#their animated interactions are a bit brief and scattered

[mikatsuobushi]

i just realised how hard it is to do a ship edit on a song especially when you only have mediocre skills on video editing + the ship you love only have limited animated interactions 😭

[last-sprout]

Last Sprout Dev Diary - Nov 22, 2024

Hello sprout folks! I'm Valerie, or @oneominousvalbatross, and I've been working on Last Sprout since July, and I'm wildly excited to share some of the things I've been working on with y'all.

Ignore that Twiggs' hat falls off that's natural.

I'm aiming for a Dev Diary once a week on Fridays, and I'm just gonna be giving a brief look into making a game! I'm learning how to do a lot of this stuff live, so I'm sure there'll be a ton of massive rewrites and changes. I have probably a dozen huge systems that are already built that I'm not going to be getting into in this post, since I'm already half a year or so into development, but I'm sure I will find space to include them later!

XP

I spent most of my time figuring out exactly how we wanted to represent XP in the world. We were pretty certain that we wanted XP to exist physically as a substance you picked up, so I started with a system from a previous build.

In that version, we just created a bunch of XP objects and scattered them into the world, then had some code that scooted them around. Of course, that means that we're tracking an individual unity GameObject for every single instance of a point of XP which is, uh, slow.

This is what we call 'suboptimal.'

So obviously we needed to not instantiate an entire transform every time we needed to spawn XP. Even if we re-used objects that would just be prohibitively expensive for an object that really just needs a position.

I'm not going to go over each step in the process, but after experimenting with GPU instancing to just draw a bunch of XP objects at once, eventually I landed on extending Unity's particle system, since it has a lot of the settings I wanted access to.

To make the XP move how I wanted, I wrote a pretty simple process that iterates through all the little blobs and checks how close they are to a designated collector, then uses an exponential decay function (with thanks to Freya Holmér) to make them move towards Twiggs.

I think every game should have an action that can be best summarized by making the noise 'SHWOOOOOP.'

Parrying

Parrying was a good deal simpler, but it still has its issues. Essentially, all a parry needs to be is a hitbox and an animation, with some callbacks to enemies to let them react to the parry. Whenever an attack hitbox intersects with either a Parrybox or a Hurtbox, it checks its tags to see if it's interacting with the appropriate entities, to makes sure enemies aren't hitting or parrying each other constantly. If it passes the test, it calls GetParried() on the intersecting object.

GetParried(), idiot.

For the basic behavior, parrying just interrupts the attack in progress and knocks the enemy back by a set amount, but there's room in the system to add all sorts of neat effects, which I'm sure we'll be taking advantage of in the future. It's been a challenge to juggle the various kinds of hitboxes, but it'll definitely be worth it going forward!

Of course, between all these bits there were a ton of bugfixes and little experiments, but that's a topic for a later dev diary!

[mamamittens]

Bit of a stream of thought ramble where I vaguely saunter through the creation process of an OC

Specifically my Naruto light thread baby

I usually default to girls but I'd like to start off assuming neither for the time being. May settle on a gender later.

Anyway, for their background I've already settled that their family are more or less homesteaders. Maybe they themselves are a transplant, maybe they live in the Konoha stick, idk. But by default they're probably just really handy around the house. Homemaking, animal rearing, all that home on the range shit. They just grew up with it.

Still undecided on ninja status.

So usually when designing an OC I enjoy determining an aesthetic. And since a massive part of this OC is the use of their hands with thread, they'll have very elegant, long fingers. Spindly sort of hands. Delicate. Those scars/tattoos from chakra exposure still present, may cause sensitivity issues.

With the hands so firmly determined, The rest will need to compliment that.

A tall, willowy figure would be nice and not make the hands seem out of place. Giving them a waifish look? Clothing wise I could go in several directions. With their background they likely enjoy hardier, more utilitarian clothes with some sentimental pieces. Had the brief image of dark academia vibes but I think I just like putting my OCs in nice button ups and slacks lol

Maybe they like walking barefoot. Not hating shoes but easily forgetting them.

Their gloves are going to have to be thin since they basically sew. Perhaps some chakra blocking fabric? Not overly long while they work, maybe just their palm and fingers need to be covered. Out and about they may prefer longer, more opera style gloves to prevent staring or, at night, notable glowing.

Deeply trying to avoid putting them in overalls for no other reason than to not just make them southern lol

Putting aside clothes for now (I wanna marinade the personality a little more!) I think a little bit of a spacey vibe would be good for this character! Easy going, perhaps poor at explaining themselves, distractible, and kind! Very eager to make little gifts for people. They seem pretty checked out but they do notice more than people think! More prone to just not interact with someone being mean to them than lashing out, not seeing the point in even defending themselves.

I also like to think they're very independent and shockingly competent in odd areas! Also very well prepared even when it doesn't seem so at first. Makes friendship bracelets out of light (had the funny thought that they do straight up call it Light Thread, but people for some reason assume they're describing weight or strength, not literal source).

Given all this, they'd likely favor clothing with space. Room to move. Room to carry little projects. Pockets and more pockets for all the little things they find. They're seen as a little childish and unaware and give me wanderer vibes for some reason!

So, perhaps they wear something like tobi pants? And perhaps peasant blouses? Or maybe I wanna do low-key sexy and have em wear sleeveless black turtlenecks lol. I enjoy the idea of giving them a little caplet or cloak to wear in the rain with pockets? Going for a vaguely "Borrowers" vibe. Like they're two steps away from being the size of a mouse and living in a house made of abandoned spools. Still barefoot by accident most of the time and anytime someone reminds them about wearing shoes they just... Pull out a pair of slippers from their pockets.

Color wise, they probably enjoy more natural hues. With some cute, cottage core pops of color here and there.

Hair... Hair... Well, they're probably already pretty tan. Love the idea of chaotic freckles everywhere on their skin. As for hair... Hmmm... I like the idea of long hair, not as a stylistic choice, but almost like they keep forgetting to do something about it. Idle braids scattered here and there and it all bundled up in a bun. Would be fun if it just made a giant whorl at the back of their head, held together by hair sticks or something. Vaguely needle or crochet hook or something. Funny thought! It's impossible to tell how long it is cause it's all literally wrapped around a damn spool with giant as needles securing it. If I lean hard into sewing inspiration for the hair, I'm obligated to give their clothes at least one giant button. Sorry. Thems the rules.

Their eyes will likely be kinda droopy, vaguely sad looking. Just to add to that "absent minded" vibe. Soft, not especially sharp in the face. Color... Still haven't decided. May do something weird with eyes since half their thing is seeing light as a tangible force to begin with but we'll see how long I remember that lol

Don't have a name for them either still now that I think about it.

The overall impression of this character is that, somehow, they're a functioning adult. Even though they read like they should have a minder or at least a very worried bestie constantly making sure they ate. But they have a meticulous schedule, very rarely lose track of their surroundings seriously, and are much sharper than they seem. Ditzy, eccentric home maker vibes, perhaps.

Ah... Still not sure about their gender lol, but I'm eepy, so this is where I'll end it.

Thanks for following my wild train of thought!

[whywhywhymoney]

"Shouldn't you just start a Youtube channel instead?" AKA Influencing without the Influencer ™️

Youtube - while most definitely evolving considerably from its early days - still has "Broadcast yourself" at the root of it's platform. (Definitely not the heart of it though.

I can't speak for others, but I generally don't think many people get into the business of launching TV channels to put themselves on air (there are many exceptions though).

Almost always, it's to influence people.

The most predatory reasons are ones I already spoke about but it's to use it as a vehicle for influencing opinion in a very polarising way. Mostly, it's for the right wing.

inherently, wanting to influence people isn't bad, it just depends where you're coming from. This thought probably chafes a lot of people, but it's true! I don't think there's a single TV channel that was created without the attention of influencing *somebody*, including the beloved channels of your childhood.

For the most part, Kids TV (pre rapid commercialisation) existed as an opportunity to educate youngsters. This is pretty too still for channels like PBS and various European state broadcasters.

Jeem TV is an interesting example from the Arab world, where they mix dubbed anime and Cartoons with panel shows about current affairs, all catered to kids. It makes sense when you realise that the parent company is Al Jazeera (Qatari state broadcaster).

When kids TV isn't seeking to educate, it's seeking to entertain, often as a direct reaction to the previous example.

Lets look at the UK - CBBC (Children's BBC) had gotten a bit of a reputation in the 60s and 70s for being a bit staid. "Too much like school!"

Now, in 1983, CITV (children's ITV) launched, with american programming, adverts between programmes, and an invested desire to always be "cool". Honestly, for the entirety of its existence, CITV managed to capture that, which isn't easy!

Both of these channels had educational content, but CITV presented theirs in a way that was decidedly more.... chaotic, and appealing to the scatter brained.

Of course, when I was growing up in the 2000s, both channels were cool. You went to CBBC for the homegrown content, and CITV for anime and american cartoons. A healthy equilibrium achieved between the both, while both still had distinct motivations.

CBBC had a daily news broadcast which covered everything, whereas CITV had weekly and monthly "news" roundups that covered games, films and toys. You can already how each channel decided to use their influence!

When you decide to make a YouTube channel, you decide to make YOURSELF and YOUR content the "influence", and the brand, whereas when you decide to make a TV channel, you decide to cultivate an environment which pulls from many different sources to push out your MESSAGE. It's a nuanced difference but I'm very sure it's the truth. We can always be wrong however.

When it comes to my personal desires and I look back on the diary entries I wrote on this topic as a teenager, I wanted desperately to be catered too, but there wasn't much there for it, and when there was, it was very brief. I'm grateful to have gotten to witness it anyway.

I wanted to have something "cool" which challenged me, I wanted anime, action and humour that was just naughty enough but not rude.

If I get to be in the position of being a channel controller, the first thing I'd look out for are programmes which really showcase various relationship dynamics, because that's what I'd want to promote for kids. I'd want to look out for shows that put a child led approach to exploration first, such as Nina and the Neurons or Art Attack or Backyard Science or Tricky TV.

And lastly, I'd want there to be a strong helping of ever so slightly bad behaviour.

Challenge kids, and entertain them too! They'll find so much more value out of interacting with presenters who take calls, show emails and artwork, and hold various segments with viewer participation than they ever would from the daily binge!

I strongly believe it, and the facts back me up too.

Its not a coincidence that kids replaced TV which was ditching live action presenters for streamers and insta/tiktok lives.

As always with the Internet, it's trying to capture a facsimile of television with more of the problems and none of the regulation.

[childrenofandromeda]

Major powers of the Andromeda Galaxy, Part 1: The Xana Arm Federation

This post is a brief overview of the species of the Xana Arm Federation.

The Xana Arm of Andromeda is home to 6 major sapient species, whose planets have formed the Xana Arm Federation. These species are Parallans, Celestans, Lolai, Valians, Valikin, and Tsanans. The Xana Arm confederation was established in 2018 CE. Membership in the HAF is fully voluntary, on a per-system basis. As of January 2023 CE, there are 6,442 member systems.

Interstellar trade is done through Xana Credits, which are almost always handled electronically, but "coins" in the form of small cylinders, colored to show their value, exist for small transactions.

Tsanans (tsawhe)

Tsanans are a humanoid race, native to the moon K'aazipelh of the planet Tsana in the Caset system. K'aazipelh is a superhabitable moon, being slightly larger than Earth with shallow oceans and a denser atmosphere. Tsanans were the first species in Andromeda to invent FTL travel via Subspace, nearly 5 million years ago. They explored inward along the Xana Arm during this time, controlling much of the core of the galaxy, including the galactic bar and the roots of both the Xana Arm and the Mehiti Arm. Tsanans even crossed the intergalactic void, having a small presence in the Milky Way. They studied humans as they evolved and their societies formed as well, interfering as little as possible. In 100 CE, however, Tsanans had to abandon the Milky Way due to a war with the Glian Mycelium, leaving little behind in the Sol system, however some planetary bases and orbiting ships were left behind in many other systems. The area around where the Tsanans built their first Intergalactic gateway, now known as the Galactic Backwaters, has a lot of abandoned Tsanan ships and bases scattered through it.

Having come to almost universally appreciate the stories that humans created for teaching about how mythology develops in society (information lost to them millennia before), many Tsanan families today continue to name their children after human gods and mythological figures. Tsanans have also mastered genetic manipulation, many having traits from animals like cat ears, bat wings, or bear claws. These traits are often shared within families, as a sign of their togetherness, and it is a big deal when Tsanans get their first gene edit, typically around age 15.

Parallans (palanal / ashal palanu)

Parallans are also humanoid, almost indistinguishable from Tsanans (sans gene mods) and humans. They are, however, taller than both on average, with some even reaching 7'10". Parallans are native to the planet Parallax (pala), in the Yakuin system. It has a worldwide archipelago, with the largest islands being approximately the size of Australia. The foliage of Parallax is violet rather than green, taking a rare approach for photosynthesis by absorbing only the peak wavelengths of light from Yakuin.

Parallan culture focuses on equality and learning in all stages of life. They have public scientific institutes, which (pending approval) any citizen of the Parallan Federation can use for independent research. The Parallan Federation also has many universities, at least one in every Parallan settlement.

Celestans (Selasyk)

Celestans are the only other sapient humanoid species native to Andromeda. They are native to the planet Celesta (Seleste) in the Yakuin system. Celesta and Parallax are neighbors in the Yakuin system, with Celesta being a bit farther from Yakuin. Celesta is covered almost entirely by a large forest, with many lakes and rivers dotted within. However, there is one large, almost star-shaped sea in the northern hemisphere.

Unlike their neighbors, Celestans are quite anatomically different from humans. They have larger, pointed ears, and some even have horns growing from their heads. Their biology is also changed by their planet, which has a lot of Ninai deposits. Ninai is a mineral only found in Andromeda which interacts with Vipris, a type of exotic matter which does not usually interact with normal matter. Celestans have Ninai in their blood and nervous systems, which allows them to manipulate Vipris to create magic-like effects. No species on any other planet has this adaptation naturally, but there are a few ways for other species to gain it, which is common among Parallans.

Lolai (Lolai)

Lolai are a group of many species native to Celesta that have been uplifted by proximity to the Ninai crystals in Celesta's crust. There are many species that this has happened to, but not all members of those species are affected. It is passed down from generation to generation, but both Lolai and Celestans have insisted on conserving the populations of their non-uplifted cousins.

Lolai and Celestans both have a connection to the wildlife of Celesta. The mycelium of Celestan fungi form a planet-wide network which allows communication among much of the planet's plant-life, which Celestans and Lolai have found ways to use as well. It acts as a sort of long-range telepathy, but it only works on Celesta, and doesn't have any mind-controlling properties like Glian Mycelium does.

Valians and Valikin (valinal / valinal yu)

Valians and Valikin are native to the rings of the planet Vali I in the Vali system. They are reptile-like species, who both biomineralize metals and ores as scales to protect from radiation. Valians are large and draconic, with large wing-like appendages which allow them to maneuver within the gasses in the rings of Vali I. Valikin are smaller, around human-size, and lack wings. They instead jump between the rocks that make up the ring, or rarely they are allowed to ride along on the backs of Valians.

Both Valians and Valikin are mute, despite the gas being thick enough for them to breathe properly and for other species to talk. Instead, they communicate through a few different systems. Close up or intimately, they both use a system which consists of holding hands or feet and vibrating and pulsing special muscles in their palms/soles. For communicating at a distance, Valikin use a combination of dance and sign language, and Valians use a kind of semaphore with their wings. That said, many of both species have learned Parallan Sign Language as well, in order to communicate with other species, and some have learned to understand spoken language, though this is more difficult for them.

[missdrarrydawn]

------------ Occupy My Heart ------------

Draco Malfoy x fem!Reader

warning: implied smut, brief mentions of drinking

~~~

written for the lovely @leydileyla who offered me this absolute gem of a prompt that I simply couldn't pass up

hope you enjoy hon :DD

~~~

You were really starting to feel the buzz of the Butterbeers a few hours into the Interhouse party that was thrown for all the returning eighth years. You're such a horrible lightweight, Butterbeer is just vaguely alcoholic, if at all. It warmed you up and left a pleasant tingle in its wake. Just enough to let the music and lights around you blur and blend, to ripple against your skin and soothe. The smell of the ale cookies served at various tables scattered around the one conjoined common room for all the Houses now wafted through the thick, cloying air, between meandering bodies of various dancing students, all the scents making your head spin from where you were sitting at the little makeshift bar.

The party's been wilding on way past curfew but no teachers arrived to interrupt you yet so it was fair game. Everything felt so liquid and pleasant, the atmosphere sticking to your slick skin, the warmth and haze prickling at the back of your neck.

Gods you needed a shower. Perhaps you might sneak away to have a quick one? The party showed no signs of slowing down and you were drained.

As you pushed away from the bar, colors still swimming before your eyes from all the sparkle and decorative banners strung up everywhere, you felt a shiver run down your spine.

You felt eyes on you.

Turning about to find the possible culprit, you registered a flash of platinum blonde hair in a darkened corner and the piercing glow of silver eyes lingering on you.

Draco.

A chuckle rumbled from your chest as you allowed yourself a moment to revel in his gaze before melding into the throng of people, sliding between them, trying to remember whether your dorm was the door on the left or the right upstairs. It wouldn't do to barge into someone else's dormroom.

As you made your way along you still felt pins and needles in your back, as if someone was keeping pace with you. Goodness, that was incredibly paranoid, wasn't it? You vowed to yourself to never drink Butterbeer again. Even slightly tipsy you were a disaster.

Finally you got through everyone and into the quieter part of the room, where all the dorms were. There were only a few people milling about there, stumbling off to their rooms with whoever they pulled or to retch or simply pass out.

The beat of the music was muffled here, no longer a steady, beating ebb flowing through your skull, now more resembling a foggy memory. It was easier to think, to breathe. You've never been much of a party animal, but this one was important. It celebrated unity and the war being over, it celebrated those who lived and fought. It mattered to attend. After Hogwarts rebuilt and reopened, the first thing that changed was the system of the four houses, headmistress McGonagall had dismantled it entirely after witnessing how horrific segregation could be.

Everyone was thrown in one mixing pot, which had been strange at first, but throwing a party like this really helped scrub out the imaginary lines in the sand everyone had drawn between themselves.

Speaking of scrubbing, you finally arrived to your dorm and basically collapsed through the door in your quest for a shower. Where was the bathroom door again? Ah right, over there, of course.

You slipped through, the bright Lumos having you squint for a second while your eyes adjusted from the dim haze of downstairs to the sparkling clean of tile.

Right. You closed the door behind you and began to undress, your clothes peeling away from the sweat plastered all over you from all the vigorous dancing you'd done.

As you kicked off your shoes and set your bare feet on the cold floor, a distinct icy chill ran up your legs and through the rest of you, shivering away the brittle buzz you'd worked up, cooling you down.

Once your clothes were a discarded pile on the floor, you stepped into the shower and pulled the fogged glass door shut, fiddling with the taps before a spray of warm water finally hit your face and shoulders.

What a relief.

You began to scrub and lather yourself up, cleaning off the night with the water sluicing down your skin, your mind starting to wander as you relaxed into the moment more. Warm showers were a treasure.

Draco was staring at you back there. For a brief second you made eye contact before you left. Did that mean something? You felt silly for wanting to know but that boy has occupied the vacant spaces of your heart for far too long now, and you couldn't help but hope that his intense, focused gaze meant something more.

As you began washing your hair, a knock on the door startled you out of your skin. You almost poured shampoo into your eyes for heaven's sake!

"Um—occupied?" you yelled out, hoping to be heard over the gush of water. If someone needed the bathroom urgently then they could come in to use it, it's not as if anyone would see you in your birthday suit, but if it wasn't urgent then they could find another one.

"Ahh, Y/N, it's—uh, it's me! I was just wondering if you were okay?" a familiar voice from the other side of the door spoke up.

You knew that voice. It was so familiar. Who—

You felt every bit of you freeze as your brain spat out the answer for you.

Draco. It was Draco.

Checking up on you.

What should you do now? Your heart began hammering away quicker, this was hardly the time or place to flirt or attempt seduction and—

Well. As you considered the statement that just flittered through your mind you found it not entirely true.

You were naked after all, naked and wet. What more perfect scenario for seduction did there exist?

"I'm okay Draco, um—you can come in?" you yelled back, lips stretching into a smile. Technically he shouldn't be here at all, seeing as these were girls quarters and all, but if he's been invited it shouldn't be too much of an issue. If he accepted, that was.

There was silence for a few beats, the moment dragging on, you almost thought you'd scared him off, but then—

The soft, distinct click of the door being opened and shut.

Bingo.

Now, how exactly would you do this? You supposed you could ask him to get you a towel when you were done, and let him have a glimpse.

Merlin it sounded corny as all fuck, but you were prepared to do what it takes.

Until then though, you supposed you should talk about anything, keep the atmosphere up.

You could just barely make out his tall, foggy outline through the sliding glass of the shower, and you watched him move to sit down on the toilet seat.

Wait a second—if you could partly see him, did that mean he could partly see you too?

That was even more perfect.

"Hi Draco, you like the party?" you threw out the question casually, hoping to lessen the strangeness of the situation. You and him were friends, well, acquaintances more so, so it's not as if you've never spoken berore, but still. This was way different from any interaction youve had prior. "Thank you for checking up on me."

"Ahh ahem—no problem Y/N, you seemed a little tipsy back there so I uh—I thought you might—Well yea." he stumbled through his words, hardly even finishing the sentence properly.

That was—quite uncharacteristic of Draco Malfoy. He was always the one with the silver tongue, the sharp remark, had a comment to spare for anything, and to hear him stutter and hiccup his way through speaking as if he were a nervous school girl talking to her crush was very new and strange.

You'd be lying if you said it wasn't endearing as all hell though.

You could have a lot of fun with this.

"I see I see. I did build a bit of a buzz but nowhere near as bad as some of the other characters around this place. I mean, did you see Zabini strip his shirt off and then dance on the tables? Goodness." you simply continued along, as if this were a casual conversation and you weren't naked and washing out your hair.

"Haha, yeah, yes, Blaise will have one hell of a hangover tomorrow." Draco chuckled, though it sounded breathy and rough, somehow.

You were almost done now.

"Parvati will too, say, could you brew a vial of that potion of yours, for hangovers, for her? She's my roommate and I loathe to hear her whining tomorrow. You're the best at it, after all." You let your voice linger above the spray.

This time, Draco audibly spluttered and you saw a flurry of blurred movement, which eased a laugh past your lips.

"Um—yea, of—of course. I can do that. Um, Y/N isn't this—I don't know, a little strange?"

He sounded so thoroughly flustered, which really got you hoping. The stares, checking up on you, doing you favors, getting flustered by the situation, hm.

Hm.

It was worth a shot anyhow, right?

Time for a new plan.

Another chuckle rattled through your ribs. This was insane.

You grabbed the handle of the door and slid it open just enough to lean your head through. You could finally get a good look at him. He was sitting on the toilet seet, his entire face splotched and flushed all down his neck, wringing his hands and bouncing his leg.

When he heard you slide the door open he turned his head abruptly and you heard his breath hitch as he got a look at your face and shoulder sticking out, his eyes sliding from your eyes to your lips, lower still, to your neck and collarbones and—then he remembered himself and turned away abruptly.

"I'm sorry! Oh Merlin, are you—are you done? Do you uh—need a towel or—?" He began to ramble all in one breath and you just continued smiling fondly at his turned back.

"Oh Draco, won't you come in here with me already?"

You held out your hand and patiently waited. You could imagine this would be quite a fallout.

Draco stood completely still when the words left your mouth. One minute, two minutes, three—

The water drying on your skin while more sprayed down had gooseflesh rising all over you. Still, you waited.

"Um—what?" Draco whimpered eventually, voice giving out on him at the end there.

"You heard me." you assurred him.

The hum of running water was the only sound bouncing off the walls again, the very faintest echo of music from downstairs lilting through the closed door.

Draco turned to face you again, he looked wrecked. Eyes wide and dark, his pupils basically swallowing the silver irises, hair disheveled, breath coming in gentle pants.

"You want—?" he mumbled, his voice betraying his own hope and eagerness.

"Yes. For a while." your own smile widened, and for a second a pang of anxiety struck you as you realized he was about to see you naked, but it all dissipated into pooling heat and want as you watched him slowly reach for the first button of his mint green button up shirt and slide it loose. His wide eyes never left yours and you watched the slight tremor in his fingertips as he freed every button, one by one, until his shirt opened and slid off his shoulders, fluttering to the floor.

God he's delicious. All lean, well defined Seeker's physique, the pale marble of his skin an endless expanse. You let your eyes wander, drink in the sight, slide across his chest and lower, over his taut abdomen, hanging up on the waistband of his pants. An outline pushed against the seams there, your mouth watering at the visible bulge.

"Me too." he mumbled, as if you needed any more proof or reassurance of his desire, his hand slowly reaching for his zipper now.

Oh what a lovely party it's been indeed and it was about to get so much better.

~~~

Fin.

[ironmandeficiency]

des and troy

pairing: wrecker / reader

word count: 1435

summary: scattered thoughts about two blurrgs imprinting on you and wrecker (but mostly wrecker).

a/n: i'm tweaking this to include omega and echo bc this is, surprise, more imported c&m content and my brain is failing me. crosshair was saved from his chip bc i said so. also if you get the reference i love you

warnings: one tiny mention of animal death, brief moment of canon-typical peril, tooth rotting fluff, one reference to reader as mom by blurrgs

wrecker in nature can be summed up in two words: gentle giant

you will know he’s comfortable with you when he’s making efforts to be quiet around you or maker forbid, trying to attract animals to him within your general vicinity

if you’re on the right planet and he’s able to be quiet enough for an extended period, he's an animal whisperer

it’s so heartwarming to see him shrinking himself down to be a non-threatening presence so an ash-rabbit will take the bits of vegetation from his outstretched hand

then there was the time two baby blurrgs imprinted on him bc he didn’t mean to be the first thing they saw when they hatched, it just happened

he named them des and troy wink wink nudge nudge and soothed their soft cries bc he knew that their mama wasn’t coming back for them

the mama had been found nearby, killed by something he couldn't identify. the babies kept nudging against him and whining so pathetically wrecker had to take the two babies back to the ship, he had no other choice

he was lucky that this mission was set to keep you and the batch on this planet for at least a couple weeks, if not longer. it gave him time to take care of the little babies and figure out what would happen when he inevitably had to leave them behind (tech barely tolerated sleeping next to explosives, but he drew a very firm line on baby blurrgs)

you and wrecker fell into the role of adoptive blurrg parents pretty easy and holy shit the pure joy on his face when he watched you interact with the two lizard babies kept him on a permanent cloud nine

they would follow you both around like baby ducks, toddling along on stocky, wobbly legs

wrecker cried when you had to leave them with a local village once the mission was complete. he’s most definitely gonna visit them in the very near future, he’s a blurrg dad now

the villagers send him holos of them sometimes and you can tell when he got one bc he’ll be smiling like a proud father the rest of the day

when the war ended (crosshair's chip was removed early on bc i said so) and everyone else was unsure where to go, wrecker was the one with the plan

you know those videos when soldiers reunite with their pets after being deployed? that's what happened when you returned to the village where your blurrg sons were living

they nearly brought wrecker to the ground with their excitement (they did bring you to the ground, but wrecker was there so you weren't hurt) and gave the original members of the batch wet, sloppy licks of affection. they sniffed at echo and omega for a moment before giving the same, omega giggling and echo just sighing like "this might as well happen"

besides wrecker, omega was their favorite person ever and the three of them got along like a house on fire. hunter was worried at first because they were nearly full-grown blurrgs and omega was a small child, but seeing her curled up asleep with them one evening sealed the deal

life in the village is pretty peaceful. everyone becomes a jack of many trades when it comes to pulling their weight around the village. it was a home, that much was certain

omega getting into trouble

we been knew that omega is a very curious child, and this curiosity gets her lost in the wilderness on the outskirts of the village. she got distracted, she really didn't mean to wander that far but it happened

she was the lost sheep of the herd in the eyes of one of that forest's fiercest predators. it used to pick off the livestock to stay satisfied, but since your crew arrived, it's been pushed deeper into the forest than it ever had to be. the small child that was very clearly frightened was a free snack

the moment omega saw the three sets of beady eyes, she knew she was in danger. she tried to back away slowly, tried to do all the things hunter taught her to do when in the face of a wild beast, but her fear won out in that moment

her scream and the loud footfalls against the forest floor caught the attention of several villagers, but most importantly des and troy

they could recognize their vod'ika's voice from miles away and knew she was in danger. the blurrgs busted from their pen and stormed towards omega

this caught the attention of everyone nearby and put the village on high alert; des and troy never did anything like that

cue des and troy saving the day by distracting the beast long enough for omega to be saved, the blurrg brothers becoming the heroes of the village

ba'vodu bonding

the rest of the batch had their own ways of bonding with des and troy, despite most of them denying it when confronted with it

hunter was the first of the guys to warm up to them when they were babies, and that didn't change when they returned to the planet

would always have some sort of snack for them on his person or nearby, and would sneak them treats before dinner just because he could

there was one occasion where he was trying to pick fruit from a tree, and used one of the boys as a launching platform. he got the fruit when he jumped, but then he was stuck either staying in the tree and risking humiliation, or letting go of the branch and falling to the ground below

a swarm of hornets made the choice for him and when he let go of the branch, he had an easy landing on the backs of the boys. their little trick earned them extra snacks and plenty of headrubs

when crosshair has nightmares about his time under the chip, he likes his solitude. tends to roam around the village streets with no real destination, just avoiding his thoughts

one evening found him standing in front of the stable where des and troy were kept and he wasn't sure what to make of it. sure he liked the animals, but he didn't really do much with them. they were just there, really

he was going to walk away and head back to bed, but troy (he thinks?) huffs at him from his pen in a "don't walk away from me" tone like the blurrg had authority over the sniper

"i don't know what you expect from me-" another snort and some shuffling around the pen. troy (when he steps into the faint light of the lanterns nearby, cross recognizes the discolored spot on his head that sets him apart from des) meanders his way to the edge of the fence where crosshair is standing and gives him a glare that looks a little too human

this triggers crosshair's nighttime chats with the blurrgs, telling them the things he feels too ashamed to tell his brothers about. if he falls asleep in the barn one night and wakes up to omega making a zipped lip gesture, that's no one's business

des and troy get antsy when they see tech working on echo's prosthetics unless echo's petting them with his human hand

this anxiety was triggered by one occasion where echo seized up when tech had to disconnect part of his mech arm from the shoddily maintained nerve endings left in the nub

des was distant with tech for a while after that incident

now the boys keep echo company when there's work to be done on his robotic limbs

on the occasions where said limbs are more of a hindrance than help, echo tends to ride one of them (usually des) around the village

tech 1000% gets them the sound buttons that he equipped with voice commands and uses those to help communicate with them in basic

at first it was a solely tech endeavor, but soon the others learned how to put their own voices into the buttons and chaos ensued

you were sitting nearby with omega, giving her a small snack before dinner when the boys pressed their "food," "mom," and "snack" buttons

your response was "no," "dinner," "soon" and they grunted their displeasure before troy pressed a button that said "kriff you" in a familiar voice

in the moment you weren't sure whether you wanted to laugh or smack crosshair upside the head for it, so you settled on dying of laughter and resolving to slap the sniper next time you saw him

clone trooper taglist: @the-studious-porg @likeshootingstarsinthenightsky @leias-left-hair-bun @obirain @olluea @catsnkooks @mackstrut @simping-for-fives @stardustsunrisekisses @darthadeline @artemis61003 @majorshiraharu @getdookuedon @capricornrabies @jedi-mando @whovianwar @hornystarwarsbisexual @janebby @fireghost-x @escapedthesarlacc @andysficrecs @thecussedcrosshair

[themoon-andher-love]

There is Solace to be Found (3/?)

Sail Among Liars

Fandom: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Pairing: Zelda Spellman/Lilith

Zelda gets a tour of the ship — and another interaction with Lilith.

~

Lmao don’t know if anyone is still invested (or still in this fandom?) BUT here’s an update! Read on AO3 at the link above or below.

Zelda woke all at once, pulled out of a dream she couldn’t remember, but it left her with an anxious feeling in her chest that was only worsened by her unfamiliar surroundings. She made to sit up, and then felt the hilt of the knife still in the palm of her hand under the pillow and the memories of the previous day came rushing back.

That made her bolt up as she looked for Lilith, and to her relief she found herself to be alone in the room. Then she withdrew the knife from under the pillow then and tucked it back into her sleeve, taking the time to look around more carefully. True to her word, the captain had given her the bed to herself, leaving the other side completely untouched, though as far as Zelda could tell everything else in the room was also unchanged, making her wonder just what the captain had done all night.

Not that she should complain about being left alone. Lilith seemed true to her word that she wasn’t going to harm her, or at least not in cold blood. But Zelda couldn’t figure the woman out, and that bothered her, like an itch in her mind she couldn’t quite shake. She had a knack for knowing people, knowing their motives and their behaviors better than themselves within minutes of meeting, but Lilith was the exception, always stepping left when she expected her to go right. While that was infuriatingly confusing, her expectations of outright cruelty being contradicted did make her chest relax a little.

Like she’d been summoned by Zelda’s thoughts, Lilith suddenly strode in, looking cheerful. Her hair was even more unruly than it had been the day before, no longer tamed by the captain’s hat, and she carried a plate and large mug. “Good morning, precious.”

Zelda sneered, her brief comfort with the woman overtaken by anger. “Must you call me that?”

“I didn’t manage to catch your name in the excitement of it all, precious,” Lilith stated quite frankly, and Zelda’s anger spiked again. “And it seems rude not to address you by anything.”

“There are plenty of other polite titles to refer to me by other than my monetary value to you.”

“Then what would you like me to call you, precious?” she said with a faux innocent look, a slight, sharp smile on her lips.

Zelda knew the nickname was meant to aggravate her, but that fact didn’t temper her frustration. “My name is Zelda Spellman,” she bit out, and the captain’s teasing gleam left for a more interested look.

“Zelda Spellman,” she repeated, rolling the name on her tongue like a fine wine. “Suits you.”

She wanted to ask what Lilith meant by that, but before she could Lilith set the plate and mug down, then sat in the chair across from it. “I saved you breakfast.”

Indeed she had – Zelda could see the plate loaded with cheese and bread and, miraculously, what looked like eggs. She stood slowly and made her way to the table, taking a careful seat. She studied the captain for a moment, who looked back at her mildly, before picking up her fork and taking a small bite of the eggs.

“Do you keep chickens on board?” she asked, remembering her brother mentioning that live animals would sometimes be brought on larger ships for long journeys.

“Yes,” Lilith said, and sighed. “It seems such a shame to leave the creatures to starve on the ships we raid, so we take them. They provide eggs for a while, and when they stop, they provide a nice dinner.”

Such a genuine answer from the captain surprised Zelda, even when tempered with practicality, and she ate the rest of her meal in silence, attempting again to figure the woman out while ignoring Lilith’s heavy gaze.

The food was good, and the mug of ale even better, and she pushed the empty dishes away when she’d finished. Lilith stared at her a moment longer before she stood, looking at her expectantly. “Come, let me show you around the ship.”

Zelda blinked, shocked by the captain, and it took her a moment by her words. “You won’t lock me in this room?”

“Did you think I would?” Lilith asked flatly, and her lack of emotion had Zelda’s anger spiking again.

“How am I supposed to know when you declined to tell me anything yesterday?”

“You never asked.” She turned up one corner of her mouth then. “Besides, as fun as it is to bring you your meals and watch you eat, I have other things to do with my time.”

As if it was such a burden, Zelda thought, but held her tongue. Not being locked up somewhere meant she’d have chances to explore the ship. She wasn’t sure how that would help her, but more information could never hurt, and perhaps what she found would help her form a plan on what to do the closer they sailed to England.

She stood, wordlessly, and the captain turned and opened the door, gesturing for her to go first. Zelda did, stepping out and onto the deck, blinking rapidly against the glare of the sun. As her eyes adjusted, she saw she was standing on a tall deck near the back of the ship, tucked away a bit, but from her vantage she could see nearly everything. Blood red sails billowed on three masts before her, and there were stairs on either side of the deck leading up and down, where the sounds of the crew working could be heard.

Lilith guided her down a set of stairs, showing her the galley and introducing her to the cook and other crewmen working in the kitchens. She was very formal, to Zelda’s surprise, referring to her by her proper name instead of some demeaning pet name.

They left the galley, Lilith guiding her down a second set of stairs, which brough them to the largest deck of the ship.

“This is the main deck,” Lilith told her, leaning against a barrel sitting next to the staircase. “It’s the center of the ship – you can get near anywhere from here, and the crew tends to congregate here.”

Indeed, there were more men here than Zelda had seen thus far, doing tasks or heading to another part of the ship or just milling about.

“Over there are the crew quarters,” Lilith pointed straight across to a door, “though I doubt you’ll want to spend much time there. Up the stairs you’ll find the deck with the first mate and quartermaster cabins.”

Zelda nodded, taking it all in. Just then boots sounded on the stairs behind them, and Zelda turned and moved out of the way as three men came down, holding a large coil of rope, cheerfully calling “captain” as they came down.

The men stared at Zelda, though she didn’t feel any malice coming from them. They just looked curious, their stares not uncomfortable, and Zelda made an effort to memorize their faces – they could be helpful. At the very least, not her enemy.

After they had passed, Lilith pushed off her barrel and stepped forward, guiding Zelda to a trapdoor. She flung it open and quickly descended the short ladder down before turning and looking back up at Zelda, holding a hand out. She clambered down, ignoring the hand, and turned to look into the bowels of the ship, blinking to see in the dim light.

There were rows of cannons on either side of the ship, with crates and casks and other armament scattered about. A few men wandered through the rows, doing something to the cannons, but many of them stopped when they caught sight of her and Lilith. There were quiet murmurs of “captain” and a few nods, but there were many more lingering eyes.

The hair on the back of Zelda’s neck stood up. The stares of these men were nothing like the men above – these felt predatory, dangerous, and it was suddenly very obvious to her that she was a woman in man’s clothing.

Zelda nearly jumped at Lilith’s light touch on her lower back, but she eagerly followed when she gently pressed her forward, escorting her towards the back of the room. She stood as tall as she could, but as they entered the tight walkway between the cannons, she had to fight the urge to shrink and bow her head. Though the men pressed up against cannons to give them room to pass, some didn’t give them nearly as much space as they could have, and Zelda felt a bit like she was walking into a snare.

The door shut firmly behind them as they entered the next section of the ship, which was empty, much to Zelda’s relief, and Lilith’s hand dropped from her back.

“That was the weaponry deck, as I’m sure you guessed. Below is our main cargo hold, where we keep goods, water casks, and livestock—”

“Stolen goods?”

Lilith gave her a look, though didn’t seem offended by her accusation. “I prefer relinquished, but yes. This is our second cargo hold,” she continued on, ignoring Zelda’s comment. “We keep our main stores of food here, and some other essentials. If you’re ever in need of something, you’ll most likely find it here.”

Lilith pressed her forward before Zelda could say anything, guiding them back towards the door they came from. As they entered the weaponry again, the men eyed her as they had minutes before, and the oily feeling in her stomach returned.

Zelda never thought the captain’s touch could be reassuring, as wary as she was of her. But Lilith’s hand was on her back again, and in the face of the men, that touch was calming, comforting even, in the moment, and Zelda had to stop herself from pressing closer to Lilith.

Back in the sun on the main deck, Zelda sighed and shivered despite the heat, feeling the lingering stares of the men still on her skin. She wanted to bask in the warmth a moment, let it erase the dark from the bowels of the ship, but Lilith pressed her towards the stairs next to the crew quarters.

They went up two sets to the top deck, bringing them to one of the highest points of the ship, the sea stretching out before them. Zelda couldn’t help but gasp a little at the sight – it was like she could see the whole world, the shimmering water unending and hypnotic. She drifted towards the railing almost unconsciously, feeling as though she could touch the horizon, if she just took one more step.

“This is the forecastle deck,” Lilith spoke quietly behind her, and Zelda blinked, forgetting she was there. “The best views are up here,” she continued, leaning her forearms against the railing next to Zelda. “I come up here often, just to take it all in. The dawn, especially. You feel like you’re Apollo himself, bringing the sun for the start of the new day.”

Zelda looked down Lilith, brow quirked. “You know Greek mythology?”

Lilith gave an amused little hum, still staring out at the sea. “You sound surprised I have a basic knowledge of the world.”

There was a long pause, only the sound of the wind and the snapping of the sails reaching them, and all of Zelda’s uncertainty, her fear, her anger, her trepidation, felt muted up here. Like it was blown away on the wind, and she was just on an adventure, far from her past life and all its troubles.

“The view on the tallest deck on the Azul wasn’t anywhere near this,” Zelda said, unsure why she was telling the captain. “I don’t know what’s different, on your ship. But it’s…”

“A bit of magic to it, yes?”

Boots sounded on the stairs behind them, and Zelda turned to see a tall, dark man walking up. She’d seen him when she’d first been captured, he’d been the one the captain had told to ready the lifeboats, and a bit of anxiety settled in Zelda’s stomach again.

“Captain,” the man spoke, and Lilith straightened, gesturing towards him.

“Zelda, this is my first mate, Ambrose. Ambrose, this is Ms. Spellman.”

The man – Ambrose – gave a polite nod of his head. “Ma’am.”

Zelda gave a small nod in return, surprised by the properness of his manners. Lilith stepped forward then and murmured something to him that Zelda didn’t catch. He nodded, then gave a small bow to Zelda before turning back down the steps. Lilith leaned back against the railing again, pointing to the other end of the ship.

“The tallest deck there is the observation deck, and below it with the ship’s wheel is the sterncastle deck. The view there isn’t half bad either, but there’s nothing quite like the bow of the ship.” She waved her hand then in a dismissive way. “I could go on and on about all the parts of my ship, but I’ll spare you. Should you be curious, however,” she said, and gave an affectionate pat to the railing, “there’s not a thing about her I couldn’t tell you.”

Zelda nodded but didn’t question, hoping that would placate the captain enough to keep her from rambling.

Lilith pushed off the railing then and took a few, slow steps forward. Zelda followed, not thinking much of it, and peered down at the main deck below. Men were congregating there; it looked as though the whole crew could be there on the deck, and Zelda looked around, wondering what was going on.

“Apologies in advance.”

Zelda’s stomach dropped. “What—”

Lilith grabbed her waist, tugging until Zelda’s back was pressed against her front. Zelda struggled and clawed at the captain’s arm, making her hiss when she caught flesh, but then Lilith wrapped her other arm around, pinning Zelda’s to her sides. She took a step forward, pressing Zelda tight between her and the railing. She was caught, trapped by the woman who was her enemy, as kind as she has been, and panic swelled her throat and her chest.

“Gather ‘round, boys!”

Lilith’s voice was loud in Zelda’s ear, her grip tight, and the railing was hard and unforgiving where it dug into her hips when she squirmed. The men turned and looked, and Zelda felt the blood rush to her cheeks.

“See this pretty young thing?”

The crowed murmured, some sounding confused, others excited, and the few whoops and whistles made Zelda want to scream.

“I’m sure you want her, hm?”

Lilith nearly purred, and the louder cheers and whistles made Zelda’s blood turn to ice.

“Then listen up, because I’m only going to say this once: she’s mine.”

The world came to a stuttering halt. Hers?

It crashed back into motion when the captain slid a hand up to her breast, squeezing it lightly. Zelda thrashed, though Lilith’s grip was too tight, and she tried to stomp on her feet regardless of the railing pinning her legs. Lilith tightened her hold, and she angled her head towards Zelda, her lips brushing her ear when she murmured, “Quiet, precious.”

Her voice was mild and even, saccharine almost, but Zelda fell still as though she’d growled. She’d been right about the woman, Lilith was a pirate through and through, concerned about nothing more than her next bit of gold and pleasure, and Zelda was her plaything, unable to stop her from doing whatever she wanted.

Lilith’s voice was loud again in her ear as she continued to address the crew. “If any of you animals touch her, paw at her, or even look at her wrong, you’ll be killed by my bare hands, and so slowly that by the end you’ll be begging me for the sweet relief of my sword in your heart.”

The murmurings of the crowd below suddenly died, and the ship became an eerie, uncomfortable quiet, Lilith’s chest pressing into her back with every breath as she allowed the silence to settle.

“You will treat her with the same respect you treat me. I hear otherwise, and you’ll be tied to a cannonball and thrown overboard before you can finish your Hail Mary.”

The tense quiet settled again, though the rushing heartbeat in Zelda’s ears nearly overpowered it. She stared down at the crew, all shuffling feet and adverted eyes, and Lilith’s voice loud in her ear again startled her.

“Don’t you have something better to do?”

The men rushed off, returning to their chores with their heads down, looking at anything but where she and the captain stood. Only Ambrose remained in his spot in the crowd, staring at them with a curious look on his face, before turning and making his way towards the stern.

Lilith had let go of her by now and stepped back, though Zelda barely noticed, her mind still trying to sluggishly catch up with events. Hers. She was the captain’s pet, claimed in front of all, and nothing more to do about it than to hope she stayed in a good mood for the remainder of their journey. Otherwise…

“Why don’t I take you back to my quarters? From there you can do what you’d like.” Lilith murmured behind her, and Zelda slowly turned to look at her.

She looked the same as ever, her hair and tunic ruffling the slight breeze as she stared at her as though nothing had happened.

As though she hadn’t just branded her as her whore.

Rage bubbled up in Zelda stomach, quickly melting the icy fear left in her veins, but she nodded curtly anyways. At least in her room she would be alone, away from the men, away from the captain, and she could curse, she could plot, she could avoid them all until they landed onshore in five weeks, or until the captain decided it was time to perform her duties.

Zelda shoved off the railing and made for the stairs, not bothering to wait for the captain, though she quickly caught up and walked a step behind her. They went across the main deck, and the men there jumped out of her way, bowing their heads and murmuring polite remarks as she passed; as nice as the courtesy was, that rage in her stomach was all consuming.

Lilith, with all her promises and assurances, was nothing more than a snake, but worst of all, Zelda had fallen for her lies. She’d started to believe the captain when she said she wouldn’t hurt her, like a fool, and had even began to consider the woman would respect her. She’d let her guard down, and now she was hers.

Zelda threw open the door to the captain’s quarters and strode in, Lilith following and closing the door behind her. The latch had barely clicked shut and Lilith turned when Zelda reached out on impulse and slapped the woman.

The sound was loud and Zelda’s hand burned, but she didn’t care. Lilith stumbled back a bit, surprised, and put a hand on her cheek. “Alright, I suppose I deserved that—”

Rage boiling over, Zelda didn’t hear. She slapped Lilith again, just as hard, but then Lilith was grabbing her wrists, spinning her around until she was pressed against the door and her wrists pinned above her head.

“I’ll take the one for groping you, but I won’t be struck again for saving your life.”

“Saving me?” Zelda scoffed, and tried to wiggle in Lilith’s grip. “I’m the captain’s whore now thanks to you.”

Lilith tightened her grip, eyes burning, and pressed impossibly closer to Zelda. “You may be, but now you’re amongst pirates who won’t lay a finger on you. I claimed you out there, and do you know what pirates do to the captain’s whore?” She spit out the word and leaned closer until their lips were mere inches away. “Absolutely nothing.”

Zelda seethed and bucked in Lilith’s grasp, tugging at her wrists until the captain let go and took two steps back. She glared at Lilith, absolutely hating that she could see her logic – there had been no stares, no leers, no prickle at the back of her neck when she’d walked past the men. It was clear that the men obeyed their captain, and by branding her as off limits, she’d be safe on the ship.

From the men, at least.

Lilith was staring at her, expression unreadable, and Zelda pushed off the door and went further into the room, not wanting her back to a wall. “You shouldn’t have groped me.”

She turned to look at Lilith, who did nod and blink in acknowledgement. “You’re right. I apologize.”

She should’ve just ignored the captain, but there was a question niggling at the back of her mind, and she couldn’t stop it from slipping out. “Why did you?”

“Grope you?” Lilith asked, and gave a small smirk. “I thought it would make my point clear, in the moment.”

Zelda sneered. “No, why did you save me?” she clarified, and her anger flared again. “Why bother with it? Why not just leave me to the mercies of your men? It would certainly be easier – give your men a new toy to play with while saving you from having to look after me.”

Anger filled Lilith’s eyes to match her own, and she took a slow step towards Zelda. “I would never leave a woman at the mercy of the lusts of men.” She spoke slowly, her voice low, and looking more serious than Zelda had ever seen her. “While I hope that my crew wouldn’t do such a thing, I know they would never disobey their captain.”

“You wouldn’t leave me at their mercies, but you’ll put me at yours?”

Lilith raised an eyebrow and took another slow step towards Zelda. “Like it or not, as you are a guest on this ship and I her captain, you are at my mercy. How you choose to define that is up to you.”

And with that, Lilith turned on her heel and walked out the door.

Zelda stood rooted to the spot, stomach turning. She had half a mind to follow Lilith and demand that she explain herself further, tell her to stop the cryptic behaviors and the contradictions and just tell her what to expect as her guest, as she so put it, but a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. Going out and confronting Lilith in front of her crew, who saw her as the captain’s toy, was an overwhelming thought, and one she didn’t want to deal with just now.

She sat on the edge of the bed, taking the knife out of her sleeve so she could easily scrub her hands over her face. Was it really just this time yesterday she was first boarding the Demoness? It felt like a lifetime ago, and yet a part of her still felt.

It was early in the day, barely into the afternoon, but Zelda couldn’t bring herself to care. Her exhaustion seemed to run bone deep, and her anger and confusion with the captain only added to it. Sliding the knife under her pillow like she had before, she laid down and closed her eyes, focusing on the slight rocking of the boat beneath her.

Perhaps this time she’d wake at home, or back on the Azul, or, she thought with a wave of melancholy washed over her, anywhere from here.

[imagine-this-fandom]

BNHA X Fem!Reader: The Rescue - Angry Pomeranian

The Rescue intro: Here

She gently placed Izuku into a glass cage before pulling you to a back door labeled "Dogs", the Golden retriever slipping in behind you before you closed the door.

Upon entering, you were greeted by lots of barking, the dogs obviously not using their indoor voices. You actually surprised by the variety back here. There was a husky, Pitbull, and even a German Shepard. The room was rather large and open for them to interact with potential owners, various dog toys strewn across the floor with the dog kennels to the back.

You expected Inko to take you to meet the bigger dogs, but were confused when she led you past them, instead stopping in front of a small tan puff ball in a corner who was absolutely destroying a dog toy, the smiling sun that used to adorn the front of it, now flopped over on a shred of fabric by your feet. It almost looked like a blizzard of its own had happened in the corner due to all the stuffing scattered around.

"Oh Bakugou, what have you gotten your paws on this time?"

Inko clicked her tongue and watched the Pomeranian pup continue to tear the stuffing out of a smiling sun patterned toy.

The sight made you a bit more hesitant. Was this really the dog she had in mind for you? An absolutely furious little ball of fluff?

He didn't seem to pay you any attention, content to work growl and tear into the toy until Inko reached down and picked him up, which sent him into a frenzied wiggle fit. He began to whine in outrage, upset seemingly with the audacity of Inko picking him up.

"Come now Bakugou, you need to behave! There's someone here to see you." She was all smiles and started to pet his head, the angry noises emitting from the dog lessening as he calmed down a fraction.

"Mrs. Midoriya, are you sure he's the right dog for me? He doesn't seem to like me very much..."

You eyed the dog hesitantly. While he was undeniably adorable, you were worried he wouldn't like you even after you started to take care of him.

"I think he just needs time to get to know you! He's a sweetheart once he's settled, even though he doesn't show it often. Really, he could do with someone like you in his life. From talking to you, I can tell you'll be perfect for the little scamp."

The dog had stopped wiggling and seemed to be assessing the situation. If you didn't know any better, you'd say it looked like he was listening.

You bit you lip and looked him over, weighing the options you had. Sure he'd be a handful, but... could you really say no to that face?. If what she said was true, maybe he just needed someone to be there for him. And you found that you really wanted to be that someone. Besides, pets have personalities too. Even if he was grumpy, you could love him regardless

Smiling, you nodded.

"I'll take him. "

Getting Bakugou to go home with you on a leash was an experience to say the least. He tugged like mad and actually tried to break the leash, biting and trying to rip it away. That didn't go all that well for him once he got outside though. The snowdrifts were as big as he was!

Laughing, you discovered that you would have to pick him up to continue home, seeing as you wouldn't get very far if you had to keep fishing him out of the deep snow. He was bound and determined, but you could tell he was getting annoyed with the cold piles.

He was the angriest creature you had ever seen in your life. If a snowflake came too close, he would snap at it and bark at every stray animal or movement he saw. You just shook my head with amusement. His temperament, while not ideal for most people, was starting to grow on you.

It was a relief to finally get back to your apartment and put him down. You let him roam the house and explore, getting used to his new environment as you set up the supplies you got from the store. You had gotten him some cool food and water dishes with flames designs on the outside. After finishing that up, you moved to your bedroom to place the dog bed that you had purchased for him. He had beaten you to your room though, which you discovered as you chanced a glance at your bed while arranging the small pet bed in the corner. Bakugou had already made himself at home on your bed. His ashy blonde fur standing out on the comforter as his crimson eyes followed your movements from his newly acquired high ground.

"Silly boy, that's my spot! You have a bed down here!"

His eyes narrowed as he took up a more defensive position.

"Down, Bakugou. Off the bed. Did you just growl at me?!"

Well... He did not look like he intended to move any time soon. While you were all for learning to deal with him, you were definitely not in the mood for dealing with a doggy temper tantrum. You conceded him this point, for now and left to prepare for bed.

You left and took a quick shower before slipping into some (f/c) pajamas. Stepping out into the bedroom, you stopped and snapped a quick photo. Bakugou had settled down on the bed and was sleeping. This was the most peaceful you had seen him so far.

Rather than risk picking him up and waking the angry mutt up, you instead shifted him slightly to the side and climbed under the covers on the other half of the bed. He looked up at you at the contact , obviously annoyed by being roused from his sleep, but not mad enough to do anything about it except give an angry huff and shift so his back was facing you. You smiled and cautiously reached out a hand to stroke his back. He seemed to stiffen up for a moment, but, he seemed too tired to really care, so you took it as the go ahead to continue. You pet him for a bit before reaching up and scratching behind his ears. He tensed again before melting against your touch, leaning into it. You carefully retracted your hand and yawned before turning the lights off, smiling at the silvery fur across from you in the moonlight.

"Goodnight Bakugou, sleep well, my little spitfire."

Progress was being made, and for that, you happy. You fell asleep with a content expression, optimistic for the days to come.

Bakugou was absolutely a handful. After that first night, he made it his mission to test you. Whether it was by breaking something while you were at work, or simply refusing to cooperate when on walks, he made it his mission to act out when anything slightly inconvenienced him. Spitfire was an apt name, considering how spirited he was, especially on walks. He'd become the local terror of the neighborhood. Regardless of his size, he was ferocious. Even some of the larger dogs were intimidated by him! He didn't allow any other creature to push him around, humans included.

Even with his resistance you continued to work with him, trying to find ways to calm him down. You wanted him to like you, to trust you. You started by working on your own reactions whenever something happened that set him off. Instead of getting upset at him, you got down to his level and spoke quietly, getting him to focus on you instead of whatever had triggered his outrage. He still had his outbursts, but they were slowly getting better.

He was still very particular about contact though, only really letting you pet him when he was tired, when his weariness outweighed his outrage. This led to a nightly routine of pets before both of you fell asleep. This would change though.

One night, after a particularly bad day of work, you stumbled in exhausted. You were absolutely dead on your feet as you dragged your tired body inside your apartment. Kicking off your shoes, you decided to forgo your usual yelled greeting to your dog and instead staggered into the living room and collapsed face first on the couch, muscles screaming from the stress of the day. You just stayed like that for a good five minutes before hearing the jangle of a dog collar headed your way.

Bakugou stopped in front of the couch and growled at you impatiently, seeming to not like this break in his routine. You really didn't have the energy to deal with his nonsense so you simply let your arm drop off the side, offering him your hand. This didn't appease him though, as he instead took the edge of your sleeve in his teeth and tried to tug you off the couch.

You shifted, turning your head so I could see him and hopefully stop his determined tugs.

"Bakugou, please. I can't right now, okay? We'll play tomorrow. Just... not tonight. I'm not doing well."

You expected some kind of backlash, maybe him barking his head off, or maybe he would go destroy something out of spite. What you got instead, was a lick on the back of your hand, and a fluffy head pushing against your side, urging you to make some room on the couch for him. Tiredly, you obliged, rolling onto your back so your tired gaze was now directed at the ceiling. Your brief view of the apartment ceiling was interrupted by a fluffy blonde head glaring down at you with red eyes. Bakugou had settled himself on your chest, paws resting just below your chin.

"Can I help you sir?"

He huffed, hot breath warming your chin and chest as he relaxed and laid his head on his paws, almost daring you to move and disturb him.

You smiled and pet his head, making sure to scratch him behind the ears. He never made it obvious, but he loved it when you pet his head. He just kind of melted, muscles going relaxed with his eyes drooping in happiness. You stayed like this for at least another hour before falling asleep, arm lazily thrown over the content pup. You were surprised to discover you slept the best you had in ages that night. Something about Bakugou being there to protect you just made relaxing so much easier. While he was small, he was fierce and wouldn't let anything happen to you under his watch.

After that night, Bakugou seemed to calm down a little. He was still your little spitfire, but he didn't shy away from your touch. If anything, he sought it out. He still got into loads of trouble and had gotten on your last nerve more times than you could count. But now he seemed more interested in you. He got upset when you didn't greet him when you came home and always made sure to stay in your vicinity when you were at home. He seemed protective of you now, and you couldn't help but love it. He let you cuddle him more too. Often, you began to invite him up on the couch next to you during movies, which quickly turned into an hour every day with Bakugou on your lap as you pet him and watched a show or movie. As this happened, you noticed he favored old hero footage, especially of Allmight. He went wild whenever the symbol of peace was shown on the screen.

"I can see why you like him, he's one of my favorite heroes too. Always there when people need him."

You smiled, petting the excited dog's head. Pleased to see his little tail going nuts.

"But who needs Allmight when I've got you around Bakugou? My brave little Hero! You're always here for me. Getting you was one of the best decisions of my life."

The dog seemed to stiffen, but you didn't pay him much mind, figuring he was just focused on the action playing on the screen. Although you noticed he was quiet for the rest of the evening. He was reserved and honestly, you were starting to get a little bit worried. You decided that you'd just take him to the park the next day, maybe that would cheer him up.

The next day, you stuck to your plan, waking up early to work on housework and make sure you had finished all your tasks for the day and could take Bakugou for a nice long romp at the park.

You were working in the kitchen when he made his way out to you after waking up, his claws clicking on the tile and letting you know he was coming.

"Hey spitfire, did you have a good sleep?" You grinned and looked down at the fluffy dog who was watching you quietly. You knelt from your spot at the stove and held up a piece of bacon you had saved from breakfast.

"Figured my good boy deserved a treat. This is for now, and then once I finish cleaning up, we're going to the park."

Your words seemed to excite him as he snatched the bacon and his tail went wild. You smiled and pet him before getting back to work on the kitchen, looking forward to taking a break and spending time outside with your little spitfire.

Once you were outside, Bakugou seemed to go back to his normal angry self. He trotted ahead of you as you walked, seeming to exude an aura of intimidation when it came to the other dogs. You knew he wouldn't approve if you said it aloud, but you thought it was adorable. You relaxed as you walked through the city, slowly finding your way to a vast park that Bakugou seemed to like. It had lots of room to run, but you didn't let him off leash often. While you trusted him, sometimes he couldn't help himself and would pick a fight with anyone he felt threatened by. This led to some close calls that made you decide he wouldn't be allowed off leash anytime soon.

Crossing the threshold onto the green grass, you gave a happy sigh, enjoying the change from pavement to grass. You were quickly drawn away from your peaceful moment as a dog came charging at you and Bakugou. A chihuahua that was off its leash was making a beeline for you and Bakugou was not having it for a second. He braced himself in front of you and gave a warning growl as a deterrent. The little dog was either deaf or stupid and you were not excited to see which as his attention was focused on Bakugou.

He got just a little too close before Bakugou lunged forward and gave him a warning nip on the leg. When the little dog did not back down, you had to make a split decision and scooped up your dog and ran the opposite way. You found shelter on a bench, just out of reach of the vicious little monster snapping at your feet to get at the outraged Pomeranian in your arms. Your little spitfire did not take kindly to anyone threatening him, but you weren't about to let the small dog take a chance to retaliate for the bite. After a few tense moments where you tried to work out a plan that didn't involve punting the attacking dog, its owner ran up, red faced and not in a good mood. Instead of immediately fetching her dog, she took one look at the situation and exploded on you instead.

"DID YOUR DOG BITE MY COCO?!"

You were stunned into silence for a moment, not able to process the audacity of the question directed at you from this angry middle aged woman.

"Yes, but it was in self defense! Your dog was coming right for him!" You protested, hoping an explanation would somehow help the woman's anger to subside. But unfortunately, she did not accept that her dog was the one to blame. She scooped up the still writhing devil dog and glared at Bakugou.

"That thing is a menace! You should but a muzzle on him! What if he had bitten a child?" She stared with unwarranted venom, her blunt and misfounded words thrown carelessly at you like daggers.

You didn't notice right away, but Bakugou had gone still at the mention of a muzzle, the word seeming to trigger something within him.

As the woman Walked away, you slid down to sit on the bench, taking a moment to collect yourself and recover from the emotionally draining encounter. When you looked down at Bakugou again it was because he was struggling in your arms.

"Hey bud, it's okay, they're gone now."

These words which you had meant for comfort only made him struggle more.

"Okay, okay! Sorry, I'll put you down."

You carefully set him on the ground but were taken by surprise when he started to sprint away. You gasped and took off after him, chasing after the leash he was trailing behind him as he made his escape.

"Bakugou! Get back here!"

While you were doing your best to keep up, he was doing his best to dodge you. He was ducking under bushes and darting around obstacles as he made his getaway. eventually, you ran out of steam and had to stop, breathing heavily as you tried to get some air back into your lungs. When you were finally able to breathe without black spots invading, Bakugou was nowhere in sight.

You were in panic, barely barely able to really process that he was gone. You quickly started walking again, cupping your hands around your mouth as you called for him. How could he have just run away? Something must have happened, he wouldn't have just left you, right? You just had to keep looking. You'd find him. You had to.

You searched until your throat was hoarse, long ago abandoning the park and now roaming the city as the sunlight started to fade. Logic said that you should go home, but there was no way you were going to leave Bakugou outside and alone. You loved him, and you needed to find him, hopefully before anything happened to him.

You staggered through the streets, voice quiet and strained as you hopefully looked for even just a hint of tan or the tell tale jingle of your collar. It was late, and as much as you loathed the thought of going home without him, you had begun to lose hope of finding him today. As you turned to head home, you ran into someone.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going," You babbled, apologizing to the man. The guy glared at you before his whole demeanor changed as he looked you over. A dangerous look starting to form on his face that made unease rise within you.

"where are you going, sweetheart? Maybe I could walk you home. Come on, I know a shortcut." Before you could make a move, he had grabbed your arm and dragged you into a side ally, cornering you against the brick, his other hand going right over your throat

"Alright pretty girl, I want you to empty out that purse for me. And if you so much as scream, you'll regret it."

You dared not disobey, any chance of resistance fading as he showcased his quirk. His smirk was as sharp as the knives now protruding from his fingers, sharp and glinting in the limited moonlight, poised over your throat m. Being quirkless, you didn't have much choice.

Trembling, you began to slowly reach for your bag keeping your eyes focused on him, not wanting to surprise the man and cause him to stab you. He was beginning to tap his foot impatiently.

You fumbled with the zipper, horrified to find that it was stuck.

"What's the hold up, get it open!"

He had pressed forward, blades nicking your skin.

"I-i't's stuck! I can't get it open! "

"Not good enough, girlie" He growled, jabbing your side with one of his blade fingers.

You cried out in pain and struggled to get the bag open to avoid another injury. If you weren't so preoccupied with the pain and panic, you would have heard a pop from the top of the alleyway. While you didn't hear that, you absolutely heard what came next.

An enraged scream tore through the alleyway and your captor was torn away from you. Your mind was having problems processing the scene though. Your attacker was being pummeled by.... A blonde naked guy. When the criminal tried to get back up, the blondie created an explosion with his hands, sending the villain flying with a bright flash of light. He righted himself and turned tail.

"WHERE THE **** DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?! I'LL KICK YOUR ***!!"

The blonde yelled after him. And it looked like he would have to, if your legs didn't take that moment to give out on you. You sunk to the ground with a loud thump which drew the blonde man's attention.

His expression softened a little as he looked back at you, moving to crouch next to you. He was quite intimidating. His brows were turned down in an angry expression and his eyes were an unusual shade of red. You pressed yourself back against the wall, leaning away from the strange man.

"Oi, dumb***, what the **** are you doing out here? It's dangerous."

You swallowed nervously before speaking, keeping your eyes trained on his face as a blush crept across your cheeks. You would have answered, except you were interrupted by a throbbing pain in your side, the adrenaline and shock from blondie's appearance distracting you from your wounded side. You cried out in pain and clutched it in a vain attempt to get it to stop.

The man noticed your struggles and cursed under his breath before scooping you up in his arms.

"Wait! What are you doing?! Put me down!"

"Stop struggling, dumb***, I'm trying to get you home!"

He set a quick pace, holding you close to his bare chest. It was unnerving, but he knew exactly where he was going. It wasn't long before you were stopped in front of your apartment door.

You shakily went to unlock the door, but the man took the keys from your unsteady hands and unlocked the door, bringing you inside. He set you on the couch, careful of your side.

"W-who are you? How did you know where I live?"

You watched him curiously. As much as he should have scared you, this strange man made you feel safe. He handled you with such care.

He scoffed, heading to the bathroom and returning with the first aid kit.

"It's Bakugou, dumb***. Now shut up and rest, you're injured."

You looked pointedly at the ceiling as he worked on your side.

"What do you take me for an idiot? Who are you really? Some weirdo stalker?"

He growled in annoyance and flicked your forehead before sitting back and looking over his handiwork.

"That should do for now. Stay put, I'm going to go find some clothes."

The audacity of this man. You were confused and tired, and in pain and just wanted to wake up from this nightmare and see your little Pomeranian waiting for you.

You must have dozed off, because when you woke up, it was to colorful swear words coming from the kitchen. You sat up, rubbing your eyes as you started to remember your memories from the night before.

The blonde man who claimed to be your dog was in the kitchen, wearing a pair of sweatpants and one of your oversized t shirts. He appeared to be cooking.

You tried to get up and wobbled uncertainly over towards him. When he noticed, his angry expression seemed to fade away one of... fondness? The expression didn't last for long though as it quickly shifted to annoyance.

"What the **** were you doing out so late last night?! You could have been killed!"

You frowned and glared at him.

"I had to find Bakugou!I love him, I couldn't just leave him out there, he could have been hurt, or in trouble! "

He tensed, staring at you with wide eyes seemingly caught off guard by your outburst. He Gaped for a moment or two or before groaning and running a hand down his face.

"You really are so stupid, (y/n). The goal of running was so that you wouldn't find me. I didn't expect you to stay out and look for me like an idiot."

He huffed and stepped forward, trapping you against the counter with his palms braced on the counter top on either side of you. It was then that you noticed something that had somehow escaped your detection the night before. A red and black flame patterned collar was fastened around his neck.

You were struck silent for a moment before your palm made contact with his face with a resounding slap.

"WHAT THE ****, CRAZY LADY?!"

He reeled back, looking at you with shock as you glared at him.

"Me? What the **** is wrong with you? Why'd you take off on me at the park? You had me worried sick, jerk!"

He seemed to pout as he nursed his sore cheek.

"You were going to put a muzzle on me..."

You softened, anger fizzling out at his uncharacteristically quiet tone.

"Bakugou... You have to believe I wouldn't do that to you. You've always been my little spitfire, I would never do that to you. That lady was out of line, if anyone deserved a muzzle, it was her crazy little demon of a dog."

You smiled softly, stepping forward into his space, your hands going to cup his cheeks, tilting his face down so you could look into those intense red eyes that were so familiar.

"You're my hero Bakugou, I wouldn't change you for the world."

His hands came to rest over your own hands, his pleasantly warm against your skin. He seemed to be deep in thought. You just enjoyed the tender moment, watching him realize that you meant every word. Something clicked and then he was leaning in. Before you knew it, he was kissing you. And then you were kissing him back, never feeling more safe than when his arms moved to circle around your waist, pulling you against him.

After a moment, you pulled away, a breathless smile taking over your face.

"I love you Bakugou, I hope you know that."

He gave a cheeky smirk and pressed another quick kiss to your lips.

"And I guess I love you too, even if you're a dumb***"

You huffed in annoyance. This was going to take some getting used to, but honestly? You didn't really mind the challenge.

[pearlplusau]

Pearlplusau Chapter 7 part 2 - Familiar?

now available below:

Another option -> heres a link to part 2 posted in AO3!

Since the kindergarten was in constant darkness, Amethyst has never seen anything so… bright before. The brightest shade of light she’s ever experienced other than the warppad was that one open area where the dark, gloomy clouds would be drifted away from that are. It was the only ray of sunshine she has ever experienced. She had touched the little, but weak sunray, and felt warmth all around her hand. It was so different than the usual cold air of the kindergarten, but in a good way. But now, she’s travelling in a warp pad with the beautiful giant lady beside her. The light of the warp pad may be as bright as the little ray of sunshine, but it didn’t give out the warmth she experienced. As for the travelling, she never though she would be leaving the place she called home, what’s worse, there was this small little cloud of regret hanging around her, telling her leaving was a very bad idea. But the pink lady looked so sure, so kind and confident of what she’s doing, taking this new gem away from her home? That’s not how she thinks, that’s honestly how amethyst felt, being taken away from her own home, and be willing to do so just because this lady said so! The pink lady announced to her one audience, “We’re almost there! Oh you’re gonna love it!” Amethyst involuntarily felt a surge of excitement, but she wasn’t actually excited, she should be more nervous than the feeling she’s having now… When they finally landed in the new location, it was apparently early morning as the sun was rising into the sky. They appeared to be in a cave, surrounded by water, brief stairs up and down, neatly placed tiles and a huge door behind her. Rose held out her hand to the new gem, “Come, let me show you around first.” And led Amethyst down the several stairs, slowly and carefully making their way out of the cave and into the white grains and sand. The texture felt weird to amethyst as she was used to the solid hard dirt and rocks scattered around. But here, there was not a lot of rocks, just a bunch of white, tiny looking pebbles and water splashing onto the shore. It was the first time Amethyst left the kindergarten, and she’s already feeling rather uneasy with all these… new experiences. The duo circled around the pre-beach city land, where dozens of flowers and plants bloomed in the midst. Rose ran ahead, beckoning the purple gem to come along. She twirled around within the beautiful flowers, throwing her arms all around, showing how much she loves the planet and its beauty. “These here are called Flowers, they are all their own individuals, but ultimately, it takes more than one flower to bloom into a huge patch like this!” Amethyst walked up to a flower and noticed how its…glowing with health? Her fascination on the unusually strong and glowing little plant life caught Rose’s attention. The big gem slyly admitted, “I may have…used some of my abilities to grow a few missing patches here and there-” she said as she turned in embarrassment, awkwardly stroking her tuffs of hair. “Plants like these may not live long, as from our observation, they only live at most for one season, but they are all so very much worth it!” When she turned back, she noticed Amethyst laying within the flowers, as if she found herself a flowerbed to lie down after all this time. She was moving her arms and legs as if shes making a snow angle from the flower patch- Rose found that to be a very fun idea indeed and joined the small gem as they basked in the giant flower patches, each making a “flower angle” to commemorate the first every joy they had together. SWISH SWISH SWISH HEHEHE The duo had their fun for a while, playing in the patches, showering each other with flower petals, and playing hide and seek. Tho, Rose was a lot easier to find with her big fluffy hair and figure, while amethyst was just the right size to become invisible and be one within the flower patches. After a few losses for Rose, she suggested they move on to something else. She gave out her hand to the little gem, who was covered in flower petals, and gently pulled her out of the patches.

“Come on, there’s something else I would like to show you.” She led Amethyst into a beautiful forest, dotted with freshly grown oaks and little saplings covered in dirt. Leaves were fluttering around the atmosphere while also gliding around the rays of sunlight that shone through the little gaps and fissures. The two gems stopped at a flowing river, where the fresh, clear water streamed Living creatures, mostly animals like butterflies, lions, but also the mentions of humans “They kinda look like us, except they don’t live longer than a century and theyre very, very fragile. Us gems are very different from humans, so if you ever meet one, you have to be extremely careful not to hurt them, even if you don’t mean to. Amethyst tried to get close, but Rose stopped her before she took another step closer. The small gem turned her head back to see Rose carrying a worried expression, “Maybe we should start with observing them before we interact with them, they’ve never seen you before, so maybe we should start slow, alright?” Before Amethyst could say anything, the human at the distance got up and disappeared into the forest. The small gem sighed; she was so excited to meet other new people! Rose reassured she’ll be able to meet them soon enough. “We’ll get to know them sometime in the future, come on, let’s head back to the temple and I’ll introduce you to the gems!! The two gems held hands and started strolling back to the temple. There’s no awkward chemistry between the two, as they projected a simple mother daughter relationship, or even a sibling relationship, where one of them energetically leaped around the larger figure, while the figure in the middle giggled at the little ball of energy circling her and constantly made her laugh with great joy and longed snickers! They reached the temple. Rose asked Amethyst to stay behind so she can surprise them. Just then, Garnet, Pearl and Coral warped back from their mission Pearl reporting what happened as Coral and Garnet added on their own little details “Oh Rose, you should’ve seen Garnet’s new gauntlet rockets and Coral’s amazing strike on that gem, with those two final blows, the gem monster was poofed in an instant! Coral chimed in, “Well, we would’ve been able to throw in the final blow without your brilliant, strategic idea! Your plan made all the difference!” Pearl blushed at the complement, “Why thank you Coral!” While the two pearls were getting along well, the fusion stood behind and gleamed at the stronger friendship between the two pearls, looking very proud of both of them. And judging from the grin, it was pretty clear to Rose that, the mission somehow got the three of them closer together. As Rose slowly shuffled around, being suspiciously quiet, the gems noticed a little figure hiding behind her white dress. Pearl was the first to spoke.

P: uh, Rose…what do you have there? The small gem hid behind Rose while a smoothy suddenly appeared on her hand. R: A smoothy

Coral, who kept her eyes on the new gem, asked, “What’s a smoothy?” Before Rose could answer the definition of the contraption in hand, Garnet interrupted by stating, “The smoothy is not something we should be concerned about right now…” while eyeing on the new, yet unexpected little gem. “Garnet’s right.” Pearl agreed, “Rose, please tell me you didn’t bought that…thing with you?” Amethyst decided to hide behind Rose completely after hearing that statement. Rose slowly turned and calmed her down before she said more. “Pearl, you should think before you say, otherwise someone might get their feelings hurt you know?” Rose suggested while holding on to the small, frightened gem. Pearl was a quick thinker, and it seemed that Rose took a liking to the little gem, which was rather typical of the leader. She’s a kind gem that wouldn’t take no for an answer after spending a certain amount of time with the object, Pearl of all gems should know better than to refuse whatever Rose brought in. Coral and Garnet turned to Pearl, who sighed in desperation, “Rose, may we know where and how did you find…her?” The big gem slowly, and abruptly responded, “I…uh, was taking a stroll in the kindergarten until I noticed her hiding in one of the holes! Yeap! That’s how it happened! Totally not moping around the places we hurt and trying to bring justice by destroying those that caused it! Haha…ha…” Rose, looking embarrassed, tried very hard not to do or say anything more. The three gems were trying their best to interpret her words as positive statements, but from their time together, they pretty much got the idea of how things went down exactly. Coral stood a step forward, “Rose, are you sure about this? She’s not like the other Amethyst gems we know. I mean, compared to the other quartz friends we had, she’s small, she can barely speak, and probably doesn’t know anything about being a gem!” Rose took that information and digested it for a short while before she came up with ideas to counter those issues. “She can learn! While I was talking to her, I noticed she repeat whatever I said, just in a different way to convey another message! As for not knowing what being a gem is about, that’s okay too! We can teach her without having her go through any of those Homeworld stuff, wouldn’t that be great!?” Rose was gleaming at the idea of a gem with no prior knowledge to how gems are “supposed” to be and allowing themselves to be whatever they want to be! Amethyst came out just a little bit from her hiding and repeated the last word she heard, “Great!” before scuttling back. Coral still doesn’t look convinced as she turned to the fusion, “Garnet, what do you think?” “Hmmmm…” Garnet made a look that could only mean one thing, she’s trying to see the little gem’s future. Future vision can be tricky, but it’s good to see what could potentially happen when we add in another factor into the equation. Her shades shone as the possibilities were carefully drafted and narrowed down to the most likely events. “In the futures where we accept her, I see her adapting to our lifestyle, but nothing much on how it’s going to end. There’s a possibility of her being a great asset to us, but there’s also the possibility of her being a greater liability than we could ever imagine.” “I like those odds!” Rose gleamed at the wide range of unpredictability. Coral didn’t want to rain on Rose’s parade or be a wet blanket seeing her being so happy. But she’s also not completely on board with this…new gem appearing out of nowhere. Pearl was the first to speak, “It’s always been just the four of us, I don’t know about having that unproperly developed gem into the team. It’s rather suspicious that she suddenly shows up at the kindergarten when that place has been shut down centuries ago! She might be a spy from homeworld for all we know! Or worse!” Coral gasped in horror and whispered, “Ohno…There’s something worse than spies!?” “Coral please,” Garnet reminded, “focus.” It was up to that point where Rose finally realized why the gems were not on board with the idea of adding a

new member. Homeworld was still a threat, they’re never safe if they keep including new people they don’t know. It’s only been some time since the blinding light turned all the gems on Earth into corrupted monsters. A lot of them were still out there, alone, confused, and most importantly, scared. Those gems were once powerful individuals that were indestructible, but now, they’re terrified gem monsters running around, fleeing from who knows what, not knowing what to do in their current state. But this Amethyst, the sweet, innocent, and lonely gem, won’t be facing that kind of terror any longer when she has us. Rose took one more look at Amethyst, who was trying her best to be unnoticed by the other gems, and was determined to take her in. “Now Crystal gems, don’t you see this is our only chance to have a gem untainted with the rules of Homeworld?” Rose started her topic with the recollection of the crystal gem origin. “Wasn’t that what we were fighting for? To be free of Homeworld’s rules and to live without a care? To preserve the life on Earth instead of taking it, and leaving nothing behind?” Rose continued, “The earth, the rebellion-” “Its more than just that! It’s also for love! The love for ourselves, and the love we have for each other! We never get to show our love anywhere except here! And right now, we have Amethyst who has been living in an abandoned kindergarten, and has probably never been loved through her entire existence! If we neglect her, we’re going against everything we’ve worked so hard for. Besides, she’s a newcomer who had never experienced the horrible tragedy of Homeworld. I mean, isn’t this a good thing we found her right before any homeworld gems did?” She didn’t wait for a response and proceeded, “We can teach her everything about the earth and the crystal gems. Coral! You can teach her what being a Crystal Gem is all about! Pearl! You could teach her about speech and physical formation! Garnet! You could teach her about our current missions or even gem fusion! I know she’s different from us, but she can handle this! With us keeping her safe, she won’t have to face any of those linear rules like staying within your duty, or being cast away as off colours when you don’t fit in with the others?” “She can be a free gem right from the start, without facing the trauma we had. What do you say?” Rose’s words were being very persuasive and all, but none of the gems seemed to budge towards the ideas from their dear leader. “Rose, please, still this is a risk to take. Risks that could potentially have an impact on our freedom and the earth!” Garnet spoke with a hint of fear, perhaps took a glance towards the possibilities of the future. Pearl and Coral, each holding an arm, both stayed silent, but ultimately agreed with the fusion. “Come on you guys, give her a chance, if you get to actually talk to her it might change your minds!” Rose turned around, but failed to see the small gem that was hiding behind her mere seconds ago. “Uh…Amethyst?” Rose called out, but heard no response, nor saw the small figure behind her anywhere. But all she saw were footprints leading back to the temple, and noticed the warp pad was just activated. Amethyst went back home.

(A/N: Heyyyy so this is the second part of the newest chapter. As you may have known, i was pretty busy with the end of the University studies and internship, so i kinda had my hands full to do anything like writing for fun!

Now, this is the end of part 2, where i tried to keep things a bit more interesting, but not too complicated that it would go on for more than 3 parts.

And again, sorry for the lack of visuals. Some of you might prefer reading with the images, and unfortunately, i currently do not have the motivation to be drawing, even if most of them would be tracing from screenshots of the show itself.

When the chapter gets done, i might be doing some of the screenshot edits and reblog them under the written chapters. So theres that to look forward to.

Anyways, thanks for reading and liking this story i wrote. It's not as glamorous and interesting as the previous chapters, but it's still something i consider worth venturing into.

Thanks again and see ya next time! Bye!)

[koushirouizumi]

Digimon Adventure/tri./2020 ~ A.M.V. ~ Southern Cross Waltz

Music (C) Elements Garden {from: Uta no Prince-sama} Artist: Kishou Taniyama (as character Natsuki Shinomiya)

{Digimon Adventures belongs to Toei Animation}

{Song} + Lyrics & (Light) Spoilers warnings/information under cut

{Do Not Re-produce my Edits/Gifs without my Permission!} “And speaking of ‘three’, the waltz is in 3/4 time.” - 2020!Koushiro Izumi

(If the video is not displaying above, please view at the direct link here!) {Remember you can click the Gear icon and select ‘1080p’ quality!}

- 2020!Tai.shiro & 2020!Koushiro mainly {Eps: 01; 03; 36; 59} [Koushiro focus] - Adv!Koushiro side focus {Ep. 24; scattered small moments} - OWG!Koushiro & Taishiro + 02 Taishiro in in-betweens - Tri!Taishiro {Kokuhaku end; Soushitsu moment (Fireside scene)} - a single moment of Tri!Taichi from the final Bokura no Mirai moments {if you know the Meixchi scene, you know the one} - no Kizuna in this one (I’d have included bits from it too, but no time to fit it in yet) - There is a continuing a.m.v. plot if you can catch all the references - I obviously had to improvise along with these lyrics but You Get It - some brief Koushiro & Tentomon + Agumon friendship bits too {due to the significance of 2020 Koushiro Canonically Knowing About Waltzing TM} - however the direct/main focus is obviously the Taishiro

{LIKES Ok/preferred} + [Please be respectful if interacting] (I block people who violate my interaction rules) {see below}

[Verse #1] The darkness of a dust cloud, even as I wander, I have heard kindness

A labyrinth of fireworks, a sigh is nearly Absorbed in your eyes

Since the day you first called my name, Love’s fuse has burst and become stars!

[Chorus #1] Southern cross waltz If I’m with you, I can soar in a dream! Tied tightly together, our phrase sings of love! That’s right, I sing for your sake Because I can meet you, I’m waiting on the moon…

[Verse #2] Let’s dance to the evening cresent moon, My {Princess?} On a stardust chandelier

True smiles, true tears “I love you” is all that can be found

Probably from here on, thousands of Kisses will pile up as we grow closer, our {Love Song}

[Chorus #2]

Let’s embrace this {Heart beat}! I can hear it! Beating with your’s A {Milky Way} of passion, that day we painted “I love you” in the sky! Summer pranks, it’s no good… We can no longer stop We haven’t moved since then, when we kissed…

[Interlude Verse]

Eternity… Forever… whatever the word is, Can it represent the vows I’ve made with you ?

[Final Chorus]

Southern Cross Waltz! Can you hear the voice of my heart? Tied tightly together, our phrase sings of love! That’s right, I sing for your sake We two are overlapping! By your strength… Because I can MEET {YOU}, {I’M} waiting on THE M O O N . . .

[nikkialena]

Prince Tierkof Shili

Base by Ramen11111

Freedom. A word so foreign to you that it sounded like a word from an ancient tongue, although it's all the other slaves could talk about the day they'd be free from Tatoonie's blistering heat and ruthless slavers. Whenever they began speaking of such nonsense you quickly fled to the other side of the dungeon-like cell, your mother trained you better while she was still alive at least; speech of freedom often led to public punishment for all involved and swift death to the one who started it. On this occasion, it seemed to be a young Togruta male with bright eyes and a fighting spirit. That wouldn't last a week, all the freshly caught came in beaming with determination and hope but over the weeks that slowly fade into months which turned into years their hope would fizzle out like dying embers of a roaring flame.

When your parents were alive they taught you that hope was a death wish because it gave you the will to fight, but fighting wasn't an option it was never an option there is only submission or death.

Once upon a time, the flames of hope danced within your own soul but they were quickly diminished watching people you'd labeled as friends or family beaten to death inches from your face as their blood splattering across your face as you tried to keep up your facade of slumber,  you tried to conceal your trembling as their haunted screams and moans of pain echoed in your inner earlobes, you'd learn many things in your many years of slavery number one it's every man for themselves and number to don't make friends because they'll just stab you in the back or die and you're honestly not sure which is worse.

Your body was littered with scars wounds in gashes from your past mistakes, you were quite the troublesome minx as a youngling, and its a wonder that you're still alive today however you'd soon learn why you were beautiful, no beautiful was an understatement you were dropped dead gorgeous a hybrid of a Tgoruta and a Twilek you were your masters precious little exotic cock sleeve he liked to parade around his company like you were a fucking animal.

However, you couldn't complain too much you were fed actually half-decent meals unlike the scraps thrown to the rest of the slaves, and instead of sleeping on the cold hard floor or a bundle of hay you had a pencil-thin mattress stuffed with feathers it wasn't the best to sleep on but it was more comfortable than the floor you used to be forced to sleep on, a deafening creak lured you from your thoughts as two fresh slaves were dragged in and tossed in your cell. You watched as they clambered to the floor shaking softly from the drugs they force the newly caught to take, you were born into slavery so you never had to experience it but some of the other slaves told you that it was like fire being bumped into your veins, all the other slaves scattered to their corners of the cell afraid to interact with the newcomers all except the young Togruta male who rushed over to help them to their feet.

"Hi, my name is Tierk are you okay my friends?"

The two fallen males took a moment to gather themselves before standing on shaky legs, the first male was ta- Nah he was huge standing at six feet and four inches tall he was a slim man with a muscular figure flowing auburn curls that hung below his shoulders and piercing blue eyes that sent shivers down your spine, the second male was a bit shorter than the first with short ginger locks and medium length beard, his eyes were equally blue like the first male just soften they were both dressed in the required uniform loose gray robes and black briefs for males and looser black gowns for the females.

"yea we're doing just fan-fucking-tastic"

the first male spat making Tierk flinch slightly but that welcoming warm gleam never left his eye, the second male spoke next shooting a venomous glare to the first.

"Ignore my comrade were doing fine thank you Tierk my name is Obi-wan Kenobi and this is Anakin"

The male known as Obi-wan motioned to Anakin and he grimaced crossing his arms and fuming silently, he opened his mouth to speak when the door flew open, and in came another slaver tossing a young-looking Togruta female into your cell you scoffed in annoyance at how cramped your cell was beginning to feel "Ahsoka" shouted the two males as they rushed to aid her Teirk in tow, you watched curiously as they helped the young female and she gave them a reassuring grin before her eyes switched to Tierk who stood towering over her a look of fear glossed her features and he smiled gingerly at her "no need to fear me, friend, my name is Tierk" she gingerly took his hand and he helped her up with ease.

They began conversing quietly and your eyelids soon became heavy so you decided to take a nap curling into a tight ball on your pitful mattress and tried to get some shut-eye.

[chasseurdeloup-retired]

Something Seams Off || Irene and Kaden

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Sew La Ti Do PARTIES: @threadofheart and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Kaden goes to Irene to repair his jacket and they have a snicker-snacker of a time. CONTENT WARNINGS: None

Kaden ran his hands along the leather jacket as he watched the signs of the stores along the street. He didn’t want to miss the repair shop. Clothing wasn’t usually precious to him. It couldn’t be, not as a hunter. Sure, he had to scrounge and save for new clothing back in the day, but any shirt or pants could get destroyed in the wrong monster fight. The best thing to do was usually patch it best as he could for as long as he could before tossing it aside for something else decent. But the leather jacket in his grip was different. This was a gift. Kaden had precious few gifts in his life that he held onto, at least not prior to coming to White Crest. Either way, if anything was worth taking care of, it was the jacket Blanche had given him. To the point he was careful not to wear it on hunts, at least not often. Sometimes it was hard to avoid. Still, he couldn't figure out where some of the holes in the piece were coming from. It didn’t make sense. Definitely beyond his skills to repair. Time to try a professional for once. He gulped before swinging the door open. He had to remember whatever the price, he was fine, he could afford it. Old habits were hard to break. “Hello?” he called out. “Uh, got a jacket that needs fixing. This is the place, right?”

After the online interaction with the owner of the leather shop, Irene was quick to research some tips on how to better mend leatherwork. Since it wasn’t her typical area of expertise, she wanted to improve on it in the event she had customers seeking that specific service. Scattered across her table were scrap pieces of leather she had practiced her stitching. Several of her poor needles already set aside and bent at odd angles. Just then, the jingle of the door chimes caused her to look up at the customer entering her shop. With a warm smile, she got up from her table and walked over to the counter. “Welcome, I’m Irene, and you’re in the right place. What sort of fixing does this jacket need?” she asked, her hands gently patting on the counter indicating for him to set down the piece. Upon brief examination, it certainly appeared to be well-worn, well-appreciated.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Kaden said, awkwardly and a little stilted as he walked towards the counter. He had no idea what the protocol was in this whole exchange, it wasn’t like he’d ever done it before. Thankfully she took the lead and indicated where to place the jacket so after giving her a slightly startled look, he did just that. Right. Made sense, she had to look at it after all. “Uh, there are some holes in it. Weird spots. I don’t think I made them.” Then again, he got so many injuries and brushed up against so many various fangs, claws, and pincers it was hard to keep track of the damage after a while. “Not that I-- I mean, I work in animal control. With the WCPD. Uh, Officer Langley.” Which probably didn't matter. Why the fuck was he introducing himself? And why was he nervous about a damn jacket repair? “You probably didn’t need to know that or care. Just, yeah. Weird holes. Does it… You think you can fix this? Not to-- I just don’t know what can and can’t be saved. Usually don’t try.”

Irene’s expert hands were quick to search typical areas where jackets typically formed holes. The seams didn’t seem to be split but with some of the holes, she likely would have to reline a couple of spots so that any fixing wouldn’t look like a patch job. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to study the jacket. “Overall, this looks like it’s in good condition, but the holes are… a little strange,” she noted aloud. “Like you said, definitely in some strange places. If this were a weather or cotton piece, I’d say maybe moths or something, but I’m a bit at a loss as to the cause.” Straightening up, she let out a small sigh and another smile. After all, her job wasn’t to determine what caused this but rather how she would fix it. “Well, Officer Langley, this probably will take me about a week. I think I have similar thread and fabric to fix this up, though once I’m done, it’ll look brand new.” It was clear this jacket meant a lot to him; the stress emanating from him was hitting Irene like a wall of bricks, so she hoped her words could offer some relief. “And I could offer you a rough estimate as well if you’re interested.”

Kaden rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the woman work through what was going on with his jacket. Putain, he wasn’t normally this nervous about simple human interactions. Something about it being new, unknown, it left him unsure. “Yeah I didn’t think moths would go for leather, but a brow--” Merde. He caught himself before he started talking about fae and monsters. Barely. “I mean, yeah probably not moths.” He felt his stupid heart pounding in his chest over a stupid conversation with a seamstress. The fuck was wrong with him? Maybe he shouldn’t quit hunting. He clearly couldn’t handle normalcy. “A week? Is that-- I mean, sounds good. I’m not sure how long this would normally take. I’ve never had anything repaired before. I normally just throw away things once they get damaged but I guess if I did that you wouldn’t have any business so anyway this is, uh, new. For me.” He was certain she could tell without him saying shit. Her next assurance had him even more wide eyed. Shit, was he really that obvious? He didn’t think he looked poor. He didn’t right? Fuck, maybe he did. “A rough estimate? Oh. Yeah. That’d be good. To know. If you--” His brow furrowed as he cut his sentence short once more. This time it wasn’t just him not knowing how to speak like a normal person. Something was moving. His brows knit together as he looked closer at the jacket. “You’re not…” His eyes darted back up to her. Her hands were in fact not underneath the jacket. And yet it was wiggling. “That’s not you moving it, is it?”

Irene could feel the intensity of his emotions grow despite her telling him that the jacket could be fixed. Was something else worrying him? In the past, she had worked with clients who held incredible sentimental value to their clothing articles. Perhaps this was one of those instances. With a warm smile, she looked across the counter at the man. “This jacket must mean a lot to you if you’re bringing this in for extra care. I assure you that your jacket is in great hands with me, officer. You’re doing great,” she added lightly with a small chuckle. Grabbing a notepad and a pen, she scribbled a few quick notes about the current condition of the leather jacket and the exact fixes the officer was requesting. That helped her approximate the cost. Just as she was about to write out an estimate, his question caught her by surprise. “Hm? N-no, what do you mean?” she asked, her eyes instantly darting to the jacket to see brief movement. Shoot, did her shop have mice or rodents? “Oh goodness!” Without thinking, she lifted the jacket up, expecting to find some sort of critter there only to spot something… not quite exactly that or anything she had seen before. “What--” she jumped back in surprise, her eyes wide after she immediately dropped the jacket back down.

Kaden nodded a little along with her words. “I mean, sure it, uh, I like it and all. But it’s not that important.” Putain, why did he say that? What if that meant she was less careful with it now that she thought he didn’t care? “Not that-- I mean. Yes. Thank you.” Fuck, what if she was fae? And he just thanked her. And why did she have to reassure him that he was doing fine with a basic social interaction. Sadly, his ineptitude wasn’t the biggest disaster in the room. When she moved the jacket, out hopped a small rodent looking creature. Only it wasn’t a mouse or rat, no no. That was a snicker-snacker. No missing it. “Putain,” he grumbled to himself. “No wonder there were holes.” Out of instinct, Kaden reached for his knife in his back pocket, but his hand hovered and hesitated. Just long enough for the supernatural rodent to scutter off. Shit. But he couldn’t just stab the snicker-snacker right in front of her in her shop. He wasn’t the most experienced with social norms, but he was pretty fucking sure destroying shops with knives was frowned upon. He twisted and turned looking to see if he could find the creature. “Must have been in the jacket. Not sure how I missed that.” Had to have crawled in one night when he was hunting. At least he hoped that was the case. If he had an infestation in his apartment, well, he didn’t want to think about the destruction waiting for him at home. “Did you see where it-- there!” he shouted as he leapt towards a corner of the store, diving onto the floor, trying to clasp the rodent with his bare hands. It skittered just out of reach, running to the other side. Shit. He had to get it or else it could be bad news for her shop. It had definitely gone to the left. Only, when he glanced to the right, he saw it there, too. No, not the original one. There were two. “Uh. Think you’ve got a problem here,” he told her, trying to pick himself up off the floor.

If the rodent-looking creature scared Irene, the man pulling out a knife immediately caused the seamstress to shriek out of surprise and fear. But her attention was quickly drawn back to the thing that jumped off her counter and was not running around her shop. With wide eyes, she pulled her gaze back to the man as she tried to process just what had happened. Irene wasn’t normally one for any sort of judgment, but yes, how had this man conveniently not realize that something like that was burrowing his jacket? Before she could even respond, Irene toward the floor as the creature skittered across her feet to the man’s left. Another yelp escaped her lips as she jumped back in surprise. It was one thing for rodents to be scampering around, but she will not have them messing up her shop. Trying to think quickly, Irene grabbed a broom from the corner and glanced to the right and saw… another one. Confusion etched across her face. “Oh no…” she muttered quietly as she slowly raised her broom. Was this her weapon now or a poor decision of a shield? Who knew. “What are those?” she asked in a soft voice, hoping not to startle these creatures with any sudden noise.

This was a problem. One snicker-snacker was bad news. Two were exponentially worse. And for all they knew, there were more than even that. Kaden started to listen and look for any more signs of them, trying to keep his steps quiet as he ducked down to look at any and every corner. “Snicker--” He paused before finishing his answer. Saying “snicker-snackers” was going to make him sound like he was out of his mind, wasn’t it? And it wasn’t exactly keeping the supernatural a secret at that point either. Putain. “Uh, rodents. Mutated mice. I think.” That worked, right? “They’ll eat through just about anything so be careful.” This whole shop would be in bad shape if an infestation broke out. All the clothes and fabric would never last. He glanced over to see how she was holding up. Broom wasn’t a bad idea on her part. Shit, if only he had his work kit. No nets or cages on him now, unfortunately. “Got anything to trap them with? A basket. A bowl. Anything?” He saw a jar full of pins. This was a terrible idea. “Putain,” he grumbled to himself as he dumped the pins as carefully as he could manage onto the table he picked the jar up off of. “Sorry about that. I, uh, I mean looks like it’ll work.” He caught a blur of motion out of the corner of his eyes and leapt towards it, jar in hand. “Sweep it towards me! Corner it”

Irene watched the man move around expertly ready to attack. She clutched the broom tighter against her chest as her heart pounded loudly in her ears. “Snicker? Like--what, like the candy?” she asked incredulously. Her brow knitted tightly as she tried to keep an eye on even just one of these creatures. “Mutated mice. Wonderful. Thank you evolution,” she muttered under her breath as she took slow, quiet steps through her shop. Rodents weren’t something she was scared of; hell, she’d seen her fair share of very brave rats in New York. This? This should be a piece of cake, though she had no idea what sort of advantages these mutations gave these rodents. Her eyes quickly scanned the room in response to his request. “Uh… how’s this? Wait!” she called out, unable to find a suitable container before the pins were spilled out. Great. But she had little time to process that before she also caught sight of a dashing blur past her. Instinctively, she swept broadly with the broom, the bristles making contact with something, and a loud squeak seemed to indicate she must have caught the rodent. “Coming your way!” she called out as she made one swift broom push toward the man. “Well, that has to be one, right? Is that it?”

“Uh, sort of,” Kaden started. With how often he ran into the supernatural in this town, it was hard to remember how few of the residents actually were in the know. Code said to keep shit secret, he needed to try a little harder. As he dove, he slammed the lar over top of where he’d seen the blur. Only to catch something just to the left of him. Shit. He reached out with the jar again as she swept the lump towards him, capturing the creature underneath. “Got it!” he shouted, keeping both hands on top of the small jar, just in case. There was a sound of something splitting behind him. Putain. He kept one hand on the jar as he twisted to try and look behind him. A table leg had snapped in two and he was certain if they didn’t hurry, there might be less than three legs there. “Shit, shit, shit.” He was making a real fucking great impression here. He had to let go of the jar to get over to the other one. “Uh, do you have a book? Or a weight? Or something? And one more--” He paused. “Maybe two more jars. Just in case.”

Irene's stress levels increased, both from wanting these creatures out of her shop and from the fact that this whole instance was creating a giant mess of her shop. Had these things always been around this entire time? A hazard of her work she never considered before? As the man dove down, Irene held her breath until she saw that he had managed to catch something. “B-book? Um, goodness, I have uh I have a couple of binders of fabric swatches,” she said, frantically reaching for these from the desk in the back. And jars. Her eyes looked for a few more of those, all filled with things like thread scraps or buttons. The priorities now though was definitely in capturing these creatures, so she poured the contents out into an empty box and quickly returned to the man. And then she saw the cracked leg on her table. Oh goodness why was this happening. “I hate to bombard a customer with orders, but please get these things out of here before the rest of my shop is destroyed,” she pleaded.

This was not the first impression Kaden had planned to make. Granted, he didn’t start off on the best foot so guess he didn’t have much to lose. He’d shifted and let his foot rest on the jar while she went to grab more supplies to trap the creatures, untrusting of what would happen if he left it unweighted. He didn’t want to find out if the snicker-snacker could topple over the glass. At least it couldn’t eat it. Well, it shouldn’t at least. It wasn’t exactly wood or fiber. He looked down. Floors should be safe, too. Right, better get them out quickly. “Thanks,” he said, taking the book and the jars from her. He dumped the book on top of the makeshift snicker-snacker trap and hoped like hell it was enough to keep it there. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the little pest run up and back towards his jacket. “Oh no you don’t,” he said, diving towards it and yanking it away off the counter. The mutant mouse went spinning and flying in the air as the rug was pulled out from under it, but landed on its feet and scurried off. Merde. He’d have to be more careful.

Jars in hand and ready to pounce, Kaden tried to move quietly around to the back of the counter to see if it had landed back there. A flash of fur and horns darted out, squealing towards the table with three legs. “Not today, you little bastard,” Kaden said as he threw himself at the table, crashing into it, causing all sorts of odds and ends to go flying and clattering to the floor as he wrestled to get the jar on top of the creature. All he got was a spool of thread. Good thing she’d handed him two jars. He reached out with his left hand and slammed the glass down, praying he didn’t break it with his hunter strength and heard a squeal as the tail wriggled out from underneath the lip. If it were a mouse or a rat, he might feel a ping of remorse. But a snicker-snacker? He dug the jar down to the floor a little harder before the tail snaked its way back under the container with another squeal. “Got it,” he said, breathing heavily as he pushed himself off the floor.

Irene watched with astonishment as the man moved so expertly. Her eyes darted back and forth between the now-occupied jar and the precarious situation of her table. “Sure…” was all she managed to respond. With her hands now empty and the man chasing after the other “mutant rodents,” Irene’s attention honed onto the jar. She could hear the skittering of the creature, sounds of tiny claws scraping against the glass in an attempt to escape. Leaning down onto her hands and knees, Irene took a peek at the rodent inside, this snicker thing, and let out a small gasp. It looked like a mouse or a hamster but with horns. What the heck was in the White Crest water that mutated the rodents into something like this? Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sudden slam from the man, the sound of another jar crashing onto the ground and securing another creature in its confines. “O-okay, what do we do now? I mean, are we supposed to let these go out in the wild? Is there animal control for something like this?” And how dangerous were these things? So many questions ran through her head. Then her face paled lightly at the next thought. Did these need to be exterminated? Despite the trouble they brought, the idea soured her stomach.

Kaden brushed off his pants and arms after standing and taking a look at the chaos around the room. Putain. Not how he intended this to go. Couldn’t even have a simple interaction in a store in this goddamn town. “Lucky for you, I am animal control. Obviously not on duty right this second. Or else, you know, I’d be prepared.” He sighed and pushed his hair back into place. “They’re pretty destructive, as you can see,” he said, gesturing to the poor table. Shit. “Uh, I can, pay for that, by the way. I sorta brought them here.” No clue how he was affording that but tables couldn’t cost that much, right? Shit. “Reproduce exceptionally fast, too.” He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. This was the worst part. People already had bad takes on animal control half the time. He’d been called an animal killer too many times for his liking. And it’s not like he could tell her these were clearly monsters and out himself. No one liked to hear about dead animals and he couldn’t blame them. But these weren’t sweet little mice, these were pests. Abominations. Capable of destroying full houses if left to their own devices. “For now, I’ll take them out of here. They’re definitely not adoptable, though. I’ll do a relocation out in the woods, though.” He hoped she would buy it. There was no way he was going to chance a snicker-snacker infestation in town.

It was the sudden calmness that stressed Irene out even more. Was this it? Were all of them caught in her jars? “You? You’re animal control?” Had he said that earlier before all of this happened? She couldn’t recall. A hand ran through her hair, the other hand almost resting against her damaged table before she spotted the broken leg. She quickly pulled back and sighed. At least that table was a hand-me-down from the previous tenant of the shop, and Irene had been hoping to upgrade to a more customized work surface. “Um, yea, th-thanks, I think,” she said mindlessly, unable to fully assess the severity of these creatures. “Like rabbits. Or rats. And I thought New York rats were damaging,” she muttered to herself. How did those things even scurry onto him and into her shop? “Right, your jacket though. If uh if you still wanted that mended, I can still take that on but I might need more time now because…” her voice trailed as she gestured to her mess of a space.

“Officer Langley, yeah. That’s me. Animal control.” Kaden almost felt like he should apologize for that fact. Almost. He did catch them, after all. “But yeah, like rabbits or rats. Only they’ll eat through your table legs. Uh, anyway, if you don’t mind, I’ll go get something more appropriate to transport them and come back.” He’d make sure  to bring a knife with him, too. Maybe a few extra cages in case more of them showed up in the interim. He was about to turn and walk out when his eyes shot back to the jacket, brows raised. Right. He almost forgot. “Oh, yeah. If you can. No rush. At all. Um, thanks, and,” he paused to look around the room, “sorry. I’ll be back soon.”

[prose-for-hire]

Trapped

Pairing: Spike x fem!reader 

Request: No, but it was a prompt I found from a list that I now can’t find: “Quit touching me, your feet are cold!” and the gif was very inspiring!! 

Warnings: It’s set morning-after so implied sex, reader and Spike are naked in this but there is no smut. Bickering. 

A/N: If you come across the list the prompt was from I’ll credit the op. 

Even for Sunnydale, this was a weird one. You and Spike had been on a date the night before which was a new occurrence. Usually you would drink at the Bronze or something but he had decided you should have a date somewhere ‘normal blokes would take their birds’ so that’s what he did. It had been great, you had reservations at Sunnydale’s premier human restaurant and he even held your hand across the table where everyone could see. This was new, because you hadn’t found a way to tell your friends, the Scoobies yet and you had been hiding the relationship as much as you could. The date was fun and you loved your vampire, the only time things went awry was when Spike asked them to take his steak back because it wasn’t bloody enough and almost had a fight with the server over it, but he calmed down when he saw a small frown start on your brow.

That, however, wasn’t what was weird. What was weird was the walk home. Spike had convinced you to come back to the crypt (which didn’t take long, you loved spending time with him). You came across a demon who spoke in tongues, Spike was itching to fight it and you were ready to run for the hills. But neither of you could react as the demon managed to push the middle of both of your foreheads with its palm, muttering something in a language you had never heard of before vanishing out of thin air. You and Spike had managed to forget about the strange interaction, however, after Spike had pressed some kisses to your mouth and invited you to the lower-level of his crypt with a suggestive raise of his eyebrow.

This was how you woke up lying on your side, as Spike rolled over and stroked down your arm, leaving languid kisses against your shoulder.

“Time to get up, pet… Scooby meeting remember, can’t have ‘em knowing you were here. God forbid the little gang of white hats figure not everything is black and white” He mumbled, more to himself than to you.

“I’d actually like to stay here, enjoy you a little longer”

“I think you had more than your share last night” He smirked, trailing some kisses along your collarbone. You smiled at his affection, weaving your fingers between the short hair at the base of his skull, knowing you really would have a lot of explaining to do if you were late for the meeting. You reluctantly slipped from being pressed into his body, instantly missing his soft caress.

However, when you tried you found that no matter how much you tried, you couldn’t move out of the bed. You could move around in bed, but not step foot out of it.

“S-Spike I can’t get out of bed” You panicked, grabbing his upper arm.

“It’s the animal attraction, love, no need to feel special I do it to all the girls” he smouldered, not realising how freaked you were.

“Not funny, I need to leave!”

“It’s not hard love, see-?” Spike started to try and remove himself from the bed quickly realising that there was some invisible force keeping you there, “Oh bloody hell”

“I think we’re stuck in bed”

“Oh, somebody get an award for little miss state-the-bleeding-obvious”

“No need to be rude, we’re stuck - you being sarcastic isn’t helping!” You said, removing yourself from his side and trying to move your arm outside of the bed. You couldn’t even do that, it was as if there was some invisible barrier stopping you. You sighed, lying back in bed.

It had been a while and you were lying on your side away from Spike to try and find a more comfortable position.

“Most women would enjoy being in bed all day with her attractive boyfriend” He moved in, running a hand along the curve of your back, making you shiver slightly.

“Boy-friend? You’re practically a corpse” You muttered and Spike realised you were still a bit put out by his sarcastic put-down. Usually, it wouldn’t bother you too much, you knew who you had agreed to date but you had been panicking and he had been rude.

“Corpse-friend doesn’t have the same ring to it, now does it?” You just sigh at this, rolling onto your back. You both stared up at the ceiling in silence for a while, Spike broke first when he saw your facial expression, “Don’t pout love, I’m sorry, alright? There’s no way out and your cell phone was in your jeans pocket-

“-Which was thrown to the floor last night” you finished with a sigh. This was a waiting game. You both scowled at the pair of jeans sprawled near the entrance to the upper-level of the crypt.

Spike pulled you into him as he sighed. Nothing was ever easy in Sunnydale. He had ideas of taking you far away from here, but you would never leave the others fighting monsters alone. He liked your loyalty, even if it meant you were loyal to him in secret. After a comfortable moment spike shifted in bed, his feet tangling with yours as you yelped at the sudden sensation.

“Hey! Quit touching me, your feet are cold!” You protested, moving your legs away slightly.

“Y/n, they’re room-temperature, pet”

“Still, it’s cold in the room…”

“Oh yeah?” He started to press different parts of his body to your back, chest and then face to tease you seeing as you couldn’t escape from bed. You heard a throaty chuckle as you yelped and fell into fits of giggles yourself, pleading for mercy from his icy touch. He eventually wrapped his arms around you, holding you to him and you managed to brave the cold because it meant being close to him. Besides, he warmed up to your body heat anyway. You both closed your eyes, enjoying the bliss of being so intimate with each other.

It had been another hour and there had been another incident to interrupt your bliss, the fact that you were both basically sat on top of each other was starting to wear a little thin. Spike could get very irritated and you could almost match him at times. You were both sat up in bed, leaning against the headboard wrapped in sheets.

“Has anyone ever told you that for a vampire, your breathing is actually really loud?” you shoot him a look, the little things starting to aggravate the other considering you’ve been stuck in such a small space.

“Well, for a human you can be incredibly cold, I’m almost jealous. Some vamps haven’t even got it in ‘em like you have”

“Take that back!”

“It’s a compliment really” He backtracked seeing your frown.

“It’s not! I’m not cold you’re just annoying me, I can’t move from this bed and you’re not helping at all. You’d have thought after all your years of living you would know what to-”

“If you don’t bloody shut up, I’ll bite, y/n, and not in the way you like”

“I’d like to see you try, you’d be trapped here with my body and a horrible headache, not to mention that Buffy would find you eventually” You quipped. There was a silence, you had mentioned Buffy which always annoyed Spike. After a moment, you both looked back at each other, your scowls falling from your face as your mouths twitched into a smile. You couldn’t help it and neither could he. Throughout all of this you were happy to be together even with the squabbling.

“Y’know, we are already in bed, I could always… make it up to you” Your wide smile at the suggestion and the little exciteable nod was all he needed to crash his lips to yours. Maybe less talking and more kissing was the way to go. Your lips roughly met, a tension lifting that had been filled with needling words before. He pulled you closer to him as you slid a hand up his toned chest trying to match his insistent kisses. You were anticipating more when his hands started to trace your waist but something, or someone, stopped that in its tracks.

“Spike! We need your help, y/n’s missing and it’s not like her to-” Buffy was cut off and the three intruders matched your horrified face, “Oh my God! Y/n, get away from him!”

Spike was shielding you the best he could, the blush already rising in your cheeks as he stroked your side comfortingly, his hand hidden by the sheet. He knew this was your nightmare, being caught in bed by the whole gang. Xander, Willow and Buffy were all shell-shocked at this revelation. Everyone’s eyes scattered to the floor as they realised what they had intruded on. Willow hurriedly read through the book she had walked in reading rather than focus on you naked in bed with Spike.

“Yeah, that’s right, get your eye-full before pretending to be embarrassed” Spike said to the group, “We’re stuck here, some big nasty bugger did this to us!”

“Uh, he’s right, a demon cast the whacky on us” you managed to stutter out, Buffy’s glare now trained on Spike.

“Sounds like the same demon we were supposed to be meeting about!” Willow confirmed after you gave a brief description of the demon and what had happened.

“I was gonna say, nobody’s getting into Spike’s bed without some serious mojo going on” Xander piped up.

Spike and you looked at each other, Spike was somewhat disappointed that the Scoobies were so willing to believe that a demon had taken your clothes and thrown you both into bed rather than seeing that you loved him and had been dating him for the past three months. He understood though, so he ducked his head, allowing them to continue berating him in his own bedroom. Because you were so insistent on keeping it quiet. At least this way, he could keep being with you, even privately.

“Um, the spell only trapped us in bed… I got in willingly” Spike looked up, a very smug smile on his face that he tried to hide when you side-glanced at him. You took his hand, squeezing slightly.

“You… what?”

“We’re dating” You confirmed and Spike smiled the widest grin you had ever seen on his face as he snaked an arm around your waist, holding you firmly so the others could see now.

Everyone was silent after that. Willow went upstairs to get the spell sorted, she had finally found it in the book she had handily come in reading about the demon that Spike and y/n had met the night previous. The demon liked to prey on new couples, hexing them in situations that could ruin their relationships. Willow quickly reversed the hex which allowed you both to leave the bed, the others left you to it not really speaking to you on the way out. You couldn’t quite bring yourself to care at the moment though, the look Spike was giving you was distracting. He was so pleased you had told them all.

Suddenly, neither of you actually wanted to get out of bed. You had both been in bed all day, what’s a little more time going to hurt?

[wonkasmissstarshine]

The Chocolate Prince and The Lovely Maiden {Willy Wonka x Rose Bucket AU}

Chapter 5

A Girl and her (Secret) Fairy Godmothers

Tagging: @holdmeicant @frozenhuntress67 @pastelmoonwitche @arinnasweetslove​

Rose finally reached the sisters’ cottage. It was small, but it was very lovely home. There were a bunch of colorful flowers and oddly beautiful fungi that grew in the garden. It made Rose think of a fairy garden. Rose had heard stories about fairies. There was debate as to whether they existed or not. Some people say that they were small; some say that they’re the size of humans.

And then there were those that said that fairies born with an evil heart aren’t fairies at all. They were called witches. Rose had never seen a witch either, but she was sure they were real. Hell, she was positive that Avonmora was secretly a witch.

Rose and Honkers approached the front door. The clanging of various pots and pans could be heard coming from inside. “What in the world is going on in there?” Rose wondered out loud.

“It sounds like some kind of party in there” Honkers somehow thought. “How come we weren’t invited?”

Rose giggled at her goose friend. “I don’t think they’re having a party, Honkers. I’m thinking it may be chore day” She knocked on the door. Everything fell eerily silent and then a voice spoke.

“Who is it?” It was Fiona’s voice, the eldest of the three sisters.

“It’s Rose”

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise. And someone also made a shrieking noise. It sounded like Briona, the youngest sister. After a moment the door was opened by Liona, the middle sister. A smile graced upon her beautiful face. “Hello dear”

“Liona, is everything alright?” 

“Yes. Everything is fine” Liona said.

Rose peeked over her shoulder. There were a whole bunch of dishes, utensils, and pots and pans scattered all over the floor. “Really? Because it seems like you made quite the mess in here”

Briona popped up beside Liona. “It’s dish day for us! Our messiest cleaning day”

“Girls, step aside and let our Rose inside” Fiona said. The two sisters stepped aside, and Rose and Honkers entered the small home. “Hungry? We’ve made a few sandwiches”

“Please!” Rose took a seat at the table. “I’ve been cleaning all morning. I haven’t the time to make myself even a small meal”

Honkers hopped onto one of the other empty chairs. “Just bread crumbs for me. I’m looking a little puffy these days and it isn’t from my feathers”

Briona giggled at the goose. “You’re not puffy. You’re pleasantly fluffy” She placed a plate of bread crumbs in front of Honkers. “You’re adorable” Briona gushed over the goose. Honkers’ feathers puffed out. That was his version of blushing.

Fiona placed the sandwich in front of Rose. “What brings you by today?”

“A couple of things, actually” Rose began, pausing to take a bite out of her sandwich. “One, I was hoping to pick more cherries from your tree today”

Liona smiled. “You’re always welcome to, Rose! Remember, the cherries are fresh everyday”

“I’ve always wondered. What does make your cherries to fresh everyday?”

Fiona and Liona shared a look with each other. Then they looked Briona, ignoring the way her two sisters were staring, answered. “You could say it’s just a bit of gardening magic”

“Briona!” Fiona and Liona hissed.

“What!?” Briona asked, confused as to why her sisters said her name so condescendingly.

Fiona rolled her eyes and then smiled at Rose. “What is the other reason for you seeing us today?”

“I wanted to ask you all about something. Or rather, someone” Rose explained.

“This isn’t about Avonmora, is it?” Briona asked suddenly. Fiona and Liona gave her warning glares. “What?”

Rose became confused. “Is there something about her I should know?”

“No” Liona quickly answered. “We just don’t like to talk about her in this house. From what we hear from you, she’s a cruel woman”

Rose huffed. “You don’t know the half of it. Anyways, no this isn’t about her. This about a man I met this morning”

“You met a man?” Fiona grinned. “Is he handsome? Was it love at first sight?”

Rose snorted. “Love? No way! That man has an ego so big, the only person he could ever truly love is himself”

Briona’s face scrunched in confusion. “Well, that doesn’t sound anything like Pri-” The pink haired sister shrieked when Liona smacked her in the back of the head. “Li! Why!?”

“You talk too much sometimes, Bri” Liona sneered at her younger sister.

“Oh” Briona muttered, now realizing what she was doing.

Fiona sighed, and then pressed Rose for more information about this mysterious man. “Tell us all about him”

“Well, like I said, I only met him this morning” Rose disclaimed. The sisters all leaned in with interest as to what Rose had to say. “His name is Harry. But, just from our brief meeting, I already feel like I know everything I need to about him. He cornered me in the garden, backing me up against the wall. He said that he had been admiring me for quite some time. He gave me a gardenia, I told him that they weren’t my favorite, and now he’s going to bring me a different flower everyday until he brings me my favorite”

“And what happens when he does bring you your favorite flower?” Fiona asked.

“He said that I owe him a romantic stroll”

The three sisters exchanged looks. This poor girl. As if having to deal with her step-mother wasn’t bad enough, now she’s gained the unwanted attention of a man who doesn’t seem to understand the word no. “Sweetheart,” Liona spoke up. “You know you don’t owe that man anything, right?”

“I know” Rose sighed. “I just fear the continuous pestering I am to receive from him”

“Well, hopefully he learns to back off” Briona spoke up. “Because, he isn’t the one you’re destined to be with anyways”

Rose furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Fiona gave a stone cold glare in Briona’s direction. “Yes, what do you mean, Briona?”

Briona, realizing she had said too much again, nervously giggled. “Oops. There I go again. Uttering complete nonsense”

Rose shook her head, ignoring what Briona just did. Having finished her sandwich, Rose stood up, grabbing her basket. “I’m off to the cherry tree” She announced. “Thank you for the sandwich. Come on, Honkers”

Honk! “But I want to hear more of Briona’s nonsense” Honkers said as he hopped off the chair.

“You just want to stay because you think she’s pretty” 

“What? No!” Honkers quickly denied as he followed Rose out the door.

As soon as Rose was out the door, Fiona whipped out her wand. With a flick of her wrist, the mess on the floor was quickly cleaned up. “Briona, you need to be more careful about what you say in front of Rose” Fiona chastised.

“Otherwise we’ll have to put a zipping spell on your mouth” Liona added.

“I’m sorry, sissys” Briona apologized. “I don’t mean to”

“We know” Fiona said. “We’ve managed to keep the secret from Rose for this long. We just need to hold out a little longer”

“And how much is a little longer going to be?” Briona complained like she was a young child.

This time, Liona pulled out her wand. She pointed it at the table. Glittery magic came out of the end of it, and conjured up a large piece of parchment. “According to my prophecy, Rose and the Prince should be meeting very soon”

Liona was what was known as a psychic fairy. She had the ability to see the future and all it’s possible outcomes. Fiona was an alchemy fairy. She was very skilled in making all kinds of potions and tonics. Then, Briona was a garden fairy. Her magic specialty was with wildlife and plants. In fact, she had been the one to enchant the cherry tree that Rose was so fond of. Briona could also interact with animals and give them the ability to speak.

“Does this prophecy of yours include this Harry idiot?” 

Liona skimmed through the parchment. “Hmm. I see his name here. But not much is said about him” Sometimes, Liona wasn’t able to tell the whole future. Some things only became clear the closer the event would come. 

“And Avonmora,” Fiona piped in. “Anything about her?”

Liona took another look. “Fortunately, no, but I suppose that could also be a bad thing. Dark magic is unpredictable. I wouldn’t be surprised if she interfered with the parchment somehow”

Yes, Avonmora was a witch and the three fairies were very aware of that fact. The reason the fairies chose to live in the forest was to keep tabs on Avonmora. But, they knew that they couldn’t keep their own eyes on her at all times. So, enter Honkers the goose.

“Not only do we have our evil sister to worry about,” Briona started. Ah yes, Avonmora was related to the three fairies. Avonmora was the bad apple of the family, cursed with an evil heart. “But now Harry? What if he tries a love potion on Rose or something?”

“That is not going to happen” Fiona assured. “And we’ll make sure of that”

Liona nodded. “It is destined for Rose and the Prince to meet. It is destined for them to fall in love. That is what fate lies in store. And no matter what happens, no matter what Avonmora or Harry do, they cannot change fate” 

Liona took another look at the future telling parchment. “And, it is also fate that the Prince will finally slay that witch once and for all, with the help of a mighty huntress, and a young boy. Then, everything that once was, will be restored”

[codegemini]

Memory Retreats - Part 1

(( @argonas​ / @thefugitivemango​​ for character mention ))

 ~*~*~

Talador - Draenor

The young Draenei stuck her tongue out as she found a hold for her hoof and lifted her weight further up the tree. Steadily, she climbed a bit longer before perching herself up on a branch. Her luminous white eyes fell on another branch from the neighboring tree. She stayed there, crouched down a moment as she evaluated the distance, and then looked down toward the ground with a tilt of her head. Finally, she nodded to herself. Seemed safe enough. 

Slowly, she stood, a grin on her face, arms outstretched to either side and tail swaying carefully behind her for balance. Her brown hair was tied in pigtails, flapping in the wind. Indeed, this was a MUCH better thrill than sitting around and listening to elders speak. 

Sinafay wasn’t very good at listening. Her father, Rhaoth, had hoped that it would be a passing thing, a phase that she would eventually outgrow. Yet, as other younglings grew and became more obedient and attentive, his daughter had become increasingly difficult to control. She was stubborn, rash, impatient, curious, insubordinate, and much too adventurous for her own good. She respected the Light, but did not spend more time in meditation and prayers than was required of her. She had no interest in academics, hunting, or combat training. The girl’s parents had thought that she might take an interest in becoming a provider, like Rhaoth, since she seemed to enjoy nature; yet she would wander off every time her father attempted to teach her anything. By her age, most had an idea of what path they wanted to take, but this girl seemed to have none. No plans, no path, not a care in the world! It was as though she were refusing to grow up. She avoided responsibility at every turn and seemed attracted to trouble.

 Her brother, Rurik, had caught her spying and following the brown skinned residents and Ogres on more than one occasion. While the ones called ‘Orcs’ were peaceful through their few encounters with the Draenei, it was also not seen as wise to interact with them more than necessary. Orcs would most likely bring her no harm, but Ogres… dangerous all around. Observering them the way she did with next to no training was nothing short of idiotic. 

By now, someone had surely noted her absence, but she didn’t care. 

With a leap, she flew through the air, reaching out just in time to catch the branch she had been aiming for. Success! She hung there for a moment, giggling happily. Sinafay could easily waste away the whole day in the forest. 

As she prepared to lift herself up and attempt the feat again, however, her pointed ears picked up loud cracks and heavy shuffling. Quickly, she swung her legs and tail up to wrap around the branch as animals scattered about. The tree she was in actually shook as the creatures approached, and it became clearly obvious to her what they were before she saw them. Ogres. She couldn’t make out their language, but recognized their speech. There were two of them, arguing from the sounds of things. She looked down as they passed just below, holding her breath so as to not make a sound. Ogres usually weren’t seen in these areas. They must have been lost... and hungry by the looks of it. One seemed to be looking about for prey, clutching a club that could have very well been the trunk of a tree. Sinafay couldn’t help but smirk. Luckily for her, the two creatures were too stupid to bother looking up... 

 ...which is when a new cracking sound startled her, and the branch she held onto suddenly shifted. Had she remained still, it would have held her weight long enough for the danger to pass, but the girl panicked and lost her grip. With a yelp, she bounced off the second Ogre’s large shoulder and landed hard on the ground. 

So much for not being noticed...

She shook her head and blinked up, both creatures eyeing her hungrily now, drooling even. They had found their meal! She scrambled up... they raised their weapons...and the chase was on as she took off running.

Sinafay’s head was still spinning from the fall, but she didn’t stop, picking up cuts and bruises from stray branches as she went. The wounds would heal, but if they caught her, she was as good as dead. The girl had speed on her side, but they had size and brute force. A few sharp turns gave her a bit of a lead, and she was almost out of the forest when sharp pain shot through her right ankle and a force held her leg back, tripping her. Again, she fell to the ground, this time with a pained cry.  She tried to get up but that same pain shot through her lower leg once more. Tears filled her eyes and she grit her teeth as she looked back and realized she had run right into a hunter’s trap. 

Desperately, she tried to pry the thing open, but lacked the strength to force it. The earth trembled, branches and trees cracking as her death approached. She fumbled with the trap’s mechanisms... Rhaoth had tried to show her how they worked. Light, why hadn’t she listened?! 

Her heart sank as the ground stopped shaking, and she looked up at the club that was being raised. She whimpered. Out of time. Eyes shut as she braced herself.

 “Sina!”

 … and opened again as the club came down, but a large hammer swung in to deflect it. A group of five Vindicators rushed in, making short work of the two big brutes. Sina looked away from the scene, eyes shut tightly. When the noise died down she felt a large hand fall onto her shoulder. She couldn’t help but flinch, but opened her eyes and turned her head to look into Rurik’s angered gaze. 

 “What did you think you were doing?” Her brother asked her sternly, his voice was low and he controlled himself well, but she knew just how upset he really was. 

Rurik was a few thousand years older in age, with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and bright piercing blue eyes. He was the pride and joy of the family; a strong, faithful, obedient Vindicator, worthy of all the Light’s graces. He valued the elders and heeded their councils.  Sinafay tended to wonder if he ever fell out of line…

Despite all his successes, however, he was also the first unfortunate soul to be dispatched when his little sister caused trouble. No one would blame him if he saw her as an inconvenience, as a black mark on the family. But no. Somehow, he always appeared to be the most understanding of her rash actions. He would get angry, upset and disappointed, of course. He always did... but it always turned into concerned brotherly love soon enough. No matter the situation and their differences, their bond always remained strong.

For now though, he was angry. He stared at her, waiting for a response as a smaller male freed her ankle from the trap. 

 “I... I was not following them...” she wrapped her hands over the wound, blue blood oozing down over her hoof. 

 “What were you doing in the forest?”

Sinafay sighed as he slapped her hands away and brought his large hand over her ankle. She watched as he quietly invoked the Light to heal the worst of the damage and stop the bleeding. Once done, he scooped her up effortlessly in his arms, silent as he made his way back towards Shattrath, leaving the others to deal with the Ogre remains.

 “You cannot keep doing this! I will not be there every time you attempt to pull these impromptu outings!”

 “Bah, I don’t always need your help…”

 “You were told there were Ogre sightings in the forest near the city. Repeatedly. Or were you not listening, as usual?” 

 “So I am to stay in the city at all times now?” She whined, crossing her arms over her chest and looking off to the side with a huff.

 “While you are supposed to be in class? Yes. Yes, you are. Today was your history lesson, Sina.”

 “A boring subject...”

 “But useful.”

 “For what?”

 “Your future.”

 “We have escaped the Legion and found a world to live on. A peaceful one,” she huffed, “What else is there to know? We began anew here, yes? We should be interacting more with the Orcs. I believe we could learn much from each other. Have you seen how closely they are in harmony with the land? It is truly a sight to see!”

He gave her another stern look, “And when the Legion finds us again?”

 “IF the Legions finds us--”

 “No.” He cut her off, “It is only a matter of time, Sina. They have followed us everywhere we have gone thus far, destroying worlds and civilizations in their wake. They -always- find us eventually. What makes you think it is different this time? You are fortunate to have never encountered them in your lifetime so far, but that does not mean they have given up the hunt. We must live, yes. But remain ever vigilant!”

 “They would have shown themselves by now.” 

 “You think so?”

She nodded her gaze remaining stubbornly averted, “Mhm.”

He sighed, the anger fading to concern. Worry pierced through his gaze as he looked down at his foolish little sister.

 “Then I pray you are not proven wrong too soon.”

Sinafay opened her eyes upon the horrible sight the Tremaculum offered. Spirits, mostly innocent, as far as the eye could see, bound and tortured. The screams and wails were worse than the sight. Retreating into her own memories had been the Shaman’s only escape from this place. Back to a simple time… a simple life. 

A life she’d taken for granted.

The Draenei had been caught not long after Argonas’ brief brush with the Maw. Both the surge of emotion the two lover’s had felt finally seeing each other after so long, as well as the scent of a fresh soul, had caught the hunters’ attention. There had been no time to run, or hide… so she fought. But in the Maw, the more you fought, the bigger a target you became. It was only a matter of time before she was overwhelmed and brought here to be broken all over again. A harder task for her tormentors this time around. Seeing her husband had been a boon to her spirit. Knowing he was doing everything in his power to find her made her will unbreakable. She smirked, looking up from her chained position to a robed figure that glided over to her. 

 “Back for more, yes?” she couldn’t help but taunt, before pain seared through her ethereal form.

 ~*~*~