#the wheel of time oc

[dtyfp2]

Release

Evermore

Instead of standing before the Amyrlin, like all the Aes Sedai who were sent on that accursed mission were summoned to do, you leave the tower.

You go off to find Loial, the only Ogier in Tar Valon, an old and dear friend.

“Gael Atreides, your name sings in my ear, what can I do for you, Sun Summoner?” Loial asks with a smile as you enter his small book shop.

“Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan, you honour me,” you manage a weak smile as you take a seat in front of him.

“What has happened, my lady? Have you been injured?” Loial asks as he takes in your fatigue.

“I’ve come to beg a favour of you, my dear friend,” you tell him, biting your lip as you consider your choice.

“The Ogier shall always be a friend to the Sun Summoner,” he nods.

“Will you take me to your home? Take me to a stedding, please. I need to get away from the source, this magic…it’s playing tricks on me,” you tear up, your hands coming up to cover your ears.

“I’m afraid, Loial, that I’m going mad. There is a darkness in me now and I can’t get it out. I dream every day and night, I have to get away from it or I’m afraid of what I might do. I know that I ask much of you, Loial, but I am so afraid,” you weep, leaning into the friendly Ogier when he opens his arms for you.

“My lady is born of light itself, darkness shan’t ever touch you,” Loial says, though he gently rubs your back in pity.

“I can feel it rip my heart out of my chest. I will never ask anything else of you, please, you must take me through the way gate. I don’t know what else to do,” you whimper.

“Whatever my lady asks of me, I will do. There is no ask to great. Would you like me to inform your warder?” He asks you as you raise your head.

“My warder? How do you know about my warder?” You sniffle as Loial hands you a tissue.

“The boy has told me himself. He, too, had come to ask if I knew of any remedy. It is quite a story actually, he came to me for help, yet found his friends upstairs-“

“Gael,” you hear your name from the doorway.

You hadn’t seen Aemon since Stepin’s funeral. He had found you not long after Lan. He bathed you and held you. At the wedding, you couldn’t bare to look at him. You were so afraid, so afraid he would be the next warder laying dead like that. He had laid a hand on your shoulder but you shrugged it off, pretending like you were so lost in your grief as you knelt beside Lan, quietly praying for Stepin’s soul. You wished him a peaceful next life with Kerene, a quiet life, far from the politics of the White Tower, far from all this grief.

You had shut your room door in his face when he followed after you. Now, you were both here.

“I thought you would be seen by the Amyrlin,” he speaks, his eyes full of sorrow.

You only shake your head, unable to say much else.

“Loial, will you give us a moment? I think Nynaeve was looking for you,” Aemon asks the Ogier. The gentle giant stands and goes, leaving you on the couch as Aemon comes to sit with you.

Kerene and Stepin’s deaths hang heavy over you. It hang heavy over every Aes Sedai and Warder in the white tower.

“What were you asking Loial?” He asks, and for some reason, you are happy he hadn’t heard your previous request.

“Gael, please, I need you too,” he whispers as he takes your hand in his.

“I…I feel nothing, I feel nothing and everything at the same time. It’s killing me,” you cry as Aemon gently kisses your wrist.

“You feel nothing? Even when I do this?” He asks, lowering your hand so it rested on his chest, over his heart. You shake your head. Before, you would’ve felt warmth and peace, but now you felt hollow and empty.

He opens his mouth to speak, but a yell from upstairs distracts you.

“What did Loial mean when he said you found friends?” You ask, wondering what trouble he has found himself in.

“My friends, from the Two Rivers. They’ve found their way to Tar Valon,” he tells you.

“Have you told Moiraine?” You ask, every word exhausting you.

“No, somethings wrong with Mat. Nynaeve thinks he’s only sink, Rand thinks it’s madness-“

“Aemon,” you pull your hands back, surprise and shock etched over your face.

“He’s not going mad, Gael, I know it. I’ve seen madness in men, and this isn’t it. It’s…it’s something else, I swear it,” he promises as you look toward the staircase.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You ask him.

“How could I tell you this when you’ve already had so much going on? I can barely feel our bond anymore, I have no idea what I can tell you anymore,” he defends.

“Take me to him, let me see,” you sigh. Aemon glances at you, as if he’s unsure for a moment, before nodding. He helps you up and leads you upstairs, to a room with 2 beds and 2 boys.

“Nynaeve, you’re back soon-“ a red haired boy says as he gets up. His face tightens when he looks at you, a stranger.

“Rand, this is Gael. She’s the woman I’ve told you about. We can trust her,” Aemon tells his friend.

“Gael?”

“Rand?” You both question simultaneously. Aemon had described Rand to you, but he did look quite different than what you were expecting.

You walk over to Mat, peering over him.

“You’re right, I don’t think it’s madness at least,” you confirm.

“Can you fix him?” Rand asks as he comes around to Mat’s other side. He looks up at you as Aemon comes up behind you. You are pretty, he thinks, he understands a bit why Aemon seems to like you so much.

“I don’t know-“

You gasp as Mat lunges at you with a knife. With weaves of air, you hold the knife, not daring to touch it. Darkness radiated off it in waves. There was only one place that had darkness like this.

“You foolish boy, you took this from Shadar Lagoth, didn’t you?” Your eyes widen as Aemon harshly shoves Mat back. You look over at Rand for confirmation, but he’s too busy putting the pieces together.

“There is a darkness in him now. Shadar Lagoth is cursed, how did you ever end up there?” You ask Rand, demanding answers.

“We were chased. I didn’t know he took the knife, I swear,” Rand promises, mostly to Aemon who had surely asked him everything about his journey.

“Gael, do you think you can help him?” Aemon asks you. You’re still holding the knife, inspecting it.

“I can try. I have to take on the darkness itself, let it pass over me and back into the knife,” you explain. The darkness was calling to you. The darkness that was inside Mat, was very much alike to the one inside of you. You could feel it.

“Gael, that’s too much of a risk. You’re too weak, too important. We’ll find someone else to do it,” Aemon shakes his head.

“There is no one else that can endure the Shadar Lagoths treachery. They betrayed me in a past life, and now I am light itself, the only opposite to its reign of terror,” you mumble, so quietly that not even Aemon can hear you.

“Hold him down,” you order.

“Gael-“

“Aemon, please, just hold him down,” you plead. He looks hesitant, but decides to trust you. You weren’t so far gone from him that he wouldn’t trust you with his best friends life.

He and Rand both hold a writhing Mat down. With a shaky breath, you summon weaves of light with one hand as you extract the darkness from Mat. It moves statically around your arm before engulfing your face, you are sweating with exertion. Once the darkness is on you, you’re groaning as it latches onto whatever was inside you. It’s only when you feel Aemon’s hand on your back, steadying you, when you force the darkness over you. You hold your breath as you converge all that darkness into the knife, before letting it drop.

You hunch over, lungs gasping for air as you stumble toward the balcony. Aemon covers the knife, warning a frightened looking Rand not to touch the knife before he chases after you. You’re sat on a small bench, breathing heavily as the cool breeze blows your hair.

“Gael?” He asks as he kneels before you, his hands grabbing onto your face, looking for any sign that you were hurt, or any worse than before.

“Is it gone, that remaining darkness?” He asks as you take a shaky breath and open your eyes. Already, he sees, you look unburdened, like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

You nod.

All should be well, but you still looked sad.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see it before, Gael, how much pain you were in. Our bond was weakened during the attack, it was made weak after Stepin and Kerene. Let me back in, let me share your burdens. Please,” he begs quietly. When he had come to Loial, to ask if he knew anything that might help you, he had come across a book that mentioned that bonds could weakened after moments of severe trauma. While most Aes Sedai-Warder bonds did not have to be reinforced, perhaps yours did. When that darkness took you over, it weakened your light, the very light of the Soldat Sol bond.

“I can’t,” you voice wavers, though you can’t help the way you lean into his hands, closing your eyes as if to comfort yourself.

“You can, Gael, I want you to,” he shakes his head, forcing you to look at him.

“What have you seen that scares you so much?” He asks as your hands lay over his.

“I’ve seen you die before my eyes a thousand times over. These weren’t just dreams, Aemon, they were visions from our past lives. Every turn of the wheel, we have been together, and in every turn we lose each other. Sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s you,” you manage to choke out. Your eyes are so filled to the brim with tears that you can’t even see him properly. With a blink, they stream down your face.

“It makes me happy, Gael, to know what I have lived every single one of my lives with you,” he says as he sits beside you.

“Theres no one else I’d rather be with throughout the ages,” he says softly as his forehead leans on yours. His hands, still on your face, gently tilt your face up. Through your tears, he presses a kiss to your lips. The first since Kerene was murdered.

“I love you, let me back in,” he whispers against you. You shake your head but he only kisses you again.

Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, but you selfishly let him back in. Between light feathery kisses, a weave of light reforms around you both.

Once the bond is back, you feel right. You hate yourself a little for letting it happen, but all those feelings dissipate when he presses a kiss to your temple and pulls you into a hug. Maybe it was him rubbing off on you again.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so horrid,” you apologize as you lay a hand on his chest. Yes, this time you felt something.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he shakes his head as he pats your head. His fingers run through your hair until they settle on your necklace, his mother’s necklace. Despite all you had been through, even when he begun to doubt your feelings for him, you had never taken it off. It was his saving grace, the only thing that told him to hold on, because you still wore his mother’s necklace.

“I love you too, you know that right?” You ask him.

“I know,” he confirms. He smiles softly at you, rubbing the point between your tightly furrowed brows. He wipes your remaining tears as Rand steps back.

The shimmer of your necklace catches his eye as he looks between you and Aemon. He begins to understand your relationship a bit more.

“I saw the darkness move over you. You really took that on for Mat?” He asks as he leans on the railing.

“A friend of Aemon’s is a friend of mine,” you tell him.

“Thank you,” Rand says sincerely. The door opens and closes once more, this time it’s Moiraine and Lan.

“Gael? You look better,” Lan smiles happily as he kneels before you, taking your face in his hands in an almost paternal way.

“I feel better,” you admit.

“So this means you’ve found a way to get rid of the darkness then? You are well?” Moiraine asks as she sticks the back of her cold hand to your forehead.

“Yes, fixed Mat as well,” you tell them.

“Show off,” Lan smirks.

“How’s Siuan? Was she angry I wasn’t there?” You ask Moiraine.

“She’s fine, you know her. She was worried about you, gave her quite the fright, gave us all,” Moiraine says, though she’s so happy you are well. You know she is, despite her facade.

“You rest today. We have another meeting with the Amyrlin tomorrow, you can see her then. I’ll let her know,” she assures you. You nod, just now realizing you hadn’t slept for nearly 2 days.

“Glad to have you back, kid,” Lan smiles as he stands, fighting back to urge to kiss the top of your head. Aemon helps you up as Nynaeve and Loial come back. You don’t get to hear their conversation as Aemon lays you down on the bed beside Mat.

“Get some sleep, Sankta, I’ll be here when you wake,” he promises. He leans down and presses one more kiss to your lips, like he can’t even believe you’re you in front of him.

He gets up to join the others, and despite the little bickering you can hear, sleep overtakes you like a wave crashing onto the beach.

Bonus:

“She’s wearing your mother’s necklace,” Rand mentions as he, Nynaeve, and Aemon all sit together on the floor of the small room, eating bits of food Loial brought up for them. Aemon was just considering if he should wake you to eat or not, but he supposes not now.

“She is,” Aemon nods as he breaks some bread.

It had been a long time since he had seen his friends, but they all meshed together like no time had passed. The first night after Aemon found them, he had told them everything. He told them everything about his father, his family’s history, why he had left so quickly. Rand was unsure when he first heard, he didn’t trust the Aes Sedai, but Aemon’s explained it all well enough.

He was glad to know his friend hadn’t changed. When Nynaeve came, he asked about the Aes Sedai his best friend had bonded himself too, and when Nynaeve confirmed everything he had said, Rand knew he could trust him.

“So she’s better now? Nynaeve said she was…having a rough go of it,” Rand asks.

“She is. Rand, I want you to know nothings changed. I’m still who I was. It’s not that I trust all the Aes Sedai, but you understand it’s different with Gael, don’t you? You can trust her, she’s on our side,” Aemon tells him.

“I know. I trust you enough to trust her, and especially seeing what she did with Mat…how couldn’t I?” Rand asks rhetorically.

Aemon nods as he continues eating.

“So are you keeping that beard or…….?”

[littlebvtterfly]

EASTER EGGS-CHANGE

Amilea Merrilin & Liandrin Guirale for @ocmerunaway

I hope you like it!

[follow-your-heartstone]

Mat is my guy

[asha-mage]

Also can I say I'm LOVING all the deep cuts this season. That didn't have to be Jaichim Caradin, or Jaq Lounalt, or Tsutama Rath or Cenn Buie. Hell, even Lini gets a cameo in Morgase's coronation.

The choice to fill functional roles with lower tier or one off characters is so so inspired and I love it so much.

[drawyourblankas]

Draw your characters like this

[rottmnt-residuum]

I just realized who your owl lady reminded me of! That witch from The Last Unicorn!

Almost a spitting image. I can't add an image to show you here, but I was wondering how your character were inspired? Not just the owl lady.

Like, did you have animals you wanted as characters, or mutant variations you wanted to see in the show?

i mean, they're directly ripped from the last unicorn. so, yeah! (owl??? i dont think you've seen an owl before) anyway

i only design the human characters and unimportant background mutants. All yokai are ripped from pre-existing stories that involve transformation or from japanese yokai, duende, cryptids, fey folk, and various other mythological creatures.

all important ocs are co-authors and i have no idea how they decide what mutation type their characters are. I just steal them. go ask them this if you want a real answer.

(there are also characters from goosey and wren later in the story from when we asked people if they wanted to design background characters for residuum)

[ask-cupbros-parents]

The Intern Angel, Nazca

We are halfway through now guys!

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🚫Please do not repost or trace my artwork! 🚫AI learning prohibit Cupbros blog | Main blog | Twitter

[maskt]

fallen angel

[lunedegivre]

Small moment between Aria and the daughter of the night 😏

[morrigan-sims]

🎭Rune Lovelace🎭

she/they/he/it | changeling | bard | college of dance | charlatan | former acrobat she is beauty, he is grace, they will punch you in the face!

[some extra info under the cut]

Rune is going to be my character for the new campaign my Monday group is starting!!! (RIP Kiran, who I never got to show off on this blog because he was a Tabaxi, a Dragonborn, and a Thri-Kreen. I'll miss it. Bugs and kisses.) We're playing Heckna! which is a Domain of Dread-adjacent horror-comedy campaign. The entire party is very macabre, and we should fit right in! (But hopefully not too much...)

Anyways, more about Rune. She's a changeling college of dance bard (a new subclass with the 2024 rules, kind of like a combo between a monk and a bard), and they used to be an acrobat at a circus. Since whatever world this party came from is clearly some kind of grimdark dark fantasy setting, the circus itself certainly had its eerie moments. (And of course, it was a magic circus.) When he wasn't up on the high wire, Rune also dabbled in doing tarot card readings for the circus guests, lying through her teeth about their pasts and futures. (While they used their true changeling form while performing in the big top, she used a specific guise when she did the readings, an older woman who used a different name.)

Rune carries with them a porcelain mask, largely featureless, but gilded with gold. When among people who do not know his changeling identity, she pretends that the mask is the source of her ability to change shape, putting it on every time they shift forms.

[grechkathekasha]

marlene and her emotional support entity of questionable moral standing (lanfear)

[dtyfp2]

Grief

Evermore

It’s been a month since you’ve buried Kerene.

Aemon can’t even recognize the person you’ve become. Nynaeve says it’s the grief, that it’ll fade a bit eventually, but Aemon knows it’s more. There’s a piece of darkness still inside. Moiraine says the healers of the Tower will be able to help.

She doesn’t sleep, her nightmares keeping her awake all day and night. Her visions, the ones she never told anyone about, he could feel before that they were pleasant, but now they were horrifying.

She avoids him during the day, but when she wakes up screaming, she’ll only settle back down if he holds her.

“Have you spoken to her?” Nynaeve asks, drawing him from his thoughts. You were riding ahead of him alongside Stepin while he hung back with Nynaeve.

“I try, but it’s like she doesn’t even hear me,” he admits.

“You Warders can feel what they feel sometimes, can’t you?” She asks him, to which he nods.

“There’s no stronger bond in this world than an Aes Sedai and her warder. But it’s different with us, she is the Sun Summoner and I’m her Soldat Sol, our bond is stronger than the average bond,” Aemon tells her. When he first told Nynaeve that he was a bonded Warder, she chew him out, asking how he could think to do such a thing. To her credit though, Nynaeve was a bit more understanding when he explained it all.

“I still don’t really know what that means,” she admits.

“Neither do I sometimes, but we figure it out,” he chuckles.

“You trust me, don’t you?” He asks her.

“Yes, of course I do,” she nods easily.

“I know you don’t trust the Aes Sedai, I don’t either, I don’t know if I ever will. But Gael is…she’s different, she’s with me, with us. You know that, don’t you?” He asks her.

“I know, but I think she has bigger problems than us right now,” Nynaeve tells him softly.

You ride alongside Stepin, and you bite your lip as you look over at him.

“Stepin, you’ll let me bond you as a Warder before you do anything stupid, won’t you?” You ask him, your lip quivering as you do. Your vision goes blurry with tears, but you blink them away.

“Gael-“ he says in a tone that makes you weep.

“No, no Stepin just say you will,” you cry.

“Gael, sweetheart, you don’t need me as your warder,” he says softly.

“You’re wrong, I do need you. You know me, I’m a handful, I need you to keep me safe,” you sniffle. He guides your horse off the beaten path and climbs off, motioning for you to do the same.

“Oh, my dear Gael, you’ll be alright,” he murmurs as he envelopes you into a hug.

“Stepin, just say you will,” you weep, your tears wetting his coat.

The rest of the group passes by slowly. Aemon waits for you a bit ahead.

“You have grown into such a beautiful young woman. Sometimes when I look at you I remember the little girl you once were, who would have Alanna or some other do your hair in a pretty way and then come running to show us. You’re going to do so many beautiful things in life, Kerene and I both knew you would. I am so proud, and so honoured to have watched you grow up, to have been a little part of that,” he tells you.

“Stop saying goodbye,” you sob as you hold him closer.

“If I promise to think about it, will you try to lighten up? I know you grieve Kerene, but you’ve been so sad, Gael, I can’t remember the last time I went this long without seeing your smile,” he says softly as he wipes your tears.

“Will you really think about it?” You ask.

“I will, for you, I will. Don’t worry about me, Gael, Lan and the others watch over me just fine. Once we get to Tar Valon, go to the yellow sisters and see if they can do anything for you, hm?” He says as he holds your face. You nod in agreement, unable to find the words.

“You shouldn’t be taking care of me, I should be taking care of you,” you sniffle.

“Don’t be sorry, sweetheart, it makes me feel useful again,” he smiles softly. He presses a kiss to your forehead and embraces you once more before helping you up onto your horse.

When you catch up to the others, they’re preparing for the parade. You won’t be joining the parade however. No one thought you should have to.

Instead, you’d take the backroad with Moiraine, Lan, Nynaeve, and Aemon and head straight to the Tower.

Once off your horse, you fall to your knees in exhaustion. Aemon has to carry you inside. Once inside, Moiraine tells him to bring you to the yellow sisters. He glances at Nynaeve, but she gives him an affirmative nod, so he goes.

He hated leaving Nynaeve, but his priority would always be you.

Once in the yellow quarters, you’re laid out of a table while they peer over you. He does his best to explain, tells them what Moiraine thinks has happened, and he sits by your side while the yellow ajah tinkers around you. He reaches for your hand, but you pull it back, turning your face away from him so he wouldn’t see your tears.

He stands silently, looking down at you for a moment before leaving. You sigh a shaky breath when he does.

You must lay there for hours while your sisters tried, but they hadn’t come up with anything. They promised to keep trying, though, but you left with more questions than answers.

It is night when they let you go.

You lean on the wall as you proceed to your room. You wish for the comfort of your bed after months of nothing but hardness.

You pass by the warder statues and you think you see something. Curiosity gets the better of you as you change direction.

“Light, Stepin, what have you done?” You gasp as you fall before him.

Stepin, strong Stepin, Stepin who would run and play with you, was now knelt with a knife in his gut.

“Gael,” he sputters out.

“Stepin, you promised you’d think about it,” you weep as you take in the scene before you.

“I can fix this, let me fix this. I can heal it, I’ll bind you as my warder-“

“Kerene is waiting for me,” he says simply, stopping your rambling with a silent shush.

“Stepin…” you cry as you as he grabs your hands.

“It has been my honour to watch you grow up, my dear Gael, and I’m so sorry to leave you like this,” he heaves out.

“But this is a part of life, you have to let me go. This is what I want, this is how I want to go, I have to go. Kerene is waiting for me,” he tells you intently. He gets weaker by the moment.

You shake your head as he squeezes your hands.

“Will you grant an old man his final wish, little Sun Summoner? Show me the fire works again, one last time,” he whispers.

Left helpless once more, you can only wipe your tears. You take a deep breath and conjure your weaves of light, balls of them exploding into pretty fragments of light. Stepin watches the light as you watch him. You try to commit his face to memory, every hair, ever contour, the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles.

He smiles when the light touches his face, his eyes closed as he feels the suns embrace. He is content, happy to go, happy to chase after Kerene again.

“Thank you,” he breathes out, one final time.

Childish laughter fill the tower, the sisters swiftly moving out of your way as you run down the halls, smiling softly to themselves. They had never realized how quiet the tower was, not until the child they brought livened it up.

“You better run faster, Gael, I’m right behind you,” Stepin sings as he reaches out to tickle your sides. You scream as you pick up your pace, running past the brown quarters.

As you turn the corner, Stepin loses sight of you just for one moment. In that one singular moment, he hears a thump. Then a cry.

“Oh, Gael, what happened?” Stepin coos as he kneels beside you, your knees and palms scrapped to hell. It was obvious you had tripped over a bucket left by one of the novices.

He is quick to pick you up, holding you rather awkwardly as he jogs to the Greens, his pace quickening every time you cry.

Kerene hears you before she sees you, her studies interrupted by her warder.

“Now, Gael, didn’t I warn you to be more careful,” she tuts as Stepin places you on the table before her. She makes quick work to heal your knees, taking her time to do your palms.

“I tripped,” you explain, your tears subsiding as the pain does. Now, there are only a few stray tears left on your cheeks, and your obvious pout. Kerene glances over at Stepin and bites back an amused smile, her usually easy going warder is pacing behind her, biting on his nails.

“Accidents happen, don’t worry about it. Just be more careful next time, alright?” Kerene warns, though she isn’t all that sure who she’s reassuring, you or her warder behind her. You nod in agreement as she heals your palms. She wipes your tears and finds a sweet in her pocket. She always carried a sweet in her pocket for you.

You hop off the table and dust your hands off. You look up at Stepin and hand him the lolli, silently asking him to unwrap it for you. He gives you a playful look, like he’s accusing you of getting him into trouble. As he unwraps the sweet, you smack his knee and run off again.

“You’re still it!” You call over your shoulder, earning you a shush from the brown sister in charge of the library. Paying no mind to your blood stained dress, you take off down the hall once more, Stepin hot on your heels.

When his body comes limp, you weep as you cradle his body. His blood stains your dress and clothes but you don’t care, you hold him, feeling him go cold.

“Stepin,” you whisper, brushing out the lines of his face. When you receive no answer, you drop your head as sobs wrack through your body.

By the time Lan finds you, Stepin is cold and you’re nearly as pale as the man whose head rests in your lap.

[littlebvtterfly]

EASTER EGGS-CHANGE

Amilea Merrilin for @ocmerunaway

x

I hope you like it!

[follow-your-heartstone]

memes so literal they aren't even memes

[ouroboros-hideout]

RIDERS ON THE STORM

OC: Aon

Riders on the storm Into this house, we're born Into this world, we're thrown Like a dog without a bone

[ranunculussy]

bouquet | 01. - aconite

ʚɞ pair: fem!mutant!oc × bucky barnes ʚɞ warnings/tags: canon-typical violence, swearing, mentions of torture (to everyone's surprise, by HYDRA), the X-Men are canon to the Avengers in this fanfic, i WILL abuse creative freedom as a writer lmao, age gap, flashbacks where Bucky is the Winter Soldier, OC isn't the MCU green witch but mine, enemies to lovers (kinda? there is definitely some hate in the air), slow burn, english isn't my first language, let me know if i forgot something ʚɞ word count: ~2.2k ʚɞ summary: Bucky, for quite obvious reasons, hated being reminded of his past as the Winter Soldier. He was perfectly aware of the fact that he will never be able to erase or undo more that 70 years of inflicting torture, being tortured and used as a killing machine. Still, he tried his best. So, imagine his annoyance when the first thing the new, hot headed resident—a weird, horned woman with a tail almost as long as herself—of the Avengers Tower does is attack and call him on that godforsaken name. ʚɞ author's note: Hi everone! I'd like to clear up a few things real quick. I wrote this fanfic in 3rd person instead of 2nd mostly because i wanted to go deeper with flashing out the OC's backstory, traits and personality, however if you like her and can relate to her, feel free to self insert. Raina (the MC) is kinda like a tielfing druid, simply because I *love* D&D and when I was figuring out what kind of powers I should give to her, she became more and more like a druid and after a while I couldn't imagine her in any other way. However, I wanted her to make sense, even if only a tiny bit, so I made the X-Men canon to the Avengers, meaning Raina's horns, tail and powers can be explained as her, being a mutant. Hope you'll have fun reading and like it!! ʚɞ author's note 2: originally titled as "into the woods" [this fanfic is also available on AO3 with the same title and username]

Humans are one of the most if not the most destructive, harmful parasites on this godforsaken Earth. They just take and take until nothing else remains, even if they have everything, they still want more. No matter how many species go extinct due to over-hunting and the consequences of global warming caused by humanity’s own greed, somehow it’s never enough. Raina’s overall opinion on humans was something like this. Of course, there were exceptions, but their numbers were all too small in contrast of the ignorant and the violent.

As soon as the sun sat and the light gradually dimmed then darkened, it was game on. As the horned woman gracefully swung her right arm forwards, thick vines emerged from behind her and lunged at the armed guards. They were coated with poisonous spikes that easily ripped both uniforms and skin.

“Ahh! What the fuck!?” screamed a man who was unfortunate enough to still be alive. He tried to ignore the excruciating pain and reach for his gun but wasn’t quick enough. The vines quickly slithered up on his arm and pressed it to his body, rendering him completely still.

Raina stepped out from the shadows of a nearby tree and walked up to the dying man. Her skin-covered tail was slowly wagging behind her. Even tho she had no particular control over her extra limb, right now it showed that she felt secure, confident. She knew, the person in front of her was in an indescribable pain, she made sure of it. She gently caressed his jawline and with a soft smile, she greeted him. “Good evening, mister.”

To this, the sweat covered man gathered whatever strength he had left and spit his attacker in the face. Raina let out a small chuckle and wiped her face. “Hmm, so uncivilized.”

“Go to Hell.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will. But definitely not in the near future. Now act like a reasonable being and tell me how to disable the security system, and as a reward, I’ll make your passing quick. Or you can be as stubborn as you want, and I can prolong your suffering for as long as needed. I have all the time in the world.”

This was partially true. While she did have the upper hand in this situation, she also knew it was not for long. Raina was perfectly aware how quick HYDRA’s reaction time was. If she wanted to save as many captive animals as possible, she had to get into the building in the next two minutes.

She was so fixated on getting the answer out of the agent that the rustling noise from behind her didn’t catch her attention. It was another HYDRA agent, a woman this time. That night she was tasked with securing the perimeters of their base, and by the time she arrived back from scouting, all she found was the dead guards wrapped in venomous vines, controlled by an all too familiar person. The agent, as silently as possible, raised her sniper rifle and with steady hands she pointed the weapon at the intruder. When she made sure that the bullet will hit its target, she slowly started to move her finger towards the trigger. However, she had no chance of coming out of this alive, even if she was sure of her, having the upper hand. At the dead of night, silently like the merciless winds cut through the Himalayan alpines, a snow leopard captured her prey before she even noticed she was being preyed upon.

As the crimson blood slowly soaked the silky soft, ivory fur on the animal’s paws, she confidently walked up to Raina and sat down next to her. Even in that position, the majestic beast was at least a head taller than her companion.

“You’re welcome.” heard Raina the slightly raspy voice of the animal in her head.

“Thank you, Azi.”

“Fucking freaks…” the man groaned in front of them. Tears made of blood rolled down on his face as the poison slowly but surely spread through his body and took effect. To this, Raina’s right hand turned into a fist, causing the vines to tighten around the suffering HYDRA agent. The man coughed, spitting out some blood in the process and his breath became shallow. His time was running out. By then, it was like as if his insides were on fire and he could’ve sworn that he felt like his skin started to melt off of him. The image of his own flesh peeking out from under his detaching skin made his stomach turn and this finally broke him, made him talk.

A quarter of an hour later, as if Hell broke loose, the scorching flames devoured anything in their paths. Most of HYDRA’s agents were dead, either by the Raina’s hands or Aziza’s paws, or by the fire. Their mission was a success, so even when the heavy smoke filled the woman’s lungs, suffocating her slowly, she couldn’t help but feel at ease. She saved so many poor, tortured animals. She avenged those who didn’t survive. With every rescue mission, she avenged a bit of herself too. In a couching fit, she collapsed. The familiar cement floor welcomed her like a cruel patriarch welcomes his straying child, forced back into his strict, punishing embrace. A HYDRA lab was a damn disgusting place to die at, but at least she died not as a victim, but as a saviour.

The gradually sharpening beeping noise is what woke Raina after gods know how long. She let out a small groan as she became aware of the pain in her whole body. Opening her eyes felt like a fight against her own self, but when she finally did it, she was met with a pristine white ceiling and cold white lights that hurt her sensitive eyes.

“Where the fuck…” her mumbling came out groggy while she slowly pulled herself up to a half sitting, half laying position. After how much smoke she breathed in through her mouth in the burning lab, this was anything but surprising. As she moved around in the soft bed, a soft clinking sound caught her attention, making her eyes snap to her right side, where her wrist was handcuffed to the edge of the bed. She had to be cautious. Up until this, her tail was resting next to her, but now its spiky end was thumping quite rapidly, expressing how quickly she became agitated.

Her gaze lifted from her hand to the corner of the room, where a man was standing, monitoring her every movement with his cold eyes. What Raina first noticed was the silver limb. A metal arm. No. No.

“Get the fuck away from me!” she raised her voice as panic filled her whole being. She knew she lost consciousness on HYDRA grounds, but she was sure she will be dead in minutes anyway. However, the fact that she was alive, chained and the first person she saw was the Winter Soldier could only mean one thing.

The man’s brows furrowed. He pushed himself away from the wall that he was leaning on up until now and took a step towards the woman, who saw this as a direct threat, and without thinking, she raised her left arm, creating vines that broke out from the pots of the indoor plants and quickly pinned the soldier back to his original place.

“I said get the fuck away from me, motherf-” the adrenaline filled woman couldn’t finish her sentence as the modern sliding door opened and three people walked in.

“Ah-ah, let’s not do anything funny. I’d heavily advise you, miss, to retract whatever these plant-thingies are and act like civilized people.” the man in the middle, wearing an all too fancy tailored suit said with a small, awkward smile on his bristled face. The blonde man on his right ran up to the Winter Soldier but was quickly stopped by a few more vines that, with the force and speed of a falling airplane, threw and locked him to the other side of the room. To this, the ginger woman on the suited man’s left sighed and raised her gun at Raina.

“Not until you tell me where the hell I am. Where is Azi?” she asked while the two men were struggling to break free.

“Manhattan, New York City, Avengers Towers. You’re very welcome. And who exactly is this Azi?” The Avengers Towers? So, I’m safe? Or is this a sick joke?

“The snow leopard. Where is she?” Raina’s breathing became a bit more controlled, but she was still on edge. She heard her own heartbeat in her ears, beating like a war drum and she started to feel a bit dizzy. With her tail wrapped defensively around herself, it was pointless to deny how scared she was.

“Oh, that. We saw it-” started to explain the fancy man but was cut short.

“Her. You saw her, not it. Last time I checked she wasn’t an object.”

“Right, my bad. As I was saying, we found her running out from the collapsing HYDRA base with you, hanging from her mouth. She didn’t let anyone close to you at first, but I guess the carbon monoxide caught up to her too, so she passed out, we brought both of you back to the base, she is being taken care of by Bruce, end of story. Now be so kind and let go of my precious teammates. I cannot afford Fury’s fury if I were to lose two of his finest agents.”

For a few moments she weighted her options. If she really was at HYDRA she would’ve been beaten and sedated by now. Instead, the unknown man spoke like a normal person. She was still very much conscious and the only person she felt threatened by was the metal armed man.

“You, Soldier. As soon as I let you go, you leave the room. Understood?” when there was no reaction, she tightened the restrictive vines around him. “I said, understood?”

“Perfectly, doll.” he nodded, a small smirk spreading on his face. As soon as Raina heard what she wanted, she pulled back the “guard dogs” and let the men free. The brunette was true to his word and after moving his shoulders around a bit, he left the sterile room.

“Huh, now that we got that sorted out, I think an introduction is due. Tony Stark, I’m sure you’ve hears about me already.”

“I did not.”

“Everybody has their shortcomings.”

The blonde man walked up to the woman’s bed so he could introduce himself with a handshake. “Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you.”

“I just threw you to a wall.” she looked down at the man’s opened palm, hesitant to accept his offer at first.

“Occupational hazard.” the man joked with a genuine smile on his freshly shaved face as he playfully shrugged. By this time, the other two also walked up to Raina’s bed and the last unknown person introduced herself.

“Natasha Romanov. Impressive skills.”

Raina felt like there was no use to act secretive or lie about her identity. If she really was at the company of the Avengers, they’ll find out everything about her one way or another. It’d be better to get on their good sides. “Raina. Just Raina. And is there a chance that I could maybe lose the cuffs?”

“Depends on how well you explain yourself.” Steve nodded, his expectant eyes not leaving her, not even for a minute.

Bucky was… surprised? Annoyed? After leaving the medical room he got swallowed by his own rushing thoughts. With his metal fingers, he brushed through his shoulder-length hair while a long sigh left his mouth. He had no idea who the unique woman was, but she recognized him. Or, not him. His old self, at least. Was she one of HYDRA’s victims? Did she simply know about him or was she one of his victims? No matter how hard he tried to remember anything about her during the short amount of time while he was alone with himself as he walked towards Bruce’s lair, he was unsuccessful. Well, no matter what, she was definitely interesting.

“James.” greeted him the doctor. His hands were carefully raised in front of him, trying to keep the awakened animal back. When the robust beast smelled Bucky, she let out a low, warning growl. The icy blue eyes were filled with resentment. Her tail, which was characteristically almost as long as her body, was low, trashing side to side.

“My God, not again.”

“What do you mean by not again?”

“Same shit happened with the woman in the other room moments ago.”

“Well, I wasn’t planning on going Hulk today, so I’d advise you to leave before things escalate.”

hii! thank you so much again for reading my work, hope you enjoyed it! if you'd like to be notified when an update drops for this fanfic, feel free to ask for tagging ^-^ dividers by: @saradika-graphics