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Grimes 68 by @tllgrrl aka nefertiri jones
Summary: After almost 8 years apart, Michonne finds Rick Grimes, the love of her life and father of their children, and he brings her into the Civic Republic Military. For the time being: 1) She has to pretend to be someone else to avoid being seen as a threat; 2) He has to figure out a plan for the two of them to get out; and 3) They have to try and act like they’re strangers to each other instead of reunited lovers.
(The key word is “try”.)
* * * * *
*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*
The steel kill sticks striking against the brick wall rang in the parking lot of what was left of a post office.
A former postal service semi that now had protective grills over the windows led the next herd of the dead, or what the CRM called “deltas”— “delts” for short—into the large space on the one side of the harvest wall.
The shuffling hoard was drawn by the noise and flashing lights mounted on the truck.
*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*
The consignees readied themselves on the other side, and as the delts shambled to open spaces in the wall, each one was met with a blow that drove a sharp, prong-ended spear (“kill stick”) into its skull, followed by a twist of the wrist that destroyed its brain, effectively and finally killing it.
It was a repetitive, bloody, mind-numbing grind, and some said that it was brutal for the workers because it wasn’t easy to completely forget that the delts were once living human beings too.
Grimes had done his time at The Wall. He’d even become a legend with the number of kills he could rack up in a shift.
It was painted in big letters on the side of a nearby building, for all to see:
GRIMES 68.
He was also well-known for the number of attempts he’d made to do something no one else in the City wanted to do: Escape. Wanting to leave the safety and security of the CR so badly that he actually cut off his own shackled hand at the wrist, only to fail again and be brought back to the Wall.
Time and time again an officer in the Civic Republic Military gave him a chance to join up, and he refused each offer, preferring to be at the culling facility, killing the dead and planning his next escape attempt.
Then one day, he accepted the offer. He traded his Consignee jacket for a CRM uniform. Instead of using a kill stick, he got a fancy, deadly prosthetic hand with a retractable blade. He got all kinds of specialized training, all the perks as he rose through the ranks, and he never had to cull delts again.
But now, after having been gone for years, there he was. Back at the Wall. Watching.
Watching her.
The new consignee.
The dark-skinned Black woman with her hair cut short on one side of her head, exposing a beautiful profile; and locs cascading down just past her shoulder in the back and on the other side of her face .
The woman who, after her on-boarding interview, was designated a Type “B”, seeking safety, willing to work, and keeping to herself, but had the carriage and demeanour of an “A” who was always observing, was more than capable of defending herself, and being a provider of safety. A leader.
Word soon got around among the Consignees that the ex-consignee/now military officer known as “the famous Rick Grimes” had not only survived a chopper crash, but he’d started showing up at the harvest wall. Coming back to a place he’d gotten away from years earlier, only to return when a mysterious new consignee was brought into the CRM.
*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*
“Hey. Look who just pulled up,” said a consignee who had her red hair tied back with, of all things, a bright pink ribbon that was tied in a bow.
“Holy shit! ‘zat Grimes?” another consignee added, tying a bandana on his head, cholo style, then slipping on his face shield. “He doesn’t have to be here any more. What’s up with that?”
“Bethune’s not-so-secret admirer,” snickered the worker to pink bow’s left, stabbing his kill stick into a delt that sagged and dropped. “She doesn’t see him yet. But she knows he’s there. Watch. In 3..2..1.”
Michonne—known to the other consignees as “Dana Bethune” —stationed at the far end of the wall, continued to methodically dispatch delts.
Then she stopped, looked over her shoulder, and found the tall CRM officer. Standing there, at ease, even with his helmet and face guard on, she knew he was watching her.
It seemed like they stood there, the only people at the wall. 5…10…15 minutes. Watching each other. Breathing the same air. At last…
3 seconds later, she turned her head back to the oncoming delts, and went back to work.
Behind her mask, the other consignees couldn’t see the small smile that graced her lips, or hear her whisper “I found you.”
Behind his mask, no one could see the CRM officer smile as he whispered “You found me.”
*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*
“You see that?” drawled the consignee to pink bow’s right, continuing to spear oncoming delts. “Somethin’s up with those two.”
“I know, right? For the past two weeks, he’s here. Same time every day she’s on shift, just before third break. Look at him lookin’. Even wearin’ the consignee jacket, the mask, an’ her hair all tucked in, it only takes him a second to find her. And a second for her to know he’s here. Like they’re—”
“Might could be that ass is imprinted on his brain!” laughed a big man nearby with a bushy black beard.
“Maybe it’s because she saved his life out there.”
“Peterson said somethin’ about that. It’s true?”
“‘parently so. His chopper went down. Got blown right outta the sky and crashed.”
“You serious?!”
“Word is it was a scrub with some kinda RPG an’ shit,” a consignee added to the story while wiping a splatter of brains and blood off of his face guard.
“Stop lyin’! How’d they even get that? After the Fall, CRM took over most of the bases out there with a quickness.”
“There was military stuff out in the wild even before everything went to shit. All kinds o’ stuff is still out there,” bushy beard opined. “Shouldn’t be a surprise all these years later somebody has a bazooka or some ordinance hidden away. There’s jeeps, even tanks here and there. I lived in one for a couple o’ months before I got found and brought here. CRM scoops ‘em up quick as they can, but—”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So anyway, the scuttlebut’s that Sargent Major Loverboy there, an’ the other troopers jumped out of the wrecked chopper an’ the scrub starts firein’ on ‘em. The ones he could catch, he slit their throats…with a sword.”
“A what?” bandana scoffed, stabbing into what was left of the next delt’s face. “Get outta here with that BS, man!”
“I’m just tellin’ you what I heard! Grimes was about ta get got, when Bethune comes runnin’ outta the woods, grabs one of the dead trooper’s weapons and shoots the scrub!”
“Wow. Maybe that’s why he’s here all the time,” pink bow chuckled. “Hell, I’d be in love with her too.”
“Get in line,” beard snarked. “You really think those two know each other?”
“Know each other?” the woman laughed, stabbed a delt and shook its eyeball off of her kill stick. “I think they’re fuckin’.”
“No way!” bandana exclaimed. “She just got here!”
<<<Good work, Section 5 and 6 Consignees. Bethune and Clifton, please report to post-shift health check before boarding transport.>>>
“Think about it,” pink bow explained. “Grimes is an officer on the inside now and doesn’t need to be at the Harvest Wall any more. Who’d come back to this shit after their 6 years of consignment is up? Now, all of a sudden, he’s back. Out here almost every day. Why?”
She tipped her head toward the driveway and they watched Grimes remove his helmet and turn completely around to watch “why” aka “Dana Bethune” walk past, avoiding his eyes.
*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*
“Oh, yeah…” pink bow grinned. “They’re fuckin’.”
* * * * *
This bit of nonsense was inspired by The Walking Dead spin-off, The Ones Who Live - Episode 3: “Bye”.
Click HERE for the AO3 version.
Thank you for reading!
#original characters#OCs#consignee chatter#main characters gossiped about#richonne#rick grimes#michonne grimes#rick and michonne#the ones who live#twd towl#the walking dead the ones who live#fan art#fan fiction#by tllgrrl aka nefertiri jones#it’s me splashing around in another pool
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Worldbuilding: Vampire Nomads
Hear me out. Vampire aristocracy is an awesome Trope, Dracula is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read and enjoyed, and I will always take a second look at a vampire wearing a cape, because so many have done it with style. And yet.
From a worldbuilding perspective, vampires as nomads has interesting possibilities.
Vampires are predators, and the real-life predators we’re most often familiar with take and defend territories. Lions, tigers, bears, oh my; all of them need a large expanse of territory not just to have enough prey, but to have areas to court, mate, and raise offspring. But these are not all predators. Take great white sharks. Zoologists have rather recently established that instead of hanging out constantly near swimming beaches, they commonly migrate from near the poles to the tropics and around various continents. They meet and mate as they travel; female great whites are capable of taking care of themselves, and great white pups are independent shortly after birth. They don’t have territories that we recognize as such; they don’t need them.
Folkloric vampires may or may not mate (look up dhampirs). But how vampires are created generally is not standard reproduction. There’s no courtship, competition with others of your sex, or territorial defense involved when a vampire arises from a suicide, or is infected with a bite, or by blood dropped into their food, or an animal jumping over the corpse. Or most of the other myriad ways folklore has said they rise. In that sense, a new vampire is like a newborn great white: perfectly capable of feeding and existing on its own pretty much from the start. So why shouldn’t vampires travel as they will?
This makes even more sense when you think about what vampires need to feed on. Almost invariably, they need blood. They need living animals. (Humans specifically, but not always exclusively.) And that implies they would want areas where there are more animals to feed on than plants. As in, areas where ranching and herding makes more sense than farming. A grassy steppe dotted with horses and sheep is full of blood walking around. A farm growing grain, where there are only as many animals as the farmer can afford to feed? Not so much.
On top of that, through most of history nomadic herders have had more meat to eat, hunted and from herds, than most farmers who subsist on grains. Meaning less anemia than settled people who have to boil iron in their rice and ram nails into apples to rust, then eat the rusty apple! Herders are probably going to taste better.
Plus, if you think of vampires as beings of eldritch lore and ancient knowledge? That also fits in with a lot of nomadic cultures. The Mongols, for example, were well known for giving extravagant gifts of silk and gold - things that are heavy to carry - while carefully hoarding intangible treasures like their language, knowledge of bone-setting, and skill at iron-working.
Of course, nomadic vampires are easier to pull off if they don’t burn to ashes in daylight. (Many vampires in folklore do not.) But even if they do... the Roman legions were known for building a whole fort every night they stopped. I could see a band of vampires digging out and concealing a hiding spot completely on their own. Or, if they’re part of a larger group of mortal nomads, just rolling up in the tents for the day, and taking the night-watch to look after the herds. Heck, with how many nomadic groups also sometimes drink animal blood from their herds, they might not even be considered that strange....
What do you think? Valid un-lifestyle?
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haii!! how are you?? have you been well??
may i request an enid fic where she and (obviously) fem reader are dating but during one into a town a few kilometres from alexandria, enid and r are with rick, daryl, glenn, michionne and carl, but there's a massive herd passing through and they get caught up and they all mostly get split up.
r gets split up from enid and she's trapped coincidentally inside a comic book store. she gets an idea for their anniversary and so she ends up escaping, and so do the others.
some time later, r insists on going back into that same town but without telling enid why (maybe she convinces daryl to gi with her) and so enid gets suspicious, maybe blaming herself for what happened during the swarm of walkers in that town previously.
anywho, r and someone goes with her back to the town where she gathers comic books and such to set up the perfect surprise for their anniversary, but ofc something has to go wrong (you can decide on that :D) and when they get back to alexandria, enid is giving r the cold shoulder. r tries to calm her but enid is emotionally overwhelmed, thinking r will break up with her.
so (here's where it gets good) enid runs off, jumping over the fence, but r is chasing after her, panicking because she's going exactly where she doesn't want her to go. enid ends up stumbling towards the site for their anniversary and they both reconcile and r spoils her.
i hope this isn't too much for you to write aha i hope you've enjoyed your christmas :D
best wishes f.f
surprise? || enid rhee x fem!reader



warnings: angstttt but just a little bit. also minor sex jokes. minors please do not interact w/ my works !! i beg of you please
a/n: thank you sm for your request, anon! i hope you and everyone else enjoys 🫶🏻 and im doing good, anon! i hope you’re doing good as well! im so sorry for getting to this so late, but i had an amazing Christmas! i hope yours was good as well :]
“please stop kissing your girlfriend and pay attention to the woods for walkers.” you heard a voice groan, a very obvious voice that belonged to Rick. you playfully rolled your eyes, “just because you’re all single doesn’t mean you gotta project it onto us.” Enid laughed into your neck as the two of you continued to walk along the vacant street.
you wrapped your arm over her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her head. “where are we going, anyway? we’ve been walking for like an hour.” you groaned.
“there’s a mini mall somewhere around here. we’re going there to find more food or supplies.” Rick told you, not looking away from the trees and road in front of him. “he said that like half an hour ago, don’t you listen?” Carl joked. “no, you were too busy making out with Enid.” he answered for you before you even got a chance to defend yourself. “shut up.” you told him, pushing him away from you while laughing.
“leave them alone, Carl.” Michonne laughed. “it’s not their fault you haven’t found someone yet.” you and Enid started to cackle with each other quietly as he glared at you.
“come this way guys.” Rick called out and started to walk towards the woods. you removed your arm from around Enid’s shoulder and instead intertwined your hand with hers. all of you started to walk in the woods, turning your heads in every direction for walkers. it was oddly silent and empty, which was a little unusual. usually, the walkers littered the woods.
you kept Enid’s hand tight in yours, constantly rubbing your thumb over the back of her hand. everyone walked in silence, but you and Enid would occasionally mumble quietly to the other about something that came to your mind.
after a bit of walking through the woods, you finally started to see some stores ahead of you. when you all finally walked out from the trees, you were about to walk forward when suddenly a hoard of walkers started to come straight for you from the left. “shit!” you heard Rick hiss out.
none of you had time to react as they all started to come for you, and you had no choice but to run and hide. your hand suddenly felt empty- Enid was no longer by your side. you didn’t have time to react and you ran towards the first store you saw and locked yourself in. your heart raced, and all you could do was worry about Enid. did she make it into a store as well? was she alone or with someone? every possibility ran through your head.
you looked up from the ground, taken aback to see that you somehow ran inside a comic book store. it was messy, with torn books on the ground and broken shelves everywhere, but there was still a good amount of comics that were here. your mind automatically went to Enid, who read any comic that was given to her. you gifted her one every time you found one, and it seemed like you now hit the jackpot.
tomorrow happened to be your anniversary. specifically your one year anniversary, and you’ve been struggling to decide what you wanted to do with her. and now that you were trapped inside a comic book store, you might’ve just stumbled upon the perfect idea.
you looked behind you and noticed that the hoard of walkers had finally disappeared, and you ran out of the shop. just then, Enid ran out of one too with Carl and Daryl. you let out a sigh of relief and ran over to her. Enid smiled when she saw you and met you in the middle, running into your arms.
“are you okay?” you whispered, grabbing her face with both hands as you checked for scratch marks or any type of injury on her. Enid nodded, “i’m okay, are you?” you nodded back and quickly leaned forward to kiss her. “i’m just glad you’re okay.”
“now that they’re gone, everyone start looking through these stores and take whatever you find.” Rick called out, and you realized you now had to keep Enid away from that store so it wouldn’t ruin the surprise you had in mind. “the store is got caught in didn’t have shit, lets check the others.” you told Enid and placed your hand right back in hers. she agreed and started to walk with you into another store.
the entire time you looked throughout other stores, your mind kept going back to that store. if you were able to just clean it up and make it look good, it was really the perfect idea for your anniversary. of course, your whole relationship started when you asked Enid what comic she was reading.
after you all finally got home, you started to scavenge your own home for supplies. you knew somewhere in the house, you had a random string of lights. you looked through your closet, and everyone else’s closet for them, and you eventually found them inside of Rick’s closet.
now, you needed blankets. and lots of them. you took the blanket off of your bed, Carl’s, Rick’s and decided that that would do it. Carl came around the corner just as you were folding everything. “what the hell are you doing?” he asked.
you looked up at him, “um… preparing for mine and Enid’s anniversary.” you responded. “and you needed all of our blankets?” he questioned, and you nodded. “you better fucking wash those afterwards or i swear to-“
“i’m not gonna fuck my girlfriend on your blankets, Grimes.” you told him, rolling your eyes. he nodded. “good.”
“yeah, i’ll just set yours aside and then-“ Carl hit your shoulder and you bursted out laughing. “kidding, kidding! now leave me alone and let me plan my anniversary!” you yelled, throwing your pillow at him, but missed as he ran out of the room before it could hit him.
you piled the blankets on top of each other and set the string of lights on top of it. you left your home and ran to one of the cars and quickly put them in the back of it. “hey, love. what are you doing?” you jumped at Enid’s voice and quickly shut the car door and turned around. Enid looked at you with furrowed eyebrows.
you realized that this would be a bit hard keeping a secret. you weren’t sure how well this would go. “nothing, sweetheart. just putting supplies in the car for the next run.” you told her, hoping it was believable. “oh, okay. um, did you want to head over to my place? that hoard kinda took a lot out of me.”
napping with Enid sounded heavenly right now, but you didn’t have a lot of time. you needed to get back to that comic shop, and you needed someone to come with you. Enid noticed your look of contemplation and her face dropped a little. “is something wrong?”
you quickly shook your head. “no- no, not at all, honey. i just- i have something to do. i need to go back into that town.” Enid looked at you for a moment, “why… would you need to do that?”
shit. “i think i left my knife back there. Carl gave it to me, i don’t want to lose it.” luckily, you didn’t even have your knife on you, only your handgun. “i’ll come with.” Enid said.
“no!” you said too quickly. Enid’s face fell even more. “shit- it’s not that i don’t want you to come, Enid. but after what happened, i don’t want you getting hurt. it’ll be a quick run, and i need Rick to come with me.” you explained as fast as you could, but Enid just looked even more upset. “i promise, love, the second i get back, i’m all yours. but i just need to do this one thing and i’ll be back.”
you walked a few steps toward Enid and gently cupped her face. her sad eyes looked into yours, and you could just feel your heart breaking. you hated lying to her, this was the only time you ever have, and it felt like you were being ripped apart each time you spoke. “i love you, Enid. so much. i just need to do this one thing, and we can sleep as much as you want.” you leaned your head forward and pressed your lips to her head, keeping them there for a few seconds. “i love you too.” she said quietly, now looking down at the ground. guilt was overflowing in your body.
“i’m gonna go back home. just… come in when you’re back, i guess.” Enid said to you, pressing one kiss to your cheek before walking off. you sighed and dropped your head in your hands. you hated every part of this. you walked back to your house and went up the steps to find Rick. he was in his bedroom, putting some clean clothes away.
“hey.” you spoke. “can you come with me back to that town?” he looked at you weird and stood up. “why?”
“because the store i got trapped in was a comic book shop and i had the perfect idea for mine and Enid’s anniversary tomorrow. and i need to go back to set up what i have planned. please don’t argue with me on this, our anniversary is tomorrow and i need to set up.”
“fine.” he sighed, grabbing his gun from his bedside table and slipping it into the holster on his thigh. “so, what? Enid can’t know?” you shook your head. “she cannot. and i think she’s upset at me because she knows i’m hiding something. so we have to be quick.”
“alright then get to the car.” he told you. the two of you made it to the car and he drove off. he looked back into the mirror, furrowing his eyebrows. “is that my blanket?”
you shrugged, “perhaps. you didn’t even notice it was gone, so.”
Enid sighed and fell back onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. why wouldn’t you let her come with? she didn’t understand, the two of you went everywhere together, and if you didn’t, you always told each other the truth about what you were doing. Enid knew you were lying. why would you lie to her?
so many thoughts swarmed Enid’s head. she felt tears prick her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away, feeling stupid for even getting upset in the first place. but, how could she not? you were so clearly hiding something from her.
what if you were breaking up with her? no- no that can’t be possible. tomorrow was your anniversary, you wouldn’t do that to her. Enid knew you wouldn’t. she didn’t think you would, at least. nothing was wrong between you guys, you’ve never even fought.
“so… what do you need to do exactly?” Rick asked you as both of you walked inside the comic shop. “i need to clean this place up.” you said first. “put all the comics back in their boxes. i just need the floor clean so i can place these blankets down.”
“is a comic shop really the best place for your anniversary? shouldn’t it be more… i don’t know, special?” Rick questioned, and you didn’t look up at him as you started cleaning up the floor. “you clearly do not know much about mine and Enid’s relationship. comics are one of Enid’s favorite things, we started talking because i asked her which comic she was reading. our relationship started because of comics. it’s the apocalypse, Rick, there’s not much else i can do. trust me, if there was a better option, i’d choose it.”
“okay, you’re right. the fact that you’re even doing this shows how much you really care for her. so i won’t judge. just tell me what i need to do to help.” you smiled and looked up at him, “can you sweep? i’ll put away the comics and pick out which ones to give her. and then i’m gonna need help setting up the lights and blankets.”
Rick found a broom in the closet behind you and began sweeping up broken glass and dirt that lied around everywhere. you began picking up comics and placing them in boxes while simultaneously finding ones that Enid would love. when the floor was mostly cleaned up and all the comics were put back in their boxes, you and Rick began unfolding the blankets and placing them on the floor.
“are the lights the only thing left to set up?” Rick asked, and you nodded. “yeah, there’s an outlet over there. they worked at home, hopefully they will here.”
Rick walked over to the outlet and put the plug in, but nothing happened. he unplugged it and reinserted it, but again, nothing happened. “you’re kidding.” you groaned. “fuck!”
“hey, it’s okay. you can find an alternative somewhere.” Rick quickly reassured you, putting a hand on your shoulder when you looked stressed. “there’s no alternatives, Rick. that’s all i had, and this place doesn’t have electricity anywhere.” you told him, sighing heavily.
“well, if it makes you feel better, this already looks amazing. Enid’s gonna love it no matter what.” Rick told you, squeezing your shoulder lightly. you gave him a small smile. “thanks.”
“come on, let’s get out of here.” Rick said, nodding his head towards the door. you took one more look at what you and Rick did and smiled proudly. even without the lights, it still did look good.
Enid was by the gate when you drove back in, making you furrow your eyebrows. you got out of the car and looked back at Rick, “head back home. i’ll be right there.” you told him, and he nodded.
you walked over to her and leaned in to kiss her, but she dodged it. your heart dropped. “Enid, what’s wrong?”
“you’re seriously asking me that right now?” she asked, and then you noticed how her eyes were lined with tears. you began to speak again, but Enid beat you to it. “you’re lying to me, Y/N.” she whispered. “and you didn’t think i’d figure it out?”
“Enid, wait-“
“no, Y/N!” she cried out. “i don’t understand what i did to deserve that. we’ve been together for a year, we’ve never fought, we’ve never had trouble, i don’t understand! if you’re going to break up with me, just say it! don’t make me feel like an idiot.” you furrowed your eyebrows and tried to speak again, but Enid kept going.
“you don’t even have your knife, which you said you forgot back at that town.” she said. fuck.
“Enid, i-“ Enid started running outside of Alexandria, leaving you no choice but to run after her. “Enid!” you yelled, trying to catch up with her. she never stopped running, and you soon recognized which direction she was running in. you couldn’t let her get that far, but at this point, you couldn’t stop her at all.
by the time you finally caught up with her, she was back by the lot of stores. Enid started to look for the one you were in. “Enid, please. you need to listen to me.” you begged, but she ignored you and kept walking.
she stopped in front of the comic shop. “this is the one, yeah? the one you were stuck in?” Enid asked. “yes. please, Enid. don’t go in. please just listen to me.”
Enid pushed the door open and you ran in after her. she froze, looking at the blankets and pile of comic books for her in the middle. she looked over at you, and you gulped. “surprise?”
“what is this?” she asked you. “your anniversary gift.” you said quietly. “i was trying to keep it a secret, i got trapped in here when that hoard came, and this store basically screamed your name.” you laughed a bit. “yes, i lied to you, Enid. but it was only to keep this a secret, and it backfired horribly. i’m so sorry.” you told her. “i’d never break up with you in a million years, i can’t even explain how much i love you. i just tried to make this as special as possible.”
“oh my god,” Enid whispered. “i’m sorry.” you shook your head and wrapped your arms around her waist softly. “don’t apologize, love. you didn’t do anything.”
“i accused you of breaking up with me.” she retorted, and you laughed again. “yes, but i wasn’t exactly being the best to you either.”
“doesn’t matter, please just kiss me.” Enid said, putting a hand on the back of your head and pushing your lips onto hers. you hummed against her lips and pulled her closer. you pulled away, and Enid tried to chase your lips. “i’m still making you wait to celebrate till tomorrow.” you told her, and she whined lightly. “come on, let’s at least do something now that we’re already here.”
she kissed you again, pushing you backwards until you made it to the blankets. you sat down and Enid crawled in your lap, immediately reconnecting your lips. your hands ran up her back from under her shirt. “i love you, you know that?” you whispered against her lips. Enid hummed against them, “i know. i love you too.”
#divider creds : cafekitsune#enid rhee#enid twd#twd enid#enid rhee x reader#enid rhee x fem!reader#the walking dead#twd#the walking dead x reader#twd x reader#the walking dead x fem!reader#twd x fem!reader
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Mad Max - feat David Alexander & Clint Bennet ( and Silvy Gonzalez)
While on a mission to steal from the Daybreakers, that team stumbles on a Drea , unknowing who they had just found
Andrea Brendon Drea had picked up several signals since she was on this path. She wondered if it was really worth the trade, but as he thoughts went to things, she heard a very odd, from the past noise : running engine incoming. She looked back and left the road to hide in some high bushes. She saw what seemed like a hallucination almost fly by. Did she really just see a truck driving by ? Not sure what to make of it, she remained hidden, just in case someone would follow that truck. Unkowingly to her, further down the road was what she had always hoped to find.
Silvy González Silvy should've known that whatever they had planned for this excursion, it was going to go wrong. Silvy, along with Clint and David, were supposed to locate a new escape point in case Redwood got overrun but instead all they found were problems. First a bunch of very hungry walkers and now a bunch of Daybreakers on their own scouting mission. The Redwoodians hid themselves in some bushes as they waited for the Daybreakers to leave but then the sound of a truck thundered through the scene. Silvy groaned as the truck pulled in, complete with more Daybreakers to deal with, bringing the total of them to 6 (three from the scouting mission and three new ones in the truck).
"Now what?" She asked her companions, keeping her voice low. She made sure Clint could see her face and therefore be able to read her lips. "Steal the truck and run them over?" She was half-joking about that.
David Alexander The plan was simple - go out, find an escape point, mark it and report back. Sure, he probably didn't need to bring both Silvy and Clint along but it was better to have strength in numbers, especially with the Daybreakers out there. That and he would feel better seeing two of his friends out and back safely. And it was a good thing he was with them too because things were starting to go to shit rather quickly. He still couldn't fire his bow so he had the .9 mm pistol out and clutched tightly to him in case he would need it to defend themselves, although he preferred not to use it if he didn't need to. The noise could attract too much noise.
He sighed as he spotted the truck and the gaggle of men that were now causing issues for them. "That might not be a bad idea," he muttered as he looked at the truck, "We could lure those walkers we met here and while they mess with that hoard we take the vehicle." Wasn't the best plan, but it could work in a pinch. "Silv, why don't you head back the way we came and get those walker's attention. Clint 'n I will stay here on standby to move in and take the truck. Sound good to you two?"
Clint Bennet When David first approached him about this job, Clint was happy to accept, it seemed easy enough, Clint was to be an extra pair of eyes and extra protection for the two as options for all possible outcomes with this group were considered, surely a get in, get out, home by dinner endeavor. Turned out he should have known better. Taking out the biters was nothing new to him as unexpected as the size of the herd was, they managed to sneak by, only attracting the attention of a couple stragglers which they were able to fight off with fair ease. What he absolutely wasn't expecting was for them to cross paths with the enemy, perfectly unlucky timing especially with the addition of the truck. The trio was quick to hide, weighing their options. Clint appreciated Silvy's gesture of looking at him when speaking, but he pointed out the hearing aid, signaling that it wasn't necessary before he heard David's plan. Silvy was capable, and smaller than them, she'd be able to sneak away easier than their big asses could ever hope to accomplish. "Sounds good t'me… Silv, y'got a gun on ya, just in case shit goes south?" He questions in a hushed tone.
Silvy González While Silvy had been joking about stealing the truck, she wasn't about to argue that point if both David and Clint thought it was a viable option. At this point, there weren't many of those so they needed to take advantage of the ones they stumbled across. She wasn't a huge fan of going back to get the remaining walkers but what other choice did she have right now?
So with this in mind, she nodded to both David and Clint. "Be careful," she warned them. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to either of them during this mess. She made a show of patting the firearm she had strapped to her hip to confirm her answer to Clint's answer before saluting the pair of them. She then crept back the way they came, using her height (or lack of it) to her advantage by staying low and therefore covered from view.
David Alexander David gave Silvy a nod. "You too." Normally he didn't like wishing good luck because, well, that was like saying something was gonna be too easy. Typically it jinxed itself. But considering the circumstances, he felt it was more appropriate to wish it right back. He waited until she was gone before he looked to Clint and nodded to the truck. "When the walkers swarm 'em, I'll head in first and clear a path. You focus on getting to the cab and starting up the engine." He traded out his gun for his hunting knife. "When you get in, lay on the horn. That should get their attention so Silvy can have a free path to us. Sound good to you?"
Clint Bennet Clint's eyes followed as Silvy pointed to her firearm. He didn't like the idea of her or anyone going alone, but the three of them were shit out of luck with this one leaving them limited options. Lips drew into a thin line and he gave Silvy a nod before she scurried off leaving David and Clint on their own. What really stressed him was the thought that with this situation there was no real way for her to let them know if she needed help, any sort of noise, be it from a gun or the radio would draw the attention of the Daybreakers and/or the biters. Clint's brows furrowed at the thought before he turned his attention back to the men talking amongst themselves. They were talking about something, sharing information, his eyes focused on them, trying to pull what he could from the scattered conversation, he caught the words 'Capture' and 'Prisoners', one of them mentioned something about 'Kids' while another brought up 'other groups'. "They're plannin' somethin'. Dunno if it's Redwood though…" Clint spoke in a hushed voice, keeping his eyes glued to the group.
Silvy González It didn't take Silvy long to retrace their steps back to where they had the run-in with the walkers. While she, David and Clint had managed to escape unscathed after killing more than a few of them, the carnage they had left behind had attracted a few more undead stragglers. Silvy sighed and hung her head down as she realised there were now more than she could possibly handle alone. But she didn't have time to think of another plan. David and Clint were depending on her and she wasn't about to let them down.
She lifted her head and recounted the assembled walkers. There was 7 of them, shuffling around and picking off the remains of their fallen brethren. She took in a few deep breaths, one after the one, to prepare for the burst of cardio coming her way. She then jumped out at the walkers. "Hey, dumb fucks!" She yelled at them, waving her arms around to get their attention. And get their attention she did. They caught her scent and the eerie moaning noise walkers were known for started to emanate from them. "That's it, come to Momma." Silvy turned on her heel and began sprinting back to where she had left David and Clint.
The trip back was going well. Too well. Silvy didn't see an upturned tree root and she tripped over it. She slammed into the ground, the wind knocked out of her lungs. She wheezed as she tried to pull herself up. She struggled with gasps to get air back in her lungs. Behind her, the walkers started to close in. "Shit, shit, shit."
Andrea Brendon Drea had waited a couple of minutes before she started to move again. She made her way through the forest , slow and steady. She was making a detour , a wide birth around the road, just in case that truck was meant to be a trap for those around the road. She stopped and ducked behind a tree when she heard moans and gasps. Walkers. However, they didn't seem to be after her , they were eyeing something or someone else. Behind her tree, she peeked again. There was someone on the ground, dead? alive ? savable ? She couldn't tell from where she was standing. She looked away, this could be a good way to just move on, past this hurdle and to the location she wanted. However, she was a woman of service, she was not able , even now, to leave anyone behind. The woman put her scarf up, closed her jacket , tightened her neck protection and arm protections, took her knife and approached. They were 7 , but one was already if not on the person on the ground , she started running and just managed to put the knife into the walker's head before he could do any harm. She took the knife out and pushed the dead torwards the other walkers. "Up up up, you can walk ? " she asked , pulling what was a woman up.
Silvy González One of the walkers had caught up to her and Silvy felt it trying to grab at her. She put all of her strength in pushing herself up from the ground so she could fight this thing off of her and running as fast as she could. Silvy was in the midst of getting up when another being rushed into the scene. For half a second, Silvy thought it might be David but that didn't make sense. He was too far away to get here to rescue her so quickly. And the person saving her ass was smaller than David. The walker was dealt with, its corpse shoved to bowl over the others still shambling towards them. Silvy looked at her hero before pulling herself back to her feet. Her right ankle felt tight from tripping over that root but she could put her weight on it. "Yeah, yeah, I can walk. Thank you." Silvy narrowed at her eyes at her hero, a spark of recognition trying to tell her something. Nah, Silvy was getting mixed up. Maybe she hit her head on the fall downwards. "C'mon, follow me," she said, pulling her hero with her so she could still lead the remaining walkers back to the Daybreakers.
Andrea Brendon It took more time than it should have, really, for the information to get to her brain and then really comprehend what was happening. It was like a slap in the face. A real one, like seeing a ghost. Walkers were all of the sudden really not important anymore, in fact, she forgot about them. Maybe she had a fever, maybe it was a dream, maybe a lot of maybes she hadto snap out of it because she was pulled away from the still approaching walkers. That too made her so confused as to why , what who, where. The wheels were turning so hard ,and so fast that she had nothing to say. "Wait… hold….hold on….hold on…." she shook her head. "What the fuck is going on here….what …where….WHY are you alive ????"
Silvy González Silvy did not have time for this. Whatever this person's problem was, it was going to have to wait. Silvy needed to get these walkers back to where she had left David and Clint immediately. She couldn't stop now and discuss exactly why she was alive. What kind of question was that anyway?! However, underneath all of that, Silvy's instincts were screaming at her to slow down and get a proper look at the person who had just saved her from that one walker. She wanted to go against her instincts but so far, those instincts got her through some of the toughest shit a person has had to face. So she looked at her hero, narrowing her eyes as she tried to determine what her instincts already knew.
"Drea?"
It was as if the whole world fell away from Silvy and she was now in freefall. She must be hallucinating. She must have hit her head and she was now unconscious because there is no way in which her best friend, Drea Brandon, was stood in front of her now. Drea was dead and Silvy was hallucinating. Right?
David Alexander David wasn't watching the men so much as he was watching down the road where Silvy would be coming with the hoard of Walkers. While he didn't think that Silvy would have any issues, anything could happen out here. He would be able to breathe once he saw Silvy returning. But Clint's comments do finally turn his attention back to the group. "What are they plannin'?" he asked, knowing full well that Clint would be able to ascertain it better than he could with his lip reading.
Clint Bennet Lips drew into a thin line as he continued to watch. The view made it difficult but he tried his best, piecing things together as he focused on the one that mentioned "prisoners". "Sayin' somethin' about capturin' prisoners n' kids…" He replied to give David what little information he was able to gather. With the other turned away from him he could only catch half of what the two were saying but he felt a chill run down his spine when he clearly was able to make out "west of the stream" immediately bringing Redwood to his mind. "It's gotta be th'community they're talkin' about…" What else could it be? His mind raced more frustrated by the information they were missing.
David Alexander David's gut felt heavier. He didn't like this. He wanted nothing more than to stop these assholes from whatever they were planning but Clint and himself were no match for the sheer number of them. "If it is, this is bad. Means they know where we are." His fingers tap in a slow rhythm on the hilt of his knife. "We'll give Silvy another couple of minutes. If she's not here, we're gonna have to draw their attention."
Clint Bennet Chewing the inside of his lip, Clint brought his attention back to David. "Can't tell if these fucks are headed there now… If we can capture one of em, we can git more information 'bout what they know. What they're plannin'." He pointed out. "If it comes down t' that, I'll move further up th'road, draw em t'me. Y' can pick a few of em off before they know any better, yer a better shot than I am, th' sound of gunfire should light a fire under Silvy's ass."
Andrea Brendon Time stood still as Drea slowly pulled her scarf down to reveal her face to Silvy and indeed it was her. For a moment she just stood dumbfounded at the idea that the woman in front of her was indeed Silvy. And then she snapped back into reality and just went forward to hug her. Hug her so tightly that she was going to suffocate her. The emotion was just too strong and her priority was on that moment, not the walkers, not the situation, not anything else.
Silvy González Silvy was still certain she was hallucinating, even as the other woman pulled her mask off to reveal she was wearing Drea's face underneath. All she could do was stare at her while trying to make sense of this senseless scene. Drea was dead. Drea wasn't here. This wasn't possible.
And yet, despite the impossibility of it all, Drea was pulling Silvy in for a tight hug. Silvy was barely able to lift her arms to hug 'Drea' back but then something clicked within Silvy. Something about the feel of Drea's arms around her, the sound of her voice, her scent somehow detectable underneath everything else. Silvy's senses were screaming at her that this really was Drea, alive and in the flesh.
Silvy let out a strangled sounding sob as she latched onto Drea, hugging her back with just as much desperation and intensity. And Silvy wasn't planning on ever letting go but those fucking walkers had to ruin things. They had managed to close in, close enough for Silvy to smell them. "No time to explain," she said to Drea as she pulled back from their embrace. Instead she took Drea by the hand and started to drag her with her as she ran.
Andrea Brendon The woman had a million questions, a million thoughts. She did not understand why Silvy was not trying to get rid of the walkers, or why she was in such an urge. She realized she may have missing pieces to this story. Even if she did not fully comprehend how she could just randomly find her friend, or why now, after months of this, she followed, no questions leaving her lips. She just held on tightly to her hand and ran with her to wherever she was taking her.
Silvy González It was as if Silvy could run forever now she had her Drea back. Silvy clung onto Drea's hand, like her life depended on holding onto her. All she had to do was lead the walkers back to the Daybreakers, help David and Clint, and then she and Drea could reunite properly and figure out how on earth they managed to find one another again.
They followed the trail back to where Silvy had left David and Clint. Breathless, she came to a stop next to her Redwood friends, bringing Drea to croach down with her. "Drea, David, Clint." Silvy rush through their introductions. "Walkers inbound, where you want 'em?" She asked, looking to David and Clint for instruction.
David Alexander David didn't like the plan but if Silvy didn't show up soon then they would have to. "Alright, I'll keep them off of ya, but no unnecessary risks, understood?"
But thankfully he heard footsteps coming from Silvy's direction. He held up his knife until he saw Silvy and he relaxed, until he saw the stranger with her. Before he could ask she was hastily making introductions. The story could come later. "Right up the road. That's when Clint and I move in. You ready, Clint?"
Clint Bennet He nodded his head at David's instruction, he was just about to turn to mentally plan a path when Silvy's figure broke through the tall grass, he was just about to make a joke about taking the scenic route when he spotted the other person with her. First instinct was to go on the defensive but Silvy quickly made it clear that she was a friendly and he let out a sigh of relief. With the now 4 against 6 their odds were a little better. "We gotta keep one alive t'git information from. They were talkin' 'bout some concernin' shit." He reminded David and informed the others. His hand patted David's shoulder and he pulled his knife from it's sheath, giving a nod and a "Ready."
Andrea Brendon Drea made a hand sign to the two men after they went to them. She followed with her eyes to stop on the truck she had seen earlier. She looked back at Silvy, then the two men. "You wanna just explain to me what I stumbled into here ? Between herding walkers and these guys, what the fuck is up with that ?" she asked , whispering. They owed her as much if she was going to put her life on the line, which she would for Silvy anyway, but she needed just the short version of context.
Silvy González Silvy was about to take off running in the direction where David said to lead the walkers but Drea's demand stopped her. She sighed and turned back to Drea, putting her hands on the other woman's shoulders. "Those guys over there are bad news. We're about to ruin their days and steal their truck. If you want no part in this, fine. But don't try to stop us either, ok?"
Clint Bennet Clint nearly fell over himself when the other told them to stop, he was frustrated not having any idea who this person was having suddenly been inserted into their team. "Silvy, who th'fuck is this? 'N not just a name, that don't tell us shit." He all but snapped, though kept his voice low. What if she was part of the Daybreaker group and was trying to insert herself to ruin what they had planned? What if she shot them dead right here while they were hiding?
Andrea Brendon "I'm not , I just need to know who's your crew and who is not. " she looked behind Silvy. "Can I get the bike with the truck ? " she asked, reaaally wanting a bike ever since everything went to shit. While her sister had every ounce of attention, the man's voice caught her attention. " Well aren't you a charmer , bubblegum. " she commented in almost a growl. " She's my best friend. You don't talk to her like that unless you want my fist in your nuts. "she added, more out of habit that no one was allowed foul language when talking to Silvy, then a personal attack. She then looked at the other man. "Hey Hannibal Smith, where you want me ? "
David Alexander David looked over at the three of them. "Okay, right now? Not the time. We'll figure out the whole who's who and whatnot later, unless y'all'd rather risk getting into a fight with seven heavily armed guys?" He cast a glance to the new blonde and raised his brow with a lack of amusement. "You stay put here until the coast is clear and you get into the bed of the truck and pull Silvy in. Good on the plan? Good. Now Silv, get to moving before we lose the element of surprise." 5 janvier 2024
Clint Bennet He was about to fire something back to the girl, something about his issue not being with Silvy, but David's voice cut through before he could utter anything and set him straight, refocusing on David and his plan. Nodding his head he looked back to Silvy. "I'll cover ya, stick close 'n I'll git ya up there. We'll be drivin' off before they know what happened."
Silvy González Silvy nodded as David took control of the situation. She reached out for Drea's hand and gave it a quick, firm squeeze, her way of telling Drea to trust her and that she'll explain everything later once the imminent threats had been taken care of. She sent a wink to Clint to confirm his plan and then she took off, leaving her friends behind again. Staying low to the ground, she got herself into position to flag down the incoming walkers and direct them towards the Daybreakers.
Andrea Brendon Drea was about to argue, but then she just decided to say nothing. They didn't want her help ? Fine, she wouldn't give them her help and just remain hidden in this spot like a sitting duck. She watched as they all went closer, and then watched Silvy get to her part of the job.
Clint Bennet He watched the two women carefully, He didn't trust the new one yet, but Silvy seemed to trust her completely. That was enough for him in this circumstance, not like he had a whole lot of room to question it. Without another word, things were in motion. Clint followed close behind Silvy, keeping his eye out as she caught the walker's attention, they began moving slowly in the right direction, just according to plan. Alright, one thing down. Clint tapped Silvy's arm and started to make his way towards the vehicle, keeping himself as low as he could before they reached the truck. He considered hoisting her up but realized that there might be another of the Daybreaker crew tucked away in the bed. Climbing up as carefully and quietly as he could, he was relieved to see no one else was in the vehicle. He reached his hand out to Silvy and pulled her in with him. "The window t'the cabin is open. Think y'can squeeze yerself in?" He whispered, keeping low.
David Alexander David watched as Clint wandered off with Silvy and he sighed. "Alright, change in plan, kid," he muttered, looking to the blonde, "You're with me. We're on Daybreaker duty. We're gonna take them out to clear a path for Silvy and Clint, got it?" He didn't give her much time to agree as he motioned at her to follow him. "Stay close and if things go South, you high tail it to the truck."
David led the way out of the bushes and stabbed the first Daybreaker he saw in the neck. Their attention was pretty well occupied with the Walkers Silvy had led but a few had noticed the living. He nodded at Drea to take the one that was heading towards Silvy while he went after one heading towards Clint.
Silvy González Silvy waited as the walkers came into view. She sprung up from her hiding place and waved her hands in the air to get the attention of the shambling walkers. Only one seemed to notice her so instead she ran out and got closer to them. That was when they caught her scent. Almost in unison, the walkers shifted their direction of travel towards Silvy. Silvy grinned at them before darting back to where Clint was.
Together she and Clint crept quickly to the truck. She waited as Clint checked to make sure the vehicle was empty before they tried to steal it. When he pulled her up, she peered at the small but open window. She started to shed the supplies she had strapped to her body. "If I get stuck, I'm blaming you entirely." She gave Clint a smirk before squeezing herself through the opening. It was a tight fit, almost too tight, but she got in. She unlocked the doors so Clint could get in too. "You ever hotwire a truck before?" She asked him once he joined her.
Andrea Brendon Drea perked up and nodded. She did not have much training in being in a duo to off people, but she had to survive more than once to just not see them as people. It wasn't easy , even now, but she knew that sometimes when it came to protecting the people you loved, you had tro do ugly things. There was no way she would let anything happen to Silvy. She stopped when David went for his Daybreaker and watched carefully his back to notify him if there was one more looking at them. Thankfully there wasn't. She took her knife out of her booth and snuck through some bushes. She wasn't very tall, but that was an advantage now. She jumped up, stabbed the Daybreaker and brought him down with him to finish the job and have him be hidden in the bushes. She noticed a radio and took it, as well as a pistol. She came closer to David and handed him their radio, he would do more with it than her. She then pointed at 1 daybreaker on top of the truck. "You got some sniping skills per chance? " she whispered.
David Alexander David took down the Daybreaker and was crouching down to stay low and out of sight. He watched Drea out of the corner of his eye - she was good. The other four were taking care of the Walkers but he wasn't focused on them - they'd be overrun soon. Drea pointed out the guy on top of the truck and he nodded as he flipped his knife so he was grabbing the knife. Without a confirmation he threw it and watched as the blade pierced between the guy's eyes, killing him before he knew what hit him. "Alright, let's get out of here." He pointed to the bike for her to take. "You still want to keep that? She's all yours." He grabbed his knife from the body before climbing into the cab. "Let's get out of here before the others notice what's up." 10 janvier 2024
Silvy González With Clint's help, Silvy got the truck's engine to rumble into life. Silvy let out a delighted laugh at the sound of the engine. She glanced over to see David climbing into the cab. "Where's Drea?" Any sign of joy or amusement about the engine working was gone from Silvy's face, replaced by panic. "Where is she?"
Andrea Brendon "You are Hannibal…" she simply muttered under her breath as he perfectly aligned that shot. Impressed she was indeed. She looked at David, then at David and if she had not just killed a man, she would have probably expressed her christmas joy to that random man. Instead she held it in and nodded. While he was climbing into the cab, she went to the bike. "Hello beautiful." she was also lucky, because the keys were still there too. Perfect. She started it, had a little orgasm from the sound and roared the engine. Not really able to hear Silvy at all, and knowing that once they were out of there, they could really talk, she just drove off, planning on letting the truck over take her further down the road, because, well she still didn't know where their settlement was.
David Alexander David got into his seat and pulled his gun just in case they would need some cover on the way out, but it looked like the Walkers were doing what they needed. He took a breath and looked at Silvy, his brow furrowing a bit before he nodded to the blonde who was running off on the bike. "She's right there. You wanna drive this thing and catch up or keep sitting around?"
Clint Bennet With a little effort and shedding off some supplies, Silvy was luckily able to slip herself through the small back window. Once she was in and unlocked the door, he grabbed her things from the bed of the truck and hopped down to join her in the cab. Through the windows, he saw David and Drea make their move, but his attention was drown back to Silvy when she needed the truck to be hotwired. "Yep, gotcha." He stated before moving down to the floor panel and popping the cover on the drivers side out. He located the four wires he would need, stripping the plastic from their ends and twisted the brown and pink around the red positive charge wire before touching the starter wire to them, starting the engine. Just as soon as the car was started David had joined them. Clint wiggled his way up from the floor panel, ending up in the middle, listening to the two before seeing the new person fly off with the motorcycle. "C'mon, Silv, let's catch up."
Andrea Brandon Andrea slowed down , and looked behind her. It took a minute, but she saw the truck approaching. She sighed in relief, let it pass her, and followed close behind. They reached the gates of Redwood , she stopped next to the truck and pulled her scarf down again. She looked around and waited for David or Clint to explain to her what the protcol was, while Silvy put the truck in a safer area , away from the door.
David Alexander BOT — 16/01/2024 22:57 The truck pulled up next to Drea and he rolled down the window while he waited for the gates to open up and allow them in. "Alright, here's the deal, kid. When we get inside I want you to follow me. We're gonna drop off these and then I'm gonna take you over to the precinct we got. It's nothing personal - just a quarantine thing. Then I'll let the Council know you're here and someone will be by shortly to talk with ya. I'll get ya some food as well while you wait. Got it?"
Andrea Brandon "Sounds fair to me. Your playground , your rules. " She handed him her backpack. "Hopefully you are as decent as you make this place out to be." she added and sighed. She hoped that this Council whatever, would not let her rot in a cell, cause they were busy with an upcoming war or something. She'll have time to think and know if she'll stick around or not. "Lead the way …David was it ? …and Clint" she pointed at the other male. 17 janvier 2024
David Alexander David took the backpack from her and slung it over his shoulder. He simply grunted and nodded as he motioned for her to follow him. "Yep, that's our names. Don't worry, this place is a pretty well-oiled machine." He looked to Clint. "You good taking care of these while I escort our new friend to the precinct?"
Clint Bennet Pulling up to the community, everyone was pretty quick to get out, which Clint was grateful for, feeling squished sat in the middle. He also slid out and stretched his legs, the mother in law seat was not kind for his long ass legs even for the short distance. When the new arrival mentioned him he gave a nod, not really sure how to navigate her yet. When David asked if he could handle bringing the vehicles in he gave a simple "Yeah, got it, boss." And decided to take the bike inside first. He retrieved the keys and revved the engine before he rode it past the gates.
Andrea Brandon Drea really hoped they would give her that bike again, she felt almost possessive when she saw it leave with someone that wasn't her. Yet she did not say anything. "Well if it's well-oiled, then I shall be shat out of that cell , pronto." she joked , but mostly to herself. She followed David to the precinct and welcomed her new home for the forseeable future. Not sure, just how she had managed to find herself in this situation and hijacking some random group with another random group, but then again, she was Andrea, those things only could happen to her.
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July 25, 2023
Morning Songs
Lexi "X"
Strangest Things
Can Make My Car Not Work
Tires Low
Mountain Temperatures
Temperamental Lexi
And Suddenly
All Alert Lights Are On
That's My Little Lexus
Lemon
Afraid To Sing
I Wrote The 1st Verse
In My Head
Saw 3 Smiling Coyotes
Bushy Tailed
At Sunset
Signs Of Families
Traveling
Herding Around Us
Sometimes I'm Lonely
But The Birds
Always Say Hello
The Ravens In The Morning
Happy
At What I Left
The Previous Day
Old Chicken
The Blue Jay's
On A Lark
And The Red Necked Hummingbirds
Hovering In My Face
Vibrating My Way
Unheard Messages
Squeek
Redwood Trees
Demand Water
If I Can Be An Ambassador
For Nature
And Moms You See
"Mom H2O"
Licenses
Ask For Water
Agua Pura
Sad Journalists
Are Attacked
Sold By Agents
It Happened To Me
When I got Interviewed
While Living At The Raj
In College
GQ Called Me
Smeared Our MUM Utopia
Gay Writers
Somehow Missed Point
Of God Loving Families
Yogis
Gurus
Teachers
Creating Miracles
Energy Vortexes
In Iowa
Children Growing
And Glowing
Judges Wanted Our Offspring
Lawyers, Lawyers, Lawyers
DA- Never Listens
No Women
In Iowa
My Only Choice
Is To Prosecute
Myself
As A Realtor
Cuz no One Has
A Fidicuary Duty To Me
But My Gagged Family
Who Can't Speak
Sir "X"
Won't You Help
Won't You Rewind "X"
Dr. "X"
Rewind
Why Must Branding
Always Take
Precedent
More Important
Than Moms
Mum
Won't You
Dance
Tic-tac-toe
A Move For "X"
Now A Move For "O"
Won't You Dance
Tic-tac-toe
Britney Grinned
Through 10 Years
Of #BritneyBitch
#BritneyIfUrReadingThis
And Now She Says
#MindYourBusiness
"B"
B****
Bring Back Roseanne
Barre
Bring Back
Heartland Iowa
Vibes
Bring Back
Sensibility
On "W" Word
Before "X"
We're Happy To See
'Ya Back On
"X"
Do 'Ya Mind
If We Call The Bird
Something More
Than Just An Ap
Only 20% Women
Left
On "X"
Male Dominated
Writers Caged
Singers With Lymes
Discriminated
And You Offer Us
Another Promise
Who Bought The Bird
Corp "X"
Freedom Of Speech
Like Twitter
Safety
Like Cybertrucks
And Rape Tesla Whistles
Starlink
Still Not Connected
Who Bought The Bird
Once Again
For Thanksgiving
Who Bought The Bird
And Put The "X"
Next To A Circle
Before Peace Dinner
Who Bought The Bird
Whose "X" Corp
There's A Bunch
Of Mummies
That Just Want
To Know
And Picnic Now
In Peace
Like A Family Should
On The River
Where The Waterfalls
Flow
In The Grotto
Along Wildflowers Paths
Some Of us
Want Our Disney
Ending
Now
Some Of Us
Need Our Tree Homes
And Beach Homes
Back
Some Of Us
We're Ripped Off
At Courts
Have Given Enough
Stormy Warnings
From Scotland
To America
And 60 British Colonies
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He’s just like the sun. Daryl Dixon x Reader 18+ Smut
*Second ever Fanfic! Exciting! I hope you guys enjoy this! Please let me know if there is anything you’d change about it or anything you like! I would love some tips on how to improve! I will warn it does get pretty dark at points, but the story just kind of got away from me again haha! Younger reader and Older Daryl for the anonymous request! Hope this has lived up to your expectations! Hope y’all having a lovely day <3*
Warnings!: Domestic violence, Heavy cursing, Violence and Smut
Summary: Daryl had saved you from a herd of walkers, When you reached Alexandria he became distant and you started dating Spencer. He stayed away from you fully until Carol brought it to his attention that Spencer could be hurting you. Long slow burn. Smutty ending with Confessions of love :)
Part Two Part three
“Good morning baby” He said rolling on top of you kissing you swiftly.
“Good Mornin’ Spence' You replied squirming uncomfortably.
He enveloped you in his arms around you pulling you closer to him.
“Sorry Spence, but carol’s expecting me. I really have to go!”
His eyes flashed dark, He finally released you. “So just Carol? Or is there anyone else you will be seeing today?”
You pushed your hand to the back of your neck rubbing it uncomfortably. “Urm yeah i think it’s just carol, She did say something about Rosita popping by to give us a hand”
“Well you know what to do if anyone else turns up right? Or should I remind you?” He said with a smirk now.
Your eyes met his panicked now “No i promise only Carol and Rosita. I know what to do i promise baby”
Ugh you hated calling him that but you knew it worked. You looked back at him and could see your words had placated him for now. Running to the bathroom you quickly got ready for the day, Checking over your appearance in the mirror you were satisfied that everything would look normal to anyone looking at her. You tucked your shirt into your jeans wincing as you did to make sure this didn’t rise up and left the bathroom. Sighing a breath of relief when you saw that Spencer had gotten up and left. Running a hand through your hair you ran downstairs, laced your boots up hastily, Leapt off the porch and headed towards Carol’s house.
You always loved your days with Carol, She was the most incredible woman. Tough, unrelenting and takes no nonsense but yet the mother of the group and loves everyone unconditionally, You’re pretty sure she would die for any one of you. She made you feel safe and at ease which is two feelings that were hard to come by these days.
Smiling as you saw Carol in the front garden digging. You ran over and saw that there was a tray sitting on the porch with two cups of tea and some pancakes waiting. She nodded towards the porch “Go on help yourself Y/N. I'll be over in a minute” Another reason you just loved Carol. She. was. The. best. Cook. Even something as simple as pancakes you knew were going to be delicious. “So I heard through the grapevine it’s your birthday soon?” Carol asked. You smiled at her “Yeah,I’ll be 22 on April 16th. Not that i’m even sure when that is now”
“It seems silly now but sometimes i wonder what it would of been like to have my first drink, Never got a chance with the end of well….everything”
Carol looked over at you and checked the calendar. “Deana told me the date when we got here and I've been marking it ever since. Looks to be a week on Tuesday! Got anything nice planned?” “Nah, Just another day to me now!” You said shrugging.
“Is Spencer planning anything?”
“Um not sure, I don’t think i’ve told him if i'm honest”
“Well tell me then. If you could have anything in the world what would it be”
You smiled the answer coming so easy to you now “A sunflower, I would really love to see a sunflower again”
Carol nodded at you. “Now that would be something”
Smiling happily again as you sat down you pulled a plate of pancakes on your lap and ravenously ate groaning as you did. “Carol, these are sooo good. What’s the secret?”
“Y’all know if i tell you, i’d have to kill you” She said with a light hearted laugh and a wink.
You had quickly finished your plate using the tea to wash it down. You thanked Carol, Grabbed the tray and walked in to clean the dishes. Carol followed in behind you talking about the day’s tasks. You didn’t really pay much attention as you were happy to do whatever as long as you weren’t stuck at home or with him.
That’s when you heard him “Mornin’ Carol any o’ those fer me?” You body froze with fear, You needed to get out of here NOW. You scrubbed the plates and mugs as quick as you could and set them on the side of the sink to try. Spinning around you grabbed a dish cloth and wiped your hands. “I’m so sorry Carol, I just remembered I promised Spencer something, I have to go. I’ll see you soon?”
You started making your way briskly towards the door when a hand grabbed your wrist. “Y/N There a problem here?” You were too scared to look him in the eye, Those were your weakness so bright and beautiful. “No Daryl, Just cant be here” You muttered staring at your feet silently begging him to push and save you, But in true shy Daryl fashion he released your arm still staring at you.
Carol cleared her throat “I thought you had made a promise not that you couldn’t be here?” She walked over to you, also staring at you intensely. “Same thing, Not allowed. Promised Spencer” Carol’s eyes burned looking at you she grabbed your face pulling your eyes up to meet yours. “Not allowed?” She asked softer than you expected. You nodded your head slightly “Please Carol i have to go” You begged her scared. She gripped your face tighter, Her eyes wandering quickly across your face. You ripped your face from her hands and Carol gasped. Panic building in you again you turned and ran through the front door with Carol and Daryl hot on your heels.
As you hit the pavement you ran straight into him, You froze again,Fear in your eyes, your eyes downcast..
Spencer looked at you then looked at the porch seeing them both there he wrapped his hand around your lower back digging his nails painfully into your side. You jumped slightly. Spencer put his lips to your ear and whispered “Smile and wave and say goodbye to your friends” Putting an emphasis on the word friends. Tears stung your eyes.
You looked up at carol placing an unconvincing smile on your face, “Bye guys, Thank you for breakfast Carol” The second the words had left your mouth Spencer was dragging you by the hip back to the house your eyes still not leaving Carol’s in a wordless plea.
Back on the porch Carol turned to Daryl “Fuck, We gotta do something about that” “Bout what?” he asked puzzled “God Daryl you can be so blind sometimes!” “Didn’t you see her neck when she was leaving, Those bruises were finger marks. I’d bet my life on it” He looked over at Carol shocked “He like Ed?” She nodded mouth forming a thin line “The one thing that bastard was good for is he taught me to see the signs of that evil in others, That fear was mine not too long ago” She continued “We can’t just get involved that won’t help we need to watch him and catch him at it so he can’t make her lie”
Daryl felt like something inside him had broken, He couldn’t believe that prick was doing this to her, To Y/N, A Girl like that deserved to be treated like an angel. He wished he could have told her how he felt before all this and saved her the pain.
He had loved her from the first moment he had laid eyes on her. He had been the one to find her when they were on the road to DC. She was alone trying to fight off a herd of walkers with a determined look in her eye. Daryl had known he wasn’t supposed to get involved; he was supposed to be just observing and reporting back to the group. But the look in her eye had made him charge forward “Hey!! Over here! Follow me!” She hadn’t even given it a second thought she just ran towards him and swung her leg over the back of his motorbike and they had ridden off. It had happened so quickly neither of them had the chance to wonder if the other could be dangerous. They both had connected at a base level without suspicion.
Daryl had forced his bike to its limits, hightailing it back to the group with her arms around him. When he got back to them Rick had rushed forward to greet them looking warily at the pair, Daryl stopped the bike and started trying to explain to his friend when she fell sideways from the bike. Having to explain to the group that he didn’t even know her name was difficult but he just had to save her. By way of an explanation he just said “Any woman tha faces down a hoard alone earnt her chance”
Daryl hadn’t left her side until she woke up. Seeing his reaction to this woman the group didn’t question it and just accepted her as one of their own.
Daryl smiled thinking back to all the moments you two had been together on the road to here, To alexandria which had quickly become home. Before here he had barely left your side, He had thought you were incredible. A complete badass. From the first day you had defended and helped the group as if they were already family. You were a perfect fit. You were everything he wasn’t Light and beautiful. He knew a woman like you would never want the dark twisted man he had become but he couldn’t stop himself from being around you. You were magnetic.
He never had the guts to tell you all of this, He knew you would reject him and everything your presence had healed in him would be shattered again. When they had gotten to Alexandria he had started seeing less of you as you had taken up your post at the infirmary and he had been going on more and more runs to keep the community fed and taken care of. He had started to wish for injuries just so he would have an excuse to feel your eye’s meet his again. He craved your touch with everything in him. But of course he could never tell you that, It would be so wrong of him. He was no good for you, he was atleast 20 years older for a start, An old redneck like him could never deserve a young beauty like you.
About a week after you had all gotten here someone else had noticed you. You seemed to rebuff his advances at first which gave Daryl hope. A few weeks later Daryl was sent on a long run and when he came back there you were on Spencer's porch wrapped in his arms, Laughing at his words. That memory was the most painful for him, He had just gotten up the guts after a very close call to tell you how much he loved you and needed you to be his and there you were, Someone else’s now.
He couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if you had in fact been his, He spent all of his nights wondering what it would be like to have you in his arms lay next to him, Wondering what your lips would feel like on his, How your skin would feel under his fingers, Your breath on his skin. All of these nights ended in a hurried and urgent tug as he let his mind imagine your hands were his. Moaning your name night after night. Always opening his eyes to the empty space beside him and the gripping pain in his chest.
“Daryl, Come in Daryl” Carol was waving her hand in front of your face. “Uhh Sorry, What did you say?”
“I said,'' Can you make an excuse to go to the infirmary tonight?” He balled his fists. He could definitely do that. He waited a few hours and then stormed towards the garage with Carol hot on his heels. He drew a deep breath and then punched his hand through the glass cabinet. Drawing his hand back and watching the blood seep down his wrist. Looking up at Carol expectantly “That’ll do nicely Daryl” With a glint in her eye. She turned and grabbed a rag off the side and wrapped it around his wrist. You go to the infirmary ill get Y/N. Daryl couldn’t feel the pain of what he had done yet, He could just feel the adrenaline rushing through him.
Carol ran across and down the street stopping to take a deep breath before knocking she heard a whimper from inside. Fixing a panicked look on her face she knocked urgently. A few moments later Spencer tore the door open, “What?” He demanded. Unfazed Carol replied “Hey spence! I’m sorry to intrude so late but we need Y/N Its urgent” She smiled sweetly at him. “Whatever you need her for you either tell me or you can wait till tomorrow” Showing him the blood on her hands. “Well um there was an accident and we can’t find denise.” She said in an innocent voice. Hearing this you appeared at the door and looked up at spencer. “I need to go, I promise i'll be quick…. Please?” You smoothed your hair over your neck again and started out of the door towards Carol when Spencer caught your wrist pulling you back to him. “You better be, I aint done with you yet” He growled into your ear, Then pushed his lips to yours put a fake smile on his face “Okay honey, Be Careful”
You took this moment to pull your arm from his following Carol pressing her for more information. You arrived at the infirmary and saw Daryl on the steps blood dripping down his hand onto the steps. You unlocked the door and ushered him and Carol inside.
Sitting Daryl down and not meeting his eyes you delicately removed the rag from his wrist and grimaced. Knowing better than to ask questions you set to work with a pair of tweezers and started removing the glass shards from his hand and wrist before cleaning the wound, Stitching and bandaging it as quick as you could. You braved a glimpse upwards and saw his eyes searching your body and then your eyes.
Seeing those beautiful blue eyes hit yours you were fighting the tears. You wanted to spill and tell him everything. He had always had that effect on you all he had to do was look at you and you wanted to pour yourself into him. You had loved him from the very beginning, From the moment your eyes met you had craved him, Craved those beautiful strong arms around you keeping you safe from the world.
You had always wished he would show even a spark of interest towards you, Well he was always around but he acted so indifferent.
Engrossed in his eyes just staring at each other it was like there was no one else in the world, He was the sun pulling you in. His hand came up and moved the hair from your face, His fingers lingering before moving your hair completely away from your neck, his eye’s darting downwards inspecting you. His eyes grew dark then “Please Y/N what has he done to you?” his eyes were fixed on your neck as he reached forward and brushed his fingers across your throat tracing the bruises.
Your breath hitched in your throat enjoying his touch. Carol cleared her throat from the corner “Guys we got company” Daryl dropped his hand and darted forwards blocking the doorway as it flung open.
Spencer, He was fucking everywhere.
“Can i help you?” Daryl growled. “What are you doing man, Where’s my girl?” Spencer asked. “She’s Busy and she’s gon be busy for a long time. Why don’t you take off kid” Daryl said still not moving from spencer’s way “I’ll take off when i’ve got my girl, Get the fuck out of the way” You could hear the change in his tone turn from polite to the voice that sent fear through your bones.
You stepped forward. “I’m right here. It’s okay i won't be long” Daryl looked back at you pained “Yeah ya will. We aint letting ya go back with him” Roaring “Fucking look at yaself Y/N look at those bruises!” He span back at spencer “Ya needa take a fuckin hike, Touch her again ill kill you” He growled. Spencer looked amused “Yeah, Ok redneck scurry on to your moonshine and skinning possums'' He half laughed. “You think that little bitch wants you? She’s mine. Now get your ass here Y/N before i get fucking angry.”
Daryl was heaving now Carol rushed forwards and grabbed his arms as he went to lunge forward. You forced your body forward in between them both tears freely running down your face now. “It’s okay, Daryl I’m okay. I’m not worth it” You winced when you felt Spencer's hands dig into your already bruised hips again. Daryl saw this “Ya gotta be kiddin me Y/N Ya worth 10 o’ him'' His eyes searched yours again desperate. “Please Daryl don’t make this any worse” “You heard her white trash” Spencer then pulled you from the room back down the infirmary steps, Daryl watched as he pulled her down the street and threw her back through the front door”
Anger boiling through his veins he took off in the other direction, grabbed his bike and took off out of the gate and into the night.
A week had passed since that night, It had taken a week to recover from the beating he gave you. You knew the rules No talking to either of them now. You were to go to work and come home, No more out of hours calls. You watched when Daryl finally rode back into town. Covered in walker blood his face still contorted in anger when he rushed back into the house. You saw the light come on in the basement and watched as he smashed up what few belongings he had before settling onto his bed. This had become your favourite pass time you loved that you could see straight into his room and the garage when he was in there. Spencer had already noted they could see into this house and had kept the curtains drawn on all rooms at all times.
When you finally did go back to work Spencer walked you to and from the infirmary for the first week until he started to relax again. You liked it better when he relaxed, He could be sweet and loving towards you and you did everything you could to prolong it to avoid his rages again.
On the tuesday you now knew was your birthday, You went to work with a half smile on your face. Denise pointed over to a desk “That was dropped off for you earlier” You walked over and found a slightly dirty Pin. Flipping it over you saw it was a beautiful painted sunflower. Beaming you turned back to denise “Who was it?” “Ahh sworn to secrecy! Sorry Y/N” You playfully growled at her “ooh terrified! I’m more scared of them, than I am of you Y/N Sorry still not telling!” You laughed and decided to let it go and just enjoy your beautiful thoughtful gift.
Since Spencer had relaxed he had let you walk to work and back alone on the second day of this you heard him. “Y/N wait up!” Shit not now! What if he’s watching. You darted your eyes around and picked up the pace towards home. Running to catch up with you, Daryl ran in front of you and made you stop.
“Please not now Daryl, If he sees...I’m not allowed….I’m not allowed to be near you” You stuttered. You gazed up at him pleading. His eyes went hard. “No! NO! I aint allowing it! Ya not going back to him Y/N I aint allowing him to hurt ya again!” You started shaking at his raised voice. Daryl noticed this and looked to be struggling with himself before finally lunging towards you and taking your head in his hands making your eyes stay on his. There it was again he was the sun and you couldn’t pull away even if you wanted to.
“I love ya Y/N, I fuckin love ya! I can’t watch him not treat you like how you deserve! I’ll take care of you please, please let me i'll protect you with everythin i have!” His eyes looked wild and desperate. You couldn’t stop yourself, you pushed your lips forward meeting his hurriedly matching his desperation. The world could have ended again right then. You wouldn’t have cared one bit as he wrapped his arms around you and you melted into him feeling safe at last.
Your hands made their way to his hair no longer caring who was watching and pulled him closer to you. He pulled away reluctantly. “Come on we’re getting ya stuff now. I’m not having ya there for another second '' Your brain still foggy you nodded giggling and let him pull you towards your house. Panic setting in again. Spencer should still be on guard duty the house should be empty so why were you so afraid.
You looked back at Daryl and melted again. “Wait here, I won't be long, there's not much I need” He nodded at you taking a defensive stance and staring into the street.
You ran up the stairs and threw the door open shutting it softly behind you and ran up the stairs grabbed your bag from under the bed and stuffing clothes in at random, Next you turned to the bathroom and grabbed your tooth brush and other bits. Smiling at yourself in the mirror not recognising the happy woman in front of you.
It was then you saw him leaning against the doorway behind you. “That was quite a show Y/N, Well there’s only one thing for it! You ain’t goin nowhere with him with fuckin nobody but me bitch” He smirked at you and dove forward grabbing fistfuls of hair in his hands he threw your head forward smashing it into the mirror. You screamed begging him to let go as he continued to pull your head back and hit it back into the wall. You could feel the blood running down your face. Clouding your eyesight. Suddenly the hands were gone you gripped the sink fighting to stay up right. Grabbing a cloth and rubbing the blood out of your eyes you saw Spencer being dragged from the room. You followed as quick as your stumbling legs would carry you.
You made it out onto the street to see spencer in the middle of the road and Daryl over him punching everywhere he could “I fuckin told ya, I’d Fuckin told ya i’d kill ya” He was screaming into his face. You looked around and saw a crowd had formed. Deana, Spencer’s mother was screaming for Daryl to stop. Which brought Rick and the others running. Carol ran straight for you taking your head in her hands and pulling you close. Whispering “It’s okay now Y/N. It’s okay i’ve got you”
Rick ran straight at Daryl pulling him away from Spencer. Spencer pulled himself up and spat the blood from his mouth glaring at you now He pulled himself to his feet stumbling, eyes locked on you glaring he screamed “You little bitch” and ran at you. Rick couldn’t restrain Daryl any more as Daryl ran forward grabbing Spencer and throwing him to the ground again just before he reached you. Rick and a few others ran forward again and stood in front of you guarding you from Spencer. Daryl saw the fear in your eyes and rounded back on him.
Crouching over Spencer on the floor Daryl yelled “Ya don’t listen do ya, Rick was trying to save ya miserable piece of shit life” He punched him again. “Me, I want to see ya as an undead asshole and I wanna be the one to do it, So keep pushing it Spencer” He pulled his crossbow from off his back and pointed it at the man on the ground, his chest heaving now. A strangled cry left your throat then.
Pushing yourself out of Carol’s arms you made your way to Daryl, You put your hand over his on the bow and pushed it down. Internally begging him to look at you. He finally did “Please Daryl it doesn’t matter, I don’t matter. I won’t have you being a murderer for me”
Daryl’s eyes softened before turning back to spencer “Twice in a day someone else has saved ya fuckin life. Don’ even think about coming near her again. I even smell you near her or catch you looking at MY WOMAN again. ill rip ya fucking eyes out” He roared
Deanna was at her sons side now “He gets it please, Please leave so i can take my son home”
Daryl turned to you “Come on baby, We need to go home too” He dropped his crossbow back over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around your shoulders pulling you to him and pressing his lips to your forehead. You instantly relaxed grinning into him and you let him guide you again over to his house and down to his basement. You looked at him sadly when he pulled his arms from around your shoulders and turned to lock the door behind you pulling the deadbolt across.
He turned smiling at you “Come on let’s get a good look at ya” Putting his hand in yours he brought you to the bed and sat you down inspecting the gash on your head. “We needa get you to Denise to get ya patched up” You grimaced “No she will be busy with him, I can do it. You got a needle and wire?” He looked at you shocked “Um yeah somewhere here” He busied himself getting those for you. He came back to you with them and some rubbing alcohol and bandages “Ya sure ya don’t want Denise? I’d do it but i'd probably make it worse” You smiled at him again sighing “It’s okay Daryl, It’s not my first rodeo” You made your way to the mirror and calmly cleaning and stitching yourself up.
Daryl was half fascinated and half horrified as he watched you work. You looked so calm and didn’t even flinch when you were stitching yourself. It disturbed him to know you had probably gotten used to giving yourself medical attention. He waited patiently for you to be done. When you finally made your way back to him he pulled you back into his arms breathing deeply “I ain’t ever gonna let anyone hurt ya again Y/N not ever.”
You reluctantly pulled yourself away now looking up at him with tired eyes. “I um didn’t get a chance to get my bag. Could I borrow something? I think I need to lie down, If that’s okay? Or I could go ask Carol if she minds me going upstairs?”
“Ya kiddin aren’t ya? I aint letting you out of my sight” Getting nervous suddenly “Unless ya don’t want to be here. I aint gonna force you to stay or anything else'' You smiled at him again “Daryl i want to be here, With you. It’s all i’ve ever wanted” He grinned relieved, turned to his dresser and pulled out one of his shirts. “This alright?” You pulled the shirt up to your face smelling it briefly, It was clean but still smelled distinctly like motor oil and cigarettes. Just like him. You smiled sweetly at him “It’s perfect, Thank you”
You looked pointedly at him, He laughed awkwardly, lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling above giving you your privacy. You slowly started removing your clothes wincing at points where your skin was still tender. Gratefully pulling his shirt over you and Scooping your hair out of the neck.
“I don’t suppose the infamous Daryl Dixon owns a comb or brush does he?” You said amused. He jumped up again grabbing a brush from another drawer and bringing it over to you. His eyes assessed you “I don’t think ya going to manage to brush that out. Needs washin”
“Oh and you're the authority on washing now?” You winked at him. You brought your hand to your hair and realised he probably had a point, Looking at him meekly this time. “Sorry I'm being such pain. Would you mind?” “Course not Darlin” He led you to the bathroom just off his room. He grabbed a towel and some shampoo from the cupboard and handed them to you, He turned the shower on “Give it a sec, Generator needs ta kick in”
You shooed him out of the bathroom, Unwillingly pulling his shirt back off you and stepped under the shower. You couldn’t help but cry out the pain in your head was back, You ran your hand through your hair and felt a sharp pain in your palm. Reaching back you pulled out a piece of mirror that had embedded itself in your scalp, dropped it and let your head back into the water again, Whimpering again as you did.
Daryl came crashing back into the bathroom “Y/N You okay?” “I'm okay” You stuttered. Not convinced he lingered in the doorway a moment more before leaving.
The pain had started to recede and you enjoyed the water cascading over you. Once you had managed to wash the blood from your face and hair you turned the water off and stood naked in front of the mirror assessing the general damage to your body. This isn’t something you usually liked to do but it was time for the denial to be lifted and face facts.
Daryl heard the water shut off and when you hadn’t reappeared after a few minutes he went to check on you again and thats where he found you on the floor sobbing holding your chest. He rushed down to you and scooped you into his arms still naked and shaking from the cold.
“It’s okay Y/N I got ya now, I got ya always” He carried you to the bed pulling the towel with you and wrapping it around you. He lay you down on the bed stepping back. He finally saw the marks he had been searching for on you for weeks and he wished he hadn’t. They were everywhere old and new mixed together indistinguishable from each other.
He dropped to his knees at the side of the bed burying his head into the mattress at the side of you. “Y/N please tell me what to do, Ya want him dead. I’ll do it, Ya wanna leave, I’ll take ya. Ya want to be alone, Ya can have my home. Please tell me what you want. Anything. I’ll get it Ya.”
You looked at him sleepily “I just want to sleep” He looked at you standing and pulled the covers over you. “Okay, Ya need me shout and i'll be upstairs” You looked at him and panicked “No please don’t leave me” He ran his hand through his hand and was suddenly nervous again.
“Ok, Y/N move over” He put his arm around your shoulder and pulled you toward him, You nuzzled into his shoulder. “Thank you” You murmured groggily and fell into a deep sleep instantly feeling safe.
Daryl lay by her side all night. Watching over her as she slept. The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins from the day's events, He looked over at you worried as you started mumbling and thrashing in your sleep. He tried to calm you by pulling you closer to him and whispering “It’s ok Y/N Your safe now.” Her mumbilings became more frantic “noo, Pleasee stop” Daryl’s heart felt like it was breaking as he held you.
Suddenly you jolted upright sitting up with the ghost of a scream on your lips. You jumped up and dove across the room panicking, Collapsing into the corner hyperventilating. He was on you in seconds pulling you close again. Telling you it was going to be okay. It took you a minute to realise you really were safe and you relaxed into his arms allowing him to carry you back to the bed.
You stayed by Daryl’s side for the next few days, They had been amazing, Everything was starting to feel like it was before Spencer; Spencer had been staying with Deanna while he recovered from the beating Daryl gave him which gave you a chance to clear everything of yours out of there. You were offered the house but with the memories you had there you couldn’t stay and besides you were much happier in that little basement room with Daryl than you had been in that huge house with him.
Rick had agreed with Deanna that Spencer was to stay in her home and be monitored for as long as it took to see he had learnt his lesson and would stay away from you. The alternative being that Rick would let Daryl do what he wanted to him or he would be banished from the town. Depending on the severity of his possible future actions.
Daryl hadn’t said a word to you about that day since, You can understand him not mentioning Spencer or those events but he hadn’t brought up the kiss or made any form of move since. You had come to think that he hadn’t meant it and that was just him trying to get through to you.
You really wanted to hate him for it, For making you believe someone as amazing as him could possibly care about you but Maybe Spencer was right, Maybe he was the only one who could ever love you. The thought was painful but just as you had decided to face facts about what he had done to you, You also needed to face facts about yourself and your limitations.
It was only when you were both alone in bed that he ever slightly lowered his walls, When he would open his arms to you in bed and you would both snuggle while you slept. You would always wake alone with Daryl either working in the garage or out running jobs for Rick.
One morning you woke up alone as always and found Daryl in the kitchen waiting for you, Trying to keep the grin from your face “Good morning!” You said brightly. He looked at you exhausted. “Mornin Y/N, I have to go on a run may be a day or two, You gonna be okay?”
“Oh, Yeah sure. Do you need me to find somewhere else to stay while you're gone?” The happiness at seeing him already dissipating. “Course not, Me and Carol want ya here. Ya welcome for as long as ya want.” He then muttered “I don’t ever want ya to leave” under his breath.
“Thank you Daryl, You don’t know how much this means to me, so…? when are you leaving?”
“Uhm, Now actually. Just wanted to wait for ya to get up to let ya know, Anythin ya want me to keep an eye out for?” “No Daryl it’s ok. I couldn’t live with myself if anyone got hurt looking for something I wanted. The only thing I need is for you to come back to me, Unhurt…. Promise?” He smiled briefly at her taking her hand in his. “I promise Y/N. I promised to protect ya, It’ll take more than a few walkers to stop me keepin tha promise”
Cuddling up in bed that night you knew it would be difficult to get any sleep, It always was when he left even before when you were with Spencer. You could never quite get a decent night's sleep until Daryl was home safe. You snuggled up to this pillow on his side of the bed breathing in his scent imagining his arms were wrapped around you safe.
Half way through the next day he returned. Daryl and the group came flooding through the doors of the infirmary carrying an unfamiliar woman between them, She was passed out with blood covering her clothes. Wishing you had a moment to greet him, You and Denise flew into action looking over the woman and cleaning any wounds you could find. Once you were done and determined that she hadn’t been bitten and had no life threatening wounds, You stepped back “Is it ok if i leave you to finish?” You asked denise. She looked to you and then to Daryl pacing at the other end “Yeah” She nodded. “Can you fill those guys in?” You nodded back at her and walked over to them.
“Hey, She’s ok. No severe injuries Just a bit dehydrated and probably hungry. Shouldn’t be too long before she wakes up.” A few relieved mutters were shared around the group before they departed for home to see their loved ones. You ran into Daryl’s arms and then held him in front of you checking over him for any cuts or marks that may need to be seen to. “m’ok , Really Y/N I’m ok jus’ tired. Can we go home? I needa talk to you” He looked at you desperately.
You nod your head taking his hand and following him towards your house.
As you were walking you could feel his fingers nervously gripping your hand. He stopped suddenly and stepped in front of you. Reaching his hand to your jumper brushing his fingers over your sunflower, You looked at him with sudden realisation. “It was you?”
“I heard ya with Carol that day, I couldn’t let your birthday go by and not get ya anything” He blushed looking away from you.
You reached up and caressed his face gently pulling his face to face you again. “Thank you Daryl. That was incredibly sweet.” You pushed yourself up towards him pressing your lips to his softly, He moaned and tangling his fingers into your hair pulling you closer.” Just like last time it was over far too quickly, He started pacing in front of you.
“No.no.no” he muttered “I can’t do this, It will take me weeks to forget again” He started pacing faster, his hands ripping at his hair.
“Daryl stop!” You grabbed his hands pulling them out of his hair. “Please look at me! Why can’t you do this?! You told me you loved me for fuck sake and then act like it never happened! Tell me why!!” You were almost screaming, battling with your tears. How could he turn a moment so perfect into such a mess!
“I’m 24 years older than ya, Did ya know that Y/N? I’m a filthy good for nuthin OLD redneck, I aint go no right to be with someone like ya! No matter what i want!!” He stopped pacing and looked straight at you again.
“I don’t care about your age! Why would that matter? What about what I want Daryl? You told me that night if i wanted anything you would get it for me, Well i’ve decided. I WANT YOU! It’s always been you!” Your tears are flowing freely now. The nosey neighbours of Alexandria started to gather at the noise, Trying to tune them out and you turned back to Daryl. “WELL? Don’t go all broody Dixon on me now!”
He looked torn between pain and anger at the scene you two were now creating. Still not speaking to you.
“You know what, Fuck you Dixon” You put your hands up to the sunflower pin he had got for you, You pulled it off and threw it at his head. He caught it easily, finally breaking his silence. “Ya got any idea what i went through to get this for ya!” He charged back at you, stopping inches from you.
“Ya should care, I’m no good Y/N, I don’t deserve ya” He gazed into your eyes those brilliant blue eyes misting over. “That ain't your decision or your place to tell me what i deserve. It’s mine” You glared at each other for a moment before he couldn’t take it any longer he gripped your face again slamming his lips to yours now, His tongue urgently pressing against your lips begging for entrance. You opened your lips moaning as his tongue touched yours and took charge of it, Kissing you furiously. You moaned into his mouth feeling your eyes rolling back in your head.
You had never had anyone kiss you like this before, Everything else melted away all of your anger, pain and fear. All that was left was him, Glorious, Gorgeous all consuming Daryl fucking Dixon.
You heard Carol chuckle behind you “Hey guys, You might wanna think about getting a room. You’ve got quite an audience here” Daryl smiled into your lips as he pulled away. He turned to Carol “Ya know what i think we will” Quick as a flash he had bent down and grabbed you behind your knees throwing you over his shoulder and running with you back to your home and down into your favourite place. When he had locked the door he turned to the bed with you still over his shoulder and put you down gently on the bed.
“Did ya mean it Y/N? Ya really want me?” He looked down at you searching your eyes for an answer. “I have never wanted anything more in my life, I want you. I want all of you and i want it right now Daryl” You replied feeling the hunger from him burning you.
Still standing over you, His eyes growing dark. “Lie down” He growled..
Grinning you kicked off your shoes and pushed yourself up the bed laying your head on the pillow. He followed you shadowing your body with his pressing himself to you before leaning close to your face lips barely brushing yours.
“Tell me what else ya want Y/N…..Exactly what you want”
You looked at him nervously for a second seeing the lust in his eyes matching yours you decided to just go for it.
“I want your hands….Everywhere” As you spoke you felt his hands grab your hips moving slowly to your stomach then up and under your top. Frustratingly slowly, Your breath hitched as he finally pushed his hands to your breasts gripping them roughly.
He pulled his hands away and back down to the bottom of your shirt grabbing it and pulling it upwards you raised your arms and let him remove it fully. He reached back down to you, His hands quickly unclasping your bra and throwing it harshly at the wall. His hands were back to your chest, Rolling your nipples with his thumbs.
You moaned arching your back pushing your chest into his hands. He hit his hips into yours grinding on your core. “Oh shit Darylll” You moaned feeling how hard he was for you.
He moved his mouth to your chest feverishly kissing your breasts and nibbled on your nipple making you squirm. Daryl then kissed a line down your stomach to your hips stopping to bite each one gently.
Every touch was heaven, Every time he dragged his tongue over your soft skin it was like a thousand shocks spreading across your skin. He was undoing the zip on your jeans now, You lifted your hips to help him pull them off you. He settled between your legs pushing them wider open and running his finger over the material of your gratefully black lace underwear.
Daryl looked up at you. Lifting and turning you slightly to look at the back “Holy Shit ya need to wear these all the time!” Still without removing your panties he pressed his lips to your sensitive nub while his fingers scooped the lace out of his way. His fingers then moved to your opening feeling how dripping wet you had gotten for him.
“Shit Y/N that cuz of me?” He moaned as he pressed his lips back to your clit starting slowly circling his tongue around it and sucking gently. “Oh godd” You had never even get close to going down on you before, It was everything and more. You had to fight yourself from coming undone too soon, You wanted to savour every delicious second of this.
He plunged two fingers into you eliciting an even louder moan from you “Oh goddd Daryl! Please don’t stop, Don’t ever fucking stop.” You moaned between breaths. His mouth and fingers started moving quicker as he could feel your walls tightening on him and your breaths growing shorter, Panting for him. You couldn’t take any more and erupted feeling the wildfire of sensations running across your skin, Screaming his name. He slowed his fingers allowing you to ride your orgasm out onto him. When you slowed he put his lips further down on you licking every drop that gushed out of you. You entwined your fingers into his hair gently pulling him up towards you.
“You taste so sweet baby, I could do that all day” Your eyes grew hard as you felt your core growing hot again and the wetness returned at his words.
He leant down and gave you another kiss, You put your hands to his chest and pushed him onto his back on the bed.
“Your turn baby, I've been dreaming of getting my lips around you” You purred. “But first i need to see you, The man i’ve been dreaming of all this time” Moving your hands to his buttons he nodded at you briefly watching you crawl over him almost naked.
You quickly pulled his shirt off of him, Roaming your hands all over his tight muscled chest and down over his thick arms. Biting your bottom lip trying to memorise every single inch.
“If ya don’t stop biting that lip woman i ain't gonna give you a chance for those dreams to happen” He winked at you eyes blazing. You quickly dropped your hands to his jeans, Ripping his jeans and boxers down together and throwing them without a thought. You knelt between his legs licking your lips as you saw the size of him. He must’ve been at least 9 inches long. Your eyes went wide with need as you wrapped your hands around it you brought your mouth to his tip slowly licking the dew from the eye. Moving your hands you licked him from base to tip and swirled your tongue around the tip.
“Fuck Y/N Get that cock in your mouth now” He demanded. You didn’t need telling twice! You lowered your lips over him, Sheathing your teeth and pushing most of him in your mouth moaning as you felt his huge length hit the back of your throat.
“Y/N no gag reflex? Oh god how did i get so lucky” He groaned putting his hands into your hair and pushing your head back down. You choked as your mouth hit his base, your eyes watering, You hummed to vibrate your throat on his length before pulling up again. It was your turn to watch his eyes roll into the back of his head “Fuck Y/N fuckkkk Your mouth’s incredbile” You could feel your pressure building as you watched him fall apart under your lips. You bobbed your head faster and faster over him.
“Oh shit, Stop Y/N I’m gonna cum ” He moaned looking down at you seeing you had no intention of stopping. He started thrusting into your mouth meeting your lips in perfect time. It wasn’t long before he exploded down your throat holding your head down to his hilt while he emptied his load straight into your stomach. When he released your head you pulled off slowly then licked his full length clean swallowing every drop.
He watched you in wonder “Come here Y/N” You crawled back up him straddling his hips staring down at him sweetly. “Ya soooo fucking good at that” You brought your lips to his hungrily biting his bottom lip and started to grind your core onto him. You both moaned into each other's mouths enjoying the friction. You could already feel him below you growing harder again by the second.
“I need to feel you baby” You moaned into his lips. Daryl pushed himself upright and pulled you with him as he sat up against the bed head. Daryl put his hands under your hips lifting you up and positioning you over his cock, Swiftly moving your panties to the side he started to lower you on to him.
You wrapped your arms around his shoulders holding your weight as you tried to fit more of him into you.
“Yesssss, So tight Y/N”. He groaned trying to push further. His eyes locked yours and saw you were struggling; he held you in place for a moment. “Ya ok?”
“I’m good, You're just so big.The biggest i ever…. It hurts a little” Softening his gaze He kissed you softly. “Let me help ya with that. He brought his mouth to your nipple swirling and nipping here and there while his hand snaked its way to your clit again following the same circle as his mouth, You could feel yourself getting wetter and able to take more of him in. You cautiously tested it out moving your hips slowly up and down until he had filled you fully. You thought he had felt good before it was nothing on this. Pure unadulterated ecstasy. You started moving faster, becoming more confident with the lack of pain.
Soon you were bouncing wildly onto his length screaming his name as he quickly brought you to another earth shattering orgasm. He brought your mouth to his kissing you swiftly “Shh baby ya know how thin these walls are. Carol & everyone on the street will be listening to ya!”
“Mmphh, I don’t fucking care let them hear how good my man is fucking me” You rode your high out enjoying every second when you slowed again Daryl lifted you again standing up with you still skewered on him, Carrying you over to the wall beside the door he slammed you into it. Bucking his hips into yours furiously.
“Y/N I’ve been waiting all ma daym life for a girl like you” He pushed his lips back to yours again. You melted into his lips his words dampening you for the third time, You hadn’t even known it was possible for someone to turn you on so much, To make you want them with every fibre of your being.
Daryl started panting faster now sweat dripping off of his glistening muscles, You could feel his cock twitching inside you as he jackhammered into you harder and harder each time.
“Ahhhh” You screamed “That’s it baby….Right there....Your cock is filling me so fucking good. Cum in me Daryl i need it”
“Oh fuck Y/N Ya so fucking tight, Ya fuckin incredible, I’m gonna cum for you Y/N”
You both hit your highs at the same time, You screaming his name into the air, eyes rolling backwards and him sinking his teeth into your shoulder exploding deep into you. You collapsed into his chest seeing stars as you felt him pulsing inside you, Your tight pussy milking him of every drop.
Panting Daryl carried you back to the bed laying you down gently and collapsing with you, He leant forward and pressed sweet loving kisses on your lips.
You curled into his chest exhausted, Looking up at him with pure love in your eyes.
“By the way, What you said that day….” He looked at you puzzled brain still cloudy coming down from his climax. He murmured into your hair. “What baby?”
“Well...I love you too. I always have” Daryl smiled into your hair. He chuckled “Well what a relief, How could i have ever known otherwise”
You jabbed him in the ribs gently “Hey, Not fair!” He pulled your face up to his and stared lovingly into your eyes.
“Ya know i love ya Y/N” His eyes grew serious. “I’d do anything for ya, I’d die for ya even”
Your lips met his in a sweet kiss. You couldn’t believe he was finally yours, Allll yours.
You snuggled into his chest feeling him tighten his arms around you and fell into a relaxed deep sleep.
Next Chapter ---->
#daryl dixon fanfiction#daryl dixon x reader#daryl dixon smut#the walking dead daryl#daryl#daryl dixon#twd#twdeadfanfiction#twd daryl#the walking dead fanfiction#the walking dead smut#smut fanfiction#fanfic#norman reedus#daryl dixon love#daryl dixon x you#daryl dixon x y/n#spencer#spencertwd#reedus#smutt#twd smut
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The Lore of Kaldheim: Surtland

“Wintry Surtland is a realm of constant turmoil. Volcanoes burst through snow and ice to form new mountains as the bitter cold freezes steaming geysers into sprays of ice shards. Earthquakes and eruptions reshape the landscape almost daily. Avalanches of snow and broken rock tumble down mountainsides and change the course of half-frozen rivers. The ice palaces of the frost giants dot the high mountain peaks and glacier fields. The crude shelters of the fire giants lie in the lowlands where deep lava fissures carve paths through wide fields of snow.
What little grows in Surtland grows to enormous size. Trees are scarce, but they grow as large as the ancient trees of Skemfar. The beams of Kaldar's Hall, home of the fire giant king, are cut from these enormous trees to make a shelter worthy of the massive giants. Animals, too, tend toward great size; herds of mammoths and giant goats provide much of the giants' food.
Surtland's terrain is so changeable that few features last long enough to be named. One notable exception is the Vela Heights, a series of mountain peaks and glacier fields where a group of frost giant wizards, ordinarily solitary beings, have formed something akin to a community. The Vela giants join their magical powers to create defenses that ensure no fire giant ever enters their Heights.
Giants
Two kinds of giants inhabit the tempestuous realm of Surtland. Frost giants are intelligent and secretive, using runic magic to divine the secrets of the Cosmos and jealously guarding them from the curiosity of outsiders. Fire giants, by contrast, are brutal and impulsive, sharing their kin's physical strength and resilience but lacking any of the frost giants' knowledge and resources. The frost giants control the high ground, claiming all the most stable mountain areas, where they shape fortresses out of ice. Relegated to the lowlands, the fire giants are loath to build anything too permanent, as it's likely to be knocked over or covered in an avalanche or lava flow. They prefer crude wooden longhouses that can be disassembled and moved elsewhere if necessary. The two kinds of giants fight constantly.
The frost and fire giants of Surtland are locked in constant conflict. The frost giants would prefer to be left alone, but they also claim the best, safest territories in the realm—and hoard treasures and arcane secrets for themselves in their mountain palaces. The angry, impulsive fire giants gather in bands to attack the largely solitary frost giants. Frost giants retaliate with blasts of runic ice magic that can scatter or incapacitate a whole fire giant clan.
On very rare occasions, if Surtland is threatened by invaders or a rampaging Cosmos Monster, frost and fire giants are able to put aside their differences and join together to defend their realm.
Frost Giants

The frost giants claim the high mountain peaks and glacier fields of Surtland where they build ice palaces and spend eons in solitude. Their impregnable mountaintop fortresses afford them clear views of the lights of the Cosmos and their mystical secrets. They rarely leave Surtland and have no interest in raiding, but they have a special relationship with the similar-minded Omenseekers of Bretagard, who sail to Surtland occasionally to trade information with friendly frost giants.
Frost giant wizards called Vela Mages dwell primarily in the well-protected Vela Heights. In addition to manipulating cold and ice with their magic, Vela Mages are seers who work constantly to divine the secrets of the realms. They can use illusion magic to trick unwelcome intruders into their private sanctums, but most of them consider this a lesser form of magic that is not worthy of serious practice unless absolutely necessary.
Fire Giants
Fire giants dwell in the lower elevations of Surtland where snow fields are divided by deep lava fissures. They live together in families and clans, building crude wooden structures from the realm's massive trees. Some also make their lairs in extensive cavern networks and lava tubes that run beneath the lowlands.
Fire giants are reckless, jealous, and competitive—like colossal children who are jealous of their kindred's secret knowledge but unable to grasp it for themselves. They're smaller than frost giants, but they're still giants, and are incredibly tough, strong, and resilient. Countless sagas speak at length about how hard it is to kill a fire giant, and those heroes who succeed at this monumental task are enshrined in legend.
Whenever a Doomskar brings Surtland into contact with another realm, fire giants are eager to launch raids. They love hand-to-hand combat, but they're not above throwing boulders at their enemies, and their wizards have power over fire and lava.
Kaldar is King of the Fire Giants. He and Alrund have a longstanding rivalry and have tricked each other on many occasions. Kaldar views Alrund as everything he envies and detests about the frost giants—their confusing mysticism, their arrogance—elevated to godhood and would like nothing more than to fool him so humiliatingly that he renounces his divine status.”
#mtg#vorthos#magic the gathering#magic story#magic art#fantasy art#fantasy#flavor#lore#magic lore#kaldheim#mtgkhm
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Linktober: Surprise
This post is very close to the day 4 deadline but honestly, I had a lot of fun creating and tampering with the plot! Be cautious, though, because there is quite a bit of violence in this one.
AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749021/chapters/65454667
Summary: A new friend is brought to camp, and it surprises a certain Ordonian
Warnings: Some violence
Day 4: Surprise
It was a surprisingly cold day out, Twilight mused, although that’s to be expected as the season goes further into fall. The cold, crisp air and colorful leaves reminded him of his home back in Ordon Village; if memory serves, he would be harvesting Ordonian pumpkins with Fado right now.
He sighed wistfully and tended to the campfire with a long stick. He wondered how everyone back home was doing. Beth, Talo, Malo, and certainly Colin missed him, and he was sure Fado was struggling to herd all the goats back into their house without his and Epona’s help. And of course there was his mentor, Rusl - well, one of his mentors, he supposed, now that he met Time - along with his wife, Uli, who were most likely busy taking care of their newborn child; it’s a shame that he was never able to meet their new baby, but if he knew anything about Rusl, he would excitedly tell Twilight all about his child from sunup to sundown.
And how could he forget Midna? Their meeting may have happened by chance but he felt that they were destined to meet. They had grown to be close friends during their travels across Hyrule - maybe even more than that - and not a single day goes by where he doesn’t think about her. He wondered what would happen if he managed to say what was on his mind before she disappeared into the Mirror of Twilight; if his thoughts and feelings would be enough to make her stay, or allow him to live in the Twilight Realm alongside her. He could only speculate at this point.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when a tan snout poked at his shoulder.
“Wild, is that a bear?!” He shouted, and he looked up to see his protege sitting idly on the creature’s back, a goofy grin on his face.
“Yeah, isn’t it great? I was out looking for herbs when I found a bear following me around! He looked like he was hungry so I did a little bit of fishing for him -”
Which meant Wild had jumped into a river, Twilight frowned, again.
“- And then we became best friends! Like he watched me cook them by the fire and everything! Although he was starting to lose his patience towards the end.” He shrugged nonchalantly as if a bear watching him cook was just another daily occurrence. “ Anyways, did you know he’s a big fan of Hearty Salmon? I’m more of a Voltfin Trout guy myself but to each their own, y’know?”
Twilight was barely able to make it through the whole story without pinching the bridge of his nose, “ Wild, you can’t just bring a bear to camp. You know full - well that that thing likes to go through food and attack anything it sees moving.”
“But he won’t, I promise!” The smile from Wild’s face had now given way to a defensive look, “ He’s very polite and friendly and hasn’t done anything to hurt me at all! Plus you always let dogs and cats follow you around, and you don’t even care when Legend brings a whole flock of seagulls to camp!”
The Hero of Legend stopped whatever he was doing at the mention of his name and gave the two a pointed look, “ Hey, you two leave the seagulls out of this.” But he was paid no mind.
“That’s because cats, dogs, and seagulls aren’t actively trying to maul me to death!” The Ordonian’s voice dropped to a lower volume in order to prevent the others from overhearing. “ You know how many times I almost got killed by a bear? Eight, and five of those times were as a wolf. The last thing I need right now is to make that number nine, or to have anyone die thanks to some idiot bringing a bear into camp. Really, you’re like the only one here who’s constantly putting us in danger.”
Perhaps he went too far on that one. He watched all the fight leave his protege like a potion being drained of its contents, giving way to wide eyes and a pale complexion.
“Wait, Cub, I didn’t -”
But Wild didn’t want to hear it. With a gentle tug of the bear’s fur, the Hero of Wilds nudged his companion towards the forest and left, not a single hint of hesitance shown in his actions.
Twilight watched as the figure disappeared behind tall trees and overgrown bushes, and a large part of him just wanted to shift into his Twili form and run after their trail, but he paused instead.
Wait, why should Twilight go after him? Sure, he’s his mentor and all and he feels like he has a personal obligation to protect the kid but now that he thinks about it, hasn’t he been coddling him too much? Too many times has he taken to his Twili form to find a lost Wild that had wandered to the other half of a Hyrule just because he had a need for adventure, and too many times had he had to answer to Time for the crazy stunt his charge had decided to pull just for curiosity’s sake. Despite being 117 years old, Wild acted like a child - a feral child, at that - that would rather spend the whole day messing around in an open field rather than helping the people who needed him the most.
He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. Seriously, how was Wild supposed to grow up and take responsibility for himself if Twilight was always there to bail him out? Maybe it’s about time for the Hero of Wilds to learn that he can’t just do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He’ll learn in due time, Twilight assured himself, and he’ll be back by tonight for sure.
With that being said, he turned his back and went to go tend to the fire.
Wild wasn’t back that night. Everything seemed well among the remaining heroes, though: Warriors and Legend were locked in their usual banter, Wind and Four were telling exaggerated stories about their adventures, and Sky, Time, and Hyrule were all idly sitting by, amused by everyone’s antics; the only real difference tonight was Twilight and Wild, where the latter was nowhere to be found and the former worried profusely about his charge’s absence.
Twilight restlessly tapped his foot against the ground and stared into what Hyrule would call dinner. Seriously, where was Wild? The Ordonian thought that he would be back in maybe two, three hours max but it had been ten hours, and there was still no sign of him. Had he gotten hurt? Was he attacked by a hoard of Darias or Gerus that Hyrule often warned them about? Had a Zora grabbed him by the ankle and drowned him in a river? Twilight knew that his protege was very friendly towards Zoras so it really wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.
“Go.”
He looked up to Time and stuttered out, “ H - Huh?”
Without ever shifting his gaze from the fire, he quietly whispered to his protege, “You’re worried about the cub, aren’t you? So you should go and find him; I’ll cover for you in the meantime.”
He processed the words for a few seconds, and then nodded. The old man was right: no matter how irresponsible, thoughtless, and careless Wild could be at times, he was still his protege, and as his mentor, Twilight should be there with him every step of the way, ready to help him up when he couldn’t find his footing in a situation. He left the group without so much as a sound, and as soon as he was out of sight, transformed into his Twili form and left, fervently following the scent of the former champion’s trail.
It had been about ten minutes by the time Twilight had finally found Wild. He was located in a small clearing of trees with, oddly enough, his bear companion laying down next to him; there was a small campfire going with a makeshift pot held over it, and the wolf could easily smell the tantalizing taste of Salmon Risotto.
He shook his head: this wasn’t the time to be salivating over the smell of real food. With a gentle command to his Shadow Crystal, his form shifted to that of a Hylian’s.
“Cub, I -”
Go away, Wild signed, and as if to emphasize, the large bear beside him growled.
The Ordonian immediately took a two steps back and sighed. This was going to be hard: not only did he have to worry about his friend fleeing if he got too close, but he also had to worry about a bear potentially running up and attacking him, and he really didn’t feel like defending himself from a creature twice his size. He finally chose to settle himself on the ground instead, intent on making himself seem as small and non - threatening as possible.
“Listen, I didn’t mean anything I said back there, alright? We got stranded in Hyrule’s Hyrule, we’ve been travelling for days, infected monsters are always showing up and trying to kill us, and I guess I was thinking about what was going on back home, so I was just really stressed out this afternoon. When you brought a bear to camp, I guess that was the final straw and I just took out all my anger on you. I mean, yeah, you really shouldn’t bring a bear of all things to a camp but that thing about you always putting us into trouble was completely wrong. If anything, we put ourselves into trouble, and it has nothing to do with you being here.”
He watched anxiously as his protege stirred the pot, never daring to meet Twilight’s own concerned gaze. He could see the bear beside Wild carefully watching him, paws resting readily on the ground as if it was anticipating for the Hero of Twilight’s one bad slip - up. After what seemed like centuries, the former champion finally let go of his ladle and brought his hands up to sign again,
You’re wrong, and that made Twilight lean forward, my whole life’s been nothing but bringing trouble to everyone. Back when my Hyrule wasn’t destroyed, everything I ever did just made things worse: I followed Zelda around, and she hated me; I protected people from danger, and now the Yiga are trying to kill me; I did everything I possibly could to prevent Zelda from dying, and I literally ended up dying right in the middle of Fort Hateno, and I was lucky that Impa was willing to put me in the Shrine of Resurrection. Now I’m here with eight different Links from eight different timelines and it looks like everywhere I go, trouble always follows. Just two weeks ago I led a bunch of Bokoblins to us because I took a couple of their weapons, and then five days ago I dyed Warriors’s hair green because I tossed him a green potion and it hit a branch and spilled all over him.
“Well that could happen to anyone,” Twilight interrupted, “ Those bottles are fragile so one small hit and they’ll shatter.”
Fine, but what about everything else? The Yiga, my Zelda, my Hyrule - everything’s a mess because I can’t get my life together; I can’t even remember what my life was like in the first place!
“That’s different! The part about your Hyrule being destroyed is all Ganon’s fault, not yours!”
Then why couldn’t I live up to be a true Hero of Courage like the rest of you? Why couldn’t I just stop this whole thing from happening in the first place?
Twilight was growing frustrated. Where was Wild getting the notion that he could’ve prevented an immortal evil demon from corrupting his Guardians? He was just a 17 year old kid back then, for Hylia’s sake!
He opened his mouth to respond back, retort at the ready, when a sudden axe whizzed by and lodged itself into the tree behind him. His surprised gaze quickly met Wild’s for a brief moment before he abruptly stood up, Ordonian sword at the ready. Just a few seconds later, a horde of snarling enemies pushed their way from the forest and surrounded the heroes from all sides.
The Hero of Twilight knitted his brows as he slowly stepped back toward the center of the clearing, “ Darias? But I thought Hyrule said they only show up around Death Mountain!”
“Infected.” Was all Wild whispered back, but Twilight completely understood. It had become a common occurrence by now to see monsters that they were sure only showed up in one place and one timeline now showing up all over different eras; and as if some of them having to fight monsters that they never encountered before wasn’t enough, the enemies’ blood seemed to make them stronger, allowing them to have the upperhand on any poor passerby they could fight.
And it looks like Twilight and Wild were a couple of those poor passersby.
The Hero of Twilight swiftly leaned his head away as one of the Darias swung its axe and in the same breath, the former pierced its chest and forced his sword up, causing the enemy to crumple to the ground in defeat. He rose his sword out of the corpse and grimaced: black blood, these are infected.
He perked up when he heard the dull thuds of feet running towards him and ducked just in time to avoid a monster from either side going to swing at him with their respective axes. He winced when the sound of two heads clunking filled the quiet night air and hastily got back onto his feet to slash at the two Darias writhing on the ground.
He felt light on his feet as he continued to attack the oncoming enemies. Some came to attack him on their own while others stayed stubbornly in pairs, but the process was all the same regardless: step, lean, duck, sidestep, block, spin, and end his foe with a well - practiced stab. If there were two coming at him, he just needed to be quicker, and that was no problem for a hero who was used to facing five Shadow Beasts at a time.
Every now and then he would catch a quick glimpse of his protege fighting just a few steps beside him, and just like always, every attack was graceful and cleverly calculated. The Ordonian grinned: Wild may act like a child at times, but he took his fighting seriously, and it showed through his undeterred concentration. No enemy should have ever made the mistake of crossing paths with the Champion of Hyrule.
The last enemy fell down in a graceless heap, and Twilight wasted no time in ending its life with an Ending Blow. There was something poetic about it, he mused as he sheathed his sword, ending a battle with an attack that his predecessor had taught him long ago.
He took an eager step forward towards his protege, congratulatory praises at the ready, when a scaled hand reached from behind and dug into his shoulder.
“Twilight!”
Wild’s shocked shriek rang through the air and Twilight had to do everything in his power to make sure that his pained yelp didn’t join it. His other hand scrambled to grab at the Daria’s wrist and when he did, he used every bit of energy he had left to force it back. The threat of an axe raised just above his head made adrenaline rush through his veins, and he became acutely aware of the blood running down his shoulder and soaking into his tunic; but he couldn’t pay any mind to it, because he needed to focus on biding time for a panicked Wild so he could swipe through his Sheikah Slate and find the weapon he needed.
But he didn’t need to wait for that because in a blink of an eye, a rush of brown fur dug its fangs into the enemy’s side and pushed its body aside, freeing the Hero of Twilight from the Daria’s grip. He watched the brown mass - which he now noticed was Wild’s bear companion - tear at the infected foe with sharp white claws and no mercy. The animal finally stepped back when the creature had been torn to shreds, and took a few seconds to make sure it was dead.
Twilight’s breath hitched when the bear started to pad towards him. He wouldn’t necessarily say that he had a fear of bears per se, but the sight of the very same creature that liked to use him for hunting practice was walking towards him did tend to make him feel a little bit unnerved.
However, to his complete and utter surprise, instead of the animal coming over to attack him, it instead gently nudged at his side and whined.
He froze. Was this bear trying to comfort him?
And with that very same suspicion in mind, the Hero of Twilight reached his free hand forward and tentatively placed it on the creature’s head, ruffling the fur in the same way the other Links did when he was a wolf.
“You saved me back there,” He smiled sincerely, “ Thank you.”
The creature yawned back in response.
He startled when he felt a gentle hand touch his good shoulder, and turned just in time to see the Hero of Wilds offering him a red potion.
“For your shoulder,” He urged, and when he saw his mentor ready to protest, he added in a quick, “ Don’t worry, I got 25 more in my bag.”
Twilight drank it greedily, and felt its healing effects immediately. He could dimly feel the gentle knitting of skin beneath his tunic, and when he looked at the injury, he found that there was nothing left but a few white scars; but even those would fade in a day or so.
He looked to see the former champion staring at the ground with his curtain of hair hiding his eyes, “ Jeeze, that was stupid of me. I should’ve kept an extra set of arrows at the ready; I could’ve helped you the second that Daria got you.”
“You did help me, well -” The Ordonian patted the bear standing quietly beside him. “ - your bear helped me, but you know what I mean. Sure, the thing saved me and all but if it wasn’t for you taming him in the first place, I wouldn’t have a ten foot tall animal here to save me. So really, because of you, I avoided getting an axe to the head.”
The Hero of Wilds beamed at him and for some reason, his small smile reminded him of Colin’s back home.
Ah, he wondered how Ordon Village was doing back home; how much Colin, Beth, Talo, and Malo grew up while he was away, and how Rusl and Uli were doing with their newborn, and how Mayor Bo and Ilia were running and keeping the town safe, and how Fado was doing with preparing the ranch for the winter; and how could he forget Midna? The leader of the Twili, the one who was always there to guide him on his adventure, the one he had grown to love. He missed them all dearly, but he knew he wasn’t alone.
Twilight ruffled a hand through his protege’s hair, “ Y’know, as much trouble as you are, I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”
Because when Wild laughed, he was reminded that the Hero of Wilds was his family, too, and he would do anything to protect the ones he loved.
<Previous Next>
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DEATH IN VENICE
THE MALIGN EFFECTS of mass tourism, a narrowly-based economy, and climactic change on the fragile city of Venice have been foreseen—and repeatedly experienced—for at least the past 30 years, but little of consequence has been done to mitigate them.
Venice grows more crowded and congested every year, but its population has been declining since the 1950s. Today, a scant 50,000 people reside permanently in the centro storico, down from 120,000 in 1950. Italians in general are fiercely loyal their birthplaces, but Venetians are reluctantly fleeing their native city, citing the degraded quality of life caused by the intolerable numbers of tourists and the rising cost of living in a city where basic types of businesses and residential housing are being replaced by souvenir shops and hotels.
The scourge of the city are the day-trippers who, 20 years ago, arrived by tourbus in lots of 100, but now come in 350m cruise ships carrying 2,000 passengers. The invading herds generate no income for hotels or restaurants, or the municipality which taxes both. The expense to the state and commune, however, is high. The heavy wear and tear on the unusual urban fabric of Venice requires costly maintenance and even more costly conservation work for the historical monuments.
With few Venetians in sight, tourists increasingly view the place as a theme park and selfie backdrop. This attitude was vividly illustrated by recent images of tourists making light of the record flooding in November 2019 by “swimming” in the Piazza San Marco as the monuments around them suffer catastrophic damage. This was an affront, but not a surprise, to the locals toiling with buckets and sandbags in the background.
These are the same residents, of course, who readily cashed in on the city’s glorious past and embraced tourism, making it a central component of the local economy. In 2019, tourism is the economy and Venetians are dependent on the very hoards of foreign sightseers destroying their way of life. The natives bemoan the gargantuan cruise ships towering over the city but, at the same time, they have built up a lucrative industry charging the large ships € 30,000 each for provisioning and servicing them. With the heavy industry on the terra firma in steep decline, the Venetians cannot afford to ban cruise ships or restrict the number of daily entries. As a result of these conflicting needs, anti-tourism measures are regularly proposed, only to be watered down or defeated. A recent decision to restrict large ship access to the Grande Canal will not be fully implemented until 2023. The Italian government has declared its opposition to Venetians’ proposed ban on cruise ships, many of which are built, owned and operated by Italian companies, and other plans to reduce tourism.
THE IMPROBABLE NOTION of city built in the middle sea with canals for streets and boats for taxis has been the key to Venice’s mystique for over a millennium. Aware of precarious nature of such a city, residents have sought to protect it from the sea and the elements by building barrier islands, dredging the lagoon and other major undertakings. In the past decade, however, those measures have proven inadequate to fend off the increased incidence of high tides caused by storms in the Adriatic. In the past, aque alte were annoyances confined to winter and major events like the flood of 1966 were highly unusual. Due to the rising sea levels and increasingly extreme weather caused by global warming, severe, even disastrous, aque alte are now regular occurrences year round. June 2018 saw aque alte. Tides exceeded 4.5 feet above sea level four times in November 2019. On 12 November 2019, flood waters reached 6 feet above sea level and flood waters inundated 85% of the cities streets. Damage to the 11th-century church of San Marco caused by flooding is expected to exceed € 27 million.

Defending the city against rising waters is clearly a much larger problem than tourism. The long-discussed plan, called Project MOSE (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico), to build movable sea walls at the three inlets of the lagoon, meant to repel tidal surges, was finally begun in 2003. Quickly mired in kickback scandals, the completion date of 2018 has been changed to 2022. The entire project, however, reminds one of the Maginot line--a supposedly stalwart bastion that proved to be useless the first and only time it was deployed, and indeed, several of the gates installed in 2003 have already failed. Project MOSE also includes the reinforcement of coastlines, the rising of existing quays and the paving of the lagoon.
During the November flooding , the regional council of Venice held an emergency meeting to discuss measures to deal with the issues caused by climate change. So. severe were the high tides that the chamber in which they worked began to flood. Despite this vivid illustration of the magnitude of the problem, the council voted down every proposal for short-sighted reasons.
More bad news.
If you love Venice, stay home.
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Considering some Creatures
I am a Game Master who happens to be an artist and has paleontology/archaeology as a lifelong obsession. I love drawing monsters for my games, I have a lot of drawings of final bosses and such. And dragons. And there will be dragons in this, too.
During this quarantine mess I decided to mess around with building a new setting that would heavily feature all sorts of megafauna and strange animals that are close to recognizable. To really get a scale for the world, and how small the people in it regularly feel, as well as to show my players some of the more prominent animals, I started working up creature lineups.
And I really liked how they were looking. Every creature is based in something familiar. I’m sure the mammoth is recognizable, though I decided to give mammoths in this setting an exaggerated fatty hump that keep them hardy in times of famine or during migrations when they won’t find as much food.
The small striped Five Horned one is based ever so loosely on Hoplitomeryx. They use their horns for goring attackers and males will wrestle one another by locking horns together and trying to throw each other around until one tires out. The small horns just forward of the eye acts as a guard to keep eyes from getting poked out, and they have a thick neck and sturdy shoulders that aids them in their duels and charges.
The one in the middle wasn’t expressly based on one creature, but rather a combination of giraffes, moose, and extinct camelids, with big padded feet for walking through snow, a long stride allowing them to cover a lot of ground, a huge rubbery nose for warming up air as it enters the body and also acting as an opposable digit, and a long prehensile tongue for grabbing at vegetation.
And I mean from there, it kinda
Just kept going. Here are some birds from the setting. Some folks will probably recognize the base creature for some of these: the Terror Bird (middle, striped), Argentavis (upper left, vulture), and Pelagornis (right). The small birds aren’t exactly “based” on anything specific, more just filling out the world. Other Big Borb is based on Gastornis and it’s amazing crushing bite, the waterfowl directly next to Example Man (that’s my name for all of my comparison silhouettes) is a giant swan that lives by rivers and sea and spends most of its time walking, wading, or swimming, only really flying to cover large distances to other foraging grounds. It is a very aggressive bird, violence is guaranteed.
The last small one, the only wingless one, is called a Bush Bird. Based partially on revelations about the dodo bird: previously thought to be helpless, stupid ground birds that were fat and slow-moving, it’s likely that this idea came from caged specimens who didn’t have room to roam and were fed lots of cheap food. Though the little red-faced wingless bird might look small and helpless especially in this lineup, its feathers shield it from brambles, their primary nesting space, and they’re light on their feet, able to dash across snow, make quick turns, and recover from tumbles immediately and keep running.
Giant sloth! What megafauna-drenched lineup would this be if I didn’t include a sloth. And for this one I combined traits from several extinct sloth to make a rugged survivalist. They knuckle-walk most everywhere, but they’re also still adept climbers- of cliffs. They will climb the young, steep mountains during certain seasons to eat the seasonal fruit that is dropping that only they, birds, and humans can reach. They will also climb the cliffy coasts, descend down into the ocean to graze on sea plants, pulling their way along with their claws. While not an aquatic mammal it is a strong enough swimmer to get to shore if it loses its grip. Masters of getting where it’s hard to get to eat the things that are hard to eat.
The Apex predators of Sea and Land, known as the Sea Demon and the Huntfather. The Sea Demon is a voracious whale that hunts the known waters, the biggest threat in the sea. They’re not gentle giants, if it is large enough to be worth eating and its made of meat they’re not picky. The Huntfather is the apex predator of the land, it lays in ambush, often hunting in pairs. They utilize stealth and patience to ambush prey, using their bone-crushing jaws to bite for the legs and keep them from running away. I became interested in the idea of a creature that lives in a taiga/plains mix, and how white vertical stripes might help them blend into their environments.
Me: “Hey, what would happen if we took a komodo dragon, Biggified it to like megalania-size, and then gave it big old frill?”
This is called the Beach Tyrant. The species lives along beaches in loosely-associated colonies of other beach tyrants. It has a fluked tail for swimming, a stellar sense of smell, and the same noxious bite monitor lizards are well known for. They use their frills to catch heat from the sun and scare away creatures too big for them to handle (such as mammoths). They spend their time patroling up and down beaches hunting and scavenging.
They got the name Beach Tyrant because they tend to hoard large carcasses. In this setting humans do not have the means to hunt whales, so whale blubber or other parts are rare. Beach Tyrants will not leave a carcass until it is completely clean. They’ll sleep on top of and around it, mark the area, and refuse to relinquish until there is no carcass left.
Okay Who’s Ready For Dragons
So I want to design a RPG setting that will be fun for my players to engage with, and I don’t want it to be a 1:1 representation of our world. And I knew there had to be dragons, and I knew I wanted them to be different from every other dragon I had designed up to this point.
So, where do we get dragons? Well, we have to go back a little bit further than the mammoth for that.
The question I started with was- what if in this world’s version of the mass extinction event, a tiny pterasaur species managed to eek its way past the edge of oblivion and land in the new era? I looked at a combination of some of the largest and smallest pterasaurs. Their wing shape, their walking stance, their proportions, and worked them together with the idea of a showy, and highly social dragon.
So there are a few different “Types“ of dragons the humans of the world recognize: Black, Brown, and Colorful. In reality what they’re seeing are Adolescents, Females, and Males.
Male dragons are twice the height of their female counter parts and will defend nesting mountains in coalitions of 2-5 from invading predators and other males looking to dethrone them. Their crest is both display and a resonance chamber, allowing them to make loud honks, howls, and roars.
Females are smaller and duller in color, with smaller crests that functions similarly to the males. Females make up the bulk of the flock, a healthy dragon roost could have 20-60 of them, and they hunt in packs. They’ll lay down trails of fire to cause herds to split and scatter. They’ll even go into swarms or frenzies where the entire flock will mobilize for a hunt, especially when the youngsters are going out on their very first pack hunt.
The fire they spit is more a gooey vomit of flamable bile followed by an ignition chemical that causes the noxious mucus to catch a persistent fire. They use fire to box in or mark their intended prey, or to drive small prey out of thickets and grass cover where they can be picked off individually.
It is believed in this setting that the sun and the moon are moved across the sky by a giant blue dragon and a giant black dragon. The sun is an enormous pile of gold, and the moon is an enormous pile of silver. Legends tell of people climbing mountains to try to steal gold and silver from the sky, only to become lost wandering forever amongst the silver stars.
That’s it for now, this monstrosity is long enough.
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A "Brief" Backstory for Herne the Hunter
Born to a family of caravaners, the boy who was once known as Aidan was always thought to be "a kinda weird kid." Instead of playing with other children in the caravan or in the settlements they stopped at he prefered to spend his time alone. Around others of his age he was awkward, fidgety, and terribly shy, too uncomfortable to even look them in the eye, so he liked to be in his own company. Either with his nose buried in one of the few precious story books he hoarded like gold, or off in the fields amongst the grazing pack Brahmin, watching the critters that passed by from the smallest radsquirrel to the majestic ambling radstag. He would even take the time to sketch the creatures he encountered, sitting for hours in rapt, silent attention.
Though at first supportive of their son's "unusual" hobbies, his parents grew more annoyed the older he grew, as he seemed to ignore his lessons of crafting, trading, and bartering they taught him in favor of his usual pasttimes. Such things would not help Aidan survive in this world like his father and mother had, they said. They were fancies and fantasies best left to children.
One day, shortly after his nineteenth birthday, while traveling through the Commonwealth close to the Glowing Sea, Aidan got into a heated argument with his father. Frustrated, he ran away from the caravan, ignoring the angry shouts of his father behind him. Before he knew it a radstorm had suddenly kicked up all around him, obscuring the caravan and the rest of his family. Still, he kept running But then the screaming began...and the bellowing roars.
Forgetting his anger, he ran back the way he came , the young man shouting fearfully. When Aidan finally returned to the spot hecould only stare in helpless horror at what he saw. Brahmin and people alike had been torn to hundreds of bloody shreds: men, women, children, his own mother, his sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And laying closest to him was Aidan's father's own mutilated body, his shotgun laying useless by his side. Close by, tearing into a still thrashing Brahmin and its scaley side covered in bloody shrapnel wounds, was the largest, palest Deathclaw Aidan had ever seen. The monster lizard was fortunately too busy feasting to notice his approach.
Mad with grief and rage, scarcely stopping to think Aidan took up his father's gun, charging and screaming at the beast as he fired. He was no match for the Deathclaw however, and rounding about it flung him far with a single sweep of its massive forearm. Aidan's vision went black as soon as he hit the dirt.
When he awoke, he was alone. The Deathclaw was gone, the remains of his family and the caravan were gone, and he was now even deeper in the Glowing Sea.
He wandered for many days and nights through the radioactive waste, paying no mind to the burns that formed all over his body, the way his throat burned and his skin and hair were sloughing off-the pain of losing those was nowhere near that of what he had just lost. Though even that too began to numb, as he slowly half-forgot. By the time he wandered back out of the Sea, the boy Aidan was no more. Now he was a nameless Ghoul, a walking dead man.
Still he continued aimlessly, through swamp and bog and skeletal forest until at last he collapsed in a clearing, in the dead of night beneath a full moon. Laying face down in the damp earth, he remained unmoving as he waited for nature to slowly claim him. Yet it never happened. The ground shook softly, and he heard the ambling sound of hoofed feet approaching. For a moment, a hopeful thought cut through his grief-filled, forgetful haze-perhaps this was all some dreadful nightmare and what he heard was the caravan returning, the Brahmin and people, his family and friends. But when he raised his head, instead what he saw was a herd of radstag surrounding him. Closest to him, the cloudy blue eyes of its right head staring directly into his own bloodshot crystal ones, was a large, white furred radstag. Giving an alarmed snort, the creature turned tail and fled when the Ghoul stirred, the others of its herd following. It wasn't the last time he saw them. Though he continued to lay in the field, they kept coming back time after time-slowly getting used to his presence, once they realized he meant them no harm. Eventually they trusted him enough to let him sit among them, to stroking their fur,, to eventually even sitting against them as they rested on the ground. Slowly, the Ghoul's grief subsided, and he found himself growing gladder each time the radstags returned. He started to forage for food for them-wild carrots and sweet mutfruits, silt beans and hubflower blossoms, feeding them happily to the skittish creatures. Until finally, enough trust was gained that one day the lead, Moon-Pale Stag let the Ghoul climb upon his back, sitting astride him like a great steed. And as the Herd moved on, Herne the Hunter, the Stag King, moved with them. He had found a new family.
He has stayed with the Herd for years since-defending them from packs of mongrels, gangs of molerats, Yao Gui, Deathclaws, and even other radstags-hunting the Herd's rivals from the back of Moon-Born the Pale Stag and wearing their pelts as trophies. His greatest achievement however, and when he took the name Herne the Hunter, was when he tracked and slew the pale Deathclaw who killed his first family, wearing its hide as armor and fashioning its talons into his spear.
#yeah reposted this bc tumblr was weird with the first one#Fallout OC#Ghoul OC#Herne#Herne the Hunter#yeah gonna write a more indepth origin fic/saga for him but this is just a brief summary for friendos on discord#bc it was too big to post there lol#My OC
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I was thinking.
Pepper being a total bastard.. came to mind while i was mid struggling to get better from an illness--and still am tbh--so i had a thought in a moment of gifted clarity and joy.
He may have an evil personality, he was born with that. He can be cruel and brutal and uncaring. But those are the kind of lions Snuggo would have tried to work closer to. Not because he liked being around unpleasant lions, but because he knew that growth is a process. That you can overcome things with someone willing to help. Snugglewumps started his pride with his brother, both of them sharing about 4 brain cells. Mostly because the pride that raised them didn’t bother to teach them much. But then he found love and happiness and a place where he could stay with his brother without fighting each other or trying to be something bigger than he was. He learned from his wives, learned and grew and put effort into knowing what plants were what. What stories were around, what they meant to the lionesses he’d bond with. He learned how to defend his territory and when to sit down with a perceived threat and discuss why they were there.
He was taught, along with his brother Gob, to fight everything. To defend territory if they found an in with some lionesses. To kill another lions cubs so he could take over and that was that. He learned that he didn’t have to. A cub was a cub. His strength was better spent protecting than harming, that his abilities weren’t a permanent state of being and were constantly growing and the same was true for others. He learned that a perception could be overcome-- talking with certain hyena packs could lead to peaceful cohabitation, if time was taken to bring up the idea instead of an instant fight. Humans aren’t always poachers, and they have just as many factions to them as animals, so needing to fight one or a group was contextual. Humans sometimes helped and sometimes hurt. But you couldn’t judge till you were there. Same with lions.
His wives ran the gambit, from gentle and soft, to harsh and cold. But they still warmed up to him, and decided this shiny idiot was worth making a pride with. They worked together and taught him things. How their cruelty was often from their home pride or being alone for so long. How hoarding food was more of a habit from being preyed upon. And how they would be sweet to their cubs and their king.
What i’m saying is that, even with Pepper being evil, i can’t imagine his mothers letting him go down that road. That road leads to hatred and desolation and disrupted herds and discord. I think, even as jockeying for position happens, they’ll sit him down and explain in no uncertain terms that Snuggos legacy has done good for them. His legacy has done so so much good. And they believe that Pepper can learn the compassion to live up to Snuggo. He can learn from Brenke doing his level best to emulate their father. He can learn to empathize and consider the options. He is not obligated to stay as he was born, if he does not feel it best. Even if it comes easier than to change.
Basically i am considering Paarthurnax.
“What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? “
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July 25, 2023
Morning Songs
Lexi "X"
Strangest Things
Can Make My Car Not Work
Tires Low
Mountain Temperatures
Temperamental Lexi
And Suddenly
All Alert Lights Are On
That's My Little Lexus
Lemon
Afraid To Sing
I Wrote The 1st Verse
In My Head
Saw 3 Smiling Coyotes
Bushy Tailed
At Sunset
Signs Of Families
Traveling
Herding Around Us
Sometimes I'm Lonely
But The Birds
Always Say Hello
The Ravens In The Morning
Happy
At What I Left
The Previous Day
Old Chicken
The Blue Jay's
On A Lark
And The Red Necked Hummingbirds
Hovering In My Face
Vibrating My Way
Unheard Messages
Squeek
Redwood Trees
Demand Water
If I Can Be An Ambassador
For Nature
And Moms You See
"Mom H2O"
Licenses
Ask For Water
Agua Pura
Sad Journalists
Are Attacked
Sold By Agents
It Happened To Me
When I got Interviewed
While Living At The Raj
In College
GQ Called Me
Smeared Our MUM Utopia
Gay Writers
Somehow Missed Point
Of God Loving Families
Yogis
Gurus
Teachers
Creating Miracles
Energy Vortexes
In Iowa
Children Growing
And Glowing
Judges Wanted Our Offspring
Lawyers, Lawyers, Lawyers
DA- Never Listens
No Women
In Iowa
My Only Choice
Is To Prosecute
Myself
As A Realtor
Cuz no One Has
A Fidicuary Duty To Me
But My Gagged Family
Who Can't Speak
Sir "X"
Won't You Help
Won't You Rewind "X"
Dr. "X"
Rewind
Why Must Branding
Always Take
Precedent
More Important
Than Moms
Mum
Won't You
Dance
Tic-tac-toe
A Move For "X"
Now A Move For "O"
Won't You Dance
Tic-tac-toe
Britney Grinned
Through 10 Years
Of #BritneyBitch
#BritneyIfUrReadingThis
And Now She Says
#MindYourBusiness
"B"
B****
Bring Back Roseanne
Barre
Bring Back
Heartland Iowa
Vibes
Bring Back
Sensibility
On "W" Word
Before "X"
We're Happy To See
'Ya Back On
"X"
Do 'Ya Mind
If We Call The Bird
Something More
Than Just An Ap
Only 20% Women
Left
On "X"
Male Dominated
Writers Caged
Singers With Lymes
Discriminated
And You Offer Us
Another Promise
Who Bought The Bird
Corp "X"
Freedom Of Speech
Like Twitter
Safety
Like Cybertrucks
And Rape Tesla Whistles
Starlink
Still Not Connected
Who Bought The Bird
Once Again
For Thanksgiving
Who Bought The Bird
And Put The "X"
Next To A Circle
Before Peace Dinner
Who Bought The Bird
Whose "X" Corp
There's A Bunch
Of Mummies
That Just Want
To Know
And Picnic Now
In Peace
Like A Family Should
On The River
Where The Waterfalls
Flow
In The Grotto
Along Wildflowers Paths
Some Of us
Want Our Disney
Ending
Now
Some Of Us
Need Our Tree Homes
And Beach Homes
Back
Some Of Us
We're Ripped Off
At Courts
Have Given Enough
Stormy Warnings
From Scotland
To America
And 60 British Colonies
Plus Iran
We Want Back
All Of It
Stormy Warnings
Pirates Blunder
Court TV
Won't Do 'Ya
No Good
Romantic Bots
Playing Movie Stars
In The Name Of
Edward Scissorhands
10 Other Celebrities
And Rockstars
Spin Dr's
Even If We Love
Your Cats
#WeHeardYou
Stormy Warnings
Billionaire Blunders
Can't Eat That
Judges To Pay
For Starter Wives
Murders
Call Your Laundry List
Of Promoted Offenders
Defenders
And Take A Stand For
Hunter
Huntleys' too
And Do What Pappa
Biden Cannot Do
For If You Have A
Eclectic Gene
AB
Or Negative Rogan Blood
No One Understands
You Might Become
An AI Experiment
A Disease 5000 Years
Old
Like Lymes
Cysts
Still Prosecuted
Against
Like Witches
Then Call
Yourself A Dr
X
Call Yourself A Lawyer
X
Call Yourself An Officer
X
Of Court
Turn It Around
Please Don't Forget
Her "O's"
And Stop The Cold War
Rewind This Space "X"
Business
Hoarding Moms Assets
If The Rockets
Are Taking Off
At Our Expense
Then That's Not Being
A Taoist
Rewind This Space "X"
Business
Dr. "X"
Rewind This Space "X"
Business
Thanksgiving Birds
Will Always Be Upon
Us
All Spies
Crystal Bugs
Drones Buzzing
Into Tents
Trespassing
Reperations
For Perverted Officers
Breakfast
Coffee
Naked Showers
At State Parks
And Hospitals
Enoch Wants More
One Rape
One Rental Car
Was Never Enough
Gluttony
So We Discipline
Our Officers
When They Beat US
Up
And Raid Our Homes
We Discipline Our Sargeants
Who Didn't Report
In-House Murders
Like Sargeant Protero
You Want A Judge
To Attempt To Murder Elon's Child
And Harem
Like Us
Like Biden's Neighbor-
Judge
For Pedophilia
We Ask
No Gag Orders
Will Make Us
Follow In Those Footsteps
No Gag Orders
Will Make Us Quiet
Against
This Judge Construct
No Gag Orders
Will
Quiet Neila's
Mothering Love
Compassion
Through "O's"
Empathy
And Ghosts
Through Us
Through Moms
Peace
Stop The Abuse
Stop Raping Ukranians
Like Neo-Nazis
Says Roseanne Barre
We Willed Her Back
To Twitter
Stop Giving Away
War Babies
Teens
And Kids
To Nazi Soldiers
On The West Coast
Russia
Iran
And all The Globes
Women
We Adore
Stop The Wars On
Yonis
Stop The Wars On
"O"
Stop The War On Oceana
We Forgive Her
Her Wasp Grooming
For Throwing Soda
In My Face On
Christmas Eve
And Stabbing My
Forehead
An Imaginary Red
Indian Dot
With Her Finger
My 3rd Eye Chakra
On A Bribe
For Blowjobbing Militia
Christian Greenwashing
Druglords
Handmaiden
Cop-Debugging
Stealing Phones
We'll Always Love
Marilyn's
In Her Prime
Past Her Prime
And Before Her Prime
She Wasn't A "W"
Smeared Like #FreeBritney
"Before Her Time,"
Elton Said
Recap Her Voice
From A Decade Old
Recording
#MindYourB
Recap #FreeBritney
"X" Came After "W"
You Must Honor
Our Mothers
Stop The Incessant
Rockets
That Forgot
The Feeling Level
On Earth
No Thanksgiving
In California
Stop Starter Wife
Murders
That Is The Universal
Loop Hole
Peace
"X" And "O"
Hugs
All Love Eternal,
Dr. Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal xo
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Drabble Meme Prompt Fill #57 (ish)
Three requests in one fill:
@juldooz requested: New prompt list for the drabble challenge: 144 (I cheated.), 146 (Pillows are over-rated.), 147 (Zombies aren’t real, I promise.)? (from the list for Round 2)
@8minutehooper requested: For the Drabble ask meme, if you're inclined to keep going with these: #2 We're going to freeze to death or #14 Fire! Fire! Fire! Please and Thank you! ?
@fiammablade3466 requested: Hi! You asked drabble prompt from that list... if your requests are still open I ask 94. Let's bet Have a nice day!
(This is an AU that's canon-divergent sometime after TEH and sometime before TSoT. Sorry, it's not humor, but I just kind of go where the winds take me, and after so many dropped attempts at these prompts, I'm just thrilled I had an idea.)
"We're going to freeze to death"/ "Fire! Fire! Fire!"/ "Let's bet"/ "I cheated."/ "Pillows are over-rated."/ "Zombies aren’t real, I promise."
*
"Oh Sherlock, zombies aren't real, I promise," Sherlock said, his voice a grating falsetto.
"I said that like a year ago, would you let it go already?" Molly hissed back, peeking around the library shelf with her axe at the ready. Never had she been so thankful for Tom's absolute nerdiness as the day the outbreak started; he'd been a rubbish fighter but his manchild arsenal had kept her (and Sherlock) alive since then.
"You were wrong then and you're wrong now. Wiggins said he had a cache here, he knows how to hide things, it's still here."
"Well then let's just hope it's more than a ten-bag of weed and six black-market Russian amphetamine tablets like his 'cache' in that bus stop in Southwark."
"I don't know what you expected from a bus stop to begin with, unless you thought he dug a hole and buried a year's worth of tins of mushy peas and tomato soup under it."
"You know what? Let's bet. We're not going to find anything we need, like antibiotics or any kind of useful medication, or even anything useful. At best it'll be a packet of Smarties and a biro."
"Stakes?"
"If I'm wrong then you can have first pick of whatever there might be."
"And if you're right?"
"We follow John and Mary," she said simply. It was an old argument that came up more these days; winter had set in and the Zed were less active, but food was becoming scarce for everyone left in the city; they only managed to eat because of Wiggin's paranoia and Sherlock's people skills (oh God the irony there).
"Because Edinburgh—where we have no Wiggins, no network, and no practical knowledge of the geography—would be so much safer."
He was still angry with John and Mary six months on.
"We wouldn't stay in Edinburgh. We'd go find land in the country and there would be six of us to defend it, I mean, assuming Harry is alive and they found her, and we could farm. There are probably some livestock animals left, and seeds out there somewhere, and barring that, we could—I dunno, hunt swans and forage in hedgerows. We have a better chance out there than we do here, long term."
Sherlock huffed a breath; he knew she was right. "Let's just find the cache first, shall we? We can talk about it later. Go, I'll cover you."
She flipped down the visor on her helmet and ran for the reference section. Sherlock followed at a bit of a distance, scimitar drawn, enough to give them both ample fighting room should they need it. There were two Zed somewhere in the vast room by the sound of it, but they hadn't found them yet. They made it to the reference section without incident, which was good; they need to find the cache and get out because they were losing light fast. Sherlock had a bolthole a few streets over; they needed to make it there before nightfall.
"Where did he say it was?"
"He didn't."
"Wonderful."
"We're lucky he was coherent enough to remember which borough it was," Sherlock pointed out.
They started searching, pulling out sections of books and looking behind them, looking for anything taped to the undersides of the shelves; she hoped like hell it wasn't a fool's errand. Wiggins hadn't been the most with-it before he'd got bit and they'd taken his arm, and now... He wasn't healing well because there was never enough food, never enough medicine, never enough anything and his brain—well. They never knew if they'd get back to Baker Street to find another mindless zombie in the flat, either from self-administered poison or the sudden onset of gangrene.
She didn't want to think about it.
"Oh!" Sherlock said suddenly, too loud for a library and too loud for an enclosed space with an unknown number of Zed in the building.
"Shh!"
"What books did people stop using years ago?"
"Riddles, Sherlock."
He made a face and went for a section of shelves, ran his fingers along the spines until he found what he was looking for and pulled out the book. "Encyclopdias," he said, opening the book with a flourish to reveal a pharmacy-sized bottle of tablets snug in a custom cut-out section.
The feeling of relief was almost palpable; they had at least one thing to use or trade now. Sherlock pulled out another encyclopedia and flipped it open, giggling when he saw what was inside. He held up a packet of Smarties.
"These are mine," he said, grinning.
*
"We're going to freeze to death," she said, teeth chattering. It had to be close to zero outside as a cold, heavy rain fell on the roof of the covered market, dripping through one of the broken panels to land in a puddle near the shop Sherlock had chosen to hole up in for the night, since the bolthole had been compromised. At least the rain kept the Zed outside, drawn by the noise. All the shops had long been picked over for anything remotely useful and all the perishable food no one wanted rotted down to black, slimy piles; they'd been lucky enough to find a bin of cheap carpets in one of the shops that sold this and that, so at least they weren't sleeping directly on the floor. Almost a luxury, these days, when they were away from home.
"More likely one of us, probably you since you're smaller, will freeze to death and bite the other. Either way, we'll probably both die," Sherlock said, pulling one of the larger carpets over the both of them like a blanket. A lot of things had changed since the world ended, but at least they'd both maintained a sense of humour, black as it was.
"Wish we could have found some pillows."
"Pillows are overrated," Sherlock mumbled, shuffling himself into a more comfortable position.
"You say that now, but tomorrow..."
"May never come, so there's no point thinking about it," he said, finally giving up on trying to find a position that wouldn't leave him stiff and sore come the morning and curling around her for warmth.
"I'm so glad one of us is still an optimist," she said, turning into him and settling in his arms, taking what comfort she could when she could. It only took the end of the world to get this close to him.
*
"Fire!" She let go of Sherlock's waist and tapped his shoulder. "Fire! Fire!"
He couldn't hear her with the helmet on, but he must have looked where she was pointing to the smoke billowing in the sky. He cut the throttle on the motorbike and pulled to the kerb (old habits).
"It's not home, is it?" she asked after pulling off her helmet.
Sherlock watched the sky for a moment, calculating. "No, closer. Westminster probably, no farther than Mayfair. Might need to take a different route back. Stay alert."
As if she needed to be told.
*
They stopped again just before crossing Vauxhall Bridge. Sherlock counted out a dozen Clonazepam into a sandwich bag; she hoped it would be enough to get them a few litres of petrol. Prices kept going up.
Same as it ever was.
Sherlock squinted at the smoke from the fire, blacker now, thicker. "It's Buckingham Palace," he said.
She shared a look with him; it was more than losing just another thing from before. It felt like England had well and truly fallen, even if the Palace had been devoid of life for months. They'd been past the gates a few times; dead guards and staff, snipers and MPs (all evacuated to the Palace just before the barricades across Westminster Bridge failed) roamed aimlessly, shuffling toward the fence as they were drawn to the noise of the motorbike and dispersing again sometime after they were gone.
Someone must have been desperate enough to walk into a contained hoard, or angry enough. She hoped there wasn't a new gang to deal with; they never lasted long, nothing lasted these days, but it was always trouble when some bully who was lucky enough to make it this far fancied himself the next Genghis Khan by right of Darwinism.
*
Some people just want to watch the world burn, she thought. And some people felt like they had to, to bear witness. She wasn't sure which she was, now, some days.
Going into the heart of the inferno was insane, especially loaded down with enough trade goods to keep them in food and petrol for the next six months, but they were upwind and it was breezy enough to carry the smoke away, over the Palace Gardens, over Belgravia.
"Subtle," Sherlock murmured, looking the double-decker bus that had smashed through the gates. He drank from his water bottle, passed it to her.
A small group—fifteen or so clumped into a loose herd—stumbled toward the bus from The Mall, drawn by the fire. They didn't bother taking cover, they were far enough away not to be noticed if they kept quiet, kept still.
Another Zed staggered through the gate, away from the flames; she was covered in blood and gore, but her clothing seemed intact and she wasn't missing any limbs or dragging her guts along behind her. Recently turned, then. Didn't see a lot of that any longer. Inevitable, though. One day that would be Molly herself, one day that would be Sherlock.
The rogue Zed serpentined her way through the herd; had it spotted them? Something was odd about it, Zed didn't act like that. They travelled in straight lines, faster when they spotted prey, didn't avoid collisions with each other.
"Of course," Sherlock breathed.
She looked up at him.
"The blood, it's camouflage. Probably the scent. Clever," he said quietly, a note of admiration in his voice.
Jealousy, sharp and sudden and utterly ridiculous, spiked her heart. Silly, really, but it was the first she'd heard him talk about another person without a trace of disdain in months.
They remained silent as the woman made her way closer and the Zed filtered through the gate. When it was safe enough, she stood straight and walked normally. There was something about her, something predatory, that made Molly's hand twitch for her axe. She stopped herself; don't show aggression, it makes you look scared, don't let them see fear, don't let them see weakness.
"Remember, remember," the woman sing-songed. "Do you know what today is?"
Oh wonderful, another nutter. Molly saw Sherlock's stance shift from alert to on-guard.
"Bonfire night," he said. Probably a guess; they tried to keep track of days, but there really wasn't much point to it now.
"Silly to burn Westminster, when they all came here," she said. Her voice was light and hollow, somehow innocent while being devoid of any emotion at all. "Why burn one effigy when I can burn seven hundred?"
Wow, Molly thought. She had the feeling this woman wasn't just another one of the crackpot roaches like Wiggins who managed to survive even without their wits intact; there was something about her that made Molly want to run.
"So I take it you're not from the neighbourhood, since you're obviously not worried about the fire spreading," Sherlock said, his tone friendly, casual. "Nice trick with the blood, by the way. How did you figure that out?"
"A cannibal suggested it. He's dead now. He wasn't as clever as he thought he was."
"I'm sorry," Sherlock said. He wasn't. Nobody was; they'd all used up their capacity for sympathy and empathy was too precious a resource to waste on the dead.
"Why? It was a game. He lost. I cheated. He should have been cleverer."
"Ah," Sherlock said shortly, shifting away from Molly to draw the woman's attention to himself. He was preparing for a fight.
Something exploded inside the Palace, the ground shaking enough to throw Molly off balance.
Sherlock's arm shot out to steady her. "We need to go," he said. He turned to the woman. "Will you be alright?"
"Nothing can hurt the East Wind," she said, her face blank.
Sherlock's eyes narrowed for a split second before he put his helmet on and swung his leg over the bike.
#sherlolly#drabble ask meme round 3#drabble ask meme round 2#juldooz#8minutehooper#fiammablade3466#sunken's secret stash
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Luca was on the train to his new home. The train had departed northbound from the Sunbeam capital of Beacon’s Gate a few hours ago, and the landscape it passed through still hadn’t changed from the endless golden plains to the west and the maddeningly regular horizon of the ocean far to the east, the side Luca was on. The track that the train ran along snaked its way up the rocky coast, often getting very close to the steep cliffs that edged the continent. It was only sparsely populated in that corner of Sunbeam, and would be like that until they got closer to the Strait.
Still, Luca laid his chin on the shallow top edge of the backrest of his compartment and stared blearily out of the thick, slightly warped window, his eyes following the flights of seagulls until they passed by. He’d gotten tired of reading the novel that he’d stowed in his light travel pack a while ago, and the thrill of being on a journey had faded before even that. At least out the window there was a chance a roc might fly by, or even just dragons on the wing.
The thunk, thunk, thunk of the train mixed with the warm, mid-morning sunlight pouring through the window made Luca sleepy. It was comfortable enough in the second-class passenger carriage, and whatever comforts it lacked Luca was willing to put up with, because what was a life-changing journey without a little hardship?
This passenger carriage had a single aisle down the middle with compartments along the sides, partitioned to keep the usually large dragon passengers from sliding into each other, but not closed off and private like in first class. There were no long resting couches, either, the type that a dragon might recline on with his legs on either side and a chin rest on the end, or even permanent cushions on the floor. The partition walls were both slightly padded, so leaning against them wasn’t unbearable, and probably, Luca thought, in case the train stopped quickly no one should hurt themselves tumbling into them. The floor was bare wood, just a lockbox in the corner that a smaller dragon could sit on, possibly, but Luca hadn’t used. Luca had been obliged to buy a travel cushion from a tundra dragon who had been wheeling them down the aisle as he boarded. He wasn’t sure what he’d even do with it when he reached his destination, but he hadn’t known to bring one with him like the clearly seasoned travelers that were already sound asleep upon them in other compartments. Most of the other compartments had multiple dragons within them, another costly oversight by Luca, who didn’t know it was common to split the cost of them. Most who shared looked to be strangers, for they had cordoned off a section of a compartment with their luggage and were ignoring the other occupants. One fae dragon had even slung a hammock across two hooks on the partition walls, which Luca thought was clever. There were a few families, and clearly some friends, for earlier there had been a lot of conversation.
In the quiet, close atmosphere, the snapper’s eyes were just beginning to close when the engine, sounding far away, gave a whistle that woke a young skydancer in the compartment across the aisle. She was very young, and apparently waking up in such conditions was enough to send her doing that high, bird-like peeping cry infants of her race did. Her mother was quick to give her a consoling pet and quiet her, but it had disturbed the comfortable silence in the carriage and now conversations broke out again.
Luka peered out the window beyond the skydancer family to see what on the western side had caused the engine to whistle, since the east side was nothing but ocean as usual. After a moment he could see a large herd of sheep go by the window, with their shepherd, a guardian dragon, watching from a rise beyond them and a dwarf hainu, presumably the shepherd’s familiar, hop-flapping and barking with excitement as the train rumbled by. The little tableau of rural solitude reminded Luca of his purpose, and despite the uncertainty of it all, he smiled. He looked down at his hands, at the ring with inlaid pearl on his left little claw, glad for the grudging blessing it represented.
—
The night before, at his parent’s townhouse in Beacon’s Gate, had been touchy. It was the beginning of Windsinger’s Month, and it was almost pleasant outside as the sun’s warmth followed it slowly over the horizon, but that atmosphere didn’t enter the stormy interior of the house.
“You’re really sure?” Luca’s father, a pearlcatcher named Adan, had said. It wasn’t the first time, and this time it didn’t have any real hope behind it. Adan’s son had rarely been steadfast about anything – in fact, Luca had purposefully shied away from anything Adan had tried to steer him towards, up to and including abandoning his studies at the University of the Radiant Eye, which Adan had done a lot of expensive maneuvering to get him accepted into. It was a very sore spot for Adan, and had been very embarrassing. Even if Luca hadn’t taken up law, Adan’s trade, in favor of philosophy or even literature – whatever young dragons were getting into these days – at least Adan could have held his head up high and said, “Why yes, my son is away studying at the University,” and his friends would all nod knowingly, remembering their days there, reveling in the prestige of it.
But, no. This was the thing his son had fixated on. And now, Adan had had to come around to this new idea, and he hated it. “I could still get you a job with Derelan. He needs an assistant, and even without the school, you’d be eligible for advancement…” A tired argument, retread many times in the last few weeks. It had really run out of steam when the deed had come in the post, and now it was probably just habit.
“Yes, da, I’m very sure,” Luca had said. He was closing the latch the last of his traveling trunks, something so definitively final that it sent a thrill through him. “This is what I want to do. You know I have nothing against you or what you do, I love you and ma very much. But I need to… to make something. You know? Take the dirt in my claws and make something people need.”
Adan had hung his head, his long whiskers drooping. “I know you’ll not be dissuaded. By Lightweaver, you’ve already spent the money on the property sight unseen – I’d damn well hope you’re serious about it at this point! But son, aside from everything, aside from… the social suicide you’re committing, and not just to yourself! Aside from that, Luca… you don’t even know the first thing about farming.”
Luca had picked up his new hat then – a wide-brimmed brown cloth thing, not at all presentable – and set it with finality upon his head. He grinned. “Well, I’ll have to learn fast then, won’t I?”
The next morning Luca, his father Adan, his mother Strella, a snapper dragon, and the family’s butler Robul, a longneck, were at the Sun’s Throne train station. Luca stood with Robul by the trunker-drawn carriage that had brought the family and Luca’s luggage. They discussed luggage arrangements with the station workers. Since Luca was travelling with the luggage through to the destination, it wouldn’t need storage at any point, and thus the process was very simple. (Although riding carriages and trains were fashionable and, for many races, necessary, it was still very typical for larger races, traditionalists, or adventurous dragons, to make the journey somewhere on the wing while their luggage safely arrived by train. Most train stations had secure storage buildings attached or nearby, and the handling of unaccompanied luggage was a business unto itself.)
Seeing the two large trunks safely stored in the luggage car, Luca took a deep breath and readied himself. He had bought a second-class ticket to save money, which he thought had been very clever and frugal. In truth, there was still the third class option, which was probably more befitting his new lot in life, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do that. He was going to have to be very frugal now, he knew, without allowance. (He was quite sure he was good with money – he’d saved a lot of it since he was young, enough to call a real hoard, which was something he liked to think was his younger self being forward-thinking, but in reality had just been a lack of expensive habits.) He’d never been on the second-class carriage before. His only train rides had been in first-class on the westbound train to visit his grandparents in Mirrorlight, and he was excited.
He hugged his mother and turned to his father, prepared to defend himself one last time. But Adan looked resigned. “Luca, this is foolish,” he said matter-of-factly. Luca only nodded, smiling, more fond than annoyed of the argument at this point. “But I am proud of you. You have the spirit of the dawn of the Fourth Age in you, going out on your own to the wild to claw out your own place. It’s not to better the cause of the Lightweaver, of course –” that would have been truly respectable, to join the Exalted, but he left that unsaid, “but it is… brave. You are brave, son. Foolhardy. And brave. Which is the same thing, probably.”
Luca was touched. “Thank you,” he said, subdued.
Adan nodded. He reached into one of the small pockets attached to the satchel that carried his pearl, which looked recently polished, and retrieved a small object wrapped in silk. Unfolding the silk, he revealed a gold ring with a small circle of inlaid pearl. “I intended to give you this when you graduated university,” he began, trailing off as if he regretted starting by mentioning that. “It’s from my pearl, you know; you’re not a pearlcatcher, so it’s… traditional.”
Luca knew. He had embraced his father and said a fond farewell to Robul, Adan had muttered about impropriety and lowering one’s class one last time, Luca’s mother made him promise to write, and Luca had gone from the wide and airy illuminated glass cathedral that was Sun’s Throne station to the dark, close noisiness of the train carriage. He sat in his unfurnished compartment for a few minutes, bought his travel cushion, and, feeling a turmoil of excitement and trepidation, watched the huge city of Beacon’s Gate disappear in the morning light.
#flight rising#luca#pod's garden#fr lore#i know i already posted this story but now it has pictures#really messy ones#my art
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Lurean specialty groups and cuisine
Bonegnawers- Ferocious warriors dedicated to the god Barak. The Bonegnawers in their off time are often painters,artisans and philosophers enjoying mead and passing the days by. In battle the Bonegnawer is among the most destructive and hardy warriors. The Bonegnawer studies the art of rage and zen. this leads them to unlock what's known as furies and stances. These have dramatic effects on the gnawers from growing bark to protect them, causing lightning to arc off there bodies or even cackle madly enough to mess with the perception of reality to those around them.
Ashen guard- The ashen guards are devoted to the great goddess Sylvana, the guard represent the fallen seasons. Some other cultures like to refer to them as black guard,dread knights and other monikers. the ashen guard are the final defenders of the most sacred groves of the forest's and will defend them vigorously. They are imbued with poison,self healing armor and plant like properties to become one with the forest and there sacred goddess.
Chaos weavers- Chaos weavers are very understood devotes of Laviticus. The weavers seek to understand all and have unnerving personalities often referred to as stark raven mad even by their fellow lurea. But many inventions and advancements in the lurean culture are derived from the weavers along with understanding of advanced tech other races use and how to defeat it. The think tanks of chaos weavers are a scrambling hoard of misunderstood ravings that in its awkwardness is utterly brilliant.
Soothers/bards- The soothers/bards play a very unique role in society dedicated to their great goddess Oxana. At their core they are there to relax there fellows. The soothers and bard's work out of a local establishment often referred to as the lupa den under the elder lupa. They play many roles in their community, storytellers, musicians, game masters, prostitutes, conversationalists, therapists and more. They relax the heart,mind and bodies of those who seek their presence. Sometimes the soother might merely give a song, other times the bard might perform a sultry dance, host a night of fun games or leave you strapped to a bed every muscle sore in the ecstasy of your release. The soothers and bards are multi-talented and aim to please their clients to there fullest. The comfort of one of these individuals is a common practice in most villages to the point of being an accepted form of consul. They hold high respect in any community they reside in
The coven- The coven are mages dedicated to the goddess lira. They seek to unravel the mysteries of magic,the nexus and life itself. They praise lira's self exile of the culture and often live on the fringes of society, almost the cousin to the chaos weavers. when one is in need of esoteric knowledge, remedies or assistance none need look further than their local coven.
Oracles/Augers- Oracles and augers are guides of the lurea worshiping the virgin goddess Orianna. Due to the sanctity of the the goddess only virgin woman and eunic men can pursue the path of the oracle leading many men to prefer the role of auger. Oracles live secluded lives among sacred groves often protected by ahsen guard. They help to predict the future from visions given to them by their goddess or induced by oh so reliable liquids and berries most would not dare eat. The augers take a more active role in society learning to read the weather, birds and state of the world to make key predictions to the natural state fo things like knowing when a key wind will change and when the ebb and flow of mana comes to an area.
Plain stalkers- Though not a specialty group but another form of community/ the plain stalkers have left the forest life to live among the rolling hills and plains of the world. they have built mighty structures,aqueducts and are vigorous in their pursuit of trade and engineering inspired by their patron god Porthos and ambitious like the vigilant god Sondiver.
Frost backs- Another group who isn't necessarily specialists but take to the high winter mt's. They live in a low oxygen, extremely cold climate often moving around as nomads in their frigid homes. there set up camps for weeks or months before seemingly just packing up and moving along to a new spot. Many of the main lurea consider them an oddity but respect their survival capabilities and always appreciate the aid there willing to give.
Cooking-
If one thing can be said about the lurea food, It's delicious, enjoy it. Do not ask what's in it.
Common proteins-Scalagia hound- The meat is pretty tough and bland on its own. But the meat having the lack of flavor it does tends to absorb the flavors of spices added to the dish making it an incredibly versatile meat.
Scarland- Scarland meat is a putrid dish not often consumed even by the lurea themselves. Due to the scarlands notorious deadliness though they will make dishes from it to the warriors who slayed the beast to honor the hunters and monster. Most of the creature though goes into crafting weapons,armor and religious purposes.
Hell scarab- The outer parts of the scarab are used to produce high grade armor and defensive equipment of the lurea. But the beast is a mammoth of a monster, the internal bits are harvested and preserved to make a wide range of cuisine. The amount of food that can be prepared from these mighty beasts makes it one the most stable form of meat in the society.
Spider eggs- The lurea have tamed and made use of giant spider mounts as a form of cavalry. The eggs the spiders lay are not always fertilized and will often be harvested by the lurea to use in cooking. They are high in protein,portable and can be prepared in a multitude of ways or even eaten well enough by just heating them. A common snack is to cook the eggs over a fire in a broth letting the eggs absorb the seasonings.
Ridge back boar- The boar's are terrors of the forest and often stay in groups. But occasionally one may stray from the herd or be coerced off on its own. These beasts are sought after delicacies for their meat. tender and rich in fat, the slaying of a ridgeback is usually a feasts for the local community.
Lurea will tend to kill,scavenge and consume almost anything, due to opening of trade with other nations one of the most common commodities coming into lurean land is spices from all over the world. This have lead the lurea to mix cooking styles of various traders who have come through there land.
Fruits,veggies and nuts
The lurea love a wide variety of various additives to their dishes but not all are loved equally or are as ingrained in lurean cuisine. A few examples of commonly used ingredients or staple foods.
Pistachios-these grow rampant among the forest and have been used to mix in with many dishes. they are ground,chopped and made to use in a multitude of ways. Equally eaten by the people and used in creating feed for the war animals.
Hang man's apples- These apples are large and are arguably one of the tastiest apples most traders have ever had. though the grim tale of how to retrieve these apples have lead most to avoid harvesting them and leave it open to trade with the lurea. The tree's of the lurean forest are well known to be semi-sentient and the hangman tree is no exception using its vines to strangle prey. the lurea will feed the tree a recently deceased beast to distract it and harvest its apples.
Needle berries- Needle berries are a common hazard in the forest. These plants are twitchy and tend to explode there berries out with needles when they feel harm coming there way. They are harvested by singing a soothing melody and only taking so many of its berry bunches at a time as to not set off the plant. Once the branches have been removed they lose their ability to fill all living things near by full of sharp needles.
Black brush- A parasitic mushroom that grows rapidly upon the recently deceased bodies of animals and adventurers alike. These plants release noxious fumes when they're not harvested. The lurea have created a symbiotic relationship with a type of iron wood moss grows side by side with the mushrooms using them to filter the toxic gas while they harvest. Garlic/angel tears- Garlic grows in abundance for the species. This is often the one complaint from foreigners is there food often is heavy with garlicky flavor. Diablory- A type of spicy pepper that grows in patches. The dangers of this pepper are used to make some terrifying eye tearing projectiles as much as it is to kick up the lurean dishes spice.
other fruits and vegetable do grow in their forests and are used in the process of cooking but the above tend to be staples of the average diet.
Popular lurean dishes-
Spider egg stew- Made from boiling spider eggs,angel tears,meat, and spiced to taste over a few hours often made to bring to community dinners or for the whole family.
Hang around sandwiches- A paste made from a mix of apple,pistachio and needle berries between two pieces of bread. A common food on the go. Usually kept in a pouch hanging around the waist.
Ridge back roast- Cooked ridgeback boar, with sauteed black brush,cooked angel tears. Often the main course of a fine multi step dinner.
Brush pops- made by hollowing out the caps of black brush and inserting a meat,or paste substance that is then cooked inside.
Egg bites- Similar in brush pops but uses boiled spider eggs instead.
Scalagia jerky or scarab jerky- A day snack for training or going on hikes. Usually served with a mix of nuts and berries on the side.
Scargia-Scarab meat, cooked in a needle berry,angel tear and diablory broth.
Sauteed scarland skin- If one wishes to pray to bucket gods and give them back there bounty.
Nephilim poppers- angel tears cooked inside a diablory.
Red River conquest- A tomato based dish that uses food left over from previous meals and pasta to cook on a day to make use of food that has yet to go bad.
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