#toree jolly jam

[computerkit]

i played toree & toree 2 a few days ago and i did not like either all too much i think. for reference they are small short indie 3d platformer games. thoughts below read more, it kinda long!

toree 3D, i liked the environments, like i thought they looked good, but i wouldnt say it was particularly 'fun'.. being toree is not very fun to me, you are not too fast and the jumps are always a little shorter than you're expecting them to be. i didn't feel i had incentive to replay or do better on levels, either ... there IS a ranking mechanic but its so strict that i actually thought it was just a joke where you could only get a "C" no matter how well you did.. and the level design, well, i am no expert, but i feel like maybe in its quest to emulate old stuff it is dropping in stuff that is accurate but not really fun or the stuff that anyone particularly liked about these old games. like the elevators, which you just get on and wait until they drop you off at the next elevator, and if you fall off then you have to do the elevators again.. i also remember a lot of 'struggling not to accidentally fall off ledges', which, i guess is not inherently bad, but i dont really come to games for the feeling of 'i have to be careful or else'.. pairing the slippery ice section with skinny bridges and an attempted short time incentive felt like a cruel joke!!! there's also this creepy element which i feel really neutrally toward. i don't know, it doesn't go hard enough on it for me to have anything to say about it. i like that sort of thing sometimes but felt sort of artificial(?) and aimless. like dev had the idea to make a cute 3d platformer thats kind of creepy sometimes and then just went for it without really thinking about it or how to make it fit

i think the dev realized some of this stuff, cause toree 2 is a lot better. i still don't know that i'd say i 'like' it or 'have fun' playing it, but it could just be that it is too short for me to have warmed up to it, considering a lot of my enjoyment of things is actually based off of familiarity. there is a lot more "going fast", and consequently it doesnt feel crappy to be and move around as toree anymore. the ways you interact with the environment are a lot more to do with speed and height and a lot less to do with waiting or being careful now, which i thought was just better, although it could just be that it aligns more with my personal tastes. the ranking system was noticeably less strict, which made me consider trying to get better times on the levels, and the checkpoint + timing system was changed to be a bit more player friendly (maybe too much?). the dev must've thought the creepy stuff was maybe unnecessary too - it is much less prominent in toree 2. the identity of the whole game actually feels a lot different as a result of all this stuff, so it shows developer is learning and making choices. but i would say. that it feels. maybe too easy? in comparison to the first one? i dont know, it's hard to get good ranks, but you can typically do ok by just kinda blasting through stuff, which is fun but feels unearned i guess. maybe it could do by being a bit more like toree 1 in this regard - not player unfriendly but a little more challenging. i guess my sweet spot for difficulty was maybe the car levels in toree 1. However. this criticism. does NOT. Apply. To the final boss. initially i was pleased that it decided to add a final boss at all because, like i mentioned before, i thought toree 3d's ending was anticlimactic - but the final boss is actually just exponentially harder than literally anything else in the game. i havent even beat it yet. i tried for so long man. once "oh cool they are doing a boss this time" wore off there was simply no fun to be had in that fight. some of the attacks feel impossible to avoid and i think it goes on much too long. i think you have to get lucky in order to beat it, or maybe just be better than i am. either way, it's stopped me from playing any more of it.

i wouldnt say either of them are bad... but it obvious to me that the dev is learning. this means these first 2 games are flawed, but on the flipside, it means the dev is actively looking for ways to make the next one better... i played toree jolly jam, which released this year and is (basically) a single level. i liked the art more, and i thought it was definitely more fun and with a better atmosphere / feeling than either toree 1 or 2. in fact, just writing this i am somewhat feeling the urge to play it, which did not happen with the other games. toree does a little squash and stretch when jumping now, and there's a new dash / jump-to-object mechanic, both of which i'm not really sure if i like or not but i'm glad to see the dev experimenting. the camera is better too - i think it is obvious the dev took a look at and really thought about every aspect of this game in this installment. i feel this especially with my favorite change - you don't have to hold down shift to run anymore. that was something you had to do in toree 1 & 2 and i didn't really question it until jolly jam took away the run feature and made toree have 1 consistent speed and i realized 1) that i had not stopped running for the entire duration of both games and 2) that my hand was sore as hell. so. thank you for quality of life. genuinely made it inherently so much better to play just because its not Painful anymore LOL

i thought it was still a bit too easy as well (although yeah, again, i didnt get above a C hahaha - easy to start hard to master?) but i thought its clear that jolly jam is more focused on Cozy Speedy Good Times than it is Hardcore Platforming Challenge so that is not really problem i think. and the secrets were cute too. that 1 level makes me a lot more excited for toree saturn (the upcoming installment) than anything in toree 1 or 2 has, so if anyone reading this is considering playing toree, i'd say to just play jolly jam. it's free, too! although, the other games are 1 dollar each, and it's not christmas anymore either... hm.. hating on one dollar games.. am i being a grinch right now???

well thats it. this is all just because i got toree 1 & 2 through an itch.io bundle and cant leave a steam review but i like to beam my thoughts into the brains of the public

[sonichedgeblog]

'Toree: Jolly Jam' by Siactro A one level 3D Platformer, in a wintery holiday coating! A little 'Christmas NiGHTS' inspired! https://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forums/showcase/toree-jolly-jam.1983/

[virtual-scallop]

Well well... well well... The year's almost over, so how about we start to wrap it up with a multi-game stream~? A MARATHON ------------------------------------- - TOMORROW: Siactro's Toree games and demos have been on my radar for a bit, so how's about now I give them a whirl? Come tomorrow, I plan on playing through: - Toree 3D - Toree 2 - Toree Genesis - Toree Saturn (SAGE 2023 Demo) - Toree Jolly Jam and possibly: - Toree Jumbled Jam So let's get runnin'~ ------------------------------------- Coming at ya live @ 2PM PST, over at https://www.twitch.tv/virtualscallop

[kasieli]

A/N: Entry for DamiRae week 2020 Day 1, Handcuffed/bound together. There’s just some suggestive themes and (lots of) language (sorry, mouth of a sailor), so this is going to be a T rating. If you’re uncomfortable with depictions of drinking, I suggest you skip this one, since it’s the majority of the fic. This is kind of like a college AU, yeah? Without further ado, let’s start DamiRae week 2020, shall we? ;)

---

Raven hissed out a sigh and rolled her eyes — something she knew she would be doing plenty of times this fine evening.

If there was one thing she hated more than lukewarm tea, it would be stuck in a crowd full of empty, nameless faces, at a raging party, in a freaking house. There was absolutely nowhere to escape, let alone anywhere to breath, and there was always someone invading her personal space which, she hated to admit, was far less than the mere five feet that she deemed satisfactory. God, everyone was nearly on top of her. 

She rolled her eyes again.

This is why she despised parties.

Sure, she could have just pushed her way through the sea of wasted college students to save her throbbing ear drums. Sure, she could have just exited the stupid party and gone the hell home. But unfortunately she didn’t even have the simple luxury of using the damned trashed up puke-infested-by-now restroom – or merely shield her ears with both hands if she wanted to.

Jesus Christ, how could she have been convinced by her roommate to attend this shit show? She honestly should have known better. Fraternity parties were never ever good news, she didn’t even need to attend one to know. 

And yet here she was, standing in the middle of a jam-packed crowd, in a fraternity house, with a bottle of tequila in one hand, and a handcuff attached to another human being on the other. 

That was the quintessential fifths and cuffs party, after all. 

Bringing the bottle up to her lips, she quickly threw her head back as she took a greedy swig of tequila and winced, causing some of it to spew from the sides of the bottle and splash over her face and her admittedly too-exposed chest. That, she realized  –  alongside choosing tequila as her alcohol of choice –  was a monumental mistake.

“Woah, slow down!” her ‘date’ next to her exclaimed as he grabbed the bottle out of her hands.

“Give me that back,” she grunted, clawing at his hand. 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “At this rate you’re going to finish this in no less than 10 minutes.” Even with the Backstreet Boys bellowing at ungodly volumes around her, she could tell that his voice was half filled with disbelief and the other with amusement. Chuckling slightly, he then followed her lead and took a gulp of tequila, except he did it gracefully. How could someone taking shots straight from a handle look so goddamn perfect? The man didn’t spill a mere drop on his face, as opposed to her scenario and her still damp halter top and the globs of tequila running down her chest.

Rolling her eyes, she snatched the handle from his grip and shot a heated glance over to her ‘date’, “Can’t you tell that’s what I’m trying to do?”

He shook his head and chuckled again. 

“That’s not entirely safe, you know.”

“Yeah, thanks for that information, captain obvious,” she growled as she took yet another swig, “I’ll survive,” she managed on a cough. 

The reality of the situation, however, was that no matter how fast her and her ‘date’ chugged this bottle of tequila, it would be borderline impossible to get out of these handcuffs without being completely wasted from the sheer amount of poison they were consuming – that is, if they could finish it. God, she knew it was dangerous, too, but the overwhelming desire to get the hell home plus the fact that she was starting to feel the woozy effects of the tequila oozing around her (still) logical senses (for now) was making her reasoning...well...completely unreasonable. 

But even with this so-called ‘liquid courage’, she was dumbfounded that anyone would be doing this for fun. At least, the crowd around her seemed to be having a wildly good time. Many were attempting to impress their dates by trying to show off their awful dance moves to some pounding beat (with the bonus side effect of the handcuffed date wiggling along), and some were already starting to eat each other’s faces (no liquid courage needed there). Really, how could this be fun? It was absolute torture. 

Her date beside her exhaled a sigh that wasn’t unlike the ones she had been doling out, and it was a teensy bit comforting that at least, to her observation, he wasn’t having a jolly ol’ blast, either. 

He clicked his tongue. “Alright, I know we were both dragged here against our will, so, please, let’s not try to get alcohol poisoning.”

She frowned as he took the bottle from her hands once again.

“Alright, Mr. Romantic, I know we were both dragged here against our will, so why don’t we finish this goddamn thing and get the hell out of here,” she spat. Jeez, even she could hear herself rolling her eyes in her voice.

His eyes narrowed. “You’re really going to be calling me that right now?” he scoffed with a voice that wonderfully took the same sarcastic tone.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t talk so much in Romantic Literature, you wouldn’t have that nickname.” She whipped her head around and gave him a hard, steady glare.

He scoffed again and rolled his eyes. “Oh, of course. That.”

For the first time in those how many minutes they were handcuffed together, she hadn’t cared to look at his face, as in really look at his face. This realization whacked her like the first C she got in their shared Romantic Literature class (she was now convinced the professor had a thing against her — she was also convinced that he was the professor’s favorite, the golden student, woohoo!) and she stood there like then, stunned, absolutely immobilized and even almost offended. But she didn’t have the luxury to ponder her placement in their class since the entirety of her muzzy, muddled mind seemed to be focusing on the fact that he was ridiculously and unsettlingly gorgeous. Having looks like that wasn’t fair. She had never seen him so up close before, and while, sure, maybe she thought he was kind of cute when she first saw him sitting stoically in their Romantic Literature class, she had never been able to tell just how incredible that jawline was or that his eyes were green – and a goddamn stunning green, at that. 

“If it really offends you, I’ll stop for now,” she successfully retrieved the bottle from his grasp and did exactly what she intended to do, “Damian,” she coughed again after feeling the burn of the tequila inch down her throat.

“Thank you, Mary Wollstonecraft (1),” he countered, smirking.

She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, fuck you,” she jeered as she shoved the bottle into his chest, causing him to catch her wrist in surprise. A few splashes of the tequila sloshed out and spattered onto his shirt. The sweeping motion of her eyes painting over him was almost automatic, and she soon came to realize that the shirt she just ruined was an elegant navy blue button down with a dainty pattern of dots – something that probably wasn’t meant to mop up some tequila droplets spilled by some English nerd. The sleeves were rolled up so that his forearms were exposed, and he had just the top two buttons undone at the collar of his shirt, but it was enough to flaunt that wonderful skin underneath. He always did dress quite nicely to class, and even from the distance, no matter what he wore, hoodie, button downs, t-shirts, she could tell he had a rather...delicious body. A golden boy, he absolutely was.

Oh, god, what was this alcohol doing to her?

“If it really offends you, I’ll stop for now...Raven,” he mimicked, smirking, eyes glued to hers.

Wait...eyes glued to hers? 

He was full on staring at her, and his face was so close, when did he get so close? No, she wasn’t stupid, she knew they were handcuffed so obviously they had to be relatively close, but just moments before she swore they were next to each other –  now they were face to face. Someone must have merely bumped into him and caused him to do so, but even so, she felt her heart alongside the blaring music strike against her already aching ears.

In no help to ease her already ripening...thoughts, he brought his hand up which was still holding onto her wrist which was still holding onto the bottle to his lips and took a slow sip. She could see that he rested the bottle on his tongue –  almost licking it – before those wonderful lips of his enclosed the rest and sipped that tequila as if it was goddamn syrup. He didn’t flinch or tear his eyes away from hers — God, he had such nice eyes — then afterwards he lapped up the rest of the tequila that must have wandered onto his lips. 

Okay, that was entirely intentional, she knew, since tequila burned.

“What?” he prodded in a voice that failed to be innocent. 

“Nothing,” she huffed as she tore her hand away from his grasp. 

She didn’t need the extra warmth, not right now, since she was already starting to sweat. Not solely because it was overly stuffed in the already small fraternity house and the sheer amount of bodies heavily increased the temperature, but also because of...him. Jeez, at this point, it wasn’t only the alcohol that was making her skin burn.

Her eyes averted to the bottle as she ripped it back from his hands and took a gulp, an awfully clumsy gulp, and to her dismay, but not surprise, covered herself in tequila once again.

A small chuckle from Damian made her blink up to look at him, only to find his eyes drifting off to an area much below hers.

“Oh, look at you, you’ve made a mess,” he whispered, “now you’re all wet.”

Fuck.

He was definitely flirting with her.

How could the know-it-all boy that could out talk their professor possibly be flirting with her? And more so, doing it successfully?

She couldn’t help but glance down at her chest and watch as the pesky droplets of tequila slid down before disappearing behind the edge of her halter top. In addition, the ample lighting provided by the sad excuse of a disco ball struck her chest in a way that illuminated both the thin sheet of sweat and the beads of tequila on her chest, emphasizing what made her a woman, as opposed to a man.  

“Your top is cute,” he added nonchalantly, successfully taking the bottle back and swallowing yet another deliberate, drawn out sip. This time, he didn’t care to lick the leftover tequila from his lips and boy — what was she thinking? He was eyeing her carefully, his eyes filled with a sort of wicked curiosity as he waited, presumably, for a response. 

At this point the alcohol was hitting her — hard. It was making the world spin wildly around her and the music fuzzy and her face numb, and for all things good, bad, and in between, the only thing she could focus on right now was how hot this man in front of her was. She really, really, really wanted to know if his bare chest was just as sculpted as she hypothesized it to be.

“It’s getting hot in here, isn’t it?” He asked almost aimlessly, ‘innocently’, once again. 

He peered around them, tilting his head. It may have not been intentional on his part, but by doing so, he freed his neck from his shirt collar, giving her an ample view of that incredible jawline...and his neck...her eyes trailed down more to his collarbone, just above where his shirt scraped the edges of his skin, and she could see the small beads of sweat dripping from his hair, and she suddenly had an urge to get rid of them, wipe them off by...whatever means necessary. 

“Yeah…” she responded, in a soft, senseless voice.

“Here, help me unbutton this, would you?”

Raising their handcuffed hands, he toyed at the top most button on his shirt. She felt her cheeks flare, even though they were numb — or so she thought.

“W...What?” she stammered. 

“The top button, it’s getting hot. Help me undo it,” he stated plainly as if his request was as simple as taking out the trash. 

“Fine.” She shook her head and obeyed — why did she obey? He wasn’t bound — he was simply just handcuffed. He could have done it himself, she knew he could have done it himself, and yet here she was, almost undressing him. Almost.

Her hands were shaky against his chest and, Jesus Christ, he was sweating under that fitted navy blue button down, she could see it on the newly exposed skin on his chest and, fuck, was it hot. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe or else she’d smell that scent that trailed off of him and destroy the last barrier she had controlling herself from tasting that skin of his neck.

He shifted so that her face was almost pressed up against that bare skin and cursed — it was like he was reading her fucking mind.

“Are you alright?” Despite the music, his voice was low, gruff, and breathy, and it seemed to be the only thing she could hear now –  besides her heart which was also squirming uncomfortably in her chest, screaming at her to get the hell out of there. “You seem a little...tight.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

She turned her face away so that a thick curtain of hair could provide somewhat of a barrier between her and his bare chest and cleared her throat. Well, her throat was tight, that’s for sure. 

“I’m fine,” she lied. Definitely not fine. “I could just use a little fresh air, that’s all.” Definitely true.

And space. Lots of goddamn space. Space from him, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon now was it? After all, they still had half the bottle left to go. 

“Oh, you should have said something,” he replied as he took her hand. “Come with me.”

As if she had a choice.

Before leading her presumably outside the house, he paused momentarily by the kitchen counter and turned to her, an eyebrow raised, and a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Oh, by the way, you don’t want this anymore, do you?”

Standing beside a massive plastic tub filled with a so called ‘jungle juice’, he raised the handle of tequila over the top, tipped it over, and — 

“Oops.”

Her eyes widened. “Wait, you can’t get rid of that —”

“Shh, calm down,” he leaned in close so that his lips brushed her ear. “You wouldn’t tell on me, would you?”

He wasn’t even looking at the tequila bottle as the rest of her sweet, burning escape (now, in more ways than one) glugged into the jungle juice. She, however, was examining it as if it were some sort of masterpiece, keeping her eyes glued as the rest of the contents sputtered to a stop. 

She swallowed hard, clenching her jaw. “No…” 

He let out a soft chuckle. “Good girl.” 

Fuuuuuuuuuuck.

“See? Now we can get out of these.” He flashed a sly smile at her before she saw something else sparkle between his fingers.

Her eyes widened. Again. 

“You had the key this whole time?”

Without even giving her a semblance of a reply, he was already leading her outside, and before she knew it, they had perched onto a bench on the patio, and he was inserting the key into the lock and with a not-so-satisfying click!, she was...free.

The look he gave her next...well...it was...jeez. His hair was slightly unkempt because he had pushed it to the side, and she could see that his cheeks were almost imperceptibly tickled pink presumably by the effects of the alcohol, and now, with the hazy moonlight and twinkling patio lights, she could see those green gems he called eyes better, and they were hungry. The alcohol was gradually draining from her, she could feel it, but there was still enough in her, still enough wrapping around her senses that, without another thought, her now-free hand found his cheek and turned his face towards her, her breathing heavy even though she finally had fresh air. She never, ever wanted to kiss another human being so badly, never had such a burning desire for someone before, and here he was, a-sexy-as-hell man, basically taunting her to do so the whole goddamn night.

There was an ever so slightly widening of his eyes, before his expression went soft and a lopsided grin settled on his face once again. God, he was so beautiful.

“What do you want?” He hummed in a low voice.

She exhaled slowly, shakily, almost growling.

“You know what I want.”

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Oh? Do I, now?”

This...‘innocent’ act he was playing...he wouldn’t be able to keep it up much longer.

She rolled her eyes, biting her lip, and she saw that he was intently watching every damn second as she did so. Oh, she was absolutely 100% certain that he did know. 

She was about to reply, but before she could say anything he leaned forward and tucked her hair behind her ears, then with those wonderful lips started exploring her neck. Man, she was glad he didn’t make her ask -- or beg. His lips felt so nice...they were so soft...he was surprisingly gentle, kissing her neck tenderly as if she were a delicate piece of art. It was exactly what she wanted but not remotely enough -- all at once. 

With an abrupt call from one of his friends, he stopped immediately. His eyes rolled up to meet hers as he tousled his already messy hair. “My, my...looks like I have to go,” he whispered. But that look in his eyes, she knew what it was, and she was sure as hell he didn’t want to leave just yet.

“Stay,” she commanded, tugging at that navy blue button down. “You’re not done yet.”

He chuckled.

“I’m not a bad boy,” he replied with a smirk, twisting a strand of her hair between his fingers. He pressed his lips against her ears, and she felt the hairs on her skin rise, something like electricity surging through her skin. “If you feel the same way tomorrow then…”

This time he nibbled her ear but she couldn’t seem to decide what to focus on because his hand was also traveling up her leg and he smelled so good and he was oh so warm, and, god, was going to this party a wonderful fucking idea.

“...Here, I’ll put my number on your phone.”

Her eyes shot down in a surprise. Oh, so he was reaching for her phone, not...something else. He handed back her phone and as she glanced down at her contact list, there it was, like he promised: ‘Mr. Romantic’ — complete with a goddamn heart emoji. 

He stood up and tilted his head as a smirk tickled his lips.

“See you in class, Raven.”

--

1. Mary Wollstonecraft was a writer in the late 1700s. One of her most notable works was A Vindication of the Rights of Women, and she is regarded to be one of the earliest feminist philosophers, so Damian is teasing Raven about being a strong feminist voice in their class. Not that he’s against it, he’s just teasing her since she teased him. 

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Beside The Dying Fire (part three)

[DnD AU with the tour!verse]

Part 1 Part 2

Once again, thank you to @spooner7308 for letting me use EB!!

Word count: 4079

TW: Blood, maggots

-------------------------

  “Katherine! Katherine, wake up!”

Katherine’s eyes snapped open, but she thought she was just imagining that for a moment because it was still so dark. And then she realized that that was smoke.

  “Wake up! We’re being attacked! The forest is on fire!”

Katherine sat up straight, gasping--and then breaking out into a fit of coughing as she inhaled a breath of smoke. Her treehouse was filled with thick, dark grey ash that had seeped in through her shutters and wide open door, but through it she saw Elan standing in front of her, shaking in fear. His ears wouldn’t stop twitching in his obvious panic.

  “What?” Katherine rasped. She scrambled to her feet; the night before, she had fallen asleep in one of her chairs, since Joan had been in the bed.

Speaking of Joan-- Katherine looked around frantically and spotted the little Tiefling pressed against the wall, quaking. Her tail was wound around one of her legs and her claws were clenched tightly in fright. When she noticed Katherine looking over at her, her ears flicked back.

  “Katherine!!!” Elan’s shriek brought Katherine back into full awareness. “We’re all going to die!!!”

  “Calm down!” Katherine shook the young man’s shoulders. “We’re not going to die!” And then she grabbed her bow and quiver, rushed past him, and ran out onto her balcony, gazing out at the burning village before her.

Dark figures were weaving through the trees, casting distorted shadows across the smoldering ground. Roaring flames tore across the huts and tents, swallowing plants and shrubbery, leaping onto fleeing victims with swift brutality. A pair of fauns were seizing on the ground, engulfed in fire. A wood elf that would teach younger kids in the village was screaming in pain from somewhere beyond. A Tabaxi was lying motionless by a pond, his body crisp and black, one arm reaching to the salvation of the water he would never get to. Some villagers were grappling in the fire, throwing flaming javelins and swinging giant broadswords and tossing nets onto anyone who wasn’t burning alive. A few people were wearing thick armor with symbols that bore the mark of a bronze snake eating its own tail. 

With a jolt, Katherine realized that was the mark of King Henry’s forces.

EB was right. King Henry was attacking for their disagreement. 

And he was going to kill them all. 

  “What do we do?!” Elan squawked, scrambling up behind Katherine.

Through the billowing smoke and towering flames, Katherine noticed Catalina fighting off a few enemies, loudly shouting things over the panic. Katherine ran to her and put an arrow in the back of a goblin that would have gotten a slice out of her friend.

  “Catalina!” Katherine said breathlessly. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” Catalina replied, looking around everywhere with her sword out in a defensive position. “What the hell is happening?”

  “It’s Henry,” Katherine told her. “He’s attacking.”

Suddenly, a Hobgoblin lunged out of the smoke with a dagger aimed for Katherine’s heart. Before either Katherine or Catalina could react, Maggie smashed into the Hobgoblin, knocking him off course and sending him sprawling. Maggie raised her spear and jammed it into his skull mercilessly.

  “Thanks,” Katherine gasped. 

  “No problem,” Maggie answered, yanking her spear out with a squelching of blood and flesh. “We can’t let them take us.”

  “I know.”

Katherine knocked an arrow and sent it flying into the head of a human soldier swinging at a satyr. At her side, Catalina swung at any close-ranged opponents, while Maggie galloped back into the fray to get her hands dirty. Through the smoke, Katherine thought she could see Anne bashing in the skull of a goblin with her lute.

Katherine had never had to kill someone before. She was slightly frightened by how she wasn’t fazed by what she was doing, but she assumed that was because of the adrenaline rush pumping through her. She and her people would die if she didn’t fight back. She had to.

As a tidal wave of ash crashed down, a new challenger hulked through the fire. It was a dark grey Goliath with forest green marking weaving up and down his limbs and face. His expression was set in a firm leer, eyes piercing brown, and he was coming right for Katherine.

Katherine loaded an arrow into her bow and sent it flying at the Goliath’s chest, but was shocked to watch it bounce off. Her assailant did not wait for her to regain your wits before striking, and although she leapt away, the spikes of a barbed mace still scored a line of pain down her right thigh.

A hiss escaped Katherine’s clenched teeth, even as she regained her balance and prepared a riposte. She could feel blood seeping through the fur of her pants. She shook off the pain and swung her entire bow at the Goliath, only to have it feel like she just struck a block of marble. The Goliath chuckled deeply in his throat and slammed his mace downwards; Katherine barely had enough time to raise her bow to deflect him.

The two of them were locked together, Katherine’s sinews screaming, her head pounding. She pushed with all her might, but the Goliath was so much stronger than she was and was starting to push her bow down. The deadly spikes of his mace pricked mere inches away from Katherine’s face.

And then, from out of nowhere, Joan came running and plunged a tiny wooden stake into the Goliath’s back.

The Goliath jolted and swung his head around. The stake hadn’t fully impaled him, but it did draw a tiny drop of red blood. He narrowed his eyes at the pinprick, then raised one of his huge, thickly-muscled arms up and slammed it into Joan.

The little Tiefling went flying. She landed in a patch of smoldering grass, which she instantly leapt away from with a howl of pain. Katherine felt a rush of protectiveness burst through her as she watched this, and she grabbed another arrow and stabbed it into the Goliath’s eye when he turned back to her.

That went through.

The Goliath let out a roar of pain as Katherine pushed the arrow in deeper and deeper. He whipped his body back and forth, but even when Katherine was shaken free, the damage had been done. The Goliath staggered away, groaning like a wounded wild animal.

  “Joan,” Katherine called out. Smoke itched in her throat, and her thigh was starting to throb, but she ignored it. “Joan, sweetheart, come here. I’ll protect you.”

Surprisingly, the little Tiefling obeyed and scrambled over to her. Katherine could see that the back of her raggedy white cotton tunic was charred black and she could smell hints of burning flesh, though that may have been from the people burning all around her.

  “Catalina!” Katherine called, feeling a pang of anxiety bolt through her. She hadn’t been keeping an eye on her friend as she was fighting the Goliath.

  “I’m here!” Catalina called back. Katherine spotted her to the left, cutting down a Hobgoblin with her sword. She staggered over, breathing raggedly. “I’m here.” Sweat was running down her face from the heat of the fire and she looked tired. Even if she would never admit it, fighting in her condition was wearing away at her.

  “You need to go somewhere safe,” Katherine told her. “The baby--”

  “The baby is fine, Kat,” Catalina hissed through gritted teeth. She jerked her sword around to someone running by, and Katherine noticed how she was holding it so it would be angled protectively over her stomach. “I have to stay and help.”

  “You’re breathing in too much smoke.”

  “I’m fine.” Catalina said stubbornly. “You need help, Kat. Not everyone in this village can fight.”

As if the universe were proving her right, a wood elf was knocked down and got his neck slashed open a few yards away.

  “Alright,” Katherine gave in. “Fine. But please be safe.”

Catalina flashed her a smile, even in their predicament. “Of course.”

The three of them, Joan included once she got her claws on a fallen shortsword, fought through the fire, pushing Henry’s forces back as much as they could. They cut and shot and stabbed and slashed through the onslaught of soldiers bearing down on them, trying their best to regain control of the forest.

There was a battlecry from behind; Katherine swung around and nearly took out the eyes of Anne, who was standing over a corpse with a dented skull. Dark red blood dripped off of her lute as she hefted it in her hands.

  “You gotta be more aware of your surroundings!” Anne said, still somehow sounding jolly even in this situation. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism to deal with all the death and destruction going on around them. Even so, her deer ears were drooped down, signaling her anguish.

  “Thank you, Anne,” Katherine said in relief, half because she was happy to see that her cousin was still alive.

  “Huh,” Catalina said. “Bards can be useful aside from singing and playing music!”

Anne actually laughed. “Never doubt us!” And then she sprung off her powerful deer haunches and cleaved the sharp edged of her lute into the skull of an unsuspecting goblin. A second goblin came out from a cloud of smoke, ready to stab her, but Maggie thrust her spear through his back before he could even aim for Anne.

  “Catalina,” Katherine turned to her friend. “Can you put out the fire?”

Catalina blinked, then realized what Katherine meant. She nodded and raised her sword to the dark sky, murmured an incantation, and then cracked it into a nearby enemy.

Like before, the resulting clap of thunder was booming. Katherine’s skull throbbed with the noise, and she thought could feel the shockwave reverberate in the cuts along her thigh, the pain pulsing in time with the vibrations. She staggered like last time, but kept her balance as rain began to pelt down, beating against the fire.

  “Thank you,” Katherine said to Catalina, who smiled wryly at her.

  “Damn,” Anne said, letting out a slight laugh. “Having a rain spell is very useful during a forest fire!”

  “Oh, it’s not a rain spell,” Catalina said. “It’s actually Thundering Smite. It’s supposed to just call upon thunder, but I guess the rain came, too, since it was already stormy.”

Anne shrugged. “Still a good spell. Thank you, Catalina!” She smiled, and then a crossbow bolt was put in her eye.

At first, Katherine thought she was screaming, and then she realized that it was Maggie. Anne stared blankly at them, the tip of the bolt protruding out of her right eyeball, half-mumbling and half-slurring on her words as her brain shut down. Then, she fell lifelessly, and revealed the human archer standing a few feet behind her. Maggie took him out in a flying tackle, screeching in anguished fury, and the two of them tumbled through a wall of flames, disappearing from sight.

For the first time that night, Katherine was truly in shock. Suddenly, all her adrenaline was gone and she was left with the horrifying realization of what exactly was happening all around her.

Her home was being burnt to the ground.

  “Kat… Kat… Katherine!”

Catalina’s voice brought Katherine back to awareness. She flinched, blinking her eyes through prickling smoke, and saw her friend in front of her, worry written all of her face.

  “Kat, are you there? Are you with me?” Catalina asked frantically. Joan was at her side, silent but nervous. “Kat?” She reached her hands out, and Katherine took them in her own, squeezing tightly.

  “I’m here,” Katherine whispered. “I’m here.”

  “Oh, god, Kat, I’m so sorry,” Catalina said. “I’m so sorry.”

Katherine opened her mouth to say something, though she didn’t exactly know what, but was charged at and tackled before the words could come out of her mouth.

Katherine and her attacker tumbled across the ground in a heap of tangled limbs, fur clothes and steel armor slapping against each other, but it was the attacker who came out on top. Blinking through a haze of starbursts and smog, Katherine saw EB on top of her, pinning her to the floor, holding an ebony war ax to her throat.

  “I told you,” EB said, and her voice sounded genuinely anguished. “I told you we would attack.”

Katherine growled lowly in her throat. She reached for her fallen bow, but EB kicked it away.

  “I didn’t want to do this,” EB said.

  “Then why did you?” Katherine snapped. 

  “I had to!”

  “You don’t have to do anything!”

The blade of the axe pressed closer to Katherine’s neck, drawing a thin streak of bright red blood.

  “I didn’t want to,” EB said again. “But you gave me no-- OW!!”

EB whirled around, the blade of her axe narrowly missing Katherine’s jugular, and saw Joan and Catalina standing there. Catalina’s sword was pointed forward, while Joan’s hands were empty. Because the arrow that had been occupying them was now stabbed through EB’s side.

  “Heh,” EB actually laughed. “That’s surprising.”

  “Get off of her.” Catalina said, stepping forward. “Now. Or I swear to all the celestial beings that I will put this sword through your fucking skull.”

EB studied her, and then Joan, and then hissed, “Shit.” She clambered off of Katherine and stood up, wincing because of the arrow still in her side. “I can’t kill a kid. Or a pregnant woman.”

  “Bitch--” Catalina growled. 

EB ignored her. “Get up.” She said to Katherine. “Come on. Reinforcements will be here soon.”

Katherine understood what she was doing and grabbed her bow, then stood up as quickly as possible.

EB led them through the burning forest, far away from the area where she saw reinforcements would come. The heavy rainfall was doing its best to combat the fire, but the flames were strong and powerful, and were eating away at the trees rapidly. Waves of smoke and ash and soot battered into them, and Joan had staggered into a coughing fit at one point in the run, but Katherine managed to get her moving again. A flaming tree crashed down in their path, and EB recoiled away. Katherine felt Catalina (or maybe just her belly) bump into her when she skidded to an abrupt halt.

  “This way!” EB yelled, sprinting into the trees to the left.

Pelting rain and flakes of ash fluttered from the sky in a flurry of cruel elements. Katherine had to squint so she wouldn’t be blinded by raindrop or ember. Her lungs were starting to burn, both from running and from the smog that infected every particle of clean air around her. She was worried they would all suffocate before salvation came.

But that didn’t happen. Because they burst through a line of trees and out onto a clearing with a gorge slashed through it. A river raged inside the channel, just six feet down the cliff faces.

There was no way to get across.

  “What do we do?” Catalina gasped.

EB looked up and down the river, and Katherine could see that there was no way over to the other side for several miles. Not something they could reach in time before they were caught.

  “Katherine,” EB said, catching Katherine’s attention. “Listen to me. You need to find a way away from here. My troops are going to catch up soon.”

  “What about your wound?” Katherine asked, eyeing the arrow still lodged through EB’s side.

EB snorted. “I’ve had worse.”

That Katherine could believe.

EB’s expression hardened. “If we ever meet again, I’m going to have to kill you.” 

Those words slithered into Katherine’s brain like venomous snakes, taking her off guard. She saw that EB was being completely serious, even if, deep down, she didn’t want to be. At her sides, Joan and Catalina were tense.”

  “Stop the war.” EB spoke again, this time softer, more pleading. “Please.” And then she stepped forward and shoved Katherine into the river below.

------

After the three of them crawled out of the river, Katherine, Catalina, and Joan ran. 

After floating in a river and struggling to stay above the rapids and being beaten by rocks for what felt like hours, they ran for what felt like even more hours.

They didn’t know where they were going.

They were now miles away from their home. Joan was limping. Catalina, despite herself, looked exhausted. Katherine was so thirsty. They were all very hungry.

Hunting was tradition in an English Aristocrat- or that was what Catalina said the guards and nobles in her city said. Even the lowest of peasants found thrill in wielding a weapon and hunting game. Katherine had never fired her bow with shivering, trembling limbs, and she never thought she would have to, but then she and Catalina and Joan stumbled upon the rotting corpse of a hunter in the grass, with a quiver full of arrows that they would need if they wanted to survive out there.

There was a bear trap clamped tightly on the left ankle. The quiver was strapped around the torso. Maggots festered on the head and chest and groin. Katherine told Catalina and Joan to look away. They do not disobey; Joan went to collect firewood and Catalina sat down to rest.

Katherine muttered apologies as she knelt beside the body. A trail of maggots squished loudly beneath her knees. She did her best to ignore it.

The stench of the corpse was overpowering. The feel of maggots wriggling over her hands was worse.

Katherine had to stick her fingers in the maggot mass to untangle the quiver. They were slimy little creatures and squirmed wildly when touched, clearly angry. A few wiggle up her digits, tickling the soft flesh, and Katherine shook her hand wildly, sending the worms flying. She worked faster, but that just made the squelching noises louder and louder until--

Katherine ripped the quiver off the rotting corpse and vomited.

Joan and Catalina were waiting at a nearby clearing with a pile of sticks. Katherine praised Joan wearily. Catalina caught Katherine’s exhausted expression.

  “Kat?” Catalina spoke up for the first time in hours. “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah,” Katherine mumbled. The front of her tunic was drenched in vomit. “Just…tired.”

Catalina pursed her lips in disbelief, but said, “Okay.” 

Katherine knelt beside the sticks and then stared at them, as if she were hoping they would light on fire if she gave them a stern-enough look. Then, she took her bow, a stick, and began a technique she once read about in a book.

It was called the “bow drill” apparently. By using a bow to grind a stick against a piece of wood, enough friction would be created to start a fire. On paper, it sounded like a simple way to help in a survival situation, but actually doing it was a lot more problematic.

Katherine was crouched on the ground, drilling a stick down on another piece of wood for half an hour, and all she really succeeded in was tearing strips off of her hands. Fresh blisters stung and glowed angry pink in the open air. Splinters poked at the patches of raw flesh, deepening Joan’s agony, but she kept trying. She feared she and Catalina and Joan would freeze during the night if she didn’t.

After nearly an hour, there were enough ashes to dump into a pile of dry moss and grass to blow on, eventually starting a small fire that slowly grew larger and larger. Katherine actually sobbed out of relief. Catalina knelt down next to her and hugged her. Joan sat back on a log and stared blankly at her hooves.

It was sad, really, that they both thought that this was the best thing to ever happen to them.

Katherine told Joan and Catalina to tend to the fire while she went out to get dinner. She regretted it almost immediately, as the darkness of the forest seemed to close around her. For a moment, she swore she thought she saw a writhing black mass of human limbs in one of the shadows…

The buck had heard her coming, and Katherine cursed herself. She already didn’t want to kill an innocent animal, but it fleeing was just making this even worse. She began to fear getting lost if she went any further.

The buck ran out of sight, and Katherine tried to chase after it on her sore, tired legs. She pushed harshly through the brambles and bushes. She knew she wouldn’t find it on the other side; she’d given it so much warning with her clumsy noise it could be anywhere by now.

Katherine turned around and began retracing her steps. She stopped, however, when she saw another deer nearby.

Katherine drew her bow, staring down a trembling arrow, praying that her hands would be steady enough to keep her and her companions from starving to death. Despair set in as she released the arrow. She was clawing for one more hellish day in this nightmare that had become her life in a span of mere hours.

The deer never knew what hit her. And it was a her. Katherine was able to discern that as she crouched down next to the body and brought her next arrow closer. The arrowhead was small but sharp, and she began slicing the fur away, wondering if she could make some gloves, or sleeves, or something to hold back the constant wind and rain that would soon come with fall.

A smaller noise squealed from her left, and she snatched up her bow. The new animal was…young. It was a deer, barely two months old, and Katherine knew instantly that she had just orphaned the little one.

(Just like how the raiders had orphaned her and maybe even Joan and Catalina.)

It was terrified of her, but unable to leave the mother’s body…

The helpless creature squealed again, and Katherine knew it was doomed. More so than she was. She, at least, had learned the protection of silence. The baby’s squealing would call down every carnivore or person in the area.

Katherine notched another arrow into her bow…and put it right between the little creature’s eyes.

Her lack of hesitation scared her.

(Something told her this wasn’t going to be the only innocent blood she would spill.)

She had thrown away more than a few of the promises she had made to herself over her lifetime. She had promised that she wouldn’t participate in hunting baby animals or mothers. She had promised herself she wouldn’t give way to despair. She had promised herself she wouldn’t be cruel to anything or anyone that was helpless. But now she didn’t care. If someone she loved had come by with a piece of bread, she would have caved their head in with a rock to get a bite of it.

Savage. She felt savage.

Katherine dragged the deer’s back to the camp. Catalina and Joan said nothing about the baby.

Gutting was a painful process. Catalina took over after Katherine threw up again.

  “Sit down and rest, love,” That’s what Catalina had said when she slipped the arrow out of her hand and gently nudged her aside. Katherine was too tired to argue with her.

Catalina cooked slabs of deer meat in the fire as best as she could, but Katherine could tell that she burned it. The smell was too fresh and familiar to all of them.

Majority of the food went to Catalina for obvious reasons. She ate a lot more than Katherine had expected, but she must have used a lot of energy after running and fighting. Katherine ate two pieces of meat. Joan nibbled on a strip of charred venison, and then didn’t eat at all again.

The sun was just starting to come up when they all huddled together to rest. Katherine rested her shaking hands on Catalina’s belly because the small flutters of life from within gave her a little more hope. Joan was leaning against her, curled into a small ball. Catalina was on her other side, with her head resting against Katherine’s own. And they stayed like that, shivering.

  “Kat?” Catalina croaked after a while. “What are we going to do?”

Katherine watched their fire start to burn out, swirling soft grey smoke towards the even greyer sky, and said, “We’re going to stop the war.”

[kerikaaria]

Borahae Slimes Haul #2 Review!

Dean ( @eternalseokjin​ ) restocked with some new slimes, so of course I had to snatch a few!

Full disclosure, Dean is my friend and knew my birthday recently passed so he gave me some extra goodies (a free full slime, extra candy, and I’m pretty sure the amount of photocards and stickers were extra too lol. Dude gave me 3 Yoongi photocards because he knows how soft I am for that man) with this because he’s just amazing and sweet like that ^-^ Thank you, Dean!

First, here’s the link to Dean’s Etsy store, so if you would like to purchase some BTS-themed slime, definitely give his shop a look! And check out the store’s tumblr @borahaeslimes​

I was lucky for the order to come really quickly, especially during this time of year. And once I started opening up the package, I got so excited! He didn’t tell me he had added Until Spring for free as a birthday gift, so it was such a pleasant surprise! (And a surprise blessing with the extra containers as well, for reasons I’ll explain later). Keep reading for a detailed review with pictures!

Also. my apologies for the pictures not being more condensed. Every time I attempted to adjust them on mobile, tumblr decided to give me an error so... ugh lol.

I’ll Show You

I’ll Show You is themed after the song ‘Magic Shop,’ and has such a lovely, relaxing scent. It comes with little iridescent flakies (if you’re a fan of Simply Nailogical like Dean and I, you’d probably call it Unicorn Skin) that are optional to put in, as well as a key charm. The flakies do somewhat poke your hand while you play with it, but it’s not hard at all so unless you have very sensitive hands I don’t see it being a problem.

The color is a gorgeous iridescent cream, and the flakies add another really nice layer to it as well. It’s a very beautiful slime, and I easily see myself taking it out when I’m having a rough day because of how lovely and calming the chamomile and lavender scents are.

Anpanman

The slime is themed after the song of the same name and comes with a  custom-made clay charm with a comic-style onomatopoeia (recommended to NOT store inside the slime). The version I bought is the Bingsu one, since I didn’t know if I’d enjoy larger blocks being in my slime.

There is an option to leave it unscented to keep the clear slime from getting cloudy/tinted by it, but I really LOVE the blue raspberry jolly rancher scent and am so glad I opted to keep it! I enjoy the soft crunchy texture to the Bingsu, and this slime is just jam packed with them so it’s super satisfying to play with!

Until Spring

This one is themed after ‘Spring Day,’ and comes with 4 individually packaged colors which you can mix as you please, and a snowflake charm. One is a thick white snow fizz, the pink a bingsu (not quite as packed as Anpanman), and the blue and purple are clear-based slimes. The metallic shimmer of the blue is GORGEOUS, and I almost feel guilty for blending it all into the overall mixture.

The end result is this beautiful pastel purple, with the sporadic snow fizz and pink bingsu adding a unique texture. The smell is also very soft and lovely.

Sweet Life

Sweet Life is themed after BTS’ recent single, ‘Dynamite!’ The clay donut and record charm (again, recommended to NOT store inside the slime) are both handmade by Dean, and it also comes with a small bag of fake sprinkles. The donut came wrapped in plastic wrap and inside a smaller plastic tub than the slimes. And the slime itself is a very sweet scent - a little too strong to me personally, but nothing I can’t handle.

Alright, now this is the only hiccup I had in the order, so I’ll explain what happened. 

While I did think something was a bit odd when I tore the donut in half, I didn’t pay enough attention before I started trying to mix it with the slime. It turns out, the container the donut was shipped in ended up getting cracked during shipment, and the clay had half dried by the time it got to me. So it was rather hard trying to mix that part into the slime. You might be able to tell in the second picture above, that there are chunks hardly mixed, if at all, into the slime.

Knowing that it was because the container ended up cracked doesn’t personally make me too concerned that others would have the problems I did. I spoke with Dean about it, and he helped me figure out what to do. The part I already started mixing with the slime started to absorb moisture from it and became softer and easier to work with as I let it just sit for a bit. The other half, I put into a (not cracked, airtight) container and poured just a bit of water on it. I let it sit while I was working with Until Spring, and periodically went back to it to mix up the slime or knead the water into the clay to help it along.

It didn’t take too long before it was able to all mix together and I ended with my final slime! I really love the texture. It’s really thick, almost like a putty and super satisfying! Also a side note, Dean said he isn’t quite sure how the slime he used for making his shop post ended up so brown, because his personal slime of this also ended up a similar shade of a blue-gray to mine. I do really like the color though, it’s a neat muted, almost teal color.

And this is where the extra containers due to the four individual slimes for Until Spring came in handy, since the tub containing the donut was cracked. I was able to use the little 2 oz containers for the rest of the slime that wouldn’t fit in the big container after mixing in the clay, so I didn’t need to go finding something else to put it in. What a happy little coincidence!

Extra Slime - Anpanman Block version

The extra slime I got this time was a sample of the block version of Anpanman, probably because Dean knows I’m new to exploring different types of slime and wanted to let me try it out. I can say that I’m glad I got the Bingsu one in my purchase, but I also don’t hate the chunky blocks as much as I thought I might. It’ll still be a very nice one to fiddle with here and there.

So overall, I’m incredibly happy yet again! I don’t blame Dean for the hiccup with the clay donut, since the tub getting cracked most likely happened in shipping - and everything was very well packaged, wrapped in bubble wrap and then tissue paper, and in a padded mailer so he did everything he could to try to keep it safe. And besides, although it was extra work, it still blended into the slime in the end so I’m happy :)

If you want to support small shops, Dean’s is a great one to go to! Unfortunately because of shipping prices being crazy, he can only sell in the US, but if you do live here and are interested, then definitely give his shop a browse! Here is the link one more time. --> Borahae Slimes on Etsy

[sonicringbond]

Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 28

Here we go, my favorite scene out of the whole story so far. I had so much fun when I wrote this scene, and the emotions and action just came to me so naturally. Even the scenes that come after this one have yet to hit me so hard as this one did.

But let me not keep everyone away with my gushing though. instead, please enjoy...

    ~It was so noisy, which was not what I was expecting when I tried to take my cards out. As I touched them with my fingers it was like the voices of all the ghosts tore through me and I couldn’t make out anything. But there were flashes of images. They were so tinged with fear. So much fear. And it was all directed to that planet in the sky. What was it? Why was it so frightening? And how could they see it in this storm?

    ~And is it looking at me? Smiling?~

    “Come on! Snap out of it!”

    “Wha...?” Rosy barely mumbled her question as Draw shook her from her trance.

    “Come on, I hear voices, and they don’t sound like ghosts!”

    Rosy was barely able to connect reality with her hazy mind. The image of the small planet that hung in the sky watching her everyday was now watching her from within her field of vision as if she were having a half-asleep hallucination. Draw did not care however as she had at least responded and no longer resisted his attempts to lead her to a massive fissure in the tower floor.

    “–Talk big all you want flightless rodent! That Red Star Ring is mine and all the power it entails. Then I’ll make sure all the world knows the name of Doctor Fukurokov and his Battle Kukku Armada! Even that fool Eggman won’t be a match for me once I harness it’s power.”

    The voice of the mad owl that came up through the fissure was unfamiliar to Draw. The voice that responded to it was also one he had not heard before. However…

    “Oh yeah bird brain. I may not be looking my best, but that hasn’t stopped me before.”

    “SONIC!”

    Rosy snapped out of her daze in an instant. The voice of none other than Sonic the Hedgehog had that powerful of an effect on her and she missed the amusement that lingered uninvited within her being held by the vision of the small planet in the sky. That did not matter to her even if she did notice as she was more concerned about the fissure that Draw had led her too. The same koala who was holding his ear with both hands. “What was that for!”

    “I’m sorry Draw, but that’s Sonic! And it sounds like he’s in trouble! We have to go help him!”

    “We don’t even know where he is,” Draw tried to calm Rosy down, but she did not hear him as she pushed back the cuff of her glove and fiddled with the small device strapped to her wrist. As a holographic little screen was emitted from it, she whined out her frustrations.

    “Ooh~! Why didn’t I check like I always do! Sonic really is here, but…”

    Dashing to the edge of the tower in a blink, leaving Draw chasing after her, Rosy looked out at the raging ocean. “He’s out there…”

    “Out… there…,” Draw panted as he caught up and looked at the ocean. “Then those stories about underwater ruins…?”

    “We have to go find out now! Hold on!”

    “Gyah~!”

    Draw had noticed it before, but when Rosy was desperate or extremely emotional she seemed to handle her speed a lot more competently than when she was having fun. She demonstrated as such when she smashed into him with her back and snagged his arms pulling him into an awkward piggyback position. He wrapped his legs around her almost instinctually and was glad he did as she jumped down the fissure and charged through the castle.

    ‘I wonder, if she, does this on purpose,’ Draw pondered, faced with Rosy’s sudden competence.

    The koala failed to understand how much Sonic meant to Rosy though, and she herself could feel the warm glow of her Ring Bond with Sonic in her chest as she ran with everything she had. She was running so fast Draw could not hear Sonic or the voice that belonged to Doctor Fukurokov anymore. He could barely see where Rosy was running as she bounced off walls, columns, the ceiling, and any other structure that redirected her desperate run in pursuit of the warmth in her chest. Even the ghosts were no match for such, which made Mote keeping up all the more surprising.

    ‘Why didn’t you share that speed with me?’ Draw practically criticized the fairy with his thoughts. What he received in return was not the response he was expecting though as the fairy turned its eyes fearfully to the stormy sky. “What is that!”

    Creating a vortex within the clouds, a massive artificial island with an equally absurd impossibly large spinning propeller on its underside descended along with a fleet of airships. The Jolly Roger of the battle Kukku Armada flew high as countless rocket powered pods descended upon the ocean as it was pulled up into a swirling wall of destruction. Draw could not see the exposed ruins beyond the wall of sea water, but he knew Rosy was running towards it. And unlike the growing fear in his chest, or the fear shared by Mote and the spirits of the dead of the little planet in the sky, Rosy ran without fear.

    “No way!” Draw yelled trying to pull away from Rosy fruitlessly against her surprising strength. “You can’t run into that!”

    “That’s where Sonic is, and I’m not letting a wall of water stop me!” Rosy shouted back determinedly.

    “You’re crazy you WEIRDO GI~~~~~RL~~~~~!!!!!” Draw cried out in horror as Rosy truly ran right into the swirling wall of water as she ascended debris pulled from the ruins by the island above. ��She’s going to drown me!’

    Draw’s fear was in vain as he suddenly found himself upside down as Rosy kicked off a ceiling she hit after emerging from the water.

    “Where are we now!”

    “Almost to Sonic! I’m sure of it!”

    ~I know Draw didn’t believe me. But he didn’t have too. I just had to reach Sonic. The ruins that floated within the swirling vortex of water wasn’t going to stop me. The ghosts and even the golems that occupied it weren’t either. I could swim fast enough even with Draw on my back. I could run fast enough even as the island above us made the water even fiercer. I could run to Sonic wherever he was. It didn’t matter. If I knew where Sonic was, I could always run to him.~

    “Wait for me Soni~~~~~c!”

    Draw was unprepared when Rosy suddenly tossed him across a pool of water full of rubble. As he landed on the steps on the other side, he drew an arrow from his quiver, shocked it was still there. Jamming it into the cracked brickwork to stop himself, he fought to hold steady against the pull of the island above’s impossibly huge propeller. As he did so he barely had time to see Rosy dive into the water, curling into a tight ball of destructive rotation as she hit the surface.

    “What are you doing now you crazy weirdo girl!”

    Beneath the water Rosy did not hear her companion who was less likely to survive the vortex than her. She believed in him though and knew that right now it was not him who needed her help. She knew exactly who needed her embrace right now as she hit the rubble and decimated it making her way fully to the bottom of the pool. There she found him and smiled so bright even as the sight of her stole what breath he had left away. That did not matter though.

    As she bounced off the ground, she revved her best underwater Spin Dash and smashed into the rubble that had pinned him and ricocheted back and off the wall behind her. She knew he was obviously feeling weak from lack of air as he otherwise would not have let her grab him.

    And she embraced him, shoving her head into his chest and him clear out of the water as she swam with everything she had. Every ounce of speed she could pour into her legs granted to her by the blue hedgehog whose life was in her hands for once.

    “Gya–!” Draw shouted as Rosy miscalculated her ascent and crashed straight through the stairs he was situated on. He did not have to risk being pulled away by the vortex though as he was promptly pinned by two hedgehogs. “Oof!”

    “Sonic!” Rosy cried out as she forced herself up by fully extending her arms. Looking down at none other than the one and only Sonic the Hedgehog, her heart skipped a beat as he was bent over backwards on Draw and she could not see his face. Or the awkward smile he offered Draw before holding up a hand and giving Rosy a thumbs up. “Ah… ah… ah… SONI~~~~~~C!!!!! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! WAHHHH~~~~~!!!!!”

    “Looks like you’ve been making friends though kid,” Sonic comforted Rosy as he sat up despite the force the hedgehog girl buried her face and tears in his chest with. Placing a hand atop her head, Sonic ruffled her quills soothingly and Rosy lost every ounce of strength she had left as she cried with overwhelming joy into Sonic’s chest.

Scene 28 · CLEARED A Tide of Ghosts, End

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And there we have it! Rosy has finally caught up with one of her friends, and of course it’s Sonic 😁 And I really did have so much fun writing this scene. It just felt so right and came so naturally. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it and are hyped for what comes next. I really hope you enjoy!

Thank you!

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Special Thanks to Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song – Second Advent – Tsutomu Narita, GRANBLUE FANTASY – Granblue Fantasy Original Soundtrack: Chaos

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

[awkwardnessandbaseball]

I can't believe we're here at the end!!! The good news is that the 1-2 chapter (just deciding how to split it up) companion piece from Killian's POV will be posted on Monday! Thank you so much for reading this story that I truly never thought I would finish. It means everything to me that people liked it even the tiniest bit, and I hope this last chapter is as satisfying for you to read as it was for me to write. (Also, I took some liberties with the whole house-purchasing process, so... bear with me, okay?)

Once again, so many thanks to: @cspupstravaganza, @sherlockianwhovian , @lassluna

Tag list: @quirkykayleetam, @squidvisious, @carpedzem, @revanmeetra87, @kmomof4, @capnjay21 

AO3 if that’s your jam: Prologue | Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7

I’d Pick You (and Your Little Dog, Too)

A Captain Swan Pupstravaganza Story

Summary: According to everyone in the known universe, Emma Nolan’s dog is supposed to lead her to her soulmate. But she’s not even sure if she wants that. Soulmates are pretty idealistic, don’t you think?

Chapter Seven:

Killian is going to propose.

Emma can feel it in her bones. No, in her very soul. Which makes sense since, you know, soulmates and all.

She can’t figure out when he’s going to do it, or where. He hasn’t asked her to go out to any special dinners. They haven’t made any plans to take the boat out yet, as apparently Killian wants it to be perfect before they take her on her maiden voyage as The Jolly Roger.

She supposes that could be why he wants to make it perfect, if he wants to propose on the boat. But she really just wants him to do it already and stop making her wait.

It’s probably her own fault, really. The way she’d taken ages to let him in, and then when he’d given her Liam’s ring, she’d probably looked about ready to run straight across the town line and never look back.

But she’s ready now.

She wants to be married to Killian Jones. She knows, now, that the feeling she’d had when she watched her brother get married has a name. It’s called jealousy, and she’s ready to stop feeling it. She wants to be married, too, not on the outside looking in on a happy couple with rings and on their way to starting a family.

Emma has thought about this a lot, and she’s decided that the best way to tell Killian that she’s ready is to show him. He’s given her a sentimental ring, bought her a freaking boat. He’s waited for her at every step of their relationship. So it’s time for Emma to pull off some big grand gesture or make a romantic speech. Or something.

The problem is that Killian seems to have an endless well of sentimental items and stories to give as romantic gifts, and Emma has none.

Until the house goes up for sale.

The house that she and David grew up in has changed a lot over the past fifteen years. The couple that bought it after their parents died apparently almost tore it down entirely, but decided on a simpler remodel. A paint job, a new fence, and a wraparound porch are the most obvious changes that Emma’s noticed over the years, but she has no idea what it looks like inside. She’s walking past it, as she does on her morning walks with Rascal, and she sees the For Sale sign out front, along with a small “OPEN HOUSE TODAY!” sign beside it.

It won’t hurt to look, Emma tells herself, so she texts David that she’ll be late to work -- or later than usual, really.

The inside is different. The shape is the same, all of the walls and doors exactly where she remembers them. But the colors are all off. The walls were all pale yellows and blues, with white trim, but now everything is a stale gray. Where the floorboards had been faded with time, now they’re stark black.

We’ll fix it up, Emma thinks. And then she stops the self-guided tour and freezes for a moment. She waits for the lead ball in her stomach to form, or for the stutter of her heartbeat that accompanies frightening thoughts about the future. But none of it comes.

“Excuse me,” she calls when she finds the realtor. He’s from a company called Ozman Realty from the next town over, so she doesn’t recognize him. “What’s the asking price on this house?”

“Two-hundred-thousand,” the man tells her. He smiles, but it’s hard and somehow almost… slimey. Emma doesn’t like it, but she doesn’t really have a choice in who’s selling the home she wants to buy. “I should tell you, we’ve already had an offer today, and the sign only went up this morning.”

“Dammit, David,” Emma grumbles “One moment, please.” She pulls her phone out and angrily dials her brother.

“Are you even going to bother coming in today?” he teases her.

“Are you trying to buy the old house out from under me?” She has no time for the teasing. She’s doing this, dammit.

“Wait, what?” David pauses. “Mom and Dad’s house is up for sale?”

“Yes, David! Keep up!” Emma yells into the phone. “Are you telling me you didn’t put this bid on it?”

“No, Emma, I had no idea.” He sounds sincere.

“Well… do you… I mean are you going to bid on it? Now that you know?” Emma runs a hand through her hair, finally letting her nerves catch up to her.

“No, Mary Margaret and I are uh… we’re building our own house, actually. We bought some property on the edge of town. We were hoping to keep it a surprise until, you know, there’s actually a house there.” David stops talking and Emma can picture him leaning forward on his desk, brows creasing together. “Are you going to buy the house, Emma?”

“Yeah, I think I am.” She bites her lip. “Or at least I’m going to try! Someone’s already put a bid on it, so I’ve gotta go.”

“You can use the inheritance.” David blurts out before she can hang up. “I used some of it to buy the property, but the rest is yours.”

When the Nolan twins had turned 18, they’d been shocked to learn that their parents had had a large amount of money set aside for them. They’d lived modestly, taken few family trips, so their parents must have spent all that time saving up without their children's knowledge. Emma had wanted to take a vacation immediately, somewhere warm and tropical and distinctly far away from Storybrooke just for a week, maybe two. But David had insisted that they save it.

“Mom and Dad would want us to use it for our futures, Emma, don’t you think?”

Reluctantly, Emma had agreed. But what was more ‘for our future’ than this house?

Still, she felt… wrong using so much of it.

“That’s our money, David. Not mine alone. How much did you use?” It’s way too early for this conversation -- Emma has only had one cup of coffee, courtesy of Killian. It’s not enough.

“I used fifty-thousand. There’s still a couple hundred thousand left. Seriously, Emma. Use it. I want you to. And if we need more down the line, we’ll figure it out.”

“I’ll think about it. See you soon.”

Emma wanders through the house, looking for the realtor again.

“I’ve got the full amount in my bank account. I’ll pay it up front. I want this house.”

She knows it’s not a good technique. You’re supposed to low-ball or pretend you’re not as interested as you are. But truthfully, Emma doesn’t care. She wants this fucking house.

The realtor looks thrown off by her forwardness, but he puts on his fake smile quickly.

“I’ll have to contact the buyer from this morning and give them a chance to counter,” he tells her.

Seriously?

“Yeah, sure, fine.”

He steps out of the room to make the call and Emma wanders through the living room, pointing out memories to Rascal.

“There was a dent in that wall from when David and I got into a wrestling match once. His head hit right below that window. He needed stitches.” Rascal sniffs the part of the wall she’s pointing to. “And over here--”

“Miss, uh, I didn’t catch your name,” the realtor calls.

“Emma No-- Emma Swan,” she tells him. Storybrooke is a small town, and while most of its inhabitants know her mother’s maiden name, it won’t be their first thought if word gets out that there’s a bid on the house. She just doesn’t want this to get back to Killian.

“Well, Miss Swan, the other bidder has backed down. We’ll just need you to get the money and sign some paperwork, and the house is yours. You skipped quite a few steps by having the money up front,” he jokes. “Why don’t we meet at the seafood restaurant I saw by the docks at 7 tonight and make everything official?”

“Why would we meet at a restaurant?” Emma asks suspiciously.

“Oh well… I was hoping we could…,” he stammers out.

“I don’t even know your name. And you’re asking me on a date?” She crosses her arms and arches an eyebrow. Rascal comes up beside her, sensing the tension.

The man, undeterred, simply holds out a hand.

“Walsh Ozman, of Ozman Realty,” he’s grinning, as if expecting Emma to be impressed.

“Emma Swan, sheriff and home buyer. As in, customer. As in, inappropriate to ask out.” She takes his hand and shakes it firmly, hammering her point home: I’m in charge, not you. For good measure, Rascal growls and stares at the realtor, unblinking.

Walsh clears his throat and takes a step back, eyeing both Emma and Rascal warily.

“Here’s my card. You can come by my office this evening.”

“Thanks.”

*****

Emma’s practically vibrating with excitement for the rest of the day. Creepy realtor aside, she’s bought her old house. For herself. For herself and Killian.

If this doesn’t show him she’s ready to move forward, nothing will.

When she gets home that night, brand new house keys in hand, Killian’s camped out in front of the TV holding a beer. It’s not unlike him to have a drink to unwind after work, but the fact that it’s a beer instead of a nice glass of rum makes Emma think that he’s been stewing on something all day, and he doesn’t want his anger to get the best of him. And drunk Killian is a bit more emotional than the sober version.

“Hey, babe,” Emma calls from the doorway. She begins the process of untying and removing her work shoes in favor of putting on her more comfortable sneakers. “How was your day?”

“Fine,” he answers, not even trying to convince her that it’s true. “Yours?” She hears his footsteps coming towards her.

“It was great, actually. You okay? You look…” Emma can’t quite put her finger on how he looks. Disappointed? Angry? Tired? A combination?

“Aye, I’m fine, love. I just… had a bit of a disappointment today.” He steps towards her, pulling her body flush against his. “I’m glad you’re home.”

She kisses him slowly, just for a moment or two, before pulling back. He looks down at her curiously.

“I wanna show you something,” she whispers. “Put your shoes on.”

“It’s nearly eight, Swan.” He seems to realize what an old man he sounds like, because he shakes his head. “I was just hoping we could stay in tonight.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Implicitly,” he answers automatically.

“Then put on your shoes.” She punctuates the sentence with a quick kiss on his cheek, scruff scratching at her lips.

She’s not sure how they figured out the logistics of getting into a car with two humans and two dogs and not a bit of thought. She opens the driver’s side door and both Rascal and Procella scramble in and hop in the back seat, lying more on top of each other than next to each other. They’ve done it since the first time they got into the same car, back when Emma and David had gotten the call about loose dogs at the park. It strikes Emma how long ago that was, how much things have changed, and her excitement is renewed.

Killian doesn’t complain on the drive over, despite his initial hesitation. Emma can tell he’s had a rough day, though she’s not sure why and she knows she should have asked. But… this is important and huge and hopefully it’ll make whatever it is that happened not even matter anymore.

She bites her lip as the niggling little voice in her head, the one that’s been quiet since the moment she kissed Killian’s cheek in the park on one of their first lunch dates, suddenly starts screaming inside of her head.

What if he thinks I’m crazy? What if he doesn’t want to move into the house? What if he isn’t ready? What if he’s not planning to propose, and I’ve done this huge gesture and he doesn’t get it? What if he wants to keep things the way they are? Or what if he takes one look at the huge house -- clearly meant for a family -- and runs straight out of town? What if it’s too much? What if--

“Swan, where are we going?” Killian’s voice jolts her back to reality. He’s quiet in the darkness, a softness to his voice that she can’t quite figure out.

“I bought something I want to show you.”

“Emma, did you--”

“We’re almost there,” she says, and she feels Killian staring at her. Her voice cracks at the end, and her knuckles are white on the steering wheel. What have I done?

If he leaves, she doesn’t know what she’ll do.

She pulls up to the curb across the street and climbs out without looking at him.

Before she even reaches the gate, he’s laughing. She can hear him start to chuckle, and then it grows into a full-on belly laugh.

Oh God, he thinks I’m crazy. Why did I--

“Swan, you bloody brilliant woman!” He’s right behind her now, grabbing her around the waist.

“You don’t even… what?” Emma is so very confused.

“You’re the buyer? I should have known.”

And then the pieces click into place.

“Were you the first bidder?” She turns around in his arms. He’s smiling so wide it nearly reaches both ears, and finally that loud voice in her head quiets down again. She smacks his chest once for good measure. “I was so angry!”

“How did you pay the whole thing up front?” He’s still laughing as he reaches up to brush a loose strand of hair away from her face.

“Inheritance,” Emma says simply. “Why were you trying to buy my house, Killan?”

“For you, of course.” His smile changes then, and his face turns serious. “I work with the man who lived here, Kris. He and his wife are adventuring around the country or something. They’ve been talking about it for weeks. So I knew the house was going up.” Killian shrugs. “I wanted to surprise you, but it seems you got me first.”

“They moved out last week, before it even went up,” Emma tells him, and he’s already nodding because he already knows. “So, we can go in. If you want.”

He smiles again, and she wonders briefly how she could have ever doubted him. Because of course he doesn’t think she’s crazy. Of course their minds were in the exact same place.

Soulmates, she thinks to herself.

They step inside the house, and Emma flips the lightswitch on. It’s still empty, of course, and for a moment, the space feels cavernous and huge. But then Rascal and Procella run out in front of her and start sniffing every corner, every inch of the baseboards. And it’s strange that something so simple eases Emma’s mind, but it does.

“I’m glad you brought me here, Swan,” Killian whispers from behind her. “I had big plans for this house, and I thought they’d all been dashed.” He kisses the skin just underneath her ear. “But now, hope is renewed.”

“Big plans?” Emma asks.

“Oh, aye. In fact, now seems as good a time as any, don’t you think?”

He moves out from behind her and she feels an immediate sense of loss when the warmth is gone. But then he’s in front of her, that same nervous look on his face that he’d had the first time he asked her to lunch.

Emma loves being right.

He gets down on one knee, and in a move that’s so natural that it seems rehearsed, Rascal and Procella come up on either side of him and sit patiently. There are six eyes staring at Emma and watching her start to cry.

“I feel like we’ve done a lot of things backwards, Swan. We met before I even knew I had a soulmate. I thought I’d be alone forever, adrift at sea without anyone for company. But then you and Rascal came along, and you brought me Procella. And then, by some miracle, you let me in. And you gave me something I never thought I would have: true love. And now, Emma Nolan, I have to ask you a very important question.” He pauses, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as well. “Will you marry me?”

He’s barely gotten the question out before she’s whispering yes. And then screaming it.

“Yes! Killian, yes.” And then they’re kissing, in the living room of their house, and it is, without a doubt, perfect.

[sceptilemasterr]

ES Act 3, Scene 14 - Just in Time

Title: Endless Summer: The (un)Official Screenplay

Main Pairings: Estela x Ian (M!MC), Jake x Alyssa (F!MC)

Other Pairings: Craig x Zahra, Grace x Aleister, Michelle x Sean, Diego x Varyyn

Genre: Full Rewrite

Rating: PG-13 for swearing, violence, alcohol, and sexuality

Summary: Alyssa provides the group with an unlikely way to escape, but Diego makes a different choice.

Previous Scene: Crouching Nerds, Hidden Badasses

Masterlist: Link

EXT. THE CELESTIAL - ROOFTOP - MORNING

The group storms up the stairs onto the roof, the Vaanti in hot pursuit behind them. Craig slams the door shut with all of his might, and Sean joins him in holding it shut while Quinn locks and deadbolts it. The others grab the various pieces of lawn furniture scattered around the roof and jam them up against the door.

DIEGO: It’s over, Hostiles! We have the high ground!

Everyone stares at him.

DIEGO: ...Sorry, couldn’t resist.

ZAHRA: Hate to break it to you, but it’s not over. They’re climbing up!

Everyone rushes to the edge of the roof and looks down, seeing a group of Vaanti emerging from the windows of the floor below and clambering up the sides of the building. Zahra pulls her head back as one of them fires an arrow in her direction.

MICHELLE: Okay, great, we’re on the roof! Now what?

JAKE: Hang on, I got this. Found a bunch of parasails and stuff earlier; we’re gonna fly outta here and away from these Jolly Green Giants.

Jake is rummaging through the pile of parasailing equipment. He sets several bunches aside, his face falling as he counts the piles off.

JAKE: ...Shit.

CRAIG: Is that good “shit,” or bad “shit?”

JAKE: Hate to tell you all this, but... Somebody tore holes in a few of these things.

Calvia clambers up the side of the roof. Estela grapples with her before managing to knock her out with the butt of her spear.

ALYSSA: Wait, you’re saying-

JAKE: Yeah. We ain’t all gettin’ outta this.

SEAN: How many are left?

Two more Vaanti emerge. Craig knocks one out with a single punch while Aleister duels the other, distracting him long enough for Michelle to pull her pressure-point trick again. Five more Vaanti climb up the sides as they do so.

JAKE: Eight. Six of us are stayin’ behind.

SEAN: I’ll do it.

CRAIG: C’mon, bro, don’t be a hero!

SEAN: Somebody has to.

QUINN: I’ll stay. I’m... I don’t have much longer anyway.

MICHELLE: What?! Quinn, no, what do you mean-

ALYSSA: Jake, I’m kinda small, maybe we can both fit on one-

JAKE: You really wanna test that? I don’t feel like takin’ my chances-

Two of the Vaanti head for Ian and Estela, while the other three attack Alyssa. Sean and Jake step in to help Alyssa take out her foes; she fights like Jake had trained her, fast, relentless, and offensively. Ian, meanwhile, dodges his enemy’s attacks like Estela had taught, staying on the defensive and attacking only when an opening appears.

ESTELA: Nice one!

She battles another Vaanti, who wields his spear with efficiency and skill equal to her own.

IAN: I learned from the best!

Alyssa struggles to fend off her own enemy, until Jake steps in and whacks the Vaanti across the head with the butt of the portal gun.

JAKE: Okay, seriously, where the hell’s that damn “bond” when we need it?!

More and more Vaanti climb up the sides. Everyone’s backs are pressed together, fighting side-by-side and getting overwhelmed. Jake fires shot after shot from the strange gun, but there are too many enemies.

CRAIG: Screw it, I’ll stay with my bro.

IAN: NO! It’s like Sean said: nobody gets left behind! We’re getting out of here together, or not at all!

ESTELA: Ian, don’t be an idiot-

RAJ: Can’t we just close our eyes and pretend this never happened?! I miss yesterday!

ALYSSA: Raj... that’s it!

RAJ: Wait, it is?

One of the Vaanti’s arrows grazes Michelle’s leg and she stumbles, temporarily paralyzed. Sean stands protectively in front of her.  Alyssa’s eyes flick back and forth from the strange prism energy coming from Jake’s gun, to herself, and back again, recalling the events of earlier that morning.

ALYSSA: This is gonna sound crazy... but Jake, remember what I told you earlier? About when the Hostiles attacked us... the first time?

IAN: “The first time?” ‘Lyss, what-

JAKE: I still say you just had a bad dream.

ALYSSA: No! Listen, that weird light I saw, the one that reset everything... it looked just like the light comin’ out of that gun! That weird portal... I think it’s sending them back in time!

ZAHRA: Am I the only one with no freakin’ idea what she’s talking about?

CRAIG: I dunno either!

ZAHRA: You “dunno” just about everything.

ALYSSA: Jake, the gun.

Jake hands her the gun. She turns and aims it toward the center of their circle as the battle rages around them.

JAKE: Princess, the ring ain’t gonna be big enough to fit all of us!

ALYSSA: Everyone, trust me! I know this sounds stupid, but please! Think, as hard as you can, “THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN!” Focus on yesterday!

ALEISTER: Are you absolutely insane-

ALYSSA: JUST TRUST ME!

IAN: ...I trust you, ‘Lyss.

ZAHRA: This has gotta be the dumbest plan I’ve ever-

MICHELLE: If nobody has any better ideas, then SHUT IT!

One of the Vaanti warriors finishes unblocking the entrance to the stairs, and Varyyn emerges. He spots Diego for the first time since the battle started.

VARYYN: Praeha, Catalysts! Canis, seh Catalysts zhen pashtak!

DIEGO: Wait, guys! I think we need to talk to that guy about this-

JAKE: I’m thinkin’ it’s a little too late for that, Underdog!

ALYSSA: All or nothing! Five...

DIEGO: No, seriously! This is the part of the movie where everyone’s fighting each other over a misunderstanding, and I’m screaming at the TV “Guys, just let everyone EXPLAIN themselves!”

ALYSSA: Four...

IAN: Diego, I don’t think they’re interested in talking to us-

ALYSSA: Three...

DIEGO: Guys, you don’t understand! I think this is important! They’re trying to tell us something-

A paralytic arrow whizzes past, narrowly missing Sean.

SEAN: That’s their message! Got it loud and clear!

ALYSSA: Two...

DIEGO: Ugh, you all just don’t understand-

ESTELA: This had better work!

ALYSSA: NOW!

JAKE/ALL STUDENTS (EXCEPT DIEGO AND ZAHRA) (chanting repeatedly): THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN!

ZAHRA (simultaneously) (muttering repeatedly): This is stupid...

Alyssa pulls the trigger. The ring hits the center of the group, and as Alyssa and Ian chant, prism energy expands from their bodies and merges with the ring, expanding it outward, wider and wider. Diego’s eyes go wide and he tears himself away from the circle, out of range, unarmed and rushing straight toward Varyyn.

IAN: DIEGO!

DIEGO: I’ve gotta do this!

Varyyn and the other Vaanti back away from the ring and drop their weapons, the battle forgotten as they stare at Alyssa and Ian with reverential expressions. Varyyn drops to his knees as Diego turns to watch as well.

ALL VAANTI: Orabata. Orabata. Orabata.

The ring of energy expands. The light surrounds the group.

And then everything goes white.

Next Chapter: Aftermath

Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @mysteli @edgydepressedchoicesthot @bbaba-yagaa @endlesshero1122 @endlessly-searching-for-you

[rudimentaryrecollections]

Prague 23 - 25 August 2017

When I get to Prague, I have a coffee at the train station as I mooch internet to check where Rianne wants to meet. I have not had data or credit since I was in Belgium.  The first woman who I order coffee from at the coffee shop is rude when I talk to her in English. The other woman who bring me my drink seems nice. So I check on Google translate how to ask for the bill in Czech. "Prosím, mohu mít účet?“ The woman beams at me with my efforts to use the local language, and brings me the bill.

'Prosim' is a very useful word in Czech, it can mean please, here you are, you're welcome, what did you say and I'll have.

I catch a train and a tram to meet Rianne at her local tram stop. We go to her apartment and catch up a little, then she goes to have a nap. Her apartment is spacious. It is a two bedroom apartment which she owns and lives in alone. She let's couchsurfers stay with her sometimes or otherwise rents it while she is on holidays. I make myself at home. I read a book on the balcony and then fall asleep.

I wake up and then so does Rianne, so we catch the tram towards the city centre.

A puppy licks my legs on the tram. It is very cute, and I talk to it's owner, a jolly middle aged woman. We get off the tram. Rianne buys some cans of beer and I buy a burrito. Then we walk.

My first impression of Prague is that there are graffitti tags everywhere. It gives the town a gritty, grungy feel, which I quite like. I feel more comfortable in that atmosphere than fancy, upmarket, shopping mall vibe areas.

We come to the Vlatny River, and Rianne points landmarks out to me, explains things about the city and makes suggestions on what I should do while I'm in town.

We hire a paddle boat further down the Vlatny river, and drink beers we bought from a shop as we drift around. The weather has been perfect today, even a little hot in the sun. It is beautiful just to gaze at the old buildings, lit gold by the falling sun and chat shit. There are many people with the same idea, floating around drinking beers and some even smoking weed. We can see the Charles Bridge, which leads to the old town from the water. It is covered with people – mostly tourists, so much so that I don't know how any of them are moving.

After an hour we catch a tram to meet some of Rianne's friends. On the tram she points out a woman breastfeeding what must be a five year old girl and we cannot help but laugh about it. As we leave the girl starts throwing a tantrum and Rianne laughs -"It is because she get's told she cannot have any more."

At the stop are Ales and Dane. We go for a Pilsener Urquell at a pub. It is served with perfect head. I get along instantly with Rianne's friends. Ales is a videographer. Dane is a graphic designer and is also in a hardcore band. After two beers we got to another bar where Igor and David's friend is celebrating his thirtieeth. We drink a few more rounds of beers and the drink some rum from a glass flask we bought in the shops earlier – which I am told is perfectly fine to do in bars here (if you're a local at least). The rum tastes different to most rums I've had before, and I'm informed they make it differently in Czech – with potatoes.  

After the rum my memory becomes hazy – especially of conversations. But I have fun at the bar and eventually we leave. Rianne and I say farewell to the others before catching the tram home.

In the morning I rehydrate and sleep. I shower and dry on the balcony, trimming a dried up oregano plant. Rianne has to finish some work today. She is a graphic designer, and needs to finish some jobs before going to a music festival on Friday.

So I go out for a walk. I make my way to the Vlatny which is nearby, and follow it south to Llatna park. There is a giant metronome up here, in a big skatepark. The metronome is on the site of what was the largest Stalin monument, originally finished in 1955 in what was then Czechoslavakia. The Czech's tore it down in 1962 when de-Stalinisation begun.

I have some beer to soothe my feelings and hangover, and I sleep for sometime in the grass. I wander around the park for some more time before descending into the city, towards the Vlatny which I can follow back home. I buy a beer at a pub on the way back. It is 50CKR (2.90 AUD). Beer is cheaper than bottled water here.

One thing I like about Europe is that pubs and bars can survive off selling food and beer, whereas most of the pubs and bars in Australia need pokies to survive.

I walk under a bridge and there is a homeless camp on the river bank, near the path. As I walk along, non-homeless people are drinking beers on the bank of the river after work, which is a vibe I like. I come across a wooden skate and BMX park under a bridge, with a bar at one end. Then there is a rundown tennis arena which is still in use. I like the feel of dilipdation some of the public areas have outside of the tourist part of town.

A man walked along the path wearing a t-shirt with a big peace sign on it and some writing. "All I want is peace in the middle-east." I though it was a nice message on his shirt. As he got closer I realised there was more. "And a blowjob." I actually laughed out loud. It was a vulgar punchline, the contrast of the hippy peaceful message I originally had with the hedonistic, debaucherous end line had me in hysterics for half a minute.

Eventually I get back to the pad. Rianne is out running errands in the evening, preparing for her trip. I cook some dahl and drink some beers I bought from the shop. The couchsurfer occupying Rianne's spare room get's home and I offer her a beer. She is from Hungary, but lives and works in London. She is in Prague for a few weeks for a puppeteering course. I share my food with her and we do two shots of some Hungarian moonshine, a 60% spirit that I am yet to acquire the taste for (Yes, I needed a chaser for this).

Rianne get's home looking exhausted from today's efforts. We all stay up talking for a while before going to bed.

In the morning I pack some things into my smaller backpack for Sweden. My large backpack has seen better days, both zippers were bust and it would need some time to repair. I bid farewell to Rianne who is trying to finish work in her room. I am to hang onto a set of keys to her apartment for when I return. We have some final words and hug. My sunglasses, hanging from the front of my shirt snap from the hug which abruptly ends it. I shrug it off and wish her and wish her the very best of times in her travels ahead. I think I will be back in two weeks.

I wait for the tram. A woman starts to talk at me in Czech and is pointing into the Asian cafe next to the stop, She has a pram with a young boy in it, and I realise she is asking me to help her lift the pram up the steps into the cafe. So I help her. The bus terminal is organised chaos. The bus takes us to Dresden and then we transfer for Berlin Schoffeider airport. I forgot to leave my Swiss army knife in Prague, so I put it in my first aid kit. It is detected when my bag goes through the X-ray.

But the German customs officer let's me keep it when I take it out for him, and explain it's for camping. The gate is jam-packed and hot, hardly anywhere to stand, least of all sit – no surprise with a budget airline. But the flight is quick and has wifi, so I can plan my route to the AirBNB Liss has booked for both of us.