#tiger sharks would like Crunch

[aposematicbastard]

Kit Kat, Crunch, Hersheys

What three you picking??

[bluepoodle7]

#TheIdeaFactory #TheIdeaFactoryMeaniesSpecialEditionCap'nCrunchTigerSharkPlush #ConjoinedPlush #TigerSharkPlush#Plushies #PlushPals

This is a The Idea Factory Meanies Special Edition Cap'n Crunch Tiger Shark Plush and this is a very cool plush.

I like this plush's design since it's a pun on the tiger shark but literally a fusion of both creatures which is cool.

This plush was a Cap'n Crunch 1999 $3.99 mail in offer thing on the box of Captain Crunch and reminds me of the Bigg Mixx cereal mascot plush.

This plush seems like the Meanies company wanted this plush to be made but wanted to have this be a partnership with a company to get it made.

Or was already made for the Cap'n Crunch company to make a limited time plush.

I really love the style of this plush and gives me old school cartoon vibes like a cartoon character chasing another one then finding this creature in the water later trying to chase them to eat them.

I wonder since The Idea Factory the company that made all the Meanies plushies is out of business then does the Quaker company that makes Cap'n Crunch owns the rights to the Tiger Shark character since it's a special edition Meanies plush made for their cereal that even the hang tag this plush has advertises the cereal like it's trying to sell it to you like a cereal mascot.

But I'm not sure what the Meanies plushies trying to get people to buy from since the demographics is like they wanted to be a edgy, 90's gross out, and wacky packages like in appearance to reach the kids audience.

But some of these plushies are kind of sexual or adult in nature like the Bessie got milked with the beanie baby like bear tied up with ropes.

I'm surprised that a Bessie made it on the Capn' Crunch cereal box as a drawing.

1999 Empty Quaker Cap'n Crunch Meanies 22OZ Cereal Box SKU U198/163 | eBay

This plush is 9 inches from the tip of the face to the tail, the plush is 10 inches from the tip of the foot to the tail tip.

The head with the muzzle, the arms with the paws, the top fin, the backfin, eyebrows, and the fangs with the closed growling teeth had stuffing, while the ears, the tiny fin on the belly, and the tiger marks, have no stuffing, there is stuffing in the stomach part but also has beans or pellets that fill that area near the back of the tail area which is unique feeling to me.

The nose is a soft velvet like texture and has plastic eyes with a angry expession.

This is my first time seeing a conjoined plush of a tiger and a shark fused together.

This plush looks more expensive to make since it seems like this plush could be part of the Series 3 of the Meanies plush line but like the plush you would get as a secret plush when you bought the whole set online from the company's website in the 90's internet.

I wish this company kept making plushies and I know they would make some cool modern ones that are creative with a few gross ones mixed in.

This plush can wear both the toy glasses and I'm keeping this.

I also took pictures of this plush with the Capn' Crunch cereal and I wish I could do that with my Bigg Mixx plush if the Bigg Mixx cereal did return.

I might take a picture of this plush with the Bigg Mixx and other cereal mascot themed plushies I own later.

[dayglow-company]

In the waters by an ocean, a strange Pokemon was swimming by. He had been getting a snack. Poseidon, a Vaporeon that stood at 7 feet on land from feet to head. He had been swimming for a while. Stalking fish, like Magicarp to gobble them up. They bred like locusts, but were tasty. Especially the plump ones. So he ate them when he could, crunching down on them like snacks. When he was done, he was chewing on the remnants of a Magicarp as he walked out of the water. His fish like tail dragging behind him as he went on shore. He didn't wear much. Other then comfortably fitting pants which were water resilient and dried easily, and a sharpeedo tooth necklace around his neck. He was muscular, big, and wasn't afraid to show it. He also had tiger shark like stripes on his back and arms, though they were a deeper shade of blue then his blue hue. His otter like face went into a smirk a bit as he looked around. Wondering if he'd always get beaches like this more to himself.

Vivienne had been close by just listening to the gentle movements of the sea as the water gently hit the beach when she heard something and looked over. Though what she saw wasn't exactly what she was expecting. From the bipedal nature she assumed this guy was related to Joseph. But what had her blushing is that he was walking around without a shirt. She hadn't ever experienced this kind of thing before. Maybe if she had been on a job the strange emotion would have been easy to ignore, but she wasn't.

Maybe she would just try to subtly stare at him? That would work. It was a skill she had. What she didn't know is that her face was as red as a tamato berry. And she couldn't exactly stop her imagination about certain things and situations. Mainly involving her and him which only served to turn her whole face red from embarrassment.

[b-else-writes]

the tiger shark and the sun

New chapter posted for my Star Wars/Avatar the Last Airbender-RebelCaptain fusion AU! Feat: Jyn calls Obi Wan an old fart, Jyn tells Luke and Leia to stop being melodramatic about becoming evil, dragons, and me ranting about the “evil sexy matriarchy” fantasy trope. 

Read on AO3 | Read from start

Pairings: Jyn/Cassian, minor Han/Leia and Baze/Chirrut, random minor background pairings

Rating: T

Summary: Star Wars/Avatar the Last Airbender fusion AU. The Fire Nation, under  Fire Lord Palpatine and Lord Vader, has been at War with the world for  the last twenty years. When Jyn Erso lands on his doorstep the day  Cassian, last southern waterbender, is assigned to protect the Avatar,  she seems just another obstacle in ending the War. An obstacle he would  willingly remove. For exiled firebender Jyn, the Avatar is her last way  home - and to her hostaged father, never mind her own conscience. But as  their paths keep crossing, and the Avatar needs all help in saving the  world, Jyn and Cassian find they are more alike than they ever thought  possible.

Snippet under the cut!

Jyn woke with a start, rapidly trying to figure out where she was. She was lying on a straw mattress in a stone room. The early morning light filtered in through a low window. On the ceiling were carvings of circling sky bisons.

Slowly, her memory returned. Jyn sat up, taking in the small room in Hynestia, the Western Air City. Cassian and Kay were nowhere in sight. He had removed her bracers and her boots sometime after she’d fallen asleep, and left then. But there was a dent on the mattress from where he’d been. She could still smell him – and his horrible lizard – and she gave herself a moment to imagine a world where someone like her…

She hastily shoved the thought aside. Another, more pressing concern than her unrequited feelings had emerged. She was supposed to teach. Jyn buckled on her bracers and slid her boots on quickly. She combed her fingers through her hair, repining the bun, and set about finding Enfys.

It took her a surprisingly short time to get around: the entire city seemed to have been developed and built for easy accessibility, with lifts, railings, and maps everywhere. Enfys, after she’d shown Jyn her room, had said she was going to the temple. Jyn found her and Luke curled up on the temple floor, fast asleep.

Jyn crouched and poked her. “Wake up!” she hissed.

Enfys groaned, red braids falling in her face. “Jyn, it’s only dawn…”

“Enfys, I need your help.” Luke made a noise but continued to snore. Jyn pursed her lips. “I’ll make you those wheat pancakes with dates and honey you love,” she said in her sweetest voice.

Enfys cracked one eye open. “We don’t have honey or dates.”

“I brought a jar as a peace offering,” she admitted. There was a pause. With a groan, Enfys extricated herself from Luke’s arms, pulling her cape on. Luke made a little grumble and rolled over. Jyn refrained from commenting as Enfys trailed after her to the central atrium. Enfys was perfectly liable to turn it right back on her.

As Jyn got the ingredients out from her satchel on the war balloon, Enfys asked, “So, what’s the issue?”

Swallowing her pride, “How did you teach the twins?”

There was another long pause. “You didn’t think this through at all, did you?” Enfys said, covering her mouth with her hand. Jyn glared. “I’m not laughing, I’m not!”

“I hate you,” Jyn said, swatting the date jar away from Enfys’ grip.

“No, you don’t,” Enfys said happily, dipping one finger in the honey jar and licking it. Jyn crouched to light the cookfire. It took a moment for the flame to appear on her fingertips. She frowned, but Enfys continued to speak, refocusing her attention. “Well, for me it was simple – I just followed how I was taught by my mother and aunts and elders. I already had a lesson plan ingrained in me.”

Jyn shook her head, feeling her pulse race, though it had been a decade since Master Jorus had backhanded her to perform better. “That…is not going to work.”

Enfys’ face clouded over. She stood from her perch and began to help Jyn, brushing her hands against hers. “Well, then, start simple. Like how to produce fire. And go from there. Basic punches and blocks, you do that a lot, don’t you?”

“They’re called fire fists.”

“My mistake,” Enfys said, her eyes sparkling with mirth, “Fire fists and fire kicks and fiery-ness and aallll that.”

Jyn bit back a smile, extending the plate with honey-drizzled wheat pancakes. “For her highness, the Queen of Mon Cala.”

Enfys immediately grabbed it, digging in with a moan of delight. “One of the few things from the Fire Nation worth saving,” she said, her mouth full of food.

“What’s the rest?”

“Don’t fish for compliments,” Enfys said easily, making Jyn grin. As Baze and Chirrut came in, Enfys added, “Just remember to be patient.”

“I am a beacon of patience.”

Enfys laughed. “I meant with yourself, Jyn. You’re doing something new and difficult. So be kind to yourself as you figure it out.”

She sighed, resting her head against her best friend’s shoulder. “And yet you won’t share your portion with me?” she asked, fighting down her own rising panic.

“You’re impossible,” Enfys laughed, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Now eat up for your first big lesson, Master Jyn.”

Jyn stretched and popped out her muscles. She, Luke, and Leia stood in a beautiful courtyard of cream and white clay and wood. She imagined it must have been a communal space when Hynestia had still housed Air Nomads. She didn’t like dwelling on that too long. She could still feel…something clinging to the place. Fire child, they whispered, stroking her face and hair, this is what your people did.

She would have preferred pure hatred, but she felt that was not their way. It would have been easier than guilt. Especially when she saw the sadness in Enfys’ eyes.

Jyn focused back on the twins. Both wore expressions of trepidation, Leia in particular throwing her suspicious looks. Jyn tried not to take it too personally. “Have either of you ever firebent before?”

They exchanged a look. “Once,” Luke said, shifting a little, “We��� we burnt Cassian by accident.”

Multiple statements immediately became clear in Jyn’s head. She pushed aside her own empathy for Cassian – and her instinctive urge to get angry on his behalf. Cassian held no grudge about it. Patiently, she said, “Most firebenders accidentally burn themselves or others when they’re starting out as children. It’s…normal.

“Alright then, let’s see what fire you can produce,” she said, folding her hands behind her back. Keep patient. Don’t be like Master Jorus. Don’t be what the Air Nomads know you could be. The summer heat touched the scars on her arms.

Exchanging another uneasy glance, the twins sank into a low hot-squat, good form, and punched.

A puff of smoke came out.

“That’s it?” Leia glared. Jyn resisted the very powerful urge to groan. “Let me demonstrate,” she said. Her muscle memory was so honed that Jyn didn’t even need to think. She sank and punched, sleeves billowing.

She produced a tiny gasp of flame.

Leia began clapping. Jyn scowled. “Don’t patronize, you know what it’s supposed to look like,” she grumbled. Jyn punched again. She slid into various forms, again and again. Only wisps of flame. “What in the…”

“Maybe you were never as good as you thought you were,” Leia said, grinning slightly.

“Oh, you’re hilarious,” Jyn snapped, trying in vain to produce more flame.

“Maybe it’s the altitude?” Luke suggested, though he didn’t look convinced. Jyn stared at her hands. Her inner flame felt cold and dull in her chest, despite the sunlight pouring over her skin. Sól, give me power, she thought, but none came.

Her firebending was gone. Somewhere, she could feel Master Jorus laughing.

The group sat around the cookfire, eating and chatting. The summer days were long, Chirrut knew. He could still feel heat despite the dinner hour. Baze had passed him his bowl, their fingers brushing. He smiled, gripping Baze’s fingers momentarily and grounding them both.

He heard Jyn clear her throat to speak. “There’s…a problem. I’ve lost my firebending. Well, not lost…but it’s weaker now and I can’t figure it.”

Chirrut considered as he munched. Bending was inherently spiritual, something that many had now forgotten, preferring to use as a blunt instrument. Jyn had never struck him before as someone who wanted to look within herself.

“Maybe it’s because you changed sides,” Cassian spoke up. Chirrut’s seismic sense could feel Jyn immediately perk up and orient towards him. Oh, young love. “Your firebending used to come from anger and desperation. Now you have none.”

“So, what? We piss Erso off?” Han asked, poking Erso with his sword butt.

Jyn kicked him in the shin. “Cut that out! It’s not an option.”

“What you need is a new source,” Chirrut said. “And by that, I mean an old one. The original. For earthbending, the first earthbenders were the badgermoles. When I was young, I ran away and hid in a cave. A blind child was better off gone.”

He still remembered the pain and fear as he had fled Jedha’s orphanage, stumbling through the crowds of people out into the scorching, shifting ground he had learnt was sand. Finding his way into the Catacombs. Surrounding by the dead, as he imagined he would soon become.

The Spirits had other plans. There had been a great crunch of rock, and a soft, wet snout had nosed him. They had recognized him as one of their own. “The badgermoles are also born blind. I learnt earthbending as an extension of my senses. Earthbending is not a martial art – it is a way of interacting and moving through the world, and that is the form I taught Luke and Leia.”

The wonder he had felt as he began to feel the world expanding outwards beneath his palms and feet. The grubs and creatures that lurked beneath the desert sand. The hardy plants that nourished from the earth. The secret oases. The possibilities that had exploded to him. His only regret was that it was no help to non-benders and other benders, but Chirrut was nothing if not stubborn. He had tried to help them too, as a Guardian of the Whills.

“Firebending isn’t like that,” Jyn said quietly, standing up and pacing.

“But surely you must know who the original firebenders were,” Enfys said, “I learnt from my Tribe, but the first airbenders were the sky bison. That’s influenced our bending to use gliders to fly, to our culture!”

Jyn walked over to Chirrut. He felt the same turmoil of his childhood self, in her. “It won’t work. The first firebenders were the dragons, and they’re extinct. There’s no other way.”

Baze squeezed Jyn’s hand. “There is always another way.”

Jyn was silent for a moment. When she spoke, he felt the vibrations. There is something she is concealing. “We’re not far from the island of Dathomir. The witches of Dathomir were said to be the first to learn firebending from the Dragons. They were killed off thousands of years ago. You still hear stories, but there’s no proof their society still exists. We might find something. Otherwise…”

“Sometimes the shadows of the past can be felt by the present,” Chirrut said. Several of the group shifted uncomfortably.

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Luke said, “Han, can we borrow the Falcon?”

keep reading

[mushroommushy]

Tw: Gore

This will be a twist on the episode from season 4 of Octonauts, "Tiger Shark". What might've happened had things gone differently.

————————————————————

Tweak made a small sigh as she finally managed to fasten the 'Sandy Cam' as she had nicknamed it to the hard shell of her sea-dwelling friend. "There we go! The cam is on Sandy!" She said, wiping her forehead to push the strands of long hair that had fallen into her face. Grabbing a fresh carrot from the fin of the vegimal beside her, she took a quick bite, the familiar crunch of the vegetable erupting in her mouth. From the corner of her vision, she caught Barrot hiding behind a cart. A slight chuckle escaped her mouth. 'Poor thing still thinks I'm gonna eat him..'

Turning her attention back to the turtle in front of her, she gave a tug to the harness holding the camera in place. "All secure, Sandy!" She confirmed with another bite of her snack. "Dashi, open the octohatch for her!" She requested, casting a sideways glance at the fellow crewmate. The dog gave her a smile. "Already on it, Tweak!" A pull on the red labeled lever and a bit of bubbles rose from the bottom of the launch bay and her friend sunk under the water. "Bye Sandy!" She called, waving with her green-furred paw.

The large turtle gave a little wave of a flipper before gliding through the hatch to exit the mechanical ship. As she entered the water it gave her a little shiver of happiness to be back out in the open water before heading off in the direction of the reef, her flippers propelling her forward hastily.

Back inside the octonaut, Dashi pushed on a button and the screen flickered to life, showing a live feed of Sandy's surroundings. "We should get Shellington down here to look at this." Dashi spoke softly. The rabbit beside her shifted the pink ribbon tied around her head. "I have a better idea."

Soon, the three of them were settled down in the game pod, snuggled into the comfy bean bags and sipping cool smoothies as the cam showed the colorful reef surrounding Sandy. Fish of millions of colors were blurs as the turtle sped ahead, heading through tunnels and under ledges of coral. A smile spread across Tweak's face. "Whoever says Turtles are slow has never seen Sandy swim." Shellington was listing off the species of fish swimming past the cam as if it was counting the alphabet. No matter how long she could practice, she doubted she could ever do that. Even when she was raised in the Everglades with her father she had struggled to remember names of the species of creatures in her home area.

A pod of bottlenose dolphins darted past, fearful looks in their eyes and ushering the young ones in front of them with their snouts. In a panic one of them swam over Sandy, his tail smacking the cam in a circle before it stopped facing behind Sandy. A sharp gasp escaped Shellington's mouth, leaning forward. The shape of the large shark was recognizable even to tweak. "A tiger shark!" He cried out. "Sandy move!" Even before he said it, the turtle was moving. The reef became even more hazy as she moved forward at high speeds. "Did she escape?" Tweak asked nervously, not realizing she had stood up, her ears twitching anxiously.

Dashi rotated the joystick on the remote controlling the Sandy Cam. "No." The shark opened its mouth, the teeth glinting as the water refracted light. The teeth closed down and the camera flickered out to black. Tweak's feet moved on her own, throwing her carrot down and sprinting to the hatch and jumping through, soaring through the tubes and landing neatly on her feet on the familiar steel floor of her workshop. Her eyes scanned the gups before they landed on Gup-B. 'It's the fastest.' The thought flashed through her mind like an arrow before she hopped into it. Her dog friend jumped out of the hatch as the glass covering closed over her. "Dashi, open the octohatch." Her voice was cold and worry filled as she sunk down under the water.

The hatch opened as she sped through it, racing to the reef. She barely acknowledged the Gup-A in the distance, holding a returning Captain, Medic and Lieutenant of the Octonauts.

The Polar Bear gave a happy sigh. "We've officially explored the entire reef. I can't wait to go home and rest up for awhile." The two beside him made noises of agreement before snapping to attention as an orange blur raced past. Peso blinked a couple times before pressing his feathered face against the glass. "Was that..Tweak?" Kwazii had a look of pure confusion written across his face. "What's she doing in the Gup-B." Just as he said that, the radio made a static sound before Dashi's voice came through.

"Captain, the camera we put on Sandy showed a Tiger Shark chasing her. Tweak is-." The Captain cut her off. "We know, and we're right behind her." He maneuvered the Gup around and followed the stream of bubbles left behind by Tweak's driving.

Tweak slowed down where the camera last showed Sandy to be. By now, after not seeing her friend nearby and safe she was pushing down the tears threatening to well up in her eyes. "Sandy!" She called out. "Where are you?!" You could hear the desperation and fear in her voice. The Gup-A pulled up beside her. "Any sign of her Tweak?" The Bear asked, concern written across his face. The green rabbit shook her head, her ears moving constantly to pick up even the slightest sound of her friend. "N-No." She mentally scolded herself for stuttering before a rubbery band of gray slapped into her helmet. She pulled it down into her hands and examined it.

"This was the harness that held the camera on Sandy's shell.." She mumbled bleakly, her voice cracking. Kwazii's voice cut in. "It's a'ight matey, we'll find her. Promise." But even with his reassurance, it didn't help to ease her nerves. She got back into the shark-like gup. Even seeing a shape such as a shark sent a wave of determination and rage through her and she disappeared into the depths. The three left behind looked at eachother before looking at the tracker. An icon of the shark gup showed. Kwazii tuned into the radio. "See anything matey?"

Tweak's voice crackled through. "Not ye- Ah!" She swerved down as a striped shark came at her head on. "Now I do!" She yelped, speeding through the reef, the shark behind her snapping it's teeth at the gup.

Barnacles let out a growl and contacted the octopod. "Shellington! What can you tell us about Tiger Sharks?" The otter moved his hand to his chin, his eyes casted downward. "They are known as the waste baskets as the sea. They will eat anything they can fit in their mouths. They are fast and strong, making them amazing hunters, Captain." Tweak let out a noise of frustration, pressing on the wheel hard and wishing she had a carrot to chew on. She was biting her lip so hard she could taste blood. But she wasn't focused on that. She was focused on evading this shark and finding Sandy. She pressed a button and ducked behind a clearing in the coral. Dark stripes appeared on the orange metal shark, "Glad I added this Tiger Shark camouflage.." She whispered.

She lowered her head so her green head was less visible to the shark, praying she was safe. The shark swam around into the clearing and looked at her, as if debating wether to eat her first or tear her to shreds. Tweak took a deep breath, before yelling in surprise as the shark butted the gup, accidentally making her slam herself into the control panel and hit the turbo button. She yelped, the metal machine accelerating at insane speeds.

Tweak just barely lifted it up high enough to avoid the coral and crashing. Her eyes were wide, staring at the controls. She was too focused on that to notice the giant rocky reef she was heading towards.

Peso, from the Gup-A gasped and radio contacted his mechanic friend. "Tweak! Watch out! Reef ahead!"

Tweak looked up just in time and swerved around, ducking into a cave in one of the towering pillars of rock. She wasn't able to pull the gup back in time to stop it from smashing into the dead end and denting the front of the gup and shattering the glass covering. Tweak blew bubbles from her mouth, putting on her helmet and hiding behind the gup. She pressed the radio on her collar. "T-Tweak to octopod. I-..I need backup." She said desperately. She received no response. "Crap..it's broken.." She whispered.

But she went deadly still as she heard fins swimming down the tunnel, her ears lowering as she curled herself into a ball. The shark nudged the gup aside, staring hungrily at the rabbit.

Meanwhile, in the Gup-A Captain Barnacles was searching all over the reef, panicking at this point for her safety. "Tweak? Where are you?" Peso gulped nervously. "Flappity Flippers..she could be anywhere in this huge place.." Kwazii's tail lashed in anger. "Aye matey, we need to find her fast before that shark turns her into a snack!"

The Captain nodded. He wasn't showing it much on the outside, but he was worried sick. He cared for each of the crew like they were his Cubs. He didn't treat them as if they were young, but he would damn well throw himself in danger to keep any one of them safe. "Her radio isn't working. The gup tracker isn't either. We'll have to find her ourselves. Let's just hope we find her first." He huffed, eyes narrowed.

Back inside the cave, Tweak was backing herself up slowly. "Nice..shark.." She murmured. She was forcing herself not to shake, worried it might trigger the shark to attack her with brute force and sharp teeth. The shark swam forward, going around her several times before sniffing her cut arm. Tweak stiffened up completely, praying. 'Oh me, oh my..' The shark maneuvered around her again before sinking its teeth into her right arm. The rabbit cried out in pain, sucking air through her teeth. Blood rose out, swirling in the water. She raised her free hand, punching the shark in the nose to get it off before falling to the floor once it released. Soft cries of pain escaped her, holding her arm to her chest.

The shark went in for more, now attacking her leg and ripping fur off her skin and shredding the flesh. Tweak let out a screech of pain, trying to kick the animal away.

Sandy, who was surfing around the reef now, managed to hear her friend's screams and froze, going still in the water before propelling forward as fast as she could. "TWEAK?" She called out in anguish. She tried to follow the sounds of her rabbit friend, swimming around in a hurry.

By now, Tweak was screaming, the shark now biting into her stomach and thrashing her around like a rag doll. She could taste the blood in her mouth as it dribbled out, standing her fur red and clouds of blood rising into the water. Her blood. She was starting to go faint from bloodloss, the edges of her vision fading to black. 'Sorry everyone..don't think I'm gonna make it out of this one..' She thought solemnly.

Just then, a hard shell crashed into the shark, causing the now torn up octonaut to slam into the wall out of the momentum. At least she was free from the jaws of the shark. Bad news. Water was now leaking into her helmet from a crack in the glass. She wouldn't be able to breath for long.

Thankfully, a familiar voice snapped her to attention. "Tweak!? Tweak get up! Are you alive?" The hazy shape of a turtle appeared in her vision. "O-Oh no..your helmet..you're wounded badly..I-I need to get you to the surface. She nudged the limp rabbit onto her shell, before speeding out of the cave and making a race for the surface.

Tweak put her helmet down as they got there, all the water flooding out. Blood was still dripping from her mouth and forehead. "I-It h..urts.." She had to stop in the middle of her sentence to cough, blood leaving her mouth even more when she did.

Sandy let out a noise of distress. "Let me try to see if any of your crew is nearby from up here." She ducked her head into the water, looking down for any sign of them. She sighed in relief as she spotted the familiar Gup-A. "CAPTAIN BARNACLES." She yelled as loud as she could. "Up here!"

Captain Barnacles was slightly startled, but did go up. "Sandy? Are you-..." He had reached the surface now, seeing the mangled body of Tweak. Her usual fluffy green fur now matted down and stained with her own blood. Kwazii stared at her for a moment. "I- I'm gonna.." he turned around and threw up, tears running down his face. "Oh my lord.." Peso whispered. "I-I-..Is she alive..?"

Sandy looked at him anxiously. "Barely. We need to get her to the octopod. Her helmets broken. The Captain nodded. "Get her in here, Sandy." He put on his own helmet and jumped out of the gup, swimming over to the turtle and carefully lifting the mechanic from her shell. "Alright, Tweak..your safe now.." He went back under for a few moments and came back inside the octopod. "We have a lot of work to do to keep her alive.." He mumbled.

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Alright, that's it everyone! I hope you enjoyed!

[lovecraftian-druid]

Pactborn VI

“You ready to do some treasure hunting today, kiddo?” 

K’Sirr’s voice broke Ka’l’s concentration as she stared absentmindedly at a pod of blue whales swimming along the surface of the Rocsanee Ocean, their blowholes spewing water like great geysers.

Ka’l never fully understood the liking K’Sirr had taken to her. Perhaps it had to do with feeling responsible for her after inviting her to join his crew; or maybe it was because she was so much younger than any of his other shipmen; or possibly that he felt a kinship based on their mutual love for sailing; some even speculated that it was because of her relation to a famous admiral of the Felgran Fleet. Whatever the case, it was no surprise to the rest of the crew when Ka’l quickly rose through the ranks. It was even less surprising when K’Sirr - after only seven months aboard the Sea Wolf - invited her along on a Trover quest, a type of hunt for great treasure hoards. Lore of these massive bounties were usually only learned about within the Trovers Guild, a group of pirates whose life’s work was to discover legendary riches and wondrous items. 

The young pirate pocketed her compass as she made her way to the side of the ship that housed the utility boats: there, two other Trovers perched on crates, preparing for the dive ahead of them. One of them - a blue dragonborn sorcerer by the name of Zandynn - sat cutting a small reed into pieces in preparation for a ritual spell while the other (Candid, a roguish tiefling) fitted her many daggers into her belt. As K’Sirr arrived on the scene, a lumpy roughspun sack clutched tightly in one hand, he looked expectantly at Ka’l: “Aren’t you missing something?” He smiled a toothy grin as he lifted the weighted bag in his hand, and Ka’l realized that the others also had similar sacks waiting on the deck next to their feet.

“Oh, uh, no, I didn’t think I’d need one - I’m a pretty strong swimmer,” Ka’l stammered, trying her best to speak with confidence.

The three of them chuckled wryly before Zandynn spoke: “Little lady, the way we’re traveling, you won’t need to swim.”

“It’s Ka’l,” K’Sirr corrected him with a sidelong glance, “she prefers Ka’l, so that’s what you can call her.” Zandynn rolled his eyes as he commenced his casting of the ritual spell, and K’Sirr turned his focus back to Ka’l, winking at her as he lifted the lid of a nearby barrel to retrieve one more bag that - as she learned upon inspecting it - was filled with a single large rock. He handed it to her and explained, “You’ll tie this to your waist to keep your body from trying to float back up to the surface.”

Ka’l gave a nod of understanding and began tying off a neat square knot about her mid-drift while Zandynn finished his incantations. She wasn’t expecting the odd sensation of the set of arcane gills that suddenly formed along the sides of her neck as he finished the casting of the spell with a somatic flourish, and it took her a moment to realize that she could still breathe air normally as she ran her fingers over the foreign bodily addition. Her eyes widened as she turned to face Zandynn: “this is amazing!” she gushed, genuinely.

K’Sirr smiled proudly and stepped to the edge of the ship, motioning for the dinghy to be run out for the small group. “With that, I believe we should be ready to depart - Gahjeel, you’re in command while I’m away!” he hollered up to the black tabaxi as he lept gracefully into the small boat. Ka’l and the others followed, and as they rowed out towards some shoals, Ka’l continued to play with her strange new gills.

The two shipmates carried on a lighthearted conversation as Ka’l watched K’Sirr, his eyes pressed shut in concentration as he twirled a forked twig around with his thumb and forefinger, all the while humming a tune under his breath. Ka’l always marveled at the use of magic and was so impressed by K’Sirr and those with whom he associated: she hoped to one day be able to achieve the same arcane wonders these folks were able to accomplish.

Lost in thought over what it must be like to cast such incredible magic, Ka’l jumped a little when K’Sirr declared loudly, “Here! Stop!”

The rare and elusive Necklace of Fireballs: K’Sirr and his crew had been seeking this treasure for the last few months now, since before Ka’l had joined the Sea Wolf. Now, thanks to a reliable tip and a handy divination spell, they were merely a dive away from having it within their grasp.

The others situated their things securely in the small boat as Ka'l dropped the anchor and peered down into the waters below: the shallows afforded her a view of what looked to be large shoals of multicolored coral growing all shapes and sizes. The dinghy began to rock a little, and Ka'l turned to see the others holding their stone-filled bags, ready to take the plunge. Ka'l followed suit, gathering up the rough sack in her arms.

"Are we ready?" K'Sirr asked, making brief eye contact with each member. Nods gave him the affirmation he needed, and he looked at Ka'l with an ornery twinkle in his eye as he patted her on the back. "After you, my dear."

Eager to impress her captain and establish some credibility among her crew, Ka'l scrambled to her feet in the wobbly boat as it swayed unsteadily. Without hesitation, she pulled the stone close to her chest and made an attempt at jumping overboard - this exciting milestone quickly developed into a bit of an embarrassing one though as her toe caught the lip of the dinghy, throwing the boat off-balance (to the gasping surprise of the others) and sending her splashing torso-first against the surface of the water before sinking deeper, her stone having knocked some of the wind from her now-waterbreathing lungs.

As bubbles floated with urgency from her mouth rising rapidly towards the light of day above, Ka'l opened her eyes to behold the beautiful underwater world she had just entered: schools of fish flitted in and out of reef croppings while small crustaceans skimmed the currents for tasty food particles; a neon-colored parrotfish crunched its hard beak down on some faded coral as a eel lunged from within its kelpy hiding place to catch its prey.

Enraptured by this tropical wonderland, she took a moment to explore the tiny reef. It wasn't until she felt something aggressively ram into her followed by a sharp, piercing pain that she realized something was wrong - as the water around her plumed with crimson clouds of her own blood, Ka'l twisted at her hips to find her thigh locked down upon by the jaws of a hungry tiger shark, seemingly drawn by the sound of her loud dive. More bubbles escaped her mouth as she tried to scream for help, flailing violently in an attempt to tear herself free of its razor-sharp teeth. With her hands extended before her, pushing with all her might against the creature's sandpaper-like snout, Ka'l felt a surge of arcane power course through her panicked body. 

Something happened in that moment of terror: something Ka’l would ever forget, something that would change her life forever. As she felt her body begin to go into shock, the blood pumping loud within her ears, two golden slitted eyes flashed within her mind, sending her body into overdrive. With her hand pressed against the shark’s face, her eyes shot open again as her hand released an unbridled beam of crackling turquoise energy: as the eldritch blast struck the creature in the face, it sent a shock wave of force rippling through the water between them, swirling the streams of bloodied water billowing through the reef. 

The shark - surprised and perturbed - released its hold on Ka’l as it felt itself pushed back a bit from the force; however, this was not enough to frighten it away. With resolved bloodlust, the shark circled back for another attack. Her head still swimming with adrenaline, confusion, and blood loss, Ka’l looked on in absolute horror as the massive beast swam hard in her direction. As the rock tied about her waist began to sink her like a stone, she was able to see the familiar form of her captain standing at the bottom of the shoal’s sandy floor - with one hand extended, she watched as K’Sirr pointed up at the tiger shark and conjured a great sphere of yellow gas right in front of its path. The shark, writhing and reeling as the stinking cloud’s poison assaulted its hypersensitive sense of smell, began thrashing in the water, mingling the red of the blood with the yellow of the gas in a beautiful disaster of brilliant orange for a moment before it turned and swam off at full speed. 

Taking the opportunity to act without risk of attack, K’Sirr cut the rope that tethered his weight and swam with haste towards Ka’l. Pulling her into his arms, he pressed his calico hand firmly against her leg, humming a tender ballad as he comforted her. Ka’l felt the warmth return to her body as the wound slowly closed up. As her eyes regained focus, she tried her best to form the words “thank you” through the water.

Pointing to the noxious cloud of stench that was beginning to thin as the sea cycled the current about, K’Sirr did his best to communicate to her that time was of the essence. 

Ka’l scanned the watery depths for Zandynn and Candid: she saw them striding towards them, kicking up small bits of sand as they moved. Candid appeared to be sheathing two of her daggers as they walked - it looked as though they had not fully escaped without an encounter of their own. 

K’Sirr waved them closer, pulling the forked twig from his pocket and casting his locating spell once more after fetching his weight stone. Like a divining rod moving in response to hidden water, K’Sirr concentrated as his material component began leading him in the direction of his prize. Ka’l and the others followed closely, looking about in all directions out of a well-founded fear for what else might be lurking in the waters around them. 

After only a minute, Ka’l noticed that K’Sirr’s pace had quickened as he followed the path bestowed by his spell. Nearly beelining towards an embankment of fuchsia coralline, K’Sirr stashed his component and dropped to all fours, digging in the silty sand at the base of the coral and fan-like seaweeds. Ka’l joined in, shoulder to shoulder with him as she dug. Dirt and soggy debris littered the water around them as they clawed at the loose ground while Candid and Zandynn stood watch like sentinels. 

Ka’l felt the contagious excitement of the hunt creep up on her as they scooped more and more sand aside - tossing a glance in his direction, she saw the boyish look of absolute joy on K’Sirr’s face as he dug for the long-awaited treasure. Plunging her cupped hands into the granulated floor with renewed enthusiasm, she felt her nails scrape against something hard and metallic. She paused, her head spinning like a swivel to lock dilated eyes with K’Sirr in unspoken amazement. Sinking their fists deep into the sand, they groped about to find a pair of round anchor-chainlink handles. With a few struggled heaves, Ka’l helped K’Sirr dislodge the chest from beneath the seafloor. 

Stepping forward from his post, Zandynn put his face close to the lock that dangled from the chest, its metal crusty with rust and barnacles, as he spoke a muffled incantation. At the last punctuation of the spell, the padlock slid down, unlocked, as it dangled loose at the front of the chest. Wiggling its corroded loop free, K’Sirr slowly and almost reverently lifted the lid of the iron trunk.

Ka’l had never seen so much gold in all her life. 

Candid and Zandynn moved in, discarding the stones from their sacks and replacing them instead with fistfuls of coins, while K’Sirr - unconcerned with the monetary treasure - sifted through the riches for his trophy. Finding the necklace, he held it up to his own chest for a moment as if to mockingly model it to Ka’l as he brimmed with exuberance from ear to ear. He delicately draped the piece of jewelry into his chest pocket (careful not to jostle its eight magma-colored beads too roughly) before reaching back into the iron box to retrieve a single ruby gemstone along with a simple gold chain, its middle links slightly damaged. Pulling two lodestones from his pouch, his wild jade-colored eyes met Ka’l’s as he touched the stones against the chain and the gem, causing them to fuse into one. 

With a circular motion of his index finger, K’Sirr had Ka’l turn around so that he could gift her his creation: a beautiful maang tikka which he helped fit to her forehead. Ka’l pawed at the piece of jewelry - she wasn’t usually much for wearing any sort of ornamentation, but she could sense already that this item would hold much sentimental value to her for years to come. 

At long last pleased with his find, K’Sirr motioned for the group to wrap up their adventure. Excited to return with her own plunder, Ka’l emptied her bag of its rock as well and quickly shoveled the remaining gold and gemstones into the woven sack. Zandynn and Candid gave her a pat on the back and a sincere thumbs-up as they tied off the openings of their stuffed bags.

With a hard push off the ground and several propelling kicks, Ka’l swam upwards towards the glistening fractal rays of sunlight; and for the first time since joining the crew, she finally felt like she belonged.

=============================================================

Sorry for the delay in posting: I had a terrible case of the flu last week and just COULDN’T.

If you enjoyed this chapter of Ka’l Bahriin’s story, please be sure to read the previous five chapters of her series, Pactborn.

Ye Olde Taglist: @serenewrites​, @mayvinwrites​

If you’d like to be included in the taglist, send me a message. :)

[gourdeous-vladdy3790]

RP Idea!!!

I've been in the mood recently for Role-Play writing... However, I wanted to take a twist of sorts on the RP adventure. With the aid and advice from @art-and-the-hockeys I'm gonna just see who all I can get based around a plot I already generated and the characters and their personalities involved who will be in this RP:

Short Summary: 37 players join a Group Chat app game called Circumstances. Little do they know that a few of them has teamed up for mal-intentions.

Extended Summary: There’s a new app game out for iPhone and Android users. Similar to Fortnite, a bunch of NHL players find it and begin playing around. When trouble in the Atlantic Division ignites, Division leaders host meetings to discuss the boundaries and rules. But there are a few players defiant and with malicious intentions. When the targeted player goes missing, the rest turn to the game to find clues and figure out where the player is before there are more victims.

Characters: Eastern Atlantic Boston Bruins: Patrice Bergeron — leaderly and fatherly Buffalo Sabres: Jimmy Vesey — kinda arrogant and sassy not quite evil yet Detroit Red Wings: Dylan Larkin — arrogant at times, not afraid to speak his mind Florida Panthers: Vincent Trocheck — pompous and arrogant in a dick way, hates being told what to do Montreal Canadiens: Jesperi Kotkaniemi — giggly baby just wanting to have fun Ottawa Senators: Vladdy Namestnikov — all about his appearance and flirts with everyone Tampa Bay Lightning: Yanni Gourde — protective white tiger with the common catchphrase “butterflies” (because of his ADD) Toronto Maple Leafs: William Nylander — must not damage just prettiness and no one looks at HIS Kasperi! Other 1: Kasperi Kapanen — loves Nyla and would do anything to protect him Other 2: Brayden Point — leaderly, team-oriented, people look up to him all the time

Metro Carolina Hurricanes: Janne Kuokkanen — wants to impress the hell out of everyone, sucks up to leaders in a good way tho Columbus Blue Jackets: Alexandre Texier — baby who just enjoys playing, a bit clumsy New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes — baby who loves life and is always smiling New York Islanders: Mathew Barzal — thinks he’s hot af and tries to persuade everyone he can New York Rangers: Lias Andersson — prankster, underrated, looks pretty but isn’t afraid to get dirty and punch anyone giving him a look he doesn’t approve of Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux — sly, sneaky villain player, thrives off his cunning ways Pittsburgh Penguins: Evgeny Malkin — hates anyone not Russian and will give traitors hell to pay Washington Capitals: Tom Wilson — very physical and mean, loves to bully others cause it’s fun to see them squirm Other 3: Brett Howden — loves himself and carries around a mirror just to see himself, hates blood and is jumpy but man if you mess his hair up you’re gonna get hell on Earth!!

Western Central Chicago Blackhawks: Alex DeBrincat — small feisty sweetheart Colorado Avalanche: Nikita Zadorov — prankster like Lias only he’s a pest! Dallas Stars: Roope Hintz — cowboy who loves his flow (yeehaw) Minnesota Wild: Mats Zuccarello — analytical, goofy Nashville Predators: Rocco Grimaldi -- constantly annoyed St Louis Blues: Colton Parayko -- joking Babysitter type, similar to Burkie Winnipeg Jets: Neal Pionk -- manchild, depending on his mood and the circumstance, he’ll either act like a kid speaking in third person or he’ll be more of an older brother

Pacific Anaheim Ducks: Trevor Zegras -- kid, most of the time goofy, he flirts around the league but he’s a kid at heart Arizona Coyotes: Clayton Keller -- kid, who is easy to cry Calgary Flames: Matthew Tkachuk -- annoyed at the world, dark humor Edmonton Oilers: Connor McDavid -- leaderly Los Angeles Kings: Tobias Bjornfot -- child, easily to cry if others cry, often questions things San Jose Sharks: Timo Meier -- protective white tiger, who doesn’t play around and defends the “kids” all the time Vancouver Canucks: Elias Pettersson -- child, who is often the subject of Tkachuk’s dark humor/jokes and “dislike” Vegas Golden Knights: Marc-Andre Fleury -- a shy prankster

AHL Syracuse and Orlando: Syracuse Crunch: Jimmy Huntington -- flirtatious sweetheart who will battle back if provoked but he’s a little ignorant toward danger Orlando Solar Bear: Colby McAuley -- easily spooked but thinks he’s tougher than he is, isn’t afraid to fight back with his sharp tongue Other 4: Boris Katchouk -- ignorant towards sarcasm and dry humor, kinda clumsy but man don’t mess with him or his friends

Comment (or reblog) if interested!! And also select a player (you may RP up to 3)!

[kumeko]

snowball fight

Characters/Pairings: Team 7, Sand siblings

A/N: Written for the Konoha High zine run by @teajikan-zines. I wanted to write a nice fun, fluff piece for once

Summary: Crouching behind a thick hedge in the middle of winter, Sakura wondered just why she ever listened to Naruto and his stupid ideas.

…

…

…

…

“Guys, this is bad idea,” Sakura hissed as she crouched behind a thick hedge. Crossing her arms, she rubbed her shoulders to stave off the cold. Shit, it was freezing outside. If she just turned around, in two minutes she could be inside her high school. Her warm high school. The fluffy gloves on her hands were not meant to actually touch the snow, let alone make snowballs. When no one said anything, she added, “A terrible idea.”

Naruto scoffed, the snow crunching beneath his boots as he shifted positions. A slowly growing mountain of snowballs sat beside him and even as he talked, he continued to scoop up snow. “It’s a great idea,” he corrected, shooting her a winning smile and puffing his chest with pride. “Besides, Kakashi-sensei said it’s good.”

 “He did not say that, idiot.” Sasuke rolled his eyes. His skin was lightly flushed and she felt a pang of pity; he had never been good with the cold. Tugging his scarf higher up around his neck, he peeked over the bush. “He just said ‘it’d be a great learning experience’.”

 “Learning experience?” Sakura shot Naruto a glare. “We’ve been crouching behind a bush for ten minutes for a learning experience?” She was so stupid; Kakashi-sensei was clearly setting Naruto up for something and she was going down with him. When Naruto told her to follow him with a mischievous grin, that smile only ever meant trouble and she should have known better. Ino had even warned her and in the end, she could only blame herself.

 Hell, she should have realized something was up the moment Naruto suggested skipping lunch. He never skipped lunch.

 Naruto sighed, his expression full of pity. “No, we’re standing here for a prank.”

 And if they weren’t all dressed in thick, padded jackets that made them all look more like fuzzy chicks than anything else, she would have murdered him then and there. Even if they were childhood friends. If anything, she deserved a medal for lasting this long without killing him. Naruto wasn’t an idiot—despite his grades, he picked up things fast as long as he was interested—but sometimes, he acted like one.

 She should just get him to stop hanging out with the local first-graders. It was bad enough that they had two high schools within spitting distance of each other without throwing in an elementary school into the mix. Instead of elevating them to his level, he just turned even more child-like than usual.

 “And that is why you’re a good for nothing,” Sasuke sniped as though he wasn’t scanning their surroundings just as eagerly as Naruto, an excited gleam in his eyes. As though there wasn’t a pile of perfectly formed snowballs beside him too.

 Then again, Sakura wasn’t one to talk. She was still making her own pile as well; she’d been through this enough to know when she should just resign herself to her fate.

 “I’ll show you who’s—” Naruto’s growl died in his throat as he abruptly squatted. Shushing them, he whispered, “Ok, Gaara’s here.”

 Sakura instinctively hid. Gaara. She’d hoped for a random Sunagakure student but it had to be Gaara of all people. “Maybe we should pick someone else. Didn’t he put ten guys in the hospital?”

 “Nah, it’s cool.” Naruto gave her a thumbs up and his trademark smile. His reassuring expression did little to assuage her fears. “That’s just a rumour; he’s a nice guy.”

 How does someone just get a rumour like that? And if he was so nice, why were they throwing snowballs at him? Before she could ask, Naruto had already picked up his snowballs and leapt out with a loud shout. “DODGE THIS, GAARA!”

 Well. There went any chance of survival. Or even stealth—what happened to the element of surprise? She paled as his bright, orange coat disappeared around the hedge, certain that was the last time she’d see him. Unhelpfully, Sasuke squeezed her shoulder. “Try not to be number eleven.”

 He was lucky he was hot—she wasn’t sure if he was trying to be funny or if he was just being a little shit. “Ha. Ha. Ha.” With a curse, she picked up two snowballs and trailed after him.

 Naruto had always been a heads-on guy; between that and his loud mouth, they were never going to be sneaky about this. The second Sakura stepped out from cover, she slipped on a patch of black ice and fell, narrowly dodging a snowball.

 “Huh. I thought that’d hit you,” a girl drawled. Sakura blinked, her eyes adjusting to the glare on the snow. In front of her, a girl in a pink, fur-trimmed coat and black tights stood, another snowball in her hand. A pair of brown earmuffs covered her ears, her blonde hair too thick and wild to fit neatly into a hat, and her sharp smirk promised pain.

  If she’d been scared before, she was downright terrified to find the number two terror of Sunagakure in front of her. Temari. Sakura felt a chill run down her spine. Over her shoulder, Sakura spotted a red head in a red jacket, her two boys circling around him like sharks. Temari and Gaara. The Sand siblings. She should have written her will first. And here Naruto and Sasuke were running around like this was Shino and Kiba. Maybe she was the only one with a self preservation instinct. Which was not working otherwise she wouldn’t be in this situation. “Hi?”

 “Your aim isn’t what it used to be.” Next to Temari, the last of the three siblings stood, purple tattoos on his face. Sakura felt a little bad for him, he was almost invisible compared to the rest of his family. “Maybe you need a little practice?” Kankuro teased before getting a snowball to the face. Staggering backwards, he wiped the snow off his face. “What was that for?”

 “Just showing how good my aim is.” Temari glared at him, daring him to say anything else.

 Sakura inched backward while they were distracted. The snow shifted under her weight, the recent dusting not packed in yet. In the distance, she spotted Naruto, letting out a grunt as he got a snowball to the gut and slipped on a patch of ice. Sasuke leaped up to hurl one Gaara, looking more like baseball pitch or a volleyball spike than anything else. What was this, an action movie?

 At the sound, Temari reached down and scooped up another handful. “And where do you think you’re going?”

 Beside her, Kankuro was grumpily reaching down to make his own and Sakura desperately yelled, “Guys?”

 “Don’t worry, we got him Sakura!” Naruto shouted back, tumbling on the ground as he slipped on a patch of ice. Sasuke didn’t say anything, too busy making a snowball.

 “Not the point,” she grumbled, rolling out of the way as a volley of snowballs came at her. Of course they’d both pick the strongest guy to pick off, leaving the other two to her. Boys. A snowball hit her back and she groaned. It felt almost like ice, it was packed so hard. However, now she was behind the hedge and now she could mount her defense.

 Quickly, she scooped up a loose ball of snow and tossed it. It broke apart in the air, spraying snow into the wind.

 “What was that?” Temari snorted, laughing.

 “A distraction!” Sakura yelled before tossing her premade balls. One nailed Temari in the chest, the other hit Kankuro’s face a second time and he went down.

 “AGAIN?” he complained as he collapsed, wiping his face. “Are you trying to break my nose?”

 “You’ll look better.” Temari grinned, flicking the snow off her chest. She looked more aggressive than before and Sakura had seen that expression on Sasuke before, a beast awoken. Temari was interested now and Sakura swallowed.

 That was fine. That was more than fine. She was in the chess club and smart and maybe she didn’t have the best gym grades, but she was prepared. Sakura had a pile of snowballs and a hedge and maybe she was a little screwed because Temari was stalking forward like a tiger. Sakura started hurling every snowball she could get her hands on, even the ones that Sasuke and Naruto had made. They didn’t need them and even if they did, they wouldn’t remember the pile until after the fight.

 Temari dodged most of them, letting the brunt of the attack hit the slowly recovering Kankuro. Why couldn’t Sakura have faced him? He felt more up her speed. The few snowballs that did hit Temari did little to stop her, despite the soft grunts she made on impact, Temari kept advancing. She stopped every few steps to make another snowball and toss it.

 Sakura slowly inched her way backwards but the hedge would do little to stop Temari once she was on the other side. She’d just have to risk it and run. Her high school was so close, it’d be easy to run back. Peeking over the hedge, she spotted Naruto and Sasuke still fighting Gaara, snowballs flying through the air like a machine-gun was shooting them.

 Her brow furrowed. Seriously, what was this, an action movie? Before she could follow that thought any further, a snowball hit her face with a sickening splat. She winced, blinking through the pain. Temari’s aim was almost flawless and what she lacked in quantity she made up with quality.

 Sakura gave a last look at her school before sighing and scooping up the last of her snowballs. She couldn’t leave her friends here, no matter how idiotic they were. Besides, all she had to do was get Temari down and she’d be home clear. Taking a deep breath, she ran out from her hiding spot before she could change her mind. There was still the patch of black ice Naruto had slipped from; if Temari set foot on it she’d be down.

 “Is that all you got?” Temari asked, her smile all teeth.  She swivelled to the right, moving ridiculously gracefully on the snow. Fluidly, she reached down and create a snowball, barely breaking her stride in the process. Sakura barely ducked in time, Temari’s pinpoint accuracy guaranteeing that even if the balls didn’t hit, they grazed and Sakura shivered every time.

 “Missed me!” Sakura taunted, brushing the snow off her cheek. She hurled a ball of her own and frowned as Temari tumbled to the ground to dodge. Even the tumble looked surprisingly graceful. It was like looking at another Sasuke.

 Temari snorted, looking more amused than murderous. “Feeling brave, are you?”

 “Just a little.” Sakura squeaked as she narrowly dodged a ball. “I take that back, nope, not at all.”

 As they fought, running through the field between their two schools, Sakura slowly hurled every snowball she had. They just had to last long enough for Sakura to reach the ice. For Temari to reach the ice. Actually, where was that ice? Sakura quickly scanned her surroundings and hoped she was running in the right direction. The snow made everything look the same.

 “You’re surprisingly good,” Temari shouted, panting lightly as she crouched to dodge a snowball. The air was crisp and it almost hurt to breathe, but then that might have been because Sakura had been laughing so much. Somehow, along the way, it had become more fun than anything else and maybe Naruto had been onto something when he said the Sand siblings were normal.

 Not that she’d ever admit it aloud.

 “You’re not bad yourself.” And was this what Sasuke and Naruto felt, every time they fought each other? It was stupid but she could understand it, just a little. The high of battle. Of getting a compliment from an opponent.

 Of getting one over her enemy, as Temari fell backwards on the black ice. “Got you!” Sakura crowed, pelting her with the last of her snowballs. “Got you!”

 And suddenly she was the one staring at the sky. The ice patch was larger than she’d anticipated and damn, her back was going to be a giant bruise tomorrow. With a groan, she rubbed her head, wishing she had some painkillers right now.

 At this precise moment, Kankuro suddenly filled her sight, a Cheshire grin on his face and his arms cradling a pile of snow. Before she could do anything more than moan, he dumped it on her and she flinched as the ice stung her skin. “Revenge is best served cold.”

 “Just kill me now.” She whimpered as the snow made its way through the lip of her jacket. Even death was better than listening to that cliched line.

 -x-

 “And?” Tsunade stared at the wet, bedraggled students in her office, rubbing her forehead. “You again?”

 “You make it sound like it’s always my fault,” Naruto grumbled, shivering. Snow dripped down him and puddle onto the floor, mixing in with the mud and dirt the trio had dragged in. She’d just gotten it cleaned from the last stupid thing he’d done, at this rate she’d have to hire a personal maid.

 “Maybe because it is.” She glowered, knowing all too well that he would be back in her office within the week. It was always something or the other with him. Still. Looking at the miserable students in front of her, she suppressed a chuckle. It wasn’t like she could do anything worse to them than they’d already done to themselves. Pulling out her phone, she snapped a quick photo before they could protest. Excellent. Good quality too. With a content smile, she waved toward the door. “Get out.”

 “Huh?” Sakura blinked, staring at her in confusion. “That’s it?”

 “Just go dry up.” Tsunade waved them off, pulling out her phone. “I have enough angry parents to deal with without adding yours.”

 And besides, if they stayed any longer, she’d burst into laughter and it would undermine any authority she had left over Naruto. It was hard enough to get him to listen as it was without him thinking she actually enjoyed his little stunts.

[lord-dusk]

Jurassic Emblem-Chapter 8

Guess who came home?? :3

 Commander Anna, the general of Askr’s military commandment, had summoned the raptors and some of the other Heroes in the meeting room. She was discussing some very serious issues happening around Askr, most notably, the changes to the entire ecosystem done by what the scouts can only describe as “aberrant forms”. Anna was collecting herself, and she listed so far the aberrant forms identified:

Basilice.

Sobek and Gorgonorhea.

Henoka.

Styracostegas.

Emmatross.

One of the effects that Anna had said was already happening was the fact somewhere up in Nifl, the sun-god Helios was frozen solid by a “giant icicle-covered serpent.” Blue snarled. Unlike the medieval warriors she was with, Blue and her sisters knew that these aberrant forms were heinous-hybrids created by the controversial Henry Wu, and she needed to destroy them quickly. Her life was already fried by those red-eyed mangled-tooth fatherf**kers and she didn’t want anyone else to suffer the same fate.

And coincidentally, outside the meeting room, Askr’s summoner and tactician Kiran shrieked out a macaw-style gasp. Lucina and the raptors rushed out.

And there, above the groveling,thirsty, pathetic form of Kiran, was a goddess in a pelagic-blue yukata, waving her shark-like crocodilian tail in patience like some Hoshidan deity. Blue didn’t had to blink her eyes to find out who that woman was.

It was the Island Goddess Ryukami, the mosasaurus who not only protected Nublar(before she swam out into the open sea), she was also the heroine that leapt out of her lagoon, pulled the Indominus rex into the water, and devoured her like a roast chicken.

.“Hunh. I was quite busy tearing apart a Chinese shark-finning vessel and I was just about to swallow the last fisherman when you pulled me to this strange dimension,” Ryukami said. “Tell me, human. What reason do you have for interrupting my meal?”

Kiran formed his words meekly. “P-please....Please...H-help me l-land....Vel-velouria and....and....Leanne....”.

Ryukami ignored him. She fixed her gaze on Blue, Lucina, Echo, Delta, and Charlie.

“Hmm. Oh. Hello, little lizards.” the crocodilian whale greeted. “I didn’t expect to see you girls. Especially to you, blue one-” she paused. “Wait, wasn’t there only one raptor left on Nublar? Particularly a charcoal one with a blue stripe? 

Blue smiled.”It’s okay Ryu. I think I can explain things along-”

“Oh wow! It’s Ryukami from the Mosasaurus Feeding Show! Look at those sharp teeth of yours! Can i have your autograph?”

For the first time in 80 million years, a velociraptor has tackled a mosasaur. Specifically, Charlie had sprung unto Ryukami, face pressed against the goddess’s chest, and shaking her hands.

“Well, dear child, do you have anything I can sign my name on?”

Charlie brought out her Nintendo Switch. “Sure! You can sign  on the back!”

                                          *********

 When the meeting had ended and the raptors explain the situation to Ryukami, the mosasaur agreed to ferry them to the icy isle of Nifl. But they were some hurdles to overcome.

First was Teba and Warbler. After the incident in which the two criminals attempted to run-off with the frozen embryos, they were thrown in the cellar awaiting judgement. Lucina and Blue had some very powerful urges to mangle the already injured mercenaries, but Anna wouldn’t allow it presently and declared that Teba and Warbler shall not be executed until they scrutinize the morals of the formers’ agenda. Besides, no one exactly knew how to deal with dilophosaur that spat venom out of its beak and an amphibian with katana-sharp dorsal spines. And as such, as much they’d like to accompany Blue and Lucina on their mission, Echo, Delta, and Charlie decided to stay watch and monitor the samurai and the drunk dilo.

“If they pull something I’m going to tear them apart bit by bloody, bony bit!” Echo cracked her claws in anticipation.

“When Askr finds out what these belligerent iguanas are really up to, then yes.” Delta replied.

“Um, I understand I am in no position to ask, but may I have some water?” Teba requested from within the cell. Warbler lay at the back corner, dozing off.

“You just answered your own question Pouter-Flounder,” Charlie answered back. “it’s called drinking pee.”

And second, as much of a kind reptile Ryukami was, a deity didn’t grant a wish for free. If you wanted a god to grant your wishes you had to offer up a payment.

And by payment, I mean a person or several to sacrifice to the mosasaur.

Initially, Lucina tried to process everything down. Sacrificing people to the dragon-gods can’t be good, she thought, until she considered that in order to obtain the “Good Ending” in Awakening, the Shepherds chopped up and raped, and devoured every last denizen in Plegia. After all, humans, both good and bad, loved to end chaos by BRINGING FORTH chaos. A negative factor multiplied by a negative factor always lead to a positive. Therefore, Lucina decided to sacrifice Henry and Tharja, as well as male Robin to Ryukami.

“Aaaaaaaah, this is the happiest day of my life!” Henry chirped as the mosasaurus crunched downed on his ribs and slurped up his intestines like sausage pasta.

As an added bonus, Ryukami had blessed both Lucina and Blue with water-magic, which not only increased their vitality and endurance, it also allowed them to convert the surrounding water into atmospheric air in case shit happens and the two raptors find themselves 30 meters below the surface.

“The trip to Nifl will take about a two or three days by me so you ought to be thankful for my gifts,” Ryukami said. “Now, is everyone ready?”

                                 ********

 The night sky was a deep-blue color, a gorgeous complement to the turquoise waters. The air was cool and kind to the skin, which would have been perfect for relaxation.

But there was no time for relaxation. For the past several days(or lacking thereof) there was no sunlight. As Helios the sun-god was turned into a kakigori, an icy cold night was spreading from Nifl to Askr, placing photosynthetic activity in jeopardy.

Blue and Lucina were perched on Ryukami’s head and hand, respectively. When asked why she couldn’t have simply used her Dragonstone to morph into her crocodilian-whale form, Ryukami claimed she had left it at the bottom of Dragon’s Reef.

Even gods have accidents, I suppose, Blue thought.

Lucina broke the silence. “Hey Sole Survivor, have you killed your own parent?”

Blue perked her head.”......Why do you ask?”

“I know I had to kill my previous mother in order to save my father and country. What about you?”

“That’s a very morbid question Future Witness. Were you part of the tiger-raptor tribe on Site B? Did you cannibalize your own sibling as well? To answer your question though, I did not. But that’s not to say I didn’t put Papa and his friends’ lives in danger multiple times.”

“I nearly killed my father as well-in fact, the world where I’m from, I had to detonate my re-animated father like the walking flesh-grenade he was.”

“You know, if I died, my ghost would be more than happy to tell my daughters to eat my body,” Ryukami joined in. “There will be times when children will literally want a part of their parents-at least physically.”

“Well, my ex-mother’s flesh tasted rather like lobster and centipede mixed with sperm-covered pants,” Lucina said.

“Okay Future Witness, can we talk about something else? We already had a chapter dedicated to your hobbies.” Blue remarked.

“Alright,” Lucina answered. “I’ve always wanted to ask you this anyway. What is your papa like? I’ll take note if there is a slight,slight,slight chance I’ll meet him.”

“A nice guy. A bit of a jerk who only goes by his own rules, drinks beer, and lives in the most beautiful shack on the outskirts of the jungle. But as someone who’s raised me and my sisters ever since we were hatchlings,he is the best person in my entire world, so much so I’ll slice up security guards for him.”

“I see.”

Just then Ryukami had stopped at a large ice-floe. “We’re here.” Ryukami announced.

[kiiruna-a]

🐧 and naturally steff will have to deal with nikko saying 'that's you' whenever they pass a grumpy animal

     steff had never been to a zoo before, at least not since they were were a small child. a vague memory of a picture of a redheaded baby pointing at a giraffe in their parents’ old picture book was still stored in the back of their head, but it was nothing they wanted to think about now. no, today they were actually excited to go see some animals. not only because they knew they were going to see some cute animals, but because it was his idea. he had asked them to go with him. steff had tried to tease him a little bit, asking if it wasn’t just parents taking their kids to the zoo these days, but in the end, of course they wanted to join. anything he wanted. yes, even if they would have no idea how to dress cute for the occasion. they’d make that sacrifice for him.    so in white strappy sandals rather than their usual heels, their cutest hairpin with a pearl pulling their red, freshly washed locks back, matching earrings, a pair of washed high-waisted denim shorts & a white cropped blouse with a knot in the front they met with him outside of the park. it was an unfamiliar feeling, the sort of excitement that bubbled inside their stomach as they came closer. ever since nicolai had followed them to that sushi restaurant, & that they had held hands on the way back— everything had felt different. they had known each other for years at this point, none of them had changed in the past weeks, & yet it felt like everything was new.    they arrive. he isn’t there. they check the time.    40 minutes left. well, fuck.    there is five left, & he comes through the crowd. steff can feel how their stomach turns at the sight of him, but in a good way, somehow. to make up for the obvious smile on their face, they scoff at him. “ you’re late. “ “ i really am not! you though, you’re early. what does that mean? were you excited? “ that stupid grin on his face. steff has to turn their head because it’s so contagious. “ you wish, don’t you? “     & from there, they enter. as expected, there is a lot of families & excited children running around the premise. it’s easy to follow their screams to know where to find the different animals. ‘ look, mom, a monkey! look, dad, a lemur! look, mom, a hippo! ‘ & following the lines of fences they ensure to watch the majestic animals where they walk. a monkey steals a piece of candy from a child who starts to cry. a giraffe starts to poop as they walk by. in general, the date was going great.    “ look, it’s you! “ nicolai starts by pointing at a golden lion tamarin. the bright red monkey, shining like the sun with it’s ginger fur, wasn’t hard to spot. steff slaps his hand away as it’s pointing. “ oh please, nicolai, he looks clearly insulted. “ they wheeze at him, chuckling. from there on, it was a war. steff saw a sloth & pointed towards it. “ now that’s you. “ they said, in which nicolai didn’t even bother to disagree. “ he’s very handsome. “ the baker then added, stroking nicolai’s arm. the sloth did not seem to care about them.    the favorites of the day were definitely the big cats. leopards, with their big eyes & their gracious movements, as well as the tigers with their stunning patterns. the lions were mostly laying there, napping on top of each other. “ mood though— “ steff heard nicolai mutter under his breath, which the baker couldn’t help but giggle at. “ soon you can go home & sleep, handsome. just a little longer. “     second favorites were the otters. they were however close to miss them, as steff was very skeptical about entering the aquarium. steff was not exactly a big fan of water, something that they had also told nicolai about in the past. however, with a lot of persuasion about how it shouldn’t be an issue since steff doesn’t need to get wet, they stepped out of their comfort zone & followed him in. there, where they walked through dark corridors, the light from the aquariums dancing on the floor & on their faces, not as many people were flocked around, steff could feel nicolai’s hand inch closer. with a flutter of their heartbeat, steff decided to hold it. he was probably trying to comfort them, in case they were really uncomfortable. steff had to bite down on their lip to contain their smile.    fishes in the colors of the rainbow, sharks, jellyfish, starfish & even dolphins, it was all very beautiful & romantic, but it didn’t quite do it for steff. the ocean scared them, & they found themselves focusing more on nicolai than anything else in the room. the way that the light from the aquarium reflected in his eyes was stunning.    past that, they came into a little pool area. penguins, seals & otters were there, & steff couldn’t have been happier. once again they were able to point at a lazy seal hanging out on a block of ice, saying that’s definitely nicolai. then, before they knew it, they could feel a denim jacket slowly wrap around their bare shoulders. the smell of nicolai hits them, & they look at him a little dumbfounded. “ you looked cold. “ he replies to their curious gaze. of course, steff was never really cold, so he was going to be freezing more than them, but— he couldn’t take it back, instead, he pulled it more tightly around them, just for the feeling of it. shyly, glossed lips mouthed a “ well… thanks. “ in his direction, before steff wrapped their arm around his arm & slowly nudged him towards the otters. adorable, adorable otters.     on the way out of the aquarium, they were surprised with a terrarium. turtles, lizards, snakes & different bugs were all presented in glass containers. so, for the first time in their life, steff got to hold a snake. it didn’t become a pretty picture, since they looked halfway panicked halfway laughing once nicolai got his phone out, but they were proud anyway. so did he seem, before getting distracted by big spiders. steff could hear him babble some cool spider facts, gawking over the size of the eight-legged bugs. personally, the baker kept their distance, but he looked really cute talking to them like they were kittens anyway.    it was when they exited the building & decided to find their way out to get some churros & ice cream, that they stumbled upon a cage they hadn’t seen before. when nicolai raised his arm, steff knew what was going to come out of his mouth. “ look, it’s you again! “ he said, & steff looked in the direction he was pointing, up towards the trees. first it looked like a ginger lemur, but no, it was a red panda. steff felt their jaw drop over how cute it was. then, in the bamboo woods, a crunching could be heard from a traditional panda rolling around while snacking on a piece of the tree. steff laughed.    “ well, we all know who that is. “

[hunterlost940]

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[italicwatches]

Animal Sentai Zyuohger - Episode 31

So my weekend plans didn’t so much get killed, so much as bloodily beaten with a crowbar until they stopped moving. Anyways, it’s Animal Sentai Zyuohger, episode 31! Here we GO!

-PREVIOUSLY ON Animal Sentai Zyuohger, Bunglay tried to go whaling. And made a whale very, very mad.

-PRESENTLY ON Animal Sentai Zyuohger, everyone’s trying to recover in the cabin, particularly Sela and Misao. After a brief comedy bit with Mario, Tusk’s got a traditional remedy, but a lot of this is just going to have to be slept off…

-While Cube Eagle searches the night skies, with Eagle at the helm…Why would Cube Whale turn on him like that…What happened to you, Cube Whale?

-Opening!

-Episode 31: When the Mega-Beast Stands

-Back up in the Big Bow, Genis lays out how he started secretly looking for whatever Bunglay was wanting…And seeing it as a very viable tool for the game. But to think Bunglay was willing to use something so base and vulgar as poison…Something must be making him impatient, don’t you think, Kubar?

-And Naria reports that Cube Whale has finally stopped in a lake…So it’s time for her to go out, in a custom GIFT mech…

-In the morning, Eagle finds Cube Whale in turn…And Sela and Misao are both forced to stay behind. The others just got flesh wounds, they can fight, but you two need to clear this shit out of your system.

-So Misao and Sela are left on their own, and of course, Misao’s dealing with tons of guilt as per usual. Not just his usual stuff, but…He feels like he’s the only one not contributing. Like he needs to do more, somehow…

-And Sela…Well, she can at least respect that. But it’s time they had a real talk.

-Bunglay, meanwhile, is looking for his prize…When Kubar comes to chat with him. And reveal what he knows…

-As Yamato finds Cube Whale…Whoooo is completely ignoring him.

-Back at the cabin, Sela lays out that Misao is, ultimately, trying too damn hard. She gets the drive to self improve. She gets the anxiety about not being respected. And she’s not saying don’t work hard, just…You’ve got to be willing to calm down, to breathe, or you’re just going to end up flailing at your problems without actually solving them….And that’s when they both realize they don’t feel weighed down by poison anymore. The toxins have been neutralized! They’ve got to get out there!

-As Yamato is trying to figure out how to get through to Cube Whale, who’s put up a literal wall of water to block him out…While across the lake, Naria prepares her tools, only for Tiger, Lion and Elephant to arrive! The fight is on immediately, with them trying to get to Naria, and force her into combat…Combat that she’s plenty good at.

-Yamato thinks, and thinks…And realizes his mistake. Cube Whale did not choose Cetas. No, he was born of Cetas’s will, and of the Earth’s strength…They were forged as one…Cube Whale has never known another…And he realizes just how far he’ll have to go, to be worthy of standing beside Cube Whale…

-Which is about when Bunglay finds him, and Instincts Awakened! Eagle splits a shot from Bunglay apart, keeping it from hitting Cube Whale, as the fight is on! Eagle won’t ask you to fight by their side, Cube Whale…But know this! You’re under their protection! He’ll keep you safe! Bunglay calls bullshit, leaping past Eagle…

-Only to get snared by Misao and Sela, who haul him in! And oh, now they’re mad. This just got personal. Instincts Awakened! Shark and The World(Crocodile ver.) leap into the fray, furious and full of will…

-As Naria manages to knock the other three back long enough to kick the mech straight to big formation. She lands it right into the lake, ready to snatch Cube Whale up! And this isn’t just the same GIFT they fought before…It’s a custom variant, made specifically for this, as it bombards the entire coast! And to make it worse, Bunglay still wants his prize, as Eagle is forced to unleash the Gorilla and hold him back…Everyone, get a mech going and hold her off! He’s got Bunglay!

-And so, they’re quickly marching in with Wild Tousai King, as the mecha fight begins…And this Custom mech is strong enough to stand against them, as Gorilla continues his fight against Bunglay…Both fights just turn into utter slobberknockers, with our heroes getting put down hard…Eagle even forced to take shot after shot to keep them from reaching Cube Whale, as Naria puts Wild Tousai King on the ground and prepares to finish them all off…

-And through it all…Cube Whale watches. And sees how these six youths fight. As Eagle brings up both his swords, blocking one ferocious slash from Bunglay, holding the energy back…As the other five climb and haul themselves back onto their command cubes, forcing their mech to rise…!

-This planet. And this great creature. Are UNDER THEIR PROTECTION!

-And that…That is what gets through to Cube Whale, as it sees the same honor as its old partner in young Eagle…A humble human, with a heart the size of a whale’s…A single shot of his spout fires out a massive spear to land by Eagle’s feet, a spear that he takes up as the music swells…And which can match up against Bunglay’s anchors, not just holding him back but overpowering him! In fact, the weapon’s large enough, strong enough…That he can throw it and manage to knick the shoulder on Naria’s mech! Cube Whale, now’s your chance!

-CUBE WHALE! The spear locks into its spout once more, as the great whale rises, calling up the Grand Champion Symbol….

-And so, Instincts Awakened! WHALE! Infused with its power, the Champion of Champions steps forth to join this noble beast of the sea…To stand together as one! They take to the sky, beginning a barrage upon Naria’s mech to force it back…But that’s not the only trick this old whale has! Charge up the Symbol…

-And forge, DODEKAI-OH! With the spear at mecha scale, the champion’s armour stands once again! Strike after strike crash into Naria’s mech, forcing it to stagger…And despite Dodekai-Oh’s bulk, it’s a fast thing, able to block everything she can throw at it and finally force the mech back! To give enough room to crunch that spear down into a crossbow shape, line up the shot, and…Dodekai-OCEAN SPLASH! The spear tip fires as countless bolts, cutting through the mech, as Naria struggles to hold the line…

-And Genis makes the call. Retreat, Naria. Leave the mech to fall. She returns, bringing a memory device with her, as the mech bursts into fire…

-Leaving Whale to give thanks, that Cube Whale so honored him with this opportunity. Thank you, for everything. And Bunglay slowly, but surely, staggers away…He’ll be back…

-In the aftermath back at the cabin, Cube Whale has joined the other Cube Animals, massive even at the small scale. And also Misao is too forward with this great creature.

-While up in the Big Bow, Genis accepts the memory device…And now, he has what he needs. They don’t need to capture Cube Whale now…Not when he has the data from it…

-Credits! Sou-wolfully! You rhi-know just what to do!

I’m not gonna lie, Dodekai-Oh is a little clunky, but that had some really good character beats. It’ll be interesting to see how they work it into the dynamic, and if it can be more than just another big stomp Minecraft-mech. I guess we’ll see next time, in episode THIRTY TWO of Animal Sentai Zyuohger! Wait for it!

[talesofzero]

La Douleur Exquise - Ch. 9

Leijiverse Brothel AU; Chapter 9 - The Case of Beige 

I’ve been on a bit of a break from Leijiverse writing, but here’s a Christmas present for @not-actually-harry-potter who is very sweet and deserves many things, including a chapter about anger Daiba.

There are too many Zeros in the Leijiverse, and I should stop pulling such obscure characters.

~5600 words

Captain needed a new rule - all clients needed to strip before all the sex stuff. The assholes kept trying to sneak stuff in under their clothes. Next time one of the guys tried to tell me they had nice clients and that not all clients were human-shaped dumpsters, I would remind them of the client who was stupid enough to not only rough-up Mamoru but also to stab me with a tiny pocket knife.

He should have brought a bigger knife if he wanted to do any real damage. I guess a bigger one wouldn’t have fit in his boot, but the small one fit into my side with all the force of a bug bite. His grip made for an easy target. Grabbing his wrist with one hand, I slammed the heel of the other into the back of his elbow. The resounding crunch of his bones sent him into a screaming fit. I didn’t even have to kick him down. He dropped to the floor on his own, cradling his arm.

Left his stupid, tiny knife in my side though, asshole. As soon as I yanked it out, blood spread out along my sleep shirt in a heated pool. “This had better wash out,” I growled as I tugged my wristband off and slapped it on the client’s arm instead. The band lit up in a bright flash of blue, turning the bastard turned into a twitchy mess. Captain made me use weird shit to put down clients. Beating them bloody would have worked just fine, but he insisted on tasing or drugs to knock them out. That just wasn’t satisfying enough. The bastards deserved a few good breaks and bruises.

But whatever. Captain’s orders.

With the client glitching out like a busted hologram on the floor, I stepped over him and up to Mamoru. The Kodais never had trouble when they were together, but being alone left them open to danger, and Mamoru worked to blink away a daze. Blood dripped from his lips. Judging by the way his cheek was starting to bruise, his teeth had cut into the inside. “Come on,” I said, taking him by the arm to lead him to his feet. “Let’s get you away from this bastard. I’ll get Captain to take care of him.”

Mamoru stumbled like the carpet was sliding out from under his feet. His hands landed on my shoulders for stability. “Can’t believe he hit my face,” he said as I dragged him toward the door. “I need that.”

“Next time you decide to take a dick of a client, tell him to hit you in the brain since you sure don’t need that.”

He whined like an abused dog, but judging by his cutesy pout, he was just fishing for sympathy. “Daiba, be nice to me. I just got beat up.”

“Yeah-yeah.” As I snapped the door shut, the wound in my side seemed to sink its fangs in deeper. I couldn’t hold back a wince.

Mamoru must not have been that dazed because he noticed. “What’s wrong?” But even before the question was all the way out of his mouth, his eyes found the blood that had crept its way toward the buttons of my shirt. The grip on my shoulder became a vise, spinning me to face him. “Is that your blood? Daiba!?”

“It’s fine,” I said with a shrug. When the panic didn’t leave his eyes, I held up the knife, still coated in my blood. “It’s such a small knife. It couldn’t do much.”

Fear iced over his expression, and though he opened his mouth, nothing came out at first. The claws in my shoulder dragged me toward the second flight of stairs. When he did speak, his voice was so thin that it sounded lost in a breeze. “We’re taking you to the infirmary.”

“We need to tell Captain about the client.”

“I will tell him! But we need for you to stop bleeding. Shit, Daiba, you got stabbed!”

“It’s whatever.”

Mamoru started chewing my ear off like he wasn’t the one who’d gotten his ass kicked in the first place. I was a bodyguard. Getting in fights and taking hits was my job, but all the guys yelled at me when I did what I was supposed to. Even before I started work at the brothel, it was like that.

They shouldn’t have cared. No one should have. Where I came from, useless street kids were as plentiful as the rats and heaps of trash littering the planet. All I did there was fight, and no one cared. Well, the guys whose asses I kicked might have cared, but I sure as hell didn’t.

I didn’t pay enough attention to remember which gang was which. They all flaunted dumb names like “White Tigers” or “Poison Fang,” but they were all the same. A bunch of weak dogs roaming in packs to look tougher. I let them be as long as they didn’t bother me. The burned husk of an apartment on Fifth Street was mine, and they knew that. As long as they kept away, I didn’t care enough to fight them.

Their heads were too damn big, though. Bastards always picked a fight when I went out into the streets. The worst bunch was some group named after a shark or fish or whatever. I got to know them too well for my liking. Because of that, I recognized the sounds of their voices in time to stop me from turning down one of my usual haunts.

“You’re clearly not from around here,” the one with the tattooed face said. “So I guess you don’t know the rules.”

“Yeah, just give us your stuff,” chimed in another voice I matched to a scrawny guy in my memories who’d been egging the rest on in our last brawl. That bastard was going to hurt. He’d been the one to throw in the pipe that busted my leg. The all-too-familiar sound of the hollow metal ringing and scraping along the concrete echoed out from the alley.

The third voice sent my blood boiling. “We don’t need any violence,” he said, the same one who’d swung that pipe into my leg like an ax to a tree. I’d been dragging around a limp for days, trying to avoid fights while it recovered. Being injured would slow me down, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to dish out some revenge.

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” someone I didn’t recognize added. “You would not come out unscathed. Walk away, and we can leave this.” He sounded older than any of the gang kids. Though his voice was calm, it held the dark edge of a threat.

Whatever. I’d kick his ass too if I had to.

He made for a helpful distraction as I launched myself around the corner. Tattoo turned just in time for my elbow to shatter his nose. When he hunched over to clutch at his face, my knee met his gut. For all his talk, he went down in a heap without a fight.

Scrawny came next. He was too tall for my elbows and knees to be much help. I couldn’t chance breaking my fingers on his ugly mug, so I punched him in the throat instead. People always try to curl in on themselves when they take a bad hit, try to hunker down and protect everything vital. That made my job easier because I was cursed to be short. Once Scrawny ducked his head enough to be in my range, I grabbed a fistful of his hair and smashed his face into the brick wall.

That left Pipe, who forced me to jump back as he aimed to crack my skull open. My right leg staggered under me, protesting my weight with nauseating flashes of pain. A strangled yelp tore up my throat, and Pipe’s eyes lit up with a sadistic recognition. “I remember you,” he laughed as his pipe swung back around and cracked into my leg again.

I had to hiss air between my teeth to keep from screaming. The pain burned so hot that the rest of my body seemed chilled. The deafening crack of a blaster cut through the air, and I found Pipe clutching his empty hand to his chest with a wince. His weapon clattered to the ground.

As the burnt smell of the gunshot tinged the air, the last man in the alley steadied his aim again and spoke in such a low voice that it could have been a growl. “Leave.”

I wasn’t going to fuck with anyone wielding a gun, but while the other bastards scurried off back to whatever pits they crawled out of, my first step brought the ground up to meet me. My leg roared with pain so overwhelming that my eyelids fluttered before I could yank them back open.

“There’s no way you’re moving on that,” the gunman said. The edge was gone from his voice, replaced with a flat drawl of reality. He sounded far too close for my liking. “Stay still.”                                                                                             

He hung over me, close enough that I could see the dark brown of his one eye even in the dim light from our moons. His arm clutched me around the shoulders, keeping me upright. He could fuck right off with all of that.

“Don’t touch me!” I sent a jab straight for his face, but the crushing grip of his hand caught mine.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said as I tried to yank my hand free. “You helped me, and I appreciate it.”

“I didn’t fight them to help you,” I snarled. Only when I let the tension out of my arm did he release his grip. “I just had some business with those assholes. If you came to this planet looking like that, you’re dumb enough that you deserve to get jumped.”

Gunman had clothes so nice I’d only seen them in pictures. It seemed too fancy, like a costume. “Maybe, but I could handle them,” he said. I wanted to tell him that a gun wouldn’t save him forever, but his hand pressed on my thigh where the damned pipe had just hit. He may not have put any pressure on the bruise. I couldn’t tell. Just the weight of his hand was enough to send my stomach rolling from the pain. Exhaustion hit me like a wall, my eyes rolling back.

“Damn,” he hissed. His voice was enough for me to grab onto to stay conscious, shaking away the dark edges on my vision. “That’s, uh, not good.”

“S’fine,” I said. “Get away from me.”

“My name is Harlock,” he said like I’d asked. “I employ a doctor. Let me take you to him.”

I may not have gone to school much, but I was not that stupid. Too many of the other guys on the streets went missing for me to trust some rich asshole with a gun. “Hell no!”

“Then let me contact your family-”

“Don’t have one.”

Silence bit at us for a breath. “Sorry,” he said. “I suppose I should have known. Listen, I understand why you wouldn’t want to trust me, but I came to this planet looking for someone to hire - a bodyguard. I know a number of skilled mercenaries work in this area, so that was my original intent, but why don’t you let me hire you instead? You seem plenty capable.”

“Thought you said you could handle yourself.” My words tinged with a slur. Sleep pulled at me like grasping hands reaching from the ground.

“You wouldn’t be guarding me. You’d be looking after my employees.”

“Who’re they? I don’t look after assholes.” I’d never looked after anyone but myself. Gangs weren’t for me. I couldn’t get along with anyone else, and Harlock didn’t know what he was talking about. Or he was lying. That seemed more likely.

“No,” he said. “You’ll be fighting the assholes.”

“I’ll consider it.” Considering time was a half-second, and that was enough to assure me Harlock was bad news. “No,” I decided.

“Let me get you to a doctor regardless.”

“I’m fine.” I would have been even better if he would have let go of me, actually.

Harlock heaved a sigh. “Look, I’m not a medical professional, and even I can tell that leg is broken.”

He was obviously no professional because my leg was not broken, just bruised. I would have noticed a break. “Really?” I drawled in disbelief. “And how are you so sure?”

“I can feel the bone sticking out of place”

“Bullshit!” When I placed my hand on my thigh, though, I could feel the way my skin had shifted in an uneven ridge beneath the fabric of my pants. “Well… It’ll heal eventually.” The pain didn’t seem like enough to be a break, so I guessed it could have been some knot instead. After all, I could still move my leg. As I pulled my knee inward, aiming to stand, the pain morphed into a tidal wave that dragged me under. My vision slipped to black, and I could hear Harlock barking something. None of it was clear enough to understand.

All I could make sense of was the pain until that blinked out too.

I woke in what must have been a hospital room. Too damn bright and white to be anything else. I had to squint to make out much of anything. The bed was the first I’d slept on in ages that didn’t jab me with metal springs. As my eyes adjusted, I spotted a man standing at my side. He wore a dark green uniform I didn’t recognize. His hair was so silky and neat that it looked more like a cat’s fur than hair. Brunet strands framed his face and dark brown eyes, which focused on the drip feed of some drug. The tube leading from the vial hooked to a needle port in the crook of my arm. My hand shot to it, ready to free myself from whatever he was using to drug me.

“Don’t,” he said, so sharp and sudden that I froze. His gaze had not left the clear liquid. “That’s just going to hurt. If you try to take it out, I’ll give you a bigger needle to replace it, so calm yourself. It’s just an antibiotic.”

Though I didn’t pull the needle free, I kept my hand on the port as I eyed him. “Who are you?”

“You are an idiot.” Still not looking at me, he gestured to the patch on his sleeve. The embroidered red x looked like the symbols on first aid kits I stole. That made him a walking first aid kit, I guessed.

“I’m not an idiot,” I snapped. “Doctors are supposed to wear white coats, so what are you?”

When his gaze did turn to me, the snobby irritation in his voice and expression did not change. “I am a medical sexaroid. Call me Zero if you must, though Doctor works as well. I am the one who fixed you, so you should be thankful.”

Thankful, my ass. I wasn’t staying anywhere with some fucked-up sex robot.

“I’ve set your broken leg,” he continued, “and I saw to your skull fracture. You must have had that for some time. I imagine the headaches were troublesome, and you must have been bleeding from your eyes, yes?”

That was enough to keep me put. “How’d you know?”

“Doc-tor,” he repeated with emphasis.

Though I held back some choice insults, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Okay, how’d you know, Doctor?”

His expression remained dull as he breathed a slow sigh. “The brain damage must have been worse than I thought. It doesn’t matter. I fixed what I could. I also cleaned out the infection in your lungs, and I removed that disgusting lice infestation from your hair. When was the last time you even bathed? Actually, I don’t want to know.”

For a robot, he was a huge dick. I guessed the robotic laws didn’t apply to emotional harm, not that he looked like a robot. He could have just been lying to be an even bigger dick.

“The last thing that needs proper attention is the malnourishment,” he said, crossing his arms, “and that is a simple fix. Some food will be brought shortly.”

He didn’t move when I reached up and poked at his cheek. Though he did feel like skin, he was cold and stiff like a corpse. “You don’t look like a robot,” I said.

He batted my hand away as he spoke. “Android. Not a robot. It’s in the name - sexa-roid.”

“Yeah, I’m more worried about the sex part. What the fuck is up with that?”

“It’s a catch-all term. The original sexaroids were built with an obvious, carnal purpose in mind, but as we were further developed, our uses became varied. My creator didn’t like calling me a sexaroid, but technically I am one due to some overlapping mechanics. Trying to have sex with me is not recommended, though, and will result in removal of some non-vital parts.”

As he spoke, I worked my way into a proper sitting position despite whatever drugs were weighing me down. I felt no less confused when he finished. “Is it that people can’t have sex with you, or that you don’t want them to?” I asked.

“Yes. Now stop asking stupid questions or you’ll be getting your pills the other way.”

“What other way?”

His dim eyes blinked twice before he shook his head. “Nevermind. Your food is here.”

Before I could tell him he was malfunctioning, the door across the room swung inward. Another man, older looking than the sex robot doctor but still not that old, strode in focused on the tray of dishes in his hands. His brow knitted in concentration as he tried to keep whatever was on there from spilling. When he did look my way, his eyes brightened like an eager puppy’s. “So good to see you up,” he said. “I made you some food.”

He could have brought me anything, laced with poison or drugs or whatever, and I would have scarfed it down. My stomach seemed to be eating itself, turning into a gaping hole in my gut. I was always hungry.

What he set down across my lap was actually damn good, just about the best thing I’d ever eaten. It was some kind of potato soup, so warm it heated me from my chest to my fingers and toes. The man had to tell me not to eat it too fast because I all-but gagged myself on the spoon in my rush.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said with a smile. “I don’t get such compliments on my cooking often.”

I hadn’t said anything, too busy chewing on the spoon. He didn’t seem to mind.

“My name is Warrius Zero. I work here.”

My eyes narrowed as I looked back to the doctor. “Wasn’t your name Zero too? Is this some kind of cult?” And if Second Zero worked at the hospital, he sure didn’t dress for the part. He had the same sort of fancy costume that I’d seen on Harlock.

“If you must know, my creator named me after him,” the doctor said. “Now shut up and drink your water.”

Glaring at him out of the corner of my eye, I chugged the water and slammed the empty glass back down on the tray. Despite my attempt at defiance, he smirked.

“Would you mind giving us your name as well?” Second Zero asked, still with that kind smile.

“I don’t like to give my name out to weirdos in suspicious hospitals.” Or anyone else, honestly. No one needed my name. It wasn’t as though we were going to be pals.

“If you tell me your name, I’ll bring you more soup.”

“Daiba. Tadashi Daiba.”

He was good on his word, and as I ate two more bowls of soup, I found myself with more odd visitors. The hospital had a weird dress code because they all wore a rainbow of vests. First came the alien, who didn’t say anything but looked so starry-eyed as he clasped my hands that I couldn’t bring myself to dislike him. The guy called Dick lived up to his name, an annoying prick. He kept trying to ruffle my hair until I bit him. The brothers were fine, kind of weird with their constant arguing, but they didn’t try to touch me beyond a handshake.

My first non-guy visitor also didn’t wear a stupid vest. She dressed casually and appraised me with the same suspicion I gave her. “How old are you?” she asked.

Not that it was any of her business, but I set to counting back the winters, trying to recall how long it had been since my last proper birthday. My planet had about two cycles for every Earth one, so that was…

“Fourteen? Fifteen?” I looked up from my fingers. I didn’t have enough to help me count. “I don’t know.”

“Oh jeez.” Her head listed to the side, and her arms crossed. “Well, you’re not exactly what I asked for, but I’ve heard good things about your fighting ability. It’ll be nice to work with you once you’re back on your feet. I’m Kei, also a bodyguard.”

My spine shot straight. “I didn’t agree to that job! And I didn’t ask for anyone’s help, so I don’t owe any of you anything.” If they expected payment or servitude for fixing me up, they would be sorely disappointed.  

Her smile turned into a smirk. “Too bad. You’re stuck with us now. With how rough you were when the captain brought you in, there’s no way the boys are going to let you go back to that planet. What did you even do to wind up like that?”

That wasn’t her business either, and I was not going to let her gloss over the more important topic. “What do you mean ‘back to that planet?’ Where the hell are we? I’m leaving! You can’t keep me here!”

“You’re on a satellite,” Harlock said as he slipped in like a shadow through the open door. “You have no money for transportation, so unless you have some other method of space traversal, you’d do well to make yourself comfortable for the time being.” He placed himself beside Kei, his expression stony in response to my glare. “Sorry for taking so long to come see you. You seem to be doing much better. I’m glad. Now before you try to attack me-”

I wasn’t just going to try. I was going to destroy him.

“-I’m going to once again offer you the position of bodyguard for Arcadia.”

“Arcadia? The whorehouse?” I’d heard whispers of it back home, a place notorious for being outside of the law’s reach. “Is this sex trafficking? What the fuck!?”

The doctor sighed as I tried to launch myself out of the bed to kick Harlock’s ass. I forgot about the cast on my leg. The awkward extra weight dragged me down, and my cheek smacked against the icy floor.

“You’d be a bodyguard for the sex workers, not one yourself,” Harlock said as Kei picked me up by the scruff of my hospital gown and tossed me back into bed. “You already met them, all of the prostitutes in my employment.”

The only people I’d met were all those guys, so they must have been the whores. While I didn’t know what a whore was supposed to look like, I had a feeling those guys weren’t typical. That also brought up some weird questions about those brothers that I wasn’t sure I wanted the answers to.

“Your job would be to subdue any clients who aim to bring harm to my employees,” Harlock continued. “I have strict rules of consent, and I don’t tolerate troublesome clients. They tend to be quite wealthy and think they can get away with whatever they’d like because of it. If you need to rough them up some to get the message across, that’s fine by me.”

If I’d been kidnapped just so I could fight for them, I wasn’t sure I could be mad about it. Fighting was all I was good at, all I knew how to do. I didn’t mind having to crack a few skulls in exchange for having all the lice gone. Damn things drove me crazy, so I would have killed a man if it meant being rid of them. Getting to wail on some affluent assholes was just a plus. “So I’d just get to beat up rich bastards?” I asked.

Harlock shrugged. “More or less.”

Damn, I would have done that for free.

“Okay, I’ll work here, but only if I get more food.”

“That was easy,” Kei muttered.

A smile tugged at Harlock’s lips. “Your meals will be covered along with your room. I’m happy to have you aboard, Daiba.”

“Great, so can I get more potato soup?”

That soup was the first meal anyone had made for me in years. Monono’s cooking was great, and I loved all the sweets Kei brought from far-off places for me to try, but nothing beat that soup. It was every warmth and comfort Arcadia had given me. Every time I wound up in the infirmary with that asshole doctor, Zero would make it for me. Even when he was half-asleep at 3 AM.

I’d lost some time to the drugs Doctor gave me for surgery, but when I woke, Mamoru was sitting on the cot beside mine as his brother berated him. The two of them both had bowls of soup in their hands, and Zero was dozing in a chair near the foot of my bed. When Doctor noticed me awake, he helped me ease into a sitting position. As he handed me my own bowl of soup, he said that Harlock had taken care of the stab-happy client.

That was all I knew about what happened to bad clients - Harlock “took care” of them. I got to throw out troublemakers, but the real sick bastards I just put down. After Harlock took over, I never saw them again, and that was fine by me.

Other than the dark stain of a bruise on his cheek, Mamoru looked alright. “It won’t happen again,” he was telling his brother. “I was just careless. I’ll be more careful.”

No, I was careless. I should have gotten to him faster, should have noticed the client was trouble at the beginning. If I’d been any slower, that knife could have done some real damage. I would not let that happen again.

“Daiba’s the one to be upset over,” Mamoru continued when the concern didn’t ease from Susumu’s face. “Go fret about him. Doc gave me an all clear, not even a concussion. There’s no need to worry.”

After adjusting the drip of whatever he was drugging me with this round, Doctor sighed and went over to Zero, who was two seconds from falling out of the chair. Doctor hooked his arm under Zero’s and pulled him to his feet, murmuring, “Let’s just get you to bed before there’s another injury, alright?”

Zero’s head lolled as he fought to hold onto some form of consciousness. “Hm? What? Where are we going? Is Daiba okay?”

Their voices echoed as they reached the hall. “Daiba is fine. He’s too stubborn to let a knife bother him. Now how does sleep sound?”

“Sleep is good. I love sleep. I love you.”

“Right, yes, I love you too.”

“Zero’s cute when he’s tired,” Mamoru said. “And he’s got the right idea. I should get back to my room before Doc wants to run any more tests. You should get some sleep too, Susumu. Your client is coming tomorrow.”

Susumu’s lips tightened to a thin line as he helped his brother to his feet. Whether he was upset about Mamoru’s condition, or the idea of his client, I wasn’t sure, but I hated that royal bastard. His smug face and sweeping, flashy mannerisms made me want to knock him out. Mamoru and Susumu almost never had troubles with clients when they were together. Weird as it was, I hoped the two of them could pair up again. I wanted that royal guy gone as soon as possible. As much as I hated him, though, I hoped he wouldn’t give me a reason to kick his ass.

Mamoru came up to my side and squeezed me in a bone-crushing hug until Susumu barked at him about my stitches. While I wanted to be angry at him too, I didn’t hate the hugs. The guys didn’t need to know it. I wasn’t going to say I wanted hugs or anything. I didn’t, really, but I wasn’t going to say no to one if the guys wanted to hug me.

Unless it was Dick because he could fuck off.

“Thanks, kid,” Mamoru said as he pulled away. “But next time don’t scare me like that, alright?”

“I’m fine,” I reminded him.

“I know, and I know it’s your job to look after us, but I’m still allowed to worry when you get hurt.”

When Susumu hugged me, he clung like static, pressed tight with his face buried in my shoulder. “Thank you for looking after my idiot brother,” he murmured. “I know this room can be cold. Do you need anything?”

He didn’t let go, still hanging on me, so I put my arms around him too. Unsure what else to do, I patted his back. “I wish I could go back to my room, but I know the doctor won’t let me,” I said.

“Yeah, he’s stubborn,” Susumu sighed, pulling back with a worn smile. “But don’t worry. We’ll take care of it.”

As they headed for the hall, Mamoru whispered, “We will?”

Susumu said something I couldn’t hear in return, but I could see him smiling. They didn’t turn off the lights when they left. The Doctor would if he felt like it.

Putting my bowl aside on the table, I eased myself back down despite the ache in my side. I swore it hurt more after the stitches, feeling like it might tear open again at any moment. Once I’d flopped onto my back, though, the pain fell away. Sleep came easy for the two seconds I was allowed to have it.

“Hey, Daiba.”

I cracked one eye open to find one staring back in return. Kneeling at my side, Captain forced a weak smile and started patting my hair. “Sorry to wake you, but I took care of him. He won’t come back.”

“Of course.” My words slurred in rebellion. “You always do, Captain.”

He never touched me except to drag me away from bad clients, so the patting confused me. The fear burning his eye was unnatural too, something he never let show. “I’ll be more careful in checking for weapons,” he breathed more than said. “I’m very sorry.”

Oh, guilt. That was it. Captain didn’t need to feel guilty for my sake. None of them did, yet it kept happening. I was just their shield, a thing to be used. They didn’t need to feel bad for a shield when it took a hit. If I broke, that was my own fault, not theirs. They’d done enough for me, taking me in and looking after my wounds, making me food, giving me affection in their own weird ways. In return, I would take a knife or a bullet. Anything for them. The only ones who’d ever cared about me.

“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s not the first time I’ve been stabbed.”

Captain winced. “You are a magnet for trouble, you know?” he sighed, standing. Some form of a kiss brushed against my forehead and bangs. “You did a good job, Daiba. Get some rest.”

He flicked the light off as he slipped out, and once again, I fell into a doze. And once again, someone dragged me out of it.

The bed shifted under the weight of heavy hands and knees. “Daiba, are you okay?” whispered a small voice, so sweet I swore I’d get a toothache just from hearing him. “Susumu said you got stabbed.” Looking like he might collapse and fall asleep against me at any moment, Tadashi sat at my side in his pink pajamas, lips drawn to a pout.

“I-I’m alright.” But my face was getting hot. He was close enough that sitting up would have knocked our heads together, not that I could sit up easily. “You can go back to bed.”

Tadashi nodded. “The Kodais said it’s cold in here, but don’t worry,” he said through a yawn. Tugging up the blankets, he settled himself under them and flopped his head down against my pillow. “I will help.”

Though he seemed to pass out in seconds, I could no longer grasp sleep. Our noses almost touched in the small space of the bed. Had either of us been any bigger, it wouldn’t have worked, but he was so small. My hand trembled as I reached beneath the sheets and took hold of his. He slept on without a twitch, yet I felt a burning in my chest. Like the potato soup but painful. Like wanting to cry, maybe.

I hadn’t cried in so long. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like, but he made me remember. He made me want to as I pressed myself closer to him and listened to his soft breathing. No one was allowed to get near him. He was too small, too fragile. No one but me.

[b-else-writes]

the tiger shark and the sun

New chapter posted for my Star Wars/Avatar the Last Airbender-RebelCaptain fusion AU! It’s Southern Raiders time! Feat: forgiveness, compassion, murder, and tender hugs

Read on AO3 | Read from start

Pairings: Jyn/Cassian, minor Han/Leia and Baze/Chirrut, random minor background pairings

Rating: T

Summary: Star Wars/Avatar the Last Airbender fusion AU. The Fire Nation, under  Fire Lord Palpatine and Lord Vader, has been at War with the world for  the last twenty years. When Jyn Erso lands on his doorstep the day  Cassian, last southern waterbender, is assigned to protect the Avatar,  she seems just another obstacle in ending the War. An obstacle he would  willingly remove. For exiled firebender Jyn, the Avatar is her last way  home - and to her hostaged father, never mind her own conscience. But as  their paths keep crossing, and the Avatar needs all help in saving the  world, Jyn and Cassian find they are more alike than they ever thought  possible.

Snippet under the cut!

Jyn rubbed her eyes, sitting up from the sleeping mat on the floor. At Cassian’s suggestion, the group had collectively decided to sleep in the central atrium out of worry that they’d been followed. Jyn glanced over at him, curled up beside his nasty lizard. He had seemed…disappointed in her for joining up with Han.

I’m not trying to get us caught, Jyn had wanted to insist. But it felt stupid, like a child caught out. What she and Han had done was selfish. If she could just explain that she’d understood Han’s guilt, that she wanted to protect him, that… She sighed, covering her face with her hands. Why was it so difficult for her and Cassian to have a proper conversation?

 Because you almost kissed him and then stabbed him in the back, stupid.

Jyn scowled, getting to her feet. Stretching out her arms and feeling a nice crack of her back, she ambled towards the edge of the atrium platform. She looked out. The clouds were shifting. Swirling as though something were rising up. There was rumbling in the distance.

“Wake up!” she yelled, as an explosive hit the wall behind them. Jyn ducked. Chirrut scrabbled, throwing up a rock shield over them. Stone clattered down around the panicking, half-awake group.

Three airships rose out of the mist, firing down on the Western Air City. Seizing her staff, Enfys airbent a great gust. Several metal doors slammed shut, sealing the atrium closed. They could hear loud booms outside. The entire building shook. Cracks darted across the ceiling. “Start earthbending a tunnel down to the river!” Cassian said, harrying a bleary-eyed Luke, Leia, and Chirrut.

The building shook again. One of the exterior pillars shattered. Sunlight rapidly poured in. Jyn’s eyes tracked a large piece of cracking ceiling, and its trajectory…

“Watch out!” she yelled, slamming into Cassian’s mid-section. They hit the ground, Cassian grunting. A split-second later, rocks crashed down where he’d stood. Jyn gasped, looking around wildly. She felt his larger frame beneath hers.

Cassian cleared his throat. In a strangled voice, he said, “Jyn, you can get off me now.”

“Right. Right.”

Awkwardly, she slid off. Cassian wasn’t looking at her. Jyn scrambled to her feet. Chirrut and the twins had earthbent a tunnel. Grabbing their packs, the group ran towards it. Jyn paused, glancing back towards the sealed metal doors. One of them crunched inwards.

“Go to the Falcon!” Jyn yelled, turning back around, “I’m going to hold them off.”

“Jyn, no!”

She ran. A bomb struck the atrium, smashing through the metal and rock. Jyn bent a shield of fire, bursting out into blinding sunlight. The atrium pillars were beginning to collapse. A fourth airship rose out of the clouds. Standing on it was a black clad figure.

“Erso,” Vader boomed, “I should have killed you.”

Jyn snarled. As the pillars collapsed, falling across the chasm, she ran. As the pillar’s head approached, Jyn took a running leap. She sailed through the air. Fire burst from her hands. She punched two fire fists off. Vader shot a burst of fire straight at her. Jyn twisted in mid-air, slicing through with her heel. She landed on the stretched-skin of the airship in a roll.

Vader was power itself. She could feel his surprise that she was keeping up – nowhere close to beating. But she’d survive him. He blasted through her offense. She sent two punches of rainbow flame straight at him. He knocked them aside with one lazy swipe. Jyn dropped to her feet, sweeping out a wave of fire. Vader leapt over it. Closer, closer…

As she blocked his waves of flame, her right fist came up. Vader did the same. Their blasts met in one massive wave of fire.

The explosion rocked Hynestia.

The shockwave threw her backwards. Vader was pushed the other way, catching herself. Jyn scrabbled for handholds. She skidded over the airship skin. Then she was plunging through space. She couldn’t stop the scream as she fell down towards the river below. The water was rising up to greet her – Mama, Papa – Cassian, I’m sorry –

Something caught her.

She gasped, wind knocked straight out of her. Something warm and remarkably sturdy… Jyn looked up. Cassian was holding her. He had bent a huge waterspout to meet her half-way. Cassian had saved her life, just as he had done in Jedha.

His eyes were focused on the water as he bent them down towards the Falcon. Jyn tried not to squirm in his arms in embarrassment. Did he know how she felt? Surely not. When he dropped them onto the Falcon’s deck, she moved away as quickly as possible. Cassian blinked, then stepped awkwardly back as well. She had brought Vader here. The Falcon peeled away, following the river’s ribbon out to sea, leaving the burning Air City behind.

“Wait, where are Luke and Leia?” she said, glancing around wildly. Cassian pointed upwards, face blank. Jyn looked up at him, aghast.

keep reading

[mushroommushy]

Tw: Gore

This will be a twist on the episode from season 4 of Octonauts, "Tiger Shark". What might've happened had things gone differently.

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Tweak made a small sigh as she finally managed to fasten the 'Sandy Cam' as she had nicknamed it to the hard shell of her sea-dwelling friend. "There we go! The cam is on Sandy!" She said, wiping her forehead to push the strands of long hair that had fallen into her face. Grabbing a fresh carrot from the fin of the vegimal beside her, she took a quick bite, the familiar crunch of the vegetable erupting in her mouth. From the corner of her vision, she caught Barrot hiding behind a cart. A slight chuckle escaped her mouth. 'Poor thing still thinks I'm gonna eat him..'

Turning her attention back to the turtle in front of her, she gave a tug to the harness holding the camera in place. "All secure, Sandy!" She confirmed with another bite of her snack. "Dashi, open the octohatch for her!" She requested, casting a sideways glance at the fellow crewmate. The dog gave her a smile. "Already on it, Tweak!" A pull on the red labeled lever and a bit of bubbles rose from the bottom of the launch bay and her friend sunk under the water. "Bye Sandy!" She called, waving with her green-furred paw.

The large turtle gave a little wave of a flipper before gliding through the hatch to exit the mechanical ship. As she entered the water it gave her a little shiver of happiness to be back out in the open water before heading off in the direction of the reef, her flippers propelling her forward hastily.

Back inside the octonaut, Dashi pushed on a button and the screen flickered to life, showing a live feed of Sandy's surroundings. "We should get Shellington down here to look at this." Dashi spoke softly. The rabbit beside her shifted the pink ribbon tied around her head. "I have a better idea."

Soon, the three of them were settled down in the game pod, snuggled into the comfy bean bags and sipping cool smoothies as the cam showed the colorful reef surrounding Sandy. Fish of millions of colors were blurs as the turtle sped ahead, heading through tunnels and under ledges of coral. A smile spread across Tweak's face. "Whoever says Turtles are slow has never seen Sandy swim." Shellington was listing off the species of fish swimming past the cam as if it was counting the alphabet. No matter how long she could practice, she doubted she could ever do that. Even when she was raised in the Everglades with her father she had struggled to remember names of the species of creatures in her home area.

A pod of bottlenose dolphins darted past, fearful looks in their eyes and ushering the young ones in front of them with their snouts. In a panic one of them swam over Sandy, his tail smacking the cam in a circle before it stopped facing behind Sandy. A sharp gasp escaped Shellington's mouth, leaning forward. The shape of the large shark was recognizable even to tweak. "A tiger shark!" He cried out. "Sandy move!" Even before he said it, the turtle was moving. The reef became even more hazy as she moved forward at high speeds. "Did she escape?" Tweak asked nervously, not realizing she had stood up, her ears twitching anxiously.

Dashi rotated the joystick on the remote controlling the Sandy Cam. "No." The shark opened its mouth, the teeth glinting as the water refracted light. The teeth closed down and the camera flickered out to black. Tweak's feet moved on her own, throwing her carrot down and sprinting to the hatch and jumping through, soaring through the tubes and landing neatly on her feet on the familiar steel floor of her workshop. Her eyes scanned the gups before they landed on Gup-B. 'It's the fastest.' The thought flashed through her mind like an arrow before she hopped into it. Her dog friend jumped out of the hatch as the glass covering closed over her. "Dashi, open the octohatch." Her voice was cold and worry filled as she sunk down under the water.

The hatch opened as she sped through it, racing to the reef. She barely acknowledged the Gup-A in the distance, holding a returning Captain, Medic and Lieutenant of the Octonauts.

The Polar Bear gave a happy sigh. "We've officially explored the entire reef. I can't wait to go home and rest up for awhile." The two beside him made noises of agreement before snapping to attention as an orange blur raced past. Peso blinked a couple times before pressing his feathered face against the glass. "Was that..Tweak?" Kwazii had a look of pure confusion written across his face. "What's she doing in the Gup-B." Just as he said that, the radio made a static sound before Dashi's voice came through.

"Captain, the camera we put on Sandy showed a Tiger Shark chasing her. Tweak is-." The Captain cut her off. "We know, and we're right behind her." He maneuvered the Gup around and followed the stream of bubbles left behind by Tweak's driving.

Tweak slowed down where the camera last showed Sandy to be. By now, after not seeing her friend nearby and safe she was pushing down the tears threatening to well up in her eyes. "Sandy!" She called out. "Where are you?!" You could hear the desperation and fear in her voice. The Gup-A pulled up beside her. "Any sign of her Tweak?" The Bear asked, concern written across his face. The green rabbit shook her head, her ears moving constantly to pick up even the slightest sound of her friend. "N-No." She mentally scolded herself for stuttering before a rubbery band of gray slapped into her helmet. She pulled it down into her hands and examined it.

"This was the harness that held the camera on Sandy's shell.." She mumbled bleakly, her voice cracking. Kwazii's voice cut in. "It's a'ight matey, we'll find her. Promise." But even with his reassurance, it didn't help to ease her nerves. She got back into the shark-like gup. Even seeing a shape such as a shark sent a wave of determination and rage through her and she disappeared into the depths. The three left behind looked at eachother before looking at the tracker. An icon of the shark gup showed. Kwazii tuned into the radio. "See anything matey?"

Tweak's voice crackled through. "Not ye- Ah!" She swerved down as a striped shark came at her head on. "Now I do!" She yelped, speeding through the reef, the shark behind her snapping it's teeth at the gup.

Barnacles let out a growl and contacted the octopod. "Shellington! What can you tell us about Tiger Sharks?" The otter moved his hand to his chin, his eyes casted downward. "They are known as the waste baskets as the sea. They will eat anything they can fit in their mouths. They are fast and strong, making them amazing hunters, Captain." Tweak let out a noise of frustration, pressing on the wheel hard and wishing she had a carrot to chew on. She was biting her lip so hard she could taste blood. But she wasn't focused on that. She was focused on evading this shark and finding Sandy. She pressed a button and ducked behind a clearing in the coral. Dark stripes appeared on the orange metal shark, "Glad I added this Tiger Shark camouflage.." She whispered.

She lowered her head so her green head was less visible to the shark, praying she was safe. The shark swam around into the clearing and looked at her, as if debating wether to eat her first or tear her to shreds. Tweak took a deep breath, before yelling in surprise as the shark butted the gup, accidentally making her slam herself into the control panel and hit the turbo button. She yelped, the metal machine accelerating at insane speeds.

Tweak just barely lifted it up high enough to avoid the coral and crashing. Her eyes were wide, staring at the controls. She was too focused on that to notice the giant rocky reef she was heading towards.

Peso, from the Gup-A gasped and radio contacted his mechanic friend. "Tweak! Watch out! Reef ahead!"

Tweak looked up just in time and swerved around, ducking into a cave in one of the towering pillars of rock. She wasn't able to pull the gup back in time to stop it from smashing into the dead end and denting the front of the gup and shattering the glass covering. Tweak blew bubbles from her mouth, putting on her helmet and hiding behind the gup. She pressed the radio on her collar. "T-Tweak to octopod. I-..I need backup." She said desperately. She received no response. "Crap..it's broken.." She whispered.

But she went deadly still as she heard fins swimming down the tunnel, her ears lowering as she curled herself into a ball. The shark nudged the gup aside, staring hungrily at the rabbit.

Meanwhile, in the Gup-A Captain Barnacles was searching all over the reef, panicking at this point for her safety. "Tweak? Where are you?" Peso gulped nervously. "Flappity Flippers..she could be anywhere in this huge place.." Kwazii's tail lashed in anger. "Aye matey, we need to find her fast before that shark turns her into a snack!"

The Captain nodded. He wasn't showing it much on the outside, but he was worried sick. He cared for each of the crew like they were his Cubs. He didn't treat them as if they were young, but he would damn well throw himself in danger to keep any one of them safe. "Her radio isn't working. The gup tracker isn't either. We'll have to find her ourselves. Let's just hope we find her first." He huffed, eyes narrowed.

Back inside the cave, Tweak was backing herself up slowly. "Nice..shark.." She murmured. She was forcing herself not to shake, worried it might trigger the shark to attack her with brute force and sharp teeth. The shark swam forward, going around her several times before sniffing her cut arm. Tweak stiffened up completely, praying. 'Oh me, oh my..' The shark maneuvered around her again before sinking its teeth into her right arm. The rabbit cried out in pain, sucking air through her teeth. Blood rose out, swirling in the water. She raised her free hand, punching the shark in the nose to get it off before falling to the floor once it released. Soft cries of pain escaped her, holding her arm to her chest.

The shark went in for more, now attacking her leg and ripping fur off her skin and shredding the flesh. Tweak let out a screech of pain, trying to kick the animal away.

Sandy, who was surfing around the reef now, managed to hear her friend's screams and froze, going still in the water before propelling forward as fast as she could. "TWEAK?" She called out in anguish. She tried to follow the sounds of her rabbit friend, swimming around in a hurry.

By now, Tweak was screaming, the shark now biting into her stomach and thrashing her around like a rag doll. She could taste the blood in her mouth as it dribbled out, standing her fur red and clouds of blood rising into the water. Her blood. She was starting to go faint from bloodloss, the edges of her vision fading to black. 'Sorry everyone..don't think I'm gonna make it out of this one..' She thought solemnly.

Just then, a hard shell crashed into the shark, causing the now torn up octonaut to slam into the wall out of the momentum. At least she was free from the jaws of the shark. Bad news. Water was now leaking into her helmet from a crack in the glass. She wouldn't be able to breath for long.

Thankfully, a familiar voice snapped her to attention. "Tweak!? Tweak get up! Are you alive?" The hazy shape of a turtle appeared in her vision. "O-Oh no..your helmet..you're wounded badly..I-I need to get you to the surface. She nudged the limp rabbit onto her shell, before speeding out of the cave and making a race for the surface.

Tweak put her helmet down as they got there, all the water flooding out. Blood was still dripping from her mouth and forehead. "I-It h..urts.." She had to stop in the middle of her sentence to cough, blood leaving her mouth even more when she did.

Sandy let out a noise of distress. "Let me try to see if any of your crew is nearby from up here." She ducked her head into the water, looking down for any sign of them. She sighed in relief as she spotted the familiar Gup-A. "CAPTAIN BARNACLES." She yelled as loud as she could. "Up here!"

Captain Barnacles was slightly startled, but did go up. "Sandy? Are you-..." He had reached the surface now, seeing the mangled body of Tweak. Her usual fluffy green fur now matted down and stained with her own blood. Kwazii stared at her for a moment. "I- I'm gonna.." he turned around and threw up, tears running down his face. "Oh my lord.." Peso whispered. "I-I-..Is she alive..?"

Sandy looked at him anxiously. "Barely. We need to get her to the octopod. Her helmets broken. The Captain nodded. "Get her in here, Sandy." He put on his own helmet and jumped out of the gup, swimming over to the turtle and carefully lifting the mechanic from her shell. "Alright, Tweak..your safe now.." He went back under for a few moments and came back inside the octopod. "We have a lot of work to do to keep her alive.." He mumbled.

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Alright, that's it everyone! I hope you enjoyed!

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON'S CORNER: THERE'S STILL HOCKEY NEWS AND NOTES EVEN UNDER QUARANTINE - VOLUME 3

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Even with the world principally under quarantine, hockey business still moves forward. At this time of the year, Cheshire-native, Rob Malloy, usually is ramping up his workouts in preparation for what's coming up in three weeks, skating for Australia at the IIHF Division II Group A World Championship tournament. The championship, played in Zagreb, Croatia, near the Mediterranean Sea, would have been Malloy's sixth of his career. But now, that's all changed. The Mighty Roos, the Aussie’s national team name that would have been competing against China, host Croatia, Israel, the Netherlands, and Spain, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak that started in China, has taken that away from him and his Aussie teammates. In addition, the start of his 10th season of AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League) hockey scheduled for April 18th is on hold as well. “We were obviously disappointed worlds were canceled, but nobody disagreed. At this stage, I don’t think there will be a competition until 2021. I also don’t see the feasibility of the AIHL season going ahead either. The teams rely on ticket sales and sponsorships to survive flying 25 guys around the country multiple times. Most rinks have shut for the time being. I don’t know, I don’t see anything happening in the near future,” Malloy said via e-mail. It's not the only calamity that has befallen him in the Land Down Under. He, his wife, and his two young children were in the heart of the Australian apocalyptic-looking brushfires several months ago, near their home in New South Wales. “The fires were pretty crazy! There was one about 15 miles from us that was burning for months. We lived in a blanket of smoke for a while. The air quality was awful. We couldn’t really even go outside. They are all extinguished at this point, but the recovery will be felt for years to come.” Now he and his family are back at home, unable to leave home, yet again. “We've been sitting in isolation for a few weeks now. They haven’t locked everything down yet here, let’s see what happens.” XL CENTER As of Wednesday, the home of the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack, UCONN hockey and men’s and women’s basketball is closed. The last of its staff was furloughed, both office and building workers. This now leaves just one office employee in the Wolf Pack offices and building security in the structure on a daily basis. WEBSTER BANK ARENA Currently, there aren't any AHL Sound Tigers hockey going on in the building, but plenty of saves are still going on. The arena is being converted to an emergency triage center for handling the overflow of coronavirus patients from various Fairfield County facilities. Fairfield County has been the hardest hit county in the state. Fairfield County is followed by New Haven County. Up to 118 beds have been assembled and hopefully never used are now available. Hats off to OVG and the arena staff for helping facilitate this. PRO SIGNINGS Ex-Sound Tiger, Cory Conacher, is the likely first AHL’er from this year to sign a European contract. The 30-year-old played in 44 games with the Syracuse Crunch as well as four games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, according to a Swiss hockey website. Conacher has signed with HC Lausanne (Switzerland-LNA), but the team didn’t comment on the rumor. Montreal signed winger Laurent Dauphin to a one-year, two-way deal. Dauphin was acquired on January 7th from the Nashville Predators for Michael McCarron going from Milwaukee to Laval. It was the first of several trades to change Laval. COLLEGE PRO SIGNINGS The New York Rangers added one more forward to the mix for the 2020-21 Wolf Pack season. Justin Richards, a center from the defending national champion University Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC), is leaving school a year early. In 34 gamers he had 14 goals and 25 points and was plus-14. In 120 career games for the Bulldogs, he's amassed 26 goals and 66 points. His father is Todd Richards, the ex-Hartford Whaler. His uncle Travis played for eight years with Grand Rapids (AHL). The number of signees is increasing a little each day and for UCONN next year some of the top teams in Hockey East have lost some big guns. Northeastern saw Tyler Madden leave after two years for a standard three-year, entry-level deal with the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings acquired his rights in a trade deadline deal with the Vancouver Canucks, who originally drafted Madden in 2017. The nation’s leading collegiate goalscorer, John Leonard, leaves the UMASS-Amherst Minutemen (HE) and heads for San Jose. His teammate Jake McLaughlin signs with the Chicago Wolves and Max Gildon leaves New Hampshire early for the Florida Panthers. One of the bigger college free agents, Brinson Pasichnuk, of Division I's independent program, Arizona State Sun Devils signed not with the Coyotes, but with the San Jose Sharks. Currently, that makes 68 Division I players that have signed pro deals and 78 in total. Two college players have signed for Europe one in Division I and one from Division III and 16 underclassmen have left early in Division I. According to veteran Rhode Island hockey reporter, Mark Divver, forward Tim Doherty of the University of Maine (HE) is transferring to Penn State (Big 10) in the fall is the latest grad transfer. Defenseman Milan Alishlalov (Westminster Prep) comes to UCONN in the fall. He has been playing for the Johnstown (PA) Tomahawks and was named to the NAHL East Division All-Rookie team and to the NAHL second-team, All-Rookie squad The three Hobey Baker finalists were announced and the award winner will be announced April 11th at an odd time 11 PM on ESPN Sportscenter. Junior Jordan Kawaguchi of North Dakota (NCHC), Junior Scott Perunovich of Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC) who just signed a two-year, entry-level deal with the defending Stanley Cup champions St. Louis Blues. Junior goalie, Jeremy Swayman of Maine (HE) signed an entry-level deal with Boston last month and are vying for the title. HOCKEY NEWS Cooper Moore (Greenwich/Brunswick School) was named to the BCHL All-Rookie team. The British Columbia Hockey League is one of the 10 Junior A Leagues in Canada that college-bound players are sent to prepare for a year or two before playing Division I hockey. Moore will be skating for North Dakota (NCHC) in the fall. The Chicago Steel (USHL) was awarded the leagues Anderson Cup as regular season champions with a 41-7-1-0 for 83 points. The head coach to start the year was ex-Wolf Pack captain and Sound Tiger, Greg Moore, who left December 1st to take the head coaching job with the Toronto Marlies (AHL). The OHL Priority Draft will be held remotely this Saturday starting at 9 AM for 300 players to be selected. Vinny Borgesi, from the Selects Academy at South Kent Prep, will play for the Tri-City Storm (USHL) in the fall and is a Northeastern (HE) commit in 2022-23. Another player from the Selects Academy U-16 team defenseman  Conor Shortall (St. John’s) returns to Canada and will play for the Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) in the fall. Ex-Wolf Pack, Wojtek Wolski, and ex-Sound Tiger, Tomas Malec, were released from HC Ocelari Trinec and HC Brno (Czech Republic-CEL) respectively. Ex-Pack, Petr Zamorsky, has signed an extension with HK Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic-CEL). Ex-Wolf Pack, Adam Tambellini, stays in Sweden going from MODO (Sweden-SHL) to Rogle BK (Sweden-SHL). Ex-Sound Tiger, Dustin Friesen, stays in Germany going from ERC Ingolstadt (Germany-DEL) to Iserlohn (Germany-DEL). A trio of ex-Wolf Pack/CT Whale did not have their contracts renewed by SC Rapperswil-Jona (Switzerland-LNA) in Tom Pyatt, Casey Wellman, and Danny Kristo. Philip Samuelsson, the eldest son of former Whaler great, Rangers player, and assistant coach, ex-Wolf Pack, and Avon Old Farms assistant coach, Ulf Samuelsson is being pursued by Dynamo Riga (Latvia-KHL). Defenseman Mike Little (Enfield) signs a two-year extension with SonderjyskE (Denmark-DHL). ARENA NEWS The expansion NHL Seattle completion date on the Key Arena known temporarily as the “New Arena at Seattle Center” has been pushed to June 2021, four months before their first puck is scheduled to be drop. The original date was January 2021 date in part because of the coronavirus mandated shutdown. Declared as a public-private project, the $930-million-project was restarted this past Monday. The temporary posts holding its historic 44 million pound roof are being transitioned from temporary posts to permanent ones, now that the extra excavation has been completed, the concrete for the posts has been poured. Construction on its brand new state-of-the-art training at old Northgate Mall location, however, it's still just started two weeks ago remains closed. NHL Seattle was very close to unveiling its team name,  color scheme, season ticket packages, and likely building naming rights, but it has been postponed till the COVID-19 pandemic is under control and the stay at home measures in place in Washington state are lifted. OVG (Oak View Group) overseeing construction, has two other major arena projects nationally that have been paused. In New York, at Belmont Park in Long Island, the future $1.3 billion 17,113 seat new home for the New York Islanders was halted by executive order of Governor Andrew Cuomo in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in NYC and the immediate need to build several new hospitals, freeing up building supplies. This could affect the original October 2021 opening date. The other arena project is in Palm Springs, California to house its yet named AHL farm team of the expansion NHL Seattle team postponed its February 18th groundbreaking of the $250 million dollar arena, what was described at the time was called, “unexplained circumstances”. Now with California, one of the COVID-19 hot spots, its original September 2021 opening seems in jeopardy for the 10,000 seats for hockey (11,000 for concerts and shows) in a collaboration between OVG Group and the  Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. No new groundbreaking date has yet been set. The proposed new arena in Suffolk County Long Island in Ronkonkoma part of a $1 billion dual-use project was given a second extension in mid-December for April, there has been no word on the project's future or status. The project was to feature a 7,500-seat hockey arena, 6,000-seat outdoor stadium, hotel and office building on a 40-acre site that also has an LIRR station. The pandemic situation has forced the Chicago-based JLL (Jones, Lang, Lasalle) Group to likely seek another extension next month. The group hired NHL Hall of Famer former Islander and Ranger Pat LaFontaine, last year to secure letters of commitment from an AHL team, college or junior teams to be the primary tenants in the proposed new arena. Once those commitments are secured, then the Suffolk County council was expected to then get a summary of the bid to develop a Master Builder plan and to start construction. Read the full article