort of toy microscope that was something close to a real microscope, just made out of plastic. I should have been so happy, because that was a really cool gift, but I just kept worrying about how much money she spent on me. It was really weird feeling, especially since most of her money was technically mine. I gave her all the spoils from my rewards and royalties and life rights. What was I going to do with it? Pierce my beak and wear the Hope Diamond? I had no reason to feel guilty, she had plenty of money, she could do something big like this. I mean, it was for a good cause at the end of the day, right? But I felt guilty anyway. I felt really, really guilty, and almost shamed. This must have taken so much work to organize. Maybe her money was sort of mine, but her time wasn’t, and she’d used so much of it for me.

I still couldn’t bring myself to really say anything.

Loren was starting to look sort of deflated. I couldn’t blame her.

Year eleven was a really cool, really fancy art set. I once told her I used to draw, and I guess she remembered. This one was really great. I had no possessions, but I wanted to keep this set. I wanted to put it in some storage locker and live the rest of my life knowing it was there for me, smooth and new and shining and waiting for whenever I wanted to use it.

Year twelve was a version of Trivial Pursuit designed for seventh graders. I didn’t tell her I was still in fifth grade when I was twelve. I got held back for missing a ton of school one year when my aunt made me stay home for almost two months, then I got held back again because both my aunt and uncle lost some paperwork in a school transfer that lead to me repeating fourth grade. I never brought it up, so all the other Animorphs thought we were the same age. Only Loren really knew, and only because she knew the exact year she lost her memory. I guess she never knew I was in the same grade as the others. Probably because I dropped out of school when I was fifteen and started mouse hunting.

The next present was a copy of A Wrinkle In Time. Loren wrote “For Tobias. Happy thirteenth birthday. From, mom.”

I set it next to me quick, like it was burning my skin. “I need to demorph,” I said, and ran out the door. I didn’t need to demorph, not at all. I had plenty of time, but I desperately, desperately needed to fly.

---

It was late when I got back to Loren’s. I morphed right on her doorstep, and rang her doorbell three times. She came out in pajamas. Then, I did something I’d never really thought to do before.

I hugged her.

I never really liked hugs. My aunt would make me do them when she was done screaming at me, and the hug was always some symbol that she was absolved of all guilt and everything would be fine going forward. Only Rachel ever made me feel okay with an embrace. I tried not to think about Rachel these days, but as I held Loren, I sent a thank you out to wherever she is now. I hope she heard. I could never have hugged Loren if it hadn’t been for Rachel.

“A Wrinkle In Time is my favorite book,” I said against her shoulder. Her body sort of shook, and I think I heard a sob.

We pulled away from each other. I took a deep breath. “I love it,” I said. “I love all of it. I love all of it so much that I don’t know how to tell you.”

She smiled at me, and her eyes were shining like she had tears in them. “I love you too, Tobias. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone.” She leaned forward and grabbed me again, holding me a lot closer than I had held her. She even rested her head against my chest. It was a little much, but I bore it, because she was Loren.

We were never going to be mother and son the way Eva and Marco were, or Jean and Jake, or Michelle and Cassie. Loren was right, we hadn’t grown together. I didn’t know her as a parent in the same automatic way that I see in other families. She had never hung my drawings on the fridge, never kissed away my bruises, never walked me to the school bus. But she was a mother all the same, my mother, my family, and she made me feel loved. She had bought me a dinosaur. She had bought me a bike. She had bought me my favorite book.

I felt something strange and hot on my face. I tensed, assuming it was some sort of weird human decay thing, and then I relaxed. I was just crying. I’ve never cried because I was happy before.

Loren let me go and smiled at me. “I know you get nervous when you’re around people too long,” she said, gently. It wasn’t accusing like it sometimes was when Cassie said it. It just was. “But you know you can come see me whenever you want, right? You know that?”

“I do,” I said.

“Good,” she said. “Because I need practice reading, and I have no idea what this book is about. I’d love to read it together.”

I laughed a little. I don’t normally laugh outside thought-speak, but the idea of a mother stumbling through some of the longer words while her son patiently waited was sort of funny in a dark, twisted kind of way. I guess that’s what our family was. Funny, dark, twisted, but us, and we loved each other for it.

[littlerose13writes]

He Likes A Laugh, Your Brother

A bit of tooth-rotting fluff for your Sunday

Read it on AO3 and FF

Words: 1,567 Summary: “And you don’t want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts.” Harry put in. “He likes a laugh, your brother.” Albus Potter can’t sleep, Harry sets some of James’ wilder stories straight.

3rd May, 2011

Harry shifted the enormous pile of parchment containing the report he was supposed to be reading to the middle of his desk and sighed at the thought of it. It had gone nine and he knew it would take at least two more hours to finish the report; some of these junior aurors were just a bit too keen.

As he resigned himself to opening the first page, he heard a soft tapping on the door of his office.

“Come in.” He called out, slightly confused as to why Ginny was knocking. He knew it was her as the children were already in bed.

The door opened slowly to reveal five-year-old Albus, complete with his beloved stuffed dragon, Gryffindor. The young boy peered around the door, his wide, green eyes finding his father and relaxing when he did so. His striped pyjamas were just a little bit too long for him, the ends of the legs rolled up around his skinny ankles until he grew into them.

“Daddy?” He whispered.

“Hey Al.” Harry smiled and gestured for him to come over. His bare-footed son padded across the study carefully, stopping when he reached Harry, who had put down the report and turned away from his desk. “Why are you out of bed?”

“Me and Gwyffindor can’t sleep.” Albus replied simply, clutching the dragon tightly, crossing one foot over the other and fidgeting.

“You can’t sleep? Well that is a bit of a problem seeing as it’s now past your bedtime.” Harry cocked his head to one side with a pointed look. Albus stared back. Harry was used to this tactic as he had encountered it many times before when any one of his three children wanted to stay up for whatever reason.

“We can’t sleep ‘cause Gwyffindor’s scared.” Albus said with a glum look and Harry softened immediately.

He lifted Albus up and pulled the little boy onto his lap, taking Gryffindor with one hand. He addressed the toy: “Why are you scared Gryffindor?” and Albus giggled as Harry paused, pretending to wait for the toy to answer.

“He says he’s scared that the Giant Squid from Hogwarts is going to snatch him away from my bed with its long tentacles and turn him into a merperson forever!” Albus finished dramatically with a scared expression on his face.

Harry took a moment to process what he had just heard and handed Gryffindor back to Albus, who hugged the toy to his chest.

“Where did you hear that Al?” he asked, suspecting the answer.

“James told me all about the evil Giant Squid and how all the merpeople in the Hogwarts lake are actually kids who were too naughty. Is it twue that Professor McGonagall sends three students a week?” Albus finished and gave his father a questioning look, Gryffindor now tucked under his arm in the toy’s usual spot.

Harry shook his head and gave Albus a gentle squeeze. “Al, how many times have I told you not to listen to James’s stories about Hogwarts? None of them are true.”

“Really?” Albus asked innocently, his hand rubbing his eye tiredly and resting on the side of his face. A second later, he slipped his thumb into his mouth as he gazed up at his father.

“Really. Anyway, how could James possibly know? He’s never been to Hogwarts has he?”

Albus considered this for a second, his thumb still in his mouth. He removed it when he’d decided how to respond to that and his little hand waved emphatically as he spoke. “But he said that Teddy told him all this stuff and he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. I had to give him some of my toys to get him to tell me! Even my Quidditch figures!”

Harry frowned at this revelation and decided he needed to have a talk with his oldest son in the morning. He shifted Albus on his lap, so his son was sitting sideways and able to look at him while he spoke. Albus leant into him, thumb back in his mouth, clearly exhausted.

“Ok Al, I promise that the Giant Squid is not evil, the merpeople living in the lake have always been merpeople and that everything James has ever told you about Hogwarts is not true.” Albus blinked at him disbelievingly then removed his thumb again.

“You sure? I don’t wanna be sent to live in the lake if I’m naughty at Hogwarts.” Albus’ lip trembled. “I can’t even swim prop-ly yet.” Harry smiled at his young son’s mispronunciation.

“Of course not. I’ve met the merpeople and they assured me that they definitely aren’t Hogwarts miscreants.” Ok, so the last part wasn’t true as Harry didn’t speak Mermish, but the rest was.

“You’ve met the merpeople?” Albus asked in awe, sitting up a little straighter in Harry’s lap.

“Yep, when I was in my fourth year.” Harry smiled at his son who looked excited and eager to ask more questions, his tiredness momentarily forgotten.

“But what about the man-eating giants what live in the forest? James said they sometimes come into the Hogwarts grounds and squash all the peoples outside.” Albus was looking frightened again.

“Man-eating giants? Where does James get these silly stories from?” Harry said tickling Albus. Albus giggled in response. “There aren’t any giants in the Forbidden Forest because they like to live in huge valleys where they have more space. And I’m pretty sure giants don’t eat people anyway.”

“So there is no giants in the forest?” Albus asked, very seriously.

“None at all.” Anymore. Harry added the last bit in his head as a distant echo of 'HAGGER!’ came back to him.

“I guess they got scared off by the massive snake didn’t they?” Albus asked quietly, looking down at the floor and shivering. Harry cuddled him close. Albus had been completely terrified of the snakes when the family went to a muggle zoo for the day (although Harry swears he recognises the Brazilian Boa Constrictor there) and James knew this.

“There’s a bit of a theme occurring here isn’t there? I promise there are no massive snakes at Hogwarts either.” Albus looked up, relieved. “Is there anything else James has told you about Hogwarts?”

Albus thought for a moment as he fingered the soft spines on Gryffindor’s tail and leaned into Harry.

“Yes! He told me that there’s a secwet passageway what leads from Hogwarts all the way to that sweet shop we went to at Chwistmas in Hogsmeade!” Albus’ tone of voice suggested he had found this story of his brother’s the least believable.

Harry thought for a moment about that last one before pulling Albus close to him.

“Can you keep a secret?” he whispered into Albus’ ear and Albus nodded fiercely. “That one is true. But don’t tell James yeah? Let’s leave him thinking it’s just a story he made up.”

Albus gave his father a wide smile before he gave in to an enormous yawn, his thumb going back to his mouth.

“So do you think you and Gryffindor will be able to sleep now?” Harry asked as he stood up and lifted Albus onto his hip. Albus responded with a sleepy nod as Harry started to carry him upstairs towards his bedroom however, when they were halfway up, his head jerked up.

“Daggy?” his voice was rather muffled through his thumb. “How do you know about da secwet passage?” he asked casually.

“Well it was all thanks to some friends of mine actually, they told me about it.” Harry replied as they arrived at Albus’ room.

“Uncle Won and Aunkie Herminey?” he asked, his head tucked into the crook of Harry’s neck and his thumb still firmly in his mouth.

“No, no it was some different friends. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs their names were.” Harry spoke as he lowered his son into bed and placed Gryffindor in his arms, the thumb now removed. Albus looked awestruck as Harry carefully pulled the duvet over him and sat on the edge of his bed.

“They sound cool!” was his response.

Harry was silent for a second before giving Albus a sly grin. “You mean, cooler than Ron and Hermione?” Albus started to protest but Harry interrupted him. “I’ll have to tell them that you said they weren’t cool, Albus.” He pretended to be cross but Albus laughed.

“Gwyffindor wants to kiss you goodnight Daddy.” Albus said as he thrust his toy dragon into Harry’s face.

“Ok, goodnight Gryffindor.” He pretended to kiss the toy back before tucking him in next to Albus. “And goodnight Al.” he added, kissing Albus on the forehead too.

“Night Daddy.” He murmured as sleep took over.

Harry wondered if he had made a mistake by telling Albus about the secret passageway. He thought this over for a minute before deciding it had been a good decision; after all, third year wouldn’t have been anywhere near as fun without that one eyed witch and her humpback.

[vannahfanfics]

Before you read, here’s the previous chapter. New? Start from the beginning!

Rise of the Guardians: Earthsong

Ao3

Chapter 12: War and Peace

Jamie’s eyes were sparkling like a galaxy in motion as he stood frozen in the entrance to Nathalie’s hidden hideaway; his little body simply couldn’t process the majesty of the Tree of Life’s sprawling mass stretching through the domed cave and the scaled bulk of Salazar the dragon snoozing beneath its mass of branches, so he had to take a minute or so to absorb it all. As soon as he did, a shrill scream of excitement erupted from his wee little lungs and he skipped his feet like he was running in place, throwing up dust clouds around him. He didn’t know what to focus on first and so his head zipped about in all directions. Nat giggled and strode into the natural room, gesturing lightly for Jamie to follow. He scampered after her eagerly, clinging to the softly billowing folds of her dress.

“It’s the biggest tree I’ve ever seen…” Jamie whispered in awe as his wide eyes fixated on the branch they passed; it was nearly as thick as three of him.

“This tree is as ancient as the Earth itself. It is Her history,” Nathalie explained. “Do you see those strange fruits it bears, hiding amongst the leaves?” she asked while gesturing to the nearest mini-biome sphere where it sat atop a twisting branch, its iridescent surface rippling as a light breeze passed over it. “Those are the records. Within each one is a world in itself, home to creatures of that habitat and era. The farther back you trace along the tree, the further back in history you travel, all the way to the trunk, where life was but mere cells struggling to survive on an inhospitable planet.”

“Wicked,” Jamie breathed in approving awe. “I wanna look in one!”

Nathalie complied with his wish; with a mere wave of her hands, the tree began to contort and writhe. It branches uncoiled and twisted around one another and coiled again, their gigantic green leaves quivering with the tremors. Jamie exhaled slowly in wonder as one of the branches dipped down to curl slowly around them, bearing one of the glittering clear bubbles close enough for him to observe. Within was the portrait of a deciduous forest on the onset of winter, where a pack of wolves were baying as they chased a massive elk through the thick trunks. Jamie hesitantly poked at the bubble’s surface and jumped back when it easily bowed to his weight, allowing the tip of his finger to slip through the liquid-like surface. Then, without hesitation, he grabbed onto the branch on either side to shove his head into the bubble with a squeal of glee. Nathalie looked to Jack in amusement.

“You two are very much alike.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jack flushed while rubbing at the back of his neck. Nathalie laughed and looked back to the little boy as he yanked his head back out of the bubble with a breathless smile.

“This is amazing! Show me more, please, please!”

Nathalie allowed Jamie to enjoy the Tree of Life to his heart’s content. The air of the cave was filled with groaning wood and shaking leaves as Nathalie traveled the cords of history, allowing Jamie to peek into the worlds of ages long past. He eagerly absorbed it all like a sponge; he would take his fill of one bubble before giddily requesting the next. Nathalie wouldn’t have thought it possible, but once he had pored over the Tree’s offerings for almost an hour, his eyes were shining even more brightly than when they had arrived. “This is so amazing… I can’t believe something like this exists!” he grinned as he played with one of the leaves that Nathalie had allowed him to pluck from the tree (really, it wouldn’t hurt it, and he thoroughly enjoyed the fact that it was bigger than his head). He waved it around like a flag as he jumped around Nat in a circle. “I dunno what was my favorite! I didn’t know that dinosaurs had so many feathers! The unicorn was prettier than I ever imagined! All the really old fish things were kinda gross-looking but also really awesome! Jack, Jack, wasn’t it so neat when that big crocodile-thing came swooping in and just crunch! ate that other fish and all that blood went everywhere?!” he screamed in rapture as he balled up his fists, one of them crinkling the thick stem of his new toy.

“Uh, yeah, it was cool,” Jack responded lamely because the poor boy was draped over one of the Tree’s branches holding his stomach with a green tint to his pale face. Nathalie had spent a good five minutes teasing him for being so surprisingly squeamish. Nathalie, infected by the boy’s boundless enthusiasm, smiled brightly and pointed at the base of the tree, where Salazar was watching with interest. Jamie’s screams had of course woken him up long ago, but since he was with Nathalie, he had surmised that the little boy was no threat. A forked tongue flickered at the air as the earth spirit gestured to him.

“Jamie, would you like to meet Salazar before we leave?”

“Yep, yep, yep!” the boy cried and took off over the uneven ground for the dragon. He ran right up to his massive paws which could crush him underfoot with so much ease and grabbed one of his talons, shaking it like he would hands. “My name’s Jamie! You’re a beautiful dragon!” he gushed giddily. The dragon made a rumbling noise reminiscent of a purr and flicked his giant tail, clearly pleased with the praise. Nathalie and Jack followed more slowly, wishing to give Jamie room to explore the creature’s features to his heart’s content. Salazar didn’t budge an inch as Jamie clambered onto his scaled back, using his ridged spikes for balance as he tottered up to his elephant-sized head. “Hey, Mr. Salazar, you want a head scratch?” he asked while stooping down to scratch at the scales beneath the holes that served as the lizard being’s ears. Salazar’s back leg began to pump and claw his foot into the ground while his chest rumbled in a thunderous purr, head twisting and tongue lolling out of his mouth with his eyes crinkled up in pleasure. Apparently, a head scratch was just what the dragon ordered. “Hehe! You’re kinda like a big puppy and a big kitty all-in-one, aren’tcha?” Jamie cooed. Salazar growled happily in response. The cave rumbled as the dragon abruptly flipped onto his back, using his wing tip to push Jamie onto his stomach; he wriggled about, begging for more pets, and Jamie happily complied. Nathalie watched him with a warm smile.

“He really is such a curious, appreciative little boy,” Nat remarked to Jack as he lounged against one of the tree’s branches beside her. “I had quite forgotten about how inherently pure children are…” It had been a very, very long time since Nathalie had deigned to frolic amongst humanity. Man’s callous treatment of the Earth and her bounties had only worsened in the last four hundred years; they no longer believed in the entity that was Mother Nature nor that the Earth had any sort of will, so there was no pleading to them to respect their natural surroundings. However, looking at Jamie and his enthusiastic outlook on everything, and his deep-rooted love for the wondrous things around him, Nathalie wondered if children were the key to reversing the sorry state of the world as it was.

“Yeah. He gives me as much hope as I do him,” Jack smiled lovingly as he watched Jamie clamber all over the dragon. His gaze then flickered to her. “I think you would make a good Guardian, Nat.”

“M-me? I don’t know. The role of Guardians is to protect certain aspects of childhood, yes? I haven’t the faintest idea what my role in such would be,” she stammered shyly and fidgeted with the folds of her dress. Jack sidled over to where she was standing, close enough for it to be intimate but not close enough for them to touch and set of their adverse reactions, smiling sweetly. Nathalie didn’t even need to wait for him to reassure her before she smiled too; just knowing that he was there for her set her heart to fluttering and her nerves to humming with a joyful buzz. As he went to say something, she caught the flicker of something over his shoulder and her eyes automatically followed the movement. The smile slowly fell from her lips as all the color drained from her face, and Jack looked at her in utter bewilderment. There, hovering over Jack’s shoulder, was the faintest wisp of Pitch’s dark sand in the form of a small insect. Nathalie’s hand shot out to snatch it out of the air, enclosing it and crushing it within her fist, and Jack gasped in horror as the purple sand crystals leaked from between her fingers.

Nathalie’s heart stopped in her chest. It was over. It was all over.

“Salazar!” she screamed as the cave began to rumble ominously. At the exact same time, Jack screamed for Jamie, forming an icy wind beneath his bare feet to scoop the perplexed boy off of the dragon’s belly and vault up into the trembling leaves of the Tree of Life. The dragon snarled savagely, clawing up the earth in clumps as he whipped back upright, while Nat vaulted up his tree-trunk legs to plop down at the base of his neck, a saddleless dragon-rider. Above their heads, the circle where the earth above had fallen away was slowly being eclipsed of its light as a maelstrom of the shadowy purple-black sand swirled menacingly. “Get Jamie out of here!” she screamed at Jack as the dragon stretched out its massive wings. As it gave one powerful flap, the Tree whined and keened in the hurricane-force winds that tempested through the earthen dome. Pushing off with his sturdy legs, he bore Nathalie into the air, shooting through the opening just as the tornado of Pitch’s sand began to spiral down. The scales on his front turned a burnt orange as fire gathered within his chest cavity; then, with a tremendous roar that sent toe tropical birds screeching into the heavens, it spilled from his maw to collide with the dark storm. The fire was white-hot and turned the sand into glass instantaneously; as the dragon shattered the grotesque crystal under his sharp claws, Nathalie bent backward to wave her hand in the direction of the opening below. The trees surrounding the opening groaned and shifted, spreading their roots into a thick, interlocking woven mass that not even an ant could wriggle through. The glass shards tinkled harmlessly over the bark surface, and Pitch’s sand could not wriggle its way through to do as it pleased with her blessed Tree of Life.

He would have to kill her in the skies— and Nathalie was not one to be killed so easily, not when she was fighting in her own domain.

“Pitch!” she yowled into the writhing black maw. The cyclone parted to reveal him standing amongst the whirling particles, hands clasped behind his back and sneer curling as if he were a god descending among mortals to wreak havoc. Well, it wasn’t an entirely inaccurate description. Wrenching her bow from her back and docking an arrow before he could even blink, she had the arrowhead trained on the spot between his eyes. “Do not think that this will be like last time. You’ve made a mistake coming here,” she warned. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw the faint pale form of Jack flitting through the air, Jamie tucked safely into his arms. Both of them cast worried glances her way before the winter wind carried them into the clouds, and out of Pitch’s reach.

However, it also meant that Nathalie was without help from the Guardians for quite a while… But that mattered not, because reinforcements she had in plenty. A confident grin distorted her features, alighting her emerald eyes as her body began to sing with the blood rush of battle. It had been so very long since Nathalie had been able to let loose against a formidable opponent, and despite the stakes, she could not help but be excited. The Earth began to thrum in tandem to her silent signaling; below, the trees began to writhe back and forth of their own accord, their branches twisting higher and higher as their growth rate began to accelerate. Flocks of birds began to take to the skies, toucans and parrots and songbirds and raptors alike to begin counter-currently flying around Pitch’s own dark tempest. A distant yowl of a jaguar was joined by another, then another. Stampeding hooves rolled like distant thunder, approaching with great speed. Nathalie was very pleased to see a shadow of doubt darken his expression.

“Brace yourself, Pitch Black.”

Enjoy this story? Here’s the next chapter! Please consider perusing my Table of Contents.