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saphirered · 3 years ago

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The Wizard and the Warrior

Boy it’s been busy. Double shifts whenever I’ve been free and uni starting again have really been a hassle but I managed to get in some writing so I hope you enjoy this final instalment of the Eldritch Knight series! Was going to split this one in two parts but didn’t work out so sorry for that. Hope you like it! 😘

You didn’t know what to expect when you were pulled through the world away from the homey Xhorhaus but you definitely didn’t expect the sound of waves in the distance and seagulls, the subtile smell of salt water and sand and an ocean breeze to hit you when you reappeared. Upon your vision taking in the new surroundings you find yourself standing under one of the opal archways looking out over a covered market selling all sorts of goods from street foods and drinks to knickknacks and jewellery, merchants calling for the attention of the people strolling about, negotiating prices or shouting their latest discount to pull in new customers. You’re in Nicodranas.

Essek knew he made the right decision when he sees the joy and excitement on your face. His feet tap the ground and he walks instead of floating, not wanting to draw any more attention that necessary and instead just enjoy these moments with you without the possibility of people finding out who you really are. Today you’d just be normal people without the weight of the world balanced on your shoulders. Today you got to be ordinary tourists exploring a city you otherwise never could. Nobody knows you’d be here.

You stroll about the market arm in arm moving from shop to shop and stand to stand inspecting wares, admiring them and listening to the stories the merchants tried to sell you. Both of you knew better and were able to easily distinguish truth from lies but that didn’t mean you didn’t like playing along every so often.

When you reached near the end of the market square the canopies started leaving gaps and eventually disappeared. Essek did his best to hide his winces whenever the sunlight was particularly bright. The sun was setting but it would still be another hour or so until it was fully set and he might have underestimated the brightness of the light. He didn’t let it bother him and pulled through. The slight discomfort is one-hundred percent worth looking upon your face as you bartered with another merchant.

Essek was partially blinded from where he stood while you browsed the wares of a man selling all sorts of curiosities but he couldn’t really move elsewhere without leaving your side or stepping into the path of walking people so he stuck and stayed relying on his hearing instead. You were bartering with the man as he put prices to the things you showed interest in and you tried to get a better price because you were fully aware you could get something similar if not the same for much cheaper. Essek couldn’t do anything but admire your skill and careful navigation of this encounter showing you had not left your wits with your armour back in Rosohna.

Once you got a good deal you bought your findings; a wide sheer shawl more like a thin blanket to wrap around your shoulders as you knew upon nightfall the breeze could bring a chill, a decorated silver bracelet with an inset purple gem that showed silver specks like stars whenever it caught the light just right and something else… Once done you pulled Essek aside into the full cover of one of the canopies and Essek was thankful for the break.

You’d expected Essek to have broken or admitted to his discomfort before when you noticed him wince every time the canopy lifted upon the wind and allowed the sun to bleed through right where he stood. You knew drow senses are attuned to darker spaces and in turn therefor experience a sensitivity to daylight.

“Will you stop being stubborn and just admit when something bothers you?” You say sternly as Essek rubs his eyes to get rid of the dark spots clouding his vision. When he sees the look you give him he bites his lip in shame. Apparently he hadn’t done such a good job of hiding it after all.

“I may not be able to do anything about the sunlight but I can do this.” You take out a parasol of a dark grey almost black colour with ornate lace designs added to it. It does enough to shield those under from the light and should prevent Essek from experiencing downsides of his drow heritage. Before he can protest you link your arm with his again holding the parasol above the two of you and shield yourselves from the light.

“Don’t worry. You can thank me by providing your company over a meal with me until the sun sets and we can go outside again without you burning off your retinas. I know just the place.” You smile as you begin leading Essek away to a different part of the city. You may not be the most familiar with Nicodranas but you know how to get to most places you’ve been before. You know your way from this market square to the Lavish Chateau so you begin leading Essek in that direction.

“There’s a great fish and chips shop on the way near Tidepeak I don’t think that kind of street food is really your style.” You say as the Tidepeak comes into view.

—————

Meanwhile the Nein and Verin stumble out into the teleportation circle room at the Tidepeak. They cracked the code and figured it out based on the list of places Verin had found among Essek’s notes. They knew exactly where Essek was going so it wouldn’t be much effort to find you two right? What harm has a little spying ever done to anyone? Maybe don’t answer that question. They had come for their own reasons be that to watch an epic romance unravel, dig up some dirt to tease or blackmail either of you with, or simply to keep the others in check.

“Shit. Should we have send a message?” Jester panics looking around for the goblin that usually helps them on their way and informs Yussa of their arrival.

“Not again.” Beau exclaims in exasperation. Yes again. And again they explain to Wensforth this is a matter of the utmost importance and expediency and they couldn’t have sent a message beforehand or lost too much time. Wensforth luckily for them didn’t have it within him to question their strange reasonings as he escorted them out of the tower and left the to their business.

—————

Within the Lavish Chateau you found out Essek had made a reservation and the guards and servers seemed to be extremely welcoming and attentive to the both of you for some reason you raised an eyebrow when a top shelf bottle of wine was brought out and left at your table once your glasses were poured and you awaited your food.

“Do I want to ask how you did all this?” You swirl your finger around gesturing to your surroundings. “Because last I was here, not even the daughter of the Ruby of the Sea and her friends get this kind of attendance.”

“Then perhaps it’s best you don’t ask.” Essek smiles proudly.

“How many of the Nicodranian nobility have cleared their debt with the Dynasty or reminded of their indiscretions then?” You ask giving him a look over your glass as you take a sip of delicious wine. Top shelf really is worth it.

“I thought you weren’t going to ask.” You hook your ankle around his from under the table and pull your leg back, Essek briefly loses balance but not enough to throw him off and fall from his seat. He gives you a disapproving and teasing look as you laugh. Food is served and just like everything, it’s perfect. Essek really put in the work to make this all happen and if the sunlight hadn’t thrown you off his schedule you can’t even fantom what else he had planed for your date. Though, he didn’t seem to mind the change of plans a single bit.

Pleasant conversation about everything and nothing all the same, asking questions so trivial you didn’t think Essek would ever even have been capable of being so relaxed and free of responsibility. When it falls silent for a second and Essek catches you staring at him in thought he studies you closer.

“What?” Essek asks as you hum.

“Just thinking?”

“A copper for your thoughts then?” Essek puts his glass down. He doesn’t want to pry or ask out of turn but he is curious as of what got that dreamy expression on your face when you retreated within your own mind for that moment.

“All of them?” You grin.

“If you are willing to reveal them.” Essek returns to your surprise, fully aware of the meaning behind your words and yet he still plays along. These kind of moments are rare with Essek unless you are completely alone so you’ll revel in the fact that he lets go like he does right now and hope you’d be able to see this side more often.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to get all flustered upon my voicing certain thoughts.” You tease, mischievous look in his eyes as he leans in on his elbows on the table and tilts his head amused.

“Then perhaps keep it limited to your most recent ones? For now at least.” You snort and almost choke on the sip of wine you took bur recover quickly. You definitely didn’t see that one coming.

“Oh so he does play the game in public without shame. You are full of surprises today, aren’t you?” You drop the teasing and turn to your observation. “I was just thinking I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so carefree. I’d love to see this side of you more often if you’ll let me.” The teasing drops from Essek’s face and his expression turns into one of genuine affection.

“I’d love nothing more.” Your glasses are refilled as the crowd begins gathering for the performance of the Ruby of the Sea.

—————

The Mighty Nein and Verin follow Jester leading them from place to place on the list but no matter how much they search they can’t find you. Last they heard you were seen buying some stuff from a merchant and then nothing so they had resorted to going down the list until they’d found you but still nothing. Over an hour had passed and the sun long since set, lanterns lit to lead the ways.

They search high and low following the list Verin had found but don’t find you and Essek anywhere. Nicordanas is a big city and turns out finding a buff pretty person and a hot boi drow are a lot harder to find than they initially thought. So, having given up the search they instead turn to a place to drink and wallow in self pity for not spying on the date. Jester knows just the place… No better place than the Lavish Chateau. Maybe her mom will even perform tonight!

When they reach the Lavish Chateau the crowd’s already gathering but with sheer determination and the threatening of some they make it through and find a table, their drinks served as Jester goes off to say hi to her mom before the performance. Then of course Verin and Beau ask about a couple, describing you and Essek having come through here. Instead they’re pointed to a private table out of the direct sight of the entrance but in full view of what is to be the Ruby’s performance space, and if Beau knows anything, a really really expensive bottle of wine shared between the two of you as you sit around laughing and engaging in happy conversation.

As they watch, Essek and you suddenly being the most interesting thing in the entire room they notice a blush creeping up your face as you twirl one of the flowers in your hair returning an equally daring comment of your own, your fingers dancing over the back of Essek’s hand outstretched towards you until he closes his hand and grasps them. You gasp and giggle as he intwines your fingers with his and you making a comment that sends a deep purple crawling up the wizard’s cheeks. The Nein watch, some swooning at the cuteness, the others in surprise and a hint of disgust akin to that of watching your sibling be sugary sweet romantic with their partner you do not want to witness, and the rest like encouraging friends glad their friends have found happiness within each other.

The performance is about to begin and you spot a blue tiefling running down the stairs as quick as she can darting to one of the tables. You already had the feeling you were being watched for the past fifteen minutes but thought nothing of it as since no action was taken yet and the crowd grew, if it were assassins or the likes again, they’d have come for you before as to not make a scene. Getting confirmation your friends had tracked you to Nicodranas and found you here. You’re not surprised but rather impressed and the addition of what clearly looks like a drow soldier of some repute with features similar to Essek lead you to believe this must be his infamous brother he’d been complaining about plenty of times. You move your chair as if to get a better view of the performance to come and sit right next to Essek. You weren’t the only one who noticed them.

“Do you think they know we know they’re here.” Essek leans into your shoulder as he speaks.

“No. Not this time but if you weren’t so caught up in admiring me you’d have noticed them first.” You lean in closer, whispering into his ear as you speak.

“You are quite distracting.” Essek defends with a laugh.

“I’ve seen Beau and your brother gag and complain twice now. Is this the point where we return the favour and give them a show to remember?” You suggest with a glint of mischief within your eyes.

“How could I refuse?” Essek’s word are enough for you to further provoke the Nein and take it up a notch, or several.

“Tell me if something makes you uncomfortable and I’ll stop.” You halt your teasing and allow your tone to turn more serious. Essek does the same when you do.

“Only if you promise to do the same.” Essek doesn’t know if it’s the wine or your shared desire to make them suffer for interrupting your date like they did. Probably the latter. Most definitely the latter. Let them squirm.

The Ruby comes down the stairs singing and everyone hangs onto her every word, her entire being like she’s a siren from the depths ready to lure in hopeless sailors. As her performance continues you move yourself closer to Essek until your sides are pressed together. Essek’s arm wraps around you pulling you close into his side and to your surprise, onto his lap. You lean your head against his shoulder and whisper sweet nothings, as you play with the fingers of his free hand lovingly. You pay attention to the performance, little attention needed for this display of affection as it comes surprisingly natural and unrestrained to the both of you.

You lift your head and lean towards Essek, but an inch away from his lips, making eye contact as you whisper something to him but the Nein can’t hear over the singing and you’re too far away to lip read for anyone. It’s so frustrating but holy hells, they never knew Essek had a romantic bone in his body, let alone the guts to drop his composed and emotionally constipated side completely around you. They definitely didn’t see this coming and even Beau could relate to Jester’s possible ideas of turning this into some kind of smutty romance novel because that’s what it looked like.

When you leaned back, always teasing and never close enough to actually kiss, you watched the performance more. Both you and Essek admired the show the Ruby was putting on. Her song as beautiful as she is but you might have connected with her a little more than anyone else in the room because when she passed your table and saw you and Essek she gave you a knowing smile. A knowing smile that showed she knew exactly when a performance was being put on, the courtesan’s ability to read people shining through once more when she winked at you before she turned around and found her way to the table of the Nein, distracting them from you and pulling the attention to herself.

Essek was surprised and didn’t really know what to make of what just happened but next he knows he’s being pulled away from his seat by you and dragged to a side exit, abandoning the table mid performance. Out in the street you take off running and then it hits him; a moment of privacy. You played everyone, even him in the end when you appeared to have your attention fully on the Ruby of the Sea but instead you had a nonverbal agreement with the woman. Regardless of his thoughts you kept running towards the eastern edge of the city, through the gates and to the beach. Freedom.

The moon and stars and city lights within the walls as your light source you pulled Essek along to the shoreline, laughing your asses off. You’ll have to remember to give Marion a big thanks next time you see her. Once safely away from the city sure you’re far enough away from the city you slow your pace and walk side by side along the beach.

“As clever as ever.” Essek compliments as you bump your shoulder into his with a grin. You offer Essek a hand as you climb over some rocks blocking your path. Essek takes it but instead of climbing he just hoovers over without any difficulty.

“While, I’d gladly take credit I think you deserve at least half. Did you see the looks on their faces?” Your laughter rings like chimes in reminisce of your friends. It’s music to Essek’s ears.

“I could never forget.” You stop and lower yourself onto the sand, gently pulling Essek’s arm inviting him to join. He does and sits down next to you as stare at him.

“Today was a good day. We should do this more often.” You sigh in content. There’s just something about the drow and the starry night sky behind him that makes him look so ethereal, you could look at him for ages and never get bored.

“Being run out of a city by our friends for a moment of privacy?” Essek deadpans and you playfully shove him.

“While it was certainly eventful I think I could do without uninvited company next time.” In comfortable silence you both watch the view. Moon reflecting on the ocean, sound of gentle push and pull of the water against the shore and the thousands of stars scattered throughout the sky giving the both of you a sense of warmth and comfort.

“You certainly found your courage tonight. I never thought you capable of such intimate displays of affection.” You comment and Essek turns his gaze to you. Despite the low light you notice the slight darkening of his cheeks a he takes in a breath.

“I partially blame the determination to push my brother’s buttons.” You snort.

“And the other part?” Essek decides to humour you with and answer even though you hadn’t expected one.

“You, as my partner in crime as some might say, made it easy to put on such a display. Though, I will admit to not being so open and frivolous in my affection with an audience, I did enjoy them nonetheless.”

“Well then, I’m glad my frivolous affection brings you joy.” You say and Essek is about to correct himself for his words but stops when he notices you holding back your smile. You know exactly what he meant and when Essek notices it’s his turn to gently shove you. You gasp even though you’re physically unmoved.

“Aren’y you all courage tonight? Careful now or I’ll toss you into the ocean.” You jest.

“It seems both of us have not been lacking any courage this night.” Essek comments and he’s right. With the antics of the day, and your grand escape, you might never have had it been any other situation. You really did enjoy it and wouldn’t change a single thing. Well, maybe add something but there’s no time like the present so maybe you’ll just ask.

“Then, in a bout of courage, I will ask you this. May I kiss you?” Essek does a double take in case he heard your words wrong but the expression written all over you confirms he has in fact heard you loud and clear. Still he doesn’t miss a beat in his answer. He’s already made up his min.

“You certainly may.” With that you close your eyes and lean in placing your lips onto Essek’s in a gentle kiss. No pretend, no faked lust or intimacy but honest, clear and unrestrained emotion. When you pull away you’re both smiling like fools.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” You whisper as Essek leans in carefully to kiss you this time, lips moving together in a slightly deeper kiss. His hand finds your cheek holding your face lightly caressing a thumb over your cheekbone.

“I could say the same.” Essek speaks when you pull apart for a moment, foreheads leaning against each other. Many more kisses follow, varying from gentle and sweet to passionate and deep, whatever suits your needs. You have no intention of getting off this beach near Nicodranas any time soon nor do you have anywhere to be so here you’ll stay enjoying each other’s company until the sun rises.

From behind the rocks not too far away, eight people watch the wizard and the warrior finally do what some of them had hoped they would in the months they’ve gotten closer. Others are turning away while maybe peaking through at times, solely to see their friends happy with each other despite the chaos of the world but not without going right back to quieting their gagging noises of ‘not wanting to see the people who they consider their family making out’.

“Oh my god! This is going to be so good, you guys. They’re so cute!” Jester whispers already taking notes and working out the story in her head. It’s going to be an epic love tale of two star-crossed lovers for sure. Maybe she can question you on the more spicier details later, get this book to sell at the Chastity's Nook some day?

“Ugh. Let’s go. I can’t watch this any longer. Drinks?” Verin doesn’t resist and follows Beau, Yasha and Fjord back to Nicodranas. Caduceus has a bit more difficult of a time to drag the cleric and rogue away as the latter enabling her actions instead of giving you some much deserved privacy. He succeeds eventually leaving you and Essek behind to enjoy the rest of your night with a smile. Nothing better than people finding their own happiness.

#critical role x reader #critrole x reader #mighty nein x reader #essek x reader #essek thelyss x reader

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creativeashproductions · 4 years ago

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A Distant Dream V // Luke Patterson

Summary: In 1994 seventeen-year-old Luke Patterson had once again tried to ask out the girl that held his heart. With the belief he would see the younger Mercer girl the next morning he decides to wait confess his feelings. Only to have soft music bewitched the reader into an antique wardrobe with lots of history.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, heartbreak, fluff, talk of death and fluff.

Words: 4.4k

A/N: We’ve come to the end of the Distant Dream mini-series. I truly enjoyed writing this with my whole heart. @merceret I told you I’d use Lucy’s Cordial somewhere in the series. All parts are located in the linked masterlist.

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Masterlist

The massive changes between the ’90s and 2021 slowly but surely started no longer seemed startling as it had been at first. Carlos had helped you assimilate to homeschooling once he’d admitted he knew about the boys. Ray was still kept in the dark.

2020 ended on a high note. Mostly. With the years in Narnia providing you with the knowledge you flew through schooling. Then you took a job as a waitress at a coffee shop, one similar to the shop the band performed in. The downside to the end of the year was for the band.

Despite performing at the Orpheum, the band hadn’t received as much traction as Luke had desired. They were a step closer to the dream but not as far as the entire band had wished. During Julie’s Christmas break, Luke had overworked the band with little breaks.

“Hide me.” Julie hissed from behind the counter of Ancient Grounds. The Puerto Rican musician escaped the studio to have lunch with you.

Unfortunately, Julie failed to see that without the entire band together, Luke would go to what makes him just as happy. You. That’s precisely what happened as Luke walked in through the entrance of the coffee shop.

“He’s still pushing more practice?” You asked, stacking the clean mugs on the shelf with complete focus. How odd it is to go from being Queen to working in a city as a waitress.

“I love him like a brother, but I feel like my fingers are gonna fall off from playing the piano constantly.” Julie sighed, sliding down the counter to sit on the floor hidden from the approaching guitarist and from your manager.

“Hey!” Luke grinned once his hands fell on the counter to lean over on the balls of his feet. His lips pressed against your right cheek before he fell back onto his feet.

Not a single soul in the half-full Ancient Grounds batted an eye to your awkward stance when Luke kissed you. Not since the boys had become tangible and visible to the general public when they wanted.

“Look to decide to grace me with his presence.” You teased. Your foot nudged Julie in her thigh to urge her to crawl to the end of the counter.

“I have no clue where Julie is. Reggie dipped to join Ray in his errands, and Alex is somewhere.” Luke shrugged, stepping aside when an older gentleman dropped a tip in the jar before leaving.

“Pick a number.” You told the male with one of your dimples on display.

“Eleven,” Luke responded, bouncing on the balls of his feet at the regular game you played together.

Each visit, you’d split a dessert from the menu with Luke along with his favourite mug of tea and your drink of choice; even he knew he didn’t need caffeine with his energy. That was Luke’s favourite thing of being brought half alive from the golden glow they’d received. You were sure Reggie had cried upon eating your Tia’s best recipe.

“Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake. A limited-edition from our Worldwide Treat menu. It’s Canada’s month.”

Luke followed to the counter’s end, where the sweets were kept on a glass viewing shelf. With careful movements, you slid a perfect triangle of the cheesecake onto a beautiful plate. The half-ghost retrieved it to your favourite spot in the garden patio. Julie used the time to sneak out the door with Luke’s back to her.

“What is a Nanaimo Bar?” Luke questioned upon you joining him at the iron-wrought table. One teacup accompanied by a teapot with Luke’s tea and a mug of your drink on an emerald tray.

“It’s a no-bake dessert. The base is a chocolate graham cracker and coconut base with the middle layer a cream filling. The top layer is a thin layer of semi-sweet chocolate.”

Luken nodded, “Ancient Grounds loves cheesecakes.”

“Addie adores inventing new versions of cheesecake. Her best is the Creamsicle Cheesecake during the summer. A staple on the menu.” You responded with a twinkle in your eye. You may not look like the Queen you once were, but you were just as invested in learning about people as you’d done with the Narnians.

“What’s your favourite dessert?” Luke questioned.

“I’m pretty partial to the chocolate cookies Addie makes.” You grinned, leaning closer to the male across from you. You hesitated in continuing, “In Narnia, the pastry chef Cair Paravel employed always had these gorgeous desserts with Edmund in mind. Turkish Delights with a secret ingredient.”

Luke’s smile grew as you talked about the other home you had. A place you rarely spoke about now. You hadn’t even returned to the basement to see the wardrobe like you had before.

“I wish I could have seen Cair Paravel. It always sounds so magical when you talk about it.” Luke’s tone was wistful paired with the twinkle of his hazel eyes.

“It’s a breathtaking place. Everything is lively in Narnia, and after the Witch was defeated, we ruled peacefully for the most part.” Your e/c eyes unfocused on your surroundings to recall all the wonderful times spent in Narnia.

The times you shared a table with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver in their home over the years snacking on the homemade jams. To the times you listened to Mr. Tumnus playing everchanging lullabies on his flute. Even walking the beaches with Lucy in hopes of catching sight of Aslan again. Of gossiping with Susan over the many suitors that came for her hand.

“If you could do it all over again knowing the outcome, would you still do it?” Luke questioned with a tilt of his head. He’d shed the flannel jacket as the sun rose higher in the sky.

You nodded, “Absolutely. The Pevensies were some of the greatest friends one could ever hope to have.”

As usual, Peter wasn’t spoken of in light of the ache that resonated in your heart and the awkwardness Luke felt. A poor choice of avoiding your once husband instead of communicating on the topic.

“Have you ever thought of trying to find them?”

“No point. Peter would be ninety-seven now as the oldest, and Lucy would be eighty-nine. If I recall, it was 1940 for them when we went to Narnia. It’s possible Peter may have joined the war in ’42 when he was eighteen, so who knows if he lived.” Luke was surprised by the nonchalant reaction to the potentially grim outlook on your former in-laws.

However, Luke knew the truth, that you greatly missed the four people who became family during your disappearance. You could fool Julie and Reggie, but you could never fool Alex or Luke no matter how much you tried.

“I’ll see you at home? My break ended.” You swiftly cut off any more talking of your former life. Luke merely watched as you stacked the dirty dishes, only leaving Luke’s cup and teapot.

“I should get back. Julie’s most likely back in the garage from sneaking back.” Luke’s hand pushed through his messy curtain of brunette hair. His words revealing that he’d known Julie had been in Ancient Grounds the entire time.

“How’d-”

“When she sits on the floor, she taps the heel of her shoe on the floor. Same rhythm.” Luke smirked as he chugged the last of the tea, “Don’t tell her. I like when she fights a smug smile with that certain light in her eyes.”

The brotherly role Luke had taken on with the Molina girl was heartwarming, to say the least. Sometimes Julie would begrudgingly ask for advice about her feelings for Nick to Luke’s amusement. He adored being able to tease her.

“I’ll see you later.”

The boy dropped the correct change for the tea on his way out the door into the bright sunlight. Like clockwork, he’d turn into the alley to become intangible to poof back to the studio.

The rest of the day passed by like a breeze in the coffee shop with the late lunch rush and then the dinner rush the busiest time. Jess gave you a ride home in her truck as usual with a promise of a cupcake of Julie’s as payment.

“Did you see him?”

The sudden voice startled you so much your hand couldn’t help but grasp at empty air by your side. Alex screeched as you swung to face him on the Molina driveway.

“Alex! Good Aslan, you startled me.”

“...were you reaching for a sword?” Alex questioned, appalled by your reaction. Your e/c eyes rolled in response.

“Isn’t the saying old habits die hard?” You prodded the baby blue of Alex’s long sleeve shirt. One of the shirts you’d often stolen from him, “And no. I didn’t see Willie.”

Your heart clenched as soon as Alex’s shoulders dropped in defeat once more at the absence of the skater. It had been months now with little sightings of the skater you had yet to meet. The boys kept your presence on the down-low to avoid Caleb’s interest.

“I hope he’s okay,” Alex muttered under his breath. The elder Mercer began gnawing his lower lip in worry.

Gently you interlaced your hand with his hand, his deft fingers playing with the braided bracelets on your wrist. The bracelets had been a Christmas gift from Julie and Flynn with the colours of the sunrise. It grounded Alex more often than not.

“You told me the Club travels around the world. Maybe Caleb’s not in America; maybe his ego needs to recover from his loss.” You shrugged, tugging the teenager into the house. Ray barely waved from his work computer.

Ray Molina had welcomed Alex, Reggie and Luke into the family when he met them in person the day after the Orpheum performance. He’d accepted that Alex was your older brother and had been in Switzerland for boarding school. He understood that Luke and Reggie came as a package deal with Alex, so the boys had worked to clean out the basement.

A few visits to second-hand doors brought furniture for the basement renovated into the boys’ shared suite. Alex still spent most nights in your room; he still feared you'd disappear from his life again.

“I hope you’re right.” Alex muttered in false hope that something would go his way for once, “Oh! The band received an invitation to some underground music festival in England during spring break. We’re hoping to convince Ray and Julie’s aunt to let us go.”

And you could see the band practices would be growing for that breakthrough with the band. And you were correct in your guess merely hours after going to sleep.

At five in the damn morning, Luke burst into your attic bedroom to drag your less than enthusiastic brother from his sleep. You bet your ass you hit the teen in the face with your pillow, which meant you had to crawl out of bed to retrieve the pillow.

“Asshole!” Alex exclaimed as Luke roughly poofed both of them to the studio. Julie swaying sleepily in her sweater and pyjama pants, waiting for the two.

Spring Break 2021 (March 26-April 2)

The youngest member of the tourists proudly displayed her smile, catching sight of the bed and breakfast in the English countryside. Julie had been floored when Ray had given his permission to the foreign festival.

Ray couldn’t hide his excitement for the band, plus all-expense paid, receiving the invite via a relatively small record company.

“First birthday back together,” Luke spoke from your side. Hands intertwined together in the cool wind of England. His arms were covered by his flannel coat in the unfavourable weather of the day.

You hummed, “Never thought I’d be celebrating my seventeenth birthday in England during 2021. Besides, I’ve already been seventeen.”

“I always knew I’d bring you to all the countries in the world.” Luke’s tone was matter of fact, staring at the stage being built under a woman’s guidance in her mid-30s.

The bed and breakfast had a lovely history your tour guide Martin had enthusiastically told on the train ride from the city.

The man with spry greying hair pointed towards the old train station providing facts that interested most of the group. Luke’s arm tossed over your shoulder focused on the songbook, a new one, open in lap. Luke and you had slowly but surely evolved from shy brushes of skin to holding hands and then Luke’s arm over your shoulder. Chaste kisses on cheeks while you reassimilated into the dating world.

“In 1940, this train station deployed countless trains filled with evacuating children away from London during the Blitz. Filled with returning soldiers, mothers sending children to safety and children were torn from all they knew. Each child had a tag to identify them.” Martin explained intently, speaking to the group his organization had assigned him to.

“Where did they go?” Reggie curled into the travel blanket he’d bought specifically for the trip.

“Anywhere safe for them and where they could be cared for.”

“This route is one of many the evacuations used. The bed and breakfast we’re heading to holds a great history as well. It was once the Manor of Professor Digory Kirke during his life and passed down through generations throug-”

Martin’s story faded into the black abyss as sleep took you over by the soothing motion of the train and Luke’s warmth. Luke met the gaze of Alex. The two guys shared a sweet smile solely for the relaxed features of the younger Mercer.

“This is just another step in our journey for Julie and the Phantoms.” Your words warmed Luke Luke when he noticed you cemented your position in his life. You saw yourself in the future of Julie and the Phantoms as a faithful supporter and friend.

“Luke Patterson, correct? I’m Eva.” Your eyes widened, meeting the eyes that reminded you of someone. Just on the tip of your tongue, “My wife Diana will be a few minutes. We’re still getting the stage put together.”

“It’s so nice to meet you. How many people are you expecting?” Luke questioned the older woman. His mind snapped into business mode for the band.

“This is our fourth year putting on the festival at this location. This is the first year we added a wild card option for fans to vote on. Your band rocketed ahead of the other bands.” Eva explained, keeping her eyes on the woman you dubbed as Diana. The pure love in Eva’s eyes is a call to the yearning in your chest.

“I thought a recor-”

“Technically, yes, a record company flew you out. Diana started a small record label a few years back. Cair Oom Records. She’s the first person in both our families to step into a non-traditional career.” Eva explained to the now interesting young couple.

Luke was interested in the record label’s history, whereas you focused on the label’s name. Cair Oom. A call to your Narnia days you remembered.

“Cair Oom?” You interrupted the conversation in pure curiosity. Your eyes drinking in the features of Eva, her freckles and brown eyes mirroring a person from your past.

“The label name?” Eva continued once you nodded in response, “It’s from a childhood story my family passed down. Diana was close to my great-aunt before we moved out here to run the bed and breakfast.”

“Of a dream of a dream. Spare Oom.” It was whispered in the breeze straight in your ear of a voice you vividly recalled—the disembodied voice with the same freckles as Eva but with chocolate brown hair instead of strawberry blonde.

“Y/N? You coming?” Luke’s concerned hazel eyes bore into your distant ones wandering the hills of the property. You hadn’t even noticed Eva leaving towards the Manor.

Your e/c eyes search for the owner of the youthful voice but come up empty. The only people you saw included your group with the odd workers setting up under Diana’s supervision.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Luke stepped right up in front of you, “You’ve been out of it since Eva mentioned the record label.”

“I’m fine. I’ll be right back.” You mumbled, following the woman up the path. Luke stared lost as you disappeared into the door. Eva entered.

The woman stood outside a door within the home, “I never knew what she meant. Not until I saw you Y/N.”

Your foot stumbled back when Eva turned with a soft smile you vividly recalled on a certain Pevensie. Eva unlocked the door to a room with only a picture hung on the wall.

“Narnia.” You breathed, stepping right up to the detailed painting of Cair Paravel. Your fingers tracing the beautiful frame holding it up.

“Correct. My Great-Aunt, in her adult life, adored painting in her past time. It was rare she told Narnian stories, but my mother loved them so much she told them to me as a child.

“Who’s your-”

“My name is Lucy Eva Baker. I was named after my other Great-Aunt, but I prefer going by Eva.” Eva’s words pulled a deep gasp from your throat. Tears building as the truth settled in the room.

Eva shared the same smile and brown eyes as Edmund Pevensie did, even the mature aura wrapped around her. The maturity Edmund had grown into during the fifteen years in Narnia. Without a shadow of a doubt, Eva Baker was the granddaughter of your former brother-in-law.

“Your-”

“Edmund’s granddaughter.” Eva finished with a sympathetic smile, “You featured heavily in each story. I always knew Narnia wasn’t merely a story.”

And then the conversation stuttered when you finally noticed Eva spoke mostly of learning of everything by her mom and Susan. Not a mention passed Edmund being her granddad. A piece of your heart broke, and it seemed the older woman saw it happen.

“W-what happened to…” You couldn’t even choke the question out in the room. Eva’s hand reached out to grasp yours in her own hand.

“I can’t tell you much as that reason that will become clear but in 1949 just shortly before my mom was born there was an accident. Grandpa Edmund and Peter were waiting for the train at the station. The train wrecked, killing the train occupants and many people in the station.” Eva was quick to catch you as a piercing grief-stricken scream exploded in the room.

In the Manor’s tea room, the band and Ray enjoyed a genuine tea time with Diana. Ray and Diana traded stories of their young sons while Reggie restrained himself to savour the food. English tea time begging for genuine manners.

Luke raised his cup to lips before it dropped to the saucer upon an exploding anguished wail from upstairs. Thankfully the cup didn’t break as the American guitarist sprung himself in the direction of the wails—Alex hot on his heels with a call to his friends.

Your screaming drowned out the furious stomps of feet racing in the halls of the Manor to the entrance of the room. Luke’s heart shattered at the pure anguish coating your broken features. Alex roughly pushed his way to tug you into his arms.

Alex’s large hand cupped the back of your head while he rocked you in his arms, “Shh. Let it out.”

“No!” You screamed into Alex’s shoulder. You couldn’t acknowledge Luke’s comforting hand on your shoulder, “N-no.”

“I got you. I’m here. I’ll always be here.” Alex murmured in your ear so softly you almost didn’t catch what he said. Luke dropped to his knees by your side. The three teens unaware as Eva excused herself for your privacy. Eva had watched her great-aunt Susan break every time she spoke of her late siblings.

Seconds passed or maybe years as it seemed to happen to you. But soon, you simply rested against Alex staring at Susan’s painting. Barely blinking in the room causing you suffering. You barely responded to anyone as you battled the grief. You faded in and out of daydreams as the bands performed. Days mixed together. Time didn’t exist to you. You were aware enough when Julie and Ray invited you to shop in London.

To everyone, including your surprise, you agreed. The three half ghosts joining in fear you’d shatter again. Eva and Diana held hands watching the car disappear in the distance carrying a group of musicians. An echo of Eva’s words replacing in the back of your mind.

“Three of five drink at high tide. Four of nine and five of nine stand apart by time. A drop of Valiant’s potion will begin the time once before frozen.”

“Are they-”

“Yes.” Eva spoke before her wife could finish the sentence, “She’ll be returning to Narnia. Decades separating her from the Pevensie siblings.”

Eva was correct. At the station, the location was painful as it was Lucy, Peter and Edmund’s last place they’d been alive. Ray disappeared to use the restroom, leaving the five teenagers to wait for the adult.

“Ouch!” You exclaimed, rubbing a spot on your arm with a grimace. Your eyes glaring at your tall older brother, “Don’t pinch me!”

Alex shook his head, “I didn’t pinch you!”

“Luke!” Reggie squealed, jumping away from the guitarist with a pout on his full lips. The bassist rubbing his stinging cheek, “These cheeks are reserved for my Grannie!”

Luke scoffed at his friend, “Why would I risk the chance of you biting off my finger Reginald?”

“We have bigger problems than whose pinching us! I’m losing my damn mind! First three himbos fall out of nowhere, then a girl trips out a magic wardrobe and now this!” Julie snapped, staring at their environment in the train station tunnel, “I need to be committed!”

You watched breathlessly as a strong gale storm literally tore pieces of the train and the walls of the station apart. Through the train windows, you watched as a bright blue sky increasingly grew. The colour is so clear and vivid in only one place you knew.

The train blew by. The wall behind you changed into stone—the floor into the sand.

“What the fuck?” Alex demanded, twirling around on the new scenery of a beach in what was supposed to be a train station. The poor male kept being thrown off-kilter since the alley in 1995.

You knew deep in your heart where you were. Especially when four people of different heights stood with their backs to you. One individual, the shortest, turns upon feeling eyes on her back. And at the same time, you spoke.

“Lucy!”

“Y/N!”

The two girls ran straight into each other’s arms sobbing in elation and relief at finally seeing each other after a long year apart. The seven additional people who joined the duo collapsed on the ground. Alex cleared his throat.

“Y/N? Are you going to intro-”

“That’s Queen Y/N.” Peter snapped towards the stranger with a pink sweater on. Peter could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen a man wear pink.

“That’s my sister.” Alex snapped, standing at his full six-foot height, pinning a glare on the other teenager. Peter scoffed in response. His face faltering upon finding your hand encased in a male shorter than the blonde.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Peter knew this man was the unseen third person that filled every conversation and room between Peter and Y/N. Peter was very much aware that you weren’t in love with him. He lived with the knowledge for a decade, pretending it was he that you deeply loved. Seeing the person holding your heart hurt.

“This is my brother Alex Mercer and our friends Julie Molina, Reggie Peters and my...this is Luke Patterson.” You gestured to each of them; the Puerto Rican musician shell shocked. Julie now knew why that talking lion you spoke of sounded familiar. Narnia had seen one other visitor years before Julie was born.

Rose Molina’s bedtime stories for her children involved a lion named Aslan and a magical wardrobe made from a special tree. Julie recalled the feeling Narnia birthed if in the world as Rose described it.

“Mercer as in...?” Edmund trailed off slowly.

“My horse. Yes. I guess subconsciously, I still remembered where I came from.”

“These are my friends Susan, Edmund, Lucy and...Peter.” You softly spoke of the eldest Pevensie. His blue eyes sadly meeting yours.

A fondness growing at the sight but a pain blossoming at the heartbreak in his features. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see Peter had put two and two together on who Luke was to you. And while Peter desired to fight for you, he knew it was a lost cause; time cruelly separated you outside the world of Narnia. You both deserved happiness, so with great pain, Peter let you go.

“C’mon!” Lucy shouted, racing out of the cave on the bright sunny beach. The rest hot on the heels of the youngest member of the conjoined group. As you all goofed around on the beach, you told the Pevensie family all about Julie and the boys.

“Welcome to Narnia, my love.” You murmured to the boy that held your heart in his gentle hands. Luke Patterson beamed. He finally got the girl of his dreams and visited the place you hold dear.

The fun aspect of being in Narnia with both of your family came to a halt when you discovered the ruins. Cair Paravel had become a pile of broken stone and sadness. Not a single Narnian in the distance nor the Beavers or Mr. Tumnus.

“What?”

Julie and the boys’ presence became static in the background while the former Narnia royalty pursued through the ruins. They found the chessboard and the gifts Father Christmas gave them during the Winter Revolution.

Something clicked within Lucy as she almost robotically walked to each half-dead boy with her Cordial in hand. The room went silent as Lucy fed each phantom a drop of the medicinal potion. As soon as Alex closed his mouth, all three boys were enveloped in a blinding silver light.

And the true magic happened. For the first time in twenty-six years, three hearts began pumping blood. A previously frozen clock began beating to the sound of those hearts. The magic of Queen Lucy’s Cordial finished what Julie had started; the three formerly half head phantoms became living humans once more.

What a magical place the world of Narnia is.

(Above is the teacup and pot Luke uses in the Ancient Grounds coffee shop!)

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magioftheseas · 3 years ago

Text

The Capital Magical Defense Force

For @oumota-events

DAY 1: Magical Boys AU

Rating: T+

Warnings: Violence, blood, death mentioned, darker implications. Yeah it’s one of those magical au. The daaaaark subversions.

Notes: This is the longest one because we’re starting off with a big bang~ It’s not that long though. It’s just not a ficlet unlike the others. I did really enjoy writing this though. It’s a pretty...fun...au. Yeah. Haha.

Ao3 Link

In just about every world, there are unseen forces to make sure a system works a certain way. That the cogs in the machine turn without fail and that any disturbances are dealt with promptly. These unseen forces can be mundane and dull—but they can also be fantastical...while still incredibly dull.

In this instance, there are two worlds. The dull, mundane one and the dull, fantastical one. The only way to transverse is through contracts between the respective denizens, and it turns out that said contracts are necessary to keep everything in order.

There are benefits, truly. If one world collapses, the other is taken with it. It is within everyone’s best interest that the denizens work together—even if certain manipulations need to be made. After all, the greater good is such a vague and nebulous concept. It’s more encouraging to offer personal gains.

Like, for example, keeping someone alive, be it from sickness or the aftereffects of a horrible, terrible, despairing accident. The desire to live is a powerful force shared among many, both dim-witted and intelligent. It’s an efficient deal to make, especially when the other side of the exchange is not only responsibilities, but special, magical abilities to deal with those responsibilities.

Shame, then, that one particular being blessed with those abilities, those responsibilities, that gift of survival...doesn’t seem to fully appreciate it. Certain arrangements have been made. That being has been assigned to the same areas as another being of a similar caliber, but far more keen to do what must be done.

This is as much an experiment as it is an effort to keep matters under control. Observations are to be as follows...

“In the name of the stars, I’m gonna kick your fucking ass!!”

The town hero known as Starboy was being filmed again. Floating about, sending so-called comet punch after comet punch. The monster squealed under the abuse, but it didn’t squeal as much as that fucking eyesore that tailed the magical boy around as he cursed colorfully under his breath.

“This jackass just doesn’t know when to quit!”

“S-Starboy-kun,” the thing whimpered. “Please watch your language! Kids idolize you!”

“Sorry!” Starboy exclaimed, focusing more on the fight thankfully. “It’s just—let me protect the city first!!”

With a battle cry, Starboy summoned all his strength for a starstorm, pummeling the monster more and more until it fizzled out of existence. Starboy was left slumped on the ground and gasping for breath, but still found it in him to whoop for joy.

Unfortunately for him, that moment of victory was short-lived.

“Geeeez, Starboy-chan, I thought you’d really get trampled this time! You didn’t even need any help!” Another magical boy landed on the scene, right next to where the monster had once been and plucking up the fragment which was all that remained.

“H-Hey!” Starboy shouted, more like wheezed. “What the hell—that’s not yours to take!”

“It’s payment for making me worry so much,” he cackled. “You really should be more careful! You don’t want to be killed in the line of duty, now do you?”

Weakened as he was from the fight, dodging Starboy lurching towards him was child’s play.

“D-Dice!!” that eyesore shrieked. “You and Starboy-kun should be working together! Why are you doing this?!”

Dice gave that thing a cold stare, but grinned in Starboy’s direction.

“Because I like you. That’s a lie. I like messing with you. Also a lie! I really—love you, Starboy-chan!”

“Quit messing around!” Starboy gasped. “Y-You—if you need those damn fragments, you don’t have to steal them! You’re a magical boy, aren’t ya?! You should be helping me defend the city! And then I’d split them with ya even!”

Aah. This guy...

“Oh Starboy-chan, I actually, truthfully loathe you,” Dice sighed.

“D-Dice!” the thing shrieked and without looking, Dice had fired a beam that knocked the pitifully contemptible creature out, much to Starboy’s dismay.

“S-SHIROKUMA...!”

Before he could go to help, however, Dice had seized the bow of his uniform, yanking him to not-quite eye level.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’d stop bothering with that thing and join me instead.”

Starboy only scowled.

“Why the hell would I join you when you act like a villain! I-If I could, I’d beat your ass too...!”

Such a remark gets Dice shoving him back, knocking him onto the ground. Starboy glared up at him defiantly, his stare only darkening as Dice grinned.

“It’s a joke, obviously!” he chirped. “After all—what sort of desperate loser would want to ally with an idiot like you?”

Starboy shouted at him, but whatever he shouted, he was already long gone. Starboy shouted again but, being the justice-obsessed type, he switched gears to muster up the strength to go stumbling after the fainted Shirokuma. Scooping the pitiful bear head-looking creature into his hands, Starboy avoided the incoming paparazzi and gracious civilians and rushed off to safety.

The ideal worker. Starboy will be a great boon of energy in the future once his limit is reached.

“Dice is such a fucking dick,” Kaito grumbles, rubbing ointment onto his bruises. “We’re both working for the same thing but for no reason at all, he’s self-serving and a piece of shit.”

He observes himself in the mirror, rubbing at the circles under his eyes. He’s been going at this whole magical boy hero thing for almost a year. It’s getting harder and harder, but for the sake of the city, he can’t give up. He’s its protector, after all.

Still, it’s getting difficult. His wastebasket is filled with bloodied tissue and bandages. Shirokuma, at least, is currently resting in a bucket of warm water. Dice’s attack had been as sudden as it was vicious, and for what?

“Why is he such a dick?” Kaito asks, but Shirokuma hums.

“Some people...are just bad. It can’t be helped. I’m sorry if that sounds despairing, Momota-kun.”

“Bad, huh.”

It’s not the first time he’s gotten that answer. When he describes Dice to his sidekicks, he more or less gets the same response. Harumaki even goes out of her way to call Dice a supervillain, which Shuuichi agrees to, but...

Here’s a secret that no one else knows. The crack in the foundation so painstakingly paved for black and white heroism.

Dice has saved his life more than once. When blood rushed up his throat and his knees buckled in, Dice would swoop in and let him save face. It would be passed off as Dice once again taking advantage of the situation...but it always, always happens when Kaito is facing death head-on.

Dice is a dick. A self-serving piece of shit. Possibly a supervillain.

He’s also definitely looking out for Starboy. It’s happened too consistently for Kaito to be convinced it’s unintentional.

If Dice insists on helping him, then surely he can’t be a bad person...except he still acts like a bad person most of the time.

What a headache.

“Feeling better, Momota-kun?” Shirokuma chirps up at him in that big sweet voice that Kaito can’t say no to, even when he probably should.

“Never better!”

A thumps-up. A wide grin. Doing his damnedest to pretend like his lungs don’t want to collapse in on themselves.

“Starboy-chan is such a fucking idiot.”

Ouma slams his chest of fragments shut. He still hasn’t figured out what the damn things do, but Shirokuma insists on collecting them so they must be important in some sense. Sure, Shirokuma says that it’s something to do with negative energy and restoring balance, blah, blah, blah—but Shirokuma is a piece of shit liar. And Ouma hates liars.

But he thinks he hates Starboy the most. Or, at least, he finds Starboy to be the most frustrating dumbass in the galaxy.

Because it’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s obvious that Shirokuma is shady as all get out. It’s obvious that there is something deeply wrong with the magical boy system. There have been so many disappearances and it’s suspicious as all get out how Starboy in particular is being worked to the bone and pushed to the brink.

There’s something seriously wrong with all of it.

Ouma just needs to figure out what before everything goes wrong.

To become a magical boy, one needs resolve. To encourage magical boys, a wish is often granted to sweeten—and seal the deal. Ouma’s was a cowardly, stupid wish that he’s still kicking himself for to this day, although in hindsight he should be glad it was so simple. The worthless wish to live as everyone else was dead around him.

He’s still haunted by their faces. He should’ve wished for them but couldn’t. He was targeted and tricked, and now he’s stuck. But the least he can do is make everything difficult for those monsters along the way.

Starboy—aka Momota Kaito...well. Ouma doesn’t know what his wish was, but he suspects it’s as stupidly noble and short-sighted as he’s come to expect.

Oh, yes, he knows that Starboy is Momota Kaito. Who wouldn’t know that? They look the same—although Ouma suspects that magic is at play since no civilians have made the connection. Not even Saihara Shuuichi, a would-be detective.

It’s clear, however, that Saihara-chan has noticed the effects.

“This is the fourth time you’ve had to clear your throat, Momota-kun.”

Momota clears his throat again. He musters up a laugh.

“It’s just been dry. No big deal. You worry too much.”

“Gooooooodness, Momota-kun!” Ouma crowed, skipping in. “Are you dying?! Please, please don’t die! I haven’t even gotten to tell you how much I love you!”

Momota recoils when Ouma jumps on him. Saihara shrieks in surprise but Momota only growls as he tries to shake the brat off.

“Let—GO!”

Ouma does, but not without jabbing the back of Momota’s knee and causing him to topple over. Saihara rushes to steady him, shooting Ouma quite the ugly look. Ouma shrugs that off.

“Whatever it is you’re doing is killing you,” he merely states. “So, you should stop lest you traumatize my poor Saihara-chan.”

“I...” Saihara swallowed, looking like he’d hate to agree but when it came to Momota... “You shouldn’t overwork yourself, Momota-kun.”

“I’m fine,” Momota slurred. “Totally fine. I’m a goddamn Luminary, Shuuichi...” He says he’s fine while learning into Saihara. It’s a bright sunny day. People are no doubt stealing glances, and Momota no doubt has to hide his exhausted face in his sidekick’s shoulder. It’s a good thing Harukawa isn’t here.

Ouma scoffed. Saihara shot him another glare.

“If you’re just here to mess with Momota-kun, you can leave.”

Saihara’s hands tighten on Momota. Goodness, it really is like Ouma is the supervillain tormenting the tired hero.

How boring.

Ouma turns heel, smiling as he waves them off.

I shouldn’t bother. I shouldn’t have to bother.

No matter how many times he’s thought that, he ends up in this situation. With Starboy exhausted on the ground and a fragment pinched so firmly between his fingers that it’s this close to embedding itself in the skin. Shirokuma floats around Starboy.

“He’s getting close,” Shirokuma is saying. “He won’t be able to take much more. How despairing. So despairing.”

Ou—Dice swats the thing to the ground. It giggles up at him.

“You can’t save him, you weren’t able to save your other friends. Just give up, Dice-kun. Give into despair.”

It’s laughing, its laughter resounding even as Dice stomps the thing to bits. It’ll just reshape itself and find Momota again. No matter what he does, he can’t get rid of it. It’s part of a damn hivemind after all.

Sighing, Dice goes to Starboy once again, and Starboy is lying there almost prone. Looking painfully pale. His breathing is shallow. At least he’s still alive.

But for how much longer? And what am I even doing wasting my time with this idiot? No matter what I tell him or how bad he gets, he refuses to back down and Shirokuma just eggs him on.

He gets down, rolling Starboy onto his back. Starboy groans and for a moment, he blearily comes to.

“Di...ce... You...again...” There’s a couple of missing words. It’s clearly difficult for Starboy to speak. He groans, eyes screwing shut. When Dice helps him sit up, he coughs and there’s a thin stream of blood that trickles down his chin. “U-Urgh...hurts bad.”

“Well, yeah. You don’t take breaks, idiot.�� Ouma tutted him. “Some of the monsters you take are mooks. You shouldn’t waste your time.”

“S-Shuuut,” Starboy slurs. He coughs again. “I’m...s’posed to be...a hero. A-A... Luminary.”

It’s because of shit like this that made it was so easy for Ouma to find Momota in the first place.

And Starboy—fucking laughs.

“Even through that stupid mask of yours, I can tell you’re disproving.” He musters up a bit more strength to speak, for all the good that’s doing him. “You’re really worried, huh?”

“I don’t trust Shirokuma,” Dice said simply. “You shouldn’t either.”

Starboy swallows. No doubt swallows back blood. He sucks in his breath. He shakes. He tries to shake his head specifically. Ends up slumping against him. Dice isn’t as gentle with him as Saihara was, but Dice still has little choice but to help him up.

“Stay with me,” Dice ordered. “You’re not allowed to die.”

He’s wasting his breath. Starboy’s definitely going to die at this rate even if it’s not today. All because—

“I’m a hero,” Starboy is slurring. “Heroes don’t—take breaks...they don’t leave people to die.”

“You’re not a hero,” Dice snapped. One step at a time. “You’re just an idiot.”

“It’s not...not about trust...” Starboy huffs at him next. “Not that...you’d understand that... Ouma.”

Dice doesn’t pause. Far from it.

...idiot.

Ouma Kokichi wonders if it’s a coincidence that he and Momota ended up in this situation together.

...

That’s right. Momota Kaito is going to bring you down. The hero! The Luminary! Won’t that be the Ultimate Despair?

(That’s how she would respond.)

Ouma Kokichi, always so close and yet so far, can’t focus on that right now. He has to save the life of a dying man after all. The results are sure to be favorable.

And yet, also so very—predictable.

Boring.

#oumota #oumotaweek2021 #Magi fics

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asarahworld-writes · 5 years ago

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Moments

Moments, when Anakin Skywalker felt the pull of the Dark Side. And one when he felt the Light shine through.

**Pre-hologram meeting “on” Kashyyyk.**

AO3

“Is it possible to learn this power?”

“Not from a Jedi.”

Anakin looked up to the Chancellor, his mentor, his friend. A non-Force-sensitive being who knew Sith legends.

“How?”

“How what?” Was it his imagination, or did the Chancellor’s tone sour when questioned? Anakin was well-versed in reading the tone of a person’s voice – the effects of slavery on a person never healed, not when one’s survival had once depended on certain skills.

“How do you know a Sith legend? None of the Jedi, not even Master Yoda, are versed in these matters.”

“Oh,” the Chancellor waved a hand, “you tend to pick up bits and pieces over the years. You see, Anakin, it’s not how I know the story that’s important, it’s the story itself that matters. It was only through understanding the Dark Side of the Force that Darth Plagueis was able to learn, and more importantly, use that power to save others… those he loved.”

“And yet his apprentice still killed him. Chancellor, excuse my bluntness, but why are you telling me this?” Obi-Wan had sensed something in the Chancellor, had warned the Council about it. Anakin’s stomach turned. His master was right. The Chancellor was up to something.

“Because I thought it was something you needed to hear, young Skywalker. There is more to the Force, and indeed, to life, than what the Jedi will tell you.”

Anakin was quiet, watching the ballet with feigned interest. It was a strange relationship, the friendship between a Jedi and the Chancellor of the Republic. Anakin knew there was some truth in Obi-Wan’s mistrust of the Nabooian politician that went beyond a general distaste of politics.

ROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTS

**Palpatine having just murdered Master Windu**

“What have I done?” Anakin stumbled back, collapsing onto a stool, watching in disbelief as the Chancellor, the Sith Lord, rose from the ledge.

“You’re fulfilling your destiny, Anakin.” The Chancellor advanced and Anakin bowed his head, trying to centre himself. “Become my apprentice. Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force.”

“No,” Anakin muttered, his resolve weakening as the Chancellor drew nearer.

“It can save her, as you failed to save your mother,” the Chancellor stopped mere feet away. “Senator Amidala.”

“You can save Padmé?” The words tumbled from Anakin’s mouth before he had the chance to think. “I can’t live without her.”

“If we work together, I know we can discover the secret,” the Chancellor said. Anakin’s hand twitched as if to draw his lightsabre. “Look at me, Anakin. Would you really pull your weapon on an injured man?” Anakin hesitated, then turned the laser sword on to the Chancellor’s throat. “Come now, Anakin.”

“No.” The lightsabre was not still. “You may be injured, but I have no doubt that you’re still dangerous. You will go before the Senate and revoke the emergency powers. Then there will be a hearing.”

“On what charge?” The Chancellor asked, his voice sickly.

“Corruption of the government. Murder. And if the Senate does not convict you, the Council will. Terribly flawed though they may be, the Jedi are still the keepers of peace in the galaxy.”

“Kill me, and your wife will die. Oh, yes, Anakin. I do know about your ‘secret’ marriage, on Naboo. You went to the Lake Country, a beautiful spot no doubt.”

Anakin’s minded was nearly blinded by an onslaught of memories of Padmé. “How do you know about Lake Country? There was only myself, Padmé, and two droids present.”

“As I have already told you, Anakin, the Dark Side of the Force can lead to many open doors. Join me.”

“You speak with great certainty with a lightsabre drawn on your throat,” Anakin’s voice was steady.

“Do it. Kill me and you will be forced to assume my place in the budding Empire. Let me live, and you will be the second most powerful man in the galaxy.”

ROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTS

“I hate you!”

Obi-Wan Kenobi stared down at the smoldering man below. “You’re my brother, Anakin. I love you.” Using the Force, Obi-Wan lifted Anakin from the molten rock. “I love you, and I have failed you, and for that I am more sorry than you will ever know.”

“You took her from me!”

“Padmé? Anakin, she was terrified of you. There are limits to whom even the Chosen One can save! She would rather die than have you like this!”

Obi-Wan’s phrasing drew Anakin from his rage. “She’s alive?” He rasped.

“Yes, of course, she’s alive,” Obi-Wan reached toward his brother.

“Help me,” Anakin rasped. “Help me save Padmé’s life. Senator Palpatine, he’s the Sith Lord. He said,” he hesitated briefly, “he said that he could save her.”

“Anakin, I know that the Jedi, that I have failed you in the past. I promise to do everything in my power to save Padmé. She is a dear friend and,” Obi-Wan paused, clearly debating whether to continue, “and she’s told me the truth.”

The truth. Anakin didn’t know what the truth meant any more.

“The truth is that you and Padmé are in love and have been for nearly your whole lives,” Obi-Wan said gently. “The truth is that you’re my brother and I have not supported you when you needed me. The truth is that Darth Sidious got into your head and manipulated you to suit his own needs. The truth is that you are Anakin Skywalker, and you are a good person.” Obi-Wan picked up Anakin’s fallen lightsabre and tucked it into his belt, before bending over his friend. “The truth is that I hope we can save you, Anakin.”

ROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTSROTS

When Anakin awoke, he was naked. His charred hand easily swept through the bacta, reaching desperately for his wife. Her name silently escaped his burned lips, air bubbles popping fiercely as they broke the tank’s surface.

Obi-Wan Kenobi lay a hand over the outside of the bacta tank. When Anakin Skywalker had returned, so had Padmé’s life force. She had grown stronger as her due date neared, and she had cried with relief when her babies had been born alive and well. Leia Amidala and Luke Skywalker were tiny and so quiet that Obi-Wan had been afraid if they didn’t lose Padmé and Anakin, they would lose the twins.

“Soon,” he quietly promised his brother.

Soon was relative. Anakin’s burns were severe and no one quite understood how the true Sith Lord had manipulated Padmé’s life force to support him. Padmé was on life support, improving every day, and Anakin spent more time in the bacta than out, healing his physical and emotional traumas. Obi-Wan spent his days and nights split into visiting each of the Skywalkers until, exhausted, he comm’ed for help.

It took two days for the Naberries to arrive from Naboo, five for the Larses to arrange passage and fly in from the Outer Rim. Ruwee and Jobal immediately busied themselves with caring for the twins, being the only people in the facility who had experience with children. (They immersed themselves in their youngest grandchildren, with Sola and her children arriving later).

With six family members present, no Skywalker was ever uncared for. Pooja and Ryoo Naberrie looked on in wonder as their grandfather rocked baby Leia to sleep. Beru Lars learned to perfect heating a baby’s bottle and was the only one who could get Luke to stop fussing long enough to eat. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Owen Lars took turns sitting up with Anakin, doing whatever they could to support their brother’s recovery, as Jobal and Sola Naberrie did with Padmé.

Eventually, Anakin Skywalker was released, emerging from the bacta tank a new man. His skin was badly scared, his hair patchy where it had been burned away, but he was healed enough that the med-droids released him.

“Padmé,” he gasped, his voice rough and scratchy from not having been used in so long. He stepped forward and stopped, raising his robe from the floor to see the metal prosthetic leg. Obi-Wan was at his side immediately.

“What do you remember?”

“The Chancellor…he’s the Sith Lord!” Anakin said, the urgency in his voice only heightened by his concern for his wife.

“The Jedi have seen to his removal from office. Anakin, what else do you remember?” There was a sense of urgency underlying his friend and mentor’s calm.

“Padmé,” Anakin repeated. “My dreams, they were like the ones about my mother,” his voice broke. “And the baby.”

“The children are healthy. Your families have been here, looking after them while you’ve been recovering.”

Children. He was a father. He realized that Obi-Wan was still speaking.

“…didn’t know. She named them. Luke and Leia Naberrie-Skywalker.” Anakin tried to lift his head, before realizing that of course they wouldn’t be waiting in the hospital room for him to wake up. Obi-Wan must have sensed his thoughts, for he moved to the door. A few minutes later, he re-entered the room with a woman he vaguely recognized as Padmé’s mother and a man he thought could have been Cliegg Lars’ son. Anakin only had eyes for the blanket in Missus Naberrie’s arms.

“Anakin, this is Luke Naberrie-Skywalker,” Jobal said softly. She brought his son closer, so close that Anakin could have reached out and touched him. But he hesitated. Luke was not the tiny newborn he had expected. This baby was a few months old at the very least, with a mess of blonde hair on his head. Jobal brought the blankets closer, and Anakin automatically took the baby. His baby. His son, little Luke Skywalker. Something registered in his mind.

“Twins?”

His stepbrother entered the room, carrying another bundle of blankets. “Leia Naberrie-Skywalker,” Owen laid the baby girl in Anakin’s free arm. An arm that was made entirely of metal, much like his left hand. That train of thought disappeared the moment that Leia’s large brown eyes looked into his own blue ones.

Tears were rolling down Anakin’s face when he finally looked away from his daughter. “Where is Padmé?”

“Recovering. When you nearly died, so did she. The two of you are linked, through the Force, Anakin.” Obi-Wan rested his hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “She is so strong. Her doctor believes she will wake within the next few hours.”

“I need to see her. I need to see Padmé,” Anakin stood, the twins still cradled in his arms. Obi-Wan, already at his side, steadied him.

“Of course,” Obi-Wan said quietly.

There was an odd processional heading down the corridor, if anyone had paid any attention. A medical droid followed by a man clutching two tiny babies (a man unused to what were obviously new prosthetic limbs). Another slightly older man hanging on to the new father, physically supporting him. His parents, and brother and sister. (A family).

Anakin collapsed at his wife’s bedside.

“Padmé,” he murmured, laying his children on the bed beside their mother.

Obi-Wan watched with intrigue. Against all odds, Padmé was beginning to stir. The Force worked in mysterious ways, that much he knew, but to witness it in this way was completely new to him.

“Anakin?” Though her voice was small and weak, there was no denying its power over the man kneeling at the woman’s side.

“Padmé.” Anakin’s head snapped up, his eyes feasting on the sight of his wife recovering. Padmé’s hand moved, nearly imperceptibly, until it was resting on her husband’s head, buried in his hair.

“The twins?” She breathed, feebly attempting to sit upright. Her children were on either side of her and Anakin gently guided her hands so that they were touching them.

The Naberrie-Skywalker family was healing. Together, as a family. Anakin and Padmé. Obi-Wan, and Ruwee and Jobal. Owen and Beru. Sola, Pooja, and Ryoo. And perhaps the most important connection, Anakin and Padmé, and their children.

#sw fanfic #sw #anakin x padme #rots #rots au #sw au

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southeastasianists · 7 years ago

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Toppled from their throne after the revolutionary Pathet Lao swept in to Vientiane in 1975, the exiled Lao royal family has long attempted to unite the country’s fractured diaspora. But has the royal institution finally outlived its use?

When he was just 18 years old, the grandson of the last king of Laos crept on board a bamboo raft with nothing but his wits, his older brother and his personal nanny and set sail from Vientiane to the Thai river port of Nong Khai. The young royal, who had been away from his family at school when his father, grandfather and six other blood relatives were spirited away to the re-education camps of the self-proclaimed Lao People’s Democratic Republic, had been allowed to continue his own education under the watchful gaze of the government. It was not until his school friends began disappearing too that his thoughts turned to escape.

Since that night in 1982, Crown Prince Soulivong Savang has positioned himself within the Laotian diaspora as a figure who can unite the people despite the enduring ethnic and political divides in the landlocked nation. Speaking at a press conference in New York almost 20 years ago, Prince Savang wasted little time in asserting his claim to a throne that had sat empty for decades.

“If I had a chance to go back to Laos, the first thing I bring is freedom,” he announced to the assembled reporters through a translator.

Almost two decades later, that promised freedom remains frustratingly out of reach. Following the death of his uncle, the Prince Regent Sauryavong Savang in January this year, Prince Savang – who declined to be interviewed – has now taken his place as head of the Lao Royal Family, a collection of nobles who managed to escape their homeland to the safety of France. But although the royal family has long been seen by many in the diaspora community as a symbol around which exiles of all ethnic groups could rally, the idea that a hereditary monarchy holds the key to restoring a people’s right to determine their own destiny may have lost some of its lustre in the Lao community.

Ian Baird, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison specialising in post-1975 Lao politics and diaspora communities, told Southeast Asia Globe that despite a strong early role in the exiled pro-democracy movement, the Luang Prabang royal family has been struggling to stay relevant to the demands of an increasingly fractured community-in-exile.

“They have had a lot of relevance in the past, especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but more recently they have not had as much of a role,” he said. “The political community of Lao diaspora is so divided that they dare not link themselves to any one group in case they might upset others. They also want to follow the old Lao constitution, which establishes the royals as being ‘above politics’. Soulivong married in Canada and so is not as close to the royal house as he was when he was in France.”

Less involved in public life than his towering uncle Sauryavong, it is unclear if the younger scion of the centuries-old Khun Lo dynasty is eager to step out of the late regent’s shadow. Sauryavong has long been the driving force behind the royals’ political activities, even lending his full-throated support to the disastrous Vang Tao border raid in 2000 that saw 30 armed men, including 16 Lao dissidents, plant the royal flag once again within the borders of their homeland – losing six of their number in the process.

Driven from their homeland by the fall of Vientiane in 1975 to the Vietnamese-backed communist Pathet Lao, the 800,000-strong Laotian diaspora stretches across the globe from Western nations such as France and the US to neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Cambodia. Joe Rattanakhom, executive director of the Free Laos Campaign pro-democracy group, said that the fragmented nature of the diaspora made it difficult to be certain just what, if any, prestige the royals still enjoyed in the self-exiled Lao community.

“It is hard to say, because the Lao people are scattered across the world and the exiled royal family may be limited in their travels,” he said. “When Laos transitions to a democracy, which I think will happen within ten years, it is up to the Lao people what kind of government they want.”

Khamphoui Sisavatdy, the prime minister of the Royal Lao Government in Exile, a self-professed interim democratic government established in 2003 with the aim of instituting a “constitutional democratic monarchy” in the one-party state, is more strident in his support for a royal restoration.

“I trust that the best form of the government is a constitutional monarchy,” he told the Diplomat in a 2014 interview. “I believe that the Lao people in the 21st century can hope to create the type of administration of their choice. This means the restoration of the monarchy under a new constitution. To unite all the Lao people and to bring them under one umbrella, we need to have a father of the nation, a king, as we have always had.”

After more than 40 years under the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, though, the idea that a warm welcome would be waiting for any attempt to restore the prince to his throne seems somewhat optimistic. Rattanakhom said that the incumbent party had used the Lao Royal Government’s reliance on US military support during the civil war to paint the royal family as little more than lackeys of a foreign power.

“The current communist Lao government has been brainwashing the Lao youth to believe that the monarchy was a tool of American imperialists – when in fact the Lao communist movement was a tool of the North Vietnamese and the current Lao government is a vassal state of Vietnam,” he said.

Although Baird said that it was difficult to gauge public opinion in the notoriously closed-off country, his own experience living in Laos made him sceptical of the monarchy’s enduring support among the people.

“I lived there for many years and did not hear much,” he said. “If any [monarchist feeling] does exist, it would be with older people.”

The existence of rival royal houses to the Luang Prabang family – the Champassak royals from the nation’s south and the Phouan royals from Xieng Khouang – also complicates matters, making it difficult to unite a diaspora already split by sharp ethnic divides between the lowland Lao people and the northern Hmong.

Perhaps more so than their love of the Lao monarchy, the people who fled their war-ravaged nation remain linked by an iron conviction that the present-day Lao government is no government at all, but a puppet regime installed by the Vietnamese to extend the nation’s influence over the states that once comprised French Indochina.

“Most of the founding fathers of the Lao Communist Party were either Vietnamese, ethnic Vietnamese or married to a Vietnamese,” Rattanakhom said. “Due to internet access, the Lao youths and the ones living in Thailand are starting to know the truth about the role of the monarchy and their historical place in Lao society.”

According to Baird, though, the desire for democracy among a new generation of Laotian youth does not rely on the royal seal of approval as it did with their parents.

“The newer generation is not nearly as interested as the older generation,” he said. “[The royal family] is likely to languish and die away, at least to some extent.”

But for self-declared prime-minister-in-exile Sisavatdy, the vision of a Lao king once again seated on the ancient throne in Luang Prabang is one that continues to give him hope for the nation’s future.

“Fulfilling the dream of the Lao people is the sole purpose of my life,” he told the Diplomat. “My own identity and dignity are bound to this quest. Someday soon we shall have our monarchy back.”

#Southeast Asia #Laos #Khun Lo Dynasty #Monarchy #History

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theexleynatureblog · 4 years ago

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Tripped Up On Trapping

Recently I saw a post on Tiktok from a account I follow from a Wolf and wolf-dog Sanctuary. I followed this account because I love all things animals, especially wolves, and the videos gave some really cool insider looks into the animals of the sanctuary.

The account also posted updates on legislation regarding wolves, particularly what’s going on in Montana. This article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle goes into some details.

In the past couple of years, wolf populations have risen across the US thanks to smart management techniques and the recognition of wolves’ roles in the ecosystems. Now that most populations have reached their management goals and beyond, states are opening up hunting seasons.

These hunting seasons are carefully regulated by the state’s natural resource agency. In Minnesota for example, once the wolf population became eligible to be lifted from a protected status, the Department of Natural Resources got to work implementing a carefully thought out management plan for wolves and a wolf season in 2012 - that would allow a sustainable number of harvest (this means they determined bag limits and the length of hunting seasons to make sure the public didn’t take too many wolves at once and ping the population back to a threatened status). However, the DNR’s plan was overturned by legislation in favor of a season opening up immediately. This had drastic consequences for packs in the state, and the season was shut down and wolves we re-listed in 2014. Read more from the International Wolf Center.

The point of this spiel is, before y’all get caught up on the morality of a wolf hunt, Wildlife Management groups are taking steps to ensure they do not disappear again, with or without hunting. The problem comes from politicians who listen to what the public want instead of what science says. (If the public wants a wolf season, they’ll open a wolf season and cash in on their votes for re-election).

I am tempted to go on about the history of wolf management and what a mess our previous (trump’s) administration made with all their wildlife protection rollbacks, but this diverges too far from my other point, which is about trapping. (I will leave links below so you can read about the Montana legislation for yourself).

The video I saw had a person from the Wolf Sanctuary encouraging people to stop the new bills to expand the wolf season in Montana. She specifically noted the new bill would allow for trapping, which she described as cruel and a danger to non-target species.

To clear things up, I am a soon-to-be hunter and trapper, as in I have not actually done those activities yet, but I am studying rules and regs to one day do this. I do already fish, and as any other ethical wildlifer will say, harvesting and processing your own food comes with a refreshing sense of intimacy with the environment around you and the food you eat.

Note how I said ‘food’. A life goal of mine is to become as much as a sustenance hunter as possible, meaning I only harvest what I am going to eat. Any animal I can’t eat I leave alone. I don’t believe in killing for sport, glory, or trophy. Personally, I think it’s alright to harvest a ‘trophy’ animal as long as the trophy (antler, paw, tusk, pelt) is not the sole reason you kill it. With deer, you can harvest a months worth of meat, carve the bones into decoration or jewelry, and make clothes out of the skin. When it comes to wolves, the only thing you can really use is the pelt. Predator meat just doesn’t taste good (so I’ve heard). For this reason, I’m not too keen on a wolf season.

I do understand the important of animal management - I’ve spent the last three years of college studying population dynamics and human impacts on the environment. Because humans insist on not coexisting with wolves, wildlife scientists have to step in with a management plan that allows wolves and humans to occupy the same earth with as little conflict as possible. This mean, we have to check their numbers if population get to high. I understand this and support this, ONLY if the people in charge do so with ecological knowledge as their backdrop.

There I go ranting about wolves again. Back to trapping! So, anti-hunters and trappers will often say ‘trapping’ as if it’s one thing. But can you name all of the different kinds of traps? If you can’t, I’m not going to take your counter-argument seriously because I’m not convinced you know everything you’re talking about.

Traps can be split into two categories - kill-traps, and holding-traps. That’s right! Not every trap kills an animal instantly. Leg hold traps are the first example.

Leg hold traps come in a variety of of sizes and poundage's. These measurements are important because they dictate the size of the animal susceptible to capture. (But this also means traps are less discriminatory that shooting). Trapping regulations state the maximum circumference of the jaws. Each ‘furbearer’ animal (in Minnesota) has a maximum size trap to reduce the amount of non-target animals. Of course, when it comes to leg-hold traps, non-targets aren’t too big of a problem, because you can just release them.

No, leg hold traps don’t break an animal’s bone. You’re thinking of this.

These are bear traps, and they are not legal to use unless you are hunting bear. They have the highest pressure and serrated jaws because bear paws are huge, and their skin is tough as nails. If you set this trap on a fox trail, then yes, you may end up injuring a fox. You would also be found in violation of trapping laws and get your license taken away.

Traps aren’t designed to break bones because if the trap has enough pressure to snap bones, then the animal can escape. The trap is useless, and the trapper wasted a bunch of time and energy. These kinds of traps are the most common used for coyotes and wolves. This makes sense because wolves and coyotes are bigger bodies animals. In a foothold trap, the animal is not suffering. Some traps even had padded jaws. If trapped an animal may struggle for a minute until laying down. A law-abiding trapper will check their trap line every one to two days (depending on the requirements in their state). This way, animals do not end up starving to death in the trap.

(No, that is not blood, it’s just the bobcat’s fur color).

I was surprised to find that in some areas it is legal to hunt wolves with snares. This caught me off guard, because snares are not the best way to kill larger-bodies animals.

Like leg hold trappers, snarers operate under strict guidelines that dictate how high off the ground they can set them and how wide their radius can be - the bigger the radius, the easier to catch things. These are most commonly used for small animals like porcupine and rabbits. When an animal pokes its head through the wire noose, it tightens, cutting off the animal’s carotid arteries. They ‘faint’ from lack of blood to the brain, and die after going unconscious. Of course, a lot can go wrong with a simple wire loop. They can get caught around animals legs or bodies. In Minnesota, it is illegal to place snares on known deer trails, and some places require break-away devices that allow the animal to escape if a certain amount of pressure is applied. This is why it is very important for trappers to have knowledge of the animals they are trapping. They have to recognize tracks and runs, and know how to set up the snare to catch an animal in the most humane way possible.

Typical set-up for trapping snowshoe hares.

Small animals like rabbits are easy to humanly trap. This is gonna sound harsh, but small mammals are designed to die quick, painless deaths. They live short, breed often, and die fast. Anyone who worked in a rescue facility knows to be careful around the wild rabbits, because anything from loud noises or bright light could literally scare them to death. This is a blessing in disguise, because every kind of predator from marten to hawks eats rabbits. But wolves and coyotes are not build the same way. They are predators, designed to survive lots of harsh conditions and fighting. They’re necks, a vulnerable spot, are protected by thick skin and fur. This means that it will take longer for them to suffocate in a snare trap.

I will say one thing though. Do you know the kinds of natural deaths wolves face in the wild? They rip each other apart, while they are still alive. The International Wolf Center says the primary mortality causes are starvation and death from other wolves over territory fights. Wolves don’t wait until an animal stops moving like cats. They tear into them while they’re still alive. But if a wolf doesn’t meet that end, the fastest death it can hope for is a kick in the head from a moose. Otherwise, when it gets too old to chase prey, it will slowly starve to death, or with away from a mix of parasites, diseases, and minor injuries. Honesty, compared to all that, a noose does not sound like the worse way to go.

I do agree that we can do better in regards to trapping. If Montana goes through with the wolf hunting and trapping, they should do so with leg-hold traps instead. These will reduce the number of non-target fatalities, and allow the captured animal a much more humane death by bullet. As I said before, I don’t overall support a recreational wolf season, because there is nothing a wolf can offer besides a trophy and a pelt. From what I’ve heard, and based on the history of the past administration, I am not convinced Montana is acting in the best interest of their wildlife based on the current research available. The issue lies not with trapping and hunting in itself - it’s how we are using it and regulating it for management.

About Traps

#wolves #hunting #wolf #trapping #wildlife #biology #nature #animals

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thehikingviking · 6 years ago

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Alta Peak and Tharps Rock via Wolverton Creek

I woke up tired and sore following our previous day’s hike of the obscure Wren Peak. Asaka and I are typically late starters, and we were having trouble getting ready for our 7AM start time. I was initially inspired by the “Exploring the Southern Sierra” book linked to Bob Burd’s website. The group would be the same as before; Bob, Matthew, Matt, Iris, Scott, Asaka and myself. Bob’s overview of the hike was as follows:

“Sun, Oct 1, Tharps Rock. 6mi, 3,500ft gain. Starting from Wolverton lot at 7a. Almost all on trail. Can add nearby Alta Peak for bonus. We'll bring rope and gear, you should have a harness, and maybe helmet and climbing shoes. It's not a hard climb (low 5th) and only about half a pitch at most. If you need a harness let me know and I'll bring an extra.”

Low 5th seemed like a perfect difficulty for me and Asaka, so we planned to climb it in hiking boots. Shortly after 7AM we headed off on the main trail towards Alta Peak. A few minutes after departing, a climber came hiking out, saying that there was a bear blocking the trail. We had a rather large group, so we proceeded with caution hoping that we would find protection in numbers. A few minutes later we came across a large mother bear with two cubs.

I have been conditioned to be very cautious of mother bears, and rightfully so. The two cubs scampered off the trail and into the forest. Mama seemed content to chew on a pine cone right along the trail. We let her know of our whereabouts but she didn’t seem to care. This is a popular trail,and my friend Tynan saw a bear in the exact same location several years back, leading us to think it was the same bear. We left the trail and took a wide berth through the forest watching the beast carefully.

We did the safe thing and put the ladies in between us and the bear, remembering the utmost important rule of surviving a bear attack; you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun the slowest person. We got our fill of the bear then continued along the trail.

Asaka and I were left in the dust immediately, but I didn’t mind. It takes a lot of time to set up a rope, and I figured we would reach the group before it was ready. My muscles were really sore though. I think I was also slightly dehydrated, as I could feel my muscles cramp intermittently when I stood in certain positions. The trail crossed Wolverton Creek a few times on its way to Panther Gap.

We reached Panther Gap, which is the saddle between Panther Peak and Alta Peak. Across the valley to the south were Castle Rocks.

The trail continued east beneath the ridge on a very good trail.

Tharps Rock came into view a couple miles from Panther Gap. It was unimpressive from our current viewpoint. I wondered if the others were already at the base. I thought I spotted a climber leading a vertical crack on the southeast facing wall, but thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I later found out that the others took a more direct route than Asaka and me, but it was all class 3. This could have been them, but I’m not sure.

While we could have headed cross country towards the rock, we followed the trail as far as we could, since hiking on trail is easier than hiking cross country. Asaka was hiking at an extraordinarily slow pace. Once again, Asaka was becoming lethargic and cantankerous. Like most of our recent hikes, she was getting mad at me for hiking at a slightly faster pace than her, yet insisting that I continue without her. This was a frustrating quandary, but I patiently dealt with her despondent demeanor knowing that we were less than a quarter mile away from the climbing section. I was now concerned that the others were already climbing, and felt I was riding the fine line of being slow enough for Asaka yet fast enough to not hold back the group. We left the trail and headed west towards the rock formation. After some easy class 3 on the northwestern side of the ridge, I came over a rock formation and found Bob in a precarious position on the vertical wall.

It looked a lot tougher than the 5.4 I was promised. I had anxiety watching Bob dangle below the crux. He was stymied by the vertical nature of the smooth final 8 feet of granite. He looked for an alternate route, momentarily disappearing behind the rock to the left.

He came back into view unable to find an better route. Scott was confident he could bypass the crux, so the group sent him up. Scott was able to stem the last portion of the rock, making it look easy, and made it atop the rock successfully.

Scott had never placed protection before, so I was a little concerned that it wouldn’t hold in a fall. Bob went up next, followed by Iris and Matt. They all had climbing shoes and made it up without issue. I was eager to give it a shot, not knowing if I would be able to stem like the others in my bulky mountaineering boots.

The first two thirds of the climb was manageable. There were enough cracks and holds for me to awkwardly inch my way up. I felt the pressure of everyone watching me. I found myself rushing, which tired me out.

My hands started to go numb in the cold shade. As I split my legs further apart, I started to cramp on the wall. There was no place to properly recover, so I fought through the sharp muscle contractions.

I was so close to the top, however the most difficult part remained. I found myself stuck. I took pointers from Matthew, which did help. I told Scott and Bob to keep the rope tight. In almost an act of desperation, I tried a move that had a low probability of success and ended up slipping.

Luckily, the anchor that Scott left above held firm, and the fall was arrested. I fell only a few inches, got back on the wall and tried again. With a little more patience, I was able to somehow slither my way up the edge. I got off belay, then settled myself on a rock next to the action. Up next was Asaka. I was concerned because she had shorter reach and even worse boots than me. While my boot had a stiff sole, her’s had a flexible sole. She did very well however, even better than me.

I cheered her on and offered words of encouragement. She took her time, and she too eventually made it up. The last to climb was Matthew, but he is a very strong and experience climber. Without concern, I walked the remaining distance to the top.

To the immediate northeast was Alta Peak.

To the east were the Great Western Divide and the Kaweah Range.

Zoomed in was the infamous Black Kaweah.

The Great Western Divide continued to the southeast. Sugarbowl Dome stood below in the foreground.

To the southwest were Paradise Peak and Castle Rocks.

To the west was the San Joaquin Valley.

To the north was Mt Silliman, mostly blocked by the Alta Peak ridgeline.

We headed back towards the others where we left a register. We concluded that the pitch was somewhere between 5.7 and 5.8. I would side on the latter estimate. I expect someone had climbed this feature in the past, but you never know. This was a good distance from the parking lot and climbers are lazy.

We set up a rappel station in a different location than where we climbed. It was a short and uneventful rappel.

Everyone safely gathered down at the notch. Matt had to be somewhere so he took off down the trail. Bob and Matthew already hiked Alta Peak and had no interest to continue. Rather than take the trail, they took a direct route straight down the western slopes of the peak. Iris and Scott wanted to continue to Alta, so the four of us hiked the remaining half mile up the trail to the SPS peak.

We started to run into other hikers now, most of them novices.

The summit block was class 3. We scampered up to the top and took in the views, which were similar to Tharps Rock. Asaka was once again in a good mood, and everyone was happy.

To the northwest was Mt Silliman.

To the north were the Tablelands.

To the northeast was Skiers Alta, also known as Winter Alta.

I really wanted to hike this peak as well, but I was out of gas. It looked like slightly over a mile of off trail hiking one way. The ridge looks gentle, but by no means flat. We would claim two summits that day, with neither having more than 300 feet of prominence.

Again the Kaweahs dominated the eastern views.

To the south was the Mineral King area.

Back towards the west was Tharps Rock, a feature definitely worthy of climbing.

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We chatted for a while with Scott and Iris then headed down the trail.

I also considered climbing Panther Peak which lies less than a mile from the trail, but again we were too tired.

We did our best to stay ahead of Scott and Iris but they eventually caught us. We let them pass but tried to stay close to them. My feet were absolutely killing me. This was the hike that finally convinced me to use my trail runners in the Sierras.

We reached the car and began the long drive back home. After struggling so much over the past two days, I realized that I was not in as good of shape as I thought I was. I need to start pushing the limits if I want to keep up with the best.

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