#the sprint back to the arena of shame........

[mikkouille]

you wouldnt think seeing this that just a dozen of quests ago i was enduring immense turmoil and even dare i say psychological torture

[cosmicpancakes]

I finally finished this omg!!

TW: graphic depictions of death and stuff, character death, mental breakdowns/panic attacks, stuff like that

Without further ado, here's the oneshot I wrote about that one time Lee Fletcher died lol

__

Tap, tap, tap.

His foot bounced up and down, tapping the tiled floor repeatedly. His nails were bitten to stumps. Will was pretty sure he was going crazy.

He couldn't just leave the infirmary, he knew that, but there had to be something he could do. The infirmary is empty. Even if it wasn't, his sister could easily handle it. He was no help here.

Scratch that. He needed to leave.

Shooting arrows is out of the question, but maybe he could steal a dagger from the infirmary. A spear, a sword- Anything he could use to help with out there. Ritika was already in the infirmary, she could handle an injured person! She was one of the oldest in the cabin anyway, and more skilled than he could ever be. She wouldn't notice if he sneaked away.

The office chair squeaked as it got wheeled back. He couldn't leave through the front, so looking around, he made sure his sister couldn't see him and then opened the window just wide enough for him to jump in the bushes behind the big house.

It hurt. His arms were covered in scratches, painting them an inflamed pink and his knees were stained with a mixture of soil and grass. A wince escaped his lips. He half crawled, half ran out of the Bush and started running towards the armoury.

It was only when he made his way in front of the big house that he realised the severity of the situation. Campers and monsters ran around, littering the green field with scattered arrows and golden dust. Screams and slashes rang in his ears. After a few seconds, his eyes locked onto the armoury just across the canoe lake bridge, and he made a run for it.

Narrowly avoiding monster claws and spears thrown in his direction, Will made his way across the wooden bridge. The planks wobbled beneath his feet until he finally made it to the other side. Greenery got flattened under him as he approached the armoury. It was a medium-sized wooden shed right next to the looming arena.

Shutting the door behind him, he stumbled through the arsenal until he found a decently functional long sword. It was heavier than he anticipated, seeing as he'd never actually held a sword before, but he didn't exactly have time to dwell on that. Just as quickly as he entered, Will made his way out and through the North woods.

This was where the fighting originated, where the monsters first emerged so he knew this was where he would be able to help the most. He could be useful for once. His legs ached, pulsating from the lactic acid build up but he knew he couldn't stop. He ran and ran, and continued running until he reached the labyrinth.

The fighting next to the big house was child's play compared to this. There wasn't a single patch of grass not covered in blood, weapons, or monsters. Corpses of both creatures and demigods were scattered throughout. His eyes moved about frantically, trying to find something he could fight and reasonably win against.

Lee.

His brother was in a small clearing between a few trees just to Will's left. He wasn't a monster, but leaving him alone would just make things worse, right? He sprinted towards him. Lee seemed to be shooting monsters from afar, helping campers on the main battlefield without putting himself in too much danger. It was a smart strategy, one only he could come up with. He was always the smart one, after all. Will was limping from the pain as he approached him, and when they locked eyes, both their eyes widened.

"Oh my Gods- Will! What are you doing here?" He yelled, his words still laced with concern despite trying to scold him. He felt a sense of shame bubble up in his throat.

"I... I couldn't just stay in the infirmary the entire time! I needed to help somehow, I couldn't stand being there doing nothing while people were dying!" He shouted back, his voice hoarse with the sound of sorrow. Lee's eyebrows furrowed.

"I told you to stay in the infirmary for a reason- and what are you doing with that sword? You can't even use it! You're going to seriously hurt yourself." He insisted, dropping his bow and facing him directly.

"I can help! I promise, just give me a chance!" He tried to point the sword towards his brother, but his already exhausted limbs gave out. The sword fell towards him, slashing the arm he was holding it with, and clinked to the ground.

Will yelped, instinctively grabbing the gash with his other hand. Crimson stained his freckled skin as he stood there in shock.

"No no no no no- This is why I didn't want you out here," He ran towards him, softly cupping his face. "Will. Look at me. You need to go back, okay? Ritika will take care of you, but you can't be out here." Lee's voice wavered as their eyes met. He ran his calloused thumb over his little brother's flushed cheek, wiping away tears that would never have been there if he just listened to him for once.

The quiet didn't last for long, though. His brother's head turned to their right as the thudding of too-large footsteps rapidly approached them. It took Lee too long to recognise that it was a hellhound running towards them.

"Just go!" He pleaded, his back turned as he frantically picked up his bow back up. His fingers expertly pulled the string back, arrow steady as he prepared to let go.

Crunch.

The hellhound ran past him, Front paw bloody, making its way for the crowded field. It didn't even see Will.

Something splattered on him. Like when Connor does a canon ball in the creek, and water covers him head to toe.

It was dripping from his face. His shirt was drenched.

... It was blood.

Lee was on the ground.

He wasn't moving.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

Where is he?

He slowly made his way to him.

He shook his shoulders.

"Lee?"

More blood gushed out of where his neck was supposed to be. It pooled below him.

"Lee, wake up."

He shook his shoulders again.

"I'm sorry for distracting you."

His brother's t-shirt quickly turned from bright orange to a deep red. The only way you could tell it was him was the medic badge he so proudly displayed on his armour.

He wasn't a medic this time. He wanted to fight.

Will wanted to fight too.

Is that why he fell?

"Lee."

His hands were glowing. Flickering? His hands glowed when he healed people. Shallow wounds. Made them wake up.

They flickered. He wasn't healing yet.

It's okay.

He'll wake up.

His hands, still flickering with a soft glow, hovered over where his head should be. Scattered remains of a shattered cranium and pieces of torn cerebrum decorated the pool of blood like lily pads and algae on the surface of the lake. He tried scooping them in one place. His hands were red. Bright, bright red. Dark red. Lumpy. With bits in it. Sharp bits. Small little bits of brain.

Flicker.

flicker flicker flicker

wake up

wake up

lee im sorry

wake up

please

im sorry

There's screaming. Did those words come out? Did Lee hear them? Screaming. There's screaming.

"...-WILL!" He screamed. Will didn't look back to see who it was. "Will, what are you?-"

screaming

he sobbed

who?

"Lee- Lee, oh my-" He sobbed. He couldn't breathe. Who was yelling? "Will please, we can't- I can't lose you too, we need to-"

He didn't take his eyes off his brother.

flicker flicker flicker

wake up

Arms wrapped around his chest, pulling him. He fought. He fought so hard.

"Let me go! Let me- I need to-" He scratched them. He scratched the arms. Did they draw blood? He couldn't tell. Everything was already so

so

red

Bite. Scratch. Scratch.

They let go.

He fell back down. His hands weren't glowing anymore.

Or maybe they were?

He couldn't tell. Too much red.

A voice wept behind him. It grabbed him. The arms. The arms grabbed him again.

they wouldn't let go

he needs to fix him

why wouldn't he let go?

He was dragging him at this point. He fought so hard. Why didn't they let go this time? Doesn't he understand? He needs to heal him. He needs to fix him.

He lost track of where he was. There were no monsters. He could hear them, muffled as they may be, but they weren't there.

His vision was too blurry, too red to make out the details. Wooden walls again. Swords. Spears.

Bows.

He was clinging to someone. His red, sticky hands stained their shirt. One hand was going through his hair. Another hand was holding him.

Where was he?

Where's Lee?

There was blood running down his face again. So much blood.

Tears.

Not blood. Tears?

He couldn't breathe.

he couldn't breathe

"C'mon, breathe, breathe-" He whimpered, his voice shaking. He was crying too. "We'll- we'll fix him, okay? Shhh, breathe, breathe-"

His heart thumped, and thumped, and thumped and he still couldn't breathe

flicker flicker flicker

it's so red

"No no, shhh- I need to-" The arms shook. Their breath hitched. "It's nearly over, I need to go and help them- Just keep breathing, okay?"

flicker

"Stay here, okay? I'll- I'll come back."

Micheal left him.

He sat against the wall, unmoving. Unblinking.

He's gone.

Lee's gone.

_

Will tapped his foot against the tiled floor of the infirmary.

Tap, tap, tap.

On the other side of the room, Micheal was stuffing backpacks full of medical supplies. 7 rolls of bandages. 3 rolls of medical tape. 6 bottles of nectar.

"I'm missing something," His brother lamented, thinking.

Will watched him closely.

Tap, tap, tap.

Another war. It's only been a year since-

It's only been a year.

It was worse this time, however. More dire. More deaths. All of them could die, if they don't succeed.

Who knows how long they're gonna be there fighting? A day? A week?

Last time it was 3 hours, from what he was told.

He bit his lip.

"Hey Lee, could you pass me the necta-"

Micheal slapped his hands over his mouth, shaking his head. He's gone.

Will stopped looking at him.

His hands were red again. Covered in blood.

His hands never stopped being red; They only ever got bloodier.

Tap, tap, tap.

[lowpolynpixelated]

Echo Point Nova: Tribes Ascended

Echo Point Nova may be one of the best cases I've ever seen for people wanting to frag like its 2001. Today's gaming landscape, particularly the independent scene, is thriving with revivals of all sorts of proto-FPS genre shooters. From the singleplayer campaign driven "Boomer Shooter" games like Amid Evil and Zortch to those who long for the multiplayer days of Unreal Tournament with games like Splitgate or the squad tactics of Battlefield 2 with games Battlebit Remastered, these styles are certainly coming back into style. I want to talk about a very particular type of action that was lost long ago in a sea of games and buried revival promises, I want to talk about Tribes.

Releasing originally in 1998 as Starsiege: Tribes the game garnered its own following thanks to its fast paced movement centered approach to Deathmatch and Capture the Flag gameplay. Jetpacks combined with a physics engine bug that let you "ski" around maps a la sliding down slopes and ramping off hills made for incredible fun action packed fights. Three years later in 2001, Tribes 2 debuted making skiing an official form of gameplay, building on the fun of the previous title. The game fell somwhere in between quake arena and unreal tournament, with vehicles, large open maps, a bevy of scifi weaponry, and fast paced action. Though the series would go on all the way to 2012 with the free to play Tribes Ascend by HiRez Studios, the game has since been yet another title in an ever growing pile of "forgotten classics". Until now.

So what IS Echo Point Nova? Stay with me here, EPN (to save some time and typing) is a scifi action shooter where you explore an open world of floating islands with the help of a grappling hook, a hoverboard, and a momentum system that only slows down when you tell it to. EPN is in almost every way, a singleplayer/co-op successor to Tribes. Trading out the scifi weapons for a more modern military arsenal doesn't take away much of the fun. Zipping around and clearing out hordes with a .50 cal sniper rifle is just as fun as a railgun, and blasting mechs with an RPG is just as satisfying as a triple rocket launcher could be. The game WANTS you to feel fast, to feel dangerous, like only the best of the best could stop you. All it's missing is proper PVP, which the developer wants to add support for soon as of the writing of this article. Lets get more specific though.

Level Design:

One half of the puzzle is how EPN's world gives you truly unbridled freedom to explore at breakneck paces. If you thought the vistas and cliffs of breath of the wild being open was impressive, this puts that to shame handily. A massive world of floating island arenas awaits you, all you have to do is get there. As mentioned before the game provides you with a few modes of transit, a grappling hook, your hoverboard, and a set of supplementary equipment like air boost pads and grenades that you can use to gain height very quickly. Movement in the game is nothing short of gorgeous. Fast, fluid, and effortlessly smooth, you can glide and hop your way to just about everywhere.

Let's talk more about the hoverboard, arguably the games most shown off feature. Holding down what would traditionally be a sprint button allows you to speedily glide over any form of terrain the game can throw at you. Grass, snow, sand, lava, all of it. On top of this, touching any flat surface that isn't the ground or a floor with the hoverboard will allow you to grind across and up said surface, gaining you some sweet style points in the process. The game is VERY generous with the grinding, and lets you stay on unless the terrain itself is too uneven to glide over without launching yourself off. Using this you can scale entire mountains and grind circles around the poor enemies of the game, giving them little chance at keeping up with you. Combined with the grappling hook, which allows you to propel yourself in whatever direction you're aiming despite where you grappled on to, you can reach truly dizzying heights and speed with ease. All of this is to say that the game's level design allows for pure freedom of movement. Rarely will you find yourself not jumping or grinding your way around spacious combat arenas laden with half pipe ramps and grind rails. Verticality is KING in Echo Point Nova, and the world knows that. Vast desert expanses, rolling mountaintops, fractured shards of floating rock, its got it all and it is good.

Gameplay:

Though I already went over the gameplay a bit in the last section with the movement and traversal, I'd like to focus a bit more on the core shooting of EPN and just how good it feels to do so. The game gives you access to a decently sized array of pistols, SMGs, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles/DMRs, and explosives to do in the cyborg mercenary armies that oppose you. All of which feel incredible. Perhaps the only negative point I could give is that many weapons can often feel very fast and loose, but the game's projectile system more than makes up for it when allowing you to pepper entire areas with two entire glock magazines. Complimentary to the guns are the perks you earn from doing the game's core combat loop of arriving in an arena and spawning enemies until you've killed the requisite amount for that particular challenge. Perks can range from giving you more ramming speed on your hoverboard (oh yeah you can ram enemies with your hoverboard by the way) to the very first perk you gain, Adrenaline, slowing down time for a few seconds via a refillable meter you gain just for moving at high speeds.

Combat becomes a gravity defying dance of bullets and explosions. Ramping off enemies here, grappling them into them there, throwing out a grenade to pop a shield and riding the explosion shockwave up to the scifi quad-copter that's firing missiles down at you the entire time. Its a beautifully chaotic mess that relies on your mastery of the game's movement to be proficient in. Sure you could just run around Call of Duty style and pop cyborgs in the head, or you could send them into the endless abyss by slapping them with two and a half feet of hoverboard all the while sending a .50 cal round through two of his friends.

It is a joy to experience. The exploration is always rewarding leading you to new challenges that give you either new perks, a new gun, or a fun hat to wear over your character. If you played the dev team's previous game, Severed Steel, you know exactly how high energy and impressive the combat encounters can feel.

Story:

Honestly? It's nothing special. You crash land onto one of the many floating islands, a mysterious voice tells you to get your gear as comrades from whatever scientific group you're a part of tell you to also grab your gear and survey your surroundings. It's VERY loose, and it's perfect that way. The boss fight set pieces don't come bogged down with lengthy cutscenes or anything at all to break the pacing. Voice acting is kept to enemy shoutouts, and everything is told through text logs that you're guided to pretty steadily throughout the game. EPN's story is just what it needs to be and the devs know that. Severed Steel boasted an equally loose but compelling story following the game's protagonist rising up against her scifi imprisoners, and Echo Point Nova is just as short and sweet with its writing. Serviceable, short, and just right.

Soundtrack:

How could I ever talk about this game without mentioning the positively electrifying soundtrack. Composed by artist Floating Door the OST has a range of action driving Drum and Bass tracks that just make you want to go faster. Ethereal synths combined with strong pulsing bass tracks create an otherworldly feel as you grapple and hoverboard your way around the islands, picking up into heavier more chaotic tracks when enemies are found or an encounter is started. It reminds me so much of the more techno/trance inspired soundtracks of later PS1 and PS2 titles that I can't help but grin and nod my head as I zip around blasting things with an RPG. No notes, 10/10, it fits the game beautifully and is a strong set of tracks to listen to on their own. Give it a listen!

Conclusion and comments:

I got away from myself a little bit in this review, but I'd like to close by doubling back to that Tribes comparison. Does Echo Point Nova have EVERYTHING that tribes had? No. It's missing things like vehicles, structured modes of play, hell even proper PVP matchmaking, but that's not the point. The spirit is what lives on in EPN. That 2000s fast paced techno-shooter with weird movement and momentum. The rush of a movement shooter before that phrase was even considered to exist. I don't think this game is Titanfall+DOOM 2016 like a lot of other reviews like to say. What I WILL compare it to if I must, is Halo, Tribes, and just a hint of classic Call of Duty (think COD 4). It's wonderfully made with a clear amount of love and respect for old school shooters. Refined to a razor edge of fluid mobility and rock solid shooting. I really do think its a big step towards keeping the spirit of old games alive without just remaking them or making things that only exist as tributes to them. If I've gotten anything wrong, and the devs never played anything like Tribes before, then that's fine I've been wrong before and I will be again. But playing this game was like playing a love letter written in voxel landscapes and high speed firefights. One that I'd happily reread over and over, or at least listen to the music.

Check out Echo Point Nova here:

[fusionnukacola]

How about sole bringing the companions to Nuka World and like what they enjoy doing the most there? I’m currently playing that dlc and I just wish you and your companion could go on rides together or for them to at least react to some of the things going on. Oh and also the raiders are probably not there anymore and the amusement park is safer now

Thank you for the request! I'm going into this with the assumption that all the rides are fixed.

Cait: Honestly, doesn't pay much attention to the rides. She's more focused on finding the crate of Nuka-Dark she just knows Sole keeps in the penthouse. However, she won't say no if you ask to go on some of the more exciting rides like the ArcJet G-Force. If romanced, comments on how sturdy the double bed looks in the penthouse, and makes a suggestive comment saying they should test it out for safety reasons.

Codsworth: Doesn't go on most of the rides because he can't, but he can sort of go on the Teacups, so that's around the only one he likes. All throughout the park he's talking to Sole about the time they came here with their partner and baby Shaun. Constantly comments on all the dust on the rides, saying it's a shame for them not to have been in use before. He's a fan of the ride there, saying it's nice seeing the views.

Curie: Absolutely loves the Teacups and the Ferris Wheel. Curie isn't much of a fan of the thriller rides, so she sticks to the safer ones. The second she sees them though, she wants to know exactly how they work. Not much of a fan of seeing all the grime the raiders that previously lived there accumulated.

Danse: Pretends he doesn't want to go on the various rides, claiming it's a matter of safety. However, he secretly wants to go on some of the rollercoasters. Sole has caught him on more than one occasion staring at the Nuka-Rockets, but every time they ask about it he says that he is simply observing it. If romanced, will eventually say yes, and Sole even gets a photo of the two of them.

Deacon: Goes on every. single. ride. This man will grab Sole's hand and sprint to lead them to rides. He doesn't go ride to ride, instead picking a random ride, even if it's miles away. Begs Sole to get the popcorn and hot dog makers working. If romanced, kisses Sole at the top of every ride.

Hancock: Immediately suggests having sex on every ride. Romanced or not. If not, probably is saying it as a joke. (Probably.) Goes on the high-speed rollercoasters the most, but also likes the easier ones, like the carousel. He says it's a "pallet cleanser."

MacCready: You ALREADY KNOW he's heading straight for Safari Center. When he meets Cito, he literally goes insane. Asks for an autograph. Cito doesn't know what that is. Loves the Angry Anaconda. He'll ask to ride it again and again. Tells Sole they should start selling tickets to it, that they could make a lot of caps.

Nick: Makes comments about the few times he and Jennifer came here. Mostly likes the ferris wheel, and says he's too old for the rollercoasters. If romanced, he'll give Sole a peck at the top of the ferris wheel, like a gentleman.

Piper: Documents at every turn. When she gets back to Diamond city, she immediately posts an article about it all. Almost every settler is in line for the amusement park after that. Likes the more half & half rides, nothing too slow or fast. Her favorite is the Cola-cars arena.

Preston: Explains how grateful he is to Sole for clearing out the raiders that occupied the park before anything. Initially a little scared of going on the rides for safety, but once Sole explains how they already rode the rides, he's convinced. Not before lightly scolding them for doing that, of course.

Strong: Can't really, well, fit on any of the rides because of how tall he is, but that's probably for the best. Doesn't like any of the rides.

X6-88: Does not go on a single ride. Says it's for safety, and because he "does NOT want to get any of that.. sticky Commonwealth grime on him." He doesn't like Nuka-Cola.

[roxannarambles]

ship: nemona x juliana

prompt: obvious flirty juliana/oblivious nemona

notes: juliana has my all-bug team, just for funsies

Nemona was down to her last pokemon, and Juliana had been acting weird the entire battle.

It seemed to be some kind of brand-new strategy the young Champion was throwing her way, because today it was all about the mind games. Nemona hated to admit it to herself, but it had managed to fluster her. A lot.

Now at the most pivotal moment of the match, Juliana didn't even look like she was paying attention. Nemona bit back the urge to snap sharply when she issued an order to her Meowscarada, and forced the command in a calm, level tone. Juliana didn't look to be in a hurry to issue her own command, however.

With a playful smile on her face, she spoke,

"Nemona . . . . I love these matches between us but I always think of how much a shame it is that we're so far away from each other during all this excitement."

Nemona cocked her head to the side like a confused Lycanroc.

"Wh-what? Juliana, what are you talking about? Of course we're far apart, we'd get totally slammed by our pokemon's moves if we weren't."

Juliana heaved a sigh, as though they were in the midst of having a lazy, casual chat instead of a heated pokemon battle.

"I know, but it just sucks, is all. I wanna see your reactions better. I wanna be closer to you."

Nemona crossed her arms, forcing herself to remain calm. Ignore it, just ignore it. Don't fall for whatever weird mind games she's playing.

God, she was good at them, though.

"Are you gonna keep fighting or are you gonna just let your Lokix jump around the arena for the next hour?"

Juliana laughed a good-natured laugh,

"Of course I want to keep fighting. Sorry, I was just thinking aloud. Hunter! C'mere, Hunter!"

The large grasshopper turned and bounded over to its master, and then Juliana leaned down to whisper something to its ears. Or, er. Its face? Did grasshoppers even have ears? Whatever was going on, Juliana was being strangely secretive about it.

"What are you whispering about?"

Juliana leaned back up and pointed, saying,

"Go ahead, Hunter!" The bug sprinted into action, charging ahead to meet Meowscarada. Finally, it seemed Juliana was interested in re-joining this fight. Nemona ordered,

"Flower Trick, Mew-Mew!"

The graceful feline used its magic to manifest a flower bouquet and gave a quick spin, preparing to fling it. With almost frightening speed, Lokix sprang up and behind Meowscarada, as if preparing to hit it with one of its Sucker Punches. Nemona flinched, anticipating the strike. But for some reason, it never came-- Lokix made a strange little leap at Meowscarada and seemed to try and hit her, but then he just scrambled out of the way and bounded back over to its master. It seemed unlikely it had missed its Sucker Punch, since it was positioned perfectly for it, but, what else could it have been?

However, when it the bug had retreated, Juliana leaned down and held out her hand; the bug seemed to hand her something, and she grinned widely. Nemona squinted, trying to see (okay, maybe Juliana had a point, it did kind of suck how far apart they had to stand), but it was only when Juliana held it out that she realized. It was a little orange flower from Meowscarada's bouquet.

Squaring her jaw, Nemona chastised her battle partner,

"Jules! You've been messin' around this whole match, c'mon, take it seriously!"

She had meant it to come out sternly, but her voice had wobbled with a bit of a whine. Juliana giggled, answering,

"I am, I am! I just. . . I keep getting distracted by you. I love watching the spark in your eyes when you're fighting."

Okay, that, that was the thing she kept doing! Nemona felt her face warming and she growled, determined not to let Juliana win at these mind games. "Y-you're just trying to mess with my head! It's very clever, but you're not gonna get to me!"

A look of disappointment seemed to flash on her rival's face, but she seemed to recover and looked excited, as if an idea had just occurred to her.

"Hey! Nemona, would it be okay if I let another of my pokemon out right now? Not to fight, just to use one of their field moves in a completely non-battle way, I promise. Would that be okay?"

Nemona stared at her, feeling her mind spinning.

"Wh-what? Why? I don't understand."

Juliana held her hands together and pleaded,

"Pleeease? I'll be super quick about it, I promise!" Ughhh. She was always so cute when she gave her the puppydog eyes. Honestly, Nemona never should have taught that trick to her.

Groaning, Nemona relented,

"Fine, fine, go ahead. Just hurry up."

She trusted her battle partner implicitly, of course, and knew she'd never do anything against the rules. But she had no clue what Juliana was getting up to, and it made her nervous. She watched as Jules pulled a pokeball from her belt and sent out her Rabsca, the tiny bejeweled insect hovering silently in the air. Juliana grinned.

Then she reached out and touched the glowing ball of energy that her Rabsca held, at the same time uttering an order,

"Khepri, teleport!"

Nemona's mouth hung open in surprise, but in just a few seconds, Juliana re-appeared, now suddenly right in front of her, her face a mere breath away, her hazel eyes gazing mischievously into her own. Automatically, Nemona jerked in surprise.

"Hi!" Juliana chirped, with a silly little smile, but before Nemona could react, her friend reached out to her. It took Nemona several seconds to realize she was tucking the orange flower behind her ear, with a gentle, almost reverent amount of care. There was a soft, sweet look in Juliana's eyes as she did it, her fingers brushing strands of hair back tenderly, and Nemona felt herself blushing intensely at the contact.

Then, as quick as a flash, Juliana winked at her, saying,

"Bye!"

She tapped her pokemon again, ordering another, "Teleport!" and poofed out of existence, reappearing back on her side of the battlefield.

Without missing a beat, she shouted to her Lokix,

"Lunge!"

Nemona sucked in a breath, trying desperately to marshal her wits, but her brain was still stuck on trying to process what had just happened-- whuh, what, huh?!-- and the Lokix was already bounding across the battlefield, coming right for her Meowscarada. Belatedly, she yelped,

"M-Mew-mew, I, uh, y-you-- Play Rough!"

Unfortunately, it was too late. Lokix barreled right into Meowscarada, knocking her out cold, bits of flowers spraying all over the place from the impact. The attack had been forceful enough that Nemona nearly had to step out of the way. From the other side of the field, Juliana whooped and jumped up and down, cheering her pokemon,

"Good job, Hunter! Come on back now!"

Her heart pounding, Nemona balled her hand into a fist and protested,

"H-hey! That's, that's-- Juliana! You can't just--"

The young Champion approached her, arms crossed, a bit of a smug little smile settled on her pretty features.

"I can't what?"

Nemona opened her mouth to finish her thought, but struggled to complete it. She shut her mouth and thought for a moment.

Then she closed her eyes and sighed.

With a reluctant smile, she admitted,

"Ugh, okay. To be honest, you got me good. That was a masterful display of distraction tactics. Good job, Jules.”

When she opened her eyes again, Juliana wasn't looking quite so jubilant anymore. Her tone a little lackluster, she replied,

"Distraction tactics. Um . . . yeah. I guess that's what that was."

Feeling slightly confused, Nemona agreed,

"Well, yeah. That's what you were doing that whole match, right? I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed. I've never even considered mind games as a part of pokemon battling. It kinda adds a whole new dimension to things. Maybe you could teach me sometime? I gotta find new ways to keep my opponents on their toes . . ."

Juliana waved a hand to cut off her babbling, and she chuckled, relenting,

"Okay, okay. I'll . . . I'll teach you. Sure."

Excited, Nemona asked,

"When do you wanna start? I have time right now, if you can stay a little longer. Do you have any ideas on how to mess with Arven? I was thinking I could do something really erratic and confuse him. . ."

Juliana gave a quiet sigh, watching Nemona with fond eyes as she spoke. Flirting with Nemona was gonna take a little more work than she thought, it turned out. But, no matter, she'd find a way to make the message clear eventually.

Hopefully.

[maiosx]

This was in the Lucid showroom, I test drove a Grand Touring today! It was equipped with 880hp and I had to have it set for sprint mode, the initial ones are eco and smooth driving ones. It did so well though we were gonna pass a Tesla Model S in a short sprint but it does give headaches if you haven’t been resting and you try the 0-60 bc it’s so fast, it reaches it in 2.2 seconds… so I don’t recommend that high amount of hp for ppl that have strenuous jobs but more like accountants or stocks ppl that follow a good diet and routine, the lower hp models have 400 mile range starting at the base so it lasts all day or two. It does have CarPlay as well and the screen in the middle gets pushed back for cabin space. The car itself feels like a ufo/tank and it does put my Toyota’s to shame in the high speed arena but they are coming up with SUVs that should be tuned a little more in the lower speeds.

[stalwaria]

At the mere suggestion that she dismount, Etie turns up her nose with a scoff. Troublesome as this wolf was, it would be even more shameful to give up and wipe her hands of it entirely. That wasn't the precedent she wanted to set—not as a knight of Firene, and not as her prince's retainer.

No matter how hard times got for them, Alfred and Celine never gave up. And Etie would never give the impression that it was okay to.

Azama 10/10HP heals Etie 3/10HP with Recover [Roll: 1; +3HP,  Etie 6/10HP]

The warmth of healing magic comes to knit her cuts and bruises, and despite Azama's dissatisfaction with his work, it was enough to keep Etie pushing forward. "Me, quit? I don't think so. If this is what the Arena decided for me, then I'll just have to adapt!"

Chrysopoeia activates! Etie -4HP (Etie 2/10)

Even as the space is suddenly flooded with searing, white noise.

Etie's grin twists into a pained grimace, teeth gritting together as she leans down, pressing close against her wolf—hands go to cover the beast's ears instead of her own, the throbbing rings of choruses and church bells left in the attack's wake.

Head and body aching, Etie takes haggard breaths as she rubs her eyes, taking survey of the scene. Katarina lies motionless. Ice crystals litter the ground as the guards struggle to fix their broken formation, and distantly, she hears Princess Edelgard's voice...

Then Azama's...

Azama 8/10HP heals Etie 2/10HP with Recover [Roll: 13; +6HP, Etie 8/10HP]

"Y-Yeah," she rasps, taking a deep, soothing breath as healing magic covers her once more. "Understood. Keep supporting us from the back!"

A pat to the wolf's cheek, and it's off on another sprint, actually obeying her this time. "Yeah... that's it, girl! Straight ahead. Charge right for the biggest one!"

[TURN FIVE] Etie 8/10HP hits Prima Materia 30/50HP with Trident [Roll: 10; -2.5HP, Prima Materia 27.5/50HP] Hobble activates! Prima Materia is inflicted with -4 speed for one turn. Prima Materia is inflicted with Bind.

She lifts up her lance as they near the metallic angel, and with a cry, lunges it forward, blade dragging along the monster's side. Before it can retaliate, Etie gives her wolf a light kick, the canine quickly swerving and dashing out of its range.

A guard, however, attempts to intercept them—

Ninip misses with Counter [Roll: 6 - 2 = 4; Miss, Etie 8/10HP] Prima Materia 27.5/50HP is damaged by Trample. [-2HP, Prima Materia 25.5/50HP]

But the wolf leaps, evading the golem's blast of magic, landing smoothly and circling around towards the big boss again. Nearing the angel's damaged side once more, Etie strikes her leg out for a hard kick. Her boot might not have been as strong as a lance, but that? Revenge for Katarina. And personal satisfaction.

A solid hit? An obedient mount? Things were finally coming up Etie.

Prima Materia 25.5/50HP uses Chrysopoeia. All debuffs & statuses are dispelled, and Prima Materia becomes invulnerable for seven turns.

A shimmering mosaic spreads over the monster's body, the golems begin to form a wall, and she glowers. Well. That might put a damper on things.

On the first day || Team 9 Silver Round

[imtooscaredforthis]

Truce

Based on true events from when a Ghostface tricked me by being nice to me just so he could hook me </3. Ghostfaces these days, you can never trust em tsk tsk

You swore under your breath as you watched the masked murderer carry Bill over to the hook, hoisting him up onto it. As soon as it pierced through his shoulder, he let out one last yelp, before being interrupted by The Entity, claws twirling down and swallowing him up into the darkness.

You always hate being the last survivor left. There was so much pressure on you to escape, and if you didn’t all your teammates sacrifices would’ve been in vain.

You jogged the edge of the arena, your eyes scanning over the terrain, searching for the trap door, listening for that low humming sound.

Ghostface is fast, smart, and perceptive. So, you know you don’t have as much time as you would with most killers.

It only takes a matter of time before you hear the hatch shut, the bell signaling the begin of the endgame collapse chiming loudly. Shit.

Okay, now you have to come up with a new plan. Wait until he’s not around and pull down the lever to the exit gate, and if he comes back, hide or run like hell.

Anxiously, you crept over to the the lever, looking over your shoulder to make sure you’re alone, and slowly pulling it down.

Two of the lights are flashing, and the gate’s halfway open when you feel the hairs on your neck stand up, and a shiver going down your spine. Quickly, you go to hide, peeking from the bush when you find him walking over to the gate.

After making sure he finally left, you went back to the gate, and just before the third light went on, you felt those eyes on you, and you were exposed.

You took off into a sprint, throwing down a pallet behind you, trying to build a barrier between you and the killer. He chased after you, making you vault over the pallet.

You stood on the opposite side of the pallet, staring at him, and waiting for him to make his next move as he paused. What he did next surprised you.

He talked, like actually talked. You were relatively knew, so you hadn’t heard a killer speak, but you did hear from the other survivors that they could talk.

“Mm, you don’t have much time do you? I’m feeling nice, so I might even spare you.” His voice was much different then you expected. Lower and gravelly, with a hint of sadism behind it.

“How about this? You take a picture with me, and I’ll let you go.” He offered, gesturing to the closed exit gate.

“I-I can’t trust you.” You stuttered nervously, unsure of what to do. Your gut is telling you to run, but you hesitate. “You can’t, but what choice do you have? You could run away, and I’ll definitely catch and kill you, or you can take one little picture with me, and escape to your friends.”

He did have a point, and there wasn’t much else you could do, but you had a bad feeling about this. The bell rung once again, the ground starting to tremble even more this time.

“You don’t have much time, honey. Your clock is starting to run out. Tick, tock, tick-”

“Okay, fine. I’ll do it. Just one picture.” Seeming satisfied with your answer, Ghostface broke the pallet between you two, walking over to you. He threw an arm around you, holding up a peace sign with his armed hand, while he held up the camera in the other. “Say cheese.”

You made an attempt to smile, staring at the camera, and feeling your eyes struggled to adjust from the sudden flash. He pulled away from you, looking at the picture. “Aw, you blinked, let’s take another.”

Before you could protest, he held up his camera, this time jamming his knife into your side, twisting it so it cut deep, causing you to let out a shriek of pain. You collapsed to the ground, feeling the blood begin to pour from your side, and a searing pain in your gut.

“Awww that’s a shame. Looks like you’re not going to make it. It’s a nice picture though. I’ll have to keep it as a souvenir to our new friendship.” He crouched in front of you, showing you the picture as your vision began to blur, and the timer slowly ran out. “Until next time, sweetheart.”

[invui]

When Aruji-sama sleeps at random places

yin finally was able to get some motivation to get her ass up and write one of her requests

request: Here my second request, Aruji-sama who likes to sleep at random place like a cat! Aruji-sama could be founded sleeping by the tree, in the garden, study room, by the lake, etc. What are the butlers thought on this and how will they handle theirs master? With Bastien, Boschi and Lamli headcanon.

characters: bastien, boschi, lamli (sleepy trio)

Bastien Kelly

Bastien always finds you sleeping near the woods, where he usually trains

He would be rather confused, thinking that you were attacked but he’s definitely going to sigh in relief when he finds out that you were sleeping

You were sound asleep while sitting on a bench right in front of the entrance towards the forest

Bastien is the type of person who would sleep a lot and he would definitely wouldn’t disturb someone’s sleep as he himself doesn’t like to be awaken from his sleep by some sort of disturbance (lono)

So technically, he’s going to be hesitant at first by just doing small gestures like tapping your shoulder and tugging at your clothes

He was certainly surprised to find out that you were a pretty heavy sleeper, meaning that he would need to go beyond than tugging and tapping

and the method he ended up using was his voice

“Aruji-sama?” no reply followed after

After a few attempts, he raised his voice which surprisingly worked

He’s going to escort you all the way to the entrance of the mansion with words that go along the lines of “Be careful.”

Boschi Arenas

this man may be a little harsh but that’s just how he shows his concern

you would be sleeping under a tree and he would be reeling, sprinting towards you with absolute speed

when he arrives at your destination, he’s going to kneel right beside you, a sour expression on his face

he’s going to shake your torso back and forth while saying “oi” until you wake up

and when you do, he’s going to lightly scold you while saying “it’s dangerous to sleep everywhere without caution!”

you were either annoyed or relieved that boschi wasn’t just some random angel trying to kill you

but you shouldn’t be annoyed by that, it’s just his way to show his concern for you as I have said at the beginning of these hcs <3

Lamli Bennett

okay, believe me when I say that he’s not going to wake you up from your sleep because he wants you to have your rest

When he sees you sleeping at his usual spot, he’s going to gush over you looking so cute because that’s just who he his

I do believe that he’s the type to sing lullabies right beside you without any shame in the damn world

twinkle twinkle little star~

He might brush away any hair strings that drops down to your face, with a serious face of course because he wants to see how pretty his master is

he’s willing to sit and sleep, maybe even rest his on your shoulder even

if you want to add, he might hold your hand (don’t overthink too much, just for safe precautions)

he’s going to look up at the sky and would count the stars while singing the lullaby at the same time (if it’s morning, he’s going to do some cloud viewing while thinking about what the clouds look like)

after all of the sky viewing, he’s going to yawn and sleep comfortably right next to his master and would probably get a scolding from Nac sooner or later

let yin continue writing her heizou self-indulgent fic

[yandearest]

MTOBEIYF Planned Ending

Apologies for not writing in a long time. I haven’t been able to work on my fic due to personal reasons. Not sure if I will have time in the future but didnt want to leave people hanging so here is the planned ending:

May come back to this one day, so obvious spoiler warning

CH 8 Hide and Seek

The girl from 6 attempts to kill YN but YN wakes up hearing the sound of twigs snapping as she climbs the tree. She feigns being asleep only to swing her knife when 6 gets close, causing her to lose her balance and fall from the tree to her death.

At the sound of a canon Hoseok awakens – immediately seeing Athena, Namjoon and Yoongi all still in the tent. Realizing it could only be 6 or YN Hoseok rushes out and starts screaming her name over the edge of the fall. When there’s no answer, he immediately grabs a bag along with bow and arrow, and leaves camp. Namjoon says he’s coming too and this time they won’t return without her – brings a sword.

Athena notices the boys leaving and follows without them realizing.

Back in the forest YN hasn’t eaten since the games began and is beginning to starve. In desperation she makes her way back towards the cornucopia to gather food but comes across a bush filled with berries. Remembering the training she spent on foods she can’t decide if the berries are blueberries or nightlock and decides to nibble just a little bit first. The taste is initially sweet so she swallows the mouthful before a numbing effect on the tongue and throat- making her realize it’s the poison nightlock. Quickly she shoves her finger down her throat and induces vomiting to bring up as much of the poison as possible, but some is still in her system. She forces herself to throw up again before drinking all the water left in her bottle to try and rehydrate only to throw up again. Makes a run for the river.

Athena sees the nightlock and vomit and thinks YN has gone to the waterfront to try and wash it out of her system given there was no canon – so she’s still alive – but no one is there. Athena tracks. Meanwhile Hoseok and Namjoon are both near the bottom of the hill – they make a truce to not attack each other until Yoongi and Athena are dead before splitting up to cover more ground. Namjoon takes the forest, Hoseok goes towards the water.

YN drags herself in and floats on her back, scooping water into her hand to try and drink before Athena suddenly appears above her. YN is weak, with no will to live, and can tell Athena is about to kill her and asks for a quick death to which Athena promises a stab to the heart. Athena tells her she really does look like an angel and YN responds that Athena is her angel of death, a mercy killing saving her from a much worse fate with Namjoon or Hoseok. Athena agrees and steadies her with one hand under her rib cage, YN holds onto her arm with her closest hand and stares up to the ‘sky’. But before Athena can strike a blow an arrow is launched into the side of Athena’s head and her dead body falls onto YN, who is too weak to push her off. Hoseok sprints out from his hiding place to rescue YN, meanwhile Namjoon, watching from inside the forest, decides to head back to camp before sunset – knowing Hoseok and YN will be safe together.

YN is barely conscious as Hoseok drags her out of the water. Shouldering her bag with the blanket inside, along with his own bag, he carries her over to the waterfall and to 7’s old camp inside. He lays her down before running off to fetch dry twigs and branches in order to build a fire. As the sun sets and the temperature drops YN is still wet from the river and beginning to freeze. Hoseok strips her of her clothes and wraps her in the thermal blanket before another gift from a sponsor arrives of a container of hot soup. Hoseok feeds her and YN becomes more conscious but increasingly depressed about having survived.

She blames him for taking away her painless exit from the games and he asks her what kind of death she wants. Remembering how sweet the berries were she tells him she wants to die by nightlock. She asks him to promise to let her eat nightlock if they are the final 2 and he doesn’t answer. She then asks how he would want to die and he says he doesn’t plan on it and tells her to instead imagine being old together. She jokes about growing old and living in the arena forever before saying the capital would force them to kill each other somehow.

Still shivering under the blanket Hoseok strips off his remaining clothing to warm her up with skin to skin contact from behind. Initially starts with rubbing her arms before his hands circle around to her breasts.

YN feels ashamed at how quickly she responded and tries to push Hoseok away only for him to push her onto her back. She puts her hands against his chest unsure if she was trying to pull him closer or away. Looking her in the eyes he sees them glassy and in shock as he tries to sooth her, running his fingers through her hair lovingly. The other hand holds hers before moving his hand to wrap her thigh around his hip, kissing her as he pushes in. Hoseok wipes a tear from her cheek, a combination from the shame and how good the sex is feeling. Her eyelashes flutter close and she sighs her head tilting to the side resting her forehead against their joined hands letting out whimpers whenever he pushes inside of her.

His other arm braces himself by the side of her head, caging her underneath his body. She stares up at him entranced by the warm light of the fire casting a golden glow on his tan skin, as the shadows emphasize his sharp cheekbones, pointed nose, and strong jawline. If she was an angel then Jung Hoseok was the devil himself and she was being dragged to hell.  Hoseok uses his shirt to wipe her down before holding her tightly against him as they both fall asleep by the fire.

X

CH 9 A fate worse than death

They’re awoken by the sound of a canon early in the morning and quickly realize that they’re now down to just 3 people. YN wants to stay in the cave and wait for the last person to try and find them here but Hoseok wants to confront them at camp, telling her to wait for him. She refuses and follows him. He warns her of traps they set around the camp and holds her hand to guide her through the forest.

Nearing the camp they see Yoongi’s body floating face down in the river, ‘Namjoon wants us to know it’s him’ YN wants to walk through the river to avoid leaving tracks but Hoseok says it’s too visible and steers them back into the forest to take another way around to the camp, along the area he set the traps up in. Hoseok becomes suspicious the traps he set have been moved only to trigger a rope trap that he dodges only for YN to be caught in a net. As Hoseok tries to find the rope to cut her down Namjoon appears, severing the back of his leg with a knife. YN screams and Namjoon remarks that he looks forward to hearing more of that sound after he finishes with Hoseok, saying sharing time is up and that he wants to have his way with his district mate before securing his victory. He toys with Hoseok, making deep cuts that are painful, but not lethal – taunting him. It becomes increasingly clear that Namjoon deliberately toned down his skills in the training and assessment and is even smarter and stronger than his 10. Meanwhile YN is inside the net cutting a hole. As Namjoon teases Hoseok, telling him he’s going to force her to watch him die, then he’s going to fuck her and finally gut her like a fish from their district, YN falls out from the net and breaks her arm on impact – alerting Namjoon. Namjoon decides he wants to force Hoseok to watch and stabs his him through the hand with an arrow pinning him to the ground.

‘Silly little dove,’ Namjoon taunts as he reaches her laying on the ground – falsely thinking she’s cradling her broken arm – but she really has a knife. When he grabs her by the hair and yanks her up she swings her arm and slashes him across the chest, drawing blood. Namjoon sneers and goes to hit her but remembering their sparing session from training YN dodges the attack and is able to land another slash in with the knife, this time across his arm. Namjoon acknowledges his mistake in underestimating her and promises it won’t happen again. YN attempts to surprise him by attacking first but he blocks the knife and slams her wrist against a boulder until she drops it. YN slams her knee up in Namjoon’s groin who retaliates by gripping her broken arm and slamming her against the boulder. In too much pain from the broken arm she can’t defend herself when NJ backhands her across the face, sending her to the ground. She reaches for her knife but he steps on her arm and she screams in pain as Hoseok snaps the arrow in half and pulls his hand out of the broken stem, biting down on his shoulder to try and smother his scream. Namjoon leans down to grab her knife, holding it to her throat as he straddles her waist and tells her he’s going to claim her as his, and if she behaves then he’ll give her the quick death. YN sobs as he reaches for her pants only for Hoseok to appear behind and stab Namjoon in the neck with the tip half of the broken arrow. Namjoon drops the knife in shock and YN quickly picks it up and stabs him in the heart mockingly saying she’s granting him a quick death. She kicks his body off of hers and he floats down the stream towards the edge of the waterfall before disappearing off the side. – a canon sounds

Both injured, YN and Hoseok collapse into each others arms. Hoseok has multiple stab wounds, a bad one on his leg and the hole in his hand from the arrow. YN has her broken arm, a bruise on her face from the hit and a cut on her throat from where the knife had been held. Hoseok confesses he loves her as he cradles her in his arms, YN with her eyes closed and leaning against his chest can’t bring herself to admit her love but instead asks him to let her eat a nightlock berry like she tried to make him promise. Hoseok holds her tighter and asks if she trusts him. She says yes and Hoseok leans down to kiss her one last time which she returns. ‘close your eyes angel’ she does. With his injured hand he wraps his arm around her neck to cut off circulation, his good hand covers her nose and mouth, smothering her. She tries to struggle but passes out within 10 seconds, he keeps the hold for another 10 and the canon sounds

Hoseok is declared the winner of the games

 *

 YN awakens inside of a medical bay. Confused she wonders if she is in a strange version of hell, or if the capitol has somehow found a way to harvest souls, before a nurse realizes she is conscious. She is informed that the trackers injected into the body detect when the heart stops beating which sounds the canon. Hoseok had refused to leave her body and demanded she be taken with him on the ship that came to claim him as the winner and remove him from the arena. Immediately on board he began to resuscitate her and is able to start her heartbeat again. He convinces the capital workers to let him keep her. She had died, he had won the games, if he could revive her afterwards it wouldn’t make a difference to them, they could continue to let everyone think she had died. The capital agrees on the conditions she is to live with him and never able to leave their mansion in the victors’ village and Hoseok is to comply with any future demands of the capital to do with his obligations as a winner. He accepts and the medical team take them both away. YN asks where she is now and the doctor tells her inside of the train. Hoseok is on victory tour of all the districts and refuses to let her be taken away from him – fearing the capital will dispose of her. He fears she could still be killed whilst inside the train but he would also raise hell during one of the stops if that happened. YN is confused, distraught and traumatized when Hoseok walks in to see her awake. He runs to her side and envelops her in a hug, kissing her. He repeats how much he loves her and that nothing can ever take her form this world without him following right behind her. YN is in shock, not believing she is alive, not believing Hoseok is real and struggling to speak. The doctor tries to explain to Hoseok she may have brain damage and it’s a possibility she could never recover. The only thing Hoseok cares about is that she is alive.

A summary of the tour continuing with YN recovering although her speech is permanently impaired (aphasia). When they finally conclude and return to 2 she is moved in a van that is disguised to look like a delivery and transported inside of a box from the van to the house, so no one can possibly see her.

Inside the blinds are shut and all the doors are locked before Hoseok appears again and forces an ‘engagement’ ring on her finger, but there is a device inside that tracks her location. YN begins to panic, she went from being trapped in one arena to trapped forever in this house. She tries to run but there’s nowhere to run to. She runs to the kitchen to search for a knife but Hoseok restrains her before she can injure herself. She goes limp in his arms losing all hope as he whispers in her ear how much he loves her and now they can always be together forever.

[spidermilkshake]

No Keeping Me Out

Sun-mode plus Security mode. And a piece of well in advance draft of some Security Breach story stuff. Story chunk is below the cut!

Shouts echoed after him in the corridors lined with ducting, but Leo was undeterred. She would not stop him. She would not stop what had to happen; no one would, he would go down swinging before giving up on this. The technician all but threw himself through the next set of doors and was for a bright second disoriented by the Fazerblast arena and the delirious state he'd lived in for the past weeks. He palmed one of the harmless wet-floor-bots and recovered. With all his scant muscle he then heaved it onto its side and shoved it flush to the now shut door, ignoring its faint bleeps and garbles of protest. What a shame there wasn't a chair handy--it would have blocked that woman's progress much more effectively than the poor hunk of conscious metal. Sucking in a breath, Leo pelted for the catwalks leading up, up, up the highest observation tower among the neon glow of the structures. As he drew up to the magnetic door he heard the door begin to rattle behind him and Vanessa's shrill demands cut through the barriers:

"Come on, man, stop running and just take a breath!" The tech wiped a grimy hand through the frayed bits of his hair which had escaped the ragged ponytail, scoffing under his breath. Yes, stop running. Stop and let me ruin you. Stop and let the Princess remain caged. She must know--they all knew, how could they have not noticed with all the strange things happening? It had always been happening. Leo groaned aloud with the sting of hindsight and remorse as he finished spoofing the access code on the security door and it flew open for him with a heavy klank. He wasted no time, pelting inside and resetting the access code to one he picked out.

"Leo! Please, just come quietly!" Vanessa was sprinting up the metal grating stairs, extremely swift on her feet compared to the disheveled tech. "Leo, please! You do not want this on your record with the company! Leo, you don't want to find out what happens. Are you even listening?"

He was not. He'd collapsed from his poor condition, sliding backwards from the door until he bumped up against what he was ultimately after. With a wheezing laugh, he dug his fingers into the front of the cabinet and crawled back upright until he could read the hazy title screen: Princess Quest III. At last. He could save the Princess. Thank god for the security door. He wasn't in the best shape for maneuvering these twisted forms of the machines, but he now had time to fight through it. No matter what became of him, she could be freed. Someone had to. The flares behind his eyes were only going to get worse, the thoughts worse. The Princess could cure this infection, right? If she was freed--yes--the hold of the infection could be severed from all the things--all the people--it had burrowed into.

The new guard backed up from trying to ram the door with her shoulder, rubbing and wincing at the bruise steadily forming. She peered through the barred side window. Leo was insane. The man's beige technician uniform was stained with sweat and god knew what else, his hair only halfway in its old ponytail and the rest clinging greasily to his shoulders and face, or fraying to every side and dragged to anything close by with the barest hint of static. And he was directing his raw, red eyes towards the lone arcade cabinet's screen, weak, pale fingers slamming at the joystick and buttons, unaware of all else. Playing a damn video game.

"Moon," Vanessa grit her teeth to not let the terror in her voice make it through her headpiece's connection. "Moon, I need you in Fazerblast. Now." There was no other way. The doors could withstand police battering rams, much less any forcing from a human being. It would have been much easier if the observation booth had any ventilation hooked into it; even so, she faintly remembered in orientation that the Daycare Attendant robot might be able to circumvent these barricades in other ways. She'd always doubted it was that strong--but now, she was desperate. The door below from the utilidors pushed open and the Daycare Attendant bounded out. It had been close by, apparently, and hadn't bothered replying to her summons before simply arriving.

"What is it?" As the Moon's face lifted to meet the security guard's gaze, the bright lights within the lasertag arena triggered a sharp twitch of its facial disc, and it paused midstep to allow the mode shift to fully initialize--colors mulling and popping into warmer ones and the sunrays shooting out in a clockwise succession. "Did you see Leo, by any chance?"

"In here," Vanessa rapped on the metal with her knuckles and stepped aside to let the caretaker robot stride up to it with no obstructions. She turned to it, neck craning to look it in the teeth, "I have no idea what's gotten into him. He's snapped. And he won't let me in there to even talk to him. Please, M--Sunny, he locked off the door on me and you're the only one I can think of who might get it open again."

"S-snapped?" The Sun's beady red pupils flicked down across her face, eyelids squinting inwards. Reading. So terrified. Sun had seen this level of horror before; it hesitated before giving Vanessa's shoulder a gentle pat with a few of its overlong fingers. "Is he otherwise unwell?"

"Well, I can't say. I doubt he's taking care of himself. You know how he's been for a while--he's your friend, right?"

"I'll try," The Daycare Attendant's voice growled slightly as it placed its palms down against the base of the heavy door, "Step aside." Vanessa did so, taking a few of the stairs down before watching in silence.

Leo was seething at the machine, voice grated down to a hoarse whisper as he lost life after life. So close. If he could only break boundaries and utterly break the logic of this cursed thing--that might free the Princess. The pixels on the screen were fragmenting, making it harder to see what his inputs were doing. A metal scrape jolted him from his efforts, and finally convinced him to peek back over his shoulder. The unstoppable magnetic door was whinging and moaning in seeming pain as it started to creep up a few jerky inches. His dry eyes cast downwards and discovered the pale, yellow fingertips tightened around the bottom bar. Neon lights began to streak in the gap, wide enough for a cat to slip through. Then a dog--then a crouching human being. He found his jaw had dropped as the door ground and protested up almost the full length into the machinery powering it. Completely dominating the doorway was the slim, gold form of Sunny--red light sensors training onto the technician as he slumped halfway to the floor from exhaustion and shock.

"Leo," the robot's voice was concerned, but chiding, "you should know there's no keeping me out." Its vision flickered between the sagging facial features, the heaving chest, and finally back up to the whitened knuckles still clinging onto the arcade cabinet's joystick. "You're... you're very much not well, are you?"

"I'm better off than all of you," the man rasped, feebly pulling at the machine but unable to get back upright, "I know the truth!"

Sun blinked, and its shoulder joints gave a high-pitched grinding noise as it poured renewed effort into its lifting motion. A pair of sparks shot from the casing of the security door along with a p-p-pop-pop-pap!, and a pitiful descending warble as its power shorted completely. Dropping its hands down from the destructive feat, it took a few steps inside the small, stuffy room. "Oh, friend, you're very sick. You're dehydrated, for one. And you clearly haven't slept in days. Leo, wh... what's made you want to... hurt yourself like this?"

Vanessa shouldered a bit past the Daycare Attendant and it issuing a startled, hitched yelp. She sighed and frowned down at her quarry, who was shaking and streaming snot. Defeated.

"Jesus Christ... Leo..." She made a disgusted noise before stepped back and clapping a hand on the upper arm casing of the Sun. "Hey... He's not walking anytime soon. If you'll carry him for me back to the main office and make sure he's gonna survive until EMS gets here, I'll go and call it in. Alright?"

"Yes--" Leo was swept up into a fireman carry with both great efficiency and great care, jarred out of his snuffling and cursing by the sensation of his robotic charge's huge hand cupping against the grimy back of his head--squeezing the man closer to its chest. The beams of red hovered so close they completely lit up Leo's face and chest, "As quick as possible. Yes. I will take care of him."

The Daycare Attendant dispensed with its terrific flexibility, turning on heel and letting its immense stride make the distance instead while it carried precious cargo. Vanessa stood back at the top of the stairs for a while, watching them depart towards the central hub and letting out a deep breath. She glared back over her shoulder at the lone, malfunctioning arcade, then at the broken security door that would have once ensured that none but one in her position would have been able to reach it. With a snort, she stepped off, not eager to report the damage and needing to keep up with the speedy robot, and keep her word. Mostly.

[emperor-palpaminty]

Heart Song (2)

In which Tech grows closer to his soulmate and his training deepens his understanding if who he is.

Tech was in a good mood. He had narrowed it down to two reasons:

1. He was doing more specialized lessons and training, meaning less time getting dirty looks from the other boys.

2. He had all the words to his soulmate's lullaby figured out. She had sung him the one about whiskey several times, and would be overjoyed that he had learned it.

Tech was humming it over breakfast today, stirring the unnamable food on his tray with his spoon, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Someone's in a good mood." His blonde brother remarked. He'd said he would go in for special combat and sniping training later today, so he was less snide and sarcastic than usual.

Tech nodded, shoving the spoonful in his mouth. "Excited for training, that's all."

"You're telling me!" Wrecker cheered. "I get to throw things all day."

The most average looking out of the four of them nodded. He didn't say anything- he didn't have much to say, typically. He hadn't said much about what he was apparently specialized in- but he'd started sleeping with eye and ear coverage since he'd met with Nalaa Se.

"Apparently, I'm going to be running through programming and artificial anatomy today." Tech's leg bounced and he wondered if he should tell them about the lullaby. Not yet, at least, he decided. "Then we get to do training together later."

Wrecker laughed, smacking the table. "I hope you guys are prepared! I'm thinking I can throw one of you at a droid."

"Please don't." The blonde one mumbled, lowering his spoon.

Tech grinned, pushing up his glasses, chuckling. "Let's see what they give us. I wouldn't mind being thrown."

Wrecker cheered, leading the oldest of them, the most normal looking, to chuckle and pick up his tray. "I've got to run. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Wrecker waved, and Tech and the blonde one repeated after him. Wrecker shoved the last bits of the gelatenous pile of nutrition in front of him into his mouth, swallowing mightily and jumping up. “I’ve gotta run too.” he waved at his brothers and practically sprinted out, giggling gleefully about throwing heavy things.

Tech stirred his food, standing after a moment, walking in a haze to the appointed training room. What did his soulmate look like? He sighed, happily, thinking of her voice. Maybe her hair was long! Or curly! Did she have glasses too? 

There was an obvious pep in his step as he entered the training room, mechanical mind engineering all the faces she could possibly have. No matter how she looked, his little heart was already pledged so deeply to her that he was scared if he took it away he would simply die.

Tech sat down at the screen, fingers flying over the keys, embracing each click as a musician does his instrument. He found his leg bouncing under the pristine table to the song he had memorized.

What will make the dumb talk, what will make the lame walk, what's the elixer of life-

Tech blinked as the screen flashed, them went blank. He looked up at the Sargent standing behind him. "What happened?"

"You finished." The Sargent offered him a half smile, taking the headset Tech removed from his ears. "Good job, kid."

Tech stood, quiet, nodding softly. He paused and looked back. "Sargent, sir?' A grunt acknowledged him, and Tech inhaled. "Is there any way I can... find music?"

The Sargent hummed in thought, glancing at the boy, brow piqued in... concern? Question? Tech felt his face flush. "If it's no trouble-"

"No, no. Cadets don't usually ask. That's all." The Sargent rubbed a finger along the headset, pushing his lips together in thought. "There's a few spare radios in the hangar bay. Gonna be shipped out and thrown. If you can fix one, it's yours."

Tech perked up. "I can?"

"Yes." The Sargent smiled, shaking his head softly, but the curious glint had been replaced with amusement. "Go on, now. You're due for combat in an hour."

Tech thanked him before marching away as quickly as he could, doing all in the world he could to not skip. He paused, looking around, and then whispered, "Song bird?"

There was a pause, and then a gleeful giggle responded. "Smarty pants! Calling so early?"

Bobbing his head in a nod, Tech smiled. "Yeah. I wanted to ask you something. The Sargent said if I could fix one of the radios, I could have it. I want to listen to music. Maybe I'll know lullabies too."

"Please!" She gasped. "You would learn songs for me?'

The joy in her voice alone was enough to send the boy spiraling again, imagining the smile on every face he could imagine. "I would learn all the songs for you," Tech sighed, narrowly avoiding bumping into a rather stern-looking trainee, smiling apologetically, the rose haze of infatuation lifting briefly.

"You're so sweet!" The girl gushed, squealing. "Who knew my soul mate would be such a sweet heart?"

"I thought I was smarty pants."

"A sweet-smarty-heart-pants."

The words didn't make much sense, but Tech conceded, making his way into the darkened hanger. "I did lots of training today."

"What kind?"

"It's pretty boring," Tech admitted, sheepishly, as he tugged at a cable.

"You want to listen to my songs! I want to know what you know."

His heart was near exploding, it was beating so quickly. "You... do?" Other clones steered clear of the nerd, and his brothers could get easily frustrated with Tech talking about things they just wouldn't understand. Mechanics and physics were beyond them, though fascinating to him. "No one ever wants to know."

"Well," She reasoned, and Tech imagined her puckering her lips in thought. "If we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, I want to know more about what you like."

The rest of our lives.

His face went red again, and Tech made an involuntary noise, joy washing over him as he finally heaved up a smaller, clunky radio from the pile. "That sounds incredible." He clutched that device to his little chest, heart racing, and almost slumped over.

He stood and walked, a sense of purpose in his heart. "Can I talk to you more tonight?"

"You can talk to me any time." She sighed in response, sounding almost as smitten as Tech felt. "What are you going to do now?"

"My brothers and I are going to the arena. We're practicing combat today." He picked up his pace, dispensing the radio at the foot of his bed. "We're trying to be soldiers. Training is important."

"Do your brothers know about me?"

"No." Tech inhaled. "I'm technically not supposed to be talking to you."

She sounded horrified, appalled. "Will you get in trouble? Why?"

He shrugged, adding "I'm not sure, I just shouldn't," a little lamely. "But I really want to keep talking to you. We can have a secret together! Just one you and I know about."

She laughed, in affirmation, stating it sounded so romantic and thrilling, like some story her fathers read to her. Tech could only smile as he hurried down the hall to join his brothers for their combat training.

___

It wasn't that Tech hadn't believed Nalaa Se when she stated they were an experimental batch of specialized troopers. As far as he knew, the Kaminoans wanted the best for him and his brothers. It just shocked him as he watched the four of them, himself included, in action.

The blonde one was deadly accurate with a shot, taking only a second to scale upwards, aim, and take down a series of AI. Wrecker abandoned his gun for throwing droids at each other, practically invincible in his cadet-regulated armor, and the oldest one, the normal looking one, wove away from his brothers quickly and between the barriers, making his way quickly towards the droids.

Tech was stunned. For all the engineering, for all his brains, he lacked skill and brawn. He stationed himself behind the barrier, shooting at the droids that stalked up. He grimaced, looking around. His batch was too far, and he was alone.

He exhaled, hands shaking on the training pistol. He thought that the mechanics, the autonomy, were all he needed-

Tech paused. He lowered his gun, glancing around. "Wrecker! I need that commander droid!" He saw Wrecker give a brief grunt of agreement, and then he ran towards Wrecker, who was currently yanking down the commander droid.

Tech yanked the droid down and pried open its head, tugging around at cords and wires. "Wrecker, cover me!" He grimaced, fingers working at the cords, small brain working to try and remember what did what.

The droids shut down, and Wrecker cheered. "This is the end of your training session. Please return to the point of entry."

Tech felt his shoulders slump, abandoning the droid's cranium. His plan- it hadn't worked. He just wasted his time. The room was littered with remnants of practice deoids his brothers had easily taken down, and here he was, struggling with one. Tech stood, slowly, and followed his brothers, shuffling in behind them, shame covering his face, and he reluctantly moved his helmet from his head, eyes downcast. His glasses slid down his nose as he tried to not sniffle.

Stupid glasses. Useless clone.

___

He tinkered with the radio, quiet, waiting for his soul mate's voice. It seemed to be the only thing that would bring him comfort.

Even his oldest brother's encouragement wasn't enough. "It was a good plan, Tech! You'll get the hang of it." Tech had only mumbled in response and let the blonde dissuade Wrecker (who was dramatically reenacting the training), leading the others out to go watch a spar between some older cadets.

The door opened, and only a muffled step responded. "Tech?'

The boy grunted a soft hello to 99. He didn't bother glancing back, frustrated tears still pricking his eyes. Good soldiers don't cry.

Tech heard 99 approach, and felt the weight of his bed shift. The older clone was kind, caring- especially towards this batch. Perhaps he was some of himself in them. "What's wrong, Tech?"

"Nothing," Tech whimpered, trying to inject venom in his words. It was a pitiful attempt. His grip on the radio slipped and it collapsed on the bed. Tech sniffled, reaching up to rub his eyes, still not looking at 99. "I'm useless."

"Now, Tech, don't go saying that." 99 reached down with a knotted hand and gently patted Tech's shoulder, letting the boy sniffle as he hugged his pillow. "What makes you believe that?"

Tech inhaled, shakily, removing his glasses and rubbing his face. "W-well," he gulped in air. "I was tr-tr-training with my brothers," His voice warbled, and he swallowed to contain it.

Good soldiers don't cry.

The older clone offered a gentle smile, nodding and humming in encouragement.

Tech gave a sob. I'm not a good soldier. "I tried to do something during training. I saw Wrecker and- well, they don't have names yet, but they were all doing these amazing new combat skills." Tech's face went red and he rubbed at the tears, now breaking past their barrier. "And I just... sat there. I thought, maybe I could re-program the commander- but- I- I-"

Tech broke. He buried his face in his little hands and began sobbing. His fingers felt soft, and he drew his head away in disgust. Wrecker already had blisters from lifting weights, and the other two were forming callouses from their specialized combatative training, with knives and rifles. "My hands are wimpy, even." Tech whined, pulling his knees to his chest.

99 kept his hand firm but easy on Tech's arm. He patted the boy's back, listening to him gulp in air and try to control his breathing, and waiting patiently. "Breathe deep. You'll want to, because I have something to say."

Tech sniffled, picking his head up and inhaling through his snotty nose, then exhaling from his lips, thick from crying. His face was still warm, and his eyes felt dry, but his chest felt lighter. He glanced at 99, who was smiling softly, the comforting weight of his hand still on Tech's shoulder. When he finished, 99 scooted closer, hands moving to shakily pick up the radio. "You aren't useless. Would you call me useless?"

"Never!" Tech drew away, fingers gripping the glasses in his hands. "You're not!"

99 chuckled gingerly, adjusting the radio to sit in his lap. "My point exactly. None of us are useless, Tech." His knobbled fingers traced the old radio, thoughtfully, as if trying to draw words from the stations not playing on it. "One way or another, we live to serve each other. We all have a purpose. It can be hard to find. You seem to know yours, Tech, and you should value it. You're smart and I don't know any other clones who would think of running out into battle to try and hack a commander droid." He reached to his chest pocket, tugging out a small and thin cylindrical object. "Sometimes, though, you need tools to get you there."

Tech's sniffles had subsided. He was down to taking a few occasional shaky breaths, watching the clone work gingerly on the radio. "So, I need tools?"

"Everyone does." 99 stated simply. "You're all good kids- gonna be good troopers, too." 99 tapped the know, smiling slightly in victory when it crackled to life. "You're just gonna need to have to right tools to make your purpose happen."

Shoving his glasses on, Tech scrambled to the radio. "You fixed it!" He bounced on his knees, turning the dials with a loving unfamiliarity. "Thank you."

"Any time," 99 stood with a grunt, hobbling towards the door.

Tech rotated towards him. "99?"

"Hm?"

"Can I tell you a secret? It has to be between us, okay?"

Chuckling, 99 slid the door shut again, sitting down on the bench. Standing for a long time was hard on his body, and Tech scooted his legs under him. "Sure, Tech. I'll keep it between us."

"I met someone." He grinned, fiddling with the radio. "She's wonderful."

"She?" 99 blinked. "General Tii?"

Tech shook his head, excitement bubbling in him. "My soulmate." He grinned widely. "I have a soulmate! She's wonderful," he repeated, knees bouncing. "She likes to sing and she listens to me."

99 grinned, crow's feet by his eyes wrinkling. "Tell me about her."

"Well, she sings to me.' Tech's chest tingled, and he felt like a fog, a good fog, was closing in on him. "I don't know her name, though. She doesn't know mine." He paused, setting down the radio. "I really want to meet her some day, 99." Tech adjusted his glasses, pausing. "I'm not going to be useless to her, I hope."

"You won't be." 99 smiled, standing. "Not a lot of cadets are familiar with soulmates, here." He paused. "And I'm not good with girls myself, but if you need anything, let me know." He grinned and stood, grunting with effort. "We all deserve a soulmate. I'm glad you have one."

Tech exhaled in relief, assured that the soulmate would be kept between the two of them, and he turned on the radio, listening for songs to learn just for his soul mate.

Tech quietly curled up in bed, awaiting for her voice to fill him.

But it didn't. Not that night.

___

Tag list:

Thank you all for your comments! Im trying to figure out how to change this to my primary blog so I can respond without posting my personal blog a ton! I see and love all your comments, they don't go ignored. I'm just trying to figure out dumb technology, haha!

@m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s @lafy-taffy @photowizard17 @nick-djarin @fanfic-cave @shytastemakerthing @phoenixhalliwell

[acrowinspace]

Hunter's Journal #10

Spider: Party Of Seven

You know, it gets to be kind of a comedy of sorts. You go to a location (C&A Lumber in this instance), you get the clue, there's probably a hunter to kill there, and sometimes you get lucky and find the spider first try.

In my case, there were two hunters right off the bat. Two incredibly bold hunters with no sense of self preservation. The first rushed to a soul mound, which was screaming red because I was 5 meters away hiding behind a stack of lumber. One shot from my pistol, and only the second hunter in that team was left.

She was a little more careful, I'll give her that. She peeked, and then hid, and grabbed ammo, and peeked again. I was patient though. Never take a shot that won't kill, and She was moving so much that I couldn't possibly be lethal! So I waited. The clue was her target, and after 10 minutes of her running around like an idiot, she sprinted to it.

One shot, one kill.

Of course I grabbed the soul husk and clue for myself, and then I found another husk when I was moving to the boss!

Here's where things got messy. More hunters were approaching, while being chased by a third. They took refuge in the nearby buildings to lose their pursuer.

Feeling safe, they started to explore around, and eventually found their way to my building. One of them opened the door, and I expected a grenade or dynamite stick, but no. He just crouch-walked in, rifle-first.

I had my pistol trained on him the entire time. I had a kill shot lined up. I was ready.

I hit his damn shoulder and he shot me in the face.

Not to get sidetracked, but this event is very much imbalanced in one-side's favor. That side is the grounded pact! Namely the additional benefit of the necromancer ability. It's so much better than all of the rest of the pact upgrades it's almost hilarious!

Anyway, that came in handy here! While the guys that killed me were trying to kill the spider, I brought myself back in the fight. A rifle in a building isn't too useful, but a seventeen round revolver being fanned is another story entirely! The hunter that dropped me... Did not fare well. I popped him in four shots and repositioned while his partner flailed about trying to figure out how to save him. Unfortunately, I saw the door open from my position, and it was nothing short of hilarious how fast he melted beneath a hail of bullets!

I almost felt bad. Almost. But their loot made up for it. After that team dropped, I checked the area with darksight, and to my joy, there were more hunters about! And what's more, it's the team that banished the other bounty! I think it was scrapbeak. RiP birb.

Anyway, I was moving around beneath the arena, trying to find a concealed way in, and happened upon a friendly ladder! Of course I climbed it, and managed to blow the bounty-carrier's head off with my pistol, and then his partner, who didn't have a bounty for some reason, fell to another five shots! The spider fell next, and the other hunters did quite a nice job on its health! It only took one shot from my Mosin to drop it!

So I waited for it to banish, and saw one more hunter lurking in the distance thanks to my boosted darksight. Sadly, I couldn't see him before my boost expired, but he never made a move! It's a shame, because he had such an advantage, too.

As I picked up the second token from the spider, I saw he was still in the same area, and I made my way to a window to try to take him out. I was about to open the window for a shot, but realized I didn't have to! He was clearly visible through the partially-open shutter! I bet he was pissed when I dropped him with my second mosin shot.

The extract was uneventful. Get there, get out.

Final kill count: Seven hunters, one Spider.

[ah-bright-wings]

A redone prologue to a fantasy project I've been working on lately: Throneless.

Rook, a runaway slave, is struggling to survive when he stumbles into a face from his past. He’s soon drawn into a war between a hunted prince and his ruling uncle. In the conflict, he finds safety, brotherhood, and, for the first time, a higher purpose. But as he rises through the prince's ranks, he realizes that all is not as it seems, and long-kept secrets threaten to shatter not only his life, but the country itself.

(You can read a snippet below)

--

The arrow sank into the back of his thigh, and in that moment, Rook knew they’d take him alive.

He tried to scramble up, knees bleeding from the impact with the rocky ground, but a foot hit the center of his back and sent him crashing down, face into the gravel, hands splayed beneath him in an attempt to break the fall. He spat into the dust and tried to push himself up, but the weight of the man on top of him was too great. Like a bug under a pin, he writhed, refusing to be quiet even in defeat. He shrieked every curse he could recall, and when those failed he made his own, cursing their fates, their mothers, their every conceivable relatives, kicking out with his feet despite the pain it brought until someone sat on his legs. He fell silent only when a scrap of musty cloth was forced between his teeth and tied so tightly that it made closing his lips difficult.

They pulled his arms behind his back and bound his wrists. Then, they hauled him to his knees. There were two of them, both men with the familiar blue ink of mercenaries tattooed on the sides of their shaved heads. They had enough bars marked to lessen Rook’s humiliation at being caught by them; even so, the shame of it burned in his belly. In the fighting pits, he could have taken both and likely won; he’d killed men their size before. But out in the open air, the playing field was less even, literally so in the case of Nomoska’s more mountainous regions, and he’d forgotten how deadly accurate the aim of a Nomoskan archer could be even in the woods. It was a stupid mistake, and he hated himself for making it.

One man, the one who’d brought him down, grabbed the collar of his thin tunic and twisted it, baring his shoulder and tearing the fabric in the process. The man smiled, pleased, when he saw the coiled snake branded there. “Pit-viper. You were right, Bara.”

“The brand is old,” said Bara, the archer who’d sunk the bolt into Rook’s thigh. He leaned over and caught a fistful of Rook’s tangled hair, tugging his head sideways. Rook glowered up at him with all the malice he could muster. “Look at that. His left ear’s almost gone. Might be enough to identify him. The way he kicks, I’m sure his owners are eager to have him returned.”

His panic must have shown on his face, because the men laughed. They didn’t care what Amren would do to him for escaping alongside the arena’s best fighter. The mercenary guild cared only for the coin on his head, and the brand burned into Rook’s shoulder promised them a great deal of it. The going rate for escaped pit vipers was at least ninety dromos, by his last count. Rook was sure Amren would pay it, if only for the satisfaction of beating Rook down to a husk before letting him fight out his remaining days.

Well, he’d die before he went back to that.

Biting down on the gag, Rook snapped his head up, aiming for Bara’s nose. He connected with a wet crunch and Bara jerked back, howling as blood covered his lips, while Rook twisted and slammed his full weight into the second mercenary’s legs. Rook was half the man’s size, but the surprise of it, combined with the point of impact, caused the man’s left knee to give. He staggered, thrown off balance. Rook used the moment to spring up and sprint towards the cliff-edge he knew hung only a dozen or so paces beyond. Loose rocks shifted beneath his feet. He struggled to stay up, unable to use his bound hands for balance. Ten steps, fifteen, and the ravine came into view. Then pain burst through his left calf and he dropped hard, a second arrow splitting the skin of his leg.

The mercenaries caught up to him before he could crawl to the edge and hurl himself off. They dragged him back a safe distance, and then came the beating that finally ensured his cooperation. He was barely conscious when they pulled the bolts from his legs and bound the wounds.

The night was a haze. Even if he could find the strength to run on his wounded legs, they’d hobbled him too well to move, and he could do little more than lie still and listen. Through the pain in his head—the one whose nose he’d broken had been particularly spiteful with his kicks—he could hear their plans to return him to his owners without being caught by the Warrow guard.

Pit fighting was illegal in Nomoska, as was the slave trade, but both continued to thrive long past their criminalization. Pay a hand enough, after all, and it will stay blind to all you ask of it. And the Nomoskan crown was blind enough. There was plenty demand for illegal merchandise like Rook to be smuggled across the borders. Rook could never decide who he hated more: the buyers at the border docks, the trainers with their lashes, the spectators grinning in the stone seats, or the officials turning away as money crossed their palms. He’d spent many nights ticking through the list and praying for Eua to take their breaths.

When he heard the mercenaries’ breathing slow into sleep, he cried in bitterly practiced silence.

Where were his deities now? Where were the gods of the road, of violence, of asylum? Hell, where was the great goddess herself, Eua, She-Who-Brings-Death? He lay on his side, face in the dirt and the rocks, and spat her titles. “Don’t call her name,” the people said. “She’ll come too soon if you cry for her,” the people warned. But here was Rook, for once in his miserable life, begging her to finally take him, and she gave him no aid.

Some goddess. Her name was a waste of his breaths.

[chrono-vi]

7 - Forgotten Past

““Come forth, my Lady. The King will see you now.” Her royal chancellor bellowed, followed by a gentle laugh. “His Majesty is waiting for you, Princess.””

“Thank you again, Horiv.” Kjoha giggled. “Your silliness is always a welcome morning gift.”

Entering the massive main hall, Kjoha made her way towards her elder brother, Catiel. The Kingdom of Valluga had completed its hearings for today, and now was finally time for the two siblings to bond once more.

“Catiel!” Kjoha exclaimed as she rushed the throne. “Come, Catiel! Let’s play in the garden today!”

“Ah, Kjoha,” Catiel hummed, fixing his large cape, “yes. We can do that.” His arm rested upon his towering scepter, the likes of which Kjoha always envied. One day, she too would have a grand scepter like he!

He allowed her to lead him from the area, his longer legs keeping pace as she sprinted across the golden floors.

Outside in the garden, the sun was blocked by large tinted windows, allowing only a fraction of the light into their sanctuary. Flowers still bloomed magnificently so, thanks to a magic her brother had perfected himself. Keeping them safe, yet allowing them to see the sun without fear.

Yes, Catiel truly was amazing!

Kjoha played freely amongst the blossoms, dancing under the falling petals of a blooming willow. Catiel came along, simply watching as she fluttered about.

However, as they carried on, he became encumbered quickly by his heavy woolen cape. Catiel made a move to remove it, and he set it down upon their swinging bench beneath the large willow. It came as quite a shock to Kjoha; she’d never seen him without it!

“Catiel,” Kjoha began, her voice echoing her concern, “what’s wrong with your back?”

Her brother’s movements slowed. For a moment, there was a thick, tense silence. Kjoha wasn’t sure what she said, but she’d never feared her brother before. A breathy laugh echoed from the Vampire King, and he looked over his shoulder with an unreadable smile. A brief chill fell over the girl.

“Would you truly like to know, Kjoha?” He asked gently, “I think you’re old enough now to hear the story...”

“Um…” Kjoha nodded hesitantly. The spiraling runes on his spine, glowing a harsh green color, and the deep scars on his flesh didn’t bode well to what kind of story he was planning to tell her.

“Well, it was quite a long time ago. You were still very young.” He turned to her finally, resting against his scepter. “I was very good friends with a sorceress named Iryleth.”

“You see, Iryleth and I were students together, learning under the royal sorcerer himself. We studied hard, became impeccable magic users, and passed our final tests in the arena.” He mused. “However, there was one problem: only one of us could become his apprentice.”

“What happened?” Kjoha leaned in.

“Well, let’s just say Iryleth didn’t make it to the finals.”

The tone of his voice was sinister.

“Iryleth had been cheating, you see. She’d been dabbling in dark arts! Necromancy!” Catiel threw up his arms. “She planned to kill me, just like she had done to our classmates.”

“No! But she was your friend!” Kjoha despaired.

“Oh, I know. It was so tragic… so tragic, in fact, that no one thought to question it.” Catiel hummed, turning away from the girl. He began to walk, and Kjoha could only trail along.

“Wait... What?”

“Oh but I pity poor Iryleth, though,” he chuckled, “she was so easy to frame.”

Kjoha paused in place. Her heart ran faster. “Frame? ...C-Catiel?”

“Oh yes. Iryleth never did anything wrong; in fact, she always was much better than I was.” He spun the scepter in his hand. “...But no one could blame the prince, could they? They wouldn’t dare to think such a thing! And after all those poor kids went missing…”

Kjoha couldn’t believe was she was hearing! Had no one ever told her the truth? Did her parents know about this?!

“...Besides, her staff was always much nicer. A shame she didn’t need it to hex me.” He sighed. “So now my spine crawls evermore with the ‘weight of my actions’, she says. Pah. She’s lucky I can’t fix it myself; I’d have her killed already.”

“...wh… why?”

Catiel glanced back. “Why what, Kjoha?”

“...Why would you do that to your friend…?” Kjoha questioned, tears in her eyes.

The King merely scowled.

“You’ll do what it takes to survive, Kjoha. When you’re older, you’ll take care to remember that.”

[dreams-got-dimmer]

NEW GIRL (BolinxReader)

PART 1

Summary: multiple part fic?? + AU kind of (The reader is 18, Bolin is 18 and mako is 20) Reader desperately needs a place to live and finds an advertisement for two brothers who need a roommate. Maybe more than just living arrangements may come out of this deal... (reader x Bolin) (slow burn)

Warnings: abandonment??

Word count: 1600~

—————

Time was running out and I still didn’t have a place to stay. I can still hear my fathers voice telling me that no bender belongs in their family. I never asked to be born a bender, but it was a part of me. Something I couldn’t deny and my parents didn’t want to accept that. I had tried to keep my practicing a secret but my little sister let it slip that I was working on fire bending. I thought I would resent her for the slip up, but nothing in me could hate her for it, she meant no harm. Even still that slip up cost me my relationship with my family. There was no hesitation in throwing me out. We fought and screamed and eventually I lost my temper and my emotions boiled over. As tears spilled down my face I burned down our whole dining room area. That right there is what solidified me never being able to return to my family.

“You monster! Look at what you did! Get your things and leave, you’re not our daughter anymore,” my mother spat at me in disgust. I ran as fast as I could to gather my things and slipped out in the dead of night.

Since then I haven’t seen or heard from my family and it hurt so bad. Even if they didn’t accept who I was I just wanted to be loved and cherished by them and I would never get that. It was hard to go a day without a lump forming in my throat and my eyes welling up, but I had to be strong and determined for myself. Three weeks at the shelter had already been wasted and they only allotted a month for you to get back on your feet.

Most days were spent trying to find some sort of income, most jobs were just quick money, but I was closer and closer to finding steady income soon. If I wasn’t looking for a job I was trying to find a place to stay. Most, of not all were out of my price range. I ended up back at the shelter day after day discouraged and frustrated by my lack of luck. The staff at the shelter were getting increasingly annoyed by my outbursts of anger and flame and I’m sure they were happy that I was almost out of there. Granted I felt bad about being destructive but they always gave me a tight smile and assured me that things will get better.

And today was the day things got better. I almost squealed out of happiness seeing the paper plastered on a bulletin board at the pro-bending arena. I thought I wasn’t reading it right, but after a few moments I knew it was true.

The poster read,

“2 BROTHER IN NEED OF A ROOMMATE

•Three bedroom loft just above the pro-bending arena

•Great view of Air temple Island

•100 Yuans a month

If interested just knock on our door

- Mako and Bolin”

That’s all I needed. I ripped off the poster and made my way to the loft. I didn’t care who they were, just the fact that 100 yuans was totally doable. I had about 500 yuans saved up from the little jobs I had done here and there and the little bit I had saved from birthdays. I nearly sprinted my way to the loft and left myself breathless in front of the door. I was too excited to even feel nervous as I started knocking. Practically banging until the door swung up.

“Is it that necessary to bang?” Before me stood a very attractive. Like very attractive man. Tall and even a bit lanky. He towered over me. And while he seemed serious he didn’t seem too intimidating. Maybe it he was and I just couldn’t realize it because I was so determined at this opportunity.

“Yes. Definitely,” I rushed out quickly as I pushed past him. I took a look around and while it was simple, it was perfect. Roomy and open and a great view through big windows. The light flooring made the place seem so much bigger too. “Are you going to tell me who you are since you just barged in like you own the place?” I turned back towards the tall man and saw him narrow his eyes and his hands twitch. His eyes were like fire.

“Oh yeah sorry, I’m y/n and I’m most definitely going to own this place,” I nodded my head assuringly, more for myself then for him, “well not own, but at least pay rent,” I waved the poster a bit.

“Okay okay before you introduce yourself let me guess which brother you are,” I surveyed him and then looked at the poster with the names. Bolin didn’t really seem to fit so I went with the latter. “I’m gonna guess your Mako. I feel that it fits with your whole persona you got going on,” I smiled, but he just stood there wordlessly, “Oh wow I’m so sorry I know I must sound crazy and very upfront right now. I’ve just been desperately trying to find a place to stay. My parents kicked me out and I have no where else to go. I’ve been stuck at the shelter and my time is almost up and I saw this poster and I thought this was my lucky break. Now I’m just rambling...” I trailed off and was surprised at how honest I was.

“Mako! Who are you talking to down there?” My head whipped towards where the sound came from and saw a form jump down the stairs and landed loudly on our level. And once he straightened out I was faced with ANOTHER gorgeous man. What the hell have I gotten myself in to!? My breathing stopped as I got a good look at him. He was stocky and you could tell he had thick arms and legs without him even taking his clothes off. His broad build and wide stance lead me to believe he was an earth bender and his emerald green eyes were something to get lost in. I shook my head waving these thoughts away. These are potential roommates, not people to drool over.

“I’m y/n I’m trying to find a place to stay and I luckily found your poster. I hope no one has taken you guys up on the offer,” I smiled sheepishly. I fiddled with the poster looking down, “I promise I’ll be a great roommate, I can cook and clean and I’ll stay out of your way-“ I was trying to plead my case and ultimately got cut off

“You’re perfect!” Emerald eyes broke out into the cutest grin there could be “let’s get you moved in right away! Are you a bender? I’m an earth bender,” he flexed his arms subtly, “My brother and I are pro-benders and that’s how we get to live up here in the loft. Oh by the way I’m Bolin. We’ve had people try to be our roommate, but they’ve all been a bit... how do you say serial killer-esque,” he grimaced at the last sentence. He was so much more talkative and charismatic than Mako who I guess was the older brother. Had to be serious to contain this ball of energy.

“BOLIN! you can’t just let her move in we need to discuss this together. We barely know her!” Mako clenched his jaw.

“Well, what do you want to know?” I asked quietly looking back and forth between the two.

They both started firing questions at me. Bolin a bit more enthusiastically than Mako. His questions were also a bit more light hearted. Favorite color, food, what my hobbies were and easy things like that. Mako on the other hand was digging real deep asking questions that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to answer, but I knew they had to be said.

“What did you do to get kicked out?” Mako looked at me with an accusatory glare.

“I didn’t do anything!” My eyes welled up, “I got kicked out for being who I am! I’m a fire bender and no one else in my family has there bending ability. They are so against it. My whole life was a battle. I wished so bad they would love and cherish me even, but all they wanted to do was suppress who I am,” I started crying without shame and I knew the boys didn’t know what to do, “My sister let it slip that is have been practicing bending. I’ve gotten away with it for 10 years and it just now became known,” Bolin handed me a tissue with the utmost concern in his eyes. Even Mako looked a little sad, “Well, my family disowned me immediately and in the midst of our fight I lost control and burn our dining room to bits and that made them hate me even more. So, here I am a month later trying really desperately for two brothers to let me become their roommate,” I smiled weakly my face sticky with drying tears.

“Alright you can stay but I need the first two months rent right now. Please don’t make us regret this. I feel for you and your hardships, but if you do anything to fuck over what we have I won’t hesitate to throw you out,” Mako looked at me sternly and Bolin was almost jumping with excitement.

“REALLY!??” I practically screeched. I rummaged through my bag and threw the money at Mako all while pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. I moved to Bolin and did the same thing.

“You guys won’t regret this I promise!”