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nuttyjellyfishlover · 3 years ago

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One Piece Anime Wano Arc Episodes 890

One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 890 This honestly is less going to be a review and more of a commentary as I watch through the anime's rendition of the Wano arc. I've honestly never really watched too much of the One Pieceanime, mostly just looking up the highlights of the arcs I read in the manga. I did watch the filler episodes and most of the movies, as I've talked about at length recently. And everyone tells me that the anime has some rather terrible pacing, particularly around the time of Dressrossa, which is apparently pretty padded out. But then I heard the absolute opposite for Wano, where the anime has received a new art-style and one hell of a fancy makeover. And I thought... hey, I'm on a One Piece kick this year, clearly, so yeah, I think I'm going to give this a shot.

The Wano arc, I think, is one that works a lot better because it has the reverse problem of a lot of One Piece arcs -- there are a lot of moments in Act One of the manga's version of the story that the writer clearly purposefully threw in a couple of off-screened moments that the anime could expand into full action scenes. I already know that Sanji versus Page One is fully animated in the anime, and scenes like Big Mom vs. Kaido or Zoro vs. Basil Hawkins are extended a lot more than the couple of panels we had in the manga. And Wano's got a lot of supporting characters, some of which actually get swept under the rug when I first read through the manga chapters weekly. So yeah, having bright colours and voices and music is going to make this a much more fun experience!

Anyway, here goes my collection of random notes and commentary. Be aware that there will be MANGA SPOILERS, as I will point out a couple of things here and there about stuff I notice that's foreshadowing or whatever:

* Marco's blue-and-yellow phoenix form looks so, so much more vibrant and pops out compared to anything else in the series in colour, huh? I think out of any other character, Marco is extra-memorable in animated format. * That said, basically half this episode is just a recap of the Paramount War. I mean, I haven't seen the Paramount War in full animated format, so it's nice to hear Whitebeard and Ace and Marco speak some of their more famous lines there. But on the other hand, it's also it's kind of one of the more-criticized parts of the One Piece anime that any time they could pad out an episode with scenes from a previously-produced episode, they will. * We actually get to see the Grudge/Payback War in the anime! I think this is less of a showcase of events that actually happened and more of a symbolic one, but hey, we get to see Blackbeard doing some sky-quakes and black holes and Marco turning phoenix. It just shows the Whitebeard division commanders getting sucked into a giant Dragon-Ball-esque spirit bomb Black Hole. Actually pretty neat! * Jozu has both arms in that vision. Whether it's an error or a spoiler or if he has a prosthetic a la Akainu in Film: Z, we'll see eventually.

* This episode also has a bit of a recap of the revelations about Wano from the Zou arc, but it's a lot shorter and feels a lot more relevant to the upcoming arc. * Brook actually expresses some interest on Vivi, apparently having heard of her from the others. I've always liked this from the filler episodes, of the newer Straw Hats slowly learning about prior adventures. Brook being Brook, of course, a panty joke was tossed in. * The Japanese-art style water waves look so pretty when animated! * The random octopus that makes Japanese kabuki theater (?) sounds is another thing that works so much better in the anime. I've always thought it felt a bit forced and random in the manga version. * The high-tempo music when the Sunny sails into the koi waves is very, very fun! * Ah, yes, the very first chapter of Wano in the manga shows off a bunch of carps jumping up a waterfall. You know, considering the whole legend that a carp that jumps over the waterfall transforms into a dragon... i.e., a fish that is also a dragon...

* The first one that's properly and almost fully drawn in the new Wano art style! And it looks gorgeous. * Also a new theme song! I've never paid that much attention to theme songs in anime, but I definitely like "One Dream One Wish" more than "We're the Super Powers". Shame that, as with most anime, the opening sort of spoils, like, half of the things that happens in the arc. * Speaking of great background music... the tempo of that opening instrumental that Komurasaki plays on shamisen is pretty catchy, especially with that octopus going iyooo~ in the background. It also makes for very fun background music for Zoro's rampage at the end of the episode. * Anime Wano is so freaking colourful. The rooftops, the kimonos, the hair... I think I remembered reading that Oda made it a point to subvert the fact that everyone in feudal Japan had black hair by explicitly doing the opposite -- black hair is the exception rather than the norm in Wano. Fun! * The frog on Usopp's hat is a real frog! I always thought it was just a hat! It's adorable! The wiki tells me it's called Gama Pyonnosuke. It's an adorable friend! Forget Carrot or Kin'emon or Yamato, Gama Pyonnosuke for next Straw Hat! * The biggest expansion here is that we actually follow Zoro around as he wanders around the city until he gets arrested by the corrupt magistrate. And Zoro actually bumps into the man-slayer and corrupt magistrate, actually explaining why he recognizes the specific scent of blood during the whole seppuku court. * And then we get around a minute of Zoro fighting the magistrate guards with the seppuku knife and good ol' fisticuffs, something that I didn't think I needed, but is certainly very fun to watch! * This new animation studio loves the angled zoom-in into eyes, and I highly approve. I think we had that like at least three times when Zoro decides to get dangerous.

* I never quite realized that if Luffy hadn't been interrupted by the octopus and washed up next to the Thousand Sunny, the poor ship would be literally left to its own devices. You'd think after losing Merry, the Straw Hats would be more careful with their ships... * Zoro gets to slash the magistrates up even more! It's a single Tatsu Maki, but god damn what a pretty Tatsu Maki. The shot of his feet kicking and breaking the wooden floor, the black aura around his blades, the way that the dragon aura appears behind him, the demonic red eyes as Zoro slams down from the sky, and the shots of the surrounding terrain being cut up into cubes... pretty awesome! * Luffy dodging the bullet from the random Beast Pirate goon with Observation Haki and the gomu-gomu-long-range-bitchslap has always been cool in the manga, and this episode makes it even cooler. Those glowing eyes! This is going to be the whole commentary, isn't it? Just me commenting on the scenes I find to be really cool? * Luffy's Conqueror Haki against the giant baboon is another very cool one. From the expression to the delivery of the line to the sound effect... Luffy's expression is actually pretty cool and borderline scary as he beats up the second goon. No wonder Tama went straight into "This is the I surrender pose!" * Also added in the anime is a vignette of Franky, Robin and Usopp seeing the news of Zorojuro becoming a wanted criminal. Again, not entirely necessary to know the story, but actually scenes that I don't mind being shown to us. Particularly that scene of Usopp utterly bullshitting an officer. * Luffy pets Komachiyo with his rubber arms. Komachiyo is a good boy. This is the most important scene.

* Did the manga show Luffy hiding the Sunny and letting it anchor in a cave? I don't remember it. I know that before the flashback and the raid we see the Sunny there, but it's nice to actually show Luffy not being so callous with the Sunny. * They got a pretty good voice actress for Tama that really makes her pretty adorable! So many times these kid guest star characters end up being annoying if they don't get a good voice, but between the voice-acting and the expressions, she's pretty fun! * Also, I think this is going to be something I repeat a couple of times, but both Tama and Tenguyama are so much more visually interesting with their full colour palettes. * Oh, right, Drake was the one that ransacked Tama's village. Wonder if that'll actually come up later on in the story... * Okay, thanks to the anime, it's really going to drill to me that it's pronounced 'Diez Drake' and not 'Eks Drake'. * I'm pretty sure everyone noticed it, but Ace learned to weave hats in Wano! That's how he became buddies with Oars Junior! I didn't notice it until just now!

* (Episode is the Cidre Guild filler arc that ties in to Stampede.) * What is Tenguyama waiting for? It's probably Oden or his retainers, but I don't think he's part of the samurai that was recruited by Kin'emon's group. Maybe he just missed the big recruitment drive, but that's weird. I wonder what role he's going to play in the arc... * There is a random metal guitar riff when Luffy sees the Nidai Kitetsu. And a glow of Observation Haki on Luffy's eyes. That's a small detail, but very cool! He also uses Observation when Hawkins arrives later on. I love the little trail of glowing red that streams out of his pupils when he activates it. * Tenguyama's sword has a very cool leaf-based handguard! Never noticed that. * Speaking of cool Observation Haki effects, Zoro's apparently activates when he senses sake. Appropriate! * I know it's me repeating this over and over, and we'll get so many cooler scenes later on, but Zoro casually launching that Phoenix Cannon to blow up the two random raptor-riders when he saves Tsuru? Such a simple scene but still so cool. Also very cool is the very brief slo-mo as Zoro re-angles the pathway of his slice when cutting down the second random goon. * Unlike most of the other things, I've always noticed that Basil Hawkins has a very cool Koma-deer mount. It looks even cooler in motion!

* This is perhaps one of the more extended scenes, since it features... fight scenes! In the manga, I think this lasted... maybe half a chapter? Less? A couple of page spreads? It's not just the Hawkins fight, either, Luffy's 'swordfighting' with Nidai Kitetsu also gets extended. Luffy's a bit more successful in using the sword to block and parry here. * Luffy's voice actor really makes the 'de gozaru' sound really funny. * I 100% missed Tsuru the first time I read through this chapter since we only see part of her in a single panel before her full-body debut after the Hawkins fight, and it's a lot less likely that you'll make that mistake in the anime. * Some 'elite' goons show up here, including a guy that uses his ponytail as a whip against Zoro, and a dude that makes fissures with a hammer that fights Luffy. Probably feels a bit more filler-y compared to the rest of the action scenes, but that's honestly nitpicking. * Zoro launching a Phoenix Cannon that slashes Hawkins's face is very cool. * Hawkins' little straw dolls gets an extended scene of it crawling out of his arm. It's so creepy, I love it. * Hawkins' giant straw demon StandBankaigets an very cool summoning animation and it's so creepy. The skies darkens and everything. Most importantly, it makes noises! Again, I love it.

* Luffy and Zoro vs. Hawkins! It's extended beyond just the simple 'dodge, then one-shot-slash' that it was in the manga. I really like Hawkins and his creepy-ass Straw Stand, so I am a huge fan of this. We get a couple of nice juxtaposition shots of Hawkins and the straw monster. Also Zoro goes shirtless in the fight. That's an important detail! * I really, really love how Zoro is having a gritted-teeth expression as he fights the giant straw demon; the straw demon is going gakakakakakakaka like a lunatic... then we cut to Hawkins who has a deadpan, bored expression as he swings his sword in the distance. * The animators really like to let the straw monster use the nails entwined to the tips of its fingers. That's fun! Zoro backhand-blocking the nails from hitting Luffy and Tama? That's cool! * Zoro does Ichi-Gorilla-Ni-Gorilla at one point, and totally slices and 'kills' Hawkins a bunch of times. * Also, speaking of pretty, glowing-eyes motion shots, Zoro using Nigiri: Toro Samon? Yeah. The cut itself is cool, but the zoom-in on Zoro's eyes as he does so? I'm sorry, I have a weakness for that kind of shot, it appears. * To extend the fight so that it's not just a single exchange of blows, Komachiyo gets knocked to the ground so that Zoro and the straw demon can actually fight for a bit. * Also shots I have a weakness to? DBZ-style 'aftermath of a powerful move'. This one isn't too over-the-top, but the slash extending into the sky and the shockwave rippling out from where Zoro slices the strawman thing is cool. * We actually see the scene of Okiku being harassed by Urashima in chronological order, and Urashima scares off a customer. Also, the implied scene of Zoro scaring off Urashima is actually shown here.

* This episode kind of extends the scenes in Tsuru's shop a bit more. Not the most exciting thing, but it does really help to build up Tama, Tsuru and Kiku. * ...wait, Tsuru's shop just displays the Kozuki crest very, very evidently on its door awning. If simply speaking the Kozuki name alone is a punishable crime, how did they get away with that? * Zoro trying to get Luffy to adopt a Wano-ized name is extra-funny in the anime! * Speaking of extended fight scenes, Batman gets to shoot alotmore arrows at Luffy and Zoro. It's kind of over-the-top on Batman's part, if we're being honest, even if Zoro and Luffy very easily dispatches of them.

* The anime does give Batman the ability to control his arrows via sonic waves or something, but he lasted for a much, much longer time than he really should have. * Batman fucking blocks Luffy's Busoshoku-empowered punch! He most definitely doesn't do it in the manga, and sure, knocking Luffy down with sonic waves? I buy that. Blocking Luffy and causing a small explosion in the air? ...I'm pretty sure just some random Gifter isn't supposed to be able to do that. Unless they're thinking of the other Batman? * They make the initial shot of Holdem answering the phone with the lion face pretty intimidating! * Holdem's lion beating their shared balls is still one of the weirdest jokes in the manga. * Some really nice face shots in this one, from Tama to Holdem to the lion to Luffy's group.

* A pretty obvious extended filler is Urashima bullying other sumo wrestlers. Urashima is kind of a dipshit, so it's not a particularly enjoyable filler for me. * Zoro gets to sumo-wrestle with one of Urashima's goons! This one, on the other hand, is pretty fun. We also get a little added bit where Zoro smirks after remembering Kiku's earlier insistence that she's a samurai, so it's less of a 'he doesn't give a shit' and more 'he wants to see what Kiku's skill is' or something.

* Luffy vs. Urashima is prolonged a bit in here, obviously. Not as entertaining as fighting Hawkins or even Batman, but okay, sure. Lots of grunting and growling in this one. Urashima cheats a bit more, Luffy has to use Armament Haki at one point... really don't think Urashima's someone that you should bother using hardening on, Luffy. * The kabuki-style delivery of "I'm going to be the king of pirates" is very well done. * Poor Tama! Holdem's a jackass. * We actually get to see Urashima crashing into Holdem's house, in yet another obvious 'hey, anime team, this is something for you to animate' scene from the manga. * Law gets an extended scene with seeing the sick Bepo, including a Room/Scan showcase and Bepo looking cute and Law being unable to keep being angry at him.

* The fight against the pirates and samurai in Bakura Town gets extended a fair bit in this episode. Luffy throws Nidai Kitetsu's scabbard around again, repeating the thing he did before. * This episode noticeably has a bunch of brief flashbacks to previous episodes. Anime episodes do this all the time to easily eat up like, ten or fifteen seconds of runtime. But I felt this one was particularly noticeable since it's to the previous episode which we already had a recap segment of before the episode begun. * Ball-de-boo!

* We get an adorable crayon drawing memory when Luffy remembers Zunisha one-shotting Jack's fleet. * Luffy and Zoro's synchronized neck-crick is pretty fun. Also fun is their super-speed when they simultaneously rescue Tama and steal the food barge. The question is, where is this super-speed when they were bamboozled by Batman and Gazelleman? * Unlike the anime, Holdem is able to turn his sword into a flaming segmented sword. It's like Zabimaru from Bleach, but on fire! * We get an extra scene of a random goon holding Kiku hostage and Zoro locking eyes with her and saying "I'm not going to help you", knowing full well she's pretending to be a damsel in distress. * Speed also gets to do something here! She gets to shoot Armament Haki'd arrows at Zoro and Kiku! In the manga she doesn't do anything while this is happening. * REDDO HAAAAAWK! * God damn that's a very satisfying Red Hawk. Such a pretty-looking one! This was the scene that a friend showed me that got me excited to sit down and watch the Wano arc in anime format. From Holdem shooting a lion's fire (how does that work?) and engulfing Luffy, to Tama's yelling, to the zoom-in to Luffy's angry eyes, to the orb of flame dissipating, the zoom-in to Luffy's angry face, the impact, the music... it's just Luffy beating up Holdem, who means jack-all in the grand scheme of things, but what a badass Red Hawk.

And I think that's a neat place to stop off, with the initial Hawkins-Urashima-Holdem opening prologue to Wano done with. I'm not sure how often I'll update this little watch-along series, but I certainly am enjoying myself!

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companionjones · 5 years ago

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To Get Better (Part 3)

Requested by: @closetedgoth8

Request: Hi! I loved that resident fic, could there maybe be a part 3 where they can get the kid treatment, or the gang fights the ‘evil’ doctors to get the kid actual treatment?

Fandom: The Resident (FOX)

Warnings: Surgery reference, fight reference

1 // 2 // 3

*******

“Good morning,” Conrad greeted cheerily.

Opening your eyes, the first thing you saw was Dr. Hawkins. You responded by saying his name and repeating “Good morning to you, too.”

Conrad smirked as he leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up onto your bed. “I get to watch you today, so what do you want to do?”

“There’s not much to do, Dr. Hawkins. I’m stuck in this room, remember? No one’s allowed to see me or else I could be sent back to those evil doctors.” Your disappointment in your confined situation was shown clearly on your face, so you turned it away from the resident.

He brought his legs down, and leaned closer to comfort you. “Hey, don’t be so upset.” Conrad took a breath, and it looked as if he was using it to deliberate his next inquiry. “...Do you want to go for a ride?”

At first, his question puzzled you. Your concerns were put to rest, however, when Conrad helped you into a wheelchair and began pushing you down the hallways of the hospital.

“But what about the evil doctors?” you wondered.

Conrad laughed, “Stop calling them ‘evil.’ We’re not in some story where we’re heroes fighting villains. And as for the ev...idiotic doctors who are after you...Well, looks like we’ll just have to be careful with avoiding them.”

The day spent by Conrad wheeling you to visit all of your friends throughout the hospital. Your first stop was the ER. Thankfully, it was a slow day. Devon and Irving showed you around the department, and you even helped diagnose a patient. Irving, who found out about the secret that was you later than everyone else, was impressed. He said that after you got better, and maybe completed some odd years of medical school, then a job would possibly be available for you in the ER at Chastain.

Next, Conrad took you to Mina. She was preparing for a surgery with Dr. Austin. AJ was an interesting doctor. Apparently, Mina had told him of you, and AJ was in full support of Conrad’s deceptiveness toward Bell. Another thing about Dr. Austin was his clear-as-day egotistic personality. You didn’t mind it. In fact, you found AJ entertaining. You happily called him by his self-dubbed nickname, “The Raptor.”

To return your kindness, Dr. Austin invited you to sit in on his surgery. It was a routine procedure, so it was likely you wouldn’t see anyone die; and AJ also promised that the observation gallery would be empty except for you and Conrad, so no one would find out about you. Although there was a small complication during the procedure, the patient turned out fine. The only cost was the concern on your and Conrad’s end. Ultimately, you were glad you were able to watch the ordeal.

Your time with Conrad was winding to an end for the day, so Conrad started taking you back to your room. The person watching you for the night was going to be Nic.

“Hey! What are you doing with them?!” A burly man yelled at Conrad from the end of a hallway. He was one of the doctors that favored racking up your medical bill over giving you actual help.

Conrad wheeled you behind himself. “My job, Dr. Stevenson,” the resident firmly notified the approaching agitated man. “This is my patient.”

Dr. Stevenson angrily corrected, “No, this is my patient that you stole from me!”

“That doesn’t matter,” Conrad’s voice suddenly got very low. “What matters is you would rather watch a child get sicker over ending up with less money in your pocket.”

Hawkins didn’t get a verbal response. Instead, Stevenson wound up his fist and went to take a shot at your friend.

“No!” you shouted out of fear.

Conrad easily dodged the punch. He twisted Dr. Stevenson’s arm around the offender’s back and pushed Stevenson against a wall.

“Wait!” You called out to the resident. “Conrad, stop!”

He didn’t respond, Conrad was seeing red.

The commotion was drawing the attention of other personnel. You could tell that they were all viewing Conrad as the bad guy.

“Alright, everybody! Back it up!” came a high-pitched but authoritative voice out of no where. “I’m Dr. Bell’s personal assistant and I say that there is nothing to see here!” A boy appeared. He seemed to be in his very early twenties. Despite that, he was putting on the best show of power that he could. However, he wasn’t very good at it.

You had to hide a smile at how out of place he looked.

He tapped Dr. Stevenson’s shoulder. “Bell needs you right away.”

Stevenson rolled his eyes. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?”

Conrad let him go. “If Bell needs you, then Bell needs you.”

“No way I’m leaving you with the child,” scoffed Stevenson. “You’ll just hide them away again!”

Dr. Hawkins shrugged, “I don’t know, man. It sounds like Bell really needs you.”

“He’s by OR-3,” the boy informed.

Dr. Stevenson glared darkly at the boy, then the resident, then you. He stalked off toward OR-3.

“Dr. Hawkins, you better get going now, because Dr. Bell definitely isn’t looking for that guy,” the boy chuckled.

Hawkins looked confused, “How do you know my name?”

“Oh, I’ve heard stories about you. It’s how I knew you were trying to do the right thing in that fight that just happened. You’re always trying to do the right thing.” The boy introduced himself upon seeing Conrad’s still-weary eyes. “I’m Grayson. Grayson Betournay.”

Conrad seemed to be put at ease. “So, you actually are Bell’s assistant.”

Grayson was nearly jumping up and down with excitement. “You’ve heard of me?”

“I’ve heard the name of Bell’s assistant,” Conrad clarified, a little amusement in his voice.

You giggled.

Grayson nodded. Realization that he may have been acting like a fanboy was hitting him. “Right. I’ll-uh-just let you two get on with your day.”

“Thank you. Oh, and Mr. Betournay?” you called as he was walking away.

“I’ve never been called a “Mr.” before. It sounds so official,” he noted childishly.

You laughed again at the boy’s antics. Then, your mood changed, and you nervously asked, “Could you keep me a secret?”

Hawkins continued for you, “We’re trying to get Y/n better, and the only way to do that is for no one to know we have Y/n, especially Bell.”

“You have my word, sir.” Grayson saluted.

The resident chuckled, “Conrad’s just fine.”

As you started to be wheeled away, Grayson looked as if he had just been bestowed the highest honor. “Thank you, Conrad.”

You and Hawkins were both holding back laughter as you rolled away.

“So, eventful day, huh?” commented Conrad once you were settled back in your makeshift hospital room.

Nodding, you admitted, “I want to see The Raptor again, and Grayson was really funny.”

Conrad agreed, “He was. Maybe I could bring them to visit you some time.”

“Dr. Feldman, too?” you wondered.

Conrad smiled, “Feldman, too.”

“Great!” you celebrated. “Maybe he could teach me more about the ER.”

“Maybe,” Conrad chuckled.

There was a knock at the door. It was Nic. “Hey. I heard the two of you had quite the eventful day.”

Conrad nodded, “We did. Y/n, how about you tell Nic about the new friends you made. I’m going to head out and start my rounds.”

“Okay,” you smiled. “Oh! Conrad?”

Hearing you say his name turned him around.

“Thank you so much for today. I really needed to get out of here.”

He smirked, “Any time, kid. Anytime.”

*******

Author’s Note: Thank you so much for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it. I would also really appreciate a comment, if you have the time. If you would like to read more, I have more fics on The Resident over on my page. You should check it out. Also, REQUESTS ARE OPEN. I take requests for preferences, headcannons, drabbles, and one-shots. No smut requests, please. If you’re wondering if I write for a specific fandom, feel free to ask me. Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

#conrad hawkins #conrad hawkins x reader #the resident #the resident x reader #resident #resident x reader #the resident fox #dr hawkins #dr hawkins x reader #matt czuchry #to get better #companion jones #i was watching once upon a time while writing this

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hawksmagnolia · 5 years ago

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Swallows at Dawn

Summary: Further continuation of the Lt series. You can read part one, Queen of Swords, here and part two, Never Falter, Never Fail, here. Destroyer!Chris being soft after the nightmares have faded.

Who: Destroyer!Chris x reader

Word count: 1,280

Warnings: Swearing, PTSD, flashbacks, mentions of blood, nightmares.

Authors Note: This begins as angst but I promise it has a good ending. I did not serve in the USMC, but my husband did. I consulted with him about parts of this story so I could stay as true as possible to actual realities of deployment and PTSD. This is one of the hardest things I’ve written thus far and honestly I’m damn proud of it. Anything in italics is part of the nightmare. Much love y’all. Allie.

It’s just routine. Walk the same road, just farther down than you went yesterday. You and your team clearing the way so the medical convoy can get from base to a small village in desperate need of supplies. You wanted to go farther yesterday but you’d lost the light.

It’s not safe they said.

Don’t they know it’s never safe? It’s war. There is no such thing as safe in war.

You linger towards the back. You allow your dog to go a bit farther to the side of the road. He’s the most experienced, you should probably be leading but you prefer to double-check.

Just in case.

You pull once on the leash, he comes trotting back to you. Your fingers dig into the fur behind his ears, grounding you back to the task at hand.

There is no warning. It happens too fast for a shouted signal. Just the white-hot burst of flame and darkness.

It’s the sound of your thrashing that wakes Chris first. He bolts upright, his left hand going for the pistol on the bedside table. Even before his eyes adjust to the predawn gloom, the sight is trained on the door.

Silence.

He can’t help but wonder what he heard.

Your sense of smell returns first. There is a distinct scent in the air. The eye-watering, throat burning scorch of hot metal and burning rubber. There is no sound but the hollow ringing in your ears. Your skin feels like it’s being flayed from your bones. The blistering sensation of flesh that’s burnt. You’re pretty sure there is blood dripping from your scalp. You attempted to scrub your face before opening your eyes. Whatever it is, it’s mixing with the sand to create a gritty paste.

There is so much blood on your hands. The bright red looks almost fake, too garish in the sunlight, almost like a gruesome prop. But this is all too real.

You don’t know if it’s all yours.

And then the screaming starts. Horrible, gut-wrenching, terror-filled. As he turns back to the other bed, and the gun falls from his hand onto the mattress. Back arched, hands fisted into the sheets, your body contorts.

“Shit.” He jumps from his bed and onto yours. Straddling your legs and grabbing your shoulders, he almost shocked by how soaked in sweat you are in the chilly room. He pulls you close, cradling you into his arms and against his chest.

“C’mon sweetheart. I’m here. You’re here. You’re not there.” He’s not exactly sure where you are but he has a good guess.

Your eyes fly open as you try to fight free from his grip. Heart pounding, you’re still half trapped in the nightmare dreamscape of your memories but his arms hold you tight.

There is no sound in the room but the muffled sounds of a tv in the room next to yours and your own ragged breathing.

“You back?”

You nod, too broken to care that he saw what you’ve hidden from everyone. Your nighttime secret. Normally you take medication to sleep. Little white pills that keep the demons at bay, but the medic advised against it tonight after your brush with heatstroke earlier in the day. They’d wanted to keep you overnight at the naval hospital at Camp Pendleton and you’d refused. Too many memories in that place. You’d argued until Chris offered to let you stay with him. He could keep an eye on you he’d reasoned. You’d only accepted when he mentioned there were two beds. Despite your odd history with him, you weren’t willing to share a bed. Too much intimacy in that.

He goes to move off your legs but your arms wrap around his abdomen, clinging to him. He rests his chin on your head as you press your forehead against his chest.

His phone rings, startling you all over again. Keeping his right arm around you, he answers.

“Yeah, we’re good. No, don’t do that. She’s fine. Yeah. Ok.” He thumbs off his phone and tosses it onto his empty bed.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Swallows.” You croak, voice spent from screaming.

“What?” He hands you a bottle of water and you drain it.

“My swallows.” He runs a finger over the three birds at your hairline.

“Do you want to tell me? Or do you want a distraction?” He tilts your head up, his blue eyes searching your face.

“Can it be both?” You give a shaky laugh before he captured your mouth in a kiss. You immediately fall into it, your lips parting so he can taste you.

When it ends, you’re both breathless. He gently tucks strands of hair behind your ear and kisses your forehead, his lips lingering on your skin.

“It was just a clearing. Nothing major.”

“You were EOD?” He’s referring to the bomb disposal squad.

“No. K9. We were detection, not disposal.”

“How many deployments?”

“Two. Both in Iraq. Ramadi and Fallujah.”

“Who was your partner?” You appreciate the fact he refers to your dog as your partner. He was, you were two parts of a single entity.

“German Shepherd. We called him ‘Hawkeye’ because he had this marking on his face that looks like his mask.”

“What haunts you, sweetheart?” He watches your face as you talk. There is no judgment there.

“There was an IED. Somehow the front team missed it. We never did find out how. The Humvee rolled over it. Killed three. Front team and driver of the Humvee. Four more almost died. I was behind them. Hawk and I got thrown from the blast. Nearly 30 feet. Blew out both my eardrums, embedded some shrapnel in my scalp. Six months of recovery. I was a lot luckier than the rest of them.”

“You still feel guilty.”

“Every damn day. I came home alive. Three of my men came home in boxes.”

He tightens his arms around you and you both sit in silence. It no longer feels like you’re suffocating or that your heart is going to explode out of your chest. The heavy on your shoulders, on your heart, doesn’t seem as leaden. You’ve never had anyone ask, never had anyone just sit with you until the panic fades. Outside, the sky has lightened into full dawn outside, light filtering through cracks in the curtains.

Your stomach growls loudly, ruining the moment.

“Hungry sweetheart?”

You nod, it’s been almost 36 hours since you ate anything beyond a protein bar.

“There is a diner nearby.” He climbs off your legs and you feel the rush of blood to your toes. You watch him strip out of his damp t-shirt, standing in just a pair of black boxer briefs that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination and he knows it.

“Named your dog Hawkeye. Never thought you to be a nerd. You’re a woman of many layers.”

You narrow your eyes at him. “Do not quote Shrek at me. I have two others now too. Avalanche and Ren.”

He pauses, holding a clean shirt in his hands. “Ren. As in Kylo?”

You scowl and he laughs. “There’s the woman I know. Feeling better?”

As you slide out of bed and you see him admire your tattoos, none of them hidden by your idea of pajamas- a sports bra and boy shorts. “Change your mind about breakfast?”

He considers as he pulls on jeans. “Food first. Further distracting later. I have a late checkout. I mean…” his handsome face is suddenly unsure.

Putting your hands on his to still them, you lean up and brush your lips across his. “I guess you’ll find out.”

@nano--raptor @cchellacat @eurynome827 @jobean12-blog @book-dragon-13 @aesthetical-bucky @marvelgirl7 @sallycanwait68 @buckys-broody-muffin @softpeachbarnes @godofplumsandthunder @azurika-writes @ikaris-whore @this-kitten-is-smitten @randomfandompenguin @bugsbucky @littleredstarfish @imgaril-lindru @becs-bunker

#Lt series #Allie Writes #destroyer!chris x reader #soft destroyer!chris #Destroyer!Chris #PTSD #Nightmares #Fanfic #mood board #angst

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dragongirl642 · 4 years ago

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Sunstreaker/Sideswipe x human!female!reader (bayverse) part 5

Recap:

Once he was calm, we hurried to collect the Allspark. That humming in my chest, just kept getting stronger and now it was accompanied by a sense of urgency from Starblaze but also this feeling of awesome power.

One thought crossed my mind. 'I got a bad feeling about this.'

-------------------------------------Recap end------------------------------------

I was riding an ATV following the transport units. My speciality is mobile battle. The modified ATV's two sub-automatic machine guns being my best friends in battle. Closely following my cousin's truck, I could clearly see Lennox sat in front of me, through the open back of the vehicle. He was briefing the unit on possible hostiles and giving the oh-so-positive, 'it's better to live to fight another day, than die doing a heroic stunt that gets you killed' kind of speech.

The Allspark and Sam were riding with Bumblebee up ahead. We were heading to Mission City; whilst there it should be easier to contact the copters and get the hell out of the Decepticon's reach. Keller agreed with the idea, so here we were.

Starblaze and the twins sent me encouraging pulses over our bond. 'Wait...I can feel the twins now too...must be a Gaian thing.'

I was busy watching William until I heard the roar of engines ahead. Holding the handlebars of my ATV steady, I twisted to look behind me. A blue Peterbuilt semi-trailer truck with flame decals (Optimus Prime), a silver Modified Pontiac Solstice GXP (Jazz), a black Modified GMC Topkick C4500 (Ironhide) and a Yellow Hummer H2 Search and Rescue SUV (Ratchet) were coming the other way. The songs bursting out of Bee's radio signalling that these were the other Autobots. They passed us and I heard the squeal of tires as they made u-turns at breakneck speed. 'But then again they don't have necks to break in that form'. They began gaining on us from behind.

My ATV's inbuilt radio crackled, orders to fall back and hold the rear; I complied. I slowed and allowed them to pass me. William threw me a thumbs up from the back of his truck, I sent back a small wave. We continued in this formation, Mission city in our sights.

As we joined the main highway, civilian cars either side. I heard metallic clicking behind me. Yet again I twisted to look and wished I hadn't. 'Scrap'. I faced forward and hit the throttle. Shooting forward just in time to avoid the metallic fist that came down were I had been moments before. I powered forward passed the Semi as it transformed into a tall, powerful looking Autobot. 'The red and blue really suit him'. He began skating and turned back to face the threat. I weaved my way through the other Autobots and came up behind Lennox. He looked at me as I jokingly called, "Definitely a Decepticon...get ready to have some fun", as I flicked the switch on my ATV's dash to power up my guns. The blur of motion as the chambers spun and set, hitting home. One recruit went completely white. 'Hope he doesn't throw up...too late...that's gonna be a mess to clean up later'.

We made it to the city. The communication with the Nellis Air Force base lifting spirits; help was on the way. The first transport units sending out fire teams to clear buildings and set up sniper points. The Autobots transformed and we spread out. I parked further up the street with my guns pointed towards the highway. The whine of an F-22 Raptor was heard. 'Thank God they're here...wait that was too quick, something's wrong'. I opened my mouth to call my cousin just as smoke flares were sent up. The Raptor changing course, heading straight for our position. I set my guns, plotting its trajectory. Good thing too...it was a Decepticon. The Black Autobot, Ironhide, called a name; "Starscream". Bumblebee and Ironhide picked up a truck as the jet transformed into a grey Seeler, 'seekey, seekser, oh...seeker I think it was'. Ironhide ordering everyone to "fall back". Starscream shot at them and the resulting explosion almost blinded me. My battle goggles tinting automatically. As the smoke cleared I could see that Bumblebee had been decapitated. Ironhide had been blasted backwards so poor Bee took the brunt of the shot.

Starscream stood over him, ready to give the finishing blow. Ironhide was coming around and the other Autobots were already springing into action, but an idea came to me, 'stupid but brilliant, as they say'.

I gunned the throttle, shooting forward at speed. I opened fire. Bullets distracting the seeker as I did one of those idiotic heroic stunts Lennox was talking about. Using a crushed car as a ramp, I leapt with my ATV, straight for the astonished Starscream. Knuckles white with the effort it took to stay seated as the wheels of my ATV struck his faceplate. I kept the throttle on as they gave him tyre burn. Also sending me into a backwards flip. 'This was not part of the plan'. Starscream fell back and holding his face transformed and flew off while I held on for dear life to my ATV. Thankfully it landed right way up, so I wasn't about to be a (y/n) pancake yet. But the resounding crack upon impact wasn't the most reassuring sound in the world.

Lennox sending me the radio version of an angry face. I just sent him back the radio version of a wink face. 'You gotta have a sense of humour in this job, otherwise I would've gone mad years ago'.

The sounds of battle crashed around me as I gunned the throttle once more. The familiar feeling of adrenaline filled me as I differed to my training, the battlefield becoming a blur.

I was moving, running, ducking through showers of bullets and firing my second sub-automatic machine gun, (I'd taken them off the ATV when it was scrapped by a Decepticon bullet shower). Just as I was about to turn a blast of wind rushed past, accompanied by a figure, 'no make that two'. The silver Autobot, Jazz, was being carried off by Megatron. The huge 'and I mean HUGE' scary looking leader of the Decepticons. Jazz was fighting bravely but I could already tell he was going to die. You would have to be able to fly to rescue him. 'WAIT A MINUTE'.

I ran for the building they were heading towards. Dropping my gun, I performed the transformation sequence as I ran. "Gaian fusion, partner up!" The transformation was quicker this time, maybe because I was in the middle of a battle.

With a powerful downthrust of my wings I was airborne and heading for the two mechs.

"You want a piece of me", I could hear Jazz's taunts. I raised my bow and drew back the string a glowing arrow taking form. It was growing the longer I held the bow taught, but I didn't give it time to grow. I let loose just as Megatron began to reply, "No I want..." The arrow hit his left servo. He yelled in pain and dropped Jazz, grabbing his injured servo with his good hand. On reflex I dived. My fingers finding the grooves in his armour, I took hold, and beat my wings furiously to slow us down. It worked and I deposited him on the floor. Floating before him I gave a quick nod before spotting my cousin over his shoulder.

Mouth agape, all surprised, he was quite the sight. Staring at me like I'd just turned into a 'wait'. The comic picture was broken by the sight of an injured brawl returning to his feet and aiming his gun for Lennox's unprotected back. I swooped forward. Shield at the ready I blocked the incoming fire. Ironhide, Ratchet and Jazz rushing back in to re-engage.

"How?...What?...When?...WHAT?" Lennox was spluttering and gaping like a fish. I composed myself, ready to tell him everything when he honestly surprised me. "You know what, tell me after we don't die" and he ran off.

The blur of battle setting in once more...this time though...I fought using my powers. Slash and parry, let loose a volley of small arrows, block, shield at the ready and begin again.

Startled once more out of my trance, by an almighty crash and the audible cracks of something very important. Glancing over my shoulder, Megatron is standing there, Optimus injured, sitting in a small pile of rubble, leaning against a damaged building and Sam running for his life. All the nearby soldier's radios crackled to life, Lennox's voice sounding from all around. #(y/n)...protect Sam#

I took the order to heart. 'So sweet of him to include me though' I thought, and vaulted over several cars to run beside the teen; along with Ironhide and Ratchet. Sam threw me an incredulous look but kept running. A Decepticon made a swing for him, raising my shield up to block the attack we slid under the blade. We kept running. The pounding in my ears almost drowning out the sound of Starscream engaging our two Autobot protectors.

A thump crashed behind, "Give me the cube boy!" Megatron was chasing us, 'well that's just fragging great now isn't it'. We didn't see the SUV till it was too late. I pushed Sam ahead, he fell and dropped the cube. A wave of power being discharged, hitting me and several machines; bringing them to life and causing general mayhem. While I dropped to a knee in pain. Heat flaring within my chest. The feeling of a sparkbeat began, then failed, then began again.

"Go Sam" I choked out before collapsing.

He ran on, darting into a relatively undamaged building. I lay there, wings twitching and body wracked by painful spasms. Images flashing through my mind, a planet wracked by war, a desperate plan, a secret, a void, "You will do my will"...and a dark voice. "They will never follow you brother". I watched helpless as two vast beings fought. Then the one who spoke last held out a hand, 13 pinpricks of light appeared and formed into, what I recognised, as cybertronians.

"Behold my Primes, they will be your undoing brother unless you turn back from this foolish path, return...please". The last part almost a whisper.

"NEVER!" The dark voice ringing in the void. It hurt.

A flash and the dark voice screamed, in pain and anger...slowly it faded, drifting away, swallowed by the void. I felt that kinder presence turn to me, "What you have seen young one, learn from it. You have felt the power of the Allspark and carry part of it within you, use it wisely." I felt myself being dragged away.

"Wait...what do you mean?" I called but no answer came. I was falling into a dark all-consuming abyss. Then a small spot of light appeared. I recognised it before it spoke. "Come back...partner" Starblaze. I followed and the light grew enveloping me.

I opened my eyes. I was lying on the ground, cheek pressed to the hard asphalt. Just in time to see my cousin perform another one of those heroic stunts'...on a motorcycle no less'.

Blackout fell and I slowly sat up. A headache slowly fading. 'When you're in the middle of a battle, you're not supposed to black out and hope for the best.' Silently berating myself, I stumbled to my feet, a cascading waterfall of dust and rubble falling of my body.

Swaying I summoned my bow. Pulling back the string and taking aim. I could feel the F-22 raptor pilots panicking above as Starscream appeared in their midst. Lennox and the ground forces fired on Megatron, so did the remaining raptors. They were trying to expose his spark, but though he fell back there was still the protective layer of his spark chamber to contend with.

I released the arrow. It struck home, burning through the final protective layer. Megatron howled in pain, Optimus using that moment to strike him. Grappling the two titans almost crushed Sam. I saw Optimus's dermas move but I didn't hear what he said. Nevertheless, Sam thrust his hands upwards, pushing the Allspark into Megatron's spark. Another white hot flare built in my chest and Megatron's spark shone and pulsed erratically. The Allspark burning up. Eventually it went dark and Megatron fell to the road, offline.

I ran over to Lennox, out of the corner of my eye, spotting Sam pick something up from the ground. He looked at me with a smile. I was not prepared to be picked up and spun like some doll by an over energised cousin. 'He's still in a battle high...great' I internally rolled my eyes.

When he put me down, he gave me a look up and down. I cocked my hips, giggled and gave a spin to show off my new look. My wings buffeted his face and he promptly sneezed. 'Who said I don't have a childish side'. The other members of the unit were looking at me in awe. One cheeky lad at the back even wolf-whistled.

"Ok, now I've seen it, is there any way to unsee it" he stated.

I performed the motions while calling "Power down" and with a flash of light I was back in uniform.

I watched as the Autobots and Sam gathered around Prime for a speech. I just smiled and turned back to my cousin. Opening my mouth to speak and finally explain my whole crazy story when I felt a tug within my heart.

Starblaze exuding waves of calm while the twins were frantically asking me whether I was ok. I responded yes and then their alt-modes just rolled, all calm like, out of a nearby alley and transformed.

With panicked yells everyone raised their weapons at the newcomers. "Whoa, hold your fire, hold your fire!" I called running in front of everyone, arms raised in the classic I-am-defending-this-person position. Lennox marched, like two steps, over to me, "Who are these guys?" He then studied me up and down, noting how I was calm and obviously protecting the trio, he rolled his weight onto his back foot and leisurely said, "Friends of yours?"

'How does he stay so calm?' I questioned in my head. I gestured behind me, "This is Starblaze, my Gaian partner and his siblings, the twins, Starocean and Starwave. I'll explain later Cousin..." I put on the most sweet voice I could, "I have something I need to discuss with dear Starblaze here." now I turned to Starblaze, "AND WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, I'VE BEEN FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE AND YOU'VE BEEN CHILLIN' IN AN ALLEY THIS WHOLE TIME!" I was going into rant mode. "YOU COULD HAVE DECIDED TO HELP AT ANY MOMENT BUT NO..." Starblaze raised a hand for silence, cutting me off mid-rant.

He just looked at me, completely unimpressed, and said, "You're a competent fighter, I said we would come if you were in danger, you weren't. You are still alive are you not?"

'Oh that just takes the cake' I geared up for a real rant, I could feel my face going red as blood rushed to it. Some of the other soldiers, having realised these were friends, wore broad grins on their faces, just waiting for the show to begin.

"Should we run", said Starwave. "Probably" replied his twin and they slowly backed off hands raised, leaving their older brother to face his partner's fury.

Of course they didn't get off that easy,

The Autobots had noticed the new arrivals.

#transformers #fanfiction #autobots #decepticons #megatron #optimus prime #transformers ocs #not my ocs #x reader #transformers bumblebee #transformers jazz #starscream

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 4 years ago

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Their Hero Academia – Chapter 64: Final Exam part 6: Making the Grade

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia! Please note, this chapter may undergo more extensive editing before it gets posted to AO3/FF.net, as this one ended up a bit on the long side.

Earlier chapters can be found here

“Kocho! Were you watching the whole thing? I didn’t know you were going to be here! Does this mean you’re going to be in our class?” Ojiro wrapped her arms around Koharu and pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned. “What’d you think?”

“Maybe let her breathe, Kimmie?” Sato asked, but he was smiling. Even Koharu would admit the invisible girl’s enthusiasm was contagious.

“I was,” she told them, as she took a seat in the small auditorium she and Class 1-A had been brought to after the exam had ended, injuries had been tended to, and the Hero Course students had had a chance to shower and change. “You guys did good. I was worried for a while, but wow, you really pulled it off! Your teacher was quizzing me just about the entire time on what I’d do if I was out there with you. So, yeah, I think that’s pretty official.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him,” Sero added. He had one of those flick-combs and was trying to fix his hair. One strand was stubbornly sticking up no matter what he did. “Do you think he’s that scary naturally or does he have to work at it?”

“Bro, really?” Sato asked.

“I’m pretty sure it’s natural,” Koharu told him. “He can make you feel like he’s glaring at you even if he’s not looking at you.”

She gave a wave to Midoriya and Haimawari, who were in the front row with Tokoyami and Shinso. Twenty chairs filled the back of the room, meaning it could have fit a Hero class with room to spare or any class from any of the other courses. There was a podium at the front, and a large projection screen behind it.

As Aizawa, All Might, and Vice-Principal Midnight entered the room, Class 1-A grew silent and took their seats. Koharu folded her wings and took a seat in the second row from the back, with Ojiro, Sero, and Sato.

Behind the teachers followed the Villains from the exam. She recognized the bug-like Nauseous and the winged Raptor right off the bat, and it wasn’t hard to identify Kamuy and Shadow-Thief. Even utterly depleted of power, Kamuy still towered over most of them. The last one, a beefy man built like a sumo wrestler, with a shovel-like jaw, had to be Jawbreaker, even if he was now made of flesh instead of a conglomeration of metal, concrete, wood, and rock. All of them had changed from their costumes to comfortable clothes. Most of them looked amazingly relaxed for people who had just been fighting a bunch of students less than an hour ago. Only Shadow-Thief kept stealing furtive glances at the door.

Aizawa took the podium and held their gaze for what seemed like an uncomfortably long time. She was certain he was doing it on purpose, trying to put them on edge. She’d already gathered from his exam behavior and the discussion about the “Villains” that he liked to play mind games. “So, let’s discuss the results of your exam.”

He clicked a button on a small remote control, and the screen behind him divided into three vertical segments. The right portion contained a picture of Recovery Girl and a note that her final distance from the civilian defense shelter was two meters. Koharu had to admit, her heart had been in her chest the entire time Haimawari had been racing after her, especially as Shadow-Thief had gotten closer and closer to the end. But given that the numbers were green, she guessed they were still good.

“You were able to complete your primary objective and keep Doctor McGuffin from being moved past the 100 meter,” Aizawa went on. “Barely. Not guarding the defense shelter after you engaged with the Villains’ final assault was foolish and under other circumstances, could have been deadly not just to Doctor McGuffin, but to the others inside as well.”

Ojiro’s arm shot into the air. “No fair!” she whined. “You didn’t tell us she could just sneak inside like that!”

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “The results would have been the same if one of the more powerful Villains had brute forced their way in. You all practically left the door open and did not only did not account for the full range of her teleportation abilities, but seemed to forget her existence entirely once you were engaged with the others. I shouldn’t have had to explain what all the Villains could and could not do to get in.”

Even Koharu had forgotten about Shadow-Thief, getting much more caught up in watching the other fights. But Aizawa was right too.

“Would have gotten away with it too,” Kamuy said to Shadow-Thief, “if you hadn’t stopped to gloat.”

“Don’t blame me,” Shadow-Thief hissed. She jerked a thumb in Aizawa’s direction. “He was the one who said we had to give them a fighting chance.”

“Still,” he went on, “you met the objective. Barely.”

The middle portion of the screen showed a tally of civilians rescued and a separate tally of failed rescues. The top number was bigger by a long shot, in the three digits, but there were numbers on the bottom too.

“In terms of civilian rescues,” Aizawa went on, “you more than surpassed the bar we set. The number of failed rescues includes a portion of the those injured in Doctor McGuffin’s abduction, but also those missed during the course of your other fights.”

He looked down. “Fortunately, no real lives were lost, as this was just an exam. But in the real world, there will come times when you’re unable to save everyone. When you have to make a split second decision between confronting the Villain or saving the civilian. When you’re too slow or not attentive enough or simply unaware there’s anyone there. It will happen and it’s more than likely at some point, you will make the wrong choice.

“So learn while you can.”

None of the others said anything at that, though many of class 1-A exchanged glances with each other. Koharu guessed that they were trying to figure out what they’d missed, what they hadn’t seen. Second guessing could make you crazy like that. Hopefully, it wouldn’t weigh on them too much.

The final screen displayed pictures of the Villains, all of them but Shadow-Thief with a red x slashed through them. “And for your third objective, you managed to defeat four of the five Villains. As valiant as your rescue of Doctor McGuffin was, Haimawari, I’m afraid it did not count as a complete take down of Shadow-Thief.”

“Still,” Shadow-Thief piped up. “Nice try, kid.”

“I’m going to be sore for days,” Jawbreaker said, speaking less gruffly now than he had during the exam. “I wasn’t expecting children to go all out like that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t been hit like that in a while.”

“At least you got to put up a fight,” Nauseous said. “I got taken out early.”

“Wimp,” Kamuy taunted.

“Can you all not…?” Raptor said.

“Settle,” Aizawa growled. He looked over the class again. “As we told you originally, in addition to the three-tiered priorities for passing the exam, we were also scoring you individually. You’ll all receive more detailed feedback after All Might, Midnight, and I have had a chance to compile it, but for now, we’ll be providing a basic evaluation of your exam performances.”

There was a collective gulp from the class. Even Koharu felt a chill go down her spine.

***

Worried looks passed through 1-A, dreading the criticism that was surely going to come from Aizawa. Koharu had only known him a short amount of time, but already she could tell that he did not suffer fools gladly and was quick to point out any flaws he found. Judging by how fearful 1-A looked… she was going to assume it did not get any better with time.

“Aoayama,” Aizawa began. The glowing boy stiffened in his seat. “Nothing exceptional in your performance, but no glaring weaknesses either. You made decent use of your Quirk to try and counter your foes.”

“Merci,” Aoyama said, looking relieved.

It was short lived. “However,” Aizawa went on, “check the arrogance. When you were out the search and rescue teams, you lost valuable seconds arguing with your teammates. If you have something to contribute, offer it. But don’t automatically assume you know better.”

Aoyama looked down, but nodded in response.

“Funny, that’s not how I remember it when we used to team up, Eraser,” Vice-Principle Midnight said, giving him a teasing nudge with her elbow.

“I seem to recall some choice words as well,” All Might said, wearing a grin that might have best been described as “shit-eating.”

“That’s not the topic of discussion,” Aziawa said. “Moving on.”

He made a show of shuffling his papers. “Since we have two Iidas in the class,” Aizawa went on, giving Vice-Principle Midnight a significant look, “we’ll begin with Sora.

“Overall, impressive tactical thinking in the early stages and excellent teamwork throughout. When the shooting started, you did a good job taking command of the situation and put yourself at risk for your teammates. Commendable.

“But you twice allowed yourself to become distracted and vulnerable because you were worried about your boyfriend.”

“That’s when I got you,” Jawbreaker said. “And I’m not exactly easy to miss.”

Sitting next to Sora Iida, Midoriya turned a bright shade and sunk low in his seat.

“They’re dating?” All Might gasped. “Young Grandson, why did you not tell me about this?!” Koharu wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Midoriya turned even redder.

“Sorry, Grandpa Might,” he squeaked.

“Heroes in relationships are more common these days,” Midnight said. “But with a handful of exceptions like Suneater and Nejire-Chan, they typically don’t work together, for just such a reason. I’m all for young love, but do keep it in mind, children.”

At this point, Koharu was wondering how Midoriya’s chair hadn’t caught on fire. Sora Iida looked nonplussed by the whole thing, occasionally shooting curious glances Midoriya’s way.

Still, Koharu understood the flying girl’s worry. Midoriya had been knocked under a collapsing building and no one had been able to raise him. He could have been hurt or worse. That he’d just been pinned down with his patched together communicator unable to get a signal out was nothing short of a minor miracle.

“As you say,” Sora Iida said. “Thank you.”

“As for you, Tensei,” Aizawa continued, “you demonstrated overall good sense and teamwork, and a willingness to sacrifice yourself for your teammates. You kept your head about you.”

“He still went down when I got ahold of him,” Jawbreaker added. “All that speed doesn’t do anybody any good once somebody grabs you.”

Tensei nodded. “I shall endeavor to improve. Perhaps some sort of shock field through certain points on my armor…”

“It would be difficult to properly calibrate the strength of it though,” his sister said. “Especially since you could not anticipate enemy resistance in advance and under such circumstances, it would be difficult to manipulate precise controls.”

Both twins made a “Hmmm” sound and looked like they were about to burst into more discussion. Aizawa cut them off. “Moving on,” he said. “Ojiro.”

Next to her, the invisible girl stiffened and shook. On her other side, Sato took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“You did well,” Aizawa said. “Good use of your Quirk, good support of your classmates, and good, if unorthodox, thinking when fighting Kamuy.”

“You’re creepy, kid,” Kamuy growled.

“Continue focusing on your skills and teamwork,” Aizawa finished. “And know when to back off. Your stunt against Kamuy ultimately worked, but it also severely hampered Todoroki and Kaminari’s ability to support you. If Aoyama and Tokoyami hadn’t arrived when they had, you could have had trouble.”

“Yes, Mister Aizawa,” Ojiro replied, actually sounding serious. Koharu hadn’t known her long, but she hadn’t really expected that of her.

“See, Kimmie” Sero said, leaning forward and looking her way. “Nothing to worry about.”

“As for you, Kaminari,” Aizawa said, and Koharu looked to the back row, where the blonde was sitting next to Mineta, “while you proved effective during the majority of the fighting, with good use of your Quirk and Support gear…

He sighed wearily. “Victory dancing? Really? Never let your guard down like that.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” Kaminari replied, her Cords drooping. “In my defense, I really thought she was down.”

“That kind of overconfidence will get you killed, Sweetie,” Vice-Principal Midnight said. “As it was, it nearly cost your class their win.”

That got a gasp. And there was a lot of hurried talk and in the case of Kirishima-Bakugo, a lot of swearing. It wasn’t until Aizawa activated his Quirk that they silenced again.

“Had any of the objectives not been met,” All Might said, gravely, “we’d be having very different conversations right now. As it stands… we decided the two things canceled each other out well enough.”

“Understood,” Kaminari said, very quietly. Mineta gave her a small hug, but Kaminari pushed her away.

“It wasn’t even good dancing,” Kamuy added, which earned her a glare from a couple of the others.

It wasn’t fair, in Koharu’s opinion. But in the real world, that kind of slip up would have absolutely been fatal. And even she was boggled by Kaminari’s early declaration of victory.

“Kirishima-Bakugo,” Aizawa began, clearly eager to move on.

The muscular blonde girl sat up a little straighter in her seat. “Bring it, teach.”

“You acquitted yourself well in straight-up combat scenarios and demonstrated a measure of tactical thinking,” Aizawa went on. “But your first instincts continue to remain all out, full-frontal assaults. Those aren’t always going to work.”

“Worked well enough on this guy,” Kamuy said, giving Jawbreaker a nudge.

“Shut up,” Jawbreaker snapped back.

“Worked so far,” Kirishima-Bakugo said, flipply. “But got it. More thinky, less blasty.”

“I could have told you that,” Todoroki, who was sitting on her left, said.

“…Maybe tell me those things earlier, Iz.”

Aizawa’s attention focused next on the rock-skinned girl sitting next to Aoyama. “Koda, you made good use of your Quirk and demonstrated excellent teamwork with your classmates.”

“Thank you,” Koda said.

“Unfortunately, your combat skills are often not as aggressive as fits the situation. While I respect your desire to cause as little harm as is necessary… there are times where that’s simply not possible. Restraining your opponents won’t always work.”

“Sometimes,” Jawbreaker added, “you just have to hit someone.”

“I shall keep that in mind,” Koda replied.

“I thought you performed admirably, Mademoiselle Koda,” Aoyama said, making a dramatic flourish with his hands.

“Now, Sato,” Aizawa said, obviously determined not to get derailed.

Next to Ojiro, Sato just buried his head in his hands. “Oh no, here it comes.”

“You were one of the few to be able to properly approximate how Kamuy’s Quirk worked, and you were able to use that you your advantage, so good job there. And you had creative application of your Quirk when you faced her the second time, as well as good teamwork with Ojiro. In the future, however, you may want to put more work into combat options that don’t require the use of your Quirk.”

It took a minute for Sato to realize he wasn’t being yelled at. “He said you did good, Kenta!” Ojiro squealed. “Get your head up!”

“Th—thank you,” Sato said, nodding rapidly. “Thank you, sir.”

“Shinso,” Aizawa said, and Koharu could have sworn that there was something just a little warmer in his voice when he said the same compared to the rest. She remembered how he’d cheered for the purple-haired boy when they were watching the exam. Just what was the relationship between the two of them?

“Excellent teamwork and good use of your Quirk,” Aizawa said. “We did have some concerns you weren’t giving it your all, but you eventually corrected.”

A small smile pulled its way across Aizawa’s face. “And your… unique insights proved invaluable in supporting your team’s efforts. Good job. Work on bringing your A-Game right out of the gate though. Don’t just build up to it.”

“Got it!” Shinso bubbled, punching the air. “Give them the Smash right from the start!”

“As for you, Shoji,” Aizawa continued, looking at the tall, six-armed boy. Koharu was one hundred percent of a lesbian, but even she had to admit, Shoji was ridiculously good looking. No wonder Ojiro’s webshow—After becoming friends with her, she’d dug up a few old episodes—called him Class 1-A’s most eligible bachelor. Of course, she’d suddenly stopped doing that for some reason, but hadn’t mentioned why.

“You did well. Good fighting skills, good teamwork. Work on showing some greater initiative in planning and remember that you have options for long range attacks that don’t put you at as much risk in a physical confrontation.”

“Understood,” Shoji said with a small nod.

“Sero,” Aizawa began. The name had barely left his lips when the pink-skinned boy let out a terrified whimper and turned several shades paler. “Overall, good teamwork and good rescue work. You were especially effective against Raptor.”

“Damn tape,” the winged man growled. “Swinging me into that building hurt.”

“But watch your grandstanding. The correct response to finding out you’re fighting real Villains is not worrying about your hit count.”

Sero still hadn’t moved or reacted. It took Sato giving him a nudge. “Bro. You’re not dead.”

“I’m not?”

“You’re not. I’d tell you if you were.”

“Good.”

Once again, Aizawa looked as though he’d rather be anywhere else. He closed his eyes and appeared to be counting, judging by the slight movement of his lips. “Tokoyami.”

The glowing frog-thing, Frog-Shadow Koharu thought it was called, was sitting on Tokoyami’s shoulder. She perked up at Tokoyami’s name. “And me!” the thing declared.

Aizawa gaze briefly went to a corner of the room, where a yellow sleeping back, of all things, was sitting. He instead returned his attention to the bird-headed girl. “The first true victory went to you, so congratulations on that.”

“She got you good, bug man!” Kamuy yelled, slapping Nauseous on the back.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nauseous growled. “Rub it in, why don’t you?”

“I was planning on it.”

“As seems to be the common theme here, good use of team work and collaboration with your classmates. However… as difficult as it is to draw the line where you and Frog-Shadow end and begin, let’s focus on your own physicality and active participation in these battles. Being saved by your living Quirk is fine, but you cannot rely on that.”

“I shall keep that in mind,” Tokoyami said, giving a slight nod. “Or rather,” she added before Frog-Shadow could interrupt, “we shall.”

“Todoroki,” Aizawa went on, addressing the pale girl with the multi-colored hair. Koharu wasn’t quite sure how her ombré hair worked exactly, starting white but turning red the further out it got, but given that her own hair matched the pattern of her wings, she wasn’t sure she was in any position to question it. “Your overall performance was excellent.”

“Indeed,” All Might bellowed, interrupted him. “Young Todoroki was very much the MVP of the exam! You proved invaluable in multiple Villain confrontations!”

“I merely did what I could,” Todoroki said demurely. “I only regret that I was unable to better protect my classmates…”

“That is unfortutnate,” Aizawa said. “But sometimes inevitable. In the meantime, you demonstrated excellent use of your Quirk and good overall thinking and teamwork. Continue to work on your endurance and you’ve a bright future ahead of you.”

“Would it be possible to have that in writing?” Todoroki asked. “I would like to make sure my mother is aware of these facts.”

“Geeze, more jokes, Iz?” Kirishima-Bakugo asked. “You’re on a roll today.”

“Yes,” Todoroki said, her voice carefully neutral. “A joke.”

“You’ll receive your written evaluation later,” Aizawa reminded her. His voice turned protective. “But by all means, do invite your mother to visit if she has any… concerns.”

In the front row, Haimawari squirmed uncomfortably as Aizawa focused his attention on him. “Haimawari, your overall performance was positive. If not for your efforts, the class would have failed the primary objective. You also proved your strategic worth against Jawbreaker and your combat powers against Raptor.”

“That was your plan?” Jawbreaker asked. “Good job, kid.”

“I was supposed to give you a chance,” Shadow-Thief added, “but I didn’t expect you to catch up. You could be faster than Inegnium someday.”

Aizawa stared the lanky boy down. “You’ve raised my expectations of you, Haimawari. I’ll be looking to see you step up to leadership positions again.”

In spite of the praise, Haimawari looked a little pale. “Ah, okay, got it. Thank you, sir.”

“As for you, Midoriya,” Aizawa continued, “if you keep hitting up against a wall and keep bouncing off, what do you do?”

“If you’re this kid, you keep on doing it,” Jawbreaker said with a laugh.

“Maybe… not that?” Midoriya tried. “It’s kind of my go to move, but it really wasn’t working so well. And there wasn’t a lot of room to do some of my bouncing tricks like Gran Torino.”

“At least,” Aizawa said. “You recognize it. You’ve got a lot of power and a lot of techniques, work on developing them. We can focus on some options for when your usual strategies don’t cut it. Additionally…”

“Yes, Mister Aizawa?” Midoriya said, in response to Aizawa’s trailing off.

“In the next team exercises in class, you’re not allowed to take charge or formulate plans unless your teammates have also come up with plans. I think we’re all very aware how much of a leadership role you’ve taken. And while those skills are desirable for a Hero, we can’t have your classmates becoming complacent.”

“He is right, Young Grandson,” All Might added.

Midoriya nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ll… do my best to stick to that.”

“See that you do.” Aizawa looked down at his notes on the podium, then up at the class. He looked back down again, as though he was making sure of something and made a pained expression. Finally, he looked back up.

“And Mineta,” he said. “As is becoming a pattern for you against live opponents, you demonstrated solid tactical thinking when provoking your opponents into a trap or otherwise keeping their focus on your mouth instead of what you’re doing. I would tell you to be less…” He gestured vaguely.

“Ah, you just gestured at all of me,” Mineta said.

“Exactly. I’d like you to be less you. Except that it seems to be working.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It would be illogical not to encourage you to continue using those skills, not matter how distasteful.”

“What Eraser is saying,” Vice-Principal Midnight added, “is continue to own it, girl! If I was still active in the field, I’d snare you for a sidekick in a heartbeat.”

At that, Mineta actually blushed, something Koharu hadn’t been sure was actually possible. “Y-yes, Vice-Principal. T-thank you.” Koharu was extremely sympathetic though. The Vice-Principal’s expression was enough to set her own heart aflutter.

“Continue to work on battlefield discipline, however,” Aizawa corrected. “As useful as your… talents are, there is a time and a place.”

“Got it,” Mineta said. “Time. Place.”

“And Kocho.” It took Koharu a moment to realize Aizawa had said her name. The others of 1-A turned to look at her. “Overall, good analysis of how you’d participate against the exam Villains. Though you did forget about Shadow-Thief, just like the rest of the class, so I can’t fault you for that entirely. But good analysis overall, especially for someone not currently in the Hero Course. I’ll be expecting good things of you when you join the class for the training camp and for the next term.”

“I knew it!” Midoriya shouted.

“Way to go!” Sero said.

“Good job!” Sato added.

“You did it! You did it!” Ojiro said, practically bouncing in her seat. Cheers went up from some of the others, like Haimawari, and even those of she didn’t really know, like Shinso.

The celebratory moment was short lived. One of the Villains, Jawbreaker, spoke up. “So… that’s it then?”

Aizawa nodded. “The exam is over and the students will be returning to their dorms after this.”

“Then,” Raptor said, “I suppose we just wait for the police, then?”

All Might gave Aizawa a surprised look. “Just what did you tell them, Aizawa?”

“He said we had to beat the kids if we wanted early parole,” Shadow-Thief snapped. “I knew it. I knew I should have run when I had the chance… just taken my chances and run…”

“I can’t speak for these idiots,” Kamuy said, “but I’ll go quietly. I gave my word and I keep it.”

“What’s a few more years?” Nauseous said, shrugging.

“It was a logical ruse to get the most competitive edge out of you,” Aizawa said. “Once you’ve returned to your respective detention centers, your effects will be returned to you and your releases will be processed.

Koharu wished she could say she was surprised. Even already knowing that Aizawa had misinformed the Villains somehow, she hadn’t expected that. But given what she was learning about the man, along with the dirt that the Voice and Deku had spilled on him, she really, really wasn’t surprised.

“You bastard!” Shadow-Thief snarled, and had to be restrained by Kamuy and Jawbreaker. She probably could have escaped easily if she’d wanted to, but it seemed her heart wasn’t in it, as she let the other two push her back down. “I thought I’d lost my chance…!”

“Guess I’m going home,” Raptor said, leaning back in his chair and smiling.

“You’re definitely a bastard, Aizawa,” Jawbreaker said. “But I have to say… it worked.”

All Might just shook his head. “Dirty pool, Aizawa, dirty pool. Let me apologize on his behalf.”

Jawbreaker waved a hand in the air. “Honestly, I figured he was bullshitting us. It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. But I figured it was a worth a shot.”

All Might just shook his head. “One of these days, Aizawa, these “logical ruses” of yours are going to backfire…”

“Haven’t yet.”

Being in Class 1-A, Koharu thought, was definitely going to be an experience.

***

“Okay, everybody,” Midoriya began, “if I could just have your attention for a minute?”

Unfortunately, Class 1-A (and Kocho, who’d been invited to celebrate with them) were too busy celebrating their exam victory to notice. After the exam, they’d pooled their money—Izumi had offered to pay for the whole thing, but they’d insisted it come from all of them—and ordered pizzas (and shakes for Kocho), gotten the stereo going, and turned the dining area into a party spread with other snacks and sodas.

It had been close out there more than a few times, but Isamu was glad he’d been able to be a part of it. Of course, now Aizawa was expecting bigger and better things from him, on top of having already raised his profile at the Sports Festival, so that was a lot to live up to. And there was still the training camp on the horizon. They had a departure date for it, but no other details. But those were worries for another day.

He did wonder how the other Hero Courses were doing. 1-B was supposed to be taking theirs this afternoon, and 1-C in the evening. Kana had promised she’d let him know when they were done though, so he was anxiously awaiting that text. 1-B didn’t have as many “heavy hitters” in it as his class did, but they had a lot of variety and a lot of potential for teamwork if they really tried at it.

“Guys?” Midoriya tried again.

“If everyone could give us their attention for just a moment?” Tokoyami tried, with no success either.

“HEY! LISTEN!” Frog-Shadow shouted, from her perch on Tokoyami’s shoulder. And that did get everyone to shut up.

“…Thank you,” Midoriya told Frog-Shadow, before looking around at the class.

“Anytime!” Frog-Shadow said, giving him a thumbs’ up.

“As I was saying,” Midoriya continued, “everybody did great out there. There’s not a one of you I’m not proud of. Not that I was worried for a minute, but we really showed how we could come together when it really matters. So absolutely, let’s celebrate! We earned it!”

Isamu joined with his classmates in cheering, though he thought Kaminari looked like her heart wasn’t in it, despite everyone having told her that they didn’t blame her for almost causing them to fail the exam. He could see the electric girl had taken the criticism to heart and he doubted she’d do anything like that again.

He’d talk to her later if he had the opportunity. They weren’t exactly friends, but they’d gotten to be friendlier over the term, especially when he’d burned a few copies of some of his mom’s lesser known CDs for her. And they both agreed that Double Pop was a cheap rip off and not an homage, no matter how hot Mineta insisted they were.

As the cheers died down, Izumi spoke up. “I have already told my parents about our passing the exam,” she said. She sounded pretty happy, as far as he could tell. Izumi was a fairly reserved person, but even he could see the pride in her victories today. She deserved it, completely. “They send their congratulations to all of us. They have also extended an offer to the whole class—and you, Kocho—to join us at our island vacation home before the training camp.”

He knew Izumi’s family was rich. But all the same, he couldn’t help but blurt out, “You have an island vacation home?”

Kirishima-Bakugo smirked at his surprise. “They have their own island.”

That did not do anything to take down his surprise. “Of course,” he said. Visions of the costs of plane tickets and island prices and everything else immediately tampered down any enthusiasm he would have had for going. Not all Pro-Heroes were rich, of course, but with the right endorsements and even a modest amount of success, they could be very well off. That was not his family. They did well enough, of course, but he wasn’t anywhere near the same ballpark.

Really, between the Iida twins, Izumi, and Mirdoiya alone, the amount of yen in the room was staggering. It did very little to quell his feelings of inadequacy. But he could see Kocho doing a very good job of concentrating on her drink and a pang of sympathy overrode anything else.

“Of course, since it is the Yaoyorozu private jet and hotel, it is all expenses paid,” Izumi went on.

“As long as we’re back in time for the I-Island Expo,” Midoriya said. “Dad’s going to be busy, but the Aunt Meslissa and the Togata kids are all going, and I’m going with them.”

“We’re going too!” Sora Iida piped in. “Mother is presenting several new inventions and Father will be there as well, representing the family.”

Tensei Iida looked over at his boyfriend. “I will insist upon you being allowed to come,” he told Sero. “It is only fair, since my sister’s boyfriend will be there.”

“Double-date vacation with our Iida squeezes, Midoriya?” Sero said. “It’s all moving so fast! We’ll be in-laws before you know it!”

Midoriya turned red at that. “Maybe… maybe not that fast!”

“Toshi,” Sora told him, leaning in, “I think he is joking.”

“Or am I?” Sero laughed, giving himself a double thumbs’ up. Ojiro reached over and gave him a smack on the shoulder. “Ow! Go easy, Kimiko!”

“Stop making Midoriya a nervous wreck! You’ll ruin my ships!”

“You can’t call it a ship when it’s real people, Kimmie,” Sato said, looking faintly embarrassed at his friends.

“You’re going too, right, Haimawari?” Midoriya asked.

“I, ah, yeah,” Isamu said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. He still needed to find a suit before that happened. As the first year winner of the U.A. Sports Festival, he’d gotten an all- expenses paid invitation to the Expo. It would be the furthest he’d ever been from his home in his life. Still seemed like way too much attention on him, but Hero-Society really did like to have people it could celebrate, it seemed. “Hadn’t had too much time to think about it, with the exams and everything.”

“You get a plus one, you know!” Mineta yelled. “You should totally take Kana!”

Isamu let out a squeak. “We’re really not ready for that!” he said quickly. “Really!”

“Take me then?” she asked, pouting. “Shinji’s still grounded and I’ll be so lonely…”

Nope, nope, nope, get away bad thoughts!

“We should be able to return in plenty of time,” Izumi said, answering the question and thankfully ending any conversation with Mineta.

“Are you sure it’s okay if I come?” Kocho asked. The tips of her wings flicked about as she talked. “I mean, I’ll have to ask my parents to begin with, but you all barely know me.”

Boy, did he know that feeling. It definitely summed up how he’d felt at the start of the term. But now he had good friends here, and even got along with pretty much everyone else. He still sometimes felt like an outsider, but with people who’d literally grown up together, that wasn’t completely surprising. But he definitely no longer felt like an outsider.

“You’re going to be in 1-A,” Midoriya said, smiling. “That makes you family.”

“Welcome to the crazy house,” Kirishima-Bakugo said. She made a sweeping gestured. “I’d say you get used to some of them, but, well…”

***

It’s the next morning, Saturday, and most of the class was out and about, some of the couples spending time with each other, some enjoying a day of much deserved rest after the exams. A few had even gone home already in preparation for the upcoming trip. They’d had one of the biggest tests of their lives and they’d passed.

So why couldn’t Chihiro bring herself to celebrate?

Maybe because she’d nearly ruined the whole thing. Not just for herself, but for everyone. She’d barely passed her other exams. As much as her mom often told her to “dig down deep and find the genes I gave you,” Chihiro sometimes had to admit… she just wasn’t that smart. Book learning did not come easily to her. So she’d poured everything she had into being a Hero. And with her new costume, she’d actually started finally getting good at that, overcome the limitations of her Quirk and started thinking a little bit smarter there.

And in one fleeting taste of victory, she’d done something stupid and started celebrating.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. One of the first basic rules of Heroing. Never, ever celebrate until the Villain was either unconscious or in a police car. She’d been so damn sure their combined power had been enough to put Kamuy down.

She’d been wrong.

And everyone had nearly paid for her mistake. Sure, they said they didn’t blame her. And she even believed them. Well, she believed everyone but Kirishima-Bakugo. She’d never actually said it, just grimaced and nodded along when the others said it.

It didn’t mean she didn’t blame herself.

In retrospect, being alone in the common room with her thoughts probably wasn’t the best thing right now, no matter how much she didn’t want to be around other people. Of course, if she really didn’t want to be around other people, she would have just stayed in her room. Instead, she was sitting on the couch, strumming on her ukulele. Maybe, just maybe, a little music would take her mind off of everything. She hadn’t had as much time to play as she’d like this term, but maybe she could get back to it.

She was definitely bringing it on the trip to Izumi’s island. Islands practically called for ukuleles. Also, she just liked the word ukulele. This one in particular had been a gift from her dad. It even had a small inscription. “Just write “I love you, Chihiro.’”

The doors to the outside flew open and in walked someone she really didn’t want to deal with right now: Shiro Monoma. If he said one word about anything—never mind how he’d have found out in the first place—she knew she’d throw hands and Cords. And then she’d probably get in actual trouble.

He had bolted through the doors like he’s gathered up all his courage for an important mission, but now that he was inside, he just looked a little confused. He even pulled his phone out and checked something on it—probably his text messages.

“Mika’s not here,” she told Monoma flatly. Mika had said something about how he was having a rough time lately, but honestly, he got on her last nerve often enough that she wasn’t sure she cared. “Pretty sure Koda’s upstairs though.”

How someone as nice as Koda was put up with the likes of him and Aoyama, she had no idea.

“I, ah, yes, good,” Monoma said, looking both awkward and uncomfortable under her gaze. She must have stepped up her intimidation game. Maybe she’d actually see how this played out. “I… heard you all passed the exam?”

Of course. Why did she think it was anything else? “Come to gloat?” she snapped, pointing her Cords at him. Sparks danced along their tips.

He put a hand to his chest, offended. “Gloat about what?”

“You don’t know?” She carefully set her ukulele down in its case on the table in front of her and stood up. She waved her arms through the air as she ranted, her Cords mimicking the gestures. “You’re not just bullshitting me, so you can insult me? Mock me? Mock poor stupid Kaminari who nearly danced her way into failing the exam?”

Crap. She said too much.

Monoma’s expression softened, though she could also see some kind of comprehension dawning too. “I assure you,” he said, crossing the room so he was standing across from her, “that I meant to do no such offenses. It’s not my place to do so anymore anyway. At least you’re still here. It sounds like you still deserve your spot.”

Wait, what? “The hell does that mean?” she demanded. Dammit, he needed to stop looking like a kicked puppy. It was making it incredibly hard to be mad at him!

“I’m leaving U.A.,” he told her. Chihiro’s Cords jerked up in surprise. “I’m… I’m not cut out for this. My Quirk’s not good enough. I’m not good enough. I only stayed long enough to help my class pass the exam. Which they did.”

Okay, seriously, what the hell.

“I, ah…” she began, uncertainly. “They throw real Villains at you too?”

Now it was his turn to be surprised. “…Your teacher really is insane.” She didn’t disagree. “Super-Ball got some of his Pro-Hero friends to play the part. Dirtbreaker, She-Panther, Silver Stalker, the Human Rocket, and Microwaveabelle. They’re all fairly minor and low ranked… but they gave us all a pretty good fight.”

“Betcha Shinso could have told you all about them.” She did genuinely like the little guy. Their dads were friends, so while they weren’t close, she was certainly more than used to his quirks.

“Yeah,” Monoma agreed. “He probably could have.” Chihiro recalled that his dad was friends were Shinso’s dad too. She seemed to remember the two of them had even been closer, once upon a time.

“But you’re quitting?” she asked. As much as he tried to brag or claim his class was better than theirs, she couldn’t believe it.

“My mind’s made up,” he said, quietly. “Please don’t try to talk me out of it.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she said. “But like I said, Koda’s upstairs if that’s who you’re looking for.”

He hesitated, then looked down at her ukulele. “I didn’t know you could play,” he said.

She shrugged. “I’m not nearly as good as mom. But I do all right.” She realized he was looking at her expectantly. The curse of the musician. As soon as you admitted you could play, people wanted to hear it.

With a sigh, she picked it up and sat down, using her Cords to indicate that he could sit too if he wanted. He took up a spot on the couch opposite her. She took a moment, then launched into the cords of a positively ancient song and couldn’t help but launch into song, in English.

“I see trees of green and red roses too

I'll watch then bloom just for me and you

And I think to myself

Oh, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, clouds of white

The brightness of day, the dark, say goodnight

And I think to myself

Oh, what a wonderful world…”

She stopped when she realized he wasn’t just watching her, he was staring. Hard.

“What?” she asked.

“I’ve never actually seen anyone play music up close like that,” Monoma said, actually sounding impressed. “At least, not live. Video is one thing, but up close and personal… it’s actually rather breathtaking.”

Okay, Monoma was dishing out compliments instead of insulting her intelligence. This was obviously a Monoma from an alternate universe where he was nice. “Think you could copy it?” she asked. “You’d probably make a good musician that way.”

He shook his head. “I could copy the motions, but I wouldn’t have the heart for it you do. Or the kind of conditioning in my fingers you have. I’m honestly really impressed. You’ve got real talent.” There was an undercurrent of “and I’m jealous” to it, so she took some pity on him.

“It take some work,” she said. “But anybody really can learn. You learn the chords, you put them together, one after the other, they turn into music. Same for every song, just broken apart and put together in different ways and speeds.”

Monoma’s lips were moving, but no sound was coming out, as he seemed to be processing what she’d said. He suddenly bolted from his seat. “That’s it! Like music! Not like shots from a quiver!” His eyes were wild and Chihiro slowly and deliberately put her ukulele in its case so she could stand up.

“I’m going to tase you if you don’t start making sense!”

His expression still maniac, Monoma continued. “I could string moves together into a symphony of fighting! I’ve been treating moves like separate weapons, to be used and discarded! I can combine them!”

“Uh… good for you?” she tried. Should she be calling someone here? Was he having an aneurysm? She could probably always defibrillate him, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t the right medical procedure.

His eyes were shining and maniac still, when he focused them on her. “You’re brilliant, Kaminari! Thank you!”

In a burst of speed, he was at her side, his arms wrapped around her and holding her tightly against him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” His lips pressed against her cheek for a moment, a long moment, separating with a wet, smacking sound.

Reality seemed to settle back in. He stared at her, then bolted towards the door. “Thankyouagain,Ihavetowithdrawmywithdrawl,Ineedtogonow!”

Chihiro stood there for a moment longer, before she flopped back onto the couch, her legs suddenly weak. Her fingers touched her cheek where Monoma had kissed her. “What… what just happened?”

***

Mika had made herself scarce from the 1-A dorms and was hanging out with Anime in hers. As was expected, her friends’ dorm walls were completely covered in posters from various manga and anime, most of which even the biggest otaku would find obscure.

Her phone buzzed. Earlier, she’d sent a message to Shiro, telling him a “mutual acquaintance” was feeling depressed and maybe he could go by and cheer her up. He was depressed, she was depressed, it was the perfect plan.

She checked her phone.

Cute Ex: So I’m not quitting. Got a really good idea when I was at your dorm building. Had a really good conversation. …I may have kissed her. Things got happened and I got passionate.

Mika smiled. That was fast. Really fast, actually, given the parties involved. Good for Shiro and good for Akaya. Her friend needed it. And Shiro would be way better for her than Aoyama, if he ever figured out that he was clearly crushing on Akaya.

“It worked!” she told Anime.

The animated girl squeed happily. “I knew it! Just like I Set Up My Best Friends (Because I Could)!”

Cute Ex: I hope this doesn’t make things awkward.

Mika was about to respond that of course it didn’t, this was her plan all along, when she saw more dots indicating Shiro was still typing.

Cute Ex: Because now I might actually ask Kaminari out. Not just because of the kiss. But because I discovered she’s actually fascinating. I know it sounds crazy, but…

She didn’t see the rest of the text, as the phone dropped from her hands. “Anime, we’ve made a terrible mistake.”

#my hero academia #their hero academia #Koharu Kocho #isamu haimawari #chihiro kaminari #shiro monoma #mika (tha)#fan fiction #fan fic #my writing

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the-house-of-the-nine · 5 years ago

Text

In Mind of Misery: Manipulation, Part 11

[ And so the journey begins. Three Separate stories to tell here all happening Simultaneously. Attacking from three fronts, is this the beginning of the end for The Nine? Please Like, Share, and Follow us! We are hoping to get new people coming our way, and could use the love! Thank you everyone!!!!! ]

Cast:

[ L.K ] - Lazarius Kashebahl, Marseille, Raelyndia Duskhollow

[ P.K ] - Kretus Dark

[ V.D ] - Verzatea Duskflame, Pame Myl’Brin

[ J ] - Jursol, Jimba, Mawa

[ T ] - Talisin aka The Boy

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[ J ] Jursol was luckily focused on Lazarius after seeing him alive. Hearing his words she knew exactly what he planned to do, and moved to action fast. Making sure the golem was in the right place at the right time. Her eyes grew wide with a mix of excitement and fear for him as the golem launched him with force.

Her eyes followed him closely as she herself rushed towards him. Kicking blood up as she dashed. With a leap into air, her large clawed hand reaching to grab him. She pulled him close as she tucked him under her arm, as they landed a thud likely was heard. Jursol did whatever she could to protect him as they landed.

[ V . D ] Amid the chaos, having provided what aid she could to the others, Verzatea had put the majority of her focus on the young boy whom was surely dazed and terrified of the horrific setting he'd been forced into. Tea had made an effort to comfort him by hugging her free arm about the child, whispering kindly and reassuring words as she kept his head low to prevent him from getting hit, shield his smaller body with her own.

Though she watched. Observed as the epic moments of their lives played out before them. She'd quietly marvel the strength of their numbers, the protectiveness and desire to survive they each held... Awe inspiring, especially the blade brandished in a display of pure awesomeness.

Pame remained protecting the body of their wounded shaldorei, often swinging and slashing swords to ward off bodies that stumbled too close in the excitement of the golem's destructive path. She'd grit her teeth at the unmistakable sound of glass cracking under pressure and splintering.

Whilst copying Verzatea, both women tuck the faces of their charges into their shoulders before burying their faces into the person's shoulder, both bracing and protecting their faces from the wash of blood spilling from the tank. The sudden crash and thud of bodies landing would cause both women to snap to attention after a second of wading the spilling roar of rushing blood, and while

Pame visibly flinched as her sensitive ears endured the screeching roars of disdain overhead... Verzatea did not even blink. Instead she focused on the bodies of the elf and troll, her concern skyrocketing as she calls to them,

"Are you two alright?"

“The moment has come.”

[ L. K ] Raelyndias voice spread across the cavernous interior as she felt the blood leaving the vat. Her own motives now becoming realized to them as Lazarius sat up in Jursols arms. The troll had saved him again.

“Released from this capsule, you have done my bidding once more Serpent.”

The nickname caught the ears of the inquisitor as he snarled and rolled to his feet. His black pools seething as he glared toward the tank.

“You have no body! No vessel! You cannot inhabit one of our own; I have seen to that! Our talismans prevent possession after the fall of De’Mour!”

He was not lying, a secondary fail safe to prohibit such things like a Nathrezim attempting to inhabit one of them was now a countermeasure in the talisman.

“The magi; ah. . .yes, . . . you have condemned their offspring to an eternity of hell; as you have secured the fate of all who inhabit this place and my home....”

As the essence began to pour from the containment unit Lazarius pulled the eye he’d been saving and focused it toward the tank.

“And this?”

He screamed at the nothingness.

“Answer me! What was this? I have bested you again Raelyndia!”

Lazarius waited as the screeching was over and the blood contaminate poured into the already messy floor.

“That was the bait...my child.”

Those words suddenly caused Lazarius’ spine to stiffen. His eyelids widened as he peered around the room. His grip on the eye tightening while he grew more impatient.

“Bait for what!?”

He howled into the dark red light.

“To lure you here and reclaim what is rightfully mine...”.

Raelyndia spoke confidently as she cackled behind her words.

“The Bastille is defenseless. You....are defenseless.”

Lazarius had raced back to the tank and was screaming at the leeching fluid as it poured onto his boots.

“And you think I came here without my own intentions!”

The dark eyed mad man suddenly slammed the eye into the hole he had created in the tank.

His wild gaze would cause his eyes to ignite in the venomous fluid like state when he began to lose himself.

“How much energy did it take for you to manifest here Raelyndia? Planning is everything. You taught me that! So I planned! And I extracted and I tore through the depths of space and time. You may have the ability to resurrect this form but I have the sense to know exactly what it takes to stop you!”

He slammed his fist into the eye and it would suddenly widen inside the tank into a doorway that buzzed and tore through the room with a violent crackle of electricity and buzzing.

The view from their vantage would be that of a complete mind bending twisting nonsensical dream. Inside the gateway produced from the eye and the tank, they could see a massive NRaqi being destroyed, and the figure dismembering it was a blur of violent purple and mist.

Beside the killed old god minion was a man, a man they all knew very well. Lazarius was laying covered in his own blood on the ground, he was peering up at them.

And beside the portal was their Lazarius.

“Time to go...Pame get Marseille on his feet, Verzatea...the boy....Jursol, I want that golem breaking that door down by the time I get back...”

And with that the image faded and Lazarius stepped through the gateway, it turned into a pure black mist. He was gone and the sounds of Raelyndias cackles went deeper and deeper into the room as if she was growing in power.

[ J ] Jursol stood silent and confused as she watch what was going down. The loud sounds hitting her ears like nails on a chalkboard cause her, and the raptors, to snarl and growl. Only thing that snapped her back was the voice o Lazarius orders to take down the door. Jursol gave a bow of her head as she readied herself to destroy the door.

“Loa protect....”

She said to herself as she focused her energy into the golem. Ya massive body moved towards the target door as it began to slam into it. Over and over again. It was relentless in its assault.

“Mawa!!!”

Jursol yelled as she looked back at the raptor that was still near the boy.

“PROTECT DA BOY!!!”

Mawa growled and screeched as it followed orders. The other raptors moved to protect Jursol, one moved to Mars and Pame to help.

“THISTH IS DOCTOR WHISTHLETORQUE! Listen to me! I hope thisth isth working...Verzatea! Anyone who can hear thisth! Do not return to the Basthtille. Raelyndia isth here! She isn’t trying to rebirth her body she isth trying to take control of t———”

[ L. K ] The gnomes voice cut out as their talismans all began to glow with a horrible red energy. The force of power that was growing within it was resonating a massive field of dark energy. And in a few moments more; every talisman that was associated with The Nine burst into a cinder of ash. They were gone, destroyed by the power within.

[ V . D ] Gently Verzatea gathered the child's arms into her soft hands, helping him up rather than violently pulling him to his feet.

"Fret not dear,"

Tea assured the boy,

"We're nearing the end- Violent or peaceful, it will come-- Consider this your first lesson,"

She remarks, trying to rouse him back to reality by forcing their eyes to meet as she imparts a bit of wisdom,

"Never dawdle. Always keep moving when in a hostile situation. Fate can be changed with confidence."

Beside the sindorei woman and younger boy, the kaldorei was currently heaving the wounded shaldorei up and onto his feet. His good arm had been slung over her shoulder thus to carry the majority of his weight. Her second arm, besides the one clutching the shaldoreis hand to keep his arm pinned around her shoulders, hugged his waist and ensured he'd not topple over in case he couldn't keep his balance.

Even if she had to drag him out of there, she'd do so. But if he could stay on his feet she'd make certain he did to keep him active and awake. In this state he could have slipped into a coma with how damaged and worn his body had been by the assaults. Thus she carried most of the weight, as not to strain him to the point of total exhaustion that he'd faint and fall unconscious.

With the reassuring snarls and cries of her raptors, and the calming notion that they would have protection in these vulnerable states-- Until the frantic squeaks of the doctor entered the air... Verzatea's face paled with the creeping sense of fear for all who remained at the Bastille.

Pame would instantly start to rouse the Confessor from what dark thoughts crept into Teas mind, assuring that Siida remained and would protect everyone. Because that's the kinda woman Siida is. That’s who the Kashe'bahls were.

"Trust,"

Pame pressed, her confidence in their people stronger than her fear for the moment,

"We'll see victory soon enough."

Because even if they all died here and now, Pame trusted it wouldn't be in vain. But until then they'd fight as if death wasn't a possibility.

With deep and calming practiced breathes would Tea begin to focus on the situation at hand. Of course the well being of those left in the Bastille at the start of their journey was a great concern to Verza, and she vehemently scolded herself for not ensuring the Bastille was fully prepared and protected to withstand an assault from Rae.

But she couldn't focus too hard on the what ifs with everything at hand. She couldn't distract herself with the worry-- She'd indulge her concerned once they escaped this tomb.

[ J ] Jursol heard a voice over the chaos as she tried to listen in. She glanced to the others to see how they were doing as the golem kept at the door.

Her focus was still on getting the door down, and to see Lazarius return alive. No matter what was going on they had to get out. Her raptors did all they could as well to help at this time of need.

“The death of The Nine is now. This is the beginning. You shall witness our true purpose, blessed be... NZoth....”

[ L . K ] Just as the words rang through the chamber, the surge of energy that burst from Northrend had struck Verzatea directly in her heart. She knew just as Lazarius did; the Bastille hadnt crumbled, but was no longer itself.

As Confessor she felt the shift and dominant power of that last drop of blood coming from the tank, she felt Raelyndia leave this place. And she felt the change. Their home was gone.

The sounds from the outside world soon caused them to shift their attentions again. Worms and agents of the old god had been alerted to their position. They would be coming for them if they did not move as quick as possible.

Seconds later Lazarius had emerged from the dark portal as it closed behind him. He was unharmed and completely normal save for one very interesting fact. In his arms he was holding a beautiful crimson haired woman; she was covered in black blood and stained in the battle from earlier.

She was only clothed in her bra and underwear appearing to have been wrapped by Lazarius in a cloth of some sort to conceal her. She was not conscious and he glanced around just as Jursol had managed to get the door cracked open.

“We’ve got to move now...I suggest before everything in the nether knows we are here...”.

At that moment he felt the lose of the Bastille against his chest, he nearly dropped Ray. His eyes darting to Verza to understand what had happened. He was wrong...

[ V . D ] The emergence of Lazarius and the woman went unnoticed by Verzatea. She had felt the tightness in her chest which toom her breath away, levaing her in a state of paralyzing agony as what wards and sigils of protection she had set up slowly unraveled.

She could feel as an abyss filled the connection with the Bastille, what hold she had on its inner systems and fenses fading into nothing. The cackles in the distance only fueled the agony she felt, such a strange and empty feeling... It caused genuine tears of mourn to tumble down her pale cheeks, the hold she had on the boy loosening some as she sobbed quietly.

She did meet Lazarius's gaze after a pause, her fears swarming into her eyes before she could help it.

"Now,"

She whispers shakily in agreement, her eyes peering from the woman in Lazarius's arms to Marseille, then down to the boy before she'd smile through her tears. For now they certainly had plenty to live for in this tomb, and it was enough to keep Tea from plunging into the darkness of doubt and loathing.

"We leave now,"

Pame agrees firmly, her eyes moving to inspect Jursols well being whilst adjusting her hold on Mars. After all this she'd begin wading through the blood to tighten the ranks. Verzatea clutched the boy closer, whether he wanted her to touch him or not. But by the heavens, she refused to lose anyone else if she could help it. She was ready. Pame was ready. The time was nigh.

[ L. K ] He had one final push up to help drive him through this nightmare. He would wait for Jursol to break down the large door at the end of the hall as the group of them moved closer to her. Lazarius held tightly to the injured ginger hair girl, Verza clinging to the young boy and Pame aiding her fellow Shade.

[ J ] Jursol had been overly focused on downing the door, her energy grew low but she was not giving up. A nudge of her raptor gave her the will to press on. Her eyes ran back and forth from where Lazarius had gone, to the door they had to get down.

“Loa, I not be givin up!”

Her voice full of determination as she yelled like a crazed Amazon. Suddenly she heard Lazarius voice as she turned swiftly to see him holding a strange woman. Her concerns would have to wait. The sound of more enemies coming for them grew louder. Knowing now there was not likely a place to return, she wondered for a moment what they would do. However asking could wait till they were free.

BOOM!

She managed to get the door down with the golem just as they poured in. The group managed to get out just in time. With the massive head gone from where it was before, they had a perfect chance to run. Jursol and her raptors remained near the others as they all followed each other.

@siidaraykashebahl

@frompage112

@pyravari-kashebahl

@thebladeitself

@whatadarkbitch

@zandalaridruidofgonk

@miss-irascible

To be continued in “In Mind of Misery, Manipulation, Part 12.″

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jobean12-blog · 5 years ago

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Finders Keepers

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Word Count: 1,344

Summary: Oreos, Bucky’s Henley and scary movies...

Author’s Note: This is for the continuation of the HBC’s @the-ss-horniest-book-club drunk drabbles and the super fun prompt sent in below. It’s very hard for me to pass up red Henley beefy bucky prompts of any kind. Thank you for this one! I hope you like it! Thank you all for reading! Much love always ❤❤❤

Warnings: Fluff, scary movie with CLOWNS!, flirting, teasing, sassy and sexy Bucky :)

You love being a part of the Avengers team. It had only been a short time since you joined but they accepted you like family. That’s how you found yourself currently sandwiched between the arm rest of the couch and Bucky during movie night. It was Steve’s brilliant idea to watch the remake of ‘It’ and although you told them a million times you were terrified of clowns, they insisted, team bonding and all that.

So now you’re curled into a ball with your head hidden under a pillow and Bucky’s warm body next to yours. A sudden streak of light invades your safe space as Bucky lifts the pillow and peeks his head under. “You ok in here, doll?” You crack open your eyes and focus on his bright blue ones. “Um. Yea. I think. Is the clown gone yet?”

Bucky looks out over the pillow, quickly sneaking back under. “No. He’s not.” You close your eyes again and just nod, hoping he drops the pillow soon. Instead you feel his strong arms wrap around you, turning your body into his and pulling you to his chest. Without looking up you snuggle against his soft tee shirt and take a deep breath, your fingers instinctively gripping the material.

His metal hand combs through your hair, gently twirling the strands around his fingers and you start to relax. At one point he taps your shoulder and you look at him. He smiles, motioning toward the TV and the scrolling end credits. You sit up with a bolt. “It’s over!?” you shout in glee. Bucky throws his head back in laughter and curls his finger under your chin, “yep, the clown is gone doll.”

His gaze drops to your lips before he clears his throat. “Want something to drink?” Not trusting yourself to speak you simply nod a yes, watching as he walks to the kitchen. He reaches the counter and grabs two glasses from the cabinet, filling them with cold water.

You find it hard to tear your eyes away from his body, the tight tee shirt doing nothing to hide his broad chest and bulging biceps. When he sits his shirt rides up and your eyes widen as you catch a glimpse of the soft patch of hair just above the waistband of his pants.

Grabbing the glass of water, you chug half of it hoping to cool yourself off. “Thirsty?” he asks with a chuckle. You almost choke on your drink, realizing that he probably knows you’ve been enjoying the view. “Yea, I didn’t drink anything the whole movie. Too scared to come out of hiding,” you say, hoping to diffuse some of the tension. “I really hate clowns.”

His metal arm rests on the back of the couch and his fingers brush yours as he asks, “any particular reason or just the obvious?” You try to focus on talking but your body is making it difficult, practically humming under his touch. “No childhood trauma or anything like that, just the fact that they are obviously terrifying!”

“I get it. If I had to pick, I’d rather fight an army of aliens!” You laugh, loving how his eyes crinkle around the corners at the sound. “A big, strong guy like you. I think you could take on some clowns.” You say the words while your eyes roam across his wide shoulders, smiling again once your gaze meets his. “So, you think I’m…”

“Hey Bucky. Have you seen my Oreos? I know you’re always stealing and eatin’ ‘em!” You look over Bucky’s shoulder to find a very pissed off Sam standing at the island in the kitchen. Bucky’s jaw clenches as he turns to look at Sam. “This time it wasn’t me. Check Parker’s room, last time I stole them he was eyein’ them too!” Sam stalks off in a huff, mumbling under his breath and Bucky laughs turning back to you.

He opens his mouth to speak only to be cut off again, this time by Peter’s screech as he flies into the common room, Oreos in hand. “HELP!” he shouts, sandwiching himself between you and Bucky. “What the hell Parker! What has your underoos twisted?” Not a second later, Sam walks in the room in a flurry of flying hands and curses. “If you don’t give me back my cookies…” he threatens Peter.

You discreetly reach out, snatching the Oreos from Peter’s hands and running for your life. You manage to make it to your door, opening and closing it so quickly you make wind. With a click you lock it, leaning against the wood. A loud knock vibrates through your head. “Y/n, if you don’t open this door and gimme back my cookies.”

With a snicker you press your face to the wood. “Nope. I’m gonna pour some milk right now and enjoy a few. You’ll get back what’s left later. You all need to learn to share!” You walk away from Sam’s loud knocks and shouts, putting on your music and getting the milk. After enjoying a few cookies, you turn down the music and listen at the door, hearing no sign of any of the boys.

Smiling to yourself you change into your pjs of a tank top and shorts and quietly open the door. Cookies in hand you creep down the hallway toward the kitchen. No one is around and you set the cookies back in Sam’s usual hiding spot, laughing to yourself at the fact none of them realize you knew where it was. You make some tea and go to sit on the couch.

Plopping your butt down you feel something balled up beneath it and quickly stand, picking up what looks to be a shirt. You unravel the material and smooth your hands over the soft red fabric. It’s huge so you’re guessing it must belong to one of the guys. Bringing it up to your nose you inhale, a familiar smell washing over you. You’re still not positive who it belongs to though, so you fold it nicely and set it down on the table.

Settling on the couch you drink your tea while watching some cooking shows, enjoying the quiet. Placing your empty teacup down you shiver, the hot liquid no longer warming your body. Your eyes land on the red Henley on the table and you shrug. Taking the shirt, you unfold it and slowly place it over your head. The soft material feels amazing against your bare arms. It nearly falls to your knees and you giggle, wrapping it closer to your body.

“I see you like to take things that don’t belong to you.” Your body stills at the sound of Bucky’s deep voice, his hot breath next to your ear. You snap your head around and come face to face with him, his lips curled up into a smirk. “I didn’t take it. I’m just…borrowing it.” He slowly walks around the couch, his eyes never leaving yours. “Oh yea. Usually you ask people before you borrow their stuff.”

Crossing your arms over your chest you huff, “well! I don’t know who it belongs to. I was cold. So.” Bucky inches closer, his tall frame towering over you. When his body brushes against yours you’re enveloped by the same smell from before. The same smell that’s on the shirt you’re wearing right now.

“This is your red Henley isn’t it.” It’s more of a statement than a question and when you look up at his face you know you’re in trouble. The best kind. “Mmmm hmmm.” His hand reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear before trailing down your cheek. “You can keep it though.” Your face lights up but not before he continues with, “on one condition. Tell me how you figured out where Sam hides his cookies and let me take you out on a date. Whaddya say?” Standing up on your tippy toes you place a soft kiss to his cheek, whispering, “that’s two things. And the answer is yes to both.”

@aesthetical-bucky @auro-ora @addikted-2-dopamine @azurika-writes @book-dragon-13 @bugsbucky @bucky-on-my-mind @buckys-broody-muffin @devynsdiary @emilylyoness @eurynome827 @hiddles-rose @hailmary-yramliah @hawksmagnolia @ikaris-whore @itsunclebucky @imgaril-lindru @jhangelface0523 @jewels2876 @breezy1415 @kaosera @yansi1923 @loricameback @littledarlinhavefaithinme @littleredstarfish @mushyjellybeans @marvelgirl7 @marvelandotherfandomimagines @nano--raptor @randomfandompenguin @sallycanwait68 @scarletsoldierrr @softpeachbarnes @the-wayward-robot @when-the-hell-is-bucky

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savvyqueen18 · 5 years ago

Text

SilveeLocke | Let's Go Eevee ZombieLocke | Pt.11

I was having a hard time with this chapter, so if it is a little lackluster than some of the previous ones, that’s the most likely reason.

And OwO who's this?

♡♡♡

Part 11: Electric Tensions

♡♡♡

>Next Part

>Previous Part

>Part 1

>Meet Silviana

>Meet Xander

Long acrylic nails on one hand tapped the base of the wine glass. They lifted the glass and brought it to burgundy colored lips, gaining a stain on the glass in the same color. The other hand shifted long black hair as the head tilted to one side. Eyes like the sound of a rattlesnake shaking its tail watched the lower deck of the cruise ship. The dark lips pursing and clicking after a moment.

“Pokemon trainers,” the woman’s voice scoffed. She continued to watch the two young trainers on the lower deck battle their pokémon.

The boy’s Pikachu let off multiple electric shocks while the girl’s little Eevee swiftly dodged them. It took one of the shocks head on but seemed to absorb the electrical energy.

Her eyes narrowed, “Very interesting.” She put her glass to her lips again and took another sip, one eyebrow raising high. Without turning she addressed the blue haired man behind her, “Archer. Be sure to keep an eye on these two. I don’t want any trouble making kids to interrupt my work.” She ordered.

“Yes ma’am.” He clicked away on a tablet.

“Oh, and do send a few of the grunts to put them in their place. Or rather… Test them. I need to know if they pose a threat with our plans for Silph Co.” She took another sip of her wine, “Especially the girl, I’ve gotten one too many reports coming in about a young girl messing with the grunts that are out in the field. They may have been lower class grunts, but I need them nonetheless. And they even interrupted my two Grands that were out in the field.”

The man, Archer, lowered his tablet a bit and pushed up his glasses to look at her, “Jesse and James ma’am? They were successful with their mission in the end.”

“But they shouldn’t have had trouble in the first place. They are my oldest and most experienced and I value the work they’ve done for me and this company. If they are reporting on the same person then we must keep a close eye and be rid of pests when necessary.”

“A-Are you sure Gi–”

“Did I stutter?” She swiftly interrupted him. Her head barely turned to glance with her eyes in his direction.

She wasn’t even looking at him and he felt a sweat droplet roll down the side of his head. He swallowed and gave a few small nods, “Yes ma’am.” He quickly turned to walk off.

“Oh and Archer,” She continued to watch the battle below her.

Archer stopped, turned to face her, and pushed his glasses up once again. He didn’t utter a word.

“I’ve told you about questioning my authority. If you are finding it difficult to remain loyal I will see to it that you are removed permanently from your position and promptly replaced. Are we clear?”

He swallowed again, “Of course ma’am.”

She gave one small wave of her hand and he quickly exited the deck. She took another sip of her wine and gave a small scoff at the trainers below her, “I hope your journeys have been delightful thus far. Because they can only go downhill from here.”

She smiled a wicked smile.

◇◇◇

Xander walked down the docks rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling, “I just can’t seem to get Spark to beat Junipur can I.” he held the poor Pikachu in his other hand.

Silviana walked, holding a smug looking Junipur in her arms, and replied, “She’s just too good, I don’t know what to say. And can you believe that someone had a cute little outfit small enough to fit Junipur? And they just gave it to me.”

Xander smiled, “Well good luck getting it on her, she’s probably going to scratch you a few times because of it,” his watch beeped a few times and he gave an exasperated sigh, “I have to head back home for a short while, Mom is missing me, ha ha.”

Silviana covered her mouth as she chuckled, “Well that gives me some time to catch up to you. And let me know where you are heading after so we can travel together. I have to go to Surge’s gym now. And thanks for the tip about the switches in the,” she shuddered, “garbage cans.” She made a grossed out face and stuck out her tongue.

Xander and Silviana jumped at the sound of the cruise ship leaving the docks. They both gave gasps of awe at its majesty. Junipur’s ears were up and alert at the boat. She gave a long cry as if sending the passengers off with safe travels.

Silviana smiled as she held Junipur in her arms.

After the two saw the boat off with well wishes of their own, they parted their separate directions.

Silviana walked up to the Vermilion City Gym with Junipur. Determined faces on both of them. Walking through the door Silviana felt her hair raise. She looked at Junipur and saw little tiny static sparks running through her fluffed up fur. Silviana giggled to herself but she tried to remain focused.

The gym was just as large as the other two. There were seats at the top for people to view the battles as they occurred, but what immediately caught her eye was the massive electrical gate in the middle of the battlefield.

“Greetings Private!” A loud voice echoed through the large room. A few people clapped and hollered at the voice.

“Um, hi?” Silviana looked to the person that was on the far side of the arena. He was a large, bulky man with a terribly oversized upper torso compared to his lower legs.

“You may address me as Lieutenant Surge and for this one-on-one dog fight you will need to know these rules of engagement…”

Everything that the man was saying was going in one ear and out the other as he spit military jargon at Silviana. Silviana just shook her head as she casually proceeded to the bins with the buttons Xander had told her about.

Ew this is disgusting, who makes this part of a gym challenge?

She flicked the final switch and the electricity quickly flicked out.

Lt. Surge had a somewhat shocked face, “That was in record breaking time private!” He threw out a pokéball, “Now for your real test!” A Magnemite popped out of the ball and floated in the arena.

“Alright,” Slviana breathed, “let’s do this,” she threw out Josee’s pokéball and the little fox-like pokémon appeared on the battlefield.

“Josee give’em all you got!” Silviana cheered on her pokémon.

Josee looked at Surge’s Magnemite and expelled fire. The fire shot out strong about halfway then slowly flickered out until a few embers hit the magnetic pokémon. The Magnemite sparked, mildly annoyed, it threw it’s static electricity at Josee and the poor pokémon felt its body paralyze.

“Oh man, not good,” Silviana quickly withdrew Josee, “Junipur, finish this up!”

Silviana watched Junipur bound into the battle arena. Junipur expertly dodged most of the Magnemite’s attacks and swiftly made her way toward the electric pokémon.

“Take it down Junipur!” Silviana eagerly cheered.

Junipur leapt into the air and the Magnemite barely dodged out of the way, it managed to let off sparks on Junipur as it did. Junipur landed stiffly, Silviana could see small sparks coming off of the Eevee.

Oh c’mon! Gotta shake off the static!

“Junipur again! You can do it!” Junipur seemed to be stuck in place and Silviana held her breath.

The Magnemite floated in a circle around Junipur, slowly getting closer. Junipur flicked her ears back and her tail twitched. As soon as the Magnemite was upon her, Junipur turned and leapt upon the electric pokémon. It tried to float backwards, but Junipur had it pinned to the ground quicker than the static that coursed through her fur.

“Excellent work private!” Lt. Surge withdrew the Magnemite and sent out his Raichu.

Junipur turned with a smug look on it’s face to the Raichu. She took one step and tensed up again as the static took hold of her muscles.

“Shoot. Junipur come here!” Junipur pinned her ears back and faced off against the Raichu.

She didn’t look back when the young girl called. She seemed to be completely focused on the electric pokémon in front of her.

She called again, “Junipur come here! You need to come to me or I’m going to make you go back in your pokéball!” Silviana pulled out Caliouse’s pokéball along with a paralyze heal.

That’s so odd… The only time she’s acted this aggressive was at Spark...

Junipur took one step back, but couldn’t move anymore because of the paralysis. The Raichu’s cheeks sparked and it’s tail lashed from side to side as it waited for Surge’s command. Junipur’s ears flicked back and forth between Silviana and the opposing pokémon. Stiffly she turned and slowly made her way back to Silviana.

Silviana threw Caliouse’s pokéball and the red raptor pokémon popped out. He looked back at Silviana with the same look she saw on the Cruise ship.

“Please Caliouse! You can do this! Don’t be afraid.”

Caliouse didn’t seem to be encouraged by Silviana’s words. He gave a small sigh and looked at the Raichu, the other pokémon began to bounce forward. Caliouse backed up with each advance. He worriedly looked back at Silviana.

Silviana bit her lip thinking, “Please! Fight for yourself! You’re not weak, I know you’re not!”

The Raichu burst forward in a blur, Caliouse panicked and looked around trying to find it before the pokémon appeared next to him and tackled Caliouse to the ground. Caliouse looked up from where he was tackled and was shocked by the Raichu’s thunder attack.

Silviana’s eyes grew wide. She yelled to Caliouse, “And even if you were the weakest I would still believe in you!”

Caliouse got up from the ground, supporting himself with all four claws. He looked to the Raichu with a bit more fire in his eyes. He started to circle the arena, keeping his sharp gaze on the large thunder mouse.

Yes! That’s it!

“Dragon Rage!” Silviana commanded.

Caliouse dropped his head and let off a menacing screech as he charged at the Raichu. The Raichu disappeared in a blur again and Caliouse skidded to a stop. He turned quickly enough to catch the Raichu as it tackled him to the floor once more. Using his powerful back legs, he flung the Raichu toward the wall of the battle arena. It hit the wall and dropped to the floor, it let out a groan but didn’t get up again.

Silviana jumped up and down gleefully. Caliouse slowly got up from the floor and examined himself, with a relieved sigh he walked back over to Silviana. The girl looked curiously at the red pokémon. He had worried eyes and when she bent slightly to pat him, he butted his head against her leg and sat with a flop of his tail.

Silviana was about to comfort her obviously distressed pokémon when loud boot steps and a familiar voice greeted her.

“Excellent work private! You have done a great service with this battle! It takes a strong person to properly influence and inspire their subordinates, you are doing excellent work private.” He handed her the badge for his gym along with a slip of paper.

“What’s this?” Silviana held up the paper.

“It’s my autograph of course! Anyone who manages to beat me gets my autograph!” He let out bellowing laughter.

Silviana rolled her eyes and pulled up one of her eyebrows, “Well thank you, but now we have to actually get going,” she put the paper in her bag and stuck the Thunder Badge on the side along with her other pins, “Lot’s of pokémon to catch for the professor and very little time in the days to catch them.”

She picked up Caliouse who had sunk to her feet and propped his head on her shoulders. From head to tail tip, he was almost as long as she was tall, but his lithe shape was light enough to carry easily. She proceeded out of the gym. Junipur now having been healed of her paralysis, walked alongside Silviana’s feet.

She thought about how difficult that battle was, not just for her, but for Caliouse and Josee specifically. She didn’t understand why Josee’s attacks were so weak. Not to mention what happened with Caliouse and why he’s pouting now.

“Hey Silviana.”

Silviana perked up and looked around to see who called her name. Misty was walking up from behind her with a kind smile on her face.

“Did you just finish your battle with Surge? How was it?”

Silviana gave a small pout and looked at Caliouse, “I got the badge, but there were a few hiccups. We’re going to head to Diglett tunnel now.”

“Oh good! Do you need any help getting there? I know I got lost when I was on my journey.” She laughed at herself.

“No, I’m perfectly capable of doing this all on my own. I don’t need any adults’ help, especially not from a Gym Leader from the League.” Silviana furrowed her brows and looked away.

“Wow. Pretty bold of you to talk that way.”

“I’ve been told it’s bluntness, but curt modesty is something that’s more appropriate a description. I don’t need help from anyone. Especially not anyone from the League. My mother didn’t so I don’t–”

“Hey, wait, what’s your last name?” Misty squinted her eyes.

“R- Ruiz.” Silviana knew exactly where this was going and was taking a tentative step back.

Misty snapped her fingers, “That’s right isn’t your fa–”

“Well it was nice to see you again!”

Silviana turned and said this loud enough to cut Misty off, she quickly walked down the main road of the city. Misty didn’t seem to pursue her, but Silviana didn’t stop until they were out of the city and on Route 11.

Somewhat out of breath, Silviana set Caliouse down before they got into the long grass. The Charmander looked up to her with concern. He looked down at Junipur, the poor Eevee was also out of breath.

Silviana got off the main path and sat down in the grass. She leaned against her bag and waited to catch her breath. Her calves were hurting and her arms probably burned just as much from carrying Caliouse such a long distance. She leaned against her backpack, it propped her up while Caliouse came to rest his chin on Silviana’s thigh and Junipur curled up on the opposite side. Silviana reached behind her and pulled out a water bottle. She took a big drink for herself and gave some to Junipur. Caliouse refused the drink, but continued to look at her with concern.

Silviana furled her eyebrows and put a hand on Caliouse’s head. Caliouse closed his eyes and relished in her touch.

“I just want to know what’s wrong with you. I don’t know if I’ll be able to help you if I can’t figure out what’s wrong.” She sighed.

“Well if you want to know what’s wrong why don’t you just ask him.” A mysterious voice spoke up.

#zombielocke #silveelocke #pokemon #nuzlocke #pokemonnuzlocke #pokemon nuzlocke #let's go eevee #let's go pikachu #my writing

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valasania-the-pale · 5 years ago

Text

A Healer’s Dilemma Ch. 2

Author: Valasania the Pale

Rating: K

Words: 2560~

Pairing: Mipha/Zelda/Link

Notes: Takes place after the last memory, shortly after Memory #9. Enjoy!

She had known this feeling before.

A curling dread, like a clammy stone within her gut, or a chill fog drawing a curtain over her field of view. A winter’s day without the sun. A bitten evening without a moon. A specter hung over her – over them all – robbing them of the warmth of companionship.

Apprehension was cold, Mipha mused to herself.

She’d tasted it at funerals – her mother’s foremost in her memory, long ago though it had been. Muzu’s kindly wife Laruta, whose passing brought an end to the old teacher’s joy. The Hylian Queen’s – whose death seemed to draw a veil over all of Hyrule and snuffed the light from the King’s eyes.

She’d felt it too the day Link left the Domain for the final time – she’d known, even then, that their goodbye then was not to be for forever, but did mark the end of something precious. Something she’d miss.

She’d felt it again when she learned that Link had been the one to draw forth the Master Sword.

Another page turned in the story of their lives; another chapter in the life of the boy she once knew, left behind to make room for the man he’d become.

She’d felt these things. Known them. Thought she’d become, if not comfortable, then capable enough in her experience to handle them.

Evidently not.

Could these things be measured in sighs and tears? Her three decades were considerable and brimming with memory – with weight – yet they were a whisper of life to people like her father, who’d seen centuries pass by before his wizened eyes.

She’d heard his sighs – memories of forgotten days leaving his breast on a gentle exhalation. She’d wiped away his tears, wrapped in his embrace, the liquid pearls warm against her scales.

Those things weren’t wholly bad, at least. In them, she’d come to understand a different kind of healing. Her father was brighter when she asked for stories of times he seldom reminisced of, even when they led down darkened roads. The same worked for Muzu, though his pain was a wound closer to the soul than merely the heart. He was an oyster, clutching tightly to his love, but once opened had a luster she knew few knew, and few would ever know again.

Mipha was, at heart, a healer. Knowledge of this sort was vital to her as water and air and food. Applying this to herself, though, rather than others, was new.

The cold in her chest could not be measured by the sigh of the gentle breeze that caressed her scales, nor did the flickering flame bring her any comprehension of the darkness festering in the hearts of her companions. A wound festered in their camp that night, torn open anew by the goddess’ silence.

It was a wound she could not heal by conventional means, nor with her magic. It was not grief, either. Not pain. Not memory. Mipha was a miracle worker, but even she had not the power to make the goddess Hylia speak when she would not deign to of her own accord.

But that was but one side of the injury done to her companions – an intuition born of a lifetime of empathy told her that the silence of the goddess was not the only thing plaguing their camp, though it was the heaviest stormcloud hanging above their heads.

The nature of this unknown factor, however, she could not divine.

That, in itself, was a blow. She was a healer, yet she could not find the wound. There was no pain. No sigh. No tears. Just darkness, and cold.

The energy from before was tightening again into its coil. The energy made her restless. Her arms worked. The lean muscle from decades mastering the spear she’d built refused to burn like she wanted – preparing the fish that would compliment their meal was simply insufficient to challenge their endurance.

The flaking scales of their meal were sticky in her hands.

For all the life their little camp showed, with Link preparing the evening meal and Zelda adding dry kindling to the fire and Mipha scaling the fish, the knight and his princess could have been mute statues for all the emotion they displayed, and Mipha had no answers.

She watched them anyways.

Link, she knew, and her eyes ran over him, for once without the flush of something that usually thrummed through her blood. This was not her admiring him, this was examination. Analysis.

Of all the people of Hyrule, including his closest friends, confidants, and kin, Mipha suspected only she would have noticed the inconsistencies in his behavior she immediately picked up. There was pride in that – pleasure, even – but it was a distant thing in her mind, secondary to her search.

Link moved with grace while he cooked. Every ingredient was picked from their container with only a cursory check. Where he paused, it was always to pick between two excellent options – a choice of spice, or garnish, for example. His eyes were raptor-like; his hands, though calloused and hard, were careful and delicate where necessary. A master of the blade already, Link was possibly an equal in the culinary arts.

At least as far as flavor could go. Mipha suspected the delicate masterpieces turned out by the Castle’s kitchens were beyond him, but they had the benefit of an array of ingredients, facilities, and hands to work with. Where they had those advantages to bolster their undeniable skill, Link could make a feast out of what he foraged during the day that would fill the belly and delight the tongue.

This she knew. That was her friend, the selfsame man who’d been her companion through their childhoods.

For all his efficiency though, that night, Link’s culinary skill could not mask the edge he exuded.

It was a ragged, angry presence too faint to be real, but existed in the small things he did that no-one else would notice, had they not her experience.

His face was a hard façade. His features, for all their expression, could have been carven. But Link was not a statue.

He enjoyed cooking – it was the one, uncontroversial, indisputable part of him that he had never hidden. More than he loved the act of cooking, Link loved to eat. Big meals, small meals. Meals in the castle, meals on the road, meals while swimming (and she’d had to scold him many times for doing that) and meals while riding on horseback. If he wasn’t carrying a shield, he might even have snacked during a battle – had he faced an opponent skilled enough to last so long.

This night, the greens were chopped with the same intensity of expression he reserved for moblins. The rice was drowned in water and the bowl set on the flames without the slightest hint of hesitation. His feet were so silent – so controlled – that they’d have seen him through a Yiga fortress unscathed.

The silence itself, so integral to Link, was unnerving.

He hummed while he cooked. Unconsciously. Whatever earworm was in his brain at the time. As children, Mipha thought it was adorable, and with the other Zora filled his ears with as many songs and whimsical rhymes as they could concoct, as often as they could manage, and try to catch him in the act. The embarrassment would drive him to distraction.

But now, he did not. He did not hum. His mind did not wander; his was a laser-focus, a fixation. Mipha did not think it was wrapped up in the finer points of preparing their meal.

Silence, stillness, control. They were a keen edge. Or a ragged edge. Or a bludgeon. Any blade – any weapon suited Link when he was fighting. It was what made him dangerous.

It was not what made him a good cook. They were both a part of him, certainly, and both parts that Mipha admired, but their crossing was a symptom as clear as a red blossom beneath a bandage.

But it was just a symptom, however concerning, and did nothing to enlighten her further to the real problem. She knew how to fix it – engage him, pull his mind far away from whatever dark road it stalked; that was well within her power, and would probably restore to him some of the carefully hidden levity she knew he had in him.

She did not – her curiosity and her concern burned too hotly. She had to know more. She had to, if she wanted to help him. Them.

To her silent frustration though, he was closed to her beyond that. Observation would only get her so far.

She looked to the other princess of their party.

Zelda was harder to understand. Mipha had known her for nearly as long as she had Link, but it had always been in an official capacity. Princess to princess, or when they had time away from court, healer to scholar.

Reading her like she could Link was beyond her. Her first glimpse of the person, the girl Zelda, had been in the Spring. Zelda’s only knowledge of her was her touch, and whatever she’d seen in Mipha’s eyes before shame turned her face earthward.

Who are you, Zelda? Let me in. Let me see. Let me help you.

So Mipha watched her for some hint, some sign, some symptom she could examine – assess – and perhaps remedy.

On her face, Zelda bore the expression of a monarch. A brooding monarch, perhaps, but it was an unreadable expression nonetheless, and that was the wall that halted Mipha’s probe. In one hand she held the fire-stick, which she used to prod the small campfire on the occasion that some kindling fell away or the flames began to gutter. Unlike Link’s unnatural precision, she handled it as she had every other night. Haphazardly, distracted. It was something to do. Something to occupy the body while the mind wandered.

Where, Mipha wondered.

Zelda’s eyes were shrouded. Mipha knew an incontrovertibly sharp mind dwelled behind them. That even now it must be flying, furious, inexhaustible, harried.

But that was not a clue, not a hint; that was obvious to any who knew her. None could becalm the waters of the mind within a storm of its own making – not without a force greater, a balm more potent than the hurt driving it. And Mipha doubted a force sufficient to still the mind of the princess of Hyrule existed upon the face of the land.

Her shoulders were tight, Mipha noted, just so. A touch might cause them to stiffen, then relax.

Her brow was furrowed, just so. A touch might cause her to reel, then soften.

Her back was hunched, just so, as though the weight of the world lay upon her. A touch might cause her to straighten, then melt.

Just so.

But those things were physical, and while they told a story that Mipha might work to bring a happier ending, it would be mistaking symptoms for the source to take them as the whole story.

A darkness hung about her, where light should have been. An edge. A ragged edge. One less violent, less cutting, less bestial than the kind that hung about Link, but an edge nonetheless. The frustration that hung around her emanated in waves – lapping at the edge of the subconscious at first, too slight to note, but growing in ferocity.

They drew back. Returned. Fiercer. Her fingers flexed. Again. More powerful. Angry. The coil in her jawline tightened. A tsunami.

And as Link crossed their little campsite to take the fish from Mipha – her preparations finished without her conscious attention on her hands – Zelda’s eyes flickered toward them, and the tension left her in a whoosh.

Her eyes shut, and the edge fell away.

A second, suspended in eternity, where without the mask Mipha saw.

Zelda sighed, and in that sigh was contained the weight of a father’s failed expectations and the loneliness of one abandoned by the gods.

In that sigh was contained a thousand raging accusations. Countless haunted nights without peaceful slumber. A young woman’s fledgling experience. A girl’s self-doubt. Tears unnumbered.

In that sigh was a storm. A war of failure and pride and shame and defiance. A lens, through which her soul was visible.

In that sigh was a temporary release, and for a moment the moonlight that fell upon her, and the flames the illuminated her, and the peace the suffused her, made her gleam like a goddess.

Link watched them both, paused by the fireside, eyes glittering like fireflies.

Zelda’s eyes opened, and Mipha was transfixed.

“I will try again tomorrow,” Zelda said. Her eyes were coals, reflecting flames in the green of her irises, and in them Mipha saw an inner fire that would not be doused. An ember, or perhaps a cinder of the woman – the queen – she would be one day.

In them Mipha saw the shadow of the girl behind the sovereign’s mask she put on each morn; one who had shed tears unnumbered. One who had shouldered her own self doubt and inexperience and the impossible expectations of countless others ignorant to her struggle.

One who’d faced her silent goddess time and again, and who kneeled to beseech her anew each day without fail.

Her eyes were coals.

In them were intermixed shadow and light – the darkness Mipha felt was entwined with light. Perhaps the light was not hope, as it might have been in another time, another place. Perhaps the light was fiercer, defiant; the light of one who would burn and burn until nothing remained – of one who would not fade quietly into the dark.

Perhaps the light was not pure, as would be expected of the incarnation of the goddess. It was not the light of dawn, nor of the radiant sun, the twinkling stars, or the serene moon.

But the light was the same light she saw in Link. The darkness within, the same.

In that moment, Mipha thought she understood Zelda the girl just a little.

And with that understanding, she saw the wound for what it was, and inclined her head in acceptance.

The urge to reach out and hold her – just a touch, even, to let her know she was not alone in her battle – was nigh-impossible to repress. It was the same need she felt for Link – to reach out was to grasp fire, for his was a destiny for conflict.

Of the wounds he would sustain, some she would heal, others would be beyond her. To reach out held the potential to cure the remainder, and the potential to inflict one still greater than the rest.

To reach out to Zelda would be the same. Perhaps her conflict was not one of battle – not yet – but still, some wounds would heal, others would linger. Would fester.

To reach. Or.

Mipha looked down at her hands – red flecked with sticky grey fish scales and grime. Lean muscle. Callouses. The hands of a healer, and a warrior.

Looked within. What might they see, then, in her, if they looked as she had?

Or.

She drew in a breath. Flexed her hands. Remembered the lightning touch, and the warmth, pulling Zelda close, and Link bracketing her in.

Her eyes closed, and she sighed, letting it all flow out.

Or.

#Legend of Zelda #My stories #Valasania the Pale #Mipha #Link #Zelda #Breath of the Wild #BoTW #A Healer's Dilemma

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